InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Shrine Prostitute ❯ Precipitation ( Chapter 10 )
[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
By: FlameTwirler 
::A hastening or acceleration, especially one that is sudden or unexpected:: Kagome and Inuyasha's last night has arrived.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.09.2007 | Updated On: 03.05.2013 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.6K | Visits: 5.5K | Status: Work In Progress
::A hastening or acceleration, especially one that is sudden or unexpected:: Kagome and Inuyasha's last night has arrived.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Hentai / Drama / Romance | Type: Alternate Universe | Uploaded On: 07.09.2007 | Updated On: 03.05.2013 | Pages: 6 | Words: 9.6K | Visits: 5.5K | Status: Work In Progress
Shrine Prostitute by FlameTwirler
~ ~ ~
Chapter 10: Precipitation
----- A hastening or acceleration, especially one that is sudden or unexpected
~ ~ ~
Kagome lay in bed staring blankly at the ceiling under Inuyasha’s comfortable weight from where he lay half on top of her, his hand lazily stroking down her side. She was sure objectively they should be the absolute picture of contentment, curled around each other and as comfortable with each other’s naked bodies as they were, yet she couldn’t swallow past the lump in her throat.
It was their last night.
Inuyasha felt her tense up and instantly became alert. “Kagome, what’s wrong?” he asked, raising himself on his elbows over her so he could peer into her face unimpeded.
Looking up at features so familiar to her, into deep amber eyes she’d seen darken with passion or alight with a little boy’s sense of wonder, she didn’t want to face the reality that this might be the last time she ever saw him.
“I don’t want to say goodbye,” she whispered then quickly looked away, suddenly fearful of the admission.
“I see,” he said calmly – too calmly – withdrawing his warmth from hers.
As soon as she felt the mattress shift as his weight left the bed she knew what had happened. With as paranoid as his life had made him how could she not? Even after everything they’d done together, experienced together, been through together, he could still think she’d want to leave him without so much as a ‘by your leave.’ Is that how much he thought he meant to her?
But she knew how the world had shaped him, the strange vulnerability that still rocked his psyche, so she was more resigned than hurt, and saddened for him that it would be so incredibly hard for him to trust anyone throughout his whole life.
Perhaps it’s better this way, she mused. For him it could just be a clean break and he wouldn’t have to live thinking about might-have-beens. She knew that no matter what, her departure would hurt him on some level – they’d become too close for it to be otherwise. But as she stared at his turned back she suddenly realized that how hurt he got lay within her hands to determine.
If she let him think he hadn’t meant all that much to her it would tear her up inside and he would be crushed, possibly feel slightly betrayed, but it was a pain he was all too familiar with and accustomed to dealing with and pushing through. He might hate her afterward but in the end it probably wouldn’t rock him as badly.
If she let him know how terribly much he meant to her now, how desperately she wished that circumstances were different, then he would have to live with the specter over his head knowing that someone out there in the world truly did care about him but their separate lives dictated they couldn’t be together, not truly. It would be just another crushing cruelty to throw on him to add to all the others, yet another thing denied to him just because he was hanyou and made the only living he could as a prostitute, even if it was under the glamorous name of Tetsudai. Such unfairness abounding in the world, especially of knowing something wonderful out there was just beyond reach, could drive a person mad.
She took a sobering breath to calm herself and tried to be strong. She knew that telling him the truth now, correcting his misunderstanding of her words, would only make herself feel better – it wouldn’t help him at all but would only make things messier in the end while she wouldn’t have to feel like the bad guy. Because she knew this, because she knew how much some part of her didn’t want to make such a sacrifice, she sat and turned her back to him because the larger part of her knew it was better to hurt him a little bit once than a little bit every day for a lifetime.
Inuyasha saw her naked back turned to him, so rigid and stoic, cold where it had been warm and pliant before, and knew he’d been played a fool. He wasn’t stupid, he knew he meant more to her than to any of his other clients, but that still apparently amounted to very little. A hanyou, after all, was less than half a soul and therefore didn’t need to be shown full consideration. He blistered himself internally for forgetting that for even as short a time as this.
The two were frozen, thoughts racing while both refused to act on any impetus that would truly shatter the unearthly calm they’d lived the past days through.
Kagome heard Inuyasha shift behind her and the first tear fell; she was sure he was leaving her now.
“Kagome?”
The timid tone of his voice and the tentative touch on her shoulder broke her. She knew how much that had to cost him when his pride was the only thing he truly had to his name. With a cry she turned and leapt onto him, clinging to his chest and sobbing into his warm skin as his arms clamped about her.
He clung to her like she was his lifeline and didn’t ever plan on letting go. He didn’t know the first thing about how to handle a crying human female but if he did know one thing well it was her body and its reactions to him. Cradling her head against his shoulder he didn’t bother to take a step from where he’d been standing halfway between the bed and the door, but sat on the floor where he was, pulling her into his lap, and finally smoothing her hair down her back until she was hiccupping softly against him.
From the way her fingers were still scrabbling against his back it was obvious, even to him, how she’d originally meant those words. It had simply never entered his mind that someone might take badly to his absence, let alone react as strongly as had the girl in his arms.
“Shhhh, Kagome,” he soothed.
They sat wrapped around each other until they were both as still as the bleak night air outside the window of her small apartment, a luxury Inuyasha bathed in every time he was over since he wasn't afforded one back at the Shrine. Inuyasha braced himself to withdraw from her but when his limbs refused to comply he simply sighed and lowered his face back down to nuzzle the crown of her head.
“When do you leave?” he asked, wondering if there was any slight possibility that he’d get to see her tomorrow for a moment or if this evening really was goodbye.
She stiffened, her mind racing with all the preparations she’d have to make tonight for finding another temporary Tetsudai and extending her apartment lease another month; she couldn’t imagine taking anyone else home with her after Ryu’s refusal. She had to stifle the urge to rub at her temples. “I don’t,” she replied, distracted by her own thoughts and feeling that was explanation enough.
Inuyasha, however, didn’t like that answer at all. “You’re not going home?” he questioned, wanting to make sure his ears weren’t deceiving him and Kagome finally came back to the present when she heard the displeasure in his voice. Vacantly she shook her head.
“So was this all a game?” he accused quietly. “Some ploy to see how far you could make the hanyou go out of his way and cater to you?”
She refused to succumb to his paranoia this time and just glared up at him. “Is that what you really think?” Confusion warred with distrust and hope in his eyes enough that she knew the answer before he even moved. The shake of his head was hesitant at best but her heart soared even as she saw his piercing eyes ask his question. He really was growing to have more faith in her, he just didn’t know what other option there could be than disloyalty.
Her weariness caught up with her and she laid her head back down on his chest. “You heard the message my mom left me, remember?” She didn’t wait for a response. “The shrine back home is doing so well they figured the kami must be pretty happy with what I’m doing here. So…they requested another month – another four weeks of invoking the kamis’ blessing through my worship.” Her voice flitted up to him, slightly muffled by his own skin, and it took him a moment to process what she’d said.
When he fully understood the ramifications he pulled her back so he could look her in the face. “What are you going to do?”
She shrugged up at him, “I don’t know,” and glanced away quickly, but not before he saw the slightly broken look in her eyes.
Kagome chided herself harshly. She was acting like a baby just because she was being treated like some piece of ass and she didn’t like it. So what? The wonderful person she was currently sitting on top of – she hoped against hope she hadn’t made his legs fall asleep as that’d just be embarrassing – had to go through horrors untold each and every day yet he wasn’t collapsing into a heap of self-pity. So she was uncomfortable for a month and felt like a whore, big deal! At least she was consoled by the fact that she was helping her family in the process. Inuyasha’s pain, on the other hand, was meaningless for having no further purpose.
She mustered the biggest smile she could and aimed it up at him, pushing as much of it into her eyes as possible. “I’ll figure out something though; I’m a big girl now, I’ll survive.”
Sobering a moment the corners of her mouth dropped and she stared at him with such naked…something…he couldn’t quite put his finger on it but was sure he’d never seen it directed at him before…that he was momentarily rendered immobile by the power of it.
“Thank you, though, a thousand times thank you. You’ve shown me so much and gone to so much trouble for me. You brought me into this world with such a gentleness,” she saw him about to refute her choice of words and placed a hand on his cheek to forestall it, “yes, gentleness, that it kept me from becoming paralyzed by my own ridiculous fears. You really are something else, you know that?”
He tried to block out her words – no one could ever mean something like that about him – but the sincerity in her voice flooded him and he slowly pulled her to him again, unable to take any more of that look in her eyes.
He knew he shouldn’t do this, that it was an utterly stupid and horrible idea, but that couldn’t keep him from croaking out the words. “I could keep coming to see you, at least for a little while – ”
She cut him off with a sharp push to his chest and a quickly yelled, “No!” Taking in his arrested features her face immediately softened and her fingers glided over the red spots where she’d slapped her hands against him in her haste to pull back.
“No,” she repeated, “you’ve done entirely too much for me already. I’ve been ridiculous and selfish and had so little regard for your safety, as Ryu informed me so bluntly.” She muttered the tail end, recalling how well her last conversation had gone with the older man. “There’s no way I’m allowing you to do anything more to risk yourself just because my sensibilities are a little bit burned.”
Inuyasha laid one clawed finger against her mouth and she looked at him questioningly, surprised to see his own brows furrowed together. “You’ve been meeting with Ryu? Ryu knows about this?”
She worked not to cringe as he threw the words out somewhere between disbelief and accusation. Watching, she saw as he slowly processed all the things that could mean. Unknowingly, she stiffened defensively when she saw the sudden gleam his eyes took on.
“When did he say those things to you, Kagome?”
She answered hesitantly, not sure where he was going but not completely trusting the look on his face. “Yesterday.”
