InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Heart's Landfill ❯ London Bridge ( Chapter 20 )

A/N: As always all characters will be walking that fine line called OOCness.

 

Disclaimer: All characters belong to the wonderful Rumiko Takahashi, with the exception of Nya, Malcolm, and Dr. Aikio.

 

Chapter 20:

 

London Bridge

 

The sound of waves crashing against the beach mixed with the sounds of what must have been a million and two squawking birds drew her from a peaceful sleep.

 

`Just a little bit longer.'

 

Kagome tried to pull the thick duvet coverlet up over her head, but it was too late; her eyes had already opened of their own accord.

 

`All right, damn it! I'm up! Now what?'

 

Pushing the covers down, so that they were barely covering her hips, she stretched her hands over her head and yawned as her back arched up off the bed and her feet tried to pull her legs away from her hips.

 

After staring around the room, she rolled on to her side and curled into a ball away from the window and the sunlight that, at this moment, she felt was being overly intrusive.

 

“I'm in Hawaii. I'm in Hawaii with Inuyasha,” she whispered as if she was just realizing this for the first time.

 

Staring at her closed bedroom door, she couldn't stop the last words they'd spoken to one another from filtering through her mind.

 

Flashback

 

“We're just reluctant colleagues, right? Not even friends, right?” Inuyasha questioned softly, calling her on her own words. The same words she'd practically shouted at him on the plane a little more than 24 hours ago.

 

“Well… Yeah… I…I guess… Uhm, sure,” she agreed reluctantly not exactly sure where he was going with this.

 

Turning, his eyes only meeting hers briefly, he finished, “Good. It's best that we keep it that way,” as he walked through the open balcony doors and into his room, leaving a baffled young woman sitting there staring out at the sea, wondering what the hell had just happened and why.

 

End Flashback

 

`What did he mean by that?' she wondered. Just then something else he'd said came to mind. “Where I'm concerned, Kagome, don't get your hopes up.”

 

Rolling onto her back, the baffled young woman continued to peruse her thoughts for an answer or at least a hint of what he was trying to tell her.

 

`Why would he ask me if we're reluctant colleagues? Why would he pick that specific moment to ask me something like that when all before, he seemed more than eager to get me to let him in or at the very least be civil to him?'

 

Staring up at the beautifully crafted ceiling, her mind continued replaying his words, “Good. It's best that we keep it that way.” That thought caused a small part of her resolve to fracture slightly.

 

`Good. It's best that we keep it that way?' she repeated…questioned, this time her thoughts tinged with anger. `Does he think… Could he be thinking that I…'

 

Sitting up abruptly, she growled low, “That bastard! He thinks…he thinks that I like him?”

 

Even if this was true on some level, she damn sure wasn't ready, willing, or able to face this truth just yet. And she damn sure didn't want him getting any goddamn ideas about it either!

 

Jumping out of bed, she charged towards the door, determined to make sure he understood that she didn't like him, didn't want to like him, and cursed the day she fucking met him!

 

`How dare he assume such a thing? And then he has the audacity to speak on it as if he knows for sure that it's the truth,' she thought as she strode across the living room to his door, which was still closed.

 

She didn't care what time it was or if he was lying there snoring and drooling out the side of his mouth! She had something to say, and goddamn it, she was going to say it!

 

She refused to allow him to think that he had the upper hand! No, not even for a fraction of a fucking minute!

 

Raising her hand to knock, she quickly thought better of it and instead reached for the handle and turned.

 

Pushing the door open, she stepped into the room and snapped, her hands on her hips, “Inuyasha, I don't know who you think you are, but…

 

Simonkal of Inuy

 

The hanyou had been awake since before the sun had risen. Actually, he couldn't say for sure that he had even slept.

 

He remembered coming into his room after his talk with Kagome. He remembered stripping down to his bare essentials and crawling into the bed. He even remembered listening as she eventually passed his door, heading to her room, and then he was left with nothing but silence, darkness, and his own thoughts.

 

It was quite possible that he did sleep. He just couldn't remember it, but what he did remember was that his last thought was of her and his first thought this morning was once more of her.

 

After he'd left her sitting on the balcony, he told himself that this was for the best. There was no need to allow her to get to know him and vice versa.

 

He could tell by looking at her and the manner in which she carried herself that she wasn't the type of woman to play games. She wasn't the type that he could have a one-night stand with and then expect her to fade into the darkness as if `they' had never happened. She, Higurashi Kagome, was not one of those women that would be happy with just a booty call every now and again. She wouldn't be okay with seeing him out with someone else. She…she would never have allowed him to treat her the way he'd treated his last conquest.

