Together (rewrite)

Chapter 2

Botan woke the next day confused; she opened her eyes and looked around, she realized she wasn't in her room and began to rack her brain. Finally it came to her 'Kurama and I were watching a movie last night. 'Oh my gosh I must have fallen asleep' she thought. She stretched and turned her head to look up and was met with a sight of a sleeping Kurama. She stared at the sleeping red head and a smile spread across her face, she started to reach up to move his hair away from his face and her movements woke him up. He rubbed his eyes sleepily and looked down to see what was in his lap and saw Botan. He was a little surprised to see her but did not show it instead he smiled at her and said "Is it morning already?"

"Yes" she squeaked embarrassment evident on her face. 'I can't believe I fell asleep in his lap' she thought. He noticed the look on her face but said nothing. "Did you sleep well? My lap is probably not the most comfortable place in the world to sleep" he said.

"I slept well, thanks" she replied.

"Good" he said, she realized she was still lying in his lap and quickly jumped up. When she vacated his lap he got up and stretched. He turned to ask her if she would care for some breakfast but before he could ask her she said "I'm sorry Kurama I have to go" and with that she raced out the door.

She was out of sight before he could say a word. He couldn't help but feel disappointment at her absence. Instead of dwelling on his disappointment he decided to busy himself with housework until it was time for him to head to class. While walking through campus he couldn't help but think about Botan, and as he did he grinned.

When he entered the classroom he decided to take a seat in the back of the class instead of the front, he began to take his books out of his backpack and waited patiently for the professor to start class. During the lecture he found himself ignoring the professor and daydreaming about what it might be like to be Botan's boyfriend. He didn't even realize that class had ended until he heard the professor say "Mr. Minamino you do realize class is over don't you?" Kurama looked around and indeed he was the only person left in class. He mumbled something to the teacher and quickly got up and made his way out the door and headed home. When he arrived he immediately sat down to start working on a project.

Meanwhile on the opposite side of town….

Botan sat in Keiko's bedroom; she had decided to visit her friend after she had left Kurama's house that morning. The two girls had spent a while catching up with one another until Keiko decided she wanted to do something different so she decided to give Botan a makeover. Botan soon found herself sitting in front of Keiko's vanity with curlers in her hair and a mud mask on her face. When Keiko was done she smiled and said "Tada" as she waived her arms. Botan just replied "mmm" without any enthusiasm. Keiko was disappointed her friend was not as excited as she was about the makeover and asked "Botan what's wrong?"

"It's nothing Keiko. I'm just a little preoccupied."

"Is there something you would like to talk about?" Keiko asked.

"Well now that you mention it I did want to ask you something. How did you know Yusuke was the one?"

Keiko sat stunned for a moment and then said "What do you mean, Botan?"

Botan sighed and said "I mean how did you know that you liked Yusuke, I mean as more than a friend?"

Keiko thought for a moment and replied "I just knew. I mean we had been friends since we were young and soon those feelings of friendship turned into something else. I would feel heart beating faster when he was and around, that was the biggest tipoff. Why do you ask?"

"Well" Botan trailed off as if she was embarrassed.

"Botan do you have a crush on someone?" Keiko asked.

Botan's cheeks flushed and she looked away "I knew it" Keiko cried "Who is it?"

Botan didn't answer and Keiko looked at her and said "Wait, I know, its Kurama isn't it?"

Botan gaped at her friend and said "Am I that obvious?"

Keiko looked at her friend and said sympathetically "Well sometimes you get this look on your face when he's around."

"What kind of look?" Botan asked as her eyes narrowed at her friend.

"You know, your eyes kind of go glassy and your mouth hangs open."

Botan thought for a moment about what Keiko had said, and then said "He's very cute isn't he?"

Keiko laughed and said "Well yes, but don't tell Yusuke I said that." The two girls laughed and Botan continued to talk about Kurama. Keiko humored her friend and listened intently at what she was saying. When Botan finally fell silent Keiko decided to speak up and say "Botan, maybe you should tell Kurama how you feel."

Botan stared at Keiko and looked frightened, she opened her mouth and stammered "Really? You think I should?"

"Yes" Keiko said as she patted Botan's hand as if to comfort and reassure her. "Botan, don't worry everything will turn out fine."

"Thanks Keiko" Botan said "I appreciate your advice."

Botan and Keiko sat in silence for a few minutes until Botan said "I should really get back to Spirit World." She got up and started out the front door, when she was sure no one would see her she summoned her oar and was soon flying through the air. As she flew through the air she found herself lost in thought she was so lost in thought that she almost fell off her oar. She righted herself and breathed a sigh of relief as she landed in front of the palace. She took a deep breath and entered the gates of the castle. As she made her way to her living quarters she thought about what Keiko had told her, 'Maybe I should take a chance and tell him' she thought. She was thinking so hard that she almost ran into a few ogres carrying stacks of papers to Koenma. She decided to pay attention to where she was going and soon found herself in her room.

She decided to relax and walked into the bathroom and started a bubble bath. When the bath was ready she stepped in and as she got comfortable she heaved a sigh of relief. She closed her eyes and once again her thoughts turned back to the time she had spent with Kurama the past couple of days and huge smile spread across her face. She stayed in the bath soaking for a while until the water turned cold, she got out of the bath and dried off and wrapped herself in a towel and padded to her dresser to find her most comfortable pajamas. She got dressed and slid into bed and decided to read.

Meanwhile in human world Kurama was lying on the sofa in his living room with a book in his hand; he wasn't really reading in fact he had been stuck on the same page for the past ten minutes. Suddenly he snapped the book shut and blew his bangs out of his face.

"Why can't I get her out of my head?' he thought.

