The Better Man

Chapter Thirty-Six

Keiko found Kurama outside speaking to Yukina, he stiffened when he saw her approaching. She had a few questions for him that she would demand answered. Everyone had heard his comment about Yusuke and Rin, she wanted to know why he had said it. She didn't know Rin that well but she knew Yusuke and she trusted him. He would have told her if anything had happened between him and the other girl. She already asked him about it and he swore that they had never been anything but friends.

"Hey Keiko," Yukina greeted her with a smile.

"Evening, mind if I talk to Kurama for a few minutes in private?" Keiko waited for her to leave before turning to him. "Now, explain why you said those things. I've already spoken to Yusuke, now I want to hear your side. If there's a reason you'd believe they were or are sleeping together I think I have a right to know."

"They have not slept together, I never said they did. I merely suggested that they wanted to."

"That's not good enough. Look, Yusuke told me that they were nothing but friends and I believe him. He also told me that they spent some time together while we were broken up. If they are nothing but friends then I accept that." She saw him about to speak but held up her hand. "I know he jumped to her defense and I'm glad he did. If it wasn't for her, me and Yusuke probably wouldn't have been able to work out our problems. He's grateful to her as am I. What you said was wrong, not to mention cruel and spiteful. I've never known you to act like that, why would you say those things? Even if you thought she liked another man, who could blame her after the way you treat her? As far as Yusuke and I are concerned we don't think you deserve her. You should stick with Eri, she's a perfect match for you."

"She's in love with him Keiko." He added to see what she would say.

"Good! For a while there we were all starting to worry that she might actually be in love with you."


"I'm not sure if I feel up to dancing after that large meal." Kagome accepted the hand offered her as she climbed out of the car. Dinner had been pleasant enough while small talk to keep the conversation flowing. All three of them had tried to keep the subject away from what had happened and away from a certain male's name. So the topics had been about school, Shizuru's plan of opening up her own hair salon. Rin didn't speak much but listened to the others.

Kagome smiled as he helped the other girl out the car as well. If she did any dancing the heels were going to have to come off. There was no way she'd be able to dance without breaking her ass in them. "Are we really going to go clubing?"

"Hell yes, time to cut loose. They have a good variety of mixed drinks here, you'll have to try a few." Shizuru locked the car up, ready to go inside. "Come on Rin, lets go have some fun."

"Okay but I don't know about drinking." She let the older woman drag her to the entrance of the club. The man outside smiled at them as they approached. He was eyeing Shizuru as she stopped in front of him.

"Hey girl, good to see you again."

"Yup, they're with me." Shizuru took out her money, he waved them by. "You sure?"

"Save a dance for me doll."

"Will do." She dragged Rin behind her, ignoring the look her brother was giving her. "We'll see if my favorite table is open." They walked through the crowd of people making their way to a table in the far corner.

Kagome took her seat next to Kuwabara, who pulled the chair out for her. "Thank you." She sat down and smiled at Rin. "Are you enjoying yourself Rin?"

"Yes, this is wonderful. There's so many people here, is that dancing?" She was watching a couple making out on the dancefloor.

"No, that's called 'Someone needs to get a room.' You can dance with me as soon as I get a drink in me." Shizuru grabbed the small drink menu off the center of the table. "Wanna try something Kagome? We can let Kuzuma drive home."

"Hey, I didn't come here to be your designated driver. You could have gotten wasted at home."

"No, you came to be with Kagome. There's no reason why we can't enjoy a few drinks, besides if I get her drunk enough you might get lucky later tonight." Shizuru chuckled along with Rin.

"Dammit Sis, don't talk like that. Sorry Kagome." He frowned at her, he didn't want her to think that was what he wanted from her.

"Keh, don't worry about it." She kicked Shizuru under the table. "I think I will try something though since she's buying."

The waitress came to see if they wanted anything. Shizuru ordered two longisland iced teas and two clubsodas. She returned with the drinks several minutes later. Everyone watched while Kagome took a sip of the drink.

