Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ My Downfall ❯ The Facts ( Chapter 5 )

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

 

Recap: Botan and Hiei worked together to investigate the portals in the north, and after Botan told him he looked cute, Hiei kissed her.

 

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Chapter 5: The Facts

 

“Well it certainly seems to correlate with what we found,” Kurama said thoughtfully. “We can't be sure that the portal in the south is the only one where there are problems, but it certainly was obvious, from both sides, that something there was amiss.”

 

“Hey Kuwabara, you actually did something useful,” Yusuke joked.

 

“Shut-up, Urameshi!” Kuwabara responded.

 

“And you found nothing of interest at all in the northern sites, Hiei?” Kurama asked, lifting his head and looking across the table at Hiei.

 

There was a long pause before Hiei eventually answered, during which Yusuke and Kuwabara exchanged curious looks.

 

“Nothing relevant to this discussion,” he said.

 

Kuwabara squinted over at Hiei suspiciously upon hearing his reply.

 

“Hey half-pint, what's up with that look on your face?” he asked. “You look like you're planning something. It better not be some sort of betrayal.”

 

“Hn, you don't know what you're talking about,” Hiei scoffed.

 

“As much as I hate to admit it, Kuwabara does have a point, Hiei,” Yusuke said. “Is there anything you want to tell us?”

 

“There was nothing unusual at the sites I checked,” Hiei replied.

 

Yusuke pulled a face at Hiei's response, but Hiei looked away from him, indicating that he had said all that he intended to.

 

“And you found nothing that would interest any of the rest of us in the northern sites?” Kurama said, a small smile appearing on his face before he hid it behind one hand.

 

“Nothing that concerns you, fox,” Hiei bluntly replied.

 

“Well then in that case I think we should continue in the morning, concentrating on the site Kuwabara indicated,” Kurama said, lowering his hand to reveal that his face was once more serious.

 

“Fine, but it's your turn to go with Kuwabara,” Yusuke said.

 

“Fine by me,” Kurama said with a nod. “Kuwabara and I will try to find out anything we can from the people who live nearby the site and we will try to arrange accommodation for us all so that we can stay as close by as possible tomorrow night. Yusuke, you go with Hiei to demon world and see what you can find out there.”

 

“Great, now let's eat, I'm starving!” Yusuke said, pushing back his chair and standing up.

 

“Me too!” Kuwabara agreed. “I can't wait to see what deliciousness the lovely Yukina has made for us tonight!”

 

Kuwabara and Kurama stood but Hiei remained where he was, banging a fist onto the table to attract their attention back to him.

 

“Wait,” he said sternly. “I can't go back to demon world and start asking questions, it will seem suspicious. As one of the border patrol, I ought to know more about anything suspicious around there than anyone else.”

 

“Yes, that's true,” Kurama agreed.

 

“I should stay here and check things from this side,” Hiei finished.

 

“Oh no, that won't be necessary,” Kurama assured him. “You should go back to demon world and take up your role as a guard of the border patrol again. Now that you know where the problem is, you can start concentrating your efforts there, looking out for any suspects working the patrol, perhaps.”

 

Hiei slowly narrowed his eyes, looking both displeased and slightly confused.

 

“Unless of course you have a burning desire to stay here in the living world and work alongside Kuwabara,” Kurama offered.

 

Hiei turned to Kuwabara at the reference, watching the tall redhead recoil from him in disgust.

 

“He's very slow, in physical speed and intelligence,” Hiei spat, before turning back to Kurama. “Somebody needs to watch over him.”

 

“Don't worry Hiei, Kuwabara and I can manage just fine,” Kurama smoothly replied.

 

“Hn, not likely,” Hiei said. “I'll stay here, you go to demon world.”

 

Kurama smiled, a slight gesture that was barely visible, but felt glaringly mocking to Hiei, who glowered back at him indignantly. The moment only ended when Hiei's head suddenly lurched forwards in a loud sneeze.

 

“Ha, what is it Botan always says?” Kuwabara said. “Oh yeah: achoo, achoo, somebody's talking about you!”

 

“Shut-up you fool,” Hiei warned him.

 

“Maybe you're still getting over that little cold you had, Hiei,” Yusuke suggested.

