InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ All I Want For Christmas ❯ Chapter 7 ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any characters related to him. He is the sole creative property of Rumiko Takahashi, and therefore, not available. Unless he shows up at my door with chocolate and a dozen red roses; even then I don't think my husband will let me keep him. -_-

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

Oh, yeah. Tsuyu and Yue are mine. They aren't much, but I did come up with them, so don't steal them.

A/N: 2/29/04- I don't know why you guys put up with the crap that was the first version of this chapter, but you obviously thought it was bad. I got a whole two reviews for it before I rewrote it. Hopefully I made it better. Let me know next time, please? (Maybe I need a beta.) Anyway, there have been some changes, so please revisit.

A/N: 2/22/04-I'm really sorry that this chapter took so long, but for some reason I was having trouble writing fluffies. Don't know why. Not only that but school kinda came up and bit me in the … butt, so I had to do that before I finished this. Hope it was worth the wait.

On with the show!

All I Want For Christmas

Chapter 7

"So, I was walking down the street, dodging people and trying to get done as quick as I could, ya know. I wanted to get back and get my homework done before Ma found out that I hadn't done it yet," Yue started his tale, ducking his head sheepishly when he caught his mother's frown. Tsuyu held her tongue, though, and motioned for him to continue. They could have that discussion later, after they had straightened all of this out. "Anyway, I was about three, maybe four blocks from the shrine, when this dude stops me. He said that he was Inuyasha's brother's assistant and that he needed to trade the card I had for this new one that he had. Well, I wasn't real sure about that and I asked him why Yash didn't just bring it himself, 'cause I figured that it was a personal thing and Yash would want to change things himself, ya know." Yue shifted uncomfortably. He knew that the demon beside him was not going to like the guy's answer.

"What did he say, boy?" Inuyasha snarled impatiently when the teenager had been silent for a few minutes.

Yue jumped and stuttered his answer, "H-he said that y-you couldn't be bothered to do the j-job when a lowly h-human could be spared to do it instead."

"What!!" Inuyasha roared, shooting up and towering over the boy, who quivered and cowered in his seat. How dare this human say such things-such lies! How could he possibly think that Inuyasha would say such a thing! The very idea was ludicrous, and had the demon shaking in rage. The only thing that calmed him was Kagome's hand on his arm as she stood beside him and tried to get him to settle down.

"Calm down, Inuyasha," she pleaded. "He's only telling you what the guy said. You know that Yue doesn't think that you would do that." She turned him away from the cowering teenager until he was looking at her. Catching and holding his gaze, Kagome told him gently, "For that matter, neither do I."

Inuyasha felt his rage melt away like snow in July. How could he stay angry when what she spoke was the truth? Damn it, he knew that Yue looked up to him and would never think that he thought of any human as lower than himself-especially Kagome. Turning back to the couch to apologize for his outburst, Inuyasha discovered that the teen had ducked for cover behind his mother and Kagome was lowering herself into his recently vacated spot. Sitting down next to her, he told the boy, "I'm sorry, Yue. I shouldn't try to shoot the messenger."

Yue nodded and shakily took the other chair, then continued with his story. "A-anyway, he was really insistent and I finally gave in and took his note. I tried to give him the old one, but he didn't act like he really wanted it." The boy shrugged. "After that, he took off and I finished my delivery and came back here." Yue looked at Yash with a stricken expression. "I am so sorry, Inuyasha. I never meant for any of this to happen! The guy just seemed so sincere and I was stupid enough to believe him. Can you ever forgive me?"

He was very surprised when the person to answer him wasn't Inuyasha, but Kagome. "It's all right, Yue. There isn't anything to forgive," she said gently. "You had no way of knowing what that note said and this is in no way your fault." Yue didn't look completely convinced, but, as Inuyasha nodded in agreement to Kagome's words, he looked like he might be close to forgiving himself. "Now, can you tell us what the guy looked like? Maybe that will help us figure out why this happened."

"Well, let's see," Yue looked off for a moment, deep in thought, "he was taller than me, but shorter than Yash there. And he had short dark hair…I can't remember what color, just that it was dark-and-um-," Yue put his finger to his lips absently, his brow scrunching as he tried to remember details. "I think his eyes were… well they were either brown or blue." He turned apologetically to the couple on the couch. "I'm sorry, that's all that I can remember."

"It's okay," Kagome reassured him, "you've been really helpful." She glanced down at her watch and was a little surprised at how late it had gotten. "I need to get back to the shrine. Sango is probably frantic by now." She glanced at Yash as she rose from her seat.

