InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Minoue ❯ Conversations ( Chapter 18 )

[ 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.

Thank you very much for the reviews. I read each and every one of them, and greatly appreciate those of you that took the time to leave one. Please check my LiveJournal at doggieearlover.livejournal.com/180069.html for responses to your reviews.

Minoue

Chapter 18: Conversations

Kagome had departed with InuYasha, and Sango and Miroku were left alone together in the kitchen. As long as Kagome had been there, it had been okay, but the tension was becoming rather unbearable in the absence of the others. Both fiddled with their coffee cups, pushing them around and trying to make the remaining few drops last just a little bit longer. Miroku was finally unable to endure it any more. With a heavy sigh, he said, “I must apologize for my behavior the last time we were alone together. I did not wish to offend you or make you uncomfortable around me. It's… it's… it's just… that… I have some rather bad habits… I have no excuse, and I'm sorry.”

Sango blushed at the thought of his transgressions against her. She hated to admit it, but her body grew warm at remembering the feel of his hand caressing her buttock. She didn't know when she'd gone from being angry to feeling somewhat erotic about the incident. She mumbled so that he could barely hear her, “That's okay. You'd been hit in the head and… well… I don't want to dwell on it.”

“Will you tell me about your home?” Miroku asked, taking her cue and changing the subject.

Surprised, she looked up to study his face. “What?”

“When we first met you mentioned that you were from a small town up in the mountains. I was just wondering what it was like. I went from a monastery to living in Tokyo. I keep telling myself I should see more of Japan, but I haven't except to visit some other monasteries from time to time.” Miroku found himself fascinated with the depth of her dark eyes as he spoke.

Her cheeks filling with color, Sango looked away. She found that she could not meet his intense gaze. “It was nothing special, just a small town in a rural area. It was beautiful though. I missed the woods that I ran and played in as a child. I was glad that InuYasha allowed Kagome to show me some of the property he has here. It reminded me of home. It's so peaceful most of the time.”

Miroku couldn't help but to grin at that statement. “Except when strange ookami youkai are trying to kidnap you, and you discover that your feline companion is a demon?”

Sango laughed softly, and Kirara jumped up into her lap. “Well, there was that. I'm almost glad though. I got to… to… find out about Kirara.” Sango looked at the cat and rubbed her head. What she'd really wanted to say was that she was glad she got to spend some time with Miroku, even if he did have to grope her. Also, learning about his life when he was younger made her appreciate what she'd had even more. She missed her father, but at least she'd had one. Her mother's memories had been fading for a long time, but still, she had known her as well as a child could. Sango wondered what it would have been like to grow up, knowing you had been abandoned - unwanted. That was something she couldn't begin to fathom.

She was jolted from her thoughts when she heard, “So did you know right away that it was her?”

Startled, Sango still managed to nod. “I saw the two tails, her eyes, and markings and knew that it had to be. Plus, Kagome had warned me she was coming. But as soon as I laid eyes on her, I just knew. It's still hard to believe that such a cute little kitty could turn into something so ferocious.”

That brought a meow of protest from the cat in her lap. Sango picked her up behind her front legs and held her up to look her in the eyes. “What? Did I offend you?”

Kirara answered with another mew.

“By calling you ferocious, or cute?” Sango asked her.

“Meow-ow-ow,” was the response.

“Oh, so you changed your mind? You're both cute and ferocious?”

This time the fire cat started purring rather loudly instead, and Sango set her back in her lap. She glanced up to see the somewhat stunned look on Miroku's face and said, “I don't understand it, either - how I know what she means, I mean. I just do.”

“Amazing,” was Miroku's only response.

~ ^~^ ~

`Amazing' Sesshomaru thought while he watched his younger sibling walk towards him with the miko by his side. The first thing he noticed was how much InuYasha looked like their father - especially with those markings on his face. He was also surprised that they were still visible since the hanyou's youkai blood had receded - or had it? This was certainly an enigma - the girl seemed to both calm and bring out the hanyou's youkai half at the same time. How was this possible?

