Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ The Right Thing ❯ Chapter III ( Chapter 3 )

The Right Thing:

Chapter 3

"Kurama?" Yusuke asked again, a note of uncertainty creeping into his voice.

"Yes," came the cool, neutral reply from the other end.

"Um…can I- can I…talk to you?"

There was a pause on the other end and Yusuke thought he heard a slight scuffling noise in the background before his answer came. "Yes, Yusuke, go ahead." The voice seemed calmer now and slightly less distant, so the Spirit Detective took that as a good sign and launched into his apology.

Five minutes later, he ended his speech and sat quietly while Kurama processed all he had just said. "Yusuke, I…I understand better now why you did what you did."

"Really?" the dark-haired boy asked, his voice hopeful. "Can we get back together then?"

A sigh rushed over the phone to meet his waiting ear. "I'm sorry Yusuke, I can't do that."

The boy's heart sank into his shoes. "W-why not?" he asked, stomach doing back flips all the while.

"Because Hiei and I are together now. I love him Yusuke."

Love him…I love him Yusuke…love him… The words rang harsh and loud in the teen's ears. He dropped the phone back onto the receiver with a loud clatter and sank down into the cushions of his couch. His entire body was shaking and the room suddenly felt colder. Shivering, he hugged himself tightly and rocked slowly back and forth.

Kurama and Hiei…Kurama and Hiei. His trembling body broke out in a cold sweat at the thought. Kurama was no longer his for the taking, didn't even love him anymore. Teeth chattering, he ran over all the events of the past few days, trying to remember if there had been anything going on between the other two, but nothing came to mind.

Then it hit him like a train: Hiei had been acting sort of strange during their mission to the Makai. Well, more so then usual. Yusuke hadn't seen him around much, and there was one point where he had come upon him and Kurama together and had turned around and walked away again. Biting his lip to keep from crying he realized that the little fire demon had loved the kitsune all along, but hadn't interfered because of his relationship with him. With him! An incredible feeling of shame washed over him and he fell to his side on the couch.

Yusuke knew now he did not deserve the kitsune boy; he was not worthy. Hiei had loved him for a longer period of time, and yet had still stood back while forced to watch his love fall for another. Then Yusuke had rejected Kurama, all because of his own feelings for Keiko, which, he now admitted, had never been that strong to begin with.

Blood trickled down from his lip in unison with the hot, salty tear that fell from his eye. Finally breaking down, he buried his face in a cushion, not caring if his blood left a stain and sobbed until his entire body was wracked with convulsions.

So loud was his sobbing, that he did not hear the loud, insistent knocking at his front door, and did not notice the presence of another person in the room until the said person crouched down by the couch and whispered his name. "Urameshi?"

Yusuke looked up, startled out of his wits, and choked. Kuwabara was crouched by the couch, looking at him with a worried, confused look in his eyes.

Without knowing why, the brown-eyed boy sat up and flung his arms around the other teen's neck, clinging onto him for dear life. "What did I do Kuwabara, what did I do?! I never meant to hurt him and now he's got Hiei and…" A stream of senseless babble left his mouth all in a rush and Kuwabara took it all into stride with understanding placidness.

Shushing softly, he got up from his crouching position and sat down on the couch, pulling the Spirit Detective into his arms and cradling him like a baby. Yusuke buried his face in the other boy's chest and continued to sob for many more long minutes. Kuwabara didn't seem at all ruffled by this, he sat there patiently, rubbing one hand up and down the shorter boy's arm soothingly while continuing to make shushing noises.

With one last hiccup, Yusuke took a few deep breaths and wiped his face off with one hand. "What are you doing here anyway, man?" He asked Kuwabara, sounding slightly less hysterical and more like the old Yusuke.

"I went back to the theater cause I had left my jacket there, and found your wallet on the floor. I was just bring it back," the tall youth explained. "But that's not important now," he continued, throwing Yusuke's brown leather wallet onto the little end table by the couch. "What's the matter?" he asked in a dead serious tone, looking Yusuke right in the eyes.

Biting his lip and wincing as he almost reopened the cut there, Yusuke poured out the whole story to his friend, still holding on tightly to him the entire time. When he was finished, he once more buried his face in Kuwabara's blue jacket, feeling the dampness his earlier outburst had caused.

Nodding silently Kuwabara rubbed Yusuke's back while he mulled things over. The orange-haired boy wasn't stupid, he just liked to think things like this over before saying anything or making any judgments. Yusuke leaned against him, a sense of calm stealing over him as he felt the solidity of Kuwabara's chest through the fabric of his jacket. Here was something in his life that never changed, something that would always remain as it was and that was Kuwabara. Without knowing how, he knew Kuwabara would always be there for him when he needed it, and this calmed him more then anything else in the world could.

"Well…" Kuwabara started as Yusuke looked up expectantly. "It looks like you screwed things up royally Urameshi."

The dark-haired boy's heart sank once more into his feet. "But, you've apologized to Kurama, and he accepted the apology, even though he couldn't and wouldn't take you back. You've done all you can, and you gotta move on." He shrugged, muscular shoulders contracting. "You can't make people like you Urameshi. So you just gotta forget about it and get on with things." Kuwabara stopped here, his cheeks and ears going pink.

But Yusuke looked up at him with a tearstained face and smiled. "Thanks Kuwabara," he said and, leaning forward, placed a chaste kiss on his friend's lips.

When he pulled back, Kuwabara could only stare wonderingly at the other's face. "Yusuke?" he whispered questioningly, his astonishment showing in the fact that he used Yusuke's actual name.

The Spirit Detective cocked his head to the side and watched the tall boy for a while.

Kuwabara gazed back, still startled beyond belief, then leaned down and pressed his lips to Yusuke's once more. Smiling into the kiss, Yusuke tightened his arms around the orange-haired boy's neck and closed his eyes in rapture.

Kuwabara's lips were surprisingly soft and pliable, the skin of his face smooth and unblemished. The taller boy's hand began to roam all over Yusuke's upper body, stroking, caressing, and rubbing warmth into his chill skin. Yusuke shuddered beneath his ministrations and clung all the more tighter to Kuwabara's neck.

Breaking away and looking down at him once again, Kuwabara just sat there for several more moments and drank in the sight before him. Eyes glowing and mouth stained dark pink, Yusuke stared back up at him, likewise memorizing the other's face.

How long they remained like this, no one knows, but when the set sank down below the horizon, the taller boy was cradling the sleeping body of his Spirit Detective, fatigue stealing over his own body until he too slept.