Chapter Five - Sick from Sweets

"My head..." the young woman murmured. "Why is it so bright in here" the young woman glanced around the ceiling tiredly. "Where am I for that matter"

She noticed something stir gently at her side and looked over, aghast. What she saw made her blood run cold. Lying beside her, his arm draped over her naked waist, was Nakago. She made a small shriek and scrambled away. What had she done!

He was still sleeping heavily. She tried to make sense of the situation. She looked down at herself - completely naked - and then at him - naked also. Their clothes were strewn about the room. She couldn't remember anything. The young woman's head swam. Had she... had they...?

Miaka tried to be rational. She remembered going down to the bar to get something to eat without running into Nifei or Muji, or... or Nakago. She had began to drink... and then she hadn't stopped. She didn't remember stopping.

Very vaguely she remembered and exchange on the staircase, possibly with Nakago and some fat old man, but after that things were a blur. Tears began to fall from her eyes. There was no use in denying it. The evidence was clear; they were naked, clothes were everywhere, he was obviously exhausted by the look of it. She began to sob, muffling her cries in the fluffy pillow behind her.

When she felt his hand on her shoulder she jumped. He was looking at her, those glassy blue eyes cool and collected. She returned his gaze with watery eyes. Suddenly, she fell against his bare chest, sobbing uncontrollably.

"I-I... I'm so stupid... I can't believe I would... and with you... I... W-Why did this happen"

He let her cry, knowing she wasn't just crying for what she perceived to have occurred, but for Tamahome, for herself. She was mourning, and he would let her. After a while she stopped crying, only whimpered and mumbled incoherently, occasionally murmuring things like 'so stupid' and 'can't believe it...'.

"You are rather foolish, aren't you" he said gently.

She looked up. "I'm not in the mood to be made fun of, Nakago... I can't believe... after all that... all that waiting, I would just... throw it away for one night of drunkenness."

"I can't believe you would either. That's why I didn't let you."

"Wh-what" she gasped, her hazel-brown eyes widening, looking up hopefully.

"You were all go, and so was I, but..."

She laid over him, her soft body pressed against his muscular form. "Take me, please. I don't want to make the same mistake twice."

For some reason, the image of Soi popped into his mind. After they'd been reincarnated, they had become something of friends. She had already been married when they met, and she had confided at one point that she wished she had waited for her husband. She hadn't, but she knew she should have. He knew that Miaka was a hell of a lot more guilty by nature than Soi and she would regret this for the rest of her life if he allowed it to continue.

"The only mistake you made in waiting was trying to throw it all away for your grief" he pushed her away. She looked down.

"Why"

"You will understand in the morning" he turned to her, resting his arm across her waist to keep her from leaving, and closed his eyes. He felt her crying and she drew against him, naked. He knew that they had been very close to making a big mistake.

"You... You stopped me..." she asked, amazed. "I was... completely seducing you and you stopped me? That is... remarkable... Thank you" she whispered.

Suddenly she blushed and ripped the sheet viciously around herself. "You saw me naked"

"And you me" he replied, sitting up. "You were quite impressed."

"I-I..." she blushed darkly. "Jerk."

He laughed softly, his perfect, white teeth showing. She couldn't help noticing how the tight muscles of his abdomen twitched and bounced slightly with his laughter. It was beautiful, everything about it was beautiful.

"But perhaps, now that you're sober" he turned and suddenly pinned her to her back. She blinked up at him, recalling a similar situation in Kutou, though then they'd been clothed. "You wouldn't be opposed to picking up where we left off."

She flushed about seven shades of crimson and then cried out indignantly in anger when she realized that he was teasing her. He chuckled again. "You really did have me going last night. It was rather rude to stop."

"You stopped."

He shrugged.

"Get off me, you jerk" she smiled and pushed him back. He smirked evilly and fell backwards, pulling her on top of him. She blushed again, feeling the sheet slip from between them, leaving them naked flush against each other. "Don't tease me" she sniffed.

Just then, the door opened. "Miaka, there's a phone..." the young woman dropped the phone. "Call..." she stared, aghast.

"It's rude to stare" Nakago smirked again. Miaka squealed, but didn't dare push away, as she knew that the sheet was over her, and if she moved, he would completely flash Nifei.

