InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages ❯ Hesitation ( Chapter 19 )

I came up with a new idea for a title today! Maybe I should change it. It's a very, er, interesting one!

'Parenting is not for the Foul of Mouth'

*Dead silence*

Okay, okay, maybe I should just move on to the story while I still have an audience…

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Disclaimer: If there are any parts in this story that someone feels was the work of a genius, then…it was an accident, I swear!!! But I'm flattered that they thought so, anyway, lol! Oh yes, and I don't own any of the Inuyasha characters, either…

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Big Trouble Comes in Small Packages

Chapter Nineteen

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Inuyasha was quietly staring at the phone with a wary look on his face, as if expecting the innocent-looking piece of equipment to suddenly jump up and bite him. Anyone watching him might think he actually believed youkai could take the form of everyday household items.

Not that Inuyasha would be scared of any youkai, of course. Just one human girl, and nothing more.

Inuyasha huffed to himself at the idea that he could be scared of Kagome, but didn't bother to actually deny it out loud. Rin was the only one around to see him acting like an idiot, after all, and she was ignoring him completely in favor of her favorite morning television shows.

The hanyou had woken up that morning, all set to call Kagome and harass her about causing him so many problems with Rin the night before. In his mind the whole situation was her fault, so naturally, she had to fix it.

But, before he could make the call, he started thinking about the kiss the day before.

And then he got cold feet…

'She's going to think you're a horrible jerk if you don't call her.' One part of his brain warned him as he continued to stare at the phone. 'After all, don't girls expect that sort of thing after going on a date?'

'Ha! She probably thinks you're a horrible jerk anyway!' Another part of his brain so kindly added.

"Would you just shut up!" Inuyasha snarled, tired of the internal arguments going on in his head. He cringed when Rin looked up at him with a shocked look. "I wasn't talking to you…" He defended himself weakly.

Shrugging, Rin went back to watching her morning cartoons, willing to forgive her wonderful Uncle Inu of almost anything, even if he was kind of weird.

When Rin looked away, Inuyasha's gaze moved back to the phone.

'Why the hell am I so nervous, anyway?' He wondered silently. 'It's not like she didn't kiss me back, and she certainly didn't look like she wanted to kill me. I shouldn't have anything to worry about now.'

But, no matter how much Inuyasha tried to tell himself that, he just couldn't seem to let go of the nagging feeling that perhaps, after she'd had some time to think about things, would Kagome regret kissing him? She had seemed like she was in shock the rest of the day, so maybe everything just needed time to sink in first.

"Maybe she hates my guts now." He muttered, quietly enough that Rin couldn't hear him.

That thought more than any was the most prevalent in his mind, and it was causing the hanyou to doubt the wisdom of actually calling Kagome and talking to her. Inuyasha could handle almost anything that might get sent his way (physical violence, pain-in-the-ass half-brothers, small children) but being rejected by Kagome wasn't anywhere to be found on that list.

'Well, no matter what, I've still gotta call her.' He reminded himself firmly. 'The runt is still refusing to sleep alone, and I'm not spending another night on the floor! Kagome caused this mess, so now she's gotta fix it.'

Even if it wasn't exactly the right reason for him to call her, it was at least a reason that would stop him from being a coward and not calling.

Squaring his shoulders as if he were about to do battle, Inuyasha picked up the phone.

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Kagome sighed in frustration and glanced at the clock on the wall to her left. Its small black hands read eleven o' clock on the dot, only about three whole minutes since the last time she'd looked up at it.

It was obviously a VERY slow morning.

"I thought he'd at least call or say something to me after what happened yesterday." She muttered to herself. "Just like a man! He's probably already forgotten all about the kiss by now." That last sentence was punctuated by a rather forceful thump as Kagome tossed one of her textbooks on the floor. So much for her getting any studying done today.

'You could always call him, you know.' Her traitorous mind whispered.

"No way!" She cried out loud. "Why would I want to do something like that? He's the one who kissed me, not the other way around!" Her voice had been getting higher and more strained, when Kagome suddenly realized it was possible that Inuyasha might be able to hear her ranting to herself. Her face flushing in embarrassment, she snapped her mouth shut.

