This is what would have been the rest of chapter 3, I hope you all enjoy!
It had now been a week since Botan had been kidnapped. Hiei stalked the halls of Mukuro's castle. Interrogating the prisoner had proved to be more troublesome than he expected. The prisoner did not crack under the stress of physical pain, and at times it seemed they were in control more than he or Mukuro was. The prisoner had given just enough information to make it clear he knew what they wanted to know, but not enough information for them to actually work with. Hiei was beginning to consider simply invading the mind of the prisoner himself, despite all the possible dangers involved.
Mukuro had been surprisingly helpful with the whole ordeal. Hiei assumed she simply did not want to let anyone who would make an attempt on her life roam free. He was sure that when they found the location of the group Mukuro would be more than willing to personally lead the assault, though that was both a blessing and a curse. On one hand, her power was incredible, but on the other hand, she would more than likely not care about the life of the ferry girl.
Hiei was torn away from his thoughts when he heard Mukuro in his head, speaking to him telepathically.
We have a visitor Hiei, I'm sure you'll want to meet them. Mukuro's message was quick and to the point, Hiei did appreciate that about her, she did not waste words.
Hiei found that the visitor was very much not someone he cared to meet at all. It was a ferry girl with emerald green eyes and bright red hair that reached down to her shoulders. He recognized her as Hinageshi, he had seen her talking to Botan on some of his trips to spirit world, but he had never really paid her any attention.
"Why is she here?" Hiei completely ignored Hinageshi as he looked to Mukuro, who stared back at him impassively.
"She was sent by Koenma to help make communication between us and spirit world easier for this issue, I am assigning her to help you with the investigation, she will be staying in this castle until Botan is recovered," Mukuro looked at Hiei with a half-smirk. She already knew he would hate this.
"I do not need her, she will drag me down," Hiei stated firmly, Hinageshi seemed to take offense to that and he had to admit that it was amusing.
"Regardless, if you are to rule my land one day you must learn to work with people you don't like regularly, my order here is final," Mukuro dismissed him and Hinageshi from the room and Hiei scowled at her before turning away. He heard Hinageshi running to catch up.
"Um, hello Mr. Hiei, I don't know if you remember me but I'm one of Botan's friends and I-" Hiei decided to cut her off before she could continue.
"I really don't care about your life story, I also do not see how you could possibly be useful at all, so all you will be doing is staying out of my way. I will tell you what I learn and you will tell Koenma so that Mukuro will stay off my case, but other than that just sit here and wait," Hiei began to head for the training grounds, he needed to vent some frustration about the lack of progress made in the last week and he needed to train anyways.
"Uh, s-sure I can do that," Hinageshi sounded dejected but Hiei really didn't care as he left her behind and went to the training grounds.
There he saw a few demons battling, but none of them was anyone he'd find worth fighting. At this point, the only person stronger than him in Mukuro's territory was Mukuro herself, though there were a few demons who were just a little bit weaker than him that could give him a good workout. One of those demons entered the room at that very moment. A demon with a tall and lean build who also had spiky white hair and light blue eyes. He also carried a smug grin wherever he went.
"Ah General Hiei, I was just looking for you, would your care to spar with me?" The demon requested of Hiei.
"Ah Rai, good I was looking for someone to do battle with. I don't feel like holding back so follow me outside," Hiei walked outside with Rai following him. When they reached an empty area they could fight Hiei began to remove the bandages from his arm and forehead, while Rai crackled his knuckles and began to spark with electricity. Rai was a lighting apparition, and as such he used lighting in battle. The two leaped towards each other and began their battle.
Botan had now been in this castle as a captive for a week. Her routine was largely the same each day. Wake up, shower, get breakfast delivered, sit in her room thinking of how everyone back home was doing, get lunch delivered, more thinking, then dinner. She had found out on her second day there that all the meals she got were actually cooked by Yato since demon cuisine was not always suitable for those not of the demon world. Sometimes he would eat with her, and other times he would just drop off the food and return to his room. She had not made any attempts to leave her room, rather she decided to find out exactly what her room had. There were various books in various languages in a bookshelf against one wall, and she even had a fireplace that she had figured out how to use. It was a nice room really if she ignored the circumstances of how she came to reside there.
