InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity 4: Justification ❯ More Evidence ( Chapter 58 )

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

Bellaniece cast Kichiro a suspect glance as he thumbed through the newspaper and studiously avoided her gaze.

"What about Tenkozen?" she suggested, pointing at a large ad proclaiming the new-age restaurant to be one of Tokyo's finest.

Kichiro didn't even glance at the ad.  "I've heard iffy stuff about that place."

"That one, too?" she questioned.  "Are you sure you're not just pulling my leg?"

"If you want to go there, I'll take you, but I've heard they serve shady stuff . . . like rat . . ."

Bellaniece grimaced.  "That's disgusting!  They can't serve that stuff!  They're one of the most expensive places in Tokyo!"

"I'm just telling you what I've heard," he replied neutrally.  "Don't shoot the messenger."

"So Tenkozen serves rats . . . Elorus doesn't sanitize their dishes . . . Kingston serves leftover appetizers . . . Why do I have the feeling you don't really want to take me out to dinner?"

"I want to take you out, princess," he said, glancing up from his paper as he shrugged offhandedly.  "I figured you'd want to know this before you were served rat ala carte."

Shaking her head as she sat back and crossed her arms, Bellaniece nodded toward the classified ads and sighed.  "So where do you want to go, then?  Any suggestions?"

Kichiro's ears twitched as he buried his nose behind the business pages.  "Where ever you want.  I told you that."

Bellaniece tugged the paper out of his hands and wrinkled her nose.  "You told me that just before you summarily discounted every suggestion I made," she reminded him.  "You just pick a place.  I'm easy to please . . ." She giggled as Kichiro leaned forward, grasping her hands and pulling her out of her chair and into his lap.  "At least, I'm easy to please when it comes to food."

Dragging his claws up her leg with a lazy grin, Kichiro chuckled when Bellaniece shivered prettily, a light flush creeping over her skin as she melted against him.  "You're so agreeable when you want me," he murmured in her ear.  "Why is that?"

"Don't know what . . . you're talking about," she countered, her voice little more than a husky whisper.  "I'm humoring you."

"Like you humored me in my office today?"

Bellaniece giggled weakly at the reminder.  She'd come in to tell him that one of his appointments cancelled.  He thought she looked a little out of sorts and figured he ought to give her a thorough work-up.  Not even the unexpected visit from InuYasha had stopped him.  Kichiro had been busy at the time, but he had spared a moment to wave a hand at his father without looking up from his task while Bellaniece rubbed his ears and tried her hardest not to make a sound.  He still wasn't sure if she knew they'd been spotted.  InuYasha's disgusted snort was hard to miss.  Then again, Bellaniece had other things on her mind at the time . . . All in all, Kichiro figured it'd be the last time that his father barged into his office without knocking.

"I thought you said you were hungry," Bellaniece said, struggling to open her eyes.

"Starving."

"Then . . . shouldn't we . . . go?"

Grasping her bare hip under the billowing fabric of her miniskirt, Kichiro chuckled again when she moaned softly.  "I didn't say what I was starving for, did I?"

"Are you trying to distract me?"

"Is it working?"

Bellaniece's stomach growled before she could answer.  Kichiro heaved a defeated sigh and pulled his hand out from under her skirt.  "All right," he grumbled as Bellaniece leaned against him for a few minutes while she regained her composure.  "What's the matter, Belle-chan?  Can't you stand up?"

"You're such a jerk," she mused without a trace of rancor.

"I know," he agreed.

Bellaniece stood up and smiled as Kichiro got to his feet and took her hand.  "Come on, princess.  Can't have you hungry."

"You take such good care of me."

He snorted.  "It's entirely selfish," he assured her.  "Can't have you falling asleep in the middle of anything, now can I?"

She blushed and ducked her head but laughed.  "As if I would do that."

"Glad to hear it.  I wouldn't think I was losing my touch."  He grinned wolfishly and dragged her toward the door.

Bellaniece stepped outside behind him, waiting while he locked the door before the two headed for Kichiro's car.  "There's nothing wrong with your touch."

Kichiro laughed.  "Yeah, I didn't think I heard you complaining."

Bellaniece ducked under his arm and slipped into the passenger seat before Kichiro pushed the door closed and loped around the vehicle to get in, too.


Cain grunted as he jerked awake from a blissful slumber to the unpleasant sound of his ringing cell phone.  "Hello?" he muttered as he rubbed his face with his free hand before glancing at the clock and smothering a low growl.  'Four in the morning?  Someone had better be dead . . .'

