"Are you sure Megumi is going to take care of Buyo Jr?" Kagome questions. She can barely keep her eyes opened and the quiet atmosphere of first-class isn't helping her to stay awake. There's a weight attached to her bones, to her mental capacity. Each movement takes double the effort, and all she wants to do is crawl back into bed.
So many years of mundane living have made her soft, she summarizes.
"He loves weird pets. It'll be fine," Gojo responds, not bothering to look up from scrolling on his phone. "We've got a long flight. You should get some rest."
"I wish I was still in bed." She pinches and rubs her forehead as if the action will help to ease some of the built-up tension there. Her eyes slide past his white button-down shirt and focus on the glares from the other passengers. "I would have been okay staying back at home."
"I'm starting to think you didn't want to come." He pouts. His blue eyes glimmer behind the dark shades. It should be a crime with how alert he is while she is very much so dead on her feet, so to speak.
Reaching over, she brushes some stray hairs from his face. His skin is warm and softer than she was expecting with how little he sleeps. Her mouth parts slightly as she inhales, wondering if his lips are as soft as the rest of him.
"Keep staring at me like that and I'll have to take you everywhere with me."
She pulls back her hand as if she's been burned. His low chuckles wash over her, seeping into her skin, and churning deep in her gut.
"You should get more rest," she responds, not bothering to address the heated atmosphere.
"Only if you sleep with me again."
"What? You-you," she stammers. Heat rises to her cheeks and flushes down her neck. There's a skip in her heart rate as she remembers how natural it felt to curl around him and take refuge in the broadness of him.
"Gome-chan!" He places a hand over his chest. "You pervert." His smirk is teasing, but the glint in his eyes suggests anything but that.
It's not a topic she wants to get into while her mind is muddled with thoughts of sleep and how Buyo Jr is doing without her, so she pinches him.
"You know how you worded that."
The glares from earlier turn murderous, Gojo's teasing drawing ire from her and those around them. Though, Kagome suspects the other passengers are angrier with her than they are with him. There's no way that he's oblivious to the longing stares, nor the way the white button-down shirt highlights the strength in his collar bones. Or the way his eyes glitter behind the dark shades. She bites down on her tongue. It's the sleep deprivation, she determines.
"Just get me up when we land." Turning her body towards the window, she angles herself away from him. The heat of his stare burns her back, but it's nothing she can't easily smother.
"Sweet dreams, Gome-chan," he coos. Long, nimble fingers trail down her neck; she shivers, forcing herself to lean away and not towards him.
"Idiot," she mutters, with no real bite or grit in her voice. Her eyes flutter shut to the tune of his fingers combing through her hair.
It's not until they arrive at the hotel and makeup to the room, that it occurs to her that perhaps asking him how he could squeeze her into a last-minute trip was possible.
"Ugh, I wish I could stay, but I've got to meet up with an associate." He plops the suitcases down near the king-sized bed, with its overflow of satin pillows.
Kagome blinks, daring the room to magically summon another bed or attached room. But all she can see is a bathroom with a shower that rivals the one Satoru has at home. She walks a little further, and there's a whirlpool on top of an elevated floor, positioned in such a way that she could enjoy the heated jets and the beautiful lights of the city.
"Gojo-san." Her fingers twitch at her sides, playing with the hem of her dress.
"Gojo? What happened to Satoru?" His face is too cheery to convince her he forgot.
"Why is there only one bed? I could have stayed back."
"Hold that thought." He backs up, his hands out in front of him in mock surrender. "I've got something for you." He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his wallet. The black card glares at her from the bed. There's a slight hesitancy to his movements as he places the card down onto the bed. "I've gotta go, but if you want to go shopping, you can. I'll be back before dinner. Just stay on this strip, yeah." He gives her a thumbs up and vanishes.
