InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Strength of Bond ❯ New Home ( Chapter 15 )

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

A/N: Edited 11/11/05.

Translation and Pronunciation Guide:

Genkan- (gehn-kahn) Shoe storage at the entrance of a home or apartment.

Hanata- (hah-nah-tah) Hunter.

Hentai- (hen-tie) Pervert.

Hinagiku- (he-nah-gee-coo) Daisy.

Kawarichokki- (kah-wah-re-choak-key) Fancy vest.

Koutou-gakkou- (koh-toh-gahk-koh) High school.

Oniichan- (Oh-knee-chahn) Big brother.

Rikugun- (Re-coo-goon) Military.

Saibanshou- (sigh-bahn-show) Court of justice.

Shi-yakusho- (she- yah-coo-shoh) Municipal office.

Sukebe bouzu- (sue-keh-beh bow-zoo) Lecherous monk (very rude). Also Bouzo can be used to mean the same thing.

Watashi no ko o unde kudasare- (wah-tah-she noh koh oh oon-deh coo-dah-sah-reh) Would you please bear my child.

Yakamashii- (yah-kah-mah-shee) Shut up.

Yakitori- (yah-key-toh-re) Roast chicken.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha characters. Story is my own creation.

Warning: Major pervert slappage ensues.

Chapter 15

It had taken over an hour for the girl to ease her tears, which had left one ear sore hanyou. Even worse was the fact that the girl refused to let go of him during the whole episode. The tea that was brought had helped a little to soothe some of the rattled nerves, but not the sobbing. Why she would not stop crying was anybody's guess. The pain had subsided soon after the incident, but he couldn't seem to make heads or tails of what she was saying through her heart wrenching sobs. She had eventually fallen asleep soon after, which Inuyasha praised Kami for, as he could finally release her and give his body a break.

Inuyasha left her there in his… their bed, changed his wet shirt into a loose white button-down dress shirt, and wondered off to seek his brother for answers. He found his brother in his study easily, but was not really prepared for the fact that the youkai lord was in a particularly foul mood. Well as foul as one could determine by the darkened gold color of his eyes and the very tightly thinned lips. He was still on the phone, but motioned Inuyasha into his study.

“What statement do you want released? Every single person in the community should have felt its awakening.”

Inuyasha sighed. If what his brother said was true, he and his mate were going to have some major problems. Men and demons have always wished to posses the power of the Shikon no Tama, but since Kagome was mated there was some hope to keep some pursuers in line. Due to the circumstances that he had been able to obtain her as his intended mate, however, there would be many challenges for the right for him to keep her as his mate. More than anything else, he knew for certain that even Naraku would be waiting for his chance to strike. After all, he still believed that the girl belonged to him. Would the council overthrow the Holy Child's decision now that the jewel had been reborn? He hoped not.

“Ms. Lilac, you make sure that the council knows that there will be absolutely no change in the guardian of the girl. She is my brother's mate, completely by all three contracts. If anyone comes forward to contest this, they will deal with me.” A few more words were exchanged, before the phone was finally put down.

“How bad is it?” Inuyasha asked, leaning back in his chair, his shoulders slouched and his face tired and weary.

“It could have been worse. In the last hour the center has been flooded with calls about a strong spiritual disturbance. The Holy Child will make a statement this evening about the incident. Still, it's difficult to determine what we shall say. If word leaks out that the Shikon no Tama has been reborn, we could have an international incident on our hands.” He sighed and murmured, “I don't know what he was thinking in giving you two those relics, but what's done is done.”

“I'm not going to be caged up because my mate holds the Magera's most prized relic. If people want to come, let them,” the hanyou snarled, popping his knuckles as he pretended to prepare himself for a battle.

“It's not as simple as that anymore, Inuyasha. You just can't kill anyone you want to. Not to mention that the circumstances of your pairing was boarding on the illegal side.”

“Will they take her away?” he asked softly, his face very pale.

