InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dead Famous ❯ The Right to Remain Silent ( Chapter 12 )

Author's Notes:

I have a web site at last, after taking the advise of a few readers who keep getting frustrated with ff.net and mm.org. You can find all my fanfiction there as well as all the fanart that I've finished so far. (Bear in mind that it's only two days old so one or two fanfics may not be up yet.) To go there just go to my profile page and find the link.

Oh, Squeakyinuears and LinaNverse are both geniuses ^_^ You both really hit the nail on the head there.

Dead Famous

Chapter 12

The Right to Remain Silent

"Oh Bess, Bess, Bess, Bess…" Kagome said as she exhaled her breath slowly. "You're not a very complicated creature are you?"

Dubbed simple creature strained on her leash, trying to drag Kagome towards a bush of pungent smelling flowers. Kagome sniffed and was vaguely reminded of alcohol, so she tugged Bess' leash, pulling her away from the bush as they continued their way through the gardens.

The air smelt clean and fresh, the morning dew that still clung to the grass dampened her shoes, soaking in through the material and wetting her socks. Kagome ignored the cold discomfort as she made her way through a row of evergreen trees and came into a large clearing - a circular plateau, half grass and half water. That was either one hell of a big pond or just a mini lake.

It was a beautiful morning… and normally her thoughts would have been clear and enlightened by the pretty flowers and the heavenly smells.

But instead she felt mildly depressed.

Kagome drew to a stop and knelt down to unhook the leash from Bess' collar, letting her roam free. She picked up an old stick from the grass and passed it between her hands for a moment before pulling her arm back and tossing it as far as possible. It was a lame throw and it didn't go very far… but Bess didn't care and scuttled after it with a bark.

She'd given the dress back to Sango, despite her saying that Kagome was entitled to keep it. It wasn't like anyone would ever wear it again… but somehow Kagome just didn't feel entitled at all. Especially not after Inuyasha's comment last night.

Bess came trotting back, dragging the stick through the grass beside her and dropped it at Kagome's feet. The girl bent to pick it up and had soon sent the young dog scurrying back the way she came in chase of the piece of wood.

Kagome took a moment to herself while Bess was gone to turn towards the group of bushes beside the pond. In a poor effort to cheer herself up she sniffed the blossoms and picked a few of the prettier ones to take back to the villa. She'd put them in a cup of water or something and take them home with her tomorrow as a present for her friends. Flowers from Inuyasha's garden. They'd like that.

Bess arrived back with the stick and Kagome bent absently to toss it again with one hand… straight into the pond. She flinched when she heard the splash and spun just in time to see Bess take a head-long dive into the water. "No! They'll kill me!"

Bess didn't seem to care as she doggy-paddled out to bring back the stick… and a few unpleasant looking pond plants. Kagome wrinkled her nose as the dog clambered back onto the bank with her prize and shook her fur close to Kagome's legs, spraying the girl with lots of muddy water droplets.

Kagome peered down at her dirtied skirt and winced. "You might as well have another go now that you're dirty." She picked up the slimy stick and hurled it back into the pond and went back to the flowers.

Inuyasha was hiding himself away in the gym that morning, training furiously for his fight against Kouga. Kikyo had already called Sesshomaru back to 'help' out again since although Inuyasha probably couldn't feel the effects of the drugs, there would still be small traces in his body. Every time Kagome was reminded of the heroin incident she couldn't help but feel disappointed and angry at Inuyasha. How could he be quite stupid?

Answer: Quite easily really.

Stupid and sulky. That was what he was.

Kagome had crossed paths with him at breakfast and had noticed the lack of eye-contact he'd made. He'd sulked and he'd ignored her and had even gone to the trouble of walking around the table to fetch the sugar when he could have simply asked Kagome to pass it to him.

Of course, by now Kagome knew that he was only sulking to make a point. He sulked to show he was mad at her… it would have been easy for him to just smile and pretend he didn't care at all… maybe she would have even believed the act if he'd come down the stairs that morning and cheerfully greeted anyone. But how did she know that the sulking wasn't an act as well, just to make her feel bad?

