Disclaimer: I do not have the rights on Yuu Yuu Hakusho. This story is for entertainment only.

Chapter Two

She dreaded the day that she will face her family again. After she left, she never looked forward on seeing them. Selfish as she may seem, she had to cut all strings that were attached to her past in order for her to forget or, at the very least, to shroud the pain and humiliation. If not only for Koenma, her probable future, she would never set foot on that familiar space again. Selfish as it may seem, but for her it was not.

The breeze that brushed on her face and threaded along her hair, the familiar smell and color of the spring flowers gave a rush of nausea in her throat. Her senses brought back a lot of memories that had been buried in the deepest part of her consciousness, where they were suppose to be. The few minutes she spent standing, and looking over the house she had known, started to consume her patched heart.

There was no turning back though. If she really wants to move on, she had to do it.

She was tending the garden as usual, to save her health. It was bullshit. She never liked flowers in the first place. Plus, given the wrinkles and pale hair, she never saw any sign of frailty on the Old Woman's part.

"I saw you coming," the Old Woman said, her back towards her. "I can feel your reluctance from several yards away. Now, why is that?"

Botan was torn between rolling eyes and a sheepish grin. Wonder Woman, that old hag.

"Really?" she managed to grin, pushed herself to get a little closer look of her foster parent for more than twenty years. "I'm just making sure if this is the right place."

Old Genkai answered with a smirk, which really annoyed her from time immemorial. It meant a really sarcastic remark. She felt the urge to mock her by calling her Granny Hag, which really popped her nerves. But that was old times, which she preferred to be forgetten. "So, what drags those heavy feet of yours all the way from there? It must have been a really great effort for you."

She winced. How can she forget that if she returns, she will definitely receive a good verbal spanking from this old woman?

"Eight years? Really, the effort of going home must have weighed tons," Old Genkai was already sneering and had just begun being sarcastic, and Botan could not help but wonder how a beautiful woman during her youth, like her, could do such nasty things.

"Look--"

"One phone call, two decent letters, eight Holiday postcards? I can't believe I could count the times you remembered us, in those years, with my fingers. I'm starting to doubt that I have a family from the other side of the world." It was really amazing how unfeeling the Old Woman can be at times. She didn't expect her outburst to be like it. Of course she knew she will get antsy the moment she returns, but she also supposed that the old hag would go light with her disappearance and everything. After all, it was bloody eight years ago.

She was about to open her mouth for a reply, when someone squealed her name. It was Yukina, and she frowned. Yukina never squealed.

"Oh, it is really you," awe was all over her face. "I thought it was somebody else, but with the hair and everything…" Yukina trailed.

Botan was fully smiling then. It dawned to her what she really missed. Yukina. How can she ever forget the sweet girl? Her beloved sister, though not by blood. "What's up?"

And with that, they both hugged each other laughing. By the time they let go, Yukina was already crying. "I can't believe you haven't changed your habit," Botan could not help but to comment. Yukina laughingly wiped her tears.

Old Genkai took their attention by clearing her throat. "Yukina please prepare some food for this waif. I just can't stand skin and bones."

With that, Botan laughed. She followed her two companions inside the familiar house. She still could not believe she had returned. If she did not felt the sun's warmth beating down on her skin, or the humming noise she heard from the bees, she could have said it was all a pleasant illusion, and not a dreaded reality.

"Dork," it was shouted from the other line. "That spankin' she'd done serves your right." It was Yusuke. It was a foul feeling to be shouted by you closest friend, except when… "You left without saying anything to them. And the worst part would be you leaving without telling me a fucking 'goodbye'!"

Laughing, she answered, "Look, I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to."

"Fucking right! And not even a word where you were heading to? You had us worried then, you idiot!"

She sighed. "Oh, this is great. You're giving me your wrath too?"

"What do you expect? To kiss you like nothing happened? You don't deserve it." Botan was almost breathless because of laughing at what he said. "Not one friggin' kiss. And I'm not kidding."

