InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dream No More of Me, My Love ❯ Part Three ( Chapter 3 )

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

Part 3

---oOo---

Wow... that went better than I thought it would.

Kagome had been sent upstairs to begin packing at least her essentials while Mattaki and her mother continued speaking.

Who woulda thought?

Surprisingly, her mother hadn't flipped out at Mattaki's presence, or his revelations. Instead, she'd said that she had always known that her daughter's fate would be extraordinary.

She was also very pleased with the inu. As far as she was concerned, Kagome deserved a man that was devoted only to her - in the later months of her daughter's time in the past, she'd moved away from wanting to see her and Inuyasha work their problems out.

It just wasn't fair to expect her daughter to always be placed behind another - and as far as she was concerned, if this male had remained faithful to his desire for her for five hundred years, she wouldn't even think of getting in their way.

Kagome looked around her room for a moment, thinking of what else she might need in the immediate future, but it looked like she'd gotten what was needed, so, with a sigh, she turned to her bed, and picked up one suitcase, then another, and began heading down the stairs.

Stopping in her doorway, she looked back at her room nostalgically.

When I woke up this morning, I had no idea that last night would be the last night I ever spent here... and now, just a couple hours later, I'm moving out - moving on to my future.

It came so fast...

One last panicked thought flashed through her mind - am I really, truly ready for this? And then Mattaki came up the stairs, followed by her lightly laughing mother, and as he saw her and smiled, that panic resolved itself.

Yes. I am ready for this. Even though it's only seemed like he was in my mind for two weeks, it's actually been much longer. She scowled briefly as she looked at the ground. I hate time paradoxes. But he's been sending dreams at me for several hundred years - they've just been condensed into two rather intense weeks.

Thinking of it that way, I've had the longest courtship that there's probably ever been.

"Is that all, Kagome, or is there more?" he asked, and she nodded, smiling up at him.

"There's more." He walked past her and into the room, as did her mother, and as she started down the stairs, she was the front of a luggage train. She chuckled.

Then something occurred to her, and she dropped her bags by the front door, spinning around to stare at her mother and the inu with dismay.

"I completely forgot grandpa and the shrine! I can't leave - he can't run things by himself, and this is cleaning day!"

At that, Mattaki grinned. "Ah. About that... I took the liberty of hiring someone to help and introduced him to your grandfather when I spoke to him earlier - before I came to find you." When her eyes widened, he shook his head, knowing what her concern was.

"His salary is paid by me, Kagome, do not worry. Your grandfather agreed to this when he gave me his blessing to speak to you."

She blushed, then nodded. "Okay... so... where do I put all this?"

"If you would like to put what you are carrying down, I can take all of it to my car in one quick trip," he said, flashing her a charming smile. She didn't argue, immediately putting her suitcases down, as did her mother, though she looked a bit skeptical.

When he grabbed them easily and swung them all over his shoulders and disappeared in a streak of light, her mother's eyes widened.

"Inu youkai, mom... they are all like that. Even Inuyasha - and he's only half. Don't worry about it," she chuckled at the amazed look on her mother's face.

Shaking her head with a grin, she led her mother back into the house to wait for Mattaki.

What a day this has been!

---oOo---

"So... where do you live?"

Mattaki shot her an amused glance, then looked back at the road. "We live just outside of Tokyo - I have a great deal of land there that I started buying up about three hundred years ago or so. I like the privacy it gives me, and there's plenty of room for my true form to roam, as well."

Kagome's eyes lit up with excitement, and she clapped her hands together. "Can I see you in your true form?"

He chuckled. Already, she lightens my heart with her joy in simple things. "Yes - but not today. Perhaps tomorrow."

"Okay." Then the other part of his statement - specifically, the 'we' part of things, as in, we together own, kicked in, and she flushed, her eyes widening as something finally occurred to her. "You... you're rich, aren't you?" she asked, and he shot her a glance at the hesitancy of her question.

"I suppose that you could say that - why, does that bother you?"

"Well... yes, and no," she said quietly. "I mean, money is just money, but... I don't want people to think I'm with you for it."

"Does it matter what others think? You and I, and those who are important will know the truth. Who cares what the rest of the world thinks?"

That's true... but - he hasn't said anything about his sons... I know that if he's alive, then at least Sesshoumaru should be - though I don't know about Inuyasha. And if they are, what will they think?

"What about Sesshoumaru? We never got along too well - and he didn't like humans much... well, except Rin," she said, a small smile lighting her face.

He cocked a brow, and laughed. "Yes... he does like Rin a great deal - he would have to, since they've been together for five hundred years."

