Growth of a Spirit Detective

Title: Growth of a Spirit Detective
Author: Azalea J.
Beta: Amymcclair
Rating: R
Pairing(s): Kurama/Yusuke, Hiei/Yusuke, hints at Suzuka/Shishiwakamaru
Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho was created by Yoshihiro Togashi and adapted by Funimation Studios. I claim no rights to characters or settings or dialogue. I am making no money off this work.
Warning(s): Violence, Language, Lemon.
Word Count: Approx. 12 000


Growth of a Spirit Detective
Chapter Eight


His nostrils flared and Houkoshin looked up just as the door to his office opened. For a moment the smell was forgotten at the sight of the familiar demon, and Houkoshin hurried to greet him, “Kurama! To what do I owe a visit from-” The smell assaulted his nose once more, and he stopped mid-sentence and mid-stride, inhaling sharply.

The redhead smiled serenely and closed the door behind him. “May I sit?” He asked, nodding toward the two chairs arranged before Houkoshin’s desk.

If Houkoshin could have seen himself, even he would have laughed - he was standing with nostrils flared and wide eyes. His body was rigid, he looked as if someone had stolen a ningen taser and used it on him. Repeatedly.

In the meantime, Kurama sat, and crossed his legs. Steepling his fingers in front of his face, he eyed Houkoshin speculatively from over his shoulder. “I’ll get right to the point.”

Houkoshin snapped out of his trance, moved back behind his desk, and sat down rather heavily. He was still very rigid, and was staring at Kurama now as if he were the one with the taser - and would use it again if Houkoshin did not listen closely to everything he had to say.

“Regardless of how it happened, Hiei and I mated with Yusuke. The three of us are now bonded mates; as such, I will remain here by my leisure. You should also expect visits from Hiei at unpredictable times.”

Houkoshin leaned back in his chair, letting the information sink in.

When it did, to Kurama’s complete and utter bemusement, Houkoshin started to cry.

Tears rolled down his checks silently, and a happy smile split his features. “Lord Yusuke… mated.” He put his face in his hands and from behind his fingers and between muffled sobs Kurama managed to make out, “-what Raizen was never able to achieve. Oh! I am so happy for you my Lord!”

---

After that, Houkoshin took it upon himself to give Kurama a much more detailed tour of the keep than he had ever been on. Any tour with Yusuke usually consisted of, “And food is found here, and I sleep there, and the exits are here, here and over there. That? Hell if I know.”

Houkoshin explained to him the hierarchy of the keep as they walked – as Yusuke’s head advisor, Houkoshin was obviously in charge. To-oh below him and so on- Kurama was hard pressed to remember all the names. With Yusuke’s mating; however, some things were going to have to change. To his admirable credit, Houkoshin did not mind in the least that Kurama had replaced him as second in charge; in fact, he seemed quite pleased that at least one of Yusuke’s mates was going to be taking a healthy interest in the daily upkeep and maintenance of the place. He welcomed the assistance, even if decisions would no longer pass through him first.

The entire keep was built right out of the mountain; it was circular based, the entire keep revolving around the twin stairways, which arched ever higher up to each floor.

The demon showed Kurama the basements, which consisted of a mile of empty stone walls and floors, and a natural hot spring. He explained that it was the one place Raizen found he could relax completely, and it was forbidden to anyone else. Yusuke never used it, so the basement had been sealed off. Kurama glanced once at the steam issuing out of various cracks in the floor, the pool of warm, inviting water, and the dark moss lining the edges of everything; and then followed Houkoshin back upstairs.

The first floor consisted of the entryway, a large foyer that included the door to Houkoshin’s office and eventually gave way to the two large sweeping sets of stairs, which arched gracefully to the floors above. Behind the stairs was a receiving room, which Raizen had used in years past to greet guests and receive messengers. It could be used as a sitting room of sorts. It was a dark, masculine room. The walls were yellow stone like the rest of the keep, but a fireplace and large cushions arranged around a low table made it roomy.

Closing the door on the receiving room, Houkoshin led Kurama up one flight of stairs to the second floor. “The kitchens.” He gestured at the many closed doors along the walls of that landing. “You can go in if you’d like. We had some of the more decent cooks in Makai – I’ll be honest with you, before Yusuke we hadn’t much use for them. The Lord still prefers human meals,* and we do our best to cater to him.” Houkoshin looked awkward, “Actually, I and some of the others have found the taste of a… salad, to be quite filling.”

Kurama elected to explore the kitchens more thoroughly at a later date. Houkoshin’s use of the word had made him wonder what cooks they had in employ now.

“A lot of spare rooms up here.” Houkoshin gestured around the third floor landing as they walked along the circular hall. “I sleep here, along with a few of the higher ranking in our army. King Enki stayed the night once in one of these rooms, but I’m afraid that’s the only interesting thing about this floor.”

“And these doors? What's behind them?” Kurama gestured at a set of misted glass doors, so unlike the other doors on this floor. Houkoshin had strolled passed as if he’d forgotten they were there.

Houkoshin turned. “Oh… yes, I supposed something will have to be done about them after all, now that…”

“Them?” Kurama eyed the doors speculatively. The glass was framed by rich wood reddish in hue; white gilding decorated the wood in swirling patterns depicting birds and flowers. The doors were heavy, and kept any smell, light, or further hints behind them.

“Yes, the Harem.”

Kurama pushed the doors to and stepped inside, Houkoshin followed.

Five different demons in that room were in heat, and their scents assaulted Kurama’s sensitive nose immediately. None, however, appealed to him. Houkoshin on the other hand, appeared quite affected. He continued on with a faint blush staining his nose and neck. “Yusuke has never once sought out the company of any of them.” He said quietly. “…Raizen did… but not after…”

Kurama nodded distractedly, taking in the room and its occupants.

Amidst cushions and beds, plants, and rich curtains and fabrics, lounged the nineteen to twenty demons in Yusuke’s harem. Both male and female, they ranged from exotic to plain. All were still reasonably young.

Kurama eyed them calmly, ignoring the heady and enticing aromas coming from the demons and various oils and candles. There seemed to be very little ventilation - if any. There were no windows, like on other floors, but in this room - where everything was so close so warm - it actually mattered. It was a death trap to anyone with a proper sense of smell.

He resisted the urge to scrunch up his nose and leave; instead, Kurama eyed a small pool in the center of the room, curious. “Is that pool filled daily?”

“Yes, but by itself.”

Kurama arched an eyebrow at him.

Houkoshin smiled, launching back into realtor mode. “The original builders, whoever they were, were ingenious. There is a natural spring in the mountain this keep is built into, it feeds the hot spring in the basement, but a separate branch of the spring also comes out directly into this room.” Houkoshin led Kurama through the harem to the back wall, which was the wall still attached to the mountain.

The demons gazed at them calmly as they passed, none of them speaking, fanning themselves or lounging quite lost in their own boredom.

Houkoshin pointed to a small hole in the wall. “The water is hot underground, but something causes this stream to rise up through the mountain; by the time it reaches the wall, it’s cool.” Kurama watched the water run down the wall, into a small basin designed just for it. From the basin it was led by means of a small culvert, twisting its way through the room, to the pool at its center.

“And the water leaves...?”

Houkoshin was about to answer, when Kurama answered his question for him. “I see.” He strode over to the pool. On the opposite side, which he could see now was on a slight slope, another culvert led the water from the pool to the wall on the other side of the room. There it met another hole in the wall, and Kurama could only imagine what happened to it after that.

Houkoshin was happy to answer this, "There is a pipe that extends from the wall, you can't see it from the main doors of the keep, but the water shoots right out of the wall. The sand's so dry; it sucks the water right back underground again."

Interesting. Ideas exploded in Kurama’s head; things he could do with this room once the harem had been dismantled.

