"Kurama my good man! How are you this fine afternoon?" Yusuke's energetic voice seemed to pierce through Kurama's eardrum that he had to pull the phone away from his ear to avoid damaging his hearing.
"Yes Yusuke, what kind of favor would you be asking of me now?"
At Kurama's reply, Yusuke can't help but clear his throat out of embarrassment at being found out.
"Oh you know, just some little thing, nothing too difficult for you I'm sure."
"Yusuke, you better be quick about this before my date here decides to run off out of annoyance in having our precious afternoon tea interrupted." Kurama responded with a chuckle, seeing his companion's enraged reaction on the side.
"Oh right, it's your Saturday tea time with Hiei as always. You almost got me fooled there. So speaking of dates, why don't you-"
"No Yusuke, I won't."
"What the- I haven't even finished my sentence yet!"
"No means no, Yusuke. You know I have no such interest in dating at the moment. And no matter how many times you ask me, my answer won't change. I hope you'll respect that."
Hiei rolled his eyes in annoyance as he caught wind of the conversation. He got a feeling this will take long so he stood up and went to leave with a silent wave of goodbye to his best friend who in turn gave him a slight nod of acknowledgement.
"I told you this is different Kurama. I won't be asking you to go on a date with someone. I just want you to go with me to a Goukon. You see, Keiko's friend is hosting this Goukon and she wanted us to come along and she told me to bring in more guys and I thought I'd ask you. But rest assured, these are Keiko's friends I'm talking about here so no one will harass you I swear."
Not convinced at all, Kurama remained silent.
"You know Kurama, I'd hate to use my trump card on you but it seems you leave me no choice."
"Yusuke, I don't believe you would stoop that low just to get me to go with you on this Goukon."
"Oh try me Kurama buddy!"
Shaking his head in resignation, Kurama finally gave in, just this once, he told himself. After all, he didn't want his mother to get involve. And that's exactly what Yusuke's trump card is on him, to enlist Shiori's help into convincing him to go on dates and such.
"Alright Yusuke, just this once. And you know the rules."
Kurama could hear Yusuke rejoicing at the other end of the line upon his agreement. It made him wonder if Yusuke is up to no good, or if he really is just a guy with a shallow happiness.
"I promise you Kurama, you won't regret this. Well then, see you tomorrow at X station, 11 AM sharp Remember to tone down your human pheromones!" Before Kurama could reply at that, he heard Yusuke's last snicker before the line went dead.
Kurama could only sigh, expecting the worst for tomorrow. If there's anything he hates the most, it's dealing with touchy feely girls throwing themselves at his feet anytime, anywhere. And in Goukons, that is most likely to happen.
11AM at X station, Kurama just arrived, his eyes swept the place in search for Yusuke and Keiko.
"Kurama! Over here!" He heard Keiko called out to him, then saw her standing in front of a coffee shop alone. Kurama gave her a friendly wave then went to approach her.
"Oh I'm so glad you made it! Seems like Yusuke did a pretty good job of convincing you to come along. I'll have to remember to reward him later." Keiko said with a mysterious glint in her eyes.
"Well now how can I turn a blind eye and a deaf ear to a man groveling at my feet?" Kurama replied with a chuckle. "Speaking of, where is Yusuke?"
"He went to fetch the girls at the station. For now, let's go and wait inside."
The two then headed inside the coffee shop, Kurama following Keiko behind as she went to a table she had been staying at a while ago.
"So Keiko, would you happen to know our itinerary for today?"
"Actually, my friend is the one who organized this Goukon. So I'm not sure what she had planned for us today. But no worries, I'm sure whatever it is, it will be fun! This is her forte after all. And also her hobby, I should say."
Now this somehow piqued Kurama's curiosity, or at least, just something to occupy his attention at the moment while waiting for the others to arrive.
"Throwing Goukon's as a hobby? I imagine she is a very outgoing person then."
