Just Between Us Friends

Trials and Tribulations
By cillaxox


cillaxox: Later on this story you will see several places where I inserted asterisks (****) I put these in to separate what’s going on in Kurama’s mind from what is happening in the real world.


Within the following month things slowly began to return to normal. For the first week Keiko and Yusuke would just smile at each other in the school’s hallways. Two weeks later they worked their way up to having three and sometimes even five-minute conversations. By the fourth week the two had falleck ick into their usual routine of nonstop bickering.

Things between Kurama and Yusuke also improved, the two of them spent more time together and they became more open with their relationship around their friends finally allowing the others to be a part of what they had been hiding for so long. Things were going great at least until Koenma sent Yusuke and the rest of the team out on a mission.

Yusuke and Kurama were at Kurama’s house cloistered in his bedroom under the pretense of studying history, when in actuality it was more like anatomy. They were right in the middle of sharing a passionate kiss and undressing each other when Botan appeared at the window. They were so caught up in their kiss that they didn’t notice her until she gently rapped on the window to get the boys attention.

Kurama pulled his lips away from Yusuke and asked, “What was that?”

The dark haired boy smiled, “Don’t worry it was probably just a bird.” He leaned forward to recapture the older boys lips, but he stopped a few centimeters short. “I don’t believe this! One moment of privacy is that to much to ask for?”

Kurama turned around to see what Yusuke was talking about only to see Botan smiling cheerfully and waving at them. Kurama opened his window, “To what do we owe the pleasure?”

The bubbling ferry girl said, “I hate to disturb you two lovebirds, but Koenma has an urgent mission for the team.”

The Spirit Detective groaned loudly and fell back against the floor, “Not today Botan! Tell the toddler I have better things to do.”

Not backing down Botan continued speaking, “But Yusuke this is important! There have been reports of smuggling going on between the two worlds.”

Yawing loudly he says, “Smuggling hardly sounds important.”

“It is when humans are the cargo,” Botan replied in an excited voice.

“What are they doing with the humans?” Kurama questioned.

“It depends on the buyer some want them for labor, others for food and the rest use them as sex slaves,” she finished the last part of the sentence with a deep blush.

The red haired boy covered his mouth with his hand and spoke through is fingers, “How awful.”

Still lying on the floor Yusuke said, “Yeah it’s awful, but what’s it got to do with me?”

“Koenma wants you and the rest of the team to stake out the operation and put an end to it,” Botan explained.

Yusuke hopped off the floor and walked over to the window, “Ok I got it tonight we bust up the smuggling ring. We’ll see you later.” He then attempted to close the window on Botan, but thinking quickly she slid part of her oar under the window and prevented it from closing all the way.

Reopening the window Botan said, “No Yusuke you have leave now Kuwabara and Hiei are waiting for you.”

Yusuke pulled on his previously discarded white t-shirt and stormed out of the room. Ten seconds later reentered Kurama’s bedroom and asked, “Are you coming or what?”

Botan smiled brightly and said, “Great I’ll meet you guys outside.” She then quickly disappeared from sight leaving the two boys alone once more.

Kurama began slowly buttoning his shirt as we walked over to Yusuke, “This will be an easy mission and we’ll be back here studying before you know it.”

The younger boy frowned and was about to make a smart remark when he saw Kurama give him a playful wink. “Oh I get it,” Yusuke said as he nodded his head in understanding, “Let’s go, the sooner we get there the sooner we’ll be done.”

The two fighters quickly finished dressing and ran outside to follow Botan to the meeting spot. Once the whole team was assembled she gave them the rest of the details. She held up a photo of a human male who was about 5’8” with a lanky build, short spiky brown hair and a set of cruel green eyes, “This is the man who is in charge of the smuggling team we’re not quite sure what his name is though or who he is.”

Kuwabara took the photo from Botan’s hand and eyed closely, “He doesn’t look so tough.”

Botan took the photo back, “He’s not the problem the team of demons he has working for him as his enforcers are and there’s about ten of them. Unfortunately we weren’t able to get photos of them so I’m afraid we’ll be sending you in blind.”

Yusuke snorted loudly and rolled his eyes, “What else is new? Koenma’s always screwing us over like this.”

Botan ignored the Spirit Detective’s outburst and continued speaking, “We received word that a shipment is scheduled to go out this evening at 6pm your job is to make sure it doesn’t happen.”

Kurama asked, “Aren’t they being rather bold doing it that early?”

“Yes it is a bit odd, but we think they’ve become over confident,” Botan replied. She hopped on her oar and as she flew away she called out, “Good luck!”

Kuwabara looked at his watch and announced, “Right now it’s 1 o’clock that means we have five hours to kill.”

Kurama stepped forward and said, “We should probably use the extra time to stake out the place and form a strategy.”

Yusuke put his arm around Kurama’s shoulders, “Yeah we could that. Or we could get there say around 4pm and give the place a quick look over, giving us three hours to goof off.”

Kuwabara called out excitedly, “I like Yusuke’s idea let’s do it his way.”

Kurama frowned deeply and crossed his arms over chest, “I don’t think that would be very wise. After all we know nothing of our enemies it would be best not to underestimate them.”

“It’s two to one in favor of goofing off. Hiei how do you vote?” Yusuke asked.

All eyes fell on the fire demon he narrowed his eyes and told them, “Do whatever you like. I will be there when you need me.” He then turned around and walked away mumbling something about stupid humans and their lack of attention spans.

“It’s settled then,” Kuwabara interjected, “I suggest we go stake out the arcade.”

Kurama still had his arms crossed only now he was staring at the ground, “I still don’t know about this.”

Yusuke tightened his grip around the fox’s shoulders and whispered in his ear, “Come on take a chance Kurama. What could we possible learn about our enemy in five hours that we can’t figure out in two hours? Besides nobody can beat us.”

