InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Strictly Taboo ❯ Love in the Aftermath ( Chapter 16 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

A few days later, Kikyo came back unannounced. Kagome was more than happy to see her return, her previous anger and hurt forgotten, but Inuyasha was still fuming. Fortunately, she did not address him, but instead smiled down distantly at her daughter, no teeth showing.

“Kagome, how would you like to come down to the closest Shikon factory with me this weekend?”

The girl’s eyes shone and she glanced at Inuyasha, silently asking him if this was actually happening. He nodded at her, happy that she was happy, and she clapped her hands together, making Kikyo flinch at the sudden noise.

“I would love to, Mother! Should I go pack now?” Without waiting for an answer, she started humming and turned to run up the stairs.

“Wait!” Kikyo said, slightly annoyed but mostly amused at her eagerness, as if her daughter, so starved for her attention, were a small dog chasing its own tail as it urinated on the carpet. “Pack some nice things. I’m going to introduce you to a few executives, give you a tour of the factory, acquaint you with its processes, and then we’ll have you attempt to channel your spiritual energy into some new products.”

Kagome paled. “I-I’ve never had any training, Mother. I don’t know how to do that.”

“It’s easy. You’re a Higurashi, after all.”

She started fidgeting and tugging on the bottom of her blouse, those signs letting Inuyasha know she was incredibly nervous, and that meant he had to be with her.

“I’ll come along, too,” he announced. Kagome beamed at him gratefully and he smiled at her.

“Absolutely not, Inuyasha,” Kikyo said. “I can’t have you distracting her. Plus, this is a factory full of spiritual energy, my spiritual energy. You know how strong I am.”

Inuyasha began to feel sick. He had been around Kikyo once when she had been imbuing products with her powers and the purity was so strong he had vomited blood on the spot. He turned to tell Kagome he wouldn’t go, but her big gray eyes were pleading with him in such a precious way that he could not refuse.

“I’m going to go no matter what, since I technically own it until Kagome turns twenty-one,” he said, for the first time reminding Kikyo of their deal.

She scowled at him and Kagome smiled. The suffering would be worth it.

“Very well, Inuyasha. But don’t complain when you have to be taken away in an ambulance,” Kikyo said coldly. “You better pack now, Kagome. I intend to leave early tomorrow morning.”

She glided past them and up the stairs to her room, reminding him eerily of the queen from Disney’s Snow White.

Kagome turned to him and asked, “What was she talking about? An ambulance?”

“Nothing, she’s just being a bitch,” he said softly, tucking a strand of her hair behind her ear, ignoring her flinch at the bad word. “And nothing’s going to keep me from being with you.”

She placed her hand on his where it rested on her cheek, one of the few times she had shown him any affection when Kikyo was in the house, and he shivered, slight though the touch was. “Thank you, Inuyasha.”

The building was as hard and gray as Kikyo’s eyes, the polluting smoke making the sky look roughly the same.  Inuyasha felt the spiritual power like a punch to the gut, but he followed the women in anyway, steeling himself for Kagome’s sake. They were met by a bunch of men in suits, and he shook hands with all of them, ignoring their surprised stares. He was probably the only one of demonic heritage to even come near the place.

“Is this the Little Miss?” asked a particularly condescending man in a Stetson. Of course, he had a Texas accent, which Inuyasha thought he purposely exaggerated.

Kagome beamed at him and Kikyo nodded. “Yes, this is my daughter and future heir to the Shikon throne, Kagome. Kagome, this is our Vice President, Mr. Walker.”

“And who is this, er, fella?” asked the same man, discreetly tipping his hat in Inuyasha’s direction. Apparently, he was the spokesman for the entire group.

“This is my husband, Inuyasha Taisho.”

Everybody nodded and glanced at each other in response to his name. Since they traveled in the same circles, they had all at least heard of him. He rolled his eyes openly; they should have known who he was the minute they laid eyes on him. Not many half-demons of his looks were married to Kikyo Higurashi. And hadn’t some of them been at the wedding?

“Nice to be formally introduced to y’all,” boomed Walker. “Our guide should be arriving any minute, and he can educate the Little Miss on the goings-on of Shikon’s first and most productive factory.”

The guide arrived as if on cue, a scrawny, malnourished man with a mustache that made Inuyasha want to yank Kagome away from him and call the police. He droned on and on in a nasally voice and Inuyasha tuned him out the entire time, instead keeping his eyes on Kagome, who had produced a notepad and pen from out of nowhere and was frantically jotting down the information in her cramped yet large handwriting. The pure energy of the place was getting to him and he began to sweat and take big gulps of air, struggling not to faint. What felt like hours later, the guide departed and he breathed a sigh of relief, only to be shown to a small room with the rest of the group. The walls were plain concrete, like the rest of the factory, and in the center was a simple round wooden table with a glucometer placed on top.

