This post series WIP has been collecting dust in my draft folder for years. Although it was supposed to be a one shot, I suspect I'll have much better luck completing it if I work on it and upload it in parts.

Botan sighed as she trudged past the grand hall and pointedly ignored the crowd gathered inside. It was the eve of the Spirit World's annual unity ball and the place was bustling with decorators, chefs and planners as they prepared for the main event.

Normally, she would be buzzing with the same excitement and anticipation that had overtaken her peers, but the small matter of being date-less quickly dampened her spirits.

She was planning on asking Yuuto to escort her - the psychic had a gentle disposition and charismatic personality that drew her in from the start - but her delusions of confessing to him amongst the backdrop of sparkling lights and soft notes of the band shattered when she learned that her arch-nemesis already snatched him up. Heartbroken and desolate, the ferry-girl couldn't bear the thought of attending alone. It would be too pitiful. So, she decided she would find someone, anyone, to accompany her and she would have a grand time while she was at it.

If Yuuto happened to see her happy with someone else, then that would be an added bonus.

The only problem that remained was her grave lack of prospects.

Yusuke was happily tied down to Keiko and just about everyone knew that.

Kuwabara and Yukina were going strong as well.

Kurama had an important prior engagement with his family and would be away for the entire weekend.

And she couldn't very well go with Koenma. Not when his relationship with Ayame was in full bloom.

Botan supposed she could ask one of the other guys – Chuu, Jin, Suzuka, Shishiwakamaru or Touya would all be decent company - but she doubted they would agree. They hardly knew her, after all, and she didn't want to put any of them in an awkward spot.

Just as she was about to give up all hope, she spotted Hiei strolling down the hallway. He was passing a message along for Mukuro and as he approached her direction, an idea began to form in her mind. The fire-demon was powerful (she heard through the grapevine that he finally reached the S-Class level!), he was handsome (in that dark and mysterious way of his) and he was a force to be reckoned with.

He was the perfect prospect! Why didn't she think of him all along?

"Oh, Hiei!" she greeted excitedly, stepping in the way of his path. "Just the man I wanted to see!"

Hiei paused, crimson eyes staring her down warily. She tried not to be offended by his obvious suspicion. In all the years they had known each other, they never truly had the chance to grow close. When she did talk to him, it was usually because she needed him for Spirit World business and not much else. And since he had cut ties to both the human and spirit realms, their already scarce interactions dwindled down to almost nothing.

Botan was taking a gamble on him, but she was desperate. He was her last hope.

"What do you want, woman?" he questioned finally.

"I…"

He crossed his arms over his chest impatiently and she steeled herself as she forced the words out.

"I need you to be my date!"

His eyes narrowed, dark brows furrowing as though he did not hear her correctly the first time.

"What?"

"…Please do me the honor of escorting me to the ball?" she rephrased hesitantly.

"Have you lost your mind?" he replied, outrage and disgust ruffling his usually indifferent disposition.

"No, I just-"

"Don't bother explaining yourself," he cut off as he sidestepped her and began to walk away. "I have no intentions of listening."

"Oh, please, Hiei!" she begged, trailing behind him with her hands clasped together for added effect. "Just do me this one, tiny favor?"

"No," he gritted, not bothering to spare her so much as a glance as he continued forward.

"Please?"

"No."

"Pretty please?"

"Saying the word pretty does nothing to change my mind, ferry-girl."

"Can I entice you with free food and drinks?" she questioned. "The best chefs from all three worlds will be preparing all sorts of exquisite cuisine. And the most talented brewmasters, too!"

"None of that concerns me."

"But-" The ferry-girl yelped as she bumped into a firm wall of muscle due to Hiei's sudden halt.

"Enough," Hiei warned, turning to face her with a glower. "You're wasting your breath and what little patience I possess is gone. I have no doubt that your world is rife with fools as equally enamored with the trivial as you. Take one of them."

Botan steeled her expression.

"But it can't just be anyone. It has to be you!"

The fire-demon's glare lessened, confusion slowly seeping into the creases of his frown as he eyed her.

"What are you getting at, woman?"

"I need someone impressive. Someone imposing. Someone oozing with confidence and handsome to boot," she said, counting off his qualities on her fingers. A smile stretched over her lips as she regarded him with twinkling eyes. "And you just so happen to fit the bill."

