K is for Kindness.
"Oh, it's just right here, Miss!" He saw her point to the map an old lady was carrying, "If you just go down here, and then make a left right there, the supermarket will be on your right." The old lady thanked her, and left.
He rolled his eyes and snorted. He never understood the idea of helping others, or even accepting help without any gain, and only sought out help if it had personal or powerful gain. If he had been the one who was asked, he simply would have said that the old woman being lost was "not his problem."
She must have seen him roll his eyes, because her pink eyes began to frown a bit.
"Oh, honestly, Hiei! Must you always pout like that when we choose go out to places?"
Once again, he rolled his eyes.
"Baka onna, let's get one thing straight: I had no choice in coming out on this complete waste of time you call an outing. You dragged me."
Yes, she literally dragged him, which was quite a surprising feat. If you knew Hiei, then you knew that you just didn't touch him
"I promised you sweet snow, didn't I?" Botan smirked.
That was true, she had promised him. And when she did, he demanded that she buy him a very, very, very large…what was it called again? Fudge hot…chocolate….oh, it was this desert that had ice cream, fudge sauce and whipped cream, but he didn't bother to actually remember what it was called.
"Now then," she continued, "I just have to stop at the grocery store and pick up some…eggs, bacon, milk, some juice and rice." She counted every item off on her right hand.
With that, Hiei grabbed her arm, and started towards the grocery store. The faster they got there, the sooner they'd be done with this nonsense.
The grocery store was huge, with isles containing things such as cleaning products, hair care, feminine hygiene, family planning, alcohol, snacks, baking needs, and many other things.
Botan had grabbed a shopping cart, which Kurama had, at one point, explained to Hiei that this was what human put their groceries in while they were shopping.
"It makes it more convenient," he had explained.
Convenient ? Hiei had thought the exact opposite. There were a lot of things that he hated in the human world, and grocery stores were one of them. Those stupid things called shopping carts clogging the isles, people standing in the middle of the walkways talking to some friend about this or that, making it an inconvenience for people who had important things to do. And he could not forget just how slow people moved with those things. Oh, and the countless hordes of screaming children.
Did he mention that he hated grocery stores?
While he was deep in thought, he ran smack into Botan. But she pretended not to notice.
"Oh, that's right!" She exclaimed!" "I just remembered that Keiko wanted me to pick up some chocolate for her!" And she made her way to the candy isle, to which he followed.
Upon their arrival, he saw a little girl with pigtails, trying to reach a multi-colored lollipop that was way above her head. He watched with a scowl as her chubby hand kept reaching for the large treat, making grunting noises and standing on her tippy toes.
Hiei continued to watch the girl, honestly quite curious as to what she would do.
And what she did next was quite typical of a child so small: tears began to form in her eyes at the very frustration that something she wanted was so close, yet completely out of her reach. Her little fists began to clench and plopped herself on the floor, tears still streaming down her face.
She looked about ready to throw a tantrum, so he did the only thing he could think of:
He walked over to the girl.
"Here," was all he said, he lifted the child up, so now she was high enough to reach the candy. She grabbed it, and Hiei noticed that the lollipop was so big, and her little hands so small, that she clutched it in both hands.
He set the little girl down, and she smiled up at him, a smile that showed three or four missing teeth.
"Tank you, mister!" And she waddled off.
"Oh, Hiei, that was just adorable!" He turned around to see Botan smiling about.
"What the hell are you smiling about, onna?" He scowled.
"What you did for that little girl, Hiei. I saw the entire thing! It was very kind of you."
He grimaced at the word kind.
"Baka onna," he grumbled, "I am not kind."
Quick on his feet? Sure. A deadly fighter? Most definitely? Intelligent? Well sure, if he did say so himself. But kind? Not in a million years.
"But you are, Hiei!" Botan exclaimed, "You are a kind person, whether you want to believe it or not. You could have very well walked away without helping that little girl, but you chose not to. You chose to stay and help her, even though you didn't have to. I would say that was very kind, Hiei."
Botan had paid for the groceries, and they left, but not without arguing the entire way to the ice cream parlor (she still had to keep her word to him). On the way there, he had threatened her not to tell a single living soul about what happened.
At this, she merely gave a smile, and crossed her fingers behind her back.