Botan smiled as she watched Hoku and Yato training. So far, two weeks had gone by at Genkai's temple without any incident. Hoku had convinced Yato to begin teaching him how to use a sword, so right now Yato was dueling Hoku with a stick.

Ash was sprawled across Botan's lap, and Botan herself was sitting on a picnic blanket. She had brought food for Yato and Hoku and had decided that they could all make a picnic out of it.

"Y'know Hiei, you don't have to continuously watch over me, it isn't as if Yato would do anything bad to me," Botan glanced at a tree behind her. Hiei stepped out from behind it, looking slightly surprised that she had noticed him.

"Don't flatter yourself," Hiei scoffed, "I'm hoping that he tries something so that I may fight him. I don't care about your safety."

Botan knew that Hiei was lying, at least about not caring about her safety, but she decided that she wouldn't bother trying to call him out for that. Everyone in their group knew that Hiei cared about them more than he would ever admit.

"Well, you're wasting your time then," Botan stated, "Yato won't do anything that you could use as an excuse."

"You place too much trust in him," Hiei scowled before turning away.

"I think I place just the right amount," Botan grinned and watched as Hiei left. A few moments later, Hoku and Yato came over to her blanket. Hoku looked absolutely worn out, but Yato seemingly hadn't even broken a sweat.

"How'd training go?" Botan asked with a smile, tossing Hoku a towel and some water.

"It went well. Hoku's getting better with footwork, though he still leaves himself too open on attacks," Yato replied.

"Well, given that he's only had two weeks of training, I'd say he's doing wonderfully then!" Botan ruffled Hoku's hair as he flushed in embarrassment from the praise.

"I agree," Yato smiled as he sat down next to Botan. Yato was wearing just his hakama, and the top half of it was loose-fitting and exposed a good amount of his chest. Botan had found herself noticing things such as this more and more often recently but attributed it to the fact that objectively speaking, Yato was good-looking. She was sure that anyone would notice, it definitely couldn't just be her.

"What did you bring today?" Hoku's question interrupted Botan's train of thought, and she turned to look at the demon child.

"I brought peanut butter and jelly sandwiches!" Botan grabbed a paper bag and handed it to Hoku, "I also brought an apple for everyone."

"Thank you Botan," Yato said, taking his bag and taking out the contents of it.

Botan nodded and began eating as well. These last two weeks had been good. They'd been peaceful and Botan wished that things could just stay this way. However, ever since she'd woken up that morning, she'd had a nagging feeling of anxiety that was just eating away at her. She couldn't help but feel as if something was about to go wrong, but she couldn't figure out the cause for it either.

"So, I was thinking that we could all go on a camping trip with the others," Botan began. Hoku perked up upon hearing the word camping, ever since his journey with Yato and her, Hoku just couldn't get enough of camping it seemed.

"Are you sure they'd want me there?" Yato raised the concern.

"Oh it'll be fine," Botan assured him, "they'll live. Besides, you and them need to bury the hatchet eventually. You can't stay at odds forever."

"If you say so…" Yato sounded unsure, but he trusted her.

"Kurama has a cabin near a lake, it's plenty isolated from everywhere else and we usually spend a week or so there each Summer," Botan continued.

"Can Ash come as well?" Hoku asked.

"Of course he can," Botan smiled at Hoku. The two were inseparable, wherever Hoku went Ash followed.

"Are you sure that there will be enough space for everyone?" Yato questioned.

"Of course! If we all just stay in the same room then it'll be no different than years past," Botan answered.

"So, when will it be?" Yato asked.

"Well uh," Botan began, a bit sheepish, "We'd leave tomorrow…"

"That's… a short notice," Yato pointed out.

"Is that a problem?" Hoku asked.

"Not in this situation, I'm fine with whatever you two want," Yato responded.

Botan sighed in relief, "thank goodness. I kinda forgot to mention until just now so I was hoping that it wouldn't feel too sudden…"

"I don't mind sudden, it keeps things exciting!" Hoku exclaimed.

"He has a good point there," Yato agreed.

