InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Sweetest Escape ❯ Unveiling ( Chapter 15 )

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

Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi does.

Author's Notes: Oh the beautiful, beauty of fluff!

Chapter 15: Unveiling

Inuyasha fiddled with the cream-colored bow that held the bundle of Easter lilies together. He was hot, and sweating buckets. His discomfort wasn't only stemming from the heat of the day, though it was well into the high eighties, and humid. There he was, on the boarding platform of the Tokyo Train Station, inhaling what he was sure was an unhealthy amount of diesel fuel vapors, and grimacing under the unnerving, unblinking stare of a six year old child whose mother was too preoccupied with her cell phone to notice that her kid was making a nuisance of himself.

“Why's your hair so long?” the child asked in an obnoxiously loud voice. Inuyasha chose to pointedly ignore the boy, hoping he'd get bored and go away. A pudgy finger poked him an area that was still all too tender, and he growled. The child was not deterred. “Hey! Hey, Mister!”

“What?” Inuyasha hissed lowly, shooting the kid a `buzz off' look. He wasn't fazed.

“How come your hair's so long?” he asked again.

“Because I don't cut it,” Inuyasha growled. He checked the wrought-iron clock on the platform's roof for the umpteenth time, only to find that the long hand had only moved a mere two minutes.

“Why?”

“Because I don't want to.”

“Why?”

“Because it's my choice!”

“Why?”

“Because everyone has a choice! Kami, shut up!” he said in a harsh whisper. The child frowned.

“That's not nice,” he pouted, crossing his arms over his chest. He was not put out for long. “Those are pretty flowers. Who're they for?”

“None of your business.”

“But—“

“Kaemon, what has Mommy told you about talking to strangers?” the chatty woman suddenly said to the boy.

“Not to do it,” he replied, chagrined.

“That's right. Now come along. Don't you pull that pouty face with me, Mister, I've told you time and time again not to…” her voice faded into medley of sounds that filled the station. Inuyasha sighed. `Good riddance,' he thought. He sank onto one of the uncomfortably hard wooden benches and waited.

He'd been waiting for over an hour. Her train was late. He frowned. Perhaps he'd misread her email? `No…I read that thing a thousand times. There's no way I got the time wrong. Three o'clock, it said…' he thought, going over the email in his mind. There was no doubt about it. The train was late. And that didn't help to quell the jittery nervousness that had taken over him.

“This is so. Fucking. Stupid,” he muttered to himself. What did he look like, sitting there for that long, waiting with a sweaty handful of lilies in his hand? `A fool, that's what. A damned, class-A fool…'

The stupid flowers had wilted by now…he supposed that his hand clutching the life out of them hadn't helped at all. But he was so nervous…

He'd only bought the damned flowers because Sango said that it was a good idea. She'd told him that they were Kagome's favorite. She'd given him all kinds of advice. Not that he'd necessarily asked for it all…even still. She'd helped him, he supposed.

Sango was giving him that strange look again. If he was keeping track properly, he'd say it was about the eighth time that evening she'd looked at him that way. It was a calculating look, coupled with a strange type of smile that Inuyasha couldn't quite decipher…regardless, it was creepy, unnerving, and getting very annoying.

“Sango, what is the deal?” he burst out finally, throwing his hands up in the air exasperatedly. She smiled wider, her lips pressing into a thin line, as though she were restraining something.

“I know your secret…” she said in a sing-song voice. Inuyasha froze a fry hanging halfway out of his mouth. Kagome didn't…no…she wouldn't—

“What secret?” he asked around his mouthful of food. Sango covered her mouth and giggled, her eyes twinkling.

“You like Kagome!” she burst out, a big, cheesy grin on her face. Inuyasha's face froze in horror.

“Miroku!” he exclaimed, glaring at the boy who approached their booth with his refilled drink in hand. Miroku gave him an innocent look.

“What?”

“You. Are. An. Ass,” Inuyasha growled through clenched teeth. His face burned intensely.

“Huh? What did I do?” he asked with a frown, sitting next to Sango again.

“You told her!”

“Told her what?”

“About Kagome!” Inuyasha exclaimed exasperatedly. Miroku's mouth opened into a little `o' shape.

