Recap: Kuwabara told Botan not to waste her love on Hiei, Yukina confessed to having taken her relationship with Kuwabara to the next level and Botan returned to the ice village to collect Rui's letter, where Rui gave her a portrait she had drawn of her and they shared a kiss.


Chapter 32: The Truth

Yusuke looked about himself, growing increasingly nervous at what he was seeing. He looked up at the roof, down at the floor, around all of the walls and he strategically avoided looking at the countless faces around him or what they were watching on the stage. He eventually took himself over to the bar, where he found the usual barman casually polishing glasses as though blissfully ignorant to what appeared to have happened to his place of work.

"Hey, buddy?" Yusuke said, leaning over the bar towards him. "What's the deal in here today? Where are all the women?"

The barman paused what he was doing and slowly lifted his eyes to Yusuke, giving him a look that made him feel more than a little stupid.

"Take a look around you, pal," he said slowly.

Yusuke glanced around himself before sighing and shaking his head in exasperation.

"That's not what I meant!" he snapped irritably. "I meant where are all the hot women? You know, the ones that take off their clothes and dance?"

The barman took a definite step back from the bar, and Yusuke suddenly became aware that he was surrounded by glaring eyes. He slowly glanced from side to side, seeing female demons glowering at him in both directions along the length of the bar.

"I'm not saying that you ladies aren't hot!" he said, laughing nervously. "It's just that this place is usually full of guys!"

"Do you prefer the company of men to women?" one cutting female voice asked him.

"Not like that I don't!" he replied, a sweat breaking out across his brow. "I was just trying to say that I come in here all the time, and I've never seen so many women in here before. Usually the women are just on the stage, where they belong."

Yusuke yelped, realising his mistake a little too late, and suddenly finding himself pinned against the bar by a crowd of enraged women.

"I just don't think that it's exactly tasteful to have dudes taking off their clothes when I'm trying to enjoy a drink!" he complained.

"But you're okay with watching women get naked?" a voice asked him.

Yusuke looked about himself, trying to pinpoint which of the many, many angry faces the voice belonged to. It sounded worryingly familiar, but he was not greatly concerned with who it might be, his primary concern being that he was now trapped by the bar by a hoard of angry women, and he was facing the stage where several male demons were stripped naked and dancing about with less grace and coordination than Kuwabara after a kiss from Yukina.

"Look, I just came here to meet my friends and have a drink!" he tried.

"Than do it quietly, or get out!" the same voice yelled at him.

Yusuke turned his head, his eyes instantly finding the source of the noise: she was tall, she was angry, she was dressed in skin-tight clothing, she had lime-green hair and she was completely plastered from booze already. She was, of course Kokou, Enki's darling wife.

"Urameshi," she said, arching her eyebrows in a starch fashion as their eyes met.

"Hey, you!" Yusuke replied, laughing nervously. "Big day tomorrow, are you sure you oughta be in here?"

Kokou narrowed her eyes at him, lifting up a tankard of ale that was bigger than her head and gulping down a sizeable volume of the contents before answering him.

"I could say the same to you," she slurred. "Raizen's boy… Raizen's prodigy… Raizen's "son"… Raizen's prodigal son, more like!"

She finished the contents of her enormous mug before slamming it down onto the bar and sliding it violently towards the barman.

"Fill it up!" she ordered.

She effortlessly shoved aside the women standing between herself and Yusuke, making her way over to stand directly in front of him. He tried to hold his breath and she leaned over him and breathed heavily, exhaling fumes that made his eyes water.

"You're not as good-looking as Raizen was," she concluded.

"Okay…" Yusuke said slowly. "Well since this is ladies' night, I'll think I'll just be on my way."

Yusuke started to try to leave the bar, but he was stopped by a pair of twin dog demons who were glaring at him threateningly.

"Excuse me ladies," he tried.

"Where are you going?" Kokou asked him, dropping an arm around his shoulders a little heavily. "Stay and have a drink with me, you ugly little son of a whore!"

Yusuke eyed Kokou over warily as he felt her weight tugging at his neck. She was so drunk she could barely stand, and he was sure that her main reason for holding onto him was to keep herself erect rather than a gesture of friendship.

