InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 2: Defiance ❯ Dishonor ( Chapter 7 )

~~Chapter 7~~

~Dishonor~

 

~*~

 

Toga read through the merger proposal with a thoughtful frown. Pushing his glasses up his nose with distracted fingers, he drummed his pen against the desk calendar with his other hand. The proposal should have been fairly standard. The first draft he'd written up had been, anyway. When the courier had delivered it back earlier, though, he'd discovered that Doug Maywin, the CEO of Maywin International, had added no less than twenty-seven clauses that he wanted honored before he'd actually consider the offer.

 

It wasn't entirely surprising, though. Most businesses tended to pull such ploys and often added in ridiculous conditions just to use as bargaining chips later. It was tedious, certainly, but not unexpected, either.

 

At least his life was free of pesky cousins. Having left just a few days before, Toga had to admit now that they were back in Tokyo half way around the world, that he did miss them. One thing was certain: life was never boring when they were around. Of course, he'd had to all but beat the snot out of them to gain their compliance in not telling anyone back home about Sierra. It wasn't as though he was embarrassed or ashamed of her. No, he just didn't want his father to think that he could interfere yet again, because this time . . .

 

A very small smile surfaced as Toga leafed through the document. `This time, it matters a hell of a lot . . .'

 

He shook his head to clear his thoughts as he tried to focus his attention on one plastic manufacturer's proposed offer to take over their leading competition. He made a face. Come to think of it, Toga hadn't ever wanted to be in this sort of business, either. Funny, the things that he'd done just to pacify his father. From his occupation that had blossomed from Sesshoumaru's desire to see Toga learn the ropes of Inutaisho Industries to the youkai he'd dated for years after Lily had been forced out of his life, it seemed that everything he'd ever done was for the sole purpose of honoring the father that didn't seem to give a damn what it might be that Toga, himself, might want.

 

Dropping the pen and yanking off his glasses as he gave up the pretense that he was actually working, Toga sat back and uttered a frustrated sigh.

 

`Father,' Toga thought suddenly, his head lifting as he narrowed his gaze at the closed door. Sesshoumaru's scent was unmistakable. Toga crossed his arms and waited, unsure why he wasn't at least a little surprised. No, he felt more resigned than anything else. After all, he'd known, hadn't he, that it was just a matter of time before Sesshoumaru managed to find him . . .

 

“So this is where you ran off to hide, Toga . . . and you didn't think I would learn your whereabouts?” Sesshoumaru stated quietly as he stepped into the office.

 

“On the contrary, Father. I knew you would. You're addicted to trying to run my life, aren't you?” Toga countered softly.

 

Sesshoumaru's immediate answer was a narrowing of his amber gaze as he deliberately closed the door and stared at his son in silence. “You still refuse to see your responsibilities?”

 

Shaking his head slowly, refusing to lower his gaze, Toga managed an insincere smile. “Of course not. I know what my responsibilities are. I simply don't think you're being realistic.”

 

Sesshoumaru stalked across the small office, refusing to sit as he shook his head slightly. “You are my son, Toga.”

 

Toga nodded. “I am your son,” he agreed. “Maybe that's why I refuse to give in. When have you ever admitted to being wrong, Father? When have you ever admitted to making a mistake? What makes you think that I'll bend to your will just because you said so?” Standing slowly, eye to eye with his father, Toga didn't back down, didn't look away. “I am my father's son.”

 

“You would dishonor me in this?” Sesshoumaru demanded quietly.

 

“Would you?”

 

“Make this not about me, Toga. You must do what is expected, just as I had to, just as your son will have to do—just as every son must do.”

 

Toga shook his head. “Did you love Mother when you mated her?”

 

“Ask not such foolish questions,” Sesshoumaru scoffed.

 

“You did,” he replied, answering his own question. “You still do, and yet you expect me to settle for less?”

 

“You can learn to love a youkai.”

 

Toga choked out an incredulous laugh. “Learn to love a youkai? What does that mean? This isn't like learning how to ride a bicycle. I don't think I can, and I don't think that you can dictate to me what manner of choice I make.”