"Zelig."

Blinking slowly as he tried to untangle Gin's fingers from his hair, Cain scooted toward the side of the bed and sat up.  Protesting the loss of his warmth, she whimpered.  He rubbed her shoulder to quiet her.  "Sesshoumaru?  Is there a reason you're calling me at four in the morning?  What's going on?"

"Nothing, nothing . . . Tell me something."

Cain lowered the receiver to stare at it for a moment before bringing it back to his ear and stifling a sigh.  "All right."

"Did my niece enjoy feeding the ducks?"

"Feeding the . . .?"

"Yes, the ducks."

"Yeah . . . Does it matter?  How did you know about that?"

Sesshoumaru uttered a terse sound, almost a growl, almost a snort.  "I have my sources.  In any case, I imagine you have a reasonable explanation about licking Gin's cheek?"

Cain grimaced.  After leaving the Chicago Museum of Modern Art, he bought her ice cream, and in one of their moments of goofing off, Gin had smashed her cone on his chin.  In retaliation, he had done the same with his on her cheek.  She didn't have a napkin, so he had cleaned her up by licking the ice cream off her cheek.  "She dropped her napkin," Cain grumbled.

"I see . . . Do you have any idea how irritated her father would be if he found out about these things?"

"Do you think I care how irritated her father would be if he found out about those things?"

"Zelig . . ."

"I'll ask again: how did you find out about this stuff?"

Sesshoumaru hesitated before answering.  "It might interest you to know that I have men who monitor all the major news venues in the world.  There are certain names that set off the system, and thanks to those baka twin sons of InuYasha's, one of those is 'Izayoi.'  Imagine my surprise when the notification I received was about one Izayoi Gin instead of Gin's more notorious brothers."

"Enough of the riddles, Sesshoumaru.  What'd you hear?"

"It wasn't what I heard, Zelig.  It's what I saw—and how much I had to pay for them."

"Pay for . . . what?"

"They're very nice, really.  The two of you look happy enough, considering she's sitting on your lap by the duck pond, and you're licking her cheek in the other . . . Well, you understand that I could not in good conscience let these pictures hit the papers, don't you?  You might want to check your email later.  I forwarded them to you though you'll understand if I wish to keep the originals, for now . . ."

"What the . . .?  Which paper?"

"The National Enquirer," he answered without missing a beat.

"Shit."

"Yeah, shit."

"That doesn't sound so bad," he commented, idly scratching his chin.

'Sure,' his youkai prodded.  'They could have found that painting you did of her . . .'

Cain shifted guiltily.  'Thanks for reminding me.'

'Any time.'

'Shut up.'

Sesshoumaru sighed.  "Just what do you think you're doing with her?"

Cain grimaced, peeking over his shoulder as Gin sighed and rolled over but didn't open her eyes.  "It's complicated," he hedged, lowering his voice in hopes that she'd stay asleep.

Sesshoumaru digested that in silence.  Cain was starting to wonder if he was going to answer at all when he finally spoke again.  "Gin's a rare thing, Zelig.  Like all rare things, she's been sheltered and protected.  Her mother . . . her father . . . her brothers . . . even Kagura and I have done it.  She's naïve.  She has no idea how the world works."

"You think I don't know that?" he asked, irritation clouding his voice, dropping his tone to barely above a harsh whisper.

"Cain?  Who's that?  Can't you—" Gin yawned, interrupting herself as she scooted closer to him.  "Can't you tell them to call you back later?"

He winced as he quickly covered the telephone with his palm, lowering the receiver to force a dim smile.  Peeking over his shoulder at the still-sleepy young woman, he shrugged.  "It'll only take a minute."

"Okay," she agreed, casting him a sleepy grin.  "I'm cold . . ."

Cain drew a deep breath before uncovering the telephone and hesitantly lifting it back to his ear again.

"Please tell me that wasn't who it sounded like."

"All right," Cain agreed slowly, "it wasn't who it sounded like."

"Zelig—"

"You obviously know that we're close," Cain growled.  "Just leave it alone."

"I will not leave it alone.  Did you not hear what I said to you?  Gin is—"

"I don't need you to tell me what she is or isn't.  What goes on between us—It's none of your business, Sesshoumaru."

"Sesshoumaru-oji-san?" Gin questioned behind him.  He felt the slight tremor in the bed as she sat up and touched his shoulder.  "Cain, can I talk to him?"

