Chapter 21 – Everlasting

When Yasashi realised that she could hear – and in fact that was aware of anything at all – she started to think that her soul must have arrived in spirit world. She could not remember the journey there, but the rumbling, roaring sound that was becoming clearer and clearer to her ears could only mean that she was at the bridge in spirit world, overlooking the abyss of oblivion. She wondered again if that was where Koenma would sentence her: she wondered if her good deeds on behalf of spirit world in her demon life and her good deeds as Botan the ferry girl would be considered or if she would just be condemned by the burden of her own guilt at failing to be the hero her rebel followers – and even she herself – had always expected her to be.

When she felt herself sliding and her hip colliding with a metal rod, the experience of being in spirit world suddenly seemed significantly less poetic.

Yasashi slowly opened her eyes, blinking through a haze and drawing in a deep breath. Quite apart from the fact that she was able to draw in a deep breath, she found it odd that the air around her smelled a lot like the air in demon world and not at all like the air in spirit world. As her eyes finally gained focus and she was able to see where she was, she found herself lying on a metal floor that was vibrating beneath her. The source of the rumbling, growling sounds were coming from below the floor. Straining to lift her head, Yasashi realised that she was lying mostly facedown, in the interior of what looked like some kind of armoured vehicle. There was a control console above her head, a chair behind her back – one leg of which was pressed against her hip – and there was another chair ahead of her: and a familiar face was sitting there, driving the vehicle with an air of dogged determination.

"Hey…" she said as she attempted to push herself up.

The driver glanced over at her with a twitching sneer of displeasure.

"Stay down. You don't have much energy left, don't waste it by getting up or trying to talk."

Yasashi frowned, obeying only the instruction about not talking as she rolled onto her left side, leaning her weight against the legs of the chair behind her and pressing her right hand to the bloody stain on her clothing over her chest. When she felt the tackiness of her own congealing blood against the skin on the palm of her hand she came to a surprising conclusion: she was alive.

"I don't understand…" she said.

"I thought I told you not to talk. You're wasting energy."

Yasashi narrowed her eyes in what she thought was a threatening way, though she knew that in her current state she was in no condition to be threatening to anyone.

"What's happening?" she asked.

After a sigh of annoyance she received a reply.

"You said you wanted an end to this and that was one of the few things you and I have ever agreed upon. I didn't want Yukina doing anything else reckless and getting herself killed, you wanted Jagasame to stop chasing the rebels and you wanted to be remembered as a hero. What better way to achieve all of that than for you to die for your cause: you know, like you were supposed to have done thirty years ago."

Feeling slightly irritated – another sure sign that she was alive – Yasashi made another attempt to pull herself up, and again earned herself a brief, angry and admonishing glower.

"Idiot, you never did listen to me."

"That's not true, Hiei."

"Hn, you need to lie still and relax. You're wasting what little energy you do have left."

"You collected the bounty for killing me."

"Because I did kill you."

"No you didn't… Did you underestimate the amount of force you would need to apply to deal me a mortal blow?"

Hiei growled and bared his teeth and Yasashi felt even more confused than ever: maybe she was dead and what was happening now was some strange hallucination invoked by the place her soul had been sent to.

"I know exactly how hard I need to hit you to kill you, idiot," Hiei said. "And because of that, I also know exactly how hard I need to hit you to make you appear dead to an unobservant old bastard like Jagasame."

"But you collected the bounty for killing me," Yasashi pointed out.

"I think I deserve to be rewarded for all the crap I've been through this past week thanks to you and your band of harpies," Hiei replied.

"…But–"

"Seriously, you should stop. You have precious little energy left and, if I read Yukina's memories of the Raspberry Sundae file correctly, you will need a certain amount of life energy left in you if the crystal of change is going to work correctly."

"The-the crystal of change…?"

