Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.
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"Going Gently"
By Port
Chapter 2
Fifteen years later, Lord Koenma assigned Botan to be Yusuke Urameshi's assistant and Spirit World Liaison. "Try not to let him seduce you, okay?" Koenma said, looking amused. Botan's cheeks flared. Memories died so slowly for immortals! When would Koenma and the others let it go?
All she could do was sniff proudly. "You can be sure I will do my very best, Lord Koenma. And besides, Youko Kurama never seduced me! Not for a single, rotten little second!"
"That's right, Koenma, sir," said George. George, an easygoing and loyal ogre, was Lord Koenma's administrative assistant. "We were watching on the screen in here, and it was pretty clear Kurama only kissed Botan in order to steal her oar."
Botan blushed a deep red, but Lord Koenma was signing some papers piled on his desk and didn't see her reaction to George's statement. He had his own reply.
"If that's the case, then, Botan, don't let Urameshi get away with oar-stealing either. I'll make a no-kissing rule if I have to."
"Lord Koenma!"
"That'll be all, Botan."
Botan wished that were true. However, her prospects dimmed when Kurama, Hiei and Gouki stole the sacred regalia that were sealed in King Yama's palace, where Botan lived and worked.
The night they broke into the palace, Botan had picked up another dead soul, this time from the Human World. Unlike Kurama fifteen years earlier, and like most souls, this one had obediently sat on the end of her oar and made pleasant conversation through the journey across the River Styx. Botan, as usual, had grown rather fond of the shade and would be regretting the time they'd have to part, outside the giant doors to Lord Koenma's office. She hoped her new friend would get to go to a heaven.
"The Spirit World is so beautiful," the shade said. "It must be a wonderful place to work."
"It's the best," Botan said, smiling.
"What's that over there?"
"That's the Buddha entrance. It's a special gate just for the most holy spirits."
"Wow. What's that sound?"
"Sounds like alarms. I wonder why." They were blaring loud enough to be heard for eons, but Botan was used to the occasional fire drill and didn't think too much on it. "Everything's probably okay."
"Oh." A pause. "Who are those people?"
"Where?"
"On the outer wall, holding that oar?"
Botan was approaching the Spirit Guide entrance on one of the outer turrets, a tricky landing spot. Still, she was experienced enough that she could risk a glance at the ramparts to which the shade pointed. "Those are… hey! They don't belong there!"
Indeed they didn't. A male fire demon, a red-headed human boy and a disguised kyuukonki generally didn't belong anywhere in the vicinity. At least, not without supervision, and Botan didn't see any ogres or spirit guides near them. In fact, they appeared to be sneaking. The fire demon was holding a bag that he handled carefully, the kyuukonki appeared to be covering their rear, and in the front, the human boy held an oar.
Botan stared so long that she botched the landing. She forgot to slow as they reached the parapet, and they nosedived onto the stone floor. Fortunately, her passenger was already dead, and Botan immortal. That didn't stop them both from screaming, though.
"I am so sorry," she said, bowing low before the shade. "I didn't mean to crash. But there's a robbery in progress, and I don't think anyone knows the thieves are over there. I need to go. Please wait inside the gate!" Her bow melded into a run and ended in a take-off upon the oar. The shade stared after her with its mouth open before following her instructions.
Botan flew so as not to be seen by the thieves. Obviously they were dangerous, or else they wouldn't have been able to make off with whatever was in the bag. Still, she didn't have to be as cautious as an ogre or a mortal, so when she saw them about to board the red-head's oar, she swooped in and tried to grab it from him.
Somehow, he sensed her coming. Botan had quick hands, though, and grabbed the polished wood even as he swung it away from her. She held on tightly, but he was very strong. The force of his swing pulled her from her seat on her own oar and brought her around in an arc to the ground. Botan twisted to catch the ground with her feet, a maneuver she wouldn't have thought herself capable of beforehand. Even the human boy looked impressed, as he had raised one eyebrow and rounded his lips into a little "O."
However, the jolt sent spasms across her ankles, and before she could right herself somebody wrested the boy's oar from her and took her arms in a crushing grip behind her back. It was the kyuukonki, the only one with the bulk to hold her so easily, though she didn't doubt they all had the strength. Botan tried to hide her fear.
"Look at this. The bravest one in this whole stinking castle is a girl," the kyuukonki said. She realized he was disguised in a human form. She had instinctively identified the species of the intruders by their auras. Quickly she looked at the others to take in their features for future identification. The fire demon was smirking. He had spiky black hair, tan skin, large, red eyes, and stood about four feet tall. He held the bag, which looked heavy.
The human boy held her gaze when she looked at him. He was slender, wearing a magenta school uniform perfectly cut to emphasize his height and his own graceful lines. He had green eyes and a stance that made him appear both relaxed and ready to move. Botan noticed a grimness to the set of his mouth and a seriousness in his eyes. He held the oar like a battle staff. Where had he gotten that thing anyway?
"Also the cleverest," the boy said as the kyuukonki's insipid laughter faded. "She knew that if she could steal this oar, we would have no escape from the Spirit World." He looked at her again and grinned with a touch of merriment. "Kind of ironic, isn't it?"
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Two hours later, long after the alarms had been cut off, two ogre guards came across Botan on the same outer wall. She was bound and gagged, but otherwise unhurt. She had a feeling the worst part of the night had yet to come, for she was escorted directly to Lord Koenma's office, where she would have to report on what she learned from the thieves.
On the one hand, she was able to positively identify all three and tell Lord Koenma how security had been breached.
On the other hand, she had to tell him that one of the thieves was Youko Kurama, who had stolen her oar fifteen years earlier to escape the afterlife. She also had to tell Lord Koenma that he'd used that same oar to bring his partners in crime to the Spirit World.
And, finally, she had to report that tonight, Kurama had also made sure to steal her other oar.
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To be continued in Chapter 3.