Author's Notes: And wooo! It's a long one. But it's good stuff… promise. Read these people!
Don't really know why this chapter was taking me longer. Much less introspective and much more fate sucks, I guess. I wanted to address some things… this is the self-critical story coming out because I don't really remember people voicing these concerns in feedback. Mainly the "loveless marriage" - This is touchy because I'm trying to demonstrate that different kinds of love make it all the more confusing when dealing with the heart. Inuyasha isn't "in love" with Kikyo in the sense that he never felt the same passion with her as he discovered quite by accident. He cares for her deeply in friendship and protectiveness, such as he would never want to hurt her and wants to protect her. (This will be demonstrated more in future chapters, mainly #5.) In fact, had the night with Kagome, not happened, he would not have been aware of this lack in passion and therefore may have "come to love her" or never realize the difference. Also, it was a point in the series that Kikyo and Inuyasha weren't truly in love as their trust was so easily broken. Trust will also be a big issue. Also, was it not Kikyo who suggested first that Inuyasha become human so that they could live together and then he decides he could be happy spending his life with her? If that doesn't sound like Kikyo doing the proposal, I'll go back and scrap the whole story.
Love is such a narrow term…
The low down: This is a longer than average chapter, but a lot of stuff happens. Yes, they are going to meet again in this chapter. Also, Kagome has a guilty pleasure involving lemony goodness, and I bet you'll be surprised. Also, the song "Don't Close Your Eyes" is another song to be an inspiration and was a main focus in this chapter. It is by songwriter and country legend, Keith Whitley.
***
Love and Marriage
Chapter 3
Don't Close Your Eyes
"By the power vested in me, I announce thee Man and Wife." The old man said to the congregation. "You may kiss the bride."
Inuyasha lifted the veil and closed his eyes. 'I'm sorry.' He thought and kissed his wife.
***
8:00 AM
As far as Inuyasha was concerned, Alexander Gram Bell could rot in hell.
Leave it to Sesshomaru to have a message requesting a meeting on an urgent matter waiting at his offices the minute a man returns from his honeymoon. In fact, this matter was so damn urgent that he made sure his office saw fit to call his home the Monday of his return when he had decided he just would rather sleep. He was the boss, after all, he was entitled to some power abuse, but as always, there is always a higher power and Sesshomaru saw fit that this role would fall to him in every situation. Seriously, after four weeks of trampling around Europe and way too many hours stuffed in a jet, a man is tired. But of course, a powerful and fearsome man of business such as his brother was cruelly insensitive to the woes of jet lag.
He growled into his pillow and flung an arm towards the phone on the bedside table to his right. He fumbled about on the table to find the insistent source of ringing, toppling and breaking a lamp in the process.
"Go' way…" he growled into the phone clicked off the line and dropped the cordless hell spawn on the floor.
A few moments later, the ringing started over again and he cursed into his pillow. 'I hate technology.' He thought and reached down and grabbed it again. "What?" He snapped.
"Good morning, sir." Came a cheerful greeting, "Your brother insisted you be reminded of your scheduled meeting with him this morning." Scheduled, Ha! The jerk had left a message on his voice mail informing him that he would be attending this little meeting as soon as he returned.
"Tell Sesshomaru to screw himself." Inuyasha said. "Meeting's off."
"Sir," the secretary didn't seem phased, "He is quite insistent to meet with you as soon as possible."
"Look, how many times do you need to hear this? I'm not coming in today." He was quickly losing the remainder of his patience.
"He'll see you at nine, sir. Goodbye." And she clicked off the line. Fine, let Sesshomaru set up his little meeting for nine. He'd just be sitting alone in his office for a while. Inuyasha chuckled lightly imagining the annoyance on big brother's face and sunk back into his pillow. He glanced at Kikyo, who had managed to stay asleep through all that, and was facing him with a peaceful smile. It had only been a month since their vows and now they were about to settle into their roles of husband and wife.
Their honeymoon had been a wonderful trip, he admitted: vineyards in the French countryside, the fountains of Rome, the beauty of Spain, the history of Germany, and the elegance of Britain, despite all that sentimentality, he had actually found it an interesting month. Must have been the food.
But through the month, he carried a horrible shame. He knew she tried very hard to make the trip as romantic as possible, and she must have been so insecure with knowledge of his infidelity to her. He had sworn to be true to her and he would stick to that, but his heart was wracked with guilt as he discovered in that first night, when passion grew, he found himself looking into the eyes of a woman who was not his wife, but the one that was lost to him forever. And every night after was the same, so he would simply close his eyes and be back to that first night with Kagome. It would pass in time, he told himself every morning, but so far, it had yet to change. When they made love, he would see her in the other's place, and he would close his eyes and remember.
In this, he had found the passion he had never yet been able to give to Kikyo, and she took it as evidence that his emotions for her truly were as deep as she hoped they were. But in his guilt of that passion, Inuyasha knew he always had to keep close control over himself in their love making and never surrender completely to the passion her false images stirred in him. He would never risk speaking her name while he lay with the woman he had sworn faithfulness. But was this an oath already broken, he would wonder sadly and not be able to think of an answer. He brushed a lock of hair from her sleeping eyes and rolled his fingers down her cheek gently. He would try.
He settled back into a comfortable position and shut his eyes, waiting for sleep to come again. Instead, the phone rang.
"What?!" he barked into the receiver.
"Sir, I'm just calling to remind you that your appointment with your brother is in forty-five minutes."
He sighed. "Fine." He said, and hung up the phone. What was the point? If he tried to go back to sleep, they would just keep calling him back every fifteen minutes anyway so he may as well save himself the headache of an irritated Sesshomaru.
7:00 PM
'Damn it, Miroku…' Inuyasha thought bitterly as he looked out over the city, 'What's keeping you.'
His meeting with Sesshomaru had begun much as he expected: he had given the poor secretary a heart attack for fear of her job as he barged through the offices and refused her pleas to inform her boss of his arrival, Sesshomaru had given him that same condescending smirk as if he weren't worth the patience bestowed upon him, and he had plopped down in the office and stuffed his feet on Sesshomaru's desk as an added insult-normal.
But then things got weird. Sesshomaru got straight to business instead of some lengthy lecture of his short-comings; their father had created a business in Los Angeles, California and Inuyasha was expected to take responsibility of it. He had enough experience in the business world, but it so happened that this was out of his realm of knowledge, and further trouble, he was expected to move from Tokyo within the month. However, it wasn't his brother's pushing that made him accept the offer-the business had been made for the sake of his mother years ago when she first fell in love with his father. Naturally Sesshomaru would be more than anxious to get rid of it.
A glass appeared before him on the railing and he looked up to see Miroku standing next to him. "Don't you knock?"
"Waste of time." Miroku said and attended to his glass.
"Also don't bother asking before getting reacquainted with my bar?"
"You looked like you needed a drink and who am I to make you drink alone, huh?" He smiled, "What kind of friend would I be?"
They didn't say much for a while but just watched the red in the sky deepen and the sun sink behind the city skyline.
"Been a while." Inuyasha said after a while.
"A month," Miroku nodded, "but nothing strange, considering you were on a honeymoon and all. I doubt, however, you took the trouble to call my office just because you missed my company, though."
"Humph." He gave noncommittally and Miroku rolled his eyes. Inuyasha kept quiet long enough that he began wondering if he would ever learn why it was so important his friend meet with him. "Sesshomaru demanded a meeting this morning."
"I've been handed one of Dad's firms in the states. A real-estate firm he bought when he first met my mother. I'll be moving there within the month to take control."
Miroku nodded understanding finally. Business opinion -- that made sense, especially since this was his area of law and he couldn't recall Inuyasha ever having expressed an interest in his work other than when he handled disputes between Inuyasha and the rest of his apartment complex over the rules of his lease. "So you need to know about the way the business works?" He guessed, having worked with companies all over Tokyo in similar situations.
"No." Inuyasha said bluntly. "I need a partner."
"I see." Miroku said in surprise. This was stranger than usual, but still, he had just been offered a partnership when he would probably be looking at another ten years in his current firm before that kind of advancement. But why was his friend so willing to up and leave? "What did Kikyo say?"
"So, what's in Japan you want to get away from?" Miroku sipped his drink. "Old memory, perhaps?" Yeah, he knew he wasn't going to get a response for that. He just hoped he didn't get hit. As it happened, someone must have been looking out for him, because Inuyasha just looked out over the city and set his glass on the balcony rail.
"That she'll support the move." He sighed, "She's probably already got the transfers in order; she's got enough recommendations from every respected surgeon in Japan."
"Well, if you're not going to give an answer," he said and killed off his drink, "I guess one of us has to."
Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow at him. "And?"
"You've got a deal." Miroku said and set his glass down heavily on the railing.
