Author's Note: So I lied about another chapter not coming for another year. Heh, I could not stop writing after realizing at what a cliff hanger I left the story at. Well, I hope everyone enjoys this next installment of "Loop". As always, please review after reading—I love feedback about my writing.
Happy Reading!
Loop
Chapter 12: Restart
The moonlight poured into the room, its beams reaching into the shadows as far as they could. Gently they kissed a luminescent form, giving it a silver aura that filled the room with a soft glow. Even while Kurama slept, the moon danced for him. He slept peacefully while dreaming of the ever nearing day of his reunion with Botan. In fact, he dreamed at that moment that—
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding!
'What the hell—who could it be at this time of night? What time is it anyway?' When the clock glowed a red 2 a.m. in answer, Kurama groaned in complaint while he rolled out of his bed and shuffled towards his front door. "Damn it, this better be worth it," he grumbled as he forced his mind awake.
Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding! Ding—"I'm coming!"
He did not even bother to look through the peep hole to see who it was. Cracking the door open, he looked into anxious violet eyes. Before Kurama could say anything welcoming or question the reason behind his visit, Hiiro barged into the apartment. "Kurama-san, you have to get out of here now."
"What?"
Disregarding Kurama's nightwear, the Spirit Detective grabbed the silver-haired man and began pushing and pulling him towards the door. As he did this, the human looked about to see if they were not alone. "You have to get out of here right now."
"But—" Kurama could not say anything as his sudden guest pulled and pushed him from his home. "Hii—Hiiro-san, what are you—Hiiro-san. Hiiro-san, wait!" Kurama exerted a little of his demon strength and stopped them both in the middle of the foyer. Turning to face his guest, Kurama said firmly, "Now, you must calm down. What's going on? Why are you in such a rush, Hiiro-san?"
Stopping upon the command, he explained in one breath, "Enma-sama has sent a team of S-level spirits to arrest you and take you back to Spirit World."
"Arrest me?" the half demon chortled. "Enma-sama wants my arrest? Under what charges?"
When Hiiro's violet eyes bore into Kurama's emerald ones, all mirth disappeared from the older man. "You're going to be arrested for murdering a human."
Just as seriously, Kurama responded, "I worked for Koenma-sama as a Spirit Detective, a demon charged to save Human World for many years. I've been living in Human World for over one hundred years; my dear mother was human; my good friends are human; the woman I love is human. I would not kill an innocent person, Hiiro-san. I have no reason to fear or run."
"That's the trick, Kurama-san!" the human yelled in frustration.
"What?"
"They're going to frame you for killing Botan."
"WHAT?" A massive aura of Demon Energy swirled about Kurama.
'Way to go, idiot!' Hiiro scold himself. If he did not do something quickly, Kurama would destroy the apartment and do something to deserve the arrest charges. "Wait! They haven't killed her yet, Kurama-san!"
"Then what are you doing here instead of saving her!" he yelled furiously while grabbing the human's shirt collar.
Rolling his eyes, Hiiro pushed the demon from him and explained, "They're going to arrest your FIRST and THEN kill her. But if we don't get moving, we won't stop anything."
Silently, Kurama walked into his bedroom and came back out changed and with a small device in his hand. He flipped open his cell phone and speed-dialed a number. After a three word conversation, Kurama hung up and nodded to Hiiro. "We have to hurry if we plan on saving her."
They rushed out the door while praying for her life.
While she swept away the fragrant flower petals all over the temple courtyard, Botan sighed while she thought of the man she had not seen in two years. She had just returned from her graduation ceremony and would soon be meeting Kurama at their designated meeting place. 'But what will I do?' she wondered with a frown. 'It's been two years. And granted that Kurama still loves me—I'm sure he does—but how should I act towards him? I can't just pretend we haven't missed a day and pick up from where we left of.'
Stopping in her sweeping, the newly inducted adult sighed and leaned on her broom. 'So much has changed, and I basically remember everything from the past. So should we start from where we left off a hundred years ago?' She furiously shook her head. 'No, because even then we hadn't admitted out loud our feelings for each other. But we can't go back to what we were two years ago—I didn't really know him then.'
