Last Chapter: Botan attacked Ayame and sought out the Lure (again), where, for the first time, she asked the Lure to take her. She then found herself back at Shizuru's birthday picnic, where everything was perfect. After a flirty encounter with Hiei, and encountering a typically distant Ayame in Spirit World, she bumped into Hiei during her duties, and found him even more delightfully flirty.
Chapter 16: Alive
After finally finishing her shift for the day, Botan returned to Spirit World, entering the busy central part of the temple just in time to catch a large pile of papers an ogre was in the process of dropping. He thanked her profusely as she helped him reorganise the papers into two manageable piles, one on each of his arms, and she welcomed his praise with a smile. Once he was secured and back on his way, Botan continued through the melee, wending her way towards the staircase that led to the wing of the temple her room was located within. Again, it was very early for her to be retiring to her room already, but she was keen to have another shower and go to sleep early. And possibly dream some more.
Once inside her room, she wasted no time throwing off her clothes and getting into the shower, standing under the perfectly heated and pressurised water that no shower in the human world ever truly matched. As the water fell over her body, she smoothed her hands over her stomach, stopping as the tips of her fingers neared the apex of her thighs. She started to think again about touching herself – and again she was sure that was somehow Hiei's fault – and as the thought filled her mind, she let one hand slide down between her legs, her fingers hovering just shy of their goal. It was an exciting idea, but not nearly as exciting as the idea of Hiei being there. Catching her. Calling her a "dirty girl" like he had earlier.
Botan shivered all over at the thought, turning her head slightly to look at the dark shape through the frosted glass of her shower door. She knew it was her towels on her towel rack but imagining that it was Hiei made the moment seem more tantalising. She bit her lip and took a deep breath, readying herself to do it, to touch herself, to imagine it was Hiei's hand guiding her pleasure. The moment before she moved her fingers, the dark shape outside her shower moved.
Botan gasped, her hand shooting up to her chest. When the shape moved again, she whipped open the door, watching as her towels slide a little further, before falling to the ground entirely. She looked down at them on the floor for a moment before laughing at herself and closing the door again. She shook her head at her own silliness and finished up in the shower before getting into her pyjamas and tucking up her hair. She moved over to close her curtains but paused for a moment, looking out over the back of the temple. It was early evening, twilight hour, and everything looked soft and warm. It was a lovely view, but the only thing Botan could think about was how unfortunate it was that she was so high up. It was a vista that was only visible from height, but she wished she had a room down in the orges' quarters, overlooking nothing but another wall of the temple, because that way, with a ground level window, it would be possible for Hiei to sneak into her room in the middle of the night, and she did really, really like that idea.
Too bad it was impossible in reality, and would only ever be something she had imagined during a hallucination.
Botan sighed and closed her curtains, before turning and crawling into her bed. She settled down and closed her eyes, willing herself to sleep. Maybe she would dream about Hiei coming to her window. It was maybe impossible in reality, but anything was possible in her dreams.
"Kurama, do we really have to send him back in there?"
Botan was at the Dark Tournament, dressed and ready to be Team Manager. Yusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara were standing ringside, ahead of her.
"Yes, Yusuke," Kurama answered.
"He's not ready to go back in there!" Yusuke argued. "He's still messed up from the last fight!"
"But he is the only one of us who can go," Kurama reminded Yusuke.
"There's gotta be some other way," Yusuke tried.
Kurama shook his head.
"It's too bad he's so stubborn," Kuwabara commented. "I'm sure my lovely Yukina would have helped him heal that wound."
"I don't think it works like that, Kuwabara," Yusuke said, sounding uncharacteristically dark.
"I don't know if that would have worked or not," Kurama said, when Yusuke turned to him expectantly.
"Hearing you admit you don't know somthing is never a good feeling," Yusuke muttered.
Botan lifted her eyes from them to the ring ahead. For whatever reason, Hiei had climbed into the ring from the opposite side – the side belonging to the enemy team – and he did, as Yusuke had implied, look like he was still suffering from an earlier battle. His shirt was torn in several places and clinging to his body, slick with blood. His bandana was equally drenched in blood, so much so that small rivulets of blood were trickling down either side of his nose from it. His head was forwards, but angled slightly downwards, casting his face mostly in shadow. Despite his condition, his eyes were bright and clear, staring forwards with determination. He took a few steps towards Botan and the boys, but he was dragging one of his legs, the smear of blood left behind on the ground by every drag indicating he had been extensively wounded in that leg somewhere too.
