InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dance Because You Love Me ❯ A Rocky Start ( Chapter 2 )

Chapter 2 - A Rocky Start

 

 

The silence was deafening. If you had dropped a pin at that moment it probably would have echoed on and on for minutes on end. Miroku stared at the scene before him with slight surprise. “InuYasha,” he began slowly. “I understand Kagome's shock at meeting you, but why are you not saying anything? That's no way to greet a guest.”

 

 

Still the hayou said not a word. He just stared at the girl as if she were the lowest scum on earth.

 

 

Kagome recovered first. “I-InuYasha?” she stammered. “Um...hi...”

 

 

Suddenly InuYasha's feelings became evident. He rose slowly, still staring at her. “Kagome...what...the fucking hell are you doing here?!?!”

 

 

The girl gave a surprised squeak as a pillow was hurled in her direction. “Get out!” he continued yelling, leaving a speechless manager and dancer in his wake. “Get out of my room!! I thought we agreed that we'd never see or hear from each other again! So get out!”

 

 

“HEY!” Kagome wasn't going to take it anymore. She caught the next pillow he threw at her and pitched it back, getting him hard in the chest. He looked at her in surprise. “I didn't know I was going to be dancing with you, okay? If I had known, I never would have agreed to this! How could I have known you were the friend Professor Takashi was talking about! How a distinguished professor like him can even stand knowing jackasses like you - ”

 

 

“Excuse me?” InuYasha yelled back, sounding highly insulted. “I'm the jackass here?” He threw his head back and laughed. “Says the unwelcome dancing wench! I can't believe he's got a student like you and is still sane. No way.” He shook his head and took a couple of steps toward her. “No way in hell is this arrangement going to go through. You just go back to New York, missy,” he put his hands on the girl's shoulders and started pushing her backwards toward the door, “and get the hell out of my life like you said you would.”

 

 

Pissed, Kagome slapped his hands away. “Sorry, but that's not going to happen. I don't have a plane ticket home. So unless you can find some way to pay for me to leave, it ain't happening, because I sure as hell don't have the money.” She glared at him. “And don't touch me, because I don't want to be in your company as much as you don't want to be in mine.” With that, she marched out the door and down the hall.

 

 

“Hey!” InuYasha yelled after her. “Wait just a minute.” He ran in front of her and stopped her movement with a hand on her head. “What do you mean you don't have the money to go home? Then how'd you get here? Did you blow all your cash or something?”

 

 

Kagome just glared at him. “No,” she spat. “For your information, I didn't spend a dime. This whole thing was arranged by Professor Takashi, so he made the arrangements and paid for my flight.”

 

 

InuYasha nodded and pulled out his cell phone. “Okay,” he said, sounding as though everything were all settled. He dialed a number and informed her, “I'll be speaking to Takashi

then.”

 

 

The girl stared daggers at him, severely pissed off. With a hmph, she marched into his room and slammed the door behind her. It was the sound of a lock grating into position that got InuYasha moving. With an angry cry he turned off his cell phone and marched toward the door. “HEY WENCH!” he yelled, banging on the door. “GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY ROOM!!!” Suddenly he jumped away from the door with another cry, this time holding his right foot in pain. He looked at the floor to see a pointy nail file jutting out from the crack underneath the door. The wench had gone and stabbed his toe with her nail care products!

 

 

“No!” came the reply. “I'm NOT getting out of here until you either get your effing attitude checked or you get me a plane ride home!”

 

 

“Aaarrgghh!!” InuYasha slammed his fist into the door one last time, hard enough to create a sizable crack.

 

 

“Hey!” The abuse of his rented penthouse had finally sent Miroku, who had been sitting on the couch, watching the entire scene unfold before him with twisted fascination, into action. “Don't do that, InuYasha!” he yelled, grabbing the hanyou's fist before he could hit the door again. “You'll break down the door! And guess whose paycheck the money's going to come out of? Yours!” With much effort, he managed to pull InuYasha away from the door and onto the couch, where he sat stiffly, breathing hard through his nose.

 

 

“That...that...bitch!” he stammered. “She has the gall...”

 

 

“All right, InuYasha,” Miroku started, still keeping a hand on his shoulder to prevent him from rising. “What's this all about? How do you and Kagome know each other?”

 

 

The hanyou looked at him in surprise. “What the fuck makes you think I'm going to tell you?” he cried in indignation. Growling, he dialed Takashi's number again and put the phone to his ear, waiting for it to ring. Kagome! Why the fuck, of all people, did it have to be Kagome? he asked himself furiously. Finally, after what seemed to him like an eternity, the Julliard professor picked up the phone. InuYasha went into a tirade. Why? He kept asking. Why?!? After about fifteen minutes he had his answer, and it didn't suit him at all. He was still furious over it, but it looked like the girl was going to stay.

