InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ En Famille ❯ Fifty-six years ( Chapter 5 )

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

----------------------------------------------------------------

There is a definite process by which one made people into friends, and it involved talking to them and listening to them for hours at a time.

- Rebecca West

----------------------------------------------------------------

"Hey sleepy head, time to get up."

Kagome moaned, turned away from the light shinning through the balcony doorway and pulled the blanket up over hear head. A male chuckle reached her fuzzy brain and she frowned, the bed behind her dipped and a pair of arms wrapped around her waist and pulled her back against a hard body.

Miroku chuckled and kissed her shoulder, "I left you that tired? You're supposed to feel exhilarated and full of energy after sex, I guess I wore you out."

"Shh... I'm never a morning person," Kagome turned and buried her face against his shoulder. "And I don't really want to look you in the eye right now."

"Embarrassed, I see," Miroku rolled his eyes and lowered his head, "Then close them instead."

With that said, he cupped the back of her head in one hand and turned her to meet his lips once again. To his surprise, she let out a small squeak and jumped away, sitting up with a hand over her mouth.

"Umm... morning breath, not good."

He laughed, "Well I've already gotten up, brushed my teeth, ordered breakfast and made coffee."

Sliding out of the bed again, he saw her eyes widen and then calm again when she realized he wore his boxers. With a playful grin, he excused himself and tossed on his shirt from the previous evening, hearing the doorbell rang.

"I'll get that, how about you freshen up?"

"Sounds great," Kagome smiled her thanks when he closed the door and flopped back onto her bed. Stretching her arms and legs out, she blushed, feeling muscles she didn't even know she had aching. Quickly getting up, she grabbed some underwear and hurried into the bathroom for a quick shower.

Fifteen minutes later, she stepped out of her room and was warmed by the sight in her kitchen. Sitting in the same place as the previous night, Miroku had set up the table, breakfast waited on covered plates and he sat munching on some fruit, while reading the paper. He'd turned on the radio by the oven and tuned it to a sports channel, where they were currently discussing the games coming up over the weekend.

"Hungry?"

His voice startled her from her thoughts and she nodded, coming to take her seat beside him, "Starved, thanks."

"I'm a lousy cook," Miroku grinned sheepishly, "I had to order from this little place I know. The fruit I did cut up though."

"It doesn't matter if you didn't make breakfast, and thank you for the fruit," Kagome took an apple slice from his plate and munched on it while he set the paper down and proceeded to serve them from the eggs, bacon and pancakes he'd ordered.

"Blueberry & chocolate chip pancakes," Miroku set her plate down in front of her, "You used to love them."

"I haven't had them in ages!" Kagome beamed, quickly cutting a bite and tossing her head back in bliss, "These are so good!"

"I thought you'd like that," Miroku chuckled, digging into his eggs.

They ate and talked as if nothing had changed, although there were moments when their eyes would meet and lock for a second, or they reached out for something and bumped hands, and a spark seemed to click. Once the dishes had been put in the washer, along with the ones from the night before, Miroku grabbed Kagome's waist and sat her on the counter.

"So what are we doing today?"

Leaning forward, he pressed a kiss to her neck, right below her earlobe, and grinned at the shiver that ran through her.

"Tania's dress," Kagome rested her hands on his shoulders, "I have to check in with Estelle, she's supposed to have it done by tomorrow."

"So we check in with her and then...?"

"I have no other plans," Kagome gasped, arching into him as he kissed down to her collarbone.

"Good, then we can have the whole day to ourselves," Miroku placed one last kiss at the base of her neck and lifted his head. "You know, you live in a place so long that you begin to take things like monuments and tourist attractions for granted. How about for a day, we act like two country bumpkins in town for a visit?"

"And go where?" Kagome asked, leaning against the wall behind her, liking his idea.

"Have you ever been to Ellis Island?" Miroku saw her shake her head and tsked, "How about the statue?"

"I've only crossed the ferry that time we went together, remember?"

He looked surprised, "Really? Then you're long overdue a second visit, and then maybe we'll take a stroll down fifth avenue or stop by times square."

