Disclaimer: I do not own the rights to Inuyasha, Rumiko Takahashi does.
ooooooooooooooooo
Whispers of a Screaming Soul
A Genuine Smile, A Welcomed Laugh
By Sakura-chan88
ooooooooooooooooo
'As darkness consumes
All that once was lively
A cry is heard
As an empty echo
Through a vacant eternity'
Kagome sat at the small table, the candle light flickering to cast shadows on her face as figures danced gleefully across the walls. The night was windy, the windows pulled taunt to slam against its hinges the next moment, the howling echo creating a picture-perfect horror scene, albeit there was no thundering or flashes of lightening.
A frown was etched clearly on her lips, her brow crinkled in thought. She wasn't shocked, not completely... After all, there were many a time that the man who accompanied her passed out, but... never before they touched home plate.
Her hands fiddled absently with the hem of her skirt which, unsurprisingly, had been torn by some nameless man a few nights back. It wouldn't be fixed for some time, that she knew for the simple fact that her owner - her boss - liked the idea of more flesh exposed to new customers.
Entice them and rob them blind through uncontrollable and unnoticed addiction.
Somehow, she doubted they were completely unaware of the aforementioned addiction. Especially people like Hiten, his brother, and the ever-present goody-goody-wannabe Hojo who was 'concerned' with Kagome's 'health', yet was more abusive than most of the other men to grace the Nightingale's Bell. Too bad he only went for Kagome. Sango would kill him if he hit her (she nearly decapitated Bankotsu for bruising her arms). They all seemed to know when they were being dragged down and would leap out of reach as quick as lightening, leaving the saloon for a day or two.
Her boss laughed heartily when she pointed out the fact that the tear in her skirt could eventually unravel the remaining intact cloth. He laughed even harder when she requested a new one or the damage to be fixed.
She hated men! They were pigs- just like Sango said- total, utter pigs! Uncaring, selfish, heartless beasts in human flesh- that's what they were!
... And the one sleeping off the liquor semi-contently in her bed was the first to give her any kind of break... even if only by unintentionally falling asleep. He was the first to ever make her seriously think about her definition of man... But, then again, he was here and that just meant he was a skirt-chasing bastard like every other man...
A muffled moan escaped the stranger, causing her to jump lightly. Her gaze flickered to his form, unsure how to react if he were to wake and become violent. Last time that had happened, the man had thrown her into the side of her table, the corner's edge slicing deeply into her side just above her hip. It left a nasty scar, too.
However, this stranger merely rolled onto his side, groaning.
Kagome sighed, clicking her tongue in a chiding manner at the slumbering male, knowing the signs of a hangover when she saw them. She moved over to her shelf of medicines and drew forth her homemade hangover remedy- a dry syrupy substance tasting strongly of radish and maple. Though it was disgusting, it worked wonders.
"Hey," she called softly, shaking his shoulder. "You need to take this."
She was polite - it was in her being - even if she hated men. After all, he had given her a chance for a night without the same thousand tears she usually shed.
He grumbled, opening two bleary eyes, unfocused and fazed. Blinking rapidly, he hissed at the power of the tiny candle's dim illumination on his eyes. "Wha... Wherem?"
"The Nightingale's Bell, sir," Kagome replied, finding no difficulty deciphering his speech. She had years of practice with translating drunk to sober. "You had become drunken and passed out several hours ago."
He blinked owlishly, clearing his eyes of their remaining glaze. "My headspinen roun'."
"Take this, sir."
He looked at the syrup bottle, frowning before attempting to sit up. When he faltered and began to fall back, Kagome quickly slipped an arm behind his shoulders, hefting him up again as she squeezed in to sit behind him. The added support kept him up-right.
He was muscular to a natural extent, his body radiating warmth even though he shook with cold from the lack of proper clothing. His shoulders were broad, his silver hair unkempt. She remembered his unnatural golden eyes, his heavy brows and long lashes, his thin lips pulled into a drunken grin, his fangs brushing across her collarbone...