"I-I'm sorry" she stuttered. "H-Here's the phone, she picked it up and tossed it, running out of the room quickly. From Miaka's perspective, she appeared to be crying.

"Uh... hello" Miaka said, deciding that Nifei could wait and sitting upright across Nakago's stomach, pulling the sheet around herself.

"Miaka" Yui's voice asked on the other end of the line.

"O-Oh, hello, Yui-chan" she was acutely aware of how very ironic it was to be sitting, naked, on top of Nakago while Yui, his miko, was on the phone.

"I was just wondering if you were all right, you know, with... yesterday and all."

"I-I'm fine" she said.

"You're heavy, you know. You're sitting on my diaphragm."

"Miaka, who was that" she gasped. "Sitting on what now"

"Um... it was... the television."

"It was not, there's no other noise in there. Who was it? Tell me" she said all in one breath.

"Promise you won't be mad."

"Why would I be mad" she asked.

Nakago chose that moment to lift her from himself and roll out of bed. "Nakago, put me down"

"Na... kago" the young woman asked. Two angry male voices in the background - apparently her brother and Tetsuya - yelled"What"

"It's... a very long story" she said.

"Nifei said you were still in bed..." and again Miaka heard her brother and brother's friend yell even louder"WHAT"

"It's a long story" she said again. "I... I'll explain later. Why again did you call, Yui-chan" For the first time ever she was annoyed with her friend. She sure could call at the most embarrassing, inconvenient time, and then assume all the worst things (though Miaka probably would have done the same, she admitted).

"I wanted to make sure you were okay after yesterday, but it seems you are. I also wanted to tell you that I found something peculiar."

"Peculiar" she asked, a bit more interested.

"Tetsuya, Keisuke, and I were going through some old boxes in your attic and found a journal of some sort. It, well, it was Taka's. We looked through it, just for old time's sake. We found some interesting entries."

"Like"

"Well, like one about a female student that he'd been tutoring that kissed him. There are other entries about the same girl. Apparently she was four years younger than him. It just seemed like he was writing his annoyance about a silly crush some girl had, but then there were some more strange things. First off, there are entries right before... his death. Let me read one."

"I feel sick every time I leave the student I've been tutoring. I think maybe her cookies are poisoned - he drew a funny face here, I guess he was kidding - because whenever I go over there to help her with her math homework, I feel nauseous and lightheaded by the end."

"I knew he was tutoring some students, but I wonder why he didn't mention this one..."

"This is two weeks later. 'The Student I'm Tutoring visited me again in the hospital,'" Yui read. "She's so distraught over what's happening. She brought me the best cakes I've ever had in my life. I'm going to be fat by the time I get out of here.' He never mentions real names. He refers to you as 'his love' and me as 'love's best friend'. This person is just 'Student I'm Tutoring'. Keisuke is big brother... Tetsuya, love's best friend's love."

"I don't remember seeing anybody at the hospital... I was there most of the time."

"There are some other books and things up here. We're going to dig them all out and see if we can't figure out who this person is."

"It doesn't seem too urgent, Yui-chan, she was just a student he was helping."

"It just seems fishy. Tetsuya agrees. There's this girl that none of us have ever seen, and she's visiting Taka. He didn't start getting sick until he started tutoring her. There's something else. In the margins are strings of numbers, one written by each line. We can't figure out what they mean."

"It was probably just a random number of coins he counted" Miaka blew it off. Truthfully, she was a little bothered by the fact that her friends and family were searching through her beloved's old journals and things. She really just wanted him to rest in peace now. "Well, Nakago is standing here glaring at me to get up" she said, glancing to where the blonde was, indeed, standing and looking rather annoyed and hungry. "So I better get moving. Thanks for calling, Yui-chan."

"Have fun. I'll let you know if I find anything else strange."

"Thanks. Goodbye" she hung up the phone, a little perturbed.

"I'm sure that was an interesting conversation" he said with a small grin. "Not helped by your blurting my name."

"It's reflex" she said, standing up, sheet firmly in place around her body. "When something goes wrong, it's always your fault, so I just instinctively curse your name."

"How kind of you" he replied and sat down on the bed as she disappeared into the bathroom.

