And They Were Roomates : chapter 1
(A/N: I have no idea if inserting a read-more is possible on mobile and I don't have a desktop at the moment so I truly apologize if this is just a wall of text. If you know how to do this, let me know? Thank you!)
This day had started out with so much promise, Kagome thought with a heavy heart. She was standing on her new balcony-- that is, the balcony of her new apartment-- with her cellphone pressed to her ear.
"No, no… really, I understand!" She insisted again.
"I'm so sorry Kagome! I swear I would never even consider it, unless it was something incredible..."
"Stop apologizing, Sango! This is huge! You should be celebrating, not apologizing." Kagome pressed her lips to prevent a quiver. She was happy for Sango, but she couldn't help but be disappointed for herself. They were supposed to share this apartment together, until Sango landed her actual dream job. Taijiya Games had offered her a developer position on their newest title, and although Kagome barely knew what that meant, she knew Sango had all but given up on getting a job that good until now. There was no way in hell she'd make Sango feel guilty for taking the opportunity, even if she had to go to the UK for it. "You're going to be great! Even I'll play your game, I swear,"
Sango sniffed, and chuckled at her enthusiasm. "Thank you so much for understanding, Kagome. The second I get back to Tokyo we'll go--" the line cut out, and Kagome pulled her phone from her face to find the sign off logo filled the screen. The battery was dead.
She stood alone on her balcony, watching the sun set over the city. This view was beyond gorgeous, which only made all of this harder. She'd saved up as much as she needed for her own half of the rent, but without Sango's half, she wouldn't be here long. It'd be faster to sub-lease it instead of finding another roommate, and that's what she'd start on tomorrow. For now, she just enjoyed the view, although it was a little blurred with tears. She wiped them away, but paused when a strange noise came from inside her empty apartment.
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<p/> Looking in, there was almost nothing but stacks of boxes against every wall. The sun had just dropped below the skyline, casting the entire room in eerie shades of blue and purple. The sound happened again, and this time she thought she knew what it was. The front door was being opened.
She held her breath as she watched through the sliding glass door, mentally retracing her steps back to when she definitely locked it, when she heard the door open, then slam shut. She jumped when a shout came from within, sounding something like a name, then just incomprehensible slurring as a pile of boxes tumbled over. She realized all at once that someone must have seen her moving, and broken in. First Sango, and now this.
She cursed to herself in a panic, whirling around to find something to defend herself with. Her panic only rose when she realized she had nothing except a few plastic plants and a folding lounge chair at hand. She shot a glance over the edge of the balcony in hopes of maybe escaping that way, but it was a straight drop ten stories down into the busy streets below. She looked to her phone, trying to turn it on for just a few seconds longer to call for help, but it was completely drained. She pinned her eyes back on the door when the person within made another noise, and appeared in the entryway. Kagome was paralyzed in fear as she watched the stranger steady himself on the nearest wall, digging inside his jacket pockets for something.
As she remained pinned in pure terror, she noticed how the stranger swayed, and grumbled to himself, and how frustrated he was with jacket pockets. He looked like he was constantly one second from stumbling over, but somehow managed to stay upright. There was a word for what he was. Drunk. Very very drunk. More importantly, he was totally oblivious to her presence. Hoping to keep it that way, she ducked down against the railing, sitting on her knees and keeping her head just high enough to watch him.
He called out that slurred name again and waited, but obviously there would be no answer. She realized with some relief that since he was calling for someone he thought lived here, he probably wasn't there to rob her, but in fact had chosen the wrong apartment due to being so drunk. He was most likely a neighbor, not a burglar. She jumped again when he suddenly barked out a laugh of triumph, having successfully pulled whatever he'd been looking for from his jacket. He sauntered over to the glass door of the balcony, and Kagome silently fell back on her butt, pulling her knees up to her chest in defense. That was when his eyes finally glanced up, pausing on none other than a horribly confused and frightened Kagome.
“Oh… shit, erm… h’llo.” He mumbled, pushing off the door frame and swaying his way over to the railing, which he leaned on with some force. She gasped and reached out when it looked for a moment like he might tip over it, but he quickly steadied himself, sticking a slightly bent cigarette between his teeth. She eyed the crumpled pack in his hand and decided that must have been what he'd been searching for. Next she noticed his jacket-- red leather with something she couldn't quite see embroidered on the back. The pockets did not look all that complicated to her. His hair was very long, straight even though the rest of him looked a little disheveled, and even more interesting, it was snowy white. Her eyes froze when they raised higher, spotting what looked like animal ears on top of his head.
Overall he was about as strange as any stranger could have been.
He looked down at her as he started a new search through his pockets, eventually pulling out a cheap plastic lighter.
