Man…why can't everyone just be happy and smart? Why won't Kikyo like…die, or something? Why is Kagome being stupid? Why is Inuyasha being even more stupid? Why can't they all just follow the good example of Sesshoumaru and Rin? Or wait…no, then no work would ever get done on the play. Okay, why can't they follow the example of Sango and Miroku? And what about Kouga? When's he going to get a little self respect? Will Kagura have anything to say about all this? And where did Naraku go? What's up with him, anyway? Let's dig a little deeper into these things in this installment of…
*****
Center Stage
Part 7
*****
"Guess what today is?" Rin asked Kagura as she popped the lid off a bucket of red paint.
"Saturday?" Kagura guessed, handing Rin the mixing stick as she glanced over her designs before looking over the tarp covered in unpainted set pieces and flats trying to see if anything was missing.
"Yes, but that's not all." Rin giggled slightly, reaching for another can of paint.
"Um…it's the sixteenth?" Kagura tried again, scanning the main road for vehicles. The other members of the crew should have been arriving soon enough to help. "Of November?"
"Yes! But do you know what that means?" Rin wanted to know.
"That I have to give up my Saturday for set painting?" Kagura guessed.
"What else?" Rin prompted. Kagura nodded as she saw a red car in the distance, but then frowned slightly. That wasn't Kouga's car.
"Kouga's probably going to ditch us for his girlfriend?" Kagura wasn't really paying attention to Rin at this point. She saw a truck pull over to let out a familiar freshman crewmember. Still no Kouga.
"No, it's a good thing." Rin hinted heavily. Kagura could see other crewmembers arriving, but so far no Kouga.
"I don't know. It's your birthday?" Kagura wondered, trying to stop looking up at the sound of every engine she heard.
"No! It's our anniversary!" Obviously Rin was bored with the guessing game, that or she was too excited by the occasion to wait for Kagura to guess any longer.
"Our what?" Kagura arched an eyebrow at this, feeling irritated at her sudden urge to look up to see if any red Camaros were coming. Who cares if he shows up anyway? We have plenty of help without him.
"Anniversary! Sesshoumaru's and mine!" Rin was practically squealing at this point, and Kagura's lip curled slightly at the noise. Disgusting. Tell me that I'll never be in love. It makes you become an idiot.
"That's great. How long have you been together?" Kagura asked, only vaguely interested.
"Two years!" Rin was bouncing around, the cans of paint completely forgotten. Kagura vaguely wondered if Rin would even care if she knocked the paint all over herself. I better move my sketchbook before she ruins it and I'm forced to kill her. Bending over, she picked up the book and moved it over to the sidewalk. They had taken up all of the small side parking lot with the pieces that needed to be painted. Most of the work was going to have to be done by Kagura and Rin, but the backgrounds and some of the larger pieces were going to be done by other crewmembers. However, Kagura didn't trust most of them to help with the details, so that would be up to the art director and her assistant.
"Good for you." Kagura sometimes got a bit annoyed with Sesshoumaru and Rin. It wasn't that she was jealous of their relationship so much as she didn't approve of how easily it distracted Rin from her work. She wouldn't need my help if she could stop jumping all over him for like ten seconds.
"So…I was thinking." Rin suddenly sounded as though she was going to ask a favor, and Kagura was pretty sure she knew what it was. "Since it's our anniversary and all…we kinda made plans to spend the day together."
"So now you're ditching me too?" Kagura didn't mean to sound snappish, but somehow she couldn't keep her tone neutral. After all, it would be a long day even with the two of them doing all the details and supervision, and now she was going to have to handle it alone? And I'm supposed to be her assistant.
"Don't get mad, Kagura!" Rin may seem to see Sesshoumaru as her whole world sometimes, but that didn't mean she didn't care about her friends. She hated to upset them, and after all the goofing off she did, this play was very important to Rin too. "I really hate to do this to you, but I will be here until noon. That gives us four hours, and I know that you're more than capable of taking care of things yourself. And it's okay if you don't finish, we can just come in tomorrow."
"Rin…" Kagura pursed her lips in frustration as she was unable to stop herself from popping her head up to look as she heard a car approaching. It's not him, anyway. What a slacker. "Look, I'm not mad, I'm just kind of stressed out is all. I guess…I mean, it is your anniversary, and it would seriously suck if you had to celebrate it by painting sets until you practically pass out from the fumes."
