InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Secret Lovers ❯ Developping Story ( Chapter 17 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: saphira404 
Formatting issues...ugh!
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.16.2012 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.3K | Visits: 319 | Status: Work In Progress
Formatting issues...ugh!
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Hentai / Drama / Comedy | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 09.16.2012 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.3K | Visits: 319 | Status: Work In Progress
Part 17: Developing Story
A/N: Dear readers of mine, I am sorry for the long wait! Uprooting my life, and going back to school has kept me way too busy for me to update the story. If you’ve been by my page, you would know that I now reside in Denmark (thanks IP address recognition) where I’m undergoing my master’s studies. Even though grad school is tough, I will endeavor to finish this story. I will take it one chapter at a time, so I already apologize for the slow updates.
?
I would really like to thank all of you for (still reading this story), and a special thanks to Little25Victor for taking the time to look me up, and read the story :)
Disclaimer: Sadly even though I love writing AU stories on my OTP, they don't belong to me. I tried to buy them, but all I could afford were plushies. Oh well better than nothing lol.
“Talking”
'Thoughts'
Sesshoumaru had personally come in to be able to share with someone everything he had just found out about his parents, and especially how wrong he had been on the circumstances of his mother’s death. There was only one person he could dare talk to about something so personal, and at that present moment, she was in his arms. He may have come to her condo in search of some soothing relief and an understanding ear, but at the present moment he was receiving all the comfort he might need. He had after all never been much of a talker, and he was certain this was the quickest way to make him feel better.
??The two of them had been standing in the entryway of Kagura’s condo, sharing a passionate kiss for a while when he decided to move things along. When Sesshoumaru placed his hands around her hips and gently hoisted her up, Kagura did not hesitate to help him along by wrapping her legs around his waist. And when he started walking after gently securing her in his arms, she simply held on for the ride by lacing her arms around his neck all the while keeping their lips fastened together as best she could. She knew he was directing them towards her bedroom, and she did not even think about protesting.
?? ‘This is exactly what I need.’ As soon as their lips had met, Sesshoumaru’s mind had gone blank. Gone were the thoughts of his parents’ complicated relationship and his mother’s death; all he cared about was reaching Kagura’s bedroom as quickly as possible so he could work on giving both of them a pleasurable distraction, and lay his mind to rest.
Kagura let out a pleased moan when he used his thumb to gently caress the skin of her hip left exposed by the bunching of her nightgown. ‘I’ve missed this so much.’ She thought to herself as Sesshoumaru approached the threshold of her bedroom. Had she been honest, she would have admitted that after the disastrous dinner of the previous weekend, and Sesshoumaru’s cold dress down of that morning, the last thing she could have expected would be to have her lover be this close to her bed in any foreseeable future at the very least. A few other thoughts ran through her mind as he plundered her mouth lustfully. ‘My room is such a mess, Sesshoumaru is sure to comment on it…more importantly am I wearing cute underwear?’ Deep down she did realize that rather than worrying about these trivial matters, what she should be worried about was what the kisses they were sharing, and what might occur next, meant for their relationship. A small voice deep inside her pointed out she should be outraged that Sesshoumaru would dare show up at her place at this time of night looking for sex, but the least reasonable side of Kagura squashed down that protest mercilessly.
? ?Her lover sensed her distraction and reluctantly broke apart their kiss. “Is something wrong?” He questioned breathlessly. He rearranged his hold of her body by placing supporting hands under her bottom, but did not let go of her. He did after all enjoy their present position very much. Not only did it link Kagura to a very interesting part of his own anatomy, but it also placed her exactly at eye level to him where her cherry red lips were so easy to access.?
? “No, of course not. Now, where were we? Oh yes, making out.” She replied before pressing a sweet kiss to his lips.?
?Her slight hesitation had the effect of a cold shower on her lover. ‘What am I doing? Since when do I act in such a despicable way? I am using her as a distraction… Kagura doesn’t deserve that. She is worth so much more to me than just an offer of sexual comfort. I need to face my issues, not distract myself like this.’?
?When an unfocused Sesshoumaru failed to return her ministration, she feared that whatever force had made him come to her that night might have worn off, and he would reject her once again. Emboldened by desperation, the young woman tightened her legs around his waist, increased the strength of her arm hold around his neck, and brought their faces even closer. She decided to pour all her love into this one kiss as if it would be their last. She gently flicked her tongue against his lips, silently asking him to allow her access to deepen their kiss. Instead of responding favorably to her passionate embrace, he removed one hand from where he was supporting her, using it instead to gently push her face away from his.
?? “Kagura, please stop it.” The gentle tone he used to whisper his command against her lips did not make his words any less hurtful to her. She momentarily froze in shock, but quickly recovered. She had never been one to beg a man to be with her, as her past with Kouga proved, and had no intention to start doing so with Sesshoumaru, no matter how she might feel towards him.?
?He allowed himself to press one last lingering kiss on the side of her sensitive neck right over the spot he knew always drove her crazy. Then he very reluctantly loosened his hold on Kagura, leaving her no choice but to step down.
?? “I am sorry.” He awkwardly admitted, staring straight down into her beloved crimson eyes. “This is not what I came here for tonight, and I am sorry I let myself be carried away…”
?? “Stop apologizing!” Kagura snapped angrily. She rearranged her red nightgown, which had bunched around her waist, and had it cover her bare thighs once again. As much as she hated to admit it, her pride had been gravely hurt by his refusal. “So, why did you come then? It is pretty late.” She tried to sound as casual as possible; she would be damned before she let Sesshoumaru know how much his second rejection of the day had stung her.?
?Contrary to what Kagura may believe, Sesshoumaru had not been left unaffected by their ardent kiss. Through the slightly ajar door of Kagura’s bedroom, he could see her bed. The mere sight of the soft resting place, and what could have happened had he not put a stop to it, made him salivate. Temptation was literally within reach, and he struggled not to let himself give in.
?? ‘I came here for a reason, and I need to focus on it.’ The sobering thought of what his father had revealed to him earlier in the day was enough to get lustful images involving him and his lover out of his mind.
?? “Could we talk in the living room?”
??Kagura was surprised by Sesshoumaru’s abnormal behavior. While in the past months it had not been uncommon for him to ravage her almost on sight during their unconventional relationship, and despite their earlier argument, she could tell that he still wanted her with the same kind of passion that was still burning through her veins. She did not know what had made him stop, and was truly surprised to see the hesitation etched on his face as he had never acted this unusually.
?? ‘Something isn’t right. I don’t know why, but something tells me something bad happened to him.’ Then and there, Kagura decided to swallow her pride, and focus on helping Sesshoumaru through whatever he was going through. ‘It has to be bad for him to come to me in the middle of the night.’?
? “Of course, go on right ahead, let me just grab my robe.” It was one thing for her to agree to talk to him, but another to be half naked while doing so, or even worse to let him see the tell-tale signs of her clear arousal. He had seen her bare, and made her body sing enough times to see the signs and know how much she had been affected by their earlier kisses.?
?Sesshoumaru nodded his understanding, and did as asked. While he got himself settled on her couch, the young woman dashed into her bedroom to grab the silky red robe that matched her lacy nightgown. She slipped in on, and after a quick inspection in the mirror, and a much needed smoothing of her hair, she joined him.
?? “Do you want a drink?” She asked intending to be a good hostess as well as put her unexpected visitor at ease.
?? “No thank you.” Sesshoumaru replied as evenly as possible. Now that it had come down to him having to actually talk, he found himself at a loss for words. Feeling highly uncomfortable, he crossed his fingers together, and placed his joined hands over his knee.
??She decided to sit across from him instead of seating on the space left open by him settling on one end of the piece of furniture. She crossed her legs as well as her arms, making sure he could tell through her body language that despite the earlier encounter, she was not in the mood for a social call.
??Her annoyance lessened when she noticed Sesshoumaru was nervously rubbing his two thumbs together. Kagura was not used to seeing such obvious discomfort or edginess coming from her co-worker, and was unsure how exactly to ease the tension. After a long wait, when she finally could not take the heavy silence anymore, she finally spoke. “Look Sesshoumaru, it’s late, and I have to get ready for a piece my dear old dad imposed on me. If you have something to say, say it, if not, let me go back to work.”
??Sesshoumaru took one long deep breath; the time to reveal the real reason behind his visit had come. “I received a visit from my father.” His carefully spoken words had the effect of a bomb on Kagura. As much as she wanted to jump to her feet and join Sesshoumaru on the couch to offer any kind of support she could, she refrained herself.
?? “What?!...Why after all these years?”
??Since he had come to see her, he figured the least he could do was speak the entire truth. “He somehow heard that I have made contact with Inuyasha, and more importantly that I hold my younger half brother responsible for the death of my mother. He therefore decided to come and set a few things straight with me.”
??The telling blush which colored her cheeks confirmed his suspicion that Kagura had indeed accidently been the source of Touga’s information.
?? “I know you told Kagome, and she in turn could not wait to go tell everything to her dear father in-law.” The bitter tone in which Sesshoumaru spoke let her know how upset he was about the situation.
?? “Sesshoumaru, I’m sorry. I was so mad after our argument, and it just slipped out before I could help myself…”
??He interrupted her apology by raising a hand. “This is not what I came here for.”
??While Kagura did not like being cut short, she did like the fact that Sesshoumaru was willing to get past her unintended slip up. ‘After the disastrous dinner of last weekend, I would hate for him to be mad at me about something else…’ She thought before adding aloud. “Then, why did you come here?”?
? “I came…” Sesshoumaru started, but stopped. It was one thing for him to come knocking at Kagura’s door late at night in search of some comfort, but quite another to actually voice his need. Rather than speak, he reached in his pocket for the folded letter his father had left with him. He extended his arm over the coffee table separating them. “Read this.”?
