InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Fool's Redemption ❯ Labyrinthine Days ( Chapter 9 )

Chapter 9 - Labyrinthine Days

Inuyasha was hung over when they woke him in the morning. As Kagome used a remote to automatically raise the long shades over the windows, she watched as he rolled onto his back with an irritated sigh, kicked off his blankets, and looked down with a puzzled expression.

“Why am I wearing pants?” he asked groggily.

Emory folded the sheets at the end of the bed. “Kagome was with me when I was getting you into bed last night,” he explained.

Inuyasha moaned and turned onto his stomach, hugging a pillow. “Damn it,” he growled. “I'll have to start wearing underwear.” He paused, and turned his head just enough to glare at Kagome over his shoulder. “Then again, you've already seen everything, so maybe I won't,” he threatened mockingly.

Emory looked up at her with wide, inquisitive eyes. “You have?” It was obvious from the boy's reaction that Inuyasha still hadn't told him about their past, and Kagome wondered why. She'd thought for sure that he would have taken the chance to tell the young man about all the terrible things she had done, and what a horrible person she was for it.

“I don't recall it too well. Must not have been very memorable,” she quipped. She knew better than to engage him, but this one time she just couldn't help herself.

Inuyasha stared at her in livid silence for a moment, then jumped up and stormed into his bathroom, yelling angrily that he'd better not have to deal with her attitude every morning. He punctuated his warning by slamming the bathroom door. After a few minutes he reemerged, composed and acting completely oblivious to her presence, and that was how he remained for the rest of the day and on into the evening.

With the exception of the coffee pot refusing to turn on when it should have, the next few days went surprisingly smoothly. Inuyasha continued to ignore her, and she spent most of the time simply watching Emory and following him around as he showed her the ins and outs of her new job. At night the young man slept downstairs on the couch, and together with Kagome would rise at seven each morning to wake Inuyasha and get him off to work. In the evenings, she would go with them to the terrace and stand off to the side, patiently observing Emory, making sure to ask questions about any of his duties that she didn't understand.

She wanted to be absolutely certain that once she was on her own with Inuyasha, she wouldn't be aggravating him by making simple mistakes. Her goal was to keep things between them as peaceful as possible. His naturally abrasive attitude was out of her hands, but at least she was doing all she could to make sure any arguments between them didn't come as the result of her screwing something up.

On the evening of the fifth and last day Emory would be spending with them, Inuyasha's aloof attitude began to crack. He seemed to be just as nervous to have the young man leaving as Kagome was. He had been surprisingly civil over the last few days, but on this particular morning he had risen from his bed in a horrible mood, cursing blackly as he dragged himself to the bathroom. His behavior had only gotten worse throughout the day, and in the evening, when Kagome went to help him dress, he snatched the shirt from her hands and growled something about not wanting her to touch him.

She huffed angrily at his childish behavior and took back the shirt. “If you didn't want me touching you then why did you have me take the job?”

“I didn't have you take anything!” he shot back, tearing it from her hands again.

“Alright then, if you're going to get technical, why did you give me the option?” she asked, mimicking his sarcastic tone.

He sneered down at her. “Honestly, I was hoping you'd choose the last one where you would just leave me the hell alone.”

“Then that's your fault for leaving yourself open,” she replied simply.

“She's got a point.” Emory said, shaking out a pair of pants.

Inuyasha shot him an angry look. “Give me that!” he snapped, grabbing the last of his clothing out of the young man's hands.

At the end of the night, Emory took his leave, and the two were finally on their own. Kagome wondered if Inuyasha's attitude would deteriorate further once the young man was no longer around to mediate. But, to her surprise, he continued to regard her with almost complete indifference, remaining stubbornly temperamental and distant around her and barely acknowledging her presence except for when he absolutely had to. It wasn't long, however, before the demanding and often unreasonable requests started coming at her.

