InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 4: Justification ❯ The Big Apple ( Chapter 50 )

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

Bellaniece yawned and stretched as she shuffled out of her room into the living room of the hotel suite.  Vaguely surprised that Kichiro was already awake, she blinked and rubbed her eyes as he glanced up from the New York Times long enough to nod at the rolling cart laden with food.  "Knock yourself out, princess," he told her as he shook out the paper and lifted it to cover his face.

Bellaniece took her time poking through the various dishes.  "This is a lot of food," she told him.  "Did you order one of everything?"

Kichiro peeked around the paper.  "Nope."

Bellaniece brought over the pot of coffee and refilled his nearly empty cup.  "You didn't?  Are you sure?"

Stubbornly refusing to look, he groped for the coffee cup and drained it.  "Yep . . . just ordered everything that sounded like it had a lot of sugar in it."

She giggled and poured him another cup before setting the pot down and grabbing a cinnamon roll along with the little silver pitcher of maple syrup.

Kichiro folded up the paper and set it aside, face contorting in abject disgust as he watched Bellaniece tear off a piece of roll and dip the frosted bit into the syrup before popping it into her mouth.  "Gah, just drink the syrup, why don't you?"

Bellaniece stared at the pitcher like she really was considering it.  Kichiro sat up to grab it out of her hand.  She was too quick for him.

"I wasn't serious!"

"I know . . . neither was I."

That didn't stop her from dipping the rest of her roll into the syrup.  He suppressed a shudder and silently drank the rest of his coffee.

"So what's the plan for the day?" Bellaniece asked, dusting her hands off after popping the last of the roll into her mouth.

"Shopping . . . A little sight-seeing . . . and plans for the evening."

"Oh?  What could possibly top La Traviata?"

He grinned.  "You'll see, princess.  You'd better get dressed, don't you think?"

Bellaniece made a face and scooted off the table.  "I should have sent my dress to be washed last night," she commented as she wrinkled her nose.

"What?  The one you wore to travel in?"

She nodded.  "What other one would there be?  As much as I adore the gown, I can't wear that all over New York City . . ."

Kichiro crossed his arms over his chest and tried unsuccessfully to hide his grin.  "Are you telling me you didn't look in your closet?"

She shook her head.  "No, I didn't . . ."

"Maybe you should."

"Why?"

He shrugged.  "I dunno . . . Maybe the dress fairy paid you a visit while you were refusing to get out of the tub."

His ears flattened as Bellaniece unleashed an unearthly squeal and ran off toward her room.  The squeal sounded again when she threw open her closet only to find three casual dresses waiting for her.

'They're all purple, Belle . . . did you notice that?'

Bellaniece tilted her head to the side and grinned to herself.  'So they are . . .'

'That's his color, isn't it?'

Her grin widened a little as she selected a dress.  'So it is.'

'Not very subtle, is he?'

Bellaniece shrugged as she dropped the robe and slipped the dress over her feet, pulling it up over her hips before she stuck her arms into the cap sleeves.  'Strange, really,' she mused as she reached around to zip the dress, 'I don't mind wearing his color . . .'

Pausing long enough to run her brush through her hair, Bellaniece was about to dash out the door again when she spotted the jewelry.  She'd been so bemused last night by the time they returned from their night on the town, Bellaniece hadn't paid much attention as she took off the gown and left the jewelry on the bureau.  Scooping it up, she untangled the necklace and held it up, but stopped short with a soft gasp as she stared in mute shock at the single earring in her palm.

Carefully backtracking as she inspected the path she'd taken, Bellaniece knelt on the floor in her room to peer under the bureau in case it had fallen.

'Oh, no . . .' she thought as she bit her lip and glanced around, shaking the necklace as though she believed that the missing earring was simply tangled in with it.  'No, no, no, no, no . . .'

The prophetic conversation from the night before replayed in her head as Bellaniece reached under the dresser, praying that she simply hadn't seen the earring despite her hanyou vision.

"I can't . . . what if I lose them?  What if we get mugged?"

"It's fine, Belle.  If they get stolen, there's always insurance.  If they get lost . . . just don't lose them, okay?"

"Oh, no . . ."

"I'll make you a deal.  You concentrate on having a good time, and I'll worry about the jewelry."

"Trust me, princess."

"Okay."

She winced as panic started to rise, choking her as she started to force herself to her feet, determined to scour every single place they'd been last night, if she had to . . .

"Just don't lose them, okay?"

She whimpered softly, dreading the thought of explaining that she really had done the unthinkable.

'He's going to yell at me . . . He's going to tell me I was careless, and . . . oh . . . he'll be right . . .'

