The first thing Sesshomaru noticed was Kagome's thundering heartbeat. His eyes met hers, and he began to notice much more. Her face was flushed in embarrassment, like she was hiding something. Miroku was nowhere to be seen, and her vanilla spice was becoming more…. No…that couldn't be…
"Ano… thank you for dinner." Kagome fumbled with her bag, "I should pay you back."
"It's fine." he curtly said. He was dreading what had her so flustered. Did the monk do something to her?
"Are you sure?" Kagome asked.
A sudden crash caught their attention. Kagome rushed to the door to see what had happened.
"Well done, Sango! That's how you do a proper hook!" the instructor praised loudly. Sango stood smugly over a fallen Miroku. She helped him up, unaware of his wandering hand.
Kagome laughed as her friend promptly tripped Miroku, causing him to fall on the gym mats again. He probably deserved that. She turned to Sesshomaru, who stood curiously behind her looking in at the class.
"Ah, that's my friend over there." She pointed to Sango. "She's always trying to set me up, so I thought I'd return the favor this time."
Sesshomaru scanned the couple, analyzing what that meant exactly. So Kagome wasn't interested in the monk after all. He was relieved.
"And…this way we can talk alone." her voice was shy. Sesshomaru's spirits lifted even more. She wanted to be alone with him.
"Where did you want to go?" he asked eagerly.
"Um…" She just realized how close he was to her, "Anywhere is fine…"
The hallway suddenly flooded with giggling girls in tight yoga pants. Kagome watched as some of them shamelessly ogled the Daiyoukai standing next to her, who was seemingly unaware of them. She cursed to herself, realizing she was no better. No; she was much worse. She tried to stop the imagined images her brain created yesterday night in the shower. Kami.
"Are you alright?" He furrowed his brows. There she was looking all flustered again. What was wrong?
"I- I'm fine!" she stammered, "Looks like their class just finished. Did you want to see if the room is free?"
He nodded, following her down the hall. The schedule posted beside the studio's door indicated its vacancy for the next two hours. At least they wouldn't be disturbed.
Kagome dropped her bag by the mirrored wall, "Is this ok? I mean… I didn't want to stop you from working out...or anything."
"I kept tonight open." For you, he thought. He helped lay out the yoga mats in the middle of the room and settled onto one of them.
"Oh." Kagome sat opposite from him reached for her bag. Her plain reflection taunted her in the mirror. She dug around her bag and started pulling out her folders. Why was she getting anxious?
"What were your conditions?" Sesshomaru propped up his arms on his bent knees. His wrist flashed her red ribbon distractingly.
"Huh?" she tore her eyes away from his wrist and to his gaze.
"Your conditions." he repeated, "For our research." He liked the sound of that. Our research.
"Well- um…" She struggled, "that depends."
"On?" Sesshomaru said.
Kagome thumbed through her papers, not looking at him, "Whatever -this- is."
The statement left him confused. He watched her shuffle through her bags, obviously waiting for something from him. A moment ago she seemed fine. Was she upset now?
Kami, she really wasn't any better than those girls. The thought unsettled her. She took a deep breath, and put on a smile, "So how was your day?"
"Why are you doing this?" Sesshomaru sat straighter. He tried to read her but couldn't, and it scared him. "Be honest."
His anxiety increased as he was met with her silence. "Do you not trust me?" Sesshomaru asked.
"No, it's not that." Kagome said, "I'm sorry. I just-" she pursed her lips and shook her head in annoyance. "There's so much I'm not sure about. And I guess it bothers me that you're okay with it."
"That is the whole point of research." he stated.
"It's not about the research." her heart felt like it was about to burst, "It's about us. Whatever this is."
"-This-?" Sesshomaru repeated.
"I mean, we barely know each other and I have no idea what we're going to do and-"
"Kagome." he watched as she clammed up and looked away guiltily.
"Why did you kiss my hand?" she breathed.
"Because I'm attracted to you." he said.
Kagome snapped, not knowing how else to react, "Is that why you agreed?"
"Miko-sama approached me in hopes that you would also be willing." he said.
"You're not answering my question."
"Yes." he admitted, "Would you prefer if I did not?" his tone had bite. He fidgeted and looked away, "I haven't stopped thinking about you since you left my apartment."
More of her silence led him to assume the worst, "Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought there was something."
"There is." she said softly.
He turned his head to her. She wasn't looking at him. Kami, she was harder to read now. "You say that like it's a bad thing."
"It makes things more complicated." she couldn't stop herself from feeling guilty. With everything that had happened, she still couldn't shake the feeling that all of this had been pure luck. What she did could've been much, much worse. And here he was, all confident in her abilities, when she couldn't even trust herself. She didn't know why, exactly, just that she didn't deserve this, she didn't deserve his trust, "I don't deserve you."
Sesshomaru stared at her in disbelief. Didn't they just agreed that there were feelings for each other? "What makes you say that?"
"Because you trust me." she said.
"Is that a crime?" he demanded, "Name one good reason why I shouldn't trust you."
"I could've killed you!" her voice unwillingly wavered.
"And I, you. But we did not." he said sternly, "I thought we had gotten past that."
"Well I guess I haven't." she said.
Sesshomaru sighed. How could one be so stubborn? Had she not realized how much good she had done? He reached for her hand, only to have her react away from him.
"I want to show you my aura." he stated.
"But I can't guard myself yet, I'll leave traces." she added to her list of things she was incapable of.
He reached again, "Please."
Reluctantly, she gave him her hand. He pressed it over his heart, covering his hand over hers. The room transformed into a divided cosmos; their own auras displayed behind them. Only this time, instead of a glorious starry night behind Kagome, a curtain of fluttering pieces of paper covered his view of it. Thoughts of doubt, self-loathing, and despair leaked through with every flutter.
"Can you find it?" he asked her.
"Find what?" she asked.
"My injury."
She scanned his expanse of sunlight. It was hopeful, like a clear, bright sunrise. She found not even a cloud of illness, nor any evidence of a torn aura. "You look perfect."
"Exactly." Her eyes flicked to his, uncertain. His aura shifted to a midday sun, filled with pride. "You've healed me completely. That is why I trust you."
Kagome continued to look around, if only to avoid his eyes. But she was looking at his soul. There was no hiding from him. Her flawless work of stitching his aura back together surrounded her with a warmth she never knew. His grip on her hand tightened. He watched as her midnight sky slowly revealed itself, page by page. An aurora of emotion swirled against his side. She felt humbled. Now she would realize how much she did for him.
He let her take her hand away from his heart, making the room reappear. It was then she realized she was crying. She felt silly.
"Okay." she whispered. She gave a great sniffle, and blushed, embarrassed.
His heart swelled at her acceptance. Sesshomaru chuckled and brought her close, kissing her forehead.
"Good." he said.
