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!
Morning arrived more quickly than Botan would have liked. Risho was never sympathetic when he handed out punishments. He never regretted anything he had done when punishments were in order. If a slave did something he didn't like, death was nothing short of what they deserved. It only seemed natural that Botan would be killed over loving an enemy.
'At least I hope that he'll kill me. I won't have to watch Youko stare at me like it's all my fault that he's here…' she thought hopefully. The guilt that lay on her soul was a heavy burden, but the insinuations that was sure to be in the amber eyes would only add more weight on her conscious.
Touya opened her room door. The oak door slammed against the wall. He smirked at Botan who stood half-dressed before her mirror. She ignored him. She was used to Risho, Touya and the rest of the yakuza upperclassmen come in on her with demands, whether she was dressed or asleep.
"Make sure you wear something decent. The clothes I like for you to wear might won't protect your skin much, will it?" he said mysteriously. He tugged casually at his kimono sleeves. Botan stared at his clothes. He hated to wear the kimono. It was too formal for him and was uncomfortably baggy. His Shinobi attire didn't have the waves of cloth that slowed down attacks and movement.
(note: In case you didn't know, guys DO have kimonos too. If you watch Ruroni Kenshin, that's an example of a guy kimono, that it is!)
"Why are you wearing your kimono?" Botan asked suspiciously. She sank into a sitting position on her bed.
"Because, it's a special day. Risho has a very special punishment for you."
"Is he going to kill me like he did to the last slave girl?"
Touya smiled. "No. I persuaded him to keep you alive. After all, we might not find another slave girl who can seduce one as powerful as Youko Kurama."
"Hmph." Botan was still curious. If Risho wasn't going to kill her…what was he going to do to her?
"Haven't you found clothes yet woman?" Touya snapped. He moved to her closet, pushing through the colorful silk items to see what would be most becoming.
"Oy, Touya, what's takin' ya so long?" These words were spoken so fast that it took a while for both Botan and Touya to register the words in their minds.
Touya glanced at the speaker. "Nothing, Jin. I'm trying to find something that Botan can wear to the little…eh…meeting."
Jin flashed his goofy smile and continued to talk in his fast, Irish accent. "What does that matter? It's not like she's going to a weddin' or nothing like that."
"No, but if she wears something too revealing or something too conservative, it might send the wrong signals to Youko Kurama."
Jin looked thoughtfully at his friend. His elf-like ears raised and lowered, almost like a shrug. "Aye, I suppose. But what sort of signals are ya wantin' to send to the fox demon? It ain't like he's gonna live long, eh?"
Botan gasped and stood up. "What? Youko's not going to live long?" She turned angrily at Touya. "So are you getting Risho to kill Youko rather than me?"
The Ice Master gave her a pained smile. "That's almost true."
"Almost true? Give me the whole story! Spit it out already!"
Jin saw Touya open his mouth to answer. "We can't be tellin' you everything," Jin interrupted. "Yer're still a slave and ye have a punishment. Ye can't be knowin' everything ahead of time." He turned his gaze on Touya. "Ya need to hurry up. If ye aren't in the slaves quarters in ten minutes, Risho's gonna have you pay for it." He mimed cutting off a finger. "Ya know our ways, right?" He winked at Botan before leaving.
"Here. Wear this." He threw her a pair of jeans, a t-shirt and a jacket.
"These are human clothes."
"If you'd rather see Youko naked, feel free to. I'm sure he wouldn't have any protests to seeing your flesh," Touya spat bitterly.
Botan flushed at the remark and quickly put on the clothes.
Risho sat on one of his pillows on the floor of the slave quarters. "Look who chose to show up ten minutes late. You come to me with a complaint yet you come late to the actual meeting.. Have you no respect for me, Touya?"
Touya dropped to his knees before Risho and bowed low before him. "Forgive me, sir. I meant no disrespect."
"Have you no pitiful excuse for being late?"
"No, sir."
"That's a first. Where's Botan?" Risho looked behind Touya and nodded for Botan to come towards him. Touya backed away and stood. Risho held a hand out to Botan who took it reluctantly. "Now, my dear, Touya claims that you have feelings for our fox demon." He smirked. "Is this true or is Touya jealous."
