A/N: Some of the characters might be a little OOC in this chapter, so be warned. Anyways, as promised, the first candidate of Mr Maybe is here, and hopefully, you'll be surprised at who I had chosen (insert maniacal cackle). And also, my attempt at humour betrays me.

Read, Enjoy, REVIEW!

Mr Maybe

Chapter Five

'Finally!' was the first thought that came to Botan's head as she dragged her worn legs into her apartment building and collapsed into the warm comfort of her luxurious three-seater. All her hours had been spent collecting her energy and focusing onto releasing it into building a protection shield. To say the least, the blue-haired ferry onna was now exhausted, and wanted nothing more than to relax her weary eyes and fall into slumber's deep embrace.

Unfortunately, however, her so-called 'friends' were going to have none of that.

'You know what you need, Botan?' asked Shizuru Kuwabara as she plopped herself into one of Botan's comfortable couches. 'You need a life!'

The words, "tell me about it" were lingering upon her lips, but even now, well rested upon her sofa, the ferry woman could do nothing more than release a tired groan of annoyance.

Shizuru's soft chuckles were unmistakable. 'Here,' the brunette said, helpfully reaching into her backpack and brandishing a glossy teen magazine in Botan's face. 'It'll help.'

Bubblegum pink eyes widened as she scanned the contents of the magazine warily. 'Shizuru,' she muttered, whilst flipping absent-mindedly through the many bold-imprinted articles. 'I don't need this... and besides, I'm practically a century old, for goodness sake!'

Again, the brunette could not help but to release a chuckle. The look of utter mortification splattered across the pale, tired face of her good friend was, apparently, humourous. 'Exactly!' she exclaimed, taking a long, deep drag of her cigarette. 'A century old and you still can't find a man! You're so caught up in your work that you don't even have the time to appreciate the male species you almost everyday associate with – and, no, I'm not talking about Yusuke and the guys. They're taken.'

Botan quirked a brow. So this is what its all about, huh?

'Sorry, Shizuru,' proclaimed Botan sternly, shutting the magazine and placing it onto her coffee table. 'But I'm perfectly fine with the way I'm living now. I don't need any man to make me feel anymore complete than I all ready am.'

This, of course, was a lie. Botan knew it, Shizuru knew it, heck, even Yusuke would know it, and he was the epitome of clueless. So why exactly did she bother anyways? The question lingered, but the ferry girl pushed it aside. She had better things to worry about anyways... like taking care of the girls, for one. And her new job as appointed Angel. And the fact that her life had just been threatened by the infamous Hiei Jaganshi... yeah, that sort of stuff.

Shizuru stared at the ferry woman lying on the couch across from her – partly out of admiration, partly out of pity. 'Botan...' she decided to try a different method this time. 'When was the last time you actually got dressed up?'

Botan looked down at her clothes. Was a traditional kimono not considered appropriate attire?

The female Kuwabara rolled her eyes, as if reading the ferry girl's very thoughts. 'Not that sort of dressing up...' she sighed. 'The other one. You know; dressing up?'

Botan, of course, did know. She wasn't that blunt. It was obvious Shizuru meant for her to dress up prettily for a man. Botan just preffered to play dumb anyways. Hopefully, if she was lucky, Shizuru would just drop the subject all together.

... Apparently, luck was not on her side that day.

Shizuru decided to call in reinforcements – almost instantaneously, Keiko Urameshi and Yukina Kuwabara rushed to into the area. After listening to Botan's "predicament", they immediately sided with Shizuru and gushed on about how Botan should try a different assortment of clothes to grab a man's attention.

'Hey, guys, you know, I really appreciate the kind gesture, but I don't need a man in my life!' the ferry woman practically shouted as she was bombarded with various tips in the art if, as Shizuru chose to call it, "Man Fishing".

'You just need the right choice of words,' stated Shizuru.

'A man loves a girl with a nice personality and a strong upper-hand,' suggested Keiko, helfully.

'Just be yourself,' said Yukina with a wide, dazzling smile of encouragement.

Botan returned her smile with a pretty, albeit weaker, one of her own. 'O-okay...' she finally agreed, surrendering to their whim. 'I'll... try to remember everything you taught me... the... next time I meet a man...'

'Next time?' repeated Shizuru, almost unbelievably. 'Botan-chan, after everything we taught you, there's no way ANY man would be able to resist your charm. We should put your ability to the test straight away!'

'Yeah!' agreed Keiko, enthusiastically bobbing her head up and and down, her caramel eyes brimming with mirth and excitement. 'We can start tomorrow!'

'T-tomorrow?' croaked Botan, her thin eyebrows threatening to rise straight off her forehead. 'Don't you think that's a little too... sudden?'

'Nonsense!' cried Shizuru, with a careless wave of her hand. 'The sooner the better! And don't you worry, Botan-chan, I have the perfect man for you!'

Botan's pink eyes widened in a most comedic fashion. She suddenly felt light-headed; it was as if somebody had knocked the wind right out of her. Dizzy, breathless, airy and undeniably weak, the ferry woman's pink eyes rolled upwards to the back of her skull.

... She had feinted on the spot.

Botan's three female friends looked at her warily; Yukina with a gasp hidden beneath her clasped hands.

