InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Through the Rose Colored Lenses ❯ Actions and Reactions ( Chapter 16 )

A/N: If you didn't read the updated version of Ch.15, then this chapter will not make sense.

Disclaimer: See Ch.1 - 15

Through the Rose Colored Lenses

Ch.16

By Sailor Scribe

"Well?" Sota asked Shippo as he ran towards him. He was standing with his friends at a safe distance from the dark room.

"They kissed the right way this time!" The girls giggled in response. Kohaku smiled and ran back to the deck and whispered in Sango's ear,

"You owe me a new soccer ball." Sango smiled and rejoined Miroku by the bar. He smiled at her as she lovingly whispered,

"You can make the announcement today." He choked on the breath he had been taking before he discretely approached Sesshomaru at the grill and confirmed,

"I am entitled to an extra vacation week a year." Sesshomaru growled in agreement before he took his wife her hotdog and told her,

"Your workload has been reduced." She smiled seductively at her husband and winked. Grabbing the mustard, she turned to her father-in-law, but before she could say a word, he replied,

"I know, and what worries me is that your father probably knows as well."

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Kagome had struggled at first, but with every passing second she was being pulled further and further into his trance. He bit her lower lip and, as she gasped, moved the kiss from chaste to mature. He tasted her anger and relished in it as his arms held her petite body firmly against him. His nose, in the broken breaths he took, ravished the spike of her scent, and all his mind could think of was, "She tastes better than I remember."

In a moment of rational thought, Kagome managed to break the kiss. "What are you doing?" She panted as she tried to break free of the hold his eyes had on her. Her heart, for one, had no intentions of slowing its beats.

"I've never been good with words." He stated simply as he pulled her close once again and claimed her lips.

"Inu Yasha stop!" She screamed before he could entrance her with his lips once more. "I have half a brain to beat you into a bloody pulp for pulling that…that…that stunt!" She manage to fully break free of his embrace, while the stench of the chemicals kept her from taking the deep relaxing breaths she craved. "What were you thinking?" She finally turned to face him, shocked to find hurt in his face.

"I was thinking that if I couldn't tell you how I felt, that I would show you."

"What are you rambling about?" She slowly became angrier as she came to her own conclusions before he could answer. "If you think that you can play me for one of your flavor of the weeks, then I have another thing coming to you! I will not fall for your 'two cent over the counter' charm! So you…"

"Wait one second! Who the hell said I wanted you to be my flavor of the week?" He replied indignantly

"How else do you explain…that?" Her anger had taken over taken her body to the point she was screaming and shaking.

"That was a kiss." His eyes narrowed in furry.

"What right do you have to kiss me?" She crossed her arms defensively as he began stalking her as if she were his prey.

"Every right!"

"How dare you?" She looked at him with a look of pure shock on her face. "The audacity!"

"Oi, come down that damn pedestal of yours and join the rest of us!"

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"It means you liked it!" He concluded as he cornered her against the wall. "And frankly, I liked it too." He whispered into her ear. Kagome gasped for breath as his proximity made her feel claustrophobic…or was her body just reacting to his? Inu Yasha silently crossed his fingers. He was pulling every single seduction technique he knew, the only problem was that Kagome would never fall for 99.9 percent of them. He was left with three options: be blatantly honest, challenge her to date him, or both. He wasn't going to risk it.

He took a deep breath inhaling her scent. "Look, I am not going to lie to you and tell you that I am head over heels in love with you because, I'm not." Kagome looked up to him in surprise. She was not expecting him to say that. "All I know is that I am very attracted to you, and I don't mean you have a nice rear end…well you do, but that's a different story." Inu Yasha mentally kicked himself as Kagome tensed in front of him. She straightened herself to be able to look him in the eye. He had to work fast or she would be out the door faster than Shippo could raid the cookie jar. "All I'm trying to say is that I like you as a person. The more I know you, the more I want to know you, and I haven't had that in a woman in a very long time. I don't want to risk losing it."

"Inu Yasha," her voice was softer and he could see the cloud of doubt in her eyes. "We can't."

