AN: For those you liked Good, I'm so glad. And thank you for reading it. There have been requests for another fic like it, but I don't know. I have to think about it. I may a squel.Thank you to those who added me to their Alert List and their Favorites. You guys really flatter me. I hope that I could continue to live up to your expectations. I'm also glad that I got to fool most of you with the dream sequence. I know that most of you are mad about it, but as a writer, that means that I've been improving with writing.

And about the kiss, that should be coming up soon. I may have Hiei and Botan kiss a lot sooner than I planned because all of you seem to want it so bad. But I guess you all have a point, 12 chapters now and still no kiss! Maybe in the next two chapters. And I hope that this chapter stayed within the rating.

Conversations

Small flames crackled around him as he made his way down the enormously tall hall that was obviously not made for him. He had his hands formed into tight fist as he walked and was ready to punch the living day lights out of some poor unexpected soul. He glared at demons that he passed by and sneered at those taller than him. To say that Hiei was pissed was an understatement. He was angry and wanted to do nothing but to kill someone. And to go to Ningenkai of course.

But he couldn't. As Mukuro's second in command, he was required to attend this meeting that Mukuro held once every ten years. And that day just happened to be on the same day that was right in the middle of his second week of courtship with Botan. He had plans that he wanted to do with Botan. His plans had nothing to do with sniveling demons that reported to Mukuro from all over her territory, complained to her and begged for help. Their job should be easy enough; wait for baka ningens to accidentally enter Makai, watch them wonder around aimlessly and frighten them for fun (who ever said that it was a fun job to begin with?), gather them up, and then bring them back to Ningenkai. And don't forget the fine print, to try to not get the ningen killed.

Enki wouldn't be very happy if he found out that some pathetic ningen got killed. He may be a little slow, but he is very powerful.

With a scowl firmly imprinted on his face, he continued to plow his way through demons, pushing aside those that didn't move out of way fast enough and ignored those who did and bowed in respect. He had completely forgotten about the meeting, so he didn't tell the onna before hand that he wasn't coming, and to make matters worst, no one had even bothered to remind him about the meeting until that morning! He could let Mukuro slid because he hadn't seen much of her since the second week of his courtship began. But he was going to kill whoever it was that was supposed to remind him about two days ago and never did.

He almost felt bad for the boy demon that had told him of the time of the assembly before he left Makai. He nearly killed him. And the boy was nearly of aged too.

Almost feeling bad for what he did to the boy was nothing compared to the anger that he felt when he knew that he wouldn't be able to see Botan for the whole day. It was almost unheard of to not see the person one was courting in the second week for a whole day. He had planned to take their courtship to the level that it should have been by now. He had been patient enough with her and she knew that their intimacy level had to go pass just holding hands every once in a while. He may have been in solitude for a good part of his life, but even he knew that touching plays a big part on courtship.

"I see that you finally remembered about the meeting," someone spoke, breaking Hiei's fuming stride.

Hiei turned to his left to glare at a purple skinned demon with horns on his head. He was taller than Hiei by a foot and a half, and though Hiei was faster and stronger, he had to respect the other demon's fighting skills. But that didn't mean that Hiei had to like him.

"Hn." Hiei continued walking.

The other demon went by his side, keeping a distance between the two. He didn't like Hiei very much either. "I've heard something very interesting a couple of days ago. I'm not one to gossip but this piece of information caught my attention. Of course I didn't believe it at first. Who would? After all, this was the last thing that any of us had to expect."

"Is there a point to your rumbling or do you just like to hear your obnoxious voice?" Hiei snapped.

"There's a point I promise, or rather a question behind to what I have to say," the other demon smiled.

"Either get to the point now, Zinan, or I leave you to talk to my sword," Hiei glared at him.

Zinan's smile turned menacing. "You're courting with a ferry girl."

Hiei looked at him with mock surprise. "Really? And all this time I thought I was courting a rock. You really are special, aren't you?"

"She's not youkai," Zinan sneered.

"And this bothers you?" Hiei blankly said.

"I would have thought that it would have bothered you. She mostly likely was ningen before she became ferry girl. And you of all demons, hated ningens just as much as the rest of us. I refuse to serve a ferry girl if you're to ever take over. So what happened? She put a spell on you? You trying to get close to her so that you can have free access to Reikai? Or is she just really good in bed? A pretty little thing like her would make a good whore."

