Standard (really long and dull) disclaimers apply. In short: I own NOTHING
but a few characters, but wouldn't it be neato supremo if I did?
Story Legend: 'present thoughts' *emphasis, dreams, memories, letters, etc.*
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The wind moaned through the trees as Hiei wiped the last of the youkai blood off on the newly dewed grass. The twenty or so demons had only been low C-class in attack, but they had fought in formations that the smaller youkai had not anticipated, so the fight had taken longer than expected. Hiei hated getting dewed on. It made his clothes stick and his skin itch as it dried. Suddenly, a soft humming noise caught his attention and he flung his sword up just in time to catch two ki-filled orbs connected by a thin string. The bolas sent shock waves up and down the weapon hard enough for the fire demon to fling away his sword, lest his bones be shattered. Halfway through the air the blade broke into a thousand pieces and the air was filled with the tinkles of shards hitting the ground. "Jao Ensatsu Ken, " he growled, charging up his fire sword and blurred through the trees, intent on killing his new enemy.
It was a low B-class demon, a few inches taller than Hiei, standing with his arms around one of the fallen. When Hiei entered the clearing he let go of the corpse and stood to face him. Hiei could trace fear and sorrow in his blue glass eyes, his white skin was lined with the blood of his companion.
"You killed all of them?" he asked in disbelief.
"It wasn't hard," Hiei answered in his usual monotone.
"Wasn't hard? Of course not; these were not fighters, they were farmers searching for better lands! You didn't even give them a chance, did you?"
"They were rebels and my orders were to kill them," he replied. "And you."
Terror filled the white demon's eyes and he began to edge away. "No, not here," he pleaded. "I've worked so hard, please. Don't kill me here. Anywhere but here." He dodged a strike from the shorter demon, but the fire sword still struck deep into his thigh.
"Please!" he shouted out again. He fell to his knees clutching the wound.
"You're just making it harder." Hiei smirked and struck again, this time a deep gash in his enemy's protecting arm.
"No! I can't die here. You don't understand! I don't want to lose my..."
Hiei stepped up to him, pinning him against a tree. "I don't know what you're talking about and don't have the patience to find out," Hiei cut in. "Good bye." And he pierced the demon's heart.
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Yusuke was less than pleased. The letter had no name or address, hearts all over it, and the gall to tell him the he, Urameshi Yusuke, was the single cutest boy this side of Hawaii. He threw it away.
The second letter came in a similar manner, except this time stuffed into his locker. He threw it away again.
The third letter soon lay unopened and spit upon in the bottom of the school dumpster. By now his aim was getting pretty good.
Out of sheer boredom he actually opened the fourth letter.
*Dearest Yusuke, love of my life!!!
I can bare this torment no longer! I long to throw myself into your arms, run my fingers through your beautiful hair, feel your hand upon my hand, your lips upon mine...I cannot live without you, Yusuke! I will wait atop the school today after class, and wait longingly for you, my love.
--Eternally yours, Your Secret Admirer*
Yusuke almost laughed out loud in the crowded hallway. He had no intention of meeting anyone on top of the roof today, or any day for that matter. He crumpled the heart-covered paper into his pocket and walked off to another boring class.
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"Lord Koenma, what are you still doing in your office?" Ophelia asked. "This is your day off, remember?"
"Yes, I remember. Thank you Ophelia, I'm just finishing up here, only one more paper to sign." The godling looked around his office appreciatively. It looked so big now that all of the paperwork had been squared away, oddly empty. "And it's all thanks to you, Ophelia, you know that. I'd like to thank you, that new proclamation you had my dad sign has really got this place running smoothly again."
"Oh, no need to thank me, Lord Koenma, the pleasure's all mine. Here let me take a look at that," she bent over his desk to look at the lone paper. "Oh," she said suddenly, "I can file this for you, if you like. Where do you keep the L's?"
"Over there. Thank you," he added.
"No, the pleasure's all mine," she smiled at him. 'She looks about my age when she smiles', Koenma thought. 'No, a little younger'. "By the way, I just love the varnish on your desk. It's such a warm shade of red," she said.