 

 

Sighing, he canceled the call and flipped his phone to a close. “Damn it,” he cursed, burying his face in his hands. “Why her? Why now?”

 

 

Miroku was staring at his friend in surprise. InuYasha hadn't been so open about his emotions in a long time. Of course he was a great singer, and a pretty decent friend, but when it came to being cold and silent, he was an absolute expert. The sudden vulnerability and openness about his anger and frustration came as a shock to him. “InuYasha,” the manager started, running a hand through his brown locks. “Why are you so against Kagome being here?”

 

 

The hanyou scowled as he stood up. “That's none of your damn business,” he said gruffly. “So quit asking questions.” Still scowling, he marched to his bedroom door and once again rammed on it with his fist. “Kagome!” he yelled. “Get out! I've got something to tell you!”

 

 

Silence.

 

 

A growl escaped his lips as he raised his fist again. “Dammit, wench, quit being so uncooperative!” he demanded. “Just get out of my room so we can talk!”

 

 

Finally the door opened, and a pair of chocolate brown eyes peeked out and up at him. “What is it?” she asked in a quiet voice.

 

 

InuYasha looked at her for a moment, and then replied gruffly, “You're staying.”

 

 

Kagome's eyes opened wide in amazement. “What?” she said, opening the door to its full length.

 

 

The scowl was back. “You heard me. You're staying.” He pulled her roughly out of the room, earning himself a cry of protest and a slap on the arm, which he ignored. “Miroku will show you to your room. Dinner's at seven. Be late, and you don't eat. I'll show you the dance routines at around nine. Do your best to stay out of my way until then,” he continued coldly, avoiding her gaze. “And I'll stay out of yours.” He entered his room and was about to slam the door in her face when he stopped suddenly, as if having second thoughts. “Actually,” he said. “It'd probably be best if you stay out of my way period. The less we run into each other, the better.” With that, he shut the door and left a speechless Kagome to stare after him.

 

 

It took a moment for the girl to recover her composure, but when she did, she was plenty mad. She grabbed a couple of her suitcases, leaving Miroku to take care of the rest, and marched down the hall. Soon she realized that the manager wasn't walking behind her. She turned around and glared at him. “Well?” she screeched. Her voice was sounding unnaturally high. “You heard him. Show me to my room!”

 

 

Miroku's eyes widened and he scrambled after her, lugging her baggage along with him. He led her down another hall and to a room on the right, which he promptly unlocked. He swung the door open and deposited her bags inside. Then he gently pried from her hands the bags she was carrying and placed those inside. Suddenly he did something which literally shocked Kagome speechless. He wrapped his arms around the girl's waist and pulled her toward him, engulfing her in a hug that brought tears to her eyes. “I'm sorry InuYasha was such an ass to you, Kagome,” he told her kindly. “You didn't deserve that sort of welcome. Don't let it keep you away from the rest of us, though, okay? I promise the others won't treat you like that.” He pulled her away from him and smiled at her, using his thumb to dry the tears that had escaped her eyes. “I'm sorry,” he repeated. Then he nudged her into the room and made to close the door. “Make yourself at home,” he said, and then he was gone.

 

 

Kagome stared at the door in silence, hot tears burning her cheeks. A stifled sob erupted in her chest, and all at once she was crying and laughing at the same time, crying because of the pain and laughing because of the irony of seeing InuYasha again. She fell onto the bed and cried herself to sleep.

 

 

 

|||

 

 

 

She woke with a throbbing headache. Damn, she thought, gingerly sitting up. This is why I hate crying. The headache afterwards. Stifling more sobs, she got out of bed and blinked, gaining ground slowly. It had grown darker, which meant that it was either almost seven or way past dinner. A low grumble in the pit of her stomach made her hope that it was the former. She made her way to the door and felt for the light switch, finding it a couple of inches above her head. Light flooded the room and she had to shield her eyes from the effects of the first impact, but at least she was able to see the clock. It was six-fifty. She had ten minutes to make herself presentable - her clothes and hair had gotten very rumpled during her nap - and make it down to dinner, or else, as InuYasha had promised, she wouldn't be fed. Moving fast, she donned a fresh pair of jeans and blouse from her suitcase, brushed her hair, and hurried out of the room.

 

 

Now the next thing she had to do was find the dining room. As it turned out, it wasn't hard to find at all. The chatter of the crew was loud enough to lead her there without much problem. Kagome knocked shyly on the doorframe as she entered. From the looks of it, she was the only one missing from the set. All heads turned to her direction, and suddenly she felt very self-conscious. “Um,” she started quietly. “Am I late?”

 

 

The smallest of smiles started on InuYasha's lips, but it was gone so suddenly that Kagome had to wonder if it had even been there in the first place. He pointed to an empty seat diagonal from him and said, “Sit.”