Botan frowned at her dilemma and blew her sky bangs from her face from frustration. "Why didn't I think about this two years ago? Gah, I'm such a bubble-head!" She knocked on her head. "Really, as if nothing would change in two years! I should have thought about how things would be between us after such a long time." With another huff, she sighed and started sweeping again.
"Look! There she is!"
"Let's hurry then."
Before she could protest or figure what was going on, Botan dropped her broom and found herself flying behind Genkai and Yusuke while they pulled her away and pushed her into a black car at the bottom of the temple stairs. As the two fighters jumped in beside her, Yusuke ordered the driver to go quickly. He then closed the window connecting the front seat to the back, assuring their privacy.
"What's going on?" the blue-haired girl sputtered while erecting herself correctly in her seat. She readjusted her priestess robes and detangled them from her limbs while glaring at her two friends. "What in the world are you two doing? What's going on?"
Unfazed by her less-than-intimidating glare, Genkai said evenly, "We're going to the old temple outside of town."
"The old temple?"
"Remember? The one we visited all the time when we were in junior high: the one owned by Yukina-san?" Botan gave her friends a blank stare, causing Yusuke to groan and explain further, "You know, that pretty lady with sea-green hair and red eyes. We used to visit her temple every week during the summers. Come on, she's the one Kuwabara is in love with."
"Ah, yeah, I remember…Wait…"
'Wait a minute, how does he know that? That must mean—' Amethyst eyes grew wide in realization as she stared at her friend with an open mouth. "That means—"
Yusuke looked at Botan and realized the truth as well. "You—"
"You remember?" they said simultaneously.
A moment of awkward silence passed while the three friends thought of something to say to each other. Why was it hard, they wondered, especially when they had known each other over a hundred years ago? Fortunately, Botan ended the quiet for them all. "How did you guys regain your memories?"
Rubbing the back of his head with a sheepish smile, Urameshi answered, "Two years ago at the temple we mew two demons and accidentally stopped them with our Spirit Energy. We then found out that Hiiro-san was a Spirit Detective and met Koenma-sama. Since then, we've been training with Kurama-san and Koenma-sama while regaining our old memories and solving minor cases here and there."
"What about you? How did you remember the past, Botan-chan?" Genkai inquired.
"Do you remember when I went unconscious while exorcising that ghost two years ago?" When her friends nodded in remembrance, Botan continued, "While I dreamed, some memories came back to me. Since then, I relearned how to be a ferry girl and regained every memory."
"Every memory?"
"Yes." She sighed. "I even know why you died a hundred years ago."
"What?"
"Yeah…It's really a long story, but I'll give you the summarized version." Botan sighed while she tried simplifying everything in her head. When she thought she had the story as simplest as possible, she started, "So before I was Botan the ferry girl a hundred years ago, one thousand years before that I was Hanakazukimi-no-Hime, a princess that had favor with the gods. To save my people from a bitter man's great hate, I sacrificed myself to the gods and went to the Gate of Judgment. There, I asked Koenma-sama to grant me one wish before I had to move onto to Heaven. He broke Spirit World rules, made me a ferry girl, and hid my identity. When you became a Spirit Detective in your last life, Yusuke, that's when I met Kurama."
"You knew him that long ago?"
"Yes—and consequently, that's when we fell in love. Although, we didn't know that we had fallen in love with each other. But before we could clarify our relationship, Enma-sama discovered who and where I was and needed to punish Koenma-sama for his disobedience. Enma-sama ordered for all of Koenma-sama's human friends to be killed; the mission was accomplished in twenty-four hours. Upset as I was then, I took all of your souls and my own and placed them in the Reincarnation Loop. And so, here we are today, living out the lives that we couldn't one hundred years ago." She turned to her two friends and then asked, "So why are we going to Genkai's old temple?"
Before Yusuke could explain, Genkai looked out the window and said, "We're here." The car stopped and the door opened. Yusuke, Genkai, and Botan rushed out of the vehicle and up the temple stairs. When they reached the top of the stairs, two figures emerged from the forests surrounding the temple.
"Kurama! Hiiro 'nii-chan!" the sky haired girl exclaimed in surprise. She ran towards them while asking earnestly, "What are the two of you doing here?"
"Botan, you have to leave!" Hiiro urged as he grabbed her wrist and pulled her deeper into the temple grounds. He did not give her chance to properly greet Kurama after two years and marched on.