`She has touched his very soul,' the Daiyoukai concluded as they drew nearer. That was the only explanation. It was such a rare thing and a difficult concept to grasp. He had certainly never experienced it though their father had explained the hold InuYasha's human mother seemed to have over him similarly. Sesshomaru had been jealous for years that his father preferred a human woman to his own mother, but as he matured, he had come to understand that probably no male could live with his mother for very long. In fact, he didn't like to be around her any more than he had to be.

InuYasha and Kagome approached Sesshomaru and came to a halt. Kagome bowed as InuYasha introduced her, “This is Higurashi Kagome. As you said, she is much more to me than just my student and one of my instructors. Kagome, this is my brother, Sesshomaru.”

“The pleasure is mine,” Sesshomaru responded before Kagome had a chance to speak.

“What's that?” InuYasha said, turning his head towards a faint voice coming from the direction of the dojo.

“The other reason I came here today,” Sesshomaru answered before striding along the path towards the building.

“Sesshomaru-sama, Sesshomaru-sama! Where are you?” the voice of a child called out.

“Rin, get back here! Lord Sesshomaru told you he would come for you when ready,” a frazzled voice yelled behind her. “He will be very displeased that you did not follow his instructions.”

InuYasha and Kagome entered the clearing directly behind the dojo to see a girl of about eight years old approach Sesshomaru. A large smile crossed her face as she ran towards him.

“Rin, why did you not wait as instructed?” the Daiyoukai asked the child.

“Jaken-sama kept going on and on about how he hoped you and your brother wouldn't kill each other, and Rin was worried! The others all left a long time ago, and Rin was afraid that something had happened,” she answered.

The glare that was thrown in the direction of the short little man made him wish he could disappear. “Jaken, go wait with the car.”

Jaken bowed. “Yes, Sesshomaru-sama.” He turned and shuffled back in the direction he had come from.

Sesshomaru held his hand out and indicated to Rin to stand alongside him. “Rin, this is Sensei InuYasha and Sensei Kagome. They are instructors here. As you can see, you had nothing to worry about. My brother InuYasha and I did not kill each other.” Rin bowed, and he continued, “This is Rin. She is my ward and would like to study martial arts. She understands that due to my… station… she can not study just anywhere.”

InuYasha's thick eyebrows had disappeared up under his bangs, and he squatted down to her level. “You wish to study here with us?”

Rin nodded enthusiastically. “Sesshomaru-sama says his brother is hanyou but honorable and can be trusted. Will you teach me?”

“Sensei Kagome usually teaches the younger students. Would that be all right with you?” InuYasha replied.

Rin looked up at Sesshomaru, who nodded. “That is acceptable,” the little girl said.

InuYasha stood up again and tried not to snort. She'd sounded just like a smaller version of his brother just then. “Kagome, would you like to take her inside and show her around? We'll be right behind you.”

Kagome smiled warmly and offered her hand to the child. Rin took it, and together they went inside of the dojo.

“A human? As a ward?” InuYasha asked. “How did that happen?”

“It's a long story,” Sesshomaru responded.

“You sent all of my students for the morning home, so I've got time,” the hanyou stated.

Sesshomaru decided a different tactic was in order. “So when do I meet her family?”

“Rin's? How is she your ward if she has family?” InuYasha tried not to chuckle.

“Half-breed, you know what I meant. When do I meet your lover's family?”

Color filled InuYasha's cheeks. “If you must put it that way… First, tell me if you will approve my marriage to her, or that you at least will not try to block it.”

“I would not wish to meet her family if that were my intention,” Sesshomaru responded.

An audible sigh of relief escaped the hanyou. “I have dinner with them on Sunday evenings. I'll talk to them then, and give you a call.”

Sesshomaru nodded and walked next to InuYasha towards the door. InuYasha stopped and said, “Thank you.”

