A/N: Demon fantasy Botan tries to prey on is taken from "Stranger Than Fiction", one of my favourite films (because I am Karen Eiffel).

Long chapter is long.

Recap: The boys discovered a maze inside the fort in spirit world, they fought a fox demon (who made a sneaky getaway) and Hiei just kept getting weirder. Back in living world, Botan and Keiko tried to track Yukina with the demon compass and failed, and even Kuwabara could not find her, leaving Botan to conclude that Yukina must have died.

Chapter 8: Truths Negated

"All we needed was for you to find the breach. Now that we know where it is, I can deploy one third of the squad there to close it from the demon world side, sealing the bandits into spirit world and cutting off their escape and supply of weaponry. The remainder of the SDF can easily beat them into submission from spirit world's side, your work is done."

Yusuke scrunched up his face.

"Don't give me that crap!" he snorted. "What are you hiding from us?"

"Honestly?" Koenma asked. "You're still not especially liked in spirit world Yusuke, and although my father tolerates you visiting living world, he won't tolerate you parading around spirit world. The demons in that fort are not strong; the SDF can easily defeat them."

"We met a fox demon," Kuwabara said. "He was pretty strong."

"Go back to demon world and wait by the breach," Koenma insisted. "I'll send three officers over there, but until they arrive, I would appreciate it if the four of you would guard the breach."

"This was the worst mission you ever sent me on!" Yusuke complained. "I didn't even get to break a sweat!"

Kuwabara and Kurama gave him exasperated looks, but he was oblivious to them, his eyes still fixed on Koenma.

"We'll guard the breach until the boy scouts get here," he reluctantly agreed.

"Thank you Yusuke, for everything," Koenma said.

"Yeah, sure."

Yusuke snapped the communicator shut with a sigh.

"Well, you heard the brat, let's go," he said.

"Doesn't this seem kinda suspicious to anyone?" Kuwabara asked as all four started to move on. "Like it's not quite over yet?"

"It isn't over yet!" Yusuke sighed. "This stupid fort is still standing, and the bastards that built it are still running loose in spirit world!"

"On the bright side, once the breach is closed, the source of the virus will have been removed, and hopefully the doctors will perfect their antidote soon, and normality can be restored in demon world, at least," Kurama said.

They walked on in silence for a little longer before Yusuke spoke again.

"I agree with Kuwabara, this isn't over yet," he said.

"Hey, at least this way I can get home and find Yukina," Kuwabara said.

Hiei snorted and the others turned to him questioningly.

"I'm also looking forward to finding Yukina," he said when he noticed them watching him.

"You're so weird, Hiei," Kuwabara complained.

Botan and Keiko crawled quickly and quietly along the hall, both infrequently glancing at the wall opposite the windows they were keeping themselves below, each whimpering each time they saw the shadow of Puu pacing about outside.

"This is hopeless!" Keiko whispered. "No matter which part of the temple we go to, he follows us!"

"Well, on the bright side, he doesn't try to break into the temple," Botan whispered back. "So as long as we're indoors, we're safe."

"Botan, it's not practical for us to stay in here indefinitely!"

"Not indefinitely! Just until Yusuke gets back."

Keiko sighed, stopping to sit back onto her heels. She straightened her back and craned her neck to peer out of the nearest window, her eyes very quickly locating Puu pacing about on the lawn outside. She watched him walk back and forth, noticing for the first time that he was moving in a strange rhythm. Botan crawled back over to join her, peering out the corner of the window at the agitated spirit beast.

"He's walking funny," Keiko whispered. "His right foot, he isn't using it the same way as his other foot. Do you think that means Yusuke is hurt?"

"No," Botan replied, shaking her head.

"But usually that's what happens," Keiko pointed out.

"But Puu only becomes sad or weak when Yusuke is hurt," Botan said, pointing a finger out the window. "He never actually shows any wounds."

Keiko leaned closer to the glass, squinting at Puu's foot.

"Oh!" she gasped as he turned around, affording her a better view of his affected foot. "He's hurt! Maybe that's why he's so distressed! We should help him!"

Botan grabbed Keiko's arm as she started to stand up and pulled her abruptly back down.

"It's more likely he sustained that injury fighting me mid-air!" Botan explained when she caught Keiko eying her questioningly.

"Did you deliberately wound him?" Keiko asked.

