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When Hiei and Botan are thrown into an alternate universe, they are forced to rely on each other to get by. As if pretending to be human and assimilating to this strange new life wasn't tough enough, they are dismayed to learn that their counterparts are in a relationship. Playing human is one thing, but pretending to be a couple might just be the death of them.
Botan sat on the stone steps of Genkai's temple, completely content to observe the others on this quiet and peaceful afternoon. Ten years had passed since she met Yusuke and a lot had happened since then. Although precarious missions, dangerous tournaments and near apocalypses were now nothing more than memories of the past, the group made it a point to stay in touch whenever they could. It had been seven years since Yusuke returned from the Demon World and settled down with Keiko. She, Kuwabara and Kurama had all graduated from prestigious colleges and gone on to build their own professional careers, while Yusuke had taken over the main chef duties at the Yukimura restaurant. Shizuru was still working her nine-to-five job at some fancy corporation, Kurama was a successful botanist, Kuwabara was a middle-school teacher and Yukina and Genkai lived a happy and undisturbed life at the temple. She was still busy with her dutie as a ferry-girl, while helping to enforce Koenma's new and improved reign.
So much had changed for all of them, but Botan was grateful for the small and predictable moments like these. Kuwabara was stealing glances at Yukina as she and Shizuru talked on the temple steps. Kurama and Genkai were having a quiet conversation near the pond as he examined the flora growing around the temple. Keiko appeared to be a bit miffed at Yusuke, but after a few smooth words from the ex-detective she seemed to lose her ire, even going as far as cracking a smile at him. Everyone was happy and safe. Things were exactly as they should be.
As she continued her examination of the area, she spotted a black clad figure down the way. Her head tilted in confusion and she found her legs carrying her across the temple grounds in curiosity. Perhaps she shouldn't have wandered away on her own, but she was completely capable of taking care of herself and could easily handle the low level demons that took up residence surrounding Genkai's temple. As she reached the outskirts of the forest, she immediately recognized the figure for who he was. It was the caustic and quiet member of the team: Hiei. His eyes were closed as he leaned against a large tree, dressed in a simple sleeveless navy blue shirt, black pants and black boots. His sword was strapped onto his side and hung from his left hip and the jagan was closed underneath his black bangs.
He remained the same except for one startling fact: he was around eye-level now. He clearly hit some sort of growth spurt in the years that she hadn't seen him. He must have been fairly young by demon world standards when they first met if he was still growing and now all of those moments when Kurama had treated him like a rebellious teenager were starting to make sense. Though, to be fair, Kurama was well over a few thousand years old, so he probably treated everyone like that, but it always seemed to irritate Hiei the most. It was quite comical when she thought about it, she thought in amusement.
Refocusing her attentions on the fire-demon, she wondered what might have brought him out here and whether it was a good idea to invite him to join the rest of the party. It was a special day, after all, and Yukina would be thrilled to see him.
"What are you staring at, woman?" he asked, sharp eyes opening to glare at her accusingly.
Botan stumbled backwards nervously until she was a few feet away from him. The shade afforded by the tree's leaves and branches cast a menacing shadow over his face and his red irises seemed to glow in the darkness. Although she had always considered Hiei to be one of the good guys, she still found herself a little intimidated by his cold and dangerous aura.
"I-I just didn't expect to see you here, Hiei," she explained as she forced on an amicable smile. "It certainly has been a while, hasn't it?"
Crimson eyes met her gaze indifferently, not a single shred of recognition passing through his expression as he raised a black brow. Botan's smile dropped when she realized what was going on.
"It's me," she reminded him as she pointed her index finger at herself. "Botan?"
"…"
His eyes rover over her form with minimal effort and interest and Botan frowned. She was wearing her signature ponytail, she was donned in her usual pink kimono and she had the same energy signal that she did from the moment she came into existence; she hadn't changed at all in the last few years, so there was no reason for him to forget her so easily.
"Oh come now!" she urged, throwing her hands on her hips exasperatedly. "I know we didn't talk much, but you can't honestly tell me that you don't remember threatening me telepathically every time I almost let it slip that you were you-know-who's you-know-what!"
The realization finally dawned on him as his features relaxed a bit.
"Hn, the loudmouthed ferry-girl," he stated, shoving a hand into his pocket. "How could I forget."
