Botan spent the whole day with Yusuke.

In her opinion, it was the best day the sun ever rose for. It was a very romantic experience for her. By the end of the day, they were sitting on a park bench, holding hands, feeding geese.

Yusuke, who seemed to have forgotten about Keiko well enough, spent their time making her laugh and planting small, sweet kisses on her skin, anywhere he could. Whispering sweetly in her ear, touching her...

Touching her.

It seemed like Yusuke couldn't get enough of that. Never once did he lose contact with her body, whether he was holding her hand, or holding her waist. Making up for lost time, maybe.

And she had let him. And she had like it.

And he loved it. Keiko was so uptight whenever they were together. But Botan wanted him to touch her. He loved that about her. And he liked the way she smelled...

The way her small hand fit into his palm...

The way her lithe form melded so perfectly with his own...

The way her soft, pale skin contrasted against his own slightly tanned skin tone...

And that smile...

Keiko never smiled at him the way Botan did. Botan's smile was big enough for the both of them to share. It spoke of nothing but glee and affection for him. When she smiled, her eyes glittered with happiness.

Because she was happy...

...happy to be with him.

In a way, he felt as if he didn't deserve to be with Botan. I mean, what had he done to deserve such a beautiful, caring woman? A woman with never-ending warmth, a woman who wanted to touch him as much as he wanted to her?

He smiled as he watched her watching him.

Maybe he hadn't done anything. Maybe she was a blessing.

-------------------

The sun was setting as Yusuke strolled down the pebbled pathway of the park, Botan latched securely to his arm. It was going to be dark soon, and Botan would have to leave for Reikai. Yusuke sighed, dreading the departure. Botan looked up at him, her curious pink eyes searching his face.

"What's the matter?" she whispered. Yusuke stopped walking and turned to face her, a deep frown etched into his handsome features.

"You'll have to leave soon," he stated bluntly. Botan stared at him for a moment before a light smile spread across her lips.

He doesn't want me to go.

"You don't want me to go," she voiced. Yusuke's eyebrow furrowed at her forward, yet true, observation. He looked down at the ground trying to avoid her gaze. He grumbled something incoherent and shuffled his feet uncomfortably before he looked up at her again.

"So? Is something wrong with that?" he asked a bit defensively. Botan laughed a little, amused by his admission.

"No, no, no! Not at all," she said while shaking her head. She stood on her tip-toes for a moment to place a tender kiss to his lips. Then she wrapped her slender arms around his waist and laid the side of her face against his muscular chest. She stared out at the pond, it's small, numerous ripples reflecting the pinkish/orange ambiance of the setting horizon.

"I'll never leave you...alone, Yusuke. I may leave for duty, but I'll always come back to you," she whispered against his chest. Yusuke sighed and laid the side of his face atop of her head.

"I hope not... because... because I don't want you to. You're the best thing that's happened to me in a long time," he replied softly.

They stayed that way for a long time, darkness slowly replacing the light of day. Eventually, Botan pulled away from him. She smiled gently, placing a hand on the side of his face.

"As much as I would like to stay like this for the rest of my life... I can't. I've got to get back to Reikai," she told him. Yusuke smiled briefly and placed his forehead to hers.

"Come back tomorrow," he demanded softly.

His warm breath caressed her top lip and gave her goose-bumps, making it hard for her to focus. She sighed wearily and inclined her head to press her lips to his. Then she pulled away slowly letting her hand slide down his arm and drop to his side. Reluctantly, she removed her body from his and summoned her oar. She nodded and hopped aboard.

"Of course I will. And the day after that, and the day after that, and the day after that..." she laughed as she began to slowly drift upward. Yusuke laughed and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"You'd better," he threatened playfully. Botan smiled warmly and nodded before she steered her oar off into the sky. Yusuke bit his top lip before he sighed and turned to walk home.

----------------------

The next day, Koenma was very lenient towards Botan and allowed her an early let off. She hastily ushered the remaining souls to their respectable places and hurried home to change. She rushed to undress, cursing like a sailor when she couldn't reach the buttons on the back of her pink kimono. She let out a victory squeal when she finally got to them and quickly disrobed. She scurried over to her closet and opened it, plucking her favorite kimono that she was to wear the day before and quickly dressed in it.

Before long, she was scuttling down the hallway and out of Reikai Headquarters.

----------------------

Botan was in a hurry, to say the least. She cut through the sky swiftly, her hair whipping about behind her furiously.