 

No, she was the type…the one that would want a relationship; she would want to be involved in every aspect of his life and she would expect him to do the same. She would want the Sunday afternoon dinners at Rin and Sesshomaru's house. She would insist that she attend any and all company functions with him. She would demand date nights and evenings where it was just the two of them. She'd want to know what he was thinking when he was quiet. She would want any and everything that a woman in love and in a committed relationship would want, and, honestly, he couldn't find anything wrong with that.

 

Had he not already known all of this, perhaps he would have had no problem stringing her along, toying with her feelings, making her fall in love with him, only to break her heart for her efforts.

 

He supposed that it would have been rather easy to get her to fall for him if he wanted. He'd only have to be nice, take her out to dinners, and whisper sweet words in her ears of promises for the future. He'd have to make himself available to her at all times, leaving her no room for doubt. And, just like that, she'd be his until he was ready to move on to the next one.

 

Inuyasha had never considered himself a player of any kind, but just like every other male out there, he knew how to play the game. And the things he didn't know, Kikyo taught him in a round about way.

 

He also knew how it felt to be toyed with. He knew how it felt to have your emotions twisted and pulled at someone else's whim. He knew first hand how it felt the moment you realized that your efforts, your loyalty, your love had been taken for granted. He knew, without wanting to know, how it felt when you finally learned that the one you loved with every fiber of your being didn't…had never, loved you back.

 

“The woman for you is still out there. You just have to find her,” he heard Rin's words repeating in his mind.

 

That may have been true, but the problem was, did he really care anymore? Was he willing to step back out on that thin limb and place his heart in someone else's hands…someone else's care? Did he dare to even dream of finding someone that would be able to deal with the bullshit he would put her through?

 

His mind floated back to Kagome, the woman, who had drifted into his life like an apparition, hell bent of torturing him by forcing him to face his demons…his fears.

 

Perhaps, had he met her at another time…in another lifetime, things would have been different. Perhaps, had they met under normal circumstances…

 

His thoughts made no sense to him at the moment. If he had met her before Kikyo, he would have had no problem letting her in, but now… Damn, now it just didn't even make sense to think about it.

 

No, she hadn't admitted that she liked him, but he wasn't stupid. He knew what was bound to happen. Even though she hid beneath a thick coarse blanket of hatred and had an outer exterior covered in jagged pieces of glass, he knew that if he continued to taunt and tease her, to play with her, she'd crumble.

 

Not because she was weak, no, but because she was a woman and regardless of how strong or how weak she thought she was, they all wanted the same thing; someone to love and someone to love them back.

 

`Does that mean that we can't at least be friends?' he asked himself. He laughed softly, feeling ridiculous for even thinking such a thing. `Of course, men and women can't be friends. Someone will always start to get feelings for the other.'

 

He wasn't necessarily saying that Kagome would fall for him. More than likely, if he were honest with himself, it would be him falling for her.

 

Inuyasha closed his eyes and sighed, trying to shut off his thoughts, but all it served to do was force him to focus his hearing on her room. He could hear her mumbling something, but he wasn't quite sure what that was.

 

Shifting so that his forearm was laying over his closed eyes, he groaned as he heard her door open.

 

`Where the hell is she going?' he thought, but his thoughts were quickly interrupted by the sound of her pissed off voice resounding through his already cluttered mind.

 

“Inuyasha, I don't know who you think you are, but if you even think for a moment that I like you, you better think again! I only came on this trip because your bastard brother blackmailed me into it,” she hissed, her hands grasping her hips. “All I was trying to do is be nice to your psychotic ass and you automatically assume I want more? Well just in case you're confused about something, let me make it clear! Once this trip is over, I hope I never have to see your face again! Do we have an understanding?”

 

The hanyou groaned as he shifted so that he was leaning up on his elbows, but still lying on his back. He started to speak, but stopped as his eyes locked on her curvaceous form.

 

Her hair was disheveled in the most erotic way, her face flushed with rage, her lips pouting teasingly. She stood there glaring at him, her hands on her hips drawing even more attention to the red bikini lace panties she wore, which hid absolutely nothing.

 

`Brazilian, eh?' he thought, twisting his head slightly to the side as if it would give him a better look at her slit.

 

Swallowing, he allowed his eyes to roam up higher to the spaghetti strapped white and red striped tank top that read Super Sucker across the front and situated perfectly between her two mounds.

 

`Holy shit,' he thought as he tried to rewet his parched throat. Sure, she looked good in clothes but damn, damn, and double damn. She really needed to try going without them as much as humanly possible.

 

“Uhm, Ka…gome,” he stuttered, his only intention to tell her she was showing him almost everything he knew she didn't want him to see.

