Musical Espionage
Disclaimer: I do not own YYH and its characters being as they belong to Yoshihiro Togashi. Nor do I own the song "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam because that's owned by the band Pearl Jam. The only things I do own in this story are my OCs, Jasmine and Christine.
Chapter 3:Forgiving an Old Friend
He looked around and looked at himself. Seeing his smaller, toddler like hands, he realized he wasn't in his adult form like has been for the last two to three weeks. Why was he back in this degrading form and where the hell was he? Koenma looked around and realized he was staring at a group of small young gods like himself all sitting, row by row in wooden desks. Seeing two familiar faces, Kotennyo who was sitting in the back chatting away with some of her friends and Koashura who was shooting rubber bands at her.
Koenma then realized he was back in Spirit World Kindergarten and then a woman's voice spoke up, "Good morning class."
All the childlike gods settled down and replied, "Good morning, Miss Periwinkle"
"Miss Periwinkle?" Koenma asked himself in his head and looked over to his right side and saw a female red ogre with jet black hair and beetle black eyes and was wearing a brown loin cloth with a matching bra top who Koenma realized was his old teacher.
Miss Periwinkle spoke again, "Class, we have a new student joining us. He has never been to a real school because he was homeschooled in the palace. Class, please meet Prince Koenma, the son of the great King Yama."
She looked over to the young prince, "Introduce yourself, your highness."
Koenma couldn't believe this was happening, he was reliving this. The feeling of being terrified of transferring into a new school and being afraid of not fitting in with the rest of the student body, he felt that feeling of dread deep in his gut like he once did a few hundred years back. Then, out of nowhere, the scenery then changed and he was sitting in the cafeteria at a table all by himself because, nobody wanted to sit with him. Well, except for one.
"Hi" said a voice behind him.
Koenma turned around and his mouth seemed to move without his control when he spoke without intending to, "Hi."
The little redheaded god spoke to him, "I'm Koashura, can I sit with you?"
The prince nodded, "Sure."
As the two little gods started talking and getting to know each other, Koenma remembered the wonderful feeling of having his very first best friend who wasn't a servant or someone who worked for the royal family. The scenery began to change again and Koenma was singing a song that he wrote about how he wished he knew his dead mother while Koashura played his acoustic guitar, his enchanting voice rang out all over the school's concert hall and applause could be heard once the performance ended.
The scenery had changed once again with Koashura yelling at him, "How dare you take Kotennyo away from me! She doesn't even like you like that!"
"You're just jealous that she picked me over you."
"She doesn't even like you-like you. She just likes you."
Koenma pushed Koashura, "Shut up. She does too."
Koashura retaliated by punching the prince in the face and knocking him to the ground, "You're full of crap. I swear, Koenma, I will get back at you one day. You never even apologized to me for breaking the present I was going to give to her. You are such a jerk. I hate you!"
Koenma grabbed the redheaded god by his ankle and pulled him to the ground and started hitting him screaming, "Why can't you be happy for me?! Kotennyo does like me and you're just jealous!"
Koashura kicked Koenma in the stomach and sent the small prince flying into a wall and summoned a bow and arrow with his spirit energy and aimed the arrow at Koenma's chest and screamed at the top of his lungs, "I'll kill you. I'll kill you!"
Before Koashura was able to shoot, a younger Jorge with more hair on his head stepped in front of his boss to protect him and viciously barked at the redheaded god, "You will do no such thing. If you do, then I swear, I will hunt you down and make you pay before the SDF would be able to arrest you. You hear me. Get the hell out of here!"
Koashura then left leaving the small prince to cower and whimper a little in fear while hiding behind his big blue ogre servant.
The scene then changed again and Koenma was onstage singing again this time about another song he wrote about his mother. While his beautiful voice projected around the concert hall, he didn't notice that Koashura quit playing his acoustic guitar or the bucket full of demon's blood sitting on stage's rafters above him. He and nobody else with the exception of Jorge saw Koashura slip backstage with some of his other classmates. Before Jorge could get onstage to warn his boss that something fishy was going on, Koenma hit the high note at the end of the song and Koashura and his other classmates tugged on the cord that held the bucket in place and dropped its contents onto the unsuspecting prince standing below it.
Demon's blood covered the small toddler like prince below. His large hat, clothes, his blue pacifier, and his face were covered in the sticky red liquid. Koenma looked at his hands and looked around. Every Spirit World inhabitant in attendance including his father (with the exception of Jorge) all started laughing at the small blood soaked prince. Koenma looked over to the side of the stage and saw Koashura and his classmates cruelly smiling, laughing, and taunting him. His large brown eyes began to well up with tears and then the prince began to cry and wail in agony before running off stage.
The scene changed again with him sitting in his bedroom in the palace cleaned up after taking a bath and putting on clean clothes and cleaning off his pacifier. He sat on his large canopy bed crying. Jorge sat down next to him and tried to comfort his weeping boss. Koenma then buried his face in Jorge's chest and cried, "Why do they hate me? I just wanted to make friends and fit in. It's not fair. It's been 215 years and they still pick on me and Koashura now hates me. Why Ogre? Why?"
Jorge rubbed Koenma's tiny back in comfort, "That's because; they all feel threatened by you. They know that you will take over once your father is gone and that scares them. They just don't like the idea of the class nerd being the one who comes up on top one day. Once you're done with that horrible place in two weeks, you won't have to see any of those little urchins ever again."
The scene then changed and Koenma was sitting on a wooden chair with his classmates sitting next to, in front of, and behind him. They were all wearing caps and gowns during a graduation ceremony. When his name was called, Koenma walked up to the stage and received his diploma and turned around and glared at all of his classmates with pure hatred and disgust in his eyes basically telling them to all go to hell in a nonverbal way.
The scene changed again and this time Koenma was tied to a stick with a lava pit behind him. He remembered this incident from over a year ago. Those feelings of dread that he might die were flooding back to him. Koashura and Garuga (Yasha) stood in front of him. Koashura had taunted him and Koenma asked, "Please, I don't know why you're torturing me."
"Don't play stupid, you know exactly why."
Koenma then had got a confused expression his face.
Koashura loudly announced, "How can you forget your brutal victory and the misery you put me through? This is my REVENGE! Hahahahaha! Who's the winner now? Hahaha!"
The scene had changed once again and he was facing a mirror and looking into the mirror he saw that he was once again in his adult form. Koenma looked around for an exit but with no such luck. He was completely surrounded by mirrors and all of the sudden he felt something wet on his feet and looked down and saw that his was standing in a puddle of water. Then for some reason, the water began to rise and the prince began to panic and tried to look for an exit as the water continued to rise. He tried to scream for help but no sound came out of his mouth.
Koenma was now completely submerged in the water. He tried to swim up to the surface but, the longer he swam, the water continued to grow darker and colder and deeper. Then, it all stopped. The water was completely gone. There was nothing but black, silence. Until he felt like he was laying on something soft and then he heard music. Koenma recognized the song. It was "Creep" by Radiohead. "Someone must be playing it on the radio", the young god thought.
Koenma then opened his eyes and felt the pain in his abdomen and winced at the sensation. He looked down and realized that he was laying on a recliner covered up with a large wool blanket and pillow under his head. He looked under the blanket and saw that he was completely topless and barefoot but, at least he still had his pants. His abdomen was completely covered in bandages.
Koenma looked around the room and realized he was in someone's apartment. Aside from the recliner that he was laying on, there was a large leather couch right next to him, a medium sized TV in front of him and the couch with a wooden coffee table in between the couch and the TV, a painting canvas on the other side of the couch, along with several electric and acoustic guitars that lined the wall. There was several college text books sitting open on the small dining room table and framed photographs hanging on the walls.
