To Yield

Shuichi nervously took the telephone from Hiei. “Good morning, mother.”

“Shuichi, is everything okay? Did you spend the night at Hiei’s?”

He was a little bit tense at what his mother would think of losing his virginity to Yusuke the previous night. “Yes, um, there was no one in the proper condition to drive us back, so we decided to stay here.”

There was silence for a moment and he didn’t like it.

“Shuichi, did you stay with Yusuke… in the same bedroom?”

Shuichi closed his eyes knowing that he couldn’t lie to his mother. Very hesitantly he answered. “Yes…”

Once again there was silence. Shuichi anxiously ran his hand through his hair waiting for his mother’s response. He knew that she was smart enough to get an idea of what happened last night.

“Do you love him, son?”

Shuichi stood from the couch and walked towards the window. “Yes… I do.”

“And he loves you back the same way you do.”

“Yes, he does.”

Again Shuichi thought he was going to have a nervous breakdown if his mother continued to make him wait like this.

“Then… then I support your decision; as long as you’re happy. Just be careful, Shuichi. Okay.”

Shuichi smiled thankful that the situation was over and that his mother knew and supported his decision to be with Yusuke. “Thank you, mother; I will be careful.”

After saying their ‘good byes’ and ‘love yous’, Shuichi hung up the phone and turned to Yusuke who looked even worse than he did. “She’s okay with it. She’s not upset.”

Yusuke hadn’t even realized that he was holding his breath. “Fuck… I thought I was going to have a fucking heart attack… shit.”

Hiei found this the opportune moment to throw a wrench into the mix. “Yeah, now all you have to do is tell your own mother that you now have a boyfriend; oh yeah, and the rest of your close friends as well.” Hiei then brought the cup of coffee to his lips and took a sip while he walked past Yusuke and Shuichi.

Yusuke knew that Hiei was right. It was time to come clean.

Shuichi saw as Yusuke became worried about coming out and telling everyone about his relationship with him, so he smiled and caressed his cheek. “You can take all the time you need, Yusuke. You don’t have to tell them right away.”

Yusuke took Shuichi’s hand and kissed it knowing that he was trying to be supportive, but it was just not fucking fair to the redhead. He wanted to let everyone know that Shuichi and he were an item. He remembered how in the theater he had felt kind of proud when everyone thought that he was Shuichi’s boyfriend. He knew that all those guys thought that the redhead was hot. Why should he not feel proud to let everyone know the truth? “Thanks, but Hiei is right. It’s time. I want them all to know that we’re together.” He then leaned and gave the redhead a soft kiss.

“So, how was it?”

Both Yusuke and Shuichi looked at Koenma who was now filling his cup with coffee, and glancing up at them obviously waiting for a response. Yusuke looked at Shuichi who had a very cute blush over his cheeks. “It was, absolutely beautiful…” He then placed a gentle kiss on the redhead’s lips. “…absolutely wonderful… *kiss* … absolutely amazing… *kiss* …absolutely fucking incredible.” He then took Shuichi’s lips and gave him a very long, passionate kiss.

Hiei and Koenma did a high five and then continued to watch the two love birds.

----

Yusuke opened the door and gave Shuichi’s mom a sheepish smile. He then stepped to the side and scratched the back of his head as she entered Hiei’s apartment.

“Mother, good morning. How are you feeling?” Shuichi could feel his face burning as he looked into his mother’s knowing eyes. He felt relieved when she smiled at him and tucked his bangs behind his ear.

“I’m feeling wonderful, Shuichi. I had a lovely time. Are you ready to leave?”

Shuichi immediately looked at Yusuke and then back at his mother. Unfortunately, he knew that they had to go home. They could only avoid his step father for so long. They had to go back before the man got upset. The last thing they wanted to do was give the man reasons to become violent. He nodded and gave her a forced smile.

“I’ll be in the car.” She said as she turned and walked outside.

Yusuke immediately walked up to Shuichi and held him close. “When can I see you again? Gods, this is so fucked up. I wish you both could leave and never look back.”

Shuichi held him close as well. He wished that he could do just that, but it wasn’t that simple. “I’m not sure how long he’s going to be in town, Yusuke. I’ll see you in school though.”

Yusuke rolled his eyes at that last comment. “Yeah, I’ll see you in school where I can’t kiss or touch you.” He then looked into Shuichi’s eyes. “I want to be able to do more than that too, you know.” He then ran his fingers through Shuichi’s hair and sighed.

Shuichi nodded knowing exactly what Yusuke meant. He also wanted to have sex with Yusuke again. But after being intimate with him last night, he didn’t mind a few days to let his pain dissipate. Shuichi then started walking towards the front door. He ran his hands over his arms and shoulders as he shivered. It was a bit chilly outside and all he was wearing was a t-shirt.

Yusuke saw as Shuichi trembled a bit from the cold. “Here…” He took off his leather jacket and motioned for Shuichi to put it on. “You can give it back to me later. I have another one at the house.”

“Thank you, Yusuke. I’ll call you as soon as I can.” Shuichi then turned and started walking to the car where his mother was waiting for him.

----

Seeing how miserable Yusuke looked after a week and a half of not seeing Shuichi other than at school, they decided to talk to him about some ideas they’d had. Hiei sat on the window sill closer to the couch and Koenma sat on the armchair across from Yusuke.

Having the two of them strategically position themselves around him, Yusuke knew that they had something in mind. “What?” That was all he needed to say.

Hiei ‘hned’ and then turned his attention to Yusuke. “Koenma and I have been thinking about your situation with Shuichi.”

Yusuke raised his eyebrows at that. “And…?”

Koenma sighed and decided to clue Yusuke in. “Yusuke, remember when you told us about Shuichi’s ‘injuries’ and how he doesn’t have a good relationship with his step father?” He waited until Yusuke nodded. “Well, we think that you should convince him and his mother to move out. Between the four of you, you could afford a nice place to live.”

Yusuke ruffled his own hair as he thought about that for a while. He hadn’t talked to Shuichi about what was really happening at home, but he had a good idea. “I guess we need to sit down and talk; me and Shuichi I mean, before we decide on anything crazy.” Yusuke then realized… “Whoa, hold up! Shuichi and I can’t live together with both of our mothers in the same house. What the fuck are you guys thinking? That’s seriously fucked up!”

