InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 3: Forever ❯ Candy Kisses ( Chapter 45 )

~~Chapter 45~~

~Candy Kisses~

 

“I don't care, but I don't want fucking pink.”

 

Nezumi wrinkled her nose and rolled her eyes as she tried not to think about just what they were doing. “Orange?” she suggested.

 

“Feh! Don't they have anything blue or green or---”

 

“Purple?”

 

“No, no fucking purple, either.”

 

“It's only fair. You picked out the one for me; I get to pick one for you, and you'll like it or else.”

 

“Yeah, yeah, this is only temporary. I'll get you a real one later.”

 

Nezumi grinned, feeling a little bashful as she picked through the box. “Well, you know, if we're going to do this, we might as well really do it, right?”

 

“That's the plan, wench,” he agreed. “Now hurry up. Just grab one.”

 

Settling for a hideous shade of electric blue, Nezumi handed it to Ryo, who inspected it before the two turned to the cash register. The girl behind the counter seemed bored. She completed the transaction without a single word.

 

Ryomaru stuck his credit card in his pocket before grabbing the small paper bag in one hand and Nezumi's hand in the other, dragging her toward the door and back outside onto the sidewalk. “You know, I think the fees and interest will be higher than the actual purchase,” he complained.

 

“We could have found an ATM, you know,” she pointed out reasonably.

 

“Feh! It ain't a big deal.”

 

Hiding her amusement at his disgruntled tone, she had a feeling that he was more worried that she would change her mind about what they were doing than anything else. He probably figured that he needed to hurry up before she changed her mind.

 

`Like you would, Nezumi. You've wanted to do this for a very long time.'

 

`Yeah, I have. It's never been a question about what I've wanted, has it? I didn't want him to be with me because he had to be.'

 

“I'm hungry,” she ventured.

 

“You're what?”

 

“Hungry.”

 

“Nez, we're going to get married.”

 

“Sure, we are,” she agreed with a shrug. “I'm still hungry, though. Maybe we can get something to eat afterward?”

 

Ryomaru snorted. “We're getting married, and all you can think about is getting something to eat afterward? Feh!”

 

“I'm human, Ryo. Humans tend to get hungry, and when we get hungry, we need to eat,” she pointed out reasonably.

 

He heaved a sigh, shaking his head in surrender. “Fine, Nez, we'll feed you after we do this . . . You, uh . . . you still want to do this, right?”

 

“I suppose,” she quipped, eliciting another snort from the hanyou. Nezumi giggled. “Should we change first?”

 

“Change? Into what?”

 

“Change clothes, Ryo. Jeans and a sweater? And look at you! You're no better.”

 

Glancing down at his faded jeans and dark blue t-shirt as he adjusted the leather jacket, Ryomaru wrinkled his nose. “What's wrong with what I'm wearing? At least your sweater's white,” he pointed out.

 

Suddenly she laughed. “I guess it doesn't really matter. I mean, we're going to get married at the Blue Heaven Wedding Chapel. Can't get much cheesier than that.”

 

Ryomaru laughed, too. “Yeah, well, it's not like there ain't a million places here we can do it. You want to look for another one?”

 

“This one . . . that one . . .” She shook her head. “Besides, you did see that one first.”

 

“I did,” he granted, taking her hand again and impatiently pulling.

 

She should be nervous, she supposed. She ought to feel anxious and jittery. That's what she'd always heard, anyway. Maybe she simply didn't have enough time to stew it over and to think about it long enough for those feelings to come out. All she knew was that marrying Ryomaru seemed like more than just a good idea. It felt right to her. It felt like the natural thing to do. The only reason she'd hesitated really was because she didn't want to hurt Kagome. Even though she didn't want a huge wedding, she could understand why Kagome would want Ryomaru to have that. Still she figured, so long as they were happy, then did it matter if they got married here in Las Vegas or there in Tokyo?

 

The sense of peace was far from a happy thing. More of a feeling of coming to terms with the past than any real understanding or a great epiphany, she thought that was normal, too. She had come a long way, hadn't she, and Ryomaru . . . He really never had left her side, and she believed him when he said he never, ever would.

 

Gazing down at her hand caught in his, she had to smile. Ryomaru never had cared if she was dressed like every other girl. He didn't care if she wore makeup, and he didn't try to tell her that she needed to change. He was her best friend, in every sense of the word.

 

`He might not be a poet or anything, and he'll never really be good with words, but he's Ryo, and he's strong . . . I feel safer with him than I ever could with anyone else. Then again, there's never been anyone else, has there? Not since the day I met him at school . . .'

