AN: Alright, peeps! I decided to try a one-shot, since I like how I don't really have to worry about them. This one is kind of a companion piece to Challenge, but not really, because they're all happy and together, and…right now nobody's really happy or together in Challenge. Also, this one follows the original story line, and Challenge doesn't.
To continue, this has a male host club in it, and I knew nothing about it, so I googled them (Go Google!) and found out that someone usually goes in to get profiles of the hosts and then chooses one and hangs for a while before making an appointment. In line with the story, Eri went in earlier and chose the guys, as well as making sure they were cool, so that's how that works, okay? However, none of the searches told me what these clubs looked like, so you'll have to put up with my crappy descriptions.
So, I'm sorry if it sucks, and let me know if you like it, please. (I also always appreciate a good review ;) )
Kagome smiled as she walked down the street with her friends. She hadn't been able to do anything normal in a while, what with all the demons attacking, and trying to convince her friend Keiko that it was perfectly okay to be single, and searching for a new apartment (her old one wasn't big enough for her, it seemed, and she had enough money, so why not?) so it was nice to just relax and not worry.
"So where are we going?" Kagome asked curiously. Her friends giggled.
"We told you, it's a surprise," Yuka said, waving a hand carelessly, as if swatting the issue away.
"Besides," said Eri. "You deserve a little spice in your life! I've called, like, five times in the past week and you only answered once! You must work all the time." She wrinkled her nose as she said this, her distasteful expression giving away just what she thought of that.
Kagome blushed slightly at the thought of what had been happening when she'd missed those calls, but her friends merely took it for embarrassment.
"You missed my calls, too," piped up Ayumi in an annoyed voice.
Kagome merely continued to blush a deep red, and waved her hands in front of her in mock surrender.
"I've been busy," she said defensively. "I've had a lot of shifts to cover at work." Kagome worked at an expensive restaurant that paid extremely well, so she liked to pick up extra shifts.
"Well, you need to get a boyfriend," Eri said, sighing and placing a hand on her shoulder.
Kagome just smiled mysteriously, thinking of what her friends would say if they knew what was really going on. After all, she literally had to fight for the right to go out tonight. They didn't want to let her go. But Kagome wasn't a feminist for nothing.
The other girls giggled at Eri's statement and exchanged knowing looks.
Kagome frowned. What was that about? A lull in the conversation fell, and Kagome started glancing around out of habit, picking up little things, like which way the wind was going, how many people were around, stuff like that. Her miko powers flared up subconsciously, and she let them spread around her, flowing and easy until they detected…something? Feeling the source out, Kagome scowled darkly. A night out (alone) with the girls indeed.
"What's wrong, Kagome?" Ayumi asked, concern lacing her voice as all three girls stopped and looked at Kagome.
"Nothing," Kagome assured them easily, pasting a smile on her face. She laughed nervously as they didn't buy it, and said quickly, "I just remembered that they didn't split me into tips yesterday, so I have no drink money."
Her friends faces relaxed in understanding and Kagome inwardly sighed with relief.
"We'll pay for you," Ayumi said, smiling softly at Kagome.
"Yeah," said Eri. "We were the ones who asked you to go. I have a friend who works there so she gives me a discount. Although," she smiled playfully at Kagome, "You'd think with all the extra work you'd have money to spare."
All the girls laughed as they returned to their walk, Kagome in a nervous fashion. She'd gotten much better at excuses since her return to the feudal era, thank god. Her Gramps had run out of excuses and was ready to start on the STD's before Kagome stopped him.
Speaking of STD's (which in turn spoke of sex…) why were those annoying excuses for demons following her? Kagome fumed silently. She'd been sure to tell them that she was just "going out with the girls", and although they'd been annoyed that they had to share her free time, she'd won that argument and thusly gone.
Kagome gritted her teeth. 'I mean I know they're overprotective,' she thought. "But to follow me?" What was more, they knew that she knew that they were there, and they still hadn't left!
She growled in her head. It was the 21st century, god damn it! She could take care of herself!
Kagome, lost in her thoughts, failed to notice that her friends had stopped in front of a door into a plain building with a blank black billboard where the sign should be.
"C'mon, Kagome," Eri said, grinning at Kagome. "It's time for some fun." She held the door open as Yuka and Ayumi walked in, then stood waiting for Kagome to enter.
Kagome smiled at Eri, and entered.
