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“I… you… wait. Wait, wait, wait.”
Kagome steps forwards, staring at the girl in front of her. “Wait a minute.”
“I’m waiting,” the girl says coolly, and Kagome presses her fists into her eyes, effectively blocking the sight of the tall, fully nude girl who materialised in her apartment. She keeps her eyes closed, breathing in and out deeply and counts to twenty, before she pulls her hands down and opens her eyes.
The girl is still there, if slightly blurry now. Kagome blinks, once, twice, and she sharpens again. Kagome groans.
“Alright, well, you’re here. Who are you?”
“Kikyo.”
“Kikyo… any last name?”
“No.”
“Ok. And, who are you? I don’t mean your name, I mean who are you?”
Kikyo blinks. Her eyes are red, like embers, and they seem to glow slightly. “You repeated the same statement. I am Kikyo.”
“No, I mean like, are you… a ghost or something? A demon, maybe?”
“Ah.” Kikyo nods. “Yes. Demon.”
“So… ok. You’re a demon.” Kagome falls backwards onto her couch, watching Kikyo gaze around the apartment. “Do you always appear in people’s living rooms naked?”
Kikyo shrugs one elegant shoulder. “I have not been summoned before.”
“I summoned you?”
Kikyo raises one eyebrow, and Kagome puffs up her cheeks. “Don’t look at me like that.”
“The answer seemed self-explanatory.”
“Whatever.” Kagome clambers to her feet, motioning towards her bedroom. “First things first, clothes.”
+
“Are you done?”
“Yes.”
The door to Kagome’s room opens, and Kikyo steps out, wearing sweatpants and a white top with ‘Cherry Bomb,’ emblazoned across the middle. Kagome’s stomach does a little flop, and she pinches herself, hard.
“That’ll do,” she says. There’s a pause, Kagome standing in the kitchen with a demon who is wearing her dark blue target sweatpants. Her eyebrows twitch, and she shakes her head. “How’d I summon you, exactly?”
Kikyo fixes her with a look, and says nothing.
“You don’t know, do you?” Kagome taps her chin. “What was I doing? I was watching… survivor on television. And thinking about homework. And… oh.” She pauses. “What are you the demon of, exactly?”
“Jilted lovers,” Kikyo says smoothly, and Kagome curses.
“That’s the one.”
Perfect. Kagome summoned the naked, incredibly beautiful demon of unrequited love all because of her pathetic crush on Sango, from her track team. She sighs.
“Do demons like beer?” she asks.
+
“How long are you going to stick around for?” Kagome asks the following morning, cooking up an omelette, as Kikyo hovers above the table and inspects cracks in the ceiling. She twists her head all the way around on her shoulders, and Kagome shudders. “Please don’t do that.”
“I do not know. As long as you allow me to be here.”
“So you’ll just be here… an indefinite amount of time, bordering on infinity or until I kick you out?”
“This is not what I expected a summoning to be like.”
Kagome laughs, pushing half an omelette across the table to the demon. “What did you expect?”
“I do not eat human food,” Kikyo says instead of answering, and promptly phases through the ceiling. Kagome listens to the screams from the overhead apartment, and shakes her head. If Kikyo is still with her by the time exams roll around… they’ll have a problem.
+
“ARGH!”
Kagome sits bolt upright in bed, her heart beating a million miles. Kikyo tilts her head slightly, eyes luminous in the dim bedroom.
“Don’t do that!” Kagome says, pressing a hand against her chest and glaring at the demon.
Kikyo says nothing and rolls over onto her back in the air.
“What are you doing?”
The room is silent except for the monotonous ticking of the clock on the bed stand. Kagome sighs.
“I think we’ll need to establish some rules if you’re going to be staying here. But can we do that tomorrow? I’m exhausted.”
“Of course.”
“Ok. Cool.” Kagome slides back under the duvet and closes her eyes. She waits for a few seconds, and then opens one eye. Kikyo is still floating beside her, gazing up at the ceiling. “Do you not sleep or something?”