Hiei and Koenma looked at each other and then rolled their eyes. They knew that Shuichi was being abused by his step father, but they also knew that it wasn’t their place to tell Yusuke about that. They just wanted to grab Yusuke by the shoulders and shake some sense into him. To tell him ‘forget about the petty stuff and get Shuichi away from his psycho step father’.

However, there was another issue at hand that they could get their noses in. “When are you going to tell the others?” Hiei turned and stared Yusuke down. “You can’t keep leading Keiko on. It’s not right, Yusuke.”

Yusuke slumped in the couch and threw his arms over his eyes. Gods this really sucked. “Hiei, are we getting together again this weekend? Cause if we are, I guess that would be the best time.” Yusuke sighed and thought about how he was going to be very lucky to make it out of that one alive. “I’ll tell everyone; I’ll tell Keiko.”

Hiei smiled and looked at Koenma who was just glowing with glee. Koenma just loved the drama. “You’re doing the right thing, Yusuke.”

“Yeah, well it feels like shit to do the right thing.” Yusuke flipped around and laid on his stomach as he covered his head with one of the pillows from the couch.

Koenma sighed and looked back at Hiei. They were going to have to figure out another way to let Yusuke know that Shuichi was in trouble.

----

Yusuke gulped the beer down and grinded his teeth. He glanced at Shuichi again, then at Hiei and then at Koenma. “Fuck…” He took another big swig from his beer and ran his fingers through his hair. “This is so fucked up… shit… I have to do this… for Shuichi.” He just had to keep murmuring these things to try to convince himself that he was doing the right thing. “Here goes nothing…”

Shuichi looked up at Yusuke and felt like he was going to faint. He was just too nervous knowing that Yusuke was going to do it. He looked over his shoulder at Keiko and the others. He sighed and closed his eyes as he ran his hands over his arms trying to control his nervousness.

“It’s going to be okay, Shuichi.”

Shuichi looked up to see a smiling Koenma looking at him.

“You’ll feel a lot better after everyone knows.”

Shuichi nodded and gave Koenma a very edgy smile. “Thank you.” He then looked at Yusuke again who was walking straight to the middle of the living room. Shuichi looked down and closed his eyes again. He hoped Koenma was right.

----

Yusuke walked straight to Keiko and whispered something into her ear. She looked at him for a minute and then stood up from the couch. Both Yusuke and Keiko headed for the guest bedroom in the back.

Keiko didn’t like this at all. Yusuke had told her that he needed to talk to her in private. She knew that there was something going on and wanted to know what, but now that it was obvious that Yusuke was going to tell her, she wasn’t sure she wanted to know.

“Keiko… I wanted to tell you something. I’m about to tell everyone this, but wanted to… to tell you first to give you a chance to react to it and not feel bad in front of everyone else.” Yusuke felt a bit nauseated, but there was no turning back. He had to do it; now or never.

Keiko sheepishly nodded. “What is it, Yusuke? Is everything okay?”

Yusuke sighed and smiled at Keiko. “Everything is great. It’s just that… I know that you have feelings for me and…” Yusuke looked at Keiko’s trembling eyes and closed his eyes. Taking in a deep breath, he continued. “…and I… Keiko there is someone else in my life… I’m sorta seeing someone else and I wanted to tell you.” Yusuke knew that two things were going to happen. Keiko was going to freak out and then Keiko was going to kick his ass.

“Ohh…” Keiko looked at her nervous hands which Yusuke was holding. She could tell that Yusuke was very nervous because his hands were beginning to sweat a little. She looked Yusuke in the eye and went for it. “Well, who is it? Do I know her?”

Yusuke winced at the term ‘her’ and then squeezed Keiko’s hands in a nervous gesture. “Keiko… it’s a ‘he’… that I’m seeing…” Yusuke saw as Keiko’s eyes widened and her mouth gaped open signaling her shock. “…I’m with Shuichi, Keiko. He’s my… boyfriend.” He braced himself for the inevitable.

“WHAT…!!!” Keiko pulled her hands away from Yusuke and stood up looking at him like she wanted to choke the life out of him. “Yusuke Urameshi… you… you… you’re gay… how… when… why didn’t you tell me?”

Yusuke stood up and tried to take a hold of the enraged girl’s hands into his once again. “Keiko, I don’t know how it happened. I’ve never liked guys before. I swear…”

Keiko tried to keep her hands away from him, but he was real quick and took them and held them tight, so she couldn’t get away. “Ahhhh, I don’t believe this; you and Shuichi. I knew it… I knew that you were hiding something from me, Yusuke.”

“Keiko, please understand… I didn’t know what was happening either… I was so confused… I didn’t know…” Yusuke ran his fingers through his hair and slumped back on the bed. He kept his head bowed low. He was somewhat ashamed, but didn’t know why. “Please, Keiko… don’t condemn me for it. I didn’t mean to hurt you… to hurt anyone.” Yusuke couldn’t hold it back. Why did he feel like shit by coming out? He didn’t think it was going to be this hard, but he was wrong.

Keiko felt her heart break at the site of Yusuke’s obvious breakdown. That was something she thought she would never see in her lifetime. She sat beside him and started to caress his hair. “I don’t condemn you, Yusuke. I’m just shocked… that’s all.” She then took Yusuke’s hand and held it tight. “It’s not going to be easy and I’m not going to make it worse for you. I love you too much to see you like this. I rather you be happy… even if it’s not with me.”

Yusuke looked up and stared into Keiko’s eyes. That was the last thing he thought she would say about the situation. “Thank you, Keiko. That means a lot to me.” He then hugged her and they held each other for a while, just sitting there in silence. They both needed a bit of time to let things settle.

----

Shuichi held Koenma’s hand a bit tighter. They were both sitting on the couch and by the way they were positioned, no one could see what their hands were doing. Shuichi sighed again. Yusuke had been talking with Keiko for a long while now. He kind of felt relieved that there were no screams being heard from the back room, but at the same time the waiting was getting to him.

Koenma looked back at Hiei and then continued to pay attention to Kazuma and Shizuru who were both half drunk and playing paper-rock-scissors with each other. He then glanced at the hall that led to the bedrooms in the back of the apartment. He was hoping that Yusuke didn’t take too much longer or else these two idiots were going to be too drunk to even understand a single word he said.