12:00 PM
It had been five years since Kagome had first come to California to work under a Mr. F.D. Myoga as a public relations consultant, and in the time, she had become quite skilled in her profession. Her client would be arriving shortly and she smoothed her jacket for the millionth time. She had met with clients so many times before, yet she always was scared just before and wondered if she would make the right impression. So Kagome sat patiently in a cozy corner café and sipped from a glass of water.
A young woman with long black hair came rushing into the restaurant looking flustered and spilling an armful of papers. She looked around and noticed Kagome sitting and suddenly seemed afraid at her lack of grace. Kagome reasoned this must be her potential client and smiled; the girl was just as worried about first impressions as she. The woman quickly came to the table and Kagome stood to greet her.
"Hello." She held out her hand. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. I take it you're the young lady I'm supposed to meet?"
"Yes, I'm Sango." The woman shook her hand. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, Ms Higurashi, but I've been looking for a new place to live and…"
"Don't worry about it." Kagome said sweetly; she liked Sango already. "I hear you want to get your own business started."
Sango nodded in agreement as a waiter approached the table and asked for their drink orders. "Just water please." Sango said quickly and tried to get her documents back in order. Kagome could see she was nervous and trying to follow all the rules of proper lunch meeting etiquette.
'She must care a lot about this.' Kagome thought and became aware of the waiter looking to her expectantly. "Yes, I'd like an iced tea." Kagome said, "Oh! And could I have some extra lemon slices, please?" The waiter nodded and left them to get their drinks. Kagome smiled at her brilliant plan. Now that she was in another country and far away from the motherly lectures, she could let her guilty little pleasure exist without worry.
Kagome, ever since she had been a child, had always had an outlawed desire for lemons, much to the wonder of her family. How could such a sweet little girl have such a passion for sour fruit? Now many children her aged had enjoyed the scrunched faces they would get from sucking the juice, but Kagome not quite the same, liked to bite into the slices. However, her mother would always quickly put a stop to this by saying she was stripping the enamel from her teeth every time she bit into a lemon. If she continued this act, her teeth would be as mushy as vanilla pudding before she was an adult.
Well she was an adult now and Mommy was no where around. She could turn her teeth to mush if she wanted to and that's exactly what she was going to do!
"So what kind of business did you want help starting, Sango?" Kagome said to the other woman with a smile that seemed just a little too happy for the situation.
"Actually," Sango seemed to be blushing slightly, "I want to open my own restaurant. They said you would be the best person to talk to."
'Wonder why…' Kagome thought, not one to let that comment go to her head… too much. She smiled sweetly and said "I'll certainly do my best. What kind of restaurant?"
"My family is from Japan," Sango said not catching the sparkle in the other woman's eyes, "I actually want the atmosphere to be like the ancient culture-with the natural beauty and majestic history."
"A trip back in time…"Kagome nodded, half talking to herself, "to Sengoku Jidai."
"Yes…" Sango said in awe. "That's actually the name I had chosen. How did you…"
"I think I know why they told you to see me." Kagome interrupted and blushed. "I came here from Tokyo a few years ago and I've been a little homesick lately. I think my boss was looking out for me with this assignment."
"I'm glad he was." Sango smiled at her.
"So am I." Kagome grinned and quickly calculated everything she would need to get done and made the beginnings of a time frame. "Ok, if this is going to be as brilliant as you want it to be, I may have to pull in help from other business sources. I'll need you working directly with me most of the time."
"That…that would be wonderful." Sango said happily. She was liking Kagome more and more every minute. "Kagome, thank you, for helping me. This has been my dream for so long."
"Just think of me as your little personal genie." Kagome winked. "If we've got a deal, I can get started making your wish come true."
"We've got a deal." Sango grinned.
"Wonderful!" Kagome smiled and in celebration of her new project, popped a lemon wedge in her mouth. Sango gave her a very confused stare.
"Kagome!" she said with a note of disapproval. "Don't do that! You shouldn't bite down into a lemon."
"Huh?!" Kagome muttered out with lemon in her mouth and eyes wide. There was absolutely no way that…
"It will take the enamel off your teeth." Sango said sternly.
Why is it that a mother can still find a way to nag at you even when you're an ocean away?
Kagome admitted defeat and took the lemon wedge from her mouth. Some powers in the universe just weren't meant to be crossed, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a little freaked out by her mother's apparent possession of this woman and pout about her lose.
"You'd be sorry if your teeth turned to mush before you're forty." Sango said and Kagome wondered if she had enough experience from growing up in a shrine to perform an exorcism. Probably not, so she just sighed in defeat and guessed she would just have to suffer through a lemon-less life with perfectly hard teeth.
12:00 PM
Within a week, Kagome had called every contact she had in the city and was thoroughly convinced, that she and Sango could not take on this endeavor alone. There was just too much legal, too much financial, and too much too much. The way she saw it, they needed a backer and the most promising lead would be the support of a corporate firm, and she set up a meeting and set all their hopes. She and Sango would be pitching the deal to the partner in Western Lands Incorporated, and real-estate attorney, Miroku Houshi.
"Well," Miroku smiled suavely and rubbed his chin, "there is a lot to go into a deal like this. I'll have to be involved from the ground up, what with zoning laws, insurance liabilities, building regulations, but considering that I would be with such charming co-workers, I don't think that will be any problem."
"Wonderful!" Kagome beamed while Sango looked slightly less pleased with circumstances. She looked ready to murder actually and was clutching her salad fork. "Sango? Is something the matter?"
"Is there something I can get for you my dear?" Miroku asked gently and looked at her with kindness and genuine concern.
"Actually…" Sango ground out, "There is. Do you think you can get your hand off my thigh?" Yep, definitely ready to kill.
"Oh!" He blushed and nodded quickly and shifted. "Yes of course. I'm terribly sorry."
Sango's expression didn't change in the least. "No," she hissed, "not there." And she stabbed down with the fork.
Miroku turned completely purple trying to hold in the scream and Kagome jumped to her feel and pulled Sango away from the table. She was practically dragging the aggrieved woman along on the ground in their haste to get out of sight in the main waiting area.
"What do you think you are doing?" Kagome cried. "We just get the deal and you stab him with a salad fork?!"
"That slime-sucking pervert hasn't stopped groping me since he met us!" Sango yelled in defense. "Ok, so it wasn't the best way to do business, but I wasn't thinking about that when he had his hand creeping up my thigh."
"You're right," Kagome said sternly, "and it probably just cost us building your restaurant." Sango froze and was completely crestfallen, realizing her impetuousness had likely just cost her dream. She might have actually started crying right there until Kagome gently took her hand in both of her own. "But that jerk deserved it and if getting a deal means sacrificing your integrity, then it's not worth it. We'll just find another real-estate firm." Sango looked her in the eyes and gave a gentle smile. "It'll be all right, Sango." Kagome said matching the smile. "I promise you, I'll make it all right."
"I'm sorry." Sango said. "It's not like it's the first time I've had an uninvited hand on my butt, but in the past, I've always just dealt with it in my own way."
"Does your way usually involve stitches?" Kagome grinned.
"Oh, he'll regain use of that hand." She smiled with grim satisfaction.
"True." Kagome nodded with a wink. "He may end up with a hole in it though."
"Well it's not like a hole in his hand would kill him or anything." They both were laughing now. They turned when they heard someone cough gently behind them and saw Miroku holding his injured hand in some tissue and amazingly smiling at them. This didn't click, Kagome noted and looked at him with skepticism.
"Ladies," he began still with that unnerving and out of place smile, "I give you my complete and sincere apologies for my behavior."
Both the women's eyes widened and their minds formed the collective thought, 'Huh?!'
"I assure you there will be no further improprieties from me in this business venture and if you do not object, I would like to return to my offices and begin work on the land acquisition." He grinned at them.
"You mean…" Sango tried to speak.
"You still want to take on the business?" Kagome asked.
"Of course." This man was just too strange both girls decided. "You two haven't changed your minds already have you? Because of my behavior?" Kagome was in far better control of her senses than Sango at the moment and managed that incredibly difficult task of shaking her head 'no.' "Wonderful! It's settled then." He replied.
"But…" Sango recovered her speech capabilities somewhat. "But, aren't you angry?"
"Not at all, my dear." He smiled to her. "Now, if you lovely ladies will excuse me. I'll give you a call tomorrow morning and we can schedule another meeting. I'll have some information for you by then. Good afternoon." He walked quickly past them to the door and Sango flinched at the subtle pressure on her rear that rushed away before she could retaliate. They both just watched the door close behind him and stood there for a moment.
"Kagome?" Sango broke the silence.
"Yes, Sango?" she replied.
"This is a mistake, isn't it?"
"I really can't tell what's what at the moment." Kagome sighed.