“I do not.”
“Oy.”
+
“Ok, rule number 1. You are not allowed to float around in my room while I’m asleep. Clearly you don’t sleep, which is… fine I guess. But you need to hang out in the living room or… the bathroom? Anywhere that isn’t my bedroom.”
“Alright.”
“Rule number 2. No floating around other people’s apartments. They didn’t summon you, on accident or otherwise, which means they don’t deserve to have a random lady just floating up into their home. I’m pretty sure that’s a privacy violation.”
Kagome looks up at her. “At least you’re not naked anymore. But we should buy you some of your own clothes sometime.”
“Are there any other rules that I should be aware of.”
Kagome stretches, and yawns. “Don’t think so. If something comes up I’ll let you know. Ok, so, I have class.” Kagome clambers to her feet, coffee in one hand, backpack in the other. “I’ll see you after class, so be good, alright?”
She backs out of the apartment, closing the door on Kikyo, who is staring intently at the blank television screen.
+
“So you really don’t sleep, huh.”
Kikyo shakes her head, watching Kagome flick through channels on the television.
“Can you sleep? Like, have you ever tried?”
“No.”
“You should try it,” Kagome says, settling on a pointless soap opera and stretching her arms above her head. “Sleeping is the best.”
Kikyo inclines her head. The soap opera opens with the scene of a man and a woman lying side by side in the rain.
“I love you,” the woman says, the water making her appear to be crying.
“I love you too,” the man says. “I’m sorry it has to end this way…”
“How?”
“Hmm?” Kagome turns to Kikyo, whose forehead is creased.
“How do you sleep?”
“You… close your eyes and think of nothing, I guess?”
“I will try it.”
Kikyo sits back and closes her eyes, while Kagome watches, fascinated. After a few moments, Kikyo opens one eye and frowns.
“Was I sleeping?”
“I don’t think so. Normally it takes longer than that. Look, I’ll set you up a bed in my room tonight and you can keep trying so you have something to do instead of stare at me while I sleep.”
“I am sorry about that. I do not have much experience with humans.”
“No worries.”
Silence falls. A strangely comfortable silence, Kagome thinks, for a demon and a human who only met the previous day. She turns her attention back to the television, and is soon caught up in the ridiculously convoluted plot of the soap opera, until she realises,
“Does this mean we’re roommates?”
Kikyo doesn’t reply. Instead, Kagome feels a warm weight land on her shoulder. She jumps, and looks down to see Kikyo resting against her, eyes closed and face open. It only lasts for a few moments, but it’s long enough to leave Kagome buzzing when Kikyo’s head lifts off her shoulder. The demon blinks, looking slightly dazed.
“Congratulations on your first nap,” Kagome says, smiling. “So I guess you can sleep.”
“I suppose.”
“How was it?”
Kikyo considers. “Interesting,” she decides.
“If you can sleep, can you also eat human food?”
Kikyo shakes her head. “My body is unable to digest it adequately,” she says, and Kagome nods.
“What else can you do?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well.” Kagome mutes the television and sits back against the couch. “You’re a demon. You can float, and go through walls, and your eyes glow. Is that all you can do?”
“Yes,” says Kikyo, as though it’s a ridiculous question and Kagome should feel like a fool for asking it. Kagome ducks her head.
“Sorry, I’m just curious. You’re the first demon I’ve met.”
“For me, also, you are the first human.”
“Tomorrow we should go shopping for some clothes for you.”
Kikyo blinks. She says nothing. Kagome nods, and claps her hands. “This is so cool. I’ve been looking for a roommate. You’ll have to help with the cleaning, though.”
+
“Shopping is tiring,” Kikyo says, holding three bags aloft as they step off the train and walk towards the block of dormitories.
“You can say that again,” Kagome agrees. “They had good stuff, though. And you only accidentally floated instead of walked once, so that was good!”
Kikyo looks at the ground beneath her feet with distaste, but doesn’t reply.
“It’s too bad you can’t eat food, really. The ramen I had for lunch was incredible.”
