Disclaimer: YYH's rightful owner is Yoshihiro Togashi.

Title: Do You Miss Me?

By: WonderfulDemon123

Chapter 2

"What are you looking at?"

Botan's body jumped as instantly as the unfamiliar voice reached her ears, invading her private space and pulling her out of her own world. In a heartbeat, she closed the book she had been looking at and held it tight against her chest, almost as if she was holding to dear life. She turned to look up at the person who spoke to her, the grip she had on her book tightening as she made eye contact with a pair of emeralds staring at her with curiosity.

"U-uh… it's nothing…" she replied in a low voice, looking away when she felt her face grow hot at the thought that her secret was almost exposed. She didn't notice there was anyone else in class as school already ended. She was slightly curious as to why he was here, but relief overcame her and she didn't really care. If she hadn't acted quicker, she wouldn't want to think what would happen…

"Hmm…" he hummed.

She didn't look at him, afraid that he might see the embarrassed look she was sporting. But she could hear footsteps walking away from there… and for a moment, she thought he was leaving. For a brief second, she was relief… only to widen her eyes when further sounds reached her ears; the sound of wooden material screeching against the floor, and then the footsteps coming closer… and she turned her head –

Her eyes widened in even wider at the sight in front of her. Kurama was still standing there, hands on a chair now situated at the side of her desk and a smile etched on his lips. It was welcoming and friendly; almost as if he had known her for a long time.

"W-wha—?" Botan's question couldn't quite leave her lips as she sat there, staring at him in shock and confusion. She was bewildered, wondering what he was doing – and why did he have to pull a chair so far away from where she was sitting?

He raised an eyebrow at her surprised expression. "What's the matter?" he asked, but no reply came. She just looked at him wordlessly, as if she was looking for answers. A thought occurred in his head, "Oh – I pulled my chair here so I can sit with you. I'd like to use Yusuke's chair instead, as he sits in front of you and I don't have to go through all the trouble… but yeah, I just like my chair better. It feels more comfortable," he added a laugh at the end of his sentence, touching his eyes with mirth.

That wasn't really what she wanted to know – Well, he did answer one of the questions in her head… but what piqued her curiosity was what was he doing, sitting at her desk with her?

"T-that's not… well, I wanted to ask about the chair… but anyways, more importantly, why do you want to sit with me all of a sudden? School has ended already… you… should probably go home. Why are you here anyway?" she bombarded him with questions.

"If that's so, why don't you go home too? Plus, why are you still here?" he countered back, silencing her and making her gulp.

"I-I…" she tried to stutter out a comeback, but nothing came. She couldn't say anything and for a brief moment, she was frantic that he would find out. She began to rack her mind for excuses, but she was only dizzying her head.

He seemed to catch on to what the girl was thinking. She probably had something to hide and it was perhaps best if he kept his nose out of her business, but the problem was once his curiosity was piqued, he wouldn't be able to stay still for days if he didn't know. Still, it was amusing to watch her panic on what to say. He had only asked because he thought it would be fun to tease her a bit… but he didn't know she would give such an entertaining reaction.

He stifled a laugh and settled for a smile instead. Maybe he should stop teasing her already; the poor girl looked like she was about to faint. Clearing his throat and catching Botan's attention, he spoke, "I was at the library; I had to borrow some books before I go home. I came to class to pick up my things but I saw you reading that and I wanted to know what it was, which was why I greeted you – Botan-san."

"Oh… I see…" came Botan's only reply, before she realized, "Wait… how did you know my name? I don't think I told you, right?"

"No, not at all. I just like to memorize the names of my classmates, that's all. I'm quite the observant person, you see," he simply responded before putting an elbow on her desk, his chin coming to rest on his palm as he stared at her with a smile different than before – this one looked more mysterious, and his eyes seemed to look right through her, "And I must say, you are quite the intriguing one, Botan-san."

"W-what? Intriguing?" Botan asked, but instead of answering her, he merely looked down at the book she had in her hands.

