InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Do ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 15 )

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

Kei leaned his forehead against the woman’s feverish skin, a wave of mingled pleasure and exhaustion washing over him. “Anna, you’re amazing.” He managed to say, moments later, when his breathing had returned to normal. The red-head’s face lit up with a tired smile. “You always say that.” She replied, as Kei rolled off her gently and lay beside her. An expression of utter contentment made his features glow. Anna laughed softly as Kei poked her mischievously in the ribs. He pulled the blankets up around them and yawned. A few moments passed in a drowsy silence. Anna’s chest moved slowly, rhythmically, beneath the stiff motel blanket. She was deep in slumber almost immediately. Kei glanced at the beautiful woman lying beside him. Her long, red hair was bright against the stark, austere pillow. Her creamy skin and sharp features, so unlike to Kagome‘s, disturbed him slightly. He found a strange emotion bubbling up, cold and relentless, from the tips of his toes to his scalp. For a moment, he fought the feeling with a savage apathy, but to no avail. Swallowing hard, he turned away from Anna and closed his eyes. Kei, handsome, suave businessman, did not often feel guilt.

The following morning dawned with a vengeance. The pounding of his head and tendrils of nausea that crept through his stomach reminded Kei, with unwarranted ferocity, that he had been drinking heavily the previous night. He emitted a muffled groan into the pillow before rolling over. His body felt ten times heavier than it should. Beside him, where Anna should have been, laid a single rose and a sealed, manila envelope. He sat up, a curious, if not hungry, look in his eyes. What he found inside, however, was obviously not appealing to his appetite. His jaw dropped, and with trembling fingers he pulled out three photographs. A folded piece of lined paper with large, loopy writing covering it fell out immediately after. Tipping the envelope upside down with an almost comical expression of horror, a gold wedding band fell out with the smallest, dullest of thuds onto the bed. Looking from the photographs to the letter, he went for the latter first.

“My dearest Kei, as much as I’ve enjoyed our nights spent together in hotel/motel rooms across the city, I can’t keep this up anymore. Don’t get me wrong babe, it’s been great -but I found something last night that I think you should know about. Hmm, actually you DO already know. But me? Nope, I didn’t know you were getting married. That whole thing sort of slipped out of our conversations.”

Kei blanched and picked up the ring with is index finger and thumb. He looked at it for a moment before gulping, and returning to the letter.

“Anyway, I found her picture in your wallet. You seem to have dropped the leather piece of shit in the middle of getting your pants off last night. And what’s this on the back of the picture? Something about a few months more to go? Well, where’s my invitation, Kei?! Aww, how cute! Look, she even put a smiley face! Too bad you and I were too busy in bed to discuss your future spouse. Pity. She’s a cute one. Although, I would’ve expected bigger boobs and blonde hair. Now that we’ve got this cleared up, though, let’s hope I never come across a way of finding ‘Higurashi’ shrine - and this fiancé of yours. Or there’ll be more pictures where this came from, and I’ll be showing them to little miss future-wife over a nice cup of tea. With all due disgust, Anna.”

Kei picked up two of the three photographs, and the remaining color in his face drained away. His heart was pounding madly in his chest. Two, unmistakably authentic pictures of Kei and Anna together - notably without their clothing - were now held in his tremulous hands. Although they were taken a few weeks beforehand, Kei was sure they‘d be more than enough to send Kagome packing. Who had been taking photographs of him and her? Surely Anna hadn’t suspected him before now of actually having someone back in Japan? His head buzzing with uncertainties and rage at being manipulated, he shoved the letters and pictures back into the manila envelope and nearly forgot the third photograph lying beside him.

With a jerky, awkward snatch he took the picture, and gazed at it. His eyes softened, and a frown twisted his mouth downwards. Kagome’s face beamed up at him from in front of her family’s shrine, her arms wrapped tight around a fully-clothed and grinning version of himself. His stomach lurched reprovingly from the many cheap beers he had consumed last night and this, in turn, made his head throb painfully. In a sudden paroxysm of frustration and guilt, he ripped the picture in his hands to shreds. After following suit with the other photographs, the letter, and finally the envelope, he made his way to the bathroom. He dropped the scraps into the small garbage can, and sank to his knees. By now, a greenish tinge had creeped into his pale complexion. Thus, without further adieu, he leaned forward, and embraced the toilet with a loud retch.

