InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Uptown Girl ❯ Chapter 10 ( Chapter 11 )

A sudden knock on the door rousted Jade from her memories, causing her to wipe a stray tear off her face with the back of her hand. As she answered the door, she caught sight of Sango and Kagome. With a smile across her face Jade commented, “Come on in, Ginta told me that you were coming.”

 

Sango smiled as she replied, “I hope that you're up for some company,” as she jerked her head slightly back toward the drive way.

 

Jade's eyes widened as she saw a black Ford Explorer pull up to the garage. She glared daggers back at Sango as she hissed, “Who invited them?”

 

Sango raised her arms in defense as she replied, “Miroku was still at the bar when we got back from Kagome's hotel room. When they heard about what happened they figured that they would tag along for `protection.' I told them that it wouldn't be necessary, but Miroku insisted, as well as his friend.”

 

Jade shook her head as she countered, “Don't they know who I am? What I'm capable of?”

 

“No, they don't, and I didn't have the heart to tell them. Beside, Jade, I figured a few more people for protection wouldn't hurt, seeing as the destructive nature of this bastard,” Sango replied.

 

Jade looked to Kagome who had not spoken a word since they arrived. She saw how frightened and weak looking Kagome appeared. Resigned to the fact that she was about to have a house full of guests, Jade sighed in defeat as she swung the door open a little farther to admit the girls into her home. By then Miroku had approached loaded down with what appeared to be containers of food.

 

“Who's hungry?” he asked as he strode through the open door, brushing past Jade, Sango and Kagome, toward the kitchen.

 

Sango and Kagome followed Miroku into the home, as a fourth person appeared, slightly apprehensive and unsure of himself. When Jade saw who it was, she hung her head in utter defeat and cursed a blue streak toward Sango's fiancé. “Are you coming in or not?” Jade asked, hoping that he'd refuse.

 

He looked up, noticing for the first time the drop dead gorgeous woman before him. Inuyasha's breath caught in his throat as she saw her long, tan legs to the mid thigh shorts that covered her rump and the oversized T-shirt that hung off her like a tent, denying his ability to fawn over what he perceived as an equally tan and muscular chest and arms. Realizing that he was ogling her, Jade consciously crossed her arms over her chest, turning toward the others as she left the door open for the mesmerized hanyou.

 

As she walked away, Jade called over her shoulder, “Get in already and don't let the cats out or you'll be chasing them all night.”

 

Bringing Inuyasha back from his stupor, he quickly entered the lavish yet simple home noticing the comfortable setting of the living room. He glanced at the walls and the book cases surrounding the television, noticing a couple of pictures of some military personnel. Inuyasha glanced closer toward one that showed a picture of Jade and a handsome captain in desert camouflage.

 

When his eyes set on the captain, he cursed under his breath. “So this is the infamous boyfriend. I should have known that damned mangy wolf was involved in this,” Inuyasha thought as he looked closer to Jade. He picked up the picture, scrutinizing it a little harder at the name tape on her shirt. “Matador?” he said to himself, and then it finally dawned on him where he knew that name. “I'll be damned.”

 

Flashback- 8 years ago

 

“Why do I have to be here?” Inuyasha whined as he and Sesshomaru, dressed in tuxedos and bow ties, followed behind their parents. He pulled at the tight collar of his white shirt.

 

Sesshomaru glared over his shoulder as he curtly replied, “You, despite my best efforts to prove it wrong, are a Taisho by blood. Because of Father's status in this town, he has a certain image to maintain, which means that we have to wine and dine all the influential people in town. Now quit complaining.”

 

“Humph,” was all Inuyasha said as he continued to follow the trio into the ballroom of the Arcilla- Perraton Mansion. As his parents moved toward the hosts of he party and Sesshomaru moved toward a group of his high class friends, Inuyasha looked around the ball room, noticing a group of his friends from school.

 

As he moved toward his friends, oblivious to his surroundings, Inuyasha bumped into someone, knocking them onto the ground with a thud and a whimper. He turned to the whimpering mess on the floor, noticing the swirling satin blue fabric of the formal dress the young woman was wearing. “I'm… sorry. I didn't see you there,” Inuyasha apologized as he moved closer, offering the whimpering girl his hand.