“Why did he only say that yesterday?”
She stared at him blankly a moment.
“If he knew about this all along then why would he suddenly call up new worries about my safety now…unless something new was brought up when the two of you met?”
She couldn’t stop the strangled gasp that escaped her lips and drew herself back from him slightly. He was not supposed to be this shrewd!
Her mind raced, trying to find a plausible way out of this current predicament. She knew she was horrible at lying but both she and Ryu had agreed that it would only hurt the hanyou more to raise his hopes, and she certainly wouldn’t do so now that she knew nothing could possibly come from her struck down intentions. So she did the only thing she could think of to do: she bluffed.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she harrumphed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away. If she’d thought it would do anything she would have used their position to try and turn his mind to more primal matters, but he was too stubborn once on a particular train of thought. Even if she was able to distract him he would come right back to the same line of questioning after they were done; she couldn’t even hope to gain herself more time to think up a plausible story because she knew all mental capacity on her part would go flying out the window as soon as he touched her. No, it was better to push through this now and not give him any more time to become even more suspicious.
“Ryu is simply too nice for his own good is all. He’d thought me somewhat selfish all along but couldn’t bring himself to say it until yesterday. I must have just done something that finally annoyed him enough to bring him to bypass social niceties.”
Inuyasha raised one brow speculatively, clearly not buying her line. “Oh really?” he drawled, content to let the game play out for a moment. “And just what could you have done to push Mr. Proper Secretary to throw away years of etiquette?”
Kagome had to think fast. “I’m not positive. It could have been I was talking too much – he is a middle aged man having to deal with a teenage female after all. Or it could have been the soup I spilled on his trousers…” She tapped a finger against her chin as if deep in thought. “Honestly, I can’t be sure. I could have done any number of things. I’ve certainly gotten under your skin a few times, haven’t I?” She raised her eyebrows as if to indicate that should prove her point but at his still obvious skepticism she threw up her hands in exasperation. “I don’t know, Inuyasha, you can’t expect me to know all the workings of any male mind, let alone Ryu’s. I don’t know why he suddenly said it, just that he did, so let it go at that.”
Silence reigned between them a moment until his rough voice broke the silence. “You feel like telling me the truth now?”
Instantly she deflated, unable to think of anything else to keep him off the track. How could she possibly tell him now that it would never come to pass? “Please, you don’t need to know, you don’t want to know.” She knew immediately that she’d said the wrong thing when she saw the determination in his eyes harden, but she made one last effort anyhow.
“It’s nothing bad and it’s not anything that matters anymore anyhow. Ryu was right and I was selfish and stupid for bringing it up; it’ll only hurt you if I bring it up again.”
“So it has to do with me?”
Darn! she thought. And I’d been so close!
Laying her head down with a defeated smack she mumbled, “I won’t tell you.” So now the gauntlet was thrown and she prayed to every kami she could think of that he would choose to be merciful and let it go.
Inuyasha, however, was having none of it. “You will tell me, Kagome, even if I have to force it out of you.”
She swallowed harshly.
“Believe me, after years of working at the Shrine I know all sorts of inventive methods to get me what I want. You wanna know one of the most effective?”
She didn’t respond, pretending that if she ignored him the threat would go away.
“Tickling.”
Darn! she thought again. In any other situation she would have found his proclamation outright hilarious but the gravity of both his tone and the situation erased any humor from the scene. That, and she knew he was right.
Tickling had always been one of her biggest weaknesses. There were enough years between herself and Souta that she’d always been bigger and faster despite the fact that he was a boy. If he ever got a hold of her, however, it was all over the second he put his fingers to her ribs, and he’d have her squirming and promising to do all his chores for the next week.
So she knew it was futile before Inuyasha ever even touched her but she knew she couldn’t cave. It was for his sake, after all. She’d been thoughtless, had put him at risk, so now she had to be as strong as she could for his sake.
She didn’t last more than thirty seconds.
She was howling at the top of her lungs while mentally apologizing to her neighbors, gasping for breath, and rolling on the floor with tears running down her face. She’d actually tried to pant out ‘I give’ a couple times before she finally succeeded just from the sheer lack of air to her lungs.
As soon as he rolled off her and his hands left her skin she rocked to her knees and, seeing as how their struggle had maneuvered them closer to the bed, grabbed one of the sheets to wrap around herself. She most definitely needed something to fidget with while she unveiled this part of herself.
While she was still pulling the oversized fabric from the bed she muttered, “I wanted for you to come home with me.” It was a soft pronouncement but she knew he’d heard it, which was a good thing because she didn’t think she could bring herself to say it any louder if she’d tried.
Returning to her seat on the floor she turned her back to him and huddled herself inside the copious amount of white sheet, wishing that things had turned out any way other than this.
An interminable amount of time passed and Kagome swore she was about to go mad when he finally spoke. “You’re serious?”
She turned on him, embarrassment and self-loathing fueling her anger. “Of course I’m serious! You think I’d make something like that up?” The look of wonder on his face hitched something inside her and she quickly whirled away again, unwilling to look at him with that expression aimed at her.
“Why didn’t you want to tell me? Did you change your mind?”
To her surprise he actually sounded more petulant than angered or hurt and a small beam of warmth lit her insides when she realized that meant he trusted her, however slightly, and what he meant to her. She knew she caught him off guard with her fierce hug around his middle when he started mumbling under his breath about crazy women, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Apparently he didn’t mind much either as he continued his ramblings but brought his hands up to grip her back and tangle in her hair.
The smile she then bestowed on him could have outshone the sun in its brilliance for the few seconds before she recalled the topic of their conversation and it slowly faded from her face. She heaved a small sigh of reluctance to let go of the glowing feeling but since she knew it was something she’d be able to remember and treasure years from now when Inuyasha was only a pleasant memory, she was content for the moment.
She shook her head, grateful for the tension breaker that allowed her to now have a level head as she answered him. “No, I didn’t change my mind. I would love to spend another month with you, but it’s just not possible. As I said, I spoke to Ryu yesterday and he showed me just how truly ignorant I am.”
Inuyasha started to say something but she cut him off.
“No, he’s right. I could have gotten you killed!” She paled slightly at the realization. “Honestly I didn’t even know that hanyou really existed until coming here, or at least I’d never truly thought about it. I don’t know what you are and are not allowed to do in the outside world, what will protect you and what will put you in danger. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you. Maybe that’s me being selfish again, knowing that I wouldn’t want to live with the guilt of being responsible for you getting hurt, but I just can’t stand even the idea of it!”
He smiled at her, softly, and she was thrown completely off her stride. Huffily she crossed her arms over her chest. “What?”
“You don’t want me to get hurt.” His smile turned crafty and she turned wary. “But you still want to be with me.”
Now she just felt like she was being patronized. “Of course, that was the point of all my monologuing!” she groused, poking at his chest.
“There is a way…”
She turned suspicious, narrowed eyes on him, the look telling him if he valued his hide he’d better hurry and explain.
“There’s a spell that can be used, any number of the miko in the Shrine should be able to do the incantation. It’s a rosary that would be a ‘sealing bond’ of sorts between the two of us – well basically it makes me your fucking lapdog, but who’s being picky?” She jolted at his explanation but he continued ahead. “It has worked into it a subduing word that keeps me under your control, which of course in the eyes of the world makes me somewhat safer.”
Shakily she pushed herself back, out from between his legs where he’d stretched them out on either side of her, effectively encasing her in his presence. She shook her head, unable to believe what he’d just said. “You can’t really mean that.”
The look he gave her was so placid that she knew with heartrending certainty it meant he was masking his confusion and uncertainty. “That is, of course, only if you still wanted me to go with you.”
“It’s not that, you know it’s not that.” Though she didn’t know him nearly as well as she’d like, she knew his body, and the language of his posture was screaming his questions at her.
“Inuyasha, that’s humiliating! You said I’d be in utter control of you; I couldn’t be part of such a thing. It would destroy you!”
Part of him was rather annoyed at her words. Did she really think he was so weak he couldn’t handle a small blow to his pride, sacrifice it even, when it was worth it? “Ask Ryu about it.”
She was slow in her words, but emphatic, and he knew there’d be no change on her part. “I can’t do that to you. I’m sorry but no.”
A change of tactics was needed he decided.
“Fine then.” Though she was surprised by his sudden capitulation, given his almost obsessive need to compete with her in the stubbornness department, she didn’t question it. He simply had to see, just as she did, that such an endeavor might not be only degrading but also possibly futile as she didn’t see how that could protect him against all the unknowns. It was a nice try, and she was happy that he showed interest in going with her, but it was not something she would risk.
Before she knew what was happening he’d grabbed her arm and spun her onto the bed, trapping her in the sheet along the way, and climbed in behind her. “Go to sleep,” he ordered. She was going to argue simply on principle alone, or perhaps in favor of other activities - or at least to question why he wasn't the one pursuing it, but was undone by her own enormous yawn. Deciding giving in would be the better part of valor this time she simply laid her head against him and fell into turbulent slumber.
~ ~ ~
When she woke up around midnight Inuyasha was already gone and, though at first she felt more than miffed, she came to the conclusion that in the end it was probably better for both of them. They’d had their chance at goodbye the day and evening before and that had already been volatile enough, fraught with too much tension and emotion for something that was supposed to be no more than a business affair. No good would come from dragging it out even further.
Now she needed to go through the few belongings she’d brought with her (and were left intact after some of the rather more enthusiastic sessions with her favorite hanyou), figure out what she needed to buy to get her through another month there, (thank the kamis for credit cards), and go see Ryu again. The way she’d left him hadn’t exactly been a pleasant ending to their conversation, and since she now agreed with his point of view more than when she’d argued with him, she knew she owed him an apology.