“Well… Fuck," His low voice rumbled as his amber colored eyes looked over her, sending a chill up her spine. "Ain't you a pretty ‘un.” He laughed once to himself as he flicked the lighter, once, twice, three times before getting it lit. He held it to the tip of his cigarette and took a long drag, the orange glow lighting his face. He was handsome, she realized then, although his habits were anything but attractive. He puffed out a plume of smoke and made a sound like a sigh before finally losing balance and dropping down to the ground beside her. If the movement hadn't been so sudden, it almost might have looked like it was on purpose.
Kagome thought about asking if he was okay, but he didn't seem to be hurt as he propped his back against the railing, letting his head rest on the metal. He took another drag from the cigarette before turning his face to give her a very focused look. “You wit’ uh… Koga n’ them, or what?” He asked casually. Kagome blinked, lightly clearing her throat as she thought of how to respond to that.
“Um… I think… you may have the wrong apartment.” She said delicately, hoping this revelation wouldn't throw him into some kind of drunken rage. He turned to look around, seeming to weigh the likelihood of that statement before resolutely shaking his head.
“Uh… no-pe. This’ where I live ‘m pretty sure.” He sorted another laugh, like she was the ridiculous one here. Kagome inched away a little further, wishing she hadn't talked to Sango quite so long.
“Well… no, you see, this is actually my apartment, so… if you wouldn't mind…” She pursed her lips as he narrowed his eyes at her once again.
“What're you talkin’ about ya crazy broad? If this’ Your apartment, ha’come I got a… a, uh… where the fuck d’I put that damn thing…” He rummaged through his pockets again while Kagome waited. He bit the cigarette between his teeth to free up both hands, concentrating very hard on the task, before finally producing a keychain. “Ah! Uh key! Howcome I gotta key, huh?” As he spoke the cigarette fell from his lips, and he dropped the keys on the ground before her to pick it back up. Once it was retrieved, he took another drag, glancing between her and the keys with a raised brow. With an inward sigh, she decided she could at least direct him to the correct apartment if She knew what number he was in. Kagome hesitantly picked up the keychain, turning through the keys until she found the familiar one, labeled 5J, otherwise known as the very apartment they were both sitting in.
“Seeee?” He sneered with a smile, “S’my apartment.” He leaned closer to point at the key in question. “Five-J.” He read aloud. Kagome was hit by the smell of liquor and inched away again, offering the keys back.
“Well… that is a key to this apartment, but I assure you, I live here, not you. See?” Kagome produced her own keys, pulling up her own 5J key and holding it out. He glanced at it and rolled his eyes dramatically, heaving a loud groan.
“That fuckin’ Koga! I keep tellin ‘m not ta give out the damn key to every-fuckin-body, but here we ‘r. I don't give a fuck how fuckin sexy ya are, ya can't liv ‘ere… Gonna mess up th’ whole thing we got goin with the band 'n all them-- fuckin yoko-ono n’ shit, you know what I mean? Keh!” He gave a dismissive wave of his hand in her general direction. No, no she did not know what he meant. From what she could understand most of his vocabulary seemed to be the f-word. She could tell, however, that she wasn't going to get him to leave without calling the police, and her phone was dead. As she shifted her gaze towards the apartment, she realized she didn't have the faintest idea where a charger might be, either. The situation was looking bleak, and after all that had happened that day, it was just a tad too much. She sniffled once, then twice, and a couple small frustrated tears filled the corners of her eyes.
“Awe damn it, don't-- come on!” Protested the drunk stranger. “No crying!”
“Oh, should I laugh!?” She shot back, wiping her eyes for the second time that night. He didn't react, other than snubbing out on the concrete. She noticed through her teary gaze that there were several black marks there, and she absently felt annoyed she'd have to clean the marks off.
“No, you should shut up and…" He trailed off when she gave him a look like daggers. "Uh… go ‘t sleep with me?” He asked, giving her a daring smirk that was way too charming for someone so very intoxicated.
"I have pepper-spray, and I'm not afraid to use it." She threatened seriously. He barked out another laugh.
“Fine, s’wortha shot…” He fumbled onto his feet, adjusting his jacket before sauntering off towards the door. Before he made it all the way there, he half-stumbled into her lounge chair and tumbled into it. He looked like he might try to stand up again, but evidently found the cushion to be pretty comfortable. Instead of correcting his course, he sprawled out, mostly on his stomach, and promptly passed out.
Kagome blinked, watching his chest rise and fall for a moment before pulling herself up on the railing. She moved as silently as a shadow across the balcony and darted through the glass door, carefully but quickly closing- and locking- it behind her. <p/>
