A/N: This is the alternate ending to my other fic, "My Downfall". To fully understand this fic, read chaps 1-28 of "My Downfall". For anyone who read the original ending, this chapter isn't massively different, but from about halfway through there are subtle differences that quickly change the direction of the entire story, and not just from a romance point of view.
Recap: Kurama, Hiei and Yusuke advanced through the second round of the tournament, Botan asked Ayame for advice and Botan went to Kurama's apartment, where she met his keen female neighbours, his unorthodox pet plant Hana and she created a Fruit of Previous Life that had some very unusual side effects on Kurama.
Chapter 29: The Kiss
"Shuichi!"
Botan balled her fists in frustration.
"Shuichi isn't here!"
Botan's jaw dropped at the sound of Kurama's voice behind her.
"Who are you?" the girl called back through the door.
Botan spun around, finding Kurama moving towards her. She quickly pressed the palm of one hand over his mouth to stop him saying any more. She felt his lips smile against her hand, and she shook her head urgently.
"Stop that!" she whispered. "How will you explain yourself later? They'll think you're hiding a girlfriend and a boyfriend in here!"
Botan slowly slid her hand from Kurama's mouth, feeling no less reassured when she saw that he was still smiling at her.
"There's only one girl out there," he whispered to her. "And one girl in here. That's two girls. I have two hands…"
Botan gasped in horror, but Kurama's smile widened.
"Hey, what's going on up here?" a second girl asked from outside the door.
Kurama arched his eyebrows, holding up three fingers. Botan shook her head again, stepping towards him. His smile widened again and she quickly scowled at him.
"Get away from the door!" she urged. "If they hear us, who knows what they'll think!"
When Kurama did not move Botan sighed and reluctantly put her hands on his chest, pushing him back as she walked forwards. Despite the fact that he could easily resist her, he staggered back, allowing her to push him all the way back into the bedroom. She quickly shut the door behind herself and pressed a finger to her lips to warn him to keep quiet. He shrugged and moved over to the tree she had grown, lifting up one bough and poking at a near-ripe fruit hanging there.
"I think we should kill this tree!" Botan hissed. "Look what it's done to you! It's turned you into a… A…"
"It's turned me into my full demon form," he replied, turning to her innocently. "The experiment was a success. And your little peach tasted delicious."
"It's not a peach!" Botan snapped. "It's an evil fruit! And besides, it looks more like a pear."
"I confess, I was just using a coy euphemism," he replied. "I thought it might make you blush."
Botan started to blush then, though only because he had just said that he wanted her to and that alone was embarrassing.
"I-I don't understand…" she stuttered nervously.
"Really?" he asked.
Botan really did not understand where the euphemism lay in his previous speech or what it was meant to represent, but she did understand the look in his eyes then.
"Oh goodness…" she muttered, touching her hands to her face. "My fruit has turned you into a foxy nymphomaniac!"
"Botan!" he gasped. "That's no sort of language for a ferry girl to be using!"
Botan started to blush again.
"Your fruit has merely turned me into a gentle fox cub," he said.
Botan started to relax, but when she saw the glint return to Kurama's golden eyes she quickly panicked again.
"You should relax," he said.
Botan shook her head, watching curiously as he lowered Hana to the ground, reaching his other hand into his hair to retrieve a seed.
"You keep everything in your hair, don't you?" she asked, laughing nervously. "I suppose that's why you wear it long. More room to hide things, right?"
Kurama smiled, tossing the seed over Botan's shoulder. She looked back curiously, wondering what he was doing, and she did not have to wait long for an answer: the seed exploded in a burst of green that quickly grew into a tall, thick stem before opening out into a large white flower. Botan turned to Kurama for an explanation, yelping as she found him once more advancing on her. She stumbled back, falling onto the petals of the flower, which were surprisingly comfortable to lie on. She momentarily enjoyed the springiness of lying on the flower before coming to her senses again as she saw Kurama reaching for her.
"Stay back!" she cried, rolling over and landing hard on the ground.
"Shouting and thumping about like that will only get the attention of my neighbours," he commented as she scrambled to her feet.
"You're doing this to me!" she argued.
"You did this to me," he replied, waving a hand at his current form.
"No," she said, vigorously shaking her head. "You did that to yourself, mister sexy pants!"
Kurama paused, looking slightly taken aback, a look that was entirely out of place on his full demon face.
"Not that I mean that I think you are sexy," Botan hurriedly added, her face growing hot. "J-Just that you're acting very sexy – no, wait, not that, I mean you're behaving – I mean–"
"It's alright, I know exactly what you mean."
"Y-you do?"
Kurama slowly walked over to stand in front of Botan, smiling gently. She gulped audibly, silently noting that he was not only infinitely more powerful in his full demon form but he was also substantially bigger: his shoulders were almost as broad as the doorway into the room and he was easily as tall as the door itself.