He moved to take the remedy, fumbling with the small bottle. A movement caught her attention, pulling her gaze to the crown of his head.
Two small, triangular ears were perched there, flickering this way and that in what appeared to be both confusion and irritation.
'Another youkai, huh?' she thought. It wasn't surprising with golden eyes. Hiten, a blood red-eyed lightening youkai, had been her first demonic experience and she was hesitant to say, it wasn't half bad... Hiten had been the most gentle handling of all.
"ACK!"
"Don't spit it out! Drink up- it'll help your headache and churning stomach," she informed him hurriedly. There was no way she would get the smell out of her bed if he spit it out!
A few grumbles later, the bottle was emptied and the man slumped back tiredly into Kagome's arms. "Thanksh."
Kagome felt the corner of her lips pull into something quite foreign to her at the childish display... a genuine smile. She shrugged it off, calling it a fluke and turned into business mode. "Listen, my boss won't like it if you're here in the morning. Let's move you to a guest room. It'll cost you a good amount of money, though."
He grunted. "Don't have... 'nough...m'neh..."
... Her heart stopped as the words worked their way into place. "Wha... WHAT!?" she shrieked, arms instantly out by her sides, letting the man she had previously held in a stable position fall. "You better have enough to pay me!"
He yelped in surprise at the same moment that Kagome bound to her feet, glaring down at his prone form. "Whafor?"
She paled immediately, all color leaving her face to be replaced by a ghostly white. "You... You can't be serious, sir," she stated, her lips trembling in disbelief as she tugged insecurely on the broken hem of her skirt. "You... do know you're at the Nightingale's Bell, right? You know what... I am, right?"
His brows furrowed, lips pursed in thought. "Not that I r'call."
'His speech is returning, getting stronger...' She shook the thought away.
"Sir, you're at the Nightingale's Bell- the tavern known for it's beer and... women." She hoped she could jog his memory a bit without spelling it out. "I'm... one of those women- I'm Bell- just like the other women employed here."
"Bell?" he repeated, trying out the feel of the name on his tongue. "I don't know a Bell."
"You don't know me, sir," she whispered, her eyes downcast in shame at her situation- her status in society.
His ears flickered to catch those words. "What do you mean, I don't know you?"
"This is your first night here," Kagome answered, kneeling on the floor to be eye level with the stranger. "Or... at least, I think it is. I have never before seen you."
"Oh..." he mumbled, shrugging it off. He moved to sit up again, blinking a bit. "Wow that stuff really worked."
"Thank you. It's my own remedy, sir."
"Hm..."
"Now, back to business."
The man's ears swiveled to the sound of her voice just as he shuffled out of the bed. "Oi... where are my... clothes...?"
"Beside you, sir," she answered, adding as an afterthought, "I didn't feel right trying to dress you."
"Why would I have- Oh..." he muttered quietly. "Oh... Oh Gods...!" His eyes widened to their fullest, second by second. Kagome recognized the flash in his eyes- the flash unraveling a foggy memory. Realization had finally dawned. "What have I done...? Oh Gods- please no. Please, please tell me I didn't...!"
Kagome's eyes lit with alarm. There was despair in his voice, desperation to be told whatever slight glimpse of a memory he had seen was not true. He was frightened to think he had taken advantage of her. No man had ever reacted like that...
Not a single one...
How was she supposed to handle such a situation? Tell him its okay? No, it wasn't okay. Tell him he didn't do anything? No- he had messed with her- drunken state or not. Tell him nothing happened? No, something happened and he would eventually remember it all. And she wouldn't lie to him...
He was in hysterics by now. "No- this can't be- I- I... Please, tell me this is a dream- nightmare- NOT REAL...!"
"It is real, I won't lie to you."
He buried his face into the palms of his hands, his breathing speeding up one moment, then slowing the next. Kagome thought, for the slightest second, that she saw his shoulders shake with what could only be called a silent sob - 'out of helplessness, most likely,' she thought.