 

He hadn't spoken a word on the way back from the cemetery. His silence had been comforting, and as she'd pondered the remarkable events, she couldn't help but notice. Every so often, Ryomaru would cast her a sidelong glance, and when he managed to catch her eye, he'd smile. Maybe it was easier to let go of the past when there was a promise of a future. There was only one thing she hadn't asked him, one question that she wasn't sure if she wanted answered. He'd stayed behind, lingering at her mother's grave when she hadn't been able to stand it any more.

 

Gazing at him in the darkness and light of the harsh street lamps, Nezumi loved the way his eyes glowed like jewels. “Ryo? Can I ask you something?”

 

He made a face as he slowed his pace to match hers. “What's that?”

 

She tugged on his hand to stop him. Tilting her head as she tried to read his expression, she narrowed her eyes, searched the shadows of his face. “Why did you stay by my mother's grave?”

 

Caught off-guard by her quiet inquiry, Ryomaru shook his head slowly, stared over her head with a thoughtful frown. “Wanted to pay my respects,” he mumbled. “Does it matter?”

 

She had the feeling there was more to it than that. There was something he wasn't telling her, something he was hiding. “You promised. You swore you wouldn't keep things from me, remember?”

 

“It ain't a big deal,” he insisted, his frown slipping deeper into a scowl. “Can we just . . . not talk about this?”

 

“I think it does matter. I mean, you want to get married, right? But you're keeping something from me, even now? Ryo---”

 

“Damn it! I cried, all right? I don't know why. I just . . .” Trailing off as he dragged a clawed hand through his hair in complete exasperation, Ryomaru gripped the back of his neck and made a face full of self-disgust. “Maybe . . . maybe it was because you couldn't. Like I said, I don't know why.”

 

Nezumi winced at the painful swelling in her chest, the constricting bands of tension that made it difficult to breathe. Her nose tingled, her eyes burned, and she could feel her chin tremble as her vision blurred. She reached out, lay her hand on his cheek, and she tried to smile as her throat seemed to close. “Ryo . . . marry me. Here. Now. Tonight.”

 

His smile was slow in coming, sheepish, bashful, completely contrary to his normal arrogance, his casual pride. “Then get moving, Nez. I'm the one who's been waiting for you to make up your mind.”

 

 

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

 

 

“Do you, Deirdre, take this man, Ryomaru, to be your lawfully married husband?”

 

Nezumi tried not to laugh as the Elvis impersonator---Reverend E, or so he had claimed---hitched his shoulders, shook his leg, and adjusted his Elvis-stance, waiting for Nezumi's answer.

 

“I do,” she mumbled. Ryomaru relaxed beside her. The change wasn't outward but she could feel the subtle shift in the air around him, as though he was worried that she might change her mind.

 

Glancing around the tacky little chapel, Nezumi stifled her amusement. Painted in a horrible shade of lurid pink that disturbingly resembled the inside of a bottle of Pepto Bismol, she couldn't help but hear the tiny voice in her mind that assured her that it just seemed like the right sort of place for the two of them to make everything official.

 

“Do you, Ryomaru, take this fine lookin' babe Deirdre, as your lawfully married wife?”

 

Nezumi had to elbow Ryomaru in the ribs since he apparently took exception to the fake Elvis' reference to her. The low growl ended abruptly, and he snorted. “Feh. Hells, yes, damn it.”

 

Reverend E laughed, adjusting the infamous white sequin and rhinestone studded leisure suit. “You got rings?” he asked as he curled his lip in an affectation of a sexy snarl. Nezumi giggled.

 

Ryomaru dug the `rings' out of his pocket. Reverend E coughed. It took a minute or two to unwrap the Ring Pops. “I've seen interesting rings before,” Reverend E remarked, “but . . . I think this may be a first. Now, Deirdre, repeat after me: with this . . . sour apple Ring Pop, I wed you.”

 

She grinned as she slipped the plastic ring onto his finger as far as she could, murmuring the words that accompanied the action. All things considered, it wasn't far at all: barely past his first knuckle. Ryomaru finally smiled.

 

“And Ryomaru, repeat after me: with this . . . lemon Ring Pop, I wed you.”

 

Ryomaru complied with the instructions.

 

Reverend E snapped his book closed. Embossed in gold gilt lettering were the words, `The Book of Love'. “By the power vested in me by the city of Las Vegas and the state of Nevada, I now pronounce you man and wife. Go on there . . . kiss your bride, and on behalf of the Blue Heaven Chapel, I just want to say Thank you . . . thank you, very much for choosing us for your wedding.”

 

Nezumi started to giggle but Ryomaru caught her hands and pulled her close. A soft chuckle rumbled out of him, and he squeezed her hands just a little as he brushed his lips over hers. “Forever,” he murmured as he pulled away.

 

“Forever,” she agreed.

