Jan 23 2007: Author's Nonsense: So Kaiba is a bit of a vengeful guy…that's okay. Let's keep this up and see how things go shall we?

End of chapter 15:

The scream that came from Bakura after the two silenced shots would never reach outside of the soundproofed cell where he was being held in a prison almost no one in the city knew about. The team that worked there was medically qualified enough to deal with the two sudden wounds and the blood loss so Kaiba laughed at him.

Chapter 16: A Quick Recovery

Kagome woke the next day without the IV and all of the doctors currently gone, Kaiba had drifted off to sleep with his laptop on his knees and his head leaned against the edge of her bed, she had to smile at him at rest. One of the times he wasn't aggravating the hell out of her was when he was at rest, the russet bangs resting in his handsome face and she resisted a giggle when she realized he'd drooled a little on the edge of her bed. She wanted to tease him about it but thought better of it, instead yawning loudly and stretching as if she was first waking up to give him time to adjust himself and wipe the spit off the side of his mouth.

When she glanced over again he was steadying the portable computer and looking up to her, eyes softer than she expected. "Are you all right?"

"Yeah…" she replied, thinking about it and remembering pieces of what had happened made her turn a shade paler than usual. "I…um…what happened to Bakura?"

"He's in jail." Kaiba answered. "He drugged you with ecstasy earlier today and if you hadn't fought back and started screaming I think he might have tried to…well anyway nothing really happened there. On a brighter note the medical team tells me that you are going to be fine and that it wasn't any sort of overdose…also that your shoulder has healed much more than they expected it to so far. You should be completely fine in the next day or two if the rate continues as what it has been."

"That's good." She smiled to Kaiba, always running to her rescue or catching her when she fell. She had to admit that his presence helped her deal with the attempted attack on her person - she was used to being a target thanks to her travels in the feudal times but it was a little more frightening now that her own world was becoming such a dangerous place for her.

"I'm sorry Kagome…I shouldn't have let someone in here without observation." Kaiba apologized, eyeing his screen though he wasn't typing at all or using it. "I won't let it happen again."

"Kaiba…don't do that." Kagome laughed. "If you hadn't come in here who knows what might have happened to me. Just because you might have been a moment late doesn't mean you didn't save me, I should be thanking you, you shouldn't be apologizing."

He glanced up to her, both a little surprised by the other, then she smiled and he smirked a bit at her. "I guess we should both give up on that conversation. You are an amazing woman Kagome. However, I am moving my work in here until you are better so you aren't alone and visitors have supervision in the future."

"You…" she blinked a few times and looked at some of the other computer equipment that had been moved onto the desk in her room. "You are going to stay here. Don't you have other things you have to do?"

"I said I brought my work in here." he answered. "I figured you'd immediately start whining if I suggested that a guard just stand here with you. If I did it myself it was less irritation in the end."
"Nice to know you care." she snapped dryly. Crossing her arms. "You are hopeless Seto. I think I might have preferred a random guard."

"Too bad." He shrugged. "You got me. If you prefer it or not. Are you hungry?"

"No." she muttered, then her stomach growled. "Okay…a little."

"You know you are a bad liar." Kaiba teased.

"At least I wasn't drooling on the bed." she returned sweetly. Smiling further at his extra moment of silence. "I wouldn't mind that food."

"Sure thing princess, can I rub your feet too?"

"I wouldn't mind a rub from you anytime." she blushed right after she said it, glancing away… "I mean uh…"

"I'll remember that." Kaiba promised her at the stumble. "Maybe I'll have to see just what you would like or not like later on."

"Seto!" she admonished with shock, looking after him as he left the room. "I can't believe you…"

She leaned back and hugged her extra pillow to her to hide the wide smile on her face, he made her giddy and she had to confess that she really did like Seto Kaiba. His flirting with her sometimes did fluster her but she had also discovered that it wasn't always a bad thing and she was coming to want to share company with him even more. The fact that he was personally looking after her made her want to giggle and squeal but she managed to keep it light thanks to the pillow in her face.

Oh god! She realized. I have to look like hell.