?Despite the confusion clearly displayed on her face, Kagura leaned forward to take the yellowed piece of paper. As soon as she read the first and last lines, her heart jumped.
?? “Is this what I think this is?”
?? “Yes, this is the last letter my mother wrote to my father.” He saw her crimson eyes cloud over with clear emotion, and quickly added. “Please read it.”
??She was humbled and touched that he would want to share something so personal with her. Too overcome with emotion to actually reply, the young woman did as asked. Once she finished scanning the elegant writing on the page, she promptly put it down. She was shocked about what she had just found out about the true character of Ayaka Tashio, but most importantly she ached for Sesshoumaru. She who had also lost her mother young knew that if she had had such an opportunity to glance into her mother’s state of mind before she passed, she would have wanted to find out exactly who her mother really was, and what she thought about her two daughters. Even if as in this case it was not entirely favorable.?
? ‘In her letter Ayaka barely even mentioned Sesshoumaru, and when she did, it seemed like he was either a trophy or an inconvenience to her.’ Kagura was once again overcome by emotions for the lonely little boy who she was sure her lover once was. She felt bad that because of her comment to Kagome the man she loved had had to endure such pain. After all she knew that had she not intervened, Touga would never have found a reason to re-enter his son’s life.?
? “Sesshoumaru, I am so sorry…” She started apologizing, but he gave her a sharp look, causing her to change the direction in which her speech was going. She had a pretty good idea why he had come that evening, and so decided to dive right into it. ‘Something tells me this is all related to the death of his mother.’ She thought before quickly adding aloud. “Hum…anyway, this doesn’t sound like the last words of a woman about to commit suicide by driving her car into a tree, isn’t it?” He interrupted her again, but this time with a snort.
?? “My father did not fail to point this out to me as well.”
??With this one sentence, Kagura understood all too well why Sesshoumaru had needed to to see her. The steamy scene that had played out earlier also suddenly had meaning to her. ‘He came looking for some comfort. He must feel like his entire world is crumbling. I know he kept his distance from his father not only because of the way he cheated and betrayed Ayaka, but also because he blamed Touga for pushing his mother to commit suicide; however, now that he sees he may have been wrong Sesshoumaru must feel lost and insecure; two emotions I am sure he isn’t used to feel.’ She thought to herself. Even as a wave of sadness washed over her, she was unsure about how to act. She was more than aware that if she dared actually voice her sorrow, Sesshoumaru would throw her empathy back in her face, but at the same time, she did want to help take his ache away, any way she could.?
?Her mind set, Kagura stood up, and walked around the coffee table, which separated them, to head towards Sesshoumaru. She then sat next to him on the couch, and decided not to let her pride be hurt when he failed to turn towards her. She raised her hands to cradle his face, and forced him to look at her; this time around, he had no choice but to stare straight into her crimson eyes.
??The two of them stayed silent for a long while. Finally unable to handle the soundless tension much longer, Sesshoumaru finally spoke. “I do not need your pity.”
?? “You should know me well enough to realize I wasn’t about to offer any.” She retorted, not letting go of his fine face. “Look, I know you must feel really shitty right now, and if you want to talk about how you feel, I promise I won’t think any less of you. You saw me break down and act a fool several times, and it hasn’t sent you running for the hills, and I can assure you the same would be for me.” She said recalling how he had tenderly comforted her when she had told her about her painful miscarriage.
??He sighed and finally relented. He had come here for a reason, and he did need to get much off of his chest. ‘Besides who else could I talk to except her?’ Sesshoumaru put his larger hands over hers, and gently took down the hold she had on his face. He would talk to her about how he felt, but he did not feel courageous enough to look her in the eye while he was doing so. “To tell you the truth, I am angry.”
?? “Angry?” She echoed wondering if his anger was turned towards himself because of the distance he had allowed to come in between him and his family.
?? “Angry that my father would think that I would open up my arms to him only because he showed proof that my mother did not commit suicide because of him. This does not change anything. He still lied, cheated and betrayed his family.” Sesshoumaru stubbornly stated. Deep inside, he did feel a sense of relief due to the recent findings concerning his mother’s passing, but he also did not feel like he should simply sweep all the past hurt away and open up his life to his father.
?? ‘If he really wanted to have a relationship with me, he could have tried twenty years ago. It’s too little too late now.’ He thought bitterly. The fact that Touga had only attempted reconciliation after Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had a run-in did not go unnoticed by the journalist either.
?? “Not to mention that he brought my mother to such a pitifully low state…”?
?Kagura sent him a surprised look. “What are you talking about?”
??Sesshoumaru cursed at seeing how he had unintentionally revealed another of his parents’ secrets. He had debated about whether to tell Kagura about the sordid love triangle Touga had revealed, and ended up deciding to simply come clean about everything. ‘It’s not as if finding out about it could tarnish further the low idea of Touga and Ayaka she must have…’
?? “My mother knew about father’s affair with Izayoi. She did nothing to make them break up, and even agreed to openly share father. She only expressed her disapproval once she found out that Inuyasha had been conceived. Since father was not about to choose her over the pregnant mistress he was so in love with, they parted ways.” Only speaking the words left a bitter taste in his mouth; he simply could not understand why the proud and beautiful Ayaka could agree to such an arrangement.?
?Kagura was astonished by the revelation. She too had been cheated on in the past, and was sure she would have never agreed to share her man. Just the thought of allowing Kouga to split his time between her and Ayame was enough to anger her. From what she had heard, and now read, about Ayaka Tashio she had a hard time understanding why a proud woman such as her would agree to such an understanding. She, who also considered herself a proud woman, knew for sure she would never agree to such a thing. “Did she love Touga that much?” She pondered aloud.
??Sesshoumaru snorted at her suggestion. “Love was not a part of my mother’s vocabulary. I am willing to bet that the only reason why she stayed with father for so long was that she did not want to lose her standing in society or the luxurious lifestyle she had become accustomed to after becoming Mrs. Tashio.”?
? “You make their relationship sound like a business transaction. It had to be more than that otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” Kagura gently reminded him. She had not failed to notice the casual way in which Ayaka spoke of her son in her letter, and she could not help but wish that she had misunderstood the way she felt towards her only son. ‘She must have cared for him… at least a little bit. Maybe she stayed with Touga in order to spare her young son a difficult separation.’ She tried to reason.?
? “No, the way in which I came about was just sex, and the kind not a far cry from a business transaction. Father thought mother beautiful and wanted her, and she wanted his name and money. I was just a part of the trade-off.” Sesshoumaru recalled the way his father had emphasized earlier Ayaka’s beauty, and explained how she had rejected him. “Besides since when are feelings a requirement for people to sleep together? Sex is all that is needed to conceive a child, not much more.” The matter of fact way in which he spoke caused a shiver of unease to creep through her.?
? ‘I hope this isn’t how he sees us or what the little episode between us from earlier was all about…’ She pushed the idea out of her head, and focused on a more positive thing. ‘I know he cares for me. He did tell me in the past that he was falling for me.’ The same thought had sustained her through the past few days. Even if Sesshoumaru and she had not been in the best terms lately, she still felt like there was still a strong bond between them.
??Sesshoumaru noticed the shocked look on Kagura’s face at hearing his crude words, and decided to clarify his thoughts. “It seems their relationship was not as close as my father had let on for years. Mother did not even tell him about her cancer diagnosis until he announced to her he was leaving her for Izayoi.”
??The young woman was left speechless once again. While she could try to wrap her mind around the fact that the couple may have some sort of estranged relationship, she simply could not understand Ayaka’s silence about her diagnosis.?
? “Would your father have stayed with her had he known about the cancer?”
??Once again the first answer to her question was a snort. “He made it very clear to me today that nothing could have deterred him from raising his son with his mistress; not even his ill wife.”?
? “…or his teenage son.” Kagura spoke aloud the one thought which he would never have dared even materialize into words in his own head. She reached over for his hand lying on the couch cushion and gave it a comforting squeeze. She who also knew all too well the feeling of losing a mother in a tragic accident, and being abandoned by a father could relate to him. ‘I understand why Sesshoumaru sought me out despite our disagreements. Not only can I relate to his situation, but I know only too well how he feels... Everything would have been even more heart wrenching for me if Naraku had decided to solely raise Kanna without a care for my own feelings...’ She quickly discarded all thoughts of her own father to focus on the issue on hand.
??Little did she know she had hit the nail right on the head; so much so that Sesshoumaru immediately shut down. He pretended not to have heard her last comment, or her attempt at offering comfort. While he had enjoyed their brief physical touch, he still removed his hand from her grasp; he would be damned if he let her know how he truly felt.
?? “We have wasted enough time to this. I have more interesting news to impart. I have come to the bottom of the Miko Powder investigation.”?
?Usually Kagura would have jumped at the chance of hearing more about a potential scoop for Shikon Magazine, but at the moment her lover, and ensuring he was truly alright, was all she cared about.?
? “I understand that you don’t want to talk about your father, or your feelings for that matter… But you just found out a bunch of stuff about your parents’ lives, and a lot of your thoughts were…hum…disproved. I told you I wouldn’t judge or think less of you if you needed to talk about how you felt.”
?? “And I said I was done.” He replied annoyed that she would try to overanalyze his feelings. ‘She is so alike me that I thought she would understand that I do not need to talk about my feelings.’ The annoyed young man thought. He refused to admit that hearing her come too close to the real reasoning behind his upset was the reason why he had suddenly pulled the breaks on their emotional discussion.
?? “You just want to move on to another topic? Just like that. You just unloaded a ton of revelations, and you just want to move on to something else as if we were just discussing the weather.”?
