InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Principle of Existence ❯ mismtached ( Chapter 3 )

The Principle of Existence

 

Summary: Due to a declining birth rate, the government of Japan imposes a drastic new law that forces healthy males and females to get together to make children. For Inuyasha, a hanyou, this may be a chance he thought he never had to have a family. But will he ever find love too?

 

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha and Co. They belong to the wonderfully talented Takahashi Rumiko.

 

Warning: Adults doing adult things.

 

Chapter 3 MisMatched

 

Her body shook with violent sobs. Tears freely flowed down red cheeks, easily defeating an entire box of tissue. Red puffy eyes squinted at the words that she just had to read. It was an absolute must. Not even some supernatural force could stop her. This had special powers over her.

 

Knock. Knock.

 

Okay, so maybe there was one force in this world that could make her look away. But…her eyes returned to the words…so many words…

 

“Kagome, open up.”

 

Kagome whined as she stood up from her spot on the floor. Using one hand to hold her oversized, overweight yellow terry cloth robe closed, her other hand just couldn't down her current obsession.

 

“Kagome, I know you're in there. Open up please.”

 

Kagome let out a huff as she made her way over to the door. Tearing her reddened eyes away from her book, she quickly undid all of the locks and opened the door for her impatient guest.

 

“About time. Oh…sorry, new book.”

 

Nodding, Kagome did her best to clean herself up. She wiped the large sleeve across her face, smearing tears and other bodily fluids across her cheeks. “Yeah. Came in the mail this morning. So, what's up Sango?” Kagome bent the corner of the page she was reading and slipped the paperback novel into her pocket. “Tea?”

 

“No, something stronger.”

 

Kagome glanced at the clock. It was after three in the afternoon, so they were okay. “Beer then?”

 

Sango shrugged her shoulders as she flopped down onto the small two-person couch. “It's a start.”

 

Kagome chuckled as she carried two bottles of beer over to Sango. She opened them up and handed one out to get Sango started. Something had set her best friend off. Though, sometimes it was rather easy to rile Sango up over small matters. None of them had ever lead to them sharing beers this early in the day.

 

The moment Kagome pulled her feet up underneath her, she pulled her book out and continued right where she left off, tears included.

 

“That good?”

 

“Uh-oh, yes.” Kagome showed the cover to Sango.

 

“The Sins of Shangri-la. Mmm…never heard of it before. What's it about? Other than romance.”

 

“Well, yes, other than romance, it's this continuing series of this girl who saves a mysterious stranger from death. He's targeted by some powerful people and by association she becomes a target. As repayment for saving his life, he promises to protect her. And they have to find out why they are after him since he suffered amnesia from the incident that almost lead to his death. So, it's more than just romance.”

 

“Good sex?”

 

“Oh no Sango.” Kagome sputtered out her face growing hot. “Romance doesn't always have to include sex, or at least long, metaphorically stuffed passages of it. There is love. I like the love aspect of it.”

 

Sango sighed as she stared at her half empty beer bottle. “Love is dead.”

 

That made Kagome look up from her book. “What makes you say that?”

 

“Our government murdered it with this law of theirs. Just…”

 

Kagome tossed her book aside as it dawned on her what had Sango ready to drink her fridge empty. An oversized smile sprang forth on Kagome's still puffy and red face. “You got your letter.”

 

Just like how Inuyasha and Kikyou found out about each other and their matching, Sango had received a letter explaining to her who her chosen male was, among other minor details.

 

“Yeah, I got it,” she grumbled, downing more of the pale ale.

 

“Well, who is it? Your first pick? Is he tall, dark and handsome?”

 

“No. He's…” and the thought of the whole process made her blood boil with rage. “He's just not for me, okay?”

 

“Um…Sango,” Kagome started as it sounded like Sango knew exactly who this person was. “Do you know him already?”

 

Sango threw the letter at Kagome. Kagome picked it up and her eyes scanned past everything, searching for a name. The name was - Kagome froze. It couldn't be. She knew him too. Now she understood why Sango was acting so upset.

 

“Miroku? Our Miroku is your fated Miroku?”