From the way she laid out his clothes, to the way she made his bed, to how `slowly' she did everything he asked of her, there was always something she seemed to do wrong. His bath water wasn't hot enough, she had woken him up five minutes late, she had forgotten one of the errands he had told her to run. He always found a reason to find some fault, no matter how small, with her work, and wasted no time in pointing out those faults to her. Sometimes he seemed genuinely annoyed, and other times it seemed as if he just felt like making things difficult for her. He was never malicious about it, but he certainly wasn't kind either.

While he enjoyed keeping her busy during the day, it was a different story at night on the terrace. He had made it very clear to his guests the first night she had accompanied him that she was there to serve him and no one else.

“Get your own drinks from now on. This one only serves me,” he'd announced. His addressing her as `this one' had earned him one of her withering looks, which he'd predictably ignored.

And so, whereas Emory had often been running around all night long, waiting on Inuyasha's guests, Kagome found herself standing by the door most of the time, doing little more than greeting people as they came and went. Once in a while Inuyasha would have her get him a drink, but for the most part she found herself bored and looking for things to help pass the time. She understood now what Emory had meant when he said that he sometimes felt like decoration, and wondered if maybe Inuyasha simply liked showing off the fact that he had the king's niece under his thumb.

He never called for her while he was engaged in the shadows in the back of his terrace, and after the first few nights, it became obvious that he was uncomfortable with having her around once things began to take a turn for the lascivious. The first few nights he avoided his normal intimate activities almost completely, much to the chagrin of his female companions, and Kagome wondered smugly just how long he could hold out against their constant advances. It didn't take long, however, for him to come up with a solution to the problem. At the beginning of their fifth night out together, as they climbed the stairs to the terrace, Inuyasha paused at the top and pointed to a bench that had been placed on the landing, right outside the door.

“From now on, when I'm in the back, just sit out here,” he instructed, and walked through the door without another word.

On one hand she felt insulted to have been banished to sit outside while he entertained himself, but on the other, she didn't want to have to stand there every night and watch either. She didn't really mind, though. The bench was cushioned and comfortable, and from the landing she could stand at the railing and look out over the entire hall. Things certainly could have been worse. He could have stuck her in a corner somewhere.

After a while, it just became habit for her to retreat to the bench outside whenever she saw the women beginning to make their moves on him, and return to her spot just inside the door once everything had returned to normal. She noticed that, curiously, Inuyasha never seemed to go looking for their affections. The women were always the ones to approach him, and even though he sometimes appeared unenthusiastic and bored with the idea of joining them, he did so anyways. However, that fact did little to ease the sting she felt whenever she caught a glimpse of it through the open door.

It was on one of these nights, almost three weeks into her service for Inuyasha, that she was standing along the landing's rail, staring out at the lights flashing over the dance floor, when she noticed someone approaching from the stairs. She turned and smiled when she recognized who it was.

“What are you doing out here?” Naraku asked in his smooth voice. It seemed he was traveling alone tonight. Neither of his two assistants accompanied him.

“This is where I stay while he's messing around in there,” she tilted her head toward the door, trying not to show her embarrassment.

He raised an eyebrow. “Does it bother you that much?”

“No,” she laughed. “It's Inuyasha. He doesn't… want me in there…” She trailed off, further embarrassed by his shocked stare.

“He's exiled you out here? That's terrible!”

“It's alright,” she shrugged. “I don't mind, really. At least out here I can enjoy the view.”

Naraku looked through the doors to the terrace beyond. “It looks like things have quieted down for you. I tried coming up to talk with you a few nights ago, but halfway up the stairs I saw you were surrounded by a pretty big crowd, and I didn't want to add to the chaos. You've been very popular lately,” he said, pulling a cigarette from a thin metal case.