She wishes that he'd stop teleporting so much when she knows that he's only doing it to avoid the conversation brewing up inside of her. And the constant taking her with, only to drop her off somewhere, is frustrating. She wants to be angry, but the more rational side of her reasons that she hasn't been completely upfront about herself either.
"Whatever." She huffs, stalking forward and picking up the card left behind. The girls would go crazy if they knew someone was giving her access to their black card. They would go crazy no matter what, she thinks if they saw Satoru. "May as well take him up on that offer." She looks over at the bed once more. "And maybe some oversized pajamas too."
Once outside the hotel, she pulls her phone out from her purse and snaps a picture of the building. There was absolutely no way she was going to depend on her rusty English skills to remember the name of the hotel, no less she wanted to set herself up for failure.
But the walk does wonders for the stiffness in her legs, even with the shoving and bulldozers pedestrians swaying her out of their way. It doesn't matter, she's in no rush, and the thought of returning to that room is damning.
Lying with him on the couch was one thing, but to be so much closer on a bed is whole another ballpark. She walks into the overtly bright store with its overzealous chandeliers and expensive champagne waiting at the door. It's not something she would normally go for, living as a shrine maiden isn't exactly a luxurious lifestyle, but Satoru told her to stay on the strip, and all the other surrounding stores are just as over the top.
Her hand was forced, truly.
She bypasses the champagne and waves off the seller, choosing to look around herself. There's something utterly boring about shopping by herself, or maybe it's the way Satoru so casually gave her access to his funds that's tripping her up the most. The seller, a man with an over-stylized cut, waves at her once more. Kagome sighs and tilts her head in his direction.
"We have more purses this way," he speaks slowly, gesturing towards a back door. She isn't sure what he's trying to say to her, but she gets the gist of what he wants. She flashes a tight smile and moves away from the handbags and towards the entrance.
"I'm so sorry, miss," his words breathe down her neck. The word, 'sorry', raises the hairs on her forearms. A bead of sweat drips from her forehead and down the side of her cheek. The grip on her arm is tight as he ushers her towards the back. His face is frozen in an unpleasant smile.
She chews on the inside of her cheek. Purification won't work on him, and she isn't physically strong enough to break away. He lifts his free hand and waves to someone behind them or in front. She can't tell with how dark the corridor is.
"It's nothing personal. I'm sure you understand." He opens a red door. There are boxes upon boxes of merchandise. His sickening smile never leaves his face, widening upon the entrance of a brute man.
This is bad, she thinks; eyes darting around the room for something to use. The brute cracks his knuckles, the dark color of his shirt contrasts with the flamboyant pink of the seller. They converse amongst themselves. A chill run through her veins as the atmosphere shifts; the sudden drop in temperature doesn't seem to bother them as they laugh.
"N-no," she cries out, shaking her head at the emergence of a young girl appearing beside the brute. No, that's a curse, she corrects herself. The evil intent stifles the fear that was blossoming in her chest. Her powers spike.
It hits her suddenly. These men aren't afraid of the curse. They crackle to one another as they push her forward. The curse tilts its head, ripples of black curls tickle its ashen arms. Its eyes are mismatches with splashes of greens and reds, as though it couldn't settle on a singular color. The brute makes a move to walk towards the door, when the curse latches onto him, its nails lengthen and dig into his skin.
"What are you doing!" The other man screams. He waves his arms around as if he's trying to shoo something away. He falls down, the sound echoes in the storage room as the curse snaps the neck of the brute. It smiles, the fangs glint under the bright light.
"Take her instead!" The sales attendant tries to back away towards the door, but the curse flashes out of her peripheral and kills the man instead.
Fuck. She doesn't have her bow, and calling for Satoru is a no-go.
"I was growing weary of those two," it states, folding itself in half to look at her. The curse is speaking English, but somehow, she's able to understand, which freaks her out more than the actual threat of dying. "You're different from the rest." It rights itself, turning on the heel of its feet with a twirl. Kagome steps back, but the curse launches itself at her, gripping onto her in a pseudo hug.