"What are you doing down there?"

Bellaniece grimaced and hesitantly lifted her gaze to meet Kichiro's puzzled expression.  "I . . . I  . . ." She couldn't say it.  Shaking her head as she held out her hands, she waited miserably as Kichiro knelt beside her and lifted the necklace and solitary earring off her palm.  "I'm sorry," she choked as tears sprang to her eyes.  "I knew I shouldn't have worn them . . . I knew—"

"You lost an earring?" he asked in an even tone.

Bellaniece sniffled and nodded, chin dropping as she stared at her hands.  "I'm sorry."

He sighed and closed his hand around the remaining jewelry.  "It's all right.  Don't worry about it.  Maybe someone'll find it."

"You're not . . . going to y-yell at me?"

"No . . . Wouldn't do any good, anyway."

"But I was stupid and careless and cl-clumsy, and you're just making m-me feel worse by being so n-nice!"

Kichiro sighed again and shook his head, awkwardly wrapping an arm around her shoulders.  "Don't cry," he told her.  "It's just an earring.  They'll just charge my credit card.  It's not a big deal."

"My daddy will pay for it," she told him.  "I know he will . . . after he kills me."

"No, he won't.  Listen, when I arranged to borrow them from the jeweler, it was with the understanding that I'd pay for them, should anything happen.  Don't worry about it, okay?  I knew the risks.  It's not worth crying over."

"But—"

"I mean it.  Are you going to let this ruin the rest of your weekend?"

Bellaniece wiped her cheeks and sniffled.

"Come on.  We'll drop these by the front desk.  They'll lock them in their safe till we check out."

"What?"

Kichiro looked away and sighed again.  He looked a little peeved but not nearly as much as she figured he should.  "It's a matched set, princess.  Kind of a three for one deal."

"You mean . . . You have to buy the necklace too?  Because of me?"

He winced at the panic rising in her tone again, and he shot her a fierce scowl.  "I told you; I knew the risks.  Consider it . . . your birthday present for the next . . . hundred years."

"And you're not mad . . .?  Because I'd be furious at me . . ."

"I'm not mad," he told her, taking her hand and helping her to her feet.  "Come on.  The taxi's probably waiting for us."

"You really are a nice man," she murmured, tugging on his hand to stop him.

Kichiro cleared his throat and scowled at the wall.  "No, I'm not, Belle-chan.  Why don't you go rinse your face off before we go?"

She nodded and hesitated before bracing herself on his shoulder, rising upon her toes to kiss his cheek.  She didn't see the grimace on Kichiro's face.  She didn't see the way his ears flattened as she hurried toward the bathroom.


Cain lay awake well into the night, staring at the ceiling with Gin cuddled in his arms.

'What the hell was I thinking?  How could I have let that happen?'

The silence echoed in his ears, and he gritted his teeth.  Searching for answers written in the darkness was a futile endeavor.

How selfish was he?  Had he thought at all about what he was doing?  He wasn't even going to try to delude himself into believing that what they'd shared would mean nothing to Gin.  He knew her too well to try to think otherwise.  That was one of the reasons he was drawn to her, in the first place.  She was always completely sincere.  Gin didn't know how to lie.  She didn't know how to be vengeful.  She didn't know how to play games.

She stirred in his arms, cuddled closer in her sleep.  Snuggling against him with a contented sigh, she comforted him and tormented him by turns.  Emotion that should have stayed dormant washed through him with a vindictive brutality.  That feeling that he didn't dare name . . .

'So long as I don't mate her,' he told himself for the hundredth time.  'She's strong, right?  She's a fighter . . . Gin . . . As long as I don't mate her . . .'

That was the trick, wasn't it?  It would be all right so long as he didn't make her his mate.  Without that, the final bond wouldn't form, would it?  Wasn't that the key?  Even then, he'd mated Isabelle and lived through it, as painful as that had been.  As long as the formal bond wasn't forged, Gin would be safe . . . She had to be.

And the worst of it?  Instead of satisfying the base need to have her, being with her had only served to make him want her more.  Her reactions, her wonder, her own hunger had only fueled his more.  While he should be berating himself and hating himself just a little bit more, the warmth of Gin's body, the absolute trust in her childlike innocence beckoned him.

So why couldn't he stomach the idea of walking away from her?  Why did the very idea of her moving on, of her finding someone worthy of her gentle smiles and giddy laughter make him want to tear the faceless stranger limb from limb?  Years from now, after Cain had long since faded from Gin's memory . . . He couldn't stand the thought of someone else touching her, of someone else making her smile.

