AN: Yay! I updated the following week like I said I would! Go me! Anway, here's some things that you need to know.

1. I will not update again until 2 or 3 more weeks later. Why? Because school demands that I pay attention for once in my life.

2. The crystal dargon is not made Hirui stones. You will find out what itis at the last chapter. And believe me, the idea kind of freaked me out when I first thought of it. But it was too cool to pass up on.

3. Hiei would never give up his mother's tear gem to anyone. I doubt that he would even give it to Yukina. But he would give up his own tearm gem. That's not until later chapters if the bad thing between... Opps! Said too much already.

4. I'm glad that most of you think that Hiei and Botan are in character. I tried my best to keep them that way. But they little be a tad OOC just for the story's sake.

5. Hiei will get more possesive. He's a loner and fears rejection. I think that he has every right to be possesive.

6. I'm trying to get Konema and Mukuro back into the story and plot too. It would makethings more interesting.

My father gave me a name

"What?" he asked, but his tone of voice was more of a command than a question.

"Nothing," she said hastily and looked down. A light blush appeared on her face. She had wanted to ask a question, but completely forgot about it when he looked her.

"Hn."

The late morning light was scattered around them because of the leaves that block it from a giant tree that they were under. Hiei had once again arrived at Genkai's in that morning, wanting to spend the whole day with Botan instead of just the afternoon. Although she didn't ask, Botan suspected that the reason he came so early was because Hiei didn't want her to spend time with Kurama. She didn't know what kind of message or whatever of the likes went on between the two, all she knew was that Kurama never came in the morning like he usually did.

Botan was a bit dismayed by it because she was so use to seeing him in the morning. But having Hiei there early made up for it. Maybe even more so.

Her heart started beating a little faster. She brought her hand to where her heart was and could feel it pulsing inside her. Botan snuck a glance at Hiei. As usual, he was leaning on the biggest tree in the area and looked to be sleeping. His breathing seemed even, but she doubted that he was actually asleep. She felt her heart rate continue its rapid pace. Her glance at him turned into a full stare. Questions started popping into her mind, but all her mouth could do was open slightly. Nothing came out.

She was glad that nothing did come out. She wanted to continue on watching him. His facial expression was so different from when he was awake. It was more relax and carefree. She suddenly got the inspiration to make him smile. Her eyes lit up with glee at the thought of her new task for today. Last night's smile that he gave made her heart soar. She always knew that he was a really nice guy underneath that entire cold exterior that he liked to show. Maybe she could even try to make him laugh.

"What," he said again. This time there was no question in his voice. Just a demand. He half opened his eyes to look at her.

Noticing that she was unknowingly moving towards him while she was thinking, and losing the motivation to wanting make him smile, she blushed heavily. She was just a few inches away from him from her five feet distance before.

"Nothing. It's really nothing," she said with her innocent kitty cat face and voice, hoping that he wouldn't see her flushed face.

He stared at her for a second before closing his eyes again. "If you're going to say something, than say it. It's quite disturbing, even to me, to have you quiet for such a long period of time."

An offend expression replaced her blushing face. "Why don't you talk to ease the unnerving silence, if you're so disturbed by it? Say something that's in your mind. Wait, you probably have gruesome thoughts running around your head. So say something that's more positive. Like happy thoughts. Everyone likes to hear happy thoughts. Nothing can go wrong with happy thoughts!" Her lips formed a bright smile throughout her small speech.

Hiei opened his left eye to really look at her. That bright smile never left her face. She was waiting to hear to whatever happy comment that he would make.

"You are a baka onna." And then he closed his eye again.

"That's not a happy thought Hiei," she said disapprovingly.

"Just because it's not happy for you doesn't mean it isn't happy for me," a slight smirk was on his lips.

"You're definition of happy worries me."

"And you're definition of happy is too happy," he opened both of his eyes. "That's why you're the baka onna."

Botan folded her arms across her chest and made a small glare while pouting at the same time. "You're making fun of me again."

"Isn't it better than me staying silent?" he said, referring to her implement.

