Yusuke pushed the 'Walk' button, frowning at the green-haired punk across the street. Keiko had been telling everyone she'd ever spoken to about the engagement. Tough guys didn't get married, and when he'd said as much, a vase had cracked against the back of his head.
He needed to inspire fear in the punks around town to regain his reputation. The kid with the hair continued to stare at him, and Yusuke scoffed; cars whirred by, and the pedestrian light wouldn't change. "Stupid Kuwabara, meeting me at stupid rush hour. I hate traffic! What's your problem, Goldilocks?"
The punk looked away quickly. Yusuke snorted; at least this guy was aware of his rep.
When he stepped into the arcade, the cringe-worthy voice of Kazuma Kuwabara rose out of the din from the racecar simulator. "Over here, Urameshi! Miyamoto's gonna destroy your record. Heh heh!"
Yusuke thumbed his nose. "Man, you're embarrassing," he said once he'd approached him and his gang.
"Shut it, Urameshi, you're gonna distract him!" Kuwabara gripped the headrest of Miyamoto's plastic blue chair.
Okubo was glancing from the game screen to the money in his hand.
"There's no way," Yusuke laughed. "Hey, stop praying, Okubo!"
Komada laughed at Okubo's start and clapped Yusuke on the shoulder. "I've been telling 'em it won't happen, Urameshi. That gamer brat won't even touch this game! Goes to show you, man. Your record's solid!"
"Oh come on," said Kuwabara. "Gamemaster's stubby legs can't reach the pedal, that's why! Alright, Miyamoto! Last lap!"
"Shut up, man, you'll distract me!"
Yusuke covered his grin with one hand and pointed mockingly at Kuwabara with the other. Then one of them was in a headlock, and the other was being punched in the gut. Komada and Okubo cheered at first, then pulled them apart when the employees threatened to kick them out. In all the commotion, Miyamoto had crashed his video-game car and slumped in his seat with his forehead on the steering wheel.
"Hey there, Miyamoto," Yusuke drawled, "I guess you aren't as good as the Great Urameshi, are ya?"
Okubo patted him on the shoulder and took the seat next. "I have to get my money back. Double or nothing, Komada?"
"You don't have double!" Komada said. "But if you beat it, I'll give you half back."
"It's okay, man, I think you can do it," Kuwabara tried to whisper.
"Keep dreaming!" said Yusuke.
Komada put half his allowance on the steering console.
"Hey, get that out of the w—"
"Shut up, Okubo, this is important!" Komada said with determination. "You guys too chicken to match?"
Kuwabara and Miyamoto dug into their pockets, grumbling.
"Oh, I want in on this!" Yusuke unfolded his wallet, and a puff of dust floated out of the empty pouch. He hung his head with a whine. "Hey, speaking of me being broke, how did Botan and you get on after she won the poker game?"
With Kuwabara furiously shaking his head behind him, Komada blushed and turned to Okubo's screen. "Oh, I don't know if I'm all that interested anymore. She's cute and all, but she's not really my type."
"Not your type? Come on! Botan's a nice girl. What's your type, man, balls and a 'stache?"
Okubo groaned when his turn yielded no time record, and Komada took his place without a word.
Kuwabara dragged Yusuke over to the pinball machines. "Are you missing a screw or something, Urameshi?"
"Look who's talking, ace! What crawled up your ass and died?"
Kuwabara gritted his teeth and lowered his voice. "Come on, man, can't you take a hint? Botan wasn't interested in Komada."
"Botan's interested in everyone, stupid. That's why I told him it was a good idea in the first place, get it?"
"Jeez! She might be interested in everyone, but she's more interested in someone."
"Oh yeah?" Yusuke leaned in, waggling his eyebrows. "I thought you were still with Yukina, you slick little bastard."
Kuwabara jerked Yusuke down by the collar. "Shut up, Urameshi! I'm talking about Kurama, here!"
"W-what? Nice try, doofus, but it's not gonna work!" Yusuke jabbed his finger into Kuwabara's nose. "You're a crappy liar, Kuwabara, so why even try?"
