InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ With Time Comes Change ❯ Birthday Surprises pt. 2 ( Chapter 2 )

Disclaimer - Inuyasha © Rumiko Takahashi

 

 

 

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Chapter Two:

Birthday Surprise pt. 2

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Inuyasha poked Miroku in the side, nearly causing Miroku to spit out the water that he had been in the process of swallowing. Miroku set his water glass down and glared at his friend.

 

 

 

“Where the hell is the menu in this place…and where the hell are all the people?” Inuyasha crossed his arms across his chest in typical Inuyasha manner.

 

 

 

Miroku rolled his eyes at his socially challenged friend. “Inuyasha,” he said in a calm voice, “Masa only seats twenty-six, and there is no food menu, what ever the chef is making tonight is what we are eating. You should consider it a privilege to eat here. Sango tells me that reservations are nearly impossible to get”

 

 

 

 

“Keh,” he replied. He wasn't all that impressed. `If you've seen one Japanese restaurant, you've seen them all, right?'

 

 

 

Inuyasha looked around as Miroku continued to talk, not really paying attention to anything he was saying. Everything was so neutral, simple…boring. `I don't see why this place is so special…Ouuu! Is that a fish pond over there?' He tuned his attention back before his friend became aware of his wavering attention.

 

 

 

“…Sango told me that the food here is like poetry, the meal designed to delight the senses, and when we're done we are supposed to leave feeling alive, awake, and stunningly refreshed.”

 

 

 

“Well that's fucking stupid. Do you always listen to everything your wife says?”

 

 

 

At the mention of her name, Sango put her conversation with Erin on hold and turned her head so that she was facing both Miroku and Inuyasha, interested in what Miroku's response would be.

 

 

 

“Of course no—,“ he noticed Sango giving him the evil eye, “I DO!” He said, visibly gulping. Miroku looked around, trying to find the best distraction. “Hey, is that a reflecting pond over there,” he asked, pointed towards the other side of the room, trying to change the subject.

 

 

 

He was already on bad terms with his wife for checking out the waitress on the way in. One more mishap and he would be sleeping on the couch tonight and perhaps for the rest of the week. While Sango was a loving person, she was also tough. He had learned from early on not to piss off that lawyer. However, sometimes he forgot to follow his own advice.

 

 

 

“Ka-pshhhh! Whipped, I tell ya!.” Inuyasha laughed.

 

 

 

“Oh, that's funny Yash, your date wont even sit by you,” Miroku mocked back in effort to get him back for making that whip noise

 

 

 

“Keh. Whatever.”

 

 

 

Erin was a friend of Sango and Kagome. Actually, she preferred to go by Eri because “Erin” was such a common name. She liked the way it made her more unique in the crowd. Eri and Kagome had been roommates as freshmen in college. After they met Sango the three had been inseparable.

 

 

 

Eri was pretty quiet, but she wasn't a push-over. Inuyasha had called her “wench” and “bitch” about six times in the first ten minutes that they had been waiting at Masa. She made Miroku change places with her. Miroku loved it. It wasn't that often that a female would reject Inuyasha so openly. Usually women would flaunt themselves all over him, hoping to gain his attention.

 

 

 

“Speaking of people not being here, where is Kouga?” Sango asked, trying to keep everyone from fighting until after dessert.

 

 

 

Inuyasha picked up Miroku's water glass and took a few pieces of ice out of it with blatant disregard; he shoved them in his mouth and began chomping away before answering Sango's question.

 

 

 

“Sesshoumaru didn't want him here, so he kind of took his invitation and threw it away. He gets jealous with all the attention that Kouga gives Kagome.”

 

 

 

Eri gasped and Sango rolled her eyes.

 

 

 

“But I thought Kagome planned everything. How would he know where the invitations were?” Eri Stated.

 

 

 

Inuyasha looked at Eri, `Oh, so NOW she's talking to me again.' “The bastard went through her things. He told me last week when we were playing racquet ball that he `eliminated unneccasary dinner companions.' I figured that pretty much means that none of the guys got their stupid invitations. `Cept for Miroku but he's married. But he's also a pervert so that doesn't make much sense. I'm sure he would have uninvited me, because he's a bastard, but Kagome would probably get too suspicious. He's---”

 

 

 

Sango interrupted before Inuyasha could say anything else. “Honestly, you two are brothers; can't you get along for more than five minutes?”

 

 

“Nope,” he simply stated while trying to steal more ice from Miroku's glass.

 

 

 

Miroku swatted at Inuyasha's hand and at his childish antics.

 

 

 

“I don't see why we have to go to this stupid place anyway. It will be boring until Kagome and Sesshoumaru start to fight.”

 

 

 

“Who says there going to fight?” Sango asked. Truth be told, it had been awhile since any major fights.

 

 

 

Before Inuyasha could say anything back, Chef Masa, a middle-aged Japanese man, came over and announced that the rest of their party had arrived and the first course would be served shortly.

 

 

 

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The ride over had been a quiet one. Kagome stared out through the panel roof of Sesshoumaru's chauffeured Maybach, watching the rain pour down on it. She had barely said a word. Sesshoumaru had slipped his hand in hers and had enjoyed the silence that he took as a comfortable type on the ride over.

 

 

 

They walked inside together hand in hand. Kagome paused for a second, thinking of questioning Sesshoumaru on her findings. He stopped once he had felt her stop and raised a questioning eyebrow towards her.

 

 

 

“Sorry, just thinking. Come on, let's go enjoy your birthday dinner,” she put her happy face back on as he led them towards their table.