Yasashi watched Hiei carefully, waiting for him to continue explaining himself; but he kept his eyes on the road ahead and said nothing, leaving her lying in a daze of semi-conscious confusion. The crystal of change was something Koenma had found in the spirit world vault during his desperation in her dying hours after Iruka and his men had assaulted her. She remembered – because her hearing had never failed her during that time – hearing him shouting desperately for information on the crystal. Ayame had told him his father advised him not to use it, Captain Ootake of the SDF had told Koenma he was being ridiculous and George had started talking about how the crystal had been in the deepest, darkest part of the vault for a reason: it had not been used for several millennia, and with good reason. And yet somehow, amidst all that chaos, Koenma had managed to get his hands on what he had described as a "dusty, tattered old book" that contained a chapter about the crystal of change.

Koenma had read aloud all the information he had on the crystal, and even passed a comment on one of the factors concerning its use, but only one part of what he had said that day had really stood out in Yasashi's mind: so much so in fact, that it had been the first thought on her mind when Captain Ootake had cut the crystal from her body and returned her to her demon form a few days earlier, and, as she lay on the brink of death in the border patrol vehicle Hiei had apparently commandeered to return her to spirit world, that one thing was coming to the front of her mind and taking over all else.

As long as the crystal was inside of her body, she would be unable to remember her life as a demon: all of her memories would be taken as part of the exchange process, and there was only two ways to get them back.

Yasashi groaned as she slid forwards, her body crumpling against the legs of the control console at the front of the cockpit, which, combined with the fading of the growling and rumbling sounds beneath her, she took to be a sign that Hiei had reached his destination and was stopping the vehicle.

"I don't want to forget," she managed to say as Hiei leapt out of the driver's seat. "Please…"

Hiei moved to stand over her, his hands on his hips and a displeased scowl distorting his face.

"Why did you have to get even taller in that form?" he grumbled.

She wondered what he meant, but she did not have to wonder for long as he crouched down and grabbed her ankles, dragging her out from under the console and then dropped her ankles to take hold of one of her arms in both hands. He pulled her up into a sitting position and then began manoeuvring her over his shoulders.

"Maybe you shouldn't have hit me so hard that I couldn't walk for myself," she muttered.

"Maybe I should have just killed you," he grumbled back.

"Why didn't you?"

Hiei grunted out something indecipherable, but before Yasashi could ask him to explain himself he had started to stand up and she was lifted from the floor in the most awkward position imaginable, the combined strain of being draped over Hiei's shoulders facedown and having one of his shoulders pressing painfully into the wound he had given her robbing her of the ability to speak. She barely managed to remain conscious as Hiei left the vehicle, the jolt of his jumping to the ground almost knocking her out again.

As he leapt through a portal and the scents of spirit world washed over her, Yasashi realised she was running out of time to say what she really needed to say.

"Darn it, it's so typical of Hiei!" Kuwabara complained.

"Mister Hiei saved our lives last night," Yukina pointed out.

"Yeah, well, he just ran off with the big truck we were gonna use to get everybody out of here!" Kuwabara complained.

"You can put me down now, Kazuma," Yukina said. "I'm still weak, but I can stand."

Kuwabara looked down at Yukina, still cradled in his arms, as though she had just said something completely absurd.

"Kazuma, I am a demon," she said quietly. "I maybe don't live in demon world any more, but this is where I was born, this is where I was brought up. I'm not like the human girls you're more accustomed to."

"I know that, baby!" Kuwabara replied, breaking into a grin. "I know you're from the ice village in demon world. And I know you're not like all the other girls in human world – heck, that's one of the reasons why I like you so much, my love."

"No, you're not listening to me," Yukina said, trying to make herself sound sterner. "Even at my weakest, I'm still stronger than any other girl from your world – well, except for Shizuru, of course."

"Ha ha, yeah, my sister's really tough, huh?"

"Yes, she is, Kazuma. And I'm a lot tougher than you think I am."

Kuwabara's grin lessened slightly and he slowly placed Yukina down on her feet.

"Thank you," she said, smiling sweetly up at him.

"I don't mind carrying you, you know," he said. "I heard you were fighting Iruka, and you went right after that Jagasame guy, and I've been sleeping and flying with Kurama all this time."

"Yes, I understand," Yukina patiently replied. "But I want to stand on my own now. You, and so many others, have always fought so hard to protect me, and today, when someone who has always helped me needed my help, I wasn't even strong enough to land a single blow against the enemy threatening her. I need to stand on my own now. I need to know that I can do that. Do you understand?"