"Barkeep!" she yelled.

"Ow!" Yusuke complained when her voice went mostly into his ear.

"Make that two!" she shouted, pointing three fingers at her empty glass. "Now Sasuke, listen here."

"It's Yusuke," Yusuke corrected her.

"Right, Usagi," Kokou said. "Now tell me this: just how like Raizen are you these days?"

"What?" Yusuke echoed.

He started to sweat again, severely disliking the direction his conversation with Enki's wife appeared to be taking.

"I mean, Raizen used to be able to do this thing with his…"

Kokou's voice trailed off and her shoulders began to lurch forwards. It looked like she might throw up over Yusuke, but frankly he was glad: he would rather she vomited on him than he had to listen to her finish her last sentence.

"Your drinks," the barman said, pushing two large glasses towards them.

"Great," Kokou said, slipping her arm from Yusuke's shoulder to reach for hers.

"Maybe you should lay off of these for tonight," Yusuke advised, pushing the mugs from her reach.

"Who the hell are you, my father?" she slurred in his face.

"Hey lady, you've got a big fight tomorrow, and I somehow don't think your opponent will go easy on you just because you've got a hangover!" Yusuke yelled at her impatiently.

"Well you've got an even bigger fight tomorrow, and I don't see you taking an early night, Urameshi!"

"An early night? It's three in the afternoon, you crazy, drunken bitch!"

"I resent that–"

Kokou stopped suddenly, touching a hand to her mouth, her cheeks ballooning.

"Point it somewhere else!" Yusuke yelled, grabbing her shoulders and turning her around to face away from him.

"I just need a fix!" she argued, turning around in a complete circle to face him again. "What's a good fix for feeling a little bit tipsy?"

"Drink less and take some alka-seltzer?" he grumbled sarcastically.

"And the survey says: hair of the dog!"

Kokou pushed past Yusuke and grabbed one of the mugs, dragging it over towards herself. She proceeded to practically dunk her face into it in her eagerness to drink more, at which Yusuke rolled his eyes and turned his head longingly in the direction of the exit. A glimmer of hope returned to his eyes and a smile lit his face as he spotted Kurama stumbling into the club.

"Hey, Kurama!" he called out, waving eagerly at his friend.

Kurama blinked at him curiously before slowly scanning around the room, his attention lingering on the stage for several seconds before he turned to Yusuke again, smirking smugly.

"Kurama?" Yusuke yelled, his voice breaking slightly. "Don't leave be alone here like this!"

Kurama's smirk widened and he pretended to look at a watch he was not actually wearing before shrugging and turning towards the door.

"Kurama, you dirty, fox-bastard!" Yusuke shouted. "Get back here and help me outta this mess!"

Kurama pretended to look put-upon, but crossed the room regardless and began easing his way through the throngs of women surrounding Yusuke.

"Hey Urameshi, do you know which miserable bastard I'm fighting tomorrow?" Kokou asked, resting an elbow on his shoulder as she spoke.

"Um, yeah," Yusuke replied, wondering if she knew herself before she was asking.

"I know who you're fighting too," Kurama said as he joined them.

"What are you?" Kokou asked, eying him over with a sneer.

"Do you think this is funny, Kurama?" Yusuke ground out, glaring at the red-haired fox demon.

"In an ironic sense, yes," Kurama replied. "On the bright side Yusuke, by tomorrow morning, Kokou should be perfectly sober. And I'm sure that then she will make a more than worthy opponent for you."

Yusuke groaned and Kokou laughed falsely at his side.

"I'm gonna kick your ass, mini-Raizen!" she said, poking a finger at Yusuke's chest.

Yusuke sneered at her and then glared at Kurama, who was unsubtly laughing behind one hand.

"Yeah, laugh it up," he grumbled. "Who are you fighting tomorrow anyway?"

"My greatest opponent yet," Kurama calmly replied.

Yusuke growled at Kurama and his typical vague deceptiveness before grabbing the giant drink Kokou had ordered for him. Maybe if he got suitably drunk it would blur his eyesight and he would not be subjected to the show on stage.


"I win again!" Koenma cheered.

Chu narrowed his eyes and leaned across the table towards Koenma.

"I reckon you're cheating, mate," he said in a low voice.

