Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ My Downfall ❯ The Reunion ( Chapter 1 )

A/N: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho or any of the characters herein, they are all the property of Yoshihiro Togashi.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Chapter 1: The Reunion

 

“Knock, knock!”

 

Yusuke half-opened one eye, casting it in the direction of the open door. Against the glow of the rising sunlight that was spilling into the room he could see the silhouette of a slender female, one arm in the air, her fist wiggling back and forth as though she was knocking on an invisible door.

 

“Haven't seen you in a long time, Botan,” he said, closing his eye again. “What's up?”

 

He heard Botan walk into the room, her feet clicking lightly against the wooden floor. She moved around him in a circle, gradually slowing as she went, as though fascinated by her surroundings and gradually becoming distracted by them.

 

“Botan!” he snapped, opening his eyes.

 

She jerked to a halt in front of him and grinned sheepishly.

 

“You came here by yourself?” he asked with a small frown, as the realisation dawned on him that she looked a little harried and was, unusually, on her own.

 

“Yes,” she said, holding up one finger in the air. “I hope I'm not disturbing you, Yusuke…”

 

Yusuke dismissed her concerns with a wave of his hand, standing up and silently deciding that he could afford to miss meditation that morning.

 

“What's up?” he asked again.

 

“I like what you've done with this place,” she replied, waving an arm around the room. “I'm sure Genkai would be very happy to see her temple being used so appropriately.”

 

Yusuke narrowed his eyes slightly, suspicion taking seed in the back of his mind. Botan had visited the temple several times since Genkai had passed away, and she already knew exactly what he had done with the place: absolutely nothing, as per Genkai's dying wishes. Botan's nonsensical statement, along with her inability to look him directly in the eye, her slightly strained tone and the slight tensing of her shoulders told him that she was there for more than just a friendly visit.

 

“Botan?” he said slowly, folding his arms over his chest and glaring at her in a way that warned her she needed to come to her point, and quickly.

 

“How are you, Yusuke?” she asked, meeting his eyes at last, but with a grin that looked almost painful.

 

“I'm busy, Botan,” he frankly replied. “I just came here to check on things, I have to leave soon, I start work in less than an hour. Why are you here?”

 

“Lord Koenma sent me,” she said.

 

Yusuke managed to keep his groan silent, but was unable to stop one eyebrow from twisting upwards.

 

“There's been a disturbance in the demon world,” she continued. “We think there might be some ex-convicts banding together to plan a rebellion, and we want to be prepared before the next tournament.”

 

“Which is only a few months away,” Yusuke finished for her. “I don't work for Koenma any more. And I thought he was keeping his nose out of demon world affairs these days?”

 

“You're right of course!” Botan hurriedly replied, smiling sweetly up at him. “But the problem is, the rebels gathering in demon world aren't all from demon world.”

 

Yusuke arched his eyebrows expectantly, but Botan hesitated before continuing.

 

“We think there might be humans involved too,” she eventually said.

 

“So what does Koenma expect me to do about it?” Yusuke asked bluntly.

 

“Well, he's asked me to gather everyone together here so that we can come up with a plan,” Botan replied.

 

“Everyone?” Yusuke repeated.

 

“Yes. You know, the old team!”

 

Botan swung a fist through the air in a gung-ho fashion, still grinning a little too fervently for Yusuke's liking.

 

“It's too early in the morning for this crap…” he grumbled, stifling a yawn.

 

“Won't you please at least meet here with the others to hear what Lord Koenma has to say to you?” Botan pleaded.

 

“Sure, but I can't make it back until later,” Yusuke conceded. “After eight tonight.”

 

“Perfect!” Botan said cheerfully, clapping her hands together. “I'll make sure that everybody else comes here for eight o'clock! Don't be late!”

