InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 3: Forever ❯ Viva Las Vegas! ( Chapter 44 )

~~Chapter 44~~

~Viva Las Vegas!~

 

Ryomaru knocked on the bathroom door with a concerned frown on his face. “Oi, Nez . . . You okay?”

 

He heard the splatter of cascading water, and he heard Nezumi's soft sigh. “Yes, Ryo, just fine.”

 

“Good.”

 

Leaning against the wall in the dimly lit hallway, Ryomaru crossed his arms over his chest and wrinkled his nose. In the distance, he could see out the windows that lined the far wall of the suite. Evening was falling. It wasn't even seven o'clock. Nezumi hadn't adjusted to the time difference. They'd only been in the United States for three days, and she hadn't slept very well since their arrival. She really was tired, not that he blamed her. He was exhausted, too, and probably would have been able to sleep in the plane---no small feat considering how obnoxious he found air travel to be.

 

They were supposed to be embarking on the transpacific flight home. They should have been well over the ocean by now. They hadn't counted on one of the engines stalling, and though the pilot said that they could make it home safely, he also didn't want to chance it since they were still well within the United States and could just as easily land for emergency repairs. In translation, they were stuck in Las Vegas until sometime tomorrow---at least.

 

`With the way my luck's going,' he thought with an indelicate snort, `they won't get the plane fixed, and we'll be stuck here for days . . .'

 

At least the reason for their trip was taken care of. In the days since they'd visited her mother's grave, Nezumi had lost some of the shadows that lingered around her eyes. They'd been there ever since he'd met her. He hadn't really noticed them until they were gone. The added directness in her gaze was unsettling, and while he didn't begin to think that she was over the loss of her mother, he knew in his heart that she would be all right.

 

The opulence of the hotel room was lost on Ryomaru. He heard the soft knock on the door and pushed himself away from the wall. Bare feet whispering against the thickly carpeted floor, Ryomaru strode over and jerked open the door.

 

A young man in black pants and a crisp white shirt nodded his welcome and smiled. Ryomaru shook his head as he frowned at the linen topped rolling cart laden with silver dome topped dishes and a bucket with a bottle of champagne on ice. “What's this?” he asked suspiciously. They hadn't ordered room service . . .

 

“Comes with the honeymoon suite,” the young man assured him. Ryomaru blinked as he pushed the cart into the room. “Enjoy your evening, sir.”

 

Ryomaru handed the boy a crumpled wad of bills and closed the door behind him. `The honeymoon suite?' Ryomaru echoed. `What the . . .?'

 

“Sesshoumaru . . .” he mumbled as he glowered at the cart. Upon landing at McCarran International Airport, he'd called InuYasha to tell his father that their flight had unexpected trouble.

 

“Oi, old man, it's Ryo. Listen, Nez and I are stuck in Las Vegas. Sesshoumaru's fucking plane is a rusty hunk of scrap.”

 

“That bastard. Figures. Wouldn't surprise me if he did it on purpose.”

 

Ryomaru snorted at his father's grim assessment. “Yeah, well, we're stuck, and I can't even begin to think where I should take Nezumi.”

 

“No idea, Ryo. Never been there before.”

 

“I'd settle for a decent hotel,” Ryomaru admitted. Nezumi sank down on the edge of a concrete planter, barely able to keep her eyes open. He sighed.

 

“Decent hotels. Hold on.”

 

Ryomaru couldn't make out anything that InuYasha said. He'd covered the mouthpiece with his hand, and when he finally came back on the line, Ryomaru was rubbing Nezumi's shoulder to wake her up.

 

“Sesshoumaru is going to call around, see what he can do.”

 

“Since when do you let Uncle Sesshoumaru do any favors for you?”

 

“He owes you. It's his fucking plane, and he ain't doing a damn thing for me. He's doing it for you.”

 

Put that way, Ryomaru figured that it was safe to accept his uncle's assistance. Nezumi yawned, covering her mouth with the back of her hand. “Tell him to hurry it up, will you?”

 

“Hold on.”

 

Ryomaru could hear his father talking to someone. He recognized the smooth tones even though he couldn't make out words: Sesshoumaru. “All right, he said to take a taxi to the Grand Bastian Hotel. He's already taken care of it. Anyway, stay out of trouble, will you? Don't do anything stupid, and don't get yourself arrested, you hear?”

