Chapter 7 – True Colours

Hiei had been in worse prisons, but he had never been in a smellier one. As he sat tucked up in the one corner of his cell still in the shade, trying to avoid the heat of the sun glaring in through the barred window far above his head, he was strangely relieved that he had fallen out with Mukuro, if only because it meant there was no way she could find out that he had ended up being imprisoned by the dog demon tribe.

It was not that he could not have fought them off – because he easily could have – it was simply that Inukasai was too valuable to kill. He needed to let the sneaky sleaze live just long enough for Mukuro to meet him and to make him admit to Yukina that he was not really her brother; after that, he was fair game, and Hiei would gladly slaughter him.

"You better not be crying over there," Hiei grumbled when he heard something that sounded like sniffling behind his head.

"Why did they have to take my bag?" Botan wailed.

By the tone of her voice, it was patently clear that she was crying. She had been deposited into the cell adjacent to Hiei's, and although he could not see her, he could easily hear her.

"What was in the bag?" he asked. "Surely nothing of any value."

"All my disguises, my blanket, my food rations, my tent, my poison-testing strips and my money."

Hiei turned to glare at the piece of wall behind him.

"You made me carry all that crap all this way?" he snapped.

"I needed it!" she cried. "It was to help me blend in here so that I could help you on your mission!"

"What mission?"

"The mission to find out who Inukasai's real mother is so that we can prove to everyone else that he can't be Yukina's brother!"

"Hn."

In his ire, Hiei had almost lost sight of the reason why he had gone to Inugoya in the first place. It would be wise to find out the identity of Inukasai's mother, if only because it appeared that even Inukasai himself thought that Hina was his mother, and finding the real answer was the best way to get him away from Yukina without Hiei having to tell her the truth about his own identity.

"Why did you tell them I was your wife?"

Hiei turned sharply from the wall, silently glad that the ferry girl had not seen his reluctance to even look at the wall she was behind, far less look her in the eye, after her asking the question she just had.

"His wife looked an awful lot like Inuyusha," she added. "I bet she's Inukasai's half-sister. I bet she married Inukasai because he was her most distant relative in the whole village. They all look like Inuyusha was their father."

"Inuyusha is the father of every member of the tribe," Hiei replied, glad that that subject of their conversation had changed.

"Really? That's repugnant!"

"If he's not the father of someone, he's at least their grandfather or uncle. That's what these singular tribes are like in demon world."

"Not really."

"What?"

"Not all singular tribes are like that. The ice maidens aren't like that. I can't believe Inuyusha tried to say that they were!"

"Maybe the ice maiden he bred with was Rui. It had to be one of the women with poor eyesight, at least."

"I know! And someone with no sense of smell, either!"

Hiei smiled and rested his back against the wall again. He was not really sure where he would be or how he would have dealt with Inukasai's invasion into his life had he been alone to endure it all, but having the ferry girl around did at least make the whole ordeal slightly more bearable; if only because she seemed to agree with him on a surprising number of issues.

"Everything you said, right before Inukasai threatened you," he said.

"I know, I have a big mouth and it's my fault we're in this mess," she replied.

"I wasn't going to say that," Hiei corrected her. "I was going to say that I agree with you."

"Oh."

Hiei felt that he had been very generous to admit as much to her. After all, he was an S-class demon and she was a flighty ferry girl.

"It's nice when a husband and wife can agree on things, don't you think?"

Hiei growled, any feeling of contentment he had been enjoying evaporating.

"So why did you tell them I was your wife?" she pressed. "You must have had a reason to tell such a lie."

"Don't concern yourself with it too much," Hiei replied. "I only said it to irritate Inukasai."

"I can't see how it would irritate him," Botan replied. "He hates me. If anything, he probably just feels sorry for you now, being stuck married to me…"

She sounded like she was starting to get tearful again. Hiei was grateful that she had put herself into the situation that she had to defend him in a way nobody else in his life had, and so he decided that he would tell her half of the truth behind why he had said what he had.

