InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All I Want For Christmas ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters related to him. He is the sole property of Rumiko Takahashi, and therefore, not available. But, if somebody were to wrap him up with a big red bow and put him under my Christmas tree, I wouldn't tell a soul. ^_~

I also do not own any other trademark companies and/or items that may be mentioned in this story. So, no suing, ya hear!

All I Want For Christmas

Chapter 4

Kagome stood and stared in disbelief at the young man standing in her doorway. For staring back at her, his short brown hair immaculate as always and his brown eyes warm as ever, was Hojo. For a moment, all she could do was stare at him. Then the sound of Inuyasha's warning growl snapped her out of her stupor and reminded her of the possible danger Hojo was in. She was well aware that Inuyasha fully believed Hojo was responsible for the mess their passed relationship had become and he believed that Hojo had hurt her. She also remembered the earlier conversation she and Inuyasha had had and she didn't have a lot of faith in her ability to restrain him if he decided to make good on his threat. As much as Kagome was hurt by what Hojo had done, she still didn't want to see him injured, especially at Inuyasha's hands. Gottaget him outta here, fast. Why's he here anyway?

"What are you doing here?" Kagome asked, trying to keep the pain from her voice. For the most part she succeeded, but Inuyasha's keen ears caught the slight hitch she couldn't quite hide. That damn human was hurting her again and he had ruined a perfect moment between him and Kagome. Damn him! Couldn't he see that he wasn't wanted here?!

"I came to talk to you," Hojo answered simply. "I came to see if you could find it in your heart to forgive me. Can I come in so we can talk?"

"I don't think that's such a good idea, Hojo," Kagome said, her voice cold. He really needed to go. "I'm a little busy at the moment." Kagome didn't understand it, but the longer Hojo stood there the more anxious and apprehensive she became. He had never affected her like this before and the need to get rid of him was almost overwhelming.

Inuyasha couldn't help but pick up on the anxiety that radiated off of Kagome. His instincts were screaming at him to do something to make it stop, so he stepped up behind her and gently placed his hand on her shoulder. Immediately all of the tension that he had been picking up from her melted away and she began to relax a little.

"She doesn't want you here, human. Go away," Inuyasha snarled, forcing Hojo to turn his gaze from Kagome to the half demon behind her. Yash didn't like this human, and he especially didn't like the way the guy was affecting Kagome. If the boy didn't leave soon on his own, then Inuyasha was fully prepared to make him.

"What do you mean 'human'-just who the Hell do you think you are?" Hojo asked indignantly. Turning his eyes back to Kagome, he said, "Kagome, what's going on here?"

"You have no right to ask such things," Kagome stated hotly. "You lost all right to know anything about my life when I caught you in bed with that woman. Who Inuyasha is to me is none of your concern. All you need to know is that he is my friend and here at my invitation, something that you cannot claim." She bowed her head and said quietly, "And he's right; I don't want you here. Please leave." Kagome lost some of her spark and turned slightly, averting her face from Hojo. Inuyasha's growl grew a little louder.

The sound caught Hojo's attention and he once again turned his gaze from Kagome to Inuyasha behind her. It was then that he saw the white, triangular dog ears that were perched atop his head of silver-white hair. His gaze tracked down and took in the amber-colored eyes and the claws that adorned the hand resting on Kagome's shoulder. It all clicked for Hojo at that moment. This was the reason for Kagome's distance in the last months of their relationship. This demon had stolen her from him. How dare he! "This is what you left me for!? This piece of demon filth! How can you even lower yourself to look at it; much less let it into your home?!"

Before Inuyasha's stunned mind could register what Hojo said, Kagome reached out and landed a resounding slap across the jerk's face. "Don't you ever speak that way about Inuyasha again! He is worth ten of you and has more honor in his smallest claw than you could ever hope to find in a million years! It never mattered to me that he's a demon and I didn't 'lower myself' to be with him! The only filth that I lowered myself to be with was you!" Kagome's eyes flashed with rage and a barely concealed hatred. "Now I want you to leave and never bother me or my friends again. I can see now how very much of a mistake our relationship was. Goodbye, Hojo." She didn't give him a chance to reply; just grabbed the door and shut it firmly in his face, turning the bolt to lock it. She turned then, trembling, and stumbled over to the couch, collapsing bonelessly onto it and burying her face in her hands.
Inuyasha stood where she left him, staring sightlessly at the closed front door. She had defended him to that human; said that he was honorable and that she considered him a worthy companion. And, wonder of wonders, his heritage didn't matter to her.

