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!
'Whew…I'm glad it's finally night. I'm tired of all this excitement,' Botan thought to herself in exhaustion. She laid the last bundle of clothes she had mended by Risho's door. Once she was in her room, she gathered her own clothes and headed towards the hot spring-type bath. She had her own personal bath since she was the only girl in the male-only yakuza.
As she soaked in, she couldn't help but think about Youko. He had studied her in a strange manner when he had seen the clothes Touya and Risho had handpicked for her. She felt her cheeks flush. Of course Youko would stare. She would've stared too if Youko was forced to wear the things she had worn. But that was an entirely different thing. The memory of the way Youko's flawless skin had felt against her fingertips jarred her thoughts. In an instant, the only thing she could see was those gorgeous amber eyes that held so much emotion at times and none at others…the silver locks and smooth, milky skin that both had a hint of roses in their scent.
"I fell in love with you. I suppose it was a foolish thing to not kill you." Youko said in her thoughts. He had flashed her a bitter smile that struck a painful chord in her heart. It pained her to see him hurting because of her. "After all, I'm going to die and you don't return the love."
She sighed and closed her eyes. As she did, she sank further into the hot water to consider what Youko had said.
"Your heart lies with Touya…"
'Yes, my heart does lie with Touya. Like I told him, Touya was always first…but…but Youko never forced me to do anything I didn't want to…' She opened her eyes. "Is it possible that I do care for him…?" she murmured in awe.
"I appreciate what you're doing for me, but I don't want to see you again," Youko had said in a quiet voice.
Her amethyst eyes opened and gazed into the night sky. 'I want to see him again. Even if Touya kills me over it, I want to see Youko again,' she thought indignantly. 'I want to prove to Touya somehow that Youko isn't as bad as he swears he is.'
A shadow loomed over her. She jerked further into the water before peering at the owner of the shadow. "Touya? Why do you always sneak up on me? It's rude."
"Rude?" Touya repeated in his velvety voice. "I can make it up to you, then. What is it you desire?" He squatted at the edge of the stone-lined bath.
"Can you at least let Youko have food? I don't like the way you treat the prisoners."
"I? Risho designs the regulations on the prisoners."
"No he doesn't," Botan argued stubbornly. "He ordered you to watch over the prisoners meaning you have power over what they can and can't do. I think it's only fair that Youko should have food."
Instead of being angry, as Botan had expected, Touya only laughed. "I do believe that you fancy the fox demon. Do you?"
She looked away, refusing to answer his question.
This caused the Ice Master to scowl. His delicate features were contorted in fury. "What do you see in him? I have told you that you can't trust his looks! Why won't you listen to me?" His scowl faded into a saddened look. "Has he turned you against me?"
"No…it's nothing like that. It's just that I've been in the same house with him for a while and he's been nice to me."
"Nice? Nice?! Is that all? Anyone can be nice to you. You're a beautiful creature. Naturally the males will be nice to you."
"That's what you think. You don't know what happened to me in that human school."
Touya studied her face with his ice blue eyes. Botan's usual gentle features had hardened at the memory of what had happened. He smiled sympathetically. "I'm sorry for yelling at you. Now finish up your bath and tell me of your stay in Ningenkai in my quarters." He stood up and walked off.
==o.o===o.o===o.o===o.o===o.o===o.o==
Touya lay shirtless in his bed as he always did. He was reclining against the satin pillows flipping through a book he had found on a raid from Ningenkai. He smirked at the human author. Only a human would write about vampires. He raised his head, noticing that Botan had walked in. "There you are."
He threw the book down on the nightstand and sat up straighter. "Now tell me what happened to you at the human school."
Botan was invited to sit near Touya. "There was this human boy. I-I had thought that you would never come for me."
"I told you I would come for you. Remember our discussion before the night you ran away? I told you that I needed your help to have my revenge against Youko Kurama. It would be your revenge as well since he killed your parents. I told you that Risho would send Youko after you. I knew that he needed a reason to finish off the final favor he owed to the fox demon. I promised that I would come for you after I was sure Youko had come to you."
"I know…but I still thought you wouldn't come for me. You rarely kept your promises you made me. I've been there for several months. Still you didn't come. I fell blindly into a relationship with this human boy. I thought he was kind…but then…it all turned around. He almost left me scarred." She flinched, waiting for the outburst that was sure to come.
"He nearly raped you, didn't he?" Touya asked coolly. He sighed heavily. "This is further proof that you shouldn't trust Youko Kurama. He seems nice, doesn't he? Just as you said the human boy seemed nice. Kurama might do something worse than rape you."
"No. He killed Matsuo for me because of what…what he did."
"He did that so he could get something more from you."
Botan focused her gaze on the floor. Her mind went briefly back to the night Touya had told her to finish things off. Even so, she had done this portion of her job willingly. She hadn't forced herself to pretend to enjoy Youko's gentle touches and sweet words.
"It's alright. You've made silly decisions, but I'm here now." He pushed her azure hair away from her face and neck. His lips were against her ear. "I'll always be there for you," he whispered; his breath tickled her cheek. She giggled involuntarily.
His hands were cool against her flushed skin. They ran lightly down her back. They had slipped under the nightshirt she had worn to touch her skin. His arms wrapped around her body, pressing her tightly against his own lithe form. "I missed you…" he whispered to her. "I wouldn't take anyone else. Only you would do and here you are." His lips were against the slender arch of her neck again.
