Last Chapter: Hiei managed to draw Botan out of the Lure's hold for a third time, and, for a third time, the Lure fled. Shizuru and Hiei tried to pursue it, but found it too agile when they were not fast enough to give chase. After a rest they tried again, but learned that the Lure can move through all three dimensions with ease, and they will need to find a way to trap it: at which point they met Ayame, who insisted she knows a way to do just that.


Chapter 31: From my Heart

"I can contain it," Ayame said. "But I want you to take me with you."

"We'll have to take you with us, you idiot!" Hiei shot back at her.

"Shut up, Hiei," Shizuru said, waving a hand at him. "You seem confident, Ayame."

"I am," she said, nodding her head. "Please, it's been really difficult to see what that thing has done to Botan. I want to help. And I can help."

Shizuru swallowed hard.

"You've seen Botan in between times the Lure caught her," she said, more thinking aloud than asking a question, though Ayame answered her regardless.

"Yes," she said. "She's not been herself. She's become paranoid and distrustful. She even assaulted me. I've known Botan a long time, and she has always been so resilient, but this thing has changed her. We can't let it catch her again."

"Maybe it wouldn't have caught her again if Koenma had done a better job of protecting her from it," Hiei snarled. "Why did he let her out again after the first time it caught her?"

Ayame's eyes widened.

"Were you with her when she was caught the second or third time?" Shizuru asked her.

Ayame shook her head.

"No, but Koenma charged me with looking after Botan," she confessed. "The first time, I didn't think much about it."

"You idiot!" Hiei roared. "You're to blame for this!"

"Hold up, Hiei," Shizuru said, holding up a hand to him. "Let's hear her out. Carry on, sweetheart, we're listening."

"I didn't think she would go looking for the Lure," Ayame continued. "And when I found out she had, I felt terrible. And then the next time, I kept her in my room, I kept guard over her, but she assaulted me and escaped me, and ended up back in the clutches of that filthy creature again. And this time, Lord Koenma has confined Botan to her room. There are barriers on every possible exit point. They even put a barrier over the laundry chute – it's such a small hole, but they were worried Botan might try to escape that way."

"That's good," Shizuru reassured her. "At least we can be sure Botan is safe now. Now all we need to do is track down the Lure, and take it out."

"So, will you tell me now which way it went?" Hiei asked Shizuru.

"It's quite far away," she admitted.

"That's no problem," Ayame said, summoning her oar. "I can take you there on my oar!"

"Perfect!" Shizuru said, moving over to stand at Ayame's side, facing Hiei. "See, Hiei? She's helping us already!"

"How do I know you two won't fly off without me?" he asked.

"Why would we do that?" Ayame asked. "I will fly low, so you can follow us on the ground."

"You're not strong enough to fight that thing on your own, Worthy," Hiei warned Shizuru.

"Relax, Dango, we just said we'll let you follow us," Shizuru replied.

Ayame glanced back and forth between them with a small frown.

"Oh, he calls me Worthy and I call him Dango now," Shizuru explained. "It's kinda like our little thing."

"Is that the same as the way he calls me "Boring Botan"?" Ayame asked.

Shizuru paused to try to think of a diplomatic response, but her hesitation allowed Hiei to jump in with his usual tactlessness.

"Yes, it's exactly the same," he sneered. "She is called Worthy because she is worthy of my respect, you are Boring because you are incredibly boring."

Ayame's face fell.

"And he's Dango because, even though he looks and sounds like a scalded cat most of the time, he's actually a really soft sweetie," Shizuru said to her.

Hiei narrowed his eyes at her.

"I can't imagine him being a sweet softy," Ayame whispered to Shizuru.

"Give it time," Shizuru assured her.

"Stop chattering like a couple of hags and get moving!" Hiei said abruptly. "Take me to that thing and let's finish this!"

"Let's go," Shizuru said to Ayame.

Ayame nodded and sat onto her oar, and Shizuru took her place at her side.

"Which way?" Ayame asked Shizuru.

"Straight ahead, sweetheart," Shizuru replied.

