Behind Closed Doors

Kurama’s attention was divided the entire day between his classes and his impressions from Yusuke. The brunet radiated contentment and happiness, so much that Kurama couldn’t help smiling. They met in the park after school to work on their homework, but both were distracted, wondering, remembering.

“Let’s go somewhere,” Yusuke finally complained after Kurama had called his attention back to their homework for what had to be the fiftieth time.

“We can go to my house,” Kurama conceded. Yusuke pouted, but Kurama continued, “I know you want to go to your place, but we’re not ready, Yusuke.” He sighed, “As much as I want to, as much as I’d love for you to actually do what we did last night on this plane, it’s not the right time, yet.”

Yusuke sighed, “I know, Kurama. I do know, but I want it. But, you’re right, I’m still afraid of hurting you.” He sighed again and put his books away. “Let’s go to your house. At least there I can touch you and kiss you”

Kurama smiled and packed his things away. They walked close enough to each other that their hands brushed against the other’s frequently, drawing private smiles as the physical touch reinforced their entwined ki. When they entered Kurama’s house, they reached out and entwined their hands before they’d even put their bags down or removed their shoes. Noise from the kitchen kept them from kissing, though. Hand in hand they walked down the hall.

“Mother?” Kurama asked.

“Oh, Shuichi, Yusuke. I’m glad you’re here. Hatanaka wanted to have dinner with us tonight. That is alright, isn’t it?” She smiled nervously, “He wants to…he said he wanted to talk to you.” She radiated nervous excitement.

Kurama smiled, “Okay. Did you need any help?”

She shook her head, “No, you boys go work on your homework. He’ll be over in an hour or so.”

“Call us when it’s time to set the table and we’ll help,” Yusuke offered.

Shiori smiled, “Thank you.”

The boys went upstairs, hand in hand, going into Kurama’s room and closing the door behind them. Yusuke wrapped his arms around the redhead, “I’ve felt you all day, and it’s been wonderful, but this,” he squeezed Kurama, “is so much better.”

Kurama returned the embrace and kissed Yusuke, drawing a light moan from the brunet. Yusuke slipped his hands up Kurama’s back and into the red hair, pulling Kurama closer, their lips parting and tongues meeting. Their ki flowed together, binding them together more closely. Kurama moaned and felt Yusuke’s sounds of pleasure filling his mouth. Kurama pulled Yusuke closer to his body, trying to bring the brunet’s body as close to him as his energy was. He felt their bond growing stronger and moaned again. Their mouths separated and Kurama breathed out, “I love you.”

Yusuke leaned into Kurama’s body, “I love you, too.” He sighed and let the redhead support him. “This feels so right, Kurama, just being with you.”

Kurama nuzzled Yusuke’s head with his cheek, simply holding the brunet. They stood there a long time, simply holding each other, physically and with their ki. Not speaking, not doing anything but holding each other. They sighed and moved away from each other slowly, almost as if they had to draw their flesh apart, separating one body into two. “We left our books downstairs.”

“It’s almost time to help your mom, too,” Yusuke murmured, his hand trailing down Kurama’s arm to recapture his hand.

They were in the doorway when Shiori turned to call them, “Oh, you’re here already. Will you set the table, please?”

Just then, there was a knock on the door. Kurama went to answer the door while Yusuke set the table. Hatanaka was standing on the stoop, “Ah, Shuichi, how are you?”

“I’m doing well, thank you, sir. Please come in.”

“Thank you. Unfortunately, I have some bad news, but I wanted to talk to you, man to man.”

“Bad news?” Shiori asked from the kitchen doorway.

“More issues, same as last night, but you stay here, it’s okay. Unfortunately, I cannot stay for dinner.”

Shiori’s face fell and Hatanaka walked over to her, “I’d rather stay here, I really would.” He ran his hand along her arm and Kurama could feel the tenderness between them.

“Mother, why don’t you take dinner to the office? You could eat while you work.”

Shiori smiled at him. “Would it be okay?” she asked.

Hatanaka nodded, “That would be okay, but I still need to talk to Shuichi. Can we go into the living room?”

