A/N: I meant to put this in the first chapter but forgot: This story does deal with themes of biblical nature and of the seven deadly sins. I do my best to remain respectful of the religion these came from as well as not modifying too much of Yu Yu Hakusho's lore.
Botan groaned, a headache forming as sunlight streamed onto her face. The sound of quiet shuffling sounded nearby in the room but it felt louder than it should have. The ferry woman knew to attribute that to the hangover as she rubbed her eyes. Taking a deep breath in the hopes of waking up some more, her amethyst eyes opened.
Turning to the sound, Botan found Shizuru quietly sifting through her bag, muttering something while searching. Yawning a little, the bluette sat up and stretched her arms above her head. Looking to her sides, she was unsurprised to find Yukina was already awake but Keiko was grumbling in her own bed, slowly waking to everyone else's noise.
"How are you feeling, Bo'? Shizuru asked, her attention on the now awake ferry woman.
"Definitely hungover, that's for sure." The words were mumbled out, another yawn escaping as she stood up. The ferry woman heard a chuckle from the brunette but didn't respond as she got up to shuffle toward the bathroom. Sliding the door shut, Botan appreciated the deep silence this time as opposed to last night. Her head wasn't happy to be awake and upright, pounding in time with her heartbeat.
While brushing her teeth, Botan looked in the mirror. Her hair was incredibly disheveled, needing a good comb through, but the bags under her eyes had lessened. Even though some weird things happened the night before, the ferry woman didn't want to let that ruin the fun she'd had with her friends. Instead, brushing that aside, she continued to clean up her appearance.
After another quick inspection, she was satisfied that it didn't look like she'd literally just rolled out of bed. As Botan went to turn to the door, that same feeling from last night hit her like a freight train. Spinning back toward the mirror, her eyes searched frantically for whatever caused that weird, off feeling. Frustration began to mount as the culprit continued to remain elusive.
Then, in her peripheral, something happened that made the bluette freeze. While looking in the mirror at the wall behind her, the bluette could have sworn her reflection moved on its own. Slowly, to give her mind time to catch anything, Botan met her reflection's eyes. All seemed right, the mirror matching her movements perfectly, until there was a knock at the door. Then the ferry woman caught it.
Her reflection's eyes moved to glance at the sound but Botan's own remained locked on the mirror. Trembling, she watched the reflection quickly change to match her once again. The sharp grin that seemed to flash on its face had the woman frozen to the core. Something was terribly wrong; that underlying feeling coming to the forefront and morphing into growing dread.
The oppressiveness in the bathroom quickly became suffocating, nearly choking her with its weight, but the ferry woman couldn't tear her gaze away. Another knock landed on the door, a little more insistent, but Botan wasn't able to find the will-power to open her mouth and speak. The person behind the door said something but the ringing in her ears and the pounding of her heart made it impossible to hear. Finally the door opened, dissipating the overwhelming pressure in the room.
"You okay?" Shizuru walked into the room, standing beside the bluette. "You didn't respond at all when I was knocking."
"Sorry." Botan muttered, trying to look calm but knowing Shizuru could usually see right through her facades. "I got lost in my thoughts."
"Oh?" There was a gentle concern in the psychic's voice. "Like what?"
"Oh, you'll think I'm being silly." Managing to pull her gaze away from the mirror, Botan turned to look at Shizuru. "I was just thinking about my reflection."
"Like…how you look?" The bluette shook her head at the question.
"No." She looked back at the mirror again. The horrible dread had dissipated and left Botan feeling like everything that happened was all in her mind. So she gave a small lie as an answer. "I was just thinking about how weird it would be if there was a reverse version of this world through the mirror."
"Oh yeah, I've heard of that belief before." The psychic hummed, taming a few loose hairs on her head. She stared into the mirror with ease, no fear or hesitation in her movements. Botan felt a little jealous (and silly, for feeling jealous). "There's so many superstitions about mirrors. Humans have always had a weird relationship with our reflections."
"Really?" It was hard to hide her eagerness for more information. "What kind of superstitions?"
"Well," Shizuru started while pulling her hair into a low hanging ponytail, "Some people think breaking them will bring you seven years of bad luck."
"That sounds terrible. I've broken a few mirrors before but I don't think I've ever had seven years of bad luck." Botan pondered if bad luck stacked up over time. Maybe that was what was going on. The mirrors were coming for their revenge!
