A/N:  There are a few developments in this one, though not as many as I had originally planned.  This is one of those chapters that took over and wrote itself, pretty much.  I had not had this in mind at all but I find that it will work so much better.  I try to keep everyone in character, also, but forgive me if sometimes they go their own way.  I can't control them.  ^_^;;;  Anyway, I guess there's not much else to say, but I will give a little preview for the next chapter:  look for a new character to wreak havoc on Kurama's group.  I call it Kurama's group, at least.  Ok that said, enjoy chapter 10.

Chapter 10

            Perhaps it was just her imagination, but Botan was beginning to believe that she was the only one who was having any sort of problem with this entire setup. 

            For one, she was hot.  Terribly hot, and she couldn’t seem to stop sweating.  It wasn’t the weather, either; she felt as though she were burning up inside.  Yet at the same time she felt cold, and couldn’t explain it.  She also ached from head to toe, and the nasty gash on her back didn’t help matters.  She felt sick.  And she hated Koenma.

At first, she had been supportive of Koenma’s decision to send her along with the Urameshi group; after all, they were constant entertainment and it gave her something to do.  Normally their assignments were as dangerous at dangerous could be, but at least she had the option of returning to the spirit world and/or contacting Koenma in times of dire need.  And she wasn’t really a fighter, more like an onlooker or the information girl.  The go-between.  She was usually fine with that.  She never complained…at least she didn’t think so.

            But this place was entirely different.  This was the demon world unleashed, they had a super powerful demon with most of the Shikon jewel shards in his possession, and from what the others had said, he was a force to be reckoned with.  They were supposed to find this guy, defeat him, and get his shards.  Then they were supposed to find out some way of destroying the completed jewel.  What, exactly, was she supposed to do? 

Did Koenma have any idea of what he was sending her into?  He hadn’t told her anything, just, “Go with Yusuke and the others and stay with them no matter what.”  Basically.  Now she had none of her powers, no oar to summon to take her back to the spirit world, which coincidentally did not exist during this time period, and she was about as useful as the gash on her back where she’d been attacked.  It was almost as if she’d been permanently reduced to the ‘mortal’ form she’d always adopted.  It certainly seemed that way.  She felt out of place, out of touch with things, and she felt like she was going out of her mind.

            But why would Koenma have sent her if he’d known where or when he was sending them?  Kurama had only told them of Koenma’s plan to destroy the Shikon jewel…and to meet up with that particular group of people in order to accomplish that.  That would mean that Koenma had some general idea of what the circumstances were during the Feudal Era.  That just didn’t make sense to her.  And while she normally wasn’t one to question Koenma, she really was having a hard time being confident.

            I’m so confused, she thought.  Maybe he didn’t realize I would lose my powers or would be unable to contact him.  I feel like such a knot on a log here!  I can’t fight, I don’t have any intelligent information to give to anyone other than the fact that I know the spirit world is sort of gone at this point in time and I have no idea where my favorite spirit world brat is or how to contact him.  And I somehow doubt that seeing him in this time would do much good…but if I do see him I’m going to march right up to him and knock him flat on his behind!  Then see if he ever sends me on any missions like this again!

            She’d felt that way ever since arriving on this side of the well.  She had been lost in thought for the majority of the time, not really offering much by way of conversation, but also couldn’t help glancing at the other members of her party and wondering what they were thinking.  One could never tell what Hiei was thinking, and Inuyasha seemed to be much the same way.  Both were also usually lost in thought, probably deeper thoughts than hers, but then again she could never know…and thought it was probably better that way.

            Kagome seemed like a nice enough girl, and seemed to be attached to Inuyasha at the hip.  Botan couldn’t be sure, but she thought she saw Kagome steal glances at the white-haired half-demon when he wasn’t looking.  Botan couldn’t help but smile to herself; unrequited love was so tragically romantic. 

            Even Yusuke seemed to withdraw into his thoughts more than usual.  He normally wasn’t one to think so much.  Botan knew he was also angry with Koenma for hiding things from him.  She didn’t blame him; Koenma had really outdone himself this time.

            “Hey Botan?”

            She hadn’t realized the group had stopped.  Then she realized they all were staring at her. 

“What?” 

            “I asked if you wanted to take a rest, too,” Kagome said.

            Embarrassed, she stuttered,  “Um…sorry, I, uh, I’m pretty tired, yeah.  Let’s rest.”

            Kagome offered her a reassuring smile and a concerned look.  “Are you feeling ok?  Is that wound still bothering you?”

