-Tricked-
-Chapter Summary- After Kurama battled Karasu, they have to get ready to leave the island. What awaits them this time? Is it good? Or bad? Will a choice be made?-
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Chapter 23 - Forfeit
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Botan flipped the page of her book. She threw a side-glance to Kurama, who was packing his stuff. They were leaving soon and Botan had been ready for an hour now.
"I told you not to wait until the last minute." She said, her eyes scanning the words on the page. She didn't glance up but she was aware of him sending her glares. She turned the page and blew a bubble with her gum.
"Don't blow it too big. I doubt Keiko or Shizuru will feel like helping you get gum out of your hair." She snapped the book shut and threw it at him. It hit him in the head.
"I'll be making you help me." He picked the book up. She frowned at him when he zippered up the duffle bag. She sighed, picking her stuff up. She grabbed her book from him and took the lead. They met the group, who was waiting for Kuwabara.
"I swear, he's the slowest person I know." Yuusuke said, crossing his arms. "I have never seen anyone as slow as him." Keiko slapped his arm.
"Stop fussing and complaining." Kurama went to talk to Hiei and Botan excused herself to go to the bathroom. Kurama watched her until she disappeared.
"Don't worry so much, kitsune." Hiei's Jagan glowed a little under the bandana. Kurama felt a little better. "She can take care of herself." Hiei also knew the feeling of anxiousness. She was his good friend and, as long as he could, he would try to protect her. She came back into their sight, looking in a little compact. She closed it and stuffed it in her purse. Kurama recognized that compact. He had a sudden sinking feeling.
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Botan sort of avoided Kurama on the way to the boat that was taking them back. She stayed near Keiko and talked to her. The boat rocked and sent spray from the water onto its passengers. Kurama walked over to the girls and Keiko left them alone, saying she wanted to go talk to Yuusuke. Kurama sat down next to Botan.
"B, you've been avoiding me." She sat there and looked the other way, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She didn't respond. "Why are you doing this?" He asked softly. He turned her face to look into her eyes. He was surprised. They were emotionless and empty. "I think I know what its about." She turned away from him again. He sighed and looked the other way, at the droplets of spray coming over the railing of the boat. Suddenly, Botan leaned her head on his shoulder.
"No, you don't." She whispered. She had the look of a fighter. A look that concealed all emotion. "Koenma wants me to stop fighting. He said that he needs me in Reikai more." She didn't find the little godling at fault, but she wanted to continue fighting and training. She wanted to grow in her skills. How was she going to do that when she was sitting on an oar? Kurama had nothing to say to that. "I don't want to start ferrying again. I like fighting. I like the exhilaration of being in the ring, not really knowing if you'll win or lose. Hiei helped me unlock a different part of myself. He helped me."
"Maybe you should talk to him about it. Then again, he might threaten Koenma for trying to get you to stop." He leaned back and looked down at her. "He talked to me before about you and him. He feels as though you're his apprentice. He wants to teach you everything he knows." It was true. One of their times training. It was, in fact, just before they fought the demons in the cave.
"I want to learn everything he knows." She let her gaze go to the wet and unhappy koorime. "But I might have to forfeit my position as a ferry girl." She smiled slightly. "Either I forfeit fighting or ferrying." She looked totally undecided.
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Botan approached Hiei dressed in her fighting outfit. She watched as he trained. Sweat gleamed on his skin and his breathing was evened out.
"Hiei?" He stopped and turned around. She looked at him with no emotion. She was holding her katana, still in its sheath, in her hands. "I was.. maybe hoping we could battle one last time." He stared at her, not fully understanding the sentence.
"One last time?" He asked, blinking. "Am I going somewhere? Or are you?" She shook her head and frowned.
"Well.. I might be. I have to choose. I have to forfeit either fighting or ferrying and I was hoping that this last match might give me an idea." He stared at her as she strapped the katana to her back and drew the blade. "Please?" He narrowed his eyes. She looked down and almost dropped the weapon. He shot forward, preparing an attack. He was suddenly aiming at air. She almost landed a kick on his back but he dodged. He stood there with a smirk on his face.