 

 

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

 

 

Nezumi giggled, squirming around as she tried to evade Ryomaru's relentless attacks. Claws grazing over her sides, he leaned over her, pinning her against the sofa with his torso as she shoved at his shoulders in a futile effort to dislodge him. “Stop!” she squeaked as tears ran down her temples, disappearing in her hair. “Ryo!”

 

“Take it back,” he demanded.

 

“N-n-n-okay! I take it back; I take it back! Now stop!”

 

Completely satisfied with his perceived victory, Ryomaru leaned back but didn't move away from her. “You're mine, you know. Completely mine. All mine.”

 

Nezumi rolled her eyes as she tried to catch her breath but smiled. Heat stole into her cheeks, and she couldn't meet his gaze. “Gloat much?” she grumbled.

 

“Only when something's worth gloating about,” he assured her. “Izayoi Deirdre. I like that.”

 

Grinning since she couldn't argue with him about that, anyway, Nezumi pushed on Ryomaru's shoulders again. “Yeah?”

 

“Yeah,” he agreed. “Izayoi Deirdre. It has a nice ring to it. I can't believe we were married by an Elvis impersonator. Can't see Mother being thrilled about this.”

 

She giggled. “I can't believe we bought these.”

 

Ryomaru lifted his left hand to scrutinize his `wedding ring' as Nezumi's giggling escalated into hearty laughter. “Feh! Mine's hard to look at,” he grumbled as he turned his wrist to eye the ring from different perspectives.

 

“What are you griping about? Yours is blue. Mine's just . . . an eyesore.”

 

“It's yellow, wench, yellow! Yellow ain't so bad.”

 

“Neon yellow, baka . . . Lemon flavored, the package said.”

 

Ryomaru narrowed his gaze on her as he shook his head and caught her wrist before she could do what he suspected she had in mind. “Oi! You can't eat your wedding ring!”

 

“But I'm hungry, Ryo, and you promised---”

 

His cell phone interrupted Nezumi, and with a heavy sigh, he rolled to the side and sat up. “Call room service, then,” he muttered as he grabbed his leather jacket off the floor. “Just got married, and all the wench can do is say she's hungry.”

 

She tossed a throw pillow at his head and grabbed the phone on the side table as he flipped open his phone and hit the `talk' button. “Izayoi.”

 

“Ryo, the pilot called Sesshoumaru. He says you'll be able to leave tomorrow around noon, your time. He said you weren't answering your cell.”

 

Ryomaru grimaced at the accusing tone in his father's voice. “Yeah, well, I was kind of busy at the time.”

 

“Busy? Doing what? You're not in fucking jail, are you?”

 

“Feh! Jail! As if! No . . .”

 

InuYasha paused before asking his next question. Ryomaru could sense his father's mounting suspicion and braced himself for whatever was coming.

 

“Ryo, what's our room number?” Nezumi asked. Ryomaru glanced over his shoulder at his new wife. She was covering the phone receiver with one hand, staring at him expectantly.

 

“The honeymoon suite,” he told her.

 

Nezumi blinked in surprise. “The what?”

 

He made a face as his ears twitched nervously. “The honeymoon suite,” he replied again.

 

“Ryomaru . . .”

 

Waving off the note of warning in her tone, Ryomaru intercepted her narrow-eyed stare as he concentrated on what he was about to tell his father, instead.

 

“All right, what the hell is going on?” InuYasha demanded dryly.

 

Ryomaru stifled a sigh. `Damn, he's probably not going to be impressed.'

 

`You think? Balls, that was an understatement. Actually the old man's the least of my worries.'

 

“Ryo?” InuYasha repeated.

 

“Yeah, about that . . . Nez and I got married.”

 

InuYasha paused for a moment before uttering a terse chuckle. “You've got to be kidding.”

 

“Nope. Got married at the Blue Heaven Wedding Chapel by an Elvis impersonator . . .”

 

“Do me a favor, Ryo. You tell your mother this.”

 

Ryomaru started to protest but made a face as the disruption of InuYasha passing off the phone made him cringe. Nezumi hung up the room phone behind him, dropping the receiver with a loud clatter. He didn't have to look to know she was irritated, too, and when Kagome finally said, “Ryomaru, are you all right?” he stifled a sigh and shook his head.

 

“Yep, everything's fine, Mother.”

 

“Your father said you have something to tell me?” Kagome prompted.

 

Ryomaru could feel his ears flatten against his head. “Uh . . . Nez and I . . . got married.”

 

Dead silence met his statement. He could hear his father in the background but couldn't make out InuYasha's words. He could discern Sesshoumaru's voice. The phone sounded like it was being moved. Ryomaru winced as he pictured his mother gripping the device so tightly that her fingertips were white while she opened and closed her mouth a few times in her struggle to find the right words to express her feelings on the matter.

