Last time we got a glimpse of the past, so let's take now a jump into the near future, with a 22 year-old Makoto.

I don't know what you'll think of this chapter, and I'm quite nervous as I upload it. But, as with the last one, you can ignore it if you so choose, though some things will carry over to the famous sequel in the works that who knows if it'll ever be publishable. I think some of you will like this one, though. Let me know what you think!

Flash forward #1: Shizune

Three years before, in a worrying display of youthful naiveté, Makoto had decided to live in the mountains in search of peace, inner or otherwise.

She would have thought it wasn't much to ask for, but it became apparent quite early that it was.

Even before Makoto had moved to Master Genkai's temple, demons had begun showing up in the vicinity, probably attracted by the power the place emanated. Most of them were tourists, just passing by, the same way that if Makoto went to Greece, she'd visit the Parthenon and snap a few shots to take back home and show what a wonderful vacation she had. A few had personally known Genkai. Others were looking for a place to settle, at least for a little while, and Makoto had no qualms about it, because that had been Master Genkai's intention when she left the temple grounds in Makoto's and her friends' hands.

Word of mouth was a scary thing, as Makoto could attest to only after some time in the temple. Every day, new demons showed up on her doorstep to visit the temple, its surroundings, and maybe stay a night or two.

Before she was able to digest what was happening and how, and much, much before than she could lament her iron will to heed Genkai's last request and let her lands be a refuge to any demons that decided to stay in them, Makoto was managing a pseudo-inn in what should have been her quiet home.

As the flux of demons moving back and forth from the Demon World became a normal thing, and human society started to suspect that the newly unleashed weirdoes in their cities weren't just partaking in a strange fad, the newcomers began to adapt to human ways eagerly. When in Rome, Makoto guessed.

The point of no return came with the calls.

Until then, Makoto had resigned herself to having visitors all year round, being accommodating for everybody's sakes and letting them stay in the temple's many spare rooms. But with the calls, the room bookings began.

Makoto insisted to these people that she wasn't running a hotel, and that they could come and go as they pleased as long as they behaved inside the property. But they just didn't want to hang around and see the sights. They wanted to spend the day in the temple where the famous Genkai had lived. They insisted until Makoto caved in, because the only effort it took on her part was to have a clean, empty room when they arrived, and she felt foolish saying no.

Kurama laughed at her every time he was around when she picked up a call and had to hurry to jot down when the next group of tourists would come, and she would immediately remind him that this was sort of his fault too, which only made him feel proud.

Genkai had been a famous psychic in Japan, but it shouldn't have mattered to demons from another world. Going by logic, they shouldn't have even heard from her, and her widespread fame was baffling to Makoto until she began asking the visitors how come they knew her.

It turned out that being the person who taught some of the most impressive fighters in the Demon World tournaments, as well as Raizen's son, would make a name for you on the other side, even after death. Or, perhaps, thanks to death, as Makoto was sure that her being gone added spice to the legend.

This was her daily life when, one day, the living room's phone rang, and she grabbed the reservation book before picking it up. She wasn't able to get a word in when someone yelled at her through the speaker.

"Mako, this is an emergency!" Makoto was perplexed as she instantly recognized Fumi's voice and held the receiver at a prudent distance from her eardrums. "How do koorime have kids?"

Makoto blanked out at the question, and she only managed to say after a beat of silence, "What?"

"You heard me! Do you know if there's something weird going on with them or do they do it like everybody else?"

"Fumi, I do not understand this conversation and I do not want to be part of it."

Whatever the sound coming from Fumi was, a groan or a battle cry, Makoto had to hold the receiver even further away.

"Yukina's pregnant and Shizuru's gonna murder Kazuma!"

Makoto stared at the phone like a deer in the headlights. A vague memory of a certain piece of information that had been shared with her years ago came knocking at the back of her mind, and as she couldn't remember exactly how that conversation had gone, she decided to go back to the source.

"Wait. We need an expert."

Makoto put Fumiko on hold and dialed Kurama's cellphone number, but it wasn't Kurama who answered.

"Yo, Mako! Missing the fox, are you?"

Makoto could see Yuusuke's eyebrows wiggling just by his tone. She heard chatter around him, so she assumed they were out for a drink. "What the hell are you doing with Kurama's phone?"

"Someone's touchy. Who pissed in your afternoon coffee?"

"Yuusuke, seriously, I need Kurama right now."

