A/N: Well its like three days late. But better late than never considering the fact that I've been sick the whole time I was writing it. I thank my lovely beta for fixing my idiotic mistakes. Especially when I'm complaining I'm delirious.
Disclaimer: Obviously I don't own anything relating to Yu Yu Hakusho. Its all property of Yoshihiro Togashi. sadness
Once
It was only once a year that Ayame did this. Only once a year where she broke the rules to show the one's she loved that she loved them. Granted it was in a backwards sort of way since the present didn't have her name on it and the gift never could be traced back to her. He never knew she left it for him not once in all the many years that she'd been doing it.
She paused outside the door and looked up and down the hall. She couldn't afford to get caught now. Punishment for a ferry girl, albeit the head of the research department, who dared to even fall in love with Enma's son was steep. Dangerously steep and she was not interested in that punishment falling on her. The idea of forced reincarnation just wasn't all that pretty. It usually ended with the Special Forces escorting you to the gateway so that you wouldn't be able to run.
Shrugging Ayame pushed open the doors quickly walked the length of the room to the golden topped desk and placed the small wrapped package on the desktop. She stood and stared for a moment then quickly turned away and left the office before she could be caught by George. Just what she needed George to ask her what she'd been doing in his office so early in the morning.
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Now Koenma on the other hand had no idea it was Christmas mostly because he was so overworked all the time that human world dates very rarely seemed to make a blimp on his radar if it didn't include something major like the Dark Tournament was happening. Christmas was not a major Spirit World catastrophe and as such it tended to slip his mind somewhere between approving spirits for clearance to heaven or condemning them to stay in limbo like Toguro and Genkai.
He hardly noticed the fact that Ayame walked past him without saying anything. Normally he'd wonder what had her so distracted because it wasn't like her to be but the promise of getting more paperwork before he finished the tons he already had was enough to make him not notice. Well that and his overbearing workaholic mindset.
Although it was kinda hard to miss the shiny blue wrapped package sitting on your desk no matter how work minded he was. Initially Koenma did manage to do that as he began his preprogrammed monkey work. But eventually he noticed the package's existence. Meaning Koenma had mistaken it for a very large stack of paperwork and had proceeded to cover the wrapping in stamps. After about the fifteenth stamp however he did realize that it was indeed a present.
Blinking in surprise as to why such a thing would be on his desk Koenma finally deemed it necessary to check the mortal world calendar. And sure enough it was Christmas day in Human World. Now, the next question was who the hell left the present for him, since there was no sender's name on it after all. Shrugging, he unwrapped it quickly After all the quicker he did that the sooner he could get yesterday's work done and start today's considering there were always a few deaths on Christmas in Human World.
Inside was a small box with a new stamp for his use on papers. And a short note.
'Because you always wear them out by this time of year…' was all that the note said No signature nothing. Just some cryptic comment about how the person in question knew he always managed to need a new stamp this time of year.
Actually thinking about it now for the last couple hundred years or so he'd always received a new stamp right about now. It was always wrapped in shiny blue paper that he always seemed to misjudge for a stack of paperwork to be stamped before he opened it. Well it was nice to know he was a creature of habit although the pattern could not longer be denied.
He was a little confused. Who could possibly know that he wore his stamp out every year?Initially he thought of George who spent more time hovering over him while he was stamping than doing actual work but that very idea was discarded with a shudder. It would be very disturbing if George were leaving him a new stamp every year for centuries but he also knew that George hadn't been around as long as this ritual stamps receptionhad.
And then it clicked just as she walked in the door as the fates would have it. She was carrying her latest research report of a demon ring that was forming between worlds starting with the alliance of a few really bad humans and some seriously nasty demons recently who crossed over from demon world.
"Thank you Ayame and Merry Christmas" Koenma said as she set the report down and started to turn away.
She never made a single outward notion that she knew what he meant but she knew in her head that he had figured her out. That he knew exactly what she'd been doing for years now. She smiled - it took him long enough but he only operated on two channels. Work and work and that had been not work related at all.
She disappeared for a little while. Spirit World could survive without her for a few moments as she climbed the stairs to the highest tower in the palace. She needed a moment to process the fact that she had indeed been caught. And not by a coworker but the object of her affection, and that he'd left her a little surprise as well on the roof of the tower.
A plain package with a reddish-brown bow Inside was the one gift that made her heart melta promise an eternity and a secret neither could ever share with anyone else. A shame but worth it if it meant that for one moment they had something that only came along once in an afterlife.