Botan felt touched by the remark, but at the same time she felt faintly disturbed. Touya could easily pick up a random human or demon female to have his fun with. He had his own casual charm and good looks. Even if he was telling the truth, Botan knew that Touya felt too protective of her. She returned the kiss half-heartedly. She closed her eyes tightly, trying to decide why she didn't enjoy his touch as much as she would normally. She usually felt protected in his embrace but now she felt overprotected. Her freedom in Ningenkai gave her room from the nonsense in this Makai Yakuza. It gave her time to think.
With a small gasp she realized that she had never cared for Touya. She had only thought that she did. It was only his protection from the outside world and his false words of his love for her that brainwashed her. Touya didn't love her for who she was…she was only an outlet for his desires.
Touya had mistaken the gasp as one of pleasure rather than that of realization. His hands went to the front of her nightshirt. He began to unbutton it.
Involuntarily, Botan slapped his hand away and clutched the nightshirt closer to her body. She flinched, realizing that this would bring severe punishments. "I'm sorry," she exclaimed out of habit. She fell to her knees in forgiveness, also out of habit.
Touya breathed deeply. "There's no need to apologize. I figured this would happen. That filthy Youko Kurama had brainwashed you with his fox-charm nonsense." He shook his head sadly, his bangs moving away from his ice blue eyes. "I had thought your judgment and will to be stronger than it is. We're taking this to Risho as soon as morning hits."
MWAHAHAHA! A cliffhanger! Please don't kill me! Now if you have ideas for what Risho is going to do to either Botan/Youko, please let me know! It might be a better idea than what I'll have planned.
::The other YoukoxBotan fic I have up is called "There's Always a Catch". If you want to read that, feel free to do so. If you enjoy Karasu and his sadistic charm, hopefully you'll get a kick out of seeing some chapters in his POV.::
Here's the people who reviewed last chapter in their respective orders!
Volpone: You reviewed! Thanx! You're also the 1st reviewer! Feel special? Nope. Risho didn't send Botan on the mission. Touya did b/c he knew Risho would send Youko after her. It's kind of confusing isn't it…yeah….sorry about that! Like I said, my new fic is up. It's called There's Always a Catch. If you have a better title for it, I'll take the suggestions! Thanx for your review!
Tyedye/Rin: Three days to update a chapter? That's still pretty fast. I update every week when and if I can. I don't know if I'll have ideas for Bonded. Sorry I hadn't been reading! I hadn't been able to get on the internet as much as I was because of our finals! Thanx for your review!
DarkShadowWriter: Yup, I know you reviewed There's Always a Catch. Thanks for that! I hope you enjoyed it! I always wanted to put Karasu in a fic, so I guess that was one to work him into. I'm guessing you're a Karasu fan unlike Lost who's a Touya fan, right?
KuramaandHiei4ever: No problem. I might come up with a better title later. There's Always a catch is just a temporary one incase I find something different. Yes, I hate to see this fic end but at the same time, I wanna know how it ends. You ever get that feeling? I appreciate your review! Don't kill me over this cliffhanger now!
miyako14: I sort of got over the writer's block. Not enough though! I only have a vague idea of what the next chapter will be like. I didn't know how this chapter was gonna turn out, but I kept typing until I finished it. Thanx for your review!
LiLgUrL: I know. But writer's block is annoying to me! I've had 2 kinds of writer's block: 1) don't know what to write or 2)what you wrote seems stupid and pointless. ::sigh:: I'm kinda over it. Thanks for your review! I hope you enjoy the next chapter.
Lifeless-Kanna: Yup, that was long enough. I wasn't complaining about your reviews being short…I just wondered if you talked a lot. Don't worry. I talk a lot too. I should shut up more! Thanks for the review!
Botan and Kurama lover: I hope they get along soon too! I just hope I don't kill anyone off too soon. J/k. I don't usally have a plan of what I'm going to write. I just write and piece things together. Whenever you read my new fic There's Always A Catch, I hope you enjoy it! Thanks for your review! Come again soon!
JDfielding: You don't know how much it means for someone of your level of writing to be reading drivel like mine. It's an honor, really it is. And I'm sure you hear things like that a lot. You're gonna have to wait to see how Youko gets out of the mess! No special treats, even for you, JD!
Mourning Fox: Everyone is on a diet, not just you. What we eat is our diet. Ok, that wasn't meant to be a smart aleck response. That's just what some guy told me…n-e-way, glad you enjoyed! Thanks for your review!
tanai; wicked as in good or wicked as in evil…thanx anyway!
prettynutter: interesting name! Glad you enjoy! I appreciate your review!
CHiCkxOfxdArKnEsS: Yup, the one and only Touya who's friends w/Jin. You think what's gonna happen to Botan? Uh…didn't that happen this chapter? Good job! You guessed right! Thanks for your review!
lil-rosa: I'll try to g et more chapters up as soon as possible! Thanks!
Nienna Whitethorn: ::gasp:: no! Youko's MINE! J/k. I'll share him…for a fee! J/k again. Yeah, it's a little depressing, but I'm not the optimistic type. Glad you enjoy!
Tesina Gela Gardner: YAY! You won't kill me! I live to write another chapter. ::hums Die Another Day:: I'm a freak…thanx for your review!
Like I said, thanks for reviewing and your name will be up again next time if you review this time!