? “Precisely.”?
? “Well, you can't just expect me to hear all that and just coldly switch to another topic of conversation. After dumping all this on me, don't you think we should talk about all you found out…at least a little more?"
?? "I didn't come here to talk."
?? "Then why did you come? It obviously wasn’t for pick-me-up-sex!" She pointed out still sore about his rejection.
??Her question caused him to pause then reflect. 'She is right to wonder why I came here... I myself am unsure.' Just as the thought crossed his mind something else occurred to him. Something so glaring and obvious that he was surprised he hadn't realized before: he missed her. Not only in a sexual way or a professional way, but mostly in a more basic way. There was a reason why he had fallen for her so quickly after the start of their affair, and that was how much he enjoyed spending time with her. 'Well she is a beautiful, smart and interesting woman. It's no wonder I feel so much for her.' He reasoned his train of thoughts. 'It of course helps that she is a good listener and that she knows and understands my situation with my parents. Who else would I be able to talk to about that?'?
?When Sesshoumaru failed to give her any type of satisfactory answer, the young female journalist just threw up her hands in the air in pure frustration. “Fine, okay. Before you tell me about this whole Miko Powder thing, I’ll get us a drink. ‘Maybe if I get him to stick around, and I manage to get him drunk, he will open up even more.’ She did not wait for him to protest before taking to her feet. She took a few seconds to secure the tie of her robe before heading towards the kitchen.
??Kagura generously poured two glasses of dry red wine for each of them. It was his favorite, which she had especially bought for the dinner of the previous week. Sesshoumaru had stormed off so early in the evening that she had not had a chance to open it until now.
Once she stepped back in the living room, it was as if Sesshoumaru’s earlier confessions had never occurred. While she was gone, he had taken out his trusted notebook and was presently making notes in it. Even if she adored the look of concentration on his face every time he focused on work, she hated that he could so easily move on from such a critical topic of conversation.?
? “So, what exactly did you find out?” She asked just after placing the two glasses on the coffee table. This time she purposely sat next to Sesshoumaru, as close to him as possible without being actually seated on his lap. ‘I will not give him the satisfaction of knowing just how much he can affect me. I just need to pretend as if everything was fine.’?
? “Abi is the mastermind behind the operation.” His answer thrust her out of her personal thoughts.
?? “Who?” The name for an unknown reason sounded familiar to her, but before Kagura could place it, he answered her question.
?? “Abi Satoshi. She is the vice president of Kagome’s student association, and her mother is on the board of directors of the university.” His little explanation caused Kagura to let out a loud whistle of appreciation.
“This indeed is bound to be a scoop.” He put her thoughts into actual words.
??She couldn’t agree with him more. Juicy headlines were already running through her head, but just to be on the safe side, she could not help but question. “I hate to ask, but do you have serious proof of this? I wouldn’t want for Shikon Magazine to be sued for libel.” Something told her that Mrs. Satoshi would not let her daughter’s name be dragged through the mud. ‘We’ll need to have a serious case to support this claim.’
??While Sesshoumaru hated her insinuation and lack of faith in his ethics and journalistic skills, he still answered her question. “I have the exclusive testimony of one of her closest accomplices. In fact it is at the basis of the investigation led by Shinji Yaruba. As we speak detective Yaruba is interrogating Suon, and I expect he will have a warrant for Abi’s arrest by tomorrow morning.”
?? “Then we have no time to waste! We must have the story out just as the police arrests Abi. We need to be all over this before everyone.” Kagura exclaimed with glee. This was the best news she had had in a long time, and she could not wait to see the story published. ‘This is definitely going to give us an edge over Sengoku Today!
??He handed her the little notebook where he had jotted down Suon’s confession. She thumbed through Sesshoumaru’s notes, and liked what she saw. “This is fantastic. We need to have this out asap!”?
? “I do not have any intentions of wasting time either. In fact, I have ordered a mini special edition to go out tomorrow. The editorial designers are just waiting for my final draft. I was supposed to have it finished by now, but I’ve been distracted…”
??Kagura’s heart gave a little squeeze at hearing her lover’s admission. ‘He must be feeling worse than he let on if he let his emotions after his run-in with his father affect his preparation of such a crucial special edition.’?
?Sesshoumaru easily noticed her frown. “Not to worry, I have most of the article written, and just need to adjust a few things. As soon as I complete it, I will send it to the designers. They do not mind working overtime, and assured me that they can have the story out online and on paper first thing tomorrow. We also have the printers on standby. Sengoku is definitely not going to publish this story before us.”
??She smiled at seeing how he had so perfectly covered all bases. She also loved the fact that he felt as combative and competitive towards their competitor as she was. Only a few months ago the fact that her co-worker was the one to have come up and executed such a strong work would have annoyed her, but now she was genuinely happy to see him head what was sure to become a great success for Shikon Magazine. Not to mention that the idea of finally beating their biggest rival caused a rush of pure excitement to course through her. “Great job Sesshoumaru! You came to the bottom of the story all on your own, and landed us this exclusive. Do you know how much I love you right now?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back. “I…This was just a figure of speech…I mean I…”
?? “I understand.” He cut her off. She did not miss the fact that the previous excitement they had shared over the news story had completely faded from his voice.
?? ‘Damn me and my mouth. This is not how I intended for me to talk about my feelings towards him.’ She thought angrily, repressing the urge to bang her head against the wall in pure frustration. Ever since her conversation with her sister, she had realized just how she felt towards her co-worker, and was dying to actually confess to him. ‘Why am I so afraid to come out and admit it? I know that he cares for me, and I know that he wouldn’t have come to me in such a hard time if he didn’t love me. I’m tired of these games we play. Everything was so much simpler when we were honest, and knew exactly the kind of relationship we were in.’
?? “I see…” He continued when she failed to add more.
?? “No, I don’t think you do… truth is…I love you. I really am in love with you.” Kagura’s admission was met with an arched eyebrow.
??A sudden confession was the last thing Sesshoumaru had expected. That day had been an emotional rollercoaster for him. ‘First a surprise visit from father, and now this…’ He felt emotionally drained. While a few weeks ago his heart would have sung at the idea of Kagura finally admitting she loved him, despite their earlier ‘transaction’ in her corridor, at the moment things between the two of them were too murky for him to know how he wanted to proceed.?
? “Kagura…” He started, but she interrupted him.
?? “No, I know what you’re going to say.” She ran a hand down her tired face. I’m being so selfish right now. Here you are going through this whole family crisis, and I pick just that time to come out, and complicate things even more between us.?
“That was not exactly what his Sesshoumaru had in mind.”
Him reverting to the third person made her worried about how he felt, but the small ghost of a smile, which suddenly touched his lips, let her know that things were not as bad as she could have anticipated.
“In fact, this is one of the best ‘revelations’ I have heard in a long time.”
His admission made her mouth break into a wide smile. She could not have been happier to hear that coming from him. “Well, I take it to mean you feel the same way.” She could not help but want to clear the air, and have everything out in the open once and for all.
“Have I not told you how I felt towards you in the past? I do recall a particular occasion when I had voiced my feelings.” He retorted. To this day he still felt uncomfortable, and slightly ashamed, with the fact that he had he had come out and blurted out he was falling for Kagura that one evening on the rooftop of the Shikon magazine headquarters.
“Hey, even a girl like me enjoys hearing some fluffy words once in a while.”
He scoffed at hearing her answer before speaking. “Do not go fishing for a declaration, it is unbecoming.”
This time around she was the one to be amused by his response as seen in the hearty chuckle she let out. Now that they had both finally admitted what was in their heart, she was overcome by intense joy. ‘Well at least I have admitted what I felt towards him…wonder what it would take to have Mr. Cool say these three little words?’ Even as she thought the words, a plan hatched in her mind. Before she lost her cool, she slid on the couch closer to him, and in my quick move sat on his lap, straddling in thighs, and for the second time that evening putting herself in a delectably precarious situation. “Well, maybe I’ll have an easier time seducing it out of you.” She playfully nipped at the sensitive area of his lower jaw.
?Sesshoumaru was tempted, really tempted to give in and say what she wanted to hear, so that he could end it with their teasing games, and move on to the real thing. Due to their argument he had kept his distance from his lover, but now that they had smoothed things between them, he could not wait to make up for loss time.
‘It has only been a week since we parted ways, and I am already hungering for her this strongly.’ A part of him was scared to have Kagura possess such a strong hold over him, but another, bigger part, was overjoyed that they could share something like this. Now that he knew she felt the same way as he did, he did not see any reasons to worry. ‘I am sure me speaking these silly words will make her happy beyond words.’ And at the moment there was nothing he wanted more but to make her happy.
“Kagura I…” He never had the chance to end his sentence as his phone rung loudly, announcing an incoming text message. With an apologetic smile, he reached for the pocket of his pants to retrieve the device. Having Kagura sprawled over him proved to make the action twice as difficult, resulting in a lot of struggling and undulating to occur, but he did not care at the moment as he was enjoying their proximity way too much. When she made a move to relinquish her position, he even went as far as to place a protective hand behind her back therefore successfully keeping her in place. He flipped open his cellphone, and groaned in annoyance upon reading the text he had received; nothing else could have brought him back to the real world faster.
“What is it?” She inquired even as she craned her neck to try to read what was displayed on the glowing screen. Whatever it was, she could tell it had annoyed him, and she could only hope that it was not his father who had decided to communicate with him further.
“Just a nice reminder from Sonji that they’re waiting for my article to finish up tomorrow’s special edition.” Sesshoumaru answered, referring to the head of their editorial department. As sweet and unassuming as he short message might have been, he was certain the petite, but fearsome, female was pacing her office and cursing him for keeping her and her team late.
