Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters. And I do not intend to gain any kind of retribution for this work of fanfiction.
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Soulmates
Part 2
Inuyasha felt his stomach fall and it was only because of his caution and respect-not fear-of flying. He had felt respectful for two days now, since he bought the tickets without telling anybody. He had made the arrangements to get his most important stuff to Japan and donated everything else. Even his most precious girl was supposed to arrive in two days.
The inexplicable pit in his belly didn't disappear after the plane landed. It didn't disappear after he walked out of the plane. Actually his whole body short-circuited as soon as his muscles rested on a chair. He hadn't even reclaimed his luggage when he felt the world spin in the worst way possible.
If he was a person that suffered panic attacks he would be having one. But he wasn't-at least not this way. He was feeling the most respectful he had felt in a long, long time and his body was rebelling. That was it.
With one clawed hand on his chest, the other on his temple with his head thrown back resting on the wall, he took a looong breath. The way his parents had taught him long ago.
It was to calm himself down and to analyze the emotions within him. And if he did it right it could also help his Soulmate to calm down and break the cycle of them feeding the other's emotion and making it worse.
Long intakes, keeping the air inside a few seconds and letting it out slowly. He focused on doing that once and again. The emotions that he was receiving at the moment were much different than what he was used to. The waves of fear, anxiety and anger that shifted constantly were not like the ones that reached the sandy beach, they were not soft and slow on their way to him. The explosive mix was hitting him like the waves hit the bottom of a cliff.
He felt the need to shake the emotions away like he would shake the water after a shower. But he was not alone and from experience he knew that it would not help. Inuyasha's breath hitched in his throat, beneath the emotions-and the rejection he felt-he could feel something else. And that eclipsed everything else; for the first time he was able to feel her. Not her emotions but something that resembled a presence. It was difficult for him to pinpoint how it felt and what the difference was. It was just, different.
If he had to describe how he felt it, it was like comparing the voice coming from a speaker and listening from the person directly. Even if they were not in front of you, they have a presence. And that presence was a she. He felt his lips twitch starting to form a grin. Finally he knew something more about his Soulmate. It was a woman.
Inuyasha didn't realize the moment the waves of emotion lessened, when his Soulmate seemed to calm down too. He was too excited to notice the change.
And as soon as his father saw him and ran to him, Inuyasha was distracted enough trying to tell his father he was fine, that he was just adapting to the bond strengthening. He was not convinced.
They were already on his way when Inuyasha focused where they were going. His father was taking him to their house-the house he had grown up in. His heart started to run faster and his hands felt suddenly cold yet sweaty, his ears were flattened against his head and his eyes were teary...They were too close.
"Old man..." He whispered, not noticing how his voice was higher than normal.
"Yeah?" His father asked softly.
"I-I c-can't go there... I can't... Don't take me there... Please." Inuyasha knew that he was about to whine and it made him feel like a failure.
There were moments that made Inuyasha feel like a defenseless pup and simultaneously the luckiest bastard for having the father he had. And this was one of those.
"Alright! If you want an ice cream that bad, we'll go for ice cream," his father said without looking at him and turned the car around.
They parked across the street from an ice cream parlor, right at the door of a respectable hotel. His father opened the truck and took out his luggage before saying, "Go and get a room, it's OK," while pointing at the hotel, then at the parlor, "I'll be looking for a place to sit." His lips stretched in a big smile but his golden eyes were dull and sad.
Inuyasha nodded and took his luggage, avoiding his father's eyes. It had been a long time since Taisho Takahashi had shown that expression on his face and that made him feel ashamed of himself.
By the time he walked to the parlor his father had bought two milkshakes, two strawberry ice cream cones and two banana splits and was waiting for him to sit.
"You want me to roll to my room!" Inuyasha said at the same time he chomped more than half of his cone.
"That's the idea, son." This time his eyes smiled along with his lips.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Kagome was barricaded inside the office's restroom. Not that there was anybody else at the office at that hour. She was the only one working there at the time it happened.
The day had started normally. Her routine had developed normally, the only thing that had been bothering in the back of her mind was Inuyasha's sudden lack of communication for the last two days.
That thing-that she was not worrying about because he was just a client-escaped from her mind when one of her biggest fears became a reality. That person was close... way closer than they have been in years. And the nervousness and fear they were feeling was like a punch in her gut.
Tears started to run down her face. She didn't want this. She really didn't need this and she hated it. With every part of her body.
When it became obvious that those foreign emotions were not going to leave her alone, she secluded herself in the restroom where she just sat and held her head.
She needed to calm down. She was upset and the other person was too... and they were trying to calm down, trying to send calming energy to her. She could feel it. Her breathing stopped for a moment as she felt a cold shiver run through her body. She could feel... him? Why did she have an impression that it was a man? It was a man.
