Last Chapter: Botan couldn't stop thinking about her odd interaction with Hiei, but she did manage to be the first to find the Lure: unfortunately, nobody else believed her, leaving her to tackle it alone. Botan dove in headfirst, and managed to overpower the Lure and restrain it, rising to victory as the others joined her. She thought Hiei was behaving oddly, but had to leave to take the Lure to Spirit World before she could investigate why he was acting the way he was.


Chapter 3: Open Your Heart

"Well Botan, I must say, I'm impressed," Koenma said, rocking on his heels.

Botan smiled to herself as she watched the guards secure the bars over the cell the Lure had been placed in.

"Thank you, Sir," she said, keeping her eyes on the Lure, who looked completely defeated, still handcuffed, and head downturned.

"You've done some excellent work today," Koenma continued at her side.

"Thank you," Botan said, her smile widening.

"Above and beyond the call of duty, for sure."

"That sounds like it deserves some sort of special reward."

"Perhaps it does."

"Like a promotion."

"Perhaps you're right."

Botan's smile turned into a confused pout, her eyebrows twisting over her widened eyes. She turned her head to look down at her boss, blinking owlishly as his words echoed around her mind. Despite her mind repeating the sound over and over, she was still sure that she must have misheard him.

"S-Sir?" she asked cautiously.

"With the Border Patrol in place, I didn't think we had much need for a Spirit Detective any more," he casually replied. "But this Lure has reminded me that there will always be some problem demons that sneak through the net, and today, you've proven that you're more than capable of handling them. How would you like to be the Special Spirit Detective?"

""Special" Spirit Detective?" Botan repeated, still reeling from the fact that she was genuinely being offered a change in role.

"Yes, the role would differ from the role that Yusuke did for us," Koenma replied, still talking far too calmly for Botan. "Obviously. You would effectively be another officer of the Border Patrol, only you would work on the human world side exclusively. You would have to liaise extensively with the existing Border Patrol, but that shouldn't be a problem. After this little mishap, my father wants to meet with Murkuro and her top officers anyway. You can come along to the meeting and we can sort out all the small details then."

"…Are you being serious, Lord Koenma?"

"Absolutely."

Koenma turned fully towards Botan, his hands behind his back, peering up at her with an expression she recognised as the one he wore exclusively when discussing formal matters.

"Until then, maybe you could speak to Hiei, get some idea of what his duties entail as an Officer of the Border Patrol."

Botan felt something twist and tense inside of her.

"I see," she said, nodding her head and trying to hide her apprehension.

"You have a couple of days, that should be enough time for you to talk things out with Hiei," Koenma added.

"Well, that's assuming I can even find Hiei, Sir!" Botan said through a forced laugh. "He doesn't exactly spend a lot of time anywhere other than Demon World these days, and Demon World is such a vast place, I wouldn't even know where to begin looking for him!"

"Don't be silly Botan, you won't have to go looking for Hiei," Koenma casually replied.

"I won't?" she asked.

Botan expected Koenma to tell her that she could ask Yusuke where she could find Hiei, or else just try to talk to him at, or just before, the meeting in Spirit World: but the answer he actually gave her was so unexpected, she failed to answer him, and he lost interest in waiting, and walked off, leaving her standing alone by the entrance to the holding cells.

"No, he's still waiting at the gates for you."

Botan eventually opened her mouth to repeat Koenma's words, if only to assure herself that she had heard him correctly, but she was cut short as a prison guard ushered her out of the area. Caught in a bustle of bodies, Botan soon found herself in the main hallway of the palace, surrounded by the usual chaos there, but feeling strangely alone. Although she was sure that she was not walking, she somehow found herself moving through the crowd, occasionally bumping into someone as she went, until she was making her way out of the temple altogether.

Outside, Spirit World looked exactly as it always did: the sky was a soft shade of magenta, the jagged mountains added depth in the far distance, the long pathway from the temple doors was clean and smooth and the gates at the other end of the path were gleaming and pinned open, a regimental guard standing at each side.

And, hunched over, and starkly black against the pretty pastel shades of the general surroundings, was Hiei.

Botan gulped and started along the path towards the gate. Even though the path was some length, she felt that the first feature of Hiei's that clearly came into focus for her were his eyes, staring directly at her – almost staring into her – in the same, odd, way they had been after her encounter with the Lure. She forced a smile, put her shoulders back and raised her chin, adopting as relaxed an aura as she possibly could as she drew to a halt before him.

