InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Silent Affair ❯ Chapter 8

Hey guys! Sorry it's been so long in coming. I wasn't sure how far I wanted to take this chapter in the direction it was going so it took longer to shape it than I anticipated. But, here it is! I hope you enjoy it! Getting geared up for the holiday season which means less travel than usual for us this year, but we'll still be running around a lot I suspect.

 

 

Kagome sat watching the sun set while gently running her fingers through Inuyasha's hair. He had come home, agitated, and had wanted to lay down with her. She had obliged him, petting him until he fell asleep with his head in her lap. Many a time before he had asked for and received such comfort from her when they were younger. When Sesshomaru teased him, or someone at school had tried to pick a fight with him, he came to her to calm his youki. He never had to say anything, simply look at her with those eyes and she knew what he needed.

 

This time he had stood in the kitchen, staring at her for a long time while she read a book on the porch. After nearly ten minutes, she had finally motioned him over. He had approached her, pushed her gently down to one side of the couch and then curled up beside her. They had been like that for well over an hour. Looking down at his sleeping form, she saw that his breathing was even and deep, where it had been somewhat harried earlier. What had you so upset, huh? she thought and wondered if he would even tell her. Sometimes he did, sometimes he didn't. It tended to depend on whether or not he thought it would upset her.

 

A slight movement made her glance down, smiling softly when she saw it was Inuyasha's foot twitching in his sleep. He clearly felt safe with her, to sleep so soundly, and it warmed her heart. Of course, if she really thought about it, a lot of his stranger sleeping habits revolved around her. Coming to her instead of his parents when he had a nightmare, waking up in her room by the door almost every morning, taking her up into trees to nap when he was upset...

 

“I didn't realize he was still losing sleep.” Kagome jumped slightly, startling Inuyasha, but not waking him completely. She stayed very still for a while and he went right back to sleep. “Sorry. I didn't mean to startle you, Little One.” Kagome smiled at Toga where he had taken a seat on another chair. Both turned their gaze on the sleeping hanyou, contemplating different things. “He's been sleeping much better since you've been back.” He grinned a little. “He was pacing and sleepwalking for a while. I had to chase him out of a tree once at three in the morning.” Kagome smiled too. It didn't hurt quite so much to hear what her absence had done to Inuyasha, because now she knew why. He loved her, he wanted to be with her. The guilt still lay heavily on her, but it was getting easier to carry.

 

“I would have slept like a baby if you weren't snoring like a bear youkai in the other room, old man,” Inuyasha snorted, rubbing his eyes and yawning. Kagome jumped, looking at him to try and see if he was feeling better. He gave her a little smirk. “Just because I'm asleep doesn't mean I can't smell you.”

 

Toga laughed, settling back into his chair and putting his feet up on the table. “Your nose has always been getting you into trouble, along with that mouth of yours.”

 

“Learned from the best,” Inuyasha quipped. Kagome grinned, shaking her head at the two. Seeing the two of them together was more than enough reminder of their relationship, the similarities in their personalities making her smile. Inuyasha got his tenaciousness from his father and his caring heart from both parents. His quick tongue could be argued over since Izayoi was known to talk a few circles around her mate in an argument but Toga was a very quick wit. While Inuyasha's normal silvery and golden coloring was all his father, his human nights he looked nothing like him, darkly beautiful like his mother. What would our children look like? Kagome caught herself wondering as she listened to the two interact, teasing each other and lightly bickering over who was going to mow the lawn next.

 

The thought of children made her blush, more in thought of how children would come about. Having lived with three males with incredibly sensitive noses for a large portion of her life, Kagome knew better than to let her thoughts get out of control. They would smell it immediately and the embarrassment would likely kill her. Thinking about how embarrassing it would be to get caught thinking dirty thoughts in front of her adopted father quickly squelched any such feelings toward his son.

