Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Stuck With You
Summary: AU, Kurama Minamino and Botan Fukuyama are sworn enemies. What happens when one day, they are handcuffed together and they don't have the key? Will they be able to put aside their differences and form a frienship… or something more?
Chapter 10
"I like your shampoo," Botan said all of a sudden, as she let Kurama pull her along towards the kitchen. She watched as the redhead began to look inside the drawers for food, waiting for an answer to come.
"Yeah? Well, it does have a nice scent," Kurama responded, a hand reaching inside a drawer to pull out a box of cereals. "Then again, I guess that's why I always smell good," he added, an arrogant smirk tugging at his lips.
The girl rolled her eyes at his last statement, and decided against acknowledging it. She had borrowed Kurama's rose-scent shampoo from her bath earlier (which she took, fortunately, with peace and comfort as nothing happened), and had decided she enjoyed the scent. She raised her right sleeve and brought it to her nose, taking a whiff of the magnificent smell.
"Come on, Botan, you know it's true," Kurama prodded with a lopsided grin attached to his face, when she refused to answer.
She heaved a sigh, and shook her head in a disapproving manner. "You know, Kurama, one thing that I hate the most about you is that you're vain. You like to brag about yourself," she muttered under her breath.
He shrugged, the grin on his lips widening. "Can't help if it's true," he replied casually. Pulling out two bowls; one red, and the other blue, Kurama shook the box of cereals, the contents coming out and falling inside the bowls.
Botan started to make puking sounds, which only served to amuse him. He let out a laugh as the girl rolled her eyes playfully at him. "You really are vain," she merely stated, before grabbing the red bowl.
"Hey, that's rude, I went through all the trouble to look for food and even put it inside a bowl for you, and you just grab it, without saying thank you," he said, albeit the tone he used was not displeasure, and on the contrary, Botan could hear the playfulness in his voice.
She rolled her eyes once again; she'd been doing that a lot lately whenever she was around him. "Well then, I guess that's one of the reasons you don't like me," she retorted jokingly, and procceeded to tug at the handcuffs. Kurama got the message, grabbing his blue bowl, and strolling with her towards the dining table.
The corners of his lips curved upwards into a smirk. Taking a seat at the table, Kurama finally replied after a while, "Not really."
Botan pulled back a chair, and took a seat next to him.
He grabbed a silver spoon that was in a small cup where he kept all the spoons and forks, seated neatly at the centre of the table. His smirk visibly widened when the girl let out an 'Ow!', as she had not expected his actions.
"Give me a warning beforehand, will ya?" she told him grudgingly, and rubbed her arm. She was thankful it didn't come off. Nonetheless, she followed his actions, extending a hand out to retrieve a spoon.
A masculine fit of laughter suddenly sounded in the air, causing her eyebrow to twitch.
She turned to look at Kurama with an irritated expression crossing her soft features. "Laugh all you want, Kurama. I'll get my revenge later." She paused, a smirk beginning to form on her lips. "We have plenty of time, after all, thanks to these stupid handcuffs."
"Good luck with that," he told her, his voice challenging. Kurama opened the fridge, which was coincidentally and conveniently, close to where he was sitting. He took out the milk, and poured it inside his bowl. He then offered it to the girl, who harshly tug it out of his grasp, her actions rewarding her with another laugh in return.
"You look pretty good in that," he suddenly annouced, voice slightly muffled as the spoon entered his mouth, and he munched on the food.
Botan arched her eyebrow questioningly at him, wondering what he meant, and Kurama hinted by traveling his eyes downwards to her body. Her mouth formed an 'o' in understanding, and she bent her head down to scrutinize herself. Kurama's bright blue shirt barely fit (then again, how would they); it was loose around her shoulders, and reached her knees. She wore nothing but her underwear underneath the clothing, but she didn't worry herself much about it, assuming the redhead wouldn't be able to see her undergarments anyway.
"What's with the sudden compliment?" she asked, confusion evident on her features, as she furrowed her brows.
Kurama lightly shrugged his right shoulder in response. "Just pointing it out," he said as a matter of factly.
Botan blinked at him. Once. Twice. Thrice. He had never praised her before, and even if he did, he usually never meant any of it, his words always dripping with annoying sarcasm. So, it was surprising he suddenly had a change of behavior.
"You're weird," she replied after a while, before starting to eat her cereals. "But, I admit I like it better when you're like this than your usual self," she went on, a smile curving at the corners of her pink lips.
"Well, don't get used to it," he merely said back, but there was a subtle grin on his face. He hadn't expected to feel joy at Botan expressing that she liked him, but he kind of did.
"I won't. It's just so weird," she stated bluntly, voice monotous.
Kurama laughed.
"How do you even…" Botan's voice trailed off as she pressed a few buttons on the game controls, trying to understand how it worked. She failed miserably however, as the zombie in the glass screen in front of her managed to devour the person she was playing.