"Yeah, I don't really believe in that one. I've broken my fair share and haven't had any bad luck either." Patting down some more of her hair, the brunette turned to look at Botan standing beside her. "I only believe in one superstition about mirrors, especially now that I know for certain demons and spirits are real."
"What superstition is that?" The question was asked with cautiously whispered curiosity.
"I believe mirrors can bring entities into the human world if you aren't careful about it." The two women's eyes met for a long moment before the psychic turned to look at her own reflection. "Usually there's some kind of ritual involved, so it shouldn't just happen randomly, but many people say it can bring evil ghosts or demons into your life."
In silence, the ferry girl turned her gaze to her reflection and watched it closely. Each movement matched her own exactly. Something about it now felt too perfect but Botan wasn't sure if that was just paranoia speaking. The horrible dread wasn't encompassing the bathroom anymore but unease clung on, making her scrutinize everything happening.
"You didn't do any rituals in the bathroom last night, right?" Shizuru teased a little. Breaking eye contact with herself, Botan stuck her tongue out at her friend.
"I do have more sense than that, Shizuru." The words were accompanied by a pout but the taller woman merely patted Botan's head before leaving. The ferry woman followed, turning to flick the bathroom light switch. As the lights turned off and encased the small room in darkness, the ferry woman could have sworn the reflection in the mirror was grinning back at her as the door shut.
The rest of the morning had Botan unsettled and faking her cheeriness with her friends. Try as she might, the ferry woman knew her smile was lacking and her responses were distracted. Every time they asked what was wrong, Botan blamed it on a hangover. Yukina even offered to heal her some, which the bluette gladly took the offer. It did help ease the headache a good amount, to which Shizuru and Keiko demanded that both Botan and Yukina do that to them next time they had a hangover.
A little before lunchtime, Keiko and Shizuru said their farewells and headed off. The ferry woman had another day off and didn't want to spend it alone. Luckily, Yukina was more than happy to have the company. Botan offered to help with any chores that needed doing and the two set off towards the garden to pull weeds.
Being outside and in the sun helped ease the tension of the morning. The ferry woman found herself giggling and having fun with the ice maiden, almost forgetting the wild things from earlier. Obviously the memories were sitting just in the background of Botan's mind as she waited for the next thing to happen but nothing did. Even as her and Yukina moved inside for food, everything remained calm and peaceful.
"Are you doing okay, Botan?" The question was asked lightly, though the ferry woman could hear the genuine concern in Yukina's tone.
"I'm doing a lot better than this morning. I think I just needed to be outside for a while. Get some fresh air and all of that, you know." Botan deflected. The ice maiden gave her a look but didn't push the matter. Instead she enlisted the bluette's help with making lunch. It was a simple lunch of rice, a small salad, and some cooked salmon.
Yukina insisted on opening up the large shoji doors so that they could have fresh air while they ate. Botan knew her friend was concerned but what could she say? 'Oh, I'm just losing my mind piece by piece because I may or may not have summoned some evil entity somehow without knowing it in your bathroom.' was not going to go over well with anyone but if she told Yukina that, she would certainly try to solve it. Botan didn't want to drag her anymore into it than she already was.
"Would it be a bother if I spent the night here again?" The bluette sheepishly asked, really not wanting to be alone through the night. Yukina flashed her a bright smile and an enthusiastic nod of her head.
"You're always welcome to stay here, Botan." The ice maiden left to go set up their room so that they didn't have to do it later that evening. When the ferry woman offered to help, Yukina merely told her to stay put and enjoy the quiet nature of the human world some more.
Luckily, the moment Yukina left, the room didn't suddenly feel oppressive or claustrophobic. Instead nature did seem to comfort Botan as she watched the afternoon sky. The sound of wind blowing calmed her as the trees lost a few leaves to the ground. The summer of the human world was gently shifting into autumn, the colors on the trees not quite changing just yet but leaves were slowly starting to drop.
Try as she might, after some time of being left alone with her thoughts, Botan couldn't help but to think of everything that happened since last night. There was nothing she could think of that would cause a being of some kind to haunt her. No rituals were performed, no chants said. It was just a regular sleepover with women doing regular sleepover things. As much as the ferry woman wanted to chalk it up to her brain malfunctioning, something deep within said it was more than that.
