To Forget
by Misty
Chapter
2
Botan hit the person with all her might, but the
man didn't even flinch.
"Let me go!" Botan yelled in
frustration. She studied her kidnapper carefully.
It was a man, she was sure of
that. He was wearing some black clothing—sort of like something a ninja
would wear, she thought. He wore a hood, and a piece of cloth covered most
of his face, except for his eyes.
His eyes—Botan felt a shiver
of fear. His eyes were yellow in color, and they showed no emotions…
"SOMEBODY HELP ME!!!"Botan
screamed again.
"You better shut up, if you
know what's good for you," the man said coldly.
"What do you want from me?"
Botan said hysterically, trying to free herself from the man's clutches.
The man got annoyed, and covered
her mouth with his hand. "Shut up!" he ordered.
"I don't think that's any
way to treat a woman," a deep voice said behind them.
They both turned at the sound of
the voice. Botan felt a surge of hope. Somebody had come to save her!
The one who spoke was a young
man, probably eighteen years of age. He had black hair, and royal blue eyes.
Botan thought he looked pretty handsome, but right now, it was beside the point.
"Let the girl go!" the boy
said.
"You have to fight me
first," Botan's kidnapper challenged the young man.
The young boy jumped up, and
appeared behind Botan's kidnapper. The latter, surprised, was not able to
follow the young boy's movement.
The young man delivered a swift
kick on the head of Botan's kidnapper. Startled, the hooded man dropped the
blue-haired ferry girl.
Running swiftly, the boy caught Botan, and carried
her to safety.
Wow, he's fast, Botan
thought admiringly. He kinda reminds me of Hiei.
"Are you okay?" the young man asked, his blue
eyes reflecting his concern.
"I'm fine, thank you,"
Botan said. "It's a good thing you came."
"I'm glad I was passing
by," the boy said. He blushed slightly. "Um...if you don't mind...could you
tell me your name?"
"My name is Botan," Botan
said cheerfully. "And you?"
"Kawano
Senkichi."
Senkichi smiled, and he kept running, until they arrived at a
small restaurant. They went inside, so as to hide from the man who tried to
kidnap her. He wouldn't dare kidnap her there, when there were so many people.
"Well, it was nice meeting
you—" Botan said, then stopped. She suddenly realized that many people were
staring at them.
Senkichi suddenly dropped her in
surprise. "Oh, I didn't mean to hold you so long!" He laughed sheepishly,
then remembered that he had dropped Botan.
She was on the floor, with a
huge lump on her head. "You didn't have to drop me though," she sounded
annoyed.
"Gomen," Senkichi said, and
helped her up.
"So what's this? A new
couple? Wait 'til Koenma-sama hears about this…" a voice piped up behind
them.
Botan and Senkichi turned
around. "Ayame-san!" Botan exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"
"Well, I was looking for
you," the black-haired woman replied. "You seemed pretty upset when you
left. Are you okay?"
"Oh, yeah," Botan said,
avoiding Ayame's eyes. Well, she still wasn't okay, but if she told Ayame
that, she'd also have to tell her about this morning's happening. And she
wanted to forget about THAT.
"Well, let's go back
then!" Ayame cheerfully said, and she took Botan's hand. She led the pretty
blue-haired ferry girl outside. Botan waved goodbye to Senkichi, saying,
"Thanks again for saving my life!"
When Senkichi was out of
earshot, Ayame nudged Botan meaningfully. "Well, who was that guy? He's
quite handsome, you know."
Botan then narrated to her all
about Senkichi, and how he saved her life.
Koenma paced around his room
nervously. Maybe he had been too hard on Botan. He shouldn't have shouted at
her like that…
Why should he care, anyway? She
was just an ordinary ferry girl…he sighed again. He knew very well that Botan
was someone special, someone he really cared for.
She was the one person he loved
so much.
He looked out the window, and
saw that Ayame had returned. And—his heart gave a leap—Botan had come back,
too. Hurriedly, he went outside.
"I do have admit, he is very
handsome." He heard Botan say to Ayame as he arrived outside.
Wait, Koenma thought, and
he stopped walking. Who are they talking about? Me? He smiled to himself.
Well, I really am handsome. Of course, why wouldn't they fall for me? Hmm…didn't know I could be such a heartbreaker, oh, dear…
Idiot! A small voice
inside him said. Duh, they're talking about someone else, you narcissistic
baka!
