Ha ha, I like the Hiei/Botan couple! They would have such beautiful children. Here's the story.
With and Without You
The sword slid through him like he was made of butter. In and out before he could blink. The pain was dull, barely more than that of a needle prick. The calls of his team mates distantly reached him through the fog that was rapidly smothering his senses. He felt himself falling to his knees, then face first into the ground. His last conscious thought was that it was very cold. Then is mind went black.
***
"I can't believe they just left us here like that!" Botan exclaimed indignantly for, perhaps, the six hundredth time in the last twelve hours. She had been pacing since she woke up that morning to find the boys gone without a trace, presumably on another mission.
"Believe me, you get used to it," Keiko replied dryly, as she was accustomed to being left in the dark about a great many things.
Shizuru leaned against the couch at her back and yawned hugely. "I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted. Why don't you call Koenma and see what's what?"
"Don't you think I'd have already thought of that? I'm sorry, I'm just worried," Botan bowed her head contritely for her rude tone. "Koenma isn't in either. They've never left me out of the loop like this. It isn't fair!"
"Don't worry, Botan, I'm sure they are fine." Yukina tried to soothe. Botan tried a smile, but it didn't reach her heart.
None of the others could truly relate to her situation. Yukina, Keiko, and Shizuru were relatively new members of the Reikai Tentai; Botan had been a part of it since the beginning, when Yusuke had been just another punk who had got himself killed. Before he became one of the most powerful fighters in either world.
When Kuwabara had had no idea what kind of spirit powers he was capable of.
When Kurama had been just learning what it meant to love and be loved.
And when Hiei had been one of their worst foes instead of an irreplacible ally.
That's why it hurt that they could exclude her so callously.
There was a commotion outside and in spite of her anger, Botan sighed in relief. She was the first one on the porch, ready and more than able to get her pound of flesh. Instead she gasped at what she saw.
The first to break through the woods surrounding Genkai's land was Kuwabara and Kurama, who had shouted to alert the occupants. Kuwabara, who appeared to have a broken arm and numerous scratches, was supporting Kurama.
He seemed to be limping on his right ankle, had a black eye, and his free arm was favoring his diaphragm.
Shizuru reached her brother and took his weight as he leaned on her heavily. Yukina did the same for Kurama, but looked worriedly at the other boy.
"Kazuma?"
"Don't worry about me, Babe," he mumbled.
"Yes, Keiko, Botan," Kurama wheezed. "Yusuke is right behind us. He's carrying-" Kurama could say no more because the pain constricted his breathing.
The remaining two girls were gone in a heartbeat. They knew the general direction the others had come from, but not precisely. Just as they reached the heavy brush, Yusuke fumbled through carrying a figure, bloody and swathed in black.
He swayed and tumbled to the ground, losing the battle with gravity. He groaned once and tried to lift himself and his cargo.
"Yusuke!" Keiko cried out. She released his arms and with more strength than her small frame should have warranted, hefted him up by his shoulder.
"K-keiko? It was... Botan!" With sudden alertness, he whipped his head up and looked the burdened girl straight in the eye. "Tell Botan to take care of Hiei" then he groaned and didn't protest when Keiko turned him toward the house.
Botan didn't even notice when they left. She'd been staring at the crumpled form on the ground since Keiko had lifted Yusuke off of it.
Hiei was lying there, white as a sheet from loss of blood. The black coat that had served as a makeshift blanket had slipped off, revealing a steep wound in the area below his right ribs.
"Oh, Hiei," she whispered brokenly, fearing the worst. There was no telling how long he had been bleeding, or how much blood had been lost.
She knelt down beside him and gently rolled him onto his side. The wound went all the way through. She let him back down. His breathing was fast and shallow and he was sweating profusely. He was going into shock.
Botan held her left hand close to the hole and fortified it with her right. She closed her eyes and concentrated deeply. The air around her began to crackle with static energy. Bolts snapped from her hands to the injury and slowly it began to close. Botan forced herself to stay with it until there was just a tiny scar remaining.
She was left feeling dizzy as the maneouver had drained most of her spirit energy. She forced herself to her feet and pulled the incapacitated koorime to his.
