Sherkoni - Okay, SORRY for the month long wait! Yes, I got your requests for an update since, yes, it's been over a month and I assure you I've been trying. The first week of school blew me out of the water, I couldn't even check my e-mail. -.-; And then the next week was homecoming. Combine that with constant volleyball practice and games, I couldn't find the time. But, ta-da, it's here.

Probably not very good, but I'll have more time to work on better chapters and my other fics. Thanks for sticking with me anyway, I appreciate it.

Chapter 5

Realization

Hot water, that's what she had needed. Hot water created steam and steam fogged her mind enough to block out distractions. Distractions that had recently taken the form of a cynical fire demon.

Botan sighed and turned off the rejuvenating water, reaching for a plush hotel towel. She dried herself off, allowing her brain a few more minutes of thought-free time. Even as she pulled on the flannel pajamas the hotel souvenir shop had provided, she moved brainlessly. What a bliss it was to not think.

But as soon as she was comfortably dried and dressed, all the puzzles of her mind came tumbling back. She sighed and walked out of the bathroom, holding her kimono in her arms. She drew around the corner of the hall to the sound of a drawer clicking shut. She looked at the bed to see Hiei seated calmly with his back leaning against the wall in an innocent way, his arms folded casually across his chest...

"What were you doing?"

He rose a challenging eyebrow. "Do I look guilty or something?"

"Yes." Her eyes narrowed to prove her suspicion.

"I am," Hiei confirmed deliberately, the confession rolling off his tongue with ease. "But I don't really care."

Botan tossed the kimono in the corner of the room with a haughty glare in Hiei's direction. She placed herself into one of the free chairs with an angry plop. "Whatever. Everything that's in my journal is about you anyway." She carefully concealed that she was embarrassed that he saw that most of them were admirable traits that she liked about him. She gave a final glare. "Enjoy the bed."

Hiei processed the comment with no response, watching with amused interest as she wiggled around in the chair, trying to get herself comfortable. Her usually flawless face was marred with the frustration that was etched by the room's shadows. She had had a peaceful look when she came out of the shower, but it hadn't taken her long to switch moods.

"How do you feel about demons attacking you in a hotel room?"

She gazed at him in exasperation as she twisted upright with an angry sigh. "I don't know! I guess not too worried, there's security and locked doors and everything."

Hiei pulled himself off of the bed with natural grace, walking towards the closed window. "Good. Then I'm sleeping out here."

She watched him with perplexed interest. "Outside?" She glanced at the bed and then to Hiei's impatient expression. "Why?"

"I prefer outside,"he replied tonelessly. "If you're not going to force me to babysit, then I'll take the opportunity."

Botan processed this for a few minutes. She dared to hope that maybe he might also be doing it to be nice. To allow her the comfort of the mattress she had previously praised. After all, she had made a pretty noisy show about her displeasure of sleeping in the chair. "Thanks," she beamed happily.

He snorted and opened the window in a swift tug. "Don't flatter yourself."

Botan stuck out her bottom lip in a silent pout, but didn't say anything. As soon as he was out of sight and outside, she grinned to herself. In an excited bound, she flew to the king-sized mattress, landing with a couple of playful bounces. "Aaaw." She sighed contentedly and spread her arms and legs as far as they would reach across the comforter. "Sweet, sweet mattress...."

It only took a flick of the light and the touch of a pillow before she was lost to the conscious world.

"Come here, my darling human, come here. . ."

"No! Let go of me! Let me go!"

The beautiful centaur only held tighter to her arm, dragging her closer and closer. "Stop resssssissssting . . ." The once beautiful eyes turned yellow, the pupil narrowing to a devilish slit. The fine, silver fur twisted into green scales. A split tongue flicked out, running over long fangs before reaching out for her face.

"Please let me go!" She squirmed even harder, but his grip only tightened. Twisting her head away from the snake's head, she saw a figure standing a few feet away. There, standing with his arms folded boredly across his chest, was Hiei. "Hiei! Please help me!"

He sneered at her. "Foolish onna. It's not my problem if you're stupid enough to fall into Makai's traps."

Her eyes welled with hopeless tears. "Hiei. . ."