Kikyo held out her arm grandly towards the table, her perfectly manicured nails like arrowheads. “Concentrate on the light inside your soul and let it flow out your hands and into the product, Kagome.”

The girl glanced around at everyone in the room nervously, and Inuyasha smiled weakly at her, feeling half his strength restored when she smiled back. Setting her notebook and pen aside, Kagome closed her eyes and placed both hands hovering over the glucometer. Her brow furrowed more and more as the seconds ticked by and nothing happened.

“Um, perhaps it would be better if you came back another weekend with your daughter. She seems to be underprepared,” said a nameless executive who reminded Inuyasha of a bald weasel. He glared at the man and was satisfied to see him begin to visibly sweat.

Kikyo nodded, staring at Kagome who was now shaking with effort and humiliation. “Perhaps you are right. I had hoped she would be able to do this instinctively, but I see now I expected too much. Come away from there, Kagome, we’ve wasted our time.”

Kagome’s shoulders slumped, defeated, and already some of the group was leaving the room. Conquering his pounding head and slightly fuzzy vision, Inuyasha stumbled over to her side and placed a hand on her shoulder, coming as close to her as he dared in public.

“I think you can do it,” he said softly, his thumb caressing her bare shoulder, taking a second to admire her figure in the sundress she wore. “You’re my angel, and angels can do anything they set their minds to,” he whispered, even quieter, confident the others would not hear him over their loud chatter.

She looked up at him, her lips parted, and the emotion in her eyes made him want to take her in his arms and kiss her senseless. Suddenly, there was a bright pink light and he was flung backwards, hitting the opposite wall. Everything was chaos: the Texas guy was slapping his hat on his knee like some cartoon character, the other executives were looking at each other in awe and openly calculating figures together, Kikyo was standing stock still with a hand pressed to her lips and Kagome was crying loudly over bits of the exploded glucometer.

“Oh my god, I murdered Inuyasha!” she wailed, clumsily running towards him. She laid her head on his chest and sobbed, her arms encircling his torso and pressing him to her tightly. He didn’t know what was going on, but he knew Kagome had no reason to cry like that.

“I-I’m not d-dead,” he coughed out, bringing up a hand to stroke her hair. Her head shot up and she launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and nearly strangling him. He chuckled and hugged her close, kissing the side of her head before he remembered there were others around and he couldn’t get too caught up in the moment.

“What the fuck happened?” he barked at the nameless lesser executives, Kagome’s tears sending him into an instant rage.

“That, my dear, was the most impressive display I have ever seen,” Walker nearly shouted. “Your power, although obviously untrained, is greater than even your mother’s, and she is the most powerful priestess I have ever heard of.”

Kikyo stormed out, eyes blank and jaw set. No one commented on her exit and for once Kagome seemed not to notice, too intent on Inuyasha. She was practically in his lap now and he wanted to leave as soon as possible in order to not tip anyone off as well as to get her out of her dress.

“Are you really okay, Inuyasha?” she asked worriedly, touching the side of his face with the tips of her fingers.

He made an assessment of his body, placing Kagome more to the side so he could have a proper look at himself. There was no visible damage and even the sickness he had been feeling before was completely gone. But how? Had he not just been blasted by her? He should be dead, at the very least badly burned and at the point of death. He grasped her hand and took in the swollen redness around her eyes, which only served to emphasize the color of her orbs and make them appear that much more beautiful. It must have been the strength of her love that kept him unharmed. Inuyasha sat up, pulling Kagome with him.

“If you’ll excuse us, we must be going. I think we’ve had enough of this place,” he said, speaking civilly to Kikyo’s yes men for the first time. He and Kagome walked out together, the applause of what would in a few years be Kagome’s employees following them almost until they left the building. They walked to their car without speaking, knowing they would say everything they wanted to say the minute they could be alone again and both willing to wait.

Kikyo was in the passenger seat and Inuyasha almost voiced his displeasure. She had insisted on being the one to drive them there and Kagome had sat up with her, leaving him alone in the backseat and feeling emasculated and lonely for Kagome. Now he had to drive them to the hotel and Kikyo would be sitting next to him, and judging by the icy look on her face it would not be a pleasant trip. He sighed in frustration and glanced at the girl next to him, who looked around before blowing him a small kiss and climbing in the vehicle. Smiling, he entered and started up the engine, racing out of the parking lot and toward the small hotel Kikyo had pointed out to them on the way there.