"Bathroom break," Yuusuke replied, sounding more serious. "Something wrong? What's so urgent?"

She huffed. "Whatever, you'll have to do."

"Uh-what?"

"I need help, and I need you to remember something, okay?"

"Okay?" He repeated.

"Remember that time during the Dark Tournament that you said in front of me and Kurama that Yukina's brother was—" Makoto glanced around the empty room just to make sure no one was around. "You know."

Yuuske groaned. "I fucked up so hard."

"Yuusuke, this is no time for self-pity," Makoto said harshly.

"Makoto, what the hell?"

"Do you remember what Kurama said about how koorime had children?"

"Woah-woah—No, wait, I need to repeat myself, what the hell, Makoto?"

"Augh, listen, you dumbass, Yukina is pregnant and Fumi is trying to keep Shizuru from murdering Kuwabara."

Whatever Yuusuke had been drinking, he choked on it for a handful of eternal seconds. "Kuwabara did what?!"

"That is not what I said!"

At last Makoto was able to hear Kurama's faded voice. "Yuusuke, why did you pick up my call?"

Makoto exhaled with relief. "Thank heaven!"

"Kuwabara's dead meat!" Yuusuke replied joyfully.

"Yuusuke, shut up and let me talk to him!"

The phone passed quickly to Kurama, and as soon as he took over, he asked, "What's wrong?"

Bless him and his ability to read minds. "Do not worry, but I need to confirm something urgent, and I know we talked about it before but I do not remember the details."

"What is it?"

"How do koorime reproduce?"

There was an uncomfortable silence at the other end of the line, and Yuusuke had either heard her question or guessed it by his friend's reaction, because he started laughing like a madman before Kurama could reply.

"What—why do you want to—Yuusuke, keep it down, people are staring."

"Yukina is pregnant and Shizuru is about to murder Kuwabara as we speak. I need confirmation that this is not what it seems."

Now that he understood what was going on, he sounded calmer. "I obviously am in no position to confirm anything, but it doesn't have to be what it seems."

That was what Makoto had expected to hear. "Oh, thank you. What was it again?"

"Parthenogenesis."

Makoto sighed with great relief. "I love you," she said without thinking, and then she realized what she had done and added, "Not that way."

And possibly she hadn't meant that, either, but she had to say something.

After a few seconds, Kurama still hadn't replied, but what came loud and clear through the receiver was Yuusuke's exclamation. "I knew it! I was the first to notice! I—"

"Thank you for the information, bye!" Makoto spluttered, hanged the phone, and then realized she had hung upon Fumi too and dialed her number in a flash. Embarrassment could wait, now they had a life to save.

"Fumi! Is Shizuru still there?"

"I'll get her to listen! What is it? Do we have a murder in our hands?"

"Asexual reproduction!"

A guest that was passing by the living room took a look inside when he heard Makoto's out of context exclamation, but as soon as Makoto saw him he waved sheepishly and hurried along.

"Wha—they don't need men? Or anybody else?"

"They don't!"

"I could kiss you right now." Fumiko didn't hang, and Makoto heard her stomping upstairs to yell at Shizuru. "Koorime don't need to bang to have kids!"

Makoto paid close attention to the conversation that ensued on the other end of the line. Meanwhile, her cellphone started to ring too, and she saw she had a text from Keiko that didn't give her any good vibes.

"What?" She heard Shizuru say.

"I told you I haven't laid a finger on her!"

"Shut up, Kazu!"

For the first time since the emergency had started, Makoto heard Yukina, who of course had to have been in the house, trying to mediate. "Please Shizuru, Kazuma hasn't done anything! What's going on?"

"Here!" Fumiko yelled, and Makoto assumed that she had shoved the phone at Shizuru because she was the next one to speak to her.

"Mako, care to clarify why I shouldn't kill my dumbass bro? Is that true, or is Fumi pulling excuses out of her ass?"

"It is true. Koorime reproduce asexually. Can you not ask Yukina?"

"Yukina is a dear, but she would say anything to protect Kazu."

"Then listen to her for two seconds and maybe we can sort this out without blood."

Shizuru seemed to consider Makoto's words for a few seconds. "I'll call a ceasefire. You come here in the meantime, and we're gonna have a girls' talk."

"It's late and I have things to do at home."

"I'm sure you do. I'll send Fumi for your favorite nori crackers."

"This is so not worth it."

"Later."

