J.J. - Behold, an update! n.n;; I suppose because this is my first time posting on ff. net, I'm all giddy and so feel the need to update quickly. Wonder when that'll wear off... >.>


Chapter Three

The Ugly, the Rich and the Richer

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Days were slowly molding into patterns, like they usually did with a typical cleaning job. Keiko and Shizuru had kindly helped her through any snags or questions she had. The three girls were fast becoming close friends. They giggled and gossiped every time they passed in the halls, and Botan had even slipped them into her room once for a secret sleep over.

The alleged 'top floor' was just like any other place she had cleaned, albeit a bit nicer. She had been nervous the first time she'd stepped into Hiei's bathroom to clean it, but had been pleasantly surprised that it was decent. She'd hardly had to do any work at all. The same scenario happened with his bedroom. Nothing looked out of place, and she had only to change the sheets, make the bed and vacuum.

Since their brief interview, she'd only caught glances of Hiei throughout the top floor. He remained quiet and aloof, but constantly present. However, present didn't necessarily mean sociable. He basically ignored her if they were in a room together, but she was only too happy to return the favor.


"Botan, darling, didn't you wear that shirt on Monday?"

It was Wednesday and Shizuru never had been one to sugar-coat statements. Botan sighed and traced the hemming in annoyance. "Yes. I know how awful it must look, but I'm used to having lots of uniforms provided for me. My wardrobe isn't really adequate and I can't go shopping until I get my first paycheck."

"Botan," Shizuru said carefully. "You do know that's not for another two and a half weeks."

Botan moaned and buried her head into one of Keiko's pillows. "I know!"

"You silly girl," Keiko said with a playful swat to her shoulder. "We'll take you shopping!"

"We will?" Shizuru echoed. She'd never been one for perusing through the mall.

"Of course. You can pay us back, later. No girl deserves to go even a day without a proper wardrobe."

Shizuru snorted and rolled her eyes, but Botan looked at her with hopeful eyes. "Really? You'd do that for me?"

Keiko looked offended that she would even ask such a question. "Doy! We're you're friends - of course we will!" She giggled before tapping her chin thoughtfully. "How about Friday afternoon? Yusuke has time that day to take us."

"Kurama usually has the afternoon free as well," Botan supplied excitedly. She had become just as close of friends with the red-haired assistant as she had her two female cleaning buddies. Spending the day with all of them would be a delightful escape.

"Great!" Keiko clasped her hands together. "Let's plan on it."


The temptation was killing her.

She just had to turn on that T.V. She'd been working here for little over a week, and she hadn't seen anyone even look like they wanted to watch it. "One thousand dollars down the drain."

She sighed and shook her head, placing her hands on her hips. It was ironic that wasteful people were the ones with the most money. Or did having a lot of money make them wasteful? Where as being poor could make a person frugal?

She didn't really know for certain, but she did know that if it did happen to work that way, she would have to be classified under the poor and frugal category. And that meant that a plasma television was not going to go unused.

She tiptoed carefully to the door of the entertainment room and stuck her head out, glancing both ways down the hall. No one was around. She still hadn't really gotten over her constant 'Mr. Jaganshi awareness'.

Satisfied, she came back into the room and grabbed the remote off the coffee table. She raised an eyebrow at all the complicated looking buttons. She'd never know what half of them meant, but she was at least technology-wise enough to recognize the channel arrows and power button. She placed her thumb over the big red one. She glanced at the screen and took a breath before pushing it.

The T.V. blasted to life as a Looney Tunes cartoon appeared. Wile Coyote and the Roadrunner. Her lips quirked in amusement. Whoever had watched it last had obviously liked cartoons. She watched for a minute, giggling when she heard the familiar 'Meep! Meep!' of the Roadrunner. Wile Coyote attempted to drop a piano on him and Botan found herself jumping as it crashed into the cartooned road. It had sounded like it had landed right next to her.

"Wow. Good sound system."

Decidedly impressed, she began flipping through the channels. She wished there was a good Meg Ryan flick on, but it didn't look like today was her lucky day. She had almost gotten through all the channels (over 500 and nothing on) when she came across a soap opera she liked.

