600 REVIEW SPECIAL!!!
. . . In all honesty, it's just a cheap trick in order to buy me more time to work on the next chapter (ANOTHER MOUNTAIN! GAH!) without getting my wonderful reviewers riled up.
Shhh. Don't tell.
Hope you enjoy, and do come again.
NOTE: I don't know if it's canon or not, but in THIS story, Keiko knows about the Reikai, Yuusuke's demon blood, and all that other good stuff . . . She's just not all that comfortable with certain aspects of it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing aside from assorted stuffed animals and a set of floppy disks . . . and this plot. But that's all!
- : - : - 600 REVIEW SPECIAL -or- HE'S GONE!?!? - : - : -
Botan was having a rather good day, all things considered.
There was very little work for her to do. The perpetual wars in southeast Asia had died down momentarily and her fellow ferry girls were handling the light loads rather well without her. Children were actually looking both ways before crossing the streets. Gangsters had seemingly decided to take a day off from drive-bys and mugging and do something constructive instead, like painting graffiti. People either weren't drinking or they weren't driving, but whatever they WERE doing, drunk-driver deaths were down over seventy-percent.
In short, Botan now found herself in possession of her first day off since the golden years of the Pax Romana --even though THAT vacation had come about as a result of threatening bodily harm to her vertically-challenged employer by use of her oar.
Normally, with a day to herself, she would have visited Yuusuke. Interesting things always happened around him, after all, and she was looking for something exciting to do on her day off.
Sadly, though, Yuusuke was now in the US of A, and Koenma had given her VERY specific orders to STAY AWAY. They couldn't risk jeopardizing the Tantei's cover by suddenly having the Grim Reaper show up riding sidesaddle on her trusty oar.
Her second choice would have been Kurama's company --for the same reasons as Yuusuke-- but visiting him was taboo as well --again, for the reasons as previously stated.
Hiei . . . well, she wouldn't have visited him anyway. What with her status as the Grim Reaper, it would probably have been rather difficult for the little fire-demon to strike her a mortal blow, but she highly doubted that the mere technicality of her immortal life would stop the sadistic Jaganshi from making the encounter a very memorable --I.e. excruciating-- experience.
That left Kuwabara, Yukina, Genkai, or Keiko.
Kuwabara . . . no, thanks. He would either be enjoying his newly acquired status of Number One Bad-Ass currently attending Sara Yashiki High School . . . or he would prattle on about Yukina until the cows came home --not that Botan knew what that meant, but it was an interesting expression nonetheless.
Yukina was busy tending to Atsuko. The pair had forged a sort of Mother- Daughter relationship within the first few days, and Atsuko's wasn't drinking QUITE as much. Botan didn't want to mess with whatever bonds the two might be building, and so the STAY AWAY law applied to them as well.
Genkai probably wouldn't enjoy having Botan show up uninvited. The aged martial artist enjoyed her privacy greatly --although she seemed to make an exception for Yuusuke's large, blue phoenix, Puu . . . probably because he didn't speak and because (Botan suspected) the great bundle of feathers reminded the old woman of her student-- and Botan knew that her boisterous, ceaselessly cheerful nature tended to rub Genkai the wrong way.
That left Keiko.
Botan hovered for several more moments above the vast, cluttered landscape of Tokyo, watching the sunlight gleaming upon the windows of the many tall buildings, before turning her oar toward the section of town she knew held Keiko's house.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Keiko's eyes shone with worry as she pressed the telephone closer to her ear. "Are you sure? Absolutely? . . . I see." She sighed softly, her eyes darkening with disappointment. "Yes, sir . . . I understand. Thank you . . . You WILL call if you find out anything, won't you? . . . Thank you . . . Goodbye."
She settled the handset back into the cradle gently before lowering herself onto her bed slowly. She propped her elbows upon her knees and cradled her chin in her hands.
"Yuusuke . . ."
"Keiko! Keiko-chaaaaan! Can you hear me?"
Keiko started violently. "Botan?"
She craned her neck toward the lone window of her room, and sure enough, there was the Grim Reaper herself, pink kimono and all, hanging in midair whilst mounted upon her trusty oar. Wind whipped fiercely at the violet- eyed young woman's clothes and hair, and every now and then her oar would lurch from the fierce winds.
"BOTAN!"
