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"Get out of here! If you can't hunt with the rest of us, you can live on your own!" Murasaki spat. He aimed a kick at Hiei as he always did when irritated.

But of course Hiei was used to this. He dodged the kick with a clever twist of his own. As soon as Murasaki's leg came at him, the fire demon grabbed him by the ankle and twisted sharply. Sinew and ligaments tore in the leg. Murasaki howled with pain and fell down, caught off guard by Hiei's sudden retaliation.

"Damn it!" Murasaki hissed. He grabbed his injured leg and whimpered in pain.

Hiei gaped at him in amazement. Murasaki was a strong, powerful demon. Getting to such a strong level meant withstanding a lot of pain. All he had done to him was harm his leg and Murasaki was whimpering like a whipped puppy. A smirk quirked at Hiei's lips. How amusing this was becoming…

Hiei crossed his arms. "I'll leave. Not only because I defy you, but because you aren't strong enough to be my equal—especially not my master." He leaned over Murasaki and took the demon's sword. "I'll take this off your hands. Don't feel left out. You can have the cheap piece of shit you gave me to carry." He slammed the heavy sword into Murasaki's face and left.

==

Hiei stopped at a brook. He got down on his knees at the brook's edge and cupped his hands. He splashed the water on his face to wash away the sweat. He had been running as far away from Murasaki and the rest as he could. It wasn't because he was afraid of them. He felt that he needed to get as far away from them as possible before he chickened out and came back to them, begging for forgiveness. He had done it before when he was many years younger. Each return was greeted by laughs and beatings. Every since he learned he was abandoned as a baby, he had a growing fear of being left alone. But this time, he decided that being alone was better. There would be no one to make him feel unimportant and insecure. Now he had to rely on his own skills to survive.

"This time, I'm never coming back. Never," he said angrily. He stretched out on the grass and folded his arms under his raven head. He closed his crimson eyes in weary relief. Finally…finally, he was able to live on his own and be his own man. He yawned widely. 'I'll never have to listen to that bastard again,' he thought as he slowly drifted into sleep.

Hiei woke up sputtering. Someone or something had splashed icy cold water on him. He sat up quickly, shaking his sodden bangs away from his eyes. He was about to pull out his sword but he stopped, seeing a girl before him—a pretty girl that seemed to be a year or two younger than him. He gaped at her. He had never been exposed to females. True, he had killed a few demon girls…and he killed that Lanzet woman. Each was attractive in her own way, but it wasn't a radiant beauty. This girl, however, was gorgeous.

Her hair was a silky cerulean color that was tied into two childish pigtails. Childish, yes, but it seemed to give her an innocent appeal. It was her eyes that made her seem mischievous…those lavender orbs that glittered with a smile.

She noticed his gape and frowned slightly. "Did you die or something?" She looked down at her hands and then touched the top of her head. "Did I grow horns?" she asked curiously. She lowered her hands and stared back at the fire demon. "Why are you staring at me?"

Hiei quickly regained his usual harsh façade. "I wasn't staring at you," he said lamely.

"I believe you were. The question is why."

"Hn. You don't control what I look at," Hiei snapped.

Both of them glared at each other. They were arguing like kindergarteners and it was getting them nowhere.

"Look," the girl said. "Let's not argue."

Hiei shrugged. "So why did you pour water on me?"

"It's getting dark. You don't sleep outside at night when there're demons out here. Don't you know how dangerous they are?"

The fire demon blinked at her. "You're afraid of demons?"

The girl looked down at her feet. "Well…yes. They killed my family."

"If it makes you feel any better, I don't have a family either."

"Really?"

"Yeah. I was abandoned when I was born. That's why I'm called the 'abandoned child'…or forbidden child," Hiei said slowly. He shrugged sadly. He frowned at himself. Why was he telling her all this? "But, there's a big difference between you and me." He wasn't about to let this female faze him. He focused his ruby eyes on her. "I am a demon. You are a human. And you know what that means—it means that you are to die at my hands."

The girl gasped and backed away. "Y-you're a demon?" She stumbled in her desire to get further away and fell onto her back.

Hiei moved closer to her and stood above her. "Yes, I'm a demon." He smirked. His usual urge to kill a helpless being came to him in a slow wave. It was wonderful to be at this level in the chain of life. He could torment this human girl until she screamed for mercy…or died.