Still, knowing it had to be done didn’t make the thing any easier and so she found herself taking as long as possible to get ready to leave and then dragging her feet the whole way to the Shrine.
No sooner was she through the door to the reception room than she was leveled with a deadly glare. Stopping, not knowing the cause for such malcontent in the man, she nearly shrank into the doorpost before mentally shaking herself, chiding herself for such childish behavior, and striding forward to meet him.
Ryu didn’t bother with niceties; he just barked out an order for Kazuma to take the station, which the younger man wisely did not argue about, and stalked from the room assuming Kagome would follow. Leading her to one of the back meeting rooms he turned on her as soon as the door was closed.
“Why did you tell him?” he all but snarled. There was no need for her to ask what he was talking about.
“I didn’t mean to,” she defended, “or at least I’d never intended to. He simply noticed something was wrong and wouldn’t let it go – you know how stubborn he can be. I tried to lie, to evade, I even asked him to just trust me in that he didn’t want to know, but he just wouldn’t let it go and eventually I just caved.” She poked her toe at a thread coming loose in the rug, suitably chastened. “I guess you’re right, I am pretty weak.”
“You’ve always been easy to read, girl, so I guess it comes as no big surprise. And I never said weak, Kagome.”
Her head rose at his words.
“…Just selfish.”
…and quickly ducked back between her shoulders.
Ryu was a practical man, a realist. He wouldn’t let her put words in his mouth, especially to point out faults he didn’t think she had (after all, anyone who would dress as a dominatrix just to specifically trick Kazuma had a stronger stomach than he did), but he wasn’t done venting his anger just yet. Oh no, he’d just started.
“And the rosary?” he queried, crossing his arms and tapping his foot just like the math teacher she’d never been able to get off her back and she shuddered involuntarily at the memory.
“What about it?” she muttered before his words sank in and she gawked. “Wait, you mean that’s real?”
“Of course. Didn’t you find out about it from one of the miko at the healing shrine and bring up the possibility to Inuyasha?” His angry edge was slipping as confusion pushed its way inside his head. The stupid stare she was giving him wasn’t exactly conducive to the idea of her being someone who’d been plotting such a device. As he’d said, she was easy to read, at least to him and apparently Inuyasha as well, despite the fact that Kazuma hadn’t been able to see through her act from the nervous smile and small tremors in her hands.
She shook her head, mute for a few seconds at the implications. “You really think I would…?” Her movement became more violent and she quickly transformed from mouse to tiger in his eyes. “I can’t believe you think me capable of such a thing! Not only the duplicity but also putting Inuyasha in danger!”
Ryu’s eyes widened slightly. Wasn’t she the one who only yesterday had been saying that fun and enjoyment was more important than safety? Quality over quantity?
Starting to stomp her way over to him she stopped after only two steps, her righteous indignation brimming up inside her so much she had to focus all her energy to keep still for fear of what else she might do.
“After I told him what we’d talked about and how I was starting to agree with you, he was the one who brought up the idea of using the rosary – which I refused out of hand.” She crossed her arms and glared at him as if daring him to contradict her.
“So you told him you didn’t want to take him home anymore?”
“No, I told him I still wanted to take him home but that I wasn’t willing to endanger or humiliate him so it wasn’t a possibility.”
Ryu, to Kagome’s astonishment, actually growled under his breath. “Inuuuyaaasha!”
“What?” she asked, fearing Ryu might actually be nearing senility.
“He came to me this afternoon and requested the rosary to be put on.”
“What?!” she repeated, screeching loud enough that the older man visibly winced. “But I told him I wouldn’t – ” Well at least that explained why Inuyasha had been so anxious to get her to fall asleep.
“Kagome, you know him as well as I do and this is something he won’t be easily swayed from. It’s obviously something he wants badly enough to do whatever it takes in order to achieve it.” Whether the hanyou wanted to be with the girl or just get out of the Shrine he didn’t know, though he suspected it was more of the former than Inuyasha would admit or even realized himself yet. “If you’re still willing, I suggest you just go ahead and take him home.”
She laughed out loud. She had to be hearing things, right? There was no way Ryu said what she just thought he said, not after the way he’d been speaking to her the day before. “Sorry, I don’t think I got enough sleep. I thought you said – ”
“You heard me right,” he interrupted. “Unless, of course, you don’t want to take him home anymore?”
He smirked at her spluttering.
“Maybe someone else has caught your eye? I can always call Kouga back orscrounge up that behemoth of a book for you – ”
She interjected a breathy, “No!” to his tirade and all of her confusion was there on her face for him to see. “But I thought you said…I mean…the danger and…”
“Kagome,” he said softly, drawing her stark gaze to his, “do you want him?”
“I don’t want to hurt him.”
“I know girl, but will you take him with you?” He waited and when she still didn’t have an answer forthcoming he gently drew her by the arm to a couple folding chairs set in the corner.
“You know I love him, that he’s family, right?” Ryu’s voice was smooth in making such a politically volatile statement.
She nodded.
“You were right that there are many kinds of hurts, many kinds of safety. My keeping him from something he would never know about was one thing, but now that he knows and actively wants this there’s no way I can keep it from him. Not only do I not want him sulking around the place but I truly do want him to enjoy what he can.
“Besides,” he continued, “I happen to believe hanyou are equal beings and as such have free will.” She focused on him intently, the thought captivating her. “He knows his own limitations in the outside world, the risks he takes by such a move, and only he has the right to take his safety into his own hands – it is not up to you or me.
“You are his friend, Kagome, regardless of what he is to you, and had you requested it of him he would have gone with you, no matter what his personal wishes were. He hides it well but he is very soft-hearted.”
“Yes,” she whispered, “I know.”
“Though the rest of the world may say he has no soul, no mind, and no concept of how to decide his own destiny, I disagree. If he truly knows all about the situation and has made the choice to go ahead and go with you then I say that decision is his to make. The only question is,” he laid a gentle hand on her arm, “will you still have him?”
She looked into his eyes, so fraught with worry, and wondered if that’s what every parent felt like when his child was grown into an adult and in charge of his own fate. “Are you sure?”
His nod was firm, decisive, and showed no hesitation despite his concern.
“Okay then, tell me everything I need to know.”
~ ~ ~
Inuyasha couldn’t stand it anymore, the wait had been interminable! When was that damn duo going to get there? They couldn’t really need that long just to jabber, could they? A small pang of doubt shot through him and he wondered if maybe Kagome had balked at the idea and simply left, or found another Tetsudai instead of dealing with him. After all, she had said she’d refuse to use the rosary. Maybe she’d just used the whole story as an excuse in the end and wanted to save his feelings. What did she think he was, a fucking pansy!?
The door shot open with a bang and when his chin slipped out of his hand he was grateful for the demon heritage that allowed him to act fast enough to right himself before anyone noticed.
It was easy enough to tell what had happened: Kagome was hesitant but happy and Ryu was perturbed but calm. Normal enough.
Now came the part he was sure he wasn’t going to enjoy.
Ryu closed them in the room then motioned toward Inuyasha while looking at Kagome. “We just need you to complete the rosary incantation by choosing the subjugation word.”
Both the others in the room shot him a dark look though Kagome was the one who voiced the thought aloud. “Do you really have to use a term like ‘subjugation word’?”
He just shrugged and waved it aside. “That’s all just semantics; you know what I mean by it.” He would refrain from pointing out, just because he could see the tension in the two, that the term was spot on.
Turning fully to the fresh-faced young woman he was entrusting so much to, he regarded her seriously. “As soon as I say the final phrase of the spell it has begun and will already be linked to you. After that the first word you say will be chosen for the subduing so do make sure it is not a word you commonly use as we don’t want the poor lad overly abused.”
“Inuyasha, you’re sure?” She had to be positive, had to hear it from his own mouth before she could let Ryu continue.
In response he just tugged at the rosary as if that were all the proof she should need, and oddly enough it was, so she let the vocal part of his confirmation slide.
She nodded back to her balding compatriot to indicate she was ready to continue but was thrown off stride when she saw he had already started chanting almost inaudibly under his breath!
“Wait, Ryu,” she tried, not sure why she wanted him to pause, only knowing that she’d lost her balance, but there was no point.
His eyes shot open and he shouted, “Now!”
Immediately silence fell over the room and both sets of male eyes fell on her.
“Kagome?” Ryu prompted.
Shuffling back a couple steps she held out her hands in front of her, as if to ward off both them and the entire situation. She didn’t know how she could take such control of him, effectively putting a leash on him and chaining him to both her and her will. Wasn’t that what he hated most about the Shrine? Sure, he didn’t like the physical torment, but he was strong and able to cope with that. It was the absolute lack of freedom that crushed him. How could he really be okay with yet another restriction on himself?
“You’re not going to abuse it, are you?” Inuyasha spoke for the first time since she’d entered the room and his words jolted her from her spinning thoughts. She swiveled to face him and shook her head in the negative, to which he shrugged. “Then what’s the big deal?”
He had a point, she realized.
“Inuyasha, attack her,” came Ryu’s voice.
Her eyes widened as she realized he was already charging from the other side of the room, claws raised. They widened further when she saw he had no intention of stopping and in the blink of an eye he’d be on her.
With a knee-jerk reaction she yelled out the first thing she could think of, “Osuwari!” then watched in amazement as he smashed facedown into the ground. She looked to Ryu for confirmation but he just stared solemnly, if not slightly amusedly, at Inuyasha.
She knelt by him and tried to roll him over but he wouldn’t budge. “Are you alright?” she asked frantically. All she got for her efforts were some half-mumbled curses.
“Did you really have to pick that? What am I, your pet dog?”
