Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho. It belongs to Yoshihiro Togashi.
You're Not So Bad
Chapter 10
Emerald eyes flicked open.
And unlike his usual mornings, Shuichi was woken up by the sound of his friends snoring and the feeling of something against his face.
'This is freaking annoying...' His left eyebrow visibly twitched, his mouth in a thin line and his right hand slapped Kuwabara's feet away from his precious face. 'I wake up one morning to the pleasant smell of Kuwabara's feet...'
Yusuke had suggested the boys to sleep in his room using some extra futons he kept in his apartment. He said something about his mom's friends always coming for a sleep over when she used to live with him in the past. But since Atsuko was gone now, she had no use of the futons and had left them in the apartment, so Yusuke had lend them to his friends.
'I didn't expect the mattresses to be clean. I didn't think he'd ever washed them before ever since Atsuko's not with him anymore,' Shuichi couldn't help but mused as he sniffed his own futon.
Sitting up, Shuichi glanced around the room and sweatdropped when he saw Hiei's fist on Kuwabara's face, while Yusuke was now somewhat sleeping at the corner of the room.
Suddenly, the memory of last night's discussion he had with Botan flashed in his memory.
"I'm also happy to have met you."
As soon as those words appeared, he immediately shook his head in an attempt to get rid of it from his mind. Of course, that had never worked before and he was still thinking about it.
'Do I really care about Botan in such a way? Do I really…' He trailed off in his own thoughts, gulping down a lump, as if he couldn't say the 'love' word even his mind.
If it was some other girl, he would've stated that he wasn't in love with her without a doubt. This was Botan though…and she was different.
Shuichi didn't know, really. He wasn't sure. But there it was again, that nagging feeling at the back of his head telling him to admit that he did love her.
His ego stopped him from doing so.
Despite the fact Botan was the one causing him so much confusion, he couldn't help but still wonder what she was doing now. Had she woken up already? Or was she still sleeping?
The girls slept in the living room, which was just conveniently close to where Yusuke's room was. Then again, Yusuke's apartment was never really that big now, was it? So if he just went out of the room and peeked outside, he would see if Botan was awake or not…
A loud, exasperated sigh escaped his lips, and he ran a hand through his red mane. There he goes again, thinking about her.
Shuichi pondered for a while if he should just go ahead and do it, or if he should just stay there and sit at his mattress. He wanted to take the second choice but the strong desire of knowing how Botan was doing didn't let him.
He let out another exasperated sigh – both at the complicated emotions arousing in him and his stubbornness to just open the door and get it over with.
A few seconds passed by, and he finally got up from the futon, sauntered over to the door and opened it, closing it behind him as slow and inaudible as possible as to not awake the others.
He peered over the living room and was greeted by the sight of Keiko and Shizuru who were sleeping against each other on one of the couches and Yukina on another couch with a sheet covering her body. And Botan…
Wait, where was Botan?
His eyes widened in alarm at the sudden disappearance of the girl, and the fear of something terrible happening to her crept up into his skin. Where was she? Did something happen? Or had she gone back home? She wouldn't do that without him right? God, why did it-
"Shuichi?"
The redhead almost jumped at the sound of the feminine and all-too familiar voice. He whipped his head around and caught a glimpse of Botan who was blinking at him.
"B-Botan...?"
"What's wrong?" She cocked her head to the side. "You look like you've just seen a ghost."
"E-eh?" For the first time in his life, Shuichi looked dumbfounded. "I-I…"
Botan arched an eyebrow at him, wondering why he was acting so strange all of a sudden. Then, she remembered last night's events, and a blush immediately spread to her face, thinking he was probably being weird because of what she said.
"I'm also happy to have met you."
Her own words repeated itself over and over again in her head like a broken lullaby. Great, now this was embarrassing. Botan couldn't believe she just told him that! Not that she didn't feel that way sincerely, but it was goddamn humiliating that she acted that way in front of him, of all people. Shuichi, of all people!
It struck her for a moment. 'I'm acting like a normal girl with a crush…'
"L-listen, Shuichi…about what I said last night…er, are you mad?" she asked uncertainly, a look of disappointment crossing her face.
Hearing her sentence, Shuichi finally came into his senses, his eyebrows creasing. He didn't mean for her to think that way. Yes, her words that night had taken him by surprise but it wasn't like he didn't like it. He was…pretty happy to hear it even.
'Why though?'
He smiled at her, in spite of the bewildering thought appearing in his mind. "No, why would I be mad? It's not like you said something bad about me."
"Y-yeah, but you were acting…strange just now, as if you didn't want to see me…"
"That's not it, Botan. I just thought something happened to you, that's why I was surprised when you just came out of nowhere," Shuichi explained, scratching the back of his head and his cheeks suddenly turned pink, avoiding her gaze.
Blood rushed to Botan's cheeks at the redhead's words. So he had been worried about her… Her heart began to beat fast at the realization. "O-oh, I see."
