Disclaimer: Inuyasha is sooo not mine.
Chapter 14
True to his word, Yuki resumed control of his businesses. But on the night of his birthday, he and Akira had bumped heads on his leaving the hospital. Akira was weary of arguing; hell, he was just weary of Yuki altogether. Once he signed the papers for his cousin's discharge, he refused to speak to Yuki and instead, gave Hiro a message to relay to the hard-headed bastard.
"Tell him that he'd better check in with me on a regular basis and to get a nurse to help him immediately, like, tonight. I'm not bullshitting with him, Hiro. If his royal highness doesn't want to piss or shit all over himself, then he'd better get one. I trust you'll handle this?" Akira handed him a business card with the name of a nursing agency. "They're excellent. If you can, request Kaede. She's the best nurse I've ever worked with."
Glancing at the card, Hiro nodded. "Sure, I'll get it done. Oh, about this Kaede. What's she like?"
Akira's green eyes twinkled mischieviously. "Let me put it to you this way. Kaede is exactly what Yuki needs."
Watching his cousin walk away whistling a cheerful tune, Hiro shook his head. Really, that man was way too much like Yuki.
He looked down at the card in his hand. Kaede, huh? Well, Akira was a doctor. He'd know about stuff like that.
With a shrug, he flipped open his phone and dialed the nursing agency. Like Akira said, he requested Kaede and was surprised that the woman on the other end knew who she was without him giving Kaede's last name. Kaede was available, she told him and asked when she was needed. Hiro explained that his brother was being difficult and demanded to be sent home from the hospital tonight, but now that he was discharged, he would need home care since both of his legs were in casts.
"Oh, a feisty one, is he?" asked the woman on the other end. "Perfect. That's just what Kaede prefers. The patient's address please? She will be over tonight."
oooooo
Once Yuki and Hiro reached Yuki's cold penthouse, Hiro wheeled his brother into the living room and left him to turn up the heat and turn on some lights.
"But I don't want a nurse!" complained the invalid testily. "Just bring me Kagome! She'll take care of me."
Hiro sighed. "I don't think Kagome would want to empty your urine bag, Yuki. It might put her off."
Yuki sat for a minute lost in thought. "You're right, Hiro. Can't have that. But I do need her here to bathe me so... you'll have do it."
"I'd rather leave you like this, stuck in your wheelchair, on your balcony in the middle of winter and completely naked,you filthy bastard," came Hiro's angry reply, "than to touch that thing." He pointed at Yuki's urine bag. "I swear, the crazy shit that comes out of your mouth. It's insane."
"Then put on some gloves."
"Fuck you."
The doorbell rang and Hiro went to answer it, praying that it was the nurse coming to rescue him from touching Yuki's piss. A short, heavy woman with gray hair and a grandmotherly face stood without. Her bags were sitting on either side of her and her coat was draped over one plump arm.
"Good evening," she said briskly with a short bow. "I'm Kaede."
All at once, Akira's request for this particular nurse made perfect sense. Beneath her sweet, cherubic appearance was a woman who wouldn't take bullshit from anybody. He smiled gratefully at her. "Hello, my name is Yamadera Hiro and this," he said, swinging the door wide open for her to see, "is my brother, Yuki."
Hiro could almost hear Kaede's mind whirring in her assessment Yuki, who glared at her from his wheelchair.
"Wait a fucking minute! I didn't order that! I wanted Kagome! Bring me Kagome, damn it!"
Kaede picked up her bags and marched right in. Setting them down, she opened one and removed her stethoscope and slid it around her neck. She also withdrew a bottle of hand sanitizer and a handful of latex gloves and shoved them into the pockets of her scrubs. With supreme efficiency, she went over to the kitchen sink and washed her hands before retrieving a pair of gloves and snapping a pair of them onto her hands.
Her eyes turned on Yuki, who looked ready for battle. "I think its time for a bath, young man," she intoned ominously, advancing up on the hapless blond man. Hiro almost felt sorry for him.
"Would you like some assistance, Kaede-sama?" he asked gleefully, ignoring the look of hate and pleading from Yuki. "He looks rather heavy."
"That would be nice, Mr. Yamadera, I thank you. I think this one will try to cut up rough with me, but that's only a one time thing. After tonight, he'll behave himself. That's a promise."
As she wheeled a loudly protesting Yuki into his bedroom, Hiro hung back as he broke out into great guffaws of laughter. Akira, it seems, had had the last laugh.
oooooooooooooooooooo
By the time the casts were removed in late March, Yuki had fully returned to power, but this ruthless man was also a cowed man. Kaede had been ruthless in her care of him and indeed, every time she entered his room, he flinched like a terrified rabbit and pulled his bedsheets up over his head.
When Akira informed him that he would indeed need corrective surgery and until that time, he would need the help of a cane to get around and some rehabilitation exercises, Yuki burst into tears. Kaede, who had been present when Dr. Yamadera arrived at her patient's home, volunteered to assist the young master with his exercises. Hiding his smile, Akira agreed that it would be best, seeing as how she worked with Yuki so well.
