This is an HB, MCSF (Multi-chapter song fic)

Our story begins long ago, before any one even knew that Hiei Jaganeshi, the forbidden child from the floating island of the koorime, and Botan Fuyiga, a child who'd gone missing, had met.

-------

It begins over twenty years ago, when Botan was only five.

The forest was dark and scary, Botan had decided as she sat huddled on a tree branch. Her dress, which was made of woven silk, was torn and dirty from slipping, falling, and walking all day. Her arms ached, and she wished she'd been able to find her family. Somehow, she'd gotten left behind today; Enma had probably done it on purpose. He didn't like her much.

The air around her whistled the way it does when something is falling fast. Botan climbed down from the tree and looked up at the dark sky, she could barely see anything. Then the lightning flashed and she saw it. A tiny bundle, hurtling towards the ground, then she heard it. An angry, terrified cry, a baby. Lightening flashed again, and she ran so she would be right under the bundle, and she held out her arms.

Within seconds, she felt it land heavily in her open arms, and she fell backward with the force. The crying increased, and she frantically started peeling the layers of the bundle apart, trying to reach the baby inside. When she finally got the baby free from the wrappings, she gasped in awe. He was a beautiful little guy. His eyes were extremely red, which she assumed was from all his crying though she couldn't see any tears, and he had pretty black hair, sticking up like fire. Around his tiny neck, there was a long string with a tiny blue bead.

"Shhh…" She whispered softly, stroking his hair and his face, trying to get him to stop crying. The sky lit up again with lightening and she saw a name scribbled on a piece of the cloth that had been covering him. "Hiei," She murmured, looking back into the baby's eyes. He sniffled, and stopped crying when she said his name, and reached his tiny hand out for her. She bit her lip, to stop from giggling, and brought her hand to his tiny, outstretched one.

In less than a second the baby narrowed his red, puffy eyes at her, snatched two of her fingers, and bit them. Botan yelped and pulled her hand back, "Yeowch! What was that for?!" She asked crossly, as the baby smirked at her. She looked down at her fingers and sighed as she spotted the tiny little fang holes. "I never knew we demons were so vicious as babies." She said pointedly to the baby, Hiei. "Well of course you would be. I don't know where you were falling from, little Hiei," he was still smirking at her, and even though she knew that (in humans at least) facial movements in infants were uncontrolled, it was bugging her, "but it must've been pretty far up." She tentatively brought her hand towards his face again, whispering "I caught you, I saved your life little Hiei." She could have sworn she saw him frown before a sadistic looking grin came over his face.

She suddenly felt a warm breath on the back of her neck and tensed up. She turned around and sighed in relief. "Koenma! I told you not to sneak up on me!" She growled playfully as her young brother laughed at her, "I'm the least of your problems. Mom isn't happy, and by association, neither is dad." Koenma shot back. Botan bit her lip and turned her gaze back down to baby Hiei, she could see amusement swimming in his red eyes and she growled at him. "You would enjoy my trouble you sadistic child you." She muttered bitterly as Hiei began to laugh, in his overly cute babyish voice. Koenma's gaze instantly went to the baby and he groaned, covering his head with his hands, "Botan, no no no! Where did you get that thing?! Dad is going to kill it! You know how he feels about demons!" Botan sighed, "I know, I know. He fell from the sky. I couldn't let him hit the ground and die, now could I?"

In her arms, Hiei started squirming, but she paid no mind. His tiny mouth formed a scowl as she ignored him, and he decided the only way to get her attention was to bite her again. So he sunk his tiny fangs into the wrist of the hand that had been stroking his face. Botan yelped again and retracted her wrist from his grasp. She couldn't believe that little bugger bit her again. This time hitting a big vein.

She was at a loss of what to do, set down baby Hiei to tend to her wound and leave him vulnerable, or do nothing for the blood loss? "Koenma! How far is mom?" She asked frantically, and he shrugged, "Not very. I'd say maybe ten steps."

