InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Future Beginnings ❯ Ch 16: New York New York ( Chapter 16 )

Inuyasha belongs to Rumiko Takahashi.

 

Ch. 16: New York New York

 

 

Sesshomaru had offices in New York City. Before they parted, he gave the address to Inuyasha and told him to meet him there in a few weeks' time.

 

“That's all he said?” Kagome wanted to know. She wrote down the address that Inuyasha repeated for her. “No specific date or time?”

 

“No, he just said go there and ask for him. That's all.”

 

Kagome sighed. “Do you have any idea how big New York City is?”

 

“No.”

 

“Well, it's big.”

 

They walked across campus to Kagome's next class. They were a few minutes early so they sat down on a low stone wall outside the entrance to the building. Kagome didn't let up on her questions. “So he made you the youkai Lord of these lands?”

 

“He didn't make me,” Inuyasha clarified. “He asked me if I would do it.”

 

“But why?”

 

Inuyasha really didn't want to get into it. He wasn't sure he understood it all completely himself. “It's complicated. He says there are other youkai or something like youkai here, and I'm supposed to keep an eye on them or something.”

 

“Did you see any?”

 

“No. Isn't it time for your class yet?”

 

That was a first. Usually Inuyasha did everything in his power to keep her from leaving. “We'll talk about this later,” said Kagome firmly as she got up to go to class.

 

I hope not, thought Inuyasha. As Kagome headed off, Inuyasha's nose picked up a familiar scent so he, too, got up and joined the crowds of students scurrying between classes. His quarry turned off at the Student Center so he followed them down the stairs where there was a small convenience store and a lounge with a few video machines, a big TV and some dirty furniture. Looks like they were going to relax for a while. Inuyasha grinned. This would be fun.

 

He came up quietly behind two of the boys and clapped a hand on each one's shoulders. They staggered a little under the sudden weight and turned around. Whatever smart remark they were about to utter died on their lips as they realized the person behind them wasn't one of their buddies. Their eyes widened in recognition.

 

“You have a problem with my hair?” Inuyasha asked in passable English. He'd been rehearsing that particular sentence for quite a while.

 

“No, no, man,” said one, staring at Inuyasha's definitely un-feminine scowl. “Sorry, didn't mean anything by it,” said the other, waving his hands in front of his face.

 

“Good,” said Inuyasha as he walked away. He was relieved that they hadn't talked a lot at him, as that was about the extent of his English skills. That felt good. The boys had backed right down when he confronted them. In a good mood, he sprang lightly to the top of the stairs and back outside into the crisp autumn air.

 

He waited for Kagome outside her classroom, every so often peering in at her throught the small glass window in the door. Her teacher had his back to the door so he didn't see Inuyasha, but most of the other students did. They all knew by now that he was Kagome's boyfriend, so they kept nudging her and pointing to the door. Inuyasha could see her face turn red with embarassment.

 

When class was over she took his arm and walked swiftly down the hallway. “We have to get you a hobby,” she told him.

 

It was dusk when they headed over to the big cafeteria. They met Peter, Noriko and Jen for dinner. Inuyasha noticed the boys who had commented on his hair and caught their eyes from across the room. They nodded at him and he nodded back. They had an understanding now.

 

Jen was the only one at the table who didn't know Inuyasha's secret. Inuyasha wondered if he should remedy that, considering Kagome had just informed them all of their impending trip to New York City. Of course they all wanted to go, too.

 

“Let's plan on the weekend after next,” suggested Jen. “It's a three-day weekend. We can take the bus and stay with friends of mine in the City. We could go to see a Broadway show!”

 

“Maybe. You three can go. Don't forget, the reason we are going is because Inuyasha has to meet his brother.”

 

“He can come too!”

 

Inuyasha barked a laugh.

 

Peter voiced the question that Noriko didn't quite dare to ask. “Your brother—is he like you? A yo—han---whatever?”

 

“He's full youkai,” said Inuyasha, watching as Noriko's face predictably paled and Jen's creased in confusion.

 

“Cool!” said Peter. “I want to meet this guy too. Can we come with you to meet your brother?”