 

The call of her name from the kitchen brought her out of her daze and gave her a quick excuse to leave the two inus to themselves. Izayoi was standing by the stove, a pie filling of some kind slowly simmering in a pan while a crust was being baked off in the oven. Kagome saw fresh cherries sitting in a container on the counter next to a jar of candied ones and peeked in to find homemade pudding in the pot. Cherry cordial pie? Izayoi knew it was her favorite. Kagome, while pleased, was slightly suspicious. Was the older woman trying to butter her up for something? “Can you grab that crust out of the oven for me dear? I don't want it to get too brown.” Kagome nodded, taking an oven mitt from the counter and pulling the pan from the oven. She set it aside on the cooling rack waiting for it and took a deep sniff. The comforting scent of baked goods. She smiled. “Thank you.” Izayoi lifted the spoon from the pudding and eyed it critically. “Does that look like the right consistency to you?”

 

Kagome eyed it as well. It looked about right to her. It would set up in the pie crust just right. The warmth from the hot pudding making the fresh cherries just the right soft texture. She nodded. Izayoi returned with a resolute nod of her own, turning off the stove and pulling the pan off to the side. She started tossing the fresh cherries in one by one, double checking for stems or pits she might have missed.

 

“Will you drain the maraschinos for me?” Kagome grinned and took the little jar, popping the top and carefully draining off the excess liquid. “Kagome? I have something I wanted to give you.” The younger woman looked up from where she was tipping the candied cherries into the pudding mixture, stirring them in with the spoon. Izayoi looked thoroughly pleased, but nervous somehow and Kagome wondered at it. Forgetting the pie filling, she wiped her hands on the towel and waited. “When you came to us, there were things of your family's that we kept for you and Sota.” Kagome's eyes widened slightly but she motioned for Izayoi to continue. “Your mother wanted you to have this and now that you've returned to us, I think you should have it. I've been holding onto it too long.” She gave her a smile before taking her hand and pressing a small silver band with delicate filigree circling it into her palm.

 

Kagome couldn't help the small gasp that left her. Her mother's wedding band. She'd recognize it anywhere. She had always admired it and her mother had told her that one day, when she was to get married, she would get to wear it. Closing her eyes at the grief this brought on, Kagome took several deep breaths. Opening her eyes again she looked down at the ring in her palm. The silver shone brightly, not a spot of tarnish, and it begged to be placed on her finger. Delicate fingers took it from her palm and placed it on her right ring finger.

 

Kagome had always loved her mother's hands. They were strong yet feminine. She didn't realize how similar her own were to her mother's until now. The band fit as if it was meant to be there. She looked up at her surrogate mother and gave her a watery smile before giving her a warm hug. “Oh Kagome dear,” she shushed as small sobs ran through her. “I am so glad I could finally give this to you. You are a beautiful young woman and your mother would be so proud of you. I am so proud of you.” Kagome squeezed her tighter for a moment before stepping back to wipe at her eyes. Her smile was bright

 

'Thank you, for everything.' Izayoi smiled, taking the pan of pie filling and taking it over to the cooled crust. The filling poured in like velvet, settling into the crust until it almost overflowed. Kagome smiled as she watched the older woman work, placing plastic wrap over the stop to keep the pudding from forming a skin in the refrigerator and placing it on a shelf. It would be a couple of hours before they could top it with whip cream and cherry cordial candies from the store. Izayoi always made her own whip cream, which was sitting like sweet clouds in a bowl in the fridge already.

 

*************

 

 

“Your mother has been itching to give that to her for years.” Inuyasha jumped at the sound of his father's voice. He'd been watching discreetly from just around the door frame into the kitchen.

 

“Keh. I know. She told me what happened today.” Toga raised an eyebrow at his son. “How come you guys never told me about the marks? Especially when you knew I was planning on proposing to Kikyo.”

 

Studying his son, he saw that he was not angry, just curious. “As I'm sure you're mother told you, we thought it best not to interfere. You had to make the choice on your own. Our influence would have only made you rebel, or ignore us.” Inuyasha's mouth twisted, but he nodded. “You were both so young. We had never heard of anything like it. I believe, had you married Kikyo and tried to mark her the wrongness would have hit you then. The bond between you and Kagome is very strong.”