"Hello Hiei, what brings you here?" she greeted him.

"You know why I'm here," he replied.

Botan faltered slightly when he once more addressed her in that same tone of voice he had been using earlier. She had never heard him talk that way before, and there was not anything particularly wrong or bad about it, but it was unusual and unexpected, and it did make her feel strangely detached from herself and from the world around her when she heard it.

"Yes," she lied, nodding her head.

"Why did you tackle it alone?" he asked.

"The Lure?" she asked.

"Yes, of course the Lure!" he snapped, sounding a little more like his usual self. "It was a reckless and ridiculous thing to do!"

"Well, that's your opinion, and you are of course entitled to it," Botan snottily replied. "But I think I handled the situation with aplomb: and so does Lord Koenma. In fact, he's offered me a promotion."

"A promotion?" Hiei echoed. "That's what it is?"

"Yes, that's what it is," Botan replied, feeling a little offended then. "I suppose you think working for the Border Patrol is demeaning, somehow, but you do it too!"

Hiei paused to look momentarily confused – but only momentarily – before countering.

"Why did you tackle the Lure alone?" he asked. "Did you think defeating it was a way of proving yourself somehow?"

"No!"

"Good, because that would be ridiculous!"

"Ridiculous why: because you think I can't win a fight or because even winning a fight wouldn't convince you or Yusuke that I am capable of more than you think I am!"

"You shouldn't have done something so reckless! Can't you see that?"

"Everyone else thinks I did a good job – even Lord Koenma – why are you being so mean to me about it?"

"This is beyond ridiculous! Do you have any idea what a Lure can do to you?"

Botan narrowed her eyes and thinned her lips.

"Nothing, apparently," she said smugly. "Because I defeated it."

"What you did was unbelievably stupid," he growled.

"I disagree," Botan retaliated.

"It's not acceptable."

Botan screwed up her face at his response, but Hiei seemed unaffected.

"You are impossible," he said, his voice once more back to that unusual tone from earlier. "I can't reason with you."

Botan's face twisted further, but, with a sweep of his cloak, Hiei turned his back on her and started to walk away. After just a few steps, he broke into a run, vanishing in a blur of darkness. Botan was left not only confused by his words to her, but also why he had even bothered waiting for her. It was not like Hiei to waste words or indulge in pointless exchanges, but it felt as though he had just done exactly that.

Confused and more than a little unnerved, Botan summoned her oar and set out to find someone who she was sure would be able to answer all her questions.


"Hello."

"Oh, hello, is Ku-I mean Shuichi, is Shuichi home?"

Botan grinned, hoping Shiori had not noticed her mistake. She had made a particular effort to dress in what she felt was an ordinary human outfit: an oversized bright yellow sweater emblazoned with haphazard blue lightning bolts under a set of blue overalls with buttons as yellow as the sweater; and to further her disguise, she had curled her hair into tight curls that made it appear short, holding it back from her face with a chunky yellow headband with a large blue bow decoration. She was not entirely sure the look was still current, but Shiori seemed very pleased to see her, and so Botan deemed her choice of outfit a success.

"Why yes, do come in," Shiori said, stepping back and beckoning Botan to enter the house.

Botan bowed her head in thanks, removing her shoes in the doorway and then following Shiori through the house.

"Shuichi honey, there's a very pretty girl here to see you," Shiori said as she peeked her head into a room off of the hallway.

Botan smiled at the compliment, but covered it casually as she followed Shiori into the room, where she found Kurama and Kuwabara sitting at a small table by a window, which was wide open. Yusuke was sitting in the window, facing outside, smoking a cigarette, but apparently he was still a part of the card game his two friends were playing, as he was loosely holding a fan of playing cards.

"Oh, thank you, mother," Kurama said to Shiori, smiling warmly at her before nodding a greeting to Botan.

"It's so nice that you're visiting today," Shiori said, squeezing Botan's arm in one hand. "My Shuichi only ever seems to have other boys over. I'm so pleased to see a girl visiting him."

Kuwabara and Yusuke snorted and muffled their laughter, but Kurama remained cool, maintaining his smile.

"Thank you, mother," he said again.

Shiori nodded at him and let herself out of the room.

"Close the door, Botan," Kurama whispered.

Botan nodded and closed the door behind Kurama's human mother, before moving over to the table and taking a seat facing the window.

"I came here to ask you a question, Kurama," she began.

"Yes, I imagine you did," Kurama solemnly replied.

