A/N: As promised, here is your chapter for the week, released a bit earlier than I'd intended because I know for a fact that this weekend is going to be crazy.

Also, Hiei grew by the end of the series, so I decided to make him a little taller as well. As Botan will mention below, he's almost as tall as Yusuke now, meaning he's still shorter than Botan by about two inches or so.

Botan quickly shut the door behind her and leaned against it, squeezing her eyes shut as she attempted to expel all images from her mind while simultaneously steadying her rapidly beating heart.

She did not just see a half-naked Hiei coupled with the enchantress who was once their enemy.

She did not just stand there like an idiot.

And she did not just run away like a child.

Botan ran a hand through her bangs as she let out a long, regret-filled sigh.

It was one thing to see Hiei again after so long, but the circumstances she had seen him under were less than ideal. He had moved on with someone else, someone assertive and beautiful, someone who suited him entirely and she could not ignore the dull ache she felt when she saw the two of them together.

Botan knew that she would eventually run into him, it was an inevitable outcome, but this was not the way she had envisioned it. If only she had been more prepared; years of not seeing him made the sudden sight that much more shocking and she was sure that her reaction only served to make her look weak in front of him. She took a deep breath, resolving that the next time she saw Hiei she would be better prepared. No more hiding, no more running and no more avoiding. She would show him that she was just fine, because for all intents and purposes, she was just fine. She would put her best foot forward and they would act like two mature and well-mannered adults.

Mentally pulling herself out of her pity party, she pushed off of the wall, dragging her bags further inside of the room. Her good mood was slowly returning with each step into the new territory and her smile widened as she took in the beauty of the room. The soft color palette consisted of dark browns, warm creams and bright whites. It was absolutely gorgeous and much larger than she imagined. Botan stopped near the two queen sized beds (she ignored the fact that there were two – Koenma would have to sort out the situation with Jorge because she simply refused to have a roommate), and was pleased to find that both mattresses were dressed in high-quality cotton sheets and topped with plush pillows. A television hung on the cream wall directly in front of the beds and dark coated wooden furniture was dispersed around the area. There was even a lounging area, complete with a small table and a few coaches as well.

She opened the thick curtains to reveal a decent view of the surrounding forest and Makai skyline. Moving away from the windows, she walked over to the bathroom area and peeked inside. Porcelain tiles stretched over the expanse of the floor, a large vanity complete with marble counter stood in the middle and intimate lighting created a relaxing and luxurious setting. The shower area was encased with glass walls and there was even a separate tub in the corner of the large bathroom. Botan could already feel her stress beginning to melt away. She would take full advantage of her temporary living quarters later tonight, but right now, all she wanted to do was explore the hotel and see what else it had to offer.

Before she had the chance to do so, her communication device rang.

"I wonder who that could be," she pondered as she dug around in the depths of her purse, in search of the ringing item.

After Hiei had watched Botan disappear, he returned to his room, throwing his clothes on as his thoughts raced a mile a minute. His eyes landed on the wall furthest away from him; she was right on the other side. After years of being separated by the borders of their respective worlds, they were now just a few feet away, divided by a few plasters of wall and coats of paint.

He scoffed at the thought; out of all the rooms she could have been placed in, it had to be the one right next door to his. He knew that the top floor was reserved for V.I.P's and higher ups like Mukuro, Yomi and Koenma, but there were plenty of other floors for her to choose from. It was an ironic coincidence that out of all of the rooming options in the hotel, she had to be placed right beside him.

His jaw clenched as he replayed the scene from a few minutes earlier. His reaction to seeing the woman was utterly disgraceful. He just stood there, unmoving and unable to speak, as though her presence was enough to blindside him into silence. He could feel the beginnings of rage stirring within him. After all of this time, she should not have affected him so deeply. He thought that he had let go of her the night that he left the human world for good, but if her presence affected him so easily it only served to remind him that there was a weakness deep inside that he had yet to snuff out.

Hiei shook his head. No, it wasn't a weakness; he was simply caught off guard. He had gotten much stronger during his years of service to Mukuro and nothing and no one could refute that fact. He had found his place in life and the reintroduction of one woman would change nothing. This new life was one of structure, power and danger - there was simply no room for an unpredictable and emotional ferry-girl and he would see to it that the distance between them would remain firmly in place.