Kikyo phases through the door, and then looks back at Kagome with one eyebrow slightly raised. Kagome sticks her tongue out. “Open the door, please!”
The demon does, and Kagome walks into the foyer of the building.
“Kagome!”
Both Kagome and Kikyo look around to see a girl with hair tied back in a ponytail and dressed in a crop top and running shorts grinning at Kagome.
“Hey!” Sango says, walking over. “You haven’t been to track in a while. What’s up?”
“Oh… y’know,” Kagome says, biting her lip. Her heart beats swiftly, but she feels remarkably calm. “How’s the team going?”
“Yeah good! We should go out for coffee sometime, I’ve got something to tell you.”
“What’s that?”
Sango blushes slightly, but Kagome is mostly too distracted by the ever prominent muscles in Sango’s arms and abdomen to notice.
“It’s about Miroku,” Sango says, raising her eyebrows meaningfully.
“Ah.” Kagome nods. She smiles but her lips feel too tight. “Gotcha.”
“Still, coffee!” Sango says, giving Kagome a one-armed hug before running out into the evening. A ringing silence follows Kagome and Kikyo all the way to the dorm.
“That was Sango,” Kikyo says, as they unload the shopping onto the kitchen table. Kagome nods, and groans quietly.
“So I guess she’s dating Miroku now.”
“And you are upset.”
“Nah,” Kagome says, angrily thumping the couch. “It’s fine. It’s just a crush. It’ll pass.”
Kikyo says nothing for a moment. Then:
“That game you were telling me of.”
“Mm? Jenga, you mean?”
“Yes.” Kikyo holds the box aloft, looking careful and misplaced and unearthly and beautiful. “Teach me.”
Kagome smiles slightly, motioning for the box, and opens it.
“Alright. Are you ready to have the most fun ever?”
“I am,” Kikyo says, solemnly.
+
Kagome wakes to her alarm the next morning and rolls over, shoving her face into the pillow. She reaches out with one hand and slams the snooze button, then opens her eyes a crack and looks around the room. Next to her, Kikyo lies on the futon with her hair spread about her like dark water, her hand resting beside her face. After not knowing how to sleep for… however long Kikyo had been around for, the demon had taken to it fairly quickly. Kagome clambers out of the room, making a mental note to ask Kikyo how old she is.
She pushes into the bathroom, brushing her teeth and showering and generally preparing for the day. When she steps out, towelling off her hair, Kikyo is standing in the kitchen.
“What’re you doing?”
Kikyo turns and offers Kagome a bowl full of cornflakes. Kagome stares at it.
“Did you… make me breakfast?”
“Is it not good?” asks Kikyo. Kagome shakes her head, taking the bowl and sitting down at the table.
“No, this is perfect! Thank you, Kikyo.”
Kikyo turns away, not replying, and Kagome shrugs.
“Hey, by the way, what do you do while I’m at class?”
Kikyo floats around to face Kagome, she shrugs.
“Nothing?” Kagome jumps up and runs to her bedroom, muttering, “I can’t believe I let you just sit around being bored, what kind of roommate am I… here!”
She hands Kikyo a book, which Kikyo takes.
“You don’t have to read this exact book, of course. But it’s something to do!”
“Thank you.”
+
“So, have you always been a demon?”
Kikyo looks up from the book she is reading, curled up on Kagome’s couch in the black jumper and the hot pink legging’s Kagome bought her, just for fun. She didn’t expect Kikyo to actually wear them, but when the demon came out dressed like that Kagome had had to sit down and drink a lot of water before she could say anything.
“No,” Kikyo says. Her expression is strangely closed off, suddenly her jutting limbs are jagged, defensive. Kagome quickly reaches out, laying a hand on Kikyo’s arm.
“Sorry. I didn’t mean to pry.”
“There was a boy,” Kikyo says quickly, as Kagome slides onto the couch with her.
“A boy.”
“A boy who I loved. But another demon saw our happiness and sought to tear us apart.”