 

Yusuke forced a smile as Botan waved him a goodbye and hurried back outside. Before she had reached the garden beyond the doorway she had already summoned her oar and leapt up onto it, shortly zipping off upwards and away from the temple. Yusuke slowly walked to the open doorway, squinting up at the sky to watch her fade from visibility. It had been four years since Yusuke had last officially worked for Koenma, and he had not expected to see the pacifier addict again until the next tournament to determine the ruler of demon world, which he was certain would attract Koenma back as an eager spectator. He was almost certain Koenma was scheming something by asking for his help, since King Enma had made it painfully clear that Yusuke was no longer to be a part of the affairs of spirit world.

 

Though, he thought dryly, if a rebellion was occurring in demon world, whatever Koenma was concerned over was not actually spirit world's affairs. He was unsure what to think, but if nothing else, his curiosity had already allowed him to agree to be a part of it.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Knock, knock!”

 

Kuwabara groaned, lifting his face up and blinking back the vestiges of sleep. He squinted around his surroundings, finding himself alone in his dorm room, his roommate unsurprisingly absent. Apparently he had fallen asleep at his study desk, something he had done more often than he cared to remember lately.

 

“Oh dear, working hard or hardly working, Kuwabara?”

 

He grunted at the overly chipper voice at his side, twitching as something peeled off the side of his face. He turned in the direction of the sensation, finding a familiar face grinning at him whilst holding up a piece of paper with only one line of handwriting decorating its surface.

 

“Botan?” he muttered.

 

He looked about himself again, confirming that he was definitely in his dorm room before eying her over sceptically.

 

“Have I missed something?” he asked her.

 

“I think you missed the point of that book…” Botan replied, reading the single line he had written onto the piece of paper he had then apparently fallen asleep on and had stuck to his face when he awoke.

 

“Hey!” he moaned, snatching the paper back from her. “What are you doing here? This is the boys' dorm!”

 

Botan grinned and rocked on her heels but remained infuriatingly silent.

 

“I have term finals soon, I'm busy,” he added, replacing the page she had taken from him to his desk.

 

“Oh dear, I hope you're not too busy to help an old friend?” she said sweetly, holding her hands by her face and pulling a kitty face.

 

“Spirit world needs my help?” he asked. “But I don't do that sort of thing any more…”

 

“Lord Koenma asked me to gather the old team, and he specifically asked for you, Kuwabara!” Botan sang.

 

“Koenma asked for me?” Kuwabara repeated, pointing at himself and widening his eyes in surprise.

 

Botan nodded.

 

“Does he want me to be the new spirit detective?” he asked.

 

She shook her head and his face fell.

 

“There's a little something going on, and Lord Koenma just wants to make sure it doesn't turn into a big something,” she said cryptically.

 

“I don't like the sound of this…” he said slowly. “Is Urameshi involved?”

 

Botan paused, her face unreadable for a moment, before a slightly devious glint passed over her pink eyes.

 

“Lord Koenma asked me to gather everyone at Genkai's temple tonight at eight o'clock,” she slowly replied. “Yukina is making dinner for everyone, she'd be very upset if you couldn't make it…”

 

Kuwabara grinned like a goof for a moment before hurriedly regaining his composure.

 

“I'm really busy with my studies, but since it's for Lord Koenma, I suppose I could be there,” he replied, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible.

 

“Excellent!” Botan replied. “Don't be late!”

 

“Okay…”

 

Kuwabara twisted around in his chair, watching with a curious frown as Botan left his room again, almost walking directly into a male student who was exiting the shared bathroom, clad only in a towel that was tied loosely around his waist.

 

“Oopsie!” she said to him, grinning and hopping to one side to avoid colliding with him.

 

“Strange…” Kuwabara muttered to himself.

 

Still, he reasoned, before Botan had been sent for him, Koenma had probably already summoned Yusuke, and things were always interesting when Yusuke was around. He was aware that the next tournament to determine the new ruler of the demon realm was rapidly approaching, and he had been trying to find a way to attend it, and perhaps this would be it: he could insist that he would only help Koenma in return for a ticket to the tournament.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Knock, knock!”

 

“Goodness, Botan!”