11:30 AM
They were opening Sengoku Jidai in one month and the three were frantically planning the final touches. Construction was in progress, and Sango, who was still looking for a decent apartment, had left all of design matters in Kagome's capable hands. At the moment, Kagome was looking over some schematic concepts for the internal design. She was amazed. The artist had envisioned a beautiful garden scene enclosed within a building, so as soon as the customer entered, he would be like he traveled into a different world. In the center of this natural beauty, there would be a set of wooden stairs leading to a second level, designed like an ancient Japanese palace. She loved it.
She glanced at the other two, who were in a state of pouting silence, and grinned. Miroku had, not quite keeping his vow of propriety, continued his flirtatious behavior, which lead to the occasional argument. But by the blush, Kagome reasoned her client may not mind his advances as much as she seemed.
"Miroku, these are perfect." She handed him the drawings.
"Yes," he smiled, grateful at the break in silence, "I thought so. My partner came up with them when I pitched him the project."
"You're partner?" Kagome said, "I didn't think he was involved in this. I'd like to meet him."
"He isn't really involving himself, or so he says." Miroku said, "He just handed the drawings one day and that's all he's had to do with it. He'll be at the opening anyway."
"Oh! What time is it?" Kagome blurted out so suddenly her colleagues jumped.
"Half past..." Miroku glanced at his watch and Kagome shuffled up from her spot on the carpet. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"No." she groaned and stretched her tired back. "I made a meeting for lunch in thirty minutes with the V.P. of relations for Pack Media Enterprises. From what I've heard, if I play this right, he could have the opening covered by every notable magazine and journalist in the city."
"You're meeting Kouga?" Miroku said obviously impressed and grinned. "You know your work, Kagome, but you've also got a lot of guts. We've been trying to get that jerk to deal for over a year and he's been nothing but stubborn."
"Can't hurt to try." She shrugged and packed her papers back in her case.
"Very true," he nodded, and shot her a sly smile, "and, you should prove a much more convincing to him than I would ever be. I hear rumors the man's is quite a wolf."
"Good luck." Sango said and didn't quite like the tone behind Miroku's comment. "Be careful… if he's anything like…"
"I'll be careful." She said knowing where that was heading. She gave the pair a cheerful smile and ducked out the door. 'One high power media exec to cover the launch and a little alone time for those two--I really am good at my job.' She thought with a smirk.
Sango sighed tiredly and stretched her arms over her head, taking a break from the financial reports.
"You seem tired." Miroku said sympathetically. "You've been working so hard, Sango. It must be hard on you."
"I'll live." She said tersely.
"Still, you must be tense." He smiled to her. "Would you like a massage to relieve some stress?"
She shot him a quick glare to keep him from crossing the office. "Not if you only want one injured hand."
'Worth a try' he thought and gave a sigh, and was interrupted from pursuing the matter by his office door flying open 'Now who would have the nerve to enter a business office without knocking.' Even his thought sarcastic. "Good morning Inuyasha…"
"Miroku." Sango stared at the striking man with long silver hair, piercing golden eyes, and arms crossed across his chest with a fierce expression. "I wanted to check up on your project."
"Going well." Miroku smiled and handed his partner the schematics Kagome had been studying earlier. "The consultant loved your concept design of the interior, as a matter of fact. The launch will go as scheduled in a month."
Inuyasha nodded curtly and flipped through the pages. He liked that his firm had taken this project. "Where is this consultant?"
"She went to a meeting with Kouga hoping to get the press coverage we'll need." Miroku said.
"That idiot never deals." He said with a scowl.
"You don't know this girl." Miroku smirked. "She'll get the man to cooperate." That comment lead to an accounting ledger impacting with his head and a barked laugh from his partner.
"Sango." She said triumphantly and held out her hand. "You're client."
"Inuyasha." He shook it and turned back to the door calling, "Keep me informed, Miroku" as it shut behind him. He headed back towards his personal office, stopping momentarily at the short set of stairs to a lower level. He liked to glance down at the secretaries and assistants to make sure no one was just milling around, but today he noticed someone unfamiliar-or someone who really shouldn't have been familiar. She was talking happily to some mail boy, he could never remember the kid's name-Hobo? Hoho? But more annoying was the girl he couldn't quite place. If she would just look up so he could see all her face…
'No…' he thought and paled. It had only been a second, when she had brushed her hair away, but he could have sworn… 'No… It can't be!' She turned and was walking away. He bolted down the stairs to the lower level and pushed through the employees trying to get to her. He had to know, he just had to. He followed the woman, long black hair swinging down her back as she walked hurriedly. If these damn people would only move, he could get to her. He could know for sure. Yes! He was through! He lunged forward catching the woman by the shoulder and swung her around, startling the wits out of her and making her drop a pile of documents.
"Excuse… me… Sir… Is … is there something wrong?" a frightened secretary squeaked. She was one of the new ones, not having been there a week yet. "Have I done something wrong."
'I was so sure.' He thought and let go of the woman. "No." he said quickly to her and started walking away. "I thought you were someone else."
Kagome pushed the button to the ground floor and watched the man just walk away from the woman without so much as offering to help pick up the documents he had caused her to drop. "What a jerk…" she muttered as the doors closed.
2:00 PM
"I got Kouga!" Kagome yelled from the hall and flung the door open to Miroku's office. "I don't know what you were talking about, Miroku. He was perfectly sweet with … me… and…" she trailed off and smiled.
Situation Analysis: Miroku whipping around in surprise with his hands on Sango's shoulder. Sango looking terrified and springing to the other side of the office in one bound and leaving Miroku with his arms in the air like a criminal under arrest. Sango blushing so furiously her face was almost purple.
Conclusion: Matchmaker Kagome wins again.
"I can come back you know…" she grinned smugly with her hands on her hips and earning a glare from Sango and a smile from the other.
"Actually, I need to update my partner." Miroku said and went to the door. "I'll contact you two later tonight."
Kagome nodded to him and held in the laugh. Even the slick lawyer Miroku was blushing slightly at her intrusion. Sango was still purple and pouting to the carpet. Kagome waited a few moments after Miroku was gone, just holding in the giggle, before she worked herself up to speak.
"Twiterpaited?" she grinned at the flustered woman with childish glee.
Sango whipped around to her with and gawked as if she had just described some apocalyptic vision.
"Let's just get back to work." She grumbled.
7:45 PM
They had done it! Sango was beaming as she welcomed her guests into her dream. Every notable reporter and critic in Los Angeles was present, thanks to Pack Media Enterprises' Vice President of relations. Kagome questioned again why Miroku would have such a hard time working with him; Kouga had seemed a very nice man. That night as well, when he entered he was nothing but sweet to her. He even stayed close to her and introduced her to new contacts.
"Inuyasha, this way." She heard Miroku's voice cut through the crowd and she turned to see him walking towards her through the other guests, pulling someone behind him. He pushed a considerably young man, couldn't even be thirty, with long silver hair in front of her, and a beautiful woman with long black hair came to his side and smiled at her. She found herself looking into a pair of golden eyes.
Right about then, the whole world burst into a thousand pieces and scattered across the vast regions of the universe.
"Inuyasha, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Kagome Higurashi. The brilliant young woman who put this whole place together." The seemingly bodiless voice of Miroku echoed in her ears. "Kagome, this is my partner."
"How…" she saw her own fear in those perfect eyes, "How do you do?" She forced her voice to say.
"How do you do?" Inuyasha said. 'How is this possible?' His mind was screaming. He couldn't really be looking at the woman who had not left him alone for one night in the last five years. She was supposed to fade away, not show up in front of his eyes. She was definitely not supposed to be just as beautiful as the day he met her. But she was: present and beautiful. Her hair was swept up in a loose bun with tendrils falling down her porcelain neck and she work a silken peach dress falling gently around her curves and held up by tiny little straps. And all the while, Kikyo was standing at his side. Conclusion: This was very bad.
"So you put this all together?" He said stiffly and cast a quick glance around the room. "I guess not bad for a beginning attempt. Has to be expected to someone new to your line of work."
"Inuyasha!" Miroku was horrified.
"I'll have you know, sir." Kagome hissed, "I have been doing this for five years, since I moved to this city."
"Oh." He shrugged and looked uninterested. "I guess you're just not very good."
Her heart felt like it was beating against her throat, so hard and fast in fear and anger she was afraid she would suffocate. It certainly was getting harder and harder to breath under Inuyasha's bitter animosity. "Excuse me." She breathed and pushed herself through the crowd, vaguely aware of angry voices that sounded somewhat like Miroku and Kouga. She was more focused on getting down the stairs and out the door.
"Kagome!" She turned on the stairs hearing her name. Sango was running down to her and she envied the woman her coordination in a pair of spiked heals. "Where are you going?"