Turning her gaze from Kurama to her older brother, she said, "What?"
"You have to leave Human World right now."
"What's going on?" Yusuke, following behind Botan, looked from Kurama to Hiiro with suspicion in his mahogany eyes. "You told us on the phone that we had to meet here immediately, but you never said anything about Botan leaving. What's happened, Hiiro'nii?"
"We need to move towards the Darkness Forest," Kurama murmured while motioning for everyone to continue moving. He gave Botan a quick glance with his emerald eyes but only for a fraction of a second. "Hiiro-san, while we're moving, tell them what you told me."
"Botan, I overheard some spirits in Spirit World talking about murdering you."
She gasped and tensed. "Murder me?"
"But why would they want Botan dead?" Genkai demanded.
"Why are they after her?"
Hiiro paid no attention to Yusuke or Genkai while he probed the grounds with his sixth sense. He had to be on alert; he did not know when the Spirit World agents would find out that their plot had been discovered. When they learned that their plans were being foiled, all of them would be in trouble. But that did not matter at this point. What mattered was saving his little sister's life. "Listen to me, Botan. They want you dead so that they'll have jurisdiction over your soul—that way they can condemn you to Hell for all eternity. They want Kurama-san punished too, so they're going to frame him for your murder."
"Frame him?"
"But we're not going to let any of this happen." For the first time, he actually stopped and turned to face his sister with a smile. "We'll take care of everything, Botan-chan," he assured affectionately.
"But what about you, 'nii-chan?" she demanded. Koenma had been severely punished for helping one human break the rules; and because he was the Prince of Spirit World and the master of the Gate of Judgment, he had received minimum punishment. What would happen to her brother, a mere human, who outright defied the Spirit World, King Enma? "Won't they know that you warned us?"
"We don't have time to worry about me. Right now, we have to save your—"
Hiei then appeared on the scene. "Kurama, it's set. We have to hurry before it closes." Taking an indifferent glance at the humans, he muttered emotionlessly, "Why are all of them here?"
"What is everyone doing here?" Yukina asked while she ran out of the main temple building and into the main courtyard. Kazuma ran closely behind her.
"Kuwabara? What the hell are you doing here?" Yusuke yelled out. Hiei had the same question in his eyes but in a far less friendly manner.
"Eh, I'm visiting Yukina-chan. What are you doing here?"
Botan smiled awkwardly, wondering if anyone at all realized how many times they all had repeated the same exact question. 'Ne, does it matter why we're all here? We're here, aren't we?'
Not bothering to see if anyone followed, Hiei sprinted into the Darkness forest while muttering, "We don't have time for this. We must move."
"We only have the portal open up for a short time. As soon as it closes, it's done." Hiei looked back at the party following. "We wouldn't want unnecessary creatures following us into Demon World."
Kazuma shivered from the demon's cold stare. 'Why do I have a feeling he means me when he says "unnecessary creatures"?'
"Here we are."
"And here you all stop."
Everyone turned around in surprise to face a grown-up Koenma standing behind them with his arms crossed and a stern expression on his face.
"Koenma-sama!"
Yusuke's hair stood on end as he looked beyond the forest, back towards the temple. "Do you feel that?" he whispered. Genkai nodded, trying her best not to involuntarily shiver from the enormous wave of Spirit Energy sweeping through the area. "Don't tell me that's the S-team," Urameshi groaned in aggravation. "Give me a break!"
"I need the four of you to keep the S-team off of our trails for as long as you possibly can," the prince ordered while pointing towards Genkai, Hiiro, Yusuke, and Kazuma. Yusuke raised a brown in question, causing Koenma to elaborate, "I don't care what you do to keep them busy. But make sure that you're not caught or incriminate yourselves in anyway. Just do what you can. Yukina-san, please guide them back as quickly as possible."
Quickly the five of them rushed away to carry out Koenma's command. Before leaving, each of them gave Botan one last glance as a farewell. They did not know what would happen to her; but they did know that they would not see her again for a long time.
Kurama nodded towards Hiei, and they began stepping through the portal.
Botan quickly grabbed Kurama's hand before he got away. Kurama turned and stared woefully through golden pools at Botan's lavender orbs. The fox sighed when he realized the thread that tied their souls together would not allow him to leave behind a distressed Botan. "I am sorry, Botan. I am sorry that I did not tell you everything from the beginning. And now, I am sorry this time I must be the one to leave you."
