Author's Notes:
Apologies and explanations for the delay are in my user info. In short, real life sucks but I'm back trying to write again.
And please no "This is a bit short" type replies. This is seven pages, the standard length I always write.
Anyways, I hope to get chapter 32 out very soon since everyone had to wait this long for this chapter. I hopefully won't have to delay things like this anymore, but time will tell. Thanks for your patience and enjoy!
To answer a question, one must first study and research the facts behind it.
It seemed like such a simple scenario, to find an answer to those questions.
Why did he kiss me? What did he mean by it? When did he have this change of heart?
Who was he to capture my thoughts like this?
A part of me desperately wanted to be mad at him, finding a safety net in the bickering tension we'd maintained since we'd met.
But at the same time, I couldn't really get mad. If anything, the whole situation softened us both.
Sesshoumaru let the ice coffin around his heart begin to melt.
And as for me?
I decided to throw my worries to the wayward wind and just follow what I felt was right.
And at that very moment, letting myself love Sesshoumaru was more than just right- it was the answer.
Chapter 31: Mystery Caller
It was the sound of sirens. Alarm bells ringing. Flashing lights going off.
And as Kagura withdrew herself from layers of sleep, she almost quipped that it must be her brain finally registering the kiss from the night before.
Instead, she opened her eyes to a firm, stoic expression on Sesshoumaru's face. An expression she discerned meant he was irritated and worried by whatever it was that was causing the noise.
"Rin," His calm tone somehow managed to be heard over the racket; the young girl sleepily rubbing her eyes as she walked towards him, "Stay with Kagura."
As Rin sat beside him on the fold-out bed, Kagura could feel Sesshoumaru's arms around her withdraw as he stood; leaving on a solitary mission to silence the alarm.
"Wait a damn minute, he was holding me!" Kagura's thoughts piped up, then feeling a shiver of cold, she easily determined what had happened.
"I guess he can't sleep when the person using his chest for a pillow is shivering. I mean, heaven forbid I disturb his beauty sleep!"
"Um…Miss Kagura?" Rin questioned, her hand gently tugging on the loose pajama sleeve, "What's going on?"
Allowing herself a moment to assess the situation, Kagura frowned.
"It's just the new alarm system. It's all right, probably just a squirrel or something setting off the motion detectors."
That reasoning seemed to calm the girl somewhat, but it only made Kagura's anxieties worse.
"That's all it is…right?"
The alarms finally stopped, but Sesshoumaru still hadn't come back. Each moment seemed to heighten the tension in the room as the sudden silence settled eerily about the house. That is…until the phone rang.
Kagura's eyes darted to the clock, then back to the telephone sitting across the room.
"Who the hell would be calling this early?"
The phone continued to ring and Kagura slowly stood to go answer it.
"It's probably the alarm company calling to see why the system went off," She said aloud, yet it was more to herself than to Rin.
Picking up the receiver, her mouth opened, ready to greet the person on the other hand with a simple 'hello' but the word never came. In that brief second of time, the phone had been knocked from her hand and a man's hand covered her mouth.
"Don't."
His single order made her start and her red eyes darted up to his face.
Sesshoumaru looked slightly on-edge, his golden eyes darting about as he waited for the caller to hang up.
As soon as the hum of the dial tone returned, he removed his hand from over Kagura's mouth.
She looked to the phone, its receiver swinging back and forth like a metronome in rhythm with the hollow dial tone. Turning to face him, she let her pent up tension vent.
"What the hell was that for!"
He said nothing, but moved to return the phone to its rightful place.
"Don't answer it," He responded after a moment.
"Why not?"
"Do you wish to him know you're here?"
No name or clarification was necessary, the simple 'him' sent a chill down Kagura's spine.
"Naraku…"
"The alarm was a diversion to get someone else in the house to answer the phone."
"And if he'd heard my voice…"
"He'd know for certain if you were here."
Shakily leaning back against the wall, Kagura jumped as Rin's small hand clasped hers.
"Are you okay, Miss Kagura?" The young girl asked, picking up immediately that whoever this 'Naraku' was, he wasn't good.
Kagura weakly nodded, but her red eyes stayed focused on Sesshoumaru.
"So…it was him?"
"I'm not certain. We shouldn't take unnecessary risks."
She released the breath she was holding and closed her eyes as if to ease away any lingering worries.
Sesshoumaru glanced once more to the phone before speaking up.
"We need to get ready for work. Rin, stay with us."
"Okay, Sesshoumaru," The girl replied, clutching Kagura's hand tighter, as all three made their way upstairs.
By the time Kagura started getting ready for her morning shower, the house was crawling with people. Police officers scoured the grounds while Mr. and Mrs. Taiyoukai looked after Rin downstairs.
Sesshoumaru, once again, resigned himself to the position of guarding the bathroom door.
"Um…Sesshoumaru?" Kagura began, desperately wanting to ask about the kiss last night or why he stood without an excuse outside the door.
"Yes?"
