Chapter Text
The bell rang and class was done for the day. Grabbing her books and bag she left her busy demonic economics class and pulled her cell from her pocket. It had gone off twice, buzzing in her jeans, while the teacher had drolled on about the differences between demonic society hierarchy and how humans couldn’t imitate it due to their lack of demonic senses. The teacher always forgot Kagome herself -was- a human, while the Kami had blessed her, she still had human ties and still felt the demons were slightly insensitive if not willingly uncaring for human sensibilities. It was an argument for another day, an essay perhaps, though she wasn’t sure she was willing to risk her grade for an opinion. Depended on her mood she guessed.
“Miss Higurashi, you’re being given a new roommate for the remainder of the year. He will be there this afternoon. Enjoy your day.” The voicemail told her. She sighed and shut off the phone ignoring the text from Sango. She was hoping that given the circumstances she wouldn’t have to worry over having another roommate. Now in her junior year of college, she had still found herself in the dorms instead of her own apartment or a fraternity home. Her scholarship through the school, the human inclusion scholarship, covered all her basic needs and that included room and board. With Sango, another human, having been her roommate since the very first day of school, she had been overjoyed with the situation and never really looked for anything else that would have been money out of her own pocket. Then Miroku, Sango’s boyfriend of two years, had to offer her to come live with him, something about his roommate being expelled last week and Sango agreed.
The schoolyear had already been going for two months Kagome didn’t think anyone else would need a room, she was overly excited at the prospect of having a room all to herself for the remainder of the year. She apparently had been wrong. Further, with all the protests on equal rights over the last year the school had made sweeping changes to dorm policy and gender segregation. Dorms, bathrooms and many of the other facilities had become communal, ungendered, unlabeled equal habit zones. So now, not only was she getting another roommate for the remainder of the year, but now he was male and the voicemail didn’t specify if he was a human or demon. ‘Great.’ She thought.
She wasn’t worried too much, but the idea of sharing a living space for a year with a guy just got to her nerves slightly. What if he made fun of her for snoring, what if he was pervy like Miroku had been the first year they knew him. Before he had committed to Sango, Miroku would fondle or chase after any woman he could, often earning him a bruise or two. Thankfully that had changed but she did not want to have the issue.
She walked across the large campus; it was a late fall afternoon just before sunset. She thought of grabbing some food to take home but remembered she had ramen and Sango had agreed to leave the microwave for her since Miroku had one. Dread settled in her stomach then. ‘Sango took her bed. Oh god where is this guy going to sleep?’ She thought. Miroku’s bed had been derelict and he threw it out the moment Sango agreed to move. The dorm did provide some things but Sango and Kagome had elected to bring their own. Something that was probably not considered when they offered the guy to be her roommate. She could only hope he brought his own with him she’d feel completely rude going to her own bed and watching him rest on the floor. If the ‘he’ had been a ‘she’, then maybe she would be amicable to sharing her bed for a night or two. She sighed, knowing someone somewhere would certainly be upset with her gender issues but to her it was about being secure. She was completely aware a female could be just as purvey as a male but she didn’t have the mental energy to argue with herself. It was a good thing the protesters couldn’t read minds, she shook her head.
Arriving at the dorms she climbed two flights of stairs and walked the long bright hall down to her room. She loved the location, at the very back and end of the building. It had originally been a double room but the wall had been knocked out years prior, they had their own small bathroom and a kitchenette that was really just a couple of lower cupboards and a minifridge she bought her first year. They weren’t allowed hotplates but anything that could be microwaved was ok. It was well after noon and as she stood in front of her door, she took a deep breath feeling a strong demonic aura in her room. She felt better it was demon, she could definitely defend herself better, but was still nervous to see who she was about to meet.
She prayed to the Kami it wasn’t Kouga.
Gathering her nerves, for reasons she wasn’t even sure why she had them. She opened the door and set her backpack down, slipping off her shoes, she looked to where Sango’s bed had been and saw a suitcase but no other belongings. ‘Fuck no bed, maybe he needs help bringing it up?’ She thought looking past the divider they had placed in the room she saw the man sitting at one of the two desks and her blood ran cold. She could recognize his profile from anywhere. Long thick black hair that stopped just past his lower back, broad sculpted shoulders and arms. He would turn around any moment and look at her with his demonic maroon eyes and say something sarcastic or witty and she would purify him and be expelled from school.
