Of You, Me, and Us
Summary: "I like you." When those words left her lips, Botan had expected to hear him utter words of apology. After all, she didn't think he felt the same way about her. She didn't expect Kurama looking straight at her in the eyes before leaning closer to kiss her. And although he didn't say anything, one glance at the expression on his face was enough to tell her: she was his now.
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Chapter 37: Marks
It was supposedly a normal day, or as normal as it could be when a crowd such as the Reikai Tantei gathered together at the beach for a well-deserved break.
"Hey, Kurama," Yusuke's voice resonated in the redhead's ears, prompting him to avert his gaze to the detective, "thanks again for letting us stay here," the former delinquent went on, lips tugging upwards into a boyish grin.
Kurama observed with slight amusement dancing in his vibrant, emerald orbs as Kuwabara proceeded to run towards Yusuke in an attempt to tackle him to the ground, leading into yet another bloody fist fight- in which, unsurprisingly, Yusuke came out as the victor. Once he finished pummeling his best friend to the ground, Yusuke directed his attention to Kurama again, who returned his toothy grin that spread from ear to ear with a smile of his own.
"I'm not the one you should be thanking, Yusuke. You should be grafeful to my aunt for giving us permission to rent the beach house for a few days," he eventually replied, a loud, whole-hearted laugh rumbling through his chest as Kuwabara decided to change targets to Hiei. Although, the fire demon had easily dodged all his attacks before landing a kick on his shin.
"Yeah, Urameshi," Kuwabara blurted out with as much confidence as he could for someone who had been reduced into a pulp twice in the matter of minutes. "She even let us stay here with a 50% discount!"
"Yeah, yeah," came Yusuke's nonchalant response, as he waved a hand dismissively at the carrot-top. "You should give it a rest already. We're here to have fun and get laid, not break our limbs," he proclaimed with an annoyed edge in the tone of his voice, as Kuwabara, once again, became mercy to Hiei's ruthless onslaught of ass-kicking.
"This is bloody stupid," Hiei snorted as he snapped his right knee outward to deliver another sharp kick to Kuwabara's rib. Crimson irises rolled to the right in irritation as the taller male dropped on all fours in return, grumbling a string of colorful, savage curses under his breath.
He turned to Kurama, who had his back languidly against the wooden beach bench, one hand clutching a book in his fingers and the other bringing a can of soda to his lips. He ogled the redhead indulging himself with a sip from his beverage before he made to sound out a scoff,
"I can't believe you dragged me out here again." He shot daggers at the fox, who wisely chose to ignore his heated stare.
Kurama's mouth curved to form a patient smile as he lifted his nose from the book and met Hiei's gaze. He caught the plump skin of his bottom lip as he bit back a laugh at the site of the Jagan user in a pair of blue boxers Kurama had managed to force him into wearing. "Relax, Hiei. I merely gave you an invitation to a friendly gathering with our peers."
"Ha!" Hiei threw his head back as annoyance brewed within him due to the fox's lack of reaction to his glare. "I'd rather drop dead before I'd consider thesefools my friends," he growled out the last word as if it was vomit.
"Now, now, Hiei," Yusuke set both palms and his knees as he pushed himself into a standing position from the beach bench situated next to Kurama, "don't be like that. We all know that deep down you're just a lonely little boy deprived of love, aren't you?" he asked in a disgustingly cutesy voice that was remarkably similar to baby-talk as he reached a finger up to teasingly rub under Hiei's chin.
The fire demon was on the verge of snapping the digit off the delinquent's hand before Yusuke shrewdly pulled his hand back with a smirk, sensing the former's intent on biting his finger off. Hiei glared holes into his head as if he was trying to disintegrare him into ashes.
"More importantly," Kuwabara had stolen Yusuke's place on the bench as he flopped down on the wooden material, ignoring Yusuke's indignant cry, "where are the ladies? They're taking too long."
"Girls are gonna be girls." Yusuke kicked Kuwabara off his bench, before unabashedly taking a seat and lying on his back. "You know how much time is wasted waiting for them to get ready."
"I'll drag them out here myself if they're not done by five minutes," Hiei hissed as he hooked a finger around the top of his boxers, scrunching in disgust as the cotton fabric hugged his lower half almost all too perfectly as if Kurama had gotten it for him at just the right size. He looked on with a thin angry line on his mouth as he released the waistband of the garments and the elastic material snapped loudly against his skin. "God forbid I stay in this stupid realm for longer. If you're talking about wasted time, I certainly wasted my time coming here to see you buffoons. I should have stayed at Mukuro's."
