"Souta don't drop my lamp, you baka!" Kagome yelled at her younger brother. "I'm not, sis!" Souta replied in frustration. "Suminasen, Souta. I'm just getting tired and grouchy I guess." Kagome apologized for yelling at her brother. She had already worked all morning at the museum and now was on the task of moving her things to her new apartment. Her back was aching and she was getting hungry. Kagome was extremely glad for the help Souta was giving her in getting everything re-located.
She felt a little sad at leaving her old room at her mom's. It was a scary experience moving out of the protection of her family's home, to live by herself, but she was a woman of the 21st century and it was time to establish some independence. Her mother wasn't very excited, but she was doing a very good job of hiding her anxiety over her daughter moving out. She knew that Kagome could take care of herself, but she was going to miss having her close.
Kagome walked into her new flat. It was a nice size apartment. Not huge, but not really small. It had a nice view of the river Sumida, and was relatively close to where she worked, thus saving her a bus trip. She decided that she liked the view so much that she would happily make the bus trip to the university campus if she lucked out and got the other job there. Her mom had given her approval after a thorough scan of the neighborhood. It seemed like a relatively safe place and the few people she had met in the building were very polite. In fact, she and Mrs. Sonwai on the second floor were already swapping recipes.
It was an eight floor building and Kagome's new flat was on the very top floor. Souta almost fainted when he realized that they were going to have to lug all of her things up all of those stairs. The dresser was the worst part, but finally they were almost finished. Kagome and Souta collapsed on the couch that her mom bought her as a housewarming gift. "Whew! I'm give out." Kagome sighed breathlessly. Her mom had just finished putting away her dishes and silverware, and the only thing to stow away was her books. Of course, she had a huge amount of books. The numerous books on Asian History and Archaeology, as well as the wide collection of fiction she owned. She possessed almost every book written by the American author Anne Rice, and this was by far her most prized collection. She looked over to the vast assortment of boxes they currently resided in, and decided that they could stay where they were until tomorrow.
"Kagome, I think that's everything. Would you like some help putting away you books," her mother asked kindly, as if she read her thoughts. "iie mom. I've got all evening tomorrow to stow them away." She looked up as Kenta walked in the room. He was carrying the last suitcase, which held her clothing. "Arigato, Kenta. Please put that on my bed. I'll unpack it before I go to sleep." "Sure thing, Kagome," Kenta smiled at her. He had been a big help getting the heavy stuff moved, and she was very grateful.
They all gave her a hug and said 'Sayonara'. Then she was alone. It was so quiet. Kagome decided to turn on her stereo. She went to her bedroom and unpacked her clothing while she sang along with the music. It only took about half an hour to finish her task, so she decided to get a shower and go to sleep.
Although her body was exhausted from the moving, her mind was still very active. She lay in her bed staring at the ceiling for what seemed like ages. She knew it was the strange surroundings and being alone. This was going to take a bit of getting used to. Her mind began to drift to work and what she needed to do the following day. Her thoughts soon led Kagome to her statue of Sesshomaru. Did she just call it 'her' statue, heehee. She had to giggle at herself a little. She obviously had been spending too many lunches with the stone work of art. Maybe she should try playing solitaire on her computer once in awhile. Now that she lived close by, she could even come home for lunch, like Sakura does each day. Somehow the thought of missing her relaxing visits with her frosty friend saddened her a bit. She decided that she was being silly and rolled over letting her mind drift off to dreamland.
Dreams are a strange thing, you know? At times they are confusing nonsense, and at other times they seem to have some deep meaning that relates to your very existence. Kagome slept soundly as visions of a white ghost from the past touched her body in places that no man had ever been. She awoke the following morning to find she had been sweating heavily during the night. There was moisture between her legs. 'Hmm, she thought, ...I wasn't dreaming of Kenta last night.' She smiled a little at the thought. Her body had a mind of it's own sometimes. She knew that a woman her age was normally active in sex. She had made the decision a long time ago to save her virginity until her wedding night. Her friends poked fun at her about her 'old fashioned' views on sex, but Kenta respected her and loved her enough to wait. With all of the things going on in her life, she felt like sex would only complicate matters.
Kagome found that going to work was a much easier task than it had been while living at her mom's. She walked the short distance in half the time than it normally took, and found that she was quite a bit early. She decided to sit with Sesshomaru and make out her grocery list, while she waited for time to get started.
She rounded the corner to find him waiting there. A magnificent pillar of ethereal beauty, ever watching. "Ohayoo, Sesshomaru," Kagome said as she took her seat. She took out her paper and pen, prepared to write. She stared at the figure, as she had so many times in the recent past, but today something caught her eye. Something that struck her as a little strange. She couldn't quite pick up on it. It was almost as if his head was tilted a little more toward his shoulder than she remembered. 'You baka, she told herself, that's ridiculous.' She continued with her list.
"I think I'll pick up some things to make a soup. How does that sound, my prince?" She wrote down the items, as well as a few other necessities, and put away the list and pen. She sat back on the bench and smiled warmly to her granite companion. "You know, I dreamt of you last night. Mmmm, the things you did to my body. It was simply scandalous." She giggled to herself. "Well, I suppose I better get to work. Dewa mata, Lord Sesshomaru." Kagome gathered her things and went off to work.