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Part 3

Jaganshi Hiei, an odd fellow indeed. The young goddess didn't know much about this being, but she did know that she respected him and cared for his safety.

She studied the demon closely, noting all the changes to his physical appearance. He had grown in height, that much was for sure. He'd always been a bit muscular, but it didn't truly show until now. His clothes were curved to fit his muscular structure and he was wearing boots. The only thing that hadn't really changed was the bandana. The white piece of cloth was ever-present on his forehead, concealing the Jagan beneath.

Botan admired this demon and gosh was he good looking. You could surely tell that Hiei was the villain type. His clothing, eyes, and walk made it all the more obvious.

Finally, after getting a few weird vibes from the woman next to him, Hiei chanced a glance to his side, only to be left staring into a set of stunning pink eyes. They were boring right into his. He almost blushed, but covered it with his arrogance.

"What do you find in me that is so amusing you have to stare Mistress?"

Coming out of a dream-like state, Botan shook her head and blinked her eyes out of the stare.

"Oh?! Heh sorry about that heh, heh" the young goddess sweated slightly and started to fasten her pace with embarrassment. She could not believe she was caught in the act! Never would she let herself stare at a guy more than ten seconds, but really, you could not help it when Hiei was your prey.

The walk was quiet up the stairs. Everything seemed to be two hours than two minutes. Botan was nervous of saying something incredibly stupid and Hiei was not good at socializing, but something must be said. Botan took up her courage and looked at the demon again like she did before. The demon felt those vibes again and snorted in an irritated manner.

"What do you..."

Why don't you just tell her?" Before one of Hiei's notorious barbs had the chance to slip past his lips, the blue-haired woman had already cut him off, causing the fire demon's expression to shift from annoyed to quizzical.

"What are you talking about?" Technically, the demon knew exactly what the goddess was referring to but he wanted to keep her eyes on him.

"Yukina. She has every right to know that you are her brother." Botan stated her opinion loud and clear.

It was in fact true; Hiei still had not shared the wonderful news that he was her older brother and she was his younger sister. Why? Hiei felt some sort of shame of himself. Yukina is such a warmhearted demon and Hiei thought that if she knew that her brother was a ruthless killer, she would despise him. But of course she wouldn't t, she would love and accept him as she has with everyone.

No one was ever different in Yukina's eyes. Hiei should've known that by now. "It s none of your concern Mistress. Why don t you just deal with your own problems instead of others? You have a nag for poking your nose in other s business." Oops! That wasn't meant to come out that way.

Hiei suddenly covered his mouth and his eyes widened as his sight went to the floor. He didn't t want to see the express on the goddess s face. He didn't want to know what the next thing the goddess was going to say. He didn't want to stop walking. His pace quicken as his eyes continued to glare at the floor.

Meanwhile, Botan was stiffening into place. The shock of hurt ran up her spine to make her break down into nothing. Before she thought that this demon was a great guy, but until now her aspects of the demon was turned around.

"Hiei! You're such a heartless bastard! You don't even care about anyone, do you?!" she sighed heavily. The demon spun around to answer her question, but she had already passed him by and was on her way to Koenma's chamber.

"Daaaammnit!" Hiei cursed at himself for being a baka, for not thinking before acting and hurting the beautiful goddess.

Why did he let his pride get in the way of his affection? Botan was the only woman that Hiei had been attracted to. Yes, Mukuro had been a friendly companion, but Hiei didn't share the feelings that she had for him. She had pledged to give her life for Hiei, wanted to confess everything that she kept locked away in her heart, but her fear of rejection got in the way."

The now lonely fire demon walked up the stairs and turned a different path instead of going to Koenma. TBC ------------------------------------ THANK YOU KASUMI FOR BETA-READING THIS FIC! :: dances around the room::