It was a man. Her soulmate was a man and she felt nauseated. Knowing something concrete about him made it too real. Impossible to send that presence to the box in the back of her mind that had a big label that read 'does not exist,' now it was impossible.
She was too wrapped around her own disbelieving and projecting every ounce of rejection of his presence to realize he was calming down and he was in a better mood until Kagome found herself laughing without a reason.
He was so happy that she was laughing out loud. The bastard.
Kagome looked at her reflexion as she tried to fix her appearance. She could erase the mascara lines that ran down her face and fix her eyeliner, but she was not able to un-puff her eyes or erase the redness on her cheeks.
She sat down on her desk right before her coworkers came back. Pretending everything was normal she looked through her properties index once again, searching for the perfect house for her client.
Suddenly she started to feel anxious and scared without a reason. Closing her eyes she tried to concentrate on the origin of those emotions in an effort to keep them at bay.
"I am not going to give him that power over me. I'm working and I'm going to work!" she whispered to herself as she flipped through the pages.
"Um... Kagome?" said Hojo, her coworker.
"Yes?" She tried with the most neutral voice she could find, which sounded strangely strained in her ears.
She looked up with a frown, surprised by him initiating conversation. After their first-and-only date months ago when she finally said yes to his advances-only to have it end badly because according to him she was 'too direct about everything'- he had pretended they didn't work together and didn't usually say anything beyond a 'good morning' and 'thank you'.
He was looking at her with narrowed and worried eyes,a small apologetic smile on his lips as he handed her a tissue.
"Here..."
Kagome's eyes went from the tissue to his face back and forth at the same time her hand distractedly moved to accept. Hojo must have seen the confusion on her face because he spoke again.
"I'm sure it'll get better... whatever it is, don't cry Kagome."
She touched her face and realized there was a stream of tears running down her cheeks. Luckily Hojo took his leave without saying anything else. Once again Kagome ran to the restroom. Her eyes found a pained expression. This time she wanted to get angry at the man but it was too difficult. The mix of anger, fear and shame that he was feeling was enough for her to lose her own anger and wonder what could make him feel like that. It was similar to something she remembered from many years ago, the feeling that used to wake her up in the middle of the night screaming.
Kagome asked to be excused for the rest of the day and went home hoping for a calm evening.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Inuyasha walked to the coffee shop where he was supposed to meet his friends. Miroku had suggested a bar but after being reminded about how youkai did not get boozed with human alcohol and how he could be poisoned by youkai's they decided that coffee was a better way to waste money.
It had been exactly four days since he got back to Tokyo and they had been rough. The kaleidoscopic emotions and strange behavioral patterns had been... the only way to say it was 'weird'. He found himself being mesmerized by the way small flowers moved gently in the breeze, losing almost an hour just staring at the way the sun made the colors change during the day... And then he was mad for no reason!
He was sure that anger was from her... not because she was angry in general. It was directed specifically at him. "What am I doing to you, woman?" he shouted to the empty room more than once that day, to end up feeling stupid and manipulated.
During his second day the girl had started to send anger every time he was happy. And it was any time. So he was eating with his dad-who apparently was too worried to leave him alone for even one day-having fun and suddenly he was angry. And being angry without a reason-a real reason-made him even angrier so that made him say things like 'fucking shit' to his dad. And Taisho Takahashi did not like it when his sons swore.
That meant his father had flicked him on the forehead way too many times for his liking. One flick from that hand was enough for a lifetime. Inuyasha had a headache for the rest of the day. The strength on one single finger made him ashamed of his punches.
Luckily, his Soulmate was happier the next day. He briefly pondered about doing the same to her but he didn't want to jump into a petty rabbit hole. Because he was going to work...eventually. And having her retaliate when he was calm-because she was going to retaliate, she had a vindictive streak, he knew her enough to say that- was not a good alternative.
Inuyasha shook his head at the same time he pushed the coffee shop's door opened. Immediately Miroku was waving his hand and calling his name. The hanyou nodded and walked directly to him, partly to make him stop attracting everyone's attention in the building and also because he was happy to see the lecher.
"Inuyasha! My friend, nice to finally see you!"
Miroku walked closer and hugged him a little more tightly than how he liked but it was how his friend showed his love. They separated and sat down. Inuyasha looked around searching for both the menu and his other friend, Kouga.
"Where's the flea-bag?" Inuyasha asked with his eyes glued to the menu on the wall.
His friend chuckled before shrugging, "Waiting to make a grand entrance?"
Inuyasha nodded knowing it was probably true. The man liked drama and attention and he would probably arrive with some over-the-top explanation about why he was late. And he probably just overslept.
They were both drinking their coffees. Miroku had a big bitter something and Inuyasha had the largest cup of caramel-brownie frappe with extra chocolate syrup and extra whipped cream with rainbow sprinkles on top. Because he felt like eating something tasty.
