Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho

Pairing: Kurama/Botan

Rating: M

Warnings: crude humor, sexual situations, implied abuse, prostitution, kinks (including dom/sub), mentioned torture, OOC-ness (although only for the circumstances in the story).

Disclaimer: I do not claim ownership on Yu Yu Hakusho and any of its characters.

Wanted Innocence

Chapter 1

"That jerk!"

A loud, angry yell resounded amidst the crowd walking on the busy streets as a young woman in her early twenties threw away an empty can of beer and kicked it into a dark, dirty alleyway. She ignored the weird looks passerbys gave her as she grabbed another can of beer from the plastic bag in her right fist, her body swaying from left to right as the alcohol began to override her system. Her cheeks flushed as the bun that kept her hair tied up threatened to let go, locks of blue messily trailing down the left side of her neck as the other side continued to be confined in the black hairtie.

Staggering and stopping abruptly, Botan nearly landed on her butt before she quickly regained her balance. A soft hiccup left her as her half-lidded eyes lifted upwards to glare at the huge sign on top of her. The door suddenly flew open, causing her to jump in surprise. She watched itwith caution before the body of a middle-aged man walked out only to fall on his knees a moment later. He seemed more wasted than she was as he mumbled something unintelligeble under his breath before finally getting up to his feet and strolling away, his swaying form reminding her sorely of her own.

As she eyed the man's disappearing silhouette, a momentary sense of reality hit her. Did she really want to do this? The sober her would probably regret such a decision later on, her drunken mind barely noted, before she briskly pushed the thought aside. No, screw that, she decided as the alcohol clouded her better judgement. This was something she never would have done if she wasn't tipsy, but it was also exactly what she needed right now.

Damn Koenma! I'll show him, she inwardly growled as she discarded her canned beer into the trash next to the door. Although, she was pretty sure her ex-boyfriend wouldn't mind her fucking around with a random stranger, considering he literally cheated on her with one of her best friends. Still, that didn't really deter her from the objective she had in mind. It wasn't as if sex with him felt that good anyway.

With that line of thought, she stepped one foot inside before the other foot followed suit. Now, she was in the den of male prostitutes. She was in a prostitution centre.

Prostitution. Centre.

She took a moment to consider those two words. Way to go, Botan! Now you've just downgraded yourself to a huge slut, she briefly chastised herself before shaking her head. She already saw herself as cheap after everything she went through with Koenma, why else would this matter?

Think of the pros. At least I'll feel good and... she paused as she couldn't think of any other upside in this situation. A scoff sounded from her throat, though she wasn't fully aware whether she directed it at herself or her life. Probably both. There were more cons when she thought about it, but she couldn't care less as she dropped a large amount of money on the counter.

Then came the thought: This is probably the ultimatum that decides I go to hell after I die.

Another thought: Well, I've already been through hell, so going through another hell wouldn't make a big difference, right? At least this time, there wouldn't be any attachments. I'll just have sex with a hot guy who also happens to be a hot prostitute and then leave the next morning. I don't have to see him again or commit to anything. Wow. Now I know how Koenma feels. It must feel amazing to screw with somebody and then just go up and leave them when you don't need them anymore. Yay...

The first thought made her hesitate for a moment, but the second thought quickly diminished that hesitation as determination to forget Koenma for at least one night persuaded her to ask, "Who can I get with this much?" She directed the question to the woman at the counter and pointed at the money as she looked up at the woman who seemed more or less at least three years older than her.

The woman arched an eyebrow at her in interest and observed her up and down before pointing to a red hallway at the back of the counter. "Well, with this much, you can get the top, my dearie. Just go straight until you reach a door. There's only one room in there and only one person, so you don't have to worry about paying too much."

"Not that I care," Botan murmured, but ignored the woman as she asked her to repeat what she just said. She swung her purse over her shoulder as she proceeded to step into the hallway. Her high heels clicked behind her as she allowed the straight route to lead her to where she wanted to be.

Ten steps in, the woman called out to her and she turned.