"And I reckon you are a sore loser!" Koenma snottily replied.

"You've cleaned me out, so you have!" Jin said, pulling his pockets inside-out.

"Double or nothing?" Chu offered.

Koenma's face straightened.

"What do you mean "double or nothing"?" he asked. "You mean if you win I give you double your money back and if you lose I get nothing?"

Chu pulled a face at Koenma.

"…Yeah? Wasn't that obvious?" he asked.

Chu sneered at Koenma and sat back hard in his seat.

"Game's over, mate," he said.

"You were a ruthless player, so you were," Jin said to Koenma. "And a damn dirty cheater, but I'll be fecked if I could figure out how."

"Come on mate, let's see if we can find Touya," Chu said, rising to his feet.

"Right you are," Jin agreed, standing up at his side.

"We'll win our money back from you some other time," Chu said to Koenma.

"See you later, you lying, cheating shite!" Jin said.

Koenma frowned up at them as they left.

"Did-did he just insult me?" he asked.

"I don't know Sir," George replied.

"It's so hard to tell when he says it so cheerfully…"

Koenma sighed and shook his head, calling over a passing waiter.

"One bowl of tea," he said. "Black, no sugar."

"I'd like a bowl of tea, too Sir!" George moaned.

"You don't need a bowl of tea, ogre," Koenma sighed.

"But Sir, I'm thirsty!" George said. "All this gambling makes me sweat, I need to replenish my bodily fluids!"

"Half this restaurant can smell your bodily fluids, ogre!" Koenma snapped back.

"But Sir–"

"Shut-up, George."

George gasped, his eyes becoming sparkly.

"Sir!" he squealed. "You said my name!"

Koenma groaned, slapping a head against his bandana-covered forehead in despair.

"It's going to be a long day…" Koenma muttered under his breath.

"Maybe you should go back to spirit world and catch up on your paperwork, Sir," George suggested.

Koenma shifted his eyes to George, glaring at him.

"Ogre?" he growled.

"Yes Sir?" George responded.

"Shut-up."


By the time Botan got back to Genkai's temple, it was mid-evening already and the air was cooler, the sun starting to sink down towards the horizon. She was quite tired from expending spirit energy flying herself through the portal to demon world and back again, and of course the lengthy return journey to the ice village itself. She thought perhaps she would have a nap when she got back to her room, and then maybe return to demon world and spend the night in her hotel room: after all, the next day was round three of the tournament, and she wanted to get to the arena early, if only to see who Kurama's opponent he had gone to such great length to prepare for was.

Botan yawned shamelessly as she entered the temple, stumbling along the corridors noisily, her arms full with the various items she had brought back.

"Botan, is that you?" Kuwabara called to her from the kitchen.

"Yes," she replied.

"Really? Because you sound like a herd of elephants from here!"

Botan yelped out a gasp of indignation, glaring at Kuwabara angrily.

"Yukina's asleep, keep the noise down!" he added.

"Oh, I'm sorry!" Botan sarcastically replied. "What a gentleman you are keeping things quiet for her! You're such a gentleman, you ought to be helping me carry this stuff!"

"Gees, what's your problem?" Kuwabara grumbled, walking over to join her.

"Just carry this," she replied, pushing her oar against his chest.

"Eew!" he yelped, grabbing the handle of her oar and holding it out at arm's length from his body. "What kind of animal did you have to kill to make that?" he asked, pointing at the furs tied by the blade of her oar.

"It's something Rui gave me," she replied. "And of course she gave me her letter to Yukina."

Botan held up the envelope to indicate her point.

"Wow, Yukina will be really happy to open this," Kuwabara said, taking the envelope from her.

"And she gave me this, too!" Botan added, holding up the enormous file of drawings Rui had handed her.

"Whoa, what the hell is all that?" Kuwabara asked.

"Pictures!"

"Pictures? What sort of pictures?"

"Well, I don't know actually. Rui just said that she had drawn some pictures for Yukina."

"Yukina draws beautiful pictures."

Botan's face twisted involuntarily. Kuwabara would of course think that Yukina's pictures were beautiful because they portrayed him as a man of infinite good looks, she thought wryly.