"I said it because it seemed like it would irritate him after I saw what his wife looked like," he admitted.

"She's very pretty," the ferry girl commented.

"Maybe so, but you have bigger breasts."

"What?"

Hiei rested his head back against the wall, looking up at the window. Judging by the angle of the sun and based on the time of day he had been thrown into the cell, the sun would eventually shine directly into the window, and the heat in the cell would be unbearable and unavoidable. He, as a fire demon, could handle it, but it would probably kill the ferry girl.

"Is that all I am to you, Hiei?" she yelled. "Just a pair of breasts? That better not be the only reason you married me!"

Hiei leaned his head forward, frowning as he considered what he had just heard.

"What else attracted you to me?"

Hiei bared his teeth and clenched his fists in frustration: maybe he was not so glad to have the ferry girl with him after all.

"We're not really married!" he snapped. "You do know that, right? Just because I said we were, doesn't mean that we are! That's not how it works here in demon world!"

"Yes, but you've told Inukasai that we are married, and unless you want to tell him that you are as big a liar about your loved ones as he is, you will have to maintain the lie. Credibly."

She had almost sounded as though she was issuing a threat.

"What are you implying?" he growled, glaring over his shoulder at the piece of wall he knew she was immediately on the other side of.

"We need to get our cover story straight," she replied. "In case he asks any questions. If we don't agree on the details, we might slip up and he'll know you've been lying."

"I don't care if he knows I'm a liar! Lying isn't so taboo here in demon world! In fact, it's common practise!"

"If he finds out you pretended to have a wife just because you were jealous of his pretty wife, he'll think you're pretty pathetic."

Hiei turned from the wall again, inwardly cursing Botan for somehow being able to understand everything that went on inside his head. How had she known that he resented Inukasai for his comfortable life, his devoted father and sexy young wife?

"Obviously we met through Yusuke, when you stole the shadow sword, and I was working as assistant to the spirit detective."

Hiei frowned, unsure what point the ferry girl was trying to make by stating the obvious.

"It wasn't love at first sight. At least, not for me it wasn't. What do you think Hiei? Was it love at first sight for you?"

Hiei briefly wished that he had let Inukasai kill him.

"What first attracted you to me?"

"Not your voice or your nagging, that's for sure!"

"Well we're not telling people you were drawn to me because of my bra size, Hiei!"

"I wasn't drawn to you because of anything! I only said you were my wife because you were there, they had already assumed that we were together and I didn't want to be–"

Hiei stopped himself abruptly before he said out loud the remainder of that thought: the last thing his already battered ego needed was the ferry girl hearing him admit that he wanted to be better than Inukasai at any costs, including by giving himself a fake wife.

"So what attracted you to me, Hiei?"

"I don't care."

Hiei sighed.

"You know Hiei, you're not really behaving like a very good husband right now," Botan said, her voice almost so quiet that it was as though she had been more thinking aloud than addressing him directly.

"It's not exactly something I've had any practice at or any inclination to be," Hiei moodily replied.

"So this is your first marriage?" the ferry girl asked, sounding almost cheerful about asking such a stupid question.

"Yes."

"Mine too!"

"How surprising."

"Actually, you're my first boyfriend, too."

"And you're my first girlfriend."

When the ferry girl said no more, Hiei started to wonder if he had said something remiss.

"Because you've had lots of girls. You're a serial dater. You've never gone steady with just one girl, so you say you've never had a girlfriend?"

Hiei quickly realised that there was no good way to answer her, and so he remained quiet.

"We really should figure out a cover story though," she pressed. "And I want it to romantic. Like on our first date we went for a walk on a road lined with blooming wisterias."

"We did that last night," Hiei pointed out. "You nearly died. There you go again, injecting romance into a situation that was anything but romantic."

"It's very important to me that our fake marriage is a romantic one, Hiei!"

