A/N: I decided that I was going to update just one fic today and it seemed like everyone wanted to see this one updated the most, so I'm updating this one. Well, Do You Remember Me got more reviews for the last chapter but you all seemed to be dying to read the next chapter of this fic, so I chose to update this one. The others will be updated soon.
Disclaimer: I disclaim everything that isn't mine. Everything that's mine I get to claim.
¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤
Old Feelings Die Hard
Chapter VIII
"Damn," Inuyasha muttered, pounding his fist on the table. 'Gods I still love her…'
"That's it," Inuyasha said to himself decisively and firmly. He decided that his brother couldn't have her; Inuyasha wouldn't let him have her. Kagome was too good for his bastard of a brother. 'Hell,' Inuyasha thought, 'she's too good for me but she's especially too good for him. She needs someone to hold her and kiss her and sweep her off her feet and damned if I didn't just do that for her!' The way Inuyasha saw it, the gods had thrown him another chance and he would definitely take it!
He had walked away from her once and he sure as hell wasn't about to do it again. Oh no, he was one to learn from his mistakes and never made the same one twice. He was going to get her back and keep her for good this time.
Inuyasha really wasn't one to steal away other guys' girlfriends (though he could probably steal a hell of a lot of them if he tried, Inuyasha thought smugly) and he certainly wasn't one to take some guy's fiancé. He did have morals after all. If Sesshoumaru were engaged to anyone except Kagome, Inuyasha wouldn't have cared at all and would've stayed away since anyone marrying Sesshoumaru had to be insane, but the fact of the matter was that it was Kagome.
"Wake up sunshine!" Sango cried happily, smashing her pillow into Kagome's face.
Kagome groaned and reluctantly opened her eyes. "Sango, can't you find a better way to wake me up?"
"Hmm…" Sango murmured thoughtfully and then grabbed the glass of water on the floor beside her futon, pouring it over Kagome's head. "Is that better?"
Kagome burst into laughter and sat up. "Much, thanks. I'm wide-awake now. You know what we should do tod-" Then she visibly paled and the smile dropped from her face as she remembered last night. "Oh gods…" Kagome mumbled, burying her face into her blankets.
Sango frowned in confusion. "Talk about major mood swings, what's wrong?" she asked in concern.
"I…I…" Kagome said, not really sure if she should tell her friend or not. Kagome sighed, deciding that Sango knew everything else that went on in her life so she might as well know this too. "Last night…I got hungry and so I went down to the kitchen."
Sango giggled. "That's not something to be so upset about! I mean-"
"I'm not done," Kagome said simply.
"Oh, well go on then."
"Well…Inuyasha…he was in the kitchen."
"Okay, but that's still not-" Sango began, but Kagome cut her off.
"Sango, I kissed him!"
Sango blinked at her. "Okay, go on then."
Kagome had to laugh at Sango. "No, that's it."
Sango nodded. "Do you regret it?"
"Of course I do! I mean…I'm engaged to Sesshoumaru and even if I don't really want to be at the moment, I would still be Sesshoumaru's girlfriend and I kissed his brother!"
"I think you're forgetting that Inuyasha is not just Sesshoumaru's brother. From what I've heard, you loved him, Kagome and if I were to guess, I'd say that you don't feel nearly as strongly for Sesshoumaru, do you?"
Kagome sighed in frustration, burying her face in her hands. "I really don't know anymore. But why didn't Inuyasha ever visit me and why'd we lose touch? I was always waiting for him to come back for me. I waited and he never came, never called, never anything. I felt totally crushed! Stupid jerk."
"Yeah, but you didn't visit him or call him or anything either," Sango pointed out, and Kagome blinked into her hands, realizing that she really hadn't. Then Sango grinned slyly. "So?"
"So what?" Kagome mumbled.
"So how was it!"
Kagome groaned. "Absolutely amazing. Gods, I feel so guilty, like I've broken some law or something!"
Sango grinned. "To the extent of my knowledge, there is no law against someone kissing their fiancé's brother…not yet anyway."
