Together (rewrite)

Chapter 7

Botan woke up the next morning to an annoying beeping sound. She rolled over and started searching the nightstand for the thing that was making the noise. Her hand closed around her compact and she sighed and opened it and said "Hello Koenma."

"Good morning Botan, did I wake you?"

"Yes Koenma but it's alright."

"Botan, I need you to come back to Spirit World as soon as possible" and with that Koenma hung up. Botan sighed and rolled out of bed. She looked around and remembered she had stayed the night at Kurama's. She quickly got dressed and tiptoed downstairs to leave him a note saying she had to leave but would return as soon as she was done. With the she took off and headed back to Spirit World.

Kurama woke up to the sound of the door closing; he had once again slept on the couch while Botan took in the bed. He looked around and his eyes landed on a piece of paper, he got up and picked it up and read it. He was disappointed that she had been called back to Spirit World. He decided to take a shower and get ready for her return.

Botan arrived in Spirit World without trouble and soon found herself in Koenma's office. She cleared her throat and the young prince looked up at her and said "Hello Botan, thank you for coming on such short notice."

"Yes, Koenma, what did you need me for?'

"Well Botan I need you to give something to Yusuke for me, something that might help with the case."

"What is it?"

"Well you remember the spyglass? Well the item is kind of like that but altered so that it may be easier to catch the demons that are finding their way into Human World."

"Alright Koenma, I will. May I go now?"

"Yes" and with that she turned to leave but looked back at Koenma when he said her name. "Botan be careful I have a bad feeling about his one."

"I will Koenma" and she left and closed the door behind her. She made her way to her room; she needed to gather a few things before heading back to Ningenkai. She went to her closet and pulled out a suitcase and began to pack some essentials. Once she was done packing she yawned. She looked longingly at her bed and decided to lie down for a few more minutes before heading back to Kurama's. A few minutes turned into hours, and soon it was afternoon.

Kurama was getting restless, Botan had been gone all day and he was getting bored. He sat at the table drumming his fingers while sipping a glass of tea. Finally he could take it no longer he decided to go to Spirit World and bring her home. He left and made his way to the nearest portal that would lead him to Rekai.

When he arrived at the palace he made his way to Botan's room. He stood outside the door feeling nervous. He knocked and waited but there was no answer, he knocked a second time and still there was no reply. He decided to open her door and see if she indeed was there. He opened the door and poked his head in and looked around. He couldn't see much so he decided to enter her room and look for her. He gazed around the room and found it looked just like her.

He was surprised when he saw photos of the whole gang on a bookshelf. He said her name but there was no reply. He looked around some more and his gaze fell on the bed. He saw a lump under the covers and realized she was asleep. He chuckled at her and decided to wake her up. He slowly and gently sat on the bed and whispered her name, she didn't stir.

He started to shake her and still nothing. He got an idea and leaned forward and placed a kiss on her forehead and she sighed, she didn't open her eyes so he decided to be playful and started to press kisses all over her face. She giggled and opened her eyes and gasped when she came face to face with Kurama.

"Good morning" he said.

She stuttered out a greeting and then asked "What are you doing here?"

"Well I got tired of waiting around for you to return so I decided to come and get you" he waited a beat before continuing "Would you rather stay here?"

She quickly said "No Kurama I'm sorry I was just really tired and I thought I would sleep some more before coming back."

He smiled and said "Oh". Neither spoke again for a few moments they just sat there smiling at one another until he leaned forward and brought his lips closer to hers but before he could bring them down there was a knock on the door.

He moved away from her and she let out an exasperated sigh. She threw the covers off and stomped to the door and threw it open and shouted "What?"

Kurama heard her lower her voice to a whisper and begin to discuss something in rather hushed tones. She returned a few minutes later blushing.

"What was that all about?" he asked.

"Oh nothing important just some of the other ferry girls being childish" she replied. He stood up and said "Well shall we go?" she nodded and grabbed her bag. He took it from her like the gentleman he was and they were off.