"Hey! Point that thing somewh—" Kuwabara released his grip on Yusuke's jacket and knocked his Spirit-Gun hand away. "Think what you want, but I have evidence."
"You do not!" Yusuke laughed. "Fox boy doesn't go for her type. Hell, I don't think he even goes for a type. Old bastard probably can't even get one up anymore."
"Why do you have to be so gross? Yukina got a picture of them, okay?"
"Get outta here."
"I'm serious! He was kissing her outside."
Yusuke eyed Kuwabara.
Kuwabara eyed Yusuke.
"You're gettin' a little too close there, pal," Yusuke said as he turned his head. "You sure it was Kurama?"
"Yeah I'm sure! I'm not blind."
Yusuke rubbed his chin, eyes darting over the outer-space-themed carpet. "Let's go ask him."
#
Kurama scoffed when he saw his hands were unchanged; he was Yoko still.
It was easier now than it had been in the Dark Tournament; there, he was without Suichi's compassion and that extra sixteen years of amassed knowledge. After months of training, he found the level of power it took to initiate the transformation into his demon form; it was now a simple process to become on the outside what he was on the inside, without losing any of his inner humanity.
Transforming was effortless once he reached Demon World; the power of the storm was the catalyst for his change into Yoko Kurama, the violence of the lightning echoing his inner fight against instincts he thought long dead. He hoped she would listen to reason and release him.
Naturally, she had met his requests with some defensiveness. She recalled their earliest days together, citing her use of heartshade then as a fond memory. He was not pleased.
"How many messages have you left for me these eight months?" he asked.
She replied with the truth: one for every month.
"And my lack of response encouraged your further interference in my life?"
Meinuko had smirked. "If you call that living."
Kurama had to resist shoving her against the wall. "It is no concern of yours."
"You can barely contain yourself, Kurama! Look at you trembling. It made you feel alive once."
"I was numb back then," he said softly, meeting her eyes. "That is what this life does to you."
"You won't convince me you aren't miserable. I'm only wondering why you're putting up a fight, because the man I knew would never walk away from his woman and his followers."
"Then you didn't know me."
Meinuko hurled the false Band of Shadows at his back as he walked, the metal ringing on the stone floor when it missed. "I wanted you to come back to me, Kurama!"
He sighed, catching sight of his demon claws again when he returned to the present. Kurama needed to meditate, to calm his spirit, to conquer the fire feeding his anger, lust, and selfishness.
It had once been a drug for him, the essence of heartshade. Kurama prided himself on his reserve, his observations, and his adaptability, which later allowed him to blend in with humans. He had honed those skills constantly for hundreds of years; it was only natural that ignoring them in favor of his instincts—those which told him only to eat, reproduce, and fight—would reignite his passion for living. Yet for all the control he had, or because of it, he was unable to "let loose" as she'd asked him to; he fell short of her requests too many times, and he hated to disappoint.
Meinuko was the first to encourage him to abandon his stoicism and indulge the traits he tended with rigorous discipline. "You have the treasures of a thousand kingdoms," she mused, "yet you have one cup of wine a night. You never have more than one woman in your bed. You don't allow your clansmen to fight, even in revelry. Your only extravagance is your loot."
It'd been at Kuwabara's party that he finally determined what was happening—when he'd overreacted with Botan and with Hiei; it was the first time they'd seen him lose his temper. Kurama had left when he'd figured it out, hoping Meinuko might follow him and approach. That was not her style.
Botan lay in the bed before him, ankle propped on a gathering of straw. The older the morning grew, the less entombed in sleep she became; her mouth closed, her smooth brow furrowed, and her mumbling ceased. She began to shift more, and Kurama realized that the painkiller was wearing off.
But he couldn't wake her yet.
Kurama relaxed his spine, slowed his inhalations, ignored muscle spasms, and averted his eyes from the vulnerable girl trapped with him. He repeated an ancient mantra in a forgotten tongue, hoping its spell would successfully grant him control again. Yet his demon form remained.