 

“Who picks the couples? So-called experts? Or is it some random computer-generated program that just spits names out? I thought this was a serious matter.”

 

“Sango, it's like…a fated love,” she said softly, her eyes no longer puffy but staring off all dream-like.

 

“Please Kagome, not you too.” Sango begged. “That creep has already left several dozen messages that include the following words: fate, destiny, soul mates, love, and forever. And before you open your mouth again, no, this is not romantic at all.”

 

“Oh yes it is.”

 

“No, it is not.”

 

“Yes, it is.”

 

“No, it's not and let me tell you why: he's a pervert. The worst kind of pervert. And a womanizer. He'll never stay monogamous. I'm surprised he wasn't matched up with three or four other women.”

 

“It is romantic. Come on Sango, since junior high school…you've never given him a chance.”

 

“That's because he's never given me a reason to.”

 

“Then maybe this is a reason.”

 

Sango wanted to protest, but kept her mouth closed instead. “You sure you don't write those books you read?”

 

“Yeah. I have no romantic imaginations that I can put to pen.”

 

“But isn't there a basic pattern, a recipe to follow?”

 

“I guess. But what makes each one unique is how the author makes it into their own. How they use words to describe the struggle to love.”

 

“Love is hard?”

 

“It's what these books want you to believe. Makes for a good read.”

 

“Even loving Miroku would be impossible.”

 

“Ah, another plot device for these stories. How love blossoms despite the impossible odds,” Kagome stated matter-of-factly.

 

“Unrealistic.”

 

“Hey, it's not called fiction for nothing.”

 

“But real life isn't so cut n' dry.” Sango sighed as she let her weight fall deeper into the couch, clutching onto her beer bottle as an anchor. “It never has a happy ending.”

 

“Not all of my books end like fairy tales. There's this movie quote: `Love means never having to say you're sorry.' Wrong. Love means something more along the lines of learning, adapting, growing, and even letting go.”

 

“You have books like that? Eh…so depressing. I thought people read those books to find an escape or something.”

 

“You can escape. There are just different ways of doing it.”

 

Sango closed her eyes and shook her head at her optimistic friend. “But…it's Miroku. Miroku, Kagome. The same guy that took two girls to our senior dance and left with two different ones. The same Miroku that easily handles several dates in one night. He's infamous among the fuzoku workers. He even sends them birthday cards.”

 

“So, he's polite, thoughtful, and he remembers birthdays. You can't find those traits often in men.”

 

“I don't care if he remembers my birthday or not - well, okay, I might, but, when I'm with him, how am I going to know if it's me he wants to be with? I just…I just can't trust him. And how can I have sex with a man who I can't trust?”

 

Kagome glanced down at her hands as she started to pick at her nails in nervousness. “I-I shouldn't be asking you this, but, as this is Miroku we are talking about, he's…uh…with his history and everything…is he, well, you know…clean?”

 

Sango's eyes went wide at the realization of Kagome's question. “I think so. I mean…he's never complained to either of us about any unusual symptoms. I mean…he would tell us, wouldn't he?”

 

Kagome moved over and settled down next to Sango, wrapping an arm around her confused and frustrated friend. “Sango…I really don't know what to say to you.”

 

Sango rested her head on Kagome's shoulder, sighing slowly as her mind did what it could to get a handle on her situation. Closing her eyes, she tried to wish this all away. She was interested in one day getting married, but…not like this. Not with him.

 

“Don't tell me to give Miroku a chance. That's just…ugh, so clichéd and so…overrated. He doesn't even deserve a chance.”

 

“A moment.”

 

“What?” Sango asked as she sat up, staring at Kagome in confusion. “That…that doesn't make any sense.”

 

“Sango, just give him a moment of your time, a moment of your love-”

 

“Kagome, I do not-”

 

“Maybe not now. Maybe you don't know it yet that you love him. This moment will be good for you too.”

 

“I don't think he deserves that either,” she replied softly.

 

“But you do,” Kagome added, nudging her friend in the side with her elbow. “This doesn't have to be the rest of your life. If anything, a few months.”

 

“You are such a hopeless romantic, you know that right?”