When they were outside the palace she summoned her oar and they both climbed on. They flew in silence and once the crossed through the portal she landed and they started walking. He decided to take a risk and grabbed her hand, she looked down and then up at him surprised. She didn't pull her hand away in fact she squeezed his in reassurance. They continued walking hand in hand towards Kurama's house talking about their plans for that night. They rounded the corner and his house came into view. They started up the walk to the front door and he immediately let go of her hand when they saw Yusuke, Kuwabara and Keiko waiting outside. Yusuke had his hand raised like he was about to knock.

She couldn't help but feel sad at his action but tried not to let it show on her face. However Keiko did notice and once everyone was inside she pulled Botan to the side and asked her about it.

"Botan are you alright?"

"Yes Keiko, I'm just frustrated right now, it seems every time we get a little time alone we get interrupted."

"Don't worry too much Botan, soon things will change. Just have patience."

While the girls were off in the other room the boys sat and discussed the case Koenma had given them. Before their discussion got too involved the girls came back into the room. Yusuke smiled at Keiko and she blew him a kiss; while Kurama stared adoringly at Botan, who walked over and sat next to him.

"So what are you boys talking about?' asked Keiko as she sat down next to Yusuke. He unwittingly placed a hand on her leg as he replied "The case Koenma gave us."

"Shouldn't we be getting started on it?" asked Kuwabara.

"Yes, but don't you think it's best to try and strategize before diving headfirst into a case?" Kurama stated.

"That's why we have you fox boy" Yusuke said while laughing. Keiko smacked him playfully on the shoulder and said "Yusuke, don't you think it's unfair to rely on Kurama all the time for strategies? You can't expect him to form a plan for every case you get."

Everyone laughed at Keikos comment because they knew that Yusuke, even though he was brave was never one for strategy. Once they had settled Keiko looked over at the clock and saw it was getting rather late. She jumped out of her chair and said "Yusuke look at the time, you should really be getting me home you know."

And with that the three of them got up and made their way to the door. Botan remembered that she had forgotten to give Yusuke the item Koenma had given her and before he walked out the door she said "Yusuke I have something for you from Koenma. He said it might help with the case, it's supposed to help catch the demons getting through the net." She handed him the spyglass and he thanked her and left.

While the spirit detectives had been ironing out the details of their plans the shadow watched and listened intently to their conversation. When he was absolutely sure they didn't know more than he wanted them to he slipped away.

After everyone had left Kurama turned back to Botan and said "So my dear what do you want to do with the rest of our evening?"

She thought for a moment and said "Well we never got to finish the movie we started a few nights ago."

He smiled and said "Alright" and with that he got everything ready to start the movie. When he was done he sat down on the couch and motioned for her to sit down next to him. When she sat down he wrapped an arm around her shoulders and she leaded into him when she settled he placed a kiss on her temple.

Halfway through the movie he looked at her and saw she had fallen asleep, he smiled and wrapped his other arm around her and moved so they were both lying down. Before he closed his eyes he kissed her head and whispered "Goodnight."

Kurama opened his eyes slowly and gazed at his surroundings, he realized he was in his living room and then remembered that he and Botan had been watching a movie, 'That's right she fell asleep' he though as he remembered lying down next to her and soon falling asleep as well. He heard a noise and soon saw Hiei standing in the hallway. Hiei laughed as he looked at the two of them on the couch. Kurama glared at him and asked him telepathically 'How long have you been here?'

Hiei replied 'Not long but you might want to get up, Yusuke and the idiot will be here shortly' as his Jagan eye glowed. Kurama gazed at the sleeping Botan in his arms and started to wake her up, he said her name and started to move his arms so he was no longer holding her. She awoke groggily and asked what time it was. He answered and then said "Botan we have to get up." She groaned and Hiei laughed, she opened her eyes and saw him standing there and quickly jumped off the couch and ran upstairs mumbling something about how her vacation seemed an awful lot like work. As soon as she was out of sight there was a knock on the front door. He ran his fingers through his hair and opened it to find his friends waiting.

