Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ My Downfall ❯ The Innocent ( Chapter 8 )

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

 

Recap: After being mocked by Yusuke and Kuwabara and with a deadline set by Koenma for returning the mystic whistle, Botan ignored the sensible advice form Kurama and set out to enact her zaniest plan yet.

 

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Chapter 8: The Innocent

 

Botan was unsure how the living world and demon world correlated to each other in terms of time zones or climates, but apparently they were not synchronised, as one moment she was flying through a beautiful night sky against a cool wind and the next she was flying towards a rising sun in unbearable heat. She sank through the air, partly involuntarily as the heat began to wear her down and partly because she did not really wish to be seen flying her oar through demon world. She hit the ground running, her oar vanishing with a muted pop, her hands flying out in front of herself as she stumbled over, barely managing to land in a crouch.

 

Botan quickly stood up again and smoothed out her clothing - which was regrettably bulky, doing little to help her tolerate the heat - and flattened her hands against the top of her head to keep her hair flat. Her distinctive, baby blue hair with its gentle waves was the first thing she had been forced to change in her bid to disguise herself. She had braided it tightly at the back of her neck, and every time the wind had caught it during her flight it had smacked at her like a knotted rope. The shorter hair around her forehead that would not be tied back had been lacquered over to one side and pulled down tightly, completing her severe look. She had used an entire bottle of hair-gel on her hair to keep it straight and to darken it from pale sky blue to medium blue - not as dark as she had hoped for, but she did not have the time to mess about.

 

And besides, she thought to herself, Yusuke was going to be furious when he found out that she had completely exhausted his supply of hair gel.

 

And that was probably going to be nothing compared to what Kuwabara and Kurama were going to do when they found out what she had done with their clothes.

 

Out of desperation, and in the lack of late night clothing shops open in the small town they were staying in, Botan had snuck into each of the boys' rooms and taken items of their clothing to piece together an outfit that she thought might make her look like a sort of tough demon who should not be messed with. Of course, she already knew that she was relying too heavily on being judged on her appearance, as she was not exactly giving off any sort of demonic aura; but she hoped that she had done enough to get to where she needed to be.

 

In the distance she could just see a jagged black shape on the horizon. It looked a little bit like the impressive building she had been taken to by the border patrol the last time she had arrived in demon world, and since that had been where she had found Hiei, she had to assume that it was Mukuro's fortress that Kurama had spoken of. And so, her concept of time across the three worlds thrown into disarray, Botan checked about herself carefully to ensure that she was not being watched before summoning her oar and leaping onto it again.

 

As she started to fly towards the horizon Botan began to feel a little drowsy, whether from lack of sleep or the effects of passing through the portal she could not be sure. But her determination not to fail in her task to retrieve the mystic whistle gave her the strength she needed to push onwards.

 

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

 

Botan tried to keep her head up and tried to tell herself that her situation could be far worse; though as she looked up towards the ceiling and saw a bloodshot eyeball glaring down at her from the very fabric of the roof she began to wonder if she had made the right decision after all. Maybe admitting failure, taking her punishment from Lord Koenma and being stripped of the title of assistant to the spirit detective was better than being frogmarched through the corridors of a terrible fortress in the heart of demon world, forced to walk at an unnaturally quick pace, being jabbed in the back between her shoulder-blades by the handle of a spear every time she dared slow down in the slightest.

 

But, she told herself as the demon ahead of her turned a corner and she obediently followed, it was too late for regrets now.

 

Ahead of her the demon opened a door and the demon behind her poked her in the back again, sending her stumbling into the room beyond. The room was mostly dark, though it looked much like the corridors of the fortress itself had: as much like the intestines of some manner of giant beast as the interior of a building. Botan kept stumbling until the jabbing at her back stopped, whereupon she began struggling against the ties holding her wrists together at her back, which seemed ridiculously unnecessary considering she had been taken from the air by two enormous brutes who could probably devour her in two easy bites of their massive jaws.

 

“We found this flying about outside,” one of the demons announced.