"Sounds great!" Sliding off the counter, she watched him go to her room to shower and get dressed. With nothing else to do she sat down to read the paper. Minutes later the phone rang, interrupting her reading of a pretty interesting article about the rise in popularity of anime.

She set down the paper and absently grabbed the phone, still reading, "Hello?"

"Lin?" A male voice asked.

[How the heck do they know my middle name? No one knows it besides Miroku's family.]

Kagome's attention snapped from the paper to the unfamiliar male voice on the end of the line. Deciding to play dumb, she answered a bit hesitantly.

"Lin?"

"Lindsay? Is she there?"

Relieved, she sighed and shook her head, "Sorry, you must have the wrong number, there's no Lindsay here."

"Ready to go?" Miroku called out, coming out of her room, clean-shaven and handsome as ever.

"Well fuck." The voice on the other end of the line sounded furious and then a click was heard and the dial tone came on.

Kagome frowned a little in confusion, but shrugged it off and set the phone in its cradle. "I'm ready, wrong number."

"Well then, let's go!" Miroku watched her grab a light sweater and slip it on.

He admitted to himself that he loved her dress, it was discreet and comfortable, but tight enough to accentuate her curvaceous figure. A light yellow summer dress, with pink and white flowers all over it, the color brought out the flecks of gold in her eyes. Slipping her feet into some low-heel, white pumps, she grabbed her purse and was ready to go.

"Leave the purse, I'm paying today," Miroku tugged it from her arm.

"Ok, but hold on," Kagome shifted through it for a moment before letting him set it back down on the table beside the door.

Finding what she wanted, she slipped the small tube into his pocket and explained, "It gets pretty windy out there, wouldn't want my lips to get chapped."

Remembering the softness of them, he nodded, "Definitely."

After grabbing her keys, they locked the apartment and set off for a day of touristing around.


----------------------------------------------------------------


"Its amazing, think of all the people who came through there each day," Kagome stared at the island they'd just left.

Miroku nodded, "Imagine how scared they must have been, going to a place where no one knew them, with nothing but the clothes on their back."

Kagome frowned a little, shivering and wrapping her arms around herself. Miroku noticed the shiver and, leaning one arm on the bar in front of them, wrapped the other around her waist and tugged her into his body, blocking the cold air from her. Resting there with a sigh, Kagome looked up to his face and was surprised to see him watching her.

"Roku?"

"Yeah?"

Their voices were soft, warm, and had an intimate undertone that was worrying her. The whole day so far had been fun, but an underlying tension had been growing. For heaven's sake they'd had sex the night before and still hadn't said anything at all about it.

"About last night..."

"What is it?" Miroku asked, realizing they needed to discuss things.

Something had changed between them. It was supposed to have been just one night, for her, for this baby she wanted. It wasn't supposed to have been so good, so overwhelming, and he wasn't supposed to want more. Damnit he couldn't want more.

"I wanted to thank you," Kagome began, shaking her head at him when he was about to speak, "Let me finish. I want to thank you for agreeing to help me, you have no idea what it means to me, having this kid. I really want this to work, but I also want to thank you for being so, well, natural about everything."

"It is natural, at least the act itself is, " Miroku interrupted, "Its the relationship part that gets complicated."

"Right, that's what I was getting to," Kagome sighed, looking out to the water again. "I'm just... well, kind of embarrassed to talk about last night actually."

"Why?"

"Because you're... you."

"And you're you, but I'm not embarrassed." Miroku reminded her.

Kagome nodded, "But you're more blasé about these things."

"Having a baby?"

"Having sex," Kagome corrected him. "You won't feel awkward the next time we see each other because you're used to seeing women you've had relations with later. It's not the same for me."

"Kagome this doesn't have to be awkward, we're two mature adults who made an arrangement and last night was done for a specific purpose." Miroku began, "And besides that we..."

