Reflection by scheherezhad

Rating: PG

Summary: A family vacation yields some unexpected results.

Disclaimer: Don't own, not making any money, please don't sue.

Author's notes: For the ukeyuusuke Halloween challenge. It's not exactly Halloween, but it's sort of supernatural, so I guess it works.

Feedback: Please. scheherezhad@yahoo.com

Yusuke couldn't sleep. He had tossed and turned for two hours on the unfamiliar inn bed, and he felt more awake now than he had before he'd tried to go to sleep. And he had to put up with it for two more weeks, thanks to his mother's new boyfriend, Hideki. The jerk actually thought it would be a good idea for the three of them to go on a vacation together to "bond." At least they'd gotten Yusuke his own room.

He rolled onto his back and squirmed against the sheets. There was a feeling along his spine like someone was watching him, but he was sure that no one else was even near his room. He vaguely remembered a mention that this room was supposedly haunted, but he didn't believe in that stuff. The "watched" feeling was still getting to him, though.

"Damn stupid inn. Stupid Hideki. Stupid damn vacation," he grumbled. "Bastard's gonna regret this in the morning."

When he rolled onto his stomach, the feeling got stronger. His skin tingled like something between goosebumps and pins-and-needles.

"That's it," he said, tossing the covers back. "I'll tear this damn room apart if I have to."

Over the next hour, he explored every corner of the room for anything that could be causing that feeling. Nothing turned up, not even any belongings forgotten by previous occupants. The last place he checked was behind the large mirror opposite the bed, making sure that it wasn't a two-way glass. It was just a regular decorative mirror, not quite full-length, with a gold painted frame and roses etched onto the glass. As he straightened it back up, a flash of red and white caught his eye.

Yusuke stepped back to look the glass over. He couldn't see anything that would have caused that reflection. Just before he turned away, he saw it again, a smear of red and white at the edge. Nothing in the room should look like that from this close, regardless of color. He leaned in closer, and the smear cleared up, resolving into the face of a pale young man with red hair.

"Shit!" Yusuke tripped over his own feet in surprise and fell flat on his ass. He looked over his shoulder, but no one was there.

The boy was still in the mirror.

His image grew more distinct and whole until it looked like he could have been standing in the room beside Yusuke.

"What the hell is going on? Hey, who are you?" he asked the reflection.

The boy appeared surprised, then he leaned forward and pressed his hands to the glass, mouthing something.

Yusuke got to his feet and got close to the mirror again. "I can't hear you," he said. He imitated the boy's stance, hands on the glass so they lined up with one another. "Can you hear me?"

The boy's eyes lit up with hope, and he nodded.

"You're not a projection," Yusuke murmured, studying the mirror and its frame. "So how do I get you out of there?"

The glass suddenly rippled beneath their fingers. They looked at each other in shock, and Yusuke noticed that the boy's eyes were very green. Then he was falling.

"Are you all right?"

Yusuke's head was killing him. He opened his eyes slowly and found the redheaded boy looking down at him. "Guh," was all he managed to say. A cool hand rested briefly on his forehead.

"I'm sorry. I didn't know... No one has ever come through my mirror before."

"So I really fell through a mirror? Damn."

"Maybe...maybe it's you," the boy said, half to himself. "What's your name?"

"Yusuke." He sat up, holding his head. "Nice to meet you, I guess."

"I'm Kurama, and I think you, Yusuke, are my rescuer."

He blinked. "What?"

Kurama stood and walked over to sit on the bed. "You're the first person who's seen me in almost a decade. The first who's ever come through my mirror. I had almost lost hope." He glanced at Yusuke. "I'm sorry—I must be confusing you even more.

"Yeah, little bit," Yusuke muttered sarcastically. He stood up and joined Kurama on the bed. "Why don't you explain from the beginning?"

Yusuke found himself distracted all through the next day. He'd talked with Kurama until sunup. He had found out that Kurama had been trapped in the mirror for almost two hundred years, ensnared by a witch when he was seventeen. She had tried several times to seduce him, but he refused her each time. In a jealous rage, she had cursed him to remain in the mirror for exactly two hundred years unless someone rescued him.

Only those attuned to the spirit realm would feel his presence at all, and only a few people out of that small group had enough spiritual power to see him. No one had ever been able to come into the mirror.

"Pass the salt?"

"Huh?" He jerked himself out of his thoughts and found Hideki and Atsuko looking at him strangely. "Sorry," he mumbled, passing the salt shaker.

Atsuko glared at him. "What's with you, anyway? Can't you at least try to enjoy yourself? We put a lot of effort into planning this so that you and Hideki could get to know each other better."

He dropped his spoon into his soup bowl. "I already told you how I feel. I don't want to be here, and I'm going to bed now."

"Sit down," she snapped.

"Do whatever the hell you want, but I'm not gonna sit around and pretend I like this stupid trip." He left the inn's dining room and went up to his room. There wasn't really anything to do there, but at least he didn't have to be around them.

He found that he was a soft touch where Kurama was concerned. There was something about his sad eyes and soft smile that made Yusuke a little helpless. He'd made that promise without a second thought, and now he was waiting for the hall clock to chime midnight so he could keep it.

