By the way, I don't own Inuyasha. Just in case you didn't know.
Thanks to Anime Lady PIMP [ Here you are!], kaitlynpope77 [Yay! Enjoy!], KikyoWillDieByMyHands [I'm so sorry. ], kagome2 a.k.a. me [Woot!], vampire-fetish15 [Well, I had this story up before – like last year – but only the first chapter, as two chapters. I decided to repost it to alert people to my updating. The idea was all mine, never fear!]
Chapter Two: We Meet Again
I had the strength to go to church from an undetectable source. How could I not go to church? The King would hang me himself before I did not go. This would actually make no sense, because if I was not alive then he would have the same dilemma. To keep up appearances, make it look like despite the fact I'm a female we are close to each other. How dreadfully wrong. But what I never understood is why I could never stay home for, say, a headache?
I went to church, and the evening service had never gone by any more slowly than today.
Once home, I asked to have dinner brought up to my room, and – thank God – the King allowed it. Although it was brought up for me to eat, it was untouched. I had collapsed on the bed, completely somnolent.
Breakfast was always brought up to my room because it was never traditional in our household to come down and eat together. Usually the King was already out doing Kingly business – and for that I was truly thankful.
I asked my chambermaid to have my riding habit brought to me. I was looking forward to going to my meadow where Inuyasha might appear. Hurrying to change, I impatiently looked for the other boot to my ensemble.
Once outside, I told the stable boy I was going to walk for a while before I get on once more. It is the truth. It is not like I said I would not be riding improperly. That would be slander.
Under the somber covering of the forest, I adjusted my mares saddle before climbing on, patching the belt to the notch I approve of. Once straddling my mares back on the saddle, I started walking her into the forest. Cantering, I reached the meadow in a short amount of time, having followed the path that looked most recently used.
I slid off my horse and tied it to a tree that outlines the edge of the forest from the meadow. Breathing in the crisp air of the afternoon, I walked around, looking to see if Inuyasha happened to be present.
After checking the hill he had supposedly been on the time before, I plopped down on a patch of grass, well past disappointment.
Perhaps he did not want to see me again. I understood. No one could ever begin to know how much I understood that. People, boy and girl, noble and servant, hated the very thing I stood for.
My understanding did not stop my eyes from aching from the dull wish to cry. I prayed to God I could be allowed to cry, to have a few minutes of self-pity. But I could never cry for myself. It was not as if I would have trusted Inuyasha enough to even get to know him anyway.
The tight constriction in my chest dared to contradict me, though. With a sigh, I leaned back to lie down in the grass.
I must have fallen asleep because when I next took note of my surroundings, it was when I was being nudged by my horse.
"Mmn, go away," I shushed it. Squeezing my eyes tighter, I moved my hand towards my arm, which was what was being moved.
Surprised that my horse had apparently just gone hairless, my eyes shot open and I leaned forward. To my great astonishment and excitement, it was Inuyasha. To my disappointment, I had just bonked him in the forehead with my head.
"Oh, I am so sorry!" I said sheepishly while feeling my own forehead in slight agony.
Inuyasha winced but cracked a small smile. "It's fine," he began uncertainly.
In my excited state, I cut him off. "Why did you come here?" Again, was the finished question, but my pride didn't allow me to voice the end word.
Obviously he wasn't close to being shy because he replied, "I thought I might find you here."
Delighted, I exclaimed, "Oh!" Then blushed at how improper I was being.
Inuyasha undoubtedly noticed because he nodded and said, "You intrigue me," probably just to turn my face more tomato-red. Before I could embarrass myself further, I realized his vocabulary was most impeccable for a servant.
"Your vocabulary is exquisite. Did you happen to be schooled nearby?" I had always been rash with my words, and immediately wanted to take back what I had said. How utterly rude and undistinguished!
He turned his head toward the mildly roaring ocean and stayed that way for a small length of time before deciding to tell me how he got so educated.
"I used to live in the village next to us with my brother and parents. My father was a farmer – a well respected one." Inuyasha paused before continuing. "We had good money, and because my parents were never educated, they wanted us to be." He let out a breath. "They sent us to school and it was four years after that when my father was killed by highwaymen." Inuyasha's voice had hardened towards the end, and I didn't blame him.
"I'm sorr – "
"Don't be," Inuyasha insisted. I became quiet, listening to the ocean's waves break against the shore. "Me, my mother and Sesshomaru – that's my brother – got jobs here as servants since we couldn't care for my father's farm by ourselves. It was too much for us to handle so we sold the farm, which gave us a good amount of money, but when it ran out, we had to go into servant work."
Because I didn't think there was much to say about that, it remained silent between us for some time. Of course, I had to be the one to break the quiet serenity…
"I'm not allowed to go into town."
