A/N: Okay, so I would like to start out by saying that Hiei/Kurama is my one true pairing. At the same time, I have gotten a little entranced by the possibilities of Yusuke/Kurama. There are some wonderful fics out there with the two of them, and they have inspired this little thing.

Mentoring

"Well that's that, I guess."

Emerald green eyes opened slowly to take in the form of a dark haired young man approaching. A welcoming smile spread across Kurama's face as he watched his friend walk over.

The kitsune was lying on his back in a clearing in the woods behind his mother's house. Yusuke plopped down next to him and let his head thump back against the earth. The two lay there in companionable silence for a bit before Kurama spoke up.

"Did something happen?"

"Nope. Nothing at all."

"Nothing happened?" the redhead clarified.

"Right."

"Then I am confused."

Yusuke chuckled. "And I know how much you hate that."

"Would you care to explain?"

The former spirit detective groaned. "It's kinda embarrassing, but fuck, you're the only one I can ask about this shit."

That caught the fox's attention. "Start at the beginning, Yusuke." he said.

"Well Keiko and we were gonna…er…you know...today. Or at least try to. But…it wasn't happening."

Kurama smiled at his friend's reticence to speak plainly. "So that's what you meant. Yusuke, as I'm sure you know that particular…issue, is one that plagues many men, humans especially."

"Yeah, but I ain't exactly human anymore am I?" Yusuke returned. "Besides, it's not like I didn't want to. I've been wanting to jump everything that moves lately. Then I get a perfectly hot chick naked in front of me, and nothing. What the hell?"

The spirit fox in human form had to work hard to hold back his laughter at that. "Oh, Yusuke," he responded. "You're still transitioning into the instincts of your demon side. Demons have a much higher libido than the average human which would explain your increased desire."

"Okay, so demons are extra horny." Yusuke said slowly. "That still doesn't explain why Keiko wasn't doing it for me."

Kurama shrugged, allowing his eyes to drift closed again. "It is extremely rare for a demon of high caliber to be truly attracted to a human. We are not drawn to personalities or looks, as humans are. Demons lust after power, both for themselves and in their partners."

"So you're saying that I didn't want Keiko because she's not powerful enough?"

"Exactly."

"But that sucks. How am I supposed to be with her then?"

"You can wait until you become more acclimated with what your demon side demands. Eventually you will be back in control."

"How long will that take?"

"No one can know for sure."

"How long did it take you?"

"You forget that I did your transition in reverse." Kurama told him. "Since I was incredibly weakened when I acquired this human body, it was not hard to me adjust. For someone as powerful as you are, it might take a few months or years. I also would suggest that you refrain from trying to you know with Keiko until then. Right now she hits your radar as being too weak to give pleasure, but there is something worse."

"What?"

"You might start to see her as prey. Then it will be all you can do to keep yourself from attacking her."

"Fuck that!" Yusuke shouted. "What the hell am I supposed to do?"

"If it's only a matter of your libido, Yusuke, I should think that answer is fairly obvious."

"Pretend I'm Kuwabara, and spell it out for me."

The redhead sighed. "Very well. You have three options." He held up three slender fingers. "One, you can muscle through this like you do most other things, and then try again with Keiko once you no longer are in danger of seeing her as useless or as food. Two, you can…er…well to put it bluntly, you can become better acquainted with your hand. Three, you can take a more powerful lover."

"You mean like start fucking a demon?"

"To put it crudely, yes."

Yusuke thought that over. "But the only demon girl I know is Yukina, and I have a feeling that if I tried to poke her, Hiei would waste no time removing my poker."

Kurama chuckled. "Well that would take care of your problem to a certain extent. However, I didn't say that you had to take a female lover, now did I?"

The dark haired young man was on his feet in a second. "Now hold on Kurama! Just because human girls ain't impressing me these days, don't mean I suddenly play for the other team."

"Tell me, Yusuke, when you said that you were feeling like you wanted to jump anything that moves, were you just exaggerating?"

"Well I ain't panting after dogs or nothing, but…"

"Demons don't have binaries in sexuality the way humans do, Yusuke. Most of us are willing to have sex with ether gender as long as they are powerful enough."

"So…I'm bi now?"

"Something like that."

Yusuke sat down again, his brow creased in thought. "Are you?" he wanted to know.

"No."

The silence returned to the clearing. Yusuke stared at his friend in frustration, waiting for him to elaborate. Kurama, though, seemed to be content to remain tight lipped.

"You gonna explain that one?" the mazoku finally demanded.

"If you wish me to."

"You are one frustrating son of a bitch sometimes, Kurama. Of course I want you to."

The kitsune laughed. "You flatter me, Yusuke. I have long since lost my preference for females. The last three I took as lovers tried to have me killed once they realized I had no desire to mate them. It got rather annoying."

"Huh. Makes sense, I guess." Yusuke studied his friend who had yet to reopen his eyes. He had to admit that the other male was pretty enough to be a female himself. In fact, when they were out together, people often assumed that they were boyfriend and girlfriend. Still, all that soft skin and red hair hid a powerful fighter who Yusuke was proud to call his teammate.