"I just needed to get out of there." She smiled reassuringly to the woman who had become her friend.
"Just because of that ass?!" Sango seethed. Correction: had become her best friend in this lonely foreign world.
"No…" she said somewhat automatically, being aversive to admitting that rude words from a man would make her want to run away, "well… actually yes…" She said much more honestly.
"Kagome, don't leave." Sango said and reached to hold the other woman's shoulders. "I'll have him asked to leave. I'll hoist him up on my shoulder and throw him out in the street personally if it will keep you from leaving."
Kagome laughed at the mental imagery of just such an event, but shook her head 'no.' "I really do just want to head home, Sango." She said and gave her a quick hug. "Thank you though."
"Can I throw him out anyway?" Sango smiled and returned the embrace.
"It's your party." Kagome pulled away with a wink. She gave a smile and walked down the remaining stairs. She gave Sango one last wave as the doorman swept the heavy and beautiful doors of glass and intricate woodcarvings. Sango sighed for Kagome's sake and turned to return to her guests.
"Taxi ma'am?" the doorman asked with a kind smile. She nodded to him and watched him step forward to the curb and wave out into the street. The sadness was coming upon her faster and she willed a cab to hurry and put some distance between her and that horrible experience. Why was this happening to her? She wrung her hands in front of her and wondered if she had done something bad in a past life that would make fate hate her so much to throw that man back in her life when she had done such a good job of running away from the very memory of him.
"Ma'am?" the doorman's voice said. She looked up to find him waiting and holding a cab door open for her. She thanked him warmly and slipped him a tip before he tipped his cap and closed the door behind her. She settled herself and told the driver her address and spoke no more, instead just watched the sky over the crisp edges of the city buildings. She really was leaving very early and the sun had yet to set completely. The sky was still a blur of violets and reds and she imagined the sun must just be peaking over the horizon.
"I changed my mind. Please sir, can you take me to the bridge?"
"The harbor's a pretty far walk from your place, Miss." The cab driver said.
"I know, but please and hurry?"
"Sure thing." He said and turned down a different street.
When Sango re-entered her party, she had every intention to having that snobby jerk thrown out on his ass. But she never had the opportunity, as by the time she got there, the snobby jerk was already gone.
8:30 PM
Inuyasha growled at the universe--same stupid, vindictive, sadistic universe that thought it necessary to make him miserable every now and then. He hadn't waited five minutes before he abandoned the party. He hadn't thought much of where to go, but he knew he had to get out of that place and far away from Kagome. How on earth had she just shown up there?! Was there some sort of cosmic plot to hurt him? He knew he had been a jerk, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. It was her own fault after all for being in a country she had no business being in. He came here to get rid of her! Why couldn't she just stick to the plan she knew nothing about?
He didn't quite know where he was going, and he didn't particularly care. He just wanted to walk out his frustration and if that meant he had to make a few laps around the world, then that's what would happen. Before long, he noticed he was running out of land. In fact, it suddenly stopped all together and he looked up to find a bridge smack dab in front of him and a plaque reading:
Vincent Thomas Bridge
Spanning Los Angeles Harbor
6,050 feet long
Sounded like a good walk so he started across. He hadn't gone too far across when he saw a form of a woman sitting on the ledge, wearing a pale peach dress and hair pulled up off her shoulders. One thought shot through his mind: 'Shit!'
"Wait!" He yelled frantically and ran in a panic to her side of the bridge, narrowly dodging cars as he weaved through the lanes. "Kagome! Wait, don't jump!"
She turned and glared at him with a malice that made the blood freeze in his veins. "I'm not going to kill myself, idiot!" She snapped, "But if you come any closer to me, I may throw your ass over!"
"Don't scream at me, you stupid girl!" he glared right back. "What kind of idiot just goes sits 100 meters above the ocean just for the hell of it?!"
"Go away if I it bothers you." She said coldly, "I'm definitely not asking you to stay."
"What are you doing out here?" He asked at her side still slightly nervous at her position.
"I come out here to watch the sun go down sometimes." She said. "It's good whenever I feel a little homesick."
Inuyasha stood mesmerized by the coral glow of the dying sun on her skin and the silken folds of her peach dress lick against the curves of her body and flap out around her knees. His eyes followed the gently curling free tendrils dance around the face that had disappeared from his life so long ago.
"My home is out there," she said quietly and smiled at the water, "just across an ocean. It's even called 'Sunset Shrine.' It fits."
They didn't talk for a while as she watched the sun sink into the ocean.
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again." He said softly, his eyes still drinking in her image.
"Yeah, well" she tensed and shivered in the ocean wind, "I was more than a little surprised too." She wrapped an arm around herself, brushing away the goose-bumps and removing the hand closest to him, "Why… why did you have to be so cold?" She whispered. "I wouldn't have said anything… about what happened. I wouldn't have told your wife, if that's what you were worried about. I'm not that spiteful or mean, you know and I sure wouldn't have anything to gain from it, so you don't have to be afraid I'd tell your secret."
"Kagome," he said quickly, "It was no secret. I told her the truth that same day."
"She knows?" Kagome looked at him again with shame. "She knows it was me?"
"She knows what happened." He nodded, "I didn't tell her, you were the one."
They watched the waves roll in far below and couldn't find any more words for a good while. The sky was a dark graying blue and the stars peeked out in places of the overcast sky before Inuyasha muttered, "I wanted to look for you…" almost too quietly for her to catch.
"What?" she whispered and sent him a sidewise glance.
"That morning… when I found you gone." He said and watched the water. "I was insane trying to figure out where I could possibly find you."
"You did?" She asked, completely taken aback by his words. She never expected he would have wanted her to be there when he woke and even less that he would have tried to find her afterwards.
"Why… did…" he stammered slightly which confused her even more, "Why did you disappear?"
"I guess I was just scared." She tore her eyes away from him. "I was just afraid, so I ran away." She looked out over the water, now an inky black color fading into the night. "I miss Japan now."
"So do I." he said. "When I left, I thought I was leaving you behind. I guess I was running away from you."
"I guess that's supposed to mean running away isn't the answer." She said gently.
"Look, Kagome… I," he said, finding himself at a loss for words with a woman for the first time in years. She had been the cause then as well, "I… you… please, can…" How in the world did she do this to him? "Will you please just get down from there before you fall, you silly idiot?!" He snapped out, finding yelling at her much easier than sorting out the emotional stress she was causing.
"Why?" She smirked at him, "Does it make you nervous?" She pulled her knees up close to her chest and spun around so her back was to the sea and laughed at his horrified shock. "I'm not even holding on, you know?"
"Will you stop it?!" He was trying very hard to keep his composure. This girl was just completely insane!
"Worried?" she smirked
"Not really." He bluffed, "But if you fall and die, I'll probably get blamed with homicide, so just come down from there."
"What if I just lean back a little bit." She waved her arms around dramatically as she tilted back. "Wow! It's so high!"
"Knock it off!" He screamed and lunged forward, taking hold of her waist and pulling her sharply forward. The startled woman crashed into his chest and looked up into his eyes. They were the same striking amber that she remembered losing herself in so long ago and her heart fluttered at the memory.
No way! She pushed herself away from his body and took a step back like the contact stung her. She definitely was not letting herself be anywhere near that close to a man when she wasn't at all confident in her resistance to him
"Sorry." He wasn't looking at her. "Why don't I just get a cab and drop you off." She nodded quickly and wondered if she was imagining that faint blush on his cheeks. It was very possible in the dim light.
10:00 PM
Kagome concentrated on looking out the window and not on the handsome, married man riding next to her and bringing old memories back to life. The cab turned down her street and she was getting steadily closer to escaping in to her apartment.
"What happens now?" she asked quietly.
He gave her a surprised glance, having thought she wasn't going to speak to him. "I don't know." He admitted.
"Maybe we can try to be friends?" She glanced over to him. Maybe if they could just have some sort of role in each other's lives, they could get over this tension and finally get over their past.
"Yeah." He nodded. "We can try that."
The cab pulled to a stop outside of her apartment building, but both were surprised to see a man sitting on the steps outside. Kouga stood as he recognized Kagome through the window and he smiled.
'What is that idiot doing here?' Inuyasha thought, but hid any bitterness as Kagome glanced in at him and muttered a quick 'Goodbye.' He watched her walk over to Kouga, who held out a shawl and grinned at her.
He muttered out his address to the driver and looked away. He didn't want to see that stupid fool's smitten face.
10:30
Inuyasha walked into his house and made his way up to the bedroom to change from the tuxedo-so much work should never be involved in putting on a suit. He hadn't expected to see his wife sitting on their bed facing the door. She had been waiting for him; for how long he wondered. Her face was red and he was hit with another realization--she had been crying.
***
She's been good to me when things were going rough.