"But you're wrong," he said quietly. "With your fruit, I am but a gentle little fox cub."
He leaned towards her and Botan leaned back, almost losing her balance: this was becoming ridiculous.
"I'm listening," Koenma said, his face stern.
"Sir, Botan called me earlier today to ask for my advice on something," Ayame continued. "She said that she is in love with a demon, and she wanted to know if she ought to use her human body to consummate her relationship with him."
Koenma froze, barely believing what he was hearing.
"She was under the impression that it was the right thing to do," Ayame added. "If she's not with you now, I can only assume that she is following through with her plan."
"Botan?" Koenma eventually managed. "Botan is…? But she's so… She's such a…"
Koenma turned to George, finding that the ogre looked as shocked and concerned as he was. He then turned to Yusuke, feeling suddenly far worse when he saw that Yusuke did not look shocked or concerned: in fact, he looked guilty, like he was hiding something.
"I asked Hiei to wipe her memories of this," Koenma said sternly, looking down at Ayame again. "Obviously he has failed me, though I can't think why."
"You really can't think why?" Yusuke muttered.
"What?" Koenma echoed, his head snapping up and his eyes fixing onto Yusuke.
Yusuke grinned and shrugged his shoulders, but Koenma was not about to let his last comment slip.
"Do you know where Botan might be, Ayame?" Koenma asked the ferry girl.
"Unfortunately no, Sir," she replied. "But you should be able to locate her if she has her communicator with her."
"Alright, thanks for calling Ayame."
Koenma pushed a button to end the call and another to locate Botan's communicator. As he waited for a reply he lifted his eyes to Yusuke again.
"You better tell me everything you know, Yusuke," he warned.
"It's just…" Yusuke began. "Is it really such a big deal if Botan has a silly little crush on a demon? And before you answer that, remember that I'm a demon too!"
Koenma slowly narrowed his eyes.
"You're different," he coldly replied. "You can control your power. A demon unaccustomed to the weakness and vulnerability of a human body could literally tear Botan apart. Do you want that to happen?"
"No, of course not! Calm down!"
Koenma looked down at his communicator again, his eyebrows shooting up in surprise.
"She's in the living world," he said. "Kyoto city."
"Why would she be there?" Yusuke asked. "That doesn't make any sense! I thought she was going to Genkai's place to see Yukina?"
"Obviously not," Koenma said, rising to his feet. "Yusuke, call Puu, I need to get to Kyoto city, and fast."
Yusuke stayed seated, looking up at Koenma.
"Now, Yusuke," Koenma repeated in a low voice.
"Are you sure you want to go running after them?" Yusuke asked. "It could be dangerous… I'll come with you."
Yusuke stood up but Koenma shook his head.
"I'm going alone," he said firmly. "Call Puu. Now!"
"Okay, keep your training pants on!" Yusuke said.
He sighed, stepping out from behind the table. Koenma followed him out of the restaurant and the hotel, out onto the street. Yusuke waved an arm to a shadow perching on a low-level building across the street before turning to Koenma and eying him over worriedly.
"I'm coming with you," he said.
"No you are not," Koenma said firmly.
"Well you can't exactly stop me," Yusuke pointed out. "And if you pick a fight with… I can't let that happen."
"This isn't your problem, Yusuke," Koenma stubbornly replied. "And you should be resting after your fight earlier today, you're still weakened."
"Yeah, maybe, but I'm still a hell of a lot stronger than you're beany little ass!"
Puu landed softly in front of them and Koenma quickly leapt onto the bird's back.
"This is really stupid!" Yusuke shouted up to him.
"It would be stupid to let it happen," Koenma snapped back.
Yusuke sighed, shaking his head.
"Fine then," he said. "Puu, take Koenma to Kyoto city."
Puu let out a cry and spread his wings.
"Just don't do anything totally stupid, Koenma!" Yusuke yelled as Puu started to take off.
"I'm going to do whatever I have to," Koenma yelled back.
"Idiot…" Yusuke grumbled.
Yusuke roughly pushed one hand through his hair, turning around to see George loitering by the hotel steps, looking terrified. Yusuke turned back to watch Puu fade into the night sky, silently hoping that Hiei did not try to murder Koenma for interfering: but it was difficult to hold onto that hope when deep down he had a bad feeling that Hiei would lose his temper and end up in spirit world prison before the night was through.
"What's his problem?"
"Eh?" Yusuke echoed. "Oh, you mean Koenma? He's gone to the living world to look for Botan."
"Oh? Why?"
"She told Ayame she's in love with a demon, and she's gone off to have sex with him, and Ayame told Koenma and now he's furious. He's going to try to stop it happening, but he doesn't stand a chance! I mean we all know how aggressive Hiei is – hey, wait, Hiei?"