After waiting for half an hour with nothing to do, he finally decided to set his alarm clock for eleven fifty. He could sleep for a few hours and get up to go see Kurama.

That night, Kurama kissed him before he left.

The pattern carried on for the rest of the week: Yusuke slept until midnight, went through the mirror, stayed with Kurama until sunrise, kissed him, and returned for the day. He spent the mornings half dazed as Atsuko dragged him around on Hideki's stupid sightseeing excursions, then he slept through the evenings until he could see Kurama again. Their conversations were more intimate each time, and so were their kisses. Yusuke wondered if he might be falling in love.

On the eighth night, Yusuke found himself almost unable to sit still. There was a sort of charge in the air between him and Kurama, and their conversation was stilted. Finally, Kurama stopped them.

"This isn't working, is it?"

"Something's off," Yusuke agreed.

A long moment of silence passed, and their hands twined together.

"I haven't rescued you yet."

Kurama's hand tightened on Yusuke's.

"I don't know what to do to get you out of here."

"Don't think about it right now. Even if we never find a way, the time I've spent with you is worth an eternity here."

"Don't say that. I'll find a way."

They didn't say anything else for the rest of the night, just lay with their arms around one another.

It was Yusuke's last night at the inn. He had spent the day in his room, staring at the roses on Kurama's mirror and straining to think of any possible way he could get the other boy out. There had to be something he hadn't come up with yet, some little detail that would solve the whole stupid mess.

When midnight came, he hadn't thought of anything, and he went straight into Kurama's arms as soon as he was through.

"I don't know what to do. I just don't know," he mumbled against the redhead's shoulder.

"Then just stay with me. Keep me company until sunrise, and I'll face my fate willingly."

"I hate it when you talk like that."

"I know."

They sat on the floor at the foot of the bed, occasionally kissing or exchanging a few words. The hours passed far too quickly, and the sky finally began to lighten. Yusuke's head began to ache.

"Go back, Yusuke. Please," Kurama murmured into his hair.

"No. I don't want to leave you here."

"I don't know what's going to happen when the sun comes up. You have to leave. I won't let anything happen to you."

"And I won't let this happen to you alone. You've been alone too long."

Kurama pulled him closer. "Yusuke..."

The pain in Yusuke's head increased steadily as the minutes passed, and he thought he might be crying.

"You have to leave. Please go," Kurama begged.

"I said I'm not leaving you, dammit." Yusuke clung to him fiercely, refusing to be budged even when Kurama tried to shove him away.

"Why won't you just go?" His voice was rough.

"I love you, you idiot. I'm not going anywhere."

"What?"

Yusuke leaned back so he could look the other boy in the eye. "I...love...you," he repeated slowly. "Get it?"

"I...love you, too."

"Good. I wouldn't go through a headache like this for just anybody." He laughed weakly. "Love's a bitch, but what a ride."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"Yeah, well, what're ya gonna do?" A bright ray of sunlight suddenly entered through the gap in the curtains, shining in their faces. "Looks like this is it. Love you," he said.

"I love you."

Yusuke was nearly blinded by the sun, and the world went white, then black.

"Yusuke? Get up, already! It's almost time to check out."

Check out? Oh, his mother was yelling at him through the door. But if that was Atsuko...had he only dreamed last night? What about Kurama?

He sat up and threw back the covers. The mirror was the first thing his gaze focused on, but it looked the same as it always had. He was about to jump out of bed to go check on it when a hand wrapped around his wrist.

"Don't I get a good morning kiss?"

Yusuke's head whipped around, and he gaped at the sight that greeted him. Behind him lay Kurama, looking warm and tousled and very much alive.

"You're...here. With me. How did...?"

Kurama smiled and kissed him gently. "You rescued me."

The door opened while Yusuke was staring stupidly at a spot on the comforter, and Atsuko stuck her head into the room. "Are you two coming or what? I don't want to have to pay extra, and we have a long drive home."

"We'll be ready in a few minutes, Atsuko, don't worry," Kurama replied smoothly, sitting up. "I packed our bags last night, so we only have to get dressed."

"Great. Don't get sidetracked," she added before she disappeared.

"You packed our bags?" Yusuke asked. He sounded rather lost.

"Yes, I packed our bags."

"And my mom knows who you are?"

"Think for a minute, Yusuke. Concentrate on remembering the first time we met."

His brow furrowed as he thought back, then he looked at Kurama in surprise. "I have...two sets of memories. I know that I didn't meet you until I came here; I know I went through that mirror. But I remember meeting you at a video store. You came with me and my mom and Hideki on this trip."

The redhead nodded. "Both are true. It's just that we're the only ones who know that."

"But the spell. How did it break?"

"That's the only thing I haven't got an answer for. Maybe it was because you stayed past the sunrise. Or becuase we had fallen in love with each other."

Yusuke sat quietly for a moment. "I guess it doesn't matter how. So you're really all mine?" He wound his arms around Kurama's neck.

"Looks like."

"I could get used to that."

They barely made it out of the room before the end of check-out, amidst much laughter and not-so-covert touching. The crash from down the hall went unnoticed until the innkeeper went to clean up and found a shattered mirror on the floor.