She leapt from bed and rushed to her bathroom to brush her teeth and hair and try to salvage her appearance without seeming too obvious. Why hadn't they provided her any of her own clothes yet? She would have to settle for another one of the long shirts and some overlarge pants with a belt. She wasn't about to use her own jeans another day…they couldn't smell right by now. He couldn't take that long…she decided to take the faster shower she'd ever hopped into. She managed to brush through her wet hair and decided not to try to spend the time to dry it, instead spraying on just a little of the violet perfume he'd left her and then go back to her room and hop back into the bed, repressing the grin as the door started to open when she sat down.

"Did you go take a shower while I was downstairs?" He asked at her wet hair, two servants following after him and settling trays where they could eat. "A little obsessed with cleanliness Kagome?"

"Nothing wrong with being hygienic." she pouted a little at his dismissal of her quick work.

"You smell good." he noted, settling the tray over here where she was in bed before picking up his own fork and pulling his chair up to the food of his.

"Thank you." she smiled and raised her own utensils to start eating with a smile.

The two ate in pleasant silence and once she'd finished - after Kaiba who was used to not taking time for much of anything - he came over to help get the tray from over her lap then returned to his vigil next to her bed, picking up his laptop.

"It's like four in the morning Seto." Kagome blinked at him. "Shouldn't you actually sleep for a while…other than curled over the bed drooling like before?"

He glanced toward her, hands typing away, then back to the screen. "I have a lot to do as a CEO of KaibaCorp, if you are still tired go back to sleep. I have to get ready for school soon but I will be having someone sit with you when I can't be here."

"Oh…right. School." Kagome blushed a little. "I forgot it's Monday. Did you even get sleep last night?"

"Obviously you spied on me getting some Z's earlier." he pointed out. "I'll be fine. I often tend to not get as much rest as many people Kagome. You need it more than I as you are still healing and it's been helpful to you so far according to the doctors."

"Fine fine, you should go get ready." she rolled her eyes at him and settled herself to try to get some more sleep. So much for getting cleaned up, at least he thought she smelled good.

Scene Switch

Kaiba raised an eyebrow at the Scooby gang as they attempted to be intimidating by surrounding him at the locker the school had provided. He ignored them as they asked him where Bakura was for the third time. "He's in jail." he finally answered. "He tried to drug and rape Kagome so I had him put away…any other problems dorks?"

The rest of them paused, glancing between each other and back to the boy still switching out books. Yugi spoke first. "Is she okay Kaiba?"

"Figures you can't even keep her safe in your own home freak." Joey added and got kicked in the shin by Tea for the effort.

"She'll be okay, I've taken extra security measures and there will now be escorts for any visitors she might have." He replied as he closed the locker and settled his bag over a shoulder.

"Did…did Bakura have that ring of his?" Yugi asked.

"When doesn't the fool have it?" Kaiba asked in return.

"Right." Yugi sighed. "We need to get that thing away from him…"

"I don't want to hear it." Kaiba interrupted. "It doesn't involve me anymore, it has been taken over by the authorities. Will you all get out of my way now?"

The group glared a little at him as a few of them moved so he could pass.

"That jerk." Joey snapped after him. "He didn't even call and tell anybody."

"I can't understand what she sees in that guy." Tea nodded in agreement to Joey's recent insult. "He has to act like a completely different person around her or something when they are alone."

"It's her choice though." Tristan commented. "We might hate him but he does seem to be trying to take care of her."

"..and failing." Joey piped in.

"That's not fair Joey." Yugi sighed at his friends behavior regarding the rival. "He took her into his home and saved her life when she was being shot at. He did donate his blood to help her when she was in need of it. I can't see him doing that for anyone else."

"Yeah he'd probably let them die." Tristan commented, thinking about it. "Makes him a great guy."

"Well, I need to go talk to the student committee and let them know about Bakura and have him removed from the roster and position he's in. I mean I knew that the spirit in him was bad, but I thought he had more control over it than that." Tea sighed, waving to her friends and wandering off.

"Yeah we should get going too." Tristan nudged his friends along. "If we're late for history again the teach is gonna kill us."

Scene Switch

Kagome had to groan to herself as she opened up her homework and got to work about lunchtime for the school and started going into all the projects she needed to do. She put the books around her on the bed and was deep into what she would need for the whole week and still scribbling away when Kaiba's voice made her jump and leave a lead streak across her otherwise well written paper.

"You have the nerve to tell me I work too hard." He commented, leaning against the doorframe with the blue school uniform still on and smirking at her response to his arrival. "Here you are going at it…you didn't even notice me standing here."

