Chapter XXVIII
Twenty eighth session
Kagome's day began in a strange way. She shared part of her breakfast with her family, her brother Souta talked to her a bit more than the day before, and her grandfather conveyed his gratitude for her coming to help him with temple matters and reminded her, once again, that she ought to take care of the place once he was gone. Kagome had no idea how to do that, and would always end up leaving the issue aside just to not have to think about it. Before continuing with her day and return to her apartment, she assured her mother, given her insistence, that she'd see Hojō that afternoon. She knew such agreement was unavoidable, the same way she knew exactly what hue this pseudo date would have, and how it'd end.
It was Sunday and the streets, at an hour nearing noon, were full of families taking a stroll and enjoying the day. She had to admit it never crossed her mind to consider children as an option, not even when she started university and many of her classmates talked about the ones they'd had with the boys they were going out with. Many times, her own mother pressured her into getting a boyfriend just because she wanted to be a grandma.
Her phone rang, and one glimpse was enough to know it was a videocall from her friend Sango. She laughed almost ironically: talking about children.
"Hi." She greeted her, stepping a bit aside as to not bother others passersby, just like her good customs manual taught her during middle school.
"What are you doing? Are you out?" Her friend asked. A natural ambient could also be seen behind her.
"Yes, I'm coming back from the temple, it was the start of winter." She explained.
"Oh, of course. How is your grandpa?" Her question was out of courtesy. Sango always asked about the oldest member of the family.
"He is doing perfectly, trying to make me inherit the temple." She smiled at her.
Behind her appeared Miroku, holding their baby in his arms.
"Hi, Kagome. You'll come next Saturday, won't you?" He mentioned. It was then when she recalled it was their daughters' birthday.
She didn't manage to answer before Miroku disappeared, seemingly running after one of their daughters. Her friend Sango looked away, showed surprised, then laughed.
"I think I'll have to help the father of my children." She mentioned as a way of saying goodbye. Kagome was already used to these kinds of conversations. As friends, they loved each other, yet both of them were at different stages of their lives now. "See you Saturday."
"I'll be there." She accepted. She wasn't fond of kids, in general, yet these were her friend's, and so they were important enough for her to give them an afternoon, to be a good oba-san and rest the entire next day due to the effort.
In that way they finished their conversation, and Kagome made a mental note to remind herself of looking for something that the kids would like as gift.
Once she was close to her apartment, she went inside a grocery shop and bought a couple of things in order to have something to eat when she came back from work during the week. She also felt the impulse of buying a few eggs and some vegetables, yet not too much because she knew they'd spoil before she had the chance of using them. There was another feeling behind adding ingredients to her kitchen, yet she didn't stop to think about it too much. It's easier to ignore that which we can't handle.
Once she arrived in her apartment, she arranged everything she bought in their corresponding places inside her little kitchen, and opened a window despite the cold, just in case the cat appeared at some point, then she began organize in order to clean the place up a little, as to have a calm week. Playing some music on her phone, she hummed as her hands were put to work. Every song coming from the player reminded her of InuYasha in some word, phrase or chorus. It wasn't like the memories weren't pleasant, on the contrary, and that was precisely the problem. Not knowing when, her hands stopped their broom sway and her gaze found the open window, her mind drifting amidst words they shared last night. The truth was they hadn't talked much, yet she still held the sensation of a long conversation. Suddenly, she saw the cat strolling through the protrusion connecting the windows, nearing the one she left open. The animal jumped inside the apartment, and soon began to look for his food in the usual place Kagome left it, and when he didn't find it, meowed, trying to communicate. She smiled and crouched in front of the cat, petting him.
"I should leave you some food in an alley." She didn't like to admit it, but she was afraid of him taking a wrong step and falling.
She received another meow as an answer, and soon decided it was best to feed it and then continue with her own things.
Kagome spent her afternoon with Hojō, just like she promised her mother, and now they were walking towards the street she lived in. Night had caught them a few hours ago, and he wasn't willing to let her return on her own. Despite not needing of his care, she preferred not to start an argument over it. They had been drinking some coffee, and after that they went to the cinema to watch a classic Japanese movie she found interesting, yet wouldn't watch again. Their conversation had been also quite trivial, Hojō talked about his work, of how much he liked to teach and how happy he was with the kids in his class. Kagome, on her part, just limited herself to basic matters of her own job, describing what was it about and the way in which she usually managed it.