His eyes caught sight of the clock and suddenly remembered his duties. The reason that he had come early in the first place was so that he could scour the competition and he couldn't afford to waste any more time contemplating the past. Grabbing his keycard, he steeled himself as he made his way out of the room. When he stepped into the hallway, his sensitive hearing picked up on a conversation that was taking place a few feet away.

"I trust you all are holding down the fort?"

It was the ferry-girl's voice that stopped him in his tracks. She must have been near the exit of her own room for him to hear her so clearly.

"Of course. Everything's fine over here… what's it like over in the Demon World?"

The slight distortion to the new voice indicated that the woman was on the communication device and, if memory served him right, the person on the other line was the ferry-girl's apprentice. Although by now, the girl must have been a full-fledged ferry-girl herself. Hiei frowned. It was disturbing how easily all of these insignificant memories returned to him. He was the type of person who discarded all useless thought and recollections, but every single one connected to the ferry-girl was firmly etched in his mind.

He was vaguely aware of how childish he must have seemed to be eavesdropping on the woman like this, but it really wasn't his fault. For an establishment that favored overabundance and affluence, the walls themselves were incredibly thin and permeable, providing him with the perfect means to satiate his curiosity. Although he did not want to speak to the ferry-girl directly, he was interested to hear what she had been up to in the past few years.

"Well, I only just arrived, but the hotel is marvelous. In fact, I was just going to explore the rest of it when you called."

"That's good to hear! Yuuto keeps worrying about you, but I told him that you'd be just fine."

The name Yuuto was strangely familiar, tugging at his memory, but he could not place it. Perhaps he was just another fool from the Spirit World, because Hiei could not shake the feeling of negativity that arose when he heard that name.

"Oh don't be silly, I bet he was just making polite conversation."

"No, he came here to return an artifact and he kept asking me about you." There was a momentary pause and Hiei heard the girl sigh dreamily from the other line. "He's so refined and gentlemanly. And I could just drown in those gorgeous blue eyes. Do you know if he has a twin brother for me?

"I don't know, you'll have to ask him that yourself," came the amused response.

Hiei's expression darkened. Now he remembered why the name was so familiar; Yuuto was the pompous psychic who had taken a liking to Botan back during Genkai's birthday celebration.

The thought that the woman was still in contact with the overly polite and pretentious psychic brought back a feeling that Hiei knew all too well. He briefly wondered if this was how Botan felt when she saw him with Ruka, but the thought was swallowed up in his burgeoning ire. Each of his current dissatisfactions were suddenly building up on top of each other and tipping over the edge of his sanity. He was angry that she was here, he was angry to know that she had kept in touch with the psychic, he was angry at himself for letting it bother him and he was angry at the unexplainable force that always seemed to draw the two of them together, because even when it seemed as though he had everything figured out, the tides always changed. He was just about to tread past her room and leave the floor entirely, when her door opened up.

He looked at her long enough to notice the way her expression lit up when she saw him, before deciding to move onwards without acknowledging her. He was in a volatile state of anger, confusion and self-deprecation and the last thing he needed was small talk from the ferry-girl.

"I'm glad I caught you," she said as she closed the door behind her and trailed after him. "I wanted to apologize about how rudely I behaved before. I was just shocked to see you again, and with Ruka no less. But that's no excuse for my bad manners."

"It doesn't matter," he replied dismissively, continuing his trek towards the elevators located in the middle of the floor.

"Well, sure it does," she insisted, falling in line with him as they walked at a leisurely pace. "I don't know about you, but that was not the way I expected our reunion to go."

"Hn."

"Oh my, you've gotten taller," she pointed out from beside him. He could feel her eyes roaming over his form and the sudden attention unnerved him. "You're almost Yusuke's height now!"

"Yes, I grew," he bit out, pressing the button to call an elevator far more forcefully than necessary. "Don't expect any accolades on that insightful observation."

"I was just trying to start a conversation," she explained, brow crinkled in confusion over his coldness.

"Don't bother," he answered. "It's a waste of time."

The elevator doors opened and he stepped inside, Botan following suit. He noticed that she had refrained from choosing a floor, so she must have been going in the same destination as he was. She stood a few feet away from him, brows furrowed and lips pulled downward.

