Weeks passed exhaustingly for Nanashi in the Gandaran castle. She felt worn out by all the training, day in and day out. In the beginning, it was all she could do to get herself out of bed in the morning and stay awake during the day. She missed the Human World, missed school, missed her aunt and friends, missed studying. She hardly seemed to care having to been in a room with King Yomi anymore, as he was quite stiff and quite open about keeping his distance, even as they slept. Some nights he came to the room well after she went to sleep and was gone before she even woke up. Rumor had to be abound about it she figured when Jin asked her if anything was going on between the two of them. She had told him no, hinting that if he was interested in her, he still had a chance, but he waved her off, seeming even more off put now that she was in King Yomi's room.
When she hit the burn out point where she did not think she could keep going anymore, she was surprised to find a package on her side of the bed waiting for her in the evening after dinner. She looked over the package carefully, finding a note written on with slanted, calligraphic script. "Perhaps these will help you unwind at the end of the day." it was from King Yomi. She opened the package, seeing four books, new ones from the Human World. Romance novels by the look of them. Not the sort of book she would usually pick up on her own though. They were books though, books she could read. The books in the library had been ones she was entertained by.
She got ready for bed, giving into temptation to read one of the books before going to sleep. It was not the best book she ever read by far, but it was better than rereading one of the books she brought with her all over again. She sat up, reading longer than she had expected. She jumped slightly when she heard King Yomi come into their room. She looked up at him, watching him come into the room quietly.
"You are still awake?" he commented. "Enjoying the books? I could hear you rustling the pages," he added.
"Yes, thank you," she replied mousily. She cleared her throat. "Why though?" she added out curiosity.
"You seem worn out and in need of something to take your mind off of all the training," he answered. "A burned out fighter is no good to anyone."
She nodded, saying once more, "thank you."
She read a little more from the book while he readied himself for bed. She tried not to watch him out of the corner of her eye. She finished a racier part of the novel before putting it down for the night, face feeling a little warm from what she had read.
The next day, she noticed she felt less exhausted, more relaxed, and less burned out. She found it easier to keep up with the others than it had been in weeks. The books might have been held together with a flimsy plot at best, but they were better than nothing. She found the books actually made her miss being with someone the way the plot devices in one of the novels led to two people getting together. Mentally, she could not help imagining Kurama, or even King Yomi as the leading man, even though thinking of either of them like that seemed rather inappropriate.
On a following day where she was training and flying with Jin, she considered acting on her feelings. They were alone, flying around outside, almost like the way they were at Genkai's land. She landed on the ground, summoning away the wind dragon wings, feeling less tired, less of an ache in her upper back than she expected. He landed with her, teasing, "tired already?" he said.
She shrugged, stepping over to him coyly. "Not quite," she breathed, standing closer to him, looking him up and down. He looked attractive, hair all wind tussled from training. She felt a rush of excitement.
He raised his hands up, catching her meaning. "We agreed not here," he said, shaking his head.
She huffed, drawing back. "Why is hucking considered a vulgar term?" she asked.
She heard him swear under his breath. "Who told you that?" he asked, making an attempt at a laugh.
"Kurama," she answered.
"You tell him anything?" he pressed.
She shrugged and hummed, "he knew."
Jin frowned down at her. "Makes sense then. After we arrived here, he asked about our training in the Human World and encouraged me to continue it. Now it seems like he wasn't just talking about flying..." He looked down at her, softening his gaze. "Look, I like you, just not like that. Having a little bit of fun to pass the time. Besides, this forest area is crawling with demon beasts who happily sink their teeth into you. Or worse, doxies that would gladly sink their claws or teeth into me."
"I know," she huffed, trying to not look too disappointed.
They went back to the castle after that for the evening. She kept quiet, sitting near Kurama at dinner tonight, which seemed to surprise him. When he tried to engage her in conversation, she did not rise to it. She looked at him discreetly, knowing she had no chance with him anymore either. She had ended it, knowing restarting it would make for a terrible decision. He wanted to return to the Demon World permanently when his mother passed away and did not need another person tying him down to the Human World. Plus the Youko part of him losing control and biting her again was a risk. She also looked up at King Yomi, trying not to let her mind wander. He was demon and king and she knew he did not get there through benevolence alone.
The excitement she had felt earlier in the evening with Jin had yet to fade when she to bed later in the evening. She read from one of the novels, coming across a romantic scene between the leading male and female characters. She finished it, huffing, and feeling frustrated. She checked the time. King Yomi likely would not be back in the room for another hour. She took a deep breath, trying not to think or psych herself out. She drew the blanket up higher around her. She pushed her pajama pants and panties down to her mid thighs. She reached her hand down between her legs, mind landing on a time when she was with Kurama in human form, his gentle touch, his soft caress. How he held her as he touched her, allowing her to finish with the deepest sigh. The memory of it, the imagining of him there, actually doing so kept her going, even though it was hard to get there.
