InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Minoue ❯ Fallout ( Chapter 4 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Disclaimers: I do not own InuYasha or any of the manga/anime characters. They belong to the wonderful genius Rumiko Takahashi. Any original characters do belong to me.

AN: Thank you very much to inufan625 for acting as my beta once again. An additional thank you goes to Knittingknots for her help as well. I greatly appreciate the time they've taken to help make me a better writer and this a better story. You will find both of their fics here at MediaMiner. You should check them out if you haven't already.

For responses to your reviews for the last chapter, please go to http://doggieearlover.livejournal.com/140536.html.

Minoue

Chapter 4: Fallout

“You mean… she's the one…” Kagome started but couldn't finish.

“Yes, she's the one that exposed him as a hanyou,” Miroku answered, looking at his friend who was still frozen in place.

“Why?” was all that InuYasha uttered, though no one had any idea to what he was referring. It could be so many things: why did she betray him; why did she pretend to love him; why was she here?

Kikyou stood up straight on the platform, and her lips pursed when her eyes landed on the hanyou. Knowing full well that the microphone had just been turned on, she said with disdain so that the entire arena full of people would hear her, “I did not know that animals were allowed.”

Everyone turned to see what she was looking at, and InuYasha suddenly found several hundred pairs of eyes staring at him.

“That was uncalled for, Madam,” Miroku shouted back. “Hanshi is no animal. He is an excellent teacher to all of his students!”

“Then what do you call these!” Kouga jumped up and grabbed the bandana that covered InuYasha's ears. It sounded like everyone in the building gasped and a wicked smile crossed Kikyou's face.

However, what happened next was not what either Kikyou or Kouga expected. Instead of the students running in horror, those in red along with their parents all gathered more tightly around the hanyou. One of the mothers actually stormed up to Kouga and slapped him, hard, across the face. “If anyone is an animal, I'd say it was you!” she said definitively.

Kouga just stared at her. How did a half-breed inspire such loyalty?

Souta was the one that made his way through the sea of students and parents to InuYasha and took his hand. “Come on, Sensei. I don't need their trophy. Let's get out of here.”

Kagome smiled at her brother. “Yes, let's go.” She took InuYasha's other hand, sending a tingle through his body and breaking the spell the other woman seemed to hold over him. “Sango is coming with us to dinner. We're hungry.”

“We're right behind you,” Miroku said as they made their way towards the entrance and freedom.

The kids and their parents poured through the doors to the outside, leaving the organizers of the tournament standing in shock and the handsome man that shared the podium glaring at Kikyou. The microphone was still on, so everyone heard him say, “What the fuck did you do that for?”

That made many of the remaining parents realize that this was a place they really didn't need to be. The kids didn't even protest as they were led away while the two on the podium started to scream at each other, each claiming the other ruined everything. Only the students in the brown uniforms remained. Everyone else, including three of the four winners, were gone. Two of those had been in red.

InuYasha was still somewhat in shock as he tried to absorb what had happened and the public show of support that everyone from his dojo had given him. He was blushing the color of his firerat as he mumbled his thanks to everyone. And then he was gone.

“I don't understand,” Kagome said. She sounded very sad after the hanyou leapt straight up and over everyone and took off.

Miroku sighed. “You guys go on. I wish I could go to dinner with you but I need to go after him. Maybe next time.”

“Miroku, tell them that I… we… don't consider him an animal. Will you let him know that, please?” Kagome said softly.

“He knows, but yes, I will. I'll see you next week, all right?” he answered.

Kagome just nodded. “Souta, Sango, come on. Mama is probably waiting by the car.”

Miroku was cursing a blue streak as he headed for his car. He was driving straight to InuYasha's home. He was certain that was where his friend had disappeared to. It wasn't just a house; it was the hanyou's sanctuary from the world. Miroku hoped that he wasn't brooding too badly. Hopefully, the support from the students and families would help undo at least some of the damage that Kikyou had inflicted.

InuYasha didn't know what had happened to him when he saw Kikyou climbing up the steps to the platform. He thought he was long over her. Well, he was fairly certain that he didn't love her any more, but he didn't realize that she still could cause him so much pain. He thought he had moved past that. However, he now knew that was just a delusion.

What had not been an illusion, however, was the immediate support and defense by his students. And it wasn't just the students; it was their parents as well. Things were so different than they were when she first unmasked him, and word spread like wildfire of what he was. Suddenly, he went from having an active dojo with many students to almost none. Everyone was so willing to believe her: that he was an animal, or even a monster. Miroku was one of the few who had stayed by him during that troubling time. It was he who convinced the hanyou that he should not try to hide who he was any more. At least that way if more students came, he would know that they did not care. Fortunately, the monk had been right. In fact, once they got past the shock and tried a few other dojo, a number of his students trickled back. However, it was when Kagome came into his life that things really picked up.

The hanyou also realized that it was the raven-haired girl from the shrine that had brought him back to his senses tonight. He felt like he was drowning, and then she pulled him to the surface so that he could breathe again. What was it about her that attracted him so? And not just that, she soothed his soul in a manner he didn't totally comprehend.

