InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Breaking Point ❯ Holla Back Girl ( Chapter 15 )

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

Nope, don’t own it. None of it. Not even Gwen’s Holla Back Girl or Tamia’s Me which is a lovely song btw.


(I)

Inuyasha briefly glanced to his right side, then back to the road before turning back to his silent passenger. There were few times when he felt like this, this stifling uneasiness that tickled at the back of his neck and, other than the time Kouga sat on Sesshoumaru’s glasses, this had to be the most frightened he’d ever been in his entire life.


“Snap out of it wouldja?” he gruffed unhappily. “It’s not like he said you wouldn’t ever sing again.”


“He may as well have!” Kagome shot back with narrowed aqua orbs. “I can’t believe how DIFFICULT your brother is being-”


“Half-brother.”


̶ 0;I mean come on!” Kagome continued without missing a beat. “It’s been what, three weeks since the doctor said I was well enough to sing and what does Sesshoumaru-sama, ruler of the Western Farm say? ’You still are not ready to perform without injury.’ UGH! He’s infuriating!”


“OK. . .” Inuyasha drawled with a worried eye trained on her lithe form. She practically vibrated with fury and, though he was glad for the break, all this tension between the pair was starting to mess with him.


“Look, I’m the last person to agree with the Lord of the Ice,” Inuyasha began, barely pausing at Kagome’s agreeing huff. “But maybe, just maybe, he has a point-OW!” He rubbed his sore ear and glared at her. “What the fuck?!”


“I’m sorry,” Kagome apologized and giggled at his affronted frown. “But Sesshoumaru is being unreasonable. I’m tired of the same routine. I miss performing and-”


“And those short little skirts Ayame used to put you girls in?” Inuyasha added and let out a low whistle. “Man, I remember one time when Rin bent over. You could almost see her panties. I wonder what color they were…”

“Pervert. That‘s my baby sister you‘re talking about,” Kagome growled and waited for him to park before giving him a quick rap upside the head. His hearty laughter followed her across the parking lot to her class.


“Hey!” Inuyasha hollered as she flung the glass entrance door open. “Don’t forget about my birthday! You better show up!”


(II)


Sesshoumaru turned off his engine, glared at the small brick building ahead of him, and sighed. ‘Of all the parties,’ he said to himself as pocketed his keys and unlocked the door. ‘This one is the most childish Inuyasha.’


Inuyasha’s parties, from the time he was three to now as he turned twenty-three, were almost always themed. Sesshoumaru could remember the first one he attended as if it were yesterday. Inuyasha’s mother had the grand idea to give Inuyasha, turning thirteen at the time, a medieval knight themed party. Even now the images of his father’s wife, leaning over and nearly spilling herself from her low cut dress into the punch bowl, made Sesshoumaru want to gag.


‘Let’s get this over with,’ Sesshoumaru said to steel himself, then threw open the door and stepped out of the car. The winter wind was slicing, the sudden cold as startling as a smack in the face and Sesshoumaru shuddered in spite of himself. He quickly buttoned his thin trench coat and made his way to the door where a ’host’ stood by the entrance.


“Yo,” the moron greeted Sesshoumaru and he fought not to roll his eyes. “You here for the Wifebeater Party?”


“Yes,” Sesshoumaru was ashamed to admit. The man gave him a quick glance over, then spotted his tie from underneath his coat and frowned. “You know there’s a dress code, right?”


“Let him in,” Miroku interrupted as he came from around a nearby corner. “He’s Inuyasha’s older brother-”

“Half brother.”


“And he’s the one we were telling you about, the one who would sooner show up nude than stick to the code.”


“Oh.” The man frowned, but waved Sesshoumaru in.


“It wouldn’t have hurt you to attempt to fit in,” Miroku told him as they left the frigid entranceway and entered the main area of the skate palace. “I think this has to be the best party idea Inuyasha’s ever had. I’ve never had so many girls check me out before.”


Sesshoumaru shook his head, both at Miroku and everyone else who had obeyed the party’s dress code. Everyone around him had on jeans and tank tops of varying colors, with the birthday boy himself dressed in a red pair of loosely fitting jeans and a black tank. He waved excitedly at Sesshoumaru and Miroku, a bottle of pop in his right hand as he bopped along to the music from his seat of honor on the half wall separating the skating ring from the small dining area.


“It is cold enough,” Sesshoumaru replied as they approached the small crowd. “The little brat will end up sick before it is over.”