Hiei sneered at the piece of wall the ferry girl was on the other side of. Why did she care how convincing or idyllic their fake marriage sounded to anyone else?

"This marriage has to be romantic and perfect because it's the only time I'll ever get married and get to have any romance in my life."

Hiei groaned and rolled his eyes.

"An idiot like you who actively pursues romance surely finds plenty of simpering fools to indulge your wishes," he said.

"Oh Hiei, you're so sweet," she replied, causing his sneer to warp into a grimace. "Only a true friend like you would compliment me by telling me I have men queuing up just to take me on a date."

"…I didn't say that…"

"But it's not true. It's really hard for me to find romance in my own life: that's why I'm so obsessed with watching it in other people's lives. It just never happens for me."

"Romance is seriously over-rated."

"Only someone who has enjoyed it would say something so flippant! Do you know how awful it is to never know love?"

Hiei looked over at the illuminated portion of his cell, silently wondering if sitting in it and cooking himself in the heat of the sun would kill him or not. The cell had clearly been designed to torture those inside as the sun heated up the rock walls and ultimately flooded the entire room. It would cause a slow, painful death, brought on by a combination of heat exhaustion, burning and dehydration. It was a form of torture that was slow and painful, but surely no more so than talking to the ferry girl about love and romance.

"How much money did you have in your bag?" he asked.

He was genuinely curious to know the answer and it seemed like a good way to change the subject without having to answer her questions about his love-life or give her advice on her own.

"Seventy-five hiruiseki."

Hiei was on his feet before she had even finished pronouncing the last syllable.

Botan dragged the backs of her hands over her cheeks to clear away the tears she had cried as she heard Hiei doing something in his cell that sounded like an escape attempt. She did not want him to know that she had been crying, and she was certain she had managed to keep the sounds of her sobs from her voice. She rose to her feet, fanning herself with her hands. The cell she had been forced into had a barred window set high in one wall, and the most glorious sunlight had been shining through it, illuminating one half of her cell. She had chosen to sit in the sun (the window was actually just a barred hole in the wall) as it had been pleasantly warm; but as she moved into the shaded half of her cell she started to think that maybe she had overdone sunning herself as her skin still felt hot. When her cell door clicked open she gladly pushed her way out of it, moving out into the corridor beyond where, unsurprisingly, she found Hiei waiting for her.

"How did you–"

Botan stopped herself, mid-question, as she realised that she was not looking at Hiei.

"What do you want?" she asked instead.

"I don't know about what I do want, but let me tell you something about what I do not want," Inukasai replied as he began unlocking Hiei's cell door. "I do not want trouble in my village and I do not want strife between myself and my dear sister's unusual choice of friends."

Botan narrowed her eyes and pursed her lips in what she hoped was a threatening glare.

"What's the matter with you?" Hiei asked her as he exited his cell. "You look gassy. Keep away from me."

Botan relaxed her expression.

"I've spoken with my father, on your behalf," Inukasai continued, turning to address Hiei. "He is, as always, unwilling to discuss my mother, but he has agreed to discuss with you what he knows about the ice maidens, which may be helpful for you."

"Even if I did need help with something, you are the last person I would accept any form of charity from," Hiei coldly replied. "Take your pity and shove it up–"

"Surely you want to find out about your own mother?"

Botan held her breath, silently wondering what Hiei would say next. She supposed then that perhaps Inukasai really did not know anything about Hiei, maybe he thought Hiei had never been to the ice village and knew nothing about his own past. Anything Hiei said next threatened to expose him in a way she knew he was unwilling to be shown: either he would have to admit that he knew his mother's identity, admit that he had been to the ice village already or he would have to act like he did not care about knowing anything about his mother or his past, which would make him look like an even bigger jerk than Inukasai.

"It's none of your business what Hiei does or doesn't do!" she intercepted.

"You really are incredibly annoying and interfering," Inukasai answered her.

"So are you!" Botan argued.

