I don't own YYH!

Chapter 10

Kuwabara would have made it back home much sooner if he had taken Botan up on her offer to fly Yukina back to the temple, but he insisted on accompanying the ice-maiden to Genkai's temple instead. Yukina had no objections with his request and Kuwabara was thrilled, as it gave them some extra time together. It was the chivalrous thing to do and he wanted his first date with Yukina to be special. She had thanked him for dropping her home and gave him a smile that made his knees go weak. The long trek back home felt much shorter as he replayed the night's events in his head. It was kind of strange having Hiei and Botan around, but Yukina had a good time, so Kuwabara was happy.

Well, he would have been happy had it not been for the nagging feeling in the pit of his stomach. No matter how he looked at it, something just wasn't right. He thought that Hiei would have blown his chance for freedom during the very first date with Botan, but it turns out the fire-demon had somehow managed to rope the ferry-girl into seeing him without much coaxing. They had already finished their fourth date and, at this rate, the shrimp would reach his goal of seven dates before the month was over.

But it wasn't Hiei's startling efficiency that was troubling him. It was the change in dynamic between the two.

Kuwabara was expecting Hiei to be his usual, anti-social self the entire time. If he spoke up, it would only be because he felt the need to threaten or belittle someone, but the fire-demon wholly surprised him. Instead of hanging back from the group and attempting to distance himself, Hiei fell into step with Botan and stayed near her side for the entirety of the date. With a little coaxing from Botan, he even contributed to the conversation.

The duo had clearly become much closer. They seemed to build up a steady tolerance towards one another. Hiei didn't blow up on her when she invaded his personal space and he defended her when the moviegoer was rude. They even knew things about each other that Kuwabara had no clue of, like Botan's new fixation on romance novels and Hiei's secret sweet tooth.

Most shocking of all was the way Hiei looked at Botan sometimes. Botan never seemed to notice it and he was pretty sure that Hiei probably wasn't even aware that he was doing it, but there was a flicker of something unusual that passed over his usually narrowed and bloodthirsty crimson eyes. Something that Kuwabara was afraid to pinpoint.

As he walked down the familiar streets of his neighborhood, he suddenly got the distinct feeling that he was being followed. Though his spiritual awareness had begun to diminish upon his return from he Dark Tournament, he could still feel the crippling sensation of being watched. The street lights flickered ominously, casting the street into bouts of darkness occasionally and Kuwabara steeled himself, ready to attack. He turned around sharply, fists clenched.

"Whoa, whoa, relax! It's only me!"

Kuwabara raised a brow at Yusuke, who had his hands raised in a defensive manner.

"What are you doing out here, Urameshi?"

"I wanted to hear all about your night," he answered.

"I don't want to talk about it," Kuwabara responded curtly, turning on his heels as he continued moving forward.

"I was just asking as a formality. I saw the whole thing regardless."

The psychic stopped in his tracks, tossing Yusuke a confused look. He briefly wondered if Yusuke had taken to spying on them all night, but that was impossible. If he didn't notice Yusuke's presence, then Hiei definitely would have.

"What do you mean?"

"I suckered Koenma into letting me use his logging system," Yusuke explained cheekily.

Kuwabara thought back to the sweet moments he had shared with Yukina and frowned over at Yusuke, completely mortified over the fact the smug punk had witnessed it all.

"Urameshi, that was totally uncalled for!"

"I couldn't let you have all the fun, now could I? Besides, two sets of eyes are better than one. Hiei's a tricky little guy and I had to make sure that he wouldn't pull the wool over your eyes."

Kuwabara crossed his arms over his chest.

"Sounds to me like you were just bored and didn't have any Friday night plans," he grumbled.

"Think what you want, at least I'm not the one who blew a shit ton of money on another dude," Yusuke countered. "You practically took Hiei out on a date."

Kuwabara grimaced.

"Shizuru's gonna be so pissed when she finds out how much of her money I actually spent," he lamented, resisting the urge to shiver at the mere thought of her inevitably violent reaction.

Yusuke shrugged in that careless manner of his.

"Should have just let Hiei use the jagan to skip out on all the bills."

"That's despicable!" Kuwabara protest. "A real man doesn't steal and cheat like that."

"If you say so..."

They walked in silence for a few more moments, until Kuwabara cast an uncertain glance at the detective.

