Higher Learning

Higher Learning- chapter 2

The springtime sun was shining on the rolling hills of the Northern Lands as two young wolf demons came running from their homes to meet their best friend that morning. Waves of kelly-green grass shimmered with leftover dew from the cool night before. Newly opened wildflowers of all varieties sprinkled the peaks and valleys of the sprawling hills. Kouga was laying in a meadow, lazily chewing on a blade a grass. Today was like a dream. It wasn't often that he was permitted to leave the castle keep and roam freely in the countryside. He fell onto his back and looked at the fluffy white clouds floating aimlessly in the brilliant blue sky as he awaited his friends' to arrival. He inhaled the scents of the wildflowers and sakura blossoms that wafted through the air. He closed his eyes and started to drift off to sleep.

Someone calling his name caused the wolf prince to stir. At first it was distant, but soon became loud and thundering. "KOUGA! Damnit, are you going to sleep all day?"

The wolf demon opened his eyes. He wasn't in the hills of his beloved Northern Lands, but cramped on the lower bunk of a dorm room. It really was a dream. He sighed as he rubbed his eyes and threw his hand out, trying to stop the person yelling at him. "Yeah, yeah. I'm awake already. Geesh, do you have to be so loud? We aren't out in the wilderness, you know, we're in a freaking dorm room." He rolled over to see InuYasha standing over him.

"Come on, Kouga. If you wait any longer you're gonna miss dinner, too. You've been sleepin' all day. Bankotsu said to get you and bring you to the cafeteria." The dog demon was not in a good mood. Dinnertime was one of his favorite times of day, along with breakfast and lunch. He liked to eat, and he was in a hurry to get his food. "We only have fifteen minutes before they close the line down and breakfast ain't for another ten hours after that. Get a move on!"

Kouga sat up on the bunk. He was still dressed in the black kimono Bankotsu let him borrow the night before. "You go ahead, dog boy. I'll be there soon, and if I miss dinner, well, I'll just send out for something."

InuYasha wasn't going to argue. He never missed a meal, and Kouga wasn't going to be the cause of him going hungry. That 'dog boy' comment didn't sit too well with him either. As he walked out of the room he stated, "Fine, starve. See if I care."

Kouga arched his back and stretched his arms up, hitting the backs of his hands against the metal springs on the bottom of the upper bunk. "Damn. I forgot that thing was there." He rubbed his reddened knuckles and rose to his feet, careful to keep his head low until he was certain he had cleared the upper berth. He spotted his jeans, folded on the closest table. His wallet was neatly tucked between the folds of fabric. He warily picked up his wallet and checked the contents. Everything was still there, not a single dollar was missing. He put it on the table and picked up the jeans and examined them. Someone had washed them for him, the lingering smell of last night's fire gone. Grateful for something clean to wear he put on the pants. As he reached for his wallet he found a note:

Kouga,
I washed the jeans. In the left-hand closet is my stuff. Pick out a shirt and a pair of shoes to wear for now. Socks are in the bottom drawer of the chest by the bed.
Bankotsu

Kouga put down the note, pocketed his wallet and went to the closet. He rummaged through the meager supply of shirts and found one to his liking, a short-sleeved, blue button down shirt. He saw only one pair of shoes, white Adidas, which he picked up and carried over to the small chest of drawers. He quickly found a pair of socks and got dressed.

It only took ten minutes before he was in the cafeteria and standing in the dwindling line to get his dinner. He didn't realize he was hungry until he got in the room and got a whiff of the savory smells that filled the room. He picked up a tray and as he moved down the line, what he saw disgusted him. Although the food smelled good, it looked terrible. He wasn't sure what that meat and vegetable stuff was the server handed to him, but he threw it on his tray. He selected a couple slices of wheat bread and grabbed two containers of milk. After he had all his food, he looked around the room. He spotted InuYasha's long white hair first, then Bankotsu's black braid. He went over to their table, put his tray down and sat.

Bankotsu smiled. "Glad you made it in time. I wasn't sure you would. I got here late myself. Since InuYasha is a faster runner, I sent him to get you." He noticed the shirt Kouga picked out to wear and approved. The color matched the wolf prince's eyes and was very complimentary to his complexion and hair. He continued to eat heartily as he eyed Kouga, who just sat there. Swallowing what he had in his mouth, he asked, "What's wrong? Don't you like the stew?"

"Stew, is that what this is? Looks like dog meat to me." Kouga had stew before, and this stuff didn't resemble what he knew as stew. In his dorm, if one ate in the cafeteria, stew was hefty chunks of chuck, potatoes, and vegetables in a savory broth. This resembled something he fed his pet from a can. He took his fork and gathered up some and sniffed it. It smelled good, so he tasted it; then promptly spit it out into his napkin. "God, this stuff is wretched." He pushed his tray away from him.

InuYasha spied the tray full of food. "You gonna eat that or what?"

Kouga looked at him and pushed the tray closer to him. "You want it, you can have it. I ain't eating it."

InuYasha slid the tray next to his. "Thanks, don't mind if I do. Never turn down a good meal around here. That's my motto."

