InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Bane of My Existence ❯ Not Such An Ass ( Chapter 3 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]
Disclaimer: The characters from Inuyasha belong to Takahashi Rumiko. Sadly, I can only claim Caleb.

The Bane of My Existance

Chapter Three:

Not…such…an…ass

Over the weeks, things between Inuyasha and I began to change. Neither of us would admit it, but there was more there than just a blossoming friendship. Once you get into a pattern of living, it’s hard to break out of it. Nevertheless, I was beginning to have…feelings for Inuyasha. I wrote it off as some kind of silly school-girl crush and tried to ignore it. Do you know how hard it is ignore a crush when the guy is standing over you and you are encompassed by his scent and his warmth? At times, I would look up and catch him staring at me. I wasn’t stupid. I knew what it meant. I just tried to pretend it wasn’t there. Now that he had revealed his secret, there was no way I could see him in the same light. I knew now that he was a deeper person than I had previously thought. And now, I could sense his attitude toward me had changed completely. It made things...awkward.

Over time, we were developed a daily routine: Inuyasha would come to the workshop and help with the Carmen. We would work in silence, unless I was trying to explain something to him. He caught on pretty quickly. I shouldn’t have been so surprised. He was salutatorian of his highschool class. Afterward, we would take turns showering and I would fix dinner, usually ramen, because that is his favorite food. The man has to have his heavenly noodles at least once a day, or his world crumbles. We would eat in companionable silence and watch prime time television. I don’t know why. It’s not like it was ground breaking entertainment. Just mindless brain candy, which was nice after a hard day of manual labor.

It happened one afternoon. We were cleaning up the shop and laughing at the stupidity of Paris Hilton and Nicole Richie (it was a guilty pleasure of ours to watch their wretched TV show). He was laughing as he recounted how Hilton and Richie had been trying to feed a poor farmer’s pig when the Richie girl dropped her Channel scarf in the mud and the pig began to eat it. She had tugged and tugged and even persuaded Hilton to help her, but it was no use. Both society whores had ended up face first in the mud, sputtering and squealing worse than the poor pig they had frightened half to death. It was a particularly funny moment in the show, but it wasn’t his re-telling of it that had my rapt attention. It was the way in which he told it. I had no idea how charismatic he could be, and I was in awe of him.

I guess I had never really looked at him before. I mean really looked at him. He had great features, almost feminine. His long, thick black hair reached to his waist. I would find myself wondering how in the world he kept it looking so healthy and without split ends! These were not the things Kagome Higurashi was used to thinking about—especially not about Inuyasha Sato! It wasn’t just his graceful features—his perfect nose, his sensuous mouth, his strong chin—it was his eyes! Those captivating amethyst eyes were capable of expressing a wide rang of emotions. Now, they crinkled with laughter, sparkling with a brilliance that took my breath away. It wasn’t fair that he should have eyes like that!

He looked up at me and grinned his lopsided grin that was quickly becoming a weakness for me.. “You’ve got grease on the tip of your nose.” And then he reached up to wipe it away. My breath caught somewhere between my throat and my lungs. He had never touched me before unless it was to punch me in the arm or give me unwanted noogies. I blinked up at him, wide-eyed. His fingers lingered a little too long on my face and there was a moment of awkward awareness. He leaned in and I pulled back a little, but he was not to be deterred. His hand came up to cup my face. His eyes told me that it was ok. He wouldn’t hurt me. A kiss wasn’t going to kill me. Humor. At a time like this, he could laugh at me! I was scared to death. I shouldn’t have been. I was going to be a senior in college for crissakes!

While I was mentally berating myself, he murmured to me, “Relax…” His voice was a soft caress. It made me shiver—still makes me shiver when I think about the timbre of his voice in that moment. “I won’t hurt you…”

Oh, but you will! I couldn’t help but think to myself.

And then our lips made contact, and I thought I would die. The soft pressure of his lips on mine was sweet torture. I felt his lips part and his velvety tongue stroked at my bottom lip for entrance. I complied, parting my lips for him. I could feel him smile against my lips and all I could think was, You arrogant bastard…But that was before I stopped thinking all together. His hands slid over my shoulders, left bare from the midriff tank top I had opted to wear under my overalls that day. His gentle hands brushed over my shoulders and down my arms, leaving chill bumps in their wake. I shivered and he pulled me closer to him.

His kiss wasn’t sloppy. It was pleasant, and I felt a heat rising in me that was unfamiliar. That heat gave me courage, and I began to kiss him back with fervor. My hands came up, my fingers sifting through his hair at the base of his scalp and tugging ever-so-gently. My teeth grazed his bottom lip, and he sucked in a breath. I smiled a triumphant smile. He hadn’t expected that, not from me. He was not displeased by it. In fact, he seemed to take it as encouragement and deepened the kiss, a small sound escaping his throat. Finally, we were too out of breath to continue the kiss, and we reluctantly broke away from each other.