Yusuke's head snapped downwards and his eyes locked onto the diminutive fire demon stood at his side, glaring up at him.
"But how can you be here?" Yusuke asked. "If Botan's in the living world with her boyfriend, shouldn't you be there too? It's you she's in love with, isn't it?"
Hiei's face slowly darkened and he started to bare his teeth, the look enough to make Yusuke recoil from him. He then reached up a hand and snatched off his bandana, his jagan opening abruptly and glowing blue against the darkness, his own eyes closing. Yusuke watched curiously as Hiei's angered scowl slowly melted into a look that almost seemed like Hiei was in pain somehow. Just as the look was starting to seriously worry Yusuke Hiei opened his own eyes again and regained his angered sneer. He tore off his coat and threw it down before taking off at full speed, vanishing from sight before Yusuke could even think to call after him.
Yusuke sighed, watching as George came over to his side and picked up Hiei's coat. Both Yusuke and George started it alarm when they saw that Hiei's sword was lying on the ground beneath his coat.
"Why would he leave that behind?" Yusuke asked. "And where is he going? What did he see with that freaky eye of his? What the hell is going on around here? Why am I the Kuwabara of this half of the story?"
George grinned nervously and shrugged in reply.
"Grr!" Botan growled, clutching tightly at the frame of the picture.
Kurama gave her a withering look but she persisted regardless, shaking the image of the hologrammatic fox in front of herself.
"Don't come any closer!" she wailed. "Grr!"
"Hey, Hana?" a voice called from beyond the front door. "Is that you?"
Botan gasped, stepping away from the door only to clatter into Kurama. He took hold of the picture, pulling it from her hands and flinging it aside.
"I've never met a flower so resistant to my charms before," he said.
"Did you hear that?" a muffled voice said from the other side of the front door. "There's another guy in there!"
"Yeah, and he's got a really sexy voice!" another voice said.
Botan gasped, waving her hands frantically in front of Kurama's face.
"You have to stop talking!" she hissed quietly. "Please! For your own sake!"
"I can think of a way you could silence these lips," he replied.
"Oh?" she responded.
"Kiss me."
"Do what?"
Botan shrieked out her last words, causing more outcry from the girl loitering outside the apartment, who began banging on the door again and calling for Shuichi.
"It's one way to make sure I stop talking," Kurama loudly replied.
When Botan heard one of the girls outside comment on having heard "that other man with the sexy voice" again she panicked.
"Kurama, please!" she whispered, taking his face in her hands. "Please!"
"Alright then, since you asked so nicely," he whispered back.
"Oh thank you," Botan sighed. "I was so–"
She was cut off halfway through her reply by Kurama's lips pushing against hers. She stiffened, at first too shocked to fully register what was happening. She felt his hands on her shoulders, holding her in place with a grip that was gentle but firm, and despite knowing that she could easily break their contact as her hands were still on his face, she instead let him kiss her, her eyes slowly drifting closed.
It was, she thought silently, quite an experience. She had never thought what it might be like to kiss Kurama, least of all to kiss him in his full demon form, but she supposed that if she had been inclined to imagine it, she would have expected Youko Kurama to kiss roughly and forcefully like Hiei did. However, what was happening to her was anything but rough and forceful. Kurama's lips were fluttering against hers so softly they felt like butterfly wings, the contact so light and sensitive Botan could feel herself pushing her lips against his in a need for more pressure.
It was not so much a kiss as it as a series of light kisses that were gradually becoming more intense. It was almost frustratingly slow and gentle for Botan – which was a thought that would have shocked her before she had kissed Hiei – and in an attempt to force Kurama into firmer contact she slid her hands forwards, her fingers slipping past his ears and into his hair. He made a small noise of curiosity at her action, but his lips did mould into hers after that, and shortly afterwards the kiss began to become more passionate.
Botan moved her hands further into Kurama's hair, silently wondering why it did not feel so silky and fine as it had before. And it was also strange that she had felt human ears on the sides of his head, she thought to herself. Did he have human and fox ears? Four ears? Well, she supposed, she had never really had the chance to look before.
Suddenly Kurama grunted and gripped his hands tighter into Botan's shoulders. Without breaking their kiss she opened her eyes to look at him questioningly, her first thought being that she now understood why his hair felt courser and why she had felt human ears on the sides of his head: he was back in his human form, as the effects of the Fruit of Previous Life had apparently run out. Botan's second thought was that she was passionately kissing Kurama and he was staring down at her with the most horrified look she had ever seen him wear.
Slowly Botan withdrew from him, looking up at him warily.
"Did you feel that?" he asked, turning his head slightly towards the living room.
"Feel what?" she echoed. "Your tongue in my mouth?"