"Whose apartment is this?" the prince wondered.
Just then a short and thin young woman wearing a bathrobe with a towel wrapped around her head came walking in to set a kettle of water on the stove and Koenma instantly recognized her, "Jasmine?" he said in a groggy voice.
Jasmine turned around, gasped and put her hand on her chest, "Oh my god, you're finally awake. Kotennyo, get your ass in here!" she shouted.
Kotennyo ran in the room holding a paint brush dripping with red paint and got some on her overalls. She set her paintbrush in the empty kitchen sink and turned around and replied, "What Jasmine? What happened?"
"Our patient has finally woken up", Jasmine said as she turned her goddess friend's head around.
Kotennyo moved her head out of the human psychic's grasp, "He's not our patient, he is your patient. You have the medical knowledge."
She followed Jasmine over to Koenma's bedside, "Well, finally you woke up."
Koenma looked at both of the girls and asked them, "How did I get here? How long was I out?"
Jasmine pulled up a chair and sat next to him, "You've been asleep for about three days now."
"How did I get here?" the prince asked her.
Kotennyo sat on the couch and answered, "All three of us brought you here. If it wasn't for Koashura noticing those demons following you in the city, they would have killed you."
Koenma's brown eyes widened, "Koashura? Where is he? Where the fuck..ARGH!" he tried to get up but then he started to wail in pain from his wound.
Jasmine got up from her chair, "Oh no, Koenma, don't get up. Lay down." She then tried to get the angry and frightened prince to lie down but, he tried to shove her away from him.
"No, where the hell is he, I'm going to…AHHHHHHH! I'M GOING TO KICK HIS ASS!"
Struggling with Koenma, the young psychic tried to calm her new friend down, "Koenma, Koenma, calm down. Lay down, you're going to make yourself worse. Kotennyo help me!"
The young goddess got up to help her human friend, "Goddammit Koenma, calm the fuck down. The fucking neighbors are going to hear you and probably call the cops."
Kotennyo ran over and she and Jasmine tried to gently get him to lay down on the recliner but, accidently, Koenma slapped Kotennyo on the face causing the young goddess to reel backwards from the impact of her ex-boyfriend's hand and Jasmine just stared at the two of them in shock.
She then rubbed the side of her cheek then glared at the prince and growled storming back over to the recliner, "I was trying to do this the nice way but, since the nice way ain't working, I'm now going to kick some ass."
Kotennyo's tall body began to glow with her spirit energy and she quickly zoomed behind the recliner and forcefully grabbed Koenma by grabbing his broad shoulders from behind and forcing him back down onto the recliner.
Koenma tried to get up but, the force of his ex-girlfriend's grasp was too much for him to handle and it brought back memories of how she used to overpower him in fights and in gym class back in Spirit World Kindergarten. He quit struggling knowing that it was no use to fight against her.
Jasmine just stood there for a minute and Kotennyo still glowing with her spirit energy while holding onto Koenma, looked up at Jasmine said, "Go get dressed and get your equipment to change his bandage."
Jasmine then spoke, "What about you? What if you need help?"
Kotennyo chuckled at her friend's words, "I'll be alright. I've overpowered this doofus before. He's physically weak compared to me."
The curly haired psychic nodded and she ran into her bedroom and shut the door. Koenma looked up at Kotennyo with pure anger and hatred and viciously spat, "You're such a fucking bitch. I don't know why I ever wanted to go out with you or even why I had a crush on you."
Kotennyo had enough of her ex's mouth. Still forcefully holding onto one of Koenma's shoulders, she then grabbed a fistful of his luscious brown hair and yanked his head back and the prince grunted in pain. "Let go of me, Kotennyo. You're hurting me."
"Shut up Koenma" the prince wimpered and the goddess barked, "I said shut the hell up."
Five minutes later, Jasmine walked back into the living room dressed in an Alaska sweatshirt and blue jeans carrying a plastic tub with her first aid equipment in it. She then stopped in her tracks to see her friend holding Koenma by his shoulder and his hair and noting the pained expression on his face, she then scrunched her brown eyebrows and gave Kotennyo a bit of an angry look and demanded, "Kotennyo, let him go. You don't want to cause him any more pain. We need him to recover from his current injury, not create a new one."
Kotennyo listening to reason, let go of Koenma and the young prince reached up and rubbed the sore spot on his scalp. Jasmine walked over and sat on her wooden chair and Kotennyo scooted the coffee table next to her human friend and Jasmine set the plastic tub down on it and tied her long curly hair back with a purple scrunchie.
Jasmine set down all of her supplies and grabbed two pairs of sterile blue surgical gloves and gave a set to Kotennyo and said to her friend, "Go wash your hands before putting those on."
The young goddess nodded and got up with Jasmine following her to the kitchen and both girls washed their hands and helped each other put on their gloves. They both returned to the living room putting on surgical masks.
Looking at both of the girls, Koenma couldn't help but giggle at how awkward Kotennyo looked and how adorable Jasmine was. His ex eyed him and rolled her eyes, "What the hell is so funny?"
Koenma burst out laughing, "Sorry Kotennyo, you look ridiculous….." he then doubled over in pain and groaned in agony.
Jasmine giggled seeing her friend's reaction to Koenma's words and Kotennyo raised her eyebrows at her, "I'm so sorry Kotennyo but, I'm afraid Koenma may be right."
Kotennyo rolled her eyes, "Whatever, let's just do this."
The two girls removed the wool blanket that covered the young god and Jasmine placed it on the floor. The psychic med student held out her left hand said, "Surgical scissors."
The young goddess handed her friend the surgical scissors and Jasmine put them in her right hand and began to cut Koenma's bandage with them. Koenma just sat there and watched as Jasmine un-wrapped the bandage that was wrapped around his slender waist. Kotennyo picked up the plastic tub and Jasmine put the old bandage in the tub and removed the gauze that was placed on the prince's wound and deposited it into the plastic tub.
Koenma finally got a good glimpse of what the demon assassins did to him. There was good sized deep cut just above his belly button.
"Lay back." Jasmine instructed him and the young god lay back onto the recliner.
"Povidone-iodine solution, please."
Kotennyo raised her eyebrows at her human friend's request, "The what?"
Jasmine sighed and huffed, "The brown liquid with the white lid."
Kotennyo picked up the brown antiseptic solution and handed it to the curly haired woman who then asked, "Cotton balls?"
The goddess picked up the bag of cotton balls and handed them to Jasmine, who took one out of the bag and placed the bag of cotton balls on Koenma's lap so she could have easy access to them and opened up the white lid to the povidone-iodine solution and put a couple of drops of the brown liquid onto the cotton ball.
The psychic med student handed the brown antiseptic solution to Kotennyo and said to the prince who was currently her patient, "This might sting a little bit."As she dabbed Koenma's wound with her cotton ball, Koenma winced at little bit at Jasmine's gentle touch being that his stomach wound was quite sensitive.
As she continued to tend to Koenma's wound, the young prince then asked her and Kotennyo once more, "Where is Koashura?"
Kotennyo handed her friend a fresh gauze pad when Jasmine asked her to hand her one once retrieving the bag of cotton balls when Jasmine was finished with using them, and answered, "He's currently running some errands and should be back home within the next hour or so."
Before Koenma could say anything Jasmine spoke, "Sit up and Kotennyo, hand me the fresh bandage wrap."