"Oh yes! She certainly is. It's really funny though, how she organizes lots of Goukon's but she herself still hasn't found someone-"
The door to the coffee shop burst open and in came Yusuke with an irritated Hiei trailing behind him. Kurama can only laugh instead of act in surprise at the sight of his extremely irritated best friend.
"Hey guys, look who I found while I was prowling around the streets waiting for our girls?" Yusuke said with a cheeky grin.
"Nice of you to join us on a fine Sunday morning Hiei. Now you get to suffer with me." Kurama almost whispered the last sentence as Hiei angrily flopped down on the seat next to him, his arms adamantly crossed over his chest, his tiny eyes glaring at Yusuke. "So, where is Yukina?" Kurama asked Yusuke who is now doubling over in laughter at the sight of Hiei trying to stare him down to death.
In the midst of all this, Keiko's phone suddenly rang. "Hey Bo! Where are you? You're running late! The guys are already here." Keiko stood up and went for the door, leaving the 3 dudes all to themselves.
Yusuke is still trying to stop his laughter but to no avail, while Hiei seems to be telepathically communicating with Kurama, as if silently cursing him for the predicament that he is in. But then after a while Hiei grinned evilly, as though he knew a secret that is yet to come and yet to torture Kurama.
"Hey that's unfair you guys! Don't leave me out! I'm right here too you know!" Yusuke protested as soon as he saw the silent exchange between the two.
But just before any of them could answer, the door again burst open to reveal Keiko followed by a bunch of girls whom Kurama doesn't recognize at all and they all sauntered to the boys' table.
As soon as they reached the table, the guys stood up so they could start with introductions. As Keiko proceeded to announce the girls' names one by one and to which schools they are from, Kurama can't help but drown out their voices. His eyes only took one look on all the girls and decided he's not interested after all. Nothing new there really.
Until 2 new comers burst into the room again, this time, it did catch Kurama's attention, for the other girl he recognize as Yukina, Hiei's twin sister, and the other is a girl he haven't seen before, but for some reason, he felt compelled to get to know her.
Snapping out of his reverie, Kurama finally fully paid attention to his surroundings just in time to hear Keiko introduce the eye-catching girl as Botan, her best friend and the one who arranged this Goukon.
Kurama can't help but have his eyes be glued on to this Botan girl, as if trying to figure out what got him so curious about her. The fact that she is perky and outgoing should already be a minus for he hates 'noisy' women. And add to that her appearance which is nothing special really. Although her unusual blue hair color does stand out, and those sparkling amethyst eyes and that juicy pouty lips. 'Wait, did I just think of her lips as juicy? I must be really pent up after all these years of being single. Yes, that's just probably it.' Kurama thought, disappointed in himself for having such notions to a girl he had only just met.
Kurama was again brought out of his own little world when he felt someone nudge him on his side. "Totally captivated aren't you now, Kurama?" Hiei taunted and with that Kurama can't help but think that this might be their plan all along, but refused to go along with it. After all, he still remains to stand by his oath of not dating until he finishes college and obtains a successful career all for his mother and little brother Suichi. Ever the good son he is. But not a problem really, it helps that he really hasn't met anyone of interest to him.
But all his suspicions were cast aside when he heard Botan's self introduction.
"Hi everyone! In case you don't know, my name is Botan. I arranged this Goukon today so we can all have fun and if possible, find your special someone. So good luck everyone!"
The girls cheered, while Botan and Keiko stepped away from the crowd for a moment, Botan tinkering with her phone. Kurama, trying to surreptitiously hear their conversation.
"I'll contact the boys now and tell them to meet your girls here. Then I shall leave everything to you Keiko. Something came up so I can't stay for long. Too bad. I would have loved to see how it goes with Yukina." Botan giggled and Kurama can't help but feel a shiver run down his spine. He never knew a girl's giggle can sound this pleasant. They only ever get to annoy him before.