“What a jackass.”
Kikyo inclines her head. “It worked. We both passed, filled with hatred for one another. And from that hatred, I became this.”
“Wow.” Kagome sits back, gazing at Kikyo.
Kikyo twitches her shoulders in a shrug, and returns to the book.
+
Kagome soon loses track of how long Kikyo has been staying with her, as weeks turn into months. Exam season comes and goes, leaving Kagome tired and lethargic and throughout Kikyo provides mostly non-verbal support. And then,
“It’s HALLOWEEN!”
Kagome runs out of the bedroom and trips on the doorframe, almost falling except Kikyo swoops in and takes hold of her shoulders, pulling her up.
“Those demon powers sure come in handy when your roommate is a klutz.”
“You are not a klutz,” Kikyo says, letting go of Kagome’s shoulders. “And why is Halloween such a special occasion?”
“I love Halloween,” Kagome says, clenching her fists and trying really hard to pretend her erratic heartbeat is because of the trip and not because Kikyo is warm and smells of vanilla. “It’s been my favourite holiday since I was a kid and my Grandpa would sit with me and my brother and tell us all the ghost stories he knew.”
“You like ghost stories.”
“They’re the best!” Kagome reaches over and punches Kikyo lightly on the shoulder. “We should watch a scary movie tonight!”
Kikyo says nothing, and Kagome pouts. “It’ll be fun, I promise. I’ll see you after class, alright?”
“Have a good day.”
“Bye!”
+
“You should dress up.”
“What?”
“Dress up! You could definitely be a vampire. Or some… cool ghost or something. Or a demon.” Kagome grins, and Kikyo smirks slightly.
“Yes, dress up in my ‘demon costume’.”
Kagome laughs, then pauses. “Wait that would mean…” She feels a flush creeping up her back, and coughs. “Anyway, I’m inviting other people over and they’re all going to dress up to you have to as well.”
“Is this is a rule for living with you?”
“Yep! So costume up!” Kagome clicks her fingers at Kikyo, and pushes open her bedroom door. “I have some old ones you can borrow. You get changed, and I’ll go finish putting out the snacks.”
“Alright.”
Kagome walks out, pulling lolly bags out of the cupboard and tearing one open. There is a gentle sound of rain tapping on the window.
A sudden knock accompanied by a loud clap of thunder makes Kagome shriek, dropping the bag of mars bars on the floor and falling backwards against the couch. Kikyo peers out of Kagome’s room, her eyebrows slightly creased. ‘I’m fine,’ Kagome mouths, and Kikyo nods. There’s another knock, more insistent than the first.
“It’s open!” Kagome calls, scrambling onto the floor to gather the escaped chocolates and cram them into a bowl. The door opens slowly, and Kagome’s friends pile into the room. “Hey! Sorry for screaming, I was… caught unawares.”
“Hey!” Koga says as Sango, Miroku and InuYasha throw themselves onto her couch, looking around Kagome’s dorm room. It’s covered in store bought cobwebs and a skeleton stood by the door, hand outstretched.
“He’s a coat-rack. Only $20. Bargain,” Kagome says, and Koga grins.
“So are we going to meet your new roommate or what?” InuYasha asks, hand already in the bowl of sugar candy.
“If you behave,” Kagome says, raising an eyebrow, and InuYasha flips her off. “Good costumes by the way, everyone.”
“I’m regretting my decision, honestly,” Sango says, plucking at her strapped hands. “Wrestlers have to wear really uncomfortable outfits.”
“I think you look ravishing,” Miroku says. Sango throws a pillow at him.
“You sicken me,” InuYasha grumbles.
“What are we watching?”
“The conjuring.”
The door to Kagome’s bedroom opens, and Kikyo steps out.
“Hey! Good costume!” Kagome says, springing up. Kikyo smiles with her usual lip-twitch smile. The pointed witch’s hat on her head is comically large.
“You also.”
“Ok, well, guys, this is Kikyo. My roommate. Kikyo, my friends.”
