Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha.
Betrothed
Chapter 9- Not Everything Is All That Simple
Inuyasha slumped down on a plush, chair opposite his brother's desk. Sesshoumaru's back was once again facing Inuyasha. It really didn't matter to Inuyasha whether he could see his brother's face or not for he knew that it always held the same, unreadable expression. Inuyasha sighed and rested both legs, on top of a nearby coffee table.
"What is it you called me here for?" he asked and folded both hands behind his back while he raised one eyebrow.
"I would assume by your current mood that things are settled between you and that girl?"
Inuyasha frowned and glared at the chair in front of him.
"And why do you need to know my business?" the young man asked. He could clearly hear when Sesshoumaru chuckled. This surprised Inuyasha greatly for he didn't remember the last time that his brother had laughed or even cracked a small smile.
"I see. Back to business then," he replied and swiveled the chair until the two were looking directly at each other once again. "I've been doing some research on your situation."
"And?"
"And I think I've found a legal document," Sesshoumaru finished. Inuyasha's heart sunk. He could have sworn that his breathing had currently stopped at the time and the blood running through his body had come to a standstill. "But, I'm not certain. I'll have to confirm it with the courts."
The simple sentence didn't seem to pull Inuyasha out of his current panic. What if it was a legal document? What would he do then? He dug his fingernails into the chair in frustration. He had promised himself that he would get out of this thing with Nara. All he wanted was to be with Kagome but it was so difficult for him to do so.
Sesshoumaru quirked one eyebrow and delicately traced his chin with his long fingers.
"My question is what would you do if it was legal?"
Inuyasha sighed and slumped down into his chair. He slowly ran one hand down his face. Opening his eyes, he stared directly at the decorated ceiling.
"The truth is…. I don't know."
Kagome stretched her hand upward in an attempt to reach the mug sitting on the top shelf. She whimpered and went on her toes, hoping that he extra height would allow her to reach the mug. That unfortunately didn't work for her; it was just a little bit out of her reach.
She sighed and came down from her toes. A gasp escaped her lips when a hand gently landed on her shoulder. She found herself once again looking into the eyes of Hojo for the second time of the afternoon. With little effort he stretched out his hand and got the cup for her. He smiled at her, causing Kagome to blush slightly.
Kagome took the cup and walked over to the kitchen table, with Hojo following her. He sat directly opposite to her, a smile still present on his face.
"So what brings you here?" Kagome asked and poured a cup of tea for Hojo. He raised one eyebrow and her and took the cup in his hands.
"Why I came here to see you," he said. "I actually wanted to say that I'm going to be working in the same town where you are going to school. I asked for a transfer there and it was accepted."
"Why would you want to get a transfer? That means that you'll have to move to a new city and have settle down all over again."
Hojo smiled and looked boldly into her eyes. Kagome was taken back by his current facial expression. It was odd she had remembered receiving that look from Inuyasha only hours before. She gasped slightly and brought her fingers to her lips…. It couldn't be.
"I have my reasons," he replied and kept his eyes focused on her. Kagome brushed off the statement with a smile. There was no way Hojo had any romantic feelings towards her…. at least not anymore.
They had dated while both of them were still in high school. He was two years her senior which was exciting for Kagome for she was only a freshman at the time. He had always treated her well; making sure she was always comfortable around him, he frequently bought her gifts and there was one time when she had gotten extremely ill and he had skipped school just to tare care of her, despite the fact that her mother was home. The pair spilt after one year of dating. Kagome was the one who broke it off with him, for he was going to college in another city and a long distance relationship just wouldn't work.
"So what about you, how have things been going?" he asked, causing Kagome to snap out of her current thoughts.
"I've been doing pretty good," she lied. She was anything but good. At the moment Kagome was debating on what to do with her current situation. Nara was her cousin but at the same time she loved Inuyasha so much and couldn't leave him.
'The engagement isn't even real anyway, right?' Kagome asked herself and propped her face on her hands. She closed her eyes hoping that it would clear all the negative thoughts from her head.
She suddenly felt a warm hand rest softly on her cheek. Kagome opened her eyes and looked over at Hojo in surprise. Both of his eyebrows were raised high on his forehead, she could clearly see the worry lines on his forehead as well and a frown was present on his face.
"Are you feeling well?" he asked and slowly began to run his hand down her cheek. Kagome flinched slightly at the unwanted contact. Why was he suddenly being very affectionate towards her?
"Hojo-kun." Kagome whispered. Her eyes went downcast to stare at her hands, which were currently resting on the table, tightened into fists. The sudden intimacy that Hojo was currently displaying was making her feel rather uneasy.
The tension residing in her body left when she felt Hojo's hand remove itself from her cheek. It wasn't long before she heard a sigh coming from across the table, which suddenly made her feel an immense amount of guilt.
'Why, am I feeling like this? I didn't do anything wrong!' she thought.
She slowly lifted her head to stare at the man before her. He was currently looking away from her. His eyes seemed to be focused on the white walls surrounding them. Her guilt grew when she noticed that he was currently trying to avoid her eyes.