"I am such an idiot." She grumbled, though this time in a much lower voice. "I can't believe I'm sitting here, waiting for him to call me instead of doing something more important. There are a thousand different things I could be doing right now that would be a better use of my time!"

Still, she just couldn't seem to bring herself to get up and leave her spot by the phone.

'Why do I want to hear something from him so badly, anyway?' She mused, tapping her pencil on the blank page of the notebook in front of her. 'I admit, I am a little confused about the whole thing. After we kissed, neither of us said a word about it. It was almost as if it never happened, save the fact that I blushed like a schoolgirl every time I looked at him. The stupid jerk seemed to think it was funny…'

Shaking her head, Kagome realized that her thoughts were heading off track.

'I guess I just want to know if Inuyasha kissing me was some sort of lark to him, or if he was really serious about the whole thing. He's so hard to read sometimes that I don't know what to think!' She groaned in frustration and buried her head in her arms.

Kagome sat like that for several more seconds, before jerking her head up and shaking it vigorously. "I'm being such an idiot again! Getting worked up about something like this just isn't like me! I should just call him myself and get the suspense over with before I end up failing all my classes. I can only imagine explaining to my mother why all her hard-earned tuition money is going to waste…"

The thought of her mother's displeasure seemed to spur Kagome into action, and she reached over to pick up the receiver of her cordless phone.

Indecision and a hint of nervousness were written all over her face.

"Just press the button." She coached herself out loud.

"Yes, please press the stupid button and call the idiot already!" Another voice echoed around the room. Kagome nearly jumped out of her skin at the sound and whirled around to find Sango standing in the apartment doorway.

"Sango-chan!" She gasped, holding a hand to her chest. "You nearly gave me a heart attack!"

"And? It looked to me like you were well on your way to one, anyway." Sango observed with amusement. The look on her face then turned stern. "Have you been acting like this all morning? When I left for class, you were staring at the phone like it was about to explode!"

Kagome's face burned a bright red at Sango's accusation.

"If you keep this up, you'll fail all your classes!" The other girl continued to rant. "I've never seen you act like this over a guy!" She opened her mouth to continue, but shut it when a speculative look appeared on her face. Kagome didn't like the look one bit, either.

"Well, I WAS just about to call him before you attempted to send me into cardiac arrest…" She muttered weakly, but her attempts at distracting Sango were completely ignored.

"Kagome, I know you probably aren't going to like me asking something like this, but-" She leaned closer until she was almost nose to nose with Kagome "Is it possible that you really ARE in love with that selfish, mean, rude, childish-"

Kagome cringed. "I get the point, okay!"

"Sorry." Sango muttered sheepishly as she backed off. "So, are you in love with him?"

The room was dead silent for a long period of time as Kagome reluctantly considered the question. Knowing how difficult answering a question like that could be, Sango waited patiently for an answer instead of badgering her.

Kagome finally seemed to come to a decision. "Well, I-"

Just at that moment, the phone decided it was time to ring.

"Stupid phone!" Sango practically growled, frustrated from being so close to getting an answer to her question. She snatched the phone from Kagome's hand before the other girl could answer it. "I can't believe it! Just hold that thought while I give whoever it is a piece of my mind." She told Kagome seriously. Before she pressed the button, though, Kagome grabbed her arm in a near panic.

"No, don't!" She cried. "What if it's Inuyasha calling?"

The phone continued to ring, unanswered.

"It's almost noon! If he hasn't called by now, he probably won't." Sango pointed out. She was still itching to give whoever was calling a piece of her mind.

"Just let me answer it, okay?" Before Sango could respond to her friend's pleading, Kagome had already stolen the phone and turned it on.

"H-Hello?"

"Dammit, took you long enough to pick up the stupid phone!" An annoyed voice lashed out on the other end. Sure enough, it was Inuyasha.

Kagome's face darkened. All her relief at finally hearing his voice was quickly vanishing into thin air. "Well excuse me! If I had known it was you, I wouldn't have made you wait so long. After all, you never keep ME waiting."

