Antihistamine

-The second part, even longer than the first, but perhaps twice as enjoyable? :) Thank you, to the reviewers, who have been very kind in only three days time.

Disclaimer: Standard.

Antihistamine

- Ningenkai - ??

She was, he realized slowly to himself, made of sweets. Red eyes gazed idly into space as he leaned on the sword jutting out from the ground, paused as he took a short break to rest his muscles. They hurt, but it was a controlled burn, a controllable burn. He wasn’t quite ready to venture back into the other types right now.

But as he felt the breeze whistle by, teasingly, and small butterflies dancing on the edge of the clearing, the idea took hold. Every part of her related in some form to sweets. Her hair was spun sugar, her eyes ribbon candy, her body the soft texture of corn syrup, and her taste forever linked with honey.

Hiei’s eyes blinked, and his thoughts turned. She was also, in the same respect, fabrics. Hair of silk, eyes of corduroy, body smoothing him like suede, and her mouth brushing him like velvet. Odd, that she could be made up of two different things at once.

He shifted absently, and the sword poking into his side jarred him out of his thoughts like a bucket of ice water. Roughly, eyes widening, Hiei yanked the weapon out of the ground, chiding his thoughts internally. What was he doing?! Who cares what she was like?! He was in the process of trying to forget that! Growls dropped out of his throat as he glared at the surroundings and went back to training with a vengeance.

The name he was born with suddenly became a very apt description. In the clearing, there was no more of Hiei than a black shadow sprinting around. Up, down, left, swerve, right. The invisible enemies he was combating would have been in pieces by now if they could only feel it. Calming his heartbeat, the demon stilled, then began a simple sword dance, feeling his muscles start to warm up again.

She wanted Kurama.

Cuts sliced rapidly as Hiei squashed the thought. So what? It’s not like he wanted her anyway - he paused on this blatant lie, right upper guard wavering slightly - enough to fight the kitsune for her. He snarled as the blade came back in, a parry. There was not a chance he’d ever fight for her at all. Hiei did not believe in taking women against their will. He had heard the screams coming from the unfortunate ones the bandits had captured, years ago when he had been with that group, and he did not find it amusing in the least. More like disgusting. The honor code that dictated his life angrily asserted itself on this facet. The woman would be willing or it would happen not at all. Therefore, in this case, not at all. She had already attached herself to another. He concentrated belatedly on his movements, recovering just in time to preform a quick lunge and retreat.

The sword made swirling patterns, a series of defenses, as it rapidly increased in speed, turning into a blur. His arm was giving that steady ache, telling him that he was working the muscle there.

Her hips wouldn’t lie.

“Chikuso!” he broke out heavily, a small slit appearing on his cheek. He’d slipped. The price to pay for making a mistake during a close range attack. His concentration had gone to hell today. This time just the thought of her pressing herself with abandon against him, a silent plea, was enough to crack him.

Breathing heavily and with disgust at himself, Hiei tossed the weapon to the ground. It clattered, bouncing slightly as he brought a hand up in irritation to smear the blood off, licking it absently as he brought it down. Metallic and tangy, yet it slid easily down his throat, those small drops. A quick reminder that life was the same: bittersweet. Then why was it he was having a hard time believing that today?

What was wrong with him?! It was as if, no matter how hard he tried, he couldn’t think badly of her. She was more dangerous than absinthe but more tempting too. A gust of air rushed out of him as Hiei slumped down, resting his forearm out on the knees in front of him, then letting his head sink onto that. Red eyes stared down at the grass beneath his legs as his thoughts flew, causing the pupils to dart slightly. Eyelids closed down in an attempt to close out the flood of ideas, but it wasn’t possible. They squeezed as he snarled into empty air. “Kuso, onna! You’re making me think like some love-sick fool!” He panted for several moments, undone by his admittance.

“I hate you, baka onna,” he muttered into the ground, eyes narrowing, but they shut in defeat. Even to him that felt hollow and untrue. Throwing a heavy glance beside him, Hiei sighed, then reached for his katana, lifting it up. “Anyone but me, why couldn’t it have been anyone but me, onna?” he asked, voice bordering on quietly forlorn as he stood, limbering out once more and trying desperately to block out those liquid memories, lighter fluid in consistency. Yearning for but unable to possess - his curse.

The stretching eased his arms and he stood, katana at the ready, beginning once more, and managing to ignore this time the tricky thoughts that insisted that it was really “No one but me for you.”

- Ningenkai - Sarayashki Junior High -

Silky, spun sugar hair whipped through the air as she flew, sitting primly but flying with abandon through the upper heights of Ningenkai. A happy laugh split the wind as the oar descended, whooshing to the ground and stopping short as she reached roof level. Shoed feet made that small leap easily, touching home as the oar disappeared, sent away by her ferry powers once again. The blue skirt shifted then settled.

Lifting her head, Botan smiled as she walked quickly to the doorway, then paused. Pulling out her communicator for a second check, she tilted her head, then glanced up. “Yusuke Urameshi, get down off that roof!”

“What are you, the fire brigade?” Yusuke’s mutters passed glumly through the surroundings as he sighed, then levered himself up, peering down but not moving from his perch. “What is it now, Botan?”

“Koenma-sama has another mission for you, Yusuke,” she replied brightly, smiling at him.

Grumpy noises responded. “Another one? Shesh! I never get any rest around here!” A long pause, before he pushed off from the roof and catapulted downwards. Straightening his bent legs, Yusuke looked up, assuming the classic delinquent pose. “Okay, shoot.”

“Well,” Botan started, nodding at him firmly, “it’s another artifact for you to retrieve. This one’s been on the black market for years, and mostly no one’s known what to do with it, or exactly what it was, so there wasn’t a big push to get it back. However, we’ve recently found several accidents around here that point to it’s use.” She grimaced slightly. “It works by causing what looks like a string of bad luck for people, so it’s very hard to trace, but the energy inside of it grows with each person’s misery. Eventually it will be very hard to stop and bad luck will be popping up everywhere.”