Ayame took off, flying over Hiei's head and out over the edge of the drop.

"Hey!" Hiei yelled after them.

"Keep going," Shizuru urged when Ayame slowed down.

"But what about–"

"It's fine, just keep going."

Ayame looked unsure, but continued regardless. Looking back, Shizuru saw Hiei phase out of sight, clearly off to find a way down to the ground.

"Faster," Shizuru said to Ayame.

"Will Hiei find us?" the ferry girl asked.

"Doesn't matter," Shizuru replied. "Just go. Go as fast as you can."

Ayame still looked very wary, but did as Shizuru asked, and sped off in a diagonal line across the ravine. When Shizuru lost all sense of Hiei, she smiled to herself. He had nothing to be mad about, after all: she was going to kill the Lure and end their problems.


"Damnit, I knew this would happen…" Shizuru grumbled.

"What is it?" Ayame asked her.

"Down there, on that swing."

From their position hovering in the sky above the park, Shizuru pointed down to a swing where the Lure – in its disguise as a human child – was sitting.

"The little girl?" Ayame asked.

"Yeah, that's the Lure," Shizuru replied. "It's too damn fast!"

"Maybe we should have waited for Hiei," Ayame said. "He seemed really fast."

"Yeah, he would be fast enough to keep up with it, but he doesn't have semi-flying abilities, and he can't track it after he loses sight of it."

"So… The three of us really should work more closely together?"

"Maybe we could just chase people out of the park like we did when it caught Botan here…"

"When the Lure flees, what does it do first?"

"It runs in a straight line."

"Then there's our answer."

Shizuru slowly turned her head to face Ayame.

"You could set your trap, we could flush it out, and it will run right into your trap," she said.

"Yes, exactly," Ayame replied.

"And if we don't tell Hiei about this, he can't follow, and I can kill the Lure myself," Shizuru added.

Ayame seemed like she wanted to object, but she said nothing.

"So this trap you can build," Shizuru continued. "How do you do it?"

"With my pen."

Shizuru's face fell. She watched Ayame reach back to three pins in her hair, pulling one free to reveal that it was in fact a pen.

"A pen?" Shizuru said, eying the pen sceptically.

"Yes," Ayame said, nodding her head. "I learned it from the book I gave to Kurama."

"Kurama…" Shizuru grumbled. "Hey, did he give you that book back yet?"

Ayame shook her head.

"Do you need it to build your trap?"

Ayame shook her head again.

"Okay. Well, once we've finished here, I'll take you to Kurama and get your book back for you."

"That would be wonderful."

Shizuru nodded.

"So where would you need me to lay the trap?" Ayame asked.

Shizuru looked about herself, realising then that the Lure only ever fled her in a straight line when it was in its true form, and escaping via the lair it had built.

"We have to find its lair," she concluded.

"It doesn't have one," Ayame replied.

Shizuru frowned.

"It only builds a lair when it takes a victim," Ayame explained. "It won't have one right now. We would need to know where it might build a lair. Where did it build its lair when it caught Botan previously?"

"It was in a different place every time," Shizuru replied. "The first time was out in a field, the second time was here in this park and the last time was at Genkai's old place."

"There must be some sort of pattern to where it goes," Ayame tried. "Botan didn't just find it by luck when she went out looking for it. It would go somewhere it knows it could easily lead her to, somewhere it knows it could easily capture her. Somewhere she would feel both safe and happy."

"She does like this park," Shizuru said. "We had a picnic here for my birthday. And she likes Genkai's old place. We have our meet-ups and sleepovers there."

"Can you think of anywhere else in this world that Botan really likes? What is her favourite place of all?"

Shizuru thought for a moment, feeling disappointed in herself when she drew a blank. Botan often spoke about how much she loved the living world, and more specifically which parts of it she loved – like the flowers and the sky – but she had never outrightly stated that any one particular location was her favourite. She liked the park because it was full of people and she liked to people-watch. She liked Genkai's temple because it was the place where she met with her friends. She liked Keiko's house because she liked looking through (and borrowing) Keiko's clothes. She liked Shizuru's house because she liked hanging out there and watching movies with Shizuru.