----

Keiko smiled at Yusuke after hearing about how intolerable it was for both him and Shuichi to be hiding from everyone. “Wow, I would be a wreck too.” She then tucked Yusuke’s bangs behind his ear and smiled at him. “Thank you Yusuke, for telling me in private and not out there. I wouldn't have been held responsible for my actions.”

Yusuke chuckled at that and brought Keiko’s hand to his lips and kissed it. He then looked at her in the eye. “You rock, Keiko. I thought I was a dead man for sure. Thank you for understanding and I’m so fucking sorry for hurting you. That was the last thing I wanted to do.”

Keiko sighed and then tilted her head to the side. “It’s no problem, Yusuke. At least you were man enough not to really lead me on. It was my fault if I let my feelings be more than they really were. You never gave me any indication that there would be more than just friendship. It was all in my silly head.” She then smiled at him to let him know that she meant what she said. “To tell you the truth I’m kind of relieved. Now I can go and have fun with Hagiri.”

Yusuke frowned at that and then found his voice again. “Who the fuck is Hagiri?”

Keiko then proceeded to tell Yusuke about this boy who had flirted with her before, but she didn’t pay him no mind because she had wanted Yusuke and no one else. The boy was apparently a member of the Sniper Club and had a huge girl fan base and now she could go on a date with him and not worry about it.

Yusuke stared for a minute and then started laughing. “Holy shit, Keiko… that is so fucking awesome… I though you were going to mope around and then me and Shuichi were going to feel like shit, but now this is great. You’re going to have to introduce him to us.” He then gave Keiko a big hug and it felt so good to have that huge weight off his shoulders.

Keiko laughed with Yusuke and then commented. “Now, I must warn you. He’s absolutely gorgeous. I better not find you gawking or I will definitely kick your ass.”

Yusuke pulled away from Keiko absolutely shocked at what she had just said. “What… I would never… but…”

Keiko threw her head back and started fully laughing her ass off. “Oh my god, you should see the look on your face. That was precious.”

Yusuke thought about it for a minute and then scratched the back of his head feeling a bit confused about what had just happened. “Shit Keiko… don’t say shit like that to me… that’s fucking weird.”

Keiko stood up from the bed and took Yusuke’s hand in hers. “Come on, you’re going to tell the others. Right?”

Yusuke stood up and immediately froze. “Um…”

Keiko saw the miserable look Yusuke had on his face and decided to throw him a line. “Don’t worry, Yusuke. It’ll be okay. I support you being with Shuichi. He’s a great guy and, I hope you don’t mind me saying it, but he’s absolutely gorgeous. He’s better looking than Hagiri.”

Yusuke smiled feeling even better that Keiko had given him her blessing. He leaned down and gave the girl a kiss on her forehead before taking her hand and walking to the door. “Let’s go, princess. I’m sure the Kuwabara’s are going to shit when they hear this.” They both laughed and that and walked to the living room.

----

Shuichi felt his stomach flinch when he saw Yusuke and Keiko walking towards the living room. He felt better to see that Yusuke was alive and not bleeding to death. He had definitely been expecting the girl to lash out, but then again, Yusuke was such the charmer.

“Hey everyone, Keiko and I have a couple of announcements to make.” Yusuke looked at Keiko and winked at her. “Do you want to go first?”

Keiko nodded and then turned to the group. “I just want to let everyone know that next weekend I will be bringing a guest over.” Everyone looked at each other and then back at Keiko. She giggled and then gave everyone her best ‘innocent’ look. “Hagiri asked me out and I’m going to accept. I think we’re going to be dating.”

Everyone was shocked to hell when Shizuru stood up and yelled at the top of her lungs.

“You’re fucking shitting me!!!” Shizuru ran to Keiko and hugged her to death. “I’m so glad you’re over this idiot. Hagiri is so right for you. Gods, Keiko that’s great.” Then they hugged some more and yelled some more.

Yusuke rolled his eyes and then walked towards Shuichi. “Come here.”

Shuichi was frozen in place as Yusuke extended his hand to him. He looked at Yusuke’s hand and then back into the boy’s eyes. Yusuke nodded and Shuichi took the offered hand and stood up. They then walked to the middle of the room and stood there; still holding each other’s hand.

Yusuke cleared his throat as loud as he could. “Are you two done yet?” He then received the finger from Shizuru and Keiko stuck her tongue out at him. “Love you, too.” Yusuke then turned his attention to Shuichi who looked as pale as a piece of paper. He smiled at him trying to comfort the shy boy. “It’s okay. Everything’s fine.”

Shuichi nodded and took a half step towards Yusuke to try to be as close to the older boy as he could, but without giving away what Yusuke had to say.

“Anyway, I just wanted to say that I’m very happy for you Keiko and can’t wait to meet the lucky guy.” He then looked at Shizuru and Kazuma who seemed to have lost their buzz after all of the excitement over Keiko’s announcement.

“I also have a very important announcement.” Yusuke saw as Hiei and Koenma looked at each other and then back at him. “I wanted to let everyone know that Shuichi is my boyfriend and I don’t give a fuck about what any of you say. If you dare to say anything to me or him about it, I will, however, beat the shit out of you and then kiss him in front of you to make you feel like shit.” He then looked at Shizuru and Keiko. “The whole beating up thing doesn’t apply to you two.” Yusuke turned his attention to Shuichi and looked into those beautiful green eyes. “But, the kissing thing does…” He pulled the redhead towards him and ravished his mouth as he heard the gasps and shocked expressions coming from the others.

Koenma just couldn’t hold on anymore and he started to whistle and clap as loud as he could. Hiei started clapping as well, seeing how Koenma was all excited about the whole drama, drama, drama. That boy just loves drama.

Shizuru’s jaw had hit the floor and Keiko just held her hand while she looked at the two boys kissing. She then turned to the mummified girl and chuckled. “It’s okay, gosh, they do make a good couple.”

Shizuru looked at Keiko and blinked. “You knew about this?” Keiko nodded and smiled. “Where the fuck was I?” Shizuru then turned back to the pair who were still sucking each other’s faces off.

Hiei elbowed Kazuma as the boy was also shocked and couldn’t take his eyes away from what Yusuke was doing with Shuichi. Kazuma then covered his eyes with his hands and squirmed. “That is just so wrong. I’m going to be scarred for life.”

Shizuru turned to Kazuma and ‘hned’. “Oh shut up, Kazuma. That’s not what you said when you had your tongue down Yukina’s throat.”

