#rip long haired Ted you will continue to live in my heart and soul

[yourlocalabomination]

Saw this while in the middle to drawing Ted with a ponytail-

[markoslostgirl]

𝑩𝒖𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏' 𝑼𝒑 (𝑩𝒊𝒍𝒍 𝑺. 𝑷𝒓𝒆𝒔𝒕𝒐𝒏, 𝑬𝒔𝒒𝒖𝒊𝒓𝒆)

Requested by: @ringa-starr

Pairing: Bill S. Preston, Esquire x fem!oc

Word count: 2,110 words

Warnings: none, I think? Unless you count fluff

Summary: Bill’s girlfriend, Deidra, is sick, so Bill takes care of her

Author’s note: I feel so honored to write this for my friend, and I had a fun time writing it since we love the curly-haired angel, Bill S. Preston, Esquire. I’ve been working on this for 5-6 months, but I honestly think I could’ve done a better job with it so don’t come at me. Deidra, I hope you love it, and that you enjoy reading it. GIF isn’t mine, and it holds no significance to the imagine. I just couldn’t find one suitable.

Deidra sat up in her bed, letting out a sigh as she glanced up at the ceiling in boredom. She was sick, feeling miserable beyond compare. It wasn’t allergies, or even the flu. No, it was just a measly cold. Okay, so maybe she had made the most foolish decision of falling asleep with her hair wet while the air conditioner was running full blast.

Saturday had been a particularly hot day in San Dimas. Of course, it was always hot, but the one day on the weekend was uncomfortable. So, Deidra, her boyfriend—Bill S. Preston, Esquire—and her best friend, Ted ‘Theodore’ Logan, went to Waterloo to beat the heat.

Bill and Deidra had been dating for months now, and it had gone incredible. The first time Deidra had met Bill, she instantly became captivated by his sweet demeanor and charismatic personality. She gravitated toward him as if it were like a magnetic force pulling her in. Deidra didn’t know what it was, but there was just something about him she found so...alluring. Bill was boisterous and endearing, as well as goofy. He never failed to make her smile or laugh at his goofy jokes.

Deidra also had become entranced by the way he spoke every word with such genuine innocence, and it made her heart flutter. His beautiful, forest green eyes held such optimism, always sparkling with excitement. He had incredibly golden, curly hair, and cheeks dusted with a naturally rosy blush. His bright, cheeky grin was adorable, and it made Deidra’s soul lift up out of her body every time he flashed his Cheshire grin whenever he spoke. She was convinced he was the Greek God Apollo.

Since Deidra had been holed up in her room for days, she was about to go insane due to the palpable tediousness. While she kept herself busy watching reruns of “I love Lucy” and “The Brady Bunch”, or listening to music, she could only tolerate so much in order not to grow lack of interest.

Deidra hadn’t been able to see Bill, since she spent half of her time with him at Ted’s house watching them practice. She missed hanging out and spending time with them outside of school. The trio were a tight knit group, always together as they kicked around having the time of their lives. Other than spending time in Ted’s garage, Deidra spent the other half of her time at her house with Bill or going on dates with him on their own time. So, the time she had to stay away from him was the most heinous thing ever.

Bill was incredibly charming—always planning the most creative, romantic gestures for Deidra in his own special ways with the help of Ted, of course. It never failed to make Deidra melt at just how much of a gentleman Bill was. He always took her on cute, simple dates—whether it’s to the mall, Waterloo, or even McDonald’s. They spent time together as much as possible since they always had the most fun of times.

Deidra let out a yawn as she laid back down, stretching her aching limbs out wide at her sides. A loud sneeze erupted from her nose, causing her to groan and let her head fall back on the pillow due to the heavy weight on her head from lifting it up. She reached over and grabbed a tissue out of the box on the nightstand, blowing her nose before tossing the tissue in the small bin beside the nightstand her mom had placed there.

Deidra sniffed, staring back up at the ceiling with watery eyes as Elvis played faintly in the background. The sound of the front door closing echoed through the house, filling her with panic. Both of her parents were at work, and if they were home, they would let her know as soon as they stepped foot inside the house. All of the sudden, a familiar figure appeared in the doorway, filling her with relief.

“Greetings, my most bodacious babe Dee!” Bill exclaimed, his arms full of what appears to be food, games, and medicine. Bill had rushed over, filled with worry once he heard how sick Deidra was over the phone, and he wanted to take care of her instantly. “I brought some things I know you’d enjoy during your time of need.”