“Oh…”

“Yeah. You ass.”

“Hey, I didn't tell her anything!” Miroku protested.

“You liar! You did too!”

“No I didn't!” he insisted. “Well…I mean to say…I didn't tell her directly…”

“See! You're an ass, Miroku. A royal ass.”

“I am not! I…I didn't mean to tell her indirectly…it was an accident! She…she's got powers, Inuyasha! Feminine wiles!” Miroku cried defensively. “I'm only a seventeen year old male, Inuyasha. Only a simple, seventeen year old male,” he said solemnly, biting into his burger. “Besides. Sango already knew.”

“She did no—”

“Yeah…yeah, Inuyasha, I did. Like, weeks ago,” Sango said sheepishly. She shrugged. “Sorry…”

“Shit…is it really that obvious?” Inuyasha asked with an embarassed grimace, half to himself, half to the others. He scratched his head, thinking hard.

“Um…yeah. Yeah, it is,” Sango said bluntly, dunking a fry into the ketchup.

“Damn…you didn't…you didn't tell her or anything—did you?” he asked, panicky.

“No, no, of course not. But I can if you want me to,” she offered.

“No! No, don't tell her,” Inuyasha burst out.

“Why not? You two would make such a cute couple!” Sango gushed. Inuyasha blushed deeply at even the notion of him and Kagome as a couple; it was unfathomable.

“I don't think…I mean—she probably…she wouldn't—”

“Inuyasha, I assure you: Kagome likes you. I promise!”

“How do you know?”

“Because! Kagome is my best friend in the entire world, and I just know when she likes a guy. And she definitely likes you.”

Inuyasha contemplated this for a moment. It was true, Sango knew Kagome best. If anyone, she'd be the authority on Kagome's guy-interests…aside from Kagome herself, and there was no way in hell he'd ask her outright; he'd never have the guts to do something like that. And true, Sango had been around for Kagome's previous relationships; Inuyasha was sure she'd had previous relationships—how could she not? That would give her insight on the matter.

“Even if that's true—which I doubt—what am I supposed to…you know…do?” he mumbled, at a loss.

“You make a move!” Miroku interjected. Inuyasha blanched, shaking his head.

“I don't think I could—”

“You don't think you could what?”

“Make a move. Any move. I'm not…smooth…like you are, Miroku. I couln't—”

“Oh, of course you can. It'll be easy,” Sango said flippantly, waving a hand. “Besides. Miroku's not all that smooth,” she teased the boy beside her with a nudge. He dropped his jaw, as though he were offended.

“Sango! I'll have you know I'm very smooth,” he said confidently. He gave her a sly, come-hither look, and Inuyasha rolled his eyes, flicking a French-fry at him. He ignored it. “You know you want me,” he breathed. Leaning closer and closer, he puckered and gently kissed the tip of her nose.

“Okay! Anyways, back to Inuyasha!” she said, flustered and blushing. She gave Inuyasha a sheepish smile. “Sorry.”

“She so wants me,” Miroku mouthed to the boy across the table, pointing to Sango. Inuyasha snickered, shaking his head.

“Nuh-uh, `Back to Inuyasha' nothing,” he mumbled.

“Of course, `Back to Inuyasha'. We're going to come up with a plan to get you and Kagome together. Don't you worry about that.”

“But I…”

“But what? What are you worried about?”

“…There's no way I'd be able to…you know…”

“No…what?” Sango asked.

“I couldn't…impress her…” he mumbled embarrassedly. He didn't particularly want to talk about this…even still…he couldn't deny that he was the teensiest bit curious as to what advice Sango might give…perhaps even Miroku…

“Of course you could. And you will. If you follow the basic rules, of course,” Miroku put in.

“Basic rules?”

“Yeah. GCP. Gifts, Compliments, and Personality,” Sango rattled off.

“Great…”

“First. Gifts. Girls love…stuff. It's just a fact,” Sango shrugged.

“Too true, too true,” Miroku agreed, nodding solemnly.

“Stuff. What kind of stuff?”