 

Botan's attention locked onto a large white shape at the back of the room, an object that was somewhere between a bed and an over-sized armchair, a mild panic washing over her as she saw a figure rousing from the centre of it. She was then unsure if she ought to be pleased or distraught as she saw that the figure standing up and approaching her was in fact Mukuro.

 

“Hm,” Mukuro muttered, slowly and purposefully raking her eyes over Botan as she came to a halt in front of her. “And what manner of creature are you?”

 

Botan pursed her lips for a second as she inwardly reminded herself to give a sensible response. Her instinct was to pull a kitty face and say something endearing, but she doubted that those tactics would work on a hard-hearted woman like Mukuro. This situation, she thought to herself, was going to take tact. This situation was going to be a real test of her abilities: she had been made to appease many souls during her career as a ferry girl, even some as terrifying as the mightiest of demons, so this was really her time to use that training and show what she was made of.

 

“To me it seems like you are a human,” Mukuro continued.

 

“Bingo!” Botan said brightly. “You've won the prize!”

 

Mukuro's face dropped. Botan failed to notice.

 

“I am in fact in a human body,” she continued. “Though some people say I was born as troublesome little kitten! Meow!”

 

Botan pulled her best cat face and wriggled her shoulders, unable to paw at the air since her hands were still bound together behind her back. Mukuro muttered something that sounded like a vague promise of suicide if Botan continued, but again Botan brushed it off.

 

“And this little kitty has got herself a little bit lost, you see!” she said.

 

“Is this a joke?” Mukuro asked flatly, looking over one of Botan's shoulders.

 

“Oh heavens, no!” Botan answered her. “I wouldn't play a joke on you, Lady Mukuro, that would just be mean!”

 

Mukuro ran her eyes over Botan again before looking over her shoulder again.

 

“Fetch Hiei,” she said. “And you, untie her and then leave.”

 

Botan heard one of the two demons who had brought her leaving the room, then felt the other slice through the ties around her wrists. She happily brought her hands back around in front of herself, rubbing at the red imprints that had been left there.

 

“Thank you very much!” she said sweetly to Mukuro, before yelping as the second demon left the room, banging the door shut behind himself.

 

“I'm not really sure how you got here, but you certainly won't be staying here long,” Mukuro answered her.

 

“Oh well, that is rather a pity,” Botan said, looking sad. “I would have liked to get to know you. I would be fascinated to know what it's like to be able to beat Hiei in a fight.”

 

Mukuro's face twisted, but before she could respond the door behind Botan opened again.

 

“This creature seems to know you, Hiei,” Mukuro said, keeping her eyes on Botan as she spoke.

 

From the corner of one eye Botan saw Hiei come to a stop, facing them both. The look on his face was indescribable, and Botan wanted to turn towards him fully to see just what he was thinking: but she was still a little bit afraid of Mukuro, and unwilling to break eye contact with her just yet.

 

“I can't understand why, though,” Mukuro said casually. “She's not any sort of demon. In fact, she seems quite weak. Quite fragile.”

 

Botan grinned nervously, but Mukuro only looked displeased with this response, and turned her head to look at Hiei instead.

 

“Is this one of your human friends?” she asked.

 

“Hn, I've never seen her before in my life,” Hiei coldly replied.

 

Botan's head snapped around and she fixed her eyes onto Hiei. How dare he deny knowing her?

 

“You must know why I'm here, Hiei,” she said.

 

Hiei stared blankly back at her.

 

“I need the mystic whistle,” she added.

 

Hiei's face briefly showed signs of panic, but only briefly.

 

“Interesting,” Mukuro muttered.

 

“I don't know what she's talking about,” Hiei said, turning to Mukuro. “I don't even know who or what she is. I've never seen such an abomination walking and talking before.”

 

Botan huffed angrily, but then an idea occurred to her.

 

“Hiei, it's me!” she whispered to him. “I'm wearing a clever disguise! I thought I should try to blend in to help me find you! I know I look like a demon warrior, but it's really me, Botan!”

 

Hiei met her eyes at last, the look he gave her being easily one of the most condescending ever. In fact, it was the sort of look that clearly showed that he believed what she was saying and doing was the most stupid she had ever been in his eyes.

 

“I'm wearing different clothes, and I changed my hair,” she added, flicking her head to bring her braid around to fall over one shoulder.

