"I take what I want, Onna." Hiei snapped in annoyance.
"I beg to differ." She bit back, irritation radiating off of her. Botan couldn't even really remember what had started the conversation (Or argument as others might call it) but it didn't matter. It was as good of a time as any to get it out in the open.
"How would you even know?" He growled out, his crimson gaze piercing her. The fire demon had half a mind to scare her into shutting up but he had a feeling that it wouldn't be so easy this time. They were alone for the moment, having both come back to the meet up point at the same time. It was a small cabin off in the mountains of Japan, the closest accommodation Koenma could find to the portal they were investigating for the last week.
"Well you want Yukina to be happy, right?" The blue haired ferry woman asked knowingly. Hiei didn't bother responding to such a question, since he knew the woman had her answer already. "Yet you won't do what is needed to make that happen."
"What are you going on about?" He glared at her, mildly surprised at the own heat in her stare.
"Yukina isn't happy and you're the reason why." Botan got up from her seat on the floor and turned to him, hands on her hips. The black haired demon pushed up from the wall he was leaning against, beyond irritated with the woman now. "She only wants to know who her brother is and you refuse to give her an answer one way or another."
"Her happiness doesn't depend on that. You're delusional." He growled, taking a step closer to her. She let out a scoff in response, throwing her hands up in the air
"Congratulations! You're wrong!" Botan exclaimed in exasperation.
"How the hell would you know anything about it?!" Hiei nearly bellowed, though managed to keep his voice in check. The ferry woman stepped towards him, a sneer on her face.
"I know everything about it." Her voice was low, a severe seriousness filling it. "Every sleepover, every get together, every single meeting, I get to listen to dear, sweet Yukina lament about how much she wants to know her brother. I get to collect up the tear gems that fall from her eyes because she doesn't have an answer and doesn't understand why you don't have one for her either."
Hiei didn't say anything. He wanted to deny her words but the truth was clear as day. The ferry woman couldn't lie to save her life and even if she could, the fire demon easily knew she wasn't right now. But no one seemed to understand that Yukina being sad about not knowing her brother sounded infinitely better than if she knew who her brother actually was. Hiei had a past that he didn't want to taint his beautiful, innocent sister with.
"She asked me to talk to you about it." The woman continued, her voice the same low, serious tone. "Yukina is really smart, Hiei. Smarter than you can imagine." Those words made an uneasiness run through him. Botan took a step closer to the demon, an ire contorting her face a little. "Your sister begged me to ask you a very specific question about her brother." The anticipation of the situation made the fire demon uncomfortable. Clearly the ferry woman knew something that he did not.
"Then ask it." Hiei demanded, tired of the game.
"Yukina was speculating who her brother could be and where, one day." Hiei didn't like the build up but Botan was going to get what she wanted. The woman wanted him to feel uncomfortable with the whole thing. Everyone else had to be, so she was going to bring him into the fold. "That very day, she turned to me and said 'I think Hiei might be my brother.'" His whole body went ice cold. He had expected Botan to smirk in victory but there was a sad anger in her eyes. "Yukina wanted me to ask you instead since she didn't think you would be forthcoming about the truth to her but might be with me. Unfortunately, for your lovely sister, I already knew the answer."
"Did you tell her?" He hissed, his hand heading to his sword, but Botan glared.
"No. I gave you my promise that I wouldn't." His ire eased and turned to some confusion as he waited to see what she wanted from him, then. "But I am tired of her not having any answers, Hiei. I'm done seeing her cry all of the time. So I am willing to do you a favor, regarding this situation, in return you have to do me a favor."
"I could just kill you instead." Hiei offered, a glint in his eye. Surprise filled him when Botan merely rolled her eyes. When had she not felt threatened by him? When did he not leave her quivering in just a little bit of fear?
"Of course, because that's always your answer, isn't it? Well hear me out and then make your decision, okay?" It was odd to the fire demon, hearing her speak to him like that. She spoke as if she had already won but that she didn't like being the victor any more than he wanted her to be. He nodded his head, though. Hiei could always kill her if he didn't like her proposition.
"I will tell Yukina that you told me her brother is dead. I will tell her that you hadn't said anything until now because you didn't want to break her heart." The last bit of that line was nearly spat out, speaking of how much she detested saying it. Hiei was surprised at her offer, though. He knew how badly the ferry woman wanted his sister to know of their siblingship.
"And in return?" The demon quietly asked. He watched as Botan's gaze changed from sad anger to bitterly victorious. He knew that she didn't want to be doing this, that much was obvious.
"You will never contact her again and will stay out of her life, not checking up on her at all. I will tell her that you were too ashamed of your inability to find her brother in time and that you disappeared due to it. You will live the rest of your life knowing I was right; Knowing that you don't take what you want." Botan leaned in, her face but two inches from Hiei's. "You will live with the knowledge that you are a coward; too afraid to face reality."
