InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Savvy ❯ Chapter Fifteen ( Chapter 15 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Whooo! I'm multi-tasking like a madwoman! Writing this, working on my new site, AND trying to get some fanart done. (I suck at drawing anime; I'm better at realistic stuff.) I do have another sketch I posted on my site. It's horrible. XO But Inuyasha is not mine, and I hope you have a good day. I am having a great one, because I haven't slept in almost 24 hours, and I'm still not tired. What's wrong with me?? Also, my website now has a link on my main page. Toodles.

*******

"Promise" Mae

"Weak And Powerless" A Perfect Circle

*******

Sunday...

Inuyasha growled as he paced the floor of his living room. He didn't want to be in his bastard brother's wedding, the dress shoes Rin had brought by for him the day before were pinching his feet, and he absolutely hated wearing suits. On top of all that, Kagome was taking an eternity to get ready.

He heard the whisper of his door opening, and stopped his pacing to see Kagome peek her head in. "Finally done, wench?" he asked.

"Sorry, I had trouble with my hair," she told him as she stepped inside.

Inuyasha didn't hear her apology, the grumpy expression on his face quickly fading into one of bemusement as he stared at her. Kami, she looks beautiful.

Kagome hadn't wanted to wear one of her old dresses to the wedding, so she'd convinced Inuyasha to let her leave his protection long enough for her to go shopping with Sango on Friday. (He'd followed in his car.) The sheer, sage green dress she'd purchased was simple enough, with cap sleeves and a flowing empire waist, but it fit her perfectly, accentuating her slim shoulders while the silky fabric gave the slightest hint to what her body might look like beneath. She'd pulled her hair back into a twist, revealing the pale skin of her slender neck, and her bangs were curled into spirals that framed her face beautifully.

"Inuyasha?"

Snapped out of his reverie, he blinked at her. "Huh?"

"I asked if my hair looked alright."

"It looks fine," he told her, his words coming out more softly than he intended, but she didn't appear to notice.

She looked quizzically up at his hair. "Um... where are your ears?" she asked.

"Concealment spell. I told you about those."

"I didn't know you had one."

"I don't like to use it; it fucks with my senses."

"Oh. Well, I guess we better get a move on."

Glancing at his clock on the kitchen wall, he cringed. "Yeah, Rin will kill me if we're late."

(*)(*)(*)

Arriving at Sesshoumaru's nearly an hour later, they were met by Kagura at the door, who was waiting to rush Inuyasha to the atrium, where the wedding was taking place. Kagome trotted after them, hoping there was still a good seat left; there'd been cars parked for as far as she could see.
Rin had a weird concept of a small ceremony.

Entering the atrium, Kagome barely had a chance to look around at the dazzling greenery before she was grabbed by Amber, who led her to the seat she'd saved for her in the third row. "You guys cut it close," she whispered as the music started, the haunting notes of a harp ringing through the open room.

All heads turned to the doorway, and a soft, collective sigh passed through the crowd as Rin stepped into the room, looking like an angel in her strapless white linen dress, a small bouquet of lilies in her hands.

Kagome watched in awe as Rin walked slowly towards Sesshoumaru, her eyes never leaving his as she beamed at him.

Wait a second... Did Sesshoumaru just smile?

The hush of voices was silenced as the harpist ended her song, and the ceremony began. Kagome's eyes began to roam, taking note of the beautiful displays of flowers that surrounded the altar, and the sun reflecting from the minister's bald head. Her gaze then fell upon Inuyasha, and she quickly looked away, blushing.

He was staring at her.

Chancing another casual glance a few moments later, his eyes were still focused on her, a puzzling expression on his face. He's probably bored out of his mind, and daydreaming, she told herself, but still looked behind her to see if there was anything of great interest Inuyasha could be staring at. Seeing nothing but rows of unfamiliar people, she gave up.

Hearing Rin faintly say, "I do," Kagome turned to watch as Sesshoumaru slipped a sparkling ring on her finger.

