Disclaimer: don't own a thing.

Ferry Girl

Hello everyone, my name is Botan. I like long walks on the beach and soaring through the sky on my oar. Oh I'm sorry, I got a little ahead of myself and did not explain. You see I'm the pilot of the River Styx, though I guess most people would call me the Grim Reaper, and I work for Reikai which is where humans go to be judged when they die. My job is to escort them to my boss Lord Koenma. Though Koenma may look inexperienced, I assure you he has been working long enough to know exactly what he is doing.

One thing I have learned from all my years on the job is you always try to keep smiling even when things look grim. I'll admit I did not always follow this and let my true emotions show but you always have to try your best. I know the Grim Reaper position isn't a very cheery job but you have to stay positive, if not for yourself then the person who has just passed.

"Botan, you have your list now collect those souls," Koenma would tell me. On one particular day, I was handed my list and was about to soar off when Koenma stopped me. "Hold on Botan, I have one more name to add." This was unusual because the toddler prince always finished the lists before sending the Grim Reapers off to collect. He held out his hand and I gave him my little book that contained the list; he made a note in it and handed it back.

"Sir," I asked shyly. "Was there something important?"

"No no," he waved his dimpled hand at me. "Just a new addition that can be addressed when you get to it. Off you go." I raised my blue eyebrow but turned and left.

I collected many people that day, very few stick in your mind after a while. But one set always stays because of how sad but precious they are: the babies. I usually pick up two or three a day, but that day I only had one. A little new born who died just as he left the womb, poor thing. His mother was heartbroken and my heart went out to her as I arrived at the hospital. I entered through the open window- though it doesn't matter when you're a spirit, you can just faze through walls after all- and the woman was lying in the bed, her eyes seemed hollow and everything about her said she was broken. She never focused on one thing for too long, always seeming to look out into the distance.

A nurse was standing in the room with a bundle of blankets in her arms. I dismounted my oar and approached. Humans only see a lifeless body but when I looked the child's eyes were open and he was crying.

"There there little one," I crooned as I lifted his spirit into my arms. His eyes were such a stunning blue, almost as bright as my hair. I did not look at his physical body, once I had removed his soul I knew I would see his corpse. I did not want that on my mind. I wrapped him in the sleeves of my pink kimono and cradled him against my chest. "It's okay," I continued to comfort. "You're going somewhere safe where you will be loved and cared for forever."

Sometimes as a Grim Reaper, you have to meet spirits who are stubborn and cannot be calmed by just words. This baby was one of them; he still cried. I was forced to sing him a lullaby that would keep him quiet until we made it back to Reikai:

Baby don't cry,
Listen to my
Sweet lullaby.

We cannot stay
Let me take you away

To a wonderful place
Full of beauty and grace

Where the angels sing sweetly
And the years pass so fleetly

So let me embrace,
Caress your sweet face

Listen to my
Sweet lullaby.

Works like a charm every time; unfortunately, it only works on infants. Older children and adults are pains to deal with. His eyelids drifted closed. His face seemed so sweet with rosy cheeks and a pouting lips. I summoned my oar and left through the window, his spirit snuggled into my kimono.

"I told you I ain't leaving!" an old soul shouted at me. My next stop was a nursing home where an old man had a heart attack. One of the more stubborn spirits.

"Mr. Kudo please," I begged. "The afterlife isn't bad- Yikes!" I ducked as he tried to hit me. Honestly, I don't take it personally because his description said he was always a bit temperamental. Combine that with his heart condition and it's a wonder he made it to ninety-three.

"I ain't leaving and that's that!" He crossed his arms and glared at me with beady sunk in eyes. His hair was completely gone, making his shriveled scalp look like a raisin.

I put my hands up. "Now now, let's not jump ship just yet. Have you ever considered this might be a good thing? You don't have a heart condition anymore." He grunted, still set in his position. "You're going somewhere a hundred times better than this place considering you were a reasonably good person, temper aside." I whispered that last part to my self. Still no response. I opened my book to find out more about him. Very little seem to be in there until something caught my eye. "You'll get to see your wife again." Bingo!