"I'm still curious about that book… May I see it?" he inquired in a silky tone, eyes looking up to gaze at her face which turned red quickly at his words.

"S-see it?! N-no! You can't…" she refused.

"Hmm… On the back cover, I can see a few words written on it… Like a synopsis or something, perhaps? It's a manga… huh? But I wonder what type of manga, hmm?" the boy spoke in a friendly tone, probably too friendly for Botan's taste. Something about the way he talked freaked her out… was he threatening her to let him look?

"I suppose if you're that insistent on hiding it from me, it's not an ordinary manga, right? What is it, I wonder? Does it contain inappropriate content? Hmm, perhaps… mm-hmm, it would be bad if someone find out, huh?"

So he was.

Botan, embarrassed than ever, quickly gave him the book. She wasn't sure if she should do this, but he was really scaring her… what if he told someone else? She wouldn't be able to face her classmates ever again! Probably if she told him to keep quiet about it, he would.

Hopefully.

He grabbed the book, and she instantly started to babble, "L-listen, don't tell anyone else okay? I'll do anything you want, Kurama-kun... so please…!" she cut herself off when she realized he was giving the book a deadpan look and she grew uncomfortable.

"Uh, Kurama-kun…?"

"Botan-san… you… like yaoi, huh?" he finally spoke after a while of staring at the front cover of the book; a man with brown hair and another man with black hair were holding hands – and as if it wasn't disgusting enough, there were pink, blossoming flowers drawn around them too. What bothered him even more was how oddly and surprisingly good the art was…

A pink blush appeared on Botan's cheeks at his words. She was embarrassed – how could she give the book to him? And not to mention the bland way he had spoken served to make her feel more uncomfortable. It also made her want to defend herself.

"I-I… um, it's not that bad, you know? I-I'm free to read anything I want, right?! I-It's my right! So d-don't go judging me…!" More stuttered out babbles continuously escaped her, her face growing redder and redder the longer he remained silent.

After a while, he silenced her, "Relax, Botan-san. I'm not judging you," he told her calmly, as he put the book on her desk, returning it to her. "Though I can't say I'm a fond of these kind of things either."

"O-oh." For a brief relieved second, she was glad that he didn't judge her. She heaved out a relieved sigh, her body relaxing a bit. But it was quick, as her body straightened up almost immediately after two seconds passed. "Y-you're not going to tell anyone, are you?"

"Don't worry. Your secret's safe with me," Kurama replied softly, a heartwarming smile finding its way to his lips. "And did you just call me Kurama-kun? Why, I'm honored you know who I am," he changed the subject.

Botan seemed to relax fully at the promise he made to keep it a secret; she wasn't sure if she trusted him completely, but this was okay for now. She let out a small giggle at his words; the first laugh she had with him. "Why wouldn't I? You're quite popular with the girls, after all! I'm the one surprised that you would know me of all people. To be honest, I don't think I stand out… but it's not as bad as it may sounds, I kinda prefer it that way."

"That's exactly why I want to know you better, Botan-san," Kurama mysteriously said all of a sudden; his voice tinted with friendliness and warmth. His soul-searching eyes smiling at her; the same way his lips were.

"Hey hey, what's up, Botan?" Keiko sang, wrapping an arm around a confused bluenette. "I see you and Shuichi – or is it, Kurama – getting quite comfortable with each other… hmm hmm?"

Botan shook her head, a laugh leaving her lips as Keiko wriggled her brown eyebrows her way. "Keiko, I'm not like that with him. We're just friends."

"Well, you're kinda close friends, don't you think?" Yukina's voice chimed in, sounding as teasing as Keiko's did.

The bluenette chose not to acknowledge the smaller girl's teasing, or Keiko's for that matter, knowing fully well that they wouldn't stop no matter how many times she told them there was nothing going on with her and Kurama.