However, not all were pleased with this plan of action. Grabbing Akira's shirt and jerking him forward to weep bitterly into his shirt front, Yuki begged and pleaded for mercy. "Don't do this to me, you baka!" he wailed, clutching at his cousin. "She's a demon! She'll kill me! Please! I'm too young to die!"
"She isn't a demon, Yuki, she's one of the best nurses around. Be a little nicer, huh?" Akira got up to leave. Or rather, attempted to get up.
Yuki clung on to him with grim determination. "Don't leave me alone with that... that... succubus!" he shrieked, wildly pointing a finger at Kaede, who sat in a nearby chair, watching him with a speculative gleam in her eyes. "Oh no... I've angered it..." he whispered, paling.
On this day, however, Yuki would soon feel relieved. While Akira was attempting to peel Yuki's octopus-like arms from around his waist, a knock came at the door. All three sets of eyes went to the door as a key was inserted. The door swung open.
Hiro appeared with Kagome and both were toting grocery bags. "Hello, Yuki! Look who I've brought to visit you!" Hiro called out in a sing-song voice as they took the groceries into the kitchen. "We've come to make you dinner!"
Yuki's arms were instantly unraveled and Akira stumbled back just in time as Yuki jumped up on his own two feet and tottered over to Kagome. "Look, Kagome! I can walk again!" he chirped happily, arms open wide.
Her dark eyes glowed with happiness. "Oh, Yuki! That's wonderful!" she exclaimed as he made to her and hugged her. She held on to him tightly, afraid that he would fall over. "But, you've just had your casts removed. Don't overdo it just yet."
As she helped him walk back to his chair, Akira shot Hiro a look that said, 'See? I told you so.'
With a concerned frown on his face, Hiro nodded, even though he was far from convinced. She still loved Kouga and even though they could only touch each other in the privacy of her own house, she spent nearly every single day she could with him. Whenever she would cry and apologize for boring him, Kouga would always smile and tell her it was alright. Everything was perfect when she was with him. How could he be bored with the woman he loved?
Kouga always knew how to calm Kagome down and sometimes, (and he hated to admit it) Hiro got a bit jealous. He felt as though the tide was turning and that things would soon be different from now on. While he was beginning to enjoy life with his half-Japanese, half-American girlfriend Connie, he soon realized that he was moving away, bit by bit, from Kagome.
But Kouga, who refused to desert her under any circumstances, even with the possiblity of Yuki discovering his relationship with Kagome, was starting to take his place. It saddened Hiro greatly. As much as he wanted to be with this new woman in his life, he didn't want to leave Kagome behind. He loved his baby girl like crazy, but he knew that it would soon be time for him to step aside... sort of like how she had already stepped aside to allow Connie to take her place in his life. Kagome had pushed and pushed for him to start dating her, insisting that he needed to get out and make up for lost time.
'You don't need to be here and stagnate with me,' she'd told him cheerfully. 'You're still young and Connie-chan loves you alot. Go, be with her. You can have two best friends, right? Besides, its not as if I'm going anywhere.' She had laughed at that, but Hiro felt a wave of guilt engulf him. He'd promised her and Sesshoumaru he'd be with her...but unfortunately, he didn't say for how long.
Watching Yuki babble ecstatically to Kagome, Hiro wondered how long it would be before that one asked her to wed him. From the adoring look in his eyes, not long, Hiro thought with a scowl. Damn, what a disaster that will be!
ooo
Once Kagome had deposited Yuki in his chair, she turned to the older woman who sat silently nearby. "Hi, my name is Kagome," she said with smile, bowing in her direction.
The woman rose and bowed to her. "I am Kaede, Mr. Yamadera's nurse. I know who you are, my dear. Your young man speaks of you constantly. You must be quite a special young lady if he's fallen in love with you."
"Eh?" Kagome whirled around to look at Yuki, whose cheeks burned a charming pink tint. "Yuki?"
As Yuki reached for her to take her hand, Akira swooped down and hustled her away. "Kagome! It's lovely to see you again! Have you lost my card? I haven't heard from you since Yuki's birthday and I miss talking to you. Here, have another one."
"Akira-sama! Gomen nasai! Yes, I did lose your card. I'm afraid I tend to lose things at times. Thank you, I'll put it in my wallet right away." She suited the actions to the words.
While her back was turned, Akira smirked at Yuki, who looked about ready to explode. To make his cousin suffer even more and to satisfy his own whims, when Kagome finished messing about with her purse Akira scooped her up in his arms and hugged her. "You poor, darling girl. Hiro told me you've just gotten over a cold. You really shouldn't be out in cold, wet weather like this. Hiro can make Yuki some dinner. Let me take you home, okay?"
"Oi! You monster, stay away from her!" Yuki shot to his feet, fury pouring off of him in waves, and began limping painfully towards them.
"Yuki! Please sit down!" Kagome cried, wrenching away from Akira and rushing over to Yuki. She wrapped her arms around him just as his right leg gave out and he began to teeter over. Kagome fell with him and ended up sprawled beneath him on the floor. Luckily for her, he had managed to keep his body weight from crushing her by landing on his forearms. "Are you okay?" she whispered, horrified by the look of agony on his face.
With a grimace, he nodded and opened his eyes. Staring down at her, his heart began to gallop. Kagome lay beneath him, her hair swirling like a black silken cloud about her head and her dark eyes were wide with concern. "You are so amazingly beautiful," he told her breathlessly.