"..So, you saw everything?" he asked lowly.

"Everything," Yusuke confirmed with a nod.

"Did you notice anything different about them?"

Yusuke paused, rubbing his chin as he thought.

"Aside from Hiei being a little more tolerant and a little less snappy, they both seemed normal to me," he answered. "Why?"

It figured Urameshi didn't notice anything; he was usually oblivious to the dispositions and emotions of those around him, but Kuwabara had hoped that someone else would have taken notice of it, too.

"I'm not sure how to explain it... there was just something unusual about them," Kuwabara revealed. "I could sense a change in both of them."

"Aw, come on. Don't get all psychic on me, now," Yusuke teased. "It'll ruin the fun."

Kuwabara shook his head.

"I'm serious, Urameshi! I have this bad feeling and my instincts are usually right," Kuwabara maintained, features pinched into a frown. "Maybe we should stop this before it turns out bad, like Kurama said."

Yusuke rolled his eyes.

"What you're 'sensing' is just an illusion. Hiei is only acting semi-civil towards Botan because he wants us to uphold our end of the bargain. But any day now, he'll snap. I can feel it. So don't worry about it anymore."

"I don't know," Kuwabara said doubtfully. "Maybe you weren't paying enough attention, but I was there. I saw it firsthand."

Yusuke shook his head.

"I saw it all, too. Probably even better than you did, since you were so busy fawning over Yukina," Yusuke asserted. "Besides, I'm pretty sure that my detective intuition trumps your supernatural feelings, so chances are you were getting worried over nothing."

Kuwabara's frown deepened and Yusuke clapped a hand over his shoulder.

"Just trust me, you'll see."

"I hope so," Kuwabara muttered to himself.

It was an overcast day, the type where morning, afternoon and evening all blended into one and became indiscernible due to the lack of sunshine. The haze of gray clouds rolled among the sky, a promise that rain was sure to follow. The wind swayed lazily amongst the trees, carrying a much cooler breeze than normal. There were fewer humans around when the weather was like this. The area was quiet and the hustle and bustle that usually occupied the streets was not an issue today. Hiei had much preferred days like these over the previously blindingly bright and sunny ones.

"Hi Hiei!"

Hiei's somewhat good mood was spoiled when he identified the voice, opening his eyes to confirm what he knew to be true. He saw the dark-haired preteen waving up at him near the base of the tree and scowled.

"Shuichi told me I would find you around here," the younger Shuichi informed. "I've got some good news for you."

Hiei mentally cursed Kurama for allowing Shuichi to know his whereabouts and jumped down from the tree. In the short time that he had known the boy, he had learned that Shuichi was a persistent kid; he wouldn't leave until he said whatever it was on his mind. Hiei ignored Shuichi's amazement upon seeing him jump from such a height and land so gracefully, instead choosing to cross his arms over his chest and send a glare in the boy's direction.

"What is it?"

Shuichi came out of his astonished daze and pulled two items out of his pocket.

"I won tickets to a baseball game from a radio show. I don't really like baseball and neither does Shuichi."

Hiei had no clue of what baseball was, but he refused to ask the boy about it, lest he start questioning Hiei's gap in cultural knowledge.

"What's your point, kid?" he retorted.

"I was thinking that maybe you could take them off my hands. What do you say?"

"I have no interest in trivial pastimes," Hiei answered.

"Maybe you can take that girl you've been seeing," he tried. "It's a pretty exciting sport from what I hear, but I just never got into it."

At the mention of the ferry-girl, Hiei paused. Up until now, Botan had been the one to initiate each date. He could use this as an opportunity to keep her entrapped. At this point, anything even remotely human would keep her entertained.

"When is it?" Hiei asked.

"Monday afternoon."

That was in two days. It didn't take much consideration on Hiei's part.

"Give them to me."

"Sure thing!" Shuichi said, handing them over.

"Hn."

"You're welcome, Hiei."

"I didn't express any gratitude."

"I just assumed that your grunt was 'thank you' in Hiei speak."

The fire-demon sneered at the boy, but Shuichi only smiled undauntedly in return. Hiei seriously considered inflicting some sort of bodily injury on the boy or at least tormenting him with the jagan - anything to wipe that trusting and cheerful grin off of his face - but the boy was important to Kurama and he learned long ago that it was not wise to make an enemy of the fox.

