Oh and you know how I said Riku wasn't going to play a big role in this story? I lied. While coming up with the outline, he sorta came up.... quite a bit. Don't worry, there will be plenty of time for you to Riku bash.
Thanks to phantomoftheflame for the review. I hope you like this chapter to!
On with the story!
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ayame woke up late for the second day in a row. It was about 11 am when she got out of bed and got dress and ready for the day. The house was completely silent; no sounds of sleep, no noise from the television, no talking, no nothing. A little concerned Ayame went down stairs to check for signs of life. She found none, but she did find a not that read:
Ayame,
Kagome and I went shopping and Sango got called into work. We didn't want to wake you up. We should be back before 2.
Rin
Ayame sighed as she looked at the paper. Though she was glad that her friends hadn't woken her up from the best sleep she had gotten in a week or so now, she didn't really want to be alone. When she was alone she though about him, and that was the last thing she needed right now. She knew that if she could just stop thinking about him for long enough, she would soon be able to forget about him and what he did and move on with her life. But being alone in the house was not going to help keep her mind off the subject.
There was a clap of thunder and a flash of lightning outside as suddenly it began to rain heavily. She looked out the glass sliding doors that led out back and sighed sadly. She hated the rain. She use to love it because it use to bring back happy memories, but that changed.
Flashback
"Damnit!!" A 22-year-old Ayame screamed as she ran through the campus of her community college. She had been reading in the quad (as the students called it) when it had suddenly begun to pour. It had been such a nice day out only a few moments ago, but the sky had just grown black so quickly that Ayame barely had time to notice.
She turned the corner, heading for her dorm room, when she collided with a young man her age, both of them falling to ground on impact. "I'm so sorry, I wasn't watching where I was going!" Ayame said pushing herself off the ground into a standing position. She turned and faced the now standing man and nearly died. He had short, spiky, black hair and misty grey eyes. He was tall, definitely over 6 feet, wearing black torn jeans and a black and grey sweater with a black trench coat over top. He also had a black umbrella out and was holding it over himself, smiling down at her.
"Are you alright?" He asked, stepping closer so that the umbrella covered them both.
"Uh... yeah. Yeah I'm fine," She said airily, looking into his stony orbs. To say the least she was attracted to the man. Not only was he stunningly good looking, but he also seemed very sweet.
"I'm Riku," He said holdin out the hand that wasn't holding the umbrella.
"Ayame," She said with a charming smile, shaking his hand.
"Gods, you must be freezing," He said looking at her attire. She hadn't exactly dressed for the whether. She was only wearing a light long sleeved purple shirt and some regular blue jeans. The fact that she was now soaked from head to toe didn't help matters either. She shivered slightly as a cool breeze blew past them. He smirked. "Hey, why don't you come back to my dorm room? I have a hotplate, I'll make you some hot chocolate."
Ayame looked up at him greatfully and nodded. The two headed in the direction he had been going, which she guessed was the way to his dorm room.
End Flashback
Ayame blinked away the few tears that had welled up in her eyes as she remembered the first time she had met Riku. She took a deep breath and but couldn't rid herself of the memory. She turned heading back up the stairs and getting dressed. She left on her pyjama pants, but put on hoodie. It was rather chilly out that day. Once dressed, she grabbed the book she was currently reading. Some new romance novel Rin had lent her the day before. She had read one of these types of stories in months; she hoped it would be refreshing.
She headed back down the stairs and went into the kitchen. She filled the kettle with water and plugged it in waiting for it to boil. She then sat down at the round dinner table and opened her book. She began reading and was instantly sucked into the book. Rin obviously knew her taste. The whistle of the kettle brought her back down to reality only to be pulled off in another not so happy memory.
Flashback
The kettle whistled loudly as she and Riku sat at the small table in his dorm room. They had been conversing merrily, waiting for the water to boil for their hot chocolates. She had learned quite a bit about this mystery man in the short time they had known each other. He was from a small town a good 6 hours from Tokyo. He had grown up on a farm, which explained his muscular form and was here studying for a degree in architecture. He was the same age as Ayame, entering his final year at the college. He was smart, handsome and very kind. Ayame could not deny the fact that she was not only intrigued by the man, but very much attracted to him as well.
