Bitten and Smitten

Summary: Ever since her 17th birthday, Botan's been running from them, and now… comes this red-haired emerald eyed guy who is actually the same as they are who claims he's there to protect her. He would've seemed nice, if it weren't for those sharp fangs poking out of his mouth…

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Chapter 1

Botan couldn't remember how long she had been running but her legs really hurt. She cursed her luck, and for a moment, thought if she had followed Keiko and Yukina to the goukon, maybe this wouldn't have happened. She had always disliked those kind of meetings, which was why she declined when Keiko had invited her, but if she had known things would turn out this way, she would've gone without hesitation.

She hadn't even reached halfway to her apartment, when those things suddenly appeared. What else could she have done? She ran as fast as she could, never bothering to look back and only kept on running and running.

It almost felt like hours, but she finally arrived at the door of her apartment. No one seemed to be around, and that only succeeded on making her even more afraid. She fumbled through her school bag for her apartment keys, her hands shaking and her legs felt like jello from all the running.

Sure enough, Botan heard a loud thud behind her, as if something just landed on the ground, causing her to let out a gasp and her eyes widened in terror.

"Kikikiki…" An eerie and cynical voice chuckled, "Ah look, the little human is scared… I can smell her fear… Oh, this is so exciting, this is so exciting!" he cackled.

"Why don't you give in, little girl…? You have nowhere to escape," another voice said, different but still not less terrifying as the first one that spoke.

She didn't turn around, despite the loud thumping of her heart as the voices continued to taunt her. 'Come on, come on… Where are they?!' she screamed frantically in her head, all the while praying that her keys didn't accidentally fall when she was running. She really didn't need this right now. Oh why did the heavens have to punish her like this?

Thankfully, as soon as she heard footsteps walking towards her, her fingers felt a familiar item. 'I found it!' her mind yelled in victory, relief overcoming her… but only for a second when she suddenly felt a hot breath at her throat…

It only took her a fraction of a second to realize what it was, and she turned around hastily, dropping her school bag and grudgingly also her apartment keys in the process. Her back was pressed against the door, as the two dangerous beings cornered her.

Botan's eyes shut close; was this the end? All this time, ever since her birthday last month, she had been avoiding them and running away… was this how everything's going to end? Were her efforts until now futile? She knew it. She could never hide from them forever.

She waited for something horrible to happen, like the pain of fangs digging into her skin or something… But nothing came, confusing her and she slowly opened her eyes. It took her a moment to blink away the blurriness so she could clear her vision, but when she did… she was greeted by the grosteque sight of a boy, seemingly her age, red haired and emerald eyed, holding two heads disconnected from their bodies in each of his hand. It wasn't that hard to figure out that those were the heads of the vampires that had been hunting her all night.

However, she didn't feel even the slightest bit safer, as her eyes widened in realization… That boy wasn't normal, he could kill them in a split second… That meant…

"Tch," the boy tsked, "What a…"

Whatever he said was drowned by the sound of Botan's ear piercing shriek, causing him to let go of the heads so that he could cover his ears. His face contorted in pain, and his eyebrows furrowed in frustration as the loud noise nearly damaged his ear drums.

"What the hell?!"

Botan reached for the apartment keys and her school bag as fast as she could, inserting the key into the keyhole, and unlocking the door, before swiftly turning the doorknob and went inside… She attempted to close the door, but her efforts were to no avail, as a hand stopped her from doing so. She looked up to see emerald eyes glaring down at her coldly, sending a shiver down a spine. Botan gasped and tried to pull the door close, but the boy proved to be stronger – as expectedly – than her, and pulled the door open. Thankfully, the wooden material didn't break or anything under the brute force he used as he did so.

"Woman…" he growled, his blood dripping nails sharpening into claws, indicating his anger. "I saved you, and this is what I get?!"

Botan was surprised by his words, not expecting him to say that, of all things. When she saw his claws, she thought he would tear her limbs apart, but the boy seemed to be trying to control his wrath and merely glowered at her.

Her shock died soon after though, surprisingly and quickly replaced by her own irritation instead. "I-I didn't ask you to, y-you idiot!" she cried back in an indignant voice. She didn't realize what she just said until her eyes widened, and a hand flew to her mouth. What was she doing? The guy was a vampire, for god's sake! What good would she achieve by antagonizing him?

"I-I'm so—" Her apology didn't manage to leave her lips, as a callous hand roughly tugged at her elbow. It took her a moment to get over her shock by the boy's sudden actions, but when she did, she realized he held back his strength as she only felt a sharp pain at her shoulder, despite the fact he could break her bones easily. "W-wha—"

Her amethyst eyes locked with his cold emerald ones all of a sudden, silencing her in an instant as he pulled her dangerously close to him, filling her heart with fear once more. Great, now he's going to kill her…

"Don't… you ever…" the boy threatened, only to stop mid way when he noticed her body was shaking. His eyes softened slightly, as he finally let go of her. He watched as the girl's terrified expression turned to look of a mixture of bewilderment and distrust, as if she was wary of him and what he might do, but curious as to what he was up to at the same time. Her eyes silently asked him what he was going to do to her, but he didn't justify her question with a reply, and merely slid his hands into his pockets, and walked away, although she could've sworn she heard a low mutter under his breath, "Humans sure are weak…"

Botan stared at him as he opened the door to her bedroom, giving her a small and brief glance before entering and shouting out at her, "You're not gonna leave the door open are you? You're going to invite more vampires to come in," and that was all he said, before he closed the door to her bedroom, leaving a confused Botan staring at the spot where he once stood.

