Ton Up
By: The Hatter Theory
Chapter 5
Disclaimer: I don't own the rights to Inu Yasha
She had just stepped into her room after a shower and was getting ready for bed when her phone rang. Wondering who would be calling so late, she flipped open her phone and saw Kouga's name flashing. Quickly hitting the answer button she put it to her ear, worried something had happened to him or one of the guys.
"Is everything okay?"
"Yeah. No," He muttered through the line. "Can you talk?"
Her stomach bottomed out and she sat on her bed, his tone sending dread lancing through her.
"Yeah I can talk. What's wrong?" She asked softly, gnawing on her lower lip.
"I'm in the parking lot."
"The parking-"
Oh.
"I'll be down in a minute," She promised, closing the phone and running to her closet. Quickly tugging on a shirt and pants, she pulled her hair into a messy bun and grabbed a pair of socks from the drawer, tossing them into her helmet while she tried to grab her shoes with the hand that held her jacket. When she stumbled out of her room she saw Ayumi coming out of the bathroom at the other end of the suite.
"Kagome?"
"Kouga just called, he sounds, weird," Kagome finished, not wanting to hint that her friend had sounded as distressed as any male with an ego complex would allow himself.
"Weird?"
"Just, I don't know," Kagome admitted. "I'll be back soon," She added, grabbing a key card from the small table next to the door and juggling everything as she opened it and headed out. Ayumi didn't say anything, although she waved at her while she waited for the elevator and tried to put on her socks.
Once inside, blessedly alone, she dropped everything and shoved her feet into her shoes while shrugging on her jacket. But the time it reached the bottom, she had just finished wiggling her right foot to get the back unscrunched from against her ankle and had the key card in her pocket and helmet in hand.
Rushing out through the lobby and into the cool night air, she looked around, spotting him sitting away from the door, staring down at his helmet as if it was a crystal ball that would give him an answer to sooth whatever had his brows knit together and a frown tugging his lips down.
"What's wrong?" She asked.
"Can we go?"
She nodded, using him to pull herself up into the saddle and shoving on her helmet. The bike roared to life beneath them and she barely had time to throw her arms around his waist before he was peeling out of the parking lot.
She had no idea where they were going or if he even had a destination at all. But his driving was different than before, a bit more wild, a touch more reckless. Wondering what could have affected him, she hugged his waist tighter, willing a sense of calm into him. It didn't seem to work, but she continued, regretting for the first time that the helmet and armor were keeping a wall between them.
Eventually she could smell the ocean filtering in through the helmet, could taste the salt on the air. When he turned off and followed a single lane road, she imagined she could hear the waves crashing in time with the purring of the engine.
When he finally parked and pulled off his helmet, she slid off of the bike and pulled her helmet off, looking up at him. The moon was half full and the stars bright, making it easy to see the frown still marring his features.
"Lets go for a walk," She said, hanging her helmet from one of the handlebars. He nodded, doing the same, pulling off his gloves and dropping them into the helmet. She pulled off her shoes and socks, waited patiently while he mimicked her actions with his boots. Last they both shrugged off their jackets and she took his hand, leading him down the sandy hill and closer to the water. When the sane beneath their feet grew wet and hardpacked from the surf crashing against it, she chanced a look up at his face.
"What's wrong?" She asked again.
He opened his mouth and then closed it, running his free hand through his hair.
"It's alright, you can tell me," She prodded gently.
"What do you remember about then?" He asked. He didn't have to elaborate of when 'then' was, but she did wonder at his question.
"I remember our friends," She said after several minutes of contemplation. "I remember meeting all of them, traveling and fighting with them."
"Have you thought about it at all, the last few days?"
"A little," She admitted quietly. "I think about how different we are now, how things have changed. You're still you, but you're a lot different. After what you told me, its natural, but sometimes I remember how you and Ginta and Hakkaku were, and it's just, strange," She explained. "I don't regret it, and it's easier now, being around you three. You're not declaring that I'm you're woman every time you see me," She added with a chuckle.
"I was a bit of a moron back then," He smiled, looking ahead as they walked. The surf moved over their feet, washed away the tracks they had made.
"Are you worried I'm just hanging around because of the past?" She finally asked. When he didn't answer, she supposed she had her answer, although she couldn't fault him for it. While he had made every kind of declaration on her person in the past, they hadn't been close, not like she and the others. Given what had happened to him and his pack, she couldn't find it in her to be angry that he questioned her motives. She would be wary of forming friendships or renewing old ones too.