Miroku said nothing, knowing not to press on and gave his friend’s coat a thoughtful frown. It was Sesshoumaru’s only dress coat and it was thin, thinner than what the 15 degrees outside called for. Sesshoumaru would deny the need for a new one, citing some other important expense like a new banister for the house or a bill of his mother’s that needed his attention. ‘If anyone deserves a magic fairy, it’s you,’ Miroku said to himself before Sango’s unsteady form caught his eye. “I’ll be right back,” he said before disappearing into the crowd.


Sesshoumaru leaned against the brick wall and watched the rink, his gaze only moving when Inuyasha swung his legs over the bricks and sat down. “You’re not in dress code Sesshoumaru,” he commented around his soda straw. “Not cool.”


“I am not interested in your dress code Halfling.”


Inuyasha shrugged off the insult. “Eh, I knew you wouldn’t. That’s why I gave the doorman your name. Hey, have you seen Kagome yet?” He gestured toward the rink with his chin. “Looks like they’re having fun.”


“You allowed her to skate?” Sesshoumaru questioned with a frown of disapproval. “She is injured-”


“Look at her,” Inuyasha huffed in annoyance. “Aint a damned thing wrong with her. It looks like she’s having fun too.”


Sesshoumaru gazed out and indeed, it looked like she was having fun. She, Sango and Rin were wearing identical pairs of jeans and white tank tops and with their hair pulled back in high ponytails they reminded him of a gum commercial. They skated along to the music arm in arm, their faces bright and happy as they breezed past him. Kagome glanced back and waved before continuing on her way.


“I know you wanna protect her,” Inuyasha began before an ear splitting grin stretched his face. “Hell we all want to protect her, but you’re gonna smother her if you keep this up. She wants to sing and you’re acting like a world class asshole.”


Sesshoumaru ignored him, choosing instead to watch as the three girls glided around the rink. They turned, first Sango, then Rin before Kagome, and began around the rink backward.


“Well whatever. When you get back home thank your mom for the birthday present. It’s already hanging on my bedroom wall.“ Inuyasha jumped down and walked away, leaving Sesshoumaru to his thoughts.


He was well aware of the stares directed at him, knowing that he stuck out like the proverbial sore thumb in his suit, but even if he had time to change he wouldn’t have. He knew Kagome would want to skate and didn’t want to risk her hurting herself without him-


He was moving before he realized it, his feet quickly crossing the carpet toward the slick rink floor as a skater knocked into Rin’s arm. That less than gentle nudge was enough to disrupt the trio. Their former grace gone, they wobbled on skates unwilling to support them. Rin and Sango fell, but Kagome ended up on Sesshoumaru’s hip like a wayward three year old.


“Oh!” Kagome gasped, her eyes squeezed shut as she waited for her painful introduction to the ground. After a few moments and some giggling later she opened her eyes and froze, turquoise pinned to sunlit gold. “Eh heh.”


“Woman, you are far more trouble than you should be.”


“Yeah yeah,” Kagome griped and tightened her grip on his shoulders. The arm around her waist tightened in response and it was then that she silently wondered why she wanted to stay where she was in the first place.


“Hey lovebirds,” Sango called as she and Rin struggled to stand up. “A little help would be appreciated.” Sesshoumaru used his other arm to steady Sango, then waited for her to steady herself before helping Rin.


“Ow,” Sango groaned. “My sore behind.” She reached back and rubbed her abused backside. “That hurt.”


“Then allow me my dearest.”


Sango jumped in surprise, nearly falling again, as Miroku began his gentle ‘assistance’. She spun around and turned his left cheek a brilliant pink. “You effing pervert!”


“Sesshoumaru?” Kagome began as the pair began arguing. His amused gaze left his friend and turned to her. “Will you put me down?”


“Of course.” He set her down gently and waited until she was fully steadied before offering her arm. She took it with a smile and together they walked/rolled off the rink.


“So where are we going anyway?” she asked as the arguing couple stopped and watched them walk away. He leaned down and whispered in her ear, and Kagome laughed at his answer.


“They have a funnel cake machine.”

(III)

She cradled the phone between her ear and her shoulder, her neck protesting painfully as she waited for Sesshoumaru to answer.


‘Yes Mother.”


“Hello dear,” Mrs. Kapsai chirped happily. “Are you off from work already?”


“I am. I’m passing MacDougg sheep right now.”


“Really?” ‘Oh, that’s perfect,’ she said to herself. “Oh well then.”


“Was there something you needed?”


“Well, I thought that, if you were still in the city, that maybe I could ask you to stop by the store and pick up some things for dinner.”


“It would be no problem to turn around-”


“No dear, that’s ok,” she replied as she placed the pot pie she’d been working on into the oven. “I’ll just make something else. Thank you.”