"I won't have you leave me behind, Kurama!" Botan shouted as she gripped Kurama's clawed hand tightly. Crystalline tears began to spill from her eyes. "I'm coming with you no matter what! I don't care what Koenma-sama or anyone else says! I didn't care back then, and I'm not going to start caring now!"
"Botan." Kurama walked up to his love and traced her soft, smooth face lovingly with his free hand. "Botan, please understand what you are asking of me. From this point on, I will be a Spirit World fugitive once more, constantly hunted and hated by anyone who fears Enma-sama's power. If I were to take you with me, you would be branded and despised along with me. Your life would be in danger with no luxury but only what a wretched thief can offer. If you go with Koenma-sama, he can offer you a chance, a better life than what I can give you."
"I would rather have that life," Botan whispered, "then to never see you or be by your side again. I made a terrible mistake one hundred years ago, Kurama. I made a mistake of allowing myself to fall into my weakness and letting go. Don't let me make another mistake by letting you go."
Kurama smiled as he tenderly kissed Botan. "You can never let me go, Botan, because I will never let you go."
"Then don't leave me now," Botan pleaded.
"Botan—"
"Besides, you heard Hiiro 'nii-chan. My life is in as much danger as yours."
"Botan, Kurama-san is right," Koenma murmured. He had silently watched them thus far, hoping to give them time to say their farewells. However, when Botan made it apparent that she would not being doing such, the prince decided that he needed to interfere. "I already have a place set up for you in Spirit World to hide away until we can make better arrangements and clear all of this business up. I can give you a comfortable life until you see Kurama-san again."
"And how long will that take, Koenma-sama? Do you even know if we will ever be allowed to be together again?" Botan shook her head. "No, I would rather take my chances now and stay with Kurama. That was my mistake last time—not taking a chance with him. It's not repeating again."
Looking into her determined amethyst eyes, Koenma went back centuries again when he had stared into that very same expression: the one thing he had not disguised about her. 'She's finally found her wish,' he thought with her one glance. 'She's found it after searching for so long, and I cannot break my promise to her. Those eyes… even in the past, I could not deny her.'
He formed an orb of energy in his hands, the bright sphere taking a familiar shape. "Youko-chan!" Botan exclaimed as the small white fox jumped into her arms. She snuggled her pet against her but then looked to the prince in question.
"He's been my agent ever since you reincarnated into Human World," Koenma confessed.
'Thank explains a lot about the rascal,' Kurama thought while looking at the ball of fur in his love's arms. 'It explains a LOT.'
"And he was only supposed to keep an eye on you for me, but you've seemed to have tamed him. It wouldn't be right if you were to leave without him." Giving the fox a dirty glare, the prince added, "Besides, he's taken a great liking to Kurama, apparently."
'Traitor,' he thought.
Mew mew!
Not my fault!
With a heavy sigh, Koenma faced them while saying, "You have my blessings and prayers. I hope you two will be happy wherever you are going."
Kurama and Botan smiled thankfully to the prince and walked into the portal leading to Demon World. Koenma watched it close behind them forever.
"Good bye, Hanakazukimi-hime."
"Oi, sorry I'm late," a voice said as the sound of the door slid shut.
"It's about time, Urameshi," Kazuma huffed in annoyance. "We've all been waiting for you for the last hour!"
"Sorry, sorry!" he apologized with a big grin. Taking off his suit jacket and loosening his tie, he took a seat at the tea table across from Kazuma. "Hey, my job isn't as easy as you think, Kuwabara. I mean, being a big CEO and a Spirit Detective is kind of hard." His grin then became something saucy. "And you won't be so mad at my tardiness when you hear it's because Koenma-sama gave me some news."
Yukina and Keiko walked in right then with hot tea and snacks. Genkai, who had been meditating in the corner, opened her eyes and helped the two girls with setting up the cups and the snacks. "Did they ever find Botan-chan?" Keiko questioned as she took a seat beside her fiancé.
Shrugging, Yusuke eased his arm around Keiko's waist. "No, and everyone searched everywhere within Spirit World's reach. Heh," Yusuke laughed. "I guess they don't realize that Botan is hiding in a place where they can't find her."