We were gazing at each other in wonder, I knew, because I could feel it in myself and I could see my emotions reflected in his eyes. He smiled a crooked half-smile and swiped his thumb across my kiss-swollen lips. “See, I told you it wouldn’t hurt,” he softly murmured.

Where had this man come from? This was not the Inuyasha I had grown up with!

Who are you, and what have you done with Inuyasha Sato?” I asked breathlessly, causing him to laugh out loud. What a beautiful sound it was! It was a clear, ringing sound of pure joy, and I was the cause. I felt light. I felt like I would float away if he were not holding me, grounding me to Earth.

I’m the same Inuyasha Sato you have known all your life, Kagome. I have not changed so very much.”

But you have! The Inuyasha I know made me eat mudpies and set my hair on fire!” I accused.

He hugged me tightly, “I was a little boy, Kagome! That’s what we do! Haven’t you realized by now that young boys are stupid? They don’t know how to show their feelings. They torture a girl they like rather than just telling her they like her!”

But…”

I refuse to let you analyze this, Kagome. It doesn’t matter who you thought I was. What matters is that I am here now, and I am real.” He brushed a lock of hair from my face. “And you are, too,” he said with no small amount of wonder. “Who knew…?” He smiled, dropping a kiss on the top of my head. “Gods, Kagome…I—“

Kagome! How dare you!” Over Inuyasha’s shoulder, I saw Miroku throwing a fit in mock anger. “You have stolen my best friend away from me!” He cried dramatically, covering his eyes with the back of his hand, the other outstretched behind him as he whirled away in a fit of melodramatic flair. We could hear him break into peels of giddy laughter as he retreated toward the house.

I groaned, leaning my head against Inuyasha’s chest, “He’s never going to let me live this down…” I wailed.

Oh, I doubt that. He saw this coming long before either of us did. He’s been bothering me about it for years.”

I just looked up at him, stunned speechless. I could feel my eyes go impossibly wide. How in the hell did he always do that to me? The speechless thing! When I finally recovered the power of speech, I protested. “He never said anything to me!”

Inuyasha looked at me frankly, “How do you think you would have reacted if he had told you at sixteen that he thought you should date me?”

I thought about. At sixteen my relationship with Caleb had just ended and I became rebellious, mouthy and subversive. I was as angsty as a kid could get. I had been robbed of my innocence by a boy who had no respect for women whatsoever. I was a raging femi-nazi and would preach my beliefs loudly to anyone within earshot. I was wounded and wanted the world to know it.

I nodded sagely, “Point taken. But why now? I thought you and that Kikyou chick were hitting it off.”

Inuyasha made a disgusted sound. “I'd rather not talk about her right now.”

Now, I was interested. “What happened?”

What did I just say?”

You can't be all dramatic and then not explain.”

He sighed, “It's hard to want to continue a relationship with someone when you come home and she is fucking some other guy in your shower.”

I nodded, “Wow.”

Yeah. I had gone down the street to get stuff to make for dinner. I came back and there was some other dude in my shower with my girl.”

Did you beat the shit out of him?”

Inuyasha shook his head, “No, I got out one of dad's antique swords and charged into the shower. The guy pissed himself” I laughed so hard I thought I'd pulled something. “Oh, it hurts!” I was still laughing with my hand clamped over my ribs. Inuyasha turned his nose up in feigned indignation. “That's what you get for laughing at my misfortune.”

Hey! I'm glad she was a stupid whore. If she weren't we wouldn't be here right now and you wouldn't have realized what an awesome, beautiful, wonderful and humble girl I am!”

He gave me a sideways glance, “Isn't that what you Psychology people call narcissism?”

I nodded, “Yup.”

He grinned, shaking his head. “You're so weird.”

Uh. You've known me since I was a fetus and that surprises you how?”

He rolled his eyes, bending to pick his discarded over-shirt off the shop floor. “I suppose it shouldn't. With a brother like yours, you really didn't have much chance for normalcy.”

I giggled, shaking my head, “No doubt! But you wouldn't want me any other way.”

He straightened, looking me dead in the eye. “I would want you any way I could get you.”

In that one look, I could the promise of things to come. Dark, secret, yummy things that made me blush to think about. I cleared my throat, trying to hide my discomfort. “Oh. Well, then.” I turned and made a beeline for the house, not knowing how to continue the conversation from there. I could hear Inuyasha chuckle as he jogged after me. The punk! He always knew exactly what to say to get me flustered. But if I would have stopped to think about it for a moment, I would have realized that one quality was exactly what I liked about him.

TBC…

Author's Note: Ooooo! I like this chapter! Go me! (Revised 6-9-07)