“Is Kagome home?”


“She sitting in her favorite spot doing her homework.”


“I wish I knew what it was about that old fireplace that attracts her.” She smiled at the amusement in his voice. “I will be home in five or so minutes.”


“Alright then. Goodbye Maru.” She hung up and quit the kitchen quickly and arrived in the living room just as Kagome was stuffing a book into her backpack. “Are you finished already?”

“Yes ma’am,” Kagome nodded happily. “I’m free for the rest of the weekend!”


“That’s great dear,” Mrs. Kapsai agreed. “I was wondering if you had the time to do me a favor.”


“Sure,” Kagome nodded as she stood up and dusted off her hands. “What is it?”


“Well, I was wondering if you would sing for me.”


“Um, I would,” Kagome began. “But Sesshoumaru said-”


“Yes, I know,” Mrs. Kapsai replied with a quick glance out of the window behind Kagome. “But I was hoping, since he isn’t home, that you wouldn’t mind. I’ve head from everyone else how lovely your voice is. I just wanted to see for myself.”


“Oh, well. . .” Kagome turned and glanced out the same window, then shrugged and nodded. “Sure, why not?”


“Oh how wonderful!” Mrs. Kapsai said as she sat down on the nearby couch. “Please, I don’t care what you play.”


“Oh, ok then.” Kagome glanced around, her gaze falling onto Sesshoumaru’s guitar as it rested in a nearby corner. She draped the shoulder strap around her and strummed a few strings before sitting down and fiddling around with a slow medley. Her eyes closed and her mind drifted, her thoughts like butterflies in a summer field before a song, one she wanted to play when the group started practicing, settled onto her shoulder.

“Love was the former owner but quiet it renting our house. It ceases my lips from speaking and forms a sarcastic smile.”


Mrs. Kapsai was impressed, both with her voice and with how expertly she played.


“Suspense now raised one of your eyebrows. You asked me if there's someone else. I replied yes; hell yes.”


The song’s subject matter, however, disappointed her. Due to her own past, she didn’t approve of cheating and thought that Kagome would be of the same mindset. ‘Oh well,’ she said to herself. ‘Maybe it is just a song and not the way she really feels.’
“You asked if it's another man I said no. You laughed and say is it a woman I say yes. Surprisingly you ask me honey’s name. . .
“And the name is me, and she loves me more than you'll ever know. And I finally see that loving you and loving me just don't seem to work at all. So patiently. . .he's waiting on me to tell you that she needs love and to choose between you two. Boy you know if I have to choose, I choose me.”

‘That will teach me to assume,’ Mrs. Kapsai chastised herself with a smile. Kagome glanced up and smiled back, then bent her head back to the guitar and drew in a breath.
“And she told me to tell you to never to hurt me again. Cuz if you haven't heard she's a bad chick even though I haven't been, no.”

He thought to call out, the breath drawn to amplify the sound, but stopped as Kagome’s voice and a guitar fluttered into the entranceway. Anger at her disobedience flashed for a second, then curiosity as he quietly approached the living room.

“Yet and still you try and test me by raising an angry hand. Put it down, put it down. . .”


‘Mother,’ He hm’ed expectedly. Kagome sat with his guitar in her hands, the sunlight from the French window behind her glowing on the shoulders of her royal blue blouse. Light wide legged jeans cushioned the guitar and protected its custom paintjob from the unforgiving surface of the bricks. Her head was down and her eyes closed, so she didn’t see him standing in the doorway. His mother’s back was to him, so he couldn’t see her face or what she thought of Kagome’s voice.“I'm leaving don't try and stop me. I'm late and she is waiting. My love for me is to much so I can't stay.“And the name is me. And she loves me more than you'll ever know.” The strength in her voice surprised him, though after a few moments he felt foolish at the thought. Disuse had not weakened or dried up her talent. If anything it seemed to gain determination, a fortification of the soul that turned an already beautiful voice into a sound that was nearly otherworldly. “And I finally see that loving you and loving me just don't seem to work at all.”


The strength in Kagome’s voice didn’t surprise Mrs. Kapsai at all. Though they had twenty-plus years separating them, here was a young woman that shared something with her, that could almost be called a kindred spirit. The abuse she suffered was horrific, but it was that determination to get past it that they had in common. The resolve Kagome expressed in song Mrs. Kapsai lived and the first few tears spilled down the older woman’s cheeks.


“So patiently . . .she's waiting on me to tell you that she needs love and to choose between you two. Boy you know if I have to choose, I choose-“Cuz she's actually forming a threesome and I'm happy that I can join them. Their names are me, myself, and I.And her name is me.”