"Are you done squishing her?" came Akira's voice from somewhere above them.
He and Hiro grabbed hold of Yuki and hefted him off of Kagome. Yuki yelled at them, saying he could get up by himself, but yelped in pain when Akira tapped him on the right knee.
"What the hell did you do that for?" Yuki howled, tears springing from his eyes. "That hurt, damn it!"
"Let's put his royal highness to bed, Hiro," Akira grunted, taking Yuki's right side. Hiro took the left and together they hoisted him in the air and carried him off to his room. Kagome and Kaede followed them.
Once Yuki was situated to his liking on his large bed, Akira turned to Kaede. "He'll need stronger painkillers, which I'll prescribe right away. In the meantime, keep him off his feet until I say so. I can get a therapist to see him here in a few days and we need to get him a cane." Turning back to Yuki he said, "You don't need crutches, so don't ask again. What you need is some pain medicine and a bit of exercise to get that leg up to walking right again. Well, until you have that surgery, anyway."
"What if it doesn't fix me?" asked a very depressed Yuki as he stared solemnly down at his lap. "What if I need a cane for the rest of my life?"
Kagome stepped forward and sat beside him on the bed, taking his hand in hers. "Then you'll get used to it. Using a cane to help you walk won't change who you are on the inside, Yuki. You'll still be you, but with a cool new accessory."
"Yeah," broke in Hiro suddenly. "You can get one of those cool pimp daddy canes." He shot a questioning look and a shrug at Kagome, who giggled and nodded.
Yuki looked away from them but retained Kagome's hand in his. "I want to go back to the way I was. I don't want to have to depend on some device to walk. I just... I just want to be normal again." He leaned back against the pillows, face still averted. "Please, I need to be alone right now."
Without a word, everyone turned and left, but when Kagome began to stand up, Yuki gripped her hand tighter. "No. I want for you to stay. Please."
As the door shut behind the others, Yuki turned to look at Kagome. "I'm so happy that you came to visit me. I thought that after the last time, you wouldn't come back." He released her hand and reached up to caress her face. "I want to apologize for that. It was wrong of me to do that to you. Please forgive me."
Seeing those amazing emerald eyes gazing so intently into hers caused her heart rate to speed up crazily. "I forgave you long ago," she whispered, wanting to bolt out of the room, but equally wanting to stay.
"Thank you. I couldn't bear it if you were to hate me."
"I don't hate you, Yuki."
His arms went around her and pulled her across his chest. "If you don't hate me, then you must love me."
"N-not necessarily. The opposite of love is apathy."
"I see." He brushed his lips against her forehead. "But I believe that you aren't indifferent to me, Kagome, or else your heart wouldn't be pounding as fast as it is. So you either hate me or love me, but you just said that you didn't hate me." A pleased chuckle escaped his lips. "Therefore, I must conclude that you love me."
She stiffened in his embrace and attempted to pull away from him. "Yuki-sama, please..."
Their eyes met and he tightened his grasp. "Give me a chance, Kagome, and I'll prove to you that I want you. You'll need to tell your special male friend to back off, though. I won't take kindly to other men hanging around you. You may not know this, but I'm an extremely sore loser and I tend to get jealous."
Prudence prevented her from commenting that she already knew this fact. She still vividly remembered the night of the accident, when he'd found her with Kouga. Yuki had shown his true face, which had been horribly twisted in his rage and she had felt afraid. He was more dangerous than she'd realized...
As she gazed into his love-softened face, Kagome wondered if he was still dangerous. But his personality had undergone serious changes since the wreck, so on the whole, she thought not. Maybe the blow to the head had been the cause of his change in temperment.
"Hey, what are you thinking about?" he asked softly, brushing her hair back from her neck and over her shoulder. "Me?" He leaned over and kissed the exposed flesh of her throat.
"Y-yuki--"
"Mmm. I love it when you keep saying my name. One day," he whispered hotly, kissing his way up to her earlobe, "I'll make you scream it."
Shocked by his words, but even more so by the idea it conveyed to her, Kagome pulled away and quickly got up from the bed. "Excuse me, Yuki-sama," she said in a trembling voice, "I need to help Hiro in the kitchen."
"No, wait!" he called out, but she rushed out of the room and shut the door behind her. Slumping back against his pillows again, he covered his face with his hands. Damn it, he'd done it again. Why did he always move too fast with her, especially when he knew that she probably still didn't trust him completely?
Baka...
ooo
After Kagome had bolted from the room, she made her way down the hall and into the living room where the others were talking quietly. They stood when she entered.
Hiro was instantly by her side when she arrived and when he saw her face, he swept her into his arms. "Oh no, not again. What did he do to you this time, baby?"
For the first time in the history of their friendship, Kagome pushed Hiro away, turning her back on him. "I just... want to go home now. Don't worry about me, Hiro. I'll take a cab." Quietly, she put on her coat, grabbed her purse and slipped out of the apartment.
Akira was stunned. "Hiro? What just happened?"
"I don't know," muttered the younger Yamadera brother, "but I'm going to find out." He stalked away towards Yuki's room and flung the door open. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded angrily. "What have you done to her this time?"
