Disclaimer: No, I don't own InuYasha.
AN: Okay, so... yeah. Here's chapter six and as usual THANK YOU (!!!) for the reviews. Yay, wyou guys broke a hundred on my fifth chapter; I love you so much. (Now I feel like that stupid DDR voice guy who's like "thank you so much... I can't stop crying.")
Damn, I love Naoki's Can't Stop Falling in Love: Speed Mix.
Chapter Six
Sitting in her car, she sighed. Why couldn't the world be simpler? Why were the gods hell-bent on making her life miserable?
Kagome impatiently waited for the light to turn green as an old lady crossed the street in front of her.
Today was just not her day!
After blurting out that very private secret to the one person who should have never been told, she ran out of InuYasha's apartment in a panic.
She was worried about him telling other people or even him telling Ayumi. Not even her best friend knew that little fact about her, yet, the girl's boyfriend did now. Goodness knew if Ayu got hold of that information, she would make sure Kagome was de-"purified" (as her friend like to call it) by the end of the week. As disturbing as the thought was, Ayumi probably wouldn't mind lending her InuYasha for the job. Hell, she was disturbed by the thought of InuYasha knowing in the first place!
But most of all she was disturbed by his reaction when she accidentally let the information slip.
He didn't even try to blatantly offer to "help" her with adding a little experience to her resume in that area, as she thought he would. He just ran to his room giving a lame excuse for his sudden departure.
He was so... so... seriously affected by the knowledge that she was, well, a virgin.
Personally, she always thought he knew; she thought that he must've figured it out. He had always called her "innocent little Kagome," after all. He even went so far as to tell his friends, when they were around, to watch their mouths because "innocent little Kagome's not used to hearing such naughty language." She recalled his voice and his sickeningly sugary sweet tone when speaking those words, always followed by a wink in her direction and his trademark smirk.
Just thinking of him was making her angry, she realized as the light turned green and she hit the gas pedal hard, gripping the steering wheel until her knuckles turned white. She hardly recognized that she was doing seventy on a local street until a certain Mercedes convertible pull up right beside her.
InuYasha smirked at her, music blasting from his car as his silvery hair whipped in the wind.
Nearly growling at the person she really did not want to see at the moment, she pressed on the narrow pedal even harder; which only resulting in InuYasha speeding up as well to catch up to her. Both cars were now doing ninety on the small deserted street.
With a shout of aggravation, Kagome pushed the wider pedal on the floor to her left, stopping short. She thought the silver haired man would just keep going but all he did was swerve to a stop directly horizontal in front of her car.
Stepping out of his vehicle calmly, the man with dark sunglasses made his way towards the female in the Lexus.
Smiling, he leaned in her window. "You forgot the money..."
"I'll get it later," she said, eyes directed straight ahead. She was determined to brush him off.
"I guess you will. Meet you at the house then?" he asked quite calmly. He knew she was upset with herself for telling him of her... condition. Just as well, he knew she was most likely mad at him for just knowing now. Women never have made that much sense.
Immediately she turned towards him, her voice leveled for a demand, "no, you will not." How dare he just think to invite himself to her home!
"Oh, I won't? Why is that?" he smiled, looking innocently delighted (and quite like Satan to her eyes). He was being fake and it annoyed the hell out of her.
"Because I said so," she answered mustering the dirtiest look she could create.
"What you say..." he paused for effect, his face screwing up in a momentary simulation of confusion, before commencing, "...means nothing to me," he stared at her sharply and his smile turned into an evil grin as he stood on up, leaving his position of leaning.
"Fine. I guess I'll just have to lock you out when I get home... before you," she said matter-of-factly and showed no emotion on her face. She was anticipating a difficult race with the arrogant male before her.
"Well, obviously if you think it is that easy to dismiss me, you must be forgetting that these," he raised a hand out of his pocket, keys dangling from it, "are in my possession."
She cursed Ayumi mentally and looked up at the hanyou, clad in a long black over coat despite the day's unusual warmth, taking in his sinister appearance at the moment.
"Besides... we need to have a little talk," he smiled well naturedly once more and headed to his car.
Kagome watched as he walked back at a leisure pace and as he got in the car and began to drive, continuing his annoyingly calm attitude through his slow speed.
She stared at his car in anger and disgust. Seriously debating not going home, she bit her lip.
'Where could I go?'
She wanted to bang her head on the steering wheel but held herself back knowing that she'd be fined if her head hit the horn, as the area was a 'no-honking' zone.
Steeling herself for the inevitable, the raven-haired girl in a red tank top drove at a much slower rate towards the house.