'W-wha-!' Her confusion was soon replaced with annoyance. 'Who the hell does he think he is coming in and going into my room like that? Why that-' her mind came into a halt as his earlier words suddenly interrupted her chain of thoughts. She huffed, before walking towards the door. Well, he's right, after all…

Botan slammed the door open, her arms crossed and her face wearing a ticked off expression as she stared at the vampire who was lounging on her bed, as if this was his room. She glared, but he remained unresponsive to her heated stares.

"What are you doing?" she finally asked after a few moments.

"Making myself at home in my new home, of course," he answered nonchalantly, without a care in the world and as if his reply didn't seem at all weird.

"Huh?!" came Botan's loud scream, causing the red haired vampire to once again close his ears, but she ignored his reaction and merely stomped her way to the bed, before taking hold of the collar of his black turtle neck shirt, "What the hell do you mean by your new home? Just because you saved me that didn't mean—"

She was cut off. "Ah, right, I should mention about your contract—"

"What contract? I didn't sign any goddamn contra—"

"Right. I should rephrase that. Sorry, my bad. I mean, the contract your great grandfather made with—"

"HUH?!"

He let out a loud, exasperated sigh, and scratched the back of his not so scratchy head, all the while wondering why the girl couldn't speak in a lower volume. "Like I said, the contract your great—"

"I know that!" Botan loudly exclaimed in frustration, practically on the verge of pulling her hair out of their roots. And to think, just a minute ago, she was so scared of him… "But what contract are you talking about?"

There was a moment of silence, before his mouth formed an 'o' and he punched his palm. "Ah, so you don't know!"

"Isn't that obvious?!"

"I thought Shinji at least told you… or not, your mother…."

"Really, what are you talking about?" Botan gave him a deadpanned look.

"You see, it's like this…" the redhead got up from his lying position on the bed, and crossed his legs indian style. "Your family is known to have a really unique blood, overflowing with power that gives any vampires who drink it more strength than any other vampires. Because of the blood flowing through your veins, many vampires want to get a hand on your blood to achieve their darkest desires, and to overpower other vampires."

"W-what—I-I don't get what you're saying… My family is nothing like you just said. My mom is an average woman, and I'm a normal—"

"A normal girl?" he cut her short before she could finish. With a tilt of his head, the boy's emerald eyes seemed to bore into her soul as the words that left his lips cut through her, "In what way are you normal, Botan? You've been chased by our kind almost every night for a month now… what makes you so normal?"

"I-I—" Botan seemed to try to make excuses, uncaring of how he knew her name despite the fact she didn't even tell him

"Don't deny it!" he barked at her, as if demanding her to stop talking back at him. It worked, as Botan bit her lip, trying to hold herself back from saying anything else in spite of how she had a lot of things to say… Really, what was he going on about? Blood? Contract? What was this? What was going on? For years, she had been living a normal life… yet why now—

"W-why…?" the question left her lips before she knew it, surprising the redhead and even herself at her own words, but she continued anyway, "W-why now? Why not last year? Why not when I was a baby?! Why is all this…"

"You're seventeen, aren't you?"

"So what?"

"Each child of each generation have their power awakened in their blood at the age of seventeen. When they reach seventeen years old, that's when…" he stopped halfway, knowing she understood what he was saying.

Botan's hands curled into small fists, as her body started shaking. Was this for real? If so, why didn't her mom and dad say anything? Why did they have to keep her in the dark? Why did she have to find out this way? Why? "Then… why did my great grandfather sign a contract with you?"

Emerald eyes stared at her, as if looking deep inside her soul. He could tell that she was confused, and perhaps angered by the fact no one told her anything… It took him a moment before he finally replied,

"To protect each child of each generation."

"Protect?" Botan's eyes narrowed slightly. "What the hell do you mean protect?! It's your kind that…"

"It was… probably stupid to ask a vampire for protection, especially if you're trying to protect yourself from the same kind you asked protection from… even risking to sign a contract where you would have to let the vampire drink your blood in exchange… but your great grandfather wanted to protect his descendants… He didn't want the power in your family's blood to fall into the wrong hands… and that was why he made the contract with me," he said, without taking his eyes off of her as she stared back at him with now wide eyes. Standing up, he sauntered calmly towards the girl even as she stepped back everytime he took a step forward towards her.