Moments passed in a purifying silence. Kagome frowned at the tugging at the barrier encasing her heart... Where was it coming from?
A hand snaked out to cup her chin, concern shining in the man's golden eyes as his ears flattened to his skull. "I- I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Kagome strangled a startled gasp, shivers running down her spine at the awkwardness of this entire situation and feel of his hand. Never, not once, had any man cared enough to ask. That desperate cry in his voice and the haunted echoing look in his eyes were too much.
Tears formed in her eyes, tingling- a feeling that she had believed had long since died when her everyday bout of tears brought nothing to feel but emptiness. Her throat burned, contracting as she swallowed the lump beginning to form there.
It was ironic....
She had always wanted someone to care, and now that someone did...
She wanted to cry because... it hurt- mentally and emotionally, it hurt... and no bruise would appear from those injuries.
"Y- you didn't... harm me," she choked out. Harm was a physical injury, after all. She wasn't going to break her vow of honesty with the stranger.
Relief flooded his features, his hand dropping to clutch the side of the bed. His eyes closed as he released his held breath. "... What... happened...?"
Her lip trembled, fighting back the sob in her throat. She didn't answer him for a while, watching as he paced his breathing, eyeballs clearly moving beneath closed lids to catch whatever might appear in the darkness. "Do you really want to know?"
Eyes still closed, he nodded, adding a soft and decisive, "yes."
Kagome brushed her tears away before they fell and sniffled, moving to sit at the table once more. "Well..."
()()()()()()()()()()()()()()
"What's your name?"
"Bell," Kagome answered for the twelfth time. "It's the only name I'm allowed to give you, and it's the only name you'll get from me, so drop it already."
The silver haired stranger sighed dejectedly. It had been two hours since he'd awoken, his memory now back in full. He had scowled furiously at himself, apologizing every three seconds, each apology annunciated by the resounding snap of his forehead hitting the table top of its own free will.
"Right, so if I were to come back here and yell, 'Hey, Bell, get your ass over here,' you'd be the only one to listen?" he snorted. "Come on, give me a real name- or something else to call you by."
Kagome's eyes narrowed. First he acts disgusted with himself for ever setting foot into the tavern and now he was planning on returning and meeting her again? Just what the hell was his problem?- it had to be mental... "And you'd come back here, why?"
"I might just want a drink or two."
"A drink or two would have you right back into one of these rooms with another companion and, most likely, in a worse state," Kagome noted dryly.
"... Yeah, I guess that's not such a smart idea..." He sighed, rubbing sore eyes. "My business could always lead me here, though."
"Eh? And what's your business?"
"I'm the co-owner of the Western Lands company," he replied, smirking.
Kagome, for the first time in ten years... well, without Sango's help...
... She laughed. It was more rattling than the concern this stranger had shown.
A man had made her laugh.
But she acted as if it was an everyday thing, masking the shock at her own actions. To have anyone suspicious about her truthful uneasiness at being a prostitute at such a... place... was certain suicide if her boss caught wind of it.
"The Western Lands company?" she repeated, slapping her palm against the table top. Oh, that's a laugh! "The biggest alcohol selling corporation? You?" He nodded, a slightly perplexed look of indignation crawling into his features. "No way!"
"And why is that so hard to believe?" he snapped.
Kagome sobered instantly at his tone, and turned pale once more. "I'm sorry, sir, that was out of line for me. Forgive me," she whispered, eyes wide and downcast.
His ears twitched, his eyes narrowing. "What the...?" He watched as she furiously glared holes into her lap, refusing to look up at him. "... Are you... afraid of something?"
"... Everyone's afraid of something, sir," she whispered.
"What are you afraid of?"
Kagome's eyes rose to meet his...
"I'm afraid... of..."
"I'm not afraid of you!"
"That is not a problem."
"Stay away from me, you monster! Mama mama!"
"I thought you weren't scared?"
"Stay away let go of me! Let me go!"
"Kagome! Oh gods, let her go, please! She has nothing to do with this."
"Mama!"