 

Kurama blinked repeatedly in disbelief at the girl knocking on the desk in front of him and taking a seat next to him in the lecture theatre. Once he was certain that he was not imagining things, he glanced about himself, seeing other students slowly filing into the seats around them and the professor entering by the podium, briefcase in hand.

 

“Botan, what are you doing here?” he whispered, turning to her with a frown.

 

“Lord Koenma sent me!” she cheerfully replied.

 

“Lord Ko…”

 

Kurama's voice trailed off as he caught several passing students eying him curiously from the row behind where he sat.

 

“Lord Koenma?” he repeated, lowering his voice and leaning closer to her. “What does he want with me?”

 

“He's asked me to-”

 

“Botan please, lower your voice!”

 

“Oopsie!”

 

Botan clapped her fingers over her mouth and glanced about nervously.

 

“I'm sorry Kurama!” she hissed as her fingers slid from her lips.

 

“That's alright, but please tell me quickly, this class is about to start, and we can't talk once the lecture begins,” Kurama replied.

 

Botan nodded her understanding.

 

“Lord Koenma wants us all to meet at Genkai's temple tonight at eight o'clock, it's very important that you come,” she continued, being mindful to keep her voice to a whisper.

 

“I have classes until six,” Kurama whispered back. “What is all this about?”

 

“There's a small problem - a rebellion - he wants to discuss with the old team.”

 

Kurama nodded, glancing down at the front of the hall, seeing that the professor was removing his coat, apparently only moments away from calling the room to attention.

 

“I'll be there,” he whispered to Botan.

 

“Thanks Kurama!” she said brightly. “I knew that I could count on you!”

 

Kurama cringed as she blurted out her words in a raised voice again, attracting more attention in their direction. He heard a few people mutter about the curiosity of a girl calling Shuichi by an unusual name, some offering the suggestion that he was some sort of perverse womaniser who hid behind many guises.

 

“Goodbye Botan,” he said carefully.

 

She tilted her head at him curiously, but he merely nodded his head in the direction of the doors at the back of the room.

 

“If you leave now, you will go unnoticed,” he explained.

 

“Excellent idea!” she agreed, rising to her feet. “You always were the smart one, Kurama!”

 

Kurama opened his mouth to correct her use of his name, but as she was starting to leave he decided not to bother, lest he risk drawing yet more unwanted attention to himself. Instead he watched on silently as she moved against the current of bodies entering the hall, spouting apologies as she inadvertently bumped into a few shoulders as she went. Once she was out of sight he let out a small sigh of relief and returned his attention to the front of the room, silently wondering what could possibly have happened to cause Lord Koenma to call together his former team of spirit detectives.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“Botan, there you are!” Koenma said, partly in greeting and partly in relief as his faithful assistant entered his office.

 

She approached his desk with a smile and calmer aura about her than she had left with, which instantly put him at ease: obviously she had successfully completed the task he had set her.

 

“I've arranged for everyone to meet at Genkai's temple tonight at eight o'clock, Sir,” she said, bowing her head in greeting as she stopped in front of his desk.

 

“Excellent work, Botan!” he said. “To be honest, I was a little worried. I thought you might not be able to find everyone or get them all to agree. I must say, you've come back remarkably quickly!”

 

Botan laughed good-naturedly and waved a hand dismissively in the air.

 

“It wasn't hard to find the old team,” she assured him. “And they were all as helpful as they always have been.”

 

“…Really?” Koenma echoed, unable to hide the confusion in his tone.

 

“Oh yes, Lord Koenma!” Botan insisted. “They were all a little confused that you had called for them, but nobody refused! In fact, I think they're all quite happy to have a chance to work together again!”

 

“…You're sure about that?”

 

“Absolutely, Sir!”

 

Koenma nodded slowly, though he was less than convinced. Botan had completed her task in an unreasonably short amount of time: he did not like to distrust her, but it did seem distinctly odd that she could have located the entire team and managed to convince each of them to assist spirit world in what was effectively an undercover assignment to spy on demon world, in defiance of the agreement spirit world and demon world had made three years prior, after Enki had been crowned ultimate ruler of the demon realm.

