Between The Lines
By: Maggz
Disclaimer: InuYasha and Co. © Rumiko Takahashi
Author Note: Whoa! This took me some time, huh? But finally you have an update. Enjoy and please don't forget to drop me a line.
Maggz
Chapter 5
Kagome trudged home in the failing light of day, always surprised time passed so quickly when she was busy with her art, her photography. She was eager to get home and pull out her sketch pad; she'd already decided which photo of Kouga she wanted to sketch out first. The picture had emerged from the developing solution just as she'd hoped, eyes that told of a hundred feelings all hidden deep inside the man. She'd stood in the low light, looking down at it, wondering just what would make somebody look the way he was looking into her camera's lens. She couldn't quite put her finger on exactly what his eyes were trying to tell her... she wasn't sure she even WANTED to know but she DID want to capture the soul bursting to get outside the body, the face... the beautiful soul that rivaled the good looks.
Reaching the house, she dug for her key yet again and opened the door. It was quiet inside, cool and dark. InuYasha's car wasn't parked in its familiar slot - she just assumed he and Kouga had left to go clubbing together. It was just as well... she wanted to spend a little bit of time alone, absorbing, thinking, savoring her work. The first part had been a success and she was filled with hope that the rest of it would go just as well.
She slung her backpack onto the kitchen table and walked to the window, clicking on the florescent light that hung over the sink. Washing her hands, she mentally ran through her list of supplies on hand and felt she had everything she needed... fresh pencils, plenty of sketching pads, and the silence of an empty home...
She grabbed an apple on her way out of the kitchen and picked up her back pack as she went to her room. She placed the pack on her desk and bit into the apple. InuYasha always insisted they buy apples when either of them went to the market, it was the ONLY fruit she thought she'd ever seen him eat and he ate lots of them. She smiled to herself when she thought of how he'd react once she told him that he HAD won the bet! He had been right, he had found Kouga for her to work with! She slipped out of her shoes and took off her jeans. Grabbing a pair of pajama pants in a soft yellow decorated with kittens, she then found a clean shirt and made her way to the bathroom for a shower. Her only plans for the evening were to sketch and she hoped like hell the boys decided to stay out all night long.
Once her shower was finished, she slid into her comfy clothes and with a quick brush of her fingers through her damp hair, went back to her room and closed the door.
She adjusted the lighting and pulled her backpack opened to lift out the high quality prints she'd developed of Kouga. Stuck into the prints, she'd found the two he'd snapped off of her and frowned, turning them face down on her desk. Those she would trash later. Sifting through the prints of him, she took the time to absorb each and every one, paying particular attention to the expressions on his face, the feelings trying to emerge behind those eyes of his. She smiled seeing the one of him lain back on the grass, eyes closed. That was one of her favorites but NOT the one she'd have picked to work from.
"There you are.", she mumbled as she shook the print into her hand. She'd blown it up so she'd be able to examine every pore of his skin, every colored fleck in his eyes. Even though she was going to sketch him out and not PAINT him she still had to SEE the colors that made him who he was.
"Lovely to look at, Kouga.", she muttered as she reached for her pack of drawing pencils. She liked them freshly sharpened as she did her preliminary outline, then by the time she was ready to fill in shadow and contrast, they were perfectly worn down to the precise point she needed.
Clipping the photo to her easel, she crossed her feet underneath her in the chair and went to work. She only stopped once to reach over and flip on her CD player, humming along with Kelly Clarkson's, Breakaway as the track soared into play.
The ringing of the telephone jarred her from her reverie some time later and she cursed as she reached for the phone on the edge of her bedside table.
"Hello?", she mumbled around the pencil she now held firmly in her teeth as she held the sketch up to appraise it for the first time since she'd sat down to work on it. She smiled to herself and lay her pad down on her desk, stretching her legs out from underneath her.
"Get down here!", she heard over the line amid loads of background noise.
"Well hello to you too, InuYasha!", she laughed, bending side to side to release the kinks from her back muscles.
"What the hell are you doing buried at home? How long has it been since you went out? Come down here, I need you to be my ride HOME!", he shouted into the phone and she held it away from her ear, grimacing.
