Please see disclaimer in Chapter 1. Comprehensive author's notes will appear at the end of the final chapter. In the meantime, comments and criticism are relished. Please enjoy your reading.
"Going Gently"
By Port
Chapter 5
To say that the demon island had little to offer its visitors would be wrong. Its wilderness thrived, offering the tournament fighters plenty of exercise between matches. The fighters could hike through the forests, provided they could defeat or escape the occasional man-eater; they could swing through the trees from vines, given enough upper body strength or spirit energy; and they could swim through the riptides along the shore, so long as they made sure not to eat thirty minutes beforehand.
For the girls, however, the demon island held little in the way of amusement. The tournament matches certainly weren't amusing, especially when Team Urameshi was down there in danger. Almost as bad, though, was the time between bouts, because of the anticipation and all that worry.
"King me!" Botan squealed.
The boredom didn't help either.
Keiko turned from the window in the hotel suite, where she had been watching the ocean toss a demon from wave to wave and finally to a great white demon shark. Poor fellow hadn't been much of a swimmer.
"Have you won again, Botan?" she asked.
Botan nodded happily, but Yukina frowned. "Botan, I still have two men on the board; it's not over yet."
Keiko walked to the coffee table where they had set up their own tournament of sorts, situated in the conversation pit of the suite's large foyer, on a short table between a plump stuffed chair and the couch. Botan knelt on the couch, practically leaning over the checker board, with all but two of Yukina's pieces held in a fold of her kimono. Opposite her, Yukina sat with her legs crossed at the ankles, her hands folded near her mouth, and her eyes focused on the board. She looked up as Keiko approached.
"Where do you think I should move?"
Resisting the urge to laugh, Keiko smiled and looked at the board. Though she appeared demure and quiet—actually, she was demure and quiet—Yukina reminded her a lot of Yusuke. She never gave up.
Keiko grinned and whispered in Yukina's ear.
"Oh! Yes, I see."
"See what?" asked Botan. She craned closer to the board, and the pile of red checkers in her kimono chinked as she shifted.
"Trouble for you, I bet," said Shizuru. Somehow, the older girl had approached the conversation pit unseen. She leaned her elbows on the back of the couch, behind Botan, and exhaled a cloud of smoke. Botan stiffened.
Keiko knew trouble when she saw it. "Shizuru…."
"Shizuru," Botan said, whirling. "I thought we had agreed—" But she broke off to sneeze. "I mean—" Again, she sneezed. "Shizuru!" The next sneeze jerked her entire body, making her spill all the checkers from her lap onto the floor, where they bounced and rattled loudly before settling.
Botan looked down at them from where she sat holding her nose, wearing an expression Keiko couldn't quite call a pout. With a moan, Botan plopped facedown onto the couch.
Maybe it had been a pout, Keiko reflected.
"Um, Botan, are you all right?" Yukina asked into the sudden silence.
The three girls stared at her prone body for long moments, until Botan finally lifted her left hand above her back and made a V-for-Victory sign. Yukina and Keiko shifted their gazes to Shizuru, who soon noticed and looked back at them.
"Maybe… I should stop smoking indoors," she said, rolling her eyes. The two girls nodded, and Botan made a thumbs-up signal.
When it became clear Botan intended to remain in her position on the couch, Shizuru walked to the open window to finish her cigarette, and Yukina looked back at the checker board. She reached out and jumped two of Botan's black pieces. "Botan, please get up."
"Why?" came a muffled response.
"You need to king me."
"What!" She shot up, accidentally giving them a brief view of her underclothes, and looked hard at the board. Yukina and Keiko giggled.
"You're so competitive, Botan," Keiko teased. "You're as bad as Yusuke and Kuwabara combined."
"Now there's a scary image," Shizuru said. They all laughed again.
"It must come from working with the boys," Botan said, scooping a red piece from the floor. She kinged Yukina, then captured her other man.
"Oh," sighed Yukina. "I suppose I really am going to lose. Again." Yukina hadn't won a game yet, and they'd been competing continually for weeks.
"She does have eight more pieces than you," Shizuru said. Yukina nodded sadly, and Botan paused. She took on her professional tone of voice to say, "Actually, I think we should end this one in a draw."