InuYasha drove for all of approximately fifteen minutes before he reached his intended destination.
He was still remembering the confrontation from what felt like seconds ago. He smelled the dread she felt as he left... it was the reason he drove so slowly: to relish in the anxiety he'd caused her.
She would come. He knew it. No matter how much she didn't wish to see him, she was definitely on her way home at the very moment.
After parking in the long driveway, the hanyou proceeded to make his way to the front door. Putting his key into the lock, he smiled to himself and stated quietly, "It's good to be home."
No one was in the house, as he'd expected. Dropping his coat on the sofa, InuYasha made his way to his and Ayumi's room.
As he reached the room he began the task of removing his shoes and then his t-shirt and pants. Clad in only his boxers, he dug in one of the drawers in the dresser near the door, pulling out a pair of black drawstring pants and a dark blue sleeveless shirt.
It was after he had just put on the pants that he heard the door opened cautiously and as quietly as possible. He smirked. Kagome's home.
He watched from a crack in the door as the girl looked around every corner carefully before continuing her silent tiptoe to her room. She discarded her shoes as she went along, picking them up and taking them with her. She undid the belt on her pants and the silver haired boy thought she might take all her clothes off before she reached where she wanted to go, with any luck.
Of course, Kagome knew InuYasha was home from his car, and so she thought better than taking off her clothes in the middle of the house. She merely undid the buckle on her belt for comfort and her shoes because she didn't wish to soil the white carpet.
As he watched the girl attempt to sneak to her room, he debated walking out right now or waiting for her to get to her room and then picking the lock with his claws to surprise her and maybe get a little peep show as a reward. But, no. After careful consideration, he decided it would be best if he confronted her now. After all, he had figured out a new way to get to the girl since his previous attempts by using his natural charms alone were not working.
Play it innocent; be the little schoolboy. He was talking serious naïveté: Hojo status.
It would work, how could it not?
So, without hesitation, InuYasha opened the door; making it look like he had no idea she was home yet.
"Oh... Kagome! Hi," InuYasha's brows were raised in false surprise. He allowed a small smile grace his lips and watched as the blue-eyed girl in front of him looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
"Um..." damn, there went her escape!
"I wasn't quite sure if you were going to come," he lied.
"Well, I had to come eventually. I do live here," she said, a frown crossing her mouth. She took in his shirtless appearance with nervousness.
"Yeah... but I knew you wouldn't want to talk to me," right, don't be conspicuous.
"Uh, I kinda still don't."
"Look, I understand what you told me was very... private and I totally respect that! I just don't want you to feel weird around me, okay?" he put on a look of worry.
"InuYasha, I've always felt weird around you! You've made sure of it!" she looked at him oddly, restraining a bit of anger.
He had to bite his tongue to hold a dirty reply at bay but let none of what he was thinking show on his face.
"I-I know... and... I'm sorry," he looked embarrassed. He held his breath for a moment to make his cheeks turn flushed and to give a serious pause for his apology to sink into her mind. "I didn't know... that... you were a... well, you know..." he averted his gaze.
Kagome was taken aback. He was flustered! She'd never, not once, seen this new InuYasha (as she had deemed him repeatedly) look embarrassed. Why was he acting this way after just minutes ago he was being his "normal" jerk of a man self, telling her that what she said meant nothing to him? It was odd... it was almost as if he was returning to the old hanyou she knew from over five centuries in the past. She was nearly speechless.
If it had been anyone else that just suddenly had a change of heart, she would have been more suspicious but this was InuYasha. The InuYasha she loved turned wrong... she couldn't help but hope for the best when it came to this particular male.
"Oh... so, um... yeah," she found herself blushing as well and InuYasha had to stop himself from laughing or jumping up to shout his victory at deceiving her.
"Yeah, well... I just wanted you to know... I'm not as insensitive as I know I appear. If I had any idea about... you... I would have never suggested anything like... what I was suggesting... back in my apartment," he swallowed hard and tried to look sorry.
Suddenly Kagome found it hard to talk and she had to swallow several times to pass the lump in her throat and allow her voice to work. "Um... I guess, I should apologize as well. I always thought you knew for some reason; I never really considered the thought that you might be sensitive in any way. That was stupid and selfish of me," she smiled shyly.
He smiled back, "It's okay. I'm glad we had this talk."
"So am I," she smiled. It really looked like he was a different person now that he knew about her oh-so-dark secret.
A moment of silence passed over them before InuYasha interrupted the quiet. "Television?" he offered.
"Sure," she nodded and began to follow the inu hanyou to the sofa, where he sat. She settled next to him, slightly closer than she would have normally.
