InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 3: Forever ❯ For Nezumi ( Chapter 30 )

~~Chapter 30~~

~For Nezumi~

 

“Kami, they were serious.”

 

Ryomaru lifted his gaze off the stack of manuals to glower at his cousin who looked entirely too happy to see him in the one place he never thought he'd be: behind a damn desk in a fucking office with a secretary to boot. “Damn . . . thought I told my secretary I didn't want to be bothered.”

 

Toga shrugged and pushed himself away from the doorway with a wolfish grin. “Maybe but when the visitor is your boss then you've got to be available.”

 

“Fuck.”

 

“Call it a fringe benefit.”

 

“I'd call it a pain in my ass.”

 

“You really hate this, don't you?”

 

Ryomaru sighed, rubbing his forehead as he closed his eyes and sprawled back in his chair. “Is it that obvious?”

 

“Uh, yeah. Yeah, it is.”

 

“Damn.”

 

“Head of security isn't that bad, is it?”

 

Ryomaru shrugged and waved a hand toward the desk. “Dunno. I ain't secured anything yet. I'm still wading through your corporate bullshit training manuals. Do I really need to know public relations? Security is just like hunting: beat `em senseless and they won't try to breach it again.”

 

Toga shook his head. “Since many of the ones who try to get through security are humans, I wouldn't really advise that, Ryo.”

 

“Between your old man and you, you take the fun out of everything.”

 

Toga shrugged. “I try.”

 

Ryomaru blinked when Toga yawned. “No sleep?”

 

“Sierra wanted fried chicken last night. Do you know? There aren't many places to get that at two in the morning.”

 

“That'll teach you.”

 

Toga grinned. “Just wait till you and Nezumi have a pup. You'll see . . .”

 

“So . . . did you find her some?”

 

“Yes, I did. Too bad she was asleep by the time I got home with it.”

 

“Damn.”

 

Toga stared at Ryomaru for several seconds, obviously trying to decide something. Ryomaru had a good idea what his cousin was thinking but opted to turn his attention to another training manual instead.

 

“So . . . why did you decide to change professions?”

 

“Time to move on, that's all.”

 

Toga shook his head. “Okay, so you don't want to tell me. I take it then that Nezumi didn't like your job?”

 

“Who said it had anything to do with her?”

 

Toga's laughter was touched by a hint of irony that raised Ryomaru's hackles as he clamped his mouth shut and waited for his irritating cousin to speak his mind. “No one, of course. Then again, no one really had to.”

 

“What's that supposed to mean?”

 

“Don't get all defensive, Ryo,” Toga remarked with a shrug. “I don't blame you. Changing everything about you will, of course, make her adore you even more, especially since she's known and tolerated you since childhood.”

 

“Shut up, Toga. You don't know a fucking thing.”

 

“Maybe I don't,” he agreed easily as he stood up. “Then again, I'm not the puppy chasing my tail around in circles because I'm too much of a baka to tell the girl the truth.”

 

“Oh, is that how you ended up almost dead from a couple measly cat scratches?”

 

“Nope. Sierra knew I loved her. I didn't have to try to be someone I'm not.”

 

Ryomaru watched him leave and sighed. `He doesn't have any idea. I'm not doing this to be someone I'm not. Well, maybe I am, but . . . The difference is that Sierra loved Toga back, and Nez . . . Nez doesn't.'

 

 

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

 

 

Nezumi stumbled through the door and arched her back, wincing as a sore muscle pulled tight and didn't release. She supposed it was the price she paid for thinking she could pull a motor alone. The hoist helped, but operating that bit of machinery was a trial unto itself.

 

She dropped her keys on the table and hung her coat in the closet before kicking off her shoes and padding into the living room. Ryomaru looked up and sighed as he tossed the thick book onto the coffee table with a disgusted snort.

 

“Bad day?” she asked quizzically as she shifted her gaze from the book to the disgruntled hanyou.

 

“Nope, just peachy,” he grumbled and heaved another sigh. “Yours?”

 

Bracing her neck with her hand as she rolled her shoulders and grimaced at the tightness of her protesting muscles, Nezumi sighed. “Busy . . . pulled an engine . . . and my back at the same time. What'd you do all day?”

 

“Read manuals all day: Communication Skills and Why They're Important . . . Welcome to Inutaisho Corp . . . Broke a computer . . . got yelled at for breaking the computer . . .”

 

“Not a good first day?”

 

Ryomaru's smile was tight, forced. “Nah . . . it was fine.”

 

She didn't believe him but knew from experience that Ryomaru was as good at keeping certain things to himself as she was. “Okay, glad to hear it. I'm going to take a shower.”

 

He hopped to his feet and waved his arms to stop her. “Oi! Want to go get something to eat?”

 

Nezumi shook her head as she headed off toward her bedroom. “No . . . I just want a shower and sleep . . .”

 

“A movie?”

 

“Can I sleep through it?”

 

“Feh! What's the point of watching a movie if you sleep through it?”

 

She shook her head again and kept moving.

 

 

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

 

 

Ryomaru frowned in concentration as he maneuvered the radio-control car over the hardwood floor. The kitten dashed after it, batting at the car whenever she got within striking distance. He laughed and sped up the car.

 

Nezumi had gone to bed hours ago. She hadn't been lying when she said that all she wanted was a shower and sleep.

 

He sighed as he grabbed the car and set it on the high table behind the sofa with the remote control. He might as well try to sleep. It was nearly two in the morning, and he was wide-awake and restless, a combination that didn't mix well.