This made her really look at him. Then it dawned upon her. Hiei was teasing her. Hiei never teases for the mere fun of it. And yet, here he was. Teasing her. Making her blush. Making her heart rate pick up speed. It was almost as if he was flirting with her. Almost. Is this what demon courting did to demons like Hiei? Making them act like ningens boys trying to get a date with any girl them could? Okay, so maybe that thought was a little too extreme, but it still doesn't change the fact that Hiei's attitude has changed.

Not wanting to disrupt the atmosphere that they created she answered, "I don't know. Sometimes you're silence can be calming."

"You just contradicted what yourself," he smirked fully instead of half. "You really are a baka onna."

Seeing that Botan was at a lost at what to say, Hiei closed his eyes again, enjoying the sweet taste of victory.

But Botan's mind was on the courting. Demon courting. Did emotions change and grow so quickly when demons court? She felt something inside her grow. She wasn't sure what to do about those feelings. She never felt something like it before. What was it about the demon courting and Hiei that made her feel like this? She knew that they haven't even started the real tradition of demons courting yet. That involved a lot of touching and close contact. Traditionally, they were supposed to start that yesterday or even earlier than that. But with her being a ferry girl and not demon, Hiei was most likely trying to get her use to the idea first to not upset her.

She closed her eyes and took a deep breathe. Since he is showing such patience and leniency with her, then maybe she should give something to him. Something personal that she never told anyone before.

"Hiei?" she took Hiei's only free hand that was on his lap into hers. His other arm was used as a pillow for his head.

Hiei's eyes snapped open when he felt his hand being touched by hers. He looked down at her hands covering his own and then to Botan's face. His face was blank.

"Hiei, I want to tell you something. Please don't interrupt me while I tell you this story because I've never told anyone else this before. Plus I thought since I know a lot about your past, I could tell you mine. Is that okay with you?" she looked into his eyes.

Hiei nodded his head.

She squeezed his hand. "I was born about 600 ningen years ago. My family was farmers. So we had little money and barely enough food for us all since there were many battles near where we lived. My father… he died a day before I was born. He had gone to a nearby town to buy food and he was caught in a fight when a small army started fighting against each other. They couldn't distinguish that my father wasn't a part of the army. They most likely didn't see his dirty, torn clothes as he ran too save his life and to bring food to his family. My older brother found his corpus the next day, when he was looking for firewood. My father's blood was still warm. Still wet.

When Hiroshi, my older brother, came back to tell my mother, she was already in labor. Hiroshi couldn't run to town to find a midwife, he was too scared that he would die like father. He was only seven at the time. Seeing mother in pain, calling for her husband, and seeing that same person that his mother was calling for was dead, he broke down and cried. He started screaming that father is dead. Dead. Dead. Dead. That was all he could say. He banged on the floor with his fists, kicked his legs wildly, and screamed. That's when she noticed the blood on him. Blood was covering all of his clothes and skin. The smell must have sickened her. He didn't look like her son when he cried, covered with blood. That site practically killed my mother then and there."

Tears were coming down Botan's eyes now. She squeezed Hiei's hand tighter. Hiei just sat there, listening. That's what she asked him to do. He didn't wipe away her tears and told her that didn't have to continue. It wasn't his style. Besides, it looked like she needed to do this. So he let her cry. He let her make small hiccups while she remembered her past. He let the pain that he felt at the site of her crying throb within him while he kept a cool expression. Pain was nothing new to him.

When she finally calmed down a bit, she continued on with her story, all the while holding on to Hiei's hand.

"Days before my father died, he told my mother the name that he wanted to name the child, me. Knowing that he had already decided with a name, my mother named me what my father wanted when I was born. She died about two years later. She never recovered from the labor and her heart was broken on that day. The only reason why she was still alive was because of Hiroshi and me. But then, I guess her strength must have died out. It must have been too much for her."

She looked down and wiped away some of her tears before placing hand back on top of his. She took several deep breathes.