He clenched his hands into fists, puncturing skin. He shut his eyes, unaware that his forehead was creased with stress. Mouth tight, breath wavering, Kurama's consciousness left the room, the realm, and everything troubling to review old follies, picking at every detail to find each element that doomed him to his current distress.
He truly did not want to consider it; yet there appeared to be a pattern, as he reviewed Botan's actions, that seemed to indicate a reciprocation of interest, if not attraction. Yet every time he came to this assumption, he shrugged it off; he didn't want to fall into the trap that wishful thinking set. So Kurama retraced his memories, dismissing glance and grin until only a modicum of evidence remained to suggest Botan's favor. Did it even exist? Was his mind exaggerating those hints to soothe ardent hopes?
"Good morning."
Kurama started into alertness, meeting eyes with Botan as she stretched.
"Or whatever it is out there," she finished with a smile.
"Hello," he choked, wishing he'd been able to return to his human form before she saw him this way again.
"You don't look so hot, there," she murmured, trying to sit up.
He rushed to her side to help, but she hid her wince with another smile and waved him off. Kurama's brow furrowed. "You don't want me touching you in this form."
"I . . . what? I never said that!"
"I didn't have to ask," he replied.
Botan wrinkled up one side of her nose. "Huh? It's just a sprain, remember?"
Kurama's eyes narrowed as he regarded her, then he released his breath in a sigh, face softening. "I beg your pardon," he said, dragging his chair to the foot of the bed. "I have something to say, if you'll listen."
Botan had a skeptical grin on her face, but her silence was invitation enough.
"I'm afraid," Kurama began, "that my recent behavior has been . . . inexcusable. I won't ask for forgiveness, because in truth, the urges I acted upon were my own. For someone my age, with my talent for control . . . Meinuko has been using a chemical. A drug, really. Possessing the Band of Shadows allowed her to, in a way, infect me with this drug."
"What does it do?" She hadn't blinked, he realized.
"It is called essence of heartshade. It helps people like me . . . release their stress, unwind. I confess there was a time I used it frequently, to a fault. When she and I were together all those years ago, it was the only thing that could close the distance between us. I was always too aloof, she said."
Botan folded her arms over her chest.
"I know I've been mistreating you," he continued, noting her body language. "I wish I could say that I was being controlled, but that is not the nature of heartshade. It dulls the functions of the frontal lobe, effectively hindering one's ability to recognize the potential effects of one's actions, to distinguish right from wrong, and, basically, to behave in an acceptable manner. Am I boring you?"
"Yes," Botan said, hooking her hands around a bent knee. "But please keep going."
Kurama couldn't help but smile before he continued. "I just want you to know that I never wanted to mistreat you. I may want to kiss a pretty girl, but I am typically able to restrain myself. Had I fought harder, perhaps I could have spared you some embarrassment." He looked at her directly. "I'm sorry, Botan, but I'm afraid I have one last thing to ask of you."
She pressed her lips together. "What is it?"
"The problem is that Meinuko doesn't believe a human life is worth living. She believes I'm trying to trick her somehow. The only way to stop her leaving essence of heartshade around is to convince her that my new life eclipses the former."
Botan's chest heaved, and she looked down, eyes shifting with her thoughts. "I know what you're asking," she said after a time.
"Understand that I've attempted to be honest with her already, and that I will never ask this of you again."
"But why would she believe me? And how do you know she isn't in the room right now, listening?"
Kurama looked at the barred door. "That hasn't opened since I brought you here."
"That's swell and all, but you didn't answer my first question."
"I didn't want to."
Botan's eyes widened. "You're letting me come to the conclusion myself. You pig!"
Kurama raised a brow. "Excuse me?"
"You don't even have the decency to say it!" Botan threw her pillow at him. "You were going to let me suggest that we sleep together!"
Kurama caught the pillow before it hit his face. "Of course not! I would never—"
"No, of course you wouldn't! You sure didn't hesitate to plant unwanted kisses on me whenever it was convenient! How is this any different?"
Kurama's grip on the pillow loosened until it landed softly at his feet. "No, of course. You're right."