"Botan!" She heard a kind voice cry from behind her, "Oh Botan you're bleeding!" Botan turned to look at her concerned mother. "I need to stop the bleeding mom…can you watch the baby for ten seconds? Please?" Her mother looked down at the very smug looking baby in her daughter's arms and nodded. Botan set him down in Kala's arms and tore off part of her dress, wrapping it tightly around her bleeding wrist.

Once she was sure that the bandage was tight enough she leaned over Hiei and glared at his tiny form, "You little brat of a demon. Why'd you go and bite me!" He smiled up at her, and she could see her blood lingering on his lips before he licked them. She turned her gaze to her mothers worried amber eyes, "Can we keep him? He fell from the sky and he ain't got no one."

Kala's face twitched as she looked down into the infant boy's eyes and licked her lips in thought. "Botan; honey, if it were up to me, I'd say yes. You know I would." She started, and she watched her daughter's face drop, "But it's not. It's Enma's choice, I know…" Botan sighed and gently took Hiei out of her mother's arms, "Can we at least keep him a little while? Until we find a home for him?" Kala didn't answer Botan, knowing she couldn't decide anything. "Botan, why do you want to help him, he bit you did he not? Isn't that what you just claimed?"

Botan nodded hesitantly, her brown-ish hair falling in her face, "Yes. He did…but he's just a baby! He doesn't know what's going on." Deep down, Botan was starting to grow quite confident that the baby knew exactly what was going on, but she didn't want her mom to flat-out refuse. "We can ask Enma, your father, when we get you back to the camp honey. Koenma, run ahead and tell your father we found her."

Koenma saluted his mother and dashed off through the bushes to where his father was waiting. Kala put her arm around Botan's shoulder and led her daughter through the bushes.

When they reached the camp, Botan came face to face with her horribly angry stepfather. "Botan where in Makai did you disappear to! We were worried sick; don't you know how bloody dangerous it is for a little girl to wander around, alone, in the Makai!?" Botan bowed her head, trying to shrink away from his angry eyes, and she tightened her arms around little Hiei.

Little Hiei himself, was quite upset that she was in trouble, he was the only one allowed to give her trouble. Of course, since he was so young, he couldn't say so; he could only think it. So he opted for glaring up at Enma.

When his stepdaughter tightened her arms to her chest, Enma noticed the infant she was holding. It was obvious by his black hair and, quite angry, red eyes that he was a demon brat. "What are you doing with that thing." He asked her angrily, if she expected him to accept that brat into the camp, she had another thing coming. Botan looked down at baby Hiei, then up at her stepfather and swallowed a lump in her throat, "I f-found him. He fell right out of the sky! I could hear something falling…and I heard him crying…so I caught him."

Enma studied her face, searching for any reason to believe she might be lying, but found none and scowled at her. "Well you better go put him back where you found him, because I wont have that thing attracting demons like him." Botan licked her lips and looked down at the angry looking little baby, and shivered at the thought of just abandoning him. "But he's so tiny! He'll die out there!" She looked into Enma's eyes when she heard him growl angrily. That wasn't a good sign.

"I don't care. Makai could use fewer demons, and obviously there is something wrong with him if his tribe abandoned him. So go put him back." Botan looked to her mother desperately, holding Hiei closer, "Mom…say something! He's just a baby!" Her mother wouldn't meet her eyes, "Honey…Botan. Your father is right. Demons don't just abandon a healthy baby."

Botan closed her eyes tightly and stepped back until she was up against a tree, "He's not my father! My father wouldn't have ever let any living thing be left helpless!" Botan opened her eyes and glared at Enma, "My father wouldn't turn an innocent baby away! He's not a monster!" She could see Koenma gaping at her behind his father, she'd never been so disrespectful towards him; he was after all the king of Rekai. She'd wanted too though. So badly. He pushed her around all the time; he really didn't like her.