 

“I don't get “colds”, I'm a demon, you idiot!” Hiei snapped.

 

“Perhaps Yusuke is right though,” Kurama said. “Perhaps it would be best then that you stay here another day.”

 

“Well maybe so,” Hiei muttered, pretending not to care.

 

“You probably want to stay close to Botan,” Kurama added, bringing Hiei to attention. “She is a good master of healing powers and very knowledgeable about antidotes.”

 

“Hn, I don't need such sympathies.”

 

Kurama shrugged, but Hiei sneezed again, and Yusuke rolled his eyes.

 

“Kurama, you're coming with me,” he said. “Hiei, you stay here with Kuwabara.”

 

“Hey, that's not fair!” Kuwabara complained. “You know that little guy creeps me out!”

 

“Deal with it!” Yusuke replied unsympathetically.

 

Kuwabara groaned and Hiei sneezed again.

 

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

 

“I'm so glad you came,” Botan said, smiling brightly.

 

“I was going to come a lot sooner when I heard you were all here, but I decided to wait until the weekend,” Keiko replied, sitting down on the porch next to Botan. “I'm not about to let Yusuke disappear on another adventure without me again!”

 

“Of course not!” Botan said.

 

“And it's really nice to be out here, it's so peaceful,” Keiko added. “It's like a little holiday for me.”

 

Botan nodded her agreement.

 

“Everything still good in the spirit world?” Keiko asked.

 

“Same as always!” Botan replied.

 

“How's Lord Koenma?”

 

“Oh, well, he's the same as always too!”

 

“Is he still treating you alright?”

 

“That depends on his mood…”

 

“I see… Okay Botan, you've been stirring that tea for about twenty minutes now, are you sure you're alright?”

 

“What?”

 

Botan lifted the spoon from her tea, touching her other hand against the side of the mug, finding it surprisingly cool to the touch.

 

“Oh my…” she muttered.

 

“So, is everything okay?” Keiko asked her. “If it's something about what Yusuke and the others are doing, I'd like you to tell me.”

 

“Oh no, it's not that at all,” Botan assured her, pouring her cold tea out onto the lawn by her feet. “It's just… Something very strange happened to me earlier today and I'm not quite sure I understand it.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“It's not important at all though!”

 

Botan grinned, waving her hands in the air in front of her face to deter Keiko from questioning her any further on the matter, but Keiko looked less than convinced.

 

“I know Yusuke will be fighting in the next demon world tournament, and it's not far away now,” she said slowly. “But if he's in some sort of danger now that means he might not even make it to the next tournament, I'd like you to tell me about it.”

 

Botan shook her head.

 

“No, Yusuke is just checking out some unexplained disappearances,” she said. “People have been vanishing from the living world in the region of some of the known portals to demon world, and Lord Koenma thinks that maybe the people are passing through the portals and being held hostage on the other side. He just wants to make sure the people are returned safely before the tournament starts, or else there could be chaos.”

 

“But there aren't so many demons looking to take over the living world now, right?” Keiko asked.

 

“Not so many, but there will always be a few bad eggs,” Botan replied.

 

“But you're not really worried about that.”

 

“Well Lord Koenma hasn't told me everything, he wouldn't let me stay when he was giving his debriefing to the rest of the team, but I don't think the situation is much more complicated than the facts I already know about.”

 

“So then what is bothering you? And don't try to hide it like you usually do.”

 

Botan faltered slightly before laughing nervously.

 

“Oh silly, there's nothing bothering me at all!” she lied.

 

“Oh come on, Botan!” Keiko moaned. “Tell me. It might help take my mind off of worrying about Yusuke.”

 

Botan pulled a face but Keiko ignored it and Botan found herself running out of excuses and distractions.

 

“Well, I'm just a little confused about what happened this afternoon,” she confessed.

 

“What happened this afternoon?” Keiko pressed, impatience creeping into her tone.

 

“I was working with Hiei.”

 

“Well that definitely is confusing.”

 

Botan began drawing circles on the panelling at her side with her finger, taking too long to notice that Keiko was giving her a withering look.

 

“I was confused,” Botan said when she caught Keiko's thinned eyes watching her. “I thought he would have chosen to work with Kurama, or maybe even Yusuke.”