Her whole face lit up, her eyes twinkling. “Bill!” Deidra croaked, her voice raw from the amount of coughing she had been doing. “What are you doing here?” She asked. “I’m sick, which means you’re not allowed to be here,” she told him, a frown on her face.

“Dee, babe, I haven’t been able to see you for days,” Bill reminded Deidra. “I’ve really missed you, and I know you must be going insane trapped in your room. I figured I’d come cheer you up,” he admitted as he stepped inside the room.

Deidra smiled at his sweet confession. Bill always went out of his way to do things like this for the people he absolutely cared about, including Deidra and Ted. This was just the kind of guy Bill was, and it made her fall in love with him even more.

“I really appreciate it, Bill,” Deidra told bill, honesty in her voice. “I’m sick. I would hate to have you in the same situation, especially because of me. It’s most egregious,” she tried to convince him.

“I’m not going to get sick, you baby” Bill denied with a playful glare, causing Deidra to roll her eyes with a fond smile at his humor. “Just let me take care of you until you’re a hundred percent better again,” bill insisted before placing the items on the bed.

Deidra felt a stinging itch radiating from her throat, causing her to hack violently into her arm. The sensation of her throat feeling like it had been ripped to tiny shreds by a chainsaw was searing in waves of splitting pain. Once the coughing ceased, she squeezed her eyes shut as a sigh escaped past her lips.

Shrugging off his shoes in a lethargic way, Bill sat down beside Deidra, a concerned look etched on his face. He couldn’t help but notice her pale skin, the dark circles underneath her eyes, or her nose red with irritation. The look of pure misery vanished once bill placed a feathery, soft kiss on her forehead.

“Dee, you’re burning up!” Bill voiced as he pulled away, placing a cool hand on Deidra’s forehead, causing her to shiver due to how warm her body felt. Bill brushed the stray, baby hairs away from her forehead. “You stay here, babe. I’m gonna go and make you some soup,” he stood up from the bed with a smile before retreating downstairs to the kitchen.

A small grin graced Deidra’s lips, finding how adorable and sweet it was for Bill to become worried, especially whenever it came to her. Even at his own risk, Bill was a deeply compassionate person by helping when Deidra was in distress. She couldn’t help but feel naturally content, delighted, and safe in his presence.

Deidra crawled out from the warm cocoon of her bed, moving toward her record player and turning off the music of Elvis. She plopped back down on her bed and pulling back the covers closer up to her neck. It didn’t take long for Bill to finish making the soup, as he made his way back into the room, carefully holding a bowl of soup and a spoon. Deidra sniffed the air, the delicious smell of the soup wafting through her nose.

“Here you go, babe,” Bill softly spoke, carefully handing his girlfriend the bowl of hot contents and a spoon. “You need to eat a little bit so you can take your medicine.”

Deidra settled the bowl on her lap, the weight of the bowl full of soup feeling heavy in her hands. She placed one hand around the bowl, her index finger resting on the rim to keep it steady on her lap. Timidly, she took a spoonful of soup, bringing it up to her mouth and carefully blowing on it before taking a bite.

Deidra shivered at the warm feeling flowing through her body from the hot soup. Bill took his place beside her as he watched her continue to eat the soup. Noticing his beloved was almost finished, bill took the spoon and guided it to her lips.

Deidra blushed, eyeing the spoon bill was holding up to her lips. Bill often fed her from time to time, whenever they went on dates, but this time it was obviously under different circumstances. She was more vulnerable. Of course, neither of them seemed to mind, as it was a loving gesture bill did with patience.

The curly-haired angel pushed the spoon past the girl’s lips, letting her finish the last bite of soup. She leaned over, placing the bowl next to the cup of tea she had made a while ago, already sure to be cold now. Deidra glanced at the alarm clock on the nightstand, knowing it was time to take her medicine once again.

After she finished taking her medicine, Deidra grabbed the bottle half full of water and took a big sip of it to wash the horrid taste down. She eased herself back under the covers in order to lie down, sighing in content from the warmth the soup and the covers provided her with.

Bill outstretched his arms for Deidra to envelop herself into his embrace, causing fear to cross her face as she shook her head in protest. “Bill, no, I don’t want you to risk yourself more than you already have.”