"It felt like an energy pulse, like a psychic signal reaching into the room," he replied, frowning slightly.
Botan narrowed her eyes at him.
"You demons are all the same…" she grumbled. "You just kiss a girl and then act like it means nothing…"
"I sense that we may not have much time left," he said, turning from her.
Botan sighed indignantly as he walked off, disappearing into the bedroom. Once he was out of sight she touched a hand to her lips, still surprised that a kiss could be so different from one person to another. Kurama had been very tender and inviting and more like how she supposed she had once imagined kisses to be. Hiei's kisses had made her feel overwhelmed and dominated, but with Kurama it felt more like a two-way emotion, more liked a shared experience. She supposed Hiei kissed selfishly, but she had never realised it before because she had never had anything else to compare it to. She found herself wondering if Kurama's lips would feel as gentle and loving against other parts of her body: and that thought made her start to blush.
"Botan?" Kurama said, pausing in front of her.
She opened her mouth to make a silly excuse about the temperature in the apartment being the real reason for her face turning red but she forgot all about her appearance as she noticed that Kurama was holding a Fruit of Previous Life in each hand.
"Wh-what are you doing?" she asked, pointing at the fruits.
"I'm sorry Botan, I have to finish my experimentation," he replied.
Kurama continued through to the kitchen, with Botan following at his heels, watching him worriedly. He juiced each fruit into a separate glass as he had done before and then took out a third glass. He poured a little of each of the two juices into the third glass until it was full with about half of each kind of juice.
"Are you going to drink that?" Botan asked.
Kurama paused, giving her a slightly confused look.
"Well, yes," he eventually replied.
Botan gasped as he then proceeded to drink down the entire contents of the glass in one go.
"But…" she said as he replaced the glass to the counter. "What if the side effects…"
"I trust you Botan," Kurama replied. "Though maybe you should put up a barrier to protect yourself just to be sure."
"That won't be necessary! You wouldn't hurt me!"
"Not intentionally, no. But one of these fruits does make me quite violent, and the other made me… Quite amorous… Protect yourself, please."
"Oh dear… Does that mean…?"
"I'm hoping to find a balance between the violence of my own fruit and the excessive calm brought on by yours. With any luck, combining the two will result in something suitable."
"A-and if it doesn't?"
Botan waited for Kurama to answer her but he instead lowered his face into his hands, his hair lightening and ears sprouting out of the top of his head. She silently hoped that this time, Youko Kurama would be a little more reasonable.
"K-Kurama?" she said.
He slowly lifted his head again, smiling as their eyes met.
"How do you feel?" she asked him.
His smile widened slightly and he started moving out of the kitchen towards her, and again she backed up nervously.
"Oh my…" she muttered.
Hiei paced up and down a small section of pavement across the street from Kurama's apartment block. He was unsure what to do next. When he had used his jagan to check on Botan from demon world he had seen her kissing that traitorous red-haired fox bastard, and he had immediately felt three different emotions, one of which he had enjoyed because he completely understood it: he was angry. He was angry with her for letting Kurama touch her but he was even more enraged with Kurama for moving in on his territory.
But, in the time it had taken Hiei to run from the hotel in demon world to Kurama's apartment in the human world, he had actually done some thinking, and he had remembered that Kurama had warned him about this several times already. Kurama had said to him that he would take Botan for himself if Hiei only wanted one night with her, and of course Hiei had not claimed to want any more than just that. He still did not want any more than one night with her, but as he had yet to have that one night, Kurama had no business getting involved and wooing the woman with his enchanted flowers and his effeminate mannerisms.
And the more Hiei had thought about Kurama betraying their alliance by making a move on Botan, the more Hiei started to realise just how ridiculous the situation actually was: Kurama, unlike Hiei, did believe in all that love and romance crap. He had already betrayed Hiei's trust once because of his love for a woman – when he had basically used Hiei to get the Forlorn Hope to save his human mother's life – and now he was doing it again. And Botan was probably lapping it up, since she was longing for all that nonsense.
It was about then that Hiei had reached the street Kurama lived on, and he had realised that he did not actually know why he had gone there or what he expected to do. Was he going to break into Kurama's apartment? And what then? He was angry at both Kurama and Botan, but what exactly was he going to say to them if he did walk in on them kissing – or worse?
As he paced up and down outside the apartment block, Hiei began to remember something else that infuriating fox had said to him: "have your one night, after that it's not your concern what she does". Obviously that was Kurama's warning to him. Kurama had an infuriating habit of doing that, Hiei thought to himself. He would make cryptic and vague statements that would later prove to be quite portentous and earn him the right to wear that smug, almost-smile of self-satisfaction at once more being proved right about something. He was always thinking ahead, always scheming, always planning and always right.