As swiftly as she was able, Keiko crossed the floor and unlatched the window, allowing Botan to dart into the relative safety of the room. Within moments, the young immortal had hopped daintily onto the carpet, her oar disappearing in a small flash of light.
"Thank you! It was getting SO windy . . ." Botan was smiling her normal, sunny smile, until she turned and saw the unhappy look upon Keiko's face. "Hey, now, Keiko-chan, why so glum?"
"It's Yuusuke!" Keiko blurted suddenly, sounding distressed. "He's disappeared! I'm so worried, no one's seen him, and whenever I try to call his mom, she says something about him being transferred to another school! Kuwabara doesn't know a thing, and the principal hasn't seen him. Kurama's not home, and kami knows where Hiei is . . . I tried to reach you, but I never knew how to find you! I'm so worried! What if a demon---"
"Whoa!" Botan held up her hands as though to fend off an attack, smiling. "Wait up, now, Keiko, don't be such a worrywart! He's fine. He's just off on a mission."
Keiko broke off in mid-sentence, going still. "A . . . mission?"
"Well, yes, you silly thing. Kurama and Hiei as well. Where else would they be? As if any demon nowadays could hold a candle to our Yuusuke! Honestly!" She laughed lightly.
Keiko's eyes narrowed. "You knew?"
"Why, yes."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I thought that you KNEW. Or at least that you would deduce what had happened. Seriously, Keiko, you're far too grim. I'm Death incarnate and I'm less tense than you are!"
Keiko's right eye twitched minutely. "Did Koenma arrange all of this?"
"Of course!"
"Botan . . . Would you mind giving me a ride to Reikai?"
Botan blinked. "Well, I'm technically on VACATION right now . . ."
"I won't be ten minutes, I promise. Please?"
"Ah . . . Oh, I suppose ten minutes can't hurt . . ."
- : - : - : - : - : -
Koenma, son of the Mighty Lord Enma, one of the most powerful beings to be found in Makai, Reikai, AND Ningenkai, huddled in his seat, doing his best to disappear . . . or at least burrow himself into the thick cushions of his chair so that he would be hidden from sight.
The list of things able to make him fear for his life was relatively short.
An Extremely Pissed-Off Keiko Ukimura was the most recent addition to that list . . . and currently ranked as Number One.
"---GONE!? ONE A *MISSION*!? I WORRY MY HEART OUT FOR A *WEEK* TO HAVE BOTAN SHOW UP AT MY HOUSE AND TELL ME THAT HE'S *GONE* ON A STUPID *MISSION* AND NO ONE *TOLD* *ME*!? WHAT KIND OF GOD ARE YOU, YOU BRAT? AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE OMNISCIENT OR SOMETHING? DIDN'T IT EVER CROSS YOUR LONE, INFANTILE BRAINCELL THAT HIS *GIRLFRIEND* MIGHT WANT TO *KNOW* WHERE HE WENT!?"
He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut against Keiko's scorching glare. If looks could kill . . . forget immortality, he'd be crossing the Styx before he could say 'gomen.'
Botan leaned against a wall on the far side of the room, watching with interest. She had thought that she knew the extent of Keiko's vocal volume, but she had apparently underestimated the human girl. All ogres that she could see passing by the office had small plugs of paper crammed into their ears as a safeguard, and they STILL winced when Keiko's voice reached new highs.
"YOU LITTLE, PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR AN INFANT! I HOPE YOU GET THE WORST CASE OF DIAPER RASH EVER SEEN! IF YOU HAD EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIF OF COMMON SENSE, YOU WOULD *KNOW* TO THINK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S FEELINGS! YOU PULING, DISGUSTING WASTE OF BREATH! YOU RUNTY, WHINING, MORONIC---"
Botan's eyes widened with surprise as the girl proceeded to 'tear into' the infantile god.
Where had Keiko learned such language? It COULD be a side effect of spending so much time with Yuusuke . . . but STILL.
The Grim Reaper snapped her fingers and deftly caught the small wristwatch that materialized out of thin air. She glanced at the time.
So much for her vacation.
- : - : - HOPE YOU ENJOYED! LATER, MINNA-SAN! - : - : -
. . . In all honesty, it's just a cheap trick in order to buy me more time to work on the next chapter (ANOTHER MOUNTAIN! GAH!) without getting my wonderful reviewers riled up.
