InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dared to Look ❯ One ( Chapter 1 )

Chapter one

I was a dead thing, heart hidden beneath layers of cashmere and silk. It was buried so deep that I no longer knew who or what I was despite thinking I did.

I was foolish; there is no other way to put it.

I was eighteen, pretty, popular and wealthy. People flocked to me, trying to capture pieces of my light, without ever knowing who I really was.

I had a boyfriend, we had been together for the longest time, I was convinced I loved him, and that he loved me in return. We both knew that when we married it would solidify our family's wealth, giving rise to an empire that could, in old terms, rival that of the Ottomans. I was proud of this, and willing to trade nearly anything for a kind word from my Uncle who had been like a father to me since my real father's death.

My life was planned out, as clearly as the events scheduled in my day-timer that is until the first day of senior year when he walked into my life. He was not a student at my school, at least not one that I was aware of. Indeed if the parents had their way he never would have been allowed in as his kind were seen as lower than us. Not in terms of money, no his family indeed was rather well off, but in terms of blood. People still talked of how his mother had lowered herself. It was seen as a disgrace, a fate her family had avoided by denouncing her existence. I didn't know how she survived without their recognition, as for a young girl her family was her key to her future.

Yet, he soon became dangerous to me. Not in a physical sense, though he was well able to defend himself and anyone else he so chose, but on an emotional level.

~*~

"Sir, Miss will this table be all right?" the host asked arm indicating a table tucked away in a corner.

"Kagome?" my boyfriend Hojo inquired, pulling out my chair when I smiled in approval.

"wonderful, your server will be with you in a moment" the host commented as he made his way back towards the door after passing us our menus and placing my napkin in my lap.

It was then that I busied myself studying the menu, and so was slightly startled when a rich voice calmly inquired,

"would you like something to drink?"

My head shot up and I had to remind myself that staring was extremely impolite as I felt myself melt into twin pools of molten sun.

I don't know how long we gazed at each other before Hojo's voice caused us to break our gaze as the waiter turned to look at him.

I don't remember what Hojo said, my gaze still focused entirely on the waiter as I tried to analyze what had just passed between us.

I had never felt what I was feeling then. This strange sort of longing to speak with him combined with an overwhelming fear that he would dislike me.

It was silly really, why should I fear being disliked by a mere waiter? However, I suppose it had something to do with the fact that he was the handsomest man I had ever seen.

For the remainder of the evening I allowed myself to gaze at him discretely, admiring the way he moved with a predatory grace, amber eyes drifting my way repeatedly, accompanied by a devilish grin that caused butterflies to stir in the pit of my stomach. If I hadn't heard other girls talking of this sensation I would have been convinced that I had contracted a deadly disease.

It was a strange evening, one in which I found Hojo, whom I usually deemed good company, extremely dull, and so when I finished eating I excused myself to the ladies room.

Slipping between tables I made my way to the little hallway at the back of the restaurant, my gaze meeting and holding that of the golden-eyed waiter in a challenge.

I wanted to speak with him, to at the very least know his name.

To my joy, he followed me down the narrow corridor. Yet as he approached  I found myself unable to form a coherent sentence, and so instead of exchanging words I found myself back pressed to the wall, with his breath in my ear as he whispered,

"what do you want from me?"

I did not reply right away, as I tried to formulate an answer, then realizing that there was none, I whispered the question that had been plaguing me,

"who are you?"

I heard his wry chuckle and muttered

"as I thought" before he stated the name that would plague me until this very day

"Inuyasha, I am Inuyasha"

"Kagome" I told him in return as I forced myself to straighten up.

"mmm Kagome a pretty name," he whispered and then in a flash of gold and silver, he slipped off down the hall leaving me alone.

It would not be until I returned home much later that I would find the card reading

"Friday, 11am, Casa Mia" in my purse.

I was no dummy, I knew that this meant he wanted to meet again, but the question as I headed to bed that night became, did I want to see him?

~*~

I spent the week agonizing. Trying to decide what I should do, and stifling in every moment, I spent sitting with my friends listening to the gossip, and innuendos about Hojo and myself. Then there was Hojo, I didn't know what to do about him. I was promised to him, and while it was not a marriage arranged in writing we had been together so long that there was an unspoken understanding looming over my head.

Yet as scared, as I was I couldn't help but think of him. His face clear in my mind as I lay in my bed at night. His strong jaw line, straight nose, full lips with the very tips of his canines peeking out, his was a face that many would find frightening and I had a feeling that many a tormentor had backed down under the weight of his piercing gaze. To me he was a study in contrast, the strength of his features and the seeming danger of his claws in discord with the adorable ears that lay perched amidst his luxurious mass of silver, and that look in his eyes as he had gazed upon me. The desire veiled softness. Just thinking about him made me long for the sound of his voice, breath whispering over the delicate tissue of my ear. I had only met him once and yet he plagued me, and it was this obsession, this schoolgirl starry-eyed crush that convinced me to meet him again.

TBC