REVAMPED
Just as fast as it came, the weekend flew on by for the newly renewed couple. Kouga had taken her to get her ID card for their building over the weekend as well. Unfortunately, since Kagome had waited so long to do it, the wait line was a mile outside of the office door when they arrived. Most of their day had been eaten by the long wait to Kagome's dismay but Kouga made it up to her by treating her to a quick desert trip to the cheesecake factory.
Kagome had decided to listen to Kouga for a little while for the sake of their relationship and lay low from Inuyasha. She did tell him good morning the one time she had seen him but other than that, their normal lengthy conversations were non-existent. Although it made her feel bad, she tried to tell herself that saving her relationship was more important. It made her feel even worse that she had to convince herself to believe that in the first place.
Once Monday had rolled around, and school had officially started. Kagome had her first and only Monday class scheduled for 9:00 AM in the morning. When she had come to from her restful slumber, she felt Kouga's chest pressed against her back while his hand sat still wrapped around her tummy. They had fallen asleep while watching a movie on Kouga's TV. She reached down to the floor and grabbed her phone that had been charging on the extension cord. The time read 8:09 AM. Her first class was in a building nearby so the walk there wouldn't take too long but she knew that if she didn't get up now, it wasn't happening ever.
She unwrapped Kouga's arm from around her torso, and carefully slid out from under his thick blue blanket. With her phone in her hand, she stretched her arms up, moving her shoulders outward to get the sleepiness out of them. Finishing that, she left his room to go back into her own. She picked out her outfit for the day which consisted of a red varsity shirt that was overly big on her but just enough to stop below her butt. Along with that, she sported her cuffed shorts that came to the middle of her thighs. The outfit itself was loose so she hoped it would catch whatever little breeze came with the leftover summer heat. She brushed her hair out and up into a clipped ponytail before walking back out to brush her teeth.
Since it was the first day, she had safely assumed she wouldn't need too many school supplies besides something to write with and a notebook just in case there was any important information to take down. Going back into her room from the bathroom, she grabbed an over the shoulder book bag and put one of her small notepads inside along with some writing utsenils. Once she figured she was all set, she slipped on a pair of flip flops and considered herself good to go but not before saying goodbye to her boyfriend again.
'To think about it though, it does feel a little weird to be back together.' She thought to herself as she walked back out of her room and into Kouga's room. He was still in the same position she had left him in which Kagome did find to be a bit cute. He always was a heavy sleeper. She gave him a peck on the forehead and another on the lips but almost jumped out of her skin when his lips kissed hers back. He laughed at her sudden scare but didn't open his eyes.
"Love you Kagome. Have a good day." He said before slowly drifting back into dream land leaving his girlfriend with her hand on her hip. She let out a small sigh but couldn't help but smile.
'Maybe taking him back won't be so bad after all' she thought.
The sun was already glistening over the entire campus when Kagome had awoken so it was expected to be high in the sky when she had stepped outside. She took her phone out and pulled up the custom app for the school that showed you where your classes were supposed to be. It was another version of google maps but for the college campus. It came in handy for freshman as well as returning students who had new classes inside new buildings.
Getting to class had only taken her about a little less than twenty minutes but she still managed to arrive a little early. Fortunately, the door was open and there were already a few students here and there sitting down. Kagome took a seat all the way in the back of the large classroom that could probably fit up to sixty people. She pulled out her phone to pass time like she normally does and opened Facebook. As she involved herself in her screen, more students began to pile in. One in particular had flaming red hair and recognized her almost immediately.
"Kagome?" The girl had said, her voice sending chills up Kagome's spine as she recognized the voice speaking to her.
She jumped out of her chair and stood up in self-defense, almost immediately expecting some type of torment. In front of her stood Ayame, the same girl that tortured her for the entirety of her high school years. The same girl that was Kouga's ex. She was a lot smaller than Kagome had remembered her to be but that didn't matter. Her hair was down, and center parted like it normally was but her outfit wasn't as revealing like her old ones. She never thought she would see the day that her high school bully would wear a t-shirt with a pair of sweatpants.
"What do you want Ayame? I am not in the mood for any bullshit today-"
"Oh no! I'm sorry. Yeah. That's actually why I came over here. I wanted to apologize Kagome."
"Excuse me?" She was dumbfounded. Those were words none would ever think to cross the lips of Ayame.
