InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dogs in Tokyo ❯ Chapter 39 ( Chapter 39 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 39


In the crowded and noisy pavilion that housed the music hall Jijii-Chan morosely stared at the silver mons scattered on Inuyasha’s black wedding gi and chewed on the ends of his moustache. The mons were of three dogs following each other in an endless circle and they glinted every time Inuyasha moved. That’s what had caught his eye in the first place. He’d seen that crest somewhere before but, try as he might, he just couldn’t bring to mind where it was that he had seen it.

For his own part, Inuyasha tried his best to ignore the staring old man. He spent his time sucking up everything on the table in front of him and trying to figure out a way to get alone with Kagome at some point. That was the idea, right? Wasn’t that what this whole wedding thing had been about. Well, wasn‘t it? He sighed slightly into his salad bowl and considered that thought. The thought was good so far as it went. He had a pretty clear idea that the marriage was considered a new beginning and that it should be followed up by a consummation. He winced slightly at the mental image provoked by the memory of a village wedding he had once witnessed.

OK, so the idea was great but not in front of everybody else; please. He was sure Kagome wouldn’t go for that. He glanced over at her speculatively. She was looking very pretty indeed with the layers of kimono sliding off of her shoulders at every movement and he, for one, thought it was about time to take some action: “Kagome, when are we leaving?” He asked abruptly.

“Huh?” She tried to focus on him despite the muted roar of the party and the piercing accents of some ancient aunt who was loudly describing the treatment of her prolapsed uterus for the benefit of anyone fool enough to listen.

He shifted a bit on his seat, turning his body more fully toward hers, “I mean, when can we leave?”

She looked at him and saw the intensity of his gaze upon her. His intention was clear in the way the heavy lids dropped down over his tawny eyes as they shifted and began to run with molten gold. The very sound of his voice, pitched low enough to carry to her ears alone, gave her a hidden thrill. She blushed and turned away to occupy herself in an attempt to control the situation and succeeded only in picking up her glass and pouring the contents of it into her salad. The julienne strips of hijiki floated apologetically on the surface of the sake she was pouring in before the pieces were borne off over the sides of the bowl.

Claws clinked slightly on the glass as he relieved her fingers of its weight, “Here, let me.” He moved to set the glass aside.

“Inuyasha, we must talk.” Sesshoumaru’s voice had all the warmth of a bath of ice water and was about as welcome.

Inuyasha’s neck felt very stiff as he turned around to respond, “Can’t this wait?” His brother stood behind him looking out over the crowd with an abstracted frown on his face.

“No. We must talk. Come.”

“You are such an asshole...”

But, before he could continue in that vein, Inuyasha caught a frisson of something on the edge of his awareness. Something very wrong. He put Kagome‘s glass down, “I‘ll be right back.” He told her and got up to follow Sesshoumaru to a corner of the room.

Kagome was left to look across the pavilion to where her mother sat, half-turned and leaning back in her chair as if looking for something in the background. The seat next to her was empty also.

….oooOooo….

Jukuryo had measured his options swiftly and gotten up out of his seat to circle the perimeter of the tables to Jijii-Chan’s side. Once there he slid into the chair in Inuyasha‘s place with a quick apology to Kagome . The old man was carefully taking spoonfuls of soup and drinking a glass of plum wine. One for the stomach and one for the hangover apparently; according to his sour expression.

“Higurashi, I need some information on customs here.”

Jijii-Chan scowled at him, his mustache still caught in his mouth. He spat it out before asking, “What?”

“Is this marriage accomplished?”

Jijii-Chan rested his chin upon his fist and stared at him, “You participated in the wedding as I recall. I seem to remember seeing you there at the time.”

Jukuryo sighed and reached over to grasp the tuft of his old friend’s goatee between thumb and forefinger and tugged very slightly. Jijii-Chan’s eyes bugged out and watered in pained astonishment His hand came up as if attached by a string to his beard and slapped Jukuryo’s offending hand, “Ow!” They both exclaimed simultaneously.

Some of the guests broke off their conversation to look over at them in mild shock. The pair ignored them as they narrowed eyes at each other.

“Stop that.” Jijii-Chan hissed.

“Then pay attention, I am not here to play games. This is an interspecies incident!”

Jijii-Chan blinked and drew back, “True.” He admitted slowly, “But I never thought to
hear you say that.” He sighed and pushed at his food distastefully. His stomach really
wasn’t up for this and he longed for his bed and his newspaper, “How could she actually want to marry a boy with dog ears? For generations, our family has…”

“Higurashi, would you shut up already?”

Jijii-Chan’s jaw snapped shut in affront and he sat stiffly, staring at his old friend.