A few seconds passed by in silence, and Shuichi finally spoke, "The others are going to wake up soon enough, and Yusuke and Kuwabara will undoubtedly fight over who goes into the bathroom first. So, we may as well take this to our advantage…" He turned to look at her, his eyes ogling her up and down before he continued. "So, um…you want to take a shower first? Or should I?"
"Eh?" Botan blinked. "How did you know I haven't even bathed yet?" she asked him. It was true; she had just woken up to grab a glass of water. She hadn't even managed to shower yet when Shuichi came out of Yusuke's room.
To her confusion, Shuichi grinned. "Uh…that's because you're still in your…'pajamas'…" His eyes glued to a certain part of her body.
Her eyes blinked again. Once, twice. She followed his gaze, only to blush dark red as she realized he was staring at her…er, breasts. She had slept with a white see-through night dress last night, and had worn nothing but her pink bra under it. So, which meant…
"GAHHH! Shuichi, you disgusting pervert!" She snapped at him, now covering herself with her arms and her blush deepened slightly when he smirked.
That darn seductive smirk of his again…
Shuichi raised his arms up in defeat. "Hey, it's not my fault, okay? You're the one who wore it in the first place."
"Ugh! You weren't supposed to see this!"
He raised an eyebrow at her, his emerald eyes glinting with amusement, the smirk tugging at his lips widening slightly and he teased, "Any reason why?"
"Because you're a goddamn voyeur, Shuichi!"
"How could you even say that to me?" He feigned hurt, holding his chest just to 'improvise' his act a bit.
Botan rolled her eyes. "Please, Shuichi. Don't pretend like your innocent."
"Well, you're not that innocent either, Botan…" he told her, obviously referring to her choice of clothes.
The said girl gaped at his dirty words but more at the satisfied grin he was sporting on his face. "W-why you-!" She fumed and decided not to curse him. "T-this isn't mine… Shizuru brought it with her…she said it didn't fit her anymore, so she told me that I could have it… It's not like I wanted it anyway!"
"Botan, you accepted it. That's just the same as wanting it even though it didn't belong to you at first."
She opened her mouth to retaliate but nothing came out, and it was clear that she didn't know what to retort to that, causing her to feel even more frustrated. She threw her arms up in exasperation, letting out an indignant cry. "God! It's hopeless arguing with you!"
Shuichi chuckled. "Why? Because I'm smart enough to win an argument with you?"
He earned a death glare from Botan. "You're not the smartest person in the world, Shuichi. Stop acting like you're so high and mighty!"
"Yeah, but I know that I'm smarter than you are."
"AGH!"
The redhead chuckled once more at the girl's antics, amused. He opened his mouth to tease her some more only to cut himself short when Botan stomped away. He arched an eyebrow at this, but followed her nonetheless.
"Neko-chan~? Where are you going?" Shuichi teased.
Botan couldn't help but blush at the nickname, and shouted angrily, "Shut up, Shuichi!"
"Uwa! You're so mean!" he faked a childish voice.
She could practically tell he had an equally childish expression on his face…
Once she reached the bathroom, Botan tried to close the door before Shuichi could even come in but he stopped her easily by pushing the door open, automatically causing her to nearly fall on her butt.
"What the hell are you doing! This is invading people's privacy, you know!"
"Is that a crime?"
"It is when it's sexual harassment!"
"I'm not doing anything inappropriate."
"Doesn't this count as something inappropriate?!"
"Not really when it's you I'm in the bathroom with."
Botan wanted to pull her hair out of their roots; she also wanted to hurt Shuichi so bad. Grr, he was always trying to make her angry just for his own entertainment! That was just who he was whenever he was with her; teasing, seductive, and sometimes even sarcastic, and frustrating!
She was about to yell at him but he silenced her by letting out a howl of laughter, as if he was amused to see her getting so furious. Botan would've gotten even more pissed off, but she didn't. She was more preoccupied with staring at his lovely face.
Shuichi looked so…charming when he laughed like that. How come she had never noticed it before? Maybe it was because she was now aware of her feelings towards it that made her even more conscious to everything about him?
Even though he was always so infuriating with that perverted personality of his, Botan would hate it if he used it with some other girl… But then again, she was the only girl he'd ever treat this way right?
"Botan."
She immediately snapped out of her daze when Shuichi's voice reached her ears. She looked down and saw that he was handing her a pink toothbrush.
Her nose wrinkled in disgust. "Eww…is that Yusuke's toothbrush? I'm not going to use it! Isn't there another one or something?"
"Actually," He smiled and Botan's heart raced, "this isn't Yusuke's. It doesn't belong to anyone. Yusuke has a tendency to buy things he doesn't need sometimes."
She ignored her pounding heart and asked, "What do you mean?"
"I mean, he bought a lot of toothbrush. He said he'll need to use them in case his old one would get damaged someday."
A scowl. "So how would you know he hasn't used this one yet?"
"That's because he keeps his toothbrush in his own room."
Botan made a face. "Who does that?"