Koenma sat up and the goddess handed Jasmine the fresh bandage wrapping. The young psychic unwound enough of it and to where she began to wrap it around the prince's waist. Koenma began to breathe very shallow breathes with how close Jasmine was to him. Her curly hair whipped past his nose at some point and Koenma couldn't help but smell its scent. "Her hair smells like flowers. Like…roses", he thought to himself and his cheeks began to blush red.
After tying the bandage tight enough to hold down the gauze pad onto the young god's stomach, Jasmine tightly taped it down with her medical tape, removed her gloves and surgical mask, threw them into the plastic tub, freed her brown curls from her scrunchie, and she faced Koenma. He noted to himself of how close to his face she was. Jasmine was so close, close enough for him to lean over and kiss her small pink luscious lips. He wanted to and he so tempted but, he maintained his self control and didn't even attempt it. The human woman gazed into the young prince's brown eyes and she sweetly asked him, "Are you comfortable? I wasn't too rough was I?"
Koenma blushed even more and just awkwardly nodded, "Y-yes. I-I'm fine. Thank you."
Kotennyo, who was watching the scene in front of her, started to laugh at seeing how red Koenma's face was and then realized why he was blushing but, she chose not to say anything.
Jasmine smiled, "Good, I'm glad to hear that." Then the water kettle on the stove started to squeal and the young psychic turned around and looked at the kitchen and back at Koenma and asked, "Would you like some tea?"
The young god just nodded still blushing like crazy and Jasmine picked up the plastic tub that contained the used bandages and scooped up her medical equipment and walked away to the kitchen. Kotennyo took off her surgical mask and gloves, deposited them into the trash, washed her hands once again, sat down on the couch and just started giggling, "Oh my god. Oh my god."
Koenma snapped his attention to his ex, "What?"
The goddess still snickered a little and regained her composure, "You totally have the hots for Jasmine. Why didn't I see it before?"
The prince's cheeks burned a brighter shade of red and awkwardly said, "N-n-no I…I…"
Kotennyo giggled like a schoolgirl and started to say in a singsong kind of voice, "You have a crush on Jasmine. You have a crush on Jasmine."
"Shut up!"
"You so do. Koenma and Jasmine sitting in a tree, k-i-s-s-i-n-g! First comes love…"
"Kotennyo shut up!"
"Then comes the hot sex…"
"Goddammit Kotennyo!"
"Then comes marriage…"
"Kotennyo, I swear to god!"
"Then comes your heir in a baby carriage!"
Koenma reached over the side of the recliner, picked up a pillow off the couch and threw it at Kotennyo's head. The young goddess dodged it still laughing and continued with her taunting, "You want to kiss her. You want to hold her. You want to make sweet, hot, sweaty, intense, and passionate love to her…"
The young prince glared at his ex-girlfriend and snapped, "Shut the hell up! Stop it. It's not funny. My love life is none of your business and Jasmine's just my friend. That's all."
Kotennyo stopped laughing and crossed her arms across her chest and winked at her ex and replied, "Uh huh, sure you are."
"Bitch."
"Proud of it", the goddess replied winking and pointing her long index finger at him.
Jasmine returned carrying a tray with four white porcelain tea cups and a tea pot that had purple roses and violets on them along with four small spoons, sugar cubes, a bear shaped bottle of honey and some homemade chocolate chip cookies on a plate. The curly haired psychic set it down on the coffee table and shifted her attention towards Koenma.
"Okay Koenma, Kotennyo and I are going to have to have you sit up so you don't choke on your tea and cookies."
Koenma shook his head, "Thank you but, I think I can get up myself."
He then tried to lean over to adjust the recliner but, he reeled over and groaned in pain. Jasmine put her hands on her hips and sighed and shook her head, "No, let me. You're in too much pain Koenma."
"But…"
"No buts, just sit there and let Kotennyo and I help you."
"Jasmine, you don't have to…"
"Quit being stubborn!" the young woman demanded raising her voice.
Koenma quit protesting, knowing that there was no arguing with Jasmine. She and Kotennyo quickly walked over to the recliner. Jasmine stood on one side while Kotennyo was on the other. "Okay Kotennyo, you get the lever and I'll help Koenma. On the count of three; one…two…three."
Kotennyo raised the lever of the recliner as Jasmine grabbed Koenma's hand with her left and put her right arm around his shoulders. As the recliner's position was being adjusted to its sitting position, Jasmine lost her footing and landed on the prince's lap. Koenma grunted in pain as the human woman's left elbow jabbed him a little bit in the stomach.
"Oh my god! Koenma, I'm so sorry, are you okay?" she asked him in concern.
Koenma cleared his throat, "Yes, I'm just fine. You didn't…"
Still having her arm wrapped around Koenma's shoulders, Jasmine looked up and she and Koenma gazed into each other's eyes. With being as close as they were to each other, both Koenma and Jasmine began to breathe incredibly shallow and deep. Seeing this, Kotennyo cleared her throat and her human friend and her ex-boyfriend both snapped back to reality and Jasmine quickly scrambled off of the blushing prince with her own cheeks flushed with red.
She then began to pour the tea into two teacups and handed the teapot to Kotennyo so she can pour her own. Then suddenly, "Oh dear, I almost forgot. Sorry, Koenma."
Jasmine then came back to Koenma and put her hands on his bandaged wound and her hands began to glow with her spirit energy. The young prince just sat there speechless until he found his voice, "So, it was you who kept me from bleeding to death?"
Jasmine nodded and looked back up at Koenma, "Yes and it was Kotennyo and Koashura that carried you here. I couldn't seeing as how I had to apply pressure and use my spirit energy to keep you from losing too much blood."
Kotennyo sat on the couch eating a cookie and took a sip from her tea, "Yep and those demons didn't know what hit them. Koashura surprised them with his arrows; I stabbed the first one so Jasmine could decapitate him."
The young psychic's hands quit glowing and she removed them, "There, that should fight off the pain for a while."
Koenma looked at his stomach and back up at Jasmine and asked, "I thought you were healing it?"
Jasmine giggled and shook her head, "Not quite. I am still honing the art of healing with spirit energy. I still have a whole lot more practice to go with it. Give it another few years and I'll master it."
Before Koenma could respond, a buzzing sound could be heard from the intercom next to the apartment's door. Kotennyo got up, put her teacup on the table, and walked up to the intercom and pressed the button, "Yes?"
A voice could be heard on the other line, "Hey beautiful, it's me. I'm back and I have a ton of groceries."
The young goddess pressed the intercom's button again, "Okay, hold on and I'll buzz you up."
Kotennyo pressed a second button on the intercom to let Koashura in and he responded, "Thanks, I'll be right up. I love you."
"I love you too."
Koenma eyed his ex-girlfriend curiously and he asked, "So, are you and Koashura a couple now?"
Kotennyo turned around and nodded, "Yep, you bet."
Then there was a knock on the door and the goddess unlocked it and opened it to let her boyfriend in. A grown up Koashura walked in. He was just as Koenma had remembered him except he was taller, his pointed ears were hidden beneath the hat he wore to cover them up in public, Koenma could see that his right ear was pierced with a hoop earring and his red hair was longer. Koashura, despite lugging in several bags of groceries, knelt down and gave Kotennyo a quick and loving kiss.
After breaking the kiss, Kotennyo then offered, "Here sweetheart, let me help you." The young goddess grabbed about three of the many grocery bags that the redheaded god held in his hands.
Koashura shut and locked the apartment door behind him, "Thanks Kotennyo, you're always a big help."
They both walked, carrying the bags of groceries into the kitchen and Kotennyo asked her boyfriend, "So, how was everything today?"
