This affair is wearing me out.
o•.•oo.o•.•
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and make no money with this story.
A/N: Thank you for all the support and so on. You guys are amazing :)
Now on to the story. This one's from the heart.
•.••.•o
"I just think you're beautiful and… fuck. I didn't tell you this before. Why didn't I tell you this before?" There was a pause, but you could tell he was fumbling with something over the phone. "Guess I just didn't get the chance. Hey, I think… well, I was just standing here, watching a crappy movie about gorgeous, brainless models, and I thought this was the right time to say that. I thought… well, they're just beautiful and standing there and doing nothing, but still earning money for just being, while you're more beautiful than they could ever be, and you're so… you just blew my mind right away, ok? Damn. Look, I'm sorry for last night, ok? I just…' there was silence for a second and Kagome almost wished she didn't have an answering machine. As it was, his voice through the receiver kept her transfixed. "I don't' know what came over me. Shit, Kagome, if you're there don't let me talk like an idiot. Are you there?" Another pregnant pause. "I guess not. Fuck. I don't normally do this."
"Do you normally do this?" he asked through the silence, even though she'd already told him different.
"No, I don't," she answered calmly, her voice being able to soothe even the last nerve inside his body.
It scared him. It drove him insane with panic and he hated the feeling of confusion that enveloped him like a forlorn lover. Love was supposed to alarm, to terrorize, to cause dread to creep up on you without warning, to instill bone-chilling anxiety and make you tremble. Inuyasha knew that, he'd been there. He'd lived through all that and he wanted to feel it again, but didn't, at the same time.
This wasn't love, it was silly to even think it was – not so early, not so sudden – but it could become that. Sooner than not it could and would become that if he let things unfold and happen naturally, if he just opened himself to Kagome and allowed her to be herself around him, as well. He didn't know if he wanted it just yet. Love meant to be afraid. He didn't want to be afraid, and yet here he was, lying naked on the bed with an amazing woman cuddled against him, wondering if the trepidation that shook his very core was indeed fear or something else entirely. He didn't want to be feeling this way and he was wary of what the future held, knowing that this could only make him susceptible to mental strain. The unexpected ease that crept up on him every time he even thought about Kagome was more than unsettling and he wasn't willing to fish for a deeper reason for it.
"You don't even know my name," he accused, his fist unconsciously clenching in her hair, pulling just slightly, just so she could feel the subtle pain, completely overlooking that it had been he who wouldn't give it to her. All that spilled out of him now, it was just everything that he couldn't rein in.
Kagome's eyebrows furrowed in confusion as she looked up at him from under his arm before forcing a fake, tight smile. She didn't like jumping to conclusions so she'd give him the benefit of the doubt before deciding he was a total jerk.
"I don't think I understand. Are you… accusing me now?"
Inuyasha scoffed. "No, I'm not accusing you. I'm pointing out the fact that you'd just fuck some guy you don't know the name of." Why did he care? It was so simple that he almost shuddered at the implications that thought brought. Everything inside him screamed, 'What if it had been someone else?' But even as hotheaded as he was, he knew he couldn't dare voice that aloud.
Incensed, the young woman lifted her upper body to rest on her elbows as she twisted around to look him in the face squarely. "What is the matter with you?"
He narrowed his eyes and looked away, snorting impertinently. Then he met her gaze with intent austerity before delivering the sharp knife that cut her breath with Swiss precision.
"It's normal for guys to do this kind of thing, but for women? What kind of woman are you?"
What kind of woman was she?
"Inuyasha, you're being a jerk," she whispered harshly.
"No, seriously," he insisted, suddenly looking extremely riled for whatever reason. "What kind of woman are you?"
What kind of life did she lead? What kind of woman was she?
The questions that had bugged her for a long time. The questions that hid much deeper matters that made her crumble. She remembered the nights she'd lay awake and just ponder on everything. Just add up all the things that had ever happened to her and draw a line to gauge the result. At the end of the day, there was nothing specific she had built. Nothing she could call a merit.
