Disclaimer: I don't own YYH or the characters.

Happy HxB Week everyone! I know I still have the story from last year to finish. It's been a whirlwind, but I took a break from my new gig to participate in the annual event.

I hope you enjoy!

Day 1: Little things/No one can see it (unbelievable couple) /Meme: squinting woman


I never knew the value

Of simple, little things.

The pain of empty sorrow

Lifted by joyous wings.


It would be an understatement to say no one in the group could see anything between them. For years, there was nothing but distance between their two friends. It was no surprise. Spirit World and Demon World were never allied as they were now. Still, even with the unity, it was hard to believe that the bubbliest optimist and the silent cynic were together.

It started years after the first Demon World Tournament. Whenever the group met, Botan and Hiei would find their way together. At first, their proximity meant nothing to their friends. They sometimes simply stood near each other. Eventually, they started showing up at Genkai's together. That's when their friends finally considered something unlikely was brewing between their friends.

They would have never expected that these interactions had started long before, even back when they were dealing with Yusuke's earliest cases. Hiei and Botan didn't realize this either.

A kind smile here, a biting but wise remark there. Their interactions were few, but still wrapped deeply around their souls. There was an understanding between them. They didn't come from the same world, but the two both had a desire to genuinely help Yusuke. For Botan, it was her duty to help her friend. For Hiei, it was to repay a debt to the first person who truly trusted him.

This friendship—whether or not Hiei would call it such—is what united them. It was the surprising feelings that blossomed in them later that showed them that something else lied between them.

Love was such a foreign thing to both a spirit and demon. Botan was a ferry girl, never meant to be a part of the living. Hiei was a forbidden child of fire never to belong anywhere to anyone. Yet they both found a family in their team. They'd been through so much together over the years, no one else would understand. Both their time with spirit detective had changed them irreparably.

That's why, when they got together at Genkai's before the Second Demon World Tournament, they took the plunge.

The most unlikely couple showed up hand in hand, one smiling brightly, one stoically relaxed.

"We're together," their cheery friend announced simply as if she didn't drop a huge bombshell of a secret.

Despite the visible shock among the group, there was genuine happiness. No one ever expected either friend to fall in love. They were equal parts outwardly stunned and secretly thrilled.

Right after, as most friends do, they pretended they'd seen it all along. Despite rolling his eyes, Hiei wondered if there were little things that gave them away even before they realized it themselves. He shrugged the pointless thought off. It didn't really matter as long as he was where he belonged.