Kagome smiled shyly. It hadn't taken long once the oath had been made to find that she had suddenly become something of a celebrity. It seemed everyone wanted to know more about the king's niece and the unusual oath she had made with the red prince. People had constantly tried to approach her and strike up a conversation—on her way to and from her morning job, while she was running Inuyasha's errands, even in the evenings while she was working on the terrace. Inuyasha had finally put a stop to their prying by chasing them off with sharp warnings to leave his assistant alone while she was working. After a few days, the commotion died down, and she had happily returned to being a normal citizen, for the most part. People were still curious about her, but wisely left her alone, especially while Inuyasha was around.

“They all got bored with me pretty quickly, I guess. What did you want to talk to me about?” she asked as he wandered over to the bench and took a seat.

“I wanted to ask you how things are going with Inuyasha. It's not really my business, but I know how hard he can be to deal with sometimes. I figured I would offer you a shoulder to cry on if you needed one.” He lit the cigarette and offered her a good-humored smile.

She laughed and sat next to him. “I'm managing,” she said, grateful for the company he seemed eager to provide.

“That good, huh?”

“It's really not so bad. It's about what I expected from him.”

“You sound like you've had previous experience,” he said casually.

“Yeah. I…” She hesitated, not sure how much of her past with Inuyasha she wanted to reveal to this man. “I knew him before he came here.”

“I see. Was he always so difficult to deal with?”

She shook her head. “No,” she said a little sadly. “It's… not his fault though.” She looked down at her hands folded in her lap, then looked back up to Naraku. “That's why it doesn't bother me too much.”

“I heard he had it pretty rough before he came here,” Naraku said, exhaling a long trail of smoke.

“Yeah,” was all she replied. She didn't really want to get into the whole story, and that was exactly where the conversation was heading.

Luckily, Naraku seemed to notice her hesitation, and changed the subject. “So, what's your story? Where did you come from? I hope you don't mind my asking.”

She smiled at him. “I don't mind. I lived in Eona before I came here. I was born and raised there by my grandfather. It was the only place I'd ever lived before coming here.”

“Why did you leave?”

“I…” She paused, determining how much she was going to say. “I couldn't stay there anymore. I pissed off some dangerous people, so it wasn't safe for me to keep living there.”

Naraku stared down at her, looking as if he wanted to know more about this new revelation, but only asked, “Where's the rest of your family?”

“My father you probably already know about. I didn't know him very well. He came here when I was a baby to help build this city, and this is where he died a few years ago. I lost my mother to an illness when I was younger. And my grandfather passed a few years back as well. So I've been on my own for a while now.” She gave an apologetic smile. “Sorry, I don't mean to keep dragging the conversation down.”

“It's alright. I hope my questions haven't upset you.”

“No, it's fine,” she assured him. He's so gentlemanly, she thought. The cordial words seemed to flow from his mouth as easily as the cigarette smoke.

“Let's talk about something more pleasant, to lighten the mood,” he offered. “How do you like living here?”

“I love it,” she smiled. “I could spend the rest of my life here.”

“Yeah.” He leaned his head back against the wall. “I agree.”

“How long have you been here?” she asked.

“Nine years,” he said, pulling from his cigarette. “I came here with a friend when I was eighteen. The city took us in when we had nothing and no place else to go. This is the only home I've ever really had.”

“You've been here a while then. How long have you been a prince?”

“Six years. My friend and I both earned the honor of being made princes at the same time. He was given the White title and I was given the Black.”

“There's a white prince?” she asked with wide eyes.

“Was,” he corrected, exhaling another trail of smoke. “He's not here anymore. He left shortly before Inuyasha arrived.”

“Why?”

Naraku shrugged. “No one knows. He just left one day without an explanation.”

“He was your friend, right? And he didn't at least tell you?”

A wry smile tugged at the side of his mouth, but disappeared almost immediately. “He was. Things changed.” There was a cold edge to his voice. He pulled deeply on his cigarette again and let the smoke drift from his lips. It curled through the air around his face, giving him a sinister look. “It doesn't matter now anyways. He's already long gone and forgotten.”

