InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shades of Gray ❯ Temptation ( Chapter 10 )

 

 

~<>~ Shades of Grey ~<>~

 

 

~<>~ Chapter 10 ~<>~ Temptation

 

 

 

Kagome slunk into her dorm room, her feet dragging behind her. She hated snow, and hate was a very restrained word for her disgust with the white substance. As a matter of fact, she abhorred the snow, she loathed the snow…if she had it her way; she would obliterate it from the course of natural phenomena! But it always came back to haunt her, there was no escaping it; but what was worse was that it wasn't enough to shut down the friggin' campus. So here she was, having to walk to and fro her classes in three inches of snow. Sure, it didn't seem like a lot, but the snow drifts made it just tall enough for the evil white substance to slip inside of her boots and soak her socks. They would shut down the campus if it continued, but right now, it was her cross to bare. By God, she hated the snow.

 

Kicking off her Uggs, she turned to take off her coat and froze. Blinking twice, she found herself staring into a pair of lavender eyes from across the room. InuYasha was sitting on their windowsill, right on top of the damned heater, staring out the window.

 

“Yo.”

 

Kagome put a hand to her heart, willing it to stop the suddenly increased beating. `It's because that jerk scared me,' she forced herself to believe. As she slid out of her coat, she turned an annoyed stare to the intruder. “Kikyo's not out of from class for another two hours…what are you doing here?”

 

InuYasha studied her for a moment, his lavender eyes almost piercing through her soul to read the words she didn't say. And it was as if the bastard could hear them to, because the minute that Kagome's eyes widened a fraction of an inch under his stare, that stupid cocky grin grew on his face. “Well, Kaggers, I was already on campus, and my class was cancelled. And I was not about to walk back to the apartment to come back in three hours for my class. Ain't no way in hell I'm taking my baby out in this either…”

 

Kagome shifted her weight back on her heels. “Your baby?”

 

If possible, the smug smile grew. “The Hummer.”

 

Kagome bit down the lewd comment to pin to the end of his fragment of a sentence. Instead, she shook her head. “Because Hummer's aren't made to be out in the rough weather? I know, it's not like they were designed for the U.S. Military or something. I completely understand. So…go ahead, as you were saying?”

 

InuYasha grunted noncommittally at her sarcasm but continued on his bullshit excuse for seeing her anyway. “So my ass is staying on campus, and I figured, hell, I haven't been able to fully torment Kagome, so I wandered over here. Yet to my disappointment, you weren't here. But now you are, so I should let the tormenting begin.”

 

Kagome rolled her eyes and dropped her book bag on her small desk. Stretching her back from the weight, she removed her attention from InuYasha and pulled out her American Literature book. “Your ass is blocking my heat. Care to move?”

 

“Nope.”

 

Kagome hated the fact that his tone was so whimsical. She believed him on his comments of wanting to torture her, and for the moment, loathed her cousin for dating such a jackass. Climbing up onto her bunk, she shot back, “fine, just don't fart. I don't want that smell to be heated.”

 

“You know; if I weren't half the man I am, I would do it just to spite you.”

 

Kagome leveled him a glower from her raised position. “If all males were half the man you are then the world would be populated by women.”

 

InuYasha smirked and slowly stood up from the heater. “Are you saying I'm not fully a man?”

 

Kagome didn't even look up. “Nope, I'm saying you're a pussy.”

 

Sauntering over to lean against the railing of Kagome's bed, lavender eyes stared up at her unabashed. He didn't justify her response with an answer, instead, he decided to begin the one thing that could make his day brighter; annoying the crap out of the wench in front of him.

 

After a moment, Kagome pulled her head from her book. “What?” She asked while staring straight ahead, not giving him the satisfaction to know that he was grating on her sanity. She wasn't quite sure why, either. Granted, she had never really spent time with him, besides for that one time that she was drunk, but there was something just unsettling about his presence being so close to her. It made her jittery; it upped her temperature and made her stomach do those stupid flips. For years she was able to say it was just the fact as to how much she hated him. But she was older now, less naive, and she understood her body better, and she knew just why he had that effect on her. But hell be damned, she would never admit it to that smug bastard. Never ever.