And then Shizuru hung up, leaving Makoto very alone with the consequences of an ill-timed expression of gratefulness.

She opened Keiko's text, hit her forehead against the nearest wall, took a jacket and started to make her way towards the train station.

—

The house was rife with unspoken tension, and it didn't take supernatural powers to realize. When Makoto entered the living room, she had the same feeling of nervousness she'd had the first time she had, before the Dark Tournament, though Atsuko was missing this time and Fumiko and Yukina had taken her place. Keiko was sitting on an armchair while the rest of girls were on the couch.

"Keiko? Why are you here?"

"Someone needed to be the voice of reason," Keiko said blandly.

"No one better than a teacher to explain the birds and the bees," Fumiko added.

"I believe we've clarified what's going on," Shizuru admitted from her spot between Yukina and Fumiko.

Feeling slightly less on edge, Makoto took a seat on the only empty armchair. She looked at the coffee table. The nori crackers had been a lie and she hadn't folded the laundry yet.

Yukina still seemed to be a little surprised by the commotion, but she had calmed down too. "I'm sorry, I didn't know this would be such a big deal. I should have explained better from the beginning."

"Don't. You had no way to know," Shizuru said. Makoto saw her instinctively reach for her pack of cigarettes, but she stopped mid-motion and went for the kettle on the coffee table to fill a mug for Makoto.

"Here," Keiko said, passing it on to her.

"Thank you." She looked at the contents of the mug before speaking. Genmaicha. "Do… pregnancies happen randomly for koorime?"

"No, not at all!" Yukina replied. "Once every hundred years."

"I can't believe you're that old," Fumiko mumbled, elbows on her knees and chin propped up on her hands.

"I am not old!" Yukina replied, perplexed.

"Sorry," Fumiko said with an apologetic smile, and looked elsewhere to hide her skepticism.

"I didn't know humans couldn't have kids this way," Yukina said. "Some species of demons can, and there are so many different humans that I figured some might."

"Most of us don't even get to our hundreds," Keiko replied. "And imagine the disaster if you had kids without having any say in it."

"I don't mind it," Yukina replied. "I knew I was getting close to that age, so it's okay. But," she turned her head to look at Makoto, specifically. "You can't have a baby on your own, either?"

"…No?"

"Are you sure?"

Makoto realized with horror that she wasn't and she had no way to be, and it must have shown on her face because next thing she knew, Keiko was patting her arm and saying, "Don't worry, I'm sure it isn't the case."

"I wish I could be," Makoto replied with a small voice.

"It's something to consider," Yukina said, not at all fazed. Makoto was aware that this was something perfectly normal for her, but for an outsider's point of view it was nothing short of disturbing, particularly the implication that that could happen to her.

No, she'd have to make an effort to believe in Keiko.

"Where is Kuwabara?" Makoto asked, hoping to divert the subject.

"He went out," Shizuru said.

"He's with Yuusuke," Keiko added.

Makoto recalled her earlier conversation with him. "I don't think that was a good idea."

"Neither do I."

"He'll live," Shizuru said with a shrug. "Maybe it'll do him some good to shout at someone, and Kurama won't let them get too out of hand."

"I think you're underestimating those two." And overestimating Kurama's charitable streak, too, Makoto thought.

"Speaking of Yuusuke," Keiko said with a sly smile, throwing a sideways glance al Makoto, "I heard something interesting from him today."

"Really."

"I think someone might be ignoring a text of mine."

"I wonder who that could be."

Keiko's smile gained an edge as she faced Makoto, and Makoto was ready to make a hasty exit when the front door opened and in came Kuwabara, sporting an aura of determination, and behind him a grinning Yuusuke and a tired-looking Kurama.

"I've made a decision." Kuwabara announced, and then, disregarding everybody else present at the scene, he walked up to Yukina, got on one knee, took her hands and said, "Yukina, I don't care what happened or who's the baby's father. I, Kazuma Kuwabara, vow to assume responsibility for your child and you until the day I die. Will you allow me the honor of marrying you?"

In the silence that ensued, the only person that wasn't looking at everybody else in alarm and confusion was Yukina, who smiled gently at Kuwabara.

Makoto took a look around and saw Yuusuke wide-eyed and trembling with barely contained laughter, Shizuru and Keiko staring with disbelief and their mouths slightly ajar, a thoroughly weirded out Fumiko, and Kurama facepalming right behind Yuusuke.

