In response to Water Guardian: Although I haven't seen the whole series, I've read in a lot of fics that Hiei killed Shigure in that tournament thing to be Mukuro's heir, and that meant he didn't have to keep his promise anymore. I think the reason he's been keeping it a secret is a matter of his insecure feelings, rather than the promise to Shigure. Actually, I would have written that someone told Yukina but then that person would be dead, thanks to Hiei, and that wouldn't be any fun! JSYK Yukina has to know the truth because that plays a part in the plot later on. You'll understand... eventually...
Last Chapter...
So the trio set out together, looking for the missing ferry girl or any of her captors.
Love Me, Hate Me, Just Don't Let Me Fall
Chapter 9: Crazy Demons at the Mall
As Botan and her youkai companions were walking to the mall, the four demons tried to look as inconspicuous as possible and hide their demonic features. This was especially hard for Jin, with his pointy ears, horn, and love of flying. They had managed to make it about halfway to the nearest mall without anyone calling the ningen police when they ran into two familiar faces.
"Chuu, you big idiot, why'd you have to go and do that!"
"What! Like you didn't feel sorry for the poor girl too!"
"Oi, Chuu! Rinku!" Jin called. Hearing their names, the two demons turned and started walking towards them.
"Hey, Jin!" Chuu greeted.
"Where were you two?"
Rinku glared at Chuu and answered, "He tried to drag me into a bar but they said I was too young to enter, so we went to a restaurant instead. Then some guy yelled at the waitress and Chuu beat him up. We got kicked out of the place!"
Touya reprimanded, "You baka! We're not supposed to draw attention to ourselves here!"
Chuu shrugged. "Couldn't help it! The poor gal was being fussed at for no good reason. I can't stand to see a damsel in distress!" Then he spotted Botan for the first time and said, "Oi, who's the pretty gal!"
Touya answered, "That is Botan, the girl you were supposed to retrieve from Reikai. Remember?"
"Ah, so you're the ferry girl!" Chuu grinned at her. "Pretty one too."
Botan wasn't sure whether to be appalled or embarrassed, but Rinku made the decision for her by hitting Chuu on the head. Everyone else sweat-dropped.
"Don't scare her off, stupid! We're supposed to keep her until Hiei comes for her!" Rinku reminded him, rolling his eyes.
"Hiei? What, is he like her boyfriend or something?" Chuu asked, but nobody answered him so he assumed that he was correct.
"What are all of you doing out here? I thought you were going to stay at the hotel!" Rinku asked.
The Ice Master muttered, "Stupid wind master forced us to go to the mall."
"Aw, come on, Touya, don't gimme that again!" Jin pouted, receiving a glare in return.
They all began walking again towards the mall as their discussion continued. Botan glanced at the six demons, thinking them to be odd, yet amusing. In fact, they reminded her of the Urameshi group.
Interrupting her thoughts, Chuu peered at Botan and said, "Hey, when's your boyfriend gonna get here?"
"Boyfriend? Hiei's not her boyfriend!" objected Jin.
"Yeah, if you had listened, you would have known!" Suzuka said.
Chuu looked at Botan suspiciously. "You sure you don't have a boyfriend? Tell you what, I bet one of us would love to hook up with you! Right, guys?"
Touya frowned. "Speak for yourself, baka."
"Sure!" Jin said as he grinned. He was feeling so cheerful that he was willing to go along with just about anything!
Shishi eyed Jin's ears, which were rapidly turning long and pointy. "Jin, your ears are doing strange things again!"
Meanwhile, as Jin frowned and examined the offending appendages, Rinku glared at Chuu. "You idiot! If she wanted a boyfriend, then she'd say so!"
"Do you want a boyfriend?" Suzuka asked Botan curiously.
"Uh..." Botan wasn't sure what to say. Sure she wanted a boyfriend, but only if it was Hiei! "Well, I kind of already have a boyfriend... sort of... maybe... well, he's not really my boyfriend, but he sort of is... I think..."
After a short silence, Rinku declared, "I'm confused!"
"Are you single or not?" Chuu asked simply.
"Yes, and no," she answered.
"Oro? Oro, oro, oro? Heheh, that's a fun word to say!" Jin was having fun playing with words. Oh dear, he's become hyper...
Suzuka sighed and said, "SHUT UP JIN!"
"Oro, oro! ORO!"
"It's complicated..." Botan tried to explain.
