InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips. ❯ I Think I'll Break Your Heart... ( Chapter 5 )

A/N: Whoo, the last one was a doozy. I really hadn't expected it to be that long once I'd gotten it typed up. The next few chapters are already written down in a notebook that I keep on hand around the studio, but they're all in bits and pieces, so bear with me while I try to reconnect all the dots and get them all typed up. I'll post as soon as I can.

 

P.S. Wikipedia is now officially my best friend.

 

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Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.

 

Chapter Five: I Think I'll Break Your Heart…

 

Inuyasha noticed that something was off after his practice ended and his band mates had left. He popped into Kagome's office; there she was, safe and sound, sitting at her desk. She looked up when she felt his amber eyes boring right into her. Brown met gold for a few minutes, and they stared each other down, both gazes refusing to waver.

 

The hanyou noted the salty scent of old tears and his mate's red-rimmed eyes as he stood in the doorway of her home office. His brow furrowed in confusion as he stepped inside the rather large study. “Kagome, is everything -” He stopped short when he saw a familiar piece of clothing folded neatly beside her arm on the wooden desktop.

 

He lifted his hand, pointing at the white and red silken kimono lying on her desk. “Wh-What is that?” he asked his mate.

 

She licked her bottom lip, shifting in her seat. Her eyes glimmered somewhat in the dim light of the desk lamp beside her, and she was a little nervous about broaching this subject with her husband. She knew that Inuyasha was still in a very fragile emotional state; Kagome was afraid that he might break at any moment.

 

His hands visibly shook as he clenched them into fists, glaring at his wife. “You been snooping, haven't you?” he asked her.

 

Kagome just watched him, perfectly still and silent. Finally, she said, “I want you to tell me what these are all about.” She stood and walked around her desk, calmly approaching him. She held the kimono and letters out to him. Trying his best to refrain from growling possessively at her, Inuyasha snatched the items away from her, stalking out of the room. A little shocked at his behavior, Kagome chased after him down the hallway, calling to him, “Inuyasha, dammit! Wait! Stop right there!”

 

When he ignored her, she let loose an inhuman growl and yelled, as a last resort, “Osuwari!”

 

Nothing. She `humph'ed when he disappeared into the attic. Spinning completely around on her heel, the retired priestess stomped through the mini-mansion, weaving through corridors and filler rooms until she reached the giant kitchen on the ground floor. Sighing, Kagome started some coffee and sat down at the island counter, holding her head in her hands.

 

Inuyasha paused for a moment when he heard the sounds of the coffeemaker start up in the kitchen downstairs. He was squatting in front of the old chest that Sesshomaru had commissioned for him the century before. His koinu ears swiveled around at the sound of chair legs scraping against the hardwood floor downstairs; he stared down at the beautiful silk in his fingers as he thought, `Kagome must've sat down in the kitchen.' Taking one last hard look at the silk, he sighed heavily and stuck the kimono and the letters into the chest and shut it tight.

 

Kagome was leaning against the island counter, blowing gently on the steaming mug of hot coffee she'd just poured herself. Inuyasha walked in suddenly and poured himself a cup of coffee, glancing at his silent wife from the corner of his eye as he pulled open the fridge door and poked around a minute for the milk. Once he found it, he poured some into his coffee until it swirled a light brown. Sniffing lightly, he shoved the gallon milk back into the fridge, slamming the door shut and stepping up to Kagome.

 

She looked up from her coffee when she felt his presence coming nearer. He was staring straight at her already, his golden eyes stormy and hesitant. He plopped down into one of the barstools at the kitchen island counter, finally looking away from her. In very Inuyasha-like fashion, he grumbled something under his breath, glancing at Kagome so she'd know that he was talking to her.

 

His wife smiled softly, leering at him a little. `So he hasn't completely matured over the past five hundred years,' she thought. “What was that, Mr. Taisho?”

 

Inuyasha growled rather loudly at her, causing her smile to grow into a full-blown grin. “I said, c'mere and take a load off, will ya? I'll tell ya the damned story if you'll stop looking at me that way!” He smacked the palm of his hand hard against the seat of the barstool next to him. Trying to stifle her “disrespectful” giggles, she complied, taking the seat next to him at the counter.