"Yeah Kagome. I was a bitch and I deserved everything that Karma served me. Even down to me losing my first love to you, and you hitting me with a lunch tray. I deserved all of that, but you didn't deserve a single piece of what I put you through. I'm no longer friends with my old crew. I'm on to bigger and better things and after a few summer months in rehab, my exit goal was that if I was given the chance to be face to face with you, I would apologize. I'm not asking for forgiveness because I honestly don't think I deserve it but you deserve more apologies than I could ever give you, but I hope the one I'm able to give now will do." She spoke calmly, but the amount of regret in her voice was evident to Kagome's ears.
Kagome couldn't think of anything to say. What would any person say if their high school bully walked up to them today or tomorrow and gave them a full faced apology? Disregarding her own inner thoughts on the matter, class was to start soon, and it would be pointless to carry the conversation any further than it needed to be.
"Yeah. Thanks. I can't say if I forgive you or not because all of this hasn't really crossed my mind that much in the past few months but if I ever know one day, I'll let you know." Kagome said.
Ayame nodded and carried on to the front of the class. She was a lot different than Kagome had remembered her. That short, feisty, and over promiscuous girl had just walked into the classroom as a nice, sweet, conservative person. The difference was overly apparent.
'No kagome. You can't go judging people off of two-minute conversations. Get it together. You already shunned out your roommates so everyone else has to get the same equal treatment.'
The classroom was almost filled up, but Kagome still had both seats on the side of her empty. She was hoping no one else would come in so that she could have the space to herself. As soon as the last minute ticked by, someone zoomed into the room. Kagome looked over to see who it was because her seat was close to the door. Her face lit up at the sight of her own cousin.
She whispered her name. "Psst! Sango! Over here!"
Sango heard her and took the seat directly next to her. "Hey! I didn't know you had this class."
"You would have known had you not run off to beat up some boy."
"I said I was sorry! I didn't beat him up. I just gave him a piece of my mind!"
"You shouldn't put your hands on men anyway. One of these days, one of them might really try to hurt you Sango."
"Yeah, but I'm already too trained in the art of kick ass so I can hold my own in a fist fight with any man. I grew up with my dad remember?" She reminded her baby cousin. Kagome didn't respond, she only nodded due to the professor beginning his speech.
He handed out the class syllabus and went over it with everyone. Although the class itself was two hours long, because the professor had nothing else planned besides going over the basic class rules, he let everyone out after only about forty-five minutes of class. Kagome and Sango along with the rest of the back row were the first crowd of students to fly out of the room. The two made their way down a set of stairs and out of the building, deciding to take a walk together.
"I am so happy! I have literally no more classes today." Kagome said with excitement.
"Lucky for you because I have two more. I need this break more than anything." Sango said.
"Why would you give yourself so many classes on a Monday?"
"Because they were the only ones available and I kinda need them because I fucked around a little too much last year." Sango ran her fingers through her freshly straightened hair.
After talking for a few more minutes, the two women had found a park bench nearby. Sitting their bags in between them, they decided to catch up and make up for the lost time.
"Kagome, I am really sorry about the other day. I don't even know why I got so upset. I shouldn't have even gone after him." Sango said.
Kagome just shook her head and gave her cousin a reassuring smile. "It's fine Sango. I mean this new you is going to take a bit of getting used to. I partially feel like I don't really know you know but that's okay because I want to get to know you again…If that makes sense."
"Girl, the new me is someone I don't even know yet. Would you believe me if I told you I slept with Miroku after I jumped in his car and threw a fit?" Sango giddily said.
"What?! You slut!" She said in shock but couldn't manage to keep the giggles down.
Sango reached over and put her hand over Kagome's mouth. "Shh! I told you I don't know who I am yet!"
Kagome smacked Sango's hand from off her mouth. "Look Sango, I'm not judging. You can make your own decisions but please tell me you at least used protection."
"Of course! I always keep a condom on me now because Miroku's old excuse was that he never carried a condom around. Surprisingly, I seem to be the only girl on this campus he shared that line with." She admitted, causing Kagome's mouth to drop.
"Wait, the king of pervs according to you has never did it without protection with anyone besides you?" Kagome couldn't actually believe it. Really, she didn't believe it.
