InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Tale Twice Told ❯ A Man Misjudged ( Chapter 8 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimer: All publicly recognizable characters, settings, etc. are the property of their respective owners. The original characters and plot are the property of the author. The author is in no way associated with the owners, creators, or producers of any media franchise. No copyright infringement is intended. In other words, I don't own and I make no money from this.---------------------

Time has a way of flowing at its own pace. Those giant wheels crush great and small alike, oblivious to our pain as they tread upon history, marking centuries and millennia. The passage of time was what Inuyasha was also feeling in his heart, and however he dreaded the day of his brother’s wedding, he was powerless to keep the storm off Kagome. As the wave came crashing on the shore, her resolve crumbled, leaving her a nervous wreck.

It was not like he hadn’t tried to cheer her up; he spent time with her as often as his schedule would permit – took her dining, took her for walks, watched her favourite movies with her, had even gone for a day-long picnic at his favourite place – their special place in the estate. While those outings were pleasant enough as far as temporary diversions went, they did nothing to alleviate her real problem – the pain of seeing her beloved man become the husband of another. Inuyasha did not know how he could ever prepare Kagome to face that reality.

But prepare her he must. The whole plan hinged on him and Kagome smiling through the ceremony and looking perfectly in love. Her absence would fuel the rumour mills into a frenzy about the alleged relationship, exposing his brother’s wedding for what it was – a hurriedly put together drama for the eyes of the public. Inuyasha had shielded his wife from the pain as much as he could, but now she had no choice but to come face to face with Rin.

The worst part was that he was actually making progress with her. She accepted his touch more readily now, and although there were still times she would cringe or turn her face away, on the whole she behaved like she trusted him. ‘What will she think now?’ he wondered. ‘That I was fattening her up like a calf for the day of the sacrifice?’ He worried that they might never go back to their former relationship ever again.

He sat down beside her prone form upon the bed, and then started running his fingers through her hair, speaking words of encouragement. For a moment he felt unmanly, emasculated, preparing his wife for her lover’s wedding. But he quickly put that thought out of his mind – Kagome’s misery was real and palpable. It was seeping through his heart and permeating his very soul. He was not surprised when she refused to respond to his touch, burying her face further into the pillow. He put his fingers below her chin and forced her face up, drying her tears with his thumbs.

“I know it’s difficult for you,” he said with as much gentleness as he could muster, “but we need to keep up appearances. Your presence is vital to this event.”

“I can’t,” she sobbed, unconsciously pressing her face further into his hand, “it’s just too much.”

Inuyasha sighed at the irony of the situation. Then he devised a way to make her go through the day. Problems always looked bigger when seen from a distance. Once they were broken down into smaller blocks they didn’t seem so insurmountable.

“Let’s take it a step at a time okay? For now I need you to take a bath. Can you do that for me?”

Kagome nodded. He all but lifted her out of the bed and pushed her into the bathroom, all the while praying that she would not change her mind midway through her shower.

Myouga peeked his head into the room. “How is she holding up?”

“Not well, I’m afraid,” Inuyasha replied, casting a worried glance back at the bathroom door.

“She’ll be there for the ceremony, right?” The older man sounded a little anxious.

A wave of irritation lanced through Inuyasha’s mind. All they cared was for her to be present at the ceremony. None of them gave a damn about her travail, about the pain the situation was causing her. Nobody did, except for him. “She’ll be there,” he replied curtly.

Myouga nodded his head. “Please don’t be late.” He withdrew from the door.

Some of the old anger boiled over in Inuyasha’s heart again. This whole mess was created by Sesshoumaru and not once did he favor Kagome with a single reassuring word or gesture. Today he had not even bothered to greet her in the morning. Intending to give his brother a piece of his mind, Inuyasha marched into the latter’s room. Sesshoumaru was buttoning his cuff.

“As long as Kagome blesses your union – well, that’s all that matters to you, eh?” Inuyasha chewed out the words.