How can I tell her now, good ain't good enough?
***
Next Chapter: What Might Have Been
Don't really know why this chapter was taking me longer. Much less introspective and much more fate sucks, I guess. I wanted to address some things… this is the self-critical story coming out because I don't really remember people voicing these concerns in feedback. Mainly the "loveless marriage" - This is touchy because I'm trying to demonstrate that different kinds of love make it all the more confusing when dealing with the heart. Inuyasha isn't "in love" with Kikyo in the sense that he never felt the same passion with her as he discovered quite by accident. He cares for her deeply in friendship and protectiveness, such as he would never want to hurt her and wants to protect her. (This will be demonstrated more in future chapters, mainly #5.) In fact, had the night with Kagome, not happened, he would not have been aware of this lack in passion and therefore may have "come to love her" or never realize the difference. Also, it was a point in the series that Kikyo and Inuyasha weren't truly in love as their trust was so easily broken. Trust will also be a big issue. Also, was it not Kikyo who suggested first that Inuyasha become human so that they could live together and then he decides he could be happy spending his life with her? If that doesn't sound like Kikyo doing the proposal, I'll go back and scrap the whole story.
Love is such a narrow term…
The low down: This is a longer than average chapter, but a lot of stuff happens. Yes, they are going to meet again in this chapter. Also, Kagome has a guilty pleasure involving lemony goodness, and I bet you'll be surprised. Also, the song "Don't Close Your Eyes" is another song to be an inspiration and was a main focus in this chapter. It is by songwriter and country legend, Keith Whitley.
***
Love and Marriage
Chapter 3
Don't Close Your Eyes
"By the power vested in me, I announce thee Man and Wife." The old man said to the congregation. "You may kiss the bride."
Inuyasha lifted the veil and closed his eyes. 'I'm sorry.' He thought and kissed his wife.
***
8:00 AM
As far as Inuyasha was concerned, Alexander Gram Bell could rot in hell.
Leave it to Sesshomaru to have a message requesting a meeting on an urgent matter waiting at his offices the minute a man returns from his honeymoon. In fact, this matter was so damn urgent that he made sure his office saw fit to call his home the Monday of his return when he had decided he just would rather sleep. He was the boss, after all, he was entitled to some power abuse, but as always, there is always a higher power and Sesshomaru saw fit that this role would fall to him in every situation. Seriously, after four weeks of trampling around Europe and way too many hours stuffed in a jet, a man is tired. But of course, a powerful and fearsome man of business such as his brother was cruelly insensitive to the woes of jet lag.
He growled into his pillow and flung an arm towards the phone on the bedside table to his right. He fumbled about on the table to find the insistent source of ringing, toppling and breaking a lamp in the process.
"Go' way…" he growled into the phone clicked off the line and dropped the cordless hell spawn on the floor.
A few moments later, the ringing started over again and he cursed into his pillow. 'I hate technology.' He thought and reached down and grabbed it again. "What?" He snapped.
"Good morning, sir." Came a cheerful greeting, "Your brother insisted you be reminded of your scheduled meeting with him this morning." Scheduled, Ha! The jerk had left a message on his voice mail informing him that he would be attending this little meeting as soon as he returned.
"Tell Sesshomaru to screw himself." Inuyasha said. "Meeting's off."
"Sir," the secretary didn't seem phased, "He is quite insistent to meet with you as soon as possible."
"Look, how many times do you need to hear this? I'm not coming in today." He was quickly losing the remainder of his patience.
"He'll see you at nine, sir. Goodbye." And she clicked off the line. Fine, let Sesshomaru set up his little meeting for nine. He'd just be sitting alone in his office for a while. Inuyasha chuckled lightly imagining the annoyance on big brother's face and sunk back into his pillow. He glanced at Kikyo, who had managed to stay asleep through all that, and was facing him with a peaceful smile. It had only been a month since their vows and now they were about to settle into their roles of husband and wife.
Their honeymoon had been a wonderful trip, he admitted: vineyards in the French countryside, the fountains of Rome, the beauty of Spain, the history of Germany, and the elegance of Britain, despite all that sentimentality, he had actually found it an interesting month. Must have been the food.
But through the month, he carried a horrible shame. He knew she tried very hard to make the trip as romantic as possible, and she must have been so insecure with knowledge of his infidelity to her. He had sworn to be true to her and he would stick to that, but his heart was wracked with guilt as he discovered in that first night, when passion grew, he found himself looking into the eyes of a woman who was not his wife, but the one that was lost to him forever. And every night after was the same, so he would simply close his eyes and be back to that first night with Kagome. It would pass in time, he told himself every morning, but so far, it had yet to change. When they made love, he would see her in the other's place, and he would close his eyes and remember.
In this, he had found the passion he had never yet been able to give to Kikyo, and she took it as evidence that his emotions for her truly were as deep as she hoped they were. But in his guilt of that passion, Inuyasha knew he always had to keep close control over himself in their love making and never surrender completely to the passion her false images stirred in him. He would never risk speaking her name while he lay with the woman he had sworn faithfulness. But was this an oath already broken, he would wonder sadly and not be able to think of an answer. He brushed a lock of hair from her sleeping eyes and rolled his fingers down her cheek gently. He would try.
He settled back into a comfortable position and shut his eyes, waiting for sleep to come again. Instead, the phone rang.
"What?!" he barked into the receiver.
"Sir, I'm just calling to remind you that your appointment with your brother is in forty-five minutes."
He sighed. "Fine." He said, and hung up the phone. What was the point? If he tried to go back to sleep, they would just keep calling him back every fifteen minutes anyway so he may as well save himself the headache of an irritated Sesshomaru.
7:00 PM
'Damn it, Miroku…' Inuyasha thought bitterly as he looked out over the city, 'What's keeping you.'
His meeting with Sesshomaru had begun much as he expected: he had given the poor secretary a heart attack for fear of her job as he barged through the offices and refused her pleas to inform her boss of his arrival, Sesshomaru had given him that same condescending smirk as if he weren't worth the patience bestowed upon him, and he had plopped down in the office and stuffed his feet on Sesshomaru's desk as an added insult-normal.
But then things got weird. Sesshomaru got straight to business instead of some lengthy lecture of his short-comings; their father had created a business in Los Angeles, California and Inuyasha was expected to take responsibility of it. He had enough experience in the business world, but it so happened that this was out of his realm of knowledge, and further trouble, he was expected to move from Tokyo within the month. However, it wasn't his brother's pushing that made him accept the offer-the business had been made for the sake of his mother years ago when she first fell in love with his father. Naturally Sesshomaru would be more than anxious to get rid of it.
A glass appeared before him on the railing and he looked up to see Miroku standing next to him. "Don't you knock?"
"Waste of time." Miroku said and attended to his glass.
"Also don't bother asking before getting reacquainted with my bar?"
"You looked like you needed a drink and who am I to make you drink alone, huh?" He smiled, "What kind of friend would I be?"
They didn't say much for a while but just watched the red in the sky deepen and the sun sink behind the city skyline.
"Been a while." Inuyasha said after a while.
"A month," Miroku nodded, "but nothing strange, considering you were on a honeymoon and all. I doubt, however, you took the trouble to call my office just because you missed my company, though."
"Humph." He gave noncommittally and Miroku rolled his eyes. Inuyasha kept quiet long enough that he began wondering if he would ever learn why it was so important his friend meet with him. "Sesshomaru demanded a meeting this morning."
"I've been handed one of Dad's firms in the states. A real-estate firm he bought when he first met my mother. I'll be moving there within the month to take control."
Miroku nodded understanding finally. Business opinion -- that made sense, especially since this was his area of law and he couldn't recall Inuyasha ever having expressed an interest in his work other than when he handled disputes between Inuyasha and the rest of his apartment complex over the rules of his lease. "So you need to know about the way the business works?" He guessed, having worked with companies all over Tokyo in similar situations.
"No." Inuyasha said bluntly. "I need a partner."
"I see." Miroku said in surprise. This was stranger than usual, but still, he had just been offered a partnership when he would probably be looking at another ten years in his current firm before that kind of advancement. But why was his friend so willing to up and leave? "What did Kikyo say?"
"So, what's in Japan you want to get away from?" Miroku sipped his drink. "Old memory, perhaps?" Yeah, he knew he wasn't going to get a response for that. He just hoped he didn't get hit. As it happened, someone must have been looking out for him, because Inuyasha just looked out over the city and set his glass on the balcony rail.
"That she'll support the move." He sighed, "She's probably already got the transfers in order; she's got enough recommendations from every respected surgeon in Japan."
"Well, if you're not going to give an answer," he said and killed off his drink, "I guess one of us has to."
Inuyasha quirked an eyebrow at him. "And?"
"You've got a deal." Miroku said and set his glass down heavily on the railing.