The Daiyoukai looked at his brother. “I should not have waited so long to contact you. We have not been enemies for a long time.”

“To be honest, I never really considered you one,” the hanyou said so softly that Sesshomaru's demon hearing barely picked it up.

“Indeed.”

They were interrupted again by a happy squeal from inside. They went in to find Kagome and Rin in the middle of the training floor. The smaller girl had a huge grin on her face as she hurriedly scrambled to her feet and straightened her clothing.

Kagome stood alongside her, also smiling. “I hope you don't mind, but I went ahead and showed her a couple of moves. We have a class for children her age that just started which she could attend if that is agreeable with you, Sesshomaru-sama.”

“We will make the arrangements,” he answered.

“If you want to come to my office, I'll get a schedule for you,” InuYasha offered.

The Daiyoukai followed his younger sibling towards the dojo office. “Tell me something, Little Brother - when and where did you learn martial arts? Was it during that time you disappeared?”

“After Dad died? Yeah. I'll admit I was both angry and scared after he was murdered. Mother died when I was younger, and I had almost no contact with anyone other than him after her death. Once he was gone, I didn't know what would happen to me. I knew I was hated by both humans and youkai and really had no place to belong, so I went to China. I found a temple of monks that didn't care what I was. They helped me learn to control my anger and to protect myself. I was there for at least fifty years before I finally decided to come home. They also made me realize that I had to face my fears. Helping you track down our father's killer was what I needed. I was surprised that you had not already done so before my return…” InuYasha's voice trailed away.

Sesshomaru was silent for a few moments before he responded, “There was much chaos after his death. I had to establish order, and make it very clear that I was in control. It also took until your return to learn who was ultimately responsible. I never did thank you for allowing me to strike the final blow. I know that you could have killed him if you had wanted to.”

“Oh, I wanted to, but I knew that you would want to make a clear message as Daiyoukai. In my time with the monks, I also learned that sometimes the needs of another may be higher than your own. After what you did to him, it should be a long time before anyone challenges you,” InuYasha said.

“They forget much sooner than you think,” he replied.

InuYasha furrowed his brow. “What? Did something happen? I haven't heard… then again, I've haven't been around…”

Sesshomaru sat in Miroku's chair as InuYasha pulled his away from his desk to do the same. “No one but Jaken knows - well, him and Rin.”

“The little girl? What would she have to do with it?” InuYasha asked.

“The child managed to thwart an assassination attempt,” Sesshomaru said. He then went on to tell InuYasha how they thought there was someone sneaking into the gallery at night, but they could never find her. She never did any damage and only seemed to take food that was left in the staff lounge or leftovers in the gallery's bistro. The staff, some of which were youkai, would do a thorough search before locking up for the night, thinking that the person was hiding while the gallery was open, but they never found anyone. However, they would come in the next morning to find more food had disappeared. Some of the staff had pronounced that the gallery was haunted, and the spirit was hungry.

He finally found out who the perpetrator was when he had been working late one night. He was leaving through the back door when two men appeared, pointed guns at him, and announced that his reign was over. Even Sesshomaru would die if hit in the heart or head, and they made certain to rub that in while they also forced him to remove his concealment charm so they could make certain they had the right youkai. Just before they fired, trash cans and everything else placed in the alley started falling over. While their shots hit him in the chest, they missed his heart. They ran, and Sesshomaru fell. He was too injured to stand up to reach the electronic keypad that would open the back door. That was when the little girl ran up, stood on her tip toes and keyed in the pass code without being told what it was. She helped Sesshomaru get back inside the door, and then slammed it shut and locked it behind them.

“That child did all of that?” InuYasha asked with amazement.

