Author's Note: Another bout of real life occurred. Please enjoy this update! Copy and paste any errors you catch into a review or message, no matter how small, and please review anyway just to let me know how you liked the chapter. Thanks!

Oh, and I gave the Kuwabaras a small back porch.

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho Yoshihiro Togashi. Star Fox is also not mine.

Little Things

By Zelia Theb

"You guys are about to witness the greatest thing ever."

The crew was on edge. After a delightful round of appetizers courtesy of their resident Iron Chef, the group talked about nothing and everything for a while, until somehow, the topic of Star Fox was brought up.

Now, there they were, the girls lined up on the sofa and the boys seated on the floor. Yusuke was just a little too close to Kurama, but to Keiko, it just seemed like his normal over-enthusiasm when it came to winning and video games. Kurama and Kuwabara were about to do what they haven't been able to do in a while. Beat the game. On the hardest level.

Maybe it was the cheering of their friends. Maybe it was because they were so damned fed-up with losing. Kurama secretly hoped that another game would be on the horizon. Kuwabara hoped for the same thing. The worst thing about that lingering "maybe" was the fear of their routine being broken. That perhaps they were really holding back because they enjoyed each other's company. On the other hand, maybe they wanted to finish it because the other seemed like they were pushing away, and they didn't want to be a burden.

"Watch out!" Botan warned.

"Got it!" Kuwabara said, letting his Arwing roll over.

"The double-blasters! Watch the wing!" Kurama directed.

"Nice catch!"

"There he is! Be careful, Kazu," Kurama said.

The final battle was upon them. Kuwabara was holding the reins, and Kurama was his co-pilot. Everyone else was just a spectator during the fight.

What a fight it was. Kuwabara was certain that his Arwing would explode any second, but in the end, he managed that final blow.

"We did it!" Kuwabara shouted.

"Wait! Do you have to-"

"Crap, I gotta escape? Wait-"

"The game's over?" Keiko asked from the sofa.

"The game's over," Kurama said.

Kuwabara set the controller down as the end sequence played. "The game's over..." he murmured. "The game's over! Oh my gosh, we did it!" Kuwabara tackled Kurama and gave him the largest bear hug of congratulations that he could offer. "Wediditwediditwedidit!"

The other four clapped and watched the two redheads celebrate their pixelated victory. Shizuru, after having a long period without a cigarette, decided to step outside. The other girls chatted excitedly between each other about how wonderful the two worked together, with Botan slipping in how games could encourage team work and thus create a more cohesive team. Upon hearing that, Yusuke remarked that they wouldn't be able to get Hiei to touch a video game, but that it would be amusing to try. The two victors, on the other hand, carried their celebration into the kitchen, as they were quite thirsty.

"That was awesome!" Kazuma said, handing Kurama a can of soda and a clean towel.

"It was thrilling, wasn't it?" Kurama returned with, wiping down the top of the can with the cloth.

"Yeah, super awesome!" Kazuma grabbed his own can and lifted the metal tab. "That took a long time." The taller took a nervous sip. Why did I have to open that door?

"It did, but it was worth it."

Kazuma was off the hook, but for some hidden reason, he not only opened the door to the question on their minds, he stepped through it. "I guess that means we won't be hanging out anymore on our days off."

Kurama looked at his friend, a dash of pain in his eyes. "Why would you think that?"

"'Cause there's nothing to do anymore."

"Don't be silly."

"Heh, I guess you're right." Kazuma played with the tab on his can absent-mindedly.

"You seem nervous."

"Nah."

"You're playing with your can."

"I was kinda worried that you only hung out with me to play Star Fox."

"That's not true, Kazu. You are a friend. I was actually worried that I was becoming a burden on you."

"You're not."

"Good."

"Hey, guys, wanna play cards or something?" Yusuke asked them, popping his head into the kitchen.

"Sure." Kazuma's eyes briefly looked to Kurama, searching for a reaction. The fox was hesitant. Shouldn't have answered so quickly.