Maybe that was why all her relationships had been either plain or shallow. Maybe that was why she hadn't been able to save her family.
And shit, why the hell did she go to that club, anyway? It didn't make sense. She'd always wanted to give a purpose to her life, to not live for just nothing, but it seemed she was on a secure path of failing. Why the 'no relationships'? Why the hesitance, the triviality?
She'd put an end to all of it.
Inuyasha was right, but it fucking hurt to hear. It hurt to the point of preventing much needed air from reaching her lungs so she had to get him out of there fast before she broke down in sobs, undoubtedly scarring and scaring him away for good. Without words, she turned around to search for her discarded clothes and in no time at all – what felt like a second to her, anyway – she was decent and kicking him out, barely allowing him to take the time to get dressed, himself.
"Kagome, look," he'd tried to appease, but she was having none of it. Not when her tears were threatening to fall and it was all she could do to keep herself from collapsing. Not when she knew he was right and she couldn't bear to look him in the eyes. So she just tightened her fists at her sides while looking at the floor, listening to the sound of him pushing his belt through the loops and fastening it.
"Kagome," he tried, but she just pushed him through the doorway looking anywhere but at him before slamming the door in his face and sliding down against it, letting her cries loose.
Inuyasha wasn't stupid; he'd smelt her tears before he heard her sobs and he could do nothing but stare at the vertical, flat wooden surface, Kagome was against it and Kagome was crying. And it was all because of him. He felt the urge to punch the wall or the door, but he knew it would only shock or upset her, and he didn't want that. Instead, he snarled and kicked the air heatedly, al the anger directed at himself this time.
He'd screwed up big time.
He didn't know what had come over him, but he'd screwed up big time, and how did one ever apologize for practically calling the object of his possible intended affection a whore, anyway?
Not knowing what to do with himself and reluctant to leave her like that, he stayed, He sat on the floor just outside her door, listening to her now quiet sobs, smelling her troubled, but still heavenly scent and repelling every line of thought that bloomed.
She pursed her lips with disinclined ease and closed her eyes tightly, trying to release the tension that had overwhelmed her body. It wasn't working. She kept telling herself it would work, that if she concentrated on his breath that came through the receiver in shallow puffs she would calm down, but it made her more nervous if anything. Kagome couldn't remember a time in her adult life that she'd felt more like a teenager than now. It was almost eerie how this man, a man could make her so vulnerable.
She didn't even know him. She barely knew anything about him – heck, a name would have been fine, but she didn't even have that – and still… just hearing his voice placed strategic tingles all over her skin. For seconds on end she wished she could just peel off all layers of epidermis that bothered her immensely.
"Kagome, if you're there, please pick up."
She knew she should, but she didn't. Maybe it was curiosity; maybe it was… maybe she wanted to hear him talk. Maybe she was confused, too. No, she was definitely confused.
"Ok, here goes nothing," he said in a very low, very tight voice that indicated he was giving himself a boost of confidence and courage, and she smiled despite herself. He could be cute, too.
"So look. I've been thinking. We don't have to do it like this. I mean, I know I can be an A-class asshole and I know I say some pretty fucked-up shit," he chuckled as if to lighten the mood, "but damn. I don't know. Last night… it meant something. It was there. Something was there and I can't even explain it. Don't know if you felt it, too, but I felt it. Then I just had to blow it with my big fucking mouth, didn't I? Sorry about that, Kagome."
She almost smiled, but the bluntness of his words and the truth they had held brought her back to the planet she currently resided, making her collide with the surface harshly and rattling every bone inside her.
"I'm not saying you have to forgive me just yet. I know this stuff takes time, and fuck, we're not even friends, are we? I'm not a very patient guy, Kagome, so I don't know what to say. Jesus, I'm rambling right now, aren't I? You won't be able to make sense of what I'm saying, will you? Fuck. Look, if I knew you were home, I'd just come and see you. I'd just up and knock on your door, but I don't know if you'd be ok with that. Damn, this would be so much easier if I could see your face when you hear this…"
Swallowing anything that had held her back so far, she stood up from the couch and picked up the phone, answering with a simple, "I'm here."
o•.•oo.o•.•
He'd known it. Somehow, he'd been sure that she was home and she'd been there through the whole thing. She'd heard every single word. Resisting the urge to cringe at the whole speech he'd just given her, Inuyasha waited for her to say anything more, but she didn't. The reality of the fact that she was waiting for him to say something prodded him to do just that.
