HEY EVERYONE! Its Chibi Nica back in the '06! Well first I want to apologize for taking so long to write another chapter for "Tide is High" but I found myself on more often now-a-days and I thought about making a story but then it hit me I have one in progress…so here I am! Hopefully this chapter and the ones to come will be more exciting and written a little better. Because I just realized that the previous chapters had a bit too much grammatical errors in them ;) so here you guys go Chapter 3 of Tide is High!

Chapter 3: Moving in

"Oh no..." Botan whispered as her legs gave out, her home, her only home was gone, she couldn't go back to Reikai, she gave her job up as a ferry girl and no one could take her in right now, was all she thought about , that she didn't realized who had caught her from busting her head on the pavement. All she could do was stare, and it slipped out

"Where am I going to stay?"

As soon as she said that everything was engulfed by darkness…

Hiei's P.O.V

'Great…she fell out…' Hiei thought to himself as he looked at the very unconscious Botan in his arms. Then he looked back at the apartment. It was almost burned down to the ground and the flames were still going despite it was pouring down right now. Hiei was in awe even though he's definitely seen his share of fires, mainly because he was the one to start them. The rain began to stop and the sound of approaching fire trucks came closer. Hiei not wanting to deal with any ningen's right now fled the scene and rushed to his own apartment.

After about nine minutes of running, Hiei finally reached his apartment. He opened the door and he rushed towards his black leather coach and quickly laid her down. She may appear thin but she was pretty heavy.

'Maybe she should lay off the chocolate ice cream' Hiei thought to himself as he took a quick glance over her. He turned quickly away blushing, seeing her soaking wet and her clothes clinging to every curve of her petite figure, and it really didn't help that what she was wearing already showed off her body. Hiei quickly shaking it off, walked toward his closet to get some towels, came back and started drying her off. He started off by drying her hair and then her neck, next stop her chest. Hiei proceeded in what he was doing, inching closer and closer to her "lady lumps". When he got there, Hiei was greeted by a hard slap to the face, by and infuriated Botan

"YOU PERVERT!"Botan screamed at the top of her lungs clasping her chest tightly.

"Me? Groping you? Not in the thousands of years to come! For your information I was trying to dry you off so you won't catch a cold considering that you're soaking wet on my leather coach" Hiei fired back.

"Why am I on your leather coach anyway?" Botan spat back, clearly getting on Hiei's last nerve.

"YOU are on my coach because 1. Your apartment is burned down and 2. I think Yusuke would kill me if I left you passed out in the rain, that's why you're on my coach" Hiei said through gritted teeth.

As soon as he said that Botan remembered what happened to her apartment. And the last thing she remembered before passing out was seeing her home on fire and the question of "Where am I going to stay?" Botan thought aloud

"Sure as hell not with me" Hiei answered coldly.

Nothing personal, well it was every bit personal. First that dreaded woman made him look like a fool. Second she made him feel funny that would cause him to make himself look like a fool. Hiei wasn't a person who lost his composure very easily, and to have someone as ditzy as her make him do it, he wanted to hurt her…badly. And third she dared to give him an attitude when he was simply trying to help her!

'To hell with her…I hope she catches a cold too.' Hiei thought to himself.

"ACHOO!"

Hiei smiled to himself.

"Uhh Hiei, do you have any tissues?" asked a nasally Botan.

Hiei rolled his eyes, "They're in the bathroom" Hiei replied pointing to the bathroom door.

'Tonight should be so much fun…' Hiei thought dreadfully as he walked down the hallway towards his room. He found some dry clothes, a black shirt and black sweats. He quickly changed before Botan came barging in looking for him. Then he went back into his closet to find something for her to wear. He found a sleeveless sky-blue shirt and navy sweats. They were small though, it was from when Hiei was smaller…before the whole mysterious growth spurt. So he made his way back to the living room where he found Botan sitting quietly.

'Ha! That's funny, she's actually quiet' Hiei thought.

He walked up to her and gave her the dry clothes. She took them quickly and jolted to the bathroom with a quick "Thanks." She was fast in getting out of Hiei's sight but not fast enough because Hiei could see that she was crying.

It was getting late and Hiei was tired, so he went into his room and pulled out two pillows and a blanket and threw them on the coach.

"I'm going to bed. There are pillows and a blanket on the coach. Don't make yourself at home" Hiei said to Botan through the bathroom door.

"Mmhm" was all he got for a response. And he was satisfied with that. He really didn't feel like having a conversation, not that he liked having conversations anyway, especially with baka ex-ferry onna's.

In the bathroom Botan dried her tears and changed into the dry clothes that she had got from Hiei. Surprisingly they fit perfectly. She came out of the bathroom and looked around, Hiei nowhere in sight so she assumed him to be in his room since he did say he was going to bed. She made her way towards the coach in the dimly lit apartment. She fluffed her pillows and slid under the blanket. She inhaled the scent of…..Tag? When did Hiei use Tag body spray? Well it didn't matter all she knew was that the blanket was turning her on.