She settled herself comfortably into one of the couches, prepared to watch the hour long episode that would be over at six.

"Robert, I beg of you. Listen to me. I love you. . . We can work through this."

Botan sighed. Didn't Martha know Robert was cheating on her with her older sister?

"What are you doing?"

Odd. Robert's voice sounded suspiciously like. . .

Oh no.

She turned slowly towards the door. Hiei was leaning in a would-be casual way against the doorframe if she couldn't see the tensed, poised way his arms were folded across his chest. Despite this, he didn't look too angry. Yet.

She decided to not act guilty, or scared for keeping her job, ignoring the fact that she felt both. "I'm sorry. Are you having company over? Do you need this room?"

"No. It's just you and I up here."

That comment brought an odd fluttering into her stomach. She did her best to put on a semi-interested look. "I see. Did you want to watch T.V.?"

His eyes narrowed and she almost let her cool demeanor slip, but she managed to keep her expression neutral. "No," he said slowly. "I don't waste my time with television."

Botan shrugged and turned back to the screen. "It's not such a waste of time. It can be very educational." He simply stared at her turned head, so she leaned back and looked at him again. "Don't you think?"

"Sure," he said sarcastically. "Whenever someone turns it on, I go read a book."

She struggled to keep a straight face. She could never tell if he was trying to be funny, or if he was and just didn't realize he was. She smiled good-heartedly. "Well, I'd hate to detain you from valuable reading time."

She began to watch again, hoping he would leave - without firing her. She was surprised, and also slightly horrified, to watch him take the couch across from her. She said nothing, but she could feel herself growing anxious. She tried to focus on Marie and Robert, but it was hard with Hiei only a coffee table away. He was always the pinnacle of attention in whatever room he was in.

"One day," he said, keeping his eyes on the screen. "One day I really am going to get mad at you."

Botan didn't know whether to be glad he wasn't mad now, or to dread the day when he would express his anger. She couldn't think of anything to say, but Hiei spoke for her again, "What is this, anyway?"

"Afternoons of Our Lives."

He didn't even attempt to soften his voice as he bluntly stated, "It's possibly the stupidest thing I've ever watched."

This time she couldn't hold back the small laugh that escaped. He shot her an odd look before watching Martha and Robert argue again. She giggled at the sour look on his face. "It's not so bad," she quipped. "Once you get to know all the characters."

"I don't think I want to get that involved."

"That's Martha, the daughter of doctor. Robert is kind of a bum that her mother doesn't approve of, but Martha loves him anyway, but she shouldn't because he cheated on her with her older sister Victoria, who is supposed to be seeing Tom, the patient that Martha's dad cured. Tom once kissed Martha's mother, Beatrice, but I don't think it was really him, I think it was his evil twin brother."

Hiei raised an eyebrow at her, his lip curling upwards just slightly. The closest thing to a real smile she'd seen. "You're odd."

It hadn't really come off as an insult, so she merely rolled her eyes, directing her attention to the screen again. They watched in silence for about fifteen minutes until a commercial came on.

"You're doing good." Hiei interrupted a toilet paper jingle.

"Excuse me?"

"With your job."

"Oh." She blushed a little. "Thanks, I guess."

They lapsed into silence, Botan choosing to concentrate on the commercials. It felt weird, and then at the same time completely natural, to be sitting in a room with him. She supposed it was only weird because he was her millionaire employer. She wondered how they might have got along if they had met under different circumstances.

The show came back on, and they watched for a minute as Martha's mother, Beatrice, came to chase Robert out, only to have Victoria come parading in to announce her love for him.

"Ch," she heard Hiei's irritated sigh next to her. "Typical."

She had to bring her fist to her mouth in order to suppress the laughter that threatened to escape.


She hadn't told Keiko or Shizuru about spending an hour watching a soap opera with Hiei. It wasn't the typical thing you would bring up in a conversation. "Guess what I did today? Watched Afternoons of Our Lives with Mr. Jaganshi, fun huh?"

It was the next morning, and she was going about her usual cleaning ritual, wishing it were Friday so she could have the fun of shopping to look forward to after she was finished.. As she dusted around the books in the library, her mind strayed to Hiei. It did that a lot. She didn't really know why. Perhaps it was because she was so bored she could think of nothing else to think about it. Things did become tedious when one only cleaned all day.