Makoto hid her face behind her hands and made herself small with second-hand embarrassment. She did not want to be that house.

"The baby doesn't have a dad!" Fumiko blurted out. "It's a tiny Yukina clone!"

"Eh?" Kuwabara turned his attention to Fumiko. "For real?"

"Kuwabara, did you listen to anything I said?" Kurama asked.

"Well, you said you weren't sure, so—"

Shizuru slumped against the backrest, massaging her forehead. "This is the corniest thing I've heard in my life since you and Yuusuke."

Keiko gave a warning. "Shizuru, don't."

"I'm never trusting you with a secret ever—"

Yuusuke was cut off by Kuwabara's yell. "Shut up, everyone!" He was beet red and pointing accusingly at everybody except Yukina. "So what if it's corny?! I meant every word I said!"

And no more smart comments came, because how could anybody poke fun at him after that statement? Makoto was amazed at his honesty.

"I will marry you," Yukina replied, ignoring the commotion, and Kuwabara's mouth dropped like he couldn't believe his ears. "But not because of the baby. I can take care of her on my own. I'll marry you because I love you."

Shizuru finally put a cigarette to her mouth out of nervousness, though she didn't light it. The appraising look she gave Kuwabara spoke miles about what going through her head. He stared back at her, waiting for a barb, but instead Shizuru took the cigarette between her middle and index fingers and said, "I've got nothing to object. Treat each other well. But," she then pointed at Kuwabara with the cigarette hand, "Don't you dare drop your education out of some sort of deluded manly obligation to provide for them."

"I won't!" Kuwabara replied. "I'll get my degree and a job, and then we'll marry!" And then he stopped right in his tracks to say to Yukina, "If you're okay with it."

"I'm not in any hurry," she replied.

Shizuru sighed, but a faint smile appeared on her face. "Well, I think it's time to leave these two to talk."

"Agreed," Keiko said, rushing to stand up, "this is none of our business."

And so, Makoto, Fumiko and Keiko found themselves on the street along with Kurama and Yuusuke.

"That was hella awkward," Fumiko said, scratching her head. "What a day."

"You tell me," Makoto replied, shoulders drooping. "It took me two hours to get here after you called, and what for?"

Fumiko got Makoto in a friendly headlock. "Don't be a sourpuss, we missed you. And we got to see a good show for free."

"I could've lived without it," Keiko said.

"Kurama and I got a three for one deal, didn't we?" He said, ribbing his friend with an elbow.

"I'm of the same opinion as Keiko."

He clucked his tongue. "Of course you'd be."

"No, I don't think he is," Keiko intervened, taking Yuusuke by surprise as she gave Kurama an amused smile. "Let's go, Yuusuke! You're late to work!" And she took his arm and started to walk as she pulled.

"What's the point of being my own boss if I can't be late?"

"You've had enough fun today. Let them rest." And then she turned towards the other three. "You really should show up more often, Makoto. And you too, Kurama, we barely meet anymore. See you!"

Makoto looked up curiously at him, "Married to work, are we?"

"I can't deny that."

Meanwhile, Fumiko stared at the leaving couple in thought, and Makoto thought it didn't forebode anything good.

"I know I'm missing something."

"You are not," Makoto tried to reassure her in vain.

Fumiko threw suspicious looks at Makoto and Kurama, like she was sniffing something in the air but couldn't tell what. "You two aren't going out behind my back, are you?"

"Where did that come from?" Makoto replied at the same time Kurama said, "For the umpteenth time, no, we are not."

"Just checking," she said flippantly, and waved the question away. "I know neither of you come out of your caves often enough to see anyone." Then she changed the subject, like she hadn't made everything awkward for Makoto again. "Are you going to your parents' tonight? I'm sure they want to see you."

"No, I need to take care of things at the temple. Five new guests showed up today," Makoto said, and truthfully, she would have liked to stay, now that she had made the trip, but obligations came first. "But maybe this weekend?"

"I'll hold on to that," Fumi said, making it sound like a threat. "You better show up. And then we can have a sleepover or something, for old time's sake."

Makoto held back a snort. "Sure."

"It's a deal!" She grinned at them. "I'll be going home now. You two take care and don't drop dead working!"

"I will make sure not to," Makoto promised.

"I think it won't come to that," Kurama said in good humor.

When Fumiko was out of earshot Makoto asked, "Really?"

"I don't spend that much time at the office."

"Now I know that is a lie."