Everyone’s attention was now on Kazuma including Yusuke and Shuichi who had stopped their kiss to look at the boy who looked like he was about to have a heart attack.

“Who are you to talk? I saw you smooching with Sakyo the other day!”

Shizuru gasped and looked at her brother. “When did you see that?” She asked knowing that she had been found out.

Kazuma felt good at having everyone’s attention now on Shizuru and not him. “Just the other night when you were supposed to have been with Keiko. He drove you home, but stopped like three houses over. I was talking with Yanagisawa when I saw you get out of his car. I couldn’t believe it was you. Me and Yana were making fun of how the windows were all foggy and we could clearly see you two kissing each other.”

And then there was silence. And more silence.

Hiei couldn’t control himself anymore and threw his head back and laughed so hard he had tears in his eyes. “You guys are all pathetic. Well, if you couldn’t be shocked any more than that, then I guess its okay for me to tell you that I’m in love with Koenma.” Hiei had realized what he had said way too late. He looked around and saw everyone’s shocked state; except for Yusuke, who had a grin on his face. He then felt the need to get all that attention focused on someone else. “Oh yeah, Kazuma, you’re a dead man. No one is allowed to touch my kid sister. Not even you.”

Everyone’s attention was back on Kazuma who was scared shitless and being stared down by Hiei. Even though Hiei was a close friend, there had been rumors about Hiei in the past. They all knew that there was something shady about the guy. They just never talked about it. “But… I’m… I don’t understand…”

Hiei saw how the boy was about to gag he was so scared and decided to let it go. “Fine, but if you hurt her, I will kill you and no one will ever know what happened to you. I promise you that.”

Kazuma nodded at that and then let out a deep breath.

Hiei smiled and then turned to Koenma who had not let his eyes off of him since his little announcement. He decided to get it over with and walked toward the boy. “Hey, are you okay?” Koenma nodded and continued to stare at him. “Come here.” He took the younger boy into a tight hug and kissed his temple. “I meant that, you know.” Koenma nodded once again obviously still too shocked to even speak. “Wow, what a night.” He continued to hug the boy and run his hands up and down his back. He smiled once again and felt somewhat excited about the whole situation. Now everyone knew about his feelings for Koenma, including himself.

----

Yusuke took Shuichi into his arms and held him tight. “You’re fucking with me… oh shit… that’s great, Shuichi. I can’t believe it.” The redhead had just told him that his mother had agreed to their plan. She was going to move in with Yusuke’s mother and both he and Shuichi had permission to move in with Hiei. Yusuke closed his eyes and held Shuichi even tighter, if that was possible. “God, I love you so much, Shuichi.”

Shuichi froze in place hearing Yusuke’s declaration. Even though they had been together for a couple of months now, Yusuke or even him had never said those words before. Once Yusuke loosened his arms a little, he took the opportunity to look into the older boy’s eyes. “Yusuke…” He was actually speechless; even though he wanted to say those words back, he found himself completely mute. His lover’s name being the only thing he could utter.

Yusuke took the boy’s chin and leaned down placing a chaste kiss on his lips. “I love you… with all my heart.” He then took the boy’s lips and kissed him breathless.

Shuichi snaked his arms around Yusuke’s waist as he let his lover show him how he had meant those words. Everything was working out so great. He didn’t want to wake up from this dream.

Once they ended the kiss, he caressed Shuichi’s cheek and smiled at him. Seeing how the boy was trembling and he obviously had a knot in his throat, he nodded knowing that the redhead wanted to return the sentiment, but couldn’t. “I’ll see you tomorrow. We’ll never be away from each other again. I promise.”

Shuichi rested his forehead on Yusuke’s chin and sighed. He couldn’t wait. His step father was going out of town again tonight and this was the chance they needed. They were going to spend the whole night packing and loading everything into the car. Well, everything meaning their clothes and other small items they could leave with. No furniture or anything like that. They didn’t need it anyway. Both Yusuke’s house and Hiei’s apartment were completely furnished. Shuichi couldn’t wait any longer. It would all be over soon. He wouldn’t have to worry about the situation at home ever again.

Yusuke sighed and kissed Shuichi’s forehead. “Your mom is waiting, sweetheart. I know you have a long night ahead of you. I wish I could come and help you.” They had talked about this and decided to keep it as safe as possible in case the man came back or something like that. “Good night, love.” He then kissed Shuichi and felt a strange feeling as the younger boy turned around and walked out the door.

----

“Shuichi, I have everything that can fit in the car in there. I will drop them off at Yusuke’s house and then I’ll send him back with the car to help you with what’s left.”

Shuichi nodded and then hugged his mother. “That’s fine. I still have a couple of boxes to pack. I just don’t want to leave my books behind.” His mother caressed his cheek and then smiled at him. “I’ll be fine. He hasn’t come back and I doubt that he will.” He wanted to see Yusuke and wanted his mother to leave as soon as possible and send the older boy back to come get him. He waved as his mother pulled out of the garage and then went back upstairs to finish packing.

----

Shuichi shut his eyes as tight as he could letting the tears run down his face. He turned his head to look at the phone. It was too far away. If he could get to it he could call Yusuke for help…

THUD !! BUMP !! THUD !!

“PLEASE, please father… STOP !!” Shuichi knew that it was of no use. His step father was going to break into his room and there was nowhere he could run. His mother was already gone and he couldn’t reach the phone. “Ohh gods… please… Yusuke…” He whispered to himself as if trying to send a mental message to his lover to come help him before it was too late.

----

Yusuke was pacing the floor again. “Fuck, when is he going to get here?” He once again glanced outside the window to see if he could see the car pulling in.

He had been so excited. After waiting for so long, the day had finally arrived when Shuichi will be moving in and staying for good. “God damn, I’m going to go insane if he doesn’t get here soon.”

Hiei glanced at Koenma as they both felt it. There was something wrong, but they couldn’t figure out what. Both of them had very sharp intuition and perception skills and most of the time they were right on the money.

They were all startled when the phone rang. Yusuke rushed to it immediately hoping it was Shuichi.

“Hello.”

“Yusuke, I thought you were going to meet us here, at your house.”

Yusuke sighed relieved to hear Shiori’s voice. “Oh, I thought Shuichi was going to drop off his things here, since this is where he’s going to stay.”

“Well, he told me to bring them here and to send you back there with the car to pick him up.”