 

Her strawberry-blond tresses hung in her face, having worked loose from the elegant bun it had previously been in, hiding the tears that flowed down her face. Taking the offered hand, the young woman glanced briefly into Inuyasha's eyes, azure meeting amber as she quickly accepted his assistance. Despite his dislike of being at the party and dressing up in the monkey suit, the beautiful, albeit slightly wilted flower before him made it a little brighter.

 

A slow smile crossed the young woman's face as she noticed the handsomely dressed man helped her back to her feet. “Thanks,” she replied once she had regained her footing. Slowly, she reached up, loosening the rest of her crimson gold tresses from their prison, allowing the tresses to rest at the curve of her rump. Once she smoothed her dress, trying to remove as many of the wrinkles as possible from the full length skirt, the young woman moved away from the awestruck Inuyasha. That was until he noticed the hiking boots peeking out from under the hem of the skirt as she walked toward a vacant table, near a secluded corner.

 

“Damn it. She was perfect until the boots. Who in their right mind would wear hiking boots to a fancy dinner?” he thought as he continued walking toward his friends.

 

A couple of them were snickering as he walked up; obviously they had seen his little display of being helpful. “What?” Inuyasha inquired gruffly as he approached.

 

“You should have left her there, Yash,” Muso, Kikyo's older brother, replied.

 

“Yeah,” Seikai Monje agreed, “That's the freak daughter of Doctor and Doctor Matador. She's a freshman at Shikon Academy. And from what I've been told by my little sister Tsubaki, who's in the same grade, Acacia keeps to herself and has no interest in doing things normal girls do like shopping, gossiping, etc.”

 

Abi Ave, the lone female in the group commented, “I found out from Onigumo Demonioarana that she's even in his auto shop class, and to think that she's the only female that they've EVER had in that class. The teacher thought that it was a mistake, that she was added to the list as a joke, until she refused to leave.” The group laughed at the misfortunate young freshman, as Inuyasha spied her from across the room, sitting alone at the table in the corner, her head resting on her crossed arms of the table, alone and miserable. He almost felt sorry for her, but then again it was kind of funny, seeing as she was such a freak, that even he joined in the laughter.

 

End Flashback

 

“It's Acacia Jade Matador, that little freak of a weirdo from all those high class parties my parents kept insisting that I go to when I was younger. Why hadn't I realized that before?” he said to himself, unknown to have been overheard by the woman of whom he'd been drawn to.

 

Jade looked at Inuyasha as he scrutinized her picture with her boyfriend, wishing that she'd known in advance about the guys showing up. She would have put her picture away, knowing that it held more to her past life, with the military, than her future. As she walked up, gently taking the frame from Inuyasha, she asked, rather curtly, “Finding anything of interest, Mr. Taisho?”

 

“I realized that I remembered you from all the high class parties I had to attend, after I saw this picture. Glad to see that you've made something of yourself. But why aren't you in the Army anymore?” he asked rather softly. One look in her eyes, at the pain that crossed them, and he wished that he had never asked.

 

Jade turned to the bookshelf, putting her picture back where it was as she stiffly replied, “There was an accident that resulted in my honorable discharge. But it is nothing that you need to concern yourself with.” She quickly moved back into the kitchen, assisting Miroku and Sango to dish up the steak and potatoes dinner that Ginta and Hakkaku had so graciously sent with the guys. Jade realized that despite their over protectiveness, that the brothers had been looking out for her and Kagome by sending the guys with the food. “I'll have to box their ears for this one. They should have known better,” she thought as she carried her loaded plate back to the couch.

 

The others followed suit with Inuyasha getting the leftovers and followed them into the living room. Between the coffee table and a few TV trays, everyone had a seat and their plates, enjoying, for the most part, the company of the others. Over a little small talk, they learned more about Kagome and the extensiveness of the damage done to her room at the hotel. Jade had promised to take the young woman back to the hotel to pick up her car the next morning on her way to the shop, seeing as she still had an unruly Mustang that still needed to be worked on.