 

InuYasha shifted back on his heels, shoving his hands into the pockets of his faded blue jeans. “What?”

 

Kagome grunted and shoved her nose back into her book, hopefully hiding from the boy before her. It was as if she thought the book her shell; she could vanish from the world into it.

 

InuYasha took a step onto Kikyo's bed so that his head was level with Kagome. Resting his arms on the railing of her bunk, he set his stare directly at the side of her face.

 

Kagome was able to last maybe two minutes before cracking like an egg. Throwing her book down, she whipped her head around to stare at him. “What?”

 

InuYasha held his ground. “What? I ain't doing anything!”

 

Kagome narrowed her eyes and shifted her position to stare directly at the man. “I beg to differ.”

 

InuYasha licked his lips quickly, a smirk coming to rest against his lips. “I bet you'd beg for a lot of different things.”

 

Kagome's mouth dropped open and without thinking she reached out and shoved InuYasha off the beds. “Hentai!”

 

InuYasha should have been ready for her to lash out, but sadly he wasn't. Falling backwards, he actually completely lost his balance and crashed to the floor rather painfully. Biting down the urge to wince, he laid dazed on the floor, staring up at the shabby ceiling. Luckily he fell onto the carpet; though it was a flimsy area rug, it still cushioned his fall a bit more then the cold tile would have. Having been through years of karate, he was able to brace his fall with his hands behind him, but hot damn that hurt!

 

Kagome hurdled off her bed the minute InuYasha met the floor. “Oh my God, I'm sorry!” A panic swelled in her chest the minute she watched the boy stumble. She hadn't figured he was standing on the mattress below, and in that instant of blind observation, she nearly killed the boy. If he had hit his head on her dresser, it would have been catastrophic. She didn't want to explain to Kikyo why her boyfriend's head was smashed open like a pumpkin across their dorm room floor, she refused that responsibility.

 

Landing a few feet away on from InuYasha, she stumbled but didn't fall; instead she placed her right hand against the floor as she came near colliding with it herself, and shot forward. She slid to her knees by his side, her eyes frantically checking over him. “Oh God, I am so sorry! Are you alive?” She could nearly feel tears pricking at her eyes as her chest constricted. She didn't mean to hurt him; she would never lash out at anyone with an intention to bring pain, least of all him.

 

InuYasha really considered laying into Kagome for this one. Of all the stupid things to do! Grunting, he attempted to pull himself to an upright position, yet as the colors in front of his eyes merged as he moved, he reconsidered. Instead, he grunted once and turned to glower at Kagome. “What in the name of…” He stopped dead at the look in her eyes. Kagome looked beside herself with guilt. Her normal sardonic glare had melted away so efficiently, InuYasha could see through her eyes and into her soul. Never before had she stared at him the way she was now; it nearly took his breath away. His mouth moved but he couldn't conjure any words.

 

Kagome put a hand to her mouth in near panic. Looking towards the door, she gently bit down on her lip, wondering if she should run and retrieve the R.A.

 

Taking his hand from his neck, he reached out and brushed his fingers over hers. Kagome's head whipped around so fast, he was sure it would fly off and hit the wall. “Don't worry bout it. I'm fine.” With a pained smile, InuYasha put one hand behind him and pushed himself up. His tailbone was going to be bruised for a week, he was nearly sure of it.

 

Kagome stared at InuYasha, their eyes level, with unshed tears resting on her eyelashes. She wasn't sure why she was getting so emotional, but the fear that he was actually hurt seemed to systemically destroy everything that mattered to her. Swallowing thickly, she shook her head. “You shouldn't sit up. You might have a concussion. Let me get the R.A, she might be able to help.”

 

InuYasha smirked despite the cramping of his muscles and the slight deprivation of his vision. “Fuck that, I don't need some nosey bitch prodding around at me. I swear I'll be fine.” With another solipsistic grin, he brought up his knees to rest his elbows on. Pressing his forehead to his arms, he felt like a pansy. If he was in his demon form, the fall wouldn't have fazed him in the least. Hell, if he took off the infernal power limiter, he'd be fine. But of course, he couldn't do that with Kagome in front of him. Turning his head in his arms to rest his cheek against his elbow, he stared up at Kagome. It was only then that he noticed the tears that were sitting on her eyelashes, ready to fall. Why it hurt so bad to see her in tears over this was beyond his comprehension, but it completely dulled the pain from the fall.