He smirked one final time before turning on his heel and walking away from her. "Hiei!" she called after him again as the shape-shifter brushed a fang over her neck. "Hiei! Please don't leave me! Hiei!"

She started crying. Suddenly, the demon grabbed her shoulders and began shaking her. "Botan!"

"No, let me go! Hiei!"

"Botan!"

Her eyes flew open in fright, her breath coming in rapid pants. She felt a body next to hers and roughly latched onto their shirt. Hiei. "Don't yell like that," a harsh voice vibrated through the chest she was against. He sounded worried, but angry at the same time. You scared me half to death, seemed to be the unspoken words.

"I'm sorry," she whispered into his shirt, trembling uncontrollably.

Hiei gazed down at her uncertainly before reluctantly placing an arm around her back, drawing her closer. "Are you okay?"

She turned her head up to look at him, tears streaming down her face. "Please don't leave me . . ."

He looked at her, confused. "I won't."

She buried her face into his shirt, dampening it quickly with her crying. Hiei simply sat their, Botan limp in his arms, for what seemed like hours. He didn't even notice she was asleep until she began to snuggle closer to him with an unconscious sigh.

With a low grunt, he carefully shifted her out of his arms, placing her head on a pillow. He resigned himself to stay in the room that night. The worry that had placed itself in his stomach was frustratingly annoying, but also unnerving. He'd stay until morning.

- - - - - - -

(The Next Morning)

Often, it was rumored that a person looked more innocent in their sleep - that they resembled something of an angel. But she....she didn't. She looked the same as she always did, with the exception of her amethyst eyes being hidden by sleep. Hiei tilted his head a little to the side. Or was it just that her features were always that soft? She always resembled an angel.

He scowled to himself. Or maybe he needed to stop being so damn pathetic and entertain himself another way besides studying Botan's facial features.

Botan stirred slightly, already feeling the rewards of a good night's sleep. She lazily opened her eyes to find Hiei sitting in one of the room's chairs across from the bed. The strength of his gaze almost made her bury her head unseen into the covers. However, she held her dignity and casually brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes. "Why didn't you wake me up?"

He didn't answer, scowling bitterly at her. Almost as if he knew the answer, but wasn't very pleased with it. Finally, he gave a rueful shrug and turned his head away. Botan gave a silent sigh of relief as his fiery eyes stopped burning her skin. He rose to his feet, still avoiding her gaze as he began to hook his sword to his belt. "Well now that you are up, let's–"

"Hiei!"

He turned to her in bewilderment after her abrupt exclamation, raising a confused eyebrow. "What?"

She hauled herself upright, her arms still tangled in the sheets. "We didn't even practice last night!"

His face only looked more confused.

"The sword!" she clarified quickly before removing herself from the blankets and sheets and getting off the bed. "I was completely planning on practicing last night, but I forgot!"

"Oh," Hiei said, the only intelligent thing he could think of to say at the moment.

"So..." She grinned up at him. "Why don't we right now?"

Hiei frowned for a minute. He hadn't planned on spending an extra few hours as "honeymooners" in the hotel, but he wasn't exactly against a little training - something he had thought would be very limited with his week with Botan. "Hn." He drew out his sword. "Your strain."

She rolled her eyes. "That is if there's enough room in here for the you, me and your ego."

Hiei smirked. "When your talent surpasses your ego, it is excusable."

Botan's eyes widened in pretend shock. "Wow, you have more talent than I thought. 'Cause your ego's humongous."

"Hn. Congratulations on almost humoring me," he replied sarcastically before gesturing towards her with his sword. "And I would summon that wooden canoe paddle you fly around on, unless you intend to defend yourself with your arms."

Neither noticed that had it been five days ago, Botan wouldn't have dared made a comment about Hiei's ego. Neither would he have answered to it without some sort of serious life threat.

Botan placed her hands on her hips in confusion. "I thought I got to use the sword." She summoned her oar and swung it around, purposely being clumsy and uncoordinated. "We don't want me to have bad habits, right?"

"I thought you knew the basics well enough?" Hiei replied airily.

Botan huffed uncomfortably. "I thought we already talked about that. You were right, I was wrong."