Kagome awoke in a haze. Eyes still closed, she buried her face deeper into the warmth of the blankets. She took a deep breath. After a moment a strange thought sliced through the groggy fog that wreathed her brain. With a slight shock, she realized she smelled something very different from the fabric softener that lightly fragranced her sheets. Her eyes snapped open to find a very amused Inu-yasha gazing at her. She gazed back at him expressionlessly.

“You smell odd.”

Inu-yasha grimaced, but the amusement lingered in his eyes. “You don’t even wanna know what you smell like.“ He shot back, gruffly. Kagome opened her mouth to retaliate, but closed it as his eyes flashed mischievously. He was baiting her! Well, two can play at this game. She smiled benignly, the last traces of drowsiness leaving her face. Inu-yasha blinked, taken aback at her reaction.

“You know, Inu-yasha,” she said, with a rather seductive edge to her voice. Inu-yasha‘s eyes widened as he beheld her now intense expression. “Until now, I’ve never really realized…” Her voice trailed off as she maneuvered closer to him. She twined her arms up around his neck and brought her mouth to his ear. “How much of a dolt you really are.” With that she blew hard in his ear, and pushed him away, laughing.

Kagome swung her legs over the edge of the bed, and wiggled her toes. She was now wide awake, and somehow, feeling much more cheerful than she had in days. Warm shafts of golden, summer sunlight streamed in through the open blinds. The light played across the large bed, glimmering against Inu-yasha’s silvery hair and warming his strange expression. Had Kagome chose to turn around at that precise moment, she would’ve seen in his eyes a startling tenderness that he had never shown her before. The affection spread from his eyes as he smiled and watched Kagome get to her feet, stretch, and head into the bathroom.

“No classes today!” She announced with a smile, upon her return. Her bed-tousled hair was now pulled back into a messy ponytail, and her expression (much to Inu-yasha’s combined relief and confusion) was back to it’s normal, mobile self. “So, what do you want to do today?”

Inu-yasha looked up in surprise, and realized he had been staring at her. “Do today?” He echoed, half aware of her having asked him something. She restated the question, and he looked at her thoughtfully for a moment, before glancing back at his pillow. “Well, what the hell do you think I wanna do? I want to sleep. You kept tossing and turning and bumping into me last night, and waking my ass up every five seconds.”

At the mention of the previous night. Kagome sobered immediately. She tucked a strand of her bangs behind her ear and tried to remain impassive. Unfortunately, she was rather inept at doing so. Inu-yasha unfolded his legs from beneath him and stood up. Taking her hands in his, he smiled gently. “Don’t worry about it.” He said, all trace of humor gone from his voice. Kagome knew that he was referring to more than just being the cause of his lack of sleep. The words cut deep into her, and she wondered to herself how she could afford to not worry about it.
“I want to know how these bitches got MY picture!” Kei roared into the phone, “Isn’t there something against this? Don’t I have any rights?!” After a few more minutes of heated conversation, Kei slammed his phone shut, and glared around the hotel room.

It was a mess. The sheets and blankets were a heaping jumble of material on the bed, and the chair beside the little table near the window had been knocked over in his temper. Grumbling, he crossed the length of the room and tipped the chair back into it’s correct position. He turned off the light in the bathroom with a sour look of disgust, and grabbed his bags. His phone vibrated and rang loudly. Wincing from his still not-quite-gone hangover, he flipped it open with one hand. “Hello?” he snarled into it. Kagome’s voice came from the other side.

“Is everything all right?” She asked, and Kei fought hard not to scream “YES!” and hang up on her. “Yes, hun, everything is great. I’ve just had a bad morning, that’s all.” He replied, after gaining some semblance of composure. “How’s everything with you and your cousin?” Kagome sputtered something rather inaudible, and Kei just replied with an affirmative. “Listen, babe, I’ve got a million things to do, so how about I call you later?” After hanging up, Kei slammed the hotel door behind him. A small, gold ring glinted from the wreck of bed dressings he left behind.