Kurama stared at Yusuke, his face a mix of surprise and disbelief. “Are you joking?”

Yusuke smirked, his brown eyes twinkling with laughter as he regarded the redhead. “What’s the matter, Kurama, scared?” he teased, holding up the flyer again. “It’s just a small contest.”

Once more, Kurama found his eyes being drawn to the neon green flyer with the almost scribbled words. He had been talking with Yusuke while working in his garden, talking while he worked on his plants, when Yusuke had turned the conversation towards dares and challenges. Kurama had replied that he had yet to back down from a challenge, one of the two main reasons he had helped Hiei rob King Enma, and Yusuke had pulled out the flyer and dared him to participate in the contest that was to be held at one of the local strip clubs during Amateur Night.

“No, I’m not scared,” replied Kurama as he thought about this particular dare. He never had a problem taking his clothes off in front of others before, having played the part of a pleasure slave to get into more than one fortified castle, and as a kitsune, he was hardly shy of his body, knowing that even his human form was definitely one to attract more female attention than he truly wanted at times. But, the fact that Yusuke was daring Kurama to participate had the kitsune a bit wary and curious. “I’ll accept your dare on one condition.”

Now Yusuke was looking a bit wary. “What’s the condition?”

Kurama smiled innocently and pointed at the flyer. “You have to participate as well, and if you suddenly back out at the last minute, I get a forfeit.”

Yusuke shrugged. “Sure, I’ll do it if only to get you up on that stage, stripping,” he retorted with another smirk before handing Kurama the flyer. Once Kurama held the neon green paper, Yusuke turned and walked out of the garden, waving to the redhead. “I’ll see ya there, fox-boy!”

Chuckling softly, Kurama reached over and grabbed his cell phone, dialing a familiar number. Yusuke had a lot to learn about challenging Youko Kurama in any form, and this was only the first lesson.

@@@

Fidgeting slightly, Yusuke tried not to look out at the mass of people that were both crowding the club and backstage. He was feeling a bit exposed in the blue button down top over the white tank top that were tucked into tight leather pants and chunky boots. The leather pants had snaps down the sides for easy removal, something that one of his mother’s so-called friends had left behind after a party and he had thoroughly cleaned them before wearing them.

Craning his neck, Yusuke searched for Kurama once again but found it just as hard to find the redhead as the other times. With the darker lighting backstage and several of the amateur dancers sporting wildly colored hair, it was hard to spot the distinct red hair of his friend.

“Well I’m here and I’m not backing out so he can’t say that I did,” grumbled Yusuke, folding his arms across his chest and leaning against a wall as he waited for his turn to come up.

“I’m certainly glad to hear that, Yusuke,” remarked Kurama, materializing out of the crowd and causing Yusuke to yelp in surprise before turning to glare at him only to stop as he registered what Kurama was wearing. A green button down silk shirt tucked into matching green leather pants that were zipped up the legs with what looked like vines painted on the leather to look like they were twisting up and around his legs. His skin had what looked like almost a shimmer to it, and as Yusuke peered closer at his friend, he could see that Kurama was wearing some kind of body glitter.

“Took ya long enough to get here,” drawled Yusuke, hiding his nervousness under his usual cocky mask, even as the host for the evening started calling out the dancers. “Thought you were gonna abandon me tonight.”

A sly smile spread across Kurama’s face. “Forgive me, but I was making sure my guests for the evening were comfortable,” he apologized.

Before Yusuke could demand what guests Kurama was talking about, his name was called and Yusuke stalked out to the stage, determine to get this over with. The first notes of Bon Jovi’s “It’s My Life” started and he began to dance, all too aware of all the eyes on him as cat calls filled the air. He’d never been much of a dancer before and it showed now. His movements were awkward and slightly jerky, making him feel like a gangly teenager that just hit a growth spurt and couldn’t get his limbs to cooperate with him.