"Cool." Yusuke's brows shifted in caution. "Hey, I'm gonna try and sneak out for a smoke with Shizuru, can you keep an eye on Keiko?"

"You're a dumb ass, Urameshi. You can always smell smoke on someone who just smoked," Kuwabara told him.

"Yeah but if she doesn't see me then I can just pretend it was from Shizuru."

"That doesn't make any sense. She's gonna know."

"Can ya just keep an eye out, man?"

"Fine, whatever." Yusuke left the kitchen. "Idiot," Kazuma remarked.

"I don't know if I want to play cards," Kurama admitted.

"Too many people this time around, huh?" Kazuma asked. Silence was the reply. "I have this idea, and I wanna give it a try. Do you wanna hear it?"

"Sure."

"Okay, I was thinkin', that since it's the day off and everything, that maybe we can try and get you some exposure, but only really small, ya know?"

He better not be suggesting what I think he is suggesting. "I suppose. Go on."

"You're freaking out."

"I am not freaking out."

"You're digging your fingernail into your thumb."

Kurama looked at his free hand. Kazuma was right; this time he was the one with the anxious body language.

Kazuma set his can on the table and took Kurama by the shoulders. "Well, it's just cards, right? Sure we're gonna pass them around and reshuffle them, but we know everyone here. You've got me, and I've been takin' good care of ya. My sister's cool too. We all ate her food earlier, so ya know that you can trust her 'cause otherwise ya wouldn't have eaten it. Urameshi's been pretty good lately. And the girls are girls, they're fine, you know them."

"I'm ridiculous, aren't I?" Kurama averted Kazuma's caring yet stern gaze in shame.

"Nah, I get it, ya know? I'm starting to pay attention in school too, and in biology, it seems like we gotta feed our bodies the occasional germ so that it doesn't get worn down. So I guess, ya know, if you want, we could start off with the safe ones."

He's not going to let anything happen to you. "I suppose..."

"Besides, you don't have to worry about that thing anymore. Genkai got rid of it. That was probably the whole reason you caught whatever you caught, ya know? Like your body was caving in, but now it's strong again. It's probably impossible for you to get anything now. You're like, invincible!"

"Nice try, I do appreciate it," Kurama chuckled.

Kazuma gave those shoulders a good squeeze. "We can do it. Ya wanna try?"

"Sure."

"Yusuke!"

"Uh oh," Kazuma said with an ounce of dread. "That sounded like Keiko." Curious, the two met Botan in the living area and then proceeded to Kuwabara's back porch. There they found Shizuru and Yusuke seated on outdoor chairs, sharing an ashtray on a table between them. Keiko was just barely beyond the threshold herself, an angry glare constructed on her face.

"What? It's not like I'm doing it around you," Yusuke defended. Keiko was too frustrated to muster a reply. She left the porch, taking Botan with her back into the house. Yusuke glared at the younger Kuwabara, and brought up, "I thought you said you would watch out for her!"

"Sorry! I was having a conversation! It's not like she's going to announce that she's looking for you to the whole house or somethin'!"

"It's no big deal," Shizuru remarked, flicking her cigarette over the ashtray. "She'll get over it."

"You guys don't have to chill here," Yusuke said. "We'll be back in soon."

"That's fine," Kazuma said. "We're gonna go get the cards and table ready for the game." Kurama nodded in agreement, and they left the porch, leaving Shizuru and Yusuke in peace.

"I feel bad for him," the brunette said.

"Why? 'Cause Yukina's not here? She's back at Genkai's anyway, we could just go get her and bring her over."

"No, not my brother. Kurama."

"Again," Yusuke repeated, letting out a quick burst of gray curls, "why?"

"You know why." Shizuru brought the burning stick to her lips.

"That whole thing doesn't make a whole lotta sense to me," Yusuke said. "I mean, he's Youko-freaking-Kurama. That guy's handled more things and blood than I can imagine. He held the heart of a rock monster in his hand before."

"These things don't make sense to anyone but the person suffering."