"You bet," she said, her smile turning a little bitter. They were going to learn what happened when they didn't respect her privacy and independence.
* * *
She couldn't believe it. She just couldn't. Kagome had known that her friends thought that she was in desperate need of quality male attention…but this? She searched for her voice, emitting only a squeak as she stared in shock at what was likely going to be the reason for her never being able to leave her apartment again. Ever. Unless the world was suddenly devoid of males. And even then…
"What's wrong, Kagome?" asked Yuka. Eri and Ayumi were conversing with the hunks of male flesh that were their (Kagome gulped) hosts. Kagome managed to push past her shock and present a flustered face to her brazen friend, raising her hands in a placating manner.
"Oh, nothing," Kagome said, rubbing the back of her head nervously.
"Well then," Eri said, obviously satisfied as one of the males pulled her towards him, grinning flirtatiously. "Let's get going!"
The mingling group of the other three girls and three of the four male hosts were led away by the organizer at the front desk. Kagome flopped into one of the comfy chairs in the expensive lobby.
The last male stayed still, leaning against the wall with his arms crosses over his chest and watching her with brilliant turquoise eyes.
Kagome continued to chant curses in her head. As if things weren't bad enough, the host assigned to her was a dead ringer for Bankotsu of the Band of Seven. She had to admit he was attractive, with long dark hair, bright eyes and a sexy smirk…
'Why don't I want to be here again?' thought Kagome in a dazed manner.
"So," his dark, melodic voice cut into her thoughts, and her eyes snapped up to meet his. "You want to have some fun?"
Kagome broke out of her trance as his silky voice entered her ears and bit her lip, looking away. He came towards her, and her eyes widened and she pulled back further into her chair slightly. He paused, and raised an eyebrow, amusement dancing in his eyes. Kagome frowned slightly.
"You don't understand." 'That you tried to kill me in another world and that your extreme hotness doesn't make up for that.' Her voice sounded strange in the large lobby.
He seemed to wait for her to explain, so she did, twisting her hands nervously.
"I have a boyfriend," Kagome said quickly, clearing the water. His deep blue-green eyes flashed with something, and he seemed to relax a little.
"Then why are you here?" he asked, watching her carefully. Kagome sighed, leaning back in her chair and relaxing slightly herself.
"Well, my friends wanted to take me out for my birthday," Kagome said. "And they didn't really like my last boyfriend, so I guess they thought I needed some help." She closed her eyes. Her friends. Her brazen, your-boyfriend-sucks-get-a-new-one friends. She made a face, wrinkling her nose. At least they didn't try and set her up with Hojo again.
The Bankotsu look-alike observed her for a moment, before sighing and folding his hands behind his head.
"Listen, Kagome," he said. "I don't really know your friends. And honestly, they look a little over-enthusiastic, so that might be a good thing." At this Kagome chuckled slightly and he did too, grinning at her afterwards.
"But they seem like good people," he continued. "A little weird, but good." Kagome giggled for a second before hitting him slightly.
"Be nice," she said. He grinned at her, and Kagome felt her cheeks heat up slightly.
"Besides," he said with a smirk. "If your boyfriend was any good, wouldn't you have left the club by now?" Kagome blushed fully this time and looked away.
'Well,' thought Kagome, 'My friends did put a lot of money into this. And' she smiled, looking at her playful companion, 'he is cute. And funny.' She frowned as she thought about her "boyfriend" who was currently following her.
'I am mad at them for not trusting me,' she thought. Kagome allowed herself a smile of satisfaction. 'And this will be the perfect revenge.' She turned to her new partner for the night.
"So," she said, surprising herself as she smiled coyly at him. "What did you have in mind?" He only smirked mysteriously in response.
* * *
"Where did she go?" asked a brash voice, as they leapt down onto the sidewalk where they had last seen Kagome. The other two shadowy figures easily kept pace with him as he strode along. One of them sighed.
"I told you it was a bad idea to follow her, Yusuke," he said. The other one snorted.
"As if you weren't curious," the brash one said. He finally turned the corner and stopped in front of the mysterious blank building. The final, short one spoke up.
"Her scent ends here," he said.
"What is this place?" asked Yusuke. He opened the door and snuck inside, following a dark hall to an open lobby with a desk and a short, curly-haired woman behind it. The other two followed behind him.
Yusuke looked around for a second, shoving his hands in his pockets.