 

“Did you . . .? You didn't just say . . . Ryomaru, tell me you didn't---”

 

“I could tell you that,” he agreed.

 

“Thank kami!”

 

“But I'd be lying.”

 

“Ryomaru, I cannot believe you would do something like that when you knew that your father and I---Just a minute, InuYasha! That your father and I were planning your---Not now, dog-boy!”

 

The phone had apparently changed hands again, since Kagome's voice had grown more distant at the end of her little speech. Ryomaru sighed, wondering just who was on the phone now.

 

“Let's just listen, shall we?”

 

“Oh, balls . . .” Ryomaru groaned when Toga's voice greeted him.

 

InuYasha's voice drowned out the others in the background. “Calm down, wench! Neither of those two wanted your big fucking wedding. Leave `em alone, will you? Ain't a damn thing you can do about it now, anyway!”

 

“He's our oldest son, InuYasha! I wanted him to have a wedding he'd remember!”

 

“Feh! And you think being married by an Elvis impersonator ain't memorable?”

 

“A . . . what?”

 

“Forget it, Kagome! You can still help plan Kichiro's wedding . . . unless he elopes, too . . .”

 

“And mine!” a small, female voice piped up. Ryomaru scowled at the sound of his baby sister's voice.

 

“Fat fucking chance, baby girl! You ain't ever getting married!”

 

“Papa!”

 

“InuYasha!” Kagome griped.

 

“You know,” Toga cut in as InuYasha, Kagome, and Gin continued their debate, “I can't say I blame you for eloping. Hell, I'd have done it if I didn't have so many stupid obligations.”

 

“Yeah, well, it weren't so bad.”

 

Toga chuckled. “No, I don't suppose it was. Got a question for you, though.”

 

“What's that?”

 

“You just got married, right?”

 

“So?”

 

“So what the hell are you doing on the phone with me? You're supposed to be having `The Sex' right about now.”

 

“`The Sex'?” he echoed.

 

Toga laughed. “Yes, Ryo, `The Sex'. Try it. You'll like it. This time make sure you remember it.”

 

“Bastard,” Ryomaru growled. With a shake of his head, he closed his cell phone, then opened it up again to turn off the ringer before dropping it on the coffee table as he cautiously looked to see why Nezumi was irritated.

 

She was sitting back on the sofa with her arms crossed over her chest and the `We-are-not-amused' look on her face. “All right, what?” he grumbled, figuring he might as well not try to dance around the subject.

 

Tapping her index finger against her upper arm, she quirked an eyebrow in question. “The honeymoon suite? Did you plan this from the start?”

 

Ryomaru tried not to wince. “No! You were there when we checked in! I just told them my name, that's all!”

 

She snorted. “I was half-asleep, Ryo! I was just thinking about a bath and bed!”

 

“You're not still thinking about bed, are you?” he asked, sidetracked by the thought of that.

 

“Not at the moment, no.”

 

He sighed, slumping back as he dragged a hand over his face. “Didn't think so.”

 

“Dog,” she muttered before reminding him, “The honeymoon suite?”

 

`Uh oh, Ryo . . . Don't fuck this up or you won't be having `The Sex' tonight, after all.'

 

`Shut the hell up, will you?'

 

`I'm just trying to help.'

 

`Yeah? Too bad you're not.'

 

“Sesshoumaru made the arrangements, Nez. He's paying for all this since it was his damn plane that broke down.”

 

“So you had nothing to do with it?” she asked once more.

 

“Not a damn thing.”

 

“Good.” She sighed. “Sorry.”

 

“What for?”

 

She shrugged. He had a feeling there was more to the gesture that she wasn't saying. “So . . . how did your parents take it?”

 

He grimaced at the reminder. “The old man didn't say much. Mother . . . wasn't too happy.”

 

Nezumi made a face. “Yeah, I figured.”

 

“I'm not sorry. Hell, I'd do it again. You didn't want a big wedding, and I didn't want one, either!”

 

Nezumi finally smiled just a little as she uncrossed her arms and stared at her makeshift wedding ring. “I hope you're hungry, too. Call it revenge for when I thought you'd arranged to have this suite.”

 

“Why? What did you do?”

 

She grimaced as someone knocked on the door. “Well . . .”

 

Ryomaru spared her a suspicious look before he got up and strode over to answer. Six waiters pushed in carts laden with silver-domed plates of food. “What'd you do? Order everything on the menu?” he growled incredulously.

 

Nezumi didn't answer. When Ryomaru glanced at her, she was smiling. “Two,” she said.

 

 

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Final Thought fromRyomaru:

She really was hungry …

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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~