“Why the fuck are you in my room Naraku?” She raged the tendrils of her power seeping out at her loss of control. His shoulders raised slightly and she seethed, she just knew he had some stupid smug look on his face. He turned to her far more elegantly than he should have, setting his pencil down on whatever paperwork he had been pretending to work on and gave her a dark look, his smile oozing a fake charm.
“Miko, what a surprise.” He coo’d, swiftly standing to face her fully. Her arms sat on her hips and her anger flared her power more, he seemed unbothered.
“Understatement of the year, answer the question.” She demanded; his smile grew. She was mentally counting all the ways she could purify him and claim it was an accident.
“This is my new room. My other had… an incident that made it unlivable.” He feigned a frown.
“I am sure the fuck it did Naraku.” She yelled.
“Such a filthy mouth for a miko.” His grin became predatory, his eyes became darker. “Makes a demon wonder…” He hadn’t finished his sentence but she completely understood the infliction, hearing the unspoken words of what other filthy things it was capable of. ‘How dare he.’ She became unconcerned with it looking like an accidental purification as she balled her fists at her side. Trying to take a calming breath she realized the room even smelled like him. ‘Already? Why!’ She shrieked in her mind as she tried to remind herself, she only had two years of college left and she would never get accepted to another school even if it was an ‘accidental’ purification. She resigned herself to not killing him, as much as he probably, definitely, deserved it.
Naraku was one of the most vile things she knew. None knew the real reason he attended the college, suspecting it had something to do with his father making him get proper records of education to take over a family business’s or something. It had also been discussed the college had invited him for years and he finally accepted. It didn’t matter much to her, what was known about him chilled her soul. Naraku had lived for a long, long time and most of that time had been spent killing. He hated humans and often spoke of how humanity should be purged and that if it wasn’t for the great council, he might continue his mission as it used to be. But he didn’t just kill those he believed to be the lesser species, he tortured them and studied their torture. He had written books on the subject of what the human body and mind could take, listing in great detail some of his exploits. He had been a controversial subject her first year, a study of the ‘famous’ face gracing their school. Demon society held many different beliefs and laws when it came to things of bestial nature. His exploits had been ‘grandfathered’ in before the great council had merged, granting him immunity for his actions. Her research found some of the more prominent demonic families praised his work and psychological studies into the ‘simple’ human mind, commending him for purging the filthy human plague; while others found his taste for extreme violence an example of an untamed demon, the ironic symbol none should strive to be. In her mind he was a psychopathic monster and should have been condemned for his crimes, not praised.
All of that aside had nothing to do with the personal interest he had taken of her. She an incredibly powerful Miko, had been given a full scholarship to help strengthen demonic to human relations. The long history of Miko to Demons being mortal enemies, the school claimed if one could understand the other, there could be harmony. Something she had fervently agreed with and the reason she had accepted the scholarship.
Naraku, however had started a personal vendetta against her the very first year, trying to get her expelled from the school when she spoke against him during an open rally. He lashed out at her physically, surprised to find he was unable to harm her. His anger at the time was palpable. His rage became an obsession with trying to destroy her and those she cared for and his schemes knew no moral bounds. She despised him past and present.
“I am going to the office and having you removed from my room. They can switch you out with someone else.” She turned and began walking back to the entry when she was promptly caught, her back pressed against the entry door.
“There is no need for all the trouble little Miko.” His silky voice almost sang in her ear as he took a deep breath of her scent, his nose ever so slightly brushing her cheek in the process. She was furious, he smiled.
“Let. Go.” She growled between clenched teeth. He smelled like a thick wood forest, an intangible spice nipped at her nose it felt like autumn at night and it was hauntingly aggravating how good he smelled.
“For a Human who preaches racial harmony,” Naraku almost growled back at her. “You seem awfully intolerant of me.” His hands held her sides, holding her pinned to the door with the weight of his large body. He caught her gaze, the blue of her eyes practically glowing with her rage and power. He could scent it so strongly he could almost taste her anger. His mouth nearly watered, if only she had just a bit of fear, though he decided that was probably best left for later.
“You’re a killer.” She stated.
“Hypocrite.” He smiled at her. She flared her power singing his skin and he took a step back but kept her caged not completely letting her move from the doorway. “You hide behind your false sense of righteousness Kagome; your kinds hands are just as bloody as mine.” He hissed. She held his maroon gaze for a long moment then took a resigning angry breath. She wanted him to shut up and be wrong but he wasn’t. Miko and Monks alike had done their part in purging many of the demon kind over the ages. It was in their nature to purge what they perceived as evil personified. It wasn’t until the cultural renaissance and the great Shikon Miko married an Inu Daiyokai that things had changed. Many of the older demons she knew, those she even considered friends, had been part of the great wars and purges. Blood was spilled on both sides, he had just been honest about his part in it.