Kurama was always right about everything, Hiei thought angrily, absolutely everything.
Kurama was right that Hiei wanted to keep Botan for himself.
Though not it that pathetic, life-partner, love and romance kind of way. Hiei just wanted to be the only one to ever unwrap that little treasure and know the beauty that lay within. He did not want to share her with anyone, least of all someone who might lure her away from him with flowery talk and sappy gestures.
Hiei was starting to understand what one of those other feelings he was having was. He already understood the anger, which had been the last feeling that had hit him when he had seen Kurama kissing his woman, but he was starting to realise that the second feeling he had felt was jealousy. And that was something that was both new and unexpected.
"This is perfect," Kurama said quietly. "I didn't think I would ever find something so right so quickly. Exactly half of my own variety of the fruit with exactly half of yours Botan makes a perfect formula."
Botan sighed in relief, her back hitting against the wall she had once more been backing up towards.
"It's interesting that our two energies together has actually perfected the effects of the original fruit," Kurama added. "With this formula, I feel like my old self again for the first time in over twenty years."
"Oh, well, that is interesting," Botan agreed. "Maybe it's because the original fruit was grown with pure spirit energy. Maybe half spirit energy and half demon energy makes a better… Fertiliser…"
Kurama smiled, but Botan noticed one of his eyebrows twisting upwards.
"What were you expecting this cocktail to do to me?" he asked.
"Well, uh…"
Botan started to blush and she laughed nervously, not particularly wanting to tell him what had been going through her mind: violent Kurama plus perverted Kurama equals violently perverted Kurama.
"Relax, I was just joking," he assured her.
He moved over to sit on the futon, and Hana appeared at his feet, slithering her way up on of his legs to rest on his lap. He began petting the plant as though it was a cat, and seeing that he genuinely seemed more relaxed and in control of himself, Botan dared to cross the room and sit down next to him. She sighed quietly and wiped the back of one hand across her brow, bringing a grunt of amusement from the silver-haired fox at her side.
"What?" she asked innocently, turning to him with wide eyes.
"Were you really so afraid that I would hurt you?" he asked.
"No," she honestly replied. "I was mostly afraid that you would leave the apartment and that your neighbours would see you."
"Yes, that would have been problematic," Kurama agreed. "I doubt any of the girls in this building would understand if I told them that, although I inhabit a human body, I am in fact a four-tailed fox demon with a long history as a thief and warrior, and in either form I can control plants to do my bidding in battle."
Botan smiled, reaching a hand out to pet Hana on the head.
"I suppose your circumstances are exceptional, but they're a part of who you are," she said. "And none of your friends would change anything about you."
"That's what I like best about you, Botan," he replied, smiling gently at her. "You're very forgiving and understanding. Even now, you have every right to be furious for the way I behaved during my last transformation, but you're very kindly overlooking it."
"Oh, it's no problem," Botan assured him. "We're friends, and that's what friends are for."
Botan gasped as she inadvertently brushed her fingers against his. She quickly retracted her hand and turned from him, noticing that the picture she had taken from his wall was still lying on the floor. She muttered out an excuse and moved over to retrieve it, going out into the hall to hang it back in its rightful place. Once she was happy that it was hanging straight she turned around, surprised to see Hana leaving the living room behind her. She walked back into the living room, looking over at the futon, seeing only a head of red hair sat there: apparently the effects of the fruits had worn off.
"Kurama, are you alright?" she asked as she approached him.
"Possibly not," he replied, rising to his feet and turning towards her.
His face was darkened and something about the look in his eyes immediately put Botan on edge.
"How are you feeling, Botan?" he asked, his eyes looking at a point on the wall beyond her as he spoke.
"A little tired," she confessed. "Expending all that energy on the tree was exhausting."
"Well I hope you're not too worn out," he replied, meeting her eyes at last. "Because I don't think the excitement of this night is over just yet."
"…What do you mean?"
"Well, unless I'm very much mistaken, I can sense three familiar energy signals nearby."
"Three? Ooh, is it Kuwabara, Yukina and… Um…"
Kurama shook his head.
"It's Puu and Koenma," he said. "And Hiei."
"Puu, Lord Koenma and Hiei?" Botan echoed. "That's a very odd combination! Why would those three come here together? Why would any of those three come here now?"
"I don't know, but we can't let Koenma come up here," Kurama reminded her. "If he so much as suspects what we've done here, the consequences would be very grave indeed."
"Oh, of course! Oh dear!"
Botan hurriedly got to her feet and started for the front door of the apartment, pausing as she reached it.
"Those girls are still out there!" she whispered to Kurama as he joined her.
"Don't mind them," he told her, reaching past her to open the door.
