Bewitched Chapter 2
Meanwhile in Ningenkai, Kurama tossed and turned in his sleep. Sweat dripped form his forehead as he gripped his sheet tightly and moaned in his sleep. Suddenly he bolted upright in his bed and looked around as if he had no idea where he was, he breathed slowly and willed his heart to slow down to a normal pace. He threw the covers off and got out of bed and walked to the bathroom where he started a shower. He stood under the spray and let the hot water wash away the sweat; he closed his eyes and saw flashes of what he had been dreaming.
In his dream he was standing in a forest in Makai, he could sense other apparitions around him but ignored their presence, in a flash the apparitions advanced towards him. Kurama woke with a start just as a weapon was swung towards him. He slowly opened his eyes and shook his head as if to wipe away the memory of the dream. He quickly finished his shower and began to dry off. He walked back into his room and went to the dresser to find some clothes, he put on his pants and decided not to put on a shirt just yet, he was still warm from the dream. He looked at the clock on his bedside table and saw it was still rather early in the morning. He decided that he would try and get some studying done, he knew he wasn't going to be able to go back to sleep. He sat down at his desk and opened his books and began to read.
Botan woke to the sound of her alarm and jumped out of bed. She quickly got dressed and put her hair into its customary ponytail. She tiptoes out of the palace and jumped on her oar and made her way to Yuskuke's. When she arrived she let herself in and walked quietly to his room, she didn't want to disturb Atusko, who she was sure was trying to sleep off a hangover. She opened the door to Yusuke's room and saw he was fast asleep; she wasn't surprised after all it was pretty early in the morning. She said his name and tried to shake him awake but her efforts were in vain. She bent over and whispered in his hear "Wake up!" he turned over and swatted her away. She stood with her hands on her hips and huffed out a breath. She should have known better than to try and come see Yusuke so early.
She snuck out of house and mounted her oar once more. She decided to pay a visit to Kurama and see if she could figure out what was wrong with him herself. She flew as quickly as she could and was at his house in just a few minutes. She hovered outside his window and knocked gently and waited.
Kurama awoke to the sound of tapping; he raised his head and looked around the room trying to figure out where the noise was coming from. He realized the sound was coming from the window and knew instantly he had a visitor; he got up stretched and made his way over to let the visitor in. he opened the window without really paying attention to who was entering. He turned to acknowledge who he thought was Hiei and was very surprised to see Botan. He was speechless.
"Good morning Kurama" she said as her cheeks began to turn red. Her returned her greeting and just stood looking at her wondering what she was doing at his house so early. He noticed her cheeks were red and couldn't help but wonder why. He asked "What brings you here so early?"
She looked at him shyly and stuttered, "Well…I" she averted her eyes and rubbed her hands together. He grinned at her and thought 'silly woman'. He looked at her and realized he was still shirtless, 'that must be why she is being so shy' he thought. A flush of embarrassment crossed his face and he made his way to the dresser and found a shirt. Once he was completely dressed he realized he had not asked Botan to sit, he offered her a chair and he sat down on the edge of the bed so he could be across from her.
"So Botan what business brings you here?" he asked.
"Well I wanted to see how you were doing Kurama" she said. He was quite taken aback by her answer. He looked into her eyes and what he saw surprised him, she was genuinely worried about him.
"What do you mean?" he asked.
"You seem a little distracted lately, I just needed to check on you" she answered.
"Botan I'm fine" he said as he reached out to grab her hand. She looked at him and said "Really?"
"Yes" he responded "I've been a bit overwhelmed between school and spirit detective duties."
"Oh, that's good to hear, I mean not that I'm glad you're overwhelmed, I mean…" she trailed.
"I knew what you meant Botan" he said with a chuckle. She jumped out of the chair and giggled "Well that makes me feel better. I really should be going though I have duties to tend to" she said as she walked towards the window. As she was leaving she said to him "Maybe I can convince Koenma to give you guys a break soon, you have been working awfully hard as of late."
He smiled and thanked her, with that she mounted her oar and was off. When she was no longer in sight he closed the window and sat down on the bed once more and covered his face in his hands. He thought back to their conversation, something was wrong with him and he had no idea what it could be and the worst part of it all was he lied to Botan.