They all wave, and Kikyo gives a slight wave back.
“What is it we’re watching?” she asks.
“I just told these guys, we’re watching the conjuring. It’s a movie about demons… you’ll love it,” Kagome says with a wink. Kikyo looks at her carefully, and Kagome shrugs. “I have to do it.”
“Of course,” Kikyo sighs, sitting carefully down on the couch and watching as Kagome pushes the DVD into the player and addressing the room.
“Ok, so, we have an array of fine snacks over here. Chocolate, cakes, etcetera. And I also have lemonade coloured with red food dye and water, also coloured with red food dye, if you get thirsty.”
“You really went all out!” Sango reaches over, accepting a glass of blood water from the table.
“I don’t know how many times I can say this, but I love Halloween.”
“She does,” Kikyo says. “She fell over this morning because of it.”
“Shhh.”
“Just play the damn movie,” InuYasha mutters. Koga thumps him on the back, and InuYasha scowls.
Kagome laughs, plonking down on the couch beside Kikyo and folding her legs underneath her. The menu appears on the screen, and Kagome leans forward, tingling with anticipation. She presses the play button and glances over at Kikyo. The demon is sitting with her legs crossed, staring impassively at the screen, a slight crease between her eyebrows as though vaguely offended by what she is seeing. Kagome shakes her head, looking back at the screen.
The screen darkens, eerie music playing in the background. It flashes to a close up picture of a doll, Kagome grins and she hears a soft cry from Kikyo. When she looks over at Kikyo, her face is emotionless as ever.
The movie continues, everyone shrieking and laughing, except for the occasional faint exclamation from Kikyo. When the movie finishes, zooming out of a picture of ‘Annabelle’ sitting on the porch, Kagome stands up and flicks on the light. She stretches her arms above her head and turns to her friends.
“That was so much fun,” she says, bouncing up and down on her heels, “I didn’t expect the mother to get possessed I thought it would be one of the girls, I – hey.” Kagome peers at Kikyo, sitting stiffly, with her arms folded across her chest, looking stern and composed except for the fact that her body is trembling fiercely. “Are you ok?”
“Fine.”
“Put on another one!”
“What?” Kagome stares at InuYasha. “It’s one in the morning. Or round about.”
“Yeah, and anyway I have that thing to show you,” Koga says, grinning.
“What thing?”
“You know.”
InuYasha pauses, then his face turns beet red. “Oh. Right. Right. We should – we should – we have to go.”
“Yep.”
“Yep.”
Within seconds, Koga and InuYasha have disappeared into the hallway, leaving Miroku smirking on the couch.
“We should go too,” Sango says, taking one of Miroku’s hands and pulling him up. “Thanks for the movie, Kagome.”
“Welcome! Thank you for coming!”
“See you on Monday. Nice meeting you, Kikyo.”
“You too.”
They walk out holding hands, and Kagome turns off the television, then looks back at Kikyo, who hasn’t moved from her place on the couch. She sits back down, watching Kikyo closely.
“Are you sure you’re ok?”
Kikyo turns to look at her, the faintest scowl on her face as though indignant that Kagome would ask such a question, when there’s a loud crash of thunder, the lights in the apartment flicker, and then turn off. Kikyo freezes completely for a second, before reaching out slowly and gripping Kagome’s wrist tightly.
“Huh…” Kagome looks around the apartment. “Blackout on Halloween? Spooky!” She smiles at Kikyo, who blinks back with wide eyes. Her hand on Kagome’s arm shakes almost violently, she sits completely still on the couch. There is another boom of thunder, accompanied with rain clapping against the ceiling, and Kikyo buries her face into Kagome’s shoulder. Kagome freezes.
“I am sorry,” Kikyo mumbles against Kagome’s neck. Kagome can feel Kikyo’s rapid breath on her skin, she feels a tingle building in the pit of her stomach and warming her limbs.
“Don’t be sorry,” she says through numb lips. “This is fine.”