Botan turned to look outside, finding, as she had suspected, all three of Kurama's persistent neighbours sitting out in the hallway outside his door, apparently just waiting for him to reappear. They all looked like they had been drinking too much, and the sight did little to reassure Botan's nerves. She grinned at the girls nervously as Kurama locked the door behind them.
"Shuichi and Hana!" one of the girls cried, standing up and opening out her arms.
Kurama groaned very quietly, but forced a polite smile for the girls.
"Hey Hana, what's with the traditional dress?" another girl asked, tugging at one sleeve of Botan's kimono from her position on the ground, almost pulling Botan over.
"Oh, we were at a culture festival," Botan explained, tugging her sleeve free of the girl's hold.
"And what's with your hair?" the third girl asked.
"And are those contacts?" the first girl asked, leaning towards Botan's face. "Weird, are they pink?"
"Excuse us, ladies, we have to be going," Kurama said, putting an arm around Botan's shoulders.
"Are you coming down to our party?" one girl asked.
"Perhaps some other time," Kurama replied. "My girlfriend and I have prior commitments."
"Oh…" the three girls all said.
Botan hurriedly staggered alongside Kurama as he moved off, momentarily too taken aback by his actions and words to make her feet walk properly.
"They're very forceful," Kurama whispered to her as they started down the stairs together. "They believe that Hana is my girlfriend and they believe that you are Hana… I hope you don't mind that I haven't corrected them."
"Um, no, I suppose if they think you have a girlfriend they might leave you alone," Botan agreed.
"That was my plan," he replied.
Botan smiled, though she thought that she caught a hint of despondency in Kurama's features when he had spoken. She could not think of any reason why he would feel that way, but before she could give the matter much thought, she suddenly remembered why they were leaving so hurriedly and panic began to grip her.
"Kurama?" she asked as they stepped outside.
"Yes?" he responded.
"If Lord Koenma really is coming here, what will we tell him?" she asked. "How will we explain us both being here like this?"
Botan looked up at Kurama expectantly, her concern growing as she saw his eyes wander from hers to something beyond her shoulder.
"Good question, Botan," she heard Koenma's voice say behind her. "How will you explain this to me?"
Botan slowly turned around, finding Koenma, in his adult form, standing with his arms folded over his chest and a stern look darkening his eyes.
"Lord Koenma…" she said softly.
"Well Botan, I'm disappointed, but I'm not entirely surprised," he said stiffly. "I never expected you to fall in love with a demon, least of all one of the spirit detective team, and I had hoped that Hiei would have done what I asked of him, though apparently he let me down."
Botan frowned curiously, too frightened to ask Koenma what he meant but desperate to know anyway.
"I asked him to wipe your memories of the one you were in love with," Koenma added, as though sensing her curiosity. "And I realise now that was probably a cruel thing to do anyway. And I can see now why he disobeyed: his loyalty to Kurama is obvious greater than his loyalty to me… Who am I kidding, Hiei has no loyalty to me, but he does stand by his good friend Kurama."
Botan glanced at Kurama, silently wondering why he did not look as confused and shocked as she felt.
"I can't say that I'm ecstatic about this, but it's not nearly as bad as I had first suspected," Koenma continued. "Botan you are a gentle soul, but I know at least that Kurama will take good care of you. I couldn't have let you go to anyone else: not even Yusuke."
"Oh…" Botan said softly: apparently, after finding her as he just had, Koenma thought that the demon she had confessed to having feelings for was Kurama.
"It is actually a relief," Koenma said slowly. "I was expecting to find you here with Hiei."
Botan gasped involuntarily and Koenma started to laugh.
"I know!" he said. "How ridiculous is that? You and Hiei!"
Botan glanced at Kurama again to gauge his reaction to what her boss was saying, but he still looked decidedly neutral, and so she did the only thing that seemed right under the circumstances.
"Me and Hiei?" she said. "Oh Sir, that really is ridiculous!"
She forced laughter to continue the lie, though she felt conflicted after saying such a thing. She had been sure that she was in love with Hiei, but hearing herself saying out loud that it was ridiculous started to make her think that perhaps it was: after all, Hiei had done nothing to return her feelings, and she could still all too clearly remember what he had said to her on Valentine's Day when he had taken her to the beach at night.
"I know!" Koenma continued. "Can you imagine it?"
Botan stopped laughing. Even Koenma thought it was ridiculous, and he was, in more ways than one, a child.
"I mean, they say that opposites attract, but Botan and Hiei?" Koenma said.
Botan silently hoped that Koenma would soon stop, because she was confused enough about the situation and she did not need to listen to him making light of it.
"Don't you think that it's funny, Kurama?" he asked, turning to Kurama. "I thought Botan was in love with Hiei! Can you imagine those two together? First of all, he never talks and she never shuts up! He's a cold-hearted fighter and she's a soft-headed philanthropist!"
