Here is chapter 5, I hope you all enjoy it!
Yusuke fought to stop a yawn from overtaking him as he held a large boulder over his head. He had been at this for several hours. It had now been 2 weeks since Botan had been captured, and Yusuke felt no closer to being as strong as the man who had taken Botan was. He had not heard any new developments from Hiei or anyone about the investigation, and it was something that frustrated him greatly. He knew that he had gotten weaker in the past years, but it frustrated him to see just how much weaker he had gotten. He could tell that Kurama and Kuwabara felt the same way. The 6 demons Genkai had them training with had only gotten stronger as well, though they had not gotten as strong as Hiei had. Yusuke had to admit that when Hiei had stated he could've taken on Kurama, Kuwabara, and him all at once, he probably wasn't lying. Yusuke swore, deciding that even after this was all over he wouldn't let himself get this weak again.
Yato awoke with a gasp, sitting up immediately. He looked around and noticed that he was in his room, his sword was right beside him and he saw that he had bandages on his chest where there had been wounds before. The aching in his head was almost entirely gone and his right elbow felt fine as if he hadn't wounded it. Yato rubbed his eyes, he had been expecting to wake up in a healing tank but here he was, in his own bed. He heard the door that connected to Botan's room open.
"Oh, Yato! You're awake!" Botan was carrying fresh bandages and a cleaning rag, Yato's eyes widened a bit, had she really been taking care of him?
"How long was I out for?"
"Uhmm… about a week or so I think!" Botan set the bandages down on the nightstand next to his bed, "You were really banged up you know, I wasn't sure if my magic would be able to save you…"
"Why did you even bother? You could've escaped," Yato looked at her, bewildered.
"Well, I couldn't just leave you to die! Goodness, I know you're used to hanging around heartless brutes but not everyone is able to just let people die!" Botan exclaimed, "Besides, you did save my life, as well as Hoku's!"
"You are a confusing one," Yato pressed a hand to his chest, he could feel that there was no pain there at the moment. He tore off his bandages to check how bad the damage was and saw that at this point there were only a few bruises. "So, how is the kid anyway?"
"Well… he's been staying with me for the past week. According to him he didn't have any parents or anywhere to go without the village so I thought it would be cruel not to look after him and his dog, oh and he's been very worried about you, he'll be glad to hear you've awoken!"
Yato watched as Botan hurried back into her own room, and took the time to slip on the first undershirt he could find in his wardrobe. Botan returned with Hoku and his dog in tow.
"Mr. Yato! You're awake," Hoku's face lit up and Yato had to admit that he felt a warm bubbly happiness upon seeing that. Even if he had been too late to save the rest of the town, at least he had saved this one life.
"Hello Hoku, I hear you've decided to stay with Botan is that right?" Yato smiled at the kid.
"Yeah, she's been looking after me! She's super nice!" Hoku grinned and Botan had to admit that hearing that almost made her tear up, she never expected to feel happiness like this when she had been kidnapped.
"I see, I suppose I should make some additions to her room then, you'll need more wardrobes and another bed…" Yato rubbed his chin as he thought about what would need to be done.
"Oh it's fine, Botan worked that out! She turned the couch into a bed!" Hoku exclaimed excitedly, "You have to come to look it's super cool!"
"All right," Yato followed Hoku into Botan's room. Hoku proudly showed him how Botan had fitted up the couch like a bed by arranging the cushions and whatnot in a specific way. She had even made a pile of pillows next to the couch, where Ash was currently resting.
"Isn't it awesome?" Hoku proclaimed to Yato.
"Yes it is quite impressive, I would not have expected you to be so savvy in this area Botan," Yato smiled to himself a bit.
"Well, I used to be really into DIY crafts…" Botan stated, grinning a bit sheepishly.
"...Yeah I can see that," Yato stated, "Well I'll start cooking for three now I suppose, and I'll get meat for Ash ash well."
"Oh, Helio has been bringing us food while you were out, though I think that Hoku and Ash like it far more than I do…" Botan chuckled as she spoke.
"Is that so? That's nice of him. I do hope no one has given any of you trouble while I was out cold," Yato mostly looked at Botan as he said this.
