Disclaimer: None of this is mine, I'm just playing.

Dead on Arrival

The new kid is an eyesore and a headache with his one-size-too-big uniform and his loud mouth that he just doesn't know when to shut. He walks the halls with his hands in his pockets and a glare on his face and nobody dares to get too close, because there's something in the kid's narrowed eyes that says he's dangerous.

It's hard to believe he's only fourteen.

"What're you lookin' at?" the newcomer snaps, noticing a pair of gray eyes on him, the only pair that doesn't falter when he meets the curious gaze.

Kei stays quiet for a few moments, looking the supposed tough guy over. He doesn't look like much, in Kei's opinion, but maybe that's because Kei's gone up against worse than this guy.

"You got rocks in your fricken ears or somethin'?" the kid pressed on, raising his voice and reaching for Kei's collar, gripping it tight and bringing the older boy closer. "I asked what you were lookin' at."

Kei grabs his wrist, squeezes and the kid winces, but nothing more than that. "Nothing," he says and shoves the kid away, sending him stumbling back into a wall.

"Don't you walk away from me," he shouts, pushing off the wall and the crowd that had gathered scatters, not at all eager to get caught up in this.

"You're not worth my time," Kei calls over his shoulder, flipping the kid the bird.

"Oh, yeah?" asks the new kid. "We'll see about that! Meet me on the roof after school!"

Kei rolls his eyes, but he's never turned down a fight before.

Kei meets him on the roof, just as requested, and is the least bit surprised to find there's an audience waiting. He ignores the whispers and cheering and looks straight ahead to the kid who's leaning against the chain link fence across from him, hands in his pockets, a smug look on his pretty-boy face. Kei can tell this kid isn't used to loosing the fights he picks. Well, that is going to have to change.

"What're you waiting for?" Kei shouts. "An open invitation?"

"Not at all," the kid shouts back just as he charges at Kei with his fist raised, an attack the older boy easily avoids. This kid is nothing compared to the things he's fought, and he makes that point loud and clear as he raises his knee in one swift motion and knocks the wind out of him.

The kid stumbles back, arms wrapped around his stomach as he catches his breath. "Not bad," he says with a grin, then launches himself at Kei again. Kei dodges his fist, but isn't quite fast enough to avoid the leg that flings out and knocks him off his feet, flat on his back.

Kei sees groans and starts to hoist himself up, but before he can there's a weight on his stomach and fists in his face. He goes numb for a moment, lets his head snap left and right, then the suit under his uniform starts to get tighter and the adrenaline surges through his veins. He grins against a punch to his left cheek, turns his eyes toward his attacker and in an instant his hands are on his shoulders, pulling him forward so he can crush their foreheads together.

The kid recoils, moaning in pain and holding his head, and Kei takes the opportunity to get back on his feet and land one more solid punch to the other boy's cheek, sending him stumbling backward into the fence.

"You're not bad," he says, rubbing his jaw.

"Same to you," Kei grins, and he thinks that if it weren't for his suit then maybe this kid would have stood a chance at winning. A slim one, but it was still a chance, he supposed.

"The name's Urameshi," the kid says, spitting out a small wad of blood. "Urameshi Yusuke."

Kei hesitates before extending a hand, which Yusuke takes and shakes with a firm grip. "Kurono Kei."

When Kei finds out that Yonekura and Tachibana's sights are set on Yusuke, he sticks his nose in where it doesn't belong once again, and he's not sure why. As he walks around to the back of the school, he thinks maybe it's because he wants to see how this kid will hold up against thugs like them. Or maybe he just wants a reason to really beat the shit out of those lowlifes.

"Smile pretty-like for me," Kei hears Tachibana say, then he peers around the corner and sees him smirking down at Yusuke, one hand under his chin, the other forcing his lips apart. He chuckles. "Nice teeth," he croons, shoving Yusuke back, "they'll look good next to all the others."

So the fucker's still collecting teeth, Kei thinks with a roll of his eyes. Some assholes never learn.

"I like my teeth right where they are, thanks," Yusuke says back with a crooked grin, and Kei can see he's confident he can take this guy. Kei thinks maybe he can, but he doesn't let it get that far. He steps into view and clears his throat, the slight sound enough to make Yonekura and his cronies forget about grabbing Yusuke. Tachibana tenses and grits his teeth, and ironic nervous habit.

"Kurono," he hisses.

"I thought you'd have smartened up after last time," Kei muses, head cocked to the side.

