InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Being Watched ❯ Being Watched: Chapter 2 ( Chapter 2 )

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

I do not own Inuyasha & Co.

Chapter 2

The next morning, a sound startled a set of dark brown eyes open. Kagome blinked to focus on the image in front of her. There he was, rummaging through his closet, looking for something to wear. She watched silently as he eyed each shirt. His hair was still matted, and draped long down his naked back, past the waistline of his blue jeans. His stature was tall, lanky, and muscular. Suddenly, she quieted a gasp; it seemed as if something moved on top of his head. She strained her eyes to focus better, only to see two silver triangles shifting side to side atop of his head. That moment, he'd chosen a shirt, turned and stopped short when he saw her eyeing him in shock.

He didn't know what to say. He dropped his arms to his side and stood before her while the shock slowly melted from her face. She slowly sat up and stood from the bed, dressed in her night clothes. He stood rigidly as she approached him. His breathing picked up speed the closer she got, his perfect bare chest rose high with each intake.

He closed his eyes. "I know what you're thinking. I'm a freak."

She stopped. "No, you're not." His eyes opened to meet hers. "I've never seen them on a man before, but that doesn't make you a freak."

She reached her hands up to touch the soft triangles of furry flesh. His eyes stuck on hers as she petted his ears. "They're really real, wow."

"Yes, they are. Now you want to know what I am, and where I got them." His said cynically.

"You were born this way, weren't you?" His expression melted. "Inuyasha... I see, dog spirit."

"So, you're not afraid?"

"No, why would I be? It explains everything."

"Everything?"

"Yes. You're loyalty to your seat, and to me, it seems. Your need to protect me, even though I haven't asked for it. You're making it to work on time from my building about two miles from your own. Ya know what they say, Inu?"

"No, what do they say?"

"That dogs choose their owners."

He snorted and turned to leave the room. "Don't treat me like a dog!"

He walked out the door into the bathroom and slipped his red, tight t-shirt on, which gave Kagome quite a show of his muscular stature from the side.

'That's another trait dogs have; they like to be treated like humans.'

Kagome walked to the bedroom door, closed it, and rummaged through her bags for clothes.

When she stepped from the bedroom a few minutes later with her toiletry bag, she saw him sitting at the computer down the hall. His hair was draped down his back still, and he was silently coloring an image. The brush strokes were effortless, flawless, and so sweeping that she was entranced in his work.

Suddenly, he stopped mid stroke, and looked over his shoulder at her. She then lowered her gaze. She retreated around the corner toward the bathroom, and closed the door. He clicked his tongue and went back to the finishing touches of the last image he'd worked on the entire night to meet his deadline for the next week. Once he finished, he leaned back in his chair, and stretched his long arms and fingers high into the air above his head.

Kagome left the bathroom ten minutes later. She was dressed in a summer dress, and her wavy black hair rested softly on her shoulders. Her face was made up simply. She was ready for whatever Inuyasha may have had planned for the day. When she arrived in the living room, she saw Inuyasha finish a stretch. When he settled upright again, he turned in his chair to see her standing before him, dressed as she was.

"What?" he asked.

"Well, it is Saturday."

"Yeah, so?"

"Wait, don't tell me you don't go out and enjoy the sun on a beautiful Saturday morning?"

"Nope. Got too much to do, but you can do whatever you want today."

"Actually, I thought maybe we could have that breakfast you promised me."

He turned around in his chair and continued to do something in the program on the screen. "I did, didn't I?" She didn't respond, but silently watched him toss it over.

He saved the work, set his computer to hibernate, and turned to her. "Let's go then."

He stood and walked toward her, eyes piercing hers. "I have to say something though."

She remained planted as he stopped within a breath's length from her. "You look absolutely beautiful today."

She immediately blushed, looked down and chuckled. His fingers lifted her chin to look up at him. His gaze captured hers for a moment and her heart caught in her chest. The way he looked at her made her nervous. He was in control of the moment, and for some reason, she couldn't move. She was entranced in his golden eyes, full of mystery and depth. She wanted to know what he was thinking, holding her soul hostage as he was. He slightly leaned forward, but she moved back slightly, and his eyes fell away.

