Hazard

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Botan gazed at Koenma, feeling tears sting her eyes. No matter how much she tried, she couldn't look away from him. He hadn't spoken with his father about reconsidering the wedding. He hadn't argued that he would rather marry Ayame. He hadn't summoned any of his courage. She began to feel as though he had no courage, that he had been trying to draw it from a dry well all along. She didn't pause and she didn't stop walking. Her resolve was crumbling. She felt like she was betraying Hiei, betraying every emotion she held inside of her. This felt so unreal to her. How she wished she were trapped within a nightmare. What she wouldn't give to wake up and be able to walk to the park to see her fire koorime. Wishful thinking was getting her nowhere but she didn't care anymore. It was the only way she could face the situation. She didn't have dumb luck like Yuusuke. She didn't have blind courage like Kuwabara. She wasn't a brilliant strategist like Kurama. She certainly wasn't a strong, battle-smart warrior like Hiei. But she had to draw on them, on their strengths in order to go through with the plan she had. As soon as she was standing next to Koenma, she could have sworn that she saw him mouth an apology.

I need your strengths, you guys. I need to have the courage to do this... I admire all of you for all of the abilities that you gained throughout your life. Now, it's my turn to gain some experience in life. I know that you have my back, Kurama. I know that you would never break your promise to me. You are my back-up, if I should fail in this mission.

If I stand here and cry, I really would be a coward and a baby. If I stand here and cry, I would not be worthy of Hiei nor of his love. I have to prove to myself that I really am worthy of such happiness. I will fight with all I have inside of me. I will do this for me and also for my friends. Ayame...Kurama...and...my love. This is for you.

Kurama looked at Yuusuke. It was finally time for them to depart. Once they were there, Hiei would probably fight with them but it was a chance they all had to take. The kitsune stood and opened the door to Yuusuke's room.

"Kurama?" Hiei's voice contained suspicion. "What is going on?" Yuusuke and Kuwabara looked at their red-headed friend in alarm. If he suspected anything now, then they probably would have to start dragging him before they even entered Reikai. A young ferry girl appeared over them, her eyes shining with curiosity.

"Are you ready, Kurama-san?" She asked nervously. "I thought you weren't coming so I decided to find you. Do you wish for me to make the portal?" Everyone in the room directed their gazes at Hiei. The koorime's fists were clenched so tightly that he was shaking. His eyes were narrowed in pure rage. He looked ready to annihilate them all.

"Was this your plan, kitsune? How did you find out?" His voice contained fury, for which both Yuusuke and Kuwabara were grateful that he hadn't spoken to them. "I want to know what the hell you were thinking. I demand a proper explanation." His voice dropped and became way too calm. However, his eyes glittered with unbridled anger. "What the hell possessed you to plan something like this?" Surprisingly, Kurama seemed ready and able to match the koorime's furious glare. He seemed ready to provide the explanation that Hiei had demanded of him.

"Not what, Hiei." In that simple phrase, the koorime's eyes showed understanding. However, not even those words were enough to get him to go to Reikai. "She doesn't want to go through with it. You'll understand that she told me that she wanted us there." Kurama seemed unusually calm, especially after spending the entire day being impatient. There was a resolve in the kitsune's eyes that made Yuusuke and Kuwabara both uneasy. "You are going to Reikai, whether it is willingly or by force. I had hoped that you would come to see sense and not force us to drag you there. However, if that should be the case..."

"You wouldn't dare." Hiei looked ready to go through a whole tournament full of fights before he would go willingly. "My affairs are none of your concern. Go, if you so feel the need to. I will not stop you. But I will not go there to see some fool ceremony that will forever bind two people to each other." The koorime had a lot of anger to let out and Yuusuke knew that even he might not be powerful to stop Hiei's rampage, should he see fit to go on one. "I make my own decisions for my own life. It is high time you all considered doing the same."