In a flash, Hiei unsheathed his sword and brought it a micro-centimeter away from Zinan's neck. Zinan's back was slammed into the wall in that same instant. The sound of cracks forming on the wall echoed throughout the hallway and all the other demons stopped what they were doing to watch. Some were wondering whether Hiei was going to kill Zinan on the day that he was to report the disturbing activities happening in the northern part of Mukuro's territory. But some had heard the words ferry girl and whore, so they thought that Hiei had every right to kill Zinan right than and there.

Hiei's glaring red eyes darkened as each second went by. He wanted nothing more than to kill Zinan. Unfortunately, better judgment told him not to. Not just yet.

"I should kill you. Torture you. Have you begging for mercy." Hiei brought the sword closer, making a thin red line appear and blood to slowly seep out. Zinan would have gulped in terror for looking straight into Hiei piecing eyes if he knew that he wouldn't get even more injured if he did. "But I won't." Hiei's sword buried a little bit deeper into the purple skin. "Mukuro needs you today. So pray that you'll be able to see tomorrow's sunset."

Before Hiei took his sword away, Zinan's nose caught a whiff of Hiei's scent. His eyes grew a small sparkle of glee, but he hid it so that Hiei wouldn't notice.

When Hiei turned his back to Zinan and sheathed his sword, Zinan said loudly while holding his neck to stop the blood flow, "You're getting soft Hiei. I can barely smell that ferry girl of yours on you. What's the matter? Afraid that you'll stain her purity with a mere touch?"

Hiei stopped. His eyes darkened and narrowed. The next thing that the bystander demons knew, Zinan was on fire. They saw a flash and then Zinan was on the floor, screaming in pain, body moving around furiously. His feet were five feet away from his body. Hiei made a trail with his sword on Zinan's right leg and cut it off at the knee. Blood spurted out from his severed leg. Zinan screamed in pain and agony. His upper right leg moved around violently. Zinan's purple skin darkened as it burned.

"Normally, I'm not one for such messy tortures. And so early in the morning too." Hiei called off his flames and Zinan sank deeper to the ground. What was left of his right leg fiercely twitched. "But you're an exception. You should feel honored." Hiei re-sheathed his sword and turned around once again. "If I ever see you again, before or after the meeting, then I'll cut off both your legs. And if I'm in the mood, I'll kill you."

Zinan was left on the floor, with scorched skin that sizzled and blood oozing around him while the others looked at him with disgust. He should have known better than to trifle and mock someone like Hiei. Zinan was going to have to wait for one of his comrades to help him, they wouldn't. They were loyal to Hiei. But they too, wondered if they evercould sever a ferry girl.

In Ningenkai, Botan pouted during breakfast. She found out when she woke up that she wouldn't see Hiei that day. Hiei had told her telepathically that he had an important meeting that he had to attend to. Something about it being an annul thing every ten years to be up to date with the latest news. Yukina looked a little down too when Botan told her that Hiei wasn't going to visit them that day. Botan was too depressed to even have a talk with Yukina about the night before.

Two hours after breakfast, Botan was still pouting and bored. Yukina sat with her to accompany her in her boredom.

"What do you want to do Yukina?" Botan asked resting her head in her arms.

"I don't know. The house is cleaned, there is enough food for the next couple of days, and other chores around the house have already been done. We have the whole day to do whatever we want," Yukina said.

"So, what do you want to do?" Botan asked again.

"Bored girls?" Genkai asked.

"There's nothing to do," Botan said, not looking back at Genkai who was behind her. Besides her, she didn't see Yukina's smile in greeting.

"Well I'm sorry that I don't have any suggestion on a remedy," a voice Botan recognized said.

Botan looked up and turned around. "Koenma-san! What are you doing here?"

"Well, like you, I got bored and decided to pay my best worker a visit," was the reply.

Botan jump up and hugged her best friend who was in his teenage form. "I'm so glad that you're here! I have so much to tell you!"

Botan was excited to share her experience with her male best friend. Koenma could tell. But she wasn't going to make the mistake of telling him the details about it like she had done with Kurama. Before she could start, there were three other visitors at the door.