“Even if I could ignore your ancient past,” She made a snarky face, “You’ve been nothing but a pain in my ass for the last two years.” She argued. His eyes shone for a moment as she stewed waiting for him to try and deny it. When he looked completely amused, she regretted her choice of phrase the moment the realization hit her. “Don’t you dare say a thing! You know exactly what I mean!” She growled. He took a step back from her and gave her body a long-exaggerated look over. She shivered at the intensity of his gaze.
“It might be an accurate assessment” He smiled devilishly, “Though I assure you, it would be a momentary discomfort and” His voice dropped to a silky deep tone as he moved back close to her again. “Exquisitely worth it.” He coo’d into her ear, taking another deep breath of her changing scent.
“OhmysweetKami” She mumbled as her brain sputtered between shock and wanting to kill him. He laughed, the sound echoing richly in the small entry, as he stepped away from her, back into the room. “My point,” She forced herself to focus and glare at his smug face, “was you’ve been quite outspoken in your dislike of me personally not just my ideals or opinions. I mean trying to get me expelled? Really?” She shrieked. “Why would you be ok with this roommate situation?” He looked as though he could devour her but he soothed his features, relaxing his shoulders and letting the edge fade from his voice.
“I believe there is much we could learn from each other, do you know me enough to hate me as much as you think you do? Are you secure in your judgment of me and my actions?” He asked her, he almost seemed genuine but her gut told her he was up to something that involved more than just making her wholly uncomfortable, or learning about her. Though much to her dismay he was again, correct. She didn’t know him personally, she knew his reputation and while he was an asshole and she did really dislike him, she didn’t know him. She frowned and crossed her arms, bastard was definitely good with his manipulations. She didn’t doubt he would completely mislabel the situation should she try and have him removed as her roommate. Underplay his previous transgressions and construct a narrative of a hypocritical Miko. He did struggle to gain any footing at ruining her reputation or name in the past but something as clear cut and on paper would be a bit harder to defend. His clout and popularity could be damning to her reputation if he was vehement enough; something she knew he could be.
“I suppose you’ve caught me in your spiderweb.” She accused sagely; his façade faded just a moment his answering smile a glimpse of the demon behind the humanoid form. It was the look of a promise as much as an answer that she had no idea how true her words had been. Suppressing a shiver at the excitement she refused to evaluate from having such a voracious look directed at her, she walked back into the room and held out her hand as a peace offering. She meant it to be for a handshake.
“Truce?” she offered. He delicately took her hand and brought it to his lips, kissing the top of it sensually, gently. She swallowed thickly, it felt like a deal with the devil.
“I accept your olive branch.” He smirked. Letting her hand go softly she pulled her arm back cradling it to her chest and stared at him weary a long moment, evaluating if she was making the right choice. She could always go to the office later if he couldn’t behave, she surmised. Nodding to herself she looked around the room shaking the shiver from her shoulders. Her hand felt the lingering warmth of his lips and she wondered why it was affecting her.
“All of this is temporary Naraku,” She warned. “Schemes or not aside, you technically didn’t agree to a truce and I don’t trust you.” She eyed him.
“Good. You shouldn’t.” His eyes flashed, almost proudly, then looked contemplative a moment. “It wouldn’t be in your nature to trust me; and who are we but bound to our nature?” He questioned her. She absentmindedly nodded.
“Alright, lets get you settled in then.” She offered looking around the room again curious. “You only have one suitcase?”
“The rest is being brought by my sister within the hour.” He shrugged as he sat back down at the desk he had been in when she came into the room. It had been Sango’s desk, and she was relieved he hadn’t taken up space on her desk, she guessed he could scent the difference. She walked back into the entry and grabbed her bookbag setting it on her desk chair, her stomach grumbling loudly interrupting her pulling her history book from her bag. Sighing she moved to the kitchenette and pulled a cup of ramen from the cupboard. Pausing she looked to Naraku and internally growled.
“I am starving, making ramen, would you like some?” She asked, he nodded not looking back at her. She grabbed two cups and threw them in the microwave. “Sango and I kind of split costs for food, snacks, drinks and toiletries.” She broke the silence with chatter. “If you’d prefer to have your own things, I can clear out a cabinet for you and I won’t touch your stuff unless I ask first. Which would you prefer?” He turned slightly to her and thought for a moment.