            “I’m fine, really, it just stings.”  Like a thousand angry wasps, but Botan left that part out.  Thus far she felt she had been doing good at not letting it get to her.  Kagome’s concern was a little heartwarming, at least.

              Yusuke, however, wasn’t convinced.  “Botan, are you sure you’re feeling ok?  You look kind of pale.”

            “I’m fine, I said.  Don’t worry about me.”  She offered her best smile…that ended up looking more like a grimace.  Yusuke raised an eyebrow.

            She sighed.  “Look, I can’t exactly stop and wait for it to heal.  So I’ll deal with it.”

            “I just don’t get it,” Yusuke mused, rubbing his chin.  “Why aren’t you healing faster?  You’re not exactly human, either.”

            She shrugged.  “I have no clue.  I really don’t want to discuss it, either.”

            He raised his hands in defense at her sudden sharp words.  “Whoa, easy.  I won’t pry anymore, since you’re going to get all sensitive about it.”

            “It’s not fun being injured and still having to travel,” Kagome said matter-of-factly.  “Isn’t that right, Inuyasha?”  She gave him a look that clearly said say something to make her feel better.

            “Hmph.  If it was bothering you that bad you should have said something,” he said to Botan.  Kagome shook her head.

            “I just didn’t want to slow everyone down,” Botan replied.

            “A lot of good it will do if you die from an infection and we have to carry your body back,” Inuyasha said.  Kagome gasped, horrified.

            “Sit!”

            She didn’t miss a beat with that word.  Once Inuyasha recovered from having his face slammed into the dirt, he started sputtering about how he didn’t mean it in a bad way.  “I just meant that if that scratch is infected – “

            “It’s not a scratch!” Kagome yelled back.  “It’s a big gash right across her back.  You saw it!”

            “I know I saw it!  And the bigger the wounds are the more likely they’ll get infected.  Aren’t you the one that’s always saying that we need to slow down, that you all aren’t like me?  I’m just saying if it doesn’t heal then she’ll slow us down even more!”

            Botan wanted to say, “Don’t worry, I’m not offended,” but for some reason, her voice wouldn’t work.  All of a sudden, she felt dizzy.  The world was turning upside down, and their voices were becoming muffled.  Then her knees gave way, and she collapsed, suddenly losing the strength to even lift her arms to stop herself from falling.  Kagome rushed to her side.  “Botan!  Botan are you ok?”

            Botan didn’t answer.  Her eyes fluttered shut as she lost consciousness.  Yusuke looked beside himself.

            “What’s wrong with her?!” he exclaimed.  “She’s not…”

            Kagome laid Botan face-down on the ground and lifted the girl’s shirt to reveal the wound.  It was dressed with Kagome’s bandages, but the blood had seeped through.  Kagome knew immediately from the smell that it was infected.

            “She’s still breathing, but we’ve got to get her to a dry place, someplace enclosed, where I can change the bandages.  Inuyasha, can you carry her?”

            Inuyasha picked up the unconscious girl without a second thought.  “Let’s go.”

            ***

            They found an abandoned hut not far from there, and Inuyasha laid Botan on the floor.  Kagome could see that Yusuke was extremely worried about her, so she asked Inuyasha to find something for him to do.

            “But I don’t want to leave,” Yusuke protested.

            “Give the girl some privacy,” Kagome replied.  “She won’t want to find out that you guys were here.  She was embarrassed enough that I had to treat her wound the last time.”

            Yusuke rolled his eyes.  “Whatever,” he said, storming out the door.  Inuyasha and Hiei followed.

            Kagome then turned to the unconscious girl lying on the floor.  She placed a hand on Botan’s forehead and grimaced.  She was burning up.  A fever in this time period was not good, and they were too far from Kaede’s village to get to the well in time.  She had to do what she could.  It was a good thing she’d brought plenty of medical supplies from her last visit home.  She had to try to get Botan’s fever under control.

            She removed Botan’s shirt and carefully pried the soaked bandages from Botan’s wound, wincing when she heard the girl utter a small noise of pain.  She then cleaned the wound and applied antibiotic cream, hoping it would take some of the infection out.  As she worked, she heard Botan mutter something.  Startled, Kagome stopped and listened.

            “…going to kill you…”

            Huh?  What was that all about?

            “…Ko…en…ma…”

            Koenma?  Wasn’t he that spirit world guy they were all talking about?

            “Botan?” Kagome said quietly, not sure if she was still unconscious or not.

            There was no reply, and Botan’s eyes were still closed.  Kagome wished she would wake up.  She was worried.

