InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dogs in Tokyo ❯ Chapter 35 ( Chapter 35 )

Chapter 35

He had very nearly gone to the wrong place.

He distinctly remembered that Kagome’s mother had mentioned the National Theater and the Palace and that’s what he headed for at top speed. He made his way using the tops of trains and the roofs of the taller buses as rides towards his objective as he rapidly retraced his path of the night before to the grounds of the palace. He achieved the sloping roof where Kagome and he had paused for a moment. But there he only found the rapidly fading traces of their presence twenty hours ago: even though he knew where to sniff. How was he to find her in all of this acid fug? It was like a sulfer spring; the harsh chemical odors were steadily eating away at more elusive scents.

“National Theater,” Kagome’s mother had said. He frowned to himself as he scanned the area for any signs of a place giving a performance. There was one long, low, building ending in a tower with pennants out front fairly near him on a road that he recognized as going through the Ginza from the palace . It didn’t look very promising and he still couldn’t catch Kagome’s scent but it at least seemed to resemble the theaters he had seen in larger towns as he wandered in other times; they had always had those pennants.

His breath came in a faint whine as he gazed down at the busy city street. He was still tired and sore from his injury and, right at the moment, he had no idea where to look for his mate in this hugely complicated and very stinky city.

He snorted, ‘as if she would be marking every tree. Straighten up, Hanyou.’ Tracking her was difficult in the Sengoku Jidai but nearly impossible as conditions were now. He needed a better plan. The snapping of the pennants in the evening breeze caught his attention again and he made a couple of leaps towards the place to pause behind the opposing parapet to see what the sign said.

“Traditional Performing Arts Information Center” he sounded out after a couple of painful minutes. He thought about what the words meant and what Kagome had hammered into him regarding finding his way around on his own (since she couldn’t fool herself into thinking that he was always going to be under her watchful eye). She had said that asking at information booths was a good idea.

Or, at least, he hoped it was what she had told him. The conversation really hadn‘t struck him as very important at the time, but now… He watched the street for a few minutes and dropped down to cross it determined to make a few quick inquiries.

For all the big tower of glass and the tall standing pennants the information building turned out to house a surprisingly small floor area with a really, really, high ceiling showcasing an astonishingly ugly view beyond of the architect Kenzo Tange’s best attempt at a mega city. The effect was only partially muted by large Mylar screens strategically hung in an attempt keep out the worst effects of the sun. As it was, the temperature inside was a good eighty degrees or better.

Inuyasha strode up to the desk and glared at the sweating attendant behind it. The attendant, in his turn, goggled at the flowing white hair and glowering appearance of the hanyou confronting him but tightened his tie and pulled himself together, “Can I help you?” he rapped out with all the briskness of a slightly shocked boy scout.

Inuyasha took a good sniff and decided he was harmless if too free with cologne. “I need to know where they would fit kimono for a bride.”

The attendant cocked his head with a startled look and mouthed the words over. “Bridal kimono…You need a clothing store.”

Inuyasha withheld his frustration by biting his lip and counting to ten, “Now why the fuck would I need to a clothing store?” He asked in what he considered to be a reasonable tone of voice, “I need a place where they might know how to put an old style bridal kimono on.”

“I’m sorry, this is an information desk for theaters.”

“Where would I find out about kimono? I‘m told the actors know how to wear them.”

“We only deal in information and tickets for theatrical performances and the preservation of the art. There are some very fine old theaters that in this area that deal exclusively in antique costumed drama. Perhaps you could learn about how things looked back in old times by watching a few performances.” The attendant was cheering up and warming to his subject, “Could I interest you in a day’s walking tour ticket of the district that permits you into single acts of matinee performances? Today there are performances of traditional material at a number of…”

“I don’t want to see a performance, I want to see who handles their costumes!”

“Listen, Sama, I don’t think they do wedding fittings for ladies! Unless you are engaged to a man…” The man stared pointedly at Inuyasha’s hair. “If that’s the case, try the kabuki-za. They’re really old-school.”