Kuwabara frowned and looked vaguely confused, but he nodded regardless. He looked back over his shoulder and Yukina copied his action, seeing the others generally tending to the wounded. Keiko was sitting down with her back against a wall of the bunker and Yusuke was knelt in front of her apparently trying to cheer her up. Shizuru was sitting close by Keiko and Kurama was half-heartedly creating a support bandage for her left ankle, which she had apparently strained very badly after her failed attempt to attack Jagasame: but Kurama's attention kept wandering over to Chita, who was standing away from the others, staring at the pink and cream peony in her hands, her eyes wide and her expression strangely neutral despite the tears staining her cheeks.

"I'm really sorry for your losses," Yukina said to Chita.

Chita's mouth moved as though she intended to answer, but no sound came out and her eyes never left the raspberry sundae she had inherited. Yukina turned back to Kuwabara, who met her eyes.

"It's so awful for Chita," she explained to him. "First she found out her mother had been cruelly treated and killed by the loyalists, then she saw Tora die and then she saw Yasashi die, and now she has to take over leadership of the rebellion."

"Yeah, that's tough," Kuwabara agreed. "You girls have had a pretty hard time of it here, huh?"

Yukina nodded, tears welling in her eyes as she looked around the remainder of the rebels, realising then how few of them there were left to continue their struggle and how weak those that had survived truly were; when Tora and Yasashi had still been around, the rebels had seemed invincible, but when both former leaders had been downed so easily by their enemy, it made things look incredibly bleak for those left behind.

"Don't cry, my love," Kuwabara said, touching a hand to Yukina's shoulder.

She looked up at him and tried to smile.

"Yasashi was the first friend I made outside of the ice village," she said. "And I've lost her twice now. And I know that all she wanted was peace and freedom for the rebels, so it feels so much harder because Jagasame is still alive, he's still winning, he's still oppressing the cat demon tribe. The rebels lost their leader and their deputy leader and they have nothing to show for it. It's not fair! The suffering just keeps going on… It's everlasting, it's just not fair!"

"Urameshi said he knows a place the rebels can live in peace," Kuwabara said. "And I know he'll make sure they're safe there. And you could go visit them–"

Kuwabara stopped talking abruptly, his head turning suddenly. Yukina followed the direction he was looking, gasping at what she saw: a group of cat demons were approaching the back of the bunker.

"Hey, what the hell do you want?" Yusuke demanded, leaping to his feet. "I maybe didn't get the chance to kick your boss's ass, but there's nobody here to hold me back from kicking all of your asses!"

"Wait, please!" one of the cat demons said, stepping forwards from the group.

Yusuke reluctantly stopped, his fist still poised in the air, his angry eyes locked onto the young, lanky male cat demon as he moved away from his group, walking up one side of the bunker and starting towards Chita. Chita, who was still preoccupied by the contents of her hands, did not notice him until he was less than three feet away from her, at which point she yelped in alarm, fixing frightened eyes onto him.

"We're not strong, in terms of power or in number," he said to her. "But if you'd accept us, we'd like to join you."

Chita slowly lowered her arms to her sides, her head tilting over to one side. She eyed over the cat demon before her curiously before walking past him and leaning forwards to look around the bunker at the seventeen or so other cat demons who had accompanied him.

"Most of you are men," she concluded, turning back to the one who had approached her.

"We all hate Jagasame and his rules," he replied. "We've always wanted to escape, but we never had the courage or the chance to before. But, after we saw what Raspberry Sundae tried to do last night and this morning, we made up our minds and we fled. We want to come with you."

Chita looked about herself as though expecting something to appear.

"If it was a trap, Jagasame would have sent someone way more powerful than this miserable string-bean," Shizuru said to her. "I think he's genuine. And I think the lesson you need to learn from your leader is to say yes to genuine help when somebody offers it to you."

Chita nodded and made her way over the meet with the others who had left the hinterlands.

"Maybe things won't be so bad for the rebels now," Kuwabara said, turning to Yukina again.