They left and closed the heavy doors behind them.

There was a gap of about twelve feet between the third and fourth floors, which consisted of rock. Houkoshin explained this was to add height to the Keep. The fourth floor Kurama already knew quite well. It consisted of Yusuke’s chambers – formerly Raizen’s – a large room with its own ningen-style bathroom, which had been added on only recently. The rest of the floor consisted of a rather large library. And down a long, narrow hall, lay the throne room - an empty stone chamber with Raizen’s throne framed by massive bolts of dark blue fabric. The room was massively dusty.

They returned to Houkoshin’s study, which would remain Houkoshin’s. The demon would stay in charge of the day-to-day business of the keep; only the more major of decisions and problems would be brought to Kurama’s attention first. Houkoshin took the time to explain to Kurama the keep's finances - which were relatively simple considering how Makai was run in general - the finer points of actually running a keep, and various other matters and details. Around noon, Kurama called it a day and left to find Yusuke.

It didn’t take long. Striding up the stairs, he met Yusuke at the top of his landing. “You and Houkoshin were gone a while.”

“There’s quite a lot to running a keep.”

Yusuke showed a fang when he grinned. “You still smell like sex.”

“I know, and I’d like to take that shower now.” Kurama pulled Yusuke to him as he reached the landing, and brushed his lips lightly across the detective's.

When he drew back, Yusuke attempted to get his hands into Kurama’s robe, but the fox darted out of his grasp and flitted to their room. “I would like a shower, Yusuke. You had more than enough last night and this morning.” But he was grinning, and Yusuke wasn’t fooled.

Later, lying wet and mostly clean, Kurama gently extracted himself from his mate, dressed, and made his way into the kitchens. He was confused at first, how Houkoshin could know so much about ningen diets and kitchens. The kitchen looked exactly like a larger version of a ningen deli kitchen with the addition of a very many, large, refrigerators. His confusion ended abruptly when he met the head chef – who happened to be human. It took some explaining, but eventually the man managed to make it clear to Kurama that while, yes, for all intents and purposes Houkoshin had, abducted him, the demon had done so out of desperation for Raizen – not Yusuke.

In the last years of Raizen’s life, Houkoshin had thought perhaps ningen food – a vegetarian diet, even – might save his liege. It hadn’t worked, but it had, in the end, helped out with the young Lord, a lot.

The chef - Kisuke - had been carted off in the middle of the night, caught walking home alone from his restaurant. He had been scared, shocked, and scarred for quite a long time. Once he learned that the man he was supposed to cook for was not just a demon, but a demon who had once subsisted on a diet of humans only; and now, because of a deceased lover, refused to eat at all. He was also told that if he couldn’t get that demon to eat, then he would be offered up to that demon’s army as fodder.

Houkoshin had not, of course, followed through with his threat. In fact, after months of incarceration, he came to the man and apologized exhaustedly for taking him from his family, and even offered to take him back. To Houkoshin’s surprise, Kisuke offered instead to stay, and cook for the new, young lord. He had no family, it seemed, and this demons’ world was vastly more interesting than his own. He asked only to return to ningenkai once in a while, and to be granted anything he needed in regards to preparing meals for Yusuke.

Yusuke apparently talked with him quite often.

It was just Kisuke and two demon helpers in the kitchen now, which was organized to the point of obsessiveness and smelled like bread. Kurama knew he was going to like the man.

Taking a small platter of sandwiches back to Yusuke, Kurama sat at the edge of the bed and gazed at the slumbering detective thoughtfully. Yusuke had changed these demons far more than they had changed him.

Crossing his legs above the covers, Kurama nestled himself into Yusuke and a pillow and chewed thoughtfully.

---

Kurama left Yusuke’s side well before the detective had awoken the next morning. He went straight to Houkoshin, and they began preparations for the removal of the harem. It took a short week. Some of the demons were slaves by nature, and that was just how it would be; Kurama and Houkoshin did their best to find the right masters for those few. Most were freed after a short discussion period with the fox, where they could ask him any questions they had and for assistance, to a point. Most wanted to know the newer laws of Makai that had changed since there was now one king, and Kurama was happy to educate. The last three demons were harder to remove; all three were not slaves or docile by nature. The problem was they all had such potent heat cycles that releasing them into wild Makai would be plain stupid. For the remainder of the week Kurama and Houkoshin searched for drugs or herbs or remedies that might lessen the scent of the demons’ heat; a seed of Kurama’s worked on one; and a drink with, surprisingly, carcinogenic qualities, worked wonders on the other. So long as he took it on a bi-yearly basis.

The third demon; however, they could not help. By the end of the week, Kurama was prepared to set the girl up with a room of her own in the keep - when Mokuro showed up out of the blue. Kurama had gone to her, of course, to ask if she knew of any demons in the market who were known for taking care of their pets. She had given him names and set up audiences for him. While how she knew they were having trouble with this last demon was a mystery to Kurama, that she was willing to take the demon girl and offer her a safe place to stay with no strings attached was a relief to everyone - including the girl, who had no desire to have any more masters.

Now Kurama could focus on the empty room where the harem had once been.

How long had it been since he’d had a hobby? A project that wasn’t a mission or involved battle?

He found himself looking forward to it.

While Kurama could not order Houkoshin to keep Yusuke out, he could order Houkoshin to do his best in turning the Demon Lord away. And while Yusuke could barge in at any moment and sate his curiosity easily enough, he respected Kurama’s wish to keep it a surprise. He restrained himself to only badgering the kitsune, trying to get Kurama to tell him what he was doing when they were alone together, eating or sleeping or once, walking together out in the desert, cooling off after a run. Kurama refused to tell him anything.

Yusuke didn’t run anymore; that once, he was edgy and Kurama enticed him into it. He spent his days training with Houkoshin and the Monketts and eating sleeping and other things with Kurama. Which was fine for the first two weeks, but if an envoy from Enki hadn’t arrived one early morning, Yusuke might have started to grow stir-crazy. He left eagerly.

This allowed Kurama to finish up with the room with no more distractions calling him away.

He’d removed everything, cushions and couches and draperies and a multitude of pillows. The big stuff -the curtains, and giant bolts of fabric - ended up in many of the unoccupied rooms of the keep. The pillows, however, had [at one time or another] ended up in the master bedchamber, to Yusuke’s imminent annoyance. Kurama had no desire for the vast amount of them, but it granted him some mirth to witness Yusuke raving about not liking so much pink and purple and not needing all the frills like a girl or Mokuro did! But no matter how many pillows Yusuke chucked out onto the landing, hid in the kitchen or Houskoshin’s study - or viscously tossed over the railing or out the windows, they always found their way back.

Of course, Yusuke didn’t mind the harmless fun as much as he put on that he did.

After removing everything from his way, Kurama had dutifully blasted out the curved wall of the room that was part of the outer wall of the keep. Nothing had brought him more pleasure than to have the fresh air of the desert suddenly rush in after the dust had cleared. It pushed out all the musk, the perfume, the cloying, acrid smell of bodies in close contact, and every other scent that had stuck to the very air of the room.

With Houkoshin and the monketts’ help, he brought in large planes of clear glass. Glass so thick, Yusuke, in theory, could blast it with his reigun and it would remain intact. Mostly. To be safe, Kurama treated it with many layers of his energy before he had the planes placed in the blasted opening, and held in place with stone blocks cut from the other side of the mountain. He’d thought briefly of using different, tougher rock, but decided against it as this matched the rest of the keep and was easy to obtain.

A week, alone, was spent arranging the rock and glass and plastering it all together, then later layering it with demon energy to toughen it, so the circular wall became an open window, which allowed a lot of sunlight in to liven up the room. He left the hole in the base of the wall for the water to leave, and had one of his helpers rebuild the spout that would carry it away from the wall. One of the windows was even removable; it could be propped up against the wall whenever the occupant desired it, to allow fresh air into the room.