"This isn't that bad? What's in it?"

"Best if you don't know." Shizuru started drinking hers. She wondered if Kagome would have to drink the whole glass before she got wasted. Obvious she wasn't aware of how much alcohol she was slurping down. "Might wanna drink that slowly."

"Why?" Kagome took another sip, it didn't taste like tea but was really good. She wondered if they had forgotten to put the alcohol in. They sat and watched everyone dance while Rin and Shizuru talked about her business. She sighed when her glass was suddenly empty, she stopped the waitress and asked for another. Several minutes later she was holding another drink. Kuwabara gave her a strange look so she decided to take her time drinking this one. Maybe if she got drunk she'd get up enough nerve to try and seduce him tonight. The thought caused her to start laughing hysterically.

Shizuru started laughing, yeah she was going to be drunk before they went home. She lifted her head and looked around the corner of Kuzuma's head. Coming their way was someone with redhair, her senses told her it could only be one person. "Take your shoes off Rin, let's go dance."

"Okay." She leaned over and untied them, they slipped off her feet and she stood up. Shizuru snatched her hand before she could protest. She was dragged into the middle of the dance floor with the other woman. It didn't look that hard but what if she messed up? She turned around to look at Kagome, their table could no longer be seen.

Kuwabara leaned over, "Kurama is coming this way." He saw Kagome tense with anger and reached out to place a hand on her shoulder. "Don't worry, thats why Shizuru pulled her away from the table." He tried to smile when the other man made it to the table. "What's up man? You here alone?"

Kagome saw him nod and suddenly felt like grabbing ahold of all that hair. See how pretty he'd be if she yanked all of it out. She was starting to feel a little dizzy all of a sudden. Her mouth opened and she heard the words coming out. "You know maybe the reason you think Rin looks like a boy, is because you really feel like a woman. I mean look at yous, so purty, so feminale. Hell even I feel inadequate beside you. Maybe what you really want is a wittle boy cause you ares gay." She started to snicker at him.

"I think you've had enough of that." Kuwabara tried to grab the almost empty glass in her hand. "You're getting drunk."

"No, I'm not drunk. I'm just speaking my mind, the asshole has it coming. Why is he even here? How is she suppose to have a good time if he's here? I think he's already done enough damage for one day." Kagome hiccuped and slapped his hand away. "Get off, please."

Kurama could smell the alcohol on her breath and frowned. He hadn't come to argue with her, he'd come to speak to Rin. "I agree with him, you've had too much to drink."

"Yeah, well you're a jerk. Stay away from Rin, with any luck she'll find herself a nice man. Actually, I think Hiei kind of likes her. I think they'd make a cute couple." Kagome smiled when he frowned at her, "He seems to like the way she looks. No woman wants a man thats prettier than herself, that whole gay thing you know."

"Okay, thats enough Kagome." Kuwabara could tell her words were making Kurama angry.

"No, it's not dammit. Can you believe he had the nerve to mark her, fuck her but wouldn't even kiss her. I'm not sure why she'd be upset about that. Believe me its nothing worth bragging about. She isn't missing much." She snorted and took another sip of her drink. He turned and began walking away into the crowd of people. "Hey, get back here I wasn't done with you."

Rin tried to mimic Shizuru as she danced, the steps didn't seem that hard. She smiled as she bumped into the woman. A slow song started playing and they stopped dancing. Couples began getting close as they began to dance. "Should we go sit back down?"

"Nope," Shizuru wasn't sure if Kurama would still be at the table. "Here let me show you how to slow dance." She showed her where to put her hands, "There, though I hate being the male but this is okay. No need for us to go back, give them two time alone."

Rin agreed and tried not to step on the girl's feet. She hoped this meant that Kagome would get to be happy now. Her friend deserved it, though she'd feel bad for the other girl.

"Mind if I dance with her for a few minutes?"