"I did my research after we broke up. I made 'friends' with the dumb girls he cheated on me with and got the details about other girls besides them. He always had a spare condom on him no matter where he went according to all of these ladies. They even had the nerve to complain that he would never do them raw." Sango made a noise of disgust as she remembered all of the conversations she held with the women.
"I'm surprised he hasn't stuck it a man yet as much as he sleeps around." Kagome admitted.
Sango gave her a weird look. "Girl, it wouldn't surprise me if he got wasted one night and did it with a dude. Miroku is way too active for his own good. He's gonna get himself caught up one day."
Kagome looked at Sango as if she had grown two heads after hearing how Sango said what she did. "Wait, are you serious?"
"Yes, I am but hey, who am I to judge when I have a whole female date to a party this weekend." Sango said, immediately putting her fingers on her ears bracing for Kagome's screech.
"Eeeek! Oh my gosh Sango! Who is it? What does she look like? Do you have a huge crush on her? When did you meet?" She started to bombard Sango with questions not giving her a chance to answer any of them before she asked the next one. Sango, once again, placed her hand over Kagome's mouth again to get her to stop talking.
"Kagome chill! I met her last year in class, and I've known her ever since. We aren't really that close but she has had a crush on me for a while, so I decided to go to this party with her. That's it. I just wanna give her a chance is all."
Sango didn't even know why she was going out with the girl. The aggression she felt from dealing with Miroku had toppled over after she slept with him in his car. The girl had been the only one she could talk to after it happened. She gave her the party invite as a way to get Miroku off of her brain and instead of thinking things through, Sango accepted off of the top of her head not evaluating the fact that she knew the girl liked her.
Sango's comment made Kagome tilt her head to the side, right eyebrow lifted. "So you don't like her Sango?"
She tucked her lips in and grinded her teeth in guilt. "I don't but she is really good to me ya know? Maybe this will help me get to know her better…but enough about me, tell me about you. How is everything going?" She said, quickly trying to change the subject. Kagome noticed this but decided not to say anything. She could sense the topic of conversation was making Sango uncomfortable.
That didn't mean Kagome was comfortable talking about the messy week she had either. "Well…you won't believe what I did."
Sango reached down and pretended to pour an imaginary teacup. "Spill it girl."
"I got back with my boyfriend-"
She didn't let her finish speaking before cutting her sentence off. "With the cheater? Kagome why?!"
Kagome put her hand over her chest as if she was offended. "Says the girl that slept with her ex in his car after she ditched me."
"Hey! Him and I are single so that means that was simple free game right there, but I didn't get back with him!"
"Yeah, whatever you say Sango but still" she said crossing her arms "I haven't seen him do anything and I really just want to trust him. If he shows me any signs that he is cheating, then I'll leave him."
"Kagome, I've seen him cheating!"
"But what if they aren't even the same person, this is a really big campus Sango."
"Bullshit Kagome! What other Kouga do you know resides in a dorm with an Inuyasha, a Miroku, a Naraku, and a Shippo? Hm?"
Kagome rolled her eyes. Sango was making sense, but Kagome wanted to firmly stand by her decision. "Look Sango, no one is perfect and maybe whatever you saw was a misunderstanding or maybe he was really drunk and didn't know-"
"Kagome, how did I misunderstand Kouga putting his throat muscles to work on another woman's coochie in the middle of a party? How Kagome? How!? I want to know." Sango knew she hadn't made the best decisions throughout college so far, but she didn't want her cousin following in her footsteps. She knew what would come soon for her if she didn't leave Kouga fast enough.
"Sango...I just want us to work. Like I said, he might have been drunk and doesn't remember anything because he told me he didn't do anything."
If anyone wished they had a thousand hands to slap some sense into a person at that moment, it was Sango. "Kagome, didn't Inuyasha tell you what was going on too?"
"He did but I stopped talking to him. Kouga and I-"
"He told me about Miroku. His own best friend Kagome that he knew for years. He knew me at least; he didn't even know you and he still went out of his way to tell you? Why would someone lie about that?"
"I'm not saying he lied but I don't know him like that. Besides you told me to stay away from him too."
"I would rather you befriend Inuyasha than date Kouga if I had to choose and that says a lot. Inuyasha is a master manipulator, but Kouga is downright fucking nasty."
The younger woman threw her hands in the air and brought them back down to her face. "Ugh! This is frustrating! You are confusing me Sango. Is Inuyasha a good person? Is he not?"
