InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 3: Forever ❯ Disconcerted ( Chapter 37 )

~~Chapter 37~~

~Disconcerted~

 

“I thought you were taking a nap,” Toga remarked dryly as he leaned in the doorway and shot his mate a disapproving look.

 

Sierra rolled her eyes and waved her hand in blatant dismissal. “I'm not even tired, Toga. Besides, I have company.”

 

“You need your rest,” he pointed out.

 

“Sure, I would, if I were tired, which I'm not,” she argued.

 

Nezumi shifted uncomfortably in the straight backed wooden chair and started to rise. Sierra glanced at her and shook her head. Nezumi sank back down.

 

“Wench, you cannot argue with your mate!” the youkai pointed out hotly as Ryomaru scooted around Toga. Hand darting out, he grabbed Toga's nipple and pinched. The youkai swung at Ryomaru but missed, hissing as he jerked to the side, away from Ryomaru's hand. “Baka! Will you stop doing that?” Toga growled, grabbing at Ryomaru's chest.

 

Ryomaru chortled and spun out of Toga's reach, heading toward the refrigerator. “Keh!” he scoffed as he retrieved two bottles of water. “I've tried that one, and it don't work.”

 

Nezumi accepted the bottle Ryomaru offered her and hid her grin as she took her time breaking the plastic seal around the cap.

 

“Sierra—” Toga began in a tone that should have precluded disagreement.

 

“Oh, give it a rest, Toga!” Sierra shot back. “I'm not going to go lie down just because you told me to do it. I'm pregnant, not dying.”

 

“This Toga says you will,” he huffed, straightening his back as he assumed an offended stance.

 

“And This Sierra says I won't!” she blasted back as she shot to her feet, pinning her husband with a fulminating glare.

 

Nezumi hastily covered her mouth with the back of her hand to hide the smile and squelch the laughter that bubbled up inside her.

 

Ryomaru wasn't nearly as tactful as Nezumi, however. Wheeling around to laugh in his cousin's shocked face, the hanyou sniggered unrepentantly, ignoring the narrow-eyed glare he was getting for his trouble. “This Sierra? That's rich!”

 

“I fail to see anything amusing about—”

 

“About you trying to order me around? About me telling you to back off?”

 

Toga threw his hands up in the air and turned on his heel, stomping away as Ryomaru's laughter escalated. He followed Toga out of the kitchen to further bedevil his cousin. Nezumi shook her head as Sierra sat back down.

 

“Honestly, you'd think that women never had babies, the way Toga carries on,” Sierra grumbled then sighed. “Anyway . . . seems like you and Ryomaru have come to some sort of understanding?”

 

Nezumi wiped water off her chin as she sputtered and coughed. Sierra reached over to thump her palm against Nezumi's back. “Wh-what?”

 

Sierra laughed. “Oh, come on, Nezumi. I saw you two holding hands when Toga let you in. So your plan is working?”

 

“Not really,” Nezumi grumbled, since the plan Sierra was referring to was actually the only real bone of contention left between Ryomaru and herself.

 

“What do you mean, not really?”

 

Nezumi shrugged. “I mean he doesn't like when I wear those clothes I bought—any of them.”

 

Sierra grimaced. “You know, that doesn't surprise me.”

 

“Really?”

 

“No . . . He's inu-hanyou, right? I know Toga seems to be able to sense my mood, and whether it's just because we're mates or not, the point is, I'd imagine that Ryomaru is the same, so it stands to reason that he probably senses that you're not completely comfortable in those clothes.”

 

Nezumi twisted the water bottle in circles on the table as she digested Sierra's words. It made sense, didn't it? Ryomaru always seemed to know when she had something on her mind, and while she had wondered through the years, just why it was that he had such an uncanny way of calling her when she was down or showing up on her doorstep out of the blue. He always said that he was in the neighborhood or bored at home. Now she had to wonder if those had just been excuses.

 

“So are you going to give up? Go back to the way things were before?”

 

Nezumi made a face as she slowly shook her head. “I can't, can I? I mean, in the beginning, I was trying to change myself to make him happy, but now . . . Maybe he'll understand why I've been telling him he should go back to hunting if he realizes it's the same sort of thing.”

 

“Why don't you just tell him that?”

 

“He gets mad whenever I mention his hunting. It's like he doesn't want to hear it, and then he goes and sits in a tree for hours, until I promise not to mention it again.”

 

Sierra sighed but nodded. “Maybe Kichiro could talk to him? Or InuYasha? He might listen to his father.”

 

Nezumi nodded, too. “Maybe. I might have to ask. It couldn't hurt to try.”

 

Sierra smiled. “For what it's worth, I'm really glad you guys are working things out. I told Toga early on, that the two of you seem like you're good for each other.”