Botan giggled a bit and finished her food, noticing that Yato and Hoku had finished a while ago. They both had an incredible appetite, though Yato was better at being subtle about it than Hoku was.

"We should probably go pack then," Yato suggested.

"Good idea!" Botan agreed.

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Packing was harder than Yato had expected it to be. He was used to taking only necessities on trips, but Botan had insisted that he take items that would be fun as well.

When Botan realized that Yato didn't exactly have any such items, she took him shopping to get some, and that's how he ended up figuring out how he would fit an inflatable canoe into the trunk of the car that they'd be taking.

That was another thing Yato wasn't used to, using a car or any other means of transportation. It was always quicker for him to just run to wherever he was going, but Botan had insisted that they take the car to the lake.

When Yato had failed to figure out how to fit everything into the car, it was the ice maiden who came to their aid. Yato believed she was named Yukina, though he rarely saw her. She seemed to have some connection to both Kuwabara and Hiei, as Yato could tell that the latter secretly kept watch over her, while the former came to visit her and often professed his undying love for her.

Yato had gone to bed that night exhausted. Not physically, but mentally. He had never been tasked with a harder puzzle than fitting all of the packed items into that small 4 seat car, and he was not sure how he made it work, partially because it wasn't him who made it work in the end.

So when he was woken up in the middle of the night, and when he saw that both Hoku and Botan were still asleep, he was justifiably angry. Yato stared at the window, trying to tell if his mind was deceiving him or if there was actually a shape of a person out there. When it became clear that there was someone out there, he immediately grabbed his sword and darted outside. His eyes would need some time to adjust to the dark, but the pressure he felt now that his senses were more awake was unmistakable.

"Hello, Yato," Helio said.

Yato's entire body tensed up and his hand instinctively moved towards his blade. This was bad, he couldn't beat Helio in a straight up fight. Heck, even if he had the advantage of a sneak attack and used tricky tactics, there was still only around a 20% chance of him winning he'd say.

"Don't worry, I haven't come to kill you. I came to speak to you, one last time as a friend," Helio declared, "And possibly to see Hoku as well, if possible."

"I can't allow that," Yato stated, hand not falling from the hilt of his blade.

"I see," Helio sounded a bit disappointed. Yato had heard that Helio and Hoku had gotten along well, but to the extent of that, he was not sure.

"So, what do you wish to say."

"Why did you leave?" Helio asked, "Like, I get that you were captured and taken to Koenma against your will, but what's keeping you here? Why don't you leave?"

"I have… people I can't abandon. I'm sorry I had to leave, though if you would just join me, I'm sure people would accept you as well," Yato offered.

"You know I can't do that," Helio shook his head, "It's because of that ferry girl, isn't it? She changed you. If you hadn't met her, you wouldn't have offered to help care for Hoku after saving him."

"I can't deny that," Yato admitted, "You have to admit, when someone who serves a figure that you've seen as the definition of absolute evil turns out to be such a kind person, it can certainly change your perspective on everything."

"...I hope that at least you're happy," Helio responded, he sounded uncertain about Yato's words.

"I suppose that nothing I can do will change the fact that the next time we meet, it will be as enemies?" Yato questioned.

"I'm sorry, but you're right. The next time we meet, we will meet as enemies. But before I go, I want to say one thing. Cassandra is really mad, she wants you dead, and she wants the ferry girl dead even more," Helio stated. He was the only one who ever referred to the queen by name, because to Helio she wasn't simply his queen, she was his closest friend now.

"I suppose that she'll try to have me killed?"

"No, she wants you captured. And the ferry girl. I managed to convince her that Hoku hadn't done anything wrong, so she decided that she doesn't care about him. But she wants to kill the ferry girl in front of you, then kill you," Helio's tone was grave.

"I suppose I should be on guard then, huh?" Yato remarked.

"Probably. I don't think she'll send me, she probably doubts my ability to harm you if push comes to shove," Helio answered.

"That's a relief, if she did send you then I wouldn't be able to stop you," Yato loosened up a bit.

"Be careful, even though we aren't friends anymore, I still don't want you to suffer a painful death."

