InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Hanyou of the Future ❯ On the Catwalk ( Chapter 5 )

AN: Thanks to foamyfan15010 for beta'ing. This chapter is dedicated to jojo-kun, who made some delicious fanart for me of this story. YOU ROCK!

 

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Hanyou of the Future

 

Chapter Five: On the Catwalk

 

Kagome tapped the tip of her pen on her lip, and drowned out Hojo's voice as she stared at the drawing in the margin of her notebook. The drawing was obviously much more interesting that Hojo's tutelage, which was only about Calculus theorems and equations. She looked up once in awhile and met his gaze to let him know she was at least paying attention, but in reality, she wasn't.

 

In fact, she had been distracted all day. She felt ashamed of herself for not concentrating on her studies, but she just couldn't get the way Inuyasha looked this morning out of her mind.

 

`I can't believe I'm thinking this way … feeling this way.' She bit on her lip, and just like a video reel, the back of Inuyasha's form played over again in her mind. Slowly, she immersed herself in his curves, the way the modern clothes snugly fit over his body, and how his muscles stretched and shaped the material of his shirt over his chest.

 

The image was so vivid in her mind that she couldn't help herself from thinking about it - even drawing it in the margins of her boring Calculus notes.

 

“Kagome?” She blinked as Hojo's voice brought her out of her reverie. She looked up at him with a blank expression.

 

“Huh? Did you say something?” she asked quickly, slightly embarrassed by her lack of attention.

 

Hojo smiled good-naturedly. “I asked if you were ready for a practice quiz. I made out some mock quizzes to go over. I think these may be on the exam tomorrow. If you want, you can do them in the half hour we have left, and then I can go over them for you before you leave. How's that sound?”

 

Kagome nodded, suddenly feeling stupid. Hojo was taking time out to help her, and she was in Lala land thinking about all the many things she could do to Inuyasha without his clothes on. She should have been studying instead, and she hated the fact that she'd gotten so distracted.

 

And there was only a half hour left until she got to see Inuyasha again.

 

 

She didn't know what had suddenly gotten into her. When she'd first realized she loved Inuyasha, she hadn't looked at him in a way that made her insides feel hot. No, in the beginning, Inuyasha was like a fairytale hero to her. He was amazing and she felt she could depend on him to protect her. It had been a little girl's crush, and ever since she'd woken up next to him that morning, she hadn't felt like a little girl anymore.

 

Every day she'd begun to feel more like a woman. Though, she realized that it was three years ago since she'd first fell into the well and met Inuyasha, and now she was eighteen. This was her last year of high school, and next year she'd really be an adult by going to college and finding a career.

 

Back then it never seemed that things would go further hand holding, sporadically kissing, and even holding each other on cold nights.

 

She'd never even thought about more - until now.

 

The lead on her pencil broke, and she stared distractedly at the geometric shapes and formulas on her practice quiz. Kagome sighed, and Hojo offered her a pencil sharpener. She shook her thoughts out of her head and stared fiercely at the math problems in front of her.

 

This was not the time to daydream. She only had a half an hour left of this torture, and then she'd be free. She'd then be awarded for her hard work with the image of a sexy, silver-haired, golden-eyed man with reaching for her hand.

 

Kagome licked her lips and began focusing on the problems. With that final thought in mind, she was even more motivated to do her work.

 

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Inuyasha stared sternly at the stark spotlights as he lounged on a soft, velvet black couch. He was getting bored with this, and Riho's noisy babbling was getting on his last nerve. He was glad that this was the last of the ten pictures, and had surmised while suffering through all of the other pictures, that he was not going to agree to the naked picture.

 

And although he didn't mind the nudity, he would not do something perverted for this woman's pleasure. Sure, he needed the money, but did he really need it that badly?

 

There was one last flash of light, and Riho bounced triumphantly from behind the tall tripod and camera. She walked over to him, gave him a thumb's up and then turned to some lackey to get her a victory latte.

 

Inuyasha sighed and stood up as a couple of girls stared at him hungrily expecting him to eventually drop his shorts.

 

“Now, just one picture left, Mr. Inuyasha!” Riho smiled widely with blindingly white teeth.