"Glad you finally managed to remember the little people," she muttered, offended that it had taken him so long to place her in his memories and even more offended that he employed the use of his biting sarcasm to downplay his blunder.
"Don't take it personally," he advised. "I don't make it a habit of remembering most people unless they are important."
"Well, that makes me feel so much better!" she exclaimed hotly.
"Hn, and your sarcasm is lost on me, woman. I don't care enough to become offended."
"So I've noticed."
The two settled into a stiff silence that lasted all of ten seconds before Botan's willpower shattered. Her previous ire tapered off, giving way to curiosity as she glanced over at him.
"…So, what brings you here?"
"That is none of your concern," he dismissed as his eyes shifted to a point behind her.
Botan's mouth fell open in disbelief. She had half a mind to stomp away and leave him to whatever it was that he came for, when she sensed the approach of the rest of the gang.
"Hey, now that's a face I haven't seen in a while!" Yusuke called out with a big grin plastered over his features. Kuwabara and Kurama were trailing after the mazoku, though Kuwabara didn't look too thrilled to see their newest guest.
She pursed her lips shut, deciding not to ruin a perfectly nice afternoon with a petty squabble. Now that the rest of the group was here, perhaps Hiei would be a bit less acidic with her.
"I must admit, I was not expecting to see you today," Kurama mused.
"It wasn't by choice," Hiei answered seriously. "We have a problem."
"Isn't that always the case when the four of us are together?" Yusuke returned cheekily.
Kurama smiled knowingly and Kuwabara's expression lightened as well, mouth curved upwards at the truthful irony of Yusuke's words. Hiei didn't seem to find the humor in the situation, however, as he met their gazes stoically and cut right to the chase.
"This is no time for quips. A renegade from Mukuro's army defected and took a very important tool with him," he revealed.
"What, like her favorite hammer or something?" Yusuke joked.
"No, you simpleton," Hiei replied, eyes narrowed into a glare. "The secrets behind the item are none of your concern, but this was the last area I tracked him down in."
"He must be hiding within the expanses of the forest, then," Kurama supplied, emerald eyes roaming towards the trees and undergrowth ahead of them.
"Figures shorty would bring trouble with him," Kuwabara griped. "And on Yukina's birthday, too."
Botan's eyes widened as a realization dawned on her: if today was Yukina's birthday, then it was also Hiei's as well. Even if he was rude and antisocial, he still deserved to have a nice and enjoyable time, too. Perhaps she could get Yusuke to persuade him to stay for a while - as soon as they took care of this latest threat, of course. It would certainly mean a lot to Yukina, who had considered all of them to be her family. She turned to Yusuke, but was unable to put her plan into action when he communication mirror began to ring.
"Botan here," she answered upon pulling the device out from the folds of her kimono.
"We received readings of the runaway demon near your location. I trust Hiei has filled you in on the details?" Koenma's voice filtered through the device.
"Yes, sir. But how did you know about this?"
"Mukuro contacted me. What should have been a standard retrieval mission has now been elevated to utmost importance. It is imperative that you all reclaim that artifact!"
She briefly wondered what the story behind this artifact was, especially since Hiei, Mukuro and Koenma were scrambling to find it, but suppressed her curiosity in lieu of following orders.
"Understood. We will get the job done, sir," she guaranteed, before flipping the device closed.
"Sheesh, it's never a dull day around here, is it?" Yusuke asked.
Botan nodded in agreement before looking over at Hiei dutifully.
"Where are we headed?" she inquired.
Yusuke's brows furrowed.
"We're not going anywhere," he interrupted. "The four of us are going to go while you stay behind with the rest of the girls."
"Urameshi's right," Kuwabara agreed, before Botan could get another word in. "I have a bad feeling about this. It could get dangerous."
"Bad feeling or not, Lord Koenma's orders are absolute. I have no choice in the matter," she replied firmly, before folding her arms over her chest. "Besides, you're all forgetting that I can hold my own."
"Says the girl that nearly became spider food on our last mission," Yusuke responded.
"That doesn't count!" Botan protested.
"It sure as hell does!"
Kurama held up a hand to stop them.
"Enough. We cannot afford to waste any further time arguing," he reminded them. "Botan will join us on this mission. Between the five of us, we will have a better chance at succeeding. If the situation proves to be too dangerous, she can flee on her oar."