 

“…You found everyone so quickly…” he muttered, more thinking the point out aloud than querying Botan on the matter.

 

“But of course, Sir!” she replied regardless. “I have visited everyone a few times since Yusuke stopped working for us, just social calls, you know, so it was easy enough to find them all again. Yusuke is working as a martial arts teacher now, he's always at his dojo, or Genkai's temple, or else in the city visiting Keiko and Kuwabara. Kuwabara is at the University of Tokyo, still studying hard, and Kurama is at Kyoto University, so they were both easy to find in such big, obvious places!”

 

Koenma nodded slowly, waiting for Botan to continue. When she merely smiled at him, looking decidedly satisfied with her words, he realised that, as he had feared as much as suspected, she had mistaken his instructions to her. He cleared his throat before sitting back in his large, comfortable chair to increase the distance between them. He silently wondered if it was worth summoning George to stand by his side, as he doubted Botan was going to like what he was about to say to her: but he decided against it, hoping that she would accept that the fault lay on her side for not heeding his orders as she ought to have.

 

“So…” he began slowly. “You've found Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama, and they've all agreed to meet with us at Genkai's temple tonight at eight o'clock?”

 

“That's right, Sir!” Botan replied, her tone as radiant and chipper as ever.

 

“And, um, you didn't have any trouble finding or convincing Hiei either?”

 

Botan's face instantly dropped as Koenma mentioned Hiei's name. She touched a finger to one corner of her mouth and lowered her eyes, looking thoughtful for a moment before shaking her head and meeting his eyes again.

 

“You didn't ask me to summon Hiei too,” she tried.

 

“Well, I asked you to summon the old team,” Koenma carefully replied. “When I said “the old team”, I meant Yusuke, Kuwabara, Kurama and Hiei. I thought you understood that.”

 

“Oh, I see…”

 

Botan looked down at the ground again and Koenma began to feel a pang of guilt, as he was certain that she was probably even more concerned than she appeared to be.

 

“I don't think finding Hiei will be so easy,” he continued, deciding to gloss over their misunderstanding as best he could. “But it's especially important that we have his assistance with this. He is, after all, our most trusted insider, since he resides in the heart of demon world.”

 

Koenma saw a slight flicker of emotion pass over Botan's features as he described Hiei as their “most trusted insider”, but it was fleeting and she did not mention her feelings and so he chose to ignore it too.

 

“The last I heard, Hiei was still working the border patrol of demon world,” he added. “You won't have to search demon world for him, I suggest passing into the demon realm from the human realm, that should get his attention if he is still working there.”

 

Botan looked up and opened her mouth, but said nothing. Koenma stared back at her blankly, silently sensing that he already knew what she had been about to ask regardless of her decision to remain silent: what if Hiei no longer worked the patrol and she was found by someone else?

 

“Change your clothes to make yourself look like a regular person from the living world,” he suggested. “We already know the areas where people sometimes accidentally cross over into demon world, head to one of those and take it from there. But if everyone else is meeting tonight, you'll probably need to move quite quickly.”

 

Botan nodded and smiled, though Koenma thought that the gesture looked a little false and forced.

 

“No problem Sir!” she said. “You can count on me!”

 

She turned and left his office at a brisk pace, and as soon as she was comfortably out of earshot, Koenma allowed himself to quietly mutter a wish of good luck after her. Meanwhile, Botan hurriedly made her way through the frenetic hordes of ogres and ferry girls that habitually cluttered the hallways of the temple, holding her head up and politely smiling and bowing to anyone who looked in her direction as she passed. But despite her outward appearance of cheerful confidence, she was growing increasingly worried: she had only ever visited demon world once, and that had been securely flanked with Lord Koenma at one side and George Saotome at the other, to witness the tournament for leadership that Yusuke had arranged three years earlier. She had never expected to ever visit the demon realm again except when the next tournament came around, and even then only as a spectator to the fights, and again with the security of the Lord of the Underworld and his closest aide accompanying her.

