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 39: Next Step

After the whole mess with Reikai, Botan had been granted a permanent stay at Kurama's apartment, her boyfriend basically offering excuses to convince her to stay even though she had reckoned it would be less of a nuisance for him if she got her own place.

To be honest though, when she looked back on it, it wasn't as if she had anywhere to go either- she could have went to seclude herself in Keiko's and Yusuke's shared household for the time being but found that it was a bother to explain her current situation. Besides, it wouldn't be good for her to intrude on the newlyweds anyway. And at least as of now, she didn't really want to talk about Reikai as well. A time would soon come where she would have to elaborate everything towards her friends, but she hasn't exactly prepared herself in full to face them yet.

Regardless, Kurama was generous enough to permit her practically freeloading in his house- not that anything less was to be expected from him, considering that they were together. And despite not really feeling like she should, Botan would admit that she did enjoy the prospect of living with him under the same roof- even if it was only temporary until she found a job to support herself and get her own apartment. Botan found herself overcome with sheer relief at the notion that Kurama had decided to move out of his mother's house in favor of acquiring his own place. Shiori had cried prior to letting him go, though Kurama took it upon himself to visit her once a while. Nevertheless, Botan was grateful that she didn't have to explain to Shiori about what happened. That would have been a mess, when she took into account the fact that Shiori remained unaware of her son's true nature, thus also ignorant of the truth behind Botan's origins. The former ferry girl had conveniently lied that she lived alone in order to avoid Shiori's constant requests to meet her 'family', and more or less prevented the older female from bombarding her with more difficult questions that she would no doubt be unable to come up with spontaneous bluffs to justify with. Botan didn't enjoy lying to her, but knew that she was forced to until Kurama would eventually decide to tell her everything. The kind, middle-aged woman would find out someday but Botan, once again, felt like she needed to ready herself beforehand.

Still, it didn't sit well with the girl that she mostly spent her days at Kurama's place in leisure, lounging around like she owned it. Her boyfriend didn't exactly mind, but Botan wasn't really the type to take something without giving something else in return. Although she couldn't find herself a job no matter how hard she tried, but Botan tried her utmost best to at least accomplish all the chores in the house. She cleaned, washed the dishes, did the laundry and even tended to the small garden he had at his balcony. He never allowed her to do the cooking though, in fear of subjecting themselves with painful stomachaches for a whole week. But whenever he went about his business at his step-father's company, she would do whatever she could to take care of the apartment- even if sometimes there wasn't much to do in the first place, considering that Kurama preferred to keep the threshold of his home as organized and orderly as possible himself.

Her ears caught the sound of the front door creaking open to signal Kurama's arrival, before it was followed with a shuffling noise that she could only assume was him taking off his shoes. Another creak reverberated, then it was accompanied with the echo of the door clicking shut, an indication that he had locked it.

"Botan." In came his rich, smooth voice, still as joy-inducing as she could remember.

The soft thudding of his footsteps against the laminated floor caused her to prop herself up on the elbows from her lying position on the couch. Her lover stepped into the living room, a pastry box in one hand and his briefcase in the other. He regarded the space with awe as he noticed not even a speck of dust, before turning to her with a bright smile plastered on his face. No doubt Botan had been cleaning again. She always did that, even when he told her to rest.

"I got you cake," he announced with a loving tone in his voice that she knew he adopted only with her and his mother. His arm lifted up to dangle the pastry box in his fingers as if for emphasis. "It's chocolate. I know how much you like sweet things."

"Goodness, you didn't have to," she lightly chastised him with a slightly guilty edge in her timbre, despite herself already throwing her legs over the couch to endorse a sitting position, the actions meaning nothing less than enthusiasm after the mention of cake. Chocolate was her favorite flavor as well.

Kurama couldn't help but chuckle at the contradiction in her movements, compared to her words. He strolled over towards her, a bounce accompanying his motions as he took a seat next to her. Placing the pastry box on the coffee table in front of them, the fox tilted his head to the side as he leaned in and delivered a soft peck at the shell of her ear. He smiled when she giggled at the tiny gesture.