“I don’t care,“ Bill excused. “Just let me hold you.” Deidra bored her eyes into her boyfriend, biting her lip as Bill fluttered his eyelashes with an expectant smile before shuffling closer to him and curling into his chest. He gazed into her eyes with such fondness, causing a flush to creep up her face as she knew he was thinking of her.

“I’m only doing it because you’re cute,” Deidra commented, causing bill to form a smirk on his lips once he took notice of her sticking her nose in the air.

A moment of silence passed before bill spoke up. “Do you feel a little better, Dee?” Bill asked, wrapping an arm around her waist and pulling her closer to him. The warmth from the blankets combined with the heat from cuddling up to Bill enveloped her with a blanket of comfort. “Are you warm enough?”

The brown-haired girl hummed, nodding her head. “You’re soft and warm,” she murmured. “I don’t want you to move.” Bill did manage to make her feel a little better than how she was feeling before. He lifted her spirits once he showed up, so needless to say, she wasn’t feeling as miserable as she had been. “I’m so glad you came over. Any time without you is far too long.”

Her voice dripped with exhaustion from the medicine, the state of drowse sinking in as a side effect. Bill’s mouth lifted up into a smile as he played with Deidra’s hair, tracing through her long, wavy locks softly with his fingers.

“Don’t stop...” Deidra mumbled in a languid tone, causing bill to hum in question. “Your fingers in my hair,” the girl clarified. “Feels really nice...”

“You’re adorable,” Bill crooned, his mouth curving into a soft smile. “You know I’ll always be here, right?” Bill quietly vowed in a gentle tone, causing Deidra to hum in content. There were times where Bill struggled with expressing how he felt about the green-eyed girl, but they both knew he loved her so much.

As the day progressed, Bill made sure Deidra consumed her medicine regularly when she was supposed to. After watching Lady and the Tramp and playing board games, Bill and Deidra started reading together. Bill absentmindedly tangled his fingers through the dark tresses and down her back as he reads to her in a soft voice.

Bill peered down at Deidra, only to see she had dozed off once he noticed her eyelids flutter shut. The corners of his mouth twitched up as he gazed down at her, before closing the book and pulling her closer to him. He nuzzled his face into her hair, before placing a tender kiss on the crown of her head.

“I love you,” Bill whispered softly into her ear. “I hope you know this.”

“I love you, too,” Deidra declared, her voice just barely touched of a whisper. It nearly would have been too silent, yet bill had heard it loudly by the tiny grin curving on the corners of his lips. It just reminded how in love he fell with her more everyday.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫

So, that’s it for this imagine! Bill is so cute, and as a Bill girl, I wish I lived in a universe where I was sick so he could take care of me! What do you think? Like I mentioned before, I really think I could have done a better job with this. I’m honored my best friend Deidra came to me to write this, and I hope I did it justice!

With love, from Audrey <3

[historioddity]

Fandom: Yu Yu Hakusho

Characters: Botan, Keiko Yukimura

Rating: G

Tags: Original Character Oni, character exposition, death, I thought Ted went with Jorge as an Oni name but now I’m second guessing myself.

Word count: Approx. 4300

Summary: The thing about taking even half a day off is that death doesn’t and a ferry guide knows this all too well.But that doesn't mean Botan is helpless to save her day out.

The story can be read on Ao3 or below.

At the rate she is going, Botan knows she’ll be late to meet Keiko. It’s not as if this is a new situation, Botan is often the last one to arrive to group outings and occasionally she only manages to join in half way through. But given the circumstances of this afternoon’s outing with her friend, the ferry guide feels worse than usual about it.

 Of course, that’s the kind of thing that happens when she can’t get a full day off. Not that she usually can manage to get a full day off, Botan muses as she ferries in the latest soul to come to rest in the Spirit World. Full days off just aren’t the way of things in this bureaucracy. She knows she’s rather lucky to snag a half day off instead of being more or less on call for any sudden need.

 With practiced ease, Botan steers her oar down to the landing point. Over the years she had found that landing facing the doors seemed to work better for the newly departed – they would stare at the ornate carving and painting that made up the larger door before ever noticing the smaller one that they would pass through. For some reason, if she landed facing the expanse of Spirit World and the River Styx, even though they had just flown over it, her ferried soul would panic and have a harder time entering the building. The grandeur of the building is just an excellent distraction Botan supposes.

 Today is no different and her passenger stares down the door with awe rather than fright. Botan lowers the oar until it’s little more than a hop down to the ground and then finally speaks to the newly departed again.

