Together (rewrite)

Chapter 5

Botan could hardly contain her excitement. She did a happy dance as she stepped out of the shower, and wrapped herself in a towel and began to blow dry her hair. Once her hair was dry she made her way to Keiko's room where she asked her to help her get ready.

An hour later, Botan looked in the mirror and smiled. Keiko had curled her hair and had applied simple makeup to her eyes. She looked great, "Keiko what should I wear?" she asked.

'Well if you ask me I think you should wear this" she said as she held up a dress.

Botan raised her eyebrows in surprise "Are you sure, what if it's too much for what he has planned?"

"No Botan I think its perfect". Botan shrugged and put on the dress Keiko pointed out; once she was dressed she looked in the mirror and was pleasantly surprised.

'Keiko's right this dress will be perfect" she thought.

"Kurama's going to die when he sees you" Keiko said. Botan smiled at her friends compliment. At that moment the doorbell rang, "I'll get it Keiko" Botan said as she ran downstairs to greet her date. She took a deep breath before opening the door.

Kurama stood outside Keiko's house waiting for an answer. He nervously played with his keys and looked up when he heard the door open. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped when he saw her. She was stunning in a skin tight knee length purple strapless dress. The bodice had tiny sequins that reflected the light. The dress molded to her curves accentuating her bosom and her behind.

He heard her asking him a question and moved his eyes from her body to her face "I'm sorry what were you saying?" he asked.

She giggled and said "I asked if you liked the dress."

"Very much so, I'll have to thank Keiko later"

"What do you mean?" she asked. He smiled slyly and replied "Well I asked Keiko to take you shopping."

Just then Yoko's voice sounded in his head and said "If she looks that great in the dress, imagine what she'll look like out of it."

"Shush" Kurama replied silently and with that Yoko's voice subsided.

"Are you ready to go?" he asked and she said yes, and with that she grabbed her purse and they left. He opened the car door for her and then settled in the driver's seat. He started the car and they were off.

"Are you going to tell me where we are going?" she asked quietly.

"No, but I will tell you that dress is perfect for what I have in store" he said as he winked at her. She smiled and her cheeks turned pink. They rode in silence the rest of the way. Soon they were pulling into a parking space next to the sidewalk.

"We'll have to walk the rest of the way" he said as he got out and walked around to help her out of the car. Once she was out of the car he held his arm out for her to take, once her arm was in his they began walking towards their destination. Soon a neon sign came into view and she realized what they surprise was.

"Kurama" she couldn't finish her sentence she was so excited.

'How did he know I love dancing' she thought.

"It was a lucky guess" Kurama said as if he knew what was going through her mind.

"This is a wonderful surprise" she replied as she hugged him tightly. He relished in the feeling of her body pressed against his and was disappointed when she pulled away. They smiled at each other until he said "Shall we?"

They entered the club and found themselves engulfed in bodies. Her eyes were alight with excitement. She grabbed his hand and led him to an open spot on the dance floor. She didn't hesitate to start moving her body to the music. He was mesmerized by her movements; it wasn't until she looked at him that he realized he was not moving. The music continued and soon a light sheen of sweat coated her body. The music began to slow down and he wrapped his arms around her waist while she put hers around his neck. The two moved in sync. Purple eyes met emerald and the rest of the world fell away.

She tilted her face upward and he leaned closer to her. His lips once again hovered above hers, but this time he didn't hesitate, he gently placed his lips on hers in a chaste kiss. She sighed as his lips finally met hers, but before the kiss could deepen he pulled away. She looked at him confused.

'That presence, I've felt that energy before' he thought.

"Botan, I think we should leave" he said as he began to look around searching for where the sinister energy was coming from. As they made their way to the exit he finally zeroed in on the owner of the strange presence. 'This is the one' Kurama thought as he sized up the would be enemy. He was tall, and surprisingly plain looking he had short brown hair but what stood out were his eyes, they were a deep crimson and were very cold. Kurama sent out a wave of energy towards him as a warning. The man looked directly into Kurama's eyes and smiled wickedly and then disappeared.

"Kurama, are you alright?" Botan asked when they finally made their way outside.

"Yes Botan I just felt something a little unnerving."

"I'm sorry Botan, are you disappointed?"

"No in fact I had a wonderful time."

He smiled at her and said "That was my intention."