The carpeted floor was swept of debris, ripped up, and thrown out, leaving the sturdy rock below clean and untouched. Working with more rock, Kurama made a foot high border around the entire room, five feet away from the wall. The culvert which led the spring water from the wall to the pool in the center of the room was left alone, but the path of the culvert which led the water away from the pool he re-worked, so it now led the water into the border, all around the room, before leaving the Keep at the hole in the wall.

Kurama spent many, loving days filling the space between the border and the wall with fresh, nutrient rich soil taken from a Makai forest close to the keep. He planted seeds and saplings from Makai and Ningenkai both, and left it to the reworked spring to keep them all watered. He left off after that, leaving them - mostly - to grow on their own.

The stone floor of the room was covered with hardwood planks, the cracks between the planks were filled in with rock and the entire surface of the floor was treated with an energy layer. Since the pool was already sunk into the floor, he left it alone, except to sand the edges more smoothly and level with the new floor.

Dusting his hands off, he surveyed the room with pride. Here was a small dojo where Yusuke could spar at his leisure whenever he was too bored or had too much energy to burn. It was a place where he could spar with Kurama or others if he wished, and a place where Kurama could spend time alone with his plants when he needed it.

---

Yusuke returned to his keep in the last afternoon dusty and pleased with himself. The demon Enki had sent him after this time had been a wimp but put up a good fight. In the end, Yusuke hadn’t killed him but dragged him back to Gandara in a messed-up ball for Enki's appraisal. Rope bound his left arm to his right leg, his right arm to his head, leaving his left leg stretched out, used to pull him across Makai. Enki had been quite entertained.

With his battle lust satisfied, all Yusuke wanted was something cold and filling to eat, and to find Kurama so he could take care of another need.

Pushing the main doors in as he entered, Yusuke headed right up to the second floor, and seated himself on a countertop in the kitchen. “Hey Kisuke! Got anything cold!?” He shouted.

Kisuke’s butt emerged first from a cupboard, wiggling, then the rest of the compact man followed with a large mixing bowl - almost the size of his chest - in his arms. Seeing Yusuke, his eyes narrowed and he put the bowl down on another countertop. Snagging a towel from a hook, he swatted at the mazoku deftly. “You’re getting dust all over my preparation counter! Off! OFF!!

*Smack!*

*Smack!*

*Smack!*

“Ow! Hey, I didn't - OW!!” Yusuke scuttled quick-like out of Cook McMad’s reach. “I’m leaving, jeeze! OoWww!!” He howled and held his behind, dancing around the kitchen with the cook in pursuit.

“Hmph. It’s barely lunch time yet.” Kisuke stopped and placed his fists on his hips with the towel. “You want something cold, eh? Lemme think…” He turned around, opened another cupboard and pulled out a book. The book landed with a plop, and he began to flip through it thoughtfully. “Are you hungry or just in a snacking-kind-of-mood?”

“Uh…” Yusuke wandered back apprehensively, ruefully rubbing his rump.

“Ah!” Kisuke snapped the book shut and began pulling more things out of cupboards and fridges.

Yusuke knew better than to ask him what he was planning to make - he’d made up his mind now and Yusuke had better eat it when he was done, or else. Mindful of his sore behind, he instead asked Kisuke what had happened while he was away.

“Oh, Houkoshin’s been about the same, training with the troops in the morning, bright and early, then retreating to his office for the rest of the day doing finances or bills or counting the treasury for all I know or care.” Kisuke took out a deadly looking paring knife and began to chop a celery stick up into tiny cubes. At the same time he’d removed a blender from somewhere above, and began popping things in: a scoop of vanilla ice cream, some sugar, a whole bunch of banana’s, some things Yusuke couldn’t name. “But that fox fellow - you’re lover now, I take it?” He gave Yusuke a sideways look, and the detective blushed. “He’s been working up a storm in the old harem. Don’t think he realizes it’s just a bit to the side above this kitchen.”

“He probably knows.” Yusuke grinned, snagging a celery stick and biting down.

“What was that?”

Yusuke shrugged with the celery poking out the side of his mouth.

“Mmm.” Kisuke lowered the spoon he’d pointed at him and went back to stirring the celery cubes into a mix of tuna fish and mayonnaise. Leaving that, he pulled out a box of pasta and a pot, filled the pot with water and set it on the stove to boil. Then he went back to the blender. Over the noise he continued. “Been blasting and exploding and hammering up there!”

Yusuke was getting interested.

The blender stopped. “Don’t know what he thinks he’s doing, but I suppose this is his keep now, too. Innit?” he gave Yusuke another knowing look.

Yusuke, celery still in his mouth (the strings were caught between his teeth), blushed. Again.

Kisuke went back to his pasta, stirring it into the hot water with a new spoon he probably pulled from his ass. “Unloaded a big cart of dirt here just last week, brought it upstairs in buckets, tracked it all over the floor and up the stairs.”

Yusuke chuckled. Not likely. Maybe a little, but Kurama’s too neat for that. And if he did he woulda cleaned it right up... Suddenly he felt anxious; talking about Kurama not only made him curious as to what the hell the fox was doing to that room - not that he minded in the slightest - but it also made him want to go find him now. He’d been away for a little over a week, after all.

Thinking about how much he missed Kurama only made him remember someone else he missed, but he shook his head and began listening to Kisuke again, who had changed topics somewhere along the way. “So, what did the King want from you this time?” Kisuke drained the water from the pot into a sink, holding the pasta back with the lid, then dumped the soggy mess into a ceramic bowl which he covered and placed in a fridge.

“A demon thief stole a few things from the royal treasury.”

“Ahhh?” Kisuke poured some of the mix from the blender into a cup and took a taste. Shook his head and tossed in three more bananas. He shut up this time while the machine whirred and mixed what looked to Yusuke like baby food. Pouring the smoothie into two separate glasses, he passed one to Yusuke and sipped on his own with a self-satisfied smile. “A few things? You’re not allowed to say, or you never bothered to find out?” They talked while they waited for the pasta, and the smoothies were long gone by the time Kisuke removed the chilled noodles from the fridge, mixed it into the tuna/celery concoction, spooned it onto two clean plates, and passed one to Yusuke, who had at some point resumed his seat on the countertop, with only a raised eyebrow in his direction as punishment.

Kisuke moved back to the fridge, pouring himself and his demon lord a glass of apple juice to wash it all down; then pulled over a chair for himself.

His hunger was no longer as important to Yusuke as it had seemed when he’d first arrived, but he sat and ate and managed to enjoy the cold pasta, while Kisuke chatted away about this and that. He asked Yusuke questions about Makai and the King - he was always enthralled by the idea of a Demon King.

When he had finished, Kisuke whisked his plate away, and Yusuke left to find his elusive mate. He may have Houkoshin posted outside again, but Kurama’ll just have to surprise me with what he has ‘cause this time I intend to get in there.

Kisuke watched the door close behind his Lord, turned, and headed to the massive sink and drain to begin washing up. Nothing ever stays the same much ‘round here.

---

Yusuke took his time walking up the stairs, trailing his hand along the obsidian railing. He was still determined to see what Kurama was up to, but if Kurama wanted him out, and Yusuke barged in uninvited, there would be hell to pay. But of course Yusuke had made up his mind - he was going in. He’d just have to suffer through whatever torture Kurama decided to inflict upon him.

Such was the masterful intellect of the Mazoku Lord.

Reaching the massive, inlaid glass doors - surprised there was no sentry - and wary because of it - Yusuke closed his eyes and pushed his way in.

