Hey, I haven't forgotten about this story! I haven't. But I'm six assignments behind in my Chemistry class and my dad just had surgery so I've been pretty busy here lately. I am fairly certain that this is the last "seemingly random" chapter before the plot starts to develop a little. Bare with me, I'm getting there. Anyway, read and review! Please!
Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Draw a circle, not a heart, around the one you love because a heart can break but a circle goes on forever.
December 24
The dollop of whipped cream settled in the middle of her chipped mug, blending her hot chocolate into a softer brown. Steam curled into the air. She lifted the ceramic mug to her lips and took a sip. Fire touched her tongue. She pulled her head away and winced at the coarse numbness sinking in when she touched her tongue to the roof of her mouth. She peered out into the lamplight.
The stillness was her gift. No one apart from her had passed through the door to her abode since midnight December twenty-third. Kuwabara was stirring up arguments with Shizuru and Yusuke was fending off the various blows Keiko directed at him as he spent Christmas Eve with the Yukimuras. For the evening, the toddler of Spirit World had whisked the current phoenix off with the invitation of putting some of the largest lights in the Three Worlds on one of the smallest, most pitiful trees she had ever seen.
She smiled at how obvious their excuses were.
The curtains to her window were pulled open. Slanted rays from a nearby streetlight cast a triangle of yellow on her carpet. Outside the flecks of ice twirled in complicated circles to the ground. The hot chocolate, now cooled, was sweet on her tongue.
"I'll be home for Christma – "
She turned the volume dial on her radio down. The contentment had faded from her eyes; gravity weighed down on the corners of her lips. She turned around to lift the mug back to her lips and her eyes landed on the small mahogany box she'd been entrusted with.
An idea took root within her mind and she spun on her heels with all the excitement of bottled childhood. The next station blared enthusiasm through its speakers and she twisted the volume up as loud as it would go. In the semi-darkness of her apartment, alone and in her bare feet, she threw her head back. With a bubble of laughter, she spun on her feet, arms flailing out around her in a dance without constraints. The spirit guide tumbled through the air, letting momentum carry her in a circular path across her floor. Colors played on the back of her eyelids – vibrant yellows and greens and pinks.
With one last squeal of delight, she flung herself onto the couch and stared up at the ceiling, spinning above her head. Her chest heaved and she let her head fall back. The music that had commanded her to move now faded into softer chords, willing her to calm and relax. Enjoy the serenity, it told her.
"Merry Christmas, Hiei," she said to the four walls. "I hope you're somewhere, safe and warm, with people who love you."
The shuddering intake of breath – half sob, half gasp, half sigh – sent a ripple of quiet through the crowd. Botan blinked her bright magenta eyes; her arm was still poised in the air to make the final tug on the ribbon of her gift. All eyes fell on Yukina; her dazed expression took center stage. Her eyes were wide, with an almost awed sense of wonder flooded into the depths of cherry red. Her thin smile was shaped into the tiniest 'o' and her fingers trembled as they lifted a card closer to her face.
Botan's shoulders drooped in surprise. The card was one of hers – the missing piece from her stationary set.
A droplet of moisture balled in the corner of the ice maiden's eyes. Two identical tears rolled down her porcelain cheeks, glowing dimly as they crystallized halfway along the journey to the carpet below her folded knees. They plinked softly in front of her.
No one had dared to move.
She raised her eyes to look out at them. They almost seemed to tremble beneath her long lashes. In a breathy voice, not so very different from the sigh that had escaped her lips moments before, she whispered, "Where is he?"
Her lips curved up into a smile. That was when they knew.
"H-he told you…"
Botan looked at Kurama. He seemed off-balance, uneasy. The many days he had spent away from Human World, from those who loved him, had taken a far greater toll on him than he revealed in the small, humble smile he had given them when he returned. With a quiet "thank you" he had accepted the welcoming hugs and bombardments and then turned to Koenma and said, "I'll return to the mission at hand after I see my mother."
She hadn't laid eyes on Hiei since the fire demon had entrusted her with the box she'd given him. As far of any of them knew, he had crossed into Demon World and slipped into the shadows without a second glance. The spirit guide looked back to Yukina; clearly he hadn't been as far away as she'd thought.
And clearly something had changed in the Forbidden Child's mind to make him step up and claim the sister that was looking for him.
The ice apparition's aqua head bobbed once. "Do you know where he is?"
He fumbled with words. "N-no…I haven't seen Hiei in weeks."
