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Botan didn't know exactly what woke her up. Her first thought was a happy one. She was alive and Youko was curled up in the animal-like position she had always found interesting and adorable. As she gazed lovingly at him, she instantly realized that something was wrong. Youko hadn't slept in that position since the first few weeks he had came to her house those many months ago. He had abandoned his animalistic habits and turned more human as he lived longer in the human world. The fact that they were outside was something very interesting as well.
She sat up, looking around wildly. The large building the yakuza had used wasn't in sight. She took deep breaths, telling herself not to panic. Maybe Youko had dragged her away while she was still passed away. She began to calm down. Yes. Now that sounded logical. She slid towards Youko's sleeping form and stroked his cheek. She owed him so much…she wasn't sure how she would be able to repay him for everything he had done for her.
The fox demon jumped away at her touch. He was instantly awake and on guard. He bared his canines at her. "What are you thinking? Touching me without my permission…" His tail thrashed violently in the air. "You're in my territory woman. That means I own you. I can do what I want to you. If you don't like it, you die." He grinned at her.
Botan wrapped her arms around herself, staring at him. "What's wrong with you? I know this is your territory, but you don't have to act like this," she exclaimed, trying her best to hide her hurt feelings.
Youko's angelic features darkened. "What are you talking about? You act as if you know me."
Her amethyst eyes widened. It was all coming back to her…Touya's words pulsed in her memories once more.
"It's powered Veruki root. The plant implanted into a person's back can take over their minds, you see and they become slaves. But this is the root—it's stronger. It can erase your memory if you breathe enough of it in."
'The Veruki thing!' Botan thought sadly. 'Youko must have lost his memory. Why didn't I lose my memory too?' Then she remembered. Youko had pushed her face gently but firmly against his chest, blocking the powered roots from entering her body as she breathed. 'He didn't protect himself! He helped me…I have to help him too.' She gazed at him with mixed emotions. She loved the demon with all her being, but she didn't want anything to do with him if he was cold to her.
She attempted to get to him in some way. "Do you know who I am? My name? How you know me?"
The golden eyes blinked. He tried his best to remember who she was. She seemed familiar. She felt familiar…and her scent… but why couldn't he match her face with a name? "N-no," he admitted, fear laced his words. "I feel as if I know you…should I?" He shook his head, returning to his demonic façade, pushing away any fear that could leave him vulnerable. "It matters not. I am superior to you. You're lucky that you're a lovely creature. If you had the face of a Makai fungus, I'm sure I wouldn't have took you here."
Her hopes plummeted just as soon as it rose. "At least you feel like you remember me. That's a start." She forced a smile. "I guess we'll have to start all over again won't we?"
"I refuse to interact with you. I need nourishment. Find your own source of food. I want you to stay alive so I can question you." He rose to his feet and walked off through a tangle of shrubs.
She watched him walk. 'At least he's not all perverted. Like…some people.' She shuddered, trying not to mention Risho or Touya's names in her thoughts. She was glad Youko had enough manners to act civilized towards her—especially since she was a female and the two were stranded in the middle of a vast forest alone. She stood up and looked around her. If Youko was truly planning on forcing her to live on her own skills, she would have to find something that looked edible. She wasn't sure of what Makai plants were what. What if she accidentally ate something that was poisonous? She bit her lip to fight back tears of helplessness. 'Damn Risho all the same! He should have let me go out, even for a little bit, to learn about the outside so I don't starve!'
Meanwhile, Youko sat in a tree keeping watch on the ground. His plants were out in random places. He had smelled edible animals close by. He would wait until these herbivores stopped to nibble his plants and ensnare them. Boom! Instant food. He smiled. This was a quick and easy way to get food.
The frown soon faded. The girl he had taken from the yakuza building appeared in his thoughts. He didn't remember being in the building. He didn't know who she was or what made him bring her to his territory. He didn't know why looking at her made him melt inside. He couldn't understand why he longed to kiss her and hold her. The last was very odd. Even the demon girls he found walking around in his territory didn't make him feel like that so soon. Sure, he always drew out the better-looking demon females, but he had never had the urge to just hold them and enjoy her presence. The only reason for these stray demon females were …well, to put it plainly…for sex. But this girl…it was all so strange. It was almost like his body knew her, but his mind only drew a blank.
He scowled. Females to him were for sex only. Normally he felt no need for a female at his side. He used them and promptly disposed of them. It was a cold thing to do, but that was how his specie was. Rarely did a kitsune find a steady mate. With Botan, he didn't see her as he did the other females. Sex wasn't the priority with her. He wanted to show her he loved her and receive her gentle and loving words in return.
