A/N: Thank you all for reviewing! Sooooo, now that Sesshoumaru has found out that Naima and Naraku have kissed, what will he do now?
After a very eventful and long winter break, it was finally time to hit the books again. It was now the second semester of my sophomore year at Yokai University. Things were going so-so for me right now. Sesshoumaru and I had straightened things out and were just as strong as ever, but my relationship with Naraku had since changed. I was gradually growing distant to him. I didn't call him as much as I used to, and I hadn't spent time with him since Christmas. I guessed part of the reason was because of the recent kiss, but there was something else too. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but for some reason, I just didn't want to be around him anymore. I couldn't think of anything else he had done to make me feel that way, but for some strange reason, I didn't want to be near him.
It was an extremely cold Friday as I stood outside by the fence, with Kagome and Sango, watching the boys practice for tommorrow's game against Hanyou Tech in the Demon Bowl. Like Taisho-Sensei vowed, the Demon Lords had made it to the post season and only had to defeat Hanyou Tech and Shikon University in order to win the National Title. "Alright men!" Taisho-Sensei began to say in the circle of players that surrounded him. "We have Hanyou Tech tommorrow, but they're not our main concern right now. We need to look ahead to the Jewel Bowl in two weeks where we face off against our hated rivals, the Shikon University Shikigami. Now I want that national title this year and I'll be damned if I let Coach Ryukotsusei take it from me. You all got that?"
"Yes Coach," random boys simultaneously agreed
"Alright. We'll let's run a couple of drills. I'll let the birthday boy call some of the plays today." Taisho-Sensei was referring to Sesshoumaru with that statement. Today was his twentieth birthday and I was anxious for practice to end so we could go out to celebrate.
"So what are you two doing tonight," Sango asked me as the boys all got into position.
"I'm taking Sess out to dinner," I said.
"That's it? No wild party? No big extravagenza?"
"Sesshoumaru doesn't make a big deal about his birthday. I had to convince him to let me take him out tonight."
"So will there be an after party?" Kagome asked with a wink. I just smirked at her.
"Good girls never tell," I said, putting a finger to my lips.
"Well you might as well tell it, because you're not good," Sango said. I just rolled my eyes and laughed
"Blue 42! Blue 42! Hut hut!" Sesshoumaru called out before the ball was snapped. The intended receiver was Naraku, who missed the catch.
"My bad! I'm sorry Coach!" Naraku yelled to Coach Taisho on the sidelines.
"No problem Naraku. You don't miss catches often, so don't worry about it," Coach Taisho replied. The boys all got back into position. Sesshoumaru threw another pass to Naraku, but once again, he missed it. On his third catching attempt, he caught it, but then dropped it. Something was definitely off about him today. He usually wasn't this bad at receiving. He probably dropped only one or two passes tops during a football game. He had good hands and great speed, so why was he playing so poorly today?
"You know Naraku," Sesshoumaru said with a smirk, "if you keep playing this pathetic, we'll have to change your nickname from 'The Black Widower' to 'Butterfingers'." Naraku just smirked back as he put his helmet back on.
"Don't worry Sesshoumaru, just do your job and try not to overthrow your route passes, like you usually do." Sesshoumaru sneered at Naraku's comment, but got back into position. There was still a lot of obvious tension between those two. Even more than before.
"Black 81! Black 81! Hike!" Sesshoumaru dropped back and threw to Naraku one more time. This time Naraku was able to catch it and gain a couple of yards.
"Now that's the Naraku I know!" Taisho-Sensei called out to him with a smile. "Try it again." Naraku nodded as he got back into position.
"Orange 15! Orange 15! Hut!" Sesshoumaru dropped back and this time when he threw it, he threw it both faster and harder. Naraku caught it with his hands close to his chest, but instantly fell backward from the force, causing him to fumble the ball.
"Sorry man!" Bankotsu cried as he scooped up the fumbled ball and began to run the other way before Koga tackled him. Now I knew for sure that Naraku's game was really off because he had only fumbled once all season long.
"What's wrong baby brother? Can't hold onto the ball?" Muso taunted as he ran pass his brother who was walking over to the sidelines. Naraku just narrowed his eyes at the older spider demon.
"Sesshoumaru, try passing to Hiten now," Taisho-Sensei instructed, "Naraku, you come out for a while and see if you can recollect yourself."
"Yes Coach," Naraku obeyed as he took a seat on the bench where he remained for the rest of practice.
After practice was over, I immediately ran up to Sesshoumaru and gave him a big kiss on the lips for playing so well today at practice. "You're going to light the field up tommorrow baby," I said as I ran my hands over his padded chest. "Wouldn't it be an awesome late birthday gift if you were named MVP of the Demon Bowl?"
"Yes. I guess it would be."
"So I'll probably have to give you your birthday gift tommorrow after the game huh? I mean, you'll need all of your energy for quarterbacking."
"What gift?...Oh...you're such a freak Naima." I giggled.
