Authors Note: Back again! There was a question last chapter on when I will update my story. Honestly, there is no set date/day. It's whenever I can write with work and personal things. We're back diving for work so my days are long and tiring, which means no coming home to write. But I do want to get chapters out as soon as I can. So here it is. Out again. And honestly, this is the longest chapter so far. I couldn't stop writing when I know I should've. But some things needed to be said and done in this chapter to setup the next one. Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha
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RTR
susu-anon: Thanks for the review and the correction on Mizuki being a fox/wolf demon. Definitely missed that. But thanks again. I did end up correcting the last chapter. Also, if you didn't like Naraku then... you definitely won't like him now (spoiler alert). That's just my guess :) Enjoy!
hive-chan: hahaha your review made me laugh. Thank you. Yes, there is drama between Inu/Kik/Kag. But Mir/San both know about Inu/Kik/Nara and all the drama there. Mir/San are Inu's best friends so they pretty much "know" him. But San just wants Kag to get with Inu because of the way he acts with her- they know without him having to admit it that he likes Kag, so she's pulling for them to be together. Huh, interesting. I don't know much about these Inu Fandoms and other Archives and stuff but I hear a lot about it through you guys, so it's interesting to know what's going on it other "Inu universes" :) As for now, the drama gets better. You will see how :) Enjoy
anime-geek: Hahaha! I like your take on the last chapter. Yeah, Kik has always had a bad rap in the anime but I have compassion for her. Just need to work to that stage in the story where she gets a little more mellow and lets go of Inu. For now, it's all drama. Hope you enjoy this one.
xsophiex: Ooooo I like your future "guesses". I will confirm that many of them will happen/has happened. But yes, you are thinking along the lines as to what's going to happen in the future with Inu/Kag and even with the whole fame thing and with Kik. All sorts of things are going to happen- good and bad for Kags. And many things will be answered about the past (hence the title of the story) and why characters are the way they are. I hope you enjoy this one!
val-rommel: A lot of the readers are getting to the same point for the future of this concert, which makes me smile, you being one of them. I will say that this concert will be Inu/Kag's biggest break yet and a lot will happen because of/from it. To your point about Naraku being shady... yes. You probably won't like this chapter then. But there's some goodies in here too. Kik has been telling me that she wants to do collaborations with other singers, but I'm not sure yet. Right now, I'm focusing on getting Inu/Kag's story out there because there is so much that needs to be explained about their past that created them to who they are now (personality wise). But thanks for your review. I hope you enjoy this one even though Naraku might make you angry :)
Rosie B: Yeah that last chapter was hard for me to get through with Kik's attitude problem. As for Onigumo, yes he has a lot invested in her. You will see a little more of it in this chapter- just a tease. But I will be going back to Midnite in the next one because Sai has been nudging me a lot lately. He has been dying to see Kag so I'll bring him back in and see what happens. I'm not sure how often or when I will update. I know it seems like Tuesdays now since I'm updating on a Tuesday, but that was just pure chance. I want to get it out to you guys as soon as possible and today was the day. Just know that I want to know what happens just as much as you guys do :) And yes! I did watch Yashahime- I have mixed feelings about it though :-/ I will keep watching it just to see how the anime goes.
inusitter: Yes. I agree. Midnite is coming back next chapter because Sai has been wanting to see Kag again so I'll let him have his night with her. Plus, I need Oni to say somethings to Kag in regards to her fame and her days off at work and all that. Things will get heated between those two. I hope you enjoy this chapter though. Might shift some things around :)
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Kagome stared out at the window, admiring the view of the city as they drove through the crowded streets of Osaka. It was early in the morning that they had all met at the airport in Tokyo to fly down to Osaka for the day. She smiled with glee to herself, looking out at all the passing cars and the people walking on the streets. She had been waiting for this day. Saturday was what everyone was looking forward to since they would all be flying down for the first time to canvas Yanmar Stadium and to see the banners that the crew had setup yesterday. From the digitals that Haru had sent Naraku, he had taken a lot of photos and had chosen a lot of his final shots for everyone to choose from and to keep for their personal collection. Kikyo, Naraku, Akari and Inuyasha decided on the final shots they were to use for any promotion, either for the banners or anything on television. And, collectively, they had created the banners and the crew had taken them down yesterday to start setting them up. In her opinion, all of the final photos came out beautiful and she didn't really care which ones they used. She really loved the group photos. But she mostly loved the photos with just Inuyasha and herself.
'I can't believe how good we look together,' she thought, musing over the fact that the photos just made her have these butterflies in her stomach. As much as her heart was opening to Inuyasha, she was also fearful of letting him too far in. 'Too late for that. I haven't acted like this with any man before.' To see the photos of just the two of them, both with the white background and with the graffiti, she loved the shots. She and Inuyasha both looked like a couple if she was to admit it, even though they weren't, and it gave her such a strange feeling. She wondered if that's how the others and how the public would see them. Would she be giving the world the wrong impression? Was that what she was trying to do to begin with?
"Hey, Kagome. Yoo hoo."
Kagome blinked, coming out of her thoughts, as she turned to smile at Sango sitting next to her, blushing. "Sorry, Sango. Did you say something?"
Sango sighed, shaking her head in defeat. "You weren't listening to me, were you?"
Kagome placed her hands on her thighs, bowing her head a little. "No. Sorry. I was… thinking."
"About?"
Kagome shrugged, looking at the opposite side of the bus. Inuyasha and Miroku sat on the two seats opposite of theirs, both of them talking about something together. Naraku had rented a tour bus for them as their mode of transportation to and from the airport. Ben, Mike and Brady, Kikyo's bodyguards, came along, sitting at the front seats of the bus as the others filled in wherever they wanted to, having the whole bus to themselves. She and Sango decided to sit together with Inuyasha and Miroku sitting across from them. Kikyo and Naraku took a seat two seats in front of them and Akari on the opposite side of them.
"I was just thinking about the photos. I can't wait to see them."
Sango smiled, totally excited. "Me too! I can't believe we're here!" They had a great flight coming down to Osaka, all of them eyeing out the scenic beauty and chatting about the shops and the places they wanted to go to if they had the chance. Even though the concert was still about three weeks away, they felt things becoming a reality much sooner.
"I know. It's all…" Kagome turned to the window, gazing out as the buildings became less condensed and they began to head outside of the bustling city towards the stadium. "A little overwhelming sometimes," she whispered. Sango was distracted as Miroku called her attention and asked her about something, which Kagome was grateful for since she could just enjoy the ride until they got to the venue. Things had moved so fast with this job, with her fame, with coming out to the world that she hasn't been able to stop and catch her breath. Even Onigumo had a few choice words to say to her when she had asked him for those days off, but he obliged her, not without putting up a fight. Kagome frowned, not wanting to think about her future and where her life was going from here.
It was about a twenty minute ride from the airport to the stadium, and the hotel they would be staying at later on in the trip was the halfway point between the airport and the stadium. As the bus drove down the long street that led up to the front of the stadium, everyone began to fidget and look out the windows at the trees. There were two outdoor fields on either side of the stadium that they passed until the bus pulled up to a roundabout and one side of the bus was able to get the full view of the huge stadium. Everyone got out of their seats and looked through the windows of the left side of the bus, their eyes taking in the massive stone walls and the huge, empty wraparound the bus, they could see the entrance into the stadium with its tinted windows beneath the words of 'Yanmar Stadium Nagai'. And they could even see huge banners on either side of the words, the backdrops and the photos they recognized and could see clearly from the roundabout. The bus slowed until it came to a stop, the sound of hissing air signaling the bus was ready for everyone to depart.
"Okay, everyone. Listen up," Naraku said, standing up from his seat with Kikyo to turn around and address everyone. "When we get out, we're going straight to the front doors. The ticket stands aren't open yet so there shouldn't be too many people here yet, at least we're hoping. But we'll go to the ticket stands in the afternoon after lunch to do some meet-and-greets and so you guys can see the banners that were put up. Once inside, you guys will meet the manager and we'll also get a tour of the place. Then, we'll be able to go to the stage area and see what we can do there." Everyone showed their understanding and he nodded at them, turning to walk to the bus driver so that the man could open the doors. Naraku went down the stairs and got out just as everyone began to stand and leave the bus.
The three bodyguards went out first, and all three of them stood in front and behind Kikyo as to form a triangle around her when she got out of the bus. She didn't seem to notice or mind. As everyone got out, Kagome smiled as the sun hit her and she put her glasses on, as did everyone else.
"This is so cool!" Shiori said, pumping her fists in front of her as she danced side to side. "I've never been here before."
"Me neither," Kokoro said. They all followed Kikyo, Naraku and Akari onto the sidewalk and towards the front entrance. The front sidewalk of the building was huge, big enough for crowds to gather or maybe even to form lines as people waited to get into the building during performances. Whatever it was, it was a nice place for a stroll around the entire perimeter of the stadium or to just sit under the trees that were planted in certain areas, forming a small, grassy square every so often where a tree would be planted.
Kagome followed behind Inuyasha with Sango at her side and Miroku next to Inuyasha's. She took in the place, marveling at the height of the walls of the building in front of them. This place surely looked grand. Everyone chatted about the building or wondering what awaited them inside. As they came closer, they noticed more people walking around the building, mostly the elderly at this time of the morning, and they noticed the huge banners of their photos.
"Oh my gosh! Come on, Kagome!" Sango yelled, running past the boys and past Kikyo, not waiting for any of them. Kagome giggled, Sango's excitement contagious, as she ran past Inuyasha and Miroku, turning around for a second to smile at them, and headed to follow Sango.
"Sango! Slow down!" The other women followed behind Kagome as they all ran ahead in excitement, wanting to see the huge photos of Kikyo and themselves. They could see the huge faces of the group members and of Kikyo in her solo shot without even having to go near the entrance. Sango stopped near one of the trees of the sidewalk and gazed up in awe. "Wow…" she whispered, just as Kagome came next to her.
Kagome was speechless. Kikyo's photos hung on either side of the entrance. The one on the right was of her in front of the white backdrop with her pink, strapless dress in a fun pose with one leg kicked up behind her. The other on the left was of her in front of the graffiti backdrop with her pink short and pink tulle long-sleeve shirt with one arm on her hip, giving a wink, while the other hand came out in front of her with the peace sign. Kagome had to admit that the photos of Kikyo were beautiful when they were blown up that big and retouched for any imperfections. But it wasn't her photos that caught her eye. It was the photo of herself with Inuyasha that made her stop.
'Oh my gosh…' The photo of the two of them was on the left side of the entrance next to Kikyo's. It was the pose of her wrapping her arm around Inuyasha's thigh, right there for the world to see. 'Why did they use this one as one of the main ones?' she wondered, a little freaked out and shocked, her emotions a little wild at the moment. It took her a moment to get over her anxiety at seeing her photo up there with Inuyasha, but she also felt a little proud of herself and happy to be able to have made it this far and to have her photo up there for the world to see. Especially with Inuyasha at her side. She felt a sense of selfishness and possessiveness as she looked at Inuyasha's golden eyes in the photo. 'He's not yours.' But as she told herself that, a still, small voice within deeply wanted him to be.
"Cool!" Mai said, looking up at the photos. "Dang, Kagome. That picture of you is hot!"
Inuyasha and the others came up to them as they caught up to the girls and he immediately looked at the photo of him and Kagome. He had an overwhelming possessiveness that came over him, no thanks to his demon, as he stared at Kagome's eyes in the photo. She had herself wrapped around his leg while he stood crossed armed with a smirk, staring into the camera. He remembered the feel of her around his leg and he liked the photo. A lot. Kagome turned around, sensing him, and looked at him, but they couldn't see each other's eyes through their glasses. He just smiled, causing her to smile too, and she turned back around to look at the banners.
The group photo was on the right side of the entrance next to Kikyo's. It was the photo of just the dancers in front of the graffiti backdrop, all of them posing with smiles on their faces. Some of them were casually leaning against each other or looking cute or looking serious. Whatever pose they chose, one could tell the personality of each member as they had chosen whatever pose they wanted. All the photos had Kikyo's name at the bottom, just in case some people didn't know who she was.
"You guys like it?" Kikyo asked, smiling at them as she turned around. She was dressed in a long dress today, not thinking she would have to dance today, and wanting to be comfortable for a long day of travel and talks.
"Yeah." "Yes!" "It's awesome!" "Amazing!"
Kikyo giggled as Inuyasha spoke up. "It's really good, Kikyo. Haru's photos are always really good," he praised.
She smiled at him and turned to face the entrance. She still had things that she wanted to say to him, things she wanted to share with him that would have to be said soon. She needed him to understand how much he meant to her. And it pained her to even look up and see his and Kagome's photo up there, not to mention there were more of the two of them around the sidewalk of the stadium.
Just then, a couple of young girls recognized them standing near the tree, and began to make their way towards them. Kikyo's bodyguards walked towards them to intersect the girls who tried to ask for a picture or two with everyone.
"Let them come," Kikyo called, the bodyguards letting the four women come up to them with huge smiles on their faces.
"Don't take too long or else others will notice," Naraku warned as he and Akari stepped off to the side to allow the group to take photos with the girls. Kikyo nodded her understanding and the thirteen of them along with the four girls began to get into a tight group. They handed their phones to Naraku and Akari to take the photos.
Once the group of girls got a few photos, they thanked the group and Kikyo urged everyone to keeping moving. There were others that kept coming up to them, wanting their autographs and photos, mostly of Kikyo but of the dancers as well. They finally got to the entrance and a woman was standing outside waiting for them with a smile. Naraku had called ahead of time to let them know of their arrival times.
"Welcome, Kikyo, everyone," the woman said, bowing to them all. "My name is Amaya. I am one of the assistant managers here. If you please, I will take you inside to show you around the place before Kenji will join us."
They all followed Amaya into the entrance of the stadium, going through the tinted doors that was one of the ways in. They were then welcomed into an open reception area that then went into a huge enclosure from the outside of the stadium to the inside of the stadium. The pillars that went around the stadium and that helped to hold up the photo banners was just the outer perimeter of the stadium ground. Within that came another wraparound walkway as the guests were able to come into the stadium after showing their tickets and being officially in the stadium.
"This is where the fans will be transitioning and meandering around. This area is covered and our guests are able to get in and out of the main seating area through here, go to the bathroom, or hang out here during intermissions. People also tend to go outside during intermission as the area is much more spacious with trees." Amaya smiled at them as she led them down the wraparound for a bit. From here, they could see the stairs on one side that led up into the stadium seating area while on the opposite side was the outside of the building. The only thing preventing the outside community from coming in were the tall stone walls between the pillars that people would have to scale up and over if they really wanted to get in without a ticket. The walls were about eight feet high, so they couldn't see the people walking around inside or outside, but the light shone in and the sky could be seen.
"We have bathrooms and lounge rooms underneath the seats of the stadium," Amaya informed as they passed by a bathroom. "I will show you your personal bathrooms after we get into the stadium."
Kagome looked up and around her in awe. Something this big was amazing to her. And she looked around at the others, taking it all in just like she was. Kagome followed behind the group as Amaya led them up one of the stairs that took them into the stadium seating area. They suddenly came out from the inside part of the building and out into the open seating area and all the thousands of empty chairs that lined up the entire rectangular stadium.
"Wow…" Kagome whispered, stopping short as everyone stood behind Amaya, taking in the sight. It was definitely something to behold. She tried to envision the fans in their seats, screaming and cheering for Kikyo, the blood rushing through her veins at the pounding bass of the deafening music. She turned around to look over the railing above and behind her to see the rows of chairs that went up the stadium wall. The red and blue empty chairs lined the entire walls. She had never seen anything like this in all her life.