The trip was silent, with his wife stewing over something with a fearsome look on her face and his love looking out the window but not seeing anything, probably thinking about what had just transpired in the plain little factory room. Inuyasha was too afraid to turn on the radio, even though he craved some sort of distraction from the recent developments that were sure to change his life in ways he may not appreciate.

Kikyo nearly jumped out of the car the minute he pulled into the hotel lot, leaving him and Kagome alone to park it. Before he could make a move to kiss her or touch her or say something, she also left, absent-mindedly following her mother into the small but classy establishment they would spend the night in. Slamming his hands against the steering wheel, he took a deep breath and got out of the car, grabbing all their overnight bags in one hand and setting off after the two women.

When he got inside, Kikyo and Kagome were already at the front desk. They turned to him immediately as he entered, as though sensing his presence, and he gave them both a questioning smile, wondering where he could toss the bags for the night.

“Come over, Inuyasha. I’ve got the keys and we can head up to our rooms. Kagome has done enough damage at the factory for now, so instead of staying all weekend, we will just spend the night here and go home in the morning,” she said, handing a key card to her daughter and keeping the other.

“Um, where’s mine?” he asked, looking pointedly at the key card in her hand.

“We are to share a room. It is only natural, and there are no more rooms available.”

He raised an eyebrow skeptically, but glancing at the clerk who was nodding along with what Kikyo was saying made him grunt in frustration.

“Then you bunk with Kagome and I’ll take a room to myself,” he said.

“Absolutely not,” Kikyo said with a sniff. “Kagome snores terribly loud and I would never get to sleep.”

Inuyasha barked out a laugh. “That’s not even true! She’s a nearly fucking silent sleeper,” he growled out, his eyes locking with Kagome’s and widening with hers, realizing he had slipped up.

Kikyo glared at him. “How would you know anything about that?” she hissed.

“I—uh,” he sputtered, beginning to panic. “Ears! Demonic hearing. I hear pretty much everything that goes on in that house,” he said desperately.

His wife nodded and her shoulders relaxed, making both him and Kagome relax as well. They hadn’t been caught, but if he wasn’t more careful then it was only a matter of time. Kagome stepped to his side and gently grabbed her bag from his hand.

“It’s nice of you to worry about me, Inuyasha,” she said sweetly, “but I’m okay with sleeping alone. I’m a big girl.”

He nodded in resignation and followed them up the staircase to the second floor where both their rooms were. Kagome’s was across the hall from his and Kikyo’s and she slipped through the door without another glance at them. He threw the bags to the side and they landed on the floor instead of the chair he had been aiming for. Collapsing on the chair, he immediately began to drift off to sleep, not really caring where he was or what time it was after the stressful day.

“You’re welcome to share the bed with me, Inuyasha,” Kikyo said softly, enticingly. That tone used to be all it took to get him hard, but now he just felt nervous and slightly skittish.

“No thanks, I’m good here,” he said shortly.

“Are you sure?” she practically purred, making him open his eyes. Kikyo, still beautiful although now twice the age he appeared, was slowly unbuttoning her blue blouse. Her bra was of black, nearly transparent lace, and he could see the mood she was in by the stiffness of her brown nipples. The small, purplish lump was grotesque in itself, but somehow did not detract much from the perfection of her breasts. He wondered how she had managed to preserve the shape of them after giving birth. That in itself was a miracle.

Shutting his eyes, he squeaked, “You know what? I’m just going to sleep in the car. I’ll be fine in the car.”

Still with his eyes closed, he felt for his bag, ignoring her humph in response to his rejection, and went to the door, shutting it behind him. He waited, five minutes and then ten, slowing down his breathing. When he heard the light switch flick off and the bedsprings creak, he tiptoed over to the door across from theirs and knocked as quietly as he could. The door swung back soon after and there stood Kagome, bleary-eyed and surprised to see him.

Craning her neck to check behind him, she whispered, “What are you doing?! What about—“

Inuyasha silenced her with a desperate kiss and pushed her back into the room using his body and kicked the door shut behind him. Soon she was clinging to his shirt in the darkness, clawing at it to get it off of him. Yanking her nightgown over her head, he threw it to the side, quickly divesting himself of his own clothes immediately afterward. Remembering she could not see him well in the dark room, he smiled and licked his way from her feet to her knees, nibbling every so often. He went back down and kissed every one of her toes, making her giggle and urge him to move on. Stroking her sides, he brought his face up to hers and just stayed there, staring at her mostly unseeing eyes. He knew she could see his own eyes, as they literally glowed in the dark, but not much else. No one else would see her like this, and he let out a small laugh in exaltation, quickly covering it up by kissing her lips and turning it into a moan. He could not get enough of her taste, no matter how many times his tongue danced with hers.