Kurama finally gave in, “Okay we’ll go to the arcade, but we have to be at the meeting place no later than 4 o’clock.” Yusuke and Kuwabara both cheered and ran off down the street leaving Kurama to follow them.


~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At the arcade Yusuke and Kuwabara busied themselves with playing video games while Kurama watched. He was content to do this for half an hour, but his boredom became more than he could bear.

He walked over to where Yusuke was sitting, leaned down and whispered in his ear, “I’m bored.”

Yusuke neverk hik his eyes off the screen, “Then pull up a seat and start playing.”

“I have better idea, how about you follow me to restroom,” the red haired boy said.

Still not looking away from the screen, “What’s so interesting about the john?”

“Just come with me I’ll make it worth your while,” Kurama cooed into his ear.

“No I have one life left and I just need 500 more points to win.”

Kurama put his hand on the control panel and started pushing buttons causing Yusuke to lose his last life. “What did you do that for?”

“I’m sorry I was only trying to help,” Kurama said with an air of innocence, “I guess now there’s nothing to stop you from going with me.”

The younger boy angrily slid his chair back and trailed behind the fox’s svelte figure. “You owe me another game,” he muttered.

Kurama looked back over his shoulder and told him, “Don’t worry I’ll make it up to you.”

Once inside the restroom Kurama quickly shut the door and pinned Yusuke up against it. He roughly pushed his lips against Yusuke’s mouth forcing his tongue in between his soft lips. At first the younger boy went with the surprise kiss, but after a few seconds he pushed Kurama away and asked, “Have you lost your mind? Some one might see us!”

Kurama grabbed Yusuke hand and dragged him into the restrooms only stall locking the door behind them, “It’s not exactly the cleanest of settings, but it’ll have to do.” He then began undoing the young boys pants.

Yusuke pushed his hands away, “Don’t, somebody might come in.”

The older boy didn’t give up he reached over and pulled Yusuke’s pants down, “That’s part of the fun.”

Before Yusuke could push him away again Kurama dropped down to his knees and sucked the younger boy’s member into his mouth. All of Yusuke’s complaints melted away the moment he felt Kurama’s lips tighten around his flesh. The younger boy’s pleasure was so intense his knees buckled and he fell on the toilet seat. During Yusuke’s downward trip Kurama’s lips never once lost their grip. He moved closer in between the dark haired boy’s legs moving his head up and down in a steady motion. Yusuke entwined his fingers in the glorious red locks of the head that was buried in his lap and tried his best to stifle his pleasure filled moans.

Kurama slid his right hand down past the base of Yusuke’s arousal, pausing for a few moments to fondle his sac then continuing his downward journey until his index finger came to halt into between Yusuke’s cheeks. Kurama used his finger to play with the opening he slipped his fingertip inside and wiggled it inside the tight space. The younger boy gasped in delight and asked more. Kurama sucked harder and gently pushed his finger in even deeper.

Yusuke was on the brink of cumming when the restroom door open. “Someone is out there,” he whispered in a nervous voice.

Kurama lifted his head up and told him in a low tone, “Don’t worry about it. Just concentrate on me.” He then resumed sucking on Yusuke’s hard shaft he could feel the younger boy’s flesh throbbing and knew that at any second he would explode.

Outside the person in the restroom was busy jiggling the handles of the urinals and cursing quietly to himself. However, the two boys inside the stall were oblivious to what was going on out there. Inside the stall Kurama was furiously sliding his mouth up and down Yusuke’s shaft. Yusuke gripped the sides of the red haired boy’s head tightly, he emitted small groans of pleasure and prepared to climax. Yusuke inadvertently began moaning louder as he started coming, Kurama had to use his free hand to cover the other boy’s mouth to stifle the noise coming out of it. When Yusuke finally finished filling Kurama’s mouth with his fluids he fell back against the toilet. Kurama swallowed then stood up and leaned over to deliver a soft kiss on Yusuke’s lips. The two boys smiled up at each other and prepared to kiss one another again, but a sudden banging on the stall door interrupted them.

“He wants to use the restroom! I told you this would happen,” Yusuke said in a harsh whisper.

“Well I didn’t actually think it would,” Kurama said, “What do we do now?”

“What are you asking me for? This wasn’t even my idea to begin with.”

The person outside the door continued banging and yelled, “Hey buddy did you fall in or what?”

two two boys looked at each other their eyes bulging with disbelief. “Is that who I think it is?” Kurama murmured.

Yusuke let out a deep sigh then stood up and fasten his pants, “Let’s hurry up and get this over with before it gets any worse.”

Once Yusuke had his pants on Kurama unlocked the door and swung it open.

“It’s about time,” the person out sai said in an exasperated voice. Kurama and Yusuke were both a deep shade of red as they stepped outside the stall and came face to face with Kuwabara.

The carrot topped boy’s jaw dropped open as he stared at his friends as they walked past him and headed towards the restroom door. When he finally found his voice he asked the embarrassed pair, “What were you doing in there?” After he asked his foolish question he waved his hands in the air and squealed, “Never mind I don’t want to know! Just get out of here.” He then proceeded to roughly shove the pair out of the restroom.

After they exitting the restroom Kurama had a fit of laughter when he finished he put his hand on Yusuke’s shoulder and told him, “You have to admit that was pretty funny. What are the odds that Kuwabara would walk in there when he did?”

Yusuke put his head in his hands and groaned, “I’ll never hear the end of this. From now that jerk is going to give me a hard time about this every chance he gets.” He lifted his head up and smiled at Kurama, “All the teasing will be worth it though cause that was awesome.” He then took a quick look around seeing that no one was watching him he planted a small kiss on Kurama’s cheek.

