A/Y: As usual, this came out way longer than I though it would. Whoops. The first half of the story has been sitting on my phone for a looong time so today I was like, "Welp, *rolls up metaphorical sleeves* lets get this shit done!" So I did! Enjoy!
His tongue stuck out the corner of his mouth in concentration. He sat back, admiring his work before nodding his satisfaction. The child glanced over in the mirror on side table before her face lit up and her smile reached her eyes. She bounced over to her friends to show them her face which now looked like a kitten. A very detailed one at that.
Inuyasha placed his paintbrush on the edge of his pallet and stood up to stretch his arms over his head. He'd been sitting for a good 3 hours, having painted just about every kid's face at the party. It wasn't exactly his idea of a good way to be spending his Sunday but it made him money and gave him good practice.
"S'cuse me, mister?" A small voice made his ears twitch and he looked down to see a small kitsune child pull on his pant leg. He had bright red hair tied up in a messy looking ponytail and his face was unpainted.
"What'd ya want, kid?" Inuyasha grumbled.
"I've been watching you." Well that certainly didn't sound right.
"My mom's birthday is coming up and I want you to paint her a real nice picture. I'll do anything." At first he thought the kid was joking but by the serious expression on the child's face, he knew this was no jest.
"Look brat, I'll talk to your mom and we'll figure it out." Inuyasha kneeled to ruffle the child's hair. When he was about to stand back up again, the kid grabbed his wrist, yelling an abrupt 'No!', holding him down.
"You can't tell her! It has to be a surprise!" Inuyasha tilted his head, confused and the child glanced down at the ground.
"She's not my real mom. That one died but she's like a mom and she's so pretty and nice and her scent doesn't bother my nose and I love her!" His sudden confession left him with a small blush. "But she's been real sad and I don't know why! So I wanna do something real special for her to make her happy again!"
Inuyasha frowned at the child who now had tears in his eyes.
"You know it costs a lot of money to get somethin professionally done, don't cha?" Inuyasha asked him sternly and the child nodded his head vigorously, the hanyou sighed.
"Where is she? I ain't gonna talk to her, I just wanna know what she looks like." The child pointed with a tiny finger over towards a young women, probably no older than 25, talking with another human women about her age. Her hair was long, settling mid back. It stood stark against her bright white dress and light skin. Her eyes were near as blue as the sky and face shaped perfectly to mold in the palms of one's hands. But the kid was right, she looked tired and sad. Oh he had some ideas of what to do.
He looked back down at the child who stared smugly at him. Inuyasha glared.
"Keh. I'll do it. Can you get me a picture of her or somethin? And it's gotta be a good one." The child beamed and without a word, bounded into the house, racing back out with a picture in hand.
"It's from when she was happy." Inuyasha took the picture out of the frame. He definitely would figure something out.
"So how much money you got?" The youkai shifted, digging the toe of his sneaker into the ground, digging a small hole in the dirt.
"Well, I ain't got much. Only 100,000 yen. But I swear I'll make up the rest however you want! I'll come everyday after school!" Inuyasha's eyes narrowed at the small amount of money he'd be payed with such a large project. He shook his head, not believing what he was doing.
"You gotcher self a deal, brat. Call me Inuyasha." He stuck his hand out and the boy shook it.
"Good. I'm Shippo. Her birthday is in a month so it'd better be done by then." Inuyasha growled.
"Listen hear, I'm in charge. You listen to me or you're gonna be looking for another painter."
"Yes sir..."
Well so much for knowing what to do. It had been a week since the party and he still couldn't get it right. He continued to stare at the picture of her, studying her face. She was beautiful, the perfect subject for a painting and yet it was the most difficult painting he'd ever had to do. There were just so many possibilities.
Sighing, he got up, grabbing his phone and jacket, heading towards the main entrance of his gallery and to his car. Maybe getting out and around would help him get some inspiration.
He drove for a while before coming to an older nature reservation. A smile twitched on his lips as he pulled into the gravel parking lot which, unsurprisingly, was void of any other vehicles. He climbed out and walked briskly to the tree in the middle of a small field, little stones circling the large plant and bright, beautiful flowers bloomed up around it, some of them tangling their way up the truck to reach for the sun.
Gracefully, he sprung up into the branches high up, taking in the view of the treeline just in front him. The way the sun was angled made the colors of the trees more vibrant. A large flock of birds fled from a tree somewhere far away in the distance and he could imagine her stand there, looking off in the distance at the edge of the forest, her hand tangled in her hair to try and keep it from blowing around so much in the wind.
Nope. He growled quietly to himself. It wasn't enough. Though he would try and remember the scene if a landscape job came up anytime soon. He huffed, turning his attention to the old, stone exploratory building. The doors were, or would be if he hasn't broken in, locked shut as the building was no longer in use.
He shut his eyes, trying to imagine the inside of the building. The dust blew up in the air as he slowly shuffled his feet across the floor, the light shining through the glassless windows made the dust in the air look like pixie dust. He could see her standing in the window, forearms resting on the window sill, light shining nicely off her ebony locks that rolled naturally over her shoulders and down her back.
