InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sedirea ❯ Bird without Legs ( Chapter 9 )

Bird without Legs

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Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha

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C&C&C&C&C&C

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It was past three in the morning when Kagome finally finished her shift. She had worked for eight hours nonstop without realizing it. The whole time she had been in the guestroom entertaining the guests, her mind had been elsewhere. She didn't knew how many cups of sake she had consumed throughout the hours, but thankfully to her long experience as a hostess she had managed to remain sober. Not that she wanted to; there was this aching in her heart that would very much welcome the intoxicating numbness a good bottle of sake would produce.

 

Kagome went into the changing room and began to peel the kimono off her skin. Though the material was light and soft, she felt as if it was suffocating her slowly. She groaned in relief when she was finally rid off her juban. Her face was flushed from her exertion, blending scarlet under pale marble.

 

Bending down to peel off her socks, the mirror caught the image of her exposed back; the line of her spine pressed against the skin of her back one by one like running melodies under the tips of the fingers on a grand piano. The beautiful shape of it was yet refined by the delicate facade of the structure.

 

She straightened up and put on her dimgray tiered chiffon baby doll dress and her black cardigan. Tying her long hair into a loose braid, she stepped out of the room and searched for the proprietress.

 

Kagome found her sitting on the passageway to the garden. Her eyes were held close and she was rubbing the back of her neck tiredly.

 

“Hayakawa-sama.” Kagome called out to her softly.

 

“Kagome-san.” She turned to her and was about to get up when Kagome motioned her to stay sitting. “Thank you that you'd filled in; you were such a great help.”

 

Kagome smiled. “I'm glad to help.”

 

“Are you about to leave now?”

 

Kagome nodded.

 

“Please stay for the night. You must be very tired. I prepare a room for you immediately.” Misako was about to leave when Kagome held her arm.

 

“Hayakawa-sama, I have still so many things to do in Tokyo, and I'm afraid I'm to be expected tomorrow morning at the faculty. So I really have to leave now to catch the morning train.”

 

“But the morning train is at five.” Misako stubbornly convinced her to stay.

 

“It's quite okay. It's already half past three now; I won't have to wait too long.”

 

Misako looked a bit disgruntled; she wasn't used to being contravened. Then she brightened up. “Why don't you let my son take you home? He lives in Tokyo too.” And before Kagome could protest, she was already gone to find her son.

 

Kagome stifled a curse in frustration. She immediately rushed to the main hall and prayed to make it out of the ryokan before Misako found her son.

 

In the hall she reached for her wedged sandals and put the house-slipper on the rack; she cursed silently as she fumbled with the intricate ribbon-clasps of her sandals.

 

But after she had finished putting on her sandals, it was already too late. She could hear shuffle of steps behind her; her only chance of escaping them was to hope that they wouldn't notice her crouching at the entrance, but even that wasn't granted. They already noticed her.

 

“Kagome-san, I thought you'd wait until I fetch my son.” Misako scolded her.

 

Kin, who had now changed into a simple polo T-shirt, wore under a striped T, and a dirty denim (you know what I mean, right?), put on his sneakers and headed to his car without saying anything at all.

 

“Hayakawa-sama, please you needn't do this. I'm sure that Kin-kun is too tired to drive right now.” Kagome pleaded.

 

“Nonsense.” Misako pulled gently at her arm and guided her towards the car. “My boy is not tired at all. He's just not conventionally polite.” She glared at her son who already sat in the car.

 

Misako opened the car and pushed Kagome in. “Drive safely; do you hear me, Kin? And, Kagome-san, thank you again for your help.”

 

Once she was seated, Kagome scooted as far as possible away from him. Kin's hands gripped the steering wheel hard, and he started the engine abruptly.

 

He maneuvered the small passages expertly, but there was a sense of desperation in his movement that made Kagome nervous.

 

She looked outside from the window. The late summer's dawn was breaking. A dim palette of violet and red shades covered the sky; the trees they were passing nodded calmly in harmony with the humid breeze. She was very much tempted to open the car's window and breathed in the scent of the mountain stream.

 

Inuyasha had been able to smell water, she remembered. She remembered too how she had laughed a little at his poetic senses. It was ridiculous to smell water; water was scentless unless it was corrupted with other foreign elements, or so she had been taught. But she shouldn't have laughed at him, because now she knew that everything had its own scent; scents that brought you back to places where you longed to be.

 

A sharp and unexpected maneuver of the car brought her back from her thoughts. Unconsciously she turned and looked at him; to her annoyance Kin had this slight smirk tugged at the corner of his lips.

