Hakusho: Parenthood

Chapter 15: O stands for Observation

December 26, 2011

"A-ya-me~!"

Botan skipped across the bustling cafeteria toward the black kimono wearing reaper who was currently sipping a cup of tea and reading through some files. Ayame peered behind her shoulder and her dark eyes gleamed as she gave her chipper coworker a small yet adoring smile. Botan carefully placed her tray of omurice and a small carton of milk on the table and sat in front of Ayame. Despite the grimness their occupation brings, both reapers were able to hold light conversation as usual.

"Do you have more photos of the children you wish to show me, Botan?" Ayame asked.

Botan clasped her hands together with a pleased squee before reaching into the sleeves of her kimono and pulling out a few photos. "Since my workload increased I wasn't able to see them as much, but I was still able to take and collect some pictures from Keiko." She spread them on the table and began to point at each one. "All these are from yesterday's Christmas Party! It was an absolute delight! There were sweets, decorations galore, snow—and what beautiful snow it was! The Secret Santa segment was a complete disaster, but that didn't detract from the rest of the day's fun! Oh!" She repeatedly tapped on one of the pictures, her smile wide and ponytail bouncing. "Look at this one. Isn't it darling? Hibiki gave Kensuke a quick peck on the cheek under the mistletoe."

"Ah, yes. The precious innocence of young love." Ayame hummed with a nod before sipping her tea. She placed the cup back down and curiously peered at Botan. "Does this mean Kensuke is now aware of Hibiki's feelings for him?"

"Unfortunately, no." Botan's head dropped with a disappointed sigh. "Hibiki made sure to kiss other people caught under the mistletoe just so Kensuke wouldn't catch on. You know, the poor boy is wary of physical affection and for him to force himself to kiss other people just to hide his true feelings is quite telling of how scared he is expressing it."

"The possibility of rejection is a very frightening thing. Especially when it involves your very first love." Ayame sympathized.

"So true." Botan pouted like a child who has their candy stolen while mindlessly poking at her omurice with a plastic fork. Not even the cute cat face made of ketchup could dissuade her sadness. Her inner matchmaker wanted so badly to break out and help out a poor lost soul of love, but her logical side was concerned that this meddling would fuel the flames of Hibiki's unreasonable dislike of her. Sometimes she has a hard time understanding that boy. Some days he's civil towards her and at worst neutral, but other days he's hostile and competitive. I wonder why he's so emotionally fickle towards me, Botan thought with a dumbfounded frown, still very much unaware of Kensuke's attraction for her.

Her pink eyes immediately brightened when she saw a collective group of reapers walk into the cafeteria; all were Miko's and Buddhist Monks (both of pacifistic and warrior origin). The Reincarnation Division! Her gaze roamed over the group in search of a certain redhead with a distractingly large cowlick. It's been a long while since Botan had seen her. Taking notice of her younger coworker's excitement, Ayame peered over her shoulder. Minutes later, Hinageshi came running at their table with a bowl of tempura soba in her hands. Her smile was wide and green eyes sparkled when she reached them, taking a seat next to Ayame.

"Hinageshi reporting for duty." She chirped with a playful salute. She took notice of the photos. "Are those pictures of the kids?"

"Bingo!" Botan pushed the photos closer to her young coworker. "These are all from yesterday's Christmas Party! It was so much fun!"

"Oooh~!" Hinageshi gazed at all of the photos and giggled with each one, even more so at the one of Yusuke (who was entirely covered in eggnog) about to punch a laughing Kazuma in the face while being held back by an irritated Keiko. Faking jealousy, she looked back at Botan with puffed cheeks and a childish pout. "Lucky you! While you were having fun, I was stuck with boring ol' work! Boo, boo!" She became giddy when she succeeded in making her fellow reapers laugh. She glanced at the pictures once more and her smile mellowed. "Ah...Look at how happy Kaoru looks here. It's nice to see that's he doing well."