InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 3: Forever ❯ Plain Sight ( Chapter 11 )

~~Chapter 11~~

~Plain Sight~

 

“Why am I going with you to this?” Nezumi asked as Ryomaru opened the passenger side door and held out his hand. She stared at it for a moment before climbing out, completely ignoring his offer of assistance.

 

Ryomaru shrugged and closed the door. “Because I have to suffer through it, and if I have to suffer through it, you---my best friend---have to, too.”

 

She snorted. “That's the dumbest bit of logic you've come up with in awhile, Ryo, just so you know.”

 

He shrugged. “Be that as it may, Nez, Mother asked that I bring you, and kami forbid I go against her wishes.”

 

“But it's a family thing,” she pointed out.

 

“And if you're not considered family by now, you never will be. Now quit stallin' and get movin'.”

 

She heaved a sigh designed to let him know just what she thought of his assumptions. She stopped suddenly and turned back toward the car. Ryomaru was right behind her and barreled into her, catching her quickly as she stumbled. “Baka! Get off my ass, will you?”

 

He choked back a chuckle as he let go of her arm. “Sorry, Nez. Didn't realize I was on your ass. You promised you'd come with me.”

 

Rolling her eyes, she shook her head and gestured at the car. “The present, Ryo. It's still in the car.”

 

The suspicious glint faded from his gaze, and he nodded. “I'll get it.”

 

She straightened the shapeless cream sweater as she waited while he loped back to the car and retrieved the pastel pink and blue paper wrapped gift. He slammed the door and strode over to her, trusting the package into her arms as he scowled. Catching her raised-eyebrow look, he shrugged and shot her a lopsided grin. “Men do not give baby gifts.”

 

“Aiko's your cousin, not mine.”

 

“Ah, but you're a female, and females give presents.”

 

“The second stupid bit of logic out of you today.”

 

Knowing when he was beaten, Ryomaru took her hand and dragged her toward the porch, letting Nezumi have the last word . . . for the moment.

 

Inutaisho Kagura opened the front door and stepped back to let them in. She smiled at Nezumi and took the package, pausing to pat Nezumi's arm. “I'm so glad Ryomaru talked you into coming. Sesshoumaru and I were looking forward to welcoming you to the family.”

 

She hurried away as Nezumi slowly turned to pin Ryomaru with a scathing glare. “You promised no one would say anything about . . . that,” she hissed.

 

Ryomaru nodded slowly. “Mother apparently didn't tell Aunt Kagura about that. Sorry.”

 

Before Nezumi got a chance to respond to that, the door opened, and Kichiro stepped inside. “Nez! Ryo! You mean she hasn't killed you yet?”

 

Ryomaru didn't remark as he reached over and slapped his sibling upside the head.

 

Kichiro slapped Ryomaru in retaliation. “You know, Nez, if you don't want the baka, I could always trade places with him. I'm much more level-headed.”

 

“You're just as much of a man-whore as he is,” Nezumi shot back.

 

Kichiro grinned unrepentantly as Ryomaru winced, ears flattening. “Now, Nez---”

 

“Well, she has a point,” Kichiro pointed out. “We are.”

 

“You are, baka. I'm reformed.”

 

“Ri-i-i-ight.”

 

Nezumi rolled her eyes and started toward the living room, pausing long enough to glance over her shoulder as Kichiro ducked to avoid another of Ryomaru's swats. The younger twin howled as Ryomaru grabbed what Nezumi could only assume was Kichiro's nipple and twisted.

 

“I thought you two outgrew that crap ten years ago,” Nezumi said as she stopped and stared in disgust at the twins' antics.

 

“You never outgrow nipple noogies,” Kichiro grunted as he tried to grab his brother. Ryomaru jerked back as the door opened again. Kichiro barely got out of the way as Toga stepped inside, glancing from one cousin to the other as twin hands shot out, each catching one side of Toga's chest.

 

“What the---ouch!” Toga growled as he swatted his cousins' hands away. With an irritated growl, he grabbed Ryomaru's nipple and returned the favor.

 

Ryomaru yelped and jerked back as Toga's expression registered shock. “Damn, Toga!”

 

“What's that?” Toga demanded, reaching for Ryomaru's shirt again as Sierra squeezed behind her husband and hurried away from the fray.

 

“Nothing!” Ryomaru bellowed as he pressed his hand over his chest.

 

Nezumi pressed her lips together as she stared at Ryomaru. “You didn't take that out?” she blurted before she could stop herself.

 

“Take what out?” Sesshoumaru asked as he stepped out of the living room to see what the commotion was all about.

