THE LIES THAT BIND
 
A YYH inspired fanfiction done for purposes of entertainment and 
wasting away time. Standard Disclaimers Apply.
 
CHAPTER 2 -teaser
 
Watching someone without having them actually notice that they are being
watched is a craft he has long perfected. It suits him well for the purposes
of surveying an enemy or studying an opponent's stance when he tries to read
their intents, motives or next move. The deity of death in her soft pink
kimono eating ice cream across him didn't exactly post a grave threat on his
safety or well-being. But he watched her anyway, accepting that he is pleased
in simply doing so. His earlier worries and fears long buried into
forgetfulness.
 
"You think I don't know you are watching me. But I do," Botan said, her eyes
kept low on the ice cream dish before her. His eyes crinkled in bemusement,
not knowing how to comment on that. "You eat ice cream... differently," he
replied, his grin widened, thinking how Botan would react if he told her he was watching her because he's keeping watch of her beautiful smile. 
Beautiful, his eyes fondly rested on her shrugging gesture. "Differently?" 
she asked. He cleared his throat, his own ice cream dish forgotten, "you... 
chew ice cream." She pouted despite the blush that crept up her cheeks. 
Something lurched in his veins, he instantly identified what it meant.
 
"I don't chew, ice cream. I just," she paused, scooping a small serving into 
her mouth as if to demonstrate, "try to feel it all over my tongue." He 
cocked an eyebrow, "Naze?" quite surprised at her reply. It felt like 
an eternity before she made any movement and almost forever before she uttered 
a reply. When she did, she was looking wistfully out the window beside them, reminded 
of why she was there in the first place. "I... I want to taste it," she said softly. 
He needed not ask her what she was talking about as he already came to full-realization what 
she just meant. Because she can't, he supplied mentally. He was to apologize when she met his eyes 
with startling emotion, "will you tell me how it tastes like?" she asked hopefully. "Like ice cream," he answered. 
She regarded him with mock impatience, "no. I meant, what does it taste like. To you," she insisted. He was to open his 
mouth to ask why what he thinks matters.
 
He smiled instead, the lurch in his veins were becoming more frequent and intense. Almost 
feverish. But he definitely felt happiness well up from somewhere. No matter how fleeting, 
how shallow... the simplicity of the circumstances they found themselves in has made him happy 
and protected him of the fears he's so used to battling for the past few days. "Its coldness briefly 
sheathes the tongue numb. Briefly as it melts, to allow the sweetness becomes one with your mouth. Then 
the what is left of the soothing coolness courses down your throat as you swallow," he shook his head, his 
smile evident, "that'd probably go down as the lamest..." he paused at the smile fixed in her lips. 
"Duomo, Kurama-san. That was beautiful," she spooned another serving into her mouth and closed her eyes, 
"I could almost taste it." Almost, she kept the sound of his voice as he described how ice cream tastes like in her memory. 
Something she would remember when she eats ice cream again. And when she... she blushed again, remembering 
her recurring dreams of Kurama - both as Youko and ningen.
 
An elder man whose weight was supported by a cane as he walked caught Botan's awareness and her eyes 
immediately flew open. She wondered if that was a reminder from Koenma of things she has left undone. 
Just a little longer, she pleaded, not wanting to go on about the normal routine her day usually takes. Another soul 
to guide, another life to be lost. She is well aware of the consequences of not escorting a soul out of the dying body. 
The soul immediately decays in the body, emitting a stench for all of Reikai to be aware of. And the pain... the excruciating pain 
the soul, the being, feels at being completely aware of its own degeneracy will be shared by the deity 
who selfishly deprived him or her of being freed from the body. A curse, that sadly, comes with immortality. 
 
Kurama noticed the change in her equilibrium. Something is troubling her and he wondered how much of that is caused by him. 
He waited patiently for her to confide on him, but she too seemed patient to wait out the uncomfortable silence. "Why are 
you here Botan?" he asked quietly, "I mean, did you just come here to wake me up?" She took particular interest in the intricate 
design of the placemat under the dish. She traced the intricacy of the lace patterns with her finger. I would, she answered quietly, 
if that's what it takes. But that wouldn't be the answer either of them would be looking for, that she knew. She cleared her throat, "I-I'm here to 
collect a soul," she answered, her voice wavering without her intent. She realized she couldn't meet his eyes and stood firm in the belief that she wouldn't. 
 
Gentle fingers, however, seemed to have other things in mind as it lifted her gaze to meet his own. She would've blushed a third time
if not for the sudden surge of memories yearning to be released from bondage. She took a sharp intake of breath as she felt herself 
being sucked in a vortex. Memories of trees, darkness, the biting cold... Makai. Mind-shattering pain followed, to which she could only 
whimper weakly. The pain became more intense, first in her mind, then it made itself apparent all over her. Threatening to consume her altogether. Her resolve 
to temper her convulsions broke together with the contact of his fingers to her chin. Then strangely, calm soon followed. Not in a way where the pain eased 
from her senses, but was snatched away from her as if it didn't even happen at all. She slumped on her seat, weakened by the mind-alterring reality she was sucked into.
 
Kurama looked at her in dazed shock. What is going on? he thought not realizing he actually spoke the very question. Botan raised her eyes to his
and forced a smile, "I think I have lactose intolerance," she joked. He didn't smile. Not when he bore witness to the torturous journey she was in. 
She cast a wayward glance at the clock. She was still a good three hours away before the deadline set by Koenma. Before the soul of Ranumura Ichiko decays in his body. 
She was almost sure it was the pain transcended to her by a degenerating soul but... 

"Botan, daijobu ka?" he asked. She grinned and answered a fraction of a second too quick, 
"Hai." Still no smile from him. She reached out across the table and covered his hand with hers, "duomo arigatou for the ice cream, Shuuichi," her brain pulsed in warning.
He watched her slowly withdraw her hands from his own in quiet fear. 

Sadness soon tugged him.