"Could he die?"
Botan turned to Kuwabara upon his question.
"Don't be ridiculous, Kuwabara!" Yusuke said. "That bug-eyed, beaky bastard ain't strong enough to kill Hiei. Right, Kurama?"
Botan turned to Kurama, the solemn, hardened look on his face, combined with his lack of a response to the question, doing little to ease her mounting concerns.
"Kurama?" Yusuke asked, his confidence gone from his voice.
"We must hope this is the final round," Kurama eventually answered.
It was an answer, but it neither confirmed nor denied that Hiei's life could be in danger. Botan turned her attention back to Hiei, watching as he raised one hand, reaching it out in front of him. A shadow crept over the ring, emanating from somewhere behind Botan. The shadow was just a mass at first, but then it changed shape, taking the shape of something long and pointed. Botan slowly looked up – though she already knew what it was, before her eyes landed on it, she instinctively knew – seeing a long, gleaming black blade stretching over their heads and reaching out towards Hiei. It moved slowly, so slowly it was agonising to watch, the tip aiming directly at Hiei, who remained exactly where he was, one arm outstretched, his eyes staring intently. The tip of the blade eventually touched the middle of the thigh of his uninjured leg, pressing until the fabric of his pants began to move inwards with it. It finally burst through skin and flesh, blood pumping out of the wound it was slowly, slowly creating. The blade continued pushing, boring right through Hiei's leg and out the other side. The blade came to a thin point at its tip, but it increased in diameter further up its length, and as it continued pushing through, it was widening the hole it had punctured into Hiei.
But he still just stood there. The tension in his face, the tightening around his eyes indicated that it was painful, that it was difficult for him to bear, but bear it he did. His shoulders started to visibly move with every breath he took, and, as his punctured leg began to quiver and falter beneath him, his outstretched arm fell to his side.
It felt like he was losing the fight.
Botan sat up, looking about herself. It was daybreak, the night over already. She frowned, feeling unsatisfied and a little down after having such a horrible dream – especially after she had enjoyed such a titillating dream the night before – but she decided she might as well just get up and get moving, as a day's work would surely clear it from her mind.
When Botan saw the length of her task list for the day, she almost regretted wishing for a long day's work. As she was mulling over the length of it, she became aware of something at her shoulder, turning her head to see Ayame craning her neck to see her list.
"I have a lot to do today," Botan told her.
"You'll manage it," Ayame said, smiling sweetly. "You're always so upbeat, nothing ever gets you down: not even a task list as long as that!"
Botan nodded, deciding Ayame was probably right: if she approached it with a positive outlook, the day would pass a lot quicker and easier.
And, it did. Botan completed her task list and was back in Spirit World at the same time as Ayame, who had taken out a much shorter list.
"I knew you could do it," Ayame told her as they landed by the temple gates.
"It wasn't so bad," Botan said with a shrug.
"You're so resilient, Botan," Ayame said.
"Yes, I am," Botan agreed, holding her head high as they continued towards the temple.
Botan shortly lost Ayame as they became separated by the chaos in the central area of the temple. She could have stayed with Ayame, walked with her, but she had not especially cared to, and so was neither up nor down when she realised that she had lost her along the way. As she neared the end of the area, Botan heard something she never had before.
"Botan, report to Koenma's office, Botan to Koenma's office."
She stopped and turned with a frown. A nearby ogre paused by her side, looking at her expectantly.
"When did we get a loud-speaker system installed?" she asked him.
"It's always been there," he replied. "You've never been called on it before?"
Botan shook her head, and although she never had been called on the system before, she accepted that meant little, and that the system probably had always been around. It made sense, it was a much more convenient way for Koenma to summon people rather than the way he had summoned Botan in the past: sending George running all over the temple.
Botan took herself up to Koenma's office, knocking on the door and pushing it open, peering her head around it tentatively.
"You called for me, Sir?" she asked.
"Yes, come in, Botan," he replied.
Botan entered his office but was cautious about approaching his desk. He usually only summoned her when there was a problem, and she was looking forward to an easy, early night after the demanding day she had just endured.
"Kuwabara has invited you and I to a dinner party," Koenma said.
Botan sighed in relief and let her tense shoulders relax.
"Just the two of us?" she asked.
"No, it's for everyone," Koenma replied. "All our friends will be there."