Yukina blinked. "You do?"
"Yes. It wouldn't be fair to either of us if we finished. After all, you got help from Keiko, and I got bushwhacked by Shizuru."
Shizuru muttered from where she stood glaring out the window, but Botan continued.
"There's no way to know how the game would have ended without those distractions."
"I think she's right," Keiko said, taking Botan's lead. "It wouldn't be fair to either of you."
"Do you agree, Shizuru?" asked Yukina, oblivious. "Should this one count?" They were, after all, keeping a tally. Whoever won the most games by the end of the Dark Tournament won a beauty makeover from the losers.
Shizuru deeply inhaled the last of her cigarette (Keiko thought for sure she must be tasting the filter by now) and nodded. "It's fine by me. I was getting bored with the game anyway." Quite right, thought Keiko. You could only play checkers for so many days.
While Botan and Yukina worked on putting away the game pieces, she watched Shizuru standing by the window. Shizuru still hadn't exhaled that last drag.
"Are you all right?" she asked her quietly.
The older girl exhaled out the window and watched the smoke curl into the clear air. "I'm just thinking, Keiko." She seemed about to say more, then glanced into the room at Botan and Yukina. Obviously she didn't want to elaborate now. "I'm thinking checkers has lost what little charm it had in the first place," she said in a voice to be heard by everyone. "We need to find something else to do."
I wonder what has her so pensive? Keiko thought. Oh, well. It can't be too serious. I've seen her smile softly when no one's looking.
"We do seem to have mastered checkers," Botan was saying. "Well, most of us." Yukina blushed. "Does anyone know where we can find a chess set?"
"Oh, chess is a wonderful idea!" Keiko said. She skipped over to the couch and sat next to Botan. "I play it during lunch at school all the time."
Shizuru nodded. "That would be much better. I believe my little brother mentioned Kurama brought a set. Do you know how to play, Yukina?"
Keiko heard Yukina say she didn't but would try hard to learn. However, Keiko was looking at Botan, who was looking at no one.
Group dynamics could be complex. Keiko knew that from student council and her friends. Within most groups, secret relationships formed: friendships, antipathies, rivalries… romance. And if Botan's behavior around Kurama was any indication, then—Keiko was convinced—but no.
I shouldn't make wild assumptions about my friends, she thought. It's not something I would do if not for this boredom.
"Then we'll have to go ask Kurama if we may borrow it," Keiko said. She scrutinized Botan, not sure what to expect. Botan remained silent amid Yukina and Shizuru's noises of agreement, then said, "Well, if we're going to start a new game, we're going to need refreshments. I'll call room service while you three go visit Kurama's room."
Despite herself, Keiko grinned. I may be on to something, she thought. It wasn't that she was keeping count of signs that Botan had a thing for Kurama—no, it was just the boredom! She'd long since finished the homework she'd brought along, leaving her with so little to think about besides the boys' tournament.
I know I need to mind my own business, but I have so little of it to mind right now. And I wonder if Botan really does like Kurama?
The evidence seemed to indicate that was so. Or at least it had. Keiko was confused by everything she had seen take place. Three incidents stood out, though she only liked to remember two of them. The first took place during a training session Keiko had sat in on in the first week of the tournament.
Out in a clearing some ways from the stadium, Kurama was showing Kuwabara some of his fighting moves, with Hiei looking on. The black-clad fire demon leaned casually against a tree trunk and made disparaging comments in a bored tone of voice regardless, it seemed to Keiko, of how well Kuwabara was learning the moves. In another part of the clearing, Yusuke was doing push-ups. While standing on his hands. Botan, clad in jeans and suspenders and a bright yellow sweatshirt, was helping him count.
"Three hundred five, three hundred six, three hundred seven…." He wasn't even panting. Just doing one push-up after another. While standing on his hands.
"Yusuke," Botan said, "You know very well you've only done two hundred and seven push-ups."
"Oh, yeah? Prove it."
"How can I prove that?"
"No possible way, unless you've got a tape recorder on you." He froze in mid-push. "You don't, do you?"
"No…. Why would I?"
