Disclaimer: No own, I do. These are boring.
A/N. Erm. It is done. Finally. I have to say that I'm a little unhappy with some parts of this, but that happens. It doesn't help that I lost my notebook that had half this story in it. Enjoy.
Part two: We're all together here
Shizuru, Keiko, Yusuke, Kuwabara, Koenma, Botan, Kurama, Hiei, and Yukina.¹ With the exception of Genkai (she wasn't really one for bars), their entire group was together to celebrate yet another year past. It was, in actuality, the seventh anniversary of Yusuke's first death. It wasn't exactly a happy occasion to be celebrating, but that had really been the first event of a large chain that would eventually weave the supernatural tapestry of their lives.
With everything the entire group had been through - the tears, the friendship, the life-threatening ordeals, the laughter, the heartbreak, the changes – it was no wonder that every individual was happy simply from seeing everyone else whole and cheerful. Indeed, with everything the group had been through, one would expect them to be reminiscing about harder and more dangerous times, all the memories from long ago, and all the events that had led them to where they were now and how their lives had changed. One would truly and most probably expect that.
One would truly and most probably not expect the group to be arguing about drinking games and each other's sex lives.
"Rock paper scissors," Keiko said, frowning at Yusuke. "That's how we'll decide."
"I can't believe we're fighting over which drinking game each group gets to play," Koenma muttered to Botan.
Yusuke shrugged. "All right," he agreed. "Winner gets to choose which game. The choices are I Never and Black and Red. That okay?"
Nods all around. Shizuru took a swig from a random beer, whose owner was busy excitedly volunteering for rock paper scissors.
"Oh! Lemme play lemme play lemme play!"
"Jeez Kuwabara, don't wet yourself. You can play."
"You don't have to be nasty, Urameshi! We all know you're just jealous of my skills…"
"Whatever!"
A few minutes later, however, Yusuke told Kuwabara that he forgave him for being an idiot, but only after he beat Botan.
"We chose I Never," he informed Keiko. "So there."
Keiko made a face. "You're so considerate, Yusuke. Choosing the game without asking your friends if that's the one they want; no wonder you're such a well-loved person in society."
Yusuke spread his arms out to the side and grinned. "What can I say? The people love me."
"Terribly guilty for changing this uplifting topic," Botan began sardonically. "But what's going to be our big scheme of the night?"
Yusuke smacked his forehead. "I can't believe I forgot! The Big Thingie!"
Hiei raised an eyebrow. "Thingie?"
Yusuke nodded. "Yes, thingie. Our topic of conversation, scheming, and argument for the night. Oh! I know! I vote we all try and hook Kurama up!"
Botan twitched.
Kurama looked at the ceiling, as if asking for Diving Intervention, while the rest of the table either laughed or groaned. Yusuke gave the striking fox demon a devilish grin. "Alright, all-mighty foxy one! I, Yusuke, the amazing hooker-upper man-dude, will now hook. You. Up!"
Kuwabara raised an eyebrow. "Man-dude?"
Shizuru laughed. "God, kid, you are so messed up."
Kurama stared at Yusuke expressionlessly from the other side of the square table. "And what if I'm already attached to someone?"
Dead silence.
And more dead silence.
Surprising news, apparently.
Yusuke broke it. "No shit? Really? Are you shitting me for fun or what? Really?"
Kurama flipped his hair and gave his friend a sneaky smirk. "I didn't say anything was definite, but…you never know, now do you?"
"Sneaky bastard. Who is it, Hiei?"
Hiei grunted. "Why should I know? What, do I look like I would know everything about the Fox's personal life?"
The girls groaned at Yusuke's pointed look.
"If you even say Hiei, Kurama, or together in the same sentence, I will find some way to ship you off to a deserted island where you'll have to live off monkeys, bugs, and coconuts for the rest of your sorry little life," Keiko said, giving her boyfriend a half-hearted shove.
Koenma nodded. "Yeah, thanks for ruining my appetite."
Hiei and Kurama both looked mildly offended.
Yusuke buried his head in his hands. "Ugh. So no hooking up Kurama. Damn. I've been waiting awhile to get the chance to do that."
Shizuru studied Kurama. "It is a girl, right Kurama?"
Kurama swirled his drink. "I thought I'd said nothing was definite. I may be attached, I may not. As far as anyone knows, nothing is certain. I'm not one for broadcasting my personal life."
Yusuke colored. Everyone else snickered. Yukina looked confused.