 

“He chose to work with you?” Keiko asked, her expression softening. “Oh, well that really is weird I suppose.”

 

“Yes, I'm not even sure how we ended up together,” Botan said, touching a finger to her mouth and rolling her eyes upwards in thought. “I think it had something to do with him not wanting to leave Kuwabara and Yukina alone together, but then before I knew it, we were alone together checking the sites. It was very odd, I can't say that I find Hiei easy to talk to since I've only ever really spoken to him when I've had to, and he's not really one for conversation.”

 

“He's a bit weird,” Keiko agreed. “He's never really seemed like part of the group, you know? Like he could turn on us at any time… But Yusuke said it's just an act he puts on. He thinks Hiei is just as trustworthy as Kurama or Kuwabara, because he has some sort of honour code.”

 

“Oh I do trust him. I trust him to help us and to fight for us…”

 

“But?”

 

“Well, it's very confusing. You see, this afternoon, when we were alone together, I think Hiei might have kissed me.”

 

Keiko's face dropped, her eyes growing round as she stared at Botan in a mixture of awe and disbelief; but Botan remained blissfully ignorant, preoccupying herself by drawing little circles with her finger on the step at her side.

 

“Botan?” Keiko said carefully. “How is it possible to be confused about something like that? Either he did kiss you or he didn't kiss you, so which is it?”

 

“Oh, I'm really not sure,” Botan said, lifting her head to look at Keiko. “It was like a kiss but it was very scary and unpleasant, which isn't so much like a kiss, so I can't really be sure one way or the other.”

 

“Okay…” Keiko said slowly, resisting the urge to grab Botan and shake her in the hope of bringing her to her senses. “Tell me how it happened. Maybe that way we can figure out what it actually was.”

 

“Well it all started when I said that I thought he looked really cute and that I just wanted to kiss him.”

 

“You did what?”

 

Keiko squeaked out her question so loudly that her voice echoed off the walls of the temple and sent a small flock of birds into the air from the nearby trees. Her shock only multiplied when she saw that Botan still looked unconcerned by her choice of words and the situation she was describing.

 

“He was cold you see,” Botan continued, apparently unaffected by Keiko's horror. “So I made a little hoodie for him from his scarf. Once I was finished, he looked positively adorable, so I told him that.”

 

“You told Hiei that he looked adorable?” Keiko said, her tone flat.

 

“Yes,” Botan confirmed with a nod of her head.

 

“Hiei?” Keiko repeated.

 

“Yes.”

 

“The same guy who has a dragon in his arm that kills people and sends them into a dimension of eternal suffering?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“The same guy who hates humans, and kidnapped me and tried to turn me into a mindless demon slave?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“The same guy who threatens to kill you all the time?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Really?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“Huh.”

 

Keiko looked up at the sky for several seconds, if only to confirm that it was still blue and that she was still on the planet Earth.

 

“And then you said that you wanted to kiss him…” she said slowly, lowering her eyes again to the ditzy ferry girl at her side.

 

“I didn't actually say it out loud, but he can read minds, so he knew that I was thinking it,” Botan replied. “And then he made me say it out loud and then he sort of kissed me.”

 

Keiko paused again, allowing herself to picture what Botan had just described in her mind: Hiei with his white scarf wrapped over his head like a hood, Botan telling him he looked “adorable”, Hiei making her admit that she wanted to kiss him and then Hiei kissing Botan. As she reached the last part she started to think that it had probably not happened the way she was imagining it, her mind focussing more and more on the logistical impossibility of Hiei forcing a kiss onto Botan, who was a good ten inches taller than him.

 

“You mean you kissed him, right?” she asked.

 

“Oh no, I wasn't kissing at all,” Botan replied. “That's why I'm not sure if it actually counts as a kiss, since I didn't actually kiss him back.”

 

“Hm…”

 

Keiko pulled a face at Botan, silently wondering if she ought to invite her to stay with her for a week. Perhaps exposure to a dorm full of college girls would give Botan the wake up call she apparently needed, Keiko mused.

 

“So he forced himself on you?” she asked, deciding that a direct approach was probably best.

 

“That makes it sound quite terrible, Keiko,” Botan replied, looking suddenly worried. “Hiei has a great sense of honour, you shouldn't say things like that about him.”

