Bitten and Smitten

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Chapter 2

"Hello, Kurama," Botan greeted as soon as she came in her room, taking off her school jacket and putting her bag on the ground.

Kurama was unresponsive and just stared – or more like, glared – at his mistress. He was once again, like last night, lounging on her bed like it belonged to him. Except this time Botan didn't get angry or anything, and merely sighed at his behavior.

"Well? How long are you going to sulk?" she went on, but again, the vampire didn't acknowledge her, beside the fact that his glares seemed to intensify at her words. This received yet another sigh from Botan.

She didn't know she would come home to this. Earlier that morning, the redhead had requested (or was it order?) her to bring him with her to school, saying something like he should be with her anywhere she goes at all costs. He had briefly explained to her how myths about vampires are partly true, like the one where they die if they're exposed to the sun, but apparently in real world this only apply to weak vampires as stronger vampires, like him, have the ability to withstand the heat. Of course, Botan had straight up and denied him. Seriously, there was no way she was going to let him follow her everywhere. Plus, she didn't have club activities like the day before, meaning that she could go home early – while it was still in the day – so she didn't think Kurama's protection was needed at all, despite the fact she could've been targeted by a stronger vampire. After all, weaker vampires can't come out in the day, right? As expectedly, Kurama didn't deal well with her rejection. She thought when she'd see him again after school, his mood would've changed already, but perhaps she was wrong.

"Really, you are such a kid sometimes…" Botan muttered under her breath, and for once, Kurama finally gave her a retort, albeit not in a friendly way of course.

"Huh?!" He grabbed her head, and started shaking her, resulting in her yelling at him to stop before she would go dizzy. He ignored her of course, "Well, excuse me for worrying about your safety! Don't you know some stronger vampires could've chased you or something?! Huh, huh?! Seriously, you'd give me more trouble if anything were to happen to you!"

"Buuut… I'm saaaaaafee, riiight?" Botan dizzily replied.

Kurama blinked, before letting go of her head, realizing that maybe he shook her too much. He watched for a few moments as the girl mumbled something about everything's spinning, her eyes swirling before returning to normal, as she finally regained her composure.

"I'm safe, so there's no need for you to be so angry right?" she decided to continue where she left of, ignoring how a vein popped at Kurama's head at her 'disobedience' and lack of understanding on their current situation.

"What I'm trying to say is," Kurama tried to sound as sweet as possible, despite the fact his hands were itching to choke the girl. Really, if it wasn't for the contract… "that you could've endangered your life, did you really think strong vampires wouldn't be able to sense you? What if you—"

"Now now," Botan shrugged him off, waving her hands in front of her. "I'm alright, that's what matters, right?"

She took off her ponytail, not noticing the way Kurama was glaring daggers at her, and opened the door, before looking back at the vampire, with a sweet smile attached to her lips as she said, "I'm going to make us something to eat, what would you like? I'll make you anything you want, as long as you stop sulking."

Kurama's initial annoyance at how she just brushed him off like a speck of dust in the air, immediately dissipated as soon as he heard her words. His face brightened, almost like a child's, as he pointed at her neck, "Then can you let me suck—"

He didn't even get to finish his request when the door was slammed shut almost instantly.

"Thank you for the meal~!" Botan split her chopsticks as the words passed her lips, before dipping it into the cup ramen she had prepared. She started to dig in, only to stop when she looked up from her cup ramen, and saw that Kurama wasn't eating his. "What, you don't eat human food or something?" she asked, albeit a little muffled as she continued to chew on her food.

"That's not it," Kurama disagreed, "But I thought you were going to make us something? This isn't called cooking! You just pour hot water in this thing and wait for three minutes or so, right? Plus, this thing is unhealthy!" he grudgingly went on, pointing at his cup ramen everytime he said 'this thing'.

"It's called ramen, you know?" Botan merely answered back with her mouth still chewing, she didn't seem to listen to anything he said except when he kept pointing at the cup ramen like it was drugs or something.

"And stop talking with your mouth full, woman! Aren't you lacking on manners here?!" he shouted as he pointed a clawed finger at her.

