East of the Moon
Chapter Ten

Private room, Hospital, Washington D.C., 9:30 a.m., August 16:

Inuyasha felt himself stirring from a peaceful dream, the haziness of his subconscious sneaking away in favor of the assaulting sun from his window. He reached out a hand feebly to rub his eyes and opened the golden depths to peer around the room he was occupying. His eyes focused on Kagome immediately and then farther off, on his father and various bodyguards.

He tried to speak but his mouth was parched and it hurt to speak anyway.

"Inuyasha," Kagome said gently as a smile graced her lips, "You're okay."

"Yeah... the sun came up." He shrugged and stared up at the ceiling. "Good thing, too. When I woke up I thought I'd died..."

"How can you wake up and think you're dead? Dead people can't wake up," his father said sarcastically. Inuyasha growled at his father.

"You know dad, for the record, you could have spared us so much time if you had just given me that bazooka."

"Would you stop obsessing over that?" Inutaisho said as he rubbed his temples. An annoyed expression was plastered on his face and a he bared his fangs at his son. "We had no bazookas in the first place, and I wouldn't trust you with a bazooka anyway."

"Yet you trust me with all the guns you gave me?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically as he counted off how many guns his father 'trusted' him with. Inuyasha began ticking off the names of the guns his father had given him, the total rounding to about ten guns in all.

Kagome, with a look of mild amusement and slight confusion, watched this exchange between father and son with a raised eyebrow. She let out a sigh, "Agent East." Her voice broke the argument escalating between the two youkai. "Perhaps you should go tell the doctor Inuyasha's awake?" Kagome asked hopefully, wanting to get his father out of the room.

East, though not tricked by Kagome's attempt to get rid of him, nodded his head and strode across the room, his dark golden eyes staring at the couple. Kagome smiled sweetly at him and Inuyasha gave him a look that clearly stated 'you know I'm right.'

After Inuyasha's father left the room, the hanyou turned to Kagome and smiled. "So... did I miss anything dreadfully important?"

"No." Kagome shook her head. "The only real big issue is that NASA sent some weird digital satellite images to the news, and they're trying to figure out what it is."

"What is it?"

"A bright white light coming from the D.C. area." Kagome blushed hotly and Inuyasha knew why.

"Heh, good job, Kagome." He sat up straighter and gave her a look. "So...where's my 'I'm so glad you're all right' kiss?"

Kagome rolled her eyes and leaned in, pressing her lips against his. They held this pose for a few moments before Inuyasha grinned against her lips and pulled away.

"That's what I thought," he said cockily. Kagome rolled her eyes again and gave him a playful slap.

---

Oval Office, White House, 12:42 p.m., August 18:

Inuyasha stood apprehensively in the Oval Office. He sort of dreaded this meeting with the president; his last time in this room had not been enjoyable and he shuddered at the memory. Taking in a deep breath, Inuyasha allowed his lungs to fill with the musty air of the Oval Office.

Similar to last time, Kagome's father entered the room and stood before him, the only thing separating them being the newly replaced desk (Inuyasha had cracked the last one).

"Greetings, Inuyasha," he said kindly, a startling contrast to their last meeting, where his voice had been rigid and cold.

"Yo," Inuyasha said with a light wave and realized his father was glaring at him, a promise he'd hit him later. He gulped, "I mean... hello, Mr. President."

"Inuyasha," the president said with a small frown on his face. "I called you here for a reason. But feel free to relax, it's nothing like last time."

"Good." Inuyasha let out a breath and plopped down into the same chair he'd sat in last time. "So... why am I here?" he asked and noticed his father's glare again. "Sir," he quickly added.

The president promptly sat at his large leather chair and folded his fingers together, leaning forward and supporting his head on his intertwined hands. "It has come to my attention that it was not you who defeated Naraku, but my daughter."

"Sorry to say, sir, but I don't remember much after getting shot protecting her," he added the protecting her part because he knew that would earn points towards his girlfriend's father. He licked his lips hesitantly, trying to keep his throat from going dry.

"Yes, the security cameras picked up everything," the president said calmly and nodded towards Inuyasha's father who strode towards a projector Inuyasha hadn't noticed. Pointing it towards a silver screen set up in the room, the bodyguard started the clip the security camera picked up.

