Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Love Me, Hate Me, Just Don’t Let Me Fall ❯ Crazy Demons at the Mall ( Chapter 9 )

Last Chapter...

So the trio set out together, looking for the missing ferry girl or any of her captors.

Love Me, Hate Me, Just Don't Let Me Fall

Chapter 9: Crazy Demons at the Mall

As Botan and her youkai companions were walking to the mall, the four demons tried to look as inconspicuous as possible and hide their demonic features. This was especially hard for Jin, with his pointy ears, horn, and love of flying. They had managed to make it about halfway to the nearest mall without anyone calling the ningen police when they ran into two familiar faces.

"Chuu, you big idiot, why'd you have to go and do that!"

"What?! Like you didn't feel sorry for the poor girl too!"

"Oi, Chuu! Rinku!" Jin called. Hearing their names, the two demons turned and started walking towards them.

"Hey, Jin!" Chuu greeted.

"Where were you two?"

Rinku glared at Chuu and answered, "He tried to drag me into a bar but they said I was too young to enter, so we went to a restaurant instead. Then some guy yelled at the waitress and Chuu beat him up. We got kicked out of the place!"

Shishiwakamaru said, "You baka! We're not supposed to draw attention to ourselves here!"

Chuu shrugged. "Couldn't help it! The poor gal was being fussed at for no good reason. I can't stand to see a damsel in distress!" He seemed to spot Botan for the first time and said, "Oi, who's the pretty gal?!"

Touya answered, "That is Botan, the girl you were supposed to get from Reikai. Remember?"

"Oh yeah, you're the ferry girl!" Chuu grinned at her. "Pretty one too."

Botan wasn't sure whether to be appalled or embarrassed, but Rinku made the decision for her by hitting Chuu on the head. Everyone else sweat dropped.

"Don't scare her off, stupid! We're supposed to keep her until Hiei comes for her!"

"Hiei? What, is he like her boyfriend or something?" Chuu asked, but nobody answered him so he assumed that he was correct.

"What are all of you doing out here? I thought you were going to stay at the hotel!" Rinku asked.

"Stupid wind master forced us to go to the mall."

"Aw, come on, Touya, don't gimme that again!"

Botan watched the six demons, thinking that they were a bit weird. In fact, they kind of reminded her of the Urameshi group. They all started walking again in the direction of the mall as they continued their discussion.

Chuu looked at Botan and said, "Hey, girlie, when's your boyfriend gonna get here?!"

"Boyfriend? Hiei's not her boyfriend!"

"Yeah, if you had listened, you would have known!"

Chuu looked at Botan suspiciously. "You sure you don't have a boyfriend? Tell you what, I bet one of us would love to hook up with you! Right, guys?"

"Speak for yourself, baka."

"Sure!" Jin said as he grinned. He was having so much fun in Ningenkai!

Touya glanced at Jin's ears, which were rapidly turning long and pointy. "Jin, your ears are doing strange things again!"

Rinku glared at Chuu. "You idiot! If she wanted a boyfriend, then she'd say so!"

"Do you want a boyfriend?"

"Uh..." Botan wasn't sure what to say. Sure she wanted a boyfriend, but only if it was Hiei! "Well, I kind of already have a boyfriend... sort of... maybe... well, he's not really my boyfriend, but he sort of is... I think..."

"I'm confused!"

"Are you single or not?"

"Yes, and no," she answered.

"Oro? Oro, oro, oro? Heheh, that's a fun word to say! Oroooooo! Oro, oro! Orrrrrro!" Jin was having fun playing with words.

Suzuka sighed and said, "SHUT UP JIN!"

"Oro, oro! ORO!"

"It's complicated..." Botan tried to explain.

"Who is he?"

"Hiei."

Chuu grinned triumphantly. "HA! Told you so!"

"Does he like you?" Jin asked. "Do you like him? Have you gone on a date? Have you kissed him yet? Is he nice to you? If he's not, you got six demons here who'll beat him for you!"

"Um..." Botan didn't really want to answer all of these questions. Thankfully, Shishiwakamaru saved her from the trouble by hitting Jin with his sword sheath.

