Second attempt at a KxB fan fiction. I can't help it. I'm back to my KxB phase.
Sorry if the characters are a little OC. I hope you like it anyway. Please R&R, I would really appreciate your feedback.
Disclaimer: I don't own Yu Yu Hakusho.
Stacks and stacks of paper pillared both sides of Kurama's desk. He glanced at them and sighed, fixing his eyes once more on his computer where he was writing the annual report for the big executive meeting that weekend. The cursor blinked back at him and he stared at it, his mind drawing a blank on what to do next.
Two employees came in the open door of his office and he watched from the corner of his eye as they dumped a couple more stacks of paper on his desk. It has never cleaned up since he started working there. The papers just keep coming.
The employees threw him an apologetic grin, and as soon as they left Kurama threw his head back, covering his eyes with his hands and groaned. That's it. I need a break. Swiftly, he turned his chair, picked up his jacket and walked out of the office not saying a word to anyone.
As soon as he was out of the building, he felt like he was able to breathe again. It's just good to not look at names and numbers and codes anymore.
Not sure where to go, Kurama headed to the train station. He shuddered at the thought that he's doing something very spontaneous compared to his mundane routine of work-eat-work-sleep-work. It's rather scary to break away from one's usual patterns but at the same time, however, this just sounds like a really good idea right now. He needs something different. He needs some new scenery.
He decided then and there to take a trip to nowhere. Excitedly, he hopped on the first train that stopped in front of him. He's never done anything like this before. And man, did it feel good to just break free from all the pressures of his job. Ever since the end of the Makai Tournament, he sprung head-on to his career, working for his step-father's company as the Marketing Manager for all their pharmaceutical products. And for the past six years, he's been stumped with endless research on developing their products and expanding their market.
Being so absorbed in his job, he no longer had time to meet with the group. He hasn't seen any of them since three years ago after welcoming Yusuke back. Well, he saw Kuwabara once, briefly at the train station before he had to leave. And he KNOWS Hiei still visits the city sometimes. Yusuke and Keiko sent him an invitation to their wedding a year ago but that day he had to go on a business trip to Frankfurt.
The train came to its third stop and Kurama decided to stop there. He started to walk leisurely to the nearest park, wondering how everyone else is doing.
How are the Urameshis? Marriage must be such an adventure for the two. Has Yukina returned Kuwabara's feelings? If so, did Hiei beat Kuwabara for that? What about Genkai, is she well? And Botan...how is she?
A smile graced Kurama's lips at the thought of the blue-haired deity. She's never failed to make him smile—her antics, what she talks about, the way she talks about them, the way her deep amethyst eyes expressed the emotions that raged within her heart—sorrow, anxiety, naivety, laughter, joy. She made his insides go haywire at the mere look of her eyes or sound of her voice. She's...she's...
She's here.
Kurama felt his heart skip a beat when he caught sight of the familiar blue hair and pink kimono lying on the grass among the wildflowers in the middle of the park. She had her oar next to her and she was wistfully just staring into the sky. She must be taking a break from her job too.
My, what surprises spontaneity brings.
He approached her slowly, clearing his throat when she didn't budge to look his way at all. Botan cocked her head to the source of the sound, her eyes widening like saucers at the realization of who she was face to face with.
"K-Kurama!" Her face broke into a big smile, she got up and rushed to him quickly, enveloping him in a tight embrace. He realized then just how much he missed the deity.
He took a whiff of her familiar scent of peonies before returning her embrace. In the back of his mind, he had no intention of letting go. He burried his face in her hair and noticed there were a couple of dandelions on it. Cute. "It's nice to see you, Botan."
"Where have you been? I've missed you!" She said letting go, and looking up at him. Immediately, he missed her warmth, but he can't really just pull her back to him again now, can he?
"I've been absorbed in my work lately." He replied with a smile, which she returned with a pout, sitting back down on the ground, "Work shmerk."
"Oh come on, you understand." He said chuckling and sat on the ground with her.
"No, Kurama, no, I really don't." She said shaking her head. She looked really upset but Kurama continued to smile at her. He can't help it. Everything she does just makes him smile.
"I don't understand how you cannot have time for us. Do you even miss us, Kurama?"
What kind of question is that, of course, I do!"Yes, of course I do, Botan. What makes you doubt that?"
"Oh nothing, except the fact that you've been AWOL the past three years." She rolled her eyes making him chuckle yet again.
Botan leaned back to examine him head-to-foot. She took in the changes in him. His hair, though still long, he now keeps tied back in a low ponytail. He was dressed in a tailored black suit, which he matched with a nice gray tie. His face—handsome as ever, except there were dark circles around his eyes and they seem to have an emptiness about them.
Thinking her scrutinizing gaze to be of doubt, Kurama struggled to explain his side of the story, "Botan, I do miss the group. I miss the team and all the adventures we go on. I miss Kuwabara and Hiei's bickering, I miss Kuwabara and Yusuke's bickering, and Keiko and Yusuke's bickering, and Yusuke and Genkai's bickering, and Koenma and George's bickering—yeah, all that bickering."
His explanation yielded a giggle from Botan, which sent his heart flying.
"But, I just had work." He continued still, hoping Botan would not misconstrue his dedication to his job as avoiding them, "I tried to take leave many times, but work is demanding. Besides, no one else will be able to do it right anyway. The company needs me. Failure is out of the question."