"Yeah," he answered, getting up as well. "Thank you both," he said to Tsuyu and her son, "you've been a big help. I still don't know who did this," he shook his head in frustration, "but at least now Kagome knows that it wasn't me."

They all made their way to the front of the shop, the boys dropping back so that the women could exit the storeroom first. As they got to the door, Yue stopped Yash with a hand on his arm. Reaching into his pocket, the young man pulled out a small envelope and handed it to the demon. "I thought that you might want to have this back. I mean it is yours and I'm sure that Kagome would like to see it."

Inuyasha looked down and was a little surprised to see that Yue was handing him the original note. "Thank you," he said sincerely, "I'm sure that I can find a use for this."

For a moment he wondered why this mystery man wouldn't want to keep the note and later destroy the evidence, but he dismissed the thought as irrelevant. The important thing was that he had it back and Kagome now knew the truth about what had happened. Now he just needed to give her the note she should have received and they could put this whole mess behind them.

After saying his goodbyes to Tsuyu and Yue, Inuyasha caught up with Kagome outside of the shop. Together, they made their way in silence back toward the shrine, forgoing the train ride and just enjoying the night and each others' company. This time, the silence between them was companionable, though contemplative, instead of strained as it had been before. Neither spoke; each lost in their own thoughts, and Inuyasha was content to just let it continue.

"I'm sorry," Kagome said softly, breaking the silence. It was obvious that however content Inuyasha's thoughts were Kagome's were turbulent and uncertain. She stared at the sidewalk, twisting her hands together and unable to meet the half-demon's eyes. She was sure that he would think her shallow for believing him capable of such cruelty. "I'm sorry that I let myself think for even a moment that you would do something like that. I would understand if you didn't want to be with me anymore."

Her statement shocked Inuyasha into speechlessness. He didn't know how to respond to that, so he didn't. He continued to walk beside her and tried to figure out what was going through her head. He only realized what a mistake not speaking was when, a moment later, he smelled the salt of her tears. : Damn it, I made her cry again. This has to be a record. 'How many times can you make your girlfriend cry in one day'? Real smooth, idiot. I have to tell her that I don't feel that way; that I could never leave her over something so stupid, but how?: The crinkling of paper as he reached out to stop her answered his question.

"Kagome," Inuyasha started, pulling her over to a bus bench and sitting them down, "I don't think any less of you for feeling that way. Hell, if it were the other way around, I know I wouldn't be as calm about it as you are," he spoke ruefully. Placing his hand gently on her cheek, he forced her to meet his eyes. "I still want to be with you. I could never let something this stupid change how I feel about you. Please, stop crying," he begged as he wiped her tears away. "I want you to read this." Kagome looked down at the envelope he was handing to her.

"What is it?" she asked quizzically through tears that were starting to slow as she considered his words. It looked like the kind of envelope you would find on a flower arrangement. "Inuyasha, I don't think that I can handle another note today."

"Please, Kagome read this one. It's the one you should have gotten," he told her, dropping his hand and looking away in embarrassment. : Well, I did want to be there when she read it, but this isn't how I wanted her to do it.:

With a shaky sigh, Kagome broke the seal on the envelope and pulled out the small square of paper. Her eyes welled up with happy tears as she read:

If you'll walk this road with me,

My journey won't seem so long.

And if you chance to stay with me

My heart will always be strong.

The first steps are always the hardest,

Thank you for letting me take them with you.

Yours forever,

Yash

"Oh, Inuyasha," Kagome exclaimed, throwing her arms around him. "That is so sweet!" She pulled back and looked him in the eye. "This is definitely better than the other one. Thank you," she said softly, planting a kiss on his cheek.

Inuyasha couldn't keep the goofy grin from spreading across his face and Kagome's giggle was music to his ears. This was the reaction he had hoped for when he sent those flowers this morning. The only way it would have been better is if she had kissed him a little more to the left, but he could fix that. Pulling her to him, he kissed her full on the lips; gently at first, but growing in intensity as she responded to him. When they finally pulled apart, Kagome rested her head on Inuyasha's shoulder with a contented sigh.

"Does this mean I'm forgiven?" he asked softly.

"There's nothing to forgive. Nothing that happened today was your fault." He felt the smile that crossed her face against his shoulder. "Thank you for caring enough to find out the truth."

He placed a gentle kiss to her temple and rested his cheek on top of her head. "I will always care," he whispered, tightening his embrace.