"I think Touya's jealous," Botan answered thoughtfully. It did make sense, after all.
Risho nodded. "I thought so. He came up with an ingenious plan that worked. He knew that I would send Youko after you to complete his final favor to me. He also knew that I wanted Youko dead; as you know he had you seduce Youko Kurama to put him in my hands. It was obvious that he would feel jealous of the whole ordeal."
Touya opened his mouth to protest. "I might be jealous of the fox demon, but it's only because Botan seems to love Youko Kurama." He flinched and fell silent as Risho cast his gaze over him. Interrupting him was a sure-fire way of getting on Risho's bad side.
"Yes, it's true. I love him," Botan admitted in a whisper.
Risho turned his head to her. "What? After what I've done for you? What he did to your parents? You chose to love him? Touya…I always thought that Touya was the one your heart was after." He scowled at her.
Personally, he was jealous of Touya. Why should he, Touya, have the deity's heart in his grasp when he, Risho, was more powerful? Risho had money, power, and land in his hands. He had everything anyone could want except for this rebel of a female. She easily survived his wrath. She had towed the line to his threats but still lived…and because of this, he could only love her. He didn't have the heart to kill her.
"What did Touya do for me without you forcing him to do it?" Botan answered.
Risho cocked his head thoughtfully. This was all true. Even though Touya had wanted to take her in when she was only a child, it was Risho who gave him the orders to get pretty clothes made that would enhance her charms. Touya had only taken advantage of the clothes and made her wear something that showed more of her milky skin. He smiled at her truth. "Good point. Run along."
"Sir!" Touya began again. "Have you been brainwashed as well? All this time, you've wanted to kill Youko Kurama. Don't you want to hit him where it hurts?"
Risho glared at him. "See what females can do to your mind?"
Jin stood up from his sitting position and moved beside Touya. "Touya has a point. Even before Botan was born ya've wanted ta kill Youko. Now that Botan says Touya's only jealous, is that gonna change yer mind, me lord? Do you feel sorry fer tha fox demon?"
Risho looked at him. "You dare to side with him?"
"Aye," Jin said smoothly. "Seein' as he's got a point 'n all. Personally I'd like ta see Youko Kurama fall. He's been buggin' us fer generations. I'm thinkin' that we should make him suffer."
Touya nodded. "You've talked about torture. If he cares about Botan as much as she cares for him, then we can hit him where it hurts by forcing her to do the torture."
Jin's smile faded. He hated Botan to hurt, but he hated Youko—they all did. Youko had to fall and fall hard. "Or…" he began tentatively. "if we want 'im ta hurt twice as much as Botan being the torturer, maybe we should hurt her too. He'd think it was all his fault and it would crush 'im."
Touya and Risho both gaped at Jin. He wasn't the type to enjoy hurting the weak…weak meaning Botan. He was outgoing and enjoyed to party. He was more of the 'playboy' of the yakuza. Torture was beneath him, yet here he was, encouraging Botan to be tortured along with him.
"No." Risho said at last. "She's far too valuable an aspect. She was the one that brought him here. I think it would double the emotional pain if Youko Kurama was tortured. She would hurt and she would know her place in this house. Youko Kurama would hurt if he saw Botan doing this to him." He looked both of his henchmen in the eyes. "Is it settled? We can each torture Youko Kurama to our hearts content. To finish things off, Botan will be allowed to complete his downfall. Agreed?"
"Aye! Sounds good ta me! I can't wait ta see tha look in 'is eyes when he sees Botan doing all this to him!" Jin said energetically.
Eyes now turned on Touya. "Well?" Risho asked.
Touya blinked at his master thoughtfully. Something told him that all of this would come back and bite them in the ass…but what choice did he have? He brought this up, and he would have to bear it. "Agreed," he said, forcing a smile.
(Ideas for torture Botan going to torture session goes to: Nienna Whitethorn)
Questions? Comments? Threats to kill me? N-e-wayz, so we have yet another person we know to have twisted in this fic. Yes, it's Jin the Windmaster! Yup. I tried to get the way he talks right, but it's not that easy to do! I hadn't heard him talk or anything like that in a long time. I tried, alright?