"Just making sure you remembered."

Botan glared at him and picked up a large pillow off the bed. Raising it high above her head, she threw it straight at Hiei's head with a hard heave.

The large, downed pillow thudded softly into Hiei's face before falling limply onto the floor. His eyes followed it's decent before he looked up to glare half-heartedly at Botan. "Did you seriously just throw a pillow at me?"

Botan's face flushed uneasily. "Y-Yes..." Hiei gave her an irritated look, causing her to redden even more. Thinking quickly, she lurched forward and snatched the pillow she had thrown off the ground, returning to the side of the bed. She raised her chin in her best efforts to look confident. "You're just pretending to be all calm because you don't have any ammo!"

Hiei paused for a moment before smirking mischievously. "Who says I need ammo?"

Botan swallowed nervously, but tried to look unperturbed. "You can't beat me without–" She never got to finish her sentence because she was abruptly pushed onto the bed, the pillow yanked from her hands. She shrieked in surprise as she tumbled into the already messed bedding. "Hiei!"

He smirked down at her tossing the pillow carelessly onto the bed. "I rest my case."

Botan narrowed her eyes irritably, choosing not to say anything. In a spurt of bravery, she gathered all of the blankets and sheets in her arms and threw them at Hiei. He let a couple fall to the ground and caught a few, giving her an odd look. Before he could say anything however, she lunged forward, grabbing his arms in an attempt to tackle him.

His smirk only widened in amusement. He grabbed her wrists from his arms, pushing her slightly off of him. She growled in determination and struggled against his hold, pushing to get back to him as hard as she was able with all the blankets surrounding their feet.

A flash of roguery passed through his crimson eyes before he took a step back, releasing her arms. She of course, tumbled forward in surprise, but she wasn't the only one. The pale blue sheet had been caught in Hiei's way and in his efforts to step away, he had tripped over it.

He tried to catch his balance, but finding nothing suitable to grab a hold of, he had grabbed Botan's shoulders. The pair tumbled to the ground in the pile of linens with a few ungraceful twirls, Hiei ending up conveniently on Botan.

She gazed up at him while her chest rose and fell with small pants. Her lips curved upwards playfully before she let out a soft giggle. "Ha! Your plan backfired - you still lose!"

"I didn't lose," he answered softly. "It was a tie."

Botan recognized her earlier statement. "Oh," she said, wondering why her voice had fallen to a whisper. She suddenly realized their close proximity, but instead of blushing hotly as she would normally do, her gaze fell to his lips. Her features softened in thought. His face was always so hard, cold, cynical. Would his lips be the same way?

Hiei watched her gaze lower from his eyes and he felt his body go slightly warmer. He needed to get off her, he needed to quick playing these childish games and get back to his normal life, he needed . . . . . to know what her lips would feel like against his.

As if his mind and body were acting with a force of his own, he lowered his head towards hers, pausing a breath away from her lips.

Her breath caught in her throat with aroused fright. She never got to catch it again because the small distance closed as his lips pressed over hers. In one blissful strike, her entire body heated, starting from where his body touched hers and spreading through with passionate warmth.

His lips were soft. Surprisingly soft, and surprisingly gentle. She felt her insides melt from the sweet ministrations, her eyes fluttering closed as she pressed closer to him, allowing him the opportunity to deepen the kiss if he so desired.

In response, he placed a bandaged hand on her cheek, relishing in the way her skin tingled when the rough material brushed it. Her arms moved up to wrap around his back, drawing them impossible close.

Hiei gave a soft moan. One could get addicted to someone like her. And he was. Dammit. He sharply pulled away from her, his breath coming in short pants. He had to resist the urge to smile when her arms held tighter around his waist.

He watched her chest rise and fall rapidly as she panted, her lips still parted. He watched as her eyelids slowly opened, revealing her unfocused eyes searching his scarlet ones out questioningly. "What's wrong?" she asked quietly.

He didn't answer and it only took a few minutes for her passion-hazed mind to clear. Her cheeks rinsed with a flushed pink as her eyes widened in shock. He wasted no more time in quickly removing himself from her, standing in a nervous rush.