 

Sitting up straight, InuYasha reached out slowly to cup Kagome's left cheek. The girl jumped at his touch yet didn't retract as she normally did. Instead, she simply stared at him. “I'm fine,” he whispered, his eyes leveling with hers, pleading for her to understand that he wasn't angry with her. It was like someone took an ice pick to his heart, seeing those tears that swelled in Kagome's eyes.

 

Kagome swallowed again thickly, a small smile splashing across her face. Her right hand came across to gently rest on top of InuYasha's, and for a moment, the world held its breath. The two sat staring at each other, their faces less then a foot apart, unwilling to compromise the current situation with words.

 

InuYasha reached out with the thumb that was pressed against her soft skin and wiped away the tears that had slipped from its confine. He wasn't sure what possessed him at the moment, but a thousand thoughts were firing through his brain at once; he was actually touching her, and neither of them was drunk. Regardless of popular belief, he remembered what happened that night, a week prior to now. He remembered the feel of his lips against the soft skin of her neck, the mews that left her mouth and got him hard. Those memories had gotten him off nearly all week, and he craved more, he needed more. He needed to feel the warmth that filled his body when he was pressed against her.

 

InuYasha slowly turned his hand against her palm, bringing his fist around to capture her hand gently. His eyes drifted from her eyes to her lips, wetting his unconsciously. Tugging her gently towards him, he had all intentions of kissing the blushing girl the way that he had longed to do for so many years.

 

As Kagome slowly drifted towards InuYasha, thousands of thoughts passed through her brain, none of them completely coherent. A few words slipped silently from her lips; absorbed by the atmosphere they became words that couldn't be distinguished. It was as if God was pushing the feuding pair together and embracing this forbidden unity. Her eyes fell to his lips as she was dragged closer, his mouth moving to cover hers. Kagome closed her eyes, her breath jutting from her chest in rugged pants as his lips descended that last inch.

 

Somewhere from her right, Kagome's cell phone began to blast Matchbox 20's song “You Won't Be Mine”, the ringer that she had set for all calls to cipher through as. The music invaded the silence that had engulfed the room and shattered it like a glass. Kagome leapt backwards from InuYasha with enough energy to land her by the door, five feet backwards. Shooting to her feet, her eyes drifted towards her cell phone then back to InuYasha, who seemed to be trying to cover a smile.

 

Kagome's first reaction was fury; the ass had nearly kissed her and then had the audacity to be smiling about it! But as her eyes met his, she felt the smile become contagious. A small bubble of nervous laugher made itself audible, and Kagome waved her hand in front of her face. “Wow…okay that…should not have…”

 

InuYasha was already on his feet by time Kagome looked up. Dusting off his pants, the boy shot her a smirk with something else written in his eyes, something that she couldn't interpret. Rubbing the back of his neck, InuYasha's eyes dipped away from hers to stare at the door, the wall, anything but the girl that he longed for in front of him. “It didn't, don't worry. Blame the concussion. I'm…going to…” `Get the fuck out of dodge,' he thought with a pang of humiliation tugging at his heart.

 

Kagome's smile slipped from her face. Swallowing down her humiliation for her conscious catching her in such a position with her cousin's boyfriend, she licked her lips and asked him quickly, “So…you're okay?”

 

InuYasha smirked and waved his hand at her. “I'm fine Wench; as if you could hurt me.”