"You gonna do something about it?" Tachibana asks before he can stop himself, and he knows that was a mistake. He reaches for and holds the wrist Kei nearly crushed a few weeks ago.

Kei chuckles and gives the other boy a look that makes him recoil. "Do you really wanna know?" he asks, noticing the way he's protecting his feeble wrist, and Kei remembers the way it felt so soft in his grasp then. It would have been so easy to break it beyond repair.

Tachibana swallows hard and audibly, then makes a sweeping motion with his hand. "Bail," he tells his followers as he starts walking away. They follow and Kei can hear one of the other boys asking why they're just walking away like this, and then Tachibana says, loud and clear, "there something ain't right 'bout that fucker."

Kei rolls his eyes and finally turns to Yusuke, who's gape is shifting from the retreating thugs to him. Finally, he settles his gaze on Kei, and the awestruck expression turns into a glare as he shoves his hands into his pockets.

"I could have handled them by myself," he says, looking down to the ground because right now there's something about Kei's eyes that makes the hair on the back of his neck stand on end.

"Sure," Kei says and it's not entirely disbelieving.

Yusuke wants to ask what about Kei freaks Tachibana and his crew out so much, but decides maybe it's if better he doesn't know.

Yet.

It's true what they say about car accidents, that no matter how horrible they are you just can't look away. So Kei thinks maybe he has the tell tale syndrome as he hears tires screeching and people shouting and the distinct thud of a body hitting the bumperhoodwindshieldpavement.

He tells himself he doesn't really want to see it, the mangled corpse of the unlucky bastard who jumped in front of the car to push a kid out of the way, but he pushes through the crowd anyway to get a better look. Because Nishi was right and it's human nature to want to see dead things.

But the thrill is short lived when Kei recognizes the green uniform that is now stained with blood. He feels his stomach churning as he stares at Yusuke, broken and bloody and very, very dead.

What the fuck? He thinks, unable to pull his eyes away, watching as the blood pools around his head. Just like that? This tough shit was taken out by a fucking car?

And Kei thinks about homeless men and express trains and flashes on cellphones, and he idly wonders if being hit by a car is anything like being hit by a train.

He hopes not.

He doesn't know why he's here, staring at Yusuke's coffin, surrounded by his friends and family. He has other, better things to do, and yet he can't bring himself to leave. He just stands there, quiet amongst the sobbing and prayers, eyes glued to the picture of the dead boy.

Maybe it's because this is the only solid reminder he has how frail mortality is, that without the alien suit under his clothes he'd be just as breakable.

He turns his attention away only when a girl breaks down outside, screaming Yusuke's name many times over as though that might bring him back. Her friends try to comfort her but it's useless, and not a second later a boy comes in, shouting and crying and groping at the air as two of his friends try to anchor him. But this guy is huge, almost as big as Kato, and all they can do is hang onto him and be dragged across the floor.

Kei will never forget the way that boy looked as his friends dragged him out after he'd finally given up. That defeated, useless look, as though the redhead's life had lost all meaning the moment Yusuke's dead body hit the street. And, he thinks, maybe it did – or maybe the other guy's just overreacting. He figures he'll never really know.

He has the weirdest dream one night, and it leaves him in a cold sweat and with everything on the inside trembling. He spends the rest of the night thinking of a golden glow and pressing his lips to Yusuke's.

The next day the dream is still on his mind and he can't help but wonder if it meant anything. He wouldn't be surprised if it did, but this is harder to swallow than extraterrestrials living in abandoned apartment complexes. Kisses only bring the dead back to life in fairy tales, and this life was definitely anything but.

Still, he goes to Yusuke's house after school, and just sits by his bedside for awhile. He'd heard rumors at school that after the wake, Atsuko didn't cremate the body because Yusuke had showed signs of life again; a fluttering pulse and baby breaths. Kei hadn't believed them, until now, when he was able to watch that chest rise and fall with every shallow breath Yusuke took and place his hand over the gentle heartbeat.

"S'been like that for a few days now," Atsuko slurs from in the doorway. "And I keep thinking that maybe," she starts to choke and the tears fall freely, "maybe my boy can come back."

"Yeah," Kei murmured, not looking at the older woman, "maybe."

And, for some reason that goes beyond everything Kei believes in, he believes himself when he says that.

"Stranger things have happened," he adds for good measure.

"Stranger things – oh," Atsuko groans and runs a hand through her hair, shaking her head as she turns and leaves the room. "I need a drink. Stay the night, if you want."

