Title: Work-A-Holic
Author: Tsubasa Kya
Disclaimer: I have created a mission. It is to cover the entire FF world with HieiKago love and then when I have massed an army of HieiKago fanfiction, we will march on to rule the UNIVERSE! Bwahahaha! (I still don't own.)
Chapter ten: Fiancée
"Souta, is this the friend?" Kagome inquired. She managed to keep her horror out of her voice and smooth her face to a perfect blankness, but to be honest she wanted to vomit. She had nothing against gay couples—unless her brother was a part of one. She'd seen many gay people. They were just normal people with a different sex preference.
But for Kagome to have been led under the impression for years that Souta had no love life, that he wasn't interested in relationships because of what happened in her life, and to come back to the shrine at last to find her brother with his arms around the neck of a tall man with long, striking red hair and their lips locked together, she found herself with a distinct abhorrence to the idea.
Souta looked like he would have shot away from the man had he not been beneath the man on the couch in the corner of the dining room that was given away to 'TV' space. His face, previously flushed with the energy of what she assumed was passion, turned bright with embarrassment. The man, Kagome realized, was the one from the park. She might not have known it was a man to begin with, if she had not already seen him and heard his voice.
Kagome shook her head slightly as the two parted. The man didn't look like he was at all embarrassed, or indeed like he cared for her opinion. He clearly knew what he wanted, and he always got what he wanted. Like Sesshoumaru, Kagome thought distractedly. A memory of her fighting beneath the covers as Sesshoumaru stole what was hers tried to surge forth, but she tamped it down.
Now was no time to be dealing with that. This place was going to tear her apart. Her life had been perfect; undisturbed. But she strayed from her normal path in which she came across a demon that had found her, and a demon that had saved her at the expense of his health.
This apparent difference in Souta from the little boy she remembered him as so long ago probably wouldn't have been such a big deal if he hadn't kept it a secret. If he had written a letter, or called… She smelled something burning. "Souta, is dinner ready?"
"Oh, shit!" Souta swore. The boy pulled himself out from beneath his apparent lover and made a dash for the kitchen. The fire detector began going off, setting the man's lips into a smile. He didn't appear worried, so Kagome took it to mean that this happened often.
"I am Aiko Soriusa," she introduced herself, wishing there were better circumstances to meet Souta's 'friend'. Why did Souta keep him a secret? If anything, this man—Kurama, she recalled him begin called in Morissey Park—was very handsome. He had a certain charm to him, one that she couldn't blame Souta for being attracted to.
"Shuichi Minamino. Souta's fiancée." Ah, so the truth at last. "He's not cheating on me is he?" He didn't seem very worried about it. In fact, it was as if the very thought of it brought an even wider smile to his face.
She smiled. This man had a strange humor to him. Just hours before he had been arguing heatedly about someone being dead, and now he appeared unconcerned about the dead. He had changed from the black outfit he'd worn. He hadn't been as good looking in all black as he was in the red polo shirt and black trousers that he wore now.
His clothes were slightly askew. Buttons were undone on his shirt. His hair was mussed. His cheeks were slightly flushed and his lips were bitten and bleeding. Hickeys adorned his neck like the chicken pox. But even as he was, he was very good looking.
"I assure you," Kagome drawled as she settled on the other end of the couch. "If Souta did cheat on you, it would never be with me." She ran her eyes over the man again as he settled himself comfortably. He liked things rough, she thought. It was strange to think that Souta would be so bold as to have a 'rough' relationship, but apparently he wasn't the same boy she had grown up with.
She knew he was lying about his name, but whether or not Souta knew that, she couldn't be positive. Souta wasn't an idiot. He would find out sooner or later that this 'Shuichi' was a demon of sorts. He was likely a half-demon, but he hid it well.
"You're probably right," Shuichi chuckled. He looked at her and she knew he was seeing the power that coursed through her blood. He looked as if it were difficult for him just to not reach out and touch her. He would want a taste of that power. But he had more restraint than most, like her paralyzed demon in Saiza. That three-eyed demon could have taken hold of her and the power she carried inside her, and he could have healed himself.
Instead, he demanded she do it. "Are you suggesting I am not an attractive member of the female gender?" she inquired, though she wasn't really serious. She'd perfected herself so that just one look at a man made them too scared to approach her. It saved her from the problem of dating, and from most questions of why she doesn't appear to age. People might whisper about it behind her back, but they couldn't bring themselves to ask it.
Shuichi shook his head. "Of course not. I am only saying that out of all my relationships, Souta is the only one who has ever moaned my name quite like he does while we're in bed." Okay, that was just too much information. Now she really wanted to vomit.
She must have turned green because Shuichi laughed. "How many have you been with?" She hoped Souta knew about his lover's past relationships. This green eyed male had better not turn on Souta, she thought, because if he did, Kagome wouldn't hesitate to destroy him.
"Are we talking men, women, or both?" Really, why did she even ask? Such a stupid question.
"Nevermind."