"Damn it, InuYasha. You know I don't come down to that place for a reason... but you also know I won't ever tell you NO if YOU give me a good enough reason. Driving you home is good enough. Wait, isn't Kouga with you?", she asked, backtracking. Maybe she wouldn't have to go after all.
"Yeah, he's here... so?", InuYasha shouted.
"Can't HE bring you home or is he plastered as well!?", she asked, frowning.
"What do YOU think, Kagome?", he asked and she breathed in.
"I'm on my way. Are you two ready to come HOME or am I in for a long visit?", she asked.
"We ain't going home NOW. It's too fucking EARLY. We're having FUN! Miroku said get your ass DOWN here and play some pool!", he laughed.
"Damn, InuYasha.", she mumbled.
"Hurry!", he said.
"I'll be there in twenty minutes, keep your drawers on!", she growled.
"Good. Bye!", he sang into the phone and she hung up, looking at the phone and then regretfully back to her work. She didn't WANT to stop, she was on a roll and she knew it. Still, InuYasha rarely asked her to come out with him any more and she didn't want the two of them driving home drunk, even if it WAS only a few blocks.
She reached into her closet and snatched the closest pair of jeans she could get her hands on. Pulling them on and buttoning them, she looked for her other college sweatshirt, she had bought two of them at the start of the term, and not finding it - went into InuYasha's room. She dug into his dresser until she found a grey Nike one and pulled it over her head. Socks and sneakers came next and she brushed and gathered her hair into a loose bun as she picked up her keys and purse, heading out the door.
She was there in just under twenty minutes and made her way through the door to a chorus of applause.
"Damn it, InuYasha!", she muttered as he sauntered her way with a big smile on his face.
"I told them you'd come! Didn't I say she'd come?", he shouted as he turned back toward his buddies who were still cheering him on.
"Jeez.", she mumbled, slapping at his hands as he tickled her ribs.
"That's my damned shirt. When you gonna STOP borrowing my clothes!?", he frowned as he slid his fingers to the hem and started to tug it upward.
"InuYasha! I am warning you right NOW. Either you behave or we leave. No second chances. Go find Kouga and get into trouble. Just leave me alone!", she frowned and pushed past him to go to the bar.
She stood with her back to the room and ordered a beer. Taking it into her hands, she turned it up and gulped it, sitting it back down onto the hard surface of the bar.
Warm hands slid around her waist and pulled her back against an equally warm body and before THAT could register, soft lips touched her ear and a husky voice whispered to her.
"I knew you'd come. You wanna play?"
She closed her eyes and waited. Why was it that men could never keep their hands to themselves when they were drunk?
"Kagoooommmmmeeeeee?", he whispered into her ear and she turned her head, placing her hands on his and removing them from her waist at the same time.
"Kouga?", she said through clenched teeth.
"Yes?", he smiled, his lazy eyes taking in her sweet mouth and then sliding up to her own chocolate brown ones. "Baby?", he added almost as an afterthought.
He felt her stiffen against him and saw the way her eyes darkened.
"Uh oh.", he said.
"Yeah, uh oh is right. First things first. Get your damned hands OFF me and get out of my face. Secondly, I am NOT your baby nor will I ever be. If you have any trouble remembering that, you might want to take it up with your friend InuYasha over there! He will be only too glad to explain it to you. Now MOVE!", she said and shoved away from him, stomping to the bathroom without a backward glance.
"Well, fuck ME!"', Kouga laughed, sitting down on the nearest stool as he waited for her to come back.
"Wolf charm just don't work all the time.", InuYasha grinned as he took the stool next to him, his eyes following Kouga's.
"I wasn't charming her!", Kouga said, looking back toward the bartender, signaling for another drink.
"You got THAT right!", InuYasha laughed.
"Fuck off, InuYasha. I meant I wasn't trying to charm her!", Kouga growled.
"Yeah, OK, but let me give you some advice. It won't work.", he said.
"No shit, Sherlock!", Kouga said as he accepted his beer.
"Trust me. Been there, done that.", he said.
"Oh really?", Kouga asked, lifting a brow. He wasn't feeling any pain but he wasn't as gone as InuYasha was. Maybe he could get something out of him about he and Kagome's relationship. IF there was a relationship.
