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Crossing Stars

Chapter Four: Aggressive Attraction

Kagome fought the urge to scream.

Her mother had asked her to dress nicely as she and the family would be going out to eat at a nice restaurant that night. Yet when she came downstairs, she'd found Houjo waiting for her—all dressed to the nines and beaming with pride. Her brother had been shooting their mother death glares while the woman gushed about how 'cute' they both were.

She'd tried to turn around and go back to her room but he'd managed to catch her wrist. He'd told her that since she was already ready, they could hit up the restaurant now. His work colleagues would be present and he wanted her to be there.

She'd tried to pry herself free from his grasp to no avail. With no where to retreat to and Houjo clinging onto her, she'd virtually been dragged out of the house.

She had no desire to go whatsoever.

Kagome purposefully kept her distance as they made their way down the familiar block. She'd walked by here so many times that she could navigate it without any additional help.

Houjo tried to slip his arm around her waist but she roughly shoved him back. Her reaction did little to deter him. He simply kept smiling, prattling on about how excited he was for their 'date'.

Kagome glanced up as she noticed a man walking on the opposite side of the street. Despite wearing an oversized hoody, she could clearly tell that he had a powerful build. He likely worked out on the regular and his piercing blue eyes made her breath catch in her throat. She could make out short, black hair and a multitude of piercings—three in his nose and several decorating each of his ears. He was the epitome of every mother's worst nightmare. Yet Kagome had a difficult time tearing her eyes away from him.

He was attractive in a way that made her stomach coil itself into knots whenever he looked her way. She could feel his eyes upon her until the moment they'd turned the corner.

Kagome flushed as she felt her heart begin to race.

She really was beginning to lose it if having one stranger check her out made her lose almost all control of herself.

Her annoyance returned in full when Houjo slipped his arm around her shoulders and tried to reel her closer to himself possessively. That time she ducked out of his grip and doubled her pace.

Clearly, he'd misinterpreted the reason why she'd become flustered.

"Tell me something," Kagome started as they approached the sushi-bar. "Why exactly are you doing this?"

There was liking someone and then there was… well, whatever this was.

She still felt like she was crazy for not returning his feelings. As if she was being unnecessarily harsh to someone who cherished her. However she couldn't shake off her instincts. They kept screaming at her that this was not right. That he wasn't right for her.

"Because I love you." Houjo beamed at her, "I thought you knew that already, sweetheart?" He tried to lean down to kiss her but she pushed his shoulders and turned her head away.

"Don't." Kagome spoke, keeping her distance from him. "Just don't. I'm not in the mood tonight."

For just a second, she saw a look of hurt overtake his features. In the next second he was smiling yet again, opening the door for her and assuring her that everything would be just fine.

Kagome sighed as she made her way inside.

She'd been to a few parties like this before. Usually on Houjo's arm as he worked with his father at their family's company. The Houjo family ran an extremely lucrative support item company. They supplied gear to more than thirty percent of all pro heroes. They wanted to boost that number to forty-five percent by the end of the fiscal year.

Kagome took up a spot at the far edge of the party. She grabbed a glass of water from the waiter and clutched it with all of her might.

She wasn't stupid enough to leave her drink unattended for any period of time.

While Houjo shimmied off to rub elbows with his work colleagues and investors, she found herself thinking about that strange man from before. Her body still shivered at the memory of his eyes raking over her. She wouldn't call herself a harlot by any means. Besides her relationship with Houjo and Inuyasha before him, she had very little physical experience with men. Yet something about that one made her question herself.

Clearly, this had to be a simple case of sexual frustration. A misguided reaction to receiving male attention while she was still wrangling with her sense of confusion over what to do with her relationship with Houjo.

Kagome flushed as another wave of heat ran through her when the man's eyes flashed at the forefront of her mind.

She really needed to pull herself together.

She'd waited underneath one of the air vents as she steadily redirected her thoughts.

She wondered if the stranger Ohagi visited the other day had gotten her note, and if they'd responded. Her cat would flit in and out of the shrine at his own pace, so it was hard to predict when he'd return.

Kagome blinked as she watched Houjo laugh with the elderly investors. Their wives and girlfriends all clustered together, decked out in jewelry that looked more expensive than her entire inheritance combined.

She had no desire to make events like these a normal fixture in her life.

She silently set her drink down and gathered up her purse.

Houjo had a bad habit of turning off his phone while he was at parties like this. So she would have some time to make her escape before he'd noticed.

She swiftly opened up their text thread and sent him a message saying that she was heading home and to not show up at the shrine that night. Naturally, she was almost certain that he would but she'd just have to keep her door locked and pretend to be asleep if her mother came knocking.