Wiping her teary eyes, she managed to blurt, "Oh, shut up. Why do you act like I want a kiss from you? It's too gross." At that, they started to mock each other helplessly.

Yusuke was the only guy who could annoy and, at the same time, make her laugh so hard. When she was little, she defined best friend as the person who can make you hoot and all that. That person could be annoying, but tolerable because he can also put up with you. As she grew up, that perception matured. That person, however disagreeable he might be on a lot of occasions, is someone who can feel your pain and willing to do everything at his expense just to make it all better.

Botan never doubted that that person was Yusuke.

"So, are you coming, or what?" she asked.

"The hell, I'm not!"

"By the way, your gurrrl-friend, Keiko, is preparing the menu. K-I-S-S-I-N-G." She teased him further by making kissing sounds.

"Now you shut up!"

Nothing could go wrong with the dinner party. It was put up by the old hag, so most probably no tricks and all the annoying stunts that Yusuke and Kuwabara usually do. Yukina cooked the menu with the help of Keiko, and the two monkeys were not there yet to spoil the preparations. It could be faultless. At least that was what she hoped.

But what was with the feeling that something might go wrong? She could not help it.

They were setting the table when the boys arrived with Kuwa's tall sister, Shizuru. Kuwabara started teasing Botan about her ventures, called her names, and so on. "I couldn't believe that you left for Paris. I wasn't sure that you even know where it is then," he said cruelly. "And, I never thought the French would give you a look. It's really weird that they did. You surely looks like an alien from outer space to get their attention." He felt then that he said a good joke, and gave out a loud, teary guffaw.

"Ha-ha, very funny." Botan just cut him slack, because she knew he was just trying to make an impression on Yukina. If it was the case, he was making a big mistake. "FYI, French aren't interested on aliens from outer space in general. They are more into beauty and art." Good. That would make that big oaf look stupider.

Shizuru turned to her brother. "Moron. If you ever set foot on that country, you'd be shot. You look like some damn terrorist."

Kuwa threateningly dared his sister to repeat what she said but, as always, he had lost his spot by a simple sisterly retort. Poor Kuwabara. He was not silly as he might seem. He was just a funny guy.

"Why do you even wonder why she went there?" Yusuke looked at her in the eyes that thrashed the warmth in her. "You know as well as I do that she left because of him."

With that, Botan paled. She wanted so much to punch Yusuke in the face for bringing it up. But the look on his face dared her to wrong him.

Tell me I'm wrong. Tell me. He taunted with his eyes.

She knew better than to give in, and ignored his remark. Shizuru wittingly cut in to stop the building tension by asking about the food. Luckily, Yukina and Keiko had finished settling everything on the dinner table, and Kuwabara started praising Yukina's efforts on the menu, and insisted that they should start eating since the food like those at present were not meant to be ignored even for a single second.

Botan and Yusuke were still throwing deadly stares at each other, ignoring those around them. "Thanks for that," She managed to blurt out and headed towards the dinning place. Yusuke's gaze followed her, but he kept silent. Before he proceeded to the table, he shrugged the feeling of being crossed. Ever since it dawned to him the main reason why she left, he could not help but felt being betrayed.

"Are we eating, or what?" As Kuwa chimed this, someone had rung the doorbell. The tall man volunteered to get the door cheerfully.

Then there was silence.

Eight years had passed. If she can describe how each of those years was spent, she might say that it was spent with little remorse. After all, those years signified her freedom.

Even if she denies it on her grave, her spared years were actually not spent as such. She spent it all to cure her heart by convincing herself the whole time that what happened before was nothing but dead memories.

But the dead could come back and haunt us.

Possibly, yes. But if it is determinedly buried, then it will stay as it is. Like what she did on her memories of him. His face, his laughter, everything about him, and what had gone between them. She had buried it in the deepest core of the earth, where scorching heat could consume it, completely.

