A Forest on Fire (KuramaxOc)

Ch 46. Preparations

After speaking with the Kuwabara boy, Mako had jumped back on the train, and formulated his plan before he had even reached Kaiden. Using every detail Kazuma had given him, he went home, changed, then set to work with preparations. Two hours later, he stood outside the Kuwabara family home, irises and hazelnut delights in hand as he knocked on the door.

Shizuru answered the door with her hair in a messy bun, apron on, and the smell of something utterly delicious coming from the kitchen. She looked like she might have been expecting someone else, but her bright eyes immediately darkened when she saw him. He recognized the flicker of disgust in her eyes and gulped, summoning his courage as he held a hand up in front of him in a gesture of peace.

"Look," He began quickly, before she could speak. "I know I was a gigantic prick the other night, and you had every right and reason to say the things you did. I acted like a child who got told no and threw a tantrum, and I'm sorry, but if you'd just hear me out... without interrupting me this time. Please Shizuru, just hear me out, that's all I'm asking."

The strawberry-blonde just gawked at him, eyes blazing with distrust and agitation. After a moment, she let out an exasperated sigh sand waved him inside.

"Go on... but make it quick, I'm trying to cook." She turned away, and returned to work on that delicious smelling broth she had been working on before he interrupted.

Mako let out a sigh of relief, and stepped into the hallway, but no further. The house had been cleaned from top to bottom, and even with her apron on, it was clear Shizuru had put thought into her attire. 'Is this... was she preparing for a date??' He swallowed hard, and pushed the thought away, then began.

"Listen Shizuru, I like you, like a lot, and I think you're utterly incredible. I saw my shot, and I took it, and maybe I'm a fool for risking it all but I don't regret it! Watching you dance like you were the star of the whole room was like being in a trance. But that doesn't matter!"

He threw his hands in front of him again, even though she couldn't see him. She had turned her back to him, focused solely on that pot as he went on, and he had seen her shoulders stiffen as he mentioned the other night, so he switched course.

"That first day I stumbled into Ty's bar? I was a mess! I was a parent who was trying to figure out how not to throttle the boy my girl had decided to fall in love with. You walked in, saw a depressed, moody dude with ears and a tail, and didn't even question it! You got me to open up, to talk, and gave me advice that I sorely needed." He spoke quickly, not giving her an opening to cut him off.

"The night when Yumi got attacked, you drank with me the whole night, then convinced Tyler not to call the authorities when I trashed the bar in my shifted form. You saw me, and you didn't even balk! You helped cheer me up then too, and didn't even mention the fact that I looked like I had been dragged through a thorn bush backwards, or that I had multiple college kid's puke on me..."

She snorted, and he knew she was listening genuinely as he went on.

"Then came the party. You were the boldest human I ever met! You cornered me, and made me tell you the truth, and you accepted it. You genuinely saw me, and my kids..." His voice had gone soft, thick with emotion as he recalled that night. "You saw us as we truly were. Demons, but not evil... just... People trying to live our lives..."

He had to pause, the emotion threatening to overwhelm him.

"Then I got hurt on the job..."

She snorted again, and muttered, "that's what you call getting nearly blown to bits?"

He gave a single dark laugh at that, then went on.

"You took Yumi in. You gave her a place to stay, fed her, comforted her... You looked out for her when I couldn't... And while I was stuck in a hospital bed you picked up a damn pipe to defend the bar, and you kept her friends safe. You opened your home so my friends would have a place to heal..."