“All kinds of stuff. Jewelry, clothes, chocolate…you know. Stuff,” Sango elaborated. Inuyasha gulped. He knew he'd never be able to afford the things Sango was listing…not on his unsteady income. `Okay, maybe chocolate, but honestly, how long is Kagome going to want a candy bar?' he thought sourly.

“Are you serious? I mean…that's really what girls want? That's the important stuff?” he asked with a wince.

“Oh, flowers too. Kagome really likes flowers. Especially Easter lilies. Those are her favorites.”

“Keh…”

“But not just on special occasions. It's nice to get flowers just because it's Wednesday, sometimes.”

“Just because it's Wednesday?” Inuyasha questioned, cocking his head to the side. “I'm just supposed to give her flowers on Wednesday?”

“No, not just on Wednesday,” Sango laughed. “It's a figure of speech. I mean just because. Sometimes it's nice to get things for her just because you were thinking about her,” she amended.

“Secondly. Compliments. It's practically a scientific fact that girls like being complimented.”

“Also too true,” Miroku interjected.

“So do it. Often,” Sango instructed. “Tell her she's smart, and witty, and interesting. Girls like it when you say stuff like that. They like to feel like they're more than just nice to look at. Although…telling a girl she's beautiful can never go wrong,” she added as an afterthought.

“I disagree!” Miroku interrupted, holding up a finger. “Do you remember that time in the movie theatre when I told you that you were beautiful? You slapped me!” he grumbled, pointing an accusatory finger at her. “She slapped me, Inuyasha. Right across the face.”

“That's because you tried to grab my butt in the same breath! You pervert!” Sango shot back, crossing her arms in a huff.

“Oh, yeah…” Miroku breathed, staring off into the distance. “Boy, was it nice…”

“You're disgusting,” Sango told him. She looked back to Inuyasha. “Okay, so I change that. Telling a girl she's beautiful can almost never go wrong.”

“Okay…”

“Anyway. Third. Personality. The most important thing, Inuyasha, is to be yourself. Kagome already likes you as you are, so don't go changing everything up. Just act like your same self, and you should be fine. I'm sure of it.”

“Keh…”

“I think you forgot one, Sango,” Miroku said, trepidation entering his voice. Inuyasha got the distinct feeling that whatever was about to come out of his mouth next would be a joke.

“What?” she asked.

“Touch,” Miroku said impishly. Sango and Inuyasha choked, Inuyasha spluttering on his pop.

“Don't listen to him, Inuyasha. You know how he is: he's a pervert.”

“I'm serious! Touch can be a very good relationship booster,” he said with a shrug. Giving Sango a leering look, he slid his arm around her shoulders and pulled her to him. She blushed furiously and gave him a death glare, but nonetheless allowed him to gather her close in the booth seat. Miroku smirked at Inuyasha. “See?”

So, in an effort to put Sango's advice on `GCP' to work, he'd bought the flowers in a supermarket before walking the rest of the way to the train station where he now sat in nervous anticipation. And he continually cursed the infernal heat that simply wouldn't let up.

The screeching coming from the tracks before him snapped him out of his thoughts. `Kagome,' he thought, as the silver bullet train came to a smooth stop in from of him, the bells ringing to alert all those loitering about.

Passengers poured out by the dozens, talking animatedly as they were reunited with loved ones. Children squealed with delight as their parents scooped them up in arms, friends embraced, lovers kissed. Soon enough, the heavy flow of passengers began to wane, and people only trickled out of the train's doors. Inuyasha's face fell. Where was she? Did they miss their train? Were they coming back home at a later date? He prayed not.

“Inuyasha!” came a voice. It wasn't Kagome's, and he fought a scowl. Souta jogged toward him, carrying one of the largest suckers Inuyasha had ever seen in his life. “Inuyasha, you're here, cool! It was such a long train ride, Inuyasha, I swear! And there was this baby on board, and she was just crying and crying and crying, and she wouldn't stop, and the mom just let her cry. And the conductor gave me this sucker because he said that I was being good, and I knew I was being good! I was just sitting there playing my video game and…” the kid prattled on and on. He was quite obviously high on sugar. Inuyasha smiled at him faintly and brushed a hand over his head. Where the hell was Kagome?

