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Cezarina: I love suspense and you may be right... There's something dark in every chapter.
SakuraTheKitsuneGurl: From the main cast it's Kuwabara and Botan
Note
English isn't my native language but I'm trying my best. Do tell me about reoccurring error's so I can implement and improve wherever needed. Tell me what you think or theorize in the comments, they always inspire me.
Chapter 5: The eye of the storm.
They had walked towards Genkai's temple in silence. Hiei kicked the pebbles as he set foot on the trail, softly mumbling under his breath he followed Yusuke with his hands in his pockets. Yusuke had turned a few times to initiate a conversation but Hiei was reluctant, so they walked in silence instead. They stopped at the foot of the large body of stairs which would lead them to the temple at the top of the hill.
"Up we go then." Yusuke sighed as he started the long and exhausting climb to the top, keeping Hiei's shadow in his field of vision to prevent him from taking off and leaving.
The stairs were merciless, especially on Yusuke's tired physique. He reached the top ready to scold at anything that would present itself as yet another inconvenience. That inconvenience would sadly present itself as Genkai.
"You're late." Genkai hummed as she stood upon the temple's patio.
"Wow thank you for pointing that one out, grandma!" Yusuke grumbled. "I'm doing this because Koenma asked me to, he believes Hiei would run and use these powers for his various crimes."
"I told him I won't." Hiei scoffed.
"As if you've never lied in your life before." Yusuke spat back. "You didn't speak to me the entire way! You can literally plot something to kill us in our sleep and you'd still lie about it."
"I would actually not lie about that, I will kill you and Kuwara." Hiei said calmly.
"Stop your useless bickering." Genkai interrupted. "You were tasked with bringing Hiei here, which you did. Now please stop whining before I put you out of your misery."
"Oh please do!" Yusuke spread his arms. "I also have to make sure Hiei here doesn't run off during his stay. Make it qui- Ouch!" He rubbed his head on the spot where Genkai's fist connected with the back of his head.
"Dimwit." She sighed. "I need you both inside, I have some things to discuss considering this predicament, after that I'll let you go home, Yusuke. Do you really question my ability to keep him here?" Genkai motioned to the temple. "I'll make some tea." She watched him climb the stairs to the patio and disappear into the temple. They had arrived as the sun had begun to set, the stars revealing themselves behind the curtain of dark clouds which hung threateningly above the temple. She coaxed Hiei inside as she heard the rumbling of thunder edging closer.
They got inside just in time as the rain started to pour, Hiei and Yusuke sat themselves down as Genkai brought a pitcher with hot water into the room.
"So, tell me." Genkai began as she filled the teapot with hot water, the leaves inside already distributing their flavor into the hot liquid. "How did you manage to absorb it? It isn't even closely resemblant to the dragon."
"It's more alike than you might expect." Hiei answered. "I had to break down my own mental barriers with both the Dragon as with this."
"I still don't know what it is exactly, I was hoping you could answer that question for me." Yusuke added.
"I am indeed able to tell you what it is." Genkai stood and made her way to a pile of books on one of the other tables in the room. Taking one book from the pile she returned to Hiei. "It is known as the 'Owaranai Yami'." She handed him the book which he passed on to Yusuke.
"I've heard of that once." Hiei said as he passed it to Yusuke who opened it on the bookmarked page. "It's a myth."
"Not anymore." Genkai pointed to a paragraph in the book. "The documented effects are a lot like those you encountered."
Yusuke hovered his eyes over the paragraph, reading the words and connecting those to the events from their weekend in Makai. "Withering of trees and plants resulting in death as their energy is stripped from their roots to feed the infection.. It is described as an infection here." He eyed Genkai who motioned him to keep reading. "Wildlife who consume said infected vegetation will carry it forward until it is killed and eaten by another kin, if consumed by a suitable and fit candidate on top of it's food chain, it will manifest and motivate it's host to spread and find the source of power which initiated the infection's existence... But I'm not.."
