Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters

Hey everyone! I promised a new Hiei X Botan fic to come out soon after I completed Trials of Life, and as of this new year, you'll have two. This one is a bit darker than ToL, and the other one will be much fluffier than both. I'm really excited for both projects.

This story was inspired by the song "Children of the Night" sung by Richard Marx, so give that a listen, and the title comes from a song by Linkin Park, which the title itself has strangely enough added to the story.

So without further ado, The Catalyst.

Darkness fell, the night growing colder as a figure standing in his boat looked out into the watery abyss of the ocean. The rickety, old boat bucked as another wave pushed it into the dock. The creak of the wooden dock knocking into metal made the dark, spiky-haired man cringe. For years, this boat had been his home and it was far from seaworthy. It was the one object he received from his father, the last object that tied him to his old life. He had no money to really maintain the vessel. All he had was guts and his own two hands. He had put a lot of time and effort into repairing the major damages of the boat. Even the spot at the dock was a loner from an old friend. He really hated accepting the charity, but without it he'd be living on the street. There wasn't much he could do about his situation or about the knowledge that it wouldn't take much to sink his home. He just accepted his fate.

Talk about living on the edge, he though bitterly and snickered wryly before taking a large sip of his cheap beer.

The figure, well, his name was Hiei, Hiei Jaganshi to be exact. He was the son of a sailor and a nurse, the latter of whom was that daughter of a very famous, deceased business tycoon. A decade had gone by since Hiei had last been with his family having been tossed out by his grandmother unceremoniously to fend for himself.

It had been a horrible time for Hiei and his beautiful and kind twin sister, Yukina, whom he had always hoped to protect, were separated. The two had been loved immensely by their parents and they had wanted for nothing, not that they ever really wanted much to begin with. Hiei had looked up to his father, the man teaching him to sail when he was very young. Because of his respect for his father's profession, Hiei had always hated his grandmother. She looked down upon the man her daughter had married. The two never saw eye to eye when it came to his father, and Hiei made sure she knew that.

He was thirteen when his father disappeared at sea after the vessel he was on had been wrecked by a storm. It had been devastating for all of them, especially his mother, Hina. To add insult to injury, their mother had fallen ill soon after and had passed away the year after leaving her son and daughter to go to the only family they had remaining…their grandmother.

Despite their differences, Hiei had never expected his grandmother to be cruel enough to turn him away. He and Yukina had packed up everything their parents had of value and sentiment. The boat was left to Hiei by his father for the future, and there were funds to keep it docked up until he was eighteen. It was the only place he could go the day Yukina moved in with their grandmother. The woman hadn't let him even walk through the door. Yukina had walked inside, but then their grandmother got in between them. Hiei and his sister had been stunned, especially when the woman called her butler to remove Hiei from the property. Of course, she had called him many derogatory names. He could still remember the sight of his sister begging the woman to let him stay and demanding an explanation as to why.

He remembered seeing her tears pool at her feet.

Hiei scoffed as thoughts of his old life came to him. It usually happened on nights like this where the seas were rough and he had heighted awareness that he was living in a life or death situation. Though he expected it, he hoped one day he'd be numb from all of it. Maybe it would be a blessing if the wretched vessel would sink with him on it. His fighter instinct would return when he started to wallow, and everything else be damned. He had gotten by all on his own since he was fourteen, and despite living on a damaged boat he wasn't doing all that badly. He did his odd jobs to get food and resources. His health was pretty decent. He had that one annoying friend who would constantly check up on him that paid for the watery lot. He had even seen his sister a few times after she stumbled across him this past year. She had apparently been looking for him. Truthfully, things could have been a whole lot worse.

A high-pitched scream called his attention away from his reminiscence, and he glanced out the back of the boat seeing some drunken man clawing his way at a clearly unwilling woman. His eyes widened a fraction when he saw this scrawny, blue-haired woman frantically trying to pry the man off of her. He tried to tear off her tattered clothing. The whole sight sickened Hiei, not just for the disgusting act the vile man wanted to perform, but because the woman strangely resembled both his mother and sister. His stomach churned in disgust before he sprang into action.

