Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ My Downfall ❯ The Confusion ( Chapter 19 )

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 refused to tell Koenma which demon she is in love with, Botan and George got caught in a storm in demon world, and it was Hiei to the rescue.

 

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

 

Chapter 19: The Confusion

 

It was a less than ideal situation: Botan was knelt by the base of Puu's neck, with George shivering and sneezing at one side of her and Hiei looking particularly intense at her other side. They had flown through the storm at last, but the air in the sky was too cool to be drying, and she was glad of her multiple layers of clothing as her wet hair was making her head numb from the cold. George was trying to warm himself against Puu's back, his teeth chattering and his brow creased: but as ridiculous as he looked, Botan was far more distracted by how Hiei looked and what he was doing.

 

When Puu had arrived, Botan had assumed that Hiei would run back on foot - she was sure that, even after the rain had flooded the road, Hiei was probably still faster running through the boggy ground than riding on Puu - but when Puu had arrived, Hiei had still been holding Botan's hand. He kept holding it as he helped her up onto Puu's back, he kept holding it as they took off, and even now, as a distinctive tower came into their sights, Hiei was still holding her hand.

 

And he was still wearing his scarf like a hood.

 

Botan wondered what they looked like to an outsider watching on. She tried to focus on that thought, because, throughout the flight, Hiei's thumb had been intermittently rubbing against hers, and every time it did she felt like she might fall from Puu's back.

 

Botan also entertained the idea that ignoring and denying what had happened on Valentine's Day that year had been a phenomenally bad idea: she really ought to have let herself get angry and cry over it, because now she had no idea how she actually felt about Hiei. Logically she ought to hate him, but she had never found it easy to hate anyone, and her mind seemed to be glossing over all the worst things Hiei had ever done or said to her, instead holding onto the sweeter moments they had shared. Except that, truthfully, they had never shared a single sweet moment together, only a handful of slightly less unpleasant moments which seemed sweet by comparison to the more typical death threats and manhandling.

 

As three figures stepped out onto a platform near the bottom of the tower Botan felt Hiei's thumb pass over hers again. She tried to will her eyes to stay on the rapidly forming figures of Yusuke, Kurama and Koenma, but instead they lowered to her hand, still encased in Hiei's, and, from nowhere, a stupid little voice in the back of her head mewed that what was happening right now was a sweet moment.

 

Botan lifted her eyes to look directly at Hiei for the first time since Puu had taken off, finding his eyes narrowed and glaring at the three people awaiting their arrival. He looked angry and a little disgusted, and through his scarf Botan could see the faint blue glow of his jagan, indicating that he was using it for something. She sensed that there was something more going on, but she knew that Hiei would never tell her even if there was and so she did not bother to ask.

 

She turned her attention back to the tower as Puu began to touch down, watching as the bodies awaiting them began to hurry over to join them. Her eyes skipped over Yusuke and Kurama, coming to rest on Koenma, her heart skipping a beat as she remembered her little blunder in his office earlier, and that he was yet to pass sentence on her for her confession. In her moment of panic Botan inadvertently tensed all over, her hand gripping into Hiei's, her mind only registering her action when she felt him grip back. She turned to look at him again and found his eyes already looking up at her, an intensity behind them that suggested he was trying to decide on something. They sat staring into each other's eyes for some time, the moment only ending when Botan turned away at the sound of someone calling her name.

 

“Botan!” Koenma said again. “Where have you been?”

 

Botan smiled nervously at him before turning back to Hiei as she felt him pulling on her hand. He was dismounting Puu and she obediently followed him. Together they walked around the bulk of Puu's body to meet up with the others. At first Yusuke grinned and Kurama gave a small smile and nod of his head; but both shortly adopted a look of mild surprise, their eyes lowering to something between Hiei and Botan. Botan followed the direction of their widened eyes, seeing Hiei's arm bent at her side, still clutching her hand, the angle he was holding it at making their gesture stand out in front of them. Botan lifted her head again, her eyes almost instantly landing on Koenma, who was also staring down at their joined hands: only his look was not one of surprise.

 

“Yusuke, take Botan and find a towel for her,” he said flatly, his eyes still on their joined hands. “Hiei,” he said, his eyes then lifting and fixing onto Hiei's. “Come with me.”

