Tromping around the side of the house, past the half-dead backyard garden, Yusuke entered the forest with his whole body trembling in quiet rage.
It was bad enough already, the situation. Kurama had lost his mother, had lost his best friend (probably more than that, but they were so fucking secretive Yusuke couldn't be certain), and apparently would rather drink himself stupid than do anything productive or helpful at this point.
On top of that, Yusuke had two kids to worry about. Two young boys who, despite the brave faces they wore every time they saw him, were probably scared to death over their parents splitting up. Scared to death that maybe he would split on them, like his deadbeat dad before him.
It didn't help that Keiko wouldn't even look him in the eyes anymore, but that was a damnable path he wouldn't let his thoughts trek down, not when this new issue took precedence.
'Kurama hitting on him' wasn't something he expected to tack onto the list of fucked up things he'd have to endure during his stay, after all. It took the cake, was the cherry on top of a shit sundae, what-the-fuck-ever, it didn't matter what he called it - it was unappreciated all the same.
It had him so distressed, in fact, that as soon as he felt like he stood deep enough in the forest to go unnoticed, he raised his index finger and let off a low-power spirit gun in no particular direction. The shot cracked loud against the bark of a tree, setting loose a brilliant explosion of splintering wood.
It felt good to let loose a little, maybe even cathartic, so Yusuke raised his hand again, took aim -
"What did the trees ever do to you, detective?"
- and nearly jumped out of his skin when the low rumble of Hiei's voice hit his ears. He spun on instinct towards the source, and stood staring dumbly in shock at the last person he ever expected to see again.
Hiei.
In the forest.
Behind Kurama's house.
That. Little. Shit.
Or not so little, Yusuke amended. Over the course of sixteen years, Hiei had managed a growth spurt or two, and his glare now leveled Yusuke's chin at the very least.
"What in the fuck are you doing out here?" he demanded, and if he sounded the slightest bit hostile who could really blame him?
Fading evening rays of dusky gold peeked through the canopy of trees above them, allowing Yusuke just enough light to catch the small shrug of tight shoulders and the faintest trace of weariness ghosting across the planes of Hiei's otherwise stoic countenance. The black cloak he always wore clung to him bodily, doing little to hide the fact that his compact muscles were coiled tight with tension.
If Yusuke didn't know any better, he'd wager that Hiei was upset. He'd also wager that he knew what was upsetting him.
"It's him, isn't it?" the Toushin croaked out, swallowing down the lump forming steadily in his throat. "You're checking up on him. Making sure he isn't dead."
Outright denial, he expected. What he didn't expect was a soft "maybe" that carried over with the wind, so faint he could almost believe he imagined it.
"Well shit. If you're admitting it, then things must be bad. What the hell happened between the two of you?"
Hiei's eyes narrowed into angry, gleaming slivers of bloody red. "He hasn't told you? How interesting. Perhaps that's because it's none of your concern."
Scoffing, Yusuke crossed his arms over his chest and did his best to mimic the fire demon's admittedly impressive glare.
"It became my concern when I had to drag my ass into the fuckin' boonies to make sure he doesn't kill himself out here, which is something I think ordinarily would be your job. And you know what? I'm gonna keep doing your damn job while you prance around the fuckin' forest pretending you don't give two shits about him anymore."
Just when the anger he'd set aside in favor of surprise had started to simmer low in his belly yet again, Hiei tossed a metaphorical ice cold bucket of water Yusuke's way when he opened his mouth and said, with disdain Yusuke could taste, "Kurama ordered me away. If anyone doesn't care, it's him."
The world shook in the wake of his confession, almost - but then Yusuke realized it was just his own trembling, and not from the cold. He hiked his jacket up on his shoulders anyway, mouth too dry to say a word. Hiei willfully giving up any information was too surreal; he halfway expected a rabbit in a red waistcoat to pitter by, mumbling incoherently about being late.
Or maybe someone would come the fuck out with it and tell him what was going on. Maybe Botan would glide in on her oar and tell him how to fix it all. He should give her a call; she was good with this kinda crap.
Or, maybe, the world would finally just crumble and collapse around him and he wouldn't have to worry about any of this shit anymore.
A guy could only be so lucky.
Finally, after what seemed like an eternity of listening to the rustling of the wind through the budding trees and slowly going mad, Yusuke said, distantly, "and you just let him kick you out?"
A derisive snort rifled through the space between them. "What would you have me do? Grovel at his feet like a pitiful fool? He made his choice, and I made the choice to respect his decision."
And Yusuke knew somehow, even without the slightest inflection in the demon's tone, that it was killing him. It was killing him to be here, to watch from afar while he wanted so desperately to be where Yusuke was, while Kurama rotted from the inside out. It was killing him to not be able to do anything about it. It was killing him to even care at this point, probably. The Toushin had never been all that close with either of them, but the demon's whole body radiated a quiet agony.
"I've been spending too much time with Kuwabara," Yusuke mentioned offhandedly, trying to scrub his thoughts clean of Hiei's pain. The last thing he needed was another person's weight on him when he could hardly even shoulder his own.