Gotta' see Yusuke... Gotta' see Yusuke..." she chanted repeatedly. She ached to see him and didn't want to let him down

She watched the ground below her curiously, her eyes widening marginally when she saw a familiar figure standing outside of a store window, staring at something inside. She stopped her oar abruptly, nearly falling forward when doing so. She sat there hovering in the air until she had made up her mind. She quickly dropped behind the figure and sat there, waiting to be noticed. When she saw that she was getting no attention, she spoke.

"You're leaving."

Botan's voice startled Keiko and she whirled around wide-eyed. She soon recovered, though, and returned Botan's icy glare.

"Yes, yes I am," she said. Keiko nodded. Botan hopped from her oar and folded her hands behind her back.

"Why?"

"Because I need to. I can't give him what he wants," Keiko said evenly. Botan bit her lip and tightened the grip of her hands in an attempt to refrain from striking Keiko.

"You fool!" she spat, causing Keiko to take a step backwards. "All he wanted was you!" Keiko sighed.

"You don't understand, Botan," she said turning to leave. Botan grasped her shoulder tightly and spun her back around.

"No? Then explain it to me," she demanded. Keiko snatched her shoulder from under Botan's hand.

"It's none of your business, Botan!" she snapped.

"I don't care! You're crushing Yusuke's heart for no good reason at all!" she snapped back. Keiko stepped back from Botan and her breaths became heavy.

"What about what I want?!" she shouted. Botan stepped toward her.

"What you want?! What about what you want?! Yusuke spends most of his time trying to figure out what the hell you want! It's tiring him out!" she shouted back. Seeing that Keiko had nothing to say, she continued.

"Do you know what he fights for? He doesn't fight for me, not for humanity, not even for his mother! He fights for you! He fights for the thought of seeing your face again! And now you're leaving so he has nothing to fight for! Nothing! But you're too much of a Bitch to even understand what you're taking away from him!" she shouted.

Keiko looked unfazed by Botan's words. She only stared at the ground dumbly, her breathing coming out in heavy, ragged puffs. After a long moment of angry silence, she spoke.

"You care for Yusuke, this I know," Keiko said finally, her voice quiet and shaky. She looked up at Botan then, her eyes brimmed with crystalline tears.

"And this we share. And for that reason I must leave. I care for Yusuke too much to stay and see him denied from what he wants... what I can't give him," she said, her voice beginning to crack. Botan looked at her with irritancy written on her face.

"I don't understand," she said. Keiko swallowed hard.

"I'm afraid of Yusuke. I'm afraid of his love. I'm afraid that he may love me much more than I do him. If I don't love him as much as he loves me, there lurks this possibility that our love won't last and our relationship will end in misery," she explained slowly, a tear streaking down reddened cheek. Botan folded her arms against her chest.

"That's shit, Keiko. All he wanted was for you to let him love you," she said. Keiko shrugged.

"Believe what you want," she said, wiping a tear from her face with the palm of her hand. "But I know what I feel." Botan rolled her eyes.

"Whatever. I don't know why I bothered to try and talk to you," said Botan, summoning her oar. She didn't have time for it. She had to go see Yusuke.

"I always knew you weren't too fond of me. I always knew it was because of Yusuke," Keiko said so suddenly that Botan halted all actions and her oar instantly disappeared.

"What?" she said, not sure if she had heard correctly. Keiko took a step closer to Botan, clenching and unclenching her fists nervously.

"But still," she sobbed, "still, I find myself liking you, Botan. I admire you spirit. I admire your will and determination and your love for your friends." She stepped even closer to Botan and took her hands in hers. Botan's initial thought was to yank her hands away, curse Keiko out, and storm off. But she looked at the tears freely flowing from her eyes and found that she felt pity for the girl. She would listen. It would probably be their last encounter, anyhow. So she listened.

"I think that if... Yusuke had not been in the middle, we could have been such good friends. But do you hate me so much that you can't put it behind you?" she said, renewed tears threatening to spill from her eyes.

Botan's eyebrows rocketed. She was completely taken aback. Keiko's last statement had totally caught her off guard. Her mind went blank for a moment and she mentally shook her head as one clear word popped into her mind:

WHAT?!

She wanted...to be friends...

Even after all of the nasty looks she had shot at Keiko in the past. Even after she had been lusting after her boyfriend. And even after the terrible things she had thought about her.

She still wanted to be friends.

Botan opened her mouth, her jaw functioning well, but nothing coming out. She was fishing for words and so far, she hadn't caught anything. Keiko bit her lip, waiting patiently for a reply.

Finally, Botan's mind sparked to life again and she began to speak.

"I can't... promise you friendship... and I can't just drop my feelings toward you cold turkey," she said firmly. Keiko's face fell, her spirits pushed further down.