“You expect me to want to marry a man?” Inuyasha asked with more interest than irritation: the notion seemed so outlandish. Sure, he had heard of taking male lovers, who hadn’t, but marrying them? “What would be the point?”

“Love.” The attendant sniffed.

“But I’m not marrying anybody for love..Oh, wait, I am. But that has nothing to do with it!”

“You’re not from around here, are you?”

“Yes I am.”

“You could’ve fooled me.”

Inuyasha leaned forward, “I own the ground you stand on, if that’s your problem.”

“But this is imperial property, in case you hadn’t heard.”

“No, I hadn’t. But it’ll be mine anyway if I rip your head off! Where is the Kabuki-za you pusillanimous git?” Inuyasha’s voice had risen to a roar by the time he finished and the attendant had backed off with his hands over his ears. There was a hard breathing silence broken only by the sound of a mylar sunshade letting go from its position and crashing down to the floor. The attendant pointed a shaking finger at a stack of theater maps sitting on the corner of his desk near Inuyasha’s hand. With a snarl Inuyasha took the entire stack of maps and left.

::::::0;;;;;~~;;;;;0:::::

Ten minutes later the crash of the door leading to the offices of the Kabuki-za underlined Inuyasha’s sense of triumph. Kagome was there! No-one could stop him from finding her. Behind him the door collapsed in a satisfying shower of glass, leaving only the metal frame. His feet pounded down the corridor past confused human faces, one stepped out into his way and he gave it a light tap with his rolled-up pile of maps. ‘No need for those anymore; they had all been the same anyway‘. He let the pages flutter free from his hand as he ripped aside the curtains to where Kagome was.

There was a good deal of confused movement in the room as a nearly naked Kagome was bundled along with what looked like an over-loaded kimono rack towards the open door of a back room. Kagome’s face was staring back over the shoulder’s of her captors and he could make out the dreaded syllables being enunciated. ‘Ha! No more!’ He leapt forward intending to snatch back what was his when a powerful waft of youkai struck his nose and he was brought up short by a boomingly powerful voice.

“STOP THIS AT ONCE!”

Inuyasha spun to meet this new threat and found himself nose to nose with an apparent human who was exuding an unmistakable amount of youki, “By what right do you come barging in here?”

Inuyasha looked the man up and down. To all outward appearances, he was a middle aged human of not quite middling height and unusually slender build. Experience had made him cautious, however, and he angled himself so that he could keep an eye on all of the room’s occupants and the door to the hallway. He bared his fangs at the man facing him and inhaled carefully, ‘Snake? Yes, snake.’ Inuyasha relaxed his stance very slightly, “Take a good whiff, what do you think? That’s my mate that you’ve got stripped down in here.”

His opponent slid his eyes towards the huddle of women and clothing rack and licked his lips. After a moment he frowned in puzzlement and looked over at Kagome, who was batting the other two women away from her.

“Inuyasha, if you don’t settle down, so help me I’ll…”

“What, Kagome? Want to tell me what I’m doing here? You said you were staying at the shrine.”

The girl straightened up, forgetting her audience, “I’m learning how to wear my wedding kimono, Inuyasha. Remember kimono? Remember really, really antique hard to walk in clothing?”

A chuckle from the man interrupted them, “I see your story is true, Inuyasha. A fine girl.” Simultaneously both Inuyasha and Kagome’s heads turned towards him with self-conscious glowers. The man crossed his arms across his chest and only chuckled the more, “Nakamura-Chan, I suggest we get on with this fitting forthwith before there’s another interruption.” He licked his lips again and his face suddenly looked chagrinned as Inuyasha snapped his head towards the doorway and a quavering but deep and powerful old voice could be heard out in the hallway.

“Bando-Kun,” said the voice, “that violent young man knocked young Jiro-San over. His glasses are now bent.”

Bando straightened his shoulders and approached the doorway, speaking smoothly, “I am very sorry, Nandi. There was a misunderstanding. I believe it is cleared up now.”