"Of course not!" Botan replied. "But he was pushing me out of the sky, I had to do something to defend myself!"

"So you did that to him?"

"Well I don't remember doing that to him… In fact, it sort of looks like a burn more than anything and I certainly never tried to burn him…"

"Who would burn Puu?"

Botan shrugged again and Keiko sighed.

"We're stuck here until Yusuke gets back, aren't we?" she asked.

"Pretty much, yes," Botan reluctantly agreed.

Keiko stood up, biting her lip as Puu screamed out at her, charging towards the window. As Botan had said, he stopped just short of the glass, but did not stop crying and stamping about from foot to foot.

"Do you think whatever burnt him was the same thing that killed Yukina?" Keiko asked.

"I don't know," Botan replied, standing up. "I'm going to make some tea and shut the curtains so we don't have to… Well, you understand."

"I'm going back to Yukina's room," Keiko said. "Just in case there are any clues there about what might have happened to her."

Botan nodded and they separated, Botan closing curtains as she went and Keiko hurrying back to Yukina's room, trying not to look either out the windows she passed or at the shadows on the walls those windows were casting.

Back in Yukina's room she found it exactly as Botan had described it earlier: neat, plain and simple. She felt a little rude and intrusive looking too closely at anything there, but she forced herself to open the small wardrobe door and look inside, telling herself that she was doing it for Yukina's sake. Inside the wardrobe she found a single pair of sandals on the floor, and a very small selection of clothing arranged on the hangers. She slid the hangers along, briefly eying over each outfit she passed. The first was a summer yukata, very similar to Yukina's preferred blue kimono, the second was a button-up pink dress, the label of which told Keiko it had been bought in a children's clothing store, and the third and forth were also dresses meant for pre-teenage girls, of a similar plain style that buttoned up to the neck and hung down to a below-knee length.

Keiko closed the wardrobe doors again and swallowed hard against a tightness growing in her throat. Yukina was just a child, it seemed unfair that she should have perished. How had it happened and why? Why had nobody seen or heard anything?

She sighed, a tear escaping one eye, and she moved over to the vanity table, opening the drawer beneath it. It was empty, but there was a faint scent of salty honey emanating from the wooden interior. Keiko closed the drawer again and moved to the nightstand, opening the drawers there. The top drawer contained a small selection of plain white underwear that again looked as though it was meant for a child, and the bottom drawer contained a small selection of sleeping yukatas that Keiko was almost certain Yukina had made herself. None of it was in any way telling, and so, as a last resort, Keiko pulled back the bed-sheets and lifted up the pillow to be sure there was nothing hidden in the bed. However her search was fruitless, and so she dropped the pillow back down and began rearranging the bed-sheets, tucking them back into place.

Keiko stopped short as her fingers touched something between the bed-stand and the mattress. She slowly pinched the edge of a piece of paper, sliding it out from under the mattress and placing it on the floor.

"Oh my…" she whispered, before turning back to the bed and lifting up the mattress.

The entire bed-stand was littered with pages of material similar to the one she had just recovered, and seeing them was such a shock, Keiko dropped the mattress with a scream that made Puu yelp outside the temple and Botan break something in the kitchen.

"That's disgusting."

"You're only saying that because you can't do it too."

"No, that's disgusting, Yusuke. And it smells."

Yusuke shrugged indifferently, but Kurama continued to look less than impressed.

"That's nothing Urameshi, I can do the first verse of the national anthem without pausing for breath," Kuwabara boasted.

"Oh, please don't," Kurama said.

"I bet you can't," Yusuke said.

"I can too!" Kuwabara argued. "Check it out."

The group, who were on their way back through demon world after meeting up with the three soldiers Koenma had sent, stopped walking to listen as Kuwabara attempted to belch his way through the national anthem without pausing, as he had promised. After a few atonal, guttural noises, punctuated by a few desperate pauses for air, he vomited against a tree.

"Gross, dude," Yusuke said, shaking his head.

"This is why I told you to stop," Kurama pointed out.

"You're just jealous because you can't burp-sing," Yusuke replied.

"Why would he be jealous of that?" Hiei asked, eying over Kuwabara. "It's hardly a skill or talent."

"It figures you'd be disgusted by it Hime," Yusuke muttered.

"I don't wanna play any more Urameshi, you win," Kuwabara said.

"So what the hell are we supposed to do to pass the rest of the journey back?" Yusuke asked.