"Not half-bad. But you'll have to do better to beat me!" She blocked his attacks with accuracy. She could feel her blade vibrate. He pushed her back with it and she tightened her grip on the hilt of the katana. She transferred energy to the blade, concealing it by flaring her own. He came at her with another series of attacks. She blocked each one and turned her defensive into offensive. She caught him with a spirit attack. She made it so that even if he dodged the attack, the extra energy exerted from it would hit him. "Nice." He commented, panting slightly. "You're becoming better."
"And so are you." She smiled and raced at him. They continued to fight with each other.
Botan collapsed by the tree and caught her breath. She looked over at Hiei, who dropped down next to her. He looked a little tired. It really was a pointless match. Botan lost, of course, because Hiei was so much stronger than she was. But she just wanted to feel the exhilaration. He looked over at her. He had to wonder if it was at all possible to change her mind about her decision if she chose to ferry. He could see the conflict in her eyes. She was being pulled between something she wanted to do and something that she had done for a long time.
"Don't feel pressured." He gazed at her then looked out over the clearing. Some blood stained the green blades of grass. "Do whatever you want to. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks or what you choose. A piece of each will always remain with you." She never knew such words could come from the cold koorime.
"I know." She answered quietly. She could feel each passion pulling with equal strength. This burden was weighting heavily on her. She could feel the pain of losing each. Her will to want to fight was over-powering. She closed her eyes.
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Botan lay on her bed in Genkai's temple. She stared at the ceiling. One or the other. Life or death. That was the real conflict. She could not remain as a spirit if she were to choose fighting. She would need to be brought back. She would also need to decide what she would be if she were to come back. She didn't want to be a human. She would be as weak as before. She really wished that she could just flip a coin and solve the entire thing. But it wasn't that easy. This was the rest of her life or.. the eternity of death.
"Botan?" Kurama knocked on the door and opened it. He stood there looking at her before going in and closing the door behind her. "I heard from Hiei about your match today." He was almost hesitant to bring the matter up.
"Really? What did he say?" She sat up and made room for him on the edge. He sat down.
"He said that the more he fights you or watches you fight.. the more he realizes that you're the perfect apprentice." He looked over at her. "He said that he doesn't wish to intrude on your decision and that he was just being truthfully honest." He paused. It seemed like forever to her before he spoke again. "It is your choice. None of us are going to intrude." She felt anger swell up inside of her. She glared at him.
"I know that! It's not that easy, Kurama." She narrowed her tear-filled eyes at him. "I have to choose life or death. What I have now is only death. I have a human form. I can feel things. When I'm in my spirit form.. I can barely feel the wind on my face. No one notices me.. only those who can see me. I can't touch when I'm a spirit. I can have a human form on the oar, sure. And that's what I've been doing. But.. I won't be able to if I choose ferrying."
"What are you saying?" He was horrified. She was crying and looking at him pleadingly.
"I am merely a soul with a form. Look." She held her hand out and touched his face. It went right through. "I can't feel you." She whispered. "I can't touch anything, except for whatever is spiritual. But I can't feel it. If I choose to ferry.. I would lose more than the training and fighting.. I would lose you.."
"No.." He wanted to hug her and never let go. He didn't want to lose her.
"If I choose fighting, then I could remain with you and have a form. I would be real and solid.." She touched his face and he felt the warmth of her skin against his. "Like this." It was obvious that it was a hard decision. She would lose all connection with Reikai, unless she remained as a fighter with them. But she would never be able to float on an oar or anything like that. "I think the decision is obvious." She looked away from him. "I can't leave you and the others.." She smiled bitterly. "But such is my life.. in death."
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Botan stood on the lookout of Reikai. Koenma looked at her sadly.
"I know that you made the decision that will truly make you happy. Jump into the portal. I'm sure they will be waiting." She hugged him and held in her tears.