 

Kagome had to laugh at that. “I would like to think of myself more of a realistic romantic. If I were a hopeless romantic, well, I would believe that the government was matching up perfect couples.”

 

“See, point made. Miroku and I…no.” Sango sighed. “Great. We are all in the hands of civil servants. No offense to you.”

 

“None taken as I'm not an official civil servant. Just a temporary worker.”

 

“How is that going?”

 

“I'm not sure. They just met yesterday, so, it'll be a while. But…if what I read could really happen…yeah, I hope it's with these two.” She wanted every couple to live happily ever after. While walking down the street and passing couples so fresh in their relationship, she noticed just how happy and in love they were. She wished that it could last like that for everyone. Well…almost everyone. Not everyone was interested in love, or living out the rest of their days with someone.

 

Sango sat up and glanced down at the beer she wasn't really into drinking anymore. “You're not playing matchmaker, are you?”

 

“No. The government did that already. I guess I'm there to help with the slight language and cultural barriers.”

 

“A love muse,” Sango softly stated as she twisted the beer around in her hands. She needed to make a decision about Miroku. But her head and her heart didn't want to tackle it. They had both gone through so much already. And knowing Miroku, she couldn't risk it.

 

“A wh-love muse. Yeah. That sounds nice. Sounds romantic too. So, if you need a love muse…”

 

“Oh no. No, no, no. I'm…I'm not interested in ever falling in love with Miroku. Ever.” And that was her decision, for now. She would take Kagome's advice and give him that one moment. After that, they would go back to being the way they were before. Friends. She would watch him chase after young, pretty girls and she could go back to fighting. The fighting would never end, and she would keep at it, never wanting to lose again.

 

<->

 

“Buddha is great. Buddha is awesome. Buddha is the supreme being.”

 

“Buddha's fat.”

 

“Inuyasha, please be kind to our wise and merciful deity.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Ah, I'm so glad you asked. You see, he has granted me my number one choice.”

 

Inuyasha took a sip of his beer. “The letter, huh?”

 

“Yes. My letter was delivered today.”

 

“So, which girl is it? I'm pretty sure you've asked the entire female half to bear your children. It's a fuckin' wonder the government just didn't pay you to knock `em all up.”

 

“Hopes and dreams my friend. Alas, the fine civil servants of our great and proud nation paired me with only one. The right one.”

 

“How are you going to explain yourself to all those other women?”

 

“Inuyasha it's not like that. My profession enables me to help out every single one of my female acquaintances.”

 

“Sex and money.”

 

Miroku casually shook his head. “No. Not always. But I am going to change my ways. I want to, to make it work with Sango.”

 

Inuyasha glanced over at Miroku. “Sango? The same Sango that scares the shit out of me?”

 

“My one and only true love.”

 

“You are so fuckin' doomed. She hates you in that regard. Friends, maybe, sure, but lovers?” Inuyasha shook his head. “No fuckin' way. I wouldn't be surprised if she hasn't sent her appeal in already.”

 

“You really think so?”

 

“Faster than one of her slaps.”

 

Miroku thought about what Inuyasha had just said. “I guess I haven't shown her my best side most of the time. And the company I keep says little about my true character.”

 

“And the ass-grabbing and the wanting to knock up every decent chick you see.”

 

“You do make a valid point. I have been nice to her, on occasion. I suppose that she's just rejected me one too many times though.”

 

“That's `cause you're a man-whore.”

 

Miroku looked shocked by his friend's adjective of him. “I wasn't back in junior high. Well, okay…so maybe I flirted…a lot. But I only wanted her attention. Maybe a little jealousy.”

 

“There are other ways.”

 

“I'm just going to have to be the man she deserves. The man I know I can be.”

 

Inuyasha snorted at Miroku's change of heart. “Pussy-whipped.”

 

“For Sango. Yes. Absolutely. For her…anything.”

 

Looking at Miroku, yellow meeting violet, Inuyasha seriously asked, his voice low, “You really love her?”

 

Miroku beamed. “From the moment I saw her. I remember it so clearly. I'd just returned from Thailand, living at the monastery. She…the instant I saw her, she reverted me back to my old ways. The very temptation that Buddha teaches us to resist. So lovely.”