He knew there would be no beds, no pillows and no curtains - they were all upstairs in his room - but still, the emptiness of the room struck him hard for a moment. He gazed around for a while, not knowing what to think, while taking in the new wood flooring and the huge amount of sunlight coming in and illuminating the newly polished wood. Had those windows always been there? The one time Yusuke had entered this room had been a mistake, but he still remembered how close and stagnant it had seemed. And how many colors! The new, muted yellows and browns were nice on his eyes.

There was still some bright fabric hanging from the ceiling, but only three bolts, two blues of different shades, and one black. They hung thick from where they were secured to the floor just beside the pool in the middle of the room. There, the excessive fabric puddled. If someone wanted to, they could probably pull it so it shielded the pool from view of the door. Interesting…

Growing more relaxed as he looked around, Yusuke observed the water running away from the pool, as it wound its way over to a garden, which bordered the entire room save the doorway. The garden was all black soil, moist and fresh smelling. Sprouts sprang up here and there, and saplings glistened where someone had misted them recently; there were no blooms yet. Yusuke could just imagine, in a few months time, the garden would be overflowing with green. Vines would be crawling up the walls, flowers larger than his head would be blooming everywhere, and Yusuke’s thoughts and observations came to a halt as his eyes landed on his red headed mate kneeling at the edge of the garden, fingers gently patting the soil in firm around a new addition.

One thought stirred just behind his eyes. He’s… so beautiful.

Wearing a white robe embroidered with green and silver plants, Kurama had tied his hair back high up on his head; it spilled down over his shoulders and glinted a rich gold in the light whenever he moved his head. As Yusuke watched, he wiped his cheek, and left behind a smear of dirt.

Kurama finished securing the plant, shaken by its transplantation, and lightly misted it with water from the spray bottle at his side. He left the bottle on the floor as he stood and brushed off the knees of his robe, then men Yusuke’s enamored gaze. “You were supposed to wait for me to show it to you.”

Yusuke opened his mouth for a quick comeback - something witty and stupid. When nothing came out, he closed it quickly. Then, before he’d even thought it, he’d blurted, “I missed you.”

Kurama smiled. “Domestic life doesn’t suit you right now, Yusuke. You need the missions Enki gives you.”

Yusuke was in front of Kurama before the fox had finished. “Yeah but… it’s nice knowing you’re here waiting for me…. You don’t mind, living here with me?”

“Not in the slightest. It was time I settled in somewhere.” He nodded over Yusuke’s shoulder, “Besides, I know how to keep myself occupied. I hope you don’t mind the redecorating.”

Yusuke turned and looked around, and for the first time, he actually saw what his eyes observed. “It’s a dojo?”

“Mmm hmm. And a small garden for myself; I figured since I was already ripping out the floor I might as well make a real project out of it. You can spar here alone, or with me, whenever you feel the urge.” Kurama then nodded to the curtains at the edge of the pool. “And if you don’t like those, feel free to remove them. They were Houkoshin’s idea.”

“Really?” Yusuke walked over to the bolts of fabric and touched them. “They’re not bad or anything; they might get in the way of sparing though… but they're in front of the pool, which I’d have to avoid anyway…. They might as well stay. For now.” Yusuke’s skin quivered and his Mazoku markings grew darker on his skin when, from behind him, he felt a spike of youki. He turned and wasn’t surprised to see Kurama in a battle-ready stance.

Grinning with glistening fangs, Yusuke twisted and widened his stance, curling his hands into fists.

“Yusuke,” Kurama cautioned, “This room is secure, but the walls won’t take a reigun blast at full, or even half strength. Just keep that in mind.”

“So no plants bursting from the floor to immobilize me?”

“No.” Kurama smiled, darted forward, and brought his left arm around in a slashing motion that would have seriously wounded most opponents.

Yusuke blocked, twisted, and grabbed Kurama’s wrist, pulling the fox close. “You only won last time because you cheated.” He tightened his shoulder blade to punch, but before he could, Kurama twisted right out of his grip, continued his turn until he’d flanked Yusuke, and brought his knee sharply into the detective's solar plexus.

As Yusuke crumpled to the floorboards, moaning, Kurama bent and whispered seductively in his ear, “Then this time I’ll just have to beat you without cheating.”

It took a while for Yusuke to resume the fight, Kurama had held himself back, but damn.

Sweaty and breathing hard, they ended up a while later with Yusuke pinned to the floor, Kurama on top of him molesting his neck and shoulders. Yusuke's shirt was somewhere, and Kurama’s robe had loosened around his neck so the collar fell away and left one shoulder bare. Yusuke focused on that even as his eyes rolled up in pleasure. He lifted his hand and stroked it over that pale, smooth roundness. Pressed at it with his thumb and clutched at it when Kurama began to suck in earnest.

Narrow hips gyrated against his, grinding their erections together beneath the coarse fabric.

Still sucking on Yusuke’s neck, Kurama traced his palms down the detective’s chest, tracing over his muscles and massaging gently. Coming to the hem of his jeans, the fox slipped a finger in and popped the button; he drew down the zip and pulled the flaps aside. Reaching in past underwear, he fisted Yusuke’s hard-on and pulled it gently from its confines, pumping it firmly as he nibbled on Yusuke’s neck.

Still pumping, holding down Yusuke’s hips with the rough weight of his body, Kurama nipped his way up over Yusuke’s jaw and kissed him openly on the lips. He took his time, breathing out hotly through his nose and mouth alternatively as his tongue pushed forward to lick at Yusuke’s, his lips slanting down to cover Yusuke’s entire mouth. Yusuke kissed back and grabbed Kurama’s shoulder tighter, his other arm coming around to clutch at the kitsune’s waist, pulling him down so their chests were flush and they could feel each tremor and each hurried breath of the other.

Kurama’s hands were in Yusuke’s hair, grabbing handfuls and twisting almost painfully, his hips pressing down into Yusuke’s, squishing Yusuke’s freed erection and smearing pre-cum between them.

Yusuke had a mind to roll Kurama over and take a more active part in getting rid of all their clothes, but he was enjoy the writhing mass of the fox covering him too much, and before he could work up the desire to do anything but lay there and enjoy, Kurama had pushed off him.

He stood with his legs to either side of Yusuke’s hips, panting with swollen lips and a shoulder rubbed raw, before stepping over Yusuke and walking to the pool. Standing at the edge, he looked over his shoulder at Yusuke, still sprawled on the floor, as he slowly removed his outer robe, then bent to take off his pants.

With the way Kurama was turned away from him, Yusuke had a very nice view of a very tempting ass. He lay there and salivated over the sight, his cock sticking out of his jeans and drooling along with him, and watched as Kurama kicked off his shoes and took a step into the cool water of the pool.

He took another step and the water licked up his thighs.

One more step down and water had sloshed up into the crack of his ass, playing, teasing - and Yusuke was on his feet, struggling to remove his jeans, which clung to his legs like Velcro, threatening to send him to the floor face first. He smartened up enough to let go of the jeans and yank off his runners first, then he tossed the whole mess aside and nearly dove in after Kurama. Kurama moved away from him and Yusuke followed, their mouths met and hands reached for submerged erections.

There were three steps at one end of the pool, but at the other end, which was five feet at it’s deepest, there was just a rock wall. Yusuke pressed Kurama up against it as they fisted and pumped each other, kissing like starving men. Eating each other and tasting with tongues quivering from sensation.

Yusuke pumped his hips rhythmically, slowly, with the movements of Kurama’s hand on him, while at the same time stroking the fox’s sex to the rhythm of the blood pounding in his ears. He stroked down then back up, squeezed the head and pulled back down. Thumbed the vein and moved lower to tease the scrotum, then lower still to finger the pulsing, eager asshole.

Everything seemed to stop as Yusuke’s finger slowly began to push inside and up. They couldn’t keep kissing, what was happening down below was taking all of what remained of their focus. Instead they clutched at each other, eyes closed, panting into each other’s mouths.