"Do you always have to be so abrasive?" she asked.

"That all depends on how much longer you intend on being overbearing and intrusive."

"All this time and you still haven't learned any proper manners!" she accused indignantly.

"And you still haven't learned the meaning of the word quiet," he gritted.

Botan huffed as she pushed her back to lean against the wall, shoulders rigid and tense as she let out a disparaging sigh.

"I don't know why I even bother…" she grumbled under her breath.

"Neither do I," he admitted. "You should have learned by now that I don't care for small talk or pleasantries. In fact, there is no reason for us to engage in conversation at all. If you can follow that one simple rule, then I assure you that we will not run into any further problems."

"Gladly!"

"Good."

"Fine!"

"Hn."

"Hmph!"

He rolled his eyes and turned his body slightly to his left and she turned in the opposite direction stubbornly, facing the right wall.

The air inside the elevator was hot and stuffy and he no matter how he tried, he could not suppress his general displeasure. He was fully aware that the tension rippling within the confines of the elevator was entirely his fault, but he could not find it within himself to feel guilty. If she was angry at him, it would at least ensure that she would not approach him again for the remainder of the tournament. He glanced at her without any thought, noting that she hadn't changed at all. She still wore her signature ponytail and she still radiated that flowery lavender scent that he had come to associate with her. When the doors opened at the ground level, he watched her exit first, stomping away without sparing him a glance or any more words. It was better this way, he told himself as he strode out of the elevator as well.

Botan let out an angry huff as she crossed over the expanse of guests and searched for the concierge. She had tried to put her best foot forward, but Hiei was being so unnecessarily rude! Then again, Hiei had always been very abrasive and gruff, and she had always managed to find a way to work around it in the past. But things were different now and the least he could so was grant her some common courtesy. She had fully intended to show him that they were on good terms, but any hopes for propriety dissolved and died with their explosive argument.

She brought a hand up to her face, massaging her temple. This trip was turning out to be far more stressful than she had imagined it would be. She took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, calming her nerves and clearing her mind as she walked up to the same lizard demon who had checked her in earlier.

"Hi there, I was wondering if you could give me a list of services and activities offered by the hotel?"

"One moment miss."

He shuffled through a few papers, before handing her a brochure that answered all of her questions. Her eyes lit up as she read through the many events and recreational activities that she could indulge in. The spa was calling her name and she was delighted to learn that she could find some memorable trinkets and keepsakes for the girls back home at the gift shop. Her irritation was waning as she began mentally planning the rest of her trip, spacing out the activities over the span of a few days so that she would always have something to do on each day. She would have her relaxing vacation and not even Hiei's horrid insolence would get in the way of that. With a determined nod, Botan lifted her eyes from the brochure and looked around the area, wondering where she should go to next. In her musings, she caught sight of a familiar face in the lobby.

"Kurama!" she called out, waving the booklet in the air as she tried to catch his attention.

He heard her call and motioned for her to meet him outside. She was surprised she had even managed to see him at all amongst the large crowd that had accumulated. She found herself having more trouble than necessary crossing over to greet her friend. After pushing past a number of people, she finally made it outside and reveled in the cool morning air.

"Fancy seeing you in a place like this," she teased.

"It's good to see you again, too," he greeted. "I figured we would be better able to talk out here, where it is quieter."

Botan nodded.

"It's like a madhouse in there," she said. "But I didn't expect to see you here so soon, seeing as the tournament doesn't start for another few days."

"I was fortunate enough to be able to work around my schedule," Kurama revealed.

"I wish Kuwabara could have done the same," she said wistfully. "I tried asking him, but he was completely absorbed in his work – which is a good thing in the long run, I suppose."

"It has been a while since the entire group was together again, but there's always next year," Kurama consoled, his soothing tone of voice doing wonders on Botan's previously rattled state.

"That's true," she decided.

"Have you seen the others yet?" he inquired.

"So far the only person I've had the displeasure of seeing is Hiei," she muttered, folding her arms under her chest.

"I take it your reunion didn't go over well?"

"That's the understatement of the century!" Botan frowned as she remembered their first and second encounter. "I tried to be nice to him but it backfired completely."