Jukuryo acknowledged Jijii-Chan’s distress with a depreciatory sweep of his hand, “It is true that your family has devoted their lives to this shrine but there are other interests outside of your own that are concerned in this wedding. I need to know now whether or not this wedding is complete. Is there anything remaining to be done?” He took off his glasses and polished them on the tablecloth while he waited, finally leaving them off to one side.

Jijii-Chan was slow in replying, “The relationship is not in dispute, more is the pity, if that’s what you’re asking. The wedding ceremony came off without a hitch.” Jijii-Chan paused and took a sip of his soup, and Jukuryo’s shoulders drooped in relief.

“Well then, the marriage can’t be contested. I am worrying about nothing.”

Jijii-Chan smirked, “No trouble, I can’t imagine what you would be worried about. All the boy had to do was woo the girl, wed her and bed her and the marriage is done.”

“What?”

“You know the old saying. Why should I have to repeat myself? These prawns are delicious, by the way.”

“I thought you said the wedding was complete!” Jukuryo’s voice rumbled with renewed agitation.

“And so it is. But you can’t have a real marriage without, well, you know. Doesn‘t matter about past history. If that were true, half the world would be married. No, it‘s the first time after the wedding that counts.” This piece of half-assed logic seemed to make the shrine priest feel better and he took a swig of plum wine with relish.

Jukuryo shook his head and started to cast his eyes about the room. There were some new guests arriving by a side door. He narrowed his eyes in an effort to see and accepted his glasses from Jijii’s helping hand with a grunt. Hurriedly placing the earpieces over his ears he took another look at the doorway.

The passage of some of the servers momentarily blocked his vision but then they moved and cleared his view. Yes, there was Koencho, handing off his black fedora and gesturing forward one of those with him to hand over something for the gift table. He looked for all the world like a solid Japanese businessman and no one would have suspected the high seas piracy ring that he ran from his office in the heart of downtown Tokyo. Something about the boar youkai tended to give them that respectable look and Koencho knew how to use it.

Jukuryo scanned the room and spotted Sesshoumaru and Inuyasha standing together in their corner. They had broken off their conversation and were watching the entrances to the music hall with frowning concentration. He rose and swiftly moved to join them, “I am sorry to say that your suspicions are correct, Sesshoumaru-Sama. The warding border to the shrine has been nullified.”

Sesshoumaru did not remove his eyes from the group at the doorway as he spoke, “How did this occur?”

“Higurashi-Dono has no little power herself and is of a welcoming nature. She made an unfortunate statement.” Jukuryo shrugged his shoulders unhappily.

Inuyasha suddenly gave vent to a faint growl, “It’s the same group that were here last night. I’m sure of it. What do they want?”

“To nullify this marriage and ensure racial purity. It is a last ditch attempt to maintain the old ways in the face of the simple fact the youkai population is dwindling. Names are dying out and there are fewer offspring spawned each century. This marriage is like a watershed is the course of the river of their power. From here the future course of all will be determined; rejection and withdrawal or assimilation.”

Both brothers gave grunts of disinterest and spoke simultaneously, each over-riding the other.

“This Sesshoumaru has no concern with others weak enough to fear dilution of blood.”

“Too late, already done it.”

Jukuryo sighed and responded as best he might, “Not every youkai can be sure to breed true, Sesshoumaru-Sama. Be that as it may, the marriage is not considered firm until you have had relations as a married pair, Inuyasha.” Two pairs of golden eyes fastened upon him, at last he had their undivided attention, “Here is what I think we must do…”

….ooo0ooo….

“…an d the doctors all said they’d never seen one like it.”

Kagome toyed with her fan and wished she could leave. Inuyasha had been gone too long in her estimation and the noise of the party was beginning to get to her. It seemed to be increasing and every time she looked up she could swear that there were more people in the room. Finally, she craned her neck to look over her shoulder and spotted Inuyasha standing in a corner deep in a discussion with Jukuryo and Sesshoumaru.

Jukuryo was talking earnestly and Sesshoumaru had an expression on his face that seemed to be registering a polite shock Inuyasha, on the other hand had a grin plastered across his features of such brilliance that she wondered that he didn’t light the room up. Coming as it was from someone who seldom so much as smiled, it strongly aroused her curiosity. She wished he would come over and share the joke.

As if in answer to her wish Inuyasha gave a sudden bow, accepted something from Sesshoumaru’s hand and made his way through the crowd back to the table. Kagome greeted him with a smile but he didn’t sit down, instead he rested his hand on the back of her chair and leaned over to mutter into her ear, “Kagome, would you come with me?”

Kagome leaned back a bit in her chair to look up at him inquiringly, “Is it important? We have so many guests, you know.”

“Jukuryo and Sesshoumaru seem to think so. They said your grandfather suggested it.”