"Huh?"

"Well, to us, the little things seem just like that, little things. Just think about what it must be like for someone like him to go food shopping."

"I'm not following you."

Shizuru let her arm relax on the chair, her cigarette nearly burned out. "Think about it. You go to buy a drink at the store. You pop it open and drink it. Simple, right?"

"Still not following you." Yusuke held a breath of smoke in his lungs an extra moment longer as he thought about it.

"First, that drink has to be made. Let's say it's soda." She casually took her last drag. "That soda has to be made. Sure, we can hope that our health code isn't violated when that's happening, so we have to trust the drink is okay." She ground the butt end of the stick into the ashtray where she let is rest.

"So you're saying what happens afterward. It goes from them to us, I don't get it."

"Well, it gets shipped out. Then the delivery person handles the packages."

"Bottles and cans are in the packages though, and were probably put there by clean robots." Yusuke put his own cigarette out.

"Someone in the store has to stock the refrigerated sections. That person isn't required to have clean hands to do the job. If they have those work gloves on, who knows what else they were touching...boxes, trash bags, grease...that all gets transferred to the bottle or can."

"That's a little extreme."

"But that's what happens," Shizuru said. "Then you have to account for the clerk. They take the item from you to either scan it or check the price sticker. Then they touch the register and take your money. The thing is, they've been touching that money all day. Who knows where that's been. This is assuming that the delivery person, the stock clerk, and the cashier are all pretty sanitary people. Plus, you have to assume that no customers have moved that item around to retrieve something behind it, or just to read the back label. Now that soda has been through how many hands?"

"That's pretty gross, and you're talking to me, here."

"So now you have your things at home. How many people do you know wipe down every single package they bring into their kitchen? How many people wash their hands before preparing food, but then open up the packages as they go along with their meal? Think about a jar of mayonnaise."

"I don't think he takes it that far," Yusuke said, disturbed.

"I think he does," she countered with. "Or at least part of the way. Could get that bad in the future."

"How do you know if the germs even stay alive that long though? Or if they are bad for you?"

"You're asking the wrong person, kid."

"Why don't you just go lick a street lamp pole or something?" Yusuke suggested. "That way, when you realize that you won't get sick, you'll be over it. It'll take like two seconds. You just need to go do it."

"It's not that easy, Yusuke," Kurama said, agitated.

"The food is fine, Kurama. I got it for you. Just eat it."

"I told you that I am not very hungry right now," the fox repeated.

"You just don't want to touch the food!"

Things were beginning to escalate. What started off as a sweet romantic picnic date in the woods was turning into a battle of method; if it was easy for Yusuke to say, then it must be easy for everyone to do.

"I do believe that after we ate the bentos, I was full. This is not a case of me not wanting to touch the food. This is a case of simply not being hungry."

"Yeah, but you made those bentos, so of course you wanted to eat those. I bought this at a store, which isn't good enough for you, even though I cleaned off the package and everything!"

He cleaned off the package? "Yusuke, I do not mean to offend you. I am simply not hungry. Perhaps in a little while after we enjoy this date I will be."

"Not sure where the enjoyment part comes in." Yusuke leaned back on the blanket in a pout, having said the final words to ruin what Kurama was trying to rescue.

"You're hopeless," Kurama said, shaking his head of what he wished was just another case of Yusuke being a brat.

"You're the hopeless one. You're this super strong guy and suddenly you can't handle the little shit that comes your way." Yusuke rolled his eyes. I sound like Keiko now. Jeez, I have such an appreciation for her right now. "I'm trying to bend over backwards for you and it's not good enough."

"Try harder."

Yusuke noticed the change in Kurama's voice. Shoulda known not to push it too far. I forget he's a demon sometimes. "How?"

"Learn how to speak to me before opening your mouth."

"Whoa, you are taking this way to the extreme, man," Yusuke said, sitting up.