She stood in a huff, crossing her arms. He was the one who’d placed her in this ridiculous situation in the first place anyhow. “You were the one attacking me; it wasn’t exactly very conducive to thinking on my feet. Besides, what would you prefer I yelled out? ‘Stop!’ ‘No!’ ‘Wait!’ I’m sure those would’ve worked really well.”
Inwardly he realized he had to agree with her. As much as she talked he really didn’t feel like getting flattened to the ground ten times a day. His only outward show was more grumbling. Slowly he pushed himself off the cold cement floor and brushed himself off before stalking over to the door and pulling it open.
“Well…?” he intoned. “We going or not?”
Kagome glanced to Ryu one last time and when he nodded she smiled brilliantly. She flashed that shining smile at Inuyasha and he marveled that she could be so happy over something as simple as his going with her. It’s the convenience of it, nothing more, he tried to convince himself.
“Don’t you have to pack?” she asked as he moved to walk out.
“What do you mean?” he answered gruffly. “I have everything I need.”
Her eyes dimmed slightly as she realized that all he must own were the clothes on his back, nothing more, but to her credit she didn’t mention it.
“Actually…”
He paused again at the embarrassed tone in her voice.
“…we can’t leave just yet.
He raised one black eyebrow dramatically at her. “Why the hell wouldn’t we be able to leave yet? The spell’s finished, everything’s set, so what are you stalling for?”
She gaped at him, looking affronted. “I am not stalling!” She actually stomped her foot.
“I thought I was staying here for another month so now I need time to change all my plans. I already extended my lease so I need to go cancel that, I need to inform my family that I’m coming home and bringing a Tetsudai, I need to pack…”
Inuyasha growled, feeling utterly foolish for not having thought of that and only focusing on what he had to do to leave. “Fine then,” he snapped at her. “I’ll wait here with Ryu.”
His scowl didn’t fade even when she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, though he had to fight to do so, and he merely glared when she did the same to Ryu.
Turning him a cheeky grin, as if she knew exactly what was going on inside his head, she shot him a small wink. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, though in reality she had no idea how long it would take her to accomplish all she needed to. With a short wave she turned on her heels and headed down the hall, bouncing all the way.
~ ~ ~
The first thing Kagome did upon leaving the main doors of the Shrine was race back to her apartment and phone home. She was near to pulling her hair out, fearing she might have to leave a message, when the line picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?” the sleepy voice answered. Kagome could nearly hit herself for forgetting it was still early a.m.
“Mama?” she tried timidly. “Sorry about the time, I just had some news…” At least that would prevent her mother from dreaming up emergency scenarios that would warrant a middle-of-the-night call.
“Kagome!” the matronly voice rang out in pleasant surprise. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. Are all your preparations set for the next month? Is there anything else you need me to send you?”
“I’m coming home,” she cut in bluntly, not knowing quite the best way to lay everything out in front of her family. “I’m bringing a Tetsudai with me.”
Mrs. Higurashi paused a moment to take in her daughter’s words. The reason Kagome had gone to the Shrine when she did was because she had just graduated and was frantically trying to prepare for the medical school she’d tested into. The month that had been originally decided on was to ensure Kagome would have enough time after coming home to start study sessions and take pre-emptive classes in order to get ahead as early as possible. Her daughter, while not thrilled with most school subjects, absolutely immersed herself in the study of medicine and loved it passionately.
She’d hated to tell Kagome to take another month at the Bacana Shrine and so have to postpone her preparations and study sessions, let alone any actual vacation time to be spent with her friends. Yet even at the girl’s younger age she knew how important the family shrine was to not only their continued existence and income, but also their honor, respect, and social standing in the community. A mother never liked to ask a sacrifice of her daughter but in this case it had seemed the best thing to do for the sake of the family.
But now she was talking of bringing someone home with her?
Mrs. Higurashi was many things, and stupid was not one of them. She’d spent time at the Bacana Shrine herself as a young woman – she knew some of the implications such a move could mean.
“Really now?”
“He’s a hanyou.” She’d blurted it out with significantly less tact than she could have wished for, but she supposed it was better than beating around the bush. Kagome loved her mother and respected her greatly but squeezed her eyes shut tightly as the reality of possible reactions slammed down on her. She didn’t think her mother would think anything less of a hanyou, no more than she herself had, but she’d never had the hypothesis tested and couldn’t know all of her mom’s past regardless. The moment seemed to drag on interminably…
“When will the two of you be coming?” And just like that her mother breezed past it, blowing all Kagome’s worries out of the water. She smiled broadly, blinking rapidly; she’d known there was no reason to doubt her mother and felt guilty for even entertaining the idea.
“As soon as we can, hopefully tomorrow. It all just kind of fell into place last minute and I didn’t even know it was going to work out until today so I still have things to do before I can leave.”
Her mother knew there had to be a story behind all that but decided to leave it until she got home – not only did her daughter sound harassed and busy but it was so much easier to get information out of her in person. Luckily for her, Kagome was an abysmal liar.
“All right then dear, I’ll let you go then as I’ve things to do as well now. Your grandfather and I will start working on getting things in order here.”
Kagome nodded absently, going through her mental checklist. “Okay mama. Since I don’t know exactly when I’ll be there I’ll just see you at the house then. Bye.”
“Bye.”
The line clicked dead and she sat there a moment in stunned silence. That had gone much more easily than she’d anticipated. She was tempted to give into a grin and giddy little laugh but decided she still had too much to do. Standing up and straightening her shoulders she wilted slightly as she looked around her room, seeing how spread out her things were – and goodness but the library books were still there! Another thing to add to her checklist. She slumped slightly on purveying the task that was her room so decided that first on her list would be her leasing agent and marched straight out of the door.
~ ~ ~
By two o’clock that afternoon Kagome arrived back at the Bacana Shrine, exhausted but proud of herself for accomplishing so much in so little time. She’d even been able to scrub her place enough to get her cleaning deposit back.
Of course the little leasing man who’s apartment was attached to the back of the office hadn’t been thrilled at all to get a visitor at 3am, but who knew that his was the only business that didn’t run the same nocturnal hours as the rest of the surrounding area?
But still, she was ready to just pick up Inuyasha, go home, and sleep for an entire day. Not that that will be likely considering my family and my own personal Tetsudai…she mused.
She wandered the halls of the sprawling building and luck was on her side as she guessed correctly that the two would be waiting in Ryu’s office, away from the other Tetsudai and hopefully fewer watching eyes and lax tongues.
Walking in after Ryu gave her leave she graced them both with a brilliant smile, one hand hiding behind her back.
Facing Inuyasha she asked, “Are you ready?”
He ignored her question, focusing instead on the corner of a bag he could see protruding from behind her thigh. “What do you have?”
She handed it over to him, chuckling only slightly at the confused look he wore upon pulling out a bandana and a sports cap. “What’re these for?” He sniffed both items as if they were alien objects, clearly not liking the look of either. Now that Kagome thought about it she supposed neither really did go with his fire-rat robes, but fashion wasn’t the point here.
“I didn’t know which would be more comfortable so that’s why I got you one of each kind. I figured if we’re so concerned about safety then we may as well not go around flaunting that you’re hanyou.”
Inuyasha merely rolled his eyes. “And this is what your puny ningen brain thought would protect me? These,” he pointed to his ears, “aren’t the only things that mark me.” He then indicated his fangs, claws, and even eyes to make his point but Kagome just sniffed.
“Those aren’t as obvious. Besides, someone could see those markings and take you for full youkai instead.”
“And what about these full youkai? They won’t be tricked by any fancy little cap – they can smell the blood in me, feel my aura – a little camouflaging won’t do a damn thing.”
Kagome almost yelled out that if he was so certain he’d be outed and thought she was so stupid then he couldn’t possibly want to come with her, but after yesterday she knew that to be false. She staunchly told herself it must just be his nerves talking but it certainly didn’t make it hurt any less, or any less irritating and annoying.
“Every time I hear the two of you speaking of it you’re always talking about getting mowed down by guns. The last I knew youkai didn’t bother to use them so I was only looking at it from the side of a human threat.”
Ryu nodded slowly to the side, making his first appearance in their debate. “I think you may be right in this,” he stated arbitrarily and they both stared at him blankly, trying to decide who it was he was agreeing with.
“Youkai for the most part will simply see you as an annoyance, a disgrace, almost something beneath their notice and not to be trifled with – unless you get directly in their way of course.” He sent a penetrating look at Inuyasha that warned he knew the hanyou’s temperament and bravado and that neither should be employed here.
“No, it’s humans, with their fear of the unknown and tendency to act first and ask questions later, who are the bigger threat. If you can avoid any conflict by not parading their insecurities in front of them, so much the better.”
Inuyasha huffed but offered no further dissent while tying the bandana on his head.
After a few more words of advice and precautions from Ryu the pair made their way from his office. Kagome surprised the both of them by nearly jumping on the balding little man and enveloping him in an enormous bear hug. Inuyasha made a great show of crossing his arms and looking the other way but had either cared to watch him they’d have noticed how he continued to peek at them out of the corners of his eyes and his expression had softened slightly.
Backing away, Kagome bid one final farewell to the red-faced man and the two were off to face the ‘big bad world’.
Ryu shook his head as the door closed behind them, praying to the heavens that he’d done the right thing.
~ ~ ~
A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter so far. Hope you're all enjoying as well.