 

“I believe cleansing the minds of the mentally weak is your duty, Hiei,” Mukuro said through a sigh.

 

“I don't know how this thing got past the patrol,” Hiei answered her.

 

“Interesting,” Mukuro said with a nod. “And you've definitely never seen her before?”

 

“Definitely,” Hiei confidently replied.

 

Mukuro nodded again before leaning towards Botan and sniffing at her shoulder. She then walked over to Hiei and sniffed at his hair.

 

“Interesting,” she said.

 

Hiei turned his head away and Botan could not see his reaction, though she was feeling increasingly confused by the whole affair.

 

“On you go then,” Mukuro said, pointing at the door. “Take her back to the rest of your friends. But this time don't take four days to come back.”

 

Hiei hesitated for a little longer before turning and marching boldly towards Botan. He grabbed her arm painfully and dragged her towards the door with so much force she had no choice but to follow after him.

 

“Goodbye Lady Mukuro!” she called back over her shoulder. “It was lovely meeting you! I think you're a wonderful lady, beautiful, smart and strong!”

 

The door swung shut halfway through Botan's last word, but she was sure that Mukuro must have heard her.

 

“What a nice lady!” she said to Hiei as they hurried down the corridor together.

 

Hiei said nothing, but apparently he chose to move faster because Botan found herself being forced to run to keep up with him.

 

“This is a very unusual fortress,” she commented as they passed by a wall embedded with a mouth. “It's almost alive, isn't it?”

 

Before long they were outside again and again Hiei began to move faster.

 

“Hiei!” Botan screamed, sprinting after him desperately.

 

He did not stop until they were in the thick of a forest, where he released her so suddenly she fell over, almost rolling right over with the momentum that had been carrying her along.

 

“Goodness Hiei!” she gasped as she stood up again unsteadily, her head still spinning.

 

“Humour me,” he growled. “Tell me what manner of demon possessed your tiny human brain and made you believe that dressing up like that and coming here was a good idea.”

 

“Oh Hiei, it was nothing of the sort!” she said. “You know I'm here to get the whistle back!”

 

“No creature is foolish enough to come to a place like this for something so trivial!” he barked.

 

“This is not a trivial matter, Hiei!” Botan argued. “It's very serious! Now I am not leaving this realm until you return the whistle to me!”

 

Hiei's eyes ran over her, growing wider as they went.

 

“Isn't that green outfit Kurama's?” he asked as he met her eyes again.

 

“Yes,” she reluctantly confessed. “I wanted to wear something more demon-y.”

 

“More de… You idiot!”

 

“Do you like what I did with my hair?”

 

“I don't care about your stupid hair.”

 

“Oh.”

 

Botan hung her head, but Hiei was not moved.

 

“Well I need the whistle back, anyway,” she said, lifting her head again.

 

“You can't have it,” he replied.

 

“Why not?” she demanded.

 

“Two reasons. First of all, you will use it. Secondly, I had to hide it. I couldn't carry it around demon world, and since you still have my coat, I couldn't conceal it.”

 

“Ah, well, I have something that might cheer you up, mister grumpy boots!”

 

Botan reached her hands under Yusuke's sweater - which she had butchered with a pair of scissors to allow her to wear it under Kurama's clothes - and pulled out Hiei's coat, which she had been keeping stowed there.

 

“Ta-da!” she said shaking it out.

 

Hiei snatched it from her wordlessly and pulled it on, stuffing his hands into the pockets.

 

“So,” she said. “Can I have my whistle back now?”

 

“I already told you: I had to hide it,” he replied.

 

“Well can we please go and find it?”

 

Hiei smirked in a way that made Botan feel queasy.

 

“I hid it the same way most people hide a precious item they don't want stolen from them,” he said slowly.

 

Botan opened her mouth, her mind filling with a brief recollection of how Yukina had hidden her mother's hiruiseki from her captors after she had been abducted by Tarukane.

 

“Something as large as the whistle?” she asked, feeling distinctly more nauseous than before.

 

“I swallowed it this morning,” he replied. “You'll just have to wait.”

 

“Until you…?”