 

Somehow, the words seemed to tear at Kagome in a way she never experienced. Plastering on a fake smile, she nodded once. “I'll let that slide for now, since you're acting all strange anyway. So…hey, Kikyo will be back and…”

 

InuYasha pursed his lips and nodded in agreement. “Yeah, I'll just…”

 

Kagome mimicked his expression. “Yeah, that's…good. I'm going to…”

 

“Yeah, that's cool. I'm gonna…just…jump…into the bathroom,” InuYasha winced at the horrid save from that one. With an internal groan, he thought `…Jump off the building would have been the correct answer. How much of a tool am I? Fuck, I might as well have said `hey, I'm gonna go take a cold shower, just to take care of my issue on this situation. Want to join me?' InuYasha groaned loudly and turned on his feet, fearing to take another look at Kagome. He wasn't sure whether she was in shock or disgusted, but he wasn't about to hang around to find out. The thought of taking off the power limiter in the bathroom had played through his mind, to let the youkai blood heal the aches in his bones, but he reconsidered; the last thing he needed to do was be caught in his natural form, hell would break loose for all parties involved!

 

Kagome kept the smile plastered to her face, attempting not to slink away to some dark forsaken corner of the world to let everyone forget about her. `I nearly kissed InuYasha! I nearly…I mean…its InuYasha! I would never…and that's just…but he's with…yet he seemed…oh hell.' Gritting her teeth together, she grabbed her coat and shrugged it on, and slipped into a pair of flip-flops. “I'm going…” The bathroom door closing was her punctuation. Grabbing her room key, she darted from the room before InuYasha could even take another step in the bathroom.

 

*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X

 

Kagome forgot all about the elevators taking her down to the lobby and instead, she ran down the flights of stairs. All that kept circulating her mind was the truth that she had nearly, in fact, kissed InuYasha. What scared her, however, was that she didn't dread Kikyo walking in; she didn't dread someone finding out. Instead she dreaded not knowing what it was like to be in that situation again with InuYasha. Her body was reacting in ways that she forgot she could; her heart was racing, her palms were sweaty, and she wasn't going to get started on how wet the inside of her thighs were. InuYasha had extracted emotions that she had only for one other male, and that was Oberon. How that was possible, Kagome wasn't sure.

 

Rounding the corner in the lobby, Kagome nearly collided with a mop of black hair.

 

“Kagome.”

 

Kagome steadied herself then shot Rin a smile. “Hey girl. I'm…” Oh, what to tell Rin? Kagome had been hoping to get out and maybe be hit by a car, not run into a friend. Staring at Rin, Kagome was at a loss for words.

 

Rin picked up on Kagome's hesitancy immediately. Looking over Kagome, seeing her chest heaving and her eyes slightly dilated, Rin glanced behind her, and then slowly crossed her arms. “Are you okay? What's wrong?”

 

Kagome shook her head, trying to pull some type of assuring smile or grin, or something more then just a flabbergasted gawk. Unfortunately, her body wasn't on her side right now. “I'm…I'm…I…need to get something to eat.” `or a rock to crawl under and die,' that sounded better.

 

Rin bit her lower lip, her eyes seeing right through Kagome's hesitation. “What happened?”

 

Kagome grit her teeth and decided to say the first thing that came to her brain, to bad it was the truth. “InuYasha just tried to…” her mouth froze, and Rin's eyes widened.

 

With a grip that shouldn't belong to a girl her size, Rin grabbed Kagome's right arm and pulled her out of the normal hallway of traffic and behind the secretary desk that she normally sat at. A tone then bellowed out of the short girl, one that didn't belong to a petite little thing like Rin. Narrowing her eyes, the girl sounded so serious that Kagome nearly fell over backwards. “Did he hurt you?”

 

Rin's gaze was fierce and for a moment Kagome faltered on her response. It wasn't until Rin brushed by her heading for the phone that Kagome snapped into action. Grabbing Rin's arm, she pulled her away from the phone. “No! No, it's nothing like that. I accidentally shoved him off the bed…” Seeing Rin's eyes widen, Kagome waved both hands in front of her, quickly murdering those thoughts that were brewing in Rin's tiny head. “No, it's not like that!”

 

Rin cleared her throat and tilted her head to her right shoulder. “Something tells me that there's a story behind this? InuYasha came in about two hours about bitching about the snow and the weather and said he was going to wait for you upstairs.”

 

Kagome nodded until the end of Rin's sentence. Feeling her eyes widen, Kagome's breath caught in her throat. “Me? He was waiting for Kikyo, not me. He's Kikyo's boyfriend, not mine!”

