ShadoxVixen90: 2 hours later and I am already writing the third chapter thingy. Technically it's the second chapter because number one is a prologue but I don't give a flying flip! People are obviously liking it though. I have been asked about lemon. Sorry, all you folks who want it, but I'm fourteen and I don't do lemon. One, this computer can be accessed and I live with other people. Two, I just don't like to read that. Three, I'm a very modest person. That is why this is rated PG-13 so if you wanted lemon and that was the only reason that you're reading the story then stop reading! Here we go! (Warning: My poetic soul takes over, so if you can't put up with the fluffy poetic beauty, then skip it.)

Day 1: Tuesday

Botan woke with a jolt. Not good. She knew that it was near sunrise and Hiei always woke with the sun. It was that damn warrior instinct. She slowly, very carefully, wriggled out of his grasp. Man, prying his grip off of her head hurt.

This time, he did not stir until she was out of the bed. He was patting the space around him. She saw that his katana had fallen to the ground and grasped it, placing it in his reach. His hand found it and he clutched the hilt. She almost laughed out loud at the way he looked. The picture was like a small child and a stuffed doll.

She grinned impishly instead and walked into the kitchen, wishing vehemently that there would be a coffee maker and hazelnut coffee. Her prayers were answered when she looked across the room and saw a coffee maker with said coffee resting next to it. She prepared the coffee and then sat at the table, watching the rythmic drip of the brown liquid slowly steaming out of the spout. Her eyelids began to droop. It really was an ungodly hour to be up. Soon, she was asleep once more.

-3-

Mmmmm...what was that delicious smell? Hiei opened his eyes. There was some very good smell assaulting his nostrils and it was wafting in from the open kitchen door. He belted his katana to his side, tossed on yesterday's rumpled cloak, and walked into the kitchen. He discovered that the smell was hazelnut coffee and that it was coming in from the coffeemaker. The onna was asleep at the table. He hadn't meant for her to sleep on the table! That had to be uncomfortable.

He went to the closet and saw that it was empty except for a set of clean black clothes and a very fluffy blue blanket. He picked up the blanket and threw it over her shoulders. She snuggled into it unconsciously. He watched as her blue hair dangled in her face and had to resist the very bad temptation to brush it away. Forunately, Hiei had very good control and resisted that particular urge with ease.

He walked back into the bedroom/entrance room and looked around, quickly finding the door labeled 'BATHROOM' and striding in. A cold bath would wake him up nicely. He filled the massive tub, slipped off his bed-wrinkled clothing, and dunked himsef under. It was very stimulating.

He had always liked cold baths. They woke him up and they were soothing. This was most likely because he was a fire apparition and the cold on his skin was shocking to his body temperature. That part was the wake up and the soothing part was probably because when his body adjusted to the water, it was relaxing, just as heat was relazing to a normal person, or at least anything not part fire elemental.

Soon enough, the water was as warm as any normal bath would have been from his intense body heat. He scrubbed down with some sandalwood soap. The funny thing was, he was almost positive that on the shelf he had grabbed the soap from, there had been no soap before. Oh, well. It was Koenma's castle. This was most likely some accomodation for him.

He stepped out of the tub, pulling the chain on the drain plug as he did so, and focused his powers for a moments, his body tension draining further as scalding steam hissed off of his body. He self-dried himself and pulled on the clean clothes, tossing the dirty ones into the hamper. When he looked in, they had vanished. That was strange. Very strange. Yet, oddly convenient.

He walked out and found that Botan was now awake, blanket still wrapped around her tightly, pouring herself some of that scrumptious smelling coffee. She picked up the cup and swirled it a moment, then, not even bothering to add anything, tipped her head back and downed the whole thing in one very long gulp. Hiei watched this amusedly.

"I didn't ever imagine you as someone who drank their coffee black. Or drank coffee at all, for that matter." He smirked at her.

She opened one eye over the rim of her cup to peer at him. "I didn't ever imagine you as someone who had a sense of humor." He scowled and snatched the coffee cup on the counter. It had his name on it. He poured himself some coffee and didn't even wait for it to cool before downing his, also in one long gulp. He scowled again. She was obviously not someone who needed to be bothered before she had her coffee. Kurama was a lot like that, oddly. He knew how to stay away from those types.

She was drinking another cup, this one slowly. He walked back into the bedroom/entrance room and sat on the bed. Boredom was setting in even thought the day had already begun. This was going to be a long week. For some reason, he felt deja vu. Maybe that thought had crossed his mind before. Botan walked in and strode over to the closet. Her face looked haggard, like she hadn't gotten enough sleep. He wondered why. Well, maybe it was the fact that she had been sleeping at a table.

She grabbed a clean kimono and some other stuff out of the closet, grabbing a towel also, and walked into the bathroom, shutting the door soundly behind her.

Hiei leaned back against the pillows on the bed. He could already feel the effects of the mating season setting in, even this early on in the week. That was not good. Usually, he did not feel them until the week was halfway through. At its peak it was barely even noticeable. This was promising to be a difficult thing to ignore. He wondered idly if the room could supply him with shackles to be locked in. The thought of shackles quickly brought on some kinky images that he banished from his mind with very vicious head shaking and widened crimson eyes.

He was bored already. The only thing that he could do was listen to the shower running. He wanted somewhere to train. That would relieve the stress greatly. As if sensing something, he opened his eyes and saw that a new door had appeared. This one had a sign that read, 'TRAINING ROOM.' Okay...why not?