"I already told you I think everyone in that dorm is a piece of shit, but if you wanna see for yourself how 'good' of a boyfriend Kouga is, then how about you give Inuyasha the same treatment since you clearly don't wanna listen to me." Sango said harshly.
A conversation that had started off so light had turned into a disagreement in a matter of seconds. Kagome wanted out of it as soon as possible. "Look, I'm going to go back home and just chill for the rest of the day. If you need me, just call and try not to sleep with your ex anymore please." She said, not giving Sango much of a chance to say anything back.
'She didn't care about my situation like this when she left me to go sleep with Miroku so oh well. Not my problem.'
After returning home, Kagome decided to make something to eat considering she hadn't eaten since the day before. She sat her bags down inside her room and returned to the kitchen making her first stop inside the fridge. Inside wasn't a lot of food but there were a few things to make do with. She pulled out the egg carton and took three eggs from it. As she picked up one to crack it open, she mentally slapped herself for forgetting to take out a pan.
'Okay…but where are the pans? Do we even have any?' She asked herself.
She started to go through the cabinets. She was so set on finding them that she didn't even hear a door open behind her. After searching through the cabinets and not being able to find a single frying pan, she put her hands on her hips and huffed in frustration. She turned around to see if Kouga had any in his room but was met with the body of a tall white-haired man who appeared extremely irritated at her lack of attention to direction.
"Watch it." He said as he proceeded towards the front door.
"Sorry, but hey Inuyasha. Do you happen to have any pots or pans?" She asked quickly because of how fast he was almost out the doorway.
Surprisingly he stopped but it was brief. Kagome could only see the back of his head so his eye roll was completely unknown to her. With his hand on the door knob, he didn't even spare her a look. "I don't take getting cut off so easily Kagome but if you really want to know, I keep some above the fridge in those small cabinets." He said and with that, he was out the door leaving Kagome dumbfounded and alone in the kitchen.
His words made her feel uncomfortable as if someone had just told she was the worst person in the world. She had stopped talking to him completely for the past two days but she didn't expect him to take it so badly. She had seen him a few times after getting back with Kouga but wouldn't give him the time of day for a conversation or even a hello most of the time. Based on how well he could read people, she assumed he already knew what was going on between her and Kouga. Although it shouldn't have affected her much, she felt somewhat ashamed to be back with the man she had given her all to for the past three years.
It was a weird combination to her. She was happy she could work on her relationship and hopefully get back to a better place with him but at the same time, she felt like it was wrong of her to do so. She felt as if not only everyone was judging her, but as if she was judging herself as well. Her self-esteem felt lower than it had ever been in a long time. She didn't feel beautiful in the eyes of her own boyfriend, nor did she feel like she deserved anything better for going back to him. Not even a good friend like Inuyasha.
She smacked a hand on her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut trying to rid herself of the emotional pain. 'Why the hell did I even let Sango get into my head?' She thought to herself.
'Sango can't even get her love life together and she is the one telling me about boys. Ugh…but if she's right about Kouga, wouldn't that make her right about Inuyasha? She could be wrong about one but not the other maybe? Wait, but…seeing Kouga kiss a girl and Inuyasha kiss a girl is way different. If Inuyasha isn't taken, then what's the problem…maybe I was wrong...but I don't know. I don't feel like I know anyone right now. Everyone seems so different.'
Kagome's mind bottled with conclusions mixed with confusion, but it wasn't enough to keep her hunger from interrupting her. The tightening of her stomach brought her out of her session of analysis and back to the objective. She checked just above the moderately sized fridge and found the two small cabinets Inuyasha had referred to. Just as he said, there were two small frying pans inside. She thought of it to be an odd place to keep pans but they weren't hers to complain about. Although she had a decent height to fully see inside the freezer and fridge, the cabinets above the fridge were still quite a ways above her. She did a little jump to try and reach at least one of the pans inside. After three unsuccessful attempts, she admitted her defeat and went to fetch a chair from the dining room to help her out. Once she was able to finally reach the pan, she got to work on frying up some scrambled eggs.
With her stomach full, she washed out her dishes behind her and returned the dining room chair to its proper place before going back to her room. She shut her door and picked up her phone from her bag. Plopping down on the bed, she unlocked her phone and saw a few missed texts messages from Kouga. Even though she felt like they were supposed to make her happy, excitement was far from what she felt.