 

Toga grasped Ryomaru's shirt and tugged as he leaned forward and looked down the gaping collar. “Oh . . . kami . . . Hell, Ryo . . . Uncle Yasha didn't kill you for that?”

 

“For what?” Kichiro demanded as he nudged Toga aside and peeked down Ryomaru's shirt as the latter tried to shove them all away. “Feh! Da-a-a-amn!” He affected a mock shudder and winced as he grabbed his chest as though he were in pain. “Didn't that hurt?”

 

“Like a son of a b---”

 

“I thought I told you to take that the fuck out,” InuYasha snarled as he pushed past Sesshoumaru into the foyer and stomped over to his sons.

 

Toga stepped back without trying to hide his amusement. He slipped over to Sesshoumaru, who cast him a questioning glance. “Pierced his nipple,” Toga explained quietly---but not quietly enough.

 

Sesshoumaru's eyes flared as his expression blanked even more. “Baka, just like his father. I'd hoped that the miko would have more of an influence on her sons' blood. I should have known.”

 

Toga's lips twitched as he tried not to smile. “So . . . you still think you got the `bad son'?”

 

“Kami, no,” Sesshoumaru admitted as he turned on his heel and strode back into the living room.

 

“This is getting ugly,” Sierra murmured as she leaned toward Nezumi. “Come on.”

 

Nezumi wasn't sure she should go, but she followed anyway. The last thing she saw was InuYasha yanking up Ryomaru's shirt as a string of very colorful expletives echoed through the foyer.

 

Sierra hurried over to hug her sister-in-law, Aiko. “Congratulations! He's so beautiful!”

 

Nezumi hung back. The baby Sierra took from Aiko looked like nothing more than a bundle of slightly bulky blankets wrapped in another blanket. A fluffy white piece of furry looking material stuck out of the blanket. Nezumi figured it was a stuffed animal.

 

She'd only met Aiko a few times before, and she'd been introduced to Nori and Toshie---Toga and Aiko's nieces---once, at Toga's wedding years ago. From what Ryomaru had told her, Nori and her husband lived in China while Toshie was employed by Inutaisho Industries and was in charge of the Osaka office. The women were hovering near Aiko, making sure that she didn't need anything.

 

“You look completely freaked out,” Gin commented as she stopped beside Nezumi.

 

“Is it that obvious?”

 

Gin winced in commiseration. “Don't worry. No one here expects Ryo and you to start a family very soon. You're off the hook. Besides, everyone knows Ryo's nothing but a big pup still.”

 

“Babies scare me,” Nezumi admitted with a nervous chuckle.

 

“Will you stop fucking playing with that?” InuYasha yelled as he stomped back into the living room with Kichiro and Ryomaru following behind. Ryomaru jerked his hand away from his shirt, his cheeks reddening slightly as though he hadn't realized he was toying with the nipple stud, in the first place.

 

Nezumi shook her head as he stopped next to her. “Your father doesn't like that,” she remarked as she jerked her head toward his chest.

 

Ryomaru shrugged. “He don't have to see it.”

 

“You're demented.”

 

“Do you want to see it?”

 

Ignoring the way her heart skipped a beat at the low rumble of his smooth tone, Nezumi snorted, avoiding his gaze as she crossed her arms over her stubbornly chest. “I'll pass.”

 

“Never took you for a coward, Nez.”

 

He was goading her. She knew he was goading her. She knew that he knew she could not stand to be called a coward. She knew it. She took the bait anyway. “Fine,” she bit out without looking at him. Everyone was gathered around Aiko and the baby, which meant that no one noticed at all when Nezumi grabbed Ryomaru's hand and dragged him around the corner into the foyer. “Okay. Let's see it.”

 

He blinked and looked at her as though he hadn't really expected her to take up the challenge. After a moment, he pulled his shirt up.

 

His chest had a golden cast, leftover tan from summer. The silver stud caught the light, seeming to wink at her, and before she thought about it, her hand shot out, her thumb and index finger closing in on his nipple---and she squeezed.

 

“Ow!” he hollered, jerking his shirt back down over his chest. “What the fuck was that for?”

 

She grinned up at him, not sorry in the least. “You'll think twice before you call me a coward again.”

 

He narrowed his gaze and snorted. “Feh! Wench.”

 

She turned and tossed her head, ponytail flipping jauntily as she strode back into the living room again. `Baka.'

 

 

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

 

 

“No.”

 

“Why not?”

 

“Because you can't handle it.”

 

“That's a load of crap, Ryo,” Nezumi countered as she tossed her keys onto the counter of her apartment.

 

“No.”

 

“I could handle it better than you. You're just afraid I'm right.”

 

“Feh! I don't think so.”