 

“By then it would have been too late,” Inuyasha argued.

 

“Not exactly. Annulling the marriage would have sufficed, but I imagine there would have been a lot of hurt feelings and lost money on both sides. All of which would have been worth it if it brought you to where you'd truly be happy.” Toga sighed, patting his son on the shoulder. “Far better that it never came to that.”

 

“Obviously.”

 

“When are you going to uh... pop the question?” Toga's smirk was wide as his son turned to look at him. “You've got a week to prepare, right? You'd better have an amazing set-up.” The older youkai strolled through the screen door, smiling to himself when his son followed.

 

Inuyasha frowned, contemplating what his father was suggesting. “I take it the last one wasn't up to snuff.”

 

“You don't want to take any chances of reminding her of that time.”

 

Inuyasha quickly conceded the point. “How did you propose to Mom?” Freezing mid-step, the inuyoukai coughed slightly then continued toward the tree most of the family used as a thinking spot. Toga sprung effortlessly into one of the higher branches while Inuyasha chose to pace around the trunk. “I mean, it must have been one hell of a proposal.”

 

Considering what to tell the hanyou below him, the taiyoukai thought back to the day he'd met his mate, just over a hundred years before. Izayoi had been young, late teens. Japan was still settling into its new skin under the Meiji restoration. Things were tough for those who had been of the samurai class who now found themselves equal with everyone else. At least in theory. Izayoi's father had found it more difficult than others. Feeling his pride was lost, his dignity destroyed, he was driven to drink. Izayoi's mother had passed a few years after birthing their youngest daughter and had left the old man with three daughters to care for. The eldest married as quickly as she could, the middle child taking advantage of the less restricting environment went out to work as a secretary, meeting a businessman from Europe a few months later and moving away to France. Izayoi was left to care for a father who rarely knew she was there.

 

 

 

She had been tending their meager garden when a tall stranger, injured from a fight, had stumbled out of the forest that backed their property. Being a samurai's daughter, her first instinct had been to defend herself, a wooden sword nearly flying into her hand. It was at his throat before he knew what hit him. “You had better have a very good reason for being here in my garden.” The strength of her resolve impressed him. Up until the moment he lost consciousness.

 

He regained it some time later, but found himself in a precarious position. Stripped to the waist and bandaged, his swords were out of reach and he was bound hand and foot on a tatami mat in an old shed. He attempted to break said bonds with his usually impressive youkai strength. He found himself mildly zapped and panting from the pull on his wounds. “What is this? Ofuda?” he growled, looking up at the slips of paper stuck to the rags binding his wrists. He knew better than to make another attempt to pull them apart at that point. He didn't fancy another shot of purifying energy while he was still bleeding.

 

A scent lifted his nose. He blearily remembered the fiery young human who had threatened him earlier. Was that who the scent belonged to? That was answered rather quickly when the same bokken from before was leveled under his nose. “What is your name?”

 

“Bold for a human waving a piece of wood in my face,” he replied. He glanced over and saw a delicate raised eyebrow arched over a perfectly almond shaped brown eye. One of a pair set over a perfectly upturned nose and a pair of nicely shaped lips. Dark hair was swept back into a bun at her nape. “Pretty human,” he mumbled to himself before blowing out a sigh that became more painful than he had anticipated. “You may release me and I will gladly leave you be. I have no intention of harming you,” he explained softly, trying to be patient. Part of the reason he was not healing as quickly as his very strong youkai blood would allow was the affect of the holy ofuda at his wrists and ankles.

 

The human woman moved into his line of sight and he took pleasure in being able to see her without having to strain his neck. “I may be human, youkai, but I am not simple.” One fist sat on her curved hip, the other comfortably holding the wooden sword. He wondered at her bravery and her easy handle on the situation. Most humans, let alone human women, would have run screaming from a youkai, injured or not. Needless to say finding himself more or less at this little human's mercy had not been what he expected. “Your wounds are rather severe,” she said, breaking his daze. She sounded genuinely concerned despite the fact that she had clearly made the effort to tie him up and bind him with holy magic. He looked down at himself and took a moment to better analyze where and how badly he was hurt.