 

“I need you to keep me awake.” He said calmly; his eyes were fixed on the road.

 

“There is a radio to provide for such requirement.” She said a little too sharply.

 

Kin's eyes narrowed, but he kept them still ahead. “But am I driving the radio home?”

 

Kagome immediately stiffened. “I never asked you to drive me home; just drop me somewhere around the corner, and I'll find my way to the station.”

 

“What's your problem!?” He couldn't keep the glare off his gaze as he finally turned to her.

 

“Shouldn't I ask the same thing? What's yours, Inuyasha? Does your girlfriend know that you kissed me?” Kagome asked him tauntingly.

 

He looked at her in disbelief; he couldn't imagine that such questions would come out of her lips.

 

“Not that I would tell her anyway. And as if one could call such a kiss.” She snorted. “Anyway, let's just forget what happened, and I'd really like you to stop the car now.”

 

Kin gaped; she had thoroughly given him no chance to speak at all. “I promise my mother to drive you safely home.” He tried to control the spark of anger in him.

 

“And you take your promises seriously, don't you?” She said sneeringly; suddenly it was a whole different matter. “Can't afford to break them?”

 

His expression was dead serious. “I'd never break promises I made to the one I love.”

 

To say that his answer had struck home was an understatement; it was that and more. She breathed hard for a moment and closed her eyes. If he wanted to drive her home so bad then she might as well let him.

 

Kin turned to look at her for a moment; she had snuggled deeper into her seat and covered her eyes with her hand. A glimpse of her so vulnerable pierced his heart, and within the unexplainable desire began to resurface.

 

He drove in silence for a while. The roads were vacant at this time of the day; normally he would step on the gas and sped through the roads, but today he drove in a normal speed.

 

“I apologize.” He said quietly.

 

Kagome didn't respond.

 

“I didn't mean to kiss you. I really don't know what came over me.” He admitted awkwardly.

 

“Let's just forget what happened, okay?” Kagome said tiredly.

 

“I can't.” He replied, a bit exasperated. “I kept having these thoughts about you though I barely know you.” He looked at her briefly. “But you, you're the strange one.” He pondered for a moment. “I never expected you to act so- so familiar so soon.” He stopped, afraid she took it the wrong way.

 

“Does it bother you to have me call you Inuyasha?” Kagome asked softly.

 

Kin smiled. “Not at all; the weird part is I think it's most natural acoustically when it's coming out of your lips. I really don't know why though.”

 

“Why?” She asked.

 

“Why what?”

 

“Why don't you know why?”

 

Kin grinned and rubbed the back of his neck. “I don't know.”

 

“Would you like me to tell you a secret?” Kagome looked at the passing view from the window; her finger tracing the fog appearing on the glass.

 

“Why you kissed me out of jealousy.” He was about to protest, but Kagome interrupted him. “You did.”

 

He sighed heavily, accepting the fact. “I guess you're right.”

 

“In every life we're given one chance to escape our fate; you were about to enter a commitment, and out of fear from it you grasped the one chance that lay in front of you, believing the distraction was something meant to be, something greater than itself. This might be the reason why we ran away from the lives we had led; the chasing of the firefly that we believed to shine brighter than it actually was. To believe that love could be so much greater than to give in and settle down was the desire in every one of us. But what the heart actually yearns for is to be free.”

 

“That's why you kissed me.”

 

He tried, really did try to absorb the information in his head and summarize the facts. But as he did, he came up with the most mind-boggling conclusion he had ever heard. “So you're saying I kissed you so that I can be free? That's the secret?”

 

“No, the secret is that you just want to be free.” And then a slight malicious intent entered her mind. “That's why you see; promises shouldn't matter.”

 

“Do you know if someone else comes up to me with such nonsense, I would throw him out in the street or reserve a place for him in the funny farm? But coming from you, I never heard anything so dark and helpless.”

 

She didn't even know why she gave him that reason; it was actually just a theory that she kept feeding herself, her fear, and her sleepless nights. The fear of being merely just a distraction, a firefly that fate decided to throw in someone's life every now and then. The truth was, if it was the truth at all, there was this wound deep inside her that only he could close, but instead of closing it he tore it deeper without even knowing it.

 

“Is this the answer you gave to every guy who asked you out?” Kin asked her teasingly; he was desperate to lighten the matter, to bring it back to the level where they hadn't had to question everything.

 

Kagome smiled. “Sometimes.” She too longed for that stage.