Yuki slid further down and pulled the covers up to his chin. "Leave me alone, Hiro," he requested softly. "I don't want to talk right now."
"Well, you're gonna." Hiro was across the room and by his brother's side in a flash. "Were you feeling her up again?"
"Iie."
"Then what did you do?"
A very green gaze slid over to Hiro's face. "Where is she?"
Hiro sank down on the mattress beside Yuki's legs. "She left. She was supposed to make dinner with me, but thanks to you..." He sighed. "Never mind. I need to get started on supper. Want me to get Akira in here?"
"What for?" came Yuki's sullen reply.
"You look like you're in pain. Are you?"
"Yes."
Alarmed, Hiro jumped. "Well, why didn't you say so sooner? Let me get Akira--"
Yuki turned over on his side, away from his brother. "Not that kind of pain, Hiro, although my leg does ache a bit. The kind of pain I'm feeling is the worst kind." He snuggled deeper under his covers and Hiro caught the sound of sniffling.
"Yuki, are you... crying?"
"I love her so much, but for some reason I keep scaring her away. All I want is for her to love me and know that I'd never hurt her. Those days are over, Hiro and I have no plans on hurting her ever again. Now that I've been given the chance to know her, I want to keep her in my life. How can I do that...when she won't even stay in the same room with me?"
Hiro resumed his seat on the bed and grabbed Yuki's upper arm, giving it a gentle squeeze. "For starters, quit forcing her to kiss you. Secondly, don't feel her up. Not all women enjoy having a terrifingly beautiful man sexually harass them."
This brought Yuki to a sitting position. Angrily, he wiped away his tears. "Nani? What's so terrifying about my beauty? I'm not terrifying! Am I terrifying? Is that it? She's scared of my beautiful face?!"
"Oh, for heaven's sake, you moron, Kagome isn't scared of your face! That wasn't the point I was trying to make." Hiro got to his feet. "What I was trying to say was to stop forcing yourself on Kagome. It's great that you want to kiss her, but you should wait until she gives you leave to do so, Yuki. Don't take what isn't yours."
"Yet. She isn't mine, yet. But she will be and what's more, I'll find that man who has dared to love what's mine."
"Well, she may never be if you don't keep your hands to yourself. If Kagome screams rape when you've managed to slip your hands down her pants, believe me, you'll have more than just the police to worry about."
A frown creased the golden one's fair brow. "What do you mean? Are you talking about the guy who claims to love my Kagome?"
"Forget about him,Yuki. "I'm talking about Morikawa."
"Sesshoumaru's the guy who loves Kagome?!" Yuki clenched his fists.
Irritated, Hiro clapped a hand over his eyes. "Baka, he's her guardian! Look, just forget about the mystery man, okay?"
"Why?" demanded Yuki suspiciously. "You know who it is, don't you?"
"Agh! Will you stop talking about him? You're being ridiculous about the whole thing. You already have men running all over town spying on Kagome and prying in the backgrounds of all her friends or anybody who may have accidentally brushed up against her at the grocery store. Don't you think you're taking things a bit too far?"
Yuki's answer was to glower at Hiro from his pillows. The younger man sighed with some exasperation. "Fine then, don't talk."
"I won't. You told me to stop talking," came the petulant reply.
"No, I said stop talking about this silly mystery man that Kagome's alleged to have." Seeing his brother's head droop slightly, he added a little more kindly, "Just think how Kagome would react to you spying on her. You're treating her like she's an unfaithful wife, having affairs with every man she meets."
One of Yuki's eyelids twitched. "Please refrain from saying things like that. It's an unpleasant thought."
"Hmph. It's funny you should that, since that's what you'd been doing up until last summer. What's the term used to describe you? Oh yeah, man-whore."
Yuki slammed one of his clenched fists down on the bed. "Go away, Hiro. If you're not going to be nice to me, then leave. On your way out, send Akira in to me. My leg is killing me."
Amused by this obvious dismissal, Hiro took his leave. A minute later, Akira entered the invalid's room with a pair of gloves, an alcohol pad and a syringe.
"Feeling some discomfort, are you?" Akira asked, shutting the door behind him.
"Yeah. Where's Hiro?"
"He's gone." Akira slipped his gloves on. "Turn over on your side facing away from me, please."
Yuki did as he was told and grimaced when he felt Akira tug down his flannel sleep pants to his thighs. "Did he say anything to you? Other than telling you I wanted to see you?"
"He did." Taking the little alcohol wipe, he picked a spot on Yuki's left buttock and quickly cleansed the area.
"Well?" Yuki asked impatiently. "What did he say?"
Akira stuck the syringe into Yuki's backside, depressed the plunger and quickly withdrew. "This should work within a few minutes. It'll knock you out cold for a few hours, though."
Tugging his pants back up, Yuki turned over on his back and glared up at his cousin, who had recapped the needle and was in the process of removing his gloves. "Quit stalling, Akira. What did he say?"
"Hm. Well, he said that you were being a monster prick and like hell he would cook dinner for such an ungrateful bastard. Oh, and that he hoped you starved."
"And?" Yuki prompted. He could already feel the heaviness of sleep creeping over him.