The two had gotten awfully close with each other over the past few weeks; she didn't really know how though. At first, it was just Kurama pestering her about the yaoi mangas she kept trying to hide from everyone but still brought to school anyway, but after a while, he would occasionally 'drop by' to see her in class everytime school ended. And she said occasionally because she didn't always read her mangas after school, only sometimes, but during those times he made sure to keep her company everytime. Before they realized it, they started to spend more time with each other – with them eating lunches together a few times, and Kurama showing up everywhere she were just to bother her.

They had gotten too close – even to an extent that everyone in class seemed to notice their closeness. That was to be expected however, as Kurama would always tease her, and they would argue sometimes. He was frustrating at times, but Botan learned to get used to his habit of constantly poking fun at her.

"Hey, Botan! Let's go eat lunch together today!" And there he was. Over the past weeks, they had dropped the 'Botan-san' and 'Kurama-kun' and merely called each other without the '-san' and '-kun'.

Botan looked towards the direction of the voice, sticking out her tongue at Kurama who was beckoning her with a hand and waving his bento in the other. The redhead's movements came into a halt, a frown forming on his forehead.

"No way! I'm gonna eat with Keiko and Yukina!" Botan stubbornly refused.

He gave her a deadpan look, before walking over towards her. When he was two paces away from the girl, Kurama jerked her up, tugging her by the arm. It wasn't harsh, but gentle yet firm instead. Botan didn't mind it, a toothy grin forming on her face, slightly enjoying his reaction. He was always the one teasing her; so it was fun doing the teasing sometimes.

"I don't care. I want you to eat with me today. My mother accidentally put too much food in my bento and I can't eat alone," Kurama's voice was a dangerous calm, warning her not to mess with him. He did not like being poked fun at. At all.

Botan stuck her tongue out at him again. "I don't wanna!" she replied in a childish tone, smirking on the inside at the underlying irritation in his eyes.

"Botan…"

"Oh, get over it, Botan! Stop your lovers' quarrel and go ahead with your close friend," Keiko suddenly piped up, her voice teasing, causing the two turned to look at her.

"What lovers' quarrel?!" Botan exasperatedly yell, gawking at her brunette best friend.

"Yeah, go ahead," this time Yukina chimed in, "We don't mind at all," she added as she started to giggle at the end of her sentence. Neither she nor Keiko justified her question with an answer.

"That's right, babe," Kurama decided this was the perfect time to get back at her for teasing him just now, "They don't mind so let's go on ahead with our romance escapade," he seemed to slur out his words as he wrapped an arm around her waist, pulling her close to him in attempt to embarrass her.

Botan rolled her eyes, but the blush on her face was evident. She felt weird as soon as he touched her, although she paid the odd sensation no mind and merely glared at the redhead All the while she ignored the giggles coming from Keiko and Yukina, staring up at Kurama's satisfied smirk with a look of dismay.

"Ugh… you're so disgusting…"

"I know," he replied all too knowingly, his smirk widening slightly, as his hold around her tightened, causing the girl too blush deeper, wondering whether he did that on purpose or unintentionally.

Still, she resisted the urge to deck him in the head and settled with pinching his shoulder instead, to which he immediately let go of her.

"Ouch," he mumbled, rubbing the sore spot the girl's nails had dug into.

She giggled; Kurama joining her soon after. At that moment, she couldn't hear most of what Keiko and Yukina said to poke fun at her and Kurama, or the laughter escaping from everyone else besides her own and Kurama's.

"Tell me again why I have to do this for you?" Botan stared in confusion at the piece of A4 paper in front of her, a pencil and eraser lying beside it.

"You told me you're good at drawings, I just wanna see how good," Kurama simply said, his tone tinted with an underlying excitement to watch his best friend draw something for him.

"Are you doubting my abilities or something here, pal?" she joked, half-heartedly glaring at him.