The older boy smiled, “We still have an hour before it’s time to leave how about you and I play a game or two.”

Yusuke put his arm on his shoulders and told him, “You’re on!”

When Kuwabara returned from the restroom he made a point of ignoring his friends, which caused the two of them to laugh. After fifteen awkward minutes he walked over two them and asked, “How about we agree never to mention this again?”

Yusuke and Kurama both smiled and nodded their heads in consent. With that agreement the three of them used the last of their free time to play games and talk trash.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

At 4:15pm the three boys arrived at the address that was written on the scrap of paper Botan gave Yusuke. They easily found the three story brick building and together decided the best place to stake it out from was the roof of the warehouse that was across the street from it.

After they had settled themselves a small figure step out from behind a ventilation shaft and said, “Your late.”

Kurama turned around and addressed the fire demon, “That’s funny, because I was just about to say you were early.”

Hiei didn’t even bother to acknowledge the fox’s remark, “I think it would be best if we split up. We’ll be able to cover the building from different angles if we do it that way. Two can cover the front and two can cover the back.”

Kuwabara rubbed his chin and said, “I think the shrimp has point.”

The fire demon frowned, “I don’t need you to stand up for me.” Kuwabara started to say something, but Hiei just talked over him, “Kurama and I will take the north side and Yusuke and the idiot can take the south side.”

Yusuke stepped forward and said, “No Kurama and I will watch the north and Hiei and the idiot will watch the south.”

“I will not spend any more time with that fool Kuwabara then I have to,” Hiei argued.

The Spirit Detective pointed his thumb at his chest and raising his voice a little said, “Last time I checked I was the one in charge.”

Hiei shoved his hands in his pocket and spat, “Whatever.”

Kuwabara folded his arms across his broad chest and glared at the small demon, “Like I’m looking forward to spending time with you. Let’s just go over there and get this over with.”

The two of them moved over to the south side leaving Yusuke and Kurama to observe the north side of the building. For the next two and a half hours neither pair saw any signs of movement neither within nor outside of the building. The first sign of action happened at a quarter to seven just after dusk had fallen.

Yusuke had been on the verge of falling asleep when Kurama crept over to his side and whispered, “Come look over here.”

The pair of them peered over the edge of the roof and watched as a large dark blue van pulled up to the building under their observation. Two human males got out of the front of the vehicle, they were followed by three burly demons that each carried in a human underneath their arm. The mismatched group entered the building.

Kurama turned to Yusuke’s ear and murmured, “I assume those are three of the ten enforcers the rest of them must already be inside.”

The Spirit Detective stood and watched for a signal when he saw a brief flicker of fire he said, “There’s the sign, its time to meet them on the roof.”

The pair stealthy scaled the targeted building joining Kuwabara and Hiei who were already waiting for them. Kuwabara took the initiative and addressed the rest of the team, “The kidnapped humans are being held the second floor and it looks like about four of the demons are watching them, two more demons are guarding the back door. When the shrimp and I got here we saw one demon along with two humans patrolling the roof, which we took care of.” He then point over to the corner of the roof at a pile of unconscious bodies.

“The other three demon enforcers went in through the front door five minutes ago,” Yusuke said. He pacedund und the roof and thought out loud, “We can’t barge in at the same time cause they might kill the humans. On the other hand if we sneak in that might take to long.”

Kurama placed his hand on Yusuke’s arm stopping him from his incessant pacing, “May I make a suggestion? I propose we do both, Hiei and Kuwabara can go in through the back providing a distraction while you and I sneak in from the roof down to the second floor.”

“That’s a lot better than what I was gonna suggest,” Yusuke said with a relieved sigh.

As Hiei and Kuwabara headed towards the fire escape the fire demon said, “As if you had a plan to begin with.”

The Spirit Detective shrugged his shoulders and quipped, “Who needs a plan?” He wasn’t expecting an answer because his other two teammates were already descending the fire escape. He turned to face Kurama only to see him walking over to the roof’s access door. “Hey wait for me!” he loudly whispered as he ran after his teammate.

They didn’t hear any voices or sense any energy signals as they slowly walked down the hallway of the third floor despite this they still checked all the rooms. Once they were satisfied the third floor was empty they made their way down the staircase. They were halfway down the flight of stairs when they heard both the voices of humans and demons shouting with a sense of urgency.

A clearly human voice yelled, “Intruders! There are intruders downstairs!”

Another person screamed, “Where are the other enforcers? They already took out three of them!”

Yusuke and Kurama heard the heavy footsteps of demons running downstairs, then it quieted down again. They decided it was safe to continue and quickly descended the rest of the stairs. They sensed some strong demon energy coming from the second door on the left, they cautiously approached the door and just when Yusuke was about to open it the door came crashing off its hinges.

The two boys shielded their eyes from flying splinters after the debris settled they heard two loud obnoxious laughs. A deep voice bellowed, “I wonder if the door flattened our guests.” This remark was followed by more laughter.

Yusuke stepped into the room and said with a smirk, “Sorry to disappoint you but your aim is as bad as your sense of humor.”

Inside the room he saw two huge demons each one was over seven feet tall and each wore only a pair of raggedy pants, however that’s where the similarities ended. The first demon was dark green with three horns protruding frach ach side of his bald head, he had huge muscles bulging from every limb and his torso was as thick as two tree trunks. The second demon was as thin as he was tall, his skin was pale blue and covered in dark blue splotches, he had a shock of dirty white hair, his eyes were bright yellow, a pair of sharp fangs hung over his bottom lip and he had almost no visible muscles.

Yusuke eyed Kurama out the corner of his eyes and said, “I’ll take big, green and ugly. You take tall, blue and even uglier.”