Yusuke bursted out into a how of laughter. "You just want to jump into her private parts," he interrupted the rant in a taunting manner, to which Hiei glowered at him in response.
The savage insult that rolled off Hiei's tongue fell into deaf ears as four silhouettes, ones that could be easily recognize as the females of the group from afar, caught their attention. The girls weren't even halfway towards them when Kuwabara squealed in obnoxious delight.
"Kyaa!" None of the other three men could believe their ears as the carrot-top sounded such a girlish noise. "I can't believe how adorable Yukina looks! She is an angel descent from heaven!" he gushed, blissfully unaware of Hiei's demon energy spiking in dangerous ways and even more happily ignorant of the cold blade pressing viciously close to the back of his neck.
"Did Hiei pull that out of his ass or something?" Yusuke startled out a laugh as he ogled in fascination at said fire demon who had managed to get his hands on a sword from out of nowhere and was now threatening to slice through Kuwabara's neck with it. Not that Kuwabara noticed.
Kurama would have joined in the laughter if his eyes hadn't been more preoccupied with something else. By the time the women had eventually strolled up towards them, his brows had creased into a deep frown that marred his handsome features. He scrutinized Botan up and down, pools of peridots raking over the deity's skin, his mouth twitching to form a thin line.
His ultra-sensitive hearing could distinctly catch the whispers of the men around them as the four girls sauntered into the scene. Most were, to his displeasure, on the subject of his ferry girl, who had succeeded in gaining various perverted leers from the human degenerates within a hundred-meter radious around them.
He grunted to himself as he continued to pin her with a long, hard stare. Botan was clad in a matching set of white bikini - of all the colours she could have chosen, why did it have to be white? - the frilly top accentuating her round breasts, the mounds not too large nor too small, but the perfect enough size to attract unwanted attention from the opposite sex. Her waist was ideally slim, which didn't help because it only served to make the curve of her butt more prominent as her hips were enveloped, almost too tightly for his taste, by an equally white pair of panties, the frilly on the waistband matching the material at the v-line of her bra.
He could almost feel the lustful gazes on his lover, and had to prevent himself from letting a growl erupt from his throat as his girlfriend remained completely oblivious to the stares, the impervious behavior contributed by the fact that she was too absorbed with the conversation she was chattering up with Keiko. An awfully tempting idea came into mind, and he shut his book close with a loud thud that was ample enough to silence the buzz of talking from the rest. He ignored the questioning glances from his friends as he hastily stood up, stalking two steps towards Botan.
The ferry girl stared up at him with baffled pair of amethysts, her head tilted to the side in a thoughtful yet endearing manner as she asked, voice tender and deeply laced with concern, "What's wrong? You don't look okay."
The redhead swallowed a lump in his throat before he spared a fleeting glance at the rest of the group.
"Excuse me, I need to talk with Botan for a moment. We'll hurry back after the discussion is over," he announced drily, and in a swift motion, took a hold on Botan's wrist, ensuring that his grip was tight enough to leave her no room for escape but not firm enough to actually hurt her. Botan followed suit, despite her confusion, and turned her head around to yell at the others to have fun without them.
The rest of the gang exchanged bewildered glances, but only Hiei seemed to sound out a snort, having noticed the fracture in the redhead's composure beforehand.
"Are you, by any chance, angry with me?" Botan inquired in a cautious tone, concern lying evidently beneath as she permitted Kurama to pull her inside one of the rooms in the beach house they had rented.
Kurama grabbed a moment to calm himself before he schooled his features. His eyes were absolutely poised, but she took notice in the specks of gold peeking through his normally reserved greens. Something was wrong. If his aura emitting waves of tension weren't anything to go by, the fists he clutched in muted aggravation at his sides was more than testimony enough.
Botan parted her lips to utter out another question, but whatever she was about to say died down in her throat as the words that never left her was briskly replaced by a startled yelp as Kurama seized a firm hold on her hips, and lifted her off the ground. She instinctively wrapped her arms around his neck, legs hooking to straddle his waist before Kurama claimed her lips in a hot, bruising kiss. His tongue darted outwards and delved into her mouth, trailing around her pearly white teeth, the roof of her mouth and any spot it could come in contact with before it met hers and the two battled for dominance. Soft sounds of padding footsteps thudding against the wooden floor resonated in the room as Kurama walked them towards the bed, finally breaking off the lip-lock when he flopped them down on the mattress.