“Well, hello there, Sweetheart,” Ms. Higurashi's soft voice called to him. Inuyasha smiled shyly. He loved it when Ms. Higurashi called him `Sweetheart' or any other little endearment. He'd never say it, but it reminded him so much of his own mother. Kagome's mother was inherently kind and open, and he'd be damned if he didn't revel in it often, taking her sincere, motherly words and storing them away like treasures to be mulled over at a later date.

“Hi,” he murmured. She smiled softly at him.

“How have you been?”

“Okay,” he said briefly.

“We've missed having you around for the past four weeks. It's been strange not seeing you,” she said with a laugh, gently patting the side of his face with a cool hand. Inuyasha blushed under her touch and gave a lopsided little smile. That was an unarguable fact. Since he'd known, come to trust, and yearn to be around Kagome, Inuyasha had become a fixture in the Higurashi household. He wondered sometimes if he was an annoyance, and thought that perhaps he should refrain from darkening their door with his presence; but Kagome and her family had never alluded to being annoyed with him. And so, Inuyasha ate up their hospitality with vigor.

That was why he'd so desperately missed Kagome. Sango and Miroku were all well and fine, but there was not nearly the immense feeling of safety and caring that he felt when he was with Kagome and her family; perhaps that was because he hadn't been around them nearly as much. Or it could have just been the fact that Kagome was his saving grace from every terror he could imagine.

Several nights, as he recuperated from punishment and was shrouded in the silence of his room, he found himself wishing that she was in her room so that he could sneak out of his own to huddle under the blankets on her floor. If anything, having Kagome around only solidified one fact in Inuyasha's mind: he hated being at home.

Since school had let out, he'd concocted so many lies to tell his father in order to buy himself time away from the hell-hole, he lost track sometimes. Some days he was holed up in the library to “get ahead” for the next school year. Some times he would say that he was involved in community service for school, and Inuyasha wondered if using the community's betterment as an excuse to get away from home was morally wrong. He quickly decided that he really didn't care.

He'd even gone so far as to tell the older demon that he had a job at some obscure place, and use that as an explanation for his absences; any possible lie he could have used, he did. He knew that his father was most of the time too drunk, too over-sexed, or simply to apathetic to actually check up behind any of his fabrications.

Inuyasha was fairly certain that if his father ever found out about his double life that he'd surely kill him. And he felt strange that he had to resort to sneaking around in order to have some semblance of normalcy in his life. Usually the a web of lies similar to his in magnitude would be the cover to some unseemly, crime-laden lifestyle, full of illegalities, deceit, and treachery; never to cover up a teenage boy having some much-needed fun with friends. Even still, with all of the risks he knew he was taking, Inuyasha knew he wouldn't trade this gem he'd so haphazardly stumbled upon for anything in the world.

“I'll take this for you,” he said, grabbing her suitcase.

“Thank you, Dear,” she said warmly. Her eyes fell to the crumpled flowers in his hand. “Are those—oh, never mind,” she laughed lightly, giving him a fond, knowing look. She reassuringly patted his shoulder and danced away, ushering Souta and Kagome's grandfather away and towards the parking lot. Inuyasha watched them go, with a wince. `Am I seriously that obvious? Kami, if I'm that transparent, Kagome must know too—'

“Inuyasha,” came the musical voice he'd been waiting for. He spun around just in time to brace himself for impact as she dropped the bags she'd been struggling with and ran from the train, barreling into him and enveloping him in a fierce hug.

“Kagome,” he breathed, inhaling the scent he'd missed so much…she smelled a bit like medical sterilizer, but that was okay. He brought up one hand to tentatively rest against her hair, still cool from the interior of the trains' cabin. “Kami, I missed you,” he muttered into the tresses.

“I missed you too. So much,” she emphasized, giving his middle a squeeze. He grunted, unable to stifle it. Her head whipped up and she looked worried. She stared at him hard. “What is it? Your side? He hurt you badly there?” she asked quickly.

“It's fine. I'm fine.”

“No, you're not, you're hurt—”

“Kagome, I'm fine. You're back. Everything's all good,” he insisted. That reminded him…He delicately extricated himself from her grip and coughed embarrassedly. Her gaze drifted down to his hand.

