DIsclaimer: I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

Summary: He has loved her for years, but what would happen when he finds out she's dating someone else? KuramaxBotanxShishiwakamaru.

Not Him

Chapter 1

"I like you!"

"Eh?"

Sky blue strands fluttered with the wind as it blew, amethyst eyes wide eyed, surprised, staring back at equally wide but hopeful pink ones. Botan gulped softly, a pink blush coloring her cheeks.

"W-will you date me?" Shishi mustered up the courage to say after a few moments of silence. His cheeks reddened bright crimson, his eyes never leaving Botan's form even as she looked away.

The ferry girl fidgeted under his unwavering gaze. "I-I don't know..." she answered slowly, trying to choose her words carefully.

It wasn't as if Shishiwakamaru was not a handsome demon. He was, in fact, very good looking. But...

"I-I don't think I can date someone I'm, um, not in love with..." she continued, fiddling with her thumbs. She stared at her feet, afraid to look at Shishi's face.

Another silence hung in the air, but it lasted for so long until Botan started to feel uncomfortable. She was about to say sorry, and excuse herself to leave, but then she couldn't do that. That would hurt him. And it would be rude.

"I understand," Shishi spoke, and the ferry girl inwardly heaved a sigh of relief at the sound of his voice. Good. At least he was talking to her.

Botan turned to peer at him, the corners of her mouth pulling upwards into an apologetic smile. "I'm really sorry, Shishi. I wish I can return thr feelings but..."

"I understand," he said again, cutting her short. Botan blinked at him when he softly smiled at her. "But that doesn't mean I'm giving up on you." He slid his hands into the warm comfort of his pockets, before leaning closer to her, face merely inches from the ferry girl's, causing her to blush and almost stagger back.

"W-what do you mean?" Botan asked, gulping audibly when a chuckle escaped his lips. "What's so funny?"

Shishi stared at her, studying her for a few moments before pulling away. He shook his head, a wolfish grin teasing his lips. "Nothing. I just think you're cute."

Botan, being one who wasn't used to getting those sort of compliments from guys, was suddenly embarrassed. The blush on her face deepened slightly.

"O-oh."

"Look, here's what we're going to do," Shishi stated all of a sudden, voice casual but she could still detect the slight teasing edge in the tone he used. "Why don't you and I go on a date just for a day? And we'll see how it goes. If you still don't like me then, then I'll leave you alone. But if you do... then you're mine." He smirked, before arching one blue eyebrow at her. "Well?"

Botan paused, seeming to consider. Well, that sounded fair. It probably wouldn't be all that bad anyway.

Her features brightened up as a wide smile spread on her face. "Sure!" she beamed. "That would be fun!"

Shishi couldn't help but smile, feeling joy over take his senses. "Good." He sighed in relief, glad to hear that she agreed to his terms. His smile broadened ever so slightly.

"So, when are you free?" he inquired, watching her as she tilted her head, looking thoughful.

"Well..."

"Say what?"

Shizuru's loud exclaimation of surprise echoed in the whole temple. The young woman rotated her head to the right to her friend, Botan, who was munching some potato chips.

"You're going on a date?" she went on, voice lower in volume this time, as she leaned closer to the ferry girl. There was a look of excitement on her features.

The gang was at Genkai's again as it was their usual hangout place. The girls were in an empty room, with some junk food and cans of sodas surrounding them, having what they called as "girls' talk". The boys were somewhere around the temple, Kurama was tending to Genkai's plants, Yusuke and Kuwabara were fist-fighting in the woods (but only because the latter wanted to), and who knows where Hiei was.

Botan shrugged her right shoulder lightly. "Uh-huh," she replied, voice slightly muffled as her mouth was full.

"Oh. My. God!" Keiko gushed, giggling like a simpering school girl. She clapped her hands excitedly, feeling happy for her friend. "That's wonderful news!"

"Who is it?" Yukina inquired curiously, although she wasn't as giddy as the other two girls were. "Is it someone we know?"

Botan's mouth stretched into a toothy grin. "It's Shishiwakamaru."