"Do you think she's doing all right?" Genkai asked while taking a sip of her tea.
Yusuke smiled at his instructor. "Come on, you should know better, Genkai! Botan is with the most protective guy I know, not to mention the best one for her. She's probably happier right now than she's ever been here in Human World."
The pink haired girl snickered, knowing the truth in his words.
"And what has Spirit World done to cover for Kurama-kun?" Keiko wondered.
"Spirit World didn't have to do anything," her fiancé answered while popping a snack into his mouth. "Kurama was very prepared for the situation. Before he left, he arranged who would be in charge of his business and everything else. The only thing some people worry about is where Kurama disappeared to, but they'll shrug it off eventually."
"They're not just going to 'shrug it off,' Urameshi! Kurama-san left his entire company to you!"
'Not to mention half of the female population in Japan nearly committed suicide that day,' Genkai and Keiko thought with little frowns. 'They aren't going to "shrug it off" any time soon. I hope Botan-chan won't die from all of the curses that are bound to be sent her way.'
"Well, thanks to him, I don't have to depend on my mother and will have an easier time protecting her from those Yakuza bastards."
"That is fortunate, isn't it?" Hiiro chuckled while he stepped into the room.
"Ne, Hiiro'nii, it's been a while. How are your Spirit World cases? How are your parents and you doing?" Yusuke waved jovially in greeting. "Are they taking Botan's sudden absence well?"
"Ah, everything is going fine, thank you. And my parents are doing quite well, Yusuke—maybe a little too well. Apparently, Otou-san knew something like this would happen one day," the senior spirit detective sighed hopelessly. "Okaa-san had an idea that Botan-chan would run off one day, so she's dealing with this a lot better than any sane mother would. After all, they figured, this is probably why Koenma-sama made them parents of her soul."
"Wait, he knew where her soul would be?"
"Or something like that—Koenma-sama didn't elaborate, but I have the feeling that he's had tabs on all of your souls from the beginning," Hiiro said with a wave of his hand. "He just didn't tell anyone else about it so that he could complete his plan without interruptions. Of course, Kurama-san put a wrench in Koenma-sama's plans by going after Botan."
"Ah, well," Urameshi shrugged. "Everything turned out all right in the end."
Yukina suddenly brightened, having remembered something. "Oh, Hiei said he would be visiting today."
"When?"
"Right now."
Hiei pushed aside the door and took a seat at the table. Without greetings or friendly gestures, he conveniently sat himself between Yukina and Kazuma. Ignoring the human's silent protests, Hiei turned his attention to the Spirit Detective across from him and bluntly asked, "Will you be fighting in the next Demon Tournament, Yusuke?"
"Hell no," he answered almost immediately. "I'm only a third of what I once was, and there are still demons that are out to get me—you included, Hiei. I might be stupid, but I'm not THAT stupid."
With a small shrug, the fire demon turned away and murmured, "Suit yourself."
Yukina giggled, knowing very well Hiei was sulking right now. She knew that the fire demon had wanted to fight all out against Yusuke to see how far the human's powers had come along. Also, he had wanted to test a new technique which he was fairly positive Yusuke could survive. Hiei was not exactly sure if in Yusuke's present state he could survive; but then again the Spirit Detective had more luck than anyone Hiei had ever known.
'It's all right, Hiei,' the ice maiden thought with an amused smile. 'You'll have a chance someday.'
"Hey, explain something to me, Hiei."
"Hn?"
"Why did Kurama have silver hair and green eyes?" Urameshi inquired while pointing at his own head and eyes. "What happened to his red hair? Was he stuck in between his human form and demon form or something?"
"You could say that he was stuck, I guess—but it's more evolutionary."
"Eh?"
"Do you think normal humans live for over one hundred years without a change in their appearance?" Hiei snorted at such a ridiculous idea. To even think that humans could possibly be equal to demons was ludicrous. Only one person had the right to trump that idea, and that was Yusuke at his greatest potential. "Kurama's demon side slowly but surely took over his human body as it began dying. But instead of his demon half completely taking over, as he originally planned, the human side and demon side merged."
"So, he's half-demon?"