 

“So I guess there's no point of me asking you to have breakfast with me?”

 

“Coffee would be great.” Kagome yawned.

 

“I know this kissaten not far from here; I think it'll be open by now.”

 

“Really? So early-” Something caught her attention.

 

“What? What is it?”

 

“I thought I just saw a man dressed in samurai armor.” She shifted in her seat to follow the man's reflection through the rearview mirror.

 

Kin froze for a moment, and then he laughed nervously. “He was probably dressing up for the festival.”

 

“What festival?”

 

“Any kind of it, we have them quite a lot.” There was a note of impatience in his tone. “There's the kissaten!” he said in relief.

 

After parking the car in front of the café, they entered the small building and took seats near the window.

 

“Would you like something to eat?” Kin asked as he read the menu.

 

“Only milk coffee.” Kagome closed the menu after briefly looking at it.

 

The waitress seemed to know Kin as she greeted him flirtatiously by the table, and then she turned to Kagome and narrowed her eyes at her. After Kin finished his order, she turned to Kagome haughtily to take her order. Kagome, who wasn't feeling very nice at all, told the waitress her order in a cold tone.

 

“Would that be all?” The waitress asked in a clipped, snooty tone.

 

“Yes, milk coffee; only without hairs, nails, or spit.” Kagome replied sharply. (*)

 

The waitress gasped in shock and left huffily.

 

At first his eyes were widened at her remark, and then he began to laugh so hard that tears were coming out of his eyes. “Now don't give her any ideas.”

 

Kagome bit back a grin and fumbled with her napkin.

 

“Come on; there's a tiny, cute, victorious smile tugging at the corner of your lips.” He persuaded her teasingly. “You know you want to.”

 

She bit the insides of her cheeks to contain her smile. Finally she gave up and let out a big grin. For a moment they stared at each other quietly, happy to share the same happy mood, but then her smile froze, and she looked away.

 

Kin, who wasn't willing to let the moment get away, grabbed her arm and pulled her out of her seat. He put some money on the table and dragged her out of the kissaten.

 

Once outside, Kagome wrenched away from his grip. “What are you doing!?”

 

“You're not really thinking of drinking that coffee, are you? I'll show you where we can get a better one.” He pushed her in the car.

 

Once he started driving, Kagome noticed that he was driving in the opposite way. “Are we going back to Hakone?”

 

He nodded.

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

“Have I told you that I love the sound of my name coming out of your lips? In fact I love it so much that the next time you're saying it, I'm going to kiss you, hard.” He said the hidden threat while still keeping his eyes on the road. When she didn't say anything, he glanced briefly at her lips and sighed in disappointment.

 

The car stopped before the Yumoto Station. He opened the door to his car and went around opening the door on the other side.

 

Kagome hesitated for a moment. Was he just driving her back to the station so that she could catch the morning train to Tokyo? “Erm… Thanks a lot for the lift.”

 

But Kin just laughed at her and tugged her out of the car. “You silly girl.”

 

He led her to the station building, and they stopped before a row of vending machines. He went to the machine that sold various sorts of hot coffee. He got two cups of café latte for both of them and went to the machine that sold sandwiches and sweet buns.

 

“Would like sandwiches, buns or bento?”

 

Kagome stood there for a moment, weighing his question. Finally she answered him. “Sweet bun with chestnut filling, please.”

 

His eyes lightened up at her answer, and together they crouched together before the vending machine, waiting for the machine to cough up their order.

 

By the time they got all he had ordered, their arms were full of goods. Kagome looked up at him helplessly. “You bought too much.”

 

Kin wanted to scratch the back of his neck sheepishly, but his arms were too full with snacks and drinks. He then spotted an elder lady passing their way. “Excuse me, Obaa-chan; do you happen to have a plastic bag with you?”

 

The woman looked up at him in surprise. She nodded briefly and then fumbled with the content of her bag. Finally she found the sought item and gave it to him.

 

Kin accepted and asked her if she wanted something from the vending machine, but the elder lady just shook her head and smiled as they bowed their thanks to her.

 

“Inuyasha- Eep!” Kagome moved back as he was about to lean forward and do what he had threatened to do.

 

“So what now; am I suppose to ask you nothing at all?” Kagome huffed.

 

He nodded mischievously and grabbed her by her arm. They ran until they reached a train platform. He motioned her to step into the train and followed after her. Inside the train they sought for a comfortable place secluded from the rest, found one and both sat down opposite from each other.

 

“The coffee is probably cold by now.” He opened the lid of the cup.