"Just a fair warning," the woman told her with a smirk, "He can be rather... overwhelming, so you might need to prepare yourself."

Botan raised an eyebrow at her statement before shrugging her shoulders and continuing to walk down the hallway.

What preparation would she need? It was just sex, right? She already paid anyway.

.xXXXx.

"Shizuru! Did you see where Botan went?" Keiko asked, voice alarmed as she panted, bending on her knees and seeming as if she had just run a marathon.

The older brunette furrowed her brows together into a tight frown as she eyed the younger girl. "No, can't say I have," she answered and handed Keiko a tissue that she used to wipe the sweat off her face. "Why? Did something happen?"

Keiko flailed her arms around helplessly; something Shizuru would have found incredibly hilarious because of Keiko's usually level-headed demeanor if it wasn't for the concern prodding at the back of her mind. When the younger woman continued to fail at voicing out whatever it was that was bothering her, Shizuru told her to sit down and patted her back to calm her down.

"Relax and tell me what happened. Did Botan get hurt?" she asked when Keiko was finally composed enough to properly explain.

"Well, technically she did, but not physically... I hope," Keiko mumbled, her features matching Shizuru's as a deep frown came to etch on her forehead. "She called me over two hours ago. She told me that she and Koenma broke up and got into a huge fight. I don't know if he hit her, but she was crying a lot."

"Thank god for that, 'cause I would have kicked the dirty scumbag's ass if he tried pulling that shit on her again," Shizuru growled, cutting short Keiko's explanation as she was briefly consumed by anger. She still remembered the last time Botan turned up at her place with a large, purple bruise over her right eye. It took her an hour to convince the blue-haired girl to tell her what happened to her and another hour to calm Shizuru down as she was practically seething with rage and threatening to punch a hole into his heart. Botan said that it only happened once but Shizuru still suspected he'd done it more than that.

"Yeah," Keiko's frown deepened at the memory. She still couldn't believe Koenma would do such a thing, even after Shizuru had called her on her cell to tell her about it. "Still, her call was very disturbing. And from what I could hear in the background, she was at a bar and probably drinking herself silly. I'm just worried that she might be doing something stupid."

"Well, she's a grown woman. I don't think you need to worry," Shizuru reassured her, despite not sounding certain herself.

Keiko nearly shot her a glare. "Don't give me that lame excuse. You know how Botan gets when she's drunk. She goes all flirty and rebellious and does all sort of unspeakable things she would never do sober."

"Yeah, well, she's probably just relieving some stress," Shizuru responded, trying to shake away the image of Botan with her arms wrapped around a complete stranger as she attempted to alleviate the tension in the air and give some peace to Keiko's – and her – mind. "Let's not worry too much, okay? I'm sure she'll call if something happens. She's not dumb enough to do anything she would regret."

"But what if..."

"Keiko," Shizuru placed a hand on the brunette's shoulder, "I understand what you're saying, but Botan's probably too drunk to even walk right now. She's probably passed out at the bar."

"She wasn't there when I checked," Keiko muttered.

"At her home then," Shizuru muttered back. "I'm sure she's okay," she went on when Keiko continued to look distraught.

Keiko was Botan's best friend and they had been close way before they met Shizuru, so Shizuru could understand why any of her words couldn't get through to the brunette. Keiko knew Botan better than anyone else did, after all.

"... I hope so," Keiko finally whispered before expelling a soft, yet defeated sigh. "I'd like to think that even if she was doing it with a stranger, she'd still be safe. Or at least let the stranger be a nice guy, dear god." The last statement escaped her in a near prayer as she placed her head in her palms and continued to run her hands over her face.

"Well, at least she's getting laid," Shizuru joked, "We, on the other hand, haven't gotten any these days. How are things going between you and Yusuke anyway?"

"Shizuru!" Keiko cried out with a deep red blush coloring her cheeks as she threw a towel at the laughing woman's face. Shizuru shook her head as her giggling subsided. Everything felled silent for a moment before she reached out a manicured hand.

"Now hand me my clothes. I didn't get to put them on because you were incessantly ringing the doorbell."