The continuing of Inuyasha: Evolution
Where we last left off…..
Shaking his head, blaming his tiredness and exhaustion, Miroku used some pain-relieving salve to cover the infection and then wrapped a bandage around it to keep himself from smearing the stuff everywhere.
He swallowed a few pain-killers just for good measure, hoping they would make him drowsy enough to fall asleep.
They did.
When he woke the next morning the pain was gone, as was the itch, but the inflammation remained.
He forgot about it the moment his life mate returned, as their bodies entwined in an age-old dance, as pleasure took away his worries, his sleepless nights, his pain…
***
As the plane was coming into Tokyo Airport, the woman looking out the window smiled to herself.
'I can't wait to see them all again. Kagome, Sango & Sesshou, Miroku & Inuyasha, Shippo, and especially Koga. It's been so long and I can't stand not being with them all. I really missed you guys.'
The plane came in for a steady landing as smooth as can be. The captain of plane came on the intercom to say they had made into Tokyo.
"Thank you everyone for flying with Tokyo Airlines today, it is about 62 degrees out, still sunny even though its 6 o'clock."
The woman stood up from her seat to exit the plane into the platform. It was almost time for her to meet her very extended family in almost 5 years. Ayume had butterflies in the pits of her stomach.
***
Kagome had gotten dressed and ready so she could get to the mall for the sale they were having.
"Koga, do you want to tag along?" she smiled.
He quirked an eyebrow at her as if she asked him to jump off a bridge or something.
"Umm, you know Kagome," he said hesitantly, "I have a lot of work that I've gotta do, so why don't you go on ahead without me."
She looked at him and winked, knowing already what his answer was going to be.
"Okay, see ya later!" she yelled as she walked out the door.
*
'Wow, a lot has changed since the last time I was here.' Ayume thought, 'I wonder if they've all changed as well?' she thought a bit worriedly, 'No, I know they haven't, at least not much, just a smidge. Thinking that made her cheer up.
As Ayume walked through the airport she felt exuberant, like she could just burst into a ray sunshine, as if nothing could bring her down,…or so she thought.
She picked up her Palm Trio out of her handbag while she waited for luggage to display itself, and with a flick of her wrist she dialed a number oh so easily and it began to ring.
"Hello?" answered a groggy voice into the phone.
"Hey, Yash, I'm back from the US big bro!" the hyper girl squealed into the phone.
The man on the other end of the line gasped with shock to hear the woman's voice again.
**
Kagome skipped around the mall enjoying the multiple sales going on. She had only come for one, but decided not to skip out on the others.
'I think I'll call Koga and see how he's doing.' she mused as she reached into her purse for her phone. It was a struggle, as with all the shopping bags she had, but she managed to get it out.
She dialed his number, but the line was busy.
"That's strange, he should be answering his phone," she scrunched her face causing little wrinkles on her forehead, "or maybe he's on a business call or something."
She put her phone back in her purse that was submerged in bags and continued her mission to hit all the stores with sales going on.
*
A tall man with white hair about shoulder length was leaning on the chair of his dining room table. He had a newspaper in one hand and a cup of freshly brewed tea in the other. He sipped the tea quietly while his eyes grazed over the articles.
His cell phone was on the table when it began to vibrate wildly. He reached for it and looked at the caller id, but there was no name just a number he didn't recognize.
He rolled his eyes an answered the phone.
"Sesshoumaru speaking, who's calling?" he asked in a stoic voice.
"Aww, Sesshou, it's so nice to hear your voice again, even though you don't sound too happy, but…well, you never did sometimes, so umm, hi!" Ayume screamed into the phone almost deafening the youkai.
The man pulled the phone away from his ear and chuckled at her, already knowing who it was when she said 'Sesshou', though he disliked the nickname very much even though his wife called him so.
"It's been quite a long time Ayume since you left for the states. How was living in America for the last five years?" he said returning to current phase but with a happier mood.
