InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sedirea ❯ Ryokan Dorama ( Chapter 8 )

Ryokan Dorama

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

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C&C&C&C&C&C

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“Yes?” Kagome ran to the door breathlessly.

 

“Higurashi-san?”

 

Kagome choked.

 

“I'm Tabara Nozomi.” The brown-haired girl bowed at her politely.

 

“Higurashi Kagome, but please call me Kagome.” Kagome bowed back with a mixture of disbelieve and grinning stupor on her face.

 

Nozomi smiled at her and looked at her quizzically. “Have we met before?”

 

“No.” Kagome snapped out of her daze. “But Inu- Kin did mention you're his friend.”

 

“He did?” Nozomi looked at her suspiciously. “And what else did he say? Did he say anything bad about me?”

 

“No.” Kagome giggled half in happiness of seeing her again and half in delight over the character flaw that she still possessed in her reincarnated state; the girl looked now threatening. Now she understood what Kin had meant when he had said that Nozomi liked to punish people.

 

Nozomi looked confused again and then she began to giggle along. “I have a strange feeling.” She said between her laugh. “But I think we're going to get along just fine, don't you think?”

 

Kagome nodded. “Me too, Nozomi-chan.”

 

Nozomi clasped Kagome's hand in hers and then she looked around her. Noticing a few sealed cartons scattered about the apartment, she frowned and turned to Kagome. “Are you planning of moving out?”

 

Kagome nodded calmly and headed towards the kitchen to fix Nozomi a drink. “I do, but now it seemed as if I have to prolong my stay; I have to take care of my phone line, which cost me more than I'd imagine, and my boyfriend's apartment is far from ready yet.”

 

“You have a boyfriend?” Nozomi's eyes went wide. “But I thought you and-, I mean-”

 

Kagome faked a smile. “If you're looking for Kin-kun then I have to tell you I haven't seen him either. He's been gone for a week.”

 

“No,” Nozomi interrupted her in a serious tone. “I actually want to see you. I wanted to talk to you about Kin.”

 

“E?” Kagome fidgeted nervously.

 

Nozomi's features immediately gentling. “But we have a lot of time to talk about that later. Do you happen to have any plan this Friday?”

 

“Friday after tomorrow?” Kagome asked her quizzically.

 

“I wanted to invite you to a dinner party. Small gathering, nothing too fancy or anything, and I invited Mai-chan too; I heard she's your friend?”

 

“Dinner?” Kagome bit her lip. “I don't know-”

 

“Please?” Nozomi was looking at her hopefully.

 

“Okay.” Kagome answered softly. She looked at the clock behind Nozomi and grimaced. “I'm late for my work.”

 

“I'm about to leave myself. Do you mind if I walk with you to the station?”

 

Kagome smiled and shook her head. “No, not at all.”

 

After fetching her bag and cardigan, Kagome locked the door of her apartment.

 

“So, where do you work?” Nozomi casually asked her as they walked together to the station.

 

“In an onsen ryokan in Hakone. I start working there as a hostess since two weeks ago.”

 

“Do you work there on daily basis?”

 

“No.” Kagome shook her head. “I only work there three times a week; today was supposed to be my free day, but the owner called me and said that she needed an extra help.”

 

“It's a beautiful region, Hakone, isn't it? I went there many times before; the area is full of resorts. I know this lovely ryokan in Yumoto and in fact-” Nozomi stopped. “Where did you say you're working?”

 

“O right, I haven't mentioned it yet. The name of the inn is Ryokan Furusato; it's also in Yumoto. Please visit us when you have the time.”

 

Nozomi gaped. “Kagome-chan…?”

 

“Yes?” Kagome was looking at her anxiously; her train was just around the corner.

 

“Nothing.” Nozomi coughed. “Don't forget to bring your boyfriend to the gathering.”

 

“I won't.” Kagome smiled and bowed at her, trying to control herself not to jump and hug her new friend into oblivion. “I'll see you then.” She waved at her and stepped into the train-cabin.

 

~*~

 

Once in the ryokan Kagome was ushered into a room where she could change her wardrobe. She put on the white tabi socks first, and next came the juban consisting of a white cotton top and a skirt.

 

She paused to study the kimono. They had to have quite important guests tonight for her to wear such an elaborate kimono. Her gaze was complimenting the blue white silk kimono with chrysanthemum among mosaic pattern adoring the lower half of the garment. She put on the kimono, making sure that back seam was centered, and adjusted the length of the kimono.