"Yusuke does," Shuichi said, a small smile forming on his lips. "He said he doesn't want anyone to 'steal' his precious toothbrush from him until he needs to use a new one."
"As if anyone would want to!" She couldn't help but giggle.
Shuichi laughed. "Thankfully, he never did need a new one. So, he keeps a collection of them in this," he told her, pointing at a big glass with at least a dozen of toothbrushes in it.
"Wow…" Botan mumbled, a sweatdrop forming at the back of her head. "Yusuke sure is a weird guy, isn't he?"
"Yes, he is…"
Shuichi grabbed a blue one and turned to look at his reflection in the mirror only to blink when he saw Botan's reflection staring at him with a frown embedded on her forehead. "What?"
"You're going to brush here?" she asked the most unexpected question.
"Where else should I brush my teeth?" he answered her bluntly.
"But, I'm going to brush mine first!" she whined.
He smiled at her, patted her head and watched as her cheeks puffed at his treatment. "The mirror's big enough for the two of us, Botan."
"I don't care. I'm still going to brush mine before you do!"
"You're stubborn, you know that?"
"Oh, yeah? Well, newsflash, Shuichi! You're stubborner…"
"I don't think that's a word."
"Whatever, smart ass!"
"You should stop shouting, Botan."
"What are you gonna do about it?"
An eyebrow immediately arched at her words, a smug smirk tugged at Shuichi's lips as he peered over her predatorily. "Is that a challenge?"
"What do you think?" she shot back. "You're the genius here, right? So what are you going to do to make me shut up?"
As instantly as she said that, his hand reached to grab her arm, and before Botan could even comprehend what was happening, Shuichi's warm lips was molded against hers. The kiss was enticingly heated as he moved expertly along her; tongue sliding across her moistened lips.
Botan was so surprise by the kiss that she couldn't even move. Then she felt his tongue trying to enter her mouth, and as if on instincts, Botan open her mouth to allow his tongue to enter.
The wet appendage moving in sync with her own perfectly, captivating circles twirling and pressuring her down south with a flurry of fervor. The both of them let a string of ethereal moans as they kept up the pace with ease.
Shuichi then moved his hand slowly up her thigh, slipping into her night dress, traveling up her skin and was about to reach the line of her panties when a voice suddenly spoke teasingly,
"Now what do we have here?"
Botan immediately pushed Shuichi away, her amethyst eyes widening and a blush appearing on her face when she saw Hiei standing at the door, his arms crossed and a smirk plastered on his lips. Shuichi, on the other hand, was sporting a rather annoyed look on his features.
"Hiei, what are you doing here?" Shuichi asked, trying not to sound as if he was irritated.
Ignoring his friend's question, Hiei went on, "Oh, sorry. Did I disturb your moment?"
Shuichi sighed. "Hiei…" he said, his voice warning Hiei not to continue any further.
Hiei caught on Shuichi's tone and shrugged his shoulders, but the smirk was still lingering at the corner of his mouth. "I never thought you were the type of guy who does it in the bathroom, Minamino."
"Shut up, Hiei."
The shorter male decided he shouldn't push the redhead any longer, and began to walk away, not forgetting to smirk at Shuichi's direction before he did.
Once they were both sure that Hiei was gone, they glanced at each other but Botan looked away with a deep red color on her cheeks while Shuichi just smiled softly at her.
"W-well, we should just brush already…so we can shower faster…" Botan stuttered under her breath, her trembling hand squeezing the toothpaste on to her toothbrush.
Shuichi hummed in response, the smile still placed on his lips. "Whatever you say, neko-chan~!"
The girl shot him a glare. "Stop calling me that!"
"Aww~! Is my neko-chan angwy?" He used the most annoying baby-talk tone Botan had ever heard and started poking her cheek.
She rolled her eyes. 'Yeah, bring that finger closer so I can bite it, will ya?' she resisted the urge to say that though and just yelled, "Firstly, I am not your anything and secondly, I told you to stop calling me that!"
"Fine, fine. You win. I'll call you Botan, better?"
"Much."
After that they proceeded to brush their teeths (when did Shuichi even squeezed the toothpaste on to his toothbrush, Botan didn't know). About a minute later, both of them lowered their heads to the sink to spit.
"Hey, move your head!" he said, his mouth filled with foamy toothpaste.
"How about you move yours?" she replied. Wow, talking with toothpaste in your mouth is weird…
Neither of them moved and spat at the same time. Then…Botan just realized that she didn't spit in the sink… She was trying hard not to laugh; she was even biting her lower lip. Slowly, Shuichi lifted his head. The expression on his face was what people would call a mixture of anger and grossed out. But, mostly anger though.
"Botan…did you just spit in my hair?" He stared at his reflection in the mirror, his left eye twitching as he wiped away the small bit of foamy toothpaste out of his hair.
"Pfft, no…" Botan denied. She knew it was no use lying at this point, but still…
He then turned his head to look at her, and she could've sworn there was a dark, black aura surrounding him… "You are so dead."