"We have sections of colored seats coded to a respective letter of that section. Then, the seats themselves," she said, moving them out of the stairway and onto the steps of a row of seats so they could see it better, "have numbers on them with the respective letter. Their tickets will show the color with the letter and number of their paid seat."
Kagome walked up a few flights of stairs, pushing her hair behind her ear as she wanted to be a little away from the group for just a few seconds. She wanted to just stand here and feel. Feel what it was like to be this big, to be a dancer that made it this far. She knew that she had always wanted to be a professional dancer. But to have made it this big, something like this was not what she had thought for herself. Kagome stood on one of the rows, placing her hand on the back of a seat and gazing up at the overhead roof above them. On each side of the longer sides of the rectangular stadium were roofs that extended out to try to cover as much seats as they could. Then, on the shorter sides of the stadium were LED screens on each side to display the action on the field, whether it was a sports game or a concert.
"Hey." Kagome turned around to look down at Inuyasha who was now her height since he was a few steps lower than her. "You okay?" He seemed concerned and had left the others, as Amaya kept talking to the group, to come check on her.
Kagome smiled apologetically. "Yes, I'm fine. Sorry. I just really wanted to take this all in for a moment. By myself."
Inuyasha smiled, nodding his head. "I get it. I'm sure it's a different story when we get down there on the field." Kagome nodded her agreement and he urged her back towards the group to listen to Amaya.
"We already have started setting up the stage," she informed them, calling their attention down at the field. The green field was littered with black metal parts and equipment and men moving around down there like small human beings from this vantage point. At the far end on the left was where they could see the main construction happening of where the stage would be setup. For now, they had the platform of the main stage and a little connection for the runway. The crew was currently using cranes and lifts to create the backboard of the main stage. "Kenji is down there right now seeing to the operations. We'll meet him down there in a little bit. If you don't mind, Kenji wanted me to walk you around the entire stadium just to make sure you saw everything and we could address any questions you have now."
"Fine with us," Kikyo said, looking down at the workers moving equipment around either on machines or by hand in teams. She admired their hard work and was grateful for them.
Amaya nodded. "Okay then. Let's head back inside the stadium to walk the wraparound." The others cleared a space for her to lead the way and they made their way back down the stairs. Amaya led them throughout the entire wraparound of the inside of the stadium, showing them all the bathrooms with their signs, some areas that would be food vendors within the stadium and some rooms that were the lounge areas for important people to watch the games within on television screens. Amaya also showed them the part of the stadium that would be closed off to the fans so that their group could come and go.
"We'll setup barricades here," she pointed out, turning them around to show where they had planned to block off their section from the fans. "We'll have a security guard posted at each end." Naraku nodded his approval and Amaya turned around, leading them back around the stadium ground. Once they got back to the front entrance, Kagome looked out through the tinted windows, noticing more people outside staring up at the banners above, taking pictures.
"I'll take you guys into the stadium grounds now."
Kagome followed behind the others, taking in everything slowly, not wanting to miss a thing. Amaya led them through two metal double doors that were held open by door stoppers. It led them down a dark tunnel that had a light shining at the end where they could see the green field ahead. Kagome smiled, knowing they were underneath the stadium seats and they were walking out into the middle of the stadium. This was it.
The group came out into the sunlight and Kagome walked further out, following the group, before they all stopped and took in their surroundings. She held her breath. Standing at the bottom of the stadium, on the track of the field, looking up at the empty stands that went high above was an experience of its own. Kagome felt her body shake, getting goosebumps standing there. She turned around, doing a full circle, feeling so alive and grateful to be alive. Inuyasha smiled to himself, watching Kagome, as he too took everything in. It felt surreal to be here, to have made it this far with Kikyo's success gaining this much attention from the world.
"It's a lot to take in," Amaya acknowledged with a smile. "But you'll get used to it the more you come to visit us. The day of your concert will be like no other day that you've ever had."
Kikyo smiled and agreed, her eyes sparkling as she gazed up at the grandness of it all. Amaya then led them onto the field and towards the middle. All the while, Kagome only had eyes for the stadium now that they stood in the middle of it.
"Breathtaking, isn't it?"
Kagome looked to see Inuyasha standing next to her, his eyes looking up at the seats. She smiled at him and nodded, turning to look in the same direction as he was. "It is."
"I was wondering what it would be like to stand in the middle of the field, staring up at the stands."
She looked at him, tilting her head to the side, smiling in anticipation. "And? What do you think?" They were both standing in the middle of the entire field. The others had continued walking towards one end of the field to meetup with Kenji. But for them two, they just wanted to have a moment. Just one moment to let the reality of it all sink in. Kagome felt such an appreciation for Inuyasha. He understood her sometimes. He, like her, just wanted to stop for a moment, and they did it together.
He turned to look at her, but she couldn't see his eyes. "It's definitely something," he said.
Kagome smiled just as she heard their names being called out. Their moment was broken, but Inuyasha didn't look at them. His entire focus was on her. She smiled at him and closed the distance between them, grabbing his arm with her hands and turning him to pull him with her back towards the others.
"Well, I'm glad we're taking it in together." Kagome felt like she belonged next to him. Holding his arm as they walked together back towards the others felt like such a natural thing for her. She quickly stole a glance at him and noticed that he was looking at her. She blushed, smiling quickly before looking away. Her heart raced. She knew that their relationship was different compared to everyone else's, besides Miroku and Sango's. But she also didn't know what to make of it. Sometimes she felt like Inuyasha would be flirting with her, like the few kisses they shared. And sometimes she felt like Inuyasha had someone else besides her, like Kikyo. She had always thought that the two of them looked good together and after this week's events with the photoshoot and the duet, she could only guess that the two of them had some connection. No one decided to speak about it or tell her, and she wouldn't ask. That was their business. But she did want to tell Inuyasha a few things. It was time for her to be honest with herself and to be honest with him. All she could do was tell him how she felt and however he took it, it was out of her control.
'I need to tell him. Midoriko told me it'll be good for me to get it off my chest. And it'll be good for him to hear.' She had to trust that her friends knew more about these sort of things than she did. She was never and had never been any good with dating and with having emotions. Emotions were foreign to her. She had learned that emotions were toxic and they always led to pain, so throughout her childhood she tried to suppress her emotions. Same when it came to dating. She didn't know step one of dating and she didn't even know what love felt like. But whatever she felt for Inuyasha, she knew that it was much deeper than what she felt for any other man before. Certainly more than what she felt for Onigumo, and he was always a conundrum for her. He was the closest thing she had to having a real relationship with a man, even though all of her relationships with men have always been toxic and controlling.
The group got to the end of the field where the main stage was being prepared and Amaya led them up to a man dressed in khakis with a black t-shirt. He had his glasses on his forehead, surrounded by a few men and women taking directions from him as he pointed at a few things at the bottom of the stage.
"Kenji." Amaya walked up to him, waiting for him to finish his conversation, and then he gave her his full attention. "This is Kikyo Hayashi and her dancers. Naraku Igarashi, her manager, and Akari Goya, her publicist," indicating with her hand who was who to Kenji.
"Good morning, everyone! My name is Kenji. I am the manager here at Yanmar Stadium." Kenji greeted them with such a big, happy smile that Kagome found it contagious. "I'm glad you all were able to make it today. I hope your flight was well and that Amaya was able to show you a tour of the place and answer your questions." He paused to take a look at Kikyo, seeing her nod her head in agreement. "Good. Do you guys have any questions for me?"
Inuyasha spoke first. "I do." Everyone turned so that they could see him, standing next to Kagome. "How long until you think the stage will be finished?"
Kenji smiled with a nod. "We're anticipating it to be completed by next Saturday. Once we get the backbones completed, then your crew can come in the week before the concert to do their own adjustments and tweaks. But it won't be until next Saturday when you guys can finally utilize the stage. This alone took us a week to put up so by next week we should have the LED screens up, the backstage set and all three parts of our stage finished."
Inuyasha nodded. "I'd like to see your sketch plans and blueprints for your stage since we're here. I also want us to go on stage to get a feel for it," he proposed.
Kenji turned to look up at the crew on the stage, moving around. There were wires everywhere and some pieces of boards and poles just scattered everywhere on the platform. "We'll see what we can do about that. Maybe in a couple of hours, after the crew is able to move some things around, it'll be safe for you guys to go onto the stage. I don't want any of you to get hurt on my watch."
"Thanks."
They all got to work, discussing the plans for the next week that the venue was supposed to complete. Kenji informed them of all of their timeframes and what they plan to complete by when. Naraku and Inuyasha both spoke with him in-depth about the stages and where things would be. Kenji took them on a little tour of the stage, or what was available to them, and then gave them many more to imagine as he told them what would be where on the stage. Inuyasha then cut them free to do whatever they wanted while he, Naraku, Kikyo and Akari spoke to Kenji and his assistants on all the operations of the performance and the little details.
Kagome decided to go for a walk inside the stadium. She wanted to see more of the huge standing pillars and the high ceilings. It was such a marvelous structure. She left the others, walking off the field to head through one of the tunnels closest to the stage area. All the double doors were left open in all of the tunnels since the outer doors of the stadium were locked. She made her way to the inside of the stadium and began walking around the entire length of the stadium again, lost in her thoughts. She began to think about Inuyasha. The more she thought about him, the more she began to realize that she had been thinking about him a lot lately. Especially at work, which was one of the problems. Ayumi and Midoriko noticed how she would get lost in her thoughts when they were getting ready or ending their shift. She would somehow begin thinking about him. She didn't mean to. She thought about her work and all the things they would be doing for the next month with preparing for the concert. But as she thought about that, she also anticipated the reveal of the photos with her and Inuyasha and she still waited to hear what Kikyo wanted to do for her music video. That always brought her back to thinking about Inuyasha and the way they fit together as dance partners. 'Possibly more?'
She didn't know how she felt about him besides the fact that she did think he was hot, he is cute and sexy, and does seem like a nice a guy. When they were together at the charity event, she saw a side of him that she hadn't seen before. As her boss, he can be quite demanding and hard sometimes. He would always push them for more because he knew that they could do it, he believed in them to be better and to do better, so he was always hard on them at work. But outside of work… 'Ah… I don't really know him that well,' she thought. They did hang out outside of work. The gang did go to lunch and dinner together or especially when they traveled together they did stuff together, but travel was still for work. The only other time they hung out was at his family's charity event. But other than that, she hasn't been able to really get to know him. From what she was able to see from him though, he did have a soft side about him that she really wanted to get to know. As much as she tried to deny it, Kagome knew that she was falling for him. There was only one problem.
She ended up back at the same tunnel she came out of and decided to head back into the stadium to see how everything was moving along. She went into the tunnel and let herself be engulfed in the darkness.
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Onigumo placed her on his couch, looking down at her small figure, and shook his head. He headed to his closet in his office to pull out an extra coat he had, bringing it back to her.
"Here. You'll catch a cold." He offered the coat to her and it took her a moment to register what it was. She reached out slowly, looking up at him with wary eyes, and then took it from him. He watched as she placed it over her shoulders slowly, her eyes downcast, not wanting to look up or around her.
"Are you hungry?" he asked her.
Kagome shook her head, keeping her head down. She didn't really know what he planned to do with her. When he took her off the street, he told her he owned this nightclub called Midnite. She assumed this was it. He took her through the back doors, going into a dressing room and into the main club. The music was loud and the lights were dim as he took her up the stairs into this office that she assumed was his. The couch was nice, fancy, so she knew that he had money as he was the owner of this club. She was afraid to speak. She didn't know what to say. He had just taken her off the streets to come and work at his club and she agreed. Anything to get off the streets, especially with winter approaching.
"You must be hungry," Onigumo answered for her, turning from her to head over to his desk behind her. He went straight to his desk phone and pressed a number. "I need you to buy some food. Whatever you decide for a woman. She's hungry and hasn't eaten anything all day so I'll leave it to you to get whatever." He placed the receiver back down and stared at the back of her sitting on his couch.
With his coat on, she looked like a child waiting to be reprimanded. She didn't speak a word on their way to his club. They had walked the streets in silence, and though he noticed the strange stares that came their way when they saw a man dressed in a fine suit walking with a woman who had tattered clothes, their stares didn't bother him as his entire attention and focus was on her. This woman. The minute he had seen her sitting by that garbage can in a back alley, he had noticed her immediately. Her beautiful black hair that cascaded down her back, looking unruly and uncombed. Her small figure tucked away, trying to go unseen from the world, shivering in the cold. He immediately felt a pull towards her, which made him look at her. And then their eyes met. Her beautiful blue eyes. But what he saw in them was what captivated him and tugged at his heart. He saw sadness and hopelessness, but he also saw will and determination. She was not ready to die. She was still going to fight. That moment when he looked at her blue eyes, he immediately fell for her. He wouldn't call it love. But he wanted her. There was something deep within him that desired her, to own her.
Onigumo walked over to a desk to make himself a drink, putting a few cubes of ice in his tumbler and pouring himself a glass of whiskey. "So… Kagome Higurashi. What brings you to Tokyo?"
Kagome froze. Could she trust him? She didn't even know this man and yet she knew that in order for him to trust her and help her, he would need some information about her.
Onigumo made his way over to the couch slowly and placed his tumbler on the glass desk in front of the couch, shrugging out of his coat and placing it on the hand rest of the couch. He sat at the opposite end of her, giving her space, and grabbed his drink. "You said you came from somewhere. Where is it that you came from?"
Kagome didn't know what to tell him. She barely knew this man. But maybe that's what would make it so easy to tell him. He didn't know her. He didn't know anything about her and she could lie about who she was and just start a new life. Here. With him. That was what she wanted anyway was to start a new life.
"Kagome…" Just then, there was a knock at the door. "Come in."
The door opened and Kagome kept her head down as a man walked in with a bag of food, bringing it over to the table in front of her.
"I got a few bentos and a drink for her."
Onigumo looked up and nodded. "Thanks, Jinenji. You can leave."
Kagome watched as the man's feet disappeared from sight and he left them alone again. The smell of the food began to waft in the air. She could smell the delicious aroma, the smell of chicken and rice, and her stomach began to rumble.
"You can eat, Kagome. Help yourself."
She paused for a moment, not really knowing what to do. She turned to look at him, seeing him sitting there with his drink in hand and a patient look on his face. She thought for a moment, wondering how she could repay him for his kindness, and then turned to look at the food. Reaching forward, she gave in to her hunger. She pulled out the first box and grabbed the chopsticks inside the bag. The first box she pulled out was the chicken she could smell with noodles. Her mouth watered at the sight of food, after so long. This was real, delicious food. Not scraps she dug out of the trash or begged for from strangers. She took a bite and immediately felt a sense of appreciation and gratitude, contentment and satisfaction. She was so hungry. So hungry.
She ate a few bites while Onigumo sat in silence, only making noise when he took a sip of his drink, but she kept her eyes on her food. After eating about half of the box, she closed it up and placed it back in the bag, hanging onto her chopsticks.
"All done? That was fast," Onigumo said. He could see there were about four or five more boxes in the bag along with the drink.
Kagome nodded her head, looking up around her, finally taking in the huge glass walls in front of her that looked out into the club where the lights were dim save for a few blue and purple lights. "Thank you for your kindness," she said softly. "I will save the rest of it for later."
"Later?" Onigumo smiled, tilting his head to the side, suddenly realizing why she was eating only a little. "Kagome, you are not going back out on the street." That made her turn to look at him with shock, as if that was what she was expecting. "I told you that I want to hire you to work here at my club. Unless you deny, I have no intention of putting you back out on the street."