"I'm your freak," I said giving him another kiss.
"Hey Naima! Come here a minute!" I heard Bankotsu all of a sudden call out to me. I turned around to look at him.
"What is it?!" I yelled back.
"Just come here!" I turned back to Sesshoumaru and sighed. "I'll meet you over at your place later. Okay?"
"Alright," he replied. He kissed me one last time before leaving the field. I turned and ran over to Bankotsu.
"What is it?" I asked as I leaned against the chain fence that surrounded the football track. He bent down and rumaged around in his duffle bag looking for something.
"I need you to take something to Naraku for me," he said as he pulled out a thick, white envelop, "here."
"What's this?" I asked inspecting the envelop.
"It's some money for Naraku. He's still having some trouble paying for his tuition. Can you take it to him for me?" I sqeunched my face up a little. I really didn't want to take the money to Naraku. I still didn't want to be around him for some odd reason.
"Why can't you take it?" I asked Bankotsu.
"Because I need to take Jakotsu to the doctor. I think he's coming down with something. Plus if I keep it too long, I will surely spend it."
"I really don't want to take this to him." Bankotsu gave me a confused look.
"Why not? He's your best friend."
"I know. I just don't want to be around him right now." He crossed his arms and narrowed his eyes at me.
"Did Sesshoumaru tell you to stay away from him?"
"No. I just...I just don't want to see him right now. That's all."
"Why? Because he kissed you?"
"No, it's not that either. I don't know why I don't want to see him."
"You know, that's what Naraku said to me when I asked him why he stopped calling you when he moved to Japan. What is up with y'all?"
"Can you just take him the money?" Bankotsu shook his head no as he bent down and picked up his duffle bag.
"Sorry, but nope. Your best friend is in trouble and he needs you the most right now. So you need to go take him that money." I sighed deeply, but nodded my head in agreement. I turned around and began to walk away. "Wait Naima..." Bankotsu called to stop me, but it was too late. The charm bracelet that Sesshoumaru had given me for Christmas had gotten caught on a loose wire on the fence and broke in two.
"Oh no!" I cried as I bent down to pick up the pieces of bracelet that where now laying in the grass. "The bracelet Sess gave me. Damn!" I sighed as I put the broken jewelry into my purse.
"Tough break," Bankotsu said, "you can always get it fixed though."
"Yeah I guess so."
"So you're going to take Naraku that money right?"
"Sure."
"Alright. See you later."
"Bye 'B' and tell Jakotsu that I hope he feels better!"
After I took a shower and finished getting dressed to meet Sesshoumaru, I decided to leave a little early so I could take Naraku the money like I promised I would. I still didn't really want to see him, but Bankotsu would kill me if I didn't give Naraku this money. It was around eight when I pulled up to the car detailing shop that Bankotsu's uncle ran. Both he and Naraku worked there. Naraku did the artwork on the cars because he was such a talented artist and he also knew how to do small repairs. When I walked inside the garage like building, I saw that Naraku was already working on the engine of an orange sports car. He was humming some song as he tuned some part with a big wrench in his hands. As I stood in the doorway looking at him, the feeling that I had before of...resentmet towards him suddenly went away. Now as I looked at him, I found myself smiling. Naraku was working so hard to put himself through school and it definitely showed. His jumpsuit covered in oil and some traces of oil on his cheeks too. I admired him for working as hard as he did, and not once giving up.
As I walked over to him, the song that he was humming began to become more clear to me. "The words love and like both have four letters, but they're two different things all together. Cause I've liked many ladies in my day, but just like the wind they've all blown away." I began to rap the lyrics to Whodini's "One Love". Naraku looked up from under the hood and gave me a smile.
"You see to love someone is an atmosphere, that you both still share when one's not there. There's no real way it can be explained, I guess it's the way I smile when I hear your name," he began to rap the lyrics too.
"It's the little things you do that mean so much, its the care that you put into every touch. It's the way I trust you and you trust me, I guess some of us are so lucky." We smiled as we both did the chorus.
"One love, one love. You're lucky just to have just one loooove. One love, one love. You're lucky just to have just one." We both laughed as we noticed how bad we sounded.
"Man Naraku I haven't heard that song in years. But of course you still know it, because it's your favorite Whodini song."
"Oh you remember huh?" he asked as he rubbed his oily hands on a towel and walked over to me.
"Yeah. I know all of your favorite songs. I know that Naughty by Nature and New Edition are your favorite groups of all time."
"Hmm. I guess you do remember."
"Do you remember mine?" He smiled even bigger.
"Of course I do. You love Dru Hill and Jodeci. You're also the one who got me to like Silk." My mouth dropped.
"Ah! You do remember! I thought you would have forgotten."
"I'll never forget something like that." I smiled as I stared into his red eyes. "So what brings you by my dear?"
"Oh!" I had almost forgotten. I reached inside my purse and pulled out the envelop full of money. "Bankotsu wanted me to give you this." He took it from me and sighed deeply.