A very old, very shriveled man appeared in the doorway, leaning upon a cane. He stared unblinkingly at the occupants of the room, slowly swiveling his head from one to the other and licking his lips all the while. Inuyasha stood tensely, looking back at him and then shifted to at least partially block his view of Kagome. The oldster thrust his neck forward, “Inuyasha, huh?” He gave a little hissing laugh at Inuyasha and Kagome’s startled eyes, “I may be old; but I ain’t deaf! Well, carry on, but there’s the little matter of my side door and my great grandson’s glasses to be settled. You should be less impulsive and listen more to what’s going on Bando, before you go passing out invitations.” With another hissing laugh he stepped back under the remnants of the doorway curtain and disappeared.

Bando stared after him a moment and then clapped his hands and rubbed them together, “Well, this is just all too entertaining. Nakamura, let’s get that rack set back up and take it from the top.”

The two women silently got to work, Nakamura-San with obvious composure and the kimono lady with trembling hands and a tendency to drop things. Within a few minutes, the rack was once again arrayed with flowing swaths of kimono and Kagome was again being abstracted from the yukata that she had firmly re-wrapped around herself. Inuyasha sat in a corner, distaining the zabuton cushions for the tatami mats. Kagome kept waving at him to turn around but he just set his jaw and fixed his gaze in the middle of the room. If that snake was going to be able to look he, for one, would be keeping an eye on things.

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It was, in its way, just like old times. Inuyasha being apparently indifferent while dozing in the gentle waft of Kagome’s scent but keeping a sharp lookout for anything untoward. Kagome focused and busy while constantly aware of the hanyou near her. The actual kimono fitting took about forty minutes, and would’ve been done with a lot sooner if Bando hadn’t made frequent meaningful grunts and occasional sudden expositions on the philosophy and meaning of the assorted layers and why what they were doing was wrong. By the time they were done all three of the women engaged In the actual dressing were tensed up and nearly jumped out of their skins when Bando suddenly gave a dry cough. He apologized and waved them to continue after clearing his throat but Inuyasha (who was ever tuned in to such things) thought he caught the suspicion of a laugh behind a covering hand and glared at Bando all the more.

After that, it was the walking and moving in the layers of kimono and practicing the movements required of Kagome for the marriage ceremony. Inuyasha found no enjoyment in this, now that Kagome was properly covered, and restlessly took to picking at the straw covering of the tatami mat before him.

The third time Kagome successfully completed the required movements demanded by the ceremony and demonstrated her ability to smoothly kneel and manage the layers of fabrics piled upon her Bando declared himself satisfied. Kagome dropped her shoulders in relief and nearly had to grab at the kimono layers to keep them from sliding off. She was beginning to find a new level of appreciation for the graceful Himes that she had met in the Shinguku Jidai. Their lives had been even more circumscribed than she had imagined them; swathed about in imprisoning fabrics as they were. She had always rather thought their movements to be stilted and lacking in spontaneity, but now they seemed miracles of light grace. She glanced over at Inuyasha to see what he thought only to stifle a gasp behind a quickly-lifted sleeve.

Inuyasha glanced at her, nonplussed for the moment, and absently twirling the twist of straw and fibers between his fingers. He moved to toss it aside and stand up when his attention was caught by the fact that it seemed to be attached to something. Bando’s voice floated out of the background as he directed the redistribution of the kimono on its stand as Inuyasha stared in realized with an almost guilty shock that he had dug straight through the tatami mat he was sitting on and was pulling out some of its filling fibers. He dropped it and rose quickly with a pink face, setting his bare foot firmly over the hole.

Kagome stood as well and deftly kicked one of the zabuton cushions over in his direction as she walked across the room and stood by the others asking questions about the deposition of the kimono. Inuyasha took the hit and kicked the pillow to slide behind him as he walked over to her side.

“We’ll take the rack down then and pack up the kimono for you, Oshima-San and you can pick both it and me up when it’s time for us to dress her for the ceremony.” Nakamura-San was saying as she pulled a bit of fabric into place. “That would be best as such a valuable piece really isn’t safe in the trunk of your car.

Oshima-San nodded even as she edged nervously away from the hovering hanyou. Maybe it was his unconventional hair or his dramatic way of making an entrance but she just couldn’t be comfortable in the same room with him and Inuyasha knew it too. He took a perverse pleasure in knocking against her elbow as she started to pick up the kimono wrappings making her drop them.