Kurama smiled knowingly, an amused glint in his emerald eyes.

"That sounds like typical Hiei behavior," he noted. "I wouldn't worry about it too much. Hiei has always been difficult. Surely the next time you run into him things will be less strained."

"I don't know about that," she countered. "He didn't seem too keen on seeing me this morning and I have a feeling that the both of us would be better off steering clear from each other entirely."

"He's like that with everyone," Kurama reminded her.

"I suppose so…" she contemplated for a moment before shrugging. "Anyway, I was going to check out some of the commodities of the hotel. You're welcome to join me if you've got nothing better to do."

He glanced at the booklet in her hands, before lifting his gaze up to her apologetically.

"Perhaps I'll take you up on that offer another time. I actually came early to assess our opponents. Yomi thought it would be our advantage, and I would like to see the new prospects for myself."

"I understand… well, I wouldn't want to keep you," Botan said, setting her hands on her hips with a grin. "I've got a lot to do myself."

"Enjoy the rest of your day," he said as he made to turn around.

It was only then that she remembered something important.

"Oh, I almost forgot!" she exclaimed, halting him in his tracks and he turned to her once more. "Koenma wanted the old team to have breakfast together tomorrow morning. You will come, won't you?"

He smiled back and nodded curtly.

"Of course."

"Excellent!" she said, clapping her hands together. "And if you see Hiei, would you mind reminding him? I'm sure he would rather hear it from you than me."

"I will," he replied. "But, just for the record, I have a feeling that Hiei wouldn't be entirely opposed to seeing or hearing from you again."

Botan opened her mouth to protest his claim, but Kurama's back was already turned to her and he was walking away. The redhead had a habit of being cryptic, so rather than pondering why he would say such a thing, she decided to shrug it off.

Later that night Hiei stood against the wall of the waiting area, arms crossed over his chest and face impassive. He was to meet up with Kurama and the fox was running mysteriously late. It did not matter to Hiei, though, he had done what he set out to do and he had time to kill. The contenders this year were every bit as unpredictable as he had imagined. The normal participants were all here: the weak, the inexperienced, the type that had no clue that they were in over their heads, and the sort whose delusions of grandeur drew them towards the bloodthirsty fights and their inevitable end. Hiei disregarded them entirely, instead choosing to focus on the second pool of participants: the stronger demons who did not prostrate their power, the experienced fighters equipped with skills that he had never heard of, the older demons with massive power who had crawled out from their corners of solitude for the thrill of a good fight or for the chance to claim political power. Hiei did not care for their reasons, but he was interested in facing them and testing their might. Mukuro will be just as pleased as him to know that this year's tournament would provide an excellent challenge.

He could not say the same for the fools that inhabited this place, though. His eyes raked over the expanse of guests in the lobby. They were all harmless demons or humans whose priorities were askew. He would have much rather preferred to stay at the hotel where the rest of the contenders were, but Mukuro insisted he stay here and, as her general, it was best to follow orders and set an example.

As he continued his scrutiny of the guests, his eyes narrowed upon viewing a familiar head of blue hair and bright eyes. The ferry-girl stood out starkly against the crowd of fancily dressed patrons and over accessorized morons. Her expression dropped when she realized that he was here and she avoided eye contact as she entered the general vicinity. She looked around for a moment, before hesitantly standing a few feet away from him. They had both done an excellent job ignoring each other for all of two minutes, until the ferry-girl started fidgeting. He could see her bursting at the seams with the desire to speak. And soon enough, she did.

"Hiei-"

"I thought I made myself clear this morning," he said, glancing at her from the corner of his eye. "I don't want to be bothered, so unless you have a reason for coming here, I suggest you leave."

"Sorry to burst your bubble, mister, but I didn't come here for you," Botan answered snippily, mirroring his stance when she crossed her arms over her chest angrily. "I was actually waiting for someone and I thought that maybe we could have a civil conversation to make up for that nasty fight we had this morning, but I see that I was sorely mistaken."

"Hn, if you intend to wait for someone, then I suggest you do it elsewhere."

"Why on earth would I do that?"

He finally turned to face her fully, fixing her with an emotionless stare.

"Because, woman, as you demonstrated earlier, you have great difficulty remaining quiet."

