Hello again. I´m happy to read your comments about the last chapter, you´ll learn about the doctor´s plan little by little- insert evil laughter.
DISCLAIMER: All the characters belong to Rumiko Takahashi, I just borrowed them for my story.
8- BFFs
"I´m fine, just busy with new stuff at work. Can we meet on Saturday?"
After trying several different renderings of basically the same message, Kagome opted for this version. She decided she needed to talk things out with Hojo. What she was going to say was still a subject for meditation, but one thing was clear, her relationship with Hojo needed to change.
Once she left Dr. Ikeda´s lab, she had wandered the streets aimlessly. The image of Inuyasha with another woman in his arms had disturbed her more than she was willing to admit, and she needed to clear her head before she could make any rash decisions.
She knew she had no right to feel offended, it´s not like they had a relationship or anything like that. He could hook up with any woman he chose for all she cared, besides, she wasn´t even free to have something with him. However, only a couple of hours earlier they both had shared an intimate moment. He had stirred feelings inside her she had not felt in years, sensations she thought she would never feel again. It obviously didn´t mean anything to him, but to her, what did it mean exactly?
When the street lights started to illuminate the darkening streets, Kagome realized she should be heading home. The only problem was she didn´t want to go home and be alone with her thoughts.
Taking out her cell phone and hoping the old thing didn´t finally crumble in her hands, she unlocked it and started to write another message.
"Are you busy right now? Can I come over?"
A few seconds later her phone vibrated with the reply.
"You´re always welcome here. Please come, I´m so bored."
Quickening her pace, the raven-haired girl arrived at her friend´s building in record time, another way to get rid of negative energies, she thought. She was buzzed in almost immediately and found her best friend waiting for her at the top of the stairs, her body weight supported by crutches and her right foot bandaged.
"Kagome! I´m so happy to see you." The browned-haired girl beamed at her. "What have you done to yourself, you look stunning!"
Sango was almost shouting her welcome, opening her arms to receive her friend while the crutches fell to the floor with a loud crashing sound. Kagome smiled back and let her friend wrap her in a crushing hug when she reached the door. She had always admired Sango´s strength, now that her right foot was injured and she had to balance her weight on her left one, she still managed to squeeze the air out of Kagome´s lungs while hugging her.
"I´m so glad you´re here, I have been going crazy with nothing to do all day. And Miroku trying to take care of me is so..."
"Sweet?" Kagome offered.
"Try suffocating. He never lets me out of his sight and I´m barely allowed to move. He´s driving me insane!" Sango supported her weight by holding Kagome´s arm, both friends too distracted by the conversation to pick the crutches up at the moment.
They sat on the couch, Kagome helping Sango sit down before plopping down in front of her.
"Rough day, ha?" Sango was too perceptive to even try to conceal her emotions, Kagome had come to see her with that thought in mind.
"Rough day, rough week, rough life." Kagome snorted.
"Oh, please, you never liked to see yourself as a victim, are you beginning now?"
"It seems like a good time to start." Kagome sighed and run her fingers through her hair. "What about you? Aren´t you gonna tell me what happened to your foot?"
Sango took one look at her friend´s features and decided she should talk first and after Kagome had relaxed a little, they could talk about whatever was bothering her friend.
"Nothing too fancy, I was teaching a kickboxing class and fell too hard on my right foot. The worst part is that I had to get someone to take over all my classes cause I have to rest for a couple of weeks."
"Ha, boring accident. Inuyasha hinted you and Miroku were probably involved in some kinky sexual accident." Kagome said distractedly.
"Oh, did he?" Sango arched an eyebrow and smirked."So, you two already met?"
Kagome just snorted.
"You could say that we met. I mean, working in the same building, it was only a matter of time."
"Miroku said we should have introduced you a long time ago since you are working for him now. And how exactly did you two meet if Miroku didn´t introduce you?"
The raven-haired girl looked down at her own hands and then at Sango´s face. She could tell her friend suspected she was hiding something. Sango and she had been friends since childhood, her family used to worship at the Higurashi shrine and the two girls had also shared school in their teen years. Kagome had confided in Sango since she had her first crush on a boy. They knew each other´s dreams, hopes, and heartbreaks, it was natural for Kagome to ask her for advice. And the same was also true for Sango, Kagome knew all the nuisances of her relationship with Miroku, even some gross details that she hoped she hadn´t learned. In a way, Kagome envied Sango that; she and Miroku were a solid couple. No matter how disgusted she seemed at their antics, Kagome knew their love was built on strong foundations. So, if Kagome had to accept relationship advice, Sango was the only person she could trust that was qualified for the job.
"I met Inuyasha when I stole his ramen," Kagome confessed while Sango could only giggle. She sighed softly and continued. "You know I have been struggling with money since grandpa was sent to the retirement home, I had enough for breakfast only this last week and I was hungry. I found instant ramen in the coffee break room after lunch, everybody I knew on that floor had left, I thought it had been forgotten and I ate it. Turned out it was Inuyasha´s and boy, was he mad at me!"
"Nice way to meet a guy!" Sango finally let out a guffaw. "And now the guy hates your gut."
"Well, I wouldn´t say that he hates me..."
"What? Did you beg him for mercy? Did you stand up to him?"
"Actually, we ended up making out." Kagome shriveled down in her seat, her voice becoming only a whisper that Sango was doubtful she had heard right.