Many thanks to all reviewers - the fact that you all actually enjoy this story is what really keeps me going. ^_^
Sassa: I am so glad you pointed out the first main theme of this fic, that sex does not equal love and mean that love is there (and love doesn't sex and mean that'll happen either, but obviously we're not focusing on this side of it). Thanks for your wonderful review - it was the highlight of my day ^_^
Necr0mantic: Thank you so much for pointing out the remaining mix-ups I had. It had actually been much worse before and I thought I'd caught them all but people would randomly comment on it so I wasn't sure…and now I know where! Yay! I love it when people point out my mistakes so that I don't continue to look like a complete goob to all who later read my stuff. ^_-
~ ~ ~
Originally posted: July 9, 2007
~ ~ ~
Chapter 10: Precipitation
----- A hastening or acceleration, especially one that is sudden or unexpected
~ ~ ~
Kagome lay in bed staring blankly at the ceiling under Inuyasha’s comfortable weight from where he lay half on top of her, his hand lazily stroking down her side. She was sure objectively they should be the absolute picture of contentment, curled around each other and as comfortable with each other’s naked bodies as they were, yet she couldn’t swallow past the lump in her throat.
It was their last night.
Inuyasha felt her tense up and instantly became alert. “Kagome, what’s wrong?” he asked, raising himself on his elbows over her so he could peer into her face unimpeded.
Looking up at features so familiar to her, into deep amber eyes she’d seen darken with passion or alight with a little boy’s sense of wonder, she didn’t want to face the reality that this might be the last time she ever saw him.
“I don’t want to say goodbye,” she whispered then quickly looked away, suddenly fearful of the admission.
“I see,” he said calmly – too calmly – withdrawing his warmth from hers.
As soon as she felt the mattress shift as his weight left the bed she knew what had happened. With as paranoid as his life had made him how could she not? Even after everything they’d done together, experienced together, been through together, he could still think she’d want to leave him without so much as a ‘by your leave.’ Is that how much he thought he meant to her?
But she knew how the world had shaped him, the strange vulnerability that still rocked his psyche, so she was more resigned than hurt, and saddened for him that it would be so incredibly hard for him to trust anyone throughout his whole life.
Perhaps it’s better this way, she mused. For him it could just be a clean break and he wouldn’t have to live thinking about might-have-beens. She knew that no matter what, her departure would hurt him on some level – they’d become too close for it to be otherwise. But as she stared at his turned back she suddenly realized that how hurt he got lay within her hands to determine.
If she let him think he hadn’t meant all that much to her it would tear her up inside and he would be crushed, possibly feel slightly betrayed, but it was a pain he was all too familiar with and accustomed to dealing with and pushing through. He might hate her afterward but in the end it probably wouldn’t rock him as badly.
If she let him know how terribly much he meant to her now, how desperately she wished that circumstances were different, then he would have to live with the specter over his head knowing that someone out there in the world truly did care about him but their separate lives dictated they couldn’t be together, not truly. It would be just another crushing cruelty to throw on him to add to all the others, yet another thing denied to him just because he was hanyou and made the only living he could as a prostitute, even if it was under the glamorous name of Tetsudai. Such unfairness abounding in the world, especially of knowing something wonderful out there was just beyond reach, could drive a person mad.
She took a sobering breath to calm herself and tried to be strong. She knew that telling him the truth now, correcting his misunderstanding of her words, would only make herself feel better – it wouldn’t help him at all but would only make things messier in the end while she wouldn’t have to feel like the bad guy. Because she knew this, because she knew how much some part of her didn’t want to make such a sacrifice, she sat and turned her back to him because the larger part of her knew it was better to hurt him a little bit once than a little bit every day for a lifetime.
Inuyasha saw her naked back turned to him, so rigid and stoic, cold where it had been warm and pliant before, and knew he’d been played a fool. He wasn’t stupid, he knew he meant more to her than to any of his other clients, but that still apparently amounted to very little. A hanyou, after all, was less than half a soul and therefore didn’t need to be shown full consideration. He blistered himself internally for forgetting that for even as short a time as this.
The two were frozen, thoughts racing while both refused to act on any impetus that would truly shatter the unearthly calm they’d lived the past days through.
Kagome heard Inuyasha shift behind her and the first tear fell; she was sure he was leaving her now.
“Kagome?”
The timid tone of his voice and the tentative touch on her shoulder broke her. She knew how much that had to cost him when his pride was the only thing he truly had to his name. With a cry she turned and leapt onto him, clinging to his chest and sobbing into his warm skin as his arms clamped about her.
He clung to her like she was his lifeline and didn’t ever plan on letting go. He didn’t know the first thing about how to handle a crying human female but if he did know one thing well it was her body and its reactions to him. Cradling her head against his shoulder he didn’t bother to take a step from where he’d been standing halfway between the bed and the door, but sat on the floor where he was, pulling her into his lap, and finally smoothing her hair down her back until she was hiccupping softly against him.
From the way her fingers were still scrabbling against his back it was obvious, even to him, how she’d originally meant those words. It had simply never entered his mind that someone might take badly to his absence, let alone react as strongly as had the girl in his arms.
“Shhhh, Kagome,” he soothed.
They sat wrapped around each other until they were both as still as the bleak night air outside the window of her small apartment, a luxury Inuyasha bathed in every time he was over since he wasn't afforded one back at the Shrine. Inuyasha braced himself to withdraw from her but when his limbs refused to comply he simply sighed and lowered his face back down to nuzzle the crown of her head.
“When do you leave?” he asked, wondering if there was any slight possibility that he’d get to see her tomorrow for a moment or if this evening really was goodbye.
She stiffened, her mind racing with all the preparations she’d have to make tonight for finding another temporary Tetsudai and extending her apartment lease another month; she couldn’t imagine taking anyone else home with her after Ryu’s refusal. She had to stifle the urge to rub at her temples. “I don’t,” she replied, distracted by her own thoughts and feeling that was explanation enough.
Inuyasha, however, didn’t like that answer at all. “You’re not going home?” he questioned, wanting to make sure his ears weren’t deceiving him and Kagome finally came back to the present when she heard the displeasure in his voice. Vacantly she shook her head.
“So was this all a game?” he accused quietly. “Some ploy to see how far you could make the hanyou go out of his way and cater to you?”
She refused to succumb to his paranoia this time and just glared up at him. “Is that what you really think?” Confusion warred with distrust and hope in his eyes enough that she knew the answer before he even moved. The shake of his head was hesitant at best but her heart soared even as she saw his piercing eyes ask his question. He really was growing to have more faith in her, he just didn’t know what other option there could be than disloyalty.
Her weariness caught up with her and she laid her head back down on his chest. “You heard the message my mom left me, remember?” She didn’t wait for a response. “The shrine back home is doing so well they figured the kami must be pretty happy with what I’m doing here. So…they requested another month – another four weeks of invoking the kamis’ blessing through my worship.” Her voice flitted up to him, slightly muffled by his own skin, and it took him a moment to process what she’d said.
When he fully understood the ramifications he pulled her back so he could look her in the face. “What are you going to do?”
She shrugged up at him, “I don’t know,” and glanced away quickly, but not before he saw the slightly broken look in her eyes.
Kagome chided herself harshly. She was acting like a baby just because she was being treated like some piece of ass and she didn’t like it. So what? The wonderful person she was currently sitting on top of – she hoped against hope she hadn’t made his legs fall asleep as that’d just be embarrassing – had to go through horrors untold each and every day yet he wasn’t collapsing into a heap of self-pity. So she was uncomfortable for a month and felt like a whore, big deal! At least she was consoled by the fact that she was helping her family in the process. Inuyasha’s pain, on the other hand, was meaningless for having no further purpose.
She mustered the biggest smile she could and aimed it up at him, pushing as much of it into her eyes as possible. “I’ll figure out something though; I’m a big girl now, I’ll survive.”
Sobering a moment the corners of her mouth dropped and she stared at him with such naked…something…he couldn’t quite put his finger on it but was sure he’d never seen it directed at him before…that he was momentarily rendered immobile by the power of it.
“Thank you, though, a thousand times thank you. You’ve shown me so much and gone to so much trouble for me. You brought me into this world with such a gentleness,” she saw him about to refute her choice of words and placed a hand on his cheek to forestall it, “yes, gentleness, that it kept me from becoming paralyzed by my own ridiculous fears. You really are something else, you know that?”
He tried to block out her words – no one could ever mean something like that about him – but the sincerity in her voice flooded him and he slowly pulled her to him again, unable to take any more of that look in her eyes.
He knew he shouldn’t do this, that it was an utterly stupid and horrible idea, but that couldn’t keep him from croaking out the words. “I could keep coming to see you, at least for a little while – ”
She cut him off with a sharp push to his chest and a quickly yelled, “No!” Taking in his arrested features her face immediately softened and her fingers glided over the red spots where she’d slapped her hands against him in her haste to pull back.
“No,” she repeated, “you’ve done entirely too much for me already. I’ve been ridiculous and selfish and had so little regard for your safety, as Ryu informed me so bluntly.” She muttered the tail end, recalling how well her last conversation had gone with the older man. “There’s no way I’m allowing you to do anything more to risk yourself just because my sensibilities are a little bit burned.”
Inuyasha laid one clawed finger against her mouth and she looked at him questioningly, surprised to see his own brows furrowed together. “You’ve been meeting with Ryu? Ryu knows about this?”
She worked not to cringe as he threw the words out somewhere between disbelief and accusation. Watching, she saw as he slowly processed all the things that could mean. Unknowingly, she stiffened defensively when she saw the sudden gleam his eyes took on.
“When did he say those things to you, Kagome?”
She answered hesitantly, not sure where he was going but not completely trusting the look on his face. “Yesterday.”
“Why did he only say that yesterday?”
She stared at him blankly a moment.
“If he knew about this all along then why would he suddenly call up new worries about my safety now…unless something new was brought up when the two of you met?”
She couldn’t stop the strangled gasp that escaped her lips and drew herself back from him slightly. He was not supposed to be this shrewd!
Her mind raced, trying to find a plausible way out of this current predicament. She knew she was horrible at lying but both she and Ryu had agreed that it would only hurt the hanyou more to raise his hopes, and she certainly wouldn’t do so now that she knew nothing could possibly come from her struck down intentions. So she did the only thing she could think of to do: she bluffed.
