Survival Class 101

Disclaimer: Don't own Yu Yu Hakusho, sadly!

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Chapter 7 – "Sweet" memories last forever!

Snores, snores...

Koenma, the Underworld's young prince, had his head slumped against his work desk as usual whenever he uses up the full capacity of his brain for the day. Drools coming down from his half opened mouth have made a stream across his usually messy paper works. The small child was once again indulged in his dreamland where nothing existed but cute teenage girls wearing swimming suits on the beach filled with countless palm trees, truly a paradise with no strict parents, no annoying ogres, no paper works, and no spankings...

"Koenma-sama! Koenma-sama, I've returned from my assignment!"

The sleepy ruler cracked his bloodshot eyes open as someone walked through the entrance to his office. He lifted up his head while wiping off the saliva that is all over his one side of face.

"Ogre, you already finished cleaning the mess I made in the bathroom? Arrgh... that was fast... Remind me to never eat seafood again... Geesh, not to mention the toilet is way too high... It's so easy to miss, you know. I still like my old potties better. And my dad says-" Before Koenma could go on with his absent-minded blabbering, he was being rudely interrupted.

"Koenma-sama! It's me, Botan!"

"Huh? OH! Hello Botan! Had a good time in Ningen- Holy cheese ball! What in Reikai's name has happened to you?!" Looking at his worker, Koenma's lips went apart in surprise.

The exhausted ferry girl sighed heavily. A frown wore on her somewhat muddy face. Her old tidy pink kimono was decorated with small cuts, rips, and not to mention some dirt also. Strands of hair fell loose from on her shoulder, giving others a pitiful sympathy toward her weary form.

"It's a long story..." Botan replied tiredly while redoing her ponytail and straightening her unkempt clothing in the process.

"Yeah? I'm all for it."

Sighing again, Botan furrowed unhappily. Her cotton candy-colored eyes averted to the marble floor. Biting slightly on her lower lip, she ran her fingers through her bangs. "Well, it's not really of any importance... I just... tripped and fell?"

"Really? That must be some fall!" Koenma watched suspiciously as Botan's face turned into a shade of red, whether of embarrassment or anger, he could not tell.

--------------------------------------------- Flashback ---------------------------------------------

"Er... What happened?"

Botan asked to herself while her self consciousness swam in the dark. Suffering from what it seemed like an instant headache, she could feel all the blood rushed up to her forehead, fully overcome by complete dizziness. Trying her hardest to remember the recent events that took place, a quick message soared through her mind in a flash.

Hurriedly forcing her eyes open, she found herself immobile. How can it be? It was no quicker when she also found out that she was... upside down? Her busy mind was searching wildly through the every possibility to answer her current state, and then finally her brain clicked.

Hiei!!

"Hn, you awake yet?"

"Hiei! Wha-what did you do?!" Botan practically yelled when she realized that she was tied up with ropes hanging down from a thick branch of a tree. That explains a lot why she was having a headache. Hm, but where did Hiei find the ropes though...? Botan, dear, get a hold of your self! This is no time to be thinking about something so trivial like this! ...Hey, did he go to the nearby store to buy them? ... Grr, I need to stop this!

At the end of the very same branch Botan and her life hung on, sat a smirking demon with his back leaned against the tree trunk. His piercing red eyes looked at the helpless girl in midair with amusement. "Just thought I'd get my revenge while I'm at it."

"Revenge? What revenge?! I didn't do anything to you!!" The poor ferry girl swung back and forth desperately. "Hiei Jaganshi! You better let me down this instant so I can get my hands on your little puny head at once!!"

"Actually, I prefer you be in this way. It just makes it more..." Pausing, Hiei narrowed his eyes. Then, he let out a sneer. "...Entertaining."

"Entertaining?! How can you call this entertaining?!" cried Botan. She felt like she could throw up any minute now. The better if I can throw up on Hiei!

Hiei placed his sword against his shoulder and stared down at Botan. "I wonder, what are the chances of you getting a concussion if you're dropped from thirty feet above the ground."

"Thir-thirty feet?" Botan whimpered, looking down below her. "Thirty feet?! It won't be just a concussion, I'd die!"

Smirking, Hiei folded his arms, "Well then, I hope you have good reasons to convince me because otherwise... good luck." His eyes sparked and took a tight grip on his sword. "Oh, and by the way, I would suggest that you stop screaming. It won't do your current situation any good because no one will hear you in this place."

Botan studied her surroundings. It seems like they were in some sort of forest. Looks like yelling and shouting are truly no use to her but only will drain her energy. She never would have thought Hiei was serious about the whole "I will enjoy torturing you to death" deal. She never did anything bad to him, yet the cruel demon is threatening her. The more Botan thought about it, the angrier she got. But anger has never been the best way to solve a problem. She will just have to try something else.