"You should probably call your girlfriend up and make sure she's free. Otherwise, you'll have to find someone else to go with," Shuichi mentioned good-naturedly.

Ignoring the fact that he had just called Botan his girlfriend, the boy had a point. He needed to confirm that the ferry-girl was available to attend the game; otherwise the effort he put into not killing Shuichi would have been in vain. Hiei turned away, hoping that the human would take the hint and leave as he pulled out the communication device.

"I wanted to ask you guys earlier, but sometimes Shuichi gets so secretive. What are those things?" he asked, taking a step forward to examine the device more closely. "Shuichi has the same one, but I've never really seen it elsewhere. Is it some sort of special gadget you got at school?"

"It's none of your business," Hiei answered dismissively.

"I only saw Shuichi use it once. He was staring at the screen, but it was full of static," Shuichi continued persistently. "I think yours was the same way last time you used it at the café. Did you get it fixed?"

Hiei looked down at the purple compact. Normal humans should not have been able to see any images displayed on the screen, so Shuichi's admission was not surprising in the slightest. However, from what Hiei gathered the last time that they were together, the boy could clearly hear the audio output from the communication device. He must have had a slight sense of spiritual awareness, but not enough to take notice of the strange happenings of the town. This area had an unnaturally high number of humans with spiritual awareness - perhaps that was why it was a pitfall for danger.

"Well?" Shuichi pressed curiously.

"I'm not making the call with you staring over my shoulder," Hiei informed.

"Oh, right. You probably want your privacy," Shuichi answered with a sheepish grin. "Guess that means I gotta go!"

Shuichi walked off a few steps, before turning around to wave at Hiei one last time. He then rounded the corner and disappeared from Hiei's sight. He was a pain, but the boy did have some use. He had just given Hiei the opportunity and the means to complete his fifth date. It was almost alarming how easy it had been to make it to this point. The end was near and freedom was within his grasp. He should have been completely smug at this point, but there was that nagging feeling again. Hiei ignored it for now, opting to follow Shuichi's advice as he flipped open the communication device.

Hiei pressed the appropriate buttons to call Botan and she appeared on the small screen after several rings.

"Hello Hiei," her cheery voice rang through the device. "Is something the matter? You rarely make contact first like this."

"What do you know about baseball?" he asked bluntly.

"Not much other than the fact that it's a sport in the human world," Botan explained.

"Does it interest you?"

The ferry-girl shrugged.

"I've never given it any thought before. I suppose it must be thrilling for it to be so popular," she answered. "Why do you ask?"

He pulled out the two tickets and her eyes lit up.

"Wow, how did you manage to get those?"

"Kurama's future step brother offered them to me."

"Well that was sweet of him. Are you two going to go together?"

"Don't be foolish."

"Who are you taking, then?"

"I thought that much was obvious," he said as he stared back at her pointedly.

She pointed to herself incredulously as a smile slowly spread out over her face.

"You could've taken anyone else and you asked me?"

"Kurama doesn't like baseball," Hiei clarified.

"How about Yusuke? Or Kuwabara? At least they know about the sport and can fill you in better than I can."

"Even you are a better candidate than those two," Hiei responded.

"Really?"

"Don't get overly excited. It is just by a margin."

"A really thick margin, I'd hope," she said, smiling brightly. "When is the game, anyway?"

"Monday."

"I'll make sure that I'm free, then," she noted. "Thanks for inviting me, Hiei. I'm really flattered that you thought of me."

He meant to correct her, to tell her that he wasn't thinking of her in particular, but instead he pursed his lips shut and only nodded in return.

The fact that Hiei had called her and initiated a date spoke volumes. He never initiated any sort of interaction between them, but when faced with the need to, he thought of her. He chose her.

It made her heart do the strangest little flips and flutters and before long a silly grin spread over her lips.

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone was lovesick…"

Botan immediately snapped out of her stupor at the sound of the familiar sing-song voice, finally taking notice of her favorite apprentice, Hinageshi.

"Don't be silly," Botan laughed. "I'm just in a good mood, is all."

"And does that good mood have anything to do with a certain fire-demon?" Hinageshi probed, her expression strangely reminiscent of the sort of mischievous look that Yusuke was notorious for donning.