"Okay mister, you have to help me here," Seeming to understand, Hiei growled low in his throat. Step by painstaking step they stumbled toward the house.
Halfway there, Kurama and Kuwabara, just healed from Yukina's power, raced out to help. The first took Hiei, while Kuwabara scooped up Botan.
Once inside, she insisted she was okay and capable of hearing the details. She took a place on the floor next to the tired out Yukina. She was still mostly unskilled in the art of healing and it took a lot of spirit energy.
Yusuke was exhaused, but mostly unscathed, at least on the outside. Each of the three had come away from the ordeal with their own inside bruises that would take more than a healers touch to fade. Yusuke held Puu on his lap for comfort, while staring at Hiei.
"What happened guys?" Keiko asked taking her boyfriend's hand. No one said anything for a long moment.
"It was an ambush," Kurama began at last, "We knew going in that it was going to be treacherous, but we weren't expecting an army. They were drones but, nonetheless, very strong. We fought, but there were at least fifty to each of us. We were all badly injured. Somehow Hiei lost his sword, but was doing reasonably well without it. One of the demons got ahold of it and before anyone knew what had happened he'd plunged it into Hiei's side.
"Everything seemed to go into slow motion. I reached him just in time to pull him under cover before-"
"-Urameshi freaked out," Kuwabara finished.
"Yes, 'freaked out' aptly describes what happened. His spirit energy skyrocketed and basically exploded. The enemy was incinerated. The technique drained him, and while he had the least visible marks, he was the worse off next to Hiei, but insisted on carrying him home. Kuwabara and I couldn't very well argue seeing as I couldn't even support myself and he had a broken arm. We sincerely thank Yukina for healing us as best she could,"
"Are you kidding! Babe, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for your gentle touch that healed all my boo boos." Kuwabara said, eyes sparkling.
"You are very welcome, Kazuma," Yukina replied innocently, blushing faintly.
Yusuke yawned and let himself fall over, just right for his head to land in Keiko's lap. She blushed *furiously* in embarrassment. Extremely comfortable, Yusuke fell asleep immediately. But not for long. Keiko slapped him on the head and chased him up the stairs. The other's retired soon there after.
Botan was left by herself with the sleeping fire demon. She sat in a chair and tried to find a comfortable position to no avail. Her body was too sore to be comfortable sitting up.
She bit her lip and looked over to where Hiei was lying prone on the big comfy couch and made a decision.
Gingerly so as not to jostle him much, she climbed over on the far side of him. She rested her arm on his bare torso and laid her hand over his heart, reassured by the steady thumping against her palm. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, stretched out along his length. She was asleep in a matter of minutes, feeling more comfortable than she had in a long time.
***
Hiei woke suddenly like he always did. He procrastinated in opening his eyes because he was dreading what he might see. Instead he used his other senses to ascertain his surroundings.
He smelled cinnamon and... apples. Could almost taste the fragrance. He felt a soft weight on his left side, like a pillow. He heard soft breathing, his and...
His eyes flew open and immediately soft blue hair filled his vision. He could see Botan curled against him, her hand resting on his chest. He stiffened instinctively. She stirred and, forcing his body to relax once more, he closed his eyes a second before she lifted her head.
***
Botan looked up blearily, wondering what had awakened her. Hiei was still in the position he had been and she was confident he was still sleeping, due to his deep, even breathing. Curiously, she propped her self up on his chest so she could stare at him. She lightly brushed some hair off of his forehead so his whole face was visible.
She had never realized how beautiful that face was. Emboldened, she traced the lines of his profile. She was inexplicably drawn to him. Checking to make sure there was no one around to witness, she leaned up and gently kissed him on the mouth, hardly more than brush. There was an almost spark and she jerked back.
She scrambled up, touching trembling fingers to her lips. Embarrassed, she backed away and ran up the stairs as fast as she could. It would be humiliating if he had woken up while they were in such a compromising position. Honestly, she had no idea what had come over her.
***
'What has come over the baka onna?" Hiei wondered as he opened his eyes and stared sightlessly into space. He touched his fingers to his mouth, which was still tingling. Surely he hadn't imagined it, the light kiss that had caused a jolt to course through his system.
"This is insane," he said aloud. He rose, surprised that there was little pain other than sore muscles. The rip in his side was completely healed all the way through.