"I will kill you." Hiei snarled out, rage seeping out of him. Sword in hand, the demon was at her throat faster than the ferry woman could blink. There was no fear from her, though. Only the bitter taste of victory on her tongue. Amethyst eyes had a steady gaze with crimson, a firmness to their hold.
"More cowardice." She bit out, hissing a little as his blade barely cut into the skin of her throat. "Kill me so that you get to live in this limbo a little longer." Botan snarked. "Do you enjoy upsetting her so much that you can't come to a truth?"
"You wouldn't understand such complexities, ferry woman." The fire demon quietly growled out, putting a touch more pressure into the sword. His eyes were wide with shock when Botan followed the move up with pressing closer, the cut getting just a small bit deeper. Pain flashed in her eyes alongside a grimace but she didn't react more than that.
"Complexities? This isn't that complex. It is merely a brother afraid of his sister hating him." He pulled back a micrometer, startled for a moment by her words, before steadying himself with a sneer. Botan smirked darkly at his reaction. "Hit the nail on the head, didn't I?"
"You know nothing." He bit out, fire flowing through the words.
"You keep saying that but I know more than you think." Botan grimaced when the blade pushed in more, blood oozing slowly from the wound. "When Yukina begged me to ask you about being her brother, I got to see the hope in her eyes." His glare narrowed at her words; the pain of them bleeding into him. "I got to hear her go on and on about how excited she would be if it were true. She loves you, Hiei. She desperately wants you to be her brother. And you can't handle that."
"It's a sin to lie, ferry girl." He mocked, unsure of how to deal with what he was hearing.
"Luckily for me, I can't lie to save my life. Isn't that right?" Botan taunted before turning serious again. "I'll handle this whatever way you want. I'll tell her that her brother is dead and her hero is nothing more than a coward. I will break her heart just so you can continue to hide in your safe, little bubble." Her eyes bored into his own with a ferocity he truly didn't expect. "If you make me do this, though…Well, her brother truly is dead and gone then and the demon who I knew as Hiei never even existed."
Silence engulfed them, blood still dripping down the column of her throat. Hiei was at a standstill, not knowing which way to go. The ferry woman had bested him; her cunning way with words having walked him directly into the situation he was in now. The demon knew she wasn't lying about any of it, which was daunting. He'd never had family before and the idea of trying to be a brother was beyond him. Yet, to leave Yukina forever and to have her thinking him an honorless coward hurt more than he anticipated.
"I will see Yukina in a week." Botan finally backed away from the blade. "If I go to see her and she says you haven't visited, I will be telling her you are dead." With those parting words, the bluette left the room, healing her neck as she went.
"What will you do?" Kurama asked, making Hiei jump. The fox had masked his energy, having sensed the two quite some time ago and deciding to be nosy. The fire demon growled at his teammate while sheathing the sword. "I think-"
"I don't care what you think."
"Perhaps you should hear me out. I won't tell you what to do; I know I don't have that kind of influence over you. I just have some thoughts that might help you come to a decision. That's all." Kurama tried to soothe the fire demon into listening just for a moment. Luckily, it seemed to work, as Hiei waited near the window. The redhead took to standing near it as well, speaking quietly.
"Yukina already views you as a brotherly figure, clearly. So you wouldn't have to change your behavior for her. She wouldn't ever ask that of you." Hiei listened to the musings, giving them the weight they deserved. When Kurama spoke, it was rarely without purpose. "You already act like a brother for her anyways, so you wouldn't have to feel compelled to change for her either."
"I have duties in Makai that would keep me from her. Yukina doesn't deserve that." Hiei refuted, knowing it was a weak argument.
"She would understand and wouldn't hold it against you. Besides, you could check in with her using the Jagan eye and contact her that way, making the long distance feel less so." The logic was clear as day yet the fire demon still felt indecisive.
"And if I die? What then?" Hiei questioned, hands in his pockets.
"Then you will have died knowing the love of your sister and Yukina will have known the love of her brother." Kurama plainly said. "Death is a part of life and she knows this just as well as we do. Don't play her as a fool, Hiei."
"She will be in more danger if anyone learns of her relation to me." He was running out of arguments.
"Yukina is protected by us and lives in Ningenkai. Besides, she cries tear gems so she is always going to be in danger regardless. Demons knowing that you are her brother may actually give her more protection than you think." Kurama added, pleased that his friend was actually listening and contemplating his words. If this is what it took to get Hiei to tell Yukina he was her brother, the fox would have to sing his praises to Botan. It was something he had been trying to do for quite some time with little success.
Hiei said no more, instead hopping out of the window in frustrated indecision. Kurama wasn't surprised, knowing that it was a heavy topic. What did surprise the kitsune was the fact that Hiei had genuinely harmed Botan, based on the smell of her blood in the room. The ferry woman hadn't indicated she was hurt, though, so he had let the interaction continue.
Kurama hoped it would all be worth it in the end.