Botan opened her mouth to refute his claim, but he was quicker.

"And if we talk, we will argue. And if we argue, you will be the one who takes it personally and gets upset in the end," he revealed. "So when I advise that you wait elsewhere, I do it for your benefit and not mine."

His answer seemed to momentarily stun the ferry-girl and she stared at him wide-eyed for a moment, before shaking her head.

"Well, we could avoid this entire issue if you would just swallow your pride and be a little more polite!" Botan reasoned, taking a step closer to him as she spoke.

"It's not in my nature to be mannerly and I don't intend to change because of an overly sensitive ferry-girl," he shot back firmly.

"Then I suppose we have no choice but to get over ourselves. I need to be less sensitive and you need to be a bit nicer."

He nearly agreed with her, before he realized what she had said.

"What?"

Her expression softened slightly, the snippy edge to her tone waning as she spoke once more.

"We should at the very least be civil to each other… it will make this whole experience much more pleasant if we were."

His mind quickly jumped back a few years as a wave of déjà vu hit him. The thick musk of damp wood and the dark interior of an abandoned warehouse scratched at the edges of his memory as an image of the ferry-girl flashed through his mind. Those words were said before; at another time, in another world and under much different circumstances. It was one of her stipulations when they had both agreed to continue their precarious dating game. It seemed as though they could fall into and repeat the past at any moment, but he was determined to keep it from happening. He quickly pushed the memory away and hardened his resolve.

"We don't have to be civil as long as we uphold the agreement not to speak to each other," he replied tersely.

He could see the disappointment shading her pink eyes and drawing her lips into a slight downward curve, but she quickly looked away from him and remained silent. For a moment, he almost felt guilty for treating her so callously, but he could not dwell on it. He was doing them both a favor by keeping their relationship nonexistent.

The two stood there in awkward silence for a while longer, until Botan perked up noticeably. She immediately walked off towards Koenma and Hiei's gaze lingered on her as she met up with the Prince. Even from this distance, he could hear her conversation with him over the chatter and noise that was prevalent in the lobby; she was complaining about having to share her quarters with the ogre and she demanded that Koenma fix the rooming situation immediately. If all went well, she would find herself another room on another floor entirely and all of his troubles would be over.

Kurama returned to the hotel a little later than planned after a successful day of scouting out the competition. He had enlisted the help of a few others (Jin, Touya, Shishiwakamaru, Suzuka, Rinku and Chu) and together they were able to cover a wide range of distance, sizing up the future combatants and reporting back to each other. There was a disturbingly high amount of well-known enemies to Yomi's kingdom lurking around and the tournament would be the perfect opportunity to get rid of them once and for all, securing the safety of their territory and granting them all some peace of mind.

The next few days were sure to be challenging, but he was up for the task.

As he stepped inside of the lobby, he almost immediately caught sight of Hiei and he was unsurprised to see the fire-demon engaged in a conversation with Botan. Upon moving closer towards the pair, he quickly realized that Botan wasn't exaggerating earlier this morning when she complained about her tense filled reunion with Hiei. He certainly was going out of his way to be abrupt and harsh with the ferry-girl, despite her attempts to be kind. Kurama could only assume that his friend's hardheartedness was a result of some lingering sentiments deep beneath his guard that the fire-demon could not afford to let come to the surface. It was a touchy situation, indeed, one that he hoped would end in less tears and heartache than it did three years ago.

He watched as Hiei's red eyes followed Botan until she was out of the room. The fire-demon's usually stoic expression was edging into a look that Kurama could not read. Whatever was on his mind must have been weighing heavily in his heart as well.

"I apologize for being late," Kurama stated, announcing his presence as he approached. "I was held up."

The fire-demon shifted his crimson-eyed gaze and nodded in acknowledgement.

"I trust you have already gaged the competition," Kurama said. "What do you think?"

"The majority are either fools that desire fame and power or overconfident weaklings who are deluding themselves into believing that they can make it far," Hiei recounted. "But there are a handful of demons that just might rise to the challenge."

"My thoughts exactly."

"Your insistence on fighting in that human body of yours could get you killed this time around," he mentioned.

"I never knew you cared that much, old friend," Kurama teased lightly.