 

Rolling his eyes at his father's warnings, Ryomaru snapped his phone closed and shook Nezumi's shoulder. She heaved a heavy sigh but stood up stiffly and followed him through the airport.

 

The short trip from the airport had been quiet. Nezumi had been almost asleep when the taxi pulled to a stop before the imposing edifice of the recently-built ultra-luxury hotel. At the front desk, all he'd had to do was give his name, which sent the nearby staff into a flurry of activity. It took two bellboys to see them to their room, another young man was sent to fetch their luggage from the airport. A fourth was sent off somewhere---and later appeared with the food cart---and the concierge had handed over the two credit card-like door keys with an unnecessary flourish.

 

The bathroom door opened with a soft click. Moments later Ryomaru's nose was assailed by the moist scent of softly scented soap and the richer smell of Nezumi. She breathed deep as she gravitated toward the food without sparing him a glance. “You ordered room service?”

 

“Feh! Balls, no! There ain't a damn thing on that tray I'd order---maybe the champagne.”

 

Nezumi grasped the neck of the bottle and pulled it out of the ice. The whoosh and clink of the shifting cubes in the melting pool of water reminded him of ice breaking on the pond in the spring. She turned the bottle in her hands, wiping away the moisture with her fingers. “If you didn't order it, then why is it here?”

 

Ryomaru made a face, loath to tell Nezumi that they were in the honeymoon suite even though she would likely realize that he really had nothing to do with it. Then again she was tired enough that she might not have known that Sesshoumaru had arranged the hotel, and in that case Nezumi would kill him, for sure.

 

“Oh, uh, complimentary, I guess,” he muttered. “Oi, I thought you were tired.”

 

She shrugged as she stuck the champagne back into the ice and dug a fat, ripe strawberry out of a silver dish and bit into it. Ryomaru blinked as he gaped at her. Juice from the fruit glistened on her lips, and she held out the rest of the strawberry when she caught his blatant stare. Stifling a groan as the tip of her tongue darted out to catch the liquid; Ryomaru turned away and shook his head.

 

`Damn, Ryo, what the hell are you waiting for?'

 

`You know why I'm waiting. She's human. She's female. Even with Mother's intervention, I'm sure that Nez wants to get married . . .'

 

`Feh! You're waiting for that? You've got to be kidding!'

 

`Shut up, will you? I've waited this long, ain't I? A little bit longer won't kill me.'

 

`Maybe not you, Ryo, but it damn sure will kill me . . .'

 

`One thing,' Ryomaru snorted, ears twitching with his irritated thoughts, `just one thing in the right order! That's all! Just do one thing right for Nez . . .'

 

`It won't be in the right order, you fool! You've already mated her. You've already marked her. Marriage is irrelevant. You've already done the two things that were the most important, haven't you?'

 

Ryomaru strode over to the windows, leaning on the glass while he stared at the harsh lights of the city far below. `I don't remember that, and Nez . . . She's worth the wait. Marriage might not be as big a deal for youkai and hanyous, but she's human, and it might mean a hella lot to her.'

 

“Ryo, let's go do something.”

 

Ryomaru didn't look back at her as he shrugged. “Like what?”

 

Nezumi ambled over to stand beside him. “I don't know, but look at this place! It's huge! I'm pretty sure we can find something to do, don't you think? We're in Las Vegas, the city that never sleeps! Come on, Ryo . . . I want to do something fun . . . I want to do something that I've never done before.”

 

“Like what?” he asked again, growing more intrigued with Nezumi's uncharacteristic excitement.

 

She shook her head and waved her hand toward the window. “The first thing we see when we get out there. What do you say?”

 

Ryomaru considered her idea for a moment. “The first thing we see, huh? What if we see different things?”

 

“Okay, the first one of us to say what we see---that's what we'll do.”

 

“All right,” he agreed. “If you're sure.”

 

“Sure, sure,” she replied. “Get your shoes on, already!”

 

He did as she pulled a loose white sweater over her head. By the time she had adjusted the waistband; he was pulling on his leather jacket and tapping his foot as he stood by the door. “Come on, wench. We ain't got all night.”

 

“We do, you know,” she replied as she ducked under his arm as he held open the door. “Who knows when they'll get the plane fixed? We could be here a few days.”