He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. No. That wasn't right either. The atmosphere was too damp and dark in there. This was far more difficult than he would have imagined. Talk about artist block.
"Excuse me?" He nearly jumped out of his skin when a soft voice called out to him from below where he lounged on a limb. His head snapped down to see exactly the woman he'd been thinking about. She smiled softly, her eyes brightening.
"Sorry. I didn't mean to scare you. Just wondering if I could sit here?" She asked politely, gesturing to the wooden bench under the tree.
"Keh. Do what you want. 'S not like I care." He scoffed at her, turning away. She frowned at him and his rude behavior but, nevertheless, she sprawled out across the bench with her hands under her head and feet hanging over the edge of the armrest on the opposite end. She was dressed in a short, black skirt that ended mid thigh. Her shirt was a white tank top that tucked into her skirt, simple yet somehow she made it almost elegant. A thin, black sweater had been through on over her shoulders and arms, keeping her warm as the sun began to set below the horizon. Her shoes were small, black boots that only came up to her ankles and there was what looked like a faux gold zipper on the outside of the shoe, black tassel hanging off the zipper. Her eyes stared up at the sky, watching and waiting as it turned from blue to red, to orange, to yellow, to pink, and to purple. She looked so intrigued but relaxed with bright eyes. Her black hair was spread out wildly behind her, some of it falling off the edge of the seat next to and behind her.
Perfect.
Before she could turn away and ruin the image of perfection in front of him, he whipped out a small, disposable camera from his pocket he always carried around with him. It wasn't a professional camera so he could adjust to the dying light but he'd have to make due with what he had. Quickly, and quietly as possible, Inuyasha snapped a picture of her as she lay and put the camera back in his pocket as the camera clicked. She looked up at him, obviously hearing the click and understandably confused. He shrugged, trying to look unsuspicious and she smiled, raising an eyebrow at him. He smirked at her, falling into his nature state of cocky and defensiveness and it seemed like something lit up her head.
"Aren't you the artist who I hired for Shippo's birthday party?" She asked, excited as she sat up. He nodded.
"Ah! I'm glad I met up with you again! I never got to thank you. All the kids loved the face painting you did. I love your style, it's so beautiful and fluent. I know it wasn't exactly a regular job but it was so last minute and you did a fantastic job. Thank you so much for coming." He couldn't help the soft smile that played his lips as she looked up at him with such sincere gratitude and appreciation.
"It was no problem. Besides, I got payed and got to brush up on improv painting." He waved his hand in a dismissive gesture.
"So what are you doing out here? Looking for inspiration?" She cocked her head cutely.
"Yeah, I guess you could say that. What'da 'bout you? Ain't it kinda late to be wandering alone?" She shifted, looking a bit uncomfortable and he was about to take back the question when she answered.
"Yeah, I guess so. I just... I just got through with a date. A really bad one. With the kind of guy who says you have to split the bill while staring at your waitress." She rolled her eyes and made an irritated kind of noise in the back of her throat. His nose scrunched up in disgust. Why the hell would she go out with a guy like that? He must have voiced such a thought aloud because she laughed a bit and shook her head.
"Obviously I'm not calling him up again for a second date but when I first met him, he seemed nice enough. Besides, I guess it was kind of my fault for jumping at the chance of a relationship when I didn't know him all that well. My life has just been so empty lately. I have Shippo and of course my friends but, I feel, I don't know, lonely. It's like something is missing." She sighed and shrugged.
"I think I give up though. You know what they say, 'You find love where you least expect it.' Guess I should stop expecting." He nodded and looked back up at the branches tangled above him. It was getting pretty dark. He jumped down from his spot in the tree and helped her from her position on the bench, walking her to her car. He watched, leaning against the hood of his car as she drove back down the gravel path from which she came. After he could no longer see the shine of her headlights, he climbed in the driver's seat of his own car and headed back towards his gallery. He had a picture and needed to get to work on the sketch. He had a long night ahead of him.
He had gone right up to the deadline. It was 5 am when the alarm on his phone had gone off right next to his head, making him nearly off out of his seat. He had fallen asleep around 3:30 and had sent Shippo home at 10:45. His head was cradled in his arms right next to his pallet and paint was smeared across his face.
Looking up, he turned off the alarm blaring in his ear and stretched, releasing a tongue curling yawn. He had to be over at the Higurashi's house before 7 so he had less than 2 hours to wash off all the paint staining his body along with the appearance that he had gotten less than 3 hours of sleep. He gave one last look at his painting before grabbing a half empty cup of cold coffee and heading out the door.
At 6:56 he pulled up the long drive to the Higurashi house, his painting tucked carefully under his arm, a white sheet over it. He ran up to the front door and before he could knock, the door was pulled open by Shippo who looked both tired and irritated.