Kouga rolled his eyes. If that was what they called a "good meal", what was the rest of the food like? Deciding that it would be better to get something out, or sent in, he got up to leave.

Bankotsu put his hand on Kouga's forearm. "You really need to eat something, Kouga. You've been sleeping all day, and I know you must be hungry."

He looked at the hand touching him and pulled away from it. "Naw, I'll go out and get something. Have to shop for new clothes anyway." Seeing the look of concern on Bankotsu's face and remembering his kindnesses since the fire he asked, "Hey, want to come with me? We'll get some clothes and then maybe grab some real food out."

Bankotsu was pretty full already, but he thought that getting to know his new roommate better would be a good idea. "Sure, love to go." He looked at his other two roommates and winked. "See ya, guys. Don't do anything I wouldn't do." InuYasha and Miroku just laughed and waved the others off.

Kouga didn't get the hidden meaning of the wink, or why they laughed, but he didn't really care. Bankotsu put his tray of dirty dishes on one of the tray racks and then the two left for a shopping spree.

The places around the university didn’t have the kind of clothes that Kouga usually wore. He didn’t like sweats and t-shirts, the usual university fare. His tastes ran more in line with Arrow dress shirts and Ralph Lauren slacks for casual wear; Armani was his choice for finer attire. That meant that the young men needed to take a trip to a mall. Since neither kept a car on campus, and mass transit, like buses, was too revolting to the young prince, the only other option was a taxi. Money didn’t mean much to the young wolf prince, and he reasoned a taxi would be less expensive than calling for a limousine. Bankotsu objected, stating that the cost would be outlandish, but Kouga was determined, so a taxi was called.

The trip to the mall took about twenty minutes and cost Kouga thirteen dollars, but he considered it a bargain. He gave the hack twenty dollars, told him to keep the change and they got out of the taxi.

Once inside the three-story mall, Kouga started seeking the best stores for menswear. He stayed away from chain department stores, claiming that the quality of merchandise was never as good as in specialty shops. The first level didn’t reveal any “appropriate” shops, so the pair went up the escalator to the second level. A map of the mall was situated directly ahead of the two college men, and they went to find what they were looking for. All the men’s specialty shops were on the top level, so they turned around and headed back to the escalator, ascending to the third and final floor. There, numerous shops displaying the trendiest styles in young men’s clothing lined the walls. Kouga spotted a shop that looked interesting and led his tag-along roommate there.

Upon entering the shop, they were greeted by a middle-aged gentleman wearing a suit and tie, and not one off the rack. Bankotsu admired the fit of the suit, wishing he could own just one of similar quality. As Kouga was talking to the gentleman, explaining what his needs were, Bankotsu did some browsing. The clothes were like those out of GQ or Esquire. The labels were from the top fashion designers in men’s clothing, and the price tags he saw indicated that fact. A simple short-sleeved, white cotton shirt with button-down collar was two-hundred and fifty dollars. Bankotsu couldn’t see the difference between that one and one he had seen at Macy’s just a week ago.

Kouga was unaffected by his friend’s browsing, he was too busy being ushered from one part of the shop to another, picking up a variety of casual and dress shirts. Next, he was led to a rack of pants where he selected slacks and then some jeans. As he headed to the fitting room, he spotted Bankotsu admiring a green Bill Blass sports shirt. He quietly walked up behind his roommate and asked, “Like that one?”

Bankotsu was startled by the question; he hadn’t been paying much attention to Kouga as he made his rounds with the attentive store clerk. As he ran his finger over the shoulder of the shiny silk shirt, he whispered a shy, “Yeah.”

“Well, let’s find one in your size and you can try it on.” Kouga was glad to find his roommate had excellent taste in clothing. He, himself, had chosen the same shirt, but in a burgundy color.

“Kouga, I can’t. I could never afford something like this.” Bankotsu was embarrassed. The price tag on this shirt was three hundred dollars, modest compared to some in the shop.

“Oh come on, it’s only one shirt. At least try it on.” Kouga was adamant. He found a shirt in their size and added it to the collection he was taking to the fitting rooms. This store didn’t have dressing rooms, because when one tried on clothes in this establishment, they were put on and then the fit was checked out by expert eyes. Adjustments in size, length or anything needed were the clerk’s job duty to spot and correct.

Each man took a separate room, Kouga using the larger one in the corner. Both spaces had two three-way mirrors so a person could see exactly how something looked from the front, sides and back at the same time. Bankotsu took off his knock-off Polo shirt and replaced it with the Blass sports shirt. He buttoned it up and looked in the mirror. He understood why it cost more than most shirts he ever wore, although he still thought it was way too expensive. The shirt fit like it had been tailor-made for his body, the sleeves hit exactly one inch below his wrist. The sides and back were tapered so they glanced against, but didn’t hug his body. The contoured hem hit him exactly in the middle of his hips on the sides, and dipped just above his groin in the front and hung even with the bottom of his well-toned buttocks in the back. The college senior turned from side to side to get the full effect of the fit against his body. He looked better in that shirt than he had looked in the best Easter outfit his parents ever got him. Wanting to show Kouga, he opened the door to the fitting room.