She leaned forward again and looked at Jijii-Chan for confirmation but all he did was frown back at her, wondering what her problem was, “Well, OK, I’ll need you to help me with the chair.”

“Here, allow me, Kagome-Chan.” Rin’s voice startled Kagome a bit and she jumped, “I really want you to come with me to the bathrooms. I’m nervous with all these people and I really have to go.” Rin’s hand was confidingly on her arm and she blushed prettily at Inuyasha’s undignified snort.

Kagome was at once all sympathy, Rin had been through so much, “Of course, Rin-Chan, the facilities are this way. Not a bad idea really.”

They made their way from the hall, causing no stir amongst the guests as bridal changes of clothes have ever been the way of things. In the back hallway, Kagome was surprised to meet with the dressers, but they were friendly and stated how much they were enjoying the wedding.

They kindly helped her with her top two layers and swiftly re-did her hair before letting her into the privacy of the restroom and Kagome was greatly relived to have the relative freedom of movement.

All of which contributed to her dismay and sense of betrayal when she emerged to find no-one but the garrulous old aunt that had been plaguing her all the afternoon in the anteroom.

The aunt, in her turn, seemed equally surprised and appeared to be upset about something or other. She was sputtering words in the nature of, “What next?” And, “Wouldn’t one just expect it?” As Kagome stepped quickly past her to look out over the crowded music hall in search of everyone.

What she saw brought her to a halt. A slender young woman in a gauzy white jacket and a billowing ecru robe was sinking into her seat in the place of honor assisted by a silver-haired man wearing the black haori with silver mons of the Nishigawa clan. The young woman’s head even bore the up-twisted chignon that Kagome herself had carried up until just a few minutes ago along with its waterfall of tiny red maple leaves in a graceful compliment to the curve of her neck. Kagome’s own hand clapped to the back of her head to find that her hair was twisted up in a simple bun. The decorated comb was gone.

“Pretty good, huh?” Inuyasha’s voice insinuated itself into her consciousness just the way his fingers closed warmly about her wrist.

“What?” she asked vaguely and turned her head to see that he was wearing his plain under kosode and appeared to be a human with black hair. He tugged lightly on her wrist and she followed his lead out through the space left between a partition and one of the supporting posts of the pavilion and out into the open air.

“Glad that’s over with. We need to find somewhere private.”

“Inuyasha…”

“Just play along, Kagome. Sesshoumaru is helping with this and we really need to find somewhere private.”

“Why, what? What could you mean?”


…..oooO0Oooo…


Jijii-Ch an spared a glance up from his soup only to do a double-take. “Sesshoumaru?”

“No. I am your associate by marriage.”

“I already knew that. Why are you sitting in Inuyasha’s seat?”

“I am representing that associate by marriage of yours. Please refer to me as such.”

Jijii stared and returned to chewing his moustache. He felt strongly that they were talking at cross purposes.

“Higurashi-San?” a light young voice chirped. “I am sitting in Kagome-Chan’s place. Might I be Kagome?”

Jijii-Chan leaned forward to find Rin dimpling beguilingly at him from Kagome‘s seat. She appeared to be in a wedding gown. “You my be whomever you wish, young lady, but, where is my granddaughter?”

“She is very busy with Inuyasha. We are taking their places. I hope no one will notice.”


“I think we will find out.” said a dour Jukuryo. “Here they come.”



>>>>oooO0Oooo>>>>











The door of the small shrine slid shut with a decided thump and Kagome gasped on the breath of a laugh as the world spun around her. “I really don’t think we should be doing this. All the trouble everyone has gone through.”

Inuyasha paused, his arms sliding under her robes, dislodging a couple of the outer layers as he nuzzled her neck. His voice was indistinct and thrummed in an odd way through her breastbone as he replied.

“What?” She asked, pulling back a bit but keeping an arm wrapped around his neck at the same time. She wasn’t really sure in her own mind whether she wanted to know what he had said or if she just wanted to feel that tickle again.

Inuyasha seemed to labor under no such uncertainty as he placed a hand at the small of her back and propelled her firmly against him again. “Don’t remember asking anyone to do anything.” He said more clearly as he placed his head back where it had been. Once there, he kept talking, causing her to writhe in his grasp from the renewed thrum of his words, “Now, shut up, I’m trying to see if I can do something.”

She seemed to be having trouble getting the words out, gulping as traced an open mouth over her collar bone, pushing a few more layers of fabric aside as he did it. “W-what are you…trying to do?”

“Make your bones melt.” He didn’t permit any more speech as he slid up her front and slanted his mouth across hers. She sagged against him and he took the opportunity to thrust a knee between hers and so that she was partially riding against his leg.

::Winks:: To be continued…