"Miroku did you know that Relena's husband is a gynecologist?" Kagome interrupted. "I've known them since college, Relena graduated in the same class as I did. She's been teasing me for years about my hesitation to go to Trowa's office, but I couldn't ever go to him. If I were to become his patient then I would be embarrassed every time I saw him at a party or a picnic because I'd know - we'd both know - that he'd seen and touched me intimately and I'd be mortified."

Kagome sighed, "It's like that with you now. I've had fun today because you've been nothing but kind and friendly and like nothing happened, but next time I see you I'll remember last night and... I dunno."

Shrugging, she finished quietly, "Having sex with you is like that. And it's stranger because you're not my lover. You're my... I don't even know now."

Seeing her point, Miroku sighed and tightened his arm around her waist, trying to lighten the mood he teased. "I didn't see as much as a gynecologist would, not there at least."

"You touched."

"And enjoyed it a heck of a lot more than he would," Miroku chuckled.

"But you shouldn't feel mortified Kagome, what we did last night was..." Miroku hesitated a moment before admitting, "Well to be honest Kagome it was really good. No, it was damn good. You should be proud of yourself, you wore the bachelor of the year out!"

"Miroku!" Kagome gasped, realizing his voice had risen a little and that an older couple walking by overheard him and glanced over at his words. With a blush, she turned away and shook her head. "I can't believe you."

"I'm just trying to get us back to normal Gome," Miroku grinned, lifting her chin to make her meet his eyes and winked. "We're still us brat, Roku and Gome. Even if we do have a fling, I think our relationship has a steady enough foundation to continue afterwards, don't you?"

"Yeah," Managing a smile, Kagome's eyes began to close when his head moved towards hers.

Eyes locked on hers, Miroku saw her focus on his lips and changing direction, would have pressed a kiss to her nose had her eyes not crossed suddenly, making him laugh instead.

"Roku!" Kagome laughed along with him and smacked him lightly on the chest.

"I'm sorry," Miroku managed between his chuckles, "You just looked so funny!"

"Hmph!"

Turning away with a huff, Kagome exaggerated her pout and pretended to be insulted. Sliding both arms around her, Miroku placed a kiss on her cheek and rested his chin on her shoulder. "Aww come on Gome, you're not really mad at me are ya?"

His kiddie voice, he always got her with the kiddie voice.

"No of course not."

Kagome was relieved that they'd arrived back at the dock, watching other passengers make their way to the exit. "You know Roku, its nice being out in the fresh air, how about we forget about times square and all that, and hang out at central park instead?"

"Sounds fine by me," Miroku agreed, sliding one arm from around her and using the other at the small of her back to guide her off the boat.

"Could we go to the zoo?" Kagome asked, "And get an ice cream? Oh, and some peanuts? Maybe a pretzel too!"

Miroku laughed at her childish enthusiasm, "All right, but you have to promise not to feed the cute little monkeys or elephants any of your food."

"I promise," Kagome agreed, lifting her pinky and linking it with his like they did when they were little.

A laugh nearby caught their attention and the lady who'd overheard them earlier smiled. "I'm sorry, it's just that you two remind us of ourselves when we were younger. Such a sweet couple you make."

Kagome's breath caught and Miroku answered easily for her, "Thank you! I must say you make a fine couple as well. Have you been together long?"

"Fifty six years this august," The husband smiled, "Alex and I met on the school playground ya know."

Alex smiled, covering her mouth with one hand to keep her husband from hearing her next comment. "I beat up a bully that was picking on him."

Kagome giggled, doing the same with her own, "I beat up a guy who called him a wimp once."

Both men groaned and rolled their eyes while the women shared a conspiratorial smile. "A girl's gotta stick by her man after all."

"True," Kagome glanced at the man beside her.

"I just pray that we are enough like you to last as long," Miroku stated.

The gentleman laughed, "From the looks of it sonny, you will. She's a mite pretty little thing too."

"Well, you'll excuse us for eavesdropping dears but I just spotted our driver. Good luck to you," Alex smiled and winked at Kagome. "Keep an eye out hon, Newsweek's bachelor of the year is quite the catch!"

Kagome laughed and watched them walk away, teasing each other about some inside joke. With her good mood established once again, she beamed at Miroku, "She recognized you!"