"I knew you'd understand!" Rin jumped over, hugging Kagura so suddenly she nearly winded the red-eyed girl. "And listen, I know this whole thing with Kouga is really bothering you, but you shouldn't worry."
"I'm not worried." Kagura huffed as she turned to count the gathering crewmembers. Only four so far, but she could see Sango's white Accord pulling in to the lot, and she knew that Sango would bring her brother with her. And if Sango shows up, at least we know Miroku won't ditch for his girlfriend. "I just think he's being irresponsible. And Kagome should know better than to hinder this production anymore. I mean, I like Kagome and all, but god, this Inuyasha bullshit is like a thorn in Sango's side and she just keeps getting more and more pissy about it."
"I don't think you should hold it against her." Rin told her, smiling knowingly. "Kagome and him have a strange relationship."
"Like I really care what the two of them do." Kagura grumbled. "That's his problem."
"Morning guys." Sango looked less than excited to be awake at eight in the morning on a weekend. "Who else is ready to go back to bed?"
"You'll be fine, Sango." Rin patted her friend's back comfortingly as they headed over to where the rest of the crew was waiting for them. "Just hang in there. Miroku's coming soon, isn't he?"
"He better be, he kept me up all night." Sango grumbled. At Kagura's questioning look, she blushed deeply before explaining. "I mean, we were on the phone really late. That's all."
"Let's just get started." Kagura didn't really feel like hearing about other happy couples right now. It seemed everyone she knew was happy with someone else. For some reason, that bothered her a lot these days. I never used to care about things like that. Not after the bullshit I went through. What's the point of having a boyfriend? It just causes problems.
"Hey, morning ladies." Miroku was trying to run and carry a tray of coffees at the same time. Kagura hadn't even noticed his arrival, but she could tell from the rushed look on his face that he must have only just arrived. "Sango dear, I thought I'd save you from the pains of an early morning." He handed her one of the four cups in his carrier. "And for our ever faithful artists." He distributed one cup to Kagura and one to Rin. "I hope you don't mind being up so early."
"Thank you, Miroku." Rin beamed at him before taking a sip.
"I'm just glad you all drink coffee." Miroku took the final cup in his hand, tilting his head slightly. "I wasn't sure what you'd all want, but I know that most girls enjoy chocolate, so I thought plain mochas would be a safe choice."
"Mmm," Sango's maroon eyes lit up. "Hazelnut mocha, that's my favorite! I can't believe you remembered that."
"I do my best." Miroku smiled, wrapping one arm around her shoulders as she sipped at her coffee.
"You are the best." Sango blushed at the affection they were displaying, but she was obviously happy enough with Miroku that she wasn't going to stop for the sake of her own dignity.
"You guys are so disgusting." Kagura rolled her eyes, and somehow her gaze landed on the empty street. It's not like I'm still looking for him. Cause I'm not.
----------
"Oh! Here he comes!" Rin jumped up from where she was painting trees into the background, "I'm leaving now!" her clothes were splattered with paint, so she had brought a bag with a change of clothes in it. She ran into the school as Sesshoumaru pulled up in his car. Kagura thought that it was injustice for a man so beautiful to own a car so hot. It was a silver viper, and Sango had explained that he'd used his inheritance to purchase it. His mother had passed on when he was still very young, and she'd apparently been very well off. Not that I can really complain. I mean, I love Kaze, but still. No girl stands a chance against him with that car. Inuyasha was apparently very bitter about it, as his mother was the woman his father married after his first wife died, and so he was without a ridiculously huge inheritance. And though their father did very well, he was apparently determined that his sons should "do for themselves." Thus, Inuyasha was stuck with an old tan Carolla. Kagura could see why he was upset about it all.
"Hey, Sesshoumaru." Sango waved from nearby where her and Miroku were working on the blue base of a sky from opposite sides of a flat. "What're you guys doing today?" Sesshoumaru was out of his car now, waiting beside it for Rin to reappear.
"Hello, Sango." Sesshoumaru was always very polite, at the very least. "I will be taking Rin out."
"Wherever she wants to go?" Sango asked. At his answering nod, she smiled brightly. "He's so good to her." She told Miroku, reaching for more paint. "They're so cute."
"If you'd like, we can go out tonight as well, Sango." Miroku leaned forward to reach an unpainted spot. It brought his hand almost right next to Sango's, and she smiled at him before painting a streak of blue across his knuckles.
