Recap: Kurama defeated Hiei in a battle that was really, really complicated… (Damn me…) Kuwabara didn't understand that Hiei is Yukina's brother… It was a short chapter (7K words, that's short by my usual standards, though on the long side for normal people…)

Chapter 37: The Realisation

"No," Koenma said patiently.

"But I have to!" Botan wailed, struggling to free herself.

"It's too dangerous," Koenma told her. "Just wait out here with me, Yusuke will be back soon."

"But I want to go too!" Botan argued. "I always get left behind, it's not fair!"

Koenma sighed, turning his head more fully towards Botan. She looked quite pitiful as she thrashed about trying to get free, but the ogre holding her back looked even more pathetic.

"Just wait here," he said. "Yusuke won't be long."

Botan continued arguing and struggling against George's hold but Koenma decided to ignore her. He had told her that he was keeping her out of the hospital because it was too dangerous for her to go in there, but truthfully he was keeping her out because she was likely to make a complete fool of herself. She seemed to be forgetting that they were still in demon world and that her identity as a ferry girl should be kept hidden, which in itself was a problem, but on top of that she had become hysterical since watching Hiei and Kurama fight, and when she had heard that they had been taken to the nearby hospital, she had abandoned everyone else to try to find them. She had, quite amazingly, managed to get herself to the correct hospital, and only by luck had Yusuke and Kuwabara managed to catch her before she went inside.

Koenma had assigned George – despite innumerable complaints from the ogre – to hold Botan at bay whilst Yusuke and Kuwabara continued into the hospital to check on their friends. Ideally Koenma would have liked to have returned to the hotel, but trying to drag Botan away from the hospital only made her complain louder and that only made the ogre start his whining too, so he decided to just wait where he was and hope that Yusuke did not spend too long inside.

Kurama slowed as walked the long stretch of beds filled with injured demons from previous rounds of the tournament. Up ahead he could see Hiei, but he had been expecting to see at least Mukuro at his side, if not also a handful of Mukuro's other top soldiers: instead the only visitor Hiei appeared to have was a tall and lanky grey-skinned demon with silver hair and pointed ears. Kurama did not recognise the demon at all, but judging by the sling over his left arm and the bandages around his right thigh and chest, he had also been in the tournament and was recovering from injuries that had presumably cost him a win.

"Hello," Kurama said as he approached Hiei's bedside.

"Hey," the demon replied, nodding at him. "You know this little guy?"

Kurama looked down at Hiei, almost wanting to smile at what he saw. It was only ever when he was unconscious that Hiei looked calm and kind, and lying in the hospital bed amongst pure white sheets with his hair brushed back from his forehead, all three of his eyes closed and his mouth slightly open, he not only looked quite innocent, he also looked remarkably young.

"He's an old ally of mine," Kurama carefully replied, lifting his eyes to the demon standing at the other side of Hiei's bed.

"Me too," the demon replied. "We used to run together."

Kurama narrowed his eyes slightly. The phrase "we used to run together" could mean several things, but in the lingo of demon world bandits, it meant that the demon opposite him had once been in a gang with Hiei. Kurama had never met any of Hiei's former allies – except of course for Gouki, who had only ever been a temporary partner in crime to them both – but his understanding had been that the bandits who had raised Hiei and taught him their ways had grown to fear and despise him, and to ultimately shun him from their group. Therefore, he thought, it seemed odd that one of those bandits would suddenly want to visit Hiei in hospital.

"He was always a really powerful little bastard," the demon continued. "But I heard he got beat today by some part-fox human, or something."

Kurama said nothing. Obviously the demon had not watched the tournament action from earlier that day.

"He looks harmless like that, huh?" the demon continued. "But I see he's got an extra eye now. He didn't have that when I knew him."

Kurama nodded but again said nothing. He had a slightly bad feeling about the presence of this stranger at Hiei's bedside, but he could not quite figure out what it was.

"There you are, you little son of a bitch!"

Kurama sighed before turning around to see Kuwabara charging down the aisle towards him, barging his way past demon medics as he went, only slowing when he almost knocked an enchantress off her feet. He paused long enough to apologise to her whilst gently pushing her aside, and then continued thundering towards Hiei's bed.

"Is he dead or asleep?" he asked Kurama as he reached him.

"He's asleep," Kurama replied. "He's hibernating after expelling all of his energy on the Dragon of the Darkness Flame."

"You didn't kill him?" Kuwabara asked.

Kurama shook his head at Kuwabara before turning to see Yusuke approaching him. Yusuke eyed Kuwabara over and heaved a sigh before turning his attention to Hiei.

"He's out cold, huh?" he asked, waving a hand over Hiei's face.

"Yes, and I imagine he will be for some time yet," Kurama replied.