 

Sesshoumaru's expression was blank—too blank. Devoid of any sort of emotion, only his eyes glowed brightly. “You are my only son, Toga. Tradition must be honored.”

 

“Then have another son, because I will not play your game.”

 

“I did not raise my son to speak to me thusly.”

 

Toga stalked forward, closed the distance between the two, stood his ground without faltering. “Perhaps you didn't, but you did raise your son not to take shit off anyone . . . and I suppose that ought to include you, Father.”

 

“And your mother?”

 

His temper spiked at the mention of his mother. “Don't bring Mother into this. She may see your side of things, but she sees mine, too.”

 

“She misses you. She worries over you. Will you be selfish enough to keep yourself here?”

 

“This isn't about Mother, and she knows it.” Toga crossed his arms over his chest and shrugged. “Did you travel all the way here just to argue this?”

 

“Someday, Toga, when you have a son of your own, you will understand why things must be so.”

 

Toga shook his head. “I don't think I'll ever understand your reasons, Father, and I sure as hell will never pay someone to move just to keep them away from my son.”

 

“You think that was something I wished to do? If you had more sense, you'd—”

 

“Keh!” he snorted, deliberately cutting Sesshoumaru off. “I'd still be pissed off. If this is the only reason you came, you might as well leave. You can't run my life, and you can't make me do your bidding.”

 

Sesshoumaru stared hard at his son. Toga's back straightened proudly as he stared back. The tension in the air was stifling, and still neither conceded an inch. Unwavering, unrelenting, the two inu-youkai waged their battle of wills until a soft knock sounded on the office door. “Toga, are you busy? Oh . . . sorry . . . Sesshoumaru! I didn't know you'd be in town,” Mike Sampson said as he poked his head into the office.

 

Sesshoumaru finally turned to regard Toga's middle-aged boss. “I can't stay. I needed to speak with my son.” Shifting his gaze back to Toga once more, Sesshoumaru's eyes narrowed just a little. “Think about what I said, Toga. Do not dishonor me.”

 

Toga didn't respond as he watched his father stalk out of the office.

 

“Did I interrupt something?” Mike asked quizzically.

 

Shaking his head, Toga turned to stare out the window. “Nothing important,” he replied tightly, waiting until the chafing quality of his father's youki had dissipated before sitting down again.

 

`Nothing important? Yeah . . .'

 

 

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

 

 

“What's bothering you?”

 

Toga blinked quickly and sighed as he lifted his gaze to meet Sierra's troubled eyes. Forcing a wry grin for her benefit, he shook his head. “Nothing really.”

 

Setting aside the laptop computer to focus all her attention on him, Sierra brushed her bangs off her face and arched her eyebrows. “And you expect me to believe that?”

 

He made a face. “I've got to work on my poker face,” he grumbled.

 

“Oh, I don't know . . . it's kind of nice to be able to read you like that . . .”

 

“Keh.”

 

She giggled. “That's a funny noise.”

 

Eyebrows disappearing under his shaggy bangs, Toga shook his head slowly. “You have no idea . . . and my father hates it.”

 

“Oh?”

 

He shrugged. “Yeah. When I do that, he normally tells me I spent a little too much time with Uncle Yasha.”

 

“Judging from his sons, I'd say your Uncle Yasha is an interesting character.”

 

Toga chuckled. “Interesting . . . yep.” Leaning back against the sofa, he sighed. “You'd never know those two bakas are his sons. Uncle Yasha is completely devoted to his mate. Those two . . . they should have been neutered.”

 

Her giggle escalated like the sound of tiny silver bells. “Sometimes,” she said between rounds of laughter, “the way you say things . . . You make it sound like your family is a bunch of animals.”

 

Toga winced, wondering vaguely if she had any idea just how close to the truth she really was. `You have no idea . . .' He stood and headed toward the kitchen to retrieve a bottle of water. “Do you want something to drink?”

 

“No, thanks . . .”