"I thought chocolate was poison for mutts; feeling suicidal?" Came the sardonic voice from behind him.
The hanyou looked up with a smirk on his face, not even bothering to stand up. "Not that kind of dog, stupid flea-bag," was all he said before returning to his delicious sugary beverage. Why he was enjoying this so much was beyond him.
Kouga made a pained expression and held his chest with his hand. "Ten years not seeing your stupid face and this is how you say hello? Thought-"
Inuyasha waved his hand, dismissing the rest of his dramatic explanation. "Not in that kind of relationship. I don't like you that much." He stopped licking the cream from his cup enough to look at the wolf youkai and smile, "Don't even like you. Period."
Kouga hit Inuyasha's shoulder playfully and dropped the charade. After a couple more jokes and a lot more insults, they got to the important part.
"So, have you seen your realtor?" Miroku asked with a tone that suggested he was thinking something dirty.
Kouga stopped drinking his mint-chocolate-whatever that Inuyasha thought smelled disgusting enough to ask, "Kagome? You introduced my Kagome to him? What the fuck?"
Inuyasha didn't know why that 'my' in the wolf's question had upset him enough to growl at Kouga, which gained two amused looks and his cheeks flushed.
"Keh!"
"Answering your question, Kouga. I am responsible for them knowing of each other," Miroku looked at Inuyasha with an arched brow. "But have you seen her?"
"Nah, I've been too busy." Another slurpy sound from his mostly gone beverage and he turned his attention on Kouga. "And why the fuck are you calling women 'my' when you got your Soulmate with you?"
Kouga shrugged in a way that caused Inuyasha the urge to punch that smirking face, "Hey Ayame is one thing but Kagome... I'm guessing you haven't SEEN her." Inuyasha growled again and stood up. "Hey! Calm down. I am just stating a fact. She is hot. I do have Ayame but... Not everyone gets married to their Soulmates."
Inuyasha walked to the counter to order a strawberry-something-yogurt-whatever extra large and turned around, trying to listen to the other's conversation. Miroku and Kouga were discussing something about their Soulmates and... sex? Inuyasha rolled his eyes. The pervert and the wolf, figures.
"Nope. It is different. And it doesn't even feel the same! You're stupidity is upsetting me so shut up," Miroku said to the pouting wolf when he walked back with his strawberry monster in hand.
"How is your Soulmate thingy going on? Still hating your ass?" Miroku took another sip from his grown up drink and waited.
"Well," Inuyasha stared at his drink and used the straw to eat the whipped cream "She-now I'm positive my Soulmate is a she- hasn't exactly sent me hate for almost a day so we are getting along."
Kouga stood up to get another beverage, "Why weren't you sure about your Soulmate being a she?"
Miroku nodded, "Yeah, you've never been attracted to men, or have you?"
Inuyasha put his cup on the table and looked at Miroku with a serious face, "Neither was Sesshoumaru before Jaken..."
Both Miroku and Kouga, who was still at the counter, laughed loudly until tears fell. Inuyasha shook his head, still serious.
"I'm not joking. Just think about it. They are always together. It doesn't matter what happens they seem... happy. Alright, Assholemaru never looks happy, but at least not as constipated than when Jaken is not around."
Kouga came back shaking his head. "You are thinking with your ass. Sesshoumaru is married, and they look... Not constipated."
Inuyasha looked at Kouga and shook his head again. "Like you just said: not everyone marries their Soulmates." Now Miroku and Kouga were the ones with serious faces, thinking how Inuyasha was-at least- not totally wrong.
The hanyou had a shit-eating grin on his face now. "But leaving my stupid brother aside. I know mine is a woman." He frowned, "A woman with a fucking temper."
Miroku laughed, "My friend she is bound to have one if she is destined to be with your stubborn ass."
"Keh!"
Kouga pointed at Inuyasha, "So when are you throwing a welcome home party?"
The hanyou kicked the wolf under the table. "You are supposed to throw me a welcome home party, stupid."
Kouga huffed, mildly offended, "Not gonna waste my time on dog food and poop bags, mutt."
One hour later and a lot of mediator work from Miroku, the trio had reached an agreement that the party would be held in Inuyasha's new home, and that it would be organized and managed by Miroku with partial sponsoring from the wolf.
"But it has to be next week..." Miroku commented with a frown.
"Why? It's just a normal party! Nothing stupidly over the top."
"But Kagome won't be available until next week..." Miroku gave Inuyasha a knowing smile, "I just guessed you wanted her around."
Inuyasha flushed and gave a big gulp to his fourth drink. "I can wait," was all he said before continuing drinking.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Kagome plopped on her bed. It was not exactly her bed. It was the bed of her old room in her mom's home. The Temple's keeper's home.
