InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 3: Forever ❯ Quiet Confrontations ( Chapter 21 )

~~Chapter 21~~

~Quiet Confrontations~

 

Nezumi was still awake when she heard the door open and, seconds later, close. Hurriedly wiping away her tears, she rolled over and closed her eyes. Why she thought that he would come in to check on her, she wasn't sure, but somehow she knew.

 

`Where were you? Would you tell me if I asked you?'

 

She could hear the dull thump of his feet on the floor as he slowly moved down the hallway. Something about his presence seemed to add a sense of earth, of light, to the quiet apartment. Nezumi brushed the thought aside. `He's just Ryo . . . and kami only knows where he's been . . .'

 

“N-Nezumi?” he whispered from the doorway. She tried to ignore the tears that poked at her eyelids. He was closing in---she could sense him drawing nearer, felt the bed sag as he sat down beside her.

 

`Go away,' she thought as his fingers pushed her hair away from her face. `Damn you, Ryo . . . just leave me alone!'

 

“Nez? Kami . . . why . . .?”

 

`Don't sound so sad! How dare you sound sad?' She could keep her eyes closed. She couldn't stop the tear that slipped from the corner of her eye, tickled her skin before the moisture slid into her hair.

 

He sucked in a sharp breath, a little whine escaping him as he suddenly pulled her up, drew her close, held her tight against his chest. “How long have you been awake?”

 

She pushed against his chest, tried to get away. He held her firmly, unwilling to allow her any means of retreat. “Long enough,” she rasped out.

 

She didn't miss his flinch, didn't miss the way his ears flattened against his head as he looked at the wall, the window, the ceiling---everywhere but at her. “I'm sorry.”

 

“Who were you with this time, Ryo?” she demanded, her voice quiet, sharp, aching.

 

“With?” he echoed with a shake of his head.

 

“Yes, with.”

 

“No one.”

 

“I'm not stupid, okay? Just . . . who?”

 

“I don't think you are stupid, and I'm telling you---”

 

“Tell me who.”

 

“It's not like that,” he insisted. “It wasn't---”

 

“Then answer me.”

 

He let out a deep breath at her softly uttered question---quiet but no less forceful. “I had to take care of something,” he answered, his tone just a little too cautious, his reply just a little too careful.

 

“Let go,” she insisted as she pushed against him again.

 

“Nez---”

 

“No! If you aren't going to tell me, then let me go!”

 

“I was working!”

 

She stopped fighting him as she turned her disbelieving gaze on him. “What?”

 

Still holding onto her with one arm, he clumsily wiped her cheeks with his free hand. “I was working,” he repeated.

 

She desperately wanted to believe him. Unsure why it was, unable to reconcile herself to the surge of hope that welled up in her, Nezumi stared at him in the darkness. `Ryo doesn't lie, not to you . . . You know that. He might only tell you half of the truth, but you know he doesn't lie.'

 

`Isn't telling half a truth the same as telling a lie?'

 

`Do you want to believe him or don't you?'

 

She sighed. “Human-youkai relations, right?”

 

“If there were an easy way to explain it---”

 

“It was the middle of the night, Ryo.”

 

He winced. “I know. You were sleeping, and . . . I didn't want you to worry.”

 

Nezumi closed her eyes against the truth in his expression. Wherever he had gone, whatever he had done, the bottom line was that he didn't want to worry her, and while it bolstered her waning hope, it led to more questions than she was ready to ask. The foreboding in his gaze, the turmoil in his frown, the absolute misery in the golden eyes she knew far too well . . .

 

He turned his head, stared away in the darkness. Nezumi's eyes flashed open as his hair fell over her hand. “Will you answer one question?” she finally asked.

 

“Just one?”

 

Gripping his hair in her hand, she tugged until he looked at her again. “Tell me why your hair's damp.”

 

Ryomaru flinched but didn't look away.

 

“Your job, right?”

 

His arms tightened reflexively as she started to pull away. “Nez . . . there isn't anyone else.”

 

His confession caught her off-guard as she forgot to struggle against his grip. Staring at him as he pulled her closer, nestled her against his chest, she could feel herself start to relax despite the unanswered questions that hung in the air. “Would you tell me if there were?” she asked as she let her eyes drift closed, as exhaustion closed in around her in the comfort of his embrace.

