InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ No Smooth Path to Eros ❯ Before "I do" ( Chapter 3 )

No Smooth Path to Eros

By Very Vicious Vixen

 

 

 

Before “I do”

 

 

Kikyou was not sure about how she should treat her younger sister, to put it plainly. At Kagome's age, she was an outstanding archer and renowned activist in her school, not to mention an honor student heading straight to a top-ranked university. Self-sufficiency had become her ever since she was eight when her father left to start a new family and her mother continuously swing from hopeless despair to uncontrollable rage at her father's doing. However, it would not be fair to expect such high achievements from the related stranger. Her little sister may have the body any porn star could envy but one look at that unjaded face and Kikyou knew that she was raised sheltered and therefore as naïve as a young lamb surrounded by wolves in sheep's clothing.

 

And that was precisely why she needed to be kept away from Inuyasha.

 

Kagome seemed to have a great deal of questions as to why her older sister had literally dragged her away from Inuyasha Takahashi who must appeared to be a fine young man in her eyes, but Kikyou did not waste time to give her any explanation. The sight of him was so overwhelming, like a reopen of a just-healed flesh wound, and having to verbalize the hurt that he had inflicted upon her in the same day was too much. She needed to get away, and she needed to protect another innocent woman from the same pain. They made it to her apartment in record time, the younger girl looking slightly uncomfortable at the way her eyes blaze with anger.

 

But she could not lie to herself that one of the reasons she tried to separate Kagome from Inuyasha as fast as possible was because he was giving her little sister an open, genuine smile that he had once reserved for her alone.

 

Kikyou fingered the ring she wore around her neck absently, twisting it this way and that to make the platinum band gleam just right. The emerald-cut diamond was of superb quality, something Sesshoumaru demanded from everyone and everything, and weighed at six carat, the same number as the months she and Sesshoumaru spent on dating before he “popped the question.” Kikyou smiled lightly. And what a proposal it was.

 

Kikyou remembered that he was in his usual three pieces suit, navy with a striped yellow tie, and he was driving the white Lamborghini rather than using the usual limousine service. She remembered being surprised, as they had agreed to have a casual date at Madam Joel's, one of her favorite pizza parlors, but Sesshoumaru seemed to have no objection to her tee-shirt, denim shorts and casual low pony-tail. He was very much quiet and withdrawn as he drove, however, and she, for once, chose to not question his silence as she gave him direction to the exact place.

 

Upon their arrival, Kikyou found the place completely packed, which was not that much of a surprise given its popularity and extremely tiny space, but she thought it was rather funny how she seemed to have seen most of the other patrons from somewhere. After they were seated (the head waitress graciously ignored the "We're full" sign up front and put together a seat for them in the back corner of the restaurant), Kikyou was even more surprised when Madam Joel herself was the one to take their order, dressing rather elegantly in a short dress in a shade of green that looked horrible with her complexion. Sesshoumaru was still rather quiet as they enjoyed the excellent iced tea and poutiness without much excitement, but the arrival of her pizza had put an end to his almost-silent treatment.

 

The pizza which was placed in front of her was just the way she liked it: just cheesy enough, just thin-crusted enough, just topped with enough olives and mushrooms.

 

The olives and mushrooms that were arranged into the slightly crooked words of "MARRY ME?"

 

If there was one thing Sesshoumaru Takahashi was not, it was romantic. In all their times together never once did he bring her flower or sweet little just-because-I-think-you-would-like-it gifts a woman might come to expect from her boyfriend, but she did not mind it because it suited her style perfectly. Ever since her heartbreak with Inuyasha back in college, Kikyou had put an end to all dreams of romance and prepared herself for a life time of relationships based on physical and intellectual attraction but with no emotional attachment. All her previous partners knew this, and they were the ones who choose to leave when they knew that they would never broke the ice around her heart. Sesshoumaru, however, seemed to be taken with her self-sufficiency, wits and grace rather than bothered with a silly little thing as love and complete devotion. And so, as she looked at the proposal pizza in front of her, a deep longing for a real family that she had never had came to the surface, and, blurred with tears, she could only make out the silver hair and golden eyes of the man in front of her when she choked out a yes.

