Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, and if I had a nickel for every time I had to write that, I'd be a lot richer than I am.

Blame the POV switches on my complete inability to write in the third person. My muses inspire me in first person. Sue me.

BIG thanks to Shiori Foxies Mom for pointing out that I didn't have enough body-text. I always do that. My beta must have missed it. growls at Mino.

Chapter Two

Kurama made it sound so simple when he said it. Just apologize, he'd said. And then what? I knocked on the door to Kuwabara's house and Shizuru immediately opened the door. She downed some suspicious-looking amber liquid when she saw me and shook her head.

"You are a walking train-wreck, kid. I hope you're not here to talk to Kazuma," she said.

"I owe him an apology," I said.

"You laugh at him again, I'll burn you with my cigarettes, okay?"

She didn't wait for me to reply, she just swung the door open and stepped aside. I passed her and took the comfortably familiar route to Kuwabara's room. I knocked and was surprised when the door opened by itself. "Uh," I said. "Can I come in?"

"Sure," Kuwabara said from his seat on his bed. "Whatever."

I walked over to the bed and sat down beside him. "I'm sorry," I said. "I lied to you. And I'm a shit-head."

"It's not your fault," Kuwabara mumbled, not looking at me.

"It is if I lied. Which I did. Believe me. It was the dumbest thing I ever did, including getting run over by a car practically on purpose."

"You did that on purpose?" He looked up into my eyes, searching.

I sighed, wondering how best to explain my actions. "Not consciously. Unconsciously. The thing about pushing someone out of the way of a speeding vehicle is that you're supposed to grab and roll out of the way. Not push. I knew that but I just shoved the kid out of the way. I guess I kinda wanted to die. I mean, my life sucked anyway, until I realized that you cared about me. I had you written off as a suicidal punk out to raise his street credit by beating the toughest kid in the city. I was wrong. You tried so hard to beat me up because you liked me. Call me crazy, but that just didn't add up until that whole thing with Sensui and I also include that whole thing in the thing about dumb things I've done. Get what I'm driving at?"

Kuwabara gave me his 'unreadable impassive' look that I knew he had copied from Kurama. "If you're trying to make me feel better by telling me that I'm the reason you came back," he said. "then it's kinda working."

"How well would it work if I told you I loved you back?"

Kuwabara looked deep into my eyes giving me the creeps for a second before he started tearing up.

"Hey, hey!" I said. "Don't cry!"

"Why did you lie to me then?" Kuwabara asked, his voice cracking slightly.

"Do you know how bad it hurts to lose someone you love?"

Kuwabara looked confused. "I don't get it."

"You're a human, Kuwabara. I'm going to live a lot longer than you. How do you think it would feel to live 1,500 years mourning the death of someone you loved? There's no point living from here to oblivion if I have to be sad."

"Then why are you telling me now?"

I sighed. "Because there's a chance you might be able to live as long as me."

Kuwabara gave me the look that meant he was trying to search me for hidden meaning. "How?"

"You remember how Toguro became a demon?"

Kuwabara's gaze hardened. "I'm not good enough as a human so you want me to be a demon instead."

"I don't care what you are, I just don't want to lose you in sixty years! It's either you're with me for life or you're not with me at all. Whether or not you become a demon."

"Yusuke..."

"If you decide not to become a demon, I'll just follow you into death a couple decades from now. I figure there's no reason for me to hang around if you're gone. I don't want to live forever with a broken heart. Don't put me through that."

"You are so selfish!" Kuwabara wiped his tears away angrily.

"What?" I was shocked.

"You would kill yourself just because I died? What about Kurama? What about Hiei? What about their hearts? Aren't they worth living for? What's the matter with you, Urameshi? You're so freaking single-minded it drives me up the wall!"

I guess I kinda see his point. "I call it an 'all or nothing' ideal but you're welcome to call it whatever you want. I just don't want to live without the man I love."

"You're such an idiot." Kuwabara smiled at me. "A big idiot."

"Why are you smiling?"

"Because that's why I love you."

I leaned in and kissed him softly.

"Hey!" Shizuru yelled from the doorway. "None of that in my house."

"Chill, Sis," said Kuwabara. "It was just a kiss!"

"Whatever, always use protection. Just not in my house."

I broke into a fit of laughter. Kuwabara shook his head in disbelief then joined me.

"C'mon, Buddy," I said. "Let's go see Koenma."

"What kind of demon am I gonna be?" Kuwabara wondered aloud.

"What do you mean demon?" asked Shizuru, narrowing her gaze.

Kuwabara explained the situation to Shizuru.

"So, you're gonna be like half-breed here?" asked Shizuru

"Half-breed!?" I yelled indignantly. "I'm not half anything. I'm just me!"

"Calm down, train-wreck."

"Ha, ha," I said. "it is to laugh."

Shizuru giggled.

"You wanted to see me?" said Koenma, suddenly appearing next to Shizuru who jumped.

"Hey, Kid," she said. "Breaking and entering is a capital offense."

"You know who I am, Shizuru," said Koenma. "I'm not a kid."

"You are a toddler half the time," I said.

That vein popped in Koenma's forehead. "Okay, Kuwabara," he said. "What kind of demon do you want to be?"

"Wind," Kuwabara answered immediately.

"Like Jin?" I asked. "Why?"

"Because Jin can fly. I want to fly," Kuwabara explained

"That's weird, Kuwabara," I said.

"Okay, Kuwabara," said Koenma. "Today is your lucky day. You only have to be dead for twenty-four hours."

"Dead?" said Kuwabara.

"Well, yes, you have to die to be reborn as a demon," said Koenma. "The preparations will only take twelve hours but the wavelengths of your spirit and body won't be aligned until tomorrow." Koenma went on to explain how the resurrection process worked. "And since Yusuke knows about it, all he has to do is kiss you tomorrow at around noon and you'll be alive again as a demon."

A sudden comprehension dawned on Kuwabara. "So that dream was..." he muttered.

"Yeah, jackass," I said. "You were supposed to kiss me so I could come back to life. I thought you were psychic but you couldn't even read into the meaning behind your dream. Luckily, Keiko..."

"Okay, fine but I was so freaked out about that dream that I couldn't think straight."

"Lie down, Kuwabara," said Koenma. "I'm going to separate your body from your spirit."

Kuwabara lay down, looking kind of freaked-out and closed his eyes. I kissed him quickly. "See you in twenty-four hours," I whispered.

Kuwabara grabbed my hand while Koenma leaned over him and put his hand to his chest. A few minutes later, his hand went limp and I felt his presence beside me. I gasped. "I can feel you, Kuwabara," I said.

I felt a strong surge of love that distracted me long enough not to notice the fleeting trace of demon energy coming from outside.

Woot!! Kuwabara's gonna be a demon!! Gotta stop typing now. 2 am is too late to be up writing fanfiction.