Babe: Hey beautiful. Left to class. If you're back before me, I'll see you later. Love you
Babe: Hey love, it's so boring in here. Missing you lots. Love you
Babe: Why aren't you answering me? You're practically addicted to your phone…I'll let it go this time
Babe: Really wished you would answer me
Babe: Are you ignoring me?
Babe: Kagome what the hell…who are you with?
Babe: You're really starting to piss me off. I hope you know that.
Kagome read the last message and noticed that there was only an hour difference between the time the first and last message was sent. He sent the first message a about half an hour after she had left for class. She was so busy talking to Sango for a while, she hadn't noticed the texts from Kouga. After seeing the last message, she was turned off to say the least.
'When the hell was Kouga always this damn angry?...No, he was always a hothead but it was never with me though.' She thought to herself.
She sent him a quick text back letting him know that she was in class, and sorry for the wait. She didn't think she needed to apologize but didn't feel like fighting. He was always quicker to calm down if she was the first to say sorry whenever they did fight but it wasn't as often as it seemed to be now. Sitting her phone down, she retrieved her laptop from her desk. She didn't have a TV like everyone else so her only source of Netflix was on her trusty computer.
She found some random action/romance movie to keep her mind off of her mixed feelings about her boyfriend and her handsome roommate.
'I wonder what he thinks of me now…'
The day went by as normal for most students and professors on campus but for Inuyasha. He couldn't seem to catch a break. After his small share of words with Kagome, his day only seemed to get worse. His first class out of the only two he had on Mondays was only an hour long but the professor went over time because he forgot to show everyone how to do the homework he handed out. If that wasn't bad enough, his second class professor forgot to tell everyone that the assigned classroom was going to be renovated over the course of the month. Inuyasha and others decided to ditch the class because the professor wasn't responding to any emails about the temporary switch in classrooms but he made sure to let everyone know that attendance was a grade in his class and everyone would receive a zero for the day.
Once the day came to a close, Inuyasha had the worst headache of his life. Without thinking, he got into the car and drove to the Akitoki Bar and grill. Of course before he arrived, he sent a text to Hojo to make sure he was working at his usual time. When the text came through confirming his schedule, Inuyasha made his way towards his happy place.
"So, what's going on? It's early as ever, and you don't have a chick with you. Something up?" His heavy New York accent dancing over his tongue while his hands kept busy wiping his bar glasses clean.
Inuyasha took another sip of his premade drink that was already done when he arrived curtesy of the bartender himself. "This day has just been a load of shit Hojo. If that wasn't bad enough, the same girl I called myself helping is back with that asshole of a wolf demon." He explained.
Hojo sat a glass down. He could hear Inuyasha loud and clear since there weren't too many people in at the time. It was early so that was expected. Great atmosphere for Hojo to tend to Inuyasha's drunken needs and ventilation. "Sounds rough but that's how girls are. They want to be captain save a hoe just as much as guys do. They want to say in the end that they're glad they didn't give up or they stuck by you through thick and thin. Some shit like that ya know? They want to feel special enough to make a guy want to change for them."
"Tell me about it." He said gulping down the rest of his drink before slamming the glass back down to the table. On instinct, Hojo took the empty glass and set it aside for cleaning later before he busied himself with another round for the half demon.
"I just hate shit like that Hojo. How dare she cut me off for trying to help her with her sorry ass excuse of a boyfriend."
"Wasn't that boyfriend your friend though?"
"Yeah, was. Some friend to hide something that big for a whole year. I don't care too much about him hiding her, but I wouldn't have made friends with him to begin with had I known what he was really like. Shit, had me and Miroku never met when we did, I would have ditched his ass to the curb too. He's been changing on me a lot lately. I just don't know what's up with these guys."
Hojo gave Inuyasha the side eye. "Pardon me Mr. Psychology major but you should know the reason behind that more than I do. What's that shit you're always going on about? They aren't really changing, you're just maturing. You're sick of their little antics, right? Then what else do you say? Oh yeah. They might have always been like this, and their true colors are showing."
The white-haired man closed his eyes and massaged the sides of his head. "I don't even know Hojo. I guess I'm just in a space where I want to do more with my life besides fucking a different girl every night, you know? Shit gets boring when you do it too much. I can't even hold full conversations with any of them without it turning into something about sleeping with a random bitch or something about dicks and I'm honestly tired of it. I thought I'd never say that but I really am." He said, his voice growing hoarse from the stinging of the alcohol.