 

They were both silent for a few more moments as Inuyasha took a big, long drink from his cup. Kagome, of course, was the epitome of patience as she sat there beside him, lightly sipping at her own mug of black coffee.

 

Finally, he was done; his cup was empty, and he shoved it further away from him on the counter, leaning back in the barstool and crossing his arms over his chest. “I'm gonna tell ya the damned story,” he started gruffly, “but I'm gonna lay down some rules before I start.”

 

Kagome nodded, gesturing for him to continue.

 

“Rule number one,” he started, watching her one silver eyebrow raised, “no interrupting once I get into the full swing of story time. Rule number two, no getting angry about anything in it, and I mean, anything. I had to spend a good five hundred years sincerely believing that you were either dead or that you hated me and would never come back to me. Rule number three, no questions till the very end; it's something that I just don't really want to talk about; it's a long, miserable story, so you're lucky to get as much as I'm giving you. That's also the reason I have my last rule, rule number four. I will be telling it, and when I want to stop, we're gonna stop. When I feel like picking back up, we'll pick back up where we left off.” Inuyasha stared Kagome down, almost daring her to object to any of his “rules.”

 

She smiled brightly at her husband, despite his briefly harsh tone. “It's a deal,” she told him, holding out her hand. He took it in his, giving it a light shake. Inuyasha suddenly gave his wife a very uncharacteristic smile.

 

Then the hanyou sighed. “Well, it all started in 1937, only a couple of years before the second World War…”

 

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The air in Tokyo that winter night was absolutely freezing, even to those of us with demon in our blood; I could practically see my breath in the dim light comiing from the windows of the surrounding buildings.

 

Of course, that meant that my niece Kaoru could see hers floating in the air as well. The pup squealed in delight at this discovery, and she was obviously enthusiastic about the slowly falling snow. Kaori, who walked beside her twin, just looked around with a blank look on her face, one I'm sure she learned from Lord Asshole. She really didn't seem all that impressed. Rin had dressed them in matching pink kimonos with white cranes and pink obis; both girls were about the size of an eleven or twelve year old ningen child, but they were in fact about seventeen summers. Sesshomaru, Aiko, and the boys had stayed behind in the West, and I had somehow gotten myself roped into accompanying the “little onnas and their difficult mother,” as Fluff had once put it, into Tokyo for birthday present for the old bastard.

 

As Kaoru laughed and stuck her tongue out, hoping to catch a falling snowflake or two, Kaori had glared at her, remaining silent the entire time we walked through the streets. Rin was smiling and happy, wearing a solid seafoam green komon with a white obi tied around her waist. She'd tied her long hair back into one of those tight, slick buns with a pair of decorative green chopsticks stuck at odd angles through it.

 

The girls and their haha found “the perfect gift for chichi,” but they wouldn't let me in on it. They said I'd tell their sire the big surprise just to piss him off, which is bullshit, because Rin would kill me.

 

Anyway, we stopped in at a small teahouse to warm up. Kaori, Kaoru and Rin all had reddened noses and rosy cheeks from the cold, and I was pretty sure that I looked just as goofy. The hostess bowed to us and politely led us down the halls to a private room. A pair of young ningen geisha were already waiting there for us with a roaring fire going in the fireplace and a pot of hot, fresh tea.

 

I could immediately tell that they were a newly introduced geisha, a maiko, and her quite talented onee-san. The maiko was silent and nervous as she poured us some tea, while her older sister chattered with Rin and the girls, trying constantly to lure me into conversation.

 

Pfft.

 

The older one's name was Sakura, and the maiko was Keiko; they were from the Tanaka okiya in Asakusa. I could tell immediately that Sakura was the mouth of the pair and the musician. The callouses on her fingertips spoke volumes of her practice time with the lute that was leaning in the corner of the room.