"You be careful as well. The queen- I mean Cassandra has made an enemy of both Mukuro and Yomi. We both know that you're the only one who can really match either of them in a battle, at least the only one under her command. Be careful," Yato warned.

"I don't need sympathy from an enemy. But as your former friend… thank you," Helio sighed.

"Let's hope that we don't meet again, at least not before this is all blown over," Yato said.

"Yes, and given that this will likely never blow over, goodbye. I hope that we don't meet again," Helio sounded sad, but before Yato could say anything else he was gone.

Yato turned to go back inside but saw the outline of someone leaning against the door.

"Yato? Is everything all right?" Yato recognized Botan's voice and realized that he must've woken her up in his haste to get outside.

"Yes, everything's fine," Yato approached her, noticing that she seemed to be cold. This made Yato realize how cold he was as well.

"What did he want?" Botan asked.

"To speak to me as a friend one last time."

"Why didn't you go back with him? None of us were here to stop you," Botan questioned.

Yato stopped right in front of her, looking down as he spoke, "I thought I told you, I have no intentions of abandoning you or Hoku."

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Botan was very grateful for the fact that it was dark out. She could feel her face heating up and was really hoping that Yato couldn't see it. She wasn't sure if it was due to his words, his proximity to her, or a mix of both, but something in her was causing her to react strangely to his words.

"I- I guess you're right huh," She knew that he had said that he wouldn't abandon her or Hoku, but sometimes there was a part of her that still doubted that, despite him giving her no reason to do so.

"Let's get back inside, it's cold out here," Yato suggested, and Botan nodded. She made her way back to their room, making sure that Hoku was still asleep.

Botan heard Yato getting back into his bed, and she got back into hers. She was not sure if she would get back to sleep, but she knew that Yato was probably tired. There were a lot of things on her mind. Such as wondering why Yato was so loyal to her and Hoku. Or wondering why she'd been feeling differently around him lately. Botan laid in silence as eventually, she heard Yato's breathing steady out, indicating to her that he must've fallen back asleep.

She was confused about a lot of things, she wasn't a master at reading emotions like Kurama was, and she didn't have his level of understanding about the ways people think either. Even so, usually, she could at least understand her own emotions. But this time was different. She did not know why she kept having doubts when it came to Yato's promises of staying. He'd given her no reason to not believe him, and his actions had repeatedly shown that he cared for her and Hoku, but for some reason, she still felt as if he would leave, and she didn't know why.

Botan laid in the dark, occupied with her own thoughts. She did not manage to return to sleep, and she did not manage to figure out any of her confusions either.

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Yato stood outside the car that they were supposed to take to the cabin on the lake. Apparently, Genkai would not be attending the trip. Yato had been told that she always looked forward to this week each year, as it was the quietest week she'd get. Yukina would be traveling with them as well apparently. Botan was the only one in the group who actually knew how to drive a car, so it was up to her to handle that.

Yato ended up in the front passenger seat, with Yukina and Hoku in the back. Yukina seemed to love Hoku, she thought he was adorable. Yato could tell that Yukina was a kind person, so it made sense that she was good with kids. Ash also seemed to warm up to her quickly, though Ash warmed up to anyone who gave him treats, which Yukina couldn't seem to resist doing.

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The drive had been mostly uneventful. Botan was a very good driver, but she was also a very focused driver. She also had her music on the whole time, which was a new experience for Yato, seeing as he really hadn't heard any music from the human world for hundreds of years.

Most of the songs were about love, and though they surely would've been considered provocative in Yato's time, people also used to think that wearing an outfit that exposed one's ankle was slutty, so he assumed that these songs must've been normal by today's standards.

Yato did not dislike the car ride exactly, but he was more than happy to arrive and immediately start carrying their luggage inside. When he entered the cabin, he saw Kurama, Hiei, Yusuke, and Kuwabara all inside.

"Ah and there he is," Yusuke remarked. Yato was quite sure that the 4 really didn't like him. Hell, he was sure that outside of Botan and Hoku, and perhaps Yukina to an extent, the whole group still hated him.

"Sorry we're late, the travel from Genkai's temple was quite far," Yato offered.

