Okay. Thanks to lockANDkey and Anti Fluffy for reviewing. I'm not too sure about this chap. I think I might get a few flames for this one. I don't know about the title of the chap. If anyone has any suggestions for a new one, feel free to speak your mind.
Disclaimer: I don't own Inu...blah,blah,blah. You know the rest. I don't own "Long December" by the Counting Crows, but I wish I did.
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Chapter 4: Sober Regrets, Vodka Songbirds
He looked as if he had seen a ghost.
"What the hell are you talking about?"
Naomi gave him a watery smile.
"It's what you want isn't it. You want to go back and fix things so that you would still be with her now."
He ran his fingers through his hair as he carefully tried to articulate his thoughts.
"I...I love you..."
"Liar," she yelled as her voice finally cracked, "Love doesn't happen overnight and you know that. Yesterday, hell, even a few hours ago, I was just was an annoyance to you, a nag. I was always there for you and all of a sudden you force yourself on me, thinking if you fuck me it will make up for all that time you spent beating yourself up over something no one could control. No. It doesn't work that way."
"I..."
Inuyasha scratched the back of his neck, remaining silent in the fear that he might fuck things up even more than he had already done. He hadn't meant for it to go that far. He had just acted on an impulse and when he realized what he was doing he continued, hoping that contact would give them a fix to help fight away their loneliness for a little longer.
He knew she needed it as much as he did. Before that night, he never knew why she was lonely, but he always saw the same empty look in her face that he saw when he looked in the mirror. He listened to her cry herself to sleep sometimes, like he had after he lost Kagome. They would go days, even weeks without talking, but he always managed to catch a glimpse of those beautifully bloodshot blue eyes and smell the scent of tears that always clung to her.
He wanted to tell her what he saw. He wanted to tell her that even when he was wallowing in his fucking regret; that she always managed to make her way into his thoughts. All those words that were dying to be let loose and yet they never reached his lips.
He just held his head in his hands as she left the room.
After three minutes she reappeared in front of him with some different clothes on. Black boots, tight black jeans, a thin black blouse with a black tank top underneath, black bandana and a tight black leather jacket made her look like his executioner or at least like a vampire. She had definitely bore her fangs at him enough that night to pass as one.
"I'm tired of this bullshit. I know that I could never come close to what she was to you, but I don't want to keep going through this. If you want her, I can bring you to her and it will be as if we never met. You need to choose because I don't know how much more I can take... Call me when you get your shit together."
With that, she left.
"Fuck." he whispered as he slumped back into the couch.
He stared off into space until images of both women flashed through his mind like a slide show to the soundtrack of Naomi's words.
"Choose!"
"I can't."
"Why?"
"It's complicated. I don't know what I want"
"It's only as complicated as you make it. She left because you made things more complicated than they had to be."
"What the hell did she mean by 'I can bring you to her' anyway?"
"I don't know, but it means you have another chance with Kagome. You have to choose soon because even if you don't pick Naomi, all chances with Kagome are gone with her if you let her leave without saying anything."
"I can't do that...to either of them."
"You have to risk one or lose both."
He sighed as he felt his head throb from his inward argument.
"I just don't know what to think anymore."
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The fair-haired "business" man leaned back in his chair and pinched the bridge of his nose as one of his "clients" left his office. He was tired of dealing with these idiots. How had he fallen this far? He had been ruler and commander of the western lands. Now he was the leader of a youkai crime syndicate and the CEO of a major corporation. While many beings, ningen and youkai alike, would kill to be him, having the city wrapped around his finger was a far cry from having half the damn country in the palm of his hand.
The technological advancements of the past hundreds years had forced the once powerful inu youkai, like many others, into hiding. Those ningen finally had the power to subdue him and he would rather his other arm sliced off as well than become their next test subject. He had been shot once. The wound hadn't been that serious, but it took longer to heal than even his worst injury and he didn't plan on letting it happen again. So he was forced to masquerade as one of them. As much as he hated to admit, living amongst them wasn't as terrible as he had thought in the past. He figured that living amongst them for so long was giving him a soft spot for them. He started not dwell on it too much and it became second nature to him.
He needed a break from such frivolous things like paperwork and the squabbles that went on in the streets between moronic thugs. He needed a drink, badly. He decided to leave right away. As he stood from his chair, a very small, hideous man waddled into his office. As soon as the door closed behind him, the hideous man turned into a hideous toad youkai. He barely acknowledged the disgusting creature as he straightened his white Armani suit, red silk shirt and white silk tie. He frowned at a small scuff on his white shoes as the idiot chattered on about a flight he had to catch or something to that effect. He had walked past him and was half way out of his office when he finally spoke.
"I'm leaving. I'm not sure when I'll return, so cancel all my appointments for the next week."
"Where are you going Sesshoumaru-sama?"
He turned and shot the toad his infamously cold stare.
"I need not explain myself to the likes of you."
He closed the door behind him, leaving the poor toad cowering in fear.
