InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Do ❯ Chapter 8

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

The light crept in through the window and awoke Kagome mercilessly. With a bit of a head-rush, she sat up and glanced around. Kei was notably absent, and Kagome wondered where exactly he had gone off to. Cocking her head a bit, she listened. He was obviously not in the apartment. Either that, or he had fallen asleep on the couch - as he tended to do in the mornings.

With a surge of some emotion Kagome couldn’t quite place, she remembered the light knocking at her door the previous evening. Who would’ve been knocking on her door at so late an hour? None of her friends would’ve been out so late - even on a Saturday. She was sure of that. The flash of silver hair she had seen at the restaurant the previous night raced through her mind. Kagome shook her head, and hugged herself slightly. “Get out of my head.“ She snapped aloud, angrily, and traced her train of thought back to the knocking on her apartment door.

Realizing she was zoning out again, Kagome tossed back the blanket and headed into the kitchen. She was in desperate need of some tea. She smiled absently as she boiled the water. She didn’t fully realize how good it felt to have the apartment to herself. There were no dismal thoughts of her wedding day, no questions to ask herself, no suspicion to creep up her spine as Kei smiled seductively at her.

Once, she had welcomed his smile. It had been the most attractive thing about Kei. The way it could light up a room, the way his hair fell slightly into his eyes when he laughed. But now, the only feelings Kagome experienced were of mistrust, and even pain. How many girls had seen that smile? Had been captivated by his laughter?

There wasn’t a doubt in her mind that he was cheating on her, she’d found more than enough in his suitcases in the past to prove it. Freshly opened letters, left behind panties - but she had never spoken of it. She had never let Kei even suspect that she knew. She was good at playing dumb - she had done it for years with Inu-yasha. After all, he had always been just as good at running off with other women as Kei was.

Still - Kagome never brought it up. She liked being with Kei, she liked the security he provided. She was thrilled to be getting married, to have an apartment, to be out on her own. And she was more than happy to escape the past she had been so horribly reminded of every time she had looked out her window at home.

The whistling of the kettle brought Kagome back to reality. She poured herself a cup of steaming water, and set the tea-bag in the mug gently to simmer. Curling up on the couch, she sipped at the hot tea and turned on the television. The same depressing deaths and disasters were on the news, and Kagome sighed. “Oh, this is exciting.” She muttered moodily, and grabbed the remote. Flipping through the channels, she paused at a romance scene unfurling on her televison.

An overly-handsome actor pulled a thin, bleach-blonde actress to him, and their lips met gently. The hunger and passion of the kiss grew, and Kagome fidgeted uncomfortably. How many times had she imagined sharing a kiss like that with Inu-yasha? Her eyes glazed over for an instant, and she was suddenly back 500 years - standing with him, staring into his beautiful, amber eyes…

A sudden knocking at her door startled her. She dropped the remote and her cup of tea as she jumped and brought her hands to her mouth to stop herself from screaming aloud. The cup and remote hit the carpeting with a dull thud, and what little tea was left spilled onto the carpet.

There it was again - the knocking. Kagome stood up hesitantly, and wondered whether or not she should find out who was there. By the time she made it to the door, her heart was in her throat. She reached out to grab the handle - and without even glancing out the peep-hole, she opened the door.

…Kagome fainted when she saw the amber eyes.

When Kagome came to, she was lying on her back on the couch, the ceiling fan blowing a cool breeze onto her face. She struggled to remember how she had ended up asleep on the couch, then remembered making tea, watching the love movie and…Kagome’s mouth dropped open.

She leaned up a bit, so as to see around the room better - and, there, sitting on the edge of the couch near her feet, was Inu-yasha. A modern-day Inu-yasha. Complete with cropped silver hair and jeans. Kagome couldn’t help but gawk at him. He was staring off to his left, out the balcony, and seemed to be deep in thought.

