A happy fan- Hehe. You'll find out what happened to Kurama in the next chapter. Or at least you should.
Hikaru-Shedou- Correct here's your ten points! And here's your cookie! (That's just for being an excellent reviewer.)
sister of chaos- Thanks so much! Sweet was what I was going for.
Night Beauty- You'll find out!
Botan and Kurama lover- Okey dokie. Thanks a bunch.
Cheeto- Why thank you! I missed my huzzah! HUZZAH!
Steph-chan- MUHAHAHA!! You gotta love cliffies. Keeps 'em reading. ^_~Thanks for the review.
Meiko M- At least the cliff hangers weren't as bad in this one. *dodges stone* Sorry! These sort of things happen when you get closer to the climax!
KuramaBotan- I whole-heartedly agree!
The Guy- Kurama is...indisposed at the moment. But you'll find out soon.
Zen- I hope this update came soon enough! Thanks for the review! I'll try to update sooner this time.
legendary spirit of the wind- Oh, you're welcome! There's bound to be a lot more chapters! I promise!
KitsuneGirl- Don't worry. Kurama will hurt him plenty! Thanks for the review.
Reikachan14- Thank you!
DeityofRoses- ^_^ With a review like that, of course I'll continue!
Jellybob 15- Thank you!!! It's nice to hear that sort of thing!
Kartos- *shrugs* He probably does but is to stubborn to say anything to Kurama. By the way, I checked out your web comic. You haven't updated that for a long time. Have you given up on it or what?
bluesky7- I hope this was soon enough! Thanks very much! You're one of my favorite reviewers!
Kuroya- I'll try not to! Thanks for the review! It made me smile real big!
Lavender Gaia- Thanks! At least Hiei's not completely OOC as I thought. If only he weren't so stubborn! Grr! Anywho, I happened upon that interesting link on your Bio. What is that?
kuramafangrl4eva- Aw, but I like it! It's really humorous! Thank you for reviewing!
~*~*~*~*~Chapter 13~*~*~*~*~
Koenma rapped his pudgy, infant fingers on his desk, his face looking more sour by the second. Worry-wrinkles formed on his face as he starred haughtily at his hand. Thus far today hadn't been his day. He was suffering from an enormous headache, George had stolen the last of the creampuffs, one of his ferry girls hadn't shown up for work and to top it all off he'd just heard his favorite show had been canceled.
Yes, indeed, it was one of those days where one wonders why they even bothered getting up that morning. The toddler chewed on his pacifier as he glanced at the clock. Botan was a half hour late.
He was a gracious boss, wasn't he? He granted Botan her wish of a nice winter break. He'd been reasonable. So why then wasn't she here? He'd told her to report back today. What was so hard about that?
Gah! That girl is so infuriating! Koenma thought has he slammed his fists down on the table.
George, the blue ogre standing at a safe distance, chose this time to chide his superior, "You know, Koenma-sama, frowning causes premature wrinkles."
This was not a wise thing to say to Koenma, especially not in this foul mood. "Ogre! If I wanted your opinion I'd ask for it!"
George stepped back a little further, "Sorry, sir."
Koenma crossed his arms, "Good."
George looked at the clock, wanting Botan to come soon. He very much wanted to be out of the agitated toddler's presence. He ventured to say something else, "It isn't like Botan to be late..." He stopped and cast a wary eye at Koenma, but the prince merely continued drumming the desk with his fingers. This encouraged George and he continued, "Perhaps you ought to call her..."
Koenma ceased his drumming. "Of course I ought to call her you big oaf! That's exactly what I was about to do!"
George looked stunned, "Yes, Koenma."
Koenma glared at his blue servant before dialing Botan's number on the key-pad on his desk. A large television monitor lowered in front of him, the screen blank. There was a sound of a distant sort of ringing until at last someone answered.
"Hello?" the blankness of the screen dissipated and the clear picture showed a chocolate-haired girl holding a phone.
"Hello, Keiko."
Keiko seemed somewhat stunned at the sound of the toddler's voice at the other end and it took her a moment to answer.
"Er...Hi, Koenma. What can I do for you?" Keiko held a hand over the receiver and said something to someone else in the room before retuning the phone to her ear.
Koenma thought that perhaps the other person was Botan and smirked. He had her now.
"Is Botan there?" He couldn't help but feel somewhat triumphant.
Keiko seemed somewhat surprised by this question, "Well, no. she went to see Kurama a hour ago. She hasn't come back yet.
Koenma sighed irately. Drat. "Alright, I'll try Kurama's."
The line went dead and Keiko hung the phone up and looked at the other two occupants of the room.
Hiei was at present leaning against the wall with his arms folded, looking rather indifferent. Yusuke, who'd just arrived a little bit after Botan's departure, sat at the kitchen table scarfing down his ration of French toast.
"So, what'd Koenma want?" Yusuke asked, his mouth still full.
Keiko shrugged, "He wanted to talk to Botan."
Yusuke nodded and swallowed the remainder of the food in his mouth, then took his fork and cut a large portion of the toast off before promptly sticking the fork's prongs into the newly separated mass. He lifted his fork and as he spoke motioned with it, "What is Botan doing at Kurama's?"
Keiko jumped a little at his query, "Oh, they're probably just talking."
Hiei snorted from his corner.
Yusuke looked from Keiko to Hiei, stuck the bit of food in his mouth, and continued talking, "Okay, so what's going on here?"
