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Still Kurama's POV!
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I was still hurt over the way my human mother had yelled at me for having lied to her for the past years of my human life. The look must have shown on my face.
"Cheer up, Kurama. We'll get her fixed up in a jiffy!" Botan said, stopping at the rusty garage door of a warehouse. She frowned at the rust. "No wonder no human's bothered this. Look how bad this is. I don't know if I can get this open."
She cocked her head, continuing to study the door. "I forget if there's a backdoor somewhere," she muttered to herself. She looked up at me thoughtfully, seeming to look at me in a new light. "You can cut a hole in it."
"Are you sure you want me to do that? Once I do that, wouldn't the humans be tempted to enter this place and tamper with the barrier?"
She nodded. "The humans will all catch the Living Death within 48 hours."
I said nothing for a moment. "Is it possible for us to catch this?"
"Yes, but hopefully since we're in Makai, it'll slow the progression of it. If we hurry and find everything, I doubt we have to worry about it."
"What about Yusuke and the rest of our friends?"
She gazed at me and smiled. "It's a wonder that your hair hasn't turned gray."
"I beg your pardon?"
"You worry too much to be the reborn spirit of a Makai thief! Sometimes you think too far and stress over things. They're aware of Spirit Energy changes, they'll be immune to it for a day or so longer than everyone else." She jerked a thumb to the rusted door. "Now, get this, will you?"
I closed my eyes first, allowing my senses to detect any human-like life form within a half-mile radius. I only sensed Botan. I opened my eyes and took out a rose. I looked at it for a moment.
Blood . . .it matches the rose, as will the water in a few more seconds . . .
I shook my head to clear the memory of my attempted suicide away and twisted the rose in the breeze, manipulating the simple object into something more deadly and complex. It sounded like a link of chains falling to the ground as it landed. I raised it and flicked it at the rusty door. It immediately gave way as if I was merely attacking a wet paper bag.
I returned the rose to its original shape and noticed her studying the torn door. She glanced at me. I gave her mock bow. "After you."
She grinned at me as if everything that had happened was an inside joke just between the two of us. The suicide, the misunderstandings, and the fact that my mother was going to die and possibly us if we didn't do anything soon.
I helped her step through the opening in the door. She kneeled down on the ground, knocking the hardwood floor lightly, tilting her head to test the sound. "Aha!" A compartment opened up.
"You first," she said almost instantly.
"Me?" I repeated blankly.
"You're Mr. High and Mighty Youko, right? Go in and make sure the coast is clear. I'll go in right after you!" She shoved me in.
I felt as if I were hurtling through a bottomless abyss. Suddenly, the ground seemed to come out of nowhere. I fell unceremoniously on my face. Perfect, I thought sarcastically, quickly pushing myself to a standing position before Botan came down to see me with dirt on my face.
I dusted myself off and looked up to see Botan flying down. I positioned myself under her and caught her easily.
"Thanks! Now, for our first ingredient," she replied quickly as soon as I had set her on her feet.
I smiled inwardly at her cheerful attitude that had quickly hardened to seriousness. "What exactly do we have to find?"
She shrugged her slender shoulders. "Not much. Just a few things."
"It can't just be a few things. That list must be at least two feet long," I replied incredulously.
"No, it's only a foot and a half. I checked. Before we argue or worse, lets just go on with this."
Within five hours, we had gathered everything except for the remaining item.
"What's the last one say, Kurama?" Botan asked for the umpteenth time.
"The head of a loud-mouthed ferry girl," I replied promptly.
She gave me a pitiful look then winked at me. "No, seriously. For some reason, I can't remember it. I know you've told me more than once but it just goes out one ear."
"Asphodel." I frowned thoughtfully. "There's asphodel in Makai?"
"There is now. It's been here for about ten years already. I guess you wouldn't know since you were living as a human for the past 16 years, right?"
"Interesting."
"Sniff it out!" she remarked teasingly and patted me on the back.
I knew what she meant by 'sniffing it out'. All of the ingredients had been plants. Thankfully, the gathering of it was easy. Since Asphodel already existed in Makai, all I had to do was speed up the growth of the plants around me to tell where asphodel was going to appear.
"What's this again?" Botan replied, picking a few asphodel plants.
"You don't tire of this?" I asked, looking at her.