 

Rin tilted her chin towards the ceiling and crossed her arms. “Yeah, I remembered that fact too. But Kagome, how then did you manage to push him off your bed? And beyond that, what was he doing on your bed?”

 

Kagome winced and quickly explained the story in full detail, every so often checking over her shoulder for her cousin to pop in on the wrong word.

 

At the end of the tale, Rin seemed nearly as dumbfounded as Kagome. Sitting down slowly, Rin began to strum her fingers on the bland green desk. “So, he directly told me he was waiting for you, told you he was waiting for Kikyo, and then proceeded to torment you until you shoved him off your bed, which he wasn't really on, and attempted to kiss you when you went to see if he was okay? Did I summarize that properly?”

 

Kagome bobbed her head in agreement. “I don't know what the hell came over him. But what's worse…” Kagome bit down on her tongue for a moment, wondering if she should truly divulge the information. Knowing that she was going to tell someone, and if it wasn't Rin, there was a chance it might be Kikyo, she stammered. “I…I…I think I wanted him to.”

 

Rin sighed heavily and hung her head for a moment. “I knew it.” Looking up, the smile that covered her face was slightly offsetting to the frantic girl. “I had this feeling that all along you were all about that boy. But regardless, I knew he was all about you.”

 

Kagome stuck her nose up in a typical Higurashi fashion. “I am not all about InuYasha!”

 

Rin lifted a slender eyebrow. “Right and I'm sleeping with Miroku. Come on, Kagome, I can see right through that lie!”

 

Kagome wrinkled her nose and looked the other way. “I think I liked you better when you were all giggly and laughing at stupid shit.”

 

Rin laughed lightly. “I play a great ditz, right? What can I say, I know how to stage a personality. I was really sounding you guys out.” Seeing the obvious upset washing across her new friend's face, Rin gave in. “Now come on, I'm off the clock and you look like you can use some lunch; my treat.”

 

Kagome glanced out the window and scowled at all the snow. “Something tells me we won't get far. Besides, shouldn't you get home? The snow isn't supposed to stop. The roads will only worsen.”

 

Rin's smile grew tight as she turned to look out the window. “Well, I have a class at five, and its three now.”

 

“I'm sure they'll close campus by then. I appreciate you wanting to go with me, but you have a child to get home to.”

 

Rin shook her head. “No, my dad took Kenren for the day up to his house. He insisted and I gave in. I think it had to do with the fact that he knew it was going to snow. He asked if I had friends who lived on campus in case it got bad.”

 

Kagome seemed to relax, her mind finally finding something to preoccupy itself with besides for the jerk in her room. “Oh, in that case, you can just crash at my dorm tonight if it gets any worse. Are you sure that your dad will be okay?”

 

Rin nodded in approval. “Yeah, he's great with Kenren. My dad is finally taking some well earned vacation days, and Kenren doesn't act up so much around him. I guess it's the male dominance thing. My dad isn't a push over…and doesn't take crap.”

 

Kagome watched Rin put on her coat while in thought. The petite smile slipped from her face as her eyes darkened with an emotion that was completely missed by Rin. “So…your dad must have had a fit when you told him you were pregnant.”

 

Rin had her back to Kagome as the girl asked the question, but two things caused her to stop dead; the nature of the question along side the relativity it had towards those things she didn't speak of and the tone that Kagome asked it with. It was almost as if Kagome understood. Looking at Kagome over her shoulder, she judged the girl's expression as one of compassion, but nevertheless Rin had to come up with yet another vague answer. “My dad wasn't pleased, not pleased at all. A fit hardly covers the yelling that went on between us, and it got pretty ugly. He threatened to throw me out at first if I didn't have an abortion, but I just couldn't do it, and that was my ultimate choice. I figured that if worse came to worse, I would move in with a few cousins. That was before some realities hit me. My dad demanded to know who the father was, but I wouldn't tell him. I told him what he needed to know, and together we worked out the kinks. I got my own place not long after that, but Dad still helps when he's not working.”

 

Kagome smiled, but the world could see the sadness in her eyes. “My father would have never understood something like that.”