Botan didn't seem at all threatened by his sharp claws that had apparently sharpened – probably from his irritation with her, and only continued to chow down on her cup ramen. It took her a few long moments before she finally swallowed, "Chill out, Kurama. It's not like you're going to die from eating it."

Kurama seemed to cool down a bit, especially when she regained some of her manners as she swallowed her food before she spoke to him. Still, he let out a small snort, before splitting his own chopsticks, "I'm only gonna eat this once. Next time, if you ever ask me to eat this… well, you're better be prepared," he glared at her as he said this.

She laughed. "Yeah yeah, whatever… As if you're going to hurt little ol' me. I mean, I'm the one you're supposed to be protecting!" To Kurama's utter annoyance, she started to laugh louder, eyes now teary from laughing too much.

Kurama's face seemed to redden at this, both in embarrassment and anger, at her teasing him and her lack of manners on the table. "Manners, woman! Manners!" he reprimanded her, despite the red color tinting his cheeks.

After a while, Botan finally stopped laughing, to Kurama's relief. She wiped away the tears at her eyes, and a smile formed at her mouth as she watched as Kurama ate his cup ramen. "You're not really as cold as other vampires, are you, Kurama?" she suddenly spoke.

The redheaded vampire in question looked up to meet her gaze, before swallowing on his ramen, and crossing his arms. "Well, you didn't know me when I first started this contract with your great grandfather. I was the one actually trying to hunt him down for his blood, you know?"

"EH?! Then how did he get you to agree with the contract?!"

"Now now, that's a story for another day," he replied jokingly, before his serious demeanor returned. Looking away to stare at the wall beside them, a smile slowly tugged at the corners of his lips. "I got to know him… and he was the one who taught me things, you know? I guess you could say that from knowing him, I grew soft. Just a little, though," he continued, bringing his thumb and index finger close as if to emphasize his point.

"Ohh…" Botan's mouth formed an 'o' in understanding.

"Seriously, your family bloodline… you guys tend to get softer with each generation," he suddenly mumbled under his breath, his voice barely audible, but Botan heard him, albeit she had to listen closely to catch on to what his words were.

"What do you mean?" she blurted out, and the redhead seemed surprise, as he turned to look at her with his emerald eyes blinking, as if he didn't think she actually heard him.

The shock died down a second after though. Leaning back in his chair, Kurama's eyes remained on the girl's curious face. 'That face… is so similar with Shinji's…' he thought for a moment, noting the similarities between her and his former master. When he noticed the look of confusion on her face – probably because he was staring at her, that was when he snapped out of his thoughts, realizing that Botan had just asked him a question. Looking away once again, he answered,

"Your great grandfather had a daughter of course… That's your grandmother, Hitomi. She… was quite the feisty one. When I used to stick around your great grandfather, she was always calling me names and telling me to stay away from him. She acted as if I'd steal away her father, and when he passed away, she had told me that she didn't need my assistance, she said and I quote, 'I don't need protection from the likes of you'! Honestly, she hated my guts… but I stayed with her, I was the one who gave her a shoulder to cry on, she'd always go seeking my comfort everytime she'd cried… And trust me, she cried a lot." He laughed at the last statement, but even so, Botan saw something in his eyes, almost as if he was remembering the past… looking so melancholic all of a sudden, like he missed her grandmother or something.

"Were you close friends?" Botan's question popped out from her mouth almost all too suddenly, surprising Kurama and pulling him out of memory lane. He looked at her, but by the time his gaze felled on her face, she was smiling down at the table for some reason. "I've never known my grandmother… She died when my father was a teenager, was what I heard. I wonder… what is she like? I mean, beside how she sounds like in what you said… Do I look like her?" she started to trace a finger on her face, biting her lip slightly, as if wondering if she was supposed to ask these questions. 'Kurama… looked really sad, for some reason,' she thought. Was it really appropriate to ask him these questions? Was she making him remember bad memories?

When Kurama was quiet all of a sudden, Botan assumed she was poking her nose around too much. "A-ah, you don't have to—"

"Your grandmother and I were pretty close; she was one of the people in your family, besides your great grandfather and your father, to have taught me kindness. And she definitely has more manners than you do, that's one thing I can say for sure. And about your looks, she is far more attractive."

