Disclaimer: I don´t own any of the characters, they belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I just use them because she said that whatever happens next, she leaves it to the fan´s imagination. Well, this is just my imagination.
3. A celebration
Kagome was feeling like an impostor drowning in a sea of cheering faces that greeted them upon arriving at the ballroom. She had decided to mask her feelings with a smile plastered on her lips. She would try to enjoy the loud music and the drinks she received every time a fellow graduate wanted to toast their accomplishments. She only took a few sips, but it was enough to make her feel dizzy. She danced with Hojo most of the night until her friends took her aside for a little girl talk.
""I hope you are ready Kagome"chan, tonight´s the night." Eri said to her with a mischievous grin.
Kagome swallowed hard. She knew she was the last virgin among them. She had heard Ayumi and Eri talk about their experiences with their boyfriends for quite a while. Yuka, on the other hand, had gone through a series of one night stands to fulfill her darkest fantasies, not wanting to be attached to any man. The three of them had been waiting for Kagome to join the club. She was almost nineteen now, a little old for a virgin in this era.
Kagome, however, was not eager to get to there yet, Hojo wasn´t even her boyfriend, just good friends, she told herself. They had been going out for a few weeks and whenever he tried to kiss her she would turn her face and offer him her cheek to peck on. He probably was getting tired of this, but he was too much of a gentleman to point it out to her.
Hojo had been very patient with her and she had decided he deserved a chance. Tonight, she was determined to put her fears aside. She wasn´t going to feel guilty, she had no commitments to anyone, so why did she feel like she was a traitor?
She took a deep steadying breath before answering.
"I think I am ready." – She said with false confidence in her voice.
"Really?" Ayumi said. "Finally!"
They all cheered and laughed around her.
"I was saving these for myself, but you deserve it girl."
Yuka took her hand and handed her a small box of condoms.
Kagome ´s face felt hot all of a sudden. She struggled to keep her smile in place anyway.
"Ok, I´m definitely not ready for this. This is not what I meant when I said I was ready, we haven´t even kissed yet, for kami´s sake!"
"Oh, trust me, have a couple of drinks, loosen up and see what happens later. I know Hojo-kun is a gentleman, but tonight anything can happen."
"Yuka, I don´t need this. Take it back. Kagome tried to open her hand and hand the little black box to her friend. But Yuka had already decided that she was too uptight, Kagome definitely needed to loosen up a bit.
"Ok, maybe you´re right. But it doesn´t hurt you to be ready. Just in case."
Kagome just sighed. She didn´t want to draw attention to herself. And Yuka may be right. Someday, in the distant future, she might need the condoms.
She gave her friend a small smile and put away the little box in her clutch.
"I hope you don´t mind, but I´ve used some." Yuka added. "A toast to our little Kagome, tonight she is finally partying with us."
Kagome took the glass of champagne they handed her and drunk all of it in big gulps.
She was feeling happier when Hojo found her a couple of minutes later. He slid his arm around her slender waist and took her to the dance floor. They danced for a couple of minutes, but Kagome soon seemed to be getting tired or so Hojo believed. She felt his hot breath on her cheek while he whispered in her ear.
"I have a surprise for you waiting on the car".
Kagome had to cling to his shoulders when she started feeling that the room was spinning.
"Ok, let´s go then."
He took her small hand in his and led her out of the cluttered hall.
Kagome stumbled behind Hojo, feeling the cool breeze hit her face when they reached the limo. She shivered when he put his arms around her shoulder in a very intimate touch. He reached behind her and opened the door for her, help her sit down and closed it with a loud thump after she was inside. She breathed in slowly, trying to settle her nerves and smelling the leather of the seats and the faint aroma of tobacco and booze that lingered in the back of the vehicle.
She was starting to feel a little claustrophobic when she saw Hojo had sat next to her and was getting closer, she had nowhere to escape. She reprimanded herself, Hojo would never behave in an indecent manner, she shouldn´t be trying to escape him.
The car started moving and she felt dizzy again, her stomach making a gurgling noise inside of her. She closed her eyes begging not to be sick right there and then. She heard the noise of the bottles clinking together when the car started to move but felt too lazy to open her eyes. She must have fallen asleep for the next thing she knew when she opened her eyes was Hojo had taken one of her hands in his two, looking intently at her.