He was more than willing to sit on that bench as long as she wanted to, but it was getting late and their friends were probably worried about them. Reluctantly, he reminded her of this and, seeing her nod of understanding, they got up and resumed their walk, but not before Inuyasha tucked Kagome under his arm and pulled her close. He was pleasantly surprised when she slipped her arm around his waist and leaned into him. For the first time since he arrived at the shrine this evening, things were starting to look up.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Sango watched as the couple made their way down the shrine steps. She didn't like letting Kagome go with the demon, but what choice did she have? Kagome had been very insistent when she came down those stairs and Sango didn't have it in her to argue with her friend when she looked so sad and determined. Not only that, but Rin's words were starting to sink in and she was calming down enough to take her advice and start thinking, instead of just reacting.

After staring out at the empty shrine grounds for a while, Sango was calm enough to realize that she had been very hasty in thinking that her demon friend would do something like this. He was too attached to Kagome to ever do anything that would hurt her. Sango knew that as well as she knew her own name; she had just let her anger get the better of her and forgotten for a bit. She realized that she was probably not going to be his favorite person for a while because of it. :What am I going to do about this? I just hope that he will forgive me for doubting him, at least eventually,: she thought with a heavy sigh.

"So, Sango," the young woman jumped at the sound of Rin's voice. She had been so caught up in her thoughts that she forgot that the girl was even there. "Sorry." Rin grinned sheepishly. "Tell me again what happened before I got here. Please?" She had already heard most of the story from the older girl before she had gone up to comfort her distraught friend, but she thought that there might be more that Sango hadn't said in her anger. Rin just felt like she needed to hear it all; then she could help them put it all behind them.

Sango rubbed her head as though fighting off a headache. She really didn't want to go through it all again, but she knew that Rin wouldn't leave it alone until her curiousity had been assuaged. Turning, she motioned for Rin to precede her back into the house, before following and closing the door behind them. Walking into the living room and sitting down on the couch, Sango drew a breath and recounted the events from before the other girl had arrived.

"Well, I came over this morning and was all set to help Kags take down the decorations from the other night. I mean, it was kinda late when we all left that night and I guess after her picnic and our shopping trip yesterday, she hadn't had time to do it. And she knew that I really hadn't wanted to stay home without Miroku, so when she called and asked for help, I couldn't tell her no. So I came over here. Besides, I thought maybe she might want to talk about what had been happening between her and Yash, ya know?" Rin nodded. She could see that. After all, Kagome and Inuyasha had been working toward this for a while and Kagome probably had some issues that she needed to work out. Who better to rant at than your best friend? Especially a best friend that was privy to all your insecurities and doubts, and had been there in the aftermath of all your failed relationships; a best friend that could help lay past demons to rest so that you could focus all your attention on the current one holding full court in your life.

"Anyway, we had just come in from taking down the lights out in the yard and were arguing about whether to stay in or go out for lunch, when the doorbell rang. I stayed in the kitchen while Kags went to answer it and only came out when I heard her squeal," Sango shook her head and chuckled lightly. "You know what that means don't you? When she squeals like a giddy little girl and jumps around like an idiot?" Rin laughed along with the older girl. As serious as Kagome could be sometimes, there were other times when her friends questioned her age and her sanity-usually when she was acting just the way Sango described her.

"Yeah, well, I came in here and saw that she had this beautiful bouquet of flowers, some of them were her favorites even. You'd think that she'd just won the lottery the way she was going on. Well, it was pretty obvious to both of us who they were from."

"Inuyasha," Rin stated.

"Yeah", Sango nodded in agreement, "Inuyasha." She paused for a moment and sighed. "By now, Kags had at least stopped dancing around and that's when she noticed that there was a card. She was grinning like a loon until she opened that card. After she read it, it was like all the joy had been sucked right out of her. The card fell out of her hand and she sank onto the couch and started to cry like there was no tomorrow. I picked it up and read it; I couldn't believe what I was seeing. Hell, I know that Yash can be an insensitive jerk sometimes, but this was the lowest thing that I had even seen anyone do." Her anger came surging back and she had to remind herself that it wasn't Yash she should be angry at. Getting control of herself, she calmed down and summed up some of her earlier thoughts, "I guess that I never stopped to think that it wasn't in his nature to do something like this; especially if it concerns Kagome." She looked vacantly at the Christmas tree, lost in her thoughts and not really seeing it. At least, until her gaze fell on a little white dog.