Yusuke felt a bit nervous knowing that Shuichi was back at the house alone. “Hold on, Mrs. M, let me call him on my cell.”

The phone rang for a bit with no answer and Yusuke got really nervous then. He didn’t want to panic, so he let the phone ring a couple more times. Yusuke looked at Hiei with pleading eyes.

“It’s Shuichi. He’s in trouble.” Hiei murmured once the realization dawned on him. He immediately walked to Yusuke and snatched the telephone away from him. “Shiori, Shuichi is not answering. He’s still at your house. Right?”

“Yes… He told me to come over here and to send Yusuke back to get him. He was still packing and…” There was again silence and Hiei could hear her breathing become labored. “…no, oh gods, Hiei, Shuichi’s in trouble… we have to go back!”

Hiei grinded his teeth as his protective nature kicked in. “Don’t worry about it. We’re on our way. Shiori, please, stay there. Yusuke and I will go get him.” With that Hiei hung up the phone and turned to Yusuke. “We need to go get Shuichi. Yusuke, he’s in a lot of trouble. I believe his step father came back and…” Hiei shook his head as terrible thoughts of Shuichi getting assaulted or even worse crossed his mind. “…we need to go. Now!” Hiei opened the coat closet and picked up a black backpack he always kept there and headed out the door.

----

Shuichi was crawling backwards trying to stay as far away from his enraged step father as he could. The man had returned when he was carrying his last boxes to the living room. Seeing all of the boxes there and all of the items missing from the house, the man became furious and lashed out at Shuichi. He had hit him across his face a couple of times, but Shuichi had been able to pick up a vase and break it over his step father's back. He then ran upstairs and locked himself in his room. But that was all the protection he had and now the door was broken into and his step father was inside.

“So, you’re leaving me. I’ve busted my ass working and bringing money home and this is how you repay my kindness. Well, little Shuichi, you’re not leaving until I get what I want from you. You will not leave until I’ve marked you forever.”

At that instant the phone rang. They both glanced over to the phone and then back at each other.

Shuichi flipped over and tried to run towards it knowing that it was his last chance to get help, but it was too late. He felt as his muscles tensed, his teeth clenched together and a loud grunt escaped from his mouth. After about five seconds, Shuichi fell to the ground. He couldn’t catch his breath and he couldn’t move. Shuichi felt a bit nauseated and incoherent. Panic was overwhelming him as he felt his step father pick him up from the floor and place him on his bed. He wanted to fight, but he couldn’t and didn’t understand why. Shuichi then felt the cold metal of a pair of handcuffs placed around his wrists and secured to the headboard of the bed.

“I didn’t want to hurt you, little Shuichi, but you gave me no choice.”

Shuichi flinched as he saw what was in his step father’s hand. It had been a stun gun that had rendered him immobile. He closed his eyes and tried to even his breathing. Shuichi knew then that there was no use. He tensed when he felt the man’s hands pushing his t-shirt up and exposing his stomach and chest. Shuichi then began to sob and turned his face to the side as if to hide his shame once his step father began to touch him. “Please… father… don’t do this to me…” He pleaded, but it was in vain. The man was now over him, running his lips and his tongue over his exposed skin and there was nothing he could do.

----

“What the fuck are you talking about, Hiei?” Yusuke just held on tight as Hiei sped through alleyways and in between traffic in his motorbike. He was trying to get to Shuichi as fast as he could.

“You heard me, Yusuke. If we don’t get there in time, Shuichi will be hurt badly.” Hiei knew better than to tell Yusuke the truth. He couldn’t do it, not yet. 'Hold on, Shuichi. We’re coming.' Hiei just prayed that they could get there in time.

----

Shuichi screamed as the pain overwhelmed him. He was now basically nude, the only item of clothing being his t-shirt which was pushed all the way up to his arm pits. “Aaarrrggghhh… stop… please…” Another slashing cut through his back as his step father beat him with his wet leather belt. He could feel as the material stuck to his skin every time it made impact. Shuichi could also feel the wetness of the blood running down his sides. He was trembling and didn’t know how long he could take this abuse.

“Tell me who he is… you whore… I was going to do this the easy way… I thought you were a virgin… all this time… you’ve been fucking someone else… *smack* …tell me who he is…!!”

Shuichi pulled on the handcuffs and felt the headboard give a little, so he mustered all of his strength and tried to free himself. “Aaarrrggghhh… let me GO!!!” Once again, his step father hit him with the stun gun. Shuichi stilled and could barely breathe. The man had been vicious; kicking and punching him until there was blood. When he had seen Yusuke’s leather jacket hanging from the back of his chair, he went berserk; pulling Shuichi’s hair and slapping him across the face.

“Fine… have it your way…”

Shuichi was numb. He couldn’t think, or feel, or fight any more. But the tears kept falling from his eyes. He wanted to die. He wanted it all to end, but not like this. Not by being beaten and raped by the man who was supposed to protect him, who had raised him. Shuichi closed his eyes and tried to block everything out. He could hear the man divesting and knew that it would all be over soon. If this man raped him, he didn’t want to live another day. He wouldn’t be able to vanish his shame. He wouldn’t be able to let Yusuke touch him again.

----

Hiei pulled the kit from his backpack and picked the lock. Yusuke immediately opened the front door and before he could call for the redhead, Hiei had placed his hand over his mouth.

“Don’t, let’s check down here first.” Hiei whispered and Yusuke nodded.

As fast as they could, they scanned through the downstairs and didn’t find Shuichi. Yusuke was going up the stairs as fast as he could. Hiei was not too far behind.

----

Shuichi felt as his step father manhandled him and positioned him how he wanted. He was now with his chest to the bed and on his knees. The man had pushed his knees upwards, so that his cheeks were spread and he was completely vulnerable. He tried again to move, but his muscles wouldn’t comply. He could not bare it and that’s when everything faded.

----

Yusuke knew that the only room he wanted to check upstairs was Shuichi’s. He ran as quietly as possible. Hiei had advised him that they better do it this way in case Shuichi’s life was in danger. He just couldn’t understand why this man would want to hurt his own son.

He turned the corner and then grimaced as he saw the door off its hinges. Yusuke couldn’t hold on anymore and entered the room. As he stood there and looked inside, he was completely mortified to see Shuichi’s bloodied form on the bed. He immediately realized what was about to happen as he saw the man positioned behind Shuichi. “YOU FUCKING BASTARD!!!” Yusuke went to tackle the man when the sound of an object whistling passed by him.