"Sorry, didn't mean to do that." He stepped around her and left the room to grab his cap, wallet and keys from the table in the hall.

She stood there to catch her breath, and turned a moment later to see him looking her way expectantly.

"You coming or what?" She smiled and followed him out of the apartment.

Once on the street, he turned right, and she continued to follow; nervously behind. They walked in awkward silence until he looked at her over his shoulder. He coaxed her to join him at his side. They walked side-by-side as he pointed out various restaurants in his neighborhood. Upon a decision, they walked across the street and entered a small and quaint café.

They chose a table. A waitress appeared at their side and set menus down before them saying, "Welcome to Asari Yama. Let me know when you're ready to order."

Inuyasha picked up the menu, and began perusing before Kagome thanked the waitress. The menu was simple, the food was decently priced, and they offered quite a selection of food from deli to elaborate sushi and fish dishes. Kagome found it hard to decide, but was leaning toward the cheapest sandwich she could think of.

He clicked his teeth and set his menu down. He took a sip of his water and looked at her. "You know what you want yet?"

"I can't decide, but I'm thinking about the sakana sandwich."

"What?" She looked up at him in question. "Have what you want. No need to be cheap."

"But I'm already sleeping in your bedroom and leaving you the couch."

"Hey, listen to me. You don't have to worry about the money, or what you're allowed. You not accepting the best from me is an insult, ya know." She swallowed nervously.

"You deserve nothing less, especially after what you've been through. I'm no cheapskate, ya hear?"

"I never said-"

"Just relax. Let me pamper you, Kagome."

"Why should I? Ya know, I barely know you, if you think about it."

"You want to know why?" She nodded. "Well, we got time, so I'll tell you. I'm alone, and I got nobody. The last time I had anyone in my life was long before you were born. She was human, of course, so I outlived her, and I couldn't bring myself to have anyone else in my life after that."

"Then why are you so interested in me if her death hurt you so much?"

He lowered his gaze to the table. "I don't know."

"Who was she? Tell me about her."

He looked into her eyes; his soul openly revealed. "Her name was Kikyo. She was a Shinto priestess, the most powerful in the region. She was the guard of the Musashi Shinto shrine."

"Musashi?!"

"Yes." Her eyes were full of shock. "Kagome, I am over 500 years old." His eyes pierced her as he spoke. She gasped and her right hand covered her mouth.

"I am immortal, so to speak. I don't know how long I will live, but I have not seemed to age for centuries."

"How do you hide your age? Does anyone know?"

"No. I move around a lot, and fake my death if needed." She dropped her hand to the table.

"Anyways, Kikyo was my first and only love. She was killed by the demon we were fighting; Naraku. While we fought him, his spider webs encased her and infected her with his poisonous miasma, and she was unable to purify her wounds. Her purifying light she shot from her arrow gave me just what I needed to destroy him. After he faded away, I held her to my chest as she slipped away in my arms."

"So, what did you do?"

"Well, let's just say I mourned her for centuries." He spoke matter of factly.

She could see the pain in his eyes. "Inu, I'm so sorry."

He chuckled and lifted his water glass for a sip. "For what? You didn't do anything."

"No. I'm sorry you went through all that. It must have been hard and painful."

"What would you know about painful?" He looked away.

"You're right, but only to a point."

"And how's that?"

"Well, I lost a father. Granted, he isn't that nice a man anyways, but it does hurt to know I can't have a father who truly shows he cares about his daughter. All he does is tell me what to do."

"Ya know, maybe that is his way of showing affection for you. Some men are funny that way. I've known quite a few, believe me."

"How so?"

The waitress came by asking if they'd decided on their meals, and they each placed their orders. When the waitress left to set their orders, Inuyasha began his explanation.

"Think about it; I had a lot of interactions with the good fathers, the bad fathers, and the very ugly ones who would sell their daughters if it meant they'd make some money out of the arrangement. People have ultimately changed over the centuries, but some haven't left the old years, like they came back to continue to treat others badly again, or something."

"I see. So, sounds like you had quite a few adventures, huh?"

"Well, of course. Fought spirits, bandits, nasty people, and poltergeists you wouldn't want in your neck of the woods."

"Wow. So, why me? Am I your new adventure?”