Botan tutted. "I know that. What's your plan for getting us out of here?"
Kurama looked down.
"You can't be serious! You're Kurama! You always have a plan."
He began with a chuckle. "I'm afraid my frontal lobe was severely affected. It should clear up in a few days, but without the proper nutrition and with the ubiquity of the heartshade spores—"
"Shut up, would you! The point is, you don't have a plan."
"Well, I did."
"Yes, well, that's not happening."
Kurama rubbed his forehead. "I don't mean to press the issue, but it isn't as if it would be the first time."
Botan stuttered. "That isn't the point! It was casual before. And that was a long time ago!" She crossed her arms. "Besides, Shigure almost killed you that morning, so we've seen how it can be a detriment to your concentration. There has to be some way to get out of this that doesn't depend on you getting into my pants."
"Again," said Kurama.
"Again," Botan conceded. She began to pick at the pilling on her blanket. "Why didn't you ever tell me?"
"Tell you what?"
She scoffed. "Stupid! About your wife!"
"Oh, yes. That." Kurama averted his eyes. "It isn't all that involved, Botan. And you would not have slept with me if I had."
"Ugh! Do you even know how infuriating you are?"
"I believe I can relate." Kurama sat up straighter. "Botan," he said, eyes dancing, "can you recall whether Rushiyo is in Solitary Confinement?"
"Well of course he is, why wouldn't he be?"
"Then it worked. I have an idea."
#
"You're crazy, man! I'm telling you, there's no way."
"No, I'm telling you, Urameshi! He probably isn't even home, though, I think he's still working on a case with Botan."
"Yeah, sure he is."
"You'll see! His mom will show you the picture. She was acting happy when she saw it."
Yusuke rapped on the door. "You're full of it, Kuwabara."
"Oh, yeah?" he replied, pushing up a sleeve and cocking a fist. "Full of what?"
"May I help you?"
Kuwabara and Yusuke forced sheepish grins at Shiori, who was leaning out the door. "Hello, Mrs. Hatanaka! You're looking young. We were just wondering if we could speak to your son."
Shiori put her hand up on the door, her forehead creasing. "He was supposed to be up at the temple with you. You're Yusuke, aren't you?"
Yusuke wrinkled his nose, and Kuwabara punched him in the arm.
"Nice going, Urameshi!"
"Boys." Shiori stepped aside and pointed them into the foyer. When they stood inside, she shakily shut the door and turned to them. "Now, you're going to tell me where my son is. No lies."
"Well, uh . . . I mean, I left the temple yesterday, see, and I thought he'd be back already."
Shiori went to the little table under the mirror and lifted the telephone. "Dial," she said, holding it out to them.
Kuwabara was running his thumbs over his fists, and Yusuke swallowed hard and said, "Yeah, no problem." He stepped up to the table, his finger hovering over the buttons. "Hey, uh, Kuwabara . . . you happen to know the number for Grandma?"
"Urameshi!"
"You don't know it?" Shiori snapped, her arms crossed over her chest.
"Well, hey, I don't like talking to the old bat if I can help it. That's not what I meant!" He held his hands up. "I just never had to before."
"Hey! Doesn't Kura—I mean." Kuwabara shook his head. "Doesn't your son have a beeper, ma'am?"
Shiori fiddled with her necklace. "It's up in his room."
"Why the hell is it here?" Yusuke said, and Kuwabara elbowed him for speaking disrespectfully. "I mean . . . kinda defeats the purpose, right?"
"My son," Shiori began, "has earned the privilege to stay at the temple without taking his beeper. Girls often disturb him by calling it."
"Oh, man. I'm real sorry, Mrs. Hatanaka."
Kuwabara's face lit up. "I'll bet Botan has the number!"
"I thought Botan was at work," Yusuke said through clenched teeth.
"Uh, right. I'll try my sister."
Shiori was tapping her foot, and Yusuke was looking all around the house for something to compliment her on, but he was too intimidated.