And there was no other place on earth that could give her the peace she found there. The happiness of her childhood surrounded her in the form of pink stuff. Pink walls. Pink bed. Pink (and yellow) backpacks. Pink everything. And along with the soft sound of her mother humming and the smell of her cooking... this was just what she needed.
Kagome stood up to get dressed and dried her hair. The food smelled delicious and her mom did not approve of bathrobes at the table. She was more inclined to accept a baggy, long and worn-out shirt used as a dress than a new and fluffy robe.
At the end she decided for a comfy dress and walked down the stairs. Her mom knew why she was here. She had been the one to suggest Kagome take a couple of days off and come to relax. After all her mom was the only person who knew the real reason behind her night terrors which started just before her father died.
Kagome reached the kitchen and smiled at the sight of her mom moving around the kitchen in something that resembled a dance. She always aspired to be as graceful as her mother.
"Come and sit, Kagome," Her mother said with a smile. "It's time for us to eat together!"
She followed her mother and sat in her usual place. It was all ready just for her to sit and enjoy being pampered by her mom.
"I made your favorite curry," came her voice as the plate was placed before her. It smelled delicious. She waited for her mother to be seated and take the first bite.
Her mouth was watering at the sight, the mouth-watering and steamy curry and the delicious sticky rice. She filled her spoon with a mix of both and she slowly brought it to her mouth when suddenly she felt a cold shiver run down her back. And the strangest idea screamed inside her head. Somehow she was convinced that eating it would hurt her. She nervously looked at the spoon with a pained expression.
She wanted to eat it!
"What's wrong, darling?" Her mom asked with her brows furrowed delicately.
Kagome's shoulders slumped, "Something is telling me I can't eat this!"
Her mom stared at Kagome's plate worried, "Does it smell weird? Do you see something in it?"
Long black hair fanned as she shook her head before saying with a whiny voice, "It's perfect! But I can't eat it!"
Ms. Higurashi looked at her daughter with an understanding expression as she reached to cup Kagome's cheek, "It's him, right?"
Kagome groaned a yes and glared at the spoon that was still in the air. Without moving her eyes away she complained, "Who the hell is afraid of curry? Of delicious curry, huh?" She narrowed her eyes and almost shouted, "I'm gonna eat it!"
Under the amused stare of her mom Kagome proceed to screech in the back of her throat as she force the spoon to inch closer and closer to her lips. As it came closer she found it more difficult and with a sudden move of her head and not her arm she finally tasted the deliciousness that was her mom's curry.
"Is it good, dear?" Mrs. Higurashi asked with a small smile on her face and holding back a chuckle.
"Mmhmm." Kagome kept savoring her food with her closed eyes. It was as delicious as she expected, and the bastard had made it difficult for her to enjoy it.
"If I ever see him, I'll punch him," Kagome promised as she took another spoonful.
Mrs. Higurashi laughed good heartedly and patted her daughter's shoulder, "You won't dear."
It had taken her around half an hour to eat less than the half of her plate, and she kept mumbling to herself, "I'll punch him. I promise."
By the time Kagome was finally finishing, the conversation had gotten serious and she started to feel uncomfortable.
"I've never told you that I met my Soulmate...once," her mom said as she came back with the water pitcher. Kagome's spoon fell on her plate as she stared at her mother with wide eyes.
This was not the conversation she wanted to have with her mom. She did not need that from her mother. Her mother was supposed to be the one to say that finding your Soulmate was not important and that you could live without ever meeting them. Just like she wanted to live.
Her hands were sweaty and she felt the need to run away from there. A wave of calm energy came rushing to her. The man was trying to help her, and that became too much, instead of helping her it threw her over the edge and she began to sob.
Mrs. Higurashi handed Kagome a tissue and caressed her hair, "It's not as you might be fearing! It wasn't half as exciting as you might be thinking..."
Kagome took a trembling breath before speaking, "Was dad alive when you met them?"
"We had been married for a year and I was pregnant with you," she explained with a warm smile on her face. Kagome wanted to ask something else but her mom stared at her own glass with glossy eyes.
"I was shopping one day. I was six or seven months along when after walking outside of a baby store, carrying way more bags than I should, I felt something different. At first I thought it was you having fun in there . But it was not you. I still don't know why or what made me look in that direction until I found his eyes..." The woman's eyes found Kagome's.
Kagome found herself without a word to say to her mother, who was holding back her tears. The only thing she did was to stretch her hand to cover her mom's and squeeze. Mama Higurashi did the same covering Kagome's with her other hand.
"He stood there for a long time watching me-us-and I could see the emotions dancing on his face. Surprise, excitement, confusion and sadness. I felt bad... so bad for breaking his heart like that. I was feeling what I had just done to him." She took a tissue and cleaned the tears that were trying to escape.
"I ended up inviting him for a coffee. And we chatted for a while. He was-is- a good man. And he was looking for me-his Soulmate. He came from a family that everyone had found their Soulmates and were happy."