It wasn’t until the song was almost over and he was down to his black thong that he spotted the guests Kurama must have been talking about. Sitting at a table near the stage was Shizuru, Keiko, Botan, Yukina, and surprisingly, Genkai. All of them were grinning at him, clearly enjoying his embarrassment and he fled to the backstage as soon as the song was done, quickly gathering up his clothes as he went.

Standing almost at the entrance was Kurama, that sly smile still on his face. “A most interesting performance, Yusuke,” he purred, brushing past the embarrassed teen as his name was called. Quickly scrambling into his clothes, Yusuke stood at the edge of the curtain to watch Kurama as the redhead slipped his slippers off, walking barefoot onto the stage.

The music started out slow and soft before quickly rising into a sultry beat, captivating the audience as Kurama began to move, slowly swaying and moving with the music, looking like he was allowing it to carry him along in its mesmerizing beat. Then a female began singing, adding her smooth voice to the music.

‘I know how to hurt
I know how to heal
I know what to show
And what to conceal’

Kurama’s fingers danced across the buttons of his shirt, easing each piece of plastic out of its hole before opening his shirt to reveal his bare chest. Turning around, he acted shy for a few seconds before pulling the shirt out of his pants and letting it slide down his arms to puddle on the floor. He turned again and stalked towards the end of the stage, a sultry smirk on his face as he seduced the room with his body and the music.

‘I know when to talk
And I know when to touch
No one ever died from wanting too much’

Yusuke could only watch with a dry mouth as Kurama radiated sex and promises with each graceful movement of his body. He seemed to glow under the lights, his red hair shining as it swayed around him to mix with the body glitter and green leather, creating a false curtain that hid and revealed him in turn.

‘The world is not enough
But it is such a perfect place to start, my love
And if you’re strong enough
Together we can take the world apart, my love’

Swaying up to the table containing their friends, Kurama grasped one of the zippers at his hips and slowly dragged it down, teasing the girls with the strong thigh he revealed before jerking it back up in a sudden movement that cause Keiko to jump in her seat.

‘People like us
Know how to survive
There’s no point in living
If you can’t feel the life’

Now Kurama was down on his knees, swaying to the music like a snake charming its victim and Yusuke felt a growl build in his throat when he saw that *everyone’s* eyes were on the redhead, including Keiko who was still blushing a bright red.

‘We know when to kiss
And we know when to kill
If we can’t have it all
Then nobody will’

Leaning forward, Kurama beckoned Keiko closer, smiling his sultry, sexy smile as she leaned forward over the table, one hand unconsciously stretched out to touch the redhead only to almost collapse when he rocked back onto his feet, the zippers sliding down his legs. As he rose to his feet, Kurama left a puddle of green leather on the floor that he casually kicked to the table, leaving him clad in a tiny green velvet thong.

‘The world is not enough
But it is such a perfect place to start, my love
And if you’re strong enough
Together we can take the world apart, my love’

Swaying against the pole that he had avoided until now, Kurama braced his back against the pole and allowed his hands to roam over his bared skin, his head thrown back with his hair hanging down his back.

‘I feel sick
I feel scared
I feel ready
and yet unprepared’

Twisting and writhing slowly, Kurama stretched and bent to show his body off, and Yusuke’s eyes bulged slightly when the redhead almost slipped out of the thong he was wearing. A wolf whistle cut through the air, and Yusuke’s eyes were drawn back to Keiko’s table where Shizuru was grinning like a cat that just munched the canary. Yukina’s eyes were sparkling while Botan looked like she had been hit upside the head with her own oar. Surprisingly, Genkai had a smug smile on her face and a camera in her hands and was snapping pictures of Kurama as fast as she could.

‘The world is not enough
But it is such a perfect place to start, my love
And if you’re strong enough
Together we can take the world apart, my love
The world is not enough
The world is not enough’

As the song ended, Kurama fell backwards, one hand catching the pole before he could hit the ground and froze there, his eyes closed as his hair trailed the stage. For a few seconds there was silence before the room exploded into clapping, cat calls and wolf whistles. Kurama stood up and casually sauntered back to the curtains, scooping up his shirt along the way, before slipping behind the curtain.