A knock on the door that led to Yato's room brought Botan out of her train of thought. He always delivered breakfast around the same time, which she could now tell as he had procured a clock for her after she complained about how maddening it was to not know the time. Botan did not bother going to answer the door as a few seconds after the knock Yato let himself in.
"I've brought breakfast," Yato announced as he walked through the door, he had two plates. They both had waffles with whipped cream and berries on them. He was a surprisingly good chef Botan had found out. "Eat quickly then get dressed in some flexible clothes, I have a mission today and as we discussed last week you will be accompanying me."
Botan nodded and ate quickly as he instructed. Yato ate quickly as well, and once they both finished Yato took the plates back to his room to wash them while Botan dressed. She wore a pair of black leggings and a loose-fitting t-shirt with a yellow puffy coat on top of that. There was a decent amount of human clothing in the dresser she had found out. Yato knocked on her door again before reentering. He was dressed in his usual garb.
"Are you ready? This shouldn't take too long as long as things go smoothly so don't worry about bringing food or anything else," Yato had his sword tied to his waist, and his hair was in a ponytail so that it was kept out of his face. It was clear that he expected combat.
"Yeah I'm ready," Botan spoke, Yato nodded and began to head out of the room and Botan followed. Botan kept close to Yato as the halls were packed with demons today. They sneered at her and Yato but unlike when Yato had brought her here, he did not ignore them this time. When one of them tried to spit on her Yato nearly cut his tongue off. After that, the demons mostly left them alone. Before they exited the castle a human-looking demon with fluffy pastel pink hair and a soft face came across them.
"Leaving on your mission Yato?" The demon had bright sparkling orange eyes and spoke with a kind voice, but just being near him had Botan tensing up. She could feel it, this was the warm yet terrifying energy she had felt at the start of the week.
"Yes, I am, Helio. I will see you when I come back," Yato smiled a bit as the demon hugged him, and Botan was taken aback by this. The demon grinned.
"Stay safe out there!" Helio spoke.
Yato nodded and exited the building with Botan. She took a sigh of relief as she was finally outside of the castle.
"So that's the one who's as strong as Mukuro or Yomi?" Botan asked Yato.
"Yes, someone so bright and happy is so powerful, ironic isn't it," Yato chuckled a bit.
"I was surprised at how nice he seemed honestly, but he also scared me…" Botan shivered a bit thinking about him.
"He is a very kind soul to his friends, but he is extremely loyal. If I or our leader asked him to he would commit any number of atrocities without a second thought," Yato did not turn to look at her as he walked. Botan summoned her oar and began to float behind him. When Yato realized this he turned around.
"What?" Botan questioned him.
"Am I going to have to worry about you trying to escape on that thing?" Yato looked up at her.
"No not at all, I realize you could easily catch me before I make any real distance," Botan laughed a bit as she answered.
"Good, then continue to follow me, I'm going to pick up the pace a bit," Yato immediately began running towards wherever his destination was, Botan managed to keep up with him luckily. They reached their destination after a short amount of time, it was a small village that looked like it should be teeming with life but it was abandoned.
"What is this place?" Botan landed and unsummoned her oar, she looked around. This place gave her the chills.
"It is a village within our territory. It should be vibrant with life but we had gotten reports of people going missing here just yesterday. For the village to be empty already…" Yato clenched one of his hands into a fist at his side and Botan saw a new side of him. He looked sad. Yato looked around, "Stay close to me, Botan."
Botan nodded, moving a bit closer to him as Yato walked with one hand on his sword. There was a chill throughout the town, one that seemed like it would never leave. They swept the town without seeing any sign of life, and Yato looked back to Botan.