"Where the hell were you!" The boy whispered angrily, grabbing Inuyasha's hand and pulling him in the door. The kitchen was set up with a nice spread of breakfast foods, balloons strung and streamers hung.
"You did all this?" Inuyasha muttered softly to himself. How old was this kid again?
"Oh goodness no! He would've burned the house down before the first waffle popped up!" A cheery voice called from the next room over and an older looking Kagome walking in the room, an overweight cat trailing after her.
"Kagome's mother?" He asked.
"At your service. Inuyasha?" She smiled warmly and he nodded, extending his free hand which she took.
"Well, it's good to finally meet you. I've heard a lot about you from Shippo and Kagome." She wiggled her eyebrows suggestively and he blushed. After he met with Kagome in the park, they had begun to talk more frequently. It was mostly about nonsense but it was nice and gave him the motivation he needed to finish the painting. They weren't dating but he told himself that once he finished the painting (if she liked it) , he'd subtlety suggest they go out some time for a date.
It wasn't long before a few more people drifted in from other rooms. Two of Kagome's close friends, her younger brother and grandfather joined in to help set up before Kagome came out. Around 8:30, Kagome was heard knocking on Shippo's door, telling him it was time to get up and he called to her, telling her he was already up and in the kitchen. He could smell the surprise on Kagome when Shippo responded from the kitchen and heard the click of her heels as she walked down the hallway and down the stairs. The look on her face was priceless when she saw the decorations and the closest people in her life standing in her kitchen.
Her hair flowed nicely down her back, a few strands were thrown over her shoulders, the natural waviness of them standing out. She wore a long, lacy white skirt that ended just above her knee and billowy baby blue shirt. One strap started on her shoulder and slowly it ended up under her opposite arm. She looked as beautiful as ever. She smiled gratefully at everyone as her eyes passed over them and he was pretty sure that her eyes widened and lingered on him a little longer than anyone else. She descended the stairs slowly as everyone greeted her, wishing her a happy birthday.
After everyone had settled down, relaxing in the living room after breakfast, they started to whisper about the easel set up in the corner of the room next to the window. Fed up with their curiosity, Inuyasha took Kagome's hand gently in his, leading her up to the front of the room, next to the painting.
"Alright, alright. Settle down already." He rose his voice above the low roar of the crowd. Taking a deep breath, he tried to remember what he decided on saying.
"I haven't known Kagome that long. I just met her a little over a month ago for the brat's birthday party and let me tell you that he is very demanding." He glared at said brat who had comfortably taken over the spot where his mother had previously been sitting.
"But he's a pretty considerate, I guess based on the problem he came to me with. He said that his mom was sad and lonely and he wanted to get her somethin real great for her birthday in a month. He didn't have a lot of money but luckily he has worked off all the money he owed me. Unfortunately, the task I was given was a lot harder than I thought it would've been. After all, there was so much I could do with the subject since they were so fitting and gorgeous." He blushed, admitting how much he really admired and appreciated Kagome's presence and beauty. He looked over next to him to see Kagome blush right along with him. Taking another deep breath, he continued.
"It took me a week to figure it out. The subject herself approached me, unknowing that she was the source of my problem but as soon as she sat down, I had the perfect image. You'd better like it because I was up all night last night finishing it." He smirked a little, ripping the sheet off of the canvas and there was a collective gasp.
The canvas was 24 by 36 and every inch was covered in paint. The perspective was from up above, looking down on Kagome. She was in the same outfit as she was on that day and her expression was the main focal point of the piece, her relaxed and content expression making everyone else feel at peace. The shadows of the leaves from above danced across her face with tall grasses and exuberant wildflowers dotting the earth around the bench and stretched up to reach her, as if she were the sun. She was highlighted by the bright orange light of the setting sun somewhere off in the distance.
He glanced over at Kagome, trying to gauge her reaction from the look on her face. Her mouth was hanging up and tears were forming her eyes. Slowly, she approached the painting, reaching out and, carefully, dragged her fingertips over the surface. She glanced up at him and spoke softly.
"This is how you saw me?" She asked and he nodded, using his thumb to swipe away a loose tear that slid down her flushed cheek.
"Keh. 'Course it is. You're beautiful." He said in a hushed tone, hoping no one else could hear their conversation. She looked away from the painting, breaking her own entrancement to stare at him. She broke into a smile and he sighed, relived. Her hand climbed up, cupping the side of his face, drawing little circles on the surface of his skin with her thumb. She pulled him down, leaning in and he reciprocated the action so that their lips met. The kiss couldn't be called chaste but neither could it be called heated. It was endearing and loving, soft but firm. Their lips smoothed over each others, fluently moving against one another and they were close to losing themselves in their partner.
"Had you stopped expecting?" He murmured against her lips, his eyes hazy and half lidded.
"No," She confessed. "I knew you'd come around." She smirked and he chuckled huskily, leaning back in.
Unfortunately, it was the 'Ewww!' yelled out by Shippo from over on the couch that broke their peace.