"Oh wow, it was so nice, but not as nice as home. I missed everyone so much, I decided to come back for good so I flew in just about an hour ago." she said happily.
"How are you going to get all of your belongings back here? Do you need me to ship them here for you?"
"Oh, no no no, I'm fine, I have everything under control, don't you worry. The shipping company told me that it would take about three weeks though, for it to all get here, so that's why I packed at least a month's worth of clothes in my suitcase." Ayume testified cheerfully.
"That's good to know, Ayume. I'll just let you get back to calling everyone to tell them you're back." his voice calm and steady. "Have you talked to Inuyasha yet, I bet he'd be happy to know that you're here?"
"Um, oh yes, I did a little earlier when I was grabbing my luggage. He sounded quite shock when I called. Do you happen to know why he would, instead of being delighted to hear from me?" Ayume's voice was cracking a bit with the discomfort of asking the question.
"I have no idea."
"Well okay then, I guess I'll just talk to you later."
"Goodbye, Ayume."
"Bye." she said softly.
'I wonder what's up with everyone now? It sure is kinda funny that I'm not really getting the welcome-wagon home, I hope they aren't all mad at me for not calling for such a long time.'
***
'I can't believe she's back, and after all these years. Hearing her voice was just a shock to me, I should have greeted her better than just clamming up on the phone. Damn. I'm such an idiot!'
The hanyou spun around and landed on his couch, only to hit his head on the arm rest. He grabbed the back of his head and winced a little in pain.
"Damnit!"
"What's the matter?" A man's head popped out from around the door frame. He smiled at his little hanyou who was rubbing his head, his purple eyes twinkled.
"Do you need me to kiss it?" he said in a baby voice.
Although it intimidated the other man, he complied to the offer and leaned up to kiss him.
"I take that as a yes," the man with short black hair, mumbled against the other man's lips. "are you okay?'
"Yeah, yeah just a lot is going on my mind right now."
"Like what koishii, do you want to talk about it?"
The other man hesitated, and looked up. "Guess who's back in town." he said with worry lacing in his voice.
Miroku's eyes shot open as he caught onto what his mate was dragging out.
"Oh no, poor Ayume."
**
"I hate Mondays!" the man shouted in his apartment. "Why the hell do I have all this work anyway?"
"All this damn paperwork, it's just driving me crazy!"
The wolf youkai looked at the clock to see it was about 7:27, and he still had a mound of things to do.
"I think I'll take a break," he smirked, "its only fair since I've been taking tons of useless calls since Kagome left."
The man's phone rang in his pocket, causing him to jerk and knock over most of the papers.
"Shit!"
He pulled out the sleek LG Vu angrily and looked at the caller id, but didn't recognized the number.
'I bet its one of the business men calling me again. Don't they ever get tired of harassing the hell out of me? But how did they get my cell number?'
"Hello, Koga speaking."
"Umm…hey stranger," the woman's voice was quiet and shy, "how's it been lately?"
"I'm sorry, but may I ask who's speaking miss?"
"Oh, I don't know. Just maybe Ayume Izumi, talking to someone who she hasn't to in a long time." she grinned at the phone, though he couldn't see it.
Koga froze suddenly, dropping his phone to floor in the pile of work. Ayume heard the phone drop and became frantic.
"Koga, are you alright?! What happened, are you still there?"
'She's back,' he thought, 'after all these years I thought she forgot about me.'
"Koga…hello, are you still there?" she sounded worried over the phone.
The man snapped out of his stupor, and began shuffling through all the papers.
"Ayume?…Ayume, I'm here, I'm here. Sorry about that I dropped my phone, I didn't mean to I was just shocked to hear from you. Not that I didn't want to, I mean I did," Koga began to blush over the phone, "its just really nice to hear from you again."
When Ayume heard the compliment, she smiled.
"Nice to hear you too."
**
"Damn, damn, DAMN!" Inuyasha yelled in frustration throughout his house. "Why is everything so messed up?!"
