A/N: I'm very sad right now. I really love this story, and I hate that it's going to end here. It was such a great ride- thanks to everyone that reviewed and supported this story. I hope the final chapter does it justice.
"A Match Made in Heaven"Chapter 8: The Way You Make Me Feel
Inuyasha scowled to himself, his fingers sliding impatiently on the rough tablecloth. Around him were the familiar, cheerful sounds of a bustling restaurant. Utensils clinked merrily against salad plates, and soft jazz drifted from the keys of the grand piano on the terrace.
He should have been pleased that he had been invited to such a swanky place for lunch, but considering who had invited him, the price and food quality didn't do him much good. Miroku, the cheat that he was, rarely if ever bought lunch for anyone..unless he was dining with a beautiful woman, that is.
Inuyasha pushed up the sleeve of his gray suit jacket, his fingers now drumming angrily on the table. Where was that fool? He flashed his eyes to the hands of his wristwatch. Miroku was late yet again, and he hadn't even bothered to tell Inuyasha what was so urgent that lunch would be imperative.
He slumped a little more in his chair, impervious to the glances of the diners at the tables around him. He supposed it wasn't very settling to the stomach to have an angry-looking man muttering curses right next to you, but Inuyasha didn't care. He had far better things to do with his time then wait for his friend. He had given him plenty of leeway with the dating service project of his, which had failed horribly. In fact, he considered grumpily, Inuyasha had given Miroku a lot of leeway with his entire life…and he hadn't gotten much good out of it insofar.
He looked up, to see an impudent kid with a bowl cut and a face full of macaroni giving him a wide-eyed stare. He wasn't in the mood. Inuyasha made a face that would scare any small child. The kid stuck out his tongue, and turned back to the mess of pasta on his plate. Sadly, scaring children hadn't improved his mood.
The frown deepened.
On the other side of the dining room, a woman entered, visibly flustered at being late. The host took one look at her, admiring her beautiful features, before leaning forward to ask for the name of the reservation. She gave it to him quickly, and he obligingly weaved through the maze of circular tables to direct her towards her seat.
Inuyasha looked up casually as the waiter approached, and small smile began to lift his lips. "So, Kagome- still not ready to give up on me?" He grinned widely at her, thinking about how she was everywhere these days.
The smile faltered slightly, as he saw the blood practically drain from her cheeks. The waiter had stopped moving, and was pulling out the chair across from Inuyasha. "Here is your seat, miss." Kagome looked positively cornered.
Inuyasha's left eyebrow flew into oblivion, as he stared at the waiter. "But, I'm waiting here for a friend…this must be some mistake."
Kagome's mouth had shut like a trap, and a deep, mottled blush had risen into her face. She plunked her body down into the chair that the waiter was now holding uncertainly, loathe to actually meet Inuyasha's eyes.
"No….I don't actually think it's a mistake." She said it so quietly, that it was a wonder that anyone had heard her. It was the loudest she could manage, without instead screaming in embarrassment.
The host, giving Kagome a doubtful look, decided quickly that whatever mix-up had occurred wasn't his problem, and he returned on his sojourn to the front desk. All the while, Inuyasha had been fixing the girl sitting across from him with a piercing stare. Why was it that Kagome looked so mortified? And why was she sitting at his lunch table? Not that he really minded, though…he would have chosen Kagome over Miroku any day.
"Not to be rude, but I was planning to meet a friend here…" He eyed her warily. Kagome was turning her head this way and that, craning her neck frantically to get a better view around the room. She looked rather insane. "…Are you okay?"
She stopped, taking a deep breath, and finally willing herself to face Inuyasha. "We've been set up."
"Set up?! Are you sure you're not mental?"
"Before that…I have something very important to tell you- something that I should have told you long ago. I suppose that's the reason we're both here today." She clenched her purse in her lap, thankful that Inuyasha couldn't see her fingers tying impossible knots in the leather strap.