"I'm afraid that I cannot comply to your wishes, Myaeko. You are no longer useable and you still owe so much."
"She's too young - those men will kill her. Please, I'll think of another way."
"There is no other way."
"She is your own flesh and blood!"
"My former self, Myaeko."
"She still is yours- half of half of you, if you will... Please..."
"Ten days, Myaeko. Have a steady job and wages, then we'll talk about our little Kagome here."
"Keep your foul mouth off of my daughter, Naraku."
"Ours... Ten days."
"... Mama? Who was that man?"
"Oh, Kagome... I'm so sorry..."
"... I'm afraid of the night," Kagome blurted out. "I'm afraid of what I'll be told to do when night returns... afraid of who I'll end up with..."
The man frowned. "Why did you choose to work here, then?"
Her eyes dulled... "It's not of your concern, nor part of any business you have here. It is close to morning and time for you to leave," she said, keeping her dismissal short and clipped.
He didn't move, his eyes boring into hers to gauge some sort of answer to a question he chose not to voice. "And we're back to square one,"he sighed. "Very well then... Bell... However, you should know that I will be back eventually, since it's impossible to keep that damnable friend of mine away," he stated, a small smile forming on his lips. "I hope you won't let me do anything I'll regret."
Kagome blinked dumbfoundedly. Had he just told her... to stop him from allowing another person to pleasure him? Well, she didn't really have a problem with it, but her boss on the other hand, that was a different case entirely... "Very well, sir."
"Inuyasha."
Kagome's lips quirked. "And here I was thinking you were a cat youkai."
"Cat?" he spat, eye brows raised. "What would lead you to believe I was a cat?"
"Your ears."
"Cat's have pointy ears."
"Your ears are pointy," Kagome connoted.
"Pointier than mine."
"But your eyes, too?"
"What- because they're slit?"
"Actually, I was thinking along the lines of their color."
"You're basing this all on a normal dog."
"And?"
"I'm not a dog."
"Right- that's because you're a cat."
"No!" he cried in exasperation. "I'm a dog HANYOU- not a stupid fucking CAT youkai!"
"Oh, okay," Kagome piped, smiling again as a light giggle bubbled up her throat and spilled from her lips. She was enjoying the little silly 'argument' with the man, watching his ears swivel and his eyes spark. It was nice for a change and there was no way her boss could punish her for it. Somehow, she knew- for some unexplainable reason, she trusted this man, this stranger Inuyasha, and knew he would not be telling her boss or complaining about her rebellious actions (all in good nature, of course).
Maybe that was because he was grinning from ear to ear- um, where they should be, at least.
"So... Inuyasha... until we meet again," Kagome stated, outstretching a hand to him. They shook the clasped hands in farewell. "Oh, and when you happen by the Nightingale's Bell again, sir, bring my money with you..."
"Eh?" Another raised eyebrow followed the small questioning release of breath. "I didn't go all the way, though."
"You spent your night here and drank the last of my remedy. Gods only know what kind of pain I'll be going through in the mornings until I can mix another."
Inuyasha shook his head with a snort. "Right. Well, 'til next we meet."
Kagome watched as he bowed slightly, silver hair slipping around to rest at various places about him. His ears twitched to the light sound of the tresses moving against his shirt material. Looking up once more, his golden eyes captured her blue-gray orbs for a fraction of a second before he turned and left, closing her door gently in his wake.
"Maybe... there is such a thing as an honestly good man."
The smile on her lips lasted even as she slipped into her bed, alone for once, and drifted into sleep. However, the lack of warmth around her tugged at her melting resolve - the resolve of being cold towards all that was outside of her pleasant pieces life (time with Sango) - that had only hours ago encased her heart.
She was free to feel again. To feel...
'While the water flows
As the ice melts
A cry is heard
For the loss of one great thing
To bring about another'
Sakura-chan88's Whispers of a Screaming Soul
A/N: Well, how was it? I know descriptions were really poor this chapter, and I'm sorry for it, but I wasn't able to squeeze anything better in. It just wasn't possible.