"You just always seem to have weird detective equipment on you, I guess. Four hundred fifty, four hundred fifty-one, four hundred fifty-two—hey, aaugh!" Botan tipped him using her oar. He fell down into a heap, then leaped to his feet. "What are you trying to—"
Guffaws from the other side of the small clearing cut him off, and now Yusuke turned his glare to Kuwabara. "You got something to say, goofball?"
Kuwabara grinned and pointed. "Yeah, you just got taken by a girl!" Behind them, Hiei smirked, and even Kurama fought back a grin.
"Yeah? That's still something you never managed to do in a whole lot longer trying, cheesehead. Laugh it up!"
"You want a piece of me?" Kuwabara started forward, fists clenched, but Kurama stopped him with a hand on the shoulder.
"There's time for that later," he said mildly. Then he cast a slat-eyed expression over toward Yusuke and Botan. "Besides, I don't think you'd want to expose your back to Botan. No telling what she might do."
The tension cut out as everybody but Hiei laughed. Well, everybody but Hiei and Botan. Her face turned bright red in a very becoming blush, and she looked for all the world like she wanted to respond to Kurama's tease. But in the end, she seemed to decide shy silence was a better response. The boys went back to their training (Yusuke skipping ahead to the seven-hundreds now), and Botan helped Yusuke run through the exercises Genkai had assigned. Yet for the rest of the afternoon, Botan threw tightlipped glances at Kurama's back. This behavior was what first gave Keiko the impression that Botan held strong feelings for the boy.
The second major incident occurred during a meal in the hotel's restaurant. It had been a welcome break from room service, and one of the few chances for many associated with Team Urameshi to touch base in between matches and practices. Keiko had been one of the last to place her napkin next to her plate at the end of dessert, although Yusuke had eaten far more than she. Seated on Yusuke's other side at the round table, Koenma received the check from the waiter, a purple-skinned demon with curved, sharp teeth and a long, lizard-like tongue who had nonetheless worked very hard for the tip Keiko hoped Koenma would remember. In fact, she could hear Botan whispering to Koenma now, "I think he deserves well more than twenty percent, sir."
Keiko, whose parents were restaurateurs, smiled across to Botan, who sat on Koenma's left.
"Yeah," muttered Kuwabara. "Not everybody woulda put up with this group. I wonder where he managed to find the lobster bibs."
"Especially since lobster isn't even on the menu," Shizuru added in a voice not meant to carry.
"You mean," Yukina asked, wide-eyed, "these bibs are not traditional human table clothing?" She fingered the red, plastic bib tucked into the collar of her kimono. "Then, why did Lord Koenma insist we all wear them?"
A moment passed, and nobody answered her question. All eyes turned to Koenma. The son of King Yama was bent over the check, muttering to himself and scribbling complex mathematical formulas onto a paper napkin. "Carry the two, four, now multiply the six…."
Botan coughed discreetly. "Better not to ask," she said. The others nodded and looked down at their bibs. Only Kurama, seated on the other side of Keiko, seemed to be handling the situation with unfeigned dignity. His own bib hung neatly from his shirt collar. An easygoing expression made it seem he saw nothing unusual about the incident. Keiko supposed that was a good attitude. After all, when a ruler of the Spirit World insisted on "lobster bibs for everyone!" you should probably go with the flow.
She got the impression Koenma didn't eat out much.
"Got it!" Koenma announced. He tossed his pen triumphantly into the air, where it disappeared in a small flash of light. "Now, where's my wallet?"
Beside her, Kurama jerked.
"Have you checked your pocket, Koenma sir?" This from George the ogre, who had a seat on Kurama's right at the big table. Koenma stood up and shook out his robes, then patted himself down. "Doesn't seem to be here," he murmured.
"I think he meant your magic pocket, sir," Botan offered. "Where you just put your pen?"
"Ah, yes, of course!" Koenma said, sitting down. He lifted his chest and chin regally, then snapped his fingers.
"Was something supposed to happen?" Yusuke asked. He was reclining with his arms propped behind his head.
"Hm, must not be in the magic pocket, or else it would have appeared," Koenma said, scratching his chin. "Ogre, you must have it."
"Me, sir?"