"Yes, I guess it is rather nice, isn't it. I've never really noticed it before. But hey," he teased. "You'd better not be planning to put in curtains or anything like that. I like my office just the way it is, thank you, without all that girly stuff."
"No, Lord Koenma, I would never dream of remodeling your office. But I would like to put in this clock, if you'll let me. I found it last week and have just been dying to put it up somewhere." He gave her a reproachful look.
"Ophelia..." he started, but she cut him off.
"Oh, please, Lord Koenma, just this one little thing? Please?" she smiled at him again.
"All right, have it your way. But nothing else, you hear me. Now," he changed into his teenage form, "I'm going to take a little walk around the gardens. I'll just leave you and your clock alone, if you'll lock up after your done." He got up to leave.
"Oh, going somewhere fancy?" she remarked, admiring his change. "Well, you be on your way. As soon as I'm done with this I'll lock up. Have fun, see you tomorrow Lord Koenma."
"Yes, goodbye, Ophelia. I'll just see you tomorrow then," and he left her to hang up the clock.
'Things have certainly changed with Ophelia around', he mused. And it was true. She was so new at the job, yet in just two weeks had found a way to give the entire staff a day off every week. If he had been mortal he might have caught up on lost sleep, or mused on some of his dreams, but immortals can't do that. He had been taught that from day one. Sure, they could fade out, but it wasn't the same as sleeping. He had never dreamed in his life, but he was still pretty content he realized. Maybe even happy. He began to whistle as he walked toward the gardens.
He stopped to look at some forget-me-nots, their perfect shade of blue. It reminded him so much of the clear blue sky, or the way the Ningen ocean used to look before it became polluted. Or, even closer to home... but he wouldn't let himself think about that. He watched them sway a little in the breeze and then moved on to another planter.
This one had daffodils, bright yellow ones in full bloom. They reminded him of Ophelia. She was so strange, appearing out of the blue one day a few months ago. She was a Phissut, a type of demon living out in the far reaches of the Makai. They are usually very quiet, but Ophelia was so loud and full of energy that she had struck a friendship with almost everyone in the office before being shown in to Koenma's office by George himself. He remembered just moving over a particularly large stack of papers and being confronted by her bright yellow eyes. He had nearly jumped out of his seat. She had started laughing. He could hear it in his head now...
*"And just what is so funny?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just your expression, I guess I startled you, huh? I'm Ophelia."*
She had stuck out her hand and asked for a job right away. He remembered George telling him that she was a very good person, that she'd be a great help to the staff. They were short on help so he took his word and hired her. But not a week later Enma had learned about her and tried her out himself. And now she was his personal assistant.
But she hadn't changed one bit. Except for her hair. The day she asked for a job it had been loose to her shoulders, a perfect compliment to her periwinkle skin. Now her ebony locks were done up in a more conventional ponytail, but high like Botan's. In fact, if he pictured her right, she looked almost exactly like Botan... But he couldn't think of that right now. It wasn't right, just a fling, it was springtime after all.
Then why did his heart get tighter all of the sudden?
He moved on to another planter, but the carnations in these were the same blue as before and he moved quickly onward. He came to a corner with a bench and decided to sit down. Why not when he had a whole day to spend outside?
His thoughts turned back to Ophelia. She was so hard working and dedicated, he wished Yusuke were like that. He hadn't seen Yusuke in a while, now that he thought of it. The Makai had been relatively silent for a while. Paperwork had been down, partly because of Yusuke, partly because of the proclamation. He should visit Yusuke; he still has a good ten hours.
"Oh Lord Koenma!" a familiar voice sounded. He looked up to more forget-me-nots, or were they just carnations?
"Lord Koenma, are you okay?"
"Yes Botan, I'm fine. Just thinking. I'm gonna go visit Yusuke, do you want to come?"
"No, thank you though. I have another call in just a few minutes, but I was surprised to see you here."
"I guess the proclamation doesn't make the dead stop dying for a day, does it?" he teased.
"Oh yah, the proclamation. Guess you owe Ophelia a lot, huh?" she said with obvious distaste.