"I hope so," she said. "All Yasashi ever wanted was for them to live in peace, without any wanted posters or bounties on their heads… It's just too bad she isn't here to see it happen."

"My work here is done."

Yasashi looked up at Hiei – who had unceremoniously dumped her on the floor of Koenma's office and sent George out to fetch the prince of spirit world – and she found him looking almost bored. He looked down at her from the corner of his eye and she forced herself to ask the one question she needed him to answer.

"Why did you help me like this?"

"Hn, idiot."

He lowered his chin and closed his eyes, an ironic, near sarcastic, smile gracing his lips.

"I didn't do this for you," he said.

"Then why?" she pressed. "You were threatening to betray me last night. Why did you change your mind?"

He opened his eyes and looked down at her again.

"Listen to me and listen carefully," he said. "Jagasame thinks you are dead and he knows Tora is dead. He's not really interested in any of the others who followed you. The two main prizes are gone, and so has his interest in the rebellion. The hunt will stop. The rumours will stop. The interest will fade. In time, nobody will even remember your name. In time, you will be able to return to demon world and get the new beginning, to live in peace, just like you wanted to."

"But…"

"It won't happen overnight though. And you need to stay well hidden in the mean time. You were very well hidden here in spirit world, so this is the only logical solution: go back to being the ferry girl for a little while, give it time for things to settle down and change in demon world and then you can go back. But you must give it time. Probably another thirty years should do it."

"That was your plan all along? Fake my death so that interest in the rebellion would fade?"

"If you had killed Jagasame, the war would have continued as his followers would have sought revenge. With him still alive and you and Tora gone, he will call off the hunt. Now, if you're wise, you'll use this time to learn and grow. That way, when you do go back, you and your little group can go back to the hinterlands unhindered and finish it the way you were meant to: kill Jagasame with your own hands and take back what's yours."

"Hiei… I never knew you thought so much about me–"

"This isn't about you. It's about Kurama."

"…What?"

Hiei shook his head and before Yasashi could press him any further on the matter he took off, quickly leaving spirit world altogether. Shortly afterwards, George returned to the room, carrying Koenma with him.

"Botan!" Koenma yelped, leaping from George's arms and waddling up to her fallen form.

"Koenma," she replied. "Listen, before you do anything, there's something I have to ask of you."

Koenma pulled the crystal of change out from beneath his hat and Yasashi's desperation multiplied.

"I'm ready to do this, what Hiei said made sense," she said. "But I don't want to lose my memories. I want to remember Tora and her sacrifices, I want to remember all the rebels, I want to visit Chita and help her lead the fight, I want to remember all the conversations I had with Yukina when I helped her travel to and from the living world, and I want to remember Kurama."

Koenma looked down at the crystal, his expression saddening.

"Yasashi, I don't even know if you'll remember your previous life as Botan once I put this back in you," he said solemnly. "But I'm absolutely certain you won't remember anything about your demon life. That's part of the trade the crystal makes. There's only one way to restore your memories, and that's to cut the crystal back out of you: but right now, you'll die if I don't use it."

"No, I want to remember," Yasashi insisted, watching helplessly as Koenma started to move the crystal towards the open wound in her chest. "I need to remember. Please don't take it from me…"

"I'm sorry."

Yasashi groaned and closed her eyes, already knowing that the psychological torment the crystal of change caused far out-weighed the physical pain of having a sharp stone wedged into an open wound. She could still remember how it felt when the crystal was embedded: its effects were not instant. She could remember hearing Koenma reading from the book that it took two full minutes for the transformation to be complete: but she was sure that was a lie. Maybe it only took two minutes for her physical self to transform, for her demon and life energy to be transformed into spirit energy, for her hair colour to change, for her eye colour to change, for her tail and ears to retract and for her body to shrink and her face to change; but the process of her memories being erased felt as though it took several hours. It was a gradual, painful process that she was fully conscious of throughout.

