Day 2: Wednesday

Botan was, once again, asleep at the table. Hiei sighed and shook his head. Baka onna, how many times would he have to tell her that she didn't have to sleep at the stupid table? He shrugged and went to get some of that very good coffee. He downed it and took a shower, coming out and taking his katana into the training room to get rid of the tension. It seemed worse than it had yesterday.

Botan had awakened when he had left for his shower. She had decided that today she was going to read. Again. Because there was nothing else to do. She took her own bath and came back out, finding the same book from the other day sitting on the table next to the chair. She picked up where she had left off, finding a convenient little page marker stuck smack dab in the middle of the book.

This time, she read for a really long time. She finished the book without being interrupted by Hiei once. It turns out that the woman had cancer and when she and the guy had fallen in love, she had died. Botan hadn't really liked the book that much. She got up and stretched, hearing her joints crack, and decided that she wanted to shake off her lethargy.

She turned around to find a small portable stereo and some type of CD on the bedside table. She went over and picked up the CD, reading the back of the case. It was a taibo work out. Oh, well. She had wanted to work off the lethargy. She changed into a tank top and some gray sweat pants and tied her hair up into a high ponytail.

The music that came from the stereo was loud and fast and Botan immediately found herself gaining energy from the beat. It rushed her adrenaline just to hear the thumping music and she let a large grin work its way onto her face as she thrust her feet and arms into the defenseless air surrounding her.

Left punch, kick, kick, kick, right punch, left punch, right punch, kick, kick, kick. The music was almost intoxicating and she lost herself in it. So far in concentration was she, that she hadn't noticed her dance/workout had become a spectator sport for one single ticket purchaser.

-4-

Hiei steamed the sweat from his drenched clothing and wiped his brow. The blood coursing through his veins was overheated. There had been legends of fire demons spontaneously combusting and he had laughed. Now, with the heat radiating through his body, he thought with some humor that it might not all be legend. Ready to begin his vigorous workout again, he stopped short when he caught the noise of some low thrum.

He strode over to the door and opened it slowly to come upon Botan. She was working to a taibo CD playing from a portable boombox that he had so often seen those punk ningens carrying in the early nineties. He peeked one garnet eye through the crack in the door, not really sure why he wanted to watch her at all.

Her body was fit, her curves showed off by her tight sweats and tank top. She was glistening with sweat and she was going relentlessly. He watched as she swayed gracefully, almost as if dancing, and never faltered once as the deep voice of the instructor called out directions. It was almost as if she was predicting which way he was going to call out next.

She stopped suddenly, wiping her forehead and shutting the tape off, striding into the kitchen for some unknown reason. She came back out with a glass of ice water, the condensing dew on the outside making the glass crystal-looking. She tilted her head back and drank slowly, deeply, he watching as her throat pulsed with every swallow.

The skin on her neck was a delicate creamy type and it was so enticing. He wanted so much to bare his fangs and sink them into that soft spongy flesh. It would have tasted so good and would have felt so good. And he would have...Oh, Kami! What was he thinking!? This mating season really was getting to him. He had actually thought about marking her. HER...the ferry onna! Blah!

He shook his head and strode out, glancing at the clock. He had been in the training room all day. It was almost seven o'clock now. He sat down on the bed and stared into space, not really caring if Botan acknowledged him or not.

She did acknowledge him. She was extremely bored. Bored out of her mind. As in tear down the walls and impersonate a squirrel she was so dern bored. So, thus was the fuel for the first attempt at a normal conversation between Botan and Hiei.

"So...Hiei..." she said lamely.

He looked at her, his gaze piercing. "Hn."

Well that was interesting. Incoherent phrases. Great start, don't you agree? "Well...how was your day?"

"Hn."

"Okay...so you spent the whole time training. Dumb question. I read a book. Would you like to hear about it?" She looked at him hopefully.

"Hn."

"Okay...never mind. How's Yukina?"

"Hn."

"Errr...has the mating season affected you any?"

"Hn."

Botan had had enough. Politeness wasn't working. "Stop saying that!"

"Hn!"

"Grrr...stop it!"

"Hn!"

"Stupid, moody koorime!"

"Baka ferry onna!"

"Oooooh...real creative...is that a new one?" He growled at her. "Oh...so now you're a dog, too?" Botan was getting a little too big for her britches. And in this position, her britches were very very small.

He stood up and advanced on her. She held her ground, staring at him defiantly. He grabbed her neck and shoved her against the wall, their faces inches apart, his snarling, hers stubborn. Then, his face was gone from her view and her feet were on the ground, with something warm on her neck.

Hiei's spiky black locks were tickling her nose as he...ack! He was nuzzling her neck! Not good, not good, not good. She tried to shove him off but he just growled at her forcefully and pinned her hands to the wall. She whimpered. His touch felt so warm. It was like fire and sent shivers through every fiber of her being. Her nerve endings were burning with it as he planted small firm kisses all the way along her collarbone. This was new. She hadn't known he could be gentle.

She let out a moan that she covered too late as he ran his fangs lightly over the place where her neck joined with her shoulder. She shivered and she felt him grin against her neck and realized what he was about to do. At this point, her logical mind took over.

"Hiei...stop Hiei..." He was still nuzzling that spot, licking it clean. "Hiei..." she said with a little more force. Still no response from the intinct driven koorime. "Hiei!" she screamed right in his ear. He looked up and she gazed into his ruby eyes. There, she saw something was different. They were darker, clouded, and it didn't look as if he knew what he was doing. He lowered his head once more and she could feel his sharp canines being pressed to her skin.Oh, no! If he marked her, they would permanently be mates. The only way to get rid of the bond was to kill one of them. She had to get him off of her. Her hand almost went of its own accord.

Smack!

She slapped the little koorime right across the face, making him freeze for a moment. He let her go and she slumped to the floor, breathing heavily. He backed away slowly, looking horrified.

"I'm...sorry..." he gasped out. She nearly gaped. The almighty Hiei-sama did not apologize! He was definitely not in his right mind. Her fears were eased however, when he came back to his old cheerful self. "Baka onna!" He snapped. "Do not argue with me! My instincts urge me, as the male, to prove dominance. I am quite sure that neither of us want that."

She gulped and nodded. He took a few breaths of air and then turned out the light, even though it was still very early. She could hear him rustling around and then it was silent. She knew that tonight would not be the night to sleep in the same bed with him. So, resigning herself to her fate, Botan reluctantly slept on the couch, missing the smell of sandalwood.