InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 2: Defiance ❯ Uninvited Guests ( Chapter 6 )

~~Chapter 6~~

~Uninvited Guests~

 

~*~

 

 

The ringing phone broke through the quiet stillness with the finesse of a sledgehammer inside Toga's head. “Hell,” he muttered as he reached for the phone. `One of these days I'm going to remember to unhook that damn thing,' he thought as he blindly hit buttons in search of the one that would connect the call. “What?” he growled as he brought the receiver to his ear.

 

“Toga! What are you doing?”

 

“Kami,” he groaned as he flopped back on his pillows. “Where the hell did you get my number?”

 

The male voice chuckled. “Mother, of course. Now stop ignoring the damn question, baka.”

 

Toga made a face. He knew he'd regret giving Aunt Gome his phone number . . . “I was sleeping, Ryomaru. You ought to try it sometime.”

 

“Keh, you're tighter-assed than Uncle Sesshoumaru. Why don't you answer your door?”

 

“My door?” Toga echoed, deliberately ignoring the comparison to his father. “There's no one at my—” A loud knock reverberated through the apartment. Toga frowned and sat up straight. “How did you know someone was at my door?” he asked, suspicion creeping into his voice.

 

“I'm psychic.”

 

Rolling off the bed and shuffling down the hallway toward the living room and his door, Toga groaned before he ever got close. “Oh, hell,” he mumbled, hanging up the phone and tossing it toward the sofa in passing. He didn't have to open the door to know who was on the other side of it. “Psychic, my butt,” he grumbled as he unlocked the door and was immediately shoved backward as his two biggest sources for annoyance grinned at him.

 

Inviting themselves inside, the twin inu-hanyous made themselves at home. Ryomaru—the devil of the two—flopped over the back of the sofa and hissed as he caught the phone in a place that wouldn't have been comfortable. Kichiro scratched his silvery head and yawned. “International flights suck wind,” he commented as he sank down on the floor, completely ignoring the other furniture in the room.

 

“Why are you two here?” Toga demanded as he closed the door and crossed his arms over his chest.

 

“We could ask you the same thing. Last we knew, you were heading to Germany for a meeting. Next thing, Uncle Sesshoumaru called to bellow at the old man for giving you bad ideas or some such shit,” Ryo remarked.

 

“Anyway, Mother was all worried that her precious Toga was in trouble, and she talked him into sending us over to check up on you,” Kichiro added, rolling his eyes for good measure.

 

Ryomaru sat up and narrowed his golden gaze on Toga, the beginnings of an amused grin surfacing on his face. “Ni-i-ice. Always sleep in your skivvies?”

 

Toga glanced down at his black silk boxers and shrugged. “Unlike you two, I prefer to wear something to bed, yes,” he countered.

 

Kichiro grinned. “I wear something to bed,” he argued.

 

“'Course he does . . . whatever girl is handy, normally.”

 

“Oh, kami . . . Aunt Gome should have had the both of you neutered at birth.”

 

“It's the curse of the silver hair,” Kichiro lamented.

 

“You dogs,” Toga snorted as he stalked out of the living room toward his bedroom.

 

“You ought to try it sometime, tight-ass. Debauchery is a beautiful thing,” Ryomaru called out in his wake.

 

“Until you wake up mated to some bitch and don't even know her name, baka,” Toga hollered back as he tugged on a pair of jeans and a button down shirt.

 

“Can't help myself,” Kichiro added. “We're hanyou, remember? We have deeper passion than you stuffy youkai.”

 

“I'll stuff something, right up your—” The phone rang. Toga realized too late that the receiver was out in the living room—probably still under his cousin's ass. “Answer that!”

 

“Got it!” Ryomaru yelled back. Toga hurriedly buttoned his shirt. “Oi, bastard! It's your bitch!”

 

“Oh, kami,” Toga muttered as he darted out of his room and back down the hallway to rip the phone out of his cousin's hand, praying that if it really was Sierra, that she hadn't actually heard his baka cousin.

 

Conveniently using the phone to thump Ryomaru upside the head, Toga brought the receiver to his ear and winced. “H-hello?”

 

“Toga?”

 

The wince blossomed into a panic at the sound of her voice. “Sierra . . . hi.”

 

“Your bitch, Toga?” she asked in an overly bright tone.

 

He grimaced, figuring that the idea that she hadn't heard Ryomaru had been too much to hope for . . . “Uh . . . excuse my cousin. He's a stupid mutt.”

 

Ryomaru contorted his body to deal a kick to Toga. “Who you callin' a mutt, son of a sheepdog?”