"What do you have against Ophelia?" he asked, concerned that the two weren't getting along. It wouldn't be good if his two colleagues didn't get along. "Nothing, nothing," she insisted. "It's just that you spend a lot of time around her and I don't really think... well, it doesn't matter anyway." She looked down at the garden path sadly, the skirted past the demigod to answer her call.
"Botan, wait." He grabbed at the sleeve of her kimono. "You don't have to worry about me. She isn't a sorceress or anything, I'm not gonna do anything stupid, ya know?"
"Yah, I know." But she still looked sad.
"Listen, Botan, are you sure you don't want to come to Ningenkai with me? We wouldn't have to visit Yusuke. We could... um... go for some ice cream, we haven't had ice cream since Hiei tried it, remember? Or we could go visit Keiko's shop, or Genkai and Yukina? I visited them a few weeks ago, but they wanted to see you. Come on, what do you say? It would be fun, and it's only for one day."
"No, I'm sorry Lord Koenma..."
"Just Koenma, please. Botan, you're one of my closest friends and I'm Lord six days of the week as it is, give me a vacation. And you don't need to lower you eyes, you've never done it before." He smiled at her but she was still looking at the ground. "Botan?"
"No, Lor... Koenma. I'm sorry I just can't take the day off like you can. Like you said, Ophelia's proclamation doesn't stop the dead from dying and I still have another few calls before the end of my shift. It was... nice seeing you," she said, turning to walk back down the path.
Koenma looked down in frustration. What had she been so upset about? He stamped his feet a few times and racked his brain for an answer. Maybe it was just a female thing. He gave up when he noticed a lone rain drop on the path. 'Hmm... must be starting to rain. Better get inside soon. I hope its not raining in the Ningenkai'. He hurried back down the path toward the safety of his office building. There was a portal in there that he could use.
It took him only a couple of minutes to get back to the building and through the portal to the busy Ningen world. Unknown to him, though, the day up in the Reikai remained pleasant, and was still dry when Ophelia finished putting up the clock and walked outside, exhausted, to fall asleep on the bench in the corner of the garden.
Story Legend: 'present thoughts' *emphasis, dreams, memories, letters, etc.*
---------------------------------------------------------------------------- --------------------------------
The wind moaned through the trees as Hiei wiped the last of the youkai blood off on the newly dewed grass. The twenty or so demons had only been low C-class in attack, but they had fought in formations that the smaller youkai had not anticipated, so the fight had taken longer than expected. Hiei hated getting dewed on. It made his clothes stick and his skin itch as it dried. Suddenly, a soft humming noise caught his attention and he flung his sword up just in time to catch two ki-filled orbs connected by a thin string. The bolas sent shock waves up and down the weapon hard enough for the fire demon to fling away his sword, lest his bones be shattered. Halfway through the air the blade broke into a thousand pieces and the air was filled with the tinkles of shards hitting the ground. "Jao Ensatsu Ken, " he growled, charging up his fire sword and blurred through the trees, intent on killing his new enemy.
It was a low B-class demon, a few inches taller than Hiei, standing with his arms around one of the fallen. When Hiei entered the clearing he let go of the corpse and stood to face him. Hiei could trace fear and sorrow in his blue glass eyes, his white skin was lined with the blood of his companion.
"You killed all of them?" he asked in disbelief.
"It wasn't hard," Hiei answered in his usual monotone.
"Wasn't hard? Of course not; these were not fighters, they were farmers searching for better lands! You didn't even give them a chance, did you?"
"They were rebels and my orders were to kill them," he replied. "And you."
Terror filled the white demon's eyes and he began to edge away. "No, not here," he pleaded. "I've worked so hard, please. Don't kill me here. Anywhere but here." He dodged a strike from the shorter demon, but the fire sword still struck deep into his thigh.
"Please!" he shouted out again. He fell to his knees clutching the wound.
"You're just making it harder." Hiei smirked and struck again, this time a deep gash in his enemy's protecting arm.
"No! I can't die here. You don't understand! I don't want to lose my..."