Kagura was mortified to have let herself get carried away so far as moving the story to the backburner. “Fun time’s over! We really have to finish up on that work, we can’t afford to have anything going wrong with this issue.” Kagura very reluctantly stood up from her lover’s lap, to both of their disappointment, even though they knew it was for the best. “I’ll go make us some coffee. We need to be awake and focused… no more fooling around.” She started walking towards the kitchen to brew some of the energizing beverage, when he stopped her.
“Oh Kagura...” She stopped and turned around to see Sesshoumaru looking up from his notes. “I do too.” He simply added before picking up his neglected pen, and making a quick revision in the draft he had written down in his notebook.
She sighed in a mix of happiness and annoyance, and turned back to resume her walk to the kitchen. His words were a step up from him saying that he was ‘falling for her,’ but not quite the three words she had been hoping for. While she knew he did harbor the feelings, she wanted him to come out and actually say it. ‘I guess I’ll just need to push him until he finally admits it.’
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000
Kagura and Sesshoumaru were cozily sleeping entwined under the warm covers of her bed. They had spent hours finalizing the articles to be published in the special edition, and after sending the final drafts and layout to Sonji and her team, they had dragged themselves to Kgura’s bed where they had quickly fallen into an exhausted sleep. The emotional upheavals as well as the intellectual draining work they had experience that day had been enough to make both long for a good night’s sleep. They had contented themselves with snuggling as closely as possible as they were too tired to do anything naughty despite how hot their earlier kisses had left them. Not that it mattered as neither of them was in a hurry to jump in bed, at least to do anything more than sleep. Now that they had both come out and admitted their mutual feelings, they did not see a reason why in the future they would not be able to enjoy each other whenever they saw fit.
Their much needed rest was interrupted when Sesshoumaru’s phone rang from where he had left it on the nightstand. Before he could reach for the screaming device, the lamp located on Kagura’s side of the bed was turned on.
“You need to learn how to control that damn device. It has the worst timing ever.” The younger woman complained in a croaky voice. She took a quick glance at her alarm clock, and groaned at seeing that they had barely been in bed for two hours before they had been awakened.
“Go back to sleep.” Sesshoumaru ordered her before opening his cell phone. He too was weary, but had decided to let his phone on for the night. He wanted to be made aware if anything went wrong with the issue their team was putting together.
“Rise and shine Sesshoumaru, I have good news.” Upon hearing the voice that greeted him, this time it was Sesshoumaru’s time to groan.
“Shinji, do you know what time it is?” The journalist did not know exactly what time it was either, but just knew that it was too early for him to be awakened by the detective.
“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to be appraised of every moves I made in this investigation. I thought you might want to know that we got Abi in custody…but I could always call back…”
The words of detective Yaruba had the effect of a cold shower on Sesshoumaru; he was suddenly awake and alert despite the lack of sleep.
“I am listening.” He retorted before gently rolling out of bed. He wanted to hear everything Shinji had to tell him, and wanted to be able to ask questions without disturbing Kagura any further. He had noticed earlier the dark circles under her eyes, which he had inferred had been caused by lack of sleep courtesy of their disagreement, and did not care to see even more signs of fatigue develop on his lover’s face.
“Sess, where are you going?” Kagura sleepily asked him as soon as she felt his comforting warmth leave her bed.
He gently covered his phone before answering. “I will be right back, now sleep.”
“You still here?” Shinji asked with a sigh from the other end of the line. The two Shikon journalists were not the only ones running on little sleep. Between interrogating Suon, obtaining a warrant for Abi’s arrest then proceeding with the arrest, detective Yaruba had also had quite an eventful night.
Once he had successfully managed to exit his lover’s bedroom, Sesshoumaru answered. “Yes.”
“That Abi Satoshi is quite the character…”
“Did she confess when presented with Suon’s accusations?” The journalist quickly asked. If Abi had confessed, he knew he would need to amend his article, and therefore needed to know as soon as possible in order to let the designers know so that they could make one last change. ‘Hopefully Sonji and her people are not done with the layouts, and the edition hasn’t gotten out to the printers yet…’ He thought attempting to do some time calculations.
“Not quite. Despite the body of evidence against her, she’s not willing to cooperate. In fact Abi has only opened her mouth to ask for one thing.”
“Is she going to get one of her mother’s surely overpaid lawyers on the case?” Sesshoumaru was not too keen with the idea of engaging in a legal battle, but he was willing to defend his work if need be.
“No, she hasn’t asked for a lawyer. She wants you.” The detective finally admitted the real reason behind his phone call. When Sesshoumaru had presented him the case, and had given him Suon’s signed confession, Shinji had inferred this would be an easy job for him as most of the investigation had been made. After interviewing Suon himself to double check some facts, the detective had called in a favor from a judge’s clerical assistant to have a warrant for Abi’s arrest put out in record time. All that was then needed was to pick up the young drug manufacturer.
‘Little did I know the hard part would be dealing with her…’
Sesshoumaru’s shocked intake of breath brought Shinji back to the present. “I am not sure I am following what you mean.”
“Miss Satoshi is playing difficult. She claims she only wants to talk to the person who managed to find her out, in other words you.
Sesshoumaru did not allow himself a long deliberation time. Even though Abi had not called in for back up yet, the Shikon editor was certain that her mother would soon intervene. ‘She is bound to found out her daughter was incarcerated, and once she does I will lose my shot at talking to Abi as something tells me her mother is not one to let her daughter rot in jail. I know Abi won’t get out easily because of all the evidence against her, but even if their lawyer can’t have her released, her mother is sure to kick up a fuss and make the story is in any media outlet, so that they can portray Abi as the poor victim of some misunderstanding. Gone will then be Shikon Magazine’s exclusive. I need to act, and fast.’
“I’ll get there as fast as I can.” Sesshoumaru could see a follow-up piece to the one he had just printed in the special edition shaping up in his mind. He had not expected tis turn of events, but now that it was occurring he was oddly excited. It was not often that he had the chance to interview someone behind bars.
“See you then.” Shinji agreed before cutting off the communication.
?
“I will drive if you get me coffee.” Kagura announced in between yawns. Sesshoumaru had been so preoccupied with his conversation that he had not even heard her creep in behind him.
“Are you sure you want to come?” He asked her. “You could always go back to bed.”
She scoffed at hearing his words. “And let you have all the fun? I think not. Let me jump in the shower, and I’ll be like brand new. Why don’t you make us some coffee in the meantime? Something tells me we’re going to need our caffeine fix before dealing with that girl.”
“I am heading out in 10 minutes. If you’re not ready by then, I will leave without you.”
“Roger that!” With a mocking military salute to accompany her words, Kagura ran towards her bathroom, the sound of her lover’s annoyed groan ringing in her ears.
?0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000
On the other side of town another couple was in bed as well. However this time around it wasn’t a phone, but the tossing and turning of one of the occupants who awakened the other. After suffering from one more kick to his shin, Inuyasha had had enough of pretending to be asleep.
“Kagome!” He groaned unhappily. If there was one way to ensure the young man would be grumpy, it was to prevent him from getting adequate sleep, which his partner had been doing that night. Kagome had too been pretending to me sleeping, but gave up the pretense when he complained.
She turned on her side lamp, and turned towards the man she loved with all her heart. Since he saw that they were not about to get any sleep, he had no choice but to sit up and turn to face her.
“Wench, I can tell something is bothering you, so out with it.” He ordered his girlfriend. ‘Then maybe once this is over, I will be able to go back to sleep.’
While she would have usually yelled at him for talking to her in such a disrespectful tone, she was presently too tired and anxious to care. Ever since this afternoon she felt as if she had been wearing a mask on her face to try to hide her true feelings. During their date at the movies then dinner she had kept a bright smile on her lips even if her mind was in clear turmoil. She was struggling with the idea of telling Inuyasha everything she had heard from his father. Since Touga had not sworn her to secrecy, she felt that she should share the stunning revelations with her boyfriend, but another part of her felt that telling him would be akin to a betrayal of the older man’s revelations. Only thinking about her inner conflict brought tears to her eyes.
It was only when Inuyasha noticed the red rim under her eyes, and the glistening look to her big brown orbs that he realized something was really wrong. ‘Kagome is a real people pleaser; I know that she doesn’t let others see her cry, even when she’s really hurting. Something really bad must have happened.’ He thought to himself, worry growing inside of him.
He reached over to wrap his arm over her, and brought her body in for as close a hug as possible. “Kagome, you know you can tell me anything… Just tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll make it better.” The way he gently whispered in her ear, coupled with her inner turmoil caused the tears to spill forth. She pushed away from his comforting embrace, and wiped furiously at the salty droplets that had escaped her eyes.
“Inuyasha, don’t be this nice to me… I lied to you.” Her anguish-filled voice as well as her words worried him, even if he could not for the life of him guess what she could have lied about.
“Don’t cry, whatever it is it’s okay…” He was as usual at a loss for words when faced with her tears, and was unsure about the best course of action. “Just explain things to me…”
“I didn’t go back to school this afternoon… the truth is I went to see your father to talk to him about Sesshoumaru.” Her mention of his two male relatives caused alarm bells to ring in his head even if Inuyasha couldn’t quite explain why.
“Keh! And what did our old man say?” Even if the question was asked casually, the answer it would provide was not taken slightly.
Kagome took a deep calming breath before answering. “Quite a lot actually.”
“Well, I guess we’re not going back to sleep after all…”
To be continued…
A/N: Wasn’t this chapter worth the wait? They’ve managed to put their differences aside to finally admit their feelings. Will everything be smooth sailing from now on…I think not. Next time we’ll see what Abi has up her sleeve, and we’ll see more family action. I will try my very best to have the next chapter out asap! It will be named Fact Checking.