Hearing the words coming out in a threatening tone from Shuichi, Botan immediately planned her escape.
"Uh…you know what, Shuichi? You should bath first! Yeah, yeah! I'll go second," she blurted out shakily, turning around and fled from the bathroom before he could even vent his anger out on her.
To Botan's utter relief, Shuichi didn't do anything to her. When he had come out of the bathroom (with only a towel covering his body), he had just smiled at her. Botan didn't know if she should be glad or scared that he was suddenly acting so nice around her… She was sure he was plotting something!
Well, maybe his anger just died down? She mused to herself as she slipped the white sweater on to her body – Shizuru lend it to her since she had pretty much brought a few clothes with her for them to wear (Botan suspected she had planned to stay over at Yusuke's apartment before Yusuke had even offered them to). Still, the thought of Shuichi's wrath suddenly disappearing into thin air like that didn't settle well with her…
It was as if she could sense he was up to something bad.
Shrugging it off, Botan just concluded that Shuichi probably didn't have any spirit to have his payback on her. Or maybe, he just didn't want his friends to see what he was about to do.
Oh well! She was going to hang out with the girls (along with the boys and that included Shuichi) that day, so she might as well just go and enjoy herself without having to worry if Shuichi was going to do something to her.
She went out of the room (Yusuke and the others had left to provide her some space to change into her clothes) and upon opening the door, she was greeted by the sight of Hiei who was wearing only his dark pants, yelling at Kuwabara who had his towel clad to his body.
Botan didn't catch on half the curses Hiei was saying, and she could've sworn she had never seen such an angered expression on anyone's face before that could even matched the one Hiei was sporting. But why was he so ticked off at Kuwabara anyway?
"Uh, what's going on here?" she asked uncertainly, her brows creasing.
Hiei shot a death glare at her – for what reason, she didn't know ("What the hell did I do to him?"). "Don't you even dare ask…"
Before Botan could even retort to that, Yusuke (unlike his friends, he was fully clothed) sprinted out of the bathroom with an ear-to-ear grin stuck to his face. She could tell he was trying to hold back his laughter, but it didn't work as he ended up laughing his soul out and rolling on the floor.
"Shut up, Urameshi! This is not funny!" Hiei shouted at him, his voice stern and threatening; the delinquent ignored his warning though and just kept laughing.
Botan, on the other hand, was even more confused.
Kuwabara who had been quiet ever since, suddenly spoke, "You know, Hiei. You don't have to be so pissed off at me because of-"
"How would you feel if I came into the bathroom when you were urinating?!"
Eh?
Kuwabara came in while Hiei was…? So did that mean Kuwabara saw Hiei's…?
Weird images began to conjure themselves in Botan's mind, and her face drained of color at the thoughts.
Opposite to the pale look now plastered on Botan's features, Yusuke was now laughing harder at Hiei's words, as if it was hilarious. "G-god…! I've…*laughs* never seen *laughs*…funny shit like this!"
"Urameshi!" Hiei warned once again, but once again Yusuke pretended he didn't hear it. Well, maybe he really didn't, judging by the loud way he was laughing…
"Hiei," Kuwabara called his name, earning a glare from the shorter male in return, "Why are you overreacting about me seeing your-"
"Ha?!"
"-that," the carrot-top said as if it was something normal, and crossed his arms over his chest as he went on, "To remind you, I have one, too."
That was it, Yusuke couldn't stop laughing now. It was obvious he was watching the funniest thing in his entire life. And Botan decided to walk away before the boys said anything else that could damage her mind even more.
The last thing she saw though was Kuwabara falling to the ground with Hiei on top of him and trying to beat the hell out of him.
"I'm surrounded by crazy people…" she muttered under her breath, a sweatdrop forming at the back of her head.
As instantly as she sauntered into the living room though, Botan found herself tackled to the table and felled to the floor, her head smacking into the corner of the coffee table. "Ouch…" she let out a groan, rubbing the side of her aching head.
Flicking her eyes open and was about to yell at the 'perpetrator', only to cut herself short when she saw no one other than Shuichi himself, with a grin tugging at his lips (or was that a crooked grin?)
That was when she noticed that they were both wedged awkwardly between the couch and the coffee table which meant that she couldn't push away without hitting her head on the table again. Despite the embarrassment creeping up to her skin by the close proximity of their bodies, Botan asked sternly, "S-Shuichi, what the hell are you doing?! What if someone sees us?!" and tried to keep a composed expression on her face, but failed miserably when she blushed.
"Keiko and the girls went to the shopping mall, but don't worry, they didn't leave you or anything. They just went there first since you were taking a long time getting dressed. They told me to tell you that they would be waiting there." His grin widened slightly. "Of course I'm not planning to let you go anytime soon."
God, the girls had to be gone at the wrong time, did they?! She gulped loudly. "I think that's pretty much obvious, I'm not stupid you know?" Botan then added, "Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara is still here."