 

Nezumi felt a flush burn her skin, but she smiled. “Yeah . . . maybe we are,” she agreed. “Maybe we are.”

 

 

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

 

 

“So what have you heard?” Ryomaru asked after making sure that Nezumi was still in the kitchen with Sierra.

 

Toga shook his head at his cousin's rapid change in temperament. The teasing laughter had disappeared before they'd reached Toga's study, and the hanyou paced the floor, his pent-up energy apparent. “Father says that neither Danno Benjiro nor Goro has reported back in over a week. He's afraid they've failed.”

 

“Damn it . . . I knew it.”

 

“Hold on, Ryo. What are you going to do?”

 

Heaving a sigh, Ryomaru flopped down in a thickly cushioned chair and gripped his temple in his hand. “I don't know. I feel like I should go after `em. They're not going to stop till they've been hunted, and I'll be damned if I'll stand back and let them come after me . . . or Nez . . .”

 

Toga shook his head. “You're not a hunter anymore. You'd be no more than a vigilante out for justice. You know that.”

 

“Balls! What the fuck am I supposed to do?”

 

“I didn't say you shouldn't do it,” Toga remarked dryly. “I was just telling you what you should have realized already.”

 

“What would you do if they came after you? If they came after Sierra and the pup? What would you do then?”

 

Toga winced but nodded as his eyes glowed dangerously. “I'd kill the bastards.”

 

“Yeah . . . So would I.”

 

“Just don't go off and do anything stupid, all right?”

 

Ryomaru snorted indelicately as he rounded on his cousin and slumped lower in his chair. “Stupid? Toga, if they come after Nez, I'll show them the meaning of stupid, because if they really think that I'd stand by and let them hurt her, I'll fucking shred them.”

 

“If it came down to you protecting your own, there would be no ramifications. Just keep that in mind, all right? You gave up the badge of the hunter. That's all I'm saying.”

 

Ryomaru digested that and nodded. “I know that, Toga.”

 

Toga sat down and leaned back in his chair, eyeing Ryomaru as though he knew the hanyou had something else on his mind, too. “All right, Ryo. Spit it out. What else is bothering you?”

 

“Does something have to be bothering me?” Ryomaru countered quietly.

 

Toga shrugged, crossing his ankles atop the desk. “Come on. I've known you forever, remember? You don't get that constipated look unless something is bugging you, so you might as well tell me what it is.”

 

“You're as much of a bastard as my old man says yours is, did you know?”

 

“So you say,” he remarked blandly. “That still doesn't answer my question.”

 

Ryomaru shook his head and shot Toga a quelling glare. “It's . . . nothing.”

 

“If it really were nothing, why are you so reluctant to tell me?”

 

Taking his time as he slowly broke the seal around the lid of the water bottle, Ryomaru made Toga wait while he deliberately drained more than half the liquid. “If Sierra tried to change something about herself because she thought it would make you happy, what would you do?”

 

“You're talking about Nezumi's clothes.”

 

Ryomaru nodded.

 

Toga tapped his claws on the highly polished walnut desk as he considered Ryomaru's question. “The changes don't please you.”

 

“No, they don't.”

 

“Why not?”

 

Ryomaru shrugged. “Because . . . she didn't do it for herself. She hates it. I can tell she hates it, but . . .”

 

“But?” Toga prompted when Ryomaru trailed off.

 

“But,” Ryomaru continued, “I just . . . I don't like it.”

 

“What don't you like about it?”

 

Growling as his thoughts failed him, Ryomaru struggled to put words to his feelings. “I can't explain it. I just don't like it.”

 

“Can't argue that logic,” Toga agreed mildly.

 

“Damn it,” Ryomaru grumbled, shooting to his feet as his temper flared. “Never fucking mind.”

 

Toga waved at the chair his cousin had just vacated. “Calm down, pup. Just try to explain it, will you?”

 

Satisfied that Toga was going to listen, Ryomaru dropped back into the chair again. “It's . . . It's all these damn bastards, you know? They stare at her . . . They didn't give her a second look before, and now . . . Balls, I just want to rip their fucking heads off, every last one of them.”

 

“Balls?” Toga echoed, distaste rife in his tone.

 

“Yeah, balls. Pay attention, Toga. Damn!”

 

“Really, Ryo . . . I've heard your creative cussing before, but `balls'?”

 

“All right. Fuck it. I'm done with you, baka,” Ryomaru fumed as he stood up again.

 

“Sorry, sorry,” Toga apologized, trying not to smile. “Sounds to me like you're just a little—or a lot—jealous.”

 

Ryomaru considered that and snorted. “Keh! That's a crock of shit! I'm not jealous! Nez wouldn't give them the time of day.”