"All our friends," Botan repeated.
"Yes, you know: Kuwabara, Shizuru, Yukina, Keiko, Yusuke, Kurama and Hiei."
Botan smiled and nodded.
"That sounds nice, Sir," she said.
"It's tomorrow night, but I've decided you can tomorrow off," Koenma replied.
"Really, Sir?" Botan asked.
"Yes, you've done a lot of work today, and you didn't complain about it at all, I think you've earned a day off."
Botan squealed involuntarily in excitement.
"Thank you, Lord Koenma Sir!"
She bowed to him and spun on her toes, racing from his office. She ran all the way back through the temple until she reached a point where she was allowed to fly, at which point she summoned her oar, still running, and leapt onto it at speed, flying through the sky and through the nearest portal to the living world: after all, she was not going to wait around in Spirit World and risk having her boss change his mind. She flew fast and direct, only slowing when she had her destination in her sights. She circled the two-storey house twice before determining that her fastest approach would be through an upstairs window. She flew to the window and began knocking on it frantically, ignoring the fact that her actions made Keiko yelp and drop the pile of neatly folded laundry she had been carrying into her bedroom.
"Botan," Keiko said as she opened the window. "I didn't expect to see you until tomorrow!"
"Can I stay the night here?" Botan asked, gliding into the room.
"I suppose so," Keiko replied. "We could get into our pyjamas and watch romantic movies!"
"No, I need to find something to wear for dinner tomorrow," Botan flatly answered.
"Oh, well, I could lend you something, if you like?"
Botan was well ahead of Keiko and had already thrown open her wardrobe to inspect the contents.
"I have a really pretty dress that's the same colour as your kimono," Keiko offered. "Only… I bought it for me, so I'm not sure it will fit you."
"Of course it will!" Botan replied, finding the dress in question and whipping it out of the wardrobe.
"You are a bit taller than me, remember," Keiko advised.
"It'll be fine!"
Botan began taking off her kimono as Keiko tidied up the pile of laundry she had dropped when Botan had given her a fright earlier.
"It'll be nice to have everyone together again," she commented as she gathered her things.
"We should go early," Botan suggested. "To help get everything ready."
"I was gonna go round to Yusuke's first, see if Atsuko wanted to come too," Keiko said.
Botan suspected that maybe Keiko was going to see Yusuke to have some alone time with him ahead of dinner, but, as she pulled on the dress Keiko had suggested, she let go of the idea.
"Yeah, it's a little short," Keiko said.
Botan eyed herself over in the mirror mounted on the wardrobe door.
"It is, but I think it's okay," she said.
"Turn around," Keiko suggested in a strange tone.
Botan did as she asked, bringing herself face-to-face with Keiko.
"Look at your back in the mirror," Keiko suggested, pointing over Botan's shoulder.
Botan looked back over her shoulder.
"Oh my!" she gasped. "That is a little short."
"Yeah," Keiko said, nodding her head. "You won't be able to bend down or even sit down without everyone being able to see… Well, everything."
Botan turned her head back to look at Keiko.
"I have other things you can try, don't worry," Keiko said with a wave of her hand.
"I want to wear this dress," Botan replied.
"I have another dress that's pretty similar, only it's much longer," Keiko offered.
"But I want to wear this dress," Botan insisted.
Keiko gave a questioningly look, slowly shaking her head.
"But it's too short," she said quietly.
"I think I pull it off," Botan quietly replied.
"I think you're not considering things like a gust of wind, or walking upstairs ahead of someone else," Keiko pointed out.
Keiko was correct: Botan had not considered either of those things. But, after hearing Keiko mention them, she started to think about them. She started to think about a gust of wind lifting her dress, or someone walking upstairs behind her. It was just like that fantasy she had enjoyed when she had been hallucinating.
"I'm going to wear this dress," she concluded.
"Okay…" Keiko said slowly.
Botan spun around to face Keiko, smiling at her.
"Let's get into our pyjamas and watch romantic movies," she said.
"Really?" Keiko said, brightening into a big smile herself.
Botan nodded and Keiko hurriedly put away the rest of her laundry, reciting a list of movies they could watch. Botan had seen them all before, but she knew Keiko loved them, and she knew Yusuke hated them, so she was okay with sitting through them with her friend.