"I don't know," Shizuru eventually answered. "She's never said."

"Well if she does have a favourite, the Lure will know about it already," Ayame said. "It's seen her deepest secrets and desires."

Shizuru gave a small, short, ironic laugh.

"Why is that funny?" Ayame asked.

"Botan keeping a secret?" Shizuru said.

Ayame pulled a strange face and Shizuru sobered.

"Botan isn't as open with us in spirit world as she is with her friends here in your world," the ferry girl said. "And speaking of which, I really need to get back to spirit world. I've been able to continue visiting Botan, I don't want to miss my chance to see her again."

"How is she doing?"

"Not great. I've still been giving her the tea, but I don't know if it's helping."

"Okay, could you do me a favour first?"

"Of course. Anything."

"Take me to Kurama's house. Then go check on Botan."

"What will you do?"

"I'm gonna find out exactly what those leaves do."

"They lessen the effect–"

"Yeah, he says that, but I get the feeling there's a lot more to it than just that."

"Oh, I see."

Shizuru turned her head sharply as she felt a familiar energy approaching.

"Best get moving right now," she told Ayame.

"Why?" Ayame asked.

"Because Hiei has almost caught up to us," Shizuru replied.

Ayame looked worried, and flew up high before starting towards their destination. Far beneath them, Shizuru felt a little flare of dark energy that was clearly Hiei firing up in frustration that they had evaded him, but she considered that a good thing: she could remind him of this event, and remind him that even a ferry girl could outmanoeuvre him when airborne, therefore it was all the more important they trap and pin down the Lure in order to defeat it.


Shizuru smiled despite wanting to groan when Kurama's front door was opened by his mother.

"Hello?" Shiori greeted her.

"Hi, I'm a friend of your son Shuichi," Shizuru began.

"Oh yes, you were here earlier asking for him!"

Shizuru forced a smile again.

"Yes, I was," she admitted.

"He's home now. Please, come in," Shiori said, stepping back and smiling sweetly.

Shizuru stepped into the house, smiling back at Shiori as she removed her shoes at the door. She then followed Kurama's mother up the stairs, where Shiori did not hesitate or give any preamble before abruptly opening Kurama's bedroom door and walking in.

"Mother!" Kurama gasped, sounding and looking unusually alarmed as he clutched his arms around a plant in a glass jar.

"You have a guest, Shuichi!" Shiori said pleasantly, apparently unfazed by Kurama's awkwardness, as though she regularly burst in on him experimenting with demon plants.

Shizuru stepped into the room and smiled and nodded at Shiori, waiting until she had left the room and closed the door before turning to Kurama.

"Most boys your age would act that way if their mom caught them with a dirty magazine, you know," she said with a smirk.

"This is a demon flower," Kurama replied, opening his arms to reveal an unnaturally blue petalled daisy that was literally sparkling.

"And that was a joke," Shizuru dryly replied.

Kurama nodded quietly.

"So this Deplorable leaf," Shizuru began.

"Deploro plant leaf," Kurama corrected her.

"It tastes deplorable," Shizuru pointed out.

"True, but it is effective," he countered.

"Is it? Because Ayame's been shovelling it down Botan's throat, and that didn't stop her going back, and she isn't getting better now she's free."

"It won't make Botan any better. You weren't entirely wrong to call the leaf "deplorable", either. It can have a side effect of giving nightmares or unpleasant hallucinations, and that's just for those who don't actually get taken by a Lure."

Shizuru thinned her eyes and Kurama cleared his throat, shifting his weight a little awkwardly in his seat.

"The Lure gives its victim an idyllic reality, one they never wish to wake from," he explained. "The Deploro leaf makes that impossible. The leaf isn't just bitter in taste, it will literally bitter any sweetness the Lure tries to create in the mind of its victim, the effects steadily worsening with every subsequent hallucination."

Shizuru inhaled slowly through her nostrils, taking a moment to suppress the dual urges to punch Kurama in the face and to light a cigarette.