The atrium erupted in applause as Sesshoumaru kissed his bride.

(*)(*)(*)

The reception was held in the great room of Sesshoumaru's estate, and once Inuyasha finally escaped from the photographers, he entered to see all the furniture had been removed, making room for three long tables that encased a group of small tables. In the southeast corner of the room, a string quartet was set up, ready to play.

Most of the guests had stayed for the reception, and Inuyasha had to use his nose to find Kagome in the crowd. "There you are!" she called as he approached. "We're sitting with Miroku and Sango."

"As long as I can unbutton this damned collar, I don't care where we sit," he grumbled.

Not long after they joined Miroku and Sango, Rin and Sesshoumaru entered the room to another round of applause, and as they newlyweds took their seats, the quartet began to play. A few couples stood to dance, but most of the guests were more concerned with the food, or busy wishing Rin and Sesshoumaru well.

"What's that?" Inuyasha asked, as he pointed to a strange, fried-looking object on Kagome's plate.

"It's crab rangoon," she replied, breaking it open. "You want a bite?"

Catching a whiff of it, Inuyasha wrinkled his nose. "Ugh. No, thanks."

"Excuse me, miss?"

Kagome and Inuyasha both looked up to see a tall, broad-shouldered man standing over them.

"Yes?" Kagome replied.

"I was wondering if you'd mind dancing with me."

"Oh..." Kagome looked to her plate, and briefly at Inuyasha before smiling and standing from her chair. "Sure."

Inuyasha looked on in utter horror as the man escorted Kagome away from the tables, and his expression darkened as he watched the jerk's hand rest on Kagome's waist before they began to dance.

She's smiling at him! his mind wailed.

Of course she is, stupid! She's trying to be nice to him. Inuyasha slumped in his chair, glowering. He didn't even notice when Miroku elbowed Sango, pointing towards Kagome before gesturing at him, and he also didn't hear Sango's soft laughter.

"You know, Inuyasha, you could always cut in," Miroku said.

The hanyou snapped to attention, looking at Miroku. "What'd you say?"

"I said, you should go ask Kagome to dance."

Inuyasha snorted, crossing his arms. "Why would I want to do a stupid thing like that?"

"Because if you don't, someone else is going to," Sango told him, pointing to a couple of guys who were eyeing Kagome appreciatively from the sidelines.

Dammit, why'd she buy that stupid dress, anyway?

"I don't know how to dance," Inuyasha muttered.

Sango was up in a flash, grabbing him by the wrists and leading him onto the dance floor. "What the hell are you doing?" he demanded as she placed his hands on her waist.

"Showing you how to dance. It's not like it's complicated; just move your feet, and go in circles. Easy as that."

"This is stupid," he complained.

"Do you want to dance with Kagome, or not? Now move!"

Inuyasha forced himself to shuffle his feet in time to the music, feeling like a complete idiot until the song ended. It was immediately followed by another, however, and Inuyasha looked across the floor to see Kagome parting ways with the bastard she'd been dancing with.

Sango stepped away from him. "You'll do fine," she told him before leaving him alone to return to her husband. Inuyasha felt as if he'd suddenly been stranded in the desert, and was completely paralyzed until he saw another one of his brother's lackey attorneys walking quickly towards Kagome. He marched across the floor, laying his hand on Kagome's shoulder just before the man had a chance to speak to her.

Kagome turned towards Inuyasha, smiling. "Hi."

"Hi. Um, do you... wanna dance? With me?"

She looked perplexed for a moment, and Inuyasha was sure she was going to turn him down, but then her smile widened, and she nodded. "Okay."

Inuyasha was swimming in the cool waters of relief until Kagome reached up to wrap her arms around his neck, tucking her head beneath his chin, and he felt his face flush. She didn't dance like this with that other guy, he thought as he tried not to panic.

Damn right she didn't, another part of his mind chuckled, and Inuyasha let out his breath slowly, circling his arms around Kagome's waist as they barely moved to the music.
"Thanks for rescuing me," she said after a moment.