"Kurama," Botan breathlessly panted, a tinge of adorable pink coloring her cheeks. There was a hint of desire in her purple irises, but it also combined with a sliver of perplexion. "You haven't answered my question," she reminded as she reached a hand to gingerly trace a finger along his cheek, eyeing lovingly with an affectionate smile as the fox purred against the light touch and tilted his head to the side to nuzzle the tip of his nose against the tenderness of her palm.
"My apologies, peony," he replied, voice slightly remorseful but also holding a dangerous edge of ire, "I just had to get us out of there, had to get you, in particular, out of there." He propped himself on his elbows, situated nicely by each side of her head, as he retreated just a little to return her intimant gape, his eyes reflecting intense passion as he stared down at her. "Those men were eyeing you up like their next meal, and I was not quite fond of that."
Surprise flitted over her features, eyes growing wide as saucers for a brief moment before she heaved a soft, yet audible sigh. Mirth dazzling in her amethyst orbs as she cupped his cheeks with both palms, laughing as the fox literally hummed in joy at the feel of her warmth sapping into his skin.
"You silly boy," she lightly chastised as she drew one hand back to tap a finger playfully on his nose. "You could have told me instead of dragging me here."
"I realize I didn't give you a proper explanation," he murmured with slight regret, and pursed his lips to give her digit a featherlike kiss so as to alleviate the slight dismay only surfacing a little on the ferry girl's visage. "I didn't want anyone to listen in on our conversation."
"Well, you could have told me that sooner, you know," she reprimanded in a joking voice, as she snaked a hand into his red mane, running her fingers through his silky crimson locks before tugging his head down to pull him into another kiss.
"I suppose I was a little too consumed with jealousy," Kurama admitted in defeat, expelling a satisfied sigh as she licked demurely across his upper lip. "I guess I owe you an apology."
"Don't take it too seriously," she supplied in between low moans as Kurama's hand traveled down, almost in a snail-like pace, from her neck, to her shoulders, her collarbone before stopping just in the valley between her chest. "It's not a big deal anyway. I'm sorry I didn't notice either. I guess I should have gotten something less revealing."
"As long as you're remorseful," A light squeeze on her left breast and he laughed at the mewl of pleasure he earned in return, "then I suppose I'll let it slide just this once."
A girlish giggle erupted from her throat, accompanied with the delicious addition of heavy pants as Kurama broke off the kiss in favor of placing hot, open-mouthed kisses down the porcelain white flesh of her throat.
"As much as I would like nothing more than to let you have your way," A breath hitched in her throat as he traced his mouth lower still to her perfect, round mounds, his lips leaving a warm trail on her skin and made her knees wobble, "Yusuke and the rest are waiting for us."
Kurama made a small noise that sounded like a mixture of discomfort and impatience as he bit hard on the left strap of her bra, using his mouth and teeth to maneuver one pad down to reveal the plump flesh of her breast which flew open upon being freed from its confinements. He released the strap before moving to do the same to the other one as he growled, low and dangerous,
"Knowing them, they'll probably forget about us by the time Kuwabara challenges Hiei into another fight." Relishing in the way she shivered as the cold air met her chest, Kurama finally slightly withdrew himself from her once he was finished taking off the top of her bikini to study her appearance.
Her blue tresses fanned over her like a halo as the once pink hue on her cheeks darkened into a scarlet shade that extended all the way to the tips of her ears. Her ample mounds heaved up and down seductively as her breathing became ragged, once beaming purple irises now dark with raw desire and her mouth slightly parted open as she licked her lips nervously under his hungry stare.
The sight was more enough to fuel the fire at the pit of his stomach even more and he wanted nothing more but to just take her right then and there, but held himself back. His eyes flashed a dangerous gold before a predatory grin teased at the corners of his mouth as they scanned over her perfectly unmarked skin. Not for longthough.
"Did you bring a spare pair of bikini? Hopefully one that is not as provocative?" he whispered against her as he sucked in the skin on the top of her breast into his mouth, teeth nibbling and lips suckling as he looked up at her from his position, a moan rolling off his tongue as she let out an endearing whimper.
"Um, no," she struggled to answer as calmly as possible as her lover directed his lips to different spot on her mound, this time a little closer to her perky nipple. His right hand cupped her other breast in a firm hold, squeezing repeatedly until he felt the bud grow taut under his touch, to which he instantly rolled the sensitive nub with his index finger.