Shizuru almost choked on the soda can she was drinking. "That guy from the Dark Tournament?" she questioned, a wide grin slowly appearing on her face. She received a nod in return, causing the quirk of her lips to widen a little.

Teasingly, she nudged the ferry girl by the elbow. "Wow, Botan! That's a really hot guy there!"

"Oh, he's so dreamy!" Keiko gushed, jumping up and down like a little girl. She earned a few questioning gazes in return, causing the smile that had never left her face to falter. "What? I just think he's handsome."

Botan smirked. "Yusuke wouldn't be happy to hear that," she teased, bursting into a fit of laughter, Yukina and Shizuru joining her.

The brunette blushed beet red in embarrassment. "So what? He checks out every girl he could lay his eyes on, so he has no right to be upset even if I do think someone's hotter than him!" she said defensively, sticking her tongue out. "And you guys can't just tell me that you don't think Shishi is hot."

Her blue haired friend let out a small giggle, amused at her reaction. "Well, I do agree that he's very pleasant to the eyes," she answered after a while, reaching inside the bag of potato chips to grab some.

Keiko laughed. "See? I knew it!" she said victoriously, pointing a finger accusingly at Botan. The others couldn't help but burst into another howl of laughter.

"You knew what?" Yusuke's voice suddenly sounded as the door slid open. He entered, a slightly beaten up Kuwabara following behind him. The carrot-top glared at his friend's back before grumbling something grudgingly under his breath. He then turned to fix his gaze on the girls.

"Hey, girls. What are you guys talking about?" he asked in wonder, bending his knees and sitting beside Yukina. He winced as he felt a numbing pain around his shoulder, reaching up a hand to massage it in an attempt to ease the pain a little.

"I told you, I would kick your ass anyway," Yusuke pointed out as he sat next to Keiko. A smug smirk curved at the edge of his lips. "Just give it up, Kuwabara. You know you can't beat me."

Kuwabara shot a death glare his way. "Shut up, Urameshi!" he roared angrily.

"Nah, I don't want to shut up," Yusuke taunted, his smirk broadening ever so slightly.

"Why I oughta..." Kuwabara was about to stand up and advance towards the black haired boy when Keiko's voice suddenly chimed in.

"Oh, stop it, you guys," she said, rolling her eyes in annoyance. "Seriously, you two never change..." she mumbled softly before shaking her head in disapproval.

"Anyway, we were talking about Shishi," Shizuru butted in, sliding her hand into her breast pocket, retrieving her precious pack of cigarettes. "She's going on a date with him the day after tomorrow," she continued, before lighting up one of the cigarettes, and putting it between her teeth.

Yusuke's eyes grew so wide it almost seemed as if they were going to bulge out of their sockets.

"Who, Keiko?"

"No, you idiot!" his girlfriend yelled indignantly, and landed a hard smack at the back of his head, earning an 'Ow!' from Yusuke in return. "She meant Botan!"

"Well, how the hell should I know?" Yusuke roared back, sending a heated glare at her. The look didn't go unnoticed Keiko, but it wasn't acknowledge either.

He darted his eyes to Botan. "Since when did you start seeing that guy anyway?" he asked, rubbing the small lump at the back of his head.

"He just asked me out today," Botan replied, before pausing for a moment. "But we're not exactly together. He just... well, we're going to try having one date together, and he said that if I end up liking him, then that means I'm his girlfriend."

Yusuke raised an eyebrow at her. "And if you don't?"

The ferry girl shrugged her shouders. "Well then, I guess we just have to be friends."

"Then again, that guy's practically a chick magnet. You'll probably fall for him anyway," Kuwabara added all of a sudden, grabbing the bag of potato chips on Botan's lap.

Botan's brows furrowed. "Him being attractive doesn't mean I'll like him."

"Yeah, bro, just because he's hot, he can't always get any girl that he wants," Shizuru agreed wholeheartedly, pointing her index finger accusingly at her little brother.

"Yeah!" This time it was Keiko who spoke up. "Kurama's good looking and you don't see Botan drooling over him, now do you?"