"Well, it looks swanky enough," he grumbled. The red-haired man beside him said nothing, adopting the same stance.
"Hn," said the third member, eyes taking in the place quickly.
The lady behind the counter was typing, but looked up when she heard footsteps enter the lobby. She immediately paused in her work, blushing. She was young, and thusly had raging hormones that weren't helped by the three handsome men that had just entered the room. The first had black hair, slicked back, and wore jeans and a white t-shirt, covered slightly with a leather jacket. Warm brown eyes showed over a dissatisfied expression. He had that "bad-boy" air that almost made her choke on the coffee that she sipped as she tried to calm down. The second had red hair and bright verdant eyes (AN: I don't know why I didn't just write green, but anyway…). He was wearing jeans and a white, long sleeved shirt, and seemed to have a sophisticated air that the other two lacked. The third was noticeably shorter than the other two. He had extremely vertical hair, almost as if to make up for his height (or lack thereof), and bright crimson eyes. He was, of course, wearing jeans, and had on a black t-shirt, as well as a scowl.
One of the organizers of the club snuck up behind her.
"Who are they?" she whispered, eyeing the men like a lioness eyes a gazelle. The secretary shook her head.
"I don't know." As she said that, the red-haired man's eyes met hers, and she blushed even more. He walked over, trailed by the other two. A polite smile graced his face.
"Can I help you?" the nervous secretary stuttered, the organizer watching from her place behind the secretary's chair, arms crossed.
"Well, yes," he said charmingly, and the young lady bit her lip. "I'm actually looking for a friend of mine." The assistant raised an eyebrow, curious. The one in the leather jacket cut in.
"This tall, dark hair, blue eyes, hot body," he said, gesturing at the presumed height. The secretary didn't see the other one roll his eyes.
"Yusuke," he said exasperated. The other one looked at him.
"What?" "Yusuke" said. He shrugged. "It's true." He grinned rakishly. "Don't tell me you haven't been looking." His friend just looked away.
The organizer smiled at them. "I'll go see if I can find your friend. Please, take a seat." She gestured towards some chairs that were arranged against the wall. None of the men moved.
Yusuke leaned on the counter.
"So what is this place?" he said, letting his eyes run over the fancy walls.
The organizer laughed. "It's a host club, of course. What did you think?" She gestured towards pictures of men on the walls.
All three men stiffened.
"Now that I think about it, I do remember your friend," she said, not noticing as the tension in the room shot up. She chuckled, then turned to Yusuke, who had suddenly adopted an extremely dark expression. Her eyes travelled over to the red-head, who's brilliantly green eyes had suddenly gone cold.
"What's wrong?" she asked, concerned. Her eyes moved over to where the third had been standing and found only empty air.
"Hey, where did your friend go?"
* * *
Kagome relaxed as her new "friend" leaned over to massage her shoulders. She was currently sitting in between his legs on the couch, in a corner away from the others. After talking to her host a little more, she had come to three conclusions.
Rei, her host, had amazing hands, and should totally work as a masseuse.
She would probably forgive her friends (even though they sneak-attacked her by taking her to a host club!)
Because he was totally cute, and flirtatious, and smart, and even though her "boyfriend" was going to kill her, it was worth it just for this massage (and being able to talk to someone)
"So?" asked Rei, grinning as he leaned forward to work on a particularly tense spot. "Are you enjoying yourself yet?" Kagome sighed, then shifted slightly as she opened her eyes.
"Yes," she admitted, groaning slightly as he smoothed out the tension in her body. He smirked smugly.
"I thought so," he said, leaning back so that she could lean against him. Kagome elbowed him.
"Don't be so cocky," she said, smiling and leaning back. His smirk widened. Her eyes drifted to her phone, which was laying beside her bag. She sighed again. He frowned.
"What's wrong?" Rei asked, concerned. Kagome smiled reassuringly at him.
"Nothing," she said honestly. "It's just that I should probably get home." She yawned cutely.
"Pacifying your boyfriend?" he asked, getting up and offering her a hand. She nodded, and he pulled her up against him as she took his hand. Kagome gasped slightly, blushing.
"Well," he said, eyes dancing, "I'm always here if you need some fun." She rolled her eyes.
"I'm sure," Kagome said sarcastically. "How much does this place cost anyway?" He opened his mouth to answer and suddenly she was gone and the door to the room was swinging open and closed.