"You already know why I'm here?" Botan yelped.

Kurama nodded.

"Koenma told us he was gonna make you the new Spirit Detective," Kuwabara offered.

"Oh… Right… Yes, that," Botan replied slowly.

"We of course will always be available to help or give you any guidance you may need in your new role," Kurama assured her.

"So you took the job, huh Botan?" Yusuke asked over his shoulder. "Even after watching me do it, and seeing what it did to me. And what it did to Sensui…"

"This will be different," Botan replied. "For a start, it's not exactly the same job."

"And you've got us to help you out," Kuwabara pointed out.

"Yes, thank you, Kuwabara," Botan replied. "But honestly, I didn't come here to talk about that."

"Oh?" Yusuke responded, shuffling around slightly to face her more fully, looking suddenly markedly more interested in what she had to say.

"It's about Hiei," she said, deciding just to come to the point. "He was waiting for me in Spirit World. He seems really angry with me. He keeps telling me I was "reckless" and "ridiculous" for fighting the Lure. I know he's not jealous, it's not like I'm any threat to him, but I don't understand why he would be so angry about me winning a fight against a demon."

Kurama looked thoughtful and was nodding his head at Botan's words, but Kuwabara had hidden his face behind his cards and Yusuke was shaking his head and taking a long draw on his cigarette.

"Wh-what is it?" she asked, moving her attention to Kuwabara and Yusuke. "Is there something going on I don't know about?"

"No, Botan," Kurama replied.

"Really, Kurama?" Yusuke asked quietly. "You're just gonna lie to her?"

"I'm not lying, Yusuke," Kurama calmly replied. "I am confident she already knows – just perhaps she is not outwardly aware."

"I need to use the bathroom," Kuwabara said suddenly, rising from the table with a scratching squeak of his chair against the floor.

Botan glared up at him, the redness in his face and the smirk on his face doing little to ease her concerns.

"What's so funny?" she demanded. "Are you mocking me?"

"No," Kuwabara meekly replied, before escaping the room.

Yusuke extinguished his cigarette and swung his legs back into the room, slipping back inside and pushing the window closed.

"Yusuke?" Botan asked him.

"I'm not getting involved in this, Botan," he said, sitting down into the chair Kuwabara had been occupying moments earlier.

"Kurama?" Botan tried, turning to the most sensible of her friends there.

"It's nothing to worry about, Botan," he replied.

"Yusuke?"

Botan turned to Yusuke again and he sighed, casting Kurama a long look before turning his attention fully to Botan.

"Hiei's a pretty basic guy, emotionally," he said. "He basically only has the one emotion: anger."

"Sounds like someone else I know…" she replied, eying him critically.

"And I guess the little guy hasn't ever had a crush on anyone before, right Kurama?"

Botan turned to Kurama, the slightly worried look on his face making her realise exactly what she had just heard Yusuke say.

"Crush?" she echoed, turning back to Yusuke. "What?"

"Most of us get our first awkward crush out of the way when we're like five years old," Yusuke continued. "But I guess Hiei was a little…"

"Stunted," Kuwabara muttered as he slinked back into the room.

Yusuke snorted and nodded.

"Right, the little guy took a little longer to get there than the rest of us."

"Botan, please, Hiei's feelings for you have never interfered with any of the missions we've worked on together in the past," Kurama said, far too smoothly for Botan's liking. "You mustn't needle yourself over this."

"…What?" Botan squeaked.

"So Hiei's got a crush on you, so what?" Yusuke said with a large shrug. "Kuwabara used to have a crush on you, and you kinda just ignored it, same way you've been ignoring Hiei's crush on you."

"I had a crush on Botan for like a week," Kuwabara countered. "Hiei's had a crush on Botan for a long time."

"What?" Botan echoed.

"Yes, well, let's not make light of this," Kurama tried. "You both know how Hiei dislikes it when you tease him about it."

"Wait just a minute here!" Botan cried, thumping the sides of her fists onto the small card table. "Exactly how long has this been going on? And how long have you three known about it? And when was anyone going to tell me about it?"

She sighed.

"And also…" she began. "How is this even possible?"

"Botan, it's really nothing to concern yourself about," Kurama said soothingly.

"It is really funny though," Kuwabara chortled.

"It's been going on since the Dark Tournament, we've known about it since about the time Sensui showed up, and we thought you already knew," Yusuke frankly announced.

Botan's eyes widened and she felt the colour drain from her face.

"Hiei?" she asked.