"We don't care about that. You'll be staying in the last room on the left on the second floor, give us Botan and Hoku's stuff and we'll take it to their room," Yusuke said.

"Sure," Yato didn't feel like arguing, so he gave them the bags as requested and went to the room he was told would be his. He felt someone following him the whole time, and when he turned around Kurama was behind him.

"I hope you don't mind, but we'll be sharing this room," Kurama stated.

"You all still think I'm the enemy, huh?" Yato guessed.

"To be blunt, yes."

"Fair enough. I've got nothing to hide, so I really don't care about being watched," Yato shrugged and set his stuff down next to one of the beds in the room. Kurama claimed the other one.

"We've all gone through enough crises at this point that none of us are exactly the most trusting people anymore. Not that Hiei or I were trusting to begin with," Kurama replied.

"I'm surprised you didn't have Hiei room with me, he already spends all day at the temple watching me," Yato joked.

"He might actually kill you in your sleep if he was forced to be that close to you," Kurama replied, deadpanning.

"Nah, he'd wake me up first. He's desperate to get a chance to fight me at my full power," Yato chuckled to himself. Hiei was the easiest to understand out of the group. He just wanted to fight Yato, it was as simple as that. Yato didn't know what the end goals of the other three were, but Hiei's was clear-cut.

"Regardless, if you try anything at all, I will personally grant you a fate worse than death," Kurama threatened, his eyes were cold and dark.

"None of you seem to understand. It isn't your threats that will keep me in line, I've been threatened by scarier people before, it's Botan. I will not betray her trust, and so you all have nothing to worry about," Yato responded, deciding that he was done with this conversation. The 4 boys were powerful, sure, but Yato had never been afraid of fighting those who were strong, even if they outnumbered him. The idea of him hurting Botan by betraying her trust was what scared him. He had promised to give Koenma a chance, and that was what he was doing by staying here.

Botan and the other girls were now in the living room downstairs. Hoku and Ash were there as well, and Ash seemed to be the center of attention as he was doing tricks for Keiko, Botan, and Yukina.

"Oh, there you are Yato!" Botan's face lit up as Yato came down the stairs, and he was hit with a strange feeling that he didn't quite understand. What he did understand though, was that the fact that it was the main reason why he couldn't betray her like everyone else seemed to be convinced he would.

"Sorry for the delay, I was just having a chat with our new friend here," Kurama announced his presence as he came down the stairs as well.

"I'm sure that wasn't necessary. If he was planning to act against us, he wouldn't do it when we're all together!" Botan exclaimed, sighing.

"Yeah, you meanies!" Hoku stuck his tongue out at Kurama, the gesture seemed to be his favorite way to show distaste for someone.

"He literally kidnapped Botan and tried to kill Hiei and me! Of course we don't like him," Yusuke argued.

"And Hiei kidnapped me and tried to enslave humanity, and tried to kill you, but you're all good buddies with him!" Keiko admonished. Botan looked thankful towards the girl, and Yato was surprised at her defense of him.

"Why are you taking his side?" Yusuke asked.

"We're all tired of you lot picking fights, especially when there doesn't need to be one," Shizuru stated. She had been quiet thus far, and Yato hadn't even noticed her in the room before just now.

"Guys… can we all just stop arguing? Please?" Botan pleaded with the group.

"Yeah guys, we're here to have fun," Kuwabara stated. Yato was even more surprised by his comment, as he had been sure that Kuwabara had hated him.

"What's gotten into you Kuwabara?" Yusuke asked.

"Yukina said that she thinks we can trust him, and that's good enough for me," Kuwabara retorted.

"Man she has you wrapped around her finger," Yusuke snickered, "But fine. We're here to have fun, so let's do that."

"Thank you," Botan sighed and offered a weak smile.

"Good, now that you boys' are done being troublesome, let's go get the grill going," Shizuru suggested.

Yato was glad that the others weren't as aggressive as Yusuke, or Kurama, and especially Hiei, but he was sure that those three would still take some time to come around to him. Hopefully, it would happen sooner rather than later, the last thing he needed was to worry about both them and Cassandra.