Disclaimer: YYH belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi. The only thing I do own is this story and the OC's. As always, flames are encouraged as long as you tell me why you chose to flame.

And, since this is a new fic, I'll take this down if the reviewers don't like it

Kurama plucked tonelessly at his guitar strings and sighed. Why had he even bothered to learn how to play this thing? It only brought trouble! He should've paid closer attention to things his mother watched. Boys in high school who could play guitar could easily get any girl he wanted. For some reason it seemed to be romantic. A guy could sit there and play a scale in different octaves and the girl would think it was the best thing ever.

And he had first hand experience of this. He had brought his guitar to school once. He was going over to a friend's house to practice some songs after school and wouldn't have time to go home for the instrument first. Immediately, all the girls that were crooning over things like his intelligence now found a bonus: the oh-too-perfect Suichi could play guitar!

But now, he was regretting ever have learned it. At first he was pleased to see it drew attention. He was hoping that the girl he secretly admired would see the guitar and immediately beg him to write her a song…or maybe ask him to play a little something for her. Maybe, even though it was silly, she would possibly fall in love with him because he played so well… What she did say about it hadn't been much. It only seemed like him learning the guitar was pushing her away. When she had seen the guitar, the conversation went like this:

"Oh, hi there Kurama. You play guitar now? Since when?"

"Not too long ago. I started perhaps a month ago. Didn't you know?"

"Well how would I have known?"

"Yusuke was constantly talking about the band, teasing me about drawing too much female attention." At this, Kurama knew he said too much. Why would his deity want to know he had girls chasing after him? He offered her a sheepish smile, attempting to make her believe that the attention he was drawing was unwanted.

She seemed to stiffen at the last attachment. "Now why would I listen to the nonsense Yusuke would say? He's been talking about girls a lot so I stopped listening. You know how boys are at his age. Good luck with the talent show!" With that, she had walked off.

Kurama groaned at this memory. Why was it that he could be so well spoken when explaining even complicated things, but as soon as Botan came near him, his words seemed to jumble and lose all meaning before he was able to speak and make sense.

"Suichi? I don't hear you practicing!" Shiori called from the foot of the stairs. "The talent show is tomorrow!"

The redheaded teen sighed. "Yes, mother. Might I again ask why you chose to sign me up for this talent show?" he called to her.

"Because, it's good for you. And you know how girls like men who play guitars. If you're lucky, you might find a girl who's just right for you!" Shiori beamed. Her son was her pride and joy. How many other boys could make perfect grades and play the guitar so well?

Kurama only sighed again. No matter how many times he had heard it, the idea was crazy. He needed a bigger fan club as much as Kuwabara needed to expand his collection of porcelain kittens. Truthfully, he was only competing in this to make his mother happy. She wanted the best for her son, and he was obliged to give her what he wanted.

He shook back his scarlet bangs and held the pick in his hand. He went through a series of power chords to warm up his fingers and then launched into the newest song he and his friends had been practicing.

"Your smile brightens my day, your voice keeps the bad thoughts away," he sang, his rich treble voice filled his small room. "Your eyes are jewels that sparkle and gleam. My love, you're my goddess from my dreams." His emerald eyes closed as he conjured thoughts of the girl he worshipped. They lyrics were all directed towards her. She was, after all, his goddess…his deity. He smiled as he imagined her beaming at him. She would realize at once that he was singing for her and to her. Her eyes would light up and she would instantly fall in love.

As if that would happen. As if the cheery ferry girl would ever love a demon like him with such a bad reputation. "If only, if only you could see these feelings behind my eyes then maybe, just maybe you'd fill the hole that I have inside," he continued with his song. "You know I've been lonely for such a long time. Hear these whispered please and just become mine."

His alarm was what woke him up. He winced as he tried to sit up. His neck had a cramp in it and his body felt like it had spent the night in a concrete hole.

Clang!

His guitar fell to the floor and he winced again. He lifted up the instrument and inspected it. No damage was done, luckily. He stretched and he realized what had happened. He had fallen asleep in his chair.

"Ow…I won't do that anytime soon," he promised, feeling how sore his body was. He quickly went through his usual morning routine.

"Mother, I'm leaving now. You know when the talent show starts, correct?" he asked as he handed Shiori a cup of coffee.

"Yes, it starts in an hour. I'll be there. If not, I'm sure your friends will fill me in on details." She smiled at her son and sipped the drink.

"I can't promise that they'll tell you everything. They may over exaggerate the real facts." The smile on his face dimmed. "But you promise you'll be there? You're the one that placed me in it. If we win it, I would like for you to feel as if you've accomplished something."

Shiori patted Kurama's hand. "Of course I'll be there. Now run along. I'm sure there will be girls who want your autograph."

Kurama had an urge to tell her about the usual group of girls that stalked him every morning. The only problem was that he had a feeling that they wanted something more from him than just his autograph. They were the type of rabid fan girls that would tie him to a chair and force him to live in their closets.

He shuddered at the thought of it. Girls frightened him as it was. They were eccentric creatures. Each one varied in personalities, likes and dislikes. If he had judged one as he did another, he would be the object of a grudge for over a week. He sighed as he walked out the door. Why were girls so difficult?