"I don't care," he supported. "I was simply making an observation."

"In any case, I meant what I said during the first tournament. My time as Youko the Bandit ended eighteen years ago. I am simply Shuichi Minamino now, and I intend to live out the rest of my days in this form."

"Pathetic."

"Call it what you like, but this is the way I choose to live. You don't have to understand it, but you do have to accept it."

"You could have reached higher heights of power by now, if only you let go of those foolish attachments," the fire-demon said almost petulantly.

"Perhaps, but my priorities have changed," Kurama admitted. "Speaking of, Shuichi still asks about you."

"Persistent kid," Hiei grumbled.

"Yes, he's taken a liking to you. It's getting harder and harder to think up alibis for your prolonged disappearance."

"You don't seem to have any trouble weaving fables for your oblivious human mother," Hiei said derisively. "It shouldn't be that hard to lie to a gullible fool like him."

Kurama let that comment slide, noting that the fire-demon was in a particularly bad mood today. He supposed it had something to do with the appearance of a certain ferry-girl, but he did not comment on it.

"Well, if you do ever come back to the human world, I'm sure that you will make both of our respective siblings happy."

Hiei was momentarily taken aback by that comment, the surprise barely detectable by an onlooker, but Kurama knew better. Those slanted eyes were widened a fraction larger and his mouth hung open for the briefest moment, before he quickly regained his composure.

"Explain yourself," Hiei ordered.

"Yukina asks about you quite often. She asks about all of us from what Kuwabara tells me," Kurama revealed.

"It's best that she doesn't," Hiei admitted. "She's safe there, under the protection of the old woman and the fool. She shouldn't worry about anyone else."

The two were silent for a while, and Kurama understood Hiei's hesitation. The fire-demon had forced himself into believing that Yukina would be better off without him. Kurama himself had briefly pondered the same idea, back when his mother was put into danger because of him during the Dark Tournament. But he simply could not cut ties with Shiori Minamino; she was family and Kurama owed his life to her. He could not make the same decision that Hiei had in regards to his family. Call it weakness or sentimentality - it was a choice he intended to stand by until the bitter end. He thought that Hiei might come around eventually, but the fire-demon seemed quite content with his life here and would likely never return unless the situation called for it.

"Yomi's camp has increased in strength," Hiei said suddenly, breaking the silence. "It looks as though he's benefited greatly by choosing you as his general. But we have also increased our numbers and strength, and from the looks of it, Yusuke has done the same."

Kurama accepted the thinly veiled compliment with a nod.

"It seems as though all three Kings have been gaining power at around the same speed and intensity. All three territories are at about the same strength and capacity."

"You say that like it's a good thing," Hiei scoffed.

"I believe it is," he said. "If one camp became too powerful, the others would be unable to balance each out. This equilibrium is good for the chaos that usually reigns in the demon world."

"This equilibrium will not last forever and that is what I am looking forward to," Hiei revealed with a smirk. "The sudden calmness overtaking the land is sure to break eventually and I welcome it. Otherwise, this world will become just like the pitiful human and Spirit World."

"Speaking of the Spirit World, were you aware that Koenma wanted to meet with us tomorrow morning for breakfast?"

"Yes and I have already declined."

"It might be worth your while."

"Nothing that the Prince has to say will ever be worth my while."

"Even so, it could be advantageous to at least hear what he has to say. I will be going."

"Then you can relay the pointless message to me afterwards."

"Hiei…"

"What?" he barked. "I cut ties with Spirit World a long time ago."

"And this has nothing to do with Botan?"

Hiei's gaze narrowed defensively.

"What does she have to do with any of this?"

"Surely you know that she will be there too."

Hiei's lips pressed into a firm line and he refrained from answering.

"I didn't think avoidance was your style," Kurama prodded, noting the way Hiei's scowl deepened.

"It isn't."

"Then you should attend."

Hiei growled in displeasure and Kurama continued.

"And while we're on the subject of it, but perhaps it would be best if you refrained from treating her with such insensitivity in the future."

"I don't want to talk about this," he said angrily, before lowering his voice. "You could never understand."

"I know that, I was only offering a bit of advice."

"I don't need your advice, Kurama," Hiei maintained stubbornly. "I know what I'm doing."