 “Here we are,” she says cheerily. The soul looks at her, a man in his mid-fifties, dead of a heart attack he just hadn’t been able to prevent. His momentary awe of the door fades quickly once she’s broken the spell, but her happy disposition – always part her personality and part work persona – dredges a small smile back on his face. It’s only a split second, but it’s just enough to put them back on track. Botan will take it.

 It takes very little prodding to get a soul to hop off her oar and Miyamura san is no different. It takes some getting used to, after all, and a single flight into to Spirit World just isn’t long enough. Botan alights as well, and then with practiced ease gets them entry into the building. All souls are fascinated when they first see the rooms full of Oni working on papers and processing the dead and her charge today is, again, no exception. It takes a moment for her to locate the particular Oni she needs in all the ruckus. Miyamura san doesn’t notice a thing and it’s only her hand on his elbow that keeps him following her through the busy room. The hustle and bustle should make the job harder, but Botan finds it’s just another excellent distraction for all the people who don’t want to be dead yet. The Oni she needs is a man by the name of Ted – bright red with two horns who she occasionally sees with Jorge when they can wrangle their own down time. Ted is a calming sort of fellow, with an easy going personality that seems to allow the newly departed to relax finally. Botan loves it when he’s the Oni she reports her charges to for the day.

 “Ted!” she greets brightly to catch his attention. The red Oni looks up from his ever existent stack of papers and then smiles at her.

 “Botan, I expected you a bit ago!” He looks pointedly at the soul she’s ferried. Botan does as well and when it’s obvious that Miyamura san is still busy watching all the other Oni work, she whispers behind her sleeve to Ted,

 “He fought pretty hard to stay; I almost thought he was going to be a false alarm.” As human technology advanced, the number of false alarms – especially related to heart attacks, strokes, and large scale accidents – had grown to match. A resilient human soul was sometimes all that was needed to tip the scales with the progress modern human medicine had made. Ted nods at her in understanding and then looks the departed Miyamura san over as he watches three other Oni work out the logistics of how many guides are going to be needed for the deaths in an upcoming motor vehicle accident. They give the middle aged man some time to watch everything before they move him along – it’s just so much easier to recapture their attention if they’ve had their fill.

 “Alright Miyamura san, we’ve just got a couple of things to go over and then we’ll be sending you off to your resting place.” Ted shifts his papers before smiling at the soul, “Not that you need to worry at all Miyamura san, it seems your paternal grandmother is waiting for you as we speak! So, let’s get this done just as fast as possible, I’m sure you’d like to catch up.”

 --

 “Do you need your next assignment?” Ted asks after Miyamura san has been brought to meet with his grandmother. Ted is the type of Oni that falls behind even more than most because he likes to accompany the souls to the afterlife with their guide.

 “I have the rest of the day off, I will rip up any slip you give me,” Botan says as she pantomimes the action for Ted’s amusement. The Oni chuckles.

 “Well, I certainly don’t need you making more work for me! How lucky to have some time off, and with your final ferry of the day being so simple.”

 Botan hums in agreement. A sudden heart attack is not the easiest job she could have had before her time off – those who slip away due to old age are the coveted easy jobs – but given it hadn’t been a violent accident of any kind, she knows she still got lucky. They talk a little as they walk back to the building which is always a common occurrence with Ted. Seeing the dearly departed off to the resting place, and often reuniting with family, is one of the things that Botan knows helps the Oni deal with his hectic job. Talking to ferry guides while they walk back is just one way he tries to give them an outlet too. She appreciates it immensely.

 Some souls are tougher to deal with than others; the fixated ghosts that take days or months to move from one spot, the ones who die so suddenly the guide spends more time convincing them they are dead than in the actual act of ferrying them over, or the ones who pass from prolonged illness who need time to adjust to no longer being in pain or other long term bodily stresses – each took something different out of a guide. Fixated ghosts made one weary if it was too busy to swap out guides at intervals. Sudden deaths were emotionally draining to everyone involved. A guide had to become a counselor in a heartbeat. The individuals who had suffered from prolonged illnesses seemed to create an infectious energy, causing a buzz in everyone they met along the way to their rest. It made one tired in a whole other sense. Botan is glad there are others besides the always too busy guides who are willing to hear out such stories.

 When they reach the door, Ted shoos her away.

 “Get out of here, if you go back in I may not give you a slip but someone else will certainly try! Go have your half day off! Bring me a story from the living world the next time I see you.”