"Yes," Kurama replied.

"Hiei has feelings for me?" she asked.

"Yes, that's correct."

"Hiei?"

"Yes."

"But…"

"He freaked out when you called me about the Lure."

Botan slowly turned to Yusuke, remembering then that she had hung up on him partway through her call to him when she had first encountered the Lure.

"He was so desperate to get to you, to protect you," Yusuke said with a smirk. "First he was mad at me because he couldn't get back to you instantly like he wanted to, then I guess he was mad at you for nearly getting hurt."

"If you'd really gotten hurt Botan, he might have had to admit that he cared," Kuwabara added.

"It's been this way for so long, we shouldn't let this one particular happenstance change anything," Kurama suggested. "He will sulk for a time, but he will eventually come to his senses, and all will return to normal."

"Normal?" Botan echoed. "I-I don't think it's normal…"

"You don't think it's normal that Hiei has a crush on you?" Yusuke asked.

Kuwabara sniggered behind her and Botan shot him a scolding look.

"No, that's not what I meant!" she snapped, irritably.

"She's right though, it's not normal," Kuwabara muttered.

"What are you insinuating?" Botan snapped at him.

"That it's weird Hiei's got a crush on someone who isn't a super-powered demon," Kuwabara replied.

"And someone who isn't super grumpy and dark," Yusuke added.

"And someone from Spirit World, no less."

Botan shot Kurama a hard glare upon his last remark and he smiled a little awkwardly.

"Yes, well, as I said already, it's best just to let things settle down," he suggested. "Let things return to the status quo."

"I can't even imagine why he would have feelings for me," Botan conceded. "You're all right: I'm from a completely different world, one he hates, we have little in common, and we are polar opposites in personality and life philosophy!"

"I thought he liked you 'cause you were the only girl who ever paid him any attention," Kuwabara suggested.

"I thought he liked your jugs."

Botan scowled at Yusuke, who shrugged.

"What do you want from me?" he asked. "I mean, c'mon. He's on eye level with your jugs, it's not like he can't have noticed them."

Botan growled at him, but he remained unaffected.

"Arguably the two of you are not so different," Kurama commented. "You both approach matters based on your own morals rather than those of the world you come from, you are both strong-willed, both a little vulnerable, emotionally–"

"Kurama, I thought you said you were staying outta this?" Yusuke cut him off.

"Let him speak!" Botan snapped, slapping Yusuke's arm.

"Why do you care?" Yusuke asked her.

"Because…"

Botan's voice trailed off. She was not really sure what the right answer was. Why did she care?

"Aw, ew, Botan!" Kuwabara said, his face contorting. "You don't like Hiei too, do you?"

"I see the guy just about every day in Demon World," Yusuke said. "He never gets any action. Even if you're not that into him Botan, I'm pretty sure he'd appreciate it if you tossed him a mercy f–"

"Alright, I think that's enough," Kurama said, his tone a little firmer than usual. "Botan, there's really nothing to concern yourself with. Hiei has felt this way for some time, and it has never affected his ability to work with you when needed, so please, put it from your mind and rest easy."

"Unless you're into moody boys with mommy issues," Yusuke said with a grin, wiggling his eyebrows at Botan.

"Yusuke, please," Kurama sighed.

"Don't do it, Botan!" Kuwabara wailed.

"I'm not doing anything!" Botan said, rising from her seat.

"Or anyone, apparently…" Yusuke muttered.

Botan punched the side of his head, using more force than she had meant to: but she justified her action by silently reminding herself that he was an S Class demon, and he could easily handle a hard smack to the head.

"Behave yourself, Yusuke!" she scolded him.

She nodded at Kurama, shook her head at Kuwabara, and then took her leave.

"Oh dear, are you leaving so soon?" Shiori called out to her.

"Yes, thank you for your hospitality," Botan vaguely replied, despite knowing her comment was not entirely accurate.

"If you'd like to stay for dinner, I can easily make a space for you?" Shiori offered, meeting Botan by the door.

"No, but thank you for the offer," Botan replied as she slipped back into her shoes.

"Well it was lovely to meet you," Shiori said, opening the front door for her.

Botan was sure she had met Kurama's mother before, but was too distracted to give the matter much more thought, and so instead just nodded in reply.

"Shuichi has always spoken highly of you," Shiori added as Botan stepped outside. "Come back again any time, Keiko."

"Thank you, goodbye."

"Goodbye."

