Blind Date
by Ryoma
Chapter 2
Atsuko's head raised as she heard the knock on her door, and she laid the dish back into the sink, and wiped her hands on a nearby towel to go answer the door, letting her parents rest, as they had had a long day at work.
It had been a day since Yusuke's aggrivating proposistion, and she'd resigned herself to having to go on this blind date. She had even told her friends that she didn't know when she'd be available.
When she opened the door, her smile faded to aggrivation. "Urameshi, what do you want?"
He grinned, and presented her with a small envelope. "All the information you need for Saturday evening is there."
"What?" She
said, but he was already turning. "Hey, Urameshi, what's Sat..."
He was gone, and she looked at the envelope and closed the door. Her
father called from the living room, asking who it was, and she replied it was a
school mate delivering a bunch of notes she had lent him.
Atsuko walked to the kitchen and sat at the table. She had a pretty good idea what was in this letter. Saturdays were the perfect time to date, after all, they had Sunday off before going back to classes.
As she read the information, she thought. 'At least he has the decency to give me a few hours after school to get ready. Not like I'm going to dress fancier than I have to be, but the mental workout to be at least nice to this friend of his is going to be a job and a half.'
She sighed, laying the letter down, and rested her face in her hands.
***
Yusuke grinned dumbly as he walked down the street. He had the perfect plan going.
This entire mess had started when he and Kurama had been discussing Koenma's tendency to overwork and not take any time for rest.
Yusuke had mentioned that he always had time to rest, no matter how busy he was. Kurama had seemed to supress a line, and Yusuke grinned, saying he did do his work sometimes.
Kurama nodded, then said something about finding a way to get Koenma out for the night. This had gotten them onto the discussion of the best way to get him out and socialize, when Yusuke got a brilliant idea.
He had mentioned Koenma never went out, and he had no girlfriend. Atsuko, who Yusuke knew from the school newspaper, she was a good volley ball player, and had just recently transfered in, was, he thought, someone Koenma might enjoy the company of.
Despite Kurama's look of worry at his suggestion, he had told Yusuke that it might work. And here Yusuke was, walking down the street, his plan in motion.
Yusuke chuckled. It was going to be a great Saturday for Koenma.
***
SATURDAY
Koenma let out a groan as he tried to tie the tie on his tuxedo.
Yusuke just HAD to have him in one, didn't he? Just HAD to send him, and this date of his to a nice restaurant and make Koenma be there in his teen form, just HAD to have this idea at all.
A knock came and Koenma called for the person to come in.
He blinked a little as the mirror he was trying to tie his bow in showed Botan's reflection at the door. She was smiling a bit.
"I thought you may need some help, Koenma-sama." She stepped into the room and shut the door lightly, folding her hands in front of her and waiting for an invitation further into his room.
"Uh..." Koenma said, turning. He was blushing lightly. "Actually, I do... I can't get this tie to tie correctly."
"Let me help." Botan walked over to Koenma and worked at the tie for a time. Finally, she got it tied, and patted it a moment before moving her hand away and smiling. "There. All done."
"Thanks." Koenma moved the tie a bit, so it was comfortable.
"Sure." Botan said, still smiling. Inside she felt sick though, but she was still not going to let that show. Why ruin his night? "You look good, I'm sure Atsuko will..." She stopped as Koenma looked at her, and she realized what she had just said.
"Atsuko?" He asked quizically.
"Uhmm..." Botan blushed and sweat dropped, grinning stupidly. "Well, she's, uh, your blind date."
"And how do you know?" Koenma frowned.
"Uh..." Botan looked down at her feet. "Yusuke took me to see what I thought of her..."
"Then you knew about this?" Koenma could feel a cry of sadness well in him, but refused to let it out. If Botan knew about this, and hadn't said anything, then she must really be only a friend, or considered him only a friend.
"Sorta." She said, still looking at her feet.
"Yes or no?" Koenma asked, eyes squinting lightly.
"Uhm...Yes." She said, and looked at him. Koenma looked startled.
