Chapter 7 - Candy for Your Troubles.
Music recommendation: TLC - Baby Baby Baby
*-*-*-*-*-*
Kurama sat on the couch in their room, stretching and yawning. Interrupted sleep is the worst kind, he thought to himself. The sun flooded the room with an inspiring glow, unaware of the bloodshed that would commence the following day. Yusuke and the masked fighter were still missing. The lively sun light finally began to wake the others of Team Urameshi. Kuwabara was the first to awaken with an unsightly yawn and a stretch, scratching his head, looking around the room.
"Hey Kurama," the demon's vibrant green eyes shifted from the window, "what was all of that noise last night?"
"Oh, that was nothing to worry about Kuwabara," he said with a slight smirk. "Enjoy the time off while we have it," he relaxed his head back on the couch, resting his eyes.
"Yes Kurama, what was that noise last night?" Kurama's eyes peeled open again to see Hiei sitting up on the floor, awake, his small body basking in the morning sun. All seriousness was in Hiei's face. Apparently he had no idea after all. Kurama's eyes closed once more, a smirk now fixed on his face as the sight of Hiei reminded him of what Botan had confided in him. This smirk made Hiei want to wipe it off, because he knew the fox demon held something secret.
"Nothing at all," he heard the little demon get up and walk towards the door. Then there was another sound. The sloshing of liquid in a glass bottle. Kurama's eyes flung open.
"Nothing at all," Hiei repeated examining the sake bottle Kurama had forgotten all about. Hiei eyed Kurama suspiciously. Kurama chuckled nervously, scratching the back of his head.
"What do you say we get some fresh air," Kurama said getting up from his couch and heading towards the door, ignoring any questioning, suspicion, or mind reading that might occur.
"I'm not finished with you yet," Hiei said, watching Kurama walk past him, out of the door.
"I'll see you downstairs." He flashed a smile, closing the door behind him.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Botan found herself sitting in the lobby, waiting, trying not to look too suspicious. In reality, she probably drew more attention with her large dark sunglasses than anything else. It's not like it was a disguise. These sunglasses were for the purpose of blocking out the light. She was now nursing a severe hangover with only vague memories of having talked to Kurama the night before. This troubled her. If she couldn't even remember what had happened, how can she possibly account for anything she might have done? Did she go to see Hiei? Did she say something she shouldn't have? The questions alone made her sweat with worry. She was waiting for the one man who might have some answers. This is why she sat in the lobby watching the elevators for the slightest sign of red hair. Eventually Kurama stepped off the elevator with his hands in his pockets.
"Kurama," the girl rushed over waving, flashing a friendly smile. Kurama saw her nervously trying to interact, putting up a thinly veiled front of normality. The demon laughed to himself at her sunglasses which she wore indoors, and her overall demeanor. He thought this would be quite amusing. Botan paused, unsure of how to approach the issue, "can I talk to you?"
"Sure," he said smiling at her, his voice as friendly and reassuring as ever. They walked towards the door together, Kurama looking over at Botan just waiting to see what she was going to do.
"Here's the thing," she sounded so confident but then she stopped talking, trying to find a way to express her thoughts as indirectly as possible, while still having him understand.
"About last night?" He asked much to her relief.
"YES.. that is, you see, I uh, was up with Atsuko and we sort of," once more she paused.
"Drank?" She lowered her head in shame. Apparently she really had gone to talk to him.
"I'm afraid so," she sighed.
"Yes, I think I know," he smiled, returning his gaze to the path ahead of them. "I became suspicious of that when you came pounding on our door at 3 this morning." Fear struck Botan like a lightning bolt.
"Did I-uh," once more she was being evasive, "what exactly happened?" Her voice was quivering slightly in anticipation of the horror story she was sure he would tell her. He just laughed to himself, figuring that perhaps it was best if she didn't know all of the details.
"Nothing too terrible," again he sounded so reassuring, which lulled Botan into a false sense of security, "we just had a little talk, and then you went to sleep." This notion of a 'talk' alarmed her once more, considering she could have said anything.
"Really," the attempt to sound unconcerned was weak. She narrowed her eyes underneath her sunglasses, peering at him form the corner of her eye. "What about?" Kurama shoved his hands deeper into his pockets, not quite willing to come right out and repeat what she had told him. As hopeless as it seemed, somewhere deep inside she hoped that she had not mentioned anything about the Hiei situation.
