Don't Leave
by bittersweetmemory
Insert standard disclaimers here
Sorry I haven't been updating (dodges bowl) I hope this makes up for it!
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Sango gripped the armrests of her seat tightly, not because of the fear of flying but because she didn't want to cause a scene when she hit Miroku through one of the airplane's many small windows. He hadn't stopped touching her since they'd gotten on board and at first she had asked him politely to refrain from touching her person. "Please stop," she'd said. "Of course," he'd replied. But he'd lied and now she was pissed. Honestly, she thought, doesn't he have any shame? You'd think after what happened to us in college that he'd grow up and get with it but apparently he's still the same immature man I fell in l—" She stopped herself right there. She told herself before she went to the airport, as she was sitting in the cab with Ayame and Rin, and that the main reason she'd gone on this trip was to get Inuyasha and Kagome back together. The fact that Miroku was coming along was supposed to be a minor inconvenience. He'd shown her what kind of man he was in college (the kind that led women on). The way this was going, she'd kill either him or herself before they landed in Paradise Cove.
"My lovely Sango, is anything the matter? You've been quiet ever since I had that unfortunate muscle spasm."
Humph. Muscle spasm my—
She turned to look at him and saw that though the years had done nothing tochange his mannerisms; they'd certainly done a lot to improve his physical side. Well damn him anyway! People were supposed to get less attractive in their old age! Of course Sango had overlooked the fact that Miroku was only twenty five years old and twenty five year old men didn't get wrinkly, but she was too far gone to notice then. His face had added definition, his features more defined and those damned violet eyes still as beautiful as they were when she'd first seen them. She idly whether his lips would still taste the same and played with the idea of finding out (only to shut him up of course so don't get any ideas… heh) before she remembered that he'd asked a question she still hadn't answered and that she was staring at his lips the whole time. Those same lips which had been relaxed now curved in a wicked smirk.
"See something you like?"
SLAP.
Try again later Houshi-sama…
On the other side of the aisles, two people winced, one with eyes of cobalt and the other forest-green. Ayame and Kouga had been talking (quite happily, thank you) about their friends and he'd been filling her in on what had happened in the two years Ayame had been gone when they heard the slap.
"Guess not much has changed between them, huh?"
"Nope. Miroku's still quite the lech."
"Ah! But a handsome lech. Sometimes that makes the difference!"
Try as he might, Kouga couldn't stop the low growl from working its way up to his lips. He hadn't seen Ayame since Inuyasha and Kagome's wedding two years ago. Right after the reception, she'd left without a goodbye to him or even to Kagome. Kouga couldn't help but feel a little hurt. She'd been his partner in the wedding and they'd had a good time at the practices. They even went out a couple of times. Granted, he was still a little bitter over losing Kagome to "dog-turd" at the time and he admittedly was quite vocal about it. He thought Ayame had liked him. The night of the wedding she seemed to anyway. She'd been smiling at him as if he was the only one in the room. She seemed to be expecting something too. Not a wedding proposal, of course. That would have been ridiculous. But she looked at him like he was supposed to ask her something. For the life of him, Kouga couldn't figure out what it was (poor dense man…).
"Yeah, well. He's still pretty attached to Sango. Don't get any ideas."
"My my, Kouga. You sound, dare I say, jealous!"
Koga sputtered and in a few moments he had assumed the guise of a ripe tomato.
They shared a companionable silence then and Ayame had time to collect her thoughts.
Kouga Ookami. Even his name made her sigh. He was everything she'd ever really wanted in a man. Strong, sexy as sin and passionate. Sure he was a bit rough around the edges but that only added to his appeal in Ayame's opinion. He was also the first and only man she'd ever been in danger of loving. She knew he wondered why she had left two years ago. She hadn't even told Kagome and Sango yet. But it was all him. The moment Kagome had introduced him as her partner for the wedding, she'd been lost. But she told herself that it would be stupid to let anything come of it because he was still so obviously in love with Kagome. She knew he'd never try anything of course; Kouga had his honor and he wouldn't dare infringe of his friend's relationship, even if it wasn't for love. But her resolve to distance herself had slowly crumbled away. She went out with him on casual dates and had lots fun. Then she got the phone call that would change everything. An offer from her job to work as a Public Relations officer for their branch in America. It would start the week after Kagome's wedding and they needed her in New York by the day after. She'd dreaded making the decision. Her job in Japan was well paying enough. She had lots of friends and most of her family was here. But she had a feeling, they'd all understand if she decided to leave. So all that left was Kouga. She decided that it would be up to him. Kouga would unknowingly be the one to decide where she would live for the next few years. She promised herself that she'd take the job if he hadn't made it official by the night of the wedding. That was pushing it as close as she could. She'd been almost positive that he'd ask her…
Only he hadn't. So what choice did she have but to leave? He was obviously still hooked on Kagome and friend or not, Ayame refused to be anyone's second place. So here she was, two years later, none the wiser and looking into those same blue eyes.
She released the breath she hadn't realized she was holding. Kouga looked up, eyes unfocused, apparently from his own contemplations.
"All right there?"
She forced a smile.
"Never better."
Elsewhere, while four people were in silent contemplation of their past mistakes, Rin and Sesshoumaru were renewing their acquaintance. They'd met each other before since they did run in the same social circles. They'd talked about work and friends, now they were talking about this vacation. Well Rin was talking. Sesshoumaru was responding with undecipherable grunts.