 

Botan gasped lightly as Hiei's fingers untangled from hers. Without any further words Koenma turned his back and walked away, and Hiei followed after him, still wearing his scarf wrapped around his head. Botan watched them go until they were out of sight before turning to Yusuke and Kurama. She managed a smile, though they both still looked a little taken aback.

 

“I think I took a wrong turn at the portal,” she said meekly. “Oopsie!”

 

Behind her George groaned and collapsed to the ground.

 

“You both look well,” she added. “Are you both ready for the preliminaries?”

 

“Yeah,” Yusuke slowly replied. “Are you?”

 

Botan laughed and waved a soggy-sleeved hand at him.

 

“Oh, silly!” she said. “Why would I need to be ready for the preliminaries? Unless of course you're asking if I'm ready to cheer loudly for my favourite ex-spirit detective, in which case, I am absolutely ready for action!”

 

Yusuke turned to Kurama, who gave him a small smile.

 

“We should get you a towel, Botan,” Yusuke said, turning back to the ferry girl.

 

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

 

Koenma led Hiei into the first small room they encountered on the ground floor of Raizen's tower. He closed the door behind them before moving to stand in front of Hiei and crossing his arms over his chest authoritatively.

 

“Well first of all Hiei, thanks for bringing Botan and the ogre here,” he said. “I had no idea they were lost, I thought they had been delayed in spirit world.”

 

“Hn,” Hiei grunted disinterestedly.

 

“Secondly, do you think you could take that thing off of your head? It's a little distracting.”

 

Hiei twitched, his face tensing a little, and he snatched a hand at his scarf, tugging it from his head a little too roughly and throwing it aside. Koenma's eyebrows inched upwards as he saw Hiei's flattened hair underneath, but he said nothing on the matter.

 

“Hiei, I know you appreciate people being direct with you, so that's exactly what I'm going to do now,” he said instead. “I have a problem with Botan, and it needs to be fixed as soon as possible.”

 

“There's nothing I can do to improve the intelligence of a person,” Hiei replied with a small smirk. “If there was, as a mercy to us all I would have fixed that orange-haired buffoon you like to keep around.”

 

“Very funny, Hiei,” Koenma flatly returned. “But this is far more straightforward. I know that you erase memories as part of your duties as a border patrol guard, and I need you to erase something from Botan's memory for me.”

 

Hiei's face dropped.

 

“A little unconventional, I know,” Koenma continued. “The problem with ferry girls is that their greatest asset is also their greatest weakness: they have human hearts and personalities. It probably would have been a kinder fate to have them emotionless, unfeeling and unthinking, but for the benefit of allowing them to perform their tasks of coaching lost souls, they each have their own personality and feelings. This means that sometimes they think like a human, and grow attached to another soul. It impedes on their work, and it cannot be tolerated. Botan is my favourite ferry girl, I don't intend to lose her over this, so I am doing the only other thing that I can under the circumstances: I need you to wipe her memories of whoever it is she has attached herself to.”

 

“What makes you think I will do this?” Hiei asked. “I have no obligation to you.”

 

“True, you don't,” Koenma replied. “But I'm sure you can't possibly have any reason to object to the task? You understand of course that if I knew which demon my ferry girl had fallen in love with, I would do everything in my power to show her the error of her ways before destroying him.”

 

Koenma narrowed his eyes slightly. Hiei did not so much as blink.

 

“Unfortunately that option isn't available to me,” he continued. “Botan won't give me a name. I could ask you to get that answer for me, but I think maybe it's easier for all concerned if you just wipe her memories of him.”

 

Koenma narrowed his eyes further, taking on a distinctly threatening look. Hiei remained unaffected.

 

“Is that something you think you can do?” Koenma asked slowly.

 

“Hn,” Hiei replied, closing his eyes and dipping his head. “We'll see.”

 

“I'll take that as a yes,” Koenma said. “And I ask that you act quickly.”

 

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

 

“Knock yourself out,” Yusuke said, waving a hand at the wall behind him.

 

Botan paused, her head tilted over to one side, her hands halfway through rubbing her hair with a towel. Her eyes slowly widened as she surveyed the wide variety of colourful costumes hanging on the wall behind Yusuke, each one progressively more provocative than the last.

 

“What is this place?” she asked, straightening up and letting her bedraggled hair fall over one shoulder.

