DISCLAIMER: I'm too stressed out to own Inuyasha right now! Shoo!
A/N: I'm pleasantly surprised to see the feedback I'm getting for this story, both on and The Cycle is in a big threat to go on hiatus because of this story and all you wonderful reviewers. Thank you all so much.
Btw, sorry if it confuses you, but my writing penname is asian tofu. I don't feel like getting another account here at Mediaminer, so the username is BlueOtaku. Just a note in case you suspect me of plagiarism…;
Ah, on occasion I also write…
--- Review Replies ---
Xaenthe nsi: I'm glad my first chapter made you laugh (was it from the typos? ), and even happier that you commented twice! To tell you the truth, I generally started working with this story last year, but toyed with the idea and deleted it after I saw the third movie (the plots were too much alike!) before reposting this version. I daresay it's much more satisfying to write – thanks for reading!
Sarah hates Kikyo: You'll be happy to know that Kikyou isn't going to be playing a role in this story. Appreciate you dropping a review!
Kayle: Well, you can't be too sure, because hopes can be crushed painfully. Thank you for commenting!
RabidFangirl101: Keep guessing! Even I get confused over the plot sometimes, so don't feel bad if you're wrong. Happy you left a comment!
Dee-chan: I'm flattered. blushes I'm delighted that you gave me some constructive criticism as well; no one has pointed out my grammar thus far. But considering how I always go back in the story and add/change, and because I'm a Grammar Nazi (you would be too if you had my English teacher), they're most likely typos. Chapter four was surprisingly easy to compose, mainly because the flashback part with Kagome/Inuyasha had been mulling in my mind for the past two years…¬¬, but the way to write it without it sounding horribly redundant was tiring. Angst and comedy are my favorite genres, second only to any romance, which is oddly hard for me to put in writing. The fact that I'm thirteen doesn't help much in the descriptive department, so I'm extremely glad you find my story up to par. I'm rambling again – enjoy the chapter!
swasdiva: I'm very pleased to know that everyone found the Inu/Kag part depressing…I think I ended it too choppily. But anyway, this fic is quite confusing, which is quite my writing style, but it will unravel bit by bit with time. As always, comments are wonderful to receive!
Kuroi to Shiro
Chapter Five – The Morning After
By Blue AKA asian tofu
Shunsuke scowled as he looked into the mirror, "Nice going, smart ass. You've managed to have a fight with your girlfriend and screw up every good impression of yourself to the most influencing figure in her life."
Hands gripping the sides of the sink, he mumbled a few more disparages at his reflection before grabbing his toothbrush and squeezing an ample amount of toothpaste on it.
As he brushed, he squinted at himself in the mirror.
"Damn…" his eyes were acting up again. They were crimson by the time he'd come home the night before, and sleep hadn't helped much, as there were still hints of red specks. Stop thinking about her.
It'd been a while since his last 'conversion,' as he liked to dub it. Shunsuke had hoped it wouldn't happen again.
He was different during those times – a type of alteration that he could live without.
I'll have to make up with Sango, he sighed mentally, putting up his toothbrush.
Sango was stabbing at her pancakes as little too forcefully than Miroku would've liked.
With any luck she isn't imagining those as my face…
He tentatively reached for the milk carton, only to have Sango coincidentally lean over the table, conveniently blocking his route.
"That's cheating!" Miroku exclaimed sulkily.
Sango smiled sweetly, "All's fair in love and war!"
Taking this as his cue, Miroku batted his eyelashes, "You love me?" Instantly, Sango scowled, clouting him down at the back of his head. He laughed, finding himself up close and personal with his dry cereal.
She grinned at the pieces of cereal stuck to his face when he rose, somewhat amused.
It's almost like nothing's changed, he thought absently, picking the offending objects off.
Sango blushed when he saw her looking at him out of the corner of her eyes. The laughter had died down, instead replaced with a sort of awkwardness. Since when has it been awkward with Miroku? Sango mused, feeling his eyes at her side.
