InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Such a Small World ❯ Chapter Nine ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter Nine

 

Once again, she gently wiped the cut she'd made on Hiei's shin, before placing the bandage over the small area. A small smile touched her lips at her work, knowing that it was something that she could at least do correctly, even if she tried not to. Everything had seemed to go downhill, so it was nice to know that she could still do one thing that she'd been good at. Her eyes turned upward, and smiled a little more when she noticed that his eyebrow was raised, obviously wondering why her attitude had diminished so much in so little time.

 

Thinking about it, she told herself to ignore the thoughts rushing through her head. She knew that if she allowed herself to think about what had happened, what they had said, she'd become just as angry once again. She had possibly helped in not only ruining a marriage, but also hurting another woman. Though she knew it wasn't in her best interest to think about the disloyalty of the man she'd let foolishly sway her, she wanted to know about the woman she may have hurt. She knew it might make her even angrier, but at least she may be able to get a few things off her chest.

 

She could handle being slapped a few times—she knew she deserved it.

 

Sighing, her smile faded just a little when she turned to the bruise forming just below Hiei's ribs. She touched it gently, feeling him stiffen, and nearly giggled at the fact that he was trying to make it seem like the small wound didn't hurt. It was almost a shame his tough-guy act couldn't truly hide the fact that she had managed to hurt him, even if only a tiny bit. Her smile faded a little more; she didn't want to hurt him at all, even if it was only a bruise. She wanted to crawl into his arms and never leave, not bring him pain in any way. She was only happy that she hadn't hurt him enough that it would never fade away or heal over, because that meant he'd get better.

 

She quickly shoved the thoughts that again leapt to the front of her mind. She'd hurt him already, even if it wasn't physically. She'd hurt him the way that Inuyasha had managed to hurt her, and she felt that she could now be considered scum, or close to it. Yes, she knew that those around her would tell her otherwise, but she truly felt that she should be pushed into a small room and never let out again—that way she couldn't hurt anyone. At the same moment, though, she knew, even if he didn't show it often, that Hiei loved her, and would most likely open the door to that room in order to take her back out into the light. Either that, or join her in order to keep her company, both of which she'd embrace lovingly if he was the one to give them to her.

 

Her attention drew from him to Kurama, sitting across from them smiling. She frowned at him, wondering what was going through that mind of his. Sometimes she thought she could compare him to a fox, which was ironic that he'd been nicknamed after the famous thief, Kurama Youko. The famous silver fox of legend, which at one point she'd teased him about, though she really couldn't remember the exact reason anymore. She had to admit that the nickname was perfect, since he probably had a similar way of thinking when it came to the legendary thief, even if the silver fox had only been that, a legend.

 

“Kurama?” she asked, when she noticed that he hadn't stopped looking at her. She had always felt that she could relate to him when it came to family. She remembered telling him not long after they'd met, Hiei having introduced them when he'd come to visit, that she felt almost like he was her brother. Though he had a very exotic look, she felt that if it was ever possible, they could have been family. Some may have asked if he was her boyfriend, since she'd spent nearly as much time with him as she had Hiei after meeting him, but she would have told them that Kurama was too polite her tastes. She liked someone a little rough around the edges—though Hiei's were probably razor sharp instead of simply rough.

 

“Yes?” he replied.

 

“Are you alright?” she asked. “You've been staring at me for a while now, and I think you're starting to burn a hole into the back of my head.”

 

His smile grew a bit at the corners, as he said, “I was merely praising your skills silently, Kagome.”

 

Hiei turned his risen eyebrow at his friend, noticing that the man seemed to be trying to make Kagome feel better, or distract her from her anger earlier. He was positive it was still bubbling under the surface, and there was no doubt in his mind that she might go at Yusuke if she saw him again. In truth, he was just glad that anger wasn't directed at him, and that she'd promised to try, which meant she wasn't going to get herself hurt. Yusuke, even after all the years that Kuwabara had tried to make him change, wouldn't have any trouble hitting her if she struck him. True, she could get herself tossed into a jail somewhere, but that probably wasn't as worse as how much Yusuke could hurt her, possibly putting her into a hospital somewhere. Yusuke probably wouldn't even feel guilt until after he realized he'd done it.

