Only You: Chapter 4

News...with... Promise


.

.

Hojo sat out on the tiny terrace that he used to share with Kagome, letting the cool air chill his heated skin. He hoped the bottle of vodka in his hand would help him forget about Kagome..... about the fact that she'd broken their engagement, and left him.

It wasn't that she wasn't ready for marriage. It was that she wasn't ready for him.

It was that she no longer loved him.

Did she ever?

"I thought you'd be here."

"Go away Eri. I don't want to be bothered, and I sure as hell don't need another one of your lectures." He said gruffly, not bothering to turn around to face her.

He raised the bottle in his hand and swigged it straight from the opening he didn't even flinch when the nasty bitter liquid shot down his throat. With his other hand, he flicked the cigarette off the terrace and then wiped his lips across the back of his forearm.

Hojo reached inside his shirt pocket and fetched out his pack of cigarette, fired it up and inhaled the acrid smoke.

"What the hell are you doing, Hojo?!" Eri practically screamed in his ears.

"I told you, Eri. Fuck off."

"You really need to stop mopping around like this and get your life together again. I know you're heartbroken Hojo, but this isn't how you should go about mourning for your heart. Really, when did you start drinking vodka straight from the bottle anyway?"

He snorted. "In case you missed it Eri, I am a grown man. I do as I please, when I please."

Eri chuckled softly. "Yes, you are a grown man Hojo, but I don't see you behaving like one."

He ignored her comment and instead inhaled another puff of his cigarette then drowned that with another gulp of vodka. Silence reigned, and they both listened to the sounds of the night. Cars driving by, some honking, lights glimmered and danced in the dark sky, while the stars twinkled above. The weather was warm but not uncomfortably so, especially with the occasional breezes flying by. It was a beautiful evening, but nothing invaded the depressing thoughts swirling his mind like the smoke from his cigarette.

Kool's, he thought looking at the package.

He never smoked Kool's.

It was her brand he realized with anger then tossed the whole pack over the terrace, gulping down some more alcohol in frustration.

Eri sighed loudly. "What can I do for you Hojo?"

"Nothing. I'm on vacation. Is that a crime?" he muttered, wishing his sister would go away.

The bottle was still two thirds full and he wanted to drown himself in it in peace and quiet. Not with his sister pestering him about his current state.

"Please tell me what I can do Hojo. I am worried about you, as are our parents. Look at you!!" she cried. "You're drinking heavy alcohol straight from the bottle, smoking like you haven't got a care for your lungs!!"

He rolled his eyes. "For the last time Eri, fuck off!" He growled.

"I am not going away until you stop your crazy drinking and smoking. You haven't left this place in days! And I am not leaving your apartment until you've showered and come out to dinner with me!" she said determinedly.

He inhaled another drag from his cigarette, the harsh smoke burning his lungs.

"I don't know what I did wrong, Eri." He began the sound of his voice was heart wrenching to her, and she could see his eyes burned with unshed tears.

"She was a bitch, Hojo."

He swung his head around, glaring at her. "Don't talk about Kagome like that!" He warned acidly.

"You can yell at me all you want, but it won't change what I said or how I feel about her. Especially that she was nothing but a gold-digging whore!!" Angry Eri threw a stack of newspaper at him.

"What's this?" he asked picking up the folded prints.

"If you weren't so fucking busy trying to kill yourself by drowning your misery in alcohol and tobacco, maybe you would have seen why she left you. And the fact that you didn't do anything wrong at all!"

Hojo unfolded the pages and as the image caught his eyes, he wanted to fall back and die. His heart wanted to explode from the pain. Across the front page was his ex-fiancee, smiling for the camera with a DaiYokai next to her. He was holding her close, while she was gazing up at him with adoration in her eyes.

Splashed across the top of the paper were the words 'Tashio tycoon marries!! Expeditious wedding to young miko!!!"

Hojo's eyes burned at the sight and his fingers trembled.

"Get out! Get out right now!!!" He roared at his sister, who gave him a narrow unbelievable glare before stomping herself out of his apartment.