There was an awkward pause. Kagome worried she had wandered into a conversation that made her visitor uncomfortable, but he turned and smiled at her. “Well, at least you'll be getting a bit of a break from Inuyasha over the next week.”

“Why is that?” she asked, grateful that, once again, he had changed the subject of discussion.

“We have quarterly meetings coming up,” he explained. “Since each one of the princes oversees a part of the city's infrastructure, we have to attend meetings with the King and his directors on a regular basis. Every three months we have a week long session of meetings to discuss what's been planned for the new quarter. Inuyasha will have to be there every afternoon after work, so that will give you at least a little bit of a break every day.”

Kagome honestly couldn't see Inuyasha having the patience to sit through hours of monotonous meetings. But she did know that, when it came to his position within the city, he took his duties very seriously.

“I never knew you three did other things besides hearing oaths.”

Naraku laughed. “There's a few things they forgot to tell you, huh? All three of us have our own part of the city's infrastructure that we oversee. I'm in charge of all commerce within the city, Kouga takes care of entertainment, and Inuyasha handles growth and expansion,” he explained.

“I see. You all have a lot of responsibilities.”

“They definitely make us work for our perks,” he smiled down at her and stood. “I'm afraid I promised the last few hours of my night to a friend, otherwise I would stay and talk awhile longer. I hope you don't mind if I come join you again some time.”

She stood and nodded. “Of course. It's not like I have anything else to do.”

He started down the stairs with a sly grin. “Good night, then. Good night to you too, Inuyasha,” he called back as he left.

Kagome turned to find Inuyasha leaning against the door frame, his eyes narrowed at Naraku's retreating form.

“How long have you been standing there?” she asked.

Silently, he shifted his eyes to her, then turned and walked away without a word.

Just as Naraku had said, the week following their conversation was a very busy one for Inuyasha. He hardly had any chance to stay at home for a long period of time, except to sleep. In the mornings he worked, and in the afternoons he was in meetings until it was time to go out for the evening. He would come home just long enough to change clothes, and then head straight downstairs. Kagome could tell that the constant activity was wearing on him. At the end of the week he was exhausted, and as a result, stayed in for three nights in a row.

To her surprise, he gave her those nights off, and she greatly appreciated the break. When she had started the job, she'd expected to have at least one day a week off, but Inuyasha had never offered to give her one, and the only time she brought it up with him he had dismissed the idea with a derisive snort. She had learned during her first couple of weeks with him that occasionally he would be too tired to go out for the night, in which case he would give her the evening off. It seemed she was only going to get breaks when he felt like giving them to her.

Life remained mostly uneventful for the following month. It was getting late in the year, and the days were becoming colder and longer. She wondered if, with time, he would begin to warm to her, but his disdain for her remained steadfast. And so, when not interacting due to the requirements of her job, they largely ignored each other. It was frustrating, not to mention lonely, living with someone who fought so hard to not get along with her. She enjoyed living in the loft if only for the comfort of her room, but because of Inuyasha's stubbornly sour attitude, she found herself mostly unhappy while around him.

But that didn't stop her from trying to find ways to form some kind of amiable relationship between them. Once in a while, as she was entering the apartment, she would hear him playing the piano inside. She never would have guessed him for the musical type, and so the first time she'd heard him playing, it had caught her by surprise. As she stood on the other side of the door, listening to the notes that drifted through, she was intrigued by the music and awed by his ability.

But as soon as she walked into the apartment, Inuyasha would always immediately stop and wander off to do something else. Emory had told her that he was extremely shy about his playing, and that he only performed while alone. When she complimented his talent, he simply turned away, ignoring the praise. Undaunted, she tried other tactics, but each one was met with the same bullheaded resistance. After a while, she began to feel as if she was fighting a hopeless battle with him, and she wondered sadly if things between them would ever change.