When Yusuke’s finger hilted itself at the knuckle, Kurama let out a slow, desperate whine into Yusuke’s mouth, and Yusuke lost it. Removing his finger, he wrapped his arms around Kurama’s middle, and with a heave - and a squeak from Kurama - pulled the fox from the water, landed him on the edge of the pool, pushed his knees back, and began rimming his mate with gusto.

Kurama, ready to push back and make his way back into the cool pool, suddenly stopped any and all efforts to that end when Yusuke’s wet tongue swiped across his opening, and suddenly pushed inside. His body, almost without conscious effort, lay back along the floorboards and pulled his knees back further towards his head.

He bit his lip when Yusuke replaced the finger he’d previously removed, and used it to stretch Kurama wider for his tongue, which he thrust in and out, the slippery muscle touching Kurama and rubbing him and driving him hotter. He panted and started to moan. He reached for his erection but Yusuke slapped his hand away absently, still thrusting and licking at his ass.

“Yusuke…” Kurama panted, arms up around his head, tangling in hair come loose from its tie. “Yusuke, I can’t…”

Spurred on by the rasp in Kurama’s voice, Yusuke pushed in another finger alongside his tongue and began to scissor inside as he licked the sensitive skin lining the opening. Kurama was wet inside, slippery; he could just imagine that tightness, now clutching his fingers, clutching his dick instead. It would pulse around him, hot and tight and wet. Yusuke’s other hand found his cock beneath the surface of the pool, and jerked himself mindlessly as he licked and fingered Kurama’s ass.

Adding another finger so he was pushing three in and out of the fox in tandem, Yusuke sucked on the skin just above Kurama’s swollen pucker, and slowly began to lick and nip his way back to the scrotum, pausing on his way to tongue the sensitive flesh in between, laving it roguishly. He sucked the scrotum into his mouth and swallowed his own opulence of spit drunkenly, as a fourth finger slowly found its way inside Kurama and began to thrust with the others.

“Yusukeeeee!” Kurama moaned and thrashed as one of Yusuke’s fingers found that nub within him, and began to rub it slowly, firmly. “If you don’t fuck me now, I’ll - AHHnnnn!!!”

Yusuke released Kurama's sac and went down on the fox without preamble. Swallowed him halfway, his tongue rubbing harshly up and down, his fingers thrusting, and Kurama jerked and came in his mouth. His legs quivered and his hands clutched in his hair, as stream after stream of thick ejaculate coated Yusuke’s mouth and throat.

Yusuke’s hips thrust into his hand beneath the water, but he held himself back, swallowing all of Kurama’s cum as he continued to finger fuck him past oblivion. When Kurama had stopped trembling, Yusuke released him and pulled himself up onto the floor. Dripping water, Yusuke rolled Kurama around until he had Kurama’s legs wrapped around his waist.

The fox's eyes fluttered open in time to see the detective coming, before hot lips descended on his own. He kissed back willingly, tasting himself in Yusuke as he sucked on the detective’s overused and abused tongue. He felt Yusuke’s dick prodding at his hyper-sensitized ass and shifted so his back and shoulder blades rested more comfortably on the smooth wood and stone of the floor.

Untangling his hands from his own hair, Kurama swung them up and around Yusuke’s neck and pulled him even closer, feeling Yusuke’s hips press forward, and slowly Yusuke began to sheath himself inside. Kurama keened, but it was nothing to the sound Yusuke made as he slid home. A deep moan, sounding as if it were being pulled from him forcefully, worked its way up from deep in Yusuke’s throat, and the detective broke their kiss so his could slump over Kurama and concentrate on breathing. Chest heaved against chest.

“Fuck, ‘Rama. Were you always this tight?” His voice came out embarrassingly high-pitched.

Breathing shallowly, doing his best to remain relaxed and open, stroking his hands through Yusuke’s sweat dampened hair, Kurama whispered in his ear. “Only when I know I’m about to have you inside.”

“Ohnnn.”

Skin slapping wet skin, Yusuke fucked Kurama beside the pool until the sunlight slanting in through the large bay windows of the dojo had faded, and the room had darkened considerably.

Kurama eventually coaxed Yusuke back into the pool, and together they managed to wash each other, sensuously running hands over flushed cheeks and rubbing out any remaining tenseness in backs and arms and legs. They kissed languidly and somehow made it back upstairs and spooned beneath the covers. It might have worried Yusuke that it was all terribly mushy, but he didn’t give a shit.

---

The months passed.

Houkoshin and every other occupant of the Keep noticed the changes taking place in their Lord, and adjusted to them as they came. Yusuke spent his days sparring and occasionally running. About once or twice a month, a messenger from Enki came calling with a summons or a letter for Yusuke - he never turned them down. Most missions took him an afternoon to complete, but some took him weeks or a month. The longer the mission, the longer he and Kurama would go at it when he finally returned.

Kurama filled his days with gardening, training, and daily duties around the Keep with Houkoshin. He visited with the Monketts and Kisuke, helped the cook prepare meals occasionally, and generally got to know everyone pretty well. He visited Enki and Youmi in Gandara to keep himself current with Makai events, and he even took it upon himself to visit Mokuro once and see how the demon she’d adopted was faring. The demon, and Mokuro, were fine.

Hiei had not been around, though Kurama hadn’t expected him to be.

When Yusuke was not on a mission, he spent his nights with Kurama. Either he spooned up to the fox, or the other way around, or one of them draped across the other. Yusuke never dreamed - good or bad - even when he was away on a mission.

Yusuke’s favorite pastime became returning from a mission tired and sweaty, to soak in the pool in the center of the dojo. He’d lounge there and watch Kurama exercise, train, or tend to his plants, which were swiftly taking over the walls and rafters. Watching Kurama do Yoga was especially nice.

They sparred often.

Although fights with Kurama were always more foreplay than fight - they always ended up having sex in one position or another - neither felt it a wasted effort.

---

“I’m planning to go visit my mother.” Kurama said.

Yusuke grew noticeably still, his breathing went silent, his limbs tensed, and his eyes glazed. Slowly, he parted his lips enough to speak, “In… Human world?”

“Of course.”

“…You... want me to tag along?”

Kurama smiled and forced his mate to look at him. “No. I want you to return when you’re ready - this is a mother/son only visit. I’ve neglected her lately, what with Kaname and you and moving in.” He smiled at Yusuke’s blush. “I’ll only be gone a few days, a week at the most.”

“You don’t know?”

“You’ll be fine.”

---

He’d been away before on missions for Enki, all the time. And Kurama being away this time didn’t scare or aggravate him it just… unsettled him a little, knowing that it wasn’t Kurama’s absence that bothered him, but that because of where his mate was, he was hesitant to follow.

Him, Yusuke - bad-ass delinquent, half-breed Mazoku with a tough lush for a mother and a demon-king-ancestor-father - was still hesitant to return to ningenkai.

Scratch hesitant: He was fuckin’ terrified.

Maybe not as much as he’d once been, but still…

Fuck he was messed up.

Kurama had only been gone for an hour.

Yusuke stomped down the hall, doing the only thing he knew how to do - turning his confusion into anger. His eyes were furious when they lit on anything that breathed, and that anything was quick in making itself disappear. Which didn’t help Yusuke’s steadily growing temper in the least.

After he’d made a rut stomping circles around the main and second floors, he realized there were only a few things he could do that would take his mind off Kurama, and he needed to choose fast before he winded up running again because fuck if he would not allow Kurama to come back to that

So he headed for the dojo.

