Chapter 45: Goodnight Song
Hojo smirked as he walked through the tiny motel room, greeting the man that he had been waiting to arrive for the last several weeks. A man with long greasy black hair looked down at his newspaper before telling Hojo for probably the millionth time why it took him so long to get here.
"I keep telling you," Naraku said impatiently, "I was stuck in Mexico dealing with… another job."
"I couldn't care less about your personal life Naraku," Hojo said. "I've been waiting for you to get here for ages. You're lucky that I didn't hire someone else. But then again… Kagome will be all the more crushed when I finally get what I want."
"Again with that woman? Can't you talk about something else for once? If I didn't know any better, I would swear that you are still obsessed with her," Naraku said calmly.
"Please," Hojo scoffed. "I only planned on dating her for a little while and then dump her for some other girl when I was done with her. Is it my fault that she got pregnant?"
"Don't yell at me. It's not my fault either," Naraku began before Hojo cut him off.
"Oh shut up! It doesn't matter anymore. That kid is actually going to be a use to me. Are you in?"
Naraku rolled his eyes, "I told you. Pay me the right price and I'll get the job done. But just so we're clear, are you sure that you don't want either the brat or the woman dead?"
"Yes, not much use to me if they die are they? Not to worry Naraku, I have a plan."
Naraku turned his eyes away from the newspaper he was reading, "What is it now?"
"If Kagome won't give me Shippo, I'll have to take him by force. All we have to do is kidnap the brat!"
Naraku went back to his paper and asked in a bored tone, "Remind me, why do you want this kid so badly again?"
"So I can get the money for Child Support!" Hojo snapped at him.
Naraku folded up the paper and set it on his desk, "Why waste your time by going through all this? You could just marry some rich wench and have money that way. And then… get rid of her!"
Hojo turned away from Naraku, "I got a better idea. You know that she's been dating that rich Takahashi punk. Now I thought for sure that he'd break up with her once he found out about what happened between me and Kagome—but no. No matter, in a way, I'm almost glad that it worked out this way."
"What does Takahashi have to do with anything?" Naraku asked annoyed now.
"Don't you listen?" snarled Hojo. "The guy is filthy rich! We can make enough money from him to last the rest of our lives. But kidnapping Shippo might not be enough…"
"What are you saying?" Naraku asked, finally interested.
"You'll have to see now, won't you?" Hojo's voice dripped with a honey-like poison.
*Kagome and Inuyasha*
A few days after the carnival, Kagome and Shippo both went over to Inuyasha's after dinner, because Shiori said that she wanted Shippo to sleep over and Kagome to read her a story for bedtime instead of Inuyasha. Kagome had just put the kids to bed and read them a story when Shippo asked her what was probably the last thing she expected.
"Mommy?" Shippo begged as Kagome pulled up his covers. "Can you sing that song that you used to sing to me when I couldn't sleep at night?"
Kagome looked at him in surprise. "I haven't done that for a long time Shippo. I thought that you said that you were too old for that."
"Yeah but… Shiori never heard it," Shippo said blushing.
"Oh, can I hear it mommy?" Shiori begged. "Is it pretty? I bet it is! Can you sing it? Please?"
Kagome hesitated for a moment before she smiled and began to sing softly.
Make my wish come true, let darkness fade to light
Show me there's still hope, show me it's not over
Battles we can win, our struggle lies within
Will we live to greet the dawn?
Love will not leave you, hate will not heal you
Promise me one day that peace shall reign.
(I own nothing. I just thought that this song was really appropriate. If you want to hear it, it's called Serah's theme.)
She then gave them each a kiss on the head and said goodnight.
Inuyasha watched from the doorway, his ear still tingling from the song…
A small smile gracing his features as his thoughts drifted, 'She'd make a fantastic mom to Shiori. Oh, what the hell am I thinking? Yes, we're dating but I don't want to scare her off by moving too fast.'
Inuyasha shook himself out of his thoughts before he said goodnight to Shippo and Shiori, and led Kagome back to the living room. They both sat down on the couch, just in front of a roaring fire—comfortable just to be in each other's presence.
Kagome leaned her head against Inuyasha's shoulder, "You know something? You did a great job of raising Shiori. She's so sweet."
"Thanks," Inuyasha said as he places his head on top of hers, "Kagome?"
"Yes?" she asked.
"You spending the night?"
"I guess… if that's alright with you?"
"No, I don't mind. We have a guest room that you can use." Inuyasha didn't say anything else for awhile; just wanting to enjoy the moment with Kagome sitting so near him. Finally, about half an hour of staring into the fire without another word, he said, "Kagome?"
"Hm?"
He took her hand, "I love you…"
Kagome grinned and kissed his lips softly, "I love you too."
Inuyasha kissed her back; Kagome moved and was now sitting on his lap as they deepening the kiss. All Kagome could do was gulp as she tried to breathe properly. The sweet, husky scent of his cologne and natural scent had infiltrated her nose. Her heart pounded in her ears.
She'd never been so in-tuned to one single person. There was something different about him than anyone else she ever met.