After they ate, Botan had complained she was bored and asked if there was anything to do in his house. Kurama, after getting tired of her constant ramblings, finally decided to let her play a game. The redhead had sat beside her, with a book in his hands (as usual), during the whole 'ordeal'.
She pulled an annoyed face. "I hate this game," she uttered under her breath, as the words 'You are Dead' was displayed on the screen.
"Well, the game's kind of famous anyway, and it's fun to play it," Kurama told her, in a matter of factly way. He watched as the girl rewinded the game from where she left off, breaking into an amused grin when she managed to 'die'. Again. "But, obviously, you're not good at this."
Amethyst eyes rolled at his words. Slightly offended, Botan put down the controls, refusing to play anymore and turned her nose up in the air haughtily. "I don't see why you get to act so smug. Are you any better than I am?" she asked, closing her eyes as a smirk found its way to her lips.
"I am," Kurama unceremoniously replied, causing the girl to peek one eye open to look at him. He sported an arrogant and almost taunting smirk on his features, which served to somewhat annoy her.
"Oh?" Botan sounded off, voice dripping with irritation, "Well then, if you're such a professional at playing this stupid game, then why don't you do it instead?" she said with a huff, and abruptly threw the controls towards him. It felled unceremoniously into his lap, and the redhead turned his gaze downwards to peer at it.
"Oh, that's cute," he told her sarcastically. Rolling his eyes, Kurama closed his book and procceeded to grab the game controls. "Plus, I never said I was a professional. You're making that up and slandering me," he went on accusingly.
"Whatever," Botan responded dryly. "Just play the fucking game."
Kurama didn't acknowledge her, but rolled his eyes once again, and did as he was told. He resumed the game to where the character died, fingers moving swiftly as they pressed at the game controls' buttons. A few moments passed, and he'd instantly won the game.
Botan's jaws dropped. He had killed the zombie that she couldn't! Half amazed, but also half embarrassed, the girl realized she underestimated him. She instantly peered at the redhead, expecting to see an annoying quirk of his lips. True enough, there was a smug grin on his face, as he stared back at her.
She pursed her lips.
"Not bad…" she mumbled, and fixed her gaze elsewhere, irritation creeping up her skin. She couldn't believe he just proved her wrong, but she was nowhere near willing to admit that he was, in fact, very skilled.
"Not bad?" Kurama echoed incredulously. His brows creased, before disappearing as soon as it had appeared. Another arrogant smirk tugged at the corners of his lips. "You're just jealous, you don't mean that."
"When I said 'not bad', I meant it!" Botan retorted angrily, eyes glaring heatedly at the redhead. "Besides, I'm not jealous," she denied stubbornly, voice slightly calmer now, despite the underlying annoyance lying dormant in the tone she used.
"Yes, you are," he stated bluntly.
Botan went up to make a smart remark, only to be cut short, when Kurama suddenly stood up from his sitting position on the floor. The action resulted to Botan's wrist being tugged almost painfully, so the girl stood up as well.
"Where are we going?" Botan inquired. She wanted to use 'you', as she had no intention to go somewhere else, but realizing she was going to be dragged by the redhead anyway, she decided to use a 'we' instead. The frown that had found its way to her forehead deepened slightly when he closed the game, the screen turning black.
After a while, Kurama finally responded, "I need to go to the bathroom," with a toothy grin attached to his face. He didn't seem awkward or embarrassed to admit it, and in fact, for some weird reason, seemed oddly pleased.
Botan inwardly pondered to herself if the handcuffs situation had finally drove him to insanity.
She let out a loud an exasperated groan, and slapped a hand to her face. Shaking her head, Botan heaved a deep sigh. "You can't be serious," she mumbled, voice slightly muffled in her hand. She parted her fingers slightly, and peeked through the gap. "Are you?"
He shrugged his shoulders. "I'm only human, B, so a 'nature's call' is actually normal, and pretty common." He grinned, and the girl didn't manage to notice it had been the first time he'd called her 'B', as she was too 'preoccupied' with glaring at him. "Just in case you don't know it yet," he added, voice teasing.
Botan removed her hand from her face.
"Ha-ha," she faked a laugh. "Very funny."
A pause. "You don't expect me to go with you, do you?" she finally questioned. She gave the boy an incredulous stare.
He arched an eyebrow at her. "Well, it's not like you have a choice, now do you?" Another grin. "Besides, I accompanied you to the toilet earlier today at the school, so you ought to do the same thing. You owe me one, after all," he stated, almost too teasingly, much to Botan's discomfort.
She glared daggers at him, as Kurama started to laugh, her eyes threatening to burn a deep hole through his head. But, she didn't say anything and merely let him did as he wanted, as he tugged at the chains connecting their wrists together, and procceeded to drag her towards where she assumed was the toilet.
Blood rushed to her cheeks, tinting her cheeks in a deep shade of red. She didn't want to do this, it was so embarrassing! But, she had no choice, as they were still stuck with the handcuffs. Plus… what he said before was actually kind of true.
The blush deepened.