 

After tying the kimono and adjusting the material around the waist she put on the white obi made out of silk and a braided cord tied on top of the obi. She undid her hair from the loose braid and started combing it. Now that it was smooth and shiny she swept it upward and began the procedure of creating an elaborate bund.

 

The last touch was to apply light makeup on her face. A breeze of gentle wind stroked her naked nape, and she sighed for a moment, enjoying the coolness of it.

 

Kagome went out of the room completely transformed. As she strolled elegantly down the wooden aisle, she drew every gaze that happened to pass her way. The owner of the inn greeted her halfway.

 

“Kagome-san, I'm very sorry to call you in so sudden. Today we have unexpected guests and a shortage of employees.”

 

“That's alright, Hayakawa-sama; I understand.”

 

The lady of the house led Kagome to the kitchen and handed her a tray of small appetizers. “This goes out to the guests in the main guestroom. I'll send in the drinks shortly after. Would you be so kind as to tell Rika-san that you're replacing her shift once you got there?”

 

“Of course.” Kagome hurriedly made her way to the said room.

 

Kagome slid open the fusuma and bowed politely before she entered the room. There were about fifteen people in the room; apparently they were all businessmen. She moved toward Rika-san and took her place after they exchanged a small greeting.

 

The moment she sat next to the guest, he began scrutinizing her, and her appearance seemed to please him a great deal as he grinned at her.

 

Kagome smiled back and poured him a drink. The guest began to talk to his friend loudly; judging from the slur in his trail of speech, it seemed that the man was already a bit drunk.

 

He made a few jokes and laughed heartily, and then his friend nudged him and glanced at Kagome. The guest, who Kagome was attending to, placed his cup in front of her and poured her a drink.

 

It was impolite to refuse his offer, so Kagome drank up the cup and then poured him a drink. The man laughed again heartily after he saw her emptying the cup, he then took his drink, placing the spot where Kagome had drunk right at his lips. Though in her inside Kagome was a bit repulsed, she smiled in a good humor.

 

She had to tolerate him for about an hour. And then as she was leaning forward in order to pour him his drink, she felt a feverish hand brushed across her naked nape. Immediately Kagome jerked back in surprise; she started mumbling excuses and dashed to the exit. Once she was on the other side of the fusuma, she bumped hard into someone.

 

“That bastard!” Kin was almost trembling in anger. He had witnessed the scene as the fusuma had been half-opened at that moment.

 

Kagome looked up in surprise at him. She had unconsciously grabbed the collars of his yukata to steady herself; she could feel a heavy tremor of fury ran trough him from the simple touch of his clothing.

 

She looked up to find that his eyes were fixed to the man in the room and he was ready to burst in to confront the man who was oblivious to the situation. She roughly tugged at his collars. “Inuyasha.” She hissed at him. “Please don't make a scene.”

 

He glared at her angrily. Had she just told him not to make a scene? Had she gone mad?

 

“Please!” Kagome tried to hold him back with her body still clutching his collars when she felt him stubbornly moving forward. “Please.” She whispered desperately as she rested her forehead against his chest.

 

He immediately tried to calm himself down. Unconsciously his hand went up to the back of her neck and rubbed her nape as if he was trying to erase the man's touch from her skin.

 

She let him stroking her; she didn't want to cause anymore scene, and the hand soothingly touching her felt undeniably good.

 

Resting her head against his hard chest, she could feel how the shudder of fury under his skin began to pacify. She snuggled a bit closer to him; she could smell the scent of lotus incense from his yukata. How she missed him.

 

He had gone for a week after the incident with Hojo, hadn't even left her any words explaining his whereabouts. And now she found him here in the ryokan, where she worked, wearing a black yukata and looking so dashingly handsome in it that it made her heart ache.

 

Women were so greedy, she thought. Gone were her resolutions not to see him anymore. At first she had tried to avoid him, but now to have him avoiding her was unbearable. Only Inuyasha could pull this through, she thought. Brushing the problem with emotions as if it was only a mosquito bite; to have him not dealing with it only prompted her to deal with it more.

 

And the way he had trembled in fury like an angry dog back then; it somehow only excited her more now just to think of it. She was very much tempted to reward her fuming rescuer when suddenly she heard someone calling out to them.

 

“Kin, what are you doing!?” Sachiko seethed in anger.

 

And his hands guiltily pushed her away.

 

It was a soft push, but Kagome had felt it like a slap.

 

`Stupid Kagome,' a voice inside her head berated her softly out of her numbness.

 

If that moment she could wish for something, for anything, then she would have wished to have pulled away first. Because then she wouldn't have to feel this touch on her shoulder, soft yet scorching her to the bone, and she wouldn't have to have the embarrassment to feel so damn pliant after the disconnection.