"Hey, Shizuru. Yeah! How'd you know? Oh, right. Well what is it already! Okay, I'm sorry, I'm sorry. Get a pen, Urameshi!"
In a few tense moments, Yusuke was holding the receiver again, listening to the ringtone. He opened his mouth to skip the pleasantries, but instead, Genkai's wrath thundered into his ear for having stolen her attention from Goblin City.
"Hey, cram it, would ya? Genkai! Listen, I'm here with Mrs. Hatanaka. Yeah, Kurama's mom. You know where he is?"
"No, idiot," she sighed. "And I can't believe how damn dumb you are." Click.
"So?" said Shiori. "Where is 'Kurama?'"
Shiori's eyes were watering, Kuwabara's mouth hung open, and Yusuke turned to them both, but there was nothing he could say.
#
When they met the demon awaiting them outside, he seemed honored to ask whether the great Yoko Kurama wanted him to carry the Spirit World trash.
"I'm carrying her," he'd said to the courier, and when he led them through the maze of halls and traps and pointed them through a door, Kurama had whispered, "I'm sorry, Botan. It looks better if I carry you instead. I'll let you down once we're inside."
Botan felt juvenile for thinking he might actually want to hold her.
He carried her into the dining hall, where a dozen or so faces Botan remembered from Spirit World's posters hung around plates of mutton and rice. At the head of the table, sitting sideways in her chair and bouncing one attractive leg over the knee of her other was the most beautiful woman Botan had ever seen; she had hair that looked like satin, a small, red mouth, and bright, childlike eyes. When she noticed them, Meinuko bounced up from her seat and called for her bandits to leave.
"But Miss," said one fool, eyeing Kurama's human form with suspicion, "shouldn't you keep a guard?"
Meinuko's dagger was up to his throat before Botan could blink. "Do you think I can't handle a human, Gatsuke? Get out."
Gatsuke left hurriedly with the stragglers, and then they were alone.
"Well, then," Meinuko said, indicating the vast chamber with her blade, "here we are. And look at you! Spirit World's golden girl—here, in my hall! And the mighty Kurama, the very picture of mortality. The three realms couldn't be represented by a finer group. Can't you agree, sweetheart? Speak up."
Botan looked expectantly at Kurama, who was watching Meinuko.
"Not him, doll," Meinuko said. "I'm talking to you." Meinuko sat on the table, one of her long, shapely legs planted beside her like a mountain peak. She tested the dagger's point, then asked Botan, "What brings you here?"
"D—um, well, Kurama took something that belongs to Spirit World."
Meinuko jerked her attention from her weapon to Botan. "Spirit World? Oh, you're serious. They have you brainwashed, sweetheart. You're talking about that artifact from the Brenya Clan that was lost during the War of Two Realms almost twelve hundred years ago. Sound familiar? It shouldn't, because it's our history, not yours. Built by demon hands, crafted with demon energy, intended for demon use . . . Spirit World stepped into a culture they can't understand and will never fully control." She tossed and caught her dagger. "As far as the Band of Shadows is concerned, Demon World just stole it back."
"Is this necessary?" Kurama said. "Your blade can be sheathed. In this form, I cannot hope to match your demon energy, and Botan is no fighter."
Meinuko cocked her head and let the dagger clatter onto the table. "She didn't have any trouble battering Hamaki, and she breezed by your Sentinel Tree and through the courtyard."
"The Sentinel Tree attacks only those looking for blood. Botan does not look for blood."
"Yeah, and I apologized to Hamaki for that!" Botan added heatedly.
"Oh, did you?" Meinuko sneered. "Spirit World apologizes, Kurama! On your knees now! We must bow before the wise and just ferry girl."
"Now wait just a minute!" Botan scrambled out of Kurama's hold and kept her sprained ankle up and behind her. "I'm the Pilot of the River Styx, Manager of Spirit Detective Affairs, and Majordomo of Spirit World Ferriers! I'm not just a ferry girl, Miss Steal-er of Artifacts, and I certainly didn't come here planning to disrespect you! And as I understand it, the Band of Shadows is just an all-around horrible idea, so it should be in a museum, not on a bandit's greasy head." She summoned her oar and sat back on it. "Now, are we going to get down to business?"