She was an artist at heart and she might have been prone to feel depressed by the entire production, but she had chosen to distract herself by observing her boss whenever she got the chance. Human behavior had always interested her, and Hiei Jaganshi was very complex indeed. When her mind had become bored or discouraged, she would think of all she knew about him, his behavior, his mannerisms, trying to figure him out.

It was difficult when he was in the same room as her. His presence surrounded her, but she'd distract herself from him by thinking about him. Or his mind, to be precise. To look at his obvious traits, it might have made simple sense. He was cruel, egotistical, arrogant, aloof and possessed a lot of money and power. But Botan had seen hints of something that made her believe there was more to Hiei than that.

Or maybe she was fantasizing things for her own vicarious imagination.

She came to the conference room, only to find that it was currently occupied. The door was half open and she could see many men in suits seated on both sides. Hiei was at the front, in all his royal glory. When she looked at him, he glanced up and caught her eye, taking her by surprise. Obviously not paying attention to the conversation around him, he slowly smirked at her, expressing a bored arrogance.

She quickly turned away to leave, shaking her head at the mere confusion he always seemed to bring her. She had just started to walk away towards the library, when she heard his voice through the door:

"Botan, if you'd come here a minute. . ."

She immediately switched her direction and entered the conference room, suddenly really wishing she had better clothes to wear. She forced a pretty smile, but she was frowning and screaming in her mind. Hiei had never openly asked for her assistance. She knew it was part of her job, officially, but until now he'd never used his right. Why now, of all times?

Kurama was seated in a normal chair a little ways behind Hiei, taking copious notes across his lap. His expression clearly stated that he was surprised as she was by Hiei's actions.

"Yes, Mr. Jaganshi?" she asked as cheerily and unsurprised as she could.

"This meeting is turning very monotonous." Here, she could have sworn she saw him shoot a pointed glare at one of the suited men. "If you'd bring myself, and anyone else that wants one, a drink?"

"Sure," she said slowly, feeling a little bit awkward. She'd never done this type of service before. "What do you want?"

She could have sworn he was very close to enjoying himself as he calmly replied, "Brandy, is fine."

"I'd like a scotch, miss," someone else said

"Dry martini."

"Another scotch for me."

"Could I just have water?"

Her head spun as she hurriedly repeated their orders in her mind, hoping she wouldn't forget them. "I'll be right back, then."

She glanced at Kurama, who arched one eyebrow and shrugged, mirroring her own confusion. She quickly departed out of the room, jetting to the kitchen. The nicer one where she knew Hiei's meals were prepared, not the simple servant's kitchen.

She was grateful to see a friendly face and immediately came up to Kuwabara. He greeted her warmly, though he was a bit surprised by her presence. She told him the orders and gave a silent prayer of thanks when he announced they had all of them, and he knew how to prepare the martini. He even arranged the finished drinks neatly on a tray for her.

"Thanks, Kuwabara. You're a blessing."

"No problem." He placed a final olive in the martini's wide glass. "It's weird that you're doing this though."

"Tell me about it," she grumbled before carting the tray out of the room. Kuwabara had offered to give her a wheeled one, but she knew she couldn't get it up the stairs, so she had to settle with carrying a large one across her arm. She reached the staircase and a dismayed look crossed her face. For as rich as he is, the man should really consider investing in an elevator.

Praying she wouldn't spill, she made her way up the staircase and into the conference room. She set the right drinks in front of the right people, very proud of herself for remembering who ordered what. She gave Hiei his last, and he sent her a rather peeved look because of it. She pretended she hadn't noticed, winking subtly behind him at Kurama. The red-head gave her an applauding smile, and she started towards the door.

"Thanks, honey," said the man who had ordered the water.

She paused and glanced at him cautiously, smiling slightly. She had thought it weird that he had simply ordered water. Unless, a sickening voice reminded her, he only ordered for the sake of ordering. "You're welcome." It barely came out pleasant.

"Stick around," he continued with a coy smile. He had beady eyes and thinning hair. "I might need you to refill my glass."