"Look, I know how it is to be what your husband is," Inukasai tightly replied. "I have been through the crisis of identity, the feeling of not belonging, the hatred and resentment of my mother for not fighting harder to save me from being thrown out of her home and the need for closure. I know why your husband is the way he is because I have been there myself. I was fortunate enough to have a good family who found me after I was cast out and who took good care of me. It would appear that Hiei was not as fortunate as I was. I am only trying to help."

"If you really wanted to help, you never would have come to the living world and poked your big beak into Yukina's life!"

"I am trying to do something good for your husband. As his wife, don't you care about his needs?"

Botan found herself at a rare loss for words. She tried not to look at Hiei, though she could feel him staring at her. She felt that the onus was on her to answer Inukasai somehow, but she had no idea what Hiei would want her to say.

"We'd like to speak to your father," she said slowly.

When she saw Hiei's eyes start to glow she quickly qualified her last remark.

"Alone this time though," she blurted out. "Not with all your family falling over themselves and filling up the room like we're at some sort of house party for teenage boys!"

To her surprise, Inukasai nodded solemnly.

"That is indeed a fair comment," he conceded. "I appreciate that my family can be a tad over-exuberant, particularly so to those unaccustomed to the mannerisms of a dog demon. I will ensure you can have a private meeting with my father."

"Okay…" Botan said, glancing at Hiei. "Well then thank you."

"Just one more thing before I do so," Inukasai said.

Botan sighed.

"I knew it," she grumbled. "You're about to go back on your word, like the cad that you are–"

"You need to keep your mouth shut," Inukasai interrupted her.

Botan gasped.

"Do not act so surprised," Inukasai flatly told her. "This is about Hiei, not you. Keep your mouth shut and let Hiei talk to my father in peace."

"You're treating me like I'm the one who's an interfering know-it-all with a hidden agenda!" Botan snapped.

Inukasai gave her a withering look before turning to Hiei.

"Perhaps you should meet with my father alone," he suggested. "I will take your wife to my house and hold her there until you are done."

"Yes, you'd like that, wouldn't you?" Hiei replied, scowling up at Inukasai. "I'm not a fool and I know the way the minds of you dog demons work: I'm not leaving nubile, fertile wife at the mercy of a pack of rabid, uninhibited, randy mongrels. She comes with me."

Botan opened her mouth to comment on Hiei's last remark, but she stopped short when Hiei grabbed her hand in his and glared at Inukasai as though daring him to try to separate them. Botan was a little confused as to exactly why Hiei was insisting that she stay at his side, but as she had no desire to be left alone with Inukasai or any of the other dog demons, she stayed quiet on the matter. Hiei was clutching her hand a little too tightly for comfort and he was not even holding her hand in a normal way: he had simply grabbed his fingers around the back of her hand, compressing all of her fingers – including her thumb – in his clawed grip.

It was the sort of way someone who knew absolutely nothing about how to hold hands with someone else might attempt to hold hands if they were instructed to do so.

"I suppose that is also fair," Inukasai said, his face twitching in a way that implied he thought it was anything but fair. "A ferry girl in demon world is likely to arouse interest amongst the men; though you should know that the minute she opens her mouth, she loses any shred of sex appeal she may have otherwise possessed."

Botan tried to ignore just how insulting Inukasai's last words were. She was almost sure that he did not actually know how badly it hurt her to hear someone tell her just what he had, but she did not trust him enough to be sure, and she refused to let him think that he had gotten to her.

"You're the one who needs to shut your mouth," Hiei growled at Inukasai. "Talk like that about my wife again and you'll wish the worst form of torture I could think of is locking you in a cell that bakes you in the heat of the sun."

Botan turned to Hiei, smiling in spite of herself. Yusuke was so right about Hiei: he was always there to save his friends at exactly the moment that they needed him the most. Just when she had been pushed to the point of wanting to cry, Hiei had rushed in to save her honour.

"Take us to your father, leave us there, and never show your face around me – or my wife – again," Hiei added, giving Inukasai one of his trademark death glares.

