InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ That's Show Business ❯ Dinner For One ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: You know the drill. I DO own Inu Yasha AND Kagome AND everyone else! Mwah-HAHAHAHAHAHA! They are my personal servants and bow down to my every whim! Now, Inu Yasha my love, go fetch my slippers!

chihiro-san: Sorry about the disclaimer. I'm in a weird mood. I am also feeling sarcastic and mean. Hey! All you people that read my stuff! I LOVE YOU!!!!! I love you all. You make my day. When I come home after being in Hell (school) for a zillion years (give or take a century), I love sitting back and reading my reviews. They make me feel all warm and fuzzy inside! Unfortunately, the only person who does review is angelbabe17, but I'm not complaining. I love reading her opinions. However, it'd be nice to hear other people's (hint*hint*nudge*nudge*wink*wink*ya' know what I mean?*ya' know what I mean?). Okay, well, I'm done rambling, so…enjoy!

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"Sango? Why's she upset? Did I say the wrong thing?" Inu Yasha stared at her with imploring, honey-colored eyes. She dropped her gaze, instead focusing on the cracks that spidered up the inside of her empty coffee mug. It was amazing how one's attention could be snatched away by simple things when one is nervous.

"She's not…mad at you," she said at last.

"Well, then, what is she mad about?"

"She's not mad, just confused. Maybe you should give her a little space. I think she'd like that." Her eyes returned to the hanyou as she attempted a weak smile. A resolute stare filled his eyes. He nodded to Sango once and left the cafeteria. `Does anyone else think that my life's a badly written soap-opera?' Sango wondered, watching the hanyou retreat down the hallway.

*

Kagome had paid her dues for that weekend, and now it was time to make a withdrawal from the Bank of Happiness. Tossing her purse onto her bed, she kicked off her shoes and picked up the phone. She leafed through the phonebook for a minute until she found what she was looking for. With one finger under the number, one hand taking off her socks, and one shoulder balancing the phone, she dial…somehow.

"Hello? New China Restaurant," a voice on the other end said.

"Hi, I'd like about…oh… four boxes of house chow-mien, an order of pot stickers, two boxes of pork fried rice…um…some, uh, do you have any general chow chicken? Okay, yeah, I'd like two-no-three orders of that and a diet coke…Yes, this is for one. Oh, the Hidden Palm. Room 234. Mhm. Mhm. Okay, forty minutes. Gotcha. Alright, bye." She put the phone back in its holder and glanced at the face of her digital clock. It read half-past four. Deciding that the food would take forever to get to her, Kagome pinned up her hair and walked swiftly into the bathroom. She turned the `hot' tap on and slipped one of the scented hotel soaps into the stream of water that was gushing into the pearly basin. She slipped out of her filthy clothes and kicked them across the bathroom tiles. When the bath was full, she slipped into the steaming water and relaxed.

The sweet scent of lavender played across her face as she slipped into a half-sleep. This was Kagome's favorite time of evening, especially when she was a kid. She'd draw up a bath just as the sun was beginning to set. Her mother would be bent over the stove, cooking, while Grandpa and Sota would argue about one thing or another. She loved her family so much, and missed them too. The thing she hated most about growing up was growing away. She'd always been close to her family, and having to leave them for a college in America was near to unbearable. She'd always loved different accents and liked the idea of being a dialect coach, but every birthday was spent in pain, for she knew that the only sign of her family would be a phone call and they were expensive enough. Long distance to Japan was the only present she ever received nowadays. A soft knocking on her door brought Kagome back to reality.

"Just a minute!" she called, grudgingly stepping out of the tub. She flicked the drain stopper up and slipped a towel around her dripping form. The knock grew slightly impatient.

"I said, `just a minute!'" she yelled at the door, as if it was the one making the noise. She dove deep into her purse and pulled out a few crumpled bills. Again, the knock became harsher.

"Hey, buddy! What part of `just a minute' don't you understand?!" She snapped as she opened the door. Without bothering to look at the delivery boy, she leafed through the green in her hand.