"Oh yeah?" Kuwabara said, waving about the drawing he had been carrying with him since his arrival in demon world. "Well I'm just gonna sit here until he wakes up and explains this to me!"

"And then maybe somebody can explain to me how he hasn't figured this out yet…" Yusuke muttered, arching his eyebrows at Kurama.

"What are you looking at?" Kuwabara snapped at the demon standing on the opposite side of Hiei's bed.

"Probably about the ugliest face I've ever seen…" the demon muttered.

"I don't see any mirrors around here, so I guess you must be talking about Hiei!" Kuwabara sneered, sitting down into a chair positioned by Hiei's head.

"How are you, anyway?" Yusuke asked Kurama.

"Fine," Kurama lied.

Yusuke's face twitched slightly, an indication that he clearly thought otherwise, but he nodded regardless.

"I guess you'll be fit to go by the next round, right?" he asked.

"Of course," Kurama replied.

"What about the munchkin?" Yusuke asked. "We all thought you'd killed him back there."

"He did ask for a fight to the death," Kurama said, looking over at Hiei. "But he's still my friend, so I made sure it wasn't a fatal wound. Just something for him to think about."

"He tried to kill you," Yusuke pointed out.

"It was a feeble attempt, I assure you. The clone created from the doppelganger plant was enough to hold the dragon at bay for several seconds and that alone should tell you that Hiei was not attacking with his fullest power. He held back, and I can only assume that he did so because he never intended to kill me."

"That's a pretty big assumption…"

"Yeah, Kurama!" Kuwabara cut in. "Maybe he didn't use all of his power because he's so arrogant! Maybe he thought he could beat you easily with some half-assed attempt!"

"Shut-up, Kuwabara!" Yusuke moaned.

"Wake up, you little jerk!" Kuwabara yelled into Hiei's face.

"I'm really sorry I let him come in here," Yusuke said to Kurama.

"That's alright," Kurama said, smiling patiently. "I suppose it can't really be helped."

"And hey, who's that guy standing at the other side of the bed?" Yusuke asked, lowering his voice and moving close to Kurama. "Is he one of Mukuro's men?"

"No," Kurama replied. "I think he knew Hiei when he was much younger. I think Hiei may have once been a member of his gang."

Yusuke nodded, eying the demon over sceptically.

"Oh dear…" Kurama muttered under his breath.

"What?" Yusuke asked, turning back to him abruptly.

"Kuwabara I can almost tolerate, but I'm not so sure about this one…" Kurama said quietly, pointing a finger at something beyond Yusuke.

Yusuke turned around, his eyes doubling in size as he saw a bedraggled Botan pushing her way through medics, enchantresses and patients alike.

"I don't know how she got in here," Yusuke said. "Koenma had George holding her back outside. She didn't cope too well with watching the fight. I suppose she thought you'd killed her little lover boy."

"She looks terrible," Kurama said, tilting his head slightly. "She must have struggled hard to get in here."

"No," Yusuke said, shaking his head. "She's looked like that since she took me back to the arena to watch you guys fight. She's stressed out about something she left in your apartment."

Kurama was not sure what Botan could possibly have left in his apartment – he had partially suspected that she had taken Hiei there the night before – but by the look of her apparently it was something very important, as her hair was half down and her clothes were hanging about her as though she had been dragged through a bush backwards. He wondered why she had become so distressed about it. She still had a key to his apartment, and if she thought nothing of taking Hiei there for a night of passion, surely she could not have any reservations about returning there to retrieve whatever it was that she had left behind.

Botan squeezed her way between an irritated medic and a demon on crutches, finally reaching a clear path to join the others. She was only vaguely aware of the four figures gathered around the bed, her attention mainly focussed on the body lying on the bed itself. As she got closer she slowed her pace, almost wanting to cry in relief when she saw that Hiei's chest was slowly rising and falling, that he was still breathing, that he was merely sleeping peacefully and not lying there dead. She sighed heavily, stumbling the last few steps to reach the foot of his bed, where she stopped, covering her mouth with her hands and trying to regulate her breathing. He looked so small and so innocent and so helpless as he lay there, she became overcome with an urge to just grab him into her arms and kiss him all over – but even in her fragile state of mind she could appreciate that such a move would only get her thrown out of the hospital and would probably not win her any favour with Hiei himself if he ever found out.

"He's alive," she said eventually, turning to Kurama.

Kurama nodded at her tightly. She let her eyes wander a little lower and noticed that Kurama's clothing was pulled tight over his chest and one shoulder, presumably where he was sporting bandages over his wound.

"How are you?" she asked, her hands slipping from her mouth. "You must be feeling better, you're up and walking about!"