"From then on, Hiroshi raised me. Told me stories of mother and father. Brought food and clothes for me. Made me smile when I was sad. Did all the things that a good older brother would do to raise his younger sister without parents. I was happy with him. But after a time, I started to notice that he was always sad. Whenever he looked at me, I saw this sadness that wouldn't go away. At first I thought that it was because he missed mother and father as much as I did, though I never really knew them. I tired everything I could think up to make that sadness go away. Nothing worked. When I was six and Hiroshi was thirteen, he decided that I was strong enough to travel. So we started traveling for several weeks, until we found a small village. We stayed there for a couple of years. Hiroshi worked under a blacksmith and I stayed with a healer.

We didn't see each other very often after that. I went to see him as often as I could. But he was always busy. Many times he even ignored me."

Flashback

"Oni-chan!" a little girl called out to the boy.

He didn't look up. He just banged on the sword that he making. The summer heat and the forge fire made his bulky arms glisten with sweat.

Bang!

"Oni-chan! Come play with me!" the little girl tried again. she wanted to play with her brother like they used to.

Bang! Bang!

He didn't look up. He was too focused on his work. The little girl put his hands on his arms and shook him.

"Oni-chan!"

The boy shook his arm violently.

"I'm busy! Go away."

The little girl fell to the floor. Her new kimono that she'd been saving money for weeks became dirty. She wanted her older brother to see it. She watched him continue with his work like she wasn't even there. Like she never tried to interrupt him. The little girl turned around and walked away. Listening to the banging of her brother's work.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

End Flashback

-

"I didn't understand why he ignored me when I tried to get his attention. But that never stopped me. He was my brother after all, and I loved him. I made sure that I was never in his way and whichever girl he had some interest in; I always told good things about him to them. When I was about ten, I finally realized why he always had a pained look in his eyes and why he tired to avoid me as much as possible. I didn't recognize it when I was younger, but now I knew. I saw blame in his eyes. He blamed me. My older brother blamed me for our parents' death. My birth was the reason for mother's death. I was the reason why father went into town to buy food, because I was supposed to be born soon."

A sob escaped from her lips. "After that, I did my best to stay away from him. He obviously did not know what to do with the feelings that he had against me and did the only thing that he knew how to deal with it. I didn't want to be a burden to him anymore. Even though he blamed me, he took such good care of me. It must have been hard on him, raising me only because he felt that he had to do it in our parent's stead. After that, I watched him from afar. He looked happier. Freer. I was happy just watching him be happy. But it also pained me that I was the reason for his sadness. By the time I was fourteen, Hiroshi found someone to marry. Maybe it was guilt, I don't know, I never asked, but he wanted me to go with him to meet his wife's parents in another village. I saw so happy. I immediately said yes."

Botan's eyes darkened. "Hiroshi's wife was really nice, but she acted awkward towards me. I guess that she never knew that I was Hiroshi's younger sister. I didn't think that he told her that he had a sister until he announced that I was to go with them. But she was really nice nonetheless. While we were walking, she told me that she was pregnant with Hiroshi's child. I was so shocked, yet happy at the same time for them. Right after that, bandits attacked. The bandits were drunk, but still much stronger than we were. From the smell and look of their clothes and weapons, they had killed another group of people before the saw us.

Hiroshi couldn't protect his wife and sister at the same time; he chose to protect his wife and child while I defended myself. Even though he was a blacksmith, Hiroshi wasn't a fighter, and couldn't land a punch to save his life. I lasted less than five minutes before I died. Hiroshi was beaten up badly, his wife remained unharmed. Lucky for them, a kind samurai came and rescued them after I died. They left my body where I was stabbed. Days later, some traveler took pity on my body and so burned it and buried my ashes under a tree."

Botan started crying silently. Remembering the past had hurt her, but it did not overwhelm her. Time had healed most of the hurt. Her past wasn't traumatizing or as tragic like Hiei's, but he could sympathize. Again, Hiei let her cry. She wasn't some baby that needed to be cuddled every time she cried. Botan was stronger than she looked. That's why he left her on her own.