Shizuru turned her head to see Kurama standing next to them. She was going to kill her brother, couldn't he have gotten rid of him. "Why?"

Rin stopped moving at the voice, she turned in the other direction. What was he doing here? Was he out on one of his dates? Couldn't he have stayed with his date instead of bothering her? What was he going to do, start chasing after Shizuru now? "It's okay, I'll head back to the table."

"I was refering to you." He reached out and grabbed her arm when she began to walk away. She seemed suprised by the comment, "I want to talk to you please. I'll bring her back to the table when I'm done." Shizuru looked skeptical about leaving the girl alone with him, "Please." He felt her stiffen when he pulled her close to him. His arm went around her waist, she hesistantly put her hand on his shoulder. "I'm not going to bite."

Not sure what he wanted she didn't speak, instead she looked off in the direction Shizuru had gone in. What did he want to speak to her about? If he was out on a date probably going to warn her ahead of time so she doesn't cause a scene. Not that he needed to worry about it, she wasn't going to embarrass herself even further. "Look if you are here to warn me not to bother you save it. Go back to whomever you came with."

"I came alone and I came to speak to you. I want to apologize about what happened today. I shouldn't have said those things to you." He turned her head forcing her to look at him. "I'm sorry if I hurt your feelings." She felt his hand stroke her cheek as he continued. "I shouldn't have hit you, please forgive me."

She didn't know what to say. Could she forgive him? Why did it matter if she did or not? Mostly, he'd been speaking the truth and she had struck him first. The only thing she could really blame him for is accusing her of wanting to sleep with Yusuke. Also he'd aired his feelings out in public, humiliating her in the process. But he was being honest, she couldn't fault him for that. He didn't want her as a mate and was stuck with her. Even now he was getting looks from the women dancing around them. Women much prettier than herself, someone more his type.

Rin sighed when he pulled her closer to him, his hand cupped the back of her neck. She placed her head on his chest willing herself not to cry. He was stuck with her until she died and there was nothing she could do to change herself. What did he want from her? She'd given him permission to be with whomever he wanted. "What do you want from me?"

He thought about it for several seconds, what could he say that wouldn't scare her away. Would she give him what he wanted after today? Most women wouldn't have even given him chance to apologize. He hadn't meant any of it, he'd spoken in anger. The belief that she prefered Yusuke over him had caused jealousy to fill him. He'd almost lost it again tonight when Hiei had made his display. Being in his human form gave him a little more control over his emotions. Even now he could see the brief glances she was recieving from several males. His hold tightened on her, she was his. "Answer me this, are you in love with Yusuke?"

"NO!" She felt her anger rise at the question and pushed away from him. "I can't believe you are still stuck on that. I don't want to fuck Yusuke okay or anyone else for that matter. Unlike you, I plan on being faithful even if it means I'll die alone. Let me guess you were scared that after today I would retailate by trying to sleep with him." She felt tears well in her eyes at his question. He'd hadn't been worried about hurting her feelings, he was worried about her getting even. He didn't want her trying to sleep with one of his friends. "You asshole, you come out here acting like you're sorry. When all you were worried about was if I'd sleep with your friend. Don't come near me, stay away." She backed up into someone and hand went on her shoulder.

"Is this man bothering you?" A male voice spoke from behind her.

She turned to see some man she didn't know watching her. "I'm okay, excuse me." Needing to be alone she ran around him. She heard Kurama calling her name then his curse as two men blocked his path. The flashing sign for the restroom was seen so she headed for that.

A hand grabbed her by the arm spinning her around to face a very angry Kurama. "You aren't going anywhere until you let me finish talking. I don't think you want anyone else to get hurt so stop."

"Fine, say what you have to say." She yanked her arm away but didn't move from her spot.