"She learned to draw from Rui," Botan pointed out. "So whatever is in that big envelope will be well-drawn. In fact, Rui drew a picture of me."

Botan reached a hand up her sleeve and retrieved the rolled up drawing Rui had gifted her with. She hesitated then, feeling suddenly as though she wanted to cry again just looking at the paper the picture was drawn on.

"Here, have a look for yourself," she said, pushing the scroll towards Kuwabara.

He took it from her and unrolled it, eying the picture over.

"That's really well-drawn, but it's not really like you, is it?" he said.

"It's a perfect likeness!" Botan snapped back.

"Not really," he said, shaking his head. "She's made you look really sensible and intelligent and wise."

Botan snatched the sketch back from Kuwabara and rolled it up again, avoiding looking at it herself to stop herself from crying again.

"Well that's how Rui saw me," she said tightly.

"Rui obviously didn't really see you…" Kuwabara muttered under his breath.

"I heard that!" Botan yelled.

"Keep your voice down, you'll wake Yukina!"

Botan sighed in defeat: she did not want to wake Yukina, but she was angered by Kuwabara's words.

"I'll have you know that Rui thinks I am calm, intelligent and strong," she said, stuffing the drawing up her sleeve. "And I will treasure that drawing because I know that she is right!"

"You're not exactly calm, you just yelled at me for saying that picture didn't look like you!" Kuwabara argued. "And you're always yelling at me and nagging me, a calm person wouldn't do that! And you're not strong, that's why we always have to rescue you! And you can be pretty dumb sometimes: you don't even know what oral sex is."

Botan opened her mouth to admonish Kuwabara but found herself suddenly feeling awkward and afraid as she remembered what Yukina had told her the day before: she had had sex with Kuwabara, and that meant there was a chance she was carrying his child.

"Are you saying I'm neurotic, stupid and weak?" she asked instead.

"Yeah, but you're still a nice person, Botan," he replied.

"…Thanks a lot, Kuwabara…"

"Don't sulk with me!"

Botan ignored him, dumping the items she had brought back with her before walking off, not even caring that Kuwabara still had her oar. She kept walking until she found Keiko on her own by the television in the living room, watching it with the volume down exceptionally low, presumably to keep Kuwabara happy.

"Keiko?" Botan said, sitting down next to her. "Have a look at this and tell me what you think."

Botan removed the scrolled drawing from her sleeve and passed it to Keiko, turning her head away while Keiko examined it.

"It's very well done," Keiko concluded. "Did you draw this?"

"No," Botan replied.

"Well I know it wasn't Yukina, I've seen how she draws people, and it's nothing like this," Keiko said. "This picture makes you look really brave and smart."

Botan narrowed her eyes slightly, but she kept her head turned away from Keiko.

"Do you think it's an accurate expression for me?" she asked quietly.

"Not really," Keiko bluntly replied. "Usually you're grinning or laughing or talking about something. It is a good drawing, though."

"Describe me in three words," Botan said, folding her arms and squaring her jaw resiliently as she anticipated further insults.

"Well… I guess I'd have to say fun, kind and a bit ditzy," Keiko concluded.

"Not calm, intelligent or strong?" Botan asked.

"Definitely not," Keiko replied. "Though that is how you look in this picture."

Botan made a small noise of annoyance, snatching the picture from Keiko and standing up again.

"Where are you going?" Keiko asked her.

"To see Shizuru," Botan replied, stomping out of the room.

Keiko called something after her about a film and Kuwabara, but Botan ignored her, continuing through the temple and out onto the front porch, where she found Shizuru sitting on the steps smoking a cigarette – Kuwabara had insisted that his sister smoke outside only since Yukina had fallen pregnant.

"Hey there," Shizuru greeted her. "If it isn't my favourite blue-haired Barbie girl!"

Botan carefully sat down by her side, suspecting that she would not get any more satisfaction out of talking to Shizuru than she had gleaned from talking to Keiko.

"What do you think of this?" she asked, passing the picture to Shizuru.

Shizuru studied it for a long time in silence before finally answering.

"The person who drew this suffers a great sadness," she said.

"You can sense that from the drawing?" Botan asked, momentarily forgetting her objectives in showing Shizuru the picture. "But how?"