“That is how a strip tease is done, Yusuke,” remarked Kurama as he shrugged into his shirt and stepped into his shoes, ignoring the stares and whimpers he was receiving from the others standing around backstage. Brushing past the stunned teen, Kurama casually strolled away and vanished in the crowd, leaving Yusuke standing feeling like he had just been had.

@@@

“So where have you stripped before?” Genkai asked, not bothering to hide her interested gaze as Kurama changed in front of her. He had washed up in the spare dressing room that had been reserved for those participating in the Amateur Night Contest when she had come in with the bag of spare clothing that he had left with her earlier in the night and his green leather pants that she had managed to snag before anyone else at the table could.

Smiling, Kurama slipped into another pair of green leather pants, these with laces up the sides before grabbing a matching tank top and button down shirt. “There were many times when I pretended to be a pleasure slave in the Makai,” he replied, running a brush through his hair to remove the tangles that always seemed to develop. There were times when he hated his red human hair, because his silver kitsune mane never seemed to tangle unless it was when he was asleep at night, and even then only rarely. His human mane on the other hand, seemed to develop tangles at the slightest chance. “It was one of the easier ways to get into a fortified castle and the ruler never suspected that the meek pleasure slave was minutes away from robbing him blind.”

That got a chuckle out of Genkai as she moved farther into the room. “Why did you invite all of us along to watch?” she inquired, her voice holding a note of curiosity even as her face remained expressionless. “Watching Yusuke flounder around on that stage was worth the wait, but I still can’t help but wonder why.”

“Because, he dared me to participate in that contest and was foolish enough to not expect payback,” drawled the redhead, slipping his feet back into his slippers. “After he left, I called Shizuru and explained what was going on as well as the perfect way to make Yusuke think twice about daring me to do something.” He smirked at the old psychic. “Besides, you have to admit that it was fun watching him flounder around out there, as graceful as a beached whale.”

Picking up his bag, he followed Genkai out to the table where Shizuru, Keiko, Botan and Yukina were still sitting with drinks before them. Kurama glanced around, not seeing Yusuke at all. “Yusuke leave already?”

Shizuru smirked as she lit another cigarette. “After your little show, could you blame him?” she asked, gesturing to the empty chair and he sank into it, dropping his bag on the table, not trusting the state of the floor.

Kurama sniffed as a waiter came over to get his drink order. “He should have known that I would reciprocate since he dared me first,” he drawled with a smirk before placing his order for green tea and the waiter scurried off to return a few minutes later with a hot pot and a cup for him. “He has learned that you do not challenge me without expecting repercussions in some way.”

“Did you even tell him that we were here?” Shizuru inquired, taking a sip from her drink.

An innocent expression appeared on Kurama’s face. “And ruin the surprise?” The ladies laughed at that one, even if Botan’s laugh was a bit strained and she wasn’t looking right at him. He smiled at Yukina, who was watching him with wide red eyes. “I am surprised to see you here, Yukina. You always seem so gentle for this sort of environment.”

“When Shizuru explained what was going on, I was curious to know how this was different than some of the courting dances in the Makai,” she explained, a faint blush on her cheeks even as her eyes danced. “It is definitely different, but I think I like your dance out of all of the ones I’ve seen here.”

“I also have an unfair advantage over everyone here,” protested Kurama with a small shrug. “I doubt any of them have posed as a pleasure slave to get into a castle.” That got a small giggle out of the Koorime, and Kurama crossed his legs, content that everything had come together nicely. Yusuke would think twice about daring him to do something again, the girls got a nice night out, and he had a chance to show off talents that he hadn’t used in a couple of decades. Genkai also got some nice pictures that she could share with the other girls or use for her own personal collection.

Smiling, Kurama sipped his tea and listened the chatter of the girls as it filled the air around him, enjoying the rest of his evening with them.

The End