"That is true, it didn't infect you because you didn't consume or use your energy on it, It didn't affect Hiei because it is a product created by the Owaranai Yami to find it's other halves quicker, a divarication. You've absorbed Owaranai Yami, not it's divarication." Genkai explained. "Continue."
"If said Demon isn't suitable, the infection will use it as a source to find a suitable candidate." Yusuke grimaced. "So this thing that is created by Yami is turning demon world into its own blockbuster zombie flick?"
"No you idiot." Hiei scoffed. "It is using them to spread to new hosts by having them killed and eaten by others, not the other way around."
"It's not quite like a zombie flick, they don't become brainless hosts, one can actually live with it for a long time." Genkai said as she filled the cups with tea.
"How do they know? Has it escaped once before?" Yusuke asked.
"No, but when Yami inherited, or rather stole that power he was subconsciously infecting the grass he walked on, which was eaten by animals which were in turn killed and eaten by members of his clan. That is how it climbs up the food chain." Setting the teapot back down, Genkai cupped her hands around the heated porcelain.
"So you can get infected by either eating it or manipulating your energy in it?" Yusuke asked.
"Indeed." Genkai said after taking a sip or her tea. Looking outside she saw the rain had subsided to barely nothing. "I think it's best for you to go home before the storm gets worse again, Yusuke."
He nodded, downed his tea and grabbed his coat. "Promise you'll stay here, Hiei. For all of us." Yusuke said as he buttoned up his coat.
"Hmn."
It sounded good enough for Yusuke, he bowed and thanked Genkai before exiting the temple and running down the stairs, disappearing into the streets below, shrouded in the dark veil of night.
Genkai waited until she didn't sense him anymore, confirming he had indeed left completely before turning back towards Hiei. "What have you seen?"
...
Yusuke opened the door to the residence he shared with Keiko, took off his shoes, placing them neatly next to Keiko's and hung his coat in the closet before slipping into the living room. The room was dimly lit as one light was left on, whenever Yusuke would go out with the thought of not coming home before midnight, Keiko would leave a light on to not leave him blinded in his own house.
He smiled as a note on the table caught his eye. 'Yusuke, I suppose you'll return late at night, there is lasagna in the fridge, place it in the oven on 220c for 25 minutes. P.s.: Don't forget to shower before coming to bed. Love you. X Keiko." Yusuke shoveled towards the kitchen where he retrieved the tray of lasagna from the fridge. Shoving it on a plate, he placed it in the oven, set a timer and made his way to the bathroom.
It was when he looked into the mirror that he realized how haggard he looked, his hair was a mess with some locks poking out from it's formerly slicked style. He took a comb to detangle the painful mess of hair, dirt and dried up hair gel after which he opened the stream of water in the shower and undressed. The water washed away the dirt and gel allowing his hair to loosen up and fall down his forehead.
He had washed his hair twice before the water turned clear. Drying his hair and body he slipped into clean boxer shorts before making his way back into the kitchen to fetch his food.
The timer went as soon as he laid his hands on the oven's handle. Taking a pair of oven mitts to carefully take his plate out and onto the table where he ate with glee.
He turned off the light and made his way into the bedroom after cleaning his plate to find Keiko already slumbering under the king sized sheets. He slipped underneath the blankets, careful not to wake her but he mentally kicked himself as the bed creaked under his weight, waking Keiko in the process.
"Hmn, Yusuke? Is that you?" She mumbled softly.
"Yeah it's me." He whispered. "Go back to sleep, it's late."
"What time is it?" She kept her eyes closed as her slurred speech testified to her half woken state.
"It's a little past twelve." He replied softly, settling underneath the blankets he slipped one arm underneath the nape of Keiko's neck.
"Oh, I knew you were gon' be late." She rolled closer to him, nuzzling into his chest as she curled up in his embrace. "You showered... Good. I missed you" She mumbled before sleep took over once more.