Botan paused hesitantly. She wasn't sure if she wanted to answer that question or not and her silence seemed to be more than enough of an answer for the younger girl.

"I thought it might have," Hinageshi said with a nod. "All those romance novels have made me an expert on the heart."

Botan shot her an unconvinced look.

"You're getting the wrong idea, Hinageshi. Hiei is just my friend. I'm happy that we're spending time together because we never used to be this close and the more I get to know him, the more I get to like him."

Hinageshi opened her mouth but to capitalize on Botan's ill-phrased statement, but the bluette immediately continued.

"As a friend and nothing more," she finished hurriedly.

"Okay, whatever you say," the apprentice relented with a shrug. "But when you finally stop denying your feelings and feel like sharing the mushy gushy stuff, I'm all ears!"

Botan crossed her arms over her chest and raised a brow.

"Didn't training start five minutes ago?"

The redhead's playful grin dropped when she realized that Botan was right.

"This conversation isn't over! I'll find you later," she called out as she scampered down the hallway. "Hopefully by then you won't still be in denial!"

Botan tried to ignore the pesky feeling that was slowly overcoming her as she turned in the opposite direction and made her way back to her room. Hinageshi couldn't possibly be right. She didn't know the nature of Hiei and Botan's agreement. Nobody did and that's why it was easy for them all to misunderstand. They were just experiencing the human world together and that was all. She wasn't too sure of Hiei's motives - perhaps he was bored and needed to kill some time - but she knew for a fact that it wasn't anything more than a passing activity for Hiei.

It didn't matter that their time together meant more to her than it meant to him; that was perfectly fine.

There was absolutely nothing wrong with wanting to stay by his side and wishing that they could continue on like this for a long, long time.

Anyone in her predicament would have felt the same, right?

As she entered her room, she closed the door behind her and flopped down on her bed. Wincing, she reached a hand out to pull the item that was caught underneath her side. She frowned when she realized that it was the romance novel she had borrowed from Hinageshi. If Hinageshi had never been exposed to those dreadful books, then the girl would have never been so obsessed with romance and she would have never voiced the truth that Botan had been too afraid to even make sense of.

She shoved the book under her pillow; out of sight out of mind. Or at least, it should have been, but her amethyst eyes stubbornly caught sight of the panda that Hiei had won for her at the carnival. She rolled over to her right side so that she could no longer see it and let out a heavy sigh.

Despite what others might have said or thought, Botan was no fool. When they had gotten too close during their scuffle in the photo booth, she knew that things could escalate if they weren't careful. And when Hiei told her what he really thought of her the following night at Genkai's temple, she realized that if she didn't guard her heart, it could easily be his.

Things between them had slowly been changing and she began to anticipate the idea of spending time with Hiei alone, rather than the excitement of experiencing the human world. Although she desperately wanted their situation to remain simple and clear-cut, one wrong move on her part and it would spiral into something complex and confusing. She couldn't let her fleeting and most likely misconstrued emotions get in the way of their mutually beneficial arrangement.

She did not dare give it much more thought or consideration, because once it was pondered upon, once it was said aloud, it would become too real. She was content in suppressing the idea that her feelings might have crossed over into dangerous territory if it meant that she could maintain the amicable relationship between Hiei and herself.

Besides, Hiei would never feel the same anyway and she would never expect him to.

The following day, Hiei hadn't heard from Botan at all. They had previously gone days without speaking to each other while they were engaged in their dating arrangement, but as of late they had made some sort of contact daily. Now that the routine was broken, he couldn't help but take notice of it.

He momentarily wondered if the ferry-girl was simply busy or if she was having a hard time due to the judgmental nature of those around her. He quickly pushed those thoughts aside as they were not his concern.

He spent a majority of the day training in the dense forest near Genkai's temple. It had been a while since he honed his skills and he pushed himself to his absolute limits in an attempt to see if his strength or endurance had dulled in his inactivity. He brought the communication device along with him, just in case the ferry-girl tried to contact him.

It hadn't rung once.

When he finished training, he removed his bandana and checked on Yukina. She was having tea with Genkai and all seemed to be in order. He briefly thought of checking in on the ferry-girl as well, but he quickly dismissed the notion and he retied his white bandana, concealing the jagan once more.

