Last Chapter...
Annoyed that she wouldn't just answer the question already, Hiei asked, "Who?"
"...You," she finally answered, still refusing to look at him.
Love Me, Hate Me, Just Don't Let Me Fall
Chapter 2: Help Me, You Jerk!
Hiei's eyes grew wide at this sudden confession, and he gawked at her, wondering if he had heard correctly. He had expected someone like Yusuke or Kurama, or even Kuwabara, but himself? That was simply inconceivable!
Finally making eye contact with the confused fire demon, Botan mistook his silence as rejection and asked, "I'm sorry. Do you... hate me for it?"
Botan waited as Hiei thought about what had just happened. Finally, he asked, "Why? Why are you in love with ME of all creatures!"
"To tell you the truth, I have no idea. You're an arrogant, heartless, thieving fire demon that has probably never cared about anyone the way I care about you."
Hiei glared at her, wondering if she was trying to injure his dignity.
"But I've seen you with your sister; I've seen that other side of you. I know that you can be caring and protective. On your missions with Yusuke, I have seen your honor and fierce loyalty. And I know for a fact that you're really cute. You've got to be the cutest demon I have ever seen."
The fire demon blushed, unused to hearing anyone talk about him like this. Botan noticed and smiled for the first time in what seemed to be ages. Suddenly, any shyness or nervousness she had felt towards him disappeared when she realized he was just as uncomfortable as she was in this situation.
Trying his best to hide how flustered he was, Hiei said, "Hn, baka onna. You shouldn't love me."
"Why not! You are a perfectly good demon!"
"I'm the Forbidden Child. Nobody is supposed to love me, and I am not supposed to love anyone. That is the way it has been and the way it shall be."
"Well, since when have you ever done what you're supposed to do! And don't you love your sister? If you can love her, then I think you can love me!"
"My love for Yukina is different. She is my twin sister; she is a part of me. I'd be a fool if I didn't love her." Hiei continued, "Feelings are a weakness. I have already allowed too many people into my heart, and I am not going to allow one more."
"Fine, be that way. I'm going to make you fall in love with me, Hiei! I promise you that I will keep trying, even if it takes so long that you're already dead and I have to follow your ghost around!"
Hiei didn't like the way this conversation was headed and decided to change the subject. "Are you going back to Reikai or not?"
Botan gave the question some thought: Should she stay in Ningenkai and let Koenma continue searching for her, or should she go back to Reikai and face her former best friend?
And then, inspiration hit Botan with an idea, and the more she thought about it, the brighter the world seemed to be. A smile crept onto her face, her eyes seemed to become brighter, and inside she felt like a huge weight had been taken off of her shoulders.
"...Hiei?"
"Hn?"
"If I go back to Reikai, could you possibly come with me?" she asked as sweetly as possible.
"What do you want from me?" Hiei asked suspiciously.
"Can you pretend, even if it might never happen in a million years, can you please at least pretend to love me in front of Koenma? If you do that, then maybe he will leave me alone."
"Why should I?"
"I'll give you something in return."
"What?"
"Anything you want."
"Anything?"
"YES! Please, just help me make Koenma leave me alone! Please, Hiei!" Botan pleaded, as she looked at him with a pitiful face, hoping against hope he would accept.
"...Hn..."
"Come on, Hiei, I'll do anything! Just help me this once!"
"..."
"Please, Hiei! I'd do the same for you! You know I would! Please, I'm begging you!"
"...No."
Botan glared at him and said, "Oh, I see how it is. You could care less if someone does something for you, but the moment someone asks you to help them, oh it's SUCH a big deal! The great Hiei-sama-bighead won't do ANYTHING for ANYBODY unless he gets something out of it! SELFISH JERK! If you think for one moment that I'm going to just leave you alone, then you've got another thing coming!"
As she said all of this, Hiei just stared at her with a calm, emotionless expression on his face that made Botan infuriated, thinking that none of what she said was going into his thick head.
The former ferry girl was extremely mad, to say the least. Fueled by her anger, she stood up and continued the lecture.
"Okay, okay, I understand you don't really have to help me. But just because you don't have to doesn't mean you shouldn't! You know what? If you weren't such an adorable fire demon, I'd probably be over at Kurama's asking for his help! So, don't go blaming me for dragging you into my troubles with best-friends-gone-bad; BLAME YOUR OWN DARN CUTENESS!"
As the lecture continued, Botan was getting angrier and angrier while Hiei was getting more and more annoyed by the second. The fire demon had to restrain himself from doing something that would get him sent to Reikai prison for the next millennium or two.
"If you don't help me, then you, Hiei, are a STUPID, selfish JERK!"
Botan became so caught up in her speech that she slapped Hiei, leaving a red mark on his face. She huffed and sat back down on the park bench, feeling much better.