"No, I'm serious." Shuichi shrugged. "If you want to know, I will oblige and tell. I've had seven serious relationships through my life with men and women. I was dumped in every one of them because they didn't like my profession. And I used to have a new slave in my bed every night." He lowered his voice even further. "But what about you?"
She felt her smile turn bitter. She had figured out what he was. He was human, but there was a demon inside him, if that made sense. It did, sort of. Two spirits, combined to make a half-breed in the same fashion that Naraku was born—though he was born of many demons and a human heart. The demon inside Shuichi had lived for a long time. The human-half-breed had lived perhaps as long as Kagome. "And I?"
"Yes," he said. "You must be married by now, right? Souta said you're his sister, but you have a different last name. So where is your husband?" Shuichi knew, she realized. He knew that she was aware of the demon inside of him. That was why he said 'slave' not 'prostitute'. It was according to the times that the words were different.
Kagome held back a sigh. "I am not married." She admitted. "I was one of the slaves." She stood and looked down at him, acknowledging the fact that he knew she had power. In turn, she also acknowledged the fact that he was powerful enough to feel no need for that power. Just because her power called to him didn't mean that he couldn't resist it.
Even the strongest demons couldn't resist her completely. What she didn't understand was why she was even talking about all this with the stranger before her. She never talked about all this with her family, so why would she think a stranger would care a wit about it?
She walked to the kitchen, poking her head in. Souta sat at the island counter that was where the table used to be. He looked absolutely miserable and was attempting to peel some very extra crispy rolls off a pan.
"He likes it when he can come home from work and a delicious meal is made, but I'm no great cook like mom was." Souta sniffed. This appeared to be very disturbing to Souta that he would burn the rolls. She looked at the horrible state of the kitchen and instantly she wanted it to be clean. It was too dirty. She should be on her hands and knees scrubbing the floor.
She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, dragging her fingers across his stomach and chest in a soothing motion. "Is he living here?" she asked Souta, and the boy nodded. "He seems to care for you a great deal." Kagome reached out and popped one of the burnt rolls off the pan, showing it to Souta. "I bet if you asked, he'd eat this. I will tell you a secret."
Souta reached out and took the roll, likely wondering how she got it off so easily. It had been really caked onto the pan. He cupped his hands over it. "What secret?"
"Mom was a terrible cook. It runs in the family. She had supper delivered while we were at school and just micro-waved it." Kagome kissed Souta's cheek. "A little magic trick I learned in Saiza…" she brushed her hand over Souta's and a look of shock came to his face. "Look."
He opened his hands and the roll was there, golden brown and warm. "Do it again." He begged. "This is my first Christmas with him. I want everything perfect, please, do it again…"
She brushed her hands across the black buns and golden brown color spread across them. Their hardness became soft, chewy. She did as Souta asked because she could tell this meant a lot to him. She didn't usually tap this magic because it made her feel different; not human.
"How long have you been seeing him?" Kagome asked Souta. For them to be getting married if they never spent Christmas together, it seemed strange to her. But Souta didn't seem to feel the same way. Souta put the fresh rolls on the plate he meant for them and brushed her off to start bustling around the kitchen. Souta had always come to Saiza and spent Christmas with her though.
"Well," Souta sighed with a goofy smile on his face. "It's funny you should ask that. We met about eight years ago. I know I should've said something to you about him, but mom said if I told you, you'd worry and then come home and she didn't want that for you."
She wondered if he realized he hadn't answered her question. She wanted to know how long they'd been seeing each other, not how long ago they met. Then again, a story wouldn't hurt. If her little brother was to marry a demon, she'd like to know the finer details. "And you wouldn't have invited me to the wedding, either?" she wanted to know.
"The wedding isn't for a couple months yet…" Souta trailed off when he saw the teasing look on her face. "Oh. Well, I was in Morissey Park when one of Shuichi's friends actually attacked me. He was demanding to know where you were and he said if I didn't tell him, he'd kill me."
Kagome shrugged. "Sounds like one of the usual situations." Souta was pulling plates, bowls, and glasses from the cupboard. He had three of everything.
"Well, Shuichi interfered. He said that whatever business Hiei had with you shouldn't involve hurting me." Souta's smile widened. "Good thing he interfered too, 'cause I think Hiei's rather mental."
Kagome wondered again if Hiei was her paralyzed demon. If it was, he had found her. What did he want from her? "So how did you two get together then?" Well, she could find out what he wanted from her soon enough, if it was indeed her paralyzed demon. He should be here by tomorrow, she thought. Tomorrow eve.
Souta laughed. "Shuichi's the kind of guy who gets what he wants." He took a chilled wine bottle from the fridge. It was as if that explained everything, and in a way it did. At the same time, though… it didn't. At the same time it didn't make any sense at all.
"I started following him around," came Shuichi's voice from the doorway. Kagome looked at him with surprise. He didn't seem like the stalking type. "I told him if he didn't go out to dinner with me, I'd let Hiei do whatever he wanted to him." Both boys, no they were men, Kagome amended, looked like they were recalling a very fond memory.