The man immediately reached for his neck and then slowly fell beside Shuichi. Yusuke turned and saw a gun in Hiei’s hand.

Hiei brought the gun down and walked past Yusuke. “Darts… non lethal but effective.”

Hiei then went to the bed and pulled the man until he hit the floor. He then walked to where Shuichi was and inspected the boy’s backside as well as the man’s now flaccid member. “No blood. That’s a good sign.” Hiei repositioned Shuichi’s legs so that he was no longer as exposed. “I don’t believe there was any penetration.” He then walked over to Shuichi’s desk and picked up Yusuke’s jacket from the back of the chair. He placed it over Shuichi’s hips covering the boy’s nude body. “He’s in shock, Yusuke. I’ll call an ambulance.”

Yusuke had slowly walked towards the bed and sat beside Shuichi. The boy had his eyes open and there were tears still running down his face, but there was something very wrong. “Shuichi… I’m here… it’s me… Yusuke.” Yusuke ran his fingers over Shuichi’s cheek and then tucked the boy’s long bangs behind his ear. “Shuichi… can you hear me?” Yusuke felt as his own tears began to run down his face. He was scared. Shuichi wasn’t answering.

“They’ll be here soon. I can’t stay, Yusuke. I’ll let Shiori know what happened.” Hiei looked around and saw a pair of Shuichi’s sneakers. He took the shoe strings off and used them to tie the man down to make sure that he was of no threat in case the police took longer than expected. He knew that the dart was good for a couple of hours, but better safe than sorry. After removing the dart itself from the man's neck, Hiei then proceeded to punch the man as hard as he could a couple of times. He then walked over and picked up Shuichi’s lamp and hit the man on the shoulder and back and then threw the lamp down.

Yusuke gave him a questioning look.

“So, you beat the shit out of the guy. Right?”

Yusuke understood what Hiei was doing and nodded. Right there and then he realized that maybe those rumors about Hiei were true. Hiei was definitely a bad ass.

Hiei walked up to Yusuke and placed a hand on his shoulder. “I’m sorry, Yusuke. He’ll be okay. They’ll help him.” And with that he turned and disappeared.

----

Yusuke heard as the first team of paramedics entered the house. “We’re upstairs!” He screamed making sure that they heard. He didn’t want to leave Shuichi’s side, so he continued to caress his hair and call his name hoping that he would come back to him.

“What happened here?” The paramedics put their equipment all around and started to look over Shuichi. “Hey, what happened here?”

Yusuke stood up and crossed his arms over his chest. “Um, his step father… did this to him.” Everything was just a blur.

“Come with me, son. We need to let them do their work. We need to talk.” The police officer took Yusuke by his elbow and guided him outside of the room.

Yusuke saw as the paramedics noticed that Shuichi was handcuffed to the bed and gave each other a sympathetic look. “We need someone to undo these so that we can get him out of here. He’s bleeding too much. Gods, this kid is in shock. He’s not responding.”

“I need to go with him. I can’t leave him alone.” Yusuke tried to make his way back to the bedroom, but was held by the police officer.

“And you can, but let them do their work first. I need you to tell me what happened. Why did that man attack him?”

Yusuke looked at the police officer and nodded. He then followed them downstairs and sat. He tried to get his own thoughts in order as he tried to tell the story making sure not to incriminate Hiei in any way.

----

It had been six long hours and they still waited. Yusuke glanced at Shiori and then at Koenma. As far as they’d been told, Shuichi was going to make it, but there were other tests and things that needed to be done before they could see him. Yusuke closed his eyes and sighed. He saw those images again. Of Shuichi’s bloodied body, of his step father about to rape him, of his blank stare. Yusuke ran his fingers through his hair again and stood up. He couldn’t wait any more. He needed to know.

“Mrs. Minamino…?”

Yusuke immediately turned around as the doctor walked towards Shiori.

“Yes. I’m his mother.”

The doctor took her hand in his and smiled. “He’s doing well. We’ve moved him to his own room, but I will only allow two of you to see him; and for only fifteen minutes.” The man sighed before he continued. “We had to sedate him. He went into a panic when he came back from his shocked state. He’ll sleep for the rest of the night. If you could be here around noon, I believe he will do better if he sees a familiar face.”

Yusuke held Shiori’s shoulders for support.

“Thank you, doctor.” She then turned around and smiled at Yusuke. “Let’s go see him, Yusuke.”

----

They silently walked in the room and stood at each side of the boy’s bed. Yusuke glanced at the woman who was silently crying and holding Shuichi’s hand. He looked at the redhead and had to hold down a sob that tried to escape him. He didn’t want to cry and make things more difficult for Shiori. Yusuke very gently brushed Shuichi’s long bangs away from his face and smiled. The redhead seemed so peaceful now. Yusuke promised himself to always do his best to make Shuichi happy. Especially now that they had taken his step father into custody and there was going to be a nasty court case because of what happened. Yusuke sighed and placed a gentle kiss on Shuichi’s forehead. “I’ll be back, Shuichi. I love you.” He then turned and walked outside the room trying as best he could to comfort the redhead’s mother.

As soon as they walked back to the waiting area, Yusuke noticed the police officer again. He sighed realizing it was going to be a fucking long night.

----

Yusuke walked as fast as he could. He was so high on caffeine that his teeth were clattering. He didn’t have any sleep the night before both because he was hammered down by questions from the police and because he didn’t want to fall asleep. Those awful images still replayed themselves in his head. He just didn’t want to get a nightmare from that.

“Yusuke… wait.”

Yusuke stopped and turned around. He was so concentrated on getting to Shuichi that he was leaving Shiori way behind. “Sorry Mrs. M. I’m just nervous.” She smiled at him and that made him feel better. He held the door open as they both stepped into the hospital elevator.

----

Yusuke just looked at Shuichi. The doctor had said that he would wake soon. He glanced at the clock again. It was almost one in the afternoon. Yusuke bowed his head while holding Shuichi’s hand. He placed his hand against his forehead and closed his eyes tight. “Gods… love… wake up, please.” Not even a minute later he felt Shuichi move his fingers.

Yusuke felt so overwhelmed when Shuichi opened his eyes and blinked a couple of times. “Shuichi… it’s me, Yusuke… hey, I’m here…” Yusuke tried to speak as gentle as he could. He didn’t want to startle the boy.