She could feel the hairs on the back of her neck raise as she could feel his intense stare focused on her bare neck, exposed because her hair had been thrown into a messy bun. As even more chills ran up and down her body, one word floated across her befuddled mind… Inuyasha…
Inuyasha was starting to smell her arousal and pulled away. Kagome gave him a puzzled look, "What's wrong?"
Inuyasha shook his head and smirked, "I just think we're getting a little carried away."
"Is that a good thing?"
He smirked, "That depends."
"On…?"
"I'll explain later," Inuyasha said as Kagome got up off his lap and went back to leaning her head back on his shoulder.
"Kagome, you're not like other girls."
"Yeah I know." She sat up straight and glanced at the stairs behind them, as if making sure that they were both alone. "But isn't that what makes you like me, right?" she asked, returning her gaze to his piercing one.
He smiled lopsidedly, "I guess so…course, there are other things too…"
"Really? Is that so?" she raised a questioning eyebrow. "Like what?" she asked excitedly and scooted closer, Inuyasha was incredibly aware of how close she was now.
"Like…" he put his hand to his chin and pretended to take a while to think. "No give me a sec, this might take a while."
Kagome jokingly hit him in the arm. He turned his head, so that he was staring directly into her eyes.
She'd just been joking, not expecting him to answer, but he did.
"You're funny. And really easy to talk to." He leaned in closer. "You're a good mother… and, you know," he blushed, "you're kind of cute too." He put his left hand on her cheek. Her eyes were sparkling with excitement. He leaned forwards.
"Wazz goin' on?" Shiori said groggily, still half asleep.
Kagome and Inuyasha jumped apart to see Shiori standing there with a glass of water in her hands. "Shiori?" Kagome said standing up. "What are you doing here?"
Shiori held up the glass and said sleepily, "Got thirsty."
Inuyasha shook his head and began muttering under his breath as Kagome led her back to her room and said, "Ok, you have everything?"
Shiori nodded before she rolled over and went back to sleep. "Night, night momma," she said with a yawn.
Kagome felt her heart swell, just like every time that Shiori calls her mom. She gently ran her hand through Shiori's hair before repeating the gesture with Shippo on the spare bed. He grinned slightly in his sleep before he nuzzled into his pillow before he muttered the words 'Step 5' in his sleep.
'Step 5?' Kagome thought in confusion. 'Step 5 of what?'
Pushing it out of her mind, she shut the light off and was about to head towards the staircase when she felt Inuyasha grab her hand.
He pulled her towards his chest and ran his fingers through her hair, gently touching her cheek. He could hear her soft intake of breath. They both could hear their kids grumbling a bit in their sleep, but at the moment, the only thing that they could focus on right now was each other.
*Kagome's thoughts*
His golden eyes stared back into her, she could hear her heart in tune with his. Why was love always so complicated? When did she first begin to have such strong feelings for him? Why is it whenever he looks at her she forgets where she, and what she's doing?
*Inuyasha's thoughts*
Her dark brown eyes stared back into his, momentarily making him speechless. Does love always make you feel this way? When did his heart fall head-over-heels with her? And why is it that whenever she smiles, somehow he finds himself smiling along with her?
Kagome gently took his face into her hands, making his swallow more a gulp as his cheeks quickly began to burn. She wiped his mouth with her thumb and his nose with a pointer finger as if memorizing every inch of his face. One hand remained motionless on his cheekbone, warm against his heating skin. She just looked into his eyes for a moment, an unspoken gesture saying more than words ever could. She gently held her hand against his cheek as she placed a quick kiss on his lips.
Beyond the light blush still lay a sweet smile…
He kissed her back and whispered, "Good night, Kagome."
That's when she slipped like water from his hold and silently padded down the stairs, eventually disappearing into the darkness, her "Good night," softly echoing down to him.
As he watched her get into her car and back out of the driveway, he sighed heavily, "Everything is perfect."
Little did he know, that his perfect world would soon be shattered.
*Hojo*
Hojo had an evil grin plastered on his face. This whole plot was going to work in his favor and there was nothing anyone could do to stop it from going his way.
"You know the plan, right, Naraku?" he asked as she leaned on his desk.
"Yeah, I understand. I still don't see why we don't simplify this and just kidnap the kid!"
"Because," Hojo smirked, "Kagome would know that I was the one responsible for it. If everything goes according to plan then we both will become very rich. And maybe I'll be able to get Shippo in my custody to get the Child Support like I originally planned."
"You truly want that brat?" Naraku asked.
"Of course not!" Hojo said leaning back in his chair. "I could always do with a servant around the house however."
Naraku sat thoughtful for a moment before asking, "Are you sure that the woman doesn't know the truth about what happened that day…?"
Hojo sent a death glare at Naraku, "If she knew then don't you think that she would've done something about it by now? No, she honestly doesn't know the truth about the twins. But now that you mention it… maybe I should tell that Takahashi. I wonder how he'll take it when he learns the truth.
(We are finally nearing the answer to the question that everyone is asking about! Please review and I'll put up the next chapter as soon as possible)