"You've given Botan a drug to give her a bad trip?" she asked.

"I suppose that might be the layman's term for–"

"No, Kurama, don't give me that shit. My best friend is trapped, addicted to one kind of very powerful drug, an upper, and your solution to her problem is to get her hooked on an equally powerful drug that's a downer?"

"You're over-simplifying it–"

"The hell I am! You're treating a crack addict with heroin!"

"The Lure and the Deploro leaf are a lot more complex–"

"Crack, Lure, heroin, Deploro – call it what you will, it's the same shit!"

Kurama started to argue back, but when Shizuru flared her nostrils and clenched her fists he stopped abruptly.

"You said that leaf would make it easier for Hiei to make a connection to Botan when she's under," Shizuru recovered.

"Yes, and it has already," Kurama replied.

"I'm not convinced," she sternly retorted. "Hiei connected with her pretty quickly the first time around. It took longer the second and third time, and Botan was less willing to come back."

"Which is odd, as I am sure the hallucinations she experiences now can't be very pleasant."

"Telling me Botan is suffering more because of what you did isn't helping you win me over."

"Yes, I do appreciate your frustration–"

"Do you? Do you really?"

"Botan is my friend too."

"You've been standing back and watching it all happen, knowing you were making it worse for her!"

"I promise you, that is not the case."

"Give me that flower!"

Kurama turned to the glass dome on his desk before him.

"Why?" he asked, regarding Shizuru suspiciously from the corner of his eye.

"Because I'm going to do to that flower what you've done to my friend!" Shizuru shouted.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm gonna smash it against that wall!"

When Kurama did not move or respond verbally, Shizuru lunged towards the jar, grabbing it as Kurama tried to wrap his arms around it again. They struggled for a few moments before the base of the jar fell to the floor with a clatter, taking the flower with it, and leaving Kurama hugging the glass dome. He hesitated, but Shizuru did not, sweeping down and grabbing up the flower.

"No!" Kurama said, holding up a hand in a stopping gesture.

Shizuru raised the flower above her head and Kurama carefully placed the glass dome down onto his desk, holding up both hands in a sign of surrender.

"Please, Shizuru, I'm sorry," he said, his eyes on the flower as he spoke.

"What are you sorry for?" she asked.

He met her eyes and his face hardened a little.

"Must you speak to me like I am your younger brother?" he asked quietly.

"What are you sorry for, Kurama?" she asked again.

He sighed softly.

"For not telling you exactly what the Deploro leaf did," he said.

"You made me eat that thing," she pointed out. "And my brother. And everyone else, no doubt."

"I had good reason."

"You don't make someone do something without telling them what the consequences are!"

"The leaves are probably the only thing that has saved Botan's soul."

"Oh, and Hiei nearly dying three times over was nothing?"

"I didn't say that."

"You implied it!"

Shizuru made to throw the flower down and Kurama started towards her to stop her, but at that moment, his mother re-entered the room – and without announcing her presence – and he quickly stood to attention. Shizuru spun around and smiled at Shiori, holding the flower in both hands as though it was a bouquet and she a bride.

"Shuichi dear, I just wondered if your girlfriend wanted to stay for dinner?" she asked.

Shizuru bit her tongue to stop herself from speaking or her face from falling.

"That would be lovely, thank you mother," Kurama replied, much to her chagrin.

"Oh, wonderful!" Shiori gushed.

She then took a step closer to Shizuru and placed a hand on her arm.

"It's so nice that you're visiting today," Shiori said, gently squeezing Shizuru's arm. "My Shuichi only ever seems to have other boys over. I'm so pleased he's finally brought a lovely young lady like you home with him."

Shizuru opened her mouth, her instinct being to correct the woman: but something about the sweet, motherly kindness of Shiori's manner made her decide otherwise.

"Thank you," she said instead, forcing a smile.

"We're having udon noodle soup and fishcakes," Shiori replied, before beaming at them both and then exiting the room.

She left the door open behind her, but as soon as she heard her descending the stairs, Shizuru rounded on Kurama.