 

Obviously, Keiko was the dancer; she was very skilled with her fans, and she even served the tea gracefully. She was very quiet and thoughtful and polite, and there was something familiar about her… Most of the time, Sakura and Keiko both kept their eyes lowered from mine out of respect, and I could tell that they were more than a little surprised by Rin's audaciousness as she joked around with me, meeting my eyes easily.

 

Every now and then, though, I would look at Keiko, and her eyes would meet mine… They were a warm brown, and, when I looked into them that first time, my arms went numb, my chest tightened, and face felt hot. I had to look away from her quickly; I was so thoroughly embarrassed by my body's sudden response to her. I was still waiting for you. I didn't know exactly when you would exist, but I knew that I hadn't reached your time yet.

 

I felt, in that moment, as though I'd betrayed you in some way.

 

A week later, it was Sesshomaru's birthday; I have no idea how old he was or is now, nor do I really give a shit. Anyway, the teahouse that Rin and Aiko had chosen to host his birthday celebration was a very popular one located in one of the southern districts of Tokyo. They'd even gone so far as to invite some of the board members from the company.

 

I have to say, I was surprised when the door opened a pair of geisha entered the room to join the three that had already been present when we arrived. I recognized them both almost instantly from their faces and their scents. Keiko and Sakura wore similar susohiki; Sakura's was white with pink sakura blossoms all over it, and she had a matching hot pink obi wrapped tightly around her waist. Keiko wore a silvery susohiki with dark green leaves painted across it, and her obi was dark green as well, matching the leaves perfectly.

 

They were both very personable; Sakura had one of the most beautiful smiles I had ever seen, and she told some of the greatest jokes that I had ever heard. She had Rin and me practically rolling on the tan, carpet floor with laughter. Aiko was grinning broadly, obviously having a good time. The asshole even managed a small smirk. The boys, Tenma and Ataru, paid pretty much no attention to the gorgeous ningen onnas, even though the geisha tried their damndest to keep the party entertained.

 

All the way through the night, through all of the laughs and stories and jokes, I watched Keiko closely. The maiko was much, much quieter than her fully matured companion. After about an hour or so, I touched my sister-in-law very lightly on the knee, giving her a small smile and nodding to my brother. Sesshomaru nodded back to me, giving me his “permission” to move across the room. Somehow I successfully held myself back from rolling my eyes at him, and I moved closer to Keiko, who sat just across from me.

 

For a few minutes, she remained quiet, letting out a soft sigh or giggle at all the appropriate moments. As I came closer to her, I noticed her lick her lips and nervously finger her long, dark green fan. She fidgeted a little on her knees, and I leaned into her, whispering, “You're still pretty new at this, aren't you?” I smirked at her surprise, and she jumped back from me a bit.

 

She bowed her head in apology after, once again, accidentally meeting my eyes. “Forgive me, my Lord,” she murmured. “I do not mean to offend you with my lack of skill.”

 

I was clearly taken aback by her answer, and the submission, though good for my beast, was quickly driving my human nature onto its bad side. I reached over slowly, gently cupping her chin in my hand and raising her face. After a second or two, her eyes met mine again, and I sighed. “Keiko, is it?” I asked her. She nodded, blinking at me, but still meeting my gaze. “Look, I really hate all of this formal crap. I just really want you to be straight with me. You seem like a real nice person. I don't think of you or anyone else as my subordinate. From now on, I'm Mr. Taisho or Inuyasha, whichever you prefer. And my equal needs to look me in the eyes and speak freely around me.”

 

Her mouth had dropped open in shock about halfway through my little speech, and Rin laughed loudly from across the room. “Be nice, Inuyasha!” she cried out, tossing a small handtowel at me. I snapped my head to my left, grinning at her and releasing Keiko's chin to catch the flying object and throw it back at her with double the force. When I turned back to the quiet maiko, Keiko was finally smiling. It seemed she had a sense of humor after all.