 

“I thought you wanted a change of clothes,” Yusuke said with a shrug, flicking his fingers in the general direction of her clothing, which was still mostly wet and tattered and muddied from her knees downwards.

 

Botan looked along the wall again before again turning her attention to the large brown eyes watching her with a slight glint of amusement.

 

“Is this some sort of joke?” she asked. “Those are not clothes!”

 

Kurama walked into the room behind her and she turned to look at him, watching as the whites of his eyes clearly bordered the green as he took in the sight on the back wall.

 

“Goodness…” he muttered, regaining his composure as best he could.

 

“This is the women's dressing room, Botan,” Yusuke insisted. “So pick something and wear it.”

 

Botan frowned, eying over the garments hanging behind Yusuke again.

 

“What sort of women work here?” she asked. “Some of this is just underwear!”

 

“That's not underwear, those are hotpants,” Yusuke corrected her.

 

““Hot pants”?” Botan echoed. “What the…”

 

“I think perhaps Yusuke is pulling your leg, Botan,” Kurama said, casting Yusuke a stern, warning glance before continuing. “There are female soldiers here, I'm sure you could borrow some of their clothing.”

 

“Botan asked to come here,” Yusuke said, folding his arms and trying to look offended.

 

“No I did not!” Botan argued back. “I do not remember asking to be taken to… A whore's grotto!”

 

Yusuke's eyes almost popped out of his head but Kurama managed a small chuckle.

 

“You never asked me if I wanted to dress myself in strings of leather, Yusuke!” Botan continued. “Now take me to the sensible clothes!”

 

“I asked you if you liked to dance, and you said yes!” Yusuke defended himself.

 

“I don't see how that leads you to the conclusion that I want to dress myself in this, Mister Urameshi!”

 

Botan marched up to the wall at the back of the room and snatched down a bright red dress made mostly of holes, the material alluding to only cover the bare minimum amount of skin. Yusuke grinned and picked up a broom from the back corner of the room.

 

“You said you like to dance with your oar,” he said, wrapping a leg around the broom and sliding himself against it to illustrate his point.

 

Botan dropped the dress and summoned her bat, swinging it at Yusuke's head. He dodged the blow with ease but Botan did not try for a second shot.

 

“That's no way to speak about a lady, Yusuke!” she shrieked. “I do not wear clothes like these, and I do not dance like that!”

 

Yusuke dropped the broom with a clatter.

 

“Why do you look so surprised?” Botan demanded.

 

“I thought you were too stupid to figure that one out…” he muttered, rubbing at his chin thoughtfully.

 

Botan growled at Yusuke but banished her baseball bat and turned her back on him, starting towards the door. Before she was halfway across the room she stopped short, mid-stomp, her anger vanishing as she found herself looking directly at Hiei, who was standing in the doorway, looking a little confused and bothered about something. His face slowly straightened as he looked into her eyes and she began to relax a little.

 

“Follow me,” he said after a short silence.

 

He turned and started to leave, but Botan hesitated to obey his command. She glanced back over her shoulder at Yusuke, who shrugged at her and then she looked over at Kurama, who gave a small shake of his head. Botan was unsure if Kurama was trying to tell her not to go or if he was denying knowledge of why Hiei had called her, but she decided to take her chances, and she followed after Hiei regardless.

 

He led her along a corridor, occasionally shooting out warning glares at passing demons who eyed him suspiciously. Botan was not entirely sure of the circumstances, but she sensed that of their party, only Yusuke was welcome in Raizen's territory. She was glad that Hiei did not walk for long before turning off the corridor into what seemed to be a small medical bay, with a bed by one wall and cabinets mounted on the other, the slightly daunting scents of sterilising liquid and gauze bandaging filling the air.

 

Hiei moved to one side of the room and sat down onto a chair there, and so Botan copied his action, sitting down neatly on a chair by the bed, turning it slightly to fully face Hiei. Unlike her, he was completely dry, despite still wearing the same clothing. His hair had regained its generally upward slant and his clothing sat in loose and easy folds once more. His coat was still absent, though Botan suspected that was because George still had it somewhere. His scarf was missing too, she noted, showing the glint of precious metal chains that hung around his neck by the wide-neckline of his vest. He was probably dry because he was always so hot, she decided. His own body heat had been enough to evaporate off the water, whilst she was still dripping and cold.