"Kagome?" he asked the empty room.
* * *
There was a whoosh and suddenly Kagome found herself travelling down the hallway towards the lobby at an extremely fast pace.
"What the hell-" she said, then frowned as she looked up to see a determined fire demon carrying her through the hallway. She growled.
"Hiei, put me down!" she said as she glared at him. He ignored her, and Kagome narrowed her eyes at him, before sending her miko powers out to shock him so that he would let her down. He let go of her abruptly, just before the end of the hall. Hiei growled this time, and Kagome frowned. He'd never growled at her before. When his eyes started to change she knew something was wrong. She also knew she couldn't deal with it here, where all the humans were. They might get hurt. She sighed, before grabbing his hand and pulling him the few steps into the lobby.
Kagome narrowed her eyes as she saw that Yusuke and Kurama were there as well. Normally she would have expected them to be ashamed, but they were both looking at her in a challenging manner, Yusuke with an eyebrow raised, and Kurama with a heated look. The organizer was also there, standing beside the desk.
"There you are!" the lady said, and Kagome winced at how chipper she sounded. Was she completely oblivious to what was going on here?
"Your friends were looking for you," she said, then saw Hiei behind Kagome. She winked at Kagome.
"You must be lucky to have such good friends," the organizer said, smiling. Kagome pasted a completely fake smile on her face.
"You have no idea," she said bitterly, and had to struggle for a second to maintain her cool. "Thank you for everything." She turned and walked out of the lobby, knowing that the other three would follow her out. She strode quickly down the hallway, almost as if she was running away, but when she made it out the outer door, she felt someone grab her hand, and turned to see all three of them standing there with matching looks of anger and lust.
Kagome wanted to scream. But as she let Kurama (the one who had grabbed her hand) pull her closer, she knew there was something else wrong. She said nothing as he picked her up and they vanished back to her apartment.
* * *
Kagome huffed as she unlocked the door and stormed into her living room. She threw herself down on the couch, watching as the three demons followed her in silently, Yusuke coming in and sitting down in the armchair, Kurama sitting on the couch across from hers, and Hiei sitting on the couch beside Kurama. They all continued to watch her, and Kagome could see Kurama's eyes flickering from green to gold even as she watched. She struggled to keep her voice steady as she spoke.
"What the hell was that?" she said angrily, gesturing at the three of them. "I TOLD you I wanted a night to myself!"
"We were trying to make sure you were safe," Kurama said, holding her eyes with his smouldering gaze. Kagome frowned and looked away. Yusuke snorted.
"You wouldn't last one minute out there on your own," he said, not looking away as she glared at him. That alone unnerved Kagome. Usually Yusuke would back off.
"I can handle myself," said Kagome hotly. She crossed her arms. This time it was Hiei who commented.
"Like you were handling yourself with that human?" he sneered. This time Kagome did growl. He just stared back with his blood-red eyes impassively.
"I was handling that!" Kagome said. He narrowed his eyes. "We were just saying good-bye!" She threw her arms up in the air.
"God," Kagome exclaimed. "Why are you guys freaking out?" She searched all of them for help. When she saw none forthcoming she sighed.
"I didn't leave because my friends spent a lot of money," Kagome explained. "It wasn't a big deal! We just talked." Yusuke scoffed, and she glared at him.
"We're going with you," Hiei said. Kagome turned to look at him confused.
"I'm not going out now," Kagome said, frowning. He looked at her strongly.
"Whenever you go out, from now on," he clarified. Kagome sputtered for a second.
"That is ridiculous!" she finally spat out. Hiei merely stared back, the look in his eyes so intense that Kagome had to look away.
"Kurama?" she said weakly, turning to the reasonable member of the group. Kurama merely continued to stare through her. His eyes were almost completely gold now, she noticed.
"Hiei is right, Kagome," Kurama finally said. Yusuke nodded from where he sat. Kagome stared at him in shock. He finally shifted his gaze to look at her, and she shivered at the predatory glint in his eyes. She finally sat back on the couch.
"I can't believe this," she said quietly. "I can't believe you don't trust me to take care of myself." There was a shuffling sound, and suddenly there was a hand pulling her chin up to look into Kurama's face as he sat beside her.
"Kagome," he said gently. "It's not you we don't trust." Kagome blinked her shining eyes in an attempt to get rid of the tears that threatened to show.