So she leaves, and Kei stays. He stays in the same place well into the night, just staring at the barely living body beneath the blankets, watching that ominous golden glow rise up and encase him entirely.

"Weird glow? Check," Kei mumbles inwardly, glaring at the younger boy because he knows what has to be done, and he has a feeling that if he doesn't do it now, it will ruin everything.

"Fuck," he curses before he wraps his arms around the limp body and hoists Yusuke up, crushing their lips together without haste because the clock's ticking and they only have seconds left.

When he pulls away, he refuses to acknowledge the blush on his cheeks as he stares down at the unmoving youth in his arms. He looks him over quickly, near-panicked and starts to shake him when nothing happens.

"I didn't kiss you for nothing, you bastard!" he shouts and promptly lets the young body fall back against the futon. "Wake the fuck up!"

Then it happens. The slight twitch of eyelids and the parting of lips, the slightest groan as Yusuke pulls himself up into a sitting position, and Kei has never felt such a thrill surge through him.

"Yo," Yusuke says with a smirk, touching his lips but never wiping them clean.

Kei swallows hard and manages to smirk back at the newly revived delinquent. "You owe me."

"Big time."

Neither admit they can't stop thinking about it, that damned kiss of life that wasn't really supposed to be a kiss at all, not by Spirit World standards anyway. But the Spirit World and the Human World looked at things differently, and no matter how many times Botan picks fun at Yusuke and assures him it really wasn't a kiss, Yusuke thinks otherwise. Because Kei's lips had lingered and his heart had pounded and Yusuke knew enough to know that that was what kisses did.

And no matter how often Kishimoto tries to pry Kei open just a little to find out what's bothering him, Kei just can't bring himself to tell her, even if he wants to. Because, hey, talking to her just might bring them closer together and maybe he'll finally get laid. Except, suddenly, Kei doesn't want to lay her, not since he held that body against his own and breathed life into it.

It's like some fucked up fairytale, Kei thinks. The dark kind with death and destruction and no happily-ever-after waiting in the wings.

Their friends keep asking, "are you sure you're alright?" because they're distant and quiet and something just isn't right.

Streets away from each other with Kei glowering at Kishimoto and Yusuke avoiding the piercing gazes of Botan and Kuwabara, they finally answer the question that has plagued them these last few weeks.

"Look, you – "

" – just wouldn't – "

"– fucking –"

"– understand."

Kei thinks he's seen it all until he sees Yusuke attacking what looks like a demon in an alley. He'd be more skeptical if he didn't fight and kill aliens every few nights. What's really hard to believe is just how fast Yusuke's moving, how high he's jumping and how powerful his physical attacks are. One kick in the right place breaks a tree trunk sized arm in two, leaving it useless.

The fight is over a few minutes later, after Yusuke does this thing with his finger. He rolls his shoulders and cracks his neck, spitting on the corpse of the defeated demon. When he turns around, that's when Kei makes himself known.

"What was up with that?" he asks, surprisingly calm.

Caught, Yusuke decides to come clean – after all, he's not Botan, he doesn't need to lie his way out of this.

"If you got a few hours to spare, I'll tell ya."

And he does. Back at Kei's apartment, he tells him about being a ghost and the ordeals he had to go through to win the rights to his body back. He also tells him of his new job as Spirit Detective, and that he'll get a tongue lashing from Botan for spilling the beans.

"You don't look surprised," Yusuke says after he's finished, noticing Kei has taken it pretty well from start to end, save for the occassional rise of an eyebrow or the slackness of his bottom jaw.

"I am," Kei assures him with a chuckle and a sigh, "believe me, I am."

"But?"

Kei absently runs a hand through his hair, over the little bomb inside his head that will go off if he so much as breathes the word "Gantz."

"Nothing. Just, y'know, weirder things have happened."

And Yusuke had no idea how right Kei was until he saw the other boy in a black suit, fighting off a small onslaught of aliens with a bunch of other people. Yusuke's in amongst the cheering, fearful crowd, watching as public property is destroyed and people are crushed and torn apart, blood splattering everywhere. This battle is far more intense than anything Yusuke's ever been involved in, and suddenly he thinks his job is the easiest in the world, compared to this.

When it's done, when the aliens are nothing more than bloody pulp on the sidewalk, Yusuke shoves his way through the crowd and stares at unabashedly at Kei, who's limping and wheezing and staring right back at him.

"Cat's," Kei starts, breath hard to catch because something's broken inside and he just can't seem to breathe properly, "outta the b-bag."

"Explain," Yusuke all but demands, then his eyes widen as Kei starts to fax out feet first.

