Dangerous Addiction

Summary: Botan has never considered him more than a friend, an ally that she isn't particularly that close with even. But after that night everything's changed between them and now she finds herself dangerously attracted to him. And Kurama? He doesn't help either.

Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Chapter 2

The sound of birds chirping outside caused the bed to shift as the ferry girl stirred in her sleep. The rays of sunlight peeked through the curtains, giving way to a bright shine that almost blinded her as she fluttered her eyes open if it wasn't for the chest that blocked it midway.

Heat rushed to her cheeks and coloured them red as memories came flooding into her mind; the flashes of last night's events causing her to think of her life choices. Sure, it had felt good, but was it really worth the trouble that was about to come? It was difficult enough for the team to seize victory in every fight they had to go through at the Dark Tournament - she really didn't want to cause any more trouble.

Kurama's arms were still linked around her waist, she mentally noted, as she had to shift them aside in order to lift herself off the bed. Bringing her legs to her chest, Botan buried her chin on her knees as she studied Kurama's sleeping face; the innocence reflected on his facial features as he slept soundly like a little child a direct contradiction to the fact that he was formerly known as the infamous thief, Youko Kurama, who was feared by all and idolized by many. She reached a finger to tenderly trail it around the plumpness of his lips, as if unable to believe that these were the lips that had kissed her the night before. It still felt unreal that he had wanted her enough to bed her, even if he probably wasn't fully aware of what he was doing. After all, he always seemed so aloof - he was an amiable loner who kept to himself and always had his mind on things she couldn't possibly understand. No one could read him and yet he had spent the night with her.

In. Kuwabara's. Bed.

Botan was mortified as the revelation abruptly hit her like a ton of bricks. She didn't think anyone was awake or else the whole room would have been in an uproar a long time ago, but it was only a matter of time before they would. Panic started to rise within her as her paranoid mind began to conjure up every possible scenarios that would happen if they were to be caught - none of them seemed positive, which only seemed to spike up her anxiety another notch.

Her line of thoughts were cut short by the sudden feel of a warm hand grabbing hers, before it was followed with the tender flutter of lips pressing against the back of her hand. She turned her head to the side to focus her gaze on the now awake redhead beside her.

"Hey," he murmured against her supple flesh, still not letting go, "going somewhere?"

She blinked in confusion. "What?"

"Well, your apparent eagerness to jump out of the bed indicates so," came his casual response, only mildly fixated on the conversation as he planted more than one soft, feather-like kisses on her fingers.

"Oh." She didn't think her uneasiness was that translucent.

It caused more worry to brew inside her heart as the increase of concerning thoughts continued to infiltrate the depths of her mind. If it had been that noticeable, would it have woken someone up? She had no doubt that someone with a keen observation would be able to detect the waves of nervousness radiating off of her aura - that could be just about anyone ranging from Hiei, Yusuke, Kuwabara or hell, even Shizuru for all she knew.

"Is there something bothering you?" Kurama asked her when he noticed that she wasn't calming down, bringing her out of her reverie. "You seem restless."

Botan chewed on the plump skin of her bottom lip. "Um, well," she started but couldn't really proceed with what she was about to say, lacking the capability to even think of a coherent sentence to utter at a time like this.

The fox, fortunately, seemed to understand even through her silence. "If you're worried about the others, I can assure you that they'll probably hardly mind," he calmly told her, finally halting his ministrations as he pulled her hand away from his lips, but still didn't release it from his grasp as he sat up from the bed. "Whatever we do is none of their business."

"How can you be so sure of that?" Botan mumbled under her breath, her voice so low that the fox had to perk his ears up to actually be able to hear her. "I mean, what if this gets in the way of your fights and-"

She was cut off by a finger pressing firmly on her mouth, ultimately muting whatever more that she was about to let roll off her tongue.

"Like I said, it has nothing to do with them," he reassured her yet again, "I don't think this effects any of us. Truth be told, I don't mind even if someone were to open the door and see us together right now." Leaning in closer, the half-demon took the skin of her neck in between his teeth, nibbling gently and raking his lips all the way down to her collarbone. "You really shouldn't worry too much."

Botan wanted to tell him that he really ought to be less carefree about the whole situation, but found herself pondering that maybe he was right. The others really did have no say in what they were doing. It wasn't as if either Kurama or Botan was in a relationship with anybody else, therefore the mere act of them sleeping together wasn't exactly classified as something wrong.

