8
I held the intruder by the throat, shaking the foundation of the entire house hard enough to probably alert everyone to my own personal problem.
"I told you once, Hidan, I won't tell you again. I got Goro his money the end of last week, and if you don't get off of my property in approximately 60 seconds, I am going to throw you down those steps, and you'd better fucking pray that it kills you."
The drug dealer coughed and jumped back as I let him go, straightening his collar before trying to escape with whatever dignity he had left.
Sighing, I checked my cell phone to see it was 1AM.
"Fuck," I muttered. "I'll never get back to sleep before Kouga wakes me up." Turning back around to go inside, a warm and solid body blocked my path. I cranned my neck to see a very grumpy and very tired older demon.
"I suggest you get back to bed, Fluffy. I am in no mood for your wise sayings." I pushed his shoulder and attempted to squeeze into the door, but he shut it swiftly and silently.
"If you wake this Sesshomaru again with your antics, your body will be searching for your head in a ditch somewhere in Africa, wolf."
I punched him in the arm, refusing to meet his gaze. "You think I want to be up dealing with a drug lord's thugs at one o'clock in the fucking morning, Sesshomaru? Gotta tell you, it's not exactly my piece of steak."
He growled. "And why are you dealing with the thugs of a drug lord in the smallest hours of the morning, if I may so ask?"
I looked up at him, glowering. "Take a guess."
"I have no humor for guessing. Wake me again and you will be dismembered." He pushed me back with enough force for me to land on my ass as he went inside, roughly closing the door behind him.
My piercing eyes did no good on the closed door as they slowly filled with tears and my lip trembled. Giving up, I buried my face in my arms and began crying softly; alone and cold in the shrine's empty lot. Why did life have to suck so badly?
My long, narrow ears twitched continuously, bothering me enough to wake me from my lovely wet dream of a certain wolfette demon. Checking my alarm clock, it smirked at me deviously as the bright numbers showed 1:07am.
I growled and listened for whatever was waking me up. A bit of a distance away, I heard crying outside. Sighing, I shoved off my blankets and winced as the door at the end of the hallway was shut loudly. Sesshomaru did something now, I thought.
Thumping outside, I tried to locate the crying. After a few minutes, I saw Kagome huddled in the middle of the grounds, weeping quietly.
"Kagome?" I whispered, my heavy eyes not fully open. "Kagome, what's wrong?"
She began trembling as I wrapped my arms around her, holding her to my chest. I discreetly smelled the area, my vision blurring more at the heavy smell of pot, bodily waste, and tribal demon.
"Hidan came again?" I mumbled into her raven tresses. She nodded and leaned into me, her cries now rocking her body.
"K-Kouga, they won't leave me alone. I payed them, and I can't keep paying for Shippo. It's draining me of all my money and I can't take any from mom." She shook her head. "And Shippo's on it so hard, I couldn't bear to make him go through any more pain because I can't make his drug payments."
Closing my eyes, I rubbed soothing circles around her back. "Kagome, lovely, this has to stop. You can't keep doing this shit. It's hurting everybody, and you're taking the brunt of it. I'll talk to Shippo-"
"NO!" She screamed. I winced. "No. He's so young, and he's too dependant on it. He'll shrug you off and hate me for telling you to try to talk him out."
I growled. I hated Kagome's pain, and she wouldn't let anybody help. "Kags, just let me help you. I'm on your side, we all are."
"Not Sesshomaru," she muttered, malice slipping into her voice.
I laughed lightly. "Kagome, Sesshomaru doesn't like anybody. If anything, you're his favorite person. You woke him up in the middle of the night and he didn't slaughter you without a second thought! And besides, you're really expecting good graces from royalty?" She sniffled and shrugged.
"I dunno, at least some manners or somethin'."
Holding my face close to hers, I licked away the salty tears. She giggled. "Kagome, we're a pack. We're two of some of the last remaining wolf demons around, that I know of, anyway. I will always be here for you, no matter what. Never doubt that." I pushed us closer, leaning my chin on her shoulder.
"Thanks, Kouga." She held me back and took a deep, claming breath.
I pulled away. "You okay?" She shook her head, wiping the corners of her eyes.
"No, but I'll be fine. Just kind of got emotional over all this bullshit's all."
I smiled warmly at her. "C'mon, let's get you up to bed now." She nodded eagerly. We stood up and made our way back to the house, met by a very agitated mother.
"What were you two doing out there?" She looked us over and realized her daughter's state of puffy-eyedness.
"Kagome, are you okay?"
"She's fine," I said quickly.
"What happened?" She said supiciously.
"She had a nightmare and needed to be alone for a bit, and she woke me up when she went outside." Thinking on my feet was one of my more redeeming quailties.
Kagome's mother shook her head. "Just get to bed, you two."
Kagome clutched to my shoulder. "Can I sleep with Kouga, momma? Just for tonight?" I looked at her, shocked. She hadn't asked to sleep with me in years.
Ozo smiled tenderly at her daughter. "Of course, Gome. Just go. You guys have school tomorrow." She brought Kagome close to her, running a hand through her hair.
"Night, Mom," I said, pulling Kagome upstairs to my disheviled bed.
"Thanks, Kouga," she whispered and she tucked her head under my chin, curling up against my side.
"No problem, Kags."
Woot! Finally got a few chapters in within a week! I am ON a roll. This chapter's just kind of an inside view of Kouga and Kagome's relationship, and, yes, a bit of a filler. I'll try to update again soon. Thanks for reading, to forget to favorite and review! Later! :D