Months passed since then, and they had grown closer – if that was even possible. And instead of only a mere close friend, Kurama had became one of her best friends, aside from Yukina and Keiko. She had gotten close to him than any boy could. Perhaps even more so than she was with Keiko and Yukina, whom she had spent almost a lifetime with, as she spent most of her time being with Kurama than being with the girls. They didn't seem to mind though; as long as she didn't forget about them. She never would; she would occasionally walked home with them, hang around at their houses and the such. But she and Kurama were inseparable, every moment at school was spent with being in each other's presences, and their occasional 'after school sessions' as she called it where they just continuously talked about various things also grew longer. One time, they had talked for so long that it was night before they realized it, and the school janitor had told them to go home.

A wholehearted laugh erupted from Kurama's chest, "That's not it at all, Botan. I just want to see you draw. Is that a crime?"

She made a clicking sound with her tongue in her mouth. "No, it's not. And I'm really honored that you would want to see my drawing, but… I'm not the best, you know? So don't judge me if it doesn't turn out good to you… To me, I draw quite well though. But I'm afraid I'd disappoint her, people have different tastes in art after—" Botan stopped talking when Kurama suddenly grabbed her hand in his, the back of her hand touching his palm. He put the pencil on her palm, his other hand reaching out to curl her hand into a small fist, as if she was grabbing the small pencil in her hands by herself.

"It doesn't matter," His voice was soft, demanding, and yet full with warmth as he spoke, "I just want to see."

Botan nodded numbly, still surprised by his sudden actions. Even more surprising and bewildering was the way her heart thumped in her chest, and the butterflies she felt in her stomach. She had been feeling weird a lot lately around him; could it be…? Shaking the thoughts of her head, Botan tried to focus at the task at hand.

She drew in a breath, the tip of the pencil touching the pencil and her hand started to move…

In mere minutes, she finished, having gotten fast at drawing after so much time she had spent on it at home. She heaved out a sigh, glad that she was now done. She didn't even notice how close Kurama was to her, until she felt a breath against her neck, causing her to jump in her seat.

She wanted to turn her head, but settled with averting her eyes to his face instead. Her eyes grew wide, a cute, red blush adorning her cheeks as she realized his body was in close proximity with hers. She was glad she didn't actually turn to look at him, or else, they would have accidentally kissed.

But Kurama wasn't looking back at her, and instead had his eyes on the drawing she did. It was of him; in a simple outfit of a white t-shirt, and blue trousers, along with sneakers. The art was so good, he thought it was almost similar to the real him. He hadn't realized how close their bodies were, as he was so preoccupied with watching her draw that he hadn't noticed he had closed their distance unintentionally.

"You're amazing, Botan!" he said in utter amazement, his face brightening up in a radiant smile. He was more than impressed.

Kurama turned his head, making to look at her and compliment her even more – but nothing managed to come out. Nothing could.

As soon as he turned, his lips captured hers. At the sweet sensation of her soft lips against his, Kurama immediately jerked away, emerald eyes wide. It was only for a brief second, and when he looked around, he noticed none of their classmates saw what happened as it happened too quickly and they were too absorbed in what they were doing to pay attention to them. But… even for only a moment, he could still vividly remember how soft her mouth felt.

He looked down, and hesitated for a moment, but lifted his head to look at her face… She was as red as a tomato, a hand brought up to her lips. Seeing her so flushed, he couldn't help but get flushed as well. Feeling his ears grow hotter, Kurama looked away almost as instantly, and made to ease the weird situation, "Accidental kisses… well, they do happen right?"

"Hmm, yeah…" Botan mumbled back absent mindedly. Her hand slowly lowered to her chest, feeling the fast thumping of her heart, skipping beats… It was then she realized her suspicions had been true;

She was in love with her own best friend.

Botan couldn't really remember how it all went down… It was one of those after school sessions again… she had been talking to him when all of a sudden she had gotten a papercut, and Kurama had licked her wound, surprising her… and the next thing she knew, she was grabbed by the wrist, pulled up from her chair, and pushed down on the table until her back was pressed against the hard wooden surface… before she realized it, she and Kurama were kissing, devouring each other's lips hungrily and Kurama's hands touching her at all sorts of places…

Hands placed firm on the redhead's chest, Botan pushed him away gently, breaking off the heated kiss they had been engaged in. "Wait, what are we doing?" she asked, her words coming out in breathless pants.