A/N: Dear readers of mine, I am sorry for the long wait! Uprooting my life, and going back to school has kept me way too busy for me to update the story. If you’ve been by my page, you would know that I now reside in Denmark (thanks IP address recognition) where I’m undergoing my master’s studies. Even though grad school is tough, I will endeavor to finish this story. I will take it one chapter at a time, so I already apologize for the slow updates.
?
I would really like to thank all of you for (still reading this story), and a special thanks to Little25Victor for taking the time to look me up, and read the story :)
Disclaimer: Sadly even though I love writing AU stories on my OTP, they don't belong to me. I tried to buy them, but all I could afford were plushies. Oh well better than nothing lol.
“Talking”
'Thoughts'
Sesshoumaru had personally come in to be able to share with someone everything he had just found out about his parents, and especially how wrong he had been on the circumstances of his mother’s death. There was only one person he could dare talk to about something so personal, and at that present moment, she was in his arms. He may have come to her condo in search of some soothing relief and an understanding ear, but at the present moment he was receiving all the comfort he might need. He had after all never been much of a talker, and he was certain this was the quickest way to make him feel better.
??The two of them had been standing in the entryway of Kagura’s condo, sharing a passionate kiss for a while when he decided to move things along. When Sesshoumaru placed his hands around her hips and gently hoisted her up, Kagura did not hesitate to help him along by wrapping her legs around his waist. And when he started walking after gently securing her in his arms, she simply held on for the ride by lacing her arms around his neck all the while keeping their lips fastened together as best she could. She knew he was directing them towards her bedroom, and she did not even think about protesting.
?? ‘This is exactly what I need.’ As soon as their lips had met, Sesshoumaru’s mind had gone blank. Gone were the thoughts of his parents’ complicated relationship and his mother’s death; all he cared about was reaching Kagura’s bedroom as quickly as possible so he could work on giving both of them a pleasurable distraction, and lay his mind to rest.
Kagura let out a pleased moan when he used his thumb to gently caress the skin of her hip left exposed by the bunching of her nightgown. ‘I’ve missed this so much.’ She thought to herself as Sesshoumaru approached the threshold of her bedroom. Had she been honest, she would have admitted that after the disastrous dinner of the previous weekend, and Sesshoumaru’s cold dress down of that morning, the last thing she could have expected would be to have her lover be this close to her bed in any foreseeable future at the very least. A few other thoughts ran through her mind as he plundered her mouth lustfully. ‘My room is such a mess, Sesshoumaru is sure to comment on it…more importantly am I wearing cute underwear?’ Deep down she did realize that rather than worrying about these trivial matters, what she should be worried about was what the kisses they were sharing, and what might occur next, meant for their relationship. A small voice deep inside her pointed out she should be outraged that Sesshoumaru would dare show up at her place at this time of night looking for sex, but the least reasonable side of Kagura squashed down that protest mercilessly.
? ?Her lover sensed her distraction and reluctantly broke apart their kiss. “Is something wrong?” He questioned breathlessly. He rearranged his hold of her body by placing supporting hands under her bottom, but did not let go of her. He did after all enjoy their present position very much. Not only did it link Kagura to a very interesting part of his own anatomy, but it also placed her exactly at eye level to him where her cherry red lips were so easy to access.?
? “No, of course not. Now, where were we? Oh yes, making out.” She replied before pressing a sweet kiss to his lips.?
?Her slight hesitation had the effect of a cold shower on her lover. ‘What am I doing? Since when do I act in such a despicable way? I am using her as a distraction… Kagura doesn’t deserve that. She is worth so much more to me than just an offer of sexual comfort. I need to face my issues, not distract myself like this.’?
?When an unfocused Sesshoumaru failed to return her ministration, she feared that whatever force had made him come to her that night might have worn off, and he would reject her once again. Emboldened by desperation, the young woman tightened her legs around his waist, increased the strength of her arm hold around his neck, and brought their faces even closer. She decided to pour all her love into this one kiss as if it would be their last. She gently flicked her tongue against his lips, silently asking him to allow her access to deepen their kiss. Instead of responding favorably to her passionate embrace, he removed one hand from where he was supporting her, using it instead to gently push her face away from his.
?? “Kagura, please stop it.” The gentle tone he used to whisper his command against her lips did not make his words any less hurtful to her. She momentarily froze in shock, but quickly recovered. She had never been one to beg a man to be with her, as her past with Kouga proved, and had no intention to start doing so with Sesshoumaru, no matter how she might feel towards him.?
?He allowed himself to press one last lingering kiss on the side of her sensitive neck right over the spot he knew always drove her crazy. Then he very reluctantly loosened his hold on Kagura, leaving her no choice but to step down.
?? “I am sorry.” He awkwardly admitted, staring straight down into her beloved crimson eyes. “This is not what I came here for tonight, and I am sorry I let myself be carried away…”
?? “Stop apologizing!” Kagura snapped angrily. She rearranged her red nightgown, which had bunched around her waist, and had it cover her bare thighs once again. As much as she hated to admit it, her pride had been gravely hurt by his refusal. “So, why did you come then? It is pretty late.” She tried to sound as casual as possible; she would be damned before she let Sesshoumaru know how much his second rejection of the day had stung her.?
?Contrary to what Kagura may believe, Sesshoumaru had not been left unaffected by their ardent kiss. Through the slightly ajar door of Kagura’s bedroom, he could see her bed. The mere sight of the soft resting place, and what could have happened had he not put a stop to it, made him salivate. Temptation was literally within reach, and he struggled not to let himself give in.
?? ‘I came here for a reason, and I need to focus on it.’ The sobering thought of what his father had revealed to him earlier in the day was enough to get lustful images involving him and his lover out of his mind.
?? “Could we talk in the living room?”
??Kagura was surprised by Sesshoumaru’s abnormal behavior. While in the past months it had not been uncommon for him to ravage her almost on sight during their unconventional relationship, and despite their earlier argument, she could tell that he still wanted her with the same kind of passion that was still burning through her veins. She did not know what had made him stop, and was truly surprised to see the hesitation etched on his face as he had never acted this unusually.
?? ‘Something isn’t right. I don’t know why, but something tells me something bad happened to him.’ Then and there, Kagura decided to swallow her pride, and focus on helping Sesshoumaru through whatever he was going through. ‘It has to be bad for him to come to me in the middle of the night.’?
? “Of course, go on right ahead, let me just grab my robe.” It was one thing for her to agree to talk to him, but another to be half naked while doing so, or even worse to let him see the tell-tale signs of her clear arousal. He had seen her bare, and made her body sing enough times to see the signs and know how much she had been affected by their earlier kisses.?
?Sesshoumaru nodded his understanding, and did as asked. While he got himself settled on her couch, the young woman dashed into her bedroom to grab the silky red robe that matched her lacy nightgown. She slipped in on, and after a quick inspection in the mirror, and a much needed smoothing of her hair, she joined him.
?? “Do you want a drink?” She asked intending to be a good hostess as well as put her unexpected visitor at ease.
?? “No thank you.” Sesshoumaru replied as evenly as possible. Now that it had come down to him having to actually talk, he found himself at a loss for words. Feeling highly uncomfortable, he crossed his fingers together, and placed his joined hands over his knee.
??She decided to sit across from him instead of seating on the space left open by him settling on one end of the piece of furniture. She crossed her legs as well as her arms, making sure he could tell through her body language that despite the earlier encounter, she was not in the mood for a social call.
??Her annoyance lessened when she noticed Sesshoumaru was nervously rubbing his two thumbs together. Kagura was not used to seeing such obvious discomfort or edginess coming from her co-worker, and was unsure how exactly to ease the tension. After a long wait, when she finally could not take the heavy silence anymore, she finally spoke. “Look Sesshoumaru, it’s late, and I have to get ready for a piece my dear old dad imposed on me. If you have something to say, say it, if not, let me go back to work.”
??Sesshoumaru took one long deep breath; the time to reveal the real reason behind his visit had come. “I received a visit from my father.” His carefully spoken words had the effect of a bomb on Kagura. As much as she wanted to jump to her feet and join Sesshoumaru on the couch to offer any kind of support she could, she refrained herself.
?? “What?!...Why after all these years?”
??Since he had come to see her, he figured the least he could do was speak the entire truth. “He somehow heard that I have made contact with Inuyasha, and more importantly that I hold my younger half brother responsible for the death of my mother. He therefore decided to come and set a few things straight with me.”
??The telling blush which colored her cheeks confirmed his suspicion that Kagura had indeed accidently been the source of Touga’s information.
?? “I know you told Kagome, and she in turn could not wait to go tell everything to her dear father in-law.” The bitter tone in which Sesshoumaru spoke let her know how upset he was about the situation.
?? “Sesshoumaru, I’m sorry. I was so mad after our argument, and it just slipped out before I could help myself…”
??He interrupted her apology by raising a hand. “This is not what I came here for.”
??While Kagura did not like being cut short, she did like the fact that Sesshoumaru was willing to get past her unintended slip up. ‘After the disastrous dinner of last weekend, I would hate for him to be mad at me about something else…’ She thought before adding aloud. “Then, why did you come here?”?
? “I came…” Sesshoumaru started, but stopped. It was one thing for him to come knocking at Kagura’s door late at night in search of some comfort, but quite another to actually voice his need. Rather than speak, he reached in his pocket for the folded letter his father had left with him. He extended his arm over the coffee table separating them. “Read this.”?
?Despite the confusion clearly displayed on her face, Kagura leaned forward to take the yellowed piece of paper. As soon as she read the first and last lines, her heart jumped.
?? “Is this what I think this is?”