"Yes, yes, I gave it to you during the last match, so you could buy us those magazines."
"What?" Yusuke sat up quicker than if Keiko had scalded him. "The last match was our team! What were you doing buying magazines?"
Koenma's haughty response and Yusuke's loud answer drifted past Keiko's ears as she became aware of a secret exchange. To be sure, many secret exchanges were taking place between members of the group in the form of facial expressions and body language, starting with the shy glances Yukina sent to Kuwabara and the flustered grins he returned. Those were, Keiko had learned, rather typical. But the silent conversation between Kurama and Botan was not.
She tried to decipher the unspoken dialogue.
Kurama's steady, impassive gaze at Botan held all the intensity of a love letter written in the starry sky.
Botan's seemingly oblivious glance in his direction as she swung her head to look at Koenma became the first part of a double-take when she caught Kurama looking so intently at her. Her eyes widened, bravely asking a question, before her lips parted in shock, apparently finding their answer in Kurama's unblinking green depths. Blushing, she began to quiver, jaw clenched and mouth set in a tight line. Keiko saw a fist close around the handle of her dessert knife. (That, admittedly, still had Keiko puzzled.)
A quick look at Kurama showed him smiling with a bit of tooth, eyes dancing and narrow. Keiko would never have imagined the quiet boy would be so openly solicitous. She was surprised no one else had noticed his leer.
Across the table, Botan's slatted eyes glared back at Kurama, her white-knuckled grip on the dessert knife growing ever whiter.
"Botan!"
The knife clattered to the tabletop as Botan jumped. "Ah, yes, Koenma sir?"
"I just remembered. Didn't I give you my wallet for safekeeping during the meal?"
She blinked, thinking, then checked her pockets. "Ah, here it is." She pulled out a leather wallet and handed it to him. "It must have slipped my mind."
She handed it to Koenma, then turned in time to see Kurama roll his eyes. Keiko caught her proud sniff, and then got distracted by a new conversation that came up on her side of the table. Looking again when she could, Keiko saw Botan and Kurama speaking with different people, ignoring each other as if the passionate exchange had never taken place.
The final major incident still gave Keiko chills. And not soft, day-dreamy ones, either. It had taken place early in the evening, before ten o'clock, three weeks ago. That was a creepy part, that the halls had not been safe even so early in the night. Nonetheless, the girls had gotten into the habit of taking a brief stroll before going to bed, to stretch their legs and clear their heads, as well as to get out of the cramped confines of their suites.
Tonight, though, Shizuru had begged off, preferring her cigarettes and the sound of the surf from the window. She did that sometimes. Yukina had gone straight to bed, lulled by the sound of the waves. Keiko decided each was dealing with the fighting in her own way; she herself had succumbed to a restless energy that sent her walking through the halls at every chance or else fidgeting in her seat. Only Botan did not seem affected. While not indifferent to the struggles in the ring, the girl never appeared to lose her cheerful demeanor.
She was only too happy to walk with Keiko that night, alone.
The hotel had two dozen rooms on each floor, providing ample distance to walk. Soft, well-worn, tannish carpeting ran wall to wall, complementing a ruddy wallpaper, which Keiko had never looked closely at. Sconces set two doors apart from each other held bright light bulbs that created a soft glow for a four-foot radius and didn't help hardly at all after that. Keiko had accustomed herself to the shadows early on; it didn't occur to her to be afraid of them… not when the island held so much more to fear.
"You haven't been able to sit still these past few days," Botan said. "Are you feeling okay?" She held her oar over her right shoulder, the way she had her bat that horrible day at the school, when they'd been attacked. Keiko knew now that the attackers—her teachers and principal!—had been infected and controlled by Demon World insects, and that Yusuke and the others had fought and ended the terror. But Botan had stood by her the entire time, using her bat and her wits to keep her alive until Yusuke had saved them both.
And to think she'd been jealous of Botan the first day they met! Well, she guessed even the best friendship could begin inauspiciously.
"Just a little nervous, I suppose. I wish there were something more I could do to help the team." They had reached the other side of the building and turned into a dead end. As usual, they headed toward the door at the end, intending to loop around back. In retrospect, Keiko saw what a bad idea that was, but at the time, familiarity had bred security. Maybe, too, Botan hefting her oar so easily had made her feel protected.
