With a bubbling surge of pride and accomplishment, the walk back home was lively as the grim reaper bounced along the sidewalk, soaking up the sights as shops closed for the day. They passed by a man selling flowers and the sweet scents didn't escape Botan's nose but upon stepping through the door of the Minamino residence, an even more wonderful smell was there to greet her. Before she could go investigate it, she slipped off her shoes and stepped into the house slippers so Kurama could take her to her designated room. With her bag in tow, the pair went upstairs to her room which was across from the bathroom, with Kurama's room diagonal from it. His mother's room was down the hall with her own bathroom.
One she had unpacked and hidden the special otherworldly tech, she went off to wash up so she could rejoin the mother and son for dinner. Botan sat down across from Kurama and looked to Shiori as they were served. "This looks and smells so delightful." She bowed her head slightly and began to eat. Though she was a spiritual being and therefore didn't have hunger cravings, she found comfort in food that was made with love and it was evident that this dinner, while simple, was made with a lot of love. As they ate, Shiori began to ask questions which were easy for Botan to answer since she stuck to the truth. Her favorite food had to be yakitori and her least favorite had to be mushrooms. And her favorite dessert would be chocolate lava cake with vanilla ice cream. She did find solace in sweets, though that was likely easy to imagine.
But then when the mother inquired as to her relationship status, the blue haired girl found herself stalling, unsure of how Kurama might wish her to answer. She gave the redhead a look before she looked to Shiori, smiling a little. "Oh...I...uh...I'm single." She finally replied after some hesitation. "I just...I want to find the right person to give my heart to." She blushed a little. Though it was the truth, it did spur forth memories of her and Koenma from when they dated, to one or two fleeting flings she had since then. It made her wonder what might have been if Koenma hadn't broken things off. It made her wonder what her next romantic chapter might contain. With her job taking her to Earth, she had to wonder about the humans she'd meet, fully aware anything with a human would be a sad and fruitless endeavor.
It made her feel a little lonely.
But then she remembered she had Kurama.
She offered him a smile before she continued to eat.
"So Botan, what sort of traits would your ideal person have?"
"Well...they would need to be kind. I cannot stand those who are rude or hot tempered or close off to their emotions or of those around them." She said, realizing she just summed up Hiei. "They also need to have ambition, passion, something that really drives them." She nodded with some more thought. "And they while I'd like them to be able to have serious conversations and to be polite, they cannot take life too seriously. After all, it's so short, if I'm going to spend my life with someone, we need to be happy and not wasting our energy fighting or making a big fuss." While her own life wasn't that short, she still had a point to make and she knew with Shiori's health issues, she would understand.
When dinner was over, Botan stayed down to help the woman clean up while Kurama went up to do his homework. "Thank you again for dinner, it was lovely." She smiled. The two women then gushed about going out and shopping. Shiori seemed hopeful she had a shopping companion since there was another girl in the house. As Shiori finished drying and putting away the final pair of chopsticks, the two decided to make plans for Saturday morning. She, Kurama and Botan would go to the mall for a lunch and shopping excursion. It sounded like fun for the blue haired girl who then went up to get some shut eye. But before then, she sent off her findings to Lord Koenma who said he'd have it for her as soon as possible.
With dawn having risen, Botan dressed in her maroon long sleeve blazer shirt and her matching skirt. She found a pair of rimless glasses and slipped them on, hoping it would make her look smarter than she actually felt. She then pulled her hair back into its signature high ponytail and headed downstairs to find Shiori had prepared them a sweet bowl of porridge and berries for her and Kurama. They quickly ate and headed out the door, as Shiori had gone back to bed. The walk to school wasn't very long but with each step she took, she felt even more nervous. 'Will they like me?' She wondered and clutched her thin leather backpack in both of her hands which was gently hitting her legs as they walked. Before she could look to Kurama for support, they had stepped through the iron gates which led to the grassy courtyard of the academy.
There were cherry trees all around but they weren't ready to bloom yet.
Many people were in clusters, either reading or chatting. As the five minute bell rang, signaling students to make their way inside, their attention turned to Kurama and a new student by his side. She and Kurama continued along the dirt path toward the school's steps and soon most eyes were on the pair as Kurama opened the door for her as they entered and walked off to west stairwell. Botan let out a nervous sigh and soon they made it up to the fourth floor where their room was. They entered and she was quickly pulled aside by the homeroom president, Satsumi, who directed her to an open seat beside Kurama in the front of the room. Botan thanked the girl with short dark brown hair. By the time the second bell chimed, everyone was in their seats as Satsumi took roll and everyone began to study and do their own thing but not before she quickly intoduced Botan as a new student.
Throughout the next three hours, Botan felt every girl giving her a curious, almost uneasy look as if they somehow felt threatened. Botan was trying to focus on the teachers as they covered their designated topics. When lunch rolled around, Botan felt mentally drained. Taking notes had been a struggle for the grim reaper and she felt like taking a nap someplace warm and secluded.
"What would she be doing with the Prince?" One girl muttered under her breath.
"She better not get too close to him or we might have to do something about that flashy hair of hers." Another girl leaned over to her blond haired friend.
"Yeah, my scissors might slip when no one's looking." The blond girl snickered.
Boys also seemed to be taking an interest in Botan though, "She is unlike any girl I've ever seen." A boy couldn't help but stare.
"She's not a girl, she's a woman." Another guy with glasses stated.
"I've gotta ask her, she looks like she'd be real fun..."
Before any other mutterings could possibly be heard, Kurama and Botan had headed down to the third floor where the upperclassmen had their own cafeteria. Like everything else in the school, it was lavish, decorated into maroon and gold. They found a polished wooden table after buying a bento and sat beside one another so Botan could share the results Koenma had just sent to her spectacles. While they were an accessory, they also had connections to her gadgets back home. They were still in development but that didn't matter. As she began to discuss the specific energy found, a group of their classmates crowded around them. Both the males and females were determined to figure out what was going on between them. "So what's the deal between you two?" A girl demanded.
"Ummm what?" Botan glanced to Kurama and quickly removed her glasses so that no one saw the data on them, just to be safe.
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