"And yet you've failed to be a friend." She said softly whilst playing with a blade of grass between them.
Kurama was taken aback. Her words stung like daggers to his heart. Does she really think I've been a bad friend?"You missed Keiko and Yusuke's wedding, Genkai's 70th birthday, Kuwabara's graduation from college, the opening of Shizuru's business, Koenma's engagement to Ayame, my promotion to Head Ferry Girl...
"If you truly care about people, you will make time for them." She whispered, looking up at him. Her eyes piercing him with the wisdom within them. Feeling guilty, he had to look away. He decided the little squirrel running about was interesting enough to look at for the next couple of minutes.
She's right. He's been a bad friend. He missed out on so much. Genkai is now seventy? Koenma's engaged? He didn't even know he liked anyone. Isn't he too young to be engaged? And Shizuru, what's her new business? He didn't know she was entrepreneurial. And Kuwabara, who knew he'd graduate from college? And Botan? She must have been so happy with her promotion. A pang of regret flooded him. He missed his friend's milestones, the glow in Keiko's face as she walked down that aisle, the victory in Kuwabara's as he marched up the stage to receive his diploma, and Botan...she must really be mad at him for not being there to celebrate with her.
"You know, I like to work because I know these people need me to comfort them after their death." Botan started, probably in an attempt to ease the morose that are now in his eyes. "Most of them are just distraught. They need a lot of consolation. They need someone to be a friend. I am more than happy to give that to them." Botan said lying on the ground, her arms under her head. "What about you Kurama, why do you like working so much?"
Kurama paused to think. He doesn't even really want to answer that question. He's too guilty to even keep talking, but Botan deserved conversation from him. He has to make up for the three years he's been absent from her life.
"I guess, it's to redeem myself from my notorious past life. Maybe, if I live a good ningen life—on the other side of the law—then I can make it up to the universe for all my evil deeds in the past. So I have to be successful in school, in my career."
"Do you even like your job?" She asked.
No. He didn't. He was tired...and pressured to live so perfectly, to achieve perfectly good, progressing results.
Kurama's silence was enough for Botan to know that he wasn't happy with his job. "What is a good life in Ningenkai, Kurama?" She asked. Another pregnant pause.
"The ningens describe success as top of one's career, house, car, travel, material wealth. Those are the treasures of this world..." He explained and heard an audible sigh from next to him.
"I think ningens can be so blind to what truly matters though." Botan said her eyes staring up at the sky above her. She had this dreamy look on her face making Kurama even more curious as to what else she has to say. In the simplest of ways, she does an excellent job of making him forget his worries.
He lay back and propped his elbow to support his head as he watched the deity, his eye inviting her to go on.
"I've watched this world long enough from my oar to realize that the treasures of this world are on the tiniest of things, things most often overlooked and forgotten. Water. Sunshine. A loyal dog. Relationships. Your family, friends. Arduous, selfless love." Botan glanced at him to see his reaction, he was just smiling at her, "You can't put a price tag on that. They are most precious."
Kurama marveled at her wisdom. There is certainly more to her than meets the eye. She is deep. She is wise. She is caring, and loving and selfless to her friends and even to strangers. She has a heart of gold, beautiful, inside and out. He would trade everything in the world just to see her like this everyday.
She smiled and he relished in the fact that her smile was for him. She was there for him despite him not being there for her.
"Well, I better get back to work, Kurama." Botan stood and picked up her oar.
His heart sank. No, not to soon. Kurama followed suit and got up to his feet as well."Oh, but before I go..." She picked up a dandelion from the ground and slipped it in his jacket's pocket, like a pitiful bouttoniere. "To remind you to enjoy the little, beautiful, precious things."
"But a dandelion's a weed." He said in a teasing tone.
"But it's pretty too! It can even grant your wish!" She retorted.
You're my wish."You can wish to learn what success and a good ningen life really is, or ask to have more time to show your friends how much you care for them."
A voice began to speak in his head. You can start by showing her how much you care for her and how badly you feel about the past three years being away from her. I could...I should. But how?
Just be spontaneous."Botan," he whispered as she hopped on her oar, "I...I..." She waited for him to say something but the words died in his throat. So instead, in the most spontaneous of ways, he trusting his instincts and stepped forward, brushing his lips on hers, hoping that his touch communicates to her what he fails to say with words.
Her lips were soft, kissing her made him feel like he was melting like butter. It was the best sensation he's felt. Ever.
He pulled away and watched her shocked, red face growing even redder, and then she started to hiccup. It was adorable, Kurama had to chuckle.
"What—was—that?" She asked in between hiccups.
Kurama felt a little embarrassed but he smiled anyway to ease the slight tension between them now that his feelings were out there. "My wish." He replied.
"You didn't even—blow on it." She said, pointing at the dandelion still in his pocket.
"I didn't have to. You were right there." He blurted out the first thing that popped in his mind.
"But that was so—sudden! I didn't think of you to be so—spontaneous—Kurama!" She exclaimed and looked down to avoid his eyes. Her fingers came up to her lips, "I like it though." She whispered, smiling at him, a deep blush on her face, and flew off.
Kurama stood still on his spot, calm, relaxed, happy, in love, seriously considering to try spontaneity more often. When rid of all plans and pressure, he gets to be himself...and the deity says she likes that.