"If you would only listen to reason-" Kurama made an effort at persuation and, unfortunately, failed miserably.

"Get the hell away from me and take your reason with you. I don't need any of you attempting to change my life!" Hiei's eyes flared with ebony fire. The kitsune staring him down was resilient, however, not to mention quickly losing whatever patience he had gained in the last few moments. His deep emerald eyes flashed amber, sparkling with enough anger to match the furious koorime.

"Forgive me then, koorime." He snapped, his voice growing deeper as silver streaks began to surface in his mane of red hair. "I did not mean to intrude upon your life. I only meant to help you in your time of need but I see that I thought wrong to perform such measures, as they are unappreciated and unwanted. After all, why should I tarnish my newly formed reputation in Reikai for something that will be wasted on the likes of your ungrateful person." His voice was ringing with challenge. Even Kuwabara saw the spark and knew not to ignite the fire.

"Stop trying to use that psychological dribble on me, Youko. Dare even you try to play fate?" Hiei wasn't backing down. Not to mention that Kurama looked ready to go on a tirade that would last the whole night through. "I know your games. I've seen them before."

"Then you know not to 'play fate,' right, Hiei?" The glittering amber orbs of the kitsune narrowed into slits as danger began to radiate from his aura. "Learn to trust others with friendly advice and maybe you would be a little wiser to accept gifts when they have been given."

"I was not aware that you spoke such nonsense." Both of them were furious enough to kill the other. Their friendship had been based only on a growing understanding of each other that seemed far too complex to anyone else. When it got down to it, their bond was just as fragile as the piece of paper that would soon bind Botan and Koenma in holy matrimony.

Guys, if only you could read my thoughts. If only you could hear me. I am going to make a stand worthy enough to deserve all I have gotten these past few months. I will fight this to the very end, if I have to. I will not marry Koenma when I do not love him...nor will I depend on Koenma's frail sense of justice. He couldn't even talk to his father about this. He could've postponed this, given me time to plan on how I was going to deny his hand.

However...I will still go through with it, even if I have no solid plan. I will not let you down...Hiei.

Botan listened to the man before them as he read beautiful words from an old leather-bound book. His deep voice resonated through the room, creating brief yet effective echoes. The ferry girl began offering her prayers to anyone that was willing to listen. As soon as the room became quiet and the man was about to ask them if they would like to be bound, in sickness and in health, she decided to let her voice create those same echoes, only allowing hers to ring with passion and courage.

"Wait!" Everyone stared at her in surprise. "I cannot let this idiocy continue. My Lord Enma, I do apologize for rising against your orders but I do not believe that this marriage will work as you so hope it would." He stared at her with cold, calculating eyes. Any thought of taking back her words was gone. She removed her veil and let it fall to the ground at her feet. "Koenma-sama and I are not compatible in the way that marriage, even arranged, presents. I cannot let this marriage take place. Even if this act forces you to banish me to the afterlife, I will still stand at opposition to this union." She could handle afterlife, even nothingness, if it meant that she remained true to her unspoken promises to Hiei. As Koenma witnessed Botan stand up to his father, he felt terrible for making her put herself at risk when he should have been the one to do it.

"I, too, oppose this marriage, Father." His light brown eyes went to the ferry girl at his side. "I do not wish for this ceremony to continue. Father, I apologize for the waste of time but there is no way that Botan and I will be married." Just after the brief echo of the prince's words died, the doors swung open to reveal a very angry fire koorime. Kurama followed him, his amber eyes gazing around the room in steely resolve. Yuusuke and Kuwabara, however, chose to linger and stay out of the way of the two demons. Botan's breath caught in her throat as her eyes met his crimson ones. She gave him a brave smile.

"What is the meaning of all this? Does everyone oppose this marriage?" Enma's voice boomed, making everyone in the room flinch, not only from pain but from fear. "Why did you not come forth sooner, then? If you wanted to stop this marriage then you would have done well to do it sooner." His eyes narrowed in anger. "I do not have time to waste, sitting at my son's wedding if he doesn't want to be married." Koenma looked over at Ayame and she stared back at him.

