Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Summary: Sequel to Devil's Sweet Temptation. Youko Kurama was a fox spirit. Cunning, ferocious, and merciless, he was detached of any emotion and attachments. It was wrong for Botan to feel the way she did, but matters of the hearts could never be ignored that easily.

A/N: As told in the summary, this is a sequel to the multiple-chapter story, Devil's Sweet Temptation. I don't mind if you keep on reading this even though you haven't read that one, but for you to understand this better, I suggest you to read the prequel. With that said… there's really nothing else for me to say. LOL. So… on to the story!

Chapter 1

Botan yelped as a pile of soaking wet clothes were dropped on top of her head.

"Ugly whore! Get the hell out of here!"

"Yeah, your presence here is unneeded!"

The girl spun around, a facial of utter fury contorted on her lovely features. She came face to face with a couple of cat demons, one with long pink hair and the other with a bob-style ebony mane. Both harbored a deep hatred towards her in their eyes, but Botan was not unnerved.

"What do you think you're doing?" she growled, grabbing a blue fabric of clothing from her head and throwing to the dirty ground.

The one with pink hair gave her a taunting smirk. "Oh? What's the matter? It was a joke, obviously." She placed a hand over her lips, a laugh that Botan could perceive as overly obnoxious leaving her throat. "With clothes as dirty as those which you are wearing, you could never be suitable for our great Youko-sama."

Botan opened her mouth, going to make a smart remark, only to be cut short as a male voice suddenly sounded from behind her, disrupting their "conversation". She turned, watching as a familiar, tall man with orange hair and blood irises walked his way towards them.

"What's this?" His dog ears twitched, as he bent on his knees to grab one yukata out of the pile of clothes on the ground, dampening the brown surface. He studied the slight mud marring the silky fabric, before shifting his gaze to the female demons, the heated glare in his eyes causing them to bow their heads in shame. "If I am not mistaken, you two were busy trying to humiliate our mistress here, weren't you? Shouldn't you be doing your petty jobs instead of focusing on your pointless jealousy?" he mocked, throwing the dirtied yukata at the snobby pink haired demon, who quickly caught it in her grasp. He glared at the two, crossing his arms over his chest. "Now, get the hell out of here, before I lose my temper."

The two cat demons bent down and bowed to him in respect. They hurriedly picked up the clothes they themselves had tossed at the blue haired girl, before turning and scurrying away like mice.

The male demon's fierce expression softened as he whirled to look at his blue haired mistress. "I apologize for their lack of manners, Botan-sama. I promise that they will be taught their lesson for doing such a shameless thing to you."

Botan's mouth curled into an appreciative smile at his words. "Thanks, but no thanks, Rei. I'm quite used to this kind of thing, after all."

It had been a week since her arrival at Youko's domain. And although she had put up quite a fight on day one, Botan had learned to be more adapting of her surroundings, even coming to accept that this was now her new home. Youko had requested that his subordinates treated her as his equal, but Botan sometimes insisted on doing a few house chores here and there as she was never the kind to sit around and accept others' handouts, and before she knew it, seven days had already gone by. Although the envious female servants in Youko's territory were certainly pesky and harsh, Botan had learned not to take their offensive words too personally. She did wish they would leave her alone sometimes, though. It seemed that every time Youko was gone, they would grab the opportunity to humiliate and degrade her. Not to say she never fought back, of course. That was why she had a few brand new scratches around her arms and her back, although her wounds were never that serious. Perhaps it was because of Youko's loyal subjects – take Rei, for instance – who always came to her rescue when the fox was not around.

"Are you alright?" he asked, his tone laced with concern as he handed her a white towel. She blinked, wondering where he got it, but accepted the generous offer, anyway. She thanked him as she placed the towel on her head, rubbing it on her hair in an attempt to dry it off.

"I'm fine, Rei," she answered after a while, a laugh erupting from her throat, "It's not like this is the first time."

"I am aware of that," Rei said, nodding his head in remembrance of the times he caught her bickering with the female subordinates in the palace, "But, I still wish I can say something about this to Youko-sama. It's better if he…"

"No!" came Botan's frantic cry, startling the dog demon who hadn't expected the loud cry. She seemed to calm down a little as he regarded her with confused, knitted together eyebrows. "If you do that, he will kill them. Literally."

His shock dying down, Rei couldn't help but scoff, "They deserve it."