His words hit her then as if it hadn't before. He wasn't planning on discarding her. But he didn't even know who she was. She stared at him in his pants and his white undershirt, wondering if she could trust him. He already gave her food, more than she ever had probably combined since she came to Tokyo a week ago. She had lost so much weight by now and she looked like a horrible mess. For him to see any potential in her to work here blew her mind. But she was grateful for it, and for the food. She only ate a few bites because she was going to save the rest for the rest of the week, possibly for two weeks if she could somehow find a way to keep it from spoiling by then. But even then, when times were dire, she would even eat rotten food if she had to. And now Onigumo was telling her that she would have a place to stay?
"If I may speak…"
Onigumo frowned, her words throwing him for a loop. No one talked like that, at least not the modern day women that he knew around here in Tokyo. Where did this woman come from? "Speak."
Kagome looked down at the couch, unable to stare at him in the eyes for too long. "What do you want from me?"
"I told you. I want you to work for me. Here, at Midnite. Of course, I will tell you about what I expect of you and what your job will entail. But I think you would be a perfect fit here." He would just have to work on her confidence. He noticed that she couldn't keep eye contact with him for too long and she would always keep her head down. Some men here would like that kind of submission from a gentlemen's girl. But he wanted her to feel confident and safe here. And he would find out what would make her feel safe if she was to choose to work here.
"Why… why do you want to help me?"
Onigumo shrugged, looking out at his club. "It was your eyes that caught me the first time I saw you. I could see determination in your eyes, a will to survive. I admire that in people."
Kagome kept silent for a moment, thinking that if she was to work here, she would have to trust him. She had no one else to trust or to turn to. He was her only saving grace. And if he was willing to help her, then maybe he could accept her and truly help her.
"I need your help."
Onigumo turned to look at her, finally getting a breakthrough. "How so?"
Kagome turned so she could look at the light ahead. "I'm running from someone. I need your help to change my identity. I can't be Kagome Higurashi anymore. I need a completely new look and a new name."
Onigumo thought it over, knowing that she had to have come from a bad past to have wound up where she was now, but now he knew that it was a person that got her to this point. She was running and hiding from someone. "So you want a completely different life?"
Kagome nodded. "Yes. I'm willing to work here. I will dedicate my life to you since you are the only one willing to help me. But in return, I ask that you help me change my identity."
That would be easy. He had friends in high places. Lawyers. Judges. Cops. His club was all for the rich and the privilege to come and do business and for pleasure, and he was a part of their business. He knew he could help change her name and her look. He could do more than that. "Let's see. So you would need a new birth certificate, name, parents, all that stuff," he said, thinking out loud.
Kagome turned to look at him, seeing him think things through. Her parents. Yeah, they were far out of the picture and far out of her life. Her father was dead and her mother should just as well be too. She needed a new narrative on where she was born and raised, what her parents did for a living, where she went to school, who were friends were. Her entire childhood would have to be changed in order to be this new person that she needed to be. This was all for her safety.
"You would have to change your look too," Onigumo said, looking at her with a smile. "What do you think about blue hair? It'll match those beautiful eyes of yours. And… perhaps here, you will be called Sapphire."
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-
Kagome frowned as she walked out into the sunlight, seeing the others up on stage or on the field, chatting with one another or waiting around. She spotted Inuyasha immediately as he, Miroku, Kikyo, Akari and Naraku were talking to Kenji. 'He doesn't even know me either.' The both of them didn't know each other well. And as much as she did want to get to know him a lot more, she wasn't sure if she was willing for him to get to know her the same way. There was so much about her past that she couldn't tell anyone about. And so much of her back then and even now that she was sure no one would accept about her. Many of her 'friends' would easily turn their back on her if they knew where she came from and what she did now as a gentlemen's girl at Midnite. That kind of job just wasn't praised in the real world.
"Kagome!" Sango called, standing next to Shippo. The girl waved her over and Kagome obeyed, walking over to the pair as they stood on the field watching the machines and the crew setup the runway.
"Where'd you go?"
"I just went for a walk around the entire stadium again. I wanted to take in the sights."
"This place is huge!" Shippo said, smiling from ear to ear. "I can't believe we're going to be performing here."
"Well you better believe it," Sango said. "This is going to be Kikyo's biggest concert as of yet. We're going to have to pull out all the stocks for this one. But I'm sure Kikyo's going to want to do some showy things. Maybe have some fireworks or smoke or something."
Kagome looked up on the stage at the group talking to Kenji. "What are they talking about? More stage stuff?"
Sango shrugged. "Yeah, they were, so I left them to it. I got bored. And I'm getting hungry. It's almost lunch so we should be leaving soon to grab something to eat. Then, we'll come back for a couple of hours to do some meet-and-greets outside and check out our banners. Then, we'll catch our plane by four. There's not much for us to do here for now anyway."
"Next week we should be able to practice at least," Shippo suggested. "I think Inuyasha also wanted us to think about what we might want or need for our backstage. He said to think about if we want the open area with the group just dressing all together or if we want individual areas that are more private. With such a big space, we have enough room to do either."
Kagome nodded, looking at the width of the half-completed stage so far. "It does look like it's going to be huge. At least, in the warehouse it is. But I don't have a preference either or. I'm comfortable with both."
Sango smiled and nodded, looking at Miroku as he caught her eye. He waved at them and said something to Inuyasha before they nodded and said something to Kenji. It looked like they were wrapping up their talk just as Kenji went back to work with his assistants and the crew while Inuyasha and the others came off the stage, walking towards them.
"Time for lunch," Miroku announced, making Shippo cheer.
"Yes! I'm hungry. That airport breakfast wasn't enough for me."
Kagome laughed as Inuyasha began to call out towards the others either sitting on the grass or walking around nearby. He did a head count and they made some texts to the others who were not around to meet them at the front entrance. They all made their way back to the front entrance and everyone reconvened. They headed out with Kikyo's bodyguards going first and then made their way back to the bus at the front entrance roundabout. There were some fans there who had noticed them, so it took them a while just to get back to the bus. People were starting to show up to buy tickets now that the ticket booths were open, and with Kikyo being in the area, it was only fitting for them to get some photos in and posting about it. Once they got back in the bus, the bus took them into the city to head for a restaurant for lunch. After two hours, they arrived back at Yanmar Stadium to do their final hours of meet-and-greets.
"Just be nice. Be attentive. And be interested for two hours," Naraku said, mostly to Kikyo but he then began to address everyone else. "We'll be here as long as we can for the fans' sakes. But we have to leave by four to get to the airport in time for our flight. Depending on how many people are here, we might leave earlier if there's not a lot of people. No one really knows that we're here so there might not be a lot."
As they all got off the bus, they headed across the sidewalk towards the right side of the stadium. Here, the venue had setup the ticket booths near a little circular area right off the main sidewalk that wrapped around the entire stadium. There were already fans here buying some tickets in person, about a dozen people or so, mostly younger. It seemed like talk had spread via social media that Kikyo and her dancers had been at Yanmar earlier in the day and now there were most fans coming, hoping to catch a glimpse of them. The area had standup banners of the photos they had taken during their photoshoot, scattered all throughout the area, on the grass that surrounded the circle cement area and at its entrance.
Kikyo walked first with her bodyguards, scanning the banners while the group followed her, admiring the banners. They were all talking amongst each other about their photos when fans began to come up to Kikyo, asking for her autograph and photos, getting some with the dancers as well. Some of them took photos with the individual dancers that they loved, mostly with Inuyasha, and some of them took group photos with all the dancers. There was a huge stir that grew among them as people in the area began to realize that a celebrity was here, taking time to come to the ticket area to see who it was. It was hard not to notice who the celebrity was when her photos were plastered all over the stadium with her name on them. Everyone was patient with the fans as they had nowhere else to be for the next couple of hours, which seemed to go by quickly when there were enough people with enough questions and attention. By the time the group knew it, Naraku was calling everyone back to the bus. They all said their goodbyes and made their way back to the bus, heading to the airport to get back home to Tokyo.
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-
Everyone walked out of the airport terminals, still reeling about the day and how excited they were for the upcoming performance. Once they got to the sidewalk curb, they all said their goodbyes and parted ways, catching a cab or heading to their cars in the airport parking lot. Sango walked next to Kagome and nudged her.
"Hey. Let's go out tonight. Do you have to work?"
Kagome shook her head. Onigumo had put up a fight about letting her take the time off she needed this month for all that was going on with the concert. But he didn't change her schedule around since she would be missing all Saturdays and a couple of Sundays, one Thursday and one Friday. That was eight nights total that she wouldn't be working, which was why he was so hesitant and pretty outspoken about not wanting to let her go for all those weekends. She had to reason with him that this was just temporary. It was all for one concert and once that was over, things would go back to normal. Onigumo wasn't as hopeful as she was as he knew that her success with Kikyo would only grow, which meant more demand for her at that job than at Midnite. Onigumo made sure that she understood if this job was to cause her to lose any of her clients or if he was to receive consistent complaints from them because she was missing her normal nights, he was going to put an end to this job. Kikyo would need to find another dancer if it became a problem.
"No," she said, shaking her head. Sango looped one arm to grab hers, hooking their arms together.
"Perfect! Let's go out! It's Saturday!"
Inuyasha and Miroku walked behind the two, looking at each other with a knowing look, as if Saturday was a universal code word for 'going out'. Kagome giggled at Sango's enthusiasm. It had been a long day. They had arrived at the airport at the break of dawn and now it was sunset. But she didn't mind going for a drink with them. She hadn't been out in years and it would be nice to let her hair down and to do it with them.
"Sure."
Sango squealed and turned around to see what the boys thought.
"Well, we can take you home, Kagome, so you can grab some clothes and come to our place to get ready," Miroku offered.
"Ummm…" No one knew where she lived besides Onigumo and Jinenji. No one else. Not even the girls at Midnite knew where she lived. No one knew where any of the girls lived besides their boss and their bodyguards. And she wasn't sure if she wanted these people to know where she lived. "How about you drop me off at the park and then I'll take the train to your place."
Inuyasha waved his hand. "That'll take too long. We live in the city."
"We?" Kagome turned around to look ahead, letting Sango lead her towards the airport parking lot.
Inuyasha nodded. "The three of us live together."
'What?' She never knew that they all lived together, but then again, she never asked. Kagome frowned, not wanting to be a bummer but trying to figure out how she was going to make this work.
"How about we go to the park and wait for you there?" Miroku offered. He had a feeling, after all this time that Kagome would ask them to pick her up and drop her off at Shinjuku Gyoen, that she didn't want them to know where she lived. He didn't know if it was out of embarrassment or what, but he knew by how hesitant she was that she probably had reservations of them knowing where she lives. "You don't have to show us your place. We can just wait at the parking lot in the gyoen until you come back."
Kagome shook her head. "I don't want you guys to wait for me."
Sango waved her off with her free hand. "Don't worry. We have nowhere else to be. Besides, I'll call the rest of the gang and see if they're down to go out tonight. So it'll take us a while to all get ready and meetup. Party doesn't start until the town is asleep anyway." Kagome giggled, thinking of how true that was. The night hid a lot more secrets than people knew about.
"What do you say?" Miroku asked, jiggling his keys as they got to the elevator of the parking garage structure.
"Okay."
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-
'Wow…' Simply amazing. 'And rich.' As they drove past the front of the building Kagome knew exactly where they were. This was one of the wealthiest places in Tokyo. The Roppongi Hills Residence was known for its luxurious accommodations and for being one of the most expensive places to live in Tokyo. She couldn't believe that the three of them lived here. 'Well… Inuyasha is a Fujimoto. All of their families are wealthy.' After meeting their families at the charity event, it was no wonder that they would be living in a place like this. Kagome frowned, looking out the window as they passed by the front of the two tall buildings that made up the residences. Miroku pulled into the underground parking area that was accessible by a keycard. He pulled into a spot next to a white Mazda. They all filed out of the car, Kagome grabbing her duffle bag as she got out.
"Wow. I can't believe you guys live here," she said.
"Heard of it, have you?" Miroku asked with a smirk, locking his doors with the FOB. "Yeah, this place has its own reputation," he said with a shrug. "You like Inuyasha's car?" he asked, nudging his chin towards the Mazda.
Sango and Inuyasha walked around towards them as Kagome looked at the Mazda on the other side of Miroku's car. Her eyes widened and then she looked at Inuyasha as he came towards her, smiling at him.
"Nice car."
Inuyasha smirked, shrugging as she turned to follow him behind Miroku and Sango. "Nothing fancy. Something to get me from point a to point b if I don't want to be bombarded by all the sounds and smells in the train."
Kagome made an 'o' with her mouth, understanding why he would rather avoid the trains if he could. She followed him in silence, her duffle bag slung over one shoulder with her change of clothes for tonight. She was starting to get excited. She doesn't really go out to a club for just herself since she worked at one, it just made no sense to go to one for pleasure. But with these guys and the others, she was excited to spend time with them, to let her hair down and to get closer with them as friends.
Miroku used his keycard, swiping the card against the electronic keypad, to call the elevator down and the four of them walked in. It was a spacious elevator with glass on all sides. But as they went up, Kagome realized that the elevator was on the inside of the building as she wasn't able to see outside. The elevator ascended to the 40th floor and she could feel her ears begin to feel pressurized but they hadn't popped yet. As they went up, she noticed writings on the outside of the walls as they passed by the floors. The lights from the elevator illuminated around them so she could see writing on the walls outside in all three directions.
"What are the writings on the walls?"
Inuyasha leaned back against one of the three doors in the elevator, crossing his arms as he waited, yawning. "Each floor has the resident's name on the electric signs above the doorways. This elevator is for residents only. You have to have a keycard to get into the elevator and then to get out into your apartment. This is the service elevator that takes you directly into your apartment. There's another one for guests that's downstairs in the lobby."
"Oh. Wow. So high-tech," she mumbled, really feeling out of place. This place was too grand for someone like her.
Inuyasha looked at Kagome, watching her as she remained quiet between him and Miroku and Sango. He stared her up and down, wondering what she was thinking. He liked her being here. He liked that she was getting to come to his home. He could only imagine that he would like her being in his home, as much as he liked her being in his parents' home.
The elevator slowed and came to a stop, asking for the keycard. Miroku swiped his card one last time and the elevator doors opened directly into their apartment. Kagome blinked, taking in the small foyer that had a sliding door to the side where they began to take off their shoes. She turned around to look at Inuyasha and he nodded at her, urging her forward. She walked out, he following her, as she followed Miroku and Sango and took off her shoes.
"Welcome to our home, Kagome!" Sango said, turning around with a huge smile. "Why don't you guys start getting ready? I'll give Kagome the grand tour," she said at Inuyasha and Miroku before she grabbed Kagome's arm and tugged her through the hall, towards the first bedroom that came into view.
Inuyasha frowned, wanting to be the one to show Kagome around. He was about to follow them when Miroku slapped a hand on his shoulder, making him turn to him. Miroku smiled at him, knowingly.
"Let them have their girl time." Inuyasha simply nodded and he turned left, walking to the end of the hall where his bedroom was, while Miroku went to follow the girls into his bedroom.
Kagome let Sango tug her along, looking all around her in awe. The ceilings were high, higher than most modern Japanese homes. And with the higher ceilings, it made it so much more spacious and welcoming, not feeling so suffocated and confined in a building. She loved it. The walls were a pastel brown with some panels and backdrops of what looked like wood in certain areas that she could see in the hallway. Sango opened the first door opposite of the elevator, a little towards the right, and walked in.
"This is our room," Sango said, dropping her purse and sunglasses onto a dresser, turning around to smile at Kagome. "You like it?"
Kagome walked in smiling, noticing how the color in here was a neutral blue, almost pastel. The king size bed had green bedsheets and pillows with a bedside stand on either side that had a moveable bedside light that was drilled into the wall. "Wow. I do like it." There was a backdrop behind their bed of what looked like a green mist with specks of yellow in it. There were a couple of dressers on her way in and she turned to notice the bathroom that she had passed by.
