Koenma and Botan

He was stamping his name on hundreds of papers when she came. She was shifting her feet from side to side with uneasiness. He began to wonder what she was restless about. She had told him earlier that she was going to visit Ningenkai, and he wondered if she had recently gotten back. Perhaps the visit was too much for her. But she wasn't gone for too long.

So what could be wrong with her?

He ignored her for the first minute or so, busy with his paper work. It didn't really bother her. She was too busy chatting with George. Most likely trying to suppress her numerousness before telling or asking him something that she knew that he wouldn't like to hear.

He looked down at the paper he was holding before he stamped it. It was a request for one of the ferry girls to retire. According to the paper, she had been working in Reikai for about 300 years. Not very long in Reikai standards, but he let her retire. She was to go to one of the heavens and he would let her rest. The next paper that he saw was a request from someone who had just recently died and wanted to be reborn. He denied that and then he looked up from his work. George had just left the office.

It was just him and her.

"Koenma, are you busy? I'd like to speak to you for a moment," she said.

He cleared his desk of some of the paper work that was already done. "How was your trip Botan?"

"It was good." Some of her uneasiness was visibly removed. "Keiko said that she wants to hold a reunion party in three months. Everyone is going to be there. Including Hiei." He noticed a slight change in her voice at the mentioning of Hiei's name. "She also would like you to be there as well, Koenma."

"In three months?" he checked his computer to make sure that he had some free time in three months. He didn't. But he would make some room. He deleted some plans he had made and added in the reunion party.

"Done. Anything else?"

She started to fidget with discomfort again. "Yes. There is one more thing that you should know. And one request that I would like to make."

A request? People usually asked for something in paper and then sent it to him. He raised one of his eyebrows. This was catching his interest.

"What is it?" he couldn't hide his curiosity in his voice.

"Hiei… ano, Hiei asked if he… Hiei asked to court me," she said slowly.

He heaved back in his chair from when he leaned forward when she was slowly telling him this news. He looked up to her face and he saw the worry there. Hell, he was worried too. His heart twisted. He didn't let it show. The news was something new and unexpected. It could also be dangerous.

"What was your reply?" he asked carefully.

"I didn't get the chance to answer him. He told me to think about it first."

He relaxed. But not completely. "What is your decision?"

She didn't answer right away. When she did, however, he felt his heart stop.

"I've decided to agree to his offer," her eyes were set. But he saw the flicker of uncertainty there. He knew that she had thought long and hard about this. Now that she had made a decision, she would not go back. He wouldn't stop her.

"You do know what may happen in the end?" he asked, just to make sure that she knew what she was getting into.

"Hai. Kurama told me all about it. I'm not sure what to expect exactly, but at least I have the basic idea of what to do," she said.

So, Kurama was the one to tell her all about demon courting. He always wondered where the kitsune's feelings laid. He wasn't exactly sure, but he had a guess as to whom Kurama loved.

"Good." His voice hid what he felt. There was so much he wanted to say to her. He kept his mouth closed, so the words would stay out of reach of her ears.

"I suppose your request then is to stay in Ningenkai during the duration of your courting?"

"Hai," she said this quietly and lowered her head. She knew what was to come out of this.

"Your request is granted," he swallowed hard. "You may continue to have full use of the human body that I gave you from before. You may also have a vacation from now to the reunion in Ningenkai. I'm sure that you know the consequences of this request."

"Hai," she said again. "I'll make sure to get plenty of resting time."

Resting time. Right. He knew that she wouldn't get a sufficient amount of "resting time" to satisfy her soul while she will be in Ningkai for that long period of time. She may even go more than a week without resting. But Botan wasn't dumb. She knew when to do things and when not to.

"Where do you plan on staying?"

"At Genkai's. She said that I may stay there for as long as I liked," she seemed to have everything planned out already.

They stayed silent for a while. Each in their own thoughts. There was something weighing heavily in his mind. He had to ask. "Do you love him?"

Her eyes darkened a bit out of her ambiguity to really answer. "I don't know. I don't think so. But maybe, I could grow to love him. I don't think that he loves me either. Maybe we'll grow to love each other. Maybe we won't. There's always the possibility."

"Yes, the possibility," he repeated softly. "Is there anything else that you would like to say to me?"

"Iie," she shook her head.

"Okay. You may go. Don't forget to tell Miyax that you won't be working for about three months," he said, indicating the Head Ferry Girl of Reikai.

"Hai. Ja ne Koenma," she went out of his office.

"Ja," he called after her.

Maybe it would be worth it for her. Maybe she'll find true love with Hiei. Maybe she'll end up happy. Maybe his heart could stop beating out sadness over the losing of a loved one. The possibilities were endless.

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AN: Woot woot! I updated the next day! I guess that you all know why, it's very short. But at least I updated soon. I felt that this chapter needed to be out. I won't say why. But I can say this, Koenma thinks that Kurama loves Hiei!

Pen Against Sword – I'm really sorry that I couldn't e-mail you this chapter. I have a very good reason for it. My computer wouldn't let me send e-mails to anyone. I have to call my internet provider tomorrow so that they could fix it. And because of this problem, I can't look at the e-mails that I've received either. So I'm really sorry. Hopefully that this problem will be fix soon and I could e-mail you the next chapter. Again, I'm so sorry. And you were right, it is Reikai. I didn't notice. Opps. Thanks for pointing that out to me.

Oh yeah, Pen Against Sword is my new beta! (hugs Pen Against Sword tight)