The evening breeze blew on her face as Botan continued her thinking. Well, I-I'll just try to sweet-talk him! Yes, yes! I'm very good at that, I think. That's my specialty! The ferry girl secretly giggled.

"Oh, come on, Hiei. You are the most honorable, decent, sweet, caring guy I know. You wouldn't hurt a vulnerable girl like me, right?" said Botan with some sugariness while thinking the opposite to herself. Yeah right! You're the biggest, fattest, most egoistic, and dumbest jerk I have ever met in my whole life! And there is a whole big list about it where that's coming from!

Hiei looked blankly at her from above, "Really? That's not what you've said before."

"That's not? Oh goodness, silly Hiei! I've always thought you are the nicest person alive." Botan tried her best to lift up her head and give a Hiei a cheesy grin. Nice?! My stomach feels sick.

"Hn, thanks for the compliment." Said Hiei sarcastically.

"Of course you should! And that's not all. You are strong, powerful, and, and um..." Botan panicked. She is running out of words to say! Well I'm not surprised! There is barely any good quality to Hiei!

"...Um, and... Oh! And handsome! Yes, very, I'd say!"

"I-I'm what...?" Hiei's face froze.

"What? Didn't anyone ever mention that you're good-looking?"

"N-no..."

Oh, he's stuttering! I got him right where I want it. Botan silently cheered. She was about to think something negative to what she just said to Hiei, but nothing came up. Um, he isn't as half bad-looking I guess...

Hiei remained quiet. He stood up on the thick branch and took a steady step out of the shadow, right on top where the ropes were tied around. He kneeled down, examining the ropes. Botan smiled inwardly. It looks like my plan worked. My feet will be feeling the sweet ground in no time! And then, I can beat the off-guard Hiei to death with my almighty combat bat! The fun image was already forming in the ferry girl's head before Hiei further interrupted her.

"Hn, I'll give you credit though, for almost making me feel special at the last minute. But too bad all of your thoughts have betrayed you!" Hiei laughed smugly as his Jagan glowed.

"You-you've been reading my thoughts?!"

"Yes, every single word of them... So, I am not as half bad-looking, am I?" Hiei mocked the ferry girl whose face is currently steaming red.

"You, you! You stupid half-wit!! How dare you!"

"Hn, I do what I like. And as for you, farewell!" With that being said, Hiei pulled out his sword and held it high above his head. It was no later when the ropes have been cut into two.

"No! What are you doing?! You- AAAHHHH!" Botan could feel herself falling toward the ground with high velocity. She squeezed her eyes tight shut. No, I'm going to die!! Only if I had my hands free, then at least I can materialize my oar! The tightness of the ropes bound around Botan constantly reminded her that she was doomed.

Chirp, chirp...The crickets sung.

It seems every moment is always in slow motion when something like this happens. Seconds passed, Botan could feel her body finally came into contact with something, something... soft?

The blue-haired girl gradually opened her eyes, only to find herself landing in the securing arms of a certain spiky-head demon. Hiei smirked down at her as if he had gained the victory. The warmth of his hold on her made the ferry girl blush. "Wha-what are you..." She wasn't able to finish her sentence when she abruptly hit the cold ground on her rear.

"Ouch..."

Standing with his back against the beautiful star-filled sky, Hiei faced Botan in a more serious manner, "This will be the last time I save you. I hope you learned your lesson well." With that, the mysterious fire demon vanished into thin air.

Slowly, Botan picked herself up as she was left speechless and blinked.

------------------------------------------End of Flashback--------------------------------------------

Koenma stared at his dazed worker and sucked on his pacifier. The ferry girl seemed to be having another one of her daydreaming fantasies again. "Yo! Botan!"

"Huh, what?" The ferry girl snapped away from her deep thoughts.

"So... what happened to you?"

"Nothing really. I'm fine now." Botan fidgeted with her fingers. There's no way I'm telling Koenma what happened. That'd be too embarrassing!!

"Well, if that's the case. You can go back to your work now." Said Koenma as he started sorting all the files on his desk.

"Yes, sir."

The ferry girl dragged her sluggish steps toward the door when she came to a fast realization. "Oi, Koenma-sama!" She called out to her boss loudly.

"What is it? What's wrong?"

"You said you'd give me a break when I complete my mission! And I'll have you know that Kuwabara has been kept from getting hurt by Hiei on his date with Yukina. You also promised to triple my break time!" stated Botan as a matter of fact.