 

“Sounds more like lust than love,” Inuyasha added before taking a sip of his beer. Glancing down at the near empty can, he couldn't believe he was having this conversation with Miroku. Miroku was planning on being with only one woman. Nothing had prepared him for that. Probably not enough beer for that.

 

Miroku pointed at Inuyasha. “Adoration. I worship her. I always have in my own particular style.”

 

“Hence the other women.”

 

“Well,” he chuckled, “I can explain that.”

 

“Like she'll understand. Women don't understand anything.”

 

“Oh Inuyasha, what cruel woman has scorned your heart?”

 

“Keh. None. And no one will ever.”

 

“You receive your letter yet?”

 

“Yeah,” he grumbled as his cheeks flared pink.

 

Miroku had to smile. It was about time some good luck graced his hanyou friend. “Inuyasha. Do tell. I must know all about her. This means we can double date.”

 

“No, it can't.”

 

“We have to. I don't think Sango will want to be alone with me for some time.”

 

“Fuck. I said no once already.”

 

“Why not? You've always been willing to go to all of those socials with me. What's so different with this girl? Well, other than that we're not looking for dates but that we actually have them.”

 

“No,” he said low, but forceful, wanting to avoid getting too overworked over it.

 

“Inuyasha. I'm going to meet her at some point.”

 

“You'll have to wait.”

 

“Wait? Why? Is she not ready yet? Are you to mold her into your ideal woman?”

 

“I wouldn't,” he stated clearly, shaking his head. “Fuck you. Keh…shit…She doesn't speak Japanese, okay. She's from America,” he confessed as his voice trailed off. He really didn't want to tell anyone about it. It wasn't that he was embarrassed. He knew that he was going to be in a different situation than everyone else and considering how different he already was, he didn't need that to be pointed out. That the dirty hanyou could only get a dirty American.

 

“America? How…I thought-“

 

“Stop. She's Japanese. She can trace her family history all the way back to the warring era. I guess her family migrated over there sometime around the reopening of our borders.”

 

“Interesting.”

 

Inuyasha slammed his empty beer can down on the table. “No, not interesting.”

 

“Are you saying she's boring?”

 

“I'm saying to drop it.”

 

Miroku leaned forward to reach for another beer when he paused. Turning his head ever so slightly, he glanced curiously at his friend. “Wait, if she's…then you have a translator?”

 

“So fuckin' stupid. They…they could've waited. But instead…shit…just…yeah.”

 

“I speak English. We still could-”

 

“No. You'll try to sleep with her.”

 

“Now, wait a moment there. I may gander at the girls, but I do uphold very sacred principles among our gender. Never will I steal from a friend. Whether it be money, beer, or a girl. I want Sango. I need Sango. And I want for you to be happy. I want all of us to get together, maybe, be friendly and have our children become playmates.”

 

“You're serious,” Inuyasha said amazed by Miroku's conviction. He hardly ever saw his friend so faithful for anything other than Buddha. And even then…

 

“Buddha requires so little of me.”

 

Inuyasha had to roll his eyes. Miroku was hard to figure out at times, but, right now, he was being so open and so honest that Inuyasha wasn't comfortable with having Miroku meet Kikyou. Even if Miroku promised not to hit on the girl, instinct told him to protect her. Miroku had a history.

 

“I don't know.”

 

“Unless-what's her name?”

 

“Kikyou.” Her name left his lips with some hesitation, but, with an emotion that Inuyasha wasn't familiar with.

 

“Does she smell as sweet?”

 

Inuyasha nodded as he spaced out. A picture of her came to mind and he froze at the image of her.

 

“Unless Kikyou prefers your current translator, I don't see what is so wrong about us getting together. She'll meet new people; she can practice her Japanese and get a sense of what her life will be like.”

 

“I guess. Maybe in a few weeks. She's supposedly taking classes.”

 

Miroku glanced down at his beer, letting the silence soak between them. “Does she know?”

 

Inuyasha let out a long sigh. There was only one thing Miroku could be referring to. That serious tone was used by him rarely, and normally when referring to anything concerning Inuyasha.