 

Botan's lip curled in disgust but Hiei merely continued to smirk back at her. She fell to her knees in and her head drooped down. It was still night-time back in the living world - or at least, she thought it was - so maybe she still had time.

 

She wondered if laxatives worked on demons; though even they did, she would never be able to use the whistle again, or even watch as Ayame or Koenma used it.

 

“Oh well, I suppose it can't be helped,” she said quietly. “I'll just have to tell Lord Koenma that I failed.”

 

“I'm sure he won't be surprised,” Hiei muttered.

 

Botan wanted to cry. She had been holding onto hope until that moment, and now that she could see that there was none to be had, and that Hiei was being horrible to her, she just wanted to cry. The lack of sleep was doing little to help her situation, but she fought the urge to give in to her emotions.

 

“It sure would be super if you could give the whistle back some time, Hiei,” she said quietly, keeping her eyes on the ground. “If you won't give it to me, maybe you could at least give it to Yusuke, so that he can return it to Lord Koenma.”

 

Hiei said nothing, and Botan wondered if he had already left. He did get bored very easily, and he had certainly seemed bored by her plight. With a small sigh she pushed up one sleeve of Yusuke's sweater, uncovering the point on her arm that Hiei had been holding her by while he dragged her away from Mukuro's fortress. Unsurprisingly, she had a handprint around her arm that was starting bruise already.

 

“You're so fragile.”

 

Botan frowned, freezing on the spot. The voice had been so faint it had sounded like an aural illusion, a mere whisper of the wind catching in the branches of the trees overhead.

 

“Hn, it's ridiculous.”

 

Botan slowly turned her head, finding Hiei was still standing where he had been before, looking down at her, his mouth still moulded into a smirk, but something decidedly different about his eyes.

 

“Hiei…” she whispered.

 

“It amuses me that you are so ridiculously weak and you stand before someone as powerful as me and act as though it makes no difference.”

 

Botan lowered her head, staring at the ground. She let her sleeve slide down her arm again, an unusual sensation washing over her. It was as though she had been standing in a room and thought that she knew everything about it, but suddenly a light had been switched on and thrown everything into an entirely different perspective. Suddenly everything made sense, but at the same time nothing did.

 

“I see,” she said, rising to her feet. “I understand now.”

 

“What are you talking about?” Hiei asked, a slight sense of apprehension in his tone.

 

She started towards him and he took a step back, looking up at her warily. She smiled calmly as she approached him, ignoring the fact that he took another step back and began to look a little angry. She decided to take the advice that he had given her himself: if she wanted it, she was going to have to do whatever it took to get it back.

 

“I'm really sorry for what I'm about to do,” she said gently, placing her hands on his shoulders and slowly leaning her weight onto them. “I hope you won't hate me for it.”

 

Hiei just had time to grunt out a noise of complaint before she leaned over him and caught his lips in hers. At first he twitched against her and growled in the back of his throat, but she persisted, kissing his lips in the exact way that he had never done to her: tenderly. After his initial growling and twitching he lifted his chin and tried to push against her harder but she used her advantage of height to pull back a little, leaning her weight down hard on his shoulders again to hold him in place. He growled again, but eventually surrendered, even allowing her to gently suck on his top lip; and at that point she felt what she had been waiting for: Hiei relaxed his shoulders.

 

Botan quickly moved her hands to his hair, clawing her fingers through it, a little surprised when Hiei moaned at her touch, the vibration of the noise passing through his lips to hers. She felt his tongue pressing against her lower lip and she began to think that maybe she had gone too far, the moment certainly was not playing out as she had expected it to.

 

Quickly she broke contact, leaping back from him. Hiei grabbed out with both hands, his arms closing around the empty space she had been occupying moments ago. His eyes opened and his mouth twitched, his face quickly darkening in anger.

 

“You asked for that,” she said haughtily, summoning her oar. “Consider that a lesson in how to kiss a girl. Maybe next time you'll think before you… Kiss a girl again.”

 

Botan hopped up onto her oar and rose up above Hiei's head before allowing herself to grin down at him.

 

“Oh and Hiei?” she said sweetly. “One more lesson: you've been spending too much time around Kurama.”