Hojo finished up his drink and sat it in front of him. "Well, Inuyasha. Maybe it's just time for new friends or something. Maybe that's why you latched onto that other girl. She's different right?"
Inuyasha opened his eyes, staring Hojo directly into his. "Can I be honest with you for a moment Hojo?"
"Sure, You know I'm all ears."
"Yes man. Different in every way possible. I'm pretty sure there is much more to her than what I've gotten to know already but damn is she as close to perfect as it gets. I'm excited by the fact that I don't know everything about her just yet. I told myself she was off limits and that I don't wanna get involved with that but when you can sit down with a girl and just vibe with her as if you've known her forever…I don't know. There's something about it and I think getting to know her got me a little more caught up than I wanted it to."
The bartender gave his friend gave his friend a slight sided smile. It wasn't the first time he'd done so but Inuyasha felt this smile had different intentions. "What? What's with the look?"
"I get what you're saying. Explain yourself no further my friend. I've known you since Miroku gave you my card in class. Out of these two years I've known you, I think you finally got a crush you can't shake Inuyasha."
"What? Nonsense. I've dated girls in the past two years Hojo."
"For how long? They never lasted more than a week or two. You never liked them anyway if we really wanna be honest here. They were girls you used to try to get over someone else and it didn't work, and you never tried it again since. That was freshman year Inuyasha. Look at you now. Just met a girl and you're at my bar not only mad at the world, but you're mad she took him back and cut you off in the process. She was supposed be yours for the taking. Admit it. You wanted her."
Inuyasha looked away. He didn't want to admit it. He wouldn't say he was head over heels for the girl, but he was definitely interested in everything else she had to offer whatever that may be. She was physically to his liking, and she wasn't some clueless girl with no passion or dreams. She wasn't dumb either unless it came to her ex. The same one who she let control her when it came down to him and her being friends.
"Hojo" He finally responded, turning his attention back to the short brown-haired boy. "I didn't initially have a thing for her. It was more so a 'she was cute but keep it moving' type of thing. When I found out about her and Kouga dating, something propelled me to help but even then, I thought that would be it…but she looked so helpless like she needed me and after just sitting down and getting to know her as someone who wasn't Kouga's girl or Kouga's ex, as just Kagome. She was so amazing Hojo."
Hojo didn't need Inuyasha to tell him. He could tell just by looking and seeing the look in Inuyasha's eyes. It was a look that he had never seen him have before so he just knew his friend had a thing for the girl. Even if it was slight, it was there, and he couldn't be happier for his friend. After knowing what Inuyasha went through in the past with women, he had hoped that one day Inuyasha would take someone serious and go after what he liked. To Hojo, the circumstances were unfortunate because Kagome was technically supposed to be off limits but if Inuyasha wasn't interested in being friends with Kouga anymore, then Kagome was fair game.
Inuyasha downed the next drink in a matter of seconds, once again letting it burn the back of his throat. He was counting the time mentally in his head before he knew the liquor would start kicking in and he would need a ride home. Making sure he was still on track with the time limit he set for himself, he continued his conversation with Hojo, requesting some more shots in the process. He leaned his body over the counter, resting his body of his forearms.
"I'm feeling her just a little, but I know there are gonna be problems if I do anything with her. After seeing how Miroku straddles the fence too, I don't know if Kagome is something that's worth it. Naraku fortunately doesn't pick sides because he doesn't like to get messy and Shippo won't be here till next weekend because of family related issues. Even still, the fact stands that Miroku and Kouga have been getting closer all of a sudden and I feel like at this point if I do anything Kouga doesn't like, because him and Kouga are dudes that treat their women like shit, they would stand together against me."
"Aha, so that's why you're already on the edge with Miroku. When did they even start getting this close because now that I think of it, I haven't seen him in my bar in ages and he used to be a regular."
The half demon rested his face in his palm. "If I had to say, it would probably be towards spring break of last year. Kouga became the king of getting girls and even topped Miroku for a bit in that leaderboard so Miroku's excuse to me was if he couldn't beat him, he might as well join him. That's what he did and has stuck by Kouga ever since. I tried to ignore it, but it's been rubbing me the wrong way for the longest time now."
"Have you tried to talk to him about it?" Hojo asked.