"I hope you choke on your fishcake, you son of a bitch."

She slammed the blue flower down onto his desk and he pounced on it. Shaking her head, she marched out the room and ran down the stairs, though Kurama caught up to her by the time she reached the last step. Together they moved in silence to the dining room, where Kurama's step-father and step-brother were already sitting.

"Everyone, this is Shuichi's girlfriend, Shizuru Kuwabara," Shiori introduced them.

Shizuru smiled at Kurama's family as they introduced themselves in return, before taking a seat opposite Kurama and lifting each of her feet in turn to kick each of his shins. They glared across the table at each other, but, out of respect for Kurama's lovely mother, Shizuru smiled and made pleasant conversation for the remainder of the meal, she helped clear the table and she offered to help clean the dishes. Shiori refused her offer, and Shizuru then gladly moved to leave. Kurama followed her outside to the street, where they both stopped.

"I am sorry, Shizuru," he said. "For everything. For not telling you – and everyone else – about the actual effects the Deploro leaf would have on anyone taken victim by the Lure, and for the fact that you were just forced to have dinner with me."

Shizuru sighed.

"Your mother's an angel," she said sadly. "You're really lucky you have her."

"Yes, I do know that," Kurama said solemnly.

Shizuru paused, remembering then how Kurama had taken a beating during the Dark Tournament when one of his opponents had taken his step-brother hostage and threatened to harm both him and Shiori.

"I couldn't say no to her," she said.

"I never can either," Kurama said with a smile.

"There's just one thing I don't understand," Shizuru said slowly.

"Ask my anything," Kurama replied. "I promise I will answer honestly."

"How did your mother know my name?"

Kurama did not answer, his face taking on that annoyingly blank, neutral look he was so fond of when he was unwilling to reveal one of his little plans.

"My full name, too," Shizuru added.

"You've met my mother before," Kurama eventually replied.

"Never," Shizuru flatly answered.

"Kuwabara was at her wedding."

"But I was not."

"Your brother has been over here many, many times. My mother knows him. He must have mentioned you."

"She knew me by sight."

"Kuwabara must have mentioned the salon you work at. She must have seen you working there."

"A lot of girls work there."

"You do bear some resemblance to your brother."

"Like what?"

"You are both tall."

"A lot of people are tall."

"Kuwabara must have described you to my mother."

"Kazuma can't describe how someone looks."

"I'm sure he can."

"I'm sure he can't. He describes Yukina as looking "like an oil painting", or "like an angel". He describes Keiko as looking "probably too hot for Urameshi". He describes Botan as looking "like the sort of girl I used to be into before I met my darling Yukina". He never gets into specifics. I could be anyone to your mother."

"Well, perhaps Kuwabara just described you in that same vague way."

"How would that work?"

"He must have said something that made you distinguished."

"How so?"

"He must have mentioned a distinguishing feature about you."

"Like what?"

"You are a very striking woman, Shizuru."

Shizuru raised one eyebrow when Kurama faltered slightly after his last remark.

"I see," she said, nodding her head. "Took us long enough to get here, but here we are."

Kurama opened his mouth, but closed it again soon after.

"You're wasting your time, sweetheart," Shizuru told him flatly. "I practically raised Kazuma, I've had a lifetime of having to cut through his awkward inability to say things directly. You might be smart, but that doesn't mean you can't be worn down."

Kurama lowered his eyes to the ground.

"Ever since I finished high school, my mother has been incredibly eager to see me married," he said quietly.

"Oh, so I was just some name you used to throw her off the scent?" Shizuru asked.

"I suppose you could say that, yes," he replied, keeping his eyes down.

Shizuru smiled and nodded.

"I hope you don't think any less of me," Kurama added.

"I'm mostly just thinking how much Botan is going to enjoy hearing about this," she replied. "And Keiko. And even Yukina will think this is hilarious."

"Hilarious that I…"

Kurama's words trailed off and he nodded.

"Yes, well, I suppose I deserved that," he admitted.