"Hey Kurama" said Yusuke

"Morning Kurama" said Kuwabara

"Good morning, please come in" Kurama said as he moved aside so they could enter the house. They stepped inside and he shut the door behind them. They stood in the living room for a few seconds until Kurama asked "Would anyone care for something to drink?"

Without waiting for an answer he headed towards the kitchen and everyone followed. They walked into the kitchen and while Kurama started to fix a pot of coffee the others sat down. For once Yusuke and Kuwabara weren't fighting; of course it could be due to the early hour and the fact that Yusuke rarely got up this early. Once the coffee was ready Kurama set a cup in front of Yusuke and Kuwabara. He didn't bother making a cup for Hiei he knew he wouldn't touch it.

While waiting for the coffee to cool down the four detectives chatted about nothing in particular. Meanwhile upstairs Botan was dawdling; she didn't want to go hunt demons she wanted to stay wrapped in Kurama's arms. She looked in the mirror and sighed and then put her hair in its trademark ponytail and got dressed. Finally she was ready to kick some demon butt.

She started down the stairs and heard voices coming from the kitchen, she walked in and said good morning to everyone and got a cup of coffee before sitting down. Once she was seated Yusuke spoke "So what was the plan again?"

Kuwabara piped up and said "Urameshi don't you pay attention to anything? We three are going to kick some demon butt, while Kurama and Shorty head to Demon world."

"Oh yeah I remember now" said Yusuke as he scratched his head.

This time it was Botan who spoke "Honestly Yusuke it's a wonder you've come this far with a memory like that."

Everyone but Yusuke laughed at her comment. Once the laughter died down the conversation turned serious again. They continued discussing the case when Yusuke began to get restless, he stood up and slammed his hands on the table and said "Are we going to sit around all day and talk or are we going to kick some ass?"

Everyone stood and Kurama said "Well I guess we better get started." He excused himself to go change and the others waited in silence. He soon re-entered the room and asked "Ready?"

Everyone nodded and they filed out of the kitchen with Botan bringing up the rear. She grabbed Kurama's arm and slipped something in his hand. He looked down and saw what looked like a woman's compact. He looked at her quizzically and asked "Botan, what is this for?"

She said "Just in case" and she moved to catch up with the others. He stopped her before she could reach the doorway and pulled her body so it was pressed tightly against his and he kissed her. She delved her fingers into his hair and his hand slowly moved to cup her behind. The kiss was about to turn heated when he received another telepathic message from Hiei. All he said was "Fox" and with that Kurama broke away from Botan. At that moment Kuwabara came back into the room and said "Uh I forgot my jacket." He looked from Botan to Kurama and grinned at the thought of catching them in an intimate moment.

She sent Kuwabara a death glance and stood on her tiptoes to place a kiss on Kurama's cheek before turning and walking out of the room with Kuwabara behind her. Kurama stood in place and watched her walk away his thoughts soon turned wicked until he heard Yusuke yelled his name. He cleared the naughty thoughts from his head and rolled his eyes and walked to where the others were.

Once they had decided on a time to meet in Spirit world to share what they had learned they all left. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan headed towards the city while Kurama and Hiei headed to the nearest portal that would take them to Makai.

Yusuke and Kuwabara started bickering almost as soon as they group split up. Botan just ignored them; instead she chose to think about the kiss she had shared with Kurama before Kuwabara had interrupted them. She had enjoyed the feeling of his hand on her bottom, and his lips had been warm and soft on hers. She continued to daydream and didn't notice that her partners had stopped their bickering and were staring at her.

Yusuke looked at her and said "Thinking about a certain fox boy Botan?"

She snapped out of it and glared at him in response. Yusuke just laughed. She got irritated and smacked him with her oar to shut him up. Now it was Kuwabara's turn to laugh while Yusuke rubbed the lump forming on his head. Once Kuwabara had stopped laughing Botan said "Yusuke, did you remember to bring the spyglass?"

