Chapter 7: Love and Ambition
"Is everything ok," the waiter asked. "Mmhmm. Thank you very much," Kagome said trying not to talk with her mouth full. The waiter picked up her plate. Inuyasha stopped staring at Kagome and looked at the waiter. "Yeah, me too. Thanks," Inuyasha said handing the waiter his plate. Inuyasha exhaled slowly and followed Kagome's gaze over to the dancing couples. He knew what was coming. "Would you like to dance," she asked. "Uh, sorry. I don't dance," he studdered. "Me neither. I mean, not usually in front of anybody." "Well no. I mean, I-I don't..." He shook his head. "At all. As in I can't," he said smiling a little. "Everybody can dance. Come on, you can't be that bad," she said encouraging him. "Please? For me? Come on." Inuyasha caved. Kagome smiled and grabbed his hand and they walked up to the dance floor. They awkwardly took a moment to get situated and started to "dance." "Oof," Kagome said getting bumped into. "Sorry. I told you I was bad at this," Inuyasha said. He took a deep breath. "But in all fairness, you did warn me, right?" "That's right." She laughed. "So, um, what's number one on your list?" She shook her head and smiled. "Okay, um, number one on my list is getting out of Tokyo," he continued. "Hmmm. I don't think getting out's going to be a problem. It's more like figuring out what you're going to do when you get somewhere." "What fo you mean?" "I mean you can do anything." Inuyasha looked at her with wondering eyes. He wanted to know why she believed in him so much.
"Where are we going," Kagome asked. "Just hold on. You'll see," he said happily. Inuyasha pulled off to the side off the road and stopped. He walked around to the passenger side of the car to meet Kagome who was eager to know what they were doing. "Come on, come on, come on. Let's go," he said quickly. He stopped. "Okay, okay. Uh, stand here." "All right," she said, confused. "Okay. One foot here." He pointed to one side of a chalky line on the road. "And one foot here." He pointed to the other side. "Okay," she said. "There you go," he said. Kagome sighed happily and shook her head. She smiled. "You're acting like a crazy person. What's going on?" "Okay. Right now, you're straddling the city limit." "Okay," she said, still confised. "You're in two places at once." She looked up at him and giggled and hugged him. Then Inuyasha picked her up and spun her around.
Inuyasha and Kagome sat in the car in a parking lot. "Okay. Butterfly, rosebud, or star," he asked, holding up three sheets of temporary tattoos. Kagome shook her head and smiled at him. "You choose," she said. Inuyasha held up his choice. "Butterfly." "Okay." The two laughed quietly. "So... where do you want it?" She looked around and settled on her shoulder. "Right here," she said pointing to it. She pulled down her shirt slightlyso that it exposed her shoulder then pulled her hair back. Inuyasha watched her quietly, his eyes going back and forth from her shoulder to her eyes. "Okay." He pulled the cellophane off of the tattoo and applied the tattoo to her shoulder. Kagome observed him and his work quietly. Inuyasha looked up at her and smiled then peeled back the paper to reveal a tiny black butterfly. They both looked at and admired the little work of art. Inuyasha leaned in close and softly blew on her shoulder. He placed his hand over her shoulder and slowly moved his fingers across her skin. Inuyasha looked up at her again with the most loving look that anyone could give.
Inuyasha and Kagome strolled the docks silently, holding hands. "How can you see places like this and have moments like this and not believe," she asked him. "You're lucky to be so sure," he replied. She stepped a few paces in front of him and dropped her hand. "It's like the wind. I can't see it, but I can feel it," she said closing her eyes. "What do you feel?" "I feel wonder and beauty." Inuyasha watched her contemplatively. "Joy. Love. Imean, it's..." She turned to face him. "It's the center of everything," she continued. They paused. "Imight kiss you," Inuyasha said softly. "I might be bad at it," she replied, unsure. "That's not possible." Inuyasha put his hand on her cheek and leaned in and kissed her. Finally, when they parted they both looked down. "Kagome." She looked up at him. "I love you," he whispered. She looked at him startled. He bit his bottom lip. "Now would be the time to say something," he said. "I told you not to fall in love with me," she said. Inuyasha looked at her disappointed, but leaned in to kiss her again anyway. Then once again he pulled away from her and kissed her forehead.
