InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Uptown Girl ❯ Chapter 34 ( Chapter 35 )

Looking for a name for Grandma Matador, please send me your ideas. Summary, not much... let's see... Renkotsu gets his bike back... Jade comes up with a plan... Jade visits her grandmother. That pretty much sums up the chapter. Hope that you enjoy.

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Jade eased the bike into her garage, as tears streamed down her face. “How could he have known about the scar? Sesshomaru promised that he'd never tell… I guess that blood is thicker than water… despite what the ass says about Inuyasha,” she thought as she glanced at the bike she rode in on. Suddenly, the markings of the bike registered in her mind as she slapped her forehead.

 

“Great… just great… I stole Renkotsu's bike. He'll be furious with me. I'll give him a call after a while and get it back to him. I'm sure that he'll understand,” she thought hopefully as she moved toward the back door of her home. Having left her house keys in the duster at the bar, Jade moved toward the only other entrance into her home that was not locked.

 

Once she carefully leaping from the wood piled by her back door and vaulting over the railing to the small balcony of her loft, Jade slid the sliding glass door open to her room. No one, other than a demon could make their way into her home using this entrance, she'd made sure of that. She quickly slides the glass door shut as she rummaged through her dresser for some clothes.

 

After removing the black dress and heels, in favor some more comfortable clothing, Jade moved down the stairs with a pair of socks and her hikers in her hand. Seated on the couch, with Murray and Junior on either side of her, Jade put on her boots, deep in thought as to her next moves. With all that had happened at the bar from Ayame's kiss with Koga to her fight with him and Inuyasha Jade figured that her best course of action was to leave for a bit, to let things cool off. “If he still wants to be with me… I'll leave him some clues as to where to find me,” she thought as she grabbed a soda out to the fridge and moved back up the stairs to pack for her impromptu trip.

 

After about half an hour, Jade heard a knock on the door. With a look of curiosity on her face, as well as annoyance, she answered the door to find Renkotsu on her front porch. “I guess that you figured out that I borrowed your bike,” Jade said matter of fact like, as she let in her top mechanic.

 

“Yeah, after the dust settled from the fury that I had. What happened that made you pick the lock? I would have been more than happy to give you a ride home if that is what you needed,” he asked taking a seat on her couch as she sat in a chair closest to the kitchen.

 

With a look of resignation on her face, Jade replied, “I've lost Koga all because of that damned Taisho. Things were going great with Koga and then he drove that poor Mustang into my garage and flipped my life upside down.”

 

Remembering his promise to Kagome, Renkotsu asked, “What makes you think that, Jade? Did he say that he doesn't want you any more?”

 

“No… it was the look of pain in his eyes when Inuyasha showed him the scar that I got from the fight we had the night he came home,” she replied as she moved toward the fridge for another soda. “You want one?” she asked as she grabbed two cold Pepsis from the fridge, tossing the second one to Renkotsu.

 

After opening his drink, Renkotsu looked at Jade, taking in the first time, in a long while the look of pain and heart ache on her face and in her actions. With a little thought he asked, “What are you going to do? Just give up on him after all that the two of you have been through?”

 

Flames shot through her eyes at the implications Renkotsu suggested. “Are you crazy? I would have thought that what I did to that wolf bitch would have said something. I'm not planning on giving up on what we had,” Jade shot back as she dropped back into her chair. “It's just that I need some time to think… some time to give our aching hearts a chance to heal. But I don't know what to do,” she continued after downing half her drink in one swallow.

 

Knowing that Koga was incapacitated, at least for a few days, Renkotsu thought about the ranch that they had grown up on. “Why don't you go out to the ranch and visit with your grandmother for a while? I'm sure that she'd love to see you, besides that I know that the cabin out by the lake in the back 40 is currently unoccupied. You know that one that we all pitched in to build for getting away from it all,” he suggested as he kept a quiet vigil on his friend that he'd known since grade school age.

 

“I was thinking along those same lines… it would take me a day or so to get the cabin back up and running… is your brother still there?” she asked, hoping to get some help from the ever flamboyant Jakotsu.

 

After polishing off his drink, Renkotsu replied with a shrug of his shoulders, “Depending on which one you're referring to, I guess. I've not been up there for a while and they haven't really been that talkative lately.”

 

With a wicked smile crossing her lips, Jade asked, “Would you be able to delay Koga for a few days? I've got an idea that would make him think twice about throwing away what we have.”

 

Knowing that part was pretty easy, considering the circumstances, Renkotsu replied with an evil smile of his own, “I'm all ears.”