"Your grandfather seemed quite happy yesterday." Her companion mentioned then, when there were but a few couple of steps to reach the last cross street.
"Yes, and even this morning he still seemed delighted of how the celebration turned out." She added. The truth was that Hojō was courteous and kind with her and her family, and she didn't wish to remain indifferent to that.
"I'm glad. He seems to be doing alright." He smiled, looking in the distance. Kagome recalled his grandmother died about a year ago, yet thought it better not to say anything about it.
"It's here." She announced.
The young man looked at her and nodded, attempting a smile that came as anxious rather than cheerful. They could be really good friends if it weren't for his insistence in them being something more.
"Oh, of course." The answer was but a confirmation of that impatience.
He looked at her, then to a point in the distance again. Kagome was beginning to form a phrase of goodbye when Hojō's gaze settled on her, this time with that insistence. Now it was the moment for her to seek the words needed to snuff out any idealization he may hold of them both, and they had to be something that didn't damage the stablished friendship between their families.
Yet she didn't manage to say anything before Hojō attempted to steal a kiss. Kagome managed to lean her body back, turning her head to receive his lips on her cheek. He stopped then, while she looked at him sideways, tense, with him still too close, and saw him step back.
"I had to try." He said, once he resumed their initial distance, while Kagome broadened it slightly.
"I see." She accepted, not holding back a certain stinging tone in her two words put together. "Hojō, I'd like to make something clear: all I can offer you is friendship."
"I can wait." He attempted.
"I think you've been waiting for far too long, and what I'm offering will not change." She wanted to sound clear, yet not severe.
Hojō's gaze fell to his shoes, his hands still inside his pockets.
"I understand." He seemed to accept. "See you, Kagome." his tone came as slightly less refractory than what was usual, yet she knew that not as much as he would have wanted.
She saw him walk away with calm step and a defeated demeanour, which he began to correct as his stride moved forward, so she decided he seemed to be doing alright. With that idea in mind, she entered the street where the building she lived in was, and walked the meters separating her from the portal. Her gaze found her phone, looking to see if InuYasha had sent her a message, as they had agreed to meet as soon as he had finished his shift.
"I'm here." The five minutes-old message said.
She lifted her gaze and began to look for him, until she reached the portal and found him with his back against the wall and his hands inside his pockets. When she got near, she caught an enigmatic smile on his features.
"Hi." He said, and his smile widened slightly, not leaving behind that halo of mystery.
"Hi."
The answer came without great nuances, although Kagome couldn't help realizing he didn't try to get close to her. She set that thought aside, however, opening the door and inviting him in; InuYasha did so while in silence.
"Did you finish your shift early?" The question was relevant, Kagome didn't think he'd arrive until past ten.
"Yeah, well, not every day is the same." The answer was right, and fit a trivial conversation, however what they both had was everything but trivial.
"I see."
She attempted to press the elevator button, yet InuYasha was faster. She looked at him, yet he didn't meet her gaze, and in that moment she began to suspect that he may have seen her coming back with Hojō. She had the impulse of asking if he was alright, and from there see if her theory held water, yet desisted in the end, finding assurance in that she simply went out with a friend, and that neither InuYasha nor she had any kind of compromise to keep with each other.
The elevator's ring halted her thoughts, and he invited her to get in, leaving a soft touch on her back, that being their first contact since the last time they saw each other.
The time inside the elevator was strange. As the doors closed, InuYasha held himself from the bar right beside Kagome, leaving barely any distance between them. She looked at him, and found those golden eyes of his seemingly telling her emotions she didn't know how to read, yet managed to realize there were many. He bent slowly to kiss her, and stopped at a breath's length. Only in that moment Kagome perceived the weight behind that breathing touching her cheeks, and had the sensation the pause turned into a kind of warning. She lifted her chin slightly, inviting him to deliver that kiss just like he felt it. She closed her eyes when he pressed his lips and imprisoned her body against the mirror in one of the elevator's walls. She became aware of the way in which InuYasha's tongue seemed to want to explore the entirety of her mouth, and lost her breathing even before he took his kiss to her neck, as his fingers dug themselves in her hips to pull her closer to his body, so that she could notice the way in which it reacted.
The elevator took them without stopping to the seventh floor. They had shared almost no words, and Kagome thought they didn't need to, for what he was showing through that act of held back possession was quite evident: he was claiming her as his. The conflict inside her heart was now open, and right there she could only give in and hope for InuYasha to perceive it.