Kurama frowned in confusion and led Hatanaka into the living room, gesturing him to sit on the couch while he sat on the chair caddy corner. Hatanaka sat on the edge of the couch, his hands clasped between his knees. “Shuichi, you know I’ve been seeing your mother for a while now, right?”

Kurama fought the tug of a smile that wanted to pull at his lips, “Yes, sir.”

He needn’t have bothered trying to hide. Hatanaka’s eyes were on his hands, watching them rub together nervously. “I would like to ask her to marry me, but I would like your permission to ask.” He finally looked at the redhead. “I’ve talked to my son and we await your approval.”

Kurama knew Hatanaka was sincere, but also knew his mother was listening, as was Yusuke. He felt the brunet’s amusement and anticipation. He leaned back in the chair, “Will you take care of her as she deserves?”

“I will try to care for her the way she should be.” Hatanaka looked at his hands and then back up at Kurama’s eyes, “I love her and I want her to be happy. I think you understand.”

Kurama smiled, “I do understand. You may ask her, but her answer is out of my hands.”

Hatanaka almost seemed to float above the couch, “Thank you.” He stood and took Kurama’s hand, squeezing it tightly, “Thank you, Shuichi.” He pulled the redhead into a hug and they could hear the other two laughing in the hallway.

Shiori poked her head in, trying to not smile, “You still have to ask me.”

Yusuke stood behind her, “And me.”

Kurama laughed, “What claim do you have on her?”

“She’s like my mother-in-law or something like that,” Yusuke replied, his chin lifted defiantly while he tried not to laugh. He couldn’t help but grin when Shiori wrapped an arm around him.

Hatanaka walked over to Yusuke, “May I have your permission to ask her to marry me?”

Yusuke fought laughter, looking over at Kurama, “Are you sure he’s good enough for her?”

Kurama considered, “I think he might be.”

“Then, I guess it’s okay.” He grinned, “But ya still gotta ask her.” He pushed Shiori away from him and stepped closer to Kurama, reaching for the redhead’s hand. They watched as Hatanaka looked at both of them and then knelt before Shiori.

“Shiori Minamino, would you do me the great honor of becoming my wife?”

As much as she tried, Shiori couldn’t draw out the suspense, “Yes.”

Yusuke squeezed Kurama’s hand and they grinned as Hatanaka stood and kissed Shiori briefly. “I wish I could stay.”

“We packed up some food. I’ll drive to the office behind you. We can still have our dinner.”

“Your company would be delightful,” he smiled at her. “I’ll see you there,” he bent to kiss her again before heading toward the door, his hand lingering in hers. She followed him to the door and they kissed once more, “I wish we had more time.”

“We will,” she assured him, “later, we’ll have more time. I’ll see you in a little bit.” They kissed once more before he went out the door and she leaned against the hall, grinning. She turned to Yusuke, “Your mother-in-law?”

Yusuke blushed, his free hand going up behind his head, “Well, something like that. You’re like a mom to me, so…”

Kurama asked, “He accepted us easily enough?”

“He was with me yesterday and asked why I was so upset. I told him about you two and he told me about his brother. His brother’s gay and he knew long before his parents did. He’s okay with it and is happy to hear that you two are so happy together.” She pushed away from the wall and hugged them together. “I’m going now. I’ll be home when I get home. Good night, boys.” She went into the kitchen and came out with a bento box and kissed both their cheeks as they stood stunned in the hall. She was out the door and they heard the car start before either of them recovered.

“Your mother gets stranger all the time,” Yusuke murmured.

Kurama smiled, “But, your mother remains an incredible person.”

Yusuke laughed, leaning against Kurama’s shoulder, “Yeah, but your boyfriend is very happy for your mother.”

