Read Chapter 19 of the Side Stories First!
"Suguru!" Kagome yells, waving a hand in the air as she runs over to him. He stops and watches her with tired eyes. She really does not care for how down Suguru looks. Not that she sees him all that often, but he used to have a little more light to him. A little more umph. "Did you just get done with a mission?"
He presses his lips together and then dips his head. "Yeah, I took care of the curse." He stuffs his hands in his pockets as though he isn't quite sure how to act without Satoru there as a buffer.
This is the first time she has seen Suguru without Satoru.
"So, are you all done, then?"
"Uh..."
"Come on!" Kagome grabs his arm and tugs him along. She sniffs. His cologne is similar to the brand Satoru wears, but cheaper? "Do you like games?" There should be some crane games around the block or maybe Suguru would prefer an arcade?
"Uh..." Suguru coughs. "Yes, I like games, but... uh... Satoru isn't around."
"Hm? Oh yeah, Satoru is still busy with his missions. He texted me not too long ago. InuYasha is with him." Kagome rolls her eyes. Those two are always at each other's throats, but whenever Satoru has a mission—which is all the time these days— and InuYasha is around, then InuYasha insists on going with him because Satoru is allegedly lonely without InuYasha's company.
"And you still want to hang out with me?"
"You're Satoru's best friend," she says, confused by what the problem is.
"Ah, but Satoru doesn't want us hanging out together alone."
He doesn't? Kagome frowns. This is the first she's ever heard of this. Okay, well, Satoru complains a lot about Suguru and other men, but he also complains to complain. Still, Suguru's words don't match what Satoru told her. He's worried about Suguru and with all these missions being thrown at him, Satoru hasn't been spending that much time with Suguru.
"I'll send him a message and let him know we're hanging out. And Satoru is just being silly. He thinks you like me." Kagome laughs. Satoru thinks everyone wants her when that is not true. "Besides, you look like you need a pick me up." Kagome drags Suguru along because he drags his feet when she's not tugging on his arm. Whatever is going on with Suguru needs to be resolved like asap.
When they get to the arcade, Kagome promptly drops her hold on Suguru's arm and sends a quick message to Satoru.
Satoru: ? What do you mean you and Suguru are at an arcade?
Kagome: You can't be serious.
Satoru: Which one? I'll be there after this mission.
Kagome: You're not even in Tokyo. No way we'll gonna stay here that long.
Satoru: I can teleport.
Kagome rolls her eyes and shakes her head. Why is he always like this?
Kagome: Last time you teleported, you crashed into Goshinboku. I'm just trying to cheer Suguru up. He looks really down.
Satoru: That was one time and fine. I guess. But if he starts acting strange, you get out of there. He's my friend, but you're my girl, alright?
His girl.
Kagome bites her lip. Her cheeks flush pink in remembrance of that Satoru. Adult Satoru. She wonders what she looks like in the future. Does she look the same? Taller? As long as she doesn't look more like Kikyo, then it doesn't matter.
Kagome: Let me know when you're done with that mission.
She tucks her phone into her pink and gold Sailor Moon purse. Papa got it for her when he and Mom came back from their trip to Italy. Kagome flashes Suguru a smile bright enough for both of them. He turns his head away and rubs the back of his neck.
"So, when will Satoru be here?"
"He's not," Kagome replies, leading them over to a crane game. These games are soooo addicting. "Well, he wanted to teleport to us, but last time he tried that, he hit one of the trees at the shrine. Besides, he's got InuYasha with him and he can't exactly leave him behind. InuYasha left alone to his own devices here, is a terrible idea." She huffs. Dang it! She wanted that fox plushie for Shippo. "Ugh! I can't get it."
"Here, let me try." Suguru stares at the machine with such attention that it's as if he is staring down a curse and not a crane machine. He moves the control with a precision that gives Kagome a small spark of jealousy, because why does he make it look so easy? It's not fair. "You know these are rigged, right? It's not you." He bends down and pulls the fox, a gray one, plushie from the machine and deposits it into her hands. "So, Satoru is making progress with teleporting, huh? He'll be teleporting around in no time. He's gotten even stronger now."
Kagome holds the plushie to her chest. Is that what this is about? Satoru getting stronger and Suguru becoming stagnant? Her shoulders droop for a moment. No, this will not do. Kagome reaches out and squeezes his arm. "We don't have to play games if you don't want. I could help you train instead."
He blinks. Once. Twice. Five more times.
"What? You're worried about Satoru getting stronger without you, right? I know how to train." She leans in forward and lowers her voice. "I mainly fight demons, but I can handle curses, too. We can go to the shrine. I'd rather not go to the school if I can help it."