 

“Yeah, about that…” he said to her, and she looked at him expectantly.

 

“I've changed my mind. I don't want to do any other pictures. Especially that one,” he said, tugging at the elastic on the underwear. “Besides, I think it's bad enough you had me wear these strange clothes.”

 

Riho gaped at him, giving him a look in disbelief to what she was hearing.

 

“Strange clothes?” she muttered. Inuyasha crossed his arms and looked away.

 

“Whadda ya mean you won't do it! You agreed to it!” she seethed as she threw her arms in the air frantically as she lost her temper. “And how dare you call these designs strange! These are the top summer designs of 2005! Many men in Japan would KILL to wear these for their girlfriends!”

 

“Yeah, that's what I'm talking about. All these pictures are for perverted purposes. That's why I won't do the last one. Who the hell knows what you're going to do with that picture,” Inuyasha said with his nose still in the air. “I only want one woman to see me like that, and it certainly ain't you.”

 

“Oh, har har…a man with a pure heart, how noble,” Riho slurred sarcastically. “Though I gotta admit, I don't blame you for thinking that about the nude picture. However, you've got me all wrong.”

 

“What the hell are you talking about?” Inuyasha scoffed.

 

“Though it may have seemed my intentions were perverted in the beginning, it is not the case. I'm offended you would label me as such,” she said, mirroring his stance with her nose in the air.

 

“I don't care, anyway. So just give me what I earned, and I'll go. I have to be somewhere in twenty minutes anyway,” he snarled.

 

“Wait!” She waved her hands in front of her, and her expression changed from angry to pleading. Inuyasha noticed she seemed really desperate. “I'm sorry I led you to believe that the last picture was for porn, but really it's not!”

 

He watched her intently, his silence indicating that he would allow her to continue.

 

“The truth is… I'm not a major photographer like I said I was. Sure, I've had images in Enamor, but only as an assistant to other famous photographers. I've been really struggling to make ends meet lately, and my sensei, Takeda Oogami, is giving me one last chance before he decides to fire me. He gave me some petty cash out of his funds and told me to find someone really unusual looking to wear his designs. If I didn't find someone by 9 p.m. tonight, he told me he'd fire me and not give me any recommendations. He also said that if I could get this person to also pose naked, mainly for a life drawing textbook photo, he wouldn't consider firing me again for another three months.” She clasped her hands together and knelt before Inuyasha while bowing her head. “I beg you, please do this. I have a younger brother I need to take care of. If I'm fired, we'll most likely be thrown out onto the streets.”

 

Inuyasha was speechless, and all he could hear throughout the room was Riho's sniffling as she knelt in front of him.

 

“How can I believe you? I don't even know you,” he said with a sigh. She began to cry harder, squeaking in between breaths.

 

“Please. I promise you I'm not lying. It's not for porn, really it's not. It's for an academic textbook.”

 

`Yeah, right,' was his first thought, but the girl did seem really desperate, and deep down inside, he had this itching reaction to help people again. He may have been around Kagome too much, but it seemed like he was always helping humans with their problems, so he must be getting used to it.

 

He looked down at Riho who was still staring down at the floor crying and shivering in front of him.

 

“Fine, I'll do it, but only one. Got that? And if you scam me and I find out that this is for something I did not agree on, I will find you and kick you and your brother out on the street myself. Understood?” She looked up at him and in his intense golden eyes; she knew that he was serious. He would help her, but he was serious about payback if things didn't turn out as planned.

 

She swallowed uncomfortably and nodded. “I promise.”

 

About five quick minutes went by as they set up the lighting for the picture. Finally, Inuyasha reluctantly dropped the designer underwear, lounged on the sofa again, and bit his lip in irritation.

 

“This better not be a scam,” he said to himself under his breath, and stared sternly into the lens of the camera. Riho didn't bother telling Inuyasha to smile. She didn't want to try telling him anything at this point because he was angry enough.

 

As she eyed that perfect muscular form and exposed male package, she swallowed hard and was thankful for what she could get.