 

 

As Jade relayed the plan to Renkotsu of how to get Koga back, as well as making him prove that he loves her, Naraku watched through night vision binoculars from the safety of down wind from the wolf demoness. Despite her only being three-quarters wolf demon, she was almost as perceptive as the full bloods. He'd witnessed her acrobatic act to get into the home, realizing just exactly how easy it would be to get into the house, once all the pieces of his plan came together.

 

When he saw the wolf demoness grab up her bag of clothes, that she'd packed earlier, and escort the male whom he'd seen the night at the bar when he'd been thrown out, a malevolent smile crossed his face. “This couldn't have worked out better if we'd planned this,” he thought as he saw the guy get on his bike and Jade pulled out of the drive way in the Ranger. “Now to get Kagome home, alone without her over protective guard dog and then we'll be having some fun,” he continued to think as the thoughts of what he'd do to her tender young flesh ran through his mind.

 

Turning back toward the path that he'd created from his camp to his hiding spot, Naraku moved back toward his comrades. After a little run in with Muso and Onigumo at the bar he'd picked up Kikyo at, he was getting together a little army of his own to deal with Jade and Kagome. He was going to have fun making them miserable as he tortured them in every way that he could imagine. As he moved away from the cabin, Naraku let loose a diabolical laugh laced with evil as he made his final plans for his victims. “Soon… soon they will be in my clutches and then all hell will break loose. They will pay for what they've done to me, Kikyo and Kagura.”

 

 

Jade pulled Hakkaku's truck up to the bar, rather surprised that as early as it was, nearly ten at night, that the bar looked as if had been closed. “I wonder where everyone's at?” she thought as she unlocked the door and headed toward the office. She knew that Koga had stayed there for the last few weeks; his musky scent was still evident in the office as she looked for some paper and a pen.

 

After a few quick notes on the paper, Jade slipped the key of Koga's old Bronco into an envelope, along with the note. She hoped that he wouldn't be mad at her for what she'd done to the Bronco… considering that she had been keeping it as a surprise for him since she'd gotten back to town six months ago. She laid the envelope, as well as a map on the desk with Koga's name on it, hoping that Renkotsu was right in that he'd be able to keep the wolf at bay for a few days to allow her a chance to get the cabin ready.

 

With a final smile and a kiss that left an imprint on the envelope, Jade exited the bar and hopped into Hakkaku's truck. Thankfully, Renkotsu had taken the responsibility to tell Hakkaku that she had his truck, seeing as he wanted his bike back. She pulled out of the parking lot and headed toward the very distant mountains of her grandparent's ranch. It was a good eight hour drive from her home on the ancient lava plain and surrounding mountains, but that seemed to fly considering it was dark out and the only things that she had to watch out for were wild animals, the occasional stray cow, and a few stop signs. After a stop or two to stretch out her aching muscles and put gas in the truck, Jade pulled the truck onto a dirt road, high in the mountains that ran into a long fairly wide valley. The cattle off in the distance looked like black lumps against the slowly lightening sky.

 

After she pulled up to the huge ranch house, Jade took her duffle bag from the passenger seat and headed toward the front door. Her eyes were tired as she knocked on the door, knowing that some one would be up at this relatively early hour. Considering that her grandmother, with the help of other family members, ran a ranch and small six cow dairy, Jade knew that at least her grandmother was up, cooking breakfast for the ranch hands who slept in until 6:30 am. As expected, an older looking wolf demoness opened the door, muttering about the inopportune timing of visitors.

 

Once her slate gray eyes landed on her only granddaughter they sparkled to life as Shina Matador wrapped Jade into a near bone crushing hug. “It's so good to see you, honey. Had I known that you were coming, I would have had some breakfast ready for you,” the elder Matador replied.

 

“Grandma… this was a last minute trip. I'm sorry that I hadn't called sooner, but I figured that everyone would have been in bed by the time that I left last night,” Jade replied as she recovered from the bone crushing hug. They went into the large modern kitchen with a large center island in the middle nearly the height of a standard counter with bar stools around it. The elder Matador returned to her ministrations of preparing home made biscuits as she continued to fry up some sausages in a cast iron frying pan.

 

Jade's stomach growled at the smells of a home cooked meal, considering the fact that she'd not eaten much in the last month, and had completely missed out on dinner last night, Jade was not surprised of her ravenous appetite. Seeing the drool from the corner of her sharp eyes, Shina asked, “Would you like a plate of food now, or would you like to wait for the guys to come in?”

 

“I'll take a plate now, if you don't mind Grandma. I'm afraid that if I wait for the guys, that there won't be anything left for them. I'd probably hog it all for myself. Do you need any help?” she asked, loving to help her grandmother cook for the crew.