"...It's not a big deal," he replied, taking in the clean scent of her hair. Everything felt surreal, and he wondered for a moment if he would survive being friends with Kagome. He hadn't been able to stop staring at her through the wedding ceremony, and now that she was pressed against him, he couldn't think straight.

She suddenly laughed softly, interrupting his thoughts. "I didn't know you danced," she told him, her arms sliding softly against his neck, forcing him to repress a shiver.

Neither did I.

(*)(*)(*)

Wednesday...

Inuyasha woke up around noon, sitting up and wincing at the soreness in his neck from sleeping on the armrest of his couch. All over his floor lay pieces of paper, most with scratched out words covering them, and he stepped over these on his way to the shower.

It wasn't until he was getting dressed that he actually started to wake up. It was then he realized something wasn't quite right, and he began taking a mental inventory. Television's on. Kagura's snoring. Everything smells like fabric softener because Kagome did her laundry yesterday...

He froze, his shirt in his hand.

Where the fuck is Kagome?

Eyes wide with fear, Inuyasha's shirt fell to the floor, forgotten as he jogged though his apartment and out into the hall.

She's gone. She's been gone for hours. "Fuck!" he growled. How had he not noticed? What if Kouga had taken her? They could be on their way to Tokyo by now.

Trying Kagome's door, he found it was locked, and his brow furrowed in confusion. If Kouga had actually taken Kagome, would he have bothered locking the door?

Not if he went out through the window with her.

He was preparing to break the door down and search Kagome's apartment for any signs of struggling when he heart a faint rustling in the stairwell, and Inuyasha drew a deep breath, his expression darkening as the door at the end of the corridor opened, revealing Kagome with four very large shopping bags. Her eyes met his, widening before she cringed, looking guilty.

Inuyasha said nothing, however, only crossing his arms over his bare chest as Kagome approached, looking more sheepish with every step she took. "Sorry," she mumbled.

The simple word destroyed Inuyasha's semblance of calm. "You're sorry. You're sorry?" Kagome winced, looking even more ashamed of herself, which only fueled Inuyasha's anger. "What the hell did you think you were doing?" he demanded, stepping closer to Kagome, and she retreated a step, bumping into the wall.

"I thought I'd be back before you woke up," she confessed.

He barked out a harsh laugh before his blazing eyes fixed upon hers again. "Do you have any idea what I was thinking? Where did you go?"

"I, um, went Christmas shopping. With Sango."

"Christmas shopping," he echoed in disbelief. Would it have been so hard to wake me up?"

"I didn't want you to see your presents," she replied pathetically. "I wanted to surprise you."

He sighed before losing his feeble grip on his temper. "Well, you did a great fucking job, Kagome! I was surprised as hell! I thought Kouga had you, because I thought you were smart enough to listen to me about how dangerous he is, and not go out on your own!"

By this point, Inuyasha's face was merely inches away from Kagome's, pinning her firmly against the wall. Kagome gazed up at him, her eyes swimming with tears, and it was then Inuyasha realized how close they were to one another. His anger broke, and he blinked slowly, taking a moment to regain his sanity as her breath warmed his lips. He wanted to kiss her. He needed to kiss her...

He couldn't let himself do it.

Instead, he back away a bit, resting his hands on her shoulders. "I'm sorry, Kagome," he said, his voice gruff.

"W-Why are you sorry?" she stammered, barely audible as she blinked, causing the tears to escape her eyes and run freely down her face.

"I didn't mean to yell," he explained, wanting badly to brush the tears from her skin, but it would be too tempting to follow that caress by running his fingers through her silky hair, and after that he wouldn't be responsible for what might come next. "I just... I was just scared," he admitted.

"You were?"

"Of course I was," he replied, his eyebrows drawing together before he reached down to take the heavy bags from her hands.

"I'm really sorry," she told him, wiping her hands down her face.

"It's fine. Just don't do it again, alright?"

