"Ayame-san really said that?!" Keiko exclaimed.

It was a nice Saturday afternoon. Botan and Keiko were in the ramen house which Yusuke recently opened, and Botan had just filled Keiko in on what happened the day before.

"Well, yes," Botan replied. "But I still think she's lying."

"Oh, come on, Botan-chan," Keiko said, raising an eyebrow. "Why would she do that? Hmm...Koenma and Botan! Now that's one cute couple!"

"Keiko-chan!!!"Botan said reprovingly.

"The only thing is, Koenma's too chicken to tell Botan how he really feels." Botan and Keiko looked up, and saw that Yusuke was there, carrying a tray containing two bowls of noodles on it. "Special ramen for the ladies," he said, handing the bowls to the two girls.

"Well, you're right," Keiko said to Yusuke.

Yusuke looked at her, confused. "Right about what? The ramen?"

"I mean about Koenma, you moron!"

"Oh, I knew that," Yusuke stated. "I was just acting-"

Keiko rolled her eyes. "Whatever you say. Anyway, maybe we need to push Koenma a bit. You know, make him jealous or something. Or-"

Botan wasn't listening anymore. Geez, she didn't really believe what Ayame said, for it was too impossible. Bored, she casually observed all the people in the ramen house, when suddenly she spotted a familiar young man in the crowd; a guy with short black hair and blue eyes...

"Senkichi!" Botan exclaimed, and rose from her chair.

The boy spotted her too, and walked towards her. "Hi! Botan!"

"This is such a nice coincidence," Senkichi said happily when he reached her. "Who'd have thought that I'd ever see you again? So how are you? Did anybody try to kidnap you again?"

Botan smiled. "Fortunately, no. I'm fine, thanks. What about you? How are things going?"

"Never been better. Well, I have to go back to my table now, I think my ramen's getting cold. Take care of yourself, okay?"

"Hai," Botan said, and waved goodbye to him. "Ja mata!" She sat down again, and suddenly realized that Yusuke and Keiko were staring at her.

"Oh, that was Kawano Senkichi," Botan explained. "The guy who saved me yesterday, remember, Keiko?"

"Oh, okay," Keiko said, and she turned to Yusuke. "But Botan just met him yesterday! Isn't that sort of embarrassing?"

"No, of course not, Keiko," Yusuke said, dismissing her with a wave of his hand. "He seems like a good sport. Besides, I"LL explain everything to him."

It was now Botan's turn to stare at THEM. "HUH?! WHAT IN THE NINGEN KAI ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?!"

The two just ignored her. "But Yusuke..." Keiko protested, still looking doubtful.

"Trust me, Keiko," Yusuke said, and winked at the pretty brown haired girl. He turned to Botan. "I have found a surefire way to make Koenma finally admit to you that he likes you. You'll be thanking ME when you two get married!" He sauntered off towards Senkichi.

"WHAT?!" Botan yelled, still confused, and ran off to stop Yusuke. But she was too late, for Yusuke had already reached Senkichi.

Great, she thought. What is Yusuke up to now?

 ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"NO!!! I WILL NOT DO IT!!!"

Botan glared at Yusuke. What an outrageous plan he had! Go on a date with Senkichi? Was he serious?

"Come on, Botan," Yusuke pleaded. "Just give it a shot."

"But what if it doesn't work?" Botan disputed. Whoa! Wait a minute! She thought. What am I saying? Of course it won't work!!!

"Of course it will work," Yusuke said, and he smirked. "Come on, why do you just quit denying it? You want to go along with the plan too!"

"Of course not!"

"But Botan," Yusuke argued. "Senkichi has already agreed. He said he'd be glad to help you out. Please, just give it a try! You just have to go on a date with Senkichi, and I assure you, Koenma would finally realize that he might lose you if he doesn't act immediately! So then, he'd finally tell you how he feels! Come on, don't be such a coward! This plan will work! It always does in love stories, don't they?"

Keiko glanced at him mischievously. "You mean you read love stories? Wow, wait 'til the other guys hear about this..."

"I DO NOT READ THOSE KIND OF STUFF!" Yusuke hollered indignantly. "I only know about that because of you!"

Botan and Keiko giggled.

Yusuke grunted in frustration. "Still, I'm sure my plan will work! Come on, Botan! It's just one date!"

Botan turned to Keiko for help.

"Well, I do think Yusuke has a good plan," Keiko started. "Even if he had been a little rash, he does have a point. Anyway, Senkichi DID agree."

Botan sat down and sulked. "Well, I'll do it then," she muttered half-heartedly.

"Great!" Yusuke said, and went back inside the kitchen.

"Are you mad at us?" Keiko asked Botan worriedly.

"No, I'm fine!" Botan said, and plastered a smile on her face. "Hey, it's no big deal."

But Keiko still didn't look convinced. "Oh."