There had been so many years when he'd felt so alone, so empty in a part of him that even Bellaniece had never been able to fill.  If he wanted to be completely honest with himself, that void had always been there, even when Isabelle was still alive.  It was there before her, it remained long after, and suddenly . . .

Gin filled that spot completely, unwittingly.  The emptiness that he'd learned to live with . . . Having to go back, having to feel that emptiness all over again . . . Cain wasn't sure if he could do that.

"Cain?"

"Hey," he said as he lifted his head to gaze at the barely awake hanyou.  "Did I wake you?"

She shook her head and burrowed closer against him.  "No . . . Are you okay?"

"Yeah, fine.  Why wouldn't I be?"

"Hmm, I don't know . . ." she mumbled.  "You were quiet all evening."

"I wasn't quiet . . . you were extra talkative."

"Was I?"

He smiled despite his bleak thoughts.  "Yeah, you were."

"I'll do something nice for you tomorrow," she decided just before she yawned again.

"Oh, yeah?  Like what?"

She squirmed around, leaning up long enough to kiss his cheek before nestling against him once more.  "I'll make you a special cake," she muttered.  "A big one . . . huge."

"You do that, baby girl."

"Hmm."

She fell silent again.  Cain was starting to think she was sleeping when she rolled over and leaned up on her elbow, staring at him with a thoughtful frown.  "Cain?  When we . . . When you . . . When I . . ." She made a face as her cheeks reddened.  "Did you . . .?"

"Did I . . . 'enjoy' myself?" he asked slowly, carefully choosing his words so as not to further her embarrassment.

She nodded, her cheeks a deep shade of red as she scowled at the arm holding the sheet over her breasts.  "Yeah."

He chuckled.  "What do you think the shower was for?"

Her eyes flared wide as her mouth formed a perfect little 'o'.  "You mean you . . .?  Oh . . . Should I have . . .?  I mean, like what you did, only—"

"It was fine, Gin, I promise.  Besides, you were . . . not completely coherent at the time, anyway."

She grinned and cuddled against him again.  "Good.  I'm glad . . . I . . . enjoyed myself, too."

He chuckled again, wrapping his arms more securely around her.  "I know you did . . . multiple times."

"Cain," she scolded, burying her face against his chest.

He laughed.  "No need to be embarrassed.  What we did . . . It was . . . perfect."

"It . . . was?"

Cain smoothed her hair and sighed, allowing himself to admit that much to himself—to her.  "Yeah, it was."


"Why'd you do that?" Bellaniece demanded.  Her tone was irritated but her eyes were shining.  Kichiro figured that she was putting up a fuss because it was the proper thing to do.

"Put a lid on it, wench.  I wanted to, and since it's my weekend, then you just have to deal with it.  Got that?"

"But I didn't need that dress!" she insisted as she followed Kichiro into Saks Fifth Avenue.  "You've bought me more than enough clothes, don't you think?  And why is it that they're all purple?"

"I'll let you know when I've bought you enough clothes," he informed her as he grabbed her hand and led her toward the escalator.  "And they're violet, not purple, thank you very much."

"Violet; purple . . . potato, potahto . . . It's all the same thing, isn't it?"

"Nice try, princess.  It's not, you know."

"What are we after in here?" she asked as she stared around the posh department store.

"Clothes you can wear for training."

She opened her mouth to argue.  Kichiro shook his head.  "Pictures, Belle, remember?  Fair is fair is fair."

"That's really not fair," she pointed out.  "How was I supposed to know that Gin would decide to share them?"

"Yeah, yeah, I hear your complaints but I don't really care."

She heaved a sigh but gave up arguing with him, at least for the moment.

Bellaniece wandered into the Lila Russeau section, one of the latest trendy designers who tended to cater to teenagers with more casual wear than the designers that Bellaniece normally paid attention to.  Though Bellaniece rarely bothered checking out Lila's designs, if Kichiro was going to insist that she pick up some barbaric clothes, then she could at least have designer barbaric clothing, at that.

Her cell phone rang.  Kichiro had given it back after the threat of her using it to complain to her father had passed.  Bellaniece hit the 'talk' button and held it to her ear as Kichiro shuffled through a rack of baby-t's.  "Hi, Daddy!" she greeted, plugging her free ear since the connection was suffering a little interference.

"Bellaniece?  Where are you?  The connection's really bad."

Bellaniece giggled.  "I'm in New York City!  Dr. Izayoi needed to do some shopping, so he brought me here for the weekend!"

"Oh, God . . . You'd better total everything up and tell me before the Visa bill comes," he warned.

