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!
"What did I get myself into?" Botan wondered sadly as she followed Risho to the torture room. She felt someone clap a hand on her slim shoulders. She lifted her amethyst gaze to meet Jin's eyes. She narrowed her eyes and shook the arm off. "I don't want to talk to you," she said rudely.
Jin frowned at her and his elfish ears drooped. "Are ya mad at me?" he wondered tentatively.
"Yes! How can you do this to him!" She wrapped her arms around herself, mourning at thought of having to hurt Youko intentionally. 'I only hope that he can forgive me…if he survives…' she moaned to herself.
"What kind've question is that? Ya know what he's done ta us!"
She turned and glared at him. "And what exactly did he do to all of you? Personally, I think all of you are just jealous of him!"
"Jealous?" Touya exclaimed. "Of a worthless thief?"
"Deep down, isn't that what the yakuza are? Worthless thieves? But look at what you all have to live for." She spread her arms and gestured at the grand building. "See this? This is what you got from stealing. What does Youko have? Do you see him swimming around in his riches? Do you see him trying to kill all of you just because you have more than he does? I don't understand why you hate him!"
Touya blinked at her helplessly. "Why shouldn't we hate him?" he said at last. "Look at what he's done to you. You've always been obedient. Ever since you've returned, you've been cocky."
"I wonder who's fault that was. If you didn't hate him, I wouldn't have met him or fell in love with him. You put this on yourself." She crossed her arms again.
Risho threw open the iron door to Youko's cell. He began to walk in. Within a second, he stumbled backwards out the door. Jin and Touya rushed to help him to his feet.
"What happened?" Touya asked.
"Worthless fox demon with his plants…" Risho grumbled. He gripped Botan by the forearm and thrust her in there. "You get him out. Talk to him for a while if you want, but take too long and I'm dragging your ass out."
"Y-yes sir," Botan muttered meekly. She stepped in. Immediately, snapping plants surrounded her. She cringed. "Youko, it's me," she called out.
The plants stopped snapping momentarily, as if studying her. They slunk away.
"Botan? But why?" Youko's silky drawl was music to her ears. Without hesitation, Botan threw herself into his waiting arms. She pressed her face in the crook of his neck.
Youko blinked at her in confusion but brought his arms around her. "What's all this about? It's only been less than a day, hasn't it? You can't have missed me that much," he joked good-naturedly.
"But I did miss you! I couldn't help but think about you…" she said quickly. She tightened her hold around his neck.
"How…why…?" the fox demon sputtered. The fact that Botan was lessoning his air supply wasn't on his mind right now. "After I told you I didn't want to see you?" 'Crazy woman…you do the exact opposite of what I ask of you…' he thought affectionately.
Botan removed her arms from his neck. A hurt look was evident on her lovely features. "But were you serious? Do you really not want to see me again?"
"Of course not…I know that being close to me would be a hazard to you. But…" He was almost afraid to voice his thoughts. He felt that if he did, the deity would back away from him and do something drastic.
"But what?"
"No…I'd rather not tell you." He gazed at her. The thought of having the deity run from him was bad enough, but he was desperate to know. "What about Touya? You love him…do you not?"
"I thought I did…but I realized he was only using me. He never cared about me," she murmured. Even though she whispered, her voice echoed in the stone cell.
Risho, Touya and Jin all heard what she was saying. 'I realized he was only using me. He never cared about me…' Touya stared down at the floor, feeling the weight of two pairs of eyes lie heavily on his slender shoulders. Risho smirked at what he heard Botan said. Touya was a valuable aspect to the yakuza, but he disrespected the better things that were given to him.
Jin could only gape at the Ice Master incredulously. "Ya didn't care fer her?" he demanded.
"I did care for her…" Touya began irritably.
"Accordin' ta her, you were only usin' 'er." He crossed his arms over his chest. "How can ye do that to 'er? After all she's done for ya, you couldn't even care about her!"
"Shut up!" Touya snapped. His usual docile temper flared at the insinuations. "I did care for her, but human women are confusing things. All they want is to have someone to complain to, someone to stroke their hair and whisper sweet nothings to them. Relationships to them mean to have a close friend. This is Makai! Relationships mean nothing. Being with a mate is solely to keep the species alive, is it not?"
"Maybe ta you. If I had me a girl like her, I'd make sacrifices. She's somethin' special…" He gazed into the open cell where Botan sat talking to Youko. "Ya know that she's a human. Yer problem is that yer treatin' 'er like a normal demon gal. She's special so ye've got ta treat her so." He caught Risho's smirk and looked at Touya's angry gaze. "Like she says, this is all yer fault. It bit ya in the ass and ya can't do nothing about it."
"Fuck you," Touya muttered weakly.