“She's tough, though she didn't speak at first. We thought she was mute, but apparently she'd been through some trauma, and it was psychological. Once it became clear that I wasn't going to throw her back on the street, or take her to an orphanage, she finally began to speak. She was on her own for at least two years. She's actually ten, but I guess she's small because of lack of proper nutrition for so long. Jaken said she refused to leave my side when I fell unconscious, even when he revealed himself to her. Apparently I tried to scare her away at some point, but she stayed anyway. After finding out she had been abandoned, much to Jaken's distress, I made the decision to make her my ward. She goes to the gallery with me every day and then studies with private tutors. She couldn't go into the school system without learning everything she missed. They say she is very bright and learning rapidly. However, she's also very active, so this should be good for her,” Sesshomaru responded.

InuYasha nodded - he understood how children that age could be. “I'll tell Kagome to make certain she gets a good workout when she comes. So, Jaken will bring her for her classes?”

“To his dismay, yes, and also to any private lessons she might need to get caught up. I'll gladly pay for whatever she needs.”

“Your money is no good here, Sesshomaru. If she is your ward, then she's family. She can have whatever she needs. Here's the schedule of classes. I would suggest this one that Kagome just started for the younger kids. I know you said she's ten, but with her small size she should fit in with them better than with the older children.” InuYasha had circled the one on the schedule that he thought would be appropriate.

“She will begin this coming week.” Sesshomaru accepted the schedule as he stood.

They returned to the training floor where Kagome was still keeping Rin entertained.

“Rin, come. It is time to go,” Sesshomaru called.

The tiny girl hopped to her feet and bowed to Kagome. “Thank you, Sensei.” She turned and ran to Sesshomaru and then bowed towards the floor before leaving.

Sesshomaru looked from his brother to the miko and then said, “Perhaps you would care to come to the opening of the new exhibition at the gallery a week from today. It's black tie, and everyone important from both the human and youkai communities will be there.”

“I…well…” InuYasha stammered.

“Bring Sensei Kagome and the other two that were with you this morning. The presence of all four of you will make it clear to the youkai that I stand behind you in the matter of the wolf demons. We can also use the occasion to make a formal announcement of your engagement. I will send a car to pick all of you up at eight o'clock Saturday evening. Be ready.” Sesshomaru turned and left with Rin running happily alongside.

InuYasha turned to see a stunned Kagome standing in the middle of the floor.

The pungent aroma of her tears hit his nose before he saw them flowing freely down her cheeks. Walking slowly towards her, the words of his brother begin to sink in. He came to a stop and said, “I'm sorry, Kagome. I didn't mean for you… I meant… well… Will you marry me?”

“YES!” she cried and closed the distance between them.

InuYasha caught her and folded her into his embrace. The kiss was both tender and passionate at the same time. When they finally pulled apart, InuYasha brushed her tears away. “I'm sorry. I didn't intend for you to find out like that. I wanted to ask you properly. My brother can still be such an asshole…”

“I don't understand,” Kagome whispered.

“As the Daiyoukai of Japan, he can stop any union he does not approve of. That doesn't mean just youkai, but includes hanyou as well. Also, as head of my family, I needed his approval first. I already had your mother's blessing,” he responded.

Kagome couldn't help but to smile. She knew how traditional he was, and it shouldn't have surprised her. “How long have you been planning this?”

InuYasha shrugged. “Not that long, but I've been dreaming about it for a long time.”

“Me, too,” she said softly. She looked up, and he kissed her again, oblivious to their audience.

Sango and Miroku had come back to the dojo after Kirara came and indicated that it should be safe for them to return. As they watched the scene unfold before them, Sango felt a tug at her heart. She wondered what it would feel like to be loved like that, for the adoration that InuYasha felt for Kagome was clear. She glanced at the man next to her, the one that could make her heart race with just a thought. She clutched Kirara to her as she shook her head to clear it of that notion. She'd heard more rumors of his escapades around campus and just knew she'd never be exotic or hot enough for him. The silence was interrupted with a meow from Kirara. While no one else understood what she said, Sango did - “You're wrong.”