Kurama pulled Yusuke into his arms, “I’m very happy for her, too.” He caressed Yusuke’s cheek, looking into the brunet’s eyes, “I’m very happy to have my boyfriend, to be your boyfriend.” He kissed Yusuke lightly before pulling back to look into his face once more, “I love you so much, Yusuke.” He pressed their lips together much more firmly, exploring Yusuke’s lips with his before he felt the brunet’s tongue asking entrance. He parted his lips and Yusuke took over the kiss, pressing the redhead into the wall. Kurama moaned shamelessly and surrendered to Yusuke’s demanding exploration of his mouth while Yusuke’s hands caressed his neck and shoulders. Kurama brought his hands up and held onto Yusuke’s waist. The brunet pressed their bodies closer together and Kurama wrapped his arms around him, feeling the burnet’s arousal press into him, feeling his arousal being pressed by the brunet. A groan made its way through his body as Yusuke rocked his hips against him.

Yusuke broke their kiss, “I want you so badly, Kurama, but…” he struggled to breathe, unwilling to step away from the redhead.

“I know. Not time yet,” Kurama panted back letting his head fall forward to rest on Yusuke’s shoulder, though the brunet’s shorter height made it less than comfortable.

“Last night, though, that I want more of.” Yusuke sighed, “Why does that feel okay but actually physically doing it with you doesn’t?”

Kurama lifted his head enough to look into Yusuke’s eyes, “Because Hiei used your body, not your ki.” He managed to make it a flat statement, void of any emotion in voice or ki. He felt Yusuke wince and he apologized, “That was too blunt, I’m sorry.”

“Don’t. You’re right, I know. It’s just gonna take a little while longer.” He leaned against Kurama, “Being marked, though, I like that a lot. It feels so…much better when I touch you now than it did before.”

Kurama laughed, “That’s because it’s almost like I’m part of you and you’re part of me.” He sobered and hugged Yusuke tightly, “I wouldn’t trade this feeling for anything, I just wish I could have spared you.”

Yusuke pulled back, “No, not really. I would have missed out on getting to really know you and your mother and everything.”

Kurama raised an eyebrow, “Since when did you get philosophical?”

Yusuke shrugged, “I guess you’re rubbing off on me. But, really, getting to know you, your mom, being considered part of your family, I wouldn’t give that up.”

Kurama hugged Yusuke, “Let’s go eat, my love, and then decide what we want to do.”

Yusuke stepped away, “Do you suppose he’ll want to join our movie afternoons? I kinda like those.”

Kurama laughed, “Do you want him to?”

“Well, it seems like your mom likes ‘em, and I kinda hope we don’t have to give them up. I guess it’d be okay if he joined.” He laughed, “I’m getting possessive of your mother, go figure.”

“We can watch a movie after we eat, if you want,” Kurama suggested as they sat.

“I’d like that. I wanna see Rashomon again.”

Kurama smiled, Yusuke liked the theme of the movie, and they’d discussed it several times while they’d been together, how the witnesses of a crime couldn’t agree as to what happened, how each of their own histories influenced what they believed to be the truth until it became unclear if the truth could ever be truly known. “We’ll watch it, Yusuke.”

They ate in comfortable silence and watched the movie, Yusuke sitting under Kurama’s arm on the couch. During the course of the movie, they fell asleep, Shiori finding them lying together with the movie menu flickering on the screen. She watched them together for a long moment. Very gently, she shook them and when they looked at her blearily, she told them “Go up to bed. It’ll be more comfortable there.”

Kurama smiled sleepily, “Did you manage to celebrate at all, Mother?”

“We went for desert on the way home. We have a date this weekend.”

Yusuke pouted, “Are we still gonna watch movies?”

Shiori put an arm around his waist, helping him up the stairs, “Yes, we’ll still watch our movies, Yusuke. Don’t worry, we talked about that tonight. We talked about a lot tonight.” She smiled, her eyes tired, “Let’s go to bed, my boys.”

Kurama followed, more steady on his feet than Yusuke was. He stood outside his room while Shiori helped Yusuke into the bed. When she stepped in the hall again, Kurama whispered to her, “He really likes watching movies together with you.”

Shiori smiled, “I know. Go to sleep, Shuichi. Good night.”

Kurama smiled in return and went in his room, crawling over Yusuke to be by the wall. The brunet snuggled into him, kissing his neck and then nuzzling into his chest. Yusuke mumbled, “Love you.”

Kurama tightened his arms around the brunet, “Love you, too.” He was asleep again before his mother closed the door.