 

 

 

 

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Two hours, six courses, two bottles of Brut Dom Perignon, and one bottle of Krug later, dinner was over, without any major mishap between the two brothers. A few of Sesshoumaru's co-workers had shown up for dessert and everyone had toasted him to another year.

 

 

 

“I know!” Erin hiccupped, “let's go across the street for cocktails!”

 

 

 

“Yes! Lets!” Kagome agreed and giggled. Her temporarily forgotten worries might have been due to the $1050 worth of champagne.

 

 

 

Since there were no other objections everyone stood and headed over to the nearest bar that Eri had been able to see from her spot.

 

 

 

It had stopped raining and only that fresh scent remained. Kagome giggled and wrapped her arms around one of Sesshoumaru's arm once they were out side crossing the street. “Happy birthday Sesshy baby,” she giddily said, smiling up at him, forgetting of the company of the others. Sesshoumaru smiled down at her.

 

 

 

Inuyasha couldn't take it. He burst out laughing. To hear someone address the prim, proper, and vindictive Sesshoumaru in such a way was hilarious. If he had worked the same place as Sesshoumaru, this would definitely be something to share with the other co-workers.

 

 

 

Sesshoumaru chose to ignore the presence of his brother for the time being and wrapped an arm around Kagome's waist.

 

 

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“Kagome, can I borrow your lip stick?” Sango asked. They had excused themselves to the ladies room.

 

 

“Sure,” she replied, digging in her purse. Once again, the piece of paper that she had sequestered from Sesshoumaru's desk seemed to be staring her in the face. With a stomach full of liquid courage, she was ready to face Sesshoumaru and his answers, no matter what they might be. She handed Sango the lipstick and walked out of the bathroom, straight to Sesshoumaru, leaving a puzzled Sango behind.

 

 

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“Hey, can I borrow him for a second?” She asked, putting her hand on Sesshoumaru's arm. She received nods from the rest of the guys and led him towards a vacant spot on the opposite side of the bar.

 

 

“Sesshoumaru. I.. I saw something on your desk that maybe I shouldn't have. Why do you have a ticket to California?”

 

 

 

Her question was met with silence. It wasn't that he didn't know what to say, he just didn't want to say it—not here, not like this.

 

 

 

“Can't we talk about this later?”

 

 

 

Kagome put her hands on her hips, her handbag sliding down her arm until it found a comfortable spot on her wrist.

 

 

 

“No. We cannot talk about this later. You're keeping something from me. I know that look in your eyes. Just tell me, Sesshoumaru.”

 

 

 

Her eyes were pleading. She was afraid of what he was going to say. She wasn't sure if she wanted to know what he was going to say.

 

 

 

He decided to start from the beginning. His hand stroked her hair as he ran it through her sleek tresses. He played with a few pieces, trying to get rid of the tension that had suddenly appeared between them. “I quit my job.”

 

 

 

It hadn't been was she was expecting to hear. Sesshoumaru didn't make rash decisions like that. Everything he did was calculated; he had a reason for everything.

 

 

 

“But… but why?”

 

 

 

“Because I've been offered a better position…in California.”

 

 

Her face wrinkled up in confusion. Hurt. How could he keep something like this from her? There had been no talks of any new job offers, no talks of promotions, and most definitely no talks of quitting any job. She could feel her eyes well up with tears. She thought back to the ticket that she saw and realized something. “But, there was no return ticket, Sesshoumaru.” The confidence in her voice had completely faded away, leaving a vulnerable sound in its place.

 

 

He pulled her in for an embrace. Kagome would have rejected if she had the strength. This was the hardest part. He whispered the next part into her ear. “I'm not planning on returning…”

 

 

Kagome was frozen in shock. Not in her wildest dreams would she have imagined this. She almost thought that it would have been better if he was cheating on her. At least then she would be losing him to another woman instead of another job.

 

 

 

She pushed out of his hold with the little bit of strength that she could beckon. “But what about me? What about us? I know that we've had our problems but I thought this time it was for real?” she said, fighting back tears.

 

 

 

“Well, I thought that maybe you could come with.” He spoke with such confidence, such conviction, with all the regard in the world that he was the center of her universe.

 

 

“Come with? How can you even ask me that? My job is here, my friends are here, my brother is coming here next year…Sesshoumaru, my LIFE is here.” As the volume of her voice rose, so did the curiosity of the surrounding people.

 

 

 

She was silent for about a minute, trying to think of the best way to phrase her confused thoughts. They escaped her lips in barely a whisper. “How could you do this to me, to us?”

 

 

 

For once he didn't have an answer. The silence hurt her more than the words. `He didn't really care.'

 

 

 

She tried a different question. “When do you leave?”

 

 

 

“On Wednesday,” he replied. `In four days, 'he mentally thought.

 

 

 

Inuyasha appeared behind Kagome. “Hey Kags, Sango ordered you a dirty martini and wanted me to bring it to you because she's too busy keeping an eye on the damn lecher.”

 

 

 

She took the drink from Inuyasha and looked at it. She wasted no time and threw it in Sesshoumaru's face.

 

 

 

“Dirty martini for a dirty bastard.”

 

 

 

She spun around on her heel after handing Inuyasha the flight conformation that she had been holding in her purse. Her face was hardened in pain and she needed to get out of there before she lost control in front of everyone.

 

 

 

The alcohol dripped down his face. He couldn't bring himself to wipe it clean.

 

 

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2/16/05