*****

Inuyasha was beginning to enjoy this. At first he had regretted making her his assistant, but now he was slowly starting to change his mind. It was nice to have someone to take his frustrations out on. He got a thrill out of tormenting her and had decided that, until he released her from the oath, she was his toy—he could play with her however he wanted. Besides, the things he did to provoke her were mostly harmless. He didn't want to permanently hurt the girl, he just wanted to make her suffer for a while.

Every so often, when he rejected her kindness, he would feel a stab of guilt, but always quickly reminded himself that she deserved everything she was getting. And besides, it had been her decision to come here, just as it was her decision to stay and put up with him. She could leave any time she wanted. Of course, that would mean taking the risk of being thrown out of the city, but still, it wasn't as if she was being held against her will.

Her continued kindness was beginning to trouble him a bit, though. She didn't seem to be growing discouraged the way he had expected, which only made him want to prod at her harder. And he found that it was becoming easier to do so. Two months had passed since she had started working for him and, now that he was more accustomed to having her around, he was beginning to take liberties with how far he was willing to push her. The more annoyed she got, the more satisfying it was for him.

But it wasn't working tonight. He'd been doing things all day long to wear down that patient exterior of hers; leaving his clothes all over the floor, sending her on errands all afternoon so she had little time to take a nap before accompanying him for the evening, and berating her for not hanging up one of his favorite shirts correctly. And now that they were home after a long night out, he suddenly decided that he wanted pancakes and eggs. After giving him an annoyed look, Kagome had complied wearily and headed into the kitchen.

Now he sat on the counter nearby, watching her cook. He had changed out of his evening clothes into more comfortable attire, and helped himself to a bottle of beer from his fridge. He sat close to the range, near enough to annoy her with his crowding presence, but when that failed to get any kind of a rise from her, he decided to try something different.

“Are you happy here?” he asked casually.

She paused for a moment, and he thought he heard her swallow, hesitating. “Yes.”

Her response was flat. There was no emotion at all. “Liar,” he snorted.

She continued to work in silence.

He scratched at the paper on his beer bottle. “Why won't you tell me the truth?”

“Do you want me to tell you I'm unhappy?”

“I don't want you to lie.”

Kagome sighed, and he smiled. He enjoyed harassing her this way.

“My job isn't to be happy,” she said. “It's to wake you every morning and put you to bed every night, fold your socks, keep your house straightened, and cook you pancakes and eggs at three in the morning.” She shoved a plate of eggs into his hands. “The way I feel has nothing to do with this job.” She turned back around and continued working.

He blinked at her curt response. “I'll take that as a no then.”

“You can take it however you want to.”

He chewed on his eggs thoughtfully. “So, you're not happy here, then.” He was pushing it.

She flipped the pancake in the pan and stood there without responding. He watched the side of her face for signs that she was about to loose it with him, but instead he noticed that her eyes looked tired.

“Honestly, sometimes you don't make it very easy to be happy here,” she said quietly.

He frowned a bit. Something in her tone made him feel uneasy. “I don't, do I?” She still had her back to him, and he was grateful for that. He didn't want her to see that her words had bothered him.

“But,” she added softly, sliding the pancakes onto a plate. “I don't think you mean to make things hard. Not all the time, at least. This is just the way you are. I'm not always happy with it, but… I accept it.”

Suddenly, he wasn't enjoying this game anymore.

Kagome turned and handed him the plate. “Please accept that answer.” Her eyes were so tired, but they weren't angry. She looked... resolute.

He took the plate and she turned back to the counter, beginning to clean up the leftover mess. He numbly realized he had lost his appetite, but began to eat anyway, watching her in silence. It felt as if all of the air had been sucked from his lungs. Her honesty had completely unnerved him. He knew exactly how hard he was making this on her. And yet, despite the way he treated her, here she was saying that she accepted him?

He frowned, suddenly confused. Damn this woman! Why wasn't he getting through to her? Instead of breaking down, she was still standing firm. Her determination should have started to fade by now. Maybe he wasn't being tough enough on her. Should I start pushing harder? But even as the question formed in his head, he remembered the look of resolve that had been on her face, and an unsettling feeling of defeat swept through him.

