Kurama fidgeted uncomfortably in his seat. The situation he found himself in was troubling indeed. He and the rest of the gang had steered clear of involving any of the innocents with their… dealings. His eyes darted around the cutely decorated apartment, dashing from the ornate pillow by his side to the frilly curtains that colored the sunlight as it filtered into the room. Makoto cleared her throat, pulling his attention to her emerald eyes. He sighed a bit more heavily than he had intended. "Aren't you scared, Makoto? You just saw my face plastered on the news… facing off against these Sailor Soldiers." "It's Sailor Senshi." "Right…." Makoto leaned back, not an ounce of fear in her eyes, he noticed. "You have been coming to my store for a while now and I can tell you have a vested interest in a specific type of plant." Kurama eyed her wearily, mentally cursing himself out for focusing on her plump pink lips for a second too long. "Plants with healing attributes." She finished.
Kurama leaned back into his chair with a sigh of defeat. "My mother… She was sick as I was growing up. She had an illness that there was no cure for, and I have always regretted not being able to do anything for her." "You are a smart man… you know that a child could do nothing for her. So, what is it that you were… unable to do at that time?" Kurama looked into her eyes and she didn't waver. He knew those eyes… things were finally coming into place now. "Hmph… you are not a Goddess after all." He huffed with disappointment, wishing that it had been true all along. "If I was able to revert to my true form at that time, I had enough magic to reverse her fate. I would have brought her to my home in the Makai and kept her safe."
It was Makoto's turn to sit back and sigh. "The Makai? And what world is that? It isn't one of the ones we have dealt with before." Her eyes turned a deeper shade of green as she peered into his lighter green ones. "What is your purpose here?"
``````````````````````````TIME SKIP``````````````````````````````````
It was dark outside by the time Kurama got done explaining about how he ended up in Ningenkai and eventually working for the Reikai and Koenma. He told her about Yusuke, Kuwabara, and Hiei. She, however, didn't utter a word about herself or the other Sailor Senshi.
Makoto currently occupied her kitchen while Kurama sat at her table watching her work her magic. "Who are you… really? You have magic that rivals Class S Youkais… but have no youkai blood in you. However, you are only part human… much like myself." She ignored him as she started to plate her famous meatloaf that she had made the day prior. It was when she turned around and she met his eyes straight on, without faltering, she answered, "I already told you… a Goddess." She walked over to him a placed the plate down in front of him. He didn't hide how he felt by showing his displeasure on his face. Just as he opened his mouth to also voice it, the two were startled by an explosion that sounded like it was really close. It rattled her entire apartment, knocking her things off the wall and even breaking her windows from the shockwave. The two immediately ducked for cover and as soon the apartment stopped rattling Kurama was blinded by a light. When the commotion was over he bolted up to see if Makoto was alright, but she was nowhere to be seen.
He dashed to the window and jumped out of it. Once he landed on the ground, several floors below him, he took off in a sprint towards the black plume of smoke. Up ahead of him he saw a familiar green skirt. He picked up his speed to try to catch up to her, but she just got further and further ahead of him. In only a matter of seconds he managed to lose sight of her completely. In the distance he could hear her lightening charge up and strike. As he neared the scene he heard the shouts of the other Sailor Senshi as they charged at the youkai. He closed in on the scene and saw the youkai being obliterated by the Senshi with the blonde pigtails. He hid behind a tree and watched the girls regroup while he caught his breath. They circled around the girl with the pigtails and talked in a hurry. They most likely wanted to avoid being caught by the media again. He noticed that the only man had whispered something to Jupiter before disappearing with the girl who had pigtails.
Jupiter turned around and immediately looked him in the eyes. He caught his breath, not expecting her to know exactly where he was. However, he only stepped out in the open when he saw that the rest of the Senshi were no where to be seen. As she got closer to him a bright light emitted from her, blinding him in a familiar way. When he was able to see again, Makoto was standing in front of him again, just the girl who owned the flower shop... no super woman present.
She walked past him and didn't look back to see if he was following. She exhibited the utmost of confidence and he couldn't help but follow behind her like she knew he would. She pulled out her cell phone once she heard his steps matching her pace, slightly behind her. She tapped away on it until it started to ring. Kurama listened to her sweet voice as she explained to her building maintence person that the explosion tonight had shattered the glass of her apartment and probably many of the others. He felt a little ire as he heard the man on the other line offer his place if she needed a place to stay. She, however, brushed off the invite like she was used to men begging her for a moment of her time.
She sighed as she hung up her cell. She stopped in her tracks and turned around to face Kurama. "It's late. You should go home and rest for the night. I will no doubt be seeing you at my store soon enough... We should continue our converstation at a later date." "Where will you stay tonight?" Makoto gave him a questioning glance, but seemed to have decided to take his question as innocent and sighed in answer. "I own a resturant a little ways downtown... I build a loft in the attic, just in case." With that, she walked away from him without another word.
```````````````````````````````THE FOLLOWING DAY``````````````````````````````
Makoto stretched her tired limbs the following morning. She covered her mouth as a yawn escaped her. Running two businesses and being as Sailor Senshi was quite tiring. She was happy to have reliable staff to ease some of the stress she had been carrying. As she brushed her teeth and prepared the shower, her mind drifted back to her and Kurama's conversation the previous day. He had shared a lot of information and she was finding it hard to comprehend the fact that the Earth had two more hidden sides to it. She remembered in her past life that she had scoffed at the idea of the primative Earth's concept of Heaven and Hell. She knew about the Galaxy Cauldron, so she had just assumed that she knew better. The Earth was truly a special planet... if it's 'Heaven' and 'Hell' really existed.
She hopped out of the shower and got into her work attire for the restaurant and tired her hair back into her signature ponitail. Kurama was an attrative man... youkai? She wasn't really sure what he was yet. He had briefly mentioned something about being a fox spirit, but that was hard to imagine... even for her. She made her way downstairs to see that her crew was already well into the prep for the day. She smiled as some of her older staff made their way over to her to question her safety. They were the kind to keep their eyes closely on the news. Of course they knew that last night's attack would be within range of her home. She reassured them that she wasn't hurt by any means and shooed them back to work.
Later that day she would seek out Kurama and grill him for more information. She didn't know if he had shared what had transpired between them last night with the rest of his crew, but she needed to sort out this matter... and quickly. The truth was that Usagi had just recently found out she was pregnant. Mamoru was keen on keeping the 'friendly' youkai a secret from his wife for the moment. So he was currently keeping tabs on Makoto, since she had the most contact with them. She was more than happy to keep any stress she could from Usagi.
Author's note: Sorry about the slow update... I will be trying to tie up this story soon. It was originally meant to be a 5 chapter story... but I will probably need a bit more than that. Anyway, R&R!