"We have our own bathroom and our own balcony," Sango said as she led Kagome outside to the small box-like balcony they had, overlooking the city of Tokyo.
"Wow, Sango. This is really beautiful," Kagome said, standing on the inside of the sliding glass door that led out to the balcony. It was rare to get a view like this in the heart of the city. But then again, these were luxury apartments. You get what you paid for. Sango smiled at her just as Miroku walked in.
"Come. You'll like the living room if you think this is amazing."
Kagome turned around and followed Sango as Miroku came in, smiling at her as they walked past each other. "Sorry, Kagome. But Sango's gonna give you the grand tour. She always does it for everyone."
Kagome shook her head with a smile. "I don't mind."
"I'm gonna take a bath and get ready," he told them as both of them waved at him and left the room, leaving him to close the door behind them.
"I'll show you the kitchen first," Sango said, walking to the next door down and opened the door to walk in. "This is our kitchen," she announced.
Kagome walked in after her and marveled at the modern-day kitchen they had. The color of the room was a cool grey. To her right was the refrigerator with the sink and to her left was the island where there were high stools on the opposite side. A couple of lights hung down from the ceiling over the island. There were a few paperwork scattered on the countertop as she walked by, turning to her right to get a glimpse of all their kitchen appliances. Everything was top notch, from their oven and stove to their blenders and air fryers. They had everything they would ever need. Sango moved past the island to the shoji and slid it open.
"This is our family room, although we mostly use it as another entertainment room. Sometimes we eat in here too."
The family room was spacious, only being a little bit bigger than Sango's room. It was a neutral brown like the hallways but there were many photos along the walls of the ocean in this room, making her smile. Kagome loved the ocean.
Sango turned around with a wicked smile. "You'll love this." Kagome followed her forward towards the light outside and noticed there was a balcony. Sango pulled back the extra layer of see-through curtains and opened the sliding glass door. "Ta-da!"
Kagome giggled at her enthusiasm and she walked through with Sango right behind her. "Wow." The balcony was a long rectangle alongside the edge of the building. From here she could see all of Tokyo in all its glory and a few parks that separated all of the buildings. Tokyo Tower stood tall in its glory directly in front of them and the sound of the traffic below could be heard on the wind. Kagome took a breath, walking forward, smiling as she reached out to touch some of the plants that were planted at the edge of the balcony wall, going up chest high. "This is really beautiful, Sango."
"Yeah. Inuyasha really knows how to pick 'em out," Sango said as she closed the sliding glass door behind her.
Kagome turned to her as Sango came up beside her, leaning on the balustrade where the plants were. "Inuyasha picked this place out?"
Sango nodded. "Yeah. Inuyasha owns this apartment."
"What?"
Sango smiled, looking at the tower. "Yeah. You know his family, Kagome. They're demons and they've lived for centuries, meaning they have gained a lot of wealth over the years. Inuyasha's family is a stakeholder in the company that owns the Roppongi Hills. They have ownership in the Grand Hyatt Hotel that's next door and the luxury shops and restaurants that make up this entire residence. When the building began its construction, Inuyasha bought this apartment and had it made to his specifications while it was being furnished. He might not look like it, but he's an amazing businessman and he has an eye for construction," she said, turning to her with a wink. "He's a jack of all trades, you could say."
Kagome smiled at her, awkwardly. "Okay…" 'Wow. Inuyasha can do all that? And he's that rich?'
Sango shook her head at Kagome's shyness and pushed off the balcony. "The owner doesn't normally allow people to purchase the apartments here. But he allowed for a few of his co-owners and stakeholders to purchase them during his construction. So the Fujimotos put a bid in and got this place." Sango slid open another sliding glass door and walked into a much bigger room, making Kagome's eyes widen.
"How much was this place?" she asked, not sure if she was ready for the answer. As she walked into this huge space, which she could only assume was the main living room, she couldn't imagine what it would've cost. And she still hadn't seen the opposite side of the apartment where the other bedrooms were.
Sango closed the door behind Kagome, turning to walk in after her. "I think it was something like four million yen."
"What?!"
Sango nodded, laughing. "Yeah. Crazy, huh?" She shrugged, running her hand on top of the back of a couch. "I'm grateful. This place is amazing and so is Inuyasha."
Kagome took that in, not having anything to say about that. She took in the living room. It was a neutral gray like the kitchen, but there was a lot of different neutral colors going on that it didn't make the room any less dull. There were three couches, two in front of her that faced the huge flatscreen TV on an entertainment system against the wall. The wall looked like it was the same wall that had the family room on the opposite side. There were also two cushion chairs that faced the television with two glass tables spread among them. Kagome turned and looked out at the rest of the grand living room. There was a huge light fixture above in the middle of the room while some lights were either lined up for the television area or lined up for the living room area. Right now, since the sun was setting, Sango had to turn on all the lights and Kagome noticed that there were switches for different parts of the room. There was a long couch near the sliding glass door with a bookshelf opposite of it. A long, glass window was behind the couch and there was a dining room table on the other side of the room, opposite of the balcony. The middle of the living room was open with a few rugs near each couch and a few cushioned chairs scattered around the couches as if the middle was another gathering place besides the television area.
"This place is really beautiful, Sango." The dining room table was big enough to sit eight people with its own lights right above it. She liked the color scheme, all the neutral grays, blues and greens that littered the walls and the furnitures, along with the backdrops and paintings along the walls.
"I'm glad you like it," Sango said, moving opposite of the balcony. "This is the foyer that leads out to the hallway from the guest elevator. And we have another shoe closet here for our guests and a guest bathroom here," she said, turning to head through the foyer towards another door. "And this connects us back to the kitchen."
Kagome followed Sango as she led her back to square one and they walked down the hall, lit now thanks to Inuyasha.
"Here's another guest bathroom," Sango said, opening the door on her left to show a his and her sink as Kagome peeped her head in, noticing another room for just the shower area. "This apartment has four bedrooms. There's two bedrooms here side-by-side," Sango said, walking across of the guest bathroom to the two doors. She opened one so Kagome could peep inside, noticing it was the same neutral blue as Sango's bedroom but with a different color theme for the bedsheets. Sango then took her to the other door and opened that room which looked similar in the layout of the furniture, but a different color theme.
"Did Inuyasha pick all the colors too?" Kagome couldn't help but ask. If he did, he really had great taste. Well, he was a choreographer and a fashion statement so he had to have good taste.
Sango shook her head, closing the door behind them. "No. He did give the colors he wanted for the walls of the rooms and for some of the main furnitures like the couches and chairs. But not for the bedsheets and the smaller details like that."
Next to the guest bathroom was another door that was closed. "This is Inuyasha's room. He has the master bedroom and it has a walk in closet with a huge bathroom. His room is all custom to his liking so he chose every color and every furniture there is in there. But… I think he might be naked and getting ready so lets leave that door closed," she said with a grin.
Kagome smiled, giggling, and nodded. "Is it okay if I use the guest bathroom?"
"Yes, of course. Help yourself. It should be fully stocked too with whatever you may need so help yourself. I'm going to get ready. So I'll see you in half an hour or so?"
Kagome smiled with a nod. "Okay. Let's see who gets finished first."
Sango blew air and walked back down the hall towards her room. "Yeah, not me. I take forever getting ready because I can never figure out what I want to wear. Ask Miroku."
Kagome laughed as she went into the guest bathroom and locked the door behind her, placing her duffle bag on the countertop across of the toilet and getting her things out. 'Well… this sort of reminds me of Midnite.' The fine tile and the expensive things in this bathroom almost reminded her of the expensive things Onigumo provided for his girls at Midnite. Only this time, this was much more than just expensive. This was luxury in one of its finest. And she was not used to this at all. She sighed, not wanting to think about it, and began to strip, needing a shower after a long day.
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-
'Okay. Show time.' Kagome placed her makeup kit back in its pouch and looked at herself in the mirror. She had decided to wear a sapphire dress to match her eyes and her hair. It had a low dip in the front to show off her cleavage with criss-cross straps on the back that went down to her waist. The dress was tight down to her waist and then it flared out to her mid-thigh, giving a little volume and bouncing when she walked or when she twirled. A simple pull-over dress. Done. She brought her black strapped high heels and she kept her hair down, letting her curls out for the night. She had on her dark blue eyeshadow for her smoky eyes and a glossy, nude colored lip-gloss. 'You look hot, Kagome.' She twirled back and forth, giving her body a last glance over, loving the way her dress danced and bounced against her. She didn't want to keep everyone waiting. Picking up her duffle bag from the counter, she left the bathroom and headed out into the hall. The first thing she noticed was Inuyasha's door was now open and she stopped, peering down the hallway of his room but she couldn't see his bed or anything else for that matter besides the far wall. She didn't want to bother him or snoop so she decided to head to the living room to wait for everyone.
As she made her way into the kitchen, she heard movement and went in to see Inuyasha making himself something to drink. Inuyasha turned as she entered and froze with a glass in one hand and a dark liquid bottle in the other. His eyes were glued on her, raking her body from head to toe, making her feel self-conscious but very aware of his heated stare. She tried not to let it affect her, but he was. He was making her uncomfortable because he was making her feel hot and bothered. Only her could do that to her with just one look. All the other men at Midnite would look at her with lust and heated eyes, but it only disgusted her. With Inuyasha, it was different. She couldn't help herself but to check him out too, looking at what he decided to wear for tonight. Inuyasha was wearing a red button-down shirt that was a tad loose on him and black, loose jeans pants. She noticed he had white socks on and as she looked back up to his eyes, his golden eyes were blazing at her.
"Ummm… is it okay if I leave my duffle bag here? Or in the car?" she asked, wondering how to start a conversation without awkwardly staring at him. She had just checked him out! Awkward. But she hugged to herself the fact that he did the same and his heated look could only mean that he liked what he saw. She smiled, liking that he approved of her look, causing Inuyasha to blink as he snapped out of it.
"You can leave it here," he said, moving so that he went to the island to place his drink down. He watched as she walked from behind him into the foyer to head to the living room, leaving his sight for just a bit. Inuyasha felt the blood rush through his veins. He wanted her. He had never wanted another woman so bad in his entire life. But seeing Kagome here, in his home, dressed the way she was, smelling so good as she always did, he wanted nothing more than to hold her and to kiss her. 'Get a hold of yourself!' If he didn't, he was going to get a hard on and he would have to take another shower. He began to pour himself a drink, trying to figure out how he was going to get through tonight without staring at her the entire time and getting turned on.
"You want a drink?" he called out.
Kagome turned at the sound of his voice and smiled, placing her duffle bag down on the living room table and putting her over the shoulder purse on, needing to relax a little before the night started. "Sure." Inuyasha nodded and moved to grab another glass, pouring her one too. She walked back towards the kitchen with her high heels in one hand and came over to the island, taking a seat on the high stool across from him. He truly was a sight to behold. He was sexy and he smelled so good, clean and woodsy, all man and musk. His smell made her think of long nights in bed with him. He held out the drink towards her, his eyes connecting with hers, and she blushed. "Thanks, Inuyasha." He nodded his head, giving her a confused look, and lifted his glass up towards her in cheers.
"Kanpai."
Kagome smiled. "Kanpai," as she lifted her glass and brought it to her lips. The brown fluid touched her tongue and the warmth spread down her throat like fire. She drank half of it, making a face at the strength of it. "Whiskey," she said with a funny voice.
Inuyasha chuckled, placing his empty glass back on the counter. "Yeah. One of my favorites."
"Is there anything you don't like?" she asked, wanting to know him better. It was so much easier to talk to him here like any normal person, in his home, just as a friend instead of a boss.
Inuyasha thought about it for a moment, shrugging when he couldn't think of anything. "The only thing I can think of are those fruffy drinks."
"Fruffy?"
"You know… those drinks that you women like that's way too sugary," he said, making a face. Kagome laughed, watching as he shivered at the thought of it.
"Fruffy, huh? You really don't like sweets?"
"Not too much, and definitely not in a drink. I need my drinks to be strong."
"Or like they say, 'That'll put some hair on your chest'," she said, speaking lower to try and mimic a man's voice. Inuyasha arched his eyebrow at her, chuckling.
"Yeah, I guess so."
"Another one?" Kagome asked, reaching for the dark liquid. He nodded his head and she poured him another shot into his glass, her eyes going up as movement caught her eye behind him.
"You guys are drinking already?" Sango whined, coming up behind Inuyasha with Miroku following right behind her. The two of them were showered and ready for the night. Sango had on hoop earrings and her hair was up in a high ponytail. She had red lipstick on with pink eyeshadow and she wore a pink short-sleeve dress that buttoned down the front and stopped mid-thigh. It hugged her figure perfectly. Miroku wore a black, leather jacket over a white button-down shirt and black jeans pants. He and Inuyasha looked handsome and dangerous while she and Sango looked hot and sexy. Kagome smiled to herself, thinking about what the four of them might look like to others. 'Two couples?'
"Hurry up. The others have been texting me back, telling me they'll meet us at the club," Sango said with eagerness, standing next to Inuyasha, watching him.
"Have a drink," Inuyasha said cooly, downing his glass in one gulp. "Calm down." Kagome took the last sip of hers and placed the glass on the counter.
"Let's go." Sango smiled, heading back towards the resident elevator as everyone followed behind her.
-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-'-
Kagome stayed next to Inuyasha as Sango and Miroku walked hand in hand towards the front entrance of the club. She noticed the long line of people waiting to be let in, all mingling together and anticipating what's to come once they got inside. Some of them looked over at them and recognized the four of them, pointing at them while taking out their phones and snapping some photos.
"Guess we're getting really popular," Kagome mumbled to herself.
"Popular is the least of your concern," Inuyasha said. She turned to him, looking up at his ears, reminding herself that he could hear everything. She smiled at him and nodded, probably wise to listen to him since he was in the business longer than she was. And he was much more famous than she was. She couldn't forget that she was once one of those girls, oogling over Inuyasha.
They got up to the front of the line where the doorman and the bouncer both noticed them approaching. The two of them nodded at Inuyasha and he nodded back as the doorman opened the door for them, the sound of the loud music inside floating out into the streets. Sango and Miroku went in first while Inuyasha turned to place his hand at the small of her back, pushing her in first. Kagome looked up at the sign above the door that read 'RUSH'.
"There's others coming," Inuyasha said over the music and the doorman nodded his understanding. Inuyasha followed behind her, still with his hand on her, as Kagome turned her head towards him.
"How do they know who the others are?"
Inuyasha kept his hand against her as the crowd of people became thicker the more they made their way towards the bar. He followed Sango and Miroku, not wanting to lose them in the crowd. "They know the names and they have the photos of everyone in the group. We come here a lot so they're used to knowing who they are," he said, his face close to her ear so she could hear him.
"You guys come here all the time?" Kagome asked, looking around. The club was definitely a huge hit as they crossed over from the open door area into what looked like the dance floor area. Everyone was standing around and dancing or chatting with each other. It was packed in here but not to the point where they had to push their way through people. It wasn't suffocatingly packed as some clubs would be.
"Yeah. We come here sometimes," Inuyasha said with a smile.
Kagome looked up at him, wondering what he meant. She let him lead her towards the bar area as girls screamed, catching her attention, and they threw their arms around each other in celebration. She smiled at their antics. It was nice to be able to be here and to let herself go for a change. Once they got up to the bar, Inuyasha kept his hand on her lower back, always making sure that she was close to him. She inwardly smiled, the thought giving her butterflies. Such a simple gesture but it made her feel… cherished.
Sango and Miroku both looked back at them. "What do you guys want?" they asked loudly.
