Sherkoni - Hello all!

Perrararii - Yaddihoo!

Sherkoni - This is our first fic and it is an AU (alternate universe) so don't kill us if things aren't exact.

Disclaimer: Sherkoni and Perrararii do not own Yu Yu Hakusho, but we sorta wish we could own Hiei....

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Chapter 1

Waking Up

Hiei slowly rose to consciousness and forced his eyes open. The sun blared through his windows and he groaned before burrowing further into the tangle of black silk surrounding him, inwardly cursing the bright orb. Silently, he pressed his face into his mattress, his sole intention to fall back asleep.

The demon prince inhaled the fabric deeply and was awarded with his nose being attacked by a crisp, smokey pine scent. That caused him to awaken fully and smile with pride, ego swelling. One's nose was obviously advanced when one could signify one's own wonderful scent.

"Your highness? Sire, are you awake?" a soft voice interrupted the demon's private ego-boost. He growled and shook his head before realizing he was under his covers.

"No!" he snapped. The already frightened bedding maid gave a small squeak before scurrying out of the lightening room. Hiei lay back again, content with the way the morning was turning out.

Without warning the soft, warm bedspread was ripped away, completely shattering Hiei's comfort zone and causing a chill to shiver down his body. Angrily, the prince whipped his head up to glare at the culprit.

The tall red-head glared back cooly. "Hiei - get UP! It's past eight o'clock!"((Sherkoni - That's early for me...-_-;;)) the man accused while throwing the blanket to the ground.

Hiei rolled his eyes and slumped back onto the huge bed. "What do you want Kurama?" he asked irritably before closing his eyes.

"Hiei!" Kurama shouted, simultaneously smacking the idle demon with a spare pillow. "Get!" Smack! "Up!" Whack! "You have-" Wham! "-to get to-" Another whack. "-the slave market!" Huge smack.

"OUCH! Will you quit that?!" Hiei shouted at his abusive cousin, "This world is irritating enough with out you around... wait - ME?! What about you?!"

Kurama set the offending cushion down before staring blankly at the irate man in front of him. "What about me?"

"Why aren't you going to the market?"

"I have a date with a girl named, um....Mimi," Kurama stated elegantly, before remembering who exactly the morning date was with. When recognition dawned he gagged. "Mimi?" he choked out.

Hiei laughed as he up searching for an outfit. "Oh, well I guess I really am the lucky one. What and how many slaves do I need to get?"

"Oh dear," Kurama managed weakly, "Why don't we trade?"

"Not on your life. You know what our dear uncle would say about that, 'Now boys, just because-'"

"I get to hear it from him, I don't need to listen to you saying it!" the red head snapped.

"So what kind of slaves do we need or want? Will you toss me one of those shirts?" Hiei asked, trying to straighten his inky black hair, only in froggy boxers. ((Perrararii - I can picture that...))

"This one? No, the color's wrong....how bout this one? Um, the cook is complaining about needing another scullery maid. The black one? And we definitely need some more stable boys, Yusuke keeps injuring them or they run away. Here - catch! Oh and.....I would like a maid." Kurama stared at his cousin, watching him struggle to pull the black shirt over his muscular shoulders. ((Perrararii - Not it is not Kurama thinking that, but me...*sigh*))

"Another maid! What happened to the last one?" Hiei asked incredulously, scowling at the buttons he was fumbling over, trying to figure out why they weren't staying shut.

"You know, it works better if you put the buttons through the slits," Kurama's voice laughed with amusement. "And the last maid I had has been gone for over a week, she was WAY too boring."

"One's too fat, the others too plain. One of them had too long of a nose, the other too dull of eyes. Now you're moving on to personality? Since when did you care about that? And, are you saying your most recent one was fine to look upon?"

"She possessed too many physical imperfections that I thought it more proper to stick to my first comment," Kurama stated regally. "And why can't I care about personality? That's important also!"

"Never has been to you and you know it."