InuYasha took it as a sign of success.
Reaching for the remote control, his hand was stopped as Kagome's smaller one covered it. He looked up with an inquiring look.
"You won't tell Ayumi, will you?" she asked with a blush, her eyes looking anywhere but at his face.
"Of course not," he smiled as her hand remained in place.
"Thank you."
Ayumi left the tall building in a hurry. Calling for a cab, she pulled out her compact mirror to observe her reflection. Smiling, she thought of the note she'd sent to her boyfriend. An innocent little letter really... unless you read between the lines.
For a moment, the girl with short hair and brown eyes thought back to her friend Kagome's reluctance to deliver the note. She frowned, hoping InuYasha had received it.
She nearly grinned when she realized her tiny skirt had been catching the attention of many men passing down the street. Ah, but she'd never trade InuYasha for anyone. He was perfect in every area and so very talented.
However, it was more than that. He was sexy, yes but... he was sweet sometimes and he knew how to make her feel special, hard to believe from a guy like him though.
When she met him, she knew he was a Class A playboy but as she started to date him, she realized... he was more than just that guy who likes girls for one thing alone. To this day, whenever they were alone, he was more than just romantic or charming. He was more than just playful. He was a serious person underneath it all. He just didn't like to show it.
She didn't know much about his past so she didn't know why he had the tendencies that he did. Ayumi only knew that, all influences aside, InuYasha must be a considerate being who just happened to have been changed by a hard life. Call it intuition, but she just knew the man that everyone sees daily isn't the same man that InuYasha himself sees. So perhaps he's just trying to lie to the world as well as himself. Who knows?
Winking at a particularly cute guy that tried to innocently glance at her behind, she thought back to Kagome; her childhood friend: the girl that was the closest thing to a sister she'd ever had.
'She needs a man... bad.'
The poor girl; ever since the beginning of high school when she found out her secret violent tempered boyfriend disappeared, she'd been devastated. Not even Hojo could help her and eventually he got tired of it all and started dating Eri.
The girl was in a deep depression for so long. Even until now, she'd never dated. Sometimes, Ayumi got the feeling she was still waiting for that guy.
What is it with some girls and staying with the guy they lost their virginity to? Really, it was almost pathetic in Ayu's eyes.
Not to worry though, she'd help Kagome out.
As the taxi pulled to a stop in front of her, she realized her stupidity. She should have just asked InuYasha to pick her up! Oh well.
Kagome had begun to nod off as they continued to watch T.V. InuYasha watched amused as she kept leaning towards him, then jump up before leaning towards him again as her eyes kept closing on her.
He looked at the belt she discarded and left on the glass coffee table. Her now considerably loose pants had slid down to rest very low on her hips and her tank top had ridden up, giving him a view of the creamy and smooth skin of her midriff.
He almost smirked, as it seemed the raven-haired girl had finally given in and drifted off to sleep on his shoulder. So tempted was he to touch her that he didn't notice his hand was slowly making its way toward her until a loud shriek pierced the air and Kagome jumped awake with a gasp.
Apparently, the murderer had just stabbed some stupid girl who'd been staring at him for what had to be an hour in the predictable scary movie they were watching.
InuYasha's hand shot back to his lap in a flash and he looked unfazed as he watched the movie.
Breathing hard, Kagome turned to look at the television where the mutilated girl was being dragged away by the guy in the mask, "Oh, eww!"
InuYasha turned to look at the girl sitting beside him as she averted her face. He laughed lightly.
"Not one for blood?" he guessed.
'You of all people should know that. We've seen more blood than all the scary movies ever created combined,' the thought filtered through her mind and she smiled grimly before answering, "Not really."
Nodding he turned back to the screen and thanked Kami for his lightening fast reflexes. He nearly ruined everything.
She tucked her legs up to rest her chin on her knees and moved to lean back against the armrest, Kagome thought over the golden-eyed boy's apology earlier.
She turned to look out the large window to her left just behind where InuYasha was sitting, and discovered the darkening sky. It was getting late. Ayumi should be coming home soon.
With a sigh, Kagome's eyes started to glaze over as she began to daydream randomly about the past.
"InuYasha? InuYasha, where are you?" the younger Kagome yelled through the forest. It was getting late and she wanted to spend the night at home to restock on some supplies and be back by morning. Of course, this meant informing the inu youkai unless she desired to face his wrath in which he would actually have reason to be angry.
She almost fell on her face over the root of a tree as she stumbled through the near dark. Still walking through an unknown path Kagome called for the hanyou once more. So caught up in her calling was she that she didn't realize the considerably big rock in front of her. As a result, she tripped and fell into, or rather through, a bush, as each end of her body was sticking out of each side.