 

He was also still missing his bandana, she noted, and his jagan was still open just a little too widely to not be somehow in use: though since she could neither hear nor feel him in her mind she had to assume that he was watching something else.

 

Perhaps, Botan mused, Hiei was watching Yukina. His twin sister was the reason he had had the eye implanted, after all. Botan's eyes lowered to the ground then as thinking of Yukina only reminded her that she had not visited any of her friends since Valentine's Day, including the little ice maiden. She tried to count out weeks on her fingers, her eyes growing large as she neared the end of her second hand and realised that Yukina's baby would be due in less than two weeks. She mentally kicked herself and decided then and there that, as soon as she reasonably could between rounds of the tournament, she would go and visit Yukina.

 

Botan's eyes slowly lifted to Hiei again, finding that all three of his eyes were still looking in her direction. She wondered if Yukina had asked him to deliver her letter. Botan had forgotten all about Yukina's desire to contact her friend from the ice village, and she wondered how that had worked out, since Yukina had been intent on asking Hiei to play delivery boy with her letter home. She doubted that Hiei would have refused, since he seemed incapable of refusing his sister anything, but she also highly doubted that he had willingly gone back to the ice village. She began to chew on her lip and wring her hands together in her lap, but Hiei sat across from her as still and silent as before, doing little more than blinking and breathing.

 

Botan wondered why he had brought her there. She did not have the courage to ask, and she felt that he really ought to tell her his intentions, since he had been the one to call her out and lead her there. He had been acting strangely ever since she had arrived in demon world, though as her eyes focussed on his jagan she reasoned that he was probably still angry with her for stabbing it the way she had. She doubted that Hiei was considerate enough to have tried to see things from her perspective: after all, he had been rude, cruel and unfair to her that night, and left her with only two choices: splinter in the jagan or baseball bat in the crotch.

 

Botan sighed, tucking a stray strand of still-damp hair behind one ear. She looked down at her soggy clothes, feeling more than a little stupid for having spent so long dressing herself in them. She had wanted to wear something special for the preliminaries of the tournament, especially since Koenma had dressed for the occasion, and she had gone to great lengths to find a kimono in a specific shade of red, with sandals to match and a bow of the same colour for her hair. Now all three layers of silk she wore were stained with blood or mud and shredded from her jaunt through the thorny bushes in her bid to rescue George. She probably looked ridiculous and pitiful, she concluded.

 

Botan lifted her eyes again, one thought rising to the front of her mind as she looked across the room at Hiei: her kimono of a very specific shade of red was the very same specific shade of red as Hiei's eyes. And, perhaps more oddly, Hiei's shirt was exactly the same colour as her hair: or at least, it was the colour her hair normally was, rather than the darkened shade it currently was from being wet. She wanted to smile at the thought, but as Hiei was still staring at her she did not dare allow herself to.

 

Her mind wandered again, coming back to pondering why Hiei had held her hand during their flight to Raizen's tower. She also wondered what Koenma had thought when he had, so obviously, noticed it. Yusuke and Kurama had been staring too, but she was not too concerned about their thoughts on the matter. It was possible, she thought miserably, that Koenma had noticed how tightly they were clinging to each other and figured out that Hiei was the demon she had been crying over in his office that morning. That, she thought, would be a real disaster. If Koenma found out about anything that had happened between her and Hiei or even just how she felt about him, the prince was unlikely to respond favourably to Botan or Hiei.

 

Botan reached up one hand and pinched at the bridge of her nose, letting her eyes close as she tried to focus on something - anything - to stop the threat of tears that was creeping up on her. The last thing she needed right then was to start blubbering like an idiot again, least of all in front of Hiei. He would probably just laugh at her or else simply be disgusted, she told herself, and that thought made it even harder to fight her emotions.

 

“Hn, you're so simple-minded.”

 

Botan slowly opened her eyes, keeping her head dipped and her hand over her nose, peering across the room at Hiei.

 

“I don't know why you even came here,” he said.

 

Before Botan could even think about responding to him he had shot from the room, the chair he had been sat on vibrating a little on the spot from the aftershock of the force he had used to launch himself from it. She was almost glad that he was gone, because as she watched his chair steady, her vision blurred a little and a single tear escaped one eye.

 

“Oh, stop it, Botan!” she muttered to herself. “Stay strong!”