“I… do not… like thunder,” Kikyo replies. “Or horror films.”
“This wasn’t a very good combination then.” Kagome carefully slides her free arm around Kikyo’s waist, her other hand still gripped in Kikyo’s fist. “Why didn’t you tell me that you didn’t like horror films?”
Kikyo doesn’t reply, she simply sits there, inhaling sharply with each noise from outside and digging her fingers into Kagome’s side.
+
The storm doesn’t last very long. Kagome isn’t sure of the specifics, she loses track of time, too busy concentrating on plaiting Kikyo’s long hair and trying not to concentrate on how nice Kikyo smells.
The power sputters back into life like a candle and after the long dark everything looked waxy and yellow. Carefully Kikyo extracts herself from Kagome’s arms, and stands.
“The storm is over. You can rest now.”
“Oh.” Kagome stands too, feeling oddly bereft. “So. Bed?”
Kagome walks to the bathroom, pulling off her costume, and rubs her face. She brushes her teeth slowly, her limbs heavy and tired. When she returns to the bedroom, Kikyo is sitting on the futon, undoing the braid Kagome had given her earlier. Kagome slides under her own duvet with practised ease, and rolls over onto her side.
“Goodnight.”
“Good night.”
She pulls the covers around her in a warm cocoon, and closes her eyes. She opens them again almost immediately, to a boom of thunder so loud it seems to rattle her skeleton. Kagome jerks upwards.
“Kikyo,” she hisses. “Are you awake?”
“I am sleeping,” Kikyo replies. Kagome rolls her eyes.
“Not if you can talk, you’re not. Come on.”
Kikyo looks over at her, her eyes ever bright. Kagome motions towards the bed. “Get in.”
“Why?”
Kagome raises her eyebrows, the rain picks up along with the familiar overhead explosion, and Kikyo shudders involuntarily. “Just… come here.”
There’s a pause, and for a moment Kagome expects Kikyo to close her eyes and lie back down. Instead she gets to her knees, and wordlessly moves into the bed beside Kagome. It takes a few seconds of manoeuvring before they’re lying comfortably, Kagome facing Kikyo’s back. She can feel her face flushing with a prickly heat, and exhales heavily.
“Ok, tell me if this is… uh…”
Warily, Kagome reaches out, wrapping her arms around Kikyo’s waist and pulls her closer. The demon is tense in Kagome’s arms, and Kagome presses her face against Kikyo’s back. She can feel Kikyo jerking with every loud noise, and holds onto her a little tighter.
“In my psychology class,” she says, “we’re learning about sleep which I think is my favourite subject so far. The teacher gives us pop quizzes about the effects of long-term sleep deprivation, and I always just write down however I’m feeling. I haven’t failed a single one. Also, the other day at work Koga and I hid the boss’ home keys at the end of the day. So he drove all the way home, realised he didn’t have them, and drove back to the office.” Kagome laughs softly at the memory, she feels Kikyo relaxing beside her. “I was in so much trouble the next day.”
Kagome continues to mutter nonsense in Kikyo’s ear, recounting every story she knows until she can feel the rhythmic rise and fall of Kikyo’s chest that only comes with sleep. In the early hours of the morning, with a faint hiss of rain still falling on the roof, Kagome falls asleep also.
+
She wakes up with Kikyo standing by the foot of bed, looking mutinous.
“Morning,” she says, and yawns. Kikyo glances at Kagome over her shoulder, she nods. “What are you doing?”
“Waiting,” Kikyo says, her voice tight and angry.
“For what?”
There’s a crash in the kitchen, Kikyo phases through the wall into the other room leaving Kagome to leap out of bed and pull open the door.
“AAGH!”
Kagome feels a shiver run up her back and leave a strange residue on the back of her head, she grips both sides of the door as she watches thousands upon thousands of spiders swarm around her kitchen and living room. Kikyo is by her side in a second, her hair floating and crackling like it’s been electrified. “What the hell is happening?” Kagome yells. Kikyo says nothing, she simply squints at the wave of spiders. As the two watch, the black, leggy mass begins to come together, the spiders clumping in one place, forming a strange shape that becomes legs and arms and –
“I am so glad you didn’t do that when I summoned you,” Kagome breathes, looking in awe at the man standing, naked, in her apartment.
