24 A Dangerous Game

I'm not sure how much longer this will be. I'm almost certain I'm more than halfway through, but I have a tendency to come up with random situations I find amusing that pad out chapters and so end up taking longer to get to certain points than I originally intended. Things do stay on time story-time wise (I've got a chronology worked out) I just throw things in between the mile posts. I think it works since this is much more character study driven in my mind than a plot driven narrative. I should just put updates and information like this on my homepage, that would probably be the smart thing to do...lol

For Kaokitty2, who reminded me that I was neglecting the world and giving very little by way of setting description. Hopefully I can make things less 2D.

My November Guest- Robert Frost

My Sorrow, when she's here with me,
Thinks these dark days of autumn rain
Are beautiful as days can be;
She loves the bare, the withered tree;
She walks the sodden pasture lane.

Her pleasure will not let me stay.
She talks and I am fain to list:
She's glad the birds are gone away,
She's glad her simple worsted grady
Is silver now with clinging mist.

The desolate, deserted trees,
The faded earth, the heavy sky,
The beauties she so ryly sees,
She thinks I have no eye for these,
And vexes me for reason why.

Not yesterday I learned to know
The love of bare November days
Before the coming of the snow,
But it were vain to tell he so,
And they are better for her praise.

The heat was gone. October was arriving, sapping the blazing warmth out of the days and blowing away the pressing damp. Summer's dying throes were not gentle or gradual, but cold days alternated with hot, jumping up and down fast enough that the students were in shorts and tank tops one day, sweatshirts, jeans and jackets the next. And then it began to rain. Pattering outside the window, dripping between the bricks, turning the trees a dark, dark brown, almost black, and making the green plants pop all the more as they glistened. The diffuse grey light was slow in growing, slow in taking on any intensity of its own, fettered as it was by the clouds. Because there were no rays of golden light streaming in, because it was chilly and so much nicer under blankets, it was late before either of them woke.

The red-head stirred slightly, a lone hair was irritating his cheek, just enough to be felt but not seen. He shifted his weight slightly and gave his head a shake, realizing as he did so that he couldn't move his arms. Kurama knew he was in trouble, he had known for a while now, in the mid-range of his mind, but now he was struck by it with the full force of realization. Realization that his right arm was numb and currently pinioned by Gwen's shoulder, while she had a good hold on the other. She had a strong grip for being asleep, and when he tried to slip his arm free she began to stir.

'Well, l this would certainly count as complicating things,' he thought wryly after waiting a few seconds to make sure she was still sleeping. He didn't think he could extricate himself from the mess without waking her and a grumpy, not to mention embarrassed, Gwen would just make things that much worse. 'I didn't put her back in her bed,' he chided himself, now that it was too late. That had been the plan, hadn't it? Wait until she fell asleep and then move her, not fall asleep alongside her. Again he had ignored his original intentions, again he was getting far closer than he had ever meant to. This was dangerous territory, but this time the kitsune knew he had a soft spot for human females.

Gwen stirred again and Kurama went very still. He would pretend to be asleep until he could think of a way out of this situation. She leaned back against him, and then her breathing changed. Ever so slowly she let go of his arm and shifted her weight forward, while he continued to feign sleep. Then like a shot she was moving. He was still impressed by her ability to spring out of bed moments after waking. Before he could even push himself up she was out the door and jogging down the hall to the bathroom.

Kurama threw the blanket aside and sat up, running his hands through his hair to get it back in order. The grey light was over everything now, illuminating the room without any sort of distinction. He was awash in the drab color. He knew she would not be happy when she came back in, and in many ways he was glad that that was her reaction, but he also dreaded it. It was not the same as their usual teasing; this was an infringement on their unspoken agreement and in the end they would only hurt the more. He had to wonder how the human girl had more self control than he did.

'Why do I think I will be affected by our eventual separation?' he though harshly as he reflected on his train of thoughts. 'It's not like that, she's like Yusuke,' he told himself sternly, 'or Kuwabara. A friend I wish to protect. But she is someone I am far less connected to.' The continuing patter of rain was his only response as he sat there thinking. 'We have not shared the same experiences.' And out loud: "It has only been five weeks and three days since I met her."

He could hear the bathroom door open again and her agitated footfalls coming back down the hall. Being the wily old fox he was he had already decided on his course of action and only had to make sure he actually followed through this time.