As his eyes struggled to stay open, Akira leaned over and smiled triumphantly into his face. "Hiro also said that he knows the name of the man who loves Kagome."
With a weak cry, Yuki grabbed Akira's shirt. "Wh-who? Tell me... Ak...ira..." His words were slurred and he felt his cousin gently pry his fingers away from his clothing. Yuki desperately wanted to hold on, but he just couldn't. What the hell had Akira shot him up with?
"There, there, Yuki. Just go to sleep. There's a good boy," the doctor cooed, stroking the blond head softly.
"Fuck...you..." Yuki barely managed to say, as his mind struggled violently to remain conscious, but to no avail. Sleep claimed him swiftly.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Sesshoumaru was waiting anxiously in the living room as Kagome walked in the front door of her home. The second she locked the door behind her, Sesshoumaru shot out of the living room and snatched her up.
"Where have you been?!" he demanded, trembling, holding her close. "Where's Hiro? You took a cab?"
Once she got over her shock of her guardian barreling towards her, she hugged him back and rested her head against his shoulder as he carried her into the living room. Taking a seat on one of her sofas, he continued to hold her close, his arms encircling her.
"Darling, why didn't you call me? I would have picked you up. Please don't take cabs alone, Kagome. You might get kidnapped and then I'd lose my mind until I found you--"
A gentle hand reached up to touch his face. "I'm not a child, Sesshoumaru. I do have the ability to maneuver myself out in the world, so please don't worry so much." She smiled up at him, love glowing in her eyes. "But it touches me that you panicked over me. It's really rather cute."
"Oh, so that's how it is, huh? You like it when I go crazy with worry for you?" His face remained emotionless, but his eyes gleamed like two joy-filled suns.
"Yep. It makes me feel... important." She sighed and lay against him. "I like feeling important to you, Sesshoumaru."
He dropped a kiss on the top of her head. "You are important to me. You always will be."
"Yes, but you're such a powerful, famous person with a ton of responsibilities. How you find time to be with me is puzzling. I'm just your step-sister and not nearly as important as all those people you do business with."
"Iie, you're my beloved and that fact alone makes you more important than any of those stiffs that walk around in those expensive designer suits. They kiss up to me and tell me things I want to hear... I get sick of being around them. You are my escape from all of that, so of course I would make time for you. I'd put the entire world on hold for you if I could, just spend time with my darling girl."
Kagome's eyes glistened with happiness. "Oh, Sesshoumaru! You're so sweet to say that! But what about Inuyasha and Souta? Would you do the same thing for them?"
While she gazed up at him expectantly, an answer rang clearly in his mind. No.
But he couldn't very well tell her that because that would overwhelm her with guilt... and he didn't want to upset her. Out loud he said, "Umm, maybe for Souta. As for Inuyasha... well... he'd rather spend time with you anyway, so it would be a waste of time for both him and myself. Souta wouldn't want me to be so attentive to him. He'd rather concentrate on his studies."
Kagome shook her head with disbelief. "Oh, dear, he's become so incredibly serious since last year. Is he doing okay? Do you tell him to be with his friends and do something fun instead of being cooped up inside all day?"
"I do try, Kagome, but he's so hard-headed. He seemes to prefer the company of his books to that of other people. In that regard, I'm afraid he's very much like I was at his age."
She fell silent, taking this bit of news in, while Sesshoumaru absently rocked her gently for a few minutes until the sound of her stomach growling startled them both. "Oh!" she gasped, looking down at her abdomen as if to silence it with a look.
"Sounds like someone's hungry," he said with a chuckle. "What did you have for lunch? I want to order some dinner but I don't want you to have to eat the same thing you had earlier."
"Umm," Kagome began guiltily, turning her face from his sight. "Well, you see, the thing is..." Her voice trailed off.
There was silence as Sesshoumaru fixed his steady gaze on her. Eventually, when she could no longer stand that blistering gaze on her, she turned to face him. "What is it?" she asked as innocently as she could. She very nearly flinched when she saw the hurt in his eyes.
"You know what," he said quietly. Lifting a hand to lightly brush her cheek he said, "Why didn't you eat lunch, baby? You know how I worry when you don't eat. Where was Hiro? Didn't he make you eat something?"
She shook her head, her gaze dropping down to her lap. Sesshoumaru's body tensed. "Why not?"
"Because... his girlfriend wanted to go out to lunch with him today and I told him he should go." Her eyes shot back up to his face. "Before you say anything, I want you to know that Hiro has every right to live his life. I told him to go, so if you get mad at anyone, get mad at me." She pushed herself off his lap and got to her feet. "Besides, he won't always be around to watch every bite that goes into my mouth, Sesshoumaru. Sooner or later, he'll want to move out..."
Reaching up, he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her back down onto his lap. With great care, he removed her coat from her slim frame and lay it beside them on the couch. "If you don't want to be alone, then come back home," he murmured suggestively in her ear. His arms went around her, sliding her back to rest against his body. "I can have your old bedroom ready for you tonight, if you wish."
It was taking all his willpower not to seduce her right here on her sofa, right at this very moment. He wanted her so badly and despite his displeasure at Hiro for not ensuring that she ate, he couldn't but thank the boy for starting the process of leaving. With Hiro gone, he'd have her all to himself-- no, wait. Damn it, he'd forgotten about Kouga. But still, if he moved her back into the mansion, then he'd make sure that Kouga would never be admitted.