            But the wound had been treated again, and fresh bandages applied.  Kagome got some water from the nearby stream and used a wet cloth to try to cool Botan’s feverish face.  She didn’t want to leave Botan lying on her stomach for fear she’d suffocate, so she put as much padding on the floor that she could and turned Botan over onto her back.  The girl let out a stifled cry of pain but did not awaken.  A little while later, Inuyasha and the others returned.

            “Is she any better?” Yusuke asked.

            “She still hasn’t regained consciousness.”

            Inuyasha sat on the floor.  “Should we take her back to the village?”

            Kagome shrugged.  “I would almost say yes, but I don’t know if it’s wise to move her around too much.”

            “Is it wise to just leave her here and risk her dying?” Yusuke asked.  He was pacing back and forth.

            “I don’t think she’ll die,” Kagome said.  “I doubt it.  We just have to let the fever run its course.  I treated the wound again and the infection should go down.  She will be fine.”

            “I don’t know…” Yusuke said, partly to himself.  Hiei was watching him pace the floor, a look of annoyance on his face.

            “Stop that,” the fire demon ordered.

            “Stop what?”

            Hiei sighed.  “Stop pacing around.  Sit down.”

            He shook his head.  “I can’t.  This is bad…”

            “What is the matter with you?” Kagome asked.  “Believe me, she will be fine.  We get into scrapes like this all the time, all she needs is time to rest and recuperate.  You’re acting like she’s dead already.”

            “But what if your treatment doesn’t work?” he insisted.  “What then?”

            “Then we’ll take her back to my time…our time, I guess.  Why?”

            He stared at her for a moment, clearly wanting to say something but he wasn’t sure how.  Kagome watched him as he ran a hand through his hair and sat down with the air of a defeated man.  She was curious, and had a bad feeling that whatever he was going to say wasn’t going to be good.

            “Look,” he said.  “Kurama told us to not say anything to you guys about this, because he didn’t want you freaking out…but I think you need to know.  When we came over here, the man we work for…Koenma…put a block on the well.  A seal.  We can’t go back through.”

            Inuyasha’s ears perked up.  “He did what?”

            Kagome wasn’t sure she heard him correctly.  “What do you mean…?  We can’t go back?”

            “No.  I don’t like it either, but he wanted to…make sure we did our job.”

            Kagome laughed, an angry tone in her voice.  “Sounds like he doesn’t trust you enough,” she said.  “But he can’t just do that.  I have family there.”

            “So do I.  So do all of us that came over here.  But we’re stuck.”

            She stood to her feet so suddenly that she startled everyone, including Hiei.  “We’ll find a way to get us un-stuck, got it?  If I have to find this Koenma guy here in this time, I’ll make him unseal the well.  He’s not going to toy around with me.”

            Yusuke was pretty sure he felt sorry for Koenma at that point, because judging by the look on her face; she was going to use unspeakable methods of torture if Koenma didn’t unseal the well.  And judging from the look on Inuyasha’s face, Yusuke was sure that the dog demon agreed.

            However, Inuyasha couldn’t help but smirk.  “Now you won’t be traipsing back there whenever you please.  I say we leave it this way.”

            “Not on your life,” she bit back.  “If I run out of supplies you won’t feel that way.”

            He didn’t have a reply for that.  Now it was Yusuke’s turn to smirk. 

            “So now we have to find this Koenma person,” she continued.  “Do you have any idea where we should look?”

            “Not a clue.”

            She turned to Hiei.  “You?”

            “No.”

            She sighed.  “None of you are any help at all.  I wonder…if Miroku could maybe remove the seal.  It’s worth a shot…but just in case that doesn’t work, let’s find this Koenma.  Ok, so here’s the game plan.  Inuyasha…you and someone else look for the nearest village.  See what kind of information you can come up with.”

            “I’m not leaving you here by yourself,” Inuyasha replied.  “And not with one of them.”

            Yusuke rolled his eyes.  This guy was enough to drive anyone crazy.  “Fine, Hiei and I will go.  You can stay here and guard the house like a good doggy.”

            “You want to start something again?” Inuyasha snarled and balled up his fists.  Yusuke yawned.

            “Whatever.  We’re out of here.  Come on, Hiei.”

            After the two of them left, Kagome was shaking her head in disgust.  “Why do you let him get to you?  You’re too sensitive.”

            “He’s a mouthy bastard.”

            “You two have a lot in common.”

            “…What are you saying?”

********************

“Why do you enjoy antagonizing him?”