The pointed remark fell on deaf ears. "Listen, I'm calling you 'cause I want you to spend the night over here tonight." Inuyasha didn't waste any time in getting to the point, leaving a shocked Kagome stuttering on the other end.

"Y-You want me to WHAT?"

Curious about the conversation, Sango moved closer so that she could hear what was being said on the other end.

"You heard me." Inuyasha muttered. "I want you to spend the night tonight because-"

He didn't get the chance to explain himself any farther because the sound of Kagome and Sango both screaming "YOU PERVERT!" was more than loud enough to drown out anything else he might have tried to say.

"Listen, you jerk!" Kagome fumed. "I know we shared a really nice kiss yesterday, but that doesn't mean I'm just going to jump in bed with you the next day!"

The fact that Kagome had called the kiss 'really nice' went right over Inuyasha's head as he nearly choked. "What the HELL are you talking about?!?! You've gotta be crazy to think I'd actually ask you to sleep with me when I've got a kid around!"

Sango grabbed the phone before Kagome could stop her. "Oh, but you would if Rin wasn't staying with you?"

"NO! That's not what I meant!" By then the blushing hanyou was ready to tear out his long hair by its roots, or at least destroy something. Yes, destroying things with his claws was a GREAT stress reliever…

"Would you just give the damn phone back to Kagome? I was talking to her, not you!"

Before he could really finish yelling at Sango, though, Kagome had snatched the phone back and was giving her best friend a deadly glare. Taking the not-so-subtle hint, Sango reluctantly left the room.

As soon as she was alone, Kagome spoke. "So, if that wasn't what you meant, then what did you mean?" Kagome asked in a tired voice. She hated to admit it, but Inuyasha was probably telling the truth. He really wasn't the type to go inviting girls to sleep with him.

She listened patiently while Inuyasha explained (as best he could) the situation of Rin not wanting to sleep in the bedroom or by herself because there were 'monsters' under the bed and in the closet. He didn't forget to mention that it was all her fault, either.

The whole situation was just the distraction Kagome needed from her earlier fretting.

"Let me get this straight," Kagome swallowed the sudden desire to laugh for the first time that morning, and tried to stay serious. "You want me to prove to her that monsters don't exist because she doesn't believe you?"

Inuyasha huffed in relief that she understood the situation. "Right."

"And you want me to sleep on your bed with Rin so you can have your couch back?"

"Unless you'd rather sleep in the floor."

"No, no, the bed is fine." Kagome hastily agreed. "I guess I'll be there sometime before Rin's bedtime tonight, okay?"

Inuyasha's eyes narrowed at the phone. "You promise?"

Kagome couldn't help letting a small giggle escape. "I promise, I promise!"

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"Hmmm, so Inuyasha's phone line is busy, is it?" Sesshoumaru hung up the cell phone in his hand and set it down on the table next to him. "I suppose my call to Rin will have to wait a little while longer, then. It really doesn't matter."

Now that it was decided that his phone call was to be put off for a while, Sesshoumaru leaned back in his chair with an almost inaudible sigh. Once he was settled in and looked unusually relaxed, he reached back over to the table and picked up his drink, only to find that all the ice had melted. He nearly sighed again.

"Jaken."

The sound of small feet padding across the tiled floor of the balcony could be heard as Sesshoumaru's little green minion rushed to obey his summons.

"Yes, Sesshoumaru-sama?"

"Bring me a fresh drink. All the ice has melted in this one." He gestured carelessly towards the nearly full glass sitting next to him, glittering in the bright sunlight.

Jaken bowed. "Right away, Sesshoumaru-sama!" With that, he hurried off once more to do his master's bidding.

"Oh, and Jaken…"

The sound of Sesshoumaru's monotone voice stopped the small demon in his tracks as he was opening the door to go back inside the house. Jaken turned around expectantly, awaiting more orders. "Yes, my Lord?"

"Don't forget the little umbrella this time."

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I like the way this chapter turned out! Especially that last small scene. I'm sure you guys are starting to put the pieces together about Sesshoumaru and his little 'business' trip, LOL!