Well, please review, readers!
Sakura-chan88
Whispers of a Screaming Soul
A Genuine Smile, A Welcomed Laugh
By Sakura-chan88
ooooooooooooooooo
'As darkness consumes
All that once was lively
A cry is heard
As an empty echo
Through a vacant eternity'
Kagome sat at the small table, the candle light flickering to cast shadows on her face as figures danced gleefully across the walls. The night was windy, the windows pulled taunt to slam against its hinges the next moment, the howling echo creating a picture-perfect horror scene, albeit there was no thundering or flashes of lightening.
A frown was etched clearly on her lips, her brow crinkled in thought. She wasn't shocked, not completely... After all, there were many a time that the man who accompanied her passed out, but... never before they touched home plate.
Her hands fiddled absently with the hem of her skirt which, unsurprisingly, had been torn by some nameless man a few nights back. It wouldn't be fixed for some time, that she knew for the simple fact that her owner - her boss - liked the idea of more flesh exposed to new customers.
Entice them and rob them blind through uncontrollable and unnoticed addiction.
Somehow, she doubted they were completely unaware of the aforementioned addiction. Especially people like Hiten, his brother, and the ever-present goody-goody-wannabe Hojo who was 'concerned' with Kagome's 'health', yet was more abusive than most of the other men to grace the Nightingale's Bell. Too bad he only went for Kagome. Sango would kill him if he hit her (she nearly decapitated Bankotsu for bruising her arms). They all seemed to know when they were being dragged down and would leap out of reach as quick as lightening, leaving the saloon for a day or two.
Her boss laughed heartily when she pointed out the fact that the tear in her skirt could eventually unravel the remaining intact cloth. He laughed even harder when she requested a new one or the damage to be fixed.
She hated men! They were pigs- just like Sango said- total, utter pigs! Uncaring, selfish, heartless beasts in human flesh- that's what they were!
... And the one sleeping off the liquor semi-contently in her bed was the first to give her any kind of break... even if only by unintentionally falling asleep. He was the first to ever make her seriously think about her definition of man... But, then again, he was here and that just meant he was a skirt-chasing bastard like every other man...
A muffled moan escaped the stranger, causing her to jump lightly. Her gaze flickered to his form, unsure how to react if he were to wake and become violent. Last time that had happened, the man had thrown her into the side of her table, the corner's edge slicing deeply into her side just above her hip. It left a nasty scar, too.
However, this stranger merely rolled onto his side, groaning.
Kagome sighed, clicking her tongue in a chiding manner at the slumbering male, knowing the signs of a hangover when she saw them. She moved over to her shelf of medicines and drew forth her homemade hangover remedy- a dry syrupy substance tasting strongly of radish and maple. Though it was disgusting, it worked wonders.
"Hey," she called softly, shaking his shoulder. "You need to take this."
She was polite - it was in her being - even if she hated men. After all, he had given her a chance for a night without the same thousand tears she usually shed.
He grumbled, opening two bleary eyes, unfocused and fazed. Blinking rapidly, he hissed at the power of the tiny candle's dim illumination on his eyes. "Wha... Wherem?"
"The Nightingale's Bell, sir," Kagome replied, finding no difficulty deciphering his speech. She had years of practice with translating drunk to sober. "You had become drunken and passed out several hours ago."
He blinked owlishly, clearing his eyes of their remaining glaze. "My headspinen roun'."
"Take this, sir."
He looked at the syrup bottle, frowning before attempting to sit up. When he faltered and began to fall back, Kagome quickly slipped an arm behind his shoulders, hefting him up again as she squeezed in to sit behind him. The added support kept him up-right.
He was muscular to a natural extent, his body radiating warmth even though he shook with cold from the lack of proper clothing. His shoulders were broad, his silver hair unkempt. She remembered his unnatural golden eyes, his heavy brows and long lashes, his thin lips pulled into a drunken grin, his fangs brushing across her collarbone...