 

“What?” he grunted.

 

“Hiding things in your hair?” she replied.

 

Botan held up two fingers in the peace sign just as he had done to her earlier that day, showing him that she had the mystic whistle between her fingers. Hiei snarled out a noise that made Botan scream and on instinct she shot up into the air. He leapt up after her, batting a hand at her. His fingers slapped against the blade of her oar, causing her to wobble in the air, but she quickly righted herself.

 

Looking down, she saw that he was rapidly climbing a very tall tree.

 

“Oopsie, time for this little kitty to get going!” she said, before zipping off as fast as she could away from Mukuro's fortress.

 

She sighed in relief as she rocketed through the air, looking down at the mystic whistle with a smile of delight. She had been so miserable only moments ago but now she could not be happier. She had the mystic whistle, she had put Hiei in his place and she finally understood why he had been acting so strangely around her lately.

 

Botan almost fell out of the air.

 

With a strain of effort she righted herself, but she could not stop the sweat and laboured breathing that followed as she remembered where she had found the courage to confront Hiei. As she flew on she dared to allow herself to think about it a little more, but she wanted to deny it whenever it rose in her mind.

 

She was going to need some professional guidance to help her decide what to think on this one.

 

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

 

Shizuru groaned, rolling over in her bed. She cracked one eye open a little to check the clock on her nightstand, which informed her that it was barely quarter past three in the morning. She turned over and bunched her pillow up under her head, but again she heard the tapping sound that had awoken her in the first place. She cursed her younger brother for not cutting back the tree in the back garden before heading off to university the year before and pushed her entire face into the pillow; but the noise came again, this time a little harder and more rhythmic.

 

Shizuru peeked over her pillow with one squinted eye, soon finding herself wide awake as she spotted the silhouette of a figure dressed in baggy, mismatched clothing, one hand supporting an oar, the handle of which was being infrequently rapped against the sliding glass doors at the end of her room. As she watched the figure waved a hand at her before pawing at the air in a way that was all too familiar.

 

“Botan,” Shizuru concluded aloud.

 

She pushed herself up and switched on the light on her bedside table before pushing aside her covers and rising from her bed. She stretched her arms above her head as she dragged her feet towards the door, trying to ignore the brilliant grin Botan was giving her through the glass.

 

“Hey girl, this had better be important,” Shizuru greeted her as she opened the door.

 

“It's very important,” Botan immediately replied, pushing her way through the small gap Shizuru had created.

 

Shizuru turned to watch Botan walk boldly into her room, leaving a series of blackened footprints on the carpet as she went.

 

“Please, come in,” Shizuru muttered sarcastically, before pulling the door closed again.

 

“This is a lovely room!” Botan said, spinning around to face her.

 

“Yes it is,” Shizuru replied. “In my lovely parents' house. And they probably won't be in such a lovely mood if they wake up to find me entertaining guests at this lovely hour. Keep your voice down.”

 

“Oopsie!” Botan whispered. “Oh I am sorry, Shizuru!”

 

“That's okay. Now what's happening? Why are you here? And what the hell are you wearing? You look like a reject from a culture festival. The colours are even more psychedelic than your usual choices. And that's… Hey, aren't those my brother's lucky sweatpants?”

 

“Yes, well, something unusual has happened.”

 

Botan swiftly stepped out of Shizuru's reach as she tried to grab at the loose material hanging around Botan's thighs.

 

“Right…” Shizuru said, sitting onto the edge of her bed.

 

“The boys are all working on a mission from Lord Koenma-”

 

“What?”

 

Botan stopped short, watching Shizuru frown at her questioningly, an open packet of cigarettes in her hand.

 

“My baby brother is working for spirit world again?” she asked.

 

Botan nodded slowly.

 

“Yes…” she said. “I remember now that he said he forgot to tell you about that…”

 

“Typical,” Shizuru said, rolling her eyes.

 

Botan paced back and forth a few times, creating a thick line of dirt as she went. Shizuru tried to ignore it, instead lighting a cigarette and trying not to think the worst about what the others might be up to.

 

“They're doing very well,” Botan tried.