 

The cuts across his belly probably hurt the worst, but were not as bad as his back. The pack of ookami youkai had not given him a moment's reprieve. Their leader was ruthless and fully intended to usurp his throne as taiyoukai of the western lands. Numbers hadn't bought him the victory and Toga would live to punish them further once he could get this little human to let him go. “They will heal better without these,” he gestured with his head to the restraints that held his arms above him.

 

“Hmm. I'm sure they would.” She paused, overtly eying him. “Especially once you eat me or steal my soul.” Toga felt a chuckle bubble out of him before he could stop it, bringing pain along with it. He gasped and closed his eyes, trying to settle his racing heart. Gentle hands pressed carefully against the bandages at his hip and above his navel. He knew she was only checking to make sure he hadn't split the wounds again, but he couldn't help the sudden wave of pleasant heat that suffused him. Why did she care so much if she was so wary of him? More importantly, why was she affecting him so acutely? “I imagine you were going to tell me you don't eat humans.” He could hear the smile in her voice.

 

“Only when they deserve it,” he replied. He opened his eyes again when he could think a little more clearly through the pain and stared at the young woman staring back. She was quite pretty. “Although I don't agree with your methods, I appreciate your help...” he trailed off, hoping she would supply her name. She gave him a sly grin, wagging a finger at him. Not until she had his. He smirked, golden eyes twinkling. “I am known as the Inu-no-Taisho, Taiyoukai of the western lands.” While the titles might have impressed other youkai, his little human merely raised her eyebrow at him and waited. “You may call me Toga if it is your wish.”

 

“Was that so hard?” she said with a grin. “I am Izayoi...” A crash made her whip around, stiffening at the sound of a man yelling. Toga frowned at the clearly drunken slur to the voice. Was it a husband? She seemed young to have a husband as old as this man sounded. Not that he was one to talk. He was around two hundred and fifty himself and his son Sesshomaru was already nearing fifty. He knew humans tended to marry off their young daughters to older men... “Stay here,” she whispered against his ear, sending a delicious shiver down his spine. He felt the release of the ofuda at his wrists and then his ankles before she flew out of the hut like the hounds of hell were at her heels. Toga slowly lowered his arms, rolling his wrists and popping his joints to get them back in working order. The man's voice coming from the house was getting increasingly more agitated even as he heard Izayoi's attempts to soothe him. “Chichi-hue, please, your dinner is waiting for you in here. Did you not...”

 

“Food's cold,” he growled to her. “You can't expect me to eat that swill, Michiko!” Toga frowned. Her own father, a drunk and ungrateful on top of it. Already he could guess that she was a diligent woman, mindful of those who relied on her. Who was this Michiko? Has she given him a false name?

 

He was about to step in when he heard the sound of masculine crying and Izayoi shushing him, taking him into the house. Almost half an hour later she returned to the hut with a plate of food, looking surprised that he was there. “Toga-sama,” she smiled in relief, glancing at his bandages with a practiced eye. “I hope this will help you gain your strength so that you can be on your way.”

 

“Trying to get rid of me?” he asked with a small smile. She looked worn and he wanted to wipe it from her. “Izayoi-san,” he stumbled over the suffix, not liking the formality of it on his tongue, “your father is...”

 

“Don't mind him. He is unwell.” The lie was blatant and he cringed at the way she tried to make herself believe it almost as strongly as she seemed to hope he would.

 

“And Michiko?”

 

She stiffened sharply at the name. “My mother. She died when I was three.” He instantly regretted asking. It really wasn't any of his business, and she had been kind to him... aside from tying him up. Really he couldn't blame her given her position. She was young, human and alone at home with a father who demanded her care and protection far more than what he offered her. “Sometimes he thinks that I am her. It is... uncomfortable.” Toga looked up sharply from the plate in his lap at the young woman sharing her confidence with him. Toga didn't need her to clarify what that meant for her.