Yusuke smiled, his eyelids getting heavier as the sheets emitted a comfortable warmth.
He didn't dream, it was as if he just blinked and the sun shone bright through the curtains blocking the window. One streak of sunlight found itself imprinted on the sheets, giving him enough light to see Keiko had already left the bed, her side no longer warm. Soft rattling from the kitchen pulled him closer to consciousness.
Keiko turned as he emerged from the bedroom. "Good grieve you sleep like the dead! It's almost time for me to start lunch service down in the noodle bar."
"Yeah yeah I'm sorry, had a long weekend." He smiled sheepishly and sat down at the dinner table.
"Well, I'm glad you've returned in one piece." She smiled as she poured him a cup of coffee. "How did it go?"
"Smooth." Yusuke rubbed his eyes. "We got there easily, Kurama talked to some trees, Kuwabara slipped in the mud every five minutes and after Hiei absorbed the thing, we left." He took a sip of his coffee. "Oh and Genkai explained what it is, seems it's a myth which isn't quite a myth anymore but an actual dark force which was once inherited by a demon named Yami thousands of years ago, sealed into three artifacts by a spirit detective and was now running lose cause some knucklehead decided to set it free."
Keiko arched her eyebrow in confusion. "Seems like serious business. So what now?"
"Genkai is lecturing and training Hiei, trying to at least, to contain it. Kurama will restore the fo- FUCK!" Yusuke shot up from his seat.
"What is it?" Keiko stammered as she was taken back by the sudden explosion.
"I just remember that the Yami thing has a divarication, some kind of infection which will harm anyone and anything that either feeds off of it or manipulates its energy in it. None of us know if it's actually gone so Kurama would be in danger were he to restore the forest." Yusuke took his cell phone and dialed Genkai's number, she answered it immediately. "Genkai tell me if I'm wrong but if that divarication thing is still active in the forest we can't send Kurama to fix it yet cause-."
"I know and I've already informed Koenma about it." Genkai interrupted. "Don't you worry, we got this covered but I really have to continue Yusuke, glad you're doing fine." With that she hung up the call, leaving Yusuke gasping for breath like a fish on dry land.
"Seems everything is going to be fine, Yusuke." Keiko took the cell phone from him and coaxed him to sit back down on his chair. "You're just a bit heated, don't worry about the noodle shop either, I can handle lunch service on my own." She patted his back. "Go and hang out with Kuwabara or something, have some fun. You had a long and probably exhausting weekend."
"You're right." Yusuke sighed. "I will hop over to Kuwabara's place, see how he's doing."
"Good man." She kissed his cheek before putting on her apron and making her way downstairs to open the restaurant for lunch.
Yusuke placed his cup in the sink after finishing his coffee. He changed into a pair of jeans and a white shirt, slicking his hair back and brushed his teeth before leaving the house. The streets were as lively as any other Monday, most residents have already started work and it took him just a few minutes before he reached the Kuwabara residence.
He knocked on the door and smiled as Shizuru opened. "Yo Shizfizz, Kuwabara told me he doesn't have school on Mondays so I thought I'd pop over to see how he's doing, ya know?"
Shizuru glared at him at the mention of her nickname. "I've never given you approval to use that nickname but I'll beat my brother's ass for telling you later. He's home indeed but he caught a cold. You can come in and keep him company." To which he nodded. She opened the door more, allowing him inside.
Taking off his shoes he paused before climbing the stairs. Shizuru held out a tray with toast, water, tea and some aspirins. "Take this to him while you're at it."
He took the tray and made his way upstairs, kicking in the door with his foot. "What'd I hear? You caught a dose of flu? Bet you didn't order that when you returned from our little trip to demon world, did you?" He snickered at the whimpering heap hiding underneath the blanket.
"And here I thought I could finally have a day without you scolding at me." He poked his head out from underneath the crisp white sheets. "What's that?" Motioning at the tray in Yusuke's hands.