"W-what did he say?" Kagome found herself asking without even realizing it.
Her mom gave her a ghost of a smile without looking at her and continued her story, "He told me he had been waiting for me to appear and was more than ready to have a relationship but it was obvious that we were not going to be together. He was trying not to be mean but wanted to know about the man I had chosen over my own Soulmate. And I didn't know what to say..." her saddened eyes looked at Kagome, "You remember your father, he was far from perfect but I loved him... I still do. Before he parted ways he asked me if I didn't think about the 'what if's' that if I never thought about waiting for him... I knew that my answer was going to break his heart even further but I had to make it clear for him. I told him that what I had was better than any 'what if' I could think of. And with that he thanked me and walked away."
The smile that appeared on the elder woman was genuine this time, "and I went home to cry on your dad's shoulders. And he kept asking why I was crying. He didn't see a real reason to cry for that long until I told him to shut up and hold me... your dad was a kind but clueless man."
"What I'm trying to say, Kagome. Is that just because you find your Soulmate doesn't mean that you don't have options after that."
The delicate hand of her mother squeezed her trying to make her listen. "Even if you meet him and you find yourself feeling that 'this is where you are supposed to be,' and that being around him-with him- is meant to be... you still have a choice. You still have to build that relationship."
Kagome hadn't realized she was crying until her mom wiped her tears tenderly, "But what if I don't like him? What if HE doesn't like me? Or what if he wants something that I don't?" The same hand that had wiped her tears cupped her cheek once more and turned her head until their eyes met.
"Then you will use all that patience that you got from your dad," Kagome chuckled, "and you will talk things out... and if you can't figure things out... then you two will have to make decisions... but that is something to worry about AFTER you two meet, OK?"
Kagome nodded, feeling calmer. And for once not feeling an instant anger when she felt his attempt to send comfort.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
Inuyasha erased the message for the fourth time. He couldn't decide about how to tell her everything he wanted, there were too many things and he didn't want her misinterpret it. He hadn't told her he was in Japan, or that he wanted to go home-and didn't know where it was. He didn't have his keys either and the most important thing on his list was to invite her to the housewarming party he was throwing. For himself. In the house he didn't have access to yet.
He tapped his phone on his forehead-softly because it still hurt-thinking of a way to let her know that he needed the keys as fast as she could give them to him but still be sensitive and considerate because she had taken a few days off because of a personal situation... being considerate was not his thing. Nope. It was not.
He let out a long sigh and punched the pillow beside him. He was going to have to call her. A long groan escaped; hiding his excited tone was difficult when she could hear him. "Shit."
The clock on the wall of the hotel read ten p.m., was it too late to call her? Maybe he should call her tomorrow! Or make Miroku call her! Another groan. That was a cowardly thing to do.
Inuyasha rolled on his bed and laid face down with his phone on his pillow and glared at it. Before calling her he rehearsed his "hello" with the exact tone he wanted. A mix of interest yet aloof, alert yet a little sleepy just to make himself sound interesting. After mastering the tone, or at least convincing himself that it was how he wanted to sound he punched 'call' and let a small screech out as the ringing tone sounded.
She answered the call and before he was able to say his anticipated greeting she almost shouted "What's wrong? Why are you calling at this hour? What time is it there? You ok?"
Inuyasha frowned at his phone. She had the natural ability to destroy his plans. He was not a guy with plans! And when he finally took the time to make one... she ruined them. And not in a bad assholish way. She did it out of concern or being... cute.
He cleared his throat knowing she was asking the same for the second time, adding a worried "Inuyasha, are you alright?"
"Yeah, yeah. I'm OK, woman."
A weird silence fell between them, and he didn't know what to say next. She had messed up his program. First was his 'hey guess where I am?' He waited for her to make the connection and realized he needed his keys and THEN maybe say something about the party. But for some stupid reason in his stupid brain he found himself saying "You haven't called me!"
As soon as he said that he felt the need to ask his father to hit him on the forehead again. He deserved it. He was an idiot, a stupid asshole-jerk as Kagome had once called him.
"Is that why you are calling me at this hour? To berate me for not calling you? First," Kagome took a deep breath and Inuyasha gulped. This was not going to end soon. "You have no right to nag me about not calling you! Second, I have a life of my own, you know? Like things that you don't know about and you don't care! Whatever-the-next-number-was, after I told you I found your house and gave your keys to your father I had no need to call you again!" She took another breath, this time slowly and her words lost most of their anger. "Besides, you stopped calling too."
Inuyasha was not ready for that. What was he supposed to answer now? He cleared his throat again thinking that he might be developing a nervous tic. "Um, I-I've been busy too..."
Kagome sighed but didn't say anything more.
"But... what are these things that I don't know about? You ok?"