"Of . . .of what? Did I do something wrong?" she said honestly. I stared at her. Her eyes weren't shimmering with a joke behind them. This was serious.
"Are you feeling okay?"
"Now that you mention it, it's kind of chilly in Makai, isn't it?" She rubbed her arms and tucked the asphodel into a bag we had used to collect things.
I blinked at the answer. It was the opposite of chilly. It was quite warm here in Makai. Either she was hallucinating or I was blushing without realizing it for being in her company. I reached up as if to brush my hair away from my face. My cheeks didn't feel any warmer than they usually did when I was in a normal situation. I moved my arm without thinking to stroke Botan's cheeks lightly. They were hot.
"You're ill," I said flatly.
"What? I'm not sick! Don't tick me off, Kurama. Why don't you just go away and run crying to your mother?" she snapped, slapping my hand away.
Her word had stung me deeply, hitting a chord that didn't sound very well in my ears.
She stared at me for a moment, her jaw dropping. "Oh my gosh, did I hit you?! What's wrong with me?" She rubbed her hands against her temples as if to relieve herself of a headache.
My eyes widened in realization. The Living Death. She must have come down with it as well. The short-term memory loss and the unexpected bursts of anger were signs. She was able to fight it for short moments, but after that, she launched into another angry outburst.
"Why are you staring at me? Are you some kind of pervert? Go away!" She stomped off.
"Botan, you can't run off on your own in Makai," I said helplessly.
"As long as I'm away from you, I'll go to hell if I have to!"
I followed her. Technically, Makai was a hell, but only to the humans or Reikai people.
"Go away!" she practically screamed as I reached to grip her arm.
"Botan, I'm sorry to have to do this to you," I said, knowing that she would take what I said the entirely wrong way. I grabbed her arm first, to see if there was any possible way that she could fight it any longer.
She sobbed for a moment, her head against my chest. "I'm sorry. I-I can't help myself! You know I don't mean to do any of this," she sobbed in a strained voice.
I held her. I knew that I had no choice but to do what was needed. "It's fine. I understand."
"It's not okay. You've got so many bad things that happened to you in just a few months. Partly because of me. And now, it's too late and.. .I love you."
For a moment, I wondered if it was the real Botan talking or the Living Death. My heart thudded in the silence. "But what about Hiei?"
"Hiei doesn't matter. He-he doesn't care about me, does he?"
I opened my mouth to reply, only to be shoved to the ground.
"What are you doing?! Sicko!" she yelled, her oar coming out of nowhere, dangerously close to knocking me into submission.
I backed away at first to give me room away from her.
She dropped her oar and clutched her head. "I'm going crazy! Just follow the scroll! It tells you everything. Just hurry before I manage to kill you!"
I got to my feet and pulled out my rose whip. "Botan, if you can hear any sense in me, back away so I don't kill you."
"What, now you're scared? Big Makai thief scared of a wooden object. You're just a stupid animal."
I flinched at the insults issuing from her mouth almost as fluently as Yusuke's cursing in a bad mood. I calculated the distance between her and me and took a few steps back. I flicked the rose whip, knocking her unconscious. I grimaced at the way she pitched backward in an unnatural arch. I moved quickly behind her to catch her.
There was a scratch on her head from where the rose whip had hit her. I had managed to hit her directly in the middle of her forehead. A drop of blood oozed out. I brushed it away, kissing her brow delicately. I didn't want to do this to her. If I had managed to miscalculate by even a millimeter, I could cause her to become mentally retarded. For her sake, I had no other choice.
I lifted her up in one arm, amazed at how light she was in my arms.
Mark her. Mark her while she's asleep. She said she cares for you and we both know that you lost your mind over her, Youko hissed in my mind.
I pushed thoughts of him away. Botan might have been speaking through the Living Death. It might have been my own hopeful thoughts towards her that only led me to believe that she was speaking the truth. I grabbed the ancient scroll in my free hands.
Once all the ingredients are found, grind them into a fine powder.
That didn't sound hard, in fact it sounded too easy. I read the next line.
From atop the Mountain of Four Winds, sprinkle the powder into the winds, enabling the living creatures to be at peace yet again.
I reread it. Mountain of Four Winds? Where in the world was that?!
~~What this chappie too long? It was about 3 and a half pages. . . hope you like this and yes, people, Kurama will get his break. There was a hint of it here. Review and I'll get more up soon!~~