"Okay, so how much is it?" She asked distractedly.

"Twelve dollars and twenty cents. By the way, do you always greet your delivery boys like this?" She yelped in surprise and looked at just who was holding her food. It was Inu Yasha, and he seemed highly amused.

"Holy shit!" She shrieked, slamming the door shut in his face. She quickly pounced on her suitcase and threw on some clothes. She messily did up the buttons on her shirt and threw on a pair of jeans. `How dare he deliver my food for me! And how did he know that I'd ordered? Did he tap my phone line? Maybe he jumped the delivery boy in the hallway and threw him down the elevator shaft…No; he would only do that to Kouga. KOUGA! Oh my God, I do NOT want to have to talk to him yet, especially if he finds out about last weekend or right now, for that matter. Wait…nothings going to happen right now, so there's no reason for him to be worried! I just happen to have a gorgeous hanyou outside my door, with a gorgeous smile…and my favorite food in the whole world…OH! He's still out there!' She was so lost in her thought that she had completely forgotten about the actor that was right outside. Without a second thought, she ran to the door and yanked it open. Fortunately for her, Inu Yasha was still standing outside with the bags of food on his arms.

"Um…If this is a bad time, I can just go."

"NO! I mean, its okay. Um, how did you get my food?" She unintentionally scanned the hallway in search of the delivery boy's mangled body. After finding none, she returned her gaze to the `new' delivery boy.

"I saw him as I was coming back from the hospital. He was in the lobby, looking lost. I asked who the food was to. He told me and, being the nice person that I am, asked if I could deliver it to you for him, seeing as I know you." Kagome snorted and leaned against the doorframe. `Inu Yasha? Nice?! That'll be the day.'

"And he just gave you the food, did he?" she scoffed.

"Well, I paid him a little extra for it than was necessary," he mentioned in an off-hand tone. "So who all's in there?" He tried to look over her shoulder, but she stopped him by straightening up.

"What so you mean?"

"Well," he said, examining the packages that hung from his forearms, "you've got enough food here to feed the cast and crew of our movie. I just assumed that you were having a staff party and didn't invite me."

"No, I didn't invite anyone-I mean-it's just me."

"Oh." A slightly awkward silence followed. Kagome scanned the hallway again for reasons she couldn't fathom. She just felt like something was amiss.

"I'll be going now, then," Inu Yasha said. He handed Kagome the bags of food and turned to walk down the hall.

"Wait!" She called. He stopped and cocked a fuzzy ear in her direction. She chewed on her lip as she weighed her options. "Would you like to come in? I don't think that I can eat all of this." He whipped around and flashed her a heartwarming boyish grin.

"Yeah, sure!" he pipped enthusiastically. He trotted back to her door and relieved her of the heavy food bags. After she stepped into the room, he followed her and set the bags down on an overly-polished oak table. He noted dully that the cute little one-bed room was cleaned and organized to the point of being disgusting. One thing he did notice, and gave a little suspicion to, was the door on the wall to his right. `Please, don't let that be wolf boy's room.' He inwardly prayed.

"So who's your neighbor?" he asked casually.

"Sango, but she'll be staying with Miroku until he's released tomorrow."

`Yes, yes, yes, double-YES!!!' he cheered. Only a slight curving of his lips indicated that he was feeling anything at all.

"Tomorrow, huh? That was fast." He turned from her and began to rifle through the bags of food.

"He wasn't hurt that badly, and he's a pretty fast healer. Remember the time when Myoga accidentally forgot to screw in one of the light bulbs? Remember how it broke and when Miroku cut his hand and electrocuted himself while trying to fix it? We didn't even take him to the hospital that time and he was fine."

"Oh yeah…It's coming back to me now. Man, he was the funniest thing. He'd walk a few steps, then fidget, then walk, then fidget. It was like the charge was still going through him. God, and do you remember his hair?!" An authentic smile was plastered on his face as the hanyou reminisced. She laughed and reached for the box of pot stickers.

