Kagome takes in the hopeful expression painted on Satoru's face. The way his blue eyes peek over the rim of his glasses, to the way his body shifts tension from one side to the other. The black shirt in her hands weighs next to nothing, but at the moment, it may as well be a pile of bricks.
She wants to say yes. But then her mind reminds her of how she promised to always remain at InuYasha's side, and well, she clearly isn't with him now. For all she knows, she could get sent back at any moment. And could she really throw away the chance of seeing her family and friends again? Kagome averts her eyes, stares at an imaginary speck of dust on the floor.
"I'm scared that I won't be able to keep such a promise." She looks back at him, clutches the shirt to her chest. "What if I get sent back? I might not have a choice." What she needs is for him to understand. The last thing she wants to do is break his heart if the jewel or the well sends her back to her world. A wave of power thrums in her chest, sending vibrations of warmth throughout.
Was the Shikon trying to tell her something?
"I'm not hearing a no," Satoru says, plucking the shirt from her and tossing it onto the bed. He grabs her hand and places it on his chest, where his heart beats. "Besides, you can't say no after accepting my ring."
"You said that it wasn't a proposal," she says, her voice shaky. She wonders how he could find diamonds that matched the exact shade of his eyes; it couldn't have been a spur-of-the-moment transaction.
"It isn't. A promise of my intent."
She bites her bottom lip, flexes her free hand, and takes in the firm, but gentle hold he has over her. "But what if I don't have a choice?" Kagome needs him to understand that if they go down this route, that they could set themselves up for heartbreak. Another pulse of energy resonates in her veins. Who is she kidding? She's already too deep into it.
"Since when do we allow fear to control us?"
His phone goes off. The noise of the vibrations against the wooden nightstand cuts through the room.
Kagome tilts her head and smiles. "What's the point of asking my opinion if you've already decided what the outcome will be?"
"I read an article that a lack of communication is killer to a relationship."
"I mean the article isn't wrong. Have you never been in a serious relationship?"
"Nah," he responds, looking over at his phone. "It's probably Ijichi. We've gotten nothing packed." He sighs, letting go of her hand to answer his phone.
She thinks about how freely he gives his affection and the way he pulls her close when he gets back from a long day of teaching and exorcising curses. He's never pushed her to be something that she isn't, nor has he ever made her feel like she's less than, despite his egotistical proclamations of being the strongest. It's easy—too easy in how they've fallen into this relationship. She can't recall any arguments that have left her storming out of the apartment.
It hits her so suddenly that she staggers back. Since when does she allow fear to stop her from going after what she wants? The Shikon sends another warming wave of power throughout her body. Satoru ends his call and looks over at her, crossing his arms.
"What's with all the fluctuations?"
"I'll stay," she responds, ignoring his question. How is she supposed to explain something she doesn't understand herself?
He meets her halfway and lifts her up. Her legs wrap around him as he backs them towards a wall. Kagome holds back a wince as her legs are still sore from earlier. "Seriously," she half groans out at the feel of him hardening underneath her.
"We've got about 20 minutes until Ijichi gets here." He peppers kisses along the corners of her mouth.
"You're trying to kill me," she says. Kagome thinks back to his reasoning for not taking her with him, and while she won't ever admit to him, she has to agree that at this rate, nothing will ever get accomplished. Satoru kisses her deeply in response.
She apologizes to Ijichi-san for both of them.
"Yuji-kun, you're back!" Kagome greets while mixing the cookie dough ingredients together. "What's wrong?" She stops mixing and takes in the beat-down appearance that marks his face and posture.
"The curses today," he starts, voice cracking, "they were humans." His body trembles. "I killed someone."
Kagome frowns and sets the bowl on the counter. She dusts her hands on the pink frilly apron and pulls Yuji in for a hug. This time she is prepared for Sukuna's prodding, so she pushes down her initial reaction to purify the king of curses, and instead takes in the brute force of Yuji's despair. "You set them free." She runs a hand through his pink hair. His body sags against hers. "If they looked like curses, then I'm willing to bet that their souls were crying out for relief. You gave them that salvation."
"I just—I want to protect people."
"I know, I know. It's alright." She pulls back and palms the sides of his face. "I'm making chocolate chip cookies. We'll actually get to eat some since Satoru isn't here to steal all of them."
"Do you think Gojo-sensei has ever killed anyone?"
"Probably," she says, "but I can't say for certain. I've never asked him." Though in her gut, she is positive that Satoru has. "I mean, there are probably other curse users out there. I doubt that all of them turn into curses."
"Sensei isn't a bad person because of it," Yuji says, standing up to his full height. "Kagome-san, have you ever…"
"Only demons, but still. A life is a life, regardless of how different our chemical makeups may be."
"You sympathize with demons? Aren't they inherently evil like curses?"
"Curses are born from the negative emotions of people, right?" She scoops out some of the dough. "Demons have families just like us. Their lifespan and the things that they can accomplish exceeds what we can do. Not all want to cause chaos and destroy humanity in the way that curses are hyper-focused on attacking humans." She rolls the dough into small balls and places them on the pan. "Curses are like predators. They see humans—their prey, and attack because it's instinctive. Demons and humans are more like hunters. We assess the situation before making a move. Some humans kill for the heck of it and some demons are content with living their lives." Kagome opens the oven and puts the cookies in to bake. She grabs her phone off the counter and sets a timer.