"Hey old hag! You got any cake?" Yusuke's voice was heard.

"It's about time that you came to visit me," was Genkai's reply. "Even Keiko has been more times than you have lately."

Yusuke, Keiko and Kuwabara came inside and Botan quickly went up to them to hug and greet them. Kuwabara ran up to Yukina to give her his usual greeting as Botan hugged Yusuke tightly.

"It's so good to see you again Yusuke. Even if I did last see you about two weeks ago. I'm sure that Keiko has told you about me and Hiei. And why don't you ever come here to visit?"

Yusuke squeezed Botan in return and they both let each other go. "Blame Keiko for not letting me visit sooner," he pointed to the girl talking with Koenma. "She made me stay indoors to study. For over a week! I swear that my brain died at least three times over."

"Well I needed to make sure that you studied for that big test that we had yesterday!" was Keiko's tart reply.

As if noticing Koenma for the first time Yusuke said, "Hey Koenma. Long time no see. How's being ruler of Reikai treating you lately?"

"Hideous. I stamp mostly the same thing every second that a monkey could do it. Want to trade?" Koenma asked.

"And have a pacifier struck in my mouth for hundreds of years? I think I'll pass," Yusuke stuck a finger in his ear as if to clean it.

Keiko smacked his hand away from his ear. "Don't be so dirty Yusuke." She dug inside her purse and handed him a handkerchief to wipe his finger clean.

"Urameshi, sometimes I think that Keiko is your mom and you're the baby. Maybe you should take Koenma's place since you seem to be old enough for the pacifier," Kuwabara laughed.

"Are you calling me baby? At least I don't have a sister to make me seem like an actual baby!" Yusuke yelled.

"Who are you calling a baby?"

"You, baby!"

Yusuke and Kuwabara started their usual fighting with dust floating around them.

"I wish that they'd stop calling me a baby," Koenma sulked.

Botan just smiled at him. She took a sit with Keiko and Yukina and listened as they talked about anything new in their life. It was mostly Keiko who was talking while Yukina listened and Botan half listened. Normally, Botan would gladly engage with any type of conversations with her friends, but today all she wanted to do was see Hiei. After seeing him everyday for the past week and so, she got so use to seeing him so often that it became some sort of a dependency. Like an addictive drug. She had to see him. But she couldn't. At least she had friends to keep her occupied for the day.

Friends that she hadn't seen for a long time. Expect for Kuwabara because he was there almost everyday. She shouldn't waste a rare day like this. Botan made up her mind that she would enjoy the day without Hiei. Even if her mind did constantly slip to the short demon.

"So what do you think Botan?" Keiko asked, snapping Botan out of her thoughts.

"Umm…. What were we talking about again?" Botan blushed. That's when she realized that everyone was looking at her with amusement in their eyes, except for Koenma. However Botan never noticed.

"Looks like someone was spacing out," Yusuke teased. "Probably thinking about her special demon."

The group laughed while Botan blushed some more.

"Is Hiei going to come in the afternoon like he did last time I came here?" Keiko asked.

It was Genkai who answered for Botan. "Since the start of this week, Hiei has been coming here the first thing in the morning to pick her up. They leave right after breakfast and generally come back around dinnertime. Sometimes even later."

"But Hiei won't be coming today," Yukina said before Yusuke and Keiko ask about his current whereabouts. "He has a meeting that he cannot miss with Mukuro-san."

"That's kind of too bad. I wanted to talk to him about how to treat our Botan," he gave her a light nuggy on the head with affection. "She's like a sister to me. So he better treat her right! But who would have thought, Botan and Hiei. That's the craziest couple I've ever seen. Hell, I had trouble believing it at first. I always thought that Hiei would end up with either Mukuro or Kurama. And why didn't you tell me about them! You're here everyday!" Yusuke pointed to Kuwabara.

"You never asked!" Kuwabara defended himself.

"But you still could've told me about them!" Yusuke yelled back.

"There they go again," Keiko said exasperated, but fondness was clearly evident in her voice.