“No. Even the Holy Child holds the ultimate right to choose who is paired. If it had been any other counselor, then there would be cause to worry. Thankfully, there isn't anything to worry about at this time. Even Gehin, Naraku cannot change the will of Counselor Lama.”

“But if they wish to reveal the Shikon-“

“That will only happen if it is truly necessary. Last thing we need is to draw unnecessary attention to you both. By the way, how is she?”

“Sleeping. Did you find out what happened to her?”

“Counselor Lama believes that although the extraction of the jewel caused severe pain in removal, the true pain came from the jewel itself.”

“What?”

“It means, baka, that when the jewel was forged large quantities of pain, fear, hatred, and anger were there. By removing the jewel from her body, she basically experienced the sorrows of thousands that had been there at the time of the formation of the jewel.”

Inuyasha winced. “I guess that makes sense. I could feel the pain radiating into me to the point that is was even starting to bother me.”

“Side effect of the Soul Bond. Eventually, you will not have to worry about feeling such things as the bond solidifies and grows stronger. How are you feeling then?”

“I feel like I've been through hell and back. Even the pain medication at max dose isn't doing anything to help. I can only imagine how painful the whole thing had to have been for Kagome.”

“She'll recover nicely. The Holy Child said that the results would only be temporary.”

“So what do we do about the jewel?”

“She'll have to wear it at all times. As long as it is on, no one should be able to touch it other than herself, unless she herself allows that. Though I do caution you, brother, that the jewel is not some object to be played with. Until it is purified, do not allow anyone to make a wish upon it. Any wish made with an impure Shikon no Tama would have devastating consequences.”

“Well how the hell am I to prevent that?!”

“In order to wish, the wish must be said in the dialect spoken during Midoriko's era. A Japanese dialect that has not been spoken in nearly a millennium. Even, this Sesshoumaru, does not know the dialect. Therefore, you should be relatively safe for the time being.”

Inuyasha's ears twitched toward a distant sound.

“Go before she wakens completely.”

Inuyasha nodded his head before he left the room. In a few quick strides, he switched from a walk to a run as he raced off to his room again.

~~~-~~~

Kagome stirred, her hands reached out for something or someone. When she couldn't find what she wanted, a pitiful whimper escaped her. It grew louder in volume, before a hand grasped her own and the sound dwindled and disappeared. She opened her eyes slowly, to peer at the one who entrapped her hand. She smiled weakly before closing her eyes again as the world began to spin.

“Kagome?” Inuyasha asked softly.

“Hmm?”

“Are you… daijoubu?”

“Hai, just weak and tired.”

A wave of relief washed over Inuyasha as he pulled her limp form to him, cradling her protectively in his embrace.

“Ne, Inuyasha, daijoubu?” A weak mumble of yes was her only reply, but she clearly felt how relieved and rattled he was about the whole episode in the dinning room. She nuzzled herself further into his embrace, her strength returning as his body and aura surrounded her. She pried her eyes open again to find her face planted in the open gap of his shirt. The white curls of hair beckoned her to touch, and she did with the rip of her nose. “You changed shirts.”

The soft prodding, followed by deep inhalations was playing with his senses. “Stop that.” In normal circumstances, he would have enjoy this attention, but other things needed to be done today.

Kagome ignored him, and pressed more into him. He gave off a warning growl, and she retreated with a sigh. She tipped her head up to see the hard lines of his chin and jaw. His jaw was sporadically clenching and releasing and she wondered what was bothering him more: the scene in the lunchroom or her teasing. When he tipped his head down, he gave her a brief heart-melting look and she knew that he was more bothered by her teasing than the incident. She internally grinned at the idea that she affected him so by just a simple touch, that she barely noticed him give her a tender kiss upon her forehead.

“I'll have the servants draw you bath. Afterwards, if you're up to it, we can go see this new place of ours.”

Kagome nodded, but her arms refused to release their hold on the male.

“Uh, Kagome, I can't get the servants to draw a bath with you hanging onto me.”

“Why don't you draw it for me?”

“I could do that, but you still have to let go.”

“I don't want to.”

A surprised look graced over his features. What was her deal now? First she's refusing to let him go as she sobs into him for hours on end- at least to him, and now she refuses to let him go draw her a bath. “You'll have to eventually.”

“I will,” she yawned. “Just after our bath.”

If someone had told him yesterday that his new mate would enjoy a bath together with him, he would have called them all … well in a `nice' term “Fucking liars.” He swallowed the lump in his throat. “Ah… `our bath,' Kagome?”

“That's what I said, didn't I? Now lift me up so we can draw that bath.”

With a steadiness, he didn't think he could posses, he picked her up and carried her into the bathroom, locking that door behind them.