Miroku gazed briefly at her, noting the healthy flush in her cheeks and the sparkle embedded within her chocolate eyes. Then there were her lips, appearing so red and full, and were most likely soft and warm and –
"Ah!" he cried ramming the perverted thoughts out. Sango stared at him oddly, and Miroku cleared his throat sheepishly. Why did lechery just so happen to run in his family? "I need the milk."
This time Sango handed it too him, not changing the expression she was giving him.
For a moment, their hands touched on the exchange. Miroku couldn't ignore the tingling sensation of nerves that her skin gave him. It had been such a long time since he'd felt this way – why was it coming back now?
You're forgetting the past, houshi, his own voice scolded him.
"Hey."
Miroku looked up from Sango's face, finding himself a few inches closer than his original position.
Shunsuke was standing at the entrance.
Sango nearly jumped out of her chair, "How did you get in?" Shunsuke rolled his eyes, holding up a key.
"You gave me one, remember?"
Miroku furrowed his eyebrows, giving Sango a look, "How come you gave him a key?" She imparted him a deadpanned expression, so he revised his question.
"Why didn't you tell me?"
She sighed exasperatedly, and said, "I did tell you. You were too busy flirting with a brunette to notice."
Shunsuke leaned against the wall for a duration of their exchange before cutting in, "Can I speak to you, Sango?"
"Go ahead," said Miroku, propping himself against his chair. Sango, who was still a bit sore from their last fight, glared.
"In private?"
Miroku was the one to glare this time, and he pithily took Sango's hand and squeezed it, getting up with her.
"Just remember I can be a violent bastard when you want me to," he whispered in her ear. Sango rolled her eyes at him, but smiled none-the-less.
"Fine," she said succinctly to Shunsuke, indicating him to follow her to her bedroom. As soon as the door shut, Miroku strained his ears, but couldn't hear anything. Sighing, he poured his milk.
Shunsuke shut the door behind him, facing Sango.
"If you're here to apologize, then you might as well leave," she hissed as roughly as she could. Shunsuke stared at her dubiously, the tone of her voice signifying that she had already forgiven him.
"I didn't mean what I said last night," he started, examining her as she sat on her bed. "We both said things we didn't mean – "
"I didn't say anything. I was asking you about what your opinion of us was," Sango snapped.
Shunsuke frowned, hoping that his apology wouldn't turn into another fight, "I was confused. Hell, I am confused." He stared at her pleadingly, "What was I supposed to think when I saw you with Miroku? He looks the same age as us – "
"Actually, he is," Sango cut in softly.
"It made me afraid," he said, sitting down on the spot next to her, "It woke me up on how easily I could lose you."
Sango felt Shunsuke take her hands, "I don't want that to happen."
Briefly, though she didn't understand why, she had hoped that they would have another fight. Am I afraid of commitment? She wondered as his violet eyes probed at her foggy brown eyes.
She wasn't saying anything – that was bad, "I'm sorry," he murmured, tickling her skin with his breath.
Suddenly, the girl leaned forward and brushed her lips against his, "Apology accepted."
Ding dong.
"Souta!" Mrs. Higurashi commanded, leaving the boy to reluctantly drop his video-game controller.
Scowling, he opened the door.
"Hey sport! Is Kagome around?" Hojo asked brightly, flashing him one of his dental-commercial grins. Souta inwardly groaned, detesting the nickname that Hojo called him. Honestly, the guy acted like he was his father or something.
That was just too wrong.
"Kagome!" Souta yelled, making sure to shatter a few glasses in the process. Hojo kept grinning, not perceptible of the damage being done to his eardrums.
There was an audible thump from upstairs, followed by a grouchy "What?!" from Kagome.
"Hojo!" Souta replied. Immediately scuffling ensued, and Kagome came down the stairs with a rumpled tank top and pajama bottoms on as she hastily tamed her hair.
