InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Marriage of Convenience for Whom? ❯ Dreamland ( Chapter 16 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha. Inuyasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi and Viz Productions.

 

Thanks to my super cool reviewers. You make writing fun and interesting. Lol: Seiteki_Tenshi, Cherryblossombabe, Rose of Sharon, DemonGirl11, LiLaZnCrAzYgUrL216, angelqt1231, child of the silvery moon, firevixen73, anastassia, Rachel (aka Pokiepal), kagz243, lese majeste, amumregisteredatthemomentmember,  moussajinx

 

Jullun: Did not know that about “jeez” and Norwegian. Learn something new everyday.  

 

Im it today:  Um, this (painfully obviously) is not the place where the manuscript contestants for the Pulitzer Prize go. I hate to break this to you, but you're reading fanfiction. If I had a lollipop for every stupid thing, plot hole, and gap in reality I have seen (in my own work and the works of my esteemed fanfiction colleagues) I would have a fucking ton of lollipops. Don't sweat the details, and just have fun with the stories. If you can't handle that, this fic is not for you. Sorry.

 

Ru-Doragon: I'll see what I can do with the chapter arrangements. I did go back and read some of my notes and what I have down for an entire chapter might be one or two pages long. But knowing me, I'll open my big mouth and come up with something else to write about. No worries. It does suck to have younger siblings get older. Mine's about to turn 17—I really don't know what I'm going to do. Her actual age is practically equal to my age of emotional development.

 

srg1: I'm glad you noticed the "Can't I just have both?" comment. I thought it made an interesting parallel to the series. Thanks for your support and your patience. Both are much appreciated.

 

Sakura onto Hitomi: you're right, the name thing does fit in well—a new beginning a new name. I will try my very best to enjoy graduation, and you have a blast at yours.

 

cutee2054: yeah, fanfiction.net needs to jump start its alert system. Though I think its working now. Since I can not read tone in reviews, I am going to assume you are legitimately confused about the whole Inuyasha-Kagome-bitch thing. So I am going to explain it, under the assumption that you are not being sarcastic (which if you are, I get that too, it is pretty clichéd, and for that reason I'm a little ashamed to have used it, but I do think its cute, and it fits with his demon side). Here goes. Inuyasha is a dog demon, and as we all know, female dogs are “bitches”. By calling her his bitch, Inuyasha is basically saying Kagome is the female dog for him—his bitch. He's being possessive and masculine as we all know he can be, and “bitch” is the representation of his demon's side's actions. Make sense?

 

xXAngel of DarknessXx: You are not annoying—enthusiasm is good.

 

Autumn_the_Reviewer: So many questions! Lol. Ok, I'll answer the ones I can without spoiling anything. Mediterranean because I went to Italy last year for Spring Break and loved it. Though after I wrote it, what passes for “Mediterranean” is really a combination of what I think the Mediterranean would be like and Florida. Oops. Probably no lemon, mainly because they're essentially action sequences (how characters are moving, where hands are, stances, etc), and not only am I bad at action sequences, but I don't really like to write them: I get bored. If there is huge out crying , I might consider it for mediaminer, because I think it fits the story. As of now though, only two or three people have mentioned one. I'll keep the Miroku idea in mind for the next chapter—I have to admit I've been concentrating so much on what Kikyou, Kagome, Inuyasha, and Sango know and should know, I forgot about Miroku. My bad.

 

I'm sorry if I forgot anyone, I wasn't as meticulous about getting questions and names down as I have been in the past. Thanks to everyone who reviewed.

 

A/N: Ok, so I don't really understand the meaning of the word “break”. This story is so complicated that the last time I left it alone for too long, I honestly wasn't sure if I would ever be able to finish it. So, I kept picking at it on my supposed break, and in the end, this is what I got. This chapter is a little shorter than last few (especially if you cut out the author's note and review comments), and I think this length works better. I was really getting burned out with all the editing.