What was he doing wrong? What made her willpower so strong that nothing he did seemed to discourage her? And why did his forgiveness matter so much to her anyways? Was it just guilt that motivated her? All of the questions suddenly flooding his head frustrated him. But one question stood out from the others, and made his stomach turn with guilt. Why am I trying so hard to destroy this woman's determination to stand by me?

He didn't notice he had stopped eating until she turned and looked down at his plate. “What's wrong? You don't like it?”

He followed her gaze to the remaining pancake and shook his head. “No! I mean… it's fine,” he grumbled, embarrassed by his sudden fluster. He shoveled the rest into his mouth quickly, awkwardly chewing as she returned to the sink full of dishes. He glanced up at the clock. It was almost half-past three. He had today off, but she didn't. She would only be able to get four hours of sleep before having to get up again. And she seemed so tired already…

He swallowed the last of the food and walked over to stand next to her, dropping his empty plate into the dishwater. “Leave it,” he said.

“I'm sorry?” she asked, confused.

“Leave the rest. You can finish them tomorrow.”

“But they'll get nasty just sitting here…” she protested.

He reached into the water to take the dishrag from her hands, wringing it out and hanging it over the faucet. “You're tired. Go to bed.”

Kagome stood there staring at him for a moment, then turned and dried her hands on a dishtowel. He watched from the corner of his eye as she untied her apron and hung it on a hook near the door. She paused before leaving the kitchen. “Thank you,” he heard her say softly. He nodded and turned to watch as she headed upstairs to her side of the loft.

Even after she had disappeared behind the curtains, he remained standing there, staring after her. I make her life miserable, and still she refuses to hate me for it, he thought. So, what the hell do I do now? He glanced back at the abandoned sink of dishes, then turned and walked out of the kitchen, switching off the light as he left.

*****

When she returned home from work that afternoon, Kagome found an empty sink. All of the dishes had been washed, dried, and put away. She stared dumbly at the sink for a moment, until the realization that Inuyasha had done the rest of the dishes finally set in, and she smiled. Maybe they were at last beginning to get somewhere.

As the next couple of weeks passed, she began to notice very subtle changes in his temperament, most notably his gradually improving temper. He was slowly becoming less irritable, and didn't seem as eager to go picking fights with her anymore. He seemed willing to let small mistakes slip without giving her a hard time about them, although on his bad days he would still sometimes go out of his way to bother her. But even then, it felt as if he was only doing it to maintain his pride.

Something during their conversation in the kitchen that night had positively affected him, and she couldn't help but feel a little relieved. It was tiring having to put up with his relentless attitude all the time. Despite all he had done to try to discourage her, she had remained steadfastly determined to show him her goodwill, and now it looked as if that determination was beginning to pay off. There were still times when she questioned her optimism though, specifically when his temper would flare up without warning and seemingly without provocation. Once he fell into one of his sour moods, there was rarely any way to pull him out of it.

Now they'd come to the end of yet another one of these episodes, and Kagome found herself doing all she could to drag a heavily inebriated Inuyasha from his underground terrace back up to his apartment high atop the city. He'd been in high spirits that afternoon, but once evening came, something had unexpectedly angered him and, as a result, he'd spent the entire night drinking. Emory had been right—he only drank like that when something was bothering him. And no matter how much she thought about it, she couldn't figure out what it was that had ruined his mood this time around.

He seemed coherent enough as they started their way up to the apartment, but as the elevator traveled up the side of the tower, she found him leaning on her more and more, until she was practically holding him up as they stepped out and headed down the hallway to his door. He was propped against her, one arm slung across her shoulders in the same way she had observed Emory doing it. It seemed to be the best way to move him around when he got like this. As she placed her hand on the lock and heard the metallic click of the bolt, she hefted him higher onto her shoulder and opened the door, dragging him through.