When the doors opened, he made some distance between them, seeking to control himself, and Kagome understood she ought to be the one to take the next step first. They came out to the corridor in silence, and as she fit the key in the lock, and despite InuYasha not touching her, she could feel the heat of his body on her back.
Just like the first time they were in her apartment, they couldn't even take two steps in before she found herself imprisoned by his arms; however, unlike that time, InuYasha didn't hesitate. He held her by crossing an arm beneath her chest, as the other caressed her hips, slipping towards her belly. She heard herself breathing heavily as he kissed her ear, her neck, and what little shoulder he could uncover. He guided her with the strength of his body, walking without ceasing his embrace so that she moved inward the small apartment and stopped by the first furniture strong enough to support her, in that way she found herself palm down at the table by the kitchen, and lost her breath when she had to bent. She could notice InuYasha's fight through his caresses, delicate at first, then strong, then demanding as soon as he perceived no refusal from her.
She turned her head around to look behind and saw the expression in his gaze, illuminated by the clarity slipping into the room through the window without curtains. He kissed her cheek, and licked her ear, seemingly looking, through all the gestures, for a way to mark her. His hand deftly undid some of her dress's buttons, and she took her own backwards, to touch the prisoner sex behind his pants. InuYasha hissed and sighed, yet didn't stop and slipped a hand beneath her brassier, cupping a breast.
"Do it now." She asked, in part due to the necessity she felt in him, and in part due to yearning that necessity woke in her.
InuYasha cursed over her shoulder and imprisoned it with his lips, sucking with such intensity she was sure it would paint her skin a shade redder. She heard the sound of his palm on the table, then looked at it and saw a condom. Kagome observed it for an instant, leaving her mind to wander in an idea that abandoned her as soon as she felt his hand slipping inside her panties. She panted shamelessly as soon as the fingers touched her folds already slightly moist and held her breath when she felt her clothes brushing against her skin, moved aside only by what was needed for what they both wished. InuYasha took the condom and Kagome waited with her breath heavy for him to be ready to enter her. She knew he moistened his fingers with his saliva, through the sound and his movement. She moaned as soon as she felt those fingers wet her to guide the erection to her sex.
She bent towards the table as soon as she felt him inside, and when done so completely, both of them stood still, sharing a shiver. The sound of their breathing was the only thing filling the small apartment, and then Kagome felt how he hugged her with a tender possessiveness, making all of her emotions to congregate in her chest and belly. She intertwined one of her hands with his, the one that was nearer, and with one squeeze she signalled him she was ready to receive his thrusts, which came practically without truce.
Their breathings became moans, gasps and pleas. Kagome could feel the strength with which InuYasha needed to unload himself in her, and the way in which her own body needed to received him. She urged him to do it faster, stronger, and he obeyed in such a way that for a moment she felt herself touching the ground with just the tip of her feet. She tightened the grip they kept joined and received the orgasm with filthy relief, which didn't quite give her everything she wanted. InuYasha came along with a huff much like a growl that she, despite her own hormonal intoxication, could read as a dissatisfaction similar to hers, a confession she could interpret as: Sex wasn't enough now.
A moment later, InuYasha left her and dropped the used condom in a knot by one side, on the ground. He took his pants off, and crouched to take her boots off, the thighs and the rest of her clothes, little by little. There was something tremendously erotic in undressing after sex.
She could see how he took the rest of his clothes off and left them on a chair near the table. Then, he took her by the hand and guided her towards the futon with a certain clear familiarity Kagome felt like a heat settling inside her chest. Once there, he sat with his back against the wall and invited her to sit on the space he left between his legs. She observed him for an instant, realizing that for the first time she didn't mind wandering naked with InuYasha's gaze on her. She knelt before him, and found a place sideways against his chest, feeling the freshness of the blanket when he covered her. It soon began to warm up in contact with the heat they both emanated.
There was silence, and a certain solemnity that was only broken by InuYasha's words.
"Kagome, I only want to be with you."
To be continued.
A/N
Finally, I've reached this point which is something they've both been avoiding. I hope the emotions this chapter distillates were well understood and that you tell me in the comments.
Thanks for reading and keeping me company in this adventure that is to create.
Kisses,
Anyara.
This text is possible thanks to the translation of: Dezart