"We'll be all covered in paint." She told him, cocking her head to one side as she looked up at him. Her hair was in a messy bun covered with a pink handkerchief, strands escaping to fall haphazardly across her face. "I can't go out like that."
"I think that a bit of paint, strategically placed, will only enhance your beauty, Sango." Miroku leaned toward, her, but instead of going for a kiss, he streaked blue over her cheek. "Like that."
"Miroku!" Sango acted upset, but her deep blush and her wide smile belied her words. "That's it, you can't come over tonight."
"Why not?" Miroku looked very hurt, but it was obvious that he knew she was teasing him.
"You'll need to wash your hair." Sango told him, reaching up to streak the paint through his hair in a broad band. "It could take all night."
"That's it!" he stood, wielding his brush threateningly as he chased her across the parking lot, Sango laughing as she ran away. Kagura rolled her eyes, but she supposed that at least they were pretending to work. Just then, Rin came back out of the school, a streak of red paint on her cheek the only evidence of what she'd been doing all morning. She skipped over to the viper, leaning up to Sesshoumaru who kissed her on the lips before planting another kiss on the red spot. They were whispering quietly, so Kagura was pretty sure she didn't want to hear what they were talking about. Moments later, they climbed into his car and sped off.
"So now I'm in charge." Kagura sighed as she worked on a mountain and spoke to herself quietly. "And fucking Kouga's still gone, probably doing Kagome's laundry or something. What a dork. And the director and the writer are running around, going through some freaky form of paint related foreplay. I'm ready to go home."
"What's going on?" a familiar voice caused her to look up. It was Kouga, looking a little like his hair hadn't been brushed before he pulled it back. He was carrying a small bag in one hand, his car keys in the other.
"About time you show up." She narrowed her red eyes, standing up after setting her brush on the edge of its can. "Your girlfriend finally let you go, I see."
"I wasn't with Kagome." He crossed his arms over his chest, drawing himself up to his full height so he could look down on her, as though it would make her back off. "I overslept."
"Believable. Very believable." Kagura looked him over again. "Is that why you look like shit?" she asked him.
"I was in a hurry." He told her. "I didn't mean to be late."
"Well, thanks for not keeping us waiting." Kagura put her hands on her hips. "What's in the bag?"
"I thought…I was…never mind." Kouga shoved the bag at her, looking a bit frustrated at her attitude. "I thought you'd be less mad." He motioned toward the bag as she impatiently opened it and pulled out the sandwich inside, looking from the plastic enclosed food to Kouga and then back again. "Ham, right? With tomatoes and lettuce, but no pickles or mayonnaise. That's what you get sometimes at lunch. It's fine, right?"
"I didn't know…you knew what I ate on my sandwiches." Kagura offered him half a smile. "Have you been getting into my food or something? That's kind of creepy."
"No." Kouga folded his arms again, looking away indignantly. "I just hear you complaining when your mom doesn't make your lunch right."
"I guess…I didn't realize I'd been eating with you guys for all that long." Kagura blushed slightly, putting the sandwich back in the bag and making a great show of folding the top closed.
"Aren't you gonna eat it? I thought…since the time's about noon. I thought you'd want some lunch." Kouga told her. "There's carrot sticks in there too. I know you like them after you eat your sandwich." He shrugged as though this was no big deal. "But, I mean, if you don't want it, I could just eat it."
"No…I actually didn't even think about bringing a lunch. I guess I thought I'd just take a break when the time came, but I'd rather be here where I can watch everyone. It's not like I can trust anyone else to supervise now." Kagura moved to the nearby sidewalk, sitting on the ledge and opening the bag again. She could feel a blush rise in her cheeks again as she saw that he had indeed added carrot sticks under the sandwich, as well as a bottle of orange juice. He really does know what I like to eat. For some reason, this was affecting her very strongly. Why do I keep blushing? It's just a lunch he brought so I'd forget how he's a lazy ass who slept half the day away.
"Yeah…um, where is Rin?" Kouga scratched his head before coming over to sit next to her as she unwrapped the sandwich and took a bite.
"With Fluffy. It's their anniversary." She told him, not even thinking of the nickname as she said it. "This is good. Did you make it?"
"Yeah, well, I can make a sandwich at least." Kouga shrugged off her compliment. "So…what's with the name? I mean…Fluffy?" Kagura nearly choked at his question. She really hadn't realized she'd called Sesshoumaru that, as it was her own secret name for the older man.
