Thirty Percent
by Pellegryn
"Oh, come on now Yusuke! What's a little gossip between friends, right?" Botan wheedled. She had a remarkable resemblance to a cat in that moment.
Yusuke quirked an eyebrow at his long-time friend before returning his attention to his ice cream. It was melting almost faster than he could eat it. The summer was setting record breaking temperature highs. It hadn't gotten so hot in Japan in decades. The last time, he and Keiko had been vacationing for the beach on their anniversary. They'd spent the entire week in their air conditioned hotel. Right now it was almost making him wish for the sweltering jungles of the Makai.
Of course, Yusuke probably could have downed the triple scoop cone of mint and chocolate in a few bites, but that was just asking for brain freeze. Not even demons were immune to that. Hiei had certainly learned the hard way. The only one Yusuke knew who could do it was Yukina. The sweet little ice demon never had figured out why it made everyone else cringe to watch her.
"You gonna eat that?" Yusuke asked Botan, noticing the state her ice cream was in. The reaper frantically began to lick up the strawberry mess, and was momentarily distracted from her line of inquiry. Yusuke grinned into the silence. He shifted to make himself more comfortable on the park bench.
"You know," Botan said after a moment, "It's kind of funny to be sitting in a park with you while eating ice cream. It doesn't really fit your image, tough guy."
"Bingo." He plastered a ridiculous smile on his face, before letting it drop. "And you're the stereotypical reaper. Don't even start."
"Well, I guess that nine decades, seven of which you were married, was enough to mellow you out a bit." Botan giggled at him when he rolled his eyes. "But you didn't mature much, did you?" Yusuke huffed.
"Keep talking like that and I won't tell you anything," he taunted her. Botan's curiosity was her weak point, and Yusuke wouldn't hesitate to use it against her.
"Oh, don't be like that Mr. Grumpy Pants," she whined in typical Botan fashion. Yusuke snorted at her.
"Let me guess. You tried to wheedle it out of Kurama, but he wouldn't tell you anything."
"Well, yes." Botan admitted. "There are bets going around the office you know. I offered Kurama a share of the winnings, but he didn't bite. It's not fair!"
Botan always did have an itty bitty weakness for gossip. All the talk in both demon and spirit worlds at the moment was about Hiei's new second in command. For twenty straight years the fire demon had won the tournament for leadership in Makai. His rule was pretty established at this point. People wanted to know who Hiei would actually trust enough to share power with. The residents of spirit world were born gossips, Botan being one example, and demons weren't much better. Demons were always interested in who had power and who didn't.
Yusuke wasn't surprised Botan had come to him after Kurama. In fact, Yusuke would guess that Botan thought Hiei's Second was Kurama. This couldn't be farther from the truth, but it was understandable. Yusuke knew for a fact that Kurama didn't know either. The fox, being a fox, probably let Botan believe he knew and just wasn't going to tell her.
Yusuke knew the fox better than most. Kurama was a close friend of both him and Botan, but a kitsune always kept aspects of his nature hidden. Kurama had softened a great deal during his time as a human. He was someone that Yusuke could trust with his life. Kurama was not, however, someone Yusuke would trust with his honor or his morals. Kurama had his own twisted code, harder to decipher than even Hiei's. The fox was utterly ruthless, and could be far more cruel than many of Yusuke's adversaries had been. Hiei was aware of this as well, Yusuke knew. Botan had never fully realized that part of the kitsune's personality, and it was probably better that way.
"So, do you even know who it is?" Botan asked him.
Yusuke shrugged a shoulder at her. "I might."
"You've gotten even more frustrating over time," Botan sighed. "Ha! I'll give you twenty percent of the winnings, you know. This is a one time offer. It'll expire soon!" She said with a lilt in her voice that made him immediately think of car advertisements. He shook his head at her.
"Alright, fine. Be that way."
Yusuke wasn't at all relieved by her abandonment of the topic. Any minute now she was going to move on to the real reason she was there in the human world. He picked at the overly formal clothing he wore and shifted on the bench. It really wasn't a good outfit to be wearing in this kind of heat. He heard Botan sigh heavily and braced himself.
"So, why didn't you go?" she asked.
"To the wake?" He looked out of the park in the direction of a building just a few blocks away. Then he shrugged. "Didn't feel like it."
"I see. Of course. Didn't feel like going to a good friend's wake. Of course. Didn't feel like saying goodbye. Of course."
"Botan, I said goodbye to all my mortal friends five years ago after Keiko died. That includes Kuwabara. I'm tired of saying goodbye." Yusuke sighed. Then he stuffed the rest of the ice cream in his mouth all at once and chewed on it in an exaggerated fashion.
"I ferried him myself you know. He said to tell you that he'd see you in his next life."
"Figures," Yusuke mumbled with his mouth full. He swallowed. "He's probably going to keep hounding me for all eternity, like a puppy that won't go away. It'll be kind of hard to see him if he comes back as a human though."
"So you are going to back to live in Makai after all," Botan said then. He gave her a long, hard look. Botan's outward appearance was exactly the same as the day he met her. The last time he'd seen Kuwabara his friend had been a frail shadow confined to a bed.
"There's no reason to stay anymore." Yusuke was looking forward to shedding the illusion of an old man that he'd maintained for so many years. It had been necessary to blend in to human society, but would be a relief to be himself again. Like Botan, he was more or less unaffected by the passage of time, physically anyway.
"I suppose not," Botan agreed. "So what will you do once you get there?" she said, trying to lighten the conversation.
Yusuke gave her a mischievous smirk, worthy of Kurama. "Well, I suppose I'll have to go see a midget pyro about a job offer. I'm imagine I'll be pretty damn busy after that."
Botan's mouth flapped, but no words came out. Yusuke rose to leave. He'd only gotten a few steps when he paused and half turned to look back at her, still sputtering on the park bench.
"Oh, and Botan? I want thirty percent."