"I know another game we could play!" Kuwabara said.

"It better not be something lame," Yusuke warned him.

"Nuh-uh, it's called "fart face"."

"Sounds lame."

"No it's not, watch."

Kuwabara grabbed a handful of Hiei's hair, holding him in place and then lifted up one leg to fart into his face. He then quickly released Hiei and scurried away from him, moving himself behind Yusuke before daring to laugh.

"He's the perfect height for that game!" Yusuke said.

"I know, isn't it great?" Kuwabara replied. "I've wanted to do that for years, but I figured this was the only time I could without him killing me. It's fun, you should try it."

"Don't you dare!" Hiei yelled, whipping out his sword and aiming it at Yusuke.

"Hey, check it out!" Yusuke said, ignoring Hiei's threat. "I bet I can make a bigger splash than you, Kuwabara!"

"I bet you can't, I've got the size advantage!" Kuwabara replied.

Together they ran off to one side towards a pool of water.

"Do you want to join them?" Kurama asked Hiei.

"Absolutely not!" Hiei replied. "I just finished fixing things after that first time Yusuke dragged me under the water."

Kurama frowned at Hiei, but he did not elaborate, and as he was still clutching his sword and still looked a little desperate, Kurama decided against questioning him any further on the matter.

"Let's walk on then," he said instead.

Hiei stowed his weapon once more and moved on at Kurama's side. For a long time Kurama smiled to himself as he listened to Yusuke and Kuwabara whooping and splashing about behind them. Once he was sure Hiei ought to have calmed down at least a little, he dared to broach a subject that had been bothering him since leaving spirit world.

"Hiei, I've been watching you very carefully these past few days," he began.

"You have?" Hiei responded, trying to sound indifferent but failing to hide the curiosity in his eyes as he glanced up at Kurama.

"Yes, I have," Kurama confirmed. "And I've noticed something."

"Oh really?" Hiei said with the same air of forced impassiveness.

"Yes, really. I'm not a fool, and you should know that. I know what's really going on here."

Hiei stopped abruptly and Kurama stopped a step ahead of him before slowly turning to face him, smiling as he saw the panicked, pale and sweaty appearance of Hiei's face.

"I've seen everything you've been doing, and it's very obvious what you're really trying to do," he continued. "I was suspicious from the start of this mission, but when I saw you destroy that tree I knew for sure what you were up to. The unexpected powers and abilities you've displayed, your insistence on disguising your scent from detection behind copious amounts of perfumes, and, more specifically, your destruction of a very powerful demon plant: there's only one possible explanation for it."

"I was going to tell you," Hiei said softly, looking up at Kurama with large, almost scared eyes.

"It amuses me," Kurama assured him.

"Amuses you?" Hiei echoed, his eyes narrowing and his usual scowl returning to his face. "You think I did this for anyone's amusement?"

"It is, of course, a serious issue," Kurama replied. "But nonetheless, I find it derisive: you're preparing for our rematch."

"I, um, what?"

"I'm flattered that you have gone to such lengths to prepare – disguising your scent so that I won't be able to pick you out, I don't know where or how you learned how to destroy a demon plant like that, because I have never seen such a technique, and it is quite flattering that you would go to such lengths in a bid to provide me with a challenge. And there's something else. You're doing something to distort your energy signal. I haven't quite figured out what it is, but I can no longer clearly identify your energy signal as your own – you feel like someone completely different, in power and ability. Like I said, I find it flattering that you are going to such great effort for our rematch, and, having seen the lengths you have gone to, I promise you I will come at you with all I have when we finally do collide."

One of Hiei's eyes twitched slightly, and the corners of his mouth drooped.

"Don't look so disheartened, Hiei!" Kurama said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "You should know by now that you can't fool me. You criticise my analytical approach to battle, but it does mean that nothing ever gets by me. And, really Hiei, you ought to know better than to try to play a trick on a fox: we are expert tricksters ourselves, and so we know how to detect trickery in others."

Hiei gasped as Kurama waved a hand over one of his ears and produced a small piranha plant.

"Where did that come from?" he asked, his red eyes on the little carnivorous flower. "Did you plant that on me?"

"Yes, I planted it on you, Hiei," Kurama solemnly replied.

"Where?" Hiei asked, hands moving into his hair and fumbling around experimentally.

"Behind your ear. I planted an entire army of them."