"So how exactly were you roped into this?"
"This Sesshoumaru wasn't roped into anything…"
A pause.
"Oh fine. As I see, Kagome is the closest shot Inuyasha has at doing something to benefit the family name. I don't intend to let him muck it up."
"…right."
"Very well." He mumbled something.
"Sorry. I didn't catch that."
He mumbled again, only this time louder.
"What?"
"I said I needed a VACATION!"
His shout brought the attention of all the passengers in first class on him. However, seven eyebrows rose.
"Well. What are you all looking at," he said, addressing the mini-crowd.
Rin only shook her head.
Kagome wondered what possessed her to agree to this trip in the first place. Inuyasha's constant mood swings were worse than hers. At least she had an excuse! He was grumpy coming in (presumably because of the scratches he'd gotten courtesy of "Fluffy") but calmed down when the dinner was served. Then he'd taken a nap and looked almost innocent before waking up and deciding to be flirtatious.
She'd much rather he stay grumpy, thank you very much. At least then, he wasn't such a danger to her emotions again.
"Is there a reason you're staring Inuyasha? I don't see anyone you know around here. All the stewardesses seem to have names that aren't Bambi or Fifi so it can't be them. My only logical conclusion is that you're staring at me."
His mouth opened, probably to deny her claims but shut again. He'd decided against insult.
"You know Kags; jealousy is cute only until a certain point."
Whatever she was about to say was cut off the voice on the loudspeaker.
"Ladies and gentlemen this is your Captain speaking. There will be a great deal of turbulence ahead so please report back to your seats and fasten seatbelts until the sign indicates that it is safe to remove them. Flight attendants please cover your stations. Please remain calm."
Kagome let out a 'meep' of fear. Inuyasha looked at her in concern.
"Don't worry Kagome. You'll be all right, I pro—"
Whatever he was about to say was cut off by a sudden jolt. Inuyasha's arm instinctively shot out to shield Kagome.
From a few seats in front of her, she heard Sango.
"Miroku! This is no time for that! Get your hand off my—"
This made her smile a little, and then wince when she bit her tongue, an impact caused by the storm raging outside.
Suddenly, as quickly as everything started, it stopped. The captain announced that they were out of the storm zone but instructed them to stay in their seats until they landed in two hours just to be sure.
Kagome held her hand over her mouth until a hand pulled it away.
"What's wrong?"
"Ah hit mh heet."
"You bit your teeth? Open. Let me see."
She did as he asked.
"It's bleeding…you know, someone taught me a sure fire way of curing these things faster."
"Heehy? 'Ha?" (Really? What?)
He didn't answer, instead just told her to close her eyes.
Then he kissed her.
And what a kiss it was. Kagome soon learned why this was so therapeutic when he massaged the wound with his tongue, forcing her to melt against him for support. Then, as suddenly as he'd kissed her, he stopped. He smirked when Kagome's eyes remained closed for a few more minutes until they slowly fluttered open.
Kagome however, saw the smirk and was not pleased.
"Humph. That's good technique Inuyasha. Maybe when we get back, I'll teach it to Hojo…"
Golden eyes narrowed in anger.
"The only one you'll be teaching is me. So teach."
Azure eyes flashed back in challenge.
"Maybe next time."
"Heh. I've got a month Kagome. There'll be a hell of a lot of 'next times', if I get my way."
"Cocky little bugger aren't you?"
"Keh."
One month. One month for her to decide whether she still wanted her husband. That required a lot of contemplation. They were silent the rest of the flight.
The plane touched down, ten minutes late at 12:30 PM. Eight tired figures hired a cab that would take them to the boarding docks. From there, they'd get to Paradise Cove by boat. They split up in the cabs, girls in one guys in the other. It was a tight fit but they managed. It was only ten minutes from the airport of the mainland anyway.
As soon as they got there, Ayame drunkenly stumbled into Kouga's arms and promptly fell asleep. Good natured joking about what had gone on between them in the air bounced around. Miroku asked if they were an official member of the "mile-high club" now. Kouga blushed and replied in the negative. But was swiftly contradicted by the moaning that the redhead was doing in his arms.
"Oh, Kooouga! Yes!"
Inuyasha and Miroku laughed while Sesshoumaru settled for a smirk. Kagome found it hard to hold back her own giggles. Ayame was notoriousfor sleep-talking. It made for excellent slumber-parties. Not to mention the blackmail opportunities.
The boat came at one on the dot and they all boarded, ready to be whisked away to paradise.
Review Responses:
XsangoX: Hey! I'm baaack! I hope you enjoyed this!
InuyashaShowFanatic: Matchmaking is always fun! I hope you enjoyed!
ChibiKenshin6490: Thanks! I hope you enjoyed this update!
RisuMusume: Indeed. Kagome and Inuyasha are both proud. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. I hope you enjoyed the dialogue even though there wasn't much of it here. (.)
eddie4: Nope sorry. The appearance of Fluffy-sama was a one-time thing. I hope you enjoyed anyway!
itzjustme: You know what's funny? I was updating this story when I read your review for Reason to Stay. Talk about coincidence (x]) dL is similar to this in the situation (beginning) but I promise, the plot is different! I hope you enjoyed this update!
Airwalk55: Here ya go! I hope you enjoyed!
AmericanStarryKnight89: LOL. You're not slow. I think the same way don't worry. Actually I did think the same thing… and I wrote this….O.O Wow. I hope you enjoyed!