Making one of the rash decisions he was famous for, Yusuke leaned closer to the fox. His newly enhance sense of smell sifted through the different nuances that made up Kurama's scent. He smelled of the earth and rain and spices. It was alluring, and Yusuke leaned even closer.

By the time Kurama opened his eyes, the two of them were less than an inch apart, and Yusuke was dazzled by just how very green the other male's eyes were. A scarlet eyebrow lifted, but Kurama said nothing. He went still under his friend and seemed to be waiting for him to make a move.

The former detective realized that. Half of his brain was screaming at him to move away. That this was Kurama, you dumbass. Kurama, your friend and very male teammate. Not some one you went around kissing. The other half could have cared less. All it knew was that the redhead was lovely and smelled of life and power. The part of Yusuke that was demon wanted to know what all that power tasted like.

So he lowered his lips even more, meeting Kurama's with a soft brush. Liking the feel of it, he kissed harder.

This was nothing like kissing Keiko. Yusuke felt like his entire body was electrically charged. If it were possible for a person to taste like a color, Kurama tasted green. He tasted green and soft and sharp all at the same time, and by the time Yusuke pulled back, his head was swimming with it.

"You didn't kiss me back." he panted.

"No." Kurama replied.

"Why not?"

"I didn't know if you wanted me to. Kissing me could be just you testing a theory. Me kissing you back becomes something else entirely."

"Did you want to kiss me back?" Yusuke wanted to know.

Kurama grinned a grin that was enough to make Yusuke want to take him right then and there. "You are not the only one with demonic instincts, Yusuke. I too am drawn to power, and you have it in spades."

"That's a yes then."

"It is very much a yes." the kitsune replied. "But I have been suppressing my desire to kiss you for years now. I can continue to do so until you decide what it is you want."

"Wait…you wanted to kiss me before I became a demon? I thought you said that demons didn't go for humans."

"I did, and they don't. But I am a demon in a human's body. Power is power, Yusuke. You had enough of it to impress the Youko part of me, and you were attractive enough to draw Shuichi's eye as well." Kurama shrugged neatly. "What's not to like?"

"So if I kiss you again, will you kiss back this time?"

"Is that what you want?"

"Yes." Yusuke wasted no more time in recapturing the fox's lips with his own. This time Kurama responded in kind. He kissed back passionately, using his teeth to nibble on Yusuke's bottom lip.

The ex detective gasped into his mouth, and the redhead used that as an opportunity to slip his tongue in. He teased Yusuke's tongue with his own until the other male rose to the challenge. Soon the two appendages were battling for dominance.

Before he knew what was happening, Yusuke found himself flipped over with Kurama straddling him. That lascivious grin was back, and the mazoku thought there was something almost predatory in the emerald gaze.

Though his hair was mussed and there was more demon in his eyes than usual, when Kurama spoke, it was with his trademark calm voice. "In the interest of fairness, I'm going to give you a chance to stop now." he said.

"What?" Yusuke's head was still spinning. "Why?"

"Because, if this goes any further than it already has, you will not be able to return to the way things were before you walked into this clearing."

"Well I was pretty unhappy then, so I'm okay with that."

Kurama rolled his eyes. "What I am saying, Yusuke, is that I do not share. I am first and foremost a thief, never forget. Once I have won a prize, it is mine until I see fit to release it back from whence it came. In short, what are you going to do about Keiko?"

"Oh. We broke up until I can get my head on straight." Yusuke said. "This was like a month ago. Didn't I tell you?"

"It must have slipped your mind. Why were you going to have sex with her if you broke up?" Kurama wanted to know.

"You're one to talk. I heard all about the Many Lovers of Youko Kurama from Hiei. I doubt you were dating any of them."

"That is a different thing entirely. Answer my question."

"I thought maybe if I were close to her that way, it would make things magically okay. You know how that went."

"Ah. Keiko agreed to this?"

"I was surprised too. But yeah, she did. So I guess I'm single now."

"Not for much longer." Kurama promised. He waited, giving Yusuke a chance to say no if he wanted, but he just grinned at the redhead.

"Hey, speaking of the three eyed midget, is he going to come kick my ass or something?"

"Why would he?"

Yusuke motioned with his hands at the spectacle that the two of them made, and Kurama laughed richly. "No, Hiei and I aren't like that. We tried, you see, but Hiei refuses to be pinned down, and I refuse to tromp all over the Makai with him."

"Stalemate."

"Precisely. You, however, seem to be quite easy to pin down. I'll have to remember that."

Kurama initiated the kiss this time. He started them out slow, letting Yusuke get a feel for how he liked to be kissed. The things the former thief was doing with his tongue were undoing Yusuke little by little. Finally he reached up and pushed the other male away.

"We're less than a hundred feet from your mother's house." Yusuke explained when Kurama looked at him curiously.

"I know." The fox answered. "I'm hardly planning to take you right here in the woods." Kurama placed another kiss on Yusuke's lips and then sprang lightly to his feet.

"So what happens now?"

"You're going to take me to dinner." the redhead replied. "Then…we'll see."

Yusuke leaped up and fell into step with the sudden object of his affection. "What are we calling this?"

"Well, you and I are unique among our friends in the way that we are both home here, but belong in the Makai. I've been at this longer, so…we'll call it mentoring shall we? And trust me, you have a lot to learn."