 

He didn't answer right away as he sighed. She didn't think he would answer, and really, did she expect that he would? If he said he would tell her, then he'd be a jerk. If he wouldn't, then he'd be a liar, right? “That's a stupid question. There just . . . ain't.”

 

She felt his lips against her forehead, and in the quiet, she smiled sadly.

 

 

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

 

 

`She wants to believe me.'

 

Ryomaru closed his eyes as he held Nezumi. The scent of her tears hung thick in the room. He had to wonder how long she'd been crying. `Kami, Ryo . . . can't you do anything right with her?'

 

He'd never really kept anything from her before, had he? He'd never intentionally evaded her questions. Sure he hadn't told her about being hanyou. Then again, she'd never asked, either. There was a world of difference there. Even he knew that.

 

`Why would she think I was out with another woman? She ought to know that she's the only one I've been with since that night . . . She's the only one I'll ever be with . . . the only one I want to be with . . .'

 

Her hand was still tangled in his hair. Her breathing was steady, even. She looked so fragile, so lost. The delicate lines of her face were streaked with patches of orange light, darker shadows of hazy blue.

 

He frowned as he stared at her, as her lips trembled in the temerarious hold of slumber. The voice in his head told him that he should have come clean with her.

 

`What was I supposed to say? I was covered with youkai blood and guts? No . . . She's not ready to hear all that, not tonight.'

 

`You've still got to tell her, Ryo. She ain't going to believe you forever. How many more nights are you going to have to go take care of things, and how many of those times will she honestly believe you?'

 

He sighed, gazing down at the woman in question. True enough, he knew. She wouldn't believe him forever. He wanted to tell her. He didn't like keeping anything from her. The idea of hurting her . . .

 

`There're risks. You know them. If you don't tell her, she won't. You've got to make her understand. You have to make her believe you. If some renegade youkai found out about her, what would you do?'

 

He winced. He hadn't thought of that, had he? `Damn it . . .' Too caught up in the more immediate question of how to get Nezumi to accept that they were together, he hadn't really stopped to think about the larger scope of things---like immediate dangers posed by his profession . . . like the need to have the marking done, and soon, for her own protection, and for his peace of mind.

 

He wasn't sure when the change in his mind had been made. It'd be easy to say that he'd thought differently from the start.

 

The truth of it hit him hard, and he couldn't help the reflexive tightening of his arms around her. She whimpered softly and curled in closer but she didn't wake up. If he screwed this up---if he lost her---he'd lose more than just some nameless girl he'd forget in a day or two. He'd lose his best friend, and that . . .

 

Gaze darkening as determination hardened his features, Ryomaru gritted his teeth together hard enough that his jaw ticked. “That won't fucking happen.”

 

 

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

 

 

Nezumi awoke with a pounding head and a soft moan. She felt like hell warmed-over, and for a moment, she couldn't remember why. She tried to roll over only to discover a very strong arm holding her in place.

 

As though that was all it took to bring back the torrent of memories, Nezumi groaned as she flopped back, wincing as the throbbing in her head increased. `This is why I hate crying. I feel like crap,' she thought sourly as she tried to pry Ryomaru's arm loose. He wasn't budging.

 

`Face it, Nez. You're trapped. You can either lie here till he wakes up or you can wake him up . . .'

 

She snorted at her thoughts and made a face as she turned her head to look at him, fully intending to thwap him a good one if he didn't let go. The uncomfortable twinge in her abdomen reminded her that she shouldn't have drunk the bottle of water in the middle of the night. If Ryomaru didn't let go, he'd be sorry---or she would be . . .

 

Caught off guard by the serene half-smile on his lips, the complete gentleness in his expression, Nezumi sighed and shook her head. `Damn, he looks so . . . content . . . I hate to wake him, I really do, but . . .'

 

Another twinge in her bladder reminded her that lying around staring at Ryomaru wasn't really going to make her forget the fact that she really needed to get up, and with a defeated sigh; she gently shook his shoulder. “Ryo? Wake up . . . Come on, dog breath . . . Let go, would you?”

 

He didn't even falter in his breathing. Nezumi grimaced and shook him a little more roughly. “Oi! Ryo! Wake up!”