"... You fight demons?" His brows are taunt, but there's a hint of curiosity on his face now. "I can't imagine you fighting anything. Satoru is so..."
"He's always been like that." Kagome leans back and drops her hand. "He didn't tell you how I saved him when we were younger. It was a curse user."
Suguru looks around the arcade and then back to her. "Is there anyone else at the shrine?"
What a weird question. Kagome shrugs. "Maybe. Sometimes Mama spends time at the clan house, but she was at the shrine when I left. Why?"
"No reason," he says slowly. "I... I need to talk to Satoru. Give me a moment." He pulls out his phone and walks away from her.
Why does he need to talk to Satoru? Is it really that big of a deal? OH! Suguru probably wants to train with both of them. She nods to herself. That makes more sense. Kagome clutches the plushie and waits for Suguru to get off the phone.
"Hey there, beautiful," a man says with a slur. He staggers over to her with his jacket unbuttoned and grease stains in the middle of his white shirt. He smells like burgers and beer. Kagome wrinkles her nose and takes a step to the side. "Don't fuckin ignore me!" He darts a hand out and then screams. Suguru twists his hand back until there's an audible crack.
"Fuck off," Suguru says, letting the man's hand go, and then shoves him back. "We're leaving."
Kagome glances at the man with his balding hair and how he cries while cradling his hand with his other. The man would have never hit her, or rather he would have hit the barrier she put up and eventually moved on. He's not the first creep she's dealt with and she doubts he'll be the last.
"Kagome," Suguru says sharply. "Let's go."
Oh right.
"You know, he would have moved on," she points out. "I put a barrier around myself. I wasn't in any danger."
"A barrier? Like what you put up that one time?" Suguru sucks his teeth and then blows out a breath. "Sorry, you had to see that."
"Oh, that's nothing. Quite tame, really. I mean, I've seen InuYasha with a hole in his stomach and guts out. Lots of guts out. It was such a mess." She holds the plushie with one hand and on to the purse strap with her other. "And Satoru would have done way worse. He can be a bit unhinged at times."
"A hole in his stomach? Does he have rct?"
"No," Kagome says slowly. "That's something sorcerers have, but InuYasha is a half-demon, so his healing is pretty good." She assesses him. "Do you have rct?"
"No," he replies sharply. "It's not something I can do."
"Ah, you mean it's not something you know how to do, but you could do it. Maybe you need another life or death situation to really trigger it?" She presses her lips together in contemplation. "I won't kill you, obviously, but maybe training will jump start something for you. Nothing like a couple of arrows to the gut to get you thinking of new ways to survive."
"Uh... maybe I'll just end up dead," he says with a laugh. "If the arrows don't do me in, then Satoru will surely kill me for laying a finger on you."
"He wouldn't kill you."
"It's Satoru."
"I'd tell him not to," Kagome stresses. "He listens to me for the most part." She frowns. Does he listen to her? Kind of. Maybe. Okay, so he doesn't listen to her all that much, but he won't kill Suguru if she begs him not to, and if he tries, then she'll just threaten him with his own subjugation beads. "Don't worry about it. We're just training and besides, even if you come at me with a special grade, it's no problem. They're not much compared to demons." She stops and then gives Suguru a sheepish grin. "Let's keep that between us. Satoru doesn't know I've taken care of some curses here and there."
"A secret between friends, then."
Kagome gives Suguru a thumbs up to proceed with training. Her hair is pulled into a high ponytail, and for the sake of training, she's now wearing her priestess outfit instead of a skirt. "Ready when you are," she says when Suguru hesitates. Ookay, guess she's gonna have to start this off since Suguru seems reluctant. No worries, even if she hits Suguru with an arrow, it won't be enough to kill him.
"This feels wrong," Suguru admits. "Like I'm fighting a—shit!" He jumps back. The arrow lies on the ground, but there's smoke coming from the head. Suguru stiffens and stares at her with something she can't quite put her finger on. It doesn't look like fear. Maybe some wariness? Either way, if Suguru wants to catch back up to Satoru, then he needs to take this seriously.
"That was a warning shot. The next one will hit you," Kagome says, notching another arrow.
"W-wait!" He holds his hands out in front of him, takes a step towards her, and then winces when his foot touches the arrow. "I didn't think you were serious about this. I can't—"
Kagome shoots the arrow, hitting Suguru in the leg. She sighs and lowers the bow. Okay, now what? Suguru doesn't want to train... he doesn't want to train with her and the arcade was a dud. How the heck is she supposed to cheer this guy up?
"Don't pull that out," Kagome says, walking over to him. She squats and wraps her fingers around the arrow. "I'm going to pull it out, and I want you to at least try to heal it."