"I can just feel it," Shizuru replied. "But even if I couldn't feel it, I would know the person who drew this was feeling dark. You never look like this."

Botan screwed up her face in anger, but turned her head so that Shizuru would not see her reaction.

"It's too focussed to be you," Shizuru continued. "Anyone who knew you for more than five minutes would have drawn you differently. This is so sensible and serene, and you're so… Erratic."

"Well some people happen to disagree with you, Miss Kuwabara!" Botan snapped, snatching the picture back and standing up again.

"I didn't mean it as an insult," Shizuru said gently. "It's just not who you are. But we all like you the way you are, why would you want to try to be something that you're not?"

Botan allowed herself to look at the picture in her hands for the first time since Rui had first given it to her. It truly was a beautiful piece of art, but mainly so to Botan's eyes because it showed a side of her that she wanted to believe existed, a side that she wanted people to see.

"Lighten up," Shizuru said to her. "My brother won't let us put the karaoke machine on, but we're gonna watch a film. Join us."

Botan rolled the picture up again and turned from Shizuru.

"Surely you're not sulking, are you Botan?" Shizuru asked. "Come on, it's no big deal! It's just a picture!"

"It's a big deal to me," Botan muttered, walking briskly back into the temple.

Botan took herself all the way to the room she had been staying in the night before, standing herself in front of a full-length mirror and eying herself over critically. She was still wearing her winter clothing following her trip to the ice village and she looked overheated, her face flushed. She started to change out of her layers of clothing, but as she did so, she realised it was not the clothes that had been making her face red.

She was upset that nobody took her seriously.

She was not so upset that she was about to cry again like she had in front of poor Rui, but she was definitely sick of listening to other people's opinions about her. She was really, really sick of listening to other people's opinions. In fact, she just wanted to get away from everyone: and she decided that, for one night, that was exactly what she was going to do.


Yusuke smoothed his hands over his hair and tugged at his collar, flicking it up around his neck. He then pushed his hands into his coat pockets and relaxed his shoulders, walking casually into the hotel restaurant. At his side he sensed that Kurama was still amused by what had happened earlier at the strip club, but he chose to ignore it, instead setting his sights on Koenma, who had an interestingly large pile of money sitting on the table in front of him.

"Hey, you're living dangerously, are you not?" he asked as he reached the table.

"Yusuke, Kurama!" Koenma greeted them. "Are you looking to lose some of your money?"

"Not likely, you cheating bastard," Yusuke grumbled, sitting down opposite him.

"Perhaps you should conceal those piles of money," Kurama suggested. "It is unwise to display your fortunes so blatantly, even in an establishment such as this one."

"Fine," Koenma sighed, gathering up his winnings from his earlier games with Chu and Jin.

"Where did you even get all that money from anyway?" Yusuke asked him.

"I won it fair and square," Koenma replied.

"Well, you won it…" George muttered.

"What was that ogre?" Koenma snapped.

"Ha!" Yusuke snorted. "You won it, but not fair and square! You cheated again!"

Koenma glared at Yusuke before rounding on George again.

"You seem a little crabby, Koenma," Yusuke said, grinning endlessly. "Maybe you need a bottle of warm milk and an early night."

George started to laugh but stopped short as Koenma threatened him with a fist.

"What?" Yusuke asked as he caught Kurama watching him.

"This does amuse you, doesn't it?" he asked.

"Damn right it does!" Yusuke replied.

"I'm going to bed," Koenma declared, standing up abruptly. "But not because I'm a baby who needs to go to bed early, just because I appreciate that tomorrow will be a long day, and I want to be ready for it!"

Yusuke shrugged and Koenma turned from the table with a swish of his cloak, followed closely by George.

"So Kurama…" Yusuke said, once they had disappeared from sight. "Why do you keep going back to the living world in between rounds? What are you up to?"

"I have to work on a project for my studies," Kurama replied. "I would tell you about it, but I doubt you'd be interested."

Yusuke took a deep breath but then slowly sighed it out again.

"Yeah, you're right," he agreed. "You know me too well, fox boy."


"Has anyone seen Botan?" Yukina asked, shuffling into the living room.