"His human form is, at least. When he wants, he can change into Youko Kurama to fully utilize his demon powers. At least he can access his full demon powers now that his weaker form is half-demon." A small smirk formed on the fire demon's lips. "And his mind is no longer divided—so there's no longer hesitation for anything, thank the gods."
"How is Kurama-san doing? And Botan too?" the navy-haired spiritualist inquired.
"Hn—Read it yourself." Hiei threw a small card towards Hiiro, who read it out loud for the others to hear.
"In the darkness beneath the full moon, a fox will meet a flower and join together: a riddle you cannot solve alone. Find a helper and follow him to his beginning to complete a story unfinished."
"A riddle?"
"Of course," Yusuke huffed while crossing his arms in exasperation, "Kurama couldn't give it to us straight—he has to use one of his little games. Damn, he really hasn't changed much after all of these years."
"Everyone, this is a wedding invitation!" Keiko exclaimed. She pointed at the card excitedly over Hiiro's shoulder. He did his best to support her weight and keep his ear from going deaf from her excitement.
"Eh?!"
"Look: 'In the darkness beneath the full moon a fox will meet a flower and join together.' Kurama will 'meet' Botan and they're going to get married the next full moon." At Keiko's explanations, everyone crowded around Hiiro to take a closer look at the neat little white card with cute printed words.
After a few minutes more of reading the card, Urameshi turned around away and murmured, "Well, that makes the 'a riddle you cannot solve alone' part pretty obvious."
"No, no, that part means that we're all invited to come."
"Then what about 'Find a helper,' Keiko-chan?" Yukina asked while pointing to that part on the card. "And we must 'follow him to his beginning to complete a story unfinished'? What do you think those parts mean?"
The young woman frowned as she thought of the meanings. What could it be?
"Maybe it's talking about Hiei?" Hiiro suggested. "After all, he's being Kurama-san's helper… maybe we need to follow him to his beginnings?"
"Feh, that's impossible. I don't even know where my beginnings are—and I'm no one's helper," the fire demon lied with a fierce glare.
"Maybe then Hiiro-san," Yukina suggested. "He works as Koenma-sama's 'helper' as a Spirit Detective, no?"
"But that would then include Genkai-chan, me, and Yusuke. We're Spirit Detectives too."
"Of course!" Keiko grinned. "It's talking about Yusuke!"
"Eh?"
"When you write 'Yusuke,' one of the meanings can be 'helper'," she showed while writing his name on the back of the card. "See? It's a double meaning, because Yusuke is a Spirit Detective and his name has that meaning. He's the one we have to follow."
"Follow? Follow where?"
"To your beginnings, of course," Keiko replied.
"But to which beginnings?" Yukina wondered. "Does he mean Yusuke's beginnings in this life or in his last life? And then, what beginnings does Kurama mean?"
Yusuke frowned. "He can't be serious."
"Eh?"
"To risk so much—ah well, they're doing it for us, so I guess it would be okay."
"What are you saying, Yusuke?"
"They're coming back to the place where everything really started for me," the young man said with a disbelieving shake of his head. "This temple is where I became a true Spirit Detective. And 'to complete a story unfinished' is easy enough. We all met here and became friends here, so it makes sense that we would finish everything in full circle here too."
"I guess then we'll have to make the preparations. We'll have to invite your parents, of course, Hiiro 'nii-chan." Keiko looked down at her planner and exclaimed. "Eh, the next full moon is in three days! We better hurry if we want everything ready when they get here. Genkai-chan, Yukina-chan, we have to get some shopping done!"
"Ne, we should ask Yuna 'ba-chan to help us," Genkai managed to say while being dragged out of the room.
"Hn, I'll tell them you got the message," Hiei said while disappearing from the room.
Looking at Kazuma, Yusuke smiled mischievously, "I guess we better get some good wedding gifts for them, ne?" With an equally deviant smile, Kuwabara nodded and the two young men left the room as well.
Hiiro sat in the room alone while smiling at the little card in his hand. After Botan and Kurama's disappearance into Demon World, Koenma had finally confessed everything to Hiiro—that is, after the prince cleared him from any of Enma's suspicion. From the beginning to end, Prince Koenma had told Hanasaki Hiiro the lives his little sister had and has led and the results of her desire to find true love. After feeling eternally grateful to the prince for saving his eternal soul, Hiiro felt furious with his spiritual employer. Because of Koenma's refusal to tell the Spirit Detective the entire truth from the beginning, at one point he had played a villain in his sister's life.