She stomped back into the room and glared at him; flipping her hair back and stomping her foot as the door snapped shut. "You're a—a…You!"

"Yes, Gwen?" he asked sweetly as he fixed an innocent smile on her.

"AGH!" She exclaimed, her glare intensifying to hide the slight uncertainty that surfaced. She sucked in air to give herself time, and enough force to scream, but he would not let his innocent facade fall. "You yellow-bellied—you…you're going to pretend…" She took a shuddering breath and released it slowly, bringing herself under control as she did so. "Ah, whatever," she snapped, turning around and leaving once more.

"Gwen?" Kurama ventured, leaning over the end of the couch and looking out the door. She didn't respond, just walked off to the kitchen.

'Well, I guess that went better than expected.'

He got up and pushed the door shut, noticing for the first time the chill that had settled into the room. After quickly changing into his single pair of long pants and a long-sleeved shirt, he pulled a sweatshirt from the closet and headed down the hall. In the kitchen Gwen was hunched over a bowl of cereal rubbing her legs together. Even from halfway across the room Kurama could see the goose bumps on her arms. She spared him a slight glance as he approached, and her little grunt let him know that she was not pleased with him. But that was for the best, he told himself, better to have her annoyed, better that she had run from the room than snuggled closer.

"Since the temperature has dropped rather dramatically I thought you might be cold. So I brought you a sweater." He held out her hoody and with a muttered "thanks" she pulled it from his hand. He turned away as she pulled it over her head and began rooting through the cupboards. "Would you like me to make something?" he offered.

He heard her spoon clack against the bowl and her chair scraped across the tile floor. "I already ate. You can make yourself whatever."

She shuffled from the table to the window, pulling at the sash until it lurched upwards, admitting a blast of cold air. Kurama shuddered as it whipped through his hair and tore at his clothes. And there she was framed by the paling light, leaning on the sill as the rush of air caught her hair and flung it backwards. The smell of wood smoke began seeping into the room and she sighed a single syllable. "Fall," she shivered, breathing in the chill and the damp and the faint trace of smoke.

'Fall indeed,' Kurama thought, watching her. She shut the window then, far calmer than she had been before. And when she turned to look at him he saw something like resignation in her half-lidded eyes. Her slight smile didn't reach those distant eyes and he wondered what he would do if his mother ever looked at him that way. Nothing rational, he knew that.

"I'm gonna go to the gym," she yawned, fluttering a hand before her mouth. "Try an' wake up. Then I'm prob'ly gonna start that load of homework I've got."

"That sounds like an efficient plan for the day," he replied carefully. "I believe I will contact Yusuke, there are a few things I need him to take care of for me."

With a nod she left him standing with a bag of flour in one hand and the scent of smoke lingering in the room.

They didn't see each other again until evening, and then they spoke very little. A new unspoken agreement was formed: they would remain as distant as possible while remaining polite.

"Gwen!"

The brunette jumped and spun to face her roommate. The pair were alone in their room, their 'other roommate' having left a few minutes before without any clear explanation of where he was going or how long he would be gone for. Shelly had been shocked to see almost no reaction from the normally overprotective Gwen.

"I left you two alone for the weekend for a reason!"

She continued to stare at Shelly, a hand over her heart to feel the racing beat. "I thought there was a cockroach or something! Don't yell like that!"

Shelly planted her hands on her hips and cocked an eyebrow at Gwen. "What happened this weekend?"

"What? Nothing!" Gwen turned towards the window where the bleak grey sky was threatening thunderstorms. The temperature had gone back up that morning but she pulled her robe closer anyway.

"Don't give me 'nothing,' Gwen. I know something weird happened between you two." She took a few steps closer and put a hand on her roommate's shoulder. "Gwen, darling, he didn't do anything to you, did he?"

The horrified look Gwen turned on her at least let Shelly breathe a bit easier. "Good, I don't have to kill him then. At least I don't think I do. Did he shut you down?"

"It wasn't anything like that," Gwen said quietly, patting Shelly's arm. "I just realized that I was on dangerous territory and needed some space, and it seems like he felt the same way."

"Well you two do spend an awful lot of time together." Shelly frowned slightly and her eyes drifted to the side.

"I spend way less time with him than you and Peter spend together!"