He had intended to train, perhaps do a few exercises. Take a soak and…. He knew inevitably he’d end up lying in the dirt in Kurama’s garden, beneath the giant leaves of one of the crocuses, staring up at the blooms shielding the sunlight from his eyes, while he thought about Kurama until he was almost ready to convince himself to follow, even though Kurama had told him that this time it wasn’t necessary. That Kurama was visiting his mother and Yusuke’s presence at this point wasn’t even welcome. He was telling himself all this, when he pushed in the doors of the dojo, and stood there braced against them, staring, looking like the freshest idiot who’d just washed up on shore.

Hovering above the pool, Jin was talking in rapid-fire unicorn-ese with Toya, who was sitting on a small patch of frozen water in the center of the pool. Rinku and Suzuka were sparring companionably, but it looked like it was starting to get personal, especially when Rinku started using underhanded tactics such as pulling Suzuka’s beautiful hair. Searching the room for Chu, Yusuke spotted Shishi, in his imp form, lounging in the higher boughs of one of Kurama’s trees. The drunkard was not in the room.

“Chu couldn’t make it.” Toya addressed him from the pool. “But he left a message-“

“Yeah!” Jin attempted to imitate Chu’s gruff accent: “Next tournament, you and me’s gonna’ rattle the stadium, Urameshi! Ahahaha!”

Yusuke laughed with them and kicked the doors shut behind him. “Yeah, that sounds like the big idiot - lemme guess… drinking?”

Rinku laughed, dodging an indignant swipe from Suzuka, and bounced over. “Yeah. He’s on his ‘one-month bender.’ He does it every few years or so, just drinks and pee’s. All day long!”

“Really? And what about you guys? This a high school reunion?”

“No, silly.” Rinku laughed and hung himself over Yusuke’s shoulder. “Kurama came and told us you might be lonely when he left, said it might be nice if we all showed up and distracted you with a few fights.”

“Idiot!” Suzuka appeared behind Rinku and bopped him one smartly on the head. “He didn’t say it like that!”

“Owwwwie!!!” Rinku slid to the floor and held the bump on his head through his hat, staring up at Suzuku with a hurt puppy-dog look, which seemed to work on The Beautiful Suzuka, who looked away guiltily. Satisfied, Rinku turned his eyes to his other teammates. “But that’s what he meant! Right Toya? Am I right?”

Unaffected by the pouting eyes, Toya closed his eyes and answered, “Yes, Rinku, that is what Kurama meant. But you should be more tactful.”

“Tactful of what?”

“Of saying all that mushy stuff.” Jin, grin reaching his pointed ears, zoomed over. “Look at poor Urameshi here, he’s gone and got red all over. Apologize to him you should. Ahahaha!”

Before Yusuke could start knocking heads, Jin, still laughing, left Rinku confused and flew right up to Yusuke, ears perky and grin as big as you please. “But who cares how we got here or why. I say we get to the fightin’ so we can show ‘em a thing’r two in the next tournament. And maybe I’ll finally get to go a round with ya, Yusuke, and whoo weee we’ll make it a fight for all to remember!”

“Alright, Jin.” Yusuke laughed. “But I’m thinkin’ you and me should take it outside; Kurama’ll have my head if we trash this room.”

“That’s not all he’d have.”

Yusuke went red again, and everyone glared at Shishi, who fanned himself nonchalantly with a leaf.

After chasing Shihi around the dojo - which was difficult to do because the imp stayed craftily within the budding young foliage, which Yusuke was loath to disturb, let alone destroy - Yusuke eventually gave up and led the way outside.

Toya followed dutifully, and Rinku and Jin, of course, but Suzuka remained behind to -hopefully - talk some manners into Shihi. And then beat them in, best-case scenario.

“Alright! How ya wanna do this, Jin!?” Yusuke shouted over to the floating red-head. Fists ready, heart already pumping blood vigorously, eagerly, throughout his system.

“Don’ matter ta’ me none, Urameshi. Let’s just get to the fightin’-”

“Dark Tournament rules!” Toya shouted from the sidelines. "First to stay down for ten counts looses!”

“Why-the-hell not!” Yusuke laughed cockily, his energy rising as his fists clenched in over-eager anticipation. Oh yeah, this would be great!

“Agreed to be fighting Urameshi with a ten count!”

As the two combatants readied themselves, air swirling and feet shifting on the gritty sand, Rinku cupped his hands around his mouth and reminded them both dutifully, “Just don’t kill each other! Okay!?”

“FIGHT!” Toya yelled and snagged Rinku beneath the arms. He pulled the smaller demon back, and didn’t put him down again until they were both within ten feet of the entrance to the keep - well away from the fight.

“Raaaaaaaaaaaaa!!!” Yusuke charged with his fist pulled back; he swung and Jin shot backwards then straight up.

And up.

And up…

Yusuke back peddled and shielded his eyes from the noon sun with his arm, trying to keep the youkai in sight.

Jin didn’t stay up for long. Within moments he was plummeting straight for Yusuke, Tornado Fists first.
Planting his heels, Yusuke sucked in air and readied himself for impact.

Yusuke deflected the first whirlwind with a deft swipe of his arm, narrowly avoiding loosing said arm. In the same movement, he ducked under the twister he’d deflected and twisted around behind the demon. He continued to twist, bringing his arm back in another slashing motion, aiming for Jin’s lower back, but Jin powered himself back into the sky before Yusuke could connect.

Yusuke’s spin ended with him face first in the sand.

Rising, coughing, Yusuke wiped sand from his mouth and turned back to the sky. Again shielding his eyes from the sun, Yusuke leveled his index finger at the tiny dot that was Jin, charged, and fired.

Red youki shot up fast.

Far, far above, Jin dodged. “Whooo, forgotten how fast those were…”

“Haaaaaa!!!” Yusuke fired off another blast, and Jin flew out of the way. “Dammit! Stand still - or float… still… - or whatever.”

Again and again, Yusuke’s youki blew past Jin at varying degrees of near misses.

When he fired off a reiki blast, Jin was ready.

Eyes bright and ears perky, Jin twisted his right arm in circles, faster and faster, and met Yusuke’s blast with his tornado, deflecting it back at the detective.

Yusuke had the decency to look mildly shocked, right before his own blast consumed him.

From the sidelines Toya and Rinku watched the blast decimate the ground, firing sand in all directions. Blue obscured their vision, and the wind pummeled their hair; for long moments, they couldn’t see anything but sand and remnants of swirling energy.

“You think he meant to make it that big?” Rinku asked after a coughing fit had subsided.

“I doubt it.” As the dust cleared, Toya, spotting Yusuke’s pancake form, began the count.

By four, Yusuke’s arm moved and began to push the former tantei back up. By six, he had already engaged Jin in a deadly fistfight; arms moving so fast that the combatants - to an unskilled eye - looked not to be moving at all.

Barely managing to block each of Yusuke’s fists, Jin took the first opportunity for escape. He headed for the clouds above, his palms stinging.

“This could go on for a while.” Rinku sat down with a flop, bored.

“That was kind of the point, Rin-“ Toya stopped, catching a glimpse from the corner of his eye of something out of place. Rinku didn’t notice; he’d already stopped listening. Houkoshin stood in the shelter of the keep’s shadow, watching the fight, a tear rolling steadily down his cheek to the proud smile below.

Toya turned back to the fight, smiling.

When Jin next came down, Yusuke was ready for him. Powering up, he ducked under the twisters and planted a fist smartly in Jin’s chest. The wind left the wind-master quite abruptly and Jin just barely managed to fly out of range of Yusuke’s follow up combo; his twisters blew themselves out.

“I don’t think so!” Yusuke snagged Jin’s foot at the last moment, and pulled.

“What in th’ blue - AHHHH!!!”

THUMP!

Yusuke stood over Jin and grinned, panting. “Finally found a way to keep you grounded!”

Jin threw his arms over his head. Yusuke stepped back, but still felt the foot connect with his chin when Jin flipped up off the ground, landing with feet splayed and fists ready.