Inuyasha and Kagome walked defiantly toward the school holding hands. Ayame stood with Kouga and Sesshomaru. Kouga and Sesshomaru directed their attention to the two of them. Kouga stared them down with eyes full of anger as they walked passed. Miroku and Kikyo walked up to their three friends and wondered what was going on. Kouga shook his head and turned away.
Mr. Higurashi stirred the tea he had made and checked his watch. He set the spoon in the sink and turned to the door. Inuyasha and Kagome walked up to the back door, holding hands, both very happy. They stopped and shared a kiss. they both smiled at each other and neither noticed the door opening behind them. They leaned in for another kiss until Kagome father interrupted. "Kagome, say good night to Mr. Tashima," he said walking over to them. Inuyasha looked down and backed away from her letting go of her hand. "Inuyasha, go home the night's over," Mr. Higurashi said. They told each other good night and Kagome watched him leave. "Kagome, your behavior is sinful," he scolded. She looked at him surprised. "You're--you're acting with that boy like you were..." "In love," she said. "Kagome, you are a child." "Dad. Look at me. I'm not a child." "Then stop acting childish." They paused. "I love him." He looked down at her, worried. "Then be fair to him, Kagome, before things get worse. Her father headed back into the house. Kagome looked to where Inuyasha's car once was. She slosed her eyes and turned around to go into the house.
Kagome took her telescope out of a shed as Inuyasha pulled up. He cut off the ignition and got out of the car, carrying a bag of stuff with him. "Hey," he said. "Hey," she said back. He shut the car door and made way over to her. Smiling, he greeted her with a kiss on the cheek. "Will you help me," she asked. "Yeah," he said walking over to the telescope stuff. "So, uh, what'd you tell your dad," he asked. She picked up her telescope. "The truth," she replied. Inuyasha picked up the telescope stand. "I just left you out of it," she finished.
Inuyasha was sitting on a bench, rifting through his bag. Kagome finished setting up her telescope and stood next to it. "So, what do you want to see," she asked him. "Um...pluto," he said, raising an eyebrow. "Uh. Pluto only rises a few minutes befire the sun." Inuyasha was back to searching through his bag. "Right. And I brought us a thermos of hot coffee." He stood up and set the thermos on the ground. "And um, a blanket," hesaid, pulling it out of the bag. "You planned this," she said. Inuyasha spread the blanket out on the ground. "Oh, I hoped for it." "Are you trying to seduce me?" "Why? Are you seducable?" Kagome smiled and shook her head. "That's what I though. Ergo, a second blanket. One for me and one for you," he said pulling another blanket out of the bag. He spread out the other blanket. "Thank you," she said. Inuyasha stood up after smoothing out the blanket and kissed her shoulder. He took something out of the front pocket of his shirt and unfolded it as Kagome looked up at the night sky. She peered into the telescope. "Can you find this star? Right here," he asked pointing to something on the paper. She rose. "Sure," she said back. She took the paper. Inuyasha went back to his bag and pulled out something else. Kagome scanned the night sky with her eyes and went to look into the telescope. Inuyasha held a rolled up piece of paper in his hands. "So, whay am I looking for this star?" "Because I had it named for you." He smiled. Kagome looked up at him, surprised, as he waved the paper in his hands. "See," he said grinning. "It's official." He unrolled the paper. Kagome continued to look at him in awe and went over to him. "It's from the International Star Registry," he said, handing her the paper. "This is wonderful," she said happily. She looked up from the paper to meet his eyes. "I love you," she said softly. The two took a moment before leaning into a kiss. Inuyasha broke away after a minute. "Okay, okay, okay. I'm sorry," he said. He opened his eyes to look at her. "I'm stopping." They both went to sit down. Kagome nestled comfortably in his arms. He wrapped an arm around her waist and placed his hand over hers. "So, what's your number one," he asked. He waited patiently, raising his eyebrows curiously. "To marry in the church where my mother grew up. It's where my parents were married," she answered. He smiled, closed his eyes, and kissed her cheek. Her eyes also closed, she leaned her head in against his.