 

We continued talking as though we were a pair of ordinary people. I found out that she was a pretty strong-willed girl; she told me that she and Sakura were, in fact, true birth sisters, Sakura being the older one. It was a rarity for true sisters to both find themselves part of the same okiya. The two had both come from a small family in a village close to the sea, the name of which she couldn't remember. Her father had been a fisherman, and their mother had died when they were both very young. The fisherman had sent them to Tokyo along with a friend of his to find an okiya and become geisha. Shortly after that, they found Mother Tanaka and the Tanaka okiya.

 

The next week, when Sesshomaru and I just went out to a teahouse after a long day's work for a drink of sake, I requested the company of Sakura and Keiko from Asakusa. They came in and sat with us a while, and, somehow, Sakura made Fluffy chuckle.

 

He chuckled.

 

I was amazed.

 

This little arrangement went on for a little while, maybe a couple months. Whenever I would go out to a teahouse, whoever it was with, I would specifically request the company of the geisha Sakura and the maiko Keiko from Asakusa. The two would arrive within minutes, and one evening I finally got their address after quite a bit of flirting with the elderly hostess.

 

Keiko had divulged to me quite a bit of personal information; on the day of her birthday, I decided to put it all to good use. She was a very sweet girl, and I could tell that her okiya was not a very rich one. She and Sakura traded kimonos and rewore them quite a few times, so I figured out pretty quickly that they really didn't have that many nice things.

 

I went and bought her a very fancy, very expensive susohiki. I made sure that it was made of the finest silk in Japan, and I bought it for her. It was white with red sakura blossoms - yes, the very one still sitting upstairs in the trunk. She doesn't have much use for it now.

 

Anyway, I bought it and wrapped it appropriately for her in a nice, pink box. I followed directions from passersby in Asakusa to find the Tanaka okiya, and, lo and behold, I found it eventually. It was a sort of rundown, old building, but it was fairly large; it could hold a fairly large number of geisha. Slowly, I undid the latch on the wooden gate and entered the courtyard.

 

There was an older woman tending some of the flowers close to the wooden porch; she stopped what she was doing and looked at me when I approached her. Her hair was thin and wispy and gathered up in a neat sidebun; she wore a simple, everyday komon that was a dark, navy blue color, and she blinked at me, obviously puzzled by my mere presence in her courtyard.

 

“I am Lord Inuyasha Taisho of the West,” I called to her in greeting. She turned completely to face me, momentarily stunned by my words. “And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?”

 

“I am Mother Tanaka, the okaa-san of the Tanaka okiya that you see before you,” she answered, trying not to stammer.

 

I smiled gently and bowed at the waist; she politely bowed back. “My Lord, to what do we of the Tanaka okiya owe this pleasure?” she asked me simply.

 

“Is it not the maiko Keiko's nineteenth birthday today, Mother Tanaka?” I asked her.

 

She nodded, now more puzzled than ever. “Yes, good Lord, it is. But what would you want to do with an insignificant maiko from Asakusa?”

 

I glowered a bit at her statement. “This Lord does not feel that the maiko Keiko is of any insignificance,” I replied coldly, gesturing to the gift in my hand. “May I call on her, Mother Tanaka? I would feel greatly satisfied giving her this gift myself.”

 

The older woman blinked in surprise and started for the front door. “But of course, sir!” She held the wooden door open for me. I entered the foyer of the large okiya and was led to the sitting room, where the older woman promptly served me hot tea. I sat, sipping at the tea, and Keiko entered the room dressed only in a sun-yellow yukata. Because this was an innocent house call, there was no need for her to wear her traditional makeup, so she was au-naturale for the day, and she wore her pin-straight, smooth, ebony hair down.

 

After a few moments, she blushed under my intense gaze. Realizing that I was making her uncomfortable, I coughed and looked away. My shock didn't - couldn't - subside, though; I honestly hadn't meant to stare at her, but I had never met with Keiko outside the teahouse before. I had only ever seen small, sweet maiko Keiko in her traditional susohiki and makeup.

 

Without all that chalky white makeup, she looked exactly like you, Kagome.

