InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 4: Justification ❯ New Moon ( Chapter 38 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

"Hey, I've got an idea," Bellaniece said as she hurried into the living room with a magazine open in her hands.  "Let's go rent a movie!  I haven't watched any movies in a long, long time."

"Not tonight," Kichiro growled, making a face as he tried to concentrate on his research.

"Oh, come on," she coaxed, plopping down beside him as she closed the magazine and tossed it in the general direction of the coffee table.  "Don't be such a—Uh?" she cut herself off and shot to her feet before whipping around to gape at Kichiro.  "What—why—Your hair!"

Kichiro sighed and rolled his eyes, closing the file and dropping it onto his lap.  "Yeah, my hair's black, Belle.  I'm human.  What of it?"

Bellaniece blinked and slowly shook her head.  "You could have warned me," she pointed out reasonably.  "I mean, you don't really look like you normally do . . ."

"Keh!  Drive it into the dirt, wench," he muttered.  "I know; I know . . . black hair, brown eyes . . . human.  Damn."

"You're really grouchy when you're human," she remarked before she leaned over and grasped the bottom of his shirt and tugged.

"Oi!  What do you think you're doing?"

Bellaniece rolled her eyes and giggled.  "I want to see if that's all that changed."

"What?"

"Did your belly button suck in?"

He slapped her hand away and snorted again.  "No, it didn't . . . if you're going to be a pain in my ass, go get me a soda."

"And who was your slave yesterday?" she countered, arching her eyebrows in silent challenge.

"You're hanyou; you're faster," he muttered, cheeks pinking just slightly, "and you're standing up."

Bellaniece started to say something but seemed to think better of it.  She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest.  "Get it yourself, Dr. Izayoi.  Learn how to ask, and it might get you further."

"Yeah, yeah, stop flapping your jaws and just get my drink," he grumbled, opening the file as he tried to ignore her.

Bellaniece narrowed her eyes on the doctor and slowly shook her head before turning on her heel and stomping out of the living room, heading toward the kitchen.

Kichiro made a face.  He couldn't help it.  It always happened.  Being human was something he'd always despised, more for the effects on his body than for any other reason.  He felt like he was under water when he was human.  The dulling of his senses reminded him of that sensation—probably the reason he'd never liked swimming . . .

Bellaniece sashayed back into the living room with an ice cold can of Coke.  He raised his hand to take it.  She slapped him away before popping the tab and guzzling the drink.  Kichiro's eyebrows shot up as he watched her crush the can in her hands.  Her smile was absolutely triumphant, and he opened his mouth to say something.

His commentary was cut off, however, when she unleashed the most unfeminine belch he'd ever heard.  If he were hanyou, his ears would have flattened.  She'd belched better than most men, for that matter . . .

"Holy damn, princess!  What the fuck was that?"

"Don't hate me because I can burp," she informed him.  "Hate me because I can burp louder than you."

"Oh, the hell!" he sputtered, pushing his research off his lap and standing up.  "We'll just see about that . . ."

She followed him to the kitchen, grabbing a Coke before he could close the refrigerator door.  He glared at her as he downed his soda.  Bellaniece did the same.  The cans hit each other as they sailed toward the trash container.  Bellaniece shook her head and sighed.  "Ok, doctor, let's hear it."

"Hold on a second," he growled.

Bellaniece rolled her eyes.  "Would it help if I patted your back like a baby?"

"Hush, wench.  You're distracting me."

She started to say something, but Kichiro's belch interrupted her.  Bellaniece wrinkled her nose as the human-for-the-night hanyou crossed his arms over his chest and smiled with perverse pride.

"That's just sad," she countered.

"What do you mean, sad?  That was a good—"

Bellaniece's unearthly roar ended his bragging.  Kichiro stepped away from the girl as his face contorted in horrified fascination—almost admiration.  "That's disgusting," he grumbled, shaking his head as Bellaniece giggled.  "You're not inu-hanyou; you're pig, I know it . . ."

"Oh, stop being a spoiled sport!  I won, fair and square."

"Not hardly," he grouched.  "I swear you cheated."

"How could I have possibly cheated?" she demanded, arching a brow as she crossed her arms over her chest and leaned back against the counter.  "You really hate to lose, and you hate to lose to a girl even more, don't you?"

"Keh!  Damn, I need a drink . . ."

"You just had one," she pointed out reasonably enough.

He shot her a quelling glower.  "I wasn't talking about soda, wench.  I was talking about whiskey . . . or something like that."

"So go get some," she said as she braced her hands on the counter and pushed herself onto it.  "There's a liquor store in Bevelle."