 

She pulled a kitty face and meowed to herself, but it did little to cheer her up. She sighed and got to her feet again, wiping the tracks of her tear from her cheek before leaving the room again.

 

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

 

Botan was lost. Again, she thought with a wry smile. Twice in one day! This was getting ridiculous. After leaving the room Hiei had taken her to she had wandered along the corridor in a daze, taking too long to realise that she had gone the wrong way at the start, and subsequently taking too many turns in the hope of finding a short-cut back to her original location.

 

Botan decided that she was really quite hopeless at finding shortcuts, and that she ought not to bother in future. She thought that perhaps there was an old saying about just such a thing, something about shortcuts being longer in the end, but try as she might, she could not remember it. Trying to remember it consumed her thoughts so much, she did not realise at first that there were voices talking in a room ahead of her, her attention only shifting to her surroundings once more as she neared the doorway and she heard a voice she clearly recognised loudly asking a question.

 

“I don't get it, who makes the final call? Is it a committee decision or does it just come down to her?”

 

Botan stopped, turning her head to the open doorway at her side, peering through it to see a large gym of some kind within. In the centre of the room was a large gym mat, and three figures were standing on it facing each other. Botan ducked back out of the doorway and pressed her back to the hall wall outside, concealing herself from their view. Within seconds of doing so she frowned and mouthed out a question about her own sanity: inside the room she had clearly seen Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei, who she had been hoping to find, so why had she not just continued on into the room to meet up with them?

 

“I imagine it's relatively straightforward, Yusuke,” she heard Kurama say. “And if it's not, if the result of a match is not immediately clear, the committee would then debate it amongst themselves.”

 

“That's not what I meant,” Yusuke replied. “It says Koto is the match announcer, right?”

 

“Yes, that's right.”

 

“And she's calling the matches from the arena, right? So if she's not actually onsite for the fights, how can she be any use as a referee?”

 

“It's no different to how things were handled at the last tournament.”

 

“But didn't she get sidelined for messing up something? At the start of the dark tournament, she was in the ring calling the matches, but they replaced her, didn't they?”

 

“I think you're worrying about this too much.”

 

“I was just curious. It just seems a bit weak that somebody watching through a camera can call a match. Although I suppose when she is in the ring all she ever seems to do is almost get herself killed. I don't even understand why she does it, she's no fighter, and when an attack accidentally shoots her way she's totally defenceless!”

 

“Koto has always been the announcer at any demon tournament.”

 

Botan heard Yusuke sigh loudly.

 

“That's not what I meant,” he sneered. “I meant how do they know when to just use Koto?”

 

“Hn, that's easy,” Hiei said, the smirk evident in his voice. “You just use her when you want it fast and loud.”

 

Botan stiffened against the wall. She was sure that Hiei was not talking about Koto's skills as an announcer, and she was torn between wishing that she had left before she had heard Hiei's last words and wishing to hear what else he had to say on the matter.

 

“What?” Yusuke laughed. “You mean you've had her?”

 

“Hn,” Hiei plainly replied.

 

“You dog!” Yusuke said. “How did you manage that? No, wait, let me guess, she gets off on guys who like to fight, that's why she does the officiating job, even though she almost gets killed every time: she just wants to see you unleash your other dragon, right?”

 

Botan's face twisted in confusion: what other dragon?

 

“Something like that,” Hiei said. “She's always been an easy outlet when times are desperate.”

 

Yusuke laughed and Botan vaguely heard Kurama muttering something that sounded derogatory.

 

“Oh come on, Kurama!” Yusuke said. “You're just jealous! Heck, I sure am! I wouldn't mind getting my hands on that sweet ass - if it wasn't for Keiko, of course.”

 

“Of course, yes,” Kurama dryly replied. “Always the chivalrous one, aren't you Yusuke?”

 

“Hn, what a ridiculous waste, tying yourself to one woman like that,” Hiei said.

 

“It's not nearly as bad as you probably think it would be,” Yusuke answered him.

 

“An entire lifetime listening to the same shrill voice, looking at the same nagging face and rutting through the same motions? You should get to know your roots a little better Yusuke. Spend some time here in demon world and learn about the really enjoyable things those humans forgot to teach you in the living world.”