Before Kurama could respond the tall blue demon hissed, “He’ll have to catch me first.” The words barely had time to leave his mouth before the lanky demon sped past the surprised fox and ran down the hallway. Kurama didn’t give it a second thought as he chased after the pale blue blur.

“I guess it’s just you and me Spirit Detective,” the green demon said with a malicious grin.

“I wouldn’t have it any other way,” Yusuke said as he charged the dangerous beast.

He quickly ran across the large studio space easily dodging the large demon’s clumsy blows. He got in close and delivered a jaw-shattering uppt tht that knocked his opponent flat on his back.

Yusuke took a step back and tapped his foot with impatience, “Don’t tell me I did you in with just one punch?”

The enormous apparition jumped to his feet and growled, “No ordinary human can defeat me.”

Yusuke jumped at the monster and pummeled him with his fists. As he assaulted the demon he said, “I don’t know if you got the memo, but I’m no ordinary person!” He delivered a devastating right hook followed by a hard jab tob the ribs that knocked what little air the demon had left in him out of his badly beaten body, as well as breaking them.

The green demon lay sprawled out on the floor at the young boy’s feet Yusuke stepped over the body and said to himself, “I probably should have asked where the humans were before I beat the crap out of him. Oh well I guess I’ll just have to find them the hard way.”

Yusuke saw another door in the spacious room and warily approached the closed door. As he walked towards it Yusuke thought to himself, “I wonder how Kurama’s doing? I probably should go after him. Nah, he can take care of himself right now I need to concentrate on freeing the captives.’

He opened the door and walked face first into a striking fist. The impact sent him flying back ten feet he landed on the hard wood floor with a thud. As he picked himself off the floor a gravelly voice told him, “You may have defeated my comrade, but you’re no match for me.”

A brown demon stepped through door way and boldly approached Yusuke. He was about six feet tall with a fairly muscular build, he had short black hair, his ears were big and pointed with gold hoops in them, and his thin lips were set in a vicious snarl.

Yusuke pulled himself off the floor and yelled, “I don’t have time for this!” He then formed his Spirit Gun and fired a blast at the approaching demon blasting a basketball-sized hole through his chest.

Before the demon’s lifeless body collapsed on the floor Yusuke spied through the still smoking hole in his chest several cages. He ran into the back room in order to set about unlocking the cages, the people locked inside were begging him to hurry.

Once all the cages were open he told the now free people, “Look I’m gonna get you out of here but the need to be quiet and move quickly I don’t know how much time we have left. Now I’m going to take you up to the roof, once we get up there you’ll have to climb down the fire escape and run to safety.”

“You can’t leave us alone! What if those monsters come back?” a young woman cried.

“You have to come with us!” several more pitiful voices pleaded.

Yusuke slammed his fist against the wall, “Dammit! I don’t have time for this my friends are still downstairs fighting.” He looked into the ten sets of eyes staring desperately at him and melted, “Ok come with me, I’ll make sure you get out of here safely.”

As the crowd of people rushed past him they showered him their gratitude. He followed behind them as they hurriedly climbed the stairs he paused at the base of the staircase and looked back over his shoulder. He silently prayed ‘Kurama I hope you’re okay.’

Meanwhile on the first floor Kuwabara and Hiei used their respective swords to slice and dice, making quick work of the remaining five demon enforcers. The two of them were relatively unharmed, they came out of the battle with only superficial wounds and torn clothing. They emerged from the building dragging the human ringleader’s limp body behind them. Upon exiting the building they met up with Yusuke and the group of humans.

“All right you got them out!” Kuwabara exclaimed as he patted Yusuke’s back.

The dark haired boy smiled, “What can I say I’m awesome.”

After scanning the group several times Hiei asked, “Where is Kurama?”

At that moment an ear splitting screech of agony came from the building. “No it can’t be!” Yusuke howled as he ran back into the building followed by Hiei and Kuwabara.

The three of them quickly darted up stairs with Hiei in the lead. They only had to follow the scent of fresh blood to find the right room. The group rushed in and saw Kurama lying on the floor surrounded by a pool of blood. The light blue demon stood above his badly injured body with a look of satisfaction on his face. He opened his mouth to gloat over his bloody victory, but before he could speak Hiei launched himself at the gore splattered figured. In a manner seconds he had cut the beast’s head off, but he didn’t stop there he continued slashing at the demon’s chest and stomach postmortem.

Yusuke gently cradled Kurama’s body in his arms, “Kurama please don’t be dead. I need you to be alive.” He leaned his head down to his loved one’s lips and listened, “He’s still breathing!” He then used a hand to feel for a pulse several attempts later he found a faint one. Yusuke gathered Kurama closely to his chest and carefully stood up, “We have to get him to Genkai’s temple before it’s too late.” He ran back downstairs as fast as he could without jostling Kurama too much.

When they came back outside they saw that the humans were still nervously milling about. Yusuke looked over at the scared group and told Kuwabara, “Take care of them and when you’re done meet us at the temple.”

Not waiting for his friend to agree the dark haired boy ran down street in the direction of Genkai’s. Hiei easily caught up with him and told him, “If he dies I’m holding you accountable.”

Yusuke ignored the demon’s threat, he was more concerned about the limp body that lay dying in the crook of his arms. ‘Please don’t die, please don’t die, please don’t die,’ he chanted repeatedly in his mind as he ran down the darkened city streets.

Yusuke didn’t know how long it took to reach Genkai’s temple nor did he know how his body endured the long run. He kicked open the heavy wooden door and screamed at the top of his lungs, “Genkai!”

He stumbled into a spare bedroom and eased Kurama’s body onto the bed. He ran out into the hallway and prepared to call for the old woman again when she appeared out of nowhere with Yukina close behind her. “What are you doing here?” she asked.