"Okay, it's getting late, you have a flower to, um, whatever it is that you were doing with that flower that made you so embarrassed when your mother caught you with it," Shizuru began, turning away from Kurama

"I just didn't want to have to explain where it came from," Kurama replied.

"And I have a date with a bug-eyed, bird-faced, spider-bitch."

"Please don't go after the Lure on your own."

Shizuru spun on her heels to face Kurama again.

"Are you worried about me?" she asked.

Kurama hesitated.

"Pity you weren't that worried about Botan," she coldly added, before turning to leave.

She took two steps forward before stopping abruptly, a pain causing her to double over, the feeling akin to having been kicked in the gut by something invisible. She closed her eyes for a moment and silently hoped she was wrong, hoped it was not what it felt as though it surely was.

"Oh no," Kurama said behind her. "How could this have happened? Why did Koenma let Botan out again?"

Shizuru opened her eyes and looked up at the sky. It was dark and carpeted with stars, but the twitchy black tendril flicking back and forth across the almost full moon told her the Lure had once more taken Botan.


Kurama and Shizuru were the first to arrive at the place where the Lure had built its latest lair. Kurama had run the whole way, carrying Shizuru on his back, but he slowed to a human walking pace as he moved around the enormous shadow in the trees, moving out of the edge of the forest and onto the grassy clearing at the peak of the hill, moving around in an arc until he had reached the edge of the first step down into the rice fields below.

"Here?" Shizuru asked.

Kurama slowly lowered her to the ground, his eyes never leaving the Lure. In the darkness of night, the whites of its eyes seemed luminescent. It was so still, its eyes unblinking, it almost looked more like a puppet, a giant stage decoration in a gaudy horror show, than a living creature.

"This is Botan's favourite place?" Shizuru asked.

Kurama frowned at her, but she continued walking until she was as close to the Lure as she knew she could safely get. She then turned around, so that she was facing the same way Botan's still and sleeping body was.

The rice fields were a sea of stars and rippling blue moonlight.

"It's pretty," she concluded aloud.

"Hey! What happened?"

Shizuru looked over as Yusuke arrived, carrying a familiar bag, and Kuwabara stepped out behind him, armed with the enormous camera.

"I'm gonna kill Koenma!" Yusuke said when his eyes landed on Botan.

"This wasn't Lord Koenma's fault."

Yusuke's head snapped up at the sound of the voice addressing him. Shizuru looked up, not entirely surprised to see Ayame hovering above him, but more than a little surprised to see Keiko and Yukina on her oar with her.

"Ayame came for us when she heard Botan had escaped," Keiko called down to Shizuru.

"We knew you would probably already be here," Yukina added.

"I hope you don't mind that I took the liberty of taking your friends here?" Ayame asked Shizuru as she drifted down beside her.

"No, this is good," Shizuru said.

She waited for Keiko and Yukina to dismount Ayame's oar, and watched on as Yusuke and Kuwabara loaded a cassette into the camera and Kuwabara had aimed the camera at the Lure before putting a hand on Ayame's shoulder and leaning closer to her.

"This is awful," she whispered to the ferry girl. "But also, this our best chance to kill it."

Ayame nodded her agreement, and together they quietly moved away from the group. Once they were a comfortable distance away, Shizuru started to ask Ayame if she had brought what she would need to set the trap to catch the Lure, but before she could finish, Hiei appeared in front of them.

"Why did you abandon me?" he asked, glaring at Shizuru. "We entered into an alliance, and you broke your oath to me. And now look: the Lure has Botan again!"

"Hiei, wait!" Shizuru said sharply when he made to storm past her.

He stopped alongside her, glaring up at her.

"Make it quick, Worthy," he growled.

"I don't think you should rush in there just yet, Dango," she replied. "I don't think there's any value in you hanging there, impaled, when you're not connected to Botan."

Hiei's face took on a very strange look, and Shizuru – and even Ayame – frowned at him questioningly.

"How did you know?" he asked in a low voice.

Shizuru had no idea what he was referring to, but decided to play along in the hope that he would reveal it to her anyway.