"Oh not at all, the others seem mostly indifferent to Hoku and a bit frightened of Ash, and no one has bothered me really," Botan shook her head.
"The others are all jerks! They kept saying things like they were glad you were hurt and that they hoped you'd die and stuff!" Hoku said with a pout, "I don't like any of them except for Helio."
"Hoku! Mr. Yato doesn't need to know that-" Botan exclaimed, looking over at Yato a bit concerned.
"It's fine, I expected as much. As long as they left you two alone that's all that really matters," Yato stated, smiling at an angry looking Hoku.
Before Hoku or Botan could say anything, there was a shout from outside the room.
"Hey human, make yourself presentable and come to the war planning room, our queen has called for all her generals," The voice yelled. Yato sighed.
"I've got to go, you two feel free to help yourself to any food in my room," Yato said before turning around and moving back into his room to shower and clean himself up. As the door to his room shut Hoku looked over at Botan.
"Why is Mr. Yato so sad?" Hoku asked.
"Hm? What do you mean?" Botan responded, looking at Hoku questioningly.
"His eyes, they look like some of the miners I knew in my village, the ones that didn't have anything in their lives except the mine. He looks tired and sad, he doesn't look like he wants to be here," Hoku explained, and Botan was a bit shocked at how observant the kid was. Botan thought about his words, she had assumed that Yato was driven entirely by hatred for Enma and Koenma, but what if that was wrong? She was absolutely sure that the hatred was there, but what if it wasn't only directed at the rulers of spirit world? What if his hatred also extended to himself? That would explain why he never acted against the demons despite their treatment of him. She should've realized it earlier, after all he did explicitly state that once his goal was done he would let his "comrades" kill him. Botan felt a strong sadness in her heart as she connected the dots. He hated himself every bit as much as he hated Enma and Koenma, and she realized that his goals would not truly be done until the three of them were all dead.
"He… I think he just needs support, but he also needs someone to convince him that he's wrong, about a lot of things," Botan said. As she said this she decided. Her only concern was no longer escaping before her friends came here and got hurt trying to save her. No, now she had two more goals. She would convince Yato that he was wrong in his hatred of himself and Koenma, she did have to admit that Enma was every bit as despicable as Yato viewed him as though, and she would make sure that Hoku grew up with a loving family around him. Hearing that he had never even known his parents had broken her heart, she couldn't imagine how lonely the boy must've been all his life.
Hiei sat in a library within Mukuro's castle, scouring over various maps and books with information about the deepest pits of Makai. At a nearby table, Hinageshi did the same. Hiei had decided that if he was going to be forced to work with such a weak and insufferable partner, he would at least make her pull her own weight. He had given her the task of sorting through information while he had focused on training. The lack of any advances over the course of a week had made him doubt that she was doing her job at all really, but when she had challenged him to try doing it himself he found out why. There were large amounts of information that seemed to continuously contradict itself. Maps of the same area that were made 10 years apart would contain different geography. Hiei chalked that up to the fact that when powerful S-class demons fought, or heck even when the weakest S-class demons would battle, the entire landscape around them was subject to change. The deep levels of Makai were a constant battleground. There was always some hopeful ruler who believed they could crush their enemies and grow to challenge one of the kings, but they never established the dominance that they were looking for. It was genius on behalf of Mukuro and Yomi he had to admit. By ruling from the upper levels of Makai, they held the best land and ruled over the largest populations. They also were so strong that it was impossible for anyone to gain enough power on the surface to threaten them. But in the deeper levels of Makai, in large pits and craters and generally just less ideal land, anyone who wanted to gain enough power to challenge one of the kings would have to establish dominance there first, which was nearly impossible.
Ironically this strategy worked against Hiei now as due to how insignificant most of the kingdoms down there were, there was a lack of concrete information on them.
"This is all useless, even the most recent maps are from a year ago," Hiei stated, annoyed at the lack of useful information. He slammed the maps down, "I've got no other choice it seems."
"Uh, what do you mean Hiei?" Hinageshi looked up at him.
"I'm going to forcefully enter the mind of our hostage," Hiei stated, standing up.
"Wait but couldn't that cause your death?" Hinageshi asked, sounding concerned.
"Only if I am weak, in which case I would be of no help rescuing your friend anyways," Hiei stated, walking towards the dungeons with Hinageshi following.