Hiei stepped up to him, pinning him against a tree. "I don't know what you're talking about and don't have the patience to find out," Hiei cut in. "Good bye." And he pierced the demon's heart.
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Yusuke was less than pleased. The letter had no name or address, hearts all over it, and the gall to tell him the he, Urameshi Yusuke, was the single cutest boy this side of Hawaii. He threw it away.
The second letter came in a similar manner, except this time stuffed into his locker. He threw it away again.
The third letter soon lay unopened and spit upon in the bottom of the school dumpster. By now his aim was getting pretty good.
Out of sheer boredom he actually opened the fourth letter.
*Dearest Yusuke, love of my life!!!
I can bare this torment no longer! I long to throw myself into your arms, run my fingers through your beautiful hair, feel your hand upon my hand, your lips upon mine...I cannot live without you, Yusuke! I will wait atop the school today after class, and wait longingly for you, my love.
--Eternally yours, Your Secret Admirer*
Yusuke almost laughed out loud in the crowded hallway. He had no intention of meeting anyone on top of the roof today, or any day for that matter. He crumpled the heart-covered paper into his pocket and walked off to another boring class.
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"Lord Koenma, what are you still doing in your office?" Ophelia asked. "This is your day off, remember?"
"Yes, I remember. Thank you Ophelia, I'm just finishing up here, only one more paper to sign." The godling looked around his office appreciatively. It looked so big now that all of the paperwork had been squared away, oddly empty. "And it's all thanks to you, Ophelia, you know that. I'd like to thank you, that new proclamation you had my dad sign has really got this place running smoothly again."
"Oh, no need to thank me, Lord Koenma, the pleasure's all mine. Here let me take a look at that," she bent over his desk to look at the lone paper. "Oh," she said suddenly, "I can file this for you, if you like. Where do you keep the L's?"
"Over there. Thank you," he added.
"No, the pleasure's all mine," she smiled at him. 'She looks about my age when she smiles', Koenma thought. 'No, a little younger'. "By the way, I just love the varnish on your desk. It's such a warm shade of red," she said.
"Yes, I guess it is rather nice, isn't it. I've never really noticed it before. But hey," he teased. "You'd better not be planning to put in curtains or anything like that. I like my office just the way it is, thank you, without all that girly stuff."
"No, Lord Koenma, I would never dream of remodeling your office. But I would like to put in this clock, if you'll let me. I found it last week and have just been dying to put it up somewhere." He gave her a reproachful look.
"Ophelia..." he started, but she cut him off.
"Oh, please, Lord Koenma, just this one little thing? Please?" she smiled at him again.
"All right, have it your way. But nothing else, you hear me. Now," he changed into his teenage form, "I'm going to take a little walk around the gardens. I'll just leave you and your clock alone, if you'll lock up after your done." He got up to leave.
"Oh, going somewhere fancy?" she remarked, admiring his change. "Well, you be on your way. As soon as I'm done with this I'll lock up. Have fun, see you tomorrow Lord Koenma."
"Yes, goodbye, Ophelia. I'll just see you tomorrow then," and he left her to hang up the clock.
'Things have certainly changed with Ophelia around', he mused. And it was true. She was so new at the job, yet in just two weeks had found a way to give the entire staff a day off every week. If he had been mortal he might have caught up on lost sleep, or mused on some of his dreams, but immortals can't do that. He had been taught that from day one. Sure, they could fade out, but it wasn't the same as sleeping. He had never dreamed in his life, but he was still pretty content he realized. Maybe even happy. He began to whistle as he walked toward the gardens.
He stopped to look at some forget-me-nots, their perfect shade of blue. It reminded him so much of the clear blue sky, or the way the Ningen ocean used to look before it became polluted. Or, even closer to home... but he wouldn't let himself think about that. He watched them sway a little in the breeze and then moved on to another planter.
This one had daffodils, bright yellow ones in full bloom. They reminded him of Ophelia. She was so strange, appearing out of the blue one day a few months ago. She was a Phissut, a type of demon living out in the far reaches of the Makai. They are usually very quiet, but Ophelia was so loud and full of energy that she had struck a friendship with almost everyone in the office before being shown in to Koenma's office by George himself. He remembered just moving over a particularly large stack of papers and being confronted by her bright yellow eyes. He had nearly jumped out of his seat. She had started laughing. He could hear it in his head now...