 Botan laughs and summons her oar. She jumps on it and hovers next to the Oni for a moment.

 “I’ll see what I can do. You get back inside before your stack of papers takes over the entire desk you have! It’ll take you forever to pick yours from everyone else’s if that topples while you’re out here talking to me.”

 Ted groans, “Don’t jinx me, please! The last time that happened was bad enough and it wasn’t even my desk!” They share another laugh. Then with a parting wave, Ted enters the building to continue his work and Botan speeds off towards the human world.

 She’s already five minutes late to meet Keiko.

 --

 Botan has had more than enough time to learn that the quickest way to reach the human world and meet up with her friends is to find the nearest back alley, land, and walk out onto the street as if she belonged there. There were always enough randomly placed apartments to answer for her presence in the alleyway. It’s also a good place to quickly slip into her human guise with the least amount of potential onlookers. Her stopping point that day is only a few blocks down from the café she was supposed to meet Keiko at almost twenty minutes ago. She hopes the high school senior can forgive her for wasting part of a precious Saturday.

 It takes her an extra five minutes to reach the café. But for this part she’s positive Keiko will forgive her.

 Keiko is sitting at a booth inside the café when she arrives, a half empty cup of tea in front of her.

 “Botan! There you are! I was getting worried,” the student jokes. Botan quickly moves to join the brunette at her table. She sits down quickly and is almost bursting with excitement.

 “Keiko, guess what I found! It’s a-” The waitress comes by and puts a glass of water in front of the blue haired new arrival. At the same time, Botan’s sentence and train of thought is abruptly thrown off course. She thanks the woman for the glass and awkwardly takes the menu that is offered. Then the café waitress walks away from the table, completely unaware of the way Botan stares after her.

 The thing about taking even half a day off is that death doesn’t and a ferry guide knows this all too well.

 Botan isn’t sure how long assignment slips have been the norm at Spirit World but no amount of bureaucracy changes innate skills even if it might dull them from disuse. So Botan knows immediately what the feeling is that their waitress gives off. And she doesn’t like it one bit. It's like watching the smoke rise from a recently blown out candle, strong for the moment but experience tells you how quickly it will wind down to nothing. As if Botan can actually see it, the proverbial smoke billows off their young waitress, strong for now but already beginning to fade away. The ferry guide doesn't want to be here when the smoke finally dies down.

 "Botan?" Keiko pulls her attention away from the doomed waitress. The young human woman is dressed nicely; everything from the pair of bracelets, the necklace, and the nicely pressed look of her shirt nearly screams to Botan that Keiko is out to enjoy a break from studying to its fullest extent.

 She doesn't want Keiko to be here either.

 With the excitement of her half day off suddenly pushed to the side by their waitress, Botan begins to sense more unfortunate ends waiting inside the cafe. Two are as immediate as the waitress, both of them standing in line at the counter no doubt ordering their last cups of coffee to go. Another feels like a candle that is nearly out of wick and about to be snuffed by the wet wax it has burned down to. An elderly woman by the window is the source. Not an immediate concern, but Botan knows that she'll be a slip assignment within the month most likely.

 "Botan, are you okay?" Keiko prompts again. Her brown eyes search Botan’s face and the ferry guide can’t look at them in fear she’ll let something slip.

 "Hmm, yes! Yes, yes of course!" she babbles a little and reaches for the glass of water their waitress had left. It steadies her hands and the sip of water gives her a moment to think. "Where was I?"

 Keiko breathes a laugh out of her nose and reaches to open the menus on Botan's behalf. Botan takes another sip of water to mask her reaction. The last thing she wants is to stay here and eat, there's no telling if something will shift and put out the smoke faster than usual. A little burst of will power can turn minutes into an hour but an unexpected jolt can take hours and turn them into minutes - once death is coming it gets a little harder to know the absolute certainties.

 Keiko comes to the rescue.

 "If you're hungry you can order something but my mom caught me before I left with a plate from the restaurant. It smelled so good and then I realized how long it had been since breakfast, and I didn't think I would make it here if I passed it up. I'm going to order a dessert to go with my tea if that's okay?" Keiko smiles and holds up the dessert menu. The regular menu, showing off a small variety of salads, sandwiches, and soups, had been left in front of Botan.

 "I may do that too!" Under almost any circumstance, Botan is ready to sample human world food of nearly any type and, truthfully, she could eat a real lunch given the energy she had spent throughout the morning. But ordering just dessert and tea or coffee is far more likely to get them out of the cafe before the axe drops. The fact that she has a horrible sweet tooth only makes it easier to sell Keiko on the idea. The brunette opens the menu and places it in the middle of the table for the both of them to look at.

