Number One Priority Chapter 11
Kagome smiled at the two young men that had sacrificed their well deserved sleep to stay up with her. "Guys I really appreciate this so much. But I don't want you to be tired all day tomorrow on my account."
Tasuki waved off the comment. "Stupid woman, if we were concerned about losing sleep we wouldn't have agreed to stay up with you."
All three of them were sitting on the couch watching late night television. Kouga sat on Kagome's left and Tasuki was on the right. Casually, Kouga had reached his hand up to cover his mouth in an attempt to stifle his latest yawn.
Kagome rested her hand upon his forearm to lower his hand from his mouth. She locked eyes with him and noticed the faint reddish hue his icy eyes cast. "Kouga-kun, I appreciate this but you should go to bed."
Kouga shook his head stubbornly. "I'm not going to sleep until you do."
"Very well, then I'll go to sleep. Do you guys mind if I sleep in the living room?" Kagome asked. She would force herself into sleep if that was the only way Kouga would rest.
"You can't sleep in here!" Kouga cried jumping to his feet and staring down at Kagome. He noticed the look of dejection that crossed her features and took hold of her shoulders. "That's not what I meant. I mean you can have my room. I'll sleep in here."
"Thanks Kouga, but I simply can't impose on your hospitality anymore."
"Kouga, go to sleep. I'll sleep on the other couch in here with Kagome and keep an eye on her." Tasuki offered. Kouga gave him a suspicious look, but Tasuki only offered a playful smirk.
"Fine, but if anything weird goes on you let me know." Kouga was about to storm into his room but Kagome had grabbed hold of his wrist to stop him. He looked at her in confusion but she ignored his expression and stood up to kiss him softly on the cheek. She then smiled and sat back down as if nothing had happened. Quietly, Kouga retired to his room.
Tasuki frowned as Kagome sat beside him back on the couch. "Why did you kiss him?"
"Because I really appreciate how you guys have taken care of me lately." Kagome confessed.
"Well of course, we can't let some sweet girl like you be taken advantage of," Tasuki replied matter-of-factly as he avoided her gaze and stared vacantly at the television.
Kagome's expression darkened at the statement. "I'm not a sweet girl. If you knew the real reason I came here you wouldn't think that highly of me." Kagome muttered.
That gained Tasuki's attention and he looked at her. "What are you talking about? Nuriko said something about your boyfriend broke up with you so you moved here to get away for a while. Did I hear wrong?"
She shook her head. "No, you heard right, but it's the lie I told. Hojo didn't break up with me." She whispered, her bangs shadowed her eyes from Tasuki's view.
He reached for her hands and held them firmly within his own strong grasp. "Then what happened," he demanded softly.
Kagome continued to look down, but her eyes were focused on their hands now. "You have to promise not to tell anyone, especially Miroku."
Tasuki nodded, and encouraged her to continue.
"Hojo proposed to me. I rejected him."
Tasuki's grip of her hands loosened a fracture at the unexpected proclamation. "I see, how does that make you unworthy of our care for you? Sometimes it's harder to be the one to do the heart breaking than to have your heart broken." His wise words seemed to spark life back into her and she met his eyes.
She smiled weakly at him. "Thanks. It's not his fault that I couldn't make such a commitment. I never had any intentions to marry him. And then I come here and meet Hotohori and he asked me to go away with him. That relationship was becoming too serious as well."
"You're young, it's okay. I'm not in any rush to get hitched myself." Tasuki assured her, hoping that was the right thing to say. He was glad she had ditched her American boyfriend and turned down the heartthrob Hotohori. Maybe now he had a shot!
Kagome pulled her hands away from his and looked away. "You don't understand. I did it because I didn't want them to find out. And they would have found out."
"Found out what?" Tasuki asked gently, wrapping his arm around her shoulders and pulling her towards him. She was sobbing gently as he pulled her against his chest and allowed her to bury her face against his neck.
"I can't tell you, you'll think awful things about me and you'll tell Miroku." Kagome sobbed quietly. He wouldn't have heard her if her lips weren't so near his ears.