 

As the dinner came to a close, Jade curled back onto her couch, pulling her feet under her rump, Miroku noticed the barley healed scars on her right ankle, and asked, “What happened to your leg, Jade?”

 

Slightly taken aback by his unexpected question, Jade replied quickly, “An accident with a heavy piece of equipment is all. My father repaired it almost as good as new.” From the way she replied, all knew that there was more to it, however they quickly dropped the subject as they noticed the soft, barely noticeable snoring coming from the other end of the couch. Each in turn glanced at Kagome as she had snuggled deeper into the couch, feeling, possibly for the first time that night, safe.

 

Miroku slowly moved her carefully into his arms, carrying her bridal style down the stairs to her awaiting room, per Jade's directions. While Sango assisted Miroku with putting Kagome to bed, Jade and Inuyasha quickly cleaned up the dishes from dinner. Jade carried the leftover steak scraps to the edge of the wood line from her home, giving the wild critters and a few stray wolves a little treat. Once she came back into her home, Jade entered her basement, not liking the idea of being left alone with Inuyasha.

 

As she entered the second bedroom, closely followed by Sango, Jade asked, “So are they staying as well?” referring to the guys.

 

“I don't see what harm it would do,” Sango replied as she assisted Jade in making up the second bed for herself and Miroku.

 

With a sly smile across her face, Jade replied, “I kind of figured. But where am I to put `him?' He's not sleeping with me!”

 

Sango laughed a bit as she replied, “I'm sure that would go over well with either of you and your overly protective cats, besides there is always the couch.” Jade smiled as Sango fluffed a couple of pillows before escorting Miroku back up the stairs. Jade followed after a few minutes, making sure that her spare bathroom had enough towels for the morning showers the following day.

 

After checking on Kagome, who was sound asleep in her room, Jade returned to the main level of her home, grabbing a cup of hot chocolate that had been made up previously. Before entering her living room, Jade grabbed a spare blanket and pillow for Inuyasha and placed them on the couch were Kagome had previously been sitting.

 

As they spoke about the situation with Naraku, Miroku stated, “We'll spend the night, in case he followed us out here. I'm not sure what he is capable of, but from what Sango described of Kagome's hotel room, he's a nut job.”

 

Plastering a fake smile of gratitude to her face, Jade replied, “This is really unnecessary, Miroku. I have an extensive security system that is so impenetrable that even a flea couldn't get through. Besides that I've been combat trained for situations similar to this and know every square inch of this property like the back of my hand.”

 

“That's immaterial, Jade, we are doing this whether you like it or not. I don't want to have the mechanic that's working on my car get killed because of pride,” Inuyasha replied, putting an end to the argument. He got up from his chair, to put his empty cup in the dishwasher as the others stared after him. Sango glanced back at Jade as she saw a flash of vivid green cross her blue eyes.

 

Placing a hand on her friend's shoulder, Sango soothed, “He's just concerned about everyone's safety, Jade. Let him be and they'll be gone in the morning.”

 

Turning toward Sango, between clenched teeth, Jade replied, “He had better be, or I'll kill him myself.” Jade got up from the couch and moved up the stairs to her lofty bedroom.

 

Sango shook her head as she smiled. “That I wouldn't put past you,” she thought, as she recalled her earlier conversation at the bar about Inuyasha's bold move and the kiss that ensued. With Miroku following behind her, Sango led the way into the basement after they said their `good nights' to Inuyasha, leaving him with the living room couch as company.

 

As she slides under the covers, Jade overheard the `good nights' said between Miroku and Sango to Inuyasha as they made their way into the basement and their room. After a few more sounds from the living room, denoting the coffee table being move a little ways from the couch, all was quiet in her home. Jade slide her straight blade hunting knife from her nightstand to under the second set of pillows on her double sized bed. Snuggling into the layers of bedding, Jade felt her two cats jump onto her bed, realizing for the first time that both were scarce throughout the evening. Junior curled his long body into a ball at Jade's back as Murray took his customary spot on her hip, never leaving it unless she rolled over.