InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torrent ❯ Sentimentality ( Chapter 47 )

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

By: Sueric

~~Chapter 47~~

~Sentimentality~

Kagome sniffled and wiped her eyes with a heavy sigh. InuYasha sighed, too, but his stemmed from relief that the movie was over than from dreamy enjoyment. She hit the button on the remote control to stop the movie and stood up. “I'm going to get a glass of water. Do you want anything?” she called over her shoulder.

InuYasha was examining the remote control and shook his head before realizing that she probably didn't hear him. “No, thanks,” he called after her.

She stumbled back into the room with a bottle of water and grinned as she watched him poke buttons. He succeeded in changing the channel and jumped then noticed that she was back with a nervous twitch as he dropped the remote back onto the table. “You want to watch something else?”

“No,” he said, trying hard not to look aghast at the suggestion and failing.

“We can go back, if you want. Mama won't be home until tomorrow, and I know you're more comfortable in your time.”

“Feh,” he snorted, idly playing with his prayer beads. “It's not so bad.”

She stared at him for a few moments, remembering his reaction to the opera the night before. She never would have guessed that the churlish hanyou would ever have enjoyed such a thing. She'd loved it, and whether he admitted it or not, she knew that he did, too. The look on his face during the opera had been attentive, as if he couldn't believe that there was such a thing. What was he thinking at the time? There was a sadness in his gaze as he had watched the story unfold, and yet the gentleness in his expression had caught her off-guard. He intercepted her stare and shifted his eyes from side to side. “What?”

Sinking back down on the sofa beside him, Kagome laid her head on his shoulder as her arms slipped around him. “You didn't like your new clothes?” she asked quizzically.

He heard the teasing note in her voice but made a face just the same. “Hell, no. How men can stand those `jeans' is beyond me. You can't even breathe in them, let alone fight.”

With a giggle, Kagome remembered how he'd made a beeline for the bathroom to change back into his normal clothing after they'd gotten back to the shrine. When he'd reemerged, though, the hint of vulnerability was gone, and with it came the surlier attitude. He'd then proceeded to tell Kagome that she was tired and had all but forced her to go to bed. `Overprotective, sure. But that was a little much, even for him.'

“I had a really good time last night,” she said softly.

He didn't answer. Stealing a peek at him, Kagome saw the quick wince. He really did think she was just saying it to make him feel better. She straightened up, letting her hands rest on his shoulder. “No one's ever taken me to the opera before.” Her gaze fell to her hands, and she sighed. “Not since my father died. He took me a couple of times.”

“So you . . . you really did like it?”

She nodded as a wan smile broke over her face. Looking back, she remembered something else he'd said, something she had nearly forgotten. “He said that all fathers do special things just with their daughters. What'll you do with Taji?”

The considered her question then shrugged. “I don't know. I'll think of something.” Buoyo the cat hopped into his lap and rubbed against InuYasha's chin. Kagome shook her head as the hanyou rough-housed the old cat. Buoyo stared at him in a tolerant manner as InuYasha grabbed the cat's tail and dragged him around in wide circles.

“I don't know why he puts up with you, InuYasha.”

“Rrrrr,” InuYasha growled, ignoring Kagome's commentary as he continued his assault on the cat. Buoyo blinked slowly. “He likes it.”

Kagome rolled her eyes and got up to make lunch. If he did it once, he'd done it a thousand times. Eventually Buoyo would have enough, and then he'd slice InuYasha's hand, leaving a disgruntled hanyou yipping and quickly backing off. `He just never learns . . . which could be why I adore him.'

She was stirring in the last of the ingredients for the soup when it happened. With a loud `yipe!' followed by an irritated growl, Kagome shook her head and continued to stir. Moments later, Buoyo sauntered into the kitchen looking quite pleased. He rubbed against Kagome's calves and meowed at her.

InuYasha wandered into the room a few minutes later. His hand sported angry red streaks, perfectly spaced the width of Buoyo's claws, and he was staring with a frown of concentration on his face at some papers he held. “Kagome, what are these?” he asked, holding the stack of documents out to her.

She put the lid on the pot and washed her hands before taking the papers and inspecting them. `Morisamuki InuYasha,' she read. `Tree of the Brave Forest . . . . It fits him.' He was still staring over her shoulder at the papers she held. “It's the paperwork we needed,” she explained.