?? “Yes, this is the last letter my mother wrote to my father.” He saw her crimson eyes cloud over with clear emotion, and quickly added. “Please read it.”
??She was humbled and touched that he would want to share something so personal with her. Too overcome with emotion to actually reply, the young woman did as asked. Once she finished scanning the elegant writing on the page, she promptly put it down. She was shocked about what she had just found out about the true character of Ayaka Tashio, but most importantly she ached for Sesshoumaru. She who had also lost her mother young knew that if she had had such an opportunity to glance into her mother’s state of mind before she passed, she would have wanted to find out exactly who her mother really was, and what she thought about her two daughters. Even if as in this case it was not entirely favorable.?
? ‘In her letter Ayaka barely even mentioned Sesshoumaru, and when she did, it seemed like he was either a trophy or an inconvenience to her.’ Kagura was once again overcome by emotions for the lonely little boy who she was sure her lover once was. She felt bad that because of her comment to Kagome the man she loved had had to endure such pain. After all she knew that had she not intervened, Touga would never have found a reason to re-enter his son’s life.?
? “Sesshoumaru, I am so sorry…” She started apologizing, but he gave her a sharp look, causing her to change the direction in which her speech was going. She had a pretty good idea why he had come that evening, and so decided to dive right into it. ‘Something tells me this is all related to the death of his mother.’ She thought before quickly adding aloud. “Hum…anyway, this doesn’t sound like the last words of a woman about to commit suicide by driving her car into a tree, isn’t it?” He interrupted her again, but this time with a snort.
?? “My father did not fail to point this out to me as well.”
??With this one sentence, Kagura understood all too well why Sesshoumaru had needed to to see her. The steamy scene that had played out earlier also suddenly had meaning to her. ‘He came looking for some comfort. He must feel like his entire world is crumbling. I know he kept his distance from his father not only because of the way he cheated and betrayed Ayaka, but also because he blamed Touga for pushing his mother to commit suicide; however, now that he sees he may have been wrong Sesshoumaru must feel lost and insecure; two emotions I am sure he isn’t used to feel.’ She thought to herself. Even as a wave of sadness washed over her, she was unsure about how to act. She was more than aware that if she dared actually voice her sorrow, Sesshoumaru would throw her empathy back in her face, but at the same time, she did want to help take his ache away, any way she could.?
?Her mind set, Kagura stood up, and walked around the coffee table, which separated them, to head towards Sesshoumaru. She then sat next to him on the couch, and decided not to let her pride be hurt when he failed to turn towards her. She raised her hands to cradle his face, and forced him to look at her; this time around, he had no choice but to stare straight into her crimson eyes.
??The two of them stayed silent for a long while. Finally unable to handle the soundless tension much longer, Sesshoumaru finally spoke. “I do not need your pity.”
?? “You should know me well enough to realize I wasn’t about to offer any.” She retorted, not letting go of his fine face. “Look, I know you must feel really shitty right now, and if you want to talk about how you feel, I promise I won’t think any less of you. You saw me break down and act a fool several times, and it hasn’t sent you running for the hills, and I can assure you the same would be for me.” She said recalling how he had tenderly comforted her when she had told her about her painful miscarriage.
??He sighed and finally relented. He had come here for a reason, and he did need to get much off of his chest. ‘Besides who else could I talk to except her?’ Sesshoumaru put his larger hands over hers, and gently took down the hold she had on his face. He would talk to her about how he felt, but he did not feel courageous enough to look her in the eye while he was doing so. “To tell you the truth, I am angry.”
?? “Angry?” She echoed wondering if his anger was turned towards himself because of the distance he had allowed to come in between him and his family.
?? “Angry that my father would think that I would open up my arms to him only because he showed proof that my mother did not commit suicide because of him. This does not change anything. He still lied, cheated and betrayed his family.” Sesshoumaru stubbornly stated. Deep inside, he did feel a sense of relief due to the recent findings concerning his mother’s passing, but he also did not feel like he should simply sweep all the past hurt away and open up his life to his father.
?? ‘If he really wanted to have a relationship with me, he could have tried twenty years ago. It’s too little too late now.’ He thought bitterly. The fact that Touga had only attempted reconciliation after Inuyasha and Sesshoumaru had a run-in did not go unnoticed by the journalist either.
?? “Not to mention that he brought my mother to such a pitifully low state…”?
?Kagura sent him a surprised look. “What are you talking about?”
??Sesshoumaru cursed at seeing how he had unintentionally revealed another of his parents’ secrets. He had debated about whether to tell Kagura about the sordid love triangle Touga had revealed, and ended up deciding to simply come clean about everything. ‘It’s not as if finding out about it could tarnish further the low idea of Touga and Ayaka she must have…’
?? “My mother knew about father’s affair with Izayoi. She did nothing to make them break up, and even agreed to openly share father. She only expressed her disapproval once she found out that Inuyasha had been conceived. Since father was not about to choose her over the pregnant mistress he was so in love with, they parted ways.” Only speaking the words left a bitter taste in his mouth; he simply could not understand why the proud and beautiful Ayaka could agree to such an arrangement.?
?Kagura was astonished by the revelation. She too had been cheated on in the past, and was sure she would have never agreed to share her man. Just the thought of allowing Kouga to split his time between her and Ayame was enough to anger her. From what she had heard, and now read, about Ayaka Tashio she had a hard time understanding why a proud woman such as her would agree to such an understanding. She, who also considered herself a proud woman, knew for sure she would never agree to such a thing. “Did she love Touga that much?” She pondered aloud.
??Sesshoumaru snorted at her suggestion. “Love was not a part of my mother’s vocabulary. I am willing to bet that the only reason why she stayed with father for so long was that she did not want to lose her standing in society or the luxurious lifestyle she had become accustomed to after becoming Mrs. Tashio.”?
? “You make their relationship sound like a business transaction. It had to be more than that otherwise you wouldn’t be here.” Kagura gently reminded him. She had not failed to notice the casual way in which Ayaka spoke of her son in her letter, and she could not help but wish that she had misunderstood the way she felt towards her only son. ‘She must have cared for him… at least a little bit. Maybe she stayed with Touga in order to spare her young son a difficult separation.’ She tried to reason.?
? “No, the way in which I came about was just sex, and the kind not a far cry from a business transaction. Father thought mother beautiful and wanted her, and she wanted his name and money. I was just a part of the trade-off.” Sesshoumaru recalled the way his father had emphasized earlier Ayaka’s beauty, and explained how she had rejected him. “Besides since when are feelings a requirement for people to sleep together? Sex is all that is needed to conceive a child, not much more.” The matter of fact way in which he spoke caused a shiver of unease to creep through her.?
? ‘I hope this isn’t how he sees us or what the little episode between us from earlier was all about…’ She pushed the idea out of her head, and focused on a more positive thing. ‘I know he cares for me. He did tell me in the past that he was falling for me.’ The same thought had sustained her through the past few days. Even if Sesshoumaru and she had not been in the best terms lately, she still felt like there was still a strong bond between them.
??Sesshoumaru noticed the shocked look on Kagura’s face at hearing his crude words, and decided to clarify his thoughts. “It seems their relationship was not as close as my father had let on for years. Mother did not even tell him about her cancer diagnosis until he announced to her he was leaving her for Izayoi.”
??The young woman was left speechless once again. While she could try to wrap her mind around the fact that the couple may have some sort of estranged relationship, she simply could not understand Ayaka’s silence about her diagnosis.?
? “Would your father have stayed with her had he known about the cancer?”
??Once again the first answer to her question was a snort. “He made it very clear to me today that nothing could have deterred him from raising his son with his mistress; not even his ill wife.”?
? “…or his teenage son.” Kagura spoke aloud the one thought which he would never have dared even materialize into words in his own head. She reached over for his hand lying on the couch cushion and gave it a comforting squeeze. She who also knew all too well the feeling of losing a mother in a tragic accident, and being abandoned by a father could relate to him. ‘I understand why Sesshoumaru sought me out despite our disagreements. Not only can I relate to his situation, but I know only too well how he feels... Everything would have been even more heart wrenching for me if Naraku had decided to solely raise Kanna without a care for my own feelings...’ She quickly discarded all thoughts of her own father to focus on the issue on hand.
??Little did she know she had hit the nail right on the head; so much so that Sesshoumaru immediately shut down. He pretended not to have heard her last comment, or her attempt at offering comfort. While he had enjoyed their brief physical touch, he still removed his hand from her grasp; he would be damned if he let her know how he truly felt.
?? “We have wasted enough time to this. I have more interesting news to impart. I have come to the bottom of the Miko Powder investigation.”?
?Usually Kagura would have jumped at the chance of hearing more about a potential scoop for Shikon Magazine, but at the moment her lover, and ensuring he was truly alright, was all she cared about.?
? “I understand that you don’t want to talk about your father, or your feelings for that matter… But you just found out a bunch of stuff about your parents’ lives, and a lot of your thoughts were…hum…disproved. I told you I wouldn’t judge or think less of you if you needed to talk about how you felt.”
?? “And I said I was done.” He replied annoyed that she would try to overanalyze his feelings. ‘She is so alike me that I thought she would understand that I do not need to talk about my feelings.’ The annoyed young man thought. He refused to admit that hearing her come too close to the real reasoning behind his upset was the reason why he had suddenly pulled the breaks on their emotional discussion.
?? “You just want to move on to another topic? Just like that. You just unloaded a ton of revelations, and you just want to move on to something else as if we were just discussing the weather.”?
? “Precisely.”?
? “Well, you can't just expect me to hear all that and just coldly switch to another topic of conversation. After dumping all this on me, don't you think we should talk about all you found out…at least a little more?"