He got up, unplugging the kettle and poured the steaming hot water into the cups that were already set out with the powder in them. He picked up the two cups and set them down on the table, one in front of her and the other by the spot he had been sitting. He then walked over to the small refrigerator and opened it. "Would you like any milk or cream?" He asked politely.
"Just milk thanks." She answered, flashing him a heart-stopping smile.
He nodded and took out the container of milk and set it down on the table before taking his seat. She took the milk and poured some of it into her drink, cooling it slightly, before setting it back on the table between them. He did the same. "So Ayame, may I ask what you were doing outside in such horrible weather?"
"Well, I was reading in the quad while it was sunny and warm out," She said coolly. "But it started to rain out and I was heading back to my dorm room when you bumped into me."
"Oh I bumped into you did I?" He asked coyly.
"Ok I ran into you." She giggled, nodding her head.
"That's more like it." He joked, sipping his hot chocolate and savouring the taste. "Well, you're welcome to stay until it clears up."
Ayame smile at the prospect of being able to stick around and getting to know this charming young man better, but she knew that if she stayed much longer, Rin would start to get worried and would call Sango and Kagome and then all hell would break loose. She looked down and shook her head. "I can't." She said softly, hiding her disappointment.
"Oh?" He asked raising an eyebrow.
"My room mate, Rin. She'll get worried if I'm not home soon." Ayame explained gulping down the last of her drink. "And that would start a whole bunch of other things and ... let's just say things would get messy." She stood up and headed slowly towards the door, Riku following her.
"Well, if you insist on leaving so soon," He started, taking his coat off the coat rack and putting it on. "Than I insist on walking you back to your room."
"Well," She smiled, hooking arms with the man. "If you truly insist."
End Flashback
She shot up out of her chair, realizing the water had been boiling for a while now. She unplugged the kettle and slowly poured herself a drink. There was a knock on the back door. Ayame jumped, spilling the scalding water on the counter. She looked at the glass doors to see the tall man with long black hair from the day before standing there. Kouga was his name, if she remembered correctly.
She set the kettle down on the counter and walked over to the door, opening it so the man could come in. "Uh... hi..." She said slowly as he entered the house. She closed the door and stood there staring at him as he took of his coat and hung it over a chair before sitting down and making himself comfortable. "Can I help you with something?" She asked, not sure what to do. This was on of Kagome, Sango and Rin's friends; she didn't know him at all.
The man shrugged and glanced over at the kettle. "A cup of hot chocolate would be nice." He said, showing no sign of shyness or being uncomfortable with the situation.
Ayame blinked, finding the man rather rude for barging in and then asking for a drink. She shook her head, reminding herself that he was a guest and a friend of her friends and therefore she should be nice. "Sure thing," She said curtly, heading back to the counter and refilling the kettle. "I'll have to boil some more water though. I spilt most of hit when you scared me."
The man snorted in amusement, watching the redheaded woman plug in the kettle than start to clean up the mess she had made. "Your name's Ayame right?" He asked.
She stopped and looked over her shoulder. "I'm sorry, what?" She said.
"Your name is Ayame, am I correct?" He repeated himself more clearly.
"Yes, Kouga right?" She asked.
He nodded. "The one and only." Ayame laughed.
Soon the whistle of the kettle sounded yet again and she poured another glass for the man. She set the two cups on the table and went to the fridge and pulled out the milk. She poured some into her cup and offered it to Kouga. "Milk?" She asked holding it out for him.
"No thanks." He said, taking a huge gulp then cringing at the pain.
Ayame shook her head, putting the milk back into the refrigerator. "So, Kouga, what brings you to our back door?" she asked, slowly getting use to the mans company.
"I thought I'd join you guys for lunch, seeing as I'm home all alone next door." He stated, taking another sip of his painfully hot drink.
"Well, Kagome and the others aren't here at the moment." She said picking up the note Rin had written for her to read it out loud. "Rin and Kagome have gone shopping and Sango got called into work. They didn't want to wake me up and should be back before 2." She sighed placing the note down in front of her and picked up her cup of hot chocolate and took a sip.
"Well then I guess it's just you and me," He said putting down his now empty, still steaming cup.
"I guess no..." She trailed off.