She caught the implication and her eyes widened in disgust. She made no attempt to reply because the only words she could think of to say might lose her job. The man's grin widened, and he licked his lips subtly. She felt bile rise in her throat.

Hiei cleared his throat from across the table and all eyes turned to him. Botan felt her arms prickle with chill as she caught sight of his face. It was deadly. If she had been the man Hiei was glaring at, she probably would have withered and blown away as dust. The beady-eyed man looked as if he wanted to, shrinking as far back into his seat as possible. But as it were, he could only cower as Hiei coldly remarked, "I'd appreciate it if you didn't spread your sleeze across to my staff, Ichigarwa."

"Of c-course, sir," he managed to stammer.

Hiei relaxed his position, his expression softening back to normal (which wasn't that soft anyway). "Good." It was like the entire room let out one unanimous sigh of relief.

Botan didn't want to look at him, she already felt materialized enough, so she sped out of the room as fast as she her legs could carry her.


Botan felt so riled that she sped through her work with ease. She even ate her lunch fast, much to the bewilderment of Keiko and Shizuru. She began again in the afternoon, her emotions blurring her awareness. She felt stupid and awkward, if not humiliated.

When she was finished, she was baffled to find she was done early again, although she knew she shouldn't be surprised. She had worked rather quickly. She still had an hour or two until her friends would have free time as well. She glanced half-heartedly towards the entertainment room. She could always watch another episode of Afternoons of Our Lives.

Sighing, she walked to the room and plopped into the couch, grateful for the needed distraction. She flipped on the large television, just in time to catch the opening theme. It felt good to relax and not have to think about that morning. She decided what she really wanted about now was some ice cream. She wondered if Kuwabara might have some...

She rose to go see if he indeed had some stashed, but she froze in her tracks. Hiei was standing in the doorway. Taken by surprise, she stammered, "H-Hiei?"

He raised an eyebrow, as if surprised that she knew his first name. "Mr. Jaganshi," he corrected in an even tone.

She blinked, shaking her head. "Yes, of course! Sorry." She waited for him to say something, and when he didn't she decided to say something instead. "Came back to watch?"

He gave her one of those fake, dry smiles. "No. I came to discuss the events of this morning."

She felt a pit of uneasiness settle in her stomach, but she tried to look calm and indifferent. "Oh?"

"When I said that you could wear what you wanted, I assumed you would at least choose to wear something semi-decent."

She felt herself turn a hot shade of red. "They're decent," she argued miserably, glancing down at her capris and t-shirt. At least she didn't look like a slut.

Hiei didn't look persuaded. "I've seen you wear that same t-shirt three times already, and you've only worked here for little over a week." He said the word t-shirt as if it were a plague.

She couldn't remember a time where she'd felt more embarrassed. Not to mention it was unnerving to think he'd noticed a shirt she'd worn and how many times. Though she knew it might cause even more embarrassment for her, she felt she should at least try to defend her actions. Let him know that she wasn't purposely dressing under standard.

"I realize that," she said with what dignity she could. "It's just, I don't have any other clothes to choose from!"

"Oh no?" He asked in question, not sounding like he had been clueless at all. In fact, it almost seemed like he'd expected that answer.

"No. But that will change on Friday. I'm going shopping."

"I thought you didn't have any money," he challenged.

"I don't," she snapped. "I have friends, if you're familiar with that concept, that are going to let me pay them back when I do get my paycheck."

"I get it," he stated as if he'd 'gotten it' for a long time now. "That's why you were so antsy about the date of your first paycheck."

She realized how calm he looked, as if this were nothing new to him, and it suddenly all clicked. She stared at him incredulously. "You knew?" she finally choked out.

"Of course I knew," he replied, his 'surprised-and-concerned' facade instantly gone. "I was just waiting for you to feel ridiculous enough in those rags you call clothes to do something about it."

The pieces slowly started falling together. "T-That's why you made me get you all drinks today, wasn't it?" He started to nod, a proud look on his face, but she cut him off. She had some pride. "Why? To show your grubby maid off to all your stupid, rich friends!"

For the first time since she had met him, he looked honestly stunned. Stunned that anyone, especially anyone working for him, would talk to him like that. But Botan wasn't finished.

