Bewitched Chapter 9

Kurama opened the door to his home and looked around to make sure no one was in the living room. He breathed a sigh of relief and thought 'Good thing Kazuya and Shuuichi aren't home yet'.

He made his way to the kitchen and found his mother sitting at the table with a cup of tea in her hands. He cleared his throat and she looked up, she jumped up from her chair and ran towards him and enveloped him in a hug.

"Shuichi, where have you been?" she asked with worry in her voice.

"I'm sorry for making you worry mother I wasn't feeling well and went for a walk. You see I felt really bad about what happened and decided to give you some space, I stayed the night at Yusuke's" he answered as she let him go so she could look at him.

"Oh sweetheart, you needn't fell bad, I'm just glad that you're home safe" Shiori said as she walked over to the cabinet to get another glass. She poured her son a cup of tea and set it on the table. He kissed her cheek before sitting at the table across from her. She began to go on about her day and Kurama smiled politely and nodded but he wasn't really listening. He started to think about Botan again. He decided that later after everyone had gone to bed he was going to go see her. He got up from his chair and started to help his mother prepare dinner. Soon he heard his stepfather's voice and then he saw his stepbrother run into the kitchen talking excitedly. Kazuya was surprised to see his stepson and he slid a glance to his wife. She smiled and he knew everything was alright between mother and son.

The four of them talked and laughed all throughout dinner. Afterwards Kurama excused himself to his room saying he needed to catch up on schoolwork. A few hours later he checked to make sure everyone was in bed, when he was sure they were all asleep he threw on a sweater and snuck out of the house.

Once he was in Spirit World he snuck around the castle where he knew housed the ferry girls private quarters. He found Botan's balcony and hoisted himself up with his rose whip. He knocked on her window and waited.

Botan awoke to the sound of tapping, at first she thought it was rain but soon realized it was too spaced out to be rain drops. She got out of bed and walked towards the window and was surprised to see Kurama standing on her balcony. She opened the window and let him into her room.

"Sorry for the late hour Botan, I just needed to talk to you."

"That's alright Kurama" she replied as she crossed her arms over her chest. She turned and led him towards the sitting area. He followed her silently. They both sat down and she folded her hands in her lap. She looked at Kurama and he was biting his lip. She was about to speak when he spat out "Botan I'm sorry for what happened."

She looked at him and replied "Oh Kurama you weren't to blame, you weren't yourself."

"So Koenma explained to you what happened?" he asked as he looked at the floor.

"Yes" she replied "He told me the whole story about my grandmother. I never knew, you see us ferry girls don't really study too much history even family history."

"Botan, how can you be so calm and forgiving? I almost attacked you! I could have killed you if Hiei had not been there" he said as he stood up and paced the floor.

He stopped pacing and began to walk towards the window; he turned to speak to her once more before leaving and said "I understand if you never want to see me again."

Before he could reach out and open the window he felt her wrap her arms around his waist and press her head into his back. His arms fell to his side and when she whispered to him not to go tears formed in his eyes. He turned so he could look at her and saw she was crying. He reached up and wiped the tears from her face. She blushed and mover her body closer to his and shocked him by pressing her lips to his. He was so taken aback by her actions that at first he didn't respond, he felt her begin to pull away and quickly grabbed her waist and drew her closer to him and returned the kiss.

When they finally parted they were both breathing heavily; they smirked at one another and Kurama said sheepishly "So I guess this means you forgive me?"

Botan lightly slapped his shoulder and replied "Always" as she leaned forward to kiss him again but before he lips reached his he stopped her. She looked in his eyes and pouted, he giggled at her said "you look very cute when you do that".

She stopped pouting and smiled at him again. "Botan, I do have one question. Why did the mere sight of you provoke me?"

"Well I was confused by that at first too" she said as she unwrapped herself from his grasp and began to walk towards a large chest. "It must have something to do with this" she said as she handed him a photograph. He looked at the picture she had given him and gasped. Botan was an exact replica of her grandmother, even down to the kimono she always wore. A memory flashed in his mind of a woman like Botan kissing him. He smirked and thought 'Well at least the story finally has a happy ending' and with that he pulled her closer to him and kissed her once more. The two spent the rest of the night wrapped in each other's arms.