 

But, Botan thought darkly as she reached the gates of the temple and summoned her oar half-heartedly, as worried as she was about entering demon world alone, she was far more concerned about the task that faced her once she got there: Hiei was notoriously stubborn and unhelpful, she had no idea how to even begin trying to convince him to leave his precious home to help out spirit world with a mission that would basically require him to spy on his own comrades and potentially betray them.

 

Botan sighed as she rose through the air towards the portal between the spirit world and the living world. When she had left Kurama it had been a little after nine in the morning, but she knew that by the time she found her way to demon world it would probably be past ten, leaving her ten hours to find Hiei and convince him to come to the living world with her to meet with the others. She doubted that she could even lie to him about why he was needed: she had always been hopeless at deception of any kind, and he was certain to ask her why she had been sent for him.

 

As she passed back into the living world, Botan found her smile again as she remembered that Yusuke had once said that Hiei always came to their assistance when they needed him the most. He certainly seemed like a good person, she thought, and although he might not like the idea of doing what she had to ask of him, he would surely agree to help. He would probably pretend to be offended or uncaring, but Botan believed that he would agree because, deep down, he had a good heart and he would do anything for his old friends.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

“You did what?” Yusuke yelped.

 

“I sent Botan to demon world to fetch Hiei, and she's not back yet,” Koenma repeated.

 

Yusuke glared at him in wide-eyed disbelief.

 

“Nothing's changed, then?” he scoffed. “Your still running spirit world the same way you were when I worked for you.”

 

Koenma frowned curiously, the gesture looking decidedly delicate on the face of his teenaged form, which he had adopted to attend the meeting at Genkai's temple that evening.

 

“You've got your head so far up your ass, you're left crawling about the place looking for the damn light-switch!” Yusuke snapped.

 

“Hey!” Koenma wailed defensively. “I don't see what the problem is!”

 

“You don't see anything but the inside of your own rectum!” Yusuke retaliated, waving a fist at him.

 

“That was pretty dumb sending Botan to demon world,” Kuwabara muttered.

 

“You see!” Yusuke cried. “Even an idiot like Kuwabara can see that your plan was stupid!”

 

“Damn you, Urameshi!” Kuwabara growled.

 

“There are still patrols on the borders of demon world,” Koenma insisted. “Somebody will have found her and picked her up.”

 

“And scrambled her brains and dumped her back here somewhere!” Yusuke added.

 

“Hopefully Hiei will recognise her and return her to an appropriate location,” Kurama offered. “And if he is not the one to find her, hopefully whoever does will merely mistake her for a regular human who has accidentally crossed over, and they will send her back. As soon as she is safely returned, I shall go to demon world myself and talk with Hiei.”

 

“First of all Kurama, Botan's been gone all day!” Yusuke argued. “Second of all, she's got a big mouth, how do we know she won't say something stupid and get herself into trouble? If somebody had found her and they had decided to return her in one piece, she would have been back by now! And third, careful what you suggest: you going to demon world to look for Hiei sounds like a dangerously sensible plan, since you know you're way around, nobody would suspect you of anything, and you know how to talk to Hiei better than any of us!”

 

Yusuke's voice became increasingly soaked with sarcasm as he spoke, his last remark directed more at Koenma than Kurama.

 

“Is Botan in trouble?”

 

Koenma and Yusuke turned from each other, both looking across the room at the door, which had been slid open without anyone noticing, revealing a very worried looking Yukina.

 

“Don't worry about Botan, Yukina!” Kuwabara said to her. “If she gets into any sort of danger, I know a brave guy who will come to her rescue!”

 

“That's right, Kazuma!” Yukina said, smiling sweetly. “I'm sure Mister Hiei will rescue Botan and take good care of her.”