"Okay, okay!" Kuwabara relented, raising his arms up defensively. "You girls win!"

At the mention of the redhead, Botan couldn't help but wonder where he was. She and Kurama had grown closer over the years, and although the ferry girl occasionally felt there was something between them, their relationship had never crossed the boundary of friendship. Another weird thing was that she'd been thinking about him a lot recently, but she figured that was because she hadn't been hanging out with him lately, as he was busy with college and she, with ferry duties.

"Anyway, is Kurama still tending to the plants?" she managed to ask after some time.

Yusuke shrugged his shoulders. "Dunno. Maybe."

"Why?" Kuwabara questioned instead of answering.

Botan blinked a few times, before shaking her head a little. "No, it's nothing. It's just that I haven't been seeing him. I was hoping I could see him today. I didn't get to when I came here, because Yukina said he was busy tending to the plants."

"Well, knowing Kurama, he'll be staying here with us so you're gonna see him anyway," Keiko told her reassuringly, when she noticed the disappointment in Botan's voice.

The ferry girl nodded her head. "Yeah. I guess you're right."

"What are you doing here?"

Kurama looked up to see Hiei staring at him. He stared back with an unreadable expression, unsure how to greet the fire demon, considering the whirlwind of emotions taking residence in his heart.

"Let me guess, eavesdropping?" Hiei mocked, walking up to the redhead.

Kurama's eyes narrowed at him in a menacing way. "I'm not in the mood for your silly games, Hiei. You know what I was doing even if I didn't tell you," he stated calmly, but his voice had a dangerous edge. He turned to look behind him at his friends, wondering if they heard him, but they were too busy chattering to notice.

"Whatever, Kurama," Hiei scoffed. His crimson orbs gave Kurama a slightly judging look. "I'm not the one hiding behind the door and eavesdropping on people's conversations." He waited for the fox demon to counter.

But Kurama was unresponsive, Hiei heaved a deep sigh. "Are you okay with it?" he asked, raising an eyebrow at the redhead.

"With what?" Kurama questioned back, despite already knowing what he meant.

Hiei almost snorted. "Look, Kurama. There's no use playing ignorant. I know that Shishi and Botan are going out on a date, and I know that you..." He jabbed a finger at Kurama's chest, "... are jealous."

Kurama parted his lips to make up an excuse, but the fire demon cut him off before he could even utter out a word, "Don't try to hide it from me. I have the jagan eye, idiot. There's nothing I don't know."

Kurama's mouth closed, forming a thin line. It was obvious he was upset. He then felled silent again.

Hiei, getting tired of the quiet game and Kurama's constant denial of the feelings he harbored for Botan, groaned in exasperation.

"Seriously, I don't understand why you're so hung up on her anyway. She's just a stupid ferry girl-"

Hiei didn't get to finish his sentence, as he instantly found himself lying face first on the ground. Although taken aback, Hiei couldn't help the smirk that managed to find its way to his now bleeding mouth. Whipping around, the fire demon peered at his friend, before spitting out some blood.

"I don't appreciate you calling her stupid," Kurama growled, low and dangerous, emerald eyes glinting gold for a moment before reverting to their original color.

Hiei's smirk widened, and he stood up, dusting off the dirt from his clothes. "Well, you wouldn't admit that you like her so I just tested you a little."

Kurama shook his head, but a small smile appeared on his lips. Sliding his hands into his pockets, the redhead pushed himself from the door. He turned around and was about to stalk off when a hand grabbed at his arm, causing him to halt in his tracks.

He turned around to see Hiei sporting an unreadable look. Hiei stared at him, studying him, in dead silence for what seemed like ages, until...

"Kurama. If you really love her, then just tell her," the shorter male said, before finally letting go of Kurama's arm.

Well, that's done. Lol, sorry... I know I still have a lot of stories to finish, but I couldn't help it when this idea suddenly came to me. Still, I hope you enjoyed it! Review when you have the time, I appreciate it :smiles:

P/S: I'll be having exams starting tomorrow, so my updates will probably be slower than usual. Goodbye, thank you for reading! :D