Disclaimer: I don't own any of the characters from the Inuyasha universe, but I sure do love playing with them. The rest is mine.
Chapter 8
"Well? What do you think? Is it good?" Kagome asked as Inuyasha chewed on a piece of bacon generously provided to them by the sozo box.
"It's incredible!" he beamed, taking another bite. She couldn't help but grin at the pure, childlike joy on his face. "This is the best thing I've ever eaten!"
"I'm glad," she giggled as he wolfed down the rest, practically licking the plate when he was done. "You know, you can always have more..." she grinned, and he reddened in embarrassment.
"I shouldn't...but that was wonderful, Kagome. Thank you for sharing that with me," he grinned, placing the plate and utensils back into the sozo box so that it could break it down on a molecular level and reabsorb the parts it needed for future creations.
"You're welcome," she smiled softly, finishing her bacon and eggs.
She had wanted to make an effort to be nicer to him - not that she had been mean to him, per say...but she wanted to try and start changing her inner monologue about him. At least a little.
He was kind. He was keeping her safe. He was (apparently) keeping her alive.
He deserved more kindness from her, especially after last night. He had made an effort to show her something amazing...something she knew he would be in worlds of trouble for doing, but he had done it anyway.
For her.
Sharing the joys of bacon and eggs was the least she could do...but he seemed to love everything she did and shared with him, no matter what it was.
He would have made a great explorer. He had this unshakable, wonderful curiosity and joy in learning about new things and different worlds.
She placed her empty plates in the box with his and pressed the button he had showed her to use to make everything disappear, and she noticed him watching her with pride.
He seemed to like that she was getting used to some of the joys of being on the ship...and she had to admit that not having to do dishes was wonderful.
"Well...if it's alright with you, I think I'm going to change," she decided, smoothing her hands along the hem of her shirt. He nodded, biting his lip.
"Would you wait a bit?" he requested nervously. "I'm expecting a call from my father soon, and I don't want him to see you," he admitted. She raised a brow in surprise.
"Why? Are you ashamed of me?"
"No! I...I…"
"It's alright, Inuyasha," she giggled. "I'm sure you have a good reason to hide me from him."
"I do," he whispered, looking down and playing with the edge of the red t-shirt she had given him the night before.
"I'm glad you like this," she commented, changing the subject and gently grabbing his hand before his worrying fingers could poke a hole in the fabric. "It does look good on you."
"Of course I like it...you gave it to me," he replied bashfully, and she released his hand with a gentle squeeze as the wall with the sozo box started flashing green.
"Shit...he's early," Inuyasha swore under his breath.
"It makes sense. You pushed him off four times already," she shrugged, and he nodded before stilling.
Fuck.
He hadn't told her that.
And it looked like he just realized that as well.
"Kagome...give me the translator, please," he asked, holding his hand out as the wall continued to flash.
"What? Why?"
"This is a sensitive conversation that I need to have with him, and I don't want to be overheard," he told her bluntly. "The translator, Kagome. Please," he finished more softly this time, and she scanned his face before relenting and handing him the translator. He actually looked worried, which made her feel worried, too. She had a bad feeling about this call.
"Thank you," he sighed before sending her off into the closed off bedroom and switching off the translator.
She heard him say something she assumed to be the command to answer the call, and she cracked the door open just enough to peak out and see what was happening.
A large, imposing man flashed onto the screen. Inuyasha immediately crossed his arms over his chest as he dropped to a knee and lowered his head, uttering a greeting of some sort.
She had to admit...Inuyasha did seem to get his looks from his father. The man had the same silver locks and golden eyes, and he shared nearly identical facial features with his son. The similarities seemed to stop there, however. He had elf-like ears instead of Inuyasha's much cuter dog-like ones, and a frayed navy blue stripe appeared on each of his cheekbones...although she supposed that could have been some kind of makeup.
Touga replied to Inuyasha, presumably telling him to stand. He did so before continuing their conversation. Inuyasha looked down at his shirt and held it out before looking back up at the image of his father and whispered something. Touga seemed displeased, and he made a harsh sounding reply that caused Inuyasha to hang his head.
Kagome watched as he slowly and unwillingly tugged off his shirt and then his pants, tossing them to the side. Her breath hitched, and she averted her gaze with a blush. She wanted to spy on him, but not in that way...even though she did rather enjoy what she had seen. She was pretty sure the image of his muscles moving under his skin would be ingrained into her memory for the rest of her life.
She couldn't help but wonder...had she had gotten him into trouble for his clothes?
She hadn't meant to - that was the last thing she wanted to happen.
She found that thought surprising. She hadn't realized that she even cared if he were in trouble or not...but the idea distressed her.
When she hesitantly brought herself to look back out, she saw that he had shrugged back into the military looking clothing he had worn the day before and was buttoning his vest back up.
His father continued berating him, and she watched Inuyasha cup the necklace he wore now - the one he willingly subjected himself to just so she would have some peace of mind and feel safe around him.
His father's anger seemed to increase and Inuyasha yelled back at him, clenching the beads in his hands until his knuckles turned white. His father roughly stood, slamming his hands down onto the table near him. Inuyasha jumped.
Touga was flat out screaming at Inuyasha, and she watched his ears flatten to his head from the sheer volume of his father's words. He released the beads and balled his hands into fists, looking down at the ground. Everything went silent.
She rapidly glanced back and forth between the video of Touga and Inuyasha until finally she heard him whisper one word: "Kikyo."
Touga let out a long and weary sigh before sitting back down, eyeing his son carefully.
"Kikyo," he repeated disbelievingly, and Inuyasha nodded.
"Kagome," he seemed to correct, or further explain. She felt her stomach begin to twist into knots. They were fighting about her?
