InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Ramblings of a Troubled Mind ❯ In Which People Are Briefly Happy ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, then why the hell would I be wasting my time writing fanfic? Hmmm? And if I were Rumiko Takahashi, or however you spell her name, then WHY WOULD I BE WRITING IN ENGLISH? I'm not writing any more disclaimers until I think of something funnier to say.

 

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Hiten gulped his fourth tequila shot in twenty minutes. He was going for shit-faced drunk here, and no one planned on standing in his way. Think about it—he was one of that city's faction of Hell's Angels, and no one got in there on scholarship. People got in on pure reputation. And Hiten, well, Hiten definitely had the reputation.

 

Plus, his girlfriend had just run off with some idiot just because the guy was a smoother talker than Hiten. It was like the perfect way to piss the guy off: get a rival, get his girlfriend to go out with the rival, and then tell everyone about it. So putting him in drinking range of an entire bar full of booze was a really stupid idea. Incredibly stupid.

 

But that's for another time.

 

The door opened, bringing with it a blast of the cold January air. A couple of girls walked in, probably hookers or just plain sluts from the way they were dressed. They pretended to play pool and drink tequila like the real hard-core, but did it all wearing faux fur and leopard-print with denim. No. They didn't make it past the hotter men's cursory “who just walked through the door” glance.

 

The door opened again. The Hell's Angels, most of them about as hot as the place they claimed to be from, prepared to give her the normal passing glance.

 

Every single one of them glanced again.

 

Not glanced; more like stared, jaws hanging open, drinks sitting forgotten in hands that were slowly loosening their grips. The bartender noticed this threat to his glasses and took them gently out of harm's way, knowing that this was suicidal and also knowing that he would have to pay a shitload of money for new glasses.

 

Mystery Woman stood in the doorway for a few seconds, letting them get an eyeful of her tight pants and tight, just-below-her-breasts shirt. Then she stalked down the line of gaping men to the bar and slid herself onto a stool next to Hiten.

 

“Hey, Jaken, long time no see,” she said coolly.

 

“Kagome, my favorite customer! Where ya been?” the short round man slurred. He had a bad habit of drinking his merchandise. “Anything you want to drink, on the house.”

 

She smiled. The man was like a father she never had.

 

“Bourbon, as much as you think I can stand, on the rocks.” Jaken turned, grabbed a bottle, filled a glass with ice, and put them both on the table in front of her.

 

“Your wish is my command. Have fun,” he replied kindly before turning to drink from a half-empty bottle of tequila.

 

Hiten decided to make his move before someone else did. “So what's your name?”

 

“Kagome.” Kagome gulped back the last of the drink in the glass before slamming it back onto the counter. “Kagome Higurashi.”

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Hojo was throwing back drinks of his own in a bar not so far away. And why? Well, because Sango had been asked to join him for a drink—another drink—all right, maybe as many drinks as possible—but had declined. “I don't think this kind of thing will work out,” she had said apologetically. “Meeting guys drunk…well. It just doesn't happen, at least not in a way that ends happily.”

 

And so here he was. Getting drunk on his own. The bartender knew him well enough to know where to charge the cab to at the end of the night.

 

God, getting drunk alone was lonely.

 

The rush of cold air that heralded the opening of the door—quite literary, for someone getting within range of very drunk—was ignored. Why would he pay any attention to it? There was a decently full bottle of tequila in front of him that he was getting to know on intimate terms. There was nothing that mattered otherwise, at the moment.

 

“Hey,” Sango said, sliding onto the stool next to him. Her hair was down, her jeans were tight, her shirt was tighter, and Hojo had a not-so-sudden urge to kiss her now, before she could move to avoid it. But he'd been feeling that since way before the wedding. So depending on how drunk he got, he'd be a greater or lesser degree of fine.

 

“Hey,” he replied in a surprised voice. “I thought you weren't coming.”

 

“I wasn't.” She smiled alluringly. “But then I realized you were too beautiful to stay away from,” she continued, half-joking, “and I couldn't think of being anywhere else.” He blushed. She impulsively kissed him on the cheek.

 

Wordlessly, he offered him the drink. Wordlessly, she accepted. Wordlessly, they both looked forward to what could prove to be a most interesting night.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Rin rang the doorbell of Shippo and Inuyasha's apartment. She couldn't think of anywhere else to go, she was tired, she was scared, and Sesshomaru was freaking out about his younger brother. It was not a nice house to be in right now.

 

Kouga had come over, bringing Eri with him. She had caught his interest at the wedding, and now they were inseparable, if only because she couldn't think of any hotter guy to spend a large amount of time with. He and Sesshomaru had gotten into a huge shouting match. Rin had left as soon as possible.

 

She waited impatiently for Shippo to open the door. “Come on, come on, it's bloody freezing out here,” she muttered. When the door finally swung open, she darted inside, not paying attention to who opened it.