Inuyasha came closer to them, grabbing a hold of Kagome's hand, as he went up to the bar, pushing through people. He was taller than most of them and once the bartender spotted him, which wasn't hard to notice someone with silver hair, the man immediately came over and called out to him to take his order.
"Inuyasha! What'll you have?"
Sango looked at Inuyasha's hand hanging onto Kagome's as the boys ordered, smiling at Kagome with mischief. "I see you two getting along just fine."
Kagome smiled, shrugging. "I have no problem with it."
Sango gasped, placing a hand against her chest. "Kagome! My, my. I never would've thought I'd hear that come out of your mouth." The two of them laughed together, so glad to be able to see this new side of each other and to be hanging out outside of work. Kagome felt her hand get squeezed and she sobered, looking up as Inuyasha turned around.
"What do you want to drink?"
"Baileys on the rocks, please." He nodded and turned back around to tell the bartender. Kagome looked at Sango whose attention was out at the crowd, scanning all the lively bodies that were bumping and grinding on each other. She was also moving to the beat, her body unable to contain itself. "Is it me or does it seem like everyone here knows Inuyasha?"
Sango laughed, leaning into Kagome as she moved against Kagome's side to the beat of the music. "Inuyasha's family owns this club."
"What?!" Sango nodded her head. "No wonder we got in like that."
Sango snickered. "Inuyasha can do whatever the heck he wants. The entire club management knows Inuyasha and his friends. So whenever we come, we get to go right in without having to pay or wait in line. And we don't have to pay for our drinks either," she said with a wink of her eye. "The perks of being his friend. That's the only reason why I put up with him."
"I hope that's not the only reason," Inuyasha said as he turned to hand Kagome her drink and he quickly went back for his own. "I know I'm better for more than my money." Sango made a thinking face until Miroku handed her her drink and she perked right up.
"Of course you are! Or else I wouldn't have been your friend for so long, silly," she said with a laugh, linking her arm with Miroku's and the two of them led the way. "You wanna go up?" she asked Inuyasha. He nodded as he took a sip of his drink.
Kagome took a sip of hers and immediately felt the relaxing effect alcohol had on her. She noticed that her drink came in a tall beer glass with a straw, which was strange for a shot of Baileys on the rocks.
"They give us a big size so that we don't have to keep going back down to the bar," Inuyasha said, as if answering her question. She smiled at him, grateful, squeezing his hand that she still had a hold of. She didn't complain. She liked that she was linked to him. With all these people around, she didn't want to get separated since she didn't know where she was going. But also, it made her feel special that he wanted to keep her close to him, for whatever reason. She liked it.
There were stairs on either side of the room that went up to the second floor which reminded her of Midnite. But the dance floor was much bigger than Midnite's, accommodating all the moving bodies as the music pumped in the room. Kagome noticed the DJ's booth that was up higher above the crowd so everyone could see him. The lights were blinding but she managed to follow Sango and Miroku up the stairs slowly as people were all over the stairs or moving up and down. They got to the top and she looked down at the crowd, noticing all the many bobbing heads and moving bodies below, smiling. This was a really nice club. It had a great vibe and the music for the night was hip-hop, which was always a choice hit with this age group.
Kagome took in the entire second floor area that looked like a wraparound deck with people standing at the railings making out, drinking or dancing. She looked across of them and noticed it was a mirror image of what they had on their side. Sango and Miroku led them into a big lounge area deep into the side of the building where there were three couches and half a dozen chairs with tables scattered around to accommodate the drinks. This lounge area had a different lighting from the main club as it was a dark neon red, glowing red on everyone's figure. It didn't matter what color you wore in here. Everyone looked the same with the red lighting.
Miroku went to one of the two empty chairs, grabbing Sango and pulling her onto his lap. He motioned for Inuyasha to sit next to him, sporting a wicked grin as he looked up at Kagome.
Inuyasha sat, looking up and tugging at Kagome's hand to pull her down onto his lap.
"Inuyasha!" she exclaimed, falling onto his lap, blushing. She held her drink close to her as he released her hand and wrapped his arm her back, supporting her and keeping her against him.
"What? It's not like there's anywhere else to sit."
Kagome glared at him. "I can see that. I can just stand. I'm too heavy to…"
"Will you shut up about the heavy thing already? I told you that you're not heavy."
Sango laughed at the two of them as she nursed her drink. "You two, I swear. You minus well go out already." Miroku shook his head with a knowing smile. He would have to have a talk with his friend.
Inuyasha said nothing as he drank his drink and Kagome covered her face with her drink as she sipped at it slowly. 'Go out? With Inuyasha?' She said nothing. She felt uncomfortable enough sitting on his lap. But she also didn't know what was running in Inuyasha's mind and she didn't know what he thought of the whole situation. But it seemed like he wanted her here, so why did she feel so conflicted? 'Ugh… I need to get drunk.' It had been a long time since she had actually gotten really drunk. Even though she wasn't a heavy drinker like that, there were times when she, Ayumi and Midoriko got really drunk at Midnite and they had to sleep it off in Onigumo's office, much to his displeasure at their lack of self-control. He didn't like to see them like that because he didn't want them to hurt themselves.
"So…" Sango said, breaking the silence, as she looked around at all the other people in the lounge. Some were talking amongst themselves in groups or in pairs while others were making out. "How did you guys like the venue?"
Inuyasha shrugged, resting his drink on the arm of the chair. "I like it. We've never had anything this big before," he said with a smirk. "Kikyo's really making it big this time."
Sango nodded her agreement. "To think that Hawai'i really kicked it off for her. Do you think that she'll have more international concerts?"
Miroku shrugged. "Who knows. Naraku and Akari probably is looking for other potential concerts for her in the future. But it sounds like she has the music video and the new album to keep her busy for now."
"Yeah, you're right."
"Has Kikyo talked about what she's going to use for her music video yet?" Kagome asked.
Inuyasha shook his head, leaning his head back. "Nope. And I don't think she'll use our dance."
"Nah. I think she might," Miroku said. "I overheard Naraku talking with Akari about it. It sounds like they're thinking about doing a blend of your dance with Kikyo's idea, which is to just have the whole music video shot with her singing the song with various types of background."
Sango groaned. "Well that's a seller," she said sarcastically.
Kagome shrugged, sipping her drink. "It depends on how they do it. It can be a good video. I've seen some good music videos of just the singer staring into the camera the entire video with different clothes and different backgrounds. Some people like that."
Inuyasha laughed. "Yeah. Well, if she wants this one to be a hit, she's gonna have to try harder than that."
"Speak of the devil," Sango said with a laugh. The others came into the lounge with drinks in hand and happy smiles on all their faces. All of them made it tonight and they were all dressed for a fun night out, looking sexy and hot.
"Hey, guys!" Shippo called out as the group came up to them. Kikyo was in the middle of everyone as it was easier to keep her away from all the fans, which she already had encountered waiting at the bar.
Kagome turned and smiled at the group. "Hey, guys!" Sango, Miroku and Inuyasha also said their hellos. Kikyo, however, only had eyes for Kagome and Inuyasha. She glared at the two of them. 'Why is she sitting on his lap?!' She couldn't believe that Inuyasha let Kagome sit on his lap. And why did he let her? Why was she sitting there? Why?!
Inuyasha glanced at Kikyo and already knew that he would be in for a fight tonight with her. His hand around Kagome's waist tightened, wanting Kikyo to know that he meant what he said. He needed her to get it. He needed her to understand that he didn't have feelings for her like that.
"Woah, Kagome. Nice seeing you," Shiori said with a smile, taking a sip of her drink in innocence.
Kagome smiled sheepishly and moved to stand but Inuyasha's arm tightened, keeping her in place. She turned to look at him, questioningly. "Don't move," he said, looking at her. "I like you sitting on me," he said softly so that only she could hear him with the music blaring. Kagome blushed but smiled at him, nodding her head. 'Okay, Kagome. Don't get too caught up,' she tried to tell herself. But it was already too late.
"Let's dance!" Sango said, lifting her glass up in the air. She stood up from Miroku's lap and moved to grab Kagome's hand. "Come on, Kagome. I want to see your moves on the dance floor," she challenged. Kagome giggled and nodded, taking Sango's hand, noticing that Inuyasha didn't stop her this time.
The girls left their drinks on the table, except for Sango and Kagome, and they all headed back down the stairs while the boys and Kikyo stayed in the lounge. The place was starting to clear as the music kept changing and people kept coming and going. Kikyo sat in one of the couches next to Inuyasha's chair, leaning over the armrest towards him, her breasts on full display.
"So… what was that about?" she asked him, glaring at him.
Inuyasha stared at her, his golden eyes challenging her. "I told you, Kikyo. Stop getting your hopes up. Where's Naraku anyway? Isn't he your plaything?" He threw Naraku in her face and she fumed, knowing he would get a rise out of her.
"Naraku and I have nothing together," she said, raising her voice.
"Right. Nothing but business and sex," he said with a sneer. He took a sip of his drink, hating to have this talk over and over again. She kept throwing what they had together into his face and her perspective was the opposite of his. In her mind, they were a couple, even though she was having sex with Naraku.
"Inuyasha… I told you that I liked you. I fell in love with you."
"No, Kikyo," Inuyasha said, standing up. He then noticed Naraku coming into the lounge with Suikotsu. He made a face and turned back to Kikyo. "You may have liked me but it wasn't love. You can't love someone and then sleep with someone else at the same time. Love doesn't work that way. At least, not in my world." He turned from her and walked past Miroku who simply kept his mouth shut, though he heard the entire conversation. Inuyasha made his way past Naraku and to the railings, glancing down at the moving bodies below.
He would much rather watch Kagome dance than stay in there with Kikyo's pestering. Heck, he would rather be down there dancing with Kagome. But he let her have her fun with the girls. Besides, all the men were up here and he wanted to watch and see what kind of moves Kagome had on her. His eyes spotted her moving from the bar area where she and Sango had discarded their empty drinks. They were moving through the crowd, a few dancers stopping as they recognized Kagome and the others. Kagome's blue hair stood out among the rest of the bodies out there and he liked the fact that he could track her easy. If not by scent, which was the easiest for him, but not that useful in here, then at least by sight with her hair. The club's lights were dancing all over the walls and the bodies as the DJ shouted into the microphone, getting the people amped up as he changed the song.
The girls began to dance, forming a small, awkward circle as best they could with so many people on the dance floor. They laughed and smiled together, letting their bodies go with the music. Inuyasha watched Kagome, the way her body swayed and moved to the beat, the way her feet kept on beat and the way her arms touched her body. He took a sip of his drink, loving watching her dance. He actually didn't know what came over him tonight but his instincts had told him to keep Kagome close to him. He wanted her close to him. He wanted physical contact between them, something different from what they shared at work. This would be a more personal physical contact, like what they shared before. But he wanted to just be normal with her, to be able to be himself around her. And he did feel so comfortable around her. It was natural for him to relax and to be protective both at the same time. He wanted her close to him because instinctually he didn't want anyone else to dance with her or take her from him. As he watched her out on the floor, he noticed a few men would come up behind her and place their hands on her waist.
He wasn't prepared for his swift reaction. It came out of nowhere. His demon roared, his hand clenching around his drink that he had to mentally tell himself to relax his fingers or else he would shatter the glass. But his demon's reaction took him off guard and he had to bring reason into his mind. Just as he was about to head down, he noticed that Kagome grabbed the man's hands and took it off of her, turning around to smile at him with a shake of her head, then she got right back to dancing with the girls. A few other men did it with the other girls too and they ended up letting the men dance with them for fun, even including the men into the group. But not Kagome. Kagome didn't want to dance with anyone. 'She doesn't like men touching her,' he remembered. That would explain why Kagome was quick to get the man to back off. Inuyasha frowned. He couldn't even handle her dancing with other men without his demon flexing its claws, ready to tear the rival male in two. 'What the hell is going on with me?'
"Hey," Miroku said, coming up to Inuyasha's side, his drink nearly finished. "You okay?"
Inuyasha sighed, turning to wave at someone who called his and Miroku's name, and went back to leaning against the railing. "Kikyo just pisses me off."
"I noticed." Miroku didn't say anything as he took a sip, watching Sango dance. He smiled, loving to see her having fun and he loved watching her dance. She truly was a beauty and a natural dancer like they all were. The way her body moved always got his blood stirring and his heart, so full of love for her, hurt. Miroku glanced at Inuyasha, speaking since his friend had nothing else to say. "You told her about Kagome?"
"What about Kagome?" Inuyasha asked defensively, arching his eyebrow at Miroku.
Miroku gave him a tolerant look. "Come on, Inuyasha. I've known you for what, almost five years now? And I live with you. Kinda hard not to notice the changes in you. Especially when it comes to a girl." Miroku looked out over at the girls, watching Kagome dance with the others, having the time of their lives. "You never looked at another woman the way you do with Kagome. I noticed it the first time she auditioned. And you never wanted a dance partner or wanted to do a duet with anyone until Kagome. I see the way you guys look at each other and the way you act together. She's comfortable around you. Heck, I remember when she flinched from my touch."
Inuyasha nodded, sobering at the thought of that time. "Yeah. She has a thing about men touching her," he said thoughtfully, needing to understand what that was about.
"But she seems okay with you touching her," Miroku pointed out. "I mean, she's gotten used to me and the other guys too. But still, with you, she's different around you. She trusts you. And your duet together has more touching than she would've been comfortable with when she first started out."
Inuyasha thought it over, taking a sip of his nearly gone drink. 'I need to get another one.' He didn't even have a buzz yet. "Do you think she has feelings for me?"
Miroku shrugged, hearing the sincerity in Inuyasha's question and taking it seriously. "I honestly don't know. From what I see, I would think that she might. But I think you need to ask her yourself. Sango seems to think so."
"Sango told you something?" Inuyasha probed, his ears perking up.
"She talks to Kagome sometimes about you, just wondering about your relationship together. Kagome just says that she doesn't know much about you and you don't know much about her either. But Kagome also mentioned that she knows she feels a certain way towards you. She acts different with you and she feels like with you, she can be herself."
'Kagome told Sango that?' he wondered. Maybe she was having feelings for him. At least, a little. "You're right. I'll have to talk to her about it."
"Just tell her you like her, man," Miroku encouraged, turning around to lean his back against the railing, looking at his best friend. "I know you do. You're different with her. And you seem more happier and relaxed with her. I think Kagome is starting to bring out the best in you."
"Geez, thanks? Never knew I was horrible to be around," Inuyasha said sarcastically, making Miroku laugh.
"You know what I mean." He reached for Inuyasha's hands. "Finish your drink so I can go get us some more." Inuyasha obeyed, downing the rest of his drink and handing it off to Miroku. Miroku left him and went down the stairs, leaving Inuyasha to think over what they had talked about.
Inuyasha thought about what Kagome had told Sango. 'Kagome can be herself when she's with me?' Was she not acting like herself? To him, Kagome was still the same. Well, that was a lie. When he remembered their time in his mother's garden, Kagome felt more relaxed and happy. He had never seen her so relaxed before, and he thought it was because of the flowers, the fact that she just loved flowers. 'Is that what she meant? She can be relaxed around me?' He was confused. His eyes watched Kagome as she danced, smiling with the others in the group, beautiful in her dress that hugged her curves. Her body was every man's fantasy. Maybe not every Japanese man's fantasy since she didn't have an ordinary body like all the other women in Japan. She wasn't skinny and flat chested. She was curvy but toned with breasts that caught his eyes every time and hips that made him think about mating. 'Ugh. I'm gonna need a bath soon.'
"Inuyasha."
Well, that did it, no need for a cold shower. Inuyasha turned as Kikyo joined him at the railing, her eyes blazing at him in anger. He really didn't want to talk to Kikyo about this nonsense anymore. He just wanted them to be friends. If that was at all possible.