 

Keiko resisted the urge to yell, instead deciding to just ignore Botan's response entirely.

 

“How did he manage to force himself on you, you're twice his size?” she asked flatly.

 

“It was really quite silly actually,” Botan began. “It was… Well he just reached out and grabbed a hold of my-”

 

Botan stopped abruptly as the door behind them slid open sharply. Both girls turned to see Yusuke and Kurama exiting the temple. Yusuke did a distinct double-take at Keiko before laughing nervously.

 

“Hey you!” he said awkwardly. “How's it going?”

 

“Fine,” Keiko replied, nodding her head.

 

“Listen, I know I said we could spend some time together this weekend, but there's something I really have to do tomorrow,” he said.

 

“That's fine, we can do it another time,” she replied dismissively.

 

Yusuke's face dropped.

 

“You're not mad at me?” he asked.

 

“No, it's fine,” she insisted.

 

“Oh, I get it!” he cried. “You're sulking with me, aren't you?”

 

“No, really, it's fine Yusuke.”

 

Yusuke's face shifted again, creasing in anger.

 

“Damn it, Keiko!” he snapped. “This is really important!”

 

“I know, and I'm fine with it,” she snapped back.

 

They glared at each other angrily for several seconds before Keiko sighed and rolled her eyes. She stood up and grabbed Yusuke's arm, dragging him far enough away from Botan and Kurama that she could safely talk to him without the danger of being overheard.

 

“Botan was just telling me something interesting,” she whispered. “I want to hear what she has to say, so I'll overlook the fact that you've been working for spirit world again all week and didn't even call to let me know what was happening!”

 

Yusuke glanced over his shoulder at Botan before grinning at Keiko and leaning closer to her.

 

“Hey, ask her about Hiei,” he whispered. “The second day here, Kuwabara heard them in a bedroom together and they were… Y'know…”

 

Keiko's jaw dropped, but this only made Yusuke's grin widen.

 

“Yeah!” he said, nodding and winking.

 

“You idiot!” Keiko yelled, slapping him over the back of the head. “No matter what you do, you never change, Yusuke Urameshi! After all this time, you're still a pervert!”

 

Yusuke began protesting his innocence and Keiko began projecting his guilt, their voices soon becoming a garbled mess of yells and cries that upset more of the nearby birdlife. Behind them Kurama turned to Botan, his face blank, his manner unaffected by the chaos in front of them, despite Botan being on her feet, her fists clenched in front of her and her expression rapidly switching between alarmed and entertained as she watched the verbal dispute.

 

“It was my plan to find a hotel for us to stay in nearer the portal,” Kurama said to Botan. “Since I will not be in this world tomorrow, can you do that duty for me?”

 

“Hm, what?” Botan responded, tearing her attention away from Yusuke and Keiko with a great effort.

 

“Tomorrow, when you go back to the site in the south with Kuwabara, could you find a hotel for us all?” Kurama asked. “We'll need four rooms.”

 

“Four rooms?” Botan echoed, her attention fully on Kurama then. “But there are seven of us!”

 

“Yukina will be staying here and I don't think Keiko should be coming with us,” he replied. “If she decides to come on her own that's fine, but let her make that decision and let her make the arrangements. At the moment this only concerns the four of us.”

 

“Alrighty! Do that's four rooms: one for you, one for Yusuke, one for Kuwabara and one for me!”

 

“No, you're not coming with us, Botan.”

 

Botan glared at Kurama but he slowly shook his head.

 

“You should go back to spirit world, I'm sure Lord Koenma is missing you,” he said gently.

 

“But I am a part of this team!” Botan complained.

 

“Yes, and you are more use to us safely back in spirit world than risking your life on the front line, so to speak.”

 

Botan moaned and hung her head, feeling thoroughly rejected and utterly useless.

 

“Take heart, Botan,” he said kindly, touching a hand to her shoulder. “You've been a great help to us so far, and perhaps we will need you again later on.”

 

Botan lifted her pink eyes to his, pouting slightly in the hope of appealing to him in his apparent moment of kindness.

 

“Well alrighty, I suppose,” she reluctantly agreed. “But only because you asked so nicely, Kurama.”