"I don't know."

"Y-you don't know? Kurama, you're touching my body… y-you're doing weird things to me, to my breasts… and you're making it feel so good… Surely, you know what you're doing? I'm not—" her sentence was interrupted by her own moan, as the redhead once again squeezed her left breast.

"You're not what?" Kurama's voice was low, deep and husky as the question left his lips. He could feel her nipple hardening against his palm even through the piece of clothing she wore and god, he loved it. But what he loved the most was her flushed face, amethyst eyes now darkened into a dark purple, hazy with what he could only recognize as lust… God, she was beautiful…

Wanting to hear more of the sounds she made, wanting to feel more of her, wanting to see her face twisted in more pleasure… Kurama swiftly pulled up her school uniform, exposing the soft mounds of flesh and the rosy pink buds on her breasts to his hungry eyes… He darted his tongue out to lick his lips at the sight.

"K-Kurama!" Botan cried out his name, trying to pull down her school uniform, only to be stopped by Kurama who grabbed both her wrists and pinned them above her head. "I-I'm not sure if we should—"

"Why not?" His husky voice was tinted with desperation, as he bent down his tongue touched one rosy bud, teasing, flicking and circling around. Despite her protests, Botan moaned loudly at the attention he gave to her nipples, a weird sensation building inside her and making her feel wet between her legs.

All of a sudden, his mouth close on her nipple, sucking hard, earning a gasp from the girl below him. Botan's legs began to shake as Kurama continued to tease her nipples. In spite all the pleasure she felt, she somehow found her voice. "K-Kurama… Stop! W-we can't-!"

As soon as those words left her, Kurama removed his mouth from her breast, making Botan shiver as the cold breeze touched her now saliva slicked nipple. "Botan, don't you like me…?"

"O-of course I like you, you're my friend…"

"That's not what I mean," he sharply replied, eyes staring down at her face. He noticed there were tears in her eyes, almost as if she was about to cry if they went on with what they were doing. For a brief moment, she saw his eyes reflected regret, but only for a second, as the serious look in them returned. "Do you… like me? Like, really like me?"

Botan's eyes widened in realization at what he was trying to say. "I-I… Um, why…?"

"Because I like you, a lot," his words came out gentle, full of the affection he felt for her all this time, "and I've been holding back… At first I was content with just having feelings and being around you… but ever since we accidentally kissed that day, I just… can't stop this desires you ignite inside me… I need you, Botan. Just having you around isn't enough anymore, I want you… for myself. I've been controlling myself for so long, I just can't..."

She wasn't sure if this was just her imagination; was she hearing things? But she knew she wasn't, yet… it was so hard to believe all this time he had been hiding his feelings for her. She didn't know why she didn't realize it sooner… all the attention he gave her… At that moment, her tears started to come out.

Kurama, seeing this, panicked, his eyes widening in alarm. "B-Botan… I'm so sorry, I know all of this is going too fast… I should've thought about your feelings first… I-It's okay if you don't like me back, I don't mind… I promise I wouldn't do this again so please don't cry," he practically begged, starting to get furious at himself for making her cry.

She shook her head, the overwhelming happiness she felt still swelling inside her and her face brightened up with a bright, overjoyed smile. "That's not it, Kurama… I'm not sad or upset… I'm just so happy… You don't know how long I've been waiting for you to say that…"

"Botan… does this mean…?" his voice trailed off, shocked by her words. When she nodded, a giggly 'mm-hmm' following after, Kurama's heart swelled with happiness. The regret and wrath he had felt initially disappearing in mere seconds, replaced by a feeling of relief. He wanted to say something, but as if there were no words to describe how much joy he felt, he settled with a warm smile instead, bending down to kiss her tears away.

"Kurama…" her voice came, sounding nervous, alarmed and yet, excited at the same time. Although her eyes held anxiety in them as she stared up at him, he could see the repressed desire in her amethyst pools.

