To
Forget
by
Misty
Chapter
4
Koenma
arrived in the Spirit World, still in his teenaged form. Normally he would have
been in his younger form now, but really, he didn't feel so childish that
moment. He actually felt more…mature, perhaps.
Botan.
He really loved her, yet why had he been so stupid? Why didn't he even tell
her how he felt?
He
sat down rapidly on his chair, and as he did so, he knocked off some papers from
his desk. He bent to pick them up.
And
then, he noticed that he had also knocked off from his desk the portrait Botan
saw a few days ago. He sat back down on his chair, still holding the portrait.
Memories
came back to him, some happy, but most of them painful and sad.
"Himawari…" he whispered.
And
it then occurred to him: the reason why he couldn't tell Botan about his
feelings was because he was afraid. He was afraid of feeling that pain of losing
a loved one … again.
Yusuke,
Keiko and Botan hid in an alley. Botan then brought out her paddle.
"Let's
go!" Yusuke said, and hopped on the oar.
Suddenly,
a dark figure stepped in front of them, and knocked Yusuke off the oar.
"Hey!"
Yusuke yelled, and he fell to the ground. Keiko ran to him.
Botan
stared at the man in front of her, an expression of fear on her face. She knew
who that man was…
It
was the same man who had tried to kidnap her before.
"You
idiot! Are you looking for a fight?" Yusuke said crossly.
"I
came for the girl," the man said gruffly.
Yusuke
finally understood. "I won't let you get her!" He ran swiftly and tried to
punch the man, but the man just avoided it.
The
strange man kicked Yusuke in the stomach, and the poor boy slammed into a wall.
With a swift movement, the guy grabbed Botan, and began to run away.
"Yusuke!
Keiko!!!" Botan screamed. In horror, she realized that even Yusuke couldn't
reach them, with the headstart her kidnapper had. There was absolutely no
hope…
"I
had to get you," the man said. "No wonder he likes you. You would have made
a delicous meal for him."
Botan
panicked upon the man's words. Somebody's going to eat me! What a nasty
way to die…
Suddenly,
something dropped out of the sky, and fell on her kidnapper's head.
Botan
and her kidnapper fell to the ground. Yusuke finally reached them, and pulled
Botan away. Suddenly he stopped, for he just realized what –or more correctly,
who—was that "thing" that fell on the man's head.
"That
hurts, Mukuro!!!" a short, good-looking young man with spiky black hair
shouted to the heavens in anger.
"HIEI?!"
Yusuke said incredulously. "What the heck are you doing here?!"
"Mukuro
kicked me out of the Ma Kai," Hiei said irritably.
Botan
giggled. "Literally?"
Hiei
nodded.
"WHAT?!"
Yusuke and Botan facefaulted.
"Hn."
Meanwhile,
Keiko had finally caught up with them. "Are you guys all right? Where's that
man who tried to kidnap Botan?"
"Oh,
good heavens, I forgot about him!" Yusuke looked around him for Botan's
kidnapper.
But
the mysterious man had already gone.
Koenma
sat up with a start. Someone was knocking on his door.
"Come
in, Botan!" he yelled, his heart pounding. Had he fallen asleep somehow? He
wondered
what Botan could want with him right now.
The
door opened, and the girl walked in. Koenma turned to look at her, the realized
something was wrong. Botan had…black hair?! He blinked again.
Standing
there was Ayame. "It's me, Koenma-sama," she said, smiling. " Botan's
not the only ferry girl around here, you know."
Koenma
reddened. "Never mind," he managed to say. "What do you want?"
"Well
then," Ayame began. "I didn't really mean to interfere, but this has gone
on for so long."
"What
is it about?"
Ayame
looked at Koenma pointedly. "It's about … Botan."
"Oh."Koenma's
face fell.
"Look,
Koenma-sama," Ayame said. "You have loved Botan for hundreds of years now,
yet you never really told her. Sheesh, you never even gave her at least a hint!