 

“Then why do you care what she's wearing?”

 

“Because, damn it all, she's my mate! They don't need to see what she's hiding because if I catch anyone looking, I'll sharpen my claws on them!”

 

“Well, there you have it.”

 

Ryomaru shook his head as he pinned Toga with a bored glower. “There I have what?”

 

Toga rolled his eyes. “There's your answer, baka. Convince her to wear her own clothes again—the ones she's comfortable in.”

 

“Keh! If it was that easy, she'd already be wearing her oversized clothes.”

 

“Why is she so determined to change if she hates it so much?”

 

“To piss me off,” Ryomaru grumbled.

 

Toga shook his head. “As enticing as that might be, I highly doubt Nezumi would do such a thing out of spite. Any other reasons occur to you?”

 

“She says she thinks I should hunt again,” he finally admitted.

 

Toga's black eyebrows shot up, disappearing under the thick fringe of bangs. “Really? Then why don't you?”

 

Ryomaru shot Toga a `Don't-Be-Stupid' look. “Why do you think? She thinks I should go back to hunting, but she doesn't want me to. She'd still be waiting and worrying every time I walked out the door. How long would it take before she started resenting me? Resenting my job? I've explained it to her, but she doesn't really understand. Humans can't understand, not unless they see why it needs to be done, first hand . . . like Mother.”

 

“Understood,” Toga agreed with a sigh.

 

“I . . . I don't want Nezumi to see why it's necessary,” he mumbled, unsure why he was telling Toga all this but unable to stop himself, either.

 

Toga winced then whistled low. “Damn, Ryo . . . She's got you, doesn't she?” He sighed but chuckled. “Oh, don't get all defensive. Happens to the best of us, sooner or later.”

 

“That's what you think, you bastard!” Ryomaru argued. “Shut the hell up, damn it! I'm outta here!”

 

Toga didn't try to stop him as he stormed toward the door. Nezumi poked her head out of the kitchen when Ryomaru called to her, and grabbing her hand, he barely stopped long enough to nod goodbye to Sierra before dragging Nezumi outside.

 

“Ryo? What's wrong?” Nezumi demanded as she jerked her hand free and struggled into the coat she'd barely had time to grab from the rack beside the door.

 

“Nothing's wrong,” Ryomaru snapped then heaved a sigh, fighting to control his temper. “Toga just pisses me off, that's all.”

 

She stared at him with a thoughtful frown. He forced a smile for her benefit, and she reached out slowly, smoothed away the lines between that creased his brow. Her simple touch was soothing, comforting. His smile shifted into a more natural expression, and she returned it.

 

“Come on, Nez,” he said as he picked her up.

 

She smothered a squeal and shot him a disgruntled look. “You could warn me before you do that,” she remarked.

 

He laughed at the pique in her tone. “Time to go home.”

 

She sighed and let her temple fall against his shoulder. “Home,” she repeated, her voice tinged with a dreamy happiness. “Okay . . .” She leaned back when his stomach grumbled. “I'm not cooking,” she assured him.

 

He rolled his eyes as he started running and vaulted onto the nearest building. “Fine . . . we can pick up something on the way.”

 

“Hmm . . . puts a whole new spin on the idea of `carry out', doesn't it?”

 

Ryomaru grinned. “I could cook for you again.”

 

“Carry out's fine,” she insisted.

 

 

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

 

 

“So you never told me why you wanted to talk to Toga,” Nezumi remarked as she dug a mushroom out of the stir fry box.

 

Ryomaru shrugged and dumped rice into his mouth. “Hmm?”

 

“Don't play dumb,” she countered, pointing her chopsticks at him. “I know better.”

 

“Don't worry about it. It was just work stuff. Anyway, give me a bite, will you?”

 

Nezumi rolled her eyes but fished out a snow pea pod.

 

Ryomaru made a face. “Meat, wench! Vegetables are for humans!”

 

“You're not eating all the meat out of my food,” she shot back. “Did you already dig all the meat out of yours?”

 

Ryomaru tried not to look guilty as he made a face and shrugged. “I left the vegetables for you.”

 

“Forget it,” she shot back as she made a show of eating a nice hunk of pork.

 

“Fine . . . I'll go hungry then . . . For the record, you're supposed to be nice to your mate.”

 

“You should have just gotten the meat,” she countered. “You're not going to guilt me into giving you all of mine!”

 

“Keh! I'd share with you, if you asked.”

 

“You would not . . . besides, you inhale yours so fast, there's no way I'd believe you even taste your food . . . just eat your vegetables.”

 

“Like that matters,” he scoffed.