"Damn straight. You pull that shit with her again, Kouga and you'll be carrying your balls around in your back pocket!", InuYasha said.
"No joke!", Kouga said.
"No joke."
"You still got yours?", Kouga asked and laughed.
"Barely."
"You ever had her?", Kouga asked.
"Fuck no! NO. Never!", InuYasha answered.
"Why NOT?", Kouga asked.
"She won't.", he said.
"Won't?"
"Yeah, won't!",
"Does she have a boyfriend?", Kouga asked, looking back at the toilets to make sure she wouldn't walk up on them discussing her. He, for one, wanted to keep his balls just where they were.
"Not a steady. She dates though, mostly jocks. Figures.", InuYasha said and signaled for himself another drink.
"Why's that?", Kouga asked.
"She's a jock! I told you, she can beat your ass at just about anything and if you don't get beat, she'll sure make you wish you had. I mean it Kouga.", InuYasha said, his eyes wide.
"I kinda like that.", Kouga said, a smile touching the corners of his lips.
"NO! Don't you even think about it!", InuYasha warned.
"Why? I bet she'd be a devil in bed!", he said, sipping the last of his beer.
"She'd skin you alive, Kouga. I'm telling you right now for your own good. You better forget everything you think you know about girls and just start over on this one. I've known her a very long time and I haven't figured her out yet!", he said.
"Maybe, maybe not.", Kouga said and nudged InuYasha in the ribs when he spotted Kagome returning from the restroom.
"Is it time for the clowns to go home?", she asked, her eyes calmer but still pissed.
"Yeah, I guess. I need to go see my dad tomorrow. Yeah, take me home. Kouga, you coming?", InuYasha asked, grinning over at Kouga.
"Yeah, I guess. Let's go.", he said and pushed himself up off the stool.
Kagome stiffened her spine, she could've sworn she'd heard him mumble a 'baby' just as he'd stood up but she chose to just ignore him... this time.
"Do I get to take any off my rent for babysitting and taxi service?", she asked as she slid into the driver's seat of her car and waited for the two of them to climb inside.
"You said not to say 'baby'.", Kouga spoke bravely from the backseat.
"I said don't call ME baby.", she said.
"Mmmmm.", he commented and watched her as she turned to look at InuYasha in the seat next to her.
"You got something to say too?", she asked, starting the car.
"Not right now.", he said and grinned at her.
"Smart man.", she said and shifted the car into gear.
They got home safely and into the house with little fuss or argument and Kagome laid her keys down on the table, walking straight back to her room and closing the door.
Kouga watched her, wondering what her story was. Wanting to talk to her and hoping he hadn't put her off completely.
"You should NOT go in there if that is what you're thinking, man. Closed door means stay OUT!", InuYasha said as he kicked off his shoes and pulled at his socks.
"I can knock.", Kouga said.
"I'm telling you and you just don't listen, do you? Ok, just don't say you haven't been warned!", InuYasha said as he made his way into the bathroom, and turned on the shower.
Kouga's eyes strayed to her closed door once more and his curiosity overtook his common sense. He made his way to the door and stood there, then raised his hand and knocked.
"Go away, Kouga.", came the muffled reply from behind the door.
"Can I just natter with you a minute?", He asked, pressing his lips to the door.
"No.", he heard and sighed.
"Kagome, c'mon. Please?", he asked, gently pushing his forehead into the wood.
"Damn it, Kouga!", he heard and smiled. He composed himself and backed away from the door.
"What?", she frowned, one hand on her hip, the other holding the door.
"Can I come in?", he asked, lowering his eyes and then looking back up at her through the lashes.
"For what?", she asked.
"Jeez, Kagome. To TALK, is that OK? ", he asked.
"We can talk in the morning. I'm tired.", she said and started to close the door.
"Kagome, I want to talk now!", he said.
"Damnit, Kouga. Why don't you just announce it to the entire world?!", she said and flung the door open wide, turning her back on him and stomping back the way she had come.
He entered and closed the door behind him, looking around him as he did.
Her room was filled with all kinds of stuff. Photographs adorned the shelves and walls in original looking frames, frames he'd have bet she had designed herself.