"Baka! You need to mind your own business!"

Jin merely grinned knowingly. "Are you having mood swings again...? If it's PMS, I swear I won't tell anybody!"

"No..." Shishi glared icily at Jin and answered, "You are a baka. A complete baka."

The others laughed, used to all of the quarrelling. Botan began to feel at ease with these guys. They were so easy to get along with compared to Hiei!

"Hey, guys! We're here!"

Finally, they had arrived at the mall. Since it was a Saturday afternoon, it was crowded with people. Shishiwakamaru and Suzuka immediately took off to the nearest beauty salon, trying to find a cure for the teeth marks on Shishi's arms. Botan watched as Chuu spotted a pretty woman and went off, eventually following her into a women's department store.

"Hey, pretty gal, come back!" Chuu called.

Jin looked around for something to do and spotted a nearby pet store. "Oi, Touya, let's get a pet!"

"NO, JIN!" The last thing Touya needed was a pet to look after.

Rinku's eyes became very big and sparkly. "Ooooh, I've always wanted a puppy dog! Puppy wuppy dog! Come to me! Heeheehee!"

"Parrot! We're gonna get a parrot! Then I'll be a pirate wind master! Arr, matey, I'll be a pirate, a pirate I'll be! Ha ha!" Jin checked his pockets for money, but found that he was broke. He turned to Touya and, pretending to be a pirate, said, "Gimme yer money or I'll make ye walk the plank! Arr!"

Reluctantly, Touya gave Jin some ningen money, lest he be forced to 'walk the plank'. Then Rinku and Jin ran off to find a pet for themselves. This left Touya with only Botan's company, something he was glad for because he was sick and tired of watching over crazy demons all the time.

"So, are you hungry?" Touya asked.

"Uh, sure." Botan quickly scanned the crowds of ningens around her, looking for Hiei, but there was no sign of that familiar fire demon to be seen. She hoped he would arrive soon.

They walked to the food court and ordered some fast food. After their order was ready, they found an empty table and sat down. They ate their food in silence and once they were done, Touya asked, "Do you know when Hiei will get here?"

"No idea. He should be here by now, shouldn't he? He has the Jagan so it should be really easy to find me... Unless... You don't think something happened to him, do you? What if he was attacked? Maybe he's hurt! He could be out there dying right now while we're just sitting here! We've got to go save him!"

"Calm down! From what I've seen, he's an extremely talented fighter. I doubt that he's acquired any fatal injuries as of late," Touya reassured her. He didn't want Botan to start worrying for no good reason, so he changed the subject. "How exactly did you end up being part of this new training program of Koenma's?"

"Uh..." Botan wasn't sure how to answer that. Should she lie, or tell the truth? It would be so much easier if Hiei were here! He was a much better liar than Botan could ever be. "Um, this isn't really part of Hiei's training... You see, Koenma's making us take these tests and we've already passed the first two, and now we have to pass this third one. If we don't pass them and find Koenma a girlfriend, I'll end up being the Junior Queen of Reikai and I'll never get to be a ferry girl again!"

Touya shot her a confused look. "I'm kind of lost here. Perhaps you should start from the beginning."

"Um, okay..." Botan hoped that she was doing the right thing by telling him. Touya didn't really know Koenma or Hiei, so it should be all right, but there's no telling how Hiei would feel about it. "Promise you won't tell anyone?"

"On my honor, I swear I'll keep it a secret."

"Okay, it all started..." Touya listened closely as Botan told him the whole story, starting with Koenma's marriage proposal and ending with the third test.

"And now Hiei has to find me and if he doesn't we'll probably never pass this stupid test. DANG IT, HIEI, GET YOUR SORRY BUTT OVER HERE ALREADY!!!"

Ningens began staring at them, and Touya looked around nervously. "Uh, Botan, those ningens are starting to stare at us..."

Suddenly, the blue-haired girl burst into tears. "He's not going to come... *sob* He doesn't *sob* even care about *sob* me! He's going to *sob* let Koenma marry me!!!!!!!!!"