Kurama tugged at Hiei's ear-lobe lightly to demonstrate his point, smiling as Hiei gasped again and moved a hand to his ear.

"I was just making a joke, relax," Kurama assured him.

He took hold of Hiei's wrists and pulled his hands from his head, offering him a reassuring smile.

"Don't tease me like that again," Hiei said, looking almost sulky as he spoke. "It isn't fair."

"I'm sorry, I couldn't resist," Kurama replied.

Several seconds passed before Kurama noticed the increasingly agitated look on Hiei's face. Kurama's smile slowly faded as Hiei's eyes fell from his and fixed onto something that made him appear to blush slightly. Kurama followed the direction he was looking, and only then realised that he was still holding Hiei's wrists in his hands. He immediately released him and Hiei's head snapped up again, his face pale again and his eyes curious and wary. Kurama had no idea how to explain what had happened or how to end the moment, and he was silently glad when Yusuke and Kuwabara streaked past them in their underwear.

"We should keep moving," he suggested.

Hiei's eyes were still on Yusuke and Kuwabara, who were trying to strike each other with their own drenched and rolled up clothing.

"I don't understand it either," Kurama whispered to Hiei.

Hiei turned to him, and upon seeing his smile, the tension eased from his face.

"Let's go," Kurama said.

Hiei nodded, and they moved on again.

Yusuke pursed his lips to stop himself from smiling, though it was proving increasingly difficult to contain his amusement.

"And that's it," Jin said. "I've been here ever since."

Yusuke nodded slowly, before glancing over his shoulder at the others to see if they were struggling as he was: Kuwabara looked afraid, Kurama looked mildly concerned and Hiei was looking up at the sky one hand idly playing with the hair at the back of his neck. He turned back to Jin, who was dressed in a threadbare robe and standing leaning against the side of the medical transporter, his face pale and slightly gaunt.

"So they haven't made a proper cure yet?" Yusuke asked.

The wind demon shook his head solemnly.

"But people are getting better, right?" Yusuke asked.

"Not so far," Jin replied. "Except you, Yusuke. Immune to the virus, you're a lucky soul, so you are."

"Yeah, but I don't get it," Yusuke said. "The doctor took blood from me and Kurama to help cure everyone on this bus."

"They told us they don't have an antidote worked out yet," Jin said.

"Isn't there anything they can do for you at all? I mean seriously, you can't go around like that!"

Jin's eyebrows inched upwards and he slowly looked down at himself.

"I'm decent," he concluded. "And I couldn't just lie around in a bed all day."

"But you sound like a mouse that's been kicked in the balls!" Yusuke said. "You even sound worse than Hiei!"

Jin's eyebrows dropped down into a frown.

"B-but at least you're still smiling, right?" Kuwabara said, stepping forwards and elbowing Yusuke in the ribs.

"I was being honest!" Yusuke protested.

"Perhaps we should talk to the doctors here again," Kurama suggested.

"What about Mukuro?" Yusuke asked.

He turned to Hiei, who was still distracted by a passing cloud in the sky.

"Hey Hiei! Being in a healing chamber at Mukuro's place partially cured you, right? Maybe Mukuro could take some of the sick from here and cure them at her place."

Hiei slowly turned to look directly at Yusuke, a confused and mildly concerned look on his face.

"Damn it, Hiei…" Yusuke muttered through a sigh.

"Maybe we should divide our efforts," Kurama offered. "Yusuke ought to stay here, in case he can help the doctors further, Kuwabara can return to living world to report back to Botan and I will take Hiei back to Mukuro, so that he can return to a healing chamber himself and I can negotiate with Mukuro about the possibility of taking some patients into her facilities."

"That's a great idea Kurama, but you'd just be wasting your time," Jin interjected. "I hear Mukuro's facilities are all full up, and she has just as many problems as we do. Her healing chambers don't cure the disease; best she's managed is to stop the infection getting any worse by keeping the sick in suspended animation."

"Damn it!" Yusuke cursed.

"Then I suppose there's nothing more we can do," Kurama reluctantly admitted.

"We should go back to living world," Kuwabara said.

"Yeah, I guess so," Yusuke agreed. "Maybe Botan knows more, or if not, she can at least let us know if the SDF got rid of Fabio and his friends yet."

"Fumio," Kurama corrected him.

"Right, whatever. Well, keep fighting Jin."