 

She bowed her head to me in greeting, polite as always. “Mr. Taisho,” she murmured, her voice small but strong as she raised her head, making sure not to meet my eyes. I rolled my own orbs, even though I knew that she wasn't playing by my usual rules because of her okaa-san's presence in the room. It was moments like this that really made me long for your distant future. People were just way too fucking respectful in the Edo period for my tastes.

 

But I held my tongue, and I bowed at waist to her and, once again, to the lady of the house, Mother Tanaka. It struck me right then that Mother Tanaka might have been quite pretty at one time, but years of entertaining with music and dance had taken a toll on her somewhat stern face. She seemed to be a strict okaa-san, but I knew that both Sakura and Keiko had been very fortunate to have found such a strict and honorable okaa-san; I knew that there was no way in the seven hells that Keiko or Sakura would have been able to survive Tokyo's “Red Light District.”

 

To be honest, I visibly shuddered at the mere thought, mostly because it made me imagine you working those dimly lit streets, the skirt of your kimono hiked high for potential customers to see…

 

That image then made me just… suddenly very angry.

 

Hell, it still does.

 

I remember standing there in the sitting room of the Tanaka okiya, and the only thought that resonated through my thick skull as I tried not to stare at the maiko with your face was, `No man may touch her…' My vision started to fade into red.

 

Suddenly, as reality sunk in, I realized that I was still just standing in the sitting room of the Tanaka okiya in Asakusa, with Keiko and Mother Tanaka, who were both glancing back and forth and giving me some seriously weird looks. I also realized right then that you hadn't even been born yet, and I was clenching my fist and becoming obscenely angry for, really, nothing. I swallowed uncomfortably, releasing my fist.

 

The mood was tense for another minute or so until the door opened and another young woman entered the okiya.

 

I turned to see for myself who it was, although my nose had already told me. The scent of lavender drifted into the room, and it clashed with Keiko's sunflower smell. Keiko's one-san stopped right where she was standing, silent for once. I smirked as I briefly met Sakura's surprised eyes, which were a very rare grey, before she recovered and bowed her head to me, again in respect.

 

“Good morning, Mr. Taisho,” she greeted me, and I could hear the slight ring of question in her uncharacteristically polite voice.

 

“Good morning, Sakura.” I noticed right then that she was wearing her hair in a much less formal style. It was wound on the right side of her head in a loose bun, a mess of black curls. Her yukata was old and an olive green color; she made it look quite pretty. The color complimented her complexion perfectly.

 

“Mr. Taisho was bringing a gift for Keiko,” Mother Tanaka answered Sakura's unspoken question. The older girl nodded.

 

“For her birthday,” I added. For some strange reason, I felt compelled to give Sakura a good reason for getting Keiko a new kimono and not her. The geisha glanced up at me, then she quickly looked away. It was a fleeting gaze, but there were emotions in her eyes that I couldn't totally understand at the time: surprise, sadness, understanding…

 

Longing.

 

I watched Sakura a moment longer, my surprise never-fucking-ending, it seemed. `Does Sakura… have feelings for me?' I wondered.

 

`No,' I answered myself in my head, pushing that look she had given me out of my mind. `No, she's a geisha. Geisha aren't meant to belong to one man, and she knows that.'

 

Yet I continued to watch Sakura as she stepped forward, a slight blush spreading across her cheeks and the bridge of her small nose. She had light freckles, but freckles nonetheless; I guess I had just never noticed them before. `They must've hidden them under all her geisha makeup,' I thought.

 

It was right then, as we all sat and had tea and watched Keiko open what could have quite possibly been the most expensive thing she'd ever been given up till that moment, that I realized just how much these geisha could cover up using that damned makeup.

 

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A/N: There. Whoo! That took FOREVER! I had to do a bunch of rewriting, because I'd used very simple, American terms for everything in the first draft, and it just didn't feel REAL to me, so I went back and changed out all the terms. Plus, the whole story was originally told in third person POV, and I decided last-minute (being the spontaneous person that you love and Bobby is annoyed by) to change it into Inuyasha's POV. I think it works better this way.

 

So… Next time:

 

Chapter Six: …With a Story, Not a Mallet.