It was strange, but Botan never really felt any connection to the romance movies Keiko liked. They were not bad films, but something about them just never quite hit the mark for her. She loved romance, and she loved other peoples' romances (like Yusuke and Keiko, or Kuwabara and Yukina) but something about the movies just never quite connected, never quite gave her that feeling that real-life relationships did. The movies were great, but they were obvious. There was drama, but the ending was always obvious from the very beginning. They lacked something, a certain raw edge, something to bridge that gap between "romance" and "love".
As Botan settled down beside Keiko, both laying on their stomachs, watching the small television that sat on top of a chest of drawers in Keiko's bedroom, she realised that she had never considered before that the words "romance" and "love" had different meanings. The films Keiko watched were "romantic", but that song Botan was so fond of was about "love". The films were about people having feelings and acting on them, but the song was about that push and pull of dealing with feelings, processing them, being overcome by the realisation that it was possible to feel so strongly about one person, and learning how to express it, how to share it, how to acknowledge the love of another person.
Love was actually quite a scary concept. Romance was safer, easier, more fun. Botan supposed that was why the movies were about romance. It was more entertaining, more easily digestible. Just like the song implied, romance was big gestures and symbols, but love was confusing, vexing, frightening and all-consuming.
Love was bigger. Love felt impossible. Although, Botan thought darkly, with Hiei, even romance was impossible.
Suddenly the movie she was watching took on an entirely different tone, and by the time it was ending, both she and Keiko were in tears: though for entirely different reasons.
"Are you absolutely sure about that dress?"
Botan nodded, ignoring the strange look Keiko was giving her.
"Well, I'm off to see Yusuke," Keiko said.
She turned to look out the front windscreen of her car and Botan suspected – again – that Keiko's visit to Yusuke was about a lot more than just extending an invite to the dinner party to Atsuko.
"I'll see you later," Keiko said.
Botan waved her off and turned to take herself up the garden path to the Kuwabaras' front door. She was a couple of hours early of dinner time, but was hoping to use the time to ready herself for the evening. She raised her hand to knock at the door, but before her knuckles made contact, the door was whipped open, and she found herself looking at a beaming Yukina.
"Botan, I'm so glad you came early!" the ice maiden greeted her.
"Actually, I came early to ask Shizuru if she would help me do something a little different with my hair," Botan confessed.
"Will you let me do your make-up?"
Botan frowned.
"I've been practising, Shizuru and Keiko said I've gotten really good at it!" Yukina insisted.
"Well, okay then," Botan said with a shrug.
It seemed odd that Yukina would be at all interested in something like make-up, but the ice maiden did occasionally paint, and showed quite an artistic flair, so it was logical that she could have extended that skill to applying make-up. Botan followed her to the bathroom, where Yukina indicated that she should sit on the corner of the bath – which was not the most comfortable position to be in – and she then produced a bag full of products.
"Can you give me something…"
Botan's voice trailed off as Yukina met her eyes, and she realised she was about to ask Hiei's sister to make her look sexy for her brother.
"Grown up?" Botan tried.
"I choose what I use," Yukina said, with a strange determination in her voice. "I'll decide, and it will be the best choices for you."
"Oh," Botan said, nodding slowly. "Okay…"
Yukina rolled up her sleeves and Botan tilted her back head, the feeling of Yukina's cool hands and the silky foundation against her skin proving to be quite a soothing sensation.
"Are you excited about tonight, Yukina?" Botan asked.
"Of course," Yukina replied. "I like it when we can all be together."
"Yes, that was why I was worried you might get lonely sometimes," Botan pointed out.
"I like it when we're all together, but it's nicest when we just do it sometimes," Yukina said. "I like time alone, to do the things I like to do on my own. And I like it when I'm just spending time with you, Shizuru and Keiko. And I like it when it's just Kazuma and me. Sometimes it's nice to be with lots of people, sometimes it's nice to be with just one, and sometimes it's nice to be by myself."
Yukina smiled shyly.
"Does that sound silly?" she asked.
"No, sweetie, of course not!" Botan replied. "I completely understand what you're saying! I like a bit of variety too."
"Kazuma is excited about tonight," Yukina said. "He's been recording mixtapes for the last two days."
Botan giggled and Yukina joined in with her.
"Does this mean Kuwabara will be singing for us tonight?" Botan asked.
"I hope so," Yukina replied. "I know you all think he's silly, but I like it when he sings to me. I like to see him enjoying himself, and he's so passionate about his favourite songs and…"
"And you?"