He looked at her funny. "What are you trying to get at?"

"Well, I don't know. It just sounds like you need me more than I need you." He clicked his tongue and shook his head. "I'm right, aren't I?"

"Listen, I like you, alright? Is that so wrong?" She smiled. "What? What more do you want to know?"

"Just say it: you need me." Kagome said with a crooked smile.

He looked away for a moment. 'She's right, I guess I do need her.'

"Okay, I need you." He turned his gaze back to hers. "But until you said that, I didn't think of it that way."

"Why do you need me?"

He thought for a second. "Well, here's something you don't know about men. There's a reason why men are generally the ones that take charge of everything, take the forefront of the projects and make a lot of money. They work hard, want a family and a wife. Without anyone to take care of, or protect, men are nothing."

She sat back in her chair and her mouth opened slightly. "I don't believe men are worth nothing without being able to do those things."

"What do you know?" He looked off to the left, out the window at the people walking past the window.

"Well, if that were the case, then men who don't want families, and don't want responsibility wouldn't exist. As far as someone who has a tender heart is concerned, you're right, but not all men fall into that category."

He looked back to her. "Well, maybe, but that is how I've always felt. I don't know any other way to feel."

"Then who have you been living for all those years?"

He shrugged. "I don't know."

The waitress arrived with their sushi and tempura. She set their plates before them and wished they'd enjoy their meals. They both broke their chopsticks and started eating silently. The food was wonderful.

Kagome looked up from her sushi to watch Inuyasha eat before her. He didn't look up, or pay any attention to her as he ate. She then let it go and continued to eat quietly.

Later, they left the Café and Inuyasha led them further away from his apartment building. "Where are we going now?" Kagome asked.

"I want to see what's new at the book store."

"What books do you read?"

"Oh, I don't really buy literature books or anything like that. I buy comic books and the like."

"Oh."

"What do you do in your spare time?" He asked.

"Oh, I don't know. I embroider shirts, sew pillows, things like that."

"Oh, okay. Well, I think the bookstore has some crafty books and such." They entered the store.

"I'll be in the manga section. Let me know if you want anything." He stepped off to the left and disappeared into the back section.

Kagome sighed and just continued on forward. She picked up a book on the nearest shelf on cooking various sushi dishes. She perused it for a minute and then set the book down. She meandered for a while, looking at books here and there, not finding anything of interest until she saw a book off in the corner on her right. It was a book on parents and living with abuse. She opened the book to read a passage that spoke to her about her father and the damage he had done. A tear fell from her left eye, and then her right. They sailed down her cheeks and landed on the page, nearly framing the passage. She sniffled, shut the book and set it under her arm.

She walked further into the store, and around the book stack to find the New Age section and found a book titled Human and Spiritual Being Relationships. She opened the book to find a chapter based on types of spiritual beings. She continued to read on, and found a chapter focusing on dog spirits. A picture similar to Inuyasha filled the first page. She gasped when it described him; the man watching over her. She shut the book and slid it back amongst the books on the shelf.

"What's wrong?"

Inuyasha had startled her. "Oh, nothing. I just got creeped out by something I saw in a book, that's all." He looked perplexed. "Let's go, I'm ready." She handed him the book.

"Okay." He took the book and they checked out. They quietly walked back to his apartment.

When they arrived, Inuyasha went back to his work in the living room, and Kagome retired to the bedroom.

She cracked the door, took out her cell phone and set her favorite music to play. She propped up the big pillows, settled onto the bed and picked up the book she got. She started reading from the beginning. She noticed the book revealed a pattern; one she was frighteningly familiar with. Tears fell quite a bit as she read, and it scared her immensely. After a couple hours of reading, she slapped the book shut, fell to her side and cried openly.

Inuyasha heard the thud and the cries. He stood from his chair and ran into the bedroom to see Kagome lying in the fetal position, holding her eyes as she cried. He looked down and saw the title of the book she dropped, Signs Your Parents Are Toxic. He sighed and looked at the woman wetting his bed with tears. He sat down on the bed and rubbed his right hand on her back.

"Hey, what's wrong?" She couldn't respond. "Is it something you read in the book?" She nodded. "Okay, come here."

