Circles

A/N: Poor Botan...

Disclaimer: Yu Yu Hakusho belongs to Yoshiro Togashi, not me.

Chapter 2

Urameshi Yusuke stared down at the girl in his arms, noticing that she looked about his age, she couldn't have been any older than fifteen. She was pretty too, soft, long blue hair and delicate pale skin that would've been flawless had it not have been for the bruises and blood. She was badly hurt, this he knew.

It was what happened to her that he didn't know.

He stiffened slightly when she shifted in his arms, mumbling something incoherent as she did. Good, that meant she was still alive. She was freezing and bleeding when he had found her, even now while she wore his jacket she was still shivering. Noting that the sun was coming up- and that it had finally stopped raining- Yusuke began walking at a faster pace, the sooner the girl got help, the better.

Screams could be heard throughout the entire block, cries for the pain to go away, pleas for someone-anyone- to help.

But they all fell on deaf ears.

Botan screamed out when she felt his hand come down on her again, leaving bight red handprints on her. Her sister remained in her usual spot, the corner of the room so she could get the "best view" to watch the "show." Lavender eyes locked with steely gray ones, silently pleading for help. She winked at Botan, making the younger sibling nearly cry from relief that she would receive help.

"Father, I heard Botan badmouthing you in school today, don't you think she deserves a harsher punishment?" Sayuri asked with mock innocence.

Botan's eyes stared at her sister in shock, hoping that she was merely imagining that her sister said that. The wicked smirk that Sayuri sent her way however, only assured her that what she had heard was not her imagination.

At hearing this, her father stopped, a sickingly sweet smile spreading on his face.

"Is this true, Botan-chan? My little girl was badmouthing me?"

Botan cringed slightly at being called Botan-chan, he only called her that when he was positively livid. And livid he was, he grabbed the collar of her shirt and smacked her hard in the face, throwing her into the wall after he was satisfied with his "work."

He kneeled down next to her, his hands grabbing her shoulders none too gently. His cold violet eyes locked with hers, his grip on her tightening.

"You shouldn't badmouth me Botan-chan. I'm avenging your mother, my wife. After all, if she had never given birth to you then maybe she would still be alive!"

With a kick to her stomach, he finally left her alone, her sister trailing behind him.

Using the little amount of energy she had left, she stood up and collapsed on her worn mattress, blinking back tears that threatened to fall. She groaned as she flipped herself on her back, then stared up at the ceiling with sadness.

"Do you still love me? Do I really deserve this? Can you see everything that's happening from heaven, Mom?"

Momentarily breaking her promise to herself not to cry, she let a stray tear fall, knowing that she would never get an answer back.

It was warm...

The freezing, numbing cold was gone, and she felt dry. The pain that she was so accustomed to feeling was practically non-existent, something that both pleased and shocked her. Just what was going on here?

She opened her eyes a bit, noticing that she seemed to be in a room... that was not her own. Panic coursing through her, she sat up quickly, regretting the action immediately thanks to the all too familiar feeling of pain shooting through her body, making her suppress a whimper.

"Hey, are you okay?" An unfamiliar voice asked.

She looked up curiously, her lavender eyes staring at the boy in front of her. His black hair was slicked back, a few rebellious strands loosely hanging and his eyes were a chocolate-brown. He couldn't have been an older than her and for some reason she wanted to trust him, but she would have to hear his story first.

Yusuke was slightly surprised to see that the girl had amethyst-like eyes, he half expected them to be a deep red like his friend's sister, or maybe even a brown like his own. He was even more surprised to see her eyes narrowed slightly, analyzing him. Slightly uncomfortable with her gaze, he coughed to try to break the tension.

"I'm Urameshi Yusuke."

She smiled slightly after she was finished staring at him.

"Harushima Botan," She said hoarsely. "Now can you explain where I am?"

He sat down on the edge of the bed, a serious look on his face.

"I found you on the side of the street yesterday, you looked like you were half dead so I took you over to my place, I guessed my mom would have some idea of what to do since she works part-time as a nurse. She said you broke your ankle, your head was bleeding, and you had bruises covering every inch of you."

Yusuke didn't miss how she flinched slightly at the mention of his mother, or how she unsurprised she was about her injuries.

"What the hell happened to you?"

She bit her lip, almost as though she was trying to stop herself from telling him. He sighed and rephrased the question.

"Who?"

She didn't respond, but he noticed that she tensed at his assumption. He frowned, so he was right that someone did this to her after all.

"Who?" He asked again, his voice concerned and angered.

"It's none of your business," she finally responded.

"Like hell it isn't!" Yusuke growled, "Who was it?"

She winced at his harsh tone, but still remained silent, holding back the tears that threatened to spill over. A small sob escaped her, making Yusuke panic. He never had experience with crying women before, but he knew if he continued asking she would only get worse.

He hesitantly put his arm around her, enveloping her in a somewhat awkward embrace. He could feel her tense slightly against him, but she relaxed after a moment, realizing that he had no malicious intent.

"Look," Yusuke said firmly, "I'm not going to hurt you, I promise. I just want you to tell me who did this to you, okay?"

She nodded slowly. If he was going to hurt her, he would've done so already, he wouldn't have bothered saving her in the first place. She smiled slightly, he seemed like a nice person, maybe he really cared. Part of her knew she shouldn't jump to conclusions so quickly, but she could hear the sincerity in his voice, and felt safer in his arms then she had been in a long time. Letting her eyes close, she let herself fall asleep on the kind stranger, praying that she was right to trust him.