"Why not?"

"You are my boss…do you know the ethical implications of that?" She tried to reason.

"I'm not your boss…I'm just the boss's brother." He stated as a-mater-of-factly.

"Fine, but we do work together…Imagine that we do go out for a while, and then we break up, we will still have to see each other every day at work. I'm bound to you by contract for four years."

"Contracts, like rules, are meant to be broken! Look, you can't live your entire life playing safe. Sooner or later, you are going to get burn anyhow. Wouldn't it be better to be burned without regrets?"

"I am not like you, Inu Yasha! I have a brother to worry about! He has lost so much; I don't want him going through that when we break up."

"I wouldn't disappear out of Sota's life just because we weren't seeing each other anymore, and what makes you think we would break up?"

"Because I know you…you…you are the type of man that gets bored of everything, especially women. How long until you decided I was no longer a challenge…that you needed a new adventure?" Inu Yasha growled dangerously low at her, causing her to instinctively raise her Miko aura.

"I could never get bored of you."

"I wish I could believe that, but your track record leads me to believe otherwise." Kagome whispered back softly.

"Will you just write me off then? If this was a shoot, would you drop me just because no other photographer was able work with me? Would you quit before even trying?"

"This is not a shoot!" Kagome protested.

"Just answer me!"

"No…I wouldn't."

"If I was going after Sango, would you tell her to run for the hills?"

"This is ridiculous!" He growled again. "No, I wouldn't. I would tell you to drop it because Sango is in love with Miroku."

"You know what I mean."

"Every woman is different, Inu Yasha."

"Then why don't you let me explore your uniqueness?"

"Because!"

"Because is not an answer."

She looked down avoiding his eyes as she began to mumble, "There isn't anything special about me."

"I beg to differ. There is that unfailing integrity of yours; the amount of natural talent you possess; your smile…"

"Stop that! Flattery will get you nowhere!"

"I'm just telling the truth." She blushed and looked away, but Inu Yasha misread her, and believed she was becoming more aggravated with him. "Look, why don't you give me just one chance? One date…if I can't give you a proof that I am worth the risk, we can go on as if this never happened."

"Inu Yasha…I'm sorry."

"Are you scared?" Inu Yasha knew he was playing with fire, but the rewards would be great if he avoided getting burned. Their eyes met once again.

"One date, and you never bother me again."

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"Yo, you called?" A handsome young man with a low braid asked as he strauted into a dim office.

"It is time to move into the next phase of my plan." Naraku turned to face him. "How would you like a new challenge Bankotsu?"

"Inu Yasha Morrimoto?" A sly smile spread across the young man's face.

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"Inu Yasha, I made your cheeseburgers just like you like them." Sesshomaru greeted his brother with a plate full of meat.

"Thanks bro. Hey do you have any hotdogs?" While his brother turned to the grill, Inu Yasha swiftly switched their plates and headed towards the wooded table where the rest of household was already eating.

"Remind me never to send Kagome to get you again, Inu Yasha. The two of you took forever!" Miroku complained as his best friend sat down next to him.

"Keh, I don't want to hear it!"

"I would tease, but knowing how prude the two of you are, you two probably spent all that time in the dark room actually working." Inu Yasha growled in response sending Miroku a dark glare. "Anyhow, I have an announcement…actually Sango and I have an announcement." Sango and Miroku stood up slightly blushing. "As you all know, Sango and I have been seeing a lot of each other recently, and after much persuasion, I have finally convinced her to commit. We are officially a couple." Everyone clapped and cheered until Sango slapped Miroku.

"Houshi-sama, that does not give you the right to touch me there!" Sango fumed as she made a hasty departure.

"Old habits die hard." Kagome laughed as she kissed her friend's cheek. "Congrats."

"Yes, but that doesn't mean I won't try to correct him." Sango laughed as she joined her friend.

"About time the two of you came around." Inu Yasha agreed. "The two of you were making the single life look pitiful."

"So when are you going to take your own advice?" Kagura inquire. "If anyone makes the single life look bad, it's you."