 

 

Kagome complied quietly. She smiled and thanked the butler as he placed a steaming plate of what looked like shrimp alfredo in front of her. Apparently that was the right thing to do. One of the girls across the table grinned at Kagome's manners and said brightly, “She's polite. That's a good thing.”

 

 

A laugh started around the table - completely skipping over InuYasha - and they nodded their heads. Kagome felt herself relaxing as she picked up her fork and began to eat. The chatter had started again, but she felt no need to talk. For the moment she was happy just enjoying her meal. The alfredo was delicious. Almost as good as her mom's, in fact, which pleased her. It was awfully hard to find food that could compare to Ms. Higurashi's home-cooked meals.

 

 

Miroku grinned as he watched the young girl chew happily. “Good?” he asked.

 

 

Kagome smiled back and nodded. She swallowed before answering. “Very. You have no idea how hard it is for me to find a meal I actually like.”

 

 

“I'm glad,” Miroku said. “Did you have a good nap? You slept for quite a long time.”

 

 

InuYasha scoffed at this. “She's always been a heavy sleeper,” he cut in.

 

 

The girl pointedly ignored him, however, and directed her answer at Miroku. “I was tired. All the day's events were beginning to stress me.” She laid a heavy emphasis on that last sentence, and watched with a bitter pleasure as InuYasha rolled his eyes.

 

 

“So Kagome.” The girl that had made the polite comment leaned over and tapped her on the arm. “I think now is a good time to officially welcome to you our group.” She grinned brightly and stood up, and then began pointing out each person as she introduced them. “That is Yuka, Eri, Veronica, Joni, Ann, and Vicks. I'm Ayame.” She sat back down and replaced her napkin on her lap. “We've got a couple of people missing, though. You've yet to meet Sango and Kohaku. And there's Rick and Victor. You've met Miroku. And InuYasha.”

 

 

The girl named Ann gave a knowing smile. “Of course InuYasha. The entire world heard that reunion.”

 

 

There was a magnificent uproar at that statement. Even Miroku had joined in on the laughter. Kagome glanced up sharply at InuYasha then, surprised to see that his face had turned as crimson as her own. She giggled nervously. “You heard all that, huh?” she said, trying to play it off. “Well, don't worry. It won't be happening again.” She looked pointedly at InuYasha as she said that. He only scoffed and rolled his eyes.

 

 

“It's not that big of a deal!” Ann continued. “Believe me, we adore the drama. A little change of pace is a good thing with this crew. You have to keep things lively, you see, because it can get awfully boring living with this many people for so long.”

 

 

Kagome's eyes widened, clearly not believing her. She doubted she could ever have a boring moment with InuYasha around. He used to be so fun to be with, she thought sadly. Wait, what am I thinking? She pushed the thoughts away and turned back to Ann. “Oh?”

 

 

Eri laughed at that. “So exactly how many of InuYasha's songs have you actually heard?” she questioned, a very accurate hunch of what the answer would be playing in her head.

 

 

Kagome shifted uncomfortably. “Um,” she stammered, avoiding meeting anyone's eyes. “None of them?”

 

 

There was more loud laughter. “None of them?” Eri said. “Wow. He's an old friend of yours and you didn't know he had become a famous singer? You must be the first girl I've ever met who hasn't heard at least one of InuYasha's hits.”

 

 

“Uh...” Kagome shifted again, feeling even more uncomfortable. “I knew he became a singer, I just never...um...I never...”

 

 

“Ohhhh.” Eri's expression suddenly turned to one of intrigue. “So it was that kind of relationship, wasn't it? Hot and heavy and then a painful breakup?”

 

 

Kagome was about to reply when InuYasha beat her to it. “I think,” he said, surprising everyone in the room. “That the...relationship, for lack of a better term, between me and Kagome belongs to me and Kagome. In other words, keep your questions to yourselves.”

 

 

The finality in his voice stopped all desire for conversation. Everyone just stared at him in surprise. Like Miroku had been, the entire crew was shocked by his sudden outburst of emotion. He was usually so reserved. Only Kagome was not surprised. Knowing InuYasha, she wouldn't have expected anything less.

 

 

“God,” Eri finally spoke. “Take the fun out of everything, why don't you. You just completely killed our chances for good gossip.”

 

 

At that, InuYasha rolled his eyes and got out of his seat. Without another word, he left the room. No one spoke for a while. They were all just too surprised. Finally Ayame turned to Kagome, a look of supreme awe on her face. “Wow, girl,” she said. “Whatever you did to him, it must've been one hell of a relationship. I've never seen anyone get so much response from him.”

 

 

Kagome sighed and picked at her food, her appetite suddenly gone. She's right, she thought dejectedly. It was one hell of a relationship.

 

 

 

 

 

That's all for now people!! Please review for me! Then chapters will come out faster!! w00t!!

 

Hugs,

Michiko