Disclaimer:

Of course I don't own YYH. I just have Yusuke locked in my closet…hold on (yells downstairs) no, mom. That big blast wasn't Yusuke's reigun, what're you talking about? Anyhoo, while we're at it, Kenshin is also in my closet. He's my personal pizza delivery boy (I think that's an inside joke 'tween me and YukiAngel28)! So, yeah, I don't own YYH, sorry 'bout that.

Summary:

Two hearts, one love. Botan has been enslaved by the yakuza since as long as she can remember, and only five years ago, she made a friend (if you could call him that) of Youko. What will become of them when they finally decide to run away? (Alternate Universe/One-Shot/Deathfic/Songfic)

I didn't mean to make them die, honest! Anyway, if you don't like the idea of a Youko/Botan fic or both of them dying, then you shouldn't read this. Karasu is also a mentioned character. I believe the yakuza is like, the Japanese mafia or something and I've seen other people use it. Enjoy?

Botan's POV (throughout the fic)

After another day of being enslaved (nothing different from the same routine I'd gone through most of my life), I felt like I couldn't take it anymore (but hadn't I felt that way everyday?). I ran (as fast as I could, as tired as I was) over to Youko, and lay back against the wall, slowly sliding down to the floor next to him.

"So…-" before I could even ask, he answered, the same way he always did, the same way he had for the five years we'd known each other (I'd been surprised to hear that the infamous Youko was actually caught, by the yakuza nonetheless, and kept under the enslavement of Karasu, as I was).

"No."

"You didn't even let me ask!"

"You act like I don't already know what you're going to say. But go ahead, ask it anyway." I gave a 'humph' and went on to ask my original question.

He recited it with me, mockingly…knowingly, "Is tonight the night we'll escape?"

I growled as menacingly as I could, which wasn't all that fierce, being of the appearance of a twenty year old ningen (though in reality, in makai, much older, as was Youko) with bubbly lavender eyes and bright azure hair.

Dear my love haven't you wanted to be with me?

And dear my love haven't you longed to be free?

He smirked at me, and once again, repeated his answer.

"But why not?! I've been here practically all my life, and you've been here long enough to know how horrible the labor is! And then you still go on, 'no, it's too dangerous! Not even I, the great Youko would dare to leave. All hail Karasu-sama'! That's exactly what you want to say, I know. I ca-"

Interrupting my rant, he looked towards me, with what seemed to be hurt eyes (but I must've been mistaken, such yokai have no feelings, do they?) and said harshly, "Go away."

At a loss of words, I got up, acting as if I were mad, but really just confused about his actions. Could it really have been possible that I hurt his pride with what I said so mockingly? But as I mentioned before, such yokai do not have feelings. Especially not merciless kitsunes as he.

I can't keep pretending that I don't even know you

When at sweet night you are my own

Later on, I went back over to him, and still putting on my façade of anger, I grabbed his arm, and tried pulling him out of his position (laid against the wall), but to no avail.

"Get up! I'm tired of this, we're not going to stay here anymore!" I told him in a hushed voice,

Sighing, he got up, and looked at me again (those eyes…what is it that I see in them? Regret, pain…sadness?), "I told you, we can't go. Not now, not ever."

Clenching my fists I once again took his hand in my own, but this time gentler, and I looked down, "I…I can't take it anymore. And-and I know that you can't either! We're going! Now!"

"Now?"

"Now."

Take my hand we're leaving here tonight

There's no need to tell anyone, they'd only hold us down

I gave a soft smile, and looked ahead towards the barred doors and windows. The guards would've had me worried, but they appeared to be asleep.

Without going into much detail, we managed to escape out the barred windows (being nearly starved to death the past few days, I managed to slip through the bars, and with a metal dagger and Youko's strength he'd built up from manual labor the years, he also escaped by bending the bars enough to slip through as well. I smiled (very sharp knife, very brittle bars).

Miles of walking, and hours of silence later, we ended up in an empty field, which by Youko's standards must've been safe.

"Where exactly are we going again?" he questioned, pulling some strands of silver locks from out of his face.

"Ah…well…you see, I haven't exactly gotten to that yet, but who cares? We're finally free!" I started to dance around in the moonlight, twirling around in the simple white dress I had on (dirtied from several years of overuse, though it wasn't as old as I-the boss of the yakuza actually replaced our clothing, but only every few years).

Youko chuckled at my antics, and put a hand on my shoulder. Feeling the weight on my side, I looked up towards him, and he took the chance to pull me into a kiss, which lasted well over a few seconds.

So by the morning's light we'll be halfway to anywhere

Where love is more than just your name

By the next morning, we'd assumed either the yakuza were searching for us frantically and had not yet found us (they wouldn't want us handing secrets to any 'enemies', now would they? That's why we were kept in the first place) or never planned to (which made little to no sense).

"Err…Youko?" I had to tell him.

"Yeah?" he answered groggily-we'd just woken up from a peaceful sleep.

"Do…do you think we could go to my home village, Hirobe?"