Botan unconsciously rose a hand to her mouth, fingering the still warm lips carefully. She stared at him, watching his face contort with fright. She dropped her hand, but before she could say anything, he left in a smudge of black.

She continued to stare at the place he had stood for a good few minutes. Finally, as realization came full-blow, she jumped to her feet, sprinting to her kimono in the corner. She yanked out her communicator and flopped into one of the chairs, nervously pulling on her hair while she dialed Keiko's number. Thank goodness I can still call the human world . . .

She only had to wait for one ring before Keiko's sweet-sounding voice came on the speaker. "Hello?"

"Keiko!" Botan rushed, realizing for the first time how shaky her voice sounded.

"Botan?" Keiko sounded worried. "What's wrong? You sound so flustered." She gasped. "I thought you were on that trip thingy with Hiei! Is everything alright? Are you in danger? Is Hiei threatening you?!"

Oh, if only she knew how much. "Keiko, everything's fine. I'm in a hotel room right now."

"Oh..." She sounded slightly embarrassed. "Well . . . what's up?"

Botan began twisting her hair in her fingers. "Well, I have something to tell you . . ."

Recognizing that tone of voice, Keiko's voice fell to a hush. "Spill."

Botan paused, ignoring the knot that had formed in her stomach. "Oh Keiko . . ." She bit her lip, trying to think of how to word what she wanted to say. Well. . . . there was no simpler way of putting it then, "I kissed Hiei!"

Keiko gasped in shock. "You WHAT?! Was he mad? Was it of your own free will?"

Botan's voice came out in a wail. "I freaking kissed him! No! Yes! Yes, dammit!"

"Botan . . . . what kind of kiss was it?"

Botan sniffed. "What do you mean?"

"Was it an embarrassed peck? An awkward kiss? A sweet tingly one? Madly passionate - please say no- or was it one of those beautiful, slow, love-filled ones?"

"Um . . . the last one, except not love-filled, really . . ."

Botan could just see Keiko's face turning to one of suspicion. "How's that possible? Describe it to me - but don't get too detailed."

Botan sighed, getting nervous just thinking about it. "Oh, Keiko. It was horrible. Horribly stupid! I shouldn't have that type of kiss with Hiei!"

"You're confusing me. . ."

Her voice was starting to sound frantic again. "His lips were soft and warm and it made my whole body feel fuzzy and warm, but at the same time an excited shock was running up my spine." She sighed, thinking about it. "And he was so close, but I liked it and he smelled good and he held me in just the right way. Oh Keiko, help me."

"Damn," Keiko responded irritably, much to the surprise of Botan. "He's a good kisser. I'll have to remind Yusuke to get tips from him . . ."

"Keiko!" Botan cried, amazed and appalled she would even say that.

"I'm just kidding Botan." Her voice became softer. "But seriously, that kind of kiss only comes when two people really care for each other."

Botan shook her head fervently, even though she knew Keiko couldn't see it. "But I don't Keiko, I don't. Not with Hiei. I mean, come on, it's Hiei we're talking about here. I don't."

"Well, to be honest, I wouldn't have ever pictured you two together–"

"We're not together, Keiko!"

"Right, right. My point is - it's not like it couldn't happen, right?"

Botan flushed hotly. "N-No . . . I don't think so. It would be too weird. I've always been a little scared of Hiei actually . . ."

"That would prove to be pretty arousing in bed," came a second voice.

Keiko and Botan fell silent. "Shizuru?" They both chorused.

"What? I was over at Keiko's and I could tell you were talking about something good so I got on the other line."

Botan rolled her eyes. "Look, I should probably go anyways."

"Alright, bye," Keiko said.

"And Botan," Shizuru added.

"Yes?"

"Give it a chance. It's only a week."

Botan fell silent as both Keiko and Shizuru clicked off the other line. Only a week? Maybe she's right. It doesn't have to be something serious, just a little fling. There, no need to worry about a little kiss - everyone has attractions to people sometimes. It'll wear off . . .

Sherkoni - So it's not as long as usual, but at least it's there, right? I swear I'll be faster with the next update. Hopefully... Heh, just kidding - I WILL.