Sesshoumaru looked astonished, before a more guarded look crossed his features. “Yes, precisely so.”

“You are a shameless cad, you know that? You know how much pain you have inflicted on her but you don’t bloody care!”

Sesshoumaru adjusted his collar. “I think you are doing a pretty good job at the caring bit.”

“Only because someone has decided to shirk his responsibility.”

Checking his reflection in the mirror one last time, Lord Taishou replied. “Hmm. So I have somehow shirked my responsibility? Do you realize how simple it would be for me to say a few nice words to your wife? To take her to another secluded spot in the estate, hold her hand and whisper sweet nothings into her ear as I make love to her? To explain why I have been behaving so and then apologize for it? Kagome would be fine after that – she is incapable of holding a grudge against me. But where would that leave you, little brother? Better that she thinks of me as a cad and leans on you for support than she thinks of me as her hero and you as a bloody nobody, right?”

Inuyasha barely managed to rein in his temper, resisting the urge to throttle his brother as he began to speak. But as the rest of his statement sunk in, he found himself staring at him, completely flabbergasted. Of all the things in the world that he thought Sesshoumaru’s reply might be, this was what he had least expected.

“You don’t have to take pity on my marriage, Sesshoumaru,” he said stubbornly, “if our vows are true she’ll willingly obey them. If not, there was no marriage to begin with.” He ignored the rest of what his brother had said. Now was not the time to focus on the implication those words held. He needed to focus on Kagome's needs not his own anger and jealousy.

His brother smirked. “Time will tell.”

Disgusted, Inuyasha walked back into his own room. Kagome was already dressed and was idly toying with her make up. She looked at him through the mirror and gave him a small smile.

“One step at a time, right?”

“Umm…right,” Inuyasha said absently, trying to re-focus his mind on her.

There was a knock on the door. Inuyasha held it open for Lady Taishou. She was already dressed for the wedding. Although she had donned a spirit of festivity, Inuyasha thought he could detect a tinge of sadness in her eyes. Gracefully, the Lady walked up to Kagome and opened a red velvet box in front of her. Within it was a diamond necklace and matching earrings that Inuyasha thought looked very pretty.

“This belonged to Izayoi,” Lady Taishou explained with a smile. “It was there inside the vault but I had forgotten all about it. Today when I was looking for a set to gift Rin my eyes fell on it and…well, it belongs to you. It would mean a lot to me if you wear it to the wedding?”

Kagome tried to make her smile appear sincere. “Of course I’ll wear it, Mother.”

Lady Taishou put the necklace around Kagome’s neck and checked her reflection. Inuyasha was stunned at the difference this simple piece of jewelry could make. His wife was looking radiant, like a princess straight out of a fairy tale. Straightening, Lady Taishou made to walk out of the room before shooting a worried glance at Inuyasha. “We shall leave in a few minutes. I take it that you are to follow us shortly?”

Inuyasha nodded in reply.

True to his nod, within a short while Inuyasha and Kagome were sitting at the back of the limo that was slowly turning in the driveway. Inuyasha put a concerned arm around the shoulders of his wife.

“They are going to come back to this house,” Kagome said, her anguish at the thought very apparent. “He will live with her in here!”

Inuyasha sighed. He didn’t even want to think of the hour when that would come to pass.

“Yes, because he is the Lord of this mansion,” he said, kissing the top of her head, “but if that’s too much for you we can go live in another house.”

In his heart he knew that would be impossible – at least until after the elections were over. But he could always devise plans to keep Kagome out of Rin’s path. Maybe he would take her away for the campaign. After that they would go away for a vacation. Part of the time Kagome could stay at her parents’ place. The election was less than a year away. He just needed to manipulate things til then, and with Sesshoumaru’s cooperation he just might be able to. He scowled for a moment at the thought of needing Sesshoumaru's help, but a glance at his distraught wife firmed his resolve. Sesshoumaru would help him if he had to beat that help out of him.