An awkward silence fell between the two of them. Ayame sat there quietly sipping on her hot chocolate as she observed the man across from her, who was tapping his fingertips on the table looking around for something to start a conversation. Ayame smirked to herself shaking her head. She wouldn't deny that she found Kouga quite attractive. He was what one would call 'tall, dark, and handsome' and his blue eyes were enough to make any girl in her right mind go weak at the knees. He was also very confident, almost arrogant. Being the hopeless romantic she was, she also found the possessiveness of this guy attractive. Yes, if she hadn't just come out of a serious relationship, she could definitely see herself falling for this guy, though she would never be able to admit that. She was shy when it came to that kind of thing.
"Soooo..." He started, returning his gave to red haired woman across the table. "How do you know Kagome, Sango and Rin?" He asked, grabbing the first thought to enter his head.
"We met back in college," Ayame chuckled, remembering some of their crazy antics. "We were practically in separable."
"And where did you live before moving in here?" He asked, his curiosity getting the better of him.
"In Tokyo." She said simply.
"Really? Why'd you leave the city to come live in a small town like this?" He asked, sounding as if he thought she were crazy for doing such a thing.
"Uh..." She said, more than a little bit uncomfortable with this question. "I'd rather not talk about it," She said shaking her head.
"Come on, it can't be that bad." He urged.
Ayame's breath caught in her throat as she remembered the day a week ago...
Flashback
She walked down the hallway towards Riku's office, saying hello to a few men she knew. She reached the door labelled R. Komodo and opened it, stepping into the office. Her heart stopped at the sight before her. Riku was sitting at his desk, a woman on his lap, topless, kissing him passionately. Her eyes filled with tears seeing that the man she loved was doing nothing to push the woman away; in fact he was holding her tightly against him.
Furry gripped her as she slammed the door, no doubt startling the two lovers inside. She stormed down the hallway, tears falling uncontrollably down her cheeks, pushing people out of the way as she made her way to the stairwell.
End Flashback
Kouga was startled when he noticed a tear fall down her cheek. The woman closed her eyes, biting back more tears only to cause more to fall.
"No, no, no..." He said waving his hands in front of him. He hated when women cried. "You don't have to tell me, please don't cry."
"Sorry," She said, wiping the few tears that had escaped her. "It's just... personal that all." She added regaining some composure.
"No problem," He said waving it off. "I understand. There are things in my past that I wouldn't want to talk about either."
Ayame chuckled lightly, glad he wasn't make a huge deal out of this. "So... would you like something to eat?" She asked getting up and walking to the cupboards. "Anything you want, I can make."
"Uh..." He thought for a minute.
The front door suddenly opened Kagome and Rin walked in, giggling like mad.
"Hey Ayame." Rin said walking through the kitchen and into the living room to put her bags down.
"Hi guys," Ayame said smiling as Kagome walked into the kitchen.
"Kouga!" Kagome said, looking at the man in surprise. "What are you doing here?" She asked, looking back and forth between Kouga and Ayame a sly smile inching onto her lips.
"I just thought I'd join Ayame for lunch seeing as we were both home alone." He shrugged before standing up. "But, I'd better be going. See if mutt-face is back yet with the food. It was nice talking to ya, Ayame. See you guys." With that he went out the back door, leaving Kagome and Ayame in the kitchen alone.
Ayame took one look at Kagome and knew exactly what was coming.
"So... What did you and Kouga 'talk' about?" Kagome giggled.
"Nothing," Ayame said shaking her head. "Just idle chatter."
"Oh come on." Rin said walking in, a huge smile on her face. "Kouga's a good looking guy. You can't honestly expect us to believe that 'nothing happened'!"
Ayame sighed and walked past her friends, heading for the stairs. "You two are such girls," she said rolling her eyes and heading up the stairs. " I just came out of a serious relationship. What do you take me for?"
Rin and Kagome exchanged knowing looks. They could tell that at some level, Ayame was attracted to Kouga.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A/N: Aw, Kouga and Ayame had some time to get to know one another. I hope you liked this chapter. It was to give a bit of back story and get Kouga to talk to Ayame! Do I know how to kill to birds with one stone or what? lol! R&R please!!!
Next chapter: A Day at the Mall with an Unwanted Intruder