"Yeah, but we're dating." Shelly's eyebrow went back up and she steered her roommate to the futon and pushed her down. Gwen's knees gave out and she plopped down, sinking back against the cushion. Shelly sank into the spot beside her and gave her friend a sad smile. "You've got it bad, don't you?"

A little whimper escaped Gwen's throat and she covered her face. Shelly patted her shoulder and rubbed her arm while Gwen sank her fingers into her hair and pulled, letting out a frustrated growl. "What the Hell is wrong with me!? What. The. Hell."

Lightning streaked across the sky, flashing through the window. A few seconds later it was followed by the low baritone of distant thunder, still one the edge of human hearing. Soon enough it would be closer. The rumble would shake the windows and the lightning would be blinding.

Shelly hugged her roommate but the girl didn't cry. There was too much anger there, too much frustration with herself. She was not about to let herself cry over a boy she had no right to, a boy she had always known was an impossibility, a relationship declared dead before it could even arrive.

"Let's call the girls, eat a lot of chocolate and watch a chick flick."

"But Shelly, it's Monday, and we have homework." Gwen pulled back and dragged a hand through her messy hair.

"I think we can take a study break." She smiled mischievously and Gwen couldn't help but smile back. The lightning came again, closer.

It was cool again when the red-head and brunette set out for the gym. The rains had knocked leaves down all over campus and Gwen stared at the fallen forms turning brown under foot. 'They go so fast,' she thought, plucking a star the size of her open hand from the ground. Kurama looked at her curiously but said nothing as she twirled the leaf and stared off the path. She was dreamy and he was aware that she was not all there. In the course of the day she had walked into two doors, dropped her pen five times, tripped over her own feet more than he had cared to count and she was about to catch her foot on the curb. He winced as she stumbled and nearly fell, but as she flailed suddenly he pretended to be examining some ordinary fern.

They made their way in silence down to the practice room they had appropriated for Gwen's martial arts lessons. It looked especially dark and cave-like to Kurama as Gwen wandered in without bothering with the lights.

'At least it will be a short session,' he thought as he flipped the switches. He thought there was no way she could want to continue very long in her current state of mind.

It ended up being the longest 'lesson' so far. He had to put that word in parentheses because it was far more like a battle than anything he had ever expected from his human. He had taught the affable little girl finger and wrist locks because he hadn't actually expected her to use them effectively. Before she had been afraid of hurting him. Now he found out that her little fingers were very deft and she was more than able to apply a nasty amount of pressure. Of course he had to admit to himself that he was also being rougher with her than was strictly necessary.

He threw her to the floor and heard her grunt in pain, but in a second she had twisted free of him and thrown her entire weight into his knees, bowling him over backwards. He flipped her onto her back and pinned her there.

By the time Kurama finally declared their session to be over they were both a mess. Panting and flushed they had pulled each other's clothes all out of place and even left a few lingering marks. Kurama was sporting several long, angry scratches and he had heard a seam pop on Gwen's shirt at some point, though he wasn't sure where. They stacked the mats in silence, not looking at each other directly, both unwilling to communicate and yet hating it. It was a dangerous game they were playing.

When they got back to the dorm Gwen sat down to check her email. Kurama was about to leave again, hoping Jeff was in his room, when a small noise caught his attention. The girl sat up straighter and twisted around to look at her roommate.

"Hey Shelly, Diana's sorority is having its annual debutantes bash this weekend!"

"Oh that was so much fun last year," the other girl replied. She leaned back in her chair to squint at the Gwen's computer screen. "We were all so drunk."

"Yeah." Gwen giggled and Kurama blinked at them both. "Remember that guy Rachel picked up?"

"Oh my god, can you say creepy?! We had to pry him off her. And what about that one you were with for half the night?"

"Let's not talk about that," Gwen said quickly and Kurama watched in surprise as her lips twisted as she repressed a smile.

I liked the Robert Frost poem when I stumbled across it last night. He's such a fawesome poet! (I'm sure you can all guess what that's an abbreviation of) So I've gotten a lot of reviews asking about Gwen's nightmare in the last chapter, I'm not planning on working it back into the story but it made me think of luckei1 who's doing a 'deleted scenes' thing for the story she just finished. And I was thinking maybe if people sent requests for scenes I skipped I would write 'em up, if I had time, and felt like it... hehehe. So feel free to pm me or whatever and we'll see.