The redheaded god set the groceries down on the kitchen counter and replied, "Great, got a lot accomplished. Hey Jaz, I paid all the bills so, you don't have to worry and just focus on studying for your anatomy test."
Jasmine handed Koenma a cookie and his teacup that was full of hot tea, "Thank you Koashura. You didn't have to; I was going to do it. It was suppose to be my turn this month. What did you pick up at the store?"
"Lots of things," he replied, "like the stuff we needed like bread, milk, eggs, Kotennyo's barbecue potato chips that she loves so much, turkey so, we can have turkey sandwiches for lunch, oh and your spicy cheese crackers. There was only one box left."
Jasmine sat on the side of the couch next to the recliner Koenma was sitting on and sipped on her tea, "Thank you and Koashura, if you want some, just ask and don't eat the whole box this time."
Koenma chuckled, "Still a pig as always, huh? Some things never change."
Hearing Koenma's voice, Koashura handed Kotennyo a bag of fresh red apples that she then put away in the refrigerator and the redhead walked into the living room, took off his hat, put it down on the dining room table, turned around and just looked at Koenma. His red eyes widened seeing his former friend and classmate awake. The two young gods just stared at each other without saying anything.
Koashura then just slowly walked into the living room and broke the awkward silence by finally saying something, "I see you made some tea and cookies. Thanks Jasmine."
He then sat down on the couch and poured himself a cup of tea and opened up the bear shaped honey container and squeezed a small bit of honey into his tea and mixed the two substances together with one of the small spoons sitting on the tray and taking a few sips. After putting away the remainder of the groceries, Kotennyo walked back into the living room, feeling the tension, she just silently sat down on the couch next to her boyfriend.
Both Jasmine and Kotennyo felt the heavy tension between Koenma and Koashura. They both waited for either one of the boys to say something to each other. Sick of feeling Koenma's heavy angry stares on him, Koashura quit sipping on his tea and put his teacup down and looked at his former friend, "Look Koenma, I know that you're still pissed at me for all of the shitty things I did to you…"
The young prince narrowed his brown eyes, "Pissed…PISSED! I'm more than pissed off at you, Koashura."
"Koenma listen…"
"No, you listen. You made my life a living hell all because, I went out with Kotennyo. First, we had that fist fight and you would have killed me with your arrows if Jorge didn't step in, then what you did to me during our final performance together and I wound up having stage fright from it for the last five hundred years and if it wasn't for Jorge forcing me to sing at the Dark Tournament, I would still probably would not have gotten over it. Oh, and who can forget the time you kidnapped me, tied me to a stick that was on that crumbling ledge in the Valley of Magma and held me for ransom to obtain my father's golden seal. If Yusuke didn't show up, you would have succeeded in killing me. Also, I wound up getting 10,000 spankings for that and that incident wasn't my fault." Koenma angrily spat in pure hate, anger, and disgust for his former friend.
Koashura's hand began to shake, rattling Jasmine's teacup, "Koenma, I'm…"
"Don't try and talk your way out of this one."
Having enough of Koenma yelling at him, the redheaded god slammed the teacup down on the coffee table which in turn, Jasmine turned around and raised her voice at him, "Hey be careful with those. How many times do I have to tell you to be gentle with my tea set? My grandmother made those! Just because, you and Koenma have this big beef against each other, doesn't mean you can take it out on my belongings!"
Koashura stood up and put his hand on his head and grabbed fistful of his long red hair, "Jasmine, I'm sorry but, I have just about had it with Koenma's bullshit."
Koenma stood up from the recliner and winced a little bit from his stomach wound, "My bullshit? MY BULLSHIT!? WHAT ABOUT YOU?"
"What about me!? Well, what about you!"
Koenma balled up his fists wanting to punch the redhead in the face but, he maintained his self control and didn't do it but, continued to yell instead, "Fuck you! This entire thing is your fault!"
Koashura then stomped over to Koenma and then got up in the prince's face, "My fault? MY FAULT? You were also the cause of this too. You were the one who started this by jumping on me and breaking the present I was going to give to Kotennyo, which by the way, you never even apologized for!"
Koenma just glared at the redhead with pure rage, "Don't you bring that up."
Koashura then shoved Koenma's shoulder, "I have every right to, you ungrateful piece of shit."
Koenma shoved him back, "Don't you call me ungrateful, you son of a bitch."
Seeing that a fight was going to break out, Kotennyo and Jasmine looked at each other and the young goddess suggested, "You get royal dumbass, I'll grab my dumbass."
The curly haired psychic nodded, "Right behind you."
Both girls began to glow with their spirit energy and they both quickly ran over to the two gods were ready to kill each other. Kotennyo came up behind her boyfriend, grabbed him by wrapping her left arm around him and her right hand grabbed his long red locks. Koashura yelped from the pain that his girlfriend was inflicting on his scalp. Jasmine also came up behind Koenma and wrapped her arms around his broad shoulders and tried to gently wrestle him to the ground.
Koenma tried to struggle against the small woman's grasp but, she still managed to get him on the ground. The young prince tried to get up but Jasmine straddled him and pinned his arms above his head. He then blushed from the kinky position that they were in and looking up at Jasmine, he began to breathe heavily.
Still having a strong grip on her boyfriend Kotennyo spoke up, "Enough, both of you. You both need to settle down."
"Yes, you guys are going to upset the neighbors and have them call the cops on us. Do you guys want that to happen?"
"No, of course not," Koashura said still groaning in the pain of Kotennyo's grasp on his scalp.
"I don't want that either", Koenma responded with Jasmine still on top of him.
Kotennyo let Koashura go and he then turned to walk out of the living room to his bedroom saying, "I helped save your life, Koenma. At least you should be grateful for that" he then slammed his bedroom door behind him.
Over the next week, Koenma and Koashura continued to either argue or ignore each other. Jasmine and Kotennyo were both getting sick of their five hundred year feud and they were fed up with it. One afternoon, Jasmine got finished with her chemistry lab and she waited outside of a classroom for Koashura to get out of his music appreciation class. Within about five minutes of Jasmine waiting, Koashura walked out of the classroom with his backpack slung over his shoulder, "Where's Kotennyo? I thought she was going to wait with you."
The redheaded god and the human psychic both walked down the university's hallway to the cafeteria, "She's running a little late. She said she had to discuss something with her art teacher."
They both entered the cafeteria and got a table right by a window after getting their food. Koashura and Jasmine both ate their chicken sandwiches in silence for about ten minutes until Kotennyo came rushing in, "Hey guys, guess what?"
Jasmine looked up at her goddess friend, "What?"
Kotennyo sat down next to her boyfriend and set her bag of her school and art supplies on the empty seat next to her, "I finally got my own art show."
Both of her friends smiled, "Congrats! I told you it was only a matter of time." Jasmine congratulated her.
Koashura kissed her on the cheek, "I'm so happy for you, babe. So which of your pieces are going to be featured?"
The young goddess took a bite from her sandwich and washed it down with her water, "My paintings and my sculptures that I have been working on for the last couple of months. I can't wait for everyone to see them. I am thinking about calling my art exhibit, "Lies and Corruption of a Heartless Tyrant""
Jasmine smiled, "That sounds awesome. I can't wait to see it. Hey, when your art show opens, we should invite a whole bunch of people."
Kotennyo grinned at her human friend's suggestion, "That sounds like an awesome idea, the more people who see my work, the better. Is there anyone you had in mind?"
Jasmine took a bite from her cookie and washed it down with her bottled water, "Yeah, like the girls from our dance aerobics class, my family, if they can make it. I'm not making any promises because, my brother is busy with his job, my sister's got her studies, and my parents are currently busy with their own lives. Oh, here's an idea, why don't we invite Koenma?"
