InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Serendipity ❯ Barrier ( Chapter 12 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

I'm trying to improve my updating speed just for you guys, coz' trust that I know how it feels to wait on a story!

School is swallowing me, but I'm multitasking!


Also, I want to take this time to thank ALL of my reviewers! You guys are my oxygen when it comes to this story, so thank you VERY much.

Anywho, Enjoy.

:)

Kagome attempts to crack the mental shell around our hanyou, but if it were that easy, things wouldn't be as interesting, would they?

****





"You like it?" Kagome asked sheepishly, her head tilted to the side, a half grin wearing her rosy lips.

Her raven hair tumbled over her shoulders, the wind momentarily playing with it, tossing it against the trunk of the tree. Her eyes sparkled--they gleamed with an unusual emotion of prospect, a sense of buoyancy. The sun made them glisten in a way InuYasha found absolutely fascinating.

Beryl shimmered enticingly in the depths of them, shades of a darker blue focused in the middle. The trees around them were almost bare, autumn taking its toll on nature. Winter was just a few days away, and the weather had been chilled.
Kagome had just gotten over her cold with the help of her loyal hanyou, of course. His breath caught in his throat when his eyes landed on the sheet of paper she was presenting to him.

His jaw dropped slightly, his lips parted, but uttered no sound. His brows furrowed together, but quickly raised. Those fiery eyes of his widened in utter shock and wonder.
The mini triangular appendages that rested atop of his head spiraled frantically, as if searching for an answer as to why his brain was sending his eyes this message--this message that Kagome had drawn him.

A real-life portrait. Not some idiotic, meaningless caricature, utterly mocking his appearance like he would have expected from most people. She'd drawn him from memory, that was plain to see. His head was tilted upward, as if he were gazing into the very depths of the sky.

His eyes were lidded heavily, as if he were slightly drowsy, or at peace with his surroundings.

His lips were parted slightly, while the ears on top of head were folded to his scalp, shielding themselves from the viewer. His hair, enduring and powerful, flowed loosely in an invisible breeze. The left side of his face was shaded thoroughly, while the right side lay there for the viewer's enjoyment, glistening profoundly. This InuYasha was fraudulent, he didn't exist, or at least he didn't around anyone but her.

It was drawn beautifully, the lines quite even, the shading expressing the true depths of the curves of his face.

He was speechless.

She'd drawn him.

Wonderfully.

A thought suddenly hit him when he fully registered this fact.

'That drawing she did last week when I visited her in her room. She was drawing me..'

"Kagome.." he managed, slightly shaking. This feeling he felt, he couldn't describe it. His stomach felt weird--like many creatures were jumping around in it. His arms held goosebumps, and his heart sped up. His palms became unnaturally clammy and he rubbed them against each other subconsciously.

"InuYasha?"

She frowned, a feeling of utter sorrow encompassing her.

'He doesn't like it..'

Her eyes began to feel a tad watery, and she shook the feeling off. She could just take this as a form of constructive criticism, right? He hated her drawing to high hell, so that just meant she would try harder the next time. She knew she wasn't perfect, darnit, but she didn't think she was terrible either. Maybe the shading was off. Was it beyond repair? Could she snatch it back really quickly and throw it across the school yard? Maybe she could try..

"No one has ever drawn me before.." he continued, his gaze still fixed on the piece of art. She opened her mouth slightly, but chose to remain silent.

He slowly ran his fingers across the picture, memorizing the lines by touch.

"Can I keep this?" he whispered, barely audible. She gasped in surprise.

He wanted to keep it?

"Sure, InuYasha... I.. you like it?"

He nodded slowly, before finally meeting her gaze with his own. She noticed how his eyes were a darker shade of golden, and they had suddenly grown extremely hard to read..

"T-thank you so much..I.." He suddenly stood, grabbing his backpack and tossing it over his shoulder. She stood also, before sliding the remains of her lunch back into her sack. Lunch had at least ten minutes left, so why was he leaving so early?

He rushed off quickly, waving her off. She sighed, but smiled, realizing he liked the picture after all. The thought alone caused butterflies to form in her stomach, making her cheeks turn a dark shade of red.

'Why do I have butterflies whenever I'm around him? Something about him is just so obscure..'