But… Kagome had her intuition and she knew that it wasn't an act. This guy was pissed. Why? Well… she couldn't be certain but she had a feeling it could be any number of things. Maybe he was angry because she'd offended him by saying he kissed like an ashtray? Or maybe, as Sango had suggested, he was merely incensed that she'd had any contact with his sworn enemy Kouga without him knowing.

Kagome was pulled out of her thoughts when a rather wet dog rolled onto her feet, whining and begging for her tummy to be scratched. Kagome giggled at the wet animal and dutifully crouched to rub her fingers through the soft fur covering Bess' belly. "I don't know how I'm supposed to cheer him up…" she whispered to Bess. Maybe she didn't even want to cheer him up? She just didn't know anything when it came to Inuyasha. She didn't know whether he was sad or happy, angry or hurt… or whether it was her fault that he was unhappy or just him being a jerk on a guilt trip.

She didn't find any answers to her questions during that walk. So Kagome just sighed once more and clipped the leash back onto Bess and dragged her back towards the villa with a small bunch of flowers in her hand.

"Ah, there you are." Miroku greeted when he spotted her approaching the main entrance. "I was wondering if that dog had dragged you over a cliff or something… but it looks like she dragged you into a pond by mistake."

Kagome looked down at her wet, slightly smelly charge and shook her head. "I think she rolled in something."

"Don't worry, I'll give her a bath. I'll happily hose you down too if you-"

"No thanks, I have a shower in my room." She smiled and passed him the leash. "Where's Sango?"

"With Inuyasha."

"Um… is he…" Kagome wrung her hands together anxiously. "Is he mad at me?"

Miroku gave her a penetrating sort of stare that caused her more concern than ever. Then he smiled. "Of course not."

He was lying. Inuyasha was mad, he was very mad. Kagome tried a good impression of her usual relieved smile. "Oh good… thanks." Never mind, she thought as she mooched back up the steps to the entrance doors and stepped into the cool foyer.

"There you are!"

Kagome looked up to see Kikyo striding purposefully towards her with a phone in her outstretched hand. "Someone wants to talk to you."

"Who?" Kagome asked the natural question.

Kikyo just shrugged, shoved the phone into her hand and strode off again. Obviously that was one busy woman. Kagome watched her walk away for a moment before raising the phone to her ear curiously. "Hello?"

"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT KISS?! THAT MASSAGE?! YOU PRESENTED AN AWARD, GIRL, WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU?!!"

Ah… Yuka had found her.

~*~

"Would you - *wham* - calm down - *thock* - I can barely keep up with you!!"

"That was my mother's dress!" Inuyasha yelled, punching the bag that Sango tried to desperately to steady it. She was strong for a human woman, but Inuyasha wasn't human, nor a woman. "That was her dress! How could you give it to her?!"

"Well you weren't using it, were you?!" She spat back, red faced from the exertion of keeping the bag from flying away dangerously. "Your mother died six years ago - when are you going to put her clothing behind you?!"

"NEVER!"

He gave the bag one last pummel that had Sango staggering backwards, wind-milling her arms to keep her balance. He hand caught the side of the tread-mill and at once she shot Inuyasha with a piercing look. "What is the matter with you?!" she snapped. "You are taking all of this way too personally for your own good!"

"That girl has just fucked everything up!" he hissed, seething with the anger that had been burning away all night. "Haven't you noticed that ever since she arrived here, everything's been shot to hell?!"

"You're exaggerating," Sango said dismissively. "Just because there is one girl you've met who won't make-out with you or let you walk all over her… that's all this is about isn't it? She won't do things your way so you're mad."

"That's not the problem!" he snarled.

"Then what the hell is your problem?" she planted her hands on her hips, breathing hard.

"Just shut up and go." He whipped away from her and resumed punching the bag, letting it swing out to a near ninety degree angle before hitting it again when it swung straight back.

Sango watched him with a hard glare before angrily marching over to the benches, swiping her jacket and storming out. "You're such an ass. I'm ashamed to work for you." She snapped as a parting sentiment over her shoulder as the door slammed shut.

"Good riddance," Inuyasha muttered to himself.