"Calm down koishii, will just have to figure out a way to tell Ayume about Koga and Kagome."
"But what if she talks to him, and he tells her without the slightest bit of concern? I don't want to see my little sister get hurt by that mangy wolf." he growled.
"As do I, but we have to think about Kagome as well. She's in this triangle, too."
"I know, but if that wolf says one thing to Ayume that makes her cry, I swear I'm gonna kill him!"
"Now Inuyasha, lets not be so rash about this. Why don't I just call her right now and invite her to dinner so she'll feel welcomed back, neh?" his smile made the other man melt.
"Fine, I'll go get ready."
"Great!"
Miroku took out his cell phone and dialed Ayume's new number.
***
"Hi, honey. Who were you on the phone with?" Sango smiled at her husband and kissed him on the cheek.
"Ayume." he said without taking his eyes off the newspaper.
"Really?! Is she back in town?"
"Yes, and she's going to stay here for good this time."
"Oh that's wonderful." Sango paused and turned to look at her mate. "But what about…"
Sesshoumaru cut her off, "She'll find out eventually. Its not our business to intervene anyway."
"Oh my, poor Ayume."
*
"You wouldn't believe how many fast food places there are in America. I can see why there were so many obese people, it just didn't look healthy."
Koga chuckled at her. "That's great to know. So where are you staying now that you are back?"
"Oh, just in an apartment downtown by all the shops and restaurants. It's also about a mile away from Shikon Enterprises, too."
"Sounds like a great location…so listen, I was wondering if…"
"Hey could you hang on for a second, I have another call coming in?" she cut him off.
"Sure, sure take your time."
The wolf demon huffed when he heard the line click over. As he waited he fiddled with his bangs.
"Hi, Ayume speaking." the woman said eagerly over the phone as she let it rest between her ear and shoulder.
"Well hello beautiful, its me Miroku." the man said slyly making the hanyou blush though he couldn't see.
"Oh my gosh, Miroku, how's it been? And, thanks for the compliment," he smiled knowing that he was still a good flirt.
"Everything's just fine, I just called because Inuyasha and I wanted to invite you to dinner so you'd feel welcomed back. So how about it?"
The hanyou was now beaming with joy, "That'd be great. What time and where did you want to meet?"
"Well I thought since you just returned, you could pick…princess." Miroku's eyes glistened, chuckling at the fact that he just called her a princess. He already knew it would fluster her.
"Okay," thanking the gods that he couldn't see the embarrassment washing over her face, "umm…how about Yanmo: Marunouchi, its my absolute favorite place?"
"That's fine, do you have a particular time?"
"Yeah, lets meet there for 8:30."
"Okay, then we'll see you there," he said slyly.
"Bah-bye!"
"Bye."
After that, the phone clicked meaning he had hung up.
'I can't wait, but why do I feel like I'm forgetting something?' She looked at her phone and her eyes widened with sudden realization. She had forgotten that she put Koga on hold.
"Oh my gosh, Koga are you still there? I'm sorry I forgot you were on hold," she sulked.
"Its okay, I didn't mind waiting for you," she smiled at the phone, "so like I was saying a little earlier, do you maybe wanna go out for some coffee tonight?"
The wolf demon tapped frigidly on his knee waiting for an answer, "Oh, Koga I'm sorry I can't tonight, I just made plans to go to dinner with Inuyasha and Miroku."
'Damn,' "That's okay," his voice laced with a bit of sadness, "maybe some other time."
"Or maybe, your offer would still be valid for tomorrow morning? We could go grab some breakfast together."
Koga perked up, "Yeah, d-definitely, sounds great!"
"Well okie dokie then, I'll talk to you later I gotta go get ready."
"Okay then, bye."
He hung up his cell, and leaned back against his couch with a smile of satisfaction spread across his face.
'I wonder where Kagome is, I bet she is still at the mall. Who ever knew one person could shop so much. I think I'll call her to make sure she's alright.'