 

Kuwabara's face dropped and a derogatory remark about a vertically challenged fire demon left his lips, his words almost indiscernible to everyone in the room, though apparently only too clear to Yukina, who looked a little upset.

 

“You're wrong,” she said, her voice still gentle, though a little firmer than usual. “Mister Hiei is helping me look for my brother, he would never desert somebody in need, he is a good person!”

 

“Yeah, and if Hiei doesn't find Botan soon, maybe we could send somebody else in there,” Yusuke said sardonically. “How about Keiko? But let's be sure to tell her all the details about what's going on, so that if she does get kidnapped by one of the bad guys, they can torture all the information out of her and really screw us over!”

 

Koenma sighed and nodded.

 

“Alright Yusuke, I made a mistake,” he admitted. “But Botan is a lot more capable than you're giving her credit for. Let's just give her a little longer to come back.”

 

“We'll wait another hour,” Kurama suggested. “If she hasn't returned by then, I will go to demon world and find her myself.”

 

Koenma and Yusuke exchanged sceptical looks, but both eventually agreed to comply with Kurama's suggestion, even though neither of them felt able to wait a full hour before acting one way or the other.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Botan could not really remember how she had gotten to where she was, but she had decided that she must have suffered the same sense of disorientation a human felt when accidentally passing into the demon realm, as she still felt a little light-headed and groggy as she neared what she assumed was the destination of the odd vehicle she was aboard.

 

Although, she thought to herself, the speed and juddering motion of travelling over a rocky terrain on what was effectively a giant metal bug was probably about enough to make anyone feel disoriented and mildly nauseous.

 

There were only two others on the transport with her, both large, bulky demons that looked like mutated ogres. She was unharmed and they had not so much as looked at her since she had awoken, and so she felt quite safe with them. Obviously they had found her when she had crossed the border they were patrolling and they must have taken her onto their transport with a degree of care as she had awoken to find herself rested in a relatively comfortable corner of the passenger area. But although she was confident that they meant her no harm, she was growing increasingly concerned about the dark, jagged building looming ahead of them that they seemed to be heading towards.

 

Botan shuffled around a little, sitting up onto her knees, the wind catching in her hair as she lifted her head above the wall at her side that had been sheltering her from its effects. The air was hot and sticky, and carried with it a bitter smell that lingered as a sickening taste in the back of her throat. The sky was blood-red and the landscape was largely barren and dull, making the foreboding building ahead of them seem all the more prominent by comparison. And as they rushed towards that building, Botan again found herself wishing that she had not come to demon world on her own, if for no other reason than the longing to have somebody to reassure her that her situation was not as bad as it seemed to be.

 

Before long, she felt herself lurching forwards as the vehicle began to slow down, eventually coming to a halt by the foot of the towering fortress. A slight error in judgement found Botan on her feet before the vehicle had come to a complete halt, and despite its final jolt before coming to a complete stop having no effect on the two demons standing ahead of her, Botan herself stumbled forward, one leg buckling beneath her clumsily, leaving her in a crumpled, half-standing position by the very front of the passenger area, her head hanging over a significant drop to the ground below. She whimpered as she realised her predicament, but she did not have long to dwell on it as two hands suddenly seized her from behind, hoisting her upwards, an instinctive scream of surprise leaving her as she rose through the air.

 

“Oh…” she whimpered as she found herself under the arm of one of the demons.

 

He began hopping down the side of the vehicle, each footfall jarring through her body and making her groan and squeak in complaint. Once he had reached the ground he placed her down a little too roughly for her own liking, though she suspected from the size of him and the look on his face that he had been restraining himself greatly and he had tried to be as gentle with her as he could.

 

“Um, thank you?” she said, before giggling nervously and scratching at the back of her head.

 

“This way,” he said flatly, holding out a hand to one side.