It was no good asking him what was wrong, because he just didn't know. All he knew was that it was somehow Kagome's fault. He wasn't all that mad about her wearing his mother's dress… in fact she hadn't looked half bad in it, and red did suit her. What angered him was that his mouth had forgotten to get permission from his brain before speaking, and he'd snapped a rather cruel, but true, statement. Something about her had made him forget to hold his tongue… she'd gotten right under his skin with her last comment about the kiss and he just hadn't been able to let her get away with it, even though he knew he should have known better than to let her know just what he thought about that dress. His composure was falling apart at the seams every day that passed by in her company.

That was what got to him. Because he knew that if she stuck around any longer then he just might loose it all together, not after all these years of control.

He stopped punching the bag and caught it with his hands before it smacked into him. He held it tightly, sinking the tips of his claws into the fabric covering the sausage shaped bag and tried to pretend it was Kagome shaped instead.

There was something wrong with that girl. Insults normally bounced off of him like glue… but hers struck like arrows, piercing his tough hide and going right for the heart, provoking him to lash back when he would normally let things go. He didn't care what people around him thought, he didn't particularly care what anyone thought of him, and it was only Kikyo's constant reminder that trouble-makers didn't pull in teenage girls' parent's money that stopped him from doing whatever the hell he liked in public. But the new girl, Kagome, for some reason, it was beginning to matter to him what she thought of him.

Not that he wanted her to think of him as a decent person, or a kind or generous person. There was no way in hell that she would ever get the impression that he was a fundamentally good person… and he didn't want to give it. But he didn't want her to start thinking of him as someone to be pitied, someone who needed help or was making a silent cry for attention. He wanted her to think of him as everyone else did; either adore him or detest him.

Things weren't going his way at all… so perhaps Sango was right. Maybe that was all that was really wrong with him.

He gave the punching bag one last, half-hearted thump before grabbing the remote control for the television set from the window ledge and turned up the volume to see what was on. He flicked past a hundred advertising channels before he skipped something that looked interesting…

Inuyasha went back a few stations and stopped, cocking his head.

It was one of those Daytime television programs cleverly named 'Good Morning'. This particular show was renowned for spreading the gossip and fashion of superstars and was generally aimed at a mature audience.

"And as for our 'Dressed to Impress and Dressed to Distress' quarter of the show, here are some clips from last night's Armitage Awards." The middle-aged female presenter told the camera with a good-natured smile.

Dressed to distress came up first, and he was thankful that he wasn't included in the line-up. He recognised a few and agreed wholeheartedly… some of those outfits were atrocious. However dressed to impress came up next, and he was rather put-out to find that he wasn't in that particular line-up either.

Twiggy was.

And dear god, she was going to be highlighted about it.

"Now this is an interesting choice of dress to wear to the awards, isn't it Isoki." The woman turned to her male co-presenter when the clips ended.

"Mm, if I'm not much mistaken, the last time this line of dress was seen, was in 1996 at the Fashion World show - displayed by non other than the model Ribia, Inuyasha's own mother." The male commented like this was all just common knowledge… like he wasn't reading a script at all. "Designed by 'Pier don Marche' and possibly even the same dress, what do you think, Ikimi?"

"I think you're right, and I also have to say that I've noticed Kagome Higurashi and Inuyasha's agent hold a strong resemblance to one another."

"Yes, I noticed that as well. A relation perhaps?"

"Which leads to rumours that the draw was indeed fixed. But sources also reveal that last night's 'surprise' presentation by Kagome was in fact a mistake. Producers of the award show told us that Fukiko Tanaka was originally supposed to present the award, they admit there may have been a mix-up… or even a prank. But for Inuyasha to give her such a dress to wear must mean that the pair are on friendlier terms than we expected."

"Ha." Inuyasha scoffed in contempt.

The woman continued. "Of course the little display of affection at the awards is an indication that perhaps they are more than friendly. Kagome also seems to have earned herself a pet-name as well as tender kiss for presenting an award. He certainly wasn't so keen on Joi Ito, as we would have expected."

Tender kiss? Affection? Pet name? Inuyasha snorted and shook his head. It was ridiculous. The kiss was to get his own back. He knew that she hated it when he got anywhere near her, and for him to do something like that in public was the ultimate shame on her. Also… it might warn Kouga to keep his hands off anything under his roof.

"To give us some insight into this revelation, we've invited our Inuyasha expert back to the studio," the woman said as the camera swung to a third person sitting on the Good Morning couch. A young woman, only about seventeen.