Before Miroku strode across the floor to clap InuYasha on the back and congratulation him, he looked briefly at the young woman beside him. She was so strong, and yet so fragile. Yes, he'd have to be careful, but she would be worth winning over. Once he'd broken the ice with her that afternoon, she'd begun to speak more freely, telling him of her home and the area where she grew up. He in turn had given her some idea of what it had been like to grow up in a monastery full of Buddhist monks.

“Hey, Sango?” Kagome called as she walked towards her.

“Congratulations, Kagome,” she answered.

“Thanks, Sango. You wouldn't believe how happy I am.” Kagome had to stop and wipe her eyes again and was surprised when Sango gave her a one-armed hug. “InuYasha wants to take us out tonight. His brother just asked all four of us to come to a gallery exhibition opening next week. I hope you didn't have plans, because it sounded like he wouldn't take `no' for an answer. He says that everyone important will be there, including those from the youkai community.”

Sango looked puzzled. “But what does that have to do with tonight?”

“InuYasha asked if you two would come and celebrate with us, and then he wants to take us shopping. He said that he couldn't expect for us to buy the gowns we'll need for the black tie event, so he wants to get them for us. He and Miroku each need a tuxedo as well.” Kagome giggled. “And he doesn't trust Miroku to help him buy one. Will you come?”

“He… He… I can buy my own dress,” Sango said.

“We know, but… well… I'm not sure what he has in mind. But I think InuYasha may know more about this type of thing than he's let on.” Kagome took a deep breath and asked again, “Will you come? At least to celebrate with us tonight? It'll be more fun with all four of us. It'll seem kind of strange if it's only Miroku.”

Sango looked across at the animated dark-haired man, wondering what he was saying to make InuYasha blush so. Not certain if she really wanted to know, but then realizing that she kind of did, she answered, “Okay. I haven't really been shopping since I moved to Tokyo, so maybe I can at least get some ideas of where to go.” She stopped and looked at the cat in her arms. “But what about you, Kirara?”

It was Kagome's turn to shake her head as Kirara `talked' and then Sango responded, “So you've been wanting to prowl around out here at night anyway, and you'll come home in the morning?”

Kirara purred and rubbed her head against Sango's chest.

“If you're certain that's what you want to do. I'll be sure to leave the terrace door open for you when I get home.” Sango looked at Kagome. “I guess it's a go.”

“So are you lovely ladies ready for a night out on the town?” Miroku asked as he walked towards them.

Sango gasped. “I don't have anything to wear!”

Miroku clenched his jaw shut before he said anything he'd regret.

“There's plenty of time if you want to go home first. I remember where you live, so maybe we can come by and pick you up,” Kagome suggested.

“I'd hate to put you to the extra trouble,” Sango said.

“It's no trouble at all,” Miroku interjected. “I already told InuYasha I'd drive so Kagome wouldn't have to. He wants to get an early start so we'll have plenty of time. Can you be ready around six o'clock?”

Sango nodded.

Miroku said without thinking, “It's a date. We'll see you then. I'd better get prepared for my class that will be coming in.”

“Sango, are you okay?” Kagome asked.

“I… yeah. Do you want to change and go out to practice?”

“I'm ready when you are.”

Together, the two girls headed towards the dressing room.

After they passed by Miroku and InuYasha, Kagome leaned over and whispered, “I bet those two look hot in a tux.”

Sango only blushed in response.

To be continued…

InuYasha Fanfiction Guild News

Thanks so much to everyone who nominated, seconded or voted for one of my fics at the InuYasha Fanfiction Guild. My stories had the following placements for the Third Quarter of 2007:

-Best Drama- 2nd Place: Minoue
-Best Oneshot- 2nd Place: Art is Life
-Best Alternate Universe/Reality- 3rd Place: Minoue
-Best Canon- 3rd Place: Reminders on the Wind
-Best Vignette- 3rd Place: Reminders on the Wind
-Best Lemon- 3rd Place: Come Undone

Thank you also to everyone who takes the time to leave a review or to send me an email. I really appreciate your support. It does encourage and inspire me to continue writing.