 The ferry guide pushes the proverbial smoke out of her mind to focus on the list of cakes and puddings offered by the shop. A cup of coffee with some cream and sugar would go well with any of them so she focuses on finding a dessert to order as quickly as possible. Just as she decides on a strawberry cheese cake that looks absolutely divine in the little picture, another group enters the cafe.

 Among them is a soul whose life force flickers like a candle in a strong wind. The flicker, Botan quickly finds, is a salaryman who can't be passed his late twenties yet. Flickers don't usually pan out – human resilience often comes into play and eventually things stabilize. But Botan hates it when death can't make up its mind. She sometimes wonders if Yusuke felt like that in the moment before he made the decision to save that boy what feels like forever ago. Of course, no one had been around to answer that question.

 "What looks good, Botan? We could share two if you can't decide! Everything here is really good." Keiko smiles at her and the ferry guide manages to dredge one up for her friend. The high school student keeps going, telling her all about which cake she had tried and what ones had been recommended enthusiastically by her friends at school.

 A lot of her appetite is gone, if Botan is honest with herself. There are three people ready to die within hours inside the shop, an elderly woman slowly making her way out of this world, and now a man who seems to be playing rock-paper-scissors with death on whether or not it would be today. At any moment the café could become powder keg, setting the salaryman off. At any moment one of the three could suffer a sudden heart attack or step out of the cafe to their death while crossing the street.

 "...and supposedly there's a crêpe shop nearby that's really good but no one has been able to get to it! Nonoka and Shion tried to go a couple weeks ago but they ended up going in circles until they just had cake here." Keiko launches onwards, too busy staring at the menu to notice that Botan hadn't been paying attention. Botan knows that her friend is rambling due to the hours of self-imposed isolation to study for her upcoming college entrance exams, but she could about kiss her for the reminder.

 "Crêpe shop?"

 Keiko pauses midway through describing one of the puddings offered to look up at Botan.

 "Yea, a crêpe shop. It does sweet and savory crêpe and one of my classmate's sisters said it was really good. Everyone has wanted to try it but we're all so busy with final exams and studying that no one has time to really go looking for it."

 "I passed one coming here! That's what I was going to tell you about. I can't believe it slipped my mind," Botan forces a laugh. She knows very well why it was gone in a blink of an eye.

 “Really?” Keiko head pops back up from studying the menu. “Where did you come from this time?”

 “It was just down the street!” Botan gestures happily out the window and notes that one of the two who had been waiting for coffee, and their deaths, is now standing just outside the shop sipping on it. The other is inside still, waiting on food ordered to go judging by the plastic fork he holds. The elderly lady is still at her table, the salaryman has finally made it to the till. Botan bites her lip.

 “Do you wanna go?” she offers hesitantly. She watches Keiko glance at the menu and then at her tea cup. She’s certain the other young woman is weighing their options and social etiquette as well. Keiko looks at her tea cup again and then takes the menus and props them up by the napkin holder. She downs the last bit of her drink and then smiles at Botan.

 “Just give me a second to pay for the tea!” And with that Keiko leaves the table, flags down the waitress, and joins the small line at the till.

 A giddy smile comes to Botan’s lips. At the same time, the man waiting for his food, still feeling like a smoking candle, walks passed her and waits much like the other just outside the shop. The doomed waitress stops at a nearby table to take an order. Botan scans for the elderly woman and notes that although nearer to the door, she has stopped to talk to someone. The salaryman is waiting for his order a bare two feet from Keiko.

 Botan watches all of them like a hawk while she waits. It can’t take more than a few minutes for Keiko to make her way through the line and pay for her single cup of tea, but it feels like longer. Botan worries her bottom lip the entire wait and catches an odd glance from the waitress. She expects something to happen. Keiko had agreed without any actual argument from Botan to go to the crêpe shop and with such an easy answer to Botan’s want to keep the student from witnessing even one death too many, she expects something to go wrong at the last moment.

 Keiko’s arrival back at the table causes the ferry guide to jump a foot out of her chair. She giggles nervously and Keiko gives her a concerned look.

 “You are okay, right?” Keiko leans in to whisper, “Nothing’s going on, right? You didn’t send Yusuke or Kuwabara on something, did you? Nothing happening at Spirit World?”