"So nothing really happened?" she asked, splashing water on her face.

"That depends on your definition of 'something'. There was kissing and groping involved."

"How much groping?" she stood in the doorway, looking nervous. This was all horribly embarrassing, and that embarrassment was exacerbated by the fact that it was Nakago. Of course, she was glad it was him and not, say, some dirty old man who wouldn't have given going all the way a second thought. She once again found herself grateful to be rescued by him, and yet somehow angry at herself for needing to be rescued.

"Are you sure you want to know?" he asked, seriously for once. Usually he held a bit of sarcastic joking in his voice, but his tone was all business. She swallowed hard and nodded. "You had an orgasm. Two, in fact, if I remember correctly."

"Wh-what?" she nearly fell over. "No way! What did you do, Nakago!"

"Would you like a demonstration?" he smirked. She flushed brightly and stared at him. He chuckled and stood, walking up to her. She looked up, feeling weak in the knees. Had she really? She had had her first... and... she didn't even

remember it?

"Did... did I like it?" she asked timidly.

"I should hope so," he told her. "It was a difficult task."

"Oh, God... I didn't... make you... did I?"

"No, you're far too selfish for that," he complained, nearly pouting. He had pleasured her, but she hadn't reciprocated, and that was annoying. She stepped back and closed the bathroom door, leaving him standing there smirking. She had enjoyed it quite thoroughly. Nakago was rather pleased with himself for that.

Miaka sunk to the floor and stared at he ceiling. How could she? She didn't feel any different, but he didn't seem to be lying. Why had she asked? She sighed and got into the shower, washing herself roughly. She felt horrible for being so easily taken in by him. She had no doubt that he was very skilled, but it was still difficult to believe that she had responded to him so readily that she would orgasm not once, but twice.

Nakago pulled on a pair of pants and began to button his shirt when there was a soft knock at the door. Nifei opened it slowly, peeking in carefully and then sighing when she saw Miaka was no longer atop that man.

"I'm sorry for walking in. Forgive me," she said softly, but in her voice there was a tenseness. She bowed and waited for him to say something.

"Well, you should knock before entering a room," he said simply. She fumed. How dare he! But she only smiled and nodded. "So you and Miaka really are... I mean, she told me she wasn't, but from that... I guess... she lied to me?"

"Miaka doesn't lie. Before last night there was nothing between us, and there still isn't. We simply... romped, not that it's your business."

"Not my...? She's my friend."

"Do you tell your friends of all your sexual encounters?" he asked curiously, picking up his shoes and the remainder of his clothing.

She reddened and turned away. "You're right... it's not my business... But... she's... I just want what's best for her. Not that there's anything wrong with you, Gi-san... I'm just not sure that you're... the absolute best for her..."

"What matters is what she thinks, in the end."

"Nakago, could you get me some underwear from the..." she poked her head out and saw Nifei standing there looking rather like a whipped puppy. "Oh, Nifei."

"I'll get it," she ran to the drawer and pulled out some underwear, handing it to her friend.

Miaka looked at Nakago questioningly for a second before closing the door. He caught her glance and shrugged. The two had come to really communicate silently. It was almost supernatural how they knew what the other was thinking, how they could interpret eachother's glances. It amazed Nifei, in fact. She watched them look to eachother, frowning. He was too close to her. She turned and left silently.

Miaka stepped out of the bathroom.

"What did Yui want?" Nakago asked suddenly.

"She found something of Taka's... a journal that had entries about some student he was tutoring and things like that. They thought it had some suspicious things in it."

"Suspicious how?"

"I'm not sure... it was a little vague. I don't know what to make of it. Right now, I just want to let Taka rest in piece. I don't think he intended to send his friends on a wild goose chase, so it's probably nothing, just what it looks like."

"The circumstances of his death were rather suspect, do you think?" Nakago inquired. "I'm surprised there wasn't more investigation, actually. An inexplicable illness in a man who was probably twenty times healthier than anyone his age is rather strange."

"Don't... don't get involved in this, Nakago. This one is mine."

Nakago waved it off. "Fine. Shall we get breakfast?"

"I think I'll go back to sleep for a while, actually..." she said. "Maybe I'll see you later."