Botan and Yukina shared a smile. Botan was so happy that she had such caring friends, even if she didn't get to see them as often anymore. The rest of the day went by with high spirits and a lot of yelling while staying at Genkai's. No one had wanted to leave the compound. Everyone stayed up to dinnertime and after. While Keio, Yukina, and Genkai were cleaning the last of the dishes of their dinner and Yusuke and Kuwabara playing video games, Koenma asked to talk to Botan in private.

"What is it Koenma? Is there something going on in Reikai?" Botan asked once they settled in an empty room away from the others. She covered a yawn.

"No, there's nothing going in Reikai that you should be worried about," Koenma assured Botan.

Botan looked at him confused. "Then what's the matter?"

Koenma thought over his words carefully. "How is your courtship with Hiei coming along?"

"It's good. We've opened up to each other a lot over the pass couple of days," Botan said but was still confused.

"I see," Koenma considered what next words should be. He got up and opened a sliding door that opened to the garden. "While you were away, I've been thinking a lot. Mainly about your courtship with Hiei. The more I thought about, the more worried I got."

"But you don't have to worry about anything. Hiei has been treating me alright. He's been really, nice," Botan frowned at the last word. It wasn't exactly how she would describe Hiei's behavior around her, but it was the closest, besides being possessive around Kurama or even the mentioning of his name.

"Well I am concerned about Hiei treatment of you, though you seem fine with him," Koenma closed his eyes for a second in attempt to hold down the pain. "However, right now, my main concern is about your courtship."

"What do you mean?" Botan covered another yawn.

"What I mean is," Koenma turned around to face a very puzzled Botan. "Have you ever noticed that you are the only ferry girl who is in courtship with a demon who doesn't work for Reikai?"

Botan opened her mouth to answer and then shut it. It had never really occurred to her. She never even thought about it. Now that she did think about it, most ferry girls were single.

"In fact," Koenma went on, "You're the first ferry girl, who used to be a ningen, to have some type of romantic relationship with someone who is not dead. There are those who come close, but the person is usual in a dying state."

That never occurred to Botan either. "I guess I haven't really thought about it as much as I thought I did. This is… some shocking information. I think. Is that a bad thing?"

"Honestly, I don't know," Koenma said defeated. "I've check every record there we have, and like I said before, you're the first ferry girl, who used to be a ningen, to have a romantic relationship with someone other than spirits. I don't think that it's bad morally. There are no laws against it either. It's just that, it's new. Unmarked territory that we're getting into. We don't know what to expect or what kind of results can come out of it. It's one thing to have a relationship with a ningen, it's another to have one with a demon. There could be dangers, then again there could not. In addition, there is always the danger of mating with such a high ranking demon such as Hiei."

Botan stayed quiet to digest it all in. After a few moments she asked, "So what do you suggest?"

"Right now, I don't know. I would like for you and Hiei to slow your courtship just a little bit. But that could be bad in a long shot. On the other hand, speeding it up could be even worst. And I suppose breaking it would be out of the question, ne?"

"Hai!" Botan said firmly.

Koenma made the same bitter smile that Kurama made the night he broke down. Botan looked at him with a questioning stare, but Koenma shook it off. Excusing it as tiredness, Botan let it drop.

"So you see why I'm worried. I have Ayame doing some more research on it. I don't expect to find much on it though. In fact, I don't really expect her to find anything at all."

Botan nodded.

"So it's understood that you'll be careful?"

"Hai."

"Botan, I won't lie. The oni working for us are a lot more passive than the ones running around Makai. And I know that while Hiei did once work for us, there are still so many things that can go wrong. And because of Hiei's violent nature, there is a possibility, small as it is, that he may kill you," Koenma warned.

"Koenma, you're my best friend and I really do appreciate you looking out for me, but I don't believe that Hiei would kill me," Botan hotly stated.

"I know. But I worry about so many things now. You can't really blame me for being so paranoid at a time like this," Koenma smiled apologetically.

"I suppose I can't," Botan forgave him.

Koenma hugged her as tight as he could and buried his face on her shoulder. 'Maybe I'm just being selfish and it's making me paranoid. Still, I can't help but wonder…'

"You have been resting often, right?" Koenma let go of Botan.

"Yeah, I have," Botan lied. "Let's go see if the others are done cleaning up." She dragged Koenma out of the room.