"Then I guess that leaves me no choice but to leave lovebites all over your body for the whole world to see," Kurama moaned as she pushed her chest into his face, his free hand reaching down to her abdomen to push her down to the bed in an attempt to keep her still.
In truth, he wasn't the type to publicly showcase his girlfriend in such a way- if anything, his objective was to create hickies at every nook and cranny of her body so that she would be too embarrassed to step out of the beach house with anything skin-revealing at all. But he knew Botan derived pleasure from dirty talk- not to say that he didn't either.
His suspicions were correct as Botan hissed at him and shot a half-glare at his direction.
"Shut up and just touch me, you idiot."
"I can't believe you did that!"
Botan's humiliated wail reverberated through the walls of the beach house as she clenched her hands into fists and delivered half-angry punches at his chest. Kurama sounded out a low, amused chuckle in return as the lovable action simply served to further increase the mischief in his green orbs and failed to gain any damage. He had sat up prior before, and now had his back flat against the headboard with the grim reaper blushing hotly in front of him.
"Hm," He grasped her wrists into a hard, but benign grip, ignoring her admittedly cute rant as he lowered his head to give her a soft peck on the forehead, "you didn't seem to hate it a while ago."
He felt her skin warm up against his touch, and drew back just in time to see a blush creep up her cheeks. A charming smile that he knew would get her to melt to her knees was plastered on his countenance. And true enough, Botan's hard did a flip and began to drum faster under his loving stare.
"You're impossible," she huffed but allowed him to draw her closer as he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her up to his lap, their naked forms pressed firmly against one another as Kurama tucked a lock of blue hair behind her ear.
"Aw, who made my little baby Botan angry?" he spoiled her in hopes to reduce the crease on her forehead. His actions bore fruit as Botan halted her frowning to let out a burst of high-pitched chortle.
"I can't stay mad at you," she sighed dreamily as he showered her with affectionate kisses all over her face.
"Of course you can't, I'm too charming," he jokingly returned, feigning a wince as Botan reached a hand up to tug at his earlobe with her thumb and index finger.
"And to vain for your own good," she rejoinded drily in response before laughing as Kurama jutted his lower lip out cutely in a pout. "I really am sorry though," she supplied with an apologetic tone in her voice, "I didn't mean to make you jealous. I promise I'll be a little more careful next time."
"It's not your fault." He flicked her forehead, grinning cheekily at her as she yelped 'ouch' out loud and sent him a vehement glare. "I mean, it can't be helped. You're allowed to dress however you want. I'm not mad."
"Really?" Botan tried to reaffirm as she rubbed a palm against her now reddening forehead, thanks to a certain fox. Uncertain if he was telling the truth or trying to make her feel better with a convenient lie, the ferry girl gawked back at him with a pleading look.
"No need to fret yourself over such small matters," he reassured her as he grabbed her wrist and promptly pulled her fist away from her forehead. Blowing out a column of hot breath on the slightly swollen spot, Kurama then placed a gentle kiss on the area to soothe it just a little. "Like I said, I love you but that doesn't warrant me the right to tell you what to wear. You can wear whatever you want, alright?"
"Well," she started, eyes fluttering close for a brief moment as he kissed her nose before sliding open again as he withdrew to return her gaze, "I guess it's not your fault for getting jealous either. I mean, I would be uncomfortable too if other women were staring at you like you're some kind of meat."
Her choice of words startled out a laugh from the redhead underneath her. "Well, if you're so understanding, I reckon you wouldn't mind me suggesting you to cover yourself up when we get out of here?" he implied with a roguish grin as he pointed at the blue and purple bruises on her once unmarred skin, courtesy of her redheaded boyfriend.
Silence hung in the air for a couple of fleeting moments before realization dawned on her on what he had been planning on doing, as another rush of blood found its way to her cheeks. She goggled down at herself in disbelief once she noticed her current state. She knew that he had been giving her hickies, but had not been attentive enough to count how much. Well, could anyone blame her when she was too busy making love with someone as attractive as Kurama? It was so easy to be swayed by him. She continued to scrutinize herself for a few more seconds before lifting her up slowly to meet Kurama's emerald orbs, dancing in mischief.
"You-!" she tried to be angry, really, she did, but couldn't help herself from giggling.
"Not exactly presentable to the public eye, hmm?" He chuckled as she tilted her head and chewed on the ear of his shell in fake retaliation. "I guess that leaves you no choice but to wear the clothes you got here with."
"I hate you," she murmured but they both knew she didn't mean it. She parted away from him with a smile. "No one wears a shirt and jeans at the beach."