When the last of tears stopped running down her cheeks, she was silent. Her hands were still covering his. She took strength in his calmness and his reassuring squeeze. The two just sat there, lost in their own thoughts about the past. The morning light had gone, giving away to the afternoon yellow light and cool breeze. For another hour or so, they sat, enjoying the rare silence and presence of the other. The lunch that Yukina had made and Kuwabara wanted to take with him to school, laid forgotten at the other side of the tree.

Finally, and surprisingly, Hiei broke the silence. "Hn. No wonder why you wanted me to tell Yukina that I was her brother so badly."

"Hai," Botan said softly.

A soft breeze played with Botan's hair, leaving a strand on her face. Hiei reached out with his free hand and gently moved it away. Botan looked down and blushed. Without removing his hand from her face, he lightly caressed her face as he moved downward to her chin and tilted her head up to look at him. A light blush was on her face.

"What was your name?" he lightly asked all the while moving his head closer to hers.

Now Botan really did blush. Partly because of the close proximity of Hiei's face with hers, and getting closer, and because of… well… her answer.

"Ano… my name was… Aoshi."

Hiei's head stopped moving forward. He blinked. Botan would have looked down if it wasn't for Hiei's hand on her chin. So she was forced to watch the amusement mixed with disbelief in Hiei's eyes. And to her horror, he chuckled, which turned into a full out amused laughter. He took out his hand from underneath her chin and laughed. Botan's face turned beat red in embarrassment, and she put her hands to her face. Hiei continued on laughing.

Watching him laugh at her original name, her embarrassment turned to anger. "Stop laughing!" she summoned her metal bat and was ready to swing at him when he didn't stop. "I SAID, STOP LAUGHING!"

Hiei disappeared before her bat landed on the spot that he was sitting from before. She swung again at him from behind her, only to have him move to her right. Before she could swing her bat at him once more, he took the metal bat away from her and chuckled. Botan fumed.

"Would you quit laughing already!"

"Why would your mother name you Aoshi?" a playful smirk was on his lips.

"It's like I said, my father wanted that name for his next child. He wanted that child to be a boy. So he picked a boy name. And since I didn't turn out to be a boy, my mother named me Aoshi anyway, for my father. She didn't really care that I wasn't a boy just that my name had to be Aoshi." She glared him. "If you tell anyone, especially Yusuke that my real name is Aoshi, then I'll kill you."

Hiei snorted. "Hn. I won't tell."

Then his amused expression was gone. His head snapped to the right, where some leaves fell and the grass moved slightly.

"Is there something wrong Hiei?" Botan asked confused with Hiei's change of moods.

Hie eyes narrowed a little. "Hn. It was nothing. I'll take care of it later."

For Alex:

Ohayou-gozaimasu - Good morning. Short: Ohayou

Konnichiwa - Good day, hello

Konbanwa - Good evening

Oyasumi-nasai - Good night. Normally used before going to bed. Short: Oyasumi

Sayonara – Goodbye

Arigatou-gozaimasu - Thank you. Short: Arigatou

Sumimasen - Sorry, excuse me

Gomen-nasai - Sorry, excuse me. Short: Gomen

San - Mr/Mrs/Miss, honorific for someone of status equal to yourself. Is to be added at the end of the name

Chan - Honorific for someone of status lower to yourself, and term of endearment for family and friends. Used mostly for females and is very informal. Is to be added at the end of the name

Kun – Mr. (junior), master, boy. Similar to chan, but mostly applied to males. Is to be added at the end of the name.

Sama - Honorific for someone of status higher to yourself. Is to be added at the end of the name.

Hai - Yes.

Iie - No.

Kaimono – Shopping

Baka - Stupid.

Onna – woman

Itadakimasu - Said before meals. I am about to partake.

Gochisosama deshita - Said after meals, especially if being treated.

Damare - Shut up!

Shizuka ni - Be quiet!

Oni-chan – Big brother (I think that that's the spelling)

Nani – What