The light that danced in her eyes seemed untouched by his words. "When you see him, will you tell him that he's wrong? From the beginning, I had always hoped that my brother would be like him. He doesn't have a reason to worry."
Kuwabara furrowed his brows. "What? What is going on? Shortie is…what? Hiei can't be Yukina's brother! She's sweet and he's – not! This is – This is – ugh!"
And he fell backwards onto couch.
"Kazuma!" Yukina rose to her feet amidst the laughs that now filled the room. But there was sparkle in her eyes that hadn't been there before; and after Kuwabara had been revived and calmed, when she settled back into her place by the window, she slipped the two tear gems into the envelope and tucked them into her kimono with a smile that rivaled the sun.
Botan giggled and shook her head. For some reason, she'd always imagined that the big revelation would come with more fanfare. In reality, though, nothing much had changed; Yukina's smile was still just as radiant as before. The only noticeable difference was the glimmer in her eyes, like that of a child whose excitement was threatening to burble over. Botan wondered for a moment if maybe the ice maiden had known all along (they were twins after all) and Hiei's fears had been just that – ungrounded fears. Another tiny giggle passed her lips. It's not that much of a leap. This is Hiei after all. He's probably lurking in the shadows somewhere, waiting for things to die down before he makes his entrance.
"Want to help me in the kitchen, Botan?" Shizuru's calm, collected voice broke through her amused thoughts. The older woman seemed untouched by the atmosphere, more pensive than enthusiastic.
"Sure thing, Shizuru, of course," she bobbed her head twice and hopped up onto stiff legs. She'd been sitting cross-legged for far too long.
The kitchen of the Kuwabara apartment was cluttered with half empty containers of food. The sink was piled high with dishes one atop another; the silverware was balanced on the top plate.
"There're more plates in the cabinet," Shizuru directed her to the end of a row of brass-knobbed cabinet doors. "I'll get the pie."
"How many do we need, Shizuru?" She raised herself up onto her toes and pressed her waist into the countertop for balance so both her hands were free.
"Uh, I don't know. Why don't you get as many as there are?"
Botan hummed the three lines she knew of the carol under her breath. Shizuru came back around with the chilled pie and a knife. She peeled back the wrapping and paused, "Is he really just going to leave her hanging like that?"
Botan looked up at her long time friend. She mimicked cutting the pie a few times, making the mental calculations so all the pieces would be the same size.
"I don't think he intended to hurt her," she mused. "Hiei's been operating under this misguided impression that he's not good enough to be her brother. Whatever may have changed enough for him to tell her the truth, that fear of his – that she's going to reject him – didn't go away. He'll come around once he's gathered the courage to do so."
"It just seems mighty unfair to Yukina."
"It is," Botan nodded, "but you have to look at it from his side, too."
Shizuru smiled just a little bit as she lifted a piece onto a plate, "I never thought I would see the day where Botan was arguing Hiei's side of an argument."
She flushed and dug into a drawer for the spoons. "It's just not fair to him, that's all. Everyone always makes it out that he's being cruel by not telling Yukina the truth. I don't think that's true and I don't like it when people talk bad about other people."
"I see," she nodded and scooped out another piece. "Well, I still hope he gets his butt over here soon. That girl is the sweetest thing I've ever met and she deserves to see her brother, now that she knows who he is."
"I agree," Botan nodded. You had better get here soon, Hiei. I'll hunt you down myself if you don't and then I'll whack you with my oar until you tell Yukina that you're sorry for being late.
"He was scared that I wouldn't want him to be my brother?"
Botan jumped at the unsuspected tone of voice, so soft and pleading, and whirled around. Her fingers slipped and the blue-speckled ceramic plate crashed onto the floor. The half-frozen piece of peanut butter pie disconnected and landed in the middle of the shards of broken pottery with a faint, sticky thump.
Yukina was looking at them through aqua blue bangs, out of eyes that were so much like her brother's. Her shoulders slumped a little, and her smile was one of chagrin. "I'm sorry to startle you, Botan."
"It was nothing, Yukina," she shook her head. Stepping to the side, she crossed the kitchen to offer the ice apparition a loose hug. "I'm sorry that Hiei isn't here tonight. It's just - "
"He was afraid of how I would react," Yukina finished. "He's always been afraid of how I would react. Before, whenever he would come to tell me about his search, I always felt like there was some piece that was missing. In the way he looked at me, it was almost like he was just waiting for me to put everything together and then tell him to go away. He was always more jumpy when he was around me. Now, I finally understand why. It's so obvious now. Hiei is my brother."
