Roll Of The Dice by OnyxIvyStone

Part One

Roll of the Dice

Part one;

"Yash, damnit, get down here! He's killing me and Maru's still back at the entrance checking for traps and you're the only one close enough!"

"You still have three rounds before you get to him, Yash."

"Oni, you never enforce that rule and now you decide to. Just confess you want to kill Roku and stop being an ass."

"Fuck you, Maru." He rolled the dice. "Take four more damage."

"Damnit, I'm at negative one."

"Two rounds, Yash."

"You really are an ass, Oni." He moved his figure on the diagram one hex closer.

"Roll for consciousness, Roku."

"Why the hell for?"

"To see if you're still awake. If you're still awake, it'll just attack you again."

"Fine." He rolled again and growled. "I'm still conscious."

The dice clattered. "Six more damage."

"Negative seven... Can I at least attack?"

"The last three blows damaged your arms. You can roll to strength to see if you can raise your sword."

"This is about San, isn't it?" He raised a dark brow, studying the man across the table from him. "She isn't interested in you. I can't help it if she likes me."

"Roll strength."

"Oni, stop being an asshole!" Yash growled, itching to move his figure one more hex.

"I'm not. Someone said last session that I wasn't playing by the rules enough and so now we have a hex diagram and figures and the whole damned dungeon laid out so Mr. I'm-so-fucking-good-I-ran-a-session-at-con-this-year will stop bitching." He said, looking up at the bemused golden brown gaze of the older man sitting next to him.

"Just roll, Roku, and get it over with." Maru said in a cool voice. He was amused by Oni's antics but he didn't like the game being used as the man's own personal ass kicking session because he couldn't win the girl, this San, from his friend.

Roku growled and rolled. "Failed by three."

"You can't raise your sword."

"No shit."

"Yash, one round."

"Finally." He moved his piece one more hex.

He sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose then pushed his long black hair behind his ears. Oni was really overdoing it to make his point. The guy just didn't know when to stop and he had somewhere to be and someone to be meeting up with in two hours. "Can we speed this up?"

"Where you gotta be, Maru?"

"Kagome's coming in tonight and I have to pick her up at the airport." He looked to his brother and smiled crookedly. "Maybe this time I can convince her to stay."

"Fat chance, you know she loves what she's doing down there." Yash replied, smirking at the lopsided grin he was sporting. "You're hoping she loves you more, right?"

"Hn." He replied and then scowled as Roku picked up his figure and threw it across the room. He stood and went nose to nose with Oni. "Oh for fuck's sake. It's only a game!"

"It isn't only a game and this bastard knows it! He sticks his prick into a girl once and he thinks he fucking owns her and I've had it! San isn't a piece of meat and she deserves better and I plan to show her that."

"Oh, here we go! What did she tell you? I bet she didn't say that she came back for more the next night, did she?"

Yash and Maru were up and pulling the two apart before things got bloody. It was unbelievable that the two had once been best friends. It was even more unbelievable that the voices of sense and calm were the two half brothers who barely gave each other the time of day unless it was over a gaming table on Thursday night or to pay rent on the house they shared while attending the same university.

"Maru, let me go!"

"Not a chance, Oni. You're too pissed right now and you're going to do something you'll regret so cool down."

"You fucker!"

Maru snarled and let him go. "Fine. The last two weeks you've done nothing but make this game a pain in the ass to play. We all need a clean slate and you two need some sort of venue where you can kill each other without having the power of being game master over each other."

Roku calmed slowly and Yash let him go. "What do you suggest, Maru?"

"A way to save the friendship or at least salvage what's left of it. Kagome's coming into town tonight and will be here a month. I'll think up a game for GURPS for all of us to play Mondays and Thursdays for the duration of that month. Roku, invite San and Yash, invite Shippo. I'll see if Kagome could stand having Kikyo playing too. Hell, maybe even Kouga, Kanna and Kagura would like to play. You all need a buffer and I need a little peace when I game." Maru looked at his watch and growled. "Now..." He said as he grabbed his leather jacket and combat boots. "I have to get going or my girl's going to be waiting out in that wind and might catch cold and I fucking refuse to miss getting laid on account of my friends not being able to keep from decking each other over some woman neither of you really has any claim over." He finished lacing and tying his boots, then put on his leather jacket and grabbed his black helmet. He nodded to his brother. "I'll take care of my gaming stuff when I get back with Kagome. I have to leave now so please don't go tearing the place apart, ok?"

"Uhu." Was Yash's noncommittal response.

It took him two full hours to traverse the trek to the airport. Traffic and a long drive weren't helpful. He missed her like crazy, ached for her every day, and tonight she'd be in his bed again and he knew some of the pang would go away.

The plane was landing. She was both elated and unsure. Elated because she'd have a full month with him where she wouldn't be culpable to her professors or her work but unsure because, as with every visit, the clouds of the past would gather when she looked into his eyes. She sighed and shook her head as she felt tears welling in her eyes. "Maru... Just think about being with Maru."