 The concern in her friend’s eyes is all too evident and Botan’s heart melts a little.

 “Everything’s fine, promise.” It will be fine, because they’re leaving the shop and they can’t possibly run into this much bad luck again in one day. She repeats the thought to herself as they leave the shop, passing all the people marked for death that she can’t help but zero in on.

 Some of Botan’s confidence evaporates when they hit the sidewalk. She knows which direction she came from, but all the sudden death markers have virtually erased her memory of how many blocks down it was. She decides she’ll recognize it when she sees it. She’ll just have to.

 Keiko talks about school as they walk – the classes that have finished all the material a little too early, the one that fell behind by accident, and the way so many students and teachers are starting to get weepy eyed over the graduation that looms ever closer. She talks about friends and the schools they are trying for. What school she’s hoping for the most enters the conversation, compared against a backup and Yusuke’s joking suggestion of a ronin year. Botan hears every third word. Partially, it’s because she’s keeping an eye out for the crêpe shop. But it’s also because she can’t ignore all the smoke like death markers here and there as they walk.

 Most of them pass by quickly, the people riding on buses or trains, registering and then gone nearly as fast. A couple are slower, walking passed on either side of the street or crossing the road, every one either being left behind or leaving the two women behind as they search for the shop. Botan wishes she could shut it off as the distraction isn’t needed and she doesn’t want to cause Keiko to worry again.

 She tries not to catalogue them but fails miserably – an elderly man walking with his grown child, a woman haphazardly fixing her jacket as she power walks down the road, a child walking the dog with his family, a pregnant woman making an odd face at her rounded stomach waiting for the bus. Botan can’t even tell which life force is degrading there and it finally forces her to watch the buildings, waiting for crêpes to be in the window or a familiar building to pop up. She’ll throw herself into a fit if she doesn’t.

 The crêpe shop is a whole block further than she thought it was, but she and Keiko spot it at the same time.

 “You were right Botan, that’s definitely the right shop! I thought they were exaggerating that sign, but it really is just a giant crêpe!” Keiko gestures incredulously at the sign as if it needs any more attention drawn to it.

 Botan smiles in relief, and some amusement, at the giant crêpe sign that takes up the entire possible area of signage for the shop so that it doesn’t even properly advertise its name. Keiko tugs her in the door and Botan braces.

 The inside of the shop is slightly cool despite the weather, a few tables are occupied and there’s a brightly decorated menu sign over the front counter announcing the number of delights that could be made. The ferry guide waits for a moment for something to show up, the figurative smoke to appear, the touch of death to announce itself.

  But it doesn’t.

 Every life force within the shop is bright and cheery, burning brightly without a single flicker or cause for pause. Keiko is already enamored with the variety of crêpes available, a hand to her mouth, a smile all the way to her eyes. Botan is probably being sentimental, but Keiko’s burns the brightest of all of them. It cements the sense of relief that spreads through her chest. Keiko is healthy and young with a long life yet a head of her. Most of the people in the shop are young with the same outlook, and Botan looks at each couple and the groups of friends and feels herself calm down. The café had been bustling and bright as well, but this shop felt like it existed on another level, weighed down by nothing. The atmosphere is night and day to Botan who lets the relief spread from head to toe as she shuffles towards the counter. The brunette reaches out and grabs her friend’s shirt sleeve.

 Keiko turns to her and says, “I don’t know what one to pick.”

 Botan giggles, the relief restoring her bubbly nature so that nothing about it is forced. Then she takes a real look at the menu and her mouth falls open. It’s an even split between the sweet and savory flavors, so many on the board that it’s too crowded for pictures and nearly lacks the prices. Chocolate, cream, a dozen different fruits, and savory flavors with ham or tuna are at the top of the list. There’s a sign directly by the till with two flavors of the day – one sweet and one savory; Lemon cake and Spinach & Bacon it proudly reads. At a glance Botan sees twelve she’d love to try. She’s sure she’ll find more if she really reads down the list.

 “Me neither…” she breaths to Keiko. This is a much nicer problem to have. Immediately the two launch into a discussion of flavors, bringing up one only to fall for another. The middle aged woman behind the counter waits patiently with a smile, clearly used to this. She simply waits, preps the crêpe batter, and answers their questions as they come.

 They’re so busy picking out crêpes they don’t notice the ambulance sirens as they go by. If Botan had, she would have patted herself on the back for a job well done.