 

He felt sick at the possibility that this beautiful and strong young woman was reduced to fear by her father, a man who was supposed to be looking out for her. The plate was set aside and he slowly pulled himself to his feet. At his full height he towered over her, but quickly found himself supported by her when his strength was less than he'd hoped. “You are brave little Izayoi,” he heard himself purr. She gave him a half smile but said nothing. Looking into her eyes he saw none of the fear he had thought he would find there, none of the disgust that most humans displayed toward youkai. The touch of her hands on his skin made him flush with warmth, a feeling he was unused to. His consort, Sesshomaru's mother, had been a political union, one neither of them had been pleased about. He had never known true affection for anyone but his son. Izayoi made him feel things far stronger than mere affection. “I will be better within a few hours.”

 

Her smile dropped quickly, the gentle blush that had risen on her cheeks fading. Her disappointment was tangible and he bit back a smile. So she felt something for him as well? He found himself immeasurably pleased. “I am glad you heal so quickly, Toga-sama.” Her wide brown eyes look up at him, taking him in.

 

“Only with your... careful care,” he replied with a grin. And then he couldn't help himself. He'd meant for it to only be a taste. A small kiss to thank her he told himself. Just a small taste so he knew what it was like. Her response was more than he could have ever hoped for, her small hands gripping his shoulder blades as her tiny body pressed against his. Toga pulled himself away with effort, panting for breath. There was suddenly no doubt in his mind. She was to be his. He thought frantically. Simply take her with him when he was able to move? No, her father would notice at some point that she was gone. Search parties might be sent out. Better to play the game and offer for her properly. “I will return tomorrow afternoon for you. I will meet with your father and I will take you with me.” He had expected a fight, even a small resistance. All he saw in her eyes was hope.

 

 

 

“Dad?” Toga shook off his memory and smiled a little. That had been an interesting time in his life. Izayoi had continued to make it interesting for the last one hundred years.

 

“I met your mother and made my offer to her father the next day,” he told Inuyasha who had been waiting impatiently for him to explain his grand proposal. “He was... not pleased. A youkai stealing his daughter and all that. Eventually he realized he had no choice but to agree.” The inuyoukai chuckled. “In case you didn't know, your mother is very persuasive when necessary.” Inuyasha scoffed, leaning back against the tree. “Do what feels right, son. Kagome will say yes, and she will remember whatever you do fondly.”

 

“What if I royally screw it up?”

 

Again the older youkai chuckled. “Your mother never begrudged me paying her father to get her hand. Kagome is free to make her choice on her own, free to give her permission to whomever she wishes. That has always been you, my boy. She will be thrilled no matter what. A few flubs make good stories anyway,” he said with a grin.

 

Inuyasha sighed, thinking deeply about his options. He had a few ideas, but wasn't sure of any of them. He bounced them off of his father for a while, the two of them shaping a plan. An hour later the inuhanyou had a solid idea, a ring waiting in the wings and his father's help to pull it all off. He smirked. “I think I can do this,” he said finally, his chest puffed with pride.

Toga, gazing down at the man his youngest son had become and thinking of the young woman he was going to make very happy, smiled warmly. “I know you can, Inuyasha.”

Ok. So I'll be completely honest, I know almost nothing about Japanese history. I was focused on an entirely different hemisphere in my studies from about 7th grade on. Ask me about Mexico and Central America, I got you. South America and Brazil? You're on. US... little foggy on the details. Western Europe? Perhaps. Eastern Europe... probably not. China, Japan, India, Indonesia, Malaysia... Not gonna happen. My brother lives in China... That's all I got. So I remained as vague on the historical details as I could to avoid any, “You got it all wrong!” comments and other angry retorts of that variety. Please review if you feel the inclination! Thanks everyone.