InuYasha did not realize how tightly he was clutching Tessaiga's grip. He had held on to it for the entire trip home, practically flying across trees and roof tops. He finally released the hilt as he arrived at the door and then slid the shoji open. He then did something he rarely did and headed straight for the cask of sake.

“InuYasha?” Miroku called softly as he entered the hanyou's home. Kicking off his shoes, he made his way towards the center of the house. There he found InuYasha, sitting on the floor in the sunken room that was lit only by a single candle, near the entry. He was staring at his cup of sake that sat next to the cask on the low table. He gave no sign that he had noticed Miroku's arrival.

Miroku helped himself to one of the small glasses and filled it before he settled across the table from his friend. “They do not care, you know.”

InuYasha finally looked at him. “What the fuck do you know?”

“Only that your students still want you to teach them. Kagome told me to tell you that they don't consider you to be an animal. What happened, InuYasha? What did she really do to you? How did one woman cause so much pain? I know you've never told anyone. Maybe it would help if you got it out of your system. I am your friend, InuYasha. No matter what it was, I would not think any less of you. You obviously must have loved her for her to be able to hurt you so. Why did she do what she did?” Miroku fell silent and sipped on his sake.

For a long time, they just sat in silence, in the dark. The only movements were by the shadows, fueled by the candle, which danced eerily around the room.

“She didn't love me; she said she never did,” InuYasha finally whispered. “I thought I was so lucky to have a beautiful woman like her interested in me. She seemed to appear everywhere I went: the grocery store, my brother's art gallery, and even the park where I ran. It took me weeks to get up enough courage to ask her out. She always seemed to have a good time, and then one night she asked me in when I kissed her good night.

“Things progressed gradually; it seemed like it was too slow for her. Finally, she just told me she wanted to make love to me, that she wanted to be with me. I still had not had the courage to tell her what I was, but before we did that, I knew I had to. I warned her before I took off my concealment charm and then showed her my true appearance, but she went berserk. She started screaming that I wasn't human and that I was an animal. She didn't care how rich my family was; she wasn't fucking a dog. That's when she told me that she really didn't love me; she just wanted my money and to marry into a wealthy family. She'd apparently already tried for my brother, but he wasn't interested, so she moved on to me. She made sure to rub it all in before she started throwing things at me and made me get out.” InuYasha downed his sake and refilled the cup, returning it to the table.

“You did not deserve that,” Miroku said softly. “You may not be completely human, but you are one of the most honest men that I know, and that's saying something, coming from a monastery like I do. But tell me why was she so vindictive? And how did she trick you into going out without your disguise?”

InuYasha sighed. “She called a few days later and apologized. She said the fact that it was such a shock made her react the way she did. She'd had a chance to think about it, and said she wanted to see me again. She asked me to meet her in the park where I liked to run but not to wear the concealment charm. She wanted to see me in the daylight as I was. I was such a sap that I believed her. I was so lonely that I wanted to. When I arrived, she had tabloid reporters and photographers waiting to ambush me. She thought she could ruin me and my whole family, but someone deduced that my father must have had an affair with a female demon, and I was the result. We just let them believe that. They'd shit if they knew the Nishimori clan were Inuyoukai and that my demon father fell in love with a human. She certainly would if she found out my half brother she made a play for is a pure-bred. She's probably thrilled, though, that I'm as much an outcast to other demons as I am to humans. I'm both and neither. I don't fit in anywhere.”

“That's not entirely true, my friend. You saw the show of support from the students and their parents today. At least one of them loves you dearly, and she knows exactly what you are and accepts you. And you can be certain that none of them will turn their back on you. You have treated each of them equally and fairly, and that is all many ever hope for. You have taught them well, and today they discovered themselves how well-prepared they are. And they thought so highly of you that they refused their trophies and ribbons because you were insulted. It is difficult to inspire loyalty such as that.” Miroku drank the last swallow of the liquor and reached across the table for the bottle to refill his glass before he added, “And I turned down an invitation to dinner with Kagome and the lovely Sango to come after you and make certain that you are all right. Do you know how often I turn down a date with a beautiful woman? Much less two?”

“Not often,” InuYasha answered.

“Well, you're not beautiful, but I guess you'll have to do since I'm hungry. Take-out?” Miroku asked, finishing another cup.

“The usual,” InuYasha responded.

“Ramen it is,” Miroku said as he shakily climbed to his feet. “That's pretty strong stuff.”

However, this time there was no answer. InuYasha had tipped forward and was snoring. Sighing, Miroku pulled the glass from his hand and moved it along with the sake cask to safe distance across the table. “You've had a very long day, my friend,” he said as he tried to put InuYasha in a more comfortable position and pulled the sword away that was lying across his lap. After setting the katana on the table near the sake, he then went and ordered plenty of Ramen to be delivered. He knew when the hanyou woke up that he'd be starving. He also figured they'd both have terrible headaches soon enough, so he went and found a bottle of aspirin and set it on the table in front of the sake.