Another silence, heavier than the last. Inuyasha knew she was trying to decide whether he deserved that explanation or not. He knew he didn't but hoped she thought differently. "Is it work?"
Kagome made a noise that meant 'no', but didn't say a word.
"Something with your family? Your mom and brother are ok?"
"They are alright." Inuyasha smiled softly at the phone. She had said something!
"I can't think about something else to ask you..." Inuyasha admitted after refusing to ask something related to her lovelife. As far as he was concerned she didn't have one and he wanted to keep thinking that.
"It's just complicated...and tiresome..."
"Complicated?" he echoed.
"Yeah, this bond is nagging..."
Inuyasha stared at the phone as if it had transformed into a poisonous animal. He was almost positive what she was talking about. The only bond people talked about like this was The Soulmates' Bond. Thinking about her having her own Soulmate stopped him cold.
Questions shot inside his head. What if she had a relationship with her Soulmate? What if she wanted a relationship with her Soulmate? He shook his head. He did want that with his own. Why should it be different for her? It was true that he was attracted to her. She was intelligent and funny and knew how to deal with his general jerk self.
It was not as if he was just entertaining himself with her until his Soulmate appeared. He wanted to get to know her better. What-how he felt when they talked was not something to be ignored. He wanted to share more of whatever-this-was.
"I'm going to hang up if you don't speak" Kagome warned him softly.
"Yeah. I was just thinking..."
He heard a soft chuckle, "So you also called to brag about it?"
Inuyasha smiled at the phone again. This is what he had missed. He was not going to say that to her though, "Haha, smartmouth!"
"Hey, I'm not the one calling me at-what time is it there? Six-seven a.m? To say you were thinking." He could hear the smile in her tone.
"Well, it's not morning here..." He paused until she huffed. "It's ten p.m."
He paused again, waiting for her to say something. After what felt like ten minutes-that could have also been half a minute, whatever- he helped her with, "Your time to brag about thinking".
And of course instead of being happy about it and moving their conversation closer to his question, she got angry, "Are you calling me stupid? Really?"
"You called me stupid first!"
"No! I didn't! I only called you stupid asshole-jerk today!"
"Nah, you clearly called-wait. You didn't say that today!"
"Yes I did! When...when..." Kagome didn't finish that sentence because she started laughing. Loudly and happily until she started to sound breathy.
"You were calling me names in your head, woman?" he asked in mock indignation.
Another bout of laughter reached his ears and Inuyasha turned on his side, using his curled arm to keep his face close to the phone, reveling in the sound.
"I am too used to calling you names now..." she said in between chuckles.
Inuyasha had an idea about how to turn this conversation into the one he wanted to have. Using his serious voice he said, "Yeah, you're always insulting me." She made a surprised sound and inhaled to say something, but he beat her to it.
"I know how you can make it up to me," he cursed in his head when even himself heard the playful tone in his voice. When Kagome asked carefully with a, "You do?" Inuyasha knew she had heard it too.
"Yep. Send me pictures of you."
He did not expect her screaming answer through the phone. "I will not send you nudes you stupid pervert! H-how dare you to say something like that? What kind-What the hell is wrong with you!"
Inuyasha jumped from his side and sat on the bed, snatching the phone from the pillow and placing it before his face.
"Hey! Hey! Kagome!" He tried to speak but she didn't stop.
"I can't believe you actually asked me to send you lewd photos of me! What kind of relationship do you think we have, pervert? I would never, ever send-"
"Shut the fuck up for a second!"
Kagome made an indignant sound, "And now you are-"
"Just! Shut! The fuck! Up!"
Kagome pursed her lips and didn't make one more sound. He wanted silence. She was going to give him silence.
"I didn't ask for your n-naked pictures!"
"You did!"
"I did not! I said that you should send me pictures of you! You! Never said anything about n-naked pictures," Inuyasha explained as he hit himself on the forehead for stuttering twice on the same fucking word.
"You-you really didn't?" Kagome said after a pause where Inuyasha was only listening to his own heartbeat pound in his ears.
He sighed "I didn't..."
"And-And why are you asking weird questions like that?!" Kagome asked with a pouty voice. He didn't know why he was sure she was pouting... but she was.
"It's only fair! You already know how I look! My father made sure of that! And It's fair that you show me how you look!"
"Nope."
His ears flicked at the calm word. "What?"
"I said nope," she popped her lips at the end mocking him.
"Wh-why?"
The woman laughed, she laughed at him! "Your father showed me your pictures. You never gave me any... So, if you want one..." she giggled before continuing, "Ask my mom."
He cursed using a really bad word and she laughed harder. "I don't even know your mom!"
"Too bad."