“What is it? That's me, right?” he asked, pointing at his name. “What do I need the papers for?”

For some reason, she couldn't quite meet his gaze as a warm flush crept up her skin. “We needed you to have an identity here, remember? So we could get married.”

The look of understanding that surfaced was immediate, and he nodded slowly. “Married, huh? Human version of being mated, you mean?”

“Yeah,” she agreed. Technicality, she figured. She felt married from the first time they'd been together. Still, that last lingering doubt surfaced. Marriage would cement it, if it hadn't already been a done deal. In the eyes of the youkai, they were already joined. In the eyes of humans . . . . “Unless you don't want to,” she muttered as she stuck the paperwork on the refrigerator. For reasons she didn't want to think about, her stomach was tied in knots as she waited to hear what he'd say. This was his last chance to turn her away. After what he'd found out about her and Sesshoumaru, she really couldn't blame him if he did.

He frowned. “If my name is Morisamuki, what will yours be?”

Careful to keep her tone neutral, Kagome stirred the soup. “The same, if we get married.”

“Morisamuki Kagome,” he mumbled.

She turned off the burner and grabbed two bowls out of the cupboard. `Say something, InuYasha!' she thought as she dished up the soup. `Yes or no, or . . . just something.' When she turned to set the bowls on the table, he was gone. Sinking down in a chair, Kagome sighed and blinked quickly, trying to ignore the burn behind her eyelids. `There's your answer, baka. He can't get over that, and I . . . I can't really blame him.'

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The only sound in the room was the steady tick of the clock on the nightstand. Kagome stared at the wall. So deep in her abysmal thoughts that she had lost track of time long ago, she sighed again in the quiet room. Idly watching the shadows creep across the wall, she wondered where InuYasha was.

`I deserve this,' she thought with a wince.

`Absolutely. What did you expect?'

`I . . . don't know. I thought he'd say something though.'

`Like what, Kagome? You kissed his brother, and he knows it.'

She turned her face into the pillow with a low moan. `But he's kissed me since then, and---'

`But he hasn't touched you since then, either, has he? For God's sake, the other night, he wasn't even interested in doing anything other than ridding your body of that milk, and that was ultimately more for Tajiko's sake than for your own.'

Why was it that she could be her own worst enemy? She buried her head deeper into her pillow as though she was trying to escape the voice in her head, the voice of her conscience. `Shut up!'

`Truth hurts, Kagome? I'm sorry . . . you should have known . . . you can't keep secrets from him. Why would you even try?'

`Just leave me alone? Shut up and leave me alone! Don't think . . . don't think about it, don't worry, don't feel . . . . Don't care . . . .'

`But you do care, baka. You know you do. That's the problem, isn't it? You care and he doesn't.'

`He does . . . and he cares about Tajiko . . . .'

`. . . and maybe he's keeping you around until his daughter is weaned. Ever think of that? He could take her away from you then. You heard what Sesshoumaru said . . . . Everything is up to InuYasha.'

`No! He wouldn't! He wouldn't do that, not to her, and not to me!'

`Just like you wouldn't betray him? With his own brother? Baka.'

“Kagome? Are you sick? Why didn't you eat?”

She shook her head miserably, unwilling to lift her head, unable to look him in the eye, to meet his gaze. “I'm not hungry,” she muttered, wishing he would go away, willing the pain in her heart to wane so she could breathe again.

“You've got to eat. You don't look like you've eaten a damn thing in over a week! Are you trying to make yourself sick?” he growled. She felt the bed sink just before he put his hand on her shoulder.

“No,” she whispered, closing her eyes against the jolt that shot through her at his touch.

“Then why haven't you been eating?”

She sighed and sat up, needing to put a little distance between them. She pushed herself back against the wall and hugged her knees tight. “How was I supposed to choke down food when I didn't know where you were?”

“Feh! I told that nasty little toad-thing to tell you that Sesshoumaru wanted to see me.”

She shook her head. “He didn't. Anyway, when you came home, I . . . .”

He stretched out next to her, his cheek against her leg. He wrapped his arms around her legs as though he were trying to hug her. “Taji needs you, and I need you . . . we need you, but we need you to eat. Don't you understand?”

She stared at his head for long moments. She wanted to reach out, to rub his ears. He'd let her, wouldn't he?

She didn't. “Okay,” she agreed softly. “You're right.”