And it started with her mind's eye being presented by a blinding white that consumed everything, briefly blocking out any other image, making it impossible for her to picture anything at all. As soon as the crystal was fully implanted into her body, the whiteness vanished, to be replaced by her memories of her demon life, each one flashing into her mind with alarming clarity and then fading to white as it was robbed from her. She saw herself skipping classes with Tora to play in the river, but as the memory replayed in her mind, she found herself forgetting their teacher's name, forgetting the colour of the dress Tora had worn, forgetting the way the water had sounded rushing over the rocks, and eventually she had forgotten the memory entirely. She saw herself standing over Tora the day she had realised just how much stronger than Tora she was, the way her friend had looked up at her in fear and envy at first, but then in optimistic joy as she had then shared her idea of starting a rebellion against Jagasame and Iruka. But, just as before, Yasashi found herself straining to remember smaller details of the event, the background around Tora fading to white, and shortly taking Tora's face with it.

She saw Oyama begging her to take care of young Chita and she saw Oyama relaying secrets for many years to her and Tora and she saw Oyama covered in flowers floating out over the water and then, just as quickly, all memories of the cat demon's role, name and face were gone into the whiteness. She saw twin girls showing incredible strength from a young age and inspiring the other rebels that there was hope of a future for their group, but she could not remember their names. Or their faces. She wondered what she had even been thinking about; but not for long as she shortly found herself thinking about all the time she had walked from the boundaries of the ice village to the portal to the living world with Yukina. She thought about all the truly naïve questions Yukina had asked her as she encountered things she never had before being away from her cloistered existence in the ice village. She remembered that Yukina had asked some hilarious questions, but she found that she could not remember any of them. Or where she had been going with Yukina. Or why.

Yasashi saw a chaotic scene of destruction and a silver-haired fox demon standing serenely in the centre of it all with not so much as a single hair out of place. She saw him following her, the intense way he had regarded her, and she delighted in the way her ill-timed and often inappropriate jokes had caught him off-guard, broken through his impassiveness and forced his confusion to show in little hints of expression on his face. She thought about how she had made a plan of how she would deal with him, she thought about how it had not worked out when Iruka had almost killed her and she had ended up dying in spirit world.

She thought about all the things she had said to Koenma as she had lay dying in spirit world, and she was glad when that memory started to vanish.

She thought about how she had been reunited with Kurama when she had been returned to her demon form, how she had met him as Shuichi on Ping Island, how he had been so determined to help her, how she had kissed him, how he had looked when she had met him in demon world, once more as Yoko Kurama and how they had danced on the roof of the bunker. It was just one, small memory – two bodies dancing together in the moonlight – such a small and insignificant thing, surely it was something she did not have to lose. It did not even matter if she forgot what he had looked like, or how perfect the moon had been, she just needed to remember the feeling and the fact that it had happened. That one last dance.

Just that one thing.

Such a small thing.

She opened her eyes, blinking to clear the blurriness and bringing into focus a face staring at her.

"Koenma Sir?" she said.

She slowly sat up, looking about herself.

"How did I get here?" she asked.

She was in Koenma's office.

"I was on my way out of the temple a minute ago…" she added. "I was with Yukina and Koneko. And you were there too, Lord Koenma! Sir… Were you arrested by the SDF?"

Koenma smiled in what looked like relief.

"Welcome back, Botan," he said.

She got to her feet, looking about herself again as she started to feel angry.

"I was trying to get something, I know I was!" she said. "But somebody wouldn't give it to me! Is that why you were in trouble? What happened anyway? How did I end up here?"

"There was a bit of confusion, you were caught in the cross-fire and you were knocked unconscious," Koenma replied. "How do you feel now?"

Botan touched a finger to her chin and rolled her eyes up to the ceiling as she considered the question.

"Well I suppose I mostly feel confused," she concluded. "Weren't we in the middle of a mission? Some awful cat demons are in the living world, and they've taken Kuwabara and Hiei prisoner!"

Koenma smiled again.

"It's fine now Botan," he said.

"What do you mean, Sir?" she asked, looking down at him.

"It's all over," he replied. "Everything's all back to normal."

"Oh… Well that's good. I didn't like those cat demons. One of them attacked me, you know! She was so rude to me!"

"Well it's all over now."

"What about Yukina? Is she alright after her operation? Has she fully recovered now?"

"She's fine."