There was a long silence before Koenma's eyes caught the clock and he excused himself.
He felt hurt and betrayed and was glad that it was time to go. He didn't want to sit in that room any longer.
Then, it wasn't really Botan's fault, either. He hadn't told her what he felt, and, even if he had, he couldn't help how she felt, nor could she. Liking someone as friends, or in any other sense, was determined only by the way our life goes, not by any concious effort on anyone's part.
He sighed and resigned himself to the blind date.
***
Botan was still standing in Koenma's room, head bowed and hands folded in front of her.
She was silent. Dead silent.
Koenma's eyes had been shocked, but they also carried another look to them. The look was betrayal.
She understood. She had set him up. She knew how he was on his work, and knew how he was in general, and heading out on dates, let alone blind dates, wasn't a past time of his.
She sighed, feeling the tears welling up. She also felt like there might have been more to the look, but she knew that that was foolery, and wishful thinking.
She slid to the floor and started crying.
***
Atsuko stood outside the restaurant, waiting.
She had been here early, mentally readying herself for this date, which she still didn't really want to go to.
She sighed, looking at a small diamondy looking watch that was on her wrist, and adorned her black dress. 'They should be here any minute.' She said.
Yusuke had told her in the letter that he would be bringing his friend with him, so that he could introduce them, before letting them go off on their date.
She heard footsteps, and removed herself from the wall to turn to them. Coming down the street was Yusuke and a brown-haired teenager. He seemed very uncomfortable in a nice-looking suit, and Yusuke had a sort of evil grin to his face and seemed to be talking to the boy.
As they finally got to her, Yusuke smiled, and held his hands out to the boy. "Atsuko, this is my friend Koenma, he's to be your date for the night. Koenma, this is Atsuko."
"Hello." Koenma did a small bow, which Atsuko returned. She noticed he didn't look all too thrilled about this either, and was definently not in the greatest of moods. He looked out right depressed.
"Now, I've got to get going." Yusuke said. He was still grinning. "You two have fun."
"Urameshi, wait!" Atsuko said, trying to grab for her schoolmate. He just waved and walked off. "Dammit, he's such a brat." She covered her mouth then, and looked at Koenma, blushing a little. "Oh, er, sorry, Koenma-san."
He shook his head, smiling lightly. "No problem. Shall we go?" He indicated the restaurant, and Atsuko nodded.
'Man, he seems depressed.' Atsuko frowned, letting Koenma hold the door for her. 'Did he just break up with someone? If so, then Urameshi isn't very sensitive.'
She let the thoughts slip to the back of her mind, and decided that Koenma would tell her if he wanted, otherwise, she was just going to try to get along with him and have at least a decent night.
'At least he's cute.' She commented to herself.
***
Silence.
That's all she could hear now. Total, utter, lonesome silence.
And it was in this silence that she was softly crying to herself, her heart breaking into millions of pieces.
But it was her own fault. She tried to remember why through her haze, and the memory wasn't long in coming.
She wiped her tears softly away with her kimono and wondered why she had lied in the first place as the images started to play out slowly in her mind, much too real, too genuine, like they were here again, now, in this moment, for her to even like.
But they were there. They were there and they weren't going to go away, and so she silently let them come.
When they completed, she sighed and looked around the empty room.
She looked over at the clock, and sighed, mumbling to herself. "By now, Koenma-sama and Atsuko are probably having a wonderful time..."
***
Atsuko frowned slightly, looking at her dinner companion.
He'd been responsive enough to her questions, though not always answering them straight, but he also seemed extremely detached and depressed.
She sipped her soda a little, and looked at him again. His eyes were on his hands, which were folded in his lap, and he looked extremely depressed. Atsuko couldn't stand it and sighed. He looked up a little, and she looked him in the eye.
"Is there something the matter, Koenma-san?" She asked.
"Yeah..." He nodded lightly. "I'm sorry."
"For what?" She said, startled.
"Not being totally here." He tried a smile, and she kept staring at him. "Urameshi really wanted this to work, but...I guess I'm not in the mood."