He helped her sit up and lean in to cry on his chest. He held her close and rocked slightly as she continued to cry.

"Just let it out, Kagome. You'll feel better."

A little while later, her tears dried up, and she quieted down. She held onto him as he continued to rock.

"Wanna talk about it?" He asked.

She sniffled. "I just learned that my father is a toxic parent."

"What does that mean?"

"It means that my father is among those parents who have hurt their children emotionally and psychologically without caring about what they've done to them."

"Oh."

"And I also learned that my mother is a part of it all. She's passive aggressive, and that can do a lot of harm too."

"I see. Well, you won't have to worry about that anymore, now that you're here." She looked up at him.

"I'm here and I won't treat you that way." She blinked, but said nothing.

"Kagome, if there is one thing I can promise you, it's that I know how to love another, and I will never hurt you on purpose."

She sniffed and hugged him as she cried tears of elation. He rubbed her back and started to rock again.

"Thank you, Inu."

"You're welcome, Kagome."

They remained like that for a while longer. Later, he left the room when she felt better. She'd pulled out her journal and wrote how her day went.

He sat down in his chair, before his computer, and looked at the picture he was working on before Niagara Falls hit his bedroom. He saved the file and pulled up a new blank page. He chose a pencil tip in the program and began to draw something new. He started with the left eye. He drew the circle for the iris, and then the colored it in. He framed the eye-line and then moved onto the right eye, following suit. Then the nose, the lips, and the frame of the head. He continued to draw, and the face that formed on the page turned out to be a likeness of the woman he was just holding what felt like a moment ago. He continued to add detail after detail, and before he knew it, his head hit the desk.

Kagome heard a thump. Out of concern, she set her journal down and headed down the hallway into the living room. She stopped when she saw him passed out and the face that stared back at her from the screen. She looked up at the oval shaped mirror on the wall above the computer screen and saw he had drawn her face. Tears fell from her eyes again as she smiled and giggled. He stirred a bit, and she darted from the room. He rubbed his eyes, and lifted his head from the desk to look upon his work. He saved it under the title, "Injured Heart" and set his computer to sleep.

He stood from his chair, stretched and yawned and made his way toward the hall to see the bedroom light go off through the cracked doorway. He continued into the bathroom and shut the door.

Kagome released her breath as she stepped away from the wall beside the door and crawled into bed. She pulled the white and fluffy down covers up to her chin and smiled in the dark over how he'd depicted her. It was a realistic portrait of her and was the most beautiful likeness she'd ever seen. It also opened the door into his heart on how he saw her. She knew then that she was in the right place, with the right person. For the first time in her life, she was with someone who cared.

After a few moments in the bathroom, Inuyasha flushed the toilet, dropped his shirt and jeans into the hamper, and put on his red sleep pants, he quickly brushed his teeth, and spit into the sink. He turned off the light, opened the door, and then sleepily padded down the hall into the living room. He sighed, and grabbed his spare pillow and fluffy white blanket. He draped the blanket over the expensive, but comfortable couch, slapped the pillow down against the arm rest and flicked off the lamp on the side table beside the couch.

He slipped under the blanket and settled his head into the small pillow. As he continued to lay there in the silent dark, his eyes roamed toward the hallway. He could see the curtain filtered street light glare peek through the crack in the door. His canine ears listened to every sound, wondering if Kagome was asleep as she was leading him to believe. Her breathing was not yet uniform, meaning she was probably lying awake in his bed staring up at the ceiling. He raised his right arm to rest under his neck as his gaze shifted to the wall across from him.

He thought about his feelings about everything that had happened the past couple days and nights. This woman just kinda fell in his lap, literally, and she hadn't left his life since. The strong pull he felt toward her was odd, to say the least. There was something about her he just couldn't place, and his brain just wasn't dropping the subject. He wanted to be with her, beside her, comforting her. However, what she'd said earlier was correct, that she didn't ask for any of this. And yet he wouldn't have it any other way. He chocked it all down to being instinctual, but even that didn't make sense. He closed his eyes and tossed aside the question of how long he'd been laying there obsessing, and tried to slip away into another world for a change. Soon, the apartment's silence was complimented by Inuyasha's loud snoring.