Hiei was absolutely shocked that somebody would have the nerve to actually lecture him, much less slap him! He wasn't some obedient mutt who gave a girl complete and utter control over him, like Yusuke or Kuwabara.
"Did you just SLAP me!"
Botan glowered at him. "Yes, and I'd do it again!"
Now Hiei wasn't just annoyed - he was FURIOUS. Nobody, and that means NOBODY, would get away with slapping him without Hiei doing something about it.
Unaware of what he was planning, Botan said, "You need a good slapping every once in a while, Mr. Insensitive! If you- ACK!"
Hiei tackled her, effectively pinning her to the bench. He growled, "Don't you DARE ever slap me again!"
Despite the fact that she was entirely at his mercy, Botan smiled and said knowingly, "I'm annoying you, aren't I? Am I making you mad? Angry? Furious? You know, if you agree to help me I'll stop bugging you."
Hiei let Botan go and sat back down on the bench, knowing that she had won. He couldn't harm her; that would be dishonorable, and Hiei wasn't about to feel guilty for killing a helpless woman. She simply left him with no other choice...
"...I know I'm going to regret this..." he muttered darkly. "You really owe me for this, but... I'll help you."
"Oh, THANK YOU! Thank you, thank you, thank you!"
Botan couldn't help it; she threw herself at Hiei and wrapped both of her arms around him. The grateful girl hugged him with all of her might, almost choking him.
Such intimate physical contact foreign to him, the demon pried her off of him and glared at her. "Don't hug me. I will go to Reikai with you, but first I need to take care of things here."
"What?"
Instead of answering her, Hiei stood up and took off his headband that covered up his Jagan. The Jagan glowed as it did what the fire demon requested: find Koenma and the other Reikai Tantei. It searched everywhere, eventually placing everyone at Kurama's ningen home.
Satisfied with what it had found, Hiei replaced his headband and said, "Let's go."
Botan stood up as Hiei started walking away. She ran to catch up with him.
"Wait, where are we going!"
"Kurama's."
"But... why? And isn't that like ten miles from here? HOW AM I SUPPOSED TO WALK THERE!"
"Use your oar."
Botan held up her broken oar sheepishly and said, "Uh, I can't exactly use it any more..."
"Then walk."
"B-but, I can't!"
Hiei glared at her. "What do you want me to do, carry you?"
"...Could you?"
"No."
"Please?"
"No. Find your own way there or stay behind."
"You're not going to just LEAVE me here, are you!"
"Watch me."
The fire demon turned his back to her and started walking away. Botan thought quickly; should she walk or stay where she was? The girl chose neither. Instead, she did something that may very well get her killed.
Launching herself at the unsuspecting demon, Botan threw her arms around him and attached herself to his waist. Hiei was startled and immediately stopped walking.
"YOU'RE NOT LEAVING WITHOUT ME!"
Annoyed, Hiei tried to pry her off of him but Botan was clinging to him like a leech. She kept her arms around his waist and wouldn't let go for anything.
"Baka onna! LET GO OF ME!"
"NEVER!"
The angered fire demon momentarily considered hitting her on the head with his sword, but that wouldn't be right. If only he didn't have such a strict honor code...
Hiei sighed and finally just started walking to Kurama's house, dragging Botan.
"This would be a lot easier on both of us if you'd just let go," Hiei said after walking a few feet.
"Not unless you carry me!"
Hiei was very irritated. Here he was, doing Botan a FAVOR, and she wouldn't walk a measly ten miles without being carried.
"For the last time, NO, I WILL NOT CARRY YOU!"
"Please?" Botan asked, looking up at him with those puppy dog eyes that are so hard to resist. Her lip quivered, and her eyes watered. She knew most guys would give in to this irresistible face, and she hoped Hiei was among them.
Hiei's right eye started twitching, as it always did when he was trying to control his temper. He tried to glare at Botan but couldn't seem to resist the pathetic look she was giving him. Finally, he sighed resignedly and muttered, "Fine... I'll... carry you..."
Immediately, she let go of his waist and hugged him. "YAY! I knew you loved me!"
"I don't love you, and QUIT HUGGING ME!" Hiei told her as he pushed her away.
"Aw, come on, I know you like hugs! Everybody likes hugs!"
"No, I do not like hugs."
"Yes you do."
"No I do not."
"Then do you like this better?" Botan said and she kissed his forehead.
Hiei closed his eyes and mentally counted to ten, trying to calm down. He couldn't allow himself to kill her, especially since Koenma was so attached to her. Unfortunately, he couldn't run away either since he promised to help her, and Hiei never went back on his word.
"No, I do not like that better..."
"Yes you do! Admit it; there's a horny demon inside of you just waiting to be let loose!"
"..."
"Then do you like THIS-"
Before she could bug him any more, Hiei scooped Botan up and started running as fast as he could to Kurama's house. Since Hiei appeared to be a mere blur to the human eye when running at his top speed, they were there in a matter of seconds.