Title: Just One Night
Pairing: Hiei x Botan
Genre: Romance, hints of my attempts at humor
Warnings: (OOC, implied sex, still slightly AU) Nothing graphic.
Summary: One night, they'd agreed. One night, and they'd never speak of it again. But it's difficult to forget, and someone isn't very good at keeping secrets.

Notes: Sorry for anyone who was expecting it, but there will be no lemon. This fic is strictly implied sex only. This part starts out in the same place as the last chapter left off. So Botan is in Hiei's room. This is still part of the extra long flashback. Also, consider this chapter the last of the "overly dramatic" ones. Not that there won't be any in the future...but I'll be introducing other elements, like humor, which will hopefully add to (and not detract from) the story. And finally, I only just remembered that there were (something like) two days in between Genkai's death and the beginning of the Finals. When I complete this story, I'll probably go back and edit it so that it works out better in that respect. But for now, I'd like to concentrate on writing out as much of the storyline as I can. Thanks for sticking with it. ;)

Disclaimer: Not mine.

In the aftermath, Hiei lay awake, thinking about the consequences of what he had just done. He hadn't considered it before, but it was a good thing she'd wandered into their room, instead of some random apparition's. She would have been devastated the next morning, and the not-so-guilty demon would have found himself on the wrong end of a Spirit Gun, a Rose Whip, and a Spirit Sword. Yuusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara were ruthless when it came to protecting one of their own. But...

What would he have done?

Hiei thought about that for a moment. What would he have done? His initial response would have been something along the same lines. It was part of his honor code to protect those who had allied themselves with him, double that if they were non-fighters. He supposed he would have roasted the guilty party's flesh.

But the fact was...it had been him.

She had come to him.

And now, after all was said and done, he was left with an entirely different question.

What happens next?

They had agreed that this would last for the duration of only one night. She'd said nothing about any emotional attachment, no sweet sentiments even in the deepest throes of passion.

And, his mind eagerly grasping onto that topic, what passion...

No matter how bubbly she pretended to be in daylight, under the cover of night, she was all sensual, silken grace. She had made up for her lack of experience with enthusiasm and a healthy dosage of improvisation.

He started slightly as she shifted next to him, and glanced at the clock nearby. It was a little past midnight. That meant that the others would be back soon...which further meant that Botan would have to leave soon if she wanted to avoid a potentially embarrassing meet-and-greet with the rest of the team. He took a deep breath, unconsciously preparing himself for the task of waking her up. When she opened her sleepy eyes, he was already putting on his black cloak.

"Hiei? What are you doing up? Go to sleep." After issuing that particular command, she rolled over to her other side, burying her face into the pillows, intent on getting back to sleep. Obviously, she was still in some sort of trance-like state. That was the only logical explanation for her flippant tone, and her reluctance to leave the warm bed.

That, or lunacy.

"You should get up if you want to avoid a potentially embarrassing scene."

A few muttered expletives (that, had he been in the mood to analyze them, would have been impressive) was the only reply he got from the lump on the bed. A sudden flash of recognition told him that the moment of reckoning was coming far sooner then either of them had expected. He decided to give it one more try and leant down so she could hear his next words with crystal-clear clarity.

"Yuusuke and the others are coming. If you want to be discovered here, then be my guest. But I don't feel like explaining your weakness, and I doubt you do. So get up. They're only a few steps away from the door."

She leapt up at that, gathering her (rather torn) garments from the floor. She pulled her oversized nightshirt on over her head within seconds and started working on her hair. Not a moment too soon, either. Within the next few minutes, Hiei felt the approaching spirit energies of Yuusuke, Kurama and Kuwabara. The last two were muttering quietly amongst themselves, and, if Hiei listened closely, he could vaguely catch words like "Suzuka," "hilt," "affects," and "previous life." He filed away the tidbits for closer examination later, and watched as Botan pulled on her socks. Right now, he had to worry about Botan being...

"What the heck's goin' on here?"

Too late.

Reikai, three months later

In retrospect, it was almost enough to make her laugh.

It had not taken long for her to wake up after she heard Kuwabara's indignant squawk.

The dumbfounded looks on both his and Yuusuke's faces were priceless. Even the still grieving Spirit Detective had to snicker at the looks of desperation that Botan and Hiei were directing at the open window. But the best part had to have been the reaction of the normally unruffled Kurama. For once, there were no answers, no omniscient glint in the corner of his forest green eyes. He had stood on the exact same level of comprehension that Yuusuke and Kuwabara had, mouth working silently, mind obviously firing off a few thousand questions per minute at some unseen entity.

Then, she'd remembered that she was only dressed in a thin, pink nightshirt. She'd pushed them out of the room with not so much as a smile, and proceeded to "freshen up."

Meanwhile, outside, Hiei had been interrogated to, if not within an inch of his life, then certainly to the limit of his sanity.