Kala looked between them, her daughter and her husband, and she bit her lip, "Botan honey, don't be foolish. Just go put the baby back; this is a popular trail; someone else will find him." Botan turned her gaze to her mother, shocked and horrified, and Enma took the chance to yank Hiei out of her arms.

Being held up by his tiny little arms, Hiei began to wail and cry, black tears rolling down his soft, round cheeks. Botan lunged for him but Enma held him out of her reach. "Stop it! Let go you're hurting him! Give him back!" She cried out, jumping up, trying to get the crying baby. Enma wasn't listening however. He was watching the tears turn into gems, and he roared angrily, using his free hand to slap Botan away as he realized just what type of demon the baby was.

"You idiot child!" He roared, "this baby isn't supposed to exist. His kind don't birth males!" He shook the baby angrily as he yelled at Botan's small, curled form. She held her hands to her cheek, tears spilling down her cheeks. "It's not his fault! He's just a baby!" She cried out.

Kala stood rooted to the ground. She couldn't believe her husband had just struck her daughter. He'd never so much as lay a hand on his own son, yet he'd strike her daughter? She cried out in frustration and ran over to her daughters huddled form, only to be pushed away by Botan. "Give me the baby." Kala said solemnly to her husband, hurt because of her daughter's refusal for comfort.

Enma sneered at the wailing infant before tossing him to his wife. Kala caught the poor baby carefully and turned back to her own crying child, "Botan, we'll find him a home in the morning." She promised softly, handing the still wailing infant to her daughter. Botan took Hiei into her arms and cradled him against her chest, staring at her mother. She wasn't sure what to think. First her mother sided with that jerk, her stepfather, then she made him give her back the baby? What was going on?

Botan looked down into the tear-glazed eyes of little Hiei and felt more tears roll down her face. "Shhh…. It's okay Hiei…you're safe now." She murmured, pulling him up to her shoulder and patted his back lightly, like she used to do when Koenma was a baby and he was crying. She felt his little fists grab onto her dress, and his breathing evened out, his crying stopping.

Botan glared at Enma, and nodded softly to her mother. Botan lay down on the ground, holding Hiei close, and closed her eyes, drifting into a light sleep. Botan first woke before dawn, when the rest of her family was sleeping. She tried to go straight back to sleep, but she could see something reflecting the moon's light on the ground. Mindful of the sleeping baby in her arms, she crawled over to the small objects, which turned out to be jewels. She gathered them all into her free hand and stuck them in her pocket. She'd examine them later, when they were home. Crawling back to where she'd been before, she let herself fall back asleep.

When she woke up the next morning, Koenma was sitting beside her, and Hiei was not in her arms. She shot up and looked at her half-brother, "Where's Hiei?!" She asked frantically, and he just pointed to their mother. She was sitting in front of a small fire, feeding Hiei some sort of mush from a bowl. He was refusing to open his mouth at the moment, and was pushing at Kala's hand, forcing the food away from him, and he was crying.

Botan walked over to her mother and plucked Hiei from her arms. His crying stopped and she took the spoon from her mother, "Let me try. He likes me." She brought the spoon to his lips and he glared at her, keeping his mouth firmly shut. She narrowed her eyes at his refusal to eat and whispered, "It's not going to kill you little Hiei." When he still refused to open his mouth, she sighed and set the spoon down before nipping her finger, letting a drop of blood land on the food, and she tried again.

This time, he eagerly opened his mouth wide and accepted the food. "You're a weird little guy." She said regrettably as she put a little bit of blood on the rest of the food and fed him until he smacked the spoon out of her hand. "He's a strange little one, isn't he?" Kala asked her daughter, after observing the baby enjoying the food mixed with blood.