It was a simple black and white picture displaying a fight between Naraku and Inuyasha, their mouths moving as they taunted one another. This continued on for a few moments when the Inuyasha whipped around and his mouth started moving in a yell. Moments later, Kagome came into view and Naraku pointed his gun at the girl. After that, Inuyasha dove and took the bullet meant for Kagome, and fell to the ground. After a brief exchange of words between the couple while the demon reloaded his gun, Kagome started to glow and the screen went blank for a moment.

Seconds later, it refocused on a glowing Kagome and a half-conscious Inuyasha. Naraku was nowhere to be seen.

The clip stopped and Inuyasha returned his attention to Kagome's father. "We want to know... did Naraku die... or run away?"

"Why are you asking me? Kagome's the one who let out that light," Inuyasha said with a frown.

"Kagome doesn't know, either; she said that her vision went red when this happened," Inuyasha's father said with a deep frown.

"I think he's dead," Inuyasha said with a light sigh. "It's hard to tell. I was a human, but I felt his presence seem to burst immediately. I don't think Naraku could teleport."

"That's a relief," Jones said, "We're having the tape scanned for any clues. We have several amounts of footage from several locations. Hopefully something will be drawn from it."

'And what was the point of bringing me here...?' Inuyasha thought to himself with a sigh. 'You have your evidence... and I was fucking knocked out, for crying out loud...'

"Well, Inuyasha," Jones said, his voice hardening as he tapped some papers on his desk. "We have one more matter to discuss."

"Uh..."

"I'm aware that while you were trained to defeat Naraku," Jones said, his voice taking on a lighter tone. Inuyasha stared at him. "That you were trained in what all men must be trained in before they can become bodyguards."

"Yeah... that's what Dad said..." Inuyasha said with a shrug. "So?"

"So...now that your mission is completed, it would be assumed that you would go home. Back to Seattle." Inuyasha stared at him, shock overtaking his body. He'd almost forgotten about his life back in Washington. His life had been so hectic here, he'd almost begun to assume that he could have a permanent life here.

"Oh..." he said softly, feeling his fists clench as he fought the idea of leaving Kagome behind.

"However, I'm sickeningly aware of your relationship with Kagome," the president continued, ignoring Inuyasha's tense posture. "I'm willing to make a deal with you."

"I'm listening," Inuyasha said a little too quickly.

Jones raised an amused eyebrow before biting his lip and glancing at the papers on his desk. "Inuyasha... in the likely event that I'm reelected-"

"That's rather conceited of you..."

"I'm very high up in the polls," Jones said with a frown. "In the likely even that I'm reelected," he continued, giving Inuyasha a look that told the hanyou to not interrupt. "My Kagome will have to return to school, since she is only sixteen. However, due to the fact that we've just defeated the leader of a large anti-government group, I fear for the life of my daughter. Therefore, I was planning on having a bodyguard attend her school."

Inuyasha's breath hitched when he felt a tingle roll up his spine. A small smile spread across his face. He knew what the president was getting at.

"So, I was thinking that perhaps it would be good to have a guard her age who could be undercover and protect her," Jones said with a light sigh. He rubbed his temples. "I can't believe I'm asking this... but... Inuyasha, would you be interested in being Kagome's bodyguard? You'd protect her and still be able to obtain your education."

"Are you kidding?" Inuyasha grinned. "I'd love to!"

The president sighed and nodded. "I'll have your father arrange to get you an I.D. and a gun." That remark caused the teenaged hanyou to grin.

"A gun? I get a gun!" Inuyasha seemed very happy by this information.

"Yes..."

"But... what about my mum?" Inuyasha asked suddenly, "I can't leave her behind."

"We can arrange it so that she has full accommodations in this city," Jones said, "And a job here. Provided that she wants to."

"She will." Inuyasha nodded happily. "She loves politics." He felt giddy.

"Inuyasha... I have... one more thing I must ask you," Jones said after a moment of silent victory dances from the hanyou. "It's very important."

Inuyasha stilled and looked at the man before him. He swallowed a lump in his throat. "Yes, sir?"

"Do you... truly love her...?" Jones asked quietly, his gaze unwavering as he stared at Inuyasha.

"I do," Inuyasha said without hesitation, a smile on his lips. "I'd do anything for her."

Jones nodded, satisfied with the boy's answer. "Then we have nothing left to say... Agent East."

Inuyasha felt a small amount of pride within him and turned to his father, who gave him one of his smirks. The hanyou turned back to the president, who had moved his attention elsewhere.

"Inuyasha."

"What?" Kagome's father looked up with a confused look.

"Just Inuyasha... Inuyasha's fine..." Inuyasha said with a smirk, "Not Agent East. Too formal, plus I'll sound like that old fart over there." He jabbed a thumb back towards his father.

