Disclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho or Hiei

Title: Priceless

Pairing: HieixBotan

Summary: Botan has not been keeping up with her taxes for the past 3 years and the government is furious. The government sends a tax collector and the tax collector sent to her home is none other than Hiei! But as time passes, Botan realizes that she's giving away more than just her money…

italics for telepathy

bold for emphasis

' ' for thoughts

Note: Some people may have already read this story because I have posted it up on a different account (TREPIDATIONx) - My sister has wrote Priceless and I am posting it back up for her. (She deleted her story unfortunately :/)

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Chapter 1 – The Tax Collector

Botan tossed in her bed, unraveling the sheets that once covered her. She kicked off the blankets, and rushed toward the door. The doorbell was ringing madly and if the person who was ringing the doorbell at that rate kept pressing the stupid button, the doorbell would surely stop working. Botan hastily sighed and jammed on a navy blue sweatshirt and a pair of faded jeans. Suddenly the doorbell stopped ringing and Botan turned to the door in surprise.

'Thank goodness, now I can go back to bed,' Botan cheerfully said to herself.

But as she shuffled sleepily back to her bed, loud knocking interrupted her thoughts. Botan grumbled all the way back to the door and turned the bronze handle. She looked out, but didn't see anyone and just when she was about to close the door, a soft cough made her glance down.

His jet black hair was spiked up and his cold crimson eyes glared at her in annoyance. He was wearing a black suit and pants with a dark red tie and beside him was a dark brown briefcase that seemed to be heavy. He stood up from his previous seat on the floor and dusted his pants.

"About time you opened the door, baka."

Botan was insulted. She had never met this man before and yet he had insulted her before he introduced himself! Botan fumed inside, but plastered a smile on her face. She quickly thought that if she retorted back with a snappy comment, things would be very messy. Botan looked at the briefcase then back to the man.

'If looks could kill, I would be dead,' Botan thought.

"Are you going to let me in or not?" He snapped.

"I don't see why I should. I don't even know who you are!"

Botan quickly shut the door and leaned on the maple frame for support as she sighed heavily. She opened her eyes and that man was there in front of her. Botan screamed and huddled in a little corner.

"Please, don't rape me! I'm too young!"

He rolled his eyes. "Baka onna, I'm not a rapist. I'm the tax collector."

Botan peeked at him from her left eye. "…You're not?"

"No…"

She grinned sheepishly at him. "Oh, who are you then?"

"I already told you that I'm the tax collector, baka onna! Do you need a hearing aide?"

Botan moaned and huddled back to her little corner. "Oh no…that's even worse!"

He looked around the apartment for a place to sit and unravel his briefcase. The place was pretty nice although she had not paid her taxes. His crimson eyes settled on the black leather sofa and sat. A glass table was placed in front of it, and the man slammed his briefcase onto the fragile table.

Botan heard the noise and screamed. "Oh gosh, do you know how expensive that table was?"

The man smirked. "You used your money to buy this piece of garbage and not to pay off your taxes?"

She blushed and looked away. "You could at least be careful with it," she muttered.

"Baka onna, get up from your spot and sit so I can tell you how much you owe."

Botan sighed and shuffled to the couch. She plopped down on to it and bent her head to look up at the ceiling. She daydreamed, but still managed to catch bits and pieces of the man's monotone speech. Suddenly, her thoughts were interrupted by vicious shaking.

"Hello, onna? I was talking to you!"

Botan looked at the tax collector and gazed at his crimson eyes. She shook her head and apologized.

"Sorry, wasn't paying attention," Botan replied meekly.

"Hn. Baka."

"My name is not baka!! It's BOTAN."

The man smirked. "Close enough. They both start with B."

Botan fumed and slapped the tax collector. A red imprint of her hand began to form on his smooth cheek yet the man was calm. But his eyes held hidden anger and rage toward Botan.

"You now owe $500,000 more to the government," He replied as he wrote down the figures.

"WHAT?" Botan exclaimed.

"You slapped me."

Botan twitched angrily and held back her hand to keep from slapping him again. She sighed and gazed back up at the ceiling again. Botan bit her lip to keep from crying.

'How would I pay off the dues?' Botan thought somberly to herself.

"And, you owe approximately $60,000 more to the government for not paying your taxes."

Botan groaned and turned away from the tax collector. She curled up in a ball and slid as far away from the tax collector as possible. He noticed the sudden lack of Botan and turned his head. He nearly burst out laughing to see a grown woman acting so childish. She grabbed the sofa pillow and thrust her face into it.

"When do I have to pay you by?" Botan muffled in the pillow.

He thought for a while.

"By tomorrow."

Botan wailed in despair and threw the silken red pillow at him. He caught it with his amazing reflexes and he glared into Botan's pink eyes. He felt fear emanating from her from pulsating waves. She looked so innocent. So…pure. He almost thought about negating all the fines that were charged against her due to lack of unpaid taxes, but he shook his head and came back to his senses.

"If you don't have the money by then, onna, then I will come back tomorrow," the man said.

"How in the world would I have around $960,000 by tomorrow?!" Botan screeched.

He shrugged his shoulders and walked out. He stopped suddenly and looked over his shoulder to see Botan on the verge of crying. His heart ached to hold her and tell her that it was okay. That she'll somehow get the money, but he tossed the idea away and smirked.

"It's your problem," he replied. He turned around and walked toward Botan. "Might as well know me." He handed her his business card. "See you tomorrow." The tax collector walked out the door and through the winding hallway of her apartment building.

"Bye…" Botan muttered. She was about to rip up the business card when his picture caught her eye.

'He's not that bad looking,' Botan thought. 'Oh! What am I thinking? We've never introduced ourselves properly!'

But Botan was interested in the man's name. She scrutinized the carefully carved gold letters on the business card.

Hiei Jaganshi…

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