?? "I didn't come here to talk."
?? "Then why did you come? It obviously wasn’t for pick-me-up-sex!" She pointed out still sore about his rejection.
??Her question caused him to pause then reflect. 'She is right to wonder why I came here... I myself am unsure.' Just as the thought crossed his mind something else occurred to him. Something so glaring and obvious that he was surprised he hadn't realized before: he missed her. Not only in a sexual way or a professional way, but mostly in a more basic way. There was a reason why he had fallen for her so quickly after the start of their affair, and that was how much he enjoyed spending time with her. 'Well she is a beautiful, smart and interesting woman. It's no wonder I feel so much for her.' He reasoned his train of thoughts. 'It of course helps that she is a good listener and that she knows and understands my situation with my parents. Who else would I be able to talk to about that?'?
?When Sesshoumaru failed to give her any type of satisfactory answer, the young female journalist just threw up her hands in the air in pure frustration. “Fine, okay. Before you tell me about this whole Miko Powder thing, I’ll get us a drink. ‘Maybe if I get him to stick around, and I manage to get him drunk, he will open up even more.’ She did not wait for him to protest before taking to her feet. She took a few seconds to secure the tie of her robe before heading towards the kitchen.
??Kagura generously poured two glasses of dry red wine for each of them. It was his favorite, which she had especially bought for the dinner of the previous week. Sesshoumaru had stormed off so early in the evening that she had not had a chance to open it until now.
Once she stepped back in the living room, it was as if Sesshoumaru’s earlier confessions had never occurred. While she was gone, he had taken out his trusted notebook and was presently making notes in it. Even if she adored the look of concentration on his face every time he focused on work, she hated that he could so easily move on from such a critical topic of conversation.?
? “So, what exactly did you find out?” She asked just after placing the two glasses on the coffee table. This time she purposely sat next to Sesshoumaru, as close to him as possible without being actually seated on his lap. ‘I will not give him the satisfaction of knowing just how much he can affect me. I just need to pretend as if everything was fine.’?
? “Abi is the mastermind behind the operation.” His answer thrust her out of her personal thoughts.
?? “Who?” The name for an unknown reason sounded familiar to her, but before Kagura could place it, he answered her question.
?? “Abi Satoshi. She is the vice president of Kagome’s student association, and her mother is on the board of directors of the university.” His little explanation caused Kagura to let out a loud whistle of appreciation.
“This indeed is bound to be a scoop.” He put her thoughts into actual words.
??She couldn’t agree with him more. Juicy headlines were already running through her head, but just to be on the safe side, she could not help but question. “I hate to ask, but do you have serious proof of this? I wouldn’t want for Shikon Magazine to be sued for libel.” Something told her that Mrs. Satoshi would not let her daughter’s name be dragged through the mud. ‘We’ll need to have a serious case to support this claim.’
??While Sesshoumaru hated her insinuation and lack of faith in his ethics and journalistic skills, he still answered her question. “I have the exclusive testimony of one of her closest accomplices. In fact it is at the basis of the investigation led by Shinji Yaruba. As we speak detective Yaruba is interrogating Suon, and I expect he will have a warrant for Abi’s arrest by tomorrow morning.”
?? “Then we have no time to waste! We must have the story out just as the police arrests Abi. We need to be all over this before everyone.” Kagura exclaimed with glee. This was the best news she had had in a long time, and she could not wait to see the story published. ‘This is definitely going to give us an edge over Sengoku Today!
??He handed her the little notebook where he had jotted down Suon’s confession. She thumbed through Sesshoumaru’s notes, and liked what she saw. “This is fantastic. We need to have this out asap!”?
? “I do not have any intentions of wasting time either. In fact, I have ordered a mini special edition to go out tomorrow. The editorial designers are just waiting for my final draft. I was supposed to have it finished by now, but I’ve been distracted…”
??Kagura’s heart gave a little squeeze at hearing her lover’s admission. ‘He must be feeling worse than he let on if he let his emotions after his run-in with his father affect his preparation of such a crucial special edition.’?
?Sesshoumaru easily noticed her frown. “Not to worry, I have most of the article written, and just need to adjust a few things. As soon as I complete it, I will send it to the designers. They do not mind working overtime, and assured me that they can have the story out online and on paper first thing tomorrow. We also have the printers on standby. Sengoku is definitely not going to publish this story before us.”
??She smiled at seeing how he had so perfectly covered all bases. She also loved the fact that he felt as combative and competitive towards their competitor as she was. Only a few months ago the fact that her co-worker was the one to have come up and executed such a strong work would have annoyed her, but now she was genuinely happy to see him head what was sure to become a great success for Shikon Magazine. Not to mention that the idea of finally beating their biggest rival caused a rush of pure excitement to course through her. “Great job Sesshoumaru! You came to the bottom of the story all on your own, and landed us this exclusive. Do you know how much I love you right now?” As soon as the words left her mouth, she wanted to take them back. “I…This was just a figure of speech…I mean I…”
?? “I understand.” He cut her off. She did not miss the fact that the previous excitement they had shared over the news story had completely faded from his voice.
?? ‘Damn me and my mouth. This is not how I intended for me to talk about my feelings towards him.’ She thought angrily, repressing the urge to bang her head against the wall in pure frustration. Ever since her conversation with her sister, she had realized just how she felt towards her co-worker, and was dying to actually confess to him. ‘Why am I so afraid to come out and admit it? I know that he cares for me, and I know that he wouldn’t have come to me in such a hard time if he didn’t love me. I’m tired of these games we play. Everything was so much simpler when we were honest, and knew exactly the kind of relationship we were in.’
?? “I see…” He continued when she failed to add more.
?? “No, I don’t think you do… truth is…I love you. I really am in love with you.” Kagura’s admission was met with an arched eyebrow.
??A sudden confession was the last thing Sesshoumaru had expected. That day had been an emotional rollercoaster for him. ‘First a surprise visit from father, and now this…’ He felt emotionally drained. While a few weeks ago his heart would have sung at the idea of Kagura finally admitting she loved him, despite their earlier ‘transaction’ in her corridor, at the moment things between the two of them were too murky for him to know how he wanted to proceed.?
? “Kagura…” He started, but she interrupted him.
?? “No, I know what you’re going to say.” She ran a hand down her tired face. I’m being so selfish right now. Here you are going through this whole family crisis, and I pick just that time to come out, and complicate things even more between us.?
“That was not exactly what his Sesshoumaru had in mind.”
Him reverting to the third person made her worried about how he felt, but the small ghost of a smile, which suddenly touched his lips, let her know that things were not as bad as she could have anticipated.
“In fact, this is one of the best ‘revelations’ I have heard in a long time.”
His admission made her mouth break into a wide smile. She could not have been happier to hear that coming from him. “Well, I take it to mean you feel the same way.” She could not help but want to clear the air, and have everything out in the open once and for all.
“Have I not told you how I felt towards you in the past? I do recall a particular occasion when I had voiced my feelings.” He retorted. To this day he still felt uncomfortable, and slightly ashamed, with the fact that he had he had come out and blurted out he was falling for Kagura that one evening on the rooftop of the Shikon magazine headquarters.
“Hey, even a girl like me enjoys hearing some fluffy words once in a while.”
He scoffed at hearing her answer before speaking. “Do not go fishing for a declaration, it is unbecoming.”
This time around she was the one to be amused by his response as seen in the hearty chuckle she let out. Now that they had both finally admitted what was in their heart, she was overcome by intense joy. ‘Well at least I have admitted what I felt towards him…wonder what it would take to have Mr. Cool say these three little words?’ Even as she thought the words, a plan hatched in her mind. Before she lost her cool, she slid on the couch closer to him, and in my quick move sat on his lap, straddling in thighs, and for the second time that evening putting herself in a delectably precarious situation. “Well, maybe I’ll have an easier time seducing it out of you.” She playfully nipped at the sensitive area of his lower jaw.
?Sesshoumaru was tempted, really tempted to give in and say what she wanted to hear, so that he could end it with their teasing games, and move on to the real thing. Due to their argument he had kept his distance from his lover, but now that they had smoothed things between them, he could not wait to make up for loss time.
‘It has only been a week since we parted ways, and I am already hungering for her this strongly.’ A part of him was scared to have Kagura possess such a strong hold over him, but another, bigger part, was overjoyed that they could share something like this. Now that he knew she felt the same way as he did, he did not see any reasons to worry. ‘I am sure me speaking these silly words will make her happy beyond words.’ And at the moment there was nothing he wanted more but to make her happy.
“Kagura I…” He never had the chance to end his sentence as his phone rung loudly, announcing an incoming text message. With an apologetic smile, he reached for the pocket of his pants to retrieve the device. Having Kagura sprawled over him proved to make the action twice as difficult, resulting in a lot of struggling and undulating to occur, but he did not care at the moment as he was enjoying their proximity way too much. When she made a move to relinquish her position, he even went as far as to place a protective hand behind her back therefore successfully keeping her in place. He flipped open his cellphone, and groaned in annoyance upon reading the text he had received; nothing else could have brought him back to the real world faster.
“What is it?” She inquired even as she craned her neck to try to read what was displayed on the glowing screen. Whatever it was, she could tell it had annoyed him, and she could only hope that it was not his father who had decided to communicate with him further.
“Just a nice reminder from Sonji that they’re waiting for my article to finish up tomorrow’s special edition.” Sesshoumaru answered, referring to the head of their editorial department. As sweet and unassuming as he short message might have been, he was certain the petite, but fearsome, female was pacing her office and cursing him for keeping her and her team late.
