InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Neighbor ❯ Territory ( Chapter 6 )

Territory

 

 

InuYasha crouched near the stairwell door, ears strained to each footstep as his nemesis descended the stairs. `Twenty… keep goin', idiot! There… 21, 22, 23…' Once he hit 30, InuYasha silently slipped out the door and pressed the call button on the elevator, which was blessedly still on the first floor.

 

InuYasha hated the elevator. He hated the way he couldn't control the motion, the way it allllmost made his ears pop but not quite and most of all, he hated the stench of the too-many humans that used the too-small environment.

 

But desperate times called for desperate measures.

 

`Damn that bitch anyway!'

 

After the midnight throw-down between The Neighbor and her scum of a boyfriend, InuYasha figured they were home free. The Neighbor was facing some pretty hefty charges for the two demolished cars and he figured the guy knew better than to come back.

 

He'd never, ever felt more disappointment as when he learned The Neighbor would be pleading temporary insanity. He snorted. `Insane is a good fuckin' way to describe her!' As the doors slid open, he slid to the side, nose working overtime to make sure his adversary wasn't lying in wait.

 

It smelled safe…

 

He pulled out his keys as he walked… well, power-walked, really… to his door, hoping to get in and get the door locked before-

 

“Hey, neighbor!! Long time no see! How've you been?” InuYasha cringed, ears flat in his hair, claws embedded in his palms so hard he wondered if he'd ever get them out. The Neighbor kept chattering away as he thwapped his forehead against the door.

 

She was stalking him, he was sure of it.

 

How else was she everywhere he went?!

 

Kagome found it humorous. It seemed The Neighbor had a bit of a “puppy crush” (InuYasha snarled mentally at Kagome's expression) on him ever since he'd saved her from the horrifying act of dropping her groceries. She stared at him, her heart beating faster, her face flushed and eyes all sparkly.

 

`Keh! See me ever be helpful to anybody again!'

 

Since then, she'd been appearing everywhere. In the supermarket, in the laundry room, by the pool… he wondered sometimes if she had some mind-reading youkai blood, or if she'd spiked his drink and then slipped a tracker under his skin like in some sci-fi movie.

 

Or a horror movie. Which his life was quickly devolving into. `The Neighbor,' he thought with some fanfare playing in the back of his mind, `Directed by the same man who brought you Nightmare On Elm Street and The People Under The Stairs… starring InuYasha and Kagome Takahashi. And featuring the creepy neighbor from upstairs!'

 

He didn't even know her name! Wasn't that some sort of sign that they were obviously not soul-mates?! You know, besides him having a mate and all?!

 

InuYasha still didn't understand why Kagome wouldn't just let him scare her off completely. Just one good blood-rage!

 

He noticed The Neighbor had stopped talking and realized by the feel of the air that she was obviously waiting for something. `Oh well.'

 

“Sure, whatever. I gotta get going.” InuYasha made to open the door but halted as the knob turned in his hand of its own volition. The door pulled open and there was his saving grace, his Kagome. “Hey, baby!” he nearly sighed in relief.

 

“Hi, InuYasha! Welcome home!” She turned to The Neighbor. “Sorry to interrupt, but we have dinner plans.”

 

The Neighbor's eyes narrowed and InuYasha felt something sinister in the air.

 

“Uh, no,” The Neighbor snottily shot back to Kagome. “He just agreed to come with me to dinner! I figure we need to spend some… quality time together.”

 

InuYasha's eyes widened. He certainly did not remember doing any such thing… Kagome's eyes sparked and InuYasha felt a tightening in his groin. Damn, his bitch looked good when she was pissed off. At somebody other than him, of course. He grabbed her arm, intent on bringing her inside to work off her tension in a much more mutually pleasurably way (though watching her rend The Neighbor limb from limb would be almost as satisfying) but she jerked it from his hold.

 

`Oh, shit! Is she pissed at me?!'

 

The Neighbor gave Kagome a haughty look. “I figure he can do much better than you.”

 

Kagome was glaring full-on at The Neighbor now, who obviously didn't have an iota of common sense in her body because she was staring right back! “I don't know who you think you are,” Kagome nearly snarled. “I've been telling InuYasha to be polite to you after you destroyed our dishes, sprayed glitter all over his car, and woke us up in the middle of the night… and that's just the things I remember the most! Now you think he wants to go home with you? I don't think so! Get out of here before I actually let him get rid of you!”

 

The Neighbor's bottom lip wriggled and her eyes went shiny.

 

`Shit!' InuYasha turned away, refusing to be drawn in by the woman in obvious distress. Kagome folded her arms… but knew she'd break.

 

Tears began to roll down the woman's cheeks.

 

Kagome sighed. “Listen, I don't want to be cruel. I can forgive you what you've done before. But InuYasha is my husband, and he's staying mine. There are limits. Just… don't push them, okay? We're neighbors; I want us to get along.”

 

The Neighbor nodded emphatically. “I think that's a good idea, too!” She threw InuYasha one last, longing look before turning to go upstairs. “I guess I'll just be going, then…”

 

Kagome looked like she was going to call the woman back and ask her to go to dinner with them.

 

InuYasha shut the door before she could and gave her a lascivious look.

 

The dinner plans could wait.

 

 

----

 

 

Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I do not own nor rent InuYasha or the characters of… though I own an ever-expanding collection of merchandise (and my cat keeps stealing my plushies)! The “real” InuYasha belongs to the genius of Rumiko Takahashi.

 

“The Neighbor” is a collection of nine pieces set in an Alternate Universe. The collection was written for the LiveJournal Community FirstTweak, for the “SFX” challenge.

 

“Territory” was written for the “Doki Doki” (or “Heartbeat”) prompt.

 

“Territory”, coming in at 972 words, was posted on LiveJournal on August 22nd, 2009.