"After about six months I stopped crying about the past," She declared quietly. "I stopped trying to figure out ways back. After a year passed, I was back into the swing of living in this era. Two and I didn't think about it more than three or four times a day. This year, it sounds awful, but I devoted a moment each day to them. The more I went forward, the further I was from it. I loved my friends more than anything, but I don't think they would have wanted me to wallow in what could have been. I like to think they lived their lives to the fullest after I left, and that they'd want the same for me."
He was quiet, assimilating what she had said. Despite the dim light of the moon and stars, she could see him sifting through her words and piecing together things in his head.
"Do you miss them?"
"I do," She sighed. "I loved them, and for six months they were my best friends. Just because I move forward doesn't mean I'll stop."
He was quiet again, eyes staring off into the distance.
"Just because you were a part of that past doesn't mean we can't be friends now," She said at last, growing more and more worried as his silence continued. "Some things can't change, like you'll always be a youkai, and I'll always be a miko. But there's no jewel, no Naraku or vendettas or quests. Now we can find different things to hold us together, something besides fighting."
He nodded, looking relieved. "I was worried that when you realized how different it is now, that we really aren't that different than humans-"
"Kouga," She interrupted, squeezing his hand gently. "I put the past where it belongs. I've seen too many people hurt by holding onto it to repeat the pattern. You are you, even if you're not challenging everyone to a fight or throwing insults around like confetti." He made a choking sound and she continued, encouraged because she could have sworn it was something similar to a laugh. "And no matter how hard you try, you'll never be like a human. You'll always be a wolf youkai. It bleeds into the things you do, the way you live. And I like it," She admitted. "You're like you were, but more confident in it, quieter."
"I was a loud mouth," He admitted, the chuckle finally escaping.
"It's not just that. You aren't doing everything you can to prove you're the best. You just do what you do. You're loyal to your friends, or else you wouldn't be helping Hayate, you're good to Ginta and Hakkaku, you even tolerate me and Ayumi."
"I don't have to tolerate you," He muttered.
"It's good to know I'm wanted," She retorted cheekily.
"Remind me why I brought you here again?" He asked, a true smile tilting up one side of his mouth.
"To dump me in the ocean and worm out of teaching me how to ride a motorcycle?"
"Smartass," He laughed, pulling his hand free only to throw an arm around her shoulder. She leaned into him, wondering if she had said the right things. Feeling better for saying them out loud, feeling like they were more solid for having been said, she trusted that she had.
When he drove her back to the hotel, he turned in the saddle and removed his helmet, watching her as she removed her own. For a minute he looked ready to say something, then closed his mouth again. Instead his hand came to stroke her head, and despite the glove she could tell he wasn't ruffling, but moving back and forth as he had the other night. Not ruffling, petting.
"Go get some sleep," He told her, bending to kiss his forehead lightly. His lips barely brushed her skin, but warmth bloomed where contact was made, and she forced a smile to cover the strange awkwardness she felt.
"You too. And don't be afraid if you need to talk, I'm willing to listen," She promised.
"Goodnight," He said, nodding and put on his helmet. She watched him pull out of the parking lot at a more sedate pace than he had left with her hours before. She didn't stop watching until the lights on the back of the motorcycle disappeared from view.
As she walked back into the hotel and waited for the elevator, she thought about how he had grown, and how he hadn't changed, in some ways. Her hand came to rub her forehead absentmindedly until she realized what she was doing and stopped, face heating.
Kouga the arrogant. Kouga the shy. Kouga the mechanic. Old Kouga, new Kouga.
Kouga the friend.
By the time she had made it back to her suite and sat her helmet down on the bed, she wondered if he couldn't be turning into Kouga the crush.
When she woke the next morning, it wasn't to her phone ringing, it was to knocking. Blinking several times and rubbing her eyes, she looked at the clock, shocked to find that it was already eleven.
"Kagome, you in there?" Eri called through the door. She heard whispering and was getting out of bed to answer when the door opened.
So much for privacy.
"Oh," Eri said, looking disappointed.
"Oh?"
"Ayumi said you went out with Yuuma last night," Eri explained. "I just thought-"
"It's not like that," She muttered. "He just wanted to talk about some stuff on his mind."
"Are you sure, you're really red," Eri teased, stepping back to let her out of the room. She smelled coffee, and she needed it. Desperately.