"Hiei and Kuwabara are too busy fighting, and Yusuke's laughing too hard to even notice anything weird is going on," Shuichi told her, and Botan paled when she felt his hands moving down to her waist.
"What are you trying to do…?"
His eyes blinked, and the crooked grin was replaced by a childish expression. "Getting my revenge~!"
"E-eh?! Is this about me spitting in your hair?"
"What else?"
"It's not like I did it on purpose!"
"You still need to be punished."
"Huh?!" Botan cried out indignantly and was about to yell some more when Shuichi suddenly started to tickle her, eliciting a surprised whimper from her in return.
She tried to wriggle under the coffee table, but unfortunately, her efforts only succeeded in causing her to hit her head…again.
"Shuichi!" she whimpered out, calling out his name so that he would get the idea that she was warning him and telling him to stop. She tried to sound as if she was threatening him; that obviously didn't work though as it only came out in a somewhat mixture of a laugh and pant.
Shuichi smirked, ignoring the way Botan called him, and pausing in tickling her. "I like the image of you writhing around while screaming my name," and was that a purr?
Blood immediately rushed to Botan's cheeks as she caught on his dirty words, and feeling the embarrassment and anger mounting inside her. Oh yay, there was that perverted side of him again… How lovely.
She was about to yell out her wrath at him, but stopped herself from doing so when an idea entered her mind. She didn't know if it was the best idea or not, but she didn't care at the moment. As long as he would get off of her (or at least, stop trying to embarrass her with his dirty words) and it would also be amusing to catch him off guard…
"Shuichi," Botan said his name seductively, making sure her voice was tempting enough to make him shiver. And as she expected, he did.
"What?" he asked, attempting to sound as collected as possible but that obviously wasn't successful when his voice came out in a mere low, husky whisper.
She grinned at him and he couldn't help but shiver once again when her hands suddenly guided both of his hands away from her waist and slowly, she brought one of them to her cheek and nuzzled her nose against his skin.
He gulped down a lump. "If you're trying to seduce me, then it's not working," he lied.
To Shuichi's utter shock, Botan smirked and let go of his hands, letting her own travel up his chest, to his shoulders and finally wrap around his neck as she pulled him down to her. "Really? 'Cause it seems to me as if it's working really well," she whispered into his ear, blowing a hot air.
Shuichi opened his mouth to retaliate but he didn't manage to utter a word when she licked his earlobe, eliciting a groan from him. "Botan, stop… I won't be able to control myself if you keep this up…"
"Then don't hold back," her words came out in whispers and Shuichi muttered a few protests only to cut himself off when Botan said in a desperate voice, "Shuichi… I need you to touch me…"
Her voice sounded so needy and lustful that he was so shocked, he pulled away from her, but he backed away too far and his head smacked hard against the coffee table. He winced and rubbed his head, only to blink when the girl beneath him suddenly snickered. "Don't you think my acting is just amazing?"
Shuichi seemed to catch on her real intent and he growled, "That was a very, very bad idea, neko-chan."
Botan gave him a smug smile. "What'cha gonna do about it? Tickle me all you like but I will never apologize!" she blurted out without thinking.
Shuichi's annoyed expression changed into a smirk.
She really regretted saying that. She really, really regretted saying that.
He started tickling her again, not even stopping for one second to let her catch her breath. She yelled, kicked and scream, she even started crying at one point, but he still didn't stop. She really, really, really regretted saying that. And to make matters worse, she hit her head again. This time it was even harder than the previous hits. Her head suddenly began to throb, and the room was going in weird blurry circles.
"Shu-" Botan almost threw up. The feeling was not pleasant, it was threatening to come out and she held a hand to her mouth, her face pale. Shuichi immediately stopped his tickling, concern and panic written all over his face – as if he was scared that he was the one who caused it.
And she didn't know why but she started laughing uncontrollably, then came the tears and it didn't take long for Shuichi to realize Botan was going into shock. She must've hit her head too many times.
At just the right time, Hiei, Kuwabara and Yusuke came in and stood shock at the scene while Botan cried her eyes out and Shuichi just sat there, a guilty look crossing his face.
"Botan, are you okay? Shuichi, what did you do!" Kuwabara's worried look changed into an infuriated one as he turned to peer at his redhead friend who looked back at him.
Shuichi would've laughed at the bruises on the carrot-top's face if he wasn't worried over Botan and he decided not to acknowledge Kuwabara, and just cupped Botan's cheek gently, running his thumb over her skin.
…What was this feeling? It was as if his heart sank at the thought of him causing this, made something…eat at him. It was as if he was angry at himself for doing this to her.
He watched as Botan took in gulps of air, trying to calm herself down enough to talk. But Shuichi didn't let her, and told the others, "Concussion."
Then he pushed the table away rather harshly and picked her up, bridal style, and lifting her off the ground.
"We got stuck under the table, and she…Botan hit her head, and got concussion," he explained even further when he saw the still confused looks on Yusuke and Kuwabara's faces – Hiei didn't look like he cared much though.