Keiko waved her hands defensively, "Nothing, nothing!"
It was Yusuke's turn to snort, "Sure..."
Keiko feigned hurt, "Yusuke Urameshi, do you honestly think I'd keep anything from you?"
Yusuke grinned apologetically before returning to his breakfast. Having only one bite left he finished it off quickly. Oddly enough, the minute he swallowed the phone rang again.
Keiko answered, "Hello?"
"I just called Kurama's! There's no one home!" Koenma fumed. Keiko held the phone away from her ear in order to save her eardrums from the stressed out Rekai Prince.
After he'd vented enough steam Keiko answered, "Well...Botan said something about going to the park."
"WHY DIDN'T YOU SAY THAT IN THE FIRST PLACE!?"
Keiko squeaked fearfully and muttered a few apologies.
~*~*~*~*~
Koenma stepped out into the snow covered park in his adolescent form, wrapped securely in a princely coat and scarf. George stood behind him, well hidden in a large overcoat and hat.
Koenma's eyes searched the vicinity for any signs of his blue-haired ferry girl, or the fox-demon. Neither was found and the nerves in the teenager's mind were on edge. If Botan didn't show up soon, Rekai help him, he'd fire her. Oh, yes! He'd quite enjoy that after all the stress she'd caused him as of late.
But then she'd probably cry...Then he'd feel sorry for her...And then he'd hire her back again. Koenma made a face to himself. Confounded women.
A strange scent wafted to his nose. Koenma stopped his ranting and looked about him. Searching for where the scent was strongest. The peculiar aroma told him he'd smelt it before. It was a fleeting familiarity that pulled and tugged at some repressed memory. The swirling mixture of snowdrops and lemons.
His mouth dropped so far down his pacifier teetered on his bottom lip.
Arisu.
~*~*~*~*~
Botan awoke, every single cell in her body numb with cold. She made it her goal to sit up. Her body shivering and pain searing through her head and arms she gradually lifted her upper torso from the ground and she got a good look at what she'd been sleeping on.
No wonder she's been so cold. The floor was nothing but ice. A thick cloud of her own breath drifted from her mouth. Her arms were starting to give. Laying back down on a sheet of ice not being number one on the list of things she really wanted to do, Botan pushed herself against the ice and flung herself backwards onto her bottom.
Luckily her rump was far too numb to feel the impact of the ice, but it did leave her with an unpleasant jolt. Her primary object immediately became warmth. She pulled her knees to her chest and folded her arms around them, rubbing them furiously.
It was as she did this, Botan noticed she was no longer wearing her sweatshirt. And upon further inspection found that her jeans had been replaced as well. Her familiar apparel had been exchanged with a luxuriantly adorned white kimono. Made of the finest white silk, with loops of gold thread encircling diamonds that dotted the whole of the garment.
She gaped in wonder, discovering bits of jewelry had been added everywhere. Diamond earnings clung to her earlobes, bracelets and rings covered her hands. A diamond choker had replaced her treasured peony necklace. She found this greatly distressing and would have began searching frantically for it had she had the power to move. And to top it all off was a diamond tiara balanced upon her head.
Botan groaned as she forced herself to turn around in search of signs of life. She found no one. Not a single soul. Instead her attention became drawn to a strange mirror in the center of the room.
It wasn't an ordinary mirror. It's glass didn't reflect Botan's bemused reflection, although it clearly pictured the deity.
It depicted Botan atop her oar, flying through the sky her pink kimono flapping around her. Botan gasped. It was showing her the time she'd first met Yusuke. Intrigued, Botan leaned forward for a closer look. The mirror flickered, the image changing. There was Botan again. Only this time she wore a different outfit and was swinging a bat wildly at the offending humans. It was the time when the makai flies had possessed the city! Before she could register it completely in her mind the mirror flickered again. There she was cheering the team on the sidelines of the dark tournament.
All at once the mirror skipped a considerable amount of time and portrayed the strange snow beast attacking them at the park. But in an instant the mirror changed and there the deity was standing under the mistletoe with Kurama. Botan wanted this image to stay, relishing the site of Kurama leaning toward her but never the less, the picture changed again. This time the picture remained there.
Framed in the mirror's glass was Botan and Hakuma at the coffee shop.
Hakuma! He was the reason why she was here! He'd brought her here, hadn't he? He'd brought the monster! He'd done all this! But...
What had he done with Kurama?
~*~*~*~*~
No doubt, this chapter has left you with a bunch of questions. And since I'm such a nice author, I'll ask them for you!
Where does Koenma know Arisu from?
You'll find that one out.
Who changed Botan's outfit?
I'll give you one guess.
What happened to Botan's necklace?
Um...Same thing that happened to the rest of her clothes.
Hey! That's the same mirror from Chapter 4!
That's not a question, but yes, it is.
Well, anyway, I hope to update a whole lot sooner next time. I'm finally getting onto the swing of things. Good job, Tangerine, It only took you thirteen chapters. ^_^;;; But I've finally got the balance of school and such so I've got plenty more free time! WOOT!
And it just so happened that today I was thinking about the sequel. (And whether I'd actually do one.) If I were to do one it pretty much be Hiei/Keiko with sort of Botan/Kurama on the side. But the question is: Should I really do one? Or would it be like shooting a horse that's already dead? Erm...That was an interesting simile. Moving on...
I shall begin writing Chapter 14 right....NOW!