Hiei leapt from the boat to the dock, running faster than most, before he made it to the pair in the street and pushed the drunk off of her punching him in the jaw. The woman behind him choked on her startled yelp. Hiei could hear her fall to her knees. The drunkard cursed at the woman's defender and spat on the ground in front of him before leaving the two there, mumbling heinous words about the woman.

Once Hiei was sure the man had left, he turned to find the woman still on all fours shaking. The whole experience had taken its toll on her. There was a time, he was loathe to admit, where he could relate. As a teen living on the streets, he hated to remember the women that came after him. They all disgusted him, every last woman in existence.

Well, except for his mother, and of course his sister…and now some stranger, apparently.

"Hey," he tried, hoping to garner the woman's attention or at least a word or nod of acknowledgement. But he received nothing, and his brows furrowed. "Hey," he tried again more forcefully sounding a little irritated. The girl finally seemed to look up to him with bright purple eyes dulled by her fear. "You all right?"

"Wh-Wh-Wh-Wha…?"

Hiei sighed and knelt down in front of the woman. "I know that was a shock, but nothing happened. Is there someone you can call? There's a bar down the street that'll let you use the phone for free."

"N-N…" the girl tried before she finally composed herself enough to form a sentence. "N-No…There's no one. No one who would care."

"You're still shaking," Hiei observed as he frowned. "Come on. You shouldn't stay out here."

"No!" the woman shouted looking incredibly distrustful towards the male stranger. "I…I don't even know who you are."

"Simple," Hiei stated matter-of-factly. "I'm the guy who just saved your sorry ass from that fat, drunken bastard. If I wanted to fuck you, don't you think I would have by now?"

His crassness took the woman by surprise, but it did cause the tension to ease out of her shoulders. Whether it was because of his unconventionality or just because his words made sense, Hiei didn't know. The woman seemed to come out of herself just a little bit. "O-Okay," she surrendered. "Th-Thank you."

Her stammering bothered Hiei, but it couldn't be helped. He was sure she'd stop speaking like an idiot once she calmed down. He eyed her up and down and shook his head at how unhealthily thin she was. Hiei wondered if she was some type of model who starved herself for a living. It wasn't any of his business, but he was always the curious one.

They reached the end of the dock, and Hiei hoped on his floating death trap. He cringed before turning back to face the woman. She looked at the vessel fearfully. Though Hiei knew it wasn't the most worthy of vessels, the judgment in the woman's eyes pissed him off. It was still his home, after all. "Look, I know it's not the Taj Mahal, but there's no need to look at it like that."

"Huh?" the woman mustered out. "Oh, no, that's not it. I'm…sort of afraid of boats. It's a long story, but I haven't been on one since I was a teenager. It took me by surprise is all."

Well, at least she was forming complete sentences now, and Hiei lost his defensive bite. Scoffing, he held out his hand. "Come on. You look like you could use a drink."

The blue-haired woman smiled thankfully and took his hand nervously boarding the sea craft. It bobbed in the water as her weight was added and caused the vessel to rock in the water making her stumble into her savior. He caught her with ease. "That's twice you've saved me," she giggled meekly. "And I don't even know you're name."

Hiei chuckled bitterly. "Haven't been asked for that in a long time. Hiei. You?"

"Botan," the woman told him. "My name is Botan."

Hiei nodded and moved to get out a bottle of brandy that had been his payment for shoveling someone's driveway the past winter. He pour two shots out and handed one to Botan. "Haven't seen you around here before," he remarked as he downed the shot. "Live around here?"

He saw the woman, Botan, shudder as she looked into the shot glass with saddened eyes. "You could say that," she hesitated. "What about you? Do you live around here?"

"Tch," Hiei scoffed. "Yeah. You're currently in my home." When Botan's eyes widened, he glared at her. "Problem with that?"