But setting that aside, Kurama suddenly felt even more bored and dispirited at hearing that the only girl who has managed to catch his attention is now leaving the Goukon! Add to that the fact that she seems off-limits, just being the organizer of this Goukon and not an actual participant. Things are looking bleak indeed.
"Oh Botan can't you stay for a little while more? You haven't even officially met all the others yet! You should at least get to know them first so they can thank you afterwards." Kurama heard Keiko say and he silently cheered for her to convince Botan more to stay.
"Well, I guess it wouldn't hurt to stay a bit more. Just let me make a quick phone call."
With that, Kurama felt relieved as he watched her go outside of the coffee shop to make her call.
Meanwhile, some guys arrived and went for their table, one of whom he recognize as Kuwabara, Yusuke's best friend.As soon as they reached the table, Kuwabara immediately shouted in surprise while pointing an accusatory finger at Hiei.
"What is that midget doing here? I thought this is a Goukon, not a kid's party."
Kurama's eyes danced in amusement as he saw Hiei merely ignore the bigger man's blabbering, his eyes closed and arms crossed over his chest, as he put his feet on the table. "So the mascot has finally arrived. You kept us waiting long, did you get lost on your way here? As expected of a buffoon like you who doesn't possess even an ounce of sense. And I don't just mean sense of direction."
"Why you little shrimp! Don't be so full of yourself! We all know you only got invited because your baby sitter skipped out on you today! Little helpless Hiei can't be left at home alone, so why not just bring him along. Hey waiter, do you have a high chair here for babies?"
Hiei's eyes flew open at that and he seemed ready to jump in front of Kuwabara and beat the living daylights out of him when a sweet and gentle sound of a girl giggling interrupted their impending fight.
"Brother, would you please play nice? Kuwabara is a dear and precious friend to me, you see.Please don't fight."
Hiei snorted in disgust at hearing his twin sister's request, but then he sneered at Kuwabara and replied coldly. "Yes, and a friend he shall remain."
Then again before the duo could engage in another senseless squabble, Yusuke got in between, his hand pushing Kuwabara back. "Hey now, we've made enough commotion here don't you think? Why don't we all just sit down and have a look at the menu here so we can place our orders. Then we can start doing what we really came here for to do."
With Yusuke's statement, Kurama couldn't help but think to himself. 'Yes Yusuke, what is it that we really came here for to do I wonder. No matter, I shall uncover your true intentions soon.'
Kurama was not aware how serious a face he is making until a cheerful voice interrupted his whirlpool of thoughts.
"What a scary face you're making sir! We can't have that happening in my Goukon now, can we?"
Kurama blinked rapidly a few times then his vision was suddenly filled with blue and amethyst, until he realized he was staring long and hard at Botan who is now standing closely in front of him. This girl doesn't seem to respect personal space, so it would seem. But instead of feeling annoyed by it as he usually does, surprisingly, he didn't quite care.
Upon Kurama's lack of response, Botan took the liberty of assuming he is one of them unsociable types.
"Poor soul, you seemed to be another one of Yusuke's victims who got conned into going here. But no worries, I'll make sure this Goukon will be worth your while. So Mr. Unsociable, why don't you start by telling me what your type is so I can fix you up with one of our girls here?"
Finally snapping out of his momentary surprise of seeing the girl up close, Kurama cleared his throat then took a step back. He might not find her close proximity as repulsive but he still would like to keep his personal space.
"You're mistaken Miss Botan, I'm only here to even out the numbers in your group."
Botan's face lit up in realization at that as she vaguely recall Keiko mentioning a certain friend of Yusuke's. "Oh I see, you must be Kurama! Yusuke mentioned you to me before. Alright, I understand. You just enjoy this Goukon now and I'll leave you alone." Botan said with a smile, then gave him a friendly wave of good bye before making a bee line for Keiko. This left Kurama confused, normally, a girl wouldn't EVER leave him alone so now, what gives?