"Why can't you demons get it?" she sighed in exasperation. "No one deserves to die, no one deserves having their lives taken away from them," she murmured, her voice softer this time.

Rei gave her a small smile. "Forgive me for my mindless words, but we demons were raised like this. It is easier for our kind to kill off anyone who proves to be of no use or disturbance," he stated in a matter of factly way, "And our master has ordered us to treat you as our mistress, meaning that we are constantly and permanently at your service. When he told us he plans to marry you, that will seal our fate as not only his, but also your, loyal subjects. We will forever be inclined to protect you from any danger that might befall you. When those girls threw that pile of clothes on you, if Youko-sama had seen it, not only him, but also I, would have felt the need to set them right," he told her, Botan flushing bright red at the mention of Youko's intentions in regards to marriage.

"Set them right meaning you have to murder them," she mumbled under her breath, the crimson shade coloring her cheeks now reduced to a faint pink. "You guys really need to fix that line of thinking. I really appreciate your protection, though. It keeps me safe when Youko's not around. Although, I tend to hate being babied around, so you should try to let me settle things on my own for once," she advised him in a stern tone that left no room for disagreement.

"I will keep that in mind," Rei said with a broadened smile, but Botan had an inkling suspicion that what he had in mind was the exact opposite of his words. After all, although they did serve her, they obeyed Youko first and foremost. And besides, the only reason she was even receiving this wealthy treatment was because the fox had ordered them to give it to her. She had no doubt that if Youko told them to kill her, they would do it without a moment of hesitation. They held no loyalty or trust towards her – only for Youko.

"Where is Youko, by the way?" Botan inquired in an attempt to distract herself from her own skeptical musings. "I haven't seen him today."

"He is currently in a meeting with Yomi-sama," Rei answered dutifully, "No one knows when it will end. It has already been ongoing for eight hours. However, I suspect they will finish their important discussion precisely when the sun sets. Until then, I must request for you to be patient."

"The king from the neighboring country?" Botan asked in regards of Yomi's name, earning a confirming in return. "Oh, well, alright then." Briefly, she wondered what kind of discussions Youko had over this sort of meetings; it had already been eight hours, and they still hadn't finished talking? It must be a relevant matter if—wait, wait a second…

She turned to regard the dog demon, Rei, with a baffled stare. "What do you mean by having to be patient?"

He quirked an eyebrow at her. "You are wishing to be by Youko-sama's side, are you not? If you are, then I must request for your patience—"

"O-of course not!" Botan cried, blushing hotly, as she threw the towel straight at the demon's face.

"Huh?"

Youko looked up from the plant he was nourishing to peer at the owner of the voice. His bat demon companion, Kuronue, entered his room with a basket of apples in one hand.

"I thought you were having a meeting?" he asked the fox, taking a seat on a chair leaned against the wall.

Youko nodded, and then shrugged his shoulder. "Yeah, I was. But, it ended five minutes ago."

"Is that so?" Kuronue settled the basket of apples on the ground beside his feet. "Well, if that's the case, then you should have told Botan-chan about it."

Gold eyes blinked, before turning wide and hopeful. "Why? Is she worried about me or something?"

"Huh?" Kuronue mimicked his actions, blinking at him. "Don't know, but I guess I am a bit worried about her wandering in this place by herself."

Youko's eyes returned to their original size, as his bubble of hope popped at the bat demon's words. And here I thought she was worried about me, he sighed to himself.

"Aren't you worried that something bad might happen to her?" Kuronue inquired him, bending down to take one ripe, bright red apple. He brought it to his lips, taking a bite of the juicy fruit. "I mean, I thought you were thinking of making her your wife?"

"Nothing's going to happen to her. She has my subordinates watching her every move," Youko reassured him with a scoffing sound, "And, yes, I am planning to make her my wife. It's just a matter of time of waiting for her to say yes."

"You mean, she hasn't agreed to it yet?"

The fox grimaced slightly. "No, not really. She told me she would think about it, but sometimes that means that there's a high possibility the results would be negative," he murmured.

"Anyway, Youko," Kuronue started, as he spat a seed of the apple out of an opened window near the chair he was seated on, "I've been meaning to ask you this… but… well, do you love her?"

Youko furrowed his brows. "Why do you want to know?"