"I was thinking that you were taking a longer time than usual to return home. But I thought that meant you probably had overtime or something," she uttered out as she eyed Kurama prying the pastry box open, her mouth already starting to water from the sweet smell of chocolate cake intruding her nostrils. "I didn't expect you would get me a delicious cake. I love you."

His pools of emeralds gleamed with the mirth dancing in them as she expelled a dreamy sigh. "And I love you too," he replied affectionally as he brushed the bangs away from her eyes, promptly tucking a strand of blue lock into the back of her ear, "which is why I bought it for you. I know you would enjoy it."

"Oh, Kurama," she abruptly heaved a deep sigh, heavily laced with remorse, "you're honestly babying me too much. I mean, all I do is be troublesome for you. I should have been the one taking the initiative to buy you cake."

"You know I'm not exactly partial to high amount of sugar in my food," He kissed her cheek, before placing his hand on the top of her head to acquire a patting motion. The girl whined in response to the touch, a jut of her lips moving outwards to form a cute pout, "and trust me, this is all for good reason. I can assure you."

Botan furrowed her blue brows into a deep frown at his cryptic last words, confusion brewing in her, but shrugged it off almost instantly as he nuzzled his nose against the skin of her porcelain white neck, an adorable purr erupting from his lips.

"You're always acting like a pet," she declared with a fit of girlish giggles as he proceeded to bury his face into the crook of her neck, nipping and kissing gently in the process, "yet you make it sound like it's a bad thing when I treat you like one."

Speaking of pets, she was vividly reminded of her kitten sleeping soundly in their shared bed. Kurama had protested the first few nights before he gave in and let the feline join them to sleep, albeit reluctantly after Botan reprimanded him that it was ludicrous of him to be jealous of a cat, of all things, when he was a millennia old fox demon who had mastered all aspects of plants manipulation. Considering that the small creature made it a point to interrupt their quality time together, Kurama begged to differ. He could have sworn that her cat was out to make his life hellishly miserable.

"Blame it on overwhelming exhaustion as a byproduct of long weeks of endless projects and a mountain-loud of paperwork," he responded with a grunt sounding at the back of his throat as he hooked an arm around the small of her back, his callous fingers tickling her sides as he placed a hand on her slim waist. "I really need a break. But first I want my endearing little girlfriend who I love so much," He paused both for effect and nip at her collarbone, slightly exposed due to the loose shirt she was clad in, a smile outlining his lips as the girl chortled adorably in return, "to spoil me rotten."

"You really are a child," she laughed but obliged as he maneuvered himself to lay on his back, resting his head on the comfortable warmth of her supple lap. She proceeded to snake a hand into his red mane, running her fingers through the silky locks. A gentle, loving smile teased at her lips as the fox visibly leaned into the touch, the reaction doubled with a sigh of approval that left his throat. "Really though. I do feel like you're being too nice to me. I mean, I can't help but think I should get a job to ease your burdens. If I'm staying here, at least let me pay half of the rent on my own."

"Is it a crime for a man to treat the woman he cares about like a princess?" He grasped a tender but firm hold on her hand, fingers intertwining with hers as his lips curled upwards to outline a soft smile, a direct contrast to the deep frown marring her forehead. The look achieved its intended objective as Botan's rigid form slightly relaxed, a little reassured by the gesture. "But if you're that concerned about it, I can ask my step-father to supply you a position at the company, if it helps alleviate your worries a little."

The crease of her eyebrows visibly intensified. "I don't really think that's wise. I wouldn't want to cause trouble for Hatanaka-san, after all. And besides, the other employees at the company have worked very hard to even get hired to work there in the first place. I doubt they would think it's fair that I got a position just because I'm dating his son." She tapped at his nose playfully when he made to sound out a protest. "It's not like I'd know anything about marketing strategies anywho."