"I knew you were," he said, but it sounded stupid and he wanted to beat himself with a sharp stick for being so lame. Lame, lame, lame, lame –
"You kept saying that," she pointed out in a short breath and he felt comforted by the fact that he wasn't the only one who was nervous.
So they'd fucked. They'd had mind-blowing sex and they'd cuddled in the afterglow – nothing particularly exceptional about that, except that it somehow had been exceptional – and then he'd just snapped at her. It may have been his inexperience and – if he were honest with himself – utter clumsiness with this sort of things or it may have had something to do with the fact that he was suddenly scared of the proportions of what had happened. What had happened was admittedly not just some sex – it had been more. It had been almost as much as he'd once shared with Kikyou, and that was saying a lot, because it could only mean that he was in for it. He was this close to having it bad.
"Well, I was just nervous, ok?" he admitted, knowing that women appreciated when guys admitted stuff that would normally bruise their egos. This once he'd allow himself this indignity.
What he said next was such a tiny whisper that she had trouble understanding.
"Can I come over?"
Kagome thought about it for a moment before saying yes. Yes, he could come. Yes, she was sure. No, she wasn't busy just then; he could come over anytime he wanted. And no, she didn't mind if they ended the conversation right then. Really, it was just as uncomfortable for her as it was for him.
Half an hour later he was in front of her door, a small but lovely-smelling bouquet of daffodils greeting her along with his dejected look that resembled a puppy strikingly.
"Come in," she said, accepting the token of apology and wishes for new beginnings silently and stepping aside so he could enter. A heavy weight was lifted off his chest when he realized she was going to forgive him as she looked for a vase she could put the flowers in.
"Make yourself comfortable," she suggested after filling a large bowl with water – for lack of something else – and placing the flowers inside. "I need to go to the bathroom for a bit and I'll be right back."
"All right," he said. His teeth kept nibbling on his lower lips on their own accord until she came out of the bathroom looking quite refreshed and every bit the natural beauty she was. A deep, rumbling emotion developed in the pit of his chest and he panicked at the feel of it. It threatened to overpower his senses and he didn't know whether what he was feeling was a sense of calm or of dread. Not knowing meant weakness, meant he couldn't deal with it, meant he'd most likely mess up again.
"So…" he started, looking her straight in the eyes.
"So…"
Realizing she wasn't going to make this easy for him, he sighed deeply. "I know I was a jerk and you didn't deserve the venom. I know I deserved being kicked out and I know you didn't deserve the way I treated you. Kagome – I'm sorry. It's not who I am. It's just something that came out because… actually, I don't know why. It just slipped. I never meant it, I never even thought it over properly." His eyes held sincerity and for a moment she wondered if she should consider herself lucky for even getting an apology at all.
A small smile pulled at her lips and she touched Inuyasha's leg, letting him place his hand over hers.
"It's ok."
"It is?"
"Yeah, it is," she confirmed. "Just don't… just don't say things like that again. Not if you don't really mean them as you say you didn't."
"I won't," he promised and Kagome watched his hand twitch on top of hers. What she didn't know was the reason for it: he'd had the strangest impulse to just pounce on her and kiss her and have a repeat of the previous night, but he contained it. Knowing it would be completely inappropriate to even assume she would be willing to do it after the stunt he'd pulled, Inuyasha settled for looking at her awkwardly and thanking her for forgiving him. He didn't deserve it, but he'd be damned if he didn't take what he could.
"I'm glad I came. Things could have got awkward if you hadn't answered the phone, you know?"
"I'm glad I did."
"I'm glad you did, too."