"Yeah! I-…" She stopped suddenly and looked at the box. Inu Yasha and she tried to take it at the same time, resulting in his hand holding hers. They gaped like a couple of fish for a minute, and then leapt back.

"I-um-you take them," she mumbled, snatching a pair of chopsticks and a carton of chow-mien from the bag. She weakly trudged over to the bed and flopped down before opening her take-away treat. He smiled at her back and followed with another pair of chopsticks and the rest of the food. Apparently, the Chinese restaurant didn't believe that she was eating alone, so they packed about a dozen pairs of chopsticks along with the food. Quite lucky for them that they did, because in the end she wasn't eating alone. They silently slurped down noodles and dumplings strait from the box. After a time, Kagome spoke.

"You know," she said, taking a small drink of her coke, "for being a famous movie star you sure have bad table manners." He reached over and coyly stole some of the chow-mien out of her carton, and then promptly shoved it into his half-full mouth. He chewed approximately twice before swallowing.

"Only in private. In public I'm the sweet, impeccable, well-rounded, and nice, all around good guy. When I'm alone, I can be the selfish, piggish, annoying, frustrating asshole that I know I really am."

"You're not all bad," she consoled.

"Yeah? Well, I'm not all good either." They turned back to their food, but instead of eating, Inu Yasha just chuckled softly. Kagome looked back up at him.

"What? What's so funny?"

"You're really one to talk about table manners, Kagome," he snorted.

"WHAT? Tell me!" He pointed to her once-pristine white shirt. Across the front was a rather large drizzling of hot mustard.

"Oh, damn," she swore as she picked up a clean shirt from her bag.

"Oooooo….Kagome said a bad word!" he squeaked in a mocking voice.

"Shut up, you. Just give me two seconds." She walked back into the bathroom and began to unbutton her shirt. `Stupid mustard. It's just like soy sauce; they're both great but you can't eat `em without getting them on you.' Just then, a knock came from her room door.

"I'll get it," Inu Yasha said, standing up.

"NO! Not you!" Kagome called. `Whoever's out there will think that I'm a tramp if he opens my door!' She shot out of the bathroom and almost ripped the door off of its hinges. She felt her jaw drop when she saw who it was. Standing in the hallway with his arm raised in mid-knock, was Kouga.

"Hi! I-oh my Guh…" was all he managed to say. His eyes grew to an unnatural size as he stared at her, unblinking. Kagome didn't get it for a second until she felt a hand on her shoulder and a voice from behind.

"Kagome, sweetie, you really should get dressed before you answer the door," Inu Yasha purred. In her rush to answer the door before him she had forgotten to re-button her new shirt. To top it off, Inu Yasha was acting like they had been doing something wrong instead of innocently eating Chinese food. Kouga flushed a deep crimson and stormed down the hallway. Kagome quickly did up her blouse and chased after him.

"No! Wait, Kouga! It's not what it looks like!"

"Oh, really, then! What is it?!" He snarled, rounding on her. She gulped and put on a furious face.

"We were eating Chinese food and I spilled some mustard on my shirt. When I was in the back changing, I heard the door knock, so I automatically went to open it. I'm sorry that I forgot to do up my shirt!" The explanation was wasted as he grew angrier by the second.

"What was Inu Yasha doing in there with you in the first place?!" She sighed in an exasperated way and took hold of his shoulders.

"LOOK! His friend was almost killed in a mugging the other day and he was feeling really down so I invited him over for a spot of dinner, okay?!" Technically, she wasn't lying. Just stretching the truth to its full extent. That seemed to assuage the youkai a bit, for he hugged her and kissed her by the ear.

"I'm sorry, my love. I just thought I was going to lose you." `Aw, fuzz. I don't want to tell him. He's so sweet sometimes, but… I know that he'll never be around to be sweet.'