Inuyasha shook his head. "No but more so because I feel like he wouldn't understand where I'm coming from. I've never been a jealous friend but me and Miroku have been best friends for a long time. He hasn't been the greatest friend nor the best influence but he has been there with me through some really tough shit. He has had my back majority of the time as well."
Hojo heard another customer call out to him. He put up one finger to let the guy know that he would be right with him as soon as he finished with Inuyasha. He finished up the last drink for Inuyasha and placed it in front of him. "I gotta go take care of these other customers but to be honest man, you sound a lot like that Kagome girl. You both are so stuck on what people used to be that you aren't looking at who they are now. No amount of good a person has ever done will excuse them treating you like shit even once. Remember that and I'll see you around buddy." He said, patting Inuyasha's shoulder before moving on to help the other customers.
He would never say it aloud, but he realized that he had been hanging around Hojo too much. He felt like Hojo was starting to sound more like him but with his own twist of course. His last words stuck with him, and he could see himself never forgetting that. He downed the drink before deciding it was probably best to leave and head home. He spanned out of his chair and landed wobbly on the ground. Suddenly, the room started spinning and his balance became nonexistent. He leaned against the bar stool with one hand while he held his head in the other. With a sigh of irritation, he came to one final conclusion.
"Shit…guess I need to call Miroku. Fuck my life."
He gave his friend a call who was in the middle of something sexual with a female. This didn't surprise Inuyasha and was one of the reasons he didn't want to call Miroku but unfortunately, he was his only close friend with a car that he could call at this hour. Miroku told him that he would come but it would be about half an hour. Although he told him that's fine, that didn't stop him from flickering his eyes against the top of his eye lids.
He took a seat back in the bar stool. Since he would be there for a little while, he saw no point in going to wait outside when he was already half past wasted. He pulled out his phone and covered one eye with his hand to try and help him see straight. He was able to partially focus on his phone and in the middle of his concentration, he noticed he had three missed text messages, and they were all from Kagome.
'Pfft. What now, boyfriend still treating you like shit? Not my problem anymore.' He thought to himself, still deciding to open the messages and see what she said. What he saw or at least tried to read made him feel agitated.
Kagome: Hey, I'm sorry about everything. I know I'm not even supposed to be texting you, but Kouga isn't trying to listen to me right now. Honestly, I'm a little scared and I don't know who else to really talk to.
'Yeah, it's called a mental abuser. They make you get rid of everyone in your life, so you have no one else to rely on but them even if they are the ones causing the problem.' He thought.
He was upset to see that she had texted him in the first place but slowly became more agitated with the fact that Kouga was doing something to scare her into texting him. He continued reading the rest.
Kagome: I don't know if I did something wrong, but I locked my door just in case. I told him some things and I guess he didn't like what I said…it's just a lot. Can I call you?
Kagome: Sorry. Don't answer that. I don't deserve to call you. Texting you this is probably going to make him even more mad at me. I just can't shake the feeling that everyone is wrong about you. Is that weird?
After that text, there was nothing else. The texts were from about ten minutes ago, so they were pretty recent. Kouga is a full demon so Kagome locking the door would do nothing but make him mad enough to kick the door down. Judging by the fact that the door was still intact, Inuyasha assumed that they had either been texting or talking on the phone. What happened between them though was something he couldn't figure out. One thing he knew for sure was that it was most likely not Kagome's fault directly.
'Still partially her fault though for going back to him but whatever.'
Right before he could text her back, she texted him again.
Kagome: He says he's not coming home tonight anymore because of me. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have even texted you. Bye.
'Well damn.' Inuyasha thought. Just when he was going to give her a few minutes out of his day, she shut him down again. Although he could care less about their relationship problems, he was curious as to what could've made her so scared to the point where she texted him of all people. He wanted to get her off of his mind, but he wasn't the best at doing so while intoxicated. When he realized what Kagome had done, he knew karma would arrive at some point but he didn't even expect it to come as quick as it did. He didn't know what else to do while he waited for Miroku so he did the unthinkable. He called her.
'I don't know you all that well yet, but I know you well enough to know you'll answer me.'
He was right. After a few rings, he could hear her tear-stained, croaked voice through the hiccups.
"Hel-hiccup-lo?" She answered sadly. She'd clearly been crying.