"Hmm?"

"What if…" she paused for a second at the feeling of his hands on the top of her panties, his fingers curling, and pulling down the lace underwear. A shiver went down her spine at the idea of being touched there of all places, but she still went on, squeezing her legs together, "… someone comes in?"

"It's fine," he replied smoothly, sending her a smile and pulling her thighs apart as she tried to hide her most sacred place from his wandering eyes. "Isn't it more exciting that way?"

"W-what? B-but…"

"What's the matter?"

"I-I... um… this is my first time…"

"I'll be gentle," he added, and his smile widened as his eyes felled to the spot between her legs before looking up at her slightly flushed face. "This is your first time, I'll try to give you as much pleasure as possible and make it the best experience ever," he whispered, his voice soft yet husky at the same time, eyes clouded with lust at the thought of tasting her, but the underlying affection of his love was evident.

"H-have you done this before…?" Botan asked, wondering if the redhead knew what he was doing. She had no doubt in his abilities to please her, but she pondered if she was his first, or if he'd done it with someone else.

"No, this is my first time as well… I'm not sure what to do, but I have an idea… I've done my own research after all…" Kurama's voice seemed to trail off, as his hand wandered down from her throat, to the valley between her breasts, slowly and slowly descending down her stomach, before stopping just above her womanhood. He lingered there for a moment before lifting his head up to look at her. A seductive smirk tugged at his lips, his eyes dancing in mischief. "Anyway, sweetheart… there's something I've always wanted to try…"

Botan stared at him with bewildering eyes, wondering what he was up to. She was about to ask, but before she could say anything, Kurama's head was between her legs. He kissed, sucked, made teasing licks… and she arched her back, her fingers digging into the wooden surface of her own desk. His tongue entered her, pulling in and out… at first slowly, but after a while he started to gain a faster past, pumping inside her…

The sounds that came out of her mouth almost sounded as if they didn't come from her; but they all reflected the pleasure he gave her. The sweet, numbing pleasure that made her mind go blank.

She wasn't sure how she got home; he pounded her so hard she couldn't walk… but she could distantly remember feeling herself being carried, her head buried in the warm, comfortable back of another person… Kurama….

The next day, everything just went downhill.

Morning came and she went to see him, but he wasn't in class. Wondering where he could be, she looked around the school for him… until her feet took her to the back of the school and greeted her with a sight she couldn't believe she was seeing.

There, beneath the tree, stood Kurama and another girl… his back was pressed against the tree, hands placed on each of the girl's shoulder… but it wasn't that that caught her attention the most… it was the fact that Kurama's lips were crushed against the girl's that she was focused on…

Almost as if she just noticed they were being watched, the girl pulled away and turned her head to her direction. A small, satisfied smirk crossed her face as her brown eyes stared back at Botan's wide amethyst ones… It was Maya Kitajima. Botan had heard of how close she and Kurama was in the past, but they grew apart as soon as they became high schoolers… but from what Botan saw, was this really what they called 'grew apart'?

"My my, it seems we have a spectator," Maya's voice was friendly, but she caught on the underlying irritation.

"Botan…" Kurama whispered her name as soon as he turned to look at who it was that Maya meant. His eyes grew wide at the sight of the bluenette standing in front of them… Finally realizing the situation, Kurama made to explain what was going on. "Listen, Botan…"

Maya interrupted him. "What are you doing? Are you here to see Kurama? You guys are close these few months, huh? Well… I'm sorry to say this, but Kurama's busy right now."

Botan bit her lip, trying to control herself from cursing the other girl. Her hands curled into fists, and she forced the words out of her, "I'm sorry to bother you. I'll be going now," Her voice was oddly polite, causing Kurama to flinch. But before he could say anything, Botan turned around, making to leave the two alone.