"Kurama" he gazed into her eyes as she spoke his name and was surprised when she raised her arm to touch his cheek. Her touch was feather like; her skin was soft against his. She began to move her hand so she could run her fingers through his beautiful hair. He snaked a hand out to wrap it around her waist to pull her closer. His other hand made its way to her chin and tilted her face up so he could lower his lips to hers once again. The kiss lasted only a moment but the moment he lowered his lips to hers she knew.

As they broke apart they once again gazed into each other's eyes. He spoke first "Botan I want you to know that you are special to me."

"Oh Kurama you are special to me too."

They once again smiled at each other and made their way back to the car. He held her hand the entire drive back to Keiko's house. He walked her to the door and said goodnight and kissed her hand, she bid him goodnight as well and went inside. She leaned against the door and sighed as she thought about the feeling of his lips on hers, she made her way upstairs and shed her clothes and climbed into bed her thoughts never straying from Kurama.

Little did Botan know the evil presence from the club had shadowed them all the way home. He stood outside the house looking up at the window that was in Botan's room.

'Soon my dear, you will be all mine' he thought as he disappeared.

The shadow stood outside the house where Botan slept for a few more minutes then he slowly walked away. He grinned as he thought back to how Kurama had responded to his presence. His plan was going exactly how the thought it would.

With Kurama

Kurama sat at his desk staring into space; his thoughts were on the strange man that had ruined his evening with Botan. He decided the best way to deal with an unknown enemy would be to enlist some help. He sent a telepathic message to Hiei asking him to meet him tomorrow morning in the park. He decided to try and get some sleep after all he had to get up early if he wanted to meet his friend.

He woke up at the break of dawn and got dressed. He fixed himself a quick breakfast and left home to head to the park where he was to meet Hiei. When he arrived the park was deserted, he made his way to a park bench and sat down to wait for his friend to arrive. It didn't take long; soon Kurama saw a black blur making its way through the trees. Hiei landed softly next to where Kurama was sitting and said "Well fox why am I here?"

"It's nice to see you too Hiei" he replied. Hiei sat and grunted in response. Kurama began to explain what had happened the night before. Hiei listened intently and asked "What do you need me for?"

"Well I would like your help in trying to find out who this person is and what they want." Kurama stated.

Hiei nodded and said "Mmmm."The two of them sat in silence for a moment until Hiei spoke up and said "Well Kurama, have you told the onna how you feel?"

Kurama looked at his friend and said "Why the sudden interest Hiei?"

Hiei just looked at Kurama and chuckled, he didn't bother replying Kurama knew why he was goading him, and he had never seen the fox so unnerved by a woman much less a ferry girl. The two continued to site on the bench until Hiei started to notice people entering the park he decided to take off saying "Ningens" under his breath and soon a black blur could be seen moving once more through the trees.

Kurama stood up and stretched before he began to walk towards home. He was halfway there when he decided to go see Botan. It was still early and he didn't want to wake Keiko so he decided to go through the window, after all Botan uses his window more that his front door. He used his rose whip to hoist himself up. Once he was outside her window he peeked in and saw her sleeping form. He smiled and knocked until he saw her stir. She sat up and looked drowsily in the direction of the noise. Her gaze finally landed on the window and she smiled when she saw the red head waiting for her. She wrapped the sheet around herself and got up to open the window for him.

"Kurama" she said sleepily.

"Good morning" he said "did you sleep well?"

"Uh huh, what time is it?" she replied.

"Early, I'm sorry I should have known you would still be sleeping" he said.

"No it's alright, come in" she said as she stepped aside so he could enter her room.

She folded her arms across her chest and stood there waiting for him to speak. "I enjoyed last night" he finally said. She nodded in response and looked down and realized she was just wearing the sheet. He took notice as well and said "I guess I should give you some privacy. I'll just go wait in the kitchen" and with that he left the room.

She entered the kitchen a few minutes later wearing a pair of loose fitting pants and an oversized t-shirt. "Kurama did we have plans today that I forgot about?" she asked with a yawn.

"No I just wanted to see you "he replied and she looked at him and grinned.

"Would you like some coffee?" she asked as she stood up and walked to the coffee maker to start a pot.

"Sure" he said as he watched her as she moved around the kitchen. She could feel his eyes on her but didn't say a word she liked the attention he was giving her. She soon came back to the table and set a glass in front of him.

"So Botan you never told me how long you will be staying with Keiko" he said as he took a sip of coffee.

