InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips. ❯ Love is Like Rain... ( Chapter 14 )

Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.

 

Chapter Fourteen: Love is Like Rain…

 

Chiyo grasped Inuyasha's arm backstage, eyeing Suzume as she walked out onto the stage. “Are you sure that you wanna do this?” the drummer asked; Inuyasha turned and watched as his fellow vocalist came to stand at the center of the stage, setting her microphone at the right height. Keisuke and Osami stood not too far behind her, holding on to their instruments and watching their bandmates expectantly.

 

Suzume scooted her own mic over at the front of the stage, looking over at Inuyasha and smiling softly.

 

He smiled back for barely a moment before turning back to look Chiyo in the eye. “Don't worry,” he told her, patting her shoulder. “I've got everything under control. I'll share with you later on tonight, after the concert. I promise.” He gave her a quick grin and jogged on to the stage, reaching the second microphone and fixing it to suit him. Chiyo just shook her head, and ran full-speed over to her drumset at the back of the large stage. Grabbing her sticks and tapping them together, counting aloud with the Keisuke and Osami, she shook her head and started up the quick, upbeat rhythm.

 

Osami joined with her, and Keisuke only had to wait about a minute before he and Inuyasha started up together. Suzume smiled at a girl from her own band, who was sitting at her electric piano next to Osami. The two shared a secret smile that only Suzume seemed to catch as the girl started up a xylophone-like sound on her piano.

 

Inuyasha grinned at Suzume as he leaned forward, right into the mic, and sang:

 

“I'm at the water's edge and

“I am bearing closer…

“This is where I'll be,

“Where you can find me.

“My shadow's kissing secrets

“Are hunted at your name-”

 

He caught Suzume's eyes as he strummed, singing, “I never meant to make you cry,

“Love come back to me…”

 

She watched him in return as her lips met her own microphone, and she belted out in a sweet, melodic voice, “Troubled boy!

“I'll kiss you one last time

“And then say goodnight…

“Forever…”

 

Inuyasha lunged forward as Suzume fell back. “But little girl,

“I'm not feeling well-

“These nights are long and rough…

“Without you.

“Who's sending letters through the mail-?”

 

Suzume: “Stop it,

“Quit calling my name!”

 

Inuyasha: “Whose empty chair is at the table-?”

 

Suzume: “It's mine,

“and I left it alone!”

 

Together: “Who changed the locks?

“Who took the pictures off the walls?

“String me along like a beautiful love song…

“Carolina… Carolina…

“Carolina… Carolina…”

 

Inuyasha grinned at Suzume as he closed his eyes and took over:

 

“Now that I have you,

“May I use you as a muse-”

 

Suzume joined him suddenly: “And keep you up all night in trading stories,

“And whisper singing love…”

 

Inuyasha dropped away, letting Suzume continue, “Troubled boy!

“I'll kiss you one last time

“And then say goodnight…

“Forever…”

 

Inuyasha was about to pick back up when he looked over, catching Suzume's suddenly panicked eyes as she toppled over forward, nearly falling straight into the crowd. The rest of the musicians on stage stopped playing and bolted forward to help him as he caught her; Chiyo about kicked her entire set out of the way as she hurried. Keisuke yelled out to medical attendants that were always standing by offstage in case of an emergency.

 

The paramedics hurried forward and helped Inuyasha carry Suzume off the stage as the crowd went back and forth between hushing and roaring.

 

“Inu-Inuyasha!” the younger musician gasped as tears rolled roughly down the sides of her face. He grunted a little when she reached up and gripped his upper arms; she was still strong as hell, even as a vocalist in this life. “Inuyasha! It hurts - Oh, Kamis, it hurts! Where is he? He needs to - Oh, he needs to be here, he needs to be here!” She squeezed her eyes shut as the medics pulled her into a secluded place backstage and began working on her.

 

It was at that point that Inuyasha stepped back to let them do their jobs, though he knew they'd find nothing wrong with her.

 

It was all in her head, he realized solemnly as Chiyo caught his eyes meaningfully. Nodding, he disappeared down the hallway with the drummer, ready to tell her the news, while Suzume lay just a few rooms down, writhing in panic and agony as she relived her torturous death.

 

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Kagome moaned as the former monk's fingers worked their way smoothly across the small of her back. Her eyes slowly slid closed as she slumped forward just a little, and Rin smirked as she watched the two old friends reconnect in such an easy way.

 

Minoru settled into the simple rhythm of his fingers melting into her skin, and he smiled as calming memories of rubbing Sango's back during each of her pregnancies returned to him. He remembered how much she had loved them, about as much as Kagome seemed to love it here and now. Maybe it was a woman thing…

 

“So,” Rin began, cutting into his thoughts, and he turned to look at her. He felt good looking at her, because it wasn't the same as looking at Kagome. Kagome, who looked the exact same as the last time he had seen her, tricked his mind on many different levels, forcing him to choose between reality and memory. With Rin, there was no choice; he couldn't bounce back and forth between her adult image sitting across from him and the tiny, hopeful little girl he had seen following Sesshomaru around like a lost puppy.

 

It was a small comfort, but a comfort nonetheless.

 

“Are you still a monk in this life, Minoru?” she asked him.

 

He blinked, his fingers still working soft grunts of approval from Kagome. “I am a doctor,” he answered. “I am actually a descendent of the taijiya and the houshi that helped end the fiend Naraku's life.”

 

“Whoa, wait,” Kagome murmured, sitting forward and pulling out of his hands. Minoru blinked at her this time, surprised by her shift in mood. He watched her closely as she shook her head vigorously, trying quite obviously to clear her fuzzy head. She turned in her seat, her eyes settling on the reincarnation of the infamous hentai. “You're saying that you are a descendent of Miroku and Sango in this life? Like, you have their blood in you?”

 

Minoru smiled at her, amused by her confusion. “Yes, Kagome-sama,” he answered her, bowing his head slightly.

 

Kagome furrowed her brow, puzzled, as she shifted slightly in her seat beside Rin; she realized that a certain part of her body hadn't come in contact with a certain appendage of Minoru's. It was a slightly unsettling thought.

 

The young doctor gave her a look. “What's wrong, Kagome?”

 

She stared at him. “You… You haven't groped me, Minoru,” she stated in a small, bewildered voice.

 

That same look stayed, frozen on his face for a moment, and then he broke out into a rather large grin and laughed. Kagome and Rin looked at each other, both somewhat startled by the unfamiliar sound Minoru was making; they'd both known Miroku's laughter for a long time, but this… This was very different.

 

“I'm not a pervert like my previous incarnation and ancestor was, Kagome-sama, Rin-sama,” he told them. Then his grin widened, his lips thinning drastically. Suddenly, his violet eyes began to sparkle with a brilliance neither young woman had seen in a very long time, and his expression transformed into a lecherous smirk. He waggled his eyebrows at her in his trademark way. “Well, not a complete pervert, that is.”

 

“Minoru!” both girls cried out, breaking off into loud, rambunctious giggling with him.

 

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Next time:

 

Chapter Fifteen: …When You Don't Need It…