"Gladly," Inukasai replied. "I can only hope that you will return the favour and I will never have to see you or your wife around me or any of my family again."

He turned and started to walk away. Hiei followed after him, forcing Botan to join him as he was still gripping her hand in his. She struggled to match her pace to his, but quickly did so to avoid being dragged by her hand in either direction.

"And that includes Yukina and Mister Kuwabara."

Hiei – probably in anger and shock at Inukasai's words, Botan thought – tightened his grip on Botan's hand to the point that she hissed and broke out in a sweat. She glanced down at him and saw him staring at the back of Inukasai's head as though he was plotting ways to murder him; but still he maintained his renewed and painful grip on her hand. She moved her free hand over to his and began trying to pry his fingers apart, something that, logically, she knew she was not nearly strong enough to do. However he appeared to understand what she was doing as he shortly slackened his grip. He cast her a brief, irritated, look and then released her hand completely. After a sigh of relief, Botan slid her hand into his, knitting her fingers through his and then touching her other hand to the back of his hand.

Botan frowned slightly when Hiei stumbled, as though something had tripped him, despite the floor being flat and even. His face took on a strange expression – much like the one he had worn when she had spoken with him by the riverbank in the living world – and he started moving his eyes between their joined hands and Botan's face. Botan thought that perhaps he looked a little nervous and so she offered him a reassuring smile, which made his eyes stop on her face and his expression neutralise. She faltered slightly when he moved his free hand over and pressed it against the back of her hand the same way she was doing with his; it was a little awkward walking alongside someone whilst trying to keep both of her hands on both of his, but she knew that Hiei needed her support right then and so she did not argue.

And, Botan thought, there was something quite pleasant about being with someone who not only wanted to hold hands with her, but also wanted to be seen by other people holding hands with her.

As they crossed the village centre, Botan noticed that this time – unlike upon their arrival in the village that morning – everyone they passed stopped and stared. She supposed they were staring because they had seen her and Hiei being arrested and detained, they were curious as to where they were being taken, if they were being released, what they would do next; but Botan could not suppress the small part of her that felt that everyone was looking because they were surprised to see her holding hands with someone. It was a niggling little insecurity that had plagued Botan for many years, only worsened in her home of spirit world because most of the residents there knew about it and were unsympathetic about it, and since Hiei had declared that she was his wife, she had been forced to confront it all over again.

She hated the fact that she was the romantic obsessive that Hiei accused her of being and yet her own life had always been devoid of anything even remotely romantic, forcing her to indulge her need for romance vicariously through her friends.

Botan began fretting about how the dog demons were judging her, what they must be thinking to see Hiei holding onto her, her panic becoming so irrational that she was actually glad when they once more entered Inuyusha's stinky, dirty, unkempt house.

"Father, I have brought back Hiei and Botan," Inukasai announced as they entered the room his father was still sitting in. "I understand that the way they behaved earlier was unacceptable, but I feel I must ask you to reconsider meeting with them. As Hiei is an emiko, just like me, I know his need for closure, and I implore you to impart unto him anything of value you may know about the ice maidens and their glacial home."

"My son, I cannot have violent troublemakers in my community," Inuyusha solemnly replied. "I have a duty to do what is best for my people, and allowing these two to remain here is not a safe option."

Botan prepared herself to leave, feeling that there was no hope of getting any answers from anyone in Inugoya, and it was probably best to go then before Inuyusha or Inukasai found a reason to send her and Hiei back to the village prison.

"Did you not once make exactly that decision before?" Inukasai said.

Botan hesitated, silently wondering what he meant.

"You took a powerful, violent troublemaker into this community once before, father," he continued. "And, even though nobody else in the village wanted him there, even though everybody else feared him, you welcomed him and you showed us all that he could be a valuable member of this community and a man of honour. You have let me stay here for my entire life, can you not allow one of my kin to stay here just long enough to help him on his own quest? I have been very fortunate to have a family here and to have successfully found out the truth about my mother and my sister: I believe that even Hiei deserves that same opportunity."