"Sure…wherever the hell that is. But…I thought that you neve-"

"No, I never actually did get much time to live in that village, but that'll make it even better…nobody will know us, and we won't know them. We can start over! It'll be wonderful." with that said, I threw myself into my arms, where he hugged me, almost affectionately, but I assumed he felt a little awkward (maybe even embarrassed!) though there was no reason for that.

I have dreamt of a place for you and I

No one knows who we are there

I went on, "And…and I…I wanted to maybe marry you. Imeanifthat'salrightwithyou." I said it quickly, without pause, blushing from my proposal.

He laughed, and I think he was a bit surprised at first, but trying to be slick, he grabbed me around the waist, pulled me in for a quick kiss and told me, "I knew you couldn't resist my charm." I giggled at his comment, so in love with him…his voice, his looks, his eyes…

All I want is to give my life only to you

I've dreamt so long I cannot dream anymore

Soon, I made my way out of his grip, and took both of his hands in mine, and soon, lessened my hold to only one hand, and ran (as much as I could while trying to get Youko to follow) on to wherever life would lead us. I hoped that Hirobe was close, and though I did not expect to see anyone I'd know (and I had no family, they'd all been killed off when I'd been captured by the yakuza so many years ago) but nevertheless, I was excited.

"Hurry up!" I called back to him, as I sprinted towards to the skyline, letting him fall behind. I felt like a small child, who'd been outside for the first time in her life. Those moments were so magical, and still remain so.

Let's run away, I'll take you there

And we kept running, and it might've taken us days, or weeks to reach or destination. It was impossible to tell with the only clock of our life being the sun. It may sound like we were taking our sweet time, but as excited as we were (or at least, I was, though Youko didn't seem as enthusiastic as I felt) we had to stop and eat (if given the choice I wouldn't've though. Eating rabbits and other wild animals didn't really appeal to me).

We're leaving here tonight

There's no need to tell anyone, they'd only hold us down

But such peace couldn't last. When we reached the village, it immediately drowned any optimistic thoughts we had.

"Wh-what happened here?" I tried crying out, but it came out more as a whimper.

Youko sniffed the air, and clenched his teeth, "It smells…like ashes…very recent. This village seems like it was thriving not too long ago…"

I was speechless, and wasn't ready for what he said next, "It also…it also smells like…like blood. I have a feeling that there was a massive killing here." he then looked towards me sympathetically, "I'm sorry." he bowed in my direction, which I could see was the most he could think of to do (but what did he have to be sorry for? What could any of us have done to protect that village?).

So by the morning's light we'll be halfway to anywhere

Where no one needs a reason

"Now what, Botan?" I looked towards him, and found it odd that he'd call me by name. When was the last time he even said my name? But these weren't the things to be dwelling upon. Where were we to go now?

"It was probably the yakuza, Karasu would know that you'd come here, probably." as if suddenly realizing something, Youko went on, "…it's not safe to stay here! We have to-" Hearing his sudden pause, my eyes went wide, and everything seemed to go in slow-motion, the blood spray, him collapsing upon the soft earth. I nearly fell over at the weight of him on top of me, when I tried to break his fall with my own body.

"Wh-what…?" I felt tears brimming at my eyes. How could this happen? Why was this happening? "Why is this happening to me. Why?!" I broke down, hardly noticing the bloodstained hand caressing my cheek.

"P-please…Botan…I want you to be happy. Go. Now. D-don't let him…don't let him…get…you…" and he went limp, Youko was…

Dead…

Dead…

What now? I ran recklessly, very much wanting to take him with me, but knowing that would slow me down. He'd protected me so many times.

And the one time that I had the chance to protect him, I blew it…he died. No more chances, no more kisses, no more hugs, no more life.

How can I go on living?

Forget this life, come with me, don't look back you're safe now

Unlock your heart, drop your guard, no one's left to stop you

Just to torture me more, I could hear his soft words he would whisper to me at night play over and over in my head. I just had to end it. I…I told him, I told him we'd be together, no matter what happened!

And that's exactly what I plan to do.

I'll follow him anymore, even to his death.

Forget this life, come with me, don't look back you're safe now

Unlock your heart, drop your guard, no one's left to stop you now

I wanted it to be fast, as fast as I could get to the other side, to be with him again! Because that is why life was worth living, because…because of him…

And now he's even worth dying for. I'd throw away this worthless life of mine, just to be with him.

Our love would be worth nothing if I weren't willing to do that. So, I saw a stream not too far away, and though it wasn't a quick death, at least it would be just that. I threw myself into the deep waters, without hesitation, and felt my mind start to get cloudy, and soon, nothing was left. I was in a void of darkness.

Finally, together at last, free from the pain.

So by the morning's light we'll be halfway to anywhere

Where love is more than just your name

Damn, I was really trying hard not to kill them, and look what happened! I really think I'm incapable of writing romance without death. Nothing will ever have a happy ending as long as I am around pause for evil laughter.

Er…okay, please review and feel free to tell me how sucky that was (oh, and mention the fact that it made no sense and that I mentioned the words "even in death" because I really felt like doing that songfic).