They looked at the bowl with daffodils for a while, neither saying anything, but the warmth broadcast from one hand to another was enough proof of their connection.
Soon, the hanyou was struck by sheer surprise when a potent whiff of her arousal slapped him bluntly right across the face. Shell-shocked, he looked at her, noticing her guilty blush and the way she simply wouldn't look at him.
Biting his lower lip almost to the point of bleeding, Inuyasha looked away and subtly retracted his hand to place it behind his back where it was safe from grabbing the embarrassed woman and doing unimaginable things with her. He was overcome by the strong urge to possess her, to claim her and bury her inside his very bones, to… mate with her.
His gaze reddened for a moment before it clouded over, forcing him to shake his head in order to clear the fog.
"Hey," she said, winning his attention, now looking at him directly.
"What?"
"The thing with the red eyes. You did that again," she stated gravely.
'Shit. Shit shit shit. It can't be.'
He panicked, looking from side to side, trying to decide whether to be bluntly honest or wisely silent.
"I... It's… I don't…"
But he did know. If his hunches were true, then he was in a world of trouble, but he did know. She was meant to be his mate. It made sense, anyway. It all came down to her amazing scent, to the strong pull he felt towards her, to the unearthly sexual satisfaction she gave him and the ridiculous puppy she'd reduced him to. The reason why he lost his composure around her but still couldn't get enough of her was that she was meant to be there for him.
Blinking through reddish hues without really paying attention, Inuyasha shook his head slightly. It was too much to take in. Too soon. It was entirely too soon for him to be having a mate, but he couldn't deny the low rumble of appreciation that ensued in the bottom of his chest every time he looked at her.
She belonged with him.
"You're doing it again! Inuyasha, what is going on?" Kagome asked in exasperation, unable to wait for an explanation any longer. It was obvious she was fretting over the issue and he decided to spare her the trouble of having to coax him into telling her the truth. There were the walls and then there was this big elephant between them that he couldn't ignore any longer.
He sighed. "My eyes turning red is a symptom that my youkai blood is taking over, trying to get through to the surface and claim my body. This normally happens when my life is in danger, but it can also happen to inform me that I've… found my mate."
"Mate? Wow. So why were you doing it just now?"
"Dammit, how can I explain this? I've barely realized it's a solid probability, so… Kagome, I'm very attracted to you. And I think that on a subconscious level, my body along with my youkai instinct are trying to tell me that you're the one. I… don't know what I'm supposed to do with this information or how you'll take it, but there it is." He took a deep breath, preparing to say what he imagined would completely scare her, "I think you might be my mate."
Her eyes widened comically as her lips parted, but she didn't say a word. Silence lingered for a long time, stretching for what seemed like minutes, with Inuyasha conspicuously trying to decipher her impassiveness and Kagome staring deeply into his eyes, meaning to make sense of what he was saying.
"What exactly does it entail?" she asked after a while, cocking her head to the side just slightly.
"Oh," he said, blinking stupidly at the realization that she didn't know what mates were. "Right. Well, I don't know the whole deal about mates, cause I never stood long enough to listen to it completely, but what I do know is that every demon is designated a person to complete them, a mate. You don't always find your mate, but when you do, you'll know it for sure, because being with your mate is something that can never be replaced. Amazing connection, remarkably strong and what may come across as rushed feelings, and mind-numbing sex," he said with a conceited smirk, making her acutely aware of the fact that he was right within reach. If she leaned toward him just a bit…
Shaking her head as if to clear such impure thoughts, Kagome coughed deliberately. "And what if you do meet your mate, but you don't get together with them?" Kagome asked curiously, making him swallow. In case she truly was his mate, she wasn't considering that, was she?
"I don't know. I don't think anything happens. If you haven't had a taste of them, then you won't know what you'd be missing," the hanyou replied truthfully, shrugging while grasping a pillow from the couch.
"A taste?"
"Yeah. You know," he waggled his eyebrows suggestively with a toothy grin.
"Oh, yeah. Yeah," she said awkwardly, realizing what he meant. So it was too late for that. "Then how do we know for sure?"