She jumped at the sound of the door opening, rolling over on her side and drawing her hands up by her chest. She closed her eyes, trying to pretend at trying to go to sleep. Her heart was pounding loudly in her ears though, which she felt certain he could hear. She felt irritable, mad at him for coming back to the room so much earlier than she expected. She bit back a groan trying to rise up and out of her throat.
She kept her eyes closed as she listened to him getting ready to go to sleep, noticing he sounded like he was going slower than usual. She kept herself quiet, willing her to stay awake long enough for him to fall asleep so she could continue. After what seemed like forever, she felt him slide into the large bed they shared. She usually kept herself pressed far on one edge of the bed and him on the other as well. She heard him heave a sigh that ended with a hum. He shifted on the bed more than usual to get settled. Twenty minutes, maybe thirty minutes and he would be sleeping heavily enough for her to finish...
"Oh, are you lonely, woman?" she heard him whisper in her ear. He was close to her, nearly touching her. She could feel the heat coming off from his body. She felt herself growing warmer by proxy.
She kept her eyes screwed shut tight. She tried to keep herself silent, but her breathing had a mind of its own. She was drawing too deep, too loud of breaths. He would never buy that she was asleep right now. His hand came down to rest on her bare hip, warm, large, and calloused. His fingers were longer than she realized. She kept herself still, feeling her arousal going for a second wind. His hand started moving, barely at first, fingers tracing from the top to the bottom of her hip bone and back again. She knew she should stop him, but did not want to. He grew bolder, hand tracing down the side of her thigh in its movements. He stroked up and down, hand moving softly, slowly, but making her hotter never the less. He stroked along the front of her thighs, making her gasp in eager anticipation. She thought again about telling him to stop, to say something about lights or stars, but the idea of stopping him felt unbearable. His hand moved up and over her stomach, going up the pajama top she wore now. He stroked along her waist, stopping short of her chest, even though she moved her arms up and out of the way for him. He shifted his hand, going to her back and running his finger tips along her spine, making her arch her back and shiver. She needed to tell him to stop before it got too late. His hand ran down the length of her lower back, brushing against her backside and the back of her thighs now, more boldly. She hummed, panting now, hating him and feeling irritated that his touch felt so good right now.
He stopped abruptly, pulling his hand away. She drew a breath, opening her eyes, wishing he would keep going instead of stopping. His hand came back to her waist, drawing her closer to him, back to front. He was warm, so pleasantly warm. He nuzzled against her ear, whispering, "get on your back and take off your pants if you want me to continue."
He pulled away from her, making her shiver unpleasantly. She felt him shift, drawing away from her. She groaned, wanting to smack him in the heat of the moment. She had one last thought to tell him no before reaching down to kick her pants and panties off. She rolled onto her back, all but her head. He reached down, humming to himself thickly. When his hand come to her thighs, she closed her eyes. He stroked up and down the length of her thighs, feeling hot and sweaty. His other hand came down to the front of her hips, pressing down firmly. He teased at her entrance with his other hand, making her gasp noisily. She felt herself grow hotter, silently begging him to stop teasing her. When he slipped two long fingers inside of her, she moaned, feeling how deeply they went. His hand on her hips pressed down harder, she felt herself tighten up on his other fingers that were rubbing against her now. She bucked her hips involuntarily, but could hardly move. She brought her hand up around his wrist, gripping it tightly, but not trying to pry it away. She felt herself building, tightening up on him more. She tried to arch her back, but he held her down. She whimpered, legs starting to shake and draw together. She kicked and squirmed, wanting to buck her hips, to arch her lower back. She panted loudly, bringing her head in line with the rest of her body, arching it and her upper back up, relieved when she finally came.
He pulled his hands away as she finished, slipping out of the hold on his wrist like it was nothing. She panted, bringing her hands to her mouth, noticing she was still too warm, but quite relaxed now. She felt more than watched him he rise up from the bed. She watch him as he went to the bathroom, hearing him wash his hands. She watched him come back into the room, walking stiffly over to the bed. She lay still, wondering nervously at what he would do next. It had felt good, relieving, but she was unsure if she should have allowed it to happen. She wondered if he would want to sleep with her now and if she wanted to do the same or not.
He climbed back into the bed, her watching him to see what he would do. He laid down on his back on the edge of his side of the bed, the way he did every night. She sat up, drawing the blanket up with her. She rolled over to him cautiously. She reached a hesitant hand out to touch him.
"No, woman," he breathed. "Go to sleep," he ordered.
She looked down at him, pausing before she rolled back over to her side of the bed. Awkwardly under the blankets, she pulled her panties and pants back on, settling herself in to fall asleep, wondering about what she just allowed to happen.