And Kuwabara understood that better than anyone. He had this way about him sometimes, like emotions were a tangible thing to his eyes that he could see on you as easy as colors. Yusuke had never been any good at that, but maybe after so long it had started to rub off.
That, or just the fact that Yusuke had been thinking a lot about his own feelings lately made it less difficult to spot misery painted on someone else's face.
He kicked off the ground with a twirl, heading in the direction of a fallen tree to brood on. Hiei, suprisingly, followed him at the heels, waiting for the Toushin to take a mossy seat on the log before he settled onto one of his own close by.
"Are you going to tell him you saw me?" the demon asked, hugging one knee close to his chest. He wasn't looking even remotely near Yusuke; rather, his gaze was fixed almost longingly on the trail that led back to the house.
Just fucking break my heart why don't you, Yusuke thought tiredly. Already he was sick of seeing his friends like this and it was only day one. Who even knew how long he would be here?
Blowing his bangs out of his face, he shrugged. "Nah. He probably wouldn't believe me if I tried. Aren't you masking your energy or something? I didn't feel you around."
"I'm not advertising it," the fire demon answered coolly, "but if he tried hard enough, he'd sense me. He isn't looking."
Something brushed against Yusuke's shoulder, and only belatedly did he register how close they were actually sitting - so close that every time Hiei moved, their shoulders rubbed together. Once he got over the initial shock of the demon willfully sitting that close to him, it wasn't bad, actually.
It felt kind of nice to have a brother in arms at odds with the pain of heartbreak.
And on that pitiful note, Yusuke decided he needed to get something off his chest. Hiei wouldn't care, probably, but at least he would be heard.
"Keiko and I are splitting up," he admitted, closing his eyes to the world. For just one pure, blissful moment, all he knew was Hiei. The sensation of the demon's heat against his shoulder, even through his windbreaker, was grounding somehow. "She's getting primary custody of the boys. They'll be here on weekends with me while I'm staying; Kuwabara is gonna bring them up."
Hiei snorted; an almost-laugh. "You trust that oaf with your children?"
"More than I trust her to bring 'em," Yusuke returned, trying futilely not to grit his teeth. "Besides, he's hauling up food and supplies, too. I'd have him just switch with me and watch Kurama instead but the last time he was here, there was this...incident, I guess you'd call it. Scared him half to death."
Hiei said nothing, but the tightened muscles of his shoulder told Yusuke that he already knew.
"You were around?" the man guessed. His lids peeled apart just in time to witness the other give one shake of his head.
"No. The oaf told me about it."
The Toushin blinked at him, surprised. "How? This just happened yesterday."
Hiei's eyes grew tight as he spat out, like it pained him to even admit it, "I was the one who asked him to come in the first place." The shoulder pressed against the Toushin shuddered.
Yusuke wanted to sling an arm across those burdened shoulders, but Hiei would probably sooner skin him alive. Instead he nudged the other with his elbow, mustering up the closest thing to a smile he could manage.
Only it was something like elbowing a stone statue, and all encouraging words died on his tongue; Hiei, rigid, sat with red eyes burning wild, aimed in the direction of Kurama's home.
"Go," the fire demon choked out, desperately, "now."
And it only took him about half a second to obey. Yusuke had sprinted more than halfway to the door when he realized how badly he already missed Hiei's shoulder pressed against his.
No time to dwell on that, though, not when he had more urgent matters to attend to.
Specifically, finding Kurama curled up on the dining room floor, fingers wrapped so tightly around a rather large shard of broken glass that blood dripped freely to the tile like bright red rain.
"Stop!" Yusuke shouted, wrenching away the jagged piece of the cup that had shattered earlier from the kitsune's grasp. "The hell is the matter with you?" He assessed the wound quickly and found that it wasn't too deep - not deep enough to need stitches, but plenty enough to bleed all over the fuckin' place.
Kurama said nothing as the other man helped him stand and washed out his wound; he said nothing as Yusuke barged around the house in another stunning rendition of a hurricane, shouting and scavenging for bandages; he said nothing as Yusuke poured alcohol over the wound to sterilize it before finally wrapping up the cut.
He made absolutely no noise until the Toushin finally sat him down on the couch. The fox had been so silent, in fact, that when he gasped in a ragged breath Yusuke actually flinched.
"What is it?" he asked the redhead worriedly. "Are you hurting?"
He dared to peer down into the emerald abysses that Kurama called eyes, startled to find them bright and alive with absolute fury.
And then, using six simple words, Kurama tilted Yusuke's world on its axis for the umpteenth time that day.
"Why do you smell like Hiei?"
A/N:
Hello, all. Sorry for the wait on this one, but I hope Hiei's appearance makes up for it a little. :x I'm on a major Hiei/Yusuke kick right now so the two got a little bonding time in, and trust me, he will be back! This fic was originally intended to be Yus/Kur but, it will probably end up more like a messy, twisted love triangle if my muses get their way. Thanks to all for the reviews and follows/favs, it always makes my day to see that someone enjoys my little projects!
Until next time, friends.