Ok so first let me say sorry it has taken me so long to get this chapter out, for some reason this chapter was hard for me to write I kept getting blocked. I need your opinions on this chapter, please let me know if you like the direction I took it or not so I can make changes. Thanks!

Together

Chapter 10

The shadow stood outside the house where Botan slept for a few more minutes then he slowly walked away. He grinned as he thought back to how Kurama had responded to his presence. His plan was going exactly how the thought it would.

With Kurama

Kurama sat at his desk staring into space; his thoughts were on the strange man that had ruined his evening with Botan. He decided the best way to deal with an unknown enemy would be to enlist some help. He sent a telepathic message to Hiei asking him to meet him tomorrow morning in the park. He decided to try and get some sleep after all he had to get up early if he wanted to meet Hiei.

He woke up at the break of dawn and got dressed. He fixed himself a quick breakfast and left to head to the park where he was to meet his friend. When he arrived the park was deserted, he made his way to a park bench and sat down to wait for his friend to arrive. It didn't take long; soon Kurama saw a black blur making its way through the trees. Hiei landed softly next to where Kurama was sitting and said "Well fox why am I here?"

"It's nice to see you to Hiei" he replied. Hiei sat and grunted in response. Kurama began to explain what had happened the night before. Hiei listened intently and asked "What do you need me for?"

"Well I would like you to do some recon work in Demon World. Maybe try and find out who this being might be" Kurama replied.

"And what will you be doing?" Hiei asked.

Kurama chuckled and said "I figure I would try and shadow the shadow" they sat for a few more minutes until people started making their way into the park. Hiei decided to take off as and soon a black blur could be seen moving through the trees.

Kurama stood up and stretched before he began to walk towards home. He was halfway there when he decided to go see Botan. It was still early and he didn't want to wake Keiko so he decided to go through the window, after all Botan uses his window more that his front door. He used his rose whip to hoist himself up to her window. Once he was outside her window he peeked in and saw her sleeping form. He smiled and knocked until he saw her stir. She sat up and looked drowsily in the direction of the noise. Her gaze finally landed on the window and she smiled when she saw the red head waiting for her. She wrapped the sheet around herself and got up to open the window for him.

"Kurama" she said sleepily.

"Good morning" he said "did you sleep well?"

"Uh huh, what time is it?" she replied.

"Early, I'm sorry I should have known you would still be sleeping" he said.

"No it's alright, come in" she said as she stepped aside so he could enter her room.

She folded her arms across her chest and stood there waiting for him to speak. "I enjoyed last night" he finally said. She nodded in response and looked down and realized she was just wearing the sheet. He took notice as well and said "I guess I should give you some privacy. I'll just go wait in the kitchen" and with that he left the room.

She entered the kitchen a few minutes later wearing a pair of loose fitting pants and an oversized t-shirt. "Kurama did we have plans today that I forgot about?" she asked with a yawn.

"No I just wanted to see you "he replied and she looked at him and grinned.

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked as she stood up and walked to the coffee maker to start a pot.

"Sure" he said as he watched her as she moved around the kitchen. She could feel his eyes on her but didn't say a word she liked the attention he was giving her. She soon came back to the table and set a glass in front of him.

"So Botan you never told me how long you will be staying with Keiko" he said as he took a sip of coffee.

"A couple more weeks, Koenma gave me a few weeks off" she replied as she took a sip of coffee.

'Wonderful, that means I still have time to spend with her' Kurama thought.

"Kurama, I had a really nice time last night" she said as he reached out and touched her hand. He brought her hand to his lips and said "I'm glad." He stood up and walked around the table and pulled her out of her chair. He wrapped his arms around her and started to sway back and forth. They stayed in each other's arms until they heard someone clear their throat. They both turned to see Keiko standing in the doorway staring at them. He dropped his arms and she stepped away from him.

"Good morning Keiko" he said and she replied in kind.

"Am I interrupting something?' Keiko said sheepishly and Botan glared at her. Kurama just stood there looking embarrassed. Keiko grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee and walked out of the kitchen leaving them alone once again.

'Why can't we ever be alone?' Botan thought.

"Kurama, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Anything" he said/

"Would it be alright if we spent the day at your house?" she asked.

"Anything you want" he replied. With that she ran upstairs to change into something else and they left. Once they arrived at his house he turned to her and asked "Botan what would you like to do?"

"Don't laugh but I was wondering if you could teach me how to cook" she said while looking at the ground.

"I would love nothing more" and with that he grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen.

"What would you like to learn to make?"

"Anything you want to teach me" she replied. He nodded and began to gather what he needed. An hour later the two sat at the kitchen table and surveyed the mess. There was batter everywhere and she had flour in her hair and he had frosting splattered all over his face.

"I'm sorry I got batter everywhere" she said.

"It's alright Botan, by the way you have flour in your hair" he said pointing to her head. She reached over and scraped some frosting off his face with her finger and licked it. "This is good" she said. He laughed and grabbed a towel to wipe the rest of the frosting off his face.

"Botan maybe we should start to clean up" he said.

"Ok" she replied and with that she started to wipe down the counter. He watched her for a moment and got an idea; he scooped up some batter and threw it at her back. She gasped as it hit her and turned to him surprised. She couldn't believe what he just did. She said "oh you are so going to get it" and scooped up some batter and flung it at his, it hit him square in the face.

He said "so it's a war you want" and with that the two had an epic batter war. Twenty minutes later the two could be seen sitting on the floor laughing hysterically.

"Well that was fun" she said as she looked at him.

"Yes it was' he agreed. He stood up and said "Let's clean up and grab some food" she nodded and stood up as well. Once they had cleaned the kitchen he decided to take a shower to get the batter out of his hair.

"Botan make yourself at home" he said as he made his way to the bathroom. She walked to the living room and started looking around at some of the pictures he had around the room. Most were of him and his mother which made her smile. She stopped as her eyes landed on a small picture of her. She picked it up and stared at it. Just then he came back into the room dressed in comfortable clothes and towel drying his hair. She turned and said "Why do you have a picture of me?"

He stopped in his tracks and said "Well because I wanted to be able to see you when you weren't around" he replied shyly.

"Really?" she said.

"Yes" was all he said. Both spoke for a minute and then he looked at her and said "If you would like to take a shower feel free."

She nodded and set the picture down and made her way to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and shed her clothes and stepped in. she couldn't help but think about what he said as she washed the batter and flour from her hair. She smiled as she thought back to what he had said.

'Maybe he really does love me' she thought but then frowned 'if so then why is he so afraid to tell me?'

Meanwhile downstairs Kurama stared at the photo of her and berated himself for being a coward, the deep voice of Yoko spoke from his subconscious and said "Just tell her." Kurama ignored the voice and got up to put the picture back where it went. He thought about what Yoko had said and realized he was right.

He spun around as he felt her presence, she was beautiful her with her wet hair cascading down her back. He walked over to her and pulled her close and began to lower his lips to hers when a beeping sound made him stop.

"Oh, excuse me" she said as she pulled away and reached into her pocket and pulled out a small compact. She opened it and said "Yes Koenma" and began to make her way to the kitchen to take the call in private. Kurama could hear her arguing with the young lord to no avail.

She returned and had a look of utter disappointment on her face. "Kurama I have to leave, Koenma needs me" she said sadly.

"How long will you be gone?" he asked.

"He didn't say" she replied. She walked over to him and gave him a hug and thanked him. She made her way to the door and summoned her oar and waved as she flew away. He waved back and when he could no longer see her he went back inside and closed the door.