Everyone else was still sleeping. He slipped soundlessly out of the house into the cool morning air and shivered. Picking up a spare katana he began to repetitively swing, slice, and stab, gradually working the aches out of his body. As he warmed up the moves became faster and surer. A little thing like nearly dying couldn't deter Hiei from continuing his quest to become stronger.
"You have excellent form." The rough, scratchy voice startled the demon into missing his next target.
Genkai was observing him with a slight calculating expression.
"Hn. I didn't think anyone was awake at this hour," was his surly reply.
"Do I look like a slacker to you? It's wasteful to sleep past dawn. As I said, you have superb form-"
"I-"
"-but your technique could use some work."
Hiei bristled with pique. "My technique is fine, thank you,"
"Then why are you always a fourth of a centimeter off?"
Hiei jolted. He hadn't thought anyone else could see that. "How do you know that old woman?"
"I am a psychic trained by the best martial artists in the world. I've survived by noticing such things. Do you want my help or not?"
"I can manage on my own,"
"Suit yourself. But it seems like such a shame to waste potential like yours."
"Potential, feh! I am a class A demon, lady, and I don't need some ningen *grandma* to tell me how to handle my sword. So back the hell off!" He turned to her but she was nowhere to be found.
A katana swung down hard and caught him across the back of his thighs. His legs shook before he dropped to his knees. He had completely lost all feeling below them.
He glared at the tiny figure before him impotently. She dropped the weapon on the ground between them like a gauntlet. "You were saying, hotshot? Believe it or not, you could learn something from me, weak "ningen" as I am," she said the last scornfully.
Hiei was left there, with his pride severely damaged, and seethed in silence. She called out behind her, "Oh, and Hiei, I hope you were *comfortable* on the couch," she said sweetly.
Had she turned around and had a camera, his expression of mortification would have been priceless.
Woo hoo! Did I mention this was going to be a LEMON!? Well it is, seriously. Not any of that pwp crap, a good solid plotful lemon, with a hint of sugar to sweeten the flavor. I hope the characters aren't too OOC, I tried.
With and Without You
The sword slid through him like he was made of butter. In and out before he could blink. The pain was dull, barely more than that of a needle prick. The calls of his team mates distantly reached him through the fog that was rapidly smothering his senses. He felt himself falling to his knees, then face first into the ground. His last conscious thought was that it was very cold. Then is mind went black.
***
"I can't believe they just left us here like that!" Botan exclaimed indignantly for, perhaps, the six hundredth time in the last twelve hours. She had been pacing since she woke up that morning to find the boys gone without a trace, presumably on another mission.
"Believe me, you get used to it," Keiko replied dryly, as she was accustomed to being left in the dark about a great many things.
Shizuru leaned against the couch at her back and yawned hugely. "I don't know about you guys but I'm exhausted. Why don't you call Koenma and see what's what?"
"Don't you think I'd have already thought of that? I'm sorry, I'm just worried," Botan bowed her head contritely for her rude tone. "Koenma isn't in either. They've never left me out of the loop like this. It isn't fair!"
"Don't worry, Botan, I'm sure they are fine." Yukina tried to soothe. Botan tried a smile, but it didn't reach her heart.
None of the others could truly relate to her situation. Yukina, Keiko, and Shizuru were relatively new members of the Reikai Tentai; Botan had been a part of it since the beginning, when Yusuke had been just another punk who had got himself killed. Before he became one of the most powerful fighters in either world.
When Kuwabara had had no idea what kind of spirit powers he was capable of.
When Kurama had been just learning what it meant to love and be loved.
And when Hiei had been one of their worst foes instead of an irreplacible ally.
That's why it hurt that they could exclude her so callously.
There was a commotion outside and in spite of her anger, Botan sighed in relief. She was the first one on the porch, ready and more than able to get her pound of flesh. Instead she gasped at what she saw.
The first to break through the woods surrounding Genkai's land was Kuwabara and Kurama, who had shouted to alert the occupants. Kuwabara, who appeared to have a broken arm and numerous scratches, was supporting Kurama.
He seemed to be limping on his right ankle, had a black eye, and his free arm was favoring his diaphragm.