"Oh…um…that's what I call him." Kagura explained, feeling a bit embarrassed that she was caught. "I have little names for almost all you guys. It's kinda stupid, I know, but it's what I do. Sesshoumaru…see, Rin…well, she talks about him like all the time, so this one time I said something about how they don't really seem to be very similar, since she's so affectionate and outgoing and he's so…I don't know, he's really reserved, you know what I mean?"
"Yeah," Kouga nodded, not seeing exactly how this was going to lead to Sesshoumaru being fluffy in any way.
"And she said, 'Sesshoumaru seems really tough on the outside, but once you get close to him, he's so soft and sweet. Like a big fluffy marshmallow.'" Kagura explained. "So, yeah, I thought it was funny. I know it's kinda stupid, but that's just…you know."
"No, it's not stupid." Kouga assured her. "I just wanted to know how you came up with it, that's all. It's good. Like Kikyo the witch. Pretty funny." There was a long pause as Kouga watched Kagura eat her sandwich and then move on to her carrot sticks. "So then…did you have a name for me?" Kagura nearly choked again at the question, a blush covering her face immediately.
"Um…well, kinda." She admitted. "But it's just…you know."
"What is it?" he wanted to know.
"Shouldn't you um…I can get you started painting the sky over there, since Sango and Miroku have apparently decided that since Rin's not here with Sesshoumaru, they need to take over the job of running off to make out." Kagura pointed out that the writer and director had stopped chasing each other through the parking lot some time ago and were now nowhere to be seen.
"Come on, tell me." Kouga insisted. "I know you have one."
"Well…you won't think it's funny." Kagura told him, chewing on her last carrot stick thoughtfully. "I mean, it's funny to me, but I think you'd get kinda mad if I told you."
"I would not get mad." Kouga assured her, urging her to tell him. "Come on, I'll just get mad if you don't tell me."
"You will not." Kagura teased him, opening her orange juice. "You're not allowed to get mad at me this early after being in trouble."
"Trouble? I was in trouble?" Kouga gave her a look of mock innocence, his eyes widening as she giggled. "I don't know what you're talking about."
"You just—" suddenly, Kagura set down her orange juice and stood, her entire body going stiff. Apprehension practically poured off of her in waves as she addressed the approaching young man who had obviously caused her sudden mood shift. "What are you doing here?"
"Kagura. How nice it is to see you getting along so well with your new friends." Naraku offered her a smile that never touched his eyes. Kouga did not like that guy. Something about the aura he sent out. He seemed kind of dangerous, and a bit unpredictable. Also, Kagura and Kagome obviously didn't like him very much, so that was enough for him. "I thought I'd come and offer my help with the set painting."
"We don't need anyone else." Kagura told him, but her voice wavered slightly. Kouga suddenly wondered if there was something between those two. Kagura didn't seem at all her usual confident self when she was talking to him. Almost like she was scared of him…
"I insist that I help." Naraku's smile was so fake, Kouga felt like punching him just for the sake of seeing the boy show a true expression. "But if that would displease you, I could leave. I hate to displease you, Kagura." He was standing so close to her now, that he easily could have grabbed her to him if he wanted to, and for some reason, the whole situation had all Kouga's warning bells blaring full blast. He sensed that there was something he was missing in the exchange between the two, something secret between them that he couldn't quite see. Whatever it was, he didn't like it.
"That's fine." Kagura was suddenly devoid of any semblance of courage in front of the young man, her attitude deflating as he reached forward to brush a hand over her cheek in a way that Kouga found to be entirely too familiar. Before he knew what he was doing, Kouga was standing beside her, leaning toward Naraku in a threatening way. Naraku looked over at the other boy as though he'd just noticed his presence.
"Oh, so this is your new friend Kouga, isn't it, Kagura?" Naraku smiled at Kouga now, that same fake smile he'd turned on Kagura before. "I would love to have a chance to speak with him. After all, any friend of yours is a friend of mine, are they not, Kagura?" Naraku's hand was now in her hair, and Kagura's eyes were lowered, staring at the ground as she trembled so faintly that Kouga could barely see the way she was shaking. "It's been so long since you've had friends for me to play with, Kagura dear. I've been quite lonesome."