He could only gape at her. She was taking everything so lightly, as if there wasn't anything weird about it. He would still have to clarify a few more things.
"Kagome, when a demon mates it's serious business. We mate for life. As in, you can't break up after the bonding."
Her eyes became as grave as his.
"Ok."
"I hope you get it,"
"Yeah."
"You still didn't tell me how we'll know for sure."
This time around he blushed and that made her extremely curious. Whatever could make him blush like that was worth knowing, she decided, ignoring another bout of red inside his orbs.
"It takes being intimate again for that to happen," he confessed in a small voice, but gaining courage as he spoke. "I'll have to see if my youkai blood will try to take over and claim you, and I'll also have to make sure my instincts don't deny you, cause sometimes my youkai blood is a little bit of a wacko, given that I'm only half demon and thus bound to lose control if my demonic side takes charge, so I can easily misread its intentions."
"Right," she said, her nose cutely rosy from the embarrassment of having to discuss such intimate things with him.
"Although I think I felt it trying to crawl to the surface the first time, but I can't be sure."
Kagome's heart was suddenly pounding loudly in his ears, her blood pumping through her veins. The significance of the situation was just beginning to dawn on her and she wasn't sure she appreciated the feelings that took hold of her.
Inuyasha's eyes were liquid glass. His skin looked sweaty covered with a sleek, thin layer and his restraint was considerably frail, but he stalled. The mindless beast inside of him threatened Kagome's safety, though the woman was oblivious to its depraved intentions. The monster within watched and savored her every move ad infinitum, waiting for the right moment to pounce. Inuyasha was aware of it to a certain extent, but what absolutely alarmed him was that he had half a mind to invite it out.
Son of a –
Licking his lips quite noticeably, he observed how Kagome's eyes followed the flowing motion of his tongue until it returned to its hot cavity. The increasingly nervous woman – or was she merely horny? – gave off a scent so unbelievably potent that it made his head spin and his knees tremble just slightly. Why the fuck were his knees trembling? Wasn't he supposed to be the ever unwavering half demon? A dry feeling settled in the hanyou's throat quite abruptly and he moved to massage it for a bit, deluding himself into thinking it would make it better.
It didn't.
What he eventually construed as pure need only increased in intensity, settling in every cell of his body, taking over his sane thoughts. His… cognitive ability. Under Kagome's admiring scrutiny Inuyasha felt vulnerable in a way he had never experienced before and it made something inside him snap so as to reestablish dominance.
Where was he again?
Oh. Yeah. Mate. Well, he'd have to check if Kagome truly was his mate, wouldn't he? With that thought in mind, Inuyasha acted. Kagome didn't need to wait for him to advance towards her to identify his intent; guessing his thoughts wasn't rocket science since the burning desire the twosome shared was visibly etched on his face. There was no façade as his eyes held the same age-old passion that many others before him had been conquered by.
She gulped.
•.••.•o
Miroku rubbed his face in lethargy.
Oh yeah, hangovers were quite the bitches.
Groaning in self-pity – oh, he was always so misunderstood, so lonely, so… (etcetera, etcetera) – Miroku got his ass off the couch to retrieve the knocked down remote control – could you blame him for not being very stable while drunk? – and see what was on TV. He hated the box with moving pictures – as Inuyasha often called it in the spirit of good humor – but he had to give it to it: sometimes it showed some pretty marvelous ladies.
Marvelous as the girl from the club.
He had to admit, if only to himself, that the tall beauty, even while drunk, had made quite an impact on him, despite the scene she'd caused. Or maybe it was exactly because of that, but either way – he liked her spunk. She was plucky and he liked his girls just like that.
Surfing through channels – boring, this, boring, that – his hand stilled just above the 'Next channel' button when he saw what was on.
'That's Inuyasha.'
Curious about why his best friend was on TV – he hadn't mentioned anything to him – Miroku listened through what seemed like a public declaration of sorts, noticing Inuyasha's oddly composed pose. On the outside he may seem collected, but Miroku could easily see through the shield his eyes had assumed. The hanyou was pissed.
