There we go.

New short story announcement at the end of this chapter, it's also somewhat of a life update so I'd appreciate it if you'd take some of your time to read it.

For now, enjoy RED!

Red

This was the first time she had seen him frightened, the others didn't see it but she saw it in the way he acted. He was frightened of the finals. Kurama had seemed indifferent during dinner, he was quieter and avoided most eye contact. The others brushed it off, concluding he was just nervous.

When Kurama told her about his surprise encounter with Karasu and Bui, she felt like fighting them herself. He had been uncomfortable, the crow had taken a liking to him and Botan saw he didn't appreciate it in any way, shape or form.

Then the fight came. Kurama had bravely stepped forward to fight the creature which had haunted his dreams the nights before the finale.

He fell to the arena floor, his skin blown away as the bombs wrecked his physique. Botan felt a flicker of hope each time he pushed himself up but the sudden presence of a demon plant made her realise what he was doing. The plant was doing its job and Kurama laid motionless on the floor. Botan felt his spirit leaving, the warmth escaping his skin as the cold from the concrete took over. She caught herself praying out loud but she didn't care anymore, nothing mattered anymore.

But he got up, he stood and Botans heart regained its rhythm. Returning to the others outside of the ring, leaning heavily on Yusuke as they did so. Botan allowed herself to breathe again and wiped at her eyes, the other girls had done the same as they also feared his death.

He was just trying not to worry them but she knew he was in pain while all he did was stand, standing next to his comrades to watch the match. They made their way to the catacombs of the stadium after Hiei managed to defeat Bui, destroying the stadium in the process.

Botan snuck past hordes of demons waiting and complaining about the delay, their agitated growls following as the deity pushed herself through towards the catacombs.

Yusuke and Kuwabara were about to exit when Botan almost slammed right into them. She spared them a short glance, receiving a nod from both of them before she went inside.

"Y-you.. I hate you." Botan shivered as she leaned back against the door after she closed it. "I hate you." She repeated, running her sleeve across her eyes before looking at the battered and bruised body barely sitting on a table.

"I lost." He pressed his lips in a thin line. "I'm glad Hiei was able to even the score.."

Without saying a word, Botan pushed herself away from the door and further into the room. She slowly and carefully wrapped her arms around his neck and head, the only areas unaffected by the destructive bombs. "I thought I was going to lose you, we were going to lose you." A soft sob escaped her.

A pair of arms wrapped themselves around her waist, they were trembling and weakened but they were there. "I'm still here." Kurama said softly.

"You died." Botan didn't try to hold back her tears, she felt like she didn't have to anymore. She trusted him enough to see her at her weakest. "You used your life energy and died."

"But I'm here." Kurama groaned as Botan tightened her grip, immediately pulling away as she heard his indication of pain.

"You won't be here for long if we don't do anything about… This.." She motioned at his being. "You'll bleed to death!"

"I'd like to heal myself but the truth is that I have no reserves left." Kurama gave a pained smile.

Botan rolled up her sleeves. "Okay, which one is the worst?"

"W-what?" Kurama stammered.

"You heard me." Botan rubbed her hands together, charging them with energy. "Which ones are the worst?"

Kurama took a second to examine himself before pointing at the one on his leg and the big one on his abdomen. She just nodded before going to work, manipulating her energy to match his body's wavelength. She didn't close the wounds completely, healing the wounds enough to stop the bleeding.

"This will help for a bit." She gave a small sigh after finishing up the last ones on his back. Locating the first aid kit, she took out a roll of gauze and some sterile cloth.

Botan put on a straight face when retaking her seat next to Keiko and Shizuru. She told them she was going to check on them so some questions were expected.

"How are they holding up?" Shizuru arched her brow.

"They are a bit beaten up but Kuwabara and Yusuke will finish this, we'll get out of here together, all of us." Botan bit her lip. Of course this wasn't true at all for she had already ferried Genkai's soul to spirit world earlier that week.

…

"Are you sure I can stay over for dinner?" Botan asked as she walked next to Kurama.

"Of course." He smiled as they turned into the front yard of his house. "No one is home today, Hatanaka has taken my mom on a nice weekend in Tokyo."

"That's nice of him." Botan allowed herself in as he held the door. She noticed the lack of shoes, proving his point.

"Well, they are getting married soon and he likes to spoil her. I'm glad she found someone like him." Kurama closed the door behind him and struggled out of his jacket. The finals were two weeks ago but the wounds still hadn't closed completely. They caused him discomfort in a way he never imagined possible.

"Do they still hurt?" Botan held out her hand, offering to take his jacket seeing as he wasn't able to lift his arms up too high.

"They pull, it doesn't really hurt but they sure are annoying." Kurama was hesitant but handed her his coat anyway. The living room was dark and Kurama flicked the lights on before walking further into the house. "What are you craving?"

"Me?" Botan looked behind her, pointing her index finger at herself.