Apparently my train of thought was so obscure that he gave me a confused look before replying with sympathy.
"It's mostly because of the King. He doesn't want me to be seen."
Inuyasha muttered something, and I thought I could faintly make it out… "That's probably a good thing…"
I stared aghast at him. "What I mean is… it's a good thing because of the way you look." I frowned at him.
"What's wrong with how I look?" I thought I sounded like a baby, so I shook my head and faced him.
"Well... Nothing really."
"What is it?"
"Nothing!"
"Is there something on my face?" I rubbed self-consciously at my nose.
"Nope."
"Oh, come on!"
"Fine!" He snapped before his face softened. Inuyasha took a coil of my hair from my face and brushed it behind my ear. "You look… exquisite."
I had my mouth open like a fish underwater. The words I had been about to voice fell off my tongue when he got to the end of his sentence. His intense stare didn't leave mine, and I broke the contact first, like before. It felt like he was reading my soul when he did that. I hated to admit it but it unnerved me… in a good way or not, I honestly couldn't say.
Inuyasha smirked and closed my mouth for me, a mischievous glint in his eye. Standing up, he pulled me with him. Thankfully, I found I could lock my knees although they seemed to feel like rubber. He led me to his hill which was quite a bit higher than the small town below. The wind was much more reckless here, and it made my hair even more untidy than I would have liked. Inuyasha might be taking back his thoughts about how I'm pretty. Not pretty… exquisite.
He caught me looking at him on the way up, and I whiplashed my head the other way. Ow…
"This is where I sit sometimes." We were standing at the top of the hill now, wind swirling about us in an unrelenting manner.
I looked over the ocean and could honestly say it was the most beautiful sight I had ever seen. I took a deep breath and closed my eyes. When I opened them, Inuyasha was looking at me, but he was clearly bolder than I was, for he didn't take his eyes from mine. Flushing, I kept gazing back at him. His eyes drooped to my lips, which were deceiving me. Stop opening! Stop moving closer to me! Ack!
I had never had a relationship with a boy, let alone a physical relationship!
Inuyasha… my first kiss… I could tell it would be amazing to let him kiss me at the top of this hill, the ocean behind us, crashing against the rocks and the sun setting in the background…
I mean, how romantic is that?
Which is what led me to pulling back. Romantic? How could I have tricked myself into believing Inuyasha would even want a relationship? Remember the way he started when you told him your name? This is a joke. Stupid! Stupid!
"Oh, gosh, look at that! I can't be late for dinner!" I bit my bottom lip and twirled away from Inuyasha, leaving him looking… shy. I could tell what he was thinking.
Something like, 'I can't believe I almost kissed her!' The regret on his face was evident as he remained on the hill.
I sloppily undid my horse from its bindings and literally jumped atop it. "C'mon, girl," I murmured, squeezing her sides. Bringing her to a gallop, I whooshed past the forest. Once to the other side of the clearing, I swirled my right leg over to the other side and brought my horse to a safe canter. I would never understand how to gallop on a horse without proper balance distributed to both legs.
I locked my horse in its stall by myself because the stable boy wasn't anywhere to be found. I ran inside and on my way to my room, I could hear a voice not of my father or my mother. A suitor. I was enraged. Waiting in my room was my chambermaid who was quite upset with me because I was late, and because I, of course, was female.
She dressed me into a new dress from London, which was amply ruffled. I suppose it was high-fashion for the reason my father would never allow me to dress into something less than that when a suitor was visiting. Princes from different countries were coming to impress upon me their superiority. As if.
The lavender evening dress was very constricting, which displeased my chambermaid. With a 'no dessert for you,' and final nose-powdering, she sent me downstairs.
I did my graceful learned-in-school walk while heading down. The voices stopped as they heard my footfalls reach the dining room. The suitor had black hair, quite long and shaggy-looking, and was dressed from, most likely, the finest designers in London. His blue eyes shone at me with disturbing interest, and I barely stopped myself from gagging.
One thing was certain, and that was the fact that I would never marry this… this man.
The King cleared his throat. "Naraku, my" – there was only a slight detection of malice as he choked out the word – "daughter, Kagome."
Now, what's next? Oh, yes. The modest smile of acknowledgement. He did the noble inclination of his head in response, a sparkle in his eyes.
I was feeling like a piece of art in an auction.
Once I took my seat, my father continued to talk to Naraku of his home country, something like Neravaid. It sounded quite evil to me, and that's a fact. An opinionated fact, nevertheless.
After a few of the usual questions concerning me, like "How are you?" and "Where did you go to school?" the King stood and asked Naraku to join him for brandy. My mother and I stayed behind at the table.