Botan quickly shook her head. "No, I just thought you were a fisherman. Trust me; I'm the last person to judge anyone's living conditions. You're living in better conditions than I am." She then blushed when she realized that she said more than she wanted or should. Hiei's raised brow questioned her, but she bit her lip and shook her head. She didn't need to say anymore to this stranger, even if he did save her.

Hiei didn't press either. He simply gestured to the brandy in her hand. Botan offered a shy smile, taking the shot and cringing as it burned her throat. She never liked the taste of alcohol at any point of her life, but Hiei was being so kind to her. She was appreciative of his hospitality. "It's really good," she squeaked.

That actually made her savior laugh and smirk. "You're a terrible liar, woman." He downed another shot before asking, "What's a girl like you even doing wandering around a shady place like this in the middle of the night? There isn't much around."

"I'd rather not talk about it," Botan murmured nervously. She set the small glass down. "Thank you, Hiei. I'm really glad you were there to help me, and I won't forget it. But I…I need to go now."

Before Botan could leave, Hiei grabbed her wrist, looking away from her. "You shouldn't be wandering around here alone at night."

Botan's eyes softened as a warm smile touched her face. "Don't worry about me, Hiei. I'll be okay. I've been taking care of myself for a long time."

He eyed her up and down once more, disbelieving her statement. She didn't look sickly, but she didn't look well either. "I'll take your word for it."

Those were the last words spoken between the two before Botan hoisted herself off the boat. Hiei watched as she made her way to the horribly paved sidewalk. She didn't look back as she walked away or even as she rounded a corner. Hiei was surprised as to the direction she took, for he knew that her path led to a dead end alleyway. He shook his head in annoyance towards the woman's stupidity. He turned in for the night, figuring that she would figure out her wrong turn sooner or later for herself. He did his good deed for the night, and he wasn't planning to do anything more for that oblivious woman.

She wasn't his problem. He had his own.

As the week passed by, Hiei had taken to staying up late and being drawn to the stern of his boat. Strangely enough, the first night after meeting Botan had been unexpected. Hiei had been washing the saltwater off his boat to the best of his abilities without being able to take the large vessel out of the water. It had been after midnight, and he heard footsteps. He turned and saw Botan walking down the street towards the same alleyway.

In fact, every night, in the dead of night, he'd see Botan making the same trip to the same dead end alley in the same tattered clothing. She'd sometimes look over to his boat and stopped, but she never acknowledged him any further. She never approached him again, nor did he approach her. He grew more and more intrigued, though, especially since he never saw Botan come back out of the alleyway.

Of course, he wasn't on his boat all day. He always spent his afternoons looking for some odd jobs so he could make some money for food and necessities. Even Kurama would help him, asking his colleagues at work what they needed done around the house. His latest was a woman who needed a lot of repair work done in her yard. The woman had paid him well enough for him to get some tools and supplies for his boat as well as some decent food.

He returned one afternoon with his groceries only to be met with the sight of Botan coming out of the alley. The two crossed paths, Botan looking stunned while Hiei simply stared at the woman impassively. Botan looked far from thrilled and made no attempt to talk to him as she pushed passed him and any other passerby out walking by the water during the day. Hiei's vision followed her until she reached her destination, a building that Hiei regrettably knew all too well.

A strip joint.

If Hiei were a judgmental person, he probably would have rolled his eyes and pushed the thought aside as he moved on with his life. Instead, he tried putting two and two together. Hiei wasn't a fool. Though he had only conversed with the woman for maybe twenty minutes during a nightcap after he rescued her, she had given him more information than he thought.

This scrawny woman had stated that she lived worse off than he had, and she returned to a dead end street every night. She only seemed to have one outfit, and she had looked pretty filthy when they had just crossed paths. To top it off, she went into the last place a girl like her should ever be in, and then at night he'd see her coming down the street looking cleaner than she had mere moments ago.

She was destitute. Hiei could tell. He saw the signs, and it made more sense than that the woman was so stupid that she'd make the same wrong turn every night. His expression became grim as his mind started to wander back to his own past before he forced those thoughts away. Now was not the time to remember what he had had to do before he came up with his current strategy. He didn't have time for any of that.