 

Rin linked arms with Kagome, her keen sense of people's emotions flashing red alert. Bumping the girl gently with her shoulder, she smiled as the snow began to flutter down around the two as they began their trek across campus. “Father's don't handle that stuff the best. It's that protective nature.”

 

Kagome scoffed and muttered, “you sure it's not self preservation?”

 

Rin blinked, absorbing the comment like her hair did the frozen rain, and retained the knowledge. There was more that lay beneath what Kagome was willing to divulge, but that was fine, Rin knew all about secrets, and had learned never to pester someone for the truth. The truth always complicated matters. “So…where do you feel like eating?”

 

Kagome shrugged half heartedly. As they passed under the brick tunnel that linked the campus to the dorms, she looked up at the Latin phrase. “Capre deim,” she spoke aloud then chuckled darkly. “It's funny how so many speak this anecdote, yet never really consider its meaning.”

 

Rin nodded as they walked from the sanctuary of the tunnel back into the freezing weather. “Shakespeare, Marlowe, Tennyson…so many pieces of literature eluded to it, yet the question is; can one ever appreciate today as if today was the last day they were to be alive?”

 

Kagome slowed up in her steps, dragged her bare feet slower and slower until she came to a stop. “Can anyone ever just live the day for what it is? Everyone is so busy looking towards the future that they miss the present. So many people lose opportunities because they are waiting for something better, something bigger.”

 

Rin chuckled as she slowed her pace to grab Kagome's arm and give her a tug to continue walking. “And who knows; maybe that something better and…bigger…” Rin giggled despite the conversation and forced herself to continue talking. “…is what you're avoiding right now.”

 

Kagome gasped and yanked her arm away from Rin, stopping dead in front of the infamous Wilson Hall, the summer home that had once housed President Woodrow Wilson. “I am not avoiding…no! No! InuYasha is not something better for me! He's nothing for me, Rin. No, get that thought out of your head! He's with my cousin; he's slept with my cousin. I will not play sloppy seconds to Kikyo. I don't want something that she decides that she doesn't want anymore.”

 

Rin's smiled faded into a look of seriousness that left little to question on Kagome's behalf. “But what if that something decides that he doesn't want her any more? You're not playing second best, you're stealing the lead.”

 

Kagome shook her head, “stop entertaining the notion that me and InuYasha will end up together because I'm telling you, we won't. It's stupid to think about.” Walking to catch up with Rin, Kagome huddled her arms into her body to try to keep warm. “Besides, my feet are freezing. Come on; let's get to the dining hall.”

 

Rin forced a fake smile to her lips and fell in step next to her friend. Kagome was refusing to see what everybody else saw clear as day, and it scared Rin to think of what the fallout of this could end up being. If InuYasha insisted on being with Kagome, a few hearts were going to be broken, and no one could do a thing about it.

 

Rin shook her head yet continued the walk anyway. “No wonder your feet are cold,” she mused as the building came into view, “you're walking around in flip flops.”

 

Kagome grunted a response, remembering once again just why she hated this stupid white stuff. But at least the cold was enough to distract her attention away from the heavy matter that lingered in the forefront of her mind.

 

 

*X*X*X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X**X

 

 

Grabbing a few croutons to add to the top of what she dared to call a salad, Kagome rounded past the station to drop a massive load of Caesar dressing on top of her plate. Smiling at the leaning tower of greens, Kagome turned on her heels, ready to search the student commons to find where Rin had decided to sit. As she turned, she nearly walked into the man standing behind her. Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin as two hands clasped down on her tray to keep her from throwing the concoction into the air.

 

“We should stop meeting this way, Miss. Higurashi.”

 

Kagome blinked twice into the ruby red orbs in front of her then smiled despite of the scare. The blush that shot across her cheeks was more then enough to speak of her embarrassment in volumes. She had nearly taken out Naraku with her tray. “Why, Mr. Itogowa, I didn't know we had shifted to honorifics. I would appreciate receiving the memos at the same time you do.”

 

Naraku's eyes shined as a smile slid to his lips. There was something about him smiling that still set off warning bells in Kagome's head, but despite that, she still enjoyed his company. They hadn't had much time over the past few weeks in class to catch up, and beyond that, Kagome had yet to really be able to inquire about his abrupt presence in her dorm last week.