He shrugged, polishing his nails on his shirt in mock arrogance, "What can I say? The ladies love me."

"You lech!" Kagome smacked him again and gave him a less-than-scary glare as he called a cab.


----------------------------------------------------------------


"Hey calm down girl!"

Miroku held the carrot over his shoulder, shaking his head at her.

"Down! Just calm down and I'll give it to you. I know you're hungry but you've got to calm down!"

A few stalls away, Kagome giggled, holding a bunny in her arms and feeding it, watching Miroku and the pony vying for the prized vegetable. They'd toured some of the main parts of the zoo and stopped for some fun at the petting area. Handing the bunny to a little girl beside her, Kagome felt a slight tug on her back and glanced back to see a little boy smile sheepishly and apologize for bumping into her. Smiling down at him, she waved him off and moved to join her buddy with the pony.

Something on her back moved though, she suddenly felt the strange weight, moving up along her back, on her sweater now, and froze. [How many legs? 1,2,3,4,5,6,7... help!]

Stopping mid-step, Kagome's eyes widened in horror as the creature moved farther up along her back.
"M-Miroku?"

"Here you go... yeah?" Glancing up from the pony eating the carrot, Miroku tensed, seeing the terror on Kagome's features. "Gome what is it?"

Rushing to her side, he saw nothing out of the ordinary and barely caught her when she gave out a high-pitched 'eek' and grabbed onto the front of his shirt, digging her forehead into it. "GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF! GET IT OFF!"

"Get what off?" Miroku felt her trembling body press itself close against his while she begged.

"Please get it off!"

"Get wha- SHIT!" Miroku jumped, the ominous black spider suddenly reaching her shoulder and settling on top of it.

When one of its legs touched Kagome's neck, she gave a shrill scream and clutched his shirt tighter, her face buried against his chest, bringing the spider closer to him.

To Miroku's relief, before he could scream like a girl and embarrass himself in front of an already riveted audience, help came and saved his manly reputation.

One of the attendants overheard her screams (along with half the people in central park, she was so loud) and hurried over, removing the tarantula from Kagome's shoulder, apologizing profusely while shaking her head at the little boys hooting with laughter.

With a shudder, Kagome calmed enough to turn and glare at the kids. Feeling a warm hand rubbing soothingly along her back, she allowed Miroku to lead her from the petting area and out of the zoo to the main park.

"I just hate spiders!" Kagome fumed, still feeling the legs crawling up her back.

"Me too," Miroku muttered, again thanking the powers that be for the efficient attendant back there.

Glancing around them, he realized it was rather late in the day. Their tours had lasted quite a while, they had snacked on popcorn, ice cream, a pretzel, cotton candy and some peanuts so they weren't hungry, but it would be dark soon. Feeling her rest her head against his shoulder, Miroku decided it would be better to take her home and led her out of the park to where they could hail a cab.

Arriving at her apartment around thirty minutes later, he opened the door for her and plopped down onto the couch in the living room. Kagome shook her head at him and went over to her answering machine, seeing a few messages had been left.

1- Sango: Hey girl, where are you? You said you didn't have plans for today. Call me when you get home. And if you hear from Miroku, tell him mom wants to hear from him. K, take care babe. Bye.

2- Inuyasha: Hey Kagome, how are you doing? I hope you're not still upset over what happened yesterday. I was hoping we could do something this weekend, as a means of, you know, umm... making up for our bad luck yesterday. Anyways, give me a ring if you're not busy tonight. I heard that film C'est La Vie is playing over at La Maison Parisien, maybe we could check it out. All right, I've got to get back to work. Call me, bye.

"He doesn't even like French films," Miroku muttered, fighting down the urge to go over and erase that message.

3- Unkown: Hey Lin, where the hell are ya? You'd better not be with that dude from this morning!

"Who the hell calls you Lynn?" Miroku stood with a slight frown.

Kagome shook her head, "I don't use that name, most people don't even know it. But that guy called this morning asking for Lindsay, he must still have the wrong number."

