InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Will Wait ❯ Chapter Eight: Only Time Will Tell ( Chapter 8 )

A/N: Okay, if I said I was swallowed whole by a man-eating octopus straight from the Hudson River and have spent the past god only knows how many months trying to escape its bowels and THAT’S the reason I haven’t written anything new lately, would you believe me?  From that expression you’re giving your computer screen, I guess not.   Truthfully, no, an octopus didn’t swallow me whole, but life sure did.  Things have been a little hectic--as usual--and before I knew it, half-a-year’s gone by.  I do apologize for that and will make up for it by posting multiple chapters at once this time around.   Standard disclaimers still apply, and I hope you enjoy the new chapter.   I Will Wait By: Banshee Puppet Chapter Eight: Only Time Will Tell   Relationships, unfortunately, rarely come without complications—chock another one up to lessons learned the hard way.  In spite of all confessions of love, in the last few years of the jewel hunt, Kagome and Sesshomaru didn’t see much of one another.  Though he might have liked to travel with and aid his love, he had duties of his own to attend to, and besides, he was really in no great rush for her task to be completed.  It only meant that her time in the feudal era was increasingly short, and he became more nervous about what the coming centuries held in store for the demon races.  ‘I will survive,’ he’d determined without too much circumstance, but he had a feeling that such a simple phrase would offer not half-so-simple an affair, and also, he knew it was going to be a very, very long wait.   ‘I can be patient,’ he told himself and Kagome this many times, but five centuries was a long wait for even the most patient man.  Even a few short months away from his miko put the Western Lord in a foul mood.  He could only imagine what five centuries would do to his temperament.    “Sesshomaru-sama! I’m going to start preparing dinner.  Will you eat tonight?” Rin asked, fastening back the sleeves of her kimono.   When had she started referring to herself in the first person, he wondered.  Somehow he’d missed it along the way.  But she was already ten years old now.  He hardly remembered the time passing.  ‘Perhaps the time waiting for Kagome will go by so quickly,’ he thought.  It was wishful thinking and he knew it—only the times you want to last forever go by quickly.   Rin watched him as he failed to answer.  He was thinking about Kagome again, she could tell—he always zoned out when he was feeling lonely.  ‘So predictable,’ the girl thought.  He’d probably already forgotten…  “Do you think Kagome-san and her friends like yams?  They’re in season now.”   Expectedly, Sesshomaru’s eyes widened marginally and he looked up at the girl.  “What time is it?” he asked.   Rin smiled.  She knew he wasn’t really asking the time.  “They should be here in about two hours or so,” she replied.  “Yams?”   Sesshomaru stood.  “I think she would enjoy that.”  That’s right!  Kagome had insisted they all get together for a meal in late October—something about giving thanks.  Admittedly, Sesshomaru didn’t understand the holiday quite as precisely as one might hope, but if Kagome was going to be here, he figured he had plenty to be thankful for.   Rin left the room when the youkai began what she’d secretly dubbed ‘anxiety cleaning’.   “Jaken-sama!  Are you busy?  Can you help me in the kitchen?”   The imp blinked owlishly at Rin.  “I was about to…” he gestured at Sesshomaru’s room.  He apparently had some business or other with the Western Lord, but it was not so important that he felt he had to finish the sentence at seeing a familiarly amused look in the human girl’s eye.   “Oooh,” she said.  “Jaken-sama, he’s doing THAT again, you’d better not interrupt him.”   Jaken, apparently, felt no real desire to disagree and followed her down the hall.   ---   Kagome was babbling, hands fluttering up to her hair every few minutes.  She’d been like this since breakfast.  Occasionally Inuyasha would bark at her to shut up, but by now had been ‘sat’ so many times that he settled for periodically grumbling to himself about how she’d been dating his brother long enough that she shouldn’t be so nervous about seeing him.   “I think Inuyasha’s just jealous that Sango doesn’t moon over him like that anymore,” Kouga announced, having made teasing the hanyou his latest hobby.   “Shut up, you stupid wolf!” Inuyasha retorted predictably.  “You have no right to talk when you don’t even have a woman!  Why are you even here?”   Kouga latched onto Miroku’s arm making a big display of puppy-dog eyes.  “ ‘roku, he’s being mean to me again!” he wailed comically.   “There, there,” Miroku said with a comical sigh.  “Don’t let the silly pup hurt your feelings, Kou-kun.  His bark is worse than his bite.”   Kouga playfully stuck his tongue out at Inuysaha as if he’d just won some fight.  He couldn’t help himself, he liked messing with Inuyasha even more now that he’d gotten Miroku to play along.  It was their own little private game.   “Keep your little perversion to yourselves, idiots!” Inuyasha snapped.   Miroku and Kouga, clowns that they were of late, couldn’t help themselves, staring at each other doe-eyed, the prior said “honey…” and the latter, “yes darling?”    Sango sighed.  “Let them get it out of their system now before we arrive at your brother’s, Inuyasha.”   A few grumbles later, Inuyasha digressed and the pair of troublemakers stopped their hijinks at his expense.       Before much longer, Sesshomaru’s mansion came into view and Shippo went running when he saw Rin on the porch.  She was his favorite playmate, after all, and he didn’t get to see her often.   Rin did no better, calling out her friend’s name and darting away from Sesshomaru who, having caught Kagome’s scent, emerged from the house to greet her…and those people she was with too, not that he really cared about THEM—it was just polite.  It had nothing to do with the fact that Kagome was terrifying when she was mad.  What ever would give you THAT idea?   “It’s been a while,” the Western Lord said.  “Come inside.”  His words were said to everyone, but meant only for Kagome.  They all know it, but at least he was making the effort as he slipped his fingers around Kagome’s much smaller hand.  The others followed Jaken inside, knowing the pair would probably just stand there staring at one another for some minutes before they realized they were doing it.  Such was the case today as they forgot all about holidays and company and after the appropriate amount of time, embraced, and shared a few small kisses.   “The hunt for the shards is going well?”  Sesshomaru asked finally.   Kagome nodded in reply.  “It probably wont be much longer now.”   An extended silence passed between them, the implication heavy.  It wasn’t like either of them expected her to be able to stay once the task was completed.    Wordlessly, Sesshomaru pulled the woman against his chest.   “Are you really going to be there?” Kagome asked sullenly, “waiting for me on the other side of the well?”   “I will be there,” he assured her, but they both knew the more honest answer to such a question was ‘only time will tell what the future holds.’   The passage of time alone knew what trials lay ahead.   (End Chapter)   A/N:   Well for those of you enjoying or otherwise curious about the backdrop of this little love story, I’d like to say that I’ve purposely left the nature of Miroku and Kouga’s ‘relationship’ vague so that you, the reader, can decide for yourself what you feel is or is not between them.  Option #1 is that they are very good friends.  Option #2 is for all you shonen ai fans out there, that they are “more than friends”.  I have no real preference for one over the other and it doesn’t change the basic story either way, so please fell free to read it however you see fit.   More to come…*types*