Botan glanced warily at her mother and nodded, "Yeah, he is a bit odd. But he's just a baby." She used her sleeve to wipe away a bit of bloody food from his chin and she smiled at the content look on his face. His brilliantly red eyes sparkled with what she could only assume was a childish joy. He reached out for her hand, and gripped her still bleeding finger, bringing it to his mouth. His little tongue began to lick at the trickle of blood, and Botan couldn't help but smile as he closed his eyes peacefully, licking and sucking away the blood.

Botan heard an angry sounding cough from the other side of the campfire and looked up to see her stepfather glaring at her. "I found a home that'll take him. Give him to me and I'll see that he makes it there." Botan narrowed her eyes at him and looked back down at the happy, satisfied baby in her arms, and shook her head. "I'm not handing him to you, you'll just hurt him and scare him again." Hiei opened his big, bright eyes and looked up at her, removing her finger from his mouth and gurgling happily at her. She smiled at him and lifted him up se he was eye level with her, and she began to cry. "C-can't we keep him? He likes me! I want to keep him!" She asked, turning her lavender eyes to her mother, hoping she might side with her again.

"Botan, you can't keep him. He'll be much better off with other demons." Her mother said softly, trying to make her daughter understand. Botan looked back at Hiei as he fisted his tiny fingers in her brown hair, tugging lightly. "But I'm a demon like him." Kala sighed at her daughter's conviction to keep the infant and looked desperately at her husband. "Your father and I will talk about it. Keep an eye on your brother for a minute." She strode over to her husband and pulled him away from the camp.

"Don't tell me you want her to keep that thing." He asked angrily, running his hand through his hair. Kala shook her head, "No, look. She won't give him up willingly…she's not like that. But she can't care for him, and I can't look after another child." She brought her hand to her husband's face and sighed, "I think the best way for her to part with him, is without choice. Tell the family you found to take him from her." Enma looked at his wife in shock, but nodded. That was probably the easiest and quickest way for this to go down.

Koenma came up behind his older sister and stared into the baby's eyes. "You know, even if they say you can keep him, as soon as he realizes what's going on around him, he won't like you." Botan glared at her brother, "Nuh-uh! He'll still like me." She held Hiei up a little higher, and he let go of her hair. Koenma took his chance and swiped Hiei from her hands, holding him up by only one arm.

Hiei narrowed his little eyes at him and kicked out his foot, it connected with Koenma's nose and he dropped Hiei with a yelp. Botan caught him just before he hit the ground and glared at her brother, "Yeowch! He kicked me! He's dangerous!" Botan growled at her brother and smacked him upside the head; "Of course he kicked you! You were hurting him!"

Enma and Kala returned to the camp and found Koenma rubbing a sore nose, and Botan glaring at him with Hiei clutched tightly to her. "Botan. You can keep him; if you can protect him." Botan turned to face her mother and stepfather in disbelief. She ran over to them and hugged Enma's leg, careful not to crush Hiei, "I will! He won't even get so much as a scratch!" She cried gleefully, letting go of his leg to hold Hiei up and snuggle his face. "You hear that little guy? I can keep you! I'll make sure no one hurts you! I promise!" The baby gave her a vacant look, and grabbed the side of her face, scratching her cheeks slightly with his tiny, sharp claws.

By the time the sun had reached its peak in the sky, they had made it back to Rekai, and their home. Botan had rushed to her room, little Hiei tied to her back in a sling which used to be Kala's scarf. Botan set the small, sleeping baby on her bed, surrounding him with pillows before she ran back out to thank her parents again. She heard them talking from down the hall and snuck towards the living room, listening to their conversation.

"How long till they come and take him?" "They'll come tonight, take him while she's asleep, and in the morning, we won't have to worry."