Kagome twisted her body around slightly to look at him. "Sesshoumaru? You don't have to do that. I'm fine right where I am."
Kissing the tip of her nose, he told her, "I want you home with me so I can keep my eye on you. I think Souta might be missing you too. It would be great for us to be together again, don't you think?"
"I appreciate you thinking of me, but what would happen when Inuyasha moves back? I'd have to lock my bedroom door every night before I went to bed. I don't want to wake up again with him bending over me--"
"Hold on there. What do you mean, again? When had he done that?"
A hand flew up to her mouth. Her soft brown eyes flew open in shocked surprise. "Um, I mean... Oh no..."
"You will tell me what happened, Kagome."
With shuddering sigh, Kagome related the story of how she woke to find Inuyasha kneeling beside her bed, and him bending over her. She and Hiro had agreed never to mention it to Sesshoumaru but thanks to her and her big mouth, he found out. Her voice faltered and trembled when she told a quietly furious Sesshoumaru of how Inuyasha slid his hand beneath her nightgown and up between her thighs.
"That... bastard..." hissed her step-brother, turning his blazing eyes away from her. "I can't believe he'd... I can't..." With a growl, he picked her up off his lap and set her down on the sofa before grabbing her cordless phone and striding out of the living room with it. "I'll be right back, Kagome."
"Wait! Sesshoumaru!" she cried as she realized what he was going to do. Leaping up from her seat, she ran out into the hallway... and smack into Kouga, who'd just come in bearing a bouquet or roses. "Kouga?"
"Hey, baby! What's the rush?" he asked jovially, putting his arms around her and moving her back into the living room. Setting the flowers on the coffee table, he dropped his head down to hers and kissed her soundly.
The second his lips touched hers, all thoughts of Sesshoumaru calling Inuyasha to bitch at him for taking advantage of her... seemed to...just... slip... away...
"Kouga," she panted against his mouth as his arms tightened around her. "I missed you today. I missed you so much..."
Kouga was far too caught up in the kiss to give her a coherent reply and instead lay her down on the sofa she'd just vacated. He positioned himself on top of her, being very careful not to crush her as he lowered his body to cover hers. As for Kagome, she could only cling helplessly to him as his incredible body heat, mixed with his intense passion, assaulted her senses, making her weak with desire for him.
"Damn, I love you," he breathed heavily against her neck between nips of his teeth on her skin. "I can't stand being away from you, Kagome. It... tears me apart knowing I can't be with you freely." He groaned as her hands went to his shoulders and began shoving at his leather jacket.
Together, they eagerly removed the coat and began working on his shirt. Once that offending article of clothing was away from his body and safely on the floor, Kagome was free to run her hands all over her boyfriend's very impressive torso. The smooth, heated flesh beneath her fingers made her want to kiss every inch of his beautiful body.
When she managed to drag her eyes away from his powerful chest, she looked up and their eyes met in a smouldering gaze. Kagome could sense his self-control slipping and she knew that if she lay beneath him any longer, he would scoop her up and take her to her bedroom. And when the sun rose tomorrow, her virginity would be long gone.
But the truth was, she wanted it gone... and she wanted him. She wanted Kouga to rid her mind of Yuki once and for all. Most likely, Yuki never really meant those things he said to Hiro about loving her. She was probably just some toy that he would soon tire of. Kouga, on the other hand, had no plans on letting her go any time soon. He loved her and he'd proved it over and over again, whereas Yuki had made a habit of tormenting her. There really was no reason why she should trust him. Right?
Uncertain blue eyes flickered above her and his big body began to tremble. "Kagome... I... I can't hold out..."
She reached up to cradle his face in her hands. "I know, Kouga. I want the same thing."
Excitement flared in those sapphire depths. "Really? Are you sure?"
She nodded. "I am. Quite sure."
But as he bent down to take her lips in an enthusiastic kiss, the back door in the kitchen slammed. They both jumped at the sudden noise.
"I am being reasonable! Damn you to hell, Inuyasha! You don't touch Kagome like that, you hentai! Do it again and so help me, I'll wring your damn neck--"
Hearing Sesshoumaru yell like that brought the two lovers back down to earth, but it drove Kouga to his feet. "What did he just say? Did Inuyasha touch you, Kagome? When did this happen?" he demanded, outraged.
"Huh? No! That happened before I met you, Kouga. It was last year, just after my first visit to Yuki's club. Incidentally, it was also my first real glimpse of you. I remember seeing you, Ginta and Hakkaku hitting on a group of girls." Her eyes twinkled mischievously up at him.
He stared in confusion at her for a moment, then his shoulders sagged. Dropping to his knees before her, he took hold of her hands and pressed them against his chest. "If I had known you then, I wouldn't have looked twice at those other women. I don't even recall what they looked like now." For a moment, he had the grace to look sheepish. "That doesn't sound good, huh? It makes me sound like... like..."
"A player? Hmm... yeah, a bit."
"Oi! Don't you think about hanging up on me! How dare you say such filthy things about Kagome! She doesn't like men like you, you imbecile! If you'd spent more time with her without groping on her, you'd know that!"