Eight, long years of burying the ghosts of her past. She worked twenty hours straight with whatever projects were disposed on her hands, so as to fatigue herself, and be numb. She drank more caffeine then, so that it would be difficult for her to fall asleep and have the chance to dream.

To dream about him.

Fatigue and stress cured her shattered self. Unusual as it is, but it cured her. It made her less vulnerable to pain. It helped to mend her heart. And, best of all, it made her forget.

It was Kurama at the door.

Everything winded back, and shattered the pieces that remained her heart. She dreaded this day because she was afraid of what she might feel. Afraid she might feel.

She wanted to die at the moment she set her eyes on him again.

Her years of mock refuge were gone wasted.

If she was not too stunned, she knew her feet would drag her out of the goddamn place. But her breath was caught in her throat, which made her motionless. She looked she might faint.

Everyone else in the room became fidgety. Some were trying to tell something, but cannot think of anything to say. The rest just stared at her staring at him.

The moment she swallowed the lump in her throat was the moment he caught her eyes. He recognized that they were slightly darker than the last time he saw them. He guessed those might be fakes. It might be contact lenses.

She had changed.

The young woman he had known before was not reflected on those eyes. It just mirrored somebody else, a stranger to him. A familiar stranger, who knew who he was: his name, his face, but not his entire being.

What did he expect? If he was going to see her again, she would be entirely different, he thought of this before. She would be different in the sense that he can not recognize her anymore. She preferred to let her hair fall lovingly on her back. She preferred to wear make-up and dark suits that displayed sophistication and elegance. She changed everything that she was before. Because that was the only thing she can change: her own self.

What he did not expect was the undeniable feeling of his heart twisting in pain at the fact that she looked so distant. Distant from everyone else in the room and, undoubtedly, from him.

He could not move. He should not be staring at her idiotically, but he could not take his eyes away from her. Looking at her was too agonizing, but he was testing his self. He thought he learned to be numb. He convinced himself of this, and he thought it might work.

Numb. Numb. Numb. That's what you wanted me to learn, to feel nothing.

"Glad you've made it," the Old Woman acknowledged. "Now, if all of you place yourselves properly in the table, then we can start dinner."

For formality's sake, and to diminish the awkwardness as well, everyone started to babble whatever they think was appropriate to say, or ask.

Except for Botan. She remained standing. Gaping to whatever space that was occupied by Kurama moments before. "Botan?" Yukina called out.

Botan made her way to the table, meekly, and seated herself the right side of the Old Woman. She was still too stunned, speechless, and wide eyed. Everyone was already settled, helping themselves with whatever was on the table.

Then she abruptly stood up. "I need to leave. I have to fetch something, and--"

Before anyone could react further beyond startled gazes, Kurama pulled his chair out.

"No. I'll leave."

Kurama and Botan stared at each other for the second time in years. It was too unbearable for her. She could no longer breathe.

She was about to turn her back when the Old Woman bellowed. "No one will leave this damn table unless I said so."

Everything was left in midair. If the Old Woman started, it was a rule that everyone should remain where they were and listen. "I invited him to dine with us. Please, respect that."

It was unusual of her to say 'please', but she said it then with sincerity. Thus it really meant that his presence was not something of mockery thrown to her.

But that instance she felt too little. She was too humiliated by his mere presence. Haunting memories came back, and started consuming her.

Before anyone could stop her, she fled. The way she did before. Uncalled and wicked.

The moment they heard the door shut, Yusuke stood up and followed her. For the nth time, the audience gaped. Kurama did all his best to calm himself. If not for the blaze in his eyes, his calmness was undisputable. He felt weak, so he sat. His mind was on complete turmoil.

"Disgraceful child." The Old Woman said in fury. Everything was spoiled, the dinner, the good evening, and the promise of reconciliation. Maybe it was too soon for both of them. The Old Woman was disappointed on the outcome of her pursuits.

"I knew this was a bad idea," Kuwabara said with a silent sigh.

All of them looked at him. No one ever thought of that. It was really amazing of Kuwa to act like some stupid gorilla, and say something that is genuinely true after a second.