A quick pit stop at Kurama's house to make use of his facilities soon spiraled into an hour long dinner with the fox's surrogate human mother. Afterwards, she had supplied him with cakes and sweets that he had never eaten before – but even all of those distractions hadn't erased the ferry-girl from his mind. Fortunately, Hiei was able to slip away before Kurama had a chance to return home. The fox would have undoubtedly noticed Hiei's agitation and would have figured out the source of it without much prompting on Hiei's part.

He returned to the park and sat down on one of the many benches scattered among the area. He pulled the device out and frowned at it, as though his negative emotions would somehow reach the woman. Just as his finger hovered over the button, a breeze carrying a familiar scent passed by and he was greeted with the sight of the ferry-girl, her bright pink kimono and blue hair standing out amongst the darkness. She dismounted her oar and took a seat next to him.

"I thought it would be a good idea to give you a quick lesson on baseball, in anticipation of the game tomorrow," Botan informed. "It would be a much more enjoyable experience if we both actually knew what was going on, don't you think?"

Hiei didn't see the point - it wasn't as though he was really going to pay attention to a silly diversion like baseball, anyway - but, she was here now and the agitation was gone so he went along with it. He leaned back and crossed his arms over his chest in a silent gesture for her to do as she pleased.

Botan understood without any prompting on his part and dove right into describing the game. In the midst of her explanations, she had pulled out pictures and notes from the oversized sleeves of her kimono. He found himself listening more to the notes and tunes of her voice, rather than the words that she was speaking. It wasn't entirely unpleasant so he did not mind the fact that she continued rattling off fact after fact in that chipper tone of hers.

"So in conclusion, whoever has the most points at the end of the ninth inning wins," she finished animatedly. "Did you understand it all?"

He nodded.

"The game isn't a complicated one."

"That's true," she agreed. "It should be fun, though. I'm really excited!"

It didn't take much to please her; she was so easily enthralled by simple things. He had originally thought that pairing him with the ferry-girl was the worst thing that Yusuke and Kuwabara could have done, but over time, it had become less taxing. He had even developed a tolerance of sorts to her chatty nature and it became easier to listen as she began jumping from topic to topic, finally settling on the subject of the double date.

"I definitely thought you were going to kill Kuwabara at certain times, but you really kept your anger in check," she praised. "And Yukina had such a wonderful time."

"At least one of us did," Hiei muttered.

"How was it, after we left you both at the table together?" she asked carefully.

Hiei should have berated her for prying into his personal life, but the instinct never came. Sharing information with the ferry-girl had become common place in their little arrangement and the words slipped past his tongue without much thought on his part.

"She said that she was content here, but she still hasn't given up on locating her brother."

"I don't think she ever will, Hiei," Botan said softly. "Other than the hiruiseki stone that she has from your mother, the only real connection she has to her family is you."

Hiei paused, a single brow lifted questioningly.

"...You know about the stone?"

"Yes, Yukina told me all about it just before we met up with you boys," she revealed. "I was wondering if you still had yours… in all the time I've known you, I don't think I've ever seen it."

"..."

"Have you been keeping it someplace safe and hidden?" she continued undeterred. "Is it in some secret location that only you know of?"

"No," he replied, resisting the urge to look away as he continued. "It's nothing like that, woman."

Botan tilted her head in confusion.

"Then, is it-"

"It's gone," he revealed bluntly. "I lost the stone years ago."

Botan's eyes widened in shock.

"But how?"

He should have ended the conversation a long time ago, but it had become strangely easy to talk to her about the things he had never told anyone else.

"As a child, I valued nothing but the thrill of a good battle and the prospect of shedding blood. I wore my mother's tear gem as a means of attracting all sorts of opponents. But I was young and careless. I lost it during a scuffle in the highlands and haven't been able to track it down since."

"That's a awful."

"Hn."

"So, you never searched for it?"

"No, I didn't," he lied.

Of course he had searched for it, but all of his searching ended in vain. He gave up when it became obvious that he would never see the stone again.

"I have a proposition," she voiced timidly. "Though I'm not sure if you'd like it."

"Then don't suggest it."

"Oh, alright," she deflated, lips drawn into a pout.