Again, Hiei felt a stab in his chest at the thought of a girl who reminded him so much of his sister being on the street herself. Despite his hatred for his grandmother, he was always thankful that the woman had looked after Yukina making sure she'd want for nothing. She never tossed Yukina onto the street even if his sister had tried on numerous occasions to convince her to come and find him. The streets were no place for his innocent sister. They were hardly the place for him. He felt concern for this stranger, a rarity for him. If she looked any different, he wouldn't have given a shit, but he just kept seeing his sister in place of Botan and felt ill. This shouldn't be this woman's life. It shouldn't be anyone's life.

Botan stepped out onto the pavement and saw the moon reflected in the water. A sigh escaped her as she crossed her arms and tried to warm her hands under her armpits. She felt so very tense and cold, frustrated with another day's work. Truthfully, she had never wanted this job, but another vagrant at the homeless shelter had told her that it would be a good option for her. The money was good enough to get new clothes and food, plus the place wanted to keep their girl's healthy. Botan was able to get a shower and a meal and a snack each day to try to keep her clean and plump her up. It was a pretty good deal, all things considered, but Botan hated being touched by unruly men. At the moment, she had no other choice. At least the food was good.

Each night, she could feel Hiei watching her. She wondered what he thought when he saw her disappear. Botan hoped he thought she was just directionally impaired and that her home was elsewhere, however now that he had seen her during the day he probably figured out her situation. She honestly didn't want to walk by him that night, but there was no place to go for her but the alley. It was a dead end street which no one ever visited. It was the overall safest place she could afford to go.

She made the same walk home in the dark, trying to keep warm in her thin, tattered clothing and worn, ripped sneakers. She was lucky she had been given the pair by someone before she left the homeless shelter. For the longest time, she didn't even really have shoes. Maybe once she made enough, she could buy some and a warmer outfit.

It had been years, a decade actually, since she had been living on the streets. She had her father's brother-in-law to thank for that. Shaking her head to rid herself of the thoughts, she tried to think of something happier. Unfortunately, she knew it'd be short-lived. There was nothing happy about her life. Her childhood was gone, and any hope she had died with her parents. There was nothing magical about the world. No one cared about anyone else. She was alone, and wishing on anything would only result in the same story. Nothing.

She never used to be this cynical. Her childhood was full of love, peace, and trust, but everything changed after her father had died. Oh, why couldn't she just stop thinking about it? Maybe it was because of this new job and her living arrangements. If her parents were still alive, they'd be ashamed of her. She was certainly feeling shame. They had raised her to be better than this, and unfortunately she was left with significantly little choice.

As she neared the dock, her mind went to Hiei, the noble stranger who had rescued her after her first night of working as a stripper. The whole night had been awful until he came along. When Botan had first gone, the woman running the place was far from pleased with her appearance. She had taken Botan into a room in the back demanding answers, so Botan reluctantly told her that she was homeless, physically living just around the block. The woman pitied her as most did when she told her tale. The woman admitted to Botan that she was a "pretty, little thing with exotic looks." That had only made Botan feel worse.

Her new boss then explained that Botan needed to get to a healthy weight, so they would provide her a couple meals, lunch and dinner, and as long as she showed up during the day to get ready she'd have a job. She would be able to use the shower area and was provided with a toothbrush and hairbrush. She'd only be allowed to wear the clothes provided before she would join the other girls on stage, and she could wash her tattered wear there, but she would have to leave in them meaning the cold nights would be killer. Well, as least the alley where she resided blocked from the wind, and there were many old newspapers she could use for cover.

Still, she hated the fact that she had to remove clothes in front of people. It had been a week, and she still felt self-conscious. It was even worse when she felt the hands of men touching her and trying to slip her money in the most lewd fashion. The man who had followed her had been one. He had given her many tips during the night, and Botan had nearly tossed her cookies by the leers he flashed her way. She had been afraid to leave, but when it was closing time her boss would not let her stay, afraid she'd steal from the register on her first night. The woman had told her so, actually. The unruly man had followed her as she headed "home." If Hiei hadn't been there, Botan didn't want to even think about it. She wouldn't have survived what the man had been planning to do to her.

