A Forest on Fire (KuramaxOc)

Ch: 27: Sixteen

Two weeks had passed since the concert,and Yumiko had been in a terrible mood all day! It was her birthday, but there wouldn't be a party. Suni had gotten into a prestigious cosmetology school overseas, and had taken off, with a friend of Botan's acting as her guide. Yusuke had returned to training, and Maru and Mako had received a call from Lord Koenma two nights before. Despite her pleading, and reminders that he was retired, he had left at once to assist Maru with a couple of pulse children that had been located in a nearby town.

It had all gone so wrong, and Maru had been witness to just how horrible the career he had chosen could be. Mako was being treated in Spirit world, half of his body having to be reformed from the damage a two year old, human girl he had tried to save had caused. He had made it all the way to the temple steps before the little girl had detonated, but she had been a human. The pulse energy had been more powerful than what the fragile human form could withstand, and she had been destroyed on a cellular level even as Mako had held fast to her.

His upper body received the full impact of the pulse, and had he been anyone else, he likely would have died from that blast. As it was, his body was a wasteland, and his siren's amulet had cracked. His core had been exposed, and had it not been for the power of that amulet absorbing most of the blow, he would have been killed, along with nearly everyone at the temple.

They had to regrow many of his bones, and layers upon layers of muscle and tissue, and there would be no repairing the broken amulet. The tomcat would be gone for several weeks, according to the reports.

Yumiko had called Shizuru, who had agreed to let her come stay in the Kuwabara household until he was able to return. So here she was, packing a bag of clothes and books, to go stay with her brother's drinking buddy on her birthday. At least Kurama hadn't cancelled their trip, so she could still look forward to that! 

A knock on the door broke her thoughts, and she let out a small sound of joy as she ran to open it. She did her best to tuck back her annoyance at the situation, and just enjoy his presence as she opened the door to his gentle smile, and soft emerald eyes.

"Good morning Yumiko, are you ready to go?" He asked, glancing over her apparel. He had made it clear to the girl that this would be no simple camping trip, and was pleased to find her in mostly acceptable training attire. Though, he did raise an eyebrow at the skintight shorts that barely passed the tops of her thighs. She blushed slightly, and led him inside.

"I've got pants to put on over them for the hike, but I don't like a lot of fabric on when I fight. It just gets in the way." She mused. This was to be a camping weekend, true... but it would also be their first time actually training together.

She wore a skin tight blue-green top, with a decent sports wrap underneath.
It was sleeveless so as not to restrict her motions, and the dark grey shorts were indeed, well... short, but would not hamper her at all should she need to get away quickly. More importantly, every thing she had chosen to wear could easily be slipped out of should she need to change forms. The only thing she still couldn't figure out was that damned wrap!

He sighed in acceptance, and moved to grab her suitcase. "We'll drop this off at Kuwabara's first, then head to the temple. I've set some supplies to the side there for us to retrieve. From there, it's a two hour hike to the camping site. Are you ready?"

She grinned as she bent down to pick up her camping pack. Mako had luckily bought one last week when he had first broached the subject. With a final check of her own supplies, she gave him a nod. "Let's go!"