"How could I think that the person who gave her an ornament as a watch dog because he couldn't watch over her himself, could ever be cruel enough to string her along and then drop her. I could see it from somebody like Hojo, sure, but not Yash." Sango shook herself, dispelling the somber mood and continued with her story. "Anyway, I couldn't seem to do anything to calm her down and when she ran up to her room and locked the door, I decided I needed re-enforcements, so I called you. The rest you know."

Rin looked at Sango thoughtfully before she asked, "Do you still have that note?"

"Yeah, why?"

"I want to see it. Call it morbid curiosity." Sango just shrugged and reached across the coffee table, grabbing a little white envelope that had gone unnoticed, and handing it to Rin. The girl opened it and pulled out the plain white card and read:

These last few days were the biggest mistake of my life.

We should end it now before either of us gets too attached.

I'm sorry, babe, but I don't want to see you ever again.

Inuyasha

Rin went cold all over. She held in her hand an article that was meant to devastate, separate and eradicate any trust that Kagome ever had in Yash. The scary thing was it had almost worked. She was just glad that her friend had more faith in her uncle than whoever sent this realized. It was that faith that had probably saved their fledgling relationship.

Rin had no doubts that they would get to the bottom of this and make up. Now it was time for the three of them-that reminded her, she needed to get Shippo over there-to take matters into their own hands and set up something special for the couple. Call it a nudge in the right direction, just in case. "Hey, Sango," she said to the older girl. When she had her attention, Rin continued, "How about we set this place up special for those two?"

"What did you have in mind?" Sango asked, a little suspicious, but willing to help in whatever she had planned. Rin was notorious for her plots and plans, and while they usually worked okay, you had to be careful because she could go too far. Sango was still a little angry, but after talking to Rin and really thinking about the situation, her anger had been redirected toward the mysterious note writer, where it belonged. And since that person wasn't within throttling range, all that anger had turned into nervous energy. What better way to work it off then surprising her best friend?

"Let me get Shippo over here and I'll tell you," Rin answered mischievously as she headed for the phone.

~*~

An hour and a half later saw the three friends gazing with pride at their handiwork. The dinner table was set with a pretty white tablecloth and linen napkins, the arrangement Yash sent over sitting prominently in the center (no sense wasting perfectly good flowers). In the kitchen, a dinner of chicken and pasta waited for the couple; to be served hot when they were ready. Unsure of whether or not the two would want alcohol this evening, Sango had chilled a bottle of wine, with soda cooling in the fridge in case they wanted something tamer, along with the tea that was steeping on the stove.

All seemed to be in order and the only thing left to do was wait. Sango had to admit that this was a good idea. It was an excellent way to say that she was sorry for doubting Inuyasha and his intentions and it would give the two some much needed time alone together. It was just too bad that she would not be around to see the fruits of her labors.

"Well, guys," she said wistfully, "as much as I would like to be here when they get back, Miroku will be home soon and I really need to go make dinner for him. Would you please tell Yash that I'm sorry and I hope he takes this as my atonement?" Smiling gratefully when Rin nodded to her, Sango grabbed her coat and made her way to the door. "Oh!" she exclaimed as a truly devious thought occurred to her. "Rin, do you still have those special decorations we got the other day?"

"You mean the mistletoe?" Rin shook her head regretfully at Sango's energetic nod. "No, it's back at the house and I don't think there's time to go get it."

"Silly girl," Shippo said from behind her. "Did you forget that you are dating a kitsune? We can conjure anything." That said, he proceeded to pull out an ordinary oak leaf and, with a puff and a small plume of smoke, changed it into a sprig of mistletoe. "Viola! Missed-my-toe!"

With a grin and a giggle, Rin kissed Shippo's cheek, an action that made him blush, and took the greenery out of her boyfriend's hand. Turning to Sango she asked, "Where do you think we should hang it?"

"In the door way to the dining room. That way they have to stand under it." Seeing that Rin agreed with her, Sango turned and headed out the door. "Rin, call me later and let me know how it went, okay?" She paused long enough to see Rin nod and then she was gone.

After hanging the greenery, Rin and Shippo settled on the couch to wait for Kagome and Inuyasha. "I can't wait to see their faces when they see what we've done," Rin told Shippo.

"Yeah, this oughta be good. I just hope Dog Boy doesn't do anything stupid."