"I'd love to," he told her with a marked snort.  "I can't."

Bellaniece shook her head.  "Why can't you?"

"Because, princess, I'm human tonight.  I don't go out when I'm human."

"Why's that?"

"The old man told us it's better that way."

"Do you always do what your old man says?"

"Do you?"

She grinned.  "Sometimes."

He rolled his eyes.  "I don't make a habit of ignoring him."

Bellaniece thought that over as she crossed her ankles and kicked her legs.  "Daddy's got whiskey in the liquor cabinet . . ."

"Does he really."

She nodded.  "Of course he does.  Too bad he took his key with him.  I'm pretty sure it was the only one . . ."

Kichiro crossed his arms over his chest and couldn't help asking her, "Oh, so your daddy doesn't trust you alone with the booze."

Bellaniece wrinkled her nose.  "I have no desire to get drunk and get stupid, Dr. Izayoi."  She stared at him for a moment.  "Is that how you ended up in over fifty hapless women's beds?"

He snorted.  "Not hardly.  They were lined up down the street to get into my bed, didn't you know?  I'm like . . . the Elvis of oral sex."

Her mouth dropped open as her cheeks flushed, and she quickly looked away.  "I think that's the most preposterous thing you've ever said," she scoffed.

Kichiro laughed.  "Show me to the liquor cabinet, princess."

She blinked.  "I told you, it's locked."

"My brother and I made an art from out of breaking rules, Belle-chan. I can jimmy the lock.  Just show me where it is."

Despite her reservations about the reason behind his desire to get hammered, Bellaniece hopped down from the countertop and led the way back into the living room and stopped beside the high oak cabinet built into the wall.  "Don't break anything," she warned.

Kichiro made a face.  "Yeah, whatever.  I don't break stuff."

She plopped down on the sofa and grabbed the manila file that Kichiro had been reading while he stalked over to the huge oak desk and rummaged through the drawers for something to help him pick the lock.  Staring at a small metal fingernail file, Kichiro held it up to examine it.

Bellaniece frowned at the documents as she leafed through them.  One page was covered in his bold handwriting.  She read it, eyes widening in disbelief.  "You are such a dog!" she mumbled incredulously.

"What's that?" he asked absently as he knelt on the floor in front of the liquor cabinet.

"That's what I should be asking," she countered, waving the paper around in the air.  "It's not enough to do what you've done, but you have to give normal sex a try, too?"

That got his attention.  Back stiffening as he slowly turned to look over his shoulder, Kichiro looked anything but sheepish.  He shrugged and resumed picking the lock.  "You're such a pervert, Belle-chan, but if you insist, I'll be happy to let you be my research assistant."

"Pfft!" she scoffed, cheeks pinking as she squashed the folder in her hands and dropped it on the coffee table.  "Highly scandalous, Dr. Izayoi.  I have no desire to be your guinea pig."

"Oh?"

"Of course not," she commented.  "What if your plan failed?"

"Then I'd end up with you as my mate," he growled.  

Bellaniece narrowed her eyes as she scowled at his back.  "Yeah, you're right," she agreed with his disgusted tone.  "That would be a fate worse than death."

He shrugged offhandedly.   "It meant that I think you're being ridiculous.  Everyone who has tested the hypothesis thus far were people who wouldn't have cared had the research failed."

She shook her head.  "I see."

"Do you?"

"Why would you research such a thing?  Mating is something that shouldn't be taken lightly."

"I didn't say it should be," Kichiro grumbled.  "There are such things as accidents, and you're missing the broader picture."

"What broader picture?"

"No one fully understands how youkai and hanyous function on a biological level.  If we did, we could figure out some thing; maybe prevent other things."

"Like what?"

"Like why mates follow one another in death."

That gave her pause.  Bellaniece bit her bottom lip as she considered his words.  "Do you think . . . Do you think that could really be prevented?"

"I don't know.  Maybe.  Anyway, it's gotta be better than what Ryo did . . ."

"Your brother?"

Kichiro shrugged as he jammed the pointed end of the file into the keyhole and jiggled it back and forth.  "Yep.  Mated his best friend one night when he'd had too much to drink.  He's never been the brightest crayon in the box."

Bellaniece's mouth dropped open, and she knew she was gaping at him.  "That's not even funny," she accused.

"Am I laughing?"

"You're serious?"

Kichiro rolled his eyes.  "Hell, yes, I'm serious.  My brother is . . . well, he's a baka.  Took forever before he realized that his youkai chose Nezumi long ago."

"That's … that's . . ." She shook her head as she struggled to find the right words.  "That's just . . ."