 

“Well…I will have to have a talk with my secretary then.” Bowing his head slightly, the smile never left his lips. “Are you here alone?” His eyes shifted as the words left his mouth, and Kagome could just about bet it all on who he was looking for.

 

“No, I'm here with my friend Rin.”

 

Naraku's smile dimmed slightly but the relief of not hearing InuYasha's name was evident. “Oh…I see. Well, I shall not keep you then. Enjoy that mass of…” staring at her tray for a moment, the man chuckled abruptly, “green things.”

 

Kagome nodded and flashed him a dazzling smile, “well, then I guess I will see you in class next Monday.”

 

Naraku began to nod in agreement then paused. “Unless…” scratching the side of his head, Naraku's smooth voice seemed to hypnotize Kagome. Her undivided attention was now focused on the man before her. “Can I interest you in a dinner invitation for this Friday night?”

 

Kagome had to give the man points; most men stuttered or sounded somewhat needy when throwing out such an invitation, but the silky words held such confidence, Kagome found it hard to keep from gushing over the raven haired man. “Why, Naraku…that is a wonderful thought, but…”

 

Naraku tilted his head slightly towards his right shoulder, his eyes boring into hers with the utmost intensity. “Don't say no, Kagome.” Seeing her hesitation, he threw in a rather devastatingly sexy, “please?”

 

Somehow, the please didn't even sound like begging from his lips, regardless of the truth. Kagome found herself floating in the red sea presented to her in his eyes, her mouth working in inaudible words. It were times like this, however, that Kagome relied in the voice in the back of her mind that worked half the time it needed to, to lead her in the right direction. `Thank goodness for consciousnesses, and the seldom times I listen to it' she thought as she set her tray down on the railing that guarded the food stations. “Dinner sounds wonderful, Naraku, but I have a couple pressing matters that need to be smoothed out before I can even consider it.”

 

Naraku nodded once, no sign of dejection anywhere in his aura. “I understand, forgive me for pressing the matter.”

 

`Damn him and his ability to sound sexy,' Kagome thought with a cringe. As Naraku turned to walk away, Kagome reached out and grabbed his right arm. “Wait!”

 

Naraku spun with the touch, seeming not at all phased that she called him back. Though his confidence was sexy as all get out, his self righteousness was starting to very slowly grate on Kagome's nerves. He reminded her to much of that pompous ass that she was currently avoiding. “You know, next time you're in my dorm, you should at least say hi.”

 

Naraku raised a slender eyebrow and slowly crossed his arms. “Why, Miss Higurashi, I'm afraid I don't know what you mean. You room here on campus?”

 

Kagome rolled her eyes and shifted her weight from her heels to her right foot, taping her left one impatiently. `Great, so he can lie smoothly to, that's wonderful.' Clearing her throat, Kagome searched Narkau's eyes while she dropped the house. “I saw you last week, Naraku, on my floor. I actually ran after you to say hi, but you didn't hold the elevator.”

 

If anything, the bastard could lie well. Slowly tilting his chin up in mild indignation, Naraku uncrossed his arms and shoved his hands into his pants pockets. It wasn't a nervous fidget, but one that screamed he was becoming annoyed. “Last week, you say? I can assure you, Kagome, I was no where near the dorms. I have actually only once been to the dorms this semester, my lady. I apologize for any mix up there might have been, but I can guarantee, it was not me.”

 

Kagome matched the man in his annoyance. With a rather boisterous sigh, Kagome's left eyebrow disappeared under her bangs as she began to tap her left foot. “Naraku honestly; how many men are on this campus with red eyes and are demon by nature? The man who I followed down the hallway had both traits going for him, plus he had your identical features as an added bonus. I can't explain that for the life of me, beyond the fact that it was you, but now you say you weren't there. Can you explain it?”

 

A rather troubled expression brewed on Naraku's face for a moment, before he wiped it clean with a rather blank stare. “I cannot. But this does interest me, I will say that. You have my utmost attention to the matter, Kagome.”

 

Kagome shook her head slowly. “How do I have your attention? Either it was you, or it wasn't you. Which was it?”