He was about to tell her 'no'.  Caught off-guard by the determination in her gaze, Cain sighed and held out the telephone despite his own reservations.

"Oji-san?  Is everything all right there?"  She paused for a moment, wrapping a long lock of hair around her finger  "We're not . . . sleeping together," Gin said, inflicting enough disbelief into her tone to reassure her uncle.  "There was a mouse, and you know I hate mice."

Cain scowled.  She was lying, and doing it quite convincingly, so far as he could tell.  'When did she learn to lie like that?' he asked himself as she laughed at something Sesshoumaru must have said.  'Gin can't lie . . . I thought she couldn't, anyway . . .'

"Don't be silly!" she said, waving her hand as though her uncle could see the gesture.  "There's nothing going on!  He's just my sensei; that's all . . ."

Staving back a vicious growl at Gin's reassurances, Cain tried not to be irritated at her insistence that he was nothing more than her teacher.  She nodded a few times and finally sighed as her smile faded and she cleared her throat.  "I know, oji-san.  I promise.  Bye."

She clicked off the phone but didn't turn around to look at him.  Cain stood up and prowled around the room with his hands on his hips and a scowl on his features.

"It's okay, Cain," Gin said quietly, drawing the sheet up over her body as she tucked her legs in beside her.  "He believed me."

"When did you learn how to lie?" he demanded softly.

Gin shrugged.  "It wasn't a complete lie," she grumbled, ears flattening momentarily.  "It was kind of true."

"It was a lie," he countered coldly, pinning her with a disbelieving glower.  "It was a lie, Gin, and you know it."

She nodded slowly, eyes falling to stare at her hands.  "Did you . . . Did you want me to tell Sesshoumaru-oji-san about us?"  

"That's not the point."

"Then what is?'

He shook his head.  "I . . . I don't know.  I just didn't think . . . I didn't know you could lie."

"I'm sorry," she murmured, scrunching up her shoulders as she brought up her legs, wrapping her arms around them and dropping her chin onto her knees.  "It's easier to lie to someone over the phone."

For some reason, her casual statement bothered him even more than the actual lie.  Altering his path as he swung around to stride over to her, he sat beside her and pushed her bangs out of her eyes.  She tried to smile as she gave an embarrassed little shrug before bracing her feet against the mattress to push herself back across the bed.  Cain stretched out beside her, and she cuddled next to him, draping the sheet over the both of them before sighing and closing her eyes.

Cain grimaced as he stared at her: the little girl with the angel face . . . the one he had never thought could ever lie to anyone.  'God . . . what the hell am I doing to her?'

Of all the things she wanted him to teach her, all the things that he could have showed her or explained, the last thing he'd ever thought she'd find out from him was just how easy it was to tell a lie . . .


Kichiro slouched lower in his chair and tried not to ask himself if things really could be any worse.

"Wasn't that one of the girls you had a threesome with?"

Stifling a groan as he shot his demented sibling the blackest glower he could manage, Kichiro didn't dare so much as peek at Bellaniece to see how she was reacting to that little gem.

"I don't think—"

"Ah, yes . . . I heard about that one," Nezumi murmured, sipping her water as she tried not to smile.

"You really were bad, weren't you?" Sierra commented as she pushed her plate away.

Toga chuckled.  "Oh, the days of baka behavior . . ."

"How fascinating," Bellaniece said pleasantly.  "I'm so glad you're such a generous man, Dr. Izayoi."

Trying not to flinch at the use of the formal title, Kichiro pasted on a tepid smile and shrugged.  "I don't know about generous . . ."

"Oh, don't be so modest!" Bellaniece went on.  "You did call yourself the 'Elvis of oral sex', didn't you?"

Ryomaru choked on the bite he'd just stuck in his mouth.  Nezumi coughed suddenly.  Sierra became extremely interested in the dessert menu, while Toga just sat back and crossed his arms over his chest.

If it wasn't bad enough that he'd been recognized the moment he walked into the new restaurant by the overzealous hostess who latched onto his arm despite Bellaniece's formidable glower, they hadn't been seated more than a minute before Ryomaru and Nezumi followed by Toga and Sierra had breezed into the room.  Spotting the two, Toga had managed to coerce a bigger table.  Kichiro had started to explain that they were just trying to have a quiet dinner when Bellaniece announced that they'd love to join the others.