"What Kikyo?" he asked, annoyed, without looking at her.
"You like Kagome," she accused, holding her drink over the railing, regarding him with a steady stare.
Inuyasha shrugged. "What of it?"
"What happened to us?" Kikyo said, suddenly having a change of mood. He looked at her and noticed that she was now staring at the DJ, a frown on her face. "I thought we were good."
"We are good. We always were. But you wanted something more than I was willing to give, and I warned you at the beginning. Now, you're making it hard just to be friends."
"Friends…" she mimicked, taking a sip of her drink with a smile. "I always wanted to be more than just your friend," she confessed.
Inuyasha sighed, looking up as some people stopped to say their hellos to them. Kikyo didn't take the time to say 'hi' to them as she wasn't in the best of moods, so he just waved and turned around, hoping they got the point not to pester her. "I never wanted that Kikyo. I just needed someone to help scratch my itch. And honestly, it's not like you were the only one I had."
Kikyo gasped and looked accusing at him. "You… you had other women?" Her hand with her drink began to shake and he reached out to grab it, steadying it for her while bringing her hand back over the railing so she wouldn't drop it on someone's head if she did let it go.
"Don't give me that when I knew you were with Naraku the same time you were with me." At least she had the decency to flinch, as if she thought the whole time he was clueless about it. How could he not smell that douchebag all over her? "I told you, Kikyo. None of it meant anything to me. You. The others. They all meant nothing to me."
"But why?!" she yelled louder, even though the music was louder. "Why didn't I mean anything to you?"
"You were my friend!" he said, clearly beginning to lose his patience. "We were good friends, Kikyo. And we just wanted sex from each other. That was all. I told you that was all I wanted. But you wanted something more than I could give."
"Why?!" she said, tears starting to well up in her eyes. "Why, Inuyasha?" she said, lowering her voice, defeated.
"I just couldn't, Kikyo," he said, turning around to see that the girls had disappeared. He scanned the ground, looking for them, and noticed they were at the bar with Miroku. Kagome and Sango stayed with him to get more drinks while the other women were heading back up towards the stairs. He looked at Kikyo, frowning, feeling bad for her. "I couldn't give you what you needed, Kikyo. I'm… messed up." She didn't look at him but he watched her wipe away her tears.
Kagome and Sango laughed as they followed Miroku with their new drinks in hand. Kagome couldn't believe how much fun it was tonight just dancing and laughing with the girls, drinking and relaxing. It felt… nice. She didn't have to act a certain way or be a certain way. She realized that the men who tried to dance with her still triggered her instantly. When she felt their arms around her or their chests against her back, she immediately froze inside, her natural reaction to run kicking in. But she was grateful for her friends around her. If it wasn't for them to remind her where she was and that she was just dancing and having fun, she would've immediately left this place because there were too many men touching her. Touch was important to her, a trigger for her.
"Hey! Let's go sit for a bit. I'm pooped," Sango said. Kagome couldn't agree more. They had danced four songs and were now thirsty and needed a break. She nursed her new drink as they headed up the stairs, smiling at some who passed by and recognized them. There were a handful of people in here who seemed to know who she was. One too many for what she's used to but she was grateful for their kindness and support all the more.
As they got to the top of the stairs, Kagome immediately recognized Inuyasha standing at the railing with Kikyo. The two of them seemed to be having a moment so she decided to let them be. Inuyasha's eyes came up to look at her and she smiled at him, following Sango to the lounge. Miroku, however, went up to Inuyasha to hand him a fresh drink.
"I can't believe how many people are here tonight," Aiko said, brushing her hair back with her hand. "The dance floor is packed. Makes sense since the line outside was super long when we got here."
"It's a Saturday night," Itsuki said, propping his feet up on the table in front of him. He sat on the chair Inuyasha was in, nursing his drink as Miroku came to sit in the chair next to him. Sango immediately went onto his lap with a loving smile, the two of them sharing a heated kiss.
Kagome smiled, shaking her head, and moved towards the end of the couch. Itsuki sat at the other end near Miroku and Sango while Shiori and Suikotsu remained in the middle, talking amongst themselves with smiles. The others sat across from them or stood at the railing. Shippo and Mizuki remained standing at the railing, a little away from Inuyasha and Kikyo as they didn't want to get involved in that conversation. The lounge area wasn't as full since almost everyone was dancing. Tonight's choice of songs were good enough to bring the entire room to its feet and the DJ was amazing, in her opinion. She could understand why this club was so popular. Kagome sat down with a sigh, crossing her legs and sipping her drink, content.
"How did it go?" Naraku asked, coming to stand on her side of the couch with his own drink in hand.
Kagome smiled at him, nodding her head. She was beginning to feel the effects of the alcohol, but she loved it. Nothing better than to forget all your worries for one night. "It was fun. I've never been to a club like this before. I like the music choice and the atmosphere."
Naraku nodded. "Inuyasha's family knows how to choose 'em well," he commented, looking down at Kagome. From his angle, he could see more of her that he liked, her cleavage at this angle looking very tempting to him. Naraku went to sit on the arm of the couch, holding his drink with his left hand and propping his right hand on the back of the couch behind Kagome's head. "So… tell me about yourself, Kagome."
Kagome looked up, flinching back a little as to how close Naraku was to her. His cologne surrounded her and so did his body. Her heart began to race, her warning bells sounding off in her head. "Ummm… what do you mean?" She tried to remain calm. He was just one of her bosses. But she didn't like the way he looked at her or the way he leaned over her, staring at her body. She became super self-aware that he was looking at her breasts. She tried to cover herself by moving her hair to cover her chest, remembering their first encounter when he rubbed her the wrong way back in Hawai'i.
Naraku smirked, watching her try to cover herself a little with her hair. He liked her shyness. "I don't know. Where did you grow up? What's your favorite color? Unless I can already guess it's blue."
She smiled at him, trying not to get freaked out by her own boss. But he just seemed… creepy. Not really genuine on getting to know her but more so wanting to get in her pants. He reminded her so much like some of the men at Midnite that she had told herself to have her guard up with him if they were alone like how it had been in Hawai'i. But they weren't alone, so it was a little easier to try to make small talk with him. He wouldn't try something here. "It is blue."
Naraku nodded his head, moving his hand behind Kagome to rest on her shoulder. She immediately stiffened and he smiled, rubbing his thumb on her shoulder, trying to get her to relax. "I like blue too…"
"Naraku."
The two of them looked up to see Miroku standing in front of the couch with a serious expression. Kagome frowned, suddenly feeling uncomfortable by Naraku's touch and with Miroku coming in again. This was just like before. How did Miroku always know when Naraku was crossing the line with her? Was it her? Was it Naraku?
"You're such a party pooper, Miroku," Naraku said with a smile, knowingly.
"I warned you in O'ahu. Leave her alone," he said sternly. Miroku glared at Naraku, making Kagome look back at the two of them, wondering what was going on. She remembered the time Naraku had grabbed her backstage when they were alone, that was the lesson she learned about him. He was just like the men at Midnite, except for his aggression. Perhaps he thought that he could get any girl he wanted, which made her worry about if he had pulled any moves on the other female dancers, besides Kikyo, that is.
"Or what, Miroku?" Naraku asked, now clearly amused that Miroku would want to start something with him, here. He closed his eyes and shook his drink around, the ice rattling, mocking the boy. He waited, challenging Miroku on his next move.
"I'm going to say this to you one last time," Miroku said sternly, holding in his anger. Sango got worried, noticing Miroku's body language, and stood up to come to his side, hanging onto his arm. Kagome now got worried as she moved to the edge of the couch, hoping they wouldn't get into a fight here. Especially if it was over here. "Leave Kagome alone. I won't tell you again. If I see you touch her again, you'll regret it."
"Honey…" Sango said, tightening her hold on Miroku's hand. "Don't do this here." Shiori, who sat next to Kagome, placed her hand on Kagome's thigh, catching the girl's attention as she shook her head at Kagome, warning her not to get involved.
"You're going to fight me, Miroku?" Naraku asked, leaning back casually with his hand on the back of the couch and resting his elbow against it. This placed his head on one side of Kagome's, close to her. He really didn't understand why Miroku was having such a hissy fit about all this. Miroku never acted like this before with him. "You should mind your own business."
"It's not me you should be worried about," Miroku said with a glare. Naraku really wasn't one to heed warnings. He just took what he wanted without caring about the repercussions or the effects that his actions had on others. He was always selfish like that. Miroku couldn't understand what Kikyo saw in him besides him being good at his job. And quite frankly, if Naraku knew what was best for him, he should've backed off when he warned him in Hawai'i. He was losing his patience for this man.
"Naraku."
Everyone turned as Inuyasha stood next to Sango, his golden eyes glaring at Naraku who sat too close for his comfort behind Kagome. Naraku's face was mere inches from Kagome's, which brought a rise out of his demon. "What are you doing?" he asked with a growl. He could feel his demon rising to the challenge, flexing its claws. He hadn't taken notice since he was talking to Kikyo, but when he looked up to check on Kagome, he noticed that Miroku and Sango were gathered in front of Kagome with Naraku behind her. With his hand on her shoulder, touching her. He saw her instant reaction, her body going stiff, and that triggered something deep within him that he hadn't felt in a long time. Too long. Kikyo's voice suddenly drowned out as his ears were roaring, his demon blood coming to life at that one male touching Kagome. Naraku, nonetheless. 'She's mine!' was all his demon said before he went barreling down towards the group, talking some sense to himself, but losing the battle.
Miroku cursed, moving Sango on the other side of him so she wouldn't be in the middle. She clung to his shirt, her eyes going to Kagome, pleading with her. Kagome grew even more worried now. She remembered Miroku telling her in Hawai'i not to tell Inuyasha about her encounter with Naraku back then. She didn't know why. She didn't know why Miroku was always trying to protect her from Naraku and now with Inuyasha's reaction, she didn't understand why the two of them were so angry with Naraku and the way he acted with her. Didn't they all work together? Was there something she was missing?
"Inuyasha, chill out," Naraku said slowly, sitting up while holding his drink in one hand. He still half-sat on the arm of the couch, looking up at Inuyasha with a smirk. "Not like we were doing anything."
Inuyasha clenched his fists, taking a step forward.
"Woah, woah," Miroku said, placing a hand up against Inuyasha's shoulder, just as Shippo came up from behind Inuyasha and placed a hand on his opposite shoulder. Miroku was thankful. Inuyasha was much stronger than him and he wouldn't be able to hold the hanyou back, but with Shippo there, at least he would have a full-blooded demon to help him.
"Inuyasha, he's not worth it," Shippo said, squeezing Inuyasha's shoulder, trying to get the hanyou to think with his head.
Kagome stood, standing in front of Inuyasha, placing her hands on his chest. "Inuyasha, stop," she said sternly, wondering what was bothering him about Naraku. 'What is his problem?'
Inuyasha glanced at Kagome, her voice snapping him out of his rage for a moment, and his eyes scanned her body. He then looked back to glare at Naraku, releasing his clenched fists. He grabbed Kagome's arm and began to pull her with him.
"Ah… Inuyasha!" she said, almost tripping over some of the others' legs, turning around to glance back at the others. Miroku and Sango didn't seem to mind as their worry faded and they turned their glares to Naraku, saying something to him that she couldn't hear. "Wait. My drink," she said, reaching out for her drink that was on the table. For some reason, that was the first thing to say that came to her mind.
"I'll get you another one," Inuyasha said gruffly. Kagome frowned, letting him pull her with him as he walked out of the lounge and headed down the stairs.
"Inuyasha… let me go. What's wrong?" she asked, wondering what had gotten into him. He wasn't hurting her, it was just the way that he held her that told her that he was angry. He released her arm only to grab onto her hand as they made their way down the stairs and towards the bar. People around them didn't seem to notice the temper and the emotions that Inuyasha was emitting, except for her. She knew he was angry, she just didn't know why.
They got to the bar and Inuyasha pushed his way to the front, calling out to get the attention of one of the bartenders, who quickly dropped everything to come over to him and take his drink order. Kagome frowned, standing behind Inuyasha, staring up at the back of his head. She couldn't understand what made him so angry but she was sure going to ask him. Everyone pressed in around them as the night was getting later and the people were getting drunker and more wilder by the minute. Even she was feeling tipsy after one and a half drinks. Inuyasha turned and gave her her drink. She took it from him and he turned back around to grab his own, turning to face her with a bottle of sake. Now she worried about him. He urged her out of the crowded bar area and he led the way towards the stairs, but suddenly stopped as they were walking up.
"Inuyasha?" He took a sip of the bottle, a long one, and she tugged his hand, making him look down at her with the bottle high in the air. He stood on a step higher than her while people went up and down beside them, the two of them in their own world.
"What's wrong? What's gotten into you?"
Inuyasha didn't say anything as he brought the bottle back to his side, looking out at the dance floor next to them and the people having fun. He wanted to dance. He needed to get his mind off Naraku touching Kagome. 'That son of a…'
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled, yanking on his hand again so that he jerked towards her, catching himself so he wouldn't fall on her. "Tell me what's wrong!" She glared at him, feeling the alcohol give her a lot more courage to scream at her boss than she thought she would have. But in times like these, he wasn't her boss. He was just her friend and she wanted to know what was bothering him, what was the big deal.
"Don't go near Naraku like that again," he threatened her. She twisted her hand out of his, shocked that he would threaten her. She thought about it and realized that he wasn't really threatening her, he was threatening Naraku. He just didn't want her to go near Naraku.
"Why? What happened between you two? And for the record, I didn't go near him. He came and sat next to me and started talking to me," she defended, putting a finger in front of her face to make her point.
Inuyasha looked at her angrily. "Just don't go near him. And don't be alone with him."
Kagome glared at him, and turned away. If he wasn't going to explain himself but just make demands of her, she didn't want to listen to him. She made her way past him, intending to head back to the others, when she felt him grab her hand and stop her. "Let go," she said as she turned around, emphasizing each word.
Inuyasha glared up at her, his anger really not directed at her but at the whole situation. He seriously needed to dance off this steam. "Dance with me."
"What?!", clearly thinking he was out of his mind. He must've just lost a few brain cells after the emotional rollercoaster that just happened. "You won't even answer my questions and you want to dance?"
Inuyasha turned to look out at the dance floor but kept his hand around hers, needing the physical contact. She frowned and waited, taking a sip of her Baileys to calm her own anger that he seemed to provoking within her. She didn't know why she was so triggered by his anger when she knew it had nothing to do with her, or anything that she did. She didn't do anything. She just was angry at this whole situation and the fact that he wasn't talking to her. Did he not trust her?
"I can't have you alone with Naraku."
Kagome blinked, standing a step above him, leaning her hip against the railings to try and get him to look at her. What he said took a whole different meaning now. "Why? What is it about him that you don't like?" She could figure out a few reasons why she didn't like Naraku since their interaction backstage in Hawai'i. But that was her personal feelings on the guy.
Inuyasha didn't know what else to say but to tell Kagome the truth. She needed to know. He needed her to understand why he didn't want her near Naraku. "Naraku is a player. A deadbeat womanizer who thinks only of his pleasure and he ruins girls in the process."
Kagome took a breath. 'At least he's talking to me.' "You mean with Kikyo?"
Inuyasha's eyes widened when he looked at her and she shrugged. "I saw him and Kikyo together going at it backstage at the Hawai'i concert. It's none of my business so I never brought it up. Later he came up to me and I wanted nothing to do with him. He just rubs me the wrong way," she confessed to him.
Inuyasha pressed his lips together, his eyes hard on Kagome. "Did he touch you?"
