InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Fade and Flare ❯ Chapter 19 ( Chapter 21 )

Fade and Flare

Chapter 19

Inuyasha (at least the anime, anyway) is copyright Rumiko Takahashi/Shogakukan, Yomiuri Terebi, and Sunrise 2000.

Hi guys- not one of those epic chapters this time (I'll explain at the end). However, warning: mild sexual content.

"It's good to see you, Inuyasha."

"Keh. I know you don't mean that. What the hell are you doing here, anyway, Kikyou?" His figertips gripped the door frame for dear life as the black-haired woman in front of him stared expentactly, finally gesturing for him to move aside.

"Of course I mean it. I've never been dishonest with you." There was something practiced in the way she nudged him aside with her shoulder, and Inuyasha easily fell back into his typical reaction, taking her tote bag as she removed her shoes. "You're still as handsome as ever. Nice photos in that tabloid, too, by the way."

"Shit, now I know you're putting me on." He rolled his eyes, heading back to the living room. "Ya broke up with me by leaving a note, and now you're enjoying how fucked up my next relationship is. You're just eating this shit up, aren't you?" Slumping down onto the couch, he tossed the tote bag on a nearby coffee table.

With a soft laugh Kikyou joined him, rearranging some papers from her tote bag. "Again, Inuyasha, I mean it."

"Why are ya' here?" Huffing, the half demon jerked his head away from her direction, regarding her with a sidelong glare. His companion rolled her eyes as she organized papers on the table.

"It's not that we haven't had some good times-"

"Of course we have! I-"

"Shush!" For a moment, both of her hands paused, and she turned towards him, tossing her head to move some hair away. "What I'm trying to say is that I've never, ever seen you let loose like that. You were... enraptured in a moment? That's what it looked like." The jarring crack of papers being stacked against the wooden coffee table punctuated her tone. "You must really care about her."

"Keh," he replied. The features on his face were tense, but he turned back towards her, reaching for a cup of tea on a nearby end table. "I really cared about you, too."

"Even now, after all this time it made me a little jealous to see you in those dark little tabloid pictures. Your face, your body language... I was right to break up with you. That woman was the center of your universe."

His hand tensed, and he tried very hard not to slam the teacup down, placing it back on the end table. "Ya' had no right to decide things for me! And she was happy for us! She loved you, you have no idea."

"Inuyasha, you perfect idiot, I was only able to let you go because I cared about her so much! Do you hear yourself? You're basing the viability of our relationship on whether or not Kagome consented to it! Doesn't that tell you anything?"

"Why th' fuck are you even here?"

"Why the fuck are you here? Isn't this Sesshoumaru-sama's apartment? Do you know him?"

"We've... got the same dad."

Kicking her slipper-covered feet onto the coffee table, Kikyou laughed loudly, from her gut. "Well, I suppose it's still true that everything coming out of your mouth is either a string of curse words, or something you've choked out in frustration." She gazed around at the familiar room, trying to see what made it seem different. "I bet Kagome had to run you into the ground before getting you to admit you care about her. You're horrible."

Inuyasha kicked the coffee table out from under her feet, and as it slid the papers shifted a little. "Oh, you KNOW ME SO WELL, don't you? You come in here for reasons I can only guess at, so I guess you work for my brother, but unlike the other cronies, you actually have your own pair of slippers here. Congratulations on your fucking career, the benefits package at your pay grade at my brother's company is to die for."

"It's pretty damned good, yes."

"And even though the last time we ever communicated was when you left me, you've got this smug, self-satisfied, bullshit tone of voice, like I'm some... some fucking phase that you've transcended, while you sit here and laugh at me like I'm some silly little pup! Babe, it's only been like a year or so, so quit with this unnatural kindness, and quit pretending like we parted on okay terms!"

She fished around for anything nearby and settled on a pillow from the couch. Barely registering how it left her hands she watched it hit the screaming hanyou squarely in the face. Kikyou also barely registered how his face fell when he looked at her.

"Kikyou! Don't cry-"

She held out her arm before he could rush to her side.

"There wasn't an easy way to leave you." Sniffling, she wiped her eyes on her sleeve.

"You didn't have to."

"Stop lying," she huffed. "You're happy, aren't you? She loves you, doesn't she? How is she doing through all of this? It must be hard, will she be coming here later?"

He didn't answer, opting to drink some more tea instead.

Squinting at a crooked picture on the wall behind him, Kikyou finally got it. She looked around the room once more, noticing everything: Sesshoumaru's typically immaculate apartment had been invaded by his slightly messier younger brother. Nothing new was added in terms of decor, it was just a little bit sloppier- a crooked sculpture, a potted orchid with an odd bend, as if it had been smashed or worse. Sesshoumaru, in contrast to this, was regimented and obsessively neat. Gasping, she stood.