Botan had to smile as she remembered at the look on his face...

Kubikukuri Island; Ankoku Bujutsukai

Botan should be out here, Hiei thought bitterly, as he sat on the windowsill. Even if he wasn't facing them, he could feel their eyes burning holes through the cloak on his back. Any minute now, they would start. Hiei had his bets on Kuwabara taking the first stab.

"So...did you drug her?"

Hiei mentally added five gold pieces to his own savings.

"No, I did not drug her, you imbecile."

Kuwabara bristled at the insult. Really, he was so predictable.

"Say that to my face, shrimpy!"

"Did you not hear me the first time? Then again, you are human. Perhaps your sensitive ears have not been able to handle the multitude of death threats the demons here have thrown at you."

Kurama was getting a headache, and figured that since Yuusuke wasn't going to stop this inane argument, he would have to step up.

"Hiei, just because you can't explain Botan's presence—"

"She looked like she was naked, Kurama!"

The fox plowed on, ignoring the fact that Kuwabara had even spoken.

"As I was saying, being unable to explain what exactly she was doing here so late is no excuse for you to mock Kuwabara the way you've been doing. Naturally, he's only curious."

Before the only full human member of their team could even snicker, Kurama rounded on him.

"And you, Kuwabara. This is a very delicate situation and there's no need to compound it with ridiculous accusations. I'm sure Hiei will tell us when he's good and ready. Until then, let's leave him alone."

"Well, he started it!"

The aggravated spirit fox's eyes flashed gold and his voice came out in a low growl.

"And I'll finish it."

A few moments of silence reigned. Kurama was staring at Hiei as though he could glare the answer out of his silent friend. Kuwabara was still smarting over the earlier argument. Yuusuke had stopped smiling. His brief moments of levity forgotten, he'd gone back to being pensive, eyes no doubt reliving the sight of his fallen mentor and his laughing arch-rival. Suddenly, Kuwabara spoke up from his position on the couch.

"...So what was it like?"

Hiei barely resisted the urge to set the room on fire.

Meanwhile, in the bedroom, Botan was trying to brush her hair into some semblance of order. Not that it really mattered. Yuusuke and Kuwabara thought about things like this every day, and despite his politeness, Kurama was still in a fifteen year-old body. They knew what sex was, and if Yuusuke's video collection were any indication, knew what it looked like. Placing Kurama's borrowed hairbrush back on the night stand, she stepped back and regarded herself in the mirror.

Her hair was pulled back in a high ponytail, thankfully no longer mussed. Her T-shirt was rumpled, but that was expected. Hiei had thrown it down to the floor with no remorse in his...

Well, it was best not to think about that. In fact, Botan was finding it difficult to accept that it had actually happened. Here, in the glare of too-bright, artificial light, she realized the gravity of her actions.

She had just had a one-night-stand with the emotionally-stunted Hiei, wielder of the Darkness Flame, and master swordsman.

And she'd liked—no...loved it. But like hell was she going to anything about it.

As she'd said, this was a one night thing. No matter how beautiful he'd made her feel, how cherished, how safe...it was only for one night. He hadn't promised more, and she hadn't asked. It was a miracle he'd even agreed to her first...request.

Why had he anyway?

It couldn't have been love. While he'd never outwardly insulted her, like he did Kuwabara, he was indifferent, and in some ways, Botan thought that was worse. He didn't have to say anything to let Botan know that he thought she was useless. So it definitely wasn't love.

Botan seriously doubted that he was...in need of her assistance, in that respect. In addition to the small matter of him not even liking her, she was quite sure that there would have been a few female demons willing to overlook his traitor status for one night. He was quite handsome, and no one could deny that he'd had a body made for...

Ahem.

So why had he?

Instantly, the most logical explanations hit her and she sobered even more.

Demon or not, Hiei was still male. Botan flushed as she remembered stumbling into his room, crying over Genkai's demise, and throwing himself on him. She was no fool. While she wasn't the most beautiful woman in any of the three worlds, no one could ever call her ugly. Even Hiei had his limits, and she had definitely pushed him past them.

She'd practically forced herself on him.

After wallowing in her own mortification for a few more moments, Botan took a deep breath. There was no way around it.

She'd just have to apologize to him.

They'd already agreed that no one else would have to know. All she had to do was keep her own dirty secret. Hiei was, as she'd noted before, not without his honor. He'd keep up his side of the bargain.

Squaring her shoulders, she turned the knob and stepped into the living room of the hotel room.

Thank you so much for reading this far, and also, most especially for all the wonderful feedback I've been getting for this story. Words can't express how nice it feels to know what you guys think about the story so far.

As I said before, I'm going to add some other genres into this little melting pot. As you can see, I've tried to introduce some humor. Whether it's good humor, is all up to you guys. I can't have this story getting too angsty, right?

I hope you enjoy this latest installment. Thanks again for reading, and please review.

Toodles til' next time. ;)