 

“No- nothing.” He stuttered out guiltily.

 

And she thought that he could do nothing to hurt her more.

 

As if it couldn't get worse, the owner of the inn walked towards them. Kagome braced herself for the scolding she'd get for leaving the room abruptly.

 

“Kagome-san, is there something wrong?” She asked Kagome in puzzlement.

 

“Nothing, Hayakawa-sama. I was going to fetch more sake for the guest.” Kagome was about to leave when suddenly Kin held her by her arm.

 

“She's not going back in there.” He demanded firmly.

 

“Kin?” The lady of the house had her attention now to him.

 

“Mother, the man molested her; you can't expect her to go back there and have him mistreat her some more. This is not that kind of an inn.”

 

Kagome looked up at him in surprise. He was the son of the owner? Talking about cruel fate.

 

“Is this true, Kagome-san?” Hayakawa Misako asked her with a serious quality in her voice.

 

“I can handle it.” She knew it might sound to him that she was defying him out of stupidity, but such was not the case. Kagome had worked before as a hostess in a ryokan back in Osaka; she knew how to handle such problems. It was only her initial shock that rendered her abrupt leaving, and she would have gone back there had she not a livid savior to take care of.

 

“I'll be fine.” She extricated his hand from her arm.

 

It was a lie; she would never be fine now. Not when he had managed to appear before her eyes again and, as hard as it was to admit, to hurt her again.

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*end of chapter*

 

 

Glossary:

Onsen ryokan: a japanese style inn with hot spring baths

Hakone: part of the Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park, less than 100 kilometers from Tokyo

Yumoto: hot spring at the entrance to the Hakone area

Tabi sock: a japanese sock that have a split in the sock for the large toe

Juban: Kimono undergarment

Obi: Belt for Kimono

Fusuma: sliding paper doors

 

 

 

 

Review Responses:

 

 

AFF.net:

 

Mizzy: Hojo for me is an elusive character ever, that's why I took the liberty to up his character's qualities in this story, so please don't be surprise to find him more giving and romantic in this story than Inu is. Thank you for the warmhearted review, and enjoy the chapter.

Chanda: Thank you for your review, but to tell you the truth I haven't decided yet if most of the reincarnated cast will remember their past lives or not. Anyway enjoy the chapter.

lithum88: Kagome's moving out, I'm afraid; at first I thought that maybe they could live together as roommates, but then again I don't think that two people can live platonically with each other when one of them carries that immense size of emotional baggage. I don't think they'll stay away from each other too long though, so rest assure and trust me; I'm having the most fun in my life writing accidental meetings in their fate line (how sad that we couldn't have that in real life too).

ktakn: thank you for your nice review, and enjoy the chapter.

inuyoukieskye: I did, I watched them, and they were amazing. I especially liked the way Inu seemed mouthing the verse of the song in the ten minutes feature; it was the struck of genius. I left some reviews too, but now I think my reviews didn't actually cover the professionalism of the videos; I wished I know some more about video's technique so that my reviews won't sound so general, but please believe me when I say that they were wonderful as in the view of an audience.

fallenangel7583: yes! Yes! It's Hojo! He..he.. the perfect Hojo, and he's even studying to be a doctor now; if I'm a little conceited I'd say `go get him, Kag!'. But no, I can't do that to Inu. Anyway thank you for reviewing again, and enjoy the chapter, but before I'd like to ask you something; I have this thing with names and very much like to ask you where you got yours from. Is it from the Wong Kar Wai's movie `Fallen Angels”?

leewrites: I'm a big sap too, that's why sometimes I feel that I concentrate too much in emotional wounds than I do on the story; I got carried away and then found that I haven't explained the cause of the dilemma in the story. Anyway good questions you got there; I promise you I'll answer your question by putting the information in the story conversationally. Until then let's just say that Kag's been a long time with Hojo to make her feel obligingly affectionate towards him. Enjoy the chapter.

nim: actually what Inu did remember was only sequences of his past life. There is a reason why he only remembered probably half of it and forgot Kag and Kik entirely; at least I think I have the reason, but that might change when I find a better plot. And as for he's being with Kik now was only me playing cruel fate on Kag; there is something fascinating about the endurance of one's sanity. Does that make me sound like Dr. Evil? Well enjoy the chapter.

 

 

Mediaminer.org:

 

DarkMoonStar: yes, I know, she really shouldn't take his offer, but it's just part of the running-away-schema. Anyway much thanks to your review, and enjoy the chapter.