"Yukina, we thought you were asleep!" Keiko said. "Did we wake you up?"

"You woke up Yukina with your crappy game shows turned up too loud!" Kuwabara snapped.

"Oh no, it's alright," Yukina said, stifling a yawn. "Did Botan come back from the ice village yet?"

"Yeah, she left some envelopes for you," Shizuru said.

"Here!" Kuwabara said, leaping up and gathering the envelopes Botan had left for Yukina.

"These are for you, my love," he said. "They're from Rui."

Yukina gasped, reaching a hand out towards the envelopes.

"Oh goodness!" she said, dropping onto the couch next to Keiko.

"Move, Keiko," Kuwabara said, grabbing Keiko by the sweater and pulling her out of her seat.

"Hey!" she protested.

Kuwabara ignored her, sitting down where she had been at Yukina's side.

"I'll read the letter aloud to everyone," Yukina said, opening the larger of the two envelopes.

"Are you sure?" Shizuru asked, switching off the television.

Yukina nodded.

"I want to share the stories of my old friends with my new friends," she said.

"Aw!" Keiko and Shizuru said in unison.

"That's so sweet, Yukina!" Kuwabara said. "You're so–"

"Shut-up, Kazuma," Shizuru cut him off.

"Read on, Yukina," Keiko said, sitting down next to Shizuru.

"Okay…" Yukina said, unfolding the pages she had taken out. "Wait…"

Yukina slowly laid out the pages she had taken out of the envelope, her eyes growing larger as she looked between them.

"What the hell is this?" Kuwabara asked, picking up one of the pages. "Why did Rui send you a drawing of Hiei?"

"What?" Keiko echoed.

Keiko moved over to where Yukina was sat, picking up a picture of baby Hiei and studying it carefully.

"Isn't this strange?" she asked, turning to Shizuru.

"…Um…" Shizuru said. "…Maybe not so much so…"

Yukina tore open the second, smaller envelope, hurriedly skimming through it before whimpering and clamping one hand over her mouth.

"What does it say, Yukina?" Keiko asked her.

Yukina slowly slid her hand from her mouth, shaking her head.

"M-Mister Hiei is… He's my brother!" she said.

"What?!" Kuwabara yelped, leaping to his feet. "Oh God no! Hiei's your… You mean that… Oh my God!"

Kuwabara ran from the room, shoving Keiko aside and almost knocking her from her feet in her hurry. Shizuru hurried after him and Keiko quickly righted herself before helping Yukina up to follow. Yukina went as far as the hall before pulling on Keiko's arm to stop her at the sound of Kuwabara retching.

"Why…" she muttered softly.

"…He's probably just… Shocked…" Keiko lied. "…And scared… Really, really scared…"

"I-I know Kazuma doesn't like Hiei, this must be so hard for him," Yukina said.

"Don't worry about that!" Keiko replied. "You're the one who just found out that Hiei is your brother! Worry about yourself! Kuwabara will just have to learn to deal with it!"

Yukina was not entirely convinced, but she did not have long to worry about her own feelings or Kuwabara's as both Kuwabara and Shizuru suddenly came marching down the hall towards them.

"What are you doing?" Shizuru asked her brother.

"Never mind, Shizuru," he replied, pulling out his communication mirror and flipping it open.

"It's late, and you need to calm down and be supportive to Yukina!" she warned him.

Kuwabara ignored her, concentrating on his communicator as Yusuke's face appeared on it.

"Damn it, I just got to bed, Kuwabara!" he said. "Waking up to your ugly face is the last thing I need right now! I've got a big fight tomorrow and I'm trying to get some rest, what the hell do you want?"

"Send Puu," Kuwabara flatly replied.

"Do what?" Yusuke echoed.

"Send Puu," Kuwabara repeated. "Now, Urameshi."

"Hey, Puu is not a damn taxi for every bastard who's too lazy to walk places by himself! First Koenma, and now you! Put your hand in your pocket and buy a bus ticket, you lazy son of a bitch!"

"Urameshi, this is not a joke. I need to get to demon world and now. Send Puu."

"You can't come to demon world!"

"Urameshi, I'm not joking around! Send Puu!"