 

The phone rang. Toga wondered if Sierra would think it was odd if he didn't answer it. Deciding that she probably would, he reached for the cordless handset and peeked at the caller ID. `Out of area,' it read.

 

“Hello?”

 

“Toga, darling! How are you?”

 

He made a face. “Mother . . . fine . . . and you?”

 

Kagura sighed. “We're well . . . we miss you . . . and since your father knows where you are now, you cannot avoid coming home for your sister's wedding. This is not negotiable, Toga . . .”

 

Sierra stepped around him, bracing her hands on his waist as she scooted past into the kitchen. She'd brought over the things to make dinner for him. “Excuse me,” she whispered in a loud hiss.

 

“Toga?”

 

He winced inwardly, hoping against hope that his dearly beloved youkai mother had not heard Sierra's voice. “Yes, ma'am?”

 

Kagura was silent a few moments. “Was that a . . . girl?”

 

He stifled a sigh. “Yes, ma'am.”

 

Kagura was quiet again before commenting. “A human girl?”

 

The sigh escaped. “Yes, ma'am.”

 

“ . . . I see.”

 

“Mother—”

 

“Your father isn't going to be happy about this . . . did you look for a human just to spite him?”

 

“Yes, yes, that's exactly what I did . . .”

 

Kagura clucked her tongue. “Don't take that tone with me, young man.”

 

Toga rubbed his temple. “I apologize. No, that wasn't the intention at all.”

 

Kagura sighed. “I want you to be happy, you know that . . . but I wish you'd at least try to do things your father's way, first. At least then you could say that you tried.”

 

“I did try,” he remarked stiffly, hurrying out of the kitchen and into the living room in an effort to keep Sierra from discerning too much. “Didn't I try doing things his way for years? And might I remind you how that turned out?”

 

Kagura cleared her throat. “It wasn't that bad, was it? Fujiko-san really is a lovely girl.”

 

“Fujiko-san is a lovely girl,” he agreed. “Lovely, cold . . .” he sighed again. “Do you know that I don't think I ever head her laugh? Ever? Come now, Mother . . . I have tried doing things Father's way. Now I'm going to do things my own way.”

 

Seeing that she wasn't about to change his mind, Kagura relented with a sigh. “Nevertheless, I still expect you to attend your sister's wedding. Am I making myself clear?”

 

“I'm not a pup, Mother . . . and I'll try.”

 

“Stop pouting, Toga. I can hear it in your voice. Just like your father.”

 

“Kami save me.”

 

“Toga . . .”

 

He shook his head. “Bye, Mother.”

 

“I mean it, Toga . . . and I love you.”

 

“You, too.”

 

Hanging up with a sigh of relief, Toga was caught off-guard when he turned to see Sierra lounging against the doorway. “Your mother?”

 

He nodded as he tossed the phone onto the sofa. “She wanted to remind me about my sister's wedding.”

 

“Are you going to it?”

 

He shrugged. “I was hoping I could avoid it,” he admitted.

 

She frowned. “You're not close to your sister?”

 

“It's not that . . .”

 

She nodded slowly. “Who's Fujiko?”

 

Toga blinked in surprise. “Fujiko?”

 

Sierra blushed slightly and turned away. “Forget it . . . I'm not trying to be nosey.”

 

He followed her into the kitchen and leaned back on the counter as she chopped some scallions. “She's an ex-girlfriend.”

 

“How long did you date her?”

 

“A few years . . .”

 

“She was a serious girlfriend.”

 

Toga frowned. He had a feeling that he was treading in very dangerous water at the moment and wasn't entirely sure how he'd ended up there . . . “Not really. Her father is one of my father's associates. I guess I . . . was expected to date her.”

 

Sierra nodded and used the blade of the butcher's knife to scoop up the onions and throw them into the heated pan. “And before her?”

 

He shook his head. “Girlfriends? None . . . well, one . . . One date.”

 

“Not good?”

 

He sighed. Why was he telling Sierra all this? “No . . . it was fine . . . she, uh . . . moved right after. Her father was in the military . . .”

 

Sierra suddenly laughed as she set the knife beside the sink and turned to face Toga. “You're telling me that you've only dated two girls? And you expect me to believe that?”