Yusuke pulled her by her arm and showed her what was lying on the bed. Genkai clucked her tongue and Yukina gasped, after expressing their surprise the pair of healers went to the body and set about examining it.

They removed his tattered clothes and took an inventory of his wounds. “One long gash on his right arm, several claw marks on his chest, a broken arboarbone, and multiple flesh wounds,” the old woman told Yukina. “First we need to clean his wounds.” The ice maiden nodded her head and went to retrieve the necessary items. Genkai turned to Yusuke and Hiei, “You two need to go somewhere else you’ll only be in the way if you stay.”

The two fighters started to protest, but one glare from the old woman stopped any complaints. The two of them reluctantly went outside and waited on the porch they didn’t say anything until Kuwabara arrived an hour later.

“How is he?” the carrot topped boy asked his voice filled with concern.

Hiei was staring straight ahead as if he didn’t even notice the boy’s arrival, leaving Yusuke to answer the question, “We don’t know yet.”

So they waited and waited and waited some more. Another hour passed before Yukina stepped out on the porch and announced in a low voice, “You may see him now.”

The three guys hurried inside each one mentally preparing themselves for the worst. Genkai greeted them outside the room Kurama occupied, “I have good news and bad news. The good news is that Yukina and I successfully healed him so there’s no need for you to worry about tanymanymore.” She eyed the three pair of eyes that stared at her waiting for her to tell them the rest, “The bad news is he’s in a coma. I don’t know when or if he’ll wake from it.” She then stepped aside and the let them enter the room.

Yusuke walked over to the bed and kneeled next to it, “I’m so sorry Kurama.” He pick up Kurama’s right hand and cradled in between the palms of his hands, “This is all my fault I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

Hiei stepped behind Yusuke and told him in a cold voice, “Yes it is all your fault. His blood is on your hands.”

Kuwabara moved next to Hiei and placed a hand on shoulder in warning, “That’s not true! Yusuke is our leader and he only did what he thought was best.”

The fire demon shook the human’s hand off his shoulder and snorted derisively, “Hmpf! Some leader his ineptitude caused more damage then the enemy.”

“Yusuke wasn’t the one who attacked Kurama,” Kuwabara argued.

“He might as well have,” Hiei said as he walked out of the bedroom.

Kuwabara walked over to Yusuke and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder, “Don’t listen to that jerk.”

The dark haired boy shook his head sadly and mumbled, “No Hiei’s right. If I hadn’t left Kurama alone he would still be okay.

“Kurama is going to be fine just you wait and see,” Genkai said in a gentle voice. She walked over to the bed after sitting down she gently stroked Kurama’s hair as she did so she asked, “You know he can’t stay here right?”

Yusuke looked up into her wizened brown eyes and asked, “Why not?”

Still caressing the unconscious boy’s locks she said, “I’m not capable of treating a coma, he needs constant medical attention from some one who is trained to treat this.”

Yusuke looked back down at Kurama’s face and shook his no, “You can do it Genkai. He needs to stay here.”

She placed a wrinkled hand on the young boy’s chin and forced him to look her in the eyes, “He can’t stay here. Besides what are you going to tell his mother? Or have you forgotten he has a human mother just the same as you.”

Interrupting the one on one conversation Kuwabara asked, “What do we tell the hospital and his mom?”

Since all of his physical wounds are gone you can tell them that he just collapsed,” Genkai told him.

Yusuke stood up and gathered Kurama in his arms, “We should leave now it’s after 10pm Kurama’s mom is probably already worried.”

Yusuke and Kuwabara headed out into the night once more Genkai and Yukina watched from the porch as they walked away their bodies slowly consumed by the darkness.

The time was 11:30 pm. Kurama was now admitted to a hospital and he was dressed in a hospital gown lying on a hospital bed surrounded by Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Botan in her human form. His mother was outside in the hallway talking to a doctor. The three friends couldn’t hear what was being said, but they knew it wasn’t good news. They waited patiently for his mother to return and tell them what the doctor was telling her.

Ten minutes later she returned and sat down in a chair next to Kurama’s bed, “He doesn’t know what’s wrong. He can’t find anything physically wrong with him that would explain what happened. The only thing the doctor said we can do is wait and see.”

Despite her best intentions she started crying. At first the tears fell individually, but they soon started pouring from her eyes. Botan embraced the sobbing woman and patted her back trying her best to soothe the grieving mother.

For Yusuke the tears were too much he stepped out into the hallway in hopes of distancing himself from the guilt that he was feeling. He leaned up against the wall staring up into the ceilings fluorescent lights. He had his head tilted up in hopes of defying gravity, but it didn’t work tears still managed to escape his eyes and roll down his cheeks.

He wiped the tears away with the back of his hand and continued staring at the ceiling, “I really messed up this time Kuwabara. I should have been there and I wasn’t. I made a huge mistake and as a result the person I love more than anybody is in a coma.” He banged his fist against the hard wall, but it didn’t help ease his pain.

Kuwabara placed both his hands on his friend’s shoulders and shook him, “Snap out of it Yusuke! You standing around feeling sorry for yourself won’t help Kurama. You have to believe he’ll get better.”

“Yeah your right. Me bitching won’t change anything,” the young boy pushed himself off the wall and walked back into the hospital room.

Inside the room Ms. Minamino had fallen asleep on Kurama’s bed, Botan was covering her with a blanket when the two boys came back in after she finished she turned to her friends and said, “I think we should leave now.” Yusuke and Kuwabara nodded their heads in agreement and together the trio left each eventually going their separate ways.

********

Black space was all Kurama could see. “I wish there was a light,” he said aloud. The moment the words left his mouth a bright light appeared over his head, “curious.” He set about exploring the empty space every step he took caused a light to appear over his head, “Curiouser.”