"Good. That's good. Maybe I should go and visit her…"

"Not right now, Botan. I think you should get some rest first."

"But I'm not tired."

"…Just get some rest, Botan."

Botan shrugged and decided not to argue the point any further: it was rare for Koenma to tell her she could have time off of her duties, and so she decided to take advantage of his inexplicable and uncharacteristic kindness that day.

"How did you get that?"

Chita looked up at Kurama, almost looking surprised by his question.

"Jagasame paid the bounty to Hiei for Yasashi," he pointed out. "I would have thought he would only have done so after he had taken the raspberry sundae."

"I don't know," Chita admitted. "It was the strangest thing: I tried to attack Jagasame, and I was thrown back just by the power of his defence shield, and when I landed, someone put this in my hand."

Chita – despite being airborne with the aid of a floating leaf with fronds supporting two of her fellow rebels – was still holding the raspberry sundae in both of her hands as though it was a precious thing she feared might break.

"It doesn't make any sense," Kurama insisted.

"Isn't it a good thing?" Kuwabara called up to him from his position hanging from one of the fronds of Kurama's floating leaf. "The rebels should have it, right?"

"It's a wonderful thing," Yukina added from her position hanging onto a frond opposite from Kuwabara. "It's like a part of Yasashi is living on with the rebellion."

"Yeah, it's a good thing, Kurama," Yusuke said.

Kurama looked over at Yusuke, who was sitting on Puu's back with Keiko and Shizuru, flying alongside Kurama's floating leaf.

"Why do you keep asking about it?" the mazoku asked as their eyes met. "It would suck if that bastard Jagasame had taken it."

"I still don't understand why Hiei had to kill Yasashi," Keiko said.

"He did what he was ordered to," Kurama said bitterly. "The border patrol were never in favour of the rebellion and their antics."

"Yeah, but when has Hiei ever followed orders?" Kuwabara asked.

"Especially when it's an order that means doing something that his friends don't agree with," Yusuke added.

"I don't know exactly what his motivations were," Kurama said. "But with both Tora and Yasashi gone, interest in the rebellion will not be what it once was: I suspect Jagasame might give up the hunt altogether, even though the rebellion more than doubled their number tonight. Jagasame never cared for Yasashi's followers, he only cared for controlling Yasashi herself: either by making her his wife or by killing her."

"So… Are you trying to say that Hiei did the right thing?" Keiko asked.

"I suppose, from an objective point of view, he did do the right thing," Shizuru replied.

"But he killed the good cat lady!" Kuwabara protested. "What's wrong with you, Shizuru? You've been in demon world too long, you're starting to sound weird!"

"Keep talking, baby bro," Shizuru replied, before taking a draw on a cigarette, "Kuroko said I need to practise my punches, I'm so glad you've just volunteered to be my own personal punch-bag."

Kuwabara grumbled complaints under his breath – despite looking terrified – but said no more.

"I know Hiei was pissed off that the cats managed to catch him, but I still think he went too far killing Yasashi," Yusuke said solemnly. "Come on Kurama, what's your take on this? One's your best friend and the other one was your girlfriend: did Hiei do the right thing? And don't you think we should have at least beat the crap out of that old bastard Jagasame?"

Kurama looked over at the raspberry sundae Chita was still holding onto so carefully. Something was amiss, something was not quite right, something about what had happened did not quite make sense: and Kurama needed more time and more information to figure out what it was. He needed to hear Hiei's honest opinion on what had happened and he needed to speak with Koenma.

Or, better still, he needed to get his hands on the Raspberry Sundae file from spirit world.

Koenma drummed his tiny fingers against his desk and sucked anxiously on his pacifier: but the woman before him was still glaring at him with a stubborn determination that he could already tell would not be reasoned with.

"The role you've performed in spirit world has been a very important and useful one," he began.

"I don't care," she tightly replied. "I can't do it any more. I was almost killed and if King Enma or the SDF had found what I was doing for you, they surely would have dealt with me most severely. I want to go back to my old life."

Koenma sighed and groaned simultaneously.