She was still furious with the woman for forcing her into this situation and not respecting her wishes. She knew that she'd need to have a conversation with her soon about this but she was too tired to deal with it tonight.

Kagome quietly slipped out of the sushi-bar and onto the familiar back alley streets. The overwhelming music from the bar made her eardrums ring even long after she'd left the building.

She pulled her clutch closer to herself as the sun's light began to fade.

It would be dark soon which mean that villains would be more liable to attack.

She quickened her pace as the crowds gradually thinned out. They were in a decent neighborhood but the crime rate still wasn't zero. Dabi was actually the pro hero who served this district. He had a rough exterior to him but he was excellent at his job. She could admit that the hero was attractive in a bad boy sort of way. His devil-may-care attitude and lack of fan service led him to have a particularly unique sort of fan base. She wouldn't call herself one of his fans, but she appreciated his work all the same. That being said, Dabi couldn't be around at all times. Even if he was, powerful villains liked to challenge him to fights to test their mettle. Staying on the street after dark was a sure fire way to get caught up in one of those skirmishes.

Kagome froze as she heard the sound of footsteps tailing behind her. Carefully, she passed a storefront building and used the dim street lamps to check the reflection for anyone following behind her. Much to her horror, she observed a man somewhere in his mid fifties tailing after her. He had an unkempt appearance with sores all over his mouth and arms. He also had a long, scraggly beard lined with strips of grey and white. His hair was greasy and his body unnaturally thin.

If she had to guess, then she'd say he was a trigger addict. She'd heard news reports about the quirk boosting drug, trigger, taking the underworld by storm. People would sell all of their possessions in order to obtain the drug. They would throw themselves into the pit of addiction and poverty, all for the sake of experiencing the high trigger brought them. Usage of the drug could boost a person's quirk several times over. However it'd also cause a user's body to lose body fat and painful sores to break out over their skin. The most terrifying side effect was the decreased mental capacity it caused. Perfectly capable adults would suddenly become reduced to mumbling addicts, unable to control their baser impulses.

Kagome sped up as the man gained on her.

Going straight home was no longer an option.

She would not lead that man to the place where she slept.

She turned another corner as she made her way towards the local police station.

Her best bet was to simply act as if everything was normal and make her way to a safe location. She would have to keep ahead of him in the mean time.

Kagome lengthened her strides as she kept him a good distance behind her. She felt her heart race as she tried to remain calm.

She nearly stumbled when she rounded another corner and almost ran face first into the man whom she'd seen before on the way to the sushi-bar.

His brows raised in surprise before his gaze drifted to the man still following behind her. His expression suddenly shifted and he quickly stepped between them.

"The fuck do you want with my girl?" The man raised his voice, keeping himself between them.

It was funny how he seemed to understand the situation completely without her needing to say a word.

Her would-be stalker stuttered out a response neither of them could understand.

The man in front of her squared his shoulders in a show of intimidation, "You've got three seconds to get your ass out of my sight."

His voice sharpened with his intent.

"Three." He warned.

The other man swiftly scrambled over himself and scurried off, disappearing into the darkness from which he came.

He waited a few seconds to be safe before he turned to face her once more.

"Did you ditch your date?" His lips pulled into a confident smirk.

Kagome felt herself flush in response. Her heart thundered in her chest while her body betrayed her.

She felt like a schoolgirl with a first crush, not a grown woman with a significant other.

"Something like that." Kagome responded.

She glanced up at the man's face and felt her breath leave her lungs.

Now she knew why he was so familiar.

He was Dabi.

Granted, he'd dyed his hair and used the hoody to hide his identity, but she could recognize that face anywhere. If he was going through that much trouble to avoid being recognized then she wouldn't call him out on it.

Kagome offered Dabi a polite bow of appreciation.

"Thank you for helping me." She offered him a small but grateful smile, "I really do appreciate it."

How lucky had she been for a pro hero to be hanging around off duty when she needed help the most? It was ironic but she was appreciative of the fact that he was even here at all.

"You should be careful," Dabi's tone shifted as his expression turned serious. "I don't know why you ditched your date but walking around at night by yourself is a recipe for disaster." He pinned her with a pointed look, "Do you need me to walk you back?"

Kagome flushed when she felt his hand brush against her own. The waves of heat she'd fought down earlier returned with a vengeance.

She really needed to pull herself together. Dabi already had enough fan girls pawing at him. He didn't need her to harass him either.