Then again, there was Koenma. Even though the Spirit World had left most of their prejudice from old times behind, the simple thought of a ferry girl fooling around with a demon was something considered abnormal. While there was no longer rules forbidding such a liaison, it was still looked down upon by others. It would be dangerous for the prince of Spirit World to find out. She didn't think they would be imprisoned for what they did, but she didn't really want to face Koenma badgering her incessantly about how she shouldn't have let Kurama have his way if word got to him about this regardless of the almost non-existent consequences. It didn't really matter if Kurama was only part human now, or that he was working alongside Yusuke - if Koenma didn't like it, then he didn't like it.

"Well," Kurama started once again and considered her as he noticed that her agitation had not dissipate even in the slightest, "if it makes you feel better, then we can keep what happened between us a secret. I don't really mind either way."

"Sorry," Botan gave him a timid and apologetic grin. God, she must have seemed so stupid in front of him. It probably wasn't even a big deal to him. "I mean, you're right. We shouldn't have to be so secretive about all this. But maybe just Koenma..." she trailed off, her purple orbs pleading as they stared back at his quizzical ones.

Kurama arched an eyebrow at her, puzzled, but didn't try to prod further into the matter. "If you say so," he agreed, although he had an inkling idea of the reasoning behind her fear of Koenma finding out.

In his opinion, Kurama didn't really care about who found out about them - if anything, he would prefer if everyone did know. They probably didn't have anything serious going on, but he was a thief and thieves were notoriously possessive. He wouldn't like someone eyeing what he had already claimed and he didn't really enjoy the mere idea of sharing either. If everyone knew then anyone who would want to try to get close to her would be smart enough to keep their distance. Still, he should be respectful of her wishes.

"Do you regret what we did?" He threw the inquiry out into the open as he eyed her fiddle nervously with her thumbs, seeming as if still having some uncertainty in her mind.

He hoped she didn't. Kurama was no pervert but he did find Botan delectable. She was one of the few who had actually managed to catch his eye. There were countless times where he would find himself pondering what it would feel like to touch her but he had never dared to make a move - not because he was scared, but because he didn't consider physical intimacy to be a necessity; he just didn't have a reason to act out on his fantasies. If it wasn't for the alcohol in his system last night, he probably wouldn't have tried pushing her into the room in the first place. Still, now that he had a taste of her, he wanted more. He couldn't get enough of her. One night wasn't enough for him but he didn't really want to force himself on her. It wouldn't be right.

"Er, no, actually," Botan replied with a meek tone in her usually cheery voice. Kurama noted how adorable she looked as a blush crept up her cheeks and her eyes attempted to avoid his scrutinizing stare. "I actually liked it. I just, well, I assumed it would be awkward by the time we've sobered up but for some reason, it's not. It doesn't feel very weird at all."

"Why?" A soft chuckle erupted from his throat as amusement danced in his pools of green irises. "Did you think I would run off in trepidation?"

Botan felt a rush of shame overcome her. "Um, partly, yes," she mumbled, jutting her lower lip out in embarrassment. Good gosh, she really did overthink everything!

"Well, if it helps, I don't really get drunk. I try to avoid too much alcohol as best as I can," the fox explained, "For some reason, my human body lacks any alcohol tolerance, which is a shame considering I was able to devour more than a dozen bottles of beer back in my demon days- and I do things I normally wouldn't do. Not to say that I had sex with you on a whim or something of the sort; it's just that when I'm intoxicated, it clouds all my judgement so all my desires are all out in the open." He reached a hand to brush her bangs gently away from her eyes as they threatened to poke into them. "So at the very least, I can be honest and tell you that yes, I've thought of taking you more than once, Botan. You are quite attractive and I'm not afraid to admit that I do want you."

The ferry girl couldn't help the pink tint that warmed her face at his forward response. She hadn't expected him to actually be attracted to her, much less be so upfront about it, so it was all very sudden and a tad bit embarrassing for her.

Still, she didn't pull away as he traced his thumb over her mouth, studying her pink, honeydew lips all the while. She pursed them and felt him direct his gaze to her.