'Whoa! How can I be aroused by a blanket? Hiei's at that!' She thought 'But it smells so good… I wonder how it would feel to lay next to him…Oh crap! Botan stop thinking about Hiei!' Botan screamed at herself inwardly.

"I need to get some sleep" Botan said aloud and forced her eyes closed. Before long her mind just drifted away and all her troubles were gone as she dosed off to sleep.

"HIEI! HIEI!" a voice was screaming and pounding at the door causing Botan to wake up.

"HIEI!" the voice called again. The voice sounded familiar. Like it was…Yusuke? What would Yusuke be banging on Hiei's door almost 3am? So she answered half asleep

"Yusuke do you know what time it is?" Botan asked groggily, but she was wide awake when she got Yusuke's bear hug in response. "Hey what's gotten into you Yusuke?" She questioned Yusuke's erratic behavior.

"I thought you were dead…" Yusuke replied silently, still holding her close.

"Dead? Where did you get that ridiculous idea from?" Botan asked quietly. Then Yusuke pulled away and looked at her like she was crazy.

"You didn't know that your apartment burned down? Well I don't think you would've known if you were to busy getting banged by Hiei…Because that would explain why your at his apartment right now and not knowing about your apartment…" Yusuke determined which caused Botan's face to turn beet red.

"Ha-ha! So it's true!" Yusuke teased.

"I was not having sex with this" Hiei said behind Botan, emphasizing "this".

Right about now Botan was fuming and beet red.

WHAM

"DAMN!" Yusuke exclaimed loudly, it was to be expected because Botan just punched Hiei in the nose.

"WHAT WAS THAT FOR?" Hiei shouted holding his nose. Man, Botan was really pushing it

"THAT'S FOR CALLING ME AN IT YOU INSENSITIVE JERK!" Botan shouted back. Yusuke could of sworn smoke was coming out of her ears because Hiei was running her hot.

"WHAT? YOU ARE AN IT BECAUSE YOU ARE NO WOMAN!" Hiei fired back.

"IM LEAVING!" Botan shouted and began to walk down the hall until Hiei had to put in his last word.

"Where are you planning to go? Have you forgotten already that you have no apartment? Well that's believable considering you're such a ditz!" Hiei felt good. And he knew that the huge waterworks show was next, and then Yusuke's going to tell him to apologize. But what she did next was unexpected…

SLAP

"YOU BASTARD! I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU EVER AGAIN!" Botan screamed at the top of her lungs so that almost everyone on the floor was awake.

"Come on Yusuke" Botan said calmly pulling Yusuke behind her. Yusuke looked back and shook his head and mouthed "You went too far" to Hiei. All Hiei could do was stare at the ground.

'Maybe I was a bit harsh this time' Hiei thought.

Botan and Yusuke were on their way to Yusuke's apartment. After all it was probably 3:30 in the morning so she couldn't go to Keiko's. It was a silent walk to his apartment until Yusuke broke the silence.

"Botan you know he didn't mean what he said. And your definitely a woman, Hiei was probably just tired and extra grumpy" Yusuke said soothingly with his arm around Botan's shoulder.

"Hiei is always grumpy, he a pain in the butt too. He's always so mean to me, like he hates me or something. But that's fine with me because I can't stand him either and I never want to speak to that demon ever again!" Botan said all at once so she had to take a breath. Boy was she mad!

"Aww Botan, Hiei doesn't hate you, if he did, do you think he would let you stay in his apartment and borrow his clothes? I don't think so… Matter of fact I think he has a crush on you!" Yusuke said.

"A crush on me? Sure Hiei, the one who loves only his sister and his sword? I highly doubt there's any place left for me in that small frozen heart of his" Botan exclaimed with a hint of sadness in her voice.

"So your saying you like him too?" Yusuke asked the now cherry cheek maiden under his arm. He loved messing with her, it's so much fun! And he loved her too, as a sister of course! So it pained him to see her sad, so he had to say something to get her started, and that was it.

"I do not have a crush on Hiei!" she exclaimed bumping her hip into his.

"Well yesterday's event says otherwise" Yusuke replied and bumped her back.

"Oh shut up!" Botan said pushing his arm off of her shoulder.

"So can I stay with you until I can get back on my feet" Botan asked with a serious tone in her voice.

"I would love for you to stay with me but my mother has the place in a total and complete mess and she's renting the room out to some dude to get some extra moola to go to the bar at night. Pretty ridiculous. So I'm sorry but you cant stay with me Botan." Yusuke said putting his arm around her again.

"That's ok Yusuke" Botan replied giving him a half smile.

They finally reached Yusuke's apartment about 20 minutes later. Botan and Yusuke were half asleep when they reached the apartment. As usual Botan took the bed and Yusuke took the floor and the two had no problem getting to sleep.

Around ten the next morning there was a knock on the door, and Yusuke woke up to go see who it was.

"Who is it?" shouted an extremely tired Yusuke.

"Keiko" a feminine voice replied on the other side of the door.

Instead of seeing just Keiko when he opened the door there stood Shizuru, Kuwabara, Yukina, and Kurama. Everyone barged in past Yusuke except Yukina who said good morning and gave a small bow.

"So have you heard from Botan? Is she ok?" asked a worry stricken Keiko.