"No, I will not help you with your chores this time – "
Kagome froze.
"You weren't conning me into doing your work?"
Souta shrugged sheepishly.
Miroku flipped another channel, finding that if they were going to invest in a TV, they should have at least gotten some better channels that programmed more interesting things.
It could be just the fact that news and children's programming is on the top priority of all local channels…
It had been thirty-one minutes and twenty-seven seconds since he'd last seen Sango enter her room with Shunsuke. Thanks to his perverted imagination, the endless number of scenarios that popped into his mind periodically was just about to send him flying out the window. True, it had been a while since they'd gone off, but it no reason for him to worry. Sango could take care of herself.
As if on cue, the two emerged from the room, appearing untainted. Each of them had a glowing rush in their eyes, and Miroku could not miss the flush in Sango's cheeks.
How he loathed it.
"So, did you two work it out?"
"Hojo," Kagome said, leaning back into the bench. They'd finally taken the deferred walk through the sakura fields, the soft shade of the trees giving her a tingling warmth. The young man had his arm wrapped possessively around her waist, a tactic he had never used before. "Thank you."
He stared at her, almost through her, and smiled, "You're welcome." Kagome looked into his eyes, wondering. Do you even know what I'm thanking you for?
"For being there for me. I appreciate it." For letting me forget.
Hojo moved his hand and cupped it around her cheek, an inane grin striking across his face. Hesitantly, he bent forward, and took her breath away.
Memories of the previous night guiltily seeped through Kagome's locked away alcove, and she didn't respond. Confused, Hojo pulled back.
"I love you, Kagome," he declared, barely over a whisper. Suddenly the warm hand on her cheek went cold.
"Come again?"
I did not hear you say that.
He misinterpreted her words, and brought his head down to kiss her again. "Mm…Hojo…!" Kagome said against his lips, the boy gripping onto her with a force incomparable to anything he'd used on her before. With every memory of Inuyasha clearly making its way to the frontline of her mind, she shoved him back vigorously.
"I don't get it!" he roared, heatedly picking himself off the bench. "What is your problem?!"
"Just because you say you love me doesn't give you the right to kiss me like that!" Kagome spat, disgustedly wiping her mouth with her sleeve. Hojo took a sharp intake of breath, his eyes bright with a newfound contempt.
"Because when I say I love you it doesn't matter! Isn't that right?"
For once, Kagome remained silent. He continued.
"One night you kiss me, and the next you push me away. Is that how you want our relationship to be? At first I thought it was me who was the problem, the one who was doing everything wrong; so I changed!" He glared at her, his lowered voice hoarse, "I changed for you."
"Please, listen – " she tried to explain. You don't understand.
"I am not going to listen to your bullshit anymore! You aren't ready for me, Kagome." She gasped at his use of the swear word; Hojo never swore.
"All that's keeping you back is the memory of a shameful half-breed," he hissed disdainfully. "A worthless one that never really loved you back."
SLAP.
"Shut," Kagome cried, "up."
"Are you afraid now, Kagome?" Hojo snarled, ignoring the throbbing pain in his cheek. "Are you scared of the words that might be true?"
She stared at him.
"No," she sniffled, retaking her seat on the ground. "No."
He fought off the longing to hold her in his arms, to let the flow of tears that were to come recede. He had to get her back.
"I'm just not ready to listen."
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Wow, this chapter is 300 words shorter than intended. I was procrastinating with school, if that's any type of valid excuse, and a number of plot bunnies. Recently, I wrote an original one-shot for a contest at my school, and so I've been working pretty hard on that. There isn't much to say now, except that I'm sorry I didn't update as quickly as my last chapter, and I'm apologetic beforehand because chapter six won't be coming out until I get a number of events taken care of. Er…a review wouldn't hurt for my morale, so it wouldn't be a crime to leave one here!