Kurama glanced at his watch. "It is currently three A.M. Nobody has tried dancing yet tonight, and I doubt we'll have time. I vote we go home so we can start our drinking game competition."
Kuwabara nodded and stretched. "Home being your apartment, Kurama, at least for tonight. What are the stakes for the games? Have we decided?"
Botan stood up and grabbed her purple bag, swinging it over her shoulder. "When a group only has one person still awake or sober, that person goes and checks on the other group. If the other group has more than one person awake, then they win. The losers-" here she paused for dramatic effect, "-have to take the other group out for dinner, and have to eat one worm apiece."
There was silence.
Again.
Koenma wrinkled his nose. "That is so immature I'm practically speechless."
Hiei looked less than pleased. "Who in hell's name came up with that crap?"
Botan shifted uncomfortably on her feet. "Er, I dunno! Well, we better go, huh?" And with that she grabbed both Yukina and Shizuru by the arm and sprinted out of the club.
Kazuma's head snapped around to see an employee start towards their table. "Shizuru must not have paid her for her drink yet! Crap!"
Part Three: the Game is On
"I am so glad we decided to play this game after I turned twenty-one," Yusuke proclaimed loudly, plopping down on one of Kurama's chairs.
"Why?" Koenma inquired, gracefully lowering himself onto the chair next to Yusuke, who gave a catlike smile.
"Well," he began. "Had we played this when we were teenagers, we wouldn't have been able to drink, which takes the fun out of the game." Everyone else nodded as they took their seats. "And," Yusuke continued smugly. "There would have been no sex questions."
Hiei snorted. "For you, at least."
Yusuke, hands on his hips, turned in his chair to regard Hiei with a rather evil expression. "Ah, but Hiei, one must have a sex life in order to really participate in the game, no?"
Hiei snarled and tried to leap at Yusuke, but Kurama's grip on the back of his shirt prevented him from doing so. "That isn't necessarily true," Kurama informed the Toushin. "But as interesting as this conversation is, I think we should really all start the game."
Hiei yanked himself out of the Fox's grasp and sat down in a chair, slumping forward with a mulish expression.
The whole group had walked to Kurama's apartment, which happened to be the largest. The girls had set up in the very large guest bedroom, while the guys were in the kitchen.
Kurama placed five shot glasses in the middle of the table, along with a few bottles of alcohol. He sat down between Hiei and Kuwabara and opened his mouth to speak. "Well then, I'm pretty sure we know the rules, but I'll refresh you all just in case. Each person says something that they've never done. However, if anyone else has done that or have had that done to them, they would drink. If the speaker lies, then the speaker would have to drink too. We all know what the stakes are. Who wants to start?"
Yusuke waved his arms gleefully. "Oh! Pick me, pick me!"
Kurama shrugged. "Go ahead."
Yusuke smirked. "God, I am so going to enjoy this. All right," he took a deep breath and slowly exhaled. "I've never worn a dress."
Kuwabara wrinkled his nose. "That's the dumbest thing I've ever heard."
"The point of the game is to get your friends to drink, Yusuke," Koenma sighed.
Yusuke glanced around the table, only to see full shot glasses. "Damn it!"
"Good try," said Kurama, a hint of a smile on his face. "Let me show you how it's done."
At that moment, Hiei decided to be afraid.
"I've never had my hair tied in a pink bow."
Ouch.
Kuwabara snickered as he watched Yusuke take a drink. He was too busy watching Yusuke scowl to notice that someone else was drinking. Koenma was working very hard to keep his face expressionless as Hiei grumbled and quickly downed his alcohol as Kurama smirked smugly. Hiei shot him a dark look promising a gruesome future. Kurama waved it off. "Okay Kuwabara," he said cheerfully. "You try."
"Ooooh, Yes! I've got a good one! Watch out, Urameshi!"
Part Four: Not all Happy Endings
Needless to say, after Yukina cautiously entered the kitchen the next morning, the girls decided to have dinner at the most expensive restaurant in the entire city.
Kurama ended up paying for the entire thing, insisting it was because he was feeling generous. However, Shizuru was positive she heard her brother mutter something to Koenma about a bribe to keep Yusuke quiet over a specific revelation that their game had uncovered…
Okay, that ending was better than the original, but still not what I was looking for, really. I'd appreciate comments on it…Anyway, I'm really sorry that this is so late. I thought I would've figured out the ending a while ago. Oh well.
Thanks for reading, everybody, I appreciate it! Reviews may inspire me to write just what that certain revelation was…winkwinkpokepokenudgenudgecoughcough