And with that, the hanyou turned on his heel and strode out of the room, feeling very important.

---

Secret Room, FBI headquarters, Washington D.C., 4:25 p.m., August 20:

"I still don't understand why it is that Kagome fulfilled the prophecy," Bob said with a slam of his fists. "We had Inuyasha's name!"

Inutaisho let out a long sigh and rubbed his throbbing temples.

Leela whipped some of her hair away from her eyes and stared ahead of her, almost seeming to zone out. "Well," the woman said firmly, "It obviously wasn't him the prophet spoke of."

"No fucking shit, Sherlock," Emily snapped. Leela glared at her and gave her the finger.

Inutaisho rolled his eyes. "Ladies, please try to restrain yourselves for now? It's been a long day, I know, but we need to figure this out. The president needs to know what happened, and we have to get NASA and the media off our backs about the light Kagome let off. If the citizens hear about this, Jones can kiss his election goodbye!"

Leela and Emily fell silent and both pouted.

Bob doodle on his paper, bored. His dark eyes studied the prophecy that had started all the issues that had been affecting his life as of late.

Suddenly he sat straight up in his seat, drawing the attention of the other three in the room. "What is it, Bob?" Inutaisho asked with a sigh.

"Inuyasha was bait," Bob said excitedly, as he drew up the prophecy and pointed excitedly. "Inuyasha was the man the prophet spoke of!"

"Yeah, but that doesn't explain why Kagome did what she did!" Emily said with a growl.

"Look!" Bob pointed, barely able to contain himself. "I know what I'm talking about. Without Inuyasha, Kagome wouldn't have done what she did. They were destined to meet and do what happened. Without Inuyasha, we would be doomed, and without Kagome we would be doomed!"

"What?" Leela asked, confused.

Bob scribbled away on his paper. "Take each letter from the words after Inuyasha East and see what you get."

The others exchanged looks and approached Bob to see him write:

Jones Kagome H

"Jones, Kagome H.," Inutaisho murmured, "Her name as it appears on a roll call."

"Yup." Bob seemed extremely proud of himself now. "Inuyasha was the bait to bring out Kagome's potential."

"That's amazing," Inutaisho said with a small smile. "Bob, you watch way too much T.V."

"So Kagome was the hero we were supposed to train," Emily said with a small laugh, her bad mood seeming to evaporate with the knowledge she could go home soon.

"It would appear so," Inutaisho murmured. "Huh... Inuyasha will be disappointed..."

---

Limo, Washington D.C., 6:59 a.m., September 8:

Kagome let out a tired sigh as she stared out the window of her limo, her head leaning on the shoulder of her new bodyguard, and boyfriend, Inuyasha. He smiled lightly at her and ran his fingers through her hair. She had learned about his new job about a week ago when he'd showed her his I.D. and his new gun he got to keep in a holster under his arm, where it was unnoticeable since he wore his baggy sweatshirt.

Kagome tilted her head to look up at him and smiled lightly, snuggling into his warmth. She had also learned, along with her father and Inuyasha, that she was indeed the one the prophet had spoken of. While Kagome and her father had been very surprised, Inuyasha had been downright disappointed.

"Great, now my life has no meaning," he'd joked.

Kagome closed her eyes and inhaled the scent of her boyfriend, her smile growing larger. He squeezed her shoulder lightly, drawing the girl's attention back up to him. "We'll be there soon; are you ready?"

"No. I don't want to go to school," Kagome whined as she let out a large yawn.

"Yeah, it sucks major ass," Inuyasha sighed and rubbed his head.

"Well, on the bright side, you're in all my classes," Kagome said with a smile. Her father and Agent East had made sure that he was in the same classes as her in order to protect her.

"Great. I'm thrilled with the fact I get to take Tai Chi," Inuyasha said sarcastically and rolled his golden eyes towards the roof of the limo.

A few minutes later they approached school. Inuyasha let out another sigh and opened the door first, stepped out and held his hand out to Kagome. The girl gratefully grabbed it and allowed the boy to pull her from the limo.

"Ready now?"

"I really have no choice, so it doesn't matter what my answer is," Kagome said as her fingers wrapped around the hand she still held. "So let's just not answer that question and go to our first class."

"English, yuck," Inuyasha growled and rolled his eyes.

"Then math," Kagome said with a scowl.

He laughed. "Well, we might as well get it started, eh?"