I knew my face was showing how I felt because my mother said, "He is a good man, from a respectable family." She looked to the direction the King and Naraku had left towards. "Naraku would be a fine husband for you."
I could hear my chair scrape against the floorboards as I stood up. "I don't want him." I turned around, inappropriately not asking to be excused from the table, as far as manners go. "Tell him there is no point whatsoever in staying."
I slammed my door behind me. I hoped to God Nakaru or whatever his name was heard me do it.
Jumping face first onto my bed, I snuggled into my pillow, wishing I had kissed Inuyasha. Feeling my face getting hot, I closed my eyes and sighed.
I got up and took off my evening dress to replace it with my evening gown. I kept the light on and reread Romeo and Juliet. After the part where Romeo and Juliet meet, I decided to go to bed. By this time, I was sure Nukara (or whatever) had left and my parents were asleep.
Rolling around in my bed, I figured I wasn't going to sleep any time soon. I turned my lamp back on and started where I had left off in Romeo and Juliet.
Once I was almost finished with the story, I heard my window rattle. Looking up in confusion, I got up from my bedside chair and looked out the window.
Someone had just begun to throw another rock (I believe) at my window. It rattled my window again. I opened my window and looked down. I was on the third floor, so I had to squint. I could assume by the silhouette of the person that it was a man.
I could feel myself anticipating who it was. Opening the latch of my window and pulling it open, I looked down. "Inuyasha?" I whisper-shouted.
"Kagome? Come down here!" He whisper-shouted back.
The fuzzy feeling in my stomach spread out across my body. Feeling dizzy from the excitement of what was happening, I whisper-shouted, "How am I supposed to do that?"
Inuyasha replied with a chuckle, "I'll catch you."
I rolled my eyes. Although he probably couldn't see. There was a small porch beneath my window at the second floor so I decided climbing down to it couldn't be too difficult.
I was wrong.
"Ow!" I said, having scraped my thigh against a particularly sharp brick edge. Blood started to run down to my ankle but by then I was safely (kind of) on the second floor porch.
"Are you alright?" Inuyasha was still waiting at the bottom of the porch, in the grass.
"Yes. I think so." I winced as I pulled my wounded leg over the other side of the porch railing.
"Now I'll catch you." Since he looked serious, I jumped from the side of the building. For a second Inuyasha looked worried, which made me freak out. But he did catch me, bride-over-the-house-entrance way. I felt his calloused hand brush my behind while his other hand wrapped around to my breasts. But then he fell over. "Oooof," Inuyasha grunted when his rump collided with the ground.
At least Inuyasha didn't 'oooof' when he caught me…
I scrambled off him as fast as I could. "Sorry!" I said loudly. Then softer, "I'm so sorry, really!"
Inuyasha looked at me oddly. Then he said, from the ground, "Why? I was the one who fell over."
Blushing furiously, I replied, "I was the one who made you fall over." My head was bowed to the ground.
He got up and dusted his backside before walking up to me. Inuyasha was, again, holding me captive in his gaze. "I'm the one who asked you to jump."
True.
So true.
I nodded, not really sure what he had said anymore. "Yes. I think we should, too."
Wait, what? No, shut up!
Inuyasha's brow furrowed. "Wha – "
"I mean, let's go." Nice save.
He must have noticed my awkward shuffling because he asked if I was hurt.
"Mm, just my leg." I glanced down at it. Ugnh, blood.
Inuyasha jogged over to me and squatted on the floor. He must have touched my wound because I hissed a breath through my teeth and jerked my leg away from his hand. "Sorry," he muttered. He prodded a little more before deciding to take me to the place he works.
"We'll just go in through the door that leads to the servants quarters. They mind their own business, and your leg needs to be bandaged."
The pain was definitely bearable, but the sight of blood undid me. I agreed to go with him to the house he worked for.
I just hoped we wouldn't get caught.
As you can see, I'm trying to make my chapters longer than I usually do, as thanks for your reviews. I'll be posting another chapter after the Fourth of July weekend. My birthday party is on Friday! Woo!
(But my birthday is on the 12th. The reason I'm having my party on Friday is because one of my friends is being an ambassador for Italy during the week my birthday is on. Sad, but it's okay, because I'll be thinking about the 17th, when I'm going on a cruise!)
Update dates: July 5th, July 8th, July 11th, July 15th. I'm not sure when I might update after the cruise, but it is a seven-day trip. (At the least.) If I update one day later than the dates provided, please don't be mad! It's summertime and I'm trying to relax while pleasing you guys. If I update one day sooner than the dates provided, don't be scared, I must be either too excited to wait, or I must be doing something the next day where posting would be impossible.
Love you guys!
UA
