In the Night-Side of Eden

"Uno!"

"What?! No way! You're cheating!"

Kuwabara hollered as Genkai put down her card. He, Genkai, Botan and Yukina sat in a circle playing a game of cards at the Temple. He was becoming rather agitated since he had not won a single game so far. He had gotten close one round, getting down to the last card, but Yukina had beaten him to the punch and sealed her victory. He was getting beaten by two girls and an old lady. Kuwabara was only glad that Yusuke wasn't around to see this.

"Stop being such a cry baby and take your turn!" Genkai snarled.

"Ok, ok! Keep your pants on! Hmmm…"

Kuwabara put his hand to his chin as he contemplated on which card to put down, he scanned over his large selection of cards he had obtained thanks to all of Genkai and Botan's skips and draw two's. He shifted his eyes back and forth between Botan and Genkai as if trying to figure out what they were plotting next. Yukina sat across from him smiling and waiting patiently. He licked his lips with anticipation as he moved his hand along his cards. He then plucked one from the fanned row. He placed his card, a yellow seven over the green seven on the deck. He smiled to himself at his decision.

Botan then took a card from the few that she had in her hand and set it a top of the deck.

"Reverse." Botan smiled.

"Oh no you don't! I know what you're trying to do your trying to get me to put down another yellow because Genkai's card is yellow. Well I'm not falling for that this time Botan!" He then took a wild card from his hand and placed it on the deck. "I'm changing the color to blue, so there!"

"I win." Genkai said as she placed a blue three on the pile. Kuwabara's face fell as he looked at the deck.

"How do you guys always beat me?!" He shouted as he threw down his cards.

Yukina tilted her head to the side in confusion. "You're not mad are you Kazuma?"

"Oh no my sweet I could never be mad at you!" He cooed as he reached across and grabbed her hand while giving her a big goofy grin.

"That's a relief I'm glad you are not angry with us." She giggled.

Botan smiled at Kuwabara's tenderness, she then set her cards on the pile and stood up, brushing off her jeans.

"Well it's getting late I better be getting home." She said as she stretched her arms up in the air.

"Do you want me to walk you home Botan? It's pretty late to be walking the streets by yourself." Kuwabara offered as he got to his feet.

"No I'll be fine it's not that far anyway, besides I don't think you're ready to leave just yet." She smiled as she looked at Yukina.

Kuwabara looked at the green haired beauty that was cleaning up the cards and gathering up the tea cups they had been drinking from earlier off the floor. "Yeah you're right, just be careful ok?" Botan nodded, he then turned around to face the girl.

"Let me help you with that Yukina, my love!" He said as he bounded over and began helping her clean the mess.

Botan said her goodbyes as she exited the temple and began descending the stairs that seemed endless. She was careful of her footing so as not to accidently over step in the darkness. When she finally reached the bottom she spun around and breathed in the cool summer air. She peered up at the hundreds of stars that lit the night sky, savoring the moment as the crickets chirped to their own unique song. She let out a content sigh as she bounced along the side walk to her home. She was granted a place of her own in the living world after the Spirit Detectives services were no longer required so she could stay in touch with her friends she loved so dearly. Koenma allowed this, but only if she promised that it wouldn't affect her duties in Spirit World and that she wouldn't bring any attention to herself among the humans. It was a dream come true getting to see her friends on an ordinary day and not only getting to see them when one of the three worlds was in danger, if not all three on some occasions.

She continued down the street turning a corner occasionally every now and then. Until she got to a street that was unusually dark only one working street lamp littered the block. She could no longer hear the cricket's sweet song and clouds started to form in the sky over the stars. The street was dead quiet, the houses were old and abandoned most of the windows shattered from over the years and garbage was littered across the long black street. And frankly it was giving Botan the creeps…

"Well this doesn't seem right…I think I might have taken a wrong turn somewhere I don't think I've ever seen this part of town before." She thought aloud to herself. "I could always just fly home… ooh! But I promised Koenma that I wouldn't attract attention to myself, what if someone would see? Maybe I should have let Kuwabara walk me home after all…" She stood there a little longer pondering on what to do.

"Well…I guess that settles it then, onward it is." Botan laughed nervously as she began slowly walking down the side walk with the only working street lamp on it, but she began to pick up her pace as she realized how long it was taking to reach the end of it. She just reached the only source of light on the entire street a little relieved that she was half way through.

"Hey there girly…"

Botan froze, scared out of her wits her heart pounded in her chest, her eyes wide as she slowly turned to find the owner of the voice. She peered into the alley just in time to see a tall, strong built man step out from the shadows. He gave her a crooked smile; he ran a hand through his greasy, blonde hair he stumbled forward and latched a hand onto Botan's arm. Her nose wrinkled as he smelled highly of alcohol she looked in his eyes, his pupils dilated. She immediately began to try and rip her arm from his grasp, but he only tightened his hold on her.

