A Hiei/Botan (not exactly romance) fic to celebrate Thanksgiving, which is coming up very soon. Hope you guys enjoy this.
Summary: Botan explains to a certain fire demon the holiday of Thanksgiving. Wow. Worst summary ever.
Disclaimer: Owning this anime is a fantasy that will never come true.
Botan shuffled around her newly cleaned apartment, busily decorating everything in sight with fall colored accessories as she listened to her new favorite song, "Domino," by Jessie J (1).
It would only be a few hours before all of her friends arrived. Today was Thanksgiving (2), and her entire team was having the glorious feast at her apartment.
Out of all the holidays, Botan loved this one the most, Christmas coming in second. She had always enjoyed the lively festivities that came with this day, as well as the delicious food. But what she loved most about it, was being with her friends. It was true that she saw them every day, but for some reason, Thanksgiving made it extra special.
For the feast, they switched off every year, due it being such a huge holiday. Just last year, they had it at Yusuke's. This year, was her turn.
Botan did not mind it though. She absolutely loved preparing for huge parties. To make things easier on her, each one of her friends would be bringing a dish, she would just have to bake some pies. She planned on making Pumpkin, Cranberry-Apple and Pecan pie (3).
"Every second is a highlight, when we touch don't ever let me go," Botan sang as she threw an orange table cloth with red maple leaves over a large rectangle table. She pulled on the sides, and smoothed out the creases.
Then, she got the centerpieces: homemade turkeys made from tin cans, toilet paper rolls, tissue paper and paint. She had stayed up for over half the night to make them, but the E-6000 glue really did the trick (4). The toilet paper rolls stuck to the cans with such might, that she couldn't pull them off even if she tried.
Although, she really could have gone without having brown paint spill all over her plush white carpet (which she dropped off at the carpet cleaner's just this morning), but that's another story.
She put one Turkey facing the window closest to the front door, and the second one facing the couch in the living room. Smiling at this, she deemed the position of the centerpieces was perfect. They even looked very nice with the thin , clear glass vases filled with a single daisy on either side.
Yes, Botan really did have a knack for decorating. After all, she had helped Yukina decorate her own apartment. What was once a bleak, white room of blah became a picture, colorful pillow, and daisy filled room of yay and happiness.
Speaking of Yukina, Botan was very excited to see the kind and serene ice maiden. To make things even better, she would be with her new boyfriend when everyone arrived.
Yes, Kuwabara finally mustered up the courage to ask Yukina out on a date (it took about an hour to explain to her what a date was). After three months of dating, they were an official couple (it took another hour of both Yusuke and Kurama trying to prevent Hiei from burning Kuwabara to a crisp.), and the carrot haired man had the goofiest grin on his face for about a week.
After about two hours, Botan's apartment was decorated to her liking. Colors of pink, red, brown and orange were splashed everywhere, giving her humble abode a nice, cozy fall look.
Then, the kitchen timer went off, and Botan knew that her last pie, the apple-cranberry, was finished baking.
Out of all the pies in the world, she enjoyed this one the most. Light, yet creamy crust filled with the tartness of cranberries, complimenting the smooth sweetness of juicy red apples. Top it off with whipped cream, and you've got yourself one hell of a desert.
She looked up at the clock, and noticed that it was already 5:30 in the evening. Her friends would be arriving soon.
And sure enough, at exactly 6 PM, they came waltzing through her front door. Yusuke had a big grin on his face as he carried a large pot, which Botan guessed was the Turkey. Kurama and Hiei came next. Kurama looked genuinely happy to see her, while Hiei looked as if he would give anything to not be there at that very moment.
The fox greeted her as he had a plate of yams (5) in his arms, to which Botan told both boys that they would put their offerings on the kitchen counter. Hiei merely snuck off, and plopped himself on Botan's couch, turning on the television. If he was forced to be here, he might as well try to enjoy himself.
Keiko had arrived with apple cider (she wasn't much of a drinker, anyway), and Shizuru came sporting three six packs of Sapporo. Botan could smell cigarette smoke on the older Kuwabara's clothes, which would probably explain why she was the last one in.
After much conversation and drinking, the friends gathered round the table to start their dinner. Keiko and Yukina had complimented Botan on her pies, with Keiko demanding the recipe for the apple-cranberry.
"Oh, it's quite simple, Keiko," Botan had said, "I'd be more than happy to provide you with the recipe. It was just this nifty little thing I found online. It just looked so delicious that I simply had to try it."
Shizuru sipped what was now her second can of Sapporo.
"Well, you did good, Botan," she smiled.
After a while, the friends simply decided on chatting some more. Botan began clearing the table of the large white plates, refusing any help from anyone. They were her guests, after all.
As she piled each plate by the sink, she began to think about Hiei.
Although he had come to the dinner, he refused to sit at the table, instead preferring to grab a plate and pile it with whatever human food he believed her could stomach, and going back over to the couch.