'Madness. That's what this is. Utter and complete madness,' he cursed to himself. But he couldn't deny these emotions. He couldn't ignore them for long. As he thought over his problems, his plants had managed to capture a nice catch of rabbits and a few birds that were basically Makai chickens. He gathered them. He had more than enough. And he didn't want the girl to starve. His conscience wouldn't have it.
He smirked. Since when did he have a conscience?
"Here. I didn't stop to consider the fact that, as a human, you have no ability to care for yourself." Youko threw his catch at Botan's feet.
"What's that supposed to mean? Humans can care for themselves. I can't because I never had the chance to." She wrinkled her nose, prodding the limp animals with the tip of her shoe. "I'll start a fire and get these things cooking then. I can at least do that."
The fox demon watched curiously as Botan started up a fire. She looked up at him. "You've got the claws. Skin and gut these things. Then we'll get these cooked."
Youko did as he was asked. He blinked, watching Botan put the animals on sticks and cooked them by the fire.
"Watch out—it's hot," she warned as soon as the food was done.
The kitsune sniffed the food, making sure the girl hadn't poisoned it. He nibbled on it, testing it. He nearly jumped when Botan laughed.
"You're doing better than you did the first time. Remember the stew?" Her face fell, realizing she was alone in her memories. "N-never mind." She sighed. She lapsed into silence. She wanted to talk to him about the past then lead up to the things that could happen in the future. But Youko remembered nothing. This meant she couldn't reminisce with him much less contemplate the future when he didn't know her.
The meal was completed in silence. Now the two huddled before the fire as the sun began to go down.
Youko looked at her, desperately wanting to please her and get her out of this silent mode. "I can't seem to remember you," he said at last. "I've done my best to ignore my body's desires but it keeps growing. Not those desires," he ensured, catching the deity's wary glare. "I want to…to hold you and caress your hair. It's a dilemma because I can't understand why I feel such things." He stared down at the ground. He was aware that his cheeks were tinged with pink. "Perhaps you are able to help me." He raised his golden eyes to meet Botan's amethyst ones.
Botan blinked back the tears that threatened to fall. "I wish I knew how to. I don't even know if it's possible."
It was now the fox spirit to fall silent. He nodded slowly. "I suppose I must do this on my own then." He closed his eyes to concentrate on the emotions his body was feeding his brain. Try as he might, he remembered almost nothing about the girl. He opened his eyes briefly and watched as she buried her face into her folded arm that perched on her knees. He moved towards her uncertainly. Maybe she was cold. He blinked when he heard some sounds come from her. "What is it?" he asked. He felt awkward. He couldn't remember her name so he couldn't use it.
"Nothing." Botan hastily brushed her tears away and looked defiantly at him.
"If this is nothing, I would hate to see what you would do when something is wrong." He smiled at her, hoping that she would at least crack a smile at his small joke. What he did get in response confused him. The deity burst into tears again.
"I don't know you anymore," she tried to explain. "First you act like a jerk when you first met me. Then you talk too openly. I-I know I'm just being silly. I should expect this since Touya took your memories away, but I just don't know you anymore!" She looked away from him. "What happens if I start to not love you anymore? What if you just hurt me without knowing? What if you hurt yourself? Or…or you might just run away from me. It's just confusing. I wish I never met you! Then none of this would have happened." She stood up and ran away from him. She was ashamed of herself. She shouldn't have cried, but she couldn't help it. Wouldn't anyone else do the same thing if they were in her position?
Youko opened his mouth to say something but he stopped himself. He didn't know what to do. He wanted to run after her and calm her down, but perhaps she needed to calm down on her own time. He frowned deeply. He decided to go after her anyway.
"Botan?" He called desperately after searching for over an hour. He blinked at this accomplishment. What had he called her? Botan? He said it again, allowing the syllables to roll off his tongue. Yes, it sounded right. That was her name. It came back to him! His hopes had suddenly returned. He continued to look for her.
He finally found her. He called out her name a few more times, retracing his steps just incase he had missed her. He sat down in front of her and took her hands into his. "Botan," he murmured.
The deity gasped and looked at him. "M-my name! You know my name!"
"It just came back to me." He looked at her and smiled. "I don't know how you remember me, and I don't know how I acted. But…perhaps you can learn to accept me as I am now. I'll try to remember more things about you. I may not remember everything, but perhaps more will return." He tentatively kissed her tear-streaked cheek. The salty taste was now at the tip of his tongue. "Just have patience. I'll do my best to be good to you."
Botan managed to smile, but more tears feel down her cheeks. This time it was tears of joy. "You've always been too good to me. I don't deserve anyone like you. Why don't you just find someone who deserves you?"
