Chapter Eight
Kagome sank chin down into the steaming water, the rest of her body submerged. She stared at the opposite wall, elated and terrified at the same time. She was excited at the prospect of...
What?
She didn't know.
The good things in life never lasted. They waned and came back, but they weren't permanent. Where there was good times, there were bad and where there were bad, there was always good. It was the circle of life.
She felt as if she'd committed a sin but at the same time, the secret thrilled her. A secret that she was going to take to the grave. She groaned and bubbles rose around her mouth under the water and she closed her eyes, sinking below the surface.
Thank God for boiling water and bathtubs. Not completely modern, but a bathtub was still a bathtub.
Kouga had stood there watching her as she fled. There was no other word for it. She'd run. She'd fled. He'd watched her, his arms crossed over his chest. By the time she'd reached Sango and Miroku's hut, her lungs had been burning and her legs aching.
They'd started a night long affair that had given Kouga hope and left Kagome with an undying affection that she had no hopes of even understanding. What was she going to do? Nothing. There was nothing she could do. Where things had been tense between them, now they were just down right awkward. To her, at least.
She sank back beneath the water, her hair floating an inky blackness over the surface as she remembered just how awkward her life. She'd hitched a leg over the back window of Sango's hut and Miroku had been there. He'd cleared his throat and she'd fallen onto the wooden planks.
He'd stared at her strangely. She'd been guilty and caught. Miroku may not have known the extent of how guilty she was, but he'd caught her. Doing what, the monk would never know. Really, the monk seemed to have a bad tendency to be in the wrong place at the wrong time.
He didn't speak to her.
He didn't question her and she didn't antagonize him.
Kagome came up for air and tilted her head back against the wooden rim of the tub. If she lied to Sango, the slayer would know. So she chose not to say anything. It was easy enough, or just to defer the conversation away from anything concerning Kouga.
She never had been good at lying.
Her whereabouts the night before? Sango was curious. Had she spent the night with Inuyasha? He'd made it clear he was trying to make amends. She didn't want to hear his amends and after last night, even less.
There was nothing left to mend.
What a messed up little love triangle she was in. And the worst part was, the company she wanted wasn't Inuyasha's. Not even Sango or Miroku's.
It was Kouga.
She closed her eyes. That could go to a Wolf Demons head.
She'd always been attracted to the demon brute. He'd always been there. He'd always been in the background until then and NOW. It wasn't the sex. Good sex could cloud the mind. Great sex could screw it up completely. But she didn't remember the sex, did she? She was just completely and inexplicably crushing on the Wolf Demon.
She groaned again.
What would her mother have said? She was always good at helping to understand.
"I would, if you'd talk to me about it."
There Kouga had went being Kouga again. He wouldn't have understood a word she meant, much less cars or ice cream, but he would have listened regardless.
Dammit.
The frustration, all the lies, deceits and secrets—Kagome washed them away, submerging and scrubbing her body until she swore her skin was about to melt off. Did she smell like Kouga? There was nothing she could do about it? She couldn't keep soaking the scent away. It wasn't that easy. She grimaced.
God, she wished she could remember. She hated herself for wanting to remember, but he was Kouga...and Kouga...
She couldn't stop the sigh that passed her lips, but it wasn't one of annoyance. It was contentment. She didn't want to feel it, but she did. Utter satisfaction. She couldn't move a muscle and the warmth of his body cocooned her in a world all of their own making. There was no one else, just the two of them. The warmth of his body was luring her to sleep and before she realized it her eyes were drifting shut. She felt a soft rumble against her back...
Was he purring?
There were certain memories that were always going to have a place in her heart. Certain aspects of him that were always going to take priority over other aspects.
"Stop it before you get yourself into even more trouble." Kagome said to herself as she stepped out of the iron, wooden rimmed tub. She picked up a towel and wrapped it around her body while she used another on her hair.
She felt better. A hot soak could do that to a person. Stepping into a fresh kimono, Kagome cinched it tight around the waist. She was tempted to make herself a pair of shorts one of these days, but she didn't want to give Miroku a nose bleed. As much as the monk loved his slayer, his eyes wandered, even if he never thought or touched.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"What I'm doing doesn't concern you, mutt. Now get."
"Um..." Miroku said and Kagome paused with one foot in the kitchen, one hand towel drying her hair.
She paused and her hair fell over one shoulder as she lowered the towel. She frowned. Miroku stood with the door open while Sango stood beside him—blocking the entrance. She folded her arms, staring down into a blue eyed Kouga one step beneath her.
"Kagome here?"
Of course she was here. He knew she was here. Why in God's name was he here? Kagome could feel her cheeks heating as she stepped forward. She was so innocent in her soul, she couldn't not blush when she saw him.
Inuyasha was one step blow him, looking agitated. She sent an apologetic but thankful look to Sango that the slayer hadn't let either men inside. She had the feeling that Kouga was the only reason Inuyasha hadn't already barged in. Kouga—his honor wouldn't allow him to disgrace Sango's home by entering unwanted.
Shit.
This was hard enough, why couldn't Kouga just make it easier on them both and pretend? How was she going to pretend nothing had happened if every time she saw him, she got tongue tied and blushed like the school girl she'd once been?
She opened her mouth but Kouga looked over Sango's shoulder and then stepped to the side so he could see her fully. Her mouth closed when she saw the numerous floweres he held clenched on one fist.
"Hey." Kouga said, as if what he was doing was nothing. Completely innocent. "These are...for you."
"What the fu—hell you doing, Kouga? You can't give give her those." Inuyasha blasted out from behind Kouga and Kagome could make out his silver strands of hair and dog ears swivling. He'd changed his use of words for Sango's benefit. He'd learned once the hard way Sango wasn't prone to his foul language. So had Kouga.