I know you're afraid, but if you don't tell her soon, you really will lose
her. Don't you see?"
Koenma
kept silent, and turned his back on Ayame.
"Won't
you please listen?" Ayame pleaded. "You see, Botan also—"
"Please,
Ayame," Koenma said hoarsely. "I need some time alone."
With
a last sad glance at Koenma, Ayame went out the door.
"KOENMA!!!"
a voice boomed in the left end of the corridor.
Yusuke
stomped angrily towards Koenma's office. Botan and Keiko desperately tried to
hold him back.
"Don't
try to stop me!" Yusuke yelled. "I need to talk to Koenma about Botan!
He's such a coward! Is it really that hard to tell her how much he cares for
her?"
Ayame
walked towards them. "It really is hard for him, Yusuke-san."
"Why?!"
"Something
happened to him a long time ago." Ayame said, eyes downcast. "Something
really tragic."
Botan
looked up at her, her face full of concern. "Really? What happened?"
Ayame
motioned for them to follow her. The other three glanced at each other, and they
walked towards the black-haired ferry girl.
They
arrived at a small storeroom. Ayame stooped down, and got something from a pile
of rubbish in one corner of the room. She handed that object to Yusuke.
It
turned out to be a small portrait. On the left was Koenma, and beside him was a
smiling, pretty woman.
Botan
recognized the girl right away. "She's the girl I saw on the portrait on
Koenma's desk."
Ayame
nodded. "She was Koenma's former fiancee."
"WHAT?!"
the other three exclaimed in unison.
"Her
name is Himawari," Ayame said. "She was once a ferry girl, just like you and
me, Botan."
Her
eyes softened. "She was a very good friend of mine. She was a very beautiful
woman, and she had a really nice smile. Hmm… come to think of it, she was just
like you, Botan-chan."
"Then
what happened?" Yusuke said impatiently, and Keiko nudged him.
"Well,
she and Koenma became very good friends, and eventually, became sweethearts.
Soon, they arranged their wedding. All across the Rei Kai was a great rejoicing,
and Enma-sama, though he hated to admit it, was happy to have some
grandchildren. And then—disaster struck."
"The
day of the wedding came, and we were just waiting for Himawari to arrive. Yet
she never came. Koenma became very alarmed, and asked all of us to search the
whole Rei Kai for her."
"We
couldn't find her anywhere. The wedding was called off, and Koenma himself
went to the Ningen Kai to look for her. And find her he did."
"He
saw her with another guy?" Botan speculated.
"Worse,"
Ayame replied. "He found her dead body."
Botan's
eyes grew wide with shock, and even Yusuke looked disturbed. Keiko held on to
Yusuke for support, for it surprised her as well.
"He
brought her body back to the Rei Kai, and buried her there. Strange though,
because she is from the Rei Kai, no one should have killed her in the normal
way. Or worse, that person ate her spirit." Ayame shivered. " Koenma
hasn't been the same ever since. When he returned to the Rei Kai that day, he
locked himself in his room for weeks. And when he finally did come out, he was
suddenly in that toddler form of his."
"You
mean, he didn't have that form before?" Keiko asked.
"Yes.
You see, he originally didn't have that form before. He always looked just
like a normal teenager then."
"Anyway,"
Ayame added, " I think Koenma-sama was traumatized by Himawari's death.
That's why he has that toddler form. He's convinced himself that by looking
(and acting) like a child, he wouldn't feel that pain again. The pain that
comes when you lose a loved one. And I think that he couldn't tell Botan how
he felt because he's afraid that he might lose you, just like he lost
Himawari. He probably thinks that he might as well forget about love, so as to
shield himself."
Silence
reigned in the room. Botan felt tears coming down her cheeks. She felt pity for
Koenma. To lose the one he loves on a day which was supposed to be happiest days
of his life… it was so tragic.
Poor
Koenma-sama.