She noticed he had changed in a flash. He became still and quiet, with all the commotion and noise around them, he was solely focused on her. "Don't tell Inuyasha about this. It's best he doesn't know what Naraku did." Miroku's words came flooding back to memory, reminding her that something was up between Inuyasha, Kikyo and Naraku that she didn't want to get involved in. But the thought of it hurt her. For some reason, she felt disappointed and more like a fool that she had fallen for Inuyasha, so soon, without really knowing about him and if he was in a relationship with Kikyo. Miroku clearly knew and it looked like Sango knew too because she was trying to prevent Miroku from getting into it with Naraku. Whatever the problem was with all of them, she didn't know. They all had histories that went back further than she knew and she wasn't about to dig into their past.
"Kagome…" Inuyasha's hard voice snapped her out of her thoughts. He tugged on her hand that she forgot he was still holding onto. "Did Naraku touch you in Hawai'i?"
She looked away from him, wondering why he cared so much, wondering why Miroku cared so much. What was the big deal? "Yes," she said, looking out at the crowd below. She immediately felt him let go of her hand and she turned to see him walk past her, his silver hair the only thing she saw before her heart began to race. Kagome whipped around and ran up the stairs behind him as fast as she could in her heels. She grabbed at his arm and tugged at him with all her strength, which got him to stop, but only so that he could look at her.
"I'm going to kill him."
"No!" Kagome saw red flash in his golden eyes, making her heart skip with fear. "Inuyasha, please. Don't make a scene. It wasn't a big deal."
"It's a big deal to me," he said, turning around to drag her with him towards the lounge area.
Inuyasha was much stronger than she was so she thought of the only thing she could do. She let go of him and got in front of him, hugging him the best she could with her drink in hand, which got him to stop. "Inuyasha, please. Just let it go. He didn't hurt me. He didn't. He just grabbed my elbow. That was all. But Miroku was there and stopped him."
"Hey."
Miroku's voice came from behind her and she immediately relaxed a little, knowing that Miroku would be able to calm Inuyasha down better than she could. She was afraid to let go of him, though, in fear that he might barrel past Miroku and hurt Naraku.
"You should've told me that Naraku touched Kagome," Inuyasha accused, glaring at his best friend.
Miroku shrugged with Sango at his side, looking concerned and worried at the back of Kagome's head. "I stopped him. Don't worry. You know I would've knocked him out if he did anything else. Especially to Kagome."
Kagome froze, listening to their conversation. 'What? Why me?' She immediately let Inuyasha go and turned around, seeing Miroku and Sango standing behind her. "Why are you guys so heated about this?" she asked, looking between Miroku and Sango, who didn't seem to want to answer. She turned to look at Inuyasha, who now calmed down a bit, but she could still see anger and disgust on his face. "What did he do?" Kagome waited, waiting for someone to explain it to her. What was the connection between Kikyo, Inuyasha and Naraku, and now apparently to her?
"I told you to just stay away from him outside of work. He's dangerous. I don't want you alone with him," Inuyasha said, his eyes hard on her. Kagome glared back at him.
She wanted to scream. She didn't even understand why she was getting so involved in this conversation. It was getting them nowhere. She felt the alcohol kicking in and wished she hadn't drank so much because now her emotions were getting the best of her and she was feeling a little loopy with all this commotion and her adrenaline starting to fade.
"Inuyasha, calm down," Miroku admonished. Inuyasha took a long drink out of his sake bottle and Miroku continued. "Naraku is just… dirty. He's seriously not someone you want to mess with, Kagome. I see you as a little sister and I don't want you near him either."
Kagome frowned, clearly getting tired and frustrated over this. "But why? I don't understand." She didn't understand why they were trying to protect her and she didn't understand what they were trying to protect her from.
Sango frowned, reading Kagome's mood. "Can we go? I don't want to be here anymore. And I think it's better if we talk in the car."
Miroku nodded. "I agree. Let's head home."
Kagome frowned, turning to Inuyasha who said nothing but turned to head towards the stairs. Miroku and Sango followed him and she waited a bit, turning back to see some of the others in the lounge area, talking and laughing together. The night had been ruined. She sighed, looking down at her drink, half-full. She swallowed the entire drink down, needing the rush of the alcohol to calm her nerves after that rollercoaster of events and emotions.
"Kagome!" Sango called out from the stairs. Kagome walked towards her slowly, really not liking where this night had gone.
When the four of them had left the club and were in the car, heading back to the apartment, they were all silent. Inuyasha sat in the front with Miroku driving while the girls were in the back. Kagome could feel the tension, wishing she wasn't a part of any of this. But she was. And she needed and explanation to understand it all.
"So…?" she started, turning to Sango. "What's so wrong with Naraku?"
"Nothing," Miroku said, his eyes on the road, though sometimes looking at her in the mirror. "Naraku is a great manager and he's great at his job."
"Then, what am I missing?" Kagome asked, clearly frustrated by all of this. She felt like they were going around in circles. She wasn't getting any conclusions and she was getting more frustrated by the minute. Especially since Inuyasha was silent the whole time. And he was the one who had the strongest opinion about Naraku than all of them.
Miroku sighed, turning the car. "Naraku is a player. His personal life is completely the opposite of his professional. He has a lot of one-night stands. There was this one time he met a woman at the club one night. We were all together and he just went off on his own, danced with another woman and then disappeared without telling us. Which is sometimes just what he does anyway." Inuyasha grunted, but said nothing. Kagome frowned, remaining silent as she looked out the window at the city lights passing by.
"According to reports and from Naraku's mouth," Sango explained, "Naraku had taken the girl to a hotel and had sex with her. He then took pictures of her after he had his way with her, without her knowing, and sent those photos to his friends." Kagome turned to look at Sango, shocked. Her eyes went to the back of Inuyasha's head, now clearly understanding why he had acted the way he did. Sango looked at Kagome with a look of pity. "He called two of his friends over and…" Sango broke up and looked away, staring out the window.
Kagome's mouth was open, knowing what happened next. 'Oh no…' She knew of the things that could happen to women from bars or from getting too drunk and walking home alone. It happened to them, to girls who worked at Midnite. It happened to one of their own, which was why Onigumo had to bump up the security detail at his club and why he came up with strict rules on keeping their privacy and writing stricter contracts to protect his girls. It was serious. Some men in this day and age were animals, brutal and sadistic, only caring to get their needs met without caring about what they did to the woman.
"They gang raped her," Miroku said softly, glancing over at Inuyasha to make sure he was okay. This was always a touchy subject for Inuyasha because he had his own thoughts and feelings about what Naraku did, does, and the fact that Kikyo was in the mix of it. He had all this bottled up rage and disgust towards Naraku that wasn't healthy for Inuyasha, nor was it safe for Naraku.
"Eventually the woman woke up, drunk and heavily sedated. Reports said she was drugged, so she couldn't testify about the other two men. But after it was all over, his two friends left and he remained with the woman in the hotel room until the next morning. She tried to file a lawsuit against Naraku but nothing sticked. Apparently his friends wore condoms, but he didn't. She didn't deny that they had sex to the police because she remembered that. But to her recollection, she remembered that there were two other men in the room after she had fallen asleep. She did a rape kit and the hospital found trauma that was evident of rape. But to Naraku's defense, it was just the two of them and she consented to it all. She consented to going with him to the hotel room and they woke up in bed together. His defense was, why would he stick around if he was guilty of a gang rape?"
'To make himself look innocent,' she thought immediately. Kagome frowned, the realization of the gravity of the crime now hitting her. She never saw Naraku this way, or never thought that he would be capable of doing something like this. But then again, anyone was capable of anything, even murder. Why would rape be any different? Rape was nothing. Kagome drew inward and looked out the window dispassionately, suddenly wanting to go home.
"There was no evidence. No way to find the other two men who were involved. But this was the woman's story against Naraku's. His defense was that it was just the two of them in his hotel room that he paid for. They had consensual sex and the next morning he showered and left her there. He denies the gang rape accusation and the apparent drug overdose charge against him. She claims someone drugged her since she was so out it and couldn't remember much. And that didn't help her case either so the police couldn't do much. It was a 'he-said-she-said' case with no real evidence. They eventually dropped all charges."
Kagome listened but remained despondent. She wanted to go home. Her past was consuming her, creeping up on her again. The woman was now her. The woman that no one took seriously. The woman whose testimony meant nothing to no one. The woman who no believed. She had a voice too. But her voice would not be heard.
Miroku pulled into the garage and everyone got out. Kagome remained distant, trying to think of a way to get her things and head home as if everything was okay. She didn't want to stay here. She needed to call Jinenji and he could come grab her. She checked her phone. 'Midnight. He should still be on shift.' It was Saturday. She was supposed to be working tonight which meant he was supposed to be working as her bodyguard.
"Hey, Kagome. Why don't you stay the night?" Miroku suggested, swiping his keycard to call the elevator. The doors opened immediately as it was already on their level and they all got in. "You have your things in our place, right?"
Kagome nodded, smiling apologetically. "I don't want to intrude."
"Intrude?" Sango repeated with a smile. "We have four bedrooms, Kagome. Two of which are free for anyone to sleep in. That's why we have so many rooms so that any one of our friends can stay over whenever they want to. Please stay. It'll be good to have a girl in the house. And tomorrow morning we can have breakfast and maybe go for a walk. I'd love to show you the gardens that Roppongi Hills have. It's beautiful."
Kagome smiled, trying to keep her cool. Her head was fuzzy. She did need to go to sleep. She did need a shower. She just didn't want to be around people right now. "I don't have extra clothes."
"Then you can use mine," Sango suggested.
Kagome frowned, watching the numbers above as the elevator climbed higher. 'Well… I guess it'll be okay. Besides… I don't want to trouble Jinenji,' she thought, even though she knew Jinenji would always want her to call him for anything. He made her promise him. No matter what.
"Okay." She gave in.
Sango smiled, swaying a little as she grabbed onto Miroku. "I think I'm drunk."
Kagome giggled. "Me too. It's been a… interesting night," she said, trying to choose her words wisely.
"That's an understatement," Inuyasha mumbled.
Kagome looked at him. He hadn't said a word ever since they left the club. She wondered what he was thinking about and if he was still mad. It seemed like he was really mad at her, but it's not like she had known anything about Naraku and his past. So why would he have been angry at her? Kagome sighed, keeping her thoughts to herself. She just needed to sleep off this alcohol.
The elevator doors opened and Inuyasha stepped through first with Kagome following him. She leaned against the wall as she took off her high heels, unable to steady herself on her own.
"Let me go grab you some of my clothes," Sango said, stumbling into the hall towards their bedroom after she took off her heels. Miroku shook his head after her as he followed behind, he too feeling a little tipsy now that all the excitement from the night has worn off. They had a long day to begin with and they had nearly been up for twenty-four hours by now. The day's events had caught up to them.
Kagome watched as Inuyasha headed into the kitchen and she followed him. She made her way through the kitchen and into the living room area to grab her duffle bag she had left behind. She opened it up to see what she had brought, trying to remember. She had packed an extra underwear and another pair of shoes just in case with another dress too. But no sleeping clothes.
"Kagome!" Sango came through the kitchen as Inuyasha was making himself a glass of water. "Here. My pajama pants and a t-shirt. I hope it fits," Sango said with a smirk, looking at the girl's boobs
Kagome giggled, shaking her head. "Thanks, Sango." Sango said her good nights to Kagome and Inuyasha and then left to go take a bath and head to bed. Kagome sighed, grabbing her things to head back through the kitchen.
Inuyasha stood there with a glass of water extended out towards her as she came up to him. "Here. Drink this."
She smiled at him and took the glass from him. "Thanks." She drank the entire cup, hoping the water would help if she ended up having a headache tomorrow. She downed the glass as Inuyasha watched with a satisfied smirk, and then took the cup to the sink, washing it out. "It was an interesting night tonight, huh?"
"To say the least," Inuyasha said, leaning against the island as he watched her, his arms crossed. She turned around and smiled at him, wondering if he was doing okay, but deciding that she was better off going to bed. "Thanks for taking me out tonight. I did have fun before all of that happened," she said, waving her hand in the air. "I need a bath. Night, Inuyasha."
"Night."
Kagome walked towards the guest bathroom and closed the door, sighing as she was now alone. She looked around at the huge, beautiful bathroom, and it made her think of her past life, especially after the revelation about Naraku. Her past was now flooding in and she couldn't stop thinking about it. Kagome kept busy with simple tasks, telling herself what she needed to do next and what she needed to focus on now. Stay present. One of her coping mechanisms. She put her duffle bag down on the counter like before and began to strip. She went over to the shower and turned the water up to the hottest it could go, needing to be numb. Numb was good. Her head was numb with alcohol but her memories were racing, alive and tearing at her. She needed her body to be numb so she wouldn't feel the pain of it all. As the water turned hotter and hotter, she moved to sit on the tile of the shower and just let the scalding water hit her. The pain of the hot water made her feel again, and the feeling only made her numb again. It was a vicious cycle. But it was better than the memories that wouldn't go away, that she had to carry with her for her entire life.
The story of the rape had triggered her and now she couldn't stop thinking about her past. 'Move.' Kagome stood and lowered the water temperature so that it was bearable, and began to go through the motions of showering. She tried her best to quickly shower, slowing down at bit when she would lose her balance or sway because she really was tipsy. But not drunk enough. 'Maybe I can find more of Inuyasha's drink.' That was a great idea and more motivation for her to hurry and shower. Once she was finished, she toweled off and used her finger as a toothbrush, taking some of the toothpaste in the cabinet and brushing her teeth and tongue. It would have to do.
'Ugh. Of course it doesn't fit.' She tried on Sango's clothes and behold, they don't fit. Sango's pants were too small for her thighs and she couldn't get it over her butt. Sango's shirt clung to her and was especially tight around her boobs, and she wasn't even wearing a bra, which meant the shirt rode up above her belly button. So now she looked like a slut with her blue hip-hugger panties and Sango's pink v-neck shirt, showing more skin than she would've liked. But this was all she had to wear. With a long sigh, Kagome opened the door to peep around to make sure everyone was sleeping. Inuyasha's door was closed next to her and she couldn't see Sango and Miroku's door but had a feeling they were asleep. Being as stealthy as she could, she tiptoed into her room, which was across the guest bathroom, and flipped the light on. The rooms were beautiful and as she sat on the bed, she sunk down. She smiled to herself, liking the softness of the bed. She dropped her bag and headed towards the windows at the opposite side of the room, looking out at the city and at the Tower of Tokyo. Now, she wasn't in the least bit tired. 'I need a drink.'
Kagome headed out of the room and into the kitchen. She turned the kitchen light on and closed the kitchen door so that she wouldn't wake anyone down the hall. She searched for a tumbler and then went through the refrigerator to see what they had in stock. After finding a few sake bottles in the fridge, she looked in the cupboards and found the liquor cabinet, stocked full of alcohol. She smiled as she reached for the closest bottle of red amber whiskey, going on her tiptoes to reach up for the drink. She poured herself a good amount and then capped it off, placing it back in the cabinet. She turned and looked at the island. 'Must be nice to live in a place like this,' she thought sourly.
Kagome shook off her thoughts and turned off the kitchen light to head through the foyer to the living room. The hallways and foyers had dark orange lights above that gave enough light to find your way around. She walked through the living room, which was lit only by the moon and the city lights outside, and opened the sliding glass door. The chill of the air immediately hit her skin, sending goosebumps when she had just come out of a hot shower. She was practically wearing nothing and the chilly air jolted her awake, but not sober. She closed the door behind her and sat on one of the cushion chairs facing Tokyo Tower. 'Beautiful view.' Yes, money created all of this view with the skyscrapers and the lights. Money is what gets one to where they go in life. Money was something she never had but had fallen into for a short amount of time.