The spirit detective looked at her for a full moment. “That’s it? No terribly world threatening stuff? No demon plot out to take over the three worlds?”

She flared, temper sparked into instant fire. “Yes, that’s it! And it is world threatening, but sorry, Yusuke, that there can’t be someone out to kill you all the time! You should be happy for these easy missions! They sure cause me a lot less worry!” The ferry girl glared at him then turned abruptly to stare off the building.

Beside her, Yusuke was left wincing, regretting his mistake. “Ah, man, I didn’t mean it that way!” She didn’t turn back, still looking off, and the boy lifted a hand out to her shoulder... only to let it drop again in a sort of uselessness. “What’s the artifact called?” He asked, turning to look over the city as well.

Botan took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for yelling at you, Yusuke. It’s just that the tournament wasn’t really something easy. I had a hard time for most of it.” Except for one, lonely, solitary night. A blue moon opportunity, it seemed, for a fire demon to make it all melt into nonexistence.

“‘Sokay,” he replied easily. “I’m used to being yelled at for doing stupid stuff.”

Smiling back over at him, she answered. “The item’s called the ‘Four-Leaved Clover,’ but it works more to the opposite. Looks like a charm that people could hang above their doors. That’s why it wasn’t noticed as quickly.” Her eyes warned him. “It has to be activated either by strong demon or spirit energy to set the bad luck into motion, so expect someone who knows what they’re doing when you go to get it, okay?”

He nodded. “Sure. Been fighting tougher people than Kuwabara lately, I should be fine.”

“Whatever,” the ferry girl responded, rolling her eyes. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a few items. “Here, Koenma asked me to bring these so you could help locate the person responsible. One tracks bad luck, so you’ll have to move towards the concentrated areas, see?” She fiddled with it briefly, before handing it over to Yusuke to inspect.

“Huh, doesn’t look too hard.” He shoved it into his own pockets.

Botan ignored that comment. “And these are to track spirit energy and demon energy respectively. You’ve already seen the last one before.” She held these out as well, but Yusuke just shook his head.

“We won’t need ‘em. I’ve gone through enough that I can usually spot energy a mile away.”

A small cluck of annoyance answered him. “Yusuke, don’t be difficult!”

He waved it off, retreating back inside the school. “I’ll just get Kuwabara to come with me, and if we wander into any trouble, he’ll use his sixth sense to get us out. Don’t worry so much! Jeez!” The bell rang and he began sprinting down the stairs inside, leaving her behind. “Aw, crap! Keiko’s gonna kill me!”

On the roof, Botan watched after him for a moment, calling out a belated “talk to me on the communicator when you get it back!”, then sighed. She’d done what she could. She picked up the oar again, then drifted off, landing a short distance outside the school. The breeze wound about her as she began strolling, carefree, and not ready to go back to Reikai yet and the paperwork Koenma would surely have for her there. For some reason, the young prince always had paperwork. He could never stay ahead of it.

Instead of worrying about being reprimanded, she found herself twiddling with the items in her hands. “Yusuke really should have taken these,” she said ruefully, looking down at them. Messing around slightly with one, she suddenly saw two beacons blaze up on the screen, behind her. Yusuke and Kuwabara no doubt. Well, at least they were both in school today and not skipping. Her own marker was smaller, white magic signature pulsing, and also a hazy pink color that pinned her as a ferry girl, a transporter of the dead. Other small lights moved in shadows around them, people who had a small amount of natural spirit energy, and probably thought they imagined seeing ghosts and ghouls when they were younger. Most of them hadn’t imagined it, they’d just learned to tune it out over the years.

Flipping that one off, Botan pocketed it again, then turned to her other spirit detective item. The demon compass. This display showed much fewer dots, which was just as it should be, and all of them were very weak. She nodded to herself then put that away to, not bothering to turn it off as she continued her stroll. The blossoms were wonderful this time of year. She breathed in deep as she continued, letting her mind wander.

Yesterday... yesterday had been interesting. An embarrassed flush rose to her cheeks. In the offices yesterday, Ayame, the dark haired ferry girl who assisted Koenma much more closely, and who was Botan’s own good friend, thankfully, found her daydreaming. And not just about anything. Botan had been moaning slightly and leaning forward against the hand she was resting her chin on while she was supposed to be going over files. And the word she had accidentally let slip when the girl tried to shake her out of it let her secret out. “Hiei.”

Ayame had quirked her eyebrows, remembering the short demon from her probation files on him, before her eyes widened slightly as Botan jerked alert and glanced over, coloring. What followed hadn’t exactly been an interrogation, but now one of her best friends in Reikai knew more than Botan would have been willing to tell - that she was lusting after the fire demon.

Watching her, Ayame had smiled and called it a crush. Botan had tried to deny it, but finally gave in, especially when the other girl tried questioning her more closely to help her determine exactly what it was. Sure, let Ayame think it was a crush. The dark haired woman was closed mouthed, she wouldn’t tell her friend’s secrets, and hopefully she’d keep her knowing glances to a minimum.

Botan absolutely did not want to tell her why she didn’t think it was a crush, because how easy was it to admit that the thought of spending just one more hour like the past one with Hiei was putting her mind into an excited hum, never mind that their actions together previously had kind’ve already crossed that border between crushes to more like lovers? No matter how Hiei wanted to ignore it, or maybe just torture her with his hungry stares, she knew it was true.

A beeping cut through her thoughts.

Confused for a moment, Botan looked around in dismay, before slapping herself in the head and pulling out an item from her pocket. “The demon compass!” she said faintly, in surprise, staring down at the screen. She thought for sure it would be the spirit energy one, Kuwabara and Yusuke charging up as they got into a fight or something like that.

She stared at it, noting the bright blot. Maybe...Kurama? He did visit Yusuke and the others sometimes. Wait, no, she had it upside down. Twisting it, the dot was now at the upper left side of the screen. That meant ahead of her, away from the school, and pretty powerful as well. It could still be Kurama, but not likely, where would he be coming from? Another rouge demon? Her heart began to beat faster. It could also be Hiei.