There, Kouga was standing admiring himself in a turquoise Oscar de la Renta shirt, black Blass slacks and a pair of Carmina shoes. He looked like a model from a men’s fashion magazine. Kouga spotted Bankotsu from his reflection in the mirror and turned around. “Damn, you look good, Bankotsu. You have to get that shirt.” He liked the way the soft material showed off Bankotsu’s well defined upper body. He licked his lips with the tip of his tongue. He looked good enough to eat.

Bankotsu blushed at the reflected look he spied from the mirrors. He blinked to get the image of Kouga’s tongue running across his lips out of his mind and concentrated on why he had come out of the fitting room. Although he loved the fit and the soft texture of the silk fabric, he couldn’t afford this shirt. He smiled at the wolf prince. “Naw, that’s ok. I was just trying it on to please you.”

Kouga understood the real reason, but didn’t let on to the sales associate. “Ok. But I still think it looks great and you should get it.”

Bankotsu went back in his fitting room and carefully took off the shirt, placing it on the foam-covered hanger from which it came. He put his own shirt back on and carried the expensive item out, handing it to the clerk who looked at him as if he knew the reason for declining to purchase such a magnificently fitted item.

Kouga didn’t miss that look on the older man’s face and didn’t like it. Deciding that perhaps, Bankotsu was uncomfortable with the man there, Kouga asked him to leave so he could try things on himself, promising to send for him, if he was needed. The man didn’t argue, merely turned and walked away, turning his nose slightly upward as he passed Bankotsu, carrying the unwanted shirt with him. “Hey, Bankotsu!” Kouga called to his friend, to distract him from the snooty clerk’s gaze. “Why don’t you come in this room and you can give me your opinion on how things look. Friends are always more objective that store clerks, anyway.”

Shrugging his shoulders, Bankotsu walked into the room that Kouga was using and took a seat in a chair in the corner. He watched with fascination for the next forty-five minutes as Kouga tried on shirts, slacks and jeans. Nothing looked bad on the wolf prince, so it was hard to find fault with anything he had selected. Kouga maintained a great physique, toned and well developed chest muscles, taut abs and legs that any marathon runner would die to have. His shoulders weren’t too broad, his hips not too narrow; basically he had the best looking body Bankotsu had ever seen on a male.

Kouga tried on the silk Blass shirt he had chosen off the same rack Bankotsu’s green shirt came from. He noticed the look on his roommate’s face when he flexed his chest muscles a little to see if the buttons would gap. It was obvious that there was some physical attraction there. Kouga wasn’t immune to the fact that Bankotsu had a great body, also.

Although he never discussed his sexual preferences with anyone, Kouga liked both genders; however, he tended to drift more towards men than women. He kept a close eye on Bankotsu as he changed out of the shirt and jeans he had just tried on. Testing the other’s attraction to him, Kouga turned and faced Bankotsu wearing only his tight-fitting boxer briefs. When his roommate started staring at the bulge in the front of the underwear and blushed, he had his answer. The guy WAS sexually attracted to him.

Kouga moved closer to the seated man, and extended his arm, cupping Bankotsu’s chin with his palm. He lifted the chin so their eyes could meet.

Bankotsu froze, only his eyes followed Kouga as he came closer; and then gazed into the deep azure eyes that stared down at him.

Kouga bent down and placed a gentle kiss on Bankotsu’s lips which parted slightly at the touch. He was about to try and explore the other’s mouth with his tongue when there was a knock on the fitting room door.

“Gentleman, is everything alright in there? You’ve been in there for almost an hour. Can I help you with anything?” The store clerk was impatient.

“We’re just about done, thank you. We’ll be coming out in a minute.” Kouga was calm, not letting his displeasure at the interruption appear in his voice.

Kouga stood up and looked at Bankotsu, who was starting to get sweat droplets on his forehead. He smiled and whispered, “We’ll continue this back at the dorm.” He removed his hand from the other’s chin and turned to get dressed. After selecting almost three-fourths of the items he tried on as keepers, he turned to Bankotsu again. “Let’s go. I can’t wait to get home.” Kouga opened the door and motioned to the clerk the items he didn’t want to purchase. He gathered the items he did want and the two college students silently walked out. Bankotsu headed towards the front of the store, leaving Kouga to pay at the register.

Almost four thousand dollars later, the two men left, each carrying two bags of designer clothes. Kouga sought a payphone and dialed the taxi company to send a car to get them and return them to the university. They grabbed some take-out from an Asian restaurant while they waited for their ride. When the taxi got there, it was the same driver as before. He helped the men load their purchases into the trunk and they were off.

The ride back was unpleasantly quiet, both men thinking on the events that occurred in the fitting room just moments before the interrupting knock. Kouga wondered if he would get a better taste of those lips, and Bankotsu wondered if it was a dream or a nightmare. Either way, they both knew that what had just happened was going to make dorm life a lot more interesting.

TBC