"Wrong?"

She waved her hand.  "No . . ."

"Stupid?"

"Sure, a little . . ."

"Ridiculous?"

"Uh, yeah . . ."

"Unbelievable?  Stop me when I'm close . . ."

"I can't believe that your brother did something like that."

He snorted.  "Have you met Ryomaru?  Because he isn't the best example of 'Things to Do When You're Drunk'."

Bellaniece snorted.

"This is too damn big," Kichiro grumbled, staring in disgust at the metal file.  "Come here, wench.  Poke around with your claw and see if you can get the latch to give."

Bellaniece blinked and stared at the back of the doctor's head.  "I can't, and even if I could, I wouldn't help you with your deviant behavior," she pointed out.

"Can't?" he echoed.  "Why can't you?"

Rolling her eyes, Bellaniece held up a hand to show him that she didn't have claws—at least for the time being.

Kichiro dropped the file and slowly stood up.  "You're human?"

"Yes, I am," she agreed.

"Why don't you look different?" he demanded as he circled her.  "You look the same . . . are you sure you're human?"

She knocked his hand away as he pushed her hair out of the way to inspect her ears.  "I think I know when I'm human," she assured him.  "I have no idea why I don't look different.  Daddy says I look like my mother, except her hair was a little lighter, and so were her eyes."

"Yeah, that's not it," he argued.  "You still look the same."

"No claws, no pointed ears . . . no crests . . ."

That got his attention.  He cocked his head to the side and eyed her dubiously. "Crests?"

"I have crests, just like Daddy," she explained.

"They're not just like your daddy's.  I saw you in that bikini, and I saw no crests."

Bellaniece giggled.  "Of course you didn't!  Daddy insists that I keep my crests covered at all times, you know.  It's one thing to use a concealment to hide them from humans, but since we were over at your uncle's house, I had to make sure they were hidden."

He crossed his arms over his chest.  "By that bikini?  Where the hell are they?"

"They're not that special, just stripe-shaped crests."

"Yeah, well, it's where they are that is the point."

"Why would you care, where my crests are?"

"Because if they were covered by your bikini, then that means . . ."

"Uh huh."

Her eyebrows shot up as he uttered something of a low moan.  "Damn, I really need that drink now . . ."

Bellaniece smiled as Kichiro pivoted to stomp back to the liquor cabinet once more.

'That was . . . interesting . . .' she thought.

Interesting, indeed . . .


"Wildflowers."

Bellaniece peeked over the top of her magazine.  "Wildflowers?"

Kichiro nodded.  "You smell like wildflowers . . ." His expression darkened as he frowned thoughtfully.  "And . . . sex."

"I beg your pardon?"

He shrugged, holding up his half-full glass of whiskey as he swirled it around.  "You do, you know.  Wildflowers and sex . . . Nice combination."

Shifting his gaze to the side in time to catch the incredulous expression on her pink-tinged face, Kichiro chuckled and sat back in the overstuffed recliner.

"That wasn't a very nice thing to say, was it?"

"What?  That you smell like sex, and really great sex at that?  Depends on what you consider 'nice'."

She pursed her lips in irritation and scowled at him.  "And just how does sex smell?" she demanded.

Kichiro chuckled again, leaning toward her and grabbing her hand to pull her off the sofa and into his lap.  The ice in his glass clinked, but he didn't spill as she landed heavily.  He wrapped an arm around her waist to keep her there.  "It's hard to describe," he admitted.  "More of a mix of scents . . . of salty skin and rising humidity . . . something wild and dark . . . Or maybe I should just . . . show you . . ."

Bellaniece gasped and tried to stand up.  He tightened his arm enough to keep her there.  "I don't think—"

"See, that's the real problem," he admitted.  "I think too much.  I ask too many questions, like now, for example.  I should have just grabbed you and kissed you, instead."

She stopped struggling and stared at him.  The wariness in her gaze tore at him, and he forced a smile as he drained the whiskey.  "I need a refill."

Bellaniece sighed.  "No, you don't.  You've had . . . how many glasses now?"

He shrugged.  "Wasn't counting."

"You're drunk, aren't you?"

"Do I sound drunk?"

"Slurring?  No . . . Mindless drivel?  Absolutely."

"Maybe you should have a drink, princess.  Does wonders for the inhibitions."

"I don't have inhibitions; I have common sense."  She tried to get up again.  He held her.  "Besides, I don't feel like hearing you growl at me in the morning because I had a drink."

"Who said anything about growling at you?" he countered, burying his nose in her hair as he set his glass aside.  "Kami, you smell good."