“Inuyasha?”

“Um…keh. Here,” he stammered, abruptly shoving the bunch at her with a stiff arm. He looked away.

“Aw, Inuyasha…what are these for?” she asked. She took the bouquet from his sopping palm, the white petals now smudged with pollen and ringed with brown. The stems hung limply from her hand, where his hand had had them in a death grip. She chuckled inwardly, and bit her cheek. She would not—could not—laugh at him. But he was so cute!

“You know…Keh! Just…just `cause it's Wednesday, or whatever,” he mumbled, his body temperature elevating even more from the intense blush that darkened his sweaty face.

“It's Thursday,” Kagome said, frowning in confusion.

“Keh! I mean not `cause it's literally Wednesday! Just `cause, you know!” he ground out, frustrated. `Damn, I screwed up…'

“That's so sweet…Inuyasha, thank you. They're beautiful,” she assured him, taking his hand. He grimaced.

“You don't have to hold it…it's all wet,” he mumbled, his embarrassment intense. She beamed back at him.

“It's alright. I missed you. No Inuyasha for four weeks is not a good thing. Sweaty hands or not.” He managed a shy smile. He continued, encouraged by her words.

“I…I got another surprise for you,” he said quietly.

“Where is it?” she asked excitedly, her eyes twinkling.

“The flat.” Kagome gasped.

“Is it…? Oh, can we go now?” she asked.

“I'm sure your family wants to get home first,” he said with a smile. He picked up Ms. Higurashi's suitcase and then hefted the other bags Kagome had dragged onto his shoulder. She sighed impatiently, but smiled.

“Okay, fine. But once they're all settled, we're getting in my car and going.”

“Alright…you ready?” Inuyasha asked, his hands covering Kagome's eyes. He hoped she was unaware of it, but his heart was rapidly tattooing in his chest. They weren't quite touching, but their proximity was so close that he could feel the heat radiating off of her skin; he was sure she could feel his.

“I've been ready for the past couple of months to see this.”

“Just a simple yes or no would be fine.”

“Okay. Yes, I'm ready.” Inuyasha was reluctant to step away; the skin of her face was so soft under his fingers, the tips of her eyelashes just barely brushed against his palms, giving him a smattering of gooseflesh across his forearms.

He sucked in a breath and took his hands from over her eyes, and stepped back to yank away the sheet that obscured his latest work from the world. His claws poked nervous holes in the fabric that his hands so tightly clutched, as he waited with baited breath for her response. He was sure that he'd die of mortification if she hated it; that, or he'd work tirelessly to create another piece to her liking. She just had to like it—he'd poured his heart and soul into it.

He wasn't quite sure if a portrait, no matter what the effort invested into it, was enough to thank Kagome for all that she'd done for him. She couldn't be aware of everything he was grateful to her for—the list was simply too long.

She wasn't saying anything. She stepped closer to the canvas, a strange look on her face; one that Inuyasha couldn't quite decipher. He bit his lip. This was not good. Kagome was rarely quiet. The fact that she wasn't a geyser of conversation now did not fill him with good feelings. His heart sank. Why wouldn't she speak? He'd been almost sure that she'd like it; she'd liked his other pieces so much…but then again, Kagome incited such powerful emotions within him, he had to admit he'd been a bit ambitious with her portrait.

“Kagome?” he started hesitantly. Her luminous umber brown eyes snapped to his, her brows wrinkling above them. “I…You…you don't l-like it, d-do you?” he asked, trepidation seeping into his voice. “I'll fix it, I promise. I'll start completely over if you want me to; I just want you to li—”

“I love it,” she said seriously. A brilliant, mega-watt smile broke onto her face, rendering him almost breathless. “Inuyasha…I love it.” The sigh he released in relief was tremendous in its magnitude.

“You do? Kami, that's great, I thought you hated it—”

“No, not at all! It's beautiful…if that doesn't sound vain,” she laughed self-consciously, turning back to the portrait.