"You shot me!"
"Ready?"
He closes his mouth and nods his head. "You're just as insane as Satoru." His jaw ticks. The only reaction to Kagome pulling the arrow free. "Focus on healing. You make it seem like it's so easy to do," he mutters, holding his leg with both hands.
"I feel my energy in my gut. Concentrate on yours and push it towards your leg."
Suguru huffs. "So, you fight demons, huh? What's the difference between them and a curse?"
"A demon can be born in a number of ways. Like you and me, or you could have someone that offers their body up to several low-level demons, which would create a half-demon. InuYasha is a half-demon, but he has a demon father and a human mother. A curse is born from negative human emotions." Kagome eyes Suguru's leg. How the blood slows down. "Both are another form of the cycle, I guess. Curses prey on humans and sorcerers take out the curses. Demons prey on humans if they want or curses. They're similar to humans in the sense they have their own personalities, wants, and desires. A curse just wants to kill like a bear would in search of food."
Suguru lifts his head. "And what are you?"
"A priestess." Kagome gasps and snaps her fingers. She's been going about this all wrong. "You take in the curses, right? I was half-listening when Satoru was explaining. He tends to geek out on jujutsu and sometimes it's a little overwhelming."
"Uh... yeah. I swallow the curses in order to make them mine. Why?" He drops his hands and stretches his leg out. "That actually worked."
"Of course, it worked." Kagome sniffs. "Come on, I've got another idea. This one will work for sure." She holds out a hand and pulls him up. "Sorry, I didn't think about this before. It's not something I..." she trails off. What she wants to say is that blessing others and purifying them is not something she typically does in the modern world, but it's probably best to leave that can of worms alone. Suguru knows about the multiverse now, but telling him she travels to the past might be too much. She wrinkles her nose. Wait, does he know she can time travel? There was so much going on when that other Satoru dropped in.
"It's not something, you what?" Suguru prompts, following her into the house. He stands awkwardly in the kitchen while Kagome ruffles through the cabinets.
"Aha! Found it." She holds up a bag of suckers. "Okay, this will have to do for now until I can make you some kind of charm to help counteract all that negative energy you are taking in."
"Suckers are going to help me?"
"I'm going to bless them." She rolls her eyes. "Honestly, if you weren't Satoru's best friend." She places the bag on the counter. "Do you mind asking him to bring some more of these when he comes home while I bless this bag?"
"Okay," Suguru says slowly. "Is he on his way back?"
"Last I messaged him; he said he was almost done." Kagome places her hand on the bag and closes her eyes. She doesn't need to close her eyes to bless the bag, but it's easier to drown out everything around her so she can focus on the task at hand.
Crash!
Huh?
She opens her eyes and blinks at the mess on the floor. Dust. So much dust. And the cabinets are gone. Destroyed. There's no amount of glueing that will put them back together. Not to mention the wall. It has a hole in the middle, shaped like Satoru and InuYasha. Kagome pinches the bridge of her nose and counts to ten. Satoru stands and dusts his pants off while InuYasha lies on the floor passed out.
"Yo!" Satoru chuckles. "I was—"
"I TOLD YOU NOT TO TELEPORT HERE!"
Satoru shrinks and then turns his attention to Suguru. "Oi! What are you still doing here? And that's my candy."
Suguru makes a show of looking at the ruined kitchen. At InuYasha, who is still passed out from the trip or maybe from the dust. He opens the bag and pulls out a sucker. "Kagome-chan blessed these for me," he says with a quirk of his lips. He unwraps the sucker and plops it in his mouth. His eyes widen and then dart over to her.
"That's just temporary," Kagome says. "I'm going to make you a proper charm to offset the cons of your curse technique." She turns to Satoru and plants her hands on her hips. "And you! Stop teleporting from far away before you end up hurting yourself."
Satoru pokes out his bottom lip. "Sorry. I wanted to see you." He steps over InuYasha and pulls her into a hug. "Promise to stick to short distances for now." He brushes his lips across her forehead. "Missed you."
She should be mad, but Kagome leans into Satoru. Her fingers clutch the back of his jacket. "Why do you feel harder?"
Suguru coughs loudly. Satoru squeezes Kagome tighter, but his body is shaking. Was it something she said? He does feel harder, like he's been hitting the weights.
"Did Suguru do anything? I can kick his ass."
"No, he didn't—"
"She shot me!"
"Heh. Well, you deserved it." Satoru pulls back but keeps an arm wrapped around her. "Shoot him again so I can laugh."
"You two are insane," Suguru mutters, reaching into the bag for another sucker. There's color to his cheeks now.