Jin nodded and smiled, but the others felt far less confident than he looked.

"Romanticide."

"No. There's no such word."

"There most certainly is! It's in the book, look!"

Botan spun her notebook around and tapped a finger at the page angrily. Keiko leaned over the table to read the specific line of text before slowly sighing and looking up at Botan again.

"You wrote that, Botan," she pointed out.

"I wrote it because it's true," Botan replied, grabbing up her notebook and slamming it shut.

"There's no such word as "romanticide" and even if there was, I'm pretty sure this isn't the right definition of it," Keiko insisted.

"She killed herself because she was in love," Botan said.

"We don't know that for sure."

"Yukina has vanished, all traces of her life force have vanished, Kuwabara can't even find her, and we just found a mountain of evidence that says she was depressed and ready to do something drastic. Suicide is a very drastic thing to do."

"I don't believe Yukina would commit suicide."

"But it explains so much."

"Like what Botan? Yukina was too sensible and gentle for something like that!"

"You saw those things she wrote and drew."

"Everybody writes dramatic things in their journals from time to time. If Yusuke disappeared and somebody was checking my journals, they'd probably think I was the one that had killed him. That's the whole point of keeping a journal: you use it to say things you would never say to anyone else, and to vent your emotions!"

"Your first reaction was to scream when you saw them."

"I was shocked."

Botan narrowed her eyes almost accusingly.

"I think you're wrong, Botan," Keiko insisted.

"What if I'm right?" Botan asked. "What if Yukina has killed herself?"

"She didn't leave a suicide note, and there's no sign of a body… Can we not have this conversation?"

"It's our duty to investigate this."

Keiko shook her head.

"It is," Botan insisted. "I'm going outside."

"Botan!"

Keiko shot to her feet, but Botan had already reached the door. She quickly pushed aside her chair and hurried after the impatient ferry girl, joining her as she slid open the front door. Both girls glanced nervously about, each as surprised as the other when they saw that Puu was nowhere in sight, especially after he had been quite conspicuous all day, pacing about the lawns. It was getting late and the sun was low in the sky, almost completely hidden from their view behind the trees that surrounded the temple grounds, and the air was unusually still and silent.

Botan moved first, stepping out onto the porch, still looking all about herself as she went. Keiko cautiously followed, remaining a few steps behind as Botan continued onto the lawn itself. They slowly crossed the lawn in silence, both tense with anticipation that only seemed to get worse as they moved further from the temple and still found no trace of Puu. Keiko hesitated briefly when she realised that Botan was leading her towards the barn Puu usually lived in, but when their surroundings remained quiet and calm, she continued on again, eventually catching up to Botan, who had stopped by the open barn doorway.

Inside the barn, Puu was lying on a loose, untidy nest of hay, his head tucked under one wing. Keiko turned to Botan, who quickly shook her head and pressed a finger to her lips. Together they began to quietly and carefully tip-toe backwards away from the barn, watching Puu as they went for any signs of him stirring from his slumber. Once they were several feet back, Botan turned around to run, only to literally bump into someone. She screamed in fright and Keiko screamed because Botan had, and Puu awoke with a startled cry.

"We woke Puu!" Botan cried.

"Run!" Keiko said.

Keiko ran off, but Botan was prevented from following as someone grabbed her arms and held her in place.

"Botan? Are you alright?"

She blinked and focused her eyes on the person in front of her, barely registering who he was when she heard Puu moving in the barn behind her.

"We have to flee, Kurama!" she said.

"Why?" he asked, holding her in place.

"Puu will eat us if we don't!"

"Puu?"

Kurama looked over Botan's shoulder at the spirit beast in question, who was stepping out of the barn. He shook his head, his ears flapping about almost comically, and then casually strolled past where Kurama and Botan were standing. Botan screamed and ducked her head down as he passed, but Puu did not break stride, continuing out across the lawn.

"Botan, are you alright?" Kurama asked, turning back to Botan.

"He's been trying to kill me since you boys went on your secret mission without me!" she replied.

"Who's been trying to kill you?" he asked.

"Puu!"

Kurama looked back over his shoulder, watching as Puu met up with Yusuke, who patted him on the head in greeting.

"Botan, have you been drinking?" he asked, turning back to Botan.

"No I have not!" Botan yelped defensively.

"Are you sure?" Kurama asked.

"Well I did have one beer earlier, but Puu has been attacking me since you left!"