"I'm here, am I not?"

"How many hours of overtime have you put in this week?"

He replied instead, "It's a small company."

Makoto smiled at that, but she didn't retort. Instead, she checked her wristwatch. "I need to get to the station before I lose my train home."

"I'll walk you, if you don't mind the company."

"Have I ever?"

Truth be told, she was feeling a tad nervous, which hadn't been common when she was near Kurama for a long time.

But that wasn't enough to take from her mind a question that had been at the back of her mind since she'd been told of Yukina's pregnancy, and had only gotten more important given the day's events.

"Who is going to tell Hiei?" She asked Kurama when Kuwabara's house was out of sight.

He shrugged off the question. "I suppose he'll have to find on his own."

"You are good friends."

"I have no means to contact him."

"But you could pull some strings."

He tilted his head. "If I wanted to."

"Which you do not."

"I think it needs to be Yukina's decision," he replied, sounding very reasonable.

"I agree. I also think you simply do not want to be in that conversation."

"Thank you for saving me the explanations. I've had my fill of them today."

Makoto felt slightly guilty for that. "I can imagine. Did…?"

She was going to ask about what had happened after she hung up, but she decided it was best not to bring it up.

Kurama didn't let it go, though. "What is it?"

"Nothing."

Kurama peered curiously at her. He wasn't acting any different than usual, and Makoto was grateful for it.

But she caved in to the pressure. "All right. Did Yuusuke nag you a lot?"

"Oh. No, only the expected amount," he replied with a wry smile.

"Sorry for that, I was not thinking. Fumi was pressing me for an answer and Yuusuke was getting on my nerves, so—"

"It's okay, Mako," he said with a smile. "I didn't mind. It's just odd to hear you being so expressive."

She looked down for a moment so her hair hid her face from view. "Um, well. Forget about it. I did not mean anything by it."

Sometimes Makoto missed the days where her default state was swallowing her words instead of sharing them. She did not miss, though, how alone she was, in retrospect, even if she didn't feel so back then. She would, nowadays.

They walked for a while in companionable silence, until the train station was in sight and Kurama spoke up.

"Is that true?"

"What?" Makoto thought she had misunderstood what he was getting at, so her first reaction was to seek confirmation.

"Did you truly not mean it?"

The question stopped Makoto in her tracks and she panicked, thinking that she had almost been able to sweep her stupid comment under the rug. If only she hadn't brought it up.

She had guessed this moment would come sooner or later, but she had hoped for later. Much, much later. Preferably when she had been able to sort out her feelings on the matter, which, admittedly, only seemed to get more tangled as the years went by.

How many years had passed already since she and Kurama had become friends? Six? How had time gone by that fast?

She didn't want to answer his question, because she didn't want to lie. "Are you trying to tell me something?"

"Perhaps." He was so annoyingly vague that the reply did nothing for Makoto's nerves. "But that depends on your answer."

She had no way out of it, and it was all her fault. And Fumi's, and of koorime biology.

"I did not mean it that way," she said truthfully, and she could've left it at that, but she had a feeling that that was the worst thing she could do, and she knew better than ignoring her instincts, so she added, "at that moment." And she couldn't force herself to look at Kurama's face as she kept talking, in part because she felt heat rising to her cheeks, but mostly because she was afraid of his reaction. "But that does not make it any less true."

Tentatively, she looked up at him as she unconsciously fidgeted with her hands, a habit that, despite not being as prevalent now, kept coming back when she was feeling especially anxious.

"Can you say something?" Makoto pleaded, because she was fairly certain that if the silent treatment lasted any longer her soul would depart from her body.

"Sorry," he replied quickly. "I wasn't expecting that. And it took me a moment to decipher."

"You… were… not?" Because, while Makoto had long ago decided to put her feelings for Kurama in the back burner and leave them there in hopes they'd flicker out on their own, that wish had not come true, and she had assumed someone as perceptive as Kurama had to have figured it out. "You honestly had not noticed?"

"It could have been wishful thinking. You…" He closed his eyes for a moment, and he said with a pained expression. "Makoto, I hope you know that you're an awfully difficult person to read."

"Oh." She was sure that he didn't mean it in a positive sense, but she thought it was. "Thank you. I try."

"And that was the most convoluted confession I've heard in my life."

"So sorry for not sending you love letters like your fangirls used to, with those little heart seals and all," Makoto hissed, flustered and resembling a bristling cat. A cornered one whose only escape was running forward.