"I'm fine thank you, Botan," he replied. "But I'm not really sure that this is a good place for you to be. Hiei won't be here for long, you can see him when he's recovered."

"Oh hey, yeah, that's right!" Yusuke said. "Mukuro's on her way over here. She's taking Hiei back to her place. She said the healing chambers she has there are way better than the facilities here anyway."

Botan turned to Yusuke, who was watching Kurama curiously.

"What?" he asked. "Why are you looking at me like I just said something stupid?"

Kurama did not answer him, but Botan did not particularly care why. She instead turned her attention back to Hiei. He did look adorably cute like that, she thought, a hint of a smile playing on her lips.

"Kurama's right, Botan," she heard Yusuke say. "You should get out of here. This is a place for demons only."

"What about Kuwabara?" Botan asked, pointing at Kuwabara but not moving her eyes from Hiei.

"I'm here to kick this little guy's ass!" Kuwabara replied.

"Yeah, did you hear about this?" Yusuke asked, turning to Kurama. "Kuwabara's pissed off because Hiei couldn't find Yukina's brother, even though Yukina's brother looks, dresses, walks, talks and acts just like Hiei. Isn't that weird?"

"What?" Kurama echoed.

"We don't know that Yukina's brother walks, talks and acts like Hiei!" Kuwabara argued. "I bet Yukina's brother doesn't have that whiny, nasally voice like Hiei, and I bet he's a really decent guy, the type of guy who wouldn't walk out on his friends or try to kill them with a big scary dragon!"

"…What?" Kurama said, his face twisting.

"And I bet Yukina's brother doesn't walk like Hiei," Kuwabara added. "Hiei walks like he's got the biggest… Oh, hey Botan…"

Botan pulled a face at Kuwabara, feeling even more confused than ever as he started to turn red and avoided her eyes.

"Maybe you should just leave, Botan," Yusuke said. "Or at least cover yourself up instead of prancing about the place in your… Work uniform… If anyone figures out what you are, you'll be in big trouble!"

Botan sighed and rolled her eyes and started to tell Yusuke that she had been in demon world for over a week and nobody had suspected her of being a ferry girl before then, and frankly they would only suspect her now because of his big mouth blabbering on about it, but he cut her off midway through her compelling argument by tossing Hiei's scarf at her.

"Put that around your head," he suggested.

"Like this?" she asked, wrapping it around her head like a hood.

"Over your mouth would have been better…" Yusuke muttered.

Botan scowled at him but kept the scarf wrapped over her head, winding it around her neck to hold it in place. She felt that wearing it actually made her look more conspicuous, but it smelt like Hiei, and it was nice to have his scent so close to her again, so she did not protest.

"Botan's only here because of Hiei!" Kuwabara complained. "We're all only here because of Hiei! He's such a selfish little bastard, all he ever does is think about himself, he's so full of himself and caught up in his own little world he doesn't even care what anyone else is doing or thinking and meanwhile we're all looking out for him like he's actually our friend but he's not really much of a friend because he doesn't care about us at all – oh God no!"

Kuwabara leapt back out of his chair and the others all stiffened as they realised that Hiei's eyes – all three of them – were suddenly open and glaring at Kuwabara.

"…You woke up already?" Kuwabara asked meekly.

"You were making enough fucking noise to wake the dead!" Hiei snarled back. "Which for all I know I probably am! Waking up in bed to find you leering over me certainly sounds like hell to me!"

Kuwabara looked around the others nervously. Kurama stared back at him blankly, Yusuke shrugged and Botan shook her head.

"I'm here because of this, pipsqueak!" Kuwabara replied, thrusting the drawing out towards Hiei.

"Oh great, I'm really glad somebody saw fit to bring this moron here to demon world, because I've really been missing his misaimed insults and the delightful bouquet of human sweat, unwashed feet and garlic that follows him around everywhere!" Hiei complained.

"Hiei, you sound like shit, you should probably be resting," Yusuke said.

Hiei shifted his eyes to Yusuke, glaring at him menacingly – or at least, as menacingly as he could with three bloodshot eyes that would not quite open fully.

"You do sound quite exhausted, Hiei," Kurama added. "We were merely here out of concern for your welfare, but now that we can see that you are well, we will leave you to rest and recuperate in peace."

Hiei started to tell Kurama exactly where he could go but his words were shortly drowned out by Kuwabara, who had recovered from his initial shock of seeing Hiei awaken.

"Explain this, half-pint!" Kuwabara demanded, pushing the picture into Hiei's face.

Hiei snarled out some particularly inventive curse words, slapping the paper away with one hand. He only stopped his outburst when his eyes started to focus on what was drawn on the page, at which point he froze for several seconds before slowly moving his eyes to Kuwabara.

"What the hell is this?" he asked.