Kagome went to say his name, but the sound she emitted was something between a squeak and a hiccup. Inu-yasha jumped a bit at the sound - and turned to find Kagome staring at him, mouth open and eyes wide. “Hi, Kagome.” He said, a bit sheepishly. Kagome sat up, still gaping at him. Somehow, this didn’t seem to be registering in her mind. Inu-yasha, in present day Tokyo? Was this just another cruel daydream? And - what about everything that had happened between them that year ago? What about her leaving? What about - well, what about everything?!

“Hello up there!?“ He said, impatiently as he leaned towards her and knocked lightly on the top of her head. “Are you going to say hi back or are you just gonna sit there staring at me like an idiot?” Kagome rubbed the spot where he had tapped her on her head and laughed softly, looking at the hanyou with a strange expression coloring her features.

“You’re - you’re really here.” She said, her voice timid. Inu-yasha was taken aback. She sounded near tears - but why? To be completely honest, he had expected something a little more boisterous. Yelling and insults, sure - he could understand that. Squealing and hugs - that would make some sense too. But this? Her sitting there like she was seeing a ghost, eyes full of a million emotions, all muddled together - it was almost enough to make him squirm.

“Yeah.” He replied, feeling a bit stupid, “I am.” Kagome began to chew her bottom lip, her brows furrowed. Then, without warning, she burst into tears. Inu-yasha moved closer to her, wrapping his arm around her. “Kagome!” He swallowed hard. This was not how he imagined the reunion. “What the hell? What’s wrong?” She just shook her head, and hugged the hanyou to her.

“I’m such a crybaby.” She managed, after a while, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand. Inu-yasha breathed a sigh of relief. “Not exactly how I pictured the first meeting, Kagome.” He joked weakly. Kagome replied with a watery grin. “I expected more yelling.” She said, after a moment, her grin fading slightly. Inu-yasha stiffened a bit. “So did I.” He answered, gently. A heavy silence followed.

Kagome gazed towards the carpet. “I’m sorry.” She offered, fretfully flattening her tank top. Inu-yasha took her hand, to stop the nervous fidgeting, and her heart leapt right back into her throat. She raised her head, and made eye contact with the hanyou; who, she noted, had grown a good amount different in the single year she’d been gone.

His eyes were far more somber than they had ever been before; and something seemed to hide behind the glimmering amber façade, like a flame that burned just out of sight. His cheeks were not quite gaunt, and he was not nearly as tall, but his relation to Sesshomaru had never been more striking. His hair was extremely clean, and the cut suit him so well that Kagome hardly remembered how it had looked before.

“For what?” He asked, the same gentle tone he had used before. Kagome’s breathe caught in her chest as he raised his other hand to tuck a strand of loose hair behind her ear. “For leaving.” She said, after she had remembered how to breathe again. A pained look crossed Inu-yasha’s face, and Kagome felt a twinge of guilt. “That was my fault.” Inu-yasha replied, eyes glinting. Kagome lightly squeezed the hand that was still holding hers.

“We’ve got plenty of time to talk about that later.” She said, smiling encouragingly at Inu-yasha. He nodded. “But right now - “ Kagome added, glancing at the door, “We’ve got to get out of here before Kei gets back.”

Inu-yasha frowned a bit at the mention of Kei, and Kagome inwardly wondered if the name meant anything to him. He had obviously had some help with the appearance, which meant someone here in her era was offering their services. Kagome imagined Souta helping out and almost smiled. Well, that was about right when it came to what she could expect from that kid.

“You’ve been talking to Souta, haven’t you?” Kagome asked, raising an eyebrow. One look at Inu-yasha and her suspicions were confirmed. She laughed. Inu-yasha shrugged.

“He made a deal I couldn’t refuse.” Kagome groaned. She had a good idea where this was going, and wasn’t liking it all.

Inu-yasha grinned mischievously.

Ree: Thanks for all the input. I really love hearing from you guys. I’m thinking of making it a pretty decent sized story. I’m hoping for at least twenty chapters, and I’m currently toying with the possibility of introducing Sesshomaru and some original characters into the story. Tell me what you guys think - and thanks for all the support!