“Naraku.” Kikyo steps forward, staring at the man with her usual icy apathy. The man bows.
“Kikyo. A pleasant surprise.”
“Doesn’t look like it was a ‘surprise’,” murmurs Kagome. “Also, do you guys not have clothes wherever you come from?”
Naraku’s purple eyes slide from Kikyo’s face to Kagome’s, and she glares at him. He smiles, and it looks like his mouth has too many teeth that are too large for him to contain. Kagome wrinkles her noise.
“Don’t smile at me,” she says. He laughs, which is even worse.
“You chose well, Kikyo,” he says, looking back at the other demon. “I can see why you came here.”
“She came here because I summoned her,” Kagome shots, folding her arms. Naraku laughs again, his face flickers and she can see the spiders that he’s made of.
“She believed that? That is precious.”
“What are you talking about?” Kagome turns to Kikyo, who is gazing at Naraku intensely. “Kikyo, what is he talking about?”
“Yes, Kikyo. Tell the human woman what I’m talking about. Tell her or I’ll drag you back with me when I leave.”
Kikyo’s face is rigid. “I was not summoned here,” she says quietly, her voice sharp and quick.
“What?”
“I was not summoned here by you. I came of my own volition.”
“But you told me-”
“I know.” Kikyo turns to Kagome, her eyes are full of something Kagome can’t quite read. “I am sorry.”
Kagome leans against the doorframe, staring at Kikyo. “Why’d you come?” she asks, more incredulous than anything else.
“I think I will leave you too it,” Naraku says, and the apartment is filled with skittering spiders that disappear through the cracks in the wall and under Kagome’s door. Kagome stares after him, her mouth gaping open.
“What… the hell just happened?” she says after a pause, lowering herself onto the floor. “That all took place in about… five minutes! Who was that guy? And don’t think I’m going to let you not answer the other question I asked.” She glowers up at Kikyo, whose fierce expression has faded and been replaced by an infinite tiredness.
“Yes,” she says slowly, also sinking to the floor. “I will explain. That was Naraku. He is both the demon of spiders, and chaos. He goes where he wants spreading discord and his eight legged children.”
“So… you mean he literally just came here to stir up trouble?” Kagome asks.
“Yes.”
“Jeez. What a dick.”
“Precisely.”
“Well, despite that, I still want to know. Why did you come here, Kikyo?”
Kikyo breathes in deeply, and lets it out in a loud sigh, a very human gesture and something that Kagome is sure she didn’t used to do. “I came here for you.”
There’s pause. In the silence, Kagome can hear the traffic below the dorm, she can hear birds and the wind and –
“What do you mean, you ‘came here for me’?”
Kikyo’s hair falls over her shoulder slowly, she pushes it behind her ear. “I saw you and your desire for Sango. You… I liked you.”
“You –”
“I am sorry. I should have been upfront about my reasons. I was afraid.”
“Of what? You can fly and go through walls.”
“I know unrequited love, Kagome. I did not want to experience it first-hand.”
Kagome stands. “I have to go clear my head,” she says abruptly. “I’ll see you later.”
+
“Open up!” Kagome smacks the door with her palm. “InuYasha!”
The door swings open, she jerks her hand back, narrowly hitting InuYasha in the face.
“What?” he says. His trademark greeting.
“You have coffee in there?”
“Yeah.”
“Then I’m coming in.” Kagome pushes past him, reaching towards the counter and taking a sip of hot coffee.
InuYasha closes the door with his foot and turns to her, grabbing another cup. “That was for Koga,” he says, leaning against the counter. “But he’s a dickhead so.”
“I have a problem.”
“Go get wasted.”
“It’s ten in the morning!”
InuYasha shrugs. “You were the one who came to me for advice.”