Her steps, which had slowed as she looked at the compass, picked up the pace almost automatically. She didn’t even think much about it as she trailed the dot. For all she knew, a strange demon could be waiting at the end of this rainbow, ready to kill her. But for some reason, she didn’t think so.

The path wound a zigzag pattern as she tried to stick to the roads on her way. The dot wasn’t moving around much, which made her job a whole lot easier. Watching for traffic, she crossed another road, then paused before slowly entering a wooded area. Her footfalls were more hesitant here, wary of tree roots and making too much noise. This whole sector was much quieter than the streets, secluded off from regular daily life.

Blue skirt lifting and flaring slightly in the breeze, Botan held her hair out of her face and looked carefully down at the compass, pulling out the spirit one as well for comparison. According to them, her pinkish white dot intersected with the large blue blot, which meant she should be right on top of him. Or more likely...

Pink eyes shot up, only to find intense red ones that caused shivers. He was lounging in a branch. Hiei.

In reality, he was right on top of her.

Clicking off the sensors, she quickly shoved them away, then glanced up again. “Hello,” she tried politely, wringing her hands nervously and trying to keep the flush from her face. “Long time no see.”

“Hn.” His all encompassing response was an effective end to conversation. Botan squirmed as she became more nervous, shifting from foot to foot. Luckily, he seemed bothered enough to continue. “What are you doing here, onna?”

“Well, Yusuke’s going on another mission to collect an artifact.” Botan was desperately trying to find a reason beyond her own curiosity and, if she would dare admit it, desire to see him again. “I thought you might want to tag along. For old time’s sake and everything.”

He stared down at her for a moment, before raising an eyebrow. “No. That’s his job, I’m through. I thought you knew me better than that?” Eyes watched her longer, as if unwilling to move. She felt like a rabbit under his wolfish gaze. Finally, he shifted, jumping down and landing in front of her softly. “What are you really doing here, onna? Don’t lie.”

“I...um...” She faltered, then broke out in a rush. “Hiei, don’t you miss us? You never see any of us anymore, or at least we don’t see you. Aren’t you the least bit concerned about us?”

Hiei’s face didn’t change. “I’ll see you all when I want.” On his forehead, the Jagan lying beneath the headband gave silent witness to this. “That’s all you wanted?” He dodged her two main questions with one of his own. She didn’t answer his inquiry, and he turned, walking away. “Hn. I’m off.”

Several steps fell with only the wind passing between them. Behind his turned back, Botan watched on, torn.

“So...this is goodbye then, Hiei?”

It was so soft, so lost, that he paused, looking back at her. She moved closer, following him, filling that gap. A hand reached up with the aim of his arm, before it fell, indecisive, back to her side. Her sorrowful eyes watched his for a moment, before she tried a tired smile. “Well, then, goodbye, Hiei.”

He watched her a moment longer, heart internally screaming out for a sign, for anything, but he already knew he wouldn’t receive one. He was not her most important person, after all. “Hn.” A simple nod as he turned away, turned to take his leave...

...and couldn’t. The hand on his sleeve kept him in place. Frozen, he glanced down at his left arm, then back up, slightly over his shoulder, at Botan, with widened eyes. She looked just as surprised as him, watching her hand and not daring to raise her face.

After a moment, she began to speak, directing her words at that hand and not at him, as if she only found the courage to say what she wanted when not facing down those stripping red eyes. “I’ll miss you, Hiei. And I’ll be concerned when you leave. We all will.” The hand loosened, then slid up to his shoulder as she stepped closer. “Don’t... don’t forget me,” she whispered heavily, her gaze rising to his nose, but no further. It dropped a little down again as she leaned in. “Us.”

A kiss farewell. She was telling him goodbye in the simplest way she knew. He couldn’t help himself, he leaned back into her, softly. If this was all he got... Arms came up firmly to wrap around her waist and draw her tighter in, despite her bent position when kissing him. If this was all he got, he wanted to get enough to last a lifetime. A lifetime without her, the woman who scorched her way through his life, with nimble, light fingers and devouring lips, in less than a night binding him as a slave to her desires. It might have been a mistake to her, but it was something more of fate to him.

She deepened it too, opening, not wanting to let go. And Hiei took greedily, like a starving man, dying from lack of passion instead of food. His chest rumbled faintly. Honey. She still tasted lightly of it, but more powerful this time was her own taste, the natural one, twice as overwhelming and nearly three times better. He gave up on tightening his grip to draw her down lower, fix her mouth more firmly to his own. She paused for breath on the way, then returned, as if never missing, as if it didn’t count as the end of one goodbye kiss and the beginning of another.

She shouldn’t have cared. He wasn’t keeping track.

The moan Botan gave off into his mouth as he rubbed her tongue tenderly with his own was enough to make his hands tighten more and his thoughts smolder away. He lost himself as she returned the gesture, more vigorously, and let such automatic reflexes as balance be thrown to the wind. He toppled, moving backwards, and drawing her with him. The elbow caught him belatedly as he hit the ground, Botan falling on top of him, and jarred Hiei back to his senses.

Pants came above her head as she nestled against his chest, her eyes squeezed shut as she hugged him tightly. “Onna, Botan, get up.”

“Don’t go, Hiei,” she pleaded, not loosening her arms. Her face stayed pressed into him.

The fire demon turned away, not looking at her, temper growing. “Let me leave, onna.” He didn’t want to remain, he’d kept his part of the bargain, could still watch over his sister. He didn’t want to watch whatever happened between the kitsune and the ferry girl. Jealousy was barely crushed once more.

In response, she pushed down harder, becoming dead weight against him, and startling him enough to fall fully back to the ground. Her body was pressed against his. “Please. I’m asking you to stay, at least where we can get in contact with you. Doesn’t that mean anything?”

It snapped, the green monster rushing out. “Shouldn’t you be saying that to somebody else?” he asked nastily. “I’m not who you want, don’t try and deceive me! Now let me up!” He needed to get out of here. Hiei’s chest was aching, and not because of her arms wrapped around it.

Botan stilled, and Hiei internally kicked himself. Great, just what he needed. Make her feel guilty and depressed before he ran off, just brilliant. Could he have gotten any smarter with this? Her lifted head and confused eyes interrupted his train of thought.