He moved to take the remedy, fumbling with the small bottle. A movement caught her attention, pulling her gaze to the crown of his head.
Two small, triangular ears were perched there, flickering this way and that in what appeared to be both confusion and irritation.
'Another youkai, huh?' she thought. It wasn't surprising with golden eyes. Hiten, a blood red-eyed lightening youkai, had been her first demonic experience and she was hesitant to say, it wasn't half bad... Hiten had been the most gentle handling of all.
"ACK!"
"Don't spit it out! Drink up- it'll help your headache and churning stomach," she informed him hurriedly. There was no way she would get the smell out of her bed if he spit it out!
A few grumbles later, the bottle was emptied and the man slumped back tiredly into Kagome's arms. "Thanksh."
Kagome felt the corner of her lips pull into something quite foreign to her at the childish display... a genuine smile. She shrugged it off, calling it a fluke and turned into business mode. "Listen, my boss won't like it if you're here in the morning. Let's move you to a guest room. It'll cost you a good amount of money, though."
He grunted. "Don't have... 'nough...m'neh..."
... Her heart stopped as the words worked their way into place. "Wha... WHAT!?" she shrieked, arms instantly out by her sides, letting the man she had previously held in a stable position fall. "You better have enough to pay me!"
He yelped in surprise at the same moment that Kagome bound to her feet, glaring down at his prone form. "Whafor?"
She paled immediately, all color leaving her face to be replaced by a ghostly white. "You... You can't be serious, sir," she stated, her lips trembling in disbelief as she tugged insecurely on the broken hem of her skirt. "You... do know you're at the Nightingale's Bell, right? You know what... I am, right?"
His brows furrowed, lips pursed in thought. "Not that I r'call."
'His speech is returning, getting stronger...' She shook the thought away.
"Sir, you're at the Nightingale's Bell- the tavern known for it's beer and... women." She hoped she could jog his memory a bit without spelling it out. "I'm... one of those women- I'm Bell- just like the other women employed here."
"Bell?" he repeated, trying out the feel of the name on his tongue. "I don't know a Bell."
"You don't know me, sir," she whispered, her eyes downcast in shame at her situation- her status in society.
His ears flickered to catch those words. "What do you mean, I don't know you?"
"This is your first night here," Kagome answered, kneeling on the floor to be eye level with the stranger. "Or... at least, I think it is. I have never before seen you."
"Oh..." he mumbled, shrugging it off. He moved to sit up again, blinking a bit. "Wow that stuff really worked."
"Thank you. It's my own remedy, sir."
"Hm..."
"Now, back to business."
The man's ears swiveled to the sound of her voice just as he shuffled out of the bed. "Oi... where are my... clothes...?"
"Beside you, sir," she answered, adding as an afterthought, "I didn't feel right trying to dress you."
"Why would I have- Oh..." he muttered quietly. "Oh... Oh Gods...!" His eyes widened to their fullest, second by second. Kagome recognized the flash in his eyes- the flash unraveling a foggy memory. Realization had finally dawned. "What have I done...? Oh Gods- please no. Please, please tell me I didn't...!"
Kagome's eyes lit with alarm. There was despair in his voice, desperation to be told whatever slight glimpse of a memory he had seen was not true. He was frightened to think he had taken advantage of her. No man had ever reacted like that...
Not a single one...
How was she supposed to handle such a situation? Tell him its okay? No, it wasn't okay. Tell him he didn't do anything? No- he had messed with her- drunken state or not. Tell him nothing happened? No, something happened and he would eventually remember it all. And she wouldn't lie to him...
He was in hysterics by now. "No- this can't be- I- I... Please, tell me this is a dream- nightmare- NOT REAL...!"
"It is real, I won't lie to you."
He buried his face into the palms of his hands, his breathing speeding up one moment, then slowing the next. Kagome thought, for the slightest second, that she saw his shoulders shake with what could only be called a silent sob - 'out of helplessness, most likely,' she thought.
Moments passed in a purifying silence. Kagome frowned at the tugging at the barrier encasing her heart... Where was it coming from?