 

Toga dealt another smack upside Ryo's head. The baka grinned happily.

 

“Something I can do for you?” Toga asked, trying to ignore the two intruders in his home.

 

She sighed. “If this is a bad time . . .”

 

“No, it's fine.”

 

“If you're sure . . .” she trailed off, sounding entirely unconvinced.

 

“Positive.”

 

“In that case, I thought maybe, if you weren't busy . . . I could make breakfast for you? But if you've got plans . . .”

 

“Sounds great,” he told her.

 

“If you want to bring your cousin along—”

 

“Cousin-S!” Ryo hollered, earning him another scalp slap. “We're both here!”

 

“No, they were just leaving,” Toga argued.

 

“Nope . . . we're all yours for the next week,” Kichiro supplied happily. “A well-deserved holiday, Toga—so you have to entertain us.”

 

`What'd I do to piss off Uncle Yasha?' Toga asked himself with a long-suffering sigh.

 

“Bring them along. I'd love to meet your cousins,” Sienna assured him.

 

`Damn it . . .' Toga squeezed his eyes closed, rubbing furiously at his temple. “All right,” he reluctantly agreed. On the one hand, he'd rather that Sierra never meet these particular cousins of his. On the other? The idea of spending time with her far outweighed the cons. “Be right over.”

 

Hanging up the phone before tossing it onto the table behind him, Toga paused to glare at his cousins before he made his ultimatum.

 

“I like this girl,” he started to speak slowly. “I mean, I really like her. If either of you screw this up for me, I'll beat the living shit out of you both, just on principle.”

 

Kichiro sighed as he got to his feet, his hanyou ears flattening out to the sides in an entirely pathetic display that might—might—have made him feel bad if he didn't know damn well that Kichiro was doing it for that exact reason. “Now, that hurts, Toga . . . would we do something like that?”

 

“Have you licked her yet?” Ryo asked, draping himself over the back of the sofa and ducking Toga's next swipe. “Look, Kich . . . Toga's face matches Mother's fire rat clothes.”

 

Kichiro grimaced though the effect was lost when he laughed outright. “Damn, that looks painful, Toga.”

 

Toga yanked on his shoes and grabbed his keys off the table. “Forget it. Stay here. Don't move. Don't leave this apartment. Don't even breathe; I mean it. Don't touch anything, and don't lick anyone, or else . . .”

 

The brothers got up to follow. “She invited us, too,” Ryomaru pointed out reasonably.

 

“Absolutely,” Kichiro agreed.

 

Toga clamped his teeth together as he stomped out of the apartment and waited for his cousins to follow. Why did he have the feeling that this breakfast was going to be a disaster?

 

 

-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-

 

 

“Will you marry me?”

 

Toga kicked Kichiro under the table. The miscreant ignored him.

 

Sierra giggled and blushed. “Well, I think I'd like to know my potential husband longer than twenty minutes,” she replied lightly as she dropped her napkin onto her plate and pushed it away so that she could cross her arms on the tabletop.

 

Ryomaru snorted loudly then shot Sierra a wolfish grin. “Baka! Like she'd marry you when she could just come home with me for awhile . . . I promise you'd enjoy yourself . . . multiple times.”

 

That earned Ryo a kick as well as a menacing glower from Toga. Sierra laughed harder as Toga wondered just how upset Aunt Gome would be if the twins mysteriously disappeared.

 

“So how did you meet Stoic-Junior?” Kichiro asked as he nodded toward Toga without taking his gaze off Sierra.

 

She shot Toga a quick glance then shook her head, her smile dimming despite the soft chuckle that sounded entirely fabricated to Toga's ears. “Oh . . . he ran over my dog.”

 

Dead silence surrounded the table. The twins' heads swiveled to stare at Toga in complete shock. Ryomaru was the first to recover. “You ran over her what?”

 

“It wasn't on purpose,” he grumbled, cheeks pinking at not only the reminder, but also at his cousins' apparent outrage.

 

“Uncle Sesshoumaru won't like that,” Kichiro remarked with a wince.

 

Sierra waved her hand quickly. “He really didn't mean to, and he was very nice about it afterward,” she defended.

 

Ryomaru was serious at last. “Damn, Toga . . . that's bad.”

 

“Your father likes dogs?” Sierra asked as she drained her glass of orange juice.

 

“You could say that,” Toga answered, carefully staring at his plate.

 

“But Toga's mom likes them more,” Kichiro supplied. “How many does Aunt Kagura have?”