Botan took a step away before spinning around abruptly. Shiori had already closed the door, but Botan could not help but wonder about Shiori thinking she was Keiko. She touched a finger to her chin, wondering exactly what sort of things Kurama had told his mother about Keiko: eventually she decided she could efficiently deal with two issues by just visiting Keiko, and so started in that direction.


"Botan, hey," Shizuru greeted Botan.

Botan peered over Shizuru's shoulder, into the house beyond.

"I'm alone, yes," Shizuru answered her, as though predicting her next question. "What has my little brother gotten himself into this time?"

"This isn't about Kuwabara," Botan replied.

Shizuru shrugged and stepped back to allow Botan passage. Botan stepped into the house, looking about herself regardless.

"I'm alone, Botan," Shizuru insisted.

"Definitely?" Botan asked.

"Yes."

"No Yukina?"

"No, she went home with Keiko, Keiko's mom is teaching her how to cook."

"Oh yes, I remember that now…"

Botan did vaguely recall that Yukina had been occasionally spending time with Keiko's parents, learning how to cook more complex human dishes in order to prepare them for Kuwabara. Realising that was where the ice maiden was, Botan was doubly glad she had changed her mind about consulting Keiko for advice: the last thing she needed was to discuss what she had just learned about Hiei in front of his own twin sister.

"I need to talk to you," Botan said.

"Everything okay?" Shizuru asked. "You left pretty quickly when Koenma called on you."

Botan paused, looking at Shizuru quizzically.

"We were having a picnic earlier today, and you got called away," Shizuru reminded her.

"Yes!" Botan recovered. "Yes, it all went well. Very well."

"Okay, so what's up?"

Botan sat down in an armchair and Shizuru sat down in a chair that faced her across a small, low table.

"I fought a demon," Botan began. "And I beat it. All on my own."

"You don't sound happy about that," Shizuru replied.

"Well, I was happy, but after I beat the demon, Hiei started acting funny. And then afterwards, I visited the boys, and they told me…"

"What?"

"They told me that Hiei might…"

"Have feelings for you?"

Botan's face dropped.

"You knew too?" she wailed.

"Nobody said anything to me, but I figured he might," Shizuru assured her. "Just in his own, repressed, dark sort of way."

"Does everybody know except me?" Botan cried.

"I've never mentioned it to anyone, Botan. It was just something I suspected. Something I felt from him when he was around."

"And you never said anything?"

"No. It was just a hunch. It's not my place to go spreading rumours about something I don't know is an actual fact."

"Why didn't you at least tell me?"

"It was just a hunch, Botan. I didn't want to talk about something I didn't know was definite."

Botan relaxed a little and nodded.

"Well alright then," she conceded. "But what am I going to do?"

"You're asking me?" Shizuru responded.

"Yes! You're smart! You always know the best and right thing to do. What should I do?"

"You don't have to do anything, Botan. Not unless you have feelings for him."

A short silence passed, during which Shizuru did little more than narrow her eyes, almost imperceptibly, and yet Botan felt herself break out in a cold sweat.

"Do you have feelings for him, Botan?" Shizuru eventually asked.

"I don't think so," Botan replied monotonously. "I mean… I don't think I have romantic feelings for him – oh, not that I'm saying Hiei has romantic feelings for me, of course! Just that… I don't think I have those sorts of feelings for him…?"

"I think, initially at least, it was just a sexual attraction."

"And it's something else now?"

"Well, that's kinda how these things happen. It starts out as just a crush, based on physical–"

"Wait a minute, what are we saying?"

Botan gasped and covered her open mouth with her hands. Shizuru had spoken so casually about Hiei having a "sexual attraction" towards her, she had almost overlooked exactly what that meant. Shizuru waved a hand and shook her head, before offering Botan a lop-sided smile.

"Like I said, unless you feel the same way, you don't have to do, say or even think anything," she said.

Botan nodded, though she was far from sure.

"I have to go," she excused herself.

"Sure," Shizuru replied. "See you around."

Botan nodded again and saw herself out of the house. She took herself back to Spirit World, telling herself that a relaxing walk in the temple gardens would ease her mind: but instead of going directly there, she wandered the endless corridors of the temple, bumping into ogres, ferry girls and guards alike. She muttered apologies here and there, but for the most part, she found herself too distracted to respond quickly enough. She supposed that Shizuru's advice was sound: even if Hiei did have feelings for her, she did not have to do or say anything, or change anything about the way she treated him or worked with him.