Kurama nodded his head and released his hold of her.

"Well he seems quite placid now," he said.

"Probably because Yusuke's here," Botan replied.

"Probably," Kurama agreed. "We've had an unusual few days, I'm glad to be back here, to be honest. Perhaps Puu felt what we were going through and was concerned for Yusuke's welfare."

"I wouldn't know, nobody even told me what the mission was all about!" Botan complained.

"Well, perhaps we could talk about it. You could tell me about Puu's escapades and I could tell you about some of the things we did in demon world. Would you like to have dinner with me tomorrow night–"

"Hiei!"

Kurama staggered back a step, more out of shock than physical force, as Botan literally pushed past him and ran off across the lawn.

"Hiei!" she cried, waving her hands above her head as she hurtled towards him.

Hiei, who was standing a short way behind Yusuke, turned to watch her approach expressionlessly.

"We need to talk!" she insisted, grabbing his arm and dragging him away from Yusuke, warily eying Puu over as she passed his back.

"All this fuss is unnecessary," he flatly told her as he stumbled after her across the lawn.

"No, it's very necessary," she argued. "Something terrible has happened, and you need to understand the magnitude of–"

Botan yelped as she was yanked to a halt.

"Where are you taking me?" Hiei asked when she looked back at him for an explanation.

"Away from the others so that we can talk!" she replied, trying to drag him onwards into the forest.

"Here is fine," he said, pulling back on her. "Say what you must and then leave me alone."

She sighed, dropping his arm and turning to face him directly.

"We need to talk," she said.

"You already said that," he reminded her. "Now get to the point or I won't bother listening."

"It's about Yukina," Botan quickly replied.

"What about her?"

"She's gone."

"Yes."

"You already knew?"

"Yes."

"Oh… Aren't you sad?"

"Why would I be?"

"Well, it's sad, isn't it? She killed herself because of–"

"What?"

"She killed herself because of–"

"Yukina didn't kill herself, you idiot!"

"But she's gone, and nobody can find any trace of her! Kuwabara couldn't reach her with his special love-link, and even the demon compass couldn't track her down!"

Botan produced her trusty spirit world device, looking down at the blank screen miserably.

"Not even a single blip…" she said, tapping at the unresponsive screen.

"Yukina had to go somewhere, but she'll be back," Hiei said.

"But where did she go and why didn't she tell anyone before she left?" Botan demanded.

"None of your business and maybe she didn't want to tell you," Hiei replied.

"It must be somewhere very far away and secluded and protected and remote and separate if neither the demon compass nor Kuwabara can find her…"

Hiei's eyes moved to the compass in Botan's hands.

"How does that device work, exactly?" he asked.

"It tracks a demon's energy signal," she replied.

"There are several demons here, how does it specifically look for one demon's energy signal alone?"

"Oh well that's easy. It uses a DNA sample to hone in on one demon."

"DNA?"

"Yes, look."

Botan snapped open the compass and lowered her hands to allow Hiei to peer inside it. He carefully plucked the single strand of sea-green hair from the interior of the compass between bandaged fingers, lifting it up to hang in the air in front of his face.

"Where did you acquire this?" he asked quietly.

"Yukina's hairbrush, in her bedroom," Botan casually replied. "But you say she's gone away somewhere? I wish you would tell me where, Hiei. I'm sure she's safe if you're happy with wherever she is, but I'm her friend and I have a right to know where she is too."

"Why were you in Yukina's bedroom?" Hiei asked, moving his eyes from the hair to Botan.

"I was looking for Yukina!"

"You entered her room in her absence?"

"I was trying to find her, and I needed to get a hair, and I knew she kept her hairbrush there."

"Isn't that a terrible invasion of privacy and betrayal of trust?"

Botan gasped.

"I've been in Yukina's room plenty of times before!" she said.

Hiei narrowed his eyes and Botan snatched the hair back from him, stuffing it back into the compass.

"We're friends, Hiei," she said. "I was worried about her, and I was trying to find her."

She closed the compass again, and again watched it for any signs of life. When it remained blank she stuffed it back into her pocket.

"Excuse me," Hiei said, stepping forwards.

"Wait!" Botan said, side-stepping to block his path.

He glowered at her and she grinned nervously.

"Please wait?" she tried.

"What do you want?" he asked. "Tell me quickly, I grow weary of listening to you."