"This sucks," Kagome mumbled and the couple walked their way up the steps of their school and disappeared behind the doors and into the massively crowded halls.

"I love you," she said suddenly as they reached their lockers.

"Wow, that was spontaneous," Inuyasha said with a smirk as he opened his putrid green locker.

"I felt like catching you off guard."

"I'll have to return the favor," Inuyasha said as he slipped his hand into his sweatshirt to make sure his gun was still in place. He glanced at the people around them and let out a sigh. "I'm so glad Mum let me do this."

"Me, too," Kagome said and grabbed his hand, dragging him towards their first class.

---

Balcony, White House, 3:30 p.m.:

Izayoi watched the limo pull up and unload Kagome and Inuyasha, both loaded down with the books they would need for their school year. She smiled lightly at the way her son would walk closely to Kagome, yet far enough away so he was not smothering her. She knew he was protective of her; his body language was enough to prove to anyone that he cared about her dearly.

She wondered idly if perhaps the reason she had allowed herself to move to Washington was not for her, but rather for her son's happiness.

"Hey." A voice beside her caused Izayoi to turn her head to meet the gaze of Inutaisho East. The father of her son.

"Hello, Inutaisho," Izayoi said calmly and returned her gaze to Inuyasha, who was currently stacking Kagome's books into his arms in order to carry it for her. She could clearly see that he had her book bag slung over one shoulder.

"What are you doing out here?" Inutaisho asked curiously as he followed Izayoi's gaze and rested on his son.

"Just watching Inu," Izayoi said lightly. "He's grown so much." She let out a sigh. "He's matured since he's left Seattle. I knew that this would change him, but he seems so much gentler and kinder now."

"I believe that to be Kagome's doing," Inutaisho agreed with a nod.

"Hm..."

There was a pause between the parents.

"Inutaisho..." she said gently, her voice soft and unsure, "Why did you never make an effort to spend time with Inu?"

Inutaisho blew out a breath of air and removed his sunglasses from his eyes, revealing the dark gold orbs that Inuyasha had inherited. "I was afraid," he said weakly.

Izayoi turned her head to look at the man, silently telling him to continue.

"I was afraid he wouldn't want me as a father," Inutaisho said with a scowl.

"Inuyasha loved you..." Izayoi said, remorse evident in her voice, "But you pushed him away. Inuyasha needed his father, Inutaisho."

"I know that now," Inutaisho said lightly, recalling all the times Inuyasha had told him how much he hated him. It pained him and he closed his eyes.

"Well, you have four years with him," Izayoi said and pushed herself upright and turned to walk away. "Don't waste it."

She walked away leaving Inutaisho to watch his son and Kagome.

He let out a gentle breath as his eyes watched his son. 'He has changed,' he thought. 'Izayoi's right, though. I haven't treated him as the son he is. This experience has changed him, I can tell.'

He smirked. "I'm proud of you, son... and... I..."

His son's ears twitched and his eyes turned towards him, the golden orbs of the son locking with his father's. They stood petrified in each other's gaze for a long moment before Inuyasha smiled, having heard his father.

"And I love you," his father whispered softly, almost too soft for the hanyou's ears to pick up.

The boy's eyes widened in surprise and he nearly dropped the books he'd taken from Kagome. After a long moment his eyes softened and he smiled, staring at his father. He mouthed the words 'me too' before turning and following after Kagome to their wing.

Inutaisho watched him go before settling his sunglasses over his eyes and clicking on his communicator and contacting his colleagues. His work was never done.

---

Kagome's room, White House, 4:55 p.m., September 10:

"Geez, Kagome, you act like it's the end of the world," Inuyasha snorted from his position on Kagome's bed, where he was currently staring at the infamous poster of Orlando Bloom. His ear twitched towards Kagome, who was digging around her binder for something.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome whined and pouted, giving the boy a glare, "I practically failed my geometry test! What the hell was that woman thinking giving us a test so early? She's just doing that to piss me off!"

"I think you're overreacting," Inuyasha said flatly and ignored the glare Kagome sent him.

"That's easy for you to say! You got an 'A'!" Kagome accused with a point of her index finger. She pulled out the test the two were talking about and threw it at the boy. But, since it was paper, it fell short and floated to the ground. "I got a C!"

"A 'C' is basically failing, now?" Inuyasha asked sarcastically and Kagome growled at him. "Kagome, relax. She's going to hand out plenty of tests, you'll be able to make up the points you lost on this one. I'll even help you study."

