InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Future Beginnings ❯ Ch 8: Reunion ( Chapter 8 )

INUYASHA BELONGS TO RUMIKO TAKAHASHI - AND KAGOME

 

Ch 8: Reunion

 

Inuyasha's eyes widened at her invitation. Kagome patted the bed again. “Don't sleep on the floor,” she told him. “There's plenty of room up here.”

 

Inuyasha slowly got up, putting Tetsusaiga on her desk. Kagome held the blanket up so he could scoot under next to her. He wasn't sure what to think. He lay straight, almost afraid to move, until Kagome turned on her side to face him, her breath softly blowing on the side of his face.

 

“Hold me, Inuyasha?” she asked softly.

 

With wonder, Inuyasha leaned towards her and scooped her slight form into his arms. He'd held her like this countless times on their travels, but this was different. It was warm under the blankets but he could feel her shivering.

 

“Shhh,” he said softly. “Go to sleep. I'm not going anywhere.”

 

There was silence for a while and Inuyasha listened to her breathing, waiting for it to slow down to signify she was finally asleep. His own heart was racing wildly and he didn't figure he would be sleeping at all tonight. That was fine. He was happy just to be holding Kagome like this.

 

She stirred. “Inuyasha?”

 

“Mmm?”

 

“I don't want to sleep.” She twisted up on her elbow so she could look down at him. Her face was red and he could hear her heart beat faster.

 

Inuyasha blinked as she closed her eyes and lowered her face to his for a soft kiss. Abruptly he tightened his arms around her and pulled her on top of him, tangling the blanket in the process. He kissed her back hungrily and she responded by putting her hands on both sides of his face, prolonging the moment. When they broke apart he didn't let her go, holding her to his chest.

 

“I—don't—“ he started to say as she gazed at him with dark eyes.

 

“I do.” She answered. “Please.” She kissed him again, softly. “Don't stop. Not tonight.” She would face the future tomorrow. Tonight she wanted Inuyasha.

 

With a soft growl Inuyasha rolled so that she lay on the mattress and he supported himself on his arms inches above her. He gazed at her searchingly. “You're sure?” he asked.

 

“I'm sure.”

 

 

Afterwards it was almost comical remembering their clumsy fumbling. The fire rat robe and Kagome's pajamas lay crumpled together at the foot of the bed, and Kagome lay in Inuyasha's arms, finally asleep. He put his chin on the top of her head and let his eyes close at last. He was never leaving, no matter what she said when she woke up, he decided.

 

A loud knocking on Kagome's door woke both of them up much too early the next morning.

 

“Kagome, you're going to be late for class,” called her roommate from the other side of the door. “Aren't you going to class today?”

 

The door handle jiggled and Kagome jumped out of bed, dragging the blanket with her, leaving a very exposed Inuyasha sitting cross-legged in the middle of her bed. He grabbed their combined clothes and held them in his lap. It was a testimony to his embarassment that he didn't go for Tetsusaiga instead.

 

Kagome got to the door just as Jen began to open it and used her body weight to hold it partially shut, shielding Inuyasha from view. “I'm skipping class this morning,” she said. “I don't feel too well.”

 

Jen gave her a knowing look. “Oh, I get it. Did your boyfriend from Japan stay over?” She tried to poke her head around the door. “Hi, Inuyasha!” She wiggled her fingers through the opening. “Ok, you two have fun. I'll tell everybody that you're out sick.”

 

Kagome's face reddened. If Jen knew, soon everybody would know. She shut the door behind her, remembering to turn the lock, and turned toward Inuyasha, whose face was as red as hers. “Well, it looks like I'm not going to school today,” she told him, letting the blanket fall.

 

Inuyasha grinned, and surged across the bed towards her, clothing forgotten.

 

 

They stayed in bed the whole day until hunger brought them out. Kagome's roommates fended off Noriko and any other friends who came to look for her, then quietly left the apartment to give the two of them time together.

 

Kagome made ramen noodles, and they spent the evening watching TV after Kagome dragged Inuyasha down to the bathroom and gave him a shower. It helped that she got in with him. She poured shampoo into her hands and lathered his hair, then she soaped him down all over.

 

This was definitely better without clothes, thought Inuyasha. He could hardly believe she was letting him get this close to her. It would be nice to think it would last forever, but he'd take what he could get. He speared the soap with a claw and lathered Kagome down, too. She was slippery.

 

Later as they watched television, she asked him where he had been for the last month, and he told her all about his forest to the north. She was amazed at how well he had managed to adapt.

 

“Do you regret it?” she asked him suddenly.

 

“What?”

 

“Do you regret what we did? Do you regret following me?” She paused. “I regret I made you go away,” she added.

 

“Never!” Inuyasha said. “And I told you I'm not leaving again. Ever.” Even if you want me to, he thought to himself.

 

“Then we'll just have to work it out,” said Kagome. She glanced up at him. He had his arm draped across her shoulders as they sat on the couch. “Will you stay with me here while I finish school?” she asked him. They had been as intimate as two people could get, yet she was still afraid to tell him she loved him.