Botan gave her boss a withering look: now he was just mocking her, and making the awkwardness even worse. After all, she thought dryly, she had just kissed Kurama, she was confused about her feelings for Hiei and now Koenma was passing it all of as though it was a big joke. She tried to stay focussed on the positive aspects of what was happening: at least Koenma had not discovered the trees in Kurama's apartment or her part in their existence and at least he was not going to punish her for lying to him about her whereabouts that night.
"He's smart and sarcastic and she's air-headed and literal!" Koenma continued.
"Yes, very amusing," Kurama said tightly. "I had never given it any thought before, but apparently you have given it plenty."
"But now that I know it isn't true, I can see how funny it is that I ever suspected it was!" Koenma replied. "He's focussed and ambitious and she's ditzy and laid-back!"
"I think we get your point," Kurama said, his tone slightly firmer.
"He's malevolent, she's benevolent."
"Yes, they are opposites, we understand."
"He's decisive, she's indecisive."
"We get the point."
"He's strong, she's weak."
Kurama twitched slightly as though he was starting to become as irritated by Koenma's words as Botan was hurt by them.
"He's tough, she's-"
"Sir, please!" Botan snapped.
Koenma stopped, staring at Botan with wide-eyes of surprise at her sudden outburst.
"I think your words are a little inappropriate, Lord Koenma," Kurama said. "You should consider Botan's feelings before you talk so candidly."
Koenma frowned slightly at Kurama before turning his attention to Botan.
"Oh…" he said softly. "I'm sorry, Botan. You're right of course, Kurama. Here I am talking about Hiei and Botan and Botan is with you. That was very insensitive of me. Botan if it makes you feel any better I really don't have a problem with you loving Kurama. He's sensible and sensitive and I trust him not to hurt you like Hiei would have."
Botan pinched at the bridge of her nose, silently wishing that Koenma would just take the hint and shut-up already. It was like every time he opened his mouth he said something that made her feel ten times more confused and embarrassed.
"I'm pleased, really, I am," he continued. "I was so worried about you, Botan! At least now I understand why you've been so distracted lately! And when I think about it, I can see that it was happening right before my own eyes and I just never bothered to notice before! The only thing I don't understand it why you said that the demon you loved did not even know your name – Kurama knows your name!"
Botan sighed quietly and rolled her eyes. If Koenma was not her boss, if he was not the lord of the underworld, she could have been tempted to punch him in the face for being so infuriating.
"I suppose you were just panicking because you didn't want me to know the whole truth," he said. "You thought that I would disapprove. And admittedly, it is unconventional for a ferry girl to have a lover, especially a demon with a reputation as a thief who is currently inhabiting a human body, but I want to see you happy Botan, and as long as this relationship doesn't get in the way of your duties to spirit world then I am happy to give you my blessing."
"I see you brought Puu with you," Kurama said.
"What?" Koenma echoed. "No! I mean – I thought Puu was hidden somewhere!"
"Perhaps we should all return to demon world with Puu before anyone else notices him here," Kurama replied. "This is a very busy city, we can't afford to risk anyone seeing him and asking awkward questions or reporting him to the authorities."
"Right," Koenma replied. "Again. Right again, Kurama. Hey Botan, you sure picked a smart guy to date!"
Botan ignored her boss's response, silently telling herself that soon she would be back in her hotel room and she could just go to bed and sleep, to recover her energy from helping Kurama with his experiments and hopefully to gain some mental clarity amid the confusion that was currently clouding her thoughts. She was unsure if kissing Kurama had been a good thing or a bad thing: it was good that it had taught her that kissing could be different with someone else, but it was bad that it had left her so conflicted. She felt as though she had never given romance any thought before – at least not in terms of enjoying any in her own life – and now suddenly it was consuming her every waking thought.
Botan contemplated going back to the ice village: she was not meant to go back there for three more days yet, but maybe Rui's offer of a place to stay was still open, and she could pass the next three days around people who minded their own business and had absolutely no faith in love, romance or men, and so would not talk about any of them around her.
"Let's just go, shall we?" Kurama said.
"Okay," Koenma agreed. "Come on, Botan!"
Botan nodded, following after her boss with her head hanging low. They soon reached Puu, with Koenma leaping on first. He held out a hand to Botan and Kurama knelt at her feet, holding out his hands for her to step up. She smiled at him and accepted his offer, stepping up and reaching for Koenma's hand. Kurama quickly leapt up behind her, catching her in his arms as she slid slightly upon releasing Koenma's hand.
"Are you alright?" he asked her.
"Just a little giddy," she replied, touching a hand to her forehead.
"Don't worry, you can relax now," he assured her.
"Yes, I'm fine now, thank you," she replied.
"Let's go, Puu!" Koenma called out.
