A Different Version

A.N. Okay, here's chapter two! Let me know what you think, okay?

WARNING: This chapter contains an adult situation, slight angst, and my pathetic attempt at humor. It is also un-beta'd.

Part 2


Kurama practically purred at the warmth surrounding him. He was so comfortable, that the thought of getting out of bed was horribly repulsive, and he quickly squashed the thought. Sighing contentedly, he snuggled deeper into the bedding, then winced. Something niggled at the edge of his memory, something about last night. Let’s see; he was dragged to Yusuke’s house, said demon comforted him, then mentioned that there was only one bed in the apartment. Only one bed… Kurama snapped into awareness as he realized he was sharing a bed with what most demons considered the physical incarnation of power. Said demon had both strong, drool-worthy arms around the noticeably more slender body of the redhead, pinning his arms to his sides. His back was flat against a sculpted chest, and his legs were tangled with a muscled pair clad in sweats. The breeze ghosting across his neck confirmed that Yusuke’s face was buried in his silky soft red hair.

All of that was nothing, though, in comparison to the hard-on poking his backside. Kurama felt the blood rushing to his face, and tried to wriggle away. The arms around him tightened their grip, forcing his back and hips to mould with the demons’ behind him. When he tried again to move away, one of the hands moved much lower than his ribs and buried itself in his crotch. Kurama was mortified when his body began to respond, and his length began to grow hard in the toushin’s grasp, even through the pants he wore. He was sure that not only was his face a brilliant shade of red, but his ears and neck as well, and was faintly surprised that Yusuke wasn’t burned by the heat he had to be feeling from the position he was in.

Trapped as he was, the only thing he could do was wonder how to wake up the Demon Lord without getting his limbs torn off. Yusuke was notorious through the Makai for not being a morning person, and only those who placed no value on their lives would even attempt it.

Kurama squeaked as Yusuke mumbled something into his hair, and started grinding his hips into the redhead. The grip on his manhood became tighter, bordering on the edge of pain, causing him to try to escape once again. When Yusuke growled wordlessly in his sleep, the redhead finally found the courage to use his voice, though the words were not quite what he intended to say. “Master, please…” the growl behind him deepened, but the hips stopped moving. Finally, when Kurama refused to lie still, the Demon Lord awoke enough to speak. “The Hell time is it?”

“Morning, master. Beyond that, I do not know.” His voice bordered on whimpering. Yusuke didn’t move for a moment, then he pushed himself into a half-sitting position, peering through bleary eyes over the redheads’ shoulder. It took all of two seconds to connect the blush on Kurama’s face to hand buried between his legs, and he reacted immediately. Kurama found himself freed and Yusuke on the other side of the bed, wide-awake and stammering apologies, which confused him greatly. As the slave in this relationship, shouldn’t he be the one to apologize for waking up his master, and not the master for having his way (albeit without realizing it) with his slave? As his hard-on began to fade, he struggled to find the words he wanted to ask.

“Why are you sorry, Master? I-” he choked, then pushed on. “I belong to you now.”
Yusuke swallowed. “I’m a lot of things, Kurama, but I’m not a rapist. If you’re not willing, then it’s not worth the effort. I’ve got my honor. Besides, I…” he took a deep breath. “I need to ask you for a favor.” His face had taken on a hopeful expression. Kurama felt himself tense.

“What sort of favor?” he asked.

“Can you cook?” whatever the redhead had been expecting, it wasn’t that. He would have face vaulted had this been an anime. “I-I beg your pardon?”

“Can you cook? ‘Cause you see… I can’t. I mean, I can make simple things, like eggs and ramen, but anything more complicated than that, and things get messy.”

Kurama just stared at him. Was he for real? Suddenly, he knew how Alice must have felt in her journeys through Wonderland. “Yes, I can cook. But what do you mean, ‘thing get messy’?”

“Once I tried to make that boxed macaroni and cheese the Americans like so much, and I managed to get the water boiling alright, but when I poured the noodles in, they caught fire.”

“…. I’m afraid I don’t understand. You poured them into the water, correct?”
“Yeah, and once they hit the water, the noodles burst into flames.” Yusuke looked a little sheepish at the expression Kurama was directing at him. The redhead looked like he was torn between fear, pain, amazement, and frustration. “And have you tried to make anything else?”

“Well… once, I really wanted bacon, but it froze to the pan while I was frying it.”

“……….. It froze to the pan.”

“Yeah, even though I had the stove going full blast, it wouldn’t start cooking. When I finally put the pan in the sink, I saw that the bacon had frozen to the pan. No matter how hard I scrubbed at it, the bacon wouldn’t come off. I had to throw the pan away.” Kurama placed his face in his hands, trying to hold in a whimper, which worried Yusuke slightly.

“Kurama? Are you okay?” with startling swiftness, the redhead pulled himself together, and his head out of his hands. “Yes, I’m fine. Let’s go see about breakfast, okay?” the grin on the Demon Lord’s face as he bounced out of the room brought a small smile to Kurama’s.

Once in the kitchen, Kurama found that, after a through examination of the cupboards and fridge, breakfast would have to be delayed. “Yusuke, all you have is instant ramen, and half a carton of milk. You’ll need more than this to have a decent meal.” He sighed. “I guess we’ll just have to go shopping. And I’ll have to stop by my den.”