Even with the picture in front of him, the words seemed true enough and he didn't want to believe it. He'd loved her so much, so deeply Hojo was willing to believe any lies. Deny any truth to himself if it would mean that Kagome was his and would forever be his. But even as he was mentally telling himself that what he saw in front of him was a trick, and nothing but a mirage. His heart knew better and it couldn't help but wrench in agony of the unbearable pain that followed.

The newspaper falling out of his hands, Hojo clasped his palms over his face and began to cry. For the first time that Kagome left him, he finally believed that she would never come back into his life.

.

.

.

Kagome was sitting on the bed while her mate pranced about the room in masculine dominance as he prepared himself for work. Looking around she noticed that his bedroom was decorated in blues and greys, cool masculine colors. Sleep fitted furniture adorned the room and thick shag carpet lined the floor. What she didn't know about his room was the fact that 'blue' was 'masculine' or manly, but he hadn't chosen that color for the décor for that reason. But rather he enjoyed the way it brought out the colors of her eyes.

Still in her robe Kagome picked up the newspaper laying nearby, she already knew what was on the front page. A part of her did not want to look at it at all, but she held the newspaper in front of her anyway as she scanned their images over. She was looking up to her mate with all the love and adoration a wife could for her husband. Her smile was genuine, the love for him she could see glowing through even though the picture was on thin papers. She was happy to see their images together, confirmation for her that it was all real and that it wasn't a dream. Then the happy dream became emotional pain, when she began thinking of what Hojo would think when he saw the pictures. Pain of realizing how Hojo must feel when he saw this troubled her mind.

She had thought of it before they did it.

Thought of Hojo's feelings and agony when he read the papers bothered her, but her mate had insisted on it.

"With the public announcement, there will be too much press for Mother to attempt anything. Mother had never made it any secret he despised humans; or how I was bred to mate a Yokai. So, if you turn up missing or harmed, there will be much public scrutinizing something that Mother had always abhorred. With this, at least I know that you will be safe for a while. And if Mother tries to get me to renounce the news then there will be speculations and gossips amongst High Society. If there is one thing that Mother hates, is that of a tarnished reputation." Her mate had divulged to her over and over.

She really will go that far? What about us does she hate so much?

"Your mother cares that much about what people think about her?" She asked sitting with her legs in 'meditation' position on the bed watching her mate looping the buttons through its hole of his crispy white dress shirt.

She wondered just how many of those he owned, after all, it was the shirt - stained with spilled coffee - that had 'brought' them together.

"Unfortunately, yes. Ever since Father left her for Izayoi and that went public, every newspaper and gossip rag in the city had speculated as to the reason why Father had left her. There had been paparazzi after her for weeks to get pictures of her in her 'depressed' state; and pictures of Father intimately tending to Izayoi was splattered across every front page paper. There were so many magazine articles; tabloid lies about her for months that it took every will power she had within her not to kill the whole media industry. Not only that, Mother suffered for a long time over the embarrassment and hurt that was left in the wake of the lies that was printed about her. I know for sure, she will not go through that a second time. At least not right away. Until this whole thing dies down, she will keep on a low key before she tries anything."

Sesshoumaru remembered the times he kept to himself, during the times he caught his mother sinking so low as to actually checking out the tabloids. Just to catch any hint of news of what her ex-mate was up to.

Sesshomaru then turned around to look at her sitting on their bed. She was a young woman now, but still much younger than him. And no matter how many years passed, she still looked like a child to him.

She was an enigma for which he cannot fathom her face was round, and creamy skin like a porcelain doll. Those huge blue eyes like an unknowing virgin, she always carried the facade of an innocent angel. Yet, beneath it all she was Eve personified - uninhibited, intense, passionate, like a wild fire that burn through him.

She sighed pensively as she watched Sesshomaru stand there with a formidably businesslike dark suit, the jacket unfastened over a crisp white shirt. What fate had done to her life was far more complicated then what she had imagined growing up. Kagome could still remember the time when she was five years old, playing dress-up with her friends, and pretending to get married.

She had always envisioned herself married to a common man, leading a normal life.

Perhaps that was why she had agreed to marry Hojo.