 

And then all she could feel were the taste of his lips upon hers and the coolness of the platinum band upon her ring finger.

 

It turned out that Sesshoumaru had rented Madam Joel's for the whole night and the other patrons of the restaurant were in fact the workers who were asked to occupy the seats to give them complete privacy from prying eyes. Upon their departure, Sesshoumaru thanked everyone for their cooperation and handed Madam Joel a cheque before politely asking her and everyone in the room to keep what had just happened a complete secret from the press. Kikyou remembered smiling inwardly at his casual tone when she knew that he had already have everyone threatened with serious damage should they even think of opening their mouth.

 

They assigned their wedding planning to Abi, the eccentric but extremely talented wedding planner, warning her, as they did Madam Joel, to keep their engagement in absolute secrecy. The press had always been watching the Takahashi brothers, seeing as they were the most eligible bachelors in the decade, and the news of Sesshoumaru Takahashi being officially off the market would not be taken kindly. In order to protect their relationship and privacy, Kikyou hid her ring on he chain around her neck rather than on display for the whole world to see. Sesshoumaru did not seem to mind too much, for, in the most romantic and so non-Sesshoumaru words she had ever dreamt of hearing, her fiancé claimed that the ring on the chain would only be much closer to her heart.

 

Sighing, Kikyou slipped the ring onto her finger, feeling not for the first time the weight of the upcoming marriage upon herself. And yet, as she looked absently at the way the lamp light played with the brilliance of the diamond, she could not help but secretly wish that it was the other Takahashi brother that would soon be sharing that weight with her.

 

+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+

 

Sesshoumaru Takahashi's patience was wearing thin when the jacket he ordered for his best man kept returning as one size too small. Brides may order wedding clothes that were not their usual size so that they may have the motivation to lose weight; best men, however, would more than likely preferred clothes they could wear comfortably. Looking at the too narrow shoulders, he could clearly see how Inuyasha would refuse to squeeze himself into that one size too small small jacket, and if it was not fixed soon Sesshoumaru was sure he was going to lose the participation of his brother. Nothing seemed to be going wrong with the other aspects of the wedding, however, and he was looking forward to meet Kikyou's little sister who would be acting as the only bridesmaid in their rather untraditional wedding ceremony. Seeing as they would be in the same household for at least a year, he could not help but wonder what kind of girl this “Kagome” was. The first thing that started off their relationships as brother and sister-in-laws were Kikyou asking him to pull a few strings to get Kagome into Sengoku High.

 

It could be his imagination but Inuyasha appeared to be rather…fidgety. Many a time he seemed to be on his way to telling him something, but the younger man never did get around to actually complete the act. It was almost funny how Inuyasha looked as if he was the one experiencing the bridal jitter rather than he or Kikyou. Perhaps his little brother was thinking of getting hitch himself? He would love to meet the woman who can tame, or maybe it would be better to say trap, the wild bachelor.

 

Not for the first time since he had met his future bride, Sesshoumaru thanked the high heaven for giving him the perfect woman. She was very beautiful (he was only as much a visual creature as the rest of his race), intelligent (he would hate to have dumb children) and she was not after his money. There were times, however, when he looked into her eyes and saw how they were still so guarded, as if afraid of opening up to him completely. Thinking back onto the day of the proposal, Sesshoumaru could not find any reason not to interpret her tears as tears of joy for their shared future, and he planned to use it to make her trust him enough to tell him what she kept hidden underneath those gentle but distant smiles. He would prove to her that not all men were like the jerk who broke her heart in college by accusing her with a crime she did not commit!

 

End Chapter

 

 

 

Author's Note: Can anyone tell I was hungry when I wrote the pizza proposal lol? Feel free to use this idea for your special someone; I won't copyrighted it ^_^

I promise more actions next chapter instead of all these emotional set ups and backgrounds. Sesshoumaru and Kikyou's relationship will be the second most important one in this story, extremely closely behind Inuyasha and Kagome's if I may hint. More important characters would be introduced next chapter most definitely as the sisters settled into their new lives. Gasp! Another hint! OK, I'll stop it now. I'll go write the next chapter right away.

Review and constructive criticisms most welcomed; they help me improve as a writer. Thank you for reading my story.