"I meant the apology, that wasn't a lie. I only asked about Yusuke to make sure you didn't harbor feelings for him. I wanted to make sure before I told you what I wanted." He took a deep breath not sure how she was going to react. "You might not like the fact but you are my mate. I want to start over in a way. What I'm asking is that you come back with me as that. I'm asking you to give us another chance, for us to be together."

"Sorry, I can't do that and still watch you with all your other women. I have my pride."

"There will be no others, just you." He looked at her face, the emotions played across her eyes. He knew he was asking alot from her.

"Fine." She agreed to it, she wasn't sure why.

"Thank you," He looked down at her mouth when she frowned. Kagome's words rang through his mind, she was right. Everytime he'd taken her and been with her, he'd never took the time to kiss her. Part of it had to do with the fact he seemed to lose control with her. He grabbed the back of her neck gently and pulled her close to him.

"What are you doing?"

"Kagome just informed me that you were upset that I have never kissed you. I'm going to remedy that," He went for her lips, suddenly curious what she tasted like. He met the side of her face instead, her hands pushed him away.

"I'm going back to the table, come if you like." She pushed herself out of his arms, disappointed. Why would Kagome tell him that? She might have just agreed to be his mate again but she wouldn't let him kiss her out of pity. He had kissed Kagome and Eri because he wanted to.

"I'll go with you," He grabbed her hand walking beside her, "Have to warn you though, Kagome seems a little drunk."

"Wonder why? She was drinking tea." Rin let him make the path for them. She blushed when he squeezed her hand.


Shizuru groaned in her hands wanting to kick her ownself. Kagome had her head laying on the table laughing hysterically. She felt her brother's eyes on her and cringed, "Sorry, guess I should have ordered something lighter."

"This is your fault, I finally get her out and you get her drunk." He almost jumped out of his seat when a hand was placed on his thigh.

Kagome giggled, "Whatever do you meanz? All you had to do was ask. Next time how bout we make it just me and you. I can't seduce you with your sister at the table with us. Wow, it's really bright in here. Oh look it's Rin with the pretty boy. I don't like him but don't tell him that okay."

"No need I heard you." Kurama frowned when he looked at her. "What the hell kind of tea did you give her Shizuru? She's plastered, I can smell the alcohol."

"How was I to know she couldn't handle it? Let's get out of here before she pukes on the floor." Shizuru grabbed their shoes from under the table. "You help her Kuzuma, she's your date."

"Hey you got her drunk." He put his arm around Kagome's waist and helped her to her feet. "Get them damn shoes off her before she breaks her neck." Rin went for the heels, Kagome giggled when she touched her feet.

Kuwabara started making his way to the door, his date in tow. So much for a relaxing evening, he'd have to make a note of this night. Never let Kagome drink while they were out. She was running her hand up his chest while they walked out. He sighed in relief when they got to the car, "What now? I can't take her home like this."

"Bring her back with us, she can stay in the spare bedroom." Shizuru unlocked the door and tossed the shoes inside. "She's going to have a hangover in the morning."

"I think I'm going to be sick." Kagome leaned over when her stomach jerked.

"Nice," Kuwabara moved his feet out the way as she began to empty her stomach. "Atleast she did it now instead of in the car. Dammit Shizuru, next time you stay home."

"Eat me bro, get her in the car." She turned to Rin who was standing next to Kurama, what was up with those two? "Are you coming back to the house with us?"

She wasn't sure how to answer, she'd told him that she'd accept what he wanted. Would he want her to go back with him? She looked up at him wondering what she should do.

"It's up to you. I'd like for you to come with me but you can go home with them if you'd like." He smiled down at her wanting her to decide.

"I'll go with him for now." She flinched when Kagome turned on her.

"What?! You can't be serious, is he forcing you? Who'd wanna go around him after the shit he said, I hope you are planning on killing him in his sleep." She started cursing as Kuwabara started putting her in the car. "Hey I'm not done."

Kuwabara climbed in the back seat with her, she jumped in his lap. "Get us home, so she can sleep it off."


Please read and review