"Shouldn't you tell Mukuro about this?" Hinageshi asked as she tried to keep up with Hiei.
"I see no reason to do that, it woud only cause a pain in my ass when she tries to convince me to be patient. I have no patience, and I am sure you don't either as it is your friend at risk," Hiei said, not bothering to try and shoo off the ferry girl. She had seemed to take after Botan in that both were very stubborn.
"Ok… well at least try to not die then?" Hinageshi stated, and Hiei looked back a bit surprised, he had expected her to continue arguing with him to be honest, not that she would've won.
"I don't intend to die before I have a proper fight with that swordsman," Hiei smirked as he reached the dungeon, throwing open the door that had the prisoner and grabbing him by the throat, opening his Jagan eye as his energy tore apart his bandages. The prisoner grinned as Hiei closed his eyes and his body crumpled, falling before Hinageshi caught him and laid him down softly.
Yato stood at the far end of a large rectangular table, with the opposite side being taken by the queen. Everyone else was seated. The queen, whose name was long lost, she was simply the queen. She embodied her title in every way a demon queen should, she was strong, smart, cunning, and commanding. The queen stood and called attention.
"The village that was wiped out, it seems to have caused more trouble than it was worth," The queen began, "The one who you killed there was a general from the northern kingdom, they are understandably mad that you killed a general of theirs over just wiping out a small town on the border."
"I fail to see how that is my problem, I saw a threat and killed it. If they could not keep their general on a leash perhaps he should not have been a general," Yato began. He had far more freedom to talk back to the queen than most, as she greatly respected his skill and usefulness, "as far as I'm concerned I did them a favor."
"Yes well, they maintain that he had no orders to attack the village and had no history of doing things like that, in fact, some of them even seemed to insinuate in my meeting with them that they believed it to be an inside job," The queen stated.
"Which we know it wasn't, which leads us to the question of whether or not we believe the general actually went insane, or whether we believe a third party put him up to this," Another general spoke out. Yato recognized him as the brains of the castle, a genius among geniuses.
"Correct, now think, are there any third parties who may have power down here that would want us to enter a conflict with one of our main rivals?" The queen asked.
"Yomi. He has power down here and would not hesitate to use such underhanded tactics. And whereas Mukuro simply does not care what happens this far out of her territory, Yomi actively enjoys crushing upstarts like us. And we did send an assassin after him," Yato stated, "I still think that was a mistake, he may have actually agreed with us for all we know."
"That doesn't matter, we'd come to blows with him anyway. Revenge against spirit world is only the first part of our plan," The queen stated, "Though you are only concerned with the first part and that is all that you need to keep in mind. And on that note, I believe the next part of our plan is ready to begin. You may dispose of the ferry girl whenever you wish after this meeting, Yato."
Upon hearing the last part Yato's energy flared up in anger that surprised even him, the generals all tensed up. Aside from the queen, Yato was the strongest person in this meeting, as Helio was unfit to be a general despite his strength. The queen stared impassively at Yato who did nothing to calm his flaring energy.
"I will do no such thing, my revenge is for Enma and Koenma alone," Yato stared down at the generals, mocking them almost. He knew that some of them could give him a good fight, but he was still stronger in the end. Though even he had to admit that he would likely not be able to beat all of them at once he did not plan to, he simply planned to make his point. "In fact, should any of you lay a finger on her I will kill you, the same goes for the kid and the dog. I don't need any of you to take my revenge in the end, I can do it all by myself if you will not work with me."
"Yes by committing suicide, but you don't want to die to spirit world, do you? You believe that our demons have a right to take revenge against you," The queen mocked him, "But very well, the ferry girl and child will not be harmed."
"Good," Yato left the room. He had been surprised by his own reaction when it came to Botan. It was true that she was very kind and seemed to actually care about him despite the fact that he had literally kidnapped her, but he was still baffled. He suddenly held doubts about whether or not his revenge even warranted him holding her captive, despite the fact that he had treated her well.
Yato returned to his room and saw Botan making food on his stove, she seemed to be making some sort of meat.
"Oh hey Yato… did something happen? I felt your energy all the way down here," Botan stated, smiling at him.