"Kouga…I have to tell you something." He stopped hugging her and backed up a bit. His eyebrows were arched in wonder.

"You're not pregnant, are you?" he asked.

"What?! No, I'm not pregnant! What gave you that idea?"

"Well, you sounded so serious and resolute that I thought you were going to tell me that I was a father, or something!" He smiled.

"No, no. You're not a dad! I was just going to say that I think we should break up." His smile shattered into a thousand pieces, just like his heart. A broken, crestfallen look fell on his face and his eyes began to shine.

"W-what?" he breathed.

"I'm sorry Kouga, but you're never there for me. I love you, honestly I do, but I'm not really…the type for long-distance relationships."

"I'll be there for you! I can-um-quit Greenpeace and we can live together!" She smiled sadly at him and shook her head.

"No, we can't. Greenpeace is too important to you; I won't let you quit. I'm so sorry, but this is the only way." She kissed him lightly on the cheek and walked back into her room. Just before she shut the door, she glanced back to find him collapsed in a heap on the floor. He had his face hidden in his arms and was shaking violently. A painful tear fell down Kagome's cheek as she shut the door quietly.

*

Kouga saw that Kagome had gone inside before he fell to the ground. Anger coursed through is veins like a deadly poison and he cursed the death of the hanyou under his breath.

`Inu Yasha! You stole my mate from me! I swear…I'll make you pay!'

*

"Is he gone?" Inu Yasha almost laughed. Kagome turned to him, stricken with the awful deed that she had just done. The poor dear was out in the hallway, right now, cut up into a million pieces because of her! Tear after horrid tear trickled from her eyes. The amused smile quickly dissipated when he saw that she was crying.

"Kagome? What's wrong?" he asked, getting up from his seat on the bed.

"HOW COULD YOU?!" she screamed. He jumped back and almost tripped over himself in surprise.

"What?"

"I just had to break up with Kouga, and it's all because of YOU! I HATE YOU! Just get out of my face! Get out of my life! Why don't you just curl up and DIE?!" He wasn't exactly sure about why she was so mad, but he knew one thing: She needed comfort of some kind. He walked slowly over to her, but a death glare from her made him stop about a foot away.

"Just get out of my room! Leave me alone!"

"I'm sorry," he attempted.

"How DARE you be sorry for me! You're NOT SORRY and never will be!" She pounced on him, knocking him backwards. She fell with him and they hit the paisley carpet with a loud thud. In her rage and anger she began to punch him in the chest over and over. This did nothing, however, for the demon portion of him made him unnaturally strong. After about five minutes of wasting energy, she withered like a flower in the desert and fell next to him. He didn't even blink the whole time. It was better for her to just let her anger go then to bury it deep down inside of her. He slipped an arm around her and hugged her tightly to him.

"Its okay, Kagome. It'll be alright." She sobbed into him and stopped her mantra of `I hate you, I hate you'.

"H-how can it be alright wh-when it h-hurts so bad now?" she gasped.

"I don't know. I've never loved anything before, so I can't sympathize." She looked up at him from the crook in his arm.

"Never ever? You never loved anything?"

"No. I don't think I ever have."

"Not even your mother?" His gaze became hard and frigid. `Oops.' Kagome thought. He was quiet for a long, long time, and then he picked her up and carried her over to her bed. After pushing the empty boxes of food onto the floor with one hand, he laid her down on the comforter and pushed the hair out of her face.

"I've overstayed my welcome," he said finally as he got to his feet. He walked down the miniature hall and was almost out the door when she hopped off of the bed.

"Wait!" she exclaimed. "I'm sorry, I don't hate you." He smiled at her in an ironic way.

"That's funny, because I hate me." And with that, turned to leave without a backward glance.

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chihiro-san: Here you are! It's hot off the presses! I hope you enjoy it, because I had to slave away, bent over a hot computer for all of two minutes-I mean- all day typing this for you! Ha ha ha-di-ha ha! Well, it's late and I must be off. Toodles!