"You did what?" The brown-haired girl was incredulous, her eyes wide in shock and her upper body jumping forward on the couch reminding Kagome of a Jack in the box.
Sending her an apologetic glance and shrinking her shoulders, even more, Kagome continued. "He said he needed to taste me to make sure I had done it."
"And you just let him?" Sango´s voice was reaching a high pitch that Kagome didn´t know she could reach.
"Oh, no. I didn´t just let him. I encouraged him. Hell, I even started round two when he took me home later that night."
"WHAT?" This time Sango did scream, the sound making Kagome close her eyes and shrink even more in her seat. "Aren´t you supposed to be some frigid nun?"
Kagome opened one eye to spy on her friend. She couldn´t tell if Sango was shocked, amused or angry. What she saw was her friend snickering wide, her eyes large in surprise. "Amused it is," she decided.
"First of all, that´s offensive."Kagome started to enumerate. " Second, I was trained as a priestess, not a nun. And third, I had believed that too for a long time, that I was frigid."
Sango seemed to be doing math in her head, her face changing from amused to intrigued. For a few seconds, she remained silent until she couldn´t hold her tongue any longer.
"Does that mean you never get excited?" Sango finally dared to ask.
"Well," Kagome tapped a finger on her chin trying to think of the best way convey what she had felt to her friend. "When I was dating Koga, I did. But then, it was a something that never got fulfilled, so I don´t really know." The young miko sighed before continuing. "After that awful experience I swore off men altogether, I never let anybody this close before."
"That doesn´t mean your body was closed for business. I mean, we all have needs." Sango felt her face hotter every second but she felt they should discuss this now that Kagome was finally opening to her.
Kagome´s face matched her friend´s in color, a deep shade of red. She wanted to drop this subject and never discuss it again. While another side of her demanded to let it out in the open once and for all.
"Sure, I have needs too, like everybody else. I just took care of them by myself."
"Oh!" Sango´s mouthed remained rounded for a while, matching her saucer-shaped eyes. Another shocking reveal from her friend on the same night? It was huge. Kagome and she had been friends for years, she had confided her most daring dreams and shocking fantasies to her and had gotten nothing of the kind from the young miko.
"Hmm." Sango cleared her throat before speaking again. "Then you´re definitely not frigid, girl."
"I suspected that myself. I was probably hiding behind that label to avoid being hurt again." Kagome sighed and hugged herself, another gesture of self-protection.
"Wow, that was deep. How come we never talked about this before? Every time we discussed the subject you focused on what a bastard your ex was." Sango moved forward on her seat again, propping one elbow on her left knee and resting her head on a fist."Did you have sex with Inuyasha?"
"No, I did not!"
Kagome´s initial shock at the suggestion vanished when she thought about it a little."But honestly, I think I wanted to." Then she had to look down when she felt her cheeks burn.
"Oh dear Kami, that´s great Kags!" Sango tried to make eye contact with her friend while she kept darting her eyes away. "You should stop having second thoughts and go for it. If he showed interest in you, what´s stopping you?"
"Well, for starters he has a relationship with someone named Kikyo. I saw them together today."
"That´s not true. I know he feels guilty about what happened but they hadn´t been together for years."
The vehement defense of Inuyasha made Kagome finally look up, her curiosity getting the best of her.
"What happened between them?"
Sango sighed and looked down at her hands.
"I´m not really sure if I should be the one telling you this. Even if I haven´t known Inuyasha for too long, I know he can be very protective of his intimacy." Sango locked her gaze on Kagome´s pleading eyes and went on."But since you are my dearest and closest friend and I know you two deserve a chance, I´ll tell you." The brunette licked her dry lips and continued. "Inuyasha and Kikyo were engaged a couple of years ago; she got pregnant and then had a miscarriage. I don´t know the details but Miroku says she blames Inuyasha for it and that she has made him go through hell ever since." Sango reached for Kagome´s hand and gave is a small squeeze. "See? I don´t know what you saw, but I´m pretty sure they are not together."
"That doesn´t mean I´m ready for a relationship." Kagome squeezed her friend´s hand back and looked up into her eyes, fear and anxiety plain on her own coffee colored orbs.
"Kags dear, you don´t need to have a relationship with every guy you want to have sex with."
"Sango!" Kagome took back her hand from Sango´s grip. "You know I´m not like that, I couldn´t just sleep with some guy without getting to know him."
"I didn´t mean it like that! For Kami´s sake Kags, you think I´m some kind of a slut?" Sango saw her friend´s face smiling an apology and her hand patting hers fondly. "What I meant was that you obviously like the guy so, you should try to get to know him better. It will also help you get over your issues with sex."
"But, what if it doesn´t work out between us?"
"Well, if it doesn´t work out, at least you will get it out of your system. Come on, you said it yourself, you want him, don´t you? And Inuyasha is so hot! I bet he´ll make you enjoy every second of it."
Sango snickered and waggled her eyebrows at her friend until Kagome finally smiled.
"I have to admit one thing, he is one smoking hot half demon." Kagome conceded.
"At least now we know for sure one thing." Sango teased.
"What?" The girl asked intrigued.
"First it was Kouga, now Inuyasha. It´s clear to me that you are definitely a dog person."
The laughter that broke out from both girls was loud enough to startle the neighbours who spent a couple more hours amused by the happy sounds coming from the appartment.