"Kagome, it's alright if something happened, it's not like we're going to judge," Eri wheedled.
"Nothing like that happened, we just talked."
"About what?"
"Just stuff," She defended, going straight for the carafe and grabbing one of the clean mugs, all while uttering a mental thank you to whoever had thought up the idea of room service. Taking a healthy swallow after filling her cup, she felt slightly more fortified to take on her friend.
"Kagome, you haven't shown real interest in a guy in years, not since Inu Yasha. You've spent the last few days with this one. You can't tell me you're just friends."
"Who says a guy and a girl can't be friends?" She retorted.
"Says Ayumi telling me about how you two act. It sounds like you're both flirting."
Had she been flirting? Her thoughts about the night before came back, and she walked over to the couch and sat, still sipping her coffee. Eri sat down next to her and minutes later Yuka emerged from the shower and, seeing the serious looks on their faces, sat on the couch across from them, absentmindedly rubbing her hair.
"Something wrong?"
"I think I have a crush on Kouga," Kagome admitted.
"Good," Yuka said, her voice firm. "You've needed to find a guy to be interested in."
Kagome highly doubted she needed it, but it wasn't awful, she supposed. Except Kouga was treating her more like a friend these days. Nothing at all like he had before.
"I'm not sure he's interested in me," She admitted.
Yuka and Eri both made dismissive sounds and rolled their eyes, as if she'd said something utterly absurd.
"Kagome, he takes you places, lets you ride on his bike with him, and he hasn't exactly tried to keep you away," Yuka pointed out. "I think he likes you."
"Yeah but-"
"No buts. What's wrong with taking a chance? It's summer after all," Eri pointed out.
Because if she acted on a small, stupid crush, she might lose any chance at being his friend, and she didn't want to hurt him anymore than he had been. But those were things she couldn't explain to her friends, and so she kept the information to herself, mulling over it in her own mind.
"I'm going to go see what Ayumi's up to. I think it's time for a girl's day."
"What about Ruka and Ken?" Kagome asked, brow raised.
"We're busy. If it bothers them, they'll just have to go elsewhere," Yuka told her. "We need some girl time. Now go get dressed, we're going shopping."
Given little option other than arguing, which she didn't feel like doing, she nodded and went back to her room, setting her coffee on the small nightstand before pulling clothes out of her closet. She immediately went for pants, hoping that maybe Kouga would call and rescue her. It wasn't that she didn't want to hang out with her friends, but shopping had turned into a trial as they had gotten older. Yuka enjoyed trying on half of the store before finally leaving with something, and she, well, didn't.
Grabbing her phone and her shoes, she walked out, checking the call log for any missed calls. Nothing. He hadn't texted either.
Suppressing a sigh she sat and pulled on her shoes, waiting for her friends to finish getting ready. Luckily neither Yuka nor Eri felt like getting dressed up for their expedition, and Ayumi was ready and looked ready to burst at the seams when she stepped out of her room.
In half an hour they were parking at a small shopping mall and Yuka and Eri were already trying to figure out what they wanted to look for. Kagome wondered if she could escape to a bookstore. When they went in she was looking around, hoping for a store that did not sell clothing, underwear, jewelry or makeup.
However, even Ayumi turned on her, dragging her into the nearest clothing boutique despite her protests.
"Kagome, you need to have something nice to wear," Ayumi told her, ignoring her grumbling as they began going through the racks. "The race is coming up."
"Why do I have to have something nice to wear to the race?" Kagome demanded petulantly, eyes grazing over the shirts decorated with sequins and profuse amounts of glitter.
"For when Kouga wins," Ayumi said confidently. "He'll see you and win twice in one day."
"I look nice now," Kagome retorted, but she wondered if her friend had a point. Giving the rack a more careful examination, she discarded most of the items. They looked like ferret fodder, too shiny and bright by half.
"Kagome, how do you think this looks?" Ayumi asked, holding up a yellow shirt. It was cut short, that much was obvious, and would expose part of her friend's stomach. Ayumi had never worn something like it before, and Kagome couldn't help but wonder at the choice.
"I think it'll look good. You need something to wear with it though, unless you plan on running around in your underwear," She pointed out jokingly. Ayumi blushed but nodded happily, walking over to a rack that had different skirts hanging from it.
"So we're shopping for the race?" Eri asked from a rack nearby.
"I think it'll be fun to have a race outfit," Yuka giggled.