A vein popped at the back of Botan's head. "What did you say?!"

Kurama laughed wholeheartedly at her reaction, amused. But his laughter was cut short when he felt a familiar presence, alarming him of impending danger. Botan's safety was a priority, so the first thing he did was to jump on the table, and grabbed on to Botan, his back facing the window as it shattered at that same moment, sending shards of the broken glass stabbing into his back. He held back a groan from the pain, before looking down at his mistress, a smile forming on his lips as he stared down at her worried face.

"K-Kurama… Oh my god, you're bleeding!"

"Ha!... I've felt worse pain, you don't have to worry. At least you're… safe…" his words trailed off as he caught an almost irresistible scent, a familiar sweet aroma… that awakened his hunger. Still, he controlled it the best he could, his eyes trailing down to see a wound at Botan's neck, her blood trickling down her pearl white skin. He cursed, wondering how the hell he missed to protect her from a single broken glass that had apparently cut her. Thankfully, nothing worse happened to her. Although he could feel his fangs sharpening in his mouth at the thought of sinking them into her throat, he turned around and narrowed his eyes at the familiar sight.

"Hiei," he said, the word leaving his mouth in a hiss. "What are you doing here?" he asked in the least welcoming way possible, emerald eyes glaring at crimson ones.

"Why, I'm here to see how you're doing of course, my dear 'friend'," Hiei spat out venomously. Looking away from the redhead, his gaze felled on the human girl Kurama was hiding behind him. That was proven unsuccessful however as Hiei sensed her. "I see that you're still working your butt off for that stupid human family," he snorted, before taking a sit on the table. This resulted to a gawking Botan. Who the hell did he think he was? Insulting her family, and then openly sitting on the table where she eats like that?

"Why you—Who are you calling stupid, you shor—"

Kurama cut Botan off before she could finish. "Shut up, idiot. This guy's way dangerous than you think he is."

"Ha!" Hiei scoffed. "You should listen to your slave, woman. If you had even dared to insult my height, I would've killed you in an instant."

"You should watch what you say, Hiei. Contrary to what you just said, I don't find myself being their slave. They treat me equally, thank you. And you… you should know not to hurt my mistress in any way. There are consequences to your actions."

"I know that already." Hiei rolled his eyes. "I was only trying to test her out, you know? She is nowhere near as alert as that fool Shinji was. She should be more careful in the future, if you weren't here and if I wasn't the one who tried to attack her, the idiot would soon find herself without a head on her shoulders."

Botan glared at him. Whoever this boy was, he seemed to know Kurama. It wasn't that hard for her to figure out he was also a vampire.

"Shinji had a gun to protect himself, during times you weren't around him. Her stupid great grandfather had his sword with him, and that idiotic woman Hitomi was feisty enough to know how to fight, albeit her martial arts skills didn't really protect her much, but it had provided her enough time until you'd arrive to rescue her. Yet this girl…" Hiei's eyes narrowed dangerously at Botan's form, to which the girl responded by narrowing hers back. "…has no ability whatsoever. I can see why you were in such a haste to find her. She's as defenseless as a dog. In fact, at least dogs have their teeth to bite their enemy, this girl have nothing."

"You sure talk too much, don't you?" was Botan's only response, despite the many names she wanted to call him going through her head. She certainly didn't want to anger him. Sure, Kurama was there to protect her if Hiei was to hurt her, but she didn't like the thought of giving him anymore trouble.

"Hn."

"… Is that it? Nothing else?"

"Hiei doesn't really talk much actually, Botan. He only does that when he has insults to throw at you," Kurama's voice spoke.

"Well, that makes him all the more unpleasant," Botan bitterly said, as she continued to stare at the short vampire still sitting on her table for a few moments, before turning to look at Kurama who had apparently thought Hiei's presence was no longer a threat and moved away from her to sit on the chair, hands removing the glassy shards dug deep into his back.

"Are you alright?" she inquired, about to walk towards him to help only to be stopped.