Tasuki wrapped both arms firmly around her. "I would never think awful things of you, Kagome. I give you my word that I won't tell anyone whatever this secret is you are carrying."
"It's all my fault that they got divorced in the first place. It's my fault that he had to move halfway across the world." She began to ramble.
"Kagome, tell me what happened. Who divorced and who moved?" Tasuki coaxed. Maybe Hotohori would have been better to deal with this after all. Or maybe Chichiri or Nuriko could have handled this situation better. Tasuki was not known for his great soothing capabilities for distressed women.
"My mother and Miroku's father, they got a divorce because of me."
"How is it your fault?" Tasuki was confused. He prayed this wasn't what he thought she was saying. Surely it wasn't and he was over-reacting. His damn imagination was getting ahead of him as usual.
"The reason I don't sleep alone is because one night it was just me and Miroku's father at home. I couldn't have been more than nine years old. I had a nightmare and usually when I had a nightmare I would either climb in bed with Miroku or beside mom." Kagome began.
She fell silent for a few tense moments. Tasuki could feel his heart hammering in his chest. This was not sounding good at all.
"I didn't know mom wasn't there. I crawled into bed but she wasn't there but my step-father was. He told me it was okay and he let me fall asleep and held me in a loving hug until I fell asleep, just like my mother would do." Kagome paused as she shut her eyes and willed the images to not appear.
"I must have been asleep when he undressed me. I remembered feeling something strange and opened my eyes and he had his fingers inside of me." Kagome swallowed thickly. "I tried to push his fingers away, said he was hurting me. He laughed and said it was a magic way of making me forget my nightmares. I didn't know there was such a thing."
"It's okay Kagome," Tasuki whispered as he held her tighter he could feel his own amber eyes welling up with tears to match the ones streaming down her cheeks and wetting his shirt.
"And then he took off his pants and you can probably figure out the rest." Kagome took a deep shuttering breath. "I started to scream and my mother happened to return during the act. She later told me she had a mother's intuitive feeling that something was happening to her baby."
"Then she divorced him and forbad him from seeing you again. It's not your fault Kagome. You didn't know. You were just a kid." Tasuki assured her.
"I can't believe I've told you this. Nobody knows except my mother and Miroku's father. I was so ashamed that I had allowed him to do what he was doing. I thought it was some sort of magic. I didn't know." Kagome's voice was broken and it sounded like she had cried herself to sleep.
Voices began to drift from the hallway and caused both her and Tasuki to become fully awake.
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"Oh Miroku, you know how to make a girl feel appreciated," the woman cooed as Miroku held her against the wall outside his apartment. He was trying to pull out the key from his pockets to open the door but kept dropping it.
'Kagome' certainly wasn't helping matters with the way she kept her legs clamped firmly around his waist. Plus he was only using one hand because the other was planted over her left breast as he idly fondled her.
"Kagome please, I need to get the key," Miroku begged as her hands found their way inside the front of his pants.
"You keep on calling me Kagome baby, I don't care." The woman began to nibble on his ear lobe. Miroku kicked at his apartment door. Maybe Inuyasha was home and would open the door. He was busy at the moment breaking all sorts of moral codes as he began to lick her neck and bite her flesh slightly here and there.
The gust at his back from his neighbor's door jarred him in his ministrations. He didn't need Tasuki and Kouga to see his sinful acts and pester him about them. "Can't you see we're busy?" Miroku spoke to them sharply. He wasn't sure who was at the door, it must have been both of them because he saw Tasuki's recognizable flaming red hair and Kouga's dark ebon locks.
"What are you doing Miroku?" Kagome's angelic voice asked softly. Miroku was confused. How was her voice coming from the direction of Tasuki and Kouga's apartment when she was clearly sucking on his ear lobe?
Next thing the not so sober Miroku felt was a swift kick in the back of his legs that sent him tumbling to the floor. 'Kagome' immediately jumped away from his falling form and stared down at him. Now there were two Kagome's looking down at him. One looked confused, one looked disappointed, and then Tasuki looked ready to kill him.
