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Crossing Stars

Chapter Ten: Saying No

Kagome watched as Touya put together the last pieces of furniture for her. He'd not only bought her everything she could have possibly needed, but had made sure that it'd be delivered before the end of the day. Most of the items were still packed in boxes. So rather than making her spend the whole night putting it all together, he'd opted to take care of it for her. She offered to help several times but he would simply grin at her and tell her that his pride would get hurt if she thought that he couldn't handle this much on his own. So she'd allowed him to have his way, for now at least.

Kagome flushed as she watched him lean over the bed frame that he was currently putting together. The cloth of his hero costume left little to the imagination. His muscles rippled beneath the fabric and she found an uncomfortable heat begin pooling between her legs.

"What're you craving?" Kagome called out to the man, "I'll order us some delivery."

Mostly because she didn't have any groceries yet. She'd cook him a meal herself if she could though.

Ohagi mewled as he pawed at her legs.

Since they'd returned with the furniture, they'd gone back to their office floor and picked her cat up. By the time they'd returned, the feline had left scratch marks all down the office door that separated their rooms. Touya had simply laughed when he saw it, citing that he needed to replace that door anyways. She still felt terrible at seeing the damage but he assured her that it was fine.

"You'll have to meet the delivery driver in the lobby," Touya called out to her. "Take my ID when you head down there. Yours will be ready in the morning." He briefly stopped what he was doing to throw her a confident smirk, "If you want some good food though, I'd suggest the soba joint just up the road. They've got the best I've ever had."

Kagome settled in next to him as she opened her phone, searching for the joint that he was talking about.
"Is this it?" She lifted her device for him to see.

She froze when she felt her phone vibrate, signaling the arrival of a message that she hadn't anticipated.

"That's the place," Touya pressed on, his smile slowly fading away as he took in her frigid expression.

"I'll take the tempura soba," He then opened his hand to her, encouraging her to take it and the seat next to him. "What about you?"

Kagome slid her palm over his.

The heat of his skin upon her own made her face grow unbearable hot. Her heart thundered even louder within her chest as she felt the warmth of his body heat emanating from beside her. They were a few inches apart but she felt as if he were pressed against her with how much she could already sense from him.

"I think I'll have the same if you don't mind," Her voice caught in her throat.

The man cast her a short smile, "You won't regret it."

Somehow, she didn't think he was talking about the food right now.

Touya then shifted away from her, as if sensing that she was getting overwhelmed by his presence.
"It was someone called 'Souta' that texted you, by the way." He responded after a short moment, "That was the contact I saw when the message came in."

Kagome gave a sigh of relief.

Now that really was a lucky break.

"Souta someone important?" Touya's voice was calm but she could sense something in the tension of his tone. If she didn't know any better, she'd almost say that he sounded a bit jealous.

She leaned on the back of her palms, "He's my little brother. He was the only other person who thought Houjo was weird in my family." She smiled at her companion, "He's several years younger than me but I swear that he's got an old soul. He acts like an adult more than he does a child. I do worry about him though."

Touya's lips curled up into a pleasant smile as well, "Sounds like the kid has good instincts." The tension in his voice faded away into something more pleasant. The man continued, "So Houjo is the name of your ex?"

Kagome nodded, "That's right. We started dating when I was around sixteen but honestly I never felt much attraction for him. I was kind of pushed into it."

Her lips pressed into a thin line at the thought.

That time Touya lifted his head, "How so?"

She shifted, "Well I'd just gotten out of another relationship. That one had only lasted for a couple of months and we split amicably." Kagome explained as she settled in beside Touya, "After that my friends told me that there was some guy that was totally perfect for me and that I should try going out with him."

She pressed her palm to the back of her neck, "Honestly if I'd known then what I do now, I would've just told them no from the start."

Thanks to her inability to remain firm with her friends and family, she'd ended up wasting six years of her life with a man that did absolutely nothing for her. He was traditionally handsome but not attractive in a way she found appealing. Plus his poor performance in bed combined with his refusal to accept 'no' as an answer had completely ruined her opinion of him.