Shizuru reached her brother and took his weight as he leaned on her heavily. Yukina did the same for Kurama, but looked worriedly at the other boy.
"Kazuma?"
"Don't worry about me, Babe," he mumbled.
"Yes, Keiko, Botan," Kurama wheezed. "Yusuke is right behind us. He's carrying-" Kurama could say no more because the pain constricted his breathing.
The remaining two girls were gone in a heartbeat. They knew the general direction the others had come from, but not precisely. Just as they reached the heavy brush, Yusuke fumbled through carrying a figure, bloody and swathed in black.
He swayed and tumbled to the ground, losing the battle with gravity. He groaned once and tried to lift himself and his cargo.
"Yusuke!" Keiko cried out. She released his arms and with more strength than her small frame should have warranted, hefted him up by his shoulder.
"K-keiko? It was... Botan!" With sudden alertness, he whipped his head up and looked the burdened girl straight in the eye. "Tell Botan to take care of Hiei" then he groaned and didn't protest when Keiko turned him toward the house.
Botan didn't even notice when they left. She'd been staring at the crumpled form on the ground since Keiko had lifted Yusuke off of it.
Hiei was lying there, white as a sheet from loss of blood. The black coat that had served as a makeshift blanket had slipped off, revealing a steep wound in the area below his right ribs.
"Oh, Hiei," she whispered brokenly, fearing the worst. There was no telling how long he had been bleeding, or how much blood had been lost.
She knelt down beside him and gently rolled him onto his side. The wound went all the way through. She let him back down. His breathing was fast and shallow and he was sweating profusely. He was going into shock.
Botan held her left hand close to the hole and fortified it with her right. She closed her eyes and concentrated deeply. The air around her began to crackle with static energy. Bolts snapped from her hands to the injury and slowly it began to close. Botan forced herself to stay with it until there was just a tiny scar remaining.
She was left feeling dizzy as the maneouver had drained most of her spirit energy. She forced herself to her feet and pulled the incapacitated koorime to his.
"Okay mister, you have to help me here," Seeming to understand, Hiei growled low in his throat. Step by painstaking step they stumbled toward the house.
Halfway there, Kurama and Kuwabara, just healed from Yukina's power, raced out to help. The first took Hiei, while Kuwabara scooped up Botan.
Once inside, she insisted she was okay and capable of hearing the details. She took a place on the floor next to the tired out Yukina. She was still mostly unskilled in the art of healing and it took a lot of spirit energy.
Yusuke was exhaused, but mostly unscathed, at least on the outside. Each of the three had come away from the ordeal with their own inside bruises that would take more than a healers touch to fade. Yusuke held Puu on his lap for comfort, while staring at Hiei.
"What happened guys?" Keiko asked taking her boyfriend's hand. No one said anything for a long moment.
"It was an ambush," Kurama began at last, "We knew going in that it was going to be treacherous, but we weren't expecting an army. They were drones but, nonetheless, very strong. We fought, but there were at least fifty to each of us. We were all badly injured. Somehow Hiei lost his sword, but was doing reasonably well without it. One of the demons got ahold of it and before anyone knew what had happened he'd plunged it into Hiei's side.
"Everything seemed to go into slow motion. I reached him just in time to pull him under cover before-"
"-Urameshi freaked out," Kuwabara finished.
"Yes, 'freaked out' aptly describes what happened. His spirit energy skyrocketed and basically exploded. The enemy was incinerated. The technique drained him, and while he had the least visible marks, he was the worse off next to Hiei, but insisted on carrying him home. Kuwabara and I couldn't very well argue seeing as I couldn't even support myself and he had a broken arm. We sincerely thank Yukina for healing us as best she could,"
"Are you kidding! Babe, from the bottom of my heart I thank you for your gentle touch that healed all my boo boos." Kuwabara said, eyes sparkling.
"You are very welcome, Kazuma," Yukina replied innocently, blushing faintly.
Yusuke yawned and let himself fall over, just right for his head to land in Keiko's lap. She blushed *furiously* in embarrassment. Extremely comfortable, Yusuke fell asleep immediately. But not for long. Keiko slapped him on the head and chased him up the stairs. The other's retired soon there after.