~*~*~*~*~*~

"You don't think they'll be too worried, do you?" Kagome asked Inuyasha as they approached the shrine steps. "I mean, we have been gone for a while and we didn't call and we were pretty mad when we-"

Her flow of words was halted by the gentle kiss Yash gave her. This was the third time she had started this particular babble streak, and while he didn't mind shutting her up this way, the subject was getting a little annoying. "I think it'll be fine," he said after releasing her.

They got about halfway up the steps before Kagome stopped. Turning to look at her, Yash could tell that she wanted to ask something, but she wasn't sure how to ask it. She was wringing her hands again and he was really getting tired of her doing that. "Come on, wen-uh Kagome, I know you want to say something. So, say it already," he snapped a little more harshly than he had intended.

She flinched at his harsh tone and he was quick to reach out and pull her back against him. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to snap." She snuggled into him to show her forgiveness and he sighed in relief before asking a bit more gently, "Now, what did you want to ask me?"

"Are you still mad at Sango?" He drew back and just stared at her in confusion. Why would he be mad-Oh, yeah. "I understand if you are," Kagome continued, "but she was just trying to protect me and I don't know what I would do if two of the most important people in my life hated each other." Tears ran silently down her face as she said this and Inuyasha was again struck dumb. What had he ever done to deserve such a caring, compassionate spirit? He was slightly awed to think that she would be sad if her friends weren't happy, but that was just her way. Chuckling gently, he wiped Kagome's tears away with his thumb, cupping her cheek and forcing her to look at him.

"I don't hate Sango, Kagome," he told her. "Actually, I'm really glad that you have such a protective friend." He chuckled again at the startled expression on his girlfriend's face. "I would really wonder about your choice in friends if she hadn't reacted that way, so don't worry about it." He smiled reassuringly at her. "I'll talk to Sango later and we'll get this all straightened out, okay?"

Kagome just stared at him for a minute before she asked, straight faced and serious, "Who are you and what did you do with Inuyasha?"

Okay, now he was really confused, "What are you talking about, bitch? I am Inuyasha. See the ears?" He wiggled said appendages and was relieved when Kagome giggled at his antics.

"I'm sorry," she said, her eyes bright with laughter, "but you were so serious and sounded so enlightened that I had to make sure that you were still you. And don't call me 'bitch'. You know how I feel about that!"

"I still don't understand why you get so upset about that," Inuyasha said as they continued to climb the steps. "I mean you're female, right? And you're dating a dog demon, right?" She nodded in dawning comprehension. "So, I don't see the problem."

"The problem, Oh Mighty One, is that, one, you never explained it that way and, two, we've only been dating for three days and you've called me that for as long as I can remember." She pinned him with a hard stare. "Care to explain that one away?"

"Would you look at that," he said in feigned surprise, seeing his salvation in the form of the front door. "We're here and it looks like someone's waiting for us. How about we go in and tell them what happened?"

"How about you quit avoiding the question and tell me what I want to know?" It didn't look like he was getting out of this one nearly as easily as the time with the ears-wait that gave him an idea.

"How about I answer that one when I tell you about my ears?" Inuyasha looked at her expectantly, throwing in the puppy look for good measure. God, he hoped she went for it. He really didn't want to get into demon mating behavior tonight.

Kagome realized that she wasn't going to get a straight answer out of him tonight; he never pulled that look unless he really didn't want to do something. So, with a resigned sigh, she agreed, "But don't think that I won't remember this, Buster. You are going to tell me eventually."

With a nod and a wink, Inuyasha reached out and opened the door. He was a little surprised that it wasn't locked, but when he saw the two teens sitting on the couch, he understood why. There sat Rin with her arms crossed and a stern expression on her face. Shippo sat next to her in a similar pose that was marred only by the grin that he kept trying to suppress. They were trying to come across as the mature ones and Inuyasha figured that it would be worth the laugh to play along.

"Just where have you two been?" Rin scolded. "We were worried sick and now your dinner will be cold. And after all the trouble we went through to make sure that it would be perfect!"

Yash hung his head contritely. "We're really sorry, Rin. We didn't mean to make you worry." He lifted his head just enough to catch Kagome's confused eye and wink. "Play along," he whispered so that only she heard, although he was pretty sure that Shippo caught his comment. Speaking loud enough for Rin to hear, he asked in a mournful voice, "What can we ever do to make it up to you, Mom?"

"Well, you could start by telling us what happened at Tsuyu's," Rin told him, choosing to ignore the 'Mom'. She knew that he was messing with her, but she wasn't about to let him get away without some answers, so she kept up the stern act.

