Feb 15 2007: Author's Nonsense: Whew, more to add to this fiction yet…this chapter brings another shock for poor Kagome giggle and the love triangle that everyone keeps asking for. Two posts in a day! Aren't I generous!? This way I can keep you over for the future: after this chapter I won't be able to post for a while cause my significant other is visiting over the weekend for a late Valentine's Day and I only get to see him once every few months so my every moment will be spent with him. I will get back to this fiction after that - but hey my man comes first readers ;)
End of Chapter 21:
Have a good night Kagome." Yugi offered and after a wave headed off with his friends, leaving the young priestess to wonder just how she would show Kaiba what she was capable of - being that she wasn't ever certain of what she could do herself it left her with quite the dilemma.
Chapter 22: Mirror of the Past
Kagome was still considering just how she was going to manage to tell Kaiba about who she really was and was pondering trying to practice and shoot a holy arrow - that should be clear enough if she could manage it after all this time. She nodded to herself - figuring he would be out of his appointment soon and hopped off the bed to move that way - she could wait near his office until the meeting he had was over.
The rest happened so fast that she couldn't really comment much, she didn't get a chance to tell him much of anything - the door opened and she was faced with another familiar face from the past. Jade green eyes staring at her from the other side of chocolate brown locks - a fairly well dressed Kouga exited Kaiba's office and then blinked at her in a similar moment of shock.
The wolf demon got over the surprise much sooner than Kagome and rushed across the small hall to embrace her, she had to hug the old friend back and the daggers that were being sent into the demon's back by Kaiba's frigid blue eyes clued her to back away and she wasn't sure what to say.
"Kagome…it really is you." Kouga laughed, picking her up and spinning her around. "I thought you died in the battle with Naraku…that's what that mutt told me….worthless dog. This is amazing…how are you here?"
"Um…it's complicated…" Kagome commented as she tried to pull herself free from the overbearing man that apparently hadn't lost his crush on her in the past five-hundred years. "I could ask the same of you…are you working with Sessh…I mean Mr. Taisho?"
"He told you that ridiculous name?" Kouga asked with a laugh. "Yeah, I work under him…not the greatest boss in the world but he does all right. You working with Mr. Kaiba here?"
"Not exactly…" Kagome was really starting to wonder just what she could say to keep this situation from degenerating even more…
"I believe our business was concluded Mr. Kouga…" Kaiba kept his voice perfectly even but there was some effort. "Unless you have further things to discuss with my guest I would ask you to take your leave for the time being and let Mr. Taisho know of my decision."
"Actually, I'd love to catch up Kagome…want to get a bite to eat later? Or tomorrow?" he asked brightly, pulling out a small business card to hand her, leaning in to whisper to her. "I don't want to make either of the heartless fellows mad."
"Kouga…I…" Kagome didn't get a chance to finish the statement before he leaned forward and kissed her full on the lips, holding her up and leaning her back a little as he held her - apparently the years had changed some other things about the wolf demon.
She froze for a moment then shoved him away. "Kouga…what the hell are you doing?"
"Just kissing my girl…" he replied, winking at her. "I always knew I'd win you out over that useless mutt. Just had to wait long enough I suppose…though you still have to explain to me what your doing here that will have to wait for our date."
He headed off, leaving Kagome fuming and Kaiba standing with an arctic demeanor across the hall.
"I'm not your girl Kouga…" she snapped and he just waved over a shoulder before moving around a corner and away. "You really can't get over that…"
She looked after him a little while…still confused by the fact that more of her past was coming back to haunt her, though she nearly jumped out of her skin when the door slamming resounded through the building and shook the floor slightly nearby.
"Subtle…" Kagome whispered at the closed oak door nervously… "…so much for waiting to explain my past until I master my arrows again."
She moved over to the door and knocked, a little surprised at the complete lack of a response she was getting from the normally level headed CEO…pounding on it after a few more minutes.
"Come on Kaiba…" she paused as the door opened and she stumbled a little. She caught herself but the young duel master hadn't so much as moved to catch her. "Um…"
"What do you want Higurashi?" his voice was composed, completely unemotional. What it had been the first day she'd accidentally ran into him and he'd let her fall then… "I have work to do."
"I…" she bit her lip at the cruel treatment… "You don't have to treat me like that…I didn't ask him to do that…"
"You didn't complain wholly much…you seemed pretty chummy at first." He observed with near boredom. "Is this all?"
