Rose

Kurama subconsciously walked out of his history class, ignoring all sounds and sights, only concentrating on his puzzles thoughts. Although he and Botan had many classes in common, he hardly had the time to talk to her.

How cruel the world could be, he sighed inwardly.

However, a question constantly nagged him. Why was Botan here? Was it all another mission from Koenma? But... wouldn't she instantly tell them if it was an emergency?

It didn't make sense.

But he was determined to talk to her after school. For sure.

He would get his answers.

It seemed Yusuke and Kuwabara knew nothing about Botan's situation, nor did Hiei (telepathic communication), who could not attend school, or rather, he did not wish to. They were equally confused at her arrival. They undoubtedly knew nothing of the circumstances.

But Keiko knew. Her strange behavior this morning was a dead give-away.

But why hide it? Wouldn't Botan want to tell her friends that she was going to see them? That there was something important?

Wouldn't she?

Kurama shook his head in confusion. He was starting to lose his cool attitude, which was not a good thing. If all of this stress kept up, there would be no concentration left on other things. Other things that needed to be done.

Trying to clear his mind, he continued to walk to his last class of the day, which had been a long one.

On his way, the young, red-mane boy caught a glance of Botan trying desperately to avoid conversation with another boy, trying to find his courage to ask her out. He was covered in sweat, hands shaking but was determined to make small talk with the ferry girl.

A spark of a foreign emotion flared inside Kurama's heart, an emotion he had never felt before. IT was like a fire burning and blazing, consuming his last nerve.

What was it? Was it...

Jealousy?

Kurama walked even faster, trying to brush off the explanation of being envious.

But he knew the answer, and no matter how much he hated to admit it, it was true.

He was jealous...

Entering the next room, Kurama's mind just couldn't ignore the flashing picture of a bubbly blue-haired goddess in his mind.

The school bell finally rang and Kurama raced as fast as he could out of class, seeing Keiko talking with Botan. He could hardly focus on any schoolwork during his classes, too anxious to find out what was really going on between the two girls.

Going to his locker, the kitsune packed his books and met up with his friends at the school entrance, seeing that they were waiting for him to arrive. Luckily, all his after school activities were not until next week.

Putting on a smile to hide his anxiety, Kurama ran towards them, halting abruptly when he caught up with them, avoiding Botan's eyes.

By the look of her face, he knew Botan knew what he wanted to know: What was going on?!

"So. What's the deal with this school under cover school thing, Botan? New mission?" Yusuke asked as they started walking, obviously expecting a full report.

Botan sighed heavily, looking forlornly down at the ground, frowning, and a characteristic that didn't suit her. Kurama felt another spark of emotion jolt in his heart; he ignored it gladly.

"It's... it's a very long story and I don't even know all of it, according to Koenma-sama. He knows everything. All I know is that I was being stalked by a strange demon, one that Reikai doesn't even know of or hasn't identified yet. Koenma-sama believes that it is a demon searching for revenge upon my mother and father, as you know who were great and powerful gods. To protect my own being, Koenma gave me a human body and sent me to Earth with this."

With her final statement, Botan pulled out a small locket from inside her uniform. As she pulled it out, the sun's final rays glimmered upon its smooth and intricate cover, as if it, too, was drawn in by its riddles.

"Koenma-sama says it was my mother's, that she and my father wanted me to have it when they were gone."

"Do you know what it does? It looks pretty suspicious to me!" Kuwabara stated.

"It looks harmless to me," Keiko commented as she fingered the locket.

"I'll tell you all about it at Genkai's temple. That's where I'm supposed to stay for the moment, according to Koenma-sama."

As they walked back to the Sprit Wave Master's home, two bloodshot red eyes gazed upon the young deity with lustful intentions.

'Botan.... you will be mine.'

That was good, ne?

I left you on a good cliffhanger and I'll expand on Botan's past and situation soon!

Ja!