"I figured it out myself," she said calmly.

"I was curious," he said, before gulping audibly. "I can see everything she is hallucinating, even when I can't enter into the hallucination myself. And some of it… Was…"

"You wanted to watch to learn how best to woo her?" Ayame offered.

"Shut up, you miserable mouse!" Hiei roared.

Shizuru turned to Ayame.

"That means you were right on the button, Boring," she said.

Ayame appeared to be frozen in terror.

"Don't mind Dango," Shizuru assured her. "He's a pussy cat. He growls, and bristles, but it's all show."

Hiei glared at Shizuru, but neither said nor did anything to refute her comment, and so she continued.

"Okay, so we're agreed that you don't need to rush in there just yet, big guy. So how about we get our plan straight before we act?"

Hiei's glare hardened.

"Good idea," he said, his sarcasm palpable. "And maybe this time the plan will involve you cooperating and not running off on your own!"

"When the Lure flees, it goes through its lair, and out the back end first," Shizuru continued, ignoring Hiei's accusation rather than addressing it. "It follows the tunnel, and it always continues in a straight line initially."

"Oh, that's because after it feeds, it can only build up to speed if it moves in a straight line for a certain distance!" Ayame offered.

"See, she's helping already," Shizuru said to Hiei. "Okay, so we set up the trap out the back of its lair somewhere. Follow a straight line, pick a place far enough away that it won't sense you working, but not so far away that it might dodge it."

Ayame nodded.

"You work on freeing Botan," Shizuru continued.

"Obviously," Hiei responded.

"But this time, if you can't reach her within like five minutes, stop."

Hiei bared his teeth at her.

"I'm serious, Dango," Shizuru insisted. "You were skating far too damn close to the edge last time."

"What are you implying, Worthy?" Hiei asked.

"You looked dead," Shizuru flatly replied. "You looked about as alive as an actual dango."

Hiei narrowed his eyes.

"Also, if you make a connection to her, and then you lose it, I want you to break off and come and talk to us," Shizuru continued. "Tell us what you can see."

"Right, so that we can learn where Botan is, and plan things we could try to say to her to help bring her back around?" Ayame asked.

Shizuru forced a smile and nodded. Ayame seemed quite sensitive, and Hiei was a positive powder keg of emotion, the last thing she wanted to tell either of them was that Kurama's Deploro leaf was making Botan live in a literal hell, one that would only become darker, and she wanted to know just how dark it might and could get.

"Hey, are you okay over here?" Keiko asked, joining their group.

"We're fine, sweetie," Shizuru answered her.

"Leave us be," Hiei told her flatly. "This doesn't concern you. This is a matter for Worthy, Boring and me only."

Keiko, unperturbed by Hiei's attempt to dismiss her, merely mouthed out the names he had given Ayame and Shizuru with a small frown.

"I'll explain later," Shizuru said, ushering them all to move back over to where Botan was being held.

"It sounded like Hiei just called you two "worthy" and "boring"," Keiko pointed out as they joined the others.

"It's a just a little thing," Shizuru said dismissively. "He calls me Worthy, he calls Ayame Boring, we call him Dango."

"I don't think I should call him Dango," Ayame said apprehensively. "He doesn't seem to like it. He's growling and bristling at me again."

"He's a pussy cat, don't worry about it," Shizuru assured her.

"And she is a mouse," Hiei sneered.

"Okay…" Keiko said slowly. "So he's a cat called Dango, she's a mouse called Boring, and I guess that makes you – what – a dog called Worthy?"

Shizuru turned her head abruptly to Keiko.

"Did you just call me a dog?" she asked.

"Well, you are loyal and determined," Keiko responded.

"But I'm a dog?" Shizuru repeated.

"A pretty dog," Keiko qualified, running a hand through a length of hair over one of Shizuru's shoulders. "Like an Afghan Hound, with long legs and pretty ombre hair."

"Nice save," Shizuru said flatly.

Keiko smiled and moved over to speak to Yukina at the same time that Ayame took a decisive step closer to Shizuru.