"That's what you need to tell me, tiny!" Kuwabara shot back. "This picture was drawn by Rui, Yukina's friend from the ice village?"

Hiei's eyes grew large and his face softened, but he said nothing.

"And now Yukina knows the truth," Kuwabara continued. "Now she knows all about your little secret, hamster legs!"

Hiei moved his eyes back to the picture.

"Impossible," he eventually concluded, moving his eyes back to Kuwabara again. "Yukina has never returned to the ice village. You're making this up. This is a joke."

Hiei turned his head, his eyes fixing onto Yusuke accusingly.

"Was this your idea, detective?" he snarled.

"Uh, no," Yusuke replied, shaking his head. "Though now that you mention it, that could have been a pretty damn good psyche!"

"Oh, Yusuke…" Kurama muttered, shaking his head.

"Rui drew this for Yukina and sent it back in her letter," Kuwabara explained to Hiei. "It was part of her reply to Yukina's letter?"

"Well now I know that you're talking out of the wrong orifice, because I never delivered Yukina's letter to the ice village," Hiei replied, turning his attention back to Kuwabara. "Yukina's letter never reached the ice village, so how do you explain her friend sending her a reply?"

"Botan did it," Kuwabara replied, pointing at Botan.

Botan whimpered and tensed as Hiei turned towards her, his eyes landing on her for the first time since he had awoken. He looked her over curiously before narrowing his eyes slightly.

"Also impossible," he concluded, turning back to Kuwabara. "The ice village is almost impossible for an average demon to locate, there's no way that air-headed woman was able to find it!"

"But she did," Kuwabara replied. "Botan delivered Yukina's letter to Rui, and she went back to collect Rui's reply yesterday, and Rui said she met Yukina's brother because he came back to the village looking for his mother, and she drew this picture because this is what he looks like!"

Hiei turned his head back to Botan, fixing her with a particularly intense glare, his jagan eye glowing, and she started to feel him reaching into her thoughts. She was vaguely aware that his powers of telepathy were restricted to reading surface thoughts only, and so she tried to think of something other than how it was that she had come to know the location of the ice village: but unfortunately she did not succeed in removing her thoughts entirely from that topic, and as she saw Hiei's face slowly contort she realised that he had seen exactly what she had been thinking about instead. And, although she had successfully managed to keep secrets like her misuse of The Stolen Moment to meddle in Hiei's past and her role as delivery girl between Yukina and Rui, she had been thinking about being inside Rui's house and seeing Yukina's drawings on her wall, and that had surely been enough for Hiei to figure out that she did know where the ice village was and that she had in fact been there.

"So come on, trial size, tell us why you couldn't find a guy who looks just like you!" Kuwabara said, breaking the tension.

Hiei's face twisted further and he turned sharply to Kuwabara.

"…What?" he asked.

"This is Yukina's brother," Kuwabara said. "He looks just like you. How can you not know this guy? If there was a guy anywhere in the living world who looked just like me, I would know about it. Do you seriously expect us to believe that your beady little magic eye couldn't find a guy who looks just like you?"

Hiei slowly looked around the others.

"…Are you sure this isn't a joke?" he asked, stopping at Yusuke again.

"We think Yukina probably figured it out," Yusuke replied. "…At least, we hope she did… Otherwise Kuwabara's stupid might be wearing off on her…"

"You've been mocking my darling Yukina, you sick bastard!" Kuwabara snapped. "Is that your idea of a joke?"

Hiei growled out a few indecipherable curses under his breath, his eyes drifting closed.

"Yukina is so sad about her brother, does it make you happy to upset her like that?" Kuwabara continued. "I think you're doing this deliberately, you nasty little dwarf!"

"Somebody get him out of here," Hiei growled, keeping his eyes shut.

"Yes, I think that might be best," Kurama agreed. "And you too, Botan," he added, turning to Botan.

"I'm not stupid, Hiei!" Kuwabara sneered, leaning closer to Hiei. "I know the real reason you're lying to Yukina like this!"

"Let's just wait a few more minutes," Yusuke said to Kurama and Botan. "His theory on that picture was amusing, his theory on Hiei's lies has got to be solid gold."

Kurama rolled his eyes but Botan was secretly as interested at Yusuke was to hear what Kuwabara was about to say next, and so she nodded at him to show her agreement that they should wait.

"You're doing this because you're jealous!" Kuwabara continued. "Don't think I haven't seen how you are with Yukina! The way you look at her like you're in love with her, the way you're always saving her, always talking to her in that nice voice you put on just for her, the way you're always doing stuff for her – I saw you once drying dishes for her, and you never lift a finger to do housework any other time, you lazy little bastard!"