Kagome gasped, and turned to stare at him in shock. "Y-you mean... he and Rin? Married?!"

"Yes. Though they were mated for many years before they bothered with marriage - in fact, they only did that this last century, and only because of the human laws." He cast a sidelong look at her. "And he doesn't hate humans - he doesn't have much use for most of them, but certain ones... you'd be surprised what he thought of you. He mentioned once that if he'd not already met Rin, he might have been tempted to court you."

Kagome, so shocked she could only blink, stared at him for several long moments. She couldn't even get her voice to function. No way!

He laughed again at the look on her face. "He came to greatly respect your power, and your strength of will. Not to mention you are very attractive." His smile faded then.

"But I think most of it was the fact that you gained the jewel, and then wished on it for someone elses benefit. You didn't try to keep its power for yourself. That you relied on your own power, and didn't wish to take an easy route to gain more... well, that is the same reason he never wanted it."

Kagome thought about that for a while. She'd never really thought about taking the jewel and keeping it for herself. The truth was, while everyone always knew that it drew youkai seeking power, no one really paid attention to the fact that humans could also use it - though in a different way. While youkai could use the shards to increase their own power, humans would have to make a wish on the completed jewel - but it was still power, no matter which way you used it.

But she'd never even once thought of using it for herself. There just wasn't anything that she wanted, that she couldn't get on her own. And frankly, she'd rather it that way - if she got something, she wanted it to be because she'd done it herself with her own power, not with someone elses borrowed power.

"I guess... it's funny, you know?" she finally said, her voice soft. "That was always one thing I respected about him. Of all the youkai I ever met, he was the only one that didn't want it. He was content to rely on his own strength." She frowned slightly.

"And then there was Kouga. Though he used the jewel, and at first, wanted more shards, he ended up being the only youkai that lived through all that mess that ever managed to give them up of his own free will. The jewel never managed to corrupt him. I respected that - it showed that he had a good heart."

Mattaki nodded. He'd met Kouga, and agreed with her. He was a good person to have at your back, too. Of course, it was a good thing he'd managed to get over Kagome and find his own mate.

"We're almost there... when we come around this bend in the road, look to the right, and you will see the driveway. The first view of the house is always amazing."

She grinned excitedly once again, waiting breathlessly. As soon as she spotted the drive, and he began to turn into it, she looked up...

And stared.

It was... magnificent.

"Oh... gods... it's so beautiful! You live here?" she managed to get out.

"Again," he said with amusement, "we live here."

So beautiful...

She was facing a traditional japanese castle.

It was gorgeous, obviously old, though not overly huge, it had two stories, and the grounds it sat in were designed to draw attention to it.

And she'd never even known this was here.

Most estates like this were now government owned, and used as showcases, many attracting tourists the world over. Few of them now remained, and none that she'd ever known of were privately held.

It was amazing.

She turned to look at him as he got out of the car and joined her before the doors. "How have you kept this secret?" she asked, awed.

"I am a very private person - as is Sesshoumaru. He also owns an estate like this."

"Where does he live?"

"Outside Kyoto."

Kagome frowned. He hasn't said anything about Inuyasha... "Mattaki?"

He cocked a brow, obviously waiting, and she gathered her courage. "What happened to Inuyasha and Kikyou?" she almost whispered.

"Nothing," he smiled, "they are on vacation right now, and due back in a few days. They live in Osaka, but they'll be stopping by here for a day or two before heading home."

She smiled at that, relieved. "So, they are both still alive then. Good!"

"Hanyou he may be, but my blood is strong. He doesn't look much older than he did when you knew him, though most, when seeing us together, think us brothers. Not many realize he's my son."

She chuckled at that. "I can imagine." Looking back up at the house, she inhaled deeply, then let it out determinedly. "Well then. Should we get my stuff out of the car?"

He flared his aura, then smiled down at her. "No carrying for you, my dear. One of the servants will be here momentarily, and they can carry it all in."

She blinked. Oh... right. Rich - servants. Forgot about that again. This might take some getting used to.

She remained silent while several servants appeared and Mattaki spoke with them, merely continuing her perusal of her new home, and before she knew it, he was taking her arm and leading her inside.

She shivered - his touch sending fire through her veins, but she deliberately squelched that... that was for later.

She swallowed heavily at that thought.

Later...

---oOo---

A/N: Short, but it gets the point across - the end of the next chapter begins the lemon - y action, and the lemon covers all of chapter 5, and the first part of 6 so... something to look forward to, lol!

Amber