She considered leaving him on the couch, but suddenly his feet were working again, and instead of dumping him downstairs, she continued through the darkened apartment and up the stairs to his bed, switching on a lamp once she got there. He was muttering unintelligibly as she turned and sat with him on the bed, and was still awake enough to hold himself upright as she began undressing him. His shoes came off without a problem, but as soon as she reached for the buttons of his shirt, he fell away from her, back onto the bed. She sighed and grabbed his wrists, hauling him back up into a sitting position.

“Wake up for me a little, Inuyasha,” she said softly. She didn't know if he heard her or not, but his torso remained upright as she unbuttoned his shirt and slid it from his shoulders. His arms were limp—he would be no help in getting them out of his sleeves. She leaned forward, placing a hand on his shoulder to keep him from falling over as she pulled the fabric down his back.

She had almost freed him from the shirt when she felt him pitch forward slightly, falling against her. Mumbling more incoherent words, he suddenly reached up with both arms and wrapped them tightly around her waist, pulling her against him and pressing his cheek against her chest. She stiffened and froze, startled by the unexpected embrace. It took her a moment to calm her racing heart, and as she turned her eyes down toward him, she prepared herself to yell at him if this turned out to be some kind of joke.

But, staring down, she found him completely passed out against her, his jaw lax and dangling open as he held her. The sight was so comical that she had to fight the urge to laugh. She placed her hands on his shoulders and stood quietly for a moment, enjoying the warmth of his body against hers. Reluctantly, she reached back to slowly remove his arms from around her waist, and then eased him down into the bed. She finished removing the rest of his clothes down to his underwear and covered him with the blankets. With a sigh, she turned off the light and looked down at his sleeping form.

“What a pain.” She was smiling as she said it.

*****

He smirked and cracked an eye as he heard the sound of her feet softly padding away to the other side of the loft. I'm a pain, huh? he thought, the corners of his mouth turning up slightly. He'd heard the smile in her voice.

He watched as she stepped through the curtains and into the darkness of her room. After a moment, a light from within switched on, and the room appeared behind the sheer material. The soft light filtering through the fabric cast green and coral hues across the loft. He propped his head higher on the pillow, just enough to watch as she began to get ready to turn in for the night. She was playing it smart once again, retreating with her nightclothes through the bathroom door that stood to the left side of her bed. She never changed out in the open. It was obvious she didn't trust him not to watch her through the translucent, makeshift walls. And she was right in doing so. He'd had the curtains made with see-through material for a reason.

He breathed in deeply and settled into the covers, congratulating himself on such a convincing performance, though he had expected her to be a bit more rattled by his sudden `drunken' affections. He'd been planning it all day. It would have been nice if she could have gotten at least a little upset. That angry face of hers was amusing. It seemed as if he never could get exactly what he wanted out of her.

She emerged from the bathroom in a tank top and pajama pants, gently brushing out her long hair with a comb. She sat at the edge of her bed for a while, removing the tangles from her hair, then set the comb on the nightstand. Sliding back onto the bed and pulling the covers up to her waist, she reached across to the opposite nightstand and picked up a book that was lying there, then leaned back against the pillow and began reading. He followed her carefully with his eyes the entire time. It had become something he did every night, if he was sober enough to stay awake.

He sighed. The way they were dealing with each other now was so similar to the way they had back in the lab—his watching her from a distance, their interacting only when necessary, their constant wariness of one another, and their use of only very brief communication. Back then they hadn't spoken much because they couldn't. She'd had to maintain her act of indifference toward him at all times. Now they didn't speak because they didn't want to.

In the lab, his emotional state had been forced upon him. Anyone else in that situation would have reacted the same way. But instead of leaving all that pain behind when he left, he had buried it within himself and brought it along. And now, here he was, choosing to continue that same behavior, allowing it to persist in making his life almost as miserable as it had before. Looking back on it, he suddenly felt very foolish.