 

Grabbing his abandoned box, she untangled her legs and stood up to throw the trash away before heading back toward the bathroom to brush her teeth. As she strode through her room, she couldn't help the bashful little smile that surfaced as her gaze lingered on the bed. Ryomaru hadn't minced words when he told her that she belonged with him, in his room—their room, and Nezumi . . . She liked waking up beside him.

 

The last couple of days since Ryomaru and she had come to their understanding had been unsettling and yet completely reassuring at the same time. A certain sense of discovery lingered, and she couldn't help but feel as though she were gaining an even deeper understanding of Ryomaru. She had moments when she wanted to retreat within her old defenses, but Ryomaru's steady persistence prevented her from doing it, and she had to admit that she was tired of trying to hide. It was like they were seeing each other in a whole new light, and though she could feel the rise of panic, the resurfacing of the old fears from time to time, she wanted to believe in Ryomaru.

 

Ryomaru lounged in the bathroom doorway with a thoughtful frown as Nezumi spit out toothpaste foam and hurriedly rinsed her mouth. “Something bothering you?” she asked, wiping her mouth and drying her hands on a soft towel.

 

He sighed and shrugged though his expression didn't change. “Nez . . . I . . . there are a couple of things we still need to talk about.”

 

Wary of his affable tone as well as the reluctance in his gaze, Nezumi didn't comment as Ryomaru took her hand and pulled her out of the bathroom and back toward the living room again. He didn't speak until after he pulled her down beside him on the sofa. “Okay, so what do you want to talk about?” she asked, careful to keep her tone neutral.

 

Ryomaru scooped up Yukitora, cradling the cat on her back as he wiggled his fingers to get her to bat at him. “I know you don't like blood and all that, and I don't blame you, but . . . I really need to mark you. Kich can do it in his office. It's just that you're human so it needs to be done.” He sighed. “Soon.”

 

“How soon?”

 

“Uh . . . the sooner the better.”

 

Again she was struck by the odd sense that Ryomaru wasn't telling her everything. Remembering his commentary about markings, she swallowed the bile that rose in her throat and tried not to think about the process he'd explained.

 

“Keh! It's a simple process. Used to be a big deal. The youkai mate had to find the spot to be marked and cut open the human to drain off most of the blood. It's not a bad thing anymore. Toga and Sierra did it first. All Kich'll do is drain most of your blood and then infuse mine into you.”

 

Nezumi winced and rubbed the gooseflesh off her arms. `Yep . . . not a big deal at all . . .'

 

“If there was another way to do it,” he said as he set Yukitora on the floor and scooted closer to Nezumi, “I'd be all over it, but there ain't, and . . . I want you to be here with me.”

 

She nodded slowly despite her desire to run away. The concern in his gaze was evident, but so was the underlying hope. “If you say it's safe, I'll believe you.”

 

“Let me talk to Kich. He could tell you about it better than I can, anyway.”

 

“All right.”

 

Ryomaru seemed relieved, as though he expected her to react more vehemently. He let out a long breath and pulled her to him. She could tell there was something else on his mind. He stretched out on the sofa, rubbing her shoulder with one hand while he flipped through the television channels with the remote control in the other.

 

“Was there something else bothering you?” Nezumi asked, leaning back so she could see his face.

 

Ryomaru wrinkled his nose. “Yeah . . . you change your mind about not marrying me yet?”

 

His question caught her off guard, and Nezumi couldn't answer right away.

 

Ryomaru sighed. “You were right. I should have asked you. Anyway, I guess I'm asking.”

 

She bit her lip, tried not to let too many of her turbulent feelings invade her tone as she fought for a semblance of balance, of control. “Because you feel like it's the right thing to do or because you want to?”

 

He shrugged. “Either. Both. It's the right thing to do because I want to . . . `Course, knowing Mother, she'll go overboard with it. Hell, she'll probably turn it into the same kind of pompous mess Toga's wedding was.”

 

Nezumi's eyes widened in shock as she cringed inwardly at the memory of Toga's wedding. There were easily two hundred guests at the wedding and more than double that at the reception. She gulped, her mouth suddenly parched as Ryomaru kept babbling about stupid weddings, too many relatives, and the dire prediction that his mother would probably invite all of Tokyo. “Might as well televise it,” he grumbled.

 

“Can we not talk about this?” Nezumi rasped out, covering Ryomaru's mouth with her hand.

 

Ryomaru looked surprised but nodded, and she let her hand fall away. “It's just something to think about,” he agreed. “The marking is the important thing right now. I'll call Kich tomorrow.”

 

Satisfied that he would let it drop, Nezumi frowned as she rested her cheek against Ryomaru's chest. It wasn't that the idea of marrying him bothered her. It was the idea of a huge wedding that did it. It was enough to terrify her.

 

 

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A/N:

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Final Thought fromNezumi:

Maybe Ryomaru's exaggerating . . .

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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~