Botan backed away from the living room and bolted for her room. They had lied to her. They were still giving Hiei away. Well, he wasn't going anywhere without her approval. She opened the door to her room, and found Hiei climbing up onto one of her pillows. "Hey!" She cried and lunged for her bed, catching him before he could fall and hurt himself, "You gotta be careful little guy!" She cradled him into her arms and sighed. She'd have to find him a home on her own. And she only had a couple hours. "Hiei…I promised I'd keep you safe…and the safest place for you is away from here." She whispered, she glanced out her window and sighed. She had no idea where he'd be safest. "I wish…I wish I knew where to take you…"

She looked down into his big eyes and bit her lip, "I wish they weren't so hell bent on taking you away from me. I could use the company of a demon." She lightly stroked the side of his face, tracing his chubby little cheeks with her own small hand. "I'm not even allowed to look like a demon. My hair isn't really brown." Little Hiei cocked his head to the side and raised his little eyebrows at her. "My hair is blue. Just like my daddies. If my dad were here he'd have taken you in a heartbeat. I know he would have."

Hiei tugged on her finger and stuck it in his mouth, puncturing it with his fangs. She smiled as he began to lick away the blood. "Maybe one of the ogres will help us?" She asked rhetorically, and padded out of her room with Hiei happily lapping away at the blood from her finger. She made her way through the twists and turns of the halls, until she made it to the main level, where all the work and magic happened. She stopped the first ogre she saw, and he smiled at her, "George…can you help me with something super-super secret? Please?" She smiled as the blue ogre nodded, and she led him into the closest office.

"What help do you need Miss Botan?" He asked, sitting on the closest chair and bringing her up onto his knee. "I need to get little Hiei somewhere safe…he's being plotted against by Enma. It's just because he's a demon, just like me!" She said softly, as she showed the small baby to George. "I see." He nodded and set his hand on Botan's shoulder. He knew Enma wasn't a fan of demons, and he would very well plot to harm an innocent one.

"Well…the safest place for any little demon is with his mother." Botan shook her head at George's suggestion, "No good George. I don't know where his mom is…I found him falling from the sky, and I caught him. I'm not sure they'd want him back…even if we could find them." The ogre nodded carefully, "Well…then an orphanage? There's a few of those in Makai, and then he'd be adopted by demons that want him."

Botan's face lit up like a candle, "Yeah! That's perfect! Can you take me to one, please? We could just sneak a portal…" She pouted up at him, and George smiled. "Alright. But we have to be quick about it. I'll take us to the best orphanage in the Makai." He turned to the computer on the desk he was sitting at, opened the program that created the portals and entered the destination. Thebes, Makai. The portal appeared beside the desk and he picked Botan up before walking through it.

When they exited the portal, they were in a grand marble building. At a desk not too far away, there was an elderly demoness chatting with a young man. "This looks like a nice place Hiei." She whispered as George carried them over to the counter.

The elderly demoness looked at Botan cautiously, "Can I help you?" Botan looked down at Hiei for a moment before looking back up at the woman. "I want someone to look after little Hiei." She held him up for the lady to examine. Peering through her spectacles, the woman nodded, "Okay. We can take him." She reached out to take him from Botan, but the young girl shook her head, "Can I say good bye first?" The woman nodded with a sigh and Botan turned Hiei so he'd be facing her, and hugged him close. "Aloha-oe, aloha-oe, ikeona ona noho ikanipo, one fond embrace ahoea ea, until we meet again, until we meet again." She sang softly, squeezing him gently one last time before handing him over to the woman. "Sayonara youji, I hope you have a happy life. I love you little Hiei." She kissed his cheek softly, before letting George carry her back to the portal, "Take care of him! Please!" She called out to the lady behind the desk.

Once she and George got back into the office, Botan hugged him tightly, "Thank you George! Please don't tell Enma…" "I won't Botan. Yours and Hiei's secret is safe with me."

After supper, Botan was changing into her pajamas, and she heard the tiny little clinks in her pocket from the jewels. She poured them out of the pocket so they were spread out on her bed and examined them closely. They looked like the one that had been around little Hiei's neck. But where had they come from?

There. Chapter one is done! Let me know how it is!