 

“Yeah, well, I knew my brother would be getting involved with the old gang sooner or later,” Shizuru said through a cloud of smoke. “The next demon world tournament is coming up, right?”

 

“Yes, that's right!” Botan replied, clapping her hands together.

 

“Volume down, sunshine,” Shizuru reminded her.

 

“Oh yes of course, sorry. Again.”

 

“So, forgetting about your tasteful outfit - because frankly I would rather not know any more about it - why are you here, Botan?”

 

“Well, I need your advice on something.”

 

“Blue and green don't look good together.”

 

Botan looked down at herself before laughing light-heartedly.

 

“No, silly, not that!” she said. “It's about a friend of mine.”

 

Shizuru narrowed her eyes slightly but said nothing.

 

“She's having a bit of bother with a person of the male variety,” Botan continued, failing to notice the smirk that her choice of words brought to Shizuru's face. “And I thought that you were the best person to ask because you have had your heart broken so many times.”

 

Shizuru choked on nothing, her face twisting.

 

“Oh no!” Botan cried. “I didn't mean it like that! Not that you are hopeless in love, not that at all! I came here because you are the opposite of that, or rather because you are-”

 

“Sweetie, you're getting loud again.”

 

“Sorry.”

 

“Look, it's fine. Who's the boy and what did he do to you?”

 

“Well, he was quite-wait, what?”

 

Botan paused, her eyes growing round as she stared at Shizuru in disbelief.

 

“You can read minds, too?” she asked.

 

Shizuru gave a short laugh before shaking her head.

 

“No,” she said. “But I can read people.”

 

“I see…”

 

Botan began fidgeting and chewing at her lip, at which Shizuru held up her packet of cigarettes.

 

“You want one?” she offered.

 

“Oh I couldn't,” Botan replied. “But thank you all the same.”

 

“You sure?” Shizuru asked. “I think you're old enough now. I mean what are you anyway? About a thousand years old?”

 

“Who would know?”

 

Shizuru slowly lowered her hand, her face dropping with her offer.

 

“You really are a conundrum wrapped up in an enigma, aren't you?” she asked. “You know most people ask for advice on their love lives during daylight hours. And most people don't expect a grim reaper to even have a love life.”

 

“It's not so much a love life, per se,” Botan hurriedly replied. “More a sort of misunderstanding involving some kissing, a whistle, a snake and a couple of pearl necklaces.”

 

“Wow,” Shizuru said quietly. “We should distil some of that crazy, we could probably sell it by the bottle.”

 

“You see the thing is, this male individual may have sort of kissed me a couple of times,” Botan continued, ignoring or else not hearing Shizuru's remark. “Not exactly with my permission - though the first time he did it was because I said I wanted to kiss him, and I suppose he just sort of got there first - and also a friend of his said something about affection, and then I sort of kissed him - only because I had to because of Lord Koenma's whistle - but now I'm worried that I might have started a sort of trend where kissing is acceptable between us, which would be quite awful since the way he kisses is rather unpleasant and could be very embarrassing if any of the others found out.”

 

Shizuru took a long hard drag on her cigarette.

 

“You're not really making much sense, but I think I get the gist of what's going on,” she said slowly. “And so that we're not still here five hours from now trying to make sense of what actually is happening, let me tell you this, and you can see if it helps: if you want to know if a guy likes you or not, the best way to tell is to flirt with one of his friends and see how jealous he gets… Though in your case, I'm not so sure that's a good idea…”

 

“Flirting?” Botan muttered, adopting a thoughtful look.

 

“Okay then how about this: try the damsel in distress routine.”

 

Botan's face became even more confused and Shizuru quickly shook her head.

 

“It's real simple,” she assured the worried ferry girl. “You just have to act helpless and see if he comes to rescue you and how concerned he gets when he sees you in danger. And on the bright side, with the line of work you're in, you probably won't even have to fake it.”

 

“Yusuke has always come to my aid when I've needed him,” Botan replied. “He even offered to take the blame when I lost the mystic whistle.”

 

“This is about Yusuke?” Shizuru echoed. “Yusuke Urameshi? Does Keiko know?”

 

“What?”