~ ^~^ ~

In spite of everything that had happened that day, Sango found herself enjoying dinner with Kagome and her family. At first, meeting Souta had made her kind of sad, but the little boy was so different from her own brother that she soon stopped thinking of Kohaku in comparison. While polite, Souta still laughed and told jokes to the others that had gone out for dinner as well.

Whether planned or by accident, a number of students from the dojo and their parents had ended up at La Maremma Pizzeria. They all got together and decided to order a number of different pizzas. When the waiters delivered them to their tables, they had them sliced into smaller pieces than usual, so they could try more varieties. Kagome and Sango both had to laugh at the amount of food the boys were able to put away and for that matter, the girls, too.

In spite of her cheerful façade, Kagome couldn't help but to worry about InuYasha. However, she knew that Miroku would find him and hopefully get through to him. She sighed as she reached for another piece of pizza and then laughed along with the others on whatever it was that she had missed. As they ate, she also noticed how Sango watched Souta and would get a sad, distant look in her eyes. Kagome wondered why Sango came to a city where she had no friends or relatives and had such a haunted look. However, not wanting to pry, she didn't say anything.

Sango and Kagome both thought they were about to pop when the waiter came out with what had to be the ultimate pizza: it was layered with bananas and cherries and then covered in chocolate. The two girls just grinned as they each took a slice and bit into it. Quickly concluding that they were too full to really enjoy it, they asked the waiter to wrap some up, so they could take it with them. Souta teased them that with the fruit on it, it qualified as breakfast food.

The evening ended when everyone was too full to eat any more, and the restaurant announced that the kitchen, or at least the fire oven, was closed. Mama insisted on driving Sango back to her apartment building before they returned to the shrine. Sango protested at first but gave in when Kagome mentioned how late it was, and that the streets really wouldn't be safe for her alone no matter how good she was at protecting herself.

If they thought anything about the upper scale apartment building she lived in, they didn't say anything. Kagome said goodnight and Mama didn't drive away until they saw the doorman open the door and bow to Sango as she passed through. Turning to wave goodbye, she disappeared into the building.

Sango had to admit as she entered her apartment that she'd had a good time. The events of the day had also reinforced her decision to train with InuYasha. Not only had his students done well in a tournament they had not specifically prepared for, they, along with their parents, showed a fierce loyalty to the hanyou. In addition, she had heard whispers among others in attendance at the tournament that they needed to go and check out the dojo that the students in red came from. For while the Sensei in brown was telling his students that winning was the only option, and he had no use for those that lost, InuYasha was telling his students to do their best, and no one would think any less of them. On top of that, not once did one of the students in red storm off of the floor after a loss. No matter what the outcome, they always bowed politely to their opponent before leaving. InuYasha's students retained their composure and behaved appropriately, including the younger ones who were more likely to act out over a loss.

She also considered Miroku's actions. While she didn't know anything about him other than the little Kagome had told her, it was clear that he was also very loyal to his friend. He had immediately come to the hanyou's defense against the cruel remark that was made to him. Sango then found herself thinking back to when she sparred with him and the intensity of his eyes as he looked into hers when he pinned her. Shaking her head to clear it of any further thoughts of him, she put her pizza in the refrigerator and headed to bed.

~ ^~^ ~

InuYasha woke up to the wonderful aromas that were wafting around him. He groaned when he lifted his head and saw a bottle of aspirin being pushed across the table towards him.

“Take a couple of those and then eat. You'll feel better,” Miroku told him as he also placed a glass of water in front of him. “How much sake did you drink?”

“None of your fucking business, Monk,” the hanyou snapped at him.

“Just as I thought. You don't hold your liquor very well, do you?” Miroku grinned.

InuYasha downed two aspirin with the water and growled.

This time Miroku laughed. “You won't scare me away doing that, my friend. I know you don't drink very often. However, I would have thought your demon half would actually let you drink quite a lot.”

“It's the opposite. Because of my youkai blood, it metabolizes into my system faster. The only good thing is that for the same reason, it'll be gone when you still have a hangover.” InuYasha couldn't help but to smirk.

“No matter. Eating will help; here. I wasn't sure which you preferred with your sake, so I ordered both the beef and chicken.” Miroku moved the containers within his reach.

“Thanks, Miroku,” InuYasha said softly.

They ate in silence until most of the Ramen was gone. Miroku finally spoke when the last noodle was eaten from his serving, “Will you be all right, InuYasha?”

The hanyou slurped up his remaining noodle and looked seriously at Miroku. “This ain't like last time, is it? I mean, nobody ran…”

“No, InuYasha, this is nothing like last time. I now understand why you do not care for these tournaments, but without what happened today, you would not know the depths of your students' loyalty to you. Whatever she thought would happen when she said that, I assure you what occurred was not it.”

InuYasha actually grinned. “It wasn't, was it?”

Miroku shook his head. “It most certainly was not. Now before I head home, will you be all right?”

“Yeah, Monk, I think I will be.”

To be continued…