“What?”

“Don’t try and hide that you and the fox have got something going on,” he snarled, unable to stop himself. “You told me yourself that you had come in to sleep with him!”

“I did not!” Botan replied, shocked. “I had no intention of sleeping with anyone! You just appeared!”

Roughly, he pushed her off of him, a heap next to him as he shot to his feet. “I’m not a fool like yourself, onna! I know what I heard!” He was glaring down at her. Teasing him, she was teasing him again, and he couldn’t stand this kind of taunting.

“What,” her voice was suddenly calm, level, and bordering dangerous, marking a temper bursting at the seems, “exactly did I say? I’m afraid I was drinking that night, I can’t recall everything clearly.”

Hiei shrugged, not wanting to repeat the words that had cut him so haphazardly yet surely that night, but nevertheless spitting them out. “You said that you were looking for Kurama, to hold you and spend the night with you.”

She stared back at him, her face quiet. Finally she spoke, her words soft, but their meaning sharper than a knife. “I was looking for someone to comfort me, Hiei. Genkai had just died, and everything was going badly. At the time, Kurama would have been the most understandable choice, what with a human mother and everything to sympathize. I do not go around just looking for people to sleep with. I thought...I thought you might be the exception to that habit I’ve never broken, but I guess not.” She had wanted him to be the exception. The looks he directed in her direction had convinced her that he would be of agreement. She never considered they might be ones of distrust and suspicion. To her, even when reviewing them, she still thought they were filled more with want and longing, but she wasn’t sure, especially with his recent comments.

Very carefully, Botan pushed herself off the ground. Her eyes never turned once to him as she walked off. The voice was cool as it drifted back, but small hints of sorrow and regret touched the edges. “Goodbye, Hiei.”

He watched the spot she had left for a long time after she was gone, before turning and slamming a punch into the nearby tree. Kuso! She had wanted him, him, not the kitsune after all!

And he, like an idiot, had just pushed her farther away.

- Ningenkai - ?? (v.2) -

“Man! What’s this guy made of? Steel?!” Kuwabara was breathing heavy.

Flexing his hand after his punches made no dents, Yusuke frowned. “I thought that was Superman? Never mind,” he said quickly, shrugging, “I’ll just use my spirit wave and it’ll be over in seconds.”

“Are you insane?!” the psychic teen broke out, eyes shooting wide. “You’ll take down the whole place, Urameshi!”

“Well then what the hell am I supposed to do about him?!” Yusuke shot back, annoyed.

A bolt of energy came out of nowhere and they barely dodged. It hit the object behind them, which shattered and fell into dust.

Kuwabara was clutching his shoulder, his spirit sword dwindling. “Aw, man! Another seven years bad luck! I’m gonna be swimming in salt for the rest of my life to counteract this!”

Behind them, a dark voice chuckled, and the two hastily reversed to the other side of the room, moving back to back. “Are you finished with your prattling so I can kill you now?” the demon asked, his large form emerging from the dust that had been kicked up by all the things breaking inside the building. Around his neck, a small green pendant lay.

“Ungh,” Kuwabara choked briefly for a second, gasping to regain his breath. “W-where haven’t we hit this...” He trailed off, pausing, then glanced over to the shorter boy with slicked back hair beside him. “Hey, Urameshi.”

“Yeah?” Yusuke replied testily. He smeared the dirt across his forehead with the back of a hand.

Kuwabara was speaking quickly. “We’ve got to really hurt this guy, right?” The spirit detective nodded impatiently, not getting where this was going. “Well, what if we-” He stopped as he noticed Yusuke’s face slip into a frown, then suddenly change into an evil grin. Hesitant, he asked, “You thinking what I’m thinking?”

“Only if you can think of a place that typically hurts worse.” The voice was cheerful, and that grin was growing in evilness. Bracing slightly, he looked back. “You ready?”

Kuwabara nodded and moved down as well. “Yeah.”

“Then LET’S GO!”

Pounding feet charged the guy in tandem. He never had a chance to react. Raised knees hit him in the place that will conquer human and demon alike. And though he may have been pretty tough everywhere else, the pressure there was enough to cause his eyes to roll back into his head. The demon toppled, and Yusuke threw a few punches into his face for even measure, but after a hit to the groin, it hadn’t really been necessary. Then again, street fighting didn’t usually follow common courtesy, and revenge was always fun to take.

With disgust, Kuwabara snapped the pendant off the man’s neck. A four leaved clover design. What they were searching for. He held it up with a “hey” and Yusuke took one glance before pulling out his communicator.

“Yo, Botan,” he said in bored greeting as the screen focused in. He caught her belatedly mopping her eyes with the sleeves of her kimono and paused, growing concerned. “Hey, are you alright?”

That genki smile was whipped on to her face in no time flat, pulling only slightly at the edges. She was good at hiding things when she wanted to be. “I’m fine!” The strain barely showed around her eyes. “Did you get the artifact?”

Yusuke threw a look back at Kuwabara, then nodded into the screen. “Yeah, we got it. We’ve also got a guy for you to take to spirit prison. I think he’s gonna need some medical attention by the way,” he added, the evil grin strong.

“Don’t they all,” she replied, rolling her eyes. “Okay, well, I’ll be right there with a portal and someone to take him in, don’t worry. Just hang tight for a couple seconds!”

The screen flashed off as the ferry girl disappeared.

In total, it took ten minutes before she got there, looking a bit hassled with a guard in tow. They loaded the demon into a wheelbarrow thing and sent him off in another portal, while Botan collected the item from Kuwabara, wrapping it in special cellophane.

“Thanks,” she said cheerfully, packing it away. “Koenma’s going to be extremely happy to see this. You don’t want to know how many spankings his father threatened him with this time for leaving it loose for so long.” The ferry girl sighed. “But it’s really hard to spot when not in use.”

“Yeah, whatever, it was kind’ve fun,” Yusuke replied, smiling a bit.

