A Forest on Fire (KuramaxOc)

Ch 46. Preparations

He paused again, a realization setting in even as he went over the memories again. The image of her smiling at him, of her covered in other people's blood as she worked to patch them up the best she could, the image of her dancing...

"Look... I have to say it, and then if it doesn't matter, then fine... but I think, the moment I saw you trying to make sure everyone was okay, and then when you showed me the house... I realized you were someone I could actually trust... I mean really trust... Someone that I wanted to stay around... Does that make sense? That doesn't make sense... What I'm saying is, for a moment, I thought maybe having a human for a mate would be worth it... But I know that's not what you want!"

He went on quickly, eyes wide as she turned around, and tried desperately to ignore the hollow look on her face.

"I know that's not how you felt, I get that, and I'm fine with that!" A lie. It was a bold-faced lie, and he was sure she knew it too, but he went on. "What I'm not fine with, is the thought you'd just, disappear. What I'm saying is, I can put that mushy stuff to the side, if you'll just keep being my friend, my drinking buddy. Uhhh, here!"

He was stumbling over the words, and knew she was running out of patience, so he pulled the movie tickets he had kept safe in his jacket pocket out and held them in front of her.

"You're getting ready for a date right? That's what the food and the cleaning's all about? I was going to see if you wanted to catch that new action flick with me but... Here! They're yours. Maybe the two of you can get a hot pot or something afterwards." He pretty much thrust them into her hands as Shizuru gawked at him again, then turned and set the irises and chocolates on the table.

"These are for you. The chocolates are Hazelnut delights. I was hoping they'd make a decent 'sorry for being a jackass' gift... Anyways, don't worry about the other night. As far as I'm concerned we can pretend it never happened... I'll uh, I'll see you at Ty's sometime..."

Without another word, his confidence and courage failing, Mako turned, and walked out the front door before Shizuru could see how badly his tail was drooping. He hadn't given her a chance to respond. She didn't need to. The answer had been clear on her face. A date.... a date! He was too late... a growl rumbled in his chest as he walked the few meters to his own home.

***

Shizuru didn't move. She had listened with a skeptical mind at first, but she couldn't deny the tomcat's words had moved her. Her eyes softened slightly as she gazed at the tickets, the flowers, her favorite kind... and the chocolates, also her favorite.

"That idiot... Can't keep his big nose out of anything..."

She mumbled, making a mental note to throttle her baby bro the next time he came home. Still though, the fact that Mako had won over Kazuma at all.. She smiled, then looked back at the tickets, and laughed. A date! The idiot really thought she was doing all of this to impress some guy!

"Hey, kid, he's gone. You can come out now!" She called into the hallway.

The guest room door swung open, and none other than Sunemia emerged into the hallway, giggling like a schoolgirl.

"Well! I guess we can definitely say my charm bracelet worked! He couldn't smell me at all!!" She grinned ear to ear, holding up the strangely marked golden chain she had so painstakingly designed.

"Cosmetic school, huh?" Shizuru asked sarcastically, and Suni giggled again.

"Oh, come on! Do you really think they would have let me go to a demon college if I had been honest? It's incredible what our kind has come up with when we stop fighting each other long enough to use our heads, and these bracelets could be monumental for the safety of demons with living world citizenship in the future! Besides, with one of these babies, Yumi will be able to hide fully in the living world, since no one will be able to smell her scent anymore! Which is also good for Maru, considering Yumiko's mated scent is so strong I can smell it off of Mako's clothing..." She waved a hand in the air as though trying to air out an odor, then jerked her chin towards the tickets.