A/N- Man oh man chapter three already? Time sure flies. If you didn't get your fair share of HB interaction the last three installments, you are up for a full chapter of it today. Fluff and irritable goodness. Perhaps Hiei is out of character in this one, since he's talking so much...?

Hope you enjoy, and I hope even more that you'll review.

Chapter 3- First Appearance of Civility and Enemies

The pressure in the atmosphere was gradually lessening. Hiei tried to shove the knowledge that it was about to snow to the back of his mind, unconsciously raising his own body heat at the same time. Perhaps it would feel a bit less cold, then.

Botan, that ever-determined spirit, sat in the grass in front of him (he was sitting on a boulder), dutifully keeping watch over the light barrier, ready to announce it when it disappeared. Whether or not she was really watching though, was up for speculation. Anyone who could train their attention on one unmoving object for hours on end couldn't be human. And Hiei was positive she was.

"I wish that stupid light would go away," Botan said, gesturing towards the wall of light. "It's ruining the sunset."

Hiei blinked. Was she talking to him? Kurama? Kurama was over there. Couldn't be Kurama. So it was him, wasn't it? He looked at the back of her head, where blue hair whipped in the wind violently as the girl struggled to tame it. Talking to him? Really?

After debating that very subject, he debated with himself to respond or not. He could very easily ignore the girl; it sounded like a rhetorical statement anyway. Then again, he had been on a roll with the witty comebacks that day and it couldn't hurt to continue.

"If you have enough time to admire scenery, you have enough time to practice being useful," He said smoothly, but found himself looking at the 'ruined sunset' anyway. It was true, he supposed. The spirit energy cancelled out any colors the sunset might think to throw out.

"I can't believe you're the one who found me." Botan didn't even bother turning to look at him. "You can be so difficult."

"I wasn't the one who found you." Even Hiei has to defend his pride, you see. "I just looked for you first. Kurama was the one who tripped over you." Hiei addressed the redhead. "That was very graceful, by the way."

Kurama made a face, but continued to do whatever it was he was doing with some plants. Stupid plants. They should be leaving and beating the shit out of people, not playing with plants.

"So then, oh mighty and bloodthirsty Hiei, why did you even look for me first?" Botan did look at him this time, daring him to be nasty one more time. She'd learned a thing or two from Keiko about slapping over the summer.

"Honor code."

"Oh." She almost sounded disappointed. "Right. Honor code."

Five minutes later, she spoke again. "So you never responded to my original question."

"It wasn't a question."

She chuckled to herself a little bit.

Hiei frowns. She's laughing! She must be a simpleton or something. He almost asks her why.

"I guess you're right, Hiei. Nothing gets past you." Hiei opened his mouth to snap back at her, but was interrupted. "I guess that's why you're such a thoughtful person."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Hiei might as well have been shooting lasers from his eyes, judging from the grade of the glare he was sending at the back of her head.

"It's not like you, Hiei, to be offended by a compliment." Kurama stood up. "I think the wall is disappearing. The volume of it is diminishing."

"Oh!" Botan joined him to get a better look. "I didn't notice that!"

Hiei also got up on the boulder, hand on sheath. "So we can get this over with?"

"No, not yet. I will go and investigate." Kurama gave Hiei a stern look. "I doubt you'll do a good job watching over Botan, but I do know that you'll do anything to prove me wrong. So do it, and I'll get back to you as soon as I can after I find Yusuke and Kuwabara."

Hiei scowled. There is no reason Kurama could do a better job looking for them than he could.

Kurama seemed to read his mind. "There's not much difference between us stealth-wise, but I can track things down much easily than you can right now, so I can find you again afterwards."

"Are you implying that I rely only upon my Jagan to get things done?"

"Really, Hiei, you are too easily crossed. I was only assessing the situation."

Hiei crossed his arms in a huff, and Kurama did not fail to point out that he resembled a child.

"And you resemble an idiot." The witty comeback streak was at a close. He was losing his touch now.

Kurama only smiled and left it at that, walking towards the dwindling spirit energy that resembled a candle at its last second.

"Hiei?" Botan asked after the redhead left. "What're we gonna do now?"

"We're going to shut up."

Botan would have none of that. "Hiei, you have to be more sociable."

He didn't respond. Botan decided he must be determined to follow out his plan of shutting up.

"Well, I'm going to make you talk, Hiei."

He gave her a look.

"It's my new goal."

"You should have stuck to the old one."

Botan grinned. Hiei frowned. "Well, I guess I fulfilled my goal already. You spoke." She gazed at his pissy face with some sneaky pride. "You're not so bad if someone gets you talking. I keep trying to tell Kuwabara that, but he won't listen." She paused. "You know, it doesn't help my case that you always insult him."

"All three of us wouldn't have that problem if he wasn't so utterly dense."

"You and I both know that he's not so bad. He's a good fighter and a good man."

"You call losing all the time a good fighter?"

"It's not all the time. You're exaggerating."

"Name one important battle he won."

"That one time against Bui."

Hiei just glared at her. Not that he hadn't been doing so the whole time, he just did it more intensely now.

"Well, Hiei? Still want to prove a point?"

"He's not as strong as the rest of us."

Botan smiled. "But he's still really strong. Not all humans could stand up to a demon and live."