"I told that boy that he didn't have to do this for me. But I thank him anyways."
"Bankotsu told me a few days ago that you've been working extra hard lately to earn some more money."
"Yeah. I'm here until two o'clock tonight." I widened my eyes at him.
"Two?! But you came in at four. That's ten hours!"
"I know. But I gotta do what I gotta do. It's not so bad. Really."
"Did you take a break?"
"Breaks don't earn money."
"Have you even eaten today Naraku?"
"Yeah I had some lunch, but I'm okay."
"Are you sure Naraku? You need to eat something."
"If I need something, Bankotsu can bring me something from the house. I'm fine. Really."
"Alright." I turned to look on the clock on the wall. "I got to go meet Sess now. I'll see you later Naraku and try not to kill yourself." He just laughed.
"Bye Naima."
"Wow Naima. You picked a nice place," Sesshoumaru said when we walked inside of an Italian restaurant in Queens.
"Yeah it is. The food's even better though," I said as I followed the waiter as he led us to a secluded table towards the back of the restaurant.
"What can I get you two to drink this evening?" the waiter asked when we were seated.
"Sweet tea for me and Sprite for her," Sesshoumaru said. The waiter nodded his head before leaving.
"You know, you didn't have to do this for me," Sesshoumaru said as he looked at the menu on the table. I just smiled at him.
"But I wanted to baby. It's your birthday. You're twenty now, so you're an old man like Jakotsu and Naraku. I'm just suprised that Koga didn't want to take you to Oasis."
"He did, but he wasn't sure if you would be angry or not."
"Oh I wouldn't have cared. I mean, you can look. You just can't touch." He gave me a smirk.
"I wouldn't have gone anyway. I don't need to look at other women when I have one so beautiful right here infront of me."
"Awww Sess. That's so sweet," I said as I put a hand to his cheek. He took my hand in his and kissed it, which caused me to giggle.
"Naima?"
"Yes."
"What happened to your bracelet?"
"Oh. I accidently broke it today on that fence around the football field. I'll fix it tommorrow." He was quiet for a few moments. "So are you excited about tommorrow?" I asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Huh? What do you mean?"
"About the Demon Bowl. You'll be in main sight with thousands of people watching nation wide. Every girl in the nation will be like, 'Oh number seven is so hot!' and I'll have to beat some of these hoochie mamas with a bat." Sesshoumaru shook his head slightly and smirked.
"Nonsense. Nobody will think that way. But yes, I am a looking forward to tommorrow. I just hope we win."
"You won't if Naraku doesn't get his game back up. That poor guy has been working so hard that he can't even concentrate on the field. I feel so bad for him." Sesshoumaru raised an eyebrow at me.
"Wait a minute, I thought that you couldn't stand Naraku anymore," he said to me. I widened my eyes a bit at him.
"You know what? I know this is going to sound completely crazy, but for some reason, that feeling just went away today. For weeks now, I didn't want to be around my best friend for reasons that I couldn't explain. But today, it's like those feelings just went away as fast as they came. Crazy, no?"
Sesshoumaru's POV
So. It seems as if Tsubaki wasn't joking about that spell on the bracelet, but she was wrong on one thing. The spell was supposed to last even if the bracelet was taken off. I guess her magic isn't as precise as she thinks it is. Maybe it's for the best anyways. I felt somewhat guilty as I slowly saw Naima drifting away from her best friend. Guilty, but mostly relieved and happy. But I also felt emasculated at the same time. As if, I couldn't keep a woman unless I used tricks and games. It was very unlike me to be a pawn in someone else's plot. A very temporary emotion of fear and anger clouded my judgement. I guess it was fate that broke the bracelet.
"No. It's not crazy," I told my beautiful, unknowing girlfriend, "but...I want you to do something."
"What?" she asked.
"Give me the bracelet." Her eyes lit up.
"You're going to fix it for me?" I shook my head no.
"I'm going to give you another one. I don't think that this one suits you too well."
"But I like this one. It's so pretty."
"Well, I don't think so. Trust me. You don't need it." She narrowed her eyes at me and gave me a confused look. Nevertheless, she opened her purse and gave me the broken bracelet. I took it and put it into my pocket. I gave her a small, reassuring smile and she returned it with a huge smile of her own. I couldn't do Naima like that. Even though she kissed Naraku behind my back, she was honest by telling me the truth. I couldn't continue to decieve her with a fallacy of my own. I wasn't going to let Tsubaki goad me into tricking the woman I loved again. If I did, I wouldn't be any better than she was. "Naima?"
"Yes baby?" I grabbed her chin with my hand. I stared deeply into her hypnotic hazel eyes.
"I love you," I firmly said. She smiled at me, once again bearing her beautiful, white, fanged teeth.
"I love you too."
A/N: Yeah that's right Sess. Hon-es-ty, lol. Awww, he's such a good man.