He had been good to her, he loved her wholeheartedly. She loved him and his solid dependability. With his lack of sexual magnetism towards other woman, he was her safe card and after Sesshomaru had broken her heart. She was too scared to venture anywhere too dangerous, only to slip and fall all over again.

She had fallen in love with the Inu Yokai too hastily, but what the heart wants the mind cannot change. And although she had seen herself completely content with Hojo, there was always a part of her heart knowing that she was 'settling' and turning her back on the Inu Youkai.

Was that why she had run back into Sesshomaru's arms so quickly?

What would she ever do if he left her again?

What if he found himself someone new to replace her in six or twelve month time?

Why hadn't she thought of all this before?

Her mind whirled out of control of uncertainty and apprehension, with all the questions running through her mind. Her breath became ragged and she felt as though it was so difficult for her lungs to take in the air she needed to survive. Kagome touched dry lips with the tip of her tongue, telling herself that she was over reacting out of nothing. Perhaps she was getting cold feet thinking about the reception they were going to have, where he would be formally presenting her as his wife to everyone. But it didn't help and no amount of willpower, seemed to be able to stop the tremors shivering through her.

"Kagome! What's the matter? Don't you feel well?" He was already next to her feeling her uneasiness. His cool fingers touched her skin, his brows drawn together in a frown as he fired a volley of questions at her.

"Your skin feels hot, but not enough to have a fever. Do you have a stomach-ache? Are you sick?" His fingers had left her sweating forehead to probe the soft swell of her stomach.

"I'm fine, Sesshomaru."

Was that raggedy voice really hers? Kagome wanted to push him away from her and get off the bed to show him she was really okay. But she was still trembling far too much to be able to convince even herself.

"You are not okay, my koi. Tell me what it is bothering you."

"I can't do it Sesshomaru."

"You can't do what?"

"I can't be the wife that you need in your life. You need someone who will be a social asset, I don't really fit into this world."

"Kagome, you're speaking nonsense. You are my mate that is that. I don't need a wife of any sort, I need you."

"But..."

"What you do for me, no other can fill your shoes. This reception will be the only one we will have if it makes you nervous. Remember you are already my mate, my life, my heart. This is for show to keep mother at bay, nothing else. You are not expected to do anything that you do not want."

"I don't fit into your world, Sesshomaru."

"Kagome, you are my world. You are the only thing that fits in my life." As she listened to him, he shot back his cuff to look at his watch.

One did not need to be an expert at interpreting body language to recognize his impatience.

"You should go. I should be fine here. I guess I'm just a bit nervous about the whole thing, but I will get used to it. I will learn" she encouraged calmly.

"Kagome, instead of staying here by yourself today, why don't you come with me to the office? I can start by introducing you to some of the employees." Sesshomaru offered, deciding it was better he kept a close eye on his mate rather than leaving her alone to her devices and his mother's wrath.

She was nervous about the idea, but the looks in his eyes were insistent. So slowly she rose out of bed and slipped on a simple jersey dress and followed him to the door.

Kagome placed her hand on top of his as he touched the doorknob. Surprised, he turned to look at her with what seemed like a star-struck teenager gazing at an idol, and he was her idol.

"Sesshomaru?" she began.

"What is it?"

"You....you...won't leave me again, will you?" There were unshed tears lining her eyes.

"Kagome!" He said her name thickly, his own eyes mirroring her passion. "You have a knack for making me irresponsible."

"You haven't answered me." She whispered when he began pressing tiny hungry kisses along the line of her jaw and softness of her skin.

"Never" he said as his arms came around her and he swung her up in them.

Her body stiffened with feminine triumph when she saw that he was heading toward their bedroom again. If there was one sure way to win this battle, is for her to be pupped.

His mother will never touch his mate, and she will never have any doubts ever again of his love for her.

.


.

.

Eri hadn't anticipated her brother to act so harshly, and she hated that she had to resort to showing him such painful pictures of his ex-fiance but she couldn't help it. She had no choice, because she couldn't stand to see her brother so depressed anymore. She loved him too much, at one point she loved Kagome too.