He took out the sword he took from Murasaki. He weighed it in his dominant hand, getting used to the lighter weight. He swung it at the girl, watching her lavender eyes widen in fear. He held the sword steadily. He moved it back and forth, smiling with sadistic amusement as she watched the sword's movement.

She sighed in sudden frustration and relaxed her tense nerves. "Go ahead and kill me," she said in a low voice.

Hiei nearly dropped his sword. "What?" he sputtered.

"Just kill me!" she repeated. "Who do I have to live for? Who wants me alive?"

The fire demon lowered his sword and continued to stare at her. Her words made him think about how he had felt for all these years. Nobody wanted an abandoned child yet he still found a reason to live. The thing that kept him going was the thought of revenge. One day when he was strong enough, he would ensure that no one would beat him without a fair fight. That's what he strived for—power.

He nodded and sheathed his sword. "I know how you feel. That's how I've felt. Still do." He sat down beside her. He chortled, sensing how tense she was as she sat up. "Relax. If I wanted to kill you, you'd be dead," he said.

The girl snorted. "That's very reassuring you know."

"Hn. Be glad I allowed you to live." He smirked and gazed into the distance. "You're the first, you know…"

"Huh? The first…? What does that mean?" She blinked curiously at him. Demons were such strange things.

"You're the fist I let live. When I get the urge to kill someone, usually nothing stops me." He met her gaze evenly. "There's something about you that stopped me."

She smiled. "Right. I'm sure that it's my dashing good looks that did this, right?" she asked sarcastically.

Hiei blinked at her. He caught her sarcasm with ease but the words made him think. He shrugged and returned to gazing into the distance. "Maybe…" he said softly.

"What?! Are you serious?" she sputtered. She began to laugh. "Don't tease me just because I'm a human girl. I was joking, ok? There's no way my looks can keep a demon from killing…" She shook her head and continued to giggle.

The fire demon scowled. He had never associated laughter with fun or happiness. Laughter was a goad Murasaki used against him. "Shut up!" he snapped angrily. "I'm sorry I let you live…damn humans."

She stopped abruptly and gaped at him. "What did I do this time!" she demanded huffily. "You demons are all the same." She stood up and crossed her arms. "I'm sorry you let me live too. I wouldn't have to live in a demon infested world…" She stomped off.

"You shouldn't have crossed over to Makai in the first place! Go back to the worthless surface world!" he called after her. He gritted his teeth, fuming over his humiliation. How dare she laugh at him! Didn't she know that laughter was only a goad? It couldn't possibly symbolize happiness…it symbolized anger…blood lust. How could she be so idiotic? Impudent humans with their brainless insinuations…

As he sat, his mind went back to Murasaki. He remembered the way he had come back from a kill when he was only seven years old. He had let his guard down when he had assumed his victim to be dead. As he turned, the dying victim sank a dagger into his arm. Hiei had went to Murasaki, nearly fainting from blood loss.

'Please,' he had begged. 'Help me.'

Murasaki had laughed at him. "Help yourself. I'm not going to be the one to wipe you ass when you fuck up a mission." He had thrown some dirty linen at him. "Wash this and use it to patch up your arm." He laughed again at Hiei's dubious expression and turned away.

Hiei drifted out of his reverie and focused his angry thoughts on how the girl had laughed at him. She hadn't laughed at him as Murasaki had done. She was laughing because of what he had said. He cocked his head thoughtfully. Maybe he had been too harsh. He weighed his decision carefully, making sure that it wouldn't be a foolish one.

"Hey…" he called after her. He flushed, realizing that he didn't know her name. He chased after her.

"What do you want?" she said bitterly. "Come to yell at me some more? Well I'm telling you now—I'm not going to listen to it." She crossed her arms in a defiant way Hiei knew so well.

"No. I came to…a-apologize," he began slowly. "I'm sorry I yelled…I'm just used to getting my ass chewed over simple things. I've never heard someone laugh because of what I said. I've only had laughter directed at me, you see?"

The girl's harsh look melted. "Aw…poor thing. I'm sorry I acted like I did." She held a hand out. "I'll accept your apology if you accept mine. Deal?"

