InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 3: Forever ❯ Give and Take ( Chapter 17 )

~~Chapter 17~~

~Give and Take~

 

“Tell me again, why am I doing this?”

 

“It'll be your house, too, you know.”

 

“You're assuming I'll move in.”

 

“You will,” Ryomaru assured her smugly.

 

“I wouldn't be so sure if I were you.”

 

“You will. You love the Harley.”

 

“You think you're so smart, Ryo.”

 

“Well . . .”

 

“So what's the real reason you're dragging me along with you?”

 

Ryomaru grinned. “I told you already, you have to help me.”

 

“The help you need isn't available here. You need a psychiatric hospital.”

 

Ryomaru shrugged. “All right, then because if you don't help me, I'm liable to have them put bright yellow carpeting in your room . . . maybe some shocking purple walls . . . .”

 

Nezumi winced. “You've got to be kidding.”

 

“Dogs are color blind.”

 

“Are you really?”

 

He grinned. “No.”

 

She shoved him lightly. “Baka.”

“Oi! Watch the jacket, wench!”

 

She shoved him again. “Go play in traffic, dog-breath.”

 

“Yeah, you'd miss me if I got hit by a car.”

 

“Nah, Kich is still around.”

 

“Oh, that hurts.”

 

“Just don't get too cocky, Ryo.”

 

“Cocky? Me? Feh!”

 

Nezumi laughed as Ryomaru held the door of the contractor's office open. She slipped past him and waited for him to follow. “I think you're making a huge mistake,” Nezumi commented as Ryomaru took her hand and pulled her toward the receptionist's desk. “I know as much about interior design as I do about cooking.”

 

Ryomaru chuckled. “You'd know more about it than I would.”

 

“Are you being sexist?”

 

“No, I'm being honest. Do you want to share a bathroom or you want your own?”

 

She shot him a narrow-eyed look. “What do you think?”

 

He grinned sheepishly. “Mother always told us that sharing is a great thing.”

 

Nezumi rolled her eyes and fought down a blush that rose in her cheeks. “Two bathrooms, Ryo, and they should be far, far away from each other . . . and you're still assuming I'm moving in.”

 

He shot her a long-suffering glance but nodded. “Whatever you say, Nez . . .”

 

 

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

 

 

“Is there a reason you insisted I come with you or are you just trying to torture me?”

 

Kagome hid her smile as she pulled open the door to the small art studio. “I said I was going to run some errands, and you offered to come with me,” she pointed out.

 

“Feh! Only when you said that you weren't gonna pick up ramen unless I came with you.”

 

“Did I say that?”

 

“Yes, you did.”

 

“Hmm . . . it must have slipped my mind.”

 

InuYasha answered with a very long sigh. “Sure, Kagome.”

 

She stepped up to the counter and rang the little bell. A middle-aged woman hurried out of the back room and bowed to Kagome as she smiled. “Izayoi-san! This way!”

 

Kagome followed the woman across the small shop while InuYasha leaned back against the counter, arms crossed over his chest. The artisan tossed back the cloth covering the painting, and Kagome gasped softly. “Oh, it's perfect!” she breathed as she stared at the beautiful piece.

 

The painter bowed a few times in thanks for the praise. Kagome looked over her shoulder and beckoned for InuYasha. Shaking his head, he pushed away from the counter and ambled over to Kagome's side. “Not bad,” he allowed.

 

Kagome rolled her eyes. “It's perfect,” she decided happily as she reached out a finger, tracing it over the rough texture of the dried oil paint. The reproduction of the old photograph was beautifully rendered. She wasn't sure if Ryomaru knew she had taken the picture back then. He and Nezumi had been sitting side by side atop the boulder beside the pond. The sun was setting, and Nezumi had fallen asleep against his shoulder. It seemed so innocent at the time. Kagome remembered the day with absolute clarity. It was Nezumi's ninth birthday, and she'd spent the weekend with them because her father was on a business trip. Kagome smiled as she remembered Ryomaru doing extra chores around the house to earn money because he had wanted to buy Nezumi a present.

 

“Ain't that the RC car he bought her?” InuYasha asked as he pointed to the blue bump that sat beside Nezumi in the painting.

 

Kagome grinned. “Yes, it is.”

 

“You think she still has that?”

 

Kagome shrugged and giggled, remembering the way Ryomaru, Kichiro, InuYasha, and Nezumi had driven the car around the yard for hours. They'd used a bag of double-A batteries. InuYasha had bought the boys RC cars shortly after that. For the longest time, whenever Nezumi came over, the twins and she would race the cars through the house, often bugging the daylights out of Gin but having the best of times doing so.

 

“Ryo and Kich still have theirs, don't they?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Yeah, I think they do.”

 

A strange look surfaced on InuYasha's face as he slowly turned his gaze to meet hers. “You don't suppose he . . . ?”

 

Kagome tried not to laugh outright at the befuddlement in InuYasha's expression. On the one hand, he seemed almost pleased with the idea. On the other, he seemed completely irritated that his son wouldn't realize the implications of it all. They followed the artisan toward the counter at a distance. Kagome leaned toward InuYasha to whisper, “Can that happen?”