"Kagome-chan," he started to say, "I know we haven´t been going out for long, but we have known each other for years. I have been very patient with you, and you finally accepted to see me. I feel that you have been holding back and I believe I know the reason. You are a very formal girl, being brought up in a shrine and all that, I believe you need a commitment. And I´m going to give it to you."
Kagome´s eyes opened wide in shock, where was he going with this speech? What did he want from her?
He shoved his left hand into his pocket and produced a small black velvet box while his right hand went to the front of the box to pop it open.
"Kagome-chan, would you be my girlfriend?"
He opened the little box to produce a golden heart locket, not much different from one she had given to certain hanyo a few years ago.
"Do you want to look inside? He asked her sounding hopeful and eager.
Kagome shut her eyes forcefully, not wanting to show her teary eyes to Hojo. She felt her stomach churning and tasted a foul flavor in her mouth.
"Please take me home." She whispered, putting both of her hands over her mouth.
Hojo was appalled. An urge to vomit was not among the answers he had been expecting. He couldn´t hide the disappointment when he spoke.
"Whatever you like my lady."
They arrived at the shrine steps in a couple of minutes, the silence in the car was almost unbearable by then. But Hojo was as kind as usual making Kagome feel even more guilty, if possible.
He went down the car and around it to open the door for her.
They slowly walked up the steps in silence.
"Are you feeling any better?" He asked her.
"Yes, much better, I´m not used to drinking that much, sorry."
"Don´t worry about it." He stopped walking midway between her house and the shrine. For the second time that night he took her hands in his. Kagome shuddered and he rubbed his hands up and down her arms trying to warm her. He was getting closer, his face only inches from hers.
"You are worth the wait Kagome-chan, if you give me a chance, I´ll make you see this is the right thing for you."
Kagome closed her eyes for a moment, this didn´t feel right, it was the complete opposite of what she remembered feeling in Yash's arms. She still remembered vividly the warmth in her body anytime Ysh was close to her, how her heart would run out of control when he had held her or how her blood seemed to boil when they kissed. Instead, she was feeling cold and dead inside now that it was Hojo the one holding her.
She could sense Hojo´s staring at her but she didn´t want to look at him and realize his eyes were not the right color, or his smile was missing some fangs.
She felt Hojo's arms around her shoulders bringing her closer to his body. She could feel the warmth of his body in the cool of the night and she wanted to let this warmth comfort her, but her body refused to let her. She brought her hands to his chest and tried to put some distance between them. One of Hojo´s hands went to her chin lifting it to meet his lips.
Kagome was frozen for a moment while Hojo was becoming more demanding, he was trying to make their mouths connect. Kagome was struggling with him while trying to ignore the sound of an alarm that had gone off. She gave Hojo a shove that knocked him off balance while she turned around trying to find the source of the sound, but there was nothing there. The only thing she could actually hear was the wind that was whispering in the branches of the Goshinboku.
She closed her eyes again covering her ears with her hands. Behind her eyes, she could clearly see golden eyes staring at her with a frown. She could hear him growling like he did whenever he felt threatened or when he was downright furious.
She turned around again to face Hojo who was looking at her from the floor with a questioning look, she didn´t have the strength to face him, she felt extremely embarrassed at the moment.
"I´m sorry, this was a mistake" Was all she could manage to say before her throat choked a small cry and tears began running down her face. "I´m so sorry." She repeated and run away.
Hojo didn´t follow her. He knew he had lost the battle. He had known for a while that her heart didn´t belong to him, but he was confident that he could make her forget about the other man, the one that had hurt her so bad that caused her once bright eyes to lose that spark they used to have.
Tonight, he had lost all hope, she still belonged to someone else and he was done fighting, her heart would never be free.
Hi there! I bet you all thought Hojo was about to propose, lol. I entertained the idea for a while but it didn´t feel right.
Somebody mentioned in a comment if I was trying to have an American style prom, and the answer is no, at least not intentionally. I couldn´t find much information about how Japanese students celebrate their graduation, most of it referred to graduation from university, which wasn´t the case. So, I opted for something we could relate to. The same happened with the flowers, I´m almost certain there were no roses in the feudal era, but I couldn´t find any information, so the line about Inuyasha never giving her roses would be an anachronism, I suspect.
Anyway, I hope you keep reading and thank you very much for your comments.