The Old Woman pierced him with a gaze. "What are you trying to say?"

Kuwa stopped, and thought whether to say something or not. Whatever he wanted to say would surely make the Old Woman livid. "Well, she is obviously not ready to see our dear friend, Kurama, here."

All of them just stared as if to ask how the hell he was certain about it. "She seems so awkward towards us. Didn't you ever think what she'll feel when she sees Kurama again would be worse than awkward? He is, after all, her estranged husband, for God's sake. Or, have you all forgotten?" He kept the tension at bay by chewing his food exaggeratedly. "Seen the look on her face? It's as if she'd seen one of the Four Groom's Men of the Apocalypse." He laughed at himself. "Maybe you actually look like one, Kurama."

As much as the Old Woman would want to hit him with anything that was in reach, she could not. Not because of proper decorum, but because what he said (about what Botan felt), for the second time in the evening, was undeniably true. Apologize. That, she noted to herself.

He found her sitting on a bench by a lamppost, considerable yards away from the Old Woman's house. He found her there, trembling. I'm not good in dealing with a crying lady, but what the hell.

"You run so fast. I don't recall that you can," he said, panting. He approached, and he realized that she was not crying. She was just trembling so much.

She turned to him, with her widened purple eyes. "If you followed me just to say that I should go back in that fucking house, you're just wasting your time."

He felt an urge to hold her in his arms, but refrained. "Shut up. I'm here to escort you wherever you're heading to."

She raised her eyes to fully look at his handsome face. The softness in his dark eyes, that the firm purse of lips failed to convey, made her tears fall down.

He felt the urge to hold her in his arms again. Yet, at that moment, he did not refrain.

She was in his arms, crying; he, in silence. They carried on that state for quite sometime. His warmth, strength, love, he poured all of it to her like he had done a thousand times before.

He waited, until she was ready to speak.

"I couldn't bear seeing him again, Yusuke." Her eyes were red and swollen, she was stunning, nonetheless.

"If you don't want to see him, then don't."

"I can't."

"Why?"

"Because I have to." Before she could sense him standing near them, "I'm filing for a divorce," she said.

He froze, just as his world stopped revolving.

It was not Yusuke.

The evening suddenly exhausted him. So he decided to leave, and bide everybody a good night. Genkai did not argue with him. She knew he had too much of the entire spoiled evening, even though he just stayed there for a little over an hour, which he spent with silent contemplation, and occasional conversation with the others.

Outside, the moon was almost at its full shape. There was also the sound of the crickets' song in the bushes. As he passed the big tree, which was then illuminated by humble fireflies, his mind was empty, his soul calm. That was what nature could do to him. It could offer him peace, at his worst time.

And then, his senses wavered at what he saw. There on the bench was Botan crying in Yusuke's arms.

They made him stop and just stood a safe distance away from them, slightly obscured by the darkness.

He had seen them like that a thousand times before. And hurt by it a million times.

Numb.

He had to be numb.

"I'm filing for a divorce." He heard her say.

And that was the time she recognize him in the shadows, and had the decency to gasp.

"What's wrong?" Yusuke trailed her eyes. "Kurama." He slowly let go of her.

Silence enveloped them, because they did not know what to say.

After a moment of genuine numbness, Kurama managed to gave a bright smile that did not reach his beautiful eyes. "I'm on my way home-- " He could not think of anything to add.

"Sure. Ugh, we're about to do the same."

Doesn't seem like it to me.

He was aware of the fact that she was silently looking at him, but he did not reciprocate as much as they both wanted to. She will just see his pains, his frustrations… and his loneliness.

So, with a nod, he proceeded.

There ya go. This is not a great chapter, I know, but I hope you enjoyed it, even on the slightest chance.

I also would like to inform you that I will rewrite the Prologue and Chapter One of this story within this week. Even if you don't agree with this plan, I'll still have to do it.

I apologize for everything. Jessie Katz