A/N: This takes place between eps 21 and 22, during the time Yusuke spent unconscious at Kuwabara's house. It's self-indulgent again, and short, uh, my bad. I just love the fact that they brought Yusuke there instead of his own home, haha.

...Also, the shippy-ness is mild and more of a vaguely implied crush (which, lbr, is almost canon anyway, so,)

Replenish

Yusuke is safe and sound and sleeping in Kuwabara's bed, against all odds.

Kuwabara knows he's played a major hand in that, transferring his spirit energy and all, although he can't help but wish he could have done more. Seeing Yusuke lie so still on the bed, hair loose and blanket tucked up to his chin, brings back all kinds of bad memories. Because Yusuke isn't supposed to ever be so still again.

As it is, Atsuko has been calling way too often, asking if Yusuke's woken up yet. Every time, Kuwabara assures her that he hasn't, but he will, 'cause he's fine. He figures it was a good thing he persuaded Kurama and Hiei to bring them back to his own house – Atsuko would probably be in even worse hysterics if she had to live with an unresponsive Yusuke again.

Kuwabara can't blame her, really. He fidgets in his seat, feet planted on the floor as he swivels to the left and then back right. Is it weird that he's watching over his rival like this? It had felt weird at first, memories of that dream clinging at the back of his brain.

But once he'd tossed them away and repressed them, he let himself be worried.

Did he do enough? Was it enough spirit energy to bring Yusuke back from the brink? Using up life force sounded pretty risky, and it's already been a whole day with no sign of him waking up. Kuwabara himself still feels kinda drained, and he'd only used up spiritual energy…but of course life energy would take much longer to recharge. Or at least Kurama said so.

While pondering over the differences between spirit and life energy, an idea hits him, and he abruptly stops swiveling, feet stilling on the ground. If he'd jumpstarted Yusuke's healing with transference before, then maybe….

Rolling his desk chair forward, Kuwabara inches closer to the bed, and he doesn't stop until his knees bump the mattress. Carefully, he scoots in and lets both palms hover over Yusuke's chest, just as he'd done back in the demon realm. Inhaling through his nose, he feels his energy collecting on his hands, and wills it to merge with Yusuke.

At the sound of his door opening, he pulls back – if it's his sister, he doesn't want to freak her out, but when he turns his chair he can see that it's only Kurama.

Kuwabara likes Kurama. He's much more polite than Hiei, and he's been coming back to check on Yusuke at regular intervals, sticking around to chat…whereas they haven't seen hide nor hair of the tiny demon since they got back. (Just as well, in Kuwabara's opinion.)

"Oh," Kurama says, delicate eyebrows raised as his nose twitches, and Kuwabara thinks he's probably feeling the raw energy still crackling around the edges of the room. "You don't have to do that," he continues, nodding at Yusuke's sleeping form.

Kuwabara wipes his hands on his shirt, palms tingling. "I thought it might help him, y'know…" he gestures vaguely, "wake up faster."

When Kurama smiles, it's got a knowing glint to it. "You're still healing," he says, "Yusuke will be fine, don't forget that you also need your rest."

Sighing, Kuwabara kicks himself away from Yusuke's bedside. "I rested all day yesterday," he points out, stretching out all his long limbs as he rolls to a stop.

"You pushed yourself nearly as much as Yusuke." Kurama wanders farther into the room, closing the door behind him. "Don't overexert yourself. You've done enough, Kuwabara-kun." He rests a hand on Kuwabara's shoulder briefly.

"I could do more though!"

Kurama raises an eyebrow and gives him a stern look – it's the kind of facial expression that looks like it belongs on a mother, and Kuwabara almost laughs.

"His strength will replenish," Kurama insists, "it'll just take some time."

Deflating, Kuwabara sinks in his seat. "Yeah yeah," he mumbles. He does feel a little tired, maybe, but he isn't about to wander away from Yusuke just for a nap.

"Why don't you go take a break, now that I'm here?" Kurama suggests.

"I don't need a break from sitting." (Though, the timely offer does make Kuwabara wonder if demons can read minds, and he tries screaming in his head to see if that gets any reaction out of Kurama. It doesn't – case closed, he can think his thoughts in peace.) He catches himself looking back at Yusuke's too-still face.

Kurama laughs a little, and it's a very light sound. "Understood."

"I just don't want him to wake up in a strange place all alone, y'know?" Think your thoughts, Kuwabara – think them. Not 'blurt the embarrassing ones out loud to a person you've just met'! He clamps his jaw shut before more errant musings can escape.

But Kurama only hums in acknowledgement. "That's thoughtful," he says, and there's a smile in his voice.

Kuwabara mumbles some kind of thanks in response, bringing his shoulders to his ears to try and hide the pink flush he knows is on his cheeks.

x

Several hours later, it's dark, and Kurama has gone back home. Kuwabara's still sitting in his chair though, faithfully keeping sentry over Yusuke in his bedroom.

The soft rises and falls of Yusuke's chest are wholly reassuring, but that same old worry is still gnawing at his gut. When he'd run into Keiko dragging what he assumed was Yusuke's corpse out of a burning building a while back, he'd offered for Yusuke to stay at his house until things settled down. And during that time, Yusuke hadn't looked much different than he does now – only back then it had taken him an unsettlingly long time to wake up. Kuwabara hopes he'll be faster this time.

His palms start to itch again, and he figures that since Kurama isn't here to stop him, it couldn't hurt. After all, this can't be a bad thing for Yusuke, right? More energy is a good thing (as long as you don't take in too much and overload, like Byakko), right? Kuwabara figures that this is essentially like taking medicine when you have a cold as he once again focuses on transferring a chunk of his spirit energy into Yusuke.

At any rate, it makes him feel better. And if he's not mistaken, there's a little more color in Yusuke's cheeks now.

Kuwabara is decently tired, though, and he can feel the gap in his powers where he's missing some energy. Well, that's fine – he can gain that back no problem. Yusuke's the one who needs it more, he reasons.

Standing up, Kuwabara stretches until all his joints pop, and then he relaxes with a sigh. Sleep does sound good now that it's way past midnight. Leaning over Yusuke, Kuwabara brushes a few stray strands of hair out of his eyes before he leaves the room, seeking sanctuary on the couch.

There's a tingling in his fingertips that sticks around, even after he falls asleep. He decides not to dwell on it.

At least, maybe not until Yusuke wakes up.

A/N: Again I'm sorry for any discrepancies there might be. This thing is a year old, and by now it's been a while since I last saw the show, so my editing might not be up to par.

I wanted to post this anyway, tho, bc everyone was so nice about my other fic AND ALSO bc I just...really love Kazuma Kuwabara...

Thanks for reading!