"Kagome needs something nice to wear for when Kouga wins," Ayumi told them, looking up from the skirts.
"He's racing? Kagome, you said he was a mechanic," Yuka gasped, eyes wide.
"He's standing in for Hayate's niece, she apparently got hurt in another race-"
But Yuka and Eri had both dropped their own choices and were shuffling through hangers, both speaking so rapidly she could barely understand them. What she did understand out of the garbled mess terrified her.
"We need to find you something beautiful."
Short skirts. Short shorts. Crop tops. Tube tops. Dresses that looked like they were supposed to be skirts.
She accepted the friendly advice and breathed a sigh of relief for every discarded article of clothing, mostly because she was sure she couldn't even try them on without dying of shame. Ayumi added her own suggestions, all much more modest than the things Eri and Yuka offered, but it didn't diminish the feeling of being a dress up doll in the least.
"Guys," She started, looking at the tube top Yuka was looking at.
"I think he'd like you in this," Yuka said.
"Or this," Eri added, holding up a neon green sheathe of a dress.
"Guys-"
"He'd love being able to see her tummy, and she wouldn't be able to wear a bra," Yuka added, brows moving up and down suggestively.
"That's too much though, unless she wants to let him think-"
"GUYS!" She shouted, cheeks flaming when not only her friends but the saleswoman looked at her in shock.
"What is it Kagome?" Yuka asked, brows knit together in confusion.
"Kouga isn't that sort of guy," She started.
"But he rides a motorcycle," Eri pointed out.
"It doesn't mean he wants to see me in as little clothing as possible," She tried.
"Every man wants to see a woman in as little clothing as possible," The saleswoman pointed out flatly, face a mask of pragmatic acceptance.
"Not this one," She retorted. "And even if he did, I wouldn't be comfortable with it."
"How about this then," Ayumi suggested. Kagome turned, ready to tell her well meaning friend that she would just wear pants when she stopped, as shocked that the outfit was decent as she was that the store carried it.
"That's-"
"It looks so innocent," Yuka said, as if she couldn't believe her friend had come up with the idea.
"Some men like that," The saleswoman butted in.
"I think it suits her," Eri said.
"I think you should try it on," Ayumi said, smile widening. Kagome nodded, grateful that at least one of her friends hadn't lost her mind. Taking the outfit, she checked sizes and had to change out the skirt for a size up. When she went back in the changing room, she quickly shed her clothes and changed into the skirt and shirt. When she finished she stepped back and looked at herself.
It might have been an 'innocent' outfit, but she looked like an adult. The denim skirt hit several inches above her knees, but was long enough for her to bend over without fear. The blouse was light, she guessed linen, and a pale blue that reminded her of his eyes. His eyes when he wasn't hiding them, at least. It's sleeves were long and baggy, with elastic at the wrist to make them balloon out a little. She hoped it would shield shield her from the worst of the sun,.
When she stepped out, even Yuka was impressed.
"He'll like it," Ayumi said with confidence.
"If he doesn't he's an idiot. The blue sets off your eyes perfectly," Yuka snorted.
"Maybe a sunhat, one with a wide brim," The woman suggested, holding one up.
She put it on and looked in one of the mirrors on the wall.
"Perfect," Kagome announced to everyone, twirling to drive her point home.
"Now, just one of these," Yuka said, holding up a tube top. "I have an idea for a summer photo to sum everything up," She added when Kagome gave her a flat look.
In the end, she was in too good of a mood to protest, even if she swore she would never wear the tiny top her friend had, in a moment of maniacal glee, bought for her.
Three hours later and she and her friends were loaded down with bags, most of which were Yuka's gifts to them, when her phone rang. She quickly dug it out of her pocket, ignoring the giggling and tittering at the table and flipping it open. It was a number she didn't recognize. Quickly hitting the accept button she held it to her ear.
"Hello, Higurashi-"
"Is Kouga with you?" Hayate's voice demanded.
"No," She answered, immediately confused. "I thought he was training for the race."
"He's not, and those two dunderheads say they don't know where he is either. He skipped out of practice today and won't answer his phone. I had to pump the idiots for your number," He added, obviously irate.
Immediately panic set in. The night before she had spoken more than listened, and even though she had thought she was saying the right things, she might not have. Had she said something thoughtless, or triggered a memory he had wanted to forget?