Botan, quite honestly, felt rather sad by this. Why hadn't Hiei decided to sit with everybody? Did he not realize that he was considered by everyone to be a very dear friend?
Her thoughts were interrupted by a rather curt, "Woman!"
Botan jumped, nearly dropping the fine china in her hands. She whirled around to see Hiei, standing there looking quite annoyed.
'Oh, boy,' Botan thought, 'what not?' But she chose to push that thought away and instead gave Hiei a cheery smile.
"Oh, hello Hiei, are you enjoying yourself?" Hiei gave her a look that said, "did you really just ask that?"
"Woman," he repeated himself, "just what is this ridiculous human holiday called Thanksgiving? You will explain it to me?"
In truth, Hiei was not one for holidays, and honestly did not see the point in celebrating any of them. He believed them to be a waste of time, good only for the day that they happened on, and then after that, they held no value whatsoever.
Botan blinked.
"Uhm" she said, "what was again?" Hiei rolled his eyes.
"This human holiday called Thanksgiving," he replied shortly, as if daring her to make him repeat himself one more time. "Explain it to me."
Botan raised an eyebrow, and put her index finger to her lips, like she usually did when she was thinking. Just how would she explain this to Hiei? Descriptions of holidays could get quite long and complicated, and the fire demon did not look like he was in the mood for a long history lesson.
After a while, she smiled at him.
"Well, Hiei," she said, "Thanksgiving is the special time of year where people get to eat lots of delicious foods, such as turkey, stuffing, mashed potatoes, cranberry sauce and pie. It's also when friends and family come together and celebrate what they are thankful for. For instance, I'm thankful for this delicious meal we had, and I'm thankful for this lovely apartment Koenma paid for me. But most of all, I'm thankful for all of my wonderful friends. What are you thankful for Hiei?"
"Ridiculous." Botan's smile left her face.
"Pardon?"
"I said ridiculous. If you want to show someone you are thankful for them, then you should show them through more worthwhile things than this waste of time. "
He didn't even give her a chance to respond, and just sauntered away. However, Botan chose not to respond. She didn't need to and instead just shook her head, and smiled once more.
Hiei found himself out on the porch, the cold fall air whipping at his face. It didn't bother him though. Being a fire demon, he could easily use his energy to warm himself up.
He was lost in thought, about what Botan had asked of him. He was too busy indirectly insulting her to even mention what he was thankful for.
Just what was he thankful for?
Thoughts like this just did not come naturally to Hiei. He was a warrior and a bit of a strategist (though not as good as Kurama), not a dreamer or an optimist. He felt these holidays were meaningless celebrations, and nothing more.
But really though, just what was he thankful for? He wasn't an ungrateful person by any means, choosing to honor and respect those who have managed to earn it (which wasn't an easy feat), and protected those closest to him. He had no qualms about ever giving credit where credit was due. He was also highly intelligent, but this one thought of his was beginning to give him a headache.
He shook his head of Botan's question, and instead opted to go back inside. He noticed that everyone now had a cup of hot tea in their hands, and they were laughing and joking with one another.
A single cup had been set on the counter for him, and he accepted it. Walking to Botan's dining room table, his eyes were fixed on the blue haired woman, gazing at her as she sat on the couch in between Keiko and Yukina, her long and slender legs tucked underneath her.
Then, Hiei began to think about Botan. After all, she was the one who convinced Koenma to shorten his sentence if he had helped them in the aid of rescuing Yusuke when he had been kidnapped. And, she was the one who also convinced Koenma to financially aid Hiei in finding an apartment. In fact, it was because of her that both Hiei and Yukina had apartments of their own.
Not only that, but the ferry girl had shown more kindness to him (aside from his sister)than anyone he had ever known. Sure, Yusuke, Kuwabara and Kurama had all done generous things for him, but Botan's was a different story.
When he had first moved in to his apartment, she had invited herself in with a pot filled with homemade soup and rice, as well as four bags full of groceries. Hiei has told her that she needn't have bothered, but the stubborn woman insisted, stating that she was more than happy to help out a friend. He was just happy that she didn't decorate his apartment with pink and daisies, though.
He took one last sip of his tea, and allowed himself a small, yet secret and genuine smile as the blue haired woman's smiling face invaded his thoughts once more.
Yes, Hiei supposed that he was thankful for someone.
Notes:
I have no other reason, other than that I can. Also, I don't own this song.
I do know that the Japanese do not celebrate Thanksgiving the way we in the United States do. I forget what the holiday is called, though.
See number one.
If you're into arts and crafts, and need a strong adhesive, I would recommend E-6000 glue. This is some strong stuff, and if you use for something, be careful. Once it's on and fully dry, it is not coming off any time soon.
I don't know if yams grow in Japan, but yams are good. And they are a Thanksgiving dish, so it works.
This isn't my best story, so you'll have to forgive me. I wanted to cram something in for Thanksgiving, right before finals, so this is as good as it's going to get for you guys. Reviews are much appreciated, as always.