"Look, it's true that I employed you in this role in spirit world without my father's sanction," he admitted. "And it's true that I've asked you to do things I shouldn't have. But you've done such an excellent job and nobody else could do what you do. I don't want to lose you. I need you in this role."

"The Raspberry Sundae file is still missing, Sir. Until it reappears, I don't feel safe."

"I understand, but I'm fixing that."

"Really? How?"

Koenma went back to drumming his fingers against his desk, watching them as he did so. His hands looked pathetically small and delicate, and it reminded him that he had been lucky to make it to demon world and back when he had been hiding the Raspberry Sundae file, he would really be chancing fate if he repeated that mistake.

"Well, now that the cat demon situation is in hand, I need to meet with my spirit detective team to discuss what happened with them and to close out the report on the matter correctly," he concluded. "And when I meet with them, I will make arrangements for the file to be brought back to spirit world. There: are you happy now?"

"Not really Sir, no."

Koenma was starting to lose his patience, but he knew that the woman before him could cause him a lot of problems in both spirit world and demon world if she ever decided to tell anyone else what she knew about his indiscretions.

"I didn't choose this fate for myself Sir," she added. "You forced it upon him because of your actions."

"Yes, I know," he carefully replied. "But it's like the old saying: "some are born great, some achieve greatness and some have greatness thrust upon them". In your case, it was the third example. But you have risen to the challenge that was thrust upon you with great aplomb and–"

"Sir?"

"Yes?"

"I don't see what was so great about what I did in spirit world these last thirty years. I only ended up where I did because I was unfortunate enough to look like the demon you were trying to hide here. You put me at great risk acting as a decoy for anyone looking for her and looking after the file you kept on her."

"Yes, Koneko, I know–"

"My name isn't even Koneko. It's Ran."

"Ran? Like the flower?"

"You named all your ferry girls after flowers, Sir. Even Botan."

"Ha!"

Koenma grinned brightly, but Koneko failed to share his mirth.

"It's funny because the ogre told me it was unoriginal for me to name Yasashi Botan when she became a spirit," he explained. "He accused me of naming her after her weapon and my choice of name being too obvious, but I was just following the pattern of naming ferry girls after flowers!"

"Right…" Koneko grumbled.

Koenma again felt his ire rise and he was forced to contain it, knowing only too well that Koneko could very well cause him a lot of problems if she revealed the full extent of what he had been doing lately to King Enma.

"What about if I gave you your very own office?" he offered.

"You already did that," Koneko flatly replied. "And for the record Sir, I don't think you really need me any more. You said yourself, the information Yasashi provided us with is old now, and not really so sought after by anyone that it needs such close protection. And now that everybody believes Yasashi is dead, you don't need a decoy here to cover for her if anybody ever discovers the truth."

"Everybody thought she was dead last time and look how that turned out!" Koenma pointed out. "And besides, it's not the information Yasashi gave to spirit world during her years as our spy that makes her file so valuable: it's everything that's written on the very last page of the file that makes it so valuable."

"Yasashi's last words?"

"That's part of it."

Koneko nodded and Koenma glared up at her from the corner of his eye.

"So will you return to your post as key keeper?" he asked.

"I suppose I will," she replied, sounding as though she might change her mind again at any moment.

"Good," Koenma said, not allowing her the chance to argue. "Excuse me, I must meet with my team and sort out recovering that file."

He leapt from his seat and hurried from the room before Koneko could say anything else or follow after him. He did not have to walk far along the corridor outside before he encountered Botan. He thought it a little odd that she was up and about again mere hours after he had ordered her to rest; but he quickly forgot all about her following orders as he realised that she was standing in front of a potted plant and studying it very closely with a very strange look on her face.

There was only two ways to undo the memory-erasing effects of the crystal of change, but Koenma did not like to take any chances; least of all on such an ancient treasure that had not been used for so long before it ended up creating Botan.

"Botan, there you are!" he said.

She turned to look at him, her expression oddly blank.

"I'm going on a little visit to the living world," he told her. "I thought you might like to come with me?"

"Oh, that sounds splendid, Sir!" she said cheerfully.

Koenma silently sighed in relief out of Botan's line of sight before the two set off together.