He got up, hand fingering the hilt of his katana, and walked over to the door. He placed his hands on the doorknob and turned it, coming into a very large white room. It had mats on the floor (all white) and plain walls. He smirked. Just what he needed. He drew his katana and the rhythmic strokes began. Soon, he was fully lost in concentration.

-3-

Botan walked out of the bathroom, fully clothed and ready for the day. The long, boring, nothing to do day. She was startled to see that another door had appeared across the room. A large sign adorned it. This one said 'TRAINING ROOM.' Hmmm. Hiei was missing. She had a hunch. The door was only slightly ajar and she could faintly hear swipings coming from the room.

She crept slowly up to the door, the carpet seeming more plushy to accomodate silent footfalls and placed on eye to the crack at the door. She was soon caught up in the spectacle that she was watching.

Hiei was there, training with his sword. He stroked, she, hearing the soft swoosh, as if he was slicing the very air. The blade gleamed and he leapt back without a sound emanating from his footfalls. Despite the fact that thick white mats covered the floor, she had a good idea that even if there weren't any mats, that there would still be silence upon his landing. He had removed his cloak, revealing the torn-sleeved black undershirt that he wore beneath it.

She watched as the muscles in his arms rippled with every thrust of his cruel katana. His body was not bulky, but lean and lightly framed. He leapt forward, jabbing with the sword, the blade gleaming again, catching the enchanted window light. She was sure they were enchanted. She could feel the spells woven into them.

It was hypnotic, like some strange dance being performed for some ancient ritual. It was beautiful, yet lethal at the same time. It was cruel, yet enticing. Her senses were enthralled as she watched, not moving a muscle, barely taking a single shallow breath. He did a twist to the left and then a back handspring, throwing the sword into the air before doing so, catching it when he came back. She held back a gasp as his strokes became faster, harder to keep track of.

Now, he was a blur of silver from the enticingly wicked blade, black from his clothing, and pale cream from his naturally fair skin. One color was fairly hard to distinguish, but it was there. It was there. A small blur, ever present, haunting, surreal. No, not surreal. It was almost...tangible. It was there, and the color ensnared her vision, locking her lavender eyes on the sweet sweet sight of it. The crimson.

The bloody, bloody crimson. It was there. It hovered, wherever the wisps of his hair appeared, the crimson blur was there. His eyes were like quicksand. The more that you struggled, the deeper you sank. They were an abyss of red, never letting go of their peculiar, palpable hold on you, sending you careening into nothingness. She felt that she was drowning. Drowning, drowning, drowning.

In a split second, the motions ceased, and he was standing, sword outstretched, panting heavily through his flaring nostrils. Sweat was pouring from his face, evaporating before the salty droplets could even fall from his jawline. She watched the steam from the liquid curl up in swirling patterns, snared in the heat that his body created, changed and redirected to a fate of life in the air, earlier than had been expected.

Then, slowly, ever-so-slowly, he brought his sword point down, and balanced it, tip pointing toward the ground. Carefully, so cautiously, he raised himself up, balancing by the tip of his finger touching the very hilt of his katana. This was it. The finale to the dance. It was...amazing. He was balancing on the end hilt of his sword, whole body poised, not even quivering slightly, equilibrium perfect. Any normal person would have fallen, toppled, or the sword tip would have sunken into the woven white mats. Not he. Not he. She pulled back when she realized that he was coming down after staying poised like that for nearly twenty minutes.

Hurriedly, she wished for a book and one appeared on the bed. She picked it up quickly and pretended to read it, sitting in one of the large, squashy armchairs. He walked in, eyeing her critically, then mentally shrugged, heading into the kitchen. He came back out, carrying a quart of chocolate ice cream. He was eating very quickly, and Botan raised an eyebrow at him, supressing her outrageous giggles. She had always found his sweet tooth very funny.

He raised an eyebrow right back and then rolled his eyes at her. She stuck out her tongue and he scowled, lying on the bed, eating the ice cream. It was gone in minutes, Botan having looked up from her book to watch the amazing feat with her own two eyes. It was incredible! No brain freeze, nothing!

"Doesn't that hurt your head at all?" Botan questioned incredulously.

"Hn." She took that as a no.

She sighed and went back to the book, soon getting caught up in the entrancing love story. It was a story about a normal woman, working as a reporter. She was average, not beautiful, like in those stupid stories, where the perfect girl hops into bed with the perfect guy. The girl had had a nervous break down and was staying in a clinic for a while. There, she met a man that was mostly silent. He was very rude and often staved off other people, but not the girl. The girl stuck to him and was getting him to open up, when Botan let out a large yawn.

Hiei had been leaning against the pillows. "I'm going to sleep. Don't sleep on the table. I'd rather not eat somewhere that is covered in blue hair."

She huffed and grabbed some pajamas out of the closet, going to take a shower. When she came out, Hiei was already sleeping. She smirked in a very Hiei-like way. More revenge was imminent.

She lifted the covers just as slowly and surreptitiously as the last time, slipping in next to him, and almost immediately this time, he had one arm around her, and the other in her hair. She felt his breathing deepen further beside her and he sighed slowly, contentedly. She wondered how many nights he actually slept well. Probably not many. What with his past and all. She let herself be warmed by his presence beside her. Slowly, again intoxicated by his heady scent...she closed her eyes...and...all...was...dark...