Kuwabara was gazing out the window at the twilight, as if thinking of something. After a moment, he jumped. “Oh, crap! It’s almost night! My sister’s gonna have a fit!” He threw a fast “Bye, Botan!” over his shoulder before sprinting out the door.

The blue haired ferry girl just sighed, before opening another portal back, this one for herself. A small gust of wind blew by her as she turned back to Yusuke. “See you later!”

“Sure thing,” he said, waving back as the portal disappeared. Looking around for a moment at the chaotic state the building was in, he threw an eyebrow up and quickly hurried out, not wanting to be caught here and blamed.

- Reikai -

Coming back from dropping off the artifact in Koenma’s office, and thankfully managing to avoid the load of paperwork that came with it, Botan walked quietly in the hallways, her traditional sandals making soft scuffing sounds across the floor. The sleeves of her kimono flapped lightly across her sides as she made no hurry.

She wasn’t sure why she just didn’t take the paperwork. It wasn’t as if she had much to do anyway. Cry over Hiei, maybe, but that was all. A muffled sigh escaped. What a terrible misunderstanding. And to lose him after experiencing the feeling all over again. His kisses, she had realized, were much more potent when she was fully aware, when she could fully enjoy them.

But he had thought she wanted Kurama, and she had become offended and told him off, and he had left, or really, she had deserted him. And that was the end of that. The next sigh had the hint of tears in it, but she managed to hold them back.

Stopping at a door, nameplate shining in soft gold, “Botan,” the ferry girl pushed it open, then shut it softly behind her before turning the locks, and leaning her head against the back of it and slumping. Her shoulders shook silently in the darkness.

“Hn. Onna, you have a bad habit of breaking in on me in the bedroom.”

Eyes shooting wide, Botan’s spine stiffened. She spun, gasping slightly as she turned to face her bed, where the sound had come from. Faintly, she could see a small outline, leaning against the wall, ruby eyes glinting softly from the faint light coming from beneath her door. With a firm move, the ferry girl illuminated a lamp.

Across the room, the person on her bed squinted slightly, nose crinkling in annoyance from the light. He stopped as he noted the shining trickles of water on her face. “You were crying.”

“Hiei,” she said, ignoring his statement, “what are you doing here?”

“I came through the portal you created while talking to the detective.”

“Hiei.”

It was firm. He watched her, then moved his vision up to her ceiling, then over to her wall, tracing the old fan decorations displayed. There was a frown evident on his face. “I’m...sorry for... insulting you earlier by accusing you of sleeping with the fox,” he ground out, tone gruff. He was trying to mend the gap, pull her slowly back in, repair the damage he had done earlier in the day.

“You’re apologizing.” Her voice was quiet, surprised, touched with faint hope and joy.

The fire demon never turned in her direction, only scowled at the wall. “Hn. Call it what you will.”

She sighed slightly, relaxing, then nodded. “And I’m sorry too for-”

“Don’t.” The eyes flashed as they held hers steadily. “You don’t have anything to apologize for, so don’t waste the effort on me.”

“But-!”

He flashed over, disappearing from the bed and suddenly pressing her back against the door. “Onna, I’m serious.” Hiei waited until her shoulders dropped slightly in his hands and her expression lost the challenge, before moving back, smirking. “Unless you want to beg forgiveness for jumping me.”

Botan’s face shot back up. “I didn’t jump you!” A small blush rose to her cheeks as she stared down at him.

“Hn. I recall you being the one who started things.” One of his eyebrows rose as he spoke with her, gaze even. “Both times. Are you remorseful for that?” A strange intensity was flashing through his posture. This was the answer he was waiting for. Was she sorry for kissing him, inviting him to make love to her, lighting that fire when he only pushed her away?

Or did she still want more?

The blush increased in tint on her face as Botan remained silent. In front of her, she clasped her hands, then began twiddling fingers idly, her eyes watching them dance in silly patterns. Finally, breathing deep and stilling her movements, she spoke to the floor. “I - I don’t regret it, Hiei.” Gathering courage, she lifted her face to look him in the eye. “Not at all.”

That lazy smirk was back, as Hiei’s eyes slid half shut. “Then you won’t mind if I repay the favor.”

Her face showed sudden comprehension and surprise, then anticipation, as her mouth dropped slightly open, waiting. She had been right the first time, he wanted her as well. Joy flowed into her, eclipsing the recent sorrow. Slowly, softly, his hand slid up, riding the curve of her shoulder blade and up the rise of her neck to catch her chin. Where it lingered, stroking calmly that plane of her face. It seemed to be taking forever!

But when she tried to push forward, arms coming up, his abruptly tightened grip brought her to a halt. “Don’t rush me, onna!” It melted again as she relaxed, and his fingers smoothly brought her face down to be level with his. “I’ve been waiting a month for this, let me enjoy it. Enjoy you enjoying it,” he whispered, against the lips, before pressing in lightly. And once again, like the dream, it was wonderful, perfect, but better, as this time he knew it wasn’t going away.

Internally, his mind was crackling with that desire, but laced over it, flame resistant and satiny, another emotion sparked, and it held the more primal urges at bay.

For the moment.

Everything was floating, cast in misty colors, her lamp giving everything a golden sheen. And because it was so close, the light coming in at a new angle, Botan caught what she had missed before, her passion clouded eyes pausing a moment in recognition as they drifted across his face, a hand rising smoothly up his chest to smooth and cup his cheek. Noticing her inattention, Hiei withdrew, expression questioning.

“Your face,” she answered quietly, rubbing what she had mistaken for dirt before. “You cut yourself training?” The slash was downwards, diagonal and following his cheekbone. Not very deep, but enough to have caused some sting. And still be faintly throbbing.

Hiei brushed it off, pushing forward as he pinned her against the door, his face sliding down as he savored her body as well. She was so soft, wondrously plush against his cheek, his face resting peacefully against her breasts. “It’s nothing.”

Frowning, Botan stroked comfortingly with her hand, concentrating on the cheek now facing away from her. A healthy glow began to envelope her palm. White magic. “Still, if you don’t heal it, it’s going to scar.”