Suddenly out of nowhere a door manifested. Kurama stood in front of it trying to decide whether or not to open it, while he was still weighing the pros and cons of opening the strange door it open on its own volition revealing a forest. “Curious still,” he mumbled as he stepped through the doorway.

He walked among trees marveling at how silent it was he couldn’t even hear the sound of his own footsteps. After walking for several minutes he came across a large boulder in the forest that seemed out of place. What was really interesting was the figure sitting on top of the bolder with his back toward the human boy. Even though he was sitting down Kurama could see he was tall, his long silver hair was being gently blown by the wind, he was dressed in a thin white sleeveless tunic, a pair of white pants and a pair of white slippers adorned his feet.

“Youko,” he whispered in a reverent voice.

The demon still had the his back turned to him when he said, “I’ve been waiting for you Kurama or would you prefer Shuuici?”

“Kurama will suffice.”

The fox demon patted a spot next to him on the rock’s surface, “Come sit with me.”

The red haired boy did as he was told and sat next to his other self, “Please tell me where we are.”

The silver fox used placed his right hand on Kurama’s head and said, “We’re inside here.”

“I don’t understand.”

“You are in coma and now you are stuck inside your own mind,” Youko said with a smile.

A worried frown spread across Kurama’s brow, “How do I get out of here?”

Youko let out a deep patronizing chuckle, “What makes you think you should to get out? You are an evil person and you don’t deserve to wake up.”

********

Yusuke felt that he already ca eno enough damage so for three days he refused to visit the hospital. He sealed himself away in his bedroom refusing to acknowledge any of his friends’ attempts to contact him. On the third night of his seclusion, two hours after he tried to go to sleep, he heard a tapping at his bedroom window. He stumbled over to the window in the dark stubbing his toe along the way. He opened window and out he corner of his eye he saw a black shadow jump inside.

Even in the dark he knew who it was, “Hey Hiei, hold on a second and I’ll turn on a light.”

After he flipped the switch he made his way over to his bed and sat back down, “What do you want?”

Hiei who was still standing by window asked, “Why haven’t you visited him? Even I have been to visit him.”

“You visited Kurama?” Yusuke asked in surprised voice.

The small figure shrugged his narrow shoulders, “It was night and I snuck in, but nonetheless I did go see him.”

The dark haired boy turned over on his side and faced the wall, “Good for you.”

“You selfish brat, how can you say you love Kurama when you won’t even go to him when he needs you most,” Hiei hissed through clenched jaws.

Yusuke sat up on the bed he turned to the fire demon and yelled, “I do love him!”

Hiei fixed his fiery red eyes on the boy and glared at him, “Funny way of showing it. First you send him to his death, then you refuse to see him.”

Having no other response Yusuke said the first thing that came to his mind, “If I didn’t know any better I would say you were in love with Kurama.”

The demon scoffed, “Don’t be stupid! Kurama is my ally and nothing more.”

The human boy raised one eyebrow and questioned, “Are you sure about that?”

Hiei shook his head with annoyance, “If you must know he is the only person outside of my sister thatrustrust or care about for that matter.”

Yusuke feigning hurt said, “You mean to tell me that after all we’ve been through together you still don’t trust me.”

Hiei snapped, “I trusted you to take care of Kurama and look how well that turned out, but that’s beside the point.” Several minutes of silence passed before he started talking again, “In the beginning Kurama and my alliance was temporary, but for some reason he decided to stay with me. He was the first person to have a genuine and sincere interest in my well-being. He cares about me detective and I care about him too. He is my friend, that’s why it pisses me off to see Kurama neglected by his so called loving boyfriend.”

“I had no idea you felt that way Hiei,” Yusuke said in a meek voice.

Hiei turned around and set his right foot on the windowsill, “You weren’t supposed to know this. I was perfectly content to keep this all to myself, but you left me no choice. I will say this one time and one time only Yusuke I will not tolerate you hurting Kurama.” He placed his weight on his right foot and leaped out the window leaving Yusuke to think about his parting words.

Yusuke got up closed his window than turned his light off again as he crawled under his blanket he resolved to go visit Kurama first thing in the morning.

********

Youko was relentless, no matter what recess of his mind Kurama ran to the silver fox was right behind him taunting and belittling him. At the moment the distraught boy was hiding in a darkened closet, he thought for certain he had lost his stalker yet he was proven wrong once again.

Youko opened the door shedding bright into the black space, “There you are dear boy I was beginning to think I lost you.”

Kurama looked up his green eyes brimming with unshed tears, “What do you want from me?”

The demon smiled coldly, “I want you to admit you don’t belong out in the real world. I want you to let me out.”

Kurama sadly shook his head no and said in a sullen voice, “I cannot do that.”

Youko knelt down beside the boy and gently stroked the side of his cheek, “You can do it all you have to do is let me out.”

Still resisting the seductive demon’s words he said, “No I have friends waiting for me to recover.”

Still stroking Kurama’s face Youko continued trying to convince the boy otherwise, “Don’t worry they will forget about you. In fact I’m positive they have already moved on.”

Kurama angrily knocked the condescending hand away, “They have not forgotten me! If I truly am in a coma then they are no doubt gathered around me as we speak.”

“How can you be so sure? They are out there and you after all are in here,” the silver questioned with a smirk.

Kurama was beginning to have his doubts again every conversation he had with his other half ended with him starting to believe the cruel words. He climbed over the demon’s crouched form leaving both him and the closet behind. His mind took him to his favorite spot the park that he shared with Yusuke, he hoped he would finally find solitude here. For what seemed like an eternity he sat at attention fully expecting Youko to appear. Once he was satisfied he was alone he curled up on the bench and cried until his eyes were dry and swollen.

Kurama sat up on the bench and stared at the never-ending sunset projected by his subconscious, “He’s wrong they are waiting me and I will find away out of here.”