Mr. Kudo dropped his arms and his expression softened. "Eri? I'll get to see my Eri again?"

"Yup," I answered brightly. The description said his wife died over fifty years prior; they had just gotten married when she took ill and passed. Apparently Mr. Kudo never married again after her death.

"Then what are you waiting for? Let's go!" He jumped onto my oar so quickly it was hard to believe he was an old man.

My final stop before seeing the person Koenma added to my list was a girl in her mid teens. I entered her bedroom and saw her sitting on the bed; she had dark red hair and green eyes.

"About time somebody came," she huffed. I could see her body hanging from a rope tied around her ceiling fan. "You took your sweet ass time."

"Oh dear," I gasped. This girl was going to cause problems. Teens who commit suicide not only make things worse on themselves but on their families and Reikai. Koenma will have extra paper work to file now.

"So who are you? You're too bright to be anyone important. Are you like a ghost of a cheerleader or something?" She started picking her nose with her pinkie.

"I'm Botan, pilot of the River Styx," I introduced. "I'm here to take you to Reikai where you will judged."

"Great," she rolled her eyes and flicked the contents of her nose onto her corpse. "I'm going to Hell and they send me a prep to escort me."

"Excuse me?"

"Listen princess, I offed myself so I wouldn't have to deal with people like you. Girls who are all bright and shiny and bubbly, making everyone love them because they're so perfect. I thought the afterlife would be different but I guess not." She stood up and walked over to her body with a regretful look. "I guess it wasn't such a good idea after all."

I got off my oar and walked over to her. "What made you think it was? Doing something like this," I indicated her still hanging form, "it never makes anything better, just worse. Your mom and dad and brother love you and this is how you want them to find you?"

"You wouldn't understand," she scoffed.

I crossed my arms. "I've been at this longer than you think, you're not the first mopey teen I've had to take to Reikai." I pulled my book out of my kimono and flipped to her page. "Arisu Fujii, age fifteen, homeschooled. You've lived a sheltered life along with your little brother. Well behaved until three months ago when you met a certain delinquent named Ryo who became your only friend. He taught you how to drink, gamble, and even had you rob a few stores with him. You found out you were pregnant with his child and he left, leading to this cheery situation you've landed yourself in. I hope you understand that not only did you kill yourself but also your child and now your family will have to mourn over a poor girl who did not know what she was doing at the time." I closed the book and tucked it back inside my robe. I placed my hands on my hips and gave the girl a stern look.

Her eyes filled with tears and she whispered, "I'm sorry." I opened my arms and she came into an embrace. Her tears soaked my clothes but I did not care. I held her until we heard her family return home. I knew if we stayed she would not be able to move on, so I summoned my oar and off we went to Reikai.

Koenma's special stop for me was now my only priority. "Oh my," I gasped as I saw a commotion going on in the street. There were paramedics and bystanders everywhere, crowding a red car that was at a full stop in the middle of the road. The car had a dented hood and a smashed windshield. I opened my book to make sure who I was taking to Reikai. There was the note Koenma scribbled in before I left.

-Botan

This case is very important and I need you to follow my instructions. First let me tell you who this "special" person is: Yusuke Urameshi, a deliquent who gave up his life trying to save a little boy. This case is so special because no one could have predicted what he was going to do. My sources had just informed me of his death right as you walked into my office. Now, I need you to bring Yusuke back here so we can give him a second chance. All of his information is in this book.

Good luck, you'll need it- Koenma

I looked back down into the street and saw the paramedics carry a small boy. Lowering myself next to the ambulance, I saw the boy was still breathing and only had a few scratches. However, there was a body on a stretcher with a blanket over it. I could not see his face but it did not matter, I would see his ghost soon enough.

I heard yelling somewhere above me and saw a body floating in the sky. That had to be him. I levitated so that I was behind a dark haired boy in green who was muttering and shouting at himself.

"Wait," he mused, still unaware of my presence. "Does this mean I'm a GHOST?!"

"Bingo, bingo, you win the prize," I announced. He turned with such a shocked expression I could not help but giggle.