 

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Inuyasha watched as Riho confidently counted out the money into his hand. He was a little skeptical of her behavior since fifteen minutes before she was weeping and begging him to do a nude picture. Her jubilant disposition had returned, and it made him uncomfortable about the picture again. He hated to have to live up to his threat if she really was going to scam him.

 

“There, that's 160,000 Yen, just as promised,” she said with that bubbly tone again. He grabbed the money and slammed it into his pocket, glaring at the girl. She gave him a sheepish smile.

 

“So…thank you again for saving my ass! I promise you that you aren't being scammed. I know it happens a lot these days, but I assure you that is not the case,” she reassured, but Inuyasha still seemed unconvinced. “Look, is there anyway, you know, that you'd want to do this again?”

 

“Feh, fuck no,” Inuyasha said, inwardly shuddering. He'd like to put this whole incident behind him. He only hoped Souta was right and this money thing was going to solve his problems with Kagome's rival suitor.

 

“Well, too bad, once you get that dye job cleared up, I think you could progress into a top model. You should really think about it.” She winked at him, and Inuyasha couldn't believe the broad was actually serious. He also couldn't believe he was actually considering the offer! “Well, if you change your mind, you have my card. Call me anytime.”

 

Inuyasha nodded dumbly, and then quickly shook the thoughts from his mind. He glanced at the clock on the wall, cursed, and then left the studio without saying good-bye. Riho watched him with satisfaction as he left.

 

“Excuse me, Riho?” a voice behind her said, and she turned around expectantly.

 

“So? Did you find out anything, Yuri?” Riho asked right away.

 

“Yes, I went through his clothes while he was out here and found his identification papers. You were right about `Inuyasha' being an alias. He's actually called Takei Koji, and he resides at a Shinto shrine in the western part of the city. I got his current address, but his papers said something about his last residence being in Tibet,” Yuri informed her, and Riho raised her eyebrow at the last part.

 

“Good work. I'm not letting a specimen like that slip through my fingers. Once my sensei gets on my case again for not enough good pictures, I'll just look him up again and persuade him to do more,” Riho smiled wickedly, reminiscing on the memories of the young, muscular man lounged out on her velvet sofa in the photography studio.

 

`And, I have a feeling that I can persuade him to work for me again,' Riho thought inwardly as she began preparing to develop her pictures.

 

 

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Kagome waved goodbye to Hojo and sprinted out of the library. She'd never had a more boring study date, and she hoped that when she told Inuyasha that, he would finally be at ease.

 

It was obvious to her that he was mad out of jealousy, and even though it made her uncomfortable, it was definitely a good sign that maybe he had the same feelings.

 

After all, she had woken up to him that one morning with his arms wrapped around her waist and his face snuggled into her hair.

 

Outside the library, Kagome noticed that the sun was setting into evening, with the Tokyo lights and colors of the sky were meshing to form a beautiful, pre-dusk lighting. She inhaled, looking around expectantly as she ran to the gates of her school, and then smiled as she saw a shadow leaning against the stone pillars waiting for her. He moved into the light, and Kagome felt her shoulders relax as her eyes fell upon the person she had been daydreaming about all afternoon.

 

Her eyes traveled over his body quickly, refreshing the image that had been haunting her all day long.

 

“Inuyasha! I'm done!” she called out as she ran up to him, and right away he took her bag.

 

“Good. Ready to go home?” he asked, and as he looked at her, she noticed he couldn't stop smiling. It was very unlike Inuyasha, so she wondered if he had good news.

 

“So, did you find a job today?” she asked.

 

He nodded and then held his hand out to her as she took it. “Yeah, but it was only a one time thing.”

 

“Oh? Good for you, Inuyasha. So what was the job?” She looked at him curiously. He turned his head away and was hoping that the pre-dusk shadows would hide his blush.

 

“Well, that's not important since it didn't last,” he said, and chuckled lightly. “The important thing is that I got paid for it.”

 

“Inuyasha, did you get fired after the first day?” Kagome sighed in exasperation. She had terrible visions of him hurting his supervisor, or worse, losing his temper and accidentally clawing at something.

 

“What? No!” Inuyasha replied, offended. “It just wasn't a permanent kind of job.” And when she saw him swallow uncomfortably, she was more curious more than ever.