"You should be lucky I'm even talking to you right now, but I care enough to make sure you're okay. What's wrong? Tell me what's going on." He said trying his best to hide the slur in his voice. He closed his eyes because he saw no use for them when all he needed was his ears to hear Kagome. They were also making him dizzy the longer they were open.
"I know but-hiccup-I don't even know what I-hiccup-did wrong Inuyasha." She said trying to speak over the tears running down her face and the hiccups fighting inside her throat.
"Just start from the beginning. Tell me everything and we'll go from there." Inuyasha said, although he simultaneously thought, "I fucking hate it here. What the fuck am I doing?"
Unbeknownst to Inuyasha, Kagome felt relieved to have him talking to her. "Well, I was out with-hiccup-Sango earlier when he was texting me. I didn't get to read them until later but by then he was already-hiccup-mad at me. I tried to apologize but he didn't want to hear it. Then when he seemed calm, I told him-hiccup-about the girl Ayame I ran into earlier. That's his ex before me and the girl who used to bully me in-hiccup-school. He was upset I said anything to her even though she was the one that approached-hiccup-me."
Inuyasha was following along with what she was saying but couldn't piece together why Kouga was mad at her. "Yeah, and what else?" He urged her on.
"She was apologizing for everything and all I said is-hiccup-that I would get back to her on how I feel. That was-hiccup-it and he got really upset with me."
"What do you mean by upset?" He asked her.
"Cussed me out and called me-hiccup-names. He said some pretty hurtful things."
"Ah, I see." Inuyasha didn't like what he was hearing but he knew better than to tell her to leave him. She wouldn't listen to him. The most that he could do was be an ear for her problems. She would have to work up the courage on her own to do anything about her situation.
"Well look, I'll be home soon. Miroku is on his way to come get me. When I get there, if I'm not too fucked up, we can watch some of my Christmas cartoons to take your mind off of things. Kouga will come around when he feels like it. Just give him time." He told her.
"O-hiccup-kay."
"But on one condition. You don't have to tell Kouga but I'm not some lackey for you to call only when you need me. Either I'm around or I'm not." Inuyasha was never one for being kept a secret, but he didn't feel like going through the whole battle with Kouga. He had too much going on and would cross that bridge when he got to it.
'Eventually I won't be a secret but for now, it's cool.'
"That's fine. I didn't want to cut you off anyway in the first place." She said clearly, her hiccups finally leaving as Inuyasha's voice calmed her down.
He wasn't surprised she agreed so easily. He'd known all along that Kouga was the plot behind it all. Inuyasha told her he would see her soon and hung up. He had thought he would've been able to hold a longer grudge against her considering how aggravated she made him when he spoke to her, and she ignored him that Saturday morning in the kitchen while she was with Kouga. After hearing how sad and scared she was, he couldn't help but cave. He had a weak spot for tears and she unfortunately had plenty to spare.
After some time had gone by, Miroku had told Inuyasha he was outside through text. Inuyasha had gotten into the car with his friend and had almost told him what had happened only moments ago. He stopped himself after remembering the conversation he had with Hojo. Inuyasha already wanted to talk to Miroku about his loyalty so to talk to him about something as crucial as Kagome was a no go until Inuyasha knew he could fully trust him again.
When the two had gotten home, Miroku was the one that had to let them in. Inuyasha had been too dizzy to see straight, let alone tell an up button from a down button in the elevator. When the two had reached the 19th floor, Miroku took out his keys to the front door and helped Inuyasha keep his balance as they walked down the hall. When Miroku opened the door, out stormed an angry wolf demon past the two men. Inuyasha sobered up slightly causing his ears to pick up on a whimper coming from inside their home. He stood firmly to his feet and rushed in as Miroku took the opposite route and ran after Kouga.
Inuyasha saw Kagome's room door open, and she was on the ground covered, and shaking in tears and her hair was tousled about. She was rubbing against her right shoulder as if it was in pain. Inuyasha crouched down beside her immediately and pulled her into his arms making sure to stand clear from her shoulder just in case it was hurting.
"What happened? Are you alright?" He asked her softly.
She didn't respond. All she did was shake her head. Inuyasha didn't like the sound of hearing nothing from her. He had a bad feeling that something had just gone down from the time he had hung up the phone to the time Miroku picked him up.
Inuyasha was about to try and ask her again, but she spoke before he could. The next thing she said made his heart stop.
"He grabbed me…" She said, causing Inuyasha to spaz out of control.