Kagura was mortified to have let herself get carried away so far as moving the story to the backburner. “Fun time’s over! We really have to finish up on that work, we can’t afford to have anything going wrong with this issue.” Kagura very reluctantly stood up from her lover’s lap, to both of their disappointment, even though they knew it was for the best. “I’ll go make us some coffee. We need to be awake and focused… no more fooling around.” She started walking towards the kitchen to brew some of the energizing beverage, when he stopped her.
“Oh Kagura...” She stopped and turned around to see Sesshoumaru looking up from his notes. “I do too.” He simply added before picking up his neglected pen, and making a quick revision in the draft he had written down in his notebook.
She sighed in a mix of happiness and annoyance, and turned back to resume her walk to the kitchen. His words were a step up from him saying that he was ‘falling for her,’ but not quite the three words she had been hoping for. While she knew he did harbor the feelings, she wanted him to come out and actually say it. ‘I guess I’ll just need to push him until he finally admits it.’
0000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000000000000
Kagura and Sesshoumaru were cozily sleeping entwined under the warm covers of her bed. They had spent hours finalizing the articles to be published in the special edition, and after sending the final drafts and layout to Sonji and her team, they had dragged themselves to Kgura’s bed where they had quickly fallen into an exhausted sleep. The emotional upheavals as well as the intellectual draining work they had experience that day had been enough to make both long for a good night’s sleep. They had contented themselves with snuggling as closely as possible as they were too tired to do anything naughty despite how hot their earlier kisses had left them. Not that it mattered as neither of them was in a hurry to jump in bed, at least to do anything more than sleep. Now that they had both come out and admitted their mutual feelings, they did not see a reason why in the future they would not be able to enjoy each other whenever they saw fit.
Their much needed rest was interrupted when Sesshoumaru’s phone rang from where he had left it on the nightstand. Before he could reach for the screaming device, the lamp located on Kagura’s side of the bed was turned on.
“You need to learn how to control that damn device. It has the worst timing ever.” The younger woman complained in a croaky voice. She took a quick glance at her alarm clock, and groaned at seeing that they had barely been in bed for two hours before they had been awakened.
“Go back to sleep.” Sesshoumaru ordered her before opening his cell phone. He too was weary, but had decided to let his phone on for the night. He wanted to be made aware if anything went wrong with the issue their team was putting together.
“Rise and shine Sesshoumaru, I have good news.” Upon hearing the voice that greeted him, this time it was Sesshoumaru’s time to groan.
“Shinji, do you know what time it is?” The journalist did not know exactly what time it was either, but just knew that it was too early for him to be awakened by the detective.
“Hey, you’re the one who wanted to be appraised of every moves I made in this investigation. I thought you might want to know that we got Abi in custody…but I could always call back…”
The words of detective Yaruba had the effect of a cold shower on Sesshoumaru; he was suddenly awake and alert despite the lack of sleep.
“I am listening.” He retorted before gently rolling out of bed. He wanted to hear everything Shinji had to tell him, and wanted to be able to ask questions without disturbing Kagura any further. He had noticed earlier the dark circles under her eyes, which he had inferred had been caused by lack of sleep courtesy of their disagreement, and did not care to see even more signs of fatigue develop on his lover’s face.
“Sess, where are you going?” Kagura sleepily asked him as soon as she felt his comforting warmth leave her bed.
He gently covered his phone before answering. “I will be right back, now sleep.”
“You still here?” Shinji asked with a sigh from the other end of the line. The two Shikon journalists were not the only ones running on little sleep. Between interrogating Suon, obtaining a warrant for Abi’s arrest then proceeding with the arrest, detective Yaruba had also had quite an eventful night.
Once he had successfully managed to exit his lover’s bedroom, Sesshoumaru answered. “Yes.”
“That Abi Satoshi is quite the character…”
“Did she confess when presented with Suon’s accusations?” The journalist quickly asked. If Abi had confessed, he knew he would need to amend his article, and therefore needed to know as soon as possible in order to let the designers know so that they could make one last change. ‘Hopefully Sonji and her people are not done with the layouts, and the edition hasn’t gotten out to the printers yet…’ He thought attempting to do some time calculations.
“Not quite. Despite the body of evidence against her, she’s not willing to cooperate. In fact Abi has only opened her mouth to ask for one thing.”
“Is she going to get one of her mother’s surely overpaid lawyers on the case?” Sesshoumaru was not too keen with the idea of engaging in a legal battle, but he was willing to defend his work if need be.
“No, she hasn’t asked for a lawyer. She wants you.” The detective finally admitted the real reason behind his phone call. When Sesshoumaru had presented him the case, and had given him Suon’s signed confession, Shinji had inferred this would be an easy job for him as most of the investigation had been made. After interviewing Suon himself to double check some facts, the detective had called in a favor from a judge’s clerical assistant to have a warrant for Abi’s arrest put out in record time. All that was then needed was to pick up the young drug manufacturer.
‘Little did I know the hard part would be dealing with her…’
Sesshoumaru’s shocked intake of breath brought Shinji back to the present. “I am not sure I am following what you mean.”
“Miss Satoshi is playing difficult. She claims she only wants to talk to the person who managed to find her out, in other words you.
Sesshoumaru did not allow himself a long deliberation time. Even though Abi had not called in for back up yet, the Shikon editor was certain that her mother would soon intervene. ‘She is bound to found out her daughter was incarcerated, and once she does I will lose my shot at talking to Abi as something tells me her mother is not one to let her daughter rot in jail. I know Abi won’t get out easily because of all the evidence against her, but even if their lawyer can’t have her released, her mother is sure to kick up a fuss and make the story is in any media outlet, so that they can portray Abi as the poor victim of some misunderstanding. Gone will then be Shikon Magazine’s exclusive. I need to act, and fast.’
“I’ll get there as fast as I can.” Sesshoumaru could see a follow-up piece to the one he had just printed in the special edition shaping up in his mind. He had not expected tis turn of events, but now that it was occurring he was oddly excited. It was not often that he had the chance to interview someone behind bars.
“See you then.” Shinji agreed before cutting off the communication.
?
“I will drive if you get me coffee.” Kagura announced in between yawns. Sesshoumaru had been so preoccupied with his conversation that he had not even heard her creep in behind him.
“Are you sure you want to come?” He asked her. “You could always go back to bed.”
She scoffed at hearing his words. “And let you have all the fun? I think not. Let me jump in the shower, and I’ll be like brand new. Why don’t you make us some coffee in the meantime? Something tells me we’re going to need our caffeine fix before dealing with that girl.”
“I am heading out in 10 minutes. If you’re not ready by then, I will leave without you.”
“Roger that!” With a mocking military salute to accompany her words, Kagura ran towards her bathroom, the sound of her lover’s annoyed groan ringing in her ears.
?0000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000000 00000000000000000000000
On the other side of town another couple was in bed as well. However this time around it wasn’t a phone, but the tossing and turning of one of the occupants who awakened the other. After suffering from one more kick to his shin, Inuyasha had had enough of pretending to be asleep.
“Kagome!” He groaned unhappily. If there was one way to ensure the young man would be grumpy, it was to prevent him from getting adequate sleep, which his partner had been doing that night. Kagome had too been pretending to me sleeping, but gave up the pretense when he complained.
She turned on her side lamp, and turned towards the man she loved with all her heart. Since he saw that they were not about to get any sleep, he had no choice but to sit up and turn to face her.
“Wench, I can tell something is bothering you, so out with it.” He ordered his girlfriend. ‘Then maybe once this is over, I will be able to go back to sleep.’
While she would have usually yelled at him for talking to her in such a disrespectful tone, she was presently too tired and anxious to care. Ever since this afternoon she felt as if she had been wearing a mask on her face to try to hide her true feelings. During their date at the movies then dinner she had kept a bright smile on her lips even if her mind was in clear turmoil. She was struggling with the idea of telling Inuyasha everything she had heard from his father. Since Touga had not sworn her to secrecy, she felt that she should share the stunning revelations with her boyfriend, but another part of her felt that telling him would be akin to a betrayal of the older man’s revelations. Only thinking about her inner conflict brought tears to her eyes.
It was only when Inuyasha noticed the red rim under her eyes, and the glistening look to her big brown orbs that he realized something was really wrong. ‘Kagome is a real people pleaser; I know that she doesn’t let others see her cry, even when she’s really hurting. Something really bad must have happened.’ He thought to himself, worry growing inside of him.
He reached over to wrap his arm over her, and brought her body in for as close a hug as possible. “Kagome, you know you can tell me anything… Just tell me what’s wrong, and I’ll make it better.” The way he gently whispered in her ear, coupled with her inner turmoil caused the tears to spill forth. She pushed away from his comforting embrace, and wiped furiously at the salty droplets that had escaped her eyes.
“Inuyasha, don’t be this nice to me… I lied to you.” Her anguish-filled voice as well as her words worried him, even if he could not for the life of him guess what she could have lied about.
“Don’t cry, whatever it is it’s okay…” He was as usual at a loss for words when faced with her tears, and was unsure about the best course of action. “Just explain things to me…”
“I didn’t go back to school this afternoon… the truth is I went to see your father to talk to him about Sesshoumaru.” Her mention of his two male relatives caused alarm bells to ring in his head even if Inuyasha couldn’t quite explain why.
“Keh! And what did our old man say?” Even if the question was asked casually, the answer it would provide was not taken slightly.
Kagome took a deep calming breath before answering. “Quite a lot actually.”
“Well, I guess we’re not going back to sleep after all…”
To be continued…
A/N: Wasn’t this chapter worth the wait? They’ve managed to put their differences aside to finally admit their feelings. Will everything be smooth sailing from now on…I think not. Next time we’ll see what Abi has up her sleeve, and we’ll see more family action. I will try my very best to have the next chapter out asap! It will be named Fact Checking.