Kouga ignored Inuyasha completely and gave a small smile. He looked tense, almost awkward but he didn't back up from his stance. He held the flowers out.
Kagome stared. He was...making a complete and irreversible move on her. It was clear for everyone to see. Oh God. He'd told her that he had hope. And he was proving it. Horror filled her expression. Want. Want and horror.
"Like old times, eh?" Miroku said tensly, looking at Sango.
Kagome reached out and shut the door in Kouga's face, her heart thundering in her ears.
Kouga stared at the closed door. Of all the things he had expected, that wasn't it. A flustered Kagome, perhaps, but not the Kagome who had all but slammed the door in his face just now. His lips twitched. The flowers had been a prone of the moment. He wasn't thinking about the past or even the future. He had been thinking about the here and now when he'd picked them.
Was he making another run for Kagome? Probably. She wasn't a kept woman. But she could be. She could be his. So here he was and he'd been met with a slammed door.
And Inuyasha? Well, he was really starting to get on his nerves. He half turned. "If you touch me one more time, Inuyasha, I'm going to throw your ass across that field. Got it?"
"You can't tread on anothers Mate." Inuyasha muttered, baring his fangs.
Kouga stared at the mutt. Mate? Was the half demon really gearing up to fight him right now? Mate? How dare he even say the word in reference to Kagome. Kagome wasn't Inuyasha's Mate anymore than Aayme was his. "Stop acting like a bitch in heat."
He was tempted to say more, but refrained. It would do no good to continue to upset the mutt, much less Kagome or even Sango from the fight that would ensue. He was more afraid of Sango using that weapon on him in a fit of rage than the mutt.
The clock was going back in time, but they weren't the ones moving this time. It's like they were old rivaleries again.
"Say that again, I dare you."
Kouga sighed. Sometimes he wondered if Inuyasha really had grown any. The Half-Demon wanted a fight and Kouga wanted to give it to him. He'd hand it to Inuyasha, though. For once Inuyasha was willing to fight for her. In the past he wouldn't have.
He lifted his head when the door opened again and Kagome stood there, framed in the entrance. She reached out her hand without a word and took the boquet of flowers and then shut the door in his face. He stood there in stunned silence, staring at his now empty hand before a soft laughter rumbled in his chest.
He shouldered past a silently fuming Inuyasha, the satisfied amusement clear on his face.
Inuyasha latched onto his forearm and Kouga half turned from the movement.
"She's not yours, Kouga." Inuyasha said and for once, he didn't sound like a child. He was serious. He was under the delusion that Kagome was still and fully his.
"Doesn't look like she's yours, either." Kouga retorted, his voice low.
"She's been mine for the past three years. MORE. Or have you forgotten?"
A muscle ticked in his jaw. Was Inuyasha trying to hit on a sore note with that one? The answer to that was yes. Yes, with a shitty side of shit in the face. "Why is Kagome in there with Sango and Miroku, instead of you, Inuyasha?" Kouga didn't pause in his retort. He gave as good as he got. "Looks to me like she's done with you."
He could have chosen a more tactful response, something designed to insult Inuyasha and draw his fire. Kouga knew better and knew that if he was going to get anywhere with Kagome, he couldn't draw the first punch. Who was the better man here? Not boy, but man. The thing was, he didn't want to fight with Inuyasha. He was past those days. He just didn't like Inuyasha chasing after Kagome like a love-sick puppy.
He wasn't exactly fighting for Kagome, either. Hell, he wasn't sure what he was doing. He wasn't going to walk out of Kagome's life again, but what outside of that?
He was still figuring that out.
"She chose me, you mangy wolf. Why can't you get that through that thick skull of yours?"
Kouga jerked his arm out Inuyasha's firm grasp. He was tired of the less than tactful insults on Inuyasha's part. But it was Inuyasha's last sentence that had his eyebrows snapping down. "Who did you choose, Inuyasha? Because it sure as hell wasn't Kagome."
He turned away before he did do something stupid like knock Inuyasha on his ass. It wouldn't have surprised him if the humans inside were watching the scene playing between him and Inuyasha.
He hadn't intended on saying that, but Inuyasha had finally hit that sore spot inside. Whether it was a sore spot for him or a sore spot for Kagome, he didn't know. Whatever it was, he'd spoken what was on his mind.
Inuyasha dropped down in front of him and Kouga frowned. Was he going to have to beat the shit out of Inuyasha?
"What did she say to you...?" Inuyasha asked cautiously, his expression all at once serious. Was that guilt he saw?
"She didn't have to say anything." He left it at that. He wasn't going to say what Kagome had in all trust confided in him. "Leave her alone, Inuyasha. You had your chance."
"And what, you think this is your chance to make her your woman?"
Kouga snorted. Was that how he'd sounded years ago everytime he'd made that claim? "I don't think she wants to talk to either of us, you idiot. So leave her alone. All you're doing is driving her further away. Is that what you want?"
Because that was sure as hell what he wanted for Inuyasha. The thought was a shameful one, but one he didn't regret. "Leave. Her. Alone. She's a woman—she'll talk when she's ready and not a moment before. Got it?"
He didn't wait for Inuyasha to reply. He didn't have time to argue with the half-breed. He bounded off into the tree line and up into the trees, heading for his Den. He wasn't going to argue for Kagome's affections. That didn't mean he wasn't going to fight for them, though. He just wasn't sure about how to go about it this time around though. He could stand by and watch her live her life, or he could take the chance and make a bid for her heart.
He was a powerful Wolf Demon, a breed of wolf and a Den Leader. Even with all that, he wasn't sure he could live with the pain of heartbreak again.