***

'Why did she draw me? I don't understand..I'm a monster, and yet she made me look so..'

He quickly shoved everything off of his desk, not caring at the moment of the junk pile he was creating. He whipped out a giant sheet of black paper, while also gathering a white colored pencil. He began to massage his temples, bringing Kagome's features into his mind. He smiled, recalling how the light hit her face at certain angles, making her usual cerulean eyes an amazing sterling. Before he realized it, his hand was moving across the paper at an amazing speed, capturing even the most minuscule of detail.

He was going to attempt draw the most beautiful creature imaginable.

He worked all night, having to switch pencils periodically, sharpening them to a nub. Being so involved with his art, he failed to pick up the faint patter of footsteps stopping at his doorway. He was initializing the final touches of this piece of art, a grin resting on his face.

He was proud of it.

He managed the capture her captivating features beautifully. Staring at the picture was enough to give him that familiar feeling in his tummy whenever he was around her, making him blush slightly.

"She's going to love this."

Before he realized it, his artwork was being dangled in the air from a being behind him. He quickly spun around, only to see his father gazing at his work, a grim line forming on his mouth.

"Oh is she, InuYasha? This bitch go to school with you?"

InuYasha's fists clenched, making his knuckles unnaturally white. "She's not a bitch," he growled, quickly standing and shoving his chair aside with utter force. Now that he was beginning to get to know Kagome, he was beginning to kind of..tolerate her.

Ya, that's it.

His father quirked a brow, before a cynical smirk made his lips curved upward. The grin was completely wry, twisted.

"This human has taken your heart, yes?"

The hanyou quickly looked away, muttering something unintelligible.

He barely even liked Kagome as a person, so his father was down right insane if he thought he actually..

"Let me spare you, half-breed. All humans are vile, despicable creatures. Especially human women. All of them are whores."

Before InuYasha could respond, his eyes widened in terror as his father ripped up his work right in front of him, then tossed it to the floor as if it were trash.

"You need not waste anymore time on that piece of trash. It wasn't all that good anyway. Aren't you lucky to have me around?" With an evil laugh, InuTaisho left the room, his voice echoing the hallways. InuYasha began to shake violently with vexation, agony.

He had spent hours on that artwork, shaping every single line perfectly.

His breathing became ragged, scattered, while his fists clenched and un clenched, blood dripping from them from the pressure his nails impacted on his calloused hands. He felt his demon side struggling to spring forth, wanting to demolish every bit of his father's being.

He inhaled roughly, attempting to calm his demon side before he lost control.

'Don't lose control. Don't lose control. Don't lose control.'

Still shaking, he grabbed his chair and slowly sat back into it, burying his face in his hands. His ears flattened against his head, realizing he had worked hours over a piece of artwork that no longer existed.

He had been so proud of it.

He'd given Kagome that addictive smile that she always wore, gave her blue eyes that familiar gleam of mischief she got whenever she had one of those many spontaneous ideas. He began to chuckle sadly.

"I couldn't even give her the wonderful gift she got me.."

His ears twitched anxiously, picking up the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs. Was it his dad coming back for a round two?

He huffed at the thought, his jaw clenching.

"You seem upset."

The voice was definitely not his father's, but that of frigid Sesshomaru. InuYasha gazed up at him for a second, meeting his naturally polar gaze with one of his own.

"What the hell do you care?"

The demon's brow quirked.

"Do not confuse a mild observation with feelings."

With that, he walked past the hanyou's room, leaving him in wonder.

Usually, Sesshomaru would offer a smart comment about him being worthless, inferior to him and his father.

Strange.

***

"Hanyou! We're having company tonight. Make this place spotless," InuTashio ordered, sliding his red tie into place over his suit.

InuYasha simply nodded, sipping on a bottle of brisk water. They stood in the kitchen, as his father was about to leave. It was Saturday evening, and if he was lucky, he'd have the house to himself for a few hours.
Sesshomaru was nowhere to be seen, and as of late, he sat outside more often, staring into space.

"Your presence shall not be necessary. I do not desire you to be visible for anyone's eyes when my guests arrive. Your appearance is repulsive, and I do not need my fellow employees to vomit from the sight of you."