'D-do you think she'll be okay?' asked the koorime timidly; worry painting her every feature.

Shizuru shrugged. 'The excitement must be getting to her.'

'Hiei, are you all right?' asked the fox, Kurama, as he glanced at the unsettled-looking koorime from over his left shoulder.

Now, Kurama wasn't usually this open. He didn't usually ask Hiei questions so bluntly. He knew, for a fact, that Hiei loved to keep his secrets, well... secret. It was foolish, and pretty much suicide for the average man to go around bugging into Hiei Jaganshi's business. But Kurama knew he had to make an exception, at least just this once. Something was wrong with Hiei Jaganshi. His aura practically spelled worry. And another thing: he was twitching. Uncontrollably. Hiei Jaganshi's do NOT twitch. Something was definitely wrong.

'Hn.'

Kurama sighed. He should have known better, of course, that Hiei's obvious reply would be his usual monotonious one-syllable word. Nothing had changed. Maybe he was fine...

'Its about the ferry onna.'

...maybe not?

Beneath the bangs of his velvet-smooth red hair, Kurama's emerald eyes widened, his ears, too, had pricked up in interest. A woman? And Botan, no less? This should be most amusing.

'What about her?' he tried to sound natural. Calm. Smooth. To bad he couldn't seem to get the damn snickering under control.

Hiei's crimson eyes narrowed threateningly at the fox. 'Shut up, Kitsune, if you know whats good for you,' he snapped murderously, before realizing how foolish he must have sounded and returning to his usual façade. 'Its Yukina. I don't... trust the ferry onna would be of much use defending herself against a demon attack.'

Kurama's mouth opened in the shape of a perfect, "O", before her clicked his lips shut once more and brought himself down to reality. So its nothing like that. In a way, the fox was rather relieved to know that Hiei was still Hiei, but in another way, the part of him that cared for his friend's best interest, was a little dissapointed. Hiei was such a gloomy fire-demon. It wouldn't kill him to get at least some sort of a love-life.

'Don't worry, Hiei,' stated Kurama smartly. 'I'm sure Botan will do fine.'

And that was that.

'Botan, come on! Show us how you look!'

'NO!' replied Botan, sternly, her fair cheeks flushed pink with embarassment.

'Botan-chan...' came Yukina's sweeter, less persuasive voice. 'Please show us? I'm very sure that it looks lovely on you.'

Sigh. Why does she have to be such a sucker to polite pleads? Why couldn't she have been born a moody, temperamental stick-in-the-mud like Hiei?

With another deep sigh, the ferry girl sucked in whatever courage she had left in her, and stepped out from the cold, linoleum tiles of her bathroom, and into the warm, flush carpets of her master bedroom.

Botan was dressed in a short baby-blue dress that fell a little above her knees. The dress was light and airy, and the ferry girl felt extremely unconfortable without the thick folds of her usual traditional attire and the long sleeves that normally sealed her long, cream-coloured arms. Her white slippers and socks had been replaced for one of Keiko's strappy heels, and her sky-blue hair was tied in a fashionable bun behind her head.

Shizuru made a low wolf-whistle, Keiko clasped her hands (proud of her work, no doubt), and Yukina smiled encouragingly, feeling happiness for her friend.

'Is it... okay?' asked Botan unsurely, as she fingered with a lose thread of the newly-bought sundress.

After hours and hours of digging through the women's section of one of the most exquisite fashion outlets in the area, Botan sure hoped it was okay. She wasn't so keen on returning to the store – for the third time! – to exchange it for another dress. And besides, the date was told to arrive in about an hour, so she didn't have much time anyways.

'You look GREAT!' affirmed Shizuru proudly, just as Keiko went, 'Fantastic!', admirably, and Yukina said, 'Wonderful', truthfully.

Botan's cheeks flushed prettily before she was shifted onto a seat and her face was attacked by a variety of makeup accessories. Keiko proclaimed that she would handle the lips while Yukina helped with the nails. Shizuru supervised with the cigar still rolling in between her lips. They had decided to leave the blush, since Botan reddened so often anyways.

At about 5.10pm, all three girls were happily skipping towards the door, to invite the first, according to Shizuru, "Mr. Maybe", inside. Botan, of course, stood three feet behind, feeling terribly out of place and wishing she had just eaten her words.

'Go!' hissed Keiko, giving Botan a gentle push towards the door.

The ferry girl gulped, nervously reaching for an invisible collar to pull on. Her hand tasted the cool surface of her bronze doorknob, and reluctantly, with a last peek over her shoulder in the direction of her excited companions, Botan turned the handle.

TOUYA?!

A/N: Am I good or am I good? Or, maybe... not so good... I don't know. Anways, as promised, a longer chapter, and, as promised, Botan's first male candidate. I know Shizuru was a little (okay, VERY) out of character, but the story insisted I made one of the girls a tad... pushy. After all, who else was stronger than Shizuru? At first I wanted to make it Keiko, but she was much too... nice. But, to relate it to the summary, lets just say it was Keiko's idea, okay?

Aaah, whatever. Review. Tell me what you think. If I don't get enough reviews than I will be tempted to delete this entire 5-page chapter (and you won't be seeing a new one for another 3 months, give or take).

Review or ELSE!!