"Yes you, I'm not feeding the wall." Kurama opened the cupboards, scanning their contents while thinking of a recipe. "How bout Lasagna? Mother always makes some on the weekend to store in the freezer. It's the best."

"I'd like to try it." Botan nodded.

Kurama tried lifting his arm to grab some plates from the cupboards above but grimached as he felt the edges of his stitches burn under the pulling pressure. Botan made her way to the kitchen and grabbed what he was reaching for.

"I got it, if you need anything from up high I can get it for you." Botan chuckled as she set the plates down. Kurama's mind was suddenly overflown by memories, the scars lacing her arms as he tried to reach something positioned on a high shelf. He shook his head to clear it from the painful memories.

The lasagna needed just a few minutes in the oven before it was ready to be eaten. They spoke shortly about his mother and how tasty her lasagna turned out before spiraling into silence. They ate without speaking another word for a while.

"So.." Kurama's voice interrupted their silent meal. "When you helped me with that death plant.."

Botan looked up. "Yea, what about that?"

Kurama lifted his head, his eyes burning holes into her own. "Was that kiss necessary?"

For a moment, Botan was frozen, his eyes burning right through hers yet she didn't feel intimidated. "I.. Uhm, I t-thought.." She lowered her hands as she felt them starting to tremble, taking a quick breath. "Did you like it?"

"Like it?" Kurama's eyes widened. "So it wasn't necessary."

Did she see that correctly? Was that a smirk? Was Kurama smirking at her? "N-no not really but I thought it would help, in a way."

"It did help in a way.." Kurama picked at the few pieces still on his plate.

"You did almost get me in trouble though, getting your blood on my face." Botan tried to hide her blush as she remembered watching him sleep.

"Let me guess." Kurama started, a grin forming on his lips. "You watched me sleep."

Botan basically screamed in embarrassment as Kurama was so easily able to read her. "NO I didn't watch you sleep.. I just wanted to make sure you'd be okay."

"Okay okay, I believe you." He teased. "But I liked it, too bad our first kiss would be while in such a dire situation." He lowered his eyes to his plate.

That was true, they had never kissed before that and Botan felt the color leave her face. Had she ruined it? "I'm sorry, I should've chosen a better time." She started. "I mean, you were knocking on death's door while this plant was draining your energy like Yusuke after a can of energy drink."

"Didn't I just say I liked it?" Kurama lifted his head again, proving the smile never left his face. "I'll go and clean the plates. Cheer up, for all I know I'm alive because of you."

Botan followed him to the kitchen, watching him do the dishes and helped drying them and placing them back on the higher shelves. It was after they finished, Kurama finally made his way to the couch and carefully seated himself down. Botan followed him.

She sat down next to him, muttering his name softly as she wanted to say something. She was forced into silence by the piercing emeralds, they were hypnotizing, pulling them closer together until there was no more space between them.

They pulled away after a few silent minutes, her eyes his, observing them having obtained a new kind of sparkle.

"Now that is a good first kiss." Kurama shot a small joke. Botan felt her cheeks light up and she shook her head, unknowingly roaming over the stitches.

Kurama gave a short but loud yelp and she retracted her hands immediately, realizing it was her doing. She had caused him pain. "Oh no, no, no I'm so sorry I didn't realize.."

"It's okay." Kurama spoke through gritted teeth. He reached towards the coffee table where he had placed two glasses of water but lowered his arm again with another pained hiss. "Fuck, this one's on me.."

"You.." Botan stared at him. "You cursed.. You never curse."

"Let's just say Yusuke and Kuwabara combined equals a bad influence to be around." Kurama muttered as he assessed the fastly expanding patch of blood forming on his blouse.

"You busted your stitches." Botan said as she forced him back into the couch.

"Yeah I felt that alright." Kurama groaned in annoyance.

"Let me fix it." She started unbuttoning his blouse. "You need to be extra careful with these, you might end up creating more damage opening all these wounds."

The wound closed fast as Botan channeled her energy through her fingertips. "No more reaching for things, you'll tell me when you need anything." She said as she softly ran her fingers over the now closed wound, making a small tour over the surrounding future scars.

"Anything?" Kurama smirked as he planted another kiss.

"Anything." She confirmed, softly running her fingertips over the bared stitches.

A new story is developing which will be called "The way I love you."

As you might have already read, it is connected to something that is happening in real life. To immediately kick in the door; the niece of a family friend was found murdered today. I honestly don't know what to think and I decided to write RED to get my mind off of it for a while.

It's currently 3am but writing does help me get over things, hence why I implement many aspects of my own experiences and feelings into my work. I hope "The way I love you." Will help me process the way I'm feeling. Though I never knew her on a personal level, I feel heavily for the family with whom I am close to. Adding to that the fact she lived two blocks away from me.

The case is still pending.

Anyway, I hope to see you in the next chapter and hopefully, the new story once it's released.

Stay safe,
Farure