 

“Just one time.”

 

Ryomaru shook his head. “Not happening.”

 

She made a face. “Fine . . . I'll remember that the next time you blow something up in your car. The shop will be mysteriously busy, I think.”

 

Ryomaru didn't rise to the bait. “It'd bother me a little more, but I still have the motorcycle.”

 

She stifled a frustrated growl and flopped down on the sofa. All she'd asked was to take the motorcycle out once. Stubborn baka had refused, and the more she bugged him, the more adamant he became that she wouldn't be able to handle it. “Do you work at being a jerk or does it just come naturally?”

 

“Oh, that'll make me give in.”

 

She stared at him for a minute, a thoughtful frown marring her brow. His long silvery hair hung over his shoulders, his ragged bangs hung in his eyes. It struck her again, how much he looked exactly like his father. Come to think of it, if she didn't know Izayoi InuYasha was his father, she would have sworn that he was Ryomaru's older brother. Even his mother didn't look much older than her mid-twenties. She remembered what Ryomaru had said, about the marking---about the bloodletting, and she shivered. “All right, Ryo. Tell me how to get you to let me take the Harley out for a ride,” she pressed, more to distract herself from her thoughts than anything.

 

An all-too-smug grin surfaced on his face, and he crossed his arms over his chest as he positively gloated. “That's easy, Nez.”

 

Ignoring the voice in her mind that told her she was playing with fire, Nezumi sat up, leaning her elbow on the back of the sofa and resting her temple on her fist. “Yeah? What?”

 

The smug grin spread, adding a dangerous glint to his gaze. “I want to move in with you.”

 

That wasn't what she was expecting to hear. Truthfully, she wasn't sure what she really had thought he would say. Moving in? That definitely wasn't it. “You---what?”

 

“I want to move in . . . until the house is built. Then you can move in with me.”

 

Clanging bells that reminded her of fire station alarm blasted in her head, flashing yellow caution lights seemed to glow brighter and brighter in his gaze. Nezumi shook her head quickly, half-believing he was insane, half-hoping . . . “Be serious, baka.”

 

“Dead serious, Nez.”

 

“One time out on the Harley is not a fair trade for having you underfoot all the time,” she grumbled, her reddening cheeks belying the dryness of her tone.

 

“You can have the bike, then,” he agreed as he slowly ambled toward her. “You can keep it. Just . . . you got to promise to give us a try.”

 

She shook her head slowly, unsure how much she dared to give him. It wasn't about the motorcycle anymore. It was about whether or not she dared to believe him, even just a little.

 

He sat beside her as she tucked her legs under herself but he didn't move toward her. “Listen, since that night, I can't stop wanting to be here. It's like I have to be here---like I need to be here. We can try it, on your terms. You just have to say `yes'.”

 

 

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

A/N:

Because I want to have every chapter of this fic beta'ed by my Grammar Beta, and because she isn't online on weekends, I will likely NOT be posting chapters on weekends. Have a good one!

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

Reviewers

==========

MMorg

Jason C (I think I've already explained my feelings on it. That's all I'm going to say) ::: rdsjr_1989 ::: adamile ::: Lena17 ::: notzathros ::: Suze ::: Iggy Lovechild ::: Firetrixs (It's more of him wanting her under the same roof, I think. LoL!) ::: sutlesarcasm ::: tinkerbell ::: cynbad146 ::: devildice708 ::: foamyfan15010 ::: Inuyashas Kagome ::: DarklessVasion

==========

FFnet

Ryguy5387 ::: SilverStarWing ::: My Own Self ::: inufan-625 ::: Drake Clawfang ::: Flames101 ::: Pyth ::: Fushigi Aoi Tenshi ::: PlaidDragon25 ::: Lexi ::: ILOVEINUS589 ::: agent-doo ::: Kalara ::: xSilverShadowsx ::: Toya's Gurl ::: WiccanMethuselah ::: Akashadair ::: TheFanaticInTraining (Yes, there are a few websites I use. Feel free to email me for the URLs)

eave

 

==========

AFFnet --- AScom

Yasha 101 ::: kidjade ::: DEEP SERENITY ::: thebigguy ::: Alice M. ::: Rachel ::: Sess_2005 ::: Shiga ::: catt ::: OROsan7706 ::: fallenangel7583 (Thanks. That meant a LOT to me) ::: Jasmine Fields ::: rachainu ::: Jaxomruth ::: breezy99 ::: Eve Nightingale ::: littleolmee ::: lisa ::: Jasmine Fields ::: CJ Finnegan

==========

Final Thought from Nezumi:

On my terms, huh?

==========

Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Forever): 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~