"Don't," Kurama sternly opposed. "I'm fine."

"No, you're not," Botan stubbornly replied back before walking over to the nearby drawers, grabbing a bowl, and a towel in the process, and opening the water pipe to fill the bowl with water. She sauntered right back at Kurama as soon as she was finished, and the redhead was sporting a curious expression on his face, as if asking her what she was doing. "If you're here to protect me, I'm not just gonna sit around and do nothing. At least let me wash your wounds everytime you get hurt."

True to her words, Botan pulled up the shirt he was wearing to reveal the bloody wounds on his back. Her face softened; she couldn't believe he would endure this just for her safety. Was the contract really that important that he was willing to risk his own safety in return for hers? She sighed, and dipped the towel into the bowl.

Kurama, on the other hand though, thought the wounds were nothing serious. "They will heal soon. Not instantly, but our bodies are far stronger than humans, so you don't have to worry."

The girl had apparently ignored him, as he felt a cold substance at his back. He heaved a sigh, before shaking his head. "Seriously, you humans never listen to me…"

His attention was diverted to Hiei, when the other vampire suddenly stood up. "Going already?"

"I have no attention in staying too long," was his friend's only response before he disappeared in a blur, leaving Kurama with his mistress.

"Who is he?" Botan's voice reached his ears, and he hummed in response,

"A friend of mine. Shinji once 'saved' him."

"Saved?" The girl echoed, and was about to ask him what he meant, when he suddenly grabbed her wrist and stood up from the chair. She gave him a questioning look.

"You… stop, I'm all fine now."

"Huh?"

Kurama cleared his throat before speaking, "More importantly, you should wrap that up," and pointed at her still bleeding neck.

It took her a moment to realize that she herself was wounded, oblivious to the hungry stare Kurama was sending her. "Ah, I… for…" her voice trailed off, as Kurama grabbed her by the shoulders almost harshly, and pushed her back to the chair. "H-huh? K-Kurama…? What's wrong?" she asked as soon as she saw that he was breathing heavily, though she was still shocked and slightly afraid of what he might do to her.

Kurama didn't reply, and upon closer look, Botan noticed the sharp fangs poking out of his mouth. Sharp and dangerous, almost as if he was about to… bite her… Her eyes widened in fear at the thought and she struggled to release herself from his hold, but it was proven difficult, as he held her firmly to the chair.

His face lowered and… she screamed. "No! Don't!"

And as if he had just woken up from a spell, Kurama pulled away almost as immediately as he heard her yell. Surprised, was all he could say about how he felt. His eyes softened a bit as he caught sight of her quivering figure, as if she was in the presence of an enemy that would hurt her and kill her. He let go of her, but as he did so, his hands curled into fists, as his concern was replaced with anger. Anger at himself, or was it at her for lacking the understanding that she would have to give him her blood? It was part of the contract, for god's sake! But… he realized that wasn't the case as he continued to stare at her. Her great grandfather, Hitomi, Shinji… and even this girl. They all got to him, and with each encounter, he found himself growing softer and softer by the minute.

What was he doing acting like a human when he was actually a vampire? As if to remind himself of his cruel nature, and where he originally belonged, he growled, dark, low and dangerous, trying to ignore the way the girl flinched at the sound. "You know already that you have to let me suck your blood. That's a part of the contract, it's your part of the bargain. If you can't give me a drop, then you can go ahead and protect yourself. You obviously don't need my help."

Botan was shocked by his words, what was this? Just now, he was acting so friendly with her? Telling her all sorts of things about her family… why was he saying all these things to her? She snapped out of her thoughts when she saw that Kurama was walking away.

"W-wait—"

"Until you can learn to accept the fact that you have to give me your blood, don't talk to me," was all he said before he was out of the kitchen, leaving a confused Botan to clean all the mess Hiei made.

Botan stared at the spot he once stood for what seemed like an eternity, before curling her hands into small fists. What? All this because she wasn't ready to let him sink his fangs into her yet? A hand moved up to cup her wound, as she put little to no care at all to how disgusting it felt as the blood trickled down her skin. All this things happening to her… and all for her blood…

"You vampires are all the same…"