12:00 PM
It had been five years since Kagome had first come to California to work under a Mr. F.D. Myoga as a public relations consultant, and in the time, she had become quite skilled in her profession. Her client would be arriving shortly and she smoothed her jacket for the millionth time. She had met with clients so many times before, yet she always was scared just before and wondered if she would make the right impression. So Kagome sat patiently in a cozy corner café and sipped from a glass of water.
A young woman with long black hair came rushing into the restaurant looking flustered and spilling an armful of papers. She looked around and noticed Kagome sitting and suddenly seemed afraid at her lack of grace. Kagome reasoned this must be her potential client and smiled; the girl was just as worried about first impressions as she. The woman quickly came to the table and Kagome stood to greet her.
"Hello." She held out her hand. "I'm Kagome Higurashi. I take it you're the young lady I'm supposed to meet?"
"Yes, I'm Sango." The woman shook her hand. "I'm so sorry to keep you waiting, Ms Higurashi, but I've been looking for a new place to live and…"
"Don't worry about it." Kagome said sweetly; she liked Sango already. "I hear you want to get your own business started."
Sango nodded in agreement as a waiter approached the table and asked for their drink orders. "Just water please." Sango said quickly and tried to get her documents back in order. Kagome could see she was nervous and trying to follow all the rules of proper lunch meeting etiquette.
'She must care a lot about this.' Kagome thought and became aware of the waiter looking to her expectantly. "Yes, I'd like an iced tea." Kagome said, "Oh! And could I have some extra lemon slices, please?" The waiter nodded and left them to get their drinks. Kagome smiled at her brilliant plan. Now that she was in another country and far away from the motherly lectures, she could let her guilty little pleasure exist without worry.
Kagome, ever since she had been a child, had always had an outlawed desire for lemons, much to the wonder of her family. How could such a sweet little girl have such a passion for sour fruit? Now many children her aged had enjoyed the scrunched faces they would get from sucking the juice, but Kagome not quite the same, liked to bite into the slices. However, her mother would always quickly put a stop to this by saying she was stripping the enamel from her teeth every time she bit into a lemon. If she continued this act, her teeth would be as mushy as vanilla pudding before she was an adult.
Well she was an adult now and Mommy was no where around. She could turn her teeth to mush if she wanted to and that's exactly what she was going to do!
"So what kind of business did you want help starting, Sango?" Kagome said to the other woman with a smile that seemed just a little too happy for the situation.
"Actually," Sango seemed to be blushing slightly, "I want to open my own restaurant. They said you would be the best person to talk to."
'Wonder why…' Kagome thought, not one to let that comment go to her head… too much. She smiled sweetly and said "I'll certainly do my best. What kind of restaurant?"
"My family is from Japan," Sango said not catching the sparkle in the other woman's eyes, "I actually want the atmosphere to be like the ancient culture-with the natural beauty and majestic history."
"A trip back in time…"Kagome nodded, half talking to herself, "to Sengoku Jidai."
"Yes…" Sango said in awe. "That's actually the name I had chosen. How did you…"
"I think I know why they told you to see me." Kagome interrupted and blushed. "I came here from Tokyo a few years ago and I've been a little homesick lately. I think my boss was looking out for me with this assignment."
"I'm glad he was." Sango smiled at her.
"So am I." Kagome grinned and quickly calculated everything she would need to get done and made the beginnings of a time frame. "Ok, if this is going to be as brilliant as you want it to be, I may have to pull in help from other business sources. I'll need you working directly with me most of the time."
"That…that would be wonderful." Sango said happily. She was liking Kagome more and more every minute. "Kagome, thank you, for helping me. This has been my dream for so long."
"Just think of me as your little personal genie." Kagome winked. "If we've got a deal, I can get started making your wish come true."
"We've got a deal." Sango grinned.
"Wonderful!" Kagome smiled and in celebration of her new project, popped a lemon wedge in her mouth. Sango gave her a very confused stare.
"Kagome!" she said with a note of disapproval. "Don't do that! You shouldn't bite down into a lemon."
"Huh?!" Kagome muttered out with lemon in her mouth and eyes wide. There was absolutely no way that…
"It will take the enamel off your teeth." Sango said sternly.
Why is it that a mother can still find a way to nag at you even when you're an ocean away?
Kagome admitted defeat and took the lemon wedge from her mouth. Some powers in the universe just weren't meant to be crossed, but that didn't mean she couldn't be a little freaked out by her mother's apparent possession of this woman and pout about her lose.
"You'd be sorry if your teeth turned to mush before you're forty." Sango said and Kagome wondered if she had enough experience from growing up in a shrine to perform an exorcism. Probably not, so she just sighed in defeat and guessed she would just have to suffer through a lemon-less life with perfectly hard teeth.
12:00 PM
Within a week, Kagome had called every contact she had in the city and was thoroughly convinced, that she and Sango could not take on this endeavor alone. There was just too much legal, too much financial, and too much too much. The way she saw it, they needed a backer and the most promising lead would be the support of a corporate firm, and she set up a meeting and set all their hopes. She and Sango would be pitching the deal to the partner in Western Lands Incorporated, and real-estate attorney, Miroku Houshi.
"Well," Miroku smiled suavely and rubbed his chin, "there is a lot to go into a deal like this. I'll have to be involved from the ground up, what with zoning laws, insurance liabilities, building regulations, but considering that I would be with such charming co-workers, I don't think that will be any problem."
"Wonderful!" Kagome beamed while Sango looked slightly less pleased with circumstances. She looked ready to murder actually and was clutching her salad fork. "Sango? Is something the matter?"
"Is there something I can get for you my dear?" Miroku asked gently and looked at her with kindness and genuine concern.
"Actually…" Sango ground out, "There is. Do you think you can get your hand off my thigh?" Yep, definitely ready to kill.
"Oh!" He blushed and nodded quickly and shifted. "Yes of course. I'm terribly sorry."
Sango's expression didn't change in the least. "No," she hissed, "not there." And she stabbed down with the fork.
Miroku turned completely purple trying to hold in the scream and Kagome jumped to her feel and pulled Sango away from the table. She was practically dragging the aggrieved woman along on the ground in their haste to get out of sight in the main waiting area.
"What do you think you are doing?" Kagome cried. "We just get the deal and you stab him with a salad fork?!"
"That slime-sucking pervert hasn't stopped groping me since he met us!" Sango yelled in defense. "Ok, so it wasn't the best way to do business, but I wasn't thinking about that when he had his hand creeping up my thigh."
"You're right," Kagome said sternly, "and it probably just cost us building your restaurant." Sango froze and was completely crestfallen, realizing her impetuousness had likely just cost her dream. She might have actually started crying right there until Kagome gently took her hand in both of her own. "But that jerk deserved it and if getting a deal means sacrificing your integrity, then it's not worth it. We'll just find another real-estate firm." Sango looked her in the eyes and gave a gentle smile. "It'll be all right, Sango." Kagome said matching the smile. "I promise you, I'll make it all right."
"I'm sorry." Sango said. "It's not like it's the first time I've had an uninvited hand on my butt, but in the past, I've always just dealt with it in my own way."
"Does your way usually involve stitches?" Kagome grinned.
"Oh, he'll regain use of that hand." She smiled with grim satisfaction.
"True." Kagome nodded with a wink. "He may end up with a hole in it though."
"Well it's not like a hole in his hand would kill him or anything." They both were laughing now. They turned when they heard someone cough gently behind them and saw Miroku holding his injured hand in some tissue and amazingly smiling at them. This didn't click, Kagome noted and looked at him with skepticism.
"Ladies," he began still with that unnerving and out of place smile, "I give you my complete and sincere apologies for my behavior."
Both the women's eyes widened and their minds formed the collective thought, 'Huh?!'
"I assure you there will be no further improprieties from me in this business venture and if you do not object, I would like to return to my offices and begin work on the land acquisition." He grinned at them.
"You mean…" Sango tried to speak.
"You still want to take on the business?" Kagome asked.
"Of course." This man was just too strange both girls decided. "You two haven't changed your minds already have you? Because of my behavior?" Kagome was in far better control of her senses than Sango at the moment and managed that incredibly difficult task of shaking her head 'no.' "Wonderful! It's settled then." He replied.
"But…" Sango recovered her speech capabilities somewhat. "But, aren't you angry?"
"Not at all, my dear." He smiled to her. "Now, if you lovely ladies will excuse me. I'll give you a call tomorrow morning and we can schedule another meeting. I'll have some information for you by then. Good afternoon." He walked quickly past them to the door and Sango flinched at the subtle pressure on her rear that rushed away before she could retaliate. They both just watched the door close behind him and stood there for a moment.
"Kagome?" Sango broke the silence.
"Yes, Sango?" she replied.