"Oh, no. Did you break up?"

"No!" Inuyasha scooted closer, yanking Kikyou down to the couch. "Well... I don't know."

"What?"

"Calm the fuck down and don't jump to conclusions."

"If I didn't have to wrestle things out of you I wouldn't have to! What the fuck are you doing here, exactly?"

Taking a deep breath for possibly the first time since she'd arrived, he told her everything. Inuyasha watched his ex-girlfriend's face change at different moments, and when he finally finished, she got up, searching briefly before finishing the rest of his tea.

"Hey!"

"I'd ask for a beer but since I'm waiting for Sesshoumaru-sama to show up, this is enough."

Setting the cup down hear her, she watched Inuyasha place his head in his hands. Sighing, she smoothed out his hair a bit. "You're an idiot. I bet a few people have told you this by now."

"They're right."

Kikyou rolled her eyes a little, placing her arms around him as he grumbled to himself. "Poor Inuyasha. Always your own victim."

Wordlessly, he returned her hug, and she curled up around him, comforting him as best as she could. "You were able to tell Kagome how you felt, though."

"I wasn't."

She tried to suppress a laugh, but he recognized the sound. "At least you were able to show her. She knows, then."

"She's always known."

"Which is why it's important to show it," Kikyou admonished. "Because you don't always get a chance."

Again, he was silent.

There was a quiet gasp, and a soft crash from afar. Metal jingled, briefly.

"Inuyasha, handle your business."

Breaking apart from Kikyou he registered new, but familiar scents in the room: Sesshoumaru, looking annoyed as Kikyou stood to greet him. And...

"Ka...gome?"

One of her arms had reached out as she'd fallen, hooked around a nearby bureau. The pop star's free hand clutched her chest, which rose and sank rapidly, and she regarded him with wide, watering eyes. Then, his head was forcibly jolted forward.

Kikyou removed her hand from Inuyasha's crown, and he absently rubbed the spot she'd hit. "It's been a long time, Kagome-chan. Nice to see you."

Inuyasha pulled his eyes away from Kagome's face, but watched her nod in acknowledgment to Kikyou. He listenend to Kikyou and Sesshoumaru's footsteps fade as they left the living room. His stare moved down her body, noting a pair of leather pants, like the ones she'd worn in her earlier days as a musician. They stank of death, chemicals, and sweat, just like back then. He'd always hated leather on women.

Okay, maybe that was inaccurate. He'd always hated leather on her. It masked her scent.

His eyes trailed over to her hips, where a number of chains hung from her belt. He stood, noticing how they'd tangled around the handle of a drawer, and then noticed how startled her face was at his movement. The half demon stopped, holding a placating hand up at his oddly terrified girlfrinend... if he could even call her that anymore.

"Don't move, your chains are stuck."

She nodded, either wobbly from seeing him again, or shaky from her beer binge, she wasn't quite sure. When he bent over her body, reaching past her hips, she closed her eyes as his hair brushed across her face. A wave of his scent hit her, and she immediately felt tears, severe and unrelenting, burning down her cheeks as he freed her.

"Two crying girlfriends," he grumbled under his breath, joining her on the floor when he was finished.

Hoping to snap out of this, Kagome bit her lip, forcing her gray eyes to meet his gold. Unable to stare too long, she fixated on her knees.

Inuyasha, on the other hand, tenderly raised a hand to her face, and his expression softened when she flinched beneath his touch. "You reek of alcohol."

With a gulp, she nodded, leaning slightly into his hand, comforted by his softened voice.

A curse bubbled to the top of his throat, but he chose not to let it free. Instead, the half demon spotted a few small leaves tangled in her hair, using his other hand to work them free. "What have ya' been crawling through tonight? You're covered in a lot of weird scents right now."

The young woman lowered her head, finally working the courage up to poke at his thigh, and he gave her a small smile, leaning closer.

"Like a stray cat," he whispered into her ear. "Did Sesshoumaru pick you up off the street?"

She assumed the youkai who brought her here was the one Inuyasha spoke of, but had forgotten, maybe because she'd never been privy to the full experience, how good her boyfriend was at seducing women. Now she found herself basking in his attention, uncaring that he was probably putting on airs. Leaning into his shoulder, she exhaled, shyly nudging into his neck, and finally slipping an arm around his waist. "Almost," she whispered back. "Can't go home. You're not there."