Turning her face to the side, Kagome gasped out, “Can we? Right now? Mother is just—“

“Kagome,” he said seriously, trying to sound stern, “when I am with you, I forget about everyone and everything else. Just this once, can you do that for me? Please?” His voice cracked at the end and betrayed his own turbulent emotions.

“I love you, Inuyasha,” she whispered after a pause. “I love you and only you.”

Murmuring again and again how much he loved her, he plunged into her, kissing the place where her neck and shoulder met, reveling in her softness and scent. Someday, he would bite down on this very spot and they would be together forever, the way it was supposed to be. Her climax was gentle, as was his, something that they were not able to experience very often due to the secrecy of their relationship, the fact that they could be discovered and separated at any time.

As he cradled her on his chest after the act, she reached out to turn on the light, allowing her to see him properly for the first time since he had closed the door.

“Are you sure I didn’t hurt you today?”

He laughed and kissed her temple. “Forget about it, you could never hurt me.”

“But that’s strange, isn’t it? With a blast that powerful, you should not have survived. What happened?”

He shrugged, then told her his thoughts from earlier. “Maybe it was our love, yours and mine. It was strong enough to save me from death.”

Kagome’s eyes misted slightly and she said, “You’re a closet romantic, huh?” He nodded and kissed her lips. After a pause, she said, “Mother never told me she loved me. You were the first person to ever say that to me.”

Inuyasha was saddened and angry but not at all surprised by this point. He had seen them interact and their relationship left a lot to be desired. He probably would have fought against his attraction to Kagome if Kikyo had been at all caring towards her daughter.

“When I think of how she’s treated you, I just… Ugh, I don’t know,” he said miserably.

“I know,” she said, kissing the tip of his nose.

“I’ve been thinking. I should give you a tour of Tetsusaiga someday soon.”

“Why?” she asked, surprised and confused.

“Well, technically, you are my heir. For now, anyway. The company will eventually go to one of our children once I’m ready to retire, but that won’t be for a long while yet.”

Her lips parted in a gasp that never came and she said, “You…want to have kids? With me?”

Chuckling, he drew her closer. “Well, I said I was going to marry you. That’s kind of implied.”

“Oh, Inuyasha, I love you so much,” she said, kissing his chest. He thought it would end there, but when her tongue found his nipple he knew he was going to be in for a pleasantly long night.

Kagome was so tired in the morning that it made Inuyasha beam with pride. She even let him dress her, something he did carefully and lovingly, treating her like a porcelain doll. If he had been watching someone do this instead of being the one to do it, he would have laughed at his careful maneuverings of her half-asleep body and gentle caresses and fumblings. It was almost as though he were a servant. It would have disgusted him if he had been treating anyone but Kagome this way, but this was her and she was all his. He could do anything with her and it would be alright.

He kissed her until she was awake, laughing as she tried to talk into his mouth without quite realizing what was going on. Grabbing her hands, he pulled her to her feet, Kagome complaining sleepily all the while, her voice thick. He wanted to stay in bed as badly as she did, but he had made the mistake of sleeping in her room overnight and now they had to sneak down and wait in the lobby for Kikyo in order to not look suspicious. Finally, Kagome woke up a bit more and grabbed her bag herself, opening the door while asking Inuyasha to stop for coffee. He was about to tease her for developing a caffeine addiction, but then, at the same time, they both saw Kikyo, hand poised ready to knock at Kagome’s door.

“Inuyasha? Why are you in Kagome’s room?” asked his wife, glancing between the two of them.

“I was up getting a soda from the vending machine earlier when I ran into Inuyasha. He looked bored and said he didn’t want to wake you, so I invited him to come to my room and watch TV,” Kagome said.

Inuyasha nearly sighed in relief. He didn’t know whether or not the fact she was a much better liar than himself was good or not, but he knew from the look on Kikyo’s face that she had just saved both their asses for another day.

“Alright, then. If it’s not too much trouble, please drive us again, Inuyasha. My legs are sore from all that walking about in the factory yesterday.”

Kikyo turned and left, obviously expecting them to follow. Kagome glanced slyly at Inuyasha and kissed his cheek, skipping off after her mother. He hurried after her, the grin he sported tipping off every male he passed to what he had been doing last night.