Bye Bye, Baby!
Chapter Fifteen
Inu yasha stared blankly at the wall; the sheets ripped from his bed and various articles of clothing occupied the floor, the bed, the windowsill, and the top of his lamp.
His lavender gaze shifted to the window, where the day was shinning brightly and car alarms and screaming children filled the calm spring day. He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair. His fingers pushed themselves through the snarls and Inu yasha yelped when some of his hair was pulled from the roots. He glared at the long strands of black hair before waving his hand and letting the strings of hair fall to the ground. He stared at the floor where his bare feet kicked a dirty shirt around until it left his grasp and flew through the air, landing against the wall across the room.
He sighed.
Inu yasha's hand ran over his face and he sighed again, louder this time. He feebly stared at the ceiling then back out the window only to return his gaze to the ceiling. 'How am I going to tell her? She's going to hate me!'
He bit his lip thoughtfully and scratched behind his ear, his thumb flicking the small earring in the lobe, the silver loop flipping between his anxious habit. The silver loop sparkled in the sun that shone through the window and he rolled his eyes back to the ceiling. 'She's going to despise me…not that I'd blame her, I suppose…'
He stood and balled his hand into a fist before kneeling down and pushing the back the bed, "Found you!"
Moriko stared back at him with her bright blue eyes and her wide smile. "Ahh, that's not fair! You knew I was here the whole time!" She pouted. "I hate you!"
"Of course you do," Inu yasha shrugged and rolled his back; doing a small turn, he pointed towards his closet, "And I know you're in there, Hikari, so get your butt out of there!"
Sure enough, moments later Hikari emerged from the darkness that is Inu yasha's closet. Hikari glared at him, "I despise you."
"Of course you do," Inu yasha repeated and stood, "Well then, I'm done playing hide and go seek."
"Ah, but we were having fun!" Moriko pouted again and grabbed her feet.
Inu yasha smirked, "Sorry, Moriko, but we've played enough Hide and Go Seek to entertain every child in a third world country." He checked his watch and looked out the window again, "When the hell is Kagome supposed to get home?"
"Language!" Hikari gasped, sounding disgusted, "I am absolutely appalled that you would dare say such profanity in my presence. Shame on you, you fucking asshole!"
Inu yasha stared at the blond.
'That girl has a bigger vocabulary than me…' he thought in awe.
He clapped his hands, "Alright, get out of here, its time for bed!"
"It's five in the afternoon," Hikari said in disgust.
"Silence! That's what I should be hearing! Silence!" Inu yasha grabbed the two girls and dragged them from his room. He ushered the two children into Kagome's room and stuffed them into the bed. Hikari glared and Moriko beamed.
"Read me a story!" Moriko peeped up as Inu yasha made a stand to run away. He paused and sighed before walking back towards the two girls. Moriko held up Guess How Much I Love You. Inu yasha groaned.
"Do you always read that story?" Inu yasha asked in poorly suppressed disgust.
"Yes!" Moriko and Hikari said at the same time, Moriko sounding delighted and Hikari not so much…
Inu yasha sighed for the umpteenth time that night, grabbed the book and began reading to the two small children.
"So how was it?" Sango whispered while wiggling her eyebrows at Kagome, who blushed. Her three other companions, Ayumi, Eri, and Yuka leaned in closer to listen to what Kagome was going to say.
"He was…so different," Kagome's blush deepened. "He was embarrassed and shy…instead of a cocky, selfish, sarcastic man. He was sweet, too, he really thought about me…er…maybe he was drunk or something," she stirred the straw of her diet coke absentmindedly (deciding to never drink again…).
Eri leaned over, her short black hair pulled back with a headband, "Is he hot?"
Kagome gasped and her blush spread to her ears and neck, "What!"
"Is he?" Yuka asked, her short black hair doing a soft flip at the end. The two girls leaned in with revived enthusiasm. Sango and Ayumi watched the scene unfold with contemplative interest. Sango took a sip of her beer and Ayumi ate some French fries.
"I don't know…" Kagome ducked her head, trying to hide her blush.
"What do you mean, you don't know?" Eri asked in shock. "He either isn't or he is. Is he eye candy or his he an eye sore?"
"Stop acting like teenagers," Sango berated and finished her drink. "Seriously, give Kagome some breathing space and stop smothering her."
"He's hot," Kagome murmured so quietly that it almost went unnoticed by the other girls. Her face ignited into the largest blush Sango had ever seen, and her friends all perked up to hear what else the woman had to say. "I mean…he definitely is eye candy…I suppose…"
"Do you have a picture of him?" Yuka asked with a small pleading tone in her voice.
Kagome looked irritated at that question. "No."