"You didn't have to kill them," she grits out through the pain of claws digging into her.
"They were going to sacrifice you, and yet you defend them." It tilts its head, dragging its claws down her arms. Blood trickles down, and Kagome bites down on her tongue to keep the cries within. "You should want revenge."
"It's easier to hate than it is to forgive." Tears cloud her vision, but she swears that there's a flicker of regret staring back at her. Her shoulders slump as a gentle smile crosses her face. "I'm sorry. We let you down." The tears run down her face; she can taste the salt of them on her lips. "I'm so sorry."
The curse's mismatched eyes widened as the grip on her arms loosens. It opens its mouth to say something, but only a silent scream comes out. Its body evaporates. Her brows scrunch together. She was just getting ready to purify it.
"Satoru?" Kagome swallows down the feeling of regret and tries to avoid looking at him. He must think that she's weak. His grip on her chin is forceful as he directs her attention onto him. "How did you find me?"
"I felt your power spike," he responds, eyes hardening behind his shades at her bloody arms. "Let's get you cleaned up." He lets go of her chin and wraps an arm around her, not caring about the mess getting on his shirt.
This time, she doesn't mind the teleportation. His eyes follow her around the hotel room, as she shrugs off his desire to play nurse. The wounds are nothing compared to the ones she's gotten from InuYasha when he would lose control over his demon blood.
"I'm going to take a shower. Can we just have something here to eat," she asks as she makes her way to the bathroom, not bothering to stick around for his reply. She must have been in the shower for that long or the hotel was just that fast at getting their room service to them.
"C'mere," he instructs, picking up the tray with several pizza slices on it. She follows him to the whirlpool, which's filled to the brim with bubbles.
"I don't think you're supposed to put any bubbles in that," she comments as water sloshes from the sides.
"You aren't going to let a good bath go to waste, are you?"
"Fine." She undoes her robe and then pauses. "Though, I just got out the shower."
He turns his back to her, giving her some privacy. "Yeah, but this will be more relaxing." At the sound of her settling into the tub, he turns and places the tray on the one side of the tub that doesn't have water flowing down it.
The overflow of bubbles only allows for shoulders to be seen, which gives her some peace of mind. "Thank you." She smiles. "What are you doing?" Her head freezes mid-grab of picking up a slice of cheese pizza.
"Joining you, of course," he chirps, tossing his shirt over his head.
"You joining is the opposite of relaxing!" She averts her gaze, biting down harder than she needed to on the slice.
"Is that any way to talk to your savior?" The water ripples as he joins her. She wishes she could blame the heat on the jets. He reaches over and plucks a slice of his own. "Why did you hesitate?"
She opens her mouth and then closes it. "All I could feel was its pain." She sets her slice back down on the tray and leans back. "And I couldn't stop thinking about how much it was in pain because of us." She looks over at him, his expression contemplating.
"They aren't like Buyo Jr, you can't hesitate to exorcise them." He huffs and moves closer to her, placing his half-eaten slice on the tray.
"You think I'm weak." She looks down, balling her fists. Sparkling blue clouds her vision. She tries to look away.
"Look at me," he commands. "I never said that, but this isn't your world. You can not hesitate again." Her eyes trail down to his lips and then back up.
He's way too close, she decides, with nothing but bubbles separating them.
"Satoru…" He slants his mouth against hers, pressing himself against her. She sighs and grips the back of his head, his white hair softer than the robe she discarded on the floor. Her chest constricts, pumping all the blood south and leaving her weightless. He's careful to mind her arms and for that she is thankful. When he pulls back, she can't help the way her skin flushes pink.
"Promise me."
"Okay," she agrees. When he presses against her again, she leans into him, pouring all the day's frustration into the kiss. She'll try her best to keep the promise, if only to keep him from worrying. "I'll try my best."
A/N: Thank you all for the kind reviews and for going on this journey with me :)