"Why don't you ask her yourself-as soon as she wakes up! She kind of tired, after last night." Yusuke said.

And so they waited. They made breakfast and tea and talked about the fire and who should Botan stay with.

During that discussion Botan had woke up and entered the kitchen grabbing her plate and heading toward the group.

"Well she cant stay with us, we have no space and Genkai is doing something to the shrine, that's why Yukina is staying with us for a couple of months" added in Shizuru.

"Hey guys!" Botan said with food in her mouth.

"We were just talking about you" said Keiko.

"Oh really" Botan said in a quiet voice.

"Yea, we know about what happened to your apartment, it was all over the news this morning. And we have a bit more bad news; no one has any space to keep you in for a couple months." Shizuru said quietly.

"Oh… that's ok I'm sure I'll work something out!" Botan said reassuringly with a half a smile on her face. Then Yukina had an idea.

"Why don't you ask Hiei if you can live with him for a few months?" Yukina asked. Botans half a smile was gone in half a second.

"I don't think that would work out too well. Me and him got into a 'disagreement' last night." Botan explained while sipping her tea.

Everyone knew that those two could barely get along, and when they had a 'disagreement' that just meant that Hiei insulted Botan to the maximum capacity of insults Botan could take.

"Oh" everyone said at once, besides Yusuke of course.

"Well you can't just sleep on the streets you know!" Keiko stated.

"I know! I just think that it just wouldn't 'work out'" Botan protested.

Just then there was a knock on the door. Yusuke got up to answer it and it was no one but…

"Hiei" Botan whispered under her voice.

"Nice of you to join us Mr. Jaganshi" Yusuke said with a smile on his face happy to irritate Hiei by using his last name.

"Cut the B.S. Urameshi. I came to see her" Hiei said pointing to Botan who was looking elsewhere.

"Uh Botan I think shorty wants to talk to you" Kuwabara whispered to Botan but wasn't very successful because everyone could hear him.

"Yea sure…ok" Botan says getting up, walking towards the balcony, Hiei following close behind and closing the sliding door after himself.

"So what do you have to say to a "ditzy this" Botan questioned looking Hiei straight in his eye. To show how seriously angry she was with him.

"Look onna, I didn't come here for your sarcasm or attitude so quit it. I came to apologize" Hiei said, quietly at 'apologize'.

"Well what are you apologizing for? For calling me a 'this', or saying that I'm not a woman?" Botan asked

"Both" Hiei whispered. "So aren't you going to apologize to me about calling me an 'insensitive jerk'? Or for punching me and slapping me?"

"I'm sorry for punching you" Botan replied.

"That's it?" Hiei asked annoyed. She really was working his nerves.

"Yea that's it! Because you deserved both of them! You never stop to consider my feelings, or anyone else's for that matter! All you care about is Yukina and fighting. That's it." Botan stated with anger clearly lingering in her voice.

"That's not true" Hiei said calmly.

"Oh really? So tell me Hiei who else do you care about? Hmm?" Botan questioned.

Hiei looked right into her eyes and moved closer to her and said "You"

Botan could only look away. She couldn't believe what she was hearing and Hiei didn't believe what was coming out of his mouth.

"Then why do you act like you hate me?" Botan asked quietly, her eyes still glued to the ground.

"Look would you like to stay with me? Its not in my nature to invite anyone into my home, especially when its for a long term stay. However I don't want to be nagged by those idiotic people in there, minus Kurama, to let you stay with me. I'm being generous so I suggest that you take up on my offer. Or you rather sleep on the streets. It's your choice." Hiei stated mentally kicking himself for asking her to stay with him.

"Fine. I'll stay with you" Botan says in a small voice.

And with that Hiei leaves the balcony, Botan following.

"I'm leaving now" Hiei declares as he walks out the door.

"So what did he say? Did you ask to stay with him?" Asked Keiko.

"Uh yea. I'm staying with Hiei. For a while, until I can save up enough money to get myself situated." Botan said.

"OH" Everyone says in unison.

"So I better get going before Hiei decides not to open the door for me." Botan says.

"Mmhmm" Everyone says in unison once again.

"Bye!" Botan shouts running out of the door.

"But she didn't tell us what Hiei said though…" Shizuru stated.

"Maybe its best that we leave their personal issues for those two to solve" Kurama puts in, taking a sip of his tea.

"Yea but it seems so juicy!" Keiko exclaims.

"Keiko… not everything is a soap opera" Yusuke says.

"Yusuke…SHUT UP!" Keiko screeches at Yusuke.

As soon as Botan walked out the door, she found Hiei waiting for her. She nodded her thanks and they begin their silent journey together, to their home.

END

Well I hope that was satisfying for you guys! I had a lot of fun writing this chapter! And I made it extra longer this time! Muwahahahahahahaha! So tell me if you liked it, loved it, or hated it, I wanna know! Ahh yes! The third chappie is completed! And the really juicy stuff starts happening! So plz keep reading! Also is it me or doesn't the title seem gay and nothing to do w/ the story? Well that's just me! Thanx 4 readin and plz REVIEW!