Shhh. Don't tell.
Hope you enjoy, and do come again.
NOTE: I don't know if it's canon or not, but in THIS story, Keiko knows about the Reikai, Yuusuke's demon blood, and all that other good stuff . . . She's just not all that comfortable with certain aspects of it.
Disclaimer: I own nothing aside from assorted stuffed animals and a set of floppy disks . . . and this plot. But that's all!
- : - : - 600 REVIEW SPECIAL -or- HE'S GONE!?!? - : - : -
Botan was having a rather good day, all things considered.
There was very little work for her to do. The perpetual wars in southeast Asia had died down momentarily and her fellow ferry girls were handling the light loads rather well without her. Children were actually looking both ways before crossing the streets. Gangsters had seemingly decided to take a day off from drive-bys and mugging and do something constructive instead, like painting graffiti. People either weren't drinking or they weren't driving, but whatever they WERE doing, drunk-driver deaths were down over seventy-percent.
In short, Botan now found herself in possession of her first day off since the golden years of the Pax Romana --even though THAT vacation had come about as a result of threatening bodily harm to her vertically-challenged employer by use of her oar.
Normally, with a day to herself, she would have visited Yuusuke. Interesting things always happened around him, after all, and she was looking for something exciting to do on her day off.
Sadly, though, Yuusuke was now in the US of A, and Koenma had given her VERY specific orders to STAY AWAY. They couldn't risk jeopardizing the Tantei's cover by suddenly having the Grim Reaper show up riding sidesaddle on her trusty oar.
Her second choice would have been Kurama's company --for the same reasons as Yuusuke-- but visiting him was taboo as well --again, for the reasons as previously stated.
Hiei . . . well, she wouldn't have visited him anyway. What with her status as the Grim Reaper, it would probably have been rather difficult for the little fire-demon to strike her a mortal blow, but she highly doubted that the mere technicality of her immortal life would stop the sadistic Jaganshi from making the encounter a very memorable --I.e. excruciating-- experience.
That left Kuwabara, Yukina, Genkai, or Keiko.
Kuwabara . . . no, thanks. He would either be enjoying his newly acquired status of Number One Bad-Ass currently attending Sara Yashiki High School . . . or he would prattle on about Yukina until the cows came home --not that Botan knew what that meant, but it was an interesting expression nonetheless.
Yukina was busy tending to Atsuko. The pair had forged a sort of Mother- Daughter relationship within the first few days, and Atsuko's wasn't drinking QUITE as much. Botan didn't want to mess with whatever bonds the two might be building, and so the STAY AWAY law applied to them as well.
Genkai probably wouldn't enjoy having Botan show up uninvited. The aged martial artist enjoyed her privacy greatly --although she seemed to make an exception for Yuusuke's large, blue phoenix, Puu . . . probably because he didn't speak and because (Botan suspected) the great bundle of feathers reminded the old woman of her student-- and Botan knew that her boisterous, ceaselessly cheerful nature tended to rub Genkai the wrong way.
That left Keiko.
Botan hovered for several more moments above the vast, cluttered landscape of Tokyo, watching the sunlight gleaming upon the windows of the many tall buildings, before turning her oar toward the section of town she knew held Keiko's house.
- : - : - : - : - : -
Keiko's eyes shone with worry as she pressed the telephone closer to her ear. "Are you sure? Absolutely? . . . I see." She sighed softly, her eyes darkening with disappointment. "Yes, sir . . . I understand. Thank you . . . You WILL call if you find out anything, won't you? . . . Thank you . . . Goodbye."
She settled the handset back into the cradle gently before lowering herself onto her bed slowly. She propped her elbows upon her knees and cradled her chin in her hands.
"Yuusuke . . ."
"Keiko! Keiko-chaaaaan! Can you hear me?"
Keiko started violently. "Botan?"
She craned her neck toward the lone window of her room, and sure enough, there was the Grim Reaper herself, pink kimono and all, hanging in midair whilst mounted upon her trusty oar. Wind whipped fiercely at the violet- eyed young woman's clothes and hair, and every now and then her oar would lurch from the fierce winds.
"BOTAN!"