During the silence that ensued, she had taken to tapping her fingers against the bench in an attempt to distract herself. She bit down on her lip, as though that were enough to keep her thoughts from leaking out of her mouth. Hiei wondered how much longer it would be before she spoke her mind and after a few more seconds of moving around agitatedly, she suddenly stopped and turned towards him.

"It's just… the demon compass can track any demon if you use a sample of their DNA," she blurted out quickly. "The tear gems might be considered DNA or at the very least emit some sort of special energy signal. Maybe if we placed your mother's stone in the demon compass, it would lead us to the one that you lost!"

"No," he refused immediately.

"Don't you think it's worth a shot?"

"I've put that all behind me. It isn't worth anything now."

"But maybe this can be the one good thing from your past."

"There isn't a single thing I'd need to reclaim from my past," he said firmly, with an air of finality.

Botan looked as though she wanted to continue the conversation, but she nodded thoughtfully.

"Alright, I understand," she conceded, before changing the topic skillfully. "So, how are you enjoying the human world? We've been on four dates and we already went through a lot of activities. Was there anything in particular that you liked?"

"Nothing peaks my interest in this world," he answered.

"You're forgetting about your beloved sweets," she teased. "But there's got to be something other than that."

"It doesn't matter," he said.

Her expression fell.

"Why not?"

"It doesn't matter because I don't intend to stay here permanently," he said. "Once Koenma has deemed my sentence as served, I'll be gone."

He noticed the way her brows furrowed and lips curved downward slightly, as if she was actually troubled by the news.

"I'm not sure if it matters to you or not, but…" she paused to look over at him with a slightly sad smile. "I'm glad that you're here now."

An indecipherable wave of emotion washed over him as yet again, she said something that baffled him. The atmosphere between them had changed considerably from their first date until now. He presumed it was a consequence of the bet and the fact that they were forced to spend time together, but that was not a thorough enough explanation for the degree of change that had subconsciously taken root between them.

Somewhere along the way they had become more than just mere acquaintances to each other. She had called him a friend twice now and he initially brushed it off, thinking that the word held no credence when spoken from the mouth of a woman who could have befriended a tree if she tried hard enough.

But he had come to realize that her words weren't weightless.

She wasn't just another thoughtless inhabitant from spirit world; she was something else entirely, although he couldn't quite put his thoughts into words. He had seen her in a new light and it was clear that her view of him had been altered as well, so much so, that she felt at ease in his presence.

Unfortunately, it didn't end there. The woman wasn't simply comfortable around him; she had enjoyed his presence. That was where the problem lied. If she had liked him for the man she mistakenly thought he was - for the person that she misguidedly assumed he had the potential to be - then that would be her fault entirely and it would have been inconsequential to him. But, he realized that over the course of their dates, he had never given the ferry-girl any reason to misjudge him. Although it would have been logical to mask his true personality in lieu of a more favorable one that would ensure his victory in the bet, he refrained from doing so. It simply wasn't in his nature to pretend and so he never attempted to be something that he was not. That only meant that Botan liked him for him and that startling revelation was enough to unnerve him.

"Did I say something wrong?" Botan asked, her cheeks turning pink. "I just meant that it's nice to have you around. No, that still sounds strange. What I'm trying to say is-"

"I understand," he cut in lowly. "You don't have to explain yourself."

He spared one last glance in her direction before looking away. When he thought about it objectively, the mere sight of a resident of the spirit world and a native of the demon world willingly spending time together without a trace of malice or tension lingering in the air between them was bizarre. They were ingrained with the morals and teachings of two very different worlds and it was common occurrence for demons and spirits to abhor each other. He had been rejected by the lowest of the low among the bandits and yet she, who held a place in an establishment that was located higher than the clouds, had freely and easily accepted him.

He wondered if she would still feel the same way about him if she ever discovered the truth behind his motives, but quickly dismissed the thought.

It didn't matter to him, anyway.

Or at least, it shouldn't have.

And that's another chapter down. You guys didn't think I could go through ten whole chapters without at least one of half of the main couple realizing that they had feelings for the other, did you? Poor Botan has fallen first and Hiei seems to be following closely behind, although he doesn't realize it, yet.

This one was a bit shorter, but I felt that it was necessary to pause in order to update you all on Hiei and Botan's current state of mind. The pace will pick up in the next chapter, during the baseball game date. Hope you guys are looking forward to it!