"I said that?" Koenma scratched his head, trying to remember anything related to the matter. But when seeing Botan giving him a glare, he shivered. "Ahehehe, yes. Very well! You have my permission to take a couple weeks off."

Botan beamed. "Oh, thank you so much, Koenma-sama!" She practically jumped in joy.She hummed happily to herself and walked out of her boss's office to the ferry girls' headquarter to clean up.

Outside at the balcony of the Underworld Palace, Botan materialized her oar. "Well, time to go and enjoy shopping with Keiko in the Living World, and nothing, not even Hiei and his little problems, is going to ruin my fun! I know just the place to stay at."

Momentarily, Botan flew off and headed toward the old psychic Genkai's temple, also a current dwelling for the sweet ice apparition. The clever little ferry girl knows that a certain mean fire demon obviously won't be able to hurt her in the presence of Yukina.

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Author's note: (beats myself to death) Oh! I'm a terrible writer, making you all dedicated readers wait for months like that! (Though I do have a lot of excuses...) But no worries, fans! Next chappie should be out soon! (Keyword: should) Meanwhile, thank you all so much for the reviews. (cries) I'm SO happy!

tuathafaerie: Thank God, I'm still alive from all the school works and such! But I won't whine, for I shall conquer school and be a responsible author! Muwahahahahaha...! (coughs, chokes) Thanks for the review!

Mr. Bunny-chan-san: Thank you, thank you! You know, it makes me feel special when I'm being told that my story is funny (when it is suppose to be). Meep, I'll try to load the story with as much HB-ness as possible. And hopefully, I won't disappoint you.

Hiei's Ice Maiden: You hate cliffhangers, ne? Hehehe... you don't hate me for writing them, right? I dunno. There might be a lot of cliffhangers in the later chapters. I'll try to reduce the numbers though. And as for Hiei, he still needs to get his meanness lessened.

Robin Autumn: To answer why Hiei took so long to come back up from the pool, I have no idea. :P I think he was devising some plans on how to "torture" Botan and the sorts when he was under the water. I appreciate your review. And also update your story soon!

Sillyningengirl: (bows) Aww, thanks for the compliment. You're so nice!

Vx2: Of course, you can never read too many HB fics. They are the best of the best!

Starlover: Oi, sorry for the late update. I'll try to update on time more often.

Fire Phoenix: Oh, oh! I have heard Hiei's songs! (drools) Gotta admit it, he does have a nice voice. Which song is your favorite? I wish I could find the Mp3 for one of his songs called "Tasogare ne so Mukete". I think it's spelled that way. Turn Your Back to the Twilight? I love the midi and the words, but I just can't seem to find the place to download the full version of the song. Grr...

Bar-Ohki: (sighs) I don't think I'll be able to buy the book. I can't find any, at least not where I live. And as for when will Hiei complain about "baka ningen emotions"... One word: soon!

White-Destiny-Pure-Snow: Yee, thank you for your review. Hope you liked this chapter!

kg-rose: Thanks for adding the story to your favorite list. I'm honored to hear that. I'm also very glad to know that you think this story is entertaining. Thanx!

blackfirewolfX: Haha, thank you for the review. Trust me, Botan is not going to get hurt, I think... Hiei doesn't have the heart to hurt her.

The sugar-high H/B fanatic: I hope you will be able to find the OVA soon. Good luck and um... don't get hurt. :P

elfwhit: Er... do you call this update "soon"? (guards my ice cream bowl) Thank you for your support!

Doggydude: You have so many creative ideas! Thanks for sharing them. I'll do what I can to make this story funnier. Hm, I really SUGGEST that you should start on writing some HB stories! That'll be great!

BlazingBotan: (bows) Thank you, thank you!

LivingImpared: Well, you are right. I feel sorry for Hiei too. Maybe I should stop writing about him getting hurt and all that stuff, hm?

Hieilover28: Here you go! I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as well.

Mitsu Flame: Um... I think I really should stop writing cliffhangers. Readers react suggestively toward those, don't you agree?

sunshine14586: I updated... not soon. But I still updated! And by the way, I haven't finished my homework yet. I'm gonna be toast tomorrow at school...

MystiKoorime: Oi, long time no talk, ne? I have been working my head off lately. I'll contact you soon if I can. Meanwhile, thanks for the review. I appreciated it!

Nightmare-Ferry-Onna: I updated my story. Hope you liked it.

Besanii: Thankx! I'll have to let you know that Botan is going to try really hard to keep Kuwabara and Yukina together. Why? Didn't you know that she is a Kuwabara/Yukina fan? XD

Whew! Such a long list... I hope I didn't forget anyone. I know it has been such a long time since I updated. I apologize for any of your inconveniences. (sweat drops)