As swiftly as she was able, Keiko crossed the floor and unlatched the window, allowing Botan to dart into the relative safety of the room. Within moments, the young immortal had hopped daintily onto the carpet, her oar disappearing in a small flash of light.
"Thank you! It was getting SO windy . . ." Botan was smiling her normal, sunny smile, until she turned and saw the unhappy look upon Keiko's face. "Hey, now, Keiko-chan, why so glum?"
"It's Yuusuke!" Keiko blurted suddenly, sounding distressed. "He's disappeared! I'm so worried, no one's seen him, and whenever I try to call his mom, she says something about him being transferred to another school! Kuwabara doesn't know a thing, and the principal hasn't seen him. Kurama's not home, and kami knows where Hiei is . . . I tried to reach you, but I never knew how to find you! I'm so worried! What if a demon---"
"Whoa!" Botan held up her hands as though to fend off an attack, smiling. "Wait up, now, Keiko, don't be such a worrywart! He's fine. He's just off on a mission."
Keiko broke off in mid-sentence, going still. "A . . . mission?"
"Well, yes, you silly thing. Kurama and Hiei as well. Where else would they be? As if any demon nowadays could hold a candle to our Yuusuke! Honestly!" She laughed lightly.
Keiko's eyes narrowed. "You knew?"
"Why, yes."
"And you didn't tell me?"
"I thought that you KNEW. Or at least that you would deduce what had happened. Seriously, Keiko, you're far too grim. I'm Death incarnate and I'm less tense than you are!"
Keiko's right eye twitched minutely. "Did Koenma arrange all of this?"
"Of course!"
"Botan . . . Would you mind giving me a ride to Reikai?"
Botan blinked. "Well, I'm technically on VACATION right now . . ."
"I won't be ten minutes, I promise. Please?"
"Ah . . . Oh, I suppose ten minutes can't hurt . . ."
- : - : - : - : - : -
Koenma, son of the Mighty Lord Enma, one of the most powerful beings to be found in Makai, Reikai, AND Ningenkai, huddled in his seat, doing his best to disappear . . . or at least burrow himself into the thick cushions of his chair so that he would be hidden from sight.
The list of things able to make him fear for his life was relatively short.
An Extremely Pissed-Off Keiko Ukimura was the most recent addition to that list . . . and currently ranked as Number One.
"---GONE!? ONE A *MISSION*!? I WORRY MY HEART OUT FOR A *WEEK* TO HAVE BOTAN SHOW UP AT MY HOUSE AND TELL ME THAT HE'S *GONE* ON A STUPID *MISSION* AND NO ONE *TOLD* *ME*!? WHAT KIND OF GOD ARE YOU, YOU BRAT? AREN'T YOU SUPPOSED TO BE OMNISCIENT OR SOMETHING? DIDN'T IT EVER CROSS YOUR LONE, INFANTILE BRAINCELL THAT HIS *GIRLFRIEND* MIGHT WANT TO *KNOW* WHERE HE WENT!?"
He whimpered, squeezing his eyes shut against Keiko's scorching glare. If looks could kill . . . forget immortality, he'd be crossing the Styx before he could say 'gomen.'
Botan leaned against a wall on the far side of the room, watching with interest. She had thought that she knew the extent of Keiko's vocal volume, but she had apparently underestimated the human girl. All ogres that she could see passing by the office had small plugs of paper crammed into their ears as a safeguard, and they STILL winced when Keiko's voice reached new highs.
"YOU LITTLE, PATHETIC EXCUSE FOR AN INFANT! I HOPE YOU GET THE WORST CASE OF DIAPER RASH EVER SEEN! IF YOU HAD EVEN THE SLIGHTEST BIF OF COMMON SENSE, YOU WOULD *KNOW* TO THINK ABOUT OTHER PEOPLE'S FEELINGS! YOU PULING, DISGUSTING WASTE OF BREATH! YOU RUNTY, WHINING, MORONIC---"
Botan's eyes widened with surprise as the girl proceeded to 'tear into' the infantile god.
Where had Keiko learned such language? It COULD be a side effect of spending so much time with Yuusuke . . . but STILL.
The Grim Reaper snapped her fingers and deftly caught the small wristwatch that materialized out of thin air. She glanced at the time.
So much for her vacation.
- : - : - HOPE YOU ENJOYED! LATER, MINNA-SAN! - : - : -