"You're a mighty pretty one, you know that? Why don't you and I have a little fun huh?" He slurred as he leaned in to kiss her. Botan lifted her free hand and slapped him as hard as she could across the face. He was taken by surprise; saliva flew from his mouth as his head was smacked to the side. Botan then slammed her foot down on his. He let go of her and grabbed his foot in pain. She then began to run not wanting to look back.

"Don't let her get away!" He screamed as another dark haired man jumped out from the shadows and tackled her down. He began carrying her back to the alley by her arms, she frantically flailed about, but she began to struggle even more when she caught a glimpse of what the man, he was taking her towards was doing. He began to unzip his pants as she got closer. Her eyes widened in horror, she began screaming as loud as she could pleading for someone to come and rescue her.

"NOO!! NOO!! SOME ONE HELP ME PLEASE!"

"Shut up you bitch!" The blonde haired man back handed her hard across her face. He laid her on the alley floor and he began undressing her. She started kicking and pounding her fists into his chest. The dark haired man took a knife from his pants pocket and placed it by her throat.

"Take it like a good little girl or I'll cut your throat open." He said as he pressed the tip to her neck. A trickle of blood began to run down her neck. Botan started to cry as the blonde haired man unzipped her jeans and ripped them off her. The man with the blade removed her hair tie letting her hair fall loosely around her. He then began to cut her shirt open cutting it into shreds; he then cut her bra off exposing her breasts. He grabbed them with his free hand as he slid the blade along her skin cutting her. Tears streamed down Botan's face.

"Oh god, help me please…" She thought. She shut her eyes tight as the man slid her panties off her legs. He got on top of her and laughed darkly. Just when Botan thought her innocence was going to be robbed from her. She felt the weight of the man lifted off her; she didn't open her eyes until she heard the man scream out in pain. But all she could see was shadows moving about.

"Who's there?!" The Dark haired man shouted. Silence…

"I swear if you come near me I'll kill her!" The man pulled Botan by her hair so she was partially sitting up and put the blade to her throat once more. Botan hissed in pain at the man's actions.

A loud growl emitted from the darkness and then a scream, the blade fell to the ground, the cold metal clanking off the surface. She felt his presence behind her disappear as she fell back on her elbows. Botan looked behind her to see the man fall to the ground. She slowly stood up, pain shooting throughout her body, she covered herself the best she could as she began to back up out of the alley, she called out into the darkness.

"Hello? Please whose there?" She heard faint footsteps move toward her through the darkness. She bit her bottom lip in suspense.

An outstretched arm holding an article of clothing reached out to her.

"Here take it."

Her eyes widened as she stared at her savior.

"H-Hiei…"

Hiei sheathed his sword just finishing his training and then reached for his cloak which lay by a nearby tree. He put it on and then stared up at the sky, the clouds overtaking the stars selfishly hiding their beauty. He sighed as he closed his eyes and began walking deeper into the uninhabited parts of the park. Something in the distance echoed throughout the air, Hiei stopped dead in his tracks and his eyes opened slightly. There it was again.

"Could it be?" He thought as he used his Jagan Eye to confirm his suspicion. What he found out was far worse than he ever would have expected. His eyes widened as he disappeared through the air.

Hiei came to a stop in front of an entrance to an alley, what he saw transpiring within the alley's narrow walls angered him beyond belief. There he saw two men one a top of the blue haired woman and the other groping and cutting her chest and there she lay naked crying and begging for mercy. His eyes filled full of rage as he walked towards the scene.

He grabbed the back of the shirt of the man on top of her and flung him back into the brick wall. The man cried out as his head smacked against the concrete and then fell to the ground knocked out cold.

"Who's there?!" The other man called out and Hiei whipped his head towards him.

"I swear if you come near me I'll kill her!" The man said as he lifted Botan up by her hair and put the knife to her neck. She hissed in pain.

Hiei growled as he clenched his fists in anger, he used his speed and grabbed the man's hand with the blade in it and broke his wrist. The man screamed as he let go of Botan completely. Hiei grabbed him by his neck and then delivered one swift punch to his face breaking his jaw. He let the man go and he fell to the ground.

He saw her get up trying to cover her naked body, she backed up out of the alley.

"Hello? Please whose there?" She said.

He then walked towards her removing his cloak and extended his arm to her.

"Here take it." He said. He saw her eyes widen in realization.

"H-Hiei.."

"Did they injure you?"