"Oh," Kuwabara nodded in understanding, "I think Botan should stay here today."
Yusuke nodded his head in a form of agreement, only to frown when something else came into his mind. "But we can't leave her alone, you know? What if something bad happens to her?"
"You have a point…"
Shuichi's voice chimed in. "I'll stay here and look after her."
The two turned their heads to him, while Hiei just crossed his arms over his chest with his eyes closed.
"Okay, if you say so," Yusuke agreed, shrugging his shoulders off.
Kuwabara then teasingly added, "Plus, you can spend some time alone with your girlfriend," and he had expected for Shuichi to blush or even stare incredulously at him, but he just got a weak smile in return.
There was silence for a moment before Hiei broke it, "Let's just get the hell out of here already."
The other two averted their gazes at him and nodded their heads, the three of them sauntering over to the door and not forgetting to bid their farewells at Shuichi and telling him to take good care of Botan.
Once the door was closed, Shuichi looked down at Botan who was clinging on to him tightly, and trying her hardest not to vomit. He smiled apologetically, and distantly heard her mumble, "Shuichi…" He blinked, wondering if he heard right or if he was just hearing things.
He shrugged it off though. "Just get some rest," Shuichi said softly.
"Oi, Keiko!"
Yusuke waved a hand at the three girls – mostly Keiko though. The three girls were sporting worried expressions all over their faces.
They seemed to notice him as they rotated their heads to the right, to see the three boys walking over to where they were standing at – the center of the shopping mall.
"Yusuke!" Keiko cried out to her boyfriend as soon as they were in front of each other. "Where's Botan? We've been waiting for her for ages!"
"Ah, Botan." Yusuke scratched the back of his head. "She got concussion."
"Concussion?" Yukina echoed, her brows furrowing slightly. "How did that happen?"
"Shuichi said Botan hit her head."
"Hit her head?" This time Shizuru repeated, raising an eyebrow quizzically at him as she pulled out her cigarette from her mouth. "Now how did that happen?"
Yusuke just shrugged his shoulders.
Yukina, Keiko and Shizuru exchanged glances, still looking very concern. Hearing Botan's condition had obviously lowered their spirits.
Kuwabara was aware of this and immediately added, "Look, let's just all have fun okay? Shuichi's taking care of Botan, so I'm sure she'll be alright."
Yukina turned to look at him with a small smile. "I guess you're right, Kazuma-kun."
"Of course, I, the mighty Kuwabara, am always right!" Kuwabara began to act as if he was the best, showing off in front of his beloved Yukina, who just giggled at him.
Hiei scoffed. "Mighty my ass…"
"What was that, Hiei?!"
"Oh great, you're deaf, too…"
"Why you little mouse!"
"Children!" Yusuke butted in before Hiei and Kuwabara could even get into a more serious fight. He earned death glares from his two friends but fortunately, they backed off nonetheless, grumbling under their breaths.
"Kuwabara, Hiei already kicked your ass earlier. You wouldn't want an uglier face than the one you have now, would you?"
"QUIET, URAMESHI! I was holding back! I could've beaten him up easily."
Hiei snickered, while Yusuke rolled his eyes sarcastically. "Yeah, right…"
This time an argument was about to occur between Yusuke and Kuwabara, but they were stopped before they could utter another curse word at each other when Yukina suddenly stepped in with an eager smile on her face.
"Ne, ne, everyone~!" she squealed excitedly. "Let's try having a party tonight!"
Shizuru frowned. "Party? You mean at Yusuke's apartment?"
Yukina shook her head, the smile still plastered on her face. "I mean, an animal costume party and we can also go to a haunted house!"
"This isn't Halloween, Yukina…" Keiko mumbled.
"I know! But who says we can't? My brother and I even have an idea on which haunted house to go to!" the smaller girl said desperately before turning to look at her big brother with determination in her eyes. "Right?"
Hiei arched an eyebrow at her, and tried to say no, but there she goes again, giving him that puppy-eyes look. He sighed, "Right…"
"Okay, let's just say we go to this "haunted" house of yours, we can't really go since we don't even have any animal costumes to wear," Yusuke told her, making a quotation sign at the word 'haunted'.
Yukina smiled at the delinquent's direction. "Don't worry, I made at least nine of them, so you guys can borrow them. I've always wanted to do this!"
"I can't help but think she's actually planned this…" Yusuke mumbled to no one in particular.
The others – except Yukina who was too busy twirling in excitement – heard him but none of them acknowledge him.
"How are you sure they're gonna fit, Yukina?" Shizuru asked.
"Oh, you don't have to worry about that! I've made sure they fit all of us."
"What about Botan?"
"I'm sure she'll fit one of them."
"As expected of my beloved Yukina-chan!" Kuwabara suddenly butted in, praising the girl with love in his eyes.
Yukina once again just giggled, while the others rolled their eyes.