The conversation seemed to take a calmer turn as they discussed her, and she watched Inuyasha pull a small glass screen from the cabinet and activate it. A small light shone out of it, creating an interface of some sort. He began pressing buttons and swiping at the images it projected until he found something that looked like a high tech x-ray. He enlarged it and made a large, sweeping motion with his hands so that the image showed up on the screen next to his father.
It looked like an x-ray of someone's chest cavity. As they talked, they zoomed in more and more on the person's heart. During their continued conversation, Inuyasha made more gestures with his hands until only the heart was left on the screen - and in the center, completely encapsulated by tissue, was a large, circular object.
Was that...was that supposed to be her heart?
No.
No way.
She didn't have a mass in her heart! That wasn't possible!
The men continued to talk as she silently began to panic. She flat out refused to believe that they were looking at her heart. She didn't care what she had overheard Inuyasha say to Miroku the night before.
This was her fucking heart! There was no goddamn way in hell she had a mass in it.
She had to be losing her mind.
Yeah.
That was it.
Because anything else? Accepting this as the truth?
That was unfathomable.
She shook her head to clear her thoughts, and she tried to focus on the exchange occurring between the two men in the other room instead. That would take her mind off of the thing in her heart...right?
Inuyasha removed the images from the screen, and Touga leaned back in his chair. He was silent for a moment before sternly saying something that made Inuyasha pale.
He shook his head vigorously in response, and Touga continued in a pacifying tone.
Inuyasha shook his head again, his eyes hardening. Touga squared his shoulders as Inuyasha continued on some pent up, anxiety filled rant that he had clearly been wanting to get off of his chest. His father remained silent, allowing him to say his piece. When he finally finished with a snarl, his whole body trembled and shook with emotion.
When Touga eventually replied, Inuyasha paled again. His tone was begging, but Touga sounded firm as Inuyasha seemed to hang his head in defeat.
He dropped to his hands and knees, his clawed fingers digging into the hard tile below as he appeared to literally beg his father for something.
She assumed Touga told him to rise, because he slowly stood back up again. He then tilted his head to the side, whimpering.
Submitting.
She remembered that from yesterday.
Was he giving up his plight?
Touga continued on, and she saw Inuyasha's eyes widen as a look of hope washed over his face. He nodded as his father appeared to ask him something, and Inuyasha turned bright red before nodding. His father asked him something else, and he shook his head in the negative.
Finally, she heard Touga say her name again, and Inuyasha paled as he stammered out a response. His father was silent for a moment, but he seemed to accept his reply. Inuyasha dropped back down to one knee and crossed his arms over his chest again as he ended his call with his father.
Slowly, he stood back up and slumped down onto the couch, resting his head in his hands. After a moment, she opened the door and slowly took a few steps towards him. She saw his ears flick over towards her direction, letting her know that he knew she was there...but he didn't say anything to her.
She hesitantly approached him and kneeled down between his knees, cupping his face.
"Inuyasha?" she whispered as he continued to squeeze his eyes shut. "Inuyasha?" she tried again, and he finally opened his glossy eyes.
"Kagome," he replied, his voice thick and heavy. "Anata*…"
"Inuyasha...I don't understand…" she replied. He smiled softly, seemingly knowing what she had said.
"Anata…" he said again, cupping her face and gently rubbing her cheekbone as his eyes brimmed with emotion. "Shi haana ta koishii shippai shima sen**."
"Inuyasha...I can't...I don't…"
He released her and stood up, breaking away from her so that he could find the translator and turn it back on.
It emitted a blue light for a moment before it disappeared, the same as before.
Inuyasha placed the translator back down on the table, and his posture slumped.
"So, Kagome...do you want to tell me how much you really know about everything?"
*Anata - suuuuper old school word for wife.
** Shi haana ta koishii shippai shima sen - "I won't fail you, darling"
A/N:
You don't know how long I've wanted to post this chapter…And it feels GOOD to finally have it up! Thank you Saucy Librarian for putting the finishing touches on it – you're a Goddess amongst us and I LOVE YOU!
And I also love everyone who has taken a moment to read and review this story! You help make me feel like people are really into this crazy lil' fic of mine and I appreciate it.
And if you'd like to show your appreciation in another way…VOTING HAS STARTED! If you like the work that Saucy and I do, I would encourage you to take a second to head over to Feudal Connection on Tumblr, and vote for us! It's the second post on their page (AND YOU DON'T NEED A TUMBLR TO PARTICIPATE!) Saucy and I are up for Best AU/AR, and there are SO MANY other amazing stories that you should vote for / read that are up for awards too! You can also do:
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com
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Was that cryptic enough for you? LOL! Sorry - FFN has weird rules about that stuff...I'll try and also put the URL in my profile! I seem to struggle with that though...
Saucy and I are going to keep with the double posting between now and the end of voting, AND SHE ALREADY HAS CHAPTER 9 DONE (she's a serious ROCKSTAR), so the next chapter will go up Tuesday, February 4th!
See you then!
-Lemon Lush
A/Rs (in order of received):
Guest 1: Thank you! I love that I'm constantly leaving you wanting more! Thanks for leaving us a little love on this fic :)
Guest 2: THANK YOU! I'm thrilled you're loving it that much! Thanks for your awesome review!
InuLuver: BAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Don't worry...give it time ;). I thought we could use a little fluff before all the stuff I'm about to throw at you guys. MUAHAHAHA! Thanks for being amazing a dropping a review!
Guest 3: Unfortunately no...but she beamed when she read your review! She wanted me to tell you that she's just a professional reader (she really is a librarian!) and she enjoys editing, but she leaves the story telling to other people. Thank you for showing her a little love and asking about her! You really made her day :D
Guest 4: HAPPY BIRTHDAY! I hope this past chapter helped make it extra special :)