 

Botan turned in the direction he indicated and started to move that way, only to stumble to a halt as she spotted a familiar figure walking towards the same entrance the demon had directed her to. He seemed oblivious to her presence, walking at an unhurried pace but with a distinct sense of purpose. He looked a little worse for wear, as though he had just endured a trying battle, his upper body bared and marked with dirt and dried smears of blood. One arm was swinging at his side as he moved, but the other was hanging downwards under the weight of the sword he was carrying, which was stained with blood. As Botan watched him he tilted the sword up slightly and eyed it over, before lifting it to his mouth and running his tongue along the length of the blade, cleaning the blood from the metal.

 

“Oh, you shouldn't do that, Hiei!” Botan called over to him. “It's very dangerous, you might cut your tongue! And it's very unhygienic, you could catch something licking up someone else's blood!”

 

Hiei stopped abruptly at the sound of his name, his head snapping around and his intense crimson eyes fixing onto her. He watched her unblinkingly until she finished speaking, whereupon he spat over his shoulder and then turned fully towards her.

 

“Oh you shouldn't spit either,” she added.

 

She saw his eyes thin slightly before he started to march towards her, quickly reaching her with long strides.

 

“What is the meaning of this?” he asked.

 

Boten opened her mouth to answer him, stopping short as he brought his sword up, pointing the tip at her nose. She then noticed that he was not actually addressing her, but rather the demon at her side.

 

“We found it lying by the woods,” the demon told Hiei.

 

“Why did you take it here?” Hiei responded. “Why didn't you just wipe its memories and put it back where you found it?”

 

“Um, excuse me?” Botan said, raising a hand and smiling nervously.

 

“I lack the ability to wipe memories, that's usually your job,” the demon said, as both he and Hiei continued to ignore Botan.

 

“You've wasted your time and mine,” Hiei growled at him.

 

“Oh no that's okay!” Botan said cheerfully. “I came here to see you anyway Hiei!”

 

Hiei finally moved his eyes to her, staring at her with a look that she was sure could have killed a weaker spirit than hers.

 

“I've never seen this thing before,” he said smoothly, turning his attention back to the demon. “I don't know what it's talking about, it must be delirious from passing into our world. Since you're incapable of doing you're duty, I'll take care of this myself.”

 

Botan started to make another calming remark in the hope of diffusing the situation, but her voice dissolved into a cry of alarm as something suddenly clamped around her upper arm and yanked her forcefully around. She stumbled awkwardly until she found her balance again, then realising that Hiei had grabbed her and was dragging her away from the other demons. Despite his legs being shorter than hers she struggled to keep pace with him, even though he was only walking. He was taking almost unnaturally long strides, and the grip he had on her arm was painful and unrelenting, leaving her with no other choice but to hurry along with him.

 

“H-Hiei,” she began once she had almost found a pace that matched his. “You're hurting me.”

 

He did not respond to her words, though she was certain that he must have heard them. He pulled her onwards several steps more after she had spoken before suddenly yanking back on her arm to bring her to an abrupt halt at his side.

 

“What are you doing here?” he hissed, rounding on her.

 

Botan paused before answering him, carefully noting that he was still squeezing her arm in one fist, his other still just as firmly clenched around the hilt of his bloody katana. He looked particularly displeased and, with his current dishevelled appearance, a little deranged: but Botan knew that appearances could be deceptive and that although he looked quite vicious and dangerous, he was still Hiei, and he would never seriously hurt her.

 

“Lord Koenma sent me,” she began, stopping herself as Hiei's eyes widened and he nervously glanced about himself.

 

Once he had ascertained that they were definitely alone and that nobody had heard her speak the name of the lord of the underworld he finally released her arm and both his brief look of concern and his anger faded from his features, leaving a distinctly bland expression on his face.

 

“Hn, figures,” he said quietly.

 

To Botan's relief, he then slid his sword back into its sheath at his hip.

 

“It's very important, Hiei,” she said carefully. “Everyone is meeting at Genkai's temple tonight, and Lo-”

 

Botan quickly clapped a hand over her mouth to stop her boss's name slipping out of it again.