 

Ryomaru squinted one eye as he turned his gaze toward the ceiling in mock concentration. “Three . . . ? Yes, three.”

 

“What kinds?”

 

“A sheepdog, a cute little silver girly-dog, and one that looks amazingly like Toga.”

 

Toga coughed into his napkin as he glared at his demented cousin. “They pull bodies out of the river every day,” Toga remarked tightly. “I'm pretty sure that Aunt Gome won't miss you two that much. She's still got Gin, after all . . .”

 

“And take us away from the ladies?” Ryo asked in mock horror. “They'd be awfully upset about that . . . right, Sierra?”

 

Sierra giggled. “I don't know . . .”

 

Kichiro got up and strolled over to the window, staring below at the pedestrians passing on the street. “Ryo! Oh, wow . . . Holy damn, I think I'm in love . . .”

 

Ryo shot out of his chair and strode over beside his brother. The two were quickly absorbed in what they termed as `window shopping'. Toga rolled his eyes.

 

“They're interesting,” Sierra said quietly, her smile still in place.

 

Toga winced at her entirely too neutral estimation. “They figured out too early that the girls in Tokyo find their looks unique. I swear: they behave much better when their mother is around.”

 

She smiled, her gaze shifting to the side, staring at the twins' backs as they kept up their running commentary about the hapless girls passing by on the street below. “I don't know . . . I think they're harmless.”

 

Toga sighed. “Not as harmless as they look,” he muttered, wishing that his words weren't the honest to goodness truth.

 

“Silver hair,” she murmured with a shake of her head. “That's so bizarre.”

 

He frowned and sat back, not sure that he cared for the slight lilt in her voice: the entirely too appreciative hint that she hadn't tried to hide. She, like every other girl he'd met, seemed to think that the twins were attractive, didn't she?

 

That just figured. With his luck, she'd end up asking him if he could possibly fix her up with one of them, and he'd be left out in the cold. She already had issues with who he was, didn't she? Even then, the twins, with their overly friendly personalities, probably did appeal to her more than he did. Too shy, too quiet, maybe . . . he tended to get tongue tied pretty easily, and Sierra . . . Well, she flustered him a lot more than any other woman ever had . . .

 

“Toga? Are you all right?” her voice cut through his bleak thoughts.

 

He tried to force a smile. He really did. The muscles in his face felt like they were paralyzed, and she frowned at the half-grimace that he managed to produce. “Yeah, fine,” he murmured, reaching for the half-empty mug of coffee before him.

 

She got up to grab the pot and didn't speak as she refreshed his cup. “You looked like you were about a million miles away,” she admitted as she slipped back into her seat again.

 

“Not that far,” he assured her with a slight smile—it was all he could muster.

 

“You're a funny guy, Toga,” she allowed.

 

He sighed and finally met her gaze. Eyes bright and unblinking, she stared at him—only at him. “You think so?” he ventured.

 

She blinked and looked away, her cheeks pinking slightly, and Toga had to wonder why that was. “Yeah,” she admitted at length as she stood up and started to clear the dishes. “Yeah, I do.”

 

 

-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-0-=-

 

 

Toga trudged up the stairs to his apartment. After Sunday's disastrous breakfast date with Sierra and his baka cousins, he had almost looked forward to a quiet work day only to discover that it wasn't meant to be. Late to four of his six meetings of the day, two clients backed out at the merger signings, one was convinced that Toga was trying to mastermind a hostile takeover, and the final one . . .

 

He grimaced. The last thing he wanted at the time was to take a trip down memory lane with the old proprietor of a local restaurant that was being bought out. The man had brought along three photo albums of his business through the years, and he'd gone through every one of them, telling Toga story after story of the `old days' . . .

 

In short, all Toga wanted was a nice, quiet evening without a sound that he didn't make.

 

It wasn't until he realized that his apartment door was unlocked that Toga remembered that his cousins were still visiting. Bracing himself for whatever sort of devilment the two had found to get into during his absence, Toga took a deep breath and opened the door.

 

Stepping back at the scene that greeted him, Toga's face felt as though it might explode. His cousins were relaxing in the living room with a couple of girls that he'd never seen before. One of the twins—he wasn't sure which since they looked so much alike that it normally wasn't until they spoke that he could tell them apart at first glance—was nuzzling a blonde girl's neck while the other twin was busy being nuzzled by a very curvaceous brunette. None of them seemed to notice Toga at all, which was just as well since one girl had her hand down his cousin's unfastened pants, and from where he stood, he could plainly see that the other girl was lacking panties while that cousin slipped his index and middle fingers in and out of her at a very languorous pace.