But that was now in the past, and all of them only had the present and future to enjoy.
"Congratulations, Botan-chan, Kurama-san," he murmured with warm violet eyes. "I'm glad that you two are finally together."
The sun cast its warm rays onto a happy group of young adults. Three girls in cute bathing suits played happily in the sand while three boys romped around in the salty ocean waves. After a few hours, the two groups met in the shade and relaxed as they snacked and watched the scenery. As the group watched clouds float by, they thought it a pity that Shizuru, Genkai, and Hiei could not join them; however, Shizuru had work to attend to; Genkai, as old as she was, would not have greatly enjoyed the beach; and Hiei had nearly attacked Kurama for the suggestion of a trip. Thus, the remaining six of the group decided to go on their happy vacation without the other three.
"So what do you see yourself being in ten years, Yusuke?" Botan asked while taking a sip of a juice box. She rested on the beach towel on her stomach, wearing a white bikini with pink flowers printed all over it.
"I don't know… I've never really thought about my future," the young man chuckled while lying down next to her. "Although, I guess once Keiko and I get married, I'll have to think of something." He turned to Kuwabara in turn. "What about you? What do you think you'll be in ten years? What are you going to do with your university education?"
"Right now, my major is medicine," the oranged-haired young man confessed shyly, scratching his cheek with one finger. He sat cross-legged beneath their small shelter from the sun. "I want to be a doctor and help people—without using my sixth sense."
"That'll be something to see," Botan giggled as she bit her straw. "Becoming a doctor is extremely hard, you know. You'll have to get amazing grades to get into medical school, Kuwabara-kun."
"I think Kazuma-san will do very well," Yukina smiled. Kazuma had to do his best from getting a nosebleed from seeing her very cute navy blue one piece.
"That's a very good goal, Kazuma-kun," Kurama said, drawing the lad's mind from his dream world.
"Ne, Kurama, we're all friends," Yusuke grinned. "You can call him 'idiot,' you know. We've known each other too long and have been through too much together for such formalities!"
"I'll punch your face in!" Kazuma barked. "Prepare to meet your end today, Urameshi! This is the day where I, Kuwabara Kazuma, finally crush you into dust!"
"I'd like to see you try!" his friend smirked in retaliation. He cracked his knuckles in anticipation. "Come on, you pansy! Let's tango!"
As the two rowdy boys dashed towards the beach for their playful fight, Kurama politely turned to Keiko and asked, "And what about you, Keiko-san? What do you plan on doing in ten years?"
"Well, after Yusuke and I are married, hopefully he'll be able to take over my family's ramen shop and I'll be there to help him manage. God knows, he'll need me to stay out of trouble," she giggled. "Otherwise, I'll be looking for work as a prosecutor."
"Eh, you should continue your studies and go to law school," Yusuke said while breaking away from his play wrestling with Kazuma. "Just leave the ramen shop to me—go make the big money and make something out of your life. You need to live a little, at the very least."
"What about you, Kurama-san?" Yukina asked eagerly. "What do you think your future will be like? Will you go back to the Demon World and work for one of the three ruling demons?"
"No, I won't be like Hiei… Besides, he and Mukuro have a special relationship," Kurama chuckled while closing his eyes. He smiled as he felt the warm ocean breeze blow against him and through his scarlet locks. "I'll probably live out my human life here in Human World with my mother and new family; and when the time comes for my human body to expire, I'll go to Koenma-sama in Spirit World and figure out what I should do from there."
"Do you plan on ever marrying?" Keiko asked.
Kurama looked at Botan briefly before answering the human lady, "No. If I were to fall in love with a human woman, I would endanger her life in so many ways. Besides, we would never be allowed to have children due to Youko being a part of me. Who knows what affects Youko would have on such offspring?"
"That's not true, Kurama-kun," Botan chirped. "I'm sure if you talk to Koenma-sama, he would definitely allow you to have children with the woman you love. After all, half-demons are born all the time, and you definitely would make a good father."
"Well," he said with a sad laugh, "the woman I do care for would have to accept me in the first place."