"Well, just keep it up," Botan said.
"You mean worrying? How will that do any good?"
Botan grinned. "Keeps you distracted during our checker games. I'm ahead now."
As she said it, they reached the end of the hall. The door there suddenly opened, and all Keiko could remember of what happened next was a dank, slimy smell, like an iguana tank, and a shadow like a large arm. It caught Botan's elbow and yanked her into the dark room. The door slammed shut.
Keiko gasped, stunned by the rapidity of what had happened. One moment, Botan was there. The next, as though she never were.
Muffled screams from inside jarred her back to reality. Without thinking, Keiko jammed her shoulder into the door, turning the handle at the same time. Locked. She tried once more anyway, thought she heard her name. Pounding wouldn't do any good. She made herself stop.
"Oh, my god, Botan! I'm getting help!"
Where was the stairwell? The boys had rooms upstairs. She didn't remember finding the stairs, but vividly recalled taking the steps two by two.
Yelling in the halls wouldn't do any good, just attract attention from more demons. Keiko didn't want that. She wanted Yusuke. Yusuke would knock down that door and save Botan.
Instead, she spotted Kurama, his red hair. He was placing an empty silver tray on the floor outside his room. Late dinner, she thought. Would the demon eat Botan?
He stood up as she careened toward him. Yusuke had a room farther down the hall. Kurama was closer, and here. He fought well too. Fast and strong, and graceful.
"You have to help!" He tensed, as though the demon were right at Keiko's back. She didn't care if it was. "Botan—it just pulled her into a room and closed the door. She's scream—"
"Take me to the room, now." He had her by the arm. Probably would have dragged her with him, but she was running. In the stairwell, she jumped the steps by the threes and fours. Kurama took them by the flight.
Finally, they reached the dead end. Keiko pointed to the door, and he sprinted ahead, not slowing down as he reached it. The poor lighting blurred her view, but she heard a crash and a slam. Guttural yelling. She slowed down, approaching cautiously, not wanting to meet the demon on its way out.
She needn't have bothered.
Furniture tumbling over made a terrible racket, then a loud crack split across the rest of the noise. Silence. When she reached the room, all Keiko could smell was roses. That and blood. The blood carried the iguana-tank stench, but the roses were quickly overpowering it.
Keiko was not familiar with the scent of blood. She knew it, though, because that's what she saw in the moonlight: a long, curving streak across the wall, like a splash. It led to behind a broken couch, where the iguana smell intensified. Keiko would not look over there.
Gingerly, she stepped farther into the room. It looked eerily identical to her own, not counting the mess. Conversation pit all overturned. Desk only fit for kindling. Wallpaper bloody and torn in some places. Everything everywhere, and not a thing in its place. But where was Botan?
Keiko trembled as she stepped back to the wall. She reached for the light switch as she realized the place was lit only with the light of the moon from a giant window. The curtains had been pulled down and lay on the floor. Kurama was a dark figure in the center of the room, with his back to her, still and solid, touched shyly by the moonlight. The dark room was silent, until Keiko turned on the light.
A sharp intake of breath from a far corner came with the light. "Botan!"
The girl had her back pressed into the wall, the palm of her left hand flat against the wallpaper as well. She looked like she wanted to climb to the ceiling. Jagged rips had wrecked her kimono and threatened her modesty. She held her kimono closed with her right hand. Blood dripped from her hair onto her face and shoulder and the floor. Botan had big, kind eyes. Now they were wider than Keiko had ever seen anyone's, seemingly frozen open as she stared at the mess behind the couch.
Kurama's fingers twitched, sending a ripple down the length of his rose whip. He glanced at Keiko, who realized she herself had frozen in shock at the sight of the bloody tableau. He turned his gaze back to Botan, who had barely moved. "Botan," he said, as if to a cornered cat. Her eyes flicked to him. "Are you—"
Her jaw quivered. "He took my oar!"
Kurama nodded, still not making any sudden movements. "That's okay. Do you know where it is?"
She shook her head, not blinking.