Botan opened her mouth to reply but Shizuru cut her off with a chuckle, "Brothers are like that, Yukina. Guys don't seem to know how to tell people what they're thinking so most of the time they just sit there and look at you stupidly, waiting for you to figure it out."
Yukina laughed a little. "He doesn't need to be afraid. Whatever it is that he's afraid I'll reject, I won't. He's been nothing but good to me. He's protected me, looked out for my safety and happiness since I first met him. Whether or not he realizes it, he's acted like my brother this whole time."
"I know that," Botan nodded, "and sooner or later, he will too."
"Yukina."
The three turned in the direction of the voice. He stood just inside an open window, swathed in shadow from the outside. Hiei took a hesitant step into the room, then paused, uncertain. His sister stared at him for a long moment; her cherry red eyes shimmered in the dim light. Then she rocketed across the floor.
"Hiei."
He held her close, stiff and fearful. Her tear gems clinked to the ground but she smiled when she pulled away and kissed his cheek. "Brother."
Shizuru ducked out of the room with the pie to give the reunited siblings their privacy. With a grin, Yukina laced her fingers through his and tugged him into the murmur from the other room. Botan was left alone, smiling down at the broken plate.
They kept the broom next to the washing machine down the hall. She hummed a tuneless song and crossed the floor to get it. She reentered the kitchen, swinging the broom in her hand like it was her oar. Five strong fingers curled around her upper arm, yanking her to one side. Hiei looked up at her, a faint glare on his face. In a quick, disconcerting movement, he reached down and snatched the piece of the plate she'd almost stepped on.
"I should have known you'd try to step on it in your bare feet."
"Thank you, Hiei."
"Hn."
"Where's Yukina?" she teased.
Hiei looked away. His cheeks flushed rosy. "I came to get the other plates for her so she wouldn't have to get up."
Botan nodded, "That's an acceptable thing for a brother to do. You're settling into this role well, Hiei."
He turned his glare back on her, but somehow it had lost its impact. There was a relief underlying his expression, a calm that she'd never seen there before. She giggled. He shot her a warning glance and she smiled at it. Hiei's hard, steely outer wall was faltering. She tossed the pieces into the trash can and cleaned the place where the pie still stuck to the floor.
"Were you successful in Demon World?"
"I don't know what that toddler wanted us to find out," Hiei said, "but there wasn't much to find out."
"What do you mean?" She came to stand beside him, brows furrowed.
"Whoever it is that kidnapped the phoenix, they weren't a demon," he said. "But they are powerful. Something dark was hanging over the Demon World, like the looming clouds of a coming storm."
Botan sighed and rolled her shoulders to ease the tension that was balling in her neck. She twisted her head around, stretching. A glimmer of green caught her eye. Above them, hanging a few inches from the ceiling, was a small, unobtrusive cluster of white and green. She arched a brow at it. "What?"
Hiei followed her gaze and snorted at the sight. "Hn. That idiot's too dumb to realize that he has weeds hanging from his ceiling."
Botan laughed. "It's not a weed, silly, it's mistletoe."
"Am I supposed to know what that means?"
"When two people are caught under the mistletoe, they have to kiss – " She jerked back a step when she realized what the words actually meant. Her magenta eyes stared into his before she shifted her gaze to anything and everything else. He spared a glance to the doorway into the other room. No one was watching them.
Botan backed away until her spine met the edge of the countertop. Her laugh was nervous now, fake. "It's okay, though. We can ignore the little tradition, just this once. No one'll know."
She turned to pick up a spoon and the piece of peanut butter pie Shizuru had left. She stabbed at it with the metal and turned go back into the family room. Hiei grabbed her arm again and spun her around to face him. For the briefest moment, he pressed his lips to hers, and then he pulled away from her, stalking toward the family room. His cheeks were pink again.
"Where are you going?" she asked. Her voice shook a little.
"To tell Kurama to mind his own damn business," he said without looking at her. The plates rattled in his grip.
For some reason, this chapter was a lot of fun to write. I hope you all enjoyed it, too. Please leave me a little review. I tend to get a little unsure of myself when I don't know what people think. A real quick question: any suggestions on gifts from Hiei to Botan or vice versa? I am the world's worst at deciding what to give people and I could really use some advice. Thanks! Review!