Thanks for the reviews! =^~^= If you're interested in seeing your name, review! If you've reviewed the last chapter, proceed to the bottom. If you want to see your name up next chapter, then you're going to have to review this chapter!
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The angelic features of the fox demon remained stoic even though he felt nothing but sheer astonishment. He blinked his amber eyes at her, confused. "What did I do?" he asked in a tiny, helpless voice.
"Don't act stupid! You know that Matsuo was with me then…then he went and acted like a guy! You're just saying all this just to make me feel worse." She glared at him. "Are you happy now? Are you happy to know that I hate you?"
"You don't hate me. You're confused, that's all it is."
"Confused?!" she exploded. "Confused am I? So wanting to throw something sharp at you is being confused? If you ask me, me wanting to kill you shows that I have a very firm thoughts on hating you. I know how I feel."
Youko knew better than to argue. His nose told him otherwise. The various emotions she was feeling were beginning to cloud his thoughts. He shook his head to clear it. "Very well. If you want me to leave you then I shall leave you." He got to his feet and moved towards the door. Before leaving, he glanced back at her.
"Just remember this: without me around to protect your human identity or me to protect you from more unwanted male contact, you are a helpless fool." He paused to soak in everything about her, and then turned to leave completely.
Botan glared after him, feeling her mixed emotions whirl around her in a haze of confusion. In her heart of all hearts she wanted to believe that Youko was telling the truth…deep in that part of her heart she was willing to return the love as a reparation for her mistreatment to him. Her commonsense told her that this was simply not meant to be.
This whole thing only sounded like a fairy tale. A lonely thief, wanted for the crimes committed falling in love with an escaped slave girl who is only trying to find a place to belong in a strange atmosphere. Naturally it would end with a happy ending…
But this had no hope of having and ending at all.
'Especially not with what I'm here for…' Botan thought sadly. She collapsed on the bed, willing her anger to ebb away. At last she fell asleep with the thoughts forming into dreams.
Youko picked his way delicately among the puddles of melting snow. For the second time that night a chunk of snow fell off of a tree's branches and fell on top of the spirit fox. He scowled and shook it off of him. His white robe was soaked. The wet cloth clung to his skin to reveal the skin underneath. He loosened his sash to wring out his clothes before tightening the robe around him. He swished his tail in irritation.
'I shouldn't have spoken so soon…' he thought with a sigh. Before, he would have died for this time alone to do as he wished, but now, with Botan's hate pounding in his ears, he only wanted time to rewind so he could have picked a better time to tell her of his feelings.
He groaned. 'I've grown too soft in the human world. I should go back to Makai.'
Once again the dark voice inside his head spoke up. 'Go ahead and return to Makai. If word gets around that the legendary bandit was unable to kill a defenseless human girl then the millions of demons will kill you.'
"They can't kill me. I'm far more skilled than they'll ever be," Youko spat.
'Ah, so if all of them attack at once, you'll be able to protect yourself?'
Youko's lip curled. 'No…but perhaps it would be better for them to kill me.'
'That's the attitude I would expect from a human-lover. Go ahead and find that Matsuo and express your utmost gratitude to him for what he did to your chosen mate.'
The sneer disappeared. "Why didn't I think of that?" he asked himself in awe. He got to his feet.
Matsuo reached for the facet and turned it off. The water spray stopped. He pushed the shower curtain aside and dried his body off. The towel was wrapped around his waist as he groped around the bathroom blindly, trying to remember where he put his glasses.
A creak showed that the bathroom door was being opened.
"Mom?" Matsuo sputtered, clutching the towel to make sure it didn't fall off. "Mom, I'm naked! You can't come in!"
There was no reply.
He squinted at the door, barely able to decipher the silver blur he saw at the door. "Well since you're here, can you help me find my glasses?"
The silver blur walked closer—close enough for Matsuo's near-sightedness to kick in. The silver blur was now clearly that of some strange creature. The silver tail swished back and forth. The matching ears on the sleek silver mane twitched. Matsuo gasped and tried to back away. He slipped on the wet floor and hit his head on the bathtub. He rubbed his head to ease the pain as he quickly sat up.
"W-w-who are you? Y- you can't be in my house!"
"I can't?" Youko said smoothly. His silky purr sent chills down Matsuo's spine. A smile touched the kitsune's angelic face. "You're afraid of me…good…that's only one thing that you have done right in my eyes."
The golden-hued eyes glinted furiously in the light. "You've caused all these females great pain. Don't you think it's time to make amends for what you've done?"
"I didn't do nothin'!" Matsuo spat, all good grace lost as he cowered naked on the tile floor. He was suddenly aware that the only thing that kept the strange being from ripping at his flesh was a towel.
"You didn't? Ah, what a pity. You're a liar as well as a fool." Vines seemed to sprout on the silver angel and snaked its way to Matsuo's flesh.
Matsuo cringed and tried to bat the vine away. The vine jerked back momentarily then moved closer to his face.
"Beg for your forgiveness."
"Will I live if I do?"
Youko smiled. "I wouldn't say that you would, but your suffering won't be as great."
"Are you serious?"
"Yes, I'm quite serious. Care to test it out?"
"Erm, no thanks!"
The smile didn't leave Youko's face. "No? That isn't the answer I had hoped to hear…"
"Look, if you don't leave me alone, I'm going to call the cops on you."
The vines cracked like a whip beneath Matsuo's nose, causing him to cower further against the tub. "Erm, never mind," he squeaked.
Youko threw back his silver hair and caught the single seed that fell out. He smirked at the grimace on Matsuo's face.
"Dude, that's gross," Matsuo said. "Don't you bathe? Why do you have seeds growing in your hair?"