Inuyasha growled and decided he was not going to be left wondering about her looks. He swiped up the calling screen and he searched her name and the name of her agency. And there she was, or at least he thought she was. If this was his Kagome, she was beautiful. There was no other way to describe her. She was looking at the camera with a soft smile on her face, yet her eyes said she meant business. Kagome had long black hair that fell on her back and she had a beautiful neck, that it was the only part he could see besides her beautiful face.
Shaking his head he focused on sending her that picture as fast as he could. By the time she was done laughing he had already sent it. "I don't need your mother," he announced cockily.
"Wha-" He heard the notification sound from her phone followed by her screech "What did you... You Googled me? You did that? Oh my!"
And once more she surprised him by laughing again, this time in a throaty and delighted way. And it instantly became his favorite moment with her. The laugh died with a surprised "Mom! You scared me..."
The hanyou stood still listening intently to the voices. The elder woman chuckled in a similar way Kagome did moments ago, and he pictured her waving her hand. "I'm sorry but I heard so much ruckus from your room that I had to see if you were alright..."
Kagome huffed. And her mother spoke again, "But I see you are more than alright, dear."
"Y-yeah I'm just talking with my-a friend."
"...I see" Inuyasha gulped involuntarily at the way she had said it. It was as if she was talking about so much more than what they were.
"I'll leave you so you can keep talking with... your friend."
Kagome stayed silent after the sound of the door closing.
"Kagome..."
"Oh! I'm sorry my mind wandered... that was my mom."
"She sounds nice," he added in a conversational tone that didn't get a response beyond a hummed yes.
Before he found himself saying something stupid again he decided to be direct. "You said my father had my keys, right?"
"Yeah, why?" Kagome asked slightly surprised by the sudden change of topic.
"Because, I'm in Tokyo and I'd like to go to my home... and-"
"You're in Tokyo? Already? Why didn't you tell me that earlier? Wait. Don't answer that! I'm glad you finally came home."
"Yeah, yeah I'm here... and I wanted to-"
"So you're staying at your dad's?" she asked with a worried tone that made his ears perk up and unpleasant shivers went down his back. He started growling without noticing.
"I'm sorry... I shouldn't have asked about that..."
"I'm not at that house. Why did you ask?" He knew the tone was overly aggressive but couldn't help himself.
"Not much. Your father told me that you had a traumatic experience in that house and you didn't like to be there..."
Inuyasha heard the hesitance in her tone and figured she knew more than that. He let it go nonetheless. It was not the time or the way-even if he ever decided to talk about it- and he had a goal in mind. He took a couple of slow breaths until the vibrations in his throat subsided.
"I didn't know he shared that so easily... Anyways, I'm staying at a hotel..." he took another breath and tried to make his voice lighter. "I wanted to know if you had my keys and if you could give them to me..." he tried to smile at the phone as he continued, "I wanted to tell you that Miroku is throwing me a housewarming slash welcome home party next friday and I would like you to come."
Kagome didn't answer him. And he rapidly lost hope of Kagome accepting his invitation and he tried to make it easier for her. His new biggest fear was for her to feel awkward enough to avoid him.
They spoke at the same time.
"If you don't want to-"
"I'll be there..."
Another silence settled between them. They didn't know but they shared the same expression. The hopeful look in their eyes, the blush on their cheeks and the small secret smile.
"Good," Inuyasha whispered. He did not notice the huge gap between his voice seconds ago and the emotion contained in that single word. "I'll leave ya to sleep... see you Friday..."
He was about to hang up when he heard the hesitant, "Inuyasha?"
Said hanyou hummed a 'yeah?' and waited for her to elaborate.
Her voice was but a whisper when she asked, "What did you think about the picture?"
Inuyasha felt his face tingle, from his chest to his ears and he didn't even want to know what color he must be right now. Half of his mind was trying to keep his hand from crushing the frail phone. The other half was focused on not laughing like a maniac for the fact she had asked him that simple question... so his answer was, "I kinda liked it."
Before she could ask anything else and realizing he had answered THAT, Inuyasha hurried a "Goodnight. See you Friday," and hung up.
-.-.-.-.-.-.-
It was already Friday. The day of the party and she was walking to the apartment she had chosen for him. She felt a strange pride knowing she had done something that he was enjoying. She had been part of that. Kagome always felt like that when she finished a job in a good way. And even if she hadn't talked with Inuyasha after their weird call, his father had called her to tell her how much he had loved the apartment.
Sango had also informed her that she thought he was very comfortable in his apartment.
Kagome reached the floor of his apartment and took a few moments to check her hair, that was in a pretty ponytail swishing behind her, her bangs with not a single hair sticking up. She used the glass on the stairs' door to check her make up. It was just like she wanted.
She patted her clothes to get rid of the imaginary dust. She had chosen her favorite outfit: a cute white blouse with short little frills for sleeves that hugged her curves very nicely and that still was just loose enough to look like she wasn't trying that much. And a mid thigh forest green pencil skirt, that had just the right cut to show she had nice hips.