Something unreadable passed over his red eyes as he averted his gaze.

"Flattery will get you nowhere, ferry-girl," he discouraged.

"It's not flattery, I'm simply stating the facts!" she insisted. "I can't just have anyone be my escort tonight."

"And why is that?" he asked, suspicion leaking into his tone.

Amethyst eyes drifted off to the side as she pursed her lips together.

"If you expect me to attend, you should at least tell me why," he pressed, the harshness of his voice cutting into the heavy silence that stretched between them.

Botan brought her gaze back to meet his slowly. She supposed it was only fair to tell him the truth.

"…It's because I can't let Yuuto see me going alone," she revealed quietly.

Derision swept over his features briefly as he grunted, "Hn, I should have known this was over a past lover."

"Well, we were never lovers, per se, but we could have been. And now he's going with that awful Minako and I'll be there pathetically alone."

"What makes you think I care about any of that?"

"Because we're friends?" she tried with hopeful lift of her brows.

"You and I were never friends."

"Allies?

"Hardly."

"Estranged acquaintances?"

"Just barely."

She pouted.

"Oh, have a heart, Hiei!"

"Appealing to the sentimental won't sway me," he scoffed coldly. "Now find someone else to pester and leave me be."

She opened her mouth to protest, but he vanished into thin air before she could get so much as a word in. The faint trace of his energy was the only proof that he had been there at all and something cold and empty settled in her chest as the weight of what she was about to say sunk in.

"...I don't have anyone else," she admitted quietly, eyes downcast as she let out a hopeless sigh.

Hiei's skin prickled with irritation as he stalked down the dark and grotesque corridor that led to Mukuro's throne room.

Try as he might, he couldn't get his conversation with that foolish ferry-girl out of his head.

She'd always been crazy; an eccentric enigma that rested just beyond his understanding. Although they hadn't seen each other in quite some time, he could only assume that her insanity reached new heights of absurdity if she was begging him to accompany her anywhere.

It was as ludicrous as it was unthinkable.

The two of them had no ties to each other - aside from the tenuous string of the past - and he fully intended to keep it that way.

He didn't owe her a thing.

And even if he did, this would be the worst way to repay her. He didn't fare well in social settings and he certainly wasn't the type that people used to make others jealous.

But, even so, she insisted...

'I need someone impressive. Someone imposing. Someone oozing with confidence and handsome to boot. And you just so happen to fit the bill.'

She was smiling at him as she spoke those words, in that open and inviting way of hers that always made him uneasy.

He frowned as he remembered the hopeful way she regarded him.

She was such a strange woman and he was no better, dwelling on her words like a child that needed to be praised. He forcefully dispelled all thoughts as he cleared his mind and approached the throne room. The usual idiots posted outside the area were absent, which was probably for the best. Hiei was in no mood to deal with anyone else today. Knocking once, he then pushed the iron wrought doors open. They creaked and groaned unpleasantly, but the sound didn't seem to disturb Mukuro as she sat with one leg crossed over the other, blue eye scanning over a scroll in disinterest.

"You called," Hiei prompted.

She lowered the scroll and lifted her gaze.

"I trust you've heard of the unity ball taking place in the Spirit World tonight."

His memory burned with flashes of hopeful, bright eyes, pleading words and pouty pink lips.

"Unfortunately."

"Good. I'll need you to go in my place."

His expression fell.

"Why?"

"There is talk of an insurgence in the south. I need to be here if it occurs."

"As should I," he pointed out. "Surely one of your sniveling councilmen would be better suited for a night of inconsequential frivolity."

"Even their diplomacy has limits," she noted wryly. "I don't trust them not to say something offensive or underhanded." She set aside the scroll and fixed him with an imperative look. "But you are different. You have a history there, however checkered it may be, and you've known how to deal with them for years. A few hours should be doable."

On the surface, her words made sense. Mukuro's councilmen had less tact than he - and that was saying something - but even so, there were still many who would have been far better options than him.

"It has to be you," she finished.

Her tone brokered no argument, prompting Hiei to bite back his protest and nod begrudgingly. No matter how much he opposed the idea, she was still his commander. He couldn't go against her wishes. Not after everything she had done for him.

"Fine."

And with that one word, his fate was sealed.

And so it begins! I hope you guys enjoyed the opening. Please drop a review and let me know what you thought.