"Because something tells me that I love you." He kissed her on her lips this time. He felt Botan push more insistently against him, her arms wrapped gently around his neck. His arms were around her body, holding her close.
"I love you too," Botan managed to utter before Youko closed in for a more intimate kiss.
I know it looks like this fic is done, but it's not just yet. Doesn't Touya need to get his ass kicked? So there's still a couple chapters left to go! Hopefully there was enough fluff in this chapter.
Here's the people who reviewed last chapter in their respective orders:
KuramaandHiei4ever: First to review! I'm glad you liked the last chapter! You flatter me. ::bows down:: I'm glad to see you think my chapters are so interesting that you read every word. That's nice to know! Whenever I update Jealous Hearts, you'll see tidbits of your song. I won't introduce the entire song in the 2nd chapter though, k? I need to fit in some other stuff so the song will fit perfectly. And I'll make sure people know that you're the one who wrote it!
Miyako14: Thanks! And here's the next chapter!
Volpone: Yup, Youko wakes up 'feral' as you say, but things don't end up like you want. Poor poor perverted little Volpone. I won't have Youko rape Botan, the poor thing. As you see, he does wake up untamed, but luckily part of him remembers Botan! All hopes aren't lost after all!
Mourning Fox: Whoa, that would be a pretty scary thing for my grandma to supposedly die then come back to life. Woo, scary! Touya is pretty stubborn, eh? I wonder if he'll get what he deserves? Only I can know!
animegirl007: I'm flattered. I'm glad you enjoy it! I think this might be my best work yet—and all my lovely reviewers have backed me up the whole way! I feel so loved! ::sniff sniff:: Yes, I understand your point. It does seem like they both would lose their memory. But the roots are powdered and you have to breathe in a lot of it to lose your memory. Youko protected Botan from the worst of it. Even if she breathes the little bit that is on her clothes, she'll be fine. See, you have to breathe in a lot to loose your memory. Hope that isn't too confusing. I'm not good at explaining things.
Tesina Gela Gardner: If you think losing your memory is a good thing, then I guess what happened to the two is good. But even though losing your memory is bad, things seem to have turned out ok, right? And there was fluff in this chapter! Hope you like fluff!
JDFielding: A short chapter?! The last chapter was like 6 or 7 pages! If you think that was short…! But glad you enjoyed it just the same. Touya? A mutated cockroach? That's funny. It made me laugh when I read it. ::laughs some more:: I guess he is a mutated cockroach in a way… There are more tender moments in this chapter so maybe you'll enjoy that too. I demand for you to update After the Fall as soon as you can! I wanna know what happens!
What a scene: Glad you think it's cool. Here is the next chapter!
Orange09: I wanted the fight to last for most of the chapter too, but I didn't know what to write. I'm not much good at fight scenes so the fight was short. Sorry if it disappointed you! Yes. Touya still likes Botan. Now he sees her as an unobtainable object, but as a shinobi, he'll go to no end to try and get it!
Nakushita: Sugar filled treats? What do you mean? I don't have any! ::looks around suspiciously and shoves candy into pocket:: See! Nothing! Hm…the idea for Jin and someone to fall in love and restart the yakuza seems interesting… I'll think about it.
Princess Paine of Darkness: Here's the new chapter so you know what happens! Keep your pants on! O.O;
DarkShadowWriter: Poor Touya, I manipulated him into becoming this cold-heartless bastard. I'm a bad person! But I still like him too! ::steal's DarkShadowWriter's flag:: ::waves flag:: Mwahahaha! I have your flag! Now only I can root him on!
Keirin-Sama: Youko forgot most, but obviously part of his memory is slowly coming back! Here's the chapter so don't go too crazy, k?
Crimson Breeze: Things turn out decently I guess. Here the new chapter! Hope you enjoy!
Luci-chan6: Badly inserted you say? How so? But glad you liked the chapter. Thanks!
Kitsune-botan: O.O I don't know Spanish! But I had a friend translate so I have an idea of what you're saying. Yes, Botan and Youko are going to stay together. I won't have it any other way. They make such a lovely couple! You get emotional when you read KxB? I do too—if the person writes it good. I've seen some KxB that was boring. I woulda killed Touya for what he did too! He's such a bastard…but Youko will have his revenge.
Tyedye/Rin: Thanks! I'll see your new songfic when I get a chance, k?
Ame no Kodomo: Thanks! I enjoy hearing that my fic is exciting to you reviewers. It makes me feel important.
Mistaken-Otaku: Yes, there are many different possibilities, but at the same time, most of them are correct! Isn't that great? Just keep reading and you'll see exactly what happens between the two!
Like I said, thanks for reviewing and your name will be up again next time if you review this time!