With that said, the fire-demon stalked away, leaving Kurama to his thoughts. He knew he had pushed his luck with his last few comments, but even so, he had to try to talk some sense into his friend.

As he headed back towards his own room, he noticed Ruka from a few feet away. Judging by her path, she was going to meet up with Hiei. Most knew that she and Hiei were involved in a purely physical affair and Kurama could not help but wonder what Botan's presence would do to a union as precarious as theirs. The next few days would be interesting, to say the least, both in and out of the ring.

Ruka ignored the appreciative glances she had been receiving from the hotel patrons as she walked past the lobby. It was just about time to visit Hiei and she couldn't help the smirk that was slowly spreading on her rouged lips. The solitary and temperamental fire-demon was different than most other men. Where the majority of them fawned over her and bent to her will without any effort on her part, Hiei did not care either way. He didn't need her and was perfectly fine without her.

Their time together was fun and their arrangement worked for the both of them, but she found herself wanting more than just sharing his bed. For all the nights they had been together, he had never truly been hers. And Ruka was the type who wanted it all – especially when it seemed as though she couldn't have it. It was a folly she had never been able to overcome and she welcomed the challenge with open arms. Hiei was the type of man she could easily fall in love with: powerful, unwavering, loyal and handsome to boot. There was only the slight matter of getting him to see just how lucky he was by catching her interest.

Just a little more time and he would realize how good he had it with her.

And then she would finally catch a glimpse of the frozen heart that lay beneath his guarded mask.

Her musings came to a halt when she noticed the ferry-girl up ahead. She couldn't help but scowl at the sight of the blue-haired ditz as she remembered their encounter earlier this morning. Hiei was noticeably affected by the mere sight of the other woman and the enchantress could not recall a time where she saw the fire-demon as caught off guard as he was earlier this morning. If she recalled correctly, Hiei was once an ally to the Spirit World, making him an old ally of the ferry-girl, but simply seeing an old ally from the past should not have affected the coldhearted warrior so deeply. As she watched the blue-haired girl fumble with her purse, presumably in search of her keycard, she observed Hiei coming from the opposite end of the hallway. He hesitated a few feet away from his own room upon noticing the ferry-girl, crimson eyes fixed on her in a way that Ruka did not want to decipher. She frowned as she watched the oblivious woman capture Hiei's attention without even trying. Although the fire-demon's face was impassive, Ruka could tell that something amiss was going on.

The enchantress cleared her throat as she passed by the ferry-girl and crossed over to the area where Hiei stood. Hiei tore his gaze away just in time for Ruka to lean forward and plant a kiss on his cheek. She felt him stiffen upon making contact, but she let her lips linger for a moment too long, ensuring that the ferry-girl saw. Hiei was the first to pull away, glaring at her in irritation, but Ruka did not care.

She sent a pointed glance in the ferry-girl's direction and was pleased to see the blue-haired girl's expression turn sour. Rolling her pink eyes at the public display of affection, the other woman quickly entered her room and slammed the door shut behind her.

"What the hell was that?" Hiei asked now that the ferry-girl was out of earshot.

"I was just feeling generous," she replied casually.

Hiei growled.

"Don't do it again."

"Suit yourself," Ruka relented, her voice low and sultry. She stared at him expectantly before raising a thin brow. "Well, are you going to stand there all night, or are you going to let me in?"

Hiei looked mildly irritated with her, but he pulled out his keycard entered the room nonetheless. She concealed her smile as she trailed behind him victoriously, knowing that he could not resist. Her conquest was short lived, however, when she saw him glance towards the wall that separated his room from the ferry-girl's. A rush of helplessness washed over her in that moment. Something had to be done about that blue-haired menace; otherwise Ruka's chance with the fire-demon would slip between her manicured fingers.

She placed a hand on his cheek, guiding his gaze back to hers with a sultry smirk as she began to do all of the things that she knew he liked. The rest of their night passed by as usual, but she could not shake the distinct feeling that something was off. Even though she appeared to have captured Hiei's attention on the surface, deep down in the private corners of his mind, she knew that he was thinking of someone else.

Will Hiei and Botan ever get along? And what's Ruka planning? Find out during next week's installment of The Dating Game!

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