He opened his book again and tried to read but once more his attention turned back to Botan. He thought about how much he had enjoyed her company and chuckled as he remembered her attempt to at cooking, and how cute she was when she was flustered. He closed his eyes and laid his head back on the pillow and continued to think about the blue haired ferry woman. He soon fell asleep with images of Botan in his dreams.

Botan was confused; she had no idea what she should do about Kurama so she decided to throw herself in her work so she could think about what Keiko had said. 'Maybe spending a few days apart will help me think better' she thought to herself. It was hard for her not to go to Living World to see her friends but she thought it would help her think about what she should do about Kurama.

So she stayed in Spirit World, ferrying souls and listening to her fellow ferry girls talk about their days. Although Botan enjoyed her job ferrying souls she was getting bored spending all of her time in Spirit world, the other ferry girls just didn't understand what she was going through, and even thought she was trying to take her mind off a certain someone she just couldn't stop thinking about Kurama, so she decided instead of trying to forget him she would ask Koenma for some time off, maybe spending some time in Living World would help her make up her mind.

Kurama was rattled. He had never felt this way before, he hadn't seen or heard from Botan in a few days and he didn't like it one bit. He thought about her constantly, he saw her everywhere he went. He brooded over her absence from his life. 'Did I do something wrong?' he thought, 'Maybe I should go talk to her.' With that last thought he decided to go to Spirit World and talk to Botan.

He went to his room to change clothes and soon was headed to Spirit World. While he made his way to the palace he thought about what he might say to Botan when he saw her. He practiced over and over in his head but nothing sounded right. Before he knew it he had arrived at the gate and soon found himself knocking on the door. The doors opened for his and he slowly made his way towards her room. Soon he was standing in front of her door with his raised as if he was going to knock, but instead of knocking he just stood there. His hand fell to his side and he turned to walk away. 'Maybe this was a bad idea' he thought to himself as he quickly turned around and headed towards the front gate.

He turned around when he heard a voice say "Hello Kurama". He looked to see Koenma.

"Hello Koenma, how are you today?" he asked politely.

"I'm well. What brings you here today?" Koenma asked curiously.

"Well I wanted to talk to Botan, but it seems she's not here."

"I'm aware of that, she came to me yesterday and asked to have some time off and I complied" Koenma explained.

"Oh well thanks. I guess I'll be heading back home now" and with that Kurama turned to head back to Nigenkai his shoulders slumped in disappointment. "She did say she would be staying in Human World for a few days" Koenma said as he walked away. Kurama smiled and made his way back home.

'I wonder where she is staying' Kurama thought. 'Maybe I should check with Genkai first.' He made his way to the temple and was disappointed to find that Botan was not there. 'Maybe she decided to see Shizuru' he thought as he made his way to the Kuwabara household to call on the siblings. He was even more disappointed when he found out she wasn't there either.

As he left he heard Shizuru say "Check with Keiko." He smiled at Shizuru and waved as he made his way towards Keiko's house. As he made his way there his face brightened at the thought of seeing Botan again. by the time he got there he was extremely hopeful. He knocked Keiko's door and waited patiently for the door to open. A smile broke out of his face when Keiko answered the door.

"Good afternoon Keiko, how are you?"

"I'm well Kurama. What brings you here today?" Keiko asked.

"Well I came looking for Botan. Is she here?"

"I'm sorry Kurama she's not." His face fell as Keiko told him. Keiko couldn't help but feel sorry for him.

"Thanks Keiko, see you later" he said sadly as he walked towards home.

'Where could she be?' he thought. He decided to take a walk instead of going home; he needed to clear his head. 'Perhaps I should leave her alone' he thought. He walked and walked and when he came to a stop he looked up at his surroundings; unknowingly he had walked to the park where he had brought Botan earlier in the week. He slowly walked towards the swings where he and Botan had enjoyed a few laughs. He stopped in his tracks when he noticed the blue haired woman sitting on a swing the wind blowing her hair around her face.

"May I join you?" he asked her in a whisper. She jerked her head up to look at him. She hesitated for a moment before answering "yes."

He sat down on the swing beside her and said "Botan is everything ok?" she waited a beat and said "Yes Kurama I just needed to think."

"I understand" he replied. The two continued to swing in silence. Botan soon felt herself being pushed and looked up, amethyst eyes met emerald ones and their breath caught in their throats. He had the sudden urge to lean down and kiss her but refrained; instead he lifted her hand to his lips and kissed it. She looked at him surprised.

"Botan, I've enjoyed the time we have spent together" he said as his lips left her hand.

"You have?" she said as if to question him.

"Of course, and I would like to spend more time with you if that's alright."

Botan stood up and turned to look at him, she walked around the swing to him. She stood in front of him and looked into his eyes and saw he was being sincere "I would like that very much Kurama" she said. He immediately reached out and pulled her into a hug, the two stayed like that for a few minutes until Botan pulled away.

"Botan would you care to accompany me tomorrow?"

"Where?" she asked.

"It's a surprise" he replied with a grin.

'I can't resist' she thought.

"Yes Kurama I would love to" she said. He leaned down and kissed her forehead and said "Come, I'll walk you back to Keiko's."

"How did you know I was staying at Keiko's?" she asked.

"Lucky guess" he said as he held his arm out so she could take it, and when she did he led her home.

Unbeknownst to the two of them a pair of eyes was watching them as they walked out of the park. The same eyes followed them all the way back to Keiko's house. Neither Kurama nor Botan sensed his presence, and that was on purpose, the shadow masked his energy so he could get close to his prize. He waited until Kurama had left and continued to watch the house just to get a glimpse of her, his beloved.