Hiei had shown her true kindness. That had become a rarity in her life. She hadn't wanted to tell the man she was a homeless vagrant. He may have lived on a boat, but it was probably due to choice rather than circumstance. She didn't want him to try to do more for her out of pity. A good man like him didn't need a screw up like her in his life.

Lost in thought, she didn't even realize that Hiei was watching her from his boat again. Unlike other nights, he actually made the effort to reach her. Botan gasped when she felt a hand lightly grab her arm. She moved to observe the one who had touched her and relaxed when she saw it was Hiei. "O-Oh," she mustered out. "G-Good evening, Hiei."

"Hn," Hiei grunted. "Back to stuttering?"

"Sorry," Botan replied. "I'm just a little jumpy. Also, I'm sorry I didn't say anything to you earlier. I was running late for work." Well, that wasn't entirely true, but she hoped he'd buy it.

"Again, woman, terrible liar." Damn, he saw right through her. "And I didn't think those places opened until the evening." As shame became evident in her expression, he added, "Believe me; I had to do much worse when I was first thrown out on the street."

Botan's eyes widened. So Hiei, too, was living on the streets? That had been unexpected, and she felt for him. She hated it when people struggled the same way she did. "Oh… For how long?"

"Ten years," Hiei curtly responded. He noticed her astonished eyes grow wider. "What?"

"I've been on the streets for ten years as well," Botan explained. Hiei's mind immediately went back to Yukina. It pained him that Botan's fate could have been hers, but he had to remind himself that she was safe in a warm bed with her oafish boyfriend, however much the man disgusted him at times.

"How old are you?" he abruptly questioned.

Botan hugged her arms around her body, something Hiei used to do when he had felt vulnerable before he settled for crossing his arms. "Twenty-two." His eyes immediately widened. She had been twelve? Sure, he had been young himself, but he had been a teenager. There was a huge difference. She had just been a child. What kind of horrible person tossed a child, a little girl, away? "What about you?"

"Twenty-four," Hiei admitted reluctantly.

Botan frowned at him. "Fourteen isn't much better." Hiei's brow quirked in question for her to elaborate on her remark. "I saw how you looked at me. You looked so disgusted."

"Not with you," he countered defensively.

"I know," Botan hurriedly said before chuckling. "Look at us. We're both so defensive."

Hiei scoffed a derisive chuckle. "Anyway," he mumbled, "I figured you could use a decent meal tonight. You're unhealthily thin."

"I couldn't impose," Botan rejected.

"Don't try to get out of it," Hiei ordered. "I'd hate to have to shove food down your throat."

Botan laughed lightly, but it became a nervous chuckle when she noticed that Hiei looked far from enthused. "U-Uh," she stammered. "Um…thank you?"

Hiei answered her with a nod and a grunt before the two went back to his boat. Hiei had helped her once again, though Botan seemed to be less nervous this time around. The woman noticed that the table had already been set with two small, chipped plates containing beef jerky, applesauce, and dried peas. Botan sat down and thanked Hiei, the latter merely shrugging as he ate his meager but satisfying meal. The two said nothing else, and when they finished Hiei assisted Botan back out of his floating home. She bid him a good night and went on her way to the alley.

Hiei turned in after he saw his new "neighbor" make it to the corner safely. He didn't know what had come over him when he had decided to share his resources. He knew he had worked for them, and usually he had the mentality that if someone couldn't find a way to take care of themselves then it was on them and they deserved to fall. The only excuse he could come up with was that he would have wanted someone to do that for his sister had it been her in that position. Helping her the way he had should have been the end of it, yet there was more he wanted to do. It was more that he would have done for anyone else.

The week had been a strange one for him, for certain, but at least it had ended. Oh, who was he kidding? It never truly ended for him. It never truly ended for anyone that had to strive to survive. That was a lesson he lived with every day.