Tasuki kicked Miroku hard in the balls before cursing. "You're a fucking bastard Miroku. Forget you ever knew Kagome and don't bother coming to work tomorrow. If you do I'll fucking kill you." Tasuki pulled along the saddened looking Kagome and slammed his apartment door.
The other girl couldn't help but notice the red head saying the name Kagome and the way Miroku was staring at the other girl. She may have been attracted to the man on the floor that was withering in pain instead of pleasure. But, she knew not to be involved when the man was obviously in love with a woman and was merely using her as a substitute.
At first Jazette thought she could ignore him calling her Kagome, but after meeting the girl she wouldn't be able to forget the look of utter betrayal on the girl's face. She made a quick decision and stepped over the form of the quickly sobering Miroku and knocked on the door the other two had disappeared.
"Go the fuck away," Tasuki replied as he continued to hold Kagome.
"Please, I'd just like to say something to you both," Jazette replied softly.
She was about to leave when Tasuki opened the door, Kagome wasn't in sight. "What?"
"We were both drunk. He kept calling me Kagome. He obviously had me confused with the lovely young lady you are taking care of. I wanted to apologize for the both of us. Don't worry, nothing is going on between the two of us." Jazette explained.
"Heh, I wasn't worried." Tasuki replied gruffly.
Jazette was trying to see past him. "Is she okay?"
"She's had a rough life and lately that bastard," he cast his eyes over to Miroku's still form briefly, "hasn't done anything to make it better." Tasuki's eyes softened slightly at the woman. "Thanks for apologizing."
"I see, well I'll be going now. It wasn't a problem. Bye." Jazette left, without a word to Miroku.
Tasuki walked over to Miroku and picked up the fallen key and unlocked his door. He then helped his co-worker to his feet. "You have no idea just how much you fucked up do you?"
Miroku shook his head sadly. He seemed to have sobered up enough to realize that Kagome's trust in him had been shattered. "Tasuki, what did I do?"
"You just proved to Kagome that you are as bad as your father," Tasuki replied as he pushed the drunk man onto the couch and then left the apartment to re-enter his own.
Kagome was still staring at the counter he left her standing beside. He wrapped one arm around her shoulders and then placed his other under her knees to lift her up abruptly. "Come on, you're sleeping in my bed. Don't worry you can trust that I won't do anything." He assured her.
He need not have worried for she had wrapped her arms tightly around him. Unfortunately it was so tight that he was unable to pry her off of him once he reached his destination. After her tale of what her step-father did he didn't want to scare her but she was making this difficult!
In defeat he decided to climb under the covers with her and simply hold her throughout the night. This was why he avoided women. They always seemed to have too much baggage.
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Nakago looked at the woman lying beside him on his king sized bed. She was truly beautiful and the only person who knew everything about him and still cared about him. Honestly he didn't see how it was possible that she knew all his darkest secrets and desires and still seemed to love him unconditionally.
If he so much as hinted at desiring her company she would drop everything and be at his side in an instant. He ran his fingers through her long auburn hair. It fell nearly to her knees. He could feel a sigh of contentment threatening to fall from his lips but he couldn't have that.
His father was a powerful politician and would no doubt force Nakago to wed some woman from another political powerhouse family. Could Nakago really abandon the power his father promised him for the love of this commoner?
Was Soi's love worth losing his inheritance?
The ironic thing was she knew about this and she said she wouldn't blame him. She loved him and wanted him to have everything necessary for his ambitions. Soi said she was content sharing her body with him. She loved him and only wanted him to share his heart with her.
He had never answered her question on how he felt about her. She was the most important person in the world to him. He could care less if everyone on Earth perished as long as she was spared. But did that mean he loved her?
His mind drifted as he pulled her back into the warmth of his arms. She seemed so happy to just be held by him. She never asked for any promises. She was content with their stolen moments.