Hiei had to give her credit for that one.

"Really, I think what you all do is pretty amazing."

Hiei averted his gaze.

"I only wish that I could make as much of a difference as the four of you."

The apparition continued to glower at the lake. Something about that damn lake was just really, really offensive right now.

"Hiei? I always kind of thought you were violent. But then you had a sister, and your secret about your sister, and I realized that you were a lot nobler than I had first realized. I think that's when I stopped being so much afraid of you, was when I found out about that. You're really nice."

God-damn lake, Hiei thought.

"Well, I can tell you're not used to getting compliments," Botan said, gravely serious. "I need to teach you how to receive them with grace. It is my new new goal." Hiei opened his mouth to respond, but she cut him off. "Nothing is impossible, after all."

Hiei stepped off the boulder he had been sitting and standing on for a while now. "It's time to leave."

Botan frowned, obviously confused as to his intentions. "Why? Aren't we supposed to wait for Kurama?"

"He left me here with you while he went off to do who knows what. He deserves to have to look for us."

It was Botan's turn to shoot him a nasty look. "Apparently I have to teach you to give compliments as well."

Botan had to fight to keep up with him. "Hiei, do you always power walk?"

Hiei didn't know what 'power walking' was, and he didn't ask.

"Where are we even going?"

"We're going to find the sorry asses I'm supposed to kick."

"Hiei! You can't do that without everyone else!" Botan shook a finger at him, scolding as a mother would. "Besides, don't you care about my safety?"

He made a dismissive noise, but made an elaborate show of slowing down so she could keep up.

"I mean, what would you do if I got hurt?"

"You won't," He assured- no, by the tone of his voice, he informed her.

"How do you know?" She demanded, and added a small 'thank-you' for his slowing down.

"If you are quiet and stay out of the way, nothing will happen to you." He put his hands in his pockets. "I think it's quite obvious you are a non-fighter, and if they have any wits about them, they will know that I am the one they will have to deal with."

"But what happens if you get hurt? What'll happen to me then?"

"I won't get hurt."

He certainly is conceited, isn't he? Botan stared at him with disbelief. Conceited and blunt.

…And maybe a little bit crazy.

"Hiei, I really think we shouldn't be running around looking for the bad guy, when they're supposed to be pretty strong. I mean, I looked at the files and everything-"

"How strong?"

Botan blinked. "What?"

"How. Strong. Are they?" Hiei made sure to use the same tone he used with Kuwabara on rare occasions.

"A high class B…"

"And what class am I?"

"A?"

"Just be quiet and don't endanger yourself." Hiei flicked his eyes in her direction to make sure she got the message, and then back at his path.

He'd be damned if Kurama, of all people (demons, too?) condemned him from fighting.

"You can't order me around!"

"I can when I'm the only thing standing in between you and demons who would do anything to scratch the eyes out of one of Koenma's people."

Botan fought the inexplicable, yet incredibly strong urge to stick her tongue out at him.

"It shouldn't be too long until they try to seek us out."

"Why's that?"

"Because I can use the Jagan again."

Botan's face brightened at a shockingly fast rate. "Really? Then we can go back and find every-"

A foreign-sounding voice cut in, all effimate flowers and cheerfulness. "It seems you've been looking for us."

Botan walked directly into Hiei when he stopped walking. "Ow…"

Hiei assessed the girl perched on one of the branches of a tree. Despite her willowy figure, she looked to be strong enough to be the one he was after. Hers wasn't the spirit energy the wall was made out of (she didn't have enough of it) but he knew she'd be formidable at the least.

But the fact that she was dressed like one of those 'Native Americans' he always heard humans go on about was somewhat strange. Then again, Hiei wasn't one to make fashion critiques.

"You remember what I told you to do, don't you, woman?" He looked at Botan sideways, and when she nodded, he looked back at his soon-to-be opponent.

The girl brushed aside some of her dark hair and grinned. "My name is Peichan. My specialty is the bow and arrow and hand-to-hand combat. I will be your enemy for this upcoming battle." Her accent lilted a little when she spoke. "I hope you will prove capable."

"And I am wondering if you'll even be able to keep up," Hiei told her, absolutely none of his egoist personality showing through. Of course. And this is definitely not sarcasm. Hiei has never had an ego.

Botan knew for sure that the fight was tipped largely in Hiei's favor, but that didn't mean she would stick around for it. Just because Hiei was known to kill quickly and cleanly did not mean he wasn't capable of being really really messy. And she thought she could sense that he was not having a good day, and was feeling delightfully violent.

However, before she slipped into the shadows, the girl called Peichan got a little less pretty as she sprouted several horns on the crown of her forehead. Aqua colored scales formed on the sides of her head, near the temples, and also on her shoulders and ankles. And with this girl's more demonic form, her power rose a couple of notches. Botan watched with apprehension as Hiei seemed to be getting happier with the situation.

"Hiei!" Botan called with a stringent voice. "Make sure you finish this quickly, and don't you dare get hurt!" She bit back a 'and wipe that smirk off your face'.

He merely looked at her with that same look he had been giving her all afternoon. The kind that said 'Can you even hear what nonesense you're spouting? Please, listen to yourself'.

She smiled and ran haphazardly south, through the forest. A silent promise is still a promise. He'd find her later, perfectly safe.