"... but it takes a real woman to make a request like that. And for that, I respect you. I can't forgive you for hurting Yusuke the way you did and treating him the way you did, but... I'll try to look past that. I'll try to look at you in a new light," she said, her face stern and serious. Keiko nodded and offered a small smile. She hesitated for a moment before she threw her arms around the slightly taller woman.

"Anou... Arigatou, Botan-san. Thank-you," she sobbed into Botan's shoulder. Botan didn't know how to respond. The embrace had certainly been quite surprising and hadn't seen it coming. She lifted her arms slowly and awkwardly patted Keiko's back.

"Erm... You're welcome, I guess..." she responded.

After a while, Keiko pulled back, her chocolate eyes glimmering hopefully. She lifted a hand and wiped the tears from her eyes with the sleeve of her black turtleneck.

"Thank you, Botan. I needed closure before I leave. I felt so guilty... I still do, but I think you've helped me in ways you'll never know," she said quietly. She leaned forward and quickly pressed a kiss on Botan's cheek before she turned and began walking down the street.

Botan sighed.

I still don't like her. But... I can't be so mean. It's just not in me.

She shook her head then summoned her oar. She hopped on and flew towards the direction of the Urameshi residence.

-----------------------

Botan lowered her oar to Yusuke's balcony. She dismounted and looked through the sliding glass door. She licked her lips hungrily at the sight before her.

Yusuke lay on his stomach clad in nothing more than his boxers, doing one handed finger push-ups, the muscles in his back rippling every time he lifted. He must have sensed her ki because he looked up at the door, sweat trickling down his face before dripping onto the carpet. He smiled sexily at her then hopped to his feet and snatched a towel from atop of his desk. He quickly wiped his face then tossed it to the side. He approached the door, but did not open it at first.

Instead, he placed his hands to the door and smiled. He crossed his eyes and put his mouth to the glass. He blew hard, inflating his cheeks against the glass.

Botan laugh aloud, clutching at her sides. Yusuke detached himself from the door and laughed.

"Let me in you Goofball!" Botan shouted. Yusuke shook his head slowly.

"I don't know if you want to touch me right now... I'm all sweaty!" he shouted back. Botan fisted her hips and arched a brow.

"Didn't you know that's one of my turn-ons? Young, muscular, sweaty men...?" she said. A wide, lecherous grin spread across Yusuke's face and he unlocked the door. He slid it open and then hooked an arm around her waist. She yelped in surprise when he yanked her into his room and then closed the door back. He wrapped his arms around Botan and began to walk forward, gently pushing her to walk backward.

"I missed you," he said placing his forehead to hers. Botan smiled.

"Yeah?" she asked. Yusuke nodded.

"I didn't get any sleep last night. All I could think about was touching this skin... and kissing those lips," he said as he trailed his thumb across her cheek and lightly brushed it across her lips.

"These lips?" she asked teasingly, running her tongue across her lips then grinning. Yusuke bit his lip and nodded, beads of sweat beginning to form on his forehead again.

His eyes quickly darted behind her and then back to her face. A devious smirk spread on his mouth before he unwrapped his arms from around her and then pushed her backward. Botan screeched as she tumbled backward, only to land on a soft surface.

"Yusuke..." she growled as she bounced up from his bed. He was about to climb atop of her when she remembered her earlier encounter.

"I ran into Keiko today," she blurted out. Yusuke froze. A frown seized his features and he stood abruptly.

"What did she... say?" he asked hesitantly. Botan sat up and fidgeted uncomfortably, wishing she hadn't brought up Keiko.

"Well, I yelled at her a bit," she admitted while scratching the side of her face nervously, "and she apologized. She apologized because she didn't know how to love you... that she couldn't provide you with the type of affection you need."

Yusuke sighed and moved to sit beside her. Botan didn't dare look at him, for fear that he would be angry with her. After a while, Yusuke let a bitter laugh escape his mouth.

"She's so blind! How could she be so stupid?! I didn't care about those things! I just wanted to be with her!" he laughed cynically. He ran a hand through his dampened hair and sighed.

"But I don't care anymore. It's out of my hands now," he mumbled. Botan decided to chance it and looked at him to see his face was torn between what look like confusion and tiredness. She placed a hand on his leg and he looked at her.

"How do you feel, Yusuke?" she asked quietly. Her heart raced with anticipation for the answer. That one question could be interpreted in so many ways. But it ultimately boiled down to one meaning:

How do you feel about me?

Of course, Yusuke understood her question. He watched as several emotions passed through her eyes.

Fear, wonder, hope, exhaustion...

... and he decided.