"Fine," Yusuke relented as he looked back at her. "Just stick close to me."
"Alright, I will," she promised.
Hiei took this opportunity to awaken the jagan. A bright blue light emitted from the purple orb as it focused on locating the demon in question, and soon enough, its job was done.
"He's southeast from here and he isn't alone," Hiei stated.
"We should try to approach the enemy from opposite ends. It would be to our best advantage to cut all points of escape off, especially since we have no clue of the item's properties," Kurama advised tactfully.
"About that, what exactly are we searching for?" Yusuke inquired.
"Yes, I don't believe Hiei's given us any details," Botan added, glancing over at the fire-demon.
Hiei glared at the both of them, but did not say a word.
"That's because Hiei not aware of what the item is or what properties it possesses," Kurama filled in knowingly.
"Heh, guess shorty isn't too high on the chain of command if he doesn't know the important stuff," Kuwabara remarked snidely.
"I have no interest in cataloguing Mukuro's trinkets," Hiei barked. "Unlike others who can afford to slack off and live the rest of their lives in careless abandonment, I have more important things to do."
Kuwabara opened his mouth to retort and the two would have surely exploded into one of their usual spats, but the rest of the girls finally joined them.
"What's going on?" Keiko asked.
"Just your standard retrieval mission. It won't take long at all!" Botan answered cheerily, not wanting to worry them.
"I thought you were done with Spirit World business, Yusuke," Keiko accused, hands on her hips as she stared at the former detective.
"I am through with Spirit World business. I like to think of this as more of a favor to an old friend," he explained, stepping to the side so that Keiko could properly see Hiei.
Her brown eyes widened, apparently only now realizing that the fire-demon was among them. She blinked at him wordlessly, and Botan couldn't really blame the girl. Keiko and Hiei hadn't really exchanged any words in all of their years of knowing each other and it would be a bit hard for them to start now.
Shizuru took a look drag of her cigarette, her countenance calm and discerning as always as she broke the silence.
"I thought I sensed a familiar energy," she began. "I'm guessing you four got yourselves into another mess again?"
"It wasn't us," Kuwabara defended, before cocking a thumb in Hiei's direction. "This time it was all Hiei."
Yukina took a step forward, a smile on her face.
"It's good to see you again, mister Hiei," she greeted softly.
The tension that held Hiei's features in a permanent scowl of irritation and impatience drained away at the sound of his sister's voice. His gaze softened somewhat – the way it always did for Yukina – and he nodded in acknowledgement. He still hadn't told her that he was her brother and the simple exchange between the estranged twins made Botan's heart ache for the both of them. Unfortunately their reunion was cut short as Kurama took an advancing step towards the forest.
"We should get going," he reminded them, always the voice of reason.
"Kurama's right," Botan said. "I'm sorry that we had to do this on your birthday, Yukina."
"There's no need to apologize," she replied understandingly. "Please be careful."
"Your concern and the power of your love will protect us," Kuwabara guaranteed, puffing out his chest for good measure.
Hiei scoffed as he turned away and headed out first.
"I'll be back, my love!" Kuwabara declared valiantly, before following suit.
It was like old times again as she followed closely behind Yusuke. The rest of the boys had split up, intent on following through with Kurama's plan to ambush the demon on all sides. By the time they had found the culprit, he was already engaged in combat with Hiei. And to make matters worse, he had brought friends. Yusuke jumped into the fray, joining Kurama and Kuwabara as they took on their own opponents.
From her vantage point in the sky she could see everything clearly. Hiei was busy fighting a green skinned lizard demon. He was nothing out of the ordinary with his average build, sharp claws and fangs and his scaly, long tail and Botan was sure that Hiei could handle himself. She examined the lizard-demon carefully, frowning when she did not find any place that the enemy could possibly hide an all-powerful artifact. As he dodged Hiei's attacks with a series of acrobatic tricks, she caught sight of a sapphire colored pendant attached to a golden necklace. It seemed odd for a demon of his class to be wearing something so delicate and when it slipped off of his neck and onto the forest floor, she realized that it must have been the item that they were all searching for.
Botan grinned. This was her chance to prove that she wasn't as useless as they had all believed her to be. Without making a sound, she slowly descended to the ground and banished her oar. Once she was sure that no one was paying attention to her, she scooped up the necklace with a triumphant grin.