********

Yusuke did go to hospital, but it wasn’t first thing in morning like he said he would, instead he put off for several hours and arrived around 2pm. The ride up to the seventh floor where Kurama was staying was nerve wracking several times he wanted to stop the elevator and hop off at the nearest floor. When he arrived at the seventh floor he spent twenty minutes wandering around the floor before he summoned up the courage to go to Kurama’s room. First he timidly knocked on the door and receiving no response he turned to leave. He mentally called himself a coward then barged into the sterile room doing a double take when he saw Ms. Minamino looking at him with bewildered eyes.

“I’m sorry,” he stammered in an embarrassed tone.

Kurama’s mother smiled weakly, “It’s nice to see you Yusuke, please have a seat.”

Clearly uncomfortable, he pulled the only remaining chair next to the bed and sat down, “Has there been any change?”

Her eyes clouded with sadness as she said, “No, no change.”

Yusuke longed to kiss Kurama or at least hold his hand and tell him how much he loved him; he couldn’t do it though because Kurama’s mother still had no knowledge of their relationship. He had to settle for resting his hand on the bed next to Kurama’s unmoving foot.

Breaking the strained silence Ms. Minamino said, “The doctor told me that people in comas could still hear, he suggested that I talk to him. I think he just told me that to cheer me up though, but I still did it. I’ve talked so much that I’ve run out of things to say.”

More silence followed her revelation. Yusuke assumed they would sit there quietly watching Kurama for signs of change until visiting hours were over. It surprised him when the woman started speaking again, “Do you truly love my son Yusuke?”

He froze in his seat daring not to move or speak, but Kurama’s mother stared at him so expectantly that he had to say something, “How did you know?”

She gave him a warm smile and placed her hand on his arm, “I’m a mother I can tell these things. Plus it did help that you two weren’t very careful, I saw you in Shuuici’s bedroom one day kissing. I never told him though I just took it for granted that one day he would tell me.” Her eyes filled with tears, but she just wiped them away and continued talking, “I don’t judge my son as long as he’s happy I’m happy. To be honest though I was a little surprised to find out he was in love. Shuuici has always been a little cold I thought it was because his father died when he was so young. But since the two of you have been dating I’ve seen a difference in him he’s been more warm and open, I know this is because of you.”

Yusuke was shocked by what he just heard, “Are you serious?”

Ms. Minamino nodded her head and squeezed his arm tighter, “If you love my son, the way I know he loves you, then please talk to him and give him a reason to wake up.”

The dark haired boy tried to protest, but all that came out was incoherent stammering. Ms. Minamino stood up and told him, “Don’t be scared just speak from the heart. I’ll give you two some privacy.” She gave one final look before leaving over her shoulder her eyes pleading with Yusuke to speak to her son.

********

Kurama was curled up oe bee bench in a protective ball he had his hands plastered to his ears and eyes shut tightly, but it still wasn’t enough to drown out Youko’s words. “Just because you’ve changed and embraced humanity that doesn’t erase what you’ve done in the past. A new face doesn’t cover up old crimes Kurama. This coma is your punishment for our crimes.”

“If this is my punishment then why do deserve to be free?” Kurama asked in a low voice.

Youko laughed and when he was finished laug he he sat next to his human counterpart, “That is an easy question to answer, because I have no regrets about what we have done, you on the other hand have major regrets. You have become weak in your human form you follow your human heart and your so-called sense of morals. You’ve…”

Kurama no longer heard Youko’s voice ringing in his head, he opened his eyes to find the miraculous cause of this. He expected to see that the demon gone, but he was still there, the silver fox’s mouth was still moving only no words were coming out of it. Kurama sat up on the bench and the moment his feet touched the ground his mind transported him to a giant maze.

In the distance he could hear a faint voice talking to him, “Kurama can you hear me? I know, I know that’s a dumb question. Your mom told me to talk to you, but I can’t think of anything to say. I know if you were awake I would have plenty of stuff to say, right now I’m out of ideas though. I know it sound easy, but it’s hard work having a one-sided conversation.”

“Yusuke,” Kurama shouted with joy as he ran into the labyrinth. He ran blindly down the twisted chambers of the maze not quite sure which way to go. All he knew was the deeper he headed into the maze the louder Yusuke’s voice got.

The disembodied voice continued speaking, “I guess I should start off by telling you how much I miss you, that would take a long time though cause I miss you a lot.”

“I miss you too,” Kurama shouted as ran down the passageways. He ran down another dead end and cursed his bad luck. He backtracked and turned to the left hoping that he was going the right way. ‘This must be the right direction his voice is even louder now,’ he thought to himself.

“I should also tell you that I love you. I know you hate it when I don’t tell you that for a while, so I always try to. God how I love you Kurama. Please wake up! Just tell me what it’ll take and I promise I’ll do it,” Yusuke begged.

“Just keep talking!” Kurama said still running lost, “I’m so close now Yusuke please keep talking!” He stopped in his tracks, letting out a scream of frustration as he looked at four passageways that were in front of him.

“Everybody has been to visit you even Hiei came by. Yeah I know I was pretty surprised myself when he told me that,” Yusuke’s voice called out with this revelation three of the four doorways disappeared.


“Youko was wrong they have been to see me,” Kurama exclaimed as he ran down the hall.

Yusuke’s voice was now booming in the coma-ridden boy’s mind and with every word he said more passageways disappeared until only one single passageway remained. Kurama ran down it at full speed he didn’t stop running until he reached a giant stonewall that was blocking his way. He banged on the wall, but he knew it was pointless giving up hope he fell down to his knees. “

So close, so close,” he muttered in a desolate voice, “I thought for sure I was going to make it.”