 

So I am going to try to keep going, but at a slower pace. I'll post when I can and try to get this thing done! Sorry for the false warning with the break thing, but I didn't want anyone thinking I had died.

 

XXX

 

Chapter 16

 

“Gelato for the lady?”

 

Inu smiled down at his bride where she was spread out on a big green, purple, and blue beach blanket. He offered her an ice cream cone with two scoops of Italian ice cream—her favorite: one Nutella, the other pistachio.

 

“Thank you, sweetie,” Kagome smiled brightly. She took the cone from Inu as he slipped under the beach umbrella beside her.

 

They were back to acting fake again (even if they actually had to act less to appear happy): the European paparazzi had found them after two weeks of hiding. Much to the movie studio's chagrin since their Honeymoon was supposed to be used for publicity for both stars.

 

At the moment, Inuyasha and Kagome were on a beach of the Mediterranean Sea that's borders were surrounded by reporters trying to sneak in past the security. Though there were other celebrities vacationing on the beach to make the guards sincerely vigilant in maintaining privacy, Inuyasha and “Kikyou” seemed to be the big story.

 

But regardless, the two weeks before that had been unbelievably brilliant.

 

Inuyasha had been a gentleman as opposed to his typical ass-hole self. The two of them had been able to talk, get to know one another. Given the chance, Inu and Kagome were finding they could get along. In reality their situation was not marriage so much as a feeling of coming closer to a really good friend.

 

Within the solid two weeks they had had before the press had caught up with them, Kagome felt as though they had really connected. They were close enough that Kagome actually felt a fluttering of guilt for not telling Inu the truth. Yet, no matter how big a role she played in it, it was not her secret to spill. So she threw herself into enjoying her fake married life. If she squinted her eyes enough to reality, it was almost as if she were really married…sort of.

 

Two figures were stretched out on a single deck chair that had been crammed onto the condo's balcony over looking the sea.

 

“Color?”

 

“Green. Yours?”

 

“Red. Food?”

 

“Oden. Though right now anything but Ramen could be it.”

 

“Blasphemy!” Inu growled, nipping at her.

 

“You try livi—” Kagome stopped herself. It was becoming more and more difficult not to say things that Inuyasha that would give her and Kikyou's secret away. Whenever she was around him now, her guard wanted to do nothing more than slip. “Well, what's yours?” She demanded, trying to hide the blunder.

 

“Ramen, duh,” Inu replied, flicking her on the forehead.

 

Kagome breathed a silent sigh of relief and they continued their game of “Get to Know Your Spouse.”

 

The cozy beach bungalow type condo they were staying in had two bedrooms, which had relieved a great deal of worry for Kagome. Every morning, they would get up and eat the breakfast brought to them by the hotel staff, then go for a walk on the beach. They would pick up seashells and by the third day Inu was holding Kagome's hand during these morning promenades. Adorning one of the cute sundresses Sango had packed for her, Kagome would wade in the warm water up to her calves as she breathed in the sun shine and salt water.

 

When they would get back to their lodgings, it would usually be time for lunch—also brought into their room by a maid in a pressed uniform. She would push in her little white-table-clothed cart, and spread out a meal of things Kagome could not always recognize, but all tasted good. It sure as hell beat the Ramen she had previously been living off of at school.

 

In the afternoon, Kagome and Inu would go shopping, or to the beach, or even on a few days they managed a sight seeing tour of local ruins or museums.

 

All and all, Kagome felt very pampered, but very cut off from everything. Everything was for her personal fantasy world, and reality was suspended in so many different ways. She had been so restricted from the Internet and her cell phone while she had been living at Kikyou's that she felt no need to check email or even look at the messages the maid brought in with their breakfast every morning.

 

She was so at peace that nothing seemed to matter for the moment, and Kagome felt no urge to contact her sister or Sango. If she were to contact them, Sango would just harp on her and Kagome wasn't even sure if Kikyou was finished being mad at her. For all she knew her sister was still angry, and Kagome had no desire to be scolded again.