Kuronue gave out a light shrug of his shoulder. "I mean, I figured that you do, since you did go as far as erasing Reikai's residents' memories of her so you could bring her here. You even asked the servants and your advisors to treat her like the mistress, and now, you're planning to wed her." He paused for a moment to study the fox spirit's face. "Anyone would get the idea that you care about her… It's just… well, weird, since your species don't really hold attachment to anything… or anyone, for that matter."

There was silence, before Youko finally responded, "I do care about her. It's quite odd, but I find myself harboring feelings for her before I even knew it. I guess… she's just special."

"Well, since she's so innocent and pure, do you think that one day she could reform you or something?"

A light smirk tugged at Youko's lips, as if he was amused by something. "There's no way that would happen. After all, fox spirits such as myself have been cunning and murderous for generations." His smirk wavered, as his mouth formed a thin line. "She could never tame the beast inside me. I would admit, her light has a soothing effect against the darkness in my heart… but such darkness could never be contained that easily."

"But, you love her, anyway," Kuronue pointed out with a finger pointed accusingly at the fox, earning a chuckle in return.

"I do, don't I?" Youko turned his gaze to the blue sky decorated with white puffy clouds, the shade serving as a reminder of his beloved's blue hair. "But, I still don't know how to express them, you know? My feelings towards her. To tell her that I love her would be like admitting that I'm no longer the cruel monster that I am… Not to say that I don't want to tell her how I feel, of course… Well, I'm just saying that theoretically speaking, that's just how hard it would be to utter those three words."

Kuronue seemed to consider this for a moment. "I would agree, I guess. I mean, it's hard for me to imagine you acting like a prince charming and giving her a bouquet of flowers and saying, 'Botan-chan, I love you!', after all," he said, pulling a pathetic attempt of mimicking a love confession.

"Exactly." Youko chuckled darkly. "Demons like us don't do stuff like that. It's just not our kind of thing."

"That's true," Kuronue agreed, before shrugging his right shoulder, "But, if I were you, I would start learning to be more… romantic."

A deep frown was now etched on Youko's forehead. "What the hell do you mean? Why do I have to—Like I told you…"

"I know, I know," Kuronue stood up from the chair, throwing his arms up in the air, "Demons don't do romance, I know." His features turned serious as he looked straight into Youko's irises. "However, if you really don't want her to try and escape, all I'm saying is that you might want to learn expressing yourself a little. Try and act sweet or whatever. Girls like that sort of thing." He paused, and when Youko's frown deepened, he went on, "You do want her to reciprocate your feelings, don't you?"

Youko's eyes broadened and as the words sunk in, he realized Kuronue had a point. If he really wanted to make her love him, he would have to do something romantic… even if it wasn't like himself to act romantic, of all things. He was a demon after all, and much more, he was a fox; if he wanted something, he would take it. There was no courtship, no anything. Merely sex, and pure lust. But, he was a demon in love. Demons never felled in love. Ever. And yet, he had broken that rule. Why not break more?

"You're right," Youko agreed, albeit slightly reluctantly.

"Do you want me to help?" Kuronue asked, his playfulness now back as it replaced the stern expression on his countenance a while ago. Youko grunted, before shaking his head.

"No." He smirked. "It wouldn't be all that difficult."

Kuronue's face soon matched the fox's as a smirk curled at the corners of his lips. "I suppose that's true." The quirk on his mouth broadened as another thought occurred in his head. "Putting that aside though, Youko… you might want to be more careful."

Youko's smirk felled, as his features took on a more bewildered expression. "Huh? What are you talking about?"

"It seems to me like some of our subordinates… have taken quite the liking to Botan-chan," Kuronue chuckled, "You should keep your guard up, Youko. With all those meetings you've been having lately, you haven't been spending any time with her. And who knows? Someone else might just steal her… right… under… your… nose…" he warned and teased at the same time, pausing at the last four words to emphasize his point.

The glimmer in Youko's smoldering gold quickly dissipated as his vibrant orbs darkened into a murky yellow. His features were fierce and wrathful for a moment, before the glint in his eyes returned, a self-assured smirk reaching to find its way to his lips.

"That won't be a problem," he growled, "All I have to do is get rid of anyone who tries to get in the way between Botan and I. I don't care if everything breaks, but if her eyes reflect anything—anything but me…"

I would kill them.

Every last one of them.

Because in the eyes of she whom I hold so dear…

… only my figure should be reflected.