 

He allowed his fist to clench as he watched Kagome eye Kurama for a moment and then turn her attention back to him. He didn't want to see her injured in any way, especially not to the point that she ended up on life support in a coma, or anything else his traitorous mind could think of at that moment. Even thinking of her that way made him ill, caused to him think for a brief second that if she lost control, if she was even with Yusuke alone, then he wouldn't be there to protect her. True, it would be Yusuke's fault for placing her there, and her own for possibly going after him, but indirectly his, because he'd promised long ago to protect her once he'd been told what occurred between her and Inuyasha. He didn't want to break that promise, even indirectly.

 

He wanted to protect her in any way possible.

 

“Is that better, Hiei?” she asked quietly, staring up at him. She didn't want to touch him anymore if it was going to bring him pain, and she'd noticed the way his hand had clenched. She wasn't quite sure whether it was because of something she'd done, or something he was thinking about, and that bothered her. She'd been with him so long that she could normally tell instantly whether he was simply thinking or if it was because of something uncomfortable happening. She was disappointed that her current weakness was making her blind to everything around her, even the man she loved.

 

“Quite,” he replied.

 

She nodded, before climbing up onto the couch beside him. She wasn't surprised that much when his arm snaked around her shoulders and pulled her closer. Relaxing, she allowed her eyes to close and hoped that maybe in her dreams she wouldn't be plagued with so many emotions at once. She wanted to get better for him, wanted the guilt to go away, but she couldn't stop it from building up underneath the surface. She knew that sooner or later, though she hoped it didn't, the emotion would come back to haunt her. She'd always had the worst of luck in similar situations, though none of them could compare.

 

OoO

 

“Ohh, and he was just so cute, too! It is such a shame that all the good ones are straight,” he sighed.

 

He shook his head, his eyes closing in disappointment. “Jakotsu, he hurt Kagome,” he said. He knew that Jakotsu was going to be Jakotsu, but he'd never expected his brother to actually start talking constantly about a man that hurt the woman he considered his sister. Though, in truth, he wasn't all that surprised.

 

Jakotsu sighed, “I know!” His tone was very dramatic, before his eyes turned serious and he crushed the soda can in his hand. “I can't wait until I see him again, just to see how much we messed up his pretty little face. I'm sure that it would look even better if there was blood, if only a little, spilling from his mouth, and a nasty scar above his brow.” A distant look filled his eyes, though he knew that he should have been paying attention to Bankotsu.

 

“Idiot,” Bankotsu sighed, shaking his head.

 

“Hm?” Jakotsu blinked, his eyes filled with happiness again. “Was there something you wanted, brother?”

 

“Not really,” Bankotsu said. “I just wanted to know how the others were. I'm having a hell of a time trying to keep Sango from going on a rampage, mostly from going over to Hiei's at every hour in order to drag Kagome home by the hair. Seriously, she needs him at this moment, bit Sango's got it in her head that two men have hurt her already, thus Hiei's going to as well.”

 

“So, you're having woman problems?” Jakotsu nodded to himself. “I told you women were no good, big brother! You never listened to old Jakotsu, though.”

 

“Old my ass,” Bankotsu snorted. “Besides, if women are no good, are you implying that Kagome's no good either?”

 

Jakotsu gasp, nearly falling out of his chair. He managed to grab the table at the last moment, and stared at Bankotsu with his mouth open, his eyes as wide as he could get them. Then, they narrowed, and he swung at his brother, nearly succeeding in hitting him in the head, but Bankotsu managed to move before it happened. “How dare you say that about my cute little Kagome, Bankotsu!” he yelled. “There would be no light in the world if Kagome's bright smile could not be seen!”

 

“Hey, hey!” Bankotsu raised his hands in defense, “You're the one who implied it!”

 

“I did nothing of the sort, brother,” Jakotsu yelled. “I would never imply such a thing about Kagome!”

 

Sighing, he rolled his eyes at Jakotsu's dramatic performance. “Anyway,” he continued, “how are the others?”