'If this is some kind of test and she's expecting me to make a move and come after her, then she will be in for quite a disappointment.' Kurama thought darkly as his eyes continued to observe the girl's facial expressions while seemingly enjoying a conversation with one of the boys. He tried to squash the little voice in his head telling him to go after her and find out more about her with the excuse of not giving Yusuke the satisfaction of having Kurama take back his word of not finding a date in this Goukon.
An hour later, just as everyone was finishing up their drinks, Botan stood in the middle of the crowd for an announcement.
"It's just about lunch time now, why don't we switch over to this Chinese restaurant at the next block then we can go for karaoke afterwards?"
Everyone seemed to be in agreement as they all stood up and followed Botan out the door. At this point, Kurama remained baffled. Within the past hour of enjoying their drinks in this coffee shop, Botan never even once approached him again after their first and only conversation. Instead, Botan stayed beside the girls, occasionally talking to some boys here and there, but Kurama figured it was mainly to fix them up with the girls. More and more, Kurama is starting to believe this Botan girl might be different out of all the other girls he had met so far. She seems deeply committed to seeing this Goukon through and making sure everyone enjoys and finds a partner to be with. But of course, with the exception of unwilling participants like him and Hiei. And apparently, her as well.
Lunch went by in a breeze with people mostly engrossed in enjoying their food while having little conversations here and there. Even Kuwabara and Hiei went for a momentary truce as each gobbled up their food in silent delight. Kuwabara, ordering a few more helpings of rice and Hiei barely finishing half of the main dish before asking for multiple servings of ice cream he lovingly calls 'sweet snow'. While Yusuke is more than glad for this temporary silence and thus is able to enjoy his own meal as well, of course with Keiko by his side.
Once they had their fill, Botan ushered them to their next destination of which is this little Karaoke place a few walks away from the restaurant they had lunch in. And as one would expect, a room large enough for all of them to fit in had already been reserved by the ever prepared Goukon organizer, Botan. At this point, despite not interacting that much with anyone aside from Hiei, Yusuke and Keiko, Kurama realized he is actually enjoying himself, strangely. He was never a people person, preferring to stay at home and do indoor activities rather than going out with his friends. And yet today feels different.
"Okay everyone, prepare to sing the day away!" Botan shouted cheerfully, holding the microphone as she got ready to sing.
"Let's bring in some booze!" Yusuke hollered then picked up the phone to place some orders. "I'll have 5 buckets of beer, 1 bottle of tequila-" His order was cut short when Keiko suddenly whacked him hard at the back of his head. "Yusuke! Do you plan to get everyone drunk just after lunch time? Give me that!" Keiko snatched the phone from Yusuke who is moaning in pain and rubbing the spot where he got hit. Kuwabara saw the little exchange and couldn't help but tease his best friend. "You just got your skull bashed again Urameshi! No wonder you're doing so poorly in school.Oh the plights of a battered boyfriend." Kuwabara declared loudly in between snorts of laughter.
Yusuke glared in annoyance trying to think of a devastating comeback. Finally when he can't think of any, he settled for teasing Kuwabara's love life instead. "Well, at least I am SOMEONE'S boyfriend, unlike you and your pathetic non-existent love life!" Yusuke shouted back, some of the boys who overheard this dissolved into fits of laughter, while Hiei only looked on, not interested in participating.
"Oh really? You call that being a boyfriend? More like a torn and tattered slave! If I were to have a girlfriend, I definitely wouldn't go for someone who whacks my hide mercilessly regardless of the time and place!" Kuwabara retorted, nose stuck high in the air, not realizing the implication of his words. While behind him, Keiko is slowly raising her hand ready to strike the unsuspecting Kuwabara.
Yusuke saw this but gave his friend no warning until Keiko's hand finally connected hard with Kuwabara's head. "Then again, at least my girlfriend is one hell of a girl who is able to defend herself if necessary." Yusuke said proudly.