Kagome crossed her arms and pouted picking up the test and shredding it, throwing the scraps into the garbage can near her desk. She pouted and flopped down onto the chair in front of her desk, staring at the assignments on her desk she'd already been bombarded with.

Inuyasha watched her tense shoulders for a moment before standing and strolling over to her, his arms wrapping around her lightly as he rested his head on her shoulder. "Cheer up," he said warmly as he kissed her cheek. "Listen to me. It's not the end of the world, Kagome. You're just in the summer slump."

"The what?"

"At the beginning of the year we all forget stuff he learned the previous year," He said kindly as his hands moved up to her shoulders and began moving soothing circles in the muscles of her shoulder, massaging away the knots her tension had formed. "I'm sucking royally at English."

"Yeah..." Kagome said as she leaned into his gentle ministrations. "You are."

"Don't agree with me on that." He scowled playfully and moved his hands to her neck where his fingers danced across the contorted muscles.

She smiled and glanced back down at her desk, where her assignments awaited. Her eyes flickered to the photo of Inuyasha and her they'd taken in the park the other day. She'd framed it because he looked too cute to keep hidden. He was hugging her and she was hugging him and they were both smiling. The memories the picture brought up caused Kagome to smile and giggle.

"Feeling better, I take it?" Inuyasha asked above her. She nodded her head and his hands stopped massaging and ran down her arms, his fingers intertwining with hers. "Good, I'm glad."

"You're so sweet," Kagome said and stood up, wrapping her arms around him. "Kiss me, damn you!"

"Wow, that was amazing, Kagome," Inuyasha said sarcastically as he looked at her flatly. However he obliged to her request and dipped down, capturing her lips.

As they broke away Inuyasha grinned suddenly. "Hey! I just realized something!"

"What?"

"My gun! Want to see my gun?" Inuyasha asked enthusiastically. Any teenager given a hand gun that he could freely carry around would cause said teenager to be excited. And though the chaos of school had stopped him from allowing this thrill of being a gun holder take over, he now had the opportunity to show his girlfriend. He'd realized he hadn't yet.

Kagome, however, giggled like crazy. "Oh my god, Inuyasha," she giggled and blushed brightly, "That's disgusting!"

Inuyasha blinked stupidly at her and reached below his sweatshirt, grabbing his gun. "I was talking about this," he said as he pulled the silver gun out and stared at her in surprise. "What the hell were you thinking of?"

Kagome blushed brightly.

It was then they knew that no matter what happened in the next four years (or one, considering the election) they would be stuck together for a long time, sharing laughter and the sarcasm that was a teenager's life. They smiled and Inuyasha held his gun proudly before him.

"Is it not the coolest gun ever?" Inuyasha asked proudly, "It was custom made for me!"

"Uh... yay?" Kagome asked, unsure on how to react to seeing a gun in her boyfriend's hand. She wasn't as thrilled as the hanyou.

He pouted. "It is too cool. You just don't understand."

"Yes, the gun is so misunderstood," Kagome said dryly and threw herself onto her bed, stuffing her head into her pillow. "Argh! No more school for me!" she whined, wanting the summer to return.

"Kagome... you change the subject faster than anyone I know," Inuyasha said. The girl always changed the subject. They could be having a deep conversation and she'd suddenly comment on the Patriots' season or the crime rate in Florida... and as soon as she did, she'd change it to school or to anime.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

Guess he was stuck with that. He'd have to get used to it. Inuyasha smiled lightly and joined Kagome on the bed, rubbing small circles in her back, similar to what he'd done to her neck and shoulders.

She cooed softly and relaxed into the mattress, allowing Inuyasha to gently massage her back muscles, his fingers brushing across her vertebrae. "Damn you for being good at that."

"Don't act like you don't enjoy it," Inuyasha said with a smirk as he flicked his claws over her skin.

"Shut up," she grumbled and the two fell silent, the only movement was Inuyasha's hands and the only sounds were of the two's gentle breathing.

Inuyasha closed his eyes and bathed himself in the scent of Kagome. He could spend the rest of his life like this.

And he planned to.

End

---

Author's ending notes:

-I loved this story so much, but sadly, all stories must come to an end.

-Due to my stupidity when it comes to guns, I did not give names to any. Just use your imagination.

-And now you all know why it took forever to write that prophecy. Go ahead and read it again, if you'd like, Inu and Kag's names are there.

-And Inutaisho admits! (pats Inu's dad's head) good dog.

-All fanart for this story available at deviantART under the account name the-odd-couple