"Your caring sister gave this to me, some tea and aspirins will get you back on your feet in no time!" Yusuke set the tray down on the desk and took a seat on Kuwabara's chair.
"Caring, my ass." He scoffed, covering his head again.
"Now now, be glad someone is willing to care for you. Shizfizz can be kind." He crossed his legs.
"You called her Shizfizz?!" Kuwabara shot up from his bed, immediately regretting his decision as his headache threatened to split his head in two. He fell back down onto the pillow, his hands on his aching head as the ceiling seemed to spin. "I vomited twice this morning."
"Ew TMI!" Yusuke waved him off. "It's your own fault for being clumsy, you were basically rolling in mud at one point."
"I can't help the mud being so fucking slippery." Kuwabara moaned. "Hand me one of those aspirins will ya? My head is killing me."
"Here you go." Yusuke handed him the aspirin together with the glass of cold water. "Need help?"
"No thank you." Kuwabara said as he slowly pushed himself into a sitting position. "I don't need you wiping my ass for me."
"Sure man, but know that when it does go that way, I will be the best ass wiper out there." Yusuke laughed, earning a giggle from Kuwabara which slowly turned into a coughing fit. He waited for it to subside before placing the aspirin on his tongue and swallowing it down with some water.
Yusuke took the empty cup from him and placed it back onto the tray. "You should eat something." Eying the piece of toast on the tray.
"Sounds good." Kuwabara said. "I haven't eaten anything yet."
"Then please eat." Yusuke scooted over, laying the toast on Kuwabara's lap. He propped up some pillows, allowing Kuwabara to lean against them.
"Thanks man. Appreciate it." Kuwabara said sincerely as he took a bite. "Hear from the others yet?"
"Well I called Genkai this morning, she's busy with Hiei so I suspect he's doing fine as well. Haven't heard from Kurama yet, he's probably busy." Yusuke ran a hand through his hair, his fingers getting stuck in the tangled strands.
"We should probably give him a call." Kuwabara requested.
"I think he wants to be left alone." Yusuke yanked his hand out of his hair, pulling some loose strands with him. "We can try, see if he picks up." Yusuke reached into his pocket and unlocked his phone, selecting Kurama's name from the contact list. "Here we go." He said as he clicked the call icon.
The phone rang for a few minutes before switching to voicemail. "See? He wants to be left alone." Yusuke was about to end the call before Kuwabara snatched the phone from his grasp. "Hey!" Yusuke exclaimed but silenced as the beep initiated the voice recording.
"Hey Kurama, Kuwabara here, with Urameshi of course." Kuwabara began. "We're just wondering how you're doing, after last weekend. Give us a call or a text or something, we'll be in touch." With that he ended the call and handed the phone back to Yusuke. "See? That wasn't that bad. He'll contact you when he's not busy."
"Yeah you're right." Locking his phone he placed it back into his pocket. "Now your priority is getting better." He took the plate off of Kuwabara's lap as he finished the toast. "Get back underneath those sheets."
...
A soft buzzing sound reached his ears, making him stir. Kurama opened his eyes slightly and squinted as the sun shone through his window right into his face. He grumbled and pulled the sheets over his head as he realized he had forgotten to close them. The buzzing sound emerged again, this time louder as Kurama's mind returned to a conscious state. The buzzing stopped after a few minutes, leaving the room quiet once more. He turned and snatched the phone from his nightstand as it buzzed yet again.
Focusing his eyes on the blurry letters on his screen, he blinked until they became legible. The call disconnected before he was able to read the caller ID. Swiping down he entered his notification list, twenty messages, nine missed calls. He sighed as he rubbed the sleep from his eyes. He was about to call back when the phone buzzed again for a tenth call, this time he could read the name plastered on the screen 'Botan'.
Kurama's heart skipped a beat as he realized she had called him ten times, he nervously took the call. "Botan?"