 

Kagome didn't think that was such a good idea. Neither did Noriko. Jen was all for it. “This is going to be so much fun!” she said.

 

 

The bus let them out at Port Authority and they walked up to Times Square on the Saturday morning they had picked to go to New York City. Inuyasha, who had kept his nose pressed to the bus window the entire time they drove through Manhattan, now gaped openly at the ferris wheel inside the entrance to Toys-R-Us.

 

“Oh, we've got to go in there,” said Jen.

 

Inuyasha growled as a store employee took their photo, garnering a puzzled glance from Jen. Noriko caught the glance and smiled to herself. At least this time, it wasn't her wondering what was going on. It was nice to be on the inside looking out, for a change.

 

The giant mechanical dinosaur elicited another involuntary growl from Inuyasha before he realized it had no scent. Peter, noticing his reaction, asked him, “Is that what youkai look like? Like dinosaurs?” A few Japanese tourists who were standing nearby looked up curiously. Inuyasha shook his head and moved on.

 

Kagome and Noriko found a big white stuffed dog with pointed ears and rushed up to it, exclaiming how cute it was and making a show of petting its ears. Inuyasha felt his face redden. He snatched it out of Kagome's hands and put it back on the shelf. “It's just a stupid toy.”

 

Both girls burst out laughing and Jen wanted to know what was so funny, which set them to laughing even harder. Peter picked the stuffed toy up, turning it this way and that. “I don't know,” he commented with a grin, “it kind of reminds me of somebody.”

 

“Keh.” Inuyasha strode away and got on the down escalator. The others hurried to catch up to him.

 

On the way out they stopped to view their photo. In it, everybody was smiling except Inuyasha, who appeared quite menacing. His lips were curled back and the tips of his fangs were clearly visible. “Hey Inuyasha,” said Jen. “Halloween was last month!”

 

Peter, Kagome and Noriko exchanged glances and started to laugh all over again. Kagome bought the picture.

 

They walked to Rockefeller Center and watched the ice-skaters for a while. Inuyasha kept staring up at the skyscrapers. He had seen Kagome's Tokyo so he knew what to expect in a big modern city, but Tokyo didn't have such tall buildings as these. Kagome said it was because Japan was prone to earthquakes. He wondered idly if he could jump up so high. Kagome must have guessed what he was thinking because she glanced from him to the top of the building he was looking at, then she hooked her arm through his and pulled him further down the street. Ok, so he wouldn't try jumping just now. Walking like this was nice, too.

 

A horrific yet not completely unfamiliar smell brought Inuyasha up short at the next corner. “What are those?” he asked.

 

“Chestnuts—roasting…never mind. Chestnuts,” explained Peter. They're good. He bought some for everybody to try. Inuyasha had to agree. They were good.

 

They headed up Fifth Avenue, passing and occasionally stopping at, much to Inuyasha's disgust, many fashionable clothing and shoe boutiques. Kagome thought they should try to locate Sesshomaru's building and Inuyasha agreed that they should probably get that part of their trip over with as soon as possible. According to Jen, the address Sesshomaru had given them was somewhere on the upper East side. It was a long walk, but interesting.

 

“Hopefully your brother is working today,” remarked Jen. “The office might be closed since it is Saturday.” They were looking up at a large building across from a playground.

 

Kagome gasped. She had never thought of that. What if their entire trip was wasted? She wished Inuyasha had gotten a phone number as well, but she supposed she couldn't expect him to know that. They didn't even know what name the business might be under.

 

“So what?” Inuyasha asked. “If we can't find him, we'll just do something else. He knows how to find me.” He sniffed. “Besides, he is here. I can smell him.”

 

“You can smell him?” asked Jen.

 

Inuyasha strode through the double glass doors into the lobby and stopped at the receptionist's desk. The woman behind the desk was neither Japanese nor youkai. “Sesshomaru,” he said gruffly.

 

Kagome, right behind him, asked a little more politely. “We are looking for Sesshomaru. He told us he works in this building, but we don't know which floor.”