Of course, that was nothing in comparison to the procession of five waitresses who had all stopped by to personally greet him since they entered the place.  One had even touched his hair, and while he had shrugged her off quickly enough, he hadn't missed the flaring of Bellaniece's eyes in reaction to the touching.  That the girls all knew him by first name, and some even using the shortened version of his name . . . Well, Bellaniece knew that Japanese people didn't normally use one's first name if they weren't well acquainted, and even then, most of the time, honorifics were attached.  All in all, he figured Bellaniece had every right to be upset with him, and then some . . .

He'd known that was a bad idea.  He had a feeling that he wasn't going to live through the evening . . .

"Elvis, huh . . . You know, I never understood it.  Everyone thought I was worse, but I don't know . . . I'd say Kich was much worse, hands down.  Hell, we went out one night, and I swear there were, what?  Ten girls that night?  More?"

Kichiro wished fervently that Ryomaru was sitting within kicking distance.  The youkai hunter sat back with a smug grin as he shot Kichiro a knowing look.

"You were bad, too, Ryo," Kichiro retaliated.  "I might have been worse in that respect but I'd say it was far more idiotic to run back and tell Nez about every one of your liaisons."

Ryomaru chuckled.  "Nice try, baka.  Nez knew about all my badness.  It stopped being an issue long, long ago."

Kichiro's retort was cut off by the giggling waitress bearing a tray with a round of drinks.  "Evening, Kich.  Long time, no see."

Pasting on a tolerant smile, he inclined his head before hurriedly lowering his gaze before Bellaniece got the idea that he was encouraging the attention.  "Yeah, I've been busy," he remarked, leaning away when the girl tucked the empty tray under her arm and touched his arm.

"All work and no play?" she asked, her tone dropping to a slightly more intimate timbre.

"Nope, not at all," he responded.  "Just busy."

"You said you'd call," the waitress pouted.  "Did you lose my number?"

"Something like that," he said, daring a glance at Bellaniece.  She intercepted the meaningful look but turned away, lifting her chin as she sat back and crossed her arms over her chest.  Kichiro winced inwardly.

'Damn . . . She's going to kill me.'

'Get rid of the wench,' his youkai growled.

'What am I supposed to do?  Tell her to go to hell?'

'Better to tell this girl to go to hell or would you rather have Belle tell you to do that, instead?'

'. . . Good point.'

"Listen—" he began.

"Oh, he didn't lose your number," Bellaniece remarked calmly.  "It's just that Dr. Izayoi did some soul searching and thought it was well past time to come out of the closet."

The girl nearly dropped the tray.  Kichiro felt his ears smash against his head as his sibling chortled, the girls whispered, and Toga— the ass—barked out a loud guffaw.

"Belle . . ."

"Doctor . . ."

He sighed.  "Yes," he agreed tightly, grimacing as he tried to force himself to speak.  "I'm . . . gay.  Really, really gay."

"Extremely gay," Bellaniece added.

"Disgustingly so," Kichiro growled, pinning Bellaniece with a warning glower.

"So you might want to pass that information on to your little waitress friends," Bellaniece went on, ignoring Kichiro completely.

"You're  . . .?" the waitress echoed faintly, obviously unwilling to believe that Kichiro was gay.

He glanced at Bellaniece.  She narrowed her eyes, and that flattened his ears as he slowly heaved a sigh and forced himself to look at the waitress again.  "Yep, gay," he repeated in a low monotone.  "I . . . like musicals . . . and opera . . . and big—" he swallowed hard, "strong . . . men."

"You're about as gay as I am," Ryomaru scoffed with a loud snort, "which means you ain't."

"Oh, of course not!" the waitress agreed with a loud, relieved laugh.  She patted Kichiro's shoulder and hurried away.

"I don't know whether to be glad she didn't believe you or to be so disgusted I can't even see straight," Bellaniece mused.

"Belle . . ."

"Damn," Toga added.  "Makes me really, really glad I wasn't a whore-dog like you two bakas."

"Well, I don't hear Nez complaining about my acquired skills," Ryomaru bragged.  Nezumi slapped his chest as her cheeks reddened despite the small smile on her face.

"Are you going to be mad at me all night?" Kichiro asked, trying to keep his tone lowered to avoid speaking to his cousin and brother.

"Fifty plus," Bellaniece responded.

"Fifty?  Is that what he told you?" Ryomaru spoke up.  "Try closer to a hundred and fifty or more . . ."

He didn't have to look to know that Bellaniece was glowering at him.  Kichiro sighed.  "I didn't keep track, you ass," he growled.