Shrugging and erasing the message, Kagome stretched, removing her sweater and going into her room to put it away.

Miroku followed her, standing at the doorway and seeing the untidy bed with a grin. "Do you think it worked?"

"What?"

"Last night?" Miroku pointed to the bed as she came out of the closet. "No little spark?"

"Roku, you're a doctor, you should know there's no noticeable 'pop' or anything when a sperm fertilizes an egg." Kagome shook her head at him slowly, "I won't know for another thirteen days until I get my period or not."

"Hmm... and what if you get it?"

Kagome's shoulders slumped, "I don't know, you'll be off somewhere probably."

"I'll be working, yeah," Miroku agreed, "But you'll let me know if it worked or not right?"

"Of course," Kagome assured him.

"Will you go to someone else asking for sperm if it doesn't..."

"No!"

Crossing her arms, she gave a him a slight glare, "I told you, it took me a lot of time to get up the guts to ask you, and you're the one guy I trust the most. So no, I won't go asking someone else."

"Ok," Unsure of what to do next, they headed into the living room and sat down on the sofa, changing the topic to something more comfortable.

----------------------------------------------------------------

"You're kidding!" Kagome wiped tears from her eyes and tried to calm her laughter, "You actually caughth him singing that?"

"Oh yeah!" Miroku stood, strutted to the other side of the coffee table and grabbed a pen from it, mimicking his friend. "Imagine I have silver hair, golden eyes, and I'm an incorrigible grouch."

He started to sing, moving in sync with the song.

I'm too sexy for my shirt, so sexy it hurts
Too sexy for Milan, I'm too sexy for Milan, New York and Japan

I'm a model you know what I mean
And I do my little turn on the catwalk
Yeah on the catwalk, on the catwalk yeah

"Stop! Please!" Kagome rolled onto her back on the floor, having slipped off the sofa from her laughter. Holding her aching stomach, tears continued escaping from her eyes. "Oh god that's too funny!"

Miroku laughed along with her, leaving the pen and dropping to lay down beside her on the ground. "I swear that's what happened, Sesshomaru and I applauded and hooted then, you know, to keep him from going farther."

Kagome's laughter continued for a few minutes until she turned and sucked in a breath at their proximity. Miroku lay on his side and was now a mere inches from her. Before either could really think it over, they'd leaned forward, their lips meeting in the briefest kiss that soon grew in intensity.

Moving over her, Miroku's hands began roaming, sliding up under her dress. As the kiss ended, Kagome bit her lip, "Shouldn't we go to my room?"

"No"

"But here the light's on and its not a bed," Kagome clung to his shoulders.

"A man likes to see what he's doing," Miroku had the dress up around her waist now, and was pushing it higher by the second.

"But a bedroom..."

"Is the same as a living room or kitchen or even a bathroom," Miroku saw her eyes widen and chuckled, "And I never do it in the same place two nights in a row."

"Miroku!"

"What?"

"That's shocking."

"Its sexy," He had the dress off her and on the sofa then, hands gliding down her sides, slipping beneath her back. He was kissing her neck again, "And it adds spice to things."

Feeling his hands cupping her bottom, Kagome sighed and slipped her arms around his shoulders. "I'd say you've got enough spice without adding to it."

"Perhaps," Miroku moaned, her legs having moved so he lay nestled between them. Sliding up to kiss her again, he actually fumbled with her bra clasp and inwardly laughed at himself.

[God I'm shaking again! What is it about this woman? First I'm jealous and now I'm so damned needy I'm shaking with it.]

Before he could get too introspective about his reactions towards her, Kagome mewled his name, his nickname, in that way that erased all coherent thought from his mind and it didn't return for a long, long time.

----------------------------------------------------------------

-

Pure fluff and fun, no details in this chappie. For those of you who are as incorrigibly hentai as I am:

(Yes I enjoy a good smut as much as the next person - sue me - all I own's an Avril Lavigne CD and a teddy bear - and you're not getting him or I'll stop writing!)

Never fear, there will be smut again! This - I promise you.