His ears flattened agsinst his head, and he nodded in understanding.

InuYasha had been broken for many years now, the little light of hope burned out. He knew he was repulsive, how his very being made people ill. Lately though, an annoying voice had been gnawing at him, telling him he was actually worth more than what he was used to.
That annoying voice was urging him forward, making him feel like he belonged in this world.

That annoying voice was Kagome's, and God, how he craved to hear it at the moment. Too wrapped up in his thoughts, he almost failed to notice the sound of his father leaving the house. He sighed in relief.

A few hours of peace.

His mind wandered back to the girl in question, and he developed the certain urge to hear her voice. His ears perked up, his memory serving useful.

Kagome had given him her number last week!

They had been in Psychology class, and in order to be able to contact each other at all times--for tutoring purposes of course-- she had given him her number, writing it on the very edge of his five subject notebook.

He scurried upstairs, his hand squirming through his backpack for the notebook. Moments later, he smirked in success, yanking it out, and seeing the seven digits he longed to see.

Why was he calling her?

To ask her about the homework that he obviously had forgotten about, duh.

***

Kagome hummed to herself as she tapped her pencil against her desk, her eyes wandering over many biochemistry equations. She confidently solved them, her mind wandering to the hanyou that had made it possible.

Her gaze fell out of the window, the sun slowly disappearing over the horizon line, orange being dominant in the sky. Her mother was downstairs on the couch, her eyes glued to the Soap Opera channel, while Souta's were glued to his Kingdom Hearts videogame. She sighed in contentment. Everyone was so at ease at the moment, so calm and wrapped up in their own lives. The corners of her mouth tugged upward.

'I wonder what he's doing right now..'

The phone in her room rang, nearly making her jump out of her seat. She shared a line with the her family, so she assumed it was someone for her mother.

"Answer the phone, Kagome!" Her mother called, before she even had a chance to say anything. Setting down her pencil, she made her way to the cordless phone resting by her bed.

On the fourth ring, she lifted it, pressing the reciever to her ear.

"Hello, Higurashi residence."

There was a few moments of silence, and Kagome was about to speak again, if not for the hurried breaths on the other end.

"H-Hello?"

She rasied a brow, the voice sounding nervous..and quite familair..

"Hello?"

"Kagome?"

Her brows furrowed, realizing who the voice belonged to.

"InuYasha?"

She heard him exhale in relief.

"Ya, it's me. Listen..um..what was homework for Biochem?"

His words came out kind of rushed, but she grabbed her notebook, and told him nonetheless. Hearing his voice made her heart quicken slightly. This was the first time they had ever talked on the phone before.

He was callling her just for homework?

Well that sucked..

"Problems 15-41 odd."

"Okay..thanks.."

There was an awkward silence.

"Say, InuYasha.. do you want to talk for a while?"

Relief struck him like a ton of bricks. Lately, talking to Kagome had been pretty addictive..

He cleared his throat, before mumbling a nonchalant, "Sure."

She smiled.

***

"What do you mean stupid!? I was young!" Kagome defended, her bottom lip puffing out in a childish pout. She heard him chuckle on the other end. "Whatever you say, Kagome." The moon was glistening high in the night sky by now, as the two had been talking for hours. They had gotten on the subjects of Kagome's past and her stupid mistakes. She stuck her tongue out, well aware that he wouldn't be able to see the gesture. He lay on his bed, his gaze also on the night sky, watching a certain dark white cloud, wondering if she was looking at the exact same one he was from her room.

They had been laughing forever, and a bond of trust was slowly beginning to form between them. Being around her made him feel so needed, so abundant.

"Say, InuYasha.." she started, her voice becoming serious. His ears perked up immediately.

"Hmm?"

She was very hesitant to ask what was on her mind.
She realized how withdrawn InuYasha could be, how he kept everyhting bottled up inside of him.

"..About your family.."

His expression darkened, and an empty silence filled the line.

"InuYasha?"

"I have to go."

With that, an abrupt clicking sound echoed in her ears, before she was greeted with the dial tone.

She sighed, hanging up the phone, her eyes not on the shadowed ceiling.

'What are you hiding InuYasha? Why won't you let me in?'