Fear of Fire
Disclaimer - Don't own YYH.
Chapter 10 - Work
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By the time Hiei found anything of use, hours had passed. He normally stayed away from books. He wasn't a scholar or even into studying to get smart. He knew enough to get by. But that wasn't why he was here. In fact, the more that he read, the more he liked. There were so many ways to interpret things.
I had no idea that there were so many perspectives.
Different people said different things. So, since he was reading so many different books by different scholars and geniuses, he found out something more. If someone overlooked something or left it out, he just picked up another book by another person. One passage had him thinking:
To understand a dream, or nightmare, one must see it clearly in one's mind. Never skip over something as though it is unimportant. Focus on not the main part or the part one believes is important but the entire thing as a whole.
So, he could not overlook what his senses told him. The scents that went along with fire, the fire itself, the circle of fire around Botan, and the way it died when she did. He frowned. There was also the shadowed man with the twisted smirk.
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Botan woke up and wandered around. She ran into George and he grinned at her.
"Hello, Botan! How are you doing?" She smiled back.
"Fine, how are you?" He shrugged.
"Okay, I guess. Today is a busy day. We have a meeting scheduled for two this afternoon and I have to send these to the other offices." He sighed. "You have a lot of work in your office."
"Really?" A stab of fear hit her. "H-How bad is it?"
"I'm not sure but it is pretty bad. More than usual, I can tell you that." She bit her lip.
"It wouldn't hurt to do some while I'm here, I guess. Thanks for telling me." He nodded.
"No trouble. I've gotta run before we fall behind schedule. Bye!" Her fear of the stacks of paper in her office grew with each step she took.
I wonder if Hiei got done with whatever he wanted? I guess I'll go to see Koenma-sama. Maybe he knows something.
So, on her way to her office, she stopped at his. When she opened the door, the little prince was screaming at a couple of oni. He looked tired and worn out when they left. She smiled at him and he seemed to calm down when he saw her.
"Botan! Are you here with Hiei?" He asked; raising a brow. She nodded.
"I was wondering, what did he want to come here for so late?" He looked down at his desk for a moment before sighing. "To admit it, Koenma-sama, he didn't tell me anything. He snapped at me when I asked. Please tell me... I am only worried about him." Her eyes met his steadily.
"He wanted a key to the library." She gave him a confused look.
"The library? What section?" She had never known Hiei to be one to want to read. Not only that but there had to be a reason for going so late. Then there was the way he got edgy and snapped at her.
"Dream interpretation. I didn't ask questions. It was too late and that section is free to browse for anyone who is our ally. Technically, with all right, he has access to every single section." He looked over her shoulder to see the door slide open and another oni entering with a stack of papers. "Naturally, I let him go." The papers joined the other piles before the oni carried out a smaller stack of papers that were done. "I have work to do. Since he hasn't yet returned, I suggest you get some of your work done, too." She nodded thoughtfully before leaving the office. On her way to her private office, she tried to think of anything strange with the koorime.
Why so suddenly? He did seem a little off after he came back inside from the roof. But...could that have been it? Did he have a dream that he just didn't understand?
If he did, odds were that he went to Kurama first. The kitsune was smart but she doubted he would have the information the koorime would be seeking. Hiei had brains, too. He was definitely not dull-witted. Sighing, she arrived and opened the door. Inside, the piles of paper were just as bad as Koenma's. Most of them were new recruits into the ferry girl service. Reikai could never have too many ferry girls.
Since I am the leader of these girls, I shouldn't be surprised. I did do this before. It's been a while, though.
Half of the girls were practically angels.
It is no small wonder. Koenma-sama wouldn't just hire anyone. Neither would Enma-sama.
She had been chosen by Enma. Koenma had agreed after a moment of hesitation. Ever since then, all she had done was work her way up the ladder. It was only natural. She was dedicated to Reikai. As she worked, her mind drifted to Hiei. So much had been going on. So much had happened. In her opinion, too much had happened.
"Botan?" A man walked in with a single folder in his hands. "You have returned from your last job?" She stared at him in confusion for a moment before laughing.
"Oh! You mean as Yuusuke's assistant, right?" At his nod, she shook her head. "No, I'm still going on it." Her eyes went to the folder. "What is it?"
"This just came in for you. By the direct orders of Enma-sama, this was to be given directly to you." She studied him for a few minutes.
"Come and have a seat." She recognized him as one of the higher-ups. He worked under Enma. He handed it to her and she took it almost hesitantly. Nervousness managed to break through her emotional wall. Could it be bad news? She withdrew a paper from it and, as soon as she saw it, breathed a sigh of relief. "Did Enma-sama have to make me nervous? Goodness." It was a form that she had to fill out. All ferry girls had to do it every year. She grinned at him. "I'll have this done in a half-hour."
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Botan was just taking her form to the guy who brought it to her. She wandered past the library and paused to stare at the door. Then she shook her head.
What am I worried about? Hiei's fine. He can handle things on his own.
She noticed the same guy she was looking for walking toward her. He grinned when she handed him the paper.
"I told you a half-hour would be all."
"They are pretty simple, aren't they?" He turned around and went back down the hallway. Her eyes went back to the library door before she walked back to her office.
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Hiei was so engrossed in the books that he nearly forgot his purpose for being there. He had no sense of what time it was. He didn't even care. However, he was getting tired. He had crammed too much information into his head within such a little time period...at least it felt that way. Marking his page and closing the book, he stretched and got up. There were so many different kinds of dreams. His dream had to mean something. Why else would he have had it? Some dreams reflected desires, as in a dream that he wished was real.