Kagome frowned at him and he blinked widely innocent eyes at her as he accidentally on purpose stepped on a corner of the wrappings and left a dusty footprint (shoes hadn’t been high on his list of priorities when he had let her mother’s kitchen so precipitously). She bent and twitched the wrappings from under his foot herself and gave them an impatient on her yukata before handing them over.

She politely refused the kimono lady’s reluctant invitation of a ride home in her car and walked with Inuyasha and Bando to the door. There they were greeted by the sound of a utility broom brushing up the last shards of glass in the hallway and the rip of tape as it was applied to the door to hold sheets of cardboard in place. All three winced at the sound of this and were very polite to the actor as they thanked him for his time. He waved their thanks off with a depreciatory smile and the two turned to make good their escape.

The old man that Bando had referred to as Nandi-San stepped out of a side room and blocked their way. “Ah, young Inuyasha! Leaving so soon?”

Inuyasha stopped, Kagome slightly behind him and gave a very small nod in response.

“The young lady was here to learn to mange her wedding kimono?”

A grunt was his only response and Kagome felt forced to speak up, “We’re very sorry about the door.”

Inuyasha lifted his head at that, “No we’re not! The only thing I’m sorry about is the…”

Kagome firmly cut him off, speaking while snuggling up to his side, “Of course we are, Inuyasha-Koi.” Inuyasha gave a startled look and nearly shook her hand off but settled down as she continued, “It’s just that he’s so protective you know.”

Nandi chuckled at Inuyasha’s reaction, “Don’t worry, Sama, the door is insured. Indeed, everything at the Kabuki-za is insured. However I stopped you that I might present you with this on honor of the wedding. Banzai.” With these familiar words the old man slipped his hand into the front of his kimono and drew out a narrow black box, shiny with lacquer. “Please accept it.”

Kagome bowed and accepted the box with both hands. The old man immediately drew away back though his curtains. Inuyasha promptly tweaked the box out of her hands, gave it a good sniff and thrust it down the front of his T-shirt where it made a peculiar lump against his stomach.

“That was intended for me, you know.” The girl remarked with a jaw-splitting yawn.

“Let’s just say I’m not going to drop it. C’mon, Kagome, let’s go home.”

The girl yawned again and allowed him to draw her out into the autumn night.

:::ooo0ooo:::

The trip over the rooftops home was quiet. And a snoozing Kagome didn’t notice when Inuyasha reached the shrine roof and stiffened with a curse; Sesshoumaru was there.

They made their way through the back door, Kagome in the lead. Sesshoumaru was sitting at the table with Higurashi-San sharing a pot of tea and Kagome trundled right past them with a muzzy “tadaima” and a peck to her mother’s cheek as she headed for the stairs.

Inuyasha paused on the threshold, taking in the situation and turning the closed box about in his fingers. Sesshoumaru lifted his head and returned his brother’s gaze silently. There was a grim set to his mouth and his face was pale, the magenta stripes clearly visible. His silence seemed to forbid speech without posing a challenge and Inuyasha let the impulse to jibe at him alone. Instead he walked past and paused by Sesshoumaru’s shoulder for an instant.

Sesshoumaru did not follow him with his eyes but his tension was apparent and he gave a nearly imperceptible jump as Inuyasha tossed the box on the table in front of him. He then continued past without a word to follow Kagome up the stairs.

Higurashi-San watched the odd exchange regretfully and reached across the table to pick the box up when Sesshoumaru didn’t move. Its shape looked familiar and she slid the top open in curiosity. Inside it was a fan. It was a large one, a good nine inches long, and looked like it was a mai-igi fan: one that would be used in court ceremony or temple dances. She spread it open between her fingers and studied the bold pattern of purple slashes across its white silk in strong contrast with the sharply-pointed ebony sticks. Matching purple tassels dangled from its ends. All in all, it was a bit much for a wedding ceremony.

“Why would Inuyasha be giving something like this to you, Sesshoumaru?” She murmured.

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