"I have just about enough energy to boil this oaf in his own skin before I pass out again," Hiei grumbled. "So unless anyone wants to see this clown reduced to a steaming, sticky stain on the floor, I suggest somebody gets him out of my reach right now."

"You're in love with Yukina!" Kuwabara yelled.

Hiei snarled, his two normal eyes opening and moving to Kuwabara.

"You are, by far, the most unintelligent cretin I have ever come across!" he ground out. "Get out of my sight!"

"I'll go," Kuwabara agreed. "But not until you agree you'll stay away from Yukina from now on. Give me back her hiruiseki and don't bother ever coming back to Genkai's temple."

"Hey, whoa, Kuwabara, none of the rest of us agree with that!" Yusuke quickly pointed out.

"Hiei never comes there anyway," Kuwabara replied. "Except when he wants to try it on with Yukina. For such an evil little prick, he sure likes going for the nice girls. First he messed Botan's life up and now he's after Yukina too! And if he doesn't give me back Yukina's hiruiseki, I'm just gonna take it back right now by force!"

Kuwabara barely had time to look smug before he was on the floor on his back. Yusuke and Kurama leapt towards him but were too late to stop the first punch Hiei landed on Kuwabara's face. Thanks to Hiei being slower than usual and Yusuke being relatively sharp, Yusuke managed to knock Hiei's elbow as he jabbed down with a second punch, throwing his aim off so that he only managed a glancing blow at Kuwabara's jaw.

"You're supposed to be resting!" Yusuke yelled at him.

"Just get him out of here," Kurama said to Yusuke, pointing at Kuwabara as he spoke. "We'll all discuss this at a time and place where we can all be more sensible about it."

"Right," Yusuke agreed.

Kurama hooked his arms under Hiei's and pulled him off of Kuwabara.

"Come on you," Yusuke said, grabbing hold of Kuwabara.

Yusuke stood up and dragged Kuwabara with him, ignoring his complaints and forcing him back. Kurama started to lift Hiei to his feet but Hiei wrestled himself free of Kurama's hold, only to drop to his knees on the ground.

"Come on Hiei, you're meant to be resting," Kurama said to him.

"Just… Leave me alone," Hiei grumbled.

Seeing him breathless, shaking and sweating, Botan found herself acting on an instinct she was unaware of, dropping to her knees at his side and stroking his hair with one hand. He jerked away from her touch like an animal that had been hit with a stick, glaring at her almost accusingly.

"Hiei…" she whispered, reaching for him again. "Hiei please, you need to rest."

His expression did not soften any but he let her smooth a hand over the top of his head.

"Goodness Hiei, you're sweating all over," she said softly. "Come on, get back in bed."

He started to shuffle about and Botan moved closer to him, wrapping her arms around his waist. She half expected him to shove her off or else to just start yelling at her, but instead he stayed silent and allowed her to help him to his feet. She eased him back to sit on the bed and started to pull back, stopping abruptly as she felt his hands gripping into the material of her kimono at her shoulders. She frowned slightly in confusion, but he did not hold on for long before releasing her and shuffling around in the bed. Botan stood up at his bedside, watching him settle down again and pull the sheets over himself. He then did a distinct double-take at something at the other side of the bed. Botan looked up to see what had caught his attention, surprised to see a demon standing there watching them quietly. She had not noticed him there before, but she could not help but notice that there was something oddly familiar about him.

"Crazy witch!" he said suddenly, snapping his fingers and pointing at Botan.

"I beg your pardon?" she echoed, straightening her back indignantly.

"You're that crazy witch!" he said again. "I thought I knew you from somewhere! I didn't recognise you with hair, is that a wig? With the scarf on your head I can see it's you now though! So when did you become friends with Hiei again?"

Botan felt her insides slowly going cold and numb. The tall and lanky grey-skinned demon with silver hair and pointed ears in front of her was the same tall and lanky grey-skinned, silver-haired, pointy-eared demon she had met in the past. She was surprised that he would remember her after over 99 years, but for her it had only been a few months since she had last seen him, and there was no mistaking him. He was definitely the same bandit who had tried to stop her from kidnapping baby Hiei to return him to his mother, and apparently with Hiei's scarf over her head she had jogged his memory of seeing her in her hooded tracksuit top.

"No," she said, hurriedly unwrapping the scarf from around her head. "I mean, um, I don't know what you're talking about. Who are you anyway?"

Botan hurriedly deposited Hiei's scarf on the nightstand by his bed, and forced a false smile at the demon opposite her.

"Oh, it's definitely you!" he insisted.

"No it's not!" Botan said urgently, dipping her head and reaching up a hand to shield her face from his view. "I don't know what you're talking about! I've never seen you before in my life!"

Botan shuffled over to Kurama, moving herself behind him in the hope of hiding there.