Kagome had been sweet to her, like an older sister to her. Though at times Eri thought her brother had been too much of a pushover with the young woman.

But still she had thought Kagome was good for him.

She had never seen Hojo so happy before, and it was all that mattered to her. So when she found out that Kagome had left her brother - just like that, Eri was shocked out of words. And when she saw the picture of Kagome with the all-knowing Tashio CEO she felt her blood burn with anger. It was a surprise to her that the newspaper didn't catch on fire from her rage.

Eri sighed and clicked off the TV she'd been staring through for the past 20 minutes, ever since she'd gotten home from Hojo's apartment. In the absence of its blare the wheeze and rattle of the window air conditioner was louder than ever and yet it didn't touch the stifling heat that she felt surging through her body.

She glanced down at her watch it was still early, only 7PM. She could call some of her friends to go out and relieve the stress, or perhaps she could see if her boyfriend was available. But then again with what happened to Hojo had left a bitter taste in her mouth to be with the man she was in a relationship with at the moment. She sipped her juice bottle and waited; she didn't really have anywhere better to go. So she decided that she was just going to stay at home for the night. Perhaps a good night sleep might be a good idea, but in her guts she was still worried about her brother and what he would do now with the truth revealed to him.

The intercom began to buzz repeatedly snapping Eri out of her worried thoughts. Striding over in big steps to answer the impatient buzz Eri thought perhaps it might be her brother. Hoping he had changed his mind perhaps and needed someone to be with him during this difficult time.

"Hojo?" she asked, it seemed like such a natural thing for her to do.

"No," a very unfamiliar voice answered through her intercom. "But I am here because of Hojo."

"Oh my god," Eri inhaled a deep breath. Praying it wasn't what she assumed the worst. Blindly she pressed the button to unlock the gate and let the stranger at her door in.

She was impatient opening the door to her apartment even before the stranger arrived. She was shocked and taken aback when she noticed the little green imp walking toward her. She didn't know him personally, but she had seen him a time or two when she'd picked up Kagome from her work at the Mansion where he was the retainer for.

"What are you doing here?? And what have you done with my brother?" Eri had hoped to keep her voice calm, but it came out shaky from worry and anger.

Jaken gave a narrow sneer, glaring from the implication, before he answered. Stupid wench!! "I have done nothing to your brother. I am here to help him, but if you don't want to help your brother I can leave right now." Jaken retorted, turning his heels to leave.

She watched nervously when she saw Jaken's back began to shrink in size.

"No! Wait!" Eri called out after a moment of hesitation.

First, she took a long deep breath and then she held the door a little wider and invited him in. With a victorious sneer, Jaken entered her little apartment and heard her closing the door behind him.

"Um...do you want water or something?" Eri offered politely, traditions and etiquette were apparently hard to break and she couldn't find herself being rude.

"A bottled water if you would, please."

Eri went quickly to her fridge and retrieve a bottle of water. While closing the door she counted to ten to calm herself. No matter what she was going to find out on what he was doing visiting her, and what information he might have on aiding her brother.

"So, who are you anyway? And why do you want to help my brother?" She asked him suspiciously as she handed him the cold bottle.

He took the water from her hand first before answering coyly. "Let's just say I am a friend of....Kagome." There was an arrogance quality in his voice she noticed as Eri watched him survey her little apartment.

"And what makes you think I will trust you, especially if you are a friend of that bitch?" Eri asked scornfully, her irritation rising by the second from watching Jaken's lordy behavior. She didn't like feeling small, especially with someone like Jaken.

"She is not what you think, you have misunderstood her." Jaken defended, taking a sip of his water.

"Misunderstood?" Eri asked baffled at the audacity of the little imp yokai. "I don't think so. You see I know all there is to know about her, and what I know is that she is some gold-digging whore who broke my brother's heart." Eri found herself breathing heavily from her angry retort.

"Your opinion of the little miko is yours and yours alone. I am not here to change that, nor to convince you otherwise. But there are things that I know that you don't. And if you want to help your brother mend his broken heart then you will put all that anger aside."