 

The woman smiled. “Ah, I just got a message about you. Go on up to the seventeenth floor. You are expected.”

 

“Which office?”

 

“Someone will be waiting to escort you as soon as you arrive. Take the elevators to your left.”

 

“I thought you said your brother didn't know exactly when you were coming. How did they know it was you?” asked Peter.

 

“He probably smelled me, too,” replied Inuyasha as he walked over to the elevators and pushed the up button. Jen stared after him, unsure whether or not he was joking. Kagome took her arm and led her towards the elevators too.

 

Inuyasha knew Sesshomaru would be on the other side of the doors when the elevator opened. He was dressed in business casual, his hair braided and pinned in place so that no one but Inuyasha, and possibly Kagome, knew that he, too, had long hair. He took the sight of all five of them in stride, most likely because he had scented them ahead of time, but his lips tightened slightly in annoyance.

 

“I see you brought your entourage,” he said to Inuyasha in Japanese. “Was that wise?”

 

“I brought my friends,” Inuyasha stressed. “And they know who I am.” He glanced at Jen. “Well, except her.”

 

“Very well, then.” Sesshomaru switched to English. “Please come in. I have some business matters to discuss with my brother. If you would be so kind as to have a seat out here, I will try to conclude our business as quickly as possible.” He turned to Kagome and again switched to Japanese. “Miko, I would like you to come in with us.”

 

Noriko looked up as she heard Sesshomaru address Kagome as `miko.' Now that she really had a chance to see Sesshomaru, she decided that although he did have Inuyasha's coloring, he looked less like a youkai than Inuyasha did. She wasn't afraid of him at all.

 

Feeling her gaze on him, Sesshomaru turned around and looked straight at Noriko. “You know what I am.”

 

She nodded her head. “Yes.”

 

“See that you inform your friends there, that I know who you are also.”

 

Noriko felt a stirring of apprehension. Maybe this youkai was scarier than Inuyasha after all. She nodded again as Sesshomaru closed the door behind him. Sesshomaru was proof that you didn't need to look fierce in order to be scary.

 

Inside his office, Sesshomaru asked Inuyasha again. “Are you sure it was wise to let those humans know who you really are?”

 

Kagome answered before Inuyasha lost his temper. “I thought the same thing, but Inuyasha proved me wrong. He doesn't want to hide and pretend he's something that he's not. And, believe it or not, Peter and Noriko have been great. They accept Inuyasha the way he is.” She patted Inuyasha's hand. “And Inuyasha's not reckless. He has been careful about revealing his youkai nature in front of other people.” That was an exaggeration. She had the photo in her pocketbook to prove it. “He hasn't even told Jen yet, and we live in the same house.”

 

Sesshomaru raised his eyebrows at Kagome's admission that Inuyasha actually lived with her, but he replied, “Inuyasha has matured greatly these last few months.”

 

Inuyasha fidgeted on his chair. Would he ruin their nice conversation about his new-found maturity if he lost his temper right now? Probably. He took a deep breath. “I know what I'm doing,” he said.

 

Sesshomaru accepted Inuyasha's statement at face value and moved on to the matter at hand. “I don't pretend to understand all that has happened to you.” He included Kagome in his gaze. “For you it has been a matter of a few months. For me it has been five hundred years since I last saw you.”

 

Kagome glanced at Inuyasha in dismay. Did that mean they never went back? Kagome hoped not. She didn't want to make that choice.

 

“Maybe that's `cause we weren't so close on the other side,” said Inuyasha sarcastically.

 

“Perhaps.”

 

Kagome spoke up. “But we want to go—“ she almost said `home,' “—back in December. You're not telling us that Inuyasha has to stay here in this time for good, are you?”

 

“We are going back in December.” Inuyasha answered Kagome, but his eyes were trained on Sesshomaru. “Then we'll come here again for your school until you are finished. Then we'll see.” He folded his arms across his chest, a gesture that didn't carry over so well without the voluminous sleeves of his haori.