Fingers latched on to her wrist and quickly pulled the hand down, locking it in between their bodies as he turned to growl into her chest. “Then let it.” He wasn’t willing yet to erase the things that stupid cut had taught him.

She lost her train of reasoning as she felt it, that rumbling that penetrated her skin, shivering as she leaned forward and let the hand go limp, resting on her abdomen. Kami, but he had a way of making her thoughts begin to steam! And when he nudged down the obi ribbons, shifting her kimono assembly enough to cause her breasts to spill out over the bindings, and covered her again with his fiery mouth, she nearly dropped her grip on reality itself. Even through the layers of fabric, he was affecting her badly. A moan dropped off her tongue as she strained forward against the hands still pressing her into the door, eyes squeezed shut from the pressure.

Drowning. Hiei was drowning in that sound, in the scent assaulting him. Just like during the sword dance earlier, he was having a hard time staying focused. He did not want to rush this, to fly through, find release, and be done. This was the kind of pain that was only made sweeter by the wait. But to insure that, he needed to keep a grip on his sanity, he needed to remain in control, he needed to do this right. A hand dropped her arm and moved to her back. He pulled himself away from her slightly, her nipple clearly displayed in the moist patch of the pink cotton, and spoke quietly. “Onna, I think you’re wearing too many clothes for me to continue.”

“Really?” Botan’s voice was breathless, hushed panting with her mouth open emerging as she stared blindly above his head, her eyes clouded. The hands clutching the front of his coat told him she hadn’t understood a word he said, but he smirked as he noted that she was probably in agreement, what with the way she seemed to be trying to find the ties to his own outfit. In her passion filled daze, she wasn’t succeeding very well, but he didn’t worry too much about that. Instead, the fingers on her back traced the slow twist and turns of the ribbons she had used, securing the obi into place, found the end, and began to pull.

And pull. And pull. The fire demon growled.

“Just how much ribbon do you use, onna?!” He hadn’t thought there could even be this much! It was smooth in his hand, but it was starting to get annoying.

Botan jumped at the change in tone, then glanced down. Seeing his frustrated expression, she let loose a small giggle, the commonality of the problem bringing her back down to earth. The glare turned to her at the noise. Reaching back, she let her hand twine with his, then moved it to the right a few inches, smiling gently. “Three are for decoration, only one actually ties it in place.” Nestled within the fabric at her back, their hands touched a smaller binding. In a moment, it was off, floating to the floor.

The obi, no longer bound tightly, slid down the front of her kimono and landed with a soft plop on the ground. A hand caught hers as she tried to open the front of the outfit and shrug it off.

Tugging her closer, Hiei held the kimono closed. “Not yet.” His voice was slightly strained. She couldn’t go too far ahead of him, of this pace he was trying to cling to, or he would be lost. With firm motions, he guided her to the bed distant, the one he had been sitting on previously, and set her down. Botan perched primly, body tense with anticipation and toes pointed to the ground, as he whipped off his coat, then tugged his boots off just as fast. With belated realization, the sandals slipped from her feet and she tucked her legs underneath her on the bed, sitting up on them as he came closer, so that they were of even height again. Hiei’s lips quirked again in amusement. “Trying to console me?”

She colored at his words. “Well, you are shorter than me, and usually I’ve heard that the man is supposed to be taller.” The blush increased as an eyebrow rose at that statement. “A-at least in the books that Ayame’s lent me, that is.”

“These ‘books’,” there were evident chuckles in his voice as he said the word - so she’d been fantasizing about this, had she? - “are lacking information then.” Hungrily, he closed that distance between them, enveloping that honeyed mouth once more. There would be no fantasy that she’d had that could compare to this. The competitive spirit rose, dark, confident. He’d make sure of it. A groan flowed into her mouth as her fingers splayed against his chest, and his body moved forward, pushing her down into the blankets in an easy fall. Lips traveled away from hers and hands pressed her shoulders into the mattress. They moved as his weight settled and smoothly began easing the kimono open and down.

Pink eyes shot wide then slowly drooped as his tongue trailed across her body, igniting fires in it’s wake. He was right, the books were incorrect. His height was absolutely perfect, head falling right below her chin, to reach any part of her that he wanted. His mouth paused at her shoulder, bathing it in light kisses, and she rolled the muscles fitfully from the sensation, the nerve endings there flaring up and sending quick, glorious shivers down her spine.

Hiei noted it with satisfaction, then moved on. Leisurely, the kimono skimmed down her body under him, acting as a sort of placeholder as he strove to keep his attentions even - the slope of her ribs, the turn of her arm, the even plain of her stomach, and the soft curve of her hip. All fell like leaves in a brisk wind under his sweeping ministrations. Botan was softly moaning beneath him, trying to free her arms from the sleeves and return the touches in appreciation, but finding her strength shuddering with every inch more that he exposed.

Her hips undulated automatically as his face whispered past her underwear, hot breath hitting her through the thin material as he barely paused, leaving that one spot untouched. Soft whimpers of frustration hit his ears, begging for him to satisfy the sudden tingling there, but he ignored it. That would come later, later, after he had done what he’d wanted, fulfilled that growing desire from the training, and it was better to leave her wanting now than to spoil the fun later. Instead, he smoothed her thighs with massaging fingers, trying to keep his eyes off that small covering of white and the growing tension in his own body, and tugged the kimono fully free of her. Seconds later, petite white socks joined the pink fabric on the ground. Setting her legs down, he moved back up, covering her. The bra was released on the way, the clasp actually found this time by his fingers, and nudged aside, leaving her breasts pushed nakedly against his chest as he returned to her neck, her hot and rapid pants stirring his hair, reflecting and reinforcing his own, and her hands pressing him down on the back as far as he would go.

“Onna, Botan.” He moaned slightly on her name as her nimble fingers began to fly, wanting to cover as much of him as he had her. They clutched him, tore at him, soothed him, and he had a hard time getting the rest of what he wanted to say out of his throat. “Botan, how long do you want this to last?”