At first, he jolted at the contact and her words, but quickly returned the hug, nuzzling into her hair as he wiped stray tears off of her face. "I'm sorry." He pulled back form her, examining her expression, and Kagome nearly flinched under his scrutiny.

Slowly, as if anything else would scare her back into silence, Inuyasha reached for her. He cradled her face in both of his hands, bringing his lips to her right, and then left cheek. With a tremor in her lower lip, Kagome leaned into his body, allowing him to slip his arms around her shoulders.

"I'm sorry," the half demon repeated. His words came out low and gravelly, and he inched towards Kagome's face, letting his eyelids slip shut once he knew hers had done so. What started as a tentative brush of the lips became much sweeter and familar. Inuyasha could hear the pounding of her heart he'd once grown accustomed to, feeling it against his chest as she slipped one, and then two hands up his back in response. As she gripped him, he locked his lips with hers at a leisurely pace, coaxing her to open up to him, his tongue caressing hers, one arm rigid around her waist, while his other hand held the back of her neck.

"I missed you," Kagome gasped, when they broke apart to breathe. "It's-"

"I love you," Inuyasha suddenly interjected with a desperate twinge to his voice, ignoring his trembling at the admission.

Her eyes sat wide on her face."I've always known tha-" Startled, it was all Kagome could muster before her lips were taken once more. What she couldn't answer in words she made up for by caressing his face as he held her, gently sinking to the floor with him. He propped himself up, bracing one arm over her head, the other draped across her hip, pulling her closer, and she nearly grew dizzy receiving all of his affection.

When they paused to breathe again, Kagome noticed both Kikyou and Sesshoumaru stepping over them as they tried to pass. Embarrassed, Kagome jolted upright, nearly hitting Inuyasha's face as he glowered in the direction of the intruders. Defiantly, he wrapped a possessive arm around his lover's waist, holding back a growl.

"As brief and awkward as this was, I'm glad to have seen you again, Kagome-chan. Good luck."

"Thank you. I'm happy you seem well, Kikyou-chan." Sheepish, Kagome waved at Kikyou, and bowed as best as she could from where she sat, towards Sesshoumaru.

"In fifty minutes I'd like to watch television on the furniture that Rin gave me." He shifted his gaze towards the black leather couch before he and his employee left the apartment.

Wordlessly, the half demon rose, hooking his arms beneath Kagome's knees and upper body before effortlessly carrying her to his room.

"I missed you so much, Inuyasha."

A t-shirt and button up shirt lay discarded on the ground, in a spartan room that otherwise had just a bed and a dresser. A candle sat flickering on the dresser, casting odd, timultuous shadows across the bodies in the middle of the bed.

Inhaling sharply, Kagome bit her lip again. The hanyou worhshipped her breasts, fingers gently coaxing the soft flesh towards his mouth, each kiss like fire across her skin. She felt his feelings inform those kisses, still a little giddy at his sudden profession of love. This morning, like so many other mornings, she'd rolled off of Hideto's couch after a late night bender, completely unaware of where she'd be in another fourteen hours.

A thumb on her nipple broke her reverie, and she gasped sharply, just as her boyfriend rose to kiss her neck- she'd nearly forgotten how all of this felt. A moan stirred in the back of her throat as a hand traced over her hip, and she shifted her legs apart when the half demon settled between them. He gripped her thigh, wrapping it around his body, and used it to hold his body over hers, while his other hand was sheathed in her tangled black hair.

The sheets were cool to the touch and smelled of him. While Kagome enjoyed burrowing her arms beneath his pillows, she relished having them against her face as well. In response to another kiss she bucked into his hips, couldn't help it, and whimpered, reaching down to unbutton his fly. Her fingertips fumbled a bit, but once she popped the button open, he arched to reach her fly and with her help, shifted her pants off her legs.

Pushing the contemptible clothes down onto the floor, the corner of Inuyasha's mouth stretched with his smile; a fang glinted. He eyed the cream-colored skin of her thighs, dipping low to kiss them, smooth beneath his lips, as his lover arched her back in response.

"I missed this, especially."

"So did I," Inuyasha murmured, leaving kisses wherever he moved.

"I'm so happy to have you back for good," she gasped, feeling his lips move higher.

The lips stopped. When she felt his hands pull away, her eyes blinked open, fixating on his a mass of white hair. He was sitting up, shrinking away.

"We, uh, we need to talk about that," he answered, in a small voice.

Confused, she gestured for him to continue.

"It's just... I can't. Not right now."

"What? What?" Kagome scrambled to her knees, yanking a sheet over her chest. Her face was twisted with fear as she gaped.

"Look, as much as I l-love you, after tonight I don't think anything will have changed."

"No..."