Yukina smiled but did not answer: not that she needed to. She continued her work in silence, and Botan simply enjoyed the feeling of her cool little fingertips working over her face. Once she was done, Botan turned to the mirror, pleasantly surprised to see that what Yukina had done looked better than anything she would have asked for herself.
"Thank you, Yukina," she said.
"Is it my turn now?"
Botan turned to the bathroom door with a smile, where she found Shizuru standing with a curling iron in one hand.
"Excuse me, Yukina," Botan said.
"I'm going to help out in the kitchen now anyway," Yukina replied.
Botan gladly followed Shizuru through to her bedroom.
"So, that's what you're wearing tonight?" Shizuru asked as she closed them into her room.
"Yes," Botan replied, smoothing her hands over the her rear-end, a small part of her acknowledging that the dress even felt short when she did so.
"Any particular reason why?" Shizuru asked, plugging in the curling iron and pulling out the chair at her desk for Botan.
"I like it," Botan replied, sitting down onto the chair.
She let out an involuntary yelp as she sat down: she had forgotten to tuck the dress around herself, leading to her sitting onto the cold metal chair with her bare thighs.
"It is pretty," Shizuru said as she began sectioning Botan's hair.
"I like it," Botan said again.
"Well, that's really all that matters," Shizuru said with a shrug. "No point in trying to be something you're not just to get attention. Because if you do that, you're gonna get the wrong kind of attention, and that would only leave you feeling way worse than being ignored or overlooked ever would."
Botan swallowed carefully.
"You're very direct, Shizuru," she said.
"I thought I was being indirect," Shizuru replied with a smirk.
"You're right though," Botan said. "And I am happy."
"Good," Shizuru said.
Shizuru finished styling the front of Botan's hair before wrapping the back up in large curlers.
"We should let that set for a bit," Shizuru told her. "I've given you loose curls in the front, and I've curled it tighter in the back, it looks softer that way."
"What should I do while it sets?" Botan asked.
"What do you want to do?" Shizuru asked.
Botan looked about the room before smiling as an idea occurred to her.
"Lie on your bed with you and talk about the weirdest spirits we've ever seen?" she suggested.
"That sounds like a great idea," Shizuru said. "But I have a better one."
"Oh?"
Botan turned in the chair to face Shizuru.
"It involves you, me, knives and vegetables," Shizuru said.
"We should help with food prep?" Botan asked.
"Come on, it won't be that bad," Shizuru insisted. "We can play "guess who this potato looks like"."
Botan laughed and accepted Shizuru's offer of her hand, letting her friend guide her through the house to the kitchen, where they found Yukina already working on something over the stove. Shizuru led Botan to a colander of freshly washed carrots, cucumbers and radishes.
"Help yourself to a knife and get chopping," Shizuru told her.
Shizuru moved further down the same length of kitchen worktop and began preparing dashi. Botan turned to her other side, where she found a set of knives, in a wooden block. She reached for what she guessed was probably the one she would need, closing her hand around it and sliding it out of the block. The blade was a little longer than she had expected, and the depth of the blade was much shallower than the handle had implied it might be. In fact, from the handle, the entire thing tapered away to a very slender point – so slender, the very end of the blade looked useless as a cutting implement. It looked more like it was designed for skewering than chopping. Botan took out a radish and placed it on the chopping board, her hand holding the knife hovering over the vegetable.
She was unsure if she could do it.
The knife would not chop. She would have to pierce the pointed end into the radish and press downwards, hopefully getting a cut that way. It was such an odd design for a knife. And, although it was gleaming, it was unusual that the blade – and the handle, the entire thing – was black. And triangular. It was triangular. It was a V-shape. It was not actually a knife. It was an inverted V-shape, two blades, two sharp edges, joined together with a smooth bend. It definitely would not cut through.
Botan touched the tip of the knife to the radish. The radish looked so white. It was the colour of dead skin. The colour of skin that had been denied blood for too long. A corpse, or a severe wound.
Botan pushed the pointed end of the knife into the radish and rich, deep red blood welled up around the point she had inserted the knife, pooling there for a moment before spilling out in every direction, leaving trails of blood all over the surface of the white, white radish.
Like dead skin.