 

After a few minutes, Jade had made milk gravy with the sausage drippings, combined with the biscuits for a generous helping of biscuits and gravy. After she finished her meal, a few of the farm hands came into the kitchen, welcoming the girl as if she were one of their own. During her summer breaks from school, when she wasn't required to attend the numerous functions with her parents, Jade would work on the ranch, in fact that was where she would take her leave from the Army. The last time she'd been to the ranch was a little over a year ago, after the second surgery on her ankle. Koga had been with her then. A tear came to her eyes as she realized that he'd know where to find her… but that was the point, right? She figured that it wouldn't be to long before he came sniffing around.

 

As she stifled a yawn, Jade looked at her grandmother with heavy, sleepy eyes. Seeing the look on her granddaughter's face, she said, “Here, let me get you a place to sleep.” Taking her by the shoulder and gently guiding her toward the stairs, Grandma led her into a room that she had set up especially for her granddaughter to call her home away from home.

 

Once Jade had dropped her duffle bag onto the hand quilted blue and white Lone Star quilt. She looked at her grandmother, Jade said, “Thank you, Grandma… I'm sorry that this was extremely short notice.”

 

Taking a seat on the bed next to her grand daughter, Shina replied, “Not to worry, honey. You know that you're welcome here anytime that you'd like. I've spoken with your father recently, in regards to your injuries and kind of figured that eventually you'd come out here, for some relaxation if nothing else.” As she spied a small smile cross Jade's lips, Shina noticed that it didn't reach her eyes. With growing concern, she asked, “Jade… child what's wrong? And don't try and tell me there isn't. I can smell it on you.”

 

Locking her azure eyes with Shina's steel blue ones, Jade replied, “I feel that I've lost the love of my life, Grandma. Over something as stupid as a damned mutt that couldn't take no for an answer.”

 

“What does Koga say about this?”

 

Looking back out the window to the conifer forest lining the mountains, Jade replied, “I… I don't know… that's the problem with him. He flies off the handle about smelling that damned mutt in my home without letting me explain. Then I catch him kissing that red headed wolf bitch, right as I'm trying to apologize and explain what happened.” Fury and anger rolled off the young wolf hanyou as she recalled the events of the night before.

 

“Did you do anything to make him think that you'd cheat on him?” her grandmother asked tenderly, trying to understand the situation a little better. She liked Captain Koga Solobo from the first time that she'd laid eyes on him. It reminded her greatly of her long dead husband from the rugged good looks to kindness of heart toward her recovering granddaughter. Shina understood greatly that Koga had a place reserved in his heart for her Jade and that nothing short of a nuclear blast would ever change that. Seeing the distress on her now, Shina began to wonder what had taken place, seeing as there had been no reports of any nuclear activity in her neck of the woods.

 

Turning her tear filled eyes back to her grandmother Jade relayed the story of how Inuyasha had worked his way into her life in a mater of a few days time. During which, she'd found him in her bed, gotten the crap beat out of her by his psychotic girlfriend, thus resulting in the fight with Koga. She glossed over the whole part about him leaving her in a pool of blood as well as the encounter of the previous night. “So you see I'm at a loss for what to do know, Grandma. I came here to relax and let my heart heal before venturing back to what I'm beginning to call `Hell.' I've been meaning to come up here for a while now, but things just never seemed to get the chance or something came up,” she summed up.

 

Taking in everything that Jade had said, even the fight, Shina asked one last question, “What's your plan on getting him back?”

 

A look of shock crossed her granddaughter's face. “Grandma… Are you insinuating that I came out here with ulterior motives?” Jade replied acting a little hurt, but the sparkle of mischief entered her eyes.

 

With a knowing smile on her face and a shake of her head, Shina replied, “You're too much like me, sweetheart. I had a fight similar with your grandfather when we were courting. He mistook my cousin as a love interest. Poor man was beside himself trying to get me back, he did a lot of things to win back my heart.”

 

Leaning over to her grandmother, Jade hugged the elder wolf demoness as she said, “Thanks grandma. I feel that everything will work out, now if he'd just show up like he's suppose to, this will go a lot smoother.”

 

Once Jade explained her plan, and Shina added a few personal touches that Jade hadn't thought about, Jade changed out of her tee shirt and loose fitting jeans for her favorite over-sized tee shirt and shorts. Curling up under the quilt and a layer of blankets with another heavy blanket thrown over the window for added darkness, Jade slipped into a restful sleep. One of which she hadn't had in almost a month. With her thoughts on the `plan,' Jade slept for most of the day, oblivious to the workings of the farm as she slept fitfully.