"I guess she's still crazy," she heard the demon say.

He then proceeded to tell Hiei that some things never changed, but he ended his sentiment by calling Hiei that same horrid name he had called him when Botan had met him in the past.

"How dare you call him that?" she snapped, edging out from behind Kurama. "I already told you: his name is Hiei!"

"See, it is that same crazy witch who told us your real name," the demon said with a shrug.

Hiei turned his head to look directly at Botan, the look on his face was indescribable, but she could see the flashes of anger in his eyes, and she could sense that things would only get more complicated if she did not do something quickly.

"Oh goodness, I think that enchantress just lost the last of her healing cords – she's completely naked!" Botan blurted out, pointing over the demon's shoulder.

"What?" he yelped, turning around.

Botan hurriedly summoned her baseball bat and whacked it over the demon's head. By luck her blow was enough to make him lose consciousness and collapse to the ground; but neither Hiei nor Kurama had looked when she had faked her distraction, and both were now glaring at her.

"You should get some rest, Hiei," she suggested, dematerialising her bat and smiling at Hiei. "Come on Kurama, let's go."

Botan grabbed Kurama's arm and dragged him with her as she hurried from the hospital ward, silently hoping that by the time the bandit visiting Hiei awoke, Hiei himself was once more asleep.

Hiei picked up the glass jug of water from his nightstand, passing it over to his left hand and tipping it over at his side. He watched from the corner of his eye as the water spilled over the demon's face, continuing the assault until the jug was empty, ignoring the fact that the demon awoke halfway through his actions. The demon coughed and spluttered, struggling to his feet, wincing as his evident injuries caused him pain.

"I would ask what the fuck you're doing here, but I think that much is obvious," Hiei said flatly. "You never could stand the fact that I was ten times stronger than you before I was even toilet trained. You obviously just came here to delight in my defeat. Unfortunately for you, I've recovered about ten percent of my strength already – which is about five times the amount I would need to crush you like the vermin that you are. So if you want to live, I suggest you start talking. How do you know that woman who was just in here?"

The demon hesitated and Hiei growled.

"Keeping in mind that I don't need you to talk at all," Hiei reminded him. "I have other ways of finding out what I want to know."

He slowly and purposefully opened his third eye.

"But things can get quite messy when I use my jagan eye," he warned. "I can't guarantee that your mind will ever be the same once I've been inside it."

"Okay!" the demon hurriedly replied. "But I thought you already knew who she was! She's the crazy bitch who tried to kidnap you when you were just a snot-nosed little brat! She wanted to take you back to your mother, or something. She had a hood up back then, and she said it was because she was bald. It took me a few minutes to realise it was her, but there's no mistaking the way she talks, especially how she talks to you."

Hiei looked back in the direction Botan had disappeared in, though he wondered why, since she had long since vanished with Kurama.

"Impossible," he said, turning back to his one-time ally. "That woman is not a demon. She had never come to this realm before the last tournament three years ago. There's no possible way you could have met her that long ago in this world, and there's no possible way that she could have been the one who tried to kidnap me. She may be a meddling loudmouth, but she's no criminal, she wouldn't kidnap anyone. And besides, she's only known me for a few years. Tell me the truth."

"I am telling you the truth! That was the same crazy bitch who kidnapped you from us! She was obsessed with time and we only got you back eventually because she dropped you from the sky. She can fly on an oar!"

Hiei's face flickered slightly. Botan did of course fly on an oar and his last memory of that woman who had kidnapped him as a child was that he had blasted her out of existence before plummeting from the sky.

"We found you in a really strange place," the demon continued. "It was in the middle of nowhere, the skies were really cloudy… Actually, it was about the same place we found you the first time around… Didn't you fall from the sky then too? Is that something that you do – falling from the sky?"

"Only when there's scum like you around to catch me," Hiei replied sarcastically.

The demon at his side eyed him over cautiously before taking two awkward steps back from his bedside.

"Well it was good to see you again, cockw–I mean Hiei!" he said, grinning nervously.

Hiei turned his head from the demon. Perhaps if he had been reunited with the worthless fool a few years earlier he might have cared enough to beat him down, but Hiei had evolved past caring about such insignificant fools. The fact that the creature at his side would forever live a life of pitiful power and minimal intelligence was far more suffering than he could ever inflict upon him and so he decided to just ignore the bandit. After all, he had got what he had wanted out of him – apparently the woman who had kidnapped him as a child was Botan, as illogical as that seemed.