 

“Yeah, she's aware of my cosplay fetish,” he replied, his ears twitching in mention of their existence.

 

Miroku didn't laugh at Inuyasha's attempt to lighten the conversation. To Miroku, this was never a joke, no matter how many times Inuyasha tried to play it off as such. “I'm being serious with you.”

 

“Yes, fuck, she knows. It was in my profile. Besides, we've already met.”

 

“Okay, okay. Look, I just…I just don't know how things work over there. I only speak phone English most of the time.”

 

“I don't lie.”

 

“I know. But you do hide things. Especially your feelings, other than anger or…wait, does she know about your other fetish?”

 

“That is not a fetish.”

 

“Are you sure? Are you sure you don't become sexually aroused by its presence, its smell, it's tantalizing liquid taste…”

 

“Pervert,” Inuyasha muttered as he turned his body away from Miroku. That guy had a gift in turning anything and everything into something sexual.

 

“Lighten up my friend. It's just ramen.”

 

No, it wasn't just ramen. It was ramen. Miroku had a thing for asses, Inuyasha had one for ramen. It couldn't be helped. It was biological for both of them and no amount of training or therapy could ever change their ways.

 

“Does Kikyou like ramen?”

 

Inuyasha shrugged. “Don't know. Haven't really had a chance to ask her.”

 

“And if she doesn't?”

 

Silence.

 

“What if it is the one thing in the world she hates the most - food wise?”

 

More silence.

 

“From what I understand, ramen over there and ramen here are completely different meals. My clients are utterly amazed by how different ramen is here. I guess in America, it is dirt cheap and really bad for you, so of course, college kids live off the stuff.”

 

“Shut up. Fuck it. I get it. Whatever. I'll just …shit…I'll wait on that.”

 

“Do you wonder if this whole let's-create-the-future thing the government has for us is going to work?”

 

“No, I'm a hanyou, Miroku. After junior high and high school and all of your damn socials…this is the best it's ever going to get for me.”

 

“Kikyou or bust?”

 

“Sango or bust?”

 

“Well…I appreciate all shapes and sizes of busts, but, it'll never be love.”

 

“Love…fuck that. I…I would settle just for some female companionship.” Inuyasha kept the rest of his thoughts to himself. He didn't need to get into a debate about what rights hanyou had. Did Inuyasha have the right to love? He didn't know. And he wasn't sure if he could answer. He never loved before, but was curious about it. But love broke hearts, broken hearts were painful, and he wanted to avoid that kind of pain.

 

Pain was losing your mother at a young age. Pain was never having your father around. Pain was having a brother that felt your existence was wasteful. Pain was being alone when he didn't want to be. Pain was knowing that you had a shitty place in society and that nothing could be done about it.

 

Yeah, all he knew was pain. But there was so much of it, he was numb to it. The government paired him with a female beyond his imagination. A female so unworthy of him, so beautiful, that he didn't like talking about her because when you did, you lost it. No, Miroku could wait. He had to wait. He had waited all of his life. Even with the government and this law, he couldn't be sure.

 

Somehow, he was doing a really great job of convincing himself that this whole thing with Kikyou might not happen. A part of him suspected he was doing that so he wouldn't be surprised by disappointment. Along with the pain, disappointment was also a constant companion in his life.

 

And yet, he really wanted this to work with Kikyou. He wanted to have a family, a companion, a mate. He wanted what his mother talked about. The stories about her and his father were the tales he was told before bed each night. His mother said one day, he would be as lucky as they were. And now he was getting somewhere. Was Kikyou the one, as Miroku believed with Sango? Inuyasha wasn't sure if he could believe in love at first sight. He was cautious and wary about anyone. Miroku was one of the few people he was close to, and that friendship took years to build.

 

Could he wait years with Kikyou? Could Kikyou wait for years for him to ever come around?

 

Could love really happen with them?

 

<->

 

Kikyou walked across the carpet in her hotel room after just coming out of the bathroom. She was currently working off the last of her jetlag. Avoiding food the entire trip over and then only eating once reaching Japan had helped quite a bit. After arriving at the hotel, she unpacked a few items that she would need and then pulled out a book she had wanted to read until it was officially bed time, trying to get her body accustomed to the time change.

