Disclaimer: I do not own YYH and its characters.
Prologue
"Yes? Minamino speaking."
Kurama greeted in his typical polite salutation as he promptly answered his phone without looking at the caller ID. Smiling, upon hearing the melodic voice that permeated his aural sense. 'Maya.'
"Is that so? Well, I am still in the supermarket. What would you need for dinner?" He queried while grabbing a bag of fresh fruits, putting it alongside his other grocery items in the shopping cart afterwards. "Alright. I will be home after an hour."
His eyes softened, the kind of tenderness he reserves for the women whom he cared about. "...and I, you."
He blinked when a bundle of insubstantial force bumped against his lower leg, bending forward upon recognizing a child with a cap, no older than three years old, fell on his butt due to the non-fatal collision. Kurama chuckled before fully crouching in front of the toddler, hand stretching to pat the kid on the head but stopped, wide-eyed when the little man lifted his face and stared at him with big, innocent and equally green eyes.
"There you are..."
If it was possible, his eyes would have gone bigger than they were upon hearing another euphonic voice, one that he hadn't heard for many years and, apparently, still manages to evoke a particular pang in his chest.
"You shouldn't go off on your own like that."
His pulse went erratic when the woman, still achingly beautiful in a yellow summer dress, came into view as she dropped into a graceful crouch beside the kid. Kurama's heart threatened to come out of his chest when her dainty hand reached out to ruffle the mop of crimson, initially hidden underneath the oversized cap that she'd removed beforehand.
"Up, please." The child pleaded while spreading open his little arms, motioning for the woman to carry him. To which the request was immediately complied as she straightened up.
Dumbfounded, Kurama mirrored the standing movement albeit with a little wobble in his usually smooth locomotion. His breath catching on his throat when the woman turned to address him, looking at him with her unmistakable set of sparkling amethyst orbs that, admittedly, had haunted his dreams on more than one occasion.
"I'm sorry if he caused any trouble, he tends to go off on his own and hunt for toys." She said, apologetic, but with a loving smile while nuzzling the nose of the giggling child.
"I - " Kurama struggled for a response, his eloquence leaving him as he continue to gape at the lady who appears to be genuinely ignorant of his identity for reasons that he was dying to know.
"Uhm...We'll go on ahead, ne? I wish you a good evening, Sir." She bowed politely before turning her back on him, lustrous unclouded tresses swaying hypnotically behind her.
"Wait." He abruptly lowered his outstretched hand that seemed to reiterate his need for her not to leave, releasing a shaky breath as she turned sideways with the kid curiously looking back and forth between them.
"Hm?"
"Your name." He didn't know why he needed the validation. The glaring obvious was right in front of him, larger than life. She may think of him as a creep who randomly asks names for whatever purpose but he reckons that he needs to hear her say it. For vindication. To know that this wasn't a product of someone's sick amusement or a form of tricks and hallucinations. "May I know your name... Miss?"
Kurama's heart skipped a beat when he caught sight of the overfamiliar, nondiscrimatory smile that painted her lips. His alter ego that had been laying dormant for quite sometime now, seemed to have woken up and threatened to take over and pacify the vortex of his human emotions when she confirmed his muted suspicion.
"Botan. Fukuda Botan... And this little guy is Haru, my son."
.
.
.
Kurama tightened the hands that had involuntarily balled into fists at the memory of the fateful encounter. Green eyes that were hazed by reverie shined with focus when the former thief regarded the seated toddler prince with utmost contempt. "You hid it from me, why?"
"Both of you were happy until you found out yesterday." Koenma stated flatly, unperturbed by the icy tone of voice that attempted to intimidate the living shit out of him, meeting the golden flicker in Kurama's eyes head on and inwardly patting himself for not flinching.
"That is not the case."
"Believe me. It was for the best, Kurama."
For the best? Kurama wanted to scoff if not for the brewing rage that teases his skin to turn alabaster at the notion of getting betrayed by whom he considered as a friend. "This... Is not something for you to decide. Being the Prince of Spirit World gives you the authority over innumerable things but it does not give you the right to meddle with other people's personal affair."
Don't let him get under your skin. Ignore his anger. For Botan and Haru. And for him too. Koenma repeated mentally while keeping a straight face. "You're right. It's not. But I cannot turn a blind eye when my most loyal servant and best friend begged me for something that could spare her an eternity of emotional torment. Not to mention her child's — "
"Our child." Kurama interjected, his conviction laced with regret.