Keiko then looked as if she just remembered something. "Wait, are you even sure Botan will be healthy enough to go with us? And you said nine, right? There's only eight of us, who are we gonna ask to come?"
"I don't know, maybe we should just use eight of the costumes. We don't need to use all of them," Yukina answered her. "And I'm sure Botan will be fine."
Keiko didn't look convinced. "Yeah, but…"
"Come on, let's just call Shuichi later and ask him if they could join us," Yusuke replied.
"That's a great idea, Urameshi!" Kuwabara praised. "For once you actually thought of something smart."
Yusuke resisted the urge to bash Kuwabara's face in. "Don't push me, KUWABARA!"
It had been at least two hours since Yusuke, Kuwabara and Hiei left the apartment. So now Botan was just lounging there in the living room, doing nothing...with her head on Shuichi's lap. They say people weren't supposed to sleep when they have concussion and apparently, TV wasn't good either so Botan had nothing to do except just stare at Shuichi.
He stared back. "Are you still mad?"
"What do you think?" she shot back.
Shuichi heaved out a sigh. And the calm expression on his face was replaced by something Botan could only identify as a mixture of guilt and concern. Suddenly she was feeling guilty, her condition was better now and here she was, getting angry at Shuichi who was already regretting tickling her in the first place. Her concussion was gone now, all that was left was a bit of pain on her head. But nothing serious.
"Look, Botan. Sorry, if it wasn't because of me, this wouldn't…"
She cut him off, "Don't say you're sorry. It's not that bad, it's just concussion. Plus, I'm feeling better now, there's just a slight pain on my head, but I think the concussion's gone now."
He let out a sigh of relief at her words. "Really? That's great then. I was worried it was serious…"
"You worry too much, you'll get wrinkles if you keep doing that," she joked, trying to ease the atmosphere for a bit.
He laughed. "I'll still look handsome though."
She rolled her eyes in response. "Narcissistic jerk."
He laughed even more, and Botan couldn't help but smile. "I don't get why you didn't go with the boys, you should've followed them, you didn't have to stay here," she told him. She had actually heard Shuichi's conversation with the boys before they left; she might've had concussion but she wasn't deaf.
"I can't just leave you here," he retorted, and when she opened her mouth to counter, he added, "Plus, it's my way of paying my debt. You've taken care of me before, this time it's my turn," reminding her of the time when he got a fever.
She blinked before widening her smile. "You won't do anything to me while I'm a bit weak now, would you?" she asked him.
"Why? Scared I'll rape you?" he playfully answered, his lips quirked up into a smirk.
"Well, seeing as you are a pervert, I wouldn't be surprised if you did," she countered.
"I'd watch my words if I were you. I might do it for real," he said, trying to scare her off and it obviously worked when her face paled, eliciting a laugh from him. "Relax, Botan. I'm just joking."
The color returned to her face and she pouted. "Pervert."
"You like calling me that don't you?"
"That's because it's true."
"Look who's talking, I think you enjoy my advances as much as I enjoy doing them."
She rolled her eyes, but he didn't miss the slight pink on her cheeks. "Huh? What does that mean?"
"I think you love it when I kiss you, I know you do," Shuichi teased, poking her slightly on the nose.
Botan's blush deepened. "W-what?!"
"I'm right, aren't I?"
"Shut up, Shuichi!" she shouted at him, earning a small laugh in return. She scowled, ignoring her heating face and her racing heartbeat. "I don't like your kisses; you don't have any prove that I do!"
Uh-oh. Why did she say that?
Shuichi gave her his infamous seductive smirk and to Botan's embarrassment, his head bent down and their noses were now touching. "Want me to prove it now?" he whispered, looking straight into her eyes.
She gulped. "Shuichi…"
RING! RING! RING!
Shuichi's cellphone went off at the exactly wrong time. His left eyebrow twitched, and he took a few deep, calming breaths before finally snatching the machinery out of his pocket and snapped, "What?"
Botan, on the other hand, couldn't help but feel disappointed that he didn't manage to 'prove' his point. 'GAHHHH!'
"What?" Shuichi's voice snapped and Yusuke couldn't help the snicker that found its way to his lips.
"Hey, chill! Did I interrupt a make-out session or something?"
The other side was silent for about five minutes and Yusuke had to wonder if the redhead hung up, but before he could give it any further thought, Shuichi finally spoke, "Do you have a reason for calling, Yusuke?" suddenly changing the subject.
The delinquent raised an eyebrow at this, but shrugged it off (he was grinning though). "Yukina suggested going to some haunted house while wearing animal costumes tonight."
"Why animal costumes?"
"Don't know, but she said she made them already. I'm telling you, she planned this!"
He heard a chuckle from the other side. "Perhaps."
"So, is Botan up to it? I mean, I wouldn't want to worsen her condition or anything…"
"Don't worry, Yusuke. She told me she's fine and the concussion's gone now."