"Eh? You're in love with someone? Who?" the girls asked in unison.
Raising his hands up in defense, he stammered apologetically, "Ah, I can't tell you."
"Why not?" they pouted.
"Ah, I would like to tell you, I really would. It's just… we aren't meant to be as of right now," the redhead explained. "If I were to tell you, you might find her and pressure her into feeling something she doesn't really feel. Or, she might notice me because of something you said, not because she really wanted to see me. I don't want that." Looking out at the dazzling ocean, he added, "I want her to love me because she only sees me. Until then, I won't say anything. Maybe in a few years I'll be able to confess my feelings."
"Well, don't take too long now, Kurama-kun! You wouldn't want to miss your chance, would you? If you don't hurry, she might fall in love with someone else." Although, Botan thought, that would be very unlikely. After all, once someone fell in love Kurama, she loved him for the rest of her life! 'I would know, wouldn't I?' the ferry girl thought in desolation. 'But he would never notice someone like me—I'm so average!'
Looking over at Yusuke and then quickly returning his attention to the girls, Kurama gave them a sad smile. "I don't really have much of a choice, Botan. She might already be in love with someone else. That's why I'm waiting for a while to see what happens."
"Ah, then good luck then! I hope she realizes soon that you're a wonderful person," Botan smiled. "If you ever need help, don't hesitate to ask!" She wondered though, would she help Kurama if he asked? Would she help another girl fall in love with him, even if he did not see her feelings? She shook her head. Of course she would! Kurama's happiness was very important to her; she could not mix her personal, selfish feelings into the ordeal. She was a spirit: and Kurama had a healthy human life to lead in the mortal realm.
"Hey, look! There's a sea turtle!" Keiko exclaimed. She grabbed Yukina's hand and beckoned her to follow. "Come on! Let's go look at it before the boys see it and scare it off, Yukina-chan. Botan-chan, come on!"
"Ah, yeah." Before completely running out with her friends, Botan stopped and turned back towards Kurama. "Kurama-kun?"
"Hm?"
"I really hope that you'll be able to confess to her one day. I'm sure once you do, you'll see that it's all right to marry her and to have children with her." Her heart clenched at the thought of seeing a future with Kurama holding another woman in his arms. She felt her face grow warm—maybe because of the sun? "You would make a great husband and father. I know it."
"Thank you, Botan," the redhead grinned. "And I hope that one day you'll be able to find your true love as well."
'Could you possibly find that true love in me?'
"What?" the spirit girl blushed. 'Does he know my wish?'
"Eh, nothing," he said with a fox-like smile. Pointing towards the beach, he directed Botan's attention towards their friends. "The others are calling you."
"Right—We'll be right back." Waving, she ran towards Keiko and Yukina to observe the sea turtle. While she did, Botan could not help but think of Kurama's expressions: always smiling but lacking sincere emotions or genuine happiness. He remained mysterious that way, but that led the ferry girl to wonder if anything reached the depths of his heart. Would she ever reach him where no other had before? Would he ever open himself to someone like her? Shaking her head, she moved away from those thoughts and basked in the sun. She had a few years to change his mind about who he really loved.
"I'll be waiting for your return," Kurama called after her. He watched Botan run out onto the sand and towards the two other girls, doing his best not to think of her beautifully slender form and long legs—not to mention her firm and supple—"I really am a pervert," the young man sighed out of hopelessness. "I don't have the right to think of her like that." But then again, in his thoughts, no other man had that right either.
She did not feel the same, that he was certain. Throughout their acquaintance, Botan had never showed any interest in him. Always her attention had gone to Yusuke, and Kurama knew that was where her affection rested. He sighed hopelessly. "Maybe… someday…"
Botan glanced back over her shoulder and blushed. "Maybe in the future…"
"I'll tell you how I feel."
Author's Note: Thank you, everyone, for all of the support that this story has received. Thank you first and foremost to the reviewers and their opinions, criticisms, etc. Without them, I would not have known to continue the story, to fix certain mistakes, or to completely reconstruct certain chapters without your input—Thank you. Also, thank you to all of the readers, the ones that helped this story reach 3500+ hits. I'm very encouraged to know that I do have an audience that does appreciate my writing.
And now, after three years, "Loop" comes to an end. Again, thank you everyone.