Koenma sighed tiredly, sliding back on his seat while fixing the fox demon with a sympathetic look. "What's done is done. But for the record, I do not hold any resentment towards you, nor did Botan. I know a lot had happened between the both of you. I've seen it, heck, even my father let you off the hook because of how sincere your bond was. You were lovers, undisputedly. You were evidently happy. Even so, not all happily-in-love end up being together, especially if one falls out-of-love with the other. Botan knew that. She accepted your decision, whole-heartedly, even if it pained her might I add."
"I would have chosen her if I had known." His voice sounded desperate and weak but Kurama couldn't give a damn. He felt numb.
You didn't have too, my friend, because there wasn't supposed to be another option to begin with. Koenma countered inwardly, eyes softening at the subtle quake in Kurama's shoulders. "That's why she did it...Don't you get it, Kurama? Botan didn't want to tie you down because of moral obligations. She loved you, truly, madly, deeply and too much for her to do that. And we all know that her selflessness is as infinite as death itself. That's why, even if it broke her, she had to let you go when you've found happiness with someone else..." He uttered instead, sighing once again. It was devastating to witness such a powerful demon, a comrade and a friend to be subjected in this kind of emotional turmoil. Even if he had chosen a different path, it was evident that Botan still occupies a special place in Kurama's heart. Furthermore, he didn't know how Botan and Haru ended up in that supermarket at the same time Kurama was. A celestial force prevented those kind of occurrences from happening for years now. And he didn't want to dwell on the implication of it. Not now, at least. "Your happiness has always been her priority. I know even you knew that."
"Did she — " Kurama bit his tongue to lessen the break in his voice before lifting his head to meet Koenma's consoling gaze. "Did she ever thought of telling me?"
"Yes...I believe she had planned on telling you the last time you saw her, four years ago." Koenma propounded and he could have sworn he saw a lone tear trickling down the side of Kurama's face as the fox demon turned in his quiet retreat.
The door clicked shut as Kurama slowly entered his apartment. Walking blindly through the veil of darkness that loomed his abode and his spirit. Another click resounded when he trudged deeper into the emptiness that consumed his being. Hands mechanically pulled the drawer of his study to procure something from the deepest part of his heart, placing the broken fragment on the sturdy, open plane of the table afterwards.
"Kurama I —"
"I need you to release me, Botan."
"...Why?"
"I... I thought I knew what I wanted."
A long pause...
"Does she make you happy?"
"...Yes."
A sniff. Clenching hands. Breaking hearts.
"I love you, Kurama. Please think of me from time to time."
His body jerked in time with his silent sobs as the sorrowful tears finally sprung from his heavily clamped eyes. The road untaken, now glistening as the endless streams of salty liquid visited his cheeks and the sides of his upturned mouth for the very first time. Teeth gnashing as he tried his hardest to prevent the anguished howls and agonizing screams of the demon in him from escaping, coming out as soundless whimpers and inaudible gasps instead.
A shaky hand clutched at his heaving chest, slightly punching the taut flesh to restart the erratic organ underneath. His human heart, one he unwittingly thought was complete, now beats with a gaping hole and painfully slammed at his chest relentlessly, ruthlessly. It was like he had undergone an incomplete open heart surgery without anesthetics. This excruciating grief was nothing like the pain that his former battles had inflicted on him and he just knew, there is no escape. That, in this heartache, no amount of herbs and demon energy will be able to heal him, and no human affections that he had made himself believe was far more gratifying will be able to make it more bearable. That, in the forthcoming desolation, the sun will not shine warmly at him like it used to be, and the enlivening song of the birds will not reach his ears anymore.
If only...
After a few moments, the steady flow of the waterfall was disturbed when his arm wiped the tears that decorated his face before dulled green eyes peeked through the slits of his wet, red-rimmed and thick-lashed lids as he went over the memory of their forgotten love.
He was greedy.
She was too giving.
He was selfish.
She was too selfless.
He was blinded.
She was too compromising.
However, out of all their differences...
They fell in love.
They were happy.
But...
They ended up being cruel to one another.
A/N:
Just had to get this out of my head. I thought the story has potential. So I'll leave it here...
Apologies for any wrong grammar. This is just a product of mindless typing. Might or might not edit and continue.
Nevertheless, I hope you enjoyed it.
Thank you for reading!
Xoxo