 

“Are you saying you've been kissing Yusuke?”

 

“Goodness me, no!”

 

Shizuru took another drag from her cigarette before sighing with relief.

 

“It's not Yusuke…” she muttered. “Wait… Is it one of the “old team”?”

 

Botan's face twitched slightly and Shizuru began to grin.

 

“Nice going, girl!” Shizuru said. “I always thought that Kurama was deliciously beautiful too. A bit aloof, but if he likes you then who cares, right?”

 

Botan looked about herself awkwardly before forcing a nervous grin.

 

“Not Kurama?” Shizuru asked. “Well it can't be my brother, he's still too obsessed with Yukina! And that doesn't really leave anyone else except Lord Koenma himself. You're not a cradle-snatcher, are you Botan? And in this case it would quite literally be cradle-snatching!”

 

Botan looked about herself a little before shrugging.

 

“Not Yusuke, not Kurama, not my brother and not Koenma,” Shizuru said. “That doesn't leave anyone, Botan. Not unless you've gone completely crazy and starting kissing Puu!”

 

Botan laughed a little too hard, making Shizuru all the more suspicious.

 

“That sounded like something else!” Botan said in a voice of strained amusement.

 

“I suppose it also depends on who you consider to be the “old team”,” Shizuru said, ignoring Botan's last remark. “There were a few others who helped out sometimes, right? Though honestly I can't imagine any of them taking your fancy…”

 

“It's fine, I'll remember what you said about that “damsel in distress” trick,” Botan said, moving rapidly towards the sliding doors. “You're the best Shizuru, I knew I could count on you!”

 

Botan grabbed the handle and started to pull the door open, but her efforts were cut short as Shizuru suddenly leapt off her bed and pounced at her, catching the door before it could open wide enough for Botan to make her escape.

 

“Hey, you're not talking about that really moody little guy, are you?” she asked.

 

“Moody… What?” Botan responded, trying to keep the panic out of her eyes.

 

“Yeah, you know the one I mean!” Shizuru continued. “The short guy with the short temper! The one my brother really, really hates. Yukina's brother!”

 

“Uh…”

 

Botan's face dropped despite her best efforts to hide her true feelings.

 

“Seriously?” Shizuru asked, raising her eyebrows. “That's weird, he always seemed like he hated everyone and everything. He was so dark and brooding and sarcastic and nasty and you're so… Vanilla…”

 

“Well, you know what they say about the importance of sleep!” Botan said cheerfully, yanking the door from Shizuru's grasp and slipping out onto the balcony. “Thanks for your time, and have pleasant dreams!”

 

Shizuru slowly stepped out after her, tilting her head back as Botan became airborne.

 

“Be careful what you're doing,” she called after her. “You might end up biting off more than you can chew with an unpredictable guy like that!”

 

Botan waved at Shizuru, whether in thanks, goodbye or to dismiss what she had said Shizuru could not be sure.

 

“Huh,” she said as she watched Botan disappear against the night sky. “I wonder what trouble my little brother's got himself into this time.”

 

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

 

Hiei hopped off of the transport, waving an arm for it to continue without him. He could see a human lying prostrate in the bushes nearby, but this was one human he could not afford to wake up around any of his fellow border patrol guards. Even though he could only see the lower half of the human's body, he already knew it was that loutish clown that liked to hang around Yusuke and Kurama.

 

He walked over and swung a kick at one of the legs protruding from the bushes, grunting in alarm as his leg missed his target and swung up above his head, pulling the rest of his body with it. He swung and spun a little in the air before slowing to a halt, finding himself hanging upside down by one ankle.

 

Well, this was new.

 

Hiei pulled out his sword and swung it at the vine tied around his ankle, hissing as the blade clanged off of the plant without so much as making a dent in it.

 

“Hey, little fella!” a familiar voice called out.

 

Hiei growled, dropping his head back down to reveal an upside-down former spirit detective grinning at him.

 

“Apologies for the ruse, Hiei, but you left us with no other option,” Kurama said, stepping into his line of vision.

 

“Hey short stuff,” the fool said, sitting up amongst the foliage. “Nursing a hangover or are ya still a little bit tipsy?”