Groaning in pain, the girl opened her eyes, both of which had been shut in anticipation of the ground's impact, Kagome immediately realized on the other side of this wall of bushes was a spring. It was a rather pretty spring, under the night sky. Looking up, she realized the moon was finally up and the sun fully out of sight.
Now, she knew she needed to get back either to the village or to the well. InuYasha's Forest was a very dangerous place at night, especially when you are in possession of a jewel wanted by virtually every demon and evil human alike in existence.
After struggling in the bush for a while, Kagome understood she couldn't get back out the way she came, so the only other way out of the shrub would be to go forward and... into the spring, that looked mighty cold. On top of that, the cliff she was bordering on looked mighty high. It was a tough choice: either tear off her skirt and walk back to the village half naked or jump to what could be her death in body of cold water that might be shallow and have pointy rocks on the bottom.
She thought long and hard and concluded that anything would be better than Miroku-sama's attention. So, with a grunt, she threw herself forward into the water that she discovered was quite deep, thankfully. Swimming to where the water came to a shore, Kagome discovered what looked like her skirt floating inches away from her. All that worrying for nothing, it seemed. She grabbed the ruined cloth and was about to get out of the water when she realized that she was not alone.
Perfection. It was the only thought that ran through her mind as her mouth grew dry and her eyes got slightly large. Standing not ten feet in front of her was the sight of the most gorgeous creature she'd ever seen.
There in water up to his waist, was InuYasha. His back turned and his face turned halfway toward her. His ears twitched and she realized he must have heard the splash she made. Immediately, she went into statue mode holding her breath and staying as still as possible. Apparently, it worked because he shook his head briefly and dived under the water.
Kagome thanked god that she was soaked; otherwise he most likely would have caught her scent. Now, she was just worried he'd see her legs in the water. Fortunately, two minutes later, he resurfaced a little farther from her with a splash.
For a moment, she wished she had her camera. Then she went into shock at her own actions. She was being a hentai: spying on InuYasha, as he bathed, no less. She blushed to the roots of her hair.
Seeing no escape, Kagome planned to just wait until the boy left, then she'd run home and get a new skirt before anyone noticed and just forget about restocking.
Still scolding herself for ogling, Kagome turned around and stayed as hidden as she could behind the boulder she found. She kept her ears open waiting for it to go quiet. Soon it actually did and Kagome was bout to turn around before something grabbed her thigh beneath the water.
She screamed and the thing dragged her beneath the water. Her eyes went wide under the water as she saw dangerous gold flashing at her in the darkness. Shouting she pushed 'it' away and sprung up.
Thinking along the lines of "What the hell was that?" she was just about to call out for InuYasha... that is, until he sprung up from beneath surface and pushed her against the boulder.
For a moment, all she saw was his fist raised and aimed at her until she squeezed her eyes.
"Ka-Kagome?!" he sounded surprised and she opened her eyes to see his fist had lowered a bit though his other hand was still pinning her neck.
"Eh-heh... sorry?" she said as a flush covered her face and she realized he was probably very naked standing inches from her.
He must have realized what she was just thinking too, because he immediately let go of her and threw himself into the water until he was submerged to his neck as if he was a girl hiding his chest. In addition, his face cheeks were strawberry pink.
"What are you doing here?" he near shouted.
She was just about to answer before he caught sight of the green cloth in her hand. His face went even pinker, almost red.
"Uh, um... this is kind of hard to explain," kami, she hoped he didn't think she was going to rape him or something (though that wasn't really possible.)
"I'll bet," he crossed his arms over his chest beneath the water.
"I don't suppose you'll let me go home now, will you?" she pouted.
"That is the furthest thing from my mind right now," he spoke, finally standing up in the water his waist still submerged.
"Uh, well... I was looking for you and I kinda fell in this bush... and ultimately fell into this little lake here... I swear I didn't know you were... well," she waved a hand at him with a blush, "bathing."
He looked mildly confused and gestured to her torn skirt, "How'd that come off?"
"It ripped... part of it's still in that stupid bush..." she blushed even more.
Something dawned on him and he looked down her body, finding the rim of her pink underwear as she was leaning on the rock.
Following his gaze, she nearly yelled a 'sit' before she realized he'd probably drown. So instead, she settled for threats.
"If I were you, I'd look elsewhere," she muttered tightly.
He looked up and growled, "You're one to talk. I'm totally naked here."
They both blushed and InuYasha wanted to smack himself for saying the statement.