"Why would you think such a thing, my son?" Inuyusha asked.

"Because that is what you taught me, father," Inukasai replied. "You taught me that even a violent, angry, uncivilised wretch deserves a second chance."

Inuyusha nodded and Inukasai bowed his head.

"Thank you father," he said.

He turned and nodded at Hiei, eyed Botan over disdainfully and then left the room. Botan watched him go, realising that it had obviously been difficult for him to do what he had, for him to side with Hiei after everything that had happened between them, and yet he had still done it because he believed it was the right thing to do, because he believed in standing by a fellow emiko.

She was torn between thinking it was all just a part of another sneaky plot to ruin Hiei's life and considering that, in her zeal to protect the interests of her own friends, she may have misjudged Inukasai entirely.

"Be seated."

Botan snapped back to attention as Hiei started towards the sofa by Inuyusha and she was dragged along with him, as they were still holding each other's hands. They sat down beside each other, with Botan nearest the armrest and therefore in between Hiei and Inuyusha. She saw the leader of the dog demons look down at their hands for a long moment before moving his eyes to Hiei.

"My experience of the ice maidens is not something I discuss with anyone," he said. "Not even my own son. I cannot even tell you where the ice village is: I swore to my lover that I would never reveal such information."

"Oh my goodness!" Botan gasped.

She felt Hiei glaring at her as though warning her not to interrupt, but after the epiphany she had just had, she could not stop herself.

"You didn't tell Inukasai where the ice village is or which of the ice maidens was his mother because you were keeping your promise to her!" she continued. "You pretended that it hurt too much to talk about it, but truthfully you were just hiding the information because you were bound to by the agreement you made with Inukasai's mother!"

"Your verbose wife is correct, Hiei," Inuyusha said to Hiei. "As an infant, my son was violent and vicious – as you too no doubt were – and cared not about his heritage. It was only as he matured, as he learned to control his temper and as he learned to appreciate the importance of family the same way we all do here in Inugoya that he began to ask questions about his mother. I told him his mother was an ice maiden, but I told him no more. He was persistent, but I refused to divulge the information. I did not want him to know the truth. I did not want him to go back to the ice village. I was sure the ice maidens, when they discovered that they had not successfully killed Inukasai on their first attempt when they threw him off the cliff, would finish him off if he returned there. And if I must tell you anything today Hiei, it is simply that: the ice maidens are not what they seem and are not to be trusted. If you value your life, stay away from them. Be thankful that they cast you out, your life has surely only been the better for it."

"So all that crap your son said about you truly loving his mother and being broken hearted that she didn't escape the glacial village to come and live here with you is just a fabricated lie you fed to your son to appease his need for knowledge?" Hiei asked.

"I loved Inukasai's mother as much as I love any of my other wives."

"Urgh!" Botan muttered involuntarily.

"And I believe that, as far as she was able to, she loved me back," Inuyusha continued, unhindered by Botan's outburst. "When she first realised that she was pregnant with my child she was pleased about it: but she always wanted to birth him in her home, which I respected. She went back there after telling me the news, and we were supposed to meet weekly thereafter, but I never saw her again. She went back there, told the others the truth about her pregnancy, and they convinced her that her son was something evil and that she was dirty for carrying him. My lover was one of but a few ice maidens who was not corrupted by the rot that infests that village, but alas she was not strong enough to overcome them when they took her son from her. I was sure that they would have taken her daughter too, and raised her to be as cold and judgemental as they are; and so I am glad that Yukina is not that way."

Botan's face dropped.

"You-you knew that Inukasai's sister is called Yukina?" she asked. "I mean, before he found her, you knew her name was Yukina?"