 

“I don't get drunk,” Hiei flatly answered him. “And if this thing doesn't let go of me soon, I'll make you all regret it.”

 

“Are you sure?” the idiot asked. “Because a little guy like you probably can't really hold your drink, right?”

 

“Kuwabara, what's your point?” Yusuke demanded.

 

“I brought a drink I thought might be better for little hamster legs,” the clown replied, producing a white bottle from nowhere. “See? It's milk!”

 

“What?” Yusuke echoed.

 

“Because he's so small, get it? If he drinks this, he might grow up to be a big strong boy!”

 

“Damn it fox, let me down!” Hiei roared, fixing his eyes onto Kurama.

 

“I'm afraid I can't do that Hiei,” Kurama replied in his infuriatingly calm voice. “It is our understanding that you have something that you should not, and I cannot release you until you return it to its rightful owner.”

 

Hiei narrowed his eyes, folding his arms across his chest. Kurama had been a self-righteous bastard ever since Yukina had given Hiei her hirui stone, and now he was trying to tell him to give it back?

 

“Not your concern, let me down,” he said.

 

“Look Hiei, we just need Botan's dumb whistle back,” Yusuke said.

 

“I don't have that,” Hiei replied.

 

“We already know you do, so give it back already,” Yusuke argued.

 

“I don't have it,” Hiei said forcefully. “The stupid ferry girl came here last night and took it back off me.”

 

All three of Hiei's captors looked shocked, even the normally cool and collected Kurama.

 

“Botan came here?” the idiot asked.

 

“Let me down,” Hiei insisted, glaring at Kurama.

 

The fox looked unwilling to comply, but a second later Hiei hit the ground headfirst, crumpling in a heap in front of the clown who was still sitting on the ground.

 

“Here you go, little fella!” he said, holding out the white bottle he held.

 

“Kuwabara, where did you even get a bottle of milk from?” Yusuke asked. “And why the hell would you bring something like that into demon world?”

 

“Hn, because he's an idiot,” Hiei grunted as he stood up and shook the dirt from his hair.

 

“I've got another one,” the idiot said, as if on cue. “Where do you guys reckon Hiei buys his clothes? In the kids' department, or does he just wear doll's clothes?”

 

“I hope you enjoyed those words, because they will be your last!” Hiei snarled, rounding on the orange-haired buffoon.

 

“Hiei, please,” Kurama said, stepping into his path.

 

“Is that a long coat or a little girl's dress?” the clown said.

 

“Such caustic wit,” Hiei snapped irritably. “Excuse me if I don't laugh, only my ribs are still aching from your last quip.”

 

The fox smiled at him in a positively infuriating manner.

 

“Do you live in a miniature house too?” the idiot asked. “I mean, if I came to your house, if I was standing outside your house, which would be taller: me or the house?”

 

“Why do you keep this wretched waste of a living soul around?” Hiei asked, turning to the former detective.

 

“Sometimes he does useful things,” Yusuke replied. “And he's only here in demon world because you ran off and we needed a third person for what we plan to do today.”

 

Hiei ignored the clown's complaints, focussing his attention on the other two. Maybe going with them would be slightly less boring than continuing with patrol duty for the day.

 

“Thank you Hiei, your help is much appreciated,” Kurama said.

 

Hiei scowled up at him, unsure if the fox had sensed his change of mind or just said as much to force his hand.

 

“Fine,” he agreed. “I'll help you. But only because I pity you for being so desperate that you brought that blubbering bovine with you.”

 

“What did you call me, you little mouse?”

 

“It's just like old times,” Kurama said.

 

“That's not funny,” Hiei told him.

 

“I never intended it to be.”

 

“Hn. Of course not. So tell me something that is interesting: what exactly do you plan to do today?”

 

“We're going to spy on Yomi.”

 

Hiei turned sharply to Kurama, glaring at him in horrified disbelief.

 

“You see Hiei?” the fox said. “That's not boring at all now is it?”

 

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

 

Next Chapter: Keiko calls the gang with some news that leave than all a little panicked, and ultimately leaves Hiei a little “tied up”. Chapter 9: The Guilty.