"Then why?" she asked, looking down. Yusuke growled.
"You're too damn cute," he said, and Kagome made a face at him. He moved around the table to sit on Kagome's other side.
"You don't really believe that, do you?" Kagome asked Yusuke with a raised eyebrow, and Hiei snorted. She looked up at him.
"That male was ready to take you," Hiei said, fists clenching at his sides, bloodlust colouring his voice as he spoke.
Kagome let out a stream of air in exasperation.
"We were hugging!" she said earnestly, letting her eyes travel over all of them to stop on Kurama again. None of them looked convinced.
"Regardless," said Kurama, voice strong with conviction and determination. "We will not share."
"Share?" asked Kagome, slightly nervous at his possessive tone. His eyes were glazed over, and she could feel demonic energy pouring out from him as his hair started to change colour. In fact, she could feel demonic energy pouring off of all of them. It almost scared her, but she knew that they would never hurt her. She closed her eyes to calm down, and was starting to breath deeply when she felt Yusuke move behind her so that she was between his legs. She felt his breath on her neck and her eyes shot open to see Kurama fully transformed and leaning towards her.
"Whoa!" exclaimed Kagome, holding up her hands. She'd been with them all separately, and granted, they had all agreed to this arrangement, but she'd never been with them all at the same time.
"Hold the phone!" Kagome said, attempting to slip away, but failing as Yusuke slid his arms around her waist and nuzzled his face in her neck. Kurama leaned forward and reached one hand up to caress her face. Kagome couldn't help but close her eyes as he ran his thumb over her lips delicately, and opened her eyes just in time to see him smirk at her. Then his lips were against hers, hot and steamy and she couldn't think. All she could do was kiss him, and wrap her hands around his neck as Yusuke laid kisses down her neck. She could feel his fangs scrap against her neck, and knew from his demonic aura that he was losing control.
He wasn't the only one. As Kurama pulled away from her lips to give both of them some air, Hiei appeared beside the couch and grabbed her, cradling her in his arms and transporting them to a different part of the house.
As she got settled on her bed she felt him sit behind her, pulling her closer and raking his fangs down her neck. Kagome closed her eyes and shivered. The other two were right behind them, and Kurama let Yusuke settle in front of her this time while he sat beside her. Hiei ran his tongue over the marks on her neck and Kagome shivered again. She knew that it was going to be a long night.
* * *
When Kagome woke up in the morning, sunlight was fully streaming in the window. Kurama came in with a cup of something, and Kagome sat up in bed, pushing away from whoever was holding her on the left. Hiei merely growled slightly, then rolled over. Yusuke was on the other side of her, and had his head buried under the pillow in an attempt to hide from the sun.
Kagome looked at the end of the bed where Kurama was standing and pouted. There was no way she was going to be able to sneak past Hiei and Yusuke. She looked at Kurama, who was watching her with amused eyes. He chuckled then offered her his hand. She leaned forward and slid off the bed, using his hand to hold part of her weight. She grabbed a robe from the back of the door, and followed him out into the living room, where she got settled on the couch beside him with her cup, which was tea.
"So," started Kagome in her groggy morning voice. "What's this about?" She gestured at the cup. Kurama looked at her evenly.
"I'm afraid we took you by surprise," he said, and Kagome frowned, taking a sip of her tea.
"With which part?" she said. He raised an eyebrow, and she blushed.
"That wasn't what I meant," muttered Kagome, glaring playfully at her tea. Kurama chuckled.
"With yesterday," he said, and Kagome assumed he meant their talk when they came home, as well as the abrupt departure from the host club.
"I wasn't expecting the demonic instincts to be so strong," Kurama said, and Kagome looked at him, slightly confused. He started to play with the hand that wasn't holding her tea, taking it lightly in his hand and running his fingers over it.
"The smell of another male on you," Kurama clarified, and Kagome began to see. She put a hand to her mouth to stifle the giggle.
"You were jealous?" she asked playfully. Kurama raised an eyebrow, the predatory glint from last night coming back.
"You don't need to be," Kagome said, waving a hand in front of her face. She smiled at Kurama. She leaned over to kiss him softly, delighting in the way they fit perfectly together as he pulled her closer.
"I'm not going anywhere."
AN: So that's it folks! Not my best work, but I'm still brainstorming for Challenge 4, so yeah.