A hand snaked out to cup her chin, concern shining in the man's golden eyes as his ears flattened to his skull. "I- I didn't hurt you, did I?"
Kagome strangled a startled gasp, shivers running down her spine at the awkwardness of this entire situation and feel of his hand. Never, not once, had any man cared enough to ask. That desperate cry in his voice and the haunted echoing look in his eyes were too much.
Tears formed in her eyes, tingling- a feeling that she had believed had long since died when her everyday bout of tears brought nothing to feel but emptiness. Her throat burned, contracting as she swallowed the lump beginning to form there.
It was ironic....
She had always wanted someone to care, and now that someone did...
She wanted to cry because... it hurt- mentally and emotionally, it hurt... and no bruise would appear from those injuries.
"Y- you didn't... harm me," she choked out. Harm was a physical injury, after all. She wasn't going to break her vow of honesty with the stranger.
Relief flooded his features, his hand dropping to clutch the side of the bed. His eyes closed as he released his held breath. "... What... happened...?"
Her lip trembled, fighting back the sob in her throat. She didn't answer him for a while, watching as he paced his breathing, eyeballs clearly moving beneath closed lids to catch whatever might appear in the darkness. "Do you really want to know?"
Eyes still closed, he nodded, adding a soft and decisive, "yes."
Kagome brushed her tears away before they fell and sniffled, moving to sit at the table once more. "Well..."
"What's your name?"
"Bell," Kagome answered for the twelfth time. "It's the only name I'm allowed to give you, and it's the only name you'll get from me, so drop it already."
The silver haired stranger sighed dejectedly. It had been two hours since he'd awoken, his memory now back in full. He had scowled furiously at himself, apologizing every three seconds, each apology annunciated by the resounding snap of his forehead hitting the table top of its own free will.
"Right, so if I were to come back here and yell, 'Hey, Bell, get your ass over here,' you'd be the only one to listen?" he snorted. "Come on, give me a real name- or something else to call you by."
Kagome's eyes narrowed. First he acts disgusted with himself for ever setting foot into the tavern and now he was planning on returning and meeting her again? Just what the hell was his problem?- it had to be mental... "And you'd come back here, why?"
"I might just want a drink or two."
"A drink or two would have you right back into one of these rooms with another companion and, most likely, in a worse state," Kagome noted dryly.
"... Yeah, I guess that's not such a smart idea..." He sighed, rubbing sore eyes. "My business could always lead me here, though."
"Eh? And what's your business?"
"I'm the co-owner of the Western Lands company," he replied, smirking.
Kagome, for the first time in ten years... well, without Sango's help...
... She laughed. It was more rattling than the concern this stranger had shown.
A man had made her laugh.
But she acted as if it was an everyday thing, masking the shock at her own actions. To have anyone suspicious about her truthful uneasiness at being a prostitute at such a... place... was certain suicide if her boss caught wind of it.
"The Western Lands company?" she repeated, slapping her palm against the table top. Oh, that's a laugh! "The biggest alcohol selling corporation? You?" He nodded, a slightly perplexed look of indignation crawling into his features. "No way!"
"And why is that so hard to believe?" he snapped.
Kagome sobered instantly at his tone, and turned pale once more. "I'm sorry, sir, that was out of line for me. Forgive me," she whispered, eyes wide and downcast.
His ears twitched, his eyes narrowing. "What the...?" He watched as she furiously glared holes into her lap, refusing to look up at him. "... Are you... afraid of something?"
"... Everyone's afraid of something, sir," she whispered.
"What are you afraid of?"
Kagome's eyes rose to meet his...
"I'm afraid... of..."
"I'm not afraid of you!"
"That is not a problem."
"Stay away from me, you monster! Mama mama!"
"I thought you weren't scared?"
"Stay away let go of me! Let me go!"
"Kagome! Oh gods, let her go, please! She has nothing to do with this."
"Mama!"
"I'm afraid that I cannot comply to your wishes, Myaeko. You are no longer useable and you still owe so much."