"Who is he?" Shishi wondered nosily.
"Hiei."
Chuu grinned triumphantly. "HA! Told you so!"
"Does he like you?" Jin asked. "Do you like him? Have you gone on a date? Have you kissed him yet? Is he nice to you? If he's not, you got six demons here who'll beat him for you!"
"Um..." Botan didn't really want to answer all of these questions. Thankfully, Touya saved her from the trouble by slapping Jin.
"Baka! You need to mind your own business!"
Jin merely grinned knowingly at the Ice Master. "Are you having mood swings again...? If it's PMS, I swear I won't tell anybody!"
"No..." Touya glared icily at Jin and answered, "You are a baka. A complete baka."
The others laughed, used to all of the quarrelling. Botan began to feel at ease with these guys. They were so easy to get along with compared to Hiei!
"Hey, guys! We're here!" announced Rinku.
Finally, they had arrived at the mall. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, it was crowded with people. Shishiwakamaru and Suzuka immediately took off to the nearest beauty salon, trying to find a cure for the teeth marks on Shishi's arms. Botan watched as Chuu spotted a pretty woman and went off, eventually following her into a women's department store.
"Hey, pretty gal, come back!" Chuu called, making Botan sweat-drop.
Jin looked around for something to do and spotted a nearby pet store. "Oi, Touya, let's get a pet!"
"NO, JIN!" The last thing Touya needed was a pet to look after.
Rinku's eyes became very big and sparkly. "Ooooh, I've always wanted a puppy dog! Heeheehee!"
"Parrot! We're gonna get a parrot! Then I'll be a pirate wind master! Arr, matey, I'll be a pirate, a pirate I'll be! Ha ha!" Jin checked his pockets for money, but found that he was broke. He turned to Touya and, pretending to be a pirate, said, "Gimme yer money or I'll make ye walk the plank! Arr!"
Reluctantly, Touya gave Jin some ningen money, lest he be forced to 'walk the plank'. Then Rinku and Jin ran off to find a pet for themselves. This left Touya with only Botan's company, something he was glad for - watching over crazy demons all the time became very tiring after a while.
"So, are you hungry?" Touya asked. They had kidnapped her, so he might as well feed the girl.
"Uh, sure." Botan quickly scanned the crowds of ningens around her, looking for Hiei, but there was no sign of that familiar fire demon. She desperately hoped he would arrive soon.
They walked to the food court and ordered some fast food. After their order was ready, they found an empty table and sat down. They ate in silence, and once they were done, Touya asked, "Do you know when Hiei will get here?"
"No idea. He should be here by now, shouldn't he? He has the Jagan so it should be really easy to find me... Unless... You don't think something happened to him, do you? What if he was attacked?" The thought made Botan panic. "Maybe he's hurt! He could be out there dying right now while we're just sitting here! We've got to go save him!"
"Calm down! From what I've seen, he's an extremely talented fighter. I doubt that he's acquired any fatal injuries recently," Touya reassured her. He didn't want Botan to start worrying for no good reason, so he changed the subject. "How exactly did you end up being part of this new training program of Koenma's?"
"Uh..." Botan wasn't sure how to answer that. Should she lie, or tell the truth? It would be so much easier if Hiei were here! He was a much better liar than Botan could ever be. "Um, this isn't really part of Hiei's training... You see, Koenma's making us take these tests and we've already passed the first two, and now we have to pass this third one. If we don't pass them and find Koenma a girlfriend, I'll end up being the Princess of Reikai, and I'll never get to be a ferry girl again!"
Touya shot her a confused look. "I'm kind of lost here. Perhaps you should start from the beginning."
"Okay..." Botan hoped that she was doing the right thing by telling him. Touya didn't really know Koenma or Hiei, so it should be all right, but there's no telling how Hiei would feel about it. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"
"On my honor, I swear I'll keep it a secret."
"Okay, it all started..." she began. Touya listened closely as Botan told him the whole story, starting with Koenma's marriage proposal and ending with the third test.
"And now Hiei has to find me and if he doesn't we'll probably never pass this stupid test. DANG IT, HIEI, YOU HAD BETTER NOT BE DEAD!"
Ningens began staring at them, and Touya looked around nervously. "Uh, Botan, people are starting to stare at us..."
Suddenly, the blue-haired girl burst into tears. "He's not going to come... sob He doesn't sob even care about sob me! He's going to sob let Koenma marry me!"