"Not too badly, no…"

His scarlet eyes bore into her magenta ones; she lowered her gaze and then slowly removed her arm from her chest reaching for his cloak that he offered her. He noticed the blood smeared all over her arm from the cuts on her upper body. He narrowed his eyes upon seeing it. She began putting his cloak on as she winced in pain. She swayed back and forth before starting to fall. Hiei grabbed her by her waist and held her steady. She looked at him with tears streaming down her face. She then flung her arms around him and cried.

Hiei stiffened as she threw herself at him, she cried on his shoulder soaking his black shirt. He was shocked his eyes open wide; no one ever did this before. He slowly brought her closer to him and held her against him letting her cry.

"Oh Hiei, I was so scared! I didn't think anyone would help me!" She sobbed.

"Don't worry they won't be harming you any longer." He told her.

She grabbed a fist full of his shirt and continued to cry. "I just wanna go home…"

She felt herself lift off the ground as Hiei took her into his arms, at this she stopped crying and looked up at him wide eyed. He ran at an incredible speed, she buried her face in his chest shielding her eyes from the wind she held on to him tightly until he came to a halt. Botan looked up and saw that they were in front of her house. He walked up to the door and as he expected it was unlocked. He turned the knob and then gently kicked it open. He carried her up the stairs until he got to her bedroom; he gently set her down and took a couple steps away from her. She just stared up at him.

"What? You said you wanted to go home didn't you?" He said as he glared at her. She slowly nodded her head.

"Well…yes, I just didn't expect you to be so…nice." She admitted.

"Hn." He then turned his head away from her and crossed his arms.

He felt her arms wrap around him, his whole body stiffened on contact once again not expecting it.

"Thank you…thank you so much…if you didn't come they would still be taking advantage of me…" She whispered. Hiei's whole body went warm at her touch.

Tears started to slide down her pale cheeks; he uncrossed his arms and looked at her. Her eyes were filled with so much sorrow. She went through so much in such little time. His eyes softened as he looked at her, he took his thumb and wiped away a tear trailing down her face.

"You should go clean yourself up." He said to her.

She slowly let him go and looked at him and nodded her head. "Ok."

She went over to a dresser and pulled out some clothes she then steadily walked out the door and down the hall to the bathroom. Once she was in the bathroom she went up to the shower and put the water on she kept her hand under the water till she was satisfied with the temperature. She then removed Hiei's cloak and stepped in she began washing all of the blood and dirt off her body, scrubbing herself clean of the filth.

Hiei was still in her bedroom he heard the water turn on. "Why am I still here?" He thought sourly to himself. He walked over to the window and opened it. He barely got half way through when he heard a loud thud. "Damn it."

He brought himself back inside and made his way to the bathroom. He knocked on the door he waited for a reply when there wasn't one he slowly opened the door. The water was still running, steam lifting up from behind the shower curtain. He peeled back the curtain and sure enough there laid Botan sprawled out in the bath tub, unconscious. Hiei blushed slightly when seeing her naked, wet body just laying there he quickly tried to compose himself by turning off the water. He then knelt down closer to her he lightly tapped his hand against her cheek.

"Wake up." He demanded.

She slowly stirred and then her eyes fluttered open.

She put a hand to her head. "Ugh what happened?"

"You passed out, now get up." He said while averting his eyes away from her.

She got up and then sat on the side of the bath tub. She reached for her clothes and began to put them on, white panties and a silky white nightgown. She went to stand up only to stumble back down.

Hiei sighed as he went over to her and once again picked her up, he carried her to her bedroom and laid her down on the bed.

"There, now stay put and go to sleep, i'm tired of carrying you around because of your careless clumsiness." He commanded.

"I'm sorry…" She said softly her eyes staring at the floor.

He went over to the window and was repeating the process from before until she spoke.

"Hiei please don't go…"

"What? What do you mean?" He asked getting annoyed.

"I know this sounds silly, but do you think you could stay with me for just this one night?"

"You want me to spend the night here with you?" He asked in utter disbelief his eyebrow arched.

"Well…yes."

"Don't be ridiculous you're talking nonsense."

"Please Hiei…I know you don't want to, but I'm just so scared of being alone…" She began to cry "I just really need someone here right now what if they find me? What if they finish what they started? I can't go through it again Hiei I just can't bare it!" She clutched the blanket in her hand and sobbed loudly.

He looked at her and his demeanor softened she just looked so pathetic. He sighed and then walked over and sat down on the bed.

"Don't cry." He reached an arm over and touched her shoulder; she turned to face him and wrapped her arms around his waist. He gently grabbed her chin and made her look him in the eyes "I promise I won't let anything happen to you."

Botan smiled with her tear filled eyes and hugged him even tighter to her then before.

All the while Hiei inwardly cursed himself over and over again.