Upon hearing Sesshoumaru's latest stream of angry words, Kouga flinched and pulled away from Kagome. But she didn't allow him to get too far, for she grabbed him around the neck and slid to the floor on her knees in front of him. She pressed her body to his. "You aren't like that now," she cooed softly as she rubbed the tip of her nose across his cheek.
"Kagome," he began forlornly, but she silenced him with a swift kiss.
"Hey, have I told you I loved you today?" she asked, running her tongue along his jawline.
He shivered at the sensual contact. "N-no, you haven't. Tell me."
"I love y--"
Kouga tipped her back onto the couch and with just his torso slanting across her, he pinned her down and kissed her brutally. Kagome's eyes slid shut with bliss and continued holding onto him, even as Sesshoumaru raged on in her kitchen. Neither of them realized that when the enraged man had finally hung up, he'd made his way back to the living room only to discover his precious Kagome clutching at a half-naked man as though she were drowning.
ooooooooooooooooooooo
Hiro, hearing fury-filled yelling coming in through the front door, found Sesshoumaru and Kouga shouting at each other from across the room while Kagome huddled on her sofa, helplessly watching the two men with tear-filled eyes.
"Sweetie!" he cried and ran to her. She held onto him, bursting into tears. "What are you two doing! Have you gone mad?"
Sesshoumaru swung on Hiro, his eyes ablaze with rage. "And why didn't you ensure that she ate lunch before you went off to see that girl of yours? Huh? Tell me why you let her out of your sight! Kagome may look healthy, but she still has a way to go before she's well!"
"Don't you think I know that!" Hiro shot back irritably. "She wanted me to go! What did you want me to do? Tell her no?"
Kouga and Sesshoumaru stared daggers at him. "YES!" they yelled at him.
"Stop! Just stop it!"
The three men turned their attention to Kagome, who had scrambled away from Hiro and was backing away from them towards the stairs. Her face was streaked with tears and her eyes were wild with misery. It was obvious to everyone present that she was about to bolt.
"Can't you just stop... arguing? I'm tired of people always arguing because of me! Sesshoumaru, I apologize for not eating lunch. Hiro made some soup for me, but I just didn't feel like eating. Okay? So please don't yell at him!"
Sesshoumaru's body sagged and he sent Hiro an apologetic glance.
"And leave Kouga alone, too. I'm sorry if you didn't like what you just saw, but its been hard not being able to spend time with him anymore. I can only see him, if I'm lucky, ... once a day since... since..." Her face crumpled and throwing up her hands to cover her face, she dashed up the stairs. A moment later, the men heard her slam her bedroom door and lock it.
"Well," Kouga said finally, breaking the silence, "we certainly made a nice mess of everything." He sat down on the sofa and leaned back, crossing his arms over his naked chest.
"No shit," Hiro muttered under his breath. Slipping his hands into his trouser pockets, he sent cool glances in the direction of the other two. "Sooo, how do you two plan on rectifying this situation? Seeing her boyfriend and step-brother barking at each other like rabid dogs couldn't have been very pleasant to watch."
"It wasn't," admitted Kouga, glancing up at Sesshoumaru who looked a little lost in thought. "But if he hadn't tried to make me look as though I was raping Kagome, I wouldn't have gotten offended and none of this would have happened. Hell, we were just making out and really into the moment. Sorry if it looked a little out of control."
Instead of acknowledging the apology, Sesshoumaru sent the black-haired, half-naked man an annoyed look. "Silence, Matsuno. It didn't just look like you were out of control. It appeared that you'd dropped something valuable down her throat and were trying to retrieve it with your tongue."
Kouga snorted and gave his obsidian tresses a good toss. "Oh, please. You just wish it was you she was kissing. Admit it, you'd have done the same thing in my position."
Morikawa snarled at Kouga, while that one merely stared triumphantly back and it was all Hiro could do not to scream in frustration at the amount of tension in the air.
"Hey! Time out, guys! Just simmer down, okay? Sesshoumaru, Kouga is Kagome's boyfriend whether you like it or not. You should respect her choice. As for you, Kouga, please, please, be respectful of Sesshoumaru. After all, he is an extremely important man as well as Kagome's guardian. Now, could we try to get along? For Kagome's sake at least?"
There was some incoherent mumblings that sounded something like an agreement of sorts and Hiro smiled. "You see? Was that so painful?"
Sesshoumaru sniffed. "Whatever. Just because she wants to keep him around doesn't mean I have to like him..."
"Well, that's entirely up to you, Sesshoumaru."
"Fine. I have a question."
"Ask away."
Sesshoumaru fixed Hiro with a steady gaze. "Why did Kagome say that she hadn't been able to see... him... every day?" He jerked his head in Kouga's direction.
Kouga's eyes opened wide and he, too, looked over at Hiro.
Hiro shrugged his shoulders. "Sorry, Kouga, but it'll all come out eventually so we might as well come clean."
Once Sesshoumaru had been apprised of the situation with Yuki and his 'investigations', his face slid into his emotionless businessman/poker face mask. "I see. He's being overly jealous with someone who isn't his. Thank you for telling me, Hiro, although I do wish you had said something to me about all this earlier. But no matter. I will deal with your brother in time. Now, if you two will excuse me..." He headed to the stairs and ascended them.
