InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Headlines: A Hollywood Romance ❯ Memories ( Chapter 7 )

Disclaimer: I don't own Inu-Yasha, though I think that would be cool. For if I did own Inu-Yasha, I wouldn't have to go to school. (-; (Sengoku Jidai, here I come! XD)

Author's Note: Gomen ne! It's been so long since an update, huh? -_-; Sorry, guys! Lotsa drama both on and off line, if you catch my drift. . . and lotsa homework. Uber suckiness.

^_^ Ah well. Please enjoy!

- - - Headlines: A Hollywood Romance- - -

-Chapter Seven: Memories-

Tick, tock. Tick, tock. Tick, tock.

Left, right. Left, right. Left, right.

Inu-Yasha snarled under his breath as he paced back and forth in his loft bedroom, arms crossed behind his back as he stomped from one side of the confined space to the other; eyes on the ground and cold fury in his gaze. `Dammit!' he mentally cursed, flopping back onto his bed with a hiss- hiking up the waist of his gray sweat pants as his silver locks tickled his bare stomach. `Why the hell hasn't that stupid wench called?! I wanna get some sleep here and I can't if she doe- - - er- not that I care, or anything or- - - oh, fuck!'

Burying his claws in the springy mattress beneath him, the inu hanyou had to bite the inside of his cheeks to keep the insults and swear words from rolling off of his tongue. It was hard- and he couldn't help but release a soft growl- but it was in order. It felt like the least he could do while he waited.

`Stupid idiot!' What was she doing to him?!

After a few moments of silent, impatient writhing, he sighed- defeated- and released his hold on the bed. Eyes slowly flickering open to a half lidded state, he tried his best to quell the worry ebbing away at his soul.

Was she oka. . . ?

A vein on his forehead popped, his body tensing again. No! No no no no no! He wasn't worrying! He wasn't! NO WORRYING OVER HER!

. . . Yeah, right.

Propping himself up on his elbows, Inu-Yasha quickly snatched the remote control off of his pillow, flipping on the TV near the base of his bed. He needed a distraction. . .

But, as it turned out, television wasn't the answer.

~What would you do if, on your fifteenth birthday, you fell through a magic well. . . ?~

Inu stiffened, eyes bulging and eyebrows twitching as snippets of scenes began playing out on the screen. Wait a God-damn minute- - -

~What would you do if, on your fifteenth birthday, you met the fabled hanyou, Inu-Yasha, pinned to a tree. . . ?~

There he was- looking serene as Kagome walked into `his clearing', a soft breeze rustling his hair. No- not this commercial- - - !

~What would you do if, on your fifteenth birthday, you found that your destiny was intertwined with that of an outcast boy. . . ?~

Oh shit! - - -There they were, arguing- then again, hugging. . . ! His left hand fumbled for the `clicker'- trying not to watch. He even went so far as to cover his eyes with his free right- but his gaze always found the cracks in his fingers.

~What would you do if, on your fifteenth birthday, your entire life changed forever?~

At last he managed to pick up the remote and point it towards the screen, but whenever he pressed the `off' button it wouldn't work. Did the batteries just run out?! Damn karma!

~"INU-YASHAAA!"~ the actress on the TV screamed, tears forming in her eyes; reaching out a hand as she was pulled away by an oni- and a collection of rapid fire shots were shown. Him and Kikyo, him and Kag, him by himself- the actors playing his friends and enemies- - -

Only to end with a voice-over recording of Inu-Yasha running through his lines, accompanying the flash of the movie's title `A Feudal Fairytale'; his voice a gentle roughness that Miroku told him made the fangirls swoon. ~"I'll always protect you. . ."

A beat of silence. "Then. . . I'll stay around to be protected," Kagome whispered in reply, a smile in the tone as the picture - -

Shattered.

Literally. What with Inu-Yasha chucking the `clicker' through it and all.

Panting hard and glaring icy daggers at the previously working entertainment system, he scooted a bit closer to his headboard on his bum, biting his bottom lip. "Stupid piece of shit," he grumbled, nervously flexing his hand as he tried (and failed) to keep the young actresses voice and expressions out of his head.

Damn, she was too fucking good of an actress!

Pounding his fist once or twice against his forehead, the half demon quickly tried to find some other wait to amuse himself. Staring into space? His nose wrinkled a bit. No, that was ruined by all the posters with Kagome's face in his room. .

All right, then- music? He glanced half heartedly towards his CD collection. Noooo. . . He'd let Miroku borrow all of his good CDs. . . Figures he had to be NICE that once. Once again, damn karma!

A desperate feeling began to tickle the pit of his tummy as he continued to scan his collection of trinkets.

A book- did he have a book? Could he read a novel?! No- not even that! Groaning as he glanced towards his book shelves, it only took a moment to notice that he HAD no good novels- only boring short stories and the books that he and Kagome had done movies on, to help him feel more in character.