Meinuko pursed her lips, and Kurama was looking at her, and after a moment, they both began to laugh. Botan crossed her arms over her chest and seethed.
"You've offended her, Kurama," Meinuko said.
"Only a little," Botan grumbled, then she scoffed. "What do you care?"
"I don't," Meinuko began, carefully watching as Kurama squeezed Botan's shoulder in reassurance. "I'll be honest, Kurama—I still fail to see the allure."
Botan rolled her eyes.
"Have something to say, Spirit World?" Meinuko sneered.
"Well . . ." Botan looked over at Kurama, who watched her with apprehension. "You know what? Actually, I do."
"Botan, please—"
"No, I'm not doing this again. Your plan wasn't going to work." Botan inhaled to let it all out. "Kurama and I are just friends. There was a time when we had a very casual, physical . . . thing, but it's never been more than that. And now I know why he's seemed so interested lately. But really, we hardly talk at all."
Meinuko snorted. "Then it seems my old sweetheart's lost his touch."
"Kurama's touch is fine! D—um, that is, Kurama's done in Demon World. He has a new life with new friends and a sweet little family he loves very much. So we'll be going."
"Will you, now?" Ice crept into Meinuko's tone, turning her politeness brittle. "And I suppose I'll just allow you to go on your merry way?"
Botan grimaced. "It would be best. For you and your brother."
Meinuko flung her dagger before Botan could fully flinch; she opened one eye timidly and found Kurama in his usual state—doubled over and bleeding.
"Kurama! Why did you do that?" Botan shrieked, but Kurama lifted his palm toward her and addressed Meinuko.
"That wasn't a threat," he choked, clutching his shoulder. "The SDF has your brother. And until they get the Band back, you won't see him again. I suggest—a trade."
"Perhaps," she said, eyeing them both too smugly for Botan's taste.
"You need to let her go," Kurama continued. "A show of—" He coughed weakly, as if trying to keep from disturbing his wound. "Of good faith."
Botan's oar disappeared, and she landed as lightly as she could on her good leg. "Let me close that for you."
Kurama brushed her away. "You have to go."
Meinuko clenched her fist. "Yes, ferry girl. Fly off to Spirit World so we may trade men."
Botan shook her head. "They won't trade one criminal for another." She lifted Kurama's chin. "Listen," she said. "You have to go in my place."
"Absolutely not."
"Oh, Kurama." Botan wiped a tear. "You are so stupid. Koenma would find banishment in Demon World a suiting punishment for you. This is the only way for everything to go back to normal."
He panted, swaying on his feet. "I'm not leaving you here."
"We both know you have to. Let me seal you up so you can go."
"No!" Kurama clutched her shoulder, his fingers bunching the fabric of her jacket. "You won't have enough energy to fly if you do that."
But Botan was already pulsing light into the hole in his shoulder. "Shut up," she said when he protested again.
"She's right," Meinuko added.
"And she won't hurt me if she wants her brother back," Botan reasoned. "But I'll stay quiet to be safe."
He brushed her lips with his thumb, and she smiled, and pulled herself up to kiss him. Kurama held her by the shoulders at arm's length, and she bit her lip and sat back on her oar, avoiding his eyes and Meinuko's smirk.
"It's decided, then!" said the jackal demoness, putting an arm through Kurama's and leading him away. "Don't go anywhere, Ferry Girl. I'll be right back!"
#
Kurama whirled Meinuko around and slammed her into the wall by the Sentinel Tree. "Are you satisfied?"
Meinuko laughed. "It isn't just heartshade, you know. It just lowers your fear so that you may act on impulse."
"I know that," he snapped, releasing her already bruising arms.
"Then you know that there's a reason you went after the Spirit World girl, don't you? Yoko, you really are fond of her. And until you fulfilled my request a moment ago, she was fond of you too. Don't worry, my love. I'll take great care of her."