It felt good to sing this song, to get this off her chest and out into the open air. For weeks after Marcus’ arrest she felt damaged, like a piece of her was missing. She was angry at herself for being unable to protect herself, for being unable to see through his lies and staying with him for so long after he shoved her down their apartment stairs.

“She's waiting on me to tell you that she needs love. . .”


She was angry with Sesshoumaru for having to stay with him, angry at the pitying stares of the other bandmates when they looked at her and just plain mad at EVERYTHING.

“Gotta to choose between you two. . .”


But it was Mrs. Kapsai that showed her a way other than anger, other than self pity and doubt. She told Kagome of the love her friends had for her, that no one pitied her but wanted to protect her and stand by her. Mrs. Kapsai shared her strength with her, gave her an ear to talk to when she was frustrated and told her story so she could learn from it.
“And you know if I have to choose. . .”


It took time and patience, but Kagome was finally over her anger and self pity.


“I choose me. . .”


The song faded into memory and Kagome looked up, blushing in embarrassment as Mrs. Kapsai jumped to her feet and applauded. “That was wonderful Kagome!” she said and reached out to pull her into a motherly hug. “Just wonderful!”


“Thank you,” Kagome replied and shifted Sesshoumaru’s guitar so it wouldn’t be between them. “I’m so glad you liked it.”


“Liked it? I loved it! I’m so proud of you!” They turned when Sesshoumaru cleared his throat, Mrs. Kapsai quickly drying her face as she smiled.


He listened to their greeting but didn’t return it, his gaze thoughtful as he regarded the embracing women. ‘Mother and her schemes,’ he said to himself with an accepting sigh. ‘At least its not like a couple of years ago, when she tried to pair me with various strange women from her office.’


“Sesshoumaru,” Mrs. Kapsai began as the silence lingered and Kagome began to get nervous. “Let me explain-”


“What is for dinner?” he interrupted with a discrete test of the air. “It smells. . .nearly done.”


“That’s my pot pie,” she replied, then gasped and glanced at her watch. “Oh no! I forgot about it!” She quickly dashed back to the kitchen, Kagome forgotten as she hurried to save dinner.


“Kagome?”


She glanced up, her lower lip firmly wedged between her teeth as he approached her. “I know what you said,” she began earnestly. “But your mum wanted to hear me sing. Besides, what’s the big deal? Obviously I’m better so-”


“Yes, you are better.” He sat down his briefcase and smiled. Kagome gulped but stood her ground.


“Sesshoumaru-”


“Call the others Kagome. Tell them practice shall resume next Monday.”


“Really?” Kagome gasped as she grinned up at him. He nodded and was surprised when she squeaked and hugged him, her arms wrapping around his waist. “Thanks Sesshou!”


“Hn,” was his only reply as he fought the blush that warred with his cheeks.


“Sesshoumaru, I nearly forgo-OH!” his mother gasped. “Oh dear. I didn’t mean to interrupt.”


“Sesshoumaru said we could practice again!” Kagome said and did a little happy dance in front of him. “Isn’t that great?”


“That’s wonderful,” Mrs. Kapsai nodded. “Oh, Sesshoumaru. I almost forgot. That box,” she pointed to a cardboard box sitting beside the sofa. “Came for you today.”


“Thank you Mother.” He waited until he was alone, with Kagome off to phone the rest of the band, to kneel down and use his keys to slice through the box’s sealing tape. He opened the box and opened two packages wrapped in white plastic. He was stunned when they were finally opened, his body numb as he slipped into one of two coats. It was black and thick, made of a wool blend that heavy on his shoulders. The trench coat fit well and was perfect for the chilly Virginian winter. The charcoal gray car coat was made of the same blend but was shorter than the black. They were expensive, that much he knew, but what he didn’t know was who would send him such a gift. He removed the coat and searched through the papers for an invoice.


Instead he found, among gift receipts from the store the coats were purchased, was a card with a blue moon.


The Persian Crescent had struck again.


(End Chapter)


SF: I’m sorry.


Kagome: For what Guardian-sama? What’s wrong?


SF: This chapter was so effing hard to write and I don’t know why.


Inu-chan: I know why. You’re too busy being married-


SF: And you’re too busy being an ass. Are all men that difficult? What is so hard about taking out the trash?

Sango: Uh oh. This is a four day rant people. Sorry about the wait. She’s had writer’s block for a while and with the Little Muse so far away she’s having to take a sludgehammer to something she would normally let the LM sprinkle fairy dust on.


Kagome: The next chapter should be better though.