Naraku's suggestion the other day was bothering him. Did he really need to compete in the fraternity's contest to woe the mystery girl? No one knew about Soi. If he didn't participate they might question his lack of motives.
He wanted to ask Soi what her advice to him would be. He wasn't interested in this other girl but it would be another way to gain face in the brotherhood. She would probably encourage him to do what was best for him.
Nakago sighed wearily as he felt Soi's fingers curl into his thick blond masses of hair and gently sooth his scalp with her feather light touch. It was a stupid contest. Considering the fact that neither Hotohori nor Sesshoumaru were participating it would not seem odd that he too deemed himself too high and mighty to participate.
His fingers began to idly form lazy circles along Soi's bare back. What was power if you had no one to enjoy it with? When they woke up in the morning he would tell Soi of his decision.
A rare smile crossed his handsome features as he tried to picture her reaction. The two had been secretly seeing one another for seven years, since they were freshmen in high school. It was baffling to him because he had never even considered any other women even though he dated countless to appease his father. He was paying the bills after all.
But, Nakago was a senior now and the last installment for his tuition had been paid. He didn't need that bastard anymore. He had Soi and that's all he needed.
Yes, he would have to tell Naraku he wasn't going to participate in the hunt for the girl contest. He decided that he had more interesting matters to tend to as he kissed the woman in his arms on the forehead before falling asleep.
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Miroku had ran his head under the cold water from the tap. His head was pounding but after the freezing water he was sober enough to realize what had happened. How could he have confused that one girl as Kagome?
And even if he hadn't confused her, why would he try to take Kagome back with him? He didn't think of her in a romantic way. Three months to live and if he kept up this behavior he had a feeling either Tasuki or Inuyasha would be the death of him.
Wait a minute? Why should he be concerned about this? It wasn't like he did anything wrong. All he did was have a few drinks and bring home a girl. She had wanted to come after all. Besides, it wasn't as if he had any particular girl he was supposed to be loyal to.
His wet hair clung to his neck and he ran his fingers through the strands absently. He had nothing to be ashamed of. He should go over to Tasuki's right now and plead his case, but then he had nothing to be ashamed of. What was that racket?
He wished that noise would stop.
He located the source of the incessant racket. It was the telephone. Who in their right mind would be calling him now? He didn't want to talk to anyone. Annoyed, he picked up the receiver.
"What?" He answered, his voice was groggy.
"I'm sorry Miroku, did I wake you? This is Sango." The voice on the other end replied. Miroku stared at the receiver in his hand in confusion. Why would Sango call? "Miroku? Are you there?"
"Um, yeah. Sango, did you need something?" Somehow Miroku found his soothing tenor.
"I, I'm sorry to disturb you. I'm sure you're probably busy." Sango trailed off.
"No, not at all. What can I do for you?" Miroku asked as he sat upon the kitchen counter and began to swing his legs back and forth. The effort was keeping him awake.
"I need to see you. There's something I need to tell you." Sango rushed her words together in her nervousness. Her erratic behavior caused Miroku to arch a brow. Why was the ever confident Sango sounding like some crazed school girl?
"It's kind of late. Maybe we can talk tomorrow after you move downstairs. I could probably help you move some of your stuff, I have the day off." Miroku explained. There was no need to elaborate and share that his day off was due to a death threat by his co-worker.
One could practically hear Sango biting her lip on the other end before she answered. "I don't know. I don't want anyone else to be around."
Miroku realized he would probably see Kagome if he helped Sango move in. That probably wasn't a good idea. "How about we get an early dinner tomorrow and talk about whatever is on your mind?" He suggested casually.
"Yes! Let's do that. It's a date." Sango promptly hung up. Miroku stared at the receiver in his hand. That was certainly odd behavior on Sango's part. He wasn't going to concern himself with it now though. He couldn't have all his friends hating him.
TBC
A/N: Nakago and Soi are both from FY. They are my favorite couple in the series that DOESN'T involve Miaka being the girl. It's not sounding like the fraternity's game to get the girl is working out. Nobody wants to play!