He recognised her at once and narrowed his eyes. She was one of his old girlfriends who had promptly gone around selling her story to every newspaper the minute he'd dropped her. All bad rumours had stemmed from this girl… this was bad news…

"So what do you think to the pet name, 'Twiggy', Miss Asami?"

Ah! Asami! Now he remembered her name!

"I think all that really means, Ikimi, is that he can't remember her real name. It happens all the time. Inuyasha never seems to make the effort to really get to know the people around him." The old girlfriend told. "And as for any growing relationship? I warn Kagome not to get her hopes up too high - Inuyasha is you're a-typical ladies man. He has a reputation for it, yet he still manages to score unbelievable numbers when he wants to. I've seen him literally pick girls up out of a crowd at a party and take them into the bathroom just to make-out."

"Hey - I only did that once and I dumped you after that!" he yelled at the Tv.

"He never sees the same girl twice and he never remembers their name." The girl continued. "And I feel kind of sorry for her, she's only young, she needs to get out of that villa before she gets out of her depth."

"No one's listening to you," Inuyasha told her flatly.

A knock sounded from the door and he glanced towards it. "Who is it?"

"It's me," Kagome's voice.

Inuyasha fumbled with the remote, quickly changing to another channel before she heard her name mention. "Come in!" he called when it was all clear.

Kagome pushed the door open and stepped into the room. He noticed that she'd changed since breakfast and her hair was wet like she'd had a shower. She closed the door after her and gave him a long look as she approached him where he stood in the middle of the floor.

She glanced up at the Tv for a moment as she came to a stop beside him. She opened her mouth to speak but when she saw what he was watching she failed to come up with anything to say. He followed her gaze to the screen and immediately gave himself a well-deserved mental slap on the forehead.

Straight off Good Morning and straight onto the Foreign Porn channel.

"Do you always watch Porn when you practise?" she said uneasily.

"Yeah…" he answered slowly. "Helps motivate me."

"Could you… turn it off?" she tore her eyes away and looked at everything else except the screen.

"If I must." He said with a put-out sort of sigh as he picked up the remote and switched it off. "What do you want?"

"You don't mess around do you?" she said dully.

"What do you want?" he repeated more forcefully.

She rolled her eyes and folded her arms. She was quiet a moment before she finally looked up to meet his eyes. "I'm sorry."

It was hard to find someone as sincere as she was. He was almost endeared by the look in her eyes. So he just pretended to blink in confusion. "What?"

"I'm sorry." She repeated in the same forceful tone he'd used. "I upset you last night… I still haven't figured out which one you're mad about, maybe all of it combined, but I'm sorry and I hope that you'll stop this sulking business."

"Who says I'm sulking?" he challenged.

"You're body-language right now." She gave his tightly folded arms a pointed look. He slowly unfolded them but glared warningly at her. Don't push me this time, girl…

"So…" she leant her head slightly to the left. "So I'm sorry I wore your mother's dress. I had no right… it wasn't mine. I'm sorry I made that comment about that stupid kiss - which by the way my friends want to kill me for and my mother keeps asking uncomfortable questions about. And… and I'm sorry that I spoke to Kouga behind your back, even though I probably did you a favour by injuring him before the fight and putting you at even odds with him."

"Mm." He shrugged. "If you put it like that, I guess I have nothing to sulk about."

She looked relieved. "Exactly! So can we stop this arguing and just enjoy the last day of my stay here?"

"Uh…" he made a show of thinking hard as he pretended to consider that suggestion from every angle. Then eventually he bluntly said, "No."

"Excuse me?" she narrowed her eyes.

"Believe it or not, you don't upset me by what you do. You upset me by just being you." He blinked. "Hey that rhymed!"

"What do you mean by being me?" her eyes narrowed into thinner slits.

"You, to me, is what an annoying spot of spinach is between someone's teeth. You, to me, is what a flea is to a dog. You, to me, is a tick in the brain of a psychopath. You, to me, is what deodorant is to the fat sweaty man who jogs by the Blossom café every morning." He gave her a patronising smile. "Do you understand, sweetheart?"

"Am I just a nuisance to you?" She asked calmly.