Kagome sipped at the dark liquid, feeling the warmth slide down her throat, settling in her stomach. She didn't want to think of her childhood so she thought about what happened today and into tonight, how much fun she had at the club. She, Ayumi, Midoriko and some of the other girls had gone out before, but not regularly. They hadn't done it in a while since they were all so busy and Onigumo always warned them about going out to the clubs and getting drunk. He didn't want one of his girls getting hurt or being taken advantaged of. So they hadn't been out dancing in a while, unless it was after hours at work in Midnite. They would sometimes stay after closing if they were in the mood and just dance for a bit, but that was different. Tonight, she had so much fun with the girls just dancing and letting loose for a change.
'Naraku…' Thoughts about him came back again, bringing a frown to her face. She nursed her drink slowly, staring at the city, lost in thought. How could someone be that cruel? How could someone just use a woman like that? Take advantage of her in the worst possible way as if she was nothing more than for his pleasure? 'Who am I kidding?' That woman was her. She had been raped. Maybe not as bad as that poor woman, but rape is rape. And she could understand why Inuyasha felt the way he did about Naraku. She understood why he felt anger and disgust towards Naraku. She sort of felt the same way towards…
The whiskey tasted good as she drank the entire contents down in a couple swallows, unwilling to think of him any longer, needing the burn of the whiskey to cleanse him from her thoughts. Her life was different now. She was different now. A different Kagome. Even though she still was in the same position she was before, nothing more than a woman working for the pleasure of men, this time she had control over them. Even though they paid her for her service, she controlled who could touch her. Never again would she be the victim. Never again would someone touch her like how he did. She would die before she let that happen again. 'It's not the same, Kagome.' As much as she tried to tell herself that, she knew it wasn't true. What she did now at Midnite and who she was back then was no different. She was still a whore. She was still trapped.
'My Bluebird…' His voice rang in her head, the deep timbrel of his voice that she would never forget, the chills she got in her spine whenever she thought of him. On instinct she jerked, her head whipping around to make sure that he wasn't standing behind her, his arms reaching out to wrap around her neck, choking the air right out of her. Kagome shivered and drew her knees up to her chest, resting her head on her knees, trying to get as small as possible. Sai had called her that when she first met him. And he didn't know how much that name triggered her. 'Clever little bluebird…' he said. Sai didn't know how much she despised that name. How much she despised herself and how she could never runaway from her past.
A tear slid down her cheek. The rape had triggered all of her memories to come flooding back and now they wouldn't stop. They just wouldn't stop, not even with her drunken haze. She just… wanted to go home.
The sliding glass door opened and Inuyasha's voice called out. "Kagome. Are you okay?"
Her head shot up as more tears came sliding down and she looked up to see Inuyasha standing behind her at the door. The lights were on behind him and he looked worried, even more so now that he noticed she was crying. He wore nothing but black shorts, making her wonder if he had been sleeping. 'Did I wake him up?'
"Are you crazy? It's cold out here. Come inside," Inuyasha said, coming around to stand next to her. She was frozen at the sight of him. Not only because he looked hot with nothing on but his sleeping shorts, but also because she was an emotional mess and she didn't know what to do. Inuyasha took one look at her and his features softened, moving to crouch in front of her. "What happened, Kagome? Why are you out here crying?"
She couldn't say anything. The tenderness in his voice shocked her but it also melted her heart, especially to see him in front of her like that, as if he cared. He sighed after a couple of heartbeats and stood, extending his hand to her. "Come inside. It's cold out here. And I'll give you one of my shirts to wear." She stared at his hand and then slowly brought her legs down and stood, swaying a little. Inuyasha steadied her, frowning at her condition. She was out here in the cold wearing barely anything and she was drinking and crying. 'What the hell…'
"How much did you have to drink?" he asked roughly, trying to control himself. His eyes raked her body, from her blue panties to her hard nipples beneath Sango's too tight of a shirt. He was so beautiful, his blood flowing hotly in his veins for her, even in the emotional and drunk condition that she was in. He tore his gave from her and turned her around so that they could walk back into the house.
She smiled apologetically. "Sorry. I drank some of your liquor."
"Doesn't matter. I can always buy some more. How much did you have to drink?"
She shrugged. "Just one. I couldn't sleep. I just needed some fresh air."
Inuyasha said nothing. He led her inside and locked the glass door behind them. They walked towards the kitchen and he took the glass from her and left it in the sink, turning the light off and leading her down the hall. "I'll give you one of my shirts to wear." He grabbed onto her hand and led her down the hall towards his room. Turning on his light, Kagome followed him into his room, marveling at the size of the master bedroom.
Once they entered, there was a walk-in closet to her right, but he went right past that, and he led her into the spacious bedroom that was twice as big as her guest bedroom. The walls were a neutral grey and his huge king-size bed was across the door, against the opposite side wall that had glass windows above the bed. The curtains were a dark grey and it matched the comforter and the pillows of his bed. His bed looked undone since it was obvious that he was in it, and she could see that the sheets were beige. There were bedside stands and lights on either side of his bed connected to the wall, much like Sango's room. To her right, on the other side of the wall of his closet, was his bathroom, which she couldn't see right now since it was dark inside.
Inuyasha let go of her hand and left her standing in the middle of his room. He went to one of his dressers across of his bed to grab one of his shirts. The first one he grabbed just so happened to be a white t-shirt, and he walked back over to her, his eyes raking her body once more. He would never have enough of looking at her. She was so beautiful to him.
"Here. Put this on," he offered her, turning his head so he would stop looking at her.
Kagome smiled at him, swaying a little, but grabbed the offered shirt. "Thanks, Inuyasha. Turn around." She didn't wait for him to oblige before she began to lift Sango's shirt above her head, making Inuyasha stutter in shock as he turned around before he saw anything.
"What the hell, Kagome… geez," he muttered, making her laugh. He really couldn't be doing this with her. He could already feel himself losing his control to touch her. He wanted her. She was standing in his room. She was nearly naked in his room. And he wanted her with every fiber in his being, he wanted her. 'Calm down, dammit!' He couldn't be thinking of those things with her in his room, not now at least.
"Okay." When he turned back around she had Sango's shirt in one hand and his white shirt drowned her, going down to her thighs. He could still see the shape of her breasts and her hair was tousled but she didn't bother to fix it. "Better?" she asked him, looking innocent.
Inuyasha suppressed a groan. "Sure," he said, clearing his throat. "Time for bed," he said, needing her to leave before he took advantage of her. And gods damn him if he did anything against her will. But with blood pounding in his ears, he didn't want to take the chance. He couldn't. Not with Kagome.
Kagome smiled and slowly made her way back towards his door, leaning her hand against the wall before she turned around to smile at him. "Good night, Yasha," she said with a giggle. "Can I call you Yasha? I think it's cute," she confessed.
He looked at her, his heart squeezing at the sight of her in his shirt with such a beautiful, innocent look on her face. He was falling in love with her. And she didn't even know it. The way she looked standing in his doorway, even as tipsy as she was, she was so beautiful, and he was sure she probably wouldn't remember this tomorrow. "Sure. Yasha is fine."
"Has anyone every called you Yasha before?" she asked, leaning her back against his doorframe.
He shook his head, leaning one hand against the wall next to him. "No. But you can call me that." He liked it coming out of her mouth.
Kagome smiled at him and nodded. "Fine. Good night, Yasha." With that, Kagome pushed off the doorframe and headed back towards her room, just a few feet away from his. She turned around and smiled at him, him smiling back at her, before she closed the door. Kagome placed a hand on the door, wanting to touch Inuyasha, wishing that she could've been with him longer. She sighed and turned around, heading for the bed. She couldn't get involved with him. He was her boss for crying out loud. He obviously had something going on with Kikyo and Naraku, and all that junk was not what she needed in her life. And he was too good for her. He was way out of her league. 'Get real, Kagome. It's never going to happen.' He didn't even know anything about her.
Kagome giggled to herself as she pulled back the covers and tucked herself in. But the longer she laid there, the longer she couldn't fall asleep. No matter how hard she tried. No matter how comfortable the bed was. She just couldn't go to sleep. 'Ugh! What's wrong with me?!' Now she was getting frustrated. Her emotions were all over the place tonight. Maybe it was the fact that she was in a different place besides her home. She hadn't slept anywhere outside of her home in a long time. Her home was her safe haven. Yes, she's been in hotel rooms, but in someone's home like this, she's never slept over someone's home before. It was just weird and a little… vulnerable. Kagome sat up, swaying side to side as her head pounded with the alcohol and she got a little dizzy.
"Uh man… I think I drank too much." Kagome took a deep breath and turned to look out the window at the city. Again, she wanted to drink some more, hopefully enough to put her into a drunken sleep. Anything so that she could sleep. After a while of sitting there staring out at the city, she didn't feel any more tired than before. Her eyes then went to the door, staring at it for a long time, thinking about what to do. She wanted to be with Inuyasha. Maybe he would want to talk. Maybe he would want to keep her company. Or maybe she could sleep with his presence around.
'What is it about him?' Never before had she thought that she would ever sleep better with a man. Ever! A man was the reason why she couldn't sleep, why she had many sleepless nights and why she had been afraid to close her eyes for years in fear that he would find her and beat her. And now, here she was, wanting to be with a man. 'I want to be with him.' She made up her mind and pulled back the covers, heading for the door. She opened the door and slowly made her way to his, thinking about what she would say to him. Maybe she could use the alcohol as an excuse that she couldn't sleep or that she wanted to be with him. Alcohol was always a good excuse, right? Kagome shook her head. She was not tired in the least, but one thing she knew for sure, which she wouldn't tell Inuyasha. She wanted to sleep with him.
Kagome smiled to herself, opening Inuyasha's door slowly and peeping in. The lights had all been turned off and it was dark, save for the moonlight that spilled onto his bed from the windows above it. "Inuyasha…" she whispered, hoping he was still up.
"Kagome?" She couldn't see him but she could hear him so she went in and closed the door behind her, turning around when he turned on the light next to his side of the bed, sitting up to look at her. "Are you okay?"
Kagome walked over to his bed and went on her hands and knees to crawl up towards him. She smiled at him, knowing she was not sexy in the least at the moment because the alcohol was making it a little hard to even crawl up the bed. But she giggled to herself, feeling so free and so happy. She felt so comfortable around him that she could care less about what she looked like. He made her feel safe. "I can't sleep," she mumbled.
Inuyasha watched as Kagome crawled up his bed towards him and he immediately tightened his grip on his covers, hoping that she wouldn't get into bed with him. 'But that's exactly what she's doing idiot!' What the hell was this night turning into?! He never thought he would be watching Kagome crawl towards him, on his bed, which was the sexiest damn thing he ever saw. With her wearing his shirt, which had now gathered up towards the middle of her waist, and her panties and her butt as she crawled. What man wouldn't get hard at the sight of her like that?
"Can you keep me company?" she asked him, dropping her head against one of the pillows as she fell forward. "Can we talk for a bit? I'm not tired and I can't sleep."
As soon as Kagome's head hit the pillows, she breathed in Inuyasha's scent and her body immediately began to calm. The stress and the pain from the night began to flood away, all of her memories that were dug up was buried again and she felt her weariness take hold of her. Just like that. She moaned and closed her eyes, moving her body against his sheets and digging her head deeper into his pillow, taking a deep breath. Inuyasha moved to look at her, his shirt lifting up above her stomach as she drew up her knees, her face turned towards him as she laid on her side. He thought she was the most beautiful thing he had ever seen. And his heart squeezed at the sight of her.
"Uh, Kagome?"
"Mmmm…" Kagome opened her eyes and he was hit the realization that he was undoubtedly falling in love with her now. She was crawling her way into his heart the way she crawled onto his bed. Even though she didn't know it, there was no way now that he would let her go. He would do everything he could to get her to be his. He vowed that to himself. Kikyo and Naraku be damned. His hanyou blood be damned. He be damned. Even if she didn't want to be with him, he knew that Kagome would be the only one for him. Not even Kiyomi made him feel this way in all the years they had been together. Kagome was beautiful inside and out, and he didn't truly know her yet, but there was no doubt that he saw her. It was like they connected soul to soul, on a deeper level, like she needed to be with him the same way he needed to be with her.
"Kagome? Are you going to sleep with me?" he asked, not wanting to cross any lines with her.
"Mmmm hmmm…" she said, suddenly being taken over by the alcohol and sleep. It hit her fast, thanks to Inuyasha's scent. Kagome smiled at him, his golden eyes looking so shocked and so worried. "Don't worry, Inuyasha. I won't take advantage of you," she said with a giggle. She moved towards him, tucking her legs under the covers, and snuggling right up against his body. "Lie down so I can lie on you." He stiffened, still sitting up, thinking about what to do, as if he didn't want it to happen. He just didn't want to take advantage of her. He obliged her and laid back down, lifting up his arm as she snuggled against his side, resting her head on his chest and shoulder.
'Inuyasha… I'm falling in love with you…' she thought, unable to say it out loud, suddenly succumbing to sleep. It came down on her hard. She threw one leg over his and one arm draped over his chest, hugging him to her as if he would run at any minute. Her weight pressed into him as her breathing began to slow down and he knew she was asleep.
Inuyasha blinked, not knowing exactly what just happened in the few minutes that she had just come into his room and now had fallen asleep on top of him. "I thought you wanted to talk," he said to her, but she didn't respond because she was asleep. He relaxed, letting himself feel her body against his and letting himself breathe in her scent. Her scent relaxed him immediately. He had the hardest time falling asleep tonight. When he came to his room to take a bath, he wasn't the slightest bit tired. But he tried to go to sleep, much to his failure. So then he decided to go into the kitchen to find something to eat, even though he wasn't hungry. But as he left his room, he noticed Kagome's door was open and she wasn't in it. He got worried and went to look for her, wondering where she went after she took her shower. The entire house was dark, but he could clearly see well in the darkness, and went searching for her. Then, he noticed her outside, in the cold, her head peeping out over the top of the chair she sat on. He was so worried for her so he went to check on her. But what he found shocked him. She had been crying. And the look she gave him, with tears streaking down her face and her beautiful blue eyes looking so burdened, his irritation for her welfare quickly turned to concern and worry.
Even after he had given her his shirt and had tried to go to bed, he couldn't. He kept replaying the image of having her in his room. Not to mention her scent that she left behind in her presence. It was a balm to his soul and he still couldn't sleep, thinking about her and the night that they had together. He thought of how he kept his eyes on her all night and held her hand as much as he could, not just because he wanted to make sure she was okay and that he didn't lose her in the crowd, but also because he needed to be physically connected to her. He wanted to be near her, to know she was having fun, and he loved watching her dance with the girls tonight. He hadn't seen her like that before, so carefree and dancing without any routine, just a freestyle with whatever came from her heart. He loved watching her free like that. Inuyasha thought about her the entire time he laid in bed up until he heard his doorknob turn and he looked to see Kagome peek inside and whisper his name. He had turned the light on to help her see him and he watched as she stumbled towards his bed, obviously tipsy and probably not in the best shape to sleep in a man's bed, but he wasn't about to send her away. He wanted her next to him just as much as she obviously wanted to be with him.
Inuyasha wrapped his arm around her and with his other hand he turned off the bedside light above him. Only the light from the moon outside shone into his room and he closed his eyes, suddenly feeling like he could sleep now. He placed his free hand over Kagome's arm draped across his chest and held her tighter with his other arm. He turned his head towards her, burying his nose into her hair as he took a long, deep inhale. Her scent hit him like a ton of bricks, calming him down and bringing a sense of peace to him. Within a few seconds, he was out, just as fast as she was, his head turned down towards hers with a serene smile on his face, the two lying in each other's arms.
Hope you liked it. A little cliffhanger there at the end :0 But with fluff. LMK what you think :)