She chanced a glance at the clock then back to him, not realizing she'd worked the whole day away and then blushing some and shrugging. Getting her work and books into a pile so she could take a break for a little bit. "There, feel better?"

"Yes." he answered honestly, moving over and sitting on the edge of the bed. "How was your day?"

"It was pretty good." she grinned. "I didn't notice most of it go by but I don't want to fail any classes after last year when I was sick so much. If I'm not feeling ill then I wanna get as much done as I can while I have the time."

"Admirable." he complimented. "How's your shoulder?"

She shrugged the too large shirt down over it and showed him where it was barely even scarred skin, making his eyebrows raise as he moved forward too look at it from her front and back. "That…how did you heal that fast?"

"Maybe my body is making up for all the sickness I had last year by overcompensating now." she shrugged awkwardly, she could hardly tell him she was a reincarnation of a powerful priestess with occasional healing powers. More distracted by how close he was while he was looking at her scar, she could see his lashes, long enough to be attractive without being feminine. She licked her lips to try to stop the dryness in her mouth when he caught her gaze and the two were staring at each other. She swallowed the slight nervousness and leaned forward to kiss him.

He tensed as she leaned forward, starting to say something softly. "Kagome…"

Then he didn't protest when he met her lips, each of the two being gentle and searching and the soft ardor made both hesitate a moment before they pulled themselves a little closer to continue the sweet embrace, eyes sliding closed as he reached up and put a hand behind her head to cradle it and she ran her fingers lightly over his chest. They lingered for a time that seemed too short and yet impossibly long before they broke off, red faced and short of breath for several seconds before looking back at each other.

The silence stretched uncertainly for a time before Kagome spoke first. "I'm sorry…I just thought…"

He put a finger to her lips, shaking his head. Deep voice hopelessly soft. "Don't apologize Kagome. That was…"

He struggled for a word and when a fitting one escaped him he instead leaned forward and kissed her a second time. Tilting her back a little and pulling more passion and fervor into the second one than the first, leaving them both a little more dizzy when they finally separated for need of air.

"Wow…" Kagome breathed, then blushed at the smirk she got for the compliment. She should have known better than to stoke his ego, that fire was already well out of control. He traced her cheek with his fingers and rubbed it with his thumb.

"You really are incredible Kagome." he told her, left without much of a harsh word to offer at the time. Instead making her turn even more pink. "What's gotten into you?"
"I just…wanted to kiss you." She answered truthfully, licking her lips. "I can't honestly say I'm sorry."

"I didn't mind it." he agreed. "You are welcome to it anytime. I take it this means we're dating a little more officially now."

She laughed. "Yeah I'd say…so can I tell people you're my boyfriend then? You won't get weird?"

"Why would I do that?" he scoffed at her. "I adore the idea…of course you can. I plan on telling them you are my girl."

"Of course you'd put it that way." she chuckled. "I suppose that sounds pretty good too."

"Excellent." he spoke as if he'd decided something. "Do you want to get out of here and eat at a regular restaurant tonight?"

"But I thought you were keeping me here because of that person that shot at me?" she seemed curious. "I'd love to get out but…"

"I can handle it." He assured. "I have a summer home on the northern island where we can allude to and find a restaurant there. I won't get the helicopter until we need it and if we go alone you should be safe for one night out."

"That'd be great…wait…you can fly a helicopter?" she blinked in surprise.

"Of course. I'll have your clothes brought up that your mom dropped off earlier and go get ready myself then." He smirked at her. "You are cute in my shirts but you'd need to be dressed a little better for where I plan to take us."

She stuck her tongue out at him at his confession he'd been hiding her clothes from her on purpose and waited until he left to break into the wide smile again and hopped out of bed to dash for the bathroom, wanting to be perfect for there second date and first that was more official.

End Chapter

Whew, this is getting much harder to write, I almost didn't make it through that chapter and it's a little shorter than usual but I needed to break for a while so I didn't completely burn myself out.

-Aura

To my reviewers:

1s2MomoChan - Thank you for the support. Hope you keep reading.

NaokiB4U - Thank you! Gonna make me blush…I'm doing what I can to keep from getting writers block lately.

Darkened Purity - Sorry it took so long…like I mentioned…writers block is harming me.

Viper - I'm glad you enjoy it…I do want to keep going.