 

Inuyasha keh'd. “I'll stay with you a lot longer than that,” he told her. “Don't you know you're not getting rid of me?”

 

Kagome smiled. At last. He hadn't said her loved her, exactly, but it would do. She finally had her Inuyasha. They would figure out the rest together.

 

“So tell me,” she said. “Where did you learn English?”

 

“Inuyasha picked up the remote and surfed through the channels until he found the public television station. Of course, at this time of night, his programs weren't on anymore, but she would get the idea. Kagome glanced at him in puzzlement.

 

“An apple is red,” he recited to her in English. “The sun is yellow.”

 

Kagome raised her eyebrows.

 

 

 

Later, when they had retired to the privacy of Kagome's bedroom for the night, Kagome broached the subject of school. They lay together on her narrow bed, enjoying each other's closeness. Inuyasha's eyes glowed in the faint light from the moon.

 

“You know, I can't miss classes again tomorrow,” Kagome said. She reached up to gently stroke his ears as if to soften the effect of her words on him.

 

“Why not?” he asked. “Stay with me one more day?”

 

“We'll have lots of days together, Inuyasha. I have to go to class tomorrow, though. I have a—“

 

“Don't say `test,'” he warned, half-serious.

 

“Mid-term,” she finished, knowing he wouldn't know what that was. “It's very important. You did say you would stay with me until school was over.”

 

He did say that. “When will school be over?” he asked.

 

“December. Two months. Then we can both go home and back through the well to visit Miroku and Sango. And Shippo. OK? Two months—that's all.”

 

Inuyasha considered. “Two months. Then you are finished with school?”

 

“Well, until January, then I have to go back for the second semester, but I've been thinking about that—“

 

“When?” he asked, incredulous.

 

“When we were watching TV,” she said, wondering what he was getting upset about.

 

“Oh.”

 

“Anyway, I've been thinking about us and…you really want to stay with me, right?” She looked anxiously into Inuyasha's eyes, as he seemed to be about to lose his temper.

 

“Of course. I told you I'm not going to leave you alone ever again,” he said.

 

“Well, then. When we come back from Japan I think we should get our own apartment together. Lots of kids from school do it. We don't have to stay here in the dorm. It's kind of awkward with my two roommates here all the time, don't you think?”

 

 

“Yeah, it's awkward that they're here too,” replied Inuyasha. If he concentrated, he could smell them downstairs. One of them had a “friend” over, too. He didn't tell that to Kagome, though. “Wait. I thought you said school will be finished in two months. We're coming back?”

 

“This is college, Inuyasha. It takes four years altogether. But we'll be together all that time!” She faltered. “If…if that's what you want.”

 

Inuyasha knew when he had lost, too. “I want you. If you want this school, college, whatever, then that's fine with me.” He hesitated. “But I want to be with you. I don't want you to be ashamed of me and make me have to hide every time your friends come over. Got that?”

 

Kagome sat up, and Inuyasha inwardly cringed. Had he just undone everything they had begun to be to each other with his selfish words?

 

She threw her arms around him. “Oh, Inuyasha, I have never been ashamed of you! How could you think that?” She buried her face in his neck. “I can see how you might have thought that I was ashamed of you,” she mumbled into his hair, as he brought his hands up to encircle her back and lay her gently back down beside him. “But I didn't want anybody to see that you were different and take you away from me. I was scared that if other people found out you were youkai, they would separate us and maybe hurt you. I never meant to make you feel un-loved, Inuyasha.” As she spoke, she grasped his long hair, far longer than hers, and bunched it in her fists as if to hold him there next to her forever. “You must know how I felt about you.”

 

“Keh, as if any human could hurt me.” He glanced down at her and gently pried her hands free of his hair. “So does that mean that I can come with you and have fun—not any more dancing—other fun—with your friends?” He smiled.

 

“Yes. Yes, yes, yes! I want you in my life, in all of my life from now on, Inuyasha!” said Kagome, her eyes gleaming with unshed tears.

 

“So…tell me how you feel about me, then,” said Inuyasha with a wicked gleam in his own eyes.

 

“I love you.” Kagome laughed. “There. I finally said it out loud.”

 

“About time,” said Inuyasha.

 

Kagome's mouth opened in an `o' and she lunged at Inuyasha to tickle him. They spent the next half-hour wrestling on the bed with interesting results.

 

“You know,” said Kagome thoughtfully as they rearranged their shared blanket and settled down to sleep. “You could go to school too. It would give you something to do while I take my classes. “

 

“School? I don't think so,” said Inuyasha, on the verge of sleep. “I have stuff to do.” He thought of chasing the little grey animals and jumping off cliffs and exploring his whole new northern forest. There was plenty to do here in this Connecticut place.

 

“Well, maybe I can find a tutor to give you English lessons,” Kagome went on. “Then you can have more fun with all my friends.”

 

Inuyasha gave her a playful nip on the chin. “I'm having fun right now with you,” he argued. “Besides, I already know lots of words.” He looked at Kagome and carefully spoke in English. “You are a hot girl.”

 

Kagome gaped at him, then she smiled. “You think so?”