"Are you okay, sweetie?" Shizuru asked her.

"He still hasn't given me back the book I lent him," Ayame whispered, nodding over at Kurama.

"Nobody cares about your book," Hiei told her.

"He promised he would help and he promised he would give it back," Ayame insisted.

"What are you three whispering about back there?" Yusuke called over to them.

"Nothing, we just need a minute," Shizuru called back.

Yusuke turned to Keiko for an explanation and she shrugged.

"I think they're having a little DWB group meeting back there," Shizuru heard Keiko say to Yusuke.

Shizuru shook her head and turned around to face Ayame fully, finding her looking over at Kurama and wringing her hands together nervously.

"He betrayed me," she said. "He lied to me. I put myself in great danger because of him!"

"Don't worry, Boring," Shizuru assured her. "I've got you covered. I've already told him I'm going to send him to his mother in a thousand pieces."

Ayame shifted her gaze back to Shizuru, eyeing her over with a degree of awe.

"You're really quite something, "Worthy"," she gushed.

"What are you two prattling on about?" Hiei snapped irritably.

He had removed his cloak and was clearly itching to jump right back into Botan's lost little world.

"Stop wasting your energy," he added, glaring at both Shizuru and Ayame in turn.

"We're fine," Shizuru told him. "We're ready."

"I know you're ready, Worthy," he replied. "It's this one I have doubts about. You're a miserable little mouse, Boring. You better not let Worthy down."

"I-I won't, Dango!" Ayame said. "I promise! I'm ready."

"You don't look ready," Hiei growled.

"I am," Ayame said. "I brought a pen."

Hiei growled again, throwing her a dangerous look.

"How reassuring," he said sarcastically. "The little mouse is going to save us all with a pen. I feel so much better. How about you, Worthy?"

"Go easy on her, Dango," Shizuru said gently. "If she's brought a pen then that's all she needs."

"What did you bring?" Hiei asked Shizuru.

He was clearly making reference to the katana he had criticised her for carrying, and so Shizuru decided to skirt around admitting to him that she had it with her still.

"My feet," she said instead, smiling at him in what she hoped he would understand as a reminder that he would need to progress at her speed again when the Lure fled.

"Your feet?" he spat.

"My feet are all I need," she flatly replied.

She started to cross her arms to appear defiant, but stopped short when she realised that doing so would push her katana out of its hiding place.

"You better not fail me, Worthy," Hiei warned. "And you had better bring something more useful than a pen, Boring."

Ayame edged closer to Shizuru again, bumping into her shoulder accidentally as she did so.

"Don't worry, Boring," Shizuru said to her. "I believe in you. You've done so much already. I know you can do this."

"I have my pen," Ayame said quietly, touching a finger to the pen she had concealed in her hair.

Hiei gave them both one last glare before approaching the Lure.

"What does the pen do?" Shizuru asked Ayame once she was sure Hiei's attention was suitable focused elsewhere.

"It writes," Ayame replied. "In ink."

"Fuck," Shizuru muttered under her breath.

Hiei stopped and glared back over his shoulder, but she waved him away. He hesitated before turning back to the Lure and jumping up at the cocoon Botan was encased in. Shizuru then looked back over her shoulder at Ayame, who had began producing withered, sad-looking rags from up one sleeve.

She silently hoped that Ayame actually could build a trap capable of containing the Lure, because if not, their problems were only just beginning.


Next Chapter: Hiei does as Shizuru asked, and jumps in and out of Botan's hallucinations, and the method seems to work better for him reaching her and taking less physical damage. Shizuru starts to become genuinely concerned that Ayame will not be able to contain the Lure as she promised she could, and Hiei and Botan's conversations become increasingly personal and revealing, much to the discomfort of everyone involved, especially when Hiei is forced to try something desperate to make that important connection that will hopefully bring Botan around. Chapter 32: Something You Want

A/N: This trip is a wild one, because quite a lot of Botan's hallucinations in chapters 21 onwards were real, including that super OTT, OOC one, so, you know, brace yourselves.