She nodded, retrieving her key from her pocket and unlocking the door. Once inside, Inuyasha placed her shopping bags on the couch, eyeing them greedily. "So, what'd you get me?" he asked.

Kagome laughed, and the tension between them fled the room. "Nothing," she lied. "But I do have something that you can see." She reached into one of the bags, pulling out an envelope of pictures. "They're from the wedding."

"Joy," he replied, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, I paid Sango good money for these doubles. I even got one of those digital CDs. There's some really great shots." Motioning for him to sit at the kitchen table, she joined him, shaking the prints from the package before she started to shift through them. "About half of them are Sesshoumaru and Rin," she said as they took a moment to look at each picture before she shuffled it towards the back of the stack. "Oh, I love this one!" she laughed, and Inuyasha joined her as he looked at the photo of a very young wedding guest with cake icing all over his face. There were a few shots of Miroku, alone and also with Sango (Kagome had taken those), followed by a picture of Rin smashing cake against Sesshoumaru's face.

"That's a keeper," Inuyasha commented, smirking.

Kagome giggled, moving the picture to the back, and Inuyasha stilled as he saw the one underneath it. "I liked this one," Kagome spoke softly.

Sango had taken a picture of his dance with Kagome. He'd thought she had, but he hadn't expected it to look so... perfect. Kagome's face was turned towards the camera as she leaned against his chest, her eyes half closed and a ghost of a smile on her lips. She looked like...

She looks like she belongs there, he thought.

"Do you like it? I can print you out one, if you want."

"Um... yeah. That'd be fine."

There were a few more photos, but Inuyasha barely saw them, wondering instead how he was going to win his struggle to only be Kagome's friend. He knew he had to, or he'd only get hurt in the end. Kagome was damn near perfect in his eyes, and one day, he knew she'd realize it. She wouldn't work at Savvy forever; she'd move on eventually, and he'd just be a nice memory to her. That was exactly what he wanted for her, too. She deserved better than a dingy, if not somewhat large apartment. She deserved to finish college, and have a houseful of children. Normal children, that were part of a normal life. That was something she'd never have with him.

"Oh, yeah!" Kagome said as she placed the pictures back in their envelope. "I got something else, too."

"What's that?" he asked, watching as she reached in her purse to retrieve a folded piece of yellow paper, handing it to him.

He unfolded it, reading the bold black text aloud. "The Broadway School of Performing Arts?" He gave her a quizzical look. "What's this?"

"Acting classes. I was thinking of taking some."

"You want to act?"

"I've thought about it a few times. I was in a few plays in high school, and the classes aren't that expensive. I could take them on my days off."

"What about medical school?" he asked.

She shrugged. "I might go back, eventually."

"You don't want to be a doctor?"

"I don't know," she said wistfully. "Back in Tokyo, I had my whole life planned out. What schools I wanted to attend, where I wanted to work, where I wanted to get married and when; even how many kids I wanted. Then, everything got turned upside down. It sort of made me see that there's other choices out there."

Inuyasha wasn't sure how to process this new information. On one hand, he was happy that Kagome was excited to be trying something new, but on the other, it seemed that she was throwing all her opportunity away on something that would probably never get her anywhere in life.

"I'm going to go put the bags in the closet," she told him, standing up. "You want some breakfast?"

He glanced up at her, wondering what choices she'd end up making, and if they'd be the right ones. Were there any real right choices? Or was it all just chance? It was a humbling thought.

"Yeah, breakfast sounds good," he replied, watching her smile before she sauntered away to hide her Christmas presents.

*******

Thanks to all who reviewed, especially inuyashaloverr for her incredibly strange psychic moment! *checks her closet to see if someone's hiding in it* XD

Also, I've actually never seen Bats. I was in the same situation I wrote into the story; someone rented it, a good laugh was had at their expense, and the movie was never watched. If you're looking for a real bomb of a movie, I'd suggest The Other Hell. I've seen them aaallll....