"Hey, I am not afraid of commitment." He stated looking Kagome in the eyes. She blushed slightly and looked away. "I'm just looking for the right girl."

"Oh, and what is she looking for?"

"Apparently, not me, but don't worry: I'm very persistent."

"How about you Kagome?" Sango inquired. "Are you afraid of commitment?"

"Of course, I'm not a fool. But that's not why I choose to stay single."

"Oh?"

"I don't have time to baby two boys, if you get my drift." Sango and Kagome began to giggle unaware of the death glares Inu Yasha was sending them.

"Hey Kagome, can I spend the night at Kohaku's…please?" Sota looked at her with his biggest puppy dog eyes.

"You can, but I don't know if you may…" Kagome began knowing she would eventually give in. She was a firm believer in making her brother work for the things he wanted.

"May I please spend the night at Kohaku's?"

"Please, Kagome. I promise to take good care of him." Kohaku gave her an equally effective set of puppy eyes.

"Well, if it's alright with Sango…" The boys turned their eyes towards the previously mentioned female.

"Like I could ever say no?"

"Then you may."

"Can I go too?" Shippo looked at the two women with a set of puppy eyes that put the previous two to shame.

"You would need to ask Inu Yasha that." Kagome began.

"Hey Inu," Sota started, "can Shippo stay the night with me at Kohaku's?"

"Yeah, it'll be fun." Kohaku chimed in.

"Please." Shippo begged. Inu Yasha looked like a deer caught in the headlights of an eighteen wheeler.

"Sango?"

"It's fine with me."

"Keh."

"Thanks Inu Yasha!" The three boys chimed.

"Can we go too?" The girls decided to test the water.

"No." Sesshomaru declared before they had the chance to use their techniques.

"Darn!" The girls looked away before deciding they were going to have a sleepover of their own.

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"So, where do you want to go tonight?" Inu Yasha asked once they were on the road. Shippo and Sota had left with Miroku and Sango an hour ago.

"Excuse me?" Kagome readjusted her sunglasses to look at him, the glare from the afternoon sun was bothering her eyes.

"Where do you want to go tonight…on our date?"

"Tonight? I never said tonight." Kagome replied surprised.

"Well, the kids are with Sango…there is no better time than the present."

"I was just hoping to get a little more time to prepare…"

"You mean to get me to change my mind."

"You can call it what you want."

"You are not chickening out are you?" He landed his laughing golden eyes on her.

"I never chicken out. In fact, I'll let you pick the place." She said smiling. He mentally congratulated himself as he cursed the tailgater who seemed to be trying to make out with his car.

"Damn, if that guy wants to cut me off, why doesn't he?" As if answering his question, the black Lamborghini moved to the right lane. Inu Yasha slowed down. Normally, he would give this hot shot a taste of his own medicine, but he would never risk it with Kagome next to him. Without warning, the black car swerved towards them. Inu Yasha outmaneuvered the car silently thanking himself for learning to drive in drag races. Not to be outdone, the Lamborghini performed a 180˚ turn. "There is no way in hell that I'm playing chicken with that guy!"

"Inu Yasha, what are you going to do?" Kagome screamed as Inu Yasha seemed to be driving full speed towards the other car.

"Hold on tight!" Knowing his car well, he moved right avoiding the deadly Lamborghini and making a clean get away. He checked the rearview mirror and was happy to see that the other car did not turn. "Are you hurt?"

"Just shook up? You?"

"Royally pissed off!"

"Who was that guy?"

"No idea."

"Did you happen to catch the license plate number?"

"Naraku1."

"What?"

"He was sending us a message."

"And what would that be?" Kagome looked at him with stormy eyes.

"He means business."

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Hey guys! I know this isn't as long as my usual chapters, but I thought this was a good place to end. Sorry about the long wait, but I had so much work and stress, this story had to go to the back burner for a little while. I was definitely surprised that no one mentioned the kiss, and then I realized why. I'm sorry about that….I promise to be more careful from now on.

I want to take a moment and do my little celebration dance. I can't believe I hit 300 reviews. You guys are awesome. I love you all. Till next chapter…the date!