“I have no idea what you’re talking about,” she harrumphed, crossing her arms over her chest and turning her head away. If she’d thought it would do anything she would have used their position to try and turn his mind to more primal matters, but he was too stubborn once on a particular train of thought. Even if she was able to distract him he would come right back to the same line of questioning after they were done; she couldn’t even hope to gain herself more time to think up a plausible story because she knew all mental capacity on her part would go flying out the window as soon as he touched her. No, it was better to push through this now and not give him any more time to become even more suspicious.
“Ryu is simply too nice for his own good is all. He’d thought me somewhat selfish all along but couldn’t bring himself to say it until yesterday. I must have just done something that finally annoyed him enough to bring him to bypass social niceties.”
Inuyasha raised one brow speculatively, clearly not buying her line. “Oh really?” he drawled, content to let the game play out for a moment. “And just what could you have done to push Mr. Proper Secretary to throw away years of etiquette?”
Kagome had to think fast. “I’m not positive. It could have been I was talking too much – he is a middle aged man having to deal with a teenage female after all. Or it could have been the soup I spilled on his trousers…” She tapped a finger against her chin as if deep in thought. “Honestly, I can’t be sure. I could have done any number of things. I’ve certainly gotten under your skin a few times, haven’t I?” She raised her eyebrows as if to indicate that should prove her point but at his still obvious skepticism she threw up her hands in exasperation. “I don’t know, Inuyasha, you can’t expect me to know all the workings of any male mind, let alone Ryu’s. I don’t know why he suddenly said it, just that he did, so let it go at that.”
Silence reigned between them a moment until his rough voice broke the silence. “You feel like telling me the truth now?”
Instantly she deflated, unable to think of anything else to keep him off the track. How could she possibly tell him now that it would never come to pass? “Please, you don’t need to know, you don’t want to know.” She knew immediately that she’d said the wrong thing when she saw the determination in his eyes harden, but she made one last effort anyhow.
“It’s nothing bad and it’s not anything that matters anymore anyhow. Ryu was right and I was selfish and stupid for bringing it up; it’ll only hurt you if I bring it up again.”
“So it has to do with me?”
Darn! she thought. And I’d been so close!
Laying her head down with a defeated smack she mumbled, “I won’t tell you.” So now the gauntlet was thrown and she prayed to every kami she could think of that he would choose to be merciful and let it go.
Inuyasha, however, was having none of it. “You will tell me, Kagome, even if I have to force it out of you.”
She swallowed harshly.
“Believe me, after years of working at the Shrine I know all sorts of inventive methods to get me what I want. You wanna know one of the most effective?”
She didn’t respond, pretending that if she ignored him the threat would go away.
“Tickling.”
Darn! she thought again. In any other situation she would have found his proclamation outright hilarious but the gravity of both his tone and the situation erased any humor from the scene. That, and she knew he was right.
Tickling had always been one of her biggest weaknesses. There were enough years between herself and Souta that she’d always been bigger and faster despite the fact that he was a boy. If he ever got a hold of her, however, it was all over the second he put his fingers to her ribs, and he’d have her squirming and promising to do all his chores for the next week.
So she knew it was futile before Inuyasha ever even touched her but she knew she couldn’t cave. It was for his sake, after all. She’d been thoughtless, had put him at risk, so now she had to be as strong as she could for his sake.
She didn’t last more than thirty seconds.
She was howling at the top of her lungs while mentally apologizing to her neighbors, gasping for breath, and rolling on the floor with tears running down her face. She’d actually tried to pant out ‘I give’ a couple times before she finally succeeded just from the sheer lack of air to her lungs.
As soon as he rolled off her and his hands left her skin she rocked to her knees and, seeing as how their struggle had maneuvered them closer to the bed, grabbed one of the sheets to wrap around herself. She most definitely needed something to fidget with while she unveiled this part of herself.
While she was still pulling the oversized fabric from the bed she muttered, “I wanted for you to come home with me.” It was a soft pronouncement but she knew he’d heard it, which was a good thing because she didn’t think she could bring herself to say it any louder if she’d tried.
Returning to her seat on the floor she turned her back to him and huddled herself inside the copious amount of white sheet, wishing that things had turned out any way other than this.
An interminable amount of time passed and Kagome swore she was about to go mad when he finally spoke. “You’re serious?”
She turned on him, embarrassment and self-loathing fueling her anger. “Of course I’m serious! You think I’d make something like that up?” The look of wonder on his face hitched something inside her and she quickly whirled away again, unwilling to look at him with that expression aimed at her.
“Why didn’t you want to tell me? Did you change your mind?”
To her surprise he actually sounded more petulant than angered or hurt and a small beam of warmth lit her insides when she realized that meant he trusted her, however slightly, and what he meant to her. She knew she caught him off guard with her fierce hug around his middle when he started mumbling under his breath about crazy women, but she couldn’t bring herself to care. Apparently he didn’t mind much either as he continued his ramblings but brought his hands up to grip her back and tangle in her hair.
The smile she then bestowed on him could have outshone the sun in its brilliance for the few seconds before she recalled the topic of their conversation and it slowly faded from her face. She heaved a small sigh of reluctance to let go of the glowing feeling but since she knew it was something she’d be able to remember and treasure years from now when Inuyasha was only a pleasant memory, she was content for the moment.
She shook her head, grateful for the tension breaker that allowed her to now have a level head as she answered him. “No, I didn’t change my mind. I would love to spend another month with you, but it’s just not possible. As I said, I spoke to Ryu yesterday and he showed me just how truly ignorant I am.”
Inuyasha started to say something but she cut him off.
“No, he’s right. I could have gotten you killed!” She paled slightly at the realization. “Honestly I didn’t even know that hanyou really existed until coming here, or at least I’d never truly thought about it. I don’t know what you are and are not allowed to do in the outside world, what will protect you and what will put you in danger. I couldn’t stand it if anything happened to you. Maybe that’s me being selfish again, knowing that I wouldn’t want to live with the guilt of being responsible for you getting hurt, but I just can’t stand even the idea of it!”
He smiled at her, softly, and she was thrown completely off her stride. Huffily she crossed her arms over her chest. “What?”
“You don’t want me to get hurt.” His smile turned crafty and she turned wary. “But you still want to be with me.”
Now she just felt like she was being patronized. “Of course, that was the point of all my monologuing!” she groused, poking at his chest.
“There is a way…”
She turned suspicious, narrowed eyes on him, the look telling him if he valued his hide he’d better hurry and explain.
“There’s a spell that can be used, any number of the miko in the Shrine should be able to do the incantation. It’s a rosary that would be a ‘sealing bond’ of sorts between the two of us – well basically it makes me your fucking lapdog, but who’s being picky?” She jolted at his explanation but he continued ahead. “It has worked into it a subduing word that keeps me under your control, which of course in the eyes of the world makes me somewhat safer.”
Shakily she pushed herself back, out from between his legs where he’d stretched them out on either side of her, effectively encasing her in his presence. She shook her head, unable to believe what he’d just said. “You can’t really mean that.”
The look he gave her was so placid that she knew with heartrending certainty it meant he was masking his confusion and uncertainty. “That is, of course, only if you still wanted me to go with you.”
“It’s not that, you know it’s not that.” Though she didn’t know him nearly as well as she’d like, she knew his body, and the language of his posture was screaming his questions at her.
“Inuyasha, that’s humiliating! You said I’d be in utter control of you; I couldn’t be part of such a thing. It would destroy you!”
Part of him was rather annoyed at her words. Did she really think he was so weak he couldn’t handle a small blow to his pride, sacrifice it even, when it was worth it? “Ask Ryu about it.”
She was slow in her words, but emphatic, and he knew there’d be no change on her part. “I can’t do that to you. I’m sorry but no.”
A change of tactics was needed he decided.
“Fine then.” Though she was surprised by his sudden capitulation, given his almost obsessive need to compete with her in the stubbornness department, she didn’t question it. He simply had to see, just as she did, that such an endeavor might not be only degrading but also possibly futile as she didn’t see how that could protect him against all the unknowns. It was a nice try, and she was happy that he showed interest in going with her, but it was not something she would risk.
Before she knew what was happening he’d grabbed her arm and spun her onto the bed, trapping her in the sheet along the way, and climbed in behind her. “Go to sleep,” he ordered. She was going to argue simply on principle alone, or perhaps in favor of other activities - or at least to question why he wasn't the one pursuing it, but was undone by her own enormous yawn. Deciding giving in would be the better part of valor this time she simply laid her head against him and fell into turbulent slumber.
~ ~ ~
When she woke up around midnight Inuyasha was already gone and, though at first she felt more than miffed, she came to the conclusion that in the end it was probably better for both of them. They’d had their chance at goodbye the day and evening before and that had already been volatile enough, fraught with too much tension and emotion for something that was supposed to be no more than a business affair. No good would come from dragging it out even further.
Now she needed to go through the few belongings she’d brought with her (and were left intact after some of the rather more enthusiastic sessions with her favorite hanyou), figure out what she needed to buy to get her through another month there, (thank the kamis for credit cards), and go see Ryu again. The way she’d left him hadn’t exactly been a pleasant ending to their conversation, and since she now agreed with his point of view more than when she’d argued with him, she knew she owed him an apology.
Still, knowing it had to be done didn’t make the thing any easier and so she found herself taking as long as possible to get ready to leave and then dragging her feet the whole way to the Shrine.
No sooner was she through the door to the reception room than she was leveled with a deadly glare. Stopping, not knowing the cause for such malcontent in the man, she nearly shrank into the doorpost before mentally shaking herself, chiding herself for such childish behavior, and striding forward to meet him.