"But it's not like you harbor any special feelings for me, right? It's just all sexual attraction?" Botan began with a cautious edge in her voice. It wasn't as if she had hoped he would abruptly fall in love with her overnight. There was merely something she wanted cleared up so that she wouldn't been confused later on. "I mean, what are we now? Was last night a one time thing or...?" she trailed off, the lingering questioning tone in her voice demanding an answer from the redhead.

Kurama regarded her with an unreadable expression, but the grim reaper could have sworn she caught a flash of gold in his eyes before they reverted to their original greens. "To be honest, I wouldn't mind if we went on sleeping with each other. Last night, you were very remarkable, so I find myself wanting more of you. In fact, I would prefer us to do it more than once."

More than once. Botan repeated the words in her mind, trying not to focus on the fact that he basically told her she was good in bed. "So, friends with benefits?" she asked him, already suspecting that was what the nature of their new relationship was going to be, but needing his confirmation of the matter, nevertheless.

Kurama reached over to give her a tender peck on the lips, his hair tickling her cheeks before he pulled apart with a faint hint of a smile plastered on his face. "Whatever you want it to be. We can take it slow."

Her mouth formed a thin line, despite the soft tone he had used to speak to her. "So it's ambiguous then. I don't think I like that." At the very least she wanted to know what this really meant. She didn't expect more but she didn't really like not understanding what their relationship was either.

He tapped her lightly on the nose. "Don't be taking it the wrong way now. What I mean is that, I know you and I both don't love each other, but at the same time you're a friend of mine so I want to consider the possibility of something more. I want to try it out. If it doesn't work out then we can be friends with benefits if that works better. If this can be more, then that's pretty good as well. Let's just see what happens, okay?" he offered her an elaboration, hoping to turn the frown on her face upside down. She didn't particularly smile in return but her face did brighten up a little.

"Well, I guess I can settle with that." She nodded, apparently satisfied. "I was afraid that you'd be one of those on and off people, you know? Like maybe I don't matter-"

"I only said that I don't have any feelings for you. I never said that I don't care about you," he cut her off, his voice tender and reassuring as he curled a finger around a loose strand of blue hair, "Even if we don't end up having a romantic relationship, you still matter more to me than just sex. I don't just see you as an object, Botan."

The ferry girl could feel guilt crawl up under her skin as she watched his brows furrow into a deep frown, as if she had offended him somewhat. She looked down, suddenly feeling ashamed that she could have jumped to such a conclusion. How silly of her.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt you," Botan muttered. Her head lifted as she felt another barely-felt kiss on her forehead. She darted her eyes upwards to see Kurama smiling at her, his head shaking lightly from side to side.

"It can't be helped that you have your own doubts. I know I'm not exactly easy to understand. It's fine," he told her, but pinched her cheek a little. "Stop scowling."

Botan pushed out her lower lip into a pout as Kurama released her cheek, now slight red from the gesture. For some reason, Kurama was acting more laid-back than usual with her. Maybe it was because they had already spent the night together; he seemed to be more open and easygoing around her.

"Still, I suppose Kuwabara wouldn't really be pleased to find out we were doing the deed on his bed," Kurama blurted out abruptly as a burst of laughter rumbled in his chest. "We should get dressed before he wakes up."

"Right," Botan agreed, as she could already imagine Kuwabara fuming in fury at the mere fact that someone else was getting laid on somewhere he used to sleep.

They quietly put on their clothes, but Botan didn't really mind - the silence that had engulfed them was an easy, comfortable one and felt really pleasant. The moment didn't last long, however, as a startled gasp erupted from her lips at the sudden feel of a hand slipping into her underwear.

"Kurama!" Botan cried out indignantly, punching a fist at the fox's chest as if in a manner of reprimanding him. She earned another laugh in return, her knees wobbling and about ready to give out as he rubbed against her folds for a few moments before pulling out, his fingers now dripping with her wetness.

He brought it to his lips, never taking his eyes off of her as Botan gaped at him, her skin flushed in slight embarrassment as he darted his tongue out to suggestively lick her juices off his fingers, eyes flashing gold yet again as if trying to seduce her.

He reached behind her ear and then, came the barely audible whisper, heavily laced with teasing and suppressed hunger, "Thank you for breakfast." He lapped at the shell of her ear and felt her quiver under his touch, her mouth now ajar and eyes broad in pure shock at the implication of his words.

"Y-you...!" Botan wanted to yell but was too embarrassed to actually say anything.

Kurama simply grinned at her in response.