"You didn't have to.  Nez could probably name most of them . . ."

Wondering briefly whether or not his parents would notice if he killed his sibling, Kichiro sighed and scooted closer to Bellaniece only to have her lean further away.

"So it really is you!" another waitress greeted as she stopped beside Kichiro.  "The other girls said you were here . . . How have you been, Kichiro?"

"Excuse me," Bellaniece muttered as she stood up and stalked away.

Kichiro watched her go and stifled a groan.  "I've been well," he answered.

"I think I'll go see if Belle-chan needs help finding the ladies' room," Sierra spoke up.  Toga shot to his feet to help his very-pregnant wife.

"Yeah, me, too," Nezumi agreed.  Ryomaru grinned as he watched her get up, too.

"You look like you're doing well," the waitress—Kichiro couldn't remember her name though he did remember her scent—commented.

"Yeah, of course," he said, peeking over his shoulder in time to see Bellaniece disappear in the hallway that led to the bathrooms.  "I didn't know you all worked here . . ."

She shrugged.  "You know how it is: we all sort of make the rounds in the restaurants, so to speak."

"You don't say."

She giggled.  "It was nice seeing you again, Kich.  Next time, don't be such a stranger."

He smiled tightly as the woman winked before sauntering away.

"You're a dead man," Toga remarked.

"Sucks to be you," Ryomaru agreed.

"Yeah, well, you two aren't exactly helping much, are you?"

"Considering how often you bedeviled me in the past?  I wouldn't dream of interfering," Toga assured him.

"Considering how often you called me a fat ass?  I don't think I would, either," Ryomaru added.

Kichiro sighed.  "I hate you both."

"Hmm, what do you suppose that's all about?" Toga mused, tapping Ryomaru's arm with the back of his hand and nodding toward the bar.

Ryomaru glanced up then away before looking back once more.  "Heh.  Dunno."

Kichiro wasn't sure he wanted to see what his relatives were looking at, but in the end, he peeked over, too.  Bellaniece was leaning casually against the counter with a very pleasant smile on her face as she conversed with the milling waitresses.  Nezumi and Sierra stood off to the side whispering to one another though neither seemed to be speaking to Bellaniece at all.

Unsure why he couldn't quite shake the feeling that something was really, really wrong, Kichiro narrowed his gaze and watched.  Bellaniece turned to say something to one of the girls behind the counter before turning and pointing at Kichiro.  Then she turned around again and leaned across the counter.  When she straightened back up, she wiggled her fingers at the girls before turning on her heel and gliding back toward the table with Nezumi and Sierra in tow.

Scary enough that both Sierra as well as Nezumi looked quite shocked if not highly amused.  Worse was the absolutely brilliant smile Bellaniece bestowed on him as she slid back into her chair again.

"What did you do?" he asked, unsure if he really wanted to hear the answer or not.

"It'd be my guess that she made sure that you were finished being hit on," Ryomaru commented.

"Oh, I don't think that'll be a problem anymore," Sierra said as she carefully lifted her glass of water to her lips.

"What did you do?" Kichiro repeated.

Bellaniece's smile widened.  "Nothing bad, of course."

"Really."

"Lighten up, Kich," Nezumi said as she sat back down.  "I guess you'd call it . . . what?  Marking her territory?"

Sierra giggled.  "That'd be one way to put it."

Kichiro's next question was cut short as the restaurant manager hurried over to their table.  "Excuse me . . . I hate to intrude, but I wondered if I may have a word with you—?"

Kichiro put a hand on Bellaniece's arm.  "What about?"

The manager smiled rather nervously, rubbing his hands together as he tried to figure out a good way to state his concerns.  "It's about the counter . . ."

Kichiro shot Bellaniece a suspicious glance before slowly standing up.  "The counter," he repeated.  "Excuse me."

Striding over to the counter, he could hear Toga and Ryomaru's laughter ringing in his ears.  Stifling another groan as he saw what the manager was talking about, Kichiro couldn't help the incredulous glance he shot over his shoulder at the still smiling Bellaniece.  She wiggled her fingers at him before blowing him a kiss.  The groan slipped out as he slowly shook his head, as he stared in shock at the five very deep gouges that traversed the pristine black marble countertop.

"Sir, I must say—" the manager began.

The waitresses wouldn't even glance at Kichiro, and he slowly smiled.  "Don't worry," he assured the man.  "Just . . . send me the bill."