 

Wrinkling his nose at the idea of being in the city that long, Ryomaru hustled Nezumi into the elevator and hit the button for the lobby.

 

`This could be a really interesting idea,' Ryomaru's youkai quipped as the two stepped off the elevator in the lobby of the Grand Bastian Hotel. The majestic cream marble pillars lined the Oriental runner that spanned the length of the lobby. The rich crimson and golden hues lent warmth to the cavernous space. Nezumi tilted her head back, staring at the opulent expanse. She'd been too exhausted to notice it all when they'd arrived, he figured, and they'd been whisked up to their room so quickly that it was nothing but a blur in his mind, too.

 

`Let's hope you see a strip club first,' his youkai went on. `Get Nez to give you a lap dance. Might be interesting, don't you think?'

 

`I thought I told you to shut up already,' Ryomaru warned as he grasped her hand and pulled her toward the doors. `Besides that, I don't think Nez dances.'

 

`Damn, there you go again, ruining my best ideas.'

 

“This place is . . . really big,” Nezumi mumbled.

 

“Yeah . . . Sesshoumaru called in a favor, I guess. Seems like the kind of place he'd like.”

 

Nezumi's lips twitched as she tried not to smile. “Pompous, you mean?”

 

“With a stick up its ass, yes,” Ryomaru agreed.

 

Smashing her hand over her mouth, Nezumi's cheeks puffed out as she choked on her laughter. “You're so disrespectful,” she pointed out.

 

“I am,” he agreed. “You like it, don't you?”

 

Nezumi didn't answer but when he peeked down at her, he was pleased to note the heightened color in her cheeks and the little smile quirking the corners of her mouth.

 

The night air was crisp and comfortable. Sounds of traffic and the hum of the neon lights mingled with the convoluted scents of a million people, of dirty streets and darker things, of car exhaust and natural decay. Nezumi stepped closer to his side, and the familiarity of her smoothed away the rising anxiety that accompanied the confusion for him. Ryomaru looked at Nezumi and shrugged. “Positive you want to do this?”

 

Nezumi grinned, nodding quickly. “Yeah, why not?”

 

“Together Forever Mar---” Cutting herself off with a sharp gasp Nezumi squeaked out a choked little sound as Ryomaru read the first sign he saw.

 

“Blue Heaven Wedding Chapel.”

 

Nezumi's head whipped around to look at the sign Ryomaru had read.

 

“Wow,” Ryomaru commented. “What are the odds of that happening?”

 

The doorman coughed behind them. Ryomaru and Nezumi both looked at the elderly gentleman. Brushing the front of his sleek gray uniform jacket, the man smiled and shook his head. “You're in Las Vegas. You're going to see wedding chapels everywhere you look.”

 

Nezumi swallowed so hard Ryomaru heard it. “Try again?” she asked in a hopeful tone.

 

Ryomaru started to agree with her but stopped abruptly. `Wait . . . we could do that, couldn't we?' Glancing back at the doorman, Ryomaru ignored the laughter dancing in the old man's eyes as he deliberately shifted his gaze back to the Blue Heaven Wedding Chapel. “Yeah, you're right,” he finally agreed, inflicting enough remorse in his tone to make her believe he was sincere, “since Mother's planning that huge-ass wedding back home.”

 

Nezumi's back stiffened under his hand, and he wisely hid his amusement. Somehow he'd known that the reminder would bug her. `That's dirty, Ryo, just dirty.'

 

`Shut up, I said. I've heard about enough from you.'

 

`You're going to use her dread of that wedding to coerce her into marrying you now? Here? In Vegas?'

 

Ryomaru made a face. `Remember upstairs when you wanted me to get a move on?'

 

`. . . Yeah.'

 

`Then shut the hell up so I can, will you?'

 

`Good luck.'

 

`Thanks.'

 

“You want to just walk around? See if we can find . . . something to do?” Nezumi asked, much of her initial optimism dulled though it wasn't completely gone.

 

“We can,” he agreed. “Uh, you know, I was thinking about it. Mother planning the wedding is great. I mean, we don't have to worry about a damn thing, do we? No caterers or flowers . . . no checking out temples or banquet halls . . .”

 

“B-banquet halls?” she repeated, her voice thin, reedy.