“You…you c-c-can afford to s-sound vain…” he stammered, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “You're…really…pretty,” he managed to get out, his voice almost a whisper. Kagome whirled around to give him an incredulous. `You moron, that's not what Sango said to say!' he scolded himself. “No, not pretty…” he began again. Kagome's eyes widened, and he quickly backpedaled, waving his hands frantically. “I mean, yes, you are pretty! You're really pretty, that's just not what I meant to say—I meant to say you're beautiful…shit…”

Inuyasha wasn't quite sure he'd ever blushed so intensely. He was getting quite the headache from the amount of blood that was rushing torrentially into his cheeks. Why had he listened to Sango again?

“Not that it's a bad thing, but…you're awfully sweet today,” Kagome said softly, a gentle smile tugging at her lips. “Thank you…what's with all the kind words?”

“I just feel like it, okay?” he said huffily, crossing his arms and turning away quickly. `It's not like I'm doing it right or anything…' he thought in a sulk. Kagome smiled at his back, and then turned to examine her portrait again.

She wasn't sure that any photograph had ever so perfectly captured her features. If she'd ever wanted a reason behind Inuyasha's intensely hard stares, she now had one; he'd managed to capture every detail of her image perfectly on canvas in soft, muted, cool tones.

What he'd chosen to paint had quite surprised her, for he'd depicted her asleep, her head cushioned against her plush, blue pillow case and shrouded in the quiet darkness of her room, yet with the implied moonlight illuminating just the right amount of her face. Her hair fell so softly across her forehead that it almost made her want to brush her fingers against the canvas to assure herself that it wasn't real. The apex of her bare shoulder fell under the light, along with the purple satin strap of her pajama top, cuddled loosely against her upper arm; it was just enough to add a hint of sultriness to the picture…It was so different from his other pieces, yet still his unique touch.

Kagome didn't want to sound conceited, but he'd made her look beautiful; much more beautiful than she felt she was.

“Words cannot adequately describe just how much I adore this, Inuyasha…it's…it's everything I could have dreamed for it to be,” she told him earnestly. She just knew he was preening underneath her praise. Good. She wanted him to.

“You…you wanna take it home?” Kagome turned to him, shocked.

“You…you mean I can keep it?”

“Don't you want to?”

“Well, of course! I just thought…you'd want to have it here with your other pieces…it's like your gallery.”

“It's okay…” Inuyasha waved off, blushing as he continued. “I…I got a few others…” he admitted.

“Others?”

“Yeah…I…practiced…before I finally came up with this one.”

“You practiced…”

“I just wanted to make sure it felt right before I presented it to you…wouldn't wanna give you something crappy…” he muttered, scratching the back of his neck. “You're…you're a good subject…I like painting your face…” he whispered. “Kami, I know I just sounded like a stalker there…shit, I'm sorry—”

“Inuyasha,” Kagome cut him off, stepping toward him and taking his hand and rubbing her thumb along the back of the damp flesh. “Would you…would you stop…second guessing yourself? Because when you think you're saying something wrong…it actually turns out that you know just what to say.” Inuyasha tried to manage a smile, while he tried to calm his racing heart. It couldn't be good for his heart to be beating as fast as it was…

“I…I usually don't know what to say…I usually screw up pretty badly…”

“Well not lately,” Kagome grinned, pushing a few wayward strands of hair back from his shoulder. “Maybe I should go away more often, if you're gonna act like this all the time,” she teased. His stricken face had her quickly amending her statement. “I'm just kidding, Inuyasha, really. I won't leave more than I have to.”

“Good. `Cause I really, really missed you, Kagome.”

Kagome had no idea how he got the idea in his head that he always said the wrong thing. Because everything out of his mouth simply warmed her heart.

Author's Notes:

Sorry the chapter is so short! (I hope I don't make anybody mad…) Well, short compared to the last two or three…But it was fluffy! I just needed to get through this one phase that I'm working through…I'm almost sure that the next two will be pretty long. Besides, this is one chapter where there's absolutely no angst! Well, okay, there's a tiny, tiny, smidgen…but that hardly counts next to my usual amount! Homework's been light the last couple days, so I could write, isn't that great? Pray for more weeks to go like this…

I hope I didn't bring Kagome back home too quickly. I didn't want Inuyasha to be without her for too long…

Review!

~Wowzer313