"I will tell you, but I have to whisper it."

Hiei leaned to one side to look beyond her.

"I don't think anyone else will hear you if you just say it out loud," he concluded.

"But it's very secret," she said.

Hiei narrowed his eyes further still, looking almost animalistic. Undeterred, Botan leaned forwards and whispered something into his ear.

"Why would I want to do that?" he asked, his tone as flat and disinterested as ever.

"I thought you might like it," she replied.

"Why are you still whispering?"

Hiei leaned away from Botan to glare up at her suspiciously.

"Move away from me, Botan," he warned her.

She smiled and he frowned.

"Maybe you'd prefer to watch me–"

"I don't want to watch you do anything!"

Hiei sneered at Botan, but Botan, rather than be afraid or offended by his outburst, instead looked thoughtful, as though she was trying to remember something.

"Perhaps you'd rather–"

"No."

"How about if I–"

"No."

"You didn't even let me fini–"

"No!"

Hiei slowly edged away from Botan, who turned on the spot to follow his movement, each keeping their eyes on the other.

"Maybe I'm trying to tell you that–"

"No, stop! Just leave me alone!"

Hiei briskly marched away from Botan, only breaking stride when Kurama stepped into his path and he was forced to stop to avoid walking straight into the fox demon.

"What did Botan say to you?" Kurama asked him.

"She asked me if I wanted to watch her shave her legs in a bath-tub," Hiei replied.

"What?" Kurama echoed.

"I don't know either," Hiei said, before stepping around Kurama and continuing on his way.

Kurama turned around, watching Hiei with a displeased scowl: he had, on occasion, secretly imagined watching Botan in a bath of soapy water, her hair tied up scrappily about her head, slowly dragging a razor along the length of her slender, wet legs. It was quite a demonic thought, and Kurama would never have dared voice it to Botan for fear that she would be repulsed by it; but now suddenly she was offering to perform that very act for Hiei's benefit.

"Botan!" he said, reaching out a hand to stop her as she tried to pass him.

"I was talking to Hiei," she abruptly answered, attempting to move past him.

Kurama moved to block her progress and she finally looked directly at him.

"Can I ask why?" he asked.

"Why what?" she asked, peering over his shoulder anxiously.

"Why are you chasing after Hiei? You should be more careful, you know how he dislikes company and conversation."

Botan slowly moved her eyes to Kurama, and he could immediately tell by the way her eyes searched his and she chewed tentatively on her lip that she was hiding something.

"Perhaps you should talk to me instead?" he suggested.

"Well, there is one small thing, but Keiko didn't think we should tell anyone else, and I especially wouldn't want Hiei to find out, although maybe you ought to know, since it does sort of concern you..."

Kurama slowly narrowed his eyes.

"It's about Yukina," Botan whispered, leaning closer to him.

"I'm listening," he replied, using the moment as an excuse to lean closer to her.

"Well, I think she might have a little bit of a crush on you."

Kurama laughed.

"Oh Botan, you have such a wicked sense of humour for a deity of spirit world!" he said.

Botan shook her head.

"I'm not joking, Kurama!" she said.

"Please Botan, this is absurd," Kurama replied, sobering slightly. "Yukina is incapable of having a "crush" on anyone, and even if she ever did develop such an ability, she would surely give her affections to Kuwabara."

"Well, Keiko and I found evidence in her room that she is capable of having a "crush", and that she gives her affections to you," Botan whispered.

Kurama gave a few short, nervous laughs before fully appreciating the intense and determined look in Botan's pink eyes.

"Botan, this is no laughing matter," he said.

"Exactly!" she hissed. "So stop laughing about it!"

"Did you tell Hiei about this?"

"No, of course not! Oh goodness, can you imagine what would happen if he ever did find out? He would kill you, Kurama! You know how angry he gets when he sees Kuwabara fawning over Yukina, if he knew just how much Yukina has been secretly pining after you, he would torture and slaughter you! He would maim and disfigure you! He would tear you apart, limb by limb! He would–"

"I get the picture, Botan."

"And it wouldn't be a very good idea to say anything to Kuwabara, either. He wouldn't be happy if he thought Yukina was secretly in love with you. He would be so angry, he would probably–"

"I won't say a word, I promise."

"Oh good."

Botan nodded, and, upon seeing the concerned and tense look on Kurama's face she smiled.

