average dream game badge experience (each day better then the last, aka the silver net/weaponized slingshot one)
i was the bootleg dylan matthew while the other fella is bootleg slacker. i helped :] which resulted in this piece lmao. dylan matthews gettin' a sugar rush from all the sodas and candies he had to eat...
For the last day, thought to do something angsty with this song. I thought of this playing in the background in the scene of @mystikoorime "The Dating Game Fic" when Hiei leaves for the Demon World. I added the excerpt from that scene.
Hiei stepped further into the temple's front yard where he was afforded the view of Botan saying her tearful goodbyes to the fox and the detective, wiping her watery eyes on the sleeves of her kimono as she sniffled.
He thought he would be able to cut her off easily, but when faced with her again, his resolve cracked and threatened to crumble entirely. With the ever-present threat of danger and death looming above them, it was easy for Hiei to justify his return to the ferry-girl and the rest of the group. He was doing it for the whole team and he was doing it for this world, because the threat was bigger than all of them and it needed his attention. But with Sensui gone and the world in peace again, he had no justification for his weakness. He had nothing and no one to blame his hesitation on but himself. He was still holding on, but he needed to let go if he ever expected to achieve the greatness that was due to him. Both he and Botan were holding on to the remnants of a relationship that should never have happened and it was time to let go.
He finally advanced towards her when she was away from the others, standing near enough for the portal to cast a blue glow over her features.
"Hiei…" she regarded him softly.
The sound of the airways rushing around within the portal reminded him that he was on a time limit. It would only remain open for a short while and there was no time for pleasantries or sugarcoated words. He could not prolong the inevitable any longer and he swallowed thickly before hardening his gaze and lifting it towards the ferry-girl.
"I want you to forget everything that happened between the two of us," he advised. "Unlike the fox and the detective, I don't plan on returning."
She stared back at him confusedly, brows drawn together as she frowned.
"But what about Yukina?"
"Yukina is safe," he said quietly, taking a moment to look over in her direction. She was talking with Kuwabara and smiling gently at something he had just said. "She's happy here and that's all that matters."
"But she still needs her brother, Hiei," Botan reasoned quietly. "You and I both know that she won't give up on her search for you."
Hiei's attention returned to the ferry-girl and he shook his head.
"I don't want to talk about that right now."
Botan bit her lip, contemplating her next words as her eyes drifted towards the grass below.
"You really won't come back?"
"I don't intend to."
"Oh," she said sullenly.
The wind rustling the trees and crickets chirping filled the silence between them. It was a calm night, one that they had earned after the near destruction of this world. Hiei's gaze wandered to the others as they said their goodbyes for a moment. There was a hint of sorrow and longing in the air. The gloomy atmosphere hardly suited their ragtag group.
"I hoped that we might be able to at least talk things through," she professed. "Even if it was all just a game to you, it still meant something to me."
"You're confusing our time together for something that it wasn't," he stated.
Her expression fell almost pitifully.
"What?"
He pressed his mouth into a thin line as he contemplated his next words. The lengths he had to go to let go of a mere ferry-girl were disturbing. He had to end it now and he knew exactly how to do so. He had never been one for lying and hiding the truth, but this would be his last lie.
"We aren't friends; we were barely acquaintances and forced allies. What I did to you was deceitful, but I do not regret the reasons behind my actions," Hiei began. "I'm not suited for this world or the life that it entails and when I found the chance for freedom, I took it. You were just an unfortunate casualty caught in the crossfire, nothing more."
"If I meant so little to you, then why are you still standing here, Hiei?" she asked. Her tone was angry, but he knew that her anger had only stemmed from a deep-seated pain caused by his callous words. He could see the hurt etched firmly in her features and reflected in her eyes but he resolved to ignore it as it beat within his own chest. "Why bother telling me any of this in the first place?"
"Consider it an apology or an explanation; take it as whatever you need it to be," Hiei directed. "It's time that we moved on from all of this."
Botan's expression eased into one of contemplation. There was a far off look in her amethyst eyes, as though she were remembering something important. He caught the sound of her voice drifting in the air between them and if he hadn't had such sensitive hearing, he surely would have missed it.
"Closure," she mumbled quietly to herself. "I guess this really is the end."
Something painful twisted inside of his chest upon processing her declaration. It was one thing for him to decide and accept their ending, but it was another feeling entirety when Botan was inclined to agree with him. He pushed aside his wavering thoughts as she looked back at him determinedly.
"I appreciate your honesty and I wish you well. Goodbye Hiei."
He should have opened his mouth to respond with the clichéd final goodbye, but the words caught in his throat. Instead he responded with a curt nod of his head before turning to face the swirling portal ahead. Each step felt heavier than the last and he determined that this hesitation would be his final weakness. Mustering up the last vestiges of his resolve, he entered the portal and passed through into the familiar atmosphere of the demon world.
Don't go tonight
Stay here one more time
Remind me what it's like, oh
And let's fall in love one more time
I need you now by my side
It tears me up when you turn me down
I'm begging please, just stick around
I'm sorry, don't leave me, I want you here with me
I know that your love is gone
I can't breathe, I'm so weak, I know this isn't easy
Don't tell me that your love is gone
That your love is gone
I'm sorry, don't leave me, I want you here with me
I know that your love is gone
I can't breathe, I'm so weak, I know this isn't easy
Don't tell me that your love is gone
That your love is gone
Don't tell me that your love is gone, that your love is gone
Don't tell me that your love is gone, that your love is gone
That your love is gone
I know this isn't easy (Easy)
That your love is gone