"What? I can't hear ya."
"Quit arguing you two!" Risho snapped angrily. "Give them a few more minutes and we'll have our fun." He gazed into the semi-darkness of the cell with hate boiling inside him.
"Hai," Touya and Jin both replied in monotonic unison.
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"So you see, I love you. I think I always have every since I got to know you better, but Touya stood in the way," Botan continued shyly. She cringed at the corniness. It all sounded so corny…so lame. It didn't sound like the romantic moment she had imagined many years ago when the oh-so-perfect-someone would confess his love to her.
"Touya stood in the way, did he? Then where did Matsuo come in?" Youko asked slyly.
She blushed. "I was trying to keep you away from me…and I wanted to live a normal live. He was a normal guy, so I thought, and you were a demon."
Youko could only smile at her. "So why did you come here? Just to tell me that?"
"No!" Botan suddenly remembered what she came here for. "No, no, no!" She clutched his arm. "Risho and the rest want to torture you."
"Torture me? For what?"
"Because they hate you." She buried her face into his silk robe. "I don't want to see them hurt you! It's not fair!"
"My life's never been fair. Let them torture me. I can handle it." He met her amethyst eyes that peeped up at him. "You're all that matters to me right now."
"You don't understand what else they're going to do!"
"Times up!" Risho said quickly. He didn't want Botan to tell the fox demon everything. He grabbed Botan by the jacket and threw her out the door. "You," he hissed to Youko. "Come quietly or we'll slit the girl's throat. She'll die a slow painful death. Won't it be wonderful to know that you were the cause of her death?"
Youko growled. He could probably kill all of them before they would have time to harm Botan, but he didn't want to take the chance. His own speed was good, but he had heard of the other yakuza member—Jin. Jin was the wind master. He could control the very air to levitate or suffocate an enemy. It was a genius technique and very hard to master. He met Jin's gaze and gave him a slight nod, recognizing him as an adequate rival.
"Fine," he said coldly. "I'll go along with you assholes. But, if you even try to hurt her, I'll kill you all."
Risho smirked. He had no intention of hurting the girl, but if he was forced to do so, he would. He was just enough of a bastard to do it.
He kicked Youko into a room. On the walls were several sharp objects. Some were of the human and Spirit World but most of them came from Makai. Many of these Makai objects could inflict pain with even the slightest of pinpricks. The simplest of objects could cause the most pain. In the middle of the room was an uncomfortable looking chair.
"Get on that," Risho commanded.
Youko wrinkled his nose. The room reeked of demons who had been tortured. The scent of their pain and spilled blood still lingered in the room. "I'm not getting on that. There's no telling how many filthy demons have been on that…"
"Over a hundred. All of these things—" Risho spread his arms to gesture at the many weapons. "—have been used at least five times. We have at least a thousand…eh…playthings here.
"Lovely," Youko sniffed.
"Get on it. Or else." He nodded towards the deity who slumped guiltily. Jin held her, keeping her from escaping.
The fox demon growled deep in his throat, but climbed on anyway. Risho and Touya took the metal links on each corner of the table and snapped Youko's wrists into it. His ankles were next to be locked down.
Risho took a few steps back to admire what he had done. He frowned. Youko didn't look like the other demons. They had looked as if their dignity had been stripped away. Youko, however, looked the same as he usually did. His amber eyes clearly showed his detest. He was tied down and it gave him a forlorn look, but it made his angelic features look all the more honorable.
He walked back towards the fox demon and pulled his silk robes off. He left Youko just enough dignity and draped the removed clothing on his lower body. His milky skin gave a faint glow in the gloomy light of the room. Now he looked helpless.
'But those eyes…those damned eyes. How the hell can he look like he's so much stronger than I am when he's the worthless fool who's tied down,' Risho thought angrily. He shook the image of those golden eyes burrowing into his black heart and chose an evil looking dagger. He held it above Youko's chest.
Botan winced and looked away. She didn't want to see his flawless skin be marred by the dagger. She didn't want to see his blood to be shed.
"Ye've got to watch," Touya whispered gently. "I know it hurts, but ye have ta watch. If ya look away, you'll make the fox demon think you're afraid for 'im. If ye show weakness, then how will he 'ave the heart the live through it for ya?"
Botan blinked, focusing her amethyst eyes on the elf-eared demon. "What? Where'd that come from?" she asked incredulously.
"I watched ya in the cell. 'ee seems to treat ya the way ye deserve. 'ee can't be all that bad then, can 'ee?" He gave her his goofy smile. "If 'ee treats ya better than Touya does, then I say 'ee deserves a second chance."
Botan gripped his arm. "Then make him stop this madness! If you know this isn't right, make Risho stop!"