He nodded. Keiko watched him calmly sift through the wrecked room, looking under the overturned furniture. He found a blue kimono sash under some couch cushions, folded it in half and hung it from his shoulder. After a few minutes, he found the oar mixed in with the broken wood of the desk. He held it up, apparently examining it for damage, then used the inside of his jacket to wipe away the blood on the tip of the paddle.
Botan appeared to be biting the inside of her lip, staring at nothing, still tense against the wall. Keiko wanted to go to her, but she sensed it would make things worse.
Instead, Kurama walked slowly toward Botan, his posture oddly formal. His rose whip had vanished, and he held the oar in front of him in both hands, like an offering. Botan shook as he approached, her eyes on the oar. As he neared, he slowed and lowered his head. Botan looked up at his face. Keiko could sense the rapid beat of the girl's heart from across the room, just from the pulse of her shaking.
Finally, Kurama was near Botan. He lifted the oar a little higher, for her to take. Her right hand flinched forward, then stopped, unable to let go of the loose fabric. Instead, she used her left hand and snatched the oar away. Kurama stepped back, and in that instant, Botan hugged the oar, rose into the air upon it and became invisible.
Keiko gasped. "Where did she go?"
"Back to the Spirit World, I think," Kurama said. "She'll return when she's ready. You'd better tell me what happened."
She did, and that night Team Urameshi moved into rooms adjacent to the girls'. "It's what we should have done in the first place," Genkai said as she keyed into her new room. "The hotel provides security, but it's obviously not enough."
"We shouldn't have been walking around anyway," Keiko said. She fingered the kimono sash Kurama had handed her. She probably wouldn't give it back to Botan. Still, the sash felt heavy and solid in her hands, a comforting reminder of a friend she'd nearly lost.
"Don't beat yourself up over it, Keiko," Kuwabara said. He had his backpack slung over his shoulder, and Yusuke's in his other hand. Yusuke was still out in the dark, training. Keiko didn't look forward to having to tell him what had happened. "Just 'cause you were there didn't give that guy the right to hurt you or Botan. From now on, we'll escort you when you take a walk."
Though grateful for the new policy, Keiko doubted she and the other girls would enjoy another walk. Their suite would be all they needed from now on.
Shizuru and Yukina slept over in Keiko's room that night. Together, they discussed the attack, talking about it until Keiko finally succumbed to her own tears and was able to relieve herself of the terrible horror she'd experienced since that moment when the monster snatched Botan. The two girls comforted her. Keiko's only wish that night was for Botan to be there too, so she could benefit from their support and they could all be reassured she was okay. Though Shizuru and Yukina eventually fell into a light sleep on the big bed, Keiko lay awake until dawn, worrying about Botan.
When the sun just began to rise, someone knocked on her door. Letting the other girls sleep, Keiko climbed out of bed and went into the foyer. A look through the peephole revealed Kurama, who stood in the same clothes he'd been wearing yesterday, with his hands in his pockets. She opened the door and invited him in.
"I'm only here for a moment," he said, declining. "I thought you might want to know I've just come back from the Spirit World."
"Have you seen Botan, then? Kurama, is she all right?"
He nodded. "Yes, I saw her briefly. Koenma and George are with her. She seems much better than before. Practically back to her normal self. She said to tell you she'll be back today, and thanks for what you did."
Keiko sighed, relieved for the second time that night. The only way she could feel better now was if she actually saw Botan herself. That could wait, though. She opened her mouth to thank Kurama, but he cut her off.
"I must thank you too, Keiko. You kept a cool head and acted quickly. You probably saved Botan's life."
"No, you're the one who did that," she said, appalled. Botan wouldn't have been endangered if she hadn't insisted on a walk.
Kurama shook his head and looked seriously at her with his clear, green eyes. "She is lucky to have a friend like you. Good night, Keiko."
True to Kurama's word, Botan did return that day, just before breakfast. She materialized from the air in Keiko's room just as Keiko was tying her shoe, and she looked as if nothing had happened. Instead of her kimono, she wore jeans and a long-sleeved t-shirt, and her hair was brushed neatly and pulled back. Fresh-smelling and clean, she appeared completely unharmed, as luminous as ever. That had not been the case the previous night, but Keiko didn't ask. It didn't matter. Botan was all right.