Botan was left by herself with the sleeping fire demon. She sat in a chair and tried to find a comfortable position to no avail. Her body was too sore to be comfortable sitting up.
She bit her lip and looked over to where Hiei was lying prone on the big comfy couch and made a decision.
Gingerly so as not to jostle him much, she climbed over on the far side of him. She rested her arm on his bare torso and laid her hand over his heart, reassured by the steady thumping against her palm. She rested her head on his chest and closed her eyes, stretched out along his length. She was asleep in a matter of minutes, feeling more comfortable than she had in a long time.
***
Hiei woke suddenly like he always did. He procrastinated in opening his eyes because he was dreading what he might see. Instead he used his other senses to ascertain his surroundings.
He smelled cinnamon and... apples. Could almost taste the fragrance. He felt a soft weight on his left side, like a pillow. He heard soft breathing, his and...
His eyes flew open and immediately soft blue hair filled his vision. He could see Botan curled against him, her hand resting on his chest. He stiffened instinctively. She stirred and, forcing his body to relax once more, he closed his eyes a second before she lifted her head.
***
Botan looked up blearily, wondering what had awakened her. Hiei was still in the position he had been and she was confident he was still sleeping, due to his deep, even breathing. Curiously, she propped her self up on his chest so she could stare at him. She lightly brushed some hair off of his forehead so his whole face was visible.
She had never realized how beautiful that face was. Emboldened, she traced the lines of his profile. She was inexplicably drawn to him. Checking to make sure there was no one around to witness, she leaned up and gently kissed him on the mouth, hardly more than brush. There was an almost spark and she jerked back.
She scrambled up, touching trembling fingers to her lips. Embarrassed, she backed away and ran up the stairs as fast as she could. It would be humiliating if he had woken up while they were in such a compromising position. Honestly, she had no idea what had come over her.
***
'What has come over the baka onna?" Hiei wondered as he opened his eyes and stared sightlessly into space. He touched his fingers to his mouth, which was still tingling. Surely he hadn't imagined it, the light kiss that had caused a jolt to course through his system.
"This is insane," he said aloud. He rose, surprised that there was little pain other than sore muscles. The rip in his side was completely healed all the way through.
Everyone else was still sleeping. He slipped soundlessly out of the house into the cool morning air and shivered. Picking up a spare katana he began to repetitively swing, slice, and stab, gradually working the aches out of his body. As he warmed up the moves became faster and surer. A little thing like nearly dying couldn't deter Hiei from continuing his quest to become stronger.
"You have excellent form." The rough, scratchy voice startled the demon into missing his next target.
Genkai was observing him with a slight calculating expression.
"Hn. I didn't think anyone was awake at this hour," was his surly reply.
"Do I look like a slacker to you? It's wasteful to sleep past dawn. As I said, you have superb form-"
"I-"
"-but your technique could use some work."
Hiei bristled with pique. "My technique is fine, thank you,"
"Then why are you always a fourth of a centimeter off?"
Hiei jolted. He hadn't thought anyone else could see that. "How do you know that old woman?"
"I am a psychic trained by the best martial artists in the world. I've survived by noticing such things. Do you want my help or not?"
"I can manage on my own,"
"Suit yourself. But it seems like such a shame to waste potential like yours."
"Potential, feh! I am a class A demon, lady, and I don't need some ningen *grandma* to tell me how to handle my sword. So back the hell off!" He turned to her but she was nowhere to be found.
A katana swung down hard and caught him across the back of his thighs. His legs shook before he dropped to his knees. He had completely lost all feeling below them.
He glared at the tiny figure before him impotently. She dropped the weapon on the ground between them like a gauntlet. "You were saying, hotshot? Believe it or not, you could learn something from me, weak "ningen" as I am," she said the last scornfully.
Hiei was left there, with his pride severely damaged, and seethed in silence. She called out behind her, "Oh, and Hiei, I hope you were *comfortable* on the couch," she said sweetly.
Had she turned around and had a camera, his expression of mortification would have been priceless.
Woo hoo! Did I mention this was going to be a LEMON!? Well it is, seriously. Not any of that pwp crap, a good solid plotful lemon, with a hint of sugar to sweeten the flavor. I hope the characters aren't too OOC, I tried.