Absent Desires

The longer the explanation, the bigger the lie.

Chapter 2: Underneath the Mask

She was barely midway across a pedestrian bridge when she heard someone call out to her. Turning around Kagome frowned as the same guy with the cap and thick glasses quickly strode towards her, his expression unreadable because of his glasses. "What?"

"I have something to say," He said once he was close enough so that his voice could be low. "It's about last night."

"Okay?" She responded, waiting patiently while he withdrew and put his hands in his pockets.

"That woman….She isn't my girlfriend or anything," He began, briefly unpocketing his hand to pull his black baseball cap down further on his head. "We just have an arrangement to meet regularly and…."

"Okay!" Making a disgusted facenKagome stopped him from speaking further. Waving her hands dramatically in front of her face when he looked surprised, she stammered quickly, "That's way too much information!"

Lifting his head, he pushed his glasses back up his nose and bared his teeth, annoyed at her dismissal. "I wasn't attempting to explain my personal life to you, I merely wanted you to understand what was happening!" His hands went back into his pockets and he kicked the ground like a stubborn child, though Kagome was pretty sure he was at least her age.

This guy was weird. Weirder than her even.

Groaning the jackal nodded and turned back around, already somewhat aware of what he was going to say. "I don't care what you were doing in the middle of the night, it was no big deal." Taking a few steps forward, his angered growl made her pause again and shaking her head at his behavior continued walking after another thought came to mind. "You don't want me to say anything to anyone, right? Got it." Waving behind her she tried to be on her way but the man suddenly grabbed her wrist and pulled her back around to face him. "Hey!"

"You don't understand." He ground out even as she snatched her arm back. "That woman,"

"Is none of my business." She finished for him, holding her wrist to herself. "I didn't see much anyway so your secret is safe." The last part was said sarcastically, but he seemed to take it seriously because he nodded like he was grateful. Unable to see his full face Kagome sighed and eyed him dangerously. "I won't tell anyone." She reassured him before attempting to leave again.

"She has a mate." He blurted out so suddenly, the Jackal had to stop and reassess what he'd just said.

Glancing over her shoulder Kagome's gray eyes flashed in disappointment. "So you're sleeping with a mated woman?"

"I don't have a choice…." He explained appearing almost desperate with the way he continued to watch her. "It started and now I can't get out of it."

Kagome looked amazed. "Why are you even telling me all of this?" She shook her head after she asked, reminding herself that the new her wasn't nosy. "Nevermind, I don't care."

"You have no right to judge me."

She scoffed at the accusation. "You're talking to a random stranger about fucking another man's woman on beaches at night and don't expect me to judge you?" Shaking her head Kagome started walking forward and growled when she heard him try to call her back. "I won't tell anybody!" She yelled, at last, crossing the length of the bridge and heading down the connecting stairs.

Briefly, she glanced over her shoulder on the sidewalk and sighed when she saw that the odd man had collapsed on the pedestrian bridge, his back against the rails and his head lowered to his chest. A moment of guilt crossed her mind but she quickly shook it off, once again reminding herself that the new her wasn't a doormat. He had no business telling her about his personal life like that, and she had nothing to feel guilty for just because she didn't stay to listen to his woes. Marching diligently to her apartment she made a game plan in her mind for getting ready for tomorrow, the stranger's words popping up in her brain a few times causing her to begin chanting a mantra to kill the ruminating. He bought it on himself anyway.

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Kagome wasn't the only one who was dealing with ruminating thoughts.

His fingers flying over the keyboard Sesshomaru tried to focus on work and not the brown skinned female who had seen him in all his shame. The house phone rang next to him but he ignored it instead concentrating on finishing the 3d rendering of an upcoming four building apartment community that was scheduled to be built next year. Typing in the codes necessary to enable the simulation characters to move around the area, he frowned when he found himself making one of the females a darker than average skin tone.

That woman was still on his mind. Throwing off his glasses Sesshomaru groaned and put his forehead on his desk, the embarrassment he felt overwhelming him. Recalling the things he had forced a whiteness to come to his cheeks. Social awkwardness was a bitch. He knew he wasn't meant to be around people, which was the main reason he worked from home. Keeping his head on his desk he turned it sideways so that his cheek was now touching the wood and cringed when his phone began to ring for the third time that night.

Miyako only ever wanted him specifically when her mate wasn't around, the man most likely doing the same thing on a beach somewhere out of the country. He was a tool, a fuck toy for the woman who was nearly fifteen years his senior. Resisting the urge to bang his head against his desk, Sesshomaru did what he always did and reluctantly answered the phone on the fifth ring. Not bothering to banter he asked the woman on the other end, "Where do you want me to meet you?"