"Tomorrow," Kei says before he vanishes completely.

So the next day, Yusuke corners Kei behind the school and Kei tells him everything he wants to know, because, apparently, they don't have bombs in their heads anymore (so said Sakurai and Sakata), and if they're visible to the naked eye now, then Gantz must want the word out on the street. For some reason or another.

"Well," Yusuke says when Kei's finished explaining, a grin on his lips, "aren't we the gruesome twosome?"

Kei chuckles. "Yeah."

The fucking perfect pair.

Like most of their odd relationship, they're not quite sure how it happens, how they wind up tangled together on Kei's bed, panting and cursing and needing.

When they're done, the sheets are soaked and the room smells of sex and sweat and blood (because boys like them don't know how to be gentle, especially with each other). They lay side by side, eyes wide and breathing raggedly.

"That was my first time," Yusuke admits after his breath is caught, looking toward Kei.

Kei looks back and there's a blush on his cheeks and Yusuke still can't believe how easy it is to make the older boy go pink. "Mine, too," he says.

"Wanna make a habit out of it?" Yusuke grins, getting the energy to roll back on top of Kei and pin him to the bed with his hands on his shoulders.

Kei still can't wrap his head around how strong this kid is. "You know, I never thought I'd fuck a boy."

"Me either, but I'd do it again."

Kei is surprised when he doesn't hesitate to say, "yeah, me too."

In time, there are pictures of the two together mounted on desks and hidden in folds of leather wallets, and anybody who notices doesn't dare say anything about it. Except, of course, for their closest friends – a motley bunch drawn together as naturally as Kei and Yusuke had been. And it feels right, like they finally found somewhere they can belong.

Yusuke voices this once, and Kuwabara asks why he isn't smiling. It's Kei that replies, "because nothing this good ever lasts, don't you know that?"

"Kurono, you don't mean that," Kishimoto scolds.

"No," Yusuke says before Kei can even open his mouth. Their eyes meet from across Genkai's porch. "He's right."

"What makes you so sure?" Kato asks, looking from one boy to the other. Because aside from the official Spirit Detective work and the Gantz games, he sees no friction in this relationship.

"It's just the way things are," Kei says, looking away from Yusuke and to the sky. "The way things gotta be."

And, months later, after the Dark Tournament and after the whole mess with the old Spirit Detective, Kei is proven right when Yusuke drags him out to the beach.

"So, why're we here?" Kei asks, though deep down in his gut he knows.

"I gotta take off for a while," Yusuke says, picking up a rock and tossing it out across the surface of the ocean. It skips out of view, and to this day the younger boy's strength amazes Kei.

"How long's a while?"

"Three years. To train in the Demon World."

"That's a long while."

Yusuke stops walking. "Look, I'm not asking you to wait around for me or anything like that."

"I know," Kei says, walking a few steps ahead of the other boy before he stops. And he can't believe he's going to say this, because Yusuke's half demon and his ancestral father wants him to take the throne after he passes and there's a pretty goddamn good chance he won't come back at all, but it just comes out before he can stop himself.

"But I'll wait anyway."

"Why?" Yusuke asks, and there are things he wants to hear but he knows Kei will never say them, but that's alright because Yusuke won't say them either.

Because you're the only thing in this life – or whatever the fuck this is now – that makes any sense.

"It doesn't matter."

Yusuke leaves the day after his fifteenth birthday.

Kishimoto and Kato die in the game, and Kei plays two full rounds to get a hundred points to bring them back. They both tell him he didn't have to, that he should have used his points to free himself, but he just shakes his head and tells them to stop being stupid.

He'll do anything to keep himself in this game, it gives him something to do. Fighting aliens to the death is better than sitting around and waiting for Yusuke to come back.

It's almost a year and a half later when he starts to get sloppy, losing limbs more often and transferring back into the Gantz room barely alive. Kato knows he's getting tired of this, even if he won't admit it. So when Kato finally gets his hundred points, he gives them over to Kei.

"No way," Kei argues, shaking his head.

"Just take the fucking points," Nishi snaps. He's been more irritable than usual ever since Kei revived him, as well.

"Why don't you take them, you little shit?" Kei snaps right back.

"Because I like it here," Nishi remarks, and Kei thinks, sure you do; next time you're biting the big one, try not to cry for mommy, and maybe then I'll believe you.

Rolling his eyes, he turns back to Kato. "I don't – "

"Kurono, please?" Kishimoto asks quietly, one hand on Kato's arm, the other holding a fisted hand to her chest. "You're – you're going to die if you keep this up," she says softly, her voice trembling.