"Thank god!" Her voice blasted through the speaker against his ear, he grimaced as his head felt like it could fall off at any moment. Botan's high pitched yell didn't help his morning migraine any. Her voice continued as he held the phone a few inches from his head. "I called you about eight times!"
Kurama frowned. 'Eight times? Might have been Hatanaka, has he not received my text?'
"Anyways." Botan continued. "I'm in front of your door."
"Ah." Kurama croaked. "I'll be right up."
"Thank you." Botan said before she ended the call.
Kurama threw the blankets off of him, he shivered as the cool air hit his skin, no longer protected by thick comfy sheets. Pushing himself into a sitting position, he swung his legs off of the bed. His head ached more than usual and he gently massaged his temples until the pressure subsided slightly, his vision spun as he looked down, still in his sweatpants and loose blouse he took an elastic band from his dresser and pulled his hair up into a loose bun.
Botan waited in front of his door, she sighed in relief as she finally heard life on the other side of the door. Kurama opened the door with a stifled yawn and Botan was taken aback by his appearance.
"You look like you haven't slept in days?!" Botan shot forward and entered his apartment. "I thought you'd get some rest."
"I thought you had work today." Kurama mumbled. "That you'd visit me on Tuesday."
"It... It's Tuesday.." Botan frowned as she saw Kurama blink in confusion, taking his phone out of his pocket as he viewed the time and date.
"It's Tuesday." Kurama replied flabbergasted.
"You're not going to tell me you slept for two whole days." Botan shook her head. "Not when I find you looking like a total trash panda." She watched Kurama who was searching for words but couldn't find them.
"You actually slept for two whole days. You haven't even cleaned your stuff." She picked up the bag and coat, hanging his coat in the closet. "And your plants are dying from malnourishment."
Kurama didn't acknowledge her words as his head acted up again, he squeezed his eyes shut as the light intensified the pulsating pressure, getting more intense as the seconds passed. He leaned back against the door, his palm firmly pressed against his forehead as he slumped against his only form of support.
Botan stopped her rambling as she saw his discomfort, leaving heavily against the closed door with his hand pressed against his forehead. She dropped the bag in the corner of the hallway and reached forward, softly cupping his face with one hand as she pressed the other against his neck. The alarm bells in her head were on overdrive as she moved from his neck to his forehead.
"You're burning up." She said worriedly, removing her hands from Kurama's skin she moved to the living room and retrieved a fleece blanket from underneath the coffee table. "Couch, now." She kept her eyes on him as he moved to the living room and slid down upon the couch, covering him with the blanket as he settled.
"Stay there, I guess you haven't eaten yet either considering you just got out of bed." Botan moved to the kitchen.
"No I haven't." Came Kurama's hoarse reply. "Guess I don't have any food in the fridge either. Forgot to do groceries."
She opened the fridge to find it deprived of ingredients. "I'll have to do some shopping for you cause you're not going anywhere." She closed the fridge and slid back into her coat.
"Here." Kurama took his wallet from the coffee table, handing it to Botan. "The code is my birthday, 1229."
"Thanks." She took it and slipped it into her pocket. "How bout you take a bath while I'm out? It'll help warm you up."
"I will." Kurama blinked slowly. "Oh, can you look into that dresser for me?"
"Sure." Botan said as she walked towards the dresser and opened the drawer. "What do you need?"
"You see the key on the left?"
"Yes, this one?" Botan took the key and held it up for him to see.
"Yes." Kurama confirmed. "I'd like you to have it, it's the key to my apartment, I don't want to lock you out again."
Botan smiled and added the key to her keychain. "I'll start the bath for you, don't worry if I'm back before you're finished, take your time."
Kurama smiled as Botan moved to the bathroom, the sound of streaming water reaching his ears. She returned and laid her hand upon his forehead and neck again before leaving. "I'll be back in about an hour." She said before closing the door behind her.