He exchanged a look with Kagome. She didn't really look like she wanted to go through all of that again tonight. Turning back to the two on the couch, he said, "I really don't want to get into that again tonight, Rin. How about I tell you and Sess in the morning? I'm sure that he would like to know about this, too. That way I only have to tell it once. You can ever have Sango and Shippo come over and hear all about it. Is that fair?"

Rin didn't look like she was satisfied with that answer, but in the end she agreed to wait. "Fine, then you have to go in the kitchen and see what we did for you. We didn't go to all of this trouble just to be blown off with 'I'll tell you later. Goodbye'."

Getting up and grabbing the unresisting two by the hands, Rin dragged them into the dining room with Shippo toddling behind her, stopping just under the door and ducking out of the way. She didn't want to be in the line of fire.

All that the older couple could do was stand there and stare in disbelief. Kagome's eyes brimmed up with tears as she surveyed the room before her. The table was set with the fine dinnerware and a white table cloth. They had even managed to find her mother's linen napkins. The flower arrangement that had caused so much trouble had pride of place as the table's centerpiece. Rin and Shippo had done all of this for them. They truly were good friends.

"Sango helped, too," Rin told her quietly. "She made your dinner. She would have stayed, but she needed to get back to Miroku." Kagome nodded in understanding. Those two didn't get to spend nearly enough time together. Rin turned to Inuyasha before she said, "Sango wanted me to tell you that she was sorry for doubting you, Yash. She wanted this to be her apology and she hoped that you could eventually forgive her."

Inuyasha was a little startled until he thought about that for a minute. Sango had been really angry when they left. Hell, who was he kidding, he'd been enraged himself. But, if he looked at things from her point of view, he could see why she would be mad. Like he told Kagome earlier, he would wonder about her value as a friend if she hadn't been protective of Kagome's feelings. "I'll call her tomorrow and straighten it all out," was his response to Rin.

"Good," she said. "Now, are you just going to stand there or are you going to kiss your girlfriend? 'Cause I don't think that Shippo's magic is going to last much longer." At the confused looks she received, Rin pointed to the little green sprig that the two were standing under. "What? You didn't see the missed-my-toe when you came in?"

Inuyasha chuckled at the deviousness of his niece and their friends. A romantic dinner, wine, if he knew Sango and an 'innocently' placed sprig of mistletoe; all devices to make sure that he and Kagome made up by the end of the evening. Well, he and Kags had already made up, but he couldn't see wasting their good intentions. So, with a flourish, he grabbed Kagome, dipped her over his arm and planted a deep, wet kiss on her rather stunned lips. Pulling away enough to look at her, Yash was pleased to see laughter dancing in her eyes just before she leaned up and continued where he had left off.

Rin leaned over to Shippo and whispered, "Let's leave the lovebirds to their evening. I don't think they need us anymore."

Shippo nodded his agreement, whispering, "I think they can heat things up on their own," as they headed for the door. Just before she walked out though, Rin said, "I'll see you in the morning, Uncle Yash."

The last thing she saw before the door closed was Yash's waving distractedly at her from behind Kagome's back. He had finally let her straighten up and had both hands occupied with holding her to him, so it was a really small wave. Standing on the porch after closing the door, Rin and Shippo grinned at each other and began their trek down the steps, hand in hand. "Well, my fine foxy friend," Rin said to the kitsune, satisfaction dripping from her tone, "our work here is done." And with that, they left the lovebirds to their evening.

~*~*~*~*~*~

Across town, in a modestly appointed apartment, a lone figure sat hunched before a computer screen. Every now and then, he would look up at something that hung on the wall before him and compare it to what was on his screen. Soon, soon he would be able to show the finished product to his employer and he could wash his hands of them and their plans to ruin more innocent lives. Soon, he could rid himself of that which disgusted him and resume the life that the bitch had ripped away when she left him.

Soon, he would be able to free himself of the filth that he had been forced to associate with and pick up the shattered remains of his life. He didn't want to think about the deeds that bitch had forced him to enact, but that would end soon. He would finally have everything that he needed to bring her down and maybe this time he could stop what was coming before it got out of hand. Maybe this could be his atonement. Soon, he would be free.

Yes, indeed; soon, but not soon enough.

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

A/N: Well, how was that? Let me know. Oh, that last little bit is the set up for the next little evilness to come, so don't freak out on me. You'll get to see what it's all about next chapter, I promise.

Until we meet again,

Patch