Ryu didn’t bother with niceties; he just barked out an order for Kazuma to take the station, which the younger man wisely did not argue about, and stalked from the room assuming Kagome would follow. Leading her to one of the back meeting rooms he turned on her as soon as the door was closed.
“Why did you tell him?” he all but snarled. There was no need for her to ask what he was talking about.
“I didn’t mean to,” she defended, “or at least I’d never intended to. He simply noticed something was wrong and wouldn’t let it go – you know how stubborn he can be. I tried to lie, to evade, I even asked him to just trust me in that he didn’t want to know, but he just wouldn’t let it go and eventually I just caved.” She poked her toe at a thread coming loose in the rug, suitably chastened. “I guess you’re right, I am pretty weak.”
“You’ve always been easy to read, girl, so I guess it comes as no big surprise. And I never said weak, Kagome.”
Her head rose at his words.
“…Just selfish.”
…and quickly ducked back between her shoulders.
Ryu was a practical man, a realist. He wouldn’t let her put words in his mouth, especially to point out faults he didn’t think she had (after all, anyone who would dress as a dominatrix just to specifically trick Kazuma had a stronger stomach than he did), but he wasn’t done venting his anger just yet. Oh no, he’d just started.
“And the rosary?” he queried, crossing his arms and tapping his foot just like the math teacher she’d never been able to get off her back and she shuddered involuntarily at the memory.
“What about it?” she muttered before his words sank in and she gawked. “Wait, you mean that’s real?”
“Of course. Didn’t you find out about it from one of the miko at the healing shrine and bring up the possibility to Inuyasha?” His angry edge was slipping as confusion pushed its way inside his head. The stupid stare she was giving him wasn’t exactly conducive to the idea of her being someone who’d been plotting such a device. As he’d said, she was easy to read, at least to him and apparently Inuyasha as well, despite the fact that Kazuma hadn’t been able to see through her act from the nervous smile and small tremors in her hands.
She shook her head, mute for a few seconds at the implications. “You really think I would…?” Her movement became more violent and she quickly transformed from mouse to tiger in his eyes. “I can’t believe you think me capable of such a thing! Not only the duplicity but also putting Inuyasha in danger!”
Ryu’s eyes widened slightly. Wasn’t she the one who only yesterday had been saying that fun and enjoyment was more important than safety? Quality over quantity?
Starting to stomp her way over to him she stopped after only two steps, her righteous indignation brimming up inside her so much she had to focus all her energy to keep still for fear of what else she might do.
“After I told him what we’d talked about and how I was starting to agree with you, he was the one who brought up the idea of using the rosary – which I refused out of hand.” She crossed her arms and glared at him as if daring him to contradict her.
“So you told him you didn’t want to take him home anymore?”
“No, I told him I still wanted to take him home but that I wasn’t willing to endanger or humiliate him so it wasn’t a possibility.”
Ryu, to Kagome’s astonishment, actually growled under his breath. “Inuuuyaaasha!”
“What?” she asked, fearing Ryu might actually be nearing senility.
“He came to me this afternoon and requested the rosary to be put on.”
“What?!” she repeated, screeching loud enough that the older man visibly winced. “But I told him I wouldn’t – ” Well at least that explained why Inuyasha had been so anxious to get her to fall asleep.
“Kagome, you know him as well as I do and this is something he won’t be easily swayed from. It’s obviously something he wants badly enough to do whatever it takes in order to achieve it.” Whether the hanyou wanted to be with the girl or just get out of the Shrine he didn’t know, though he suspected it was more of the former than Inuyasha would admit or even realized himself yet. “If you’re still willing, I suggest you just go ahead and take him home.”
She laughed out loud. She had to be hearing things, right? There was no way Ryu said what she just thought he said, not after the way he’d been speaking to her the day before. “Sorry, I don’t think I got enough sleep. I thought you said – ”
“You heard me right,” he interrupted. “Unless, of course, you don’t want to take him home anymore?”
He smirked at her spluttering.
“Maybe someone else has caught your eye? I can always call Kouga back orscrounge up that behemoth of a book for you – ”
She interjected a breathy, “No!” to his tirade and all of her confusion was there on her face for him to see. “But I thought you said…I mean…the danger and…”
“Kagome,” he said softly, drawing her stark gaze to his, “do you want him?”
“I don’t want to hurt him.”
“I know girl, but will you take him with you?” He waited and when she still didn’t have an answer forthcoming he gently drew her by the arm to a couple folding chairs set in the corner.
“You know I love him, that he’s family, right?” Ryu’s voice was smooth in making such a politically volatile statement.
She nodded.
“You were right that there are many kinds of hurts, many kinds of safety. My keeping him from something he would never know about was one thing, but now that he knows and actively wants this there’s no way I can keep it from him. Not only do I not want him sulking around the place but I truly do want him to enjoy what he can.
“Besides,” he continued, “I happen to believe hanyou are equal beings and as such have free will.” She focused on him intently, the thought captivating her. “He knows his own limitations in the outside world, the risks he takes by such a move, and only he has the right to take his safety into his own hands – it is not up to you or me.
“You are his friend, Kagome, regardless of what he is to you, and had you requested it of him he would have gone with you, no matter what his personal wishes were. He hides it well but he is very soft-hearted.”
“Yes,” she whispered, “I know.”
“Though the rest of the world may say he has no soul, no mind, and no concept of how to decide his own destiny, I disagree. If he truly knows all about the situation and has made the choice to go ahead and go with you then I say that decision is his to make. The only question is,” he laid a gentle hand on her arm, “will you still have him?”
She looked into his eyes, so fraught with worry, and wondered if that’s what every parent felt like when his child was grown into an adult and in charge of his own fate. “Are you sure?”
His nod was firm, decisive, and showed no hesitation despite his concern.
“Okay then, tell me everything I need to know.”
~ ~ ~
Inuyasha couldn’t stand it anymore, the wait had been interminable! When was that damn duo going to get there? They couldn’t really need that long just to jabber, could they? A small pang of doubt shot through him and he wondered if maybe Kagome had balked at the idea and simply left, or found another Tetsudai instead of dealing with him. After all, she had said she’d refuse to use the rosary. Maybe she’d just used the whole story as an excuse in the end and wanted to save his feelings. What did she think he was, a fucking pansy!?
The door shot open with a bang and when his chin slipped out of his hand he was grateful for the demon heritage that allowed him to act fast enough to right himself before anyone noticed.
It was easy enough to tell what had happened: Kagome was hesitant but happy and Ryu was perturbed but calm. Normal enough.
Now came the part he was sure he wasn’t going to enjoy.
Ryu closed them in the room then motioned toward Inuyasha while looking at Kagome. “We just need you to complete the rosary incantation by choosing the subjugation word.”
Both the others in the room shot him a dark look though Kagome was the one who voiced the thought aloud. “Do you really have to use a term like ‘subjugation word’?”
He just shrugged and waved it aside. “That’s all just semantics; you know what I mean by it.” He would refrain from pointing out, just because he could see the tension in the two, that the term was spot on.
Turning fully to the fresh-faced young woman he was entrusting so much to, he regarded her seriously. “As soon as I say the final phrase of the spell it has begun and will already be linked to you. After that the first word you say will be chosen for the subduing so do make sure it is not a word you commonly use as we don’t want the poor lad overly abused.”
“Inuyasha, you’re sure?” She had to be positive, had to hear it from his own mouth before she could let Ryu continue.
In response he just tugged at the rosary as if that were all the proof she should need, and oddly enough it was, so she let the vocal part of his confirmation slide.
She nodded back to her balding compatriot to indicate she was ready to continue but was thrown off stride when she saw he had already started chanting almost inaudibly under his breath!
“Wait, Ryu,” she tried, not sure why she wanted him to pause, only knowing that she’d lost her balance, but there was no point.
His eyes shot open and he shouted, “Now!”
Immediately silence fell over the room and both sets of male eyes fell on her.
“Kagome?” Ryu prompted.
Shuffling back a couple steps she held out her hands in front of her, as if to ward off both them and the entire situation. She didn’t know how she could take such control of him, effectively putting a leash on him and chaining him to both her and her will. Wasn’t that what he hated most about the Shrine? Sure, he didn’t like the physical torment, but he was strong and able to cope with that. It was the absolute lack of freedom that crushed him. How could he really be okay with yet another restriction on himself?
“You’re not going to abuse it, are you?” Inuyasha spoke for the first time since she’d entered the room and his words jolted her from her spinning thoughts. She swiveled to face him and shook her head in the negative, to which he shrugged. “Then what’s the big deal?”
He had a point, she realized.
“Inuyasha, attack her,” came Ryu’s voice.
Her eyes widened as she realized he was already charging from the other side of the room, claws raised. They widened further when she saw he had no intention of stopping and in the blink of an eye he’d be on her.
With a knee-jerk reaction she yelled out the first thing she could think of, “Osuwari!” then watched in amazement as he smashed facedown into the ground. She looked to Ryu for confirmation but he just stared solemnly, if not slightly amusedly, at Inuyasha.
She knelt by him and tried to roll him over but he wouldn’t budge. “Are you alright?” she asked frantically. All she got for her efforts were some half-mumbled curses.
“Did you really have to pick that? What am I, your pet dog?”
She stood in a huff, crossing her arms. He was the one who’d placed her in this ridiculous situation in the first place anyhow. “You were the one attacking me; it wasn’t exactly very conducive to thinking on my feet. Besides, what would you prefer I yelled out? ‘Stop!’ ‘No!’ ‘Wait!’ I’m sure those would’ve worked really well.”
Inwardly he realized he had to agree with her. As much as she talked he really didn’t feel like getting flattened to the ground ten times a day. His only outward show was more grumbling. Slowly he pushed himself off the cold cement floor and brushed himself off before stalking over to the door and pulling it open.
