Demon Lovers
If he didn't know any better Kurama might think he'd met her before, though where precisely or when the graceful kitsune couldn't say. He glanced again over the top of the particularly thick tome in his hand, watching as the girl pushed an errant strand of raven hair behind her ear and scanned the numbers along the spines of poorly organized books in the library's religion and philosophy section. She bent down to inspect one more closely, looking at the slip of paper in her grasp before straightening with a frustrated huff.
She crouched down – something of a feat in that ridiculously brief skirt – to the bottom shelves, chewing her nails absently as she continued her search; a rather unappealing habit, he thought with mild distaste. Still, Kurama had to admit she was rather fetching. He didn't make it a habit of assessing the attractiveness of human girls, finding that even if his circumstances wouldn't prove much too dangerous to involve another, most lacked the maturity to hold the interest of his 1,000-year-old spirit for long. Yet, there was something oddly refined in her innocence he could certainly appreciate.
She stood, and he allowed himself another cautious look, noting the long sweep of her legs and soft curve of her frame as she arched her back to stretch the muscles. Yes, rather fetching indeed.
That he recognized her from … well, somewhere … only added to the intrigue.
He supposed he shouldn't let it bother him. Curiosity like that led to one thing in his experience: Trouble. And Kurama had had more than his share of that over the years. No, best leave it alone this time. His shift was over anyway.
The fox closed his book with an audible snap, tucking it neatly in his pack as he stood and gathered his things.
"Excuse me?"
Damn. Had she caught him looking? No, surely not. Kurama was nothing if not discreet. He sighed quietly, knowing that ultimately trouble would find him one way or another. Oh well, no help for it.
He gave a pleasant half smile. "Yes, may I help you?"
"I hope so," she said frustrated. "Can you tell me where to find …" The girl stopped short as she took in his features fully, suddenly caught at the verdant glow of his eyes. He could sense her heartbeat quicken ever so slightly, and Kurama grinned a little as the color stained her cheeks.
He chuckled lightly. " … Where to find?"
The girl flushed that much harder, tripping over her own words. "Uh, right. I'm sorry. I just … um. Lovers. I need to find Demon Lovers."
The irony was almost too much. He quirked a brow, never missing a beat. "Have you tried Internet dating?"
"No! Not a lover … I mean a demon! Gah, no! A book," she stammered to correct herself. "I mean, the book. It's a book. Demon Lovers. Walter Stephens, I think."
"And here I thought you were trying to tell me something," he teased lightly, green eyes sparkling with mirth as he tapped on the keys of the system computer. "Let's just take a look and see what we've got."
The girl looked like she was ready tunnel right under the welcome desk and stay there. Forever.
"Thank you," she said as she fought to keep the flaming in her cheeks to a minimum, changing the subject. "I've looked everywhere. If I don't find this book, my goose is cooked."
"Religion and Culture Studies with Dr. Nishimura?" he asked, making polite conversation as he searched the database. "It's a little late in the semester; he's usually already covered this one by this point."
"I'm behind … again," she admitted with some measure of guilt, muttering the last bit though he'd heard it clearly. "Anything?"
"One copy," he confirmed, smiling as she clapped excitedly at the news. "This way, please."
Kurama stepped around the counter fluidly and motioned for her to follow as he worked his way down the aisles of religious texts. He stopped at a particularly tall shelf and reached up to effortlessly pluck a moderately thick book from the top. He handed it to her politely, his expression carefully schooled when their fingertips grazed in the exchange and the hair on the back of his arm stood straight at the flood of warm reiki in her touch.
Well, that was certainly interesting. Maybe he had met her before.
"Oh, thank you so much!" she said gratefully, bringing it to her chest as they made their way back through the stacks. "You're my hero right now."
"You're quite welcome," he said, slipping around the reference desk once more to begin the check out process. "Do you have your student ID?"
She passed it to him, flipping through the pages of the text as he scanned the barcode on the back of the ID and made a mental note. "Here you are, Miss Higurashi. You have Demon Lovers for two weeks."
Kagome smiled, her embarrassment from earlier mostly forgotten despite his teasing. Her brown eyes took on a mischievous gleam, and she snitched a pen from the cup on the counter, writing on a scrap of paper.
"Here," she offered, holding the slip between two fingers. "So you don't have to go back in and look for it in the system when I leave."
Kurama's eyes widened and he let slip a surprised chuckle, the hastily scribbled name and number telling him he'd not been as surreptitious as he'd thought.
"Maybe you can tell me about the inaccuracies," she started, turning on her heel to go before turning back over her shoulder. "You know, from a demon's point of view."
He froze, slack jawed for a whole half-second before he broke out into a full-on smile. He supposed she wouldn't be much of a priestess if she hadn't realized he wasn't entirely human, but he frankly didn't expect her to call him on it. He watched her go, appreciating the view as she made her way through the rotating doors of the exit without so much as a backward glance.
He studied the slip of paper once more, folding it neatly before tucking it away into the pocket of his jeans with a sly grin.
"Count on it."
A/N: Just a fun little side project of mine. A story about developing relationships, friendship and love as told in standalone snippets. Enjoy! - My apologies for the formatting issue earlier. Thanks to the two reviewers who let me know!