“What do you usually spend per week?”
“For the various snacks and food about eighty between the two of us. If we needed cleaning supplies or toiletries it could be about one-twenty. That also depends on what you like to eat and the things you would want.” She shrugged non-comitally. The microwave beeped and she pulled some chopsticks from the drawer and stirred the ramen. “Thirsty?” She asked, with her back to him she missed the way his eyes darkened.
“Very.”
“Water or coke?” She asked as she bent down and opened the fridge. His eyes drawn to her full backside, her jeans clinging to her smooth firm legs. He gripped the desk chair handle tightly.
“Water please.” He answered. She nodded and grabbed two bottles from the fridge and set one on the counter. Grabbing a cup of ramen she walked over to him and set the items down on his desk. “Thank you.” He smiled. She nodded her head as he took the ramen and turned back to his assignment. He heard her pull some more drinks out of the cupboard and refill the fridge then grab her stuff and plop it onto her desk. She was quiet for a human he noted. Her footfalls were soft, her motions graceful but purposeful, she seemed tidy. He was glad his assumption about her was correct. It wouldn’t do if she was loud, cumbersome and unkempt.
“I didn’t know you had a sister.” She mentioned between a bite of ramen as she stared absentmindedly out the window. “They don’t exactly give familial details between the descriptions of killings.” She blanched a moment. “Sorry.” She frowned.
“I have two actually. Kagura will be here soon and Kanna is across the country.” He ignored her passive aggressiveness and sipped his cup of ramen.
“Any brothers?” She asked looking at him then took another bite of her food. He shook his head no. “I have a younger brother. He is training to be a Monk at Kaede’s reform in the north.” She explained, he wasn’t surprised others in her family held the affinity for holy power. He wondered if her brother was as powerful as she, but doubted it instantly.
“So why are you even in the dorms?” She asked him changing the subject and setting her ramen down. “It’s fairly well known your family has considerable wealth. I am sure you could easily afford your own apartment, so why stay in the dorms?” He smiled his most charming smile for her. She gave him a look that said she wasn’t buying it.
“You would technically be correct but my family’s money is not my money. The college offered me a scholarship if I came to lecture about the historical events I had been a part of, and free room and board was included. I do have plenty of my own money but waste not want not.” She raised an eyebrow at him. It was a sensible answer but she didn’t expect sensible from the demon before her. His intuition was on fucking point though because he picked up on her uncertainty in an instant she noticed. “If you need more then that, Kagura bet I wouldn’t stay in the dorms and I mean to prove her wrong.” He smiled again, more genuine now. She wanted to find fault in it but couldn’t and found herself grinning slightly too. “Any other questions?” He asked easily, she nodded.
“Plenty if I think of it,” She realized out loud. He looked mildly surprised she ignored it. “Something I have wanted to know since first year is why you are actually here studding. You’ve successfully published works, traveled the world, been a general miasma of upset and intrigue in the demon circle?” She smiled mischievously. He pretended to scowl and she laughed. It was his turn to shiver.
“There is always more to learn Miko. Given the opportunity, knowledge can be more persuasive than physical power.”
“That’s as much of a non-answer if I have ever heard one.” She took a drink of her water and set the bottle down a bit hard in her frustration. He was genuinely amused.
“I was bored?” She scowled more and he laughed. “They offered a scholarship and I was bored so I took it. When you’ve lived as long as I have sometimes a revamp is necessary to get the things you desire.” He amended.
“And what do you desire?” She asked engrossed in the conversation. He paused looking at her deeply, his face shifted briefly his eyes shone a deep red at the edges, showing the predator he was for only a moment and she seemed to recall herself and just who she was talking to in that instant.
“You… I am afraid at this time it would unhappy with another non-answer. What about you Miko?” He changed the subject, offering her a way out of her sudden discomfort.
“What do I desire?” She asked him cautiously. He nodded softly, work and ramen forgotten. She thought for a moment, unsettled by the answer that had popped into her mind.
“I suppose it would be a non-answer on my part as well.” She played with the edge of her history book, glancing at him hesitantly.
“Pity. I do so dislike non-answers.” His smooth deep voice sent a tingle down her spine as he smiled mockingly, his claws suddenly tapping the top of the table.
“Really? I couldn’t tell.” She taunted and smiled in return.