"I will remember you always, Koenma-sama." And with that, she backed up and turned around, jumping off the edge. She was absorbed into a blue portal that would take her directly to the clearing at Genkai's temple. She fell through the other side, glowing with a blue aura. Before she hit the ground, she stopped and the blue light shone brighter. She could feel a change in her body. Then she was jolted back to normal. The spell faded and she fell the remaining way and hit the ground. She could feel her body jolt. She could feel something different about herself. She sat up and looked at her hands and her body. The blue glow was faint and she was just her normal self.. or so she thought.
"Botan.." Kurama stepped toward her and kneeled down next to her. He took her curly hair and twirled it around his finger. He smirked. "My angel." She was a little startled. He gestured that she look over her shoulder. She did and her heart nearly stopped. Wings.. the feathers were as white as the snow and the tips of them were silver. She looked at him, her eyes wide in surprise. "Koenma chose correctly."
"What?" She asked, a little startled.
"He chose the being of the demon realm that best suited you. An angel. There, they really do exist." He then stood back up, bringing her with him. The blue glow faded and so did everything else. She was back to normal. Hiei stepped forward and Kurama moved away. The koorime smirked at her and held out her katana.
"I believe this belongs to you." She took it and noticed that it was different. "I added a few things. I wrote on the blade. It was an old incantation that master taught to apprentice. All masters wrote it on the blade." She drew it and touched the neat lettering. "The sheath is a little different. Fitted best for a demon of your nature."
"You knew?" He smirked.
"I have my ways, apprentice. Tomorrow is training. 4:30 as usual. We'll need to warm up on your skills. The transformation will have rusted those moves of yours." He turned around and disappeared into the forest without a backward glance.
"You do know the duties of your demon form, don't you?" Kurama asked. "After Hiei is done with you, I'll let you have a small break. Then you will need to learn some very important things."
"Wait!" She shook her head. "I don't think he gave me the demon form. He might have just given me the amount of time to live.. Like, you know, the longevity." He shrugged.
"Might as well see, right?"
"I didn't ask to be a demon. I did ask him to make certain that I wasn't entirely a demon.." He seemed to understand. "I have a demon's spirit."
"That makes you a demon." She smiled.
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah." He smiled then walked away after Hiei. Yuusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara were left to stare at her. She turned around and smiled at them.
"Are you going to stare or come and give me a hug?" Yuusuke smirked and stepped forward, but Kuwabara beat him to it. She retured the embrace then parted from him and threw her arms around the Spirit Detective.
"What was that all about?" He asked, hugging her back. She tightened her grip on his shirt.
"I chose fighting.. I chose life."
"Over your job? So you mean.. I'm hugging a real person?" She nodded.
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Kurama woke up in the middle of the night, covered in beads of sweat. The pitter-patter of rain hitting the wooden paneling of the temple made it hard to focus his hearing on one thing. The window was open, the curtains billowing in the breeze. The room was filled with a dense fog, reminding him of the one that came out of the Idunn Box. He looked down at Botan, barely being able to see her face. He got out of bed, taking quiet, cautious steps toward the door. He sensed something. It wasn't right. He ran outside, feeling the damp grass against his bare feet. He stopped, spotting something. It was like his vision was blurry. He could barely make out anything five feet in front of his face. Two red gleaming eyes lit up and he relaxed slightly.
"So you sense it too, Hiei. I thought it might be just me." Kurama saw the koorime in full now that he was walking out in front of him.
"Something does not seem right." Hiei's voice was quiet, expectant. The small features of his face were calm, smooth. There were no lines of weariness in his face.
"No doubts that something is out there waiting for us." Kurama's expression gave nothing away. His eyes maintained a cold, mirror-like look. "What shall we do?"
"This power is nothing like I have ever felt before, kitsune. We will not catch them." He reached up and took his bandana off. His eyes widened.
"What is it? What do you see?"
"I can see nothing.. but-" He fell backwards and Kurama hurried to catch him. Sweat beaded on Hiei's forehead and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. Kurama could hardly breathe. The power was suffocating him.
"Hiei. Wake up. Right now." He lowered himself and the koorime to the ground. He shielded the fallen demon with his body as a surge of black lightening crackled and materialized. He tried not to cry out as it struck him in the back.