"Well, less of a nuisance and more of a threat I suppose." He stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose it's unfair to say you just get in my way. You pester, irritate, get under my skin and cause a rash. Because if you must know, you're going to have to leave tomorrow or I might just do something I regret?"

"Like what?" she folded her arms, looking him daringly in the eye. "Like strangle me, maybe?"

"No. Do something I regret like talk to you." He smirked and moved away to the bench to pick up a towel. "And I really hate talking, by the way."

"I noticed."

"I'm actually getting tingles of anticipation for when you leave." He told her with a quirked smile. "I don't think I've ever looked forward to something as much as this. Bon voyage for then!"

Kagome flexed her fingers in annoyance against her arms. "Obviously you're not mature enough to get over yourself." She snapped and headed for the door but stopped before she reached for the handle and turned back to him, obviously with more to say. But judging by the light blush tinting her cheeks, she wasn't going to find it comfortable. "And… just for the record… why did you kiss me?" she asked in a small voice.

He couldn't help but grin. Progress! "Wouldn't you like to know?" he said evasively. Finally she was getting flustered… it had only taken a week of trying.

"I don't want to know!" she said quickly. "It was Yuka who wanted to know."

"Well you can tell this 'Yuki'-"

"Yuka."

"Tell your friend that I find you absolutely gorgeous and that I can barely keep my hands off of you." He waited for her to turn red and run away.

But instead she sighed and gave him a disparaging look. "Why aren't you ever serious…?" She shook her head sadly and walked out.

There it was again, that annoying feeling that he felt he couldn't let her walk away with the last word. He fought the urge down to bark another insult after her… but by just standing there trying to ignore it he only wound up feeling worse.

"Sod it," he muttered and threw himself towards the door and skidded into the corridor outside. He looked around a moment before spotting her as she was just about to disappear around a corner. "I'll have you know that I am serious!"

Yes. Well done, he congratulated himself dryly as he saw her give him a puzzled look.

"You're weird." She called to him then disappeared around the corner, out of his sight.

"No - you're weird!" he shouted back… but he had the feeling she wasn't listening anymore, or really cared for that matter.

He spun angrily with a hiss and thumped his fist against the doorway. "That is the last time I let Kikyo do stupid fan-girl promotions for me!"

~*~

The rematch went ahead as planned, though this time Kagome wasn't stowing away in Sesshomaru's car. Kikyo was driving this time, with Sango beside her and the two argumentative brats in the back; Kagome and Inuyasha.

Miroku had to follow in Sesshomaru's car since they'd run out of room in Kikyo's. (Actually there was room, but Inuyasha insisted on having the seat beside him to put his feet up). Also, this time, Sesshomaru had brought the kiddies along.

"Nice car." Miroku commented over the shriek of excited children in the back seat.

Sesshomaru continued to swerve without saying anything.

Miroku spotted something red on the dash board. "Ooh - what does this button do-?"

"Don't touch that." Sesshomaru said icily. Miroku slowly withdrew his hand back into his lap, making a mental note that Inuyasha's brother was twice as frosty as Kikyo, and five times scarier.

"OW! HIKO BIT ME!"

"DID NOT!"

"DID TOO!"

"Stop it!" Sesshomaru barked at his children, but he was ignored, so he used more extreme methods to break them up.

He pulled the hand-break.

Miroku jerked as the car screeched to an instant halt, and felt three successive thuds against the back of his seat as three kids who didn't like to wear seat-belts came pelting forward. He didn't dare breath as Sesshomaru turned calmly to face his precious ones. "Do you all remember the Grand Canyon?"

"…yes…" came three vague voices from the heap of boys on the floor.

"Well if you don't sit down and shut up then I will turn around and drive there right now and push all three of you over the edge." He turned back to the wheel. "And put your seat-belts on."

The three boys climbed back into their seats sullenly and pulled on their belts with exaggerated pouts.

"Now. Let's try again." Sesshomaru said calmly as he pushed the hand-brake down and started off again down the motorway.

Miroku tried not to open his eyes the rest of the way. There was only so much panic and stress one heart could take.

