More Than
Friends
chapter 11
Manille
"As usual, Koenma, you’re late in sending a report."
Botan nudged Yusuke’s arm. "Yusuke!" she warned.
Yusuke rolled his eyes and looked at Koenma’s image on some sort of the Reikai’s communicator. Koenma Daiou, the kid-like Reikai prince, was scowling as he sucked his blue pacifier. "I knew you were doing your job, Yusuke."
"Hah!" Botan sighed as she tossed her pony-tailed blue hair. "Yusuke was busy dealing with Keiko!"
"I’ve noticed too, Botan," Koenma replied, smiling.
Yusuke and Botan, his Reikai guardian and Koenma's messenger, were sitting on a landing at the rooftop of his high school. Botan was wearing a schoolgirl’s uniform, which, in Yusuke’s opinion, looked weird on her. The guardian deity of the dead, wearing Keiko’s uniform? Not.
"Well, at least Keiko has some implications in this case," Yusuke said, his face reddening a bit. "Okada used her to get what he wants." He frowned a little. "That guy…"
"At least everything turned out just fine," Botan told him before he could explode. "I didn’t understand Okada Takashi at first, too. Master Koenma just explained everything."
"A real puzzle—could hide his spiritual powers, could wound someone with his rei gan." Koenma nodded once at Yusuke. "That was a good work, Yusuke, considering the fact that I didn’t have to guide you."
"But you knew all along that Keiko knows about Okada, didn’t you?"
"Well…that was the test, Yusuke."
Yusuke threw his hands up. He felt his head getting hotter by the minute. "Arrgh! Excuses, Koenma! Excuses!"
Botan giggled. "Hey, how’s Keiko, by the way? I heard she received a lot of wounds."
"She’s okay," Yusuke assured her. Then he added proudly, "I took care of her, you know."
"YUSUKE!!!"
Yusuke winced. There was that irritating tone in Keiko’s voice again. What does she want now? he asked himself impatiently.
"Uh-oh," Botan muttered, smiling meaningfully and wiggling her eyebrows at Yusuke. "Looks like I got to go."
"Don’t you want to talk to her?"
"Nope!" Botan grabbed her communicator from Yusuke’s hands and made her flying paddle magically appear on her hand. "Just tell her I said hi!" she called, flying off, leaving Yusuke staring after her.
"Yusuke, I told you to wait for me downstairs!"
Yusuke turned around to Keiko abruptly. "What, don’t I look like I’m waiting for you?"
"You’re on the rooftop, you dummy. You look like a desperate desert dweller waiting for the sky to rain."
Yusuke grinned absurdly. "Okay. Right."
"So shall we go now?"
Yusuke offered his arm to her. "Sure."
Keiko smiled and took Yusuke’s arm. Slowly, they wound their way downstairs and out of their school.
The sun was unusually bright that afternoon. Wasn’t it raining hard a few weeks ago? "Ah, it’s nice to see the sun shining again. Don’t you think, Keiko?"
Yusuke felt Keiko pull him closer. "Yes," she gushed.
Yusuke glanced at her furtively. Keiko’s eyes were closed and her left cheek brushed against his arm. She looked as if he were her pillow and she could just hug him anytime.
But Yusuke secretly loved the way Keiko holds him.
Yusuke looked at a distance. Something was terribly familiar about the day….
Keiko and I were walking like this just a few weeks ago, Yusuke suddenly remembered. When I hurt my eye with the pencil…
"Hey, Keiko, may I drop by your house?"
"When?"
"Right now. I’ll take you home."
"Why not?"
"Well…I was afraid you might not want to cook for me…"
Keiko shook her head sarcastically, burying her head on Yusuke’s arm. "I’m always you’re cook, Yusuke."
Yusuke snickered. "Sushi?"
"Whatever."
"And if I choke, you’d save me?"
"Oh, my God. Why are you doing this to me, Yusuke?"
Yusuke shrugged and paused for a moment of thought.
"Because I love you, that’s why."
Keiko looked up at him abruptly, a shade of red creeping up her cheeks. Yusuke loved that color.
Smiling, he took her hand in his.
The couple didn’t say anything for a moment. They just savored the peaceful moment with each other, holding hands and walking towards the setting sun in the midst of the people rushing back and forth in the city streets.
"And…?" Yusuke suddenly asked.
Keiko raised an eyebrow. "What?"
"I said I love you. Now what do you say?"
Keiko averted her gaze from Yusuke’s face and looked at the ground. Her face turned pink once again. "You know how I feel."
"No, I want to hear it from you, yourself," Yusuke insisted adamantly. "Come on, Keiko."
"You didn’t want to tell it to me before," Keiko chided.
It was Yusuke’s turn to blush. She really knows how to embarrass me, he thought amusedly. "Well—"
"And you always go away," Keiko interrupted. "How would I know if you’ve suddenly forgotten all about me…or if you suddenly substituted me with another girl?"
I’d never do that, he thought, a little surprised by Keiko’s statement. Doesn’t she know how much she means to me?
But Yusuke’s playful nature got the better of him at that moment. "You substituted me with Okada…"
Keiko’s free hand suddenly made a loud slapping sound as it came in contact with Yusuke’s face. The force was too great that Yusuke twirled around the sidewalk for a few seconds, his gaze spinning around him, before he fell on the ground headfirst.