"This was a mining town, they mined for rare gems and metals, it's possible that some of the villagers may have fled to the mines so we're going to check there next," Yato spoke as he began walking towards what looked like a mine entrance. There was a railway track leading into it but no carts to be seen.
"Well that's… ominous," Botan murmured.
"Scared?" Yato quirked an eyebrow at her.
"N-no, just uh, haha just a bit nervous but I am definitely not scared," Botan stammered as she nodded.
"You'll be fine either way, stick close to me," Yato grabbed a lit torch that was in the entrance of the mines and began to descend, Botan following him. It got darker and darker the lower they got and Botan found herself very grateful for the torch Yato had taken from the entrance.
Suddenly the cry of a young child could be heard and both Botan and Yato immediately tensed up. Yato nodded to Botan and they both began running towards the source of the noise. They reached an open area after they traveled through a tunnel and saw a young boy cowering behind a minecart. On the other side of the room was a demon with the lower body of a spider and the upper body of a person.
Botan ran over to the kid to comfort them, pulling them into a hug while telling them that it was all right now. She didn't care at all that the spider demon had seen her or was now moving towards her. A moment later the demon was dead, decapitated by Yato.
Botan looked over at Yato as he walked over to the kid and her. The kid's crying was slowing down and Botan's hug was helping.
"What's your name kid? Did you see anyone else down here? What was the deal with the spider demon?" Yato knelt down in front of Botan and the kid, who looked at him with teary eyes.
"U-uh, my n-name is Hoku…" The kid began weakly, "I don't know who else is here, I- I was chasing my dog because he was running after something when I got lost."
Yato's expression softened, "Do you know what happened to the village?"
Hoku's eyes widened, "I- I don't know… when I got lost everything was normal… but no one has come to the mines all day today and that isn't usual."
"Let's get out of here then, I can do a further sweep once you two are safe," Yato stood up, looking around.
"We can't leave yet! My dog is still in here somewhere…" Hoku looked like he was about to cry again and Botan hugged him again.
Yato stopped himself from voicing the fact that the dog was most likely dead and sighed. "All right, you two stay with me and we can search this place."
Hoku nodded and stood up, Botan standing as well, with Hoku still holding onto her hand. Yato handed Botan the torch so that he could have both hands free in case he needed to fight. He could still feel something powerful down there other than himself. Botan nodded silently and Yato began walking further down into the mines, with Botan and the kid following him. The mines were eerily silent, and the deeper they went the colder it got. It seemed as if they'd reached a dead end when the ground beneath them suddenly crumbled. Yato turned around to attempt to protect Botan and Hoku but saw that Botan had already summoned her oar and was safely on it along with Hoku. Yato decided to let himself fall as he knew it wouldn't really hurt him at all and he landed further down, Botan flying down on her oar to rejoin with him.
"Well that was quite the fright, wouldn't you say Yato?" Botan looked at him, stepping off of her oar and helping Hoku off.
"Indeed, it's a good thing you have that oar I suppose," Yato chuckled a bit before the torch's flame suddenly went out. He heard Botan and the kid gasp and he quickly grabbed hold of both of them, making sure he knew where they were.
"I don't suppose you can see in the dark Yato?" Botan asked him, a hint of fear in her voice.
"Unfortunately not, I am still a human after all," Yato closed his eyes, trying to get a better feel for where the strong energy he sensed was. It seemed to be moving closer to them.
"I can see in the dark," Hoku voiced out, "If we go straight it leads to a cavern."
"All right, both of you keep a hold on me so that I know where you two are, Hoku if you see anything voice it out immediately," Yato began walking as Hoku grabbed hold of one of his hands. Botan placed a hand on his other arm. Yato knew they had made it into the cavern when the air grew colder and less stuffy. Hoku quickly let out a gasp and before Yato realized it he had run further than Yato could see. "Hey, kid wait!"