She just looked at him as if he'd slapped her…she hadn't done anything wrong…
"You selfish bastard…I came to tell you about what had happened to me in the past…something that would have explained the crazy guy that just left that is a little unhealthily obsessed with me!" she was barely keeping from yelling at him, wanting to cry at his nonchalant response to her pain. "I thought I could trust you but I guess you'd rather believe whatever you happen to see - however much of a mistake it was. I hadn't seen Kouga in years - I was a little too shocked to react violently to his attention. I didn't see you stepping over to interrupt him nearly feeling me up in your hallway!"
"You…you…" she was about to launch a series of insults when she was pulled closer to him and he pressed her lips to his…the kiss utterly shattering her angry train of thought and making her slightly dizzy instead…she swayed a little closer to him as he pulled away to look at her, azure eyes fierce.
"Calm down Kagome." he told her softly. "You'll get half the house up here with that attitude. I should have been more understanding - especially when it comes to someone like a stalker. I should have realized you are far too kind to just be cruel to someone mentally challenged. I'm sorry."
What little was left of her ill temper evaporated as he nuzzled into her hair with the murmured apology, making her relax and lean into his embrace - she just couldn't manage to stay angry with him.
"You know…" she commented lazily. "It's not fair that I can't stay mad at you."
"Thanks for sharing that piece of information." he teased and took a step back, steadying her and leading her to the couch that was rarely used by anyone but Mokuba in the large office. "You wanted to share with me just why you seem to know all these people I'm working with and all these odd things keep happening around you."
"You can't tell me you don't already know some of it." Kagome replied. "The half involving Marik and his powers of mental control…Yugi and the others said you'd had to experience it before this. You recognized it when he was puppeteer-ing my body before. They say you are some sort of reincarnation of a Priest from the Egyptian era."
"I'm not sure what I think of the reincarnation piece of it." he answered honestly. "I make my own life and even if I happen to look like another I am not anyone else. Though yes I've had run ins with enough strange things to know that there are supernatural things in the world."
His view on it made her smile a little bit - how long had she wondered if she was suppose to be just like Kikiyo after all. "Well…you might not believe me but I'm the reincarnation of a priestess that lived and breathed here on Japan about five-hundred and fifty years ago. I didn't find this out until early during my school year last year. The well on my property used to be a sort of tunnel into the feudal era and I accidentally fell in one time and well…I broke a sacred magical jewel into many shards that could be used for evil more than good so I was forced to keep returning so I could travel with a group of friends I got there for the pieces."
"So you have priestess time travel powers?" he asked her, a little skeptical of what he was being told but trying hard to listen to this strange girl.
"No…try to listen…" she frowned at his reply. "At any rate; We came across another person after the whole of the jewel to use it for cruel reasons and we had to fight him off…that was the man named Naraku that Kouga mentioned…Kouga isn't human…he's a wolf demon. Just as Sesshomaru is a dog demon…yes please don't look at me like that. Both of them can take a human form and I'd imagine that they just had to adjust more as times changed. Once I gathered the whole of the jewel and we defeated Naraku I returned to my time and the well stopped allowing me to travel through time - best I can tell it was because I no longer had the jewel or pieces of it."
"You had it before you went there?" Kaiba was trying to listen.
"Yes…" Kagome blushed, not realizing how much of a Looney she sounded like until she listened to herself speak. "The priestess I was the reincarnation of had been the protector of the jewel before me…Kikiyo. She'd burned it with her body when she died and when I first fell into the other world it actually came out of my body and in the battle to get it back after that was when I shattered it accidentally."
"I see." he wasn't quite certain what to say to the girl next to him… "So what about the rumors of you being beaten by your ex-boyfriend…was that Kouga?"
"No…he's always wanted me and for some reason thought I was his once he'd decided on it…he's a little stubborn." she sighed some. "It was Inuyasha…he was a half-demon and Sesshomaru's half-brother. I…we…he. He loved Kikiyo before Naraku tricked the two into hurting each other to try to get the jewel…part of her soul was resurrected at the end of our quest when we finally got the jewel together and he chose to go with her. I guess you could say I loved him…I'm sorry…you probably think I'm just some nut…but I wanted to tell you. I guess I thought I could share it with you once I was told that you were in a somewhat similar situation yourself…with the reincarnation thing."
His name was Inuyasha…dog demon? Did his parents hate him? What a horrible name. Kaiba kept the thoughts to himself as he stared at her, though she just looked down, she was trying to force herself to stay calm, to keep the tears away - she'd never really got to mention what Inuyasha had done to her and even without the whole story just brining up the horrible thing she'd been through made her feel wretched…even more at the thought that she would lose someone else she was learning to really care about because of it.