 

“Very well,” said Sesshomaru. He moved to his desk and extracted a folder of papers which he held out to Inuyasha. Inuyasha took them, glanced briefly at them, then handed the folder to Kagome. He trusted that she would know if they were the right ones.

 

Kagome's face creased into a smile as she surveyed the contents of the folder. Birth certificate, passport, driver's license? She asked Sesshomaru about the last item.

 

“I thought it better if he did not have to take instruction from a driver education teacher. I can show him how to drive when the time comes.”

 

“Don't need to,” replied Inuyasha. “I already know how.”

 

Kagome rolled her eyes. This was going to be interesting, she thought to herself. She wondered briefly how Sesshomaru had gotten photos of Inuyasha. Did he contact her mother? She was sure they had some pictures of Inuyasha around the house. Or maybe, she thought, Sesshomaru, being a modern youkai, had used a digital camera when he and Inuyasha took their trip a few weeks ago. She shook her head. It didn't really matter, she supposed.

 

“I also took the liberty of enrolling you in some ESL classes at Kagome's school, since you wil be spending time there.” He handed Inuyasha a student ID. Inuyasha, who was about to retort that he didn't need to go to school, took the card and changed his mind. Now he had his own little square card and could go to the cafeteria whenever he wanted.

 

“However,” Sesshomaru continued. “The school will not allow males and females to be roommates. I told them you would be living off-campus and used my address as your permanent residence as I am now your legal guardian.”

 

“My guardian!”

 

“Miko, I have set up a local bank account in Inuyasha's name. I ask that you assist hom in acquiring off-campus housing. I believe you will want to view the housing before choosing, am I correct?”

 

Kagome beamed. “Yes, that's right. This is great! We were planning on getting an apartment together anyway…” Her voice died out. She probably shouldn't have said that.

 

Sesshomaru didn't seem upset, though. It wasn't like he couldn't tell that they….Kagome blushed.

 

“I trust you are taking precautions,” was all he said. Great. Not only her mother, but now Sesshomaru too wanted to make sure she was on birth control. She nodded.

 

Inuyasha was confused. “What is he talking about, Kagome? What precautions?”

 

She whispered, “I'll tell you later,” then squeezed his hand to let him know it was all right.

 

 

Three sets of eyes blinked up at them when they came out of the office.

 

“He's cute,” whispered Jen to Noriko. Sesshomaru smiled, having overheard the comment. Noriko blanched.

 

“Please come with me to dinner.” Sesshomaru invited. “I'd like to get to know you better since you are all friends of my brother.” He called for a car, a big shiny black Lincoln, and they all piled in and drove to Little Italy. Sesshomaru had reserved a private back room for their party and he had chosen a set menu which was all prepared and waiting for them. Inuyasha was pleased to see all the pasta dishes in particular. After seeing to it that everyone was taken care of, Sesshomaru dismissed the wait staff and closed the door.

 

“Now,” he said to the room in general. Inuyasha looked up, his mouth full of spaghetti. “You are aware that Inuyasha and I are both youkai,” he began.

 

Inuyasha pointed at Jen with his fork. “She's not.”

 

Sesshomaru turned to face Jen. “What you are about to hear is very serious. You must never speak of it except among these people.”

 

Jen quirked her eyebrow. “Or you will have to kill me?” she jokingly misquoted.

 

Sesshomaru inclined his head.

 

“Yeah, right. Go ahead, I'm all ears,” she said.

 

One corner of Inuyasha's mouth turned up. “I got this,” he said, and he pulled off his hat. “You want to see ears, Jen?”

 

Jen stared for a few seconds and she didn't say anything. Inuyasha's nose didn't pick up a spike of fear in her scent, however, and he was glad. He knew she was tough. Sesshomaru hadn't moved but he watched her carefully.

 

Finally Jen said with wonder, “You're not human.”

 

“Not exactly, no,” replied Inuyasha. He gestured at Sesshomaru. “He's not, that's for sure. You ok with that?”

 

She thought about it for a minute. Her scent remained the same so Inuyasha and Sesshomaru knew her answer before she said it. “Sure.”

 

It's always the ears, thought Kagome.