Yusuke narrowed his eyes slightly. “Why would we need to stop there?” inwardly, he tried to remember what the word ‘den’ meant.

“Well, I can’t keep wearing your clothes all the time, can I? I need some things that fit, should you decide to take me out into public.” It was true, the only set of clothes that Kurama had with him was the set he was arrested in, and he’d been wearing them for a week. Right now, he was wearing a pair of drawstring pants and a tank top that were a few sizes too large for him. The Toushin winced at the remark, then relaxed. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. Okay, I’ll see if I can find some of my old stuff for you to wear. You make a list of everything we’re going to need from the store.” Yusuke wandered back into the bedroom, mumbling to himself. Blinking, and not quite sure what had happened, Kurama turned and automatically began to search for some paper and a pen.



Two hours later, Yusuke and Kurama had just finished eating breakfast at a small diner near the apartment, and were now making their way past the edge of the city, where the forest lay, and where Kurama had hidden his den. The Toushin carried an empty duffel bag over his shoulder as he followed the redhead, allowing himself to admire the way Kurama’s hips swayed gently from side to side as he walked. He figured that ‘looking’ was not ‘touching’, and that as long as he wasn’t caught, everything would be fine.

Kurama, however, had his lower lip firmly between his teeth, worrying it as he walked. He knew that Yusuke would have a slew of questions about his living arrangements, many of which he was not willing to answer. Especially as it would mean that he would have to talk about his mother…

“Hey, Kurama, how much farther is it?” his master’s voice brought him back to
reality, and he was grateful for it. “Not too much farther. Do you see that giant willow?” he pointed ahead, and Yusuke gave his affirmative. “It’s right there.”

“You live in a tree!?”

Kurama laughed at the tone. “Not quite.”


The willow tree and been standing for centuries, and had partially grown over a pile of large rocks. Near the top, hidden from anyone who might walk by, was an opening, large enough for even Yusuke to slip through, even though he protested the small (by his standards) space.

Once through, the two found themselves standing in a large cave, though only Yusuke was impressed at this point. Kurama had spent so much time here that it was no longer an issue. He moved to a trunk sitting at the foot of what must have been the bed. Still dazed, the Demon Lord followed, and absently handed him the duffel before wandering around, looking at everything. He stopped when he came to several pictures of a redheaded child and a kind looking woman.

“She’s pretty.” He said, and heard Kurama bash something hard against the side of the trunk. “Kurama? Are you-”

“I’m okay. And the woman, she’s my mother.”

“So why don’t you live with her?” Yusuke was a little confused. Why was Kurama living in a cave, if he had a mother?

“…… She died five years ago. Since I couldn’t pay for the house, I had to leave. The bank confiscated everything except for some of my clothes, and those pictures, to pay off the remainder of the house.” He had stopped packing and Yusuke turned to look at him. Kurama had his head bowed, was simply staring at the shirt in his hands. “She died of cancer. There wasn’t anything I could do to help. I couldn’t even ease her pain, and she died.” His voice had grown harsh, telling the Toushin that he was struggling not to cry. “And then Hiei came, a few months ago, needing help with a theft. When I found out what he was planning to steal, I offered my services.” His voice turned bitter. “Do you know what the Forlorn Hope does, Master? It will grant you any wish you want, then take your life as payment. I was planning to wish for an eternity at my mother’s side, where ever she was, and then the Forlorn Hope would kill me, and force Koenma to place me in the same paradise as my mother.” A sob escaped him, and Yusuke took a step in his direction. “But that won’t happen now. Now I will never see her again! I won’t ever be able to tell her how much I love her, how much she enriched my life-” he broke off, sobbing uncontrollably, and the Toushin strode across the remaining distance, enveloping the crying redhead in his arms. Kurama turned to him, burying his face into the closest shoulder, and let his misery out.


Later that night, Kurama lay in bed, turning over everything he had seen and comparing it to what he had heard about the Toushin. So far, Yusuke was kind, but possessive. Arrogant, yet understanding. Although, mused the redhead as he snuggled deeper under the thick comforter for the second time that day, Yusuke is powerful enough that if he wanted to be kind and gentle, then he could. Anyone who was stupid enough to tease him about it would be promptly destroyed.

Next to him, the object of his thoughts sighed and shifted in his sleep. Kurama winced, and turned away. He couldn’t believe he broke down like that, and in front of Yusuke no less! After he had finished his cry, Yusuke had helped him pack the remainder of his clothes into the bag. He had also slipped the pictures in between the clothes, carefully cushioning the glass so that they wouldn’t break on the way home. Now, his pictures of his beloved mother stood on a small table on his side of the bed, her gentle smile visible even in the darkness of the room.

Kurama sighed, then squealed when Yusuke wrapped his arms around him without warning. “Sorry,” mumbled the Demon Lord, as he pulled their bodies closer. “But your aura is making me depressed.”

“And how does holding on to me help?”

“I don’t think my ego could withstand the blow of being seen with a teddy bear. Now, holding a beautiful-”

“I’d jam my elbow into your stomach, but I’d only be hurting myself.” The redhead interrupted with a grumble, causing Yusuke to snicker.


I'd also like to thank my lovely and wonderful reviewers! I hope this chapter answered some of your questions!