Botan jolted slightly as Puu took off and she felt Kurama's arm steady her again – apparently he had not moved it since catching her the first time. In fact, he kept his arm around her all the way back to the hotel, despite the precaution not being necessary.
"Where the hell have you all been?" Yusuke demanded as Puu landed outside the hotel.
"Have you been standing here since I left?" Koenma asked him as he leapt to the ground.
"You all ran off and left me behind on my own!" Yusuke argued.
"I was here with you, Yusuke!" George said to him, patting him on the shoulder.
Koenma gave George a flat look.
"Sorry Yusuke," he conceded. "I hope the ogre didn't bore you too much while I was gone."
"Sir!" George wailed.
"How about a nice game of poker to cheer you up?" Koenma offered Yusuke.
"As long as you don't cheat this time then sure, why not?" Yusuke replied.
"Hey Kurama, Botan!" Koenma called back over his shoulder. "We're playing cards!"
"No thank you," Kurama replied, much to Botan's relief. "Botan and I are tired, we're just going to have an early night."
"Oh yeah?" Koenma echoed, grinning at them suggestively.
Kurama ignored his response, opening the hotel door for Botan, who nodded her thanks and stepped through the doorway ahead of him.
"You could play cards with the boys if you want to," she said to Kurama as they made their way to the elevators. "Don't feel obliged to take me to my room just because I'm a bit sleepy."
"I don't want to play cards with them," he flatly replied. "I'm just using you as an excuse not to bother. As an added bonus, I get to look quite chivalrous in the process."
He stepped into an elevator and turned around, watching Botan expectantly. She slowly followed him, watching him with wide eyes of surprise at his words.
"That was a joke, Botan," he told her as he pushed the button for her floor.
"I knew that," she lied, turning her head from him.
Apparently even Kurama's sense of humour was sneaky, Botan thought to herself as she listened to the elevator pinging as it counted its way up to her floor. Kurama was staying on the floor above her, and so when he stepped out alongside her at her stop she turned to him.
"What are you doing?" she asked.
"I just wanted to be sure that you made it to your room," he replied. "You look a little pale."
"Oh… Well thank you, that's very kind of you… Unless you're only doing it to look like a gentleman again, in which cause it's very naughty of you."
Botan turned from him and started along the hall, turning her nose up in the air haughtily.
"If I did have ulterior motives, what would they be?" Kurama asked, following after her. "We're alone now, there's nobody else around to hear or see what I say or do."
Botan frowned slightly, unsure if she understood what he was trying to say. But as she moved along the hall she felt increasingly light-headed, until eventually she stubbed her toe on a ruche in the carpet and stumbled forwards. She felt as though she had dived into water as she fell forwards and then jarred against something and was swept backwards, ultimately finding herself in Kurama's arms.
"Oh my!" she gasped, looking anywhere but his face in her awkwardness. "You don't have to carry me…"
"It's the least I can do," he replied.
Botan said nothing, allowing him to take her to her room, where he eased her down onto her feet once more, keeping one arm around her waist.
"Where's your key?" he asked her.
"Oh, yes, of course," she muttered, stuffing her hands up her sleeves. "Now let's see…"
As she fumbled around for her room key, Botan inadvertently dropped something else from one sleeve, which landed by her feet. Before she could even see what it was Kurama had crouched down to retrieve it. He kept up the object between them and Botan's face slowly dropped.
"I don't suppose I'll be needing that any more," she said, her eyes still on Kurama's apartment key.
"I suppose not, no," he quietly replied. "Though perhaps…"
Botan waited for Kurama to continue, but his face changed slightly and he closed his fist around the key.
"Did you find your room key?" he asked instead.
"Oh, um…"
Botan raked around a little longer before finally uncovering her room key.
"Ta-da!" she said, holding it up.
She unlocked the door and stepped into her room, sighing in relief to finally be back. She heard Kurama step into the room behind her and she turned to him, eying him over curiously.
"Do you want a drink before you go?" she offered.
"I don't think that would be appropriate," he replied. "Thank you again for your help this evening, it was greatly appreciated. And… Goodnight, Botan."
"Goodnight, Kurama."
Kurama backed out of the room again, closing it behind himself.
"Remember to lock this door," he called through the door to her.
Botan moved over and locked the door shut. She touched a hand to the door, waiting there until she heard Kurama move off again, which took longer than seemed necessary. She then sighed and turned back to her bed, moving towards it gratefully.
Next Chapter: Botan returns to living world for breakfast with Kurama before she goes to visit Yukina, who tells her something unexpected. Chapter 30: The Dilemma
A/N: And for anyone who has read the complete original of this fic, you'll notice one of the major plot changes already: Botan no longer has the key to Kurama's apartment that led to all that incrimination in the original… And that's just the first of many changes!