"This is a mistake, isn't it?"
"I really can't tell what's what at the moment." Kagome sighed.
11:30 AM
They were opening Sengoku Jidai in one month and the three were frantically planning the final touches. Construction was in progress, and Sango, who was still looking for a decent apartment, had left all of design matters in Kagome's capable hands. At the moment, Kagome was looking over some schematic concepts for the internal design. She was amazed. The artist had envisioned a beautiful garden scene enclosed within a building, so as soon as the customer entered, he would be like he traveled into a different world. In the center of this natural beauty, there would be a set of wooden stairs leading to a second level, designed like an ancient Japanese palace. She loved it.
She glanced at the other two, who were in a state of pouting silence, and grinned. Miroku had, not quite keeping his vow of propriety, continued his flirtatious behavior, which lead to the occasional argument. But by the blush, Kagome reasoned her client may not mind his advances as much as she seemed.
"Miroku, these are perfect." She handed him the drawings.
"Yes," he smiled, grateful at the break in silence, "I thought so. My partner came up with them when I pitched him the project."
"You're partner?" Kagome said, "I didn't think he was involved in this. I'd like to meet him."
"He isn't really involving himself, or so he says." Miroku said, "He just handed the drawings one day and that's all he's had to do with it. He'll be at the opening anyway."
"Oh! What time is it?" Kagome blurted out so suddenly her colleagues jumped.
"Half past..." Miroku glanced at his watch and Kagome shuffled up from her spot on the carpet. "Why? Is something wrong?"
"No." she groaned and stretched her tired back. "I made a meeting for lunch in thirty minutes with the V.P. of relations for Pack Media Enterprises. From what I've heard, if I play this right, he could have the opening covered by every notable magazine and journalist in the city."
"You're meeting Kouga?" Miroku said obviously impressed and grinned. "You know your work, Kagome, but you've also got a lot of guts. We've been trying to get that jerk to deal for over a year and he's been nothing but stubborn."
"Can't hurt to try." She shrugged and packed her papers back in her case.
"Very true," he nodded, and shot her a sly smile, "and, you should prove a much more convincing to him than I would ever be. I hear rumors the man's is quite a wolf."
"Good luck." Sango said and didn't quite like the tone behind Miroku's comment. "Be careful… if he's anything like…"
"I'll be careful." She said knowing where that was heading. She gave the pair a cheerful smile and ducked out the door. 'One high power media exec to cover the launch and a little alone time for those two--I really am good at my job.' She thought with a smirk.
Sango sighed tiredly and stretched her arms over her head, taking a break from the financial reports.
"You seem tired." Miroku said sympathetically. "You've been working so hard, Sango. It must be hard on you."
"I'll live." She said tersely.
"Still, you must be tense." He smiled to her. "Would you like a massage to relieve some stress?"
She shot him a quick glare to keep him from crossing the office. "Not if you only want one injured hand."
'Worth a try' he thought and gave a sigh, and was interrupted from pursuing the matter by his office door flying open 'Now who would have the nerve to enter a business office without knocking.' Even his thought sarcastic. "Good morning Inuyasha…"
"Miroku." Sango stared at the striking man with long silver hair, piercing golden eyes, and arms crossed across his chest with a fierce expression. "I wanted to check up on your project."
"Going well." Miroku smiled and handed his partner the schematics Kagome had been studying earlier. "The consultant loved your concept design of the interior, as a matter of fact. The launch will go as scheduled in a month."
Inuyasha nodded curtly and flipped through the pages. He liked that his firm had taken this project. "Where is this consultant?"
"She went to a meeting with Kouga hoping to get the press coverage we'll need." Miroku said.
"That idiot never deals." He said with a scowl.
"You don't know this girl." Miroku smirked. "She'll get the man to cooperate." That comment lead to an accounting ledger impacting with his head and a barked laugh from his partner.
"Sango." She said triumphantly and held out her hand. "You're client."
"Inuyasha." He shook it and turned back to the door calling, "Keep me informed, Miroku" as it shut behind him. He headed back towards his personal office, stopping momentarily at the short set of stairs to a lower level. He liked to glance down at the secretaries and assistants to make sure no one was just milling around, but today he noticed someone unfamiliar-or someone who really shouldn't have been familiar. She was talking happily to some mail boy, he could never remember the kid's name-Hobo? Hoho? But more annoying was the girl he couldn't quite place. If she would just look up so he could see all her face…
'No…' he thought and paled. It had only been a second, when she had brushed her hair away, but he could have sworn… 'No… It can't be!' She turned and was walking away. He bolted down the stairs to the lower level and pushed through the employees trying to get to her. He had to know, he just had to. He followed the woman, long black hair swinging down her back as she walked hurriedly. If these damn people would only move, he could get to her. He could know for sure. Yes! He was through! He lunged forward catching the woman by the shoulder and swung her around, startling the wits out of her and making her drop a pile of documents.
"Excuse… me… Sir… Is … is there something wrong?" a frightened secretary squeaked. She was one of the new ones, not having been there a week yet. "Have I done something wrong."
'I was so sure.' He thought and let go of the woman. "No." he said quickly to her and started walking away. "I thought you were someone else."
Kagome pushed the button to the ground floor and watched the man just walk away from the woman without so much as offering to help pick up the documents he had caused her to drop. "What a jerk…" she muttered as the doors closed.
2:00 PM
"I got Kouga!" Kagome yelled from the hall and flung the door open to Miroku's office. "I don't know what you were talking about, Miroku. He was perfectly sweet with … me… and…" she trailed off and smiled.
Situation Analysis: Miroku whipping around in surprise with his hands on Sango's shoulder. Sango looking terrified and springing to the other side of the office in one bound and leaving Miroku with his arms in the air like a criminal under arrest. Sango blushing so furiously her face was almost purple.
Conclusion: Matchmaker Kagome wins again.
"I can come back you know…" she grinned smugly with her hands on her hips and earning a glare from Sango and a smile from the other.
"Actually, I need to update my partner." Miroku said and went to the door. "I'll contact you two later tonight."
Kagome nodded to him and held in the laugh. Even the slick lawyer Miroku was blushing slightly at her intrusion. Sango was still purple and pouting to the carpet. Kagome waited a few moments after Miroku was gone, just holding in the giggle, before she worked herself up to speak.
"Twiterpaited?" she grinned at the flustered woman with childish glee.
Sango whipped around to her with and gawked as if she had just described some apocalyptic vision.
"Let's just get back to work." She grumbled.
7:45 PM
They had done it! Sango was beaming as she welcomed her guests into her dream. Every notable reporter and critic in Los Angeles was present, thanks to Pack Media Enterprises' Vice President of relations. Kagome questioned again why Miroku would have such a hard time working with him; Kouga had seemed a very nice man. That night as well, when he entered he was nothing but sweet to her. He even stayed close to her and introduced her to new contacts.
"Inuyasha, this way." She heard Miroku's voice cut through the crowd and she turned to see him walking towards her through the other guests, pulling someone behind him. He pushed a considerably young man, couldn't even be thirty, with long silver hair in front of her, and a beautiful woman with long black hair came to his side and smiled at her. She found herself looking into a pair of golden eyes.
Right about then, the whole world burst into a thousand pieces and scattered across the vast regions of the universe.
"Inuyasha, I'd like to introduce you to Miss Kagome Higurashi. The brilliant young woman who put this whole place together." The seemingly bodiless voice of Miroku echoed in her ears. "Kagome, this is my partner."
"How…" she saw her own fear in those perfect eyes, "How do you do?" She forced her voice to say.
"How do you do?" Inuyasha said. 'How is this possible?' His mind was screaming. He couldn't really be looking at the woman who had not left him alone for one night in the last five years. She was supposed to fade away, not show up in front of his eyes. She was definitely not supposed to be just as beautiful as the day he met her. But she was: present and beautiful. Her hair was swept up in a loose bun with tendrils falling down her porcelain neck and she work a silken peach dress falling gently around her curves and held up by tiny little straps. And all the while, Kikyo was standing at his side. Conclusion: This was very bad.
"So you put this all together?" He said stiffly and cast a quick glance around the room. "I guess not bad for a beginning attempt. Has to be expected to someone new to your line of work."
"Inuyasha!" Miroku was horrified.
"I'll have you know, sir." Kagome hissed, "I have been doing this for five years, since I moved to this city."
"Oh." He shrugged and looked uninterested. "I guess you're just not very good."
Her heart felt like it was beating against her throat, so hard and fast in fear and anger she was afraid she would suffocate. It certainly was getting harder and harder to breath under Inuyasha's bitter animosity. "Excuse me." She breathed and pushed herself through the crowd, vaguely aware of angry voices that sounded somewhat like Miroku and Kouga. She was more focused on getting down the stairs and out the door.