They talked quietly for ten minutes in the late dawn light, opening up to each other about what had happened, each assuring herself the other would be well. Keiko begged for Botan's forgiveness, even after the other girl insisted she had done nothing to need it. Seeing, though, that Keiko did need it in her own mind, Botan finally acquiesced. She added with a wink, "Just see that it doesn't happen again!" and finally Keiko felt her guilt lift.
They were about to meet Shizuru and Yukina in the foyer of the suite when they heard an outer door swing open and bang shut. Both winced before smiling sheepishly at each other, remembering the incident. Then Yusuke's voice, angry, called out Keiko's name. Quickly, Botan hooked her arm around Keiko's and pulled her out of the bedroom, into the living area, just in time to see Yukina and Shizuru run out of their own bedrooms. When the other two saw Botan, it was over. Botan was surrounded, Yusuke left standing in the center of the room in the early sun, not sure what to make of the chattering, laughing cluster of girls.
Keiko saw him finally close his mouth and stick his hands in his pockets. She was about to call over to him when he half-smiled. She followed his gaze over to Botan, who winked at him over Yukina's shoulder. Looking back at Yusuke now, Keiko saw he had switched his gaze to her. He nudged his head in the direction of the door, and she walked with him into the hall. It was good to see him now.
All the boys attended breakfast with the girls, an unusual occurrence, and one that did not repeat itself often in the weeks that followed, as the scare from the incident wound down. Even Hiei came to breakfast that morning. Keiko sensed tension from the short fire demon (a real fire demon!—though he appeared so human) and even for some reason imagined a protective concern radiating from him to Yukina. She wondered about that, about why he would be more concerned today about Yukina than Botan, to whom he paid no attention. Maybe Kazuma was right to be jealous.
Happy now to have such shallow thoughts, Keiko glanced from Botan to Kurama. They sat at opposite sides of the table, each following the dominant conversation without joining in and without looking at each other. Both seemed to be enjoying themselves, though, so Keiko really couldn't tell if their behavior hinted at something more… or at something less.
The days passed, marked by a series of tournament bouts. Somehow, the boys managed to pull through, though often only just. As the matches intensified, the boys pulled away from offers of company, withdrawing into privacy. The girls let them go, since they needed to concentrate, and their own world in the suite also intensified. Keiko could not remember being closer to anyone in her life than she was becoming to Shizuru, Yukina and Botan.
One night, after Botan had made a trip to the Spirit World and Yukina had fallen asleep on the couch, Keiko and Shizuru sat up talking on the floor, leaning on seat cushions and covered with blankets. Shizuru had a glass of sake instead of a cigarette, and a bottle lay nearby, two-thirds full. Keiko had taken to nibbling the last chocolate bar she had left from her travel bag. Outside, a cloud moved from the moon, shooting a ray of moonlight onto the floor at Shizuru's head. Keiko sighed, smiled and leaned back.
"Keiko, honey?"
"Hmm?"
Shizuru paused, swirling the liquid in her glass. "You're probably the best person to speak to about these things."
"Me? Really?"
"Mm-hm."
"Oh. Shizuru?"
"Yeah?" Shizuru held a strand of her own hair, lacing it between three fingers.
"What things are those?"
"Boys."
"I am? What are you talking about? The only boy I know is Yusuke."
Shizuru found that funny, and Keiko blushed. "All right. You say I'm an expert." She smiled teasingly at Shizuru. "So quiz me."
A sleepy, drunken grin back, and she did. "Say you meet someone."
"Sounds promising." She giggled.
"And he saves your life."
Keiko listened closely.
"So?" Shizuru asked. "What do you think?"
"That's not really enough to go on. Maybe he did it because he's a good person."
She tsked and set down her drink on the carpet. "I don't think so."
"Why not?"
"I just… don't get that impression from him. He's… dangerous."
"All the boys are dangerous. But he's on our side."
Shizuru looked up. "Are we talking about the same guy?"
"Kurama, right? You noticed too."