Hiei focused his ruby eyes on her hand, wondering if she was going to pull out a weapon. He took this gesture as a harmless one and took her hand. "Deal." He let go of her hand. "I didn't catch your name," he began, his face heating up.

"It's Botan," she said. She smiled a dazzling smile. "What's your name? Unless you want me to call you 'abandoned child'…?"

"Hn. I'd prefer that you call me Hiei."

It didn't take long for them to become closer. In a few days time, they began to admit more of their secrets to each other. Hiei admitted his fear of being abandoned again and Botan admitting the fact that her parents were among the group of humans that had migrated to Makai to escape the troubles of the human world.

"Troubles?" Hiei exclaimed incredulously. "What could there possibly be that's worse than Makai?"

"There were wars going around. Warlords were attacking families of high class so they could expand their territories. My dad was the emperor's aid. The emperor had been killed so that meant we were to die next. We escaped here."

"Hn. How the hell did you end up here anyway? Makai isn't like Ningenkai. There's a portal to this world somewhere."

"We followed some weak demons to a portal so here we are." Botan shrugged. "We should've just stayed on the Surface World. Either way, my parents were going to die." Her voice began to sound different. She sounded like she was going to cry.

Hiei winced, hearing her take a shuddering breath. "Look, it doesn't matter anymore," he began. He wasn't sure how to calm a female. The only way he knew was to kill them, but he didn't want to kill Botan. He reached out to her awkwardly and patted her back. "If your parents didn't come here, how would I have met you?"

Botan smiled. "Good point." She snuggled into his embrace, laying her head on his shoulder.

This left Hiei feeling more awkward. He wasn't used to anyone touching him so tenderly or even wanting to be this close to him. His first impulse was to push her away, but he ignored it. He was actually enjoying this. He had never thought that being so close to someone would be enjoyable, not cause pain or goad his short temper.

For the first time in his life, he smiled. 'Maybe this is where I'm supposed to be,' he decided thoughtfully. 'At this girl's side…'

Here are the people that reviewed the last chapter! I didn't expect to get so many reviews! Thanks a lot!

KuramaandHiei4ever: As I said, yes, Lanzet is YOU! Mwahaha! Sorry, but Lanzet is her first name. I like having weird names in my fic. No offense. I'm not saying your last name is weird. It's just a weird FIRST name! Aren't you sad that your character died already? But don't worry. You get to haunt Hiei in the later chapters! You say my beginnings are mysterious? How are they mysterious? O.O Thanks for your review! You're the very first person to review this chapter and my story all together!

Spoonerific: Yeah, it is a pretty difficult pairing. It's so hard to keep Hiei in character while trying to make him chase aimlessly after a girl. I just hope I don't screw it up. Thanks for your review!

DarkShadowWriter: You're too kind. Thanks for the review.

HieilovesBotan: I updated! I hope you enjoy this chapter. I appreciate you leaving me a review!

Volpone: You? Feeling inadequate because of MY fics? No way! Your fics are better written. If you updated as often as I do, you would be even MORE better than me. Yes, Hiei DOES fall in love with a certain deity. But there's a small twist involved in the upcoming chapters.

Tyedye/Rin: You think it's a great plot? Thanks a lot! I hope this chapter is long enough, but I can never be sure!

Conspiring against me: That's ok if you don't like HieixBotan fics. I'm just trying to do something different. Thanks for your review just the same!

Distant Voice: ::blush:: thanks. Ok the Cheruvim is sort of like an artifact (like the Forlorn Hope) only people with good hearts can use it and leave a lasting impression. Hm…it's hard to explain. Just know that it's an object that left Hiei cursed, k? Thanks for your review. What's an AU again? I heard it somewhere…

Robin Autumn: HieixBotan pairings are ok. I'm used to KuramaxBotan pairings, but I'm trying something new this time!

Fair Undomiel: Rare pairings? This isn't that rare. There's just not many of this pairing out there. Now how about a KarasuxBotan fic? THAT is rare. I may write one just because Karasu rocks! Well I appreciate your review!

miyako14: Thanks! You're always there to support me! ::sniff:: thanks so much!

Dragonbabe: Yep, Hiei's in this! Enjoy the Hiei-ness!