"I did not say that I do not wish to be married... I do not want to marry Botan." His voice was soft, though still heard. "I would like to be wed someday to the woman of my choosing, Father." Enma considered it a moment before sighing. He stood and left the room, dismissing everyone without so much as a word. Botan stared at her friends in disbelief. They had made it. Kurama had kept his promise to her. His eyes... The sparkling amber color surprised her because he was still in ningen form, though there were a few streaks of silver in his red mane. He looked pretty angry, not to mention that Hiei did as well. She began to wonder what had transpired between them.

"Hiei..." His name slid from her lips, betraying her emotions in the tone she used. All of the tears she had cried had left her soul dry and parched but seeing him standing there made her want to cry, made her soul swell with tears. She felt a grin force its way to her face, the same stupid grin that she always used to wear.

"Hn. It seems as though we weren't even needed, kitsune. What, then, was the need to drag me all that way?" The koorime let his glower rest on the demon at his side. He did, however, feel relieved that she was not marrying Koenma. Though, even while he had been miserable without her, he still felt as though he couldn't be with her. She stared at him with eyes filled with tears and emotions radiating from every pore in her body. He just closed his eyes and turned around and walked out of the room, leaving her to stare at his back. Botan looked down, feeling her legs give out beneath her. She fell to her knees, grateful that she could finally go back home with her friends and...him. In the few days that she had been held in Reikai, she felt as though they had been months. With the way her thoughts tortured her, it wasn't really any surprise.

She slept in Reikai that night but returned home early the next morning, eager to feel the weighted gravity of earth. A smile forced its way to her lips. Somehow, earth had become her true home. She hardly ever stayed in Reikai ever since she became Yuusuke's assistant.

"I'm home!" Botan called out to the empty apartment, letting out a musical laugh as she closed the door. She felt relieved to see that everything was as she had left it. Her first task would be to settle back in and unpack her bag so she made her way to her room. Upon opening her door, a list of things to do formed in her mind. Her wilted flowers would have to be thrown away and... "What...?" A small gleam of something resting on her pillow caught her attention. She walked over and felt her stomach twist painfully as she realized what it was. "Hiei-"

"Botan! Are you here?" Someone's extremely loud voice made her fall forward in shock, her heart pounding in her chest. She got up and grabbed the object of her fascination before shoving it into her pocket. "Botan!" She ran out to see her door being thrown open by none-other-than Yuusuke with an embarrassed Kurama standing behind him.

"Would it be too much to ask for you to not act like a maniac?" The kitsune asked, his emerald eyes shifting nervously. "And you really should've knocked and waited for her to answer... Yuusuke, are you-" He was cut off by a cry triumph from the one he was trying so desperately to scold.

"Botan!" The maniac in question launched himself inside and picked up the squealing ferry girl, spinning around a few times. She hugged him tightly as soon as he set her down. "There's the smile that I missed so much." His voice was suddenly laced with concern as he asked her the most important question without speaking. She lost herself in a cheerful grin as tears stung at her eyes.

"I have errands to run today." She said, inviting them in to sit with her. "But tomorrow...can I spend it with you?" Yuusuke snorted then let out a yelp when Kurama elbowed him. The kitsune gave him a strong glare, leaving the boy confused for only a moment.

"Yeah, of course. Keiko's been dyin' to talk to you. Not to mention that Yukina is worried, too." The Reikai detective rubbed his side unconsciously while watching the ferry girl closely. "You sure that everything is fine?"

"I'm not married, am I?" Botan asked, a small frown passing her lips. "I really wanted to thank you for showing up yesterday. It meant a lot to me that you guys would break the rules for me." Yuusuke laughed heartily at the comment.