"Damn," Eri muttered and Yuka frowned. "Well describe him then," Eri perked up and put an arm around Kagome, "Tell me, tell me, tell me!"
Kagome smiled shyly and took a long sip of her diet coke before tucking some hair behind her ear. "Well, he's tall…"
"Dark and handsome?" Eri cut in.
Kagome sent her a small glare. "No, he's not dark…I suppose he's handsome. Do you want me to tell you or not?"
"Yes I—"
"Then let the poor girl tell her story," Sango finished Kagome's thoughts before waving the waiter over. After ordering new drinks, the girls refocused on Kagome.
"He has long black hair," Eri muffled her squeals, the girl had always had a thing for long hair and Yuka looked like she was in heaven; Ayumi looked interested, and Sango had already heard Kagome's description of the man. "He has the most beautifully colored eyes I've ever seen; I didn't even know someone could have lavender eyes…"
"Lavender?" Ayumi looked amazed.
"More of an amethyst, really, but they kind of darken and lighten with his mood." Kagome thought for a moment. "They're very beautiful…and deep too; you can tell he's been through a lot, but at the same time, doesn't seem too bugged by it. Like it happened a long time ago."
"What do you think happened?" Yuka asked despite herself.
"I recently found out he's an orphan," Kagome whispered, as if ashamed to give away such valuable information about Inu yasha. She licked her lips and finished her drink. "He never knew his father and his mom died when he was little, I guess."
"How sad," Ayumi stated the obvious.
Kagome nodded. "Anyways, do you need to know anything else?"
"Yes!" Eri and Yuka said at once. Kagome and Ayumi blinked at them while Sango shook her head, rubbing her temples. Eri cleared her throat, "For starters, how old is he, how tall is he, is he tanned, does he work out, what does he wear, what are his hobbies, how long does he sleep for, can he cook, does he have any piercings, does he have any tattoos, does he have any battle scars, where was he born, how long has be been here, when is he leaving, can I have his phone number, can he drive, can he fight, can he sing, can he dance, does he do drugs, does he drink, does he—" Sango put her hand over the girl's mouth.
Kagome stared at her in horror. Sango sighed and wished she had some Advil to relive herself of the headache her friend was giving her.
"Um…most of that just went over my head, but…" Kagome thought for a moment. "I don't know how old he is; I think he's older than me. He's taller than me, he has tanned skin…um…one of his ears is pierced…no tattoos that I know of…no drugs, no massive drinking that I've seen; he really likes coffee, I think. He can play the guitar," she ignored her friends' squeals, "and…no you cannot have his phone number."
Sango laughed and removed her hand from Eri's mouth.
"Well that was exciting," Sango said dryly and wiped her hand on her napkin.
Kagome sighed and stared at her glass, which was filled only with melting ice cubes. "I really like him, I think…"
The door opened and Inu yasha looked at Kagome as she entered the foyer, slipping off her shoes and hanging up her jacket. With a defeated sigh she threw her purse onto the table positioned near the door. She walked into the living room and flopped down next to him on the couch. He blinked and stared at her, his eyebrows raised questionably.
"Hi."
"Hi…" she sighed and rubbed her eyes. She let out another loud sigh and threw her feet onto the coffee table in front of the couch. "My life sucks."
"And why's that?" Inu yasha asked.
"Because you're here," she growled out and he laughed.
"Should have known that," Inu yasha said with a wide grin, "Well, why don't you make it easy on yourself and move out, I'll be sure to take care of Moriko."
"Go to hell," she snapped.
"Nah, I think New York's better than hell any day." He sighed and leaned in close to her, a smirk on his lips. "So what's really bothering you?"
"My damn friends and you!" she snapped again and he chuckled, avoiding a punch from Kagome.
"And what have I done this time?" he asked, amused.
"You just had to be so damn interesting to them," she grumbled and scrunched up into a ball on the couch.
"Oh, and that's my fault?"
"So many stupid questions about you," she growled, "Seriously, whocares how old you are, if you can dance, for god's sake? Tell me, who gives a shit if you have any tattoos…"
"I don't…" Inu yasha looked at the disgruntled woman curled up on the couch.
"Great, one of the many questions have been answered!" she said sarcastically.
"Well…" Inu yasha scratched the back of his neck, "I'm thirty-two, I can't dance worth shit, and I have no tattoos…anything else?" His smile softened as she unraveled herself from the hole she'd wrapped herself in and stared up at him. His lavender eyes looked at her blue ones as she pursed her lips and frowned.
Finally, after a long moment of staring, Kagome blinked.
"I win," he declared at one and winked at her.
"Win what?"
"The staring contest."
"What staring contest?" Kagome asked with annoyance.
He grinned.