He raised an eyebrow, crossing his arms over his chest, and sitting back expectantly as if waiting for her to do a trick.
"Remember last Friday when I saw you at the restaurant….?"
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Sango ducked in quietly, adjusting her glasses and hat inconspicuously, and darting to the booth that sat below a window. She noticed with mute satisfaction and amusement that Miroku was already seated at the booth, his attention currently focused on something at the other side of the room.
She slid into the booth across from him, waiting for him to notice her as she stripped herself of the makeshift disguise.
"So, how is everything going?"
Miroku stuck out a hand to shush her, not even turning to look her way. "Shh! Kagome just sat down! She's saying something to him!"
Sango looked down at his outthrust hand, annoyed, and shot him a dry glare. "I really don't see why we had to come here to spy on them. I mean, we were pretty disingenuous in tricking them to come here, but do we really have to act this sneaky?"
He frowned, still fixated on Inuyasha and Kagome across the room. As if he could read lips, anyway. "Ah! I think he's about to kiss her!"
Sango flipped around with almost breakneck speed, trying to move so she could see. "Where?!"
She glared angrily when she heard his laughter next to her. "He's not kissing her, Sango…See? I told you this would be fun!" His eyes twinkled teasingly at her.
"And, what's this about not acting sneaky? Who walked in here wearing a ball cap and sunglasses?" He pointed indicatively at the clothing items on the table.
Sango slumped down in the booth, pouting irritably. "Okay, okay…" she admitted, grudgingly. "I suppose a bit of me wanted to see if we could pull it off. I guess it did work though, huh? I mean, Kagome hasn't run out on him just yet."
Miroku nodded, glancing back over his shoulder at their friends. "Yeah…I just hope that Inuyasha doesn't come off as a big of an asshole as he normally does…that might just get her to leave." He smirked wryly.
Sango nodded contemplatively. "You're correct, but if you look at their relationship…." She stopped talking and groaned at herself. "We're sounding like sports announcers!"
He grinned, obviously not fazed at all by the comment. Suddenly, he ducked down low to the table, dragged Sango's head down with him. He had snatched up their menus, making a temporary shield to cover them from view.
"Yeah, that's real smooth. I'm sure that if they hadn't noticed us before, they sure will now!"
Miroku looked regretful. "I'm just being cautious…"
She noticed that his nose was only a few inches away, and she backed away hastily, though still trying to keep in the cover of the menus. "I still can't believe I'm doing this!"
"Wait…who dragged me to their office to plan something out, hm?" He one-upped her with a smooth smile.
"It wasn't my suggestion to come here-"
She was cut off by their waiter, who was looming over them in a kind of miffed concern. He 'ahem-ed', holding his order pad in his hand. "Can I get you two lovebirds anything for lunch?" He winked at them, and Sango suddenly noticed what they must have looked like, holed up in the booth together.
She colored bright red. "We're not lovers!"
Miroku just sat back, smiling indulgently at the waiter.
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Kagome didn't know what to make of Inuyasha's stare. It was, if nothing, very intimidating. He had looked at her strangely when she said she had something important to tell him, and from that point on his eyes had hardened further and further. It wasn't anger she saw, but she couldn't really read the expression.
"And…" her fingers had stopped fumbling with her purse, but were feeling clammy through the thin cotton of her skirt. "So I kept reading your letters to Kikyo…I know, I know…it was a really stupid thing to do. But I couldn't help it!" The words were coming out in a rush.
Inuyasha put up a hand to stop her speech for a moment, his face looking doubtful. "Hold up…if I really was writing to a woman named Kikyo, then why were you at the restaurant?"
Kagome sighed. "Kikyo contacted me weeks ago to tell me that she had to break off the correspondence with you. She said that her ex-boyfriend and her had been having a lot of trouble-"
Inuyasha nodded, muttering to himself. "….That might explain a few things.."
"-and that they had decided to give it another try. Usually at that point we'd tell the other partner that it was over….But…." she hesitated.
"But…?"