~*~

"Did you know that boxers, when they retire, often have semi-brain damage due to the many blows they receive to the head during their career?" Kagome asked Inuyasha as she trailed along after him as they made their way to the changing rooms. She'd picked up a pamphlet about boxing somewhere and was helpfully reciting interesting quotes. "That'll be a shame for you because you'll have full brain damage considering you were already semi-damaged to begin with."

"Who gave you that?" he snatched the booklet from her and shoved it into a bin they were passing in the corridor. "That's a load of bullshit."

"Boxers approximately loose half of their brain cells by the end of their career." She gave him a startled look. "Inuyasha - you'll only have one left!"

"Why did we bring her along, again?" Inuyasha snapped at Kikyo.

Sango fielded that answer. "Because she's giving morale to the troops." She was lending her shoulders to a rather pale, green looking Miroku. He could barely stand on his own it seemed. "Don't be so sensitive, Inuyasha." She told him. "We all know you have way more than two brain cells."

"Yeah," Kagome said dryly. "You have at least fifteen."

They all sniggered apart from Inuyasha and Kikyo.

"Abuse," Inuyasha said with a scoff. "Abuse is all I get from my employees. Why do I even bother?"

He stopped outside a door leading off from the corridor and pushed it open, leading the rest of the small group inside. Kikyo stopped in the doorway. "I'll go find out when they want you up in the arena." She said and let the door swing close behind her as she stalked off.

"Why does Miroku look like he's about to throw up?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha slipped away into the back of the changing room to get… well, changed.

"Sesshomaru drives very…" Miroku sat down on a bench, looking for the right word. "Aggressively."

"He drives like Godzilla is on his tail!" Came Inuyasha disembodied voice came from the back room.

"Or his wife." Sango slipped in and they all had a good chuckled at that. Except for Kagome who didn't get it.

"Why would he…?" she began.

"Let's just say Sesshomaru and his wife aren't exactly feeling that newly wedded vibe thing." Miroku told her. "They were married two years before Inuyasha was born and their eldest son has just finished university and for the past few years his wife has been pressuring for more children. Now they have four, three boys and a girl and they're driving the family crazy."

"They pretend everything's ok, but in reality, they're about two more extra-marital affairs away from getting a separation." Sango said knowledgeably. "We all know she's been 'helping' her pool-boy 'clean the pools' for quite a while now." She made little quotation marks with her fingers.

"Poor Sesshomaru."

"He's ok." Inuyasha said as he came back in a dressing robe. "He's got the hots for his new secretary. She's an air-head but she's got the biggest-"

"Ahem!" Sango cleared her throat pointedly.

"… dimples." He finished and pointed to his face. "In her cheeks. She's very sweet, but Sesshomaru won't let me near her… I can't imagine why…"

"I wonder…" Kagome gave him a flat look, just as the door opened again and Kikyo came in. She looked sombre. Actually, she always looked sombre, but this time there was a definite disturbed air to her sombreness.

"What's the matter?" Inuyasha prompted her.

"There isn't going to be a match today." Kikyo told him slowly.

"WHAT?!" Inuyasha predictably exploded.

Kagome's first thought was that he'd been discovered. That they somehow knew about the drugs despite Sesshomaru taking the test.

Sango was a little more sensible than Inuyasha. "Why? What's happened?"

The door opened again behind Kikyo and Kagome frowned in confusion as two police officers entered, though she could see at least five more standing out in the corridor. The older officer behind Kikyo moved around to address Inuyasha. "Sir, you're going to have to come with us?"

"Why? What's this about?" Inuyasha said defensively. For all his wonderful acting skills, he was playing off as guilty this time. But he had every reason to be nervous…

"Your opponent, Kouga, has been hospitalised after a drive-by shooting this morning." The man moved forward while the other officers forced their way past Kikyo to enter the room. The agent stubbornly remained stood in their way, despite the way she was pushed. "You are under arrest for suspicion of attempted murder, anything you say or do can be used against you in a court of law. If you resist it will only make your case more difficult."

For a moment Kagome thought he would resist. She could see him faintly squaring his shoulders as if preparing to take them all on if need be… but with one faint shake of the head from Kikyo, he caved.

"Fine." Inuyasha shrugged indifferently and started walking toward the back room. "Just let me get my clothes."

AN: I think these chapters are getting steadily longer…