"No, no. I—wait a minute, noticed what?" Now she sat up and scooched over to Keiko, dragging her blanket and nearly spilling her sake. She glanced meaningfully at Yukina sleeping on the couch and whispered, "He's not after her too, is he?"
"Yukina? No, just your brother and Hiei. But for a while I thought Botan and Kurama might… you know." Keiko could not believe what was coming out of her mouth. Good thing this was Shizuru. She could trust Shizuru, same as she could Botan and Yukina.
"Botan and Kurama? But they never talk to each other."
"I know, but—"
"I mean, really, I have never seen them speak to each other at all. She acts like he's not even there."
"Yes, but…."
"And he hardly even glances at her."
Keiko was prepared to tell her all about the two major incidents she'd recorded before the attack in the halls, the mysterious, flirty glances, but Shizuru interrupted again.
"You know, I think you may have something there. Nobody can ignore each other like that without a good reason."
Keiko hadn't thought of it that way. "Really? I just assumed that after the attack on Botan their feelings changed, and that was the end of it."
"But their feelings did change."
"Really? You could sense them?"
"Mm." She finished off her glass. "I'm not psychic for nothing, kid. But maybe I need some training or something…. I could feel their emotions coming off them in waves whenever they shared any space. Seemed pretty apparent they hated each other's guts."
Keiko had more to say on the matter of Kurama and Botan, but Shizuru's statement struck her silent. Neither girl said anything for a long time, though Shizuru did pour herself another drink. "You want some?"
"No thanks. Shizuru?"
"Yeah?"
"When we all go back home after the tournament, do you think we'll still be friends?"
A long, warm arm encircled her back. "Yeah, Keiko. I do."
Plans for the chess tournament materialized. They decided to simply add to the tally of checkers winners, and they sweetened the pot by adding a consolation prize for the loser, a framed picture of the group. In truth, all the girls would get copies of the pictures they planned to take once they got home, but the frame would make for a nice memory for Yukina, who the others figured was too far behind to catch up.
Now all they needed was the chess set. Keiko had at first thought of finding some way to get Botan to go alone to ask for it from Kurama, just in case. But after some thought, she changed her mind. Friends might gossip about each other, good-naturedly, of course, but they also looked out for each other. And Botan clearly did not want to see Kurama or ask him for anything.
"I'll stay here with you, Botan," she said. "I want to make sure you don't mess up the order again."
Botan rolled her eyes. "You're not going to let me live that down, are you?"
"Not until we figure out what that stuff was," Shizuru said, going for the door. Yukina followed, nodding. "I think it came off the demon menu," she said. "It tasted strange even to me, though."
They closed the door behind them, and Botan flipped through the menu. "Maybe I shouldn't choose random dish numbers," she murmured.
Keiko laughed, glad she hadn't sent Botan off to Kurama. She would enjoy Botan's company any chance she got.
To be continued in Chapter 6.
Author's Notes:
I'm sorry this is so late. I meant to have this done months ago, but it's been a very eventful few months. The next chapters will be more timely. We have about five more to go. (We haven't even gotten to the "mission gone awry" part yet.)
Thank you so much to the following people for your wonderful encouragement. Your comments have been fun to read, and I really appreciate your support: Kamikaze no Tenshi, ViciousKitsune, Leiko Sagatori, Ryuu Ie Mizishi, Candace, j.p., Dark Raxiel, Anichan, Sweet sorrow, PassionateAngel, animegirl007 (times two), Luci-chan6, and Volpone. (If I missed anybody, please forgive!)
Darling Chii: Botan as a Charlene can almost work. Her hair is kinda Charlene-ish. Unfortunately, her profession really isn't. Ever read Terry Pratchett? In his Disc World universe, Death has a skeletal horse named Binky.... Thanks for your comment!
DeityofRoses: To tell you the truth, I'm not sure who to root for either. I hope you still like where it's going, and thanks for the kind words!
Eun-Jung: The "Kayko" thing I'm not getting. It looks weird. But they do it on the official site, too. Maybe there's an official transliteration of the name somewhere that lets you do that, but Keiko looks better to me. Less phonetic, maybe. Meantime, I'm really glad you liked the story up to Chapter 4. I hope it still keeps your interest!