"You hear that? I made a contract with your great grandfather. To savor the sweet taste of your rare blood, I agreed to protect your family, for this generation and the next. For as long as I live I'd be your own personal bodyguard, until you die…" Botan's back pressed against the cold, hard surface of her bedroom wall, and she shut her eyes tight, her heart thumping loudly in her chest, and flinching at the feeling of sharp claws tracing down from her cheek to her neck, careful enough not to dig to deep to break the skin, but it was enough to send shivers down her spine, "and for as long as I live, I'd get to drink your blood, over and over again… something which most vampires are desperate for."

For a moment, his fingers lingered at the skin of her neck, as if he'd dug deep into it, and suck her blood from his hands, only to move up to cup her chin, forcing her to open her eyes in surprise and meet his gaze. There was something strange in his eyes, that made her want to push him away but couldn't, as if he was torn apart from sucking her blood right then and there, or kiss her to release some of the hurt she felt right now.

"Your mother and father, especially your father… probably didn't want to tell you anything because they were trying to protect you themselves."

"T-they're divorced," Botan squeaked all of a sudden, earning a chuckle from the vampire in return.

"Divorced, yes, but for a reason. Your father was the child of his generation, and your mother married him because she loved him – granted, that is true. But," his face bent down, the distance between his lips and hers only a few inches, as he closed his eyes to savor the sweet smell of her scent, the blood inside her tempting him, calling him to plunge his fangs into her throat… but he chose to linger at her mouth instead, "it seems she didn't like how I was always there with your father, and she also didn't like the fact that one day you would have to endure a life different than the one she wanted you to live… She wanted you to live a normal life, like any other average girl, and for one reason or another, she decided to divorce with your father, so she could take you away from the life you would have to live when you reach seventeen… Quite naïve and tragic, if I must say, as there's no way you could escape… No matter where you go, she should've known vampires would hunt you down everywhere, and it would've been safer if she stayed with me and your father, but I suppose your mother thought she did the right thing. I don't blame her, that's love for you after all."

"Mom…" came Botan's low, almost teary whisper. Her eyes started to water, "I-I didn't know… and what of dad? H-his death… was it really a car accident or did a vampire…"

"Ha!" the redhead scoffed, "It was a car accident, did you really think I wouldn't be able to rescue him from any vampire that might want to take his life? He's dead because he was careless in driving, his death had nothing to do with me. I mean, how the heck would I lose to any vampire? I mean, I have the best food that would give me more power than others!"

"You vampires…" Botan sighed under her breath, shaking her head as she knew what he meant. It wasn't until she noticed something poking out of his collar, that she blinked. Hands reaching up, she pulled the collar down a little and saw words… Like a tattoo or something that said;

"Kurama…" she mumbled the word. "Is that your name?"

"What else would it be?" Kurama gave her a snappy response.

"You know, you should've told me earlier what your name was… I mean, after all, I'm basically your mistress."

"Yeah, yeah whatever. I was going to tell you after I finish explaining the whole thing."

"Mom and dad… they're both gone now. They've both passed away… they're not here for me anymore… of all times," Botan suddenly said, her voice shaky as she bit her lip and held back the tears that threatened to come out.

Kurama's eyes softened. "I know, but I'm here for you now. Things might be difficult from here on out, but you can surely count on me to be there for you whenever you need me."

"I didn't know vampires could be so sweet," Botan teased, feeling slightly better by his words.

Kurama's face turned as red as his hair. "W-wha—Shut up! This only happens once in a lifetime okay!"

She giggled in return, amused by his reactions, and this only served to make him turn redder. Still, she didn't realize she was still squished between him and the wall until she felt something touching her leg… Catching on to what it was, this time it was her turn to turn red, and she quickly pushed him away, suddenly embarrassed by the fact that he was so close to her for such a long time. "W-what are you doing?!"

"What are you doing?" Kurama shot back, as he gave her an exasperated look. Seriously, he can't keep up with her easily changing moods. Just now she was crying, and then she was laughing, and the next she's angry… What is up with her?

Botan didn't give him any reply, and merely opened the door, before shoving him out. And it seemed Kurama was too surprised by her actions, as he didn't stop her even when he could've easily done so. "A-anyway, this is my room and if you're staying here, you're sleeping on the couch and… WAHH! Your hands, your hands!" she suddenly screamed bloody murder.

Kurama looked down at his hands, to see the red color tainting his fingers, almost dry. "Ah, blood, so what of it? Anyway, can't I stay in your room? I mean, it's really uncomfortable on the couch."

"NO!"

"Oh come on, Shinji let me sleep with him…"

"I said no, and it means no!"

"Tch, you're an annoying one, aren't you?" Kurama tsked, before looking down again at his hands, "So what do you want me to do actually?"

Her nose scrunched up in disgust. Wait, he was holding her with those hands… Her eyes widened before glaring daggers at the red haired vampire, "Wipe it off!" she demanded, before slamming the door shut, silencing him before he could say anything.

Botan's back pressed against the door, as she let out a heavy sigh.

Oh, she could just tell she could never return to her normal life ever again.

Especially now that she's got a blood sucking, sharp fanged, and nearly unbearable bodyguard accompanying her.