The car stopped before the cathedral. Inuyasha exited first, then extended his hand to help Kagome out. He kept a firm grip on her arm, offering her support, as he led her to her seat at the front of the cathedral. He got her settled in and gave her a quick hug then, with one last worried glance, he hurried to perform his duties as  the ‘best man’, though he wanted nothing more than to hold Kagome’s hand and sit by her through the entire ceremony. He left his heart and his mind back with his wife.

The ceremony was a blur to him, his frantic eyes stayed locked onto the frail form of his wife, sitting there looking lost. An irritated Sesshoumaru had to nudge him to get his attention when it was time to present the ring. Once that task was done, his eyes sought Kagome once more.

As soon as he was free he rushed back to her. She looked up at him, and he smiled at her. No, more – much more than that; he poured all the warmth of his heart, all things good and positive that he had ever felt into that one smile. He tried to reach her heart through that smile, hoping against hope that some of his joy would rub off on her. Relief spread through his heart as he saw her smile back at him, giving him the strength to push her into the revelry even further.

He stayed by her side through the dance, through the buffet, through the numerous photos and interviews with the representatives from the Press. The newlyweds set off for their honeymoon. Kagome cheered with the others, even though her eyes told Inuyasha that she was walking on swords. He clutched her waist and planted a kiss on her cheek, but a gnawing feeling in his heart told him that she was becoming distant once again.

It was late evening when the couple finally returned home. Inuyasha gave Kagome worried glances as he led her back to their room. He was practically dragging her, she moved so lifelessly. He settled Kagome on the bed. “Are you alright?” he asked.

A simple shrug was his answer.

He sighed. “Look, it's been a rough day, especially for you. I'm going to take a quick shower, why don't you change? Once I'm done I'll run a hot bath for you, that will help you relax.” He got no reply as she stared vacantly at the wall.

He sighed, giving her one more worry-filled look before going into the bathroom for a shower. It had been a gruelling day. His tensed muscles relaxed under the soothing touch of hot water that fell from the shower head and splintered into a thousand drops on making contact with his back. He let his worries ooze out with the water. Slowly, he was able to unclench his hands. It was still sometime later that he realized that he was grinding his teeth. Taking a deep breath, he turned off the shower and reached for a towel.

Kagome was sitting beside the open window when he emerged from the bathroom. A chilly breeze was blowing in and she was still in her low-cut dress, quite oblivious of the weather.

“Oi,” Inuyasha called, startling her out of her reverie, “if you don't feel like changing yet, why don’t you put on a shawl? You’ll catch a cold like this.”

Right on cue Kagome shook, a sob shivering through her entire body. “Why are you doing this?” she murmured.

Inuyasha was stunned. He didn’t know what to say. “What d’you mean, Kagome?” was all he could manage.

“Why are you doing all this for me?” she shouted through her tears.

He was taken aback by the vehemence of her sudden outburst. Why was she angry with him? He tried to think about what he could have done to make her so mad but he failed to come up with anything.

“I was only trying to help, Kagome-”

She folded her hands in supplication, sobbing loudly. “Stop it! Already you have done enough. I don’t deserve all this kindness from you, and I have done nothing in return. So please Inuyasha, I beg of you, don’t do me any more favors. I can’t take it anymore.”

“Why do you call them favors?” He was bewildered, stung by her words. Why was she twisting the whole thing around, making it out to be something that it was not? Why would she call it a favor? And how could she remain so blind to his love? After all they had done together for the last one month, all those ‘dates’ and picnics and cozy dinners, was this the best explanation of his behaviour that she could come up with? That he was pitying her? What did she think about him anyway? He was not a husband for her, that much was painfully obvious. Now it seemed to him that he was not even her friend.

“Just go away. Please!” Kagome crawled into her bed and curled up in a ball, as Inuyasha looked on, lost for words.