Koenma snapped back to reality. If
they're talking about some other guy, who could that be? Jealousy began to
fill him. Does Botan like some guy or something? Grr…he better not steal
Botan away from me!
As if Botan's already your
girlfriend, the voice inside him said again. You can't even tell her
how you feel. Imbecile! Moron! Stupid—
"SHUT UP!!!" Koenma yelled loudly. Foolish
conscience! He began to strangle himself. "You don't have any right to call
me names! What good are you—"
"Koenma-sama?"
Koenma turned beet-red, for he realized that Botan
and Ayame were staring at him. "Uh-uh-w-well…"
"I think Koenma-sama's going insane," Botan
whispered in Ayame's ear.
"I am not!" Koenma protested indignantly.
"Sure, I believe you."
"I assume you're sarcastic."
"Of course I am. After all, you did shout at me
this morning, even when I didn't do anything that bad. Really, if anything's
wrong, I think it would do you a whole lot of good if you confided to someone,
Koenma-sama."
"Oh, Botan." Without even stopping to think,
Koenma got Botan's hand. "I'm sorry I shouted at you this morning," he
said earnestly. "I was just in a bad mood. Will you be able to forgive me?"
He clasped Botan's hand lovingly.
Botan blushed, fully aware of the fact that Koenma
was holding her hand. "Oh, um, it-it's okay, K-Koenma-s-sama," she
stammered.
"Are you sure?"
"Yes, it's okay," Botan assured him. She
laughed, trying to hide her embarrassment. "I'm sorry, too, for all the
things I said earlier. Really, why should you care so much?"
Koenma reddened slightly. "Uh…oh?" he said
vaguely. "It's because—because…" Say it, you moron! But he just
couldn't say it to her. I like you, Botan…a lot, he thought, yet no
words came out.
"Uh…well, I gotta go!" he said evasively, and
left the two girls staring after him.
Botan stared after him. What was that? She
thought, confused.
"You two sure seemed really seemed sweet back
there," Ayame commented.
Botan turned around, suddenly remembering that
Ayame was still standing beside her.
"Oh, Ayame-san," Botan said. "I know very
well that Koenma likes you, and—"
"Koenma likes ME?!" Ayame interrupted, looking
surprised.
"Of course! You had a date once, remember?"
"Oh, but YOU were the one who set us up," Ayame
objected. "Koenma-sama wouldn't have asked me out on his own."
"Sure, but…" Botan tried to say something,
but couldn't. Ayame was right; she WAS the one who took Koenma and Ayame for
"a night in the town", just a few weeks ago. She then left the two of them
in a restaurant, where the two had their date.
She didn't know what possessed her to do that.
She knew very well that she had feelings for Koenma, but why should she set him
up on a date with someone else? Maybe she just wanted to forget about what she
felt for Koenma, for she knew that he barely knew she existed. Or if he did, he probably thought of her as just "one of those ferry
girls".
"Botan, um, actually…" Ayame began. "We
didn't have any romantic relationship whatsoever. All we did on that
'date' of ours was talk about you."
"Me?" Botan stared at Ayame. "You're
lying!"
Ayame shook her head. "I'm telling the
truth."
Botan still could not believe it. "But," she
protested. "Shouldn't you have felt offended? I mean, he went on a date with
you, and you only talked about me, and—"
"Iie, Botan," Ayame countered. "I know very
well that Koenma likes you. Sheesh, I had known that for centuries! Besides, I
love someone else." She blushed slightly.
"Someone else?" Botan fell thinking. Who could
that guy be? If it's wasn't Koenma, then it could only be… "I know! You
like George the oni!!!"
Ayame facefaulted, and bonked Botan in the head.
"NO, YOU DUMMY!!!" she yelled.
She turned serious. "Anyway, Koenma really likes
you, and I'm pretty sure you have feelings for him, too."
Botan's cheeks went pink. "But still…who was
that person were talking about? I mean, the one you liked?"
"Don't try to change the topic," Ayame said
good-naturedly. "Besides, it's not really important to know who he is. What
we are talking about right now is about you and Koenma. Admit it, you like
him!"
Botan blushed further. "Well…yes," she
finally admitted.
Ayame smiled, and began to walk away. "That's
good. You know what? I think you two were meant for each other. Besides, maybe
you can help him forget."
Botan puzzled over Ayame's cryptic words.
Forget
about what?
