Chapter 10: Interim

Clenching his fists he looked over at Kimi's bedroom door then back at me. Then, he just left. I sighed. I grabbed my bag by the door, carrying it to her bedroom. I pushed the door open slowly, peeking inside the room. She was curled up on the bed under the blanket. She propped herself up on her elbows, looking at me. I set my bag down by the dresser.

"I-"

"You do not need to keep apologizing on his behalf, Kimi. This is something he is just going to have to get used to."

She gave me a small smile and patted the spot next to her. I turned off the light and closed the door. Only a few rays of light made their way through the curtains. I crawled into the bed laying beside her, leaving some space between the both of us. She looked at the space between us and then up at me.

"Are you afraid I will bite you?" she joked. "You can come closer."

I moved closer to her, our arms touching. "Have you always been comfortable laying with men in your bed?"

She smiled. "When I was nothing but a young girl. This was very normal. To just lay with people whom you are close with. Romantic or not. In a bed or even in a field."

"Well, that was thousands of years ago, and people might misunderstand. I mean you heard Sesshomaru. According to him, we were locked in a very tender moment out there." I joked.

She laughed. Not a giggle or a little chuckle, but a full-bellied laugh. She looked embarrassed the second she realized how loud it was. She covered her mouth. It was the first time I had seen her turn that shade of red. Much less any shade of red. She tried to hide her face in her hands, and it made me laugh. She playfully hit my shoulder.

"Do not laugh at me." she pouted.

I chuckled. "A woman your age should not pout, you might get wrinkles."

She smiled. "You should respect your elders."

We both laughed.

"So, did you just want to stay locked up in your apartment for the next few days?"

She snuggled up to her pillow. "I suppose so. There's nothing wrong with hiding away from the world for a while. Besides, the one person who I actually enjoy having conversations with is next to me."

"I'm honored, you praise me. So, about Akira."

She seemed surprised that I had brought him up. "Yes?"

"Did you sleep with him?"

That question seemed to surprise her even more.

"I don't see how that is important. Especially seeing as you slept with that cheap woman ten times."

There she went throwing the word cheap around again.

"I only asked because If we're talking about people being beneath someone. Akira should not even be allowed to breathe the same air as you, and you really have to stop listening in on me."

She folded her arms. "Well, you two were being very loud. How could I not notice? If he is not worthy of me, then she does not deserve your time either."

"There's history between Ayame and me."

She raised a brow. "History? That sounds like an excuse."

I sighed. "There once was a time when she and I were betrothed. I made some stupid promises when I was a child. The clans took my promise seriously and upheld it, but I wanted no part of it. I gave her some pathetic excuse about not believing in love and having no desire to get married. Then Kagome came along and you know how that story went. She saw me calming this woman as my own and declaring my love for her. Ayame saw that and she would not take no for an answer. While I chased after Kagome she chased after me, and I ignored every advance she made at me. We had lost touch after a while, until that night. I was lonely and she looked… attractive. We ended up having sex, and even after all this time she still wanted me. I never took that into account."

"A short dress is all it took to win you over?"

I scoffed. "A young pretty face is all it took to win you over."

"Well, I did not sleep with Akira. You slept with Ayame many times."

I cleared my throat. " Well, it won't be happening again."

"Good." She said,

I looked at her strangely. "Why is that good?"

"Because She is not worth your time."

I looked at her and she avoided my gaze. "Then who is worth my time?"

"Whoever she is, I am sure that you will find her eventually."

"When or if we do find other people. That means we won't be able to spend time together like this anymore."

"I suppose you're right. I can't imagine that our significant others would be comfortable with anything that we do. Our relationship is a complicated one."

I sighed. "That it is. I'm not sure how to say goodbye to you when the time comes."

She had a sad look in her eyes. "You're not alone there."

"Is our friendship a good idea?"

She looked me in the eyes. "I do not regret our friendship, and I do not regret meeting you." She said taking my hand. "I would do it all again."

I smiled, giving her hand a slight squeeze. "You're something amazing, you know that?"

She grinned. "I do, but it is nice to hear it every now and then."

"I'm glad that we are friends."

She smiled. "As am I."

I could see her thinking. It was all over her face. There was something bothering her.

I turned on my side. "What's wrong?"

"I am making you and Sesshomaru's relationship worse."

"We fuss and fight. We've done it more times than I can count. I'm sure that we'll be fine. He just needs to get over himself is all. Everything can't be the way he wants it to be. I hoped that he would have known that by now. It is not you coming in between us. It is his ego getting in his own way as usual. When he is not in control it he tends to behave like this. So, do not blame yourself. For his own lack of control. It's fine, everything will be just fine."