Her friends and most of her family weren't much better off.

"I told my mother the other night that I was moving out and she had a complete meltdown." Kagome sighed, leaning her shoulder against his side. She hadn't meant to do it, but she found herself feeling more at ease with him that she had been in the past few days. Maybe it was because they were now talking candidly with each other, or maybe because she was just starting to lose whatever common sense she had left. Either way, his presence was a comfort all of its own in a strange sort of way.

"She'd been blowing up my phone so I've had to temporarily block her and the rest of my friends. They wouldn't stop messaging me about how I'm making a huge mistake and that I'll regret my decision later." She peered down at her phone, "I told Souta that I'd call him once I was settled, so I think he just wants to check in on me."

She felt Touya place his palm on her shoulder and reel her closer towards himself cautiously, as if concerned that he might be crossing one of her boundaries.

Kagome closed her eyes as she took some small measure of comfort in the fact that she wasn't alone.
"He's a good kid," Touya spoke after a short moment. "As for everyone else, I think it doesn't really matter what their opinions are. If you didn't like the guy then it was your prerogative to dump him. What's your dating life got to do with them at all?" Azure eyes pinned her with a piercing look, "If you want to avoid being mowed over then you'll need to start saying no more often. You were able to use it on me a few times, so just take this as your practice run." His lips then pulled into a wide smirk, "For example, if I asked you to let me stay the night in your bed you'd tell me to get lost, right?"

Maybe.

Although the idea of him hovering above her in bed did sound attractive. Not that she'd tell him that.
"So start getting comfortable with saying the word 'No' without justifying it. If you don't want to do something, then just say so. It's pretty easy once you get hang of it." He smiled as she felt him reel her closer towards himself, "I think we'll make that your real objective while you're working here." She felt his palm slide down the length of her arm, causing another wave of heat to rush through her.

Seriously, what on earth was wrong with her? She knew that he was hot, but did she lose all sense of self control when they'd first crossed paths? She was starting to think so.

"What, me rejecting you is my new objective now?" Kagome gaped at him.

Was he serious?

Touya laughed heartily, "Not just me but any other idiot that tries to make you do something you don't want to. Like say the girl down in dispatch trying to patch calls to you." He then cast her a wide grin, "Just be ready to draw some verbal claws and shine up that spine. You'll need it."

Kagome blinked, taking a moment to process everything he'd said.

"You confuse me," She finally admitted after a long moment, "I figured you'd be all 'let's take things to the next level'. Not telling me to reject you."

She felt her breath catch in her throat when he smirked at her again. That time his eyes were full of the familiar heat that she'd seen in them before when they'd first saw each other. His gaze raked over her with wanton abandon but he did not try to pressure her. Instead he simply smirked even wider at her reaction.

"If it comes to the point where you no longer have reservations then that just means that I've done my part perfectly." His confidence gave him a masculine quality to his personality. She felt that part of the reason why so many women went nuts over him was because he was so assured of himself.

Her lips curled up into a smile, "I think you might be getting in over your head."

"Maybe but I'll enjoy the ride nonetheless."

Kagome snorted, the mental image in her head making her body heat all over again.

"Food's here," She changed the subject. "Now I'll let you finish that bed while I head down to the lobby to grab dinner."

Touya shot her another smirk, "We making use of this bed tonight?"
"I am, you're going home." She laughed in response.

Whatever weird sort of relationship she had with Touya right now, she could honestly say that it was much more fun than anything she'd ever had before. While sex was off the table for right now, she'd at least enjoy these little moments while she had them.
Kagome made her way out into the hallway and she started the journey down to the lobby.

Her smile widened when she heard her phone go off and found a picture from Touya. It was an image of Ohagi pawing at her front door, visibly yowling for her after she'd left.

Someone misses you.

Kagome smiled as she sent a quick response.

At least she could say that this would be entertaining.