“Yusuke…” Shuichi felt so relieved to see the older boy there. He held his hand tight and tried to sit up as he felt the bile rise to his throat. “Where is he…? Where…!” Shuichi hissed at the burning sensation on his back. He gasped for air as both the pain and the fear of being pursued were overwhelming him.

Yusuke panicked as he recognized Shuichi’s fear. “Shhh, he’s not here, Shuichi. It’s just me. Please, lay back down.” He caressed the redhead’s hair lovingly and gave him a smile. “It’s just me. Everything’s okay.” He then leaned and held the younger boy trying very carefully not to hurt him any more than he already was.

“Yusuke…” Shuichi let the tears fall from his eyes as he draped both arms around Yusuke’s neck and held on tight as if his life depended on it. “I’m sorry… I tried to fight him… but... he…”

Yusuke held Shuichi by placing one hand on his hip and the other intertwined in his hair. “Shhh, it’s not your fault. The bastard used a stun gun on you. It’s over, love. He won’t hurt you again.”

Shuichi then felt the pressure in his chest and he couldn’t breathe. “Oh god… he… he…”

Yusuke knew that Shuichi probably felt horrible by not remembering what happened after he went into shock. He knew he had to calm the boy down or they were going to sedate him again. “Hey, nothing happened.” He placed his hands at each side of the boy’s face to try to get his attention. “Shuichi… listen to me. Nothing happened.” He then felt relieved when Shuichi stopped fighting him and stared into his eyes. “I got there in time. Nothing happened.”

Shuichi then bowed his head and sobbed. Even though he was glad that nothing happened, he felt mortified as he imagined how Yusuke must have felt to find him in such a disturbing situation.

Yusuke pulled Shuichi into his arms again and continued to calm the boy down. “Shhh, it’s okay. It’s all over. When you get out of here, we’ll go back to our place and everything will be back like it was.”

Shuichi lifted his head and looked into Yusuke’s eyes. “Our place…?” He whispered hoping that it meant what he thought it meant.

“Yes, our place. You’re still moving in with me, right?” He waited as Shuichi hesitated and then he nodded. “Good. Don’t scare me like that. I can’t wait to be with you in our room. Watching a movie and kicking back.” Yusuke then placed a gentle kiss on the boy’s temple and sighed. “Now, you need to get yourself together for your mom. She’s going to walk in here any minute now. A detective came in to ask her some stuff, but she’ll be right back.” Yusuke felt as Shuichi nodded and took in a deep breath as he tried to control his sobbing. “That’s my boy. I love you, Shuichi. Never doubt that. That will never change. Ever.”

Shuichi smiled and then hugged Yusuke. He had thought the worse when he couldn’t remember what happened that night. He was relieved to know that Yusuke was still the only one to take pleasure with his body. Shuichi didn’t think he would be able to take it if Yusuke had rejected him because of what he thought happened. He closed his eyes tight and smiled again. He was Yusuke’s and he never wanted that to change.

----

“Man, how the hell do you do that?” Kazuma was trying to figure out how he was still hit with that darn marble. He had blindfolded, turned the boy around and even moved around the room himself, but there was no use. Hagiri was definitely a gifted one.

Yusuke thought it was absolutely hilarious. “I could even hit you, man. You’re so damn loud. How could he not know where you are?”

Keiko took the blindfold off Hagiri and looked into those beautiful magenta eyes. She was so proud to be Hagiri Kaname’s girlfriend. All the girls in school were absolutely green with jealousy. “That was absolutely amazing. You’re amazing.” She then placed a gentle kiss on the boy’s lips.

Hagiri smiled at her and returned the gentle kiss. “You know Yusuke is right. I can hear him coming a mile away. That’s why I can’t miss him.” They both laughed at that and continued to kiss each other gently.

Just then the doorbell rang and everybody looked at Shizuru. “Well, that must be for me.” She then walked to the door and opened it. Everyone was shocked to see a very well dressed man smiling at Shizuru. “Hey, you’re early.”

Sakyo smiled at the beauty before him once again. Then he leaned over and gave her a chaste kiss on the lips. “I just couldn’t wait any longer to see you.” He said giving her a single red rose with yet another beautiful smile.

Shizuru felt like her knees were going to give at any minute when the sound of Kazuma clearing his throat startled her from her enamored state. “Oh, where are my manners? Come in, please.“ Sakyo entered the room and closed the door behind him. "Sakyo, this is my friend Keiko and her boyfriend Hagiri. This is my brother Kazuma and his girlfriend Yukina.” She stopped and looked at Hiei as he growled at the mention of his sister being Kazuma’s girlfriend. “This is Hiei, Koenma, Yusuke and Shuichi. They live here.” Shizuru deliberately didn’t mention the whole gay / boy-on-boy relationship fact. She wasn’t sure where Sakyo stood on that.

Yusuke immediately caught that and smiled. He was sitting on the couch and Shuichi was sitting on the floor in between his legs. So, he bent forward and placed a loving kiss on top of Shuichi’s hair as Shizuru gave him a shocked look for his actions.

Sakyo picked up on that and smirked. “Keiko, it’s very nice to meet you. I’ve heard many great things about you.” He also shook Hagiri’s calloused hand. He immediately flipped it over and took a better look. “Hn, do you shoot at the range? You have the hand of someone who’s familiar with firearms.”

Hagiri raised an eyebrow and smirked. “Yes, I do shoot at the range. I hold the highest score there under the nickname ‘Sniper’.”

Sakyo immediately recognized the boy. “Oh yes, you’re the state champion. Very pleased to meet you. We must spend some time in the range. Maybe you can teach me a trick or two.” Sakyo watched as Hagiri nodded. “Kazuma, I’m honored to finally meet you.”

Kazuma felt weird at being greeted so formally. The guy had bowed his head and everything. “Yeah, nice to meet you too, man.”

Shizuru felt so embarrassed to have such a grunt for a brother.

"We must not forget you, very nice to meet you." Sakyo took Yukina's hand and kissed it gently.

Sakyo then walked towards the redhead who had caught his eye. “Shuichi Minamino, I presume.” He had already deducted who the boy was as he had heard about him before. The boy was well known for his obvious intellect and knowledge.

Shuichi immediately stood and extended his hand. “Yes, very pleased to make your acquaintance.”