"So you're a stalker?" Kagome inquired of Shuichi and he flashed pearly white teeth at her without responding to her question. "And what did you do, Souta?" She knew what she would have done. She would have fought with all her might and gone only kicking and screaming.
"You betrayed us," she heard a voice whisper in the back of her mind. "But I guess we should've seen it coming…" She ignored the memory, knowing she wouldn't be able to do it forever. Their ghosts were here, and their blood was on her hands. She had as effectively ended their lives as if she had been the one with the sword.
Souta smiled at her. "Well, I thought of you and all the hell you put up with in your last relationship. And I refused." Good boy. No member of her family could afford to be weak. The cost of weakness was death and she would suffer no more of those.
"As I had promised," Shuichi shrugged, "I told Hiei he could have Souta and do whatever he wanted." Shuichi crossed the kitchen and stood next to Souta, putting one arm around Souta's shoulders in a 'he's mine now' gesture. Kagome recognized that move. It had been put on her so many times before.
"And when Hiei came to me and demanded again to know where you were again, I told him you went to America and well… he kind of freaked out and ran away. It was hilarious. He said finding you over there would be like finding a needle in a haystack." And to think, the whole time Kagome had been in Saiza. She congratulated Souta on his improvisation.
Kagome shook her head. They weren't giving her a straight answer. "That still doesn't say how you two came to be together."
"I dated girls for two years after that," Souta said. "Shuichi was always close by. I could feel him watching me constantly. I got a restraining order, but he ignored it."
"I was jealous." Shuichi admitted. "He couldn't figure out why all the girls would dump him, but it was because I threatened them."
"And he'd sneak into my bedroom at night and just sit at my desk and watch me sleep." Souta leaned against the taller man, his smile speaking for him. He didn't care that the story had become a nightmare for Kagome.
"I got tired of watching one day." Shuichi grinned. "And I approached the bed. He woke up, and the next day when I came to watch him sleep again, he was gone and your mother was in his place. She sat on the bed, waiting for me in the darkness. She told me she hired a body guard and that I need to stay away from Souta."
She held up her hand for them to stop. For a second she thought she heard something. She thought she heard someone say her name, but they didn't say 'Aiko'. That didn't make sense though. Souta was the only one alive now who recognized her even partially. Her old friends couldn't recognize her face if they wanted to; Kagome Higurashi had died years ago.
"Aiko, what is it?" Souta asked, looking tense. His hands had previously been entwined in a towel, but now he practically was tearing it apart.
She shook her head clear and made up a lie on the spot. "I was just attempting to guess what happened next. You," she pointed to Shuichi, "didn't listen, did you?" That much was blindly obvious considering the two were together at the moment, but who knows, maybe they did stay away for a while?
"No. I started to get the idea that Souta wasn't interested in me because I was a guy, so I started cross-dressing. He asked me out the first day I was dressed as a girl, and we were a couple for two years before he found out I was a guy."
She wondered if she should even ask, but did it anyway. "How'd you find out?"
Souta's cheeks turned red. "Um…"
Shuichi was conveniently silent…
"Stupid question." Kagome sighed. "Let's just eat."
Dinner was a quiet time. They all sat in the dining room with the table set and ate oden, bread rolls, garlic salmon, and an array of foreign foods that Souta wanted to try and make. For the most part, they talked lightly if at all. The weather and the plane trip to Tokyo were most of the conversation.
When Kagome couldn't stand sitting there anymore, she excused herself from the table and began cleaning up. Midnight rolled around and Kagome was still scrubbing up the kitchen. She'd done all the dishes, the countertops were shining, and she was on her hands and knees with a scrub brush and soap and water bucket.
Shuichi had offered to help clean, but she declined politely. After midnight, she stopped temporarily and went to shower. She had a new regime to create now that she was in this new place. She was tired, but didn't want to sleep because she knew if she did, those haunting memories would creep up and she would be slaughtered by them.
She changed into gray sweats and carried her tennis shoes to the entry way, sitting down to put them on. Souta called to her through the open dining room door, "Come watch television with us, Aiko." She took that to mean that Shuichi was in there as well and didn't respond. Television wasn't something she could stand; it was too false and calm.
When she didn't respond, Souta poked his head out the dining room door. "Aiko, where are you going at this time?" Shuichi was next to appear, though he didn't appear to care as much. She didn't expect him to; people didn't care about her. She was a possession.
She stood and stretched. "I have the intention to go jogging."
"In a tank top and sweatpants?" Souta demanded, stepping forward. He peeled off his sweatshirt. "At least take something warm."
"Souta, don't be foolish. I will be warm enough while running."
"Aiko—" Souta started.
"I would think twice before I say what I want to." She warned him with a sharp glare before slamming out of the shrine. She began jogging down the shrine steps and turned left. It had been a while since she'd been in Tokyo, and renovations to her district threw her several times. Most people jogging at this hour had a companion or two, but she didn't.
She supposed that was why when she heard footsteps join behind hers, she knew they were following her. In a challenge, she sped up. They matched her speed. "Kagome, wait." Growled a voice—the one she had thought she heard earlier in the house. But like before, this voice was in her head.