Botan opened her hand and drew it back. The blades of the knife were not really blades. Not like the blade of a knife. More like the blade of a saw. They did not have a solid edge, rather they were serrated, made up of small hooks or teeth that slanted backwards. She had pushed the teeth into the radish easily, but pulling the knife back out would tear a bigger hole, as the jagged, angled teeth would tear through everything on the way back out.
Like a million tiny arrowheads. It was designed to enter swiftly and easily and deeply, but cause massive damage when removed.
Botan took a step back as the radish continued to burgeon blood, the kitchen falling into darkness until all that remained was the chopping board, the white radish, the red blood, and the black knife.
From the corner of her eye, in about the same place Shizuru had been standing only moments ago, Botan could see something. A shadow. Black, white and red. She swallowed carefully, the action making her realise that she had become so tense, even her throat had just about ceased up. She lifted her chin slightly and slowly, very slowly, allowed her eyes to drift from the radish to her left, in the direction of the shadow.
It was a figure.
It was someone.
Botan turned her head, as slowly and carefully as she had moved her eyes, until she was looking fully, directly at the figure standing a short way to her left, facing her. She opened her mouth to say his name, but she was unable to speak. The look on his face was unreadable. Hiei was wearing his usual clothing, dark pants and boots, white scarf around his neck, the majority of his body – including his arms – hidden beneath a black cloak. The white bandana around his forehead had a small mark on it, around about where the centre of his Jagan Eye would be beneath it. Botan focused her attention there, watching as a small red dot bloomed outwards until his bandana was so soaked in blood, it was trickling down the length of his nose, down either side of his nose, down over his temples.
There was blood dripping from his cloak.
Botan looked into Hiei's eyes, those irises the same colour as the blood trickling down his face. He was looking directly back at her, but there was something odd about his pupils: they were dull and smoky, as though he was unconscious.
Or dead.
Botan took another step back and felt cold. She tried to talk to Hiei, but again, it was as though she had no voice to use. His eyes were still on hers, they had moved, fractionally, to maintain contact with hers as she moved back. She felt that he wanted to tell her something, but he was as unable to speak as she was.
She reached out a hand towards him, but he was beyond her reach. She would need to take at least two steps towards him to reach him, but, just as she knew she could not use her voice, she realised then that she could no longer move her feet. She grabbed at the air a couple of times before her hand suddenly closed around something solid, and in a rush of colour and sound, she was suddenly back in the kitchen, holding a radish Shizuru had just passed her.
"You're gonna have to chop a lot faster, Botan," Shizuru told her.
Botan blinked at her curiously, before leaning to one side to look beyond her, partly expecting to find Hiei still standing there somewhere.
But he was gone.
She turned to the chopping board, and found a single yellow radish, chopped in half, and a regular, silver metal knife in her hand.
"Come on, chop-chop!" Shizuru said to her.
Botan forced a laugh and went back to her task, working through it quickly, the odd moment passing from her mind as quickly as it had come over her, her focus shifting entirely as her senses were assaulted by the smell of warm food, the buzz of chatter around her and the bright colours of the fresh vegetables she was chopping. As soon as she had finished, Shizuru told her it was time to go, and she let Shizuru guide her back upstairs to remove the curlers from her hair and finish primping it. They then started back down the stairs, Shizuru and then Botan. The stairs turned two corners as they descended, and as Botan turned the first corner, she heard voices in the hall below. As she neared the second corner, she peered down through the railing, and saw Yusuke, Keiko, Kurama and Hiei had arrived.
Yusuke, Keiko and Kurama glanced up and called out a greeting to Shizuru and Botan. Hiei looked up, his eyes moving immediately to Botan and that dark, sly smile appearing on his face. He was wearing a vest, his arms and shoulders bare, save for the bandaging over his right arm to contain the Dragon of the Darkness Flame. As she rounded the last corner, Botan gained a full-length view of Hiei, whereupon she saw that he was wearing a pair of tight-fitting black jeans that hugged onto every bulge.
The bulge of his calf muscles, the bulge of his thigh muscles, the bulge of his read end and every bulge. Every single one.
Botan stepped down off the last step, and Hiei's eyes swept over her, the look of feral appreciation on his face giving her all the validation she had ever wanted, or ever needed.
She wished the moment would never end.
Next Chapter: Dinner, laughter, music and dancing – of the horizontal variety, please – all combine to make a perfect evening. At the end of the night, Botan finds herself alone with Hiei in a place she loves, and she begins to think it's time to TAKE THE DIVE. Chapter 17: Here I am