"You know I didn't read those."

"And that was bare minimum decency." Makoto took a deep breath to steel herself, because she needed to put the matter to rest as soon as possible. "Regardless, it doesn't change anything. I don't expect anything from you, and I won't act weird around you, so please…" The words, quick as she was uttering them, died before they left her mouth, because she realized how pathetic she was sounding.

Please, don't avoid me.

Please, don't stop being my friend.

She couldn't bring herself to say that out loud, even if it was how she felt, and her gaze fell to her shoes.

"Mako," he said, placing a reassuring hand on her shoulder.

She still refused to look at him.

"Mako, I have feelings for you too."

Her head snapped up . "You do?!" Her eyes narrowed as she tried to find a clue in his, but of course her powers never worked when she wanted to. "Are you saying that to shut me up?"

He sounded dismayed at the accusation. "I wouldn't lie about something like this."

She felt a weight lift from her shoulders, enough that she was able to let out a small laugh. "I like implication that you are a liar."

"It's not a badge I wear with pride, but I have to own it."

Makoto smiled a bit at that, but it was brief. "So… what now?"

She was feeling very lost, and she had no idea what this would mean for them.

"I don't know," Kurama replied, and he seemed unsure about how to proceed. "This whole situation is as alien for me as it is for you."

"That makes sense," she muttered. She doubted very much that relationships in the Demon World worked the same as between humans, especially taking into account the kind of life he had lead before.

It wasn't a comfortable line of thought. It was strange enough to Makoto to think that someone had taken an interest in her, but for that someone to be Kurama, of all people… Sure, she had hoped. But Makoto hoped for many things without believing they could ever be true.

And Kurama had lived so much, and she'd always felt so small next to him, that the possibility opening up before her felt nothing short of intimidating.

"I don't… I have never expected anything from you, either," he said, bringing her out of her thoughts. "Nothing has to change."

"It doesn't?" She asked, because she wanted to make sure that he truly meant it.

"It doesn't. We can make it up as we go. Like always."

And he smiled at her, and Makoto couldn't help but smile back.

"I think that is for the best."

"Glad we agree, then," he replied with a smile of his own that he dropped soon. "Now, don't take this as me wanting you to leave, but the train…"

"Yes, I should hurry. I can go from here alone. I do not think I will get lost," she said. The station was just a crossroad away, and she needed some space to think. She was sure he did, too.

"See you soon?"

"Will you be able to make some time this weekend?"

"You can count on it."

"I will." And then, before leaving, she leaned forward and gave him a peck on the cheek before retreating quickly with a mischievous smile. "Bye!"

The look of surprise on Kurama's face was worth dealing with her inner, scandalized thoughts for being so forward on the way home.

The magnitude of what had happened only hit her when she was alone, and she passed the trip curled up into a ball, hiding her face, torn between giggling like a schoolgirl and wanting to crawl under a rock.

—

A few months later, Makoto accompanied Yukina to a doctor appointment that Kuwabara couldn't get to due to exam season. While it was true that, technically, Makoto was unemployed and not studying anymore, her friends had a tendency to forget that she was actually busy in the mountains, so she was the go-to person when they needed a favor.

She wasn't going to complain about this one, first because Makoto was not about to let Yukina go alone if it depended on her, and second, because she sometimes missed her company from the time they stayed together at Genkai's. She had always been very pleasant to be around, both in spirit and actions.

She and Kuwabara deserved each other, she thought.

Yukina was already visibly pregnant, and, according to what she had heard from Fumi and Shizuru, neighbors were talking about it. But Yukina didn't seem to be bothered at all to be the target of the rumor mill.

"I don't like the things they are saying bout Kazuma, though," Yukina, worried, told Makoto while they were in the waiting room. It was a small clinic that had demon staff. A few of them had popped up since the barrier had lifted, because regular doctors didn't have the training to treat demons. "And I don't know what to tell them. Because I could say that Kazuma isn't the father, but that wouldn't be fair. As long as he takes care of her like a father, he'll be. Does that sound strange to you?"

"Not at all," Makoto replied. "Blood ties only have as much weight as you give them."

"I knew you would get it," Yukina said, regaining some of her good humor. "But I'm worried this will hurt Kazuma's reputation. I've been paying attention. Unmarried mothers aren't very well regarded in this world, are they?"