"No." she nearly squeaked the syllable, and Kouga had the sudden urge to push Naraku away. All of it just seemed so surreal, he wasn't sure what was going on, and he wasn't sure if he should interfere, or if Kagura even wanted him to. After all, she ate with them and he considered her a friend after all the banter and the teasing, but somehow he wasn't sure if she even wanted him to be seeing her right then, in a situation where she seemed so weak and so helpless. And he knew she didn't fully trust him yet, otherwise she would have told him about her past.
"No?" Naraku's eyebrows lifted as his hand went back to her cheek, seeming to rest there in a gentle manner, but Kouga wasn't convinced that he cared for Kagura in the least. He probably enjoyed harassing her, but that was about it.
"Please." The entreaty was so weak, so desperate; Kouga's heart went out to her at that moment. This was not the Kagura he knew, this was a Kagura who was weak and submissive and who desperately wanted to be invisible. "Please no."
"Hey," Kouga stepped forward then, elbowing his way in between the two of them, his back to Kagura as he faced Naraku down. The other boy seemed to be confused about why his hand was no longer on Kagura's cheek. For her part, Kagura was clutching to the back of Kouga's black t-shirt as though it would keep him from leaving her to Naraku's mercies once more. "If you want to help paint, get the fucking blue paint and make a fucking sky over there. And leave Kagura the fuck alone. She's fucking busy."
"What a bad mouth you have, Kouga." Naraku tilted his head to one side. "I suppose it seems as though I am not wanted here. Perhaps I should go elsewhere."
"You do that." Kouga gritted his teeth and clenched his fists. He could still feel Kagura shaking as she leaned against his back, trying to disappear from Naraku's view. He should've stopped Naraku's taunting a lot earlier; maybe then she wouldn't be so upset.
"I will see you later, Kagura, Kouga." Naraku waved as he turned and headed back to his dark green Nova, acting as though the entire situation had gone exactly as he'd planned. Kouga waited until the other boy drove off to turn his attentions to the girl still huddled up behind him.
"He's gone now." He carefully extricated his shirt from her hands, turning to see her. Kagura's face was pale with fear, her lip quivering slightly as she refused to meet his gaze, staring down at his chest instead. "Kagura, what the hell was all that?"
"I hate him." She told him, lunging forward to cross the small distance between them and bury her face in his chest, her hands again going to clutch the black material tightly. Kouga immediately caught the meaning of her words, and while he was happy to know that he had finally gained her trust, he was panicked to realize that she was now sobbing as she clutched onto him.
"Kagura…oh god…calm down." He didn't know what else to do, so he wrapped his arms around her. After all, Kagome had eventually stopped crying when he hugged her. That must be the way to stop girls from crying. However, this only caused her to sob harder, so much so that they were receiving several stares from the nearby crew members still working on the tasks she had given them. Kouga was getting rather embarrassed by the whole scene, so he decided to take Kagura into the school and get her cleaned up, but it was hard to move her anywhere with her sobbing into his shoulder like that. Kouga didn't know how to handle this obstacle, so he tried to ease her away from him, but that didn't seem to work, so he instead just lifted her up, looping one arm underneath her legs and using the other to support her back against him as he turned to take her into the school. Of course, carrying her like she was a child only caused him to receive more stares, so he hurried inside, his face flushing deeper red with every passing moment that he could feel all those eyes on them. It wasn't as though he was doing anything wrong, after all. Kagura was just really upset, and she was his friend after all. He was taking care of her. Somehow, when she let go of his shirt to wrap her arms around his neck, leaning further into him, it didn't help matters for him.
"Come on now," he spoke to her softly as he walked down the empty hallway, figuring that if he just dropped her off at a bathroom she would do some magical girly trick that would make her feel all better and look happy again. Girls did that kind of thing all the time, didn't they? "Here we go, do you want down?" He asked her, figuring that maybe she'd rather just cry for a little longer instead. After all, girls did cry a lot, so maybe they liked it. And somehow, having her legs wrapped around him like that felt…good, in a strange way. He was blushing again, even though there was no one else around this time. Of course, his ever helpful mind decided to point out at that moment that his hand was holding her up in a very inappropriate place, and this led to all kinds of thoughts a boy holding a girl who was not his girlfriend should not be having. In fact, he probably shouldn't even be holding Kagura in that way, but she seemed to like to be close to him right then, and if it would make her stop crying, he'd let it happen. It wasn't like he was cheating on Kagome, after all. Not like Kagome would even care if I did, since she's so fucking preoccupied with stupid Inuyasha all the time anyway. How had he gotten in this mess? It was ridiculous.