~~~-~~~

“So this is the place?” Kagome stated as she glanced at the building before her. They looked up at a small four-story building, squashed into a neighborhood filled with similar apartments and homes. The outside was a relatively plain gray, but the common theme of this particular neighborhood. It was located a mere three minutes from the nearest underground metro in one direction and seven minutes to another terminal in the other direction.

“These are cheap housing or guest houses for young adults and small families,” Inuyasha stated, his ears hidden beneath a baseball cap. “We should be on the fourth story, sharing the equipment with our two new floor mates. Can't have us living in a ritzy place like Sesshoumaru's. Causes people to look too suspicious.”

“Why not an apartment? It's less suspicious.”

“Yeah, but they rent by the room and we both know that there can be anywhere from five to twelve people living on a given floor. Not to mention that we have no personal accommodations at all for ourselves. Plus, we are technically two soul-bonded pairs that should eventually be having kids. A large floor is much more acceptable.”

A profuse blush flared upon Kagome's cheeks at the comment. “Still, you come from a wealthy family and this seems to be fairly low cost. You should be able to afford a better place than this.”

He shrugged. “It's expensive since we have the whole floor to ourselves and our two roommates when normally the layout would have five or so rooms rented out. Maybe it's not so bad inside. Never can tell about places like these till you go in them.”

They stepped toward the door and rang the bell. A shuffle of feet and an elderly woman opened the door. She peered at them a moment before glancing down at her sheet in hand. “Mr. and Mrs. Taishou? I was told to expect your arrival. My name is Miss Kawarichokki owner of this establishment. Your floor mates are prepared to guide you around. Elevator on the left and stairs beside them. They have your keys and such.” The woman moved aside and allowed them into the hallway of the first floor. “Rent due at the first of each month starting next month as this one and all the fees have already been taken care of. Welcome to the Magera World, Kagome-sama.”

Kagome's mouth fell open at the reference. Magera World? How did she know? She turned confused eyes to her bonded, who seemed to be unaffected by the introduction. He even removed his hat, and rubbed his `abused' ears without a care.

Inuyasha nodded his head to the woman as he directed his mate to the stairs. “This housing complex is inhabited only by people with special gifts. The woman there is actually a kitsune youkai, grandmother of the inhabitants on the first floor. There are seven people living there, including a small kit.”

“Did you know about this?”

“Not until the woman opened the door and I could smell her. Hard to do that outside in downtown Tokyo.” He wrinkled his nose. “Too many smells out there.” They ascended the stairs. The second floor, Kagome soon learned was a bachelor's pad of male youkai and one hanyou. Apparently they were watching a baseball game and were making quite a ruckus. The third floor had four families, two youkai families and two human families. Three small children and two of the women were pregnant. Of course, she reddened further when he had picked all that up by just his nose and his ears.

Finally they arrived on the top floor. A door stood across a short hallway that led to the elevator. Inuyasha moved forward and knocked upon the door. Immediately a woman's voice snapped out at another person in the room about the arrival of their new roommates. The door flung open and in the doorway stood a girl with long dark brown hair falling over a basic cotton winter kimono. A male stood behind her, dressed in Buddhist priest robes, a gold staff with rings held in his right hand.

“Mr. and Mrs. Taishou, I presume,” asked the woman, who made a short bow.

Kagome smiled and bowed lightly. “Hai.”