Kurama accepted this as he sat on the messy bed. He didn't dare sit anywhere else, as the rest of the room was neat....more due to the work of servants than the "tidiness of Hiei".

"So what do you want this girl to look like? And why am I doing this again?" Hiei threw open his closet, searching for a pair of pants and shoes.

"You know what Uncle Koenma would say!" he sighed, "No don't wear those. Hm...with looks? Well just one that is extremely good looking. No, Hiei - that looks horrible, try the khaki ones. She has to be skinny...you know what I like Hiei. Just make sure she has some sort of passion - I don't want a dull bimbo. Wear the brown boots," the red-headed prince advised.

BEEP! The clock bounce up and Kurama groaned. Two hours with annoying, immature, snobby Mimi! What was his uncle doing to him? This was torture.

Hiei pulled on the boots and pushed his dark hair out of his face before preparing for the slave market. Here goes nothing.

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Botan set her bare feet on the dusty street of the market, basket swinging at her side, her usual smile in place. As she walked she said a friendly hello to people she knew - which was, basically, everyone.

"How are you today Botan?" an elderly man asked, a twinkle in his voice and eyes.

Botan smiled brightly. "I'm fine, thanks," she beamed, reaching into her basket to pull out a purple daisy.

The man pretended to pout. "Now, you know I don't want no flower Botan..."

She giggled. "Oh, of course," she said, planting a playful kiss on his forehead. The man grinned goofily, tipping his hat.

With a final goodbye chuckle, she headed on her way, giving out flowers, excepting small tokens of appreciation. When her basket as almost empty, she idly glanced up at the sky. You could see the top of the palace, looming over in a majestic, mighty pose. Sighing, she ran a hand over her plain, slightly ragged, brown dress and winced when she caught sight of her bare feet. 'I wonder what palace life is like...' she wondered dejectedly.

"Miss," a sweet voice interrupted her thoughts. A small hand tugged at her dress, bright blue eyes gazed at her innocently. "Can I have a flower miss?"

Botan bent down so she was eye level with the girl. Whipping out a pink rose (her personal favorite) she smiled sweetly. "Yes you may."

The joy that filled the girl's face upon recieving the flower quickly erased any doubts Botan had about a better life. Her life may not have been glamorous, but - in it's own way - it was still....perfect.

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Keiko struggled violently against the slave keeper's hold. "You had no right to whip him!" she screeched, aggressively trying to smack the living daylights out of the him. "He's a human being with feelings - not some, some...MERCHANDISE you can play with!" She grinned in triumph as her nails connected harshly with the slave-keeper's arm.

She had only spent three months in the slave market. Before, she had been raised by a respectable family that owned a quaint restaurant and always taught to treat everyone equal. Then her small, enjoyable life came crashing down when nobles killed her parents, claiming they had stolen land. When it had been proved that her family was innocent, they had simply brushed it off with the simple remark, "They're only peasants."

From that moment on, Keiko despised royalty and their disregard for people "lower" than them. She hated they way they treated their slaves and treated any human life besides their own as a toy.

So what happens to her? She gets sold into slavery.

Fan-freaking-tastic.

"Wench! Pay attention!"

Keiko winced as someone brutally yanked her to her feet, destroying her train of thought. "Get up you disagreeing minx! I just got wind that Prince Hiei is coming to buy a slave and you are the healthiest one we've got so I want you on your best behavior!"

"Yeah well, Prince Hiei," she said his name as if it were disgusting venom. "Can go buy his mother's teeth for all I care-"

She was brutally smacked again. "Respect your betters," the slave-keeper warned before stalking off. Keiko whimpered and slumped to the ground. She just wanted her freedom back....

If she had to face the prince, then she was going to show royalty what a joy ride ordering her would be....

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Perrararii - Hey all, this is Sherkoni and Perrararii, anyway thanx for reading, hope you liked it!

Sherkoni - We promise that it will get betta, so yeah....

Perrararii - Please review.

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Sherkoni - (-_-);;;

Perrararii - And your love. Please no hatred - oh, you could even give us your stories to read. Thanks!