 

“Well actually, that's where you start to look stupid, Hiei. My roots here in demon world are my relation to Raizen, right? And Raizen starved to death over 700 years because he was in love with just one woman.”

 

“Exactly my point. What idiot would starve himself for even 700 hours for the possibility of a second chance with one woman? Raizen was a fool, hopefully you will learn from his biggest mistake.”

 

Botan had heard enough. She turned from the doorway and ran off as quickly and quietly as she could, moving in no specific direction and quickly getting herself even more lost amidst the maze of passageways.

 

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

 

Kurama rolled his eyes and quietly sighed.

 

“Always the chivalrous one, aren't you Yusuke?” he said with more than a hint of sarcasm.

 

“Hn, what a ridiculous waste, tying yourself to one woman like that,” Hiei said, turning his head from Yusuke as he spoke.

 

“It's not nearly as bad as you probably think it would be,” Yusuke answered him, poking a finger at his shoulder to get his attention again.

 

Hiei's head turned back, looking first at Yusuke's finger then up at Yusuke himself. He looked displeased but soon covered it with another confident grin.

 

“An entire lifetime listening to the same shrill voice, looking at the same nagging face and rutting through the same motions?” he said. “You should get to know your roots a little better Yusuke. Spend some time here in demon world and learn about the really enjoyable things those humans forgot to teach you in the living world.”

 

“Well actually, that's where you start to look stupid, Hiei,” Yusuke responded, folding his arms and straightening up confidently. “My roots here in demon world are my relation to Raizen, right? And Raizen starved to death over 700 years because he was in love with just one woman.”

 

“Exactly my point,” Hiei spat. “What idiot would starve himself for even 700 hours for the possibility of a second chance with one woman? Raizen was a fool, hopefully you will learn from his biggest mistake.”

 

Yusuke's face dropped and he turned to Kurama, who shook his head, partly to show that he did not want any further part in the ongoing conversation and partly in the hope of discouraging Yusuke from continuing to provoke Hiei on the matter.

 

“Okay, first of all, Raizen had it all, and he still chose to do what he did, so maybe you should consider that it might not be a bad thing,” Yusuke continued, apparently choosing to ignore Kurama's warning. “And secondly, if you're trying to say that sticking to one girl is wrong then you're just a big hypocrite.”

 

Kurama made a small noise that was somewhere between a grunt and a gasp, glaring at Yusuke in the hope of conveying to him that he ought to stop what he was doing.

 

“Hypocrite?” Hiei repeated, his face changing, the air around them seeming to change with it.

 

“Yeah!” Yusuke said with a small laugh. “From what I can tell, you've been tying yourself to one girl for a really long time!”

 

Hiei's face darkened further and Kurama took a sliding step back from Yusuke.

 

“The most ridiculous part of it is that I must have been the last one to notice,” Yusuke continued blindly. “Even Kuwabara could see what was going on before I could!”

 

Yusuke grinned and winked at Kurama, who hurriedly shook his head again.

 

“Come on Hiei, you panicked when you thought Botan was dead on our last mission, and we all saw what happened between you and Botan on Valentine's Day!” Yusuke said.

 

Kurama caught his breath in shock as he saw Hiei's face suddenly neutralise, all threat of rage leaving him.

 

“And I saw you holding her hand earlier,” Yusuke continued obliviously. “That was just too cute! The look on your face was just priceless, Hiei. You like your ferry girl in that red outfit, huh?”

 

“Damn you, I wasn't thinking like that at all!” Hiei suddenly snapped. “I was not picturing her in that outfit, and you're an idiot for even suggesting that she put it on!”

 

“What?” Yusuke echoed.

 

Hiei's eyes briefly widened and Yusuke's eyes began to wander as he tried to figure out what Hiei had meant. Seeing the slightly panicked and lost look threatening in Hiei's eyes, Kurama found a smile.

 

“Are you perhaps referring to the incident in the ladies' changing room earlier?” he asked.

 

Yusuke gave him a questioning look and Hiei turned slightly paler.

 

“When Botan picked up a particularly meagre red dress and asked if she ought to put it on?” Kurama added.

 

“Hey, yeah!” Yusuke said, waving a finger at Kurama before turning to grin at Hiei. “I was talking about her red kimono, I wasn't talking about that skimpy little outfit at all, but obviously you were thinking about it! You little perve!”