Before he could reply, Yusuke heard Botan's voice in the background saying something that sounded like, "What? What are you talking about?" followed with the distant sound of Shuichi's voice, "It's an animal costume party." Then a feminine squeal.
After a while, Shuichi spoke again, this time referring to Yusuke, "We'll go. Botan's excited about it."
"Yeah, I can hear her," Yusuke couldn't help but laugh. "She's really loud, isn't she? I wonder how loud she is in bed… You don't happen to know, do you?" he joked.
"I wish, but she'll kill me if I do anything."
"Dude, seriously? You actually thought of having that with her?" Yusuke asked him, and snickered.
"I'm just kidding, Yusuke."
"Jeez, she'd be upset if she hears you don't think of her like that. I mean, it's almost as if you don't think she's hot."
Shuichi suddenly sounded panicked. "Not that I don't think she's attractive, Yusuke! She is, and anyone who doesn't think that would be insane! But it's not like I think of sleeping with her everyday!"
Yusuke laughed wholeheartedly, only to stop when he heard an exasperated cry (from Botan) and what sounded like a loud slap. "Er, Shuichi?"
He didn't get anything in response, instead he heard Shuichi yelling, "What the hell is wrong with you, woman?!"
After that, he heard the sound of Botan shouting back with a, "I'll kill you," followed by the noise of struggling and something falling and as instantly as the sound came, there was a beep, which meant Shuichi had hung up. Though Yusuke suspected that something else happened.
He sweatdropped. "Wow…"
As soon as he said that, Keiko and the others suddenly came into view (they went to buy some soda cans), his girlfriend waving a hand at him and he waved back.
Once they were close enough, "So how did it go?" Keiko asked him.
He shrugged his shoulders, but the brunette didn't miss the grin on his lips. She decided to ignore it though. "Shuichi agreed, and he said Botan's better now."
Keiko heaved a sigh of relief at this, while the others smiled – except Hiei who just remained expressionless.
"That's good." Kuwabara nodded his head once.
Yukina then let out a girlish squeal, "I can't wait for tonight! And seeing as Botan's okay now, it makes me more excited!"
They all laughed at her, except Kuwabara, who was now back to flirting with his 'beloved' Yukina and Hiei, who was shooting death glares at the carrot-top.
But then, a familiar voice reached their ears.
"Yo! It's been a long time."
They whipped their heads to the owner and saw no one other than their old friend…
Koenma.
At that exact moment, an idea came to Yusuke, and slowly, he smirked…
'Now this is gonna be great…'
"I can't believe you would even think that!"
"I'm a man, Botan! I'd be gay if I didn't think about…"
Before Shuichi could even blurt out the word, Botan hit him in the chest, silencing him immediately, and earning a wince from him. He glared at her, and she glared back.
"So are you saying you've thought about it with other girls?!"
"Huh? When did I ever say that?"
"You said you're a man and you'd be gay if you didn't think about doing that with girls! To me, that's a translation of you thinking about having that with other girls!"
Shuichi rolled his eyes exasperatedly. "Just because I'd think about it sometimes, doesn't mean I think about doing it with every girl I know!"
"I didn't say every girl!"
"It's the same no matter what you say, Botan!"
She opened her mouth to roar back but he cut her short. "Listen, I've never thought of girls like that. Sure, I'll admit some of them attract me, but never has the thought occur to me. Why should it? None of those girls matter to me much."
"What about me then?" Botan blurted out without thinking, and as soon as she saw something flashed in his eyes, she realized what she just asked, both of her hands flying to her mouth and a blush appearing on her face.
Before he could even answer her, she cut him off. "Argh! I can't believe we're even talking about this! It's so ridiculous! You know what, forget I even asked!"
Silence soon followed her words, before Shuichi broke it off, "Botan, you are attractive…"
"Yeah, but I guess I don't matter to you either, do I?" Her voice was cracking, and it didn't go unnoticed by the redhead.
He sighed. "That's not what I meant. You're attractive, and I care about you, Botan."
She turned to look at him, her eyes meeting his and he smiled. "And about that subject we were talking about… I-"
"Forget it, it's not important."
Shuichi's eyes blinked, and he was even about to ask her what she meant, only to be silenced by a pair of soft, warm lips slamming against his, catching him off guard because Botan had never initiated a kiss before.
The shock soon died down and his tongue poked out to lick at her bottom lip, asking for permission. But, instead of obliging to his silent request, Botan pulled away, earning a groan from Shuichi in return.
"Botan," he said desperately. Desperate to kiss those lips again.
She didn't seem to hear him though, and just stared at the phone which was now on the ground. It had fallen when she was trying to hit Shuichi earlier.
"Shuichi, you're cellphone…"
"I don't care, Botan."
"Yeah, I know. But, what if it's broken?! Oh my god, I'm so sorry, Shuichi! I didn't mean to-"
She was cut off by a low, husky whisper. "Shut up, Botan."
And before she could even register what happened, Shuichi's lips pressed against hers in a hot, passionate, and demanding kiss.