'Well, maybe I should listen to what he says, too.'
Realizing he'd only analyzed the image without paying attention to the message so far, Miroku directed his focus on his friend's words.
"So if Miss Higurashi wants it to be war, it will be war."
Then, without a warning, he snubbed the media and turned his back quite rudely, if Miroku could say so, but there was no denying that his entire speech – or at least the part he'd listened to – had been deludingly polite and smooth and with no tangible resentment. Inuyasha was the perfect actor, Miroku settled as he leaned more into the couch.
'Oh, this is going to be so good…'
He should call Inuyasha, he decided next. To tell him about the speech – it was on every program, not to mention the news, over and over again. He reached towards the telephone, but shook his head.
Nah.
Not that he'd interrupt anything– it wasn't night time, after all – but he knew the hanyou wouldn't be interested in watching himself on the screen, so it was pointless to even tell him that they were airing his declaration.
o•.•oo.o•.•
He lifted his mouth from hers from two reasons: to allow her to catch her breath for an instant and to tell her what he'd been meaning to say all along.
"You're so fucking beautiful…" and special, he added in his mind. Kagome's eyes were glazed over as she regarded him unreservedly.
"Thank you," she said.
"I want to devour you."
It just came out. He pulled closer to her, moving his swollen lips to her sensitive ear and breathing out a puff of air teasingly. Inuyasha wasn't like this, but a certain demonic vibe inside him forced him to drop all reserves.
"I want to consume your soul. Does wanting such things make me a monster?"
"N-no," her voice cracked, showing both her apprehension and her need. The words he said to her were disturbing, but they entranced her. She needed to have him closer, but wanted him far away. She needed to feel him inside her, but knew she should kick him out. Everything was happening too fast and she wasn't even sure she'd be ready to accept the mates concept, not to mention the whole 'we will never sever' aspect. But she was surrounded by him here; his masculine scent was crowding her thoughts, which had dissolved to mindless chants of, 'Take me… Take me…' and his body was crushing hers in a grip so tight that she knew she might never want to break away. In a way it frightened her, in a way it felt natural.
Her lips parted as his eyes took on a more sinful shade of red than the dim ones she was accustomed to, and she could feel elongated claws pricking her sides.
Inuyasha breathed against her neck jaggedly, groaning as if in desperate pain.
"Hey, what's wrong?" She tried to look at him, but his grip was dead hard, keeping her head over his shoulder until his breathing pattern evened out.
"Are you okay?"
He allowed her to see him then, his features completely back to normal.
"It keeps happening," he explained, his entire face constricting into a look of pure agony. "And my youkai side keeps goading me. I don't know how long I can keep it locked away," he was forced to confess, knowing that Kagome had every right to know about this. She was as much involved as he was.
This time it was certain. The amount of pressure he'd felt, her scent surrounding every corner of his mind, even having the indecency to take over his deepest fantasies, the sweet taste of her lips had all nearly sent him over the edge. The beast had been so close to the surface – it still was – that he'd had to take a moment and cool down, conjuring up every calming thought he possessed. It wasn't a bolt from the blue that it had been one about Kagome.
Okay, so she was his mate and he couldn't think of anything else but having her again, and this time doing it right.
Swallowing thickly at such compelling imagery, Inuyasha forced himself to move away from the confused woman, biting his lip from the strain his self-control imposed.
"Sorry," was all he said, but still she cut him off.
"No!" She looked at him with an unreadable expression. "No, don't apologize." Why was he apologizing? She couldn't be sure, but she'd somehow grasped the underlying meaning. She was his mate after all. Was he saying sorry for that?
"There's no reason for you to apologize," she nodded sagely, piercing him with her big orbs. "Hey," she erupted all of a sudden. "Damn. Damn, I forgot. Grab the remote for me, will you? Is it eight o'clock already?"
"Yeah. Yeah, it is. Why, do you, like, watch a soap opera or something?" He smirked mockingly, realizing the change in subject was a breath of fresh air for his tense muscles.