 

“You don't know what you're talking about!” Hiei snapped stubbornly.

 

“Aw, how adorable!” Yusuke said, poking a finger at the side of Hiei's head. “The quiet and moody little guy has a little crush on the loud-mouthed ferry girl!”

 

“Fuck you!” Hiei snapped, slapping his hand away.

 

“I think you might be barking up the wrong tree there anyway,” Yusuke said with a shrug. “I don't think Botan would go for a guy like you. And I don't think Koenma or King Enma would be too happy knowing a demon was chasing after one of their ferry girls.”

 

Hiei muttered out a few insulting curse words in Yusuke's direction before marching towards the door.

 

“Hey, where are you going now?” Yusuke yelled after him. “You said you were gonna spar with me!”

 

“I'm training alone,” Hiei bit back. “I'm sure the fox will play with you.”

 

Kurama sighed as Hiei disappeared through the door, turning to look back at Yusuke.

 

“I did warn you not to tease him about it,” he said.

 

“You were teasing him too!” Yusuke yelped defensively. “And besides, it's not like he's Kuwabara. Hiei doesn't care what anybody says or thinks about him.”

 

Kurama's face twisted slightly at Yusuke's last words, but as he caught Yusuke scrutinising him he quickly covered his mistake with a soft smile.

 

“It looks like we are training alone again,” he said.

 

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

 

“Botan, there you are!”

 

Botan spun around, smiling in relief as she spotted Koenma and George walking towards her.

 

“Are there no towels or dry clothes around here?” he asked as he drew nearer, eying over her still slightly bedraggled form.

 

Botan paused, remembering Yusuke taking her into the room full of disgusting clothing.

 

“Apparently not,” she concluded.

 

“Well never mind,” he said. “How do you feel?”

 

“I feel super, Lord Koenma!” she cheerfully replied. “I can't wait for the tournament to start!”

 

“Excellent, glad to hear it Botan,” he said. “You don't feel any sadness or worry about anything we spoke about before we came here?”

 

Botan realised then that he was asking about her earlier confession to having feelings for a demon. Well, she thought dryly, after hearing Hiei's opinions on love and forcefully reminding herself of what he had done to her on Valentine's Day she was starting to think that she ought to hate him, not love him.

 

“I'm not sad or worried about anything, Sir,” she replied, shaking her head. “Why would I be?”

 

“Perfect,” Koenma said, the relief obvious on his face. “Let's go and collect our tickets.”

 

“Alright.”

 

Botan joined Koenma at his side and walked on, glancing over at George as she did so, noticing that he was carrying Hiei's coat over one arm, presumably waiting for the opportunity to return it to its rightful owner. She did think that it was odd that Koenma had seemingly forgotten about her confession and that he was doing no more about it. She had been worried that he might have realised that she had been talking about Hiei when he had seen them holding hands earlier, but apparently that was not the case. And apparently he was not going to punish her or banish her from spirit world, both of which had crossed her mind when he had told her that he only had “one other option” for dealing with her after her confession and her refusal to name the demon in question.

 

Perhaps, she thought, Koenma had decided to let it go. Maybe she had convinced him that she was over it, and he was happy enough to accept her indiscretion on the basis that she did not repeat it. And since she was starting to really resent Hiei, she doubted that she would slip up.

 

Since seeing Hiei again, Botan had to admit that all the thoughts and feelings she had been quite successfully blocking out over the last several weeks had come flooding back. More specifically, her mind was replaying that one moment when he had looked her in the eye and told her exactly what he was after that night in three words that were starting to make her blood boil to think of. She could relive the moment all too clearly: the beautiful evening sky above his head, the smell of the saltwater and seaweed, the feel of the sand against her back and his skin against hers, the look in his eyes, the lop-sided upward curl of his lips, the sound of his voice as he spoke those three damned words. When he had first started speaking to her on the roof of Genkai's temple she had imagined that she might hear three words from him that night, but the ones he had chosen had certainly not been the ones she had been hoping for.

 

Botan felt like a fool, and she supposed that the hurt and anger she was feeling was punishment enough for defying the spirit world status quo and falling for a demon. And really, when she thought about it more, she could not exactly justify feeling anger towards Hiei; she had seen firsthand how he had grown up, and he truly did not understand love. Which was actually quite ironic, because neither did his sister, who had been brought up in the ice village Hiei had been so unceremoniously discarded from as an infant. She had never considered how Hiei had been raised away from his mother, but apparently he had been raised by that group of bandits she had found him with in the past, none of whom seemed particularly caring. They had not even bothered to name him - apart from calling him that one terrible word she could barely even bring herself to think about.