*"And just what is so funny?"
"Oh, I'm sorry. It's just your expression, I guess I startled you, huh? I'm Ophelia."*
She had stuck out her hand and asked for a job right away. He remembered George telling him that she was a very good person, that she'd be a great help to the staff. They were short on help so he took his word and hired her. But not a week later Enma had learned about her and tried her out himself. And now she was his personal assistant.
But she hadn't changed one bit. Except for her hair. The day she asked for a job it had been loose to her shoulders, a perfect compliment to her periwinkle skin. Now her ebony locks were done up in a more conventional ponytail, but high like Botan's. In fact, if he pictured her right, she looked almost exactly like Botan... But he couldn't think of that right now. It wasn't right, just a fling, it was springtime after all.
Then why did his heart get tighter all of the sudden?
He moved on to another planter, but the carnations in these were the same blue as before and he moved quickly onward. He came to a corner with a bench and decided to sit down. Why not when he had a whole day to spend outside?
His thoughts turned back to Ophelia. She was so hard working and dedicated, he wished Yusuke were like that. He hadn't seen Yusuke in a while, now that he thought of it. The Makai had been relatively silent for a while. Paperwork had been down, partly because of Yusuke, partly because of the proclamation. He should visit Yusuke; he still has a good ten hours.
"Oh Lord Koenma!" a familiar voice sounded. He looked up to more forget-me-nots, or were they just carnations?
"Lord Koenma, are you okay?"
"Yes Botan, I'm fine. Just thinking. I'm gonna go visit Yusuke, do you want to come?"
"No, thank you though. I have another call in just a few minutes, but I was surprised to see you here."
"I guess the proclamation doesn't make the dead stop dying for a day, does it?" he teased.
"Oh yah, the proclamation. Guess you owe Ophelia a lot, huh?" she said with obvious distaste.
"What do you have against Ophelia?" he asked, concerned that the two weren't getting along. It wouldn't be good if his two colleagues didn't get along. "Nothing, nothing," she insisted. "It's just that you spend a lot of time around her and I don't really think... well, it doesn't matter anyway." She looked down at the garden path sadly, the skirted past the demigod to answer her call.
"Botan, wait." He grabbed at the sleeve of her kimono. "You don't have to worry about me. She isn't a sorceress or anything, I'm not gonna do anything stupid, ya know?"
"Yah, I know." But she still looked sad.
"Listen, Botan, are you sure you don't want to come to Ningenkai with me? We wouldn't have to visit Yusuke. We could... um... go for some ice cream, we haven't had ice cream since Hiei tried it, remember? Or we could go visit Keiko's shop, or Genkai and Yukina? I visited them a few weeks ago, but they wanted to see you. Come on, what do you say? It would be fun, and it's only for one day."
"No, I'm sorry Lord Koenma..."
"Just Koenma, please. Botan, you're one of my closest friends and I'm Lord six days of the week as it is, give me a vacation. And you don't need to lower you eyes, you've never done it before." He smiled at her but she was still looking at the ground. "Botan?"
"No, Lor... Koenma. I'm sorry I just can't take the day off like you can. Like you said, Ophelia's proclamation doesn't stop the dead from dying and I still have another few calls before the end of my shift. It was... nice seeing you," she said, turning to walk back down the path.
Koenma looked down in frustration. What had she been so upset about? He stamped his feet a few times and racked his brain for an answer. Maybe it was just a female thing. He gave up when he noticed a lone rain drop on the path. 'Hmm... must be starting to rain. Better get inside soon. I hope its not raining in the Ningenkai'. He hurried back down the path toward the safety of his office building. There was a portal in there that he could use.
It took him only a couple of minutes to get back to the building and through the portal to the busy Ningen world. Unknown to him, though, the day up in the Reikai remained pleasant, and was still dry when Ophelia finished putting up the clock and walked outside, exhausted, to fall asleep on the bench in the corner of the garden.