Yato felt Botan tense up through her grip on his arm tightening and he heard Hoku talking to something, which Yato figured must've been either a person or his dog. Yato heard movement behind him and spun around before a large fist slammed into his face, flinging him into the far end of the cavern as Hoku and Botan yelled out for him. He felt a weight land on his chest as fists pummeled into him.
Botan watched fumbled around getting to the center of the room, managing to find Hoku. "Hoku, what's happening? Who's attacking Yato?" Botan asked the panicked kid.
"It's, it's some big red demon! With four arms!" Hoki sounded scared.
"Is that your dog there?" Botan looked towards the vague shape of something laying on the ground.
"Yeah, he's still alive! We have to wake him up c'mon. He can help Mr. Yato!" Hoku sounded frantic and Botan nodded, feeling around for the dog. She felt something fluffy and began to use her healing magic, which created a small amount of light. She tried to ignore the sounds of Yato being pummeled, which should've made her happy considering that he had kidnapped her, though she would be lying if she said that was the case. Botan noticed that the "dog" did not look like a normal dog, though given that this was Makai she should've expected it wouldn't just be a normal dog. It seemed to have 4 eyes, large claws, and jagged teeth. It was also far bigger than any normal dog would be, it was closer to the size of a wolf. The dog opened its eyes and Hoku hugged it, burying his face in its fur.
"Thank you!" Hoku patted his dog who was clearly happy to see him, "I'm so glad you're ok Ash!"
"Ok, so how can this dog help Yato?" Botan asked, still hearing the sound of Yato being beaten down.
"Watch this, Ash burn that wood!" Hoku shouted. Ash barked and turned away, opening his mouth and shooting fire from it, illuminating the room. The wooden structures in the room, mostly some scaffolding and support beams, caught fire. Botan could now clearly see Yato and she gasped at what she saw. A huge red demon with 4 arms was straddling him, pounding his fists into Yato's face. Yato was a bloody mess, and it was clear that without having known about the demon having 4 arms he had been unable to properly defend himself.
Yato's eyes widened as flames suddenly illuminated the room, his vision returning. He saw his opponent, a demon with 4 arms, which explained why no matter how many times he grabbed the arms of his opponent he still kept getting hit. Yato managed to throw off his opponent and stand up. His opponent was weaker than him but given the fact that the lack of sight had allowed the demon to pummel Yato, things weren't looking good. He drew his blade and held it with one hand, the other hand wiping blood off of his face. The demon launched itself at him and Yato fended it off by slashing at it, managing to cut the demon's stomach a small bit. The demon roared and this time it lunged for Botan and the kid, plus what Yato assumed was the kid's dog. Yato flashed in front of them, blocking the blow and swinging his blade at the demon's head, but the demon brought up his two lower arms to punch Yato in the stomach, before flinging him high into the air and kicking him right before he landed. Yato slammed into a wall of stone and grunted as he shakily stood up.
Yato heard Botan shouting something at him but couldn't make out the words. He smirked, she and the kid really seemed worried. Yato sighed and sheathed his blade, taking a low stance with one hand on the hilt of his blade and the other placed on the scabbard itself, holding it steady. He took a deep breath and steadied himself as the demon began to walk over to him, making a noise that sounded like laughter. Yato waited for the demon to lunge at him before making his move. A slash that was far faster than what even the demon could see, one faster than what he had used against Hiei, one with so much force that as he completed the swing he felt a pop in his right elbow, followed by intense pain. He hated using this attack, it came with a price. He swung with enough force that he tore a ligament in his elbow. The blow did work, however. The demon was cut in half at the waist. Yato fell to his knees as his eyes began to shut, and he fell into unconsciousness due to exhaustion as Botan and the kid ran over to him.
The ligament that Yato tore is his UCL, which according to a quick google search is somewhat common in baseball among pitchers, though it can also happen from swinging a bat I believe. Basically, it just means intense pain and difficulty using your arm.