The shirt was refusing to come off as she tugged. Botan gave a tiny huff as her efforts failed to meet with success. It had been a while since the Tournament, a while since she had seen his chest, and she was dying to see it, touch it again. She processed his words on a lower level, managing to respond with an answer. “Forever, just please.”

It was the sentiment he was looking for, hoping for, but he still paused. “Are you sure?” He wouldn’t take her unwilling.

“Yes!” Her voice was wild, feverish, as she shot her hands up and yanked his head up to hers, kissing him soundly, passionately. Pulling back for a deep breath of air, she noted his serious eyes, searching her, and she let out a sigh, forcing herself to relax. “Yes. I want you to take me, Hiei.”

“The only one?” he questioned again, his voice low.

She blinked once, her heartbeat jumping faintly at the connotations his words held. He didn’t mean... Botan left the thought hanging. Slowly, she nodded. “The only one ever.” He was the only one she had ever considered being with, and would probably continue to be. She’d never been with anyone else, and they hadn’t even finished last time, but she had a feeling he had spoiled her. Indeed, her mind flashed back to his threat, his promise a month ago. Could anyone make her feel like Hiei, make her burn as fast, as hot? Somehow, she doubted it.

“Good.” The growl was possessive and his mouth returned to her shoulder, to the nerve endings there, where, if he pressed, her back would arch marvelously and meld her to him. She moved, the reaction automatic but wonderful, and he struck, biting down hard, flaring his demonic powers, and claiming her as his own surely.

It was done in seconds, no priest required at all.

Leaving her panting, lying still beneath him, frozen. He had, he had meant that. The only one... ever... Her heart, caged inside, suddenly broke free, winging wildly. “Hiei?” she asked timidly, uncertain but hoping. “Hiei, does this mean...c-can you... is this...?”

“What?” Hiei’s voice was a soft murmur, his mouth still over her wound, tasting the blood. Coppery metallic. Bittersweet. Beautiful. It slid down his throat easily.

A feather’s touch trailed up his back, to come to a rest cupping his face as she looked down at him. Botan finished softly, yearning and nervous over his answer. “Love?” She hadn’t dared hope that it would be part of their dealings, just wanting overwhelmingly to satisfy those cravings he had left her with. At the end, she had wanted something that she could take with her, memories of that trip to heaven. She hadn’t dreamed that he would give her himself as well. A breathless and euphoric giggle left her. A free trip back whenever she wanted. It calmed to a still shocked smile. And a protector and companion through life.

Hiei lay quiet, a hand coming up to trail faintly through her hair, spreading it across her pillow and hiding that one drop of blood that had leaked out when he had claimed her. Spun sugar. She was made of sweets. His voice was gruff with embarrassment as he responded. “Hn. You made me love you, onna. And I’m taking you down with me.” His thoughts dropped heavily. The love-sick fool indeed, to admit that.

“I was already falling ahead of you,” she whispered back, above his head. Breath stilling, he jerked up to look at her face, watch her say with a shy smile back at him, “I’m glad you caught up with me.” And slowly, slowly, he smirked back at her, hand coming down to cover his claim. Botan wiggled underneath him, her body between his knees, as it hit, the nerve endings still tender in her shoulder and firing off electric pauses at light-speed. The next sentence came out on a gasp. “But you still owe me.”

His head was back, nipping at the skin below her chin. “For what?” A low growl.

Tossing back, her throat was exposed as far as it would go. “Mm, Hiei, I’m still itchy. You need to scratch me. I need you to.”

There was a muttered curse as his face suddenly buried itself along that neck, breathing in heavily. Just one phrase and he was tight again. That’s all she had to say and he was flashing fully back into that dream, back into that night where she had practically forced herself on him, forced him to see her as a woman and want her. And the fact that he knew only his own clothes and that small pair of underwear were keeping his desires from him was making it worse. It was a moment regaining control before he could look up, move up at look at her. “Onna, you don’t even know what that means.”

Her chin came back down at the faintly accusing tone. “Yes, I do!”

Eyes narrowed, and his head lowered to where his lips were brushing against hers. “Then where do you itch, woman?” His voice was challenging her.

“E-everywhere,” Botan breathed out, her eyes drifting closed in response.

They didn’t reopen as Hiei moved suddenly over her, rapidly. “Wrong answer,” he growled into her ear, reaching down.

But she shocked into attention as his hand slipped into that one lone barrier left, covered her hard, then entered. Red eyes watched her reaction of surprise, small pain, and overwhelming pleasure as his fingers twitched, stroking inside of her. Her hips bucked once, pressing herself further against him, as her breath came shallowly.

Speaking below her ear, chewing on it lightly while he waited for response, Hiei drew the fingers back and trailed them slowly around the entrance to that opening. “Now, where do you itch?”

Botan didn’t answer, just moaned as she pressed against him more, trying to force the hand back inside, to satisfy her. Her thighs were squeezing together, trying to trap him there. She could see those gates into heaven again, they were shimmering with the stars in her eyes.

He moved his head back up, to look her in the eyes, and waited until her visions cleared a bit. “Know what you’re asking of me, Botan.” The hand came up, out, and he pressed his body against hers, face tightening at the feeling. “And what you’re doing to me because of it.”

“Hi-ei,” she gasped, name breaking as she surged slightly against him and he ground into her in return. The slender fingers were at his waist, flying, tugging at the belt and his high pants. She was no longer worried about the torn shirt he wore. “Hiei, help me!” Her trembling hands could barely get it unlatched, pulling the belt hurriedly apart.

His were there in seconds, lifting hers out of the way and placing them underneath his shirt, which she pushed up and off his body as he expertly flipped the belt and unthreaded it. The pants were off moments later, falling into her kimono on the floor, black and pink, melding together.

In the bed, silken hands were running over him, smoothing him. Hiei arched slightly in surprise as he felt nails trail down his back, then lock around his hips. His eyes found hers closed, concentrating on some set of internal instructions, that told instinctually what would cause pleasure. Primal urges made up for naivety, he mused to himself, hissing in a breath of air as she rolled her hips under him, calling to him. One hand left his waist, moving downward, between them, to stroke delicately that which she wanted. He covered her mouth swiftly with hers as he groaned, unable to stop the reaction of pressing more fully into her. Wrong, he corrected himself, dazed, primal urges made up for inexperience. The onna knew what she was doing. At least in theory.