"About all this…"
"Don't concern yourself with it," He cut her off.
"But…"
"Things happen."
Quietly she took that in, and realized despite it all, she could only bring herself to ask about the current situation.
"There are so many things I want to ask him…"
"Don't you need to get ready for work yourself?"
Kagura posed the question in hopes he'd walk away from his vigilant post. At least then, things were back to normal somewhat. But this attentive without excuses Sesshoumaru simply perplexed her.
"They'll understand if I'm late."
He dodged the weighted question with ease, all the while deep in thought himself.
The morning was already proving to be more of a headache than anyone could have come to expect.
The silence continued, save the murmurs and questions exchanged between the people downstairs. Whoever it had been intruding on the grounds, they'd left no clue of their presence.
Kagura silently wished for a moment that it was just a squirrel and a wrong number playing out as some wry coincidence just to give them all a scare.
But as she stepped out of the shower and the echoes of the world below grew silent, she became even more aware of the silent figure that lingered outside the door.
True, Sesshoumaru was never someone to call talkative, but right now, his quiet nature was something Kagura found downright irritating.
"He's avoiding too much. Does he even remember kissing me last night? Or is that just something else I'm not to concern myself with?"
"Kagura."
His voice caught her off guard and she dropped the towel she held, staring at the door and secretly almost hoping he dared to barge in on her like that.
"What?" She snapped back after a moment, trying as hard as she could to sound irritated.
"I believe we should discuss the events of last night in detail before encountering those who might inquire about it."
She paused, reaching down and wrapping the towel about her body, before realizing what Sesshoumaru fully meant.
"Afraid I'll spill to Jakotsu or Bankotsu about the kiss and then you'll get berated with questions, eh? Well, if you don't start explaining yourself- I might just do that you glacial excuse for an attractive man."
"Well it's hard for me to explain anything since I haven't a clue what was going through your mind last night. Aside from your casual conversation about the weather, I don't know a thing."
Sesshoumaru fell silent outside the door and Kagura smirked in triumph.
"Gotcha. Now fess up, Mister. At least give me something to go by…"
"I needed to."
Kagura's hand froze on the doorknob, her ears swearing they couldn't be hearing what they thought they had.
"W-what?"
Slowly, she began to open the door. Desperately wanting to seek out Sesshoumaru's expression, hoping it was laced with some clues to his cryptic speech.
"I was seeking an answer. That is all and nothing more."
He seemed so nonchalant about it, like it was merely a survey or test he had to conduct purely for business reasons. But Kagura caught sight of the lightest hint of emotion gleaming in his golden eyes.
Each step she took seemed to be heavy, her hair still dripping wet and her body clad in nothing more than a towel. She had planned to try and use that to her advantage, in hopes to get some reaction from him. But now, now she felt like a newborn doe carefully entering the meadow after a spring rain.
She was alert to all the noises around her, eyes wide and attentive. Her weight seemed to balance itself on the balls of her feet, ready to run away or to run forward at any second. And just like the clean air after the rain falls, the world seemed clearer to her now. Every aspect of it coming into the radiant sunlight and revealing its secrets.
Sesshoumaru had gotten his answer the night before. And now Kagura found her answer standing there before her in plain daylight
"Did you find the answer you were looking for?"
The words tumbled from her lips before she even knew she was speaking them, and at their utterance, he turned to face her.
Raising his eyes to meet hers, he replied.
"I did."
Everything that had happened that day. The fact Naraku could have been breathing down their necks and ready to strike that very second. All of it seemed so trivial at that moment when their eyes met.
Kagura began to berate herself. She had to be dreaming. This was too surreal to be true. Sure, books and movies painted the illusion that there was some spectacular moment when you just knew, but that was just a fairytale, right?
But Sesshoumaru didn't try to look away. He was beginning to accept the nagging answer he knew all along.
The reason she was so interesting. The reason he took her in. The reason he put up with her curses and name-calling and attitude.
All the puzzle pieces fit together now and the answer was clear.
Somewhere along the line, between that first fateful phone call and that precise moment, something had changed.
Allowing himself an almost invisible smirk, Sesshoumaru pinpointed the cause with ease.
"Ice always melts when exposed to something fiery. It's inevitable, even for me."
Kagura braced herself against the wall, as the situation sunk in.
"Sesshoumaru…somehow, I'm not even sure how but…he loves me."
Then with a smirk of her own, she shot back her reply.
"Well it took you damn long enough."
Sesshoumaru tossed the pile of clothing he held at her, "Get dressed. We'll be late."
And as he turned to leave the bedroom, Kagura swore she caught the lightest hues of a blush on Sesshoumaru's face.
"I guess he said more than he meant to…"
And unable to control it any further, a peal of pleased laughter escaped her lips.
She'd been out of Naraku's manipulative grasp for a few days, but in that single moment- she truly felt as if she was finally free.
Preview for Chapter 32:
Kagura wasn't sure which was weirder- getting trained to be a phone sex operator or getting flirtatious secretary tips from a gay man