Of all the insecurities Inuyasha had overcome in his life that last was the only one that had always gotten to him. Even though human-demon relationships were acknowledged and sometimes, if the demon had enough status, like Yash's father, grudgingly accepted, they were not encouraged. The offspring of such a union was rarely accepted and, more often than not, they were tormented by humans and demons alike. Inuyasha had endured his fair share of the taunting and teasing when he was younger. The only thing that had softened some of the blows was having his friends beside him-especially Kagome.

Inuyasha slowly turned his head and found Kagome sitting on the couch, crying. He made his way over to her, not entirely sure about what to do. He was never good with crying women, didn't have a clue on how to make them stop. Following instinct, Yash sat down gingerly beside her and put an arm around her shoulders. It must have been the right thing to do, because the next thing he knew, Kagome flung herself into his arms and sobbed, burying her face in his shirt. It sounded like her heart was breaking and all Inuyasha could do was sit there and let her cry on his shoulder.

For a while, he just held her and let her cry it all out. Inuyasha was curious as to what had made the usually stable Kagome break down like this, but he wasn't sure it was his place to ask. Besides, when she was ready, she would tell him.

"Its okay, Kagome," Inuyasha said soothingly, running his hand through her hair. "I'm right here, I'll always be right here for you."

They sat in silence for a little longer, just holding each other. Kagome's tears had long since stopped, but she wasn't ready to let go and face the questions that she knew he would ask. She had really thought that she knew Hojo. How could she have missed the feelings he harbored for the demons that walked among them; and for him to say such things about Inuyasha - that had hurt her. Hojo was incredibly lucky Inuyasha hadn't killed him right there on her doorstep.

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. He had no right to say those things about you," she said softly, her voice still quivering from the tears she had shed. "I really thought I knew him. I had no idea that he felt that way. You know, after hearing him say that, some of the things he used to do sorta make sense now."

"You don't have to be sorry, Kagome. I know you don't feel that way." Inuyasha tightened his grip on her slightly. "What do you mean 'some of the things he did'?"
She raised her head and looked at him, her face red and tearstained. "I really don't want to talk about it right now. It has a lot to do with why we're not together and I'm really not ready to tell you about it." At his slightly hurt expression, she reached up and rubbed the ear closest to her. "I will, later. I promise."

Inuyasha felt the inevitable reaction he had to her touch and if he didn't stop her, he was going to do something they would both regret - especially knowing that his affection wasn't one-sided. Reaching up, he gently removed her hand from his ear. She shot him a confused look and he sighed. Now was not the time to be explaining demon anatomy to Kagome, so he just temporized, "Sango will be here soon, and as good as that feels you don't want her to see you like this."

"Huh?" Kagome responded intelligently.

"Well, for one thing," he prepared himself for the blow up that was coming, and he couldn't help feeling like a jerk for knowingly causing it, "your face is a wreck. You might want to do something about it." He was fully expecting her to yell at him and call him a jerk. Instead, she seemed to have not even heard him and her expression was one of thoughtful confusion.

"You know, that's something I've always wondered about," she said looking at him in speculation.

"What is? Why your face gets red and your eyes get all puffy after you cry?" God she was gonna ask about it. The best Inuyasha could do was distract her by being his normal jerk of a self. "I can't answer that, but it is definitely not a good look for you."

"You know your gonna get it if you don't stop with the comments," she shot back at him with a withering look. "No, what I wondered was why you never let anybody play with your ears? You always seem to enjoy it when I do it and that's the first time you've ever stopped me."

Inuyasha sighed and thought fast. He had to get out of this somehow. About the time he started to really panic, the doorbell rang. : Whew, he thought, saved by the bell. : He sighed again, this time in relief, when Kagome got up to answer the door. "You're not off the hook yet, buddy," she shot over her shoulder.