 

“Didn't that old lady die?” Hiei asked, eying her sceptically.

 

“Yes, she did,” Botan said sadly, lowering her head a little. “But that was the chosen meeting place. Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama will all be there.”

 

“I couldn't care any less about any silly meeting in the human world,” he said. “Coming here was a very stupid thing for you to do. And the one who sent you is even more idiotic for giving you the order.”

 

“But Hiei,” she said pleadingly. “We need your help!”

 

“I don't owe you people anything. I'm going to take you to the nearest portal, and once you have passed through, don't ever let me see you here again, understand?”

 

Botan carefully searched Hiei's face for any sign that he was putting on an act, any indication that he would, as Yusuke had said, act indifferent but ultimately fight in their corner: but his eyes remained as cold and unfeeling as ever as he stared blankly back at her.

 

“Hiei…” she said softly, her hopes deflating as his expression and stance remained unchanged.

 

She waited a few seconds more, giving him one last chance to change his mind or say something mildly redeeming. When neither happened she sighed, puffing out her cheeks and nodded in defeat.

 

“Alright,” she agreed. “It would be super if you could help me find the way out of here.”

 

“Follow me,” he flatly replied.

 

Botan once more had to skip along at a pace somewhere between a brisk walk and jogging as Hiei took off again. It seemed like he did everything fast and intensely, including walking, she mused as she followed after him. The combination of their speed and Hiei's intimate knowledge of the border area soon brought them to a minor breach between demon world and the living world. As they neared it Hiei stopped and took a large step to the side, watching Botan as she stepped past him towards the portal.

 

“Are you absolutely sure that you don't want to come with me?” she asked suddenly, turning to him with an optimistic grin.

 

“I've never been more sure about anything in my entire life,” he frankly replied. “Now get out of my sight.”

 

Botan turned towards the portal and took one more step towards it before pausing again as a thought occurred to her. She turned her head towards Hiei again, noticing for the first time that there were two sparkling gemstones hanging around his neck, each on a separate chain. They were identical in appearance, and mesmerising in their beauty: and they looked entirely out of place around the neck of an aggressive little fire demon who had previously expressed a dislike for accessorising.

 

“Are those hiruiseki?” she asked, pointing at the objects that had caught her attention.

 

“Hn,” he grunted, grabbing a fist around both stones to hide them from her view.

 

“Oh that's right!” Botan said with a smile. “Yukina gave you the hiruiseki she got from her mother and she asked you to find her brother for her.”

 

“That's not your concern,” Hiei quietly replied.

 

“It's been a long time, Hiei. Are you ever going to tell her that you are her brother?”

 

“Maybe you didn't hear me: I said that is not your concern!”

 

Botan nodded.

 

“I understand,” she said gently. “If you lose the highs at least you're spared the lows.”

 

Botan sighed and smiled amiably at Hiei, waving a hand.

 

“If you change your mind, you know where to find us!” she said brightly, before stepping through the portal.

 

Hiei hesitated for several moments after she had disappeared before slowly opening his fist to once more uncover the hiruiseki hanging around his neck. One was, of course, Yukina's, and the other was his own. Since receiving both he had worn them faithfully, though typically they were concealed beneath his clothing. In the last few years he had worn them openly on several occasions around demon world, and anyone who had seen them had assumed that he was either rich enough to buy them or cunning enough to steal them, and nobody had ever questioned their presence. In demon world, only Mukuro and Hiei knew why he wore the two gems, but in the living world several others knew of his secret, including that loud-mouthed ferry girl.

 

And what the hell had she meant when she had said “if you lose the highs at least you're spared the lows”? She had said it in such a flippant manner, though the words carried far more weight than her light-hearted tone had suggested.

 

“Damn it,” Hiei muttered, moving away from the portal in a flash of motion.

 

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

 

Next Chapter: Botan returns to Genkai's temple and the others start planning their next course of action: but their plans are soon interrupted when Hiei arrives in a rather unusual fashion. Chapter 2: The Jagan.