"You told me what happened between you and Hiei," he was interrupted by the sound of Botan smacking herself on the forehead. He felt obligated to console her some way, "you didn't go into much detail," smiling over at her trying to make her feel better.
"This is a nightmare," she groaned, dragging her feet along as they approached a foot trail which lead into the forest.
"Botan," he stopped to look her directly in the, well, sunglasses, "how do you really feel about Hiei?"
*-*-*-*-*-*
Hiei stood on the elevator alone. He was determined to find out what Kurama was up to, because he had also developed a plan of his own. There was certainly something in store for the blue-haired girl. At first he had been surprised that she would harbor those kinds of thoughts for him. He also found much pleasure in pulling her strings, making her dance around her own feelings for the sake of etiquette. She was the puppet, and he, the master. He grinned to himself as he stepped off the elevator. It was a rush of excitement as he thought to himself that soon, soon he would bring this little game to an end. His play-toy would no longer have to worry about any kind of erotic fantasies. He immediately spotted Kurama standing near the lobby entrance, apparently waiting for him.
"Let's have a walk, shall we?" Kurama gestured towards the great outdoors once Hiei finally caught up to him.
"What are you scheming at, fox?"
*-*-*-*-*-*
Botan sat back in her room trying to shake her headache by consuming unheard of amounts of water. 2:26 is what the clock now read. The rest of the girls had planned to go out to the beach, but the way Botan felt at the moment prevented her from doing much more than laying down. Her stomached ached almost a much as her head, empty as it were. She was ashamed at how irresponsibly she had acted. And the searing pain in her stomach persuaded her to at least get up to forage for food somewhere in the room. In a bag on a nearby table, she didn't know whose, she found a foil of little chocolates. Not the best candy she'd ever had, she thought as she ate them by the twos. And why are they so small?
"Botan, are you going to be okay here by yourself? Because I can stay behind if you feel like you might need something;" Keiko called from the bathroom, still trying to get ready for the beach. All of the other girls had gone ahead of her.
"Oh, I'm just fine. You needn't worry about me Keiko," Botan smiled politely, even though Keiko couldn't see her.
"So Kurama said you didn't do anything so horrible? You shouldn't worry so much then, right?" She finally came stepping out of the bathroom, dressed in her swim suit, using her towel as a skirt. Botan sighed.
"I wish it were so simple, but I'm afraid that with Kurama's kind nature, he wouldn't tell me even if I had." When she looked over at Keiko she couldn't help but notice the strange look Keiko was giving her. Her eyebrows were knit together curiously.
"Botan, what are you eating?" Keiko drew closer to get a better look at the chocolates.
"Just these little chocolates I found," she said casually as she raised the last of them to her mouth.
"Those aren't chocolates," the shocked look on Keiko's face caused Botan's hand to freeze just in front of her mouth, "those are laxatives!"
*-*-*-*-*-*
Later that evening, Botan found herself once more walking with Kurama outside the hotel. She had almost fully recovered from the physiological aftermath of the night before. The new worry that plagued her was her 6-8 hour timeframe which was coming to a close. Kurama walked along so confidently, seemingly worriless, all the while Botan bit her bottom lip, looking up at him nervously.
"Are you sure this is such a good idea?" Finally the silence was broken, "I mean, it's nice of you to try and help, but is this really the best way to approach it? And at this time?" She was trying to look for some sort of excuse to escape back to her room.
"It will be fine if you remember what I told you," he said supportively. "This seems to be a real problem for you, therefore, you have to do something about it. I can think of no better way." They came to a stop at a clearing not too close, yet not too far away from the back of the hotel. "Remember why you came here," he gave her one last look of support, and disappeared within the trees. She looked around, finding a seat on a nearby tree stump.
It actually was very nice of Kurama to try and help, and his idea was pretty good as well. But after having been to her lowest low just the night before, facing her problem was not what she was worried about. Her worries came in the form of the dainty chocolates that she had eaten an entire foil of earlier that afternoon. How could she have been so stupid? It was only a matter of time now before she would... The realization of this caused her to think that perhaps she should bug out. No one was even here, so surely running back to her room wouldn't be a big deal. Just then, a rusting of tree branches heralded the approach of Hiei, who stepped into the clearing. He was smirking at her, apparently pleasantly surprised to see her there.
"So this is what the fox was up to?" He stepped towards her, his hands hidden under his shirt. There was no bailing out now.
*-*-*-*-*-*
Excited to see the next chapter? Bear with me folks, I try to get them up asap. ^^