"It's not like that, Daddy!  Dr. Izayoi's bought me a few things, but I swear I've been good . . ."

"Yeah . . . Bellaniece, your idea of good and mine are bound to be light years apart."

"If I was good by your standards, does that mean I get more presents for my birthday?"

Cain snorted.  "We'll see."

Bellaniece giggled.  "So how are things there?  Do you miss me at all?"

"Of course I miss you, and things are fine . . ."

"Good!  How's your cake fairy?" she asked, hoping she sounded more casual than she suspected she did.

Cain paused.  "Gin?  Gin's good.  Gin's great.  Gin's . . ." he trailed off, and when he spoke again, Bellaniece could tell that he'd covered the phone with his hand.  "Hey!  What are you doing up there?  You're going to fall, you know."

Gin's muffled giggle could be discerned in the background.  Bellaniece's eyebrows shot up in surprise.  "Daddy?  Anything going on you should tell me about?"

"Nope," Cain answered, uncovering the receiver.  "Gin's just got the dexterity of a cat . . . a drunk cat . . ."

"Did you just dog me?" Gin demanded.

"Woof."

"Oh, my . . ." Bellaniece remarked.  "I'll let you go now, Daddy . . . Have fun, but don't do anything I wouldn't do . . ."

She hung up before her father could chastise her for her cheek.  She was smiling as she slipped the phone back into her purse.

"What do you think?" Kichiro asked, holding up a t-shirt for her inspection.

Bellaniece's smile widened as she read the words on the lilac colored shirt.  "Princess?" she asked with a shake of her head.  "That's perfect—for a barbaric shirt.  Isn't that one a little small?"

Kichiro eyed the shirt closely and shook his head.  "Nope."

"It looks small," she informed him.

"It's supposed to be small," he told her.  "This one's perfect for Gin . . . I should get it for her since I missed her birthday."

Bellaniece giggled as Kichiro showed her the light pink shirt with 'Baby Girl' scrawled across the chest in silver glittery lettering.  "Are you going to get things for the rest of your family?"

He shrugged.  "Do I have to?"

"It'd be the nice thing to do."

He snorted.  "Yeah, I'll give it some thought."  Grabbing a couple pairs of stretch waist sports shorts that made Bellaniece wrinkle her nose, Kichiro checked his watch and jerked his head toward the register.  "We have to get moving.  We need to go back to the hotel and change.  We've got reservations in two hours."

"Oh, those are cute!" Bellaniece commented as they passed a display with keychain crystal watches on display.

Kichiro spared them a glance.  "Okay.  Grab the ones you want, and let's go."

"I didn't mean—" Bellaniece began.

Kichiro rolled his eyes and grabbed about ten of the multicolored watches.  Bellaniece grimaced.  He'd been doing that all day, and she'd been more careful about commenting on things since he was set on buying her everything she even casually glanced at for more than a few seconds.  The watches were just a silly fad, and these were more expensive than most.  Talking him out of them wouldn't work, she knew.  With a soft sigh and a little smile, she waited for him to pay for the items.

'You'd think he was the one who lost a more-than-thousand dollar earring,' she mused.

'Yeah . . . strange, isn't it?'

Bellaniece frowned.  That was a little strange, come to think of it.  He'd been bending over backward, or so it seemed, ever since they left the hotel.  'Maybe,' she thought with a slight shake of her head, 'maybe he felt bad because I was crying . . .'

He hadn't said much as he gave the jewel case to the concierge to lock away in the hotel safe.  Kichiro had seemed almost awkward, like he felt guilty about something, but Bellaniece wasn't sure why.  Maybe he thought that it was his own fault for insisting that Bellaniece wear the jewelry to the opera.  She hoped he wasn't sorry for borrowing them, even if she would understand if that were the case.  Having to buy the necklace as well as the earrings was probably putting a strain on his bank account.

She frowned.  That couldn't be right.  He'd spent an outrageous sum of money since then.  She tried not to feel too guilty about that.  She'd tried to tell him that she didn't need all the things he'd purchased for her . . .

Then again, maybe he didn't completely trust hotel security, not that Bellaniece blamed him for that.  Though the Regent Laurient, the city's newest luxury hotel, was touted as being state-of-the art, nothing was completely safe, after all . . .

Still she brushed the feelings aside, certain that she was imagining things.  Kichiro was just being nice.  He never did like it when she cried.

He took his credit card from the cashier and shot Bellaniece an almost timid smile.  She hurried over to him, slipped her hand into his.  He grinned at her and squeezed her hand before escorting her to the escalator once more.