 

So, without looking at the messages laid out next to her coffee, Kagome would toss them into the waste paper basket, not giving the tiny scraps of paper a second thought. Nothing could be so important that it was worth the risk of breaking the first calm she had experienced in a long time. It could all wait until she got back to the States.

 

Now that she was on the beach with Inuyasha, Kagome hardly gave thought to either the paparazzi around them with their zoom lenses or her sister.

 

Instead of thinking anything substantial, she snuggled next to Inuyasha under the shade of their beach umbrella. Both were ready for their afternoon nap.

 

Cuddling closer to her husband's chest, Kagome couldn't help but smile.

 

She felt so content.

 

But there was a surreal quality to everything that was happening that made Kagome want to wake up from the dream she knew she must be having.

 

There was something about Inuyasha that was eerily familiar, which only added to her unease because she could not place the memory. It was in the way that he said her name, the way touched her hip as they walked, the possessive look he got in his violet eyes when they were out in public. She liked the attention, the feeling of being liked, but the vibe that something was off could not be shaken.

 

Just like the messages she had refused to read, Kagome shove all other troubles away. She knew she was living in a dream, and she felt an urgent need to savor the calm before the storm.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

Walking down the crowded street, Kagome and Inuyasha moved hand in hand, taking step for step. Vendors were selling food, but for the most part they were pandering tacky t-shirts in day-glow colors that shouted out messages in a language Kagome could not understand. The day was bright and her eyes were covered by a large pair of sunglasses Inuyasha had bought her. A warm wind blew into from the ocean, stirring Kagome's long black tresses.

 

Inuyasha looked back to smile at her. His own dark hair was stirring with the sea breeze, but he had restrained it in a low pony tail.

 

When he turned back around the see where he was going, the actor froze. There, in their path, were two paparazzi, looking about the market place as if they were scavengers searching out the scent of a corpse. They had lanyards on which swung large signs screaming out “PRESS.” As if the huge cameras the men were carrying were not a big enough of a tip off.

 

With a speed that would have rivaled his demon side, Inuyasha hauled Kagome along with him out of sight into a darkened alley. In their flight, they nearly ran into a mother pushing her baby carriage. The irate woman began cursing the couple, but neither Kagome nor Inuyasha could comprehend her threats.

 

Safely away from prying eyes, Kagome found herself staring at the bright eyes of her husband. After a moment of silence to make sure they had not been followed, the couple burst into laugher. They were practically doubled over with their fit of giggles.

 

Inuyasha was the first to recover. He slowly closed in on Kagome, moving like any predator stalking its prey. Pressing her up against the wall of the alley as she let out her last few whimpering laughs, Inuyasha swooped in and kissed her.

 

The couple slumped against the way joined at the lips.

 

When Inu at last moved away, he smiled down his wife, more pleased with her at that moment than he thought himself capable of. Their marriage might have been arranged, but their Honeymoon (though lacking in sex) was as normal as any other.

 

Maybe I should just come clean about who I am…. Inuyasha pondered, not for the first time.

 

Kagome slipped her hand in his, and once they had made sure the paparazzi had moved, they stepped back into the street to continue their shopping.

 

Kagome couldn't help but hope things would stay the same once they returned States side, but some how she knew she was living in a perilous situation.

 

He's going to feel so jipt if he learns I'm not Kikyou….

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

“What the fuck? Did she die or something?”

 

Kikyou flung her ashtray at the wall across from her desk. She had just gotten off the phone with manager of the condo where Kagome and Inuyasha were staying on the Mediterranean Sea. She had called hoping to get a return to one of her many messages, but the woman had told her Mrs. Takahashi had left no response.

 

“It appears not, Kikyou,” Sango answered as she quietly entered the room. Gently, she set down some of the European tabloids that had come in that morning. Even though Kikyou could not understand a word of their foreign scripts, the cuddly pictures of Kagome and Inuyasha on a sunny beach spoke volumes.

 

“She looks happy,” Kikyou commented as she lit a cigarette. She pulled a new ashtray out of a desk drawer.

 

“The press says she is.”