"Did it boost your inflated ego up a little more to see me like that in front of your big-shot associates? I suppose you put your little friend Ichigarwa up to ogling me too! I guess it was funny to see me degraded like that - to be treated like nothing more than a piece of merchandise! But that's all I am, isn't it? Merchandise! Something else you own! As if I didn't feel stupid enough having to wear those clothes, you had to make it worse. You humiliated me! And why! To prove that you were right, that you knew all along! Well congratulations! You won, you're superior!" Her face was now red from yelling and she finished off with a final, "You disgust me!"

She shoved by him, and burst into the hall, tears running down her face. She had kept them in so he wouldn't have the satisfaction of seeing her cry, but the second she had been out of seeing range, they had begun to flow. She ran into her room, thankful she hadn't had to go far, locking the door behind her. She dove into her bed and buried her face in a pillow, sobbing brokenly.

She waited a few minutes until they died into soft sniffles before letting herself sort out her thoughts. She had reacted on impulse, and she hadn't made a very wise decision. She was going to get fired, that much was inevitable. What she couldn't understand was why she had done it.

Of course, she'd never had to work for anyone quite like him - cruel, arrogant and not afraid to openly degrade and insult you. But she knew people out there existed. Old colleagues of hers had always complained about some of the pompous people they worked for. You just had to smile and bear it.

Rule number one - the boss is always right.

She'd always thought that it didn't matter what your boss thought of you anyway. As long as you got the job done and you got paid for it, he could think you were a harlot for all it mattered.

Why couldn't she have remembered that ten minutes ago?

But it had hurt so much! Whether for better or for worse, and it seemed like it would be the latter, she cared what Hiei thought of her. And where she usually had such a gentle temperament, she had felt herself snap with him. It was like every emotion she felt heightened around him. Anger, embarrassment, nervousness . . . even happiness, seemed to multiply.

"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" She cursed viciously at herself.


No one surprised him. Ever.

It was something he took pride in. He could see their moves before they happened, knew how they would act. He always had the upper hand. But not this time.

She had surprised him. More than once now.

She had first surprised him when he realized he didn't particularly mind when she interrupted him, not to mention openly argued against him. He had thought it only intriguing.

Strike one.

She had again managed to surprise him when he found her in his entertainment room, watching T.V. Guests rarely watched that T.V., or were allowed the privilege in other words, and she was only a maid. And yet there she'd been, enjoying herself no less. And what had he done? Watched it with her, of all the irritatingways to reproof the situation.

Strike two.

And then... and then she had the nerve to get angry at him for doing his job. To tell him that he had been rude. He had the right to be rude! Who was she to make him feel guilty about his actions? The whole ordeal was practically intolerable.

"Why the hell is she still working here!" he cursed out loud.

"Who?" Kurama gazed up at him from the left side of him on the table. They were back in the conference room, this time just the two of them, going over the meeting.

Hiei didn't say anything, choosing instead to start scribbling on one of the papers in front of him. He could still feel Kurama looking at him in question, but when he continued to remain silent, the red-head returned to his work.

After a moment, Hiei said quietly, "She's odd, isn't she."

Kurama stopped his writing, fixing an inquisitive gaze on his boss. "Who?"

"That new maid . . . what's her name . . ." He knew it was Botan.

"Botan?"

Hiei lifted his chin slightly, returning his gaze to his scribbled on papers. "Yeah, her."

Kurama shrugged. "I didn't find her odd." He smiled. "I rather liked her - she's bright and original, and she does her job well."

"She is," Hiei had to agree. "But that's the problem. I don't want someone original on my staff."

Kurama laughed. He actually laughed. Hiei glared at him.

"What do you mean? Everyone on your staff is "original"." He made mocking quotation marks with his fingers when he said original. "You've hand picked nearly everyone because they had a certain something that made them different from everyone else in their business."

Hiei fumed silently, knowing his assistant was right, if not living proof. Kurama was different from all the other quirky assistants. He had an edge. So did everyone else that worked for him. He had made sure of it, and that was how he liked it. He trusted all of his employees, and had confidence in their abilities. Not something every mansion owner could say.