Shit! Wasn't there anything he could- - - ?

He did a double take as his eyes fell upon a thick, but short, leather bound volume squashed in the corner of the shelf nearest to his bed; covered in dust. `What. . . ?' What was that?

Crawling to his knees and reaching out with a frown, he pulled the smooth, slippery book out of the case and towards him, sneezing once as he upset the cobwebs. Then, flopping back indian style on top of his comforter, he let the pages fall open.

. . .

`Oh. . .'

He couldn't stop his face from softening as his surprised mind took in the sight before him- his golden eyes clouding over as he suddenly remembered: `Oh yeah. This is my old photo album'. And inside. . .

Sighing, he rested his chin in one palm and his elbow against his knee- gingerly tracing the smooth photograph displayed on the first page with the tips of his other fingers. Had there really been a time. . . ? Keh. It felt so long ago. . .

Smiles. Jokes. Happiness. Dreams. He could see them in the eyes of the pair in the picture- the pair cuddling, laughing, and beaming underneath the pile of autumn leaves and the bright fall sky. The pair intertwined and proudly displaying `V for victory' signs as they cheerfully teased one another. The pair- so familiar, so unknown. The pair. . .

Himself and Kagome.

-

Many things in life bite, both in the physical and metaphorical sense of the word. Physical- dogs. Cats. Little brothers. Hamsters.

Metaphorical-

This night.

Kagome sighed wearily, restlessly twisting in bed. Left, right- left, right- left, right. The sheets all but choked her, the blankets too hot. Ugh. . . It was official. She couldn't sleep. . . She could barely even relax! Dammit.

Sitting up with a groggy groan, the girl rubbed her eyes in the darkness; weakly reaching over to tug her lamp's cord. It took a few minutes of blind searching, but eventually her fingers found it and gave it a smart tug. With a soft click, a warm glow illuminated the corner of her room, waking her up completely. Her alarm clock's green glow of `1:58 AM' faded a bit with the new, sudden brightness, but remained prominent enough to annoy her.

Yes, this sucked. . . in fact, it `sucketh uberly', as one of her old school friends might have put it. Running a hand over her pasty face, Kagome pushed a few stray strands of her braided locks behind her ears. She was so tired- but so frightened. And what on earth could she do about it? She didn't want to cause another scene like earlier, but she was still too afraid to fall into any sort of slumber!

. . . Maybe she should. . . ?

But as soon as she began reaching out for the phone on her bedside table, she froze. Wait- what was she doing?! There was no need to call HIM! No. . .

No. She wasn't going to.

Nodding to herself and firmly closing her eyes, she mustered every bit of stubborn pride she could in order to hang on to this resolution. `I don't need his help. I don't need his help. I don't need his help. I don't need his help. Yes- I am strong. I am brave. I am- - -'

A cricket chirped outside- - - making the actress leap a mile out of her skin.

"EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEK!" she screamed; bolting upright and clutching the cloth covering her chest as all the blood rushed out of her face, a frozen hand clenching her stomach.

. . . Okay, now she was just pathetic. `Yes. . . I am pathetic.'

Moaning in irritation as she realized she'd just cried bloody murder over a bug (and probably frightened the neighbors out of their wits), Kagome slid helplessly down under her covers with tear filled eyes. `Oh. . . shit! What am I going to do. . . ?' Sniveling as a sour coating of fear painted her throat, a single salty pearl slipped down her cheek. `I'm such a looser. . .'

It was a good thing Inu-Yasha COULDN'T see her right now. . . she'd never live it down.

. . .

Her sad blue pools misted over at the mere indication of his name. `Inu-Yasha. . .' she thought desperately, rolling over and hugging a pillow to her chest. `Inu-Yasha, I remember when- - - !

. . .

Heh.' A small, joyless smile found its way to her soft pink lips while she closed her azure orbs, a sob escaping her as she turned her head towards the bedside table. "What am I doing. . . ?" Kag whispered into the night, swallowing thickly as her eyes slowly fluttered open- locking on the phone. "Memories won't do me any good. . . Hm?'

Blinking once and snuffling loudly, Kagome ran the back of her hand across her cheeks- her other hand reaching instinctively out towards the phone- - -

Only to bypass it, falling instead upon the cold, face down picture frame. ". . .

But. . . then again. . ." she found herself murmuring, lifting the photo up with trembling fingers, "they're all I have right now. . ."

With that, she set the frame back in place- up right and proud- staring hungrily at the glossy memory. And as she stared into the photo- taking in the bright autumn leaves, her smiling face, his strong arms and happy grin- she felt an indescribable peace fill her. A warm protectiveness. . . that helped her find the rest she needed.

`Inu-Yasha. . .'

- - -

Sorry this chapter is so short- I need to go study for a social studies test. -_-; ::sighs::

^_^ Hope you enjoyed! Please R&R!

Ja ne!