Panic and fear took over him, and he chased after her, not wanting her to misunderstand. He didn't care even if he left Maya, all he needed now was to talk to her…

"Botan, wait!" Kurama grabbed her by the forearm, stopping her from walking any further. "I-It's not what you think—"

She harshly pulled her arm out his grasp, turning around to look at him with a pained expression. There were tears in the back of her eyes, the pair of amethysts had lost the warmth he had always seen in them, replaced by only hurt and hatred of his betrayal. Her body shook, as she tried to hold herself back from punching him. "What the hell 'isn't what I think', Kurama?! You were kissing… Kissing another girl… What are you trying to do?! Are you trying to toy around with my feelings? Yesterday… was what you told me just a lie?"

"Botan…" He heaved out a sigh, before shaking his head at her. He reached a hand up to touch her face, but she backed away as soon as he was mere inches from her.

"Don't fucking touch me, and don't talk to me anymore… or I swear to god, I'll kill you!" Botan screamed, her voice raising to a notch, before she turned around, hastily leaving him.

She wanted to get as far away from him, lest she would cry in front of him.

The rest of the day proceeded normally… or at least, as normally as it possibly could. Neither Kurama nor Botan spoke to one another since then; of course, the redhead made attempts to talk to her but everytime he failed as she completely ignored him. And as if unsure of what he should do, he stopped trying.

She avoided him.

And he avoided her.

They ignored the weird glances their classmates gave them; everytime either Keiko or Yukina asked what was wrong, neither said anything. Yusuke and Kuwabara even tried to prod Kurama to talk, but the redhead didn't let out one word.

Botan tried to make herself look happy; she didn't want anyone to notice the pain and anguish she skillfully hid from them. But, everytime… everytime some girl came near Kurama, talked to him and even laid their hands on him… she couldn't hide the displeased look on her face. Ever since she and Kurama stopped talking to one another, a lot of girls seemed to swarm him… Like flies around rotten fish, they came to him. It was pathetic; what made it even more pathetic was that they tried to make their moves on him as soon as she wasn't with him. Seeing as they no longer spent time with each other as they used to, Kurama was alone most of the time, except for when he went to lunches with Yusuke, Hiei and Kuwabara. It had been the opportunity for girls who had a crush on him to get closer to him.

What was even more pathetic than that; was his attempt to upset her. They talked to him, touched him, wrapped their arms around him… and he let them, and if that wasn't bad enough, he even flirted back. It was… strange to see him act like this. Everyone started wondering why Kurama suddenly changed but Botan knew what he was trying to do. He was trying to make her jealous; what the hell was up withthat?

He succeeded however; as Botan's heart started to turn green with envy, accompanied by the red anger, and making matters worse. Although she didn't admit it, she knew Kurama could tell, even if she hid it from everyone else. She hated that the most.

"Hey, Botan... I wonder why you and Kurama don't talk to each other?" someone spoke.

"Yeah, yeah! Girls are flirting with him endlessly these days… aren't you jealous?" another one said.

"Ha!" Botan scoffed, and almost as if she was trying to show the redhead not to mess with her and how she wouldn't go back to him no matter what he did, she added, "I don't care about what Kurama does, and who he's with. We don't have anything going on between us anyway."

She made sure her voice was loud enough for him to hear her.

… It's been three weeks since then. In total, it had been four weeks and three days since they last spoken to one another. She had gotten used to ignoring him and being ignored by him; it had become somewhat bearable.

Botan sighed; a loud, exasperated sigh. Why did she have to go through all those memories again? She rolled onto her back, a hand placed on her head, closing her eyes as she tried to hold back the tears that threatened to come out. No, she wasn't going to cry because of him again. She wasn't going to; especially not when tomorrow was supposed to be a fun day.

Yes.

A fun day.

And it wasn't only for a day.

But a week.

She was going to have fun on the trip, with or without Kurama; Botan made up her mind. Tomorrow, it would be another normal day. She'd just go and do the usual treatment; the silent treatment. It wasn't as if she wasn't used to it already. She had been patient for weeks now, she could be patient for another week. It wouldn't be that hard for someone like her.