And Botan was a good maid, he wouldn't deny it. The top floor had never looked so nice. She had made everything spotless, but still touchable. Everything seemed to have a homey feel to it now, while still remaining completely immaculate. She also left a very faint trace of scent among the entire floor. It smelled like vanilla; it sometimes irked him when he could smell it in his room.

But it wasn't her cleaning abilities that were the problem.

"No one else on my staff has ever yelled at me."

Kurama stared at him. The air became a dead silence, both of them looking at each other, when Kurama finally said, "What?"

"She yelled at–"

Kurama raised a hand to stop him. "Yes, I heard you. Now, I have to ask you. . ." Hiei waited, raising a questioning eyebrow. Kurama narrowed his eyes in thought as he observed him. "Do you realize how much of a child you sounded like?"

Hiei growled, his cheeks blushing a healthy shade of pink. "Excuse me?" He fixed Kurama with a glare that would have sent anyone else quivering into a puddle of submission. "Why don't I just fire you?!"

Kurama didn't even blink.

"I don't know. Why don't you?"

Hiei narrowed his eyes, very hesitant to fulfill his threat. Kurama was a good assistant. A damn good one. There were several times that Kurama had sealed off deals almost entirely on his own, where as he'd felt completely stumped and useless himself. "I'll give you one more chance…"

Kurama subtly rolled his eyes. "How gracious of you."

"Don't get smug, Kurama. You think I like you, but I don't."

Used to Hiei's less-than-pleasant attitude, Kurama stood to his feet, gathering his notes. "Of course you don't. Now, about the situation with Botan. I think it is in your best interest to go apologize to her."

"Apologize!" Hiei exclaimed. His face darkened into an exasperated frown. Kurama didn't know what Botan had said, whether justified or not, so how could he have known that Hiei had done anything to her? Unless his little mind game in the conference room had really been as obvious and rude as she'd said. Again, her pained face rose unbidden to his mind, bringing with it the same remorse he had felt earlier, knowing he had hurt her.

He knocked people down all of the time. What gave her the right to suddenly make him feel guilty? He hated her for it, but more so hated himself for showing such a weakness.

He sighed in resignation. Cold though he may be, he couldn't fire her. He glanced warily at Kurama. "I don't know how to apologize..." he grumbled moodily.

"No," Kurama said. "I suppose you wouldn't." He thought to himself. "Why don't you just keep it to a simple, I'm sorry, please don't quit?"

"Hn." And he could barely manage that much of a reply. His pride was battling furiously against this decision, but he would do it anyway. Grudgingly, he rose to his feet and headed towards her room. Stupid girl.


J.J. - Aaw... cute. Hiei got himself a conscience. >>0

Ahem. I wasn't planning on doing this, but a few reviews I liked so much I felt the need to comment on them.

RR:

You lost Hiei's trademark 'onna'...

(-sigh-) Yes, I did. While I do love that phrase, which seems exactly the way Hiei would address Botan, I don't think it really fits in with AU stories. Without the same background, etc., and not being based on an "anime", it just sounds out of place to me. Luckily, he at least gets to "Hn" all he wants.

...and the fact that Kuwabara isn't THAT much of an idiot from the brief run-in we've had with him is pretty good. Everyone makes him out to be such and absolute idiot. the truth is he DOES have a brain...

Thank you! I love Kuwabara. True, he's loud and a show-off and sometimes we cringe and sweatdrop at his less than elegant behavior, but some fanfiction writers are just plain evil to the poor guy. o.O

Oh for the love of the buttercups in the meadows...please update...um...and if you don't like buttercups...think of...um...er...Chocolate...and if you don't like that do as followed: -> insert favourite thing

No, no. Buttercups in the meadows are just fine. Why do you think I updated? n.n;;

I always thought Kurama would be the billionaire not Hiei...

You would think that, wouldn't you? Kurama-kun's smart.

Hiei: Ch. Well, he's not a billionaire, now is he? (-smug grin-) I am.

Kurama: (-hides his abundant stash of money away-) Whatever makes you feel better, Hiei.

Hiei: >.


(Next Chapter: The Bomb -dundundun-)