The room felt too open suddenly, making her feel exposed to whatever might be watching. The sound of the wind morphed from comforting to potentially concealing any sounds of approach and the sun setting only reminded Botan that it would be dark soon enough. She swallowed down her fear, not wanting to appear irrational.
The feelings rushing through her made Botan want to go home early but she'd already made the decision to stay. Not wanting to be called a scaredy cat, the ferry woman straightened herself out and put on a determined face. This entity wouldn't get to her. She would face this head on like all the boys faced their missions. What good was she if a few little spooky moments had her this terrified?
Instead, Botan threw herself into every activity that Yukina dreamed up. They made cookies, cleaned up the room they'd had the sleepover in, cooked dinner, and played some card games. Nothing out of the ordinary happened but there was no shaking the unsettled feeling that was beginning to live within the ferry woman. The hairs on the back of her neck were constantly standing, as if she were being spied on the entire time by something unseen.
When it came time to get ready for bed, Botan refused to look in the mirror and left the door cracked just a bit. It didn't ease any of the tension in her shoulders as something within her mind screamed to look in the mirror. The bluette was steadfast in her resolve, ignoring with every fiber of her being the desire to confirm she wasn't losing it by looking at her reflection. A part of her desperately wished to cover up every mirror so that she could get ready in peace.
Unfortunately, after spitting out foamy toothpaste and rinsing her mouth, Botan looked in the mirror out of habit. As much as she hadn't wanted to, muscle memory had taken over. Fear ran down her spine upon meeting her reflection's gaze. On her mirror's face was a large grin and dark intentions in its eyes.
Suppressing a scream, Botan miraculously turned and bolted from the bathroom. Flicking off the light and slamming the door behind herself with more fore than intended, she rushed into the room she was sharing with Yukina. Luckily, the koorime was still finishing up in her own bathroom and wasn't witness to the ferry woman's panic.
Unluckily, Botan was now alone in the room. The memory of the reflection was haunting; its grin so unlike her own and its stare far more ominous than she'd ever been able to produce. It was like staring at a nightmare of herself. The unsettled feeling had grown into sickening horror and Botan decided to talk to Lord Koenma about the whole situation in the morning. Maybe he'd have some idea what was going on.
"I know I've asked you this a lot, but are you certain you're okay?" Yukina questioned when she got back in the room. While Botan couldn't feel it since she was causing it, the whole room was bathed in the heavy weight of fear.
"Oh I've just been jumpy. I had a few weird dreams and Shizuru told me some stuff about human superstitions. It's just got me freaked out a little." The ice maiden nodded in understanding. Yusuke, before either Keiko or Kuwabara could intervene, had once told Yukina a very scary Halloween story that caused nightmares so she could understand. (Yusuke was only saved from getting his ass handed to him by Hiei because Yukina requested that the fire demon spare him.)
"Do you want me to take your mind off of it?" Yukina offered.
"I'd love for you to try." Botan agreed quickly, willing to do just about anything to forget the craziness she'd seen.
"Okay!" With excitement, the koorime began to talk about many of her happier memories. Even though Botan had been there for a lot of them, hearing them from another perspective was pleasant. It helped lull the ferry woman into drowsiness, the delight from her friend staving off the bad feelings she'd been swimming in all night.
"And when my brother handed me back my mother's tear gem while showing me his own, a piece of me was whole again. Finally I had my brother back." Yukina's voice was filled with sisterly love while speaking about how good it was to not feel completely alone. While she and Hiei had many differences and very dissimilar life experiences, together they had each other.
"That sounds really nice." Botan breathed out, her eyes incredibly heavy. "I'm just glad he finally told you. You deserve to be happy."
"So do you, Botan." Yukina reached over and patted the bluette's hand gently. "Maybe my brother can do that for you too."
"Don't get anyones hopes up, including your own." The words were a little slurred as Botan sleepily advised the ice maiden to quell her expectations. "It isn't fair to place that responsibility on him if he doesn't want it." There was silence in the room for a long moment. The ferry woman felt herself slipping into dreamland, barely catching Yukina's response.
"Oh." The word was soft, filled with an unexpected awe. "You really like him a lot, don't you?"