Or perhaps it was not so illogical, Hiei thought to himself as the demon at his bedside began edging away from him. If Botan really had delivered Yukina's letter to the ice village, she had to have known exactly where it was, since she lacked the ability to find it – he knew that for a fact because he had wasted countless years searching for it himself before resorting to having his jagan implant – and in order for her to know exactly where it was now, she had to have been there once before. In the time he had known her, he was certain that she had never even been to demon world except during the previous demon world tournament and the current one, so there was no possible way she could have found the village during the last few years, meaning she must have located it before that time. How and why she had been in demon world 99 years ago was a mystery in itself, but she had clearly been in the area at that time: Hiei could still recall seeing the newspaper report in the living world that had included a picture of Botan, drawn by a human alleging to have seen her by one of the portals 99 years ago. The portal she had been sighted near was the closest portal to the ice village that Hiei knew of, so it was not a ridiculous assumption to make that she had been in the living world 99 years ago and passed through the portal to demon world and met up with Hiei there.

It was strange that she had never mentioned it before, he thought. It was also strange that she had been sighted by a human and that the bandits Hiei had been raised by had also seen her, since she was usually invisible to any living creature, human or demon, unless she was in her human body. But he thought that she had only been granted the ability to take a human body in recent years to help her assist Yusuke in his duties to spirit world. How then had she come to have a human form 99 years ago?

Hiei narrowed his eyes. That group of five demons who had been searching for the time travel device had said that they had learned about it from the woman who had kidnapped him. Did that mean that Botan had told them about it? It was true that she was a blabbermouth with a tendency for saying inappropriate things to inappropriate people, but surely even she had the sense not to talk to a band of thugs about something so valuable.

Hiei's eyes widened again as another disturbing thought occurred to him. He had bitten that woman who had kidnapped him. He could specifically remember biting her face. Botan had been covered with bite-marks when he – along with Yusuke and Kurama – had found her in demon world near the end of their mission to find the time travel device. When they had found her in demon world falling out of the sky in the region of the ice village. With a hood covering her head. And a bite-mark on her face.

A series of unusual coincidences, or something else entirely?

"Lady Mukuro!"

Mukuro's face dropped as her eyes landed on that girl again. Somehow she had known that the day that girl had come to her fortress looking for Hiei it would not honestly be the last time that she ever saw her: and, unsurprisingly, she had seen the girl twice more since, the first time earlier that day when she had arrived at the site of the B division fights and now again in the hospital where injured participants of the tournament were being treated. Apparently the girl lacked good sense, since she seemed to be still running around after Hiei despite Mukuro's advice that she desist her futile cause.

"I saw your fight today!" the girl said cheerfully. "You did just splendidly! Congratulations on advancing to the next round!"

Mukuro gave her a tight smile.

"My opponent surrendered after one punch," she said flatly. "I didn't even put any force behind it."

"And it was very impressive!" the girl replied.

Mukuro slowly eyed her over. She looked awful, but she was still smiling as radiantly as ever. Maybe that was why she persevered in her pursuit of Hiei: no matter how tough it got for her, she was still able to smile. Was she infinitely stupid, happy because she could not truly understand that she was being made a fool of, or was she the most intelligent creature ever to have lived, happy because she understood something so few others did: that true happiness comes from within and optimism does bring joy?

"She's with me," a voice said quietly.

Mukuro turned her head slightly, seeing Kurama, one of Hiei's trusted friends and his opponent from earlier that day. He had been taken to hospital at the end of the events for the day, and he looked as though he ought to still be resting somewhere.

"Excuse us," he added, putting an arm around the girl's shoulders and guiding her around Mukuro.

"It was lovely to see you again!" the girl called back to her. "Be sure to take good care of Hiei!"

Mukuro sighed and shook her head before walking on. Behind her she heard one of her men tell the others that the girl they had just met was that same crazy lush who had somehow made it past security to get to Hiei after his near-loss in the preliminary round of the tournament. Mukuro let them vent their complaints, focussing her attention on finding Hiei. She planned to take him back to he fortress and dump him into a healing chamber for a day or so, knowing that she would not manage to keep him there much longer than that since he both despised the idea of being kept in such a device and that he would be keen to go back and watch the rest of the tournament, especially since his friends Yusuke and Kurama had qualified for the next round.

When Mukuro eventually sighted Hiei, she saw two things she had not expected to, and neither pleased her. First of all, he was awake despite looking like he ought not to be, and secondly his face was visibly flinching between a variety of expressions as though he was thinking deeply about something. As she neared him he looked directly at her several times before recognition dawned on his face and his expression neutralised. She started to greet him but he cut her off with a question that worried her more than finding him awake and confused had.

"Where's Botan?"

Mukuro slowed to a halt at Hiei's bedside, taking a deep breath and slowly sighing out the air again before answering her subordinate.

"She just left," she said tightly.

"I need to talk to her," he replied.

"With Kurama."

"I… What?"

"I passed her in the halls. She was with Kurama. He had his arm around her."