And the truth is, he can't keep it up and she's painfully close to home, so he sighs and nods. "Alright."

"You'll forget," Nishi warns from the corner of the room. "About Gantz and everything that's happened since."

Kei swallows hard and looks to the wooden floor, fists clenched at his sides. "Big woop," he mumbles, "just do it already."

"We'll fix it," Kishimoto says, suddenly hugging Kei from behind. "We'll all be friends again. And Yusuke will come back."

The notion is sweet and it makes him smile halfheartedly. "Sure," he says, putting his hands over Kishimoto's and squeezing before he pushes away from her. He's tired of fighting, tired of waiting, and he'd really like to just go home. "Kato?"

"Right," the older boy says, a little choked up. "Gantz, free Kurono Kei."

Kei wakes up much later on in his apartment with the worst headache of his lifetime. He can't remember what he did prior to falling asleep, but he thinks nothing of it. His life has never been very exciting.

Then he notices the bristle board on the wall, full of pictures of people he's never seen before. Of all the smiling faces staring at him, there's one that sticks out more than the others. There's this brown-eyed, black-haired punk in every picture, and something inside tells Kei this boy is very important.

No matter how hard he tries, he can't take the bristle board down.

Kei never thought he'd meet the people in the pictures, but he does, slowly but surely. It starts with Kato and the pretty redhead who has the same first name as him, which is a little weird but he can deal with it. From there, the two bring in the others, and Kei can't believe how easily he fits in with this strange bunch. But then again, he supposes it should come naturally, considering.

He apologizes for not remembering once they're all together on the beach. Kuwabara thumps him on the back.

"Don't worry about it, Kurono." He winks. "We'll be unforgettable this time around."

"This time – ?"

Shizuru punches her brother in back of the head. "Shut up, moron."

"Oh, right," Kuwabara chuckles sheepishly, rubbing the sore spot on his head. Even after the Dark Tournament, no one else quite knows how to hit like his sister. "But seriously, don't worry about it. We're all together now and that's what matters."

"Oh, Kazuma," Yukina says, "that's so sweet of you to say."

The incoherent stream of babble Kuwabara's suddenly spouting in resposne to the ice demoness' compliment sends the group into a fit of laughter, save for Hiei who still has yet to understand just what it is his little sister sees in that big oaf, no matter how many times Kurama tries to explain.

"This is nice, isn't it, Kurono?" Kishimoto asks once she's caught her breath and Kuwabara's walked off with Yukina down the beach, the two hand-in-hand.

"I guess so," Kei mumbles.

"What's wrong, Kei?" Kato asks, arching an eyebrow.

"It feels like something's missing," the other boy admits with a chuckle, a statement that causes the remainder of the group to exchange odd glances.

"Like what?" Botan asks, leaning forward to put a hand onto Kei's shoulder.

That bastard who's face is plastered all over my apartment.

"I don't know," Kei says.

"Genkai," Kishimoto starts, slowly turning toward the old woman sitting atop the hill, "how long has it been?"

"Not long enough," she replies but there's this odd smirk spreading across her cracked lips. "Not long enough at all," she says and stands, looking down the length of the beach.

"What're you talking about?" Kei asks, confused, but then he follows the old woman's gaze and he can see somebody approaching. He stands as well and his stomach is somersaulting, his heart beating faster because this just can't be real.

Nobody says a word as Yusuke finally reaches them, and he grins at Kei. "Miss me?"

"I think so," Kei mumbles, suddenly feeling sick.

"You think?" Yusuke repeats, obviously insulted.

"Yusuke," Botan starts softly, "he doesn't remember you."

"Oh," he mumbles, rubbing at the back of his neck. "That sucks."

"Walk with me," Genkai suddenly says, and Yusuke knows better than to argue, so he follows.

"What happened?" Yusuke asks his mentor.

"He was freed from the Gantz game and subsequently lost his memories of everything that happened since the subway accident. That included meeting you," she explains.

"Ironic," Yusuke mumbles, and Genkai's sporting that smirk again.

"You're back early. How come?"

"I found a reason to fight," he says, "and it wasn't in Makai."

"There's nothing wrong with starting over," she muses, stopping to look toward the setting sun. "And maybe this time, you two can get it right." Because she knows how important second chances can be, and she'll be damned if she lets Yusuke let this golden opportunity pass him by.

"Yeah," he murmurs, "maybe."

"Well? Move your ass."