 

“Don't…uhm, Kagome me, you bastard! Just answer the question!”

 

`Does she know, she's half naked?' Staring at the woman, who was still staring down at him unwavering, Inuyasha grinned. He realized quickly that it was more probable that she'd been so pissed, for whatever the reason, that she didn't even pay attention to what she was wearing.

 

Instead of telling her right away, he figured he'd play along while enjoying the view.

 

“What the fuck is your problem? It's too early for this,” he ground out, trying to sound annoyed as he reached onto the nightstand for his cell phone.

 

Shifting, Kagome crossed her arms beneath her full breasts and huffed, “My problem is you assuming that I want you!”

 

Inuyasha sat up, his phone in his hand, the coverlet falling into his lap, showing off his bare chest. “You're fucking nuts! I never said any such thing!”

 

Rolling her neck, she hissed, “Well you insinuated it, and that was enough, don't you think?”

 

Hitting the camera button on his phone, he kept it positioned on his lap as if he was just looking for a number, while he secretly adjusted the camera on her. After getting her image situated perfectly, he looked up at her and queried, “What the hell are you talking about? And I'm really tired of you accusing me of shit that I have nothing to do with!”

 

Click, one picture taken.

 

“I'm talking about what you said last night, you buffoon! That little skit you put on before you so rudely left me sitting on the balcony by myself!”

 

“What skit? Stop beating around the damn bush and just spit it out already!”

 

Click, another picture taken.

 

Her voice set as heavy as it would go, she tried to mimic him as best she could, her arms flailing out at her sides, “Wherever, I'm concerned, don't expect anything.”

 

“I didn't-”

 

Click, another picture taken.

 

“Yes, you did and I'm not finished,” she hissed, cutting him off. “We're just reluctant colleagues, right? Not even friends, right?” she finished, her voice sounding like a man with a nasty dose of the flu.

 

Inuyasha was thankful that he had a top of the line cell because that meant she wouldn't hear the click of the camera and the resolution on the pictures would be awesome. Glancing down at the last picture he'd taken, he tried not to laugh since he'd caught her arms in mid flail, her breast bouncing up and down, and her face set in a deep scowl.

 

“Shit, you're the one that said you were just my reluctant colleague. I was just reminding you is all!”

 

Click, another picture taken.

 

“I know what the hell I said, Inuyasha! I don't need you reminding me of it!” Stepping closer to the bed, she finished, “Just because I decide to take pity on your sad little ass and be nice to you, doesn't mean I want to fuck you, you know!”

 

Inuyasha was taken aback by the whip-like lash of her tongue, but quickly recovered. “What else can you do with that nasty little mouth of yours?” he asked, his voice husky.

 

Click, another picture taken.

 

Kagome started to say something, but stopped. `I know he did not just insinuate…' Glancing around the room for something to throw at his head, she hissed arrogantly, “As if you'd ever find out!”

 

Shrugging his shoulders, he replied nonchalantly, “You're probably not that good at it anyway.”

 

That last statement was meant to hurt her pride and it did because the next thing he knew, he was dodging an ashtray that had just been thrown at his head.

 

“You obnoxious prick!”

 

Inuyasha sat up again, glaring at her. “Oi, if you hit me with anything, I swear to God you'll make it back to Tokyo in a body bag,” he lied, knowing he'd never touch her or any other woman like that.

 

This statement was said to scare her because she had definitely scared the shit out of him.

 

Click, another picture taken.

 

“Oh really? Is that a threat? Or a promise?” Kagome queried evenly while picking up a complimentary copy of Grey's Anatomy left by the hotel staff off the table nearest the door. “I bet you're such a fucking coward that you'd probably curl up into a ball and cry,” she teased, hefting the large book at the hanyou, who leapt out of the bed, dropping the cell phone he'd been holding.

 

Thankfully, he was wearing a pair of black boxers, which Kagome, in her fit of rage, failed to notice.

 

“You're 31 fucking flavors of crazy,” Inuyasha exclaimed, staring at the irate bitch, who was now staring quizzically down at the cell phone laying open on the bed. Realizing that he'd just been found out, he stated, “You need anger management bad! I see why that Akitoki fuck ditched your ass!”

 

Having always paid close attention to the things that people say, Kagome pointed two fingers in the hanyou's direction while stepping closer to the bed as she stared down at the camera, squinting.

 

“First, I never told you his name was Akitoki,” she said calmly enough. Turning on him, her eyes blazing with rage, she pointed down at the cell phone as she queried through clenched teeth, “Second, why the hell do you have a picture of me on your fucking cell phone?” She couldn't see the photos well, but she knew they were of her.