“Well…?” he intoned. “We going or not?”
Kagome glanced to Ryu one last time and when he nodded she smiled brilliantly. She flashed that shining smile at Inuyasha and he marveled that she could be so happy over something as simple as his going with her. It’s the convenience of it, nothing more, he tried to convince himself.
“Don’t you have to pack?” she asked as he moved to walk out.
“What do you mean?” he answered gruffly. “I have everything I need.”
Her eyes dimmed slightly as she realized that all he must own were the clothes on his back, nothing more, but to her credit she didn’t mention it.
“Actually…”
He paused again at the embarrassed tone in her voice.
“…we can’t leave just yet.
He raised one black eyebrow dramatically at her. “Why the hell wouldn’t we be able to leave yet? The spell’s finished, everything’s set, so what are you stalling for?”
She gaped at him, looking affronted. “I am not stalling!” She actually stomped her foot.
“I thought I was staying here for another month so now I need time to change all my plans. I already extended my lease so I need to go cancel that, I need to inform my family that I’m coming home and bringing a Tetsudai, I need to pack…”
Inuyasha growled, feeling utterly foolish for not having thought of that and only focusing on what he had to do to leave. “Fine then,” he snapped at her. “I’ll wait here with Ryu.”
His scowl didn’t fade even when she leaned up to kiss him on the cheek, though he had to fight to do so, and he merely glared when she did the same to Ryu.
Turning him a cheeky grin, as if she knew exactly what was going on inside his head, she shot him a small wink. “I’ll be back as soon as I can,” she said, though in reality she had no idea how long it would take her to accomplish all she needed to. With a short wave she turned on her heels and headed down the hall, bouncing all the way.
~ ~ ~
The first thing Kagome did upon leaving the main doors of the Shrine was race back to her apartment and phone home. She was near to pulling her hair out, fearing she might have to leave a message, when the line picked up on the third ring.
“Hello?” the sleepy voice answered. Kagome could nearly hit herself for forgetting it was still early a.m.
“Mama?” she tried timidly. “Sorry about the time, I just had some news…” At least that would prevent her mother from dreaming up emergency scenarios that would warrant a middle-of-the-night call.
“Kagome!” the matronly voice rang out in pleasant surprise. “I wasn’t expecting to hear from you so soon. Are all your preparations set for the next month? Is there anything else you need me to send you?”
“I’m coming home,” she cut in bluntly, not knowing quite the best way to lay everything out in front of her family. “I’m bringing a Tetsudai with me.”
Mrs. Higurashi paused a moment to take in her daughter’s words. The reason Kagome had gone to the Shrine when she did was because she had just graduated and was frantically trying to prepare for the medical school she’d tested into. The month that had been originally decided on was to ensure Kagome would have enough time after coming home to start study sessions and take pre-emptive classes in order to get ahead as early as possible. Her daughter, while not thrilled with most school subjects, absolutely immersed herself in the study of medicine and loved it passionately.
She’d hated to tell Kagome to take another month at the Bacana Shrine and so have to postpone her preparations and study sessions, let alone any actual vacation time to be spent with her friends. Yet even at the girl’s younger age she knew how important the family shrine was to not only their continued existence and income, but also their honor, respect, and social standing in the community. A mother never liked to ask a sacrifice of her daughter but in this case it had seemed the best thing to do for the sake of the family.
But now she was talking of bringing someone home with her?
Mrs. Higurashi was many things, and stupid was not one of them. She’d spent time at the Bacana Shrine herself as a young woman – she knew some of the implications such a move could mean.
“Really now?”
“He’s a hanyou.” She’d blurted it out with significantly less tact than she could have wished for, but she supposed it was better than beating around the bush. Kagome loved her mother and respected her greatly but squeezed her eyes shut tightly as the reality of possible reactions slammed down on her. She didn’t think her mother would think anything less of a hanyou, no more than she herself had, but she’d never had the hypothesis tested and couldn’t know all of her mom’s past regardless. The moment seemed to drag on interminably…
“When will the two of you be coming?” And just like that her mother breezed past it, blowing all Kagome’s worries out of the water. She smiled broadly, blinking rapidly; she’d known there was no reason to doubt her mother and felt guilty for even entertaining the idea.
“As soon as we can, hopefully tomorrow. It all just kind of fell into place last minute and I didn’t even know it was going to work out until today so I still have things to do before I can leave.”
Her mother knew there had to be a story behind all that but decided to leave it until she got home – not only did her daughter sound harassed and busy but it was so much easier to get information out of her in person. Luckily for her, Kagome was an abysmal liar.
“All right then dear, I’ll let you go then as I’ve things to do as well now. Your grandfather and I will start working on getting things in order here.”
Kagome nodded absently, going through her mental checklist. “Okay mama. Since I don’t know exactly when I’ll be there I’ll just see you at the house then. Bye.”
“Bye.”
The line clicked dead and she sat there a moment in stunned silence. That had gone much more easily than she’d anticipated. She was tempted to give into a grin and giddy little laugh but decided she still had too much to do. Standing up and straightening her shoulders she wilted slightly as she looked around her room, seeing how spread out her things were – and goodness but the library books were still there! Another thing to add to her checklist. She slumped slightly on purveying the task that was her room so decided that first on her list would be her leasing agent and marched straight out of the door.
~ ~ ~
By two o’clock that afternoon Kagome arrived back at the Bacana Shrine, exhausted but proud of herself for accomplishing so much in so little time. She’d even been able to scrub her place enough to get her cleaning deposit back.
Of course the little leasing man who’s apartment was attached to the back of the office hadn’t been thrilled at all to get a visitor at 3am, but who knew that his was the only business that didn’t run the same nocturnal hours as the rest of the surrounding area?
But still, she was ready to just pick up Inuyasha, go home, and sleep for an entire day. Not that that will be likely considering my family and my own personal Tetsudai…she mused.
She wandered the halls of the sprawling building and luck was on her side as she guessed correctly that the two would be waiting in Ryu’s office, away from the other Tetsudai and hopefully fewer watching eyes and lax tongues.
Walking in after Ryu gave her leave she graced them both with a brilliant smile, one hand hiding behind her back.
Facing Inuyasha she asked, “Are you ready?”
He ignored her question, focusing instead on the corner of a bag he could see protruding from behind her thigh. “What do you have?”
She handed it over to him, chuckling only slightly at the confused look he wore upon pulling out a bandana and a sports cap. “What’re these for?” He sniffed both items as if they were alien objects, clearly not liking the look of either. Now that Kagome thought about it she supposed neither really did go with his fire-rat robes, but fashion wasn’t the point here.
“I didn’t know which would be more comfortable so that’s why I got you one of each kind. I figured if we’re so concerned about safety then we may as well not go around flaunting that you’re hanyou.”
Inuyasha merely rolled his eyes. “And this is what your puny ningen brain thought would protect me? These,” he pointed to his ears, “aren’t the only things that mark me.” He then indicated his fangs, claws, and even eyes to make his point but Kagome just sniffed.
“Those aren’t as obvious. Besides, someone could see those markings and take you for full youkai instead.”
“And what about these full youkai? They won’t be tricked by any fancy little cap – they can smell the blood in me, feel my aura – a little camouflaging won’t do a damn thing.”
Kagome almost yelled out that if he was so certain he’d be outed and thought she was so stupid then he couldn’t possibly want to come with her, but after yesterday she knew that to be false. She staunchly told herself it must just be his nerves talking but it certainly didn’t make it hurt any less, or any less irritating and annoying.
“Every time I hear the two of you speaking of it you’re always talking about getting mowed down by guns. The last I knew youkai didn’t bother to use them so I was only looking at it from the side of a human threat.”
Ryu nodded slowly to the side, making his first appearance in their debate. “I think you may be right in this,” he stated arbitrarily and they both stared at him blankly, trying to decide who it was he was agreeing with.
“Youkai for the most part will simply see you as an annoyance, a disgrace, almost something beneath their notice and not to be trifled with – unless you get directly in their way of course.” He sent a penetrating look at Inuyasha that warned he knew the hanyou’s temperament and bravado and that neither should be employed here.
“No, it’s humans, with their fear of the unknown and tendency to act first and ask questions later, who are the bigger threat. If you can avoid any conflict by not parading their insecurities in front of them, so much the better.”
Inuyasha huffed but offered no further dissent while tying the bandana on his head.
After a few more words of advice and precautions from Ryu the pair made their way from his office. Kagome surprised the both of them by nearly jumping on the balding little man and enveloping him in an enormous bear hug. Inuyasha made a great show of crossing his arms and looking the other way but had either cared to watch him they’d have noticed how he continued to peek at them out of the corners of his eyes and his expression had softened slightly.
Backing away, Kagome bid one final farewell to the red-faced man and the two were off to face the ‘big bad world’.
Ryu shook his head as the door closed behind them, praying to the heavens that he’d done the right thing.
~ ~ ~
A/N: I think this is my favorite chapter so far. Hope you're all enjoying as well.
Many thanks to all reviewers - the fact that you all actually enjoy this story is what really keeps me going. ^_^
Sassa: I am so glad you pointed out the first main theme of this fic, that sex does not equal love and mean that love is there (and love doesn't sex and mean that'll happen either, but obviously we're not focusing on this side of it). Thanks for your wonderful review - it was the highlight of my day ^_^
Necr0mantic: Thank you so much for pointing out the remaining mix-ups I had. It had actually been much worse before and I thought I'd caught them all but people would randomly comment on it so I wasn't sure…and now I know where! Yay! I love it when people point out my mistakes so that I don't continue to look like a complete goob to all who later read my stuff. ^_-
~ ~ ~
Originally posted: July 9, 2007