Kotennyo nodded in agreement, "Sure, if he feels up to it."
Koashura didn't say anything, he pretended to be distracted by the food on his plate and both girls saw this and Jasmine and Kotennyo both decided enough was enough and the psychic college girl decided to say something, "Speaking of Koenma, Koashura, hey Koashura!"
Kotennyo slapped her boyfriend on the back of the head and Koashura rubbed the sore spot, "What?"
"Kotennyo and I are so sick of this feud that you two have going on."
Kotennyo nodded in agreement, "Yes, this has got to stop. It has been going on since Spirit World Kindergarten and it needs to end."
Jasmine took a sip from her water and continued on her rant, "Look, I usually don't get involved with things that don't concern me but, Kotennyo is right. You and Koenma have to finally make a menz. Yes, we know that he was a complete dick to you in destroying the present that you were going to give to Kotennyo but, the shit you did to him was far worse."
Koashura took a deep breath and replied, "He doesn't want to talk to me. Face it, Koenma hates me and I don't blame him. You and Kotennyo are right, I treated him like shit and now I am reaping the consequences for my actions and quite frankly, I deserve it."
Again, Kotennyo slapped her boyfriend on the back of the head, "Another thing, you need to quit feeling sorry for yourself. The only way the two of you will get over this whole thing is if you guys apologize and mean it! Jasmine and I are not going to do it for you, Koashura. Also, I don't like that I am the reason why you guys are fighting in the first place. The "relationship" that Koenma and I had didn't last long. I never felt that way about him and after a while he figured out that he didn't have those feelings for me either. When we both realized it, we decided to end it before one or both of us got hurt."
The young goddess took a couple more gulps of her bottled water and continued on her verbal tirade, "In Spirit World Kindergarten, you guys used to be inseparable and it really sucked that the two of you ended such a great friendship over something so stupid and so petty and to tell you the truth, I am fed up with it. I love you Koashura but, this has got to stop."
The redheaded god sighed, "Yeah but…"
Jasmine kicked him from underneath the table, "Enough excuses. You and Koenma have to make this right. You two both need to grow the hell up. You guys are over 700 years old for god sakes."
Koashura groaned from the force of Jasmine's foot on his leg, "Alright, you didn't need to kick me."
Kotennyo took another sip from her water, "Well, someone had to knock some sense into you."
Back at the apartment, Koenma woke up from his two hour nap and groaned at the pain in his abdomen. It wasn't as bad as it was from the week before but due to the severity of the wound, it still had a whole lot more healing to do. Reaching over for the lever on the recliner, the young prince put the wool blanket in his mouth and he bit down an agonizing scream as he adjusted to a sitting position.
Koenma looked at the cat clock hanging on the wall. Jasmine, Kotennyo and Koashura were to be back from the university in thirty minutes. In the meantime, he wanted to go take a shower without either one of them outside the bathroom door asking if he was okay or not. To Koenma, it made him feel as if he couldn't do anything and the animosity between him and Koashura didn't help matters.
The young god got up from the recliner and groaned in pain again and took the blanket out of his mouth. Before he could make his way over to the bathroom, he walked up to the phone and picked it up from its receiver. Koenma dialed Genkai's number. He felt really bad about not calling her for over a week to let her know where he had gone off to. The prince put the phone up to his ear and listens to the other line ring a few times until he heard Genkai's raspy voice on the other line, "Hello?"
"Hello Genkai?"
"Koenma, where the hell have you been?"
"I was attacked by two demon assassins the night Yusuke went to Demon World and I was rescued by two of my old classmates and Jasmine", he replied.
"The girl from the Dark Tournament that you always kept talking about?" Genkai asked her longtime friend relieved to finally know that he was alive.
Koenma formed a dreamy look on his face and sighed, "Yeah, that's her and she's been taking such great care of me. She's such a wonderful woman. So kind, so beautiful, so smart, funny, sexy…."
Genkai chuckled and jokingly said on the other line, "Sounds like someone's in love."
Koenma blushed and responded, "No I'm not. She's just a friend. Why does everyone keep saying that?"
Genkai shook her head still chuckling and decided to change the subject by asking him, "So, you're doing alright? Where are you at exactly?"
"I don't know, I haven't left this apartment since I was brought here. After they saved me, I blacked out and I don't remember anything else. When I do leave this apartment, I'll give you a call and tell you."
"Okay, as long as you're safe. Call me if you need me, I gotta go. Talk to you later, Koenma and thank you for letting me know that you're okay. I was about to send a search party."
Koenma chuckled at his elderly friend's words, "That wouldn't have been necessary. I'm in good hands. Bye Genkai, talk you later."
Genkai bid the prince goodbye and they both ended their phone conversation and hung up. Suddenly, there was a buzzing sound coming from the intercom and Koenma walked over and pushed the button, "Yes, who is this?"
"It's Jasmine, we're back" said Jasmine on the other side.
Koenma pressed the button to let Jasmine, Kotennyo, and Koashura in. A few moments later, Koenma unlocked the apartment door for them and all three friends stepped inside. While Kotennyo shut and locked the door behind her, Jasmine set her purse on the couch and asked the young prince, "How was your day?"
Koenma sweetly smiled at her, "Peaceful. Watched some TV, I watched a show what was it called, it has lifeguards in it."
""Baywatch"?" Koashura interjected.
"Yes, I also read some of your college text books that are sitting on the table, took a two hour nap, and called my friend, Genkai. Just to let her know I am still alive."
Jasmine smiled, "I am glad to hear you had a good day. How's your stomach?"
The young prince scratched the back of his head, "Still hurts but, not as bad like it was a week ago."
Jasmine cheerfully smiled at her friend, "That's so wonderful. You still have a lot more healing to do but, you are making such great progress. Now, Kotennyo and I are going to get ready for our dance aerobics class. Are you going to be okay out here?"
Koenma silently nodded. The curly haired psychic gave Koenma a warm smile and she and Kotennyo then walked into their bedrooms and shut their doors so they can pack their gym bags, leaving Koenma and Koashura in the living room. Koenma sat back down on the recliner while Koashura sat down on the farthest side of the couch away from his former friend. They didn't even say anything to each other but, instead just awkwardly stared.
The two gods just sat there in silence for about five minutes until the girls walked out of their bedrooms carrying their gym bags. Koenma then looked over to Jasmine and asked her, "When will you be back?"
Jasmine giggled at how cute Koenma was right now, "Kotennyo and I will be back in an hour. If you and Koashura start to get all confrontational again, just ignore each other and walk away."
"Hopefully, it won't have to come to that, right Koashura?" Kotennyo said in kind of a demanding voice to her boyfriend.
Koashura nodded, "Right, Kotennyo. I promise we won't get into another shouting match."
"Good, you better."
Jasmine opened up the apartment door and Kotennyo walked out before her and before leaving, Jasmine said to both young men, "You two behave yourselves." She then walked out and shut the door behind her. Nothing but awkward silence, Koenma just sat there and not in the mood to argue, he decided to say something to his former friend and classmate and looking at the TV remote that was sitting on the wooden coffee table, Koenma took a deep breath and asked Koashura, "Hey, what's on TV?"
Koashura looked at Koenma and shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know." He then looked at the cat clock hanging on the wall.
"Well, since it's evening, they're might be something good on", the redheaded god picked up the remote, turned on the medium sized TV set and began to flip through the channels. Seeing as there is nothing good on TV but, still wanting to break the awkwardness between them, Koenma decided that it was now or never. He took a deep breath and decided that it was time to finally apologize. But, how was he going to do it?