 

Inuyasha froze. `Shit, shit, shit, shit, shit!' What was he supposed to say to that? How the hell was he supposed to pacify her enough that she didn't kill him? `Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!'

 

“I'm waiting,” she hissed in a singsong, cryptic voice.

 

Noticing the she was mere inches from grabbing the phone, the hanyou dove on the bed, snatching it out of her reach, but that didn't stop Kagome one bit.

 

She dove on his back, trying to wrestle the phone out of his grasp. Inuyasha twisted away from her, knowing that she'd only get the phone if he allowed her to.

 

He noticed absently that her skin was scalding hot against his own. Her legs were now wrapped around his waist as her arms reached over and down the front of him, trying vainly to seize his arm that held the cell phone.

 

“How dare you snap pictures of me like that? Give them to me, Inuyasha!” she exclaimed, forgetting every ounce of decorum and etiquette that she'd been taught. “I could sue you for this shit, you know!”

 

Inuyasha tried to roll away from her, but she was like a slug clinging to the backside of his balls. Pushing back so that he was kneeling on the bed, he held his left hand, which held the infamous phone, out to the side while reaching behind him with his right and grasping her waist.

 

Tugging her off of him, he chuckled, “I knew you wanted to get into bed with me, but this is a little ridiculous, don't you think?”

 

The livid woman growled as she swung out furiously at his chest. “I don't want anything from you, you lech! Just give me the goddamn phone so I can break it!”

 

Inuyasha tried to hold her down with one hand, but he realized quite quickly that this little 5'5” woman who couldn't weigh anymore than 115 pounds was strong as hell. `Damn it,' he thought, dropping the phone to the ground.

 

“Kagome, stop! Stop!” the hanyou demanded, his persona darkening the more she struggled.

 

“No! I'm tired of this! I'm tired of all of you assholes just doing what you want whenever you want,” she shouted, swinging at his face and connecting.

 

Inuyasha growled, heatedly, “Alright, al-fucking-right! If this is the way you want it then fucking fine!” Grabbing her free hand out of mid air right before it connected with his cheek for the second time, he pinned both of them over her head with little effort. “You know you can't fucking beat me, Kagome! So just stop trying, damn it!”

 

She threw her body against his, trying to toss him off of her, but he was like a slab of cement, unmoving and set in its place. “You bastard! I hate you! I hate you,” she screamed into his face. But it wasn't only his face that she was seeing.

 

She saw those iridescent blue eyes and that chivalrous grin. She heard his promised words of affection and a future that never came to be. She felt the pain all over again as if it was a knife ripping into her chest slowly. She could feel it, it was coming; like a faucet being turned on, it was coming, and there wasn't a damn thing she could do about it.

 

“Join the fucking club, everyone hates me,” he replied, feeling her kick up her knee, which he was sure was meant to connect with his groin.

 

It was only by the luck of the Gods that he was straddling her waist and not her knees.

 

“You're just like the rest of them! You make me sick,” she spat, her anger whipping out against him like a poisonous snake.

 

She knew, outside of the pictures he'd snapped of her, she had no real reason to be angry with him, but he was here! This…this one small thing was the straw the broke what little composure she had left. `No! Gods, no! Not now! Not here!'

 

Inuyasha heard the words she screamed at him, but somewhere deep down he knew that it wasn't him she was yelling at. These words of hatred were meant mostly for someone that had hurt her in her past.

 

As sad as it was, he understood that more than she'd ever know.

 

Tears came to her eyes as her flailing died down and her limbs grew weak. “You…I…I hate you. I…I… Why did you have to be like him? I…Oh Gods…” she sobbed as the pair of golden eyes that stared back down at her with compassion turned to clear blue.

 

Inuyasha's heart began to beat rapidly the moment he smelled the first tear fall from her eyes.

 

`No… She can't be… Not Kagome!'

 

Why did this make him want to help her? Why did he want to heal…to help her heal? What… Why was this woman in his life? Why was she here in his bed weeping for a lost love? Why, of all the women in the world, did it have to be her that refused to leave him be?

 

“Kagome, please… Don't…don't do that. Don't…don't cry,” he stuttered as he watched her facade shatter right before him.

 

What in seven hells was he supposed to do now? He could deal with the violent, belligerent Kagome, but this…what she was doing-left him feeling more than a little handicapped.

 

She heard him, but she could do nothing to stop the tears as her body shook violently, releasing everything that she'd held back. She hated doing this, opening up in front of a man that she didn't know and wasn't sure she wanted to know, but she couldn't help it…she couldn't stop it. She needed-desperately needed--to find true release.