An answer didn't come. The seed began to glow in Youko's palm. His trademark Death Plant cloaked his arm. It snapped gleefully at Matsuo's flesh. Matsuo screamed in pain. Another vine wrapped around his face and mouth to gag him. In a few quick seconds, Matsuo had died. The body was disposed of via the Death plant.
The plants hissed, seeming to beg for more food and fun. Youko smiled sympathetically. "I know it's been a while," he crooned to his pets. "When we return to Makai, I'll ensure that you get your fill."
The Death Plant drooped as if to emphasize that the return to Makai wasn't going to happen anytime soon. They disappeared in a flash of light.
Youko wrinkled his nose at the blood that spattered his snow-white robe. "The only thing I despise about a kill is the cleaning," he said in disgust. "Why can't humans be more sanitary kills?" He brushed uselessly against the biggest of the spots. He sighed and turned to leave the house.
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Here's the people who reviewed last chapter in their respective orders!
~~KuramaandHiei4ever: You are the first viewer! Feel happy? You were also the first reviewer for my new chapters on X-men Parody and Secrets Behind Emerald Eyes. * blushes * Sorry I spelled satin or Satan or whichever it was wrong. I'm Buddhist so I don't really know about the Christians or whatever other religion calls him and spells it. I'm glad you have your owned shorted version, but if it were my version you wouldn't be able to see all the wonderful details of Youko being tortured emotionally. Yes Botan mention she was a slave but she was only doing that to show that their statuses in the world are completely different. It's supposed to emphasize the fact that the two of them being together is only a dream…to Botan anyway. ^.^ You'll just have to wait to see where Touya is and what happened to him! Even you don't get special answers! ^.^ Here's a slice of cake!
~~miyako14: Spring break? Mine started Wednesday after school. It was so sad…we had to watch the teachers do the hokey pokey for some stupid reason at an 'academic assembly'. -.-' Glad you love my chapter! Would you like some cake while you wait for the next chapter?
~~Eun-Jung: Thanks for all your complements! You're going to make me die from so many of them. Glad you enjoy and please stay tuned for more! I'm not as good as Volpone or the others, but I'm making my own mark in the ff.net world! I try to come up with different things to give out to the reviewers so here is a slice of cake!
~~DarkShadowWriter: Yes, Matsuo was such a bastard. Thanks for sparking the idea to kill Matsuo in this chapter! I'm glad you liked Youko in the last chapter! He was a little OOC but this is a different story than some of the others out there. Yeah, I know Hiei's quote. Glad you're associating things like that to my fic! It shows you're enjoying it! Thanks! Have some cake while you're at it.
~~ Lifeless-Kanna: I'm glad you don't find my fic worthless! I appreciate your compliment too! Once I get more of an understanding of Inu-yasha I'll try reviewing one of your fics, k? Here's some cake!
~~chocogurl: I suck at romantic parts, but thanks! I know I left it at a cliffie. I haven't been doing it as much as I usually have so you should be glad! Do you like chocolate cake? You probably don't need it since you seem to get hyper really quick but have some anyway!
~~Dark Raxiel: I won't write any Spanish. I get frustrated when all these people use the wrong Japanese so I'm sure you feel the same sometimes. During English class some boy goes "El rojo gato" and the Hispanics shook their head. Some other boy says, "Doesn't that mean 'red pants'?" Yeah, so you know how it probably is for Americans to mess up with saying things in Spanish. I'm glad you enjoyed my chapter! Please have some cake.
~~Sala: I'm glad you enjoy. You asked why Botan got mad when Kurama spilled his guts. Well you read my last chapter, right? Since she almost got raped by Matsuo and she knows Youko likes torturing people, she thought that Youko was only being an asshole. She thought he was just saying that he loved her to make her feel worse. Unfortunately, she's wrong. Youko does care. Such a pity… Have some cake.
~~natsumi-chan: Botan didn't go with Youko to the dance in the first place because she was going out with Matsuo. Youko didn't want to go because he was mad at her…well, really he was jealous. Yes, Matsuo will pay…and he did! See how he died? Glad you're enjoying my fic! Would you like some cake for your review?
~~Tala Ishtar: Thanks! I'm going to continue it, don't worry! Here's some cake for you!
~~Mourning Fox: Aw, You're so nice! I don't really update that quick. At least once a week since it's only one fic. On my other KuramaxBotan I updated like 2xs a week sometimes! * blushes * I'm not brilliant. Brilliant describes Volpone, frith and JDfielding, not me. Here's some cake—any flavor you like!
~~orange09: I agree with you! I will get into slight details but not actual lemons if you know what I mean. Was my fic different from the others like you said you wanted it to be? Thanks for your review! Have some cake!
~~Moonlite Goddess: That's okay if you had too much homework to review. Of course Botan and Kurama have to be together in the end! I promised my reviewers that and I like having happy endings on thing like this! Thanks for your review and feel free to have some cake!
~~Botan and Kurama lover: That's exactly what I was trying to tell the reviewers without actually going out and saying it. Botan took it bad because of Matsuo. Don't worry; she'll see things. That's the biggest compliment anyone ever gave me! To have someone even consider me being in JDfielding or Volpone's ranks is flattering. You forgot frith. She doesn't update as often, but I still appreciate your compliment! * blush * Here you go, have some cake for your lovely review.
~~Tyedye/Rin: I told you that you'd know when your quote came up! I tried to make it the perfect moment…but then it backfired in Youko's face! Well, sorry that you hate cliffies but I left it at another one! DON'T KILL ME! Have cake instead!
~~Tesina Gela Gardner: You can't believe Botan did that to Kurama? Wouldn't you do the same thing if you were in her position? As for me…I'm not sure…I mean Youko is super powerful and if I were Botan who cares? Youko's better! Glad you like your goody bag! This time it's cake!
Like I said, thanks for reviewing and your name will be up again next time if you review this time!