Kurama felt his eyelids becoming heavier but fought against it, pushing himself off of the couch he retrieved some clean clothes including a fresh pair of sweatpants and a blouse. He placed them neatly on the bathroom stool together with a crisp white towel. As the bath filled, he regularly checked the temperature before turning off the faucet and slipping out of his clothes, dropping them into the laundry basket.
The warm water soothed his still sore muscles, balancing an office job and occasional Makai trips had taken its toll on him. He rested his head on the side of the tub as his eyelids became too heavy to keep them open. He deeply inhaled the steam emitted from the lavender scented bath as he closed his eyes.
A sharp pop made him open his eyes again, the water in the bath had gone lukewarm, he muttered under his breath as he saw the bathroom was plunged into darkness. He lifted himself out of the water wondering how long he had been out. He reached into the tub and pulled out the plug before blindly finding his way to the stool on which he had placed the towel. He quickly dried his hair and grabbed the fresh pair of clothes waiting for him on the stool, hanging the towel around his shoulders he walked out of the bathroom, finding Botan hadn't returned yet he assumed the hour hadn't passed yet.
Kurama opened the spare drawer in his kitchen, retrieving a spare lightbulb. He opened the door to the bathroom to allow as much light in as possible before taking the stool and positioning it underneath the broken light. He was able to comfortably reach the ceiling and carefully unscrewed the broken lightbulb, rattling it to confirm it had indeed snapped. The slurping sound of the water going down the drain intensified as the bath was almost emptied.
Taking the new lightbulb, he screwed it into the socket, a burning flash of light emitted as the bulb was activated, temporarily blinding Kurama as he stepped down and reached for the doorpost for support. His eyes adjusted after a few seconds and he looked around the bathroom, his sight still blurry. He turned towards the tub as it slurped down the last remnants of blackened water.
...
Botan passed the vegetable aisle as she made her way to the fruit section, the walk took her about ten minutes which she used to think of what she should cook him. Remembering the times she got sick, she decided to make him some chicken soup as it was always her go-to food whenever she felt under the weather.
She eyed the medicine rack as she stood in line to check out, quickly snatching a pack of aspirins and ibuprofen before laying all the groceries upon the register, smiling back at the cashier as she paid and packed everything in her bag. She hurried her pace after telling the time, the hour had already passed when she reached the apartment building. Fumbling with her keychain, she found the one needed to open the door and scooted inside, closing the door with her foot.
"I'm back!" She exclaimed as she hopped into the living room.
"Welcome back." Kurama looked up from the newspaper he was reading.
"I knew that bath would help cheer you up." She said as she stored the groceries away in cupboards and the fridge, taking out the pack of aspirins, she popped one open and filled a glass with water. She handed him the items together with a tangerine. "Take a few slices of tangerine before taking the aspirin, medication doesn't work that well on an empty stomach. Speaking off; I'm making chicken soup, I'm sure you'll love it."
"I'm intrigued." He peeled the skin of the tangerine back and took a few slices before taking the medicine.
"Good, I hope you're hungry." Botan turned the stove on, slapping a big pan on top of it. "I'm making a lot so you can freeze some for later."
Kurama continued reading the paper as she cooked, the fleece blanket snugly around his shoulders, his hair neatly tied in a ponytail. He folded the paper back up after a few minutes, taking the remote and switching on the tv. Followed her with his eyes as she took off her apron and sat next to him on the couch.
"I'll let it simmer on the stove for a little while." She bent towards Kurama, softly smelling his hair. "Lavender?"
"It's soothing." Kurama whispered.
"I like it." Botan said as she pecked a kiss on his cheek before placing her hands on his neck and forehead again. "Your fever has lowered a bit. I'm glad."
"The aspirin is doing its job." Kurama smiled as he handed her the remote. "You pick something, I am indecisive about what I want to watch."
Botan took the remote and sapped through the channels, landing on a well known talk show. "Bet you've ever watched this."
"That's true. It can be funny so I don't mind it at all." Kurama stifled a yawn.