 

Kurama smiled so warmly that Botan could not stop herself from smiling back at him. They remained like that for several blissful seconds, not even the sounds of Yusuke and Keiko shrieking at each other could ruin the moment.

 

“Not interrupting anything, am I?” a voice spat at them suddenly.

 

They both turned, finding Hiei standing in the doorway glaring at them angrily.

 

“Just a pleasant moment shared watching the sunset,” Kurama replied.

 

Botan frowned at him curiously, but Kurama kept his eyes on Hiei.

 

“Hn, well that's revoltingly human,” Hiei sneered.

 

“Was there a reason you came out here?” Kurama asked him.

 

“Yukina and the lummox are serving dinner,” he flatly replied.

 

“Alright, food!” Yusuke cheered, somehow having managed to hear Hiei's words despite the distance between them.

 

“Then let's eat,” Kurama said, a hint of a smirk creeping onto his face. “Botan, shall we?”

 

Botan stared up at him in confusion as he offered her his arm. It was unlike Kurama to behave in such a way, and a glance at Hiei told her that there was apparently far more going on than she realised, as Hiei looked positively irate and about ready to kill as he glared up at Kurama.

 

“Alrighty…” she said slowly, linking her arm through Kurama's.

 

“Excuse me, Hiei,” Kurama said, stepping past Hiei and guiding Botan with him.

 

Botan continued to look up at Kurama in confusion as he led her back indoors and towards the dining area. He did not look at her or speak to her, only pulling his arm from hers as they reached the table, whereupon he took a seat, ignoring her entirely. Botan sat down opposite him, still watching him expectantly, her attention only wavering when she felt a gust of air at her side as someone sat down hard next to her.

 

“Hiei!” she blurted out as she turned to him.

 

“Hn,” he responded, his eyes fixed on Kurama.

 

“Well, isn't this nice!” Botan said as the others began sitting around the table. “All of us together like this! It's such a pity Shizuru and Lord Koenma could not have been here too.”

 

“I haven't told my sister about any of this,” Kuwabara said quietly.

 

“Really?” Keiko echoed. “But why not?”

 

“I didn't think it was gonna be a big deal,” he replied with a shrug.

 

“Typical,” Yusuke muttered. “You're still an idiot.”

 

“Don't start fighting over dinner, Yusuke,” Keiko warned him.

 

But despite Keiko's wishes, Yusuke and Kuwabara began arguing, only stopping when Yusuke threw a piece of sushi at Kuwabara, who immediately became humbled and began apologising to Yukina for spoiling her efforts. Yusuke managed to sneak in one last remark about Kuwabara being whipped, but he too became subdued when Yukina turned innocently to him and asked him what that term actually meant.

 

After that, dinner passed quite uneventfully, and before long Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama had moved into another room and started a game of cards, Yukina and Keiko had gone outside to feed and groom Puu and Botan had wandered down to the beach to watch the last of the sunset and to report in to Koenma.

 

“Ah, Botan!” Koenma greeted her through her communicator. “How is everything?”

 

“Good, Sir,” she replied. “Tomorrow we are going to concentrate on the area Kuwabara discovered.”

 

“And not before time,” Koenma replied. “Every day the preliminaries for the next demon world tournament draw closer, we can't afford to mess about.”

 

“I understand, Sir,” Botan said with a nod. “I'm going to find a hotel for everyone to stay in by the site.”

 

“Good work. And you'll return here as soon as you're done.”

 

“Wh-what?”

 

“Well you've done all you can for now Botan, I need you back here. There are always souls to ferry, and I think Ayame could use a holiday.”

 

Botan fought off the urge to pout and sulk, but found it impossible to smile any more.

 

“I wanted to stay here and help,” she said quietly.

 

“You've been very helpful, but you'd be more helpful now if you came back to spirit world. I'd like you to come back here right now, but I'll let you stay long enough to help everyone find a place to stay tomorrow.”

 

“Alright Sir.”

 

“Enjoy your last night there, Botan.”

 

“Thanks, Sir. Goodnight.”

 

“Oh, Botan, wait! Just one more thing before you go!”

 

“Yes?”

 

Botan brightened then, hoping that perhaps Koenma had just thought of a reason for her to stay with the gang for a little longer, to be a part of the action like she wanted to be.