“I’ve told you everything I could think of Kurama, actually that’s not quite true there is one thing I haven’t said. I feel so bad, because I know this all my fault. If I had been there to help you fight you would still be okay. I’m so sorry I got cocky and messed everything up as usual. I know you blame me for your condition. I wish you were awake so I could ask for your forgiveness in person,” Yusuke’s voice concluded.

Kurama stood up and resumed pounding the wall, “That’s not true Yusuke! I don’t blame you.”

He pulled his fists back on final time to strike wall, but instead of hitting the stone they sank through carrying the rest of his body with them.

********


The last thing that Kurama saw after falling through the wall was a blinding light. It took several moments of him rapidly blinking his eyes to adjust to it, but once he could see straight his eyes fell upon Yusuke’s huddle form lying next to his feet.

He reached out and patted the boy’s back, “Are you okay?”

Yusuke yelled at the top of his lungs and jumped clear out of his chair. Once he recovered from the scare he rushed over to Kurama and hugged him tightly, “I thought I lost you forever.”

Kurama held the younger boy at arms length and looked him in the eyes, “I had to wake up so I could tell you it wasn’t your fault and that I never blamed you for one second.”

The dark haired boy smiled brightly, “Do you really mean that?”

Kurama nodded his yes and the two boys embraced again. They were about to kiss each other when the hospital room door opened, “Shuuici you’re awake!”

“Hello mother,” he replied.

Yusuke barely had time to get out the way before Kurama’s mother ran over to her son and held him close. She looked over to Yusuke and told him, “Go get the doctor.”

He ran out of the room and returned shortly with Kurama’s doctor and a nurse following close behind him. Sounding very official the doctor said, “You two will have to leave while I examine the patient.” The nurse ushered them out of the room and closed the door after them.

Ms. Minamino embraced Yusuke and told him, “I don’t know what you said to him, but thank you for saying it.”

When they parted Yusuke’s cheeks were colored slightly, “I’m just glad I could help.”

“I know you’ll do your best to always take care of my son Yusuke. I hope you and Shuuici will always have a happy life together filled with love,” she told him and then gave him another hug.

His cheeks turned an even deeper shade of red as he mumbled, “I better call the others and tell them he’s awake.”

When he returned from making his call ten minutes later the nurse who accompanied Kurama’s doctor was exiting the room. She looked over at Yusuke and said, “Your friend asked me to give you this.” The nurse awkwardly leaned forward and lightly kissed his cheek.

Yusuke smiled pro and and told her, “He’s not my friend he’s my boyfriend.”

The nurse gave him a nervous smile and said, “That’s nice.”

Ms. Minamino chuckled and told Yusuke, “I see he’s already feeling better.”

The two of them stood in the hallway laughing loudly, however their laughter was more like a celebration rather than a response to her joke.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Kurama was released from the hospital two days later. For his homecoming his mother and his friends planned a small get together. It had been going on for well over an hour when the constant attention got to be too much for him. He snuck outside the first chance he got relishing in his few moments of freedom.

Just as he was about to return to the party Yusuke came outside to join him, he was carrying two drinks with him, he passed one to Kurama, “I thought I would find you out here.”

“I just needed some time alone all the attention was a bit suffocating,” the older boy said as he stood up from the porch steps.

“What do you expect we’re all glad to have you back,” Yusuke asked rhetorically as he stroked Kurama’s hair.

The fox reached up and squeezed Yusuke’s hand while it was still in his hair, “I must confess for a while I wasn’t quite sure I would make it.”

“I know what you mean I was scared for a while too. Kurama, did you really hear me while you were in your coma?”

The older boy nodded his head yes, “I really did hear you. Had you not talked to me I would still be trapped in my own mind. I know it sounds sappy, but you gave me a reason to come back.”

“What can I say I’m a giver.”

Kurama took a small step forward, he put his hand under Yusuke’s chin and tilted the younger boy’s head back, “Come here and let me give you something.”

They were sharing a tender kiss when they had feeling some one was watching them.

Still embracing Yusuke Kurama asked, “Haven’t you heard of privacy Hiei?”

“You give up the right to privacy when you go out in public and grope each other,” the fire demon replied in a sarcastic voice.

Yusuke asked Hiei, “I guess you came for the party, huh?”

“No I came to remind about the chat we had.”

Yusuke stared at the ground and scratched his head in confusion, “Oh yeah our chat, uhmm… which one was that again?”

Hiei had a look of disgust on his face as he replied, “The one we had in your bedroom the night before you went to the hospital.”

Yusuke laughed, “Now I remember! I promise I won’t forget.”

Satisfied with the young boy’s response Hiei replied, “It’s nice to know you’re not as dense as you look. As for you Kurama try not to get yourself hurt anytime soon, I only have so much compassion in me.”

Kurama smiled and humored the demon’s tough guy act, “I will try to keep that mind after all I wouldn’t want to inconvenience you in any way.”

Hiei walked away without saying goodbye, once he was out of sight Kurama turned to Yusuke and asked, “Should I be jealous about your conversation with Hiei?”

“Nah, you know how he is he just stopped by to threaten me.”

The door opened behind the two boys, they turned around and saw Ms. Minamino, “Shuuichi you’re missing your party.”

Smiling apologetically her son told her, “I’m sorry mother we’ll be in shortly.”

She smiled sweetly at the boys before going back inside the house.

Yusuke grabbed Kurama’s hand and held it tight, “I know I’ve already said this thousand times, but it’s good to have you back.”

"It's good to be back, now let's go back in before all the cake is gone," Kurama said as he led the way into his house.

cillaxox: Yeah another chapter finished! I hope you liked it. I still plan on writing more, but it takes a while for inspiration to strike me so I don’t know when I’ll post another chapter it shouldn’t take me too long though. As for this story I like Youko (I really do!!) but I had to make him look bad for this story.