"Fine, I'll listen to what you have to say; but you have only one minute with me. After that, I don't care what you say about her. If it doesn't prove anything to help my brother, I don't give a shit what your opinion of that bitch is."

"The picture you saw in the newspaper is true as the sun rising daily. However, what you don't know behind closed door is that the miko did not marry Mr. Tashio of her own volition. You see, the great Dai had apparently had his eyes on her for quite some time; and had blackmailed her into becoming his mate. Otherwise the miko would have never left your brother. She was so in love with that young man..." Jaken looked distant and nostalgic, as if recalling memories of seeing Kagome and Hojo together.

"What?!" Eri practically screamed.

She couldn't imagine what Kagome would have to hide to be blackmailed into marriage. Nor could she conjure up what the DaiYokai had to hold over the young woman.

"What did he blackmail her with?"

"That information I cannot divulge to you."

"Well, then I don't believe you. I think you've just wasted both our time."

"Very well" Jaken turned away from her. "He's your brother, not mine."

Jake proceeded to leave once again, seeing that the young girl playing the 'stubborn as a mule' game. He had to be one over her, because he couldn't afford to lose this game. His life depended on it - after all, Lady Irokya had never been known for her leniency.

"Well, do you at least have any proof or something?" She kept her voice calm and cool as much as she can, but inside Eri could feel her innards panicking and shaking.

"I am sure you are aware that the young miko had been employed by my lady for quite some time. And I was instructed by my master to come see you to help you with your family issues. I really don't care what happens to your brother, but apparently my lady has taken quite a liking to your miko. She cares for her so much that she couldn't bear to see the miko so heartbroken and hurt, because of the DaiYokai."

"So what can you do to help?" By now Eri had believed most of everything the little imp had to say. That her voice was now a soft whisper, full of eagerness to help her brother.

"It's not what I can do, but rather what you Eri are able to do for your brother."

"You guarantee that my brother will be happy?" she asked pleadingly.

"Absolutely."

"Very well, what is it that you want me to do?"

Jaken smiled for the first time since he came to see her, and for whatever reason it gave her chills up her spine. But after all, this was about her brother and if she had to go out on a limb to help him then so be it. Besides, it did kind of make sense now that Kagome wouldn't just up and leave her brother just like that. She'd seen the two of them together, and Eri couldn't imagine two people more in love than Kagome and Hojo.

.


.

.

The indigo sky outside was clear and her antique phonograph issued a soothing stream of her favorite classical into her ears. Yet she was so absorbed in the task in which she had assigned Jaken to do, that she could think of nothing else.

Lady Irokya pulled her long silvery colored tress over her shoulder, and leaned back against her seat and allowed herself a momentary lapse into fantasy. Maybe this ploy of hers will work after all, and Sesshomaru will realize his mistakes. Then he would turn around and mate a full Yokai....

Soon the muted hum of the phonograph lured her into a trance. As she returned to Sesshomaru's house - not his penthouse apartment - but the house in which he was raised up in. The one that she had given over to him, she imaged her gorgeous white-haired Inu grand-pups running out to greet her as she came to visit.

As the excited sound of her Inu grand-pup filled her ear, she would place gentle kisses before lowering them back onto the ground. Then she would then hand leading them into the house, where she would present them with gifts until their hearts were sated with happiness.

She was smiling when suddenly Lady Irokya jolted from her seat, when she felt another presence in her room.

"How dare you?" she growled, burning hot with ire, and embarrassment from being caught in her own happy fantasy.

"My...my apologies, milady. I should have knocked." Jaken stammered fearing for his life.

"This will not happen again, Jaken, or it will be your head. Heed my words." She snapped, her golden eyes flashing.

"Y-y-yes, milady. Never again."

Lady Irokya took a long deep breath, letting her anger disperse.

"Well, is it done?" Lady Irokya's voice returned to normal.

"Yes! Milady." Jaken straighten his spine, a proud countenance encasing his face. "Everything is set and ready. You will have your wishes fulfilled."

Jaken watched as she smiled, truly for the first time in a long time.


~Review please. Thank you!!!.......~Ts & Neko