 

“Fine,” Jakotsu smiled. “Suikotsu, Renkotsu, and Mukotsu are planning on taking a small vacation,” he turned his head a muttered, “they won't tell me where, though.” He scowled, but turned his attention back to Bankotsu, seeing his brow raise, “Ginkotsu is… um… actually, I'm not quite sure at the moment, and… ah… I was supposed to tell you something.”

 

“Yeah?” Bankotsu smirked.

 

“I don't remember, honestly!” Jakotsu cried. “I'm sorry, brother.”

 

“It's alright, Jakotsu. However, you're missing somebody,” Bankotsu said, taking a sip from his soda. “There are seven of us, remember?”

 

“There are?” Jakotsu asked, his face tightening a little in concentration. He brought up his fingers, counting out their brothers', seeing if there were indeed seven all together. However, when he continued to come up with four, he frowned in displeasure, and turned his eyes to Bankotsu's amused ones. “What?” he snapped.

 

“You were always bad at counting,” Bankotsu said, shaking his head. “But I guess right now it doesn't matter.” He glanced down when music echoed out of his pocket suddenly, and sighed. Really, he loved his girl, but she'd been calling him and trying to come up with evil plans on how to take that prick Urameshi Yusuke down a couple notches way too much in the last twenty-four hours. And the ring tone told him it had to be Sango.

 

“Your phones ringing,” Jakotsu smiled.

 

“Ha, ha,” Bankotsu laughed darkly, clearly unimpressed by Jakotsu's observation. He twitched as the ringing continued, not wanting to answer it at the moment. It was the exact reason he'd decided to go see his brothers', telling her he'd be back in a couple of hours or so. It couldn't have been more than two.

 

“You better answer it,” Jakotsu giggled, “it sounds important.”

 

Bankotsu growled at the fact that Jakotsu so obviously enjoyed his current pain. So, he dug his hand into his pocket and fished out his cell, flipping it open in order to allow Sango to begin yelling into his ear. However, he was quite amazed when she was simply talking calmly with him, saying that Kagome had called, and that she was going to be staying at Hiei's for a while, before coming home, and Sango expected him and Jakotsu to come see her. Then, she hung up on him.

 

Jakotsu blinked as Bankotsu stared at the phone in shock, though he hadn't said anything during the one-sided conversation. “So…” Jakotsu blinked, “was it important?”

 

Bankotsu twitched, “That bitch hung up on me.”

 

Jakotsu laughed, “Ohh, Sango's mad at Bankotsu! He's not going to get any for a while!” He clapped his hands together, greatly amused with the fact that Sango was angry with his brother. “I just can't wait to tell Kagome and that little cutie of hers. I'm sure that they'll find it as amusing as I do that Bankotsu's going to be kicked out of his woman's bed for quite some time before he gets to fu—”

 

“S-Shut up!”

 

“Ohh, big brother's embarrassed!”

 

Bankotsu glowered at him, “I hate you, Jakotsu.”

 

“You're so cruel,” Jakotsu gasp. “I'm telling Kagome!”

 

“Oh, no, you're not!”

 

OoO

 

She smiled sweetly, tapping her fingers against his hand, watching as his eye caught her own. “So, your name is Kouga, correct?”

 

He nodded.

 

She nearly rolled her eyes. “What exactly is a handsome man like yourself doing in a place like this?” she asked.

 

“This club?” he asked. “I always come in here, and I used to a lot more…”

 

“Why did you stop coming in as much as you used to?” she asked.

 

“My ex-girlfriend liked this place a lot more than I did,” Kouga replied. “She was very nice, but she didn't like the fact that I was still thinking about my last girl. She reminded me of her a lot, you know, so it was hard to quit thinking about her.”

 

“I can understand why she wouldn't have liked that,” she scowled. “Was there a reason she couldn't stop thinking about your girlfriend before her?”

 

“I was going to marry her,” Kouga replied. “She was great, but her grandfather didn't like me. He'd had a grudge against my father or something stupid like that.”

 

“I see,” she nodded. “Though I'm still a little disappointed that she couldn't see the reason why you needed a little more time to adapt to the new relationship. I'm almost ashamed that she and I are of the same gender, since I'm sure I would have understood. I just recently broke up with my last boyfriend, you know.”