“Oh, come in, come in.” She gestured the two into the `apartment,' and closed the door behind them. “Welcome, welcome.”

The pair removed their shoes in the genkan and took the proffered guest slippers. “This is Namigashira, Miroku a Buddhist houshi and my name is Raimei, Sango a taiji-ya for the MSS. That's the Magera Shi-yakusho of Saibanshou.”

Kagome and Inuyasha bowed respectively. “I am Taishou, Inuyasha and am a member of both the MSS and the RHMCI- Rikugun Hanata of the Mageran Council International- and my wife Kagome is a miko student at Hinagiku Koutou-gakkou,” Inuyasha stated.

Kagome blushed lightly at the reference of wife and further deepened when he mentioned she was still a student. Still, the other two seemed to not mind that she was still considered a student. In fact, the male seemed to be eying her a bit more than she felt comfortable with. She backed up into Inuyasha just a smidgen when the male's eyes seemed to start to sparkle.

“It is the greatest of pleasure to meet such a beautiful woman. I know that you are a claimed woman, but may I ask you a question?” Miroku asked, as he moved forward to clasp Kagome's hands.

“Umm…”

“Watashi no ko o unde kudasare?”

A loud series of slaps and punches was soon followed by the loud thud of a body hitting the floor was answer enough. “Damn hentai,” muttered Sango.

“Sukebe Bouzu,” Inuyasha growled, his arms securely wrapped around his dumbfounded wife.

Miroku stood back up with a very red cheek hand print- from Sango- and a large lump on the head courtesy of a certain hanyou. “Wait Sango, my love. You know it's my curse. There is only you who would do me the most honor of bearing my children.”

“Yakamashii, houshi!” She turned her gaze back to the pair. “He's harmless, if just a bit on the verge of being considered dangerous. Why don't I show you around.” With that, Sango motioned them to the right side of the entry way and through an open doorway. They entered into the living room that contained a television in one corner and one chair. “We haven't furnished this area at all,” Sango muttered.

Kagome noted that this room, like the halls was dark wood flooring and well kept. The walls were also bare and painted an ivory white. With a little care and more belongings this room would be rather cozy. A balcony was seen just beyond dark blue curtains that tried to hide the sliding glass door.

Sango then guided them back out of the room to the open area of the entryway, dining room and kitchen. “The kitchen is rather modern and all appliances work.” The area was wide for easy movement and a small dining room table stood off to the side of the room with four chairs. The beige color on the walls with dark cherry wood accents made the room look very well kept and taken care of. Apparently, Inuyasha was right that appearances from the outside aren't always what one will find on the inside.

Beyond the kitchen was a hallway that traveled down the length of the floor. The first doorway she opened was the restroom. It contained a modern looking sink and toilet and had the blue color theme to it with fake blue flowers in white vases decorating the counter space and shelving upon the wall. A row of magazines was found on the lower shelf and if one looked close enough they were all porn. Another shelf contained a few manga, books, and newspapers.

“The first bathing chamber is here.” She opened a door to the left, further down the hallway. The bath was a traditional old style chamber with a large bath in the far half of the room. Blue tile decorated the floor. A small-enclosed shower was in one corner off to the side of the room. High windows to bring in light were behind the bath, but no curtains for privacy. “Uh, make sure you lock the door.”

They moved out of the room and walked to the next door beside the bathing chamber. “Here is one study room we thought would be appropriate for you two.” They moved to the sliding shoji screen that showed a barren tatami room. “The other one is directly across the hall. That tatami room has the Buddhist shrine. The Shinto shrine is in this one we reserved for you. I understood that Mrs. Taishou is a shrine maiden of that faith, so we agreed that the shrine would be best here.”

They closed the door and headed down the hall again. She pointed out a door on the right side of the hall between the living room and the other study room. “That one is Miroku's room. He and I share the study room and the bathing chamber up here.” She motioned to another door right next to the other study. “And that one is my room.”