And that seemed feasible on the surface, as, since Sensui had been defeated and the kekkai barrier had been destroyed, Botan had hardly seen Hiei.

But Koenma had just promoted her to a position that would mean she would probably have to interact with Hiei on a near daily basis.

Botan sighed and sat down on a bench overlooking a koi pond in the lush temple garden. She watched the fish smoothly glide through the water, the light occasionally catching on their scales, creating silver sparkles. The water was clear, and the aquatic plants growing within were vibrant green, swaying gently as the fish swam by them. The pond was long and oval, stretching out in front of where Botan was sitting, with a bridge crossing over the centre of it. Even from where she was sat, Botan could make out the grain in the wood the bridge was made of, still visible through the sheer coat of red paint that covered it. She lifted her head higher, seeing a trio of blossom trees beyond, burgeoning with flowers that made a pleasant rustling sound whenever the breeze washed over them. Behind and beyond the trees, the remainder of the garden was a patchwork of colours, ranging from bright and bold to pastel and subtle. The blue-green mountain ranges in the middle distance stood out sharply against the glowing pink sky, every ridge and crevice of the mountaintops clearly visible.

Spirit World had never looked so beautiful and bountiful, and it was the first time Botan had realised just what a paradise it truly was. It was a stark contrast to the place that she remembered Demon World to be. The two worlds were both so different, and just as she was a product of her environment, Hiei was a product of his: they were both so different, she wondered if Hiei's alleged feelings for her even held any weight. How could they even have a relationship when they were both so very different?

Botan frowned, memories of Kurama's words to her echoing through her mind. He had started to suggest that she and Hiei actually did have some key things in common. He had spoken about them both approaching matters based on their morals, and that was something she knew was true of herself. Although generally, she would go along with anything Spirit World decreed, Botan would fight against it if it compromised her own set of beliefs. Likewise, Hiei had rebelled against even Demon World to follow his own moral code. Although they were from two separate worlds, they were not strictly bound to by the guidelines of those worlds. Kurama had said they were both strong-willed – which Botan assumed was a polite way of calling them both stubborn – and she could not deny that Hiei was stubborn. She could think of countless examples of Hiei's obstinacy, some of which had almost cost him his life and one of which – speaking the taboo word when in Kaito's territory – had literally cost him his soul. She did not think that she was a stubborn personality herself, more just pleasantly confident and determined to follow through with things. Maybe that was the same thing as stubborn, she thought with a pout.

The last thing Kurama had said, the thing he had not exactly finished saying (thanks to Yusuke interrupting him) had been to describe both Botan and Hiei as "emotionally vulnerable". Botan would not exactly describe herself that way, however she was not so "strong-willed" that she incapable of admitting that she wore her heart on her sleeve, which, she reasoned, could be interpreted as an emotional vulnerability. Hiei, however, she could never imagine being vulnerable in any way, least of all emotionally. As Yusuke had said, the only emotion Hiei ever displayed was anger. Whilst it was entirely possible that he experienced a full spectrum of emotions internally, the only one he ever externalised was anger.

Which, according to the teachings of Spirit World, was a defence mechanism: a defence mechanism employed by someone in emotional turmoil, unwilling or unable to express their true feelings.

Botan looked up at the brilliant sky overhead again. She had been told by other residents of Spirit World that her eyes were the same colour as the sky, and in that moment, it occurred to her that the same was true of Hiei: his eyes were the same colour as the skies of his homeworld. Those same eyes that had looked at her so directly, in way he never had before, when he had approached her following her tussle with the Lure. His eyes had looked so intent and so intense, it was a way nobody had ever looked at her before, it was a way she had never seen him look at anyone before, and yet somehow, it felt familiar. It reminded her of something from her past, something vague, something that had seemed insignificant at the time, she was sure, as she was struggling to puzzle through exactly what memory it was. The only thing she could be sure of was that it was a memory of Hiei.

Botan looked about herself again and sighed. She almost felt guilty to be so forlorn and so distracted from the world around her on such a beautiful day. She had never seen the temple gardens look so lush, the sounds of the breeze in the greenery was almost musical, and the air smelled of light, sweet blossoms and grass.

It truly was paradise.


Next Chapter: Botan decides to confront Hiei directly and question him on his behaviour. His reaction is not entirely what she expected, and, in many ways, leaves her thinking about him even more than ever. Realising that the boys have not really helped, Botan turns to her girlfriends for advice on what she should do. Chapter 4: Little Sad Boy