“Fuck.” Yusuke groaned and rubbed his chin.

“Tornado FIST!!”

Yusuke’s eyes snapped up and the hand that was rubbing his chin flew out to defend himself. It was a clumsy block. When Jin's fist connected with his forearm the shock reverberated straight to Yusuke's shoulder, but that was the least of his concerns.

Following his first attack, Jin swung up his other arm and punched his twister right into Yusuke’s gut. Yusuke lost the use of his arm and his footing all at once and hit the ground hard.

“Oww…”

Jin, confidant, wasn’t prepared for Yusuke to suddenly sit up and - with his butt still planted firmly in the sand - level his arm at Jin, index finger straight.

Jin took the blast full frontal and slid back staggeringly fast. He flew across the sand, landed heavily on his back and kept on sliding. He got to his feet half a mile away and began coughing and choking around the sand congealed in his throat, to gales of laughter and hearty gawking from the detective; who, hands on his hips, head tilted to the sky, looked the picture of self-approval.

A few hours later, Rinku was spread eagle sleeping on his back, the heated sand beneath him and sun above keeping him warm. A bubble of snot grew and shrunk and grew from his nose as he breathed.

Houkoshin was still there; Shihi and Suzuka had yet to join them.

Yusuke was currently on his back in a depression six feet deep, warding off Jin’s attacks; Jin was sweating for them - Toya could see that even from this distance - whereas Yusuke was still grinning, blocking each of Jin’s punches as if he’d seen them coming last week. The detective was so happy; it was bleeding out of him in waves.

Yusuke finally caught an opening, but before he could take it, Jin hastily retreated.

Leaping out of the depression, Yusuke wiped blood from his forehead and cocked his head at his sparing partner. "You gettin’ tired, Jin?"

“Not a bit! Ready for the next round Jin is!” He pulled his arms out to his sides, like helicopter blades, and began to rotate them laboriously in tandem.

“Huh!?” Rinku shot up into a seated position, blinking sleep away, the dim sunlight disorienting him.

“They’re still fighting, Rinku.” Toya informed him without glancing down.

“Oh.” And Rinku flopped back, asleep before his head hit the sand

Jin, of course, was bluffing. Four hours - four straight hours fighting were beginning to show in the black ridges beneath his eyes, and in the shallow set of his shoulders.

Nearing complete exhaustion himself, Yusuke - having avoided the most direct of attacks to help prolong the fight - brought his fists up and readied himself for something more serious. Spitting a wad of congealed blood from his mouth, he took the old, familiar stance of his former master and began to power up. He liked how it felt when his energy built up, getting ready. It warmed him, throbbing within him just beneath his skin, begging to be loosed on an enemy, but holding back, just barely - quivering - until Yusuke was ready.

“Yeh aren’t gonna get me th’ way you did last time, Urameshi. I know that stance, ready for it I am!” Jin called, whipping his arms faster.

“Then bring it!” Yusuke’s hair was standing up all over his arms; the hair on his head snapped in its own thermal breeze, smacking his back as if it hated the tie Yusuke had bound it with and would tear itself loose at any minute. The markings across his chest, up his arms and beneath his eyes were black against his skin; his eyes were bright; his lips pulled back savagely over his fangs.

Jin ran at him, air swirling violently. “Tornaaadooo FISTS!!”

Yusuke twisted his feet, hearing the sand crunch, affirming his purchase.

Fist met palm and for a moment both fought for dominance. Then Jin swung up his other twister, aiming for Yusuke’s face. It was too high to catch.

Gripping Jin's first fist firmly in his hand, Yusuke pulled his head back, away from the second attack. The fist swung on by, clipping Yusuke’s neck dangerously. Blood welled and began to dribble down his bare chest, soaking darkly into his jeans, but Jin’s fist - powered by momentum and desperation - kept going.

Jin twisted around with his arm, and his other fist was ripped from Yusuke’s grip by one part strength and one part sheer surprised Yusuke. But before Jin had turned around fully, Yusuke had recovered; falling, he pivoted and swiped out Jin’s feet from beneath him, effectively ending the spin, landing the wind youkai heavily on his back.

Jin cracked his eyes open blearily and flinched at the sight of Yusuke standing over him, blotting out the sun, his fist pulled back.

Energy crackled around Yusuke's fist - blue energy. "SPIRIT-"

Jin blew out the air he'd inadvertently lodged in his lungs. Oh, this isn't going to be nothing good for you, Jin. Quickly, he called to the wind to for help.

"-WAVE!!!" Yusuke's fist powered down, aiming straight for Jin's head; it all happened at once. The fist stopped mere inches from connecting with Jin's forehead. The energy crackled, and Yusuke's reserves of reiki came spilling out in a V-like blast, which would have consumed Jin entirely; he might not have survived.

The attack instead met a sudden up-surge of wind, and the conflicting energy's decided immediately that they were not going to get along.

With a furious BOOM Yusuke was thrown one way and Jin another. Blue energy blasted out in all directions, but mostly up, following the not-so-subtle urgings of the wind.

"Whazzat!?" Rinku jerked awake and up, looking around quickly.

"It's a draw." Toya said calmly from above him.

"Whaaa?" Rinku blinked, trying to wake up so he could understand what the ice master was going on about. He looked out to the desert and all he could see was swirling sand and dark clouds of smoke. Above, the remnants of Yusuke's attack were swirling angrily and slowly beginning to dissolve into the air.

It took a very long time for the air to completely clear. Eventually, as the blue sky began to show through the dust clouds, those watching from the side could make out blurry forms of the two combatants lying prone ten feet in opposite directions from the initial blast-point.

Rinku sat up straighter, Toya's eyebrows arched, but only Houkoshin looked truly anxious.

After a moment, it began to look as though Yusuke's body was twitching slightly. Looking closer, it became clear he was cracking up, and trying not to do it too forcefully because it was hurting his chest to move it too much.

Toya shook his head.

Jin was laughing too, his arms and legs shaking as he tried, and failed, to hold it in.

All the way over at the keep, the others could hear Yusuke shout, "Man, Jin, you keep pulling stupid stunts like that and we're both going to wind up dead some day!"

"Not unless you kill us first, Urameshi, with that technique you be getting from the Master Genkai!"

"I LIKE that technique, the only one it doesn't work on is YOU! …And Kurama… and Hiei would never let me get close enough…"

"That's because I be the better fighter, Urameshi!"
"HA! In your wet dreams! I could beat you if I didn't TRY!"

"You were tryin', Uramehsi! The sweat on yer brow was proof to the positive!"

"Bullshit! It's all down to my good acting!"

"If yer fighting is comparable to yer acting, it's no wonder ye lost!"

During all this, the two had somehow managed to flip onto their stomachs and belly-crawl their way across the sand towards each other. They ignored the sand-burns on their flayed and tender skin, and clasped hands with mighty grins plastered to their faces.

"I didn't lose, we landed at the same time and I'm still conscious."

"It's a ten-count, Urameshi, you've been down past sixty."

"So were you!"

"Aye, then I guess we be needing to settle this in a different way."

"Yeah? What've you got in mind?"

"Ever arm-wrestled?" Jin propped up his right arm.

"You're joking! Humans arm-wrestle all the time!" Yusuke's hand tightened against Jin's palm; he could feel Jin's doing the same.

"On the three count then, one…"

They were both battered with red and black splotches all over. Yusuke's forehead was gashed open and bleeding heavily down one side of his face. Jin's left leg was bruised and cut up pretty badly. They were both tired and breathing heavily, covered in sand and gritty in places best left unmentioned.

"Two…" Yusuke's grin grew wider.

"Three." They said together, and their bodies slumped sideways, their hands still clasped together with their elbows bracing them up. They were snoring by the time Toya and the others made it to them.