"Do I look stupid? Of course I did" he said as he searched his pockets.

"Ah –hah!" he said as he finally found what he had been searching for.

Botan and Kuwabara just shook their heads at him and Botan reached in her pocket and pulled out the demon compass and the three of them started their search.

Once Hiei and Kurama reached Makai they decided it would be best for Hiei to use his Jagan to search for anything out of the ordinary. Hiei stood still on a hill overlooking Makai his Jagan eye glowing as he searched. Kurama stood beside him silently waiting for his friend to tell him what he was seeing. After a while Hiei opened his eyes and looked towards where Kurama was waiting.

"Well" he said as Hiei covered the Jagan once more.

Hiei shook his head indicating he neither saw nor heard anything that would aid them in their search.

The two talked for a moment about what they should do next and when they both agreed to search on foot. They searched for any new portals or holes that would allow demons to pass through to Living world without any problem but they came up with nothing. Kurama suggested that Hiei once more use his jagan to search for a possible informant and Hiei agreed.

Hiei once more took off his eye covering and quietly searched once more. Once again he came up with nothing. They looked at one another and decided to head to Spirit World and wait for Yusuke, Kuwabara and Botan.

As the two of them headed towards Rekai a shadow followed them, the shadow had watched them closely all day and knew that they had found nothing that would harm his plans. He laughed inwardly at the ineptness of the two demons.

Back with Botan and the rest of the gang

The other three weren't having much luck either. They had been searching for hours and had come up with nothing. Every now and then the compass would acknowledge the presence of a demon but it turns out it was reacting to Yusuke any time Botan got too close to him.

After a while they decided maybe it would be better if they split up, they could cover more ground that way and they had the mirrors just in case they need to call for help. Botan headed towards the park while Yusuke and Kuwabara headed towards a rougher part of town. They decided to meet back in Spirit world at the appointed time unless one or the other had managed to capture a demon who they could deliver to Koenma.

Botan exhaled and picked up the pace. She wanted the day to be over. She was so tired; her vacation hadn't been much of a vacation. She kept her eyes peeled and checked the compass repeatedly. She was having no luck and decided to take a break and sat down on a bench. She surveyed the park and smiled as she saw families having fun.

Her thoughts soon turned back to Kurama as she saw couples walking hand in hand. She wondered if they would ever get the chance to experience that without being interrupted. Someday she hoped. She sighed and moved to stand up, as soon as she was on her feet she looked at the compass, it was signaling that a demon was near.

She decided to go check it out first before calling Yusuke and Kuwabara. She wasn't picking up a huge level of energy from the demon so she assumed he was low class and decided she might be able to handle him on her own. She moved to where the signal was coming from and soon found what she was looking for.

To anyone else the demon would have looked normal but she could tell the difference. She moved towards him trying not to draw too much attention to herself. She finally got close enough to him and as she made a move to take out her oar and knock him out, her eyes rolled back in her head and she fell to the ground.

Kurama and Hiei were the first to arrive in Spirit World; they were led to Koenma's office where they delivered the bad news that they had not been able to find out any information in Makai. A short while later Yusuke and Kuwabara made their way into Koenma's office. They too had had no luck in finding out any information for Koenma.

Kurama looked around and asked "Where's Botan?"

Yusuke and Kuwabara shrugged and said "Well we decided to split up; she said she would meet us here."

"Alright" Kurama replied as he began to feel nervous about her not being there.

The detectives waited around and Botan still had not showed. Kurama was getting worried and began to pace the floor. The other detectives just watched him not knowing what to say or do. Finally Yusuke had an idea he said "I know, we should try the mirror."

Kurama said "I should have thought of that" and pulled out his mirror to call her and find out where she was. She didn't answer. By this point Kurama was ready to scream, he decided that he could wait in Spirit World no longer and headed home.

Once he got there he searched the house for her but could not find her. He sat down on the couch and sighed.

'Where could she be?' he thought.