'Let me kill the koorime! He has caused me enough damage!'
The voice didn't seem real. Kurama clutched Hiei tighter and hoped that no more pain would come to him. A bright flash of light and a strong wind chased the fog and lightening away. Nothing remained. Kurama was too busy worrying about the life of his friend to look back.
"Hiei, wake up." He was completely clue-less. He was helpless. How was he going to help his friend? The koorime showed no signs of waking.
"He is unconscious. Carry him inside." Botan's voice seemed far away to Kurama. He gingerly lifted his friend off the ground and carried him inside. They set him in his bed. Kurama couldn't stop the worry from coming to his expression. "What's going on?"
"Someone is after Hiei." He closed his eyes. "I don't know who, either. I have to stop whoever is planning to kill him."
"I'm going to help you. I found that I can use my demonic powers."
"Botan, I don't want you hurt. No way am I going to risk your life." She crossed her arms.
"You made me leave last time. I'm not going to stand around-" He cut her off by covering her lips with his.
"Protect Hiei for me. I may not survive this but I'm going to stop it." She stood there, unable to say anything. He left her, walking out the door. She stared at her feet.
"Where is the kitsune?" She looked up. Hiei was sitting up, tying his bandana back over his Jagan.
"Hiei, you have to stop him. He said someone was after you! Please, he was going to go after and stop whoever it was." She was close to tears. "Let me come with you. I'm not standing by to wait for the results. You can still catch him before he gets into danger." He grabbed her hand, pulling her into his arms.
"I am not waiting this time, either." He jumped out the window and ran as fast as he could without recovering from the incident.
"He's so worried that you're going to get killed. Let me handle any fight that comes our way." He didn't answer but sped up. He sensed that Kurama was not too far away.
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Hope you liked this chapter. I liked it. =P C'mon.. You know you want to review! I almost have 200! Woo!
-Jess
-Chapter Summary- After Kurama battled Karasu, they have to get ready to leave the island. What awaits them this time? Is it good? Or bad? Will a choice be made?-
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Chapter 23 - Forfeit
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Botan flipped the page of her book. She threw a side-glance to Kurama, who was packing his stuff. They were leaving soon and Botan had been ready for an hour now.
"I told you not to wait until the last minute." She said, her eyes scanning the words on the page. She didn't glance up but she was aware of him sending her glares. She turned the page and blew a bubble with her gum.
"Don't blow it too big. I doubt Keiko or Shizuru will feel like helping you get gum out of your hair." She snapped the book shut and threw it at him. It hit him in the head.
"I'll be making you help me." He picked the book up. She frowned at him when he zippered up the duffle bag. She sighed, picking her stuff up. She grabbed her book from him and took the lead. They met the group, who was waiting for Kuwabara.
"I swear, he's the slowest person I know." Yuusuke said, crossing his arms. "I have never seen anyone as slow as him." Keiko slapped his arm.
"Stop fussing and complaining." Kurama went to talk to Hiei and Botan excused herself to go to the bathroom. Kurama watched her until she disappeared.
"Don't worry so much, kitsune." Hiei's Jagan glowed a little under the bandana. Kurama felt a little better. "She can take care of herself." Hiei also knew the feeling of anxiousness. She was his good friend and, as long as he could, he would try to protect her. She came back into their sight, looking in a little compact. She closed it and stuffed it in her purse. Kurama recognized that compact. He had a sudden sinking feeling.
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Botan sort of avoided Kurama on the way to the boat that was taking them back. She stayed near Keiko and talked to her. The boat rocked and sent spray from the water onto its passengers. Kurama walked over to the girls and Keiko left them alone, saying she wanted to go talk to Yuusuke. Kurama sat down next to Botan.
"B, you've been avoiding me." She sat there and looked the other way, her legs pulled up to her chest and her arms wrapped around them. She didn't respond. "Why are you doing this?" He asked softly. He turned her face to look into her eyes. He was surprised. They were emotionless and empty. "I think I know what its about." She turned away from him again. He sighed and looked the other way, at the droplets of spray coming over the railing of the boat. Suddenly, Botan leaned her head on his shoulder.