"Do not apologize." he told her, with a rare gentleness in his voice. "You looked like the woman he once loved and so he lead you on until he got the real thing back in his arms…that's something I'd love to beat the guy up for - whatever he might be. Whatever happened to you…I'm not going to get angry at you or think less of you just because you cry. I don't want to see tears on your face but sometimes people…other people…need to express that sadness. I'm sorry for what's happened to you…I wish I could take the pain away but it's not as simple as that."
Her eyes widened a hint when he pulled her close across the couch, putting his arms around her comfortingly…making her feel suddenly secure in the world and the slight vexation earlier was replaced by the warmth of his embrace.
"Sometimes we need to weep to help seal our wounds." Kaiba whispered to her. "You don't have to be strong or alone all the time Kagome…I've told you I'm here to help you…feel free to cry on my shoulder whenever you need it."
The various emotions and the surprisingly heartfelt words from the normally uncompassionate CEO made her start sobbing into the fine fabric of the suit he'd been wearing that day…well over a year of pained memories still haunting the tiny priestess from having to give up her amazing friends, to Inuyasha's betrayal, to the fact that she'd nearly ruined her families life running between times, to nearly causing the downfall of her own life by failing her classes the year before. It wasn't that she didn't want to help everyone and defeat Naraku but it seemed like the prices were something she had the right to weep over.
The CEO petted her back and offered her a box of Kleenex that Mokuba had conveniently left nearby from his last cold. He wasn't really sure what he believed or didn't believe from her story but given how distraught he was he couldn't just wander away from her - it reminded him of the time that Mokuba broke his arm and just needed to cry for it…needed to just have him nearby and feel someone close to him. He knew that it wasn't really the same but he figured the principle was close. He couldn't possibly understand her heartache - he'd never loved another person in a romantic way - he didn't even know if he loved her…he knew she was important to him but that didn't necessarily mean he loved her…
He knew that he was going to tell Mr. Taisho or Sesshomaru or whatever the man's name was to keep his underling far away from Kagome…that he definitely didn't like it when the man had held her and hated it when he'd kissed her. The thought made him want to hire a sharp-shooter to keep the obnoxious man from ever possibly doing it again. Not that Kagome would appreciate that so he decided to leave it alone for now, though he would have to speak to Mr. Taisho or whatever soon and ask about this whole demon thing…why would a demon want to buy an arms company? That certainly doesn't seem like a cheery thought…monsters with large guns.
She was there for some time, finally settling after about fifteen minutes of sobbing away, hiccupping to herself as she wiped her nose with the thirtieth tissue or so, using a clean one to try to wipe the snot/spit circle she'd created on his jacket's chest. He elected to just take the thing off instead so she wouldn't be concerned with it, pushing some of her hair back.
"Feeling any better?" he asked tentatively - half afraid she would burst into more tears.
She nodded though and the smile was worth the stain on his suit. He had dozens to take it's place in the meantime. "I am…thank you. I'm sorry I'm such trouble."
"Didn't I just tell you to quit apologizing?" he said with more of his colder (normal) voice returning. "And you say that I don't listen…want to get something to eat before going over our homework hiccups?"
"Hiccups?" she raised an eyebrow indignantly but had to laugh when she squeaked out a moment later. "Yeah fine, how about we get food and eat while we're working on it?"
"Acceptable." he replied. "If you think you can make it back to the room without falling I'll finish up something here right fast and then join you there."
"You think you are clever don't you?" she asked with a slight deadpan.
"I don't just consider it, I know I'm ingenious Kagome." he answered without a hint of modesty. "I'll see you in a few minutes then."
Kagome scowled after him and then headed out of the previously abused door and back toward the room they were sort of sharing for the moment…her day had been exhausting and it was only half over…she didn't want to think about what else could go wrong. She knocked on her doorframe as she went past and hopped back onto her bed to open the file with what she was suppose to be working on.
End Chapter
I figured as I can't post for a little bit after this I shouldn't leave you with a cliffhanger this time. Aren't I just great? preens Okay, now that I'm done being IC for Kaiba - I'm curious what people thought of his little speech? Did I make him too nice there? Should I have had him be more of a jerk? Something felt a little weird about it. Please lemme know.
-Aura
To my reviewers:
Cowgirlkitten2000 - who indeed…things for future findings…lots yet to do with this story.
Hokg - here you go - that was soon right? Same day and all.
S.T. Nickolian - All updated for you and yes - even if I could draw I don't currently have a scanner so I'd be at the same loss of a way to get it online.