Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters

A Hiei x Botan Week prompt from 2020 :) We're a little more than halfway there now :D Thank you to everyone who has reviewed. I haven't answered some of them directly, but I appreciate it. ^_^

Day 4: Fights/Reconciliation


Hiei sat at Botan's bedside, his solemn gaze glued to the ferry girl's face. The woman had cuts, and scrapes littered her face and arms, and probably other parts of her body that were covered. Hiei's hand gripped into a fist so hard, he drew blood. His mind ran over the events of the day, especially the past few hours, the fire demon unusually reflective.

It all started earlier that morning. Botan and Hiei had gotten into a fight. There was a lot of screaming, yelling, and hurtful words thrown. Regrettably, Hiei made most of the attacks. Then, the couple was interrupted by a call from a frantic Koenma. The prince was trying to draw the team together for an emergency. The details were tossed out so fast, but the fact of the matter was that their presence was requested in Spirit World. Hiei was so angry, he had no desire to go there.

When Botan closed the compact, she forced the anger out of her expression and turned to Hiei with hopeful eyes. "Do you want to ride on my oar with me?" she asked to offer Hiei a more convenient route.

Practically devoid of all emotion, save anger, Hiei darkly told her, "I have no intention of helping Spirit World." He disappeared and left Botan alone. Downtrodden but bound by duty and concern, the ferry girl then went to Spirit World to meet with the team.

Hiei growled when he though over what the others told him. After Koenma explained the situation, Botan had been determined to join in the fight. Demons crossed over into Human World, ones who did not care about Enki's rulings as the Demon World king. These rebels planned to attack the city and make humans fully aware of demons. It was their dystopian hope to terrify the human race and make them see demons as horrendous monsters so that integration would be impossible. These miscreants wanted to start a war.

Yusuke, Kurama, and even Kuwabara tried to convince Botan to stay behind. Normally, Hiei would be there to talk sense into the ferry girl. Koenma attempted to dissuade her by saying he needed her in Spirit World, but the woman knew it was a faulty argument to keep her away from the action. She was headstrong, brave but reckless, as much as she wanted to help. Hiei would remind her in less than gentle ways how she could be hurt. Sometimes, she'd be able to out-argue Hiei, but only in very rare circumstances. One time, Hiei recalled, everyone in the room paled, aside from Kurama, when Hiei pointed out all the ways the enemy could kill her. As reluctant as she was, she agreed to stay behind.

Hiei wasn't there to stop her this time. It put her in unnecessary danger. From what Kurama told the fire demon, the demons were weak. Because of this, they went after the weakest member of the group while the others were distracted. Botan nearly lost her life in the attack. Where was Hiei through all of this? He was sulking over their stupid argument and stewing in his anger.

Now, as he sat by Botan's motionless body, Hiei didn't even remember what they had been fighting over.

Guilt consumed Hiei. He shouldn't have left her to go to Spirit World alone when there was this crisis. He was the only one she would have listened to if he told her to stay behind. Instead, she put herself in danger, was probably distracted from their fight on top of it all, and now she was here—lying in a bed at Genkai's, weak and beaten, breathing shallow breaths. Hiei refused to leave her side until she woke up, and then he would go. All he wanted, selfishly, was to make sure the woman was okay, even if she didn't want to see him ever again. Once he knew she'd recover, he'd leave.

After a while, Botan stirred, and Hiei's grip on her hand tightened. Pink eyes peeked open and found his. "H…Hiei?" the ferry girl weakly called.

Crimson eyes narrowed, his concern overwhelming. "Save your strength," he ordered. Then, he released Botan's hand. She was now awake, and Hiei had the answer he wanted. "You'll be okay."

Hiei stood up and turned his back to Botan, prepared to leave and never show his face to her again. He felt completely undeserving to be with her right now after he let her down. Her hand on his wrist stopped him, though not because she had any energy to keep him from leaving.

"I'm sorry."

Hiei deflated at that and tilted his head to cast her a sideways glance. "It doesn't matter." Botan's eyes grew sad, and Hiei could practically hear her heart race in panic. He realized what she must have thought he meant, that her apology meant nothing. He corrected himself. "I'm sorry, too. I should have been there."

Botan relaxed and breathed out a soft, quiet laugh. "Well, you're here now. Please stay with me."

Hiei couldn't deny her request. After all, he was partially to blame for her being in this situation. Though he was prepared to leave, he'd much rather stay with the woman, anyway. At least he wouldn't have to wonder about her condition. It seemed their pointless fight hadn't chased her away either.

The fire demon kicked off his boots and joined her in the bed. He didn't care if the others found them together or what remarks he'd have to endure. Hiei pulled Botan against him and inhaled the woman's scent. Seeing as he could have lost her, it was comforting to prove to himself that she was there in his arms. Hiei made a silent promise to never let his anger get the better of him again, and if it did happen again that he wouldn't abandon the ferry girl when she needed him most.

No argument would ever be more important than Botan's life.