 

The hanyou shrugged. “Anything's possible. He'd know, wouldn't he?”

 

Kagome's eyebrows arched as InuYasha dug into his wallet for his Visa card. “He was awfully young when he met her. Maybe he just never realized . . .”

 

InuYasha intercepted the calculating look on Kagome's face and slowly shook his head. “Uh-uh. No fucking way.”

 

The look shifted into a gently pleading, wide-eyed blinking expression. “Please, InuYasha? This is important, and you know I'd never really ask you to do it if it weren't.”

 

“Wench---”

 

“Please?”

 

Heaving a sigh as he rolled his eyes, InuYasha scrawled his name on the electronic pad and stuffed his platinum card back into his wallet before pinning Kagome with a pouty glare. “Fine. Just remember, you owe me.”

 

“Okay, I owe you,” she agreed easily enough, “and I'll owe you even more.”

 

“How do you figure?”

 

She gestured at the huge painting. InuYasha groaned.

 

Stepping out of the shop onto the busy Tokyo street, Kagome stopped short, clapping her hand over her mouth as InuYasha ran smack into her. “Oof! Wench! Why'd you stop?”

 

“Oh . . . look!” Kagome hissed in a loud whisper.

 

Peeking around the side of the paper-wrapped painting, InuYasha spotted the couple right away. Walking on the opposite side of the street with ice cream cones in their hands that seemed sorely out of place on the cold November afternoon, Ryomaru leaned down to say something to the girl. She laughed at whatever he'd said just before reaching over and smacking the bottom of Ryomaru's cone. InuYasha smiled to himself as his son ended up with ice cream on his nose. Kagome giggled as Nezumi threw her head back in laughter.

 

Kagome shot InuYasha a pointed look. He sighed. “As soon as we drop this off, I'll go ask him,” he agreed.

 

Kagome smiled. “Thank you.”

 

InuYasha snorted in reply.

 

 

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

 

 

Nezumi sat in the swing and tried to hide her smile as Ryomaru gave her a gentle push. “I can swing myself,” she commented over her shoulder.

 

“You used to let me push you all the time,” he reminded her as she swung back. He pushed her again.

 

“'Used to' would be the operative phrase,” she told him.

 

He snorted. “Give me a break, Nez. You kicked me in the nuts, remember?”

 

Biting her lower lip since it really wasn't funny at the time, Nezumi tried not to laugh. She couldn't hold it in very long. “I didn't do it on purpose,” she choked out between gales of laughter.

 

“Hell, I hope not,” he grumbled as he pushed her a little harder. “Hurt enough as it was.”

 

It really wasn't funny. She'd been humiliated at the time. Playing at the park after school, Ryomaru had been trying to help Nezumi in her plight to swing all the way over the top of the swing set. As she kicked her feet back, she had hit him hard. Between his howling, her near-sobbing, and Kichiro's laughter, Nezumi wasn't surprised that she'd ended up wheeling around and running straight home. That was the longest she hadn't spoken to Ryomaru. She'd been too embarrassed to call and see if he was all right. The self-imposed exile had lasted almost a full week before Ryomaru cornered her after school and pretended like nothing had ever happened.

 

“I thought you'd never talk to me again,” Nezumi admitted as her laughter finally wound down.

 

“Nah, it was my own fault. You warm enough?”

 

She nodded. It was decently warm by November standards---warm enough that she hadn't thought twice when Ryomaru had suggested ice cream as they were leaving the contractor's office. That he ended up wearing some of his was just an added bonus.

 

It'd been a nice day. Despite her initial trepidation, her reluctance to accompany him to the contractor's office, she had to admit that she was glad she'd come with him. He was so playful and funny, so comfortable to be around, so much like the Ryo she knew so well, that it was just too easy to forget all the recent upset in their relationship, the lines that were shifting and changing every day. For today, at least, he was the same Ryomaru she'd known for what seemed like forever, and for today, it was just too easy to laugh, to smile, to kid around and joke with him.

 

He caught her around the waist as the swing came back, held onto her with a husky chuckle as she gasped. “What are you doing?” she breathed.

 

“Ask nicely, and I'll think about letting go.”

 

Nezumi snorted. “Right, baka . . . let go. Please.”

 

“Is that any way to ask nicely?” he goaded at her sarcastic `please'.

 

“It's as nice as you're going to get,” she countered.

 

“Nez?”

 

“What?”

 

“You're shivering.”

 

“Oh? Must be getting colder.”

 

“Really? I'd have said warmer, myself.”

 

Nezumi gasped softly; trying to ignore the feel of his arms around her, holding her flush against his chest. “I can't breathe,” she admitted, injecting just enough irritation into her tone to make him think she meant that he was crushing her stomach---or so she hoped.

 

“Really.”

 

“Yup. I think I might pass out.”

 

“Go ahead, Nez. I'll catch you.”