 

“Sure, you know, for the reception. Mother agreed to a small ceremony; only a couple hundred . . . five hundred, tops, but the reception . . . Well, between Sesshoumaru's obligatory invitations and all the old man's connections, I'd say it be closer to a thousand guests . . . Oi, how many people do you think your father will want to invite?”

 

“Ryo---”

 

“Right before we left, Mother mentioned something about you needing to try on a few dresses.” Ryomaru made a face, caught Nezumi's utter revulsion that widened her eyes, paled her cheeks.

 

`Isn't that enough? Look at her! She's going to run.'

 

`Nez won't run. She ain't a coward.'

 

`You're going to owe her, just so you know.'

 

`I'll pay her back . . . I've got my ways.'

 

“Too bad we can't just get married here. It'd save a lot of grief in the long run. I wouldn't want to hurt Mother's feelings, but . . . well, no matter what she says; this wedding is probably going to be bigger than anything we really thought of.”

 

Nezumi wheezed out a sound Ryomaru figured was as close to a giggle as she could manage. His conscience poked him, but he pacified himself with the thought that the ends would justify the means.

 

“Some of those dresses . . .” He winced as he trailed off. Nezumi didn't miss the expression. The disgust on her face shifted into one akin to acute terror. Ryomaru sighed for good measure, tamping down the hint of guilt since he hadn't seen any of the dresses Kagome might have been considering.

 

`Damn, you're evil! Look at your mate!'

 

`It's all for a great cause, remember? I could have sworn I've told you to shut up more than once, so if you're just going to bitch at me, then butt out, okay?'

 

`You'll burn in hell for what you're doing. You know that, right?'

 

`And you'll burn with me, now shut your pie hole if you're not gonna help.'

 

`Fine, baka, but I warned you . . .'

 

“A few of them looked like those ones you have to stick a house under to hold it out so far . . . I'd hate to be a woman. I'd end up on my ass; I know it---if not during the wedding, itself, then during the dancing afterward . . .”

 

“She'd be really upset, wouldn't she? Not that we can, but . . . if we got married here? Your mother would be mad . . .”

 

Hiding his amusement behind a well-placed cough and ignoring the doorman's soft chuckles, Ryomaru shrugged. “Maybe a little . . . Probably not long. I, uh . . . I'd be more worried that you wouldn't have the wedding you wanted.”

 

Nezumi stared at the chapel again before shifting her gaze back to Ryomaru. “We . . . couldn't get married here . . . could we?”

 

“We got our passports,” Ryomaru mused. “Guess it would depend on what we needed.”

 

The doorman cleared his throat again. “In the Wedding Capital of the World? Your passports should be all you need!”

 

Nezumi pondered that for a moment, biting her lip as she glanced from Ryomaru to the chapel and back again. “It was the first place you saw,” she ventured a little too casually.

 

“You saying you want to do it?”

 

“I'm not . . . against the idea . . . if you think your mother won't mind.”

 

“Not at all,” Ryomaru lied, checking the inside pocket of his leather jacket for their passports, “if you're sure.”

 

Frowning as she shifted her weight from one foot to the other, she stared at the sidewalk then up at the sky as she thought it over.

 

`She's going to say no, baka, and do you blame her? She had to have seen right through your line of crap. You're a terrible actor, just so you know. Remember that time you filled in for Kich in that stupid play?'

 

He grimaced. `I didn't really want to think about that, thanks.'

 

`Yeah, well, that was your own fault. You dared Kich to drink that entire bottle of sake, and he was too drunk to go on stage. Anyway, never mind about that. You're not winning any awards for that performance. You sucked wind!'

 

`I wasn't that bad. She's thinking it over. She just don't want to hurt Mother.'

 

“Ryo?” Nezumi said quietly, snapping him out of his reverie.

 

Ryomaru focused his attention on Nezumi as she slowly shook her head and winced. “I . . . I really don't want a big wedding.”

 

It felt like his heart stopped for a moment, and Ryomaru swallowed the lump that rose in his throat, fought to contain the rise of cautious anticipation. “You . . . want to do it?”

 

Nezumi drew a ragged breath and nodded. “Yeah . . . yeah, but fast, before I change my mind.”

 

 

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Final Thought fromNezumi:

Can we do this really, really fast, Ryo …?

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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~