 

She'd put up a strong front. She'd hidden her pain from all of her friends and family, he was sure, so why…why would she break down now? Why would she… Why would her soul choose now to break down? Why now and why with him?

 

Inuyasha didn't know what else to do as she continued to cry, her face turned away from him, her body quaking…trembling beneath him. She looked like an orphaned child, abandoned and left out in the cold. He wanted to…needed to shelter her somehow.

 

`She's…she's as damaged as I am, if not more', he observed inwardly while trying not to shrink away from her. Her pain was a volatile thing with a life, mind and aura of its own. It reached out to him, spoke to him, and humbled him.

 

Releasing her hands, he pulled her to his chest and held her there. “I'm sorry, Kagome. I'm so sorry, please stop crying. Just…just stop crying. I promise I'll delete the pictures. Please, just stop…stop crying,” he begged as he gently cradled her head to his chest while rubbing her back soothingly.

 

Her arms encircled him, partially pushing him away and somewhat holding him in place. She wanted to stop crying, she really did, but the tears just kept coming.

 

Her nails dug into the skin of his back as another dose of Kouga's lies filtered through her head and the distraught woman crumpled once more, unable to do much more than that.

 

Inuyasha closed his eyes, his head lulling back as he held her tight to his bare chest. Staring up at the ceiling, he silently begged the Gods above to do something to make this better for her. No one, absolutely no one should have to suffer like she was.

 

`Tell me who hurt you, Kagome. Just tell me, I'll make this right, I promise. All you have to do is tell me,” he silently vowed, not understanding the actual depth of his promise. He felt her tighten her hold on him and he returned the embrace.

 

As her sobbing died down to mere sniffles, the hanyou began to release her, but not before he asked, “You…you…okay?”

 

She nodded into his chest and tightened her hold on him. “Please don't.”

 

“Huh?” he queried, confused by her request.

 

Sniffling, she responded, “I'm pa…pathetic, I don't want you to see me like this.”

 

Inuyasha chuckled and said, in hopes of lightening the mood, “You were `pathetic' before all this happened. So, don't worry about it.”

 

She was quiet for a moment as if she needed to gather what was left of her pride…her ego. `I'm so fucking pathetic! How could I do that in front of him? How could I break down like that and in front of Takahashi Inuyasha of all people? Fuck,' she thought, silently berating herself.

 

Hoping to change the subject, Kagome asked softly, “Inuyasha, how did you know my date's name was Akitoki?”

 

“I don't know what you're talking about,” he lied guiltily, releasing her quickly.

 

Wiping her nose with the back of her hand, she quipped accusingly, while trying to regain at least some of her bravado, “Sure, you don't.”

 

“I sure don't and you're disgusting,” he teased, knocking her hand away from her runny nose.

 

His goal was to make her laugh at least once before they parted ways for the day. For some reason, he didn't' want her to regret opening up in front of him like she had and he really didn't want her to go into her room, or get back to Tokyo and feel regret. That could possibly lead to her hating him even more and not because of something he did, but because of what he'd been privy to.

 

Kagome laughed softly and swatted his chest. “I still don't like you.”

 

“That's fine with me, but I know you don't hate me either,” he replied staring down at her, a serious expression on his face.

 

Kagome was quiet for moment before she looked up at him, her eyes red and swollen. Licking her lips, she intoned softly, “No, I don't hate you, but I really, really want to.”

 

Staring back into her eyes, Inuyasha responded seriously, “The feeling's mutual, believe me.”

 

The two allowed a few moments of uncomfortable silence to pass between them before Kagome looked away shyly.

 

Climbing out of his bed, she slowly made her way over to the door before she turned and asked, “Inuyasha, is there any chance that we can forget this ever happened? You know, I do have a reputation to uphold.”

 

Settling back on the bed, he stared at her, finding it hard to believe that she still hadn't realized that she was practically naked. “Not on your life, my friend.”

 

“So I'm your friend now?” she questioned with a smirk.

 

“After that little display you just put on, there's no way we could go back to just being `reluctant colleagues.'”

 

“Damn,” she whispered with a smile, trying to sound upset as she turned and left his room. Apparently, she'd forgotten about the pictures as well.

 

Leaning down to pick up his cell, Inuyasha burst out laughing when he heard her let out a shriek that could rip the paint off of the walls.

 

`I guess she just realized what she was wearing; or rather a lack there of,' he thought with a chuckle as he flipped casually through the pictures, deciding which ones he'd actually keep and which ones he'd delete.

 

After all, he did promise her, didn't he?

 

Until Next Time…(Your .02 cents are greatly appreciated!)