"I can't. Trust me, if I had the power ta do so, I would. But this isn't my place ta interfere," Jin argued. He laid his hands on her slender shoulders. "Look. I won't hurt 'im like Lord Risho does. I'll give 'im a chance to fight. I don't like to do things like this…only the weak ties people like Youko Kurama down and does things like this. All right? I promise I won't add to 'is misery like this."
"Thank you," Botan said breathlessly. "You don't know how much this means to me…"
Jin looked away guiltily. "Aye, yer right, I don't. I suggested this thing and it's comin' back to haunt me, it is. I'll try to fix this as best as I can."
Here's the people who reviewed last chapter in their respective orders!
KuramaandHiei4ever: Hey! You are the first reviewer! ::throws confetti:: Nah, I don't think ur an idiot of you don't have ideas. You actually sat through the 50 chapter fic even though you got confused? Why? I just hope my fic doesn't confuse people! If my fic gets boring and if there's a confusing part, I hope you let me know! Thanks for your review!
Tyedye/Rin: I reviewed your new chapter! Yay for me! I remembered! I like plot twists too…as long as they're not stupid. There's no point if there's a pointless plot twist, ya know? Well update your fic soon! Can you get another chapter to your songfic collection too? You promised a Linkin Park songfic! Thankee for yer review!
Lifeless-Kanna: Glad you like it! I appreciate your review!
Nienna Whitethorn: Site? What sight? Well, thanks for yer review!
rotten tomatoes: That's nice to know! Maybe there's more people out there who only read my fics and not review. Hmm…that's something to think about. Sheesh, I update all of my YYH fics this week! What more do you want from me! ::sobs:: Joking! Thanks for your review! Hope you enjoyed the new installments!
JDfielding: Aw…::blushes:: You're just saying that, but it's still nice to hear. Jin was pretty evil for suggesting it, wasn't he? But he's changed a little. But what's he gonna do to Youko! ::evil laugh:: Only I know! I doubt that something will change Risho's mind too. He's the major bastard in this story…or is that Touya? Hm. I'm not sure. Glad you enjoy!
Conspiring against me: I'm gonna try updating every week when I can. It's still pretty slow right now, but I can promise that I update faster than Volpone or frith. Even though they write much better than I do, I can promise to update faster than every month on this fic. If you've read things like Secrets Behind Emerald Eyes, it doesn't get updated as much because I don't get as much reviews. But, thanks just the same!
lil-rosa: ::raises an eyebrow:: Yes, you are very strange indeed…but! I have you beat! More cliffies! Mwahaha! ::showers lil-rosa with extra cliffies and cheese!:: Right…::coughs:: I'll just update shall I? ::innocent look::
Volpone: Yep, everyone's in love with Botan…except Jin. He doesn't really love her, but he cares about her like a sister. He doesn't want a…er…piece of her like Jin does. He respects her. N-e-wayz, so Botan being a goddess to all these bastards makes her life a living hell. Poor girl! Thanks for your review! Oh, I got your review for guilty by association! Thanks for those too!
prettynutter: That's good to know. I don't want people to say my fic is trashy! I agree with ya though. Most of the time, when action is mixed with romance, the love scenes get too tacky I guess…some I've read does. I just hope that my scenes don't bore you reviewers! Tell me if it does, k?
Tesina Gela Gardner: Here's a new chapter fresh of my disk! I hope it's a hot one! ::grins: I think there's too much dialect and not enough action…hm…what do you think?
Dark Shadow Writer: Itsuki, huh? You must own the DVD's or something! Damn Cartoon Network! They should put it back on weekdays so I can see more things! I missed the fight b-tween Hiei and Bui because they were showing the Making the Video of Linkin Park's Breaking the Habit. My mom read the Japanese news a month or so ago telling me about the new anime video so I was dying to see it! It's a great song, that it is! Thanks for your review!
LoneWolf7423: Yep. Twists and turns, just the way I like it. Like a slinky you say? I see it as a roller coaster! Ice cream talks?! ::grabs bowl of ice cream and listens:: Nope. Nothing. Are you sure you aren't imagining things? Or maybe my ice cream is shy…hm… thanks for yer review!
miyako14: You're always so nice. I'd hate to see you flame someone! Have you ever flamed someone? Thanks for your flattery and thanks for keeping up with my fics!
Chocogurl: Yes, I think Botan does have to torture Youko. Unless there' s a super special twist coming up! Maybe…never know! Sheesh, I hadn't seen you in forever and YES you better do some updating! Thanks for your review!
Hakusho009: Do you mean why as in why does Botan have to torture Youko or why as in why am I freaked over Botan torturing Youko? Thanks for your review! Stay tuned for the special torture sessions! ::evil laugh::
Like I said, thanks for reviewing and your name will be up again next time if you review this time!