Kagome smiled.
Soon Kagome and Sango went down to the kitchen for breakfast and found most of the family already at the table, Inuyasha included. Kagome avoided looking at him and he noticed this as he inconspicuously watched her out of the corner of his eye. She quickly sat down next to Sango, her cheeks a bright red.
Kagome chanced a glance at Sesshoumaru in panic, wondering if he knew what had happened but he seemed as calm and collected as ever. Kagome breathed a sigh of relief and then scolded herself for her stupidity. Of course he wouldn't know, unless he had been awake and had also decided to grab a midnight snack. Kagome panicked again and looked at him. 'Please gods, don't let that have happened!' But Sesshoumaru still seemed unruffled and collected as he read the paper.
Looking up over the paper to see Kagome looking at him, he smiled. Kagome smiled rather shakily back.
'Gods, if all of this doesn't kill me then nothing else will…' Kagome thought.
Kagome avoided Inuyasha's eyes all morning and she was relieved that he didn't say anything to her. Her relief soon fled when Sesshoumaru and Inutaisho announced that they were heading down to the office.
"You're leaving?" Kagome asked hurriedly, panic-stricken.
Sesshoumaru smiled reassuringly and gently stroked her cheek with the back of his hand. "Father's paperwork has piled up and he'll be needing some help. It shouldn't take too long. I'll take you out to dinner tonight to make it up to you, okay?"
Kagome nodded and he kissed her cheek before following his father out the front door and Kagome watched perhaps the only barrier between her and Inuyasha leave. Now nothing really stopped Inuyasha from talking to her about last night.
Inuyasha had watched the exchange between Sesshoumaru and Kagome, glad that he was finally leaving. His blood began to boil when Sesshoumaru stroked her cheek though and he gritted his teeth. 'Who does that bastard think he is?' he asked himself angrily and a tiny voice in the back of his head, the voice Inuyasha hated, answered that he was her fiancé. His hands clenched into fists and he grew even angrier when Sesshoumaru kissed her cheek. 'It was only a chaste kiss on the goddamned cheek! That's not even close to what we did so quit getting so angry!' Inuyasha mentally berated himself.
Not two seconds after the front door had shut behind Sesshoumaru, Moriko walked down the hall, digging through her purse for her car keys, and Kagome's panic level jumped to an all-time high.
"Are you going somewhere?" Kagome asked, though she already knew the answer if her rotten luck thus far stayed with her.
"Oh yes, just out to run a few errands. I should be home in time to cook dinner," Moriko said cheerfully and then went out the front door.
Kagome paled. Dinner wasn't for hours. Moriko and Sesshoumaru and Inutaisho would all be gone for hours. Kagome rested her forehead against the door. Everything keeping Inuyasha from talking to her about the incident in the kitchen was gone.
"Damn vacations, damn cars, damn phones, damn doors, damn wedding rings, damn wedding dresses, damn paperwork, damn work in general, damn offices, and damn the word 'damn.' Damn them all to Hell," Kagome said, listing everything she wanted to damn right about now and banging her head against the door to emphasize each 'damn.' She usually wasn't one to swear much but she really felt the situation called for swearing for no reason at all. After all, being engaged to the brother of the guy you loved in high school, whom you just fully snogged the night before was definitely a situation that really did call for damning things for no reason.
"When did you get a job as Satan? Is it a part-time gig?"
'Oh great, just the person I wanted to see right about now…' Kagome thought as she turned to see Inuyasha standing behind her, smirking. "I don't really have the power to damn things but if I did, all those things would be rotting away in Hell right about now," Kagome replied, hoping her voice sounded much calmer than she really was.
"I think this is our cue to leave," Sango whispered to Miroku. They were on their stomachs peeking over the edge of the top step of the stairs directly behind Inuyasha, looking down at him and Kagome.
"Shh…" Miroku said, engrossed in what was happening at the foot of the stairs.
