Yu Yu Hakusho:Kōrudokēsu

Chapter 20 And Now, A Love Story

Hideshi had just finished the most difficult case of his life, but instead of feeling energized and invigorated as he usually did, after a good fight, his entire body ached with exhaustion, the byproduct of four consecutive fights against demons of a caliber he had never met before. And so, he stumbled as he crawled out from the tunnel which had brought him into the demon realm, the world around him light up with a warm, gentle glow. The detective took in a long, deep breath, his body taking in the scent of the salty air of the ocean.

Aw damn it... Of course the demons would pick the perfect day to go for a swim to try and overthrow the natural order of life and death itself... Can never be when it's snowing... Hideshi thought to himself sarcastically, his usual audience not yet there to hear out his self-humoring comments.

 He watched the bright orange sunset on the distant horizon, feeling his knees buckle as his battered and bruised body fell down into the sand just as he reached the coastline. The waves rose up to the shore, periodically washing over him. While he still retained consciousness, he soon found that he was unable to raise himself up for lack of strength...

Well... Fuck me I guess...

                                                                                       ***

Descending onto the gorgeous sunset came Botan on her magical oar, her mind conflicted between relief that Romano and Yusuke had won the day, yet still concerned for her partner, whom she had seen suffer greatly in his fight against the Premire Brothers. At the very least, she could take some solace in the fact that she knew where he would be, and thankfully, it was no longer in the Demon Realm.

She spotted a distant figure sprawled onto the sand from her vantage point and the closer she got the more apparent it was that it was Hideshi. She sighed briefly out of relief before quickly descending on the scene. Partially out of courtesy, partially to reflect upon his own sarcastic nature, she asked the still face-down Hideshi: "How did it go? Are you feeling okay?"

"I can barely feel my legs, I think they punctured a lung and I've got a fresh new set of scars on my back... I'd say I'm peachy..." Hideshi remarked in a bitter tone as he kept his face buried in the sand.

"Ohh, and here I was going to offer to help with those wounds, but I guess if you're 'peachy' that'll be unnecessary."  she teased him, despite being able to clearly see his external injuries.

"Botan, you should know by now I hate fruit, so when I say 'peachy' that's usually a bad thing..." 

"You hate peaches?" she questioned, mimicking his sarcasm that she adored. "Oh... i must have forgotten..." she said, turning away, hiding a small smile and resisting the urge to giggle. She stood there for a few moments, looking out towards the ocean, admiring how the sun reflected upon it's glassy surface. 

"Botan..." Hideshi interrupted impatiently. "Still... Ya know...dying here..."

"Ah! Right! I'll start with your scars..." she put the jokes aside and hovered her hands over the scars on his back. Channeling her spirit energy into a healing technique her hands began to glow with a faint yellow light.

He seethes in pain for a moment, feeling her energy close up his wounds slowly. "Ah damn it!" he cries out as his body is reintroduced to the pain of the scars which now covered it.

"Almost done..." Botan calmly assured him.

"It's alright... Ugh... I can... take it..." he says, trying to act tough, just before passing out on his final word.

She chuckled and shook her head. "Sure you can..." she whispered to his unconscious form as she gazed at his closed eyes. I'm just so glad you're safe now...