Her arrival had been the catalyst for his now constantly shifting state of mind. That was part of the reason he was so bad-tempered with her. He was angry with her for dredging up all of those old memories and emotions. If she had never come here, he could have maintained his comfortable life, never having to deal with his past again. But had it really been worth it to hold on to his anger so tightly?

Her words echoed in his head. This is just the way you are. I'm not always happy with it, but… I accept it.

Nobody had ever said anything like that to him.

No one in this city really knew who he was or why he acted the way he did. That was mostly his own fault for being so standoffish. He was friendly enough, but he enjoyed his privacy. He'd never opened up to anyone. No one had ever questioned why he acted the way he did, and he'd never gone out of his way to explain himself. Nobody really seemed to care about what lay beneath his rough surface, so his relationships with people remained superficial.

But Kagome knew exactly what he had gone through, and why he was so angry. And instead of pitying him or trying to scold him for his behavior, she simply acknowledged him for the way he was and did the best she could with what little regard he did give her, making sure to throw his attitude right back in his face if he went too far. He realized with a sigh that she probably had him completely figured out.

He understood now that, no matter how hard he pushed her, he wasn't going to win this. Regardless of how hard he tried, his barbs never pierced her tough exterior. And he was still curious as to what made her so resilient against his exasperating behavior. He no longer suspected that it was guilt motivating her. Guilt would have been too consuming. It would have left her vulnerable to his animosity.

He watched as she closed the book and placed it back on the nightstand, switching off the lamp as she did so. With no light to illuminate it from within, the bedroom disappeared behind the curtains once again. Immediately, the star-filled night sky beyond the enormous windows filled the loft with gentle light. Now that there was no reflection against the glass to block the view, he placed an arm behind his head and turned his eyes to enjoy the scene outside.

No, it wasn't guilt. There was something deeper motivating her. Something that he wasn't sure he could compete with. He had wanted so badly to blame her for everything that had happened, even though he knew that by doing so he was only lying to himself. He had thought that hurting her would ease his own pain. But he'd only succeeded in dragging himself down further. Ever since that night in the kitchen, his attitude toward her had slowly begun changing on its own, and he honestly didn't feel like fighting against it anymore.

But even so, it probably wouldn't hurt to irritate her for just a while longer.

Continued in Chapter 10 - Autumn's Shifting Winds

A/N: Introspection and events over time can go die in a fire. Bleh…Anyhow, I hope everyone enjoyed the chapter! Things will be moving along quickly from here on out.

And I know what you're thinking, and before the question is asked… No, unfortunately Fluffy will not be making an appearance in this story. I had wanted to include him, but then this story might have gone on and on forever (and as much as some of you would like for that to happen, I don't think I could drag this thing out that long ;) ). If I ever do a sequel, he will probably be in it, but don't look for him in this one. Sorry Fluffy fans!

To the twitchy ones: I adore you all!

To everyone who reviewed: You're all so awesome and I can't thank you enough for the encouraging words!

To Susie Cab: Your chapter-by-chapter reviews all at once made my day! Everyone at work wondered why I was so damn cheerful and kept running into the back to check my email on my phone.

To Moussajinx and Sublimetrickster: Thanks so much for the reviews and the recommendation on the Zamaamiyagare (I think I spelled that right…) forums. I tried to create an account so I could thank the two of you on there personally, but I shied away at the essay part of the application, so I never got accepted X)

To the readers at AFF: I'm worried that I'm starting to bore you all with the lack of full out naughtiness ;) Substance before sex, plot before pr0n, etc, etc. However, there will be some mischief forthcoming. At least, enough to satisfy the appetite. I hope. If not, you'll just have to hate me awhile longer ;P

Influential music for this chapter:

Idea - Eufonius, Noein OST

Dance With Me - Anna Tsuchiya insp' Nana (Black Stones), Nana OSTs

Numb - Sia Furler, Colour the Small One

A Little Pain - Olivia insp' Reira (Trapnest), Nana OSTs