"Are you kicking me out, Miko?" he asked, amused.

"Yes."

Nakago smirked and took his leave silently. Miaka sat down on the bed at began to cry softly, her shoulders shaking. She knew it was suspect. She had said it was supsect, but she had been dismissed. They had said she was trying so hard to find an explanation that she was getting paranoid. And now there was this. She didn't want to put herself through the torture of thinking it again, yet curiousity burned in her.

The young woman laid down on the bed and cried, eventually falling into a few more hours of tortured sleep.

"Nakago!" Miaka called. The tall man turned to regard her. She ran up to him, panting. "You walk too fast!"

"You're too slow and out of shape," he coutnered.

"I'm sorry."

"For?"

"This morning. I'm sorry I kicked you out; it was rude. I just..."

"I understand your grief and have no problem allowing you to mourn."

Miaka smiled and thanked him softly. He understood her emotions so well it was frightening. He knew her inside and out; knew her reactions, her thoughts and fears. It was too much, but in a way, she really enjoyed having somebody know her inside and out like that.

"Excuse me," a tall, beautiful woman spoke.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Miaka bowed low. "I didn't mean to interupt."

"I am curious as to your relationship. Ayuru, she doesn't seem like your type."

Miaka frowned; just what was his type?

"We are only friends."

"I thought as much. Such a small, plain woman doesn't suit you, Ayuru." The name rolled off her tongue like silk. She smirked. Miaka fumed. That witch! How dare she call her plain!

"Neither do I prefer women who exhibit overt hostility toward competition," he said smoothly. "Besides, where some women pay millions to appear beautiful on the outside, some have enough substance to be secure with themselves as they are." The woman frowned darkly and excused herself, storming off. Miaka blinked.

"Wow, you gave her the blowoff bigtime."

He smirked, enjoying his power a little. He wasn't sure why he had said such a thing, however. That woman would have gladly gone to bed with him – and he was feeling a bit edgy since the previous night. However, she was very ugly – beautiful in appearance, but her heart was black. He wasn't sure why he had made such an obvious comparison to Miaka, though, especially since she was standing right there. She, on the other hand, seemed to be none the wiser about the reference.

"You really are desireable, aren't you?"

"You have to ask?"

"I just mean, you don't seem to take advantage of the fact that you're really high society like some of the people I see. You don't use it to get what you want. You don't need to. You have beautiful women all over you and people lining up to employ you, but you don't ask for any of it and you don't even enjoy it."

That wasn't completely true. He did enjoy the power he wielded; he always had. His looks commanded admiration and authority and his position only served to solidify his disireability, and he knew it, and did sometimes take advantage of it, but she was right for the most part; she didn't care for such shallow people. He enjoyed the respect he commanded, but he couldn't have cared less about the hoardes of ass kissers and gold diggers constantly on his tail.

It was at times as such that he really enjoyed the company of a plain, normal person such as Miaka. She was non-pretentious, yet confident, and she knew how to get around in the world without exploting herself or others. It was admirable, to say the least.

"Do you want to go swimming with me?" she asked.

"Don't you realize I'll see you in your bathing suit?"

She blushed a little, but shrugged. "Well, we'll be about even, then."

"Because you walked in on me before?"

Her face flushed brightly, remembering the day before yesterday when she had dove inside to avoid Nifei and had seen him, full frontal, in the hall. "I didn't mean that! I just meant, I rescued you from that floozy and you'll keep me amused for the afternoon."

He smirked. "I don't need rescuing from floozies, but fine, I will humor you, so long as you wear a two piece."

Miaka felt steam coming from her ears. He was being so flirtatious with her. She had never had to deal with such sexual flirting. Most men either saw her as a cute girl and flirted with her accordingly, or went all out and wanted to marry her, such as Taka and Hotohori. Nakago was flirting perversely, almost as if he wanted to make her crazy about him, or perhaps just get her into bed.

"Fine," she said, turning stiffly and going toward the stairs. What a jerk! She would pay him back for his perverseness if it killed her.

-

Author's Notes: I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. :3 I enjoyed writing it, that's for sure. Next chapter the action really gets kicking. Look forward to it, and tell me what you thought of this one!