She grinned. "That makes two of us."
"Nani?" He looked quizically at Atsuko, who winked at him. "What do you mean? I had thought..."
"Urameshi just wanted to set us both up." She laughed. "But, from the looks of it, you either just broke up, or you REALLY didn't want to be on a date."
"I didn't break up, but..." He said, and she stared hard at him. "Nothing." He sighed. "Nothing you can really help with anyways."
"You sure?" She smirked, as Koenma looked up at her. "If it's girl problems, I DO have a certain insight into girls, you know?" She made a movement with her chest, and Koenma couldn't help but smile a little at the extremely flirtatious-seeming gesture.
"I..." Koenma said, and stopped. "Don't laugh, alright?"
She nodded.
"I like someone that I work with." He said silently. "But I've never told her. She was sort of in on this too, so, I doubt she likes me..."
Atsuko blinked. "Blue-haired, high pony tailed girl?"
"Yes." Koenma nodded.
"I saw her." Atsuko ran a hand through her hair. "She didn't seem too thrilled to be there, and seemed rather startled at Urameshi's idea."
"Really?" Koenma asked, and Atsuko nodded. He looked at the table. "Hmmm."
"Why don't you just tell her?" Atsuko smiled. "The worst that can happen is she only likes you as a friend, but..." Koenma started to say that that was what he feared, but Atsuko held up a hand to silence him. "BUT, at least it will be out in the open, and you'll know, right? It's easier to deal with rejection outright, than the thoughts that you will be...At least then you know you can move on."
Koenma nodded silently. "Yeah...I guess you're right."
Atsuko grinned. "And we'll just tell Urameshi that we fought the entire time or something. I'm known to be pretty mean you know?"
Koenma looked startled. "You?" Atsuko nodded. "Who could have known?"
***
Botan was staring at the ceiling of her room when the small knock came on her door.
She looked at the clock. It was far too early for Koenma to be back, so she went and opened the door, curious as to what was up.
Her jaw almost dropped out of its socket when she saw Koenma standing in the doorway, still in his teen form, and blushing a little.
"Koenma-sama...I thought..." She said, and he moved into the room a little. She closed the door and turned to him.
"We didn't totally get along." Koenma said. "She's nice, but not my type."
"Oh." Botan said. Somehow, she felt worse than she would have thought she would. She really wanted him to be happy.
"Botan." He looked up, and she smiled questioningly. "Uh..." He stopped, then shrugged lightly. 'Atsuko said right out with it, so...here goes nothing.'
"Botan, I was wondering, how do you feel about me?" His eyes were very childish at that moment, very worried.
Botan blinked...Several times. "Ko-Koenma-sama, what do you mean?" She stammered.
"Well," He blushed harder. "I..Er.." He paused to take in a deep breath. "I like you a lot, more than as just a friend, and I was wondering what you felt towards me."
Botan's face was completely startled. Koenma looked at her, and saw her stand there for several moments, non-flinching.
Botan, herself, was trying to process all this information, and losing. She couldn't believe this, and wondered if she was dreaming. But, if she was, why were things, small details about her room, his suit, visable.
She looked at the clock. She could read it, see the numbers clearly, and she blinked, then turned back to Koenma. "Are you serious?" That was the only line she could come up with.
Koenma frowned, a little annoyed. "Of course I am!" He practically shouted, before being startled by Botan hugging him tightly. He could feel something wet fall on his shoulder, and he pushed her away lightly and looked at her.
She wiped away some tears, and smiled at him between sobs. "Koenma-sama..I.. I didn't think you felt that way." He was confused. Was she happy or sad? Her next gesture and lines confirmed which, as she hugged him tightly again. "I feel the same way."
Koenma blinked, taking things in, before smiling and reaching around to hug Botan lightly.
He kept from crying, but only barely, before whispering. "I'm glad..."
They stood there hugging for long minutes, both too happy with having their questions answered to really care about much else...Even Koenma had forgotten his stacks of work.