Looking around uneasily, Touya wished the ningens would just go away. This was the last thing he needed. After hours of watching over insane demons on the loose in Ningenkai, he was going to be kicked out of a ningen mall because of a hysterical ferry girl. Oh, the sad, pitiful life of the unfortunate ice master.
"Botan... it's okay... he'll come, don't worry..." Touya was very uncomfortable around the sobbing girl. Fighting huge, ugly demons that are ten times his size? Sure! Comforting a girl who's in tears over her lousy boyfriend? Uh, no thank you!
Touya patted her back sympathetically and watched as the ningens began to lose interest in them and went back to what they were doing. Eventually, Botan's sobs subsided, and she calmed down enough to talk.
"I'm so sorry, Touya, I've just been under so much stress lately! I've had to put up with Hiei and Koenma, and it's just... argh!"
"I think I know what you mean... I've been stuck with Jin and the others since the Dark Tournament. On a daily basis, I have to put up with their insanity and make sure they don't kill us all."
Botan smiled at him understandingly. "I've only had to deal with this for a day... Lucky me, somebody must really like me in the heavens."
"Sometimes that's not a good thing." Touya was referring to Koenma liking Botan.
"Too true..." Botan said as she laughed. "Okay, now that you know all about my twisted love life, tell me about yours!"
"Nani!" he exclaimed, surprised.
"Tell me about your love life! You have to have a girlfriend or at least a crush!"
"Nope. I'm a bachelor, and happy too!" Touya announced.
Pouting, Botan argued, "Don't you like anyone? Come on, there's gotta be a girl you think is at least cute! You can tell me!"
"Well... there is someone..." he admitted, avoiding eye contact with the nosy girl.
"Oh, tell me, tell me!"
"No, I can't do that! Her family's crazy, and if word gets out, there is no telling what will happen to me!"
"I promise I won't tell anyone! Look, if you don't tell my secret, I won't tell yours!" Botan promised eagerly.
"I can't..."
"Come on, it's okay to tell me! I'm your friend, aren't I? Just tell me her name!"
"I don't think I should..."
Relentlessly, Botan continued pleading, "Just tell me! I swear I'll keep it a secret."
"You swear?" Touya checked.
"Yes! Now tell me already!" Botan exclaimed in anticipation. Oh, busybodies ALWAYS find out some way or another!
"...It's Yukina," Touya finally mumbled. He couldn't believe he was telling her this. Never had he dared to tell anyone such a deep secret! But Botan was so easy to talk to, it was hard to not just tell her everything.
"Oh my goodness, you two would make the perfect couple! And, just think of the children - they'll be absolutely adorable! You're going to make a great father, Touya!"
Touya gaped at her in shock. "I haven't even considered mating with her! I just want to date the girl!"
"Yeah, yeah, your opinion will change with time, I'm sure," she replied breezily. "Anyway, I do understand what you meant about her having a crazy family... Hiei can be a bit overprotective, can't he?"
"Overprotective? He's worse than a female demon protecting her offspring!" Touya stated dryly.
"I know he can be a bit... obsessive, but he means well," Botan reassured with a nod.
"It still means that I have no chance with his sister!" the poor demon said.
Botan knew there was truth behind his words, but she felt like there was something she had to do to help him. He was a great guy and he deserved his fair chance to date Yukina! "Hey, I've got an idea!"
"What is it?" Whatever scheme Botan had in mind, Touya doubted it would work. He had already given up all hope of dating that pretty ice apparition as soon as he discovered Hiei was her brother.
"I bet I could convince Hiei to let you have at least one date with Yukina. In return, you have to find me some possible brides for Koenma!"
That seemed easy enough. There were lots of girls who would love to marry a god, so Touya wouldn't have to search hard. "Well, okay, I guess so."
"Great!" Botan fished out a communication mirror and handed it to Touya. "This is a communication mirror. I'll use it to update you on the situation with Hiei, okay?"
Touya accepted it and put it away in a pocket. "Okay then."
"Now that that's settled, Hiei needs to get over here already!"
Botan and Touya waited for a few minutes, both scanning the food court for any sign of Hiei. Suddenly, they heard a large crash behind them. They turned around to discover what used to be a potted plant laying on the floor in pieces. Standing in the middle of the destruction was none other than...
"Yusuke!"
"Uh, hi guys..." the Spirit Detective greeted sheepishly.