 

He could feel his face heating in an embarrassed flush. “Well, yeah, I suppose I do.”

 

She shook her head but kept giggling. “I almost believe you.”

 

“What about you?” he countered, desperate to shift the subject off his dating life. “How many men have you dated?”

 

Her giggling died down, and she sighed. “Just one. He was . . . sort of a jerk though.”

 

“How?”

 

She shrugged. He could sense her discomfort in discussing the nameless ex-boyfriend, and for some reason, he couldn't leave it alone. “I thought . . . I thought he was a nice guy, and it turned he wasn't.”

 

“I'm sorry.”

 

She smiled and waved a hand dismissively as she grabbed a wooden spoon out of the crockery jar that held all Toga's never-used cooking utensils. “Don't be. I learned my lesson . . . I guess that's sort of the reason I was so shocked when I figured out who you were.”

 

Toga stared at his feet. “If I had told you who I was right away . . . would you have gone with me? To that party?”

 

Sierra stopped stirring and shrugged as she considered his question. “No, I don't think so . . .” She set the spoon down and turned back, arms crossed over her chest as she shook her head. “Allan was rich, too, and . . . well, not nearly as rich as you are . . . What I didn't know at the time was that he was already engaged to another girl the whole time he was seeing me.”

 

“I can't see anyone doing that to you,” Toga admitted quietly.

 

She tried to smile; he had to give her credit for the effort. “Yeah, but if he hadn't done that, I might still be with him, and if I were still with him, I wouldn't be standing here with you, right?”

 

And he certainly couldn't argue that logic, either. “No, I don't suppose you would be,” he agreed quietly.

 

Satisfied that she'd made her point, Sierra eyed him for a long moment, her gaze narrowing as though she were trying to figure something out, and Toga couldn't ignore the feeling that she was about to ask him something that he really wasn't going to like. “So . . . this `Fujiko' . . .” she began in a careful tone.

 

`This Fujiko,' he thought with an inward wince. “What about her?”

 

Sierra shrugged. “Were the two of you . . . serious?”

 

“Keh!” he snorted before he could stop himself. “She was never anything but serious, if that's what you mean,” he muttered. She looked completely befuddled by Toga's statement, and he sighed. “I was never serious,” he confessed. “I . . . I don't really know what she thought.”

 

“I see,” she said slowly, carefully.

 

Toga finally smiled a little wanly. “I don't mind answering your questions,” he assured her, “and your onions are burning.”

 

She gasped and whirled around to yank the pan off the heat. “Oh . . . nuts! This is your fault! You're distracting me!”

 

Toga chuckled at her `profanity' as he ambled back into the living room to look over another merger file. He held the proposal contracts but didn't see them. The look on Sierra's face—the hurt and the sadness in her gaze as she talked about this `Allan' person . . . Toga growled low. How could any man not want to be with her? Beautiful, funny, with a caring nature and a pureness of spirit . . . He crumpled the contract in his hands before he realized what he was doing.

 

If he ever met up with that man, Toga was going to teach him a thing or two . . .

 

 

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

A/N:

== == == == == == == == == ==

Reviewers

==========

kestral-tudorica (FFnet) :

Wait.. so the twins don't actually have sex with them? I'm confused on that point. Aw, and it's so cute to see him having problems and then have them soothed away.

 

No, actually because youkai mate for life… they can't have `sex' or they'd end up mated … which is not to say that they can't have `oral sex' (which, IMO, is still sex…) Yasha's boys are rotten… just rotten… lol!!

Caught your edit, and thanks!!

==========

MMorg

nymphminxgoddess ------ angelica incarnate ------ bloodykitsune ------ cjflutterbye ------ Aitu-- not signed in ------ myrrdinowl

==========

FFnet

Flames101 ------ almostwhole ------ Rinicat

==========

AFFnet------ AScom

Midnight_Sparrow ------ Kisa

==========

Final Thought from Sesshoumaru:

… I know this has something to do with that baka brother of mine …

==========

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~