"…Fine, I'll send Puu, but you better give me a damn good reason for making me get out of bed and for using my spirit beast like your own personal taxi service!"

"I have to get to demon world."

"Want to tell me why?"

"I have to do something important."

"…Okay… Can I ask what?"

"I have to talk to Hiei."

"…Hiei…? Okay. I'm on my way outside, I'll send Puu, but I'm telling him to bring you back to the hotel where the others are, you can't run around demon world on your own, you'll probably just get yourself killed."

Kuwabara snapped shut his communicator and continued out of the temple.

"Kazuma!" Yukina wailed, turning and hurrying after him. "Kazuma! Don't go to demon world, please! It's dangerous!"

"I have to Yukina," he called back over his shoulder. "I need to sort this out with Hiei."

"Kazuma!" she screamed.

"Yukina's right, Kazuma!" Shizuru called, running after her brother. "You don't know your way around demon world and Hiei doesn't know that you know about this, you need to think before you act!"

"I need to tell Hiei that I'm in love with his sister, before he finds out from someone else."

Shizuru stopped short, watching her brother march on without her. She could not think of any way to tell him that everyone knew just how much he loved Yukina, including her brother Hiei. She had always known that one day he would learn about the relation between Yukina and Hiei, and she had often wondered exactly what sort of reaction he would have: bravely going to confess his love of Yukina was not entirely what she had expected, but she supposed it was typical of her brother. Behind her she heard Keiko calling out to her, asking what was going on, and Yukina begging Kuwabara to come back and ahead of her she saw a distant shadow in the sky and her brother hurrying on towards it.


Botan stepped out onto the balcony of her hotel room. It was surprisingly peaceful back at the hotel in demon world, and she intended to just sit outside and enjoy a bowl of tea before going to bed. It had been a long day, and the next round of the demon world tournament started early the next morning, so she was looking forward to a long and peaceful night of restful sleep. She sighed, lifting her bowl to her lips and taking a mouthful of tea.

"Hiei!"

Botan choked down half the tea she had in her mouth and spat the rest back into the bowl. As she coughed and spluttered and tried to put the bowl down onto the balcony railings she saw the source of the voice she had just heard, and any doubt she had been harbouring about the identity of the owner of it was quickly vanquished.

"Hiei!"

Botan felt the bowl fall from her fingers over the railing, and she barely cared. She squinted against the wind created by Puu's wings as he descended towards the street outside the hotel building, carrying Kuwabara on his back.

"Hiei!"

"Kuwabara!" Botan yelled, leaning over the railings as he drew level with the floor her room was on. "What are you doing here in demon world?"

"Botan?" he yelled back. "Have you seen Hiei around?"

"No, but I don't think that coming here and yelling his name out is going to do you any good!" she replied.

"What?"

"I said I don't think that you coming here and yelling out Hiei's name is going to do you any good!"

"What?"

"I said–"

Botan stopped short as she spotted a figure standing on the street below, apparently awaiting Kuwabara's arrival. At first she thought that it must be Yusuke, but as Puu moved and the light shifted, she realised that it was Hiei. She did not know how long he had been there and whether or not he had come because he had heard Kuwabara calling him out, but she had a slightly bad feeling about what was happening: why was Kuwabara in demon world looking for Hiei? The two hated each other, and it was not like Kuwabara to look for Hiei at any time, least of all during the demon world tournament and in the demon realm.

"Botan."

Botan looked up sharply at the sound of her name, seeing Kurama standing out on the balcony of his own room, which was one floor above and one room along from hers.

"What's happening down there?" he asked her.

"I don't know," she called back up. "Kuwabara just arrived on Puu, and he's looking for Hiei."

"I see."

"And Hiei is already down there waiting for him."

Botan distinctly saw Kurama's eyes flash before he nimbly leapt up onto the railings of his balcony and then launched himself into the air. Botan stepped back in alarm as he landed on the railings of her balcony.

"I have a bad feeling about this," he explained, jumping down onto the balcony floor at her side.

"Me too," she agreed.

"Can you fly me down there please?"

"Of course!"

Botan summoned her oar and together she and Kurama sat down onto it.

"What do you think is going on?" Botan asked.

"I think Kuwabara knows the truth," Kurama replied.