Seriously, here I am, standing in front of a girls' bathroom with a girl just bawling all over me, and all I can think about is how nice her ass is and if thinking she has a nice ass counts as cheating on the girl who's dating me just so she can make some other guy fucking jealous. Kouga leaned against the wall as he waited for Kagura to try to get down, which she didn't seem to plan to do anytime soon. He reached the hand that was on her back up to pat her head, where her hair was pulled up in a haphazard bun to keep it away from the paint. Okay, I'm not only thinking about her ass. Her hair smells really nice. If she looks up at me right now, we'd be close enough to kiss. Not that I would kiss her. That probably would be cheating, even though Kagome wouldn't even care…maybe I should break up with her. I mean, isn't Inuyasha fucking jealous yet? And dammit, it makes me feel stupid kissing her in front of him for show when Kagura's right there too. It's just…weird. Not like I like Kagura or anything, but if I did. That'd be weird.
Letting his hand go down, Kouga started to stroke her neck softly, noticing with no small amount of satisfaction that she was no longer crying so much as she was sniffling and hiccupping against him. "Feel a little better yet?" Kouga asked, deciding that he could just take her into the bathroom himself. After all, it wasn't like there'd be any girls in there, and he'd always wanted to see what it was like inside a girls' bathroom. Lowering both hands to loop under her legs and hoist Kagura up against him, Kouga managed not to grunt at the feeling as she suddenly tightened her legs around his waist and let her head move to the crook of his neck, where he could plainly feel her lips against the sensitive skin there. Knock it off, dumbass. It's not like she's thinking about that. Now just get her off of you before you do something stupid. And stop thinking about her ass, it's not helping. Think about other things, like baseball…old ladies…creepy Naraku…come on…
"Here, I'm gonna set you down now." Kouga told her, his voice a bit huskier than he'd intended as he ended his internal lecture and set her on the bathroom counter. She nodded slightly, causing her lips to drag over his throat and initiating a new internal mantra of things that would distract him from his sudden fascination with the fact that Kagura was indeed a girl, and she was a pretty one. With soft lips. "Lemme help clean you up." He told her, trying to hide his flushed face by staring intently at the faucet as he ran some cold water and pulled out several paper towels, getting them wet and turning the water back off. He offered the wet towels to her, but she just continued to sit there looking helpless, so he sighed slightly, pressing the cooling wet towels to her face, caressing her skin until it regained some of it's normal pallor and the red splotches started to disappear. Crumpling the towel, he pressed it to the back of her neck, just like his mom had done for him whenever he'd hurt himself and cried hard enough to need the same treatment. "It's okay now." He spoke to her softly, using his free hand to brush stray strands of black hair back behind her ears before they fell forward again. "Calm down, come on." She wasn't crying anymore, but she didn't seem to be feeling much better, so he thought it would be better to continue talking to her until she was normal again.
Throwing the towels away, Kouga let her lean forward to hold onto him again, her head resting against his neck once more as her breathing began to grow more regular. He noticed with some trepidation that her legs were still on either side of him, but it wasn't as noticeable as before since she was still sitting on the counter. Deciding not to make an issue of it all, he began stroking her back comfortingly the way he'd seen Miroku do for Sango whenever she was upset, resting his chin on top of her head. He could feel the heat of her breath on his neck, and something about it was comfortable, even while it made his heart beat a little faster. "I'm sorry." They were the first words she spoke since she'd said she hated Naraku, and at first Kouga wasn't sure he'd heard her right.
"For what?" he wanted to know
"I've…Naraku's mad at me now." She told him, not moving from his neck even though it muffled her voice. "He'll take it out on you."
"Then can I ask you something?" He began, stroking her back still as it seemed to be calming her at least a little.
"What?" she asked.
"What happened between you two?" he wanted to know. "After all, if he's after me or whatever you're saying, I should know what I'm up against, right?"
"I guess." She told him, looking up finally, her red eyes shining still from the crying she had done earlier. "But…first you have to tell me something."
"What?" he wanted to know.
"I can't be honest with you until you're honest with me." She told him. "If Kagome's most important to you, why are you here with me right now?"
"I…just…" before he could think of a good answer, Kagura leaned forward, pressing her lips to his in a kiss that was chaste despite the heat behind it. Thoughts and explanations dissolved from his mind as all he could think of was how he was now cheating on his girlfriend, and he didn't care.
After all…she's only using me…right?
*****
The End (Of Part 7, That Is)