"What a shame considering you'd be too embarrass to show yourself in such a state," he debated, then rested his head in the safety of her cleavage as he directed his only his gaze upwards to lock with hers, "Though I would admit, seeing you dressed so alluringly did, in fact, get me a little riled up." Botan feigned a horrified gasp, despite already being aware. She knew him too well after all. "It was partly why I initiated this in the first place."
She arched an eyebrow at him. "Partly or mostly?"
Kurama laughed and she snorted at him.
"Okay, perhaps it was mostly."
By the time they had went back to meet up with the rest of their group, Yusuke and Kuwabara were playing the watermelon game, the former screaming out profanities most of the time, whilst the latter proceeded to stumble over his own feet a few times over the course of the game. The girls cheered them on and gave them directions as the two blindfolded men continued to mindlessly walking anywhere but closer to the watermelon.
Kurama didn't bother to acknowledge Hiei's smirk nor did he try to let on that he noticed the fire demon's persistent stare. I'm pretty sure he knows. He thought with a sweat beaded on his forehead and attempted to block out any of Hiei's endeavors of prodding into his mind. Well, the best way to deal with it was to ignore him.
"This is dumb!" Yusuke roared angrily after a few more minutes, reaching for the back of his head to remove the blindfold and swiftly throwing it on the sand. "I can't deal with this," he grumbled under his breath and shoved his hands into the pockets of his boxers, glaring at everyone that dared to glance his way.
Kuwabara was usually the type to try again but felt it better to follow Yusuke's lead. He expelled a deep sigh into the air. "I got tired of even trying to hit the damn watermelon halfway through."
"Well, if you boys don't want to do it, then we're going to give it a shot ourselves," Keiko blurted out over her shoulder, hands on either side of her hips, "but we're going to give you smaller portions for giving up too early," she finished with a laugh as Shizuru followed behind her, the two girls promptly putting on their blindfolds.
"Hey, that's not fair!" Yusuke shouted back but was decidedly ignored.
"It's your own damn fault for talking a big game and not following through," Hiei scoffed as he recalled Yusuke and Kuwabara bragging foolishly about how they would smash the watermelon into two in simply less than five minutes. It took them almost half and hour and they still made no progress. Though Hiei would admit that it was a bit amusing to watch two idiots brainlessly strolling around the beach and bumping into each other.
Yusuke grimaced at his words in return, but chose to say nothing instead. He turned to Kuwabara, who was observing a pair of lovers with red and blue manes with an inquisitive touch in his eyes.
"Whatcha looking at, idiot?" he asked Kuwabara in a mocking tone before he craned his neck slightly to look over Kuwabara's shoulder when he was once again justified with no response. Only to find out that Kuwabara was watching Kurama and Botan converse with each other, the deity of death letting out a chortle of laughter as Kurama cracked a joke about barnacles of all things. He averted his brown irises back to Kuwabara, a frown now evident on his forehead. "What?" he prodded.
Kuwabara paused before he drawled out almost hesitantly, as if unsure if he should voice out his thoughts, "Well, I was just thinking..." Hoisting one arm up, Kuwabara scratched the back of his head before finally breaking his stare to gape back at his best friend. "You remember when they came back? Kurama had a pretty smug and satisfied look on his face and Botan was oddly enough back in her casual outfit. And her legs kept shaking too? Don't you think it's weird?"
Yusuke paused, causing a brief moment of silence to linger in the hot air. "I'm thinking of only one thing: they did it."
The carrot-top felt his face immediately heat up. "I thought that too but didn't want to come off as a pervert."
"Well, Kurama is a grown-ass man now and they've been dating for like, what, two years?" Yusuke responded with a lopsided shrug of his right shoulder as he flopped down on the beach bench and proceeded to place an arm underneath his head to serve as a pillow as he laid there. "I think it's normal to conclude that they were fucking."
Kuwabara hollered at him, "Do you really have to be so crude?" but Yusuke only sounded a snort at him in return.
"Well," Hiei's voice chimed in, his timbre dripping heavily with provocation as he added, "at least he's getting laid, unlike you dumbasses."
This comment resulted in a three-way fight between Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara with the former and the latter ganging up on the middle. The day marked the first time ever Hiei ever ran from a battle because he couldn't be bothered.
A/N: Well, this turned out a lot longer than it was supposed to be lol. I couldn't help but type out the slightly naughty bits but I tried not to make it too detailed. The rest is up to your imaginations, he-he! ;) I promise the next chapter will be a lot more innocent. XD