#
The ogre at the Solitary Confinement block offered his arm, but Botan refused. "It's better if I walk on it, I think. It hurts more when I favor it. But thanks anyway!"
They went down the hall to the last cell. "Now, since it's after hours, I can't turn on the light out here or in there," the ogre said. "I'm afraid the moon will have to be enough for you, Miss."
"Thank you, Chui!" Botan couldn't summon her oar beyond Chui's desk, so she had to make do with a folding chair; the metal was cold against her legs, even through the fabric of her pajamas and robe. She tried to peek through the energy field, which should not have been so hard—it was colorless, and it hummed at a frequency too high for her to even hear, but because it was relatively invisible, it gave off no glow, and with only moonlight to help, much of Kurama's cell remained in shadow.
"Are you asleep?" she whispered. Please let me talk to you. Please don't let the last thing we share be that awful rejection. Please let it have been for the sake of Meinuko, and not for your own.
Just as she was about to stand again, she heard his voice, pleasant as always, despite the circumstances. "You shouldn't be here."
"There you are!" she smiled. "No, perhaps not, but they're only keeping you here because they don't want you to escape. Chui said so."
A chuckle rumbled in the darkness. "A titan of security."
"Don't," Botan whined. "He's a swell fellow. He let me come see you, didn't he?"
"Indeed he did."
Botan leaned forward, squinting. "Where even are you? This is really unnerving."
Kurama stood from the cot to lean against the wall and peer down at her.
"Now was that so hard?" she said. "Thank you."
He crossed his arms. "Did she hurt you? They wouldn't tell me anything."
Botan touched a bruise at the slope of her eyebrow. "Nothing Yusuke doesn't do on a regular basis. But don't worry, I asked for it."
"Don't make excuses for her."
"She doesn't know any better, Kurama."
He gave her a look that usually was reserved for his demon form. "She knew exactly what she was doing."
"Well, it doesn't matter. She didn't win in the end."
"But she got what she wanted."
"So?" Botan said. "She came into your life to entice you back into hers. Who cares if she isn't going to be punished for it? And anyway, I followed you, remember?
He sighed. "Am I getting my phone call?"
Botan slumped. "Afraid not. Koenma doesn't have the clearance for that. Since Meinuko returned both Bands of Shadows in pieces, your case is being handled by the Spirit World Punishment Board."
"And the Department of Human Affairs is foiled again."
"Now, now! They're working very hard on your defense. Of course, since you were in Demon World, and you're technically a hybrid, they don't have to help you at all."
Kurama shook his head. "Even with the best of cases, they are not the most passionate of attorneys."
"And yours is hardly a good case."
"To say the least," he agreed, sitting on the edge of his cot. "Have you brought me any good news?"
"Just regular news, I'm afraid. And, you know, I could go to your mother with a harmless message."
"No, no. I don't want her catching any wind of this, and your involvement will spoil her admiration of you. What I need is my phone call."
"I know. I'm so sorry, Kurama."
He laughed bitterly. "You have nothing to apologize for. I brought this all on myself."
"Heartshade," Botan said. "Who'd'a thunk it?"
"Yes. Prison food hardly facilitates cleansing one's system of toxins."
"I asked if I could bring you some fruit and veggies, but they thought you'd use them as a means of escape."
Another cynical laugh. "Or a weapon, perhaps? I came to them willingly. I don't know why all this is necessary."
"I know, Kurama." Botan sighed. "I'm afraid I'm a bit in the doghouse too."
Kurama gave her a look, and she apologized. "No," he said. "Don't apologize. What other trouble have I caused for you?"
"Oh, none, actually, I pulled this stupidity on my own. Remember my briefcase?"
"With the Spirit Detective Items," Kurama said.
"Just the one. I sort of left it in Demon World."
She had not expected him to laugh for real.
"And what is your punishment going to be for this?" Kurama said between snickers.
"Laugh it up! It's . . . not all bad, I suppose. They think they'd be of more value to humans since demons don't have spirit energy, so that's where I'm supposed to start my investigation. I'll be spending a lot of time in Human World the next few weeks."