"She's too young - those men will kill her. Please, I'll think of another way."
"There is no other way."
"She is your own flesh and blood!"
"My former self, Myaeko."
"She still is yours- half of half of you, if you will... Please..."
"Ten days, Myaeko. Have a steady job and wages, then we'll talk about our little Kagome here."
"Keep your foul mouth off of my daughter, Naraku."
"Ours... Ten days."
"... Mama? Who was that man?"
"Oh, Kagome... I'm so sorry..."
"... I'm afraid of the night," Kagome blurted out. "I'm afraid of what I'll be told to do when night returns... afraid of who I'll end up with..."
The man frowned. "Why did you choose to work here, then?"
Her eyes dulled... "It's not of your concern, nor part of any business you have here. It is close to morning and time for you to leave," she said, keeping her dismissal short and clipped.
He didn't move, his eyes boring into hers to gauge some sort of answer to a question he chose not to voice. "And we're back to square one,"he sighed. "Very well then... Bell... However, you should know that I will be back eventually, since it's impossible to keep that damnable friend of mine away," he stated, a small smile forming on his lips. "I hope you won't let me do anything I'll regret."
Kagome blinked dumbfoundedly. Had he just told her... to stop him from allowing another person to pleasure him? Well, she didn't really have a problem with it, but her boss on the other hand, that was a different case entirely... "Very well, sir."
"Inuyasha."
Kagome's lips quirked. "And here I was thinking you were a cat youkai."
"Cat?" he spat, eye brows raised. "What would lead you to believe I was a cat?"
"Your ears."
"Cat's have pointy ears."
"Your ears are pointy," Kagome connoted.
"Pointier than mine."
"But your eyes, too?"
"What- because they're slit?"
"Actually, I was thinking along the lines of their color."
"You're basing this all on a normal dog."
"And?"
"I'm not a dog."
"Right- that's because you're a cat."
"No!" he cried in exasperation. "I'm a dog HANYOU- not a stupid fucking CAT youkai!"
"Oh, okay," Kagome piped, smiling again as a light giggle bubbled up her throat and spilled from her lips. She was enjoying the little silly 'argument' with the man, watching his ears swivel and his eyes spark. It was nice for a change and there was no way her boss could punish her for it. Somehow, she knew- for some unexplainable reason, she trusted this man, this stranger Inuyasha, and knew he would not be telling her boss or complaining about her rebellious actions (all in good nature, of course).
Maybe that was because he was grinning from ear to ear- um, where they should be, at least.
"So... Inuyasha... until we meet again," Kagome stated, outstretching a hand to him. They shook the clasped hands in farewell. "Oh, and when you happen by the Nightingale's Bell again, sir, bring my money with you..."
"Eh?" Another raised eyebrow followed the small questioning release of breath. "I didn't go all the way, though."
"You spent your night here and drank the last of my remedy. Gods only know what kind of pain I'll be going through in the mornings until I can mix another."
Inuyasha shook his head with a snort. "Right. Well, 'til next we meet."
Kagome watched as he bowed slightly, silver hair slipping around to rest at various places about him. His ears twitched to the light sound of the tresses moving against his shirt material. Looking up once more, his golden eyes captured her blue-gray orbs for a fraction of a second before he turned and left, closing her door gently in his wake.
"Maybe... there is such a thing as an honestly good man."
The smile on her lips lasted even as she slipped into her bed, alone for once, and drifted into sleep. However, the lack of warmth around her tugged at her melting resolve - the resolve of being cold towards all that was outside of her pleasant pieces life (time with Sango) - that had only hours ago encased her heart.
She was free to feel again. To feel...
As the ice melts
A cry is heard
For the loss of one great thing
To bring about another'
Sakura-chan88's Whispers of a Screaming Soul
A/N: Well, how was it? I know descriptions were really poor this chapter, and I'm sorry for it, but I wasn't able to squeeze anything better in. It just wasn't possible.
Well, please review, readers!
Sakura-chan88