 

She had a beautiful view of the city from here. It reminded her more of New York than of Los Angeles, her hometown. An urban war zone. She felt comfortable in it, though she wished it wasn't that way. Working in the emergency rooms of hospitals in those war zones had taken a toll on her and she needed something stable and not so depressing. Watching victims of accidents die was too much. Kikyou had changed her focus more towards children and loved every moment of it.

 

And now she had done it. Finally, she had made it to Japan. For as long as she could remember, this is where she wanted to be. Her family had told stories for generations about the homeland they left and their dreams of one day returning to where they all belonged. She was fulfilling one duty. She came to Japan and she would do what they wanted, to restart building the Ichidaka clan here. Kikyou sighed. So much to do and she felt as if she had already wasted her life away in the U.S.

 

When she heard about this proposal in Japan, it called to her and she couldn't resist. All day and in her dreams, moving to Japan and starting a family was on the forefront of her mind, her thoughts, her everything. She started to research as much as she could about Japan, about the new law and how she could get in on it. E-mailing the Japanese ambassador had been the best thing she had ever done. Explaining to him about who she was, her career and her goals, he cleared his schedule just to speak with her and was just as enthusiastic about the whole thing as she was. The government of Japan would happily accept her as one of their own.

 

It had also helped that her family did everything they could to keep their bloodline pure. They had only approved of marriages in which both parties could trace their lineage all the way back to the time when they started to keep track of such things. It was easy to do during the first wave of migration to the United States. But once it was acceptable to marry outside of one's race, the bloodlines weakened. A few clans did what they could to keep it pure. Kikyou was just as Japanese as any natural-born Japanese citizen.

 

They planned on giving her a job, a place to live, classes, and a translator to help her acclimate herself to her new country as quickly as possible. Kikyou would not fail this. She couldn't. Not for herself and not for her family. They were already so proud of her. Her family had gone out of their way to do everything they could to make sure that Kikyou did this for them.

 

Sighing, Kikyou walked over to the veranda and opened the door, letting the metropolis breeze brush her long silky hair. Arranged marriages were nothing new to her or her family and she was brought knowing that she would be given a husband, never having to go out and find one.

 

Life was as it was meant to be.

 

<->

roshully's notes: Short chapter. It would've been much, much longer, however, what I have written out next really didn't go along with this. Just introducing more characters and their connections with Kagome and Inuyasha. I do have more written out, so I'll be starting on that to avoid anymore super long dry spells between updates.

 

Thanks for reading and reviewing.

 

Cultural notes

Fuzoku - commercial sex workers. Whatever your fancy is, you can most likely find someone willing to participate in it.

 

Socials are a very popular way for guys and girls to get together and maybe make some kind of love connection. How it works is that the same number of guys and girls meet up at a restaurant, eat dinner, share drinks, and hopefully connect with someone there. If interested, a second date, more private one, can happen.

 

Other than that, not much. There will be more cultural lessons in the next chapter. Just have to fine tune a few things.

 

As for the previous chapter concerning the language and whatnot. I thank you all for your advice and lessons. I've only had about two years of Japanese and that was several years ago. My book is very outdated, even when I was learning from it.

 

One thing I want to address that one reviewer brought up was the spelling of Kikyou's last name. I forgot to point this out. I spelled it as `Itidaka', but, to be phonetically correct, I could've and maybe should've spelled it as `Ichidaka'. The `ti' sound (pronounced like tea, a drink with jam and bread) doesn't naturally exist in the spoken Japanese language. However, when Romanizing it, it can be spelled out as `ti' or as `chi'. Most prefer `chi' because it is more how like one would pronounce it and this comes from the Hepburn system of Romanizing the Japanese language which is the most popular method among students and scholars for learning and teaching the language. The `ti' spelling exists in two other systems, Kunrei-shiki and Nipon-shiki.

 

Anyway, if I remember, I might change it.

 

Thanks for your support and help with this matter. Please, if you find something you feel is in error, let me know.