"Oh Yusuke, how sweet of you. But did you really have to abandon me like that? You didn't even bother to defend me, you big insensitive idiot!" Keiko cried in outburst, now going for Yusuke who quickly scrambled on his feet and away from Keiko who is now avidly chasing him around the room. Kuwabara was too busy nursing his head bump courtesy of Keiko to even enjoy the show though. "Get back here you coward!"
Everyone around the room sweat-dropped at the sight of a full grown man trying to run away from his enraged girlfriend, like they're a couple of kids wreaking havoc on a playground.
"O-okay, let's leave the wonderful couple alone to resolve their 'issues' and just have fun singing! First up, I vote Yukina to sing this Kana Nishino song!" Botan said cheerfully then handed the microphone over to Yukina, who shied away and attempted to hide behind her twin brother. Botan would have tried to coax the shy girl more but Hiei's deadly glare scared Botan away into finding someone else instead. "Well then why don't I find someone preferably who doesn't have a scary overprotective brother being used as a shield?" Botan said with an awkward laugh.
Meanwhile, Kurama continued to quietly observe while feeling amused at the unfolding events. It felt like watching a live sitcom on a front row seat with his friends as the cast. Today it made him realize how precious it is to set aside time and spend it with friends outside the comforts of his home.
When Keiko finally got tired of chasing her boyfriend, she then sat down beside Botan and whispered something in her ear. Botan seemed to brighten up at whatever it is that Keiko whispered to her.
"You, Mr. Unsociable over there! Why don't you do us the honor of singing the first song so we can quiet down all the raging baboons in this room?" Kurama was startled as he suddenly found all eyes trained on him, Botan also pointing the microphone at him. A pregnant silence engulfed the room as the noise gradually died down, as though all were waiting for his response. Left with no choice, Kurama stood up and reached out to receive the microphone from Botan, carefully avoiding his fingers to make contact with hers, as a gentleman would.
The crowd observed in silent awe, as though noticing Kurama for the first time, his pheromones beginning to sweep all over the room. But as Yusuke has promised before, the girls seemed appeased and looked perfectly content at staring at him from a distance. Kurama was thankful. He then gave Botan a serious look as he asked, "What would the beautiful lady like for me to sing?"
At that Keiko couldn't help but gasp, she was about to say something but Yusuke quickly cupped a hand on her mouth to keep her quiet, while he also gestured for the others to resume with their activities and to pay no heed to Kurama and Botan, maybe just to avoid the awkwardness. But Yusuke made a mental note to interrogate his friend later at his seemingly strange behavior today.
"Err-okay. How about a Shirota Yuu song then?" Botan finally answered, her face having a slight tint of blush which Kurama quickly found endearing, for some strange reason.
"Shirota Yuu it is." Kurama agreed. Botan then went and pick a song for Kurama. Then, just as soon as he sang the first syllable, the room went silent again, all eyes and ears trained on him.
"Wow he sure got a beautiful voice, as beautiful as his face." Came the whispers from the girls. Kurama became aware of the increasing attention he is receiving from the girls but still did his best to ignore them and just focus on the song, from time to time, giving Botan a tender but heated gaze. Said girl however, looked as though she is trying hard to dodge Kurama's ambiguous stares.
After Kurama finished his song, he scanned the room for Botan just as everyone applauded his wonderful performance, but said girl is missing and nowhere to be found.
Disappointed, Kurama sat down with a sigh beside Hiei, as he took a delicate sip of his juice. "If you're looking for that girl, she went out with Keiko while you were too busy pouring your soul out on that song number. Too bad the person you're serenading just left the scene." Hiei teased, a wicked grin slowly forming on his lips as he saw his words taking some sort of effect on his usually expressionless friend. "Why, thank you for the tip Hiei." Was Kurama's only reply, trying not to give Hiei the satisfaction of seeing the effect of those words on him. He hastily got up on his feet and headed out the door, intent on finding his prey.
Hiei only smiled knowingly thinking to himself, finally, now he have something effective to tease Kurama with. He is getting tired of using the same old mother complex thing against his friend anyways. It's time for something new.