Huh, turns out, Suguru needed Satoru to cheer up. Kagome rests her head against Satoru. Everything is going to be fine now...well, at least until Mom and Dad come back and see the kitchen.
Suguru looks up at the sky. It's dark out now and Kagome's mom never came back to the house. A shame, since he wanted to see someone else yell at Satoru. He tightens his fingers around the bag of suckers and various other candies. Blessed candy. He laughs. The absurdity of this day is getting to him.
"Oi! Suguru, wait up."
Suguru turns and waits for Satoru. "Walking me down the steps?"
"Yeah, let's have a talk." Satoru takes his shades off and hangs them on his white shirt. "Something different about you."
Different?
Suguru stares at his feet as he takes one step. Two steps. If he counts all the steps and ignores Satoru, maybe Satoru will drop it.
"Oi!"
Or not.
"I figured out how to use rct." He peeks at Satoru from the corner of his eyes. "Kagome helped me. That's why she shot me with an arrow. How long have you known... that she could neutralize cursed energy?"
"The first day we met, she hit this curse user so hard, his cursed energy vanished. I found him later. Tracked him down, and it's not a permanent effect." Satoru shrugs. "But I wasn't asking about that. I meant you. How are you?"
Suguru nearly trips on the next step. Satoru's words are clumsy, but it sounds as though Satoru is concerned about him?
"I'm fine—"
"Bullshit."
Suguru plasters a smile on his face and stops on the 50th step. "Satoru, I am fine. Better now, really." He holds up the bag of goods and jostles it. "Why doesn't Kagome help Jujutsu? She can bless candy," he says with a laugh. The despair from eating that curse earlier today is gone, replaced with the warm feeling of basking in the sun. "She can disrupt curse energy, so surely she could take out a curse or two."
Satoru's upper lift curls up before smoothing over. It happens so quickly, Suguru doubts Satoru is aware of the reaction.
"It's not about helping Jujutsu. It's about keeping her away from the higher ups. They're a pain and shitty." Satoru crosses his arms and then exhales. "But more importantly, Kagome doesn't want it. She likes that." He motions to the bag. "She reaches more people blessing items for the shrine than if she were to go on a mission."
Suguru nods. "And yet she fights demons."
Satoru shrugs again. "Trust me, you don't want to fight one. Actually, you should fight InuYasha. If Kagome shooting you helped you, then surely fighting InuYasha would do more for you." He punches Suguru's arm. "There's always going to be someone or something stronger than us, so we gotta do what we can and keep pushing ourselves harder."
Stronger than them?
"I can't believe you, of all people, would admit something like that."
"Next mission, either I or InuYasha will come with," Satoru says, ignoring Suguru's last comment. "We're the strongest trio."
"Now we're a trio?" Suguru shakes his head. When they get to the last step, Suguru glances over his shoulder in the direction of Jujutsu high and then back at Satoru.
"InuYasha's party is on Saturday. You should—I want you there."
Satoru must have knocked something loose when he hit the side of the house.
"I have missions all week, Satoru. Like you. There's no guarantee I'll be able to."
"Let me handle that. I want you there." Satoru smiles and then jerks his thumb back at the stairs. "Oh, and Suguru, no more dates with my girl. Got it."
Date?
Suguru huffs. "I was taken as a hostage. It wasn't a date." He waves goodbye and heads back to the school and away from Satoru. It's only when he's alone in his room that his shoulders slump and the bag full of candy drops to the floor. He slides his hands down his face and muffles the sigh.
This is a problem.
A/N: If you're confused, please go back and read chapter 19 of the side stories.
"Does that mean Kagome is Benzaiten's priestess?" - I'm not sure if I will introduce any more gods...okay maybe Inari, but other than that there probably won't be any more gods introduced because then it would just be the gods fighting lol.
"Is there a celestial maiden Kagome that falls in love with Satoru?" - Can you imagine the ego on that Satoru? Bragging about how he has a celestial maiden as his girl?
"Have you seen Noein: To Your Other Self?" - I have not, but I bookmarked it so I won't forget.
"Is Naoya invited to that party?" - We just might get a spar between Naoya and InuYasha.
This chapter ended up being a bit longer than I thought. Still working on the next chapter of Brat Tamer. I thought I was going to get way more writing done this week, but I guess my body needed the rest more. Thanks for the honey garlic remedy, I'll have to pick up some garlic the next time I go the store. We've been getting hit hard this year with colds. My kid got a double ear infection this week.
Take care and have a wonderful week ahead! Get plenty of rest and stay hydrated! I'll be back to updating the Christmas Wish since Christmas is next month.