 

“Wha---?” Ryomaru half-mumbled as he pulled her close---too close. Two things registered immediately as Nezumi choked back a gasp. Firstly, the closer proximity was hell on her already strained bladder. Secondly, while the baka hanyou wasn't completely awake, another part of him was.

 

“Let go!” she insisted, voice rising in a panicked falsetto. “Ryo!”

 

He moved so fast that Nezumi didn't have a chance to protest, didn't even have a moment to gasp as he rolled over, dragging her under him, his lips closing over hers in the same instant. `Okay,' she mused before rational thought left her completely, `so he doesn't really have dog breath . . . come up with a new insult, Nez . . .'

 

His mouth was too persuasive, too coaxing. Unfair how easily he could completely take over her mind, how easy it was to forget everything but the feel of his lips on hers, the flick of his tongue over her teeth as his kiss deepened. His hands held her face still, fingers buried in her hair.

 

She pushed against his shoulders once in a token effort to resist before her fists clenched around handfuls of his t-shirt to pull him a little closer. Unable to do much more than cling to him, Nezumi couldn't suppress the quaking that racked her body, as his will became hers.

 

Her hands loosened the death grip on his shirt, fingers splayed, rubbing over his chest. A rough sound escaped him, a mix of a growl and a guttural moan that only served to goad her further. Encountering the unyielding bump---his nipple stud, she didn't realize that she was playing with it in much the same manner that he did as he groaned once more, the sound captured in her mouth, mingling with her soft whimper.

 

Burning a path down her jaw, along her throat, Ryomaru's mouth broke down the lingering traces of her resistance. His name spilled from her lips in a breathy whisper. The rush of fire that spread through her precluded all else as need built, as hunger grew, as sweltering desire raged out of control.

 

Raking his fangs along her skin, igniting bolts of undeniable longing that shot straight to the culmination of craving that he inspired, he nibbled her lips, teased her, toyed with her, reduced her to whimpers and broken entreaties that made no sense at all.

 

“I . . . you . . . we . . . mine, `Zumi,” he mumbled between kisses.

 

His words registered in her mind as he dropped his lips over hers once more, crushing her mouth with his as he ground his hips against hers. The shock of the action combined with a deeper and very unwelcome intrusion of reality as her bladder reminded her that she needed to get moving wrung a cry from Nezumi as she pushed him aside and rolled off the bed before he could catch her.

 

Ryomaru sat up quickly, shaking his head as though he was having trouble clearing his mind. Nezumi was almost to the hallway when his sleepy-voice made her falter. “Oi, Nez . . . did I sleep in here last night?”

 

Her heart froze before plummeting to her feet then launching itself back up in her body with such force that she had to steady herself in the door frame before mumbling something that passed for a `yes' and hurrying toward the bathroom as her cheeks exploded in heated color.

 

`He . . . he was asleep? The entire time? But . . . he said my name, didn't he?'

 

She grimaced as her shaking fingers refused to cooperate while she tried to untie the pajama pants. `What does that mean?'

 

Biting her bottom lip as she jerked at the stubborn drawstring, she sighed. She really didn't know . . .

 

 

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A/N:

Fluff for a couple of people who need it …

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Reviewers

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Jason C(MMorg):
I have a good question. It acually has something to do with this story too. Wil Gin, kich, or Ryo ever lose control/get realy realy pissed or have a near death experience for their Youkia blood to take controle (ie transform into their demon forms) So will they or will they not? Has that even happened in any of the Purity stories?

 

That was covered a few chapters ago, when Ryoteishuseishu was introduced. No, they wouldn't lose control and transform because of their mother's Miko blood.

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MMorg

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FFneteave

Toya's Gurl ::: xxXDarkSlayerXxx ::: Jasmine Fields ::: katie janeway ::: Fairia13 ::: SilverStarWing ::: Flames101 ::: Ryguy5387 ::: Drake Clawfang ::: Pyth ::: My Own Self ::: PlaidDragon25 ::: ILOVEINUS589 ::: agent-doo ::: Lady-Sttar ::: Dark-Black-Wolf (Sure! Would love to see them!) ::: kestral-tudorica ::: breezy99 ==========

Final Thought from Nezumi:

Sleeping?

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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~