That is simply impossible. There is no secret longing that I have that would wish her dead...
Yet, he could not say that it was completely true without lying. He did have thoughts about her dying. But he would never wish it on her now. Not after everything had finally settled down. He was thirsty and had to go to the bathroom so he decided that a break was what he needed. He went out and locked the door behind him. He was definitely going back as soon as he got everything he needed.
I need a nap. I didn't realize that I was so tired...
He needed to find his way around first.
The ferry onna will take me.
First, though, he needed to find her. After deciding that Koenma would know, the koorime set off to the little prince's office.
"Koenma."
"Hiei? Have you finished your research?" Hiei stopped when he was in front of the desk.
"No, I have more to do." He stated softly. "Where is the onna? I want to talk to her."
"She is in her office." The koorime left after getting the directions to where he was to find the room. When he opened her door and peered inside, she was filling out a form. Every drawer of her filing cabinet was open and a fresh stack of folders rested on the floor next to her. She took the paper she just finished and reached over for a small pile of five or six papers before stapling it and getting a new folder. With a black marker, she wrote something on it before standing up and putting it away. By the looks of the office, he guessed that she had a lot to do. Just seeing her made him feel sick to his stomach. The dream had to be interpreted before he lost his mind.
"Onna?" She turned around and looked at him.
"Hiei? What is it?" She asked in concern. He figured he must have looked pale or sick or something. She walked over to him. "You look like you haven't slept in days..."
"I want food, a bathroom, something to drink, and a place to sleep." He expected her to slap him upside the head for ordering her around but she only smiled.
"All right. That sounds pretty reasonable. At least you're not sick." After that, she closed her door and dragged him down the hallways.
XxXxX
When they were done with everything else, Botan showed Hiei to her room. He looked around with his arms crossed.
"Hideous." She grinned at him and shoved him toward the freshly made bed. "Onna?"
"You get some sleep. I have more stuff to do so you'll have to find your way back to the library." She pulled his cloak from his shoulders and hung it up on a small rack by the door as he sat down. "That door is the bathroom so feel free to use it." She opened the door before looking over her shoulder at him. "Sweet dreams." He watched as she turned the light off and left. He lay awake for some time before he realized that she knew he was at the library for dream interpretation. Then again, as long as she didn't know what his dream was about, he didn't care. Her scent was all over the room, in her pillows, and in the blankets. Before he closed his eyes, he heard her voice inside of his head.
"Sweet dreams."
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Botan sat at her desk after getting rid of two stacks of paper. An oni, bringing her more work, walked in and set them down. He smiled at her before taking the smaller stack that was done. She continued working before her mind had the chance to take a stroll. Her communicator suddenly went off and scared the living daylights out of her. She pulled it out and flipped it open.
"Yuusuke?" The Spirit Detective had an annoyed look on his face. "What is it?"
"Where the hell are you? Kurama told me that he knew Hiei was in Reikai but what about you?" She gave him a look before rolling her eyes.
"Oh, come on! Where do you think I am?" He glared at her. She glared right back. "I'm in Reikai. Hiei wanted me to bring him here. I have a lot of work to do so if that's all you wanted..."
"What is up with you two? Ever since that fight when he left-" She closed the communicator before angrily counting to ten. It was one thing to demand her whereabouts but it was quite another to bring something like that up. All she wanted to do was forget about the painful things that the koorime had said to her.
That was stupid, Yuusuke. Why did you have to bring that up?
She rested her forehead against her desk. Hiei had...changed after that fight. There was nothing she could think of that had caused him to suddenly snap on her. He said it had been her worry. She knew that it was something of that sort but there was something that she never understood.
"Hiei, stop being unreasonable!"
Her voice had taken on an angry tone. She felt guilty for saying something like that but it had stopped him momentarily from leaving. However, he had put his hand on the hilt of his sword. He was so angry at her...
"Will you stop it?"
He had screamed at her in his rage. His next words made her wonder. Why was he always angry at her for being concerned about him?
"Stop worrying about me all the time! I do not need you to tell me what to do! You worry too much for your own good. One of these days it is going to backfire on you."
That was quite clear. But the next part made the meaning of it shatter into thousands of tiny pieces.
"You might give someone the wrong impression."
She lifted her head and sat back in her chair. What was she going to do? All of this had to mean something. It wasn't easy getting Hiei back from Makai... What if something made him go back again? She looked down at her hands, her eyes finding the scar that was left from when she touched the razor-sharp edge of the hot, broken whistle. She remembered seeing her blood and then the image of the koorime's crimson eyes before they turned onyx.
"What is there to run from?" She asked the silent room softly. Kurama had asked him that.
"My prison!"
She blinked. Then she used one finger to trace the scar as she recalled the rest of the fight.
"What did I tell you? Stop worrying about me!"
Oh, Hiei... I can never stop worrying. You are in my thoughts a lot. Despite the fact that you tried to push me away, I felt closer to you than ever. All I can remember from my emotions was the pain. It hurt when you ran from me. It hurt when you pushed me away.
She sighed and looked at her work. She didn't really feel like doing it but it had to be done.
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That's all for now. What'll happen in 11? Guess you'll have to read that to find out, now, won't you? Drop me a review and tell me how I did, if you want.