Note: For those of you who's read the new YoukoxBotan fic I put up called "There's Always a Catch," I want you to know that the title is changed to "Guilty By Association". It might be changed later on and the summary will be toyed with until I know exactly how the story will turn out, but just know that this is still up!
Hm…isn't "guilty by association" part of a Linkin Park song? What is it…I think it's part of the song Runaway on the Hybrid Theory CD. "…now I find myself in question (They point the finger at me again) guilty by association (you point the finger at me again)." Yes, People, I'm a hardcore Linkin Park fan! Sorry…I'm blabbering again…
Here's the people who reviewed last chapter in their respective orders!
Nienna Whitethorn: First to review this time! Feel special? Do ya? Huh? Huh? Do ya? I already figured to put the torture session in, but since you encouraged it, you get some credit! Did you see yer name? I appreciate your review!
Spoonerfic: I dunno who Itsuki is so I can't help you on that one! Karasu and Touya are both my fav people who aren't in the main story! Thanx for the review!
JDfielding: I agree, Risho is a bastard but he fits nicely into this story somehow. I still dunno why you're reading my drivel when you write what you do, but I'm not complaining. I appreciate you leaving me a few lines! ::smiles::
Tesina Gela Gardner: Last, maybe, but it doesn't matter! As long as I know people love my drivel, I don't care what number they review! Thankee kindly for your review. This time you're the fourth person to review chapter 15.
miyako14: Thankee, but this isn't the best fic ever. You've read JD's After the Fall. That's the best KxB fic out there and of course Volpone and Frith are high on the best list too. Mine falls far under their genius, but I appreciate your flattery all the same! Thanx for being a loyal reviewer! You've been there since Revenge of the Abandoned!
Tyedye/Rin: Urgh…I can't remember if I reviewed your new chapter yet…sorry! I've been so busy! I don't think I'll have either of them die, but maybe another plot twist will ensue. After all, this fic is all about rollercoasters! Thanx for reviewing.
Botan and Kurama lover: Me? Writing more since school's out? MEEP! I seem to be writing less…how strange! Yes, Touya is bad for interrupting a good pairing, but he's cool too. Thanks for your review.
Lifeless-Kanna: Sorry about that cliffhanger. I think I do it on purpose to annoy reviewers? Or maybe I just did it because I didn't know what to write next….hm…I don't know. Thanks for your review.
Candy Candy Chan: Wow! You sat there and read everything? That's nice of you! I hope you enjoyed reading this! Thank you very much for your review!
Lady of Roses: No prob if yer too lazy to review! I'm glad you enjoy so far! Thanks!
Kitsune0530: Thanks! You want this to end?! I kind of do too…I wanna see the end, but at the same time, I liked writing this fic and I don't want it to end. Ah well. Thank ya for your review.
lil-rosa: You're a strange one too, aren't you? j/k! You can't kill cliffhangers! They're fun! ::laughs and tortures reviewers w/more cliffs:: nah, I don't like them when I'm reading, but sometimes they're necessary I guess. Just to stall people. Thanks for your review!
KuramaandHiei4ever: Was it a good 50 chapter fic? I've tried reading some fics like that, but most of them get boring after the 20th chapter or so. I don't want to write one that long though! I don't want to bore you reviewers! Thanks for your review!
Mourning Fox: Evil thoughts? Shame on you! Leave things like that to Hiei and Karasu! Maybe Youko too! J/k. Thanks for your review!
natsumi-chan: Yes, Men can be assholes. That's why we have to train them! J/k. Thanx for your review!
Kisty kamae: I know Youko is more evil…and yeah, it's sorta OOC, but so what? It's not like we SEE Youko have a crush on anyone on the anime, do we? A leo scene? If you mean lemon scene, sorry to disappoint you. I don't do lemons. Tried it once, had a snitch and decided to stay away from lemons. Thanks for the suggestion though.
Conspiring against me: I'm glad you love my story! It's nice to know. Did I update fast enough? Probably not! Sorry about the cliffy, but it had to be done! Thanx for the review!
prettynutter: Thanks! The suspense is pretty bad isn't it…I hope no one dies! Thanks for the review.
Moonlite Goddess: Oh, sorry about your computer. I hate it when they mess up! Thanks for reviewing! Hope your computer gets fixed real soon!
Like I said, thanks for reviewing and your name will be up again next time if you review this time!