It was just another mission, something insignificant; a minor demon had escaped to the human world. When Yusuke had finally tracked the demon down, he'd accidentally killed it thinking that it was a couple strength classes above of what it actually was.
Botan shook her head, knowing that she'd be the one catching the flack for not bringing it back alive for trial. She couldn't help but to laugh as Yusuke apologized; it wasn't something she was used to seeing him do. He even went as far as to invite her out for lunch, which she didn't refuse.
He took her down a couple side alleys as shortcuts, eventually though, they found themselves lost.
"Dammit, it was here." Yusuke cursed. He hooked his thumbs into the pockets of his jeans and surveyed the area. "Sorry again, Botan." He sighed.
Botan shrugged, "no worries, Yusuke." She materialized her oar and hopped on and motioned for him to join her. "We can always take the aerial route." She smiled at Yusuke. He returned her smile and took up her offer.
As they flew on the oar, she noticed that the boy had been holding onto her a little tighter than she was used to and she felt him pressing his face into her hair when she decreased their speed.
"Is something the matter?" She asked him as she lowered them onto a roof. She was worried that Yusuke wasn't feeling well, and that being flown around probably wouldn't help his condition if that was the case.
"Yeah." He walked towards her slowly and stopped when the two were mere inches apart, "I've got a problem, Botan."
Botan shuddered from feeling his breath on her, she was uneasy about his behaviour. "Which might be?" She took a step back. "If this is a joke, Yu-"
As soon as she'd taken the step, he had quickly closed what distance he had left open with his previous movement and embraced Botan.
"I've been trying hard not to do this for a long, long time." Yusuke murmured into her neck before kissing it.
Botan felt her knees start to go weak, and just as she was about to give into temptation, she shoved the spirit detective away. "This can't…" She started, but soon shook her head and buried her face in Yusuke's shoulder. "You're the spirit detective and I'm your assistant." Yusuke wrapped his arms around her and let her continue. "And then there's Keiko… There will always be Keiko, Yusuke, and you know it."
For months, they'd both been trying their best to ignore the feelings, glances, and sparks that flew whenever they had any sort of physical contact. They knew that their relationship went far beyond just detective and assistant; ever since the final fight with Goki it'd been something more.
However, like Botan had said, Keiko would always be on Yusuke's mind. With the mention of her name, he lost his breath and broke away from Botan. He knew he'd gone too far. Without any warning he ran to the opening of the fire escape that was on the roof and jumped down.
Botan ran to the edge of the roof, but by the time she got there, he was already gone. She let out a large sigh, knowing that things would be different between the two of them from then on.