"A couple more weeks" she replied as she took a sip of coffee.

'Wonderful, that means I still have time to spend with her' Kurama thought.

"Kurama, I had a really nice time last night" she said as he reached out and touched her hand. He brought her hand to his lips and said "I'm glad." He stood up and walked around the table and pulled her out of her chair. He wrapped his arms around her and started to sway back and forth. They stayed in each other's arms until they heard someone clear their throat. They both turned to see Keiko standing in the doorway staring at them. He dropped his arms and she stepped away from him.

"Good morning Keiko" he said and she replied in kind.

"Am I interrupting something?' Keiko said sheepishly and Botan glared at her. Kurama just stood there looking embarrassed. Keiko grabbed a mug and filled it with coffee and walked out of the kitchen leaving them alone once again.

'Why can't we ever be alone?' Botan thought.

"Kurama, can I ask you for a favor?"

"Anything" he said.

"Would it be alright if we spent the day at your house?" she asked.

"Anything you want" he replied. With that she ran upstairs to change into something else and they left. Once they arrived at his house he turned to her and asked "Botan what would you like to do?"

"Don't laugh, but I was wondering if you could teach me how to cook" she said while looking at the ground.

"I would love nothing more" and with that he grabbed her hand and led her to the kitchen.

"What would you like to learn to make?"

"Anything you want to teach me" she replied. He nodded and began to gather what he needed. An hour later the two sat at the kitchen table and surveyed the mess. There was batter everywhere and she had flour in her hair and he had frosting splattered all over his face.

"I'm sorry I got batter everywhere" she said.

"It's alright Botan, by the way you have flour in your hair" he said pointing to her head. She reached over and scraped some frosting off his face with her finger and licked it. "This is good" she said. He laughed and grabbed a towel to wipe the rest of the frosting off his face.

"Botan maybe we should start to clean up" he said.

"Ok" she replied and with that she started to wipe down the counter. He watched her for a moment and got an idea; he scooped up some batter and threw it at her back. She gasped as it hit her and turned to him surprised. She couldn't believe what he just did. She said "oh you are so going to get it" and scooped up some batter and flung it at his, it hit him square in the face.

He said "so it's a war you want" and with that the two had an epic batter war. Twenty minutes later the two could be seen sitting on the floor laughing hysterically.

"Well that was fun" she said as she looked at him.

"Yes it was' he agreed. He stood up and said "Let's clean up and grab some food" she nodded and stood up as well. Once they had cleaned the kitchen he decided to take a shower to get the batter out of his hair.

"Botan make yourself at home" he said as he made his way to the bathroom. She walked to the living room and started looking around at some of the pictures he had around the room. Most were of him and his mother which made her smile. She stopped as her eyes landed on a small picture of her. She picked it up and stared at it. Just then he came back into the room dressed and towel drying his hair. She turned and asked "Why do you have a picture of me?"

He stopped in his tracks and said "Well because I wanted to be able to see you when you weren't around" he replied shyly.

"Really?" she said.

"Yes" was all he said. Both spoke for a minute and then he looked at her and said "If you would like to take a shower feel free."

She nodded and set the picture down and made her way to the bathroom. She turned on the shower and shed her clothes and stepped in. she couldn't help but think about what he said as she washed the batter and flour from her hair. She smiled as she thought back to what he had said.

'Maybe he really does love me' she thought but then frowned 'if so then why is he so afraid to tell me?'

Meanwhile downstairs Kurama stared at the photo of her and berated himself for being a coward, the deep voice of Yoko spoke from his subconscious and said "Just tell her." Kurama ignored the voice and got up to put the picture back where it went. He thought about what Yoko had said and realized he was right.

He spun around as he felt her presence, she was beautiful her with her wet hair cascading down her back. He walked over to her and pulled her close and began to lower his lips to hers when a beeping sound made him stop.

"Oh, excuse me" she said as she pulled away and reached into her pocket and pulled out a small compact. She opened it and said "Yes Koenma" and began to make her way to the kitchen to take the call in private. Kurama could hear her arguing with the young lord to no avail.

She returned and had a look of utter disappointment on her face. "Kurama I have to leave, Koenma needs me" she said sadly.

"How long will you be gone?" he asked.

"He didn't say" she replied. She walked over to him and gave him a hug and thanked him. She made her way to the door and summoned her oar and waved as she flew away. He waved back and when he could no longer see her he went back inside and closed the door.