 

Closing his bedroom door and stripping off his clothes, Ryomaru flopped onto his bed and stared at the ceiling as he tried not to sigh. He could hear himself blink in the quiet, and he rolled over on his side as he squeezed his eyes closed.

 

`Give it up, Ryo . . . the chances of you actually sleeping are slim to none.'

 

`Shut up. You're not helping.'

 

`I might not be helping, but I'm telling the truth.'

 

`Well, it's night time, and there's nothing else to do.'

 

`You could go wake up Nez. Think she'd mind?'

 

`Keh! I think she'd clobber me. Besides, she really was tired.'

 

A soft scratching at the door interrupted his thoughts, and Ryomaru stood up to let the cat in. “What do you want, furball?” he grumbled as the kitten slipped past him.

 

She blinked at him in the darkness, her eyes glowing in a misty greenish hue. “Mew?”

 

He snorted as he stalked back to his bed. “Stay on the floor,” he warned. “Swipe at my ears, and I'll skin you.”

 

“Mew?”

 

Seconds later, the kitten was on the bed and curled up beside him as Ryomaru slowly shook his head. “No one in this house listens to me,” he grumbled as he grudgingly stroked the kitten's downy head. She purred and pushed against his fingers in response. “Do you hear me, you little shit?”

 

“Mew?”

 

“Yeah, I thought so.”

 

“Pr-r-row?”

 

“Don't even give me your lip, damn it.”

 

Yukitora curled herself a little tighter as her purring escalated.

 

`Kami, this sucks,' he thought as he rolled over onto his back to stare at the ceiling again.

 

`I gotta agree with you, Ryo. It does. It'll take some getting used to, won't it?'

 

`Yeah, it will.'

 

Blinking in the still darkness, listening to the sound of the purring kitten, Ryomaru stifled yet another sigh and idly toyed with the nipple stud. He didn't remember a time when he hadn't fought.

 

It seemed to come naturally to him. Kichiro was the smart one, the one who loved to learn things. It hadn't surprised anyone when he finally said that he wanted to be a doctor. It seemed like the natural thing for him to do.

 

Gin was the artistic one. She expressed her feelings through visual arts, frequenting museums and going to the theatre.

 

Ryomaru . . . He'd always been the one to react: much like his father, as his mother was so fond of pointing out. It hadn't surprised anyone, really, when he'd stumbled into the role of youkai hunter.

 

And it was necessary. Though most youkai did assimilate and fit in with human society, there were the few who didn't, and of those, there were many that lashed out at humans. They blamed humans for having to hide in the shadows, to wear concealments and to hide their natures. Ryomaru had learned the history. The youkai were feared and abhorred, and when guns were invented, they were hunted.

 

As the leader of the Japanese youkai and as one of the oldest surviving youkai anywhere, Sesshoumaru had the responsibility of making certain that the youkai were hidden, that they remained protected. It wasn't fear of humans that drove them to do this. It was the realization that both youkai and humans could coexist so long as the secret remained a secret.

 

To live and let live, Ryomaru supposed. It seemed to be the creed of the youkai, and Ryomaru, like his father, worked to protect humans in the same way, even if it had been simpler for InuYasha. He hadn't hidden what he was. As he protected Kagome and the Shikon no Tama, he'd learned that there were things in life worth fighting for. This was what Ryomaru had learned from him.

 

But now . . .

 

Now he chose to step away because there was more to protecting people than just hacking down renegade youkai. With Nezumi, there was a certain need to shelter her, to keep her from worry, to make sure that she felt safe, even if it meant giving up a part of who he was.

 

She never asked him to stop hunting. Ryomaru doubted that the thought would have ever crossed her mind. She didn't have to. He'd seen the panic in her expression, the worry in her eyes. He'd seen it all, and he knew that he'd caused it. She'd never had much in the way of security. So far as he knew, he was the only person she'd ever felt uninhibited around. To give that back to her . . . wasn't it worth more to him than anything else?

 

Yeah, it was. He'd get used to it. It would just take time. To hear her laugh and to see her smile was enough incentive for him to do whatever it took.

 

`But you know Nez wouldn't ask you to do this. She didn't ask you to do it.'

 

Ryomaru winced. `She didn't have to ask,' he countered. `I offered because . . . because I want to protect her. I want her to feel safe, and I want her to know that she doesn't have to fear anything, ever . . . least of all, me.'

 

`But she doesn't fear you, baka. Nezumi never has.'

 

`She doesn't fear me, no . . . but maybe . . . maybe she is afraid of losing me.'

 

The voice in his head sighed as Ryomaru rubbed his eyes. It wasn't a question of what Nezumi would or wouldn't ask of him. It was a question of what he would choose to do for her peace of mind, and this was something that he could do. Maybe she'd believe him if he did it.

 

He could do it for Nezumi . . .

 

 

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A/N:

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Reviewers

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PlaidDragon25 (FFnet):

I have a dumb reference question. In which story did Kagome and InuYasha do the whole 'kissing the bandage' thing? It's been bugging me, and I've been searching but can't find it. ^^' Whoops.

 

InuYasha: Oi, wench, where was that?

Kagome: … Metamorphosis, baka …

InuYasha: … What chapter?

Kagome: … Chapter 44: Kagura …

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MMorg

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Final Thought from Toga:

I can't believe he broke thatcomputer …

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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~