He crawled up the bed, taking her hands. "Just... stay on track. Things are dying down, I've been watching-"

"No."

He punctuated each pause with a kiss across her fingers. "Please. Please listen, I can't be with you if it'll distract from all of this good publicity you've been having! I know how hot your secret shows are, and Sango said she was going to do something to help with getting a tour together! I can't get in the way. I won't be here anymore after tonight-"

"NO! Then I won't be staying tonight! You can't do this to me! You can't bring my hopes up and... and..." Her tears had returned with force. Angrily shaking her hands from his grasp she scooted to the edge of the bed, reacing down for her clothes. After pulling on her t-shirt, as if suddenly remembering something, she stopped, sat on the edge of the bed, and sobbed into her hands.

He rushed to her side, trying to wrap an arm around her, that she violently swatted away. "I'm sorry... I just wanted you to know how I really feel. I wanted you to be sure."

"I already knew that!" Kagome stood once more, before sitting back down again. "Oh god... I can't even leave."

"I don't want you to leave tonight."

"I can't leave tonight because I'm in trouble."

His heart grew cold. "How... how is that even possible? Where's Kohaku?"

"Ditched him."

"Why aren't you with Takarai?"

"Had to ditch him."

"Then why aren't you at home?" He could feel the blood surging up into his face.

"There was... some guy I ran into... I'd bought a couple of beers at the conbini and he was just outside, saying he was with some newspaper, and that he'd been waiting at my apartment for a while now. He stuck a sound recorder in my face, so..."

"So?"

"So I hit him. With my beer cans. And ran, and had to hide in a couple of gardens, and climbed the side of this building-"

"What?"

"And, eventually after wandering around, that oniisan with the pretty face-"

"Who?"

"Sesshou... um... well, he found me in the elevator. Didn't say anything-"

"That's normal."

"And then suddenly I get manhandled into this apartment, and..."

"Oh, God damn it."

"Yeah," Kagome agreed, arms folded over her chest.

They sat in silence for a moment.

"Kagome, it... was really stupid of me to leave you the way I did. If it makes you feel any better, there's not a single person I've talked to who thinks that what I've done is right."

"I've never cared to hear about other people's opinions of Us."

"I know. Just... let me see this whole thing through. Keh. Nobody is on my side about this, but I know it's better this way. If I'm not anywhere, If I'm not out where people can see or think about me, I think that scandal will die down."

"We don't have to be so drastic. We could see each other, in private..."

Scratching his scalp in frustration, the half demon stood, blowing out the candle on the dresser. "Right, absolutely nobody will find you that way- oh wait."

"It shouldn't matter!"

"And yet it does! We had to renegotiate with Shiseido, and they weren't the only people. Miroku and Sango couldn't even tell you about the record company's ultimatum, because I literally just got a call about that today."

Blinking, Kagome could only stare. "My... music contract, too?"

"They really didn't want to hear about you being on any sort of blacklist for venues. You weren't worth the financial risk to pay off the owners of the venues, so as a result... Well, we were under contract to produce four more albums. Now they've got it down to one before you're done with them. Fuck, okay, one album containing a single, one promotion tour-slash-DVD-release, which they have to approve, and then we're on our own. No regular paychecks, no advances, just royalties from there on."

Kagome's heart sank; she sank with it, curling up on the edge of Inuyasha's bed. Only shadows moved in front of her at this point, but she watched as Inuyasha rolled to the center of his bed. She barely registered his arm raising, beckoning her to join him.

"Just let me comfort you tonight. Come here, let me distract you. We'll come up with something."

Wordlessly she complied, squeezing her eyes shut against his chest.

Notes:

Hello again! This was intented to either be part of the last chapter, or the upcoming one, but it didn't really mesh well, time-wise. All of this should have been happening at the same time that Sango was strangling Yuka in the alley, but there was too much for that chapter, and everything else that happens next happens after this conversation, so. Eh, well, I already told you guys there would be times when chapters were shorter, just so I could get them out.

The only Japanese thing of note (and I'm not even sure but think it was mentioned before) is that "conbini" is just a word for "convenience store."

So, I graduated art school. Figuring out how to become an illustrator now. 8) Life is nothing but terrifying right now (but that's okay).

I think we're heading into the last story arc of this fic before it comes to a close, and I think there could be a couple of smaller stories to tell after this main one is over. But... to be honest I really wouldn't want to write them. I only (strangely) have the motivation to finish this story out... Enough beating around the bush. If there were other stories to tell in this continuity I'd make them as short comics. That's it, really.

Anyway, it's 10 am and I'm gonna upload this before the universe tries to stop me (sorry if there were any typos).

Until next time!