"Persistent as always," Yash muttered. Louder, he said, "I tell you what; when you're ready to tell me about Hojo, I'll tell you about the ear thing. Okay?" He thought for a moment that she wasn't going to go for it, but then, "Okay, you got a deal," set his mind at ease. Now, to decorate and avoid being bashed for insensitivity when Sango saw Kagome's face.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Having been successful in their attempts to avoid the work of putting "girly touches" on the shrine, Miroku and Inuyasha found themselves at rather loose ends, and Inuyasha took that time to give Miroku an edited version of the day's events. He didn't mention the kiss or the fact that he had held Kagome for almost an hour to comfort her. Miroku didn't need to know that, but Inuyasha was pretty sure that the perv suspected something. He hadn't missed the knowing look Miroku had shot him when he was telling about the incident with Hojo.

"I am not as bothered by Hojo as I am by Kikyo," Miroku told him, gazing thoughtfully into the branches of the great tree that stood sentinel on the shrine grounds. The girls had banished them from the house when Inuyasha tried to flood the place. He was only supposed to fill the glass balls half-way, but what did he know about floating candles and their receptacles. "I think you need to be careful."

"Well, duh. I know that," Inuyasha rolled his eyes at his friend. "What I need to figure out is how much Kagome needs to know about all of this. I mean, she knows that I dated a woman named Kikyo and that it ended badly, but she's never met the bitch - unless you count today. And she knows that I had a little trouble getting the woman to let go when we broke up."

"She doesn't know that Kikyo was stalking you." That was a statement, not a question. Miroku was the only other person who wasn't family who knew about the letters and phone calls. If not for Rin, even he would still be in the dark about it all. She had been home alone one night and received a call from none other than the psycho herself. The call had disturbed Rin so badly that she had started calling everyone she knew. Unfortunately for the poor girl, her guardians were out of reach for the evening and almost everyone else she called was either not home or not answering, so by the time she got to Sango and Miroku's number she was almost hysterical. Miroku had told her to stay put and had rushed right over. By then Inuyasha and Sesshomaru had gotten home. It had been a long night of explanations for all of them.

It had really hurt Miroku's feelings that his best friend hadn't confided in him, but it made sense to him that they would want to deal with this on their own. And the fewer people who knew, the fewer targets for Kikyo's warped mind to go after. Of course, all of this just brought the whole Kagome issue into sharper focus.

If Inuyasha told her, then she would know to watch out for Kikyo, but the knowledge of what the bitch was capable of would probably scare her. Not to mention that she would be a target. But then again, if Kikyo's earlier threats were to be believed, she already was. But if he didn't tell her, Kagome wouldn't know to avoid the woman and that might cause all kinds of problems.

"Well, what are you going to do?" Miroku could sympathize with Inuyasha's predicament. He knew how he would decide, given the same situation, but he was not Inuyasha. Besides, Sango could take care of herself.

"I don't know," Yash punched his knee in frustration. "I don't want her to get hurt. I mean, we're just friends": no matter how much I wish we were more: "and she doesn't deserve to be dragged into this." He stared off into the distance, his face set in a pensive frown. Finally, after so long that Miroku thought he wasn't going to speak again, Inuyasha gave a sharp nod, having reached a decision. "I'm not going to tell her."

"Are you sure that is wise, Inuyasha? She deserves to have some level of warning." Miroku frowned, his displeasure with Yash's statement obvious.

"At least, I won't tell her yet. All I have to go on is the words of a crazy woman and I-," his voice softened and his look was concerned, "I don't want to scare her."

"Damn, boy, you've really got it bad!" Miroku teased in an effort to lighten the mood. He knew how rare it was for his friend to admit or show his concern for anybody, even those he loved best, and Miroku couldn't help but poke at him for it. He was saved from a death by clawing, however, when his girlfriend came out and dropped a box of lanterns next to the door.

"Hey, can you two lazy bums hang these lanterns and the lights? Kagome wants them in the tree and around the fence and well house." When she didn't get an answer, she looked at them sternly and said, "You either help or you don't get fed."

"Aww, Sango, you don't play fair," Inuyasha whined. Lunch had been hours ago and he was hungry.

