A Forest on Fire (KuramaxOc)

Ch. 44: Sunday

Yumiko thought her chest might explode! Sunday had arrived, which meant it was time for her and Kurama to leap the final hurdle in their way: meeting his mother.

She had never met Shiori Minamino, but knew her mate would kill for the human woman, and had nearly sacrificed his very life for her. He had taken great care explaining the rules for this evening. Absolutely no fox-form, ears, or tail. Absolutely no talk of powers or magic. Absolutely no talk of spirit world, or being a bonded pair, or any of that stuff. She was to be a human girl, meeting her human boyfriend's mother.

He was treating both women to a fancy sushi place downtown, and he would be there to pick her up at six. Yumi glanced at the clock, 5:56. With a shaky breath, she examined her appearance in the full body mirror one last time. She had picked the simple white dress with the ruffled skirt and thin straps that he had bought her all those weeks ago. Luckily, she had taken the dress with her to Shizuru's so it was free of any dog demon smell. Dispite having grown a bit, it still fit her well, and her favorite slate-grey bow matched the simple dress perfectly.

"Fire and snow..." She mused, as she examined the pure white dress, her wildfire hair, and that smoky bow. Her eyes drifted to the mark on her neck. The bite wound had scarred at once to match the one on his own neck, and she blushed. In truth, they had gotten very little training done this past week. Their newly bonded, and newly mated minds distracted by other things. She brushed her fingers over the mark, then straightened up, and pushed a bit of her energy into it.

"Conceal..." She whispered. The marking glimmered for a moment, then disappeared.

A knock sounded on the front door. After taking a final deep, steadying breath, she made her way down the stairs. Shuichi waited just inside and her breath caught in her throat as she gazed up at him. He was sharply dressed, sporting a well-fitting white button-down, and dark grey slacks, a blazer to match slung over his shoulder. His hair was pulled back as usual, and she felt a flutter in her chest as he turned, showing off the dark grey hair tie he had chosen, which matched her own bow so perfectly. She gave a small, shy smile at that hair tie, and he returned it with an expression as warm as the sun.

"I thought it might be nice if we matched." He purred, and she nearly melted on the spot. He chuckled, and cupped her chin with a large, gentle hand. "It will be quite enjoyable, watching you try to maintain your composure this evening." He spoke in hardly more than a whisper, using that tone he knew would drive her insane. She closed her eyes, a small whimper escaping her as his breath tickled human ears.

She never could understand why her ears felt so much more sensitive in full human form, but it was a secret Kurama took full advantage of now.

He chuckled again. The sensation against her ear sent shivers down her spine, made worse by the cool breeze that snuck in through the open doorway. It was only early evening, but the temperature had already dropped quite a bit, and Yumi found herself questioning her dress choice.

"Would you like my coat?" Kurama asked, already holding the dark grey blazer open for her. She nodded, and slipped her arms into the sleeves. She looked rather silly in his large coat, it's base coming down to only a few inches above the base of her own dress, but it was warm, and smelled of his floral scent. She couldn't help the small purr that escaped as she wrapped herself up in the soft fabric.

"Perhaps we should both work on hiding those purrs in front of my mother." He said with another chuckle, and Yumi gave him a joyful nod, those seafoam eyes beaming with unbound adoration as she pulled the door shut behind her.