Scooting off the bed, Kagome headed for the door. InuYasha hadn't gotten up but she could feel his gaze on her back. `I'm being completely selfish,' she thought with a grimace as she hurried down the stairs. `Tajiko does need me. I can't give up now.'

She dug the untouched soup out of the refrigerator and stuck it in the microwave to warm. `And if I love InuYasha, then I'll fight for him.'

She cut herself a thick slice of bread and sank down at the table with her soup, choking down bite after bite even though she felt as though she was about to throw it all back up. She'd already won one battle for InuYasha. Kikyou had gone on, and InuYasha had remained. She'd fight this one, too, and she'd win.

With fresh resolve, she polished off the soup.

`I just wish I knew how hard this war is going to be.'

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A/N:

InuYasha's surname was a mix of things that, to Mrs. Higurashi, described his personality.

Morisamuki: Tree of the Brave Forest

Mori: :forest”

Isamu : "bravery"

Ki: “tree”

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Review Q & A

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SorciBlue (FFnet):

This is such a great story! I love your characterization. Just tell me, how do you find the time to update so quickly? I have other authors on my alert list that haven't updated for months . . . very frustrating indeed. Now, about the story. Are we going to find out why Kagome isn't eating soon? Also, is there going to be a dramatic showdown between InuYasha and Sesshoumaru? Everyone likes dramatic confrontations. Keep up the excellent writing. I have to go read your other stories now!

I fall into the `I have no life' category … LOL … no, actually though, writing, for me, is something that relaxes me and something that I can't imagine not doing. I'm just thankful that there's anyone who really cares to read them!

Sure, Kagome wasn't eating those first couple of days because she was worried over InuYasha's disappearance. After that she was simply upset, naturally, and wasn't hungry. Dramatic showdown? Hmmm. Funny you should mention that …

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Citrine (FFnet :)

I just wanted to tell you that your fic is really wonderful - I haven't enjoyed one this much in quite a while. Frankly, the really long fics are usually meandering and repetitive; yours isn't. I love Taji - she's so cute, and that name is perfect for InuYasha's offspring. I did want to know, is Mrs. Higurashi working on their wedding or what? She seems to be wasting a lot of prep time visiting relatives! I keep imagining InuYasha and Houjou at the wedding. And Kagome can borrow my portable DVD player so she can show Sango, Miroku and Shippou the wedding vids...::g:: Thanks for updating so frequently, and for writing such an interesting fic!

Working on the wedding? Yes, she is. Since he was born well over 500, closer to 600 years ago, her difficulty is in getting an identity for him so that he can marry Kagome. It was touched upon (briefly) just before Tajiko was born, and then was mentioned again before InuYasha's really bad day later, I believe. Anyway, the identity is fine now (just took a long while to get it). I may not have made it as clear as I should have. The reason that Mrs. Higurashi sent Kagome and InuYasha shopping the one day was to buy InuYasha some modern clothes, mostly to have his size on hand when she can make arrangements for their wedding. But for now the trouble is that Kagome and InuYasha are pretty much thinking about bigger things. I'm sure the wedding will eventually happen … Kagome is a human girl, and it would be something she'd want, I think.

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Aitu—(MMorg):
What a great date. Hopefully that solved most of the problems in the InuYasha/Kagome relationship? ha. Well if it did then I guess that it's about time for Sesshoumaru to show up, te he he. Gotta love him even when he's the bad guy. Back to the date thing, yes I'm reviewing in no particular order here; is anyone going to catch InuYasha without his hat on? And that brings up another question. Don't people question Taji? Just a thought. Keep up the great work! -Aitu

Haven't heard from Sesshoumaru yet. I'm sure he'll show up again soon to stir up a bit more trouble. And yes, we love his royal-doggie-badness. LOL. As for the hat . . . InuYasha doesn't go many places very often. He would probably draw a bit of attention with his ears eventually. For Tajiko, however, whenever she goes out with either her parents or grandmother in the modern world, she's always wearing a sweet little bonnet that hides those cute ears of hers.

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Flames101 (FFnet):

Great chapter as always.

InuYasha was so cute in this one. I loved his confusion. But I still can't wait to see Sesshoumaru again. Anyways update soon.

Poor thing. You know, he tries so hard. I think, though, that was enough for Kagome, and I think she really enjoyed herself anyway!

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Torrent): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

~Sue~