 

Those words had a curious effect on her. If she had been standing, she would have stumbled. Her stomach turned over a million times in an entirely too-pleasant way, and she lowered her head before he could see her blush. “Ryo?”

 

“Yes?”

 

She swallowed hard; concentrated on the last shred of salvation she could think of. Licking her parched lips, she cleared her throat and turned her head to peek over her shoulder at him. “My terms . . . right?”

 

He didn't look like he wanted to agree. After a moment and with a heavy sigh, he conceded, stepping forward so her feet touched the ground. Stepping around in front of her, he held onto the support chains and knelt down, staring into her eyes. “Your terms, Nez.”

 

She opened her mouth to say something as words fled her brain, as her mind blanked. Lost in the mellow gold of his gaze, she couldn't help herself as she leaned toward him, brushed her lips against his cheek. Ryomaru jerked back in surprise, and despite her own reddening skin, it bemused her to see the pink tinting his face as he quickly looked away.

 

He let go of the chains and sat back on his heels for a minute, staring off to the side as he gathered his thoughts. Finally he stood up, shuffling his feet almost nervously as he jammed his hands into his pockets and shrugged. “You ready to go home?”

 

Nezumi nodded as she stood up, falling into step beside him.

 

`Wow, Nez, you did it.'

 

She frowned. `Did what?'

 

Her mind giggled softly. `You've completely unsettled him. Can't you tell?'

 

She stole a glance at him. He was staring at the path with a strange sort of awestruck expression that she couldn't really recall seeing before. She looked away before he caught her. `I . . . did that?'

 

The memory of his flushed face appeared in her mind, and she frowned. `Maybe I did . . . but . . . how?'

 

 

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

A/N:

Along with the betas, I have started up a new forum for discussion of fanfiction (mine and others) and to have fun. It's less restrictive than the Yahoo group. Feel free to join and post an introduction thread! http(colon)//suericfanfics(dot)forumsplace(dot)com The forum is where I have started posting the teasers, along with fanarts, general discussions, etc. It's tons of fun, so come join us!

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Reviewers

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Drake Clawfang (FFnet):

Oh...so Nez technically caused her mom to die? Hm...well, at least she opened up to ryo a bit.

 

Uh… No… Accidents are accidents, and what happened to Nezumi's mom was certainly not HER fault. Wow … Absolutely not what I had in mind …

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Fairia13 (FFnet):

Final thought: ...that explains why she hates blood... Where did you get the idea for that, if you don't mind me asking?

 

I don't believe in giving a character an extreme or phobic behavior without provocation. This one just sort of gave Nezumi a very good reason for many of her `quirks'.

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Queen of Hearts (MMorg):
How exactly does one capture betas? Sounds like fun!!

 

Pocky, FMA, and FMA figurines …

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OROsan7706 (MMorg):
How does Mrs. Higurashi support Kagome and Souta? Cause I never heard anything of if she works or anything like that. Just curious.

 

I don't believe the manga/anime ever addresses that. It would be a relatively safe assumption that the family is `employed' so to speak, in caring for the Shrine.

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MMorg

AkuPhoenix (Well … umm … I'm gonna make you wait! LOL!) ::: cjflutterbye ::: WiccanMethuselah ::: feeling better notzathros (Glad you're feeling better, and Thanks!) ::: Freefallin525 ::: trinigirl524 ::: nancey (Maybe he'll give you a raise????) ::: Firedemon86 ::: LadyB ::: Suze ::: Inca ::: Pyro Amedaus (Lmao!) ::: DarklessVasion ::: Aitu ::: Deep Serenity ::: Jaxomruth ::: lil_penguin ::: kiaraecko ::: sutlesarcasm ::: foamyfan15010 ::: GgBg ::: psyco_chick32 ::: yasha 101 ::: adamile ::: Akihana ::: spookeymelichan ::: Washuu Ogami ::: DawnFire881 ::: Wlfhund ::: rowan_lynn ::: tdgtink85 ::: DemonicCatGirl :::: mizbum2u ::: JoseB ::: Lena17 ::: gameprincess ::: KayT ::: Jason C (It'd be nice, but I doubt anything will be done.)

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FFnet

kawaii-shippo-lover ::: Ryguy5387 ::: katie janeway ::: breezy99 ::: Sideris ::: xSilverShadowsx ::: ILOVEINUS589 ::: kestral-tudorica ::: Flames101 ::: inu-kaze ::: My Own Self ::: FyodorD (Most of your questions were already answered in the chapter, itself. There is no school in Texas in July, and most mothers do tell their children not to talk to strangers. As far as her father? He's Japanese. Japanese tend to be a lot more closed about things than their American Counterparts.) ::: SilverStarWing ::: PlaidDragon25 ::: Jasmine Fields ::: agent-doo ::: Tiger Timberwolf ::: anime manga girl ::: Bastet Solarwind ::: Lady-Sttar ::: Starr Stealer ::: sprsnc20

eave

 

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Final Thought from Nezumi:

Hmmm …

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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~