 

Kikyou nodded, her eyes refusing to tear away from the pictures of her sister, concentrating. After a minute of silence she finally spoke, “Then do you think we really need to tell her the truth? If she's getting along so well with Inuyasha, do you think it might be a bad idea to burst her bubble? They do say ignorance is bliss.”

 

Blowing a ring of smoke in the direction of her assistant, Kikyou reclined back in her chair so she could look full on Sango's face.

 

“There's no guarantee she'll never find out. And if she knows we knew all along that she was married to the human form of her hanyou crush, I a have a feeling Kagome will be pretty pissed. You know her best, but I'm not sure if that is a situation we want to put ourselves in.”

 

“No, you really don't want a pissed of Kagome on your hands,” Kikyou said with a shudder. “But its going to hurt her now not matter what we do.”

 

XXXXXXXX

 

One hand behind his head, the other coiled around the hip of the woman resting next to him, Inuyasha felt at peace. As Kagome snuggle closer to him, Inuyasha checked to make sure she was still asleep. She was.

 

It was a strange feeling, being relaxed around so many people. But there they were, on a beach surrounded by hundreds of people, taking an afternoon nap like any other couple. Overhead, Inuyasha could see white cloud after white cloud cross the sky, and the entire day was complimented by the crashing of the waves not far off from where they lay.

 

They had been married for two weeks.

 

Two weeks of being alone with his bitch.

 

Two weeks without seeing the Kikyou persona rear its ugly head. Kagome had really relaxed and opened up to him. She had told him about her college years (he had never heard of Kikyou going to college), her high school friends and their endless attempts of trying to get her to go out with the most boring boy in the entire world, even her favorite music and movies and tid bits about her family.

 

Although, on that last one, there was something she seemed to be hiding something. He did not know for sure that she was lying about her family without his sense of smell, but she did seem to clam up on the subject. She had spoken animatedly about her mother, father, and younger brother, but the instant she spoke of an older sister, she turned white and changed the subject.

 

Odd, very odd.

 

Regardless, he had found out that, even without his sense of smell, she was something great.

 

In spite of what he had previously believed about Kikyou, this girl currently in his arms knew how to laugh and play. She could be serious too, but she knew what it was to have fun.

 

It was almost like the Kikyou he once knew and the Kagome he was married to were two different people.

 

Laughing at the thought, he tightened his grip on his wife and joined her in sleep.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

“You got it all wrong, Carl. Kikyou is in Europe, these pictures are useless. You must have old film in your camera.”

 

“No Jeff, I swear, I just took these pics this morning—the film is brand-fucking new. I know because I ran out while I was shooting and I had to replace the cartage.”

 

Jeff, editor of photography for Ok Star Magazine, shook his head doubtfully. “That can't be right.” Leaning back in is rolly chair, he scooped up some of the European tabloids. “Kikyou—the woman you have in those pictures—is on her Honeymoon with her husband. Outside of the United States. In Europe.” He held up a tabloid cover of the couple on the beach. “This is our story now—we're lifting pictures from these magazines. Stop bringing me old shit. Go get a look at Angelina Jolie or something.”

 

“The pics are fresh, I swear. I've been staking out the Higurashi house for months, and she's been there since her supposed wedding.”

 

Jeff flashed the man another pointed, doubtful gaze. “Why do you think I think you are a sack of shit trying to scam me?”

 

Carl rolled his eyes. “Because I am. But in this, I know what I'm talking about. If you give me an hour, I'll take you there and show you. No strings, no shit. This may be something.”

 

Jeff really wanted to tell Carl to go to hell, but it was a slow news day and they were grasping at straws to get headlines to sell papers. “Fine. I can't just leave right now, but if you bring more proof of whatever you think you have right now, I can promise you my full attention.”

 

XXXXXXXXXX

 

Splashing out into the water, Kagome couldn't stop from laughing as Inuyasha chased after her. They were both clad in their swim wear—Inuyasha in a pair of baggy red trunks, Kagome barely covered in the less-than-modest yellow with red polka-dot bikini Sango had packed for her. Some how her sister's assistant had picked out the perfect size. It really was a wonder.