Kouga would have run after him to stop him, but Hiro grabbed his arm and held him back. "Hiro?"
Hiro shook his head and dragged Kouga to the kitchen to make some tea and heat up some soup. "Don't go up there, Kouga."
"Why not? What's going on, Hiro? What's he gonna do to my girl?"
"I don't think you'd understand."
"Try me." Kouga leaned forward, his fists on the counter.
Setting the water to boil, Hiro glanced over at the angry young man. "Sesshoumaru is going to sleep with her."
The look on the ex-assassin's face froze the blood in Hiro's veins and swiftly, Hiro made a quick mental calculation of how quickly Kouga could get to the knife drawer as opposed to how fast he could run away.
"What the fuck did you just say?!" demanded the scary man.
"Its not what you think, Kouga. Really. I used to wonder why, when she was sick, he would spend an hour or more locked in her room with her. Every time he emerged, he was always straightening his clothes, so naturally I assumed that they were... well... you know."
"Was he?!"
Again, Hiro shook his head. "Kagome finally told me a few months ago. When I said that he was going to sleep with her, that's exactly what I meant. He's going to sleep with her. That's it. Just sleep."
Kouga looked puzzled. "Huh? That makes no sense. You're making no sense, Hiro. Are you telling me that he's only up there taking a nap with her?"
Hiro had taken the pot of soup out of the fridge and set it on the stove. "I'll tell you, but you've got to swear not to repeat what I tell you to anyone."
"Yeah, yeah, I swear to take it to my grave, now tell me."
While telling Kouga the story of Sesshoumaru's insomnia, Hiro stirred his soup. Kouga listened with avid interest at this weakness in the all-powerful Sesshoumaru, but he was perplexed concerning why his Kagome had to be the one to put Sesshoumaru to sleep.
"Can't he find someone else?" he asked sourly. "A wealthy guy like that could buy all the women in the world to snuggle with."
Chuckling, Hiro lowered the heat under the soup. "He could, but he doesn't want all the women in the world. All he needs is Kagome."
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
Above them, Sesshoumaru was already asleep. Kagome, however, was not. She lay before him, wrapped up in darkness and his arms... silently weeping.
He had come to the door and knocked, quietly asking to be let in. She hesitated for a split second, but no longer than that. When she opened the door, Sesshoumaru waited patiently until she took him by the hand and led him inside. Once the door had shut behind him, he sat her down on the bed before going down on his knees and laying his head on her lap.
"Forgive me," he said wretchedly. "I never meant to upset you."
She stroked his pale, silken hair. "I know, but I wish you would be nicer to Kouga."
He said nothing for a long moment and when Kagome thought that he'd dropped off to sleep, he spoke. "May I be brutally honest with you, Kagome?"
For a second, her heartbeat spiked painfully in her chest. What would he say? Was there something wrong with her? Would he admit that he actually despised her and his kindness to her was all a big lie?
"Yes?"
He turned his face slightly so that she could feel the warmth of his breath against her thigh. "I've struggled for a very long time with this. I didn't know how to tell you."
Her words came out in a breathy whisper. "Tell me what?"
Sesshoumaru raised his head to look at her. Kagome stared at her guardian, the man she loved so dearly, and she was again blown away by his beauty. Although she barely remembered his mother, Kagome knew that Sesshoumaru had inherited his lovely and delicate features from her. Inuyasha more or less favored their father, who had possessed more rugged, manly good-looks.
Her fingers continued to stroke Sesshoumaru's head and pushed his fine, silver hair back over his broad shoulders so that it was out of his face. When she pulled her hand away, the long strands instantly moved forward so that it brushed the the sides of his pale, smooth throat. It was a masculine throat, no doubt about it, but it held a slight, almost feminine quality in its gentle curves.
And of course, there were those eyes, that magnificent set of twin suns which always shared their tender and adoring warmth with her. He was staring at her, studying her with a kind of uncertainity that made her wonder just what it was he needed to say to her.
Her gaze fell to his perfectly curved lips, waiting for them to open and for that lovely, warm, velvety voice to flow forth and tell her...
But the lips did not open, nor did the voice come forward. His lips, those enchanting pieces of art, trembled as though he knew not what to say, but she suspected that he was just unable to say it at all. Instead, he got to his feet, turned off the bedroom light and grabbed her hand, pulling her to the bed. When he slid beneath the covers, she obediantly followed him, turning her back to him so he could tuck her perfectly against his body.
As she had every single time before, she lay there, savoring the comforting warmth of his body and arms as she would drift off to sleep. But this time, he fell asleep before she did. Just as he began to drift away, she felt his lips press lightly against her neck. She smiled tenderly in the dark and and as she did, she heard a breathy whisper in her ear... a whisper, she realized a moment later, with words that were meant for her sleeping ears.
"One day, I'll have the courage to tell you, but for now this will have to do. I'm... in love with you, Kagome..."
oooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo
A/N: Okay then! This was one incredibly long chapter! Thankfully, I didn't do it all in one sitting or else my legs would have cramped in place. I hope you enjoy it!