She said to herself that she was not trying too hard. That she only wanted to look good and have a nice time. Also said to herself that she was not a nervous wreck because of what she was doing, that it was HIM who felt awfully nervous and she was only picking up on that emotion. It had been days since she felt an emotion from him that was not anticipation and anxiety coming and going in waves. Since she had made peace with the possibility of finding him somewhere and convinced herself that she was going to deal with it when she needed to, everything had been easier. It was also easy to send him comfort when he felt those night terrors of his.
After another long and deep breath, Kagome rang the doorbell bracing herself to meet those golden eyes for the first time.
The door opened and golden eyes made contact with hers, yes. But not the ones she wanted.
"Miss Higurashi! I'm glad you could make it!" Mr. Takahashi smiled at her from the door.
"Good to see you, sir."
The man waved his hand dismissively, "Don't be that formal, you can call me Taisho." He moved aside and signaled inside so she could walk in.
She tried to look for Inuyasha without being too obvious. She saw a tall man with silver hair, without the small little ears on top of it. She saw the man walk across the living room; he was more handsome in person than the pictures his father had shown her. Kagome frowned when she saw the small-really small- man walking beside him? Was that his boyfriend? Deciding she didn't care enough Kagome walked to the kitchen to get something to drink.
She was sipping from her cup when she heard a familiar voice whisper in her ear, "I don't care if I get beaten. You are the most beautiful woman here, my Kagome."
She made sure to lose her smile before turning, "I'm gonna be the first to punch you, Kouga. And I'm not 'your' anything."
Kouga gave her a charming smile, "Ballsy, just as I like it"
Kagome rolled her eyes, "I'll hit you... seriously."
Kouga laughed and raised his glass, "I tell you, you and the Mutt have the same temper. He just threatened me with bodily harm... because he thought he is capable of winning."
"...mutt?" Kagome asked.
"Inuyasha."
Kagome found herself asking in an over excited voice, "Where is he?"
And she really wanted to punch Kouga when he only raised his cup again, winked and said, "Not gonna say," before laughing again.
-.-.-.-.-.-
Inuyasha was in his room explaining to his sister-in-law where the private bathroom was because she refused to go in the other.
When the door closed behind her, he rolled his eyes and mentally cursed, because if he mouthed the curse she would hear it and he didn't want to deal with her more than necessary.
Thankfully his father was at the door ready to take him from the nightmare of being nice with the rest of his family. The hanyou narrowed his eyes at the knowing and excited look on his father's face. He looked like the cat that just ate the mouse.
"What did you do, old dog?"
Instead of answering, the elder man smiled slowly, enjoying the growing frustration inside his son. It was so easy to mess with him. Making Inuyasha angry was almost as easy as offending Sesshoumaru's honor.
Inuyasha's ears were flicking in annoyance, so his father decided to take a long breath before speaking, only to watch his son's eyebrow twitch, "Guess who arrived?"
Inuyasha felt his lips shoot into a smile and couldn't hide the expectation in his tone when he asked "Kagome?" When his father chuckled at how pure and childlike his usually bitter son looked, he nodded. "Where is she?"
His father shrugged nonchalantly, "I dunno, I just let her in and came looking for you, she is... somewhere."
Inuyasha growled and walked out of the room leaving a very amused dog demon inside.
The apartment never seemed as big as it did in that exact moment. He looked around not giving a fuck if he did resemble a dog sniffing the wind. Where was she? Did she have her hair down? Did she look like in the picture he had of her or different?
He was walking fast through his house when he felt something weird go through him. SHE was here. Not Kagome but SHE. He felt his stomach drop to his feet. Why did it have to be today, the day she was close enough for him to meet HER.
Without being able to stop, he turned to the left, right beside the kitchen and it was as if he knew what he was looking for. The pull was too strong to avoid walking towards the woman that was talking with the flea-bag. He smelled the woman and groaned. Why did she smell so good? Why did she look so perfect? Why wasn't she Kagome?
He realized the exact moment she felt him because her body became tense and she looked around slightly. And he saw her turn as if it was in slow motion. He was only a couple of steps away and every single presence and sound that was not this woman disappeared.
First her foot turned toward him, then the rest of her body followed as if it was a wave reaching the shore. Her ponytail swished as her face darted in his direction and that was the moment he stared into the most beautiful grey eyes he had ever seen. It took them a couple of seconds to recognize each other. Because at the same time the hurricane of his own emotions hit him, so did hers.
To be continued...
A/N:
Hi!
There is only one chapter left... we are almost there!
Thank you for reading the story, and a big thank you for letting me know what you think about this story by liking and leaving a review :D
I know I know, that was mean of me. Ending it like that, but I'll hurry up and give you the happy ending soon.
Love,
Nanna :D
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