She sighed again and then smiled slightly; his sarcasm and arrogance was actually making her feel better. Which was ironic in a way, he was making her feel better when he indirectly made her feel like crap. He cocked his head to the side and she watched his lavender eyes swirl with unreadable emotions. He seemed almost surreal…
She quickly shook her head and ran her fingers through her hair, her small smile growing into a large one, and she felt much better. "Thanks…"
"Hm?" he looked confused.
"For making me feel better; you're always doing that," she lowered her eyes. 'Stupid dumb ass…'
"Well in that case you're welcome," he stared at the wall and suddenly looked fidgety, "Um…Kagome…I need to tell you something."
Kagome blinked and looked at him curiously. He sighed and bit his lip, trying to collect the right words he needed to say; he felt his heart beginning to pound in his chest and dread creeping into him, starting at his toes and making its way up his body. A violent shiver ran up his spine and his feet felt numb. He felt his clammy hands grip each other and he swallowed the lump growing in his stomach.
Slowly he turned to face Kagome, who seemed oblivious to his discomfort, but she could tell whatever he was about to say was important.
Kagome felt that her stomach was twisting around itself and it had lost its bottom. As Inu yasha turned to look at her, she could almost sense his uneasiness and felt her own growing within her. He looked serious…deadly serious. It was almost too much; what was he going to say to her that was this important? And why couldn't it wait until she felt better? His hands clasped and unclasped and she saw that his palms were sweaty.
He uneasily flicked the earring on his ear, the silver loop twirling around his finger. Long strands of black hair fell from behind his ear and fell down the front of his shirt, stopping just under his shoulders. She hadn't noticed that he had two different hair lengths; she had thought they were all extremely long.
He sighed and looked her in the eye, his lavender eyes swirling.
"Have you ever heard of Hideki Naraku?" Inu yasha asked softly.
Kagome raised a confused eyebrow, "No."
"He works…in the entertainment field," Inu yasha sighed, "He's also my foster brother…"
Kagome looked down, not able to meet his eyes.
"As you know, I've been appearing in a couple of commercials and some cameos in local TV shows…" Inu yasha's voice didn't come out more than a whisper, but Kagome felt like she was being shouted at. She gripped her knees for some kind of silent support. Though she didn't want to hear it, deep down she knew what he was going to say.
"Yes…" she prompted him to continue.
"I've been sending in applications for some TV shows; it's simple, you fill out a form and then you record yourself acting out a provided script you can get on the website…I did that a little over a two weeks ago and sent it to…California." Kagome felt the bile rising in her throat and tried not to throw up. "I got a call the other day…it was from Naraku...I…"
"No…" she whispered, almost too quiet to hear. It broke Inu yasha's heart.
"My application has been chosen…" Inu yasha said feebly, "I'm going to California…"
"No…" Kagome fought back her tears.
"I won't go, if you don't want me too, I just…I…" he couldn't find the words to say what he was really thinking and before he could stop her, Kagome had thrown herself into his arms, hugging him tightly.
"Don't be silly," Kagome fought back her hurt in favor of him, "You want this, don't you?"
"It's why I went to college," he admitted. It wasn't the only reason, but one of them.
"Then go," Kagome pulled away, suddenly embarrassed, "It's what you want. And Moriko and I will be behind you one hundred percent."
"Yeah…"
"No, don't you dare talk yourself out of it," Kagome said firmly, "You're going and that's final, you hear me?"
"Yes…"
"Good," she forced a smile, and felt like she was breaking inside, like her heart was made of glass and the shards were flying away in the wind.
"Kagome…I…I really…"
"No, don't say it," Kagome said, her eyes narrowing as she stood. She put her hands on her hips and tapped his nose, "I want you to do this."
He looked skeptical. "Honest?"
"Yes," Kagome said, 'No…'
"If you say so," he stood too and lightly touched her shoulder. "I'll have to leave in three days…I'm glad you understand…" he looked away, not able to meet her eyes. His hand dropped from her shoulder and hung lifelessly by his side. He looked at his feet.
"Of course," Kagome whispered out.
He took a step towards her and for a brief moment Kagome thought he was going to sweep her off her feet and kiss her, but that was a silly teenaged dream. Instead, he leaned over and kissed her cheek silently, his lips lingering longer than required. He pulled away, smiled shyly and walked towards his room.
"I should pack," he said unnecessarily.
"Yeah…goodnight…"
Kagome walked to her own room and discovered that the two girls had stolen her bed. With a small smile she slipped into the bathroom and turned the faucet for a shower.
As the water fell from the shower head, she dropped to her knees, gripping the counter near the toilet with tears falling from her eyes. "No! Please! NO!" she bawled loudly, her sobs and her tears drowned away by the water falling in the shower. "Please…"
Her pleas went unanswered…