"Let me go," she whispered, her body relaxing as he nuzzled against her.

"Wan' play doctor, Belle-chan?"

She gasped as his free hand slipped up her thigh, caressing her skin through the thin fabric of her sundress.  "I . . ."

Capturing her earlobe between his teeth and tugging gently, he might have laughed at the violence of the tremor that passed through her if he didn't have other things on his mind, like what the proximity of her body was doing to his . . . "You want me, Belle; I know you do."

"I . . . you . . ."

"Tell me you do."

She shook her head.  He growled, nipping her earlobe, and she shivered.

"I think you know as well as I do.  We're inevitable, you and I . . ."

"Are . . . we?"

He let go of her to run his hands up and down her sides.  She didn't notice that she was freed.  Her head fell to the side, exposing the tender expanse of her neck for his perusal.  Trailing the tip of his tongue up the curve of her neck as his hands brushed against her sides, Bellaniece arched her back, both drawing away as she leaned closer at the same time.  Cursing the new moon and the changes that prohibited his ability to monitor the changes in her scent, in her aura, he had to admit that the sounds of her soft sighs, of her stunted breaths were reward enough.

"You're beautiful, did you know?"

It took a moment for his words to make sense to her.  Bellaniece reluctantly opened her eyes and looked up at him.  "Am I?"

"Are you trying to tell me you didn't know?"

She smiled weakly.  "Sure, I knew that.  I just didn't know you'd figured it out, too."

He tweaked her nose with his.  "Impudent wench."

She reached back and tugged his hair playfully.  "I should get up now," she mused.

"No, you shouldn't."

"Why not?"

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her back against his chest.  "Because I like holding you this way."

"Thought you couldn't stand me."

He chuckled at the petulant lilt in her voice.  "I tolerate you."

"That's not very flattering."

He rubbed his cheek against hers.  "Stop fishing for compliments."

"Well, if you weren't so stingy with them . . ."

"One thing at a time, princess . . ."

She wrinkled her nose.  "Does this mean you're saving your nastiness for tomorrow, after you've sobered up and realized that you were . . . nice?"

He made a face.  "I'm not drunk, so there will be no sobering, and no, I wasn't planning on being nasty . . . but you know, there's something to be said for 'nasty' . . ."

She giggled then gasped as his hand trailed up her leg again, this time pushing up her skirt with the movement.  "D-doctor . . ."

"Say it," he interrupted.

"Say what?"

"My name."

Her fingers tugged on his hair as her hands balled into fists, as her back arched again, as she quaked in his arms.  "I . . . can't . . ."

He sighed, letting go of her as he sat back and closed his eyes for a moment.  She sat up and turned to look at him.  "I'm sorry."

"Don't be sorry, Belle."

She stood up and fussed with her skirt, biting her lower lip as she avoided his gaze.

At first he thought he'd scared her, but maybe it was more than that.  Maybe she just needed a little more encouragement; needed to see that he really did see her as a person.  "You know, I don't have anything to do tomorrow," he drawled.

Bellaniece took his glass and refreshed his drink.  "Oh?"

"Nope, not a thing.  Is there anything . . . you want to do?"

She hesitated before screwing the cap back on the bottle.  "Like what?"

"Anything . . . go somewhere . . . do something?"

Bellaniece returned his drink and sat on the edge of the sofa with her hands tucked under her legs.  "Well, there is one thing . . . but you'd probably think it's stupid."

He flinched as her expression fell.  He didn't rightfully care if she said she wanted to watch paint dry all day.  He'd agree to it, if she would just smile again.  "Try me."

She scrunched up her shoulders as a hint of pinkness seeped into her cheeks.   "There's an amusement park a couple hours from here," she began.  "Daddy took me a few times . . ."

"An amusement park?" he echoed, eyebrows disappearing under his thick fringe of bangs.  "You're serious?"

She forced a laugh.  "Oh, no!  I mean, you wouldn't . . . It's fine!  I just . . . I don't know why I thought of something as . . . childish . . . as that . . ."

Kichiro shook his head.  "Is that what you want to do?  I'll take you there, if you want to go."

Bellaniece's laughter died as she tried not to look anxious.  "If you're sure . . ."

He grinned.  "I'll do whatever you want, Belle, and I'll be good, I promise."

She finally smiled, and Kichiro caught his breath.

'Kami, she's . . . gorgeous . . .'

She hopped up and kissed his cheek before running out of the living room.  He watched her go and sighed.  More than a little dubious about the whole idea of this amusement park, the smile on Bellaniece's face . . .

That had definitely been worth it.