"Nothing important," Yato stated.
"Someone suggested that he kill you and he got like, super mad at everyone," Hoku stated, walking through the doorframe, "I know cause Ash heard it with his super good hearing and he told me."
Yato's eyes widened, "You can talk to your dog?" Hoku nodded in response before Botan cut in.
"Wait, is what Hoku just said true?" Botan said, turning away from whatever she was cooking, though by the smell of it Yato's assessment had gone from just "meat" to "chicken".
"Well uh, yes it is. They said that you were no longer useful, which most of them thought from the start. And uh- the queen suggested that I kill you," Yato said, almost feeling embarrassed.
"Aww that was sweet of you, to defend me like that I mean," Botan grinned and put chicken on a plate for herself and him, Hoku seemed to have already eaten some demon food from the cafeteria.
"It was nothing. More importantly, someone wants a war between us and the northern kingdom," Yato stated. Hoku's eyes widened.
"Isn't the northern kingdom like, where they have the super strong king? And all those big monsters?" Hoku said, "The king who can summon monsters and stuff?"
"Yes, and I believe I might know who it is, well. It could be one of two people. Either Yomi, who is the better option, or someone even worse. I am going to speak to this someone even worse and despite my threats earlier, I do not trust your safety while I am gone. You will both come with me," Yato stated as he ate chicken, "I do not think you two will be in danger of the man I need to see, however. He is not violent, but he is cunning and scheming."
"And you know where to find him?" Botan asked.
"Of course, he imprinted magic of his in me long ago, and as such, I am always aware of where he is, and he of me. Unfortunately for me, he seems to be in the human world, which means that we have to go there," He looked at Botan and she was instantly sure of why he thought that was unfortunate for him. She smiled to herself, she was sure that he believed she would try to escape or something along the lines. He had no idea that she did not intend to escape at all.
"Don't worry Yato, I won't try to escape or anything, I wouldn't want to cause trouble for you after all," Botan said.
"Which confuses me, I'm trying to kill your boss," Yato stated.
"I'm sure you'll find that Koenma isn't at all who you think he is, it isn't your fault that you never got to know the true him, the one that only came after meeting Yusuke," Botan said with a smile, "Though Enma is every bit as evil as you think! So I won't argue with you there."
Yato expected anger to flow through him as Botan challenged the ideals he had lived by for hundreds of years, but that anger did not come. He was confused at how she seemingly tried to fully understand him and did not even entirely disagree with him. Yato sighed, "Get ready soon, we leave tonight, I want to be back from our trip as soon as possible."
Hoku nodded and ran off as Botan went into her own room to eat. Yato shut the door and sat at his table, staring at his reflection in a cup of water. What was he doing? At what point had he began to question whether he was right or not? It had only been two weeks since he had kidnapped Botan, one of which he was not even conscious for, and yet he was already realizing that his revenge was no longer his only goal as it had been for centuries. The idea of letting himself die no longer seemed attractive to him either. He was no longer sure what he wanted. He slammed his fist into his table, the fact that he was this unsure of what to do maddened him. He felt no anger towards Botan or Hoku, however. He felt anger towards himself.
Hiei woke up laughing. Hinageshi was startled at that as Hiei stood up, looking at the now dead body of their prisoner. During the invasion of his mind, Hiei had ended up killing the man, but not before he found out what he needed to know.
"I know where the base is, and I also know that it doesn't matter where it is because we will not need to go there," Hiei stated, standing up and dusting off his cloak, "Go get ready to leave, I am going to report to Mukuro then we will head to Koenma."
Hinageshi nodded and went to her room to get ready to leave for spirit world. Hiei found Mukuro in her room reading a book.
"I know where the base is," Hiei stated.
"I know, I was in your mind the moment I felt your Jagan open, I saw it all," Mukuro smiled, "So everyone is a pawn?"
"It seems that even we are being played like pawns, what do you want to do Mukuro?" Hiei said.
"Go fight your swordsman, make sure you fight to the absolute best of your abilities, I need your full focus after that and until you get your rematch I can not have that," Mukuro smirked, "Make sure you win."
"I planned to do that anyway," Hiei laughed and left. He reached the gate where Hinageshi was waiting for him and the two left for the spirit world.