"The truth?" Botan echoed. "About what?"

"About the relation between Yukina and Hiei."

"Oh… Oh dear…"

Botan looked down at the street below as Puu landed and Kuwabara slid from his back. She was slowly taking her oar down towards them and apparently neither of them had noticed her approach – whether that was because she was moving slowly and quietly or because they were too preoccupied with watching each other she could not be sure.

"Hey, Hiei," she heard Kuwabara say. "We need to talk."

"Hn, I don't have anything to say to you," Hiei answered him. "Except to tell you that coming to demon world tonight was a very stupid thing for you to have done."

"Yukina got her letter back from the ice village," Kuwabara said. "Her friend told her that you're her brother."

Botan sped up her approach and Kurama quickly leapt from her side, landing gracefully and almost silently between Hiei and Kuwabara.

"Her letter back from the ice village?" Hiei said, leaning past Kurama to address Kuwabara. "I never delivered her letter to the ice village, how is it possible that she got a letter back from the ice village?"

Kuwabara turned to Botan as she landed beside him and she grinned nervously. Kuwabara pointed at her and turned to Hiei, presumably to start telling Hiei exactly how it was that Yukina had been able to communicate with Rui, but, much to Botan's relief, Kurama started to talk before Kuwabara got the chance to.

"I don't think that's important right now," he said to Hiei. "What is important is that Yukina now knows that Hiei is her brother, and she will need time to come to terms with that, as will Hiei."

"Did you know that you were Yukina's brother?" Kuwabara asked Hiei.

"That's not important either," Kurama quickly said, holding up a hand in front of Hiei's face to stop his pending outburst.

"Yes, and it is very late," Botan added. "And Kurama and Hiei have to fight tomorrow."

"Against each other?" Kuwabara asked her.

"No, don't be silly!" Botan replied, laughing at his question.

However her laughter shortly faded as she noticed the look on Hiei's face.

"What?" she asked, looking back and forth between Hiei and Kurama.

Kurama was doing an excellent job of looking emotionless and unaffected, but Botan could clearly see that Hiei was now irritated by something else other than just knowing that Yukina knew he was her brother.

"Nobody had the right to tell Yukina," he said.

Botan gave him a flat look, feeling sure that he was changing the subject deliberately.

"Well you were obviously never gonna tell her!" Kuwabara said.

"Maybe you should be careful what you say to Hiei, Kuwabara," Botan quietly advised him. "Since you are very close with his sister."

Kuwabara pulled a face at her as though she had said something ridiculous, but slowly the look faded into one of understanding as realisation slowly sank into his mind.

"It was very dangerous of you to come here like this," Botan added.

"I had to be sure," he replied.

"Well it's very sweet that you care so much, but maybe you need to let Yukina and Hiei figure this one out for themselves."

Kuwabara nodded at her words, though his eyes were still narrowed sceptically as though he was still really convinced.

"Hey, what's going on out here?" Yusuke asked, joining the group.

"Nothing to worry about," Kurama answered him.

"Let's all just go back inside and go to bed," Botan suggested. "It's too late for all this excitement."

"What about me?" Kuwabara asked.

"Go back to the living world," Botan replied.

"Can I come back tomorrow to watch the fights?" he asked.

Botan started to shake her head, readying herself to tell him what a bad idea that was, but before she could tell him as much Kurama spoke.

"You could stay here tonight," he offered.

"I'm not paying for his room," Yusuke immediately responded.

"That won't be necessary," Kurama assured him. "Kuwabara, you can share my room if you like."

"...Not in the same bed though..." Kuwabara muttered, eying Kurama over critically.

"You can sleep on the floor," Kurama said.

Kuwabara nodded and Yusuke sighed.

"Great," he said. "Can we call it a night now?"

Kuwabara nodded again and he and Yusuke started back towards the hotel, followed shortly by Botan. When she realised that Kurama and Hiei were not with her, Botan stopped and looked back, finding them stalking around each other, glaring at each other in a way that was almost electrifying the air between them.

Apparently Kurama and Hiei were fighting each other the next day: and surprisingly, her first thought was concern for Kurama's welfare.


Next Chapter: Hiei vs. Kurama. Chapter 33 – The Showdown