Koenma looked over to his former friend who was still flipping through the TV channels, who looked very bored with it. Koashura turned off the TV after going through all the channels at least five times and threw the remote back down on the coffee table.
"Koashura?"
The redheaded god looked over to the prince sitting on the recliner, "Yeah?"
Koenma looked at his hands and back up at Koashura, "I…um…I'm really sick of this."
Koashura sighed, "Please don't start. Kotennyo will have my ass if we start fighting again."
Koenma started laughing, "Really?"
The redhead nodded, "Yeah, at school today, she had this really long rant about how she's so sick of our five hundred year feud. She also said that she doesn't like how she was the reason why we ended our friendship in the first place."
Koenma tried to get up from the recliner but, he once again reeled over and groaned in agony from the pain. Seeing this, Koashura got up from his spot on the couch and walked over to the recliner and held out his hand to the young prince, "Here, let me help you."
Still hurting, Koenma looked up at Koashura and grabbed his hand. Koashura gently helped him up and let go of his hand and Koenma replied, "Thanks."
"No problem", the redhead and the prince just awkwardly stood there until Koashura thought of a good idea to help take Koenma's mind off of the pain in his stomach, "Are you hungry?"
Koenma nodded, "Yeah, why?"
"I'm thinking about ordering a pizza, does that sound good?"
Koenma smiled, "Yeah, pizza sounds great."
Koashura picked up the phone and dialed the number to the local pizzeria and ordered a large pepperoni pizza with some cheesy breadsticks and a liter of soda. About twenty minutes later, their pizza, breadsticks, and soda had arrived and both gods sat at the small dining room table eating in silence until Koenma decided to finish what he was going to say to his former friend, "Um…Koashura."
Koashura took a sip from his soda, "Yeah."
Koenma took deep breath, "I'm sorry I broke the present that you were going to give to Kotennyo. It was really stupid of me to do that and I'm sorry."
Koashura was about to take a bite from his piece of pizza but, he just looked at Koenma in pure shock. He put his pizza slice back down on his plate and replied, "I'm sorry too. I'm sorry we got into that fist fight. I'm sorry I dumped that demon's blood on you. I'm also sorry for that time I kidnapped you, held you for ransom, and tied you to that stick in the Valley of Magma. I shouldn't have overreacted like I did and did all of that horrible stuff to you. I should have been happy for you and Kotennyo back then."
Koenma shook his head, "Don't worry about it. It didn't really work out with her anyway", he took a bite from his cheesy breadstick and washed it down with his soda, "Anyway, I'm glad she's with you. Kotennyo couldn't have picked a better guy."
Koashura smiled, "Thanks man. I really appreciate it."
The young prince held out his hand and said, "Truce?"
The redheaded god smiled and nodded, "Truce."
The two gods then shook hands and filled their cups back up with soda and raised their glasses with Koashura saying, "Cheers to forgiveness and a fresh start."
Koenma smiled, "Cheers to that."
They then clanked their glasses together and took a drink. After finishing their pizza and cheesy breadsticks, the two newly reunited friends began to reminisce about the past, "Hey, remember that time when you spent the night at my house and we got in so much trouble for pranking my mom?"
Koenma laughed, "Yeah, I got 1,000 spankings from my dad when he found out. Or what about the time when we got Jorge so bad, he didn't see those water balloons full of pudding coming at all."
Koashura doubled over laughing, "Oh god that was hilarious. That ogre tried so hard to get back at us but, he never succeeded."
The redhead took another sip from his soda, "Speaking of, how is that big blue bastard?"
Koenma looked at his hands, "Having a hard time."
"How come?"
"Let's just say, ever since I disobeyed my father to protect Yusuke, everyone who was or is loyal to me is kind of taking the brunt of my dad's anger. The last time I spoke to Jorge, he passed on some information about what's been going down in Spirit World."
Koashura gave Koenma a curious looked, "What kind of stuff?"
Koenma then explained to his friend about the deal that his father made with the three kings of Demon World and how he is beginning to suspect that there may be an ulterior motive to it all.
Koashura finished off his soda, "Man, that's rough. I'm so sorry about Yusuke, Kurama, and Hiei. I never liked that old bastard. No offense Koenma, but your dad is a very sick and twisted man."
Koenma eyed the redhead with confusion, "What makes you say that? I know my father has been doing some sneaky stuff lately but, he can't be evil."
Koashura sighed, "You don't know why Kotennyo and I are here do you?"
The young prince shook his head, "No, but I remember at the Dark Tournament, she mentioned something about being kicked out of Spirit World. Koashura did something happen?"
The red haired god scratched the back of his head and took a deep breath, "Yeah, something did happen but, I don't feel ready to talk about it yet and neither does Kotennyo. If you ask her, she'll freak out."
Koenma felt genuine concern for his friend and his ex, "Why, what happened? What did my father do to her?"
Koashura bit his lip, "I don't want to talk about it. All I can say is that it was horrible. Kotennyo may be a skilled fighter but, even she couldn't handle it and I was forced to watch. I begged them not to hurt her but, instead they could do what they wanted with me. That incident left a pretty bad scar on her. Long story short, we were given an ultimatum, either leave Spirit World or face execution and we both chose to leave Spirit World."
Koenma was shocked at what had just come from Koashura's mouth and seeing the red haired god getting anxiety from it, he decided to change the subject, "You know what I miss?"
Koashura responded, "What?"
"Our act, you know when I sang and you played your guitar?"
Koashura nodded, "Yeah, I miss that too."
Then the redhead got up from his seat and said, "I'll be right back. I want to show you something."
Koenma waited while Koashura walked into his bedroom and came back with a cherry red electric guitar and its amp. He hooked up his guitar to the amp and slung the guitar's shoulder sling over his slender shoulder and asked his royal friend, "Can you turn on the radio?"
Koenma slowly got up from his chair and winced a little bit from the pain of his wound, "Sure, what for?"
"I want to show you something cool."
Koenma walked over to the radio that was sitting on the kitchen counter and turned it on. The current song that was playing on radio was "Even Flow" by Pearl Jam. Koashura turned on the guitar's amp and listens to the song for a few seconds and began to play the guitar riff of it. Exactly perfect, without sheet music.
Koenma's brown eyes widened, "Holy crap, you have a good ear."
Once the song had ended, Koashura turned off the radio and the guitar's amp and responded, "Thanks, I have been mastering this talent since graduation. It took me over two hundred years to get it down."
Koenma smiled and gave the red haired god a thumbs up, "You are awesome."
Koashura then got an idea, "Why don't I do it again but, how about you sing with me? You know, just like the old days but, better?"
The young prince thought about it for a minute and replied, "Sure, what song do you have in mind?"
Koashura turned the amp back on, "The one I just did. Do you know the lyrics?"
Koenma nodded, "Sure, I do."
Koashura smiled, "Okay, on the count of three…one…two…three."
The red haired god began the guitar's riff and Koenma powerfully belted out:
Freezin', rests his head on a pillow made of concrete again
Oh, feelin' maybe he'll see a little better set a days, oh yeah
Oh, hand out faces that he sees time again ain't that familiar, ah
Oh, dark grin he can't help when he's happy he looks insane, hey
Koashura began to bob his head to the rhythm as he went into the next part of the riff and Koenma sang out the first chorus:
Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies
Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away, oh
Oh, someday yeah, he'll begin his life again
Life again, life again
"How's your stomach?" Koashura asked Koenma while he still played. "Fine, just keep going." The young prince went into the next verse:
Kneelin', lookin' through the paper though he doesn't know to read, oh yeah
Oh, prayin' now to something that has never showed him anything
Oh, feelin' understands the weather of the winters on its way, yeah
Oh, ceilings few and far between all the legal halls of shame, hey
Koenma winced a little in pain and again Koashura asked him, "Are you okay?"