"Say hello to Yusuke for me."
"Oh!" Botan growled. "Would you stop being such a baby? You'll be out of here tomorrow, just you watch. You haven't even been here two days!"
"Indeed I have not," Kurama granted, "but remember, I left my mother for a weekend. Tomorrow morning is Wednesday already."
"Are you sure you don't want me to give her a message?"
Kurama shook his head, though Botan barely saw it. "She trusts me," he said. "She'll call the police eventually, but it is not unheard of for me to stay with Genkai for a week at a time—that's where she believes I am."
"And she isn't trying to call you?"
"My beeper is at home."
Botan nodded. "So you're antsy to return before she realizes how far away you actually are."
"Yes. I hate to make her worry. I have put her through enough." Kurama traced a circle on the energy field, making it shimmer like a mirage. "This colorless field is the worst. The red one is annoying, of course, but this one . . . it's a form of torture, did you know?"
Botan replied that she did not.
"It is," Kurama continued, standing from his cot again to pace his cell. "They wanted to cripple the minds of their most dangerous criminals. By making the energy field all but undetectable, they are taunting us every moment of the day, allowing our own minds to reinforce a series of walls so that even if the field fails, we will not even attempt escape."
Botan swallowed a lump. "That's awful."
"That's a fair punishment," Kurama corrected her. "I'm afraid I've done to you what these barriers are meant to do to me."
"What do you mean?" Botan whispered, hardly able to inhale again.
Kurama kneeled so that he was level with her, and the energy field was solid between them, diminishing nothing of Kurama's features. "I've expected so much of you these past weeks. It is not my right to drag you into my messes, especially those of my past. I cannot expect you to trifle with me. But I must tell you."
Botan hardly moved. "Tell me what?"
"I planned for you to take my place as Meinuko's prisoner." He swallowed hard, casting his eyes down. "I knew the only way for it to happen—for it to be your idea—was if I convinced you first of my inability to plan. And while the heartshade did have detrimental effects to my mind, the most potent ones addressed a part of the brain that comprises its core. What I mean to say is, it livened the primal parts more than it hampered the evolved ones."
"You weren't asking me to sleep with you."
"No. But I had to incite you somehow. It had to be your idea, or Meinuko would never have allowed it. Nor would I, truly, for although I knew it was the only way, I could never ask such a thing of you. I couldn't put you in that danger. Believe me—" He looked up at her then, his chest heaving, "please know that every moment you were still there was more torturous for me than the threat of my mother discovering my secret is now."
Botan forced a smile. "I took it like a woman, I think. No problem."
"Botan."
He was serious; her heart all but vibrated.
"There's more. It concerns us."
"I don't see any reason to bring all that up."
"Not our past, no. I know that's done. This . . . well. I'm sure you know what I'm going to say."
"I'm sure I don't," Botan snapped.
"But you do," he said gravely. "I've been giving you heartshade."
"You wouldn't."
"You know that isn't true."
Botan pressed her lips together in an attempt to regain her composure, but her voice betrayed her anyway. "Why?"
"To make it convincing. That's why she hit you, isn't it? When she asked you in private about your feelings for me?"
Botan stood before she realized she had—somehow her swollen ankle was as numb as the rest of her.
"Botan?"
"I heard you," she said more curtly than she'd intended. "I have to go."
#
Sorry about the horrible timing. I've been trying FOREVER to wrap this story up properly, but in so doing, I accidentally sequel-ed. The next installment of Honor Among Thieves will be the epilogue.
The sequel is shaping up to be darker and much more adult than this story, which would make sense for the timeframe of the characters' growth—Yusuke and Keiko are getting married, Kuwabara's going to college, and Botan and Kurama are both moving out (separately)! In addition, some major drama goes down between Kurama and his mother, and we'll get to see their entire relationship change.
Old enemies and new are stepping out of the shadows and into the lives of Botan, Kurama, Yusuke, and Kuwabara. Hiei just doesn't give a shit. NEXT TIME, ON YU YU HAKUSHO…FAN FICTION.