She filed out of the plane, carrying her two small bags. She knew how to pack light even for an extended visit. It came with the territory in her chosen profession. She was working on her doctorate in ancient studies. For the last few years she had been working at an archeological dig in South America to gather data for her doctoral thesis. If all went well, she would complete it in the next year and she could begin sorting out all of the offers for professorships around the country that had begun pouring in within the last few months.

One was at the university where Maru and Yash were attending. Maru was working on his doctorate in history with an emphasis in the military. He was still a few years off completing his thesis, however, as she loved to remind him, that was because he procrastinated and paid more attention to his gaming than to school. She smiled sadly as she recalled his response to her observations of his lackadaisical attitude. I have to focus on something that makes it easier to live in a world without you, and gaming works better than drinking. Just how in the hell was she supposed to argue with that?

Simple. She wasn't. She stepped onto the downward escalator with her eyes darting around, already searching for his face. He was easy to find. He stood at least a head taller than most people. However, when he was standing only about six feet from the bottom of the escalator, her search became less of a search and more of an impatient span of waiting until she reached the bottom of the escalator and the line of people moved away.

There he was. Torn up blue jeans, black knee high combat boots, that damned leather jacket he'd owned since high school with a grey hooded jersey underneath, his black hair pulled back into a braid with a few elflocks around his temples and those eyes... Those beautiful honey-brown eyes that were flecked with gold full of light and mischief focused entirely on her. He was eight years older than her and so there was more age and wisdom behind his eyes than behind his brother's. There always had been since she had known him and it was that, in part, which had drawn her to him.

She walked to him slowly with a crooked smile adorning her sweet, youthful face, and her almost cobalt blue eyes sparkled with unshed tears. "Maru." She whispered his name reverently, like a prayer. She dropped her bags and jumped up into his arms.

He was ready for her to jump. She always jumped into his arms, and so he caught her easily and guided her legs around his hips, crashing his lips onto hers for a deep, passionate kiss. Her arms slipped around his neck and he cradled her, supporting her rear and back with both arms. Slowly they pulled apart and he sported one of his most roguish smiles. "I think you missed me."

She laughed softly and nipped his lips, kissing him again. "I think you missed me too."

He chuckled and pressed his brow to hers, closing his eyes for a moment. "I'm going to have to put you down, Baby."

"That would be the thing to do, wouldn't it?"

"Hai."

She smiled and kissed his nose gently. Slowly he helped her settle her feet on the ground again. He looked down and smiled at her, pushing her hair from her face. She kissed his hands. "Where's your bike?"

"She's parked across the street. It's pretty windy out, so I brought an extra jacket in case you forgot yours." He bent and picked up her bags and turned to walk to the parking structure once she had his arm in hers.

"You know me too well." She laughed and kissed his bicep over the leather of his jacket. "It's Thursday... Do you think the game will still be going?"

"Probably... Or they're all hanging out... Or Roku is strangling Oni." He said with a rueful smile. "You remember a girl named San, right?"

"Yeah... She was on the female lacrosse team in high school. What? Oni and Roku are fighting over her?"

"Yes. Like they fight over everything, only I don't like the fact that they're fighting over a woman this time like she were an object."

"Didn't she go to another university?"

"Apparently she came here for her master's degree. She had a fling with Oni, but dumped him and now she and Roku are starting something... I really don't like the fact that I know this much about it. Sounds like mindless bullshit to me."

"Roku's a good guy and San is a nice girl... And you know Oni's an asshole. He probably doesn't even care about San, he's just using what happened between them to get on Roku's nerves." She said, feeling bile rise in her throat.

He sighed and shook his head, leading her to his bike. It was his baby, his pride and joy. He'd fabricated every part of it and built it from wheel to chasse to the handlebars over the course of three years while he was getting his master's degree. The three years that he'd been secretly seeing Kagome. She was a genius in every sense of the world. At fourteen, she'd made the decision to attend regular high school with her twin sister, Kikyo, even after she'd already obtained her undergraduate degrees in history and music theory. He'd met her while she'd begun her master's degree in archeology and his half brother, Yash, had met her on his first day of high school. Her parents didn't mind his unconventional friendship with their daughter, but Kikyo... Kikyo had been jealous of her sister. "Don't read into it too much, Kagome." He said and kissed her cheek as he began packing her bags into the saddlebags of his bike while she put on the brown leather flight jacket he'd brought for her to wear.

She smiled faintly and took a deep breath as she put on his extra helmet and slipped onto his bike behind him. She wrapped her arms around his chest and rested her head on his shoulder once he began to rev the engine. "Forgive me for being a little worried and cautious."

He smirked and reached down to caress her thigh gently. "Let's not worry too much about it. I just want to get you home and into bed where you belong. With me."

She smiled faintly and sighed as her best friend and love began to drive them back. Is it really? Is that really where I belong anymore?

~

*Sigh* So I posted this because the first part has been sitting on my desktop for about two months now begging me to share and complete it. This one will take a long time because, let's face it, I'm really focused on "Kaidan" right now or at least getting them through the winter. I don't know how long this story will be, but I have the plot in my head, so bear with me.

Peace.

~Ivy