Drawings and paintings were thumb-tacked to the wall and hung on the ceiling. Posters covered whatever surface the sketches and paintings didn't. Stacks of paper and jars of paint, pencils, and things he wasn't even sure he knew the name of sat on her wide desk.
So this was who Kagome was.
He turned his gaze back on her and smiled. She was sitting in the middle of her bed, legs underneath her, dressed in her pajamas. She looked like a little girl in the yellow lounging pants covered in kittens and he smiled bigger.
"You look nice.", he said and she shook her head, a small smile escaping her.
"I like this room. Did you do all this stuff?", he asked as he walked toward the wall nearest him and inspected one of the drawings. He saw at once it was a collage of InuYasha from about age 13 to present day. It was excellent. He turned back to her and smiled again. "This is great!"
"Thank you.", she said.
"No, I mean it. This looks... professional.", he said and watched as her eyes narrowed.
"That's the point, Kouga!", she said.
"I know, I know. I just... wow!", he said as he backed toward the bed and sank down next to her.
"So? What did you want to talk to me about that just could NOT wait 'til morning!?", she asked.
"Emmm... I just... what?", he asked.
"You? Talk?", she prompted.
"Oh, yeah.", he said and let his gaze turn to the ceiling. Several nudes adorned the surface and he laid on his back and looked up, taking it all in. She watched him, fascinated with his confidence and flattered he seemed interested in her talent.
"You did those too?", he asked, pointing to the ceiling.
"Yes, I did those too. I told you I'd painted nudes before, drawn them... even photographed them.", she said.
"Great.", he said.
"Is this a come on, Kouga?", she asked point blank and he turned on his side, his elbow propping him up as he leaned his cheek into his palm.
"No.", he said, his eyes drinking her in.
"Good, 'cause I'd never forgive you if you were putting me on about my work. It's very special to me. So just don't do that.", she said.
"I wouldn't. My come on was smashed flat by you in the club.", he said and smiled at her.
"So you're one of those obvious ones. Good! I can at least handle that.", she said.
"Oh, I don't know about all THAT, now.", he said and his fingernail scraped against the knee of her pajamas.
"I do. It won't work, Kouga. So stop trying and go after some cute, vacant, blond chick. That's more your style.", she said and moved her knee from within his range.
"That just might've made me a bit angry. Are you putting me down?", he asked, his gaze intensifying on hers.
"I'd never do that unless you asked for it. Were you asking for it?", she shot back quietly.
"I don't know, was I?, he smiled. "What's my style according to the laws of Kagome?", he asked and turned to his belly, grabbing one of her pillows and tucking it underneath his chin as he kicked off his shoes.
"Your style? Player.", she said at once. "At least that's what you like others to think. But I think, maybe, hidden way underneath all that crap is someone- are you sure you want me to continue?", she asked him.
"Please do, but I'll return the favor and tell you exactly how I see YOU!", he said.
"All right.", she replied. "Well, like I was saying, to all outside appearances and purposes, you like to appear a player, only interested in the pull and taking a girl off to bed. And I think that happens quite often with you to be honest but there's more and not many have seen it. You keep it well hidden. Maybe you've been hurt, maybe you don't trust others or yourself but it's there, buried way down deep.", she said and lay down on her side now, wondering just how he would react to what she had said.
She lifted her eyes to his, they were face to face on the bed, mere inches from each other. He could feel the softness of her breath as it puffed from her mouth and he swallowed.
"So? Was I right?", she asked.
"No. Way off. Now my turn.", he said, his heart pumping furiously through his body.
She laughed, she'd seen it in his eyes. She'd gotten way CLOSE; she knew it and she knew he knew it. She waited. It was his turn to suss her now.
He smiled at her and cleared his throat.
"Ok.", he started. "You have secrets you want to keep hidden forever. You won't let people too close to you but you have so much or yourself to give that it hurts sometimes. You're afraid of being hurt or of hurting others; especially the ones you have grown close to. If you get too close, you pull back at once. You'd rather hurt yourself than hurt someone else but if you had your way, you'd rather close yourself off than hurt at all. You turn yourself off. You live through your art...", he said softly and watched as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.
"How about me? Was I close", he asked as he touched the bridge of her nose with his index finger.
She opened her eyes and reached for his finger, removing it.
"Not even, Kouga. Way off.", she said.