Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho
He sat there in contemplation. He was thinking of the past, like usual. It wasn't that the demon was dwelling on the past, just remembering it. His face was blank like he had trained it to be. The mask was very strong and if anyone were to come upon the tree he was in, they would only think him to be in a daze of some sort.
"Hiei, I'd like to say hello." A chipper voice said from beside the fire demon. Hiei lazily turned his head toward the ferry woman on the floating oar.
"Hn." Was the standard reply given. Botan was used to it by now with almost anything she said or asked. For the past few months the chipper woman had felt the need to greet the lonesome fire demon everyday. She hopped off her oar and sat on the tree, making sure to keep just a little bit of distance between herself and Hiei. She knew he didn't like it and she respected that, unlike her best friend Yusuke who dared to mess with Hiei every time he got.
"How are you today?" Botan asked with a smile. Hiei averted his head back to look at the sky.
"Hn." He shrugged his shoulders as a real response.
"Well that doesn't seem too good. I mean it's better than a few days ago when you were angry and told me to leave you alone, but it's not as good as it could be." Botan had her finger on her chin in thought. She turned to Hiei but he didn't turn to her. "Do you want to talk about it?"
The question was innocent and something that would come when the now 5 foot 7 inch fire demon sounded upset or angry. He sighed and blinked once but didn't answer. Botan seemed patient enough and didn't pester him to answer.
"No, Onna, you know I don't." His answer wasn't harsh but calm. He heard her shift slightly and glanced at her out of the corner of his eye. She was fixing her kimono and brushing things off of it. Then the ferry girl turned to him with a smile.
"That's okay Hiei. We don't have to talk about it if it makes you uncomfortable. We can talk about something else if you like. Like we could talk about any new techniques you've put into your sparring. Yeah! Have you put any new techniques into your sparring lately?" Her voice was chipper and Hiei appreciated the fact she didn't bug him to talk about things he didn't wish to talk about. The fire demon also appreciated the fact that she tried to talk about things that interested him.
"No, I haven't. I've been doing the same thing I always do when I train." Hiei said with a tone of boredom. The spiky haired man wasn't bored but he wasn't going to tell Botan that.
"Well then maybe you should try something new. Oh, I know! I could train with you. I mean I know I'm not good yet but you could teach me. I would use my oar and such to block and I'd use my bat. You'd probably suggest a sword but since I wouldn't normally have that handy when in a real battle I'll just use my normal weapon. What do you think?" Botan suggested. Hiei sat in silence thinking about it. He sighed and nodded his head while leaping form the tree. Botan hopped on her oar and flew to the ground.
"Come on, Onna. If you're going to train with me you'll have ot be faster than that." Hiei was already walking far ahead. The ferry girl giggled and ran to catch up with him. His stride was fast and the blue haired woman had to walk faster than she was used to but she felt it was well worth it.
"Thank you so much, Hiei! I'm so glad you're letting me train with you." Botan squealed and jumped around as they entered a clearing. Botan stopped as Hiei went ahead. The fire demon turned around and got in a fighting stance. The ferry girl pulled out her oar and got in an fighting stance. Hiei sighed and walked over to her. Her face was confused and she stood up straight instead of the slouched position she was in.
"I can't spar with you if you can even have a proper fighting stance." His toned was annoyed but Botan still smiled at him. He then showed her the correct way and after a few time she got it. Then he sighed again.
"You're holding the oar wrong. If you're going to fight with that thing then hold it the right way. Since most the weight is up there.. Hiei continued explaining as he helped fix her posture and everything. After a while she was finally in a proper stance but he was still standing there.
"Is something wrong?" Botan asked with a worried tone and look upon her face. Hiei grunted and shook his head.
"I've seen the way you fight, Onna, and honestly it needs fixing." After that was said for the next 2 hours Botan was taught how to fight. She was tired, sweating and she had taken off the top layer of her kimono and was panting on the grass while lying down.
"That was great." Botan cried out with a smile. She was dead
tired but she was happy. Hiei was sitting against a tree trunk and
heard her.
"You barely managed anything, Onna. How was it 'great'? Hie asked with his eyes closed. They hadn't gotten very far in training because some of the things Botan couldn't really manage. He heard her giggle and looked at her. She was pushing herself up from the ground and staggered over to him. Then the ferry girl plopped down beside him and closed her eyes while leaning against the trunk.
"Because I got to spend time with you." Botan said, her breaths coming in normal now. The woman opened her eyes and smiled at Hiei. His eyes were slightly wide at what she said. Then all of a sudden he felt her head on his shoulder. The anti-social fire demon didn't remove it. He was still in shock of what she said.
"Did you have fun?" Botan quietly asked. Her voice was fading because she was slowly falling asleep. A small smile came to Hiei's face and he knew she was close to sleep. He rested his head on hers and closed his eyes.
"Yeah, Onna, I did." Hiei whispered. Botan smiled and grasped his arm and held it close as she fell into sleep and the last thought that went through Hiei's mind before he fell asleep was 'It feels like home.'
I was inspired to write this from another fan fiction story I read. The story they wrote wasn't based on something like this but it was just a line in the story that sparked my creativity. Well I hope you liked it.