 

Shippo closed the door behind her. “Um. Hi, Rin,” he said, staring after her. She bounced on the balls of her heels a little and clasped her hands tightly behind her back. “What's wrong, koi?” he asked, not noticing the endearment as it slipped out. But why shouldn't it? It was how he thought of her in his head.

 

She shook her head impatiently, staring at the floor and the walls, just about everything that didn't place him in her line of sight. “I love you,” she said finally, staring at the clock before dropping her eyes just to raise them a second later to stare into his. “I just thought you should know that. In case something happens.”

 

Shippo was by her side in a second. “What's going to happen?” he questioned, tentatively putting an arm around her thin shoulders. “We'll keep each other safe. It's the only thing that could possibly ever happen.”

 

Rin half-sobbed and crashed into him. “It's just…I don't know. Dad's home practically losing control. Mom's panicking because of Dad. Eri's now dating Kouga, and they're both at my house terrorizing my parents, because Kouga's just an asshole like that. Dad's going to turn full youkai. Mom literally sent me out of the house because she's scared he'll lose it and try to kill me. And the whole thing is because of my uncle.” Her fingers clutched his shoulders like he was keeping her world together. “I am scared.”

 

He wrapped his arms around her shoulder and held on. This was new. This was new and unexpected. He had never been someone's confidante, their cornerstone, before.

 

“I'm getting your shirt wet,” she said after a few minutes. “I'm sorry. I'll stop.” Rin tried to pull away and get a Kleenex to sniffle into but stopped as he wrapped his arms around her tighter.

 

“It's fine. It's not that big a deal.” This was new and wonderful. “Shirts are washable, and I want to be here for you.” His voice lowered a little self-consciously. “I need to be here for you. You're my world.” There. He'd said it. Now he could go back to being a teenage guy.

 

She kissed him lightly on the lips and snuggled against his shoulder. They stood in the kitchen not saying anything for awhile. The radio somehow connected to the stove ((AN: there is something like this. I don't know what you call it, but it exists)) played in the background, and its second slow love song in a row gave him an idea. “Will you dance with me?” Shippo asked.

 

Rin looked up at him and kissed him again, smiling widely as she drew back enough to move slowly around the linoleum floor with him. “What did I do to deserve you?” she teased.

 

“You didn't do anything. You exist. You make the world better because you're there,” he replied, only half teasing. His voice went down an octave from sheer emotion. “It's not what you did to deserve me. It's what the world did to deserve you.”

 

She laughed self-consciously. “I'm sure you've heard of pollution? Nuclear warfare? Murd—“ But he kissed her before she could finish her list of evil.

 

Eventually, she drew back, enjoying the small, involuntary whimper he let out at the loss of her touch. “I do love you,” she whispered. “With everything I am.”

 

“I do love you,” he whispered back, resting his forehead against hers, “for you are part of me, and I can no more not love you than I can hate my eyes, or my brain.” She let him think she didn't realize he was most likely quoting poetry and merely smiled into his eyes.

 

They danced.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

Kikyo and Ayame were just doing what girls did best: lounging around watching movies and eating random things that had been covered in chocolate. There was chocolate-covered popcorn somewhere. They had eaten most of it. There was even some kind of chocolate-covered vegetables, but like most normal people they shoved it off to the side and refused to look at it again.

 

“This movie's so…blah,” Kikyo said, wrinkling her nose. “I can't understand why people watch it so many times.”

 

“It's not blah! It's amazing!” Ayame argued. “Just think about the passion Marvin feels for Debbie—passion that may never be returned! It's textbook!”

 

Kikyo raised an eyebrow. “I think I wrote this textbook. I'm a lesbian, remember? Life for me is kind of all about passion that may never be returned. And anyway, textbook is boring. I wish there was something completely random and yet still romantic on.”

 

Ayame bowed her head. Eurgh. She just had to bring that up, didn't she? Admittedly her and Kikyo's whirlwind romance had been a great deal more interesting than any movie that was likely to come on Lifetime, but she could still shut up and watch it, couldn't she?

 

Kikyo sighed loudly and began staring at the ceiling, the back of her head resting on the couch. Her lips fluttered as she muttered things under her breath. No. No, she couldn't.

 

Ayame leaned over and kissed her. But that was what made her so fascinating. There was absolutely no bullshit in Kikyo. It was…refreshing.

 

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 

AN: I think I'll just leave you people wondering what exactly is up with Inuyasha and Miroku. In case it was bothering you. I just can't really think of anything else to say with regards to them.

 

OMGWTFBBQ! It's the third chapter! I'm so proud of myself! People should start reviewing more as a celebration! -one lonely streamer falls from the ceiling, followed by two balloons- Yeah. Okay. Never mind. But this is how many I have now…and I'd like lots more…okay? Thanks darlings!

 

I'll write the next chapter as soon as I can. Probably. If I remember. Until next time, meh lovelies.

 

(Oh. If you want you can beta this, Viv. Actually, I'd appreciate it.)