"Are you tired?" Botan grabbed the edges of the blanket, wrapping it around Kurama a little more. "You have to keep yourself warm."
Kurama stretched his arms towards her, pulling her closer as he wrapped the blanket around them both. "So do you."
They sat on the couch, Botan leaning on Kurama's chest as he rested his chin upon her head. They would occasionally giggle at the remarks from the talk show host but none of them were actually watching. Kurama tightened his grip as she sighed deeply. "Something on your mind?" He whispered.
"No I probably have to get up and tend to dinner but I don't want to get up." She curled up underneath the blanket but shot up as her stomach started to rumble. She hurried to the stove and took the lid off of the pan to take a sniff. Kurama heard her hum happily as the rattling of bowls and utensils echoed through the room. "You coming? It's ready."
Kurama got up from underneath the blanket and sat down at the high table in the kitchen. He was presented with a steaming bowl of soup. "Lot's of vitamins and vegetables." Botan smiled as she took a seat opposite of him with another bowl.
He eyed the steaming liquid for a while, the scent was pleasant and his stomach was screaming for sustenance.
"You don't have to eat it all." Botan comforted. "As long as you eat something."
Taking the spoon in his hand he thanked her before taking a sip, the broth sliding down his throat and soothing it like it was honey. He smiled in content as his stomach didn't protest against it as he thought it would. He emptied his bowl and was about to clean it before Botan stepped in and snatched it.
"No need, you just get back under that blanket." She laughed as she opened the dishwasher, placing the bowl in the rack.
Kurama went back to the couch and pulled out his phone, settling back underneath the blanket while scrolling through missed messages.
'Don't worry champ, we got it covered. Rest up and we'll see you soon!' Hatanaka replied. Kurama swiped it away, not feeling the need to answer. He noticed the notification of a voicemail in his inbox.
"What is it?" Botan asked curiously as she settled next to Kurama.
"Yusuke left me a voicemail." Kurama arched his eyebrow as he played it. 'Hey Kurama, Kuwabara here, with Urameshi of course. We're just wondering how you're doing, after last weekend. Give us a call or a text or something, we'll be in touch.' Kurama snickered and locked his phone.
"You're not going to answer it?" Botan asked.
"I don't feel like it at the moment." He said honestly.
"Understandable." Botan nodded. "Contact them tomorrow when you feel a bit better."
Kurama hummed in approval and wrapped the blanket around the both of them again. The talk show had ended and made way for an old school romcom. Botan resumed her position against Kurama's chest. "I could fall asleep like this." She whispered gently.
"Same." Kurama responded.
The hours passed as they both had fallen into a light slumber, occasionally woken by commercials which would play at a louder volume than the show. After a few more moments, Kurama swallowed thickly as his throat started to feel numb, his stomach suddenly protesting. He shifted uncomfortably, causing Botan to look up at him in wonder.
"Are you okay?" She asked as she reached out for his forehead. Her eyes drifted to the clock on the wall. "23:30, we should go to bed." She waited for a response but frowned as she saw the color leave his skin, his eyes closed in discomfort.
Botan was about to repeat her first question when Kurama suddenly stood from his spot and stumbled into the bathroom, closing the door behind him.
Kurama kneeled in front of the toilet just in time before he started to retch, emptying the contents of his stomach which was followed by a wave of acidic bile. He moaned painfully as it burned his throat lining in the process. The first waved passed but was quickly followed by a second one, this one consisting of only bile and stomach acid. He pressed his head against the toilet seat before a third wave forced him back. He took a shaking breath as he realized the convulsions were over, he slowly opened his eyes and froze.
"Are you okay?" Botan's voice pulled him back to reality.
"Yeah." He replied shakily, eying the spots of black matter before flushing them down the toilet.
Yaayaa, next upload won't be this quick as I'm approaching the deadline of my school assessment.
How'd you like the length of the chapters btw?
See you soon in chapter 6.