"Um... do you think you could turn around so I could get out," the girl with long black hair asked.
"Fine, but you are not going home," he grumbled.
"What?! But I have nothing to wear here!"
"You could wear my haori," the silver-haired hanyou stated firmly.
"No way; I'm not gonna walk around like that! You know Miroku-sama! He'll never let it go," she shouted, cheeks flushed for the hundredth time tonight.
Sucking his teeth, he gave in, "Fine but wait for me before you go, I don't need you being killed before you get to the well."
"Thank you," she said before she started swimming to the edge of the water where she spotted his clothes.
After getting out of the water, she was about to pick up the red piece of clothing but another rock on the ground missed her sight and she tripped with a cry.
In a snap, InuYasha was at the shore almost out of the water when he realized he shouldn't be looking at the girl at all.
She was now on the floor, holding her head with one hand as she groaned. The other hand was on the ground as she braced herself on her elbow, leaning up. One leg was bent and the other lied on the ground still, collecting soil beneath her wet skin.
InuYasha was very nervous and Kagome was very soaked. The thin material of her white shirt and pink undergarment were allowing him to see things he really shouldn't be seeing.
His eyes were glued to her bare thigh that was in the air and she turned to look at him. His gaze snapped to her face as her eyes got large and he realized he was only up to mid thigh in the water. He threw himself into the spring with a strangled cry.
"Hentai!" he accused.
"Look who's talking! I'm glad the tables have turned for once!" she yelled, though her face was flaming.
"You're GLAD?! You-you... you female Miroku!!" he shouted despite his traveling eyes.
"Hey!" she snapped and realized he was watching something interesting in the front of her shirt.
It was cold! Realizing her underclothing was of light colors, she had a white shirt on and no skirt to speak of she threw one hand across her chest and pushed her legs together tightly.
"And you call me a hentai!" she shouted.
"At least YOU have SOMETHING covering yourself! You saw... stuff!!" he blushed heavily and turned around.
"Whatever," she grabbed his overcoat and threw it over her soaking clothing.
Kagome giggled slightly. After he had gotten dressed that time, he had blushed for the rest of the night, and all of the next two days. He also continuously explained the water was very cold for about an hour.
The InuYasha sitting by her side looked at her with a single brow raised. "What's wrong with you?"
"Nothing," she answered, a small smile gracing her face, "just remembering old friends."
He looked at her oddly before turning back to the T.V.
Watching as InuYasha laughed at a particularly gruesome scene in the horror flick, she thought of her InuYasha. The InuYasha who took her first kiss, the InuYasha who stole the position of her first love.
It was confusing really. Here he was, sitting right beside her. Her InuYasha. But then again he was nowhere in sight.
He wasn't hers; this was Ayumi's InuYasha.
He didn't recall ever kissing her or stealing her heart.
He was just the shell of the InuYasha she knew.
It was InuYasha with a new spirit... not a new soul. His was every bit the same as it had been. This was no reincarnation. But his spirit was totally new. Different. Or maybe not different. Maybe just confused. Yes, a confused spirit who lost its memories. A spirit with amnesia.
She nearly giggled at that. One thing was for sure though.
The gods didn't give her InuYasha back for no reason.
AN: There you go. And this chapter's even longer than the last one! Man, I want to draw that first scene where Kagome 'finds' InuYasha. I wish I had a scanner to show it, when I'm done.
I'm sorry if updates seem to be taking even longer... my computer's slowly dying on me and I just can't figure out what's wrong with it.
Side note: Soul and spirit are not the same thing to me or here in this story
Answers to the FAQ in reviews:
1- Ayumi isn't really supposed to be viewed as a bad character... maybe an obstacle in some cases but she has deep feelings for InuYasha.
2- There will be more Sesshomaru later and hopefully he will get hooked up with... someone.
3- We will find out more on that letter Kagome seems to have forgotten about and the business dinner date she has with her boss.
4- Yeah, remember that chapter where Inu was hearing "voices"? Here's the deal on that: some of those were friends voices he seemed to remember and the loud one was his "conscience" (there's more to that one. My lips are sealed.)
5- InuYasha's condition, for lack of a better word: he is NOT a reincarnation and he hasn't exactly been changed by his life through the future... I don't want to reveal too much but, since I also don't want people to be lost, InuYasha is being influenced... his actions, his thoughts, everything. I shall say no more but now I think ya'll know too much.
--If there is anything else that confuses you, please ask me to clarify in your review!--
BTW: Has anyone ever seen Sketch in action... Sketch, the official NYC DDR Champion? I heard he's amazing...