"So much for being useless," Botan said to herself as she stood up. She took a moment to glance down at the pendant, turning it over in her hand. Though it seemed nothing more than a harmless piece of fine crafted jewelry, she knew that it contained an immeasurable amount of power. She had dealt with all sorts of artifacts in the Spirit World and she wondered what sort of power this unassuming little artifact could have possessed, but she knew that this was neither the time nor the place for contemplation. She moved to make her getaway when the lizard demon suddenly appeared before her.
"Give that back," he ordered as he held out a clawed hand. There was a clear desperation shining in his grey eyes and Botan was momentarily taken aback by it. He was definitely stronger and faster than her, so she was a bit confused as to why he did not just grab the item out of her hand.
"I don't think so. This doesn't belong to you and it's high time that we returned it to its rightful owner," she replied, clutching it tighter in her grip and hoping that her bravado would buy her some time.
He took a threatening step towards her, but then Hiei reappeared in between Botan and the enemy.
"Though she is loud and interfering, the ferry-girl does have a point," Hiei stated, his sword drawn in front of him. "That artifact belongs to Mukuro and you will pay for your greed with your life."
Botan hadn't expected Hiei to come to her aid, but she was grateful for his assistance. She ducked as a green energy blast whizzed right past her, nearly incinerating her.
Hiei turned around to glare at her angrily.
"What are you standing around for?" he growled. "Take the relic and go."
"R-right," she nodded, before quickly summoning her oar and mounting it. She shot up into the air and zoomed away, focused on getting as far away as fast as possible. Botan had nearly cleared the area when her flight was disrupted. She twisted around to see that the blade of her oar had been decimated and she soon began to fly into a tailspin. She was falling far too quickly to right herself and her oar was no longer responding to her spirit energy. She lost her grip on the pendant in the fray and watched as it glinted in the sunlight and fell further and further from her. Both Hiei and the lizard demon spotted it as well, but Botan was confident that Hiei would reach it first. His speed was unmatched, after all. Everything seemed to move in slow motion from there. She screwed her eyes shut as she awaited the painful impact of her fall, but it never came. She let out a gasp when she fell against something much softer and warmer than the cold and unforgiving ground and slowly peeled her eyes opened to meet crimson eyes. Hiei quickly released her and she stood on her own two shaky feet, trying to remain upright despite how lightheaded she felt. It was almost unbelievable that he had chosen to save her instead of reclaiming the artifact. She knew that Hiei did not care about her in the slightest, nor did he particularly concern himself over the state of her wellbeing. But even if it was nothing more than his honor-code and lingering sense of duty to the team that spurred him help her, she was more grateful than he would ever know.
"Never thought I'd see the day that Mukuro's general sacrificed the success of a mission to save the life of a measly ferry-girl," the lizard demon chuckled darkly, twirling the necklace around haphazardly. "Guess there's a first time for everything."
Hiei's jaw clenched as he gripped the hilt of his sword tighter. The fire-demon was going to attack, and Botan found it strange that the enemy had suddenly dropped his guard. She noticed that the pendant was glowing and her brows furrowed upon realizing what that meant.
"I'd step back if I were you two," the lizard demon warned. "I doubt you'd want to go where I'm headed."
The air around them began to shift and Botan's eyes widened. She knew that she had to get away, but she couldn't very well leave Hiei here.
"Hiei, wait!" she urged, taking a step forward in order to pull him back.
But she was too late and Hiei had already lunged towards him the enemy. Her failed attempt to save him brought her directly in the range of the artifact's power and the lizard demon's lips quirked upwards as a blinding light enveloped the three of them. The sheer intensity of it all caused her to close her eyes and cover them beneath her hands. Though she did not feel any pain or discomfort, she could not erase the horrible sense of dread in the pit of her stomach.
Life as she knew it would never be the same.
Hey guys! I'm back with a brand new H/B story. I don't expect that this will be that long of a fic, but it should be something light and fun for everyone to enjoy. It'll feature both Hiei's and Botan's POV, but, as you can see, I got a little carried away and the whole first chapter became nothing but Botan's POV.
Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the first installment. I posted it earlier than I originally intended to in order to test the waters and see if this was something you'd all be interested in. Please let me know your thoughts~