 

“Do you have the mystic whistle? I can't find it around here anywhere!”

 

Botan's smile vanished and the colour drained from her face.

 

“The ogre said you had it last,” Koenma added.

 

“Um…” Botan began nervously. “I did have it.”

 

“Excellent!” Koenma cheered. “Be sure to bring it back with you. Goodnight, Botan!”

 

Koenma's face disappeared in a flicker of static and Botan was left staring at a black circle that was slightly reflective, showing her a translucent image of her own face frowning back at her.

 

“Oh dear,” she groaned, snapping the communicator shut. “What am I going to do now?”

 

Botan stuffed the communicator back into her jean pocket before huddling her arms around herself. The sun had almost set, and the onslaught of nightfall had caused the air to become substantially cooler, making her regret her decision to leave her coat back at the temple. After spending time in the far north of the country where it had been very cold and then flying all the way back to Genkai's from the location, up high in the sky where the air was thinner and cooler, she had felt too hot back at Genkai's, so Botan had discarded her coat and her shirt, leaving herself dressed in only her jeans and a loose vest that was slightly too big for her, the straps hanging close to the edges of her shoulders and occasionally slipping down the tops of her arms altogether. The journey back to the temple was not a short one, and through the forest in the cold and dark it could be quite a daunting one: but of course Botan had her oar to fly back on, so she decided she would stay until the stars came out.

 

But just as she was beginning to relax, starting to forget about the mystic whistle and the increasing cold, Botan began to feel that she was being watched. She spun around, more surprised than she would ever admit to at who she found standing a short way behind her watching her with an amused smirk.

 

“Hiei!” she gasped.

 

“Hn, idiot,” he replied.

 

“What are you doing here?” she asked.

 

“I was bored,” he said with a small shrug. “So I came here to ask you a question.”

 

Botan gulped hard, her eyes growing wide. She did not like the direction the conversation appeared to be heading, but she tried not to think the worst: perhaps Hiei had come to return the whistle to her.

 

“What did you mean when you said: “if you lose the highs at least you're spared the lows”?” he asked.

 

Botan could not stop her face from contorting in surprise.

 

“Hiei, I didn't think you ever listened to anything I said, much less remembered any of it!” she blurted out.

 

“Hn, don't flatter yourself, woman,” he sneered, turning his head to one side and sticking his nose up in the air.

 

“But… I said that to you three days ago. If you didn't understand, why didn't you ask me then?”

 

Hiei's eyes shifted to watch her through a sideward glance that fell somewhere between contempt and curiosity.

 

“I just meant that I think you don't tell Yukina who you are because you are afraid of what she will think of you,” Botan confessed.

 

“I'm not afraid of anything!” he snapped, turning his head to glare directly at her.

 

“I know you're not afraid of any opponent, but maybe you are afraid of what Yukina represents.”

 

“Don't get cryptic with me, it doesn't suit an idiot like you.”

 

Botan growled, bunching her fists at her sides.

 

“You don't tell Yukina that you are her brother because you are afraid that she will reject you, just like your mother rejected you!”

 

The moment the word “mother” left Botan's mouth she saw Hiei's expression falter, and by the time she had finished her sentence she saw his lip curl and anger flashing across his eyes. She realised that she had over-stepped the mark and readied herself to summon her oar should his anger turn to violence - which of course it usually did with Hiei.

 

“You don't know what you're talking about,” he said quietly, his voice barely reaching her, but the menace clear in his tone. “You know nothing about me.”

 

“I know that Yukina is an ice maiden,” Botan replied. “And as an assistant to a spirit detective, I know a few things about demon world culture. I know that the ice maidens only ever have female offspring, and a male child indicates an… Indicates that the mother had an affair with another demon. And I know that any such child is born male, cruel, violent and a fire demon, and must be banished from the ice village at birth.”

 

Botan paused the swallow and take a few breaths to try to calm her mounting fear.

 

“From the look on your face, I think you were one of those children,” she added. “Yukina was very brave to leave the village on her own, to defy the wishes of her friends and family, to walk out on everything she had ever known to search for you, and I just think that you are being incredibly selfish by not letting her find you.”

 

Botan removed the hiruiseki from around her neck with shaking hands, thrusting them out in front of herself.