"No, you don't." She whispered. She had the look of a fighter. A look that concealed all emotion. "Koenma wants me to stop fighting. He said that he needs me in Reikai more." She didn't find the little godling at fault, but she wanted to continue fighting and training. She wanted to grow in her skills. How was she going to do that when she was sitting on an oar? Kurama had nothing to say to that. "I don't want to start ferrying again. I like fighting. I like the exhilaration of being in the ring, not really knowing if you'll win or lose. Hiei helped me unlock a different part of myself. He helped me."
"Maybe you should talk to him about it. Then again, he might threaten Koenma for trying to get you to stop." He leaned back and looked down at her. "He talked to me before about you and him. He feels as though you're his apprentice. He wants to teach you everything he knows." It was true. One of their times training. It was, in fact, just before they fought the demons in the cave.
"I want to learn everything he knows." She let her gaze go to the wet and unhappy koorime. "But I might have to forfeit my position as a ferry girl." She smiled slightly. "Either I forfeit fighting or ferrying." She looked totally undecided.
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Botan approached Hiei dressed in her fighting outfit. She watched as he trained. Sweat gleamed on his skin and his breathing was evened out.
"Hiei?" He stopped and turned around. She looked at him with no emotion. She was holding her katana, still in its sheath, in her hands. "I was.. maybe hoping we could battle one last time." He stared at her, not fully understanding the sentence.
"One last time?" He asked, blinking. "Am I going somewhere? Or are you?" She shook her head and frowned.
"Well.. I might be. I have to choose. I have to forfeit either fighting or ferrying and I was hoping that this last match might give me an idea." He stared at her as she strapped the katana to her back and drew the blade. "Please?" He narrowed his eyes. She looked down and almost dropped the weapon. He shot forward, preparing an attack. He was suddenly aiming at air. She almost landed a kick on his back but he dodged. He stood there with a smirk on his face.
"Not half-bad. But you'll have to do better to beat me!" She blocked his attacks with accuracy. She could feel her blade vibrate. He pushed her back with it and she tightened her grip on the hilt of the katana. She transferred energy to the blade, concealing it by flaring her own. He came at her with another series of attacks. She blocked each one and turned her defensive into offensive. She caught him with a spirit attack. She made it so that even if he dodged the attack, the extra energy exerted from it would hit him. "Nice." He commented, panting slightly. "You're becoming better."
"And so are you." She smiled and raced at him. They continued to fight with each other.
Botan collapsed by the tree and caught her breath. She looked over at Hiei, who dropped down next to her. He looked a little tired. It really was a pointless match. Botan lost, of course, because Hiei was so much stronger than she was. But she just wanted to feel the exhilaration. He looked over at her. He had to wonder if it was at all possible to change her mind about her decision if she chose to ferry. He could see the conflict in her eyes. She was being pulled between something she wanted to do and something that she had done for a long time.
"Don't feel pressured." He gazed at her then looked out over the clearing. Some blood stained the green blades of grass. "Do whatever you want to. It doesn't matter what everyone else thinks or what you choose. A piece of each will always remain with you." She never knew such words could come from the cold koorime.
"I know." She answered quietly. She could feel each passion pulling with equal strength. This burden was weighting heavily on her. She could feel the pain of losing each. Her will to want to fight was over-powering. She closed her eyes.
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Botan lay on her bed in Genkai's temple. She stared at the ceiling. One or the other. Life or death. That was the real conflict. She could not remain as a spirit if she were to choose fighting. She would need to be brought back. She would also need to decide what she would be if she were to come back. She didn't want to be a human. She would be as weak as before. She really wished that she could just flip a coin and solve the entire thing. But it wasn't that easy. This was the rest of her life or.. the eternity of death.
"Botan?" Kurama knocked on the door and opened it. He stood there looking at her before going in and closing the door behind her. "I heard from Hiei about your match today." He was almost hesitant to bring the matter up.