"Kurama, what are you doing here? Don't tell me you're planning to ditch us now?" Keiko said just as she found Kurama emerging from the Karaoke room.
"No Keiko, I'm not really planning anything of the sort. I do find myself enjoying today after all. I was just wondering where Botan could be?"
At Kurama's response, Keiko's eyes widened in surprise, then narrowed suspiciously at him. "Oh Kurama, don't tell me you're planning on hitting on my best friend."
Kurama had to step back at Keiko's apparent vehemence at the thought that he might be remotely interested in Botan, and yet he pressed on. "Is there a problem if I do?"
Keiko looked back at him incredulously, her hands rested on her hips as if to appear menacing. "Actually I do have a problem with that. I don't mean to say you're a bad guy or anything, especially being Yusuke's good friend and all, but Botan is off limits. She only hosts Goukons but that doesn't mean that she's up for grabs. Besides, Botan is, how should I say this, a delicate woman. So if you're not going to be serious with her, then please just forget about her."
"A delicate woman eh? How about if I say I want to be her friend too then?"
Keiko appeared to be in deep thought at Kurama's question "Well I suppose you could be friends, seeing as we do have some common friends. But still, make sure to remember that she is off limits."
'Unless I am serious about her.' Kurama thought silently, deciding not to voice it out. After all, who knows if he is serious or not. All Kurama is certain of is that he wanted to get to know her at this stage.
"I will do well to remember that Keiko." Kurama said, if only to appease Keiko.
"Alright then, let's go back. I only went out to escort Botan for a while, she said she needed to go. No surprise there, she usually doesn't get to finish the Goukon through, too much going on in her schedule." Keiko chattered on as they headed back to the room.
"Hey Kurama my good man! How are you this fine Sunday evening?"
Like usual, Kurama had to pull the phone away from his ears lest he'd want to go deaf with Yusuke's loud and overly excited voice.
"What is it now Yusuke?" Kurama asked in an exasperated tone.
"Oh you know, just checking if you got home safely, alone, and not with some hot chick from the Goukon, you know what I'm saying?" Yusuke answered in a teasing tone Kurama could almost imagine Yusuke wagging his eyebrows at him right about now through the phone.
"Ah- shows how much you know me. Actually, I've never been so glad you called tonight. I have a few matters of my own I'd like to discuss."
"Whatever it is man, ask away!" Curious, Yusuke leaned on the phone closer as he waited with bated breath on what Kurama would be saying next.
"I'm surprised I actually enjoyed today's event, for once, I didn't regret going along with you."
"Okay…keep going?" Yusuke said, feeling a bit weirded out. When it comes to things like this, Yusuke could be quite dense. So at this point he has absolutely no clue on where this conversation is going.
"So that friend of Keiko's who organized the Goukon, is she a friend of yours too?"
"Who? You mean Botan? Of course! She's my childhood friend actually. She and Keiko, we've been friends since we were toddlers. Why the sudden interest?"
"Is that so? How come you've never mentioned her to me before Yusuke?"
"Well why should I ever mention her to you? There wasn't a chance for that before I guess."
"I see, well that seems understandable enough, seeing as we've only been friends in college, and that's what, say 3 years now?"
Yusuke somehow got a nagging feeling on where this is going but since he didn't want to give his friend any ideas, he tried to divert the topic instead. "Yea well, I'm glad you had fun today Kurama. For a moment there I got worried the girls would be all over you again specially after that hot song number, but then my worries were for nothing. Everything went fine eventually. Ha-ha." Yusuke gave out a nervous laugh at his friend's uncanny silence that he decided to call it a night. "So Kurama, long day ahead of us tomorrow at the university. Gotta catch some zzz's now. Ciao!" And as usual before Kurama could get in a word of response, the line went dead.
'Was it just me, or do they seem to be keeping Botan away from me intentionally?' Were Kurama's last thoughts before he decided to go to sleep as well.