"It's just around the corner," She lied. "I'll just catch a cab from here to be safe. So there's no need for you to do that."

Plus she'd feel bad for cutting into his one day off.

Dabi shot her a concerned glance, "Well if you're sure. I'll at least call the cab for you."

True to his word, he had one arrive in less than ten minutes. In between that time they'd filled the awkward silence with some ice breaking questions.

"So you're dating that guy earlier, huh?" He asked, looking unimpressed.

She nodded, "We've been together for six years now."

Dabi gave a low whistle, "Six years and no ring yet?"

Kagome gripped at her clutch, "I was the one that said no."

Houjo had bought her a ring. A beautiful one in fact. However it was gaudy and heavy on her finger—reminding her entirely too much of how burdened she'd felt by him. She had handed it back to him the day he'd presented it to her and told him to save it for a woman that loved him back. He then swore that he'd do everything his power to make her change her mind. Her mother still hadn't forgiven her for turning him down. She was doing everything in her power to make sure they got married despite her objections.

Dabi's lips curled into a smirk, "Well ain't nothing stopping you from moving on then."

They both paused as the cab finally pulled up. He helped her into the back before he rested his arm on the top of the vehicle and leaned towards her.

She felt her heart race wildly beneath her chest and she quickly crossed her legs to stifle the uncomfortable heat pooling between them. How had she become so swayed by a person's physical appearance?

This really had to be the result of her sexual frustration. That was the only possible explanation she could come up with. Either that or she was just so desperate for anything other than Houjo that her body reacted to the first attractive male that gave her attention. Regardless of the reason, she wouldn't allow herself to become the same as his rabid fan base.

"You going to be alright? I could still make sure you get home alright." That time his lips were pulled into a confident smirk as he spoke.

She could tell that he was asking for more than to just see her home okay. The mental image of his body hovering over her own nearly made her lose her breath.

Kagome shifted as her body responded to the insinuation.

"I'll be fine but thanks again for all of your help." She flashed him a bright smile. "Hopefully I'll see you around."

With that he shut the door for her and the cab pulled away.

Kagome watched as Dabi tugged the hood of his pullover down, revealing his dyed locks in full. He stared after her with an expression she couldn't decipher, but chose to turn back in her seat and focus on her return home.

By the time she'd made it back, her family had long since fallen asleep. She'd kept her phone turned off and made her way upstairs.

Ohagi was curled up on her pillow and attached to his collar was yet another response.

Her lips curled up into a smile. She quickly pulled the note off of Ohagi and read through its contents.

That's one hell of an origin story for a name.

She laughed.

Honestly Ohagi had always been full of surprises so when he'd devoured her mom's cooking, the name had stuck. Souta complained that he should've been named gremlin but Kagome had vetoed the suggestion. Ohagi was too cute for such a name.

She continued reading.

I can't have pets since I have a pretty rough schedule with work. It wouldn't be fair to them. What about you? What do you do for a living?

Her smile softened.

Their handwriting was messy and at some points difficult to read. Yet something about it made her feel all the more at ease with them. Perhaps because they were communicating through Ohagi.

Her cat had always been a good judge of character. They often had to either let him outside or take him to her room any time Houjo came around. The first time the cat had met het boyfriend, he'd latched himself onto his legs and refused to let go. Houjo had needed five stitches afterwards but Kagome refused to rehome her cat despite her mother's wishes. Ohagi had only wanted to defend his family. She wouldn't rehome him for that. Her mother once gave Ohagi to a family friend but by the next morning he'd returned and yowled at her mother for the rest of the day, taking angry swipes at her heels. She'd never tried to rehome him again after that.

Kagome took a larger strip of paper that time and wrote her response.

Somehow having a complete stranger she'd never met communicate with her through Ohagi felt special in its own way. Like she'd found someone that she could talk to. It was a strange circumstance but a welcome one all the same after the day's series of unfortunate events.

Kagome tied the letter to Ohagi's collar once more. As if sensing that he'd been tasked with an important mission, the feline jumped up from his spot on the bed and pawed at the window. She obliged his request and opened it for him. Ohagi then leapt into the Goshinboku's boughs and scaled his way down.

She could only watch as the feline darted away into the darkness beyond.

The image of Dabi leaning towards her in the cab and his eyes raking down her form suddenly flashed in her mind.

Kagome quickly threw herself onto her bed as she tried to shove the memory to the back of her mind.

She needed to sort this out fast.

A/n: So as a brief head's up, I do plan to make things quite a lot more… spicy with this fic. So I've updated the tags to reflect that. With that said, I hope you all enjoy some explicit content with your fluff.