Yusuke looked down in surprise at Hiei’s question, which had just come out of nowhere and interrupted the silence.  They’d been walking for some time with no luck, but Yusuke didn’t mind the time to gather his thoughts.  But then he remembered Hiei had asked him a question. 

He shrugged.  “I dunno.  He’s an arrogant retard?”

Hiei smirked.  “Hn.  I’m not so sure that’s the only reason.”

“Just what are you getting at?” Yusuke asked, annoyed.

“I’m just saying the two of you seem to waste no time in flinging meaningless words at each other just for the sheer purpose of getting the other one angry.  I actually see him doing this less and less.”

“So are you saying I should lay off?  Since when did you become the peacemaker?”

“I’m not.  I just think the two of you could come up with better things to say.  Even better insults would be nice.”

Yusuke laughed.  “Yeah they are kind of lame aren’t they?  I dunno, I guess it’s just fun to see dog-boy get all riled up over nothing.  He’s pretty interesting, I gotta admit.  I mean I’ve never met another half-demon before, and the only demons I knew personally were the ones in the demon world, like Raizen.  He wasn’t exactly a normal demon, either, but Inuyasha’s different.  He just seems…human.”

“He’s not.”

“I know that.  He knows that, too.  You heard what he said the other day, about becoming full demon once he gets the completed Shikon jewel.”

“Hn.”

Yusuke was silent for a moment.  “I dunno, I just can’t see him being full demon.  I mean, when my demon blood took over, I didn’t even know what I was doing.  It would be the same for him, I think.”

Hiei nodded.  “A half-demon’s body cannot handle the effects of full-demon blood.  It’s a rule of nature, nothing more.”

“So I wonder why he wants to take that risk…”

Hiei shrugged.  “I think he has issues…ones that perhaps I can understand.”

Yusuke gave him a curious look.  Hiei was sharing his feelings?  Yusuke resisted the urge to pinch himself to make sure he was awake.

“What do you mean?” he asked.

Hiei shrugged again, looking off to the side to avoid looking at Yusuke directly.  “In the demon world, a half-demon was very rare.  But they did exist…to say the least.  Existence was all they could achieve, even among their so-called ‘kin’.  My kin abandoned me because I was not like them.  It was the same for a half-demon.  So I imagine that in this time, where demons and their powers run free among the human world, the same rings true for half-demons here.”

Yusuke was beginning to understand.  “I think I get it.  His demon kind view him as lower than they are because he’s half…and he wants to be viewed as an equal.”

“In a sense, yes.”

Yusuke mulled that thought over, and the conversation died down for a while after that, leaving the two of them once again in silence.  He supposed it all made sense, why Inuyasha was so sensitive.  The dog demon was also extremely distrustful, which wasn’t necessarily a bad thing.  Yusuke didn’t trust people easily, either.  He wondered what had happened in Inuyasha’s past that would make him want to become full demon so badly.  For that matter, just how old was he in human years?  Yusuke didn’t think he looked any older than himself.  Were his parents still alive?  Did they abandon him? 

How did he survive?

Yusuke shook his head to clear his thoughts.  Why did he even care?  It wasn’t like he knew Inuyasha very well at all, anyway. 

But he also couldn’t deny that the longer he traveled with them, the more he got to know Inuyasha and Kagome.  And the more he got the know them, the more he wanted to know.

Aside from that, he was still worried about Botan.  He didn’t want to return from this mission having to tell Koenma that his ferry girl had died from an injury caused by a poisoned demon attack.  And Botan was his friend; he didn’t want to see any of his team hurt.  Which made him wonder how the other group was faring.  He hoped Kurama knew what he was doing.  He hoped Kuwabara hadn’t done anything stupid.

And then he wondered why he was going to some village to ask people for information about…about what, he didn’t even know.  He didn’t know if Koenma could be found in this time period.  And if they could find Koenma, the brat wouldn’t know who Yusuke or Hiei or any of them were.  So why would he even help them?  Yusuke felt he was going to go insane with all of these thoughts running through his brain.  The sooner they found some civilization, the better.

Hope you liked it.  Please review!

Oh, I also want to address this issue now before it even comes up, just in case someone suggests this...no, this story is not Yaoi, Yuri, or anything of the sort.  Not that I'm against Yaoi fics, I personally love the Yusuke/Koenma idea, but there won't be anything like that in this fic.  So no getting ideas of Yusuke/Inuyasha, or Kurama/Miroku, or whatever someone might think up.  There might be male bonding but that's it.  Strictly hetero here, peeps.  Sorry.