The prince nodded, "I'm just fine" he then bellowed out the next chorus:
Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies
Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away
Ah, someday, yeah, he'll begin his life again, yeah
Oh, whisperin' hands gently lead him away
Him away, him away
Koashura then broke into the guitar solo and suddenly the buzzer from the intercom buzzed. Koenma ran over to it and answered, "Hello?"
"It's Jasmine, we're back"
Koenma pressed the button to let Jasmine and Kotennyo in. The girls came up and unlocked the door and they were greeted by the wonderful site in front of them and once Koashura's guitar solo ended Koenma sang the last chorus:
Even flow, thoughts arrive like butterflies, yeah
Oh, he don't know, so he chases them away, yeah
Ah someday yeah, he'll begin his life again
Oh, whisperin' hands gently lead him away
Him away, him away
Koashura played the last of the guitar riff and Kotennyo and Jasmine broke in applause. Both gods looked over to the two girls who just entered the apartment and Koenma smiled in greeting, "Hey girls, welcome to the party."
Kotennyo smiled happily, "You guys are getting along. I have waited over five hundred years for this."
"So, did you guys finally apologize to each other?" Jasmine asked.
Koenma and Koashura both nodded, "Yep and Koenma was the first one to. It really surprised me that he did."
The curly haired psychic smiled, "This is so great. I am so proud of you guys for settling your differences like the adults we know you both are."
Koashura turned off the guitar's amp and unplugged his guitar from it and took the guitar's sling off his shoulder, "How was your dance aerobics class?"
Kotennyo walked over and kissed her boyfriend on the cheek, "Great, so much fun as always." She then looked around the room and saw the empty pizza box, "I see you guys had a good time this evening."
Koenma and Koashura both smiled at each other and looked back at the girls and both young men said, "Yeah, we did!"
Jasmine and Kotennyo both giggled at the dorky gods. The goddess looked at the cat clock hanging on the wall, "Well, we better get to bed soon, it's getting late and I'm exhausted. Koashura are you going to take your pizza box out?"
The red head nodded to his girlfriend, "Yes dearest, I'll get right on that."
Koenma too looked at the cat clock, "Well, I need to take my shower" he then looked at the other three, "and please give me some privacy. I don't feel comfortable with someone standing outside the door. It kind of creeps me out."
Koashura, Kotennyo, and Jasmine smiled and nodded and Jasmine responded, "Okay Koenma, we understand. But, we just wanted to make sure that you're okay but, since you asked us to back off, we will."
"Yeah, we didn't mean to make you feel uncomfortable. Sorry about that." Kotennyo said agreeing with her human friend.
Koenma smiled in return, "Thank you."
Holding the empty pizza box in his hand, Koashura walked up to his friend, "Koenma, before you take your shower, I have something you can borrow to sleep in. So, you won't have to keep borrowing Jasmine's brother's old clothes."
"Hey, Niles doesn't mind. I called him up last night and he was cool about it."
Koashura shifted his attention to Jasmine, "Yeah but, they're really not Koenma's style."
Kotennyo giggled at her boyfriend's words, "No offense Koashura but, neither is your clothes."
"I know that but, at least they would fit him better. Niles is a big guy and I don't think Koenma likes wearing baggy clothes. Do you Koenma?"
Koenma nodded his head in agreement, "Koashura is right, I do fit his clothes better than Niles's. Sorry Jasmine."
Jasmine just smiled sweetly at the prince, "I understand. Go ahead, Koashura."
Koashura set the pizza box on the couch and walked into his bedroom and came out with a pair of plaid pajama bottoms and a black Megallica t-shirt and handed them to Koenma, "Here, I hope you find these comfortable."
"Thanks Koashura."
"No problem, man. If you need anything else, just ask." He then picked up the empty pizza box and before going out the apartment door, Koashura turned around and said, "Oh, I almost forget to tell you, your performance with Jorge at the Dark Tournament kicked some serious ass."
Koenma's eyes widened, "You're the guy from the bar?"
The red haired god nodded, "Yeah it was me. I am so glad I got to see you overcome your stage fright even with everyone else there mocking and making fun of you."
Koenma smiled, "Thank you for your support. If I didn't have you and Jorge there, it would have been a repeat of the incident from Spirit World Kindergarten." The young prince looked at all three of them, "Jasmine, Kotennyo, and you, Koashura, thank you for saving my life and taking care of me for this last week and a half. I would be dead right now if you guys didn't do what you did."
"You're very welcome, Koenma. And we would all gladly do it again." Koashura replied, turned around and walk out of the apartment door to dispose of the pizza box.
Before Koenma could open the bathroom door, Jasmine stopped him in his tracks, "Koenma, wait."
"Yes Jasmine?"
Jasmine took out her surgical scissors, "Lift up your shirt, I have to take off your bandage. Remember? You gotta keep your wound clean so it can heal properly."
Koenma chuckled lifting up the baggy grey t-shirt he was wearing. He found it so adorable how Jasmine's caring and nurturing side was. She brought the surgical scissors up the bandage and cut it off and removed the gauze pad and smiled, "Wow, I still cannot get over on how well you are healing. Give it another week or possibly two and you'll be as good as new."
Koenma put his shirt back down and he sweetly smiled at the lovely curly haired woman, "Jasmine, I want to thank you for taking care of me for this past week and a half. You're truly wonderful. I will be forever grateful."
He then kissed her hand which in turn made Jasmine giggle and blush like a schoolgirl, "You're very welcome Koenma and I would do it all over again if I had to."
Jasmine and Koenma both smiled at each other and started to gaze into each other's eyes until Kotennyo cleared her throat, "Koenma, weren't you going to go take your shower?"
The prince and the college psychic both snapped back to reality and Jasmine said in a dazed kind of voice, "I…uh…um..gotta make a phone call."
Koenma nodded and giggled like a complete dork, turned around and walked into the bathroom to take his shower.
Later that night, Koenma woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. There was just something nagging in his brain. It was what Koashura had confided in him earlier when they came to their truce. He still wanted to know what his father did to him and Kotennyo and why and how they got to the Human World in the first place. While those thoughts stirred in his head, out of the corner of his eye, he saw something or someone move in the darkness.
Afraid that someone had broken in or the possibility of it being another assassin, Koenma asked the dark figure, "Who's there?"
The light turned on and the dark figure turned out to be Jasmine. The prince blushed at the site before him. Jasmine was only wearing a purple spaghetti strapped nightdress that only went down to her mid-thighs and it showed off her petite figure quite nicely.
The look on her pretty face showed a little bit of fear and she put her hand on her chest and said, "Oh my god, you scared me."
Koenma chuckled, "Who did you think it was?"
Jasmine shrugged her small dainty shoulders, "I don't know. I was just being paranoid. What are you doing up?"
"I couldn't sleep, you?"
"Same here."
She then walked into the kitchen, turned on the light, opened up one of the cupboards and took out a glass and looked over to the living room and asked the young prince laying on the recliner, "Are you thirsty?"
Koenma nodded, "Yeah."
Jasmine took out a second glass and filled both of them up with water and turned off the kitchen light and walked back into the living room. She set both glasses down on the wooden coffee table and turned to Koenma, "Do you need help sitting up?"
"Hmmmm…no, I got it."
