Botan

was a young priestess who, long with her sister Momiji, is tricked by Tsubaki into fighting against Inuyasha's group.

History
After the dark priestess Tsubaki was defeated by Kagome and Inuyasha, she returned to the shrine where she trained at during her youth. She was confronted by the priestesses Botan and Momiji at the shrine entrance. They thought she was trespassing and warned her to leave if she was a human, or to be slain if she was a yōkai. Tsubaki told them to stand down and revealed a paper talisman with a symbol on it to prove that she trained at the shrine before. They kneeled down to Tsubaki to show respect after she entered the shrine. The two of them inquired Tsubaki about her age, to which she lied to them by stating that she was able to maintain her youth through extensive spiritual training and that it might be possible for them to learn it as well. Botan asked Tsubaki why she returned to the shrine, to which she lied to them by claiming she was being hunted by a yōkai. Just as Tsubaki started to contemplate killing the two priestesses, Botan stated that she and Momiji would help her since she was their "sister disciple."

Tsubaki began to reminisce of her days training in the shrine with her master. She then spoke to Botan and Momiji to ask them form the location of the charms they kept to ward off any yōkai. They two of them offered to deal with the yōkai that was pursuing her. Tsubaki asked them if they were sure and lied that her enemy was an terribly evil yōkai. They stated that they had extensively trained at becoming priestesses and that it was their duty to fight evil yōkai. Tsubaki instructed them to keep the yōkai at bay for as long as they were able to. Botan and Momiji were gathering various charms from one of the shrine's storerooms. Botan expressed her concerns since this would be their first time battling a yōkai, but Momiji stated that it was all more reason fo do it for their training. The two of them headed out with their charms and were eagerly ready to confront the yōkai. Tsubaki used this opportunity to break the seal of an ancient oni near the shrine while the two young priestesses were away.

Inuyasha and his friends, along with Kaede, were in pursuit of Tsubaki. They came across a barrier that was comprised of paper talismans. Baton and Momiji suddenly made their presence known to them by exclaiming that they had arrived and jumped on top of some rocks. Inuyasha asked them if they were dark priestesses since they appeared to have allied with Tsubaki. The two of them were insulated by the accusation. They introduced themselves in a very elaborate way and stated that they trained hard to become priestesses. The carried on by identifying each of Inuyasha's companions based on their attire (although they mistook Keade as being a yōkai). They were, however, taken in Shippō and Kirara's cuteness. They whispered to each other about how unsure they were to deal with them.

Miroku attempted to talk things through with them, but he was interrupted when they accused Shippō of disguising himself to look cute as a means to catch them off guard. A distraught Shippō tried to proclaim his innocence, but Inuyasha told him to stop complaining and was prepared to fight them. As Botan and Momiji were prepared to fight, Miroku suddenly snuck up behind them. He attempted to explain the situation to them while revealing his lecherous nature and caressed both of their behinds. They immediately hit Miroku for his perverted behaviour and accused him of selling his soul to the yōkai.

As Inuyasha was prepared to go after Tsubaki, Botan and Momiji threw a bunch of paper talismans that turned into little shikigami. They proved to be no match and were easily destroyed. In reality, it was all part of Botan and Momiji's plan to have some of the shikigami steal two strands of their hair. Kaede explained that their plan was to transpose the hair owner's likeness into their shikigami. Botan complimented her for figuring it out while still mistakingly calling her a yōkai (much to Kaede's annoyance). They two priestesses then created giant childlike versions of Inuyasha and Kagome. They were impressed with themselves for their shikigami. Inuyasha and Kagome had a challenging time fighting against their shikigami counterparts (especially due to them getting angry at someone when they used their names when referring to the shikigami). Inuyasha was prepared to destroy the shikigami with his Kaze no Kizu, but Botan and Momiji stunned him and the yōkai in the group with their sacred sutras. They expressed concern when they saw that their spell was harming Shippō as well. They ordered their shikigami to attack when they saw Kaede was moving since they still believed that she was a yōkai. Miroku and Sango approached the shikigami to stop them. Kaede approached Miroku and advised that they first subdue the two priestesses. They then dodged the shikigami Inuyasha as it swung its sword at them. Botan told them not to interfere.