"Yeah, well, the party starts in an hour and this is the last thing we have to do. Kagome and I still need to change and you guys haven't done anything since 'the flood'. It's only fair that you do this for us. Please," Sango gave them the puppy dog look. How could they resist. With identical sighs of resignation, the boys got up and went to do as they were asked. At least they would get to eat soon, and then they could relax and just enjoy the company of their friends.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Kikyo sat in her darkened study and thought about her plans to take back what belonged to her. There was no way that she would let that little tramp keep her Inuyasha. Yes, she would do everything she could to get him back-and if that little whore got in the way, she would be eliminated. Should the unthinkable happen, and Kikyo was unable to bring her dog to heel, then he would join his bitch in death's sweet embrace. If Kikyo could not have him, then no one could; she would see to that.

The woman chuckled darkly as she considered her next move. First, she needed information. She needed to know everything she could about that little chit Inuyasha had spent the day with. They had been way too chummy for her to just be a friend. Then she needed to find out what had changed in the past year. Did that brat still live with him? Was he even living in the same place? Was he still friends with that pervert and his slut? These things she needed to know. Finding out about the girl would be the hardest; Kikyo didn't even know her name. Well, that was no matter. She knew what his plans were for the evening; she had overheard the bitch talking about a party while she followed them that day.

The shrine they had stopped at was easy enough to research and finding out who tended it would pose no problem. It was obvious that the girl lived there and all Kikyo had to do was return later and follow Inuyasha home after the little get together was over. Then she would have her answers.

I should have known that he wouldn't stay when all he could talk about was that Kagome bitch. That's what forced me to such extreme measures! He forced me to act that way! And then he dropped me-like I was nothing. Well, I'll show him that he is not so easily rid of me. His bitch had better watch out. Inuyasha will be mine!

The sound of her evil laugh echoed through the house creating a sinister chill that was felt for miles. She would make them pay for her humiliation and then she would have Inuyasha all to herself. No one could stop her. Her plans were perfect, flawless, and she would not be thwarted.

~*~

Later that evening, Kikyo sat across from the Higurashi shrine and watched as the friends enjoyed themselves. It didn't help her state of mind to see that girl and her Inuyasha under the branches of a lantern-lit tree. They seemed to be exchanging more than just pleasantries and when Inuyasha reached out and gently brushed a strand of hair out of the bitch's face, Kikyo almost lost it completely. The tree she hid behind was short a few branches come morning.

Her ears perked up, though, when she heard Inuyasha ask the girl, Kagome was her name, the same bitch that Inuyasha had such a strong fascination for when they were together, to meet him in the park tomorrow. That was just perfect. Kikyo could set her plan into motion and no one would be the wiser. A dark chuckle shook her frame as she thought about the havoc she was about to bring down on the two before her. Oh, yes, life was about to get very interesting, indeed.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Well, that's it for now. Sorry it's shorter than usual, but I needed to end there. You'll find out why later. Here's a question for you (we get to see who really reads these things); do you think this is starting too slowly? I mean, here it is chapter 4 and we're only on the second day. Next chapter will move on, but I don't know how far into the week it'll get. So, there's your question. Feedback is welcome and encouraged. Thanks,

Until we meet again,

Patch

Shout outs:

I want to take a minute and thank everyone that reviewed, so here we go:

Mediaminer.org

Slywolf9-wow, first review for the new story, you really were looking for it, huh; Aewi, resq188, KITN, shatteredjade-"Regrets" perhaps?, Erinlin, IWantMoreIY, lindy*girl, katzz, InuKitsuneMiko, Pkat, KagomeBunny, Biganimefan1, zuppy70, case, Kagomelover- no, don't hate you, just gotta keep ya interested, erinlin the random- Yes! I live! This story is far from over. In fact, I would say it's just getting started. Are you and the other Erinlin the same person?

Fanfiction.net

hyperchica11, Dreamer Wolf, Inasane Kawaii Shippo-Cha, sangochan, Moonlight Storm, darkkagome-sorry for the twistedness, your wish is my command, Slywolf9- you found me! ^_^, Silver Goddess1, c-dog-quit, you're making me blush!, ssp51201-I'm glad you gave my story a chance and I hope that I don't disappoint you. I have to agree, there are too many stories out there that have incompatible couples in them. Hope to see you again., Lady Morn- The best, huh? Between you and c-dog, I think my face may stay this color. Thanks for reviewing!

That's it for now. See ya on the flip side! Cat