"Kagome!" She turned on the stairs hearing her name. Sango was running down to her and she envied the woman her coordination in a pair of spiked heals. "Where are you going?"
"I just needed to get out of there." She smiled reassuringly to the woman who had become her friend.
"Just because of that ass?!" Sango seethed. Correction: had become her best friend in this lonely foreign world.
"No…" she said somewhat automatically, being aversive to admitting that rude words from a man would make her want to run away, "well… actually yes…" She said much more honestly.
"Kagome, don't leave." Sango said and reached to hold the other woman's shoulders. "I'll have him asked to leave. I'll hoist him up on my shoulder and throw him out in the street personally if it will keep you from leaving."
Kagome laughed at the mental imagery of just such an event, but shook her head 'no.' "I really do just want to head home, Sango." She said and gave her a quick hug. "Thank you though."
"Can I throw him out anyway?" Sango smiled and returned the embrace.
"It's your party." Kagome pulled away with a wink. She gave a smile and walked down the remaining stairs. She gave Sango one last wave as the doorman swept the heavy and beautiful doors of glass and intricate woodcarvings. Sango sighed for Kagome's sake and turned to return to her guests.
"Taxi ma'am?" the doorman asked with a kind smile. She nodded to him and watched him step forward to the curb and wave out into the street. The sadness was coming upon her faster and she willed a cab to hurry and put some distance between her and that horrible experience. Why was this happening to her? She wrung her hands in front of her and wondered if she had done something bad in a past life that would make fate hate her so much to throw that man back in her life when she had done such a good job of running away from the very memory of him.
"Ma'am?" the doorman's voice said. She looked up to find him waiting and holding a cab door open for her. She thanked him warmly and slipped him a tip before he tipped his cap and closed the door behind her. She settled herself and told the driver her address and spoke no more, instead just watched the sky over the crisp edges of the city buildings. She really was leaving very early and the sun had yet to set completely. The sky was still a blur of violets and reds and she imagined the sun must just be peaking over the horizon.
"I changed my mind. Please sir, can you take me to the bridge?"
"The harbor's a pretty far walk from your place, Miss." The cab driver said.
"I know, but please and hurry?"
"Sure thing." He said and turned down a different street.
When Sango re-entered her party, she had every intention to having that snobby jerk thrown out on his ass. But she never had the opportunity, as by the time she got there, the snobby jerk was already gone.
8:30 PM
Inuyasha growled at the universe--same stupid, vindictive, sadistic universe that thought it necessary to make him miserable every now and then. He hadn't waited five minutes before he abandoned the party. He hadn't thought much of where to go, but he knew he had to get out of that place and far away from Kagome. How on earth had she just shown up there?! Was there some sort of cosmic plot to hurt him? He knew he had been a jerk, but he couldn't think of anything else to do. It was her own fault after all for being in a country she had no business being in. He came here to get rid of her! Why couldn't she just stick to the plan she knew nothing about?
He didn't quite know where he was going, and he didn't particularly care. He just wanted to walk out his frustration and if that meant he had to make a few laps around the world, then that's what would happen. Before long, he noticed he was running out of land. In fact, it suddenly stopped all together and he looked up to find a bridge smack dab in front of him and a plaque reading:
Spanning Los Angeles Harbor
6,050 feet long
"Wait!" He yelled frantically and ran in a panic to her side of the bridge, narrowly dodging cars as he weaved through the lanes. "Kagome! Wait, don't jump!"
She turned and glared at him with a malice that made the blood freeze in his veins. "I'm not going to kill myself, idiot!" She snapped, "But if you come any closer to me, I may throw your ass over!"
"Don't scream at me, you stupid girl!" he glared right back. "What kind of idiot just goes sits 100 meters above the ocean just for the hell of it?!"
"Go away if I it bothers you." She said coldly, "I'm definitely not asking you to stay."
"What are you doing out here?" He asked at her side still slightly nervous at her position.
"I come out here to watch the sun go down sometimes." She said. "It's good whenever I feel a little homesick."
Inuyasha stood mesmerized by the coral glow of the dying sun on her skin and the silken folds of her peach dress lick against the curves of her body and flap out around her knees. His eyes followed the gently curling free tendrils dance around the face that had disappeared from his life so long ago.
"My home is out there," she said quietly and smiled at the water, "just across an ocean. It's even called 'Sunset Shrine.' It fits."
They didn't talk for a while as she watched the sun sink into the ocean.
"I didn't think I'd ever see you again." He said softly, his eyes still drinking in her image.
"Yeah, well" she tensed and shivered in the ocean wind, "I was more than a little surprised too." She wrapped an arm around herself, brushing away the goose-bumps and removing the hand closest to him, "Why… why did you have to be so cold?" She whispered. "I wouldn't have said anything… about what happened. I wouldn't have told your wife, if that's what you were worried about. I'm not that spiteful or mean, you know and I sure wouldn't have anything to gain from it, so you don't have to be afraid I'd tell your secret."
"Kagome," he said quickly, "It was no secret. I told her the truth that same day."
"She knows?" Kagome looked at him again with shame. "She knows it was me?"
"She knows what happened." He nodded, "I didn't tell her, you were the one."
They watched the waves roll in far below and couldn't find any more words for a good while. The sky was a dark graying blue and the stars peeked out in places of the overcast sky before Inuyasha muttered, "I wanted to look for you…" almost too quietly for her to catch.
"What?" she whispered and sent him a sidewise glance.
"That morning… when I found you gone." He said and watched the water. "I was insane trying to figure out where I could possibly find you."
"You did?" She asked, completely taken aback by his words. She never expected he would have wanted her to be there when he woke and even less that he would have tried to find her afterwards.
"Why… did…" he stammered slightly which confused her even more, "Why did you disappear?"
"I guess I was just scared." She tore her eyes away from him. "I was just afraid, so I ran away." She looked out over the water, now an inky black color fading into the night. "I miss Japan now."
"So do I." he said. "When I left, I thought I was leaving you behind. I guess I was running away from you."
"I guess that's supposed to mean running away isn't the answer." She said gently.
"Look, Kagome… I," he said, finding himself at a loss for words with a woman for the first time in years. She had been the cause then as well, "I… you… please, can…" How in the world did she do this to him? "Will you please just get down from there before you fall, you silly idiot?!" He snapped out, finding yelling at her much easier than sorting out the emotional stress she was causing.
"Why?" She smirked at him, "Does it make you nervous?" She pulled her knees up close to her chest and spun around so her back was to the sea and laughed at his horrified shock. "I'm not even holding on, you know?"
"Will you stop it?!" He was trying very hard to keep his composure. This girl was just completely insane!
"Worried?" she smirked
"Not really." He bluffed, "But if you fall and die, I'll probably get blamed with homicide, so just come down from there."
"What if I just lean back a little bit." She waved her arms around dramatically as she tilted back. "Wow! It's so high!"
"Knock it off!" He screamed and lunged forward, taking hold of her waist and pulling her sharply forward. The startled woman crashed into his chest and looked up into his eyes. They were the same striking amber that she remembered losing herself in so long ago and her heart fluttered at the memory.
No way! She pushed herself away from his body and took a step back like the contact stung her. She definitely was not letting herself be anywhere near that close to a man when she wasn't at all confident in her resistance to him
"Sorry." He wasn't looking at her. "Why don't I just get a cab and drop you off." She nodded quickly and wondered if she was imagining that faint blush on his cheeks. It was very possible in the dim light.
10:00 PM
Kagome concentrated on looking out the window and not on the handsome, married man riding next to her and bringing old memories back to life. The cab turned down her street and she was getting steadily closer to escaping in to her apartment.
"What happens now?" she asked quietly.
He gave her a surprised glance, having thought she wasn't going to speak to him. "I don't know." He admitted.
"Maybe we can try to be friends?" She glanced over to him. Maybe if they could just have some sort of role in each other's lives, they could get over this tension and finally get over their past.
"Yeah." He nodded. "We can try that."
The cab pulled to a stop outside of her apartment building, but both were surprised to see a man sitting on the steps outside. Kouga stood as he recognized Kagome through the window and he smiled.
'What is that idiot doing here?' Inuyasha thought, but hid any bitterness as Kagome glanced in at him and muttered a quick 'Goodbye.' He watched her walk over to Kouga, who held out a shawl and grinned at her.
He muttered out his address to the driver and looked away. He didn't want to see that stupid fool's smitten face.
10:30
Inuyasha walked into his house and made his way up to the bedroom to change from the tuxedo-so much work should never be involved in putting on a suit. He hadn't expected to see his wife sitting on their bed facing the door. She had been waiting for him; for how long he wondered. Her face was red and he was hit with another realization--she had been crying.
She's been good to me when things were going rough.
How can I tell her now, good ain't good enough?
***