Inuyasha began to break free of the priestesses' spell over him and started to move. They intensified they efforts to immobilize, but he was still able to hold of their shikigami's attacks. Botan claimed that he was stubborn. They became distracted when Sango threw her Hiraikotsu at them. Inuyasha, Shippō, and Kirara were then free to move. Inuyasha was able to destroy the shikigami with his Kaze no Kizu. The shock from the attack caused Botan and Momiji to fly into the air and were knocked out when they landed. Miroku rushed over to examine them and stated that they are sleeping. He then took advantage of their unconscious state and started to caress their behinds again before Sango stopped him by pulling him up by his ear. After a brief debate on what to do, Miroku offered to watch over them and explain the situation when they would awake. Kagome and Sango had Shippō stay behind to keep Miroku in check. Sango also had Kirara stay behind as well. The rest of them continued their pursuit of Tsubaki.

Boten and Momiji were lying asleep on their backs with a wet cloth pressed against their foreheads. Shippō was gathering water while Miroku watched over them. He asked Botan if she would bare his children when she awoke. This prompted Momiji to angrily observe that Miroku was not very choosy since he first asked her to bare his children. Miroku claimed that there was enough of him to go around. They were both surprised when Shippõ suddenly approached them. Miroku explained that Shippō was the one who took care of them since he was ordered not to touch them by Kagome and Sango. They asked if Shippō was not actually a bad yōkai. The young kitsune claimed that he had never harmed a human. They were again taken in by Shippō and Kirara for their cuteness and started to affectionally smother them after realizing that they were not evil (much to Shippō's annoyance and Miroku's jealousy). They proceeded to ask Miroku why he and the others were in pursuit of Tsubaki. He told them that she previously cursed Kagome. They reacted in disbelief at first, but Miroku assured them that she was a dark priestess. Kirara flew all four of them back to the shrine to show Botan and Momiji Tsubaki's true nature.

When they arrived, they were horrified to see that the doors of a pagoda known as the "Forbidden Tower of Many Treasures" had been opened. They saw that Tsubaki had fused with the oni as she emerged from the pagoda and were shocked by this revelation. Miroku told the two priestesses to get back as Tsubaki started to attack. They watched the fight and the death of Tsubaki.

Botan and Momiji apologized to Inuyasha and the others for all the trouble they caused. Kagome told them that it wasn't their fault. Botan told Shippō to take care before they left. They two priestesses saw Inuyasha's group off as they left the shrine.

Personality
Botan and her sister are very dedicated and loyal to their teachings. They refuse to give up when confronting an enemy. They are also shown to be somewhat knowledgeable as they are able to identify the occupations of Inuyasha's companions based on their attire. Due to their inexperience, however, they are also rash in their actions. They do not give Inuyasha and the other a chance to explain themselves when they confront them. They also immediately jump to their own conclusions at times. One example of this is that they mistakingly associate the Kaede as a being a yōkai.

Like Kagome, both of seem to have a great liking for cute things. They love the looks of Kirara and Shippō and affectionally smother the when they find out that they are not evil.

Botan seems to be less courageous than her sister. As they gather charms for fighting yōkai, she expresses doubts in their ability to fight since it would be their first time. Momiji encourages her by saying that them being inexperienced at fighting yōkai is all the more reason for them go for the sake of their training.

Physical description
Botan has fair skin, black eyes and long dark blue hair with thick bangs.

Outfit
Botan wears a traditional shinto priestess white hakui with blue sode-kukuri laced on the cuffs, a sleeveless ice blue yukata over it with long coattails, a dark blue sash tied at her waist, a white sashinuki hakama, and black ankle boots.

Botan has a green and white necklace with its centerpiece in the shape of two crescent moons facing away from each other. She also has a pair of golden hair clips on each side.

Powers & Abilities

 * Spiritual Powers: Botan and her sister have trained very hard to be able use their spiritual powers against yōkai. They are able two use if for a variety of skills.
 * Barrier: The two of them are able to create a barrier against yōkai by constructing a perimeter with paper talismans.
 * Shikigami: They are able to create tiny shikigami with their power. They can also create giant shikigami based on a person's likeness by using a sample of their hair. Those shikigami will able to use the powers from person they are based on. Just like Kagome, its shikigami counterpart is able to fire a sacred arrow.
 * Immobilization: Baton and Momiji are able to immobilize yōkai with their sutras. It works against Inuyasha, Shippō and Kirara, but Inuyasha is able to gradually break free of it.

Weapons

 * Staff: Both of them carry a long wooden pole with them. Although they are not seen fighting with their staves, they use them against Miroku when he acts lecherous around them.

Trivia

 * When Botan introduces herself to Inuyasha's group, peonies can be seen in the backdrop. This is due to her name meaning "peony."
 * Botan and Momiji bare some resemblance to Ling-Ling &amp; Lung-Lung from Rumiko Takahashi's previous series Ranma ½.
 * A village in The Secret of the Cursed Mask is named Botan.