"Of course we wouldn't let a few rules come between us, Botan! I haven't let rules stop me since I learned what they were. The biggest shock to me was that Kurama would've defied gravity to get there. He was so determined..." Kurama looked away, his silence seeming to speak volumes. "I didn't expect you to get so angry at him, though..." The kitsune smiled slightly.

"His pride and arrogance are what make him Hiei. If he had gone willingly, then...something would have been wrong." Botan tried to smile at the statement. Though, it was difficult to hear, she knew what the koorime had been thinking. She bit her lip and gave Yuusuke a long look before averting her gaze.

"Yuusuke, I want...to talk to Kurama alone for a few minutes, all right?" The boy gave her a grin before ruffling her hair. He stood up and stretched.

"I have some stuff to do anyway. Keiko wanted to go shopping...which means of course I'm going with her." He rolled his eyes before giving them a wave. Then he strode out the door. He knew what they were going to talk about and he figured that...they really needed one of those talks before she saw Hiei again. He looked down at his watch before letting out startled exclamation. "Oh shit! I'm gonna be late!"

"I know what you want to say, Botan. Hiei is just-" She looked up at him with a hard gaze, making him drop his sentence without hesitation. The silence lingered for a little while before she sighed and looked away.

"Tell me that he didn't do it because he knew it wouldn't last. I know he loves me but...did he try it out because he knew that I couldn't be with him?" Her voice was soft but edged with frost. He felt a chill run down his spine. "Kurama, I still feel as though you know him best. What is going to happen to us?" The kitsune hesitated. He wasn't sure if he should answer but he knew that the ferry girl had a right to know. Unless...she had already figured it out.

"It is possible that he did such a thing. He's been lonely all his life and he could've thought that he wanted a taste of something that was forbidden. You know all about who he is. You should know what it is that was going through his mind while you were in Reikai. He tried to convince himself that you were better off with Koenma. He tried to tell himself that because he didn't want to drag you down or let you get hurt because of him." Kurama's soft voice somehow made the words easier to bear. "I don't know if he would allow himself to with you after he experienced such pain."

"You know...Hiei isn't my first love...or my second. But being with him made me...feel safe. Every time he held me, I believed that I wouldn't have to marry Koenma. I believed that he would protect me from every kind of pain imaginable. Those other times that I fell in love...they never seemed real." She looked over at him. "I would have laughed myself stupid if anyone told me that I would be so head-over-heels for the little koorime." He smirked.

"Things come to us in time. Once, I believed that Hiei would never love anyone but then I realized why. It was because he believed that he couldn't that he never did. It was then that I knew that he would eventually." Botan stood up and looked back at him.

"Thank you for giving me an honest answer, Kurama-kun. I sort of knew what you would say but...I hope it doesn't turn out to be like that." Kurama frowned. The chances were most likely that Hiei had willingly allowed himself to be emotionally free with her because he knew she couldn't stay with him, therefore she couldn't be hurt by him. How wrong he was. Hiei should have known that he was playing with something more dangerous than fire. Because of the koorime's actions, both of them wound up getting hurt. In the end, however, Botan was protected from marrying Koenma, as Hiei had promised. Some things worked out and others didn't.

Life has always been odd... The kitsune pondered to himself as he left her apartment. I just wish that it was easier to figure out. Then again, he knew that it wouldn't be as much fun if life were predictable. So much for that. He allowed a smile to pass his lips. After all, Hiei was just as hard to predict as life was. Maybe he would wind up back in the deity's arms. After all, who could possibly resist when opportunity presents itself a second time? Quite possibly, Hiei... The kitsune couldn't say for sure if Hiei was that stupid when it came to love. In fact, no one could have if they tried.

So...did I do a good enough job? I really hope that I did because...this is kind of growing on me. And I did get Hiei back in character, right?

Unfortunately, I plan on ending it soon. I believe there are only a few more chapters...maybe not even that many.

However, thank you all for reading this and also leaving me reviews! I am really grateful.

-Angel