"Would you damn me?" Inuyasha asked, grinning a lopsided sort of grin that made Kagome weak in the knees.
"It depends on what you've come to talk to me about," Kagome answered, leaning back against the door for some sort of support.
"Nice one, Kagome-chan," Sango whispered.
"Kagome…I actually wanted to talk about last night," Inuyasha told her.
"Then yes, damn you too, Inuyasha."
Miroku frowned from his position at the top of the stairs. "What happened last night?" he whispered, more to himself than Sango.
Sango grinned. "Inuyasha didn't tell you?"
Miroku looked at her. "No, did Kagome tell you?"
Sango nodded proudly. " I think maybe you should listen to this then, because you'll probably be able to figure out what happened depending on what Inuyasha wants to say about it."
"You're probably feeling pretty guilty right now, but frankly, I'm not," Inuyasha stated firmly, stuffing his hands into his pocket and shrugging.
"Inuyasha, I don't really want to talk about this right n-" Kagome began as she tried to move past him and up the stairs, trying not to look at him, but he grabbed her arm and turned her towards him.
"We have to. We'll have to sooner or later anyway and you know it," Inuyasha insisted.
"Well I'd rather it were later!" Kagome retorted tartly.
"And I'd rather it were now. Haven't you ever heard of compromise?" Inuyasha growled.
"Well the compromise between now and never is still later so we'll talk about it later. How's that for compromise?"
Inuyasha frowned and then grinned. "Give me two seconds. I'm trying to figure out if any of that made any sense."
"Well while you figure that out, I'm going to my room," Kagome said firmly, trying to pull her arm out of his grasp but he held firm.
"No, I said I wanted to talk!"
"And I said I didn't! Haven't you ever heard of compromise?"
"I don't give a fuck about compromising right now! I only said that so you wouldn't leave anyway," Inuyasha snapped. Then his voice dropped slightly in volume. "You can't tell me that the kiss meant nothing to you. I know you well enough to know that it did, Kagome."
"You sure think you know me pretty well for not having seen me, much less having talked to me in the last two years!" Kagome said, trying to cross her arms as best she could with an arm still in Inuyasha's grip.
"Because you're still just as I remember you! And I sure as hell know you better than my bastard of a brother who has seen you and talked to you in the last two years!"
"Inuyasha, you had your chance and you left!"
"Do you think I could help it?! I couldn't help that my so-called mother decided to drag me away!"
"Uhm, do you think we should maybe leave them alone now?" Sango asked uncertainly. It seemed as if the conversation were taking a rather personal and private level.
"Shh…" was Miroku's only answer as he tried to listen more closely to their conversation and Sango sweatdropped.
"Then why didn't you call, visit, write, anything?! I was absolutely heartbrok-"
"You want to know why I didn't?" Inuyasha hissed.
"I wouldn't ask if I didn't want to know!" Kagome retorted hotly.
"I was afraid, all right? I was damn near terrified!"
"Of what?!" Kagome cried incredulously. "Of me?"
"No, I was going to visit but then I changed my mind because I didn't want my heart to be ripped out if I visited you only to find that you weren't missing me at all. I was afraid I'd see that you had forgotten all about me. I was afraid to visit and find out that you had already moved on."
"Are you kidding me?! If you know me as well as you say, you would know that I was crushed for months after you left! I ignored any guys' advances and I barely even left the house because I was afraid I'd miss your call! I finally had to move on seeing as you weren't coming back but a day didn't go by when I didn't wish you'd come back," Kagome said, her voice starting loud and ending up in a sort of vehement whisper.
"But I'm back now and you shouldn't be with him, Kagome. You should…you should be with me," Inuyasha finished.
Kagome looked up to the ceiling. "Why are you doing this to me?" she asked the gods. She was beginning to believe that the gods hated her; either that or they were all having a laugh upstairs for putting in all these situations.
"I know I'm putting you in a bad position but I wouldn't ever forgive myself if I didn't try just like I've never forgiven myself for not coming back," Inuyasha said quietly, thinking that Kagome had been talking to him, and took his hand off her arm to take her hand in his, lacing his fingers through hers.