 

Shaking his head and sighing inwardly, Toga pulled the door closed again and headed back toward the stairs. `Figures,' he thought as a dark scowl surfaced on his features. `Damn debauchers . . .'

 

The early October air was cool and dry as he stepped back out onto the sidewalk again. Staring at the asphalt, he headed down the street toward the small pizzeria where he had first eaten with Sierra.

 

The place was packed and noisy, filled with convoluted scents and a wash of bright colors. It took him all of twenty seconds to realize that coming in here was a mistake, after all. Glancing around with a little disorientation, Toga frowned and turned to leave.

 

“Toga!”

 

Head turning at the sound of that voice, he smiled despite his bad mood. Why did just the sight of Sierra's face dispel the memory of a rotten day?

 

Sitting in a booth with two other girls, Sierra smiled at him as Toga headed toward the booth. She scooted over to make room for him. “Want to join us?”

 

Sparing a moment to glance at the other women, he felt a curious flush creep up his cheeks. “Uh, I don't want to intrude.”

 

She waved off his concern and patted the bench beside her. Ignoring the curious gazes of Sierra's friends, he sat down.

 

Sierra smiled, and if she sensed his discomfort, she didn't remark on it. “Toga, these are a couple of girls from work: Brenda, Teri, this is Toga.”

 

“The fancy party guy, right?” one of the girls asked with a smile.

 

“Oh, I love your hair! It looks so soft!” the other squealed. She started to rise, leaning forward with her hand extended. “Ohh! Feel it, Brenda! His hair is unbelievable!”

 

“Girls, you're embarrassing him,” Sierra protested, noticing the way his back stiffened, the slight blush that had grown darker by degrees that dusted his cheeks.

 

Brenda picked up her purse and sighed. “Sorry to greet and run, but I've got to get that proof ready for the morning press run,” she apologized as she scooted out of the booth. Toga quickly stood. The women stopped and stared in varying degrees of open appreciation.

 

“Me, too,” Teri remarked as she followed suite. “Nice manners, Sie. Nab him while you can,” she whispered and offered a conspiratorial wink.

 

“Night, girls,” Sierra called after them as her cheeks pinked to match his. Turning to stare at him, her eyes clouded with concern. “You don't look so good . . . are you feeling all right?”

 

He smiled wanly in a futile effort to reassure her. “Long day . . . and those damn cousins of mine are desecrating my apartment.”

 

She shook her head as she stared at him. “Is that the only thing bothering you? You look like . . . you look like you're hurting.”

 

He flinched. “Is it that obvious?”

 

She nodded and pushed at him. “Come on. You can lie down at my place.”

 

“I don't want to put you to any trouble.”

 

She smiled and grabbed his hand to lead the way out of the crowded restaurant and out onto the street. Her apartment was about midway between his apartment and the restaurant. Toga made a face as he tried not to think about exactly what his brat cousins were doing in his home. “You're no trouble, Toga,” Sierra said, her voice a welcome distraction from his otherwise bleak thoughts. “It's kind of nice having you underfoot.”

 

The quiet of her apartment soothed him. The tranquility was total and complete. With a grateful smile, Toga slipped off his suit jacket and draped it over a dining room chair. She frowned as she tilted her head to the side and gazed at him with worry evident in the depths of her stare. “Toga, you're awfully pale. Why don't you go lie down on the sofa, and I'll get you some Tylenol.”

 

He shook his head. “I can't take that,” he explained.

 

“Allergies?”

 

“Something like that.” He sighed. In actuality, the side effects of the medicine were worse than the ailment. He'd rather suffer in silence than have his senses completely dulled.

 

“Well, lay down. I'll get you a glass of water.”

 

He did as he was told. Truthfully, she wasn't far off. It wouldn't surprise him if he really was pale. His head was thumping from too much noise, his eyes hurt because he'd forgotten his glasses, his sinuses were killing him because of the fall weather, the smell of the dying earth that twisted together with the fabricated odors from cars, industry, and far too many humans in a single place. Ordinarily it wouldn't get to him so badly. He'd coped with such things all his life, and Tokyo was much, much bigger than Chicago after all. Still, every once in awhile, the precarious balance would tip, and he'd end up feeling absolutely vile . . .

 

“Here,” Sierra said as she set a glass of water on the coffee table. “I'm going to go change.”

 

Toga grimaced and stayed her, grasping her hand gently to stop her from rushing away. “Would you mind if I took off my tie?”