Sakyo raised an eyebrow seeing the beautiful boy up close and noting his refined manners. “The pleasure is mine.” He then noted as Yusuke also stood up with a very obvious body language. “You must be Yusuke.” He then gripped Yusuke’s hand tightly and was surprised to receive the same treatment back. He smiled and raised an eyebrow at the evident possessive display from Yusuke towards the redhead. “You guys make a very nice couple.”

Shizuru felt like she was going to fall out and Shuichi had a very cute blush across his face. Sakyo had to smile at that. He then turned and continued to greet everyone. “Hiei, pleasure to meet you. Koenma, it’s a pleasure as well.” He also felt the same display of possessiveness from Hiei. It must be towards Koenma. “You two make a beautiful couple as well.” He then turned to Shizuru and smiled. “Are you ready to go? We have dinner reservations at this beautiful restaurant. I can’t wait to show you off.”

Shizuru once again felt like the luckiest girl there was. “Yes, I’m ready.” Sakyo grabbed her hand and started to walk towards the door. Shizuru turned to look over her shoulder and gave everyone the global expression of ‘oh my god is this great or what?’ Everyone waved at her and they were off.

“Wow, isn’t that great? I can’t believe she met this guy. He’s absolutely magnificent. Like a knight in shining armor, like prince charming, like…”

“Like your boyfriend is staring at you, looney.” Yusuke shook his head and rolled his eyes.

Keiko looked at Hagiri and winced. “Oops…”

Hagiri raised an eyebrow and even though he was a bit hurt by her comments, he wasn’t worried for a minute. He knew that the girl was crazy about him as was he of her. “Are you trying to make me jealous?” He almost laughed as the girl sheepishly shook her head. “Good, because it’s not working.”

Keiko sighed and hugged the boy. “Thank you for not being mad. I didn’t mean anything by that. You’re the only guy for me, you know that. Right?”

Hagiri nodded and smiled at her. “Of course.” He said that even though he knew, as well as the rest of the world, that she had been madly in love with Yusuke. Until she found out that the guy was gay of course. “Are you ready to leave? I’ll walk you home.” Keiko nodded and so they said their ‘good byes’ and left.

“Well, we need to leave too. See you later guys.” Kazuma shook everyone’s hand as Yukina hugged and kissed her brother. They then left as well.

----

Yusuke just loved Shuichi’s hair. They were in the tub and Yusuke was washing the boy’s beautiful mane. “It was a great night. I’m glad things are working out for everyone.” He then poured the water over Shuichi’s hair and ran his hand over it to make sure that he got all of the suds. “I can’t believe your mom is finally whipping my mom into shape. I thought she would never get back on her feet.” Yusuke was happy that his mom had gone through rehab and was now working full time.

Shuichi smiled and leaned back onto Yusuke’s chest. “My mother’s birthday is coming up. We have a great excuse to throw her a party.” Even though he didn’t get to see his mother as often as before, he really liked the fact that he didn’t live with her. It would be weird trying to have a relationship with Yusuke with her under the same roof.

Yusuke smiled and kissed Shuichi’s hair. “That’s a great idea. I’m sure Hiei and Koenma would like to plan that party.” He smiled and pulled Shuichi’s chin up so that he could kiss the boy. It had been six months since that awful night and Shuichi was doing very well. Even though they had found his step father guilty, they still had to wait for his sentencing. Yusuke played with the boy’s bottom lip and then snaked his hands around the redhead’s waist and onto his front. He began to stroke him and felt as the younger boy moaned into his mouth.

Shuichi loved the way Yusuke had taken it slow after the incident. It had taken him a while to even let Yusuke touch him again.

Yusuke very gently continued to run his hands over the boy’s body. Breaking from the kiss, he looked into those emerald eyes which were full of lust. “Let’s get out of this tub and into the bed.” Shuichi nodded wanting nothing more than to do just that.

----

Yusuke ran his hands under Shuichi’s body feeling his chest and then up his arms until he intertwined their hands into each other’s. “Ahhh… Shuichi…” He continued his long and slow strokes making sure that the boy under him enjoyed their lovemaking. Since that one unpleasant incident, Yusuke made it his business not to seem forceful when being intimate this way. He didn’t want Shuichi to have any bad memories return to him as they cherished each other.

Shuichi loved the way Yusuke made him feel. He spread his legs a bit wider and tilted his hips to make sure that the older boy continued his ministrations. It had taken him a long time to be able to make love while on his stomach. This was only the second time that he had been able to do it.

Yusuke continued to kiss Shuichi’s neck and shoulders knowing that they were both so close. He took his right hand and pushed it in between Shuichi and the mattress finding the boy's erection. He began to stroke his lover’s cock every now and then running his thumb over the engorged head to try to bring him over the edge.

“Ahhh… Yusuke… mmm…”

Yusuke tightened his hold on Shuichi’s other hand while resting his forehead against the boy’s temple. Just a few more strokes and Shuichi came tightening around him bringing Yusuke to that state where he felt his body convulse as he came deep inside his lover. “Ahhh… gods… Shuichi… ahhh…” He continued to pump into the redhead a couple more times. Making sure that he gave all he had to give and then he stilled.

----

Yusuke kissed Shuichi’s face as he caressed his hair. It had been so beautiful to make love to Shuichi. It always was. He was thankful that the boy had been able to get over his demons and that he had been able to help him with that.

Shuichi smiled as he snuggled into Yusuke’s chest even more. He closed his eyes and inhaled the older boy’s scent. There was no other way that he could sleep. He had to be able to feel Yusuke there with him or else… He closed his eyes and ran his hand over the boy’s side. “I love you, Yusuke.”

Yusuke tightened his hold on the redhead as he heard those beautiful words. “I love you too. So much sometimes it hurts.”

Shuichi laughed at that. He then turned his head up as Yusuke lowered his and their eyes met. As they both smiled at each other they didn’t have to say any words. The way they felt was clear and visible. Yusuke ran his thumb over the boy’s lips and then he closed the gap between them.

And so they kissed each other as if it would be the last time, as if it was the first. Giving themselves to one another in that simple act of passion, of possession. To yield to that one emotion that fulfills your soul. That defeats you and you willingly surrender to it. That one sensation which some say never comes, yet other’s say that lasts forever. That simple but incomprehensible sentiment. That which we call… love.

THE END