Botan just laughed. But, really, she didn't feel so happy that moment. Going on a date with Senkichi was so embarrassing...it seemed such a desperate move. Besides, she knew Koenma wouldn't even care. Why should she keep hoping, anyway?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The next day, Koenma set off for the Ningen Kai to visit Yusuke. He had been rather surprised when Botan told him that Yusuke wanted to see him now, of all times. Was there some trouble or something?

Hmph, Koenma thought. Yusuke just probably wants to ask a favor from me.

He entered the place where he was supposed to meet Yusuke. It was a classy restaurant, a spot where you have to have a considerable amount of money to be able to eat there. Koenma hoped that his clothes were suitable enough to be able to enter there.

This is weird. Why in the world would Yusuke make me come here?

"Aha! Koenma is here!!!" somebody exclaimed, and suddenly, several people came up to him.

"Uh...er, what's this?" Koenma stammered. He stared at all of them. Kuwabara, Shizuru, Yukina, Kurama, Keiko and Yusuke stood there, giving him friendly smiles. "What are you guys doing here?"

"Well, Koenma, nice surprise, eh?" Yusuke said. "We invited everyone to a reunion!" He felt proud of himself. This was certainly a nice excuse to get Koenma there!

"Uh, right," Koenma said, and he finally smiled. "This is great..." ,and then his smile faded. "Where's Botan?" he inquired, trying to keep his voice neutral.

All the others exchanged knowing glances.

"Oh, I think she's busy," Shizuru replied, unable to keep herself from smiling. "But don't worry, I think she's just nearby."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Botan really was just nearby. In fact, she was just a few meters away from them, sitting on a table with Senkichi.

She was wearing a fashionable sleeveless dress, which was lavender in color. Her hair, which had normally been in a ponytail, was worn loose, and her long blue tresses accentuated her clothing.

"Do I look terrible?" Botan asked Senkichi hysterically. "Is my dress okay? Is my hair okay? Am I-"

"Calm down," Senkichi said, cheerfully. "If you want our plan to work, you have to look as if you're enjoying our 'date'."

Botan relaxed. "Okay, I'll try," she replied. "This was so nice of you! Why did you agree to such a thing like this?"

"Oh I just wanted to help. Besides, it's fun," Senkichi stated.

He's just so nice, Botan thought. Oh well. Though I hate to admit, I really want this thing to work out.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"It's great to see you guys again!!!" Kuwabara's voice boomed all across the restaurant. "So how are you guys?"

"Not so loud Kazuma!" Shizuru hissed. "People are staring at us. We're in this really nice restaurant. You should remember your manners!"

Koenma grinned. "Well, some things never change."

"So Kurama," Yusuke asked the red-haired lad. "You still a bachelor?"

"Well, yes," Kurama admitted. "Oh, well, I guess I'll never be able to find the right girl for me."

"You're so picky," Shizuru remarked. "With that kind of attitude, you'll never be able to marry."

"As if you're not, sis?" Kuwabara quipped. "Look at you, so old and still single!"

"Shut up!!!" Shizuru bellowed, and punched Kuwabara in the face. "You no-good @#*!&@#$ Kind of a brother!!!" She would have beat him up further, had not the others restrained her.

Finally, everyone calmed down. "Yusuke, I suppose you're getting married soon," Koenma commented, glancing at Keiko meaningfully.

"Ha!" Yusuke said, as Keiko's face went red, "You'll go first, believe me."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Koenma demanded. He looked away when he noticed Yusuke's teasing look, and saw something that made him almost fall off his chair.

Botan was sitting on a table nearby, and a boy was with him.

"WHO THE HECK IS THAT BOY?!" Koenma burst out. Jealousy rushed through his veins. Was Botan going on a date with this guy? How dare he?

He suddenly realized what he did, and his face went scarlet. He noticed that everyone was staring at him.

He couldn't bear to look at Botan's face. Mumbling an excuse, he left the restaurant.

"Yes! Our plan worked!" Yusuke said triumphantly, when Koenma was out of earshot. "Ha! He's so jealous! Now that-"

"Wait a minute Yusuke," Kurama objected quietly. "I only realized this now. What if he loses hope because he saw Botan with another guy?"

Yusuke stopped gloating. Why in the world did he not think of that?

"If it doesn't work," he said fiercely. "I'm going to MAKE Koenma tell Botan." He grabbed Keiko's hand and pulled her away. "Come on, Keiko, help me out on this one, will ya?" Without waiting for Keiko's reply, he turned to Botan. "Take us to the Rei Kai now! Keiko and I will give Koenma a pep talk he'll never forget."

"Yusuke!!!" Keiko tried to object, but Yusuke didn't listen to her.

"Rei Kai?" Senkichi said, perplexed.

"Uh, well, it's um, you see..." Kuwabara stammered, looking for a decent fib for Senkichi.

The waiter went over to their table. "Uh, sir," he said to Kuwabara. "Here is your bill."

Kuwabara glanced at it, and his eyes widened. "Hey! This is too much! Yusuke, why don't you pay this bill now?"

But Yusuke had already left, with Keiko and Botan in tow.