"But I just-I can't just-I…" Kagome stuttered, suddenly confused and tired and dizzy and even more confused. Suddenly all the tension and stress and battling emotions washed over her tenfold and she felt an uncharacteristic surge of anger. "Inuyasha, stop doing this to me! I'm doing just fine now without you waltzing back into my life like you were never gone! But the fact of the matter is that you were gone and you didn't come back. Don't place this burden on my shoulders because you were too insecure to come back, call, visit, anything! So do me a favor and stay out of my life for another two years!"
She turned on her heel to march up the stairs but Inuyasha grabbed her arm again.
"Is that what you want?" he asked, his eyes flashing angrily.
Kagome's anger suddenly died down and she could feel tears welling in her eyes. She couldn't answer that. She couldn't tell him that she wanted him to leave her for another two years but she also couldn't tell him that she wanted him to stay with her and never leave her again. She couldn't tell him that now. There was just nothing she could say to answer his question since-quite honestly-she didn't know what she wanted anymore. So she turned and ran up the stairs, Miroku and Sango scrambling to their feet and running to their rooms so that Kagome wouldn't find out that they had been eavesdropping.
¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤§¤|¤
A/N: Poor Kagome-chan! Wow…I'm so mean to her. O.o This is a longer chapter than I usually write but once I started I couldn't stop. This fic is so much fun even though I'm pretty evil to Kagome in it. At the end of the chapter, I shouted "No! What happens next?!' completely forgetting that I'm the one writing it. ^.^;; Anyway, so in the next chapter, Sesshoumaru stays late at the office and he tells Kagome to go out to dinner anyway to have some fun. Guess who Sesshoumaru volunteers to take her to dinner since he can't make it! ^.~
Review Responses:
Farren: I write fluff good?! Well you read the good fluff. Usually my fluff is more like…wet cotton balls in that wet cotton balls aren't fluffy and just flop. Yeah, my fluff usually flops like a wet cotton ball but I actually wrote and re-wrote and re-re-wrote and re-re-re-wrote that fluffy part until I actually liked it ^.^ Thanks for the compliments on my fluff though! It made me dance when I read your review. Unfortunately, I can't get rid of Sesshoumaru just yet ^.^ He still needs to make a few appearances in the story.
Snooptopian: Cookie! Yes! *Munches happily on the cookie*
Rare-hunters (x6): Yup yup, but they don't need water, let them burn, baby, burn! Err…O.o Sorry, my sister always does this weird chant thing about the roof on fire and I think she must've gotten it from Head of State because I think it was in that movie. You commenting that they were on fire just reminded me of that chant ^.^
Celtic*Lady*Knight: I know, that's probably my favorite chapter ^.^ You liked my fluff too?! Wow, all that practicing and re-writing must be paying off ^.^
Akane: Ranma fan? I've read some of the manga and seen the anime. It's hilarious. Anywho, thanks for reviewing!
Kittymui: Hehehe, I'm glad you didn't faint. I wouldn't want to get sued ^.^ Can you just imagine the headlines? "Pam's Fics Bad For Your Health." "Pam's Fics Can Kill!" Okay, it wouldn't be big enough news to need a headline but that would be pretty funny.
Jak1: I know! I was so excited too. I was waiting forever to be able to write the kissing scene! And then I finally got to do it and I'm like "Wahoo!" Hey! Don't kill Sesshoumaru! I still need him for the story! He still needs to go around messing up the perfect Kagome/Inuyasha moments and…He went that way!! *Points in the direction Sesshoumaru went* You didn't hear it from me.
Sprout: O.O Wow, thanks!
Hanamaru285: Thanks!
Fat Cat Buyo: I like this chapter too ^.^
Sleep walking chicken and HAP: I know. I really need to get rid of him but if I do that, the fic will be over and I don't want that either. So I suppose killing him off will just have to wait ^.^