 

“And to take these with you, you are mocking her!” she said. “Does it make you feel superior to keep secrets from an innocent girl who gave up everything for you?”

 

Botan was shocked that Hiei had not removed her head yet, but she was even more amazed that she had actually spoken those words. She had become a close friend of Yukina over the four years she had known her and everything she had said to Hiei was how she genuinely felt about their situation.

 

“Only you can tell her the truth,” she said. “And I hope that one day you do.”

 

Botan crouched down and made to place the stones on the ground, her intention being to leave them there and flee before Hiei came to his senses and attacked her: but she hesitated to release the chains as she thought about Koenma reminding her to bring back the whistle, which was still - as far as she aware - in Hiei's coat pocket.

 

“It's really none of your business,” Hiei said quietly.

 

Botan slowly lifted her head, looking across the darkening beach at him expectantly.

 

“How and when I chose to tell Yukina has nothing to do with you, so forget about it,” he added.

 

Botan slowly lifted the chains again and hung them around her neck, rising smoothly to her feet once more.

 

“Yukina is a friend,” she told him. “She gave up a lot to find you, and although she doesn't show it, I know that it really hurts her to not know if you are even still alive.”

 

“She is an innocent, I am not,” Hiei flatly replied. “Maybe I do her a kindness by protecting her from knowing the truth.”

 

“With all due respect, it's not really your decision to make,” Botan said, feeling brave enough to push him a little further. “You wanted to find her and you were allowed to, now she wants to find you, and you won't let her.”

 

“Those women from the ice village, they live a sheltered existence with no violence, no crime and no wars. Crime was a way of life for me and I live to fight. She wouldn't understand. It would upset her more than not knowing at all. There is bliss in ignorance. Maybe that is why a fool like you always smiles.”

 

“You don't know that she wouldn't understand until you tell her. But I do know that she is a loving person, and she loves her brother, she doesn't care who he is. And although she doesn't know you very well, she does like you. I think she'd be delighted to know that you are the brother she has been looking for all this time.”

 

“Love is an illusion. A worthless and wasted ideal.”

 

Botan frowned at him, her anger spiking and logic leaving her.

 

“Love is very important!” she said sternly.

 

“Love is nothing,” Hiei replied. “Nothing but a word invented by humans.”

 

“Nonsense!” Botan cried. “Love is a very powerful and very important thing!”

 

“That is just what humans believe,” he said. “They are fooling themselves. That way of life doesn't work for them, and it certainly doesn't work for anyone in demon world.”

 

“Did you just come here to torment me?” she snapped.

 

“Love isn't important, strength is.”

 

“Love is more important.”

 

“Strength is more important. The strong fight and the weak are protected, that is the real way of life, love has nothing to do with it. Without the strong who stand up and fight, there would be no one to protect the weak. That is the proper way of things.”

 

“The “proper way of things”? I see, so the “proper way” is to just be cold and uncaring, to shut out all your emotions and everyone around you?”

 

Hiei looked a little taken aback by Botan's words, and so she capitalised on her advantage.

 

“Your “proper way” only seems right to you because it's the only way you've ever known,” she continued. “Maybe if you spent less time fighting, maybe if you let somebody love you, maybe if you even tried to understand the human way of life, then maybe you would understand that there are much bigger and better things to live for… But you'll probably never understand. You've worked so hard to shut love out of your life, you'll probably never find any.”

 

Botan folded her arms and turned her head from Hiei, feeling satisfied that she had made her point.

 

“Hn, thank you.”

 

Botan turned back to Hiei abruptly, her jaw dropping shamelessly in shock at hearing words she had never expected Hiei to ever say to her.

 

“This little discussion has been very helpful to me,” he said, slowly walking towards her. “You've helped me to see the reason why humans are so pathetic and so weak.”

 

“Love doesn't make people weak!” Botan argued. “Look at Yusuke: he loves and is loved, and I bet he's stronger than you!”

 

“Idiot!” Hiei cursed, stopping short a few feet away from her. “Love isn't even a tangible thing! A weak fool like you could not survive without strong people like me to clean up the messes you get yourself into!”

 

“I'm very sorry you feel that way,” Botan spat out.