Kurama pursed his lips in slight thought, seemingly a little displeased at her blatant refusal. He wanted to tell her that she should pay no mind to the worthless gossips of his coworkers, but figured it would be hard on her and not him if he were to push the subject even more. Defeated, he released a sigh, but placed his lips gently against the back of her hand to give her a soft kiss.

"I'll find something else then," he murmured, to which she tugged lightly at his ear with her free hand. The action didn't make him wince, but instead caused him to let slip an cheeky grin.

"I told you, you don't have to feel inclined to do something like that. If I want a job, I'll acquire it on my own," she returned with a slightly scolding tone in her voice.

"I'd be remiss not to offer you any assistance," he insisted, the grin on his visage broadening when she sighed in defeat.

"You're too stubborn, you know that?" she mumbled before she felt the weight of his head disappear as he lifted himself off of her. "You never let me win."

He gave her another featherlike kiss at the split space between her bangs. "Maybe one day I'll let you."

Botan pouted but the expression soon faltered as he caressed her lips softly with his. She sighed into the brief kiss before he drew apart from her to regard her with so much love it made her heart skip a beat. But then he stood up from the couch and walked over to the kitchen, returning moments later with a plate and a spoon in his hands.

"I know it's my fault and all, but you've been ignoring the cake I got you for a while now," he teased with humor evident in his vibrant peridot irises as he expertly cut through the cake and set the slice of chocolate sweetness on the glassy surface of the plate. He then pushed it towards her. "I really do think you'll be surprised at how good it tastes."

The blue-haired maiden arched an eyebrow at him with a touch of interest as his words caused another question to form in her head. It didn't help that the slice of cake that he had given her was too big of a portion for her to finish in one seating. Still, she brushed it off as Kurama being weird again- as he usually would when he was too tired- and carried on to dip her spoon into the spongy surface of the cake. As soon as she did though, the metal tip of her spoon was met with the feeling of something hard. Baffled, she turned to Kurama, who extended a hand at her as if to say go ahead.

Regardless of her growing confusion, Botan used the spoon to scrap off bits of the chocolate cake in order to reveal what was underneath. A startled gasp rumbled through her chest and escaped her lips as the spoon felled out of her grasp as soon as the sight of a tiny black box, held tightly shut by an expertly tied ribbon in yellow shade, greeted her eyes. Botan clamped a hand to her mouth, before she whirled her head slowly towards Kurama.

The redhead sported a devoted expression on his visage, the intense love surfacing and showing through his emerald orbs as he stared intently at her. Her heart drummed hard and fast in her chest, constricting almost painfully as she found herself unable to even properly breathe. She observed silently as Kurama bent down on one knee in front of her, hands reaching for the black box in the midst of the discarded mess left by the slice of cake.

Botan could feel tears of joy begin to sting at the back of her eyelids, blinking away the water in her eyes as her vision started to blur. Kurama pulled at one end of the ribbon, gracefully forcing it undone. Once he did, he set the box in the flat surface of his left palm, his other hand stretching to pry the lid open. A beautiful shade of crimson glinted at her, the red stone at the centre of the golden ring undoubtedly the most beautiful treasure she had the pleasure of ever laying her eyes on.

It felt like forever before he finally spoke, and when he did it brought about an overwhelming rush of glee to overcome her, the happiness that surrounded her the strongest she had ever felt,

"Will you marry me, Botan?" he asked her, voice genuine and dripping with heavy emotion. The scarlet coloring his cheeks a sign of his unwavering affection towards her.

"Yes, a million times yes!" she squealed, uncaring of the fall that came from the intensity of her actions as she literally threw herself at him, arms wrapped around him in a tight, crushing embrace as they flopped down to the floor.

The tears finally came free, rolling down her cheeks in uncontrollable, rapid streams of waterfalls as she allowed herself to drown in this moment of pure joy. She was vividly aware of his own tears as the round flesh of her cheek was met with something warm dribble down her skin.

It was the words she had always waited for, and it was the words that made all the pain she went through before all the more worth it in the end.