"Really? What did he say?" She sat up and made room for him on the edge. He sat down.
"He said that the more he fights you or watches you fight.. the more he realizes that you're the perfect apprentice." He looked over at her. "He said that he doesn't wish to intrude on your decision and that he was just being truthfully honest." He paused. It seemed like forever to her before he spoke again. "It is your choice. None of us are going to intrude." She felt anger swell up inside of her. She glared at him.
"I know that! It's not that easy, Kurama." She narrowed her tear-filled eyes at him. "I have to choose life or death. What I have now is only death. I have a human form. I can feel things. When I'm in my spirit form.. I can barely feel the wind on my face. No one notices me.. only those who can see me. I can't touch when I'm a spirit. I can have a human form on the oar, sure. And that's what I've been doing. But.. I won't be able to if I choose ferrying."
"What are you saying?" He was horrified. She was crying and looking at him pleadingly.
"I am merely a soul with a form. Look." She held her hand out and touched his face. It went right through. "I can't feel you." She whispered. "I can't touch anything, except for whatever is spiritual. But I can't feel it. If I choose to ferry.. I would lose more than the training and fighting.. I would lose you.."
"No.." He wanted to hug her and never let go. He didn't want to lose her.
"If I choose fighting, then I could remain with you and have a form. I would be real and solid.." She touched his face and he felt the warmth of her skin against his. "Like this." It was obvious that it was a hard decision. She would lose all connection with Reikai, unless she remained as a fighter with them. But she would never be able to float on an oar or anything like that. "I think the decision is obvious." She looked away from him. "I can't leave you and the others.." She smiled bitterly. "But such is my life.. in death."
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Botan stood on the lookout of Reikai. Koenma looked at her sadly.
"I know that you made the decision that will truly make you happy. Jump into the portal. I'm sure they will be waiting." She hugged him and held in her tears.
"I will remember you always, Koenma-sama." And with that, she backed up and turned around, jumping off the edge. She was absorbed into a blue portal that would take her directly to the clearing at Genkai's temple. She fell through the other side, glowing with a blue aura. Before she hit the ground, she stopped and the blue light shone brighter. She could feel a change in her body. Then she was jolted back to normal. The spell faded and she fell the remaining way and hit the ground. She could feel her body jolt. She could feel something different about herself. She sat up and looked at her hands and her body. The blue glow was faint and she was just her normal self.. or so she thought.
"Botan.." Kurama stepped toward her and kneeled down next to her. He took her curly hair and twirled it around his finger. He smirked. "My angel." She was a little startled. He gestured that she look over her shoulder. She did and her heart nearly stopped. Wings.. the feathers were as white as the snow and the tips of them were silver. She looked at him, her eyes wide in surprise. "Koenma chose correctly."
"What?" She asked, a little startled.
"He chose the being of the demon realm that best suited you. An angel. There, they really do exist." He then stood back up, bringing her with him. The blue glow faded and so did everything else. She was back to normal. Hiei stepped forward and Kurama moved away. The koorime smirked at her and held out her katana.
"I believe this belongs to you." She took it and noticed that it was different. "I added a few things. I wrote on the blade. It was an old incantation that master taught to apprentice. All masters wrote it on the blade." She drew it and touched the neat lettering. "The sheath is a little different. Fitted best for a demon of your nature."
"You knew?" He smirked.
"I have my ways, apprentice. Tomorrow is training. 4:30 as usual. We'll need to warm up on your skills. The transformation will have rusted those moves of yours." He turned around and disappeared into the forest without a backward glance.
"You do know the duties of your demon form, don't you?" Kurama asked. "After Hiei is done with you, I'll let you have a small break. Then you will need to learn some very important things."
"Wait!" She shook her head. "I don't think he gave me the demon form. He might have just given me the amount of time to live.. Like, you know, the longevity." He shrugged.
"Might as well see, right?"
"I didn't ask to be a demon. I did ask him to make certain that I wasn't entirely a demon.." He seemed to understand. "I have a demon's spirit."