"Thanks, Kagome-san," Yuji says, smiling. "I'm going to take a shower before dinner." He walks out of the kitchen, leaving Kagome with her thoughts.
The next morning, Yuji appears more at peace as he leaves with Ijichi-san. Something along the lines of finding a potential curse user from the Satozakura High School. Kagome hands Yuji a bento and instructs him to call her if anything comes up. It's not that she doesn't trust Ijichi-san. The man is nothing but dependable, but utterly useless if a fight breaks out.
She hums as she gathers the laptop and the bookbag full of notes that Satoru left for her. She arranges the papers on the coffee table and gets comfortable on the couch. It isn't a lot, but she was able to convince Satoru to let her help him out as an unofficial assistant. Her phone rings right as she opens up the laptop.
"Hello," she answers.
"What are you wearing?" Satoru asks. There's a loud boom on the other end of the phone. A scream follows shortly after.
"Are you exorcising a curse right now?"
"Just ignore that. You wearing that green skirt I like?"
Kagome glances down at her jeans. "No, I'm wearing jeans. You should be focusing," she lectures. Would it hurt him to be a little more careful?
"Eh, these things are weak. I don't know why I had to be the one to travel all this way."
"Yuji-kun killed a human that was turned into a curse yesterday. He was pretty upset about it." She puts him on speaker and reaches for one of the papers on the coffee table. "If you're able to, I think we should do something with him when you get back."
"Like a mini-vacay?"
"We could," she replies, frowning at the commotion on his end. "Why don't you call me back when you aren't busy?"
"I'm free right now," he says. "Just ignore the screams. I have everything under control."
Kagome closes her eyes. "I thought of something you could bring back. Condoms."
"What was that? Oh, one of them is trying to get away."
She shakes her head when the line goes dead. At least she got him off the phone. And besides, jokes on him because she picked some up yesterday after discovering that she needed a prescription to pick up Plan B.
It only takes a few… okay, it takes her all the way into the evening to decipher the notes and hand-drawn pictures to piece together a report. Kagome rubs her eyes. Too much staring at the screen is finally taking a toll. Huh. Yuji-kun should have come home by now, she thinks. The clock at the bottom of the screen reads 19:00. Maybe she should send him a text just to make sure that everything is okay.
Yuji: I'm joining Junpei and his mom for dinner! I hope that's okay.
Kagome: Of course, that's okay. Text me if you need anything.
She sets the phone back down and closes the laptop. It's kind of cute how he checks in with her.
Kagome doesn't pay any attention when Yuji leaves out the next day, though she blinks back the hurt when he rushes out the door without his lunch for the day. What she does pay attention to is the panic in Ijichi-san's voice when he calls her about Yuji taking off after this Junpei person.
She follows the sound of Yuji screaming at Sukuna to help and the laughter that follows the pleas. There's a man—no, a curse, with blue hair. And a monster that Yuji is hugging tightly. Kagome grips the bow. "Yuji-kun," she calls out, walking forward.
"K-Kagome-san, please help him."
She falters. Was this thing a human? It must show on her face because Yuji asks her again. Kagome swallows and reaches a hand out, touching its back. She feels the piercing gaze of Sukuna and the curse man watching her move. Please work, she prays, as the familiar feeling of her purification shoots forth, spreading through the monster's body.
"Well, isn't this interesting," the curse quips.
The monster shakes as the blue melts away and all is left is a husk of a young man. Yuji's eyes widen as he calls out, "Junpei."
"Thank you, Yuji," Junpei says, slumping down.
Kagome grits her teeth at the scene and turns to look at the curse. His patchwork face etches itself into her memory. "You did this?"
"You reversed my transfiguration, though I guess his body was too weak." He blurs out and appears in front of her, grabbing ahold of her and jumping back. "Now, now. Yuji. You wouldn't want the same fate to fall upon this woman."
"Let Kagome-san go," Yuji growls out, his fist-shaking.
This is bad, she thinks. Her purification rises just as his hand reaches into her soul. The Shikon pulses, reacting to the foreign cursed energy. Her vision blurs as the jewel darkens. Her heart pounds, pushing all of her blood flow to her eardrums. This is bad. She doesn't even want to think about the ramifications of what could happen if he continues to taint the Shikon.
"What is this," he murmurs, digging further into her.
"Kagome-san! Fight!" Yuji calls out.
Fight. Right, she promised she wouldn't hesitate. She latches on to that thought and forces the negative energy outward. Sweat drips down her brow as she struggles to contain it to just the curse. The worst thing would be Yuji-kun getting caught up in the blast. It hurts, her body aches, desperately wanting to let her purification run rampant, but she forces it to stay contained. His scream is the last thing she hears before everything goes dark, and she falls down. Kagome winces. Fuck, everything hurts. She struggles to raise herself up, just barely making out Yuji rushing forward. Distantly, she hears glass breaking.
"He could touch the Shikon," she says to herself as she grips her chest. She stands, grabbing her bow on her way and staggers out, once again following the familiar sounds of battle. Rest will have to wait.
She has to put an end to that curse now.
A/N: Thank you all for the reviews! You guys have no idea how much they help me push through. Have a great weekend everyone :)