“This will be your room.” She motioned them to follow her down to the far end of the hall where an isolated room seemed to stand out from the rest of the hall. They entered to see the bare bedroom with large bay windows that actually gave no view except for the building next to theirs. The floor was littered with tatami mats as were all the rooms, except the kitchen, hall, and bathrooms. “The door doesn't have a working lock, so you will want to remedy that. Blinds or curtains are also needed for the windows. There's a small changing area is in here with a large semi walk-in closet.”

Overall, Kagome felt that this place was halfway between the old traditional housing and the newer present day convinces. It was spacious inside without any furniture, but that would be easy to fix once the pair brought their own things in. She noted that it was a fairly a large room which meant it would be more expensive, but well needed since they were to share the one room.

They left the room and crossed the hall. “Here is your bathing chamber and the second restroom is right beside it.” These looked exactly like the other two up in front of the apartment except that they were done in a green accent instead of blue. “And that's all of it.”

Kagome nodded her head. She turned to gaze at Inuyasha for his opinion and he just shrugged his shoulders and nodded his head. She took that as a good sign. “It's very nice.”

“Thank you, Miss Taishou.”

“Oh please, just call me, Kagome. We after all will be sharing a dwelling and formalities are just silly.”

Sango nodded. “I wouldn't mind that at all, Kagome-chan, as long as you call me Sango, then.”

“And you can call me Miroku, Sweet Angel-” Another loud slap followed, due to Sango, which she sent the poor pervert to the floor. Slowly, the group moved their way back to the main entryway.

“So what do you think?” Sango asked, hopefully, as the pair stood back in the entryway of the floor. “I know it doesn't look like much now, but the Houshi and I haven't lived here for more than a few days and thus haven't yet to begin unpacking everything.”

“Feh, it'll have to do. Can't change anything anyway,” Inuyasha commented.

“What my jerk of a mate means is that he loves the place,” Kagome interjected to soothe over the crass harshness of her mate's comments.

“Keh.”

“Well,” began Sango, shyly. “Would you like to stay for dinner? We were planning on some Yakitori and rice.”

“We have plans,” he stated sharply.

“Inuyasha! Don't be rude!”

“Feh.” His arms encircled the annoyed miko again, securing her to him. “We have plans with my temee oniichan for dinner, so we have to decline.”

“Don't make me say `it,'” she hissed back at him.

Inuyasha grinned and leaned over to whisper into her ear. “You do and we both go down. Not that I care, but the position might yield one too many opinions from our new roomies.”

A scarlet blush flushed her cheeks. “Well then I won't let you get anything from me for a week,” she answered in just as low a whisper.

“What?! You can't do that!” he yelled out a growl, releasing her to turn her around and yell at her. “I'm your mate!”

Kagome strategically stepped away from him, her eyebrow twitching in annoyance. “Oh really?”

A little too late he realized what was wrong with that. His ears flattened and a look of utter loathing crossed his features as one little word left her lips, “Osuwari.” The kotodame lit up and the hanyou plummeted to the ground. He cursed colorfully into the floor while the irate miko ignored him to turn to her two roommates. “Sorry about that.”

The two surprised roommates glanced back and forth between the two. “I think I missed something,” Sango stated.

“You and me both, Sango-san,” stated an amused houshi. Without, the taiji-ya realizing how close the pervert had come to stand beside her. His hand reached out as he continued to talk like he wasn't doing anything. “Must have been something important and not so appropriate for our young miko to have subdued her mate.”

Sango turned to glare at the monk when a rub on her rear stopped her short. Eyes flashed in anger and a hot red burn flushed her face as she slapped the boy and sent the monk to the floor, unconscious. “Hentai!”

------------------------------------------------------------- -----------

Translation and Pronunciation Guide:

Kawarichokki- (kah-wah-re-choak-key) Fancy vest.

Genkan- (gehn-kahn) Shoe storage at the entrance of a home or apartment.

Shi-yakusho- (she- yah-coo-shoh) Municipal office

Saibanshou- (sigh-bahn-show) Court of justice

Rikugun- (Re-coo-goon) Military

Hanata- (hah-nah-tah) Hunter