Looking around uneasily, Touya hoped the ningens would just go away. This was the last thing he needed. After hours of watching over insane demons on the loose in Ningenkai, he was going to be kicked out of a ningen mall because of a hysterical ferry girl. Oh, the sad, pitiful life of the unfortunate ice master.

"Botan... it's okay... he'll come, don't worry..." Touya was very uncomfortable around the sobbing girl. Fighting huge, ugly demons that are ten times his size? Sure! Comforting a girl who's in tears over her lousy boyfriend? Uh, no thank you!

Touya patted her back sympathetically and watched as the ningens began to lose interest in them and went back to what they were doing. Eventually, Botan's sobs subsided and she calmed down enough to talk.

"I'm so sorry, Touya, I've just been under so much stress lately! You have no idea how hard it is to put up with that stupid half koorime. I still love him, but he's the hardest person to have even a simple conversation with!"

"I think I know what you mean... I've been stuck with Jin and the others since the Dark Tournament. On a daily basis, I have to put up with their insanity and make sure they don't kill us all."

Botan smiled at him understandingly. "I only have to put up with one demon... Lucky me, somebody must really like me in the heavens."

"Sometimes that's not a good thing." Touya was referring to Koenma liking Botan.

"Too true..." Botan said as she laughed. "Okay, now that you know all about my twisted love life, tell me about yours!"

"Nani?"

"Tell me about your love life! You have to have a girlfriend or at least a crush!"

"Nope. I'm a bachelor, and happy too!"

"Don't you like anyone? Come on, there's gotta be a girl you think is at least cute! You can tell me!"

"Well... there is someone..."

"Oh, tell me, tell me!"

"No, I can't do that! I heard her family's crazy, and if word gets out, there is no telling what will happen to me!"

"I promise I won't tell anyone! Look, if you don't tell my secret, I won't tell yours!"

"I can't..."

"Come on, it's okay to tell me! I'm your friend, aren't I? Just tell me her name!"

"I don't think I should..."

"Just tell me! I swear I'll keep it a secret."

"You swear?"

"Yes! Now tell me already!"

"...It's Yukina," Touya finally mumbled. He couldn't believe he was telling her this. Never had he dared to tell anyone such a deep secret, but Botan was so easy to talk to, it was hard to not just tell her everything!

"Oh my goodness, you two would make the perfect couple! Your children would be absolutely adorable! And, just think of the grandchildren! You're going to make a great grandfather, Touya!"

Touya stared at her in shock. "I haven't even considered mating with her! I just want to date the girl!"

"Yeah, yeah, your opinion will change with time, I'm sure," she replied. "anyway, I do understand what you meant about her having a crazy family... Hiei can be a bit overprotective, can't he?"

"Overprotective? He's worse than a female demon protecting her offspring!" Touya stated dryly.

"I know he can be a bit... obsessive, but he means well."

"It still means that I have no chance with his sister!"

Botan knew there was truth behind his words, but she felt like there was something she had to do to help him. He was a great guy and he deserved his fair chance to date Yukina! "Hey, I've got an idea!"

"What is it?" Whatever scheme Botan had planned, Touya doubted it would work. He had already given up all hope of dating that pretty ice apparition as soon as he discovered Hiei was her brother.

"I bet you I could somehow convince Hiei to let you have at least one date with Yukina. In return, you have to find me some possible brides for Koenma!"

That seemed easy enough. There were lots of girls who would love to marry a god, so Touya wouldn't have to search hard. "Well, okay, I guess so."

"Great!" Botan fished out a communication mirror and handed it to Touya. "This is a communication mirror. I'll use it to tell update you on the situation with Hiei, okay?"

Touya accepted it and put it away in a pocket. "Okay."

"Now that that's settled, Hiei needs to get over here already!"

Botan and Touya waited for a few minutes, both scanning the food court for any sign of Hiei. Suddenly, they heard a large crash behind them. They turned around to find the source of the noise. They discovered what used to be a potted plant laying on the floor in pieces, and standing in the middle of the destruction was none other than...

"Yusuke?!"

"Uh, hi guys..."