"People are quick to judge," Makoto admitted, "but they are bound to get more open-minded as time goes by."

"I hope so. And I hope they won't hold anything against her or Kazuma when we're married."

"Those people don't matter, Yukina."

"That's what he tells me, too." She smiled at her. "You are a kind person, Makoto. And Shizuru, and her dad, and everyone who's been watching after me all this time. I've been so lucky since Kazuma came to rescue me."

Makoto had never heard the details of what had transpired when Yukina was kidnapped, and she felt it wasn't her place to ask.

"Was it love at first sight?" She asked instead. She remembered how Kuwabara used to act around Yukina, and how she looked like a fish out of water every time he made a big display of feelings.

Yukina let out a demure but genuine laugh, "No, of course it wasn't. I didn't even think I could love anybody back then." She smiled to herself with a tinge of sadness. "I'm grateful for the time Master Genkai let me spend with her. I wasn't prepared to live with among humans. The people I've met here are so honest, so passionate… so different from what I knew back home. And the ones I met while I was locked up…" She trailed off, and looked absent for a moment. "It was too much. It still is, sometimes. But I think I'm getting better."

"You seem more open than you were. And much happier."

Not unlike Makoto, although she didn't doubt for a second that Yukina was a much stronger person than her, and all her troubles paled in comparison of what she'd had to overcome.

"I feel like I found my place at last." She stayed lost in her thoughts for a moment, and with conspiratorial smile, she asked, "Do you want to know when I really started to pay attention to Kazuma?"

Makoto was more interested than she'd care to admit, especially because she had been curious for some time about why would a demon who had lived so long take an interest in what was basically a regular person. "When?"

"When he started coming to the temple every weekend with you. Often he'd just be there for a few hours and had to go back, but he made the trip every time he could. Remember?" Makoto nodded, and Yukina continued. "I wasn't treating him any differently than any of you, but he kept coming back. I didn't understand his interest. I thought he'd forget as soon as I was out of his line of sight. But he didn't. And he never asked anything of me. He liked my company and wanted to check on me despite my disinterest, week after week. And I started to look forward to seeing him." Her fond smile grew and her cheeks took a pink hue. "So when his dad proposed that I move in with them, I felt safe to say yes. And he's still the same way. He's never taken anything for granted. And he always tries to understand."

That didn't answer Makoto's own doubts, but she was interested, nonetheless. "And you don't mind his age?"

"It makes me wonder," Yukina conceded. "I don't know if what I'm doing is the right thing. Or maybe there will come a time when he'll find someone else." Reflexively, she rested a hand on her belly. "I wonder if he'll mind if he never has a child of his own blood. I'm not sure I could do that."

"I think he will be fine with whatever you decide," Makoto said with conviction. "I have never known anybody more lovestruck than him, and I knew many lovestruck teens in my time."

Yukina giggled. "You always talk as if you're much older than you are."

"With everything I have seen, it is hard to feel any other way."

Yukina leveled a thoughtful stare at Makoto and asked, "Tell me, what do you see now when you look at me?"

The question brought Makoto back to that evening at the temple that now seemed so far away.

And Yukina still shone so bright, so peaceful, that Makoto had no doubts to answer. "An outstanding woman walking the path she has chosen."

"I think I am doing okay, then," she said, and she turned her head away from Makoto to quickly wipe her face, and then she announced, eyes twinkling, "I have decided on a name."

—

The baby was born seven months after the infamous announcement, and, immediately, Kuwabara's father ran to a jewelry store to make a necklace for the girl with the one tear Yukina had shed during the delivery. She had explained it was a tradition for koorime, and it was one of the few things she wanted to keep from her home country.

The girl was named Shizune, and though Shizuru had been warned in advance and Yukina's choice had made her uncharacteristically emotional at the time, she was on the verge of bawling her eyes out when Yukina introduced her daughter to her, and a beaming Kuwabara put the baby in her arms.

Makoto was never privy as to how Hiei found out about Shizune, but she eventually found out through Fumiko and Kurama, who had respectively heard from Shizuru and Kuwabara, that he paid the clinic a visit the first night Yukina stayed over.

The clinic, not Yukina herself. Shizuru noticed him hanging out on a tree outside the window. But when she told Yukina, she flashed Shizuru her best smile and said that she was very glad to hear.

Shizune, in due time, would grow into what Makoto would also call an outstanding woman, though in a different sense than her mother. But that was another story, best reserved for another time.