"Ano… Hojo-kun," she began in an attempt to break the current silence. She gripped the hem of her white dress and allowed her eyes to drop once more.
"How about we catch up some other time?"
Kagome looked up at Hojo with surprised eyes. He was once again smiling at her, but somehow his expression didn't seem to be all that genuine. She opened her mouth to respond to his request but he immediately cut her off.
"Tomorrow night?" he asked.
Kagome stifled a sigh and managed to give Hojo a tiny smile. She nodded her head in confirmation before responding.
"Tomorrow night."
Nara looked over at the man sitting across from her. His hands were folded across his chest, his eyes were closed, and his eyebrows were shot up high on his forehead.
A frown came across Nara's face as she studied his features. She'd hoped that him seeing her would at least bring some light onto his face. 'He seems to be even more troubled every time I see him.'
She folded her hands on her lap before looking down at the table. Without looking directly at him, Nara hesitantly moved one hand from her lap and reached out to Inuyasha. She pulled back for a moment when she thought that he had moved, but continued onward when she saw that nothing was wrong.
Inuyasha opened his eyes to stare at his fiancé when he sensed her eyes on him. He saw her hand was suspended in the air, and her face currently flustered. She seemed to notice that he was looking at her for her hand immediately dropped to her lap and her face instantly lowered.
"I'm sorry," she whispered.
Inuyasha sighed and reached out to caress Nara's face. Her head jerked up and her cheeks became crimson once again.
"What you sorry for?" Inuyasha asked. Nara had no idea what to say. He had never, under any circumstances been this affectionate with her. The sudden intimate act made her mind turn to a big ball of jelly, so much that she couldn't actually form a proper sentence.
"Nothing," she mumbled. Her eyes once again fell down to her lap and she knotted her fingers together. "I'm worried about you."
Inuyasha blinked several times. She seemed to be avoiding all eye contact at the moment.
"Is something bothering you?" she inquired.
Inuyasha swore under his breath. He didn't think that she would notice his anxiety. His attempt to act as if nothing was wrong failed miserably. Just looking at Nara's downcast eyes made his guilt skyrocket to levels that it had never even reached before.
"No," he sighed and turned his head to avoid her eyes.
Nara sighed to herself. He so badly wanted him to open up to her. She had long ago sensed something was bothering him. The previous year they seemed to be going quite well with each other. At that time Inuyasha actually seemed to enjoy her company.
'But now….'
She once again looked at him to see that his attention seemed to be on someone or something. His eyes were wide and his mouth was slightly opened. Curious, Nara turned her head in the direction in which Inuyasha was looking.
It seemed that he had his eyes on some woman. She was rather tall, with long dark hair and she was wearing a simple blood red dress. Nara could feel the jealously boiling up inside her until the woman turned around allowing Nara to get a good look at her face.
"Kag-chan?" she whispered. A smile came across her face at the sight of her cousin. "Kag-chan!" she shouted and waved her hands back and forth to gain her cousin's attention.
Kagome seemed to have heard the call from the other side of the room for she faced Nara's direction. For a second Nara thought that she had seen Kagome's expression become grim and regretful but it was soon replaced with a warm smile.
After approximately ten minutes, Kagome managed to maneuver herself through the crowd of people to arrive at Nara's table. Nara stood up and embraced the young woman before her. When they pulled away her eyes caught sight of a very handsome man standing rather proudly next to Kagome.
"Oh you're on a date, huh?" Nara asked as a mischievous smile came upon her face.
Kagome's eyes quickly darted towards Inuyasha. He was staring at her intently, seemingly awaiting her answer to Nara's question. The scowl on his face was enough to make Kagome immediately avert her eyes.
"No. We're just having dinner, as friends."
"Oh," Nara said. "Then…. How bout you and your friend join us? We were just about to order."
Kagome's heartbeat quickened. How in the heck was she going to get out of this? She quickly went through different reasons to tell Nara that she didn't want to join them but came up with no good reason. She glanced at Inuyasha hoping that he would help her out of this but he was glaring at her, obviously upset that she was going to dinner with some other guy.
"Why not?" Hojo said, breaking the silence among the four adults. Nara smiled before taking her seat across Inuyasha once again. Hojo took a seat right next to Inuyasha.
Kagome wanted to panic. By the look on Inuyasha's face she knew that he wanted so badly to hurt Hojo. Millions of thoughts swirled around in her mind, so much that she felt herself getting a headache. Kagome knew that there was obviously no way out of this. Sighing, the young woman hesitantly took the last seat next to Nara.
A/N; Yes people I'm alive. I won't be able to update as I did before because this is my last year in school and it requires a lot of studying. I've got tons of homework to do and it's so stressful for me right now but I will not abandon this story. It will be completed no matter how long it takes. So just be patient. I will update when I can. Thank you guys for reviewing the last chapter! I'm so happy people actually like this story. Until the next update,
Neogirl