 

But obviously he was not entirely heartless, because despite having been cast out by the ice maidens, Hiei still obviously loved his sister, and Botan was sure that she had been right when she had accused him of not telling Yukina who he was because he was scared that she would reject him too.

 

Hiei did not want her pity, she reminded herself, and whether or not she had the so-called sympathy for the devil syndrome, pity alone was not a valid reason to love somebody.

 

Botan had become so lost in her thoughts she had barely noticed that Koenma had already collected their tickets and he was apparently trying to tell her something that, in her daze, her ears had been closed to. She quickly brought herself back to attention, trying to look interested in what he was saying and hoping that she might hear enough of it to cover her error.

 

“-go back to spirit world and get cleaned up.”

 

Botan nodded, silently wishing that she had heard a little bit more than just that: was he telling her to go back to spirit world alone?

 

“Unless you want to spend the rest of the day looking like that?” he said, waving a hand at her dishevelled appearance.

 

She shook her head.

 

“Oh no, Lord Koenma,” she said. “I'll go back to spirit world and clean myself up immediately.”

 

Apparently still a little too caught up in her own private thoughts, Botan summoned her oar without thinking, only realising her mistake when Koenma yelped and staggered back a step from the shattered and dirtied wood in her hand. She turned to look at the remains of her oar, finding that they looked all the more pitiful when seen more clearly without a storm to distract her.

 

“Oopsie!” she said, hiding it behind her back and grinning at Koenma.

 

“We'll take Puu, anyway,” Koenma said.

 

“What?” Botan echoed.

 

“Since there are three of us, we'll take Puu,” he said.

 

“…What?”

 

“Botan!”

 

Botan giggled nervously, cowering back as Koenma leaned over her impatiently.

 

“Have you been listening to a single word I've said?” he asked.

 

“You said… I should go back to spirit world and get cleaned up?” she tried.

 

“I said the lottery for slots in the preliminary round of the tournament is starting soon, but it will take a long time, and we ought to spend that time going back to spirit world so that you can get cleaned up before the preliminary elimination round starts!”

 

“Right, of course, sorry Lord Koenma!”

 

Koenma eyed her over sceptically before shaking his head and walking on ahead. She hurried after him, and although it took her a few seconds to catch up with him completely, she did still clearly hear what he muttered to himself as she closed the distance between them.

 

“Either Hiei didn't do what I asked or he did it a little too well.”

 

Botan tried to keep the concerned curiosity she felt from her face as she walked alongside her boss: but she could not help but wonder exactly what his words had meant. Ahead of them a group of demons were gathered around a large television screen at one side of the corridor, and Botan suddenly felt her anger rising again as she saw Koto's smiling visage appear on the screen at four times life size. Botan had never liked the questionable referee, but she especially disliked her now that she knew what the fox had done with Hiei. She tried to block out the sound of the girl's voice as they drew closer to the screen, but her attention was drawn regardless when she heard Koto say the phrase “Team Urameshi”.

 

Botan stopped short, but, she was glad to see, so did Koenma and George, all three staring at the screen in disbelief. Koto was talking about how Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei had once all fought as a team but might end up fighting each other during the upcoming battles. The screen showed replays of some of the classic and defining moments for Team Urameshi during the dark tournament: Yusuke's frenetic fight against Jin, his defeat of Toguro, Kurama planting the seed of the death plant in his own body and his transformations to Youko, and Hiei consuming the dragon of the darkness flame.

 

Once more seeing Hiei return to the arena after absorbing the dragon, that air of untouchable confidence radiating off of him, the slight smile on his face as Bui began beating into him desperately and hopelessly, left Botan with just one lasting thought: despite knowing that it was wrong and stupid and despite having plenty of reasons not to, she was in love with Hiei.

 

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

 

Next Chapter: The preliminary battle royals begin, Yusuke talks to Botan about LUST, Botan makes a rash decision when things go badly for Hiei in his first challenge and ends up at the mercy of Mukuro. Chapter 20: The Advice