One of Hiei's eyes twitched slightly.

"Don't you think it's better that way, Hiei?" Mukuro asked. "She was a gentle and peaceful human girl. A ruthless and violent demon like you could not have tolerated that for long."

Hiei closed his eyes and an ironic smile graced his lips.

"Botan understands my predicament," he said quietly "I find her pleasant outlook very calming and welcome."

Mukuro tilted her head slightly, her first thought being that Hiei had not sounded like himself, and she wondered if those were his own words. He started to laugh, but it was a dry, pained and forced sound.

"Hiei?" she said, hoping to bring him back to his senses.

"That was what Kurama said," he said, his voice still quiet, as though he was more thinking aloud than talking to her.

"I came to take you home," Mukuro said.

He opened his eyes and turned his head to look directly at her, his face becoming serious.

"Yes, you're right," he concluded. "It is better this way. Take me home."

"Come on, Botan, move it!"

Botan pouted at Kuwabara, but he did not notice.

"Get your oar, and let's go!" he added.

Botan turned from him, facing Yusuke, Kurama and Koenma.

"Good luck," Koenma offered her.

"Yeah," Yusuke agreed. "Don't film it. And if you do, I don't want to see it."

"As if I'd let you see a film of my Yukina… Like that!" Kuwabara yelled at him.

"I'm sure everything will be fine," Kurama said. "If you do encounter any problems, be sure to let us know, won't you?"

Botan nodded, understanding his meaning only too well: if Yukina gave birth to twins, they would need to hurriedly make plans for dealing with Hiei's inevitably violent reaction.

"Um…" she began glancing back and forth between Yusuke and Koenma. "Can I have a minute alone with Kurama please?"

"Oh yeah?" Yusuke asked, wiggling his eyebrows at her. "Gone off short dark and loathsome, have you?"

Botan gave him a withering look but he merely grinned back at her before walking away, pushing Koenma ahead of himself. She waited until they had joined George at the entrance to the hotel before checking over her shoulder that Kuwabara was still some distance away. She then moved closer to Kurama and smiled sweetly.

"I may have been at your apartment last night," she began.

"Yes, I thought as much," he flatly replied.

"And I may have caused some damage…" she said slowly. "Hana might be dead and I might have broken one of your light-emitting flowers… And left them both in your living room…"

Kurama nodded.

"That's alright," he said. "I can grow replacements for both."

"Really?" Botan asked, smiling brightly.

"Yes, I kept a few of the female seeds Hana produced, just in case I ever had a need for them again," he replied. "And I can grow another light-emitting flower within a day. I'll be returning to my apartment tomorrow night. I need to rest here for now."

"Oh goody, because there is one more thing."

"I thought there might be."

"I left something in your apartment."

"…Yes?"

"Something very important to me. Can you please bring it back to demon world with you? I'll be back for the next round of the tournament, I'll collect it then."

"Of course. But you will have to tell me what it is, Botan."

"You don't already know?"

"I'm not psychic, Botan."

"But you usually always know everything!"

"Hurry up, Botan!" Kuwabara yelled.

Botan rolled her eyes.

"It's my portrait," she explained. "Rui – Yukina's friend from the ice village – drew a picture of me, and I really love it, it's very important to me, and I accidentally left it at your apartment last night. I think it might be on or near the television."

"Alright, I'll bring it back for you," Kurama agreed. "But for now I think you should go, and not just because of Kuwabara's impatience. Unless I'm very much mistaken, I expect Yukina to give birth before the next round of the tournament. I will be in the living world from tomorrow night, don't hesitate to contact me if… Well, I'm sure you understand."

Botan nodded and bid him goodbye, waving at Yusuke, Koenma and George before summoning her oar and hurrying over to join Kuwabara.

"Out of the frying pan and into the fire," she muttered as she hopped onto her oar.

"What did you just say about fire?" Kuwabara asked, jumping on behind her, her oar dipping slightly as his weight jarred against her powers holding it afloat.

Botan smiled dryly, silently thinking that her turn of phrase had been oddly relevant: after all, she was not only moving away from one dramatic event to another but she might also literally be going into a fire of sorts if Yukina did give birth to twins.

"Kuwabara?" she said as she took them up into the air. "Do you know what an emiko is?"

"Yeah, Yukina's brother's an emiko," he replied. "It's just another name for a fire demon, right?"

"Mostly, yes," Botan agreed. "Do you understand how an ice maiden would ever come to give birth to an emiko?"

"…Are you asking me if I understand the birds and the bees, Botan?" he asked.

"Not exactly…"

Next Chapter: Botan prepares the others for the possibility of an emiko and Yukina's big day arrives, leaving everyone present in shock for more reason than one. Chapter 38: The Saving Grace