The patience he had started out with was almost gone. A hand coursed down her side, and a single finger hooked under the elastic left. With one move, it was off, the last of their articles to hit the floor, lying there unrepentantly. His arms pushed him up, levered him off of her to give him room for a moment, readying himself to enter her, and he paused, struck, as he watched Botan pant lightly to herself, her mouth slightly open, her breasts rosy, her body flushed from his attention. She really was an angel.

Her eyes flashed to look at him, pink as peonies, truly her namesake, and filled to the brim with affection and trust. Hiei’s breath caught at the sight of it, before she reached up and wrapped her arms around his neck, speaking softly. “Please, Hiei, I’m so itchy, I’m going to die.” A fact, if she’d take the time to think about, no longer possible, dead already once and now a spirit granted a second body, but the wondrous, terrible, increasing pressure was near to tearing her apart. “Scratch it. Please.” A heated whisper, pleading with him. When she didn’t realize she’d held the strings all along. He was already hers, in every respect.

What could he do but honor her wishes?

He waited just a moment longer before wrapping his arms tight around her, holding her close. He didn’t know if it would hurt her. Ferry spirits were different than demons, and he wasn’t sure. But kissing her softly on the cheek, a silent promise that everything was okay, trying to prove worthy of that trust, he slid his hands down to her hips, grasped firmly, and pushed down.

A cry broke the room as Botan felt something tear inside. Immediately, Hiei’s mouth was back, kissing her, his nose hitting faintly across her forehead as he licked the small drops of water from around her eyes. It had hurt. She was still a virgin, at least in this body, and he had been her first from whenever she had gotten it. Another surge of possessiveness ran through him as he held her.

Slowly, as she shifted on the bed, the ferry girl adjusted, growing used to this new feeling. Looking up, she gave a small half smile at Hiei, who had been watching her. “I’m okay.” Her hips moved up against his again, pushing him in deeper and causing her to moan. “Keep going.”

Hiei smirked back at her, relieved at her quick recovery. “Hn, impatient.” His tone was slightly ludic, playing with her, but when he moved back and then into her again, all sense of that was gone. His eyes narrowed, concentrating on her ecstatic face and the pleasure the friction had caused. She was pulling him inwards, her hips undulating and bringing him in, and something very deep inside of her was burning. It was...itching.

Lips smoothed her face as he set the rhythm, steady into her. Vision was becoming foggy, golden gates were coming closer with every move he made, every entrance bringing him closer and closer to that itch. Moaning, she moved with him, increasing the pace, wanting him to reach it faster. Somehow, Botan knew, that was her key inside.

Above her, Hiei’s expression was every bit intense as it ever was in any of the important battles he’d fought. He needed it, this self control, very badly. Her pace was pushing him over the edge, shoving his fingers from their desperate grip unknowingly, as she writhed and moved beneath him. But he refused to go before her. This was her first time, their first time together, she had to go first.

Another movement and he hit it, Botan pressing herself up wildly, clinging, willing him not to leave. He couldn’t stop. But the next one had him deeper, stroking it, scratching that itch. She shuddered against him. A final motion, and she fell, fell in through that gate, the key turning perfectly, and landing in heaven. Her hips quaked as her voice called out mindlessly, and her body convulsed for moments afterwards.

Eyes showed him just one more glimpse of that trust before they fluttered closed, satisfied, and he let go, falling after, finding fulfillment in this strange, foolish, beautiful, magnificent woman, and vowing to let the devil take him if he ever broke her absolute trust.

Uneven breathing stirred the hair near her shoulder as they panted against each other. Botan’s eyes were open, and staring thoughtfully at the ceiling. Heaven, she realized, was even more than she expected, even more than paradise, if that were possible.

A soft, low phrase came to her ears as Hiei lay relaxed, spent upon her, he rolled slightly, saying it again before grasping her waist and pulling her flush against him, holding her like diamonds he was loath to part with.

She listened to it a third time in her head, the words bringing everything in, wrapping together all of his sentiments in a tiny package, and making that small smile of happiness waver and strengthen with emotion. ‘No one for me but you.’

Looking at his peaceful eyes, which watched her carefully until her smile firmed steady, his lips leaning in for a final kiss before the lids fluttered shut, she could only marvel. It was more than she had ever dreamed, this heaven, but it also, strangely, looked just like the room she was in, and was made perfect by that person holding her, sleeping beside her, loving her. Wrapping one arm around Hiei as well, lifting that hand to slowly heal the cut he had forgotten about, and tugging the upper blanket partly out so she could sandwich themselves inside, Botan softly repeated it back. “No one for me but you.”

--

Years from now, every once in a while, they would wonder, quietly to themselves, why had they kept it a secret? It wasn’t difficult, but still, why did they hide what they had found from the others for so long?

Contemplating this, thoughts would arise of Yusuke and Kuwabara, laughing themselves to tears, of Keiko, surprised and more than a little offended that she had been kept out of the loop for so long, of Koenma, taken aback and left scrambling, undone that his ‘powers of observation’ had left him in the dark so long, of Kurama, not surprised at all and throwing smirking looks in their direction, and of the general state of shock that would ensue.

Which was exactly what had happened when they had finally told of their affair.

And then, wryly, their questions would change, into why they had revealed it at all. But then a cry would come from the other room and Botan would rush off, or Hiei if he felt the need to beat her to it, and as they sang sweetly or told quiet, adventuresome stories that were true more than half of the time, they would realize, it was perfect just the way it was.

This honey-laced, fiery, heaven night-tripping, family way of life.

--

Dedication - For Ciara, so you’ll stop pestering me to write a lemon with your letters from Canada. Finished, was it good enough for you? :) Surprisingly, it was a bit difficult, but overall an enjoyable write. So maybe challenge me again for your birthday? It certainly cuts costs on presents. Merry Christmas, crazy cousin of mine, hope you don’t freeze in that snow.