"Yes, I did," Inuyusha replied. "I did not tell my son because I did not want him to get his hopes up of finding her and of her being receptive to meeting with him. I am so glad she has grown up to be like her mother. And now that I can see that, I am glad that Inukasai found her. She will be welcome in Inugoya at any time. I look forward to meeting her, in fact. She ought to look just like her mother, after all."

"If you lay a single finger on Yukina, I will kill you," Hiei warned.

Botan turned to him, wondering why he had said what he had, but as her eyes passed over the mess of wooden toys around the floor of the room they were in, she remembered then what Hiei had told her about the breeding habits of the dog demons.

"You dirty, disgusting old man!" she yelled, rounding on Inuyusha again. "How dare you fantasise about your son's sister?"

"She's my son's sister," he replied.

Botan started to relax, assuming that he was about to tell her that she had misunderstood him.

"I am not her father," he continued. "Not that that would stop me anyway, but her mother gave me a wonderful son, I am sure she could do the same for me."

"You're an animal!" Botan roared, her anger flaring again.

"If you so much as look at Yukina in a lustful way, I will burn your entire village to the ground," Hiei added.

"And if Hiei doesn't get to you, Kuwabara certainly will!" Botan pointed out.

"Yes, my son did tell me Yukina has a lover named Kuwabara," Inuyusha said. "But Yukina, as Inukasai's sister, is a part of my family, and as such, she should honour our customs."

"Incest is not a custom that can ever be honourable!" Botan snapped. "You make me sick! Tell us something useful or I will cut off a part of your body that will make sure you never fornicate with another family member again!"

Inuyusha eyed Botan over before moving his eyes to Hiei and smiling in a way that made Botan feel more ill than irate.

"She is a feisty one," he commented. "I bet she's a real hellcat in the bedroom."

Botan gasped in horror.

"You couldn't handle my wife in the bedroom, old man," Hiei flatly replied. "Now do as she asked: tell us something useful or suffer the consequences."

Botan felt her face suddenly hot and she hoped it was just because she had sat in the sun for too long whilst she had been in the prison cell and that it was not an outward expression of just how embarrassing Hiei's words had been to listen to and the fact that she was battling inside her mind to suppress the image of herself in a bedroom with Hiei.

"I have never heard of you before today, Hiei," Inuyusha said. "This may surprise you, but the subject of the emikos is not one the ice maidens readily talk to anyone about. They do not even really talk about it amongst their own ranks other than to tell high-level horror stories about how an emiko is born to young girls in the hope of scaring them out of ever conceiving such a child. My lover mentioned that our child would be an emiko and that others had been born into her village before, and even what the fate of an emiko born to the glacial village always was: but she never told me the names of any known, surviving emikos or the names of the women who had birthed them. The best I can offer is to give you an approximate location of the ice village."

"That won't be necessary," Hiei said.

He released Botan's hands and stood up, looking agitated and vaguely disappointed. Sensing his negativity and the need to gain at least some piece of valuable information before leaving Inugoya empty-handed, Botan spoke up.

"Alright Inuyusha, if you can't tell us anything about Hiei or any of the other emikos, tell us about your own son," she said.

Hiei turned to her, giving her a strange look that suggested he wanted her to stop talking, but she continued regardless: she knew Hiei was too proud to ask for help but she also knew that he desperately needed her help right then.

"Tell us how you knew that Inukasai's sister was named Yukina," she continued.

"My lover told me she would name her daughter Yukina," Inuyusha replied. "She told me that before we even bedded each other. She spoke about how she was close to the age where she would have her own child and that she wanted to name the child Yukina."

Botan slowly turned back to Hiei, finding his eyes on Inuyusha, his expression softened and vaguely concerned.

"What was your lover's name?" Hiei asked quietly.

Botan could not stop the noise of surprise that escaped her throat when Inuyusha answered.

"Her name was Hina."

Next Chapter: Botan worries about getting hit by a bus, Inukasai advises Hiei to get a divorce, Hiei and Botan talk about having children, and Hiei and Botan make plans to travel to their next destination. Chapter 8 – Parental Anomalies