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She walked to a random bar, refusing to go back to her usual spot after the little scene that had transpired earlier that night. She walked in, ordered their best vodka, and settled in the darkest corner she could find. She swirled the ice around in the clear liquid as she removed her cell from her jacket pocket and placed it on the table in front of her. She took a small swig from the glass as she watched the cell dance about the table in vibrate mode. It had been the tenth time he had called her since she left. She knew she had told him to call her when he had made his choice, but he could wait. He had been stewing in his own shit for five-hundred years; he could wait a few more hours.
She emptied the glass and was about refill it when he came in. They spotted each other immediately. She flagged him down with a half-smile. He ordered a few more bottles of vodka for them. He gave a rare smile at the bartender when he looked at him in awe as he handed over the many bottles and extra glass. The poor man was completely awestruck at the amount of alcohol the two were about to consume, not knowing that that amount, at the most, would bring a slight buzz to the strange couple. He made his way over to her table. She poured him a glass as he took his seat across from her. They smiled at each other as he loosened his tie then gulped down his first glass.
"It's not healthy to gulp it down like that, Sesshoumaru."
"I don't remember the last time smoking was good for you." said Sesshoumaru as Naomi as she stuck a cigarette in her mouth.
She made sure no one was looking when she snapped her fingers to receive a small blue flame which she used to light the cigarette. She quickly extinguished it when she noticed the bartender turning toward them.
"You're not the first to tell me. You realize are talking to a fire youkai. Smoking is one of my specialties." added Naomi as she let the smoke escape from mouth.
She took the box back out from her pocket and offered him the last one. He took it and nodded toward her gratefully. She lit it with another snap of her fingers. He took a long drag and let out the smoke in a deep sigh.
"I never thought I would see you again." he said flatly as he looked in to her eyes.
"Eight-hundred years of separation and our chance meetings in between could make you think so, couldn't it? How much time actually passed since we talked like this?"
"I think it has been about two centuries. We did meet again after that, but I'm sure you remember how that ended.
She smiled into her glass as she drank and recalled the memory.
"You know the scars from that one haven't completely gone away. I'd give it another five to ten years before they are completely gone. You really know how to leave a mark."
"I could say the same about you."
They continued to talk like old friends who hadn't seen each other in ages. They had a good laugh when Naomi commented on how Sesshoumaru used to refer to himself in the third person.
"You've changed."
"So have you."
"Eight-hundred years can do that to a person... I think I like you better this way."
"What do you mean by that?"
He smiled at her, a fang shown under his lip, just like Inuyasha... NO! She was having a good time without him. She didn't need to think about him, he could wait.
There was complete silence for a minute. Naomi listened to the music as one song ended and another began. It was a western song, which was a bit different from the music that had been playing during their conversation, but it was a favorite of her's, so she wasn't complaining.
"I love this song." she whispered with closed eyes.
"Would you like to dance?" asked Sesshoumaru as placed his tie on the table and unbuttoned the first two buttons on his shirt.
She opened her eyes and gave him a drowsy smile. She accepted his extended hand. He led to her the middle of the room. She wrapped her arms around his neck as he wrapped his arm around her waist.
"I don't think I ever danced with a one-armed man before." she whispered with a tired laugh.
He squeezed her tighter against him for that remark.
A long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember the last thing you said as you were leavin'
Now the days go by so fast
And it's one more day up in the canyons
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think that I could be forgiven...I wish you would
"I hate you for what you did to me Sesshoumaru."
"Why did you make hate you? Why did you abandon me? I would have forgiven you. That's how much I cared."
"I would not expect less from you."
"I'm sorry for what I did. I didn't mean for it to be like that."
The smell of hospitals in winter
And the feeling that it's all a lot of oysters, but no pearls
All at once you look across a crowded room
To see the way that light attaches to a girl
And it's one more day up in the canyons
And it's one more night in Hollywood
If you think you might come to California... I think you should
"Why did you come here? I didn't want any more of this drama,"
"I'm glad you came. I needed to be with someone who actually enjoys my company."
"I just wandered into the first bar I saw."
"I knew you were here. I just needed to see you again"
Drove up to Hillside Manor sometime after two a.m.
And talked a little while about the year
I guess the winter makes the winter makes you laugh a little slower,
Makes you talk a little lower about the things you could not show her
And it's been a long December and there's reason to believe
Maybe this year will be better than the last
I can't remember all the times I tried to tell myself
To hold on to these moments as they pass
"I ...I just want you to hold me." choked Naomi as she broke their secret language and let silver tears run down her cheeks.
He held her close as she broke down and sobbed into the crook of his neck.
And it's one more day up in the canyon
And it's one more night in Hollywood
It's been so long since I've seen the ocean...I guess I should
The bartender watched as they stood there after the song ended. By the colors they were wearing, it seemed like an angel comforting a devil. She let go first and kissed him with all that was in her. She broke away, grabbed her cell, and was about to leave when he pulled her into a searing kiss.
Being with him was surreal. She found herself lost in a whirlwind as black and white became gray. Her cell went unanswered twenty-seven times as it danced on Sesshoumaru's bedside table.
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I think I made Sesshoumaru-sama too fluffy. Don't be angry! Show some love and review.
Peace, for now!