 

“Yeah?” Kouga asked. “What was his name?”

 

“Inuyasha,” she replied.

 

“Inuyasha?” Kouga narrowed his eyes. “I know a guy by that name. You wouldn't happen to be that chick that he was so in love with that he was cheating on another woman with her, would you?”

 

“Unfortunately,” she sighed, closely her eyes and shaking her head in disgust. “I almost wish that I'd known.”

 

“Word was that you did,” Kouga said.

 

“That's what they're saying, hm?” she sighed. “I guess I can't stop the rumors, but I wish that they'd at least ask me first. She was my cousin, you know. I love her, and I hate to see anything bad happen to her. I hated him when I found out that he'd been cheating on my cousin, when he'd told me, that he'd told her, he no longer wanted to be with her.” She shook her head again.

 

He frowned, and turned his head to the side. Something about this didn't add up, and he stood up from the stool he'd been sitting on because of the feeling he was getting. Besides, he still missed Ayame and Mihoko, and he didn't really want to get into another relationship at the moment. “Well, that's all really nice and all, but I have to go… ah, what's your name?”

 

“Kikyo,” she said. “Kikyo.”

 

“Right, I have to go, Kikyo,” Kouga frowned. “Maybe we'll meet some other time, though I doubt it. I have to go to a business party within the next couple of weeks, and I'm going to be out of town.”

 

“Oh, if you want, I could give you my number and you could—”

 

“No, I think it'd be best if we didn't,” Kouga said. “After all, I do have a lot to do, considering the fact that my schedule is really full, and I'd never know when I'd be able to contact you. So, maybe if we meet again…?”

 

She nodded, “I understand.” Kikyo watched him walk away, waving lightly at her, and snorted to herself. She didn't like him that much anyway, and there were plenty of other men around that would take her up. She was, after all, a very beautiful woman, and she was positive that many of them would come running now that that stupid idiot was gone.

 

For a moment she wondered what Inuyasha was doing. No doubt he was trying to get away from Kagura, though she wouldn't be that surprised if Kagura managed to get him to stay longer than he wanted to. She'd always known Kagura to be the type to get what she wanted when she really wanted it, but not otherwise. She was the type to go after what she wanted, but her family usually held her back, and she had to find ways of bypassing them before she'd turned eighteen. However, she'd never really gotten to know Kagura personally, since she'd known that she'd had a thing for her Inuyasha, and she hadn't liked that.

 

Sighing a little, Kikyo brought her martini up to her lips and took a long sip. The alcohol went down her throat nicely, and she smirked at the feeling it gave her. She hadn't been drinking long, but she knew that it wouldn't take much to affect her. It had always been something that she hated, since she couldn't hold her alcohol as well as she'd wanted to. Pouting, she turned her head a little, taking another sip, as a hand landed on her shoulder. She nearly jumped, but managed to keep herself in her seat.

 

“Ah, Kikyo.”

 

Turning her head, she narrowed her eyes. “Onigumo.”

 

OoO

 

His hand ran through her hair for a moment, as her head leaned further into his neck. “Is there anything you would like for dinner?” he asked, his voice soft. He was not sure how well anything he cooked would come out, but he'd been able to eat what he cooked and lived until he'd met her, she should be fine.

 

Kagome blinked, “I thought I promised to cook tonight?” She wondered why he asked, since she'd never thought of actually seeing Hiei wandering around a kitchen, asking her what she'd like for dinner that night. Of course, at the moment he was not in the kitchen, but that was not the point. She eyed him carefully; snuggling deeper into his side, as she thought of the turn her life was probably going to take, with or without him. She didn't doubt that he loved her, but she wondered for a moment just how long he'd be able to stand looking at her.

 

“If you wish to, you may,” he said. “I merely wished to know what you'd like this night.”

 

“I donno,” she muttered. “I'm fine right now.”

 

“Hn, we both need to eat sometime tonight,” Hiei reminded her. “I will not allow you to go through starvation, no matter how much you may wish to.”

