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Crossing Stars
Chapter Six: Bad Experience
Kagome dropped her head onto her desk and gave an exasperated sigh.
She'd barely gotten any sleep last night thanks to her mind giving her more mental images of Dabi than she could handle.
She was starting to suspect that she'd suddenly become one of his rabid fan girls—salivating over the tiniest bit of attention from him. Granted, she doubted that most of them ever got asked to spend the night in his bed.
Her face flushed as she tried to fight back her embarrassment.
She wouldn't be ashamed to admit that she had wondered if she'd made a mistake in turning him down. She'd only ever had sex once and that was because she'd felt pressured into going through with it with Houjo by her friends. They'd told her that men wouldn't stick around forever if she kept holding out on him. So partly because they'd pressured her and partly out of curiosity, she'd decided to give it a shot.
To call that night a miserable experience would be a compliment. She'd felt the pain temporarily as it'd been her first time. However after she'd gotten comfortable, she'd realized she couldn't even feel him at all. She'd even reached down to check if they were still connected and was horrified to discover just how tiny he was.
Far be it for her to judge a man for his size. It'd only been her first time so she had no idea what was even normal to begin with. However not even feeling him as he had his way with her had been a mortifying experience. Houjo had gotten off, rolled onto his back and promptly fell asleep right afterwards.
The regret she felt at that moment was only matched by her belief that this was not going to work. How could she be with a man who not only didn't fit her, but didn't even bother to check if she'd gotten any pleasure at all?
She'd simply gathered up her things, called a cab and immediately took a shower when she'd gotten home. She'd hated the very smell of him on her after that. Houjo had proposed the following day but she'd rejected him.
Her mother was still frothing at the mouth over the whole thing but she'd decided that this wasn't right for her. The only friend who'd sided with her when she'd told them about her first time experience was Kagura. The woman had said that if a guy is so small that she felt nothing, then he was either not using it right or not the right fit for her. Kagura was the only one to tell her that sex was just as important as an emotional connection. So if she wasn't happy with his performance, then she should trade him out for someone who satisfied her both in and out of bed. The worst sort of curse would be to get saddled with someone she loved but couldn't have pleasurable sex with. It'd be like one half of the equation to keep them going was missing. Sure there were plenty of people in this day and age that didn't need sex or simply had no interest in it at all. She honestly respected them for it as she'd figured out that night that sex was not something she could go without. She just needed someone else.
"Kagome!" Her friend Yuka startled her as she slammed her palm down on the desk.
Kagome jumped, attempting to wrangle her thoughts back into an appropriate topic.
Yuka had actually been the one who'd helped her get this job. Much of her middle school and high school years were spent in a hospital bed. She'd suddenly fallen ill with a mysterious illness that no doctor could explain or treat. She simply had to power through the terrible fevers and painful stabbing sensation within her organs. One doctor suggested that it could be Quirk Rejection Syndrome. A rare condition in which a person's quirk completely rejected their body, often leaving them in agonizing pain. There was no way to Treat Quirk Rejection Syndrome and most people who'd inherited it were often those with powerful quirks.
However her case was different. Her father had been quirkless and her mother only had a weak water quirk. Souta inherited that power but as for herself, she had nothing at all that she knew about. In their search to see if she had the Rejection Syndrome, they'd discovered that while she could have a quirk, the genes themselves didn't present with the hallmarks of the disease. Which meant that it was something else entirely.
So the doctors were even more stumped. She'd spent four years in and out of the hospital until it just stopped on its own. Like whatever disease was ravaging her body had finally run its course.
The end result were grades that were barely passing and an absurd amount of absences that no college would accept. So she'd been struggling to find a decent job ever since graduation.
"Houjo said that you left in the middle of the party last night without saying a word to him. What'd happened?" Yuka pinned her with an unenthused look.
Kagome turned her attention to her screen, "I didn't want to be there in the first place so I left. I texted him and got a cab home."
Although the shrill sound of her mother's screeching the following morning had made her head nearly split into two. She'd been forced to ignore her and force her way out of the house. It was frustrating really. Ohagi had already made it back and was curled uo next to her that morning with a letter tied to his collar. Due to the commotion she'd been able to take the letter but not read or respond to it. She'd hoped that the person wasn't anticipating a quick response. If their work schedule really was busy, then maybe he wouldn't be looking for Ohagi until later that night.
"Do you have any idea how scared we all were?!" Yuka slammed her palm down on her desk a second time. "He'd messaged us saying that you'd left and that he couldn't find you!"
Kagome turned to face her friend, "And I told him not to follow me back to the Shrine." She gave her friend a pointed look, "Why are you all so damn invested in this? I've been trying to break up with the man for years but you all keep pushing him back onto me. What the hell are you hoping to get out of this?"
She was losing her patience.
All she wanted to do was find a nice, quiet corner and read the message her new pen pal had left for her. She didn't feel like dealing with any of this right now.
"We're just looking out for you!" Yuka raised her voice in return. "He's the best option you'll ever have! Why are you so against him?"
She felt herself bristle.
"If he's my best option then I'd rather die an old maid." Kagome shot back coldly.
She gathered up her belongings and cast a piercing look at her friend, "I'm done. You can keep this job and your opinions. Don't contact me."
With that Kagome held her head up high as she marched out of the office.
She was tired.
She was so damn tired of all of this.
Her vision began to blur as she fought back tears.
Why was everyone so convinced that Houjo was 'The One'? She only felt annoyed by him and their persistence only made that worse.
Kagome angrily wiped the stray tears from her eyes as she pulled out her pen pal's note.
She'd need to go job hunting soon but for now, she just wanted something that would make her smile.
Your cat acts like he's always pissed at me but he keeps showing up on my patio. I think he just likes acting as if he owns the place.
Kagome gave a strained laugh at the image. She could perfectly imagine her cat glaring at the stranger while they'd tried to tie notes around his collar.
My work is rewarding but it gets annoying dealing with people day in and day out. If I could do my job without dealing with interference then I'd love it a lot more.
She wiped away the last of her tears as she read through his message. It almost sounded as if he had a public-facing job. She could think of a few fields that would be possible but she didn't want to jump to any conclusions.
Mountain hiking, huh? That's funny because I still do that on my days off. My old man used to take me up to a local mountain range where we could train when I was a kid. I still like to visit the mountains when I feel like getting away from the city's craziness.
Her smile softened at that.
That actually sounded like a good idea. To just get away from society for a few days and take some time recuperating from all of the emotional stress she was under in the wilderness.
I don't mind the ocean. I actually went to Shirahama beach recently for a work related trip. It was pretty damn beautiful there. I will probably take another trip there later for leisure though. Feel like joining me?
Kagome laughed at the sloppy winning face he'd drawn on the message.
Also your cat is pretty chill. I don't mind sharing custody of him for a little while.
That got her to laugh even louder.
Shared custody? Is that what this was?
Her smile softened as she made her way to a familiar café.
She'd have to think of a response to give him.
Kagome glanced down at the note as she tried to consider the type of person who wrote it.
Her instincts were telling her that it was a man based on the tone of his writing. They had a very gruff way of getting their words across and it made her feel somewhat at ease knowing that they were being candid on some level. They had yet to give her their name though, so they likely either were being cautious or had a name that was too recognizable. Although she wouldn't bank her bets on that.
Kagome sighed as she settled into one of her favorite tables at the café. She pulled open her notebook she'd brought with her and started writing a response.
It'd be late before she could give it to Ohagi, so she hoped that her pen pal was the patient type.
Her smile softened as her mind drifted away from her problems.
For just this moment, she felt happy.