 

“No, it's still warm.” Kagome looked at the content of the Styrofoam cup in wonder. “It's hot.”

 

She took out a snack from the plastic bag, opened its wrapping and bit in the manju (sweet bun). “It's good.” She smiled at him. “Want some?”

 

Kin, who would never pass a chance like this, nodded and leaned forward so that she could feed him with bits of the manju, but Kagome just tossed him a wrapped manju from the bag and giggled at him.

 

The train began to move in a leisure pace; as they looked out the windows, the scenery began to unravel in steep, narrow, wooden path, coming in and out of dark tunnels, winding its way through constricted, almost seemed frail, bridges, and along the way fogs shadowing over the journey. It was the picture perfect of mystic, untouchable yet tranquil of its own.

 

The food lay forgotten on their laps; both hardly dared to take their eyes away from the scenery, afraid they might have passed something or to be wrenched away from this serene almost religious experience of their lives.

 

Kagome inhaled sharply as the train winded its way through a particularly narrow bridge. She backed up from her position to find that her back brushed against a hard and warm chest. She stayed quiet for a moment; her back stiffly held forward. Protective arms were suddenly surrounding her; at that she melted, snuggling deeper into his hold. She could feel his smile against her hair and let out a tiny smile herself. Kin breathed in her hair deeply as he tightened his hold over her.

 

“You know I've taken this ride probably over hundreds of times already, but each time it always takes my breath away.” He whispered against her ear.

 

Kagome smiled softly. “Ajisai.” She whispered.

 

“Hmn?” It was like this every time she was near; he could neither listen nor concentrate on the things she said. His senses were intoxicated from her scent and the softness of her pliant body against his.

 

His whole body suddenly screamed at him to possess her, and a small voice thrummed in his head harshly that she had to belong to him. Nothing or no one could take this moment away from him.

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*end of chapter*

 

(*) this sentence was taken from a japanese film; unfortunately I've forgotten the title, but the originality of the scene impressed me a great deal that it just wouldn't get out of my head. But it's not mine. (There, a disclaimer)

Kissaten: café

Ajisai: Hydrangea

 

 

Review Responses

 

 

AFF.net:

 

Snowfall: Thank you for reviewing; as for giving Kagome a break, nope, no and no; I will continue to torture her until she realizes that fate is giving her the chance to get him back! Now, I'm tired… (sleep deprived) Anyway, enjoy the chapter!

lithium88: Yes, she finally met Sango; I'm also looking forward to write more about her. I'm afraid that in this chapter Inu still didn't know that Kag is going to move out; maybe in the next chapter? Thank you for your wonderful review.

leewrites: no, sorry, the sleazy customer is just a drunk ass, but it was very imaginative of you to interpret the character more than what it seemed to be; are you missing the rest of the Inu casts? Well, me too, but I can't seem to think of a decent plot to insert them in; I think of one, I promise. And thank you for your suggestions; I think I'm going to take that idea of parental advice. Thank you for your review, and enjoy the chapter.

fallenangel7583: now I know when to send you a birthday card! 7-5-83; this is by the American standard where 7 is the month, isn't it? Anyway I love your name; many great songs and movies are based from it. Thank you for reviewing again and for being kind at it; love ya.

 

 

MM.org:

 

nauriell: Hmm… will Nozomi remember about her? To tell you truth I haven't decided that yet. Thank you for reviewing again, and enjoy the chapter.

x_paperheart: Glad you think it's different; thank you for your wonderful review; enjoy the chapter.

DarkMoonStar: Yes, poor Kagome indeed, yet I meant to be much crueler… nay, the next chapters should be harder for Inu than for her. Anyway thank you for your wonderful review, and enjoy the chapter.

elvin: Good questions! About how Inu died and what happened after he left Kagome; this I will explain in the upcoming chapter, though I'm not yet sure in which, but I promise I won't leave you in the dark. Well as for Kagome; if you dislike her now, you'll hate her then. She'll be more difficult than she is now. Thank you for reviewing, and enjoy the chapter.

TheGreatMinionRalph: Glad to have you back again. Such coincidence that she works for Inu's mom, right? Psst… I'm behind all this… (Sorry, I haven't sleep for two days and had too much caffeine)

BlackDiamon: Poor Kagome and the cruel power of karma, and yet poor Kin, and when you think about it, poor Sachiko! Okay, I'll stop. Thank you for reviewing, and enjoy the chapter.

Inu-Kag15: Thank you! That was a very nice compliment; enjoy the chapter.