His emerald eyes caught Botan's familiar profile. He held a hand up to wave at her. The ferry girl waved back and hurried over.

"Good morning," Kurama began, hoping that she would be interested in striking up a conversation with him. No matter how trivial the conversation topic may be he was looking forward to hearing her voice.

"Good morning to you too!" She smiled warmly at being able to be close to the fox demon. She had always admired the way he could keep up such a calm façade and show so much emotion with his eyes. 'He's so interesting to be around. With his attitude, there's no way you can be angry at him.' Yes, she admired him. But the possibility of loving him had never crossed her mind. She only saw him as 'one of Yusuke's teammates' and as 'a friend'. Never, never had she even considered looking at him in a new perspective.

And Kurama could see this. If only she could look more closely at the 'emotions' his eyes could portray so well… He felt lost inside. He wanted to tell her that he loved everything about her, but he was afraid of what she would do. Perhaps running away would be one thing. He could handle that though. He was more afraid of the awkward silence that would follow once he worked up the nerve to tell her. That silence could mean anything. If she ran, that only meant that she wasn't interested in him.

He noticed too late that he had been quiet for too long. He noted Botan's raised eyebrow. Quickly, he fumbled for some words to break the moment of silence. "So…are you coming to the talent show?"

"Of course I am! Since this is a fundraiser, I have to help collect the money."

Kurama nodded. He knew that she was helping but it had slipped his mind. At least she was coming. "You'll be encouraging us as a spectator, won't you?"

"If you mean cheering you on, then yes. We're friends, right? That means I support you one hundred percent!" She flashed him a smile. "Well, see you then. I have to go ahead and do some last minute preparations." She quickened her pace and walked on.

"Minamino! It's about time you got here!" One of the teens on the makeshift stage jumped down. His hazel eyes were narrowed at Kurama in suspicious anger. "What were you doing?"

Sheepishly, Kurama nodded behind him. A group of giggling schoolgirls had collected around him as he walked towards the school's soccer field. "I'm afraid I've had some stalkers," he remarked sadly.

"Geez, dude. I feel bad for you. We've got about 5 minutes of practice before the next group comes up to take their turn."

Kurama took the schedule that his friend handed him. "Thank you, Ren." He studied it. They were the 2nd group to perform.

"Not get your ass up here. Practice is practice."

Kurama unpacked his guitar. The other 2 boys that played guitars went up to the boy that played the keyboard. They tuned their guitars.

"Alright," Ren announced. "What song should we do? We can play a mushy love song or we can play the anti-girl song."

"Oh…Suichi, play the love song—for us!" one of the fan girls begged.

Kurama raised an eyebrow and looked towards Ren, shrugging. Ren sighed. "Well, Tobi did write this song for the girl he liked…maybe we should play it then."

Tobi grinned broadly. "You think she'll agree to date me after this?" He noted Ren's shrug. "Well…maybe Minamino can sing it. He's better at it."

Kurama paled. "Me? But it's your song. It's almost like plagiarism."

Tobi frowned. "Is that where someone creates a plague?"

Ren sighed. "Don't be stupid! So it's settled. We're playing your song."

"Next, we have a band made up of our very own high school students! Please put your hands together for 'Suichi and his Bodyguards!'" the announcer replied.

Kurama looked incredulously at Ren. "What's up with the name?!"

Ren shrugged. "Well, there are a couple of things. First off, the winner is the one who gets more applause. Since you're so popular with the chicks, we figured your name would make sure they wouldn't forget which group you're in. And, we're your friends. We do help ward off the fat ugly chicks."

Kurama sighed. "Fine. Whatever you think is best, but I don't want people to think I'm conceited."

Tobi clapped a hand on his friend's slender shoulder. "Who cares? Complain later."

The group of boys stood on stage and quickly plugged their guitars into the amps. Kurama walked nervously to the microphone. Before speaking, he scanned the vast audience (mostly made up of girls) for Botan. He didn't see her, and his face fell for a split second. He cleared his throat and tapped the microphone to test it. "This song was written by Tobi Yoshida." He smiled warmly.

A group of girls were blushing madly. "Oh, he's too modest. I bet he wrote it for the girl he likes."

"That sooo sounds like him!"

Kurama nodded to Tobi who began to count down with the help of his drums: click click click click

"Amaya, you don't notice me and I can't figure out why. I don't know why you groan and moan when I pass you by. Please just believe these words, to you I'd never lie. I love you, I worship you, I live to see your smile. I'd kiss you, I'd bow to you, and even run ten miles," Kurama sang. His fingers flew over the guitar. Inside, he grimaced at how cheesy the words were. Only a love-stricken Tobi would think these words were brilliant.

He threw back his red hair to keep the wind from blocking his vision. He wanted to se if Botan was out there. He wanted to look her in the eye and tell her via his eyes that the words weren't his. At last he spotted her.

Ren took over. "To me you can do no wrong and you could never lie. When you're mad at me, it makes me want to die. Why can't you see that you're the one who lights my life?"

Like I said, if you don't like this fic, I'll take it down.