"It is a little bit funny though," she whispered to him. "Secretly, you know. She's just a little girl, it's so sweet that she likes you that way, but realistically, it's quite absurd."

"Yes, it is definitely absurd," Kurama agreed. "Where is Yukina anyway?"

"Hiei said she had to go somewhere special."

"Somewhere special? Somewhere so special that Kuwabara can't even locate her?"

"I guess so."

Kurama looked back over his shoulder at the temple, a vague sense that something slightly sinister was afoot passing over him. When he turned back again, Botan had gone and Yusuke and Kuwabara were bickering about something, and so he started towards the temple, intent on finding Hiei, in the hope of encouraging him to return to a healing chamber – because he needed to heal and because Kurama did not want to risk Botan or Keiko accidentally telling Hiei that they thought Yukina had a crush on him.

Hiei was easy to find, the stink of the wild flowers and tree sap he claimed to have fallen into still overpowering and telling – which made Kurama smile, as he realised that Hiei's attempts to make himself indefinable had in fact made him more conspicuous. Kurama's nose led him towards the back of the temple, beyond the room he sometimes slept in when he stayed overnight at the temple, to a long corridor, at the end of which was a stand of three swords, atop of a small table. As Kurama moved towards the stand his smile faded: the largest of the three weapons was missing, and although he had never noticed the display before, closer inspection showed denting and wear that indicated there had been a third weapon there until very recently. Turning to one side, Kurama saw a partially open door, beyond which he could clearly smell Hiei's obnoxiously falsified scent, and a faint trace of the ice village flowers, barely discernible but unmistakable nonetheless. He moved closer to the door and pushed it further open, revealing a small, modest bedroom and one short fire demon with a piece of paper in each hand and a tense, suspicious and borderline irate look in his red eyes.

"Hiei?" Kurama greeted him, stepping through the doorway. "Are you alright?"

"No," Hiei replied, turning the pages in his hands to reveal their contents to Kurama's eyes. "What the hell is this?"

Kurama stopped short: one page was filled with words, clearly written by a feminine hand and in a slightly old-fashioned style, lamenting Kurama's bravery and magnificence, and the other page was an overly detailed sketch of Kurama in his full demon form, the Ojigi plant he had used against Karasu during the Dark Tournament dancing around him.

"I have no idea," Kurama faintly replied.

He knew what it was – obviously it was the "evidence" Botan had referred to about Yukina's apparent feelings for him – but he had no idea what had inspired it or how it had come to be.

"Why would my sister say these things about you if you weren't courting her?"

Kurama flinched involuntarily, the harshness of Hiei's tone and the distinct change in the air around him sending an ominous chill down his spine.

"Hiei, I don't know what to tell you," he said. "This is the first time I've seen any of this, I swear!"

"I didn't ask if you'd seen it before, I asked why it exists," Hiei coldly replied.

"I don't know that either!" Kurama insisted. "I am as shocked as you are to see Yukina express herself this way!"

Hiei threw down the pages onto Yukina's bed and then moved one hand to the bandana across his forehead, easing his cloak back over his hip to expose his sword with his other hand.

"I have ways of finding out if you are being honest with me," he warned. "Which would you prefer: should I cut you or just read your mind?"

"Hiei, you need to calm down," Kurama replied.

"Don't tell me what to do, fox," Hiei growled back.

"We can talk about this without the need for either of us to use force of any kind," Kurama said. "And besides, you know you can't just read my mind."

"I can. If I cut you and weaken you first I can."

Kurama gulped quietly, silently wishing that Yukina was there if only to force her to explain the misunderstanding herself.

"I had no idea Yukina had feelings for me, I promise," he tried. "In fact, I didn't even think it was possible for her to have feelings for anyone – romantic feelings, I mean. I thought the ice maidens were asexual: look at how they reproduce! Hiei, please understand, even if your sister has somehow developed feelings for me, I could never possibly return them. I respect you and Kuwabara too much for that!"

Hiei lowered his hands, his cloak falling over his sword once more.

"Besides Hiei, Yukina is just a child," Kurama continued. "I couldn't take her as a lover even if I wanted to: she could never hope to keep up with me."

Next Chapter: Hiei and Kurama talk about Yukina, Botan demonstrates what she learned from reading "The Beast Whisperer", and, after less than 24 hours of being gentle and kind, Puu starts to misbehave again. Chapter 9 – Talking Naturally