 

Her lips turned downward into a frown. “I don't wish to starve.” She blushed a bit, “Though I can understand why you might think that. I'm sor—”

 

“You do not need to apologize,” Hiei sighed. He almost missed her independence, but he felt that she would get better in time. Soon he'd start to see her moving back toward the way she had been, and if she didn't, then he'd try to help her so that she did. He loved her that much, and he knew that she loved him enough that she would do it if he asked her to. In a way he didn't want to force it on her, but if he had to, if she didn't start getting better, then he would take that take step.

 

“I know, I just—” she stopped. “I'm sorr—”

 

His fingers slipped away from her lips, having silenced her before she was able to apologize once again. For a moment he debated on getting her angry, roughhousing with her a little, but silenced that thought before it went to far. He didn't want to hurt her, it would be worse than Yusuke hurting her, even if he was only doing it in order to bring out the side of her he was so used to—the side he loved more than anything in the world.

 

She smiled sadly. “I need to stop doing that, I just can't seem to be able to make myself stop. I would apologize, but I know you don't want me to do that.” She leaned more into his side, glad that Kurama had not seen that. It was bad enough that he had seen her get angry and try to rush out the door in order to give Urameshi Yusuke a large piece of her mind, possibly take a few swings at him. Seeing her apologize over and over again probably made her seem even weaker, and she didn't like the thought of being weak in Hiei's eyes.

 

She really didn't like it.

 

“Hn,” Hiei sighed, his fingers running through her hair once more. “Sesshoumaru called after Kurama left to remind me that there is a business party soon. He wished to know if you would be able to accompany me, since Rin has wished to see you for a while now. Apparently she misses you.”

 

“Rin?” she said softly. “That would be nice.”

 

He nodded. “Now, about dinner…”

 

“We could go somewhere,” Kagome smiled. She really didn't wish to, not when there would be so many people that could give her dirty looks. However, she reminded herself that not everything knew her, not that many people could actually know what she'd done, so it would be alright. Only those who'd she'd told could give her such looks, but she hoped that they wouldn't since she cared about them, all of them but Yusuke.

 

“We could, if you wish to,” he replied.

 

She smiled, “Perhaps, but not right now.”

 

He nodded in agreement. “Yes, not right now.”

 

Snuggling a little more into him, she bit the inside of her lip. She wondered for a moment what Urameshi's wife was doing, how she felt at that moment. She knew there was a chance that his wife might never find out about what she'd done, what they'd done, but there was also a chance that she already knew. If she did, then she wanted to at least talk to her, to see how she felt, and to apologize for what she'd done. To explain, though she knew that she didn't have any room to do so, but she felt that it would help her guilt a little. Then she'd be able to truly do as Hiei asked her to, and go on in life loving him as she'd done before.

 

OoO

 

The tinkling of the doorbell echoed into the bakery, and Keiko smiled, lifting her head from the book that she'd been reading. Working had helped her stop thinking about the hurt that continued to pierce into her heart at night each time she wondered why Yusuke hadn't come to see her yet, to at least try to explain. Each day she wondered more and more if he truly wanted for their relationship to live on, and each day she wondered if he was sitting on their couch in their home watching that stupid tape, enjoying the fact that her heart was bleeding. It was hard to deny, since she knew that Yusuke was stubborn, and she wasn't sure about his feelings anymore.

 

“Hello.”

 

Keiko blinked, her heard snapping up completely at the kind voice. Her lips pursed together, and she stared at the exotic looking man, though his accent was perfect, telling her that he was either native or had lived there was quite a long time. She blinked again, her current worry fogging her mind a little, as she wondered where she'd heard that voice before. “Oh, hello, is there anything I can help you with?” she asked, still smiling.

 

“Why yes.”

 

Keiko frowned a bit. “Do I know you?”

 

OoO

 

KibaSin: I apologize for the wait; I had a couple of other ideas that kept coming to mind whenever I'd try to write this. Plus the piece in future chapters, more toward the end that I had to write in order for it to stop bothering me. The next chapter shouldn't take so long, but I don't make any promises, since school does end on the 9th of June and then I'll have three months to type as much as I want, when I want, instead of trying to find time in order to do it. Though, I will have a babysitting job, so I won't type constantly, but I will find time to type, and I promise to try and update this more often.

 

Kiba