 

Trying to leap over a wave in her giddy daze, Kagome did a belly flop and instead landed in the arms of her husband who had materialized in front of her.

 

How is he so fast?

 

Not taking time to worry about the problems of Inu's superhuman speed, Kagome slumped against him, becoming boneless in his embrace. All the sun and the motion of the waves made her sleepy, but Kagome was having too much fun to get out of the water.

 

She also failed to perceive the danger when Inuyasha scooped her up and began to move them out into the deeper water.

 

“Where are we going?” Kagome laughed.

 

Without answering, Inuyasha ducked them both into the chest-high water.

 

Kagome squirmed in his arms and Inuyasha released her. They both emerged moments later. Their movements had lead them out into deeper water and they had to tread to keep their heads above the surface.

 

“The water is deep enough, we could have some fun and no one would know,” Inuyasha said suggestively. Under the water, he reached out and took Kagome's hands, sliding his fingers up her arms, tickling her skin.

 

“Inu!” Kagome gasped with a giggle. She tried to pull away, but he jerked her to him to kiss her briefly. “We can't do anything here—there are kids all around.”

 

“What about when we get back to the condo?”

 

Kagome blushed, unable to meet his eyes. “I don't know….”

 

Inuyasha hung his head. Somehow he had embarrassed her, and as a result she was withdrawing again.

 

Oh no you don't, wench.

 

“Why wait, anyway? Here's good enough,” Inuyasha said with a growl. He quickly moved to grab Kagome's knees, jerking them up to his hips, and smashing his lips on hers once again as he pushed them back into the water amid Kagome's smiles.

 

XXXXXXXXX

 

“I can't believe its over!” Kagome groaned as she tried to shove all of her clothes back into her suitcase. Without Sango there to do her insanely meticulous packing, she was having a tricky time fitting it all in. Part of the problem was that Sango had over packed to begin with, but the assistant seemed to be able to handle squeezing an impossible amount of clothes in a tiny space.

 

“I know,” Inuyasha agreed. He was watching television even though neither of them could understand anything that was being said.

 

“Inu,” Kagome began carefully. She had been putting off the topic for sometime, but now she felt as though they were running out of time to talk. “When,” swallowing hard, as she tried to go on, “when we get back home, are things going to go back to the way they were before?”

 

Inuyasha had flicked off the television to give his wife his full attention. “…The way they were before?”

 

Kagome stopped her mad stuffing and came around the bed's side to sit next to Inuyasha. “With you ignoring me or being…” she searched for a less childish way to express herself, but alas, emotional vocabulary was her short coming, “…mean?”

 

Inuyasha wasn't sure if he should laugh of be pissed. How could she ask something like that after the time we've spent together? Doesn't she know me?

 

Thankfully, for once, he was able to keep his ranting, angry, verbal diarrhea at bay. The past three weeks of his fake Honeymoon for his fake marriage had given him plenty of practice of applying patience to his words.

 

Think before you speak. You were a jerk to her, and though she hasn't come clean yet, she has talked about other stuff. And we've only had three weeks together away from everything. I have to admit, it isn't the most realistic situation for determining someone's character.

 

Sucking in a deep breath, he tried to answer her question. “I know I won't be ignoring you,” Inuyasha leaned in, kissing her neck below her ear. “And I'll try to be too mean,” he kissed under Kagome's jaw, “But I do have a temper. I would never strike you or anything, but I can't say I can always keep my mouth under control,” he pulled back enough to look her in the eye. “You just have to always remember I say a lot of shit I don't mean.”

 

“You promise?” Kagome asked quietly. Here eyes dropped for a moment.

 

Inuyasha grasped her chin, bringing her gaze up to meet his own. “I already promised I would treat you better, and that still stands.”

 

Kagome smiled and hugged him. “Thank you.”

 

Little did either of them know that the end of their dream had already begun.