InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Conqueror's Wife ❯ Fleeting Hours ( Chapter 5 )

Time for an update!

Disclaimer: I spit on your disclaimers. Ptooey! J/K nothing is mine!

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Inuyasha arrived at the shipyard shortly after Kagome did. She was waiting on the steps in front of the large gate.

"Lady Kagome! Why are you here so early this morning?" He had dreamt about her coming to greet him, but he never thought she actually would. He had the urge to pinch himself to make sure he was awake.

"Well I wanted to ask you to eat lunch with me."

"Oh, of course I will, but it is six hours until lunch."

"I know. I just wanted to get to you before anyone else did." They both knew that wasn't true. Inuyasha usually didn't even eat lunch, much less eat with someone else. The gates opened and a few workers started to file inside. He looked at them sadly.

"I have to go to work now."

"I will be waiting at the tavern."

"I will be there." He entered the shipyard and headed to his station. Kagome stood where he had left her for a few moments before heading into the tavern.

"Lady Kagome! I'm surprised to see you back so soon." Sango smiled at her from behind the bar. Most of the time there was a good week long stretch between her visits. She hadn't come two days in a row since four years earlier when her father was still alive.

"Lord Hiten has left on business, and I thought I would go out. He lets me leave the palace so infrequently, you know?"

"Yes, I do. There are other things I know too. You didn't just come here to get away from your home did you?"

"What are you talking about, Sango?"

"You spoke with Inuyasha yesterday. I can tell that you want him. Be careful, Lady Kagome, for his sake." Kagome frowned at that. He was a strong man. He could take care of himself. Besides, how would Hiten ever find out she was talking to him?

"He'll be fine. I'll take some tea." They spoke for a while longer before Kagome took her leave to sit outside. She watched Inuyasha work and listened to the sounds of the shipyard. The beats of the hammer and the scratches of the saw were like music to her ears. She hated the palace because it lacked this. It was a silent place. She always felt like she needed to whisper lest she break some unwritten rule. The hours until lunch seemed to drag on forever. When the bell finally rang, he came directly to her. They sat together and spoke of all they could think of until, seemingly moments later, the bell rang again. Kagome watched him return to his work. Miroku came from inside the pub and sat next to her.

"It's amazing isn't it?" She asked the question without breaking her gaze from Inuyasha.

"What, Lady Kagome?"

"How hours seem to drag on like days when you are waiting for something, and when you finally get it, an hour flies by like a minute."

"That is amazing."

For five days in a row Kagome's routine remained unchanged. She would get up early and meet Inuyasha before he entered the shipyard. They would eat lunch and talk together. Then she would watch him until the sun went down. Every time they spoke, they became more relaxed. Their conversations flowed easier, and they were comfortable in each other's presence.

On the sixth day, she decided it was time she got to spend more than just an hour with the sweet man. Every time they were really getting into a good conversation, the bell would ring and he would have to return to his job. They sat across from each other at the thin patio table. He was only two feet away from her. It was much different than the long dining hall she had been used to. She looked intently at him as he ate the ramen she had ordered for him. She thought it was funny that his favorite thing to eat was the cheapest thing on the menu. Maybe he had forced it that way. Enjoy the least expensive and survive. His face was so soft looking despite the dirt that stained it and every other part of him. When she watched him, she found it hard to keep her thoughts from what his dirty callused hands would feel like against the silkiness of her own pure white skin. The bell rang and broke her from her thoughts as he stood up to go.

"Inuyasha!" she cried. She had not asked him yet, and she couldn't let him leave without doing so.

"What is it, Lady Kagome?"

"What are you doing for dinner tonight?" She had sounded so desperate, he thought something had been wrong.

"I was just going to make something at home."

"Would you care to join me at the palace instead?"

"No." She looked at him blankly. He didn't want to be with her? She thought he really liked her.

"Oh."

"But if you would like to come and join me, that would be fine."

"Oh, I would like that very much." He smiled at her.

"Then tonight, we shall eat together in my home." He turned and ran in the direction of the shipyard. Kagome beamed. He barely made it before the late bell sounded. She now understood why Ayame had said it was her fault Kouga never got to work on time.

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A/N: Okay, if five updates in one day isn't enough, I don't know what else I can do. It's 12:46 in the AM now though and I should probably turn in. Review and I'll write more in the morning.