"I feel," he said, "I feel like I need to forget. I need to forget her. I won't get anywhere if I don't."

Botan's eyes fell closed as she breathed a heavy sigh of relief. Her lips began to tremble as she felt a joyous tear run down her cheek. Yusuke lifted his arms and gathered her to his chest, sighing as he felt her wrap her arms tightly around his torso. He kissed the top of her head and smiled.

"Help me to forget Botan. I want to start over... start over with you," he whispered into her hair. Botan nodded and clutched at him tighter. Then she lifted her head and kissed him softly on the lips. She pulled back slowly, her shimmering eyes showing promises unspoken.

"I will, Yusuke. Aishiteru," she whispered back, "Aishiteru."

Yusuke's eyebrows furrowed at her admission and his mouth opened slightly, readying to tell her he wasn't quite ready for that yet.

But she already knew. She already understood.

She placed a finger to his warm lips, blocking whatever words were about to escape.

"No, Yusuke. You don't have to say anything. I already know... you aren't ready. I just want you to know how I feel, how I've felt for the longest time. I'll never leave your side so long as you want me here. Alright?" she said weakly. Yusuke's muscles relaxed once more and he nodded.

Botan smiled lightly and let her finger slide down his lips and under his chin. Yusuke returned the smile as he gazed into her warm eyes.

"Botan, your eyes are so open. They show me everything. I love your eyes," he said.

He smiled as he leaned forward and placed a light, feathery kiss atop each eyelid. Yusuke leaned back again to see her eyes were still closed. Botan's eyes slowly opened and she let out a breathy laugh. They began to brim with fresh tears.

"That is the best compliment I've ever received," she laughed. Yusuke laughed then gathered her against his chest once more. Botan sighed happily.

Start over new...

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AN: Well folks, that's it. It seems we've come to the end of this story. I feel kinda' sad though... like a mother sending her child off to college.

Oh! But don't worry... I've got another good story up my sleeve!

Oh yeah, sorry 'bout that Keiko/Botan scene. I know some people were hoping for more of I cat fight, but I just didn't have it in me to make Botan that evil. I was gonna' have the two make up and start a new friendship, but I think that would have totally ruined the story.

Well it looks like Sayonara for this story so...

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MystiKoorime- Thank you! I agree 100%! Well...50%. I also love Kurama/Botan! Ps: KOOL NAME!

CrystalShimmers- LOL! Thanx!

Volpone- You have got to be kidding me... LOOK EVERYONE! THE WORLD'S GREATEST FF.NET WRITER REVIEWED MY STUFF! Wow... you've just done wonders to my ego! I'm a die-hard fan of yours. I wrote you an E-mail on Yahoo! once asking you to check out my first chapter but I don't think you got it. Don't worry, I'm not a stalker! And don't worry. Your secret's safe with me! wink wink But maybe you should write one... hmmm... that's something I would only LOVE to read...

sumi101- Sumi, sumi, sumi... I've got a lot to thank you for.

DarrkKatt- LOL! Sorry! But, hey, I'm sure you're still a good person on the inside...:) Ps: You sure you'd prefer the cookie...? ;)

Kikirini-chan- Here you go! Ps: You've written some good stuff yourself...

inu-hiei- Er... I think Kurama and Kuwabara need to be taken to the hospital. But thanx for smacking Keiko!

lindsey- I TOTALLY agree. She's a royal pain. Thank you!

botan yusuke fan- Er... Thanx! Here you go!

Little Sakura- OMG! You get that reaction too?!

Shaded Emerald-Eyes- Sry it took so long! Here you go. -muah- ;{}

bittersweet-memory- Thankies! Yah, I guess the mood sets it...

botanbuddy- Thanks for the thought! That was totally my route! I guess we kinda' think alike, huh? :0

Kurama'sMate- Thankies! What's Imao? Sry, I don't get out much...Oo... Nice IY fics!

Lady Kurama- You were the only one who's bothered to send me a personal E-mail. That really touched me. Thank you. -tear-

AnimeBunny- Yeah, she's kinda' evil -smacks Botan's hand-... I just thought I'd write a side of Botan I'd never seen or read before.

Dark Goth Angel- EXACTLY! Keiko is very weak. She just gets in the way to me, what with her always getting in the way and all. Yu/Bo RULZ!

ObsidianRa-Thankies! You keep writing also! XD

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Sorry I took SO long to respond to your reviews... I'm lazy!

ANYWHO, I'd just like to let you guys know that it turns out that I WILL be adding one more chapter to Testimony... just because 'Pone asked me to... I mean, I DID dedicate it to her. Be sure to review that, too!