"I'm taking it to the extreme?" Kurama put a hand on his chest in sarcastic disbelief. "I clearly was trying to rescue this date, Yusuke, and you kept your mouth running on the same negative topic." The redhead stood now, a chilling expression booming down over the detective. "And when I tell you how to fix it, you say that I am taking an extreme. You simply aren't worth this, Detective."

"What?" Yusuke scrambled to his feet in anger. "What's with this 'Detective' crap, Fox?"

Kurama let out a smug snicker as Yusuke plummeted to that level with him.

"Don't laugh. You have no idea the crap you're putting me through. I'm jumping through hoops just to try and get you kiss me once in a while, and you just sit there all high and mighty, acting like I'm not even doing enough. It's not fair."

"I don't sit here 'all high and mighty,' though you are welcome to think that I am not aware of my condition. It wouldn't be the first time you've displayed complete and utter ignorance." Easy. Stop pushing his buttons. Do not fall into his trap.

"I'm outta here," Yusuke said as he turned away from Kurama. "That way I can be out of your life. You won't have to worry about my 'icky germs' or Keiko or any crap like that and you can just sit by yourself or with Kuwabara and be a pansy-ass momma's boy." He didn't even care to look back, but perhaps he should have, because the next thing he knew, his feet were tangled in flowers.

"Since you like thinking about pansies so much, I figured that you could spend the night here with them. Good-bye, Yusuke." Kurama gathered his items together quickly and walked away in the opposite direction.

"Damn it," Yusuke whined, hardly able to turn around far enough to see Kurama. "Kurama, I'm gonna blast through this, ya know! Just hang on!" The detective struggled with his legs a bit more and tried to turn around again. He failed. Damn it, I might blow my feet off. "Kurama! Did you really leave?"

No answer.

"Damn it!" Yusuke could swear the flowers were growing and getting tighter. I'm going to have to rip this thing out piece by piece. It's gonna take forever. He shook his head and growled to himself, hoping that no one would come upon him and see his plight.

Which is exactly why Hiei showed up.

"Detective."

"Damn it again!" Yusuke couldn't turn around and face his taunter. "Why are you here?"

"Kurama's energy went out of whack and I wanted to be sure he wasn't under attack." The short demon slowly circled around into Yusuke's sight. "I see now that there is nothing to worry about." Hiei let out a wicked snicker.

"Is that all you do with that thing? Spy on people?"

"Sometimes. But mostly I just scan the city out of boredom."

"A little help?"

"This is far too amusing to end right now," Hiei told him. "What the hell did you do to piss off Kurama?"

"I was being a prick, now can you cut me out?"

"Do you know how easy it would be for me to kill you right now?"

"But you won't," Yusuke shot back.

"How do you know? Maybe this is just a plot between demons to kill off the Spirit Detective?"

"Yeah, I know for a fact that it's definitely not."

"Which leads me back to my question."

"I called him a pansy-ass momma's boy."

"What a brilliant idea."

"It sure did feel like it at the time," Yusuke admitted. "He's like this weak little cry-baby lately. He can't even touch a door-knob."

"You must be talking about Kuwabara."

"Um, Earth to Mister Creep Spy? Have you seen Kurama lately? He's totally psycho!"

"I don't spy on Kurama if that's what you're asking," Hiei spat back.

"I'm not asking you that. What I'm saying is that he's being a crazy human lately and he's getting hard to deal with."

"Since when do you deal with him anyway?"

Yusuke grinned. "You have no idea what's been going on, do you?"

"No."

"Kurama and I are totally mackin'," Yusuke said with pride.

"What the hell is 'macking'?"

The grin stayed still. "Well, Hiei, when two people wanna bang each other, they-"

"Oh, don't make me sick, Detective."

"Fine, don't believe me."

Hiei examined the other closely. "You really aren't lying. Hn. Kurama's gone completely soft. How revolting."

Yusuke found himself free as Hiei cut him loose. "Thanks man. I owe you."

"Don't talk about that mushy crap between you and Kurama again."

"There's probably not going to be any anymore."

"Whatever."

To Be Continued...