 

Naraku took his turn to heft the eyebrow. “The latter, I assure you. What business would I have on your floor with you not present at your dorm room?”

 

Kagome chewed on her bottom lip for a moment, wondering if she should push the envelope further then it already was. Deciding what the hell, she went for it. “I might not have been present, but my cousin was.”

 

Naraku hardly seemed phased by the allegation. “Are you questioning if I was present at your dorm, or if I am having an affair with your cousin?”

 

Kagome stuttered for a moment, then stuck her chin out and snipped, “Yes.”

 

Naraku smiled out of patience, but nothing beyond that. His eyes had darkened from a ruby red to crimson, a color that Kagome was sure she wouldn't want to encounter anywhere except for a well lit and largely populated area. “No, my dear; I was not present in your dorm, nor would I contaminate myself with touching anything that has been tainted by that wretched imp, InuYasha.”

 

Kagome's eyebrows shot up in shock with the malicious tone that laced Naraku's words like cyanide. “Well…all right then.” Kagome swallowed thickly as he did his best not to turn that anger towards the girl in front of him. “I see that you have no want to be near my cousin…”

 

Naraku hung his head for a moment and sighed, cooling down before he said something stupid. With another deep sigh, he met Kagome's gaze and explained; “I'm sorry, it's just that me and the Taisho boy have a muddy history. We obviously do not get along, and it would be my pleasure to rid the world of his presence. But since we live in a world of peace and acceptance, I have endeavored to keep those feelings to myself, and live in coexistence with the man. That…idiot cannot simply do the same, and feels the need to state his disdain for me every time we cross paths. I'm sure by now you have heard of the blow out that me and him had two years ago over Kikyo, and since then, I have made it my business to avoid anything that had the Taisho name imprinted or attached.”

 

Kagome bobbled her head as he spoke, completely taken by his vehemence. By time Naraku stepped off his soapbox, Kagome found it ludicrous to believe that he would have been in her dorm, let alone near Kikyo. `Talk about someone who passed critical discourse* without blinking an eye!' With a bow of her head, she began her apologies, “I'm sorry, Naraku, I meant no disrespect. But seeing who I thought was you, and who looked so much like you, took me by surprise. I didn't mean to push.”

 

Naraku's anger seemed to fade with her apology. “Yes you did, but I can understand your protection of your family. It's an honorable trait, Kagome, one that you don't find much anymore.” Digging through his leather coat's pocket, Naraku pulled out a receipt and a pen. Leaning against the glass top of the food stations, he jotted down a number. Sticking the pen behind his ear, he handed the paper to Kagome. “Believe me when I said there are no hard feelings. To prove so, my offer still stands for Friday. This is my cell phone number; give me a call to let me know what time to pick you up.” With a final smile, Naraku bowed once then turned and walked in the other direction, leaving Kagome standing with a piece of paper in one hand, and her mouth gaping open.

 

As Kagome slowly collected herself and her food, her mind was a blur with all the raging thoughts; she knew what she saw, and the person she had seen in the dorms was Naraku, and she knew what she felt, and the person was a demon by nature. But after Naraku's little rant, she was positive that it was not him. So if it weren't Naraku…then who could it have been? Something told Kagome that this was going to be an interesting mystery to unravel.

 

 

*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*X*XX*X*X*X*X*X*

 

 

*- Critical discourse is a demanded course at Monmouth. It's like debate.

 

-Next chapter thing should start to get complicated. >.< because who doesn't love cliffies? :: ducks from past readers who hunted me for cliffies::;

 

-Let me know if you want me to add you onto an update email list. If you want on, though, I will need your email (obviously).

Thanks to…

 

Moon_essence1, TrinityK, elementalobsession (I'm interested in your assumptions. I love knowing if people can see where I'm heading with things!), silveraliora, leilachan (come on, me make a Yash that's not crude? LOL. thanks for the compliments!), girl_X_16 (music? Yes, I have to, oddly. But it can't be in English. LOL. Honestly! I listen to Japanese music whenever I write most chapters, unless it's something deep. Then I normally dip into something that fits the mood)