"I decided to…pretend to be Kikyo instead." Kagome cringed, as if she were waiting for the blow to strike.
The table was silent for a moment, as if Inuyasha were trying to find the right words to respond. "You….why?"
It was the only thing he could think of to say. He was pretty shocked by the entire ordeal…after all, the strange woman in his office building that he had had acquaintance with over the past couple of months…had been his secret love affair? It was almost too mind-boggling for him to grasp all at one time. And, now that he knew she was behind it all, he wanted to know why she had chosen him out of every other one of her clients.
"It's because you're different." She finally met the stare, which at first had been unnerving, and now had softened considerably. "Everyone else is greedy with love…they want their trophy wife… or…or some cheap tramp. You weren't like that…your letter was honest and beautiful and…." She blushed and stammered, realizing that she was saying too much.
Inuyasha sat back in his chair, looking miffed. "You thought it was beautiful?"
She nodded, embarrassed. "I guess now that you know it was me all along, you're going to tell me what a horrible person I am…right?"
He was quiet again, and it was almost like torture. It was a strange position to be in- hanging on Inuyasha's every word this expectantly. She was used to bickering with him…not asking for his forgiveness.
"No, I won't do that. But I still have to wonder what sexual deprivation leads a woman to steal someone else's anonymous pen pal!" his eyes were teasing her again, and she blushed bright red. She supposed she deserved the quip though, and decided on keeping her mouth shut.
"And…er…" his voice was soft now, and he shifted with slight discomfort. "I guess…I guess I'm not too disappointed that it was you…." He mumbled it grudgingly, studying the table setting intently. She wondered how the man that had infuriated her on so many occasions was suddenly looking like an embarrassed child. She grinned inwardly. It probably wasn't every day that he told a girl he liked her.
"Me neither…"
His eyes flashed up to her, and she smiled. Her hands weren't sweating any more, and her seat was feeling more comfortable.
"Now…where's the little sneak?" Inuyasha's eyes were quickly scanning the corners of the dining room, searching something out.
"Huh?"
"Miroku! He was the one who called me and set this whole thing up!"
"Make that two sneaks! Sango told me…." Kagome paused for a moment, realization hitting her with sudden force. Her eyes narrowed suspiciously, and then she gasped in horror. "They were working together!"
"Who's Sango?"
"She's my partner…she must have found out somehow, and decided to fix things…I'll bet you anything that this was her idea- oh!" She snapped her eyes back to Inuyasha, her voice hissing in a whisper. "They're over there… watching us." He followed where her eyes had been looking, and he noted dryly his friend and a dark-haired woman trying and ultimately failing to remain inconspicuous in a corner booth.
Inuyasha's lips began to widen in an almost frightening smile, and his voice lowered deviously. "I think I have an idea, Kagome."
She raised an eyebrow, before the light bulb lit in her own thoughts. "Are you thinking what I'm thinking?"
He snickered. "I think we're just going to have to give them a taste of their own medicine. After all, they look so cute in their little spy outfit. It would be only fitting…"
She laughed, suddenly thankful to Miroku and Sango's plan. "I think you're right."
Inuyasha flickered another glance to the other two, before he reached out to snatch Kagome's hand in his. "Follow me." His smile was deliciously devious. On the count of three, she followed him through the tables towards to exit, knowing that Miroku and Sango were probably watching them in open-mouthed confusion.
Right before they left, Kagome was stunned to find herself wrapped in Inuyasha's arms, his mouth pressed over hers, leaving them both shocked and breathless. He smirked slightly to himself, feeling her melt into him, and her fingers fumbling around his neck. He retreated after a moment, finding her face flushed in surprise.
"I'm glad it was you, Kagome."
"Me too."
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A/N: So, its over….I know it was a little corny, but I hope you loved the chapter as much as I loved writing it! I've made some revisions since I first posted it, and I may go in to edit some more later.
I hope to write more stories like this in the future, and I hope you'll continue reading them!