"Yusuke no baka! How could you tell me that?! I did it all for you!"
Keiko’s words rang inside Yusuke’s ears. A red print of Keiko’s long fingers was visible on his left cheek. He shook his head stiffly as if to clear it. As he opened his eyes, he saw that Keiko’s image was barely visible from his suddenly distorted vision.
She was standing over him, her hands on her waist. "Urameshi Yusuke, I hate you!"
She started to stomp away. Yusuke, now in his normal state of mind again, grabbed one of her bare legs. Keiko yelped and kicked his face. Yusuke fell back down.
"Never speak to me again!" Keiko hollered.
"Keiko, I was just kidding!" Yusuke pleaded. You and your big mouth, Urameshi, he scolded inwardly. Right after I love you…
Yusuke stood up and sauntered towards Keiko. He put his hands on her shoulders, his fingers touching her collarbone.
Keiko winced and slapped his hands away. "Don’t touch me!"
Yusuke smiled discreetly. He knew that Keiko’s collarbone and neck were two of the most ticklish parts of her body. He trailed a finger lightly behind her right ear. Keiko turned around, ready to slap Yusuke, but his arms were already guarding his face.
"Show your face, Urameshi Yusuke, so that I may slap full force!" she demanded.
"You are not going to do that," Yusuke said playfully, taking her hands in his firmly. Keiko watched his hands, biting her lip.
"Keiko, I thought you liked my sense of humor," he continued.
"That was before I knew the real Urameshi Yusuke," Keiko replied airily.
"But I thought you love the real me."
Again, Keiko blushed. "You don’t know my feelings—"
"Hah! You just mentioned a while ago that I know how you feel!"
Now Keiko’s face was as red as a tomato. A smile gingerly touched her lips.
"There you go. I knew I can always catch you," Yusuke said triumphantly as he led her away.
"That doesn’t mean I’ll forgive you for what you’ve said."
"You did say that you couldn’t hold a grudge against me for long…that I’m too irresistible."
"Stop flattering yourself."
Yusuke gazed at Keiko’s face. He knew that she was still boiling inside. Ah, to calm her down, when he knew all along that she’d be okay.
Women are a strange species. They seem tough for men to ask for their forgiveness, but deep inside, they really want to forgive….
He thought about what she had said a while ago. "You always go away…How would I know if you’ve suddenly forgotten me…?"
She’s right, Yusuke admitted to himself. I always leave her. As much as I want to be with her, I have to go away.
I always break her heart. She’s too good to me—she never hurts me. I had thought that she was hurting me when she broke me off but she was protecting me after all.
The thought suddenly tore him apart.
What will he feel if he were on Keiko’s shoes?
"Keiko?"
Keiko groaned in response.
Yusuke held her hand tighter. He stopped walking and faced her. His eyes gazed at her wide dark brown ones, looking into the truth in them, the love, her feelings.
"Keiko…right here, right now…I swear to you, wherever I go, or whatever happens to me, only one girl will remain in my heart. I’m sure you know who that girl is." Yusuke spoke in a low voice, his face solemn, his eyes unblinking. This was the Serious Yusuke now.
Keiko gazed back at him, her eyes full of emotions. They were like precious jewels that shone under the sunlight. She’s so beautiful, Yusuke suddenly thought.
"Hold on to that promise, Keiko…forever…" He carefully lifted Keiko’s hands up to his lips and kissed them.
The bliss he felt was unlike any other; there was a strange sense of peace and contentment in him that had been in there for the past fortnight. It seemed as if a peculiarly heavy burned was lifted off his back.
He had finally told her—and showed her.
Keiko gradually smiled. "I…believe you, Yusuke," she whispered. In her voice, Yusuke knew that he could trust her with that.
"Aishiteru, Keiko."
"Aishiteru."
Their fingers still entwined with each other like vines, they continued walking, continuing their path of life, following the wind to wherever it takes them.
The two young lovers finally found each other. What they were looking for was right in front of them after all this time. Urameshi Yusuke and Yukimura Keiko, best friends since childhood, have now opened their hearts and minds to the truth that had always been there—that they love each other as more than friends.
Love. The bridge that bonds two hearts together. They have found the bridge and have connected their hearts with each other.
Yet the friendship still remains, and it
forever will.
Author’s notes:
I’ve finished it, finally! I spent countless hours in front of Old Reliable (the computer at home) finishing this!
This story is dedicated to some people I know. Guys, tell her how you feel before it’s too late!
The cheesy line in Kurama’s love letter ("Can I buy you a pair of shoes so that you could step into my life?") is from the Cheesy Line Manual, compiled and edited by my friends Alvin, Aica, Dorai and yours truly. It’s not in circulation yet, unfortunately (yeah, right).
The fighting scene in chapter ten is inspired by my friend Dianne. Thank you so much for all the help!
(Note on January 31, 2000.) I really thought Keiko's mom was dead, so you know why this is soooo wrong. But anyway, it's not a big issue, right? I admit my error. Gomen nasai, Keiko-chan! Please don't talk Yusuke into rei-gunning me!!!Suggestions? Comments? Sign my guest book or email me. Please don’t sure me for any mistakes I made with the copyright and the sort. I’m just a poor high school student. 09/17/99