 

“You should go back to the temple and make yourself useful there.”

 

“Gladly.”

 

Botan stomped past Hiei, feeling infuriated at his stubborn cold-heartedness, but strangely pleased, as she had found telling him exactly how she felt about him hiding his identity from Yukina oddly cathartic. As she passed him, she saw Hiei smirk and heard him let out a quiet “hn”; and an instant later she realised why as one of her feet caught in his and she tripped helplessly forwards, falling down face-first into the sand.

 

“What was that for?” she yelled, rolling onto her back to glare up at him.

 

“You did what you wanted to, now it's my turn,” he replied.

 

“What do you mean?” she yelped, shuffling back nervously as he turned on her. “Hiei?”

 

Botan screamed out as he dropped onto her, but her cry was cut short as she saw his face looming towards hers and she snapped her jaws shut on instinct. She reached up a hand to push his mouth away from hers but her effortlessly caught her wrist and pinned her down, closing the gap between them. Botan growled and glared angrily at Hiei as he again pressed his mouth against hers in what was anything but an affectionate gesture. Her first thoughts were that his actions were painful and almost humiliating, but her mind was quickly overcome by the idea that Hiei was single-handedly ruining her romantic ideas about tender kisses on beaches by a setting sun. In fact, she thought bitterly, Hiei was putting her off ever kissing anyone ever again.

 

He released her wrist and she growled again, grabbing her hands into his coat and pushing with all she was worth to try to get him off of her. Her efforts were of course in vain, but she felt better fighting back than lying still and letting him mistreat her so, and so she continued to push until her arms and shoulders ached. Suddenly Hiei's hands were in her hair, pulling at it roughly, loosening it from its ties. She kicked a leg up into the air but did not come close to hitting him. One of his hands clawed up the back of her skull, lifting her head slightly, and the other grabbed at the back of her neck, the feeling of his fingers against the sensitive skin on the nape of her neck making her falter slightly.

 

They both paused and Botan saw Hiei's eyes open and fix onto hers. She made a noise in the back of her throat but he did not break contact, keeping his mouth on hers and keeping one fist bunched into her hair. His other hand shivered a little against her neck, the sensation surprisingly tender compared to his other actions, making her back arch slightly, bringing her body closer to his. Hiei grunted and frowned at her, seemingly confused. Botan decided to take advantage of his momentary lapse in concentration and she pushed harder at him in the hope of getting herself free of him to make her escape: but at she pushed his face hardened again and his hand clawed roughly at her skin before tearing upwards, pulling a few strands of hair from the base of her scalp with it.

 

Botan cried out as he lifted his head from her and removed his hands, allowing her to drop to the sand as he leapt back up to his feet. She pushed herself up onto her elbows to eye him questioningly but he merely grinned at her, holding up one hand to reveal that he had managed to retrieve the hiruiseki from around her neck. She gasped, sitting up fully and feeling around her neck as though expecting to somehow still find them there even though she already knew that her actions made no sense.

 

“Silly girl,” he sneered. “You're so easily distracted with ideas of romance, I almost had fun taking these back from you.”

 

“H-Hey!” she protested. “That was a horrible thing to do!”

 

“I'm a horrible bastard,” he flatly replied, lowering the chains over his head.

 

“The least you could do is give me back my mystic whistle, Hiei!” she said.

 

Hiei tucked the stones down the front of his coat before reaching into his pocket and retrieving the whistle in question. He looked down at it with a small smile before moving his eyes to hers.

 

“You want this?” he asked.

 

“You know I do!” she retorted indignantly.

 

“Then learn a lesson from me: when you want something, you have to do whatever it takes to get it back.”

 

“…What?”

 

“Hn.”

 

“Hiei!”

 

Botan scrambled to her feet as Hiei took off, running across the beach and in a streak of black and white.

 

“Hiei, get back here!” she screamed, summoning her oar. “Hiei!”

 

She leapt onto her oar and took off after him, already knowing that he was too far ahead for her to have any hopes of catching him, but feeling too irrational to do anything other than chase regardless of the odds being so hopelessly stacked against her.

 

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

 

Next Chapter: Botan, Hiei and Kuwabara have to work together, but when Botan has an accident things become complicated for all three of them. Chapter 6: The Snake.