"Just let me know if he shows up or calls you," He asked a moment later. She offered a yes before the line went dead, giving her no time to say goodbye.
"Is everything alright?" Yuka asked, a frown marring her features.
"Kouga's missing."
"Missing?" Eri asked, face creasing with concern.
"Hayate can't get a hold of him and the guys don't know where he is. What, what if I said something stupid?" She asked, looking at her friends.
"What do you mean?" Eri demanded.
"We talked about the past some, how everything's changed. What if I said something that upset him?" She asked, voice pitching as panic turned to dread. It had never occurred to her that she might have said something to trigger a bad memory or something that might have belittled his own experiences. She sifted through their talk in her head, going over the serious part with a fine tooth comb and then sorting through the memories they had shared.
"I'm sure it's alright," Ayumi tried, hand coming to her to give a reassuring squeeze. "Maybe he just needed a break, he didn't seem to like racing," She added.
"But he wouldn't just disappear," She muttered, opening her phone and scrolling through numbers. Quickly hitting call when she finally reached his, she held it to her ear and waited as it rang. After several rings it went through to voice mail and she started a text, asking if he was alright and sending it immediately.
"Kagome, he might have just needed some space," Eri said. "Like Ayumi said."
Yuka, for once, said nothing, and they finished their food in relative silence. The mood diminished, Yuka said they were going to go see a movie, her treat, and they took the bags to the car and dropped them off before going back into the mall and arguing over which movie to see. Kagome stayed silent, still mulling over their conversation in her head. Every word was gone over, checked for a possible double meaning given what she knew of Kouga.
"Kagome, it'll be okay," Ayumi promised. "He probably just needed some time to himself."
The movie only offered temporary reprieve, one that could not completely block out her worry.
Ayumi kept casting sympathetic glances in her direction for the entire drive back to the hotel. Needing to get away from her friends, she told them she was going to take a nap and carried her things to her room, ignoring them completely as they thumped onto the floor. She flopped onto her bed, grabbing a pillow and burying her face in it.
For the first several minutes she told herself that nothing had started with Kouga, that they were only friends and it could stay that way, that it probably would stay that way. Which was, inexplicably, even more irritating.
When her phone rang, she almost ignored it in favor of wallowing, but curiosity won out. She pulled it from her pocket and flipped it open, seeing Kouga's name flashing on the screen. Clicking the answer button, she pressed the phone to her ear.
"Hello?" He asked when she said nothing.
"Hi," She greeted, trying to sound casual and as far from worried as possible.
"I got your message, is everything okay?"
"Yeah, Hayate just called and said you were missing." She felt that she was doing a halfway decent job of sounding nonchalant when he cursed vividly.
"I'm sorry, I told those two to tell him I was busy. I had something to deal with in Tokyo," He muttered. "I'm sorry he called you, I didn't think he had your number."
"It's fine," She said, still worried she had done something to make him angry. He was being strangely quiet, at least quiet for himself. "Is everything okay in Tokyo?" There, fishing without being nosy. At least she hoped so.
"It's fine. Look, I've got to go, take it easy and make sure those two idiots don't get into trouble."
She heard someone in the background before the sound was muffled. After a full minute of the sounds echoing she closed her phone, effectively ending the call.
"This is stupid," She told herself. "Nothing happened, so there's no reason to be worried."
Determination renewed in the face of his casual dismissal, she changed into her bathing suit and pulled on her sundress, setting her mind on swimming. When she walked out into the living room she saw her friends on the couch, whispering back and forth.
"Kouga just called," She announced.
"Is everything alright?" Eri asked, brows raised. Kagome nodded and grabbed a towel from the bathroom.
"He's fine, he just had something to take care of. I'm going swimming. You guys want to join me?"
They all seemed to scramble to go change into their bathing suits, but Ayumi had to walk past her to her to her room. When she did, she paused and smiled brightly.
"You know, sometimes it doesn't hurt to give things a chance."
With that piece of advice Ayumi walked into her room and Kagome resolved to firmly shove it to the back of her mind.
A/N: Don't worry guys, the romance is coming. I just like taking my time. I hope you enjoyed this week's chapter. It was a bit on the short side, and I apologize. Hopefully the next couple of chapters make it worth it(hint). Also, please don't forget to review!
As another note, for those of you over 18 (no minors please) I have my very first K/K lemon posted under the same penname I use here at affnet. It will be a plot driven story, but since there's lots of *ahem* content, it will not be appearing here.