He then reached over to grab the recliner's lever to adjust to a sitting position and bit his lip to suppress a pained groan.
"Are you sure?"
Koenma nodded in assurance, "Yes, I am fine. Thank you."
Jasmine walked over to him and held out her hand, "At least let me help you up."
Koenma sighed but, he went ahead and took the sweet woman's hand and stood up. He then picked up his glass of water from the table and began to take a sip. Jasmine sat down on the leather couch and began to sip her water and Koenma sat down beside her.
They sat there in silence for a couple of minutes just sipping on their water until Koenma once again, broke the ice, "How come you can't sleep?"
Jasmine held her water glass in her hands, "Thinking about finals that are coming up and my acceptance letter that's going to be in the mail any day now. You?"
Koenma looked at his water glass and sighed, "I just keep thinking about what Koashura told me earlier."
Jasmine took a small sip from her water and eyed the prince curiously, "What did he tell you?"
"He wouldn't go into too much detail but, he mentioned that he and Kotennyo were forced to leave Spirit World after something horrible happened to them. He wouldn't say what it was but, whatever happened has seemed to leave him traumatized" he then noted Jasmine's blank expression, "Jasmine, do you know something?"
The young psychic took a deep breath and said in a quiet voice, "I only know a little but, I don't think we should discuss it out here. I don't want to wake up Koashura and Kotennyo. Let's go talk about this in my bedroom."
Koenma raised his eyebrows at her and Jasmine chuckled, "That's not what I meant, Koenma. I'm not that kind of girl. I would much rather date the guy before having sex with him."
The young prince cutely scratched the back of his head and nervously giggled, "I'm sorry for assuming that. I don't know what I was thinking."
Jasmine giggled and responded, "That's okay. Come on. Oh, you can take your water with you if you want."
Koenma then followed Jasmine to her bedroom after turning off the living room light. They both stepped inside and Jasmine shut the door behind her. They both set their water glasses on the nightstand and sat on her soft bed.
Jasmine took a deep breath, "Okay, here's the thing about Koashura and Kotennyo. They only have been living here in the Human World for almost nine months now. They didn't tell me about their ordeal until about four months ago."
"What did they tell you?"
Jasmine looked at her hands on her lap and back up at Koenma, "They got in trouble for what your father claimed to be were illegal activities and they also found out about some things they shouldn't have heard."
The prince was speechless, he sipped from his water cup again and found his voice and asked the human psychic, "What kind of things?"
Jasmine shrugged, "I don't know too much detail of it but, they were thrown into Spirit World Jail and apparently, they didn't even get a fair trial. It sounded like they were sentenced before even being tried. Koashura told me that your father saw them as some kind of a threat and wanted to eliminate them by either execution or banishment. Koashura and Kotennyo both said that they would keep their mouths shut and agreed to never return to Spirit World."
"What about their families? Koashura's mom, Kotennyo's wealthy father, sisters, her brother? Did they get imprisoned too?"
Jasmine sipped from her water and again shrugged her small shoulders, "I don't know. They never talk about their families. But, whatever is going on there, it doesn't sound pleasant."
She then looked at her alarm clock on her nightstand and seeing that it was 2AM, Jasmine yawned and set her water glass on her nightstand, "Koenma, I would love to talk about this more but, I have to be awake in five hours."
Koenma suddenly felt bad about keeping Jasmine out of bed for too long, "Oh sorry, I didn't know you had class in the morning."
Jasmine gave a small laugh, "No, I don't have class tomorrow. I just got to get up for my morning jog and go do my volunteer work at the hospital for a few hours but, that's not until 11."
The prince then got up from Jasmine's bed and proceeded to walk out of the bedroom until Jasmine said, "Koenma?"
Koenma turned around, "Yes?"
"Why don't you sleep in here tonight? You'll be a lot more comfortable. I bet your lower back must hurt from sleeping in that recliner."
Koenma smiled and replied, "Yeah, a little bit." He then walked up to her bedside and sat down.
"Do you have any particular side that you like to sleep on?" Jasmine sweetly asked him.
The prince shook his head, "No, I don't have a preference." He was a little bit nervous.
Seeing Koenma's nervousness, Jasmine asked him, "What's wrong? Did my offer make you feel uncomfortable?"
Koenma slightly nodded and replied, "Yeah. Only because, um….you know, we're friends, not…uh…lovers."
Jasmine chuckled, "Koenma, it's possible for two people who are just friends can share a bed without it getting sexual. Koashura and Kotennyo sleep in the same bed."
"But, they're a couple. We're not."
Jasmine scratched the back of head and chuckled again, "I already told you, I'm not that kind of girl. I want to be in love the person I have sex with. I promise I won't do anything to make you feel uncomfortable or creep you out in any way. You have my word."
The young prince gave the curly haired woman a small smile and lay down on her bed without argument. Jasmine got in on the opposite side and pulled the covers over them. They laid there in silence for a couple of minutes until Koenma looked at her and asked, "Have you been in love?"
Jasmine looked over at the handsome young prince lying next to her, "Yeah, a couple of times but, it never turned into anything serious."
"Why?"
Jasmine shrugged, "Been too busy with my studies or it was just a crush on my part that nothing ever developed. What about you? You went out with Kotennyo, were there others?"
Koenma shook his head, "Not really. I've been too busy for a serious relationship or it was one of those that didn't last long. I feel I am terrible with relationships."
Jasmine smiled, "Me too. My other relationships if you call them that, kind of sucked. Koenma, can I ask you something personal and you promise you will not get offended?"
Koenma turned on his side and slightly sat up, "Sure."
The young psychic took a deep breath and asked him, "Have you…um…you know…had sex?"
The young prince blushed a deep red, "Um….no…I'm kind of….uh…. saving myself for when I feel I meet the right girl. What about you?"
Jasmine sat up, "Yeah but, only with my high school boyfriend and my boyfriend from when I started my freshmen year at school. Wow, I haven't thought about them in forever."
She began to feel guilty, seeing how red Koenma was, "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I really think it's sweet and romantic that you're waiting for someone special. Guys like you are very hard to come by."
Not wanting to keep talking about sex, Koenma decided to ask her, "Do you want to get married and have kids?"
Jasmine smiled, looked at her hands and nodded, "Yes, I want to meet a wonderful man who'll sweep me off my feet who makes me feel special and good about myself. Someone who I can talk to and share my secrets with. I want someone who can be my best friend, lover, and confidante all wrapped up into one. And I want someone who I can share my life with and have a family together. You?"
Koenma smiled listening to Jasmine's words and replied, "Yes, someday I want to meet a nice woman who I can share a deep emotional bond with and I also want to have children. As Spirit World's future king, I'm going to have to produce an heir sooner or later."
They both lay back down on the bed and Jasmine yawned. Seeing that, Koenma too yawned, "Jasmine?"
The young psychic, who is currently too exhausted to keep her eyes open mumbled, "Hm?'
"Thank you for talking with me."
Jasmine smiled and said in a soft voice, "You're welcome Koenma. Thank you for talking with me too."
Snuggling into the covers, Koenma responded, "You're welcome Jasmine."
They both drifted off to sleep. About an hour and a half later, Koenma woke up with the feeling of someone pressed up against him. He opened his eyes to the wonderfully adorable site before him. Jasmine was snuggled up against his chest. Her long brown curls formed a lovely halo around her head and Koenma heard her adorably sigh in her sleep. The prince blushed softly and he gently nuzzled the top of her head and wrapped his arms around Jasmine's warm slender body bringing her closer to him. He drifted off back to sleep thinking about the conversation they both had.