 

The glance she shot him over her shoulder seemed startled and a little bemused. “No . . . go ahead. I'll be right back.”

 

He didn't remove it completely. He tugged it open and let the ends drag and managed to unbutton the top button without incident. There were moments when he found his claws to be a complete and utter nuisance. Normally those moments only came when struggling with his clothing. Fastenings weren't made for those with claws, he had found early on, and if he were feeling rushed, he tended to end up tearing his clothing or snapping off buttons . . .

 

He did wonder, though, how it was that humans never seemed to realize when they talked to youkai. The only human he'd ever known who could discern between them was Kagome, and that was because she was one of the last living mikos. He knew that the concealment charm placed on him at birth hid his youkai crests from human eyes—at least, from those who had never seen them before. He, himself, had never had to use the spell though it was something he'd learned early on. He'd never removed it to have to reapply it. He sighed, draping his arm over his eyes. The light, as faint as it was from the softly glowing lamp, still hurt . . .

 

Sierra padded back into the living room. “Here.” Pulling his arm away enough to look at her, Toga blinked in surprise to see her holding a fluffy pillow. “That sofa arm puts a crick in my neck if I lay on it too long.”

 

He leaned up and let her fuss with arranging the pillow under his head. When he lay back, the unadulterated scent of apple blossoms—of Sierra—wrapped around him, and he smiled.

 

She knelt down on the floor beside him and gently laid her hand against his forehead. “No fever, but you feel a little clammy . . .”

 

“I'm fine,” he assured her, and she might have bought it, too, if he hadn't winced as the light hit his eyelids again. As if she understood what was causing him pain, she rose up on her knees to turn off the lamp. “Thanks.”

 

“Mm,” she intoned. “How long are your cousins staying in town?”

 

“A week,” he mumbled. Her scent was too close, too comforting. Already nearly lulled to sleep by that alone, Toga smiled as she hesitantly reached out, stroked his hair out of his face. “Nice . . .”

 

“You look so miserable,” she fretted.

 

Toga tried to smile as Sierra pressed the back of her hand against his forehead again. “I'll be fine,” he mumbled.

 

“I'm sorry you're not feeling well.”

 

“`S'okay.”

 

“Go to sleep, if you're tired. I won't bother you,” she assured him.

 

“'Kay . . . thanks . . .”

 

She got up and headed back down the hallway again. By the time she returned with a damp, cool washcloth for his forehead, he was asleep.

 

 

~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~* ~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~

A/N:

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Reviewers

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cjflutterbye (MMorg) :
Gods I love you woman!! Toga is just so damn sweet, and it looks like the lovely farm girl is a wonderful distraction from his troubles. However, I'll bet that his affection for her, and hers for him, will cause even more troubles, being Sesshoumaru's son and all. I wonder if she knows anything about her bloodlines? Adopted and all...hummmm

 

Her bloodlines? LoL… Funny you should mention that … I'll get to that… ::wink::

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kestral-tudorica (FFnet) :

Oh.. and just something. Kagura is REALLY OOC. and I'm pretty sure she was last time too (purity) not that I'm complaining. I like her like this better. It's just.. weird seeing her married to Sesshoumaru. Well, weird for both of them. Not that i don't like the pairing, it's kinda cute. It just threw me off for a moment, I thought she was that other person from chronicles... I've been reading too many of your fics, I'm getting all confused! lol. Any way, this one sounds GREAT so far. I love the Kagome-InuYasha stuff, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of them, but it's kinda refreshing to have a change. And I know Yasha and Kagome should be in this one often enough since Toga loves 'em so! Yaah.. there's more to read so I'll review again later!

 

Actually… she's not. Throughout the anime/manga, Kagura shows definite signs of motherly protectiveness especially with Kohaku… evident later in the series than earlier. In fact, she saves Kohaku numerous times in a protect my young sort of way. She'd absolutely be just like this with kids of her own… and her fangirl Sesshoumaru moments in the manga are priceless. She's absolutely in character, IMO… And since Sesshoumaru chose to stay with her when she died in the manga, then I think this pairing is canon… or that it was meant to be canon…. The only reason she remained instead of being a reincarnation was because when Puritywas written, she was still alive in manga…

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MMorg

Aitu--not signed in ------ Flames101 ------ bloodykitsune ------ Rinicat ------ kikyou_104(can't sign in..it's so sad)

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FFnet

Ranger000 ------ angelica incarnate (is too lazy to login)

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AFFnet

Meres

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Final Thought from Sierra:

Those cousins . . . are bad!

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Defiance): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~