"That makes you a demon." She smiled.
"You know what I mean."
"Yeah." He smiled then walked away after Hiei. Yuusuke, Keiko, and Kuwabara were left to stare at her. She turned around and smiled at them.
"Are you going to stare or come and give me a hug?" Yuusuke smirked and stepped forward, but Kuwabara beat him to it. She retured the embrace then parted from him and threw her arms around the Spirit Detective.
"What was that all about?" He asked, hugging her back. She tightened her grip on his shirt.
"I chose fighting.. I chose life."
"Over your job? So you mean.. I'm hugging a real person?" She nodded.
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Kurama woke up in the middle of the night, covered in beads of sweat. The pitter-patter of rain hitting the wooden paneling of the temple made it hard to focus his hearing on one thing. The window was open, the curtains billowing in the breeze. The room was filled with a dense fog, reminding him of the one that came out of the Idunn Box. He looked down at Botan, barely being able to see her face. He got out of bed, taking quiet, cautious steps toward the door. He sensed something. It wasn't right. He ran outside, feeling the damp grass against his bare feet. He stopped, spotting something. It was like his vision was blurry. He could barely make out anything five feet in front of his face. Two red gleaming eyes lit up and he relaxed slightly.
"So you sense it too, Hiei. I thought it might be just me." Kurama saw the koorime in full now that he was walking out in front of him.
"Something does not seem right." Hiei's voice was quiet, expectant. The small features of his face were calm, smooth. There were no lines of weariness in his face.
"No doubts that something is out there waiting for us." Kurama's expression gave nothing away. His eyes maintained a cold, mirror-like look. "What shall we do?"
"This power is nothing like I have ever felt before, kitsune. We will not catch them." He reached up and took his bandana off. His eyes widened.
"What is it? What do you see?"
"I can see nothing.. but-" He fell backwards and Kurama hurried to catch him. Sweat beaded on Hiei's forehead and he looked like he was in a lot of pain. Kurama could hardly breathe. The power was suffocating him.
"Hiei. Wake up. Right now." He lowered himself and the koorime to the ground. He shielded the fallen demon with his body as a surge of black lightening crackled and materialized. He tried not to cry out as it struck him in the back.
'Let me kill the koorime! He has caused me enough damage!'
The voice didn't seem real. Kurama clutched Hiei tighter and hoped that no more pain would come to him. A bright flash of light and a strong wind chased the fog and lightening away. Nothing remained. Kurama was too busy worrying about the life of his friend to look back.
"Hiei, wake up." He was completely clue-less. He was helpless. How was he going to help his friend? The koorime showed no signs of waking.
"He is unconscious. Carry him inside." Botan's voice seemed far away to Kurama. He gingerly lifted his friend off the ground and carried him inside. They set him in his bed. Kurama couldn't stop the worry from coming to his expression. "What's going on?"
"Someone is after Hiei." He closed his eyes. "I don't know who, either. I have to stop whoever is planning to kill him."
"I'm going to help you. I found that I can use my demonic powers."
"Botan, I don't want you hurt. No way am I going to risk your life." She crossed her arms.
"You made me leave last time. I'm not going to stand around-" He cut her off by covering her lips with his.
"Protect Hiei for me. I may not survive this but I'm going to stop it." She stood there, unable to say anything. He left her, walking out the door. She stared at her feet.
"Where is the kitsune?" She looked up. Hiei was sitting up, tying his bandana back over his Jagan.
"Hiei, you have to stop him. He said someone was after you! Please, he was going to go after and stop whoever it was." She was close to tears. "Let me come with you. I'm not standing by to wait for the results. You can still catch him before he gets into danger." He grabbed her hand, pulling her into his arms.
"I am not waiting this time, either." He jumped out the window and ran as fast as he could without recovering from the incident.
"He's so worried that you're going to get killed. Let me handle any fight that comes our way." He didn't answer but sped up. He sensed that Kurama was not too far away.
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Hope you liked this chapter. I liked it. =P C'mon.. You know you want to review! I almost have 200! Woo!
-Jess