“My first mistake.”
Kagome takes another gulp of coffee and throws herself onto a chair. Koga emerges from the bathroom, nothing but a towel around his waist, and Kagome carefully ignores InuYasha’s sudden spluttering.
“Koga, get dressed quick. I need InuYasha’s advice and your happy trail isn’t helping.”
“Kagome!”
“Morning,” Koga says, and Kagome flaps her hand at him.
“Go!”
“You can’t tell us what to do in our own house!” InuYasha says, exchanging intense embarrassment for indignation.
“Watch me,” Kagome grumbles.
“Be one second, babe,” Koga says, and disappears into the bedroom. InuYasha scratches his nose, and sighs.
“Alright, what’s up. Hit me.”
“My ‘roommate’,” Kagome groans, throwing an arm over her eyes.
“She seemed cool. What’s wrong with her? Does she leave her gym shorts and runners lying around everywhere and you trip over them and drop miso soup on yourself?”
“That happened once,” Koga yells, and InuYasha scoffs.
“It’s not that.”
“So, what?”
“I just found out that… when she first… applied to be my roommate, the only reason she did it was because she had a crush on me.”
“So what?”
“So what? It’s just… it’s… I don’t know! She lied to me!”
“Yeah, because she had a crush on you. Like you’ve never done that before. ‘Oh, I was just in the area, how fucking wild is it that we’d run into each other like this?’ Come on.”
Kagome scowls. “You’re so weirdly wise and such a complete asshole.”
“Thanks. So that’s it? You roommate has a crush on you?”
“I guess so.” Kagome rubs her face with her hands, dragging her cheeks downwards with her palms.
“Well then, the damn question is, do you like her too?”
Kagome blinks. She thinks about Kikyo, tall, graceful Kikyo, who didn’t know how to sleep until recently, whose favourite thing to wear is a pair of red shorts and a white t-shirt and white socks, even though Kagome teased her that she looked like a candy cane. Kikyo, who smells like vanilla and is warm and kind and…
“Yes.”
“Problem solved then.”
Kagome stands, and sculls the rest of the coffee. “Thanks.”
“Feh.”
“I really don’t get this weird act of yours, you know. So you care about your friends and your boyfriend? Who cares?”
“Don’t let the door hit your ass on the way out.”
“Bye.”
+
Kagome opens the door to see Kikyo floating upside-down in the middle of the room.
“What are you doing?” she asks, kicking off her shoes and walking into the room. Kikyo swivels around to face her, her expression uncomfortably vulnerable.
“Do you wish for me to leave?” she asks. Kagome shakes her head.
“There’s something else I need to do before I decide you should go,” she says, trying to sound severe. “Come here.”
Kikyo obliges, landing feet first on the ground, and stands in front of Kagome. Kagome reaches out and runs a knuckle across Kikyo’s cheek, Kikyo exhales at her touch. She leans in, their noses bump. Kagome laughs, and she’s so close she can feel Kikyo’s breathe on her lips. She tries again.
She lowers her hands to Kikyo’s waist and slides them around until they meet at the back, holding her lightly, but firmly. Kikyo makes a tiny moan, and Kagome feels her lips curving involuntarily. They break apart, Kikyo a delicate red colour. Kagome kisses her again, a lingering, close-mouthed thing, simply because she can.
“So… this is alright?”
Kagome nods fervently. “It is very alright.”
Kikyo smiles, soft and warm and big across her face, and Kagome might already love her a little bit. “Do you have class today?” Kikyo says, reaching out tentatively and running her fingers through Kagome’s hair. Kagome trembles.
“If I do, I honestly don’t care.”
Kikyo laughs, and this time she’s the one who initiates the kiss, one hand flutters at Kagome’s neck and her touch is insistent. When she pulls away, Kagome’s head is spinning.
“So what shall we do now?” Kikyo asks. She leans forward and rests her forehead on Kagome’s, who shrugs, trailing her hands up and down Kikyo’s back.
“Whatever we want,” she says.