"No. I really got to see this thing. It's this guy that's been trying to ruin my work."
"Oh, that should be interesting."
Inuyasha gave the remote to Kagome, who zapped through channels until she settled on one. Inuyasha's shock was almost as great as Kagome's. On the screen, the headline was crystal clear: 'Inuyasha Takahashi delivers hard blow'. They listened through his speech, listened to how he declared war to a 'Kagome Higurashi', how he tried to humiliate her on screen. Out of the corner of his eyes he watched her every reaction. Firstly, her shoulders went extremely rigid, then her jaw kept clenching and unclenching, and he almost felt sorry for the poor remote control.
Her voice was tight as she spoke.
"Are you Inuyasha Takahashi?"
"Yeah," he said, "Yeah, I am."
There was a long silence that made him wonder why she was so uptight. "Get out," she said, pointing at the door, "And take your daffodils. I refuse to receive something from you."
"Hey what the hell is your problem?" he said, standing up from the couch and grabbing his jacket angrily. Who the hell was this bitch to throw him out? Mate or no mate, she needed to learn better. "Just because some chick-"
With a murdering look in her eyes, Kagome extended her hand, saying, "Higurashi Kagome. Nice to meet you." She retracted it right away, gauging the shock on his face.
"What? Fuck," he swore, eyes wide and disbelieving. "Fuck! No way!" He grabbed his keys as he spoke.
"Yes, way. Now if you please, get the hell out of my apartment. I'm sure you don't want to spend time with – how did you put it? A lying, manipulative person? Oh, you sure know how to draw a crowd, Takahashi."
Narrowing his eyes menacingly, he finished putting on his shoes and walked over to her, leaning in until he was a mere few inches away from her face. His eyes seared hers, throwing blistering flames, but she glared back. Inside her deep orbs he recognized the icy coldness he'd been positive he'd find in that Higurashi woman.
Ignoring the tingling in his arms from being so close to her, ignoring her amazingly mouth-watering smell that toyed with his senses, he hissed, "Like I said, Higurashi. This is war."
The intensity of her glare leveled his. "Got that, Takahashi. Now get the hell out of here."
"I'm going," he said, slamming the door after him. As soon as he got out, an overpowering wave of frustration and regret flooded her, making it impossible for her to rein her emotions. Tears sprung to her eyes wildly as she sped from one corner of the loft to another, grabbing things and throwing them carelessly against the walls. The beautiful Chinese vase Sango had brought her as a gift from Shanghai met its end against the front door, shattering into tiny shards that glimmered in the bright light. Sobs shook her shoulders as incredulity jabbed her in the back repeatedly.
"Oh my God," she whispered, bringing a closed fist to her mouth as if to stifle stray whimpers. "Oh God, how didn't I see this coming?" She'd known… she'd known it was always better to keep things platonic. Getting too involved could only ever result in heartbreak. In her case, disaster.
Remembering not to lose herself, Kagome tried to soothe her nerves by breathing deeply, closing her eyes. She tried to evaluate everything that had happened up to that point, determined to make herself believe it was nothing particularly awful.
"So I slept with my enemy and I liked it," she enumerated aloud, "I found out he's my mate, he tried to totally ruin me and my carrier on national television… oh, and he's the biggest scum on the face of the Earth.' Letting out a huge breath, she realized she felt better. Her head was clearer now, and as she looked around, she couldn't believe the kind of mess she'd made.
Suddenly realizing she hadn't told him something, she picked up the phone and called him. Honestly, she wasn't surprised to hear him snap at her right after a couple seconds of ringing.
"What the hell do you want?"
She breathed deeply to restrain herself. "I just wanted to make something clear. We never had sex, you never came by, nothing ever happened between us."
"Erased," he agreed enthusiastically, "anything else?"
"Yes," she said, "You are a complete asshole, Takahashi Inuyasha."
"Yeah, well you're a bitch."
"Whatever. Have yourself a pleasant evening, Takahashi," she wished him sardonically.
"Choke on your food, Higurashi," he replied before they both hung up at the same time.