 

She only hoped he didn't sell his body or something. `Silly Kagome, he wouldn't do that! This is Inuyasha!' And she gave him a hopeful smile.

 

“So, what are you going to do with the money again?” she pried. He raised an eyebrow and gave her a sly look.

 

“Nice try. I told you it was a surprise,” he responded and laughed at her final pout.

 

“Oh, but Inuyasha, the suspense is killing me! I want to know why you need the money so badly. Can't you at least give me a clue?” she pleaded. He looked at her and felt himself buckling.

 

`Damn her!' And he hated his failing resolve to almost give in.

 

“Fine, I'll give you a hint. The surprise involves you,” he said finally, looking away smugly.

 

“Oh! That doesn't help at all! Now I want to know more than ever!” she raged, stomping her foot. Inuyasha chuckled at her, thinking about how cute she looked when she was angry.

 

He smirked at her, studying her face and protruding lip as she glared at him. He was very close to giving into her silent demands, but restrained himself. He hoped that the surprise would be worth it.

 

`Then there will be no more study dates with anyone,' he inwardly promised himself. He was still nervous about advancing their relationship, and although he had some doubts, he was confident that Kagome would finally accept him.

 

`Because I really don't have anyone else,' he mused, and stole a glance at her before turning his head away and looking ahead. Kagome must have noticed his glance, and she leaned into him, squeezing his hand tightly and then leaning her head on his upper arm.

 

They continued to walk like that all the way home.

 

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Riho Taguchi slipped into her sensei's grandiose design studio late that evening and confidently held her new photos under her arm. She had failed so many times before, but she honestly believed that this would be her big break.

 

As usual, her sensei Takeda Oogami was yelling at underlings trying to get him lattes and sandwiches and then violently musing over negatives. He was always cursing and tearing up whole sheets of negatives if just one wasn't perfect. He seemed to believe that if there was just one bad negative on the test sheet, the rest of them were bad as well.

 

“Sensei!” Riho spoke in a commanding voice trying to get his attention. He turned around slowly and glared at the person who dared interrupt him. When he saw who it was, he slumped his shoulders and sighed.

 

“Oh it's just you, pea-brain. Have you brought me a stack of failures again? I hope this is not the last day you'll be working for me,” he said with an air of haughtiness, but Riho stared at him squarely, not flinching at his nasty words.

 

“I think you'll appreciate the great model I found today, sir,” she said with a sharp tone in her address to him. He scoffed and held out his hand, looking away from her.

 

“Well, then, let's have a look, shall we?” He yawned, and Riho had to restrain herself from losing her temper at his attitude.

 

He wrinkled his brow and put on the glasses hanging around his neck to look clearly at the pictures. When he glanced at the first one of the exotic looking model, he studied him wearing a pair of his snug shimmering black briefs. He cocked his head, staring at the muscle tone and shape of the model's body.

 

Riho almost laughed when she heard a gasp escape from his mouth. Quickly, Takeda leafed through the other pictures, gasping at each of them and then celebrating audibly with sporadic sounds of joy.

 

“Oh, tres magnifique! Where did you find this delicious man? Did you get a contact number? And oh!” He looked down hungrily at the last picture. “You even got him to pose for the art book. Wonderful! We'll publish these pictures tonight.”

 

His attitude completely turned, and he was looking at Riho as if she was his dearest friend. “Excellent work, Riho! This makes up for every horrible piece of crap you've ever brought me.”

 

Riho forced a smile. “Thank you, sir. So, does this mean I can keep my job?”

 

“Keep your job! Don't be silly; you have a new job!” he replied excitedly.

 

The color from Riho's face completely drained. “New…job?”

 

“Of course! Now, in addition to my assistant, you must find this guy again and come have him work for me…permanently!” Takeda announced, laughing and leafing through the pictures again. He threw them into the air wistfully and danced in celebration around the studio.

 

Riho felt a knot form in her throat. She held back the reflex to frown. `Damn, I hope I can get him back here again.' And given the attitude that model had, Riho definitely knew it was going to be easy.

 

TBC…