---

"C'mon, Urameshi!" Rinku slapped Yusuke's cheek again, Yusuke's head just lolled the other way. Rinku sat back on his haunches. "It's no use; he's out." He told the others ruefully. He slapped Yusuke again just in case.

"Get up, so's I say… Mmm…" Jin mumbled, chin to his chest, arm slung over Toya's shoulder. Toya looked down at Jin, and gripped the wind youkai firmer to keep him from sliding back down. "Jin's not quite awake yet, either. We should move them inside."

"I'll carry Yusuke!" Rinku offered, but Houkoshin's arms came around the small youkai and lifted Yusuke effortlessly over him. Holding his lord carefully, Houkoshin turned back to the keep. "They can soak in the spring in the dojo, once they wake up; minerals carried with the water from the mountain make it very good for the body."

With Rinku bounding around them excitedly, asking for the details of the fight he'd missed, Toya and Houkoshin carried and dragged Yusuke and Jin respectively across the threshold and up to the third floor.

Still bouncing, Rinku pushed the door to the dojo open and stopped dead. "Uh…" He tried to close the door, but Houkoshin wouldn't let him, instead striding past into the dojo with care only for his lord. That is, until he caught sight of the spring.

Toya came in with Jin slumped limply into his side, and said, "Oh…" He could have done many things - shout? He decided to stare disapprovingly.

"Seriously, you two, don't make a mess… Kurama just made this…" Yusuke mumbled from Houkoshin's arms.

Rinku cracked up laughing, and Houkoshin flushed an almighty shade of purple.

Shishiwakamaru was dressed and hidden back within the plants in his imp form instantly, and Suzuka, left on his back, pulled up his trousers just as quickly. "Uh… I… got him to come out?"

"Didn't think Shishi was getting any. Good for him." Yusuke's voice broke Houkoshin from his shock, and the vassal turned and removed them from the vicinity. Yusuke could get refreshed once he'd awakened.

---

With Jin and Yusuke snoring upstairs, bandaged and sponge-bathed, the others were left to their own devices. Houkoshin returned to his own business, and Rinku and Suzuka went about finishing their fight from that morning. Kisuke showed up with iced tea for them all, and though the taste was foreign, it didn't stop Shishi from attempting to smuggle off the pitcher - and received a very firm thwack for his efforts.

In the morning, Yusuke woke to find Jin snoring on the floor beside his bed; he grinned and chucked over a pillow. Later in the day, after a refreshing soak and freshly applied bandages, Yusuke sparred lightly with Toya until his limbs began to seriously question his authority to command them. He spent the rest of the day keeping Shishi away from his iced tea, and watching the others fight.

They all had to leave eventually though, and Yusuke clasped hands with Jin, still leaning heavily on Toya, and demanded another match just as soon as they were both up to it.

Yusuke spent the rest of the day moping.

He was sad to see them all go of course, he’d even invited them to stay on a few days, but they all had various places to be and various things to do. They had promised to stop by again, and next time, for a prolonged period. That, as well as the adrenalin still coursing through him from his and Jin’s fight, kept him in a decent mood even as the loneliness started to creep back.

Thinking about the fight brought a smile as he lay on his belly in front of the dojo pool half a week later, running his arm back and forth through the crystal clear water, mostly bored and very lonely.

He’d sure made some weird friends since becoming a spirit detective, Jin, Chu … Kuwabara. Damn, he missed the big oaf.

Yusuke exhaled heavily and lay his head down on his arm, watching his fingers ripple beneath the water. He missed them all.

He missed Kurama.

Inhaling, his breath caught in his throat, and he exhaled quickly so he could sniff it back in again. What the hell is that? It was a new scent, kind of… burnt, like wood smoke, but kind of addictive, like the smell of gasoline. He breathed in again - out again - in again and again. So good… like… It was then he noticed his heart was thudding in his chest, pumping blood fast straight down to his groin. Oh hell...

It was damn good smelling, seriously addictive, and…. Wait a minute… He took another breath as he subconsciously began to rub himself against the floorboards, and memory caught up to scent, he sat up and turned to look behind him.

Hiei stood behind him, in front of the shut glass doors. I didn’t even hear him come in.

He stood straight, defiant.

He stood like Hiei.

But there was a look in his eyes that told Yusuke that should he make the wrong move, the Koorime would be gone faster than Kisuke’s meals.

“Hey, Hiei. How’re the patrols coming?” Yusuke managed to squeak out.

“Hn.” The fire demon visibly relaxed and began to walk towards the detective. "Two more humans managed to get lost on the border. What a pain.” His voice was deeper than usual, kind of strained.

Yusuke inhaled again; his groin tightened. "Hiei? …”

The smell intensified, causing Yusuke’s eyes to dilate, and his nostrils flared, trying to smell deeper.

Slowly, Hiei came closer. Walking purposefully but shakily - almost like the bones in his legs had taken a vacation and left him behind - the muscles alone keeping him steady. He came closer and closer and Yusuke swiveled on his butt so he could face him more fully. But Hiei didn’t stop when he was a couple feet away, he didn’t stop when Yusuke’s vision was obscured by the cloth-covered bulge at his groin, he didn’t stop until Yusuke’s hands shot out and grabbed him behind the knees. making him stop lest he toppled the both of them backwards into the pool.

Yusuke clutched at the Koorime’s knees, his nose squashed into Hiei’s crotch. His fingers spasmed as he inhaled and his eyes rolled. Oh fuck! That smell! He nuzzled deeper into Hiei, breathing deeper, trying to inhale and inhale and never again breathe out.

Above him Hiei mewled - fuckin’ mewled - and Yusuke lost it. He pulled on the knees he was already clutching and tipped Hiei backward onto the dojo floor.

-TBC

* So... I had to share this - this is what beta's are for: Before Amymcclair got to it, "The Lord still prefers human meals." was originally: "The lord still prefers human males." I misplaced the letter 'e' - that's it! -Completely changed the meaning of that paragraph! Oh dear Christ. I died laughing.

A/N: Don't kill me for the cliffhanger! I swear it wasn't my fault! It was… it was the grapefruit's fault! Really!!! BLAME THE GRAPEFRUIT!! *Hides in the dryer.*

Status updates can be found at my Live Journal.


REVIEWER RECOGNITION!!!


DuosAngel
I'm so happy I could write a story you find worth re-reading! *Hugs*

Lady Laran
Very smart, I’ve been wondering that myself. ~-^

angel kitty
Thank you so much for all your bubbly comments, they keep me writing!

Kitsune
I suck at the whole 'posting soon' thing, but for you, I shall try harder! No, really, I will!

yaoihentai69
Heh, the beetle. Yeah…

Tellnoone_Noonetells
Raindrop sounds cool, let's go with that one. :D
And… *Meep* I'm trying to update quick…

BlueUtopiah
You make me blush so bad. Would you believe I never had any intention of Kurama flinging Yusuke into that spring? It kinda just happened. I was laughing so hard when the idea popped into my head, I wasn't going to put it in - but then I was all, what the hell. And I've always wanted to see Yusuke and Kurama spar…

kanezu
Thank you!

frizdirection
I'm glad it came out alright, sometimes I blush so bad when I re-read my own stuff…

kit-kit
You, my dear, were my 100th review for this fic. I love you so much for all your support and awesomeness! *Hug*

RugbyGod
I am SO sorry! It seems to be my fate to be crap at updating… But thank you for sticking with, all the same!

Crim
Wow… Thank you so much for that review. That just… that made my night.

kokagi
Making you see it as if you were there is my job as a writer, m'dear. I'm just glad I managed to pull it off. :D

daliria
Thank you so much! And neither can I.

Gemhar
Oh christ, I know. *Shamed* If it's any consolation, I refuse to ever abandon it, even if it takes me forever to finish it?

- Azalea J.