…So I decide to take a break from writing my chapter and check my email. Then, I swear, not even ten minutes later…my internet is down. This was finished at 8:30. Grr- did I ever mention I hate technology? Or perhaps it's technology that hates me, eh?...
Inuyasha sped down the road. It was bumpy, uneven, and damned too hard to be driving on especially at the speed he was going. However at that moment nothing mattered, nothing besides meeting up with Kikyo. His stereo was off and his windows down. It was a cool afternoon, just before dusk. The sun was still up, but not for too long.
It had been weeks since he'd heard anything from the woman he loved, not a peep, not a word, except for last night. His cell phone had rung at half past twelve. The person obviously didn't want him to answer calling so late, but Inuyasha always answered his phone. He was so surprised who it was on the line that he jumped out of bed so fast that he stumbled in his socks on the wooden floor.
Kikyo wanted to meet him. Why- well he didn't know, but after complete radio silence for like two weeks he was willing to do just about anything if only just to see her again. He missed holding her in his arms, kissing her, rubbing her back. Inuyasha even missed being sent out late at night because she had a craving for sugar or fruit just like a pregnant woman, which she wasn't. Inuyasha never stocked his fridge. If he did he might have saved himself half a dozen trips to the small drug store that was open twenty four hours across from his apartment building, their apartment building.
Up ahead the lake pulled into view. The water was dark and choppy. It was still windy and the space was open. Inuyasha cut the engine and locked the doors hearing the corresponding beep. He walked to the waters edge and stared down at his reflection. His long hair shoved to one side with the force of the wind. A storm was coming that was for sure. His face was serious, his eyebrows knitted. It was hard to recognize himself.
Inuyasha turned at the petal soft footsteps he knew so well. Kikyo was standing there dressed elegantly as usual, but more casual today. She wore blue dickies that fit snugly to her willowy form. A lavender short sleeved button down shirt was closed halfway up. The wind fluttered the loose collar revealing a pale grey tank beneath. Kikyo lifted a hand tucking stray hairs behind her ear. The appendage stayed there hovering in midair slightly resting against the skin of her cheek. The long strands were knotted back in a bun at the back of her head. Her straight bangs were cut even, but longer than she normally kept them. Kikyo never looked more beautiful than she did now against a backdrop of darkening rain clouds with the wind in her face.
Inuyasha's breath caught in his throat. How he wanted to hold her just then. The male took an easy step forward as if slowly coaxing an anxious bird into his grasp. Kikyo held up her hands letting loose those stray hairs again to whip across her features just below the nose. Some stuck to her lip gloss and Kikyo hastily removed them with irritation that she rarely showed.
"Inuyasha!"
Kikyo's voice was loud against the wind. Her eyes softened then and her lips quivered.
"I love you."
She seemed so unsure of herself. Her arms wrapped around her own shoulders. She swayed back and forth. Inuyasha could almost smell the tears welling in her eyes. Those three beautiful words he longed like nothing else to hear whispered in his ears like a tickling feather. They were tender and light. Inuyasha always put on a brave face when entering the world. He was awkward at times. Inuyasha wasn't meant for a normal life. He didn't want a day job at his father's, now his brother's company, of which he was entitled. He loved nature and being outdoors, working with his hands. His was rough and unpolished; his demeanor left much to be desired.
Kikyo, though, accepted all of this. Kagome did too. Inuyasha still felt extremely guilty for causing her such pain that she never even told him about, he had to hear it from Sango during one of her rants about how too kind Kagome was. This was shortly after Sango heard that Kagome had forgiven him and they were trying to be friends again.
Kagome was special, but Kikyo…she made him melt. That hard exterior that no one thought there was anything of worth beneath, she saw through it. Kikyo knew what he was thinking, knew what he wanted, and wanted it right there with him. There was no one else, she was his only. No matter how foolish and embarrassed it made him feel.
Inuyasha's feet betrayed him. His pace increased and he jolted forward. He wanted, no needed, to hold her. Inuyasha's arms embraced the girl as she uncharacteristically turned her head into his right bicep and began to cry. She bit her lips attempting to keep it in, but when he tightened his arms Kikyo broke. Her throat swallowed often and she cried silently. The small tears thickened her eyelashes and dabbled down in sluggish streams over her ivory cheeks.
Kikyo lifted her chin up resting her head all the way back. The clouds seemed to pass over them quickly as she could track their movement. The skies were drab and a gloomy grey. The surrounding trees and brush set heavy shadows on the ground despite the lack of sunlight giving a macabre enmity. Kikyo shivered before melding herself against Inuyasha giving into his warmth. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. He was supposed to be mad at her from her avoidance, but then Inuyasha was always impulsive and unpredictable.
She loved him, so much that her heart was breaking. The once hard shell fell away revealing her weakness. She could imagine Inuyasha's disgust with what she was about to tell him. She could see him leaving her bloody and empty, taking all the soft kindness his presence filled her with. Kikyo was selfish, terribly so; she didn't want to lose him!
"I don't want to lose you." She murmured.
Kikyo didn't even realize she'd said it out loud until he responded.
"You won't Kikyo. I'll always be here to protect you!"
Inuyasha held her out at arm's length. Kikyo averted her eyes. She couldn't gaze into his amber eyes with them softening every minute like that. They were so tender and the color even, smooth like liquid gold. Kikyo pressed her hand against his heart the other moving up to his neck and under his hair that blew wildly behind him. Kikyo pulled him down and he followed willingly as she put her lips against his, but she didn't move. The two just sat there, in the moment, letting it sink in with both yearning for the rain to just swallow them whole as it fell fervently from the heavens.
The heavy spurts drenched their clothes and ran in splatters down their skin. One drop skidded down Kikyo's nose to her lips where Inuyasha licked it away into his mouth. Kikyo stopped him from going further. A hand rose to cover her mouth as her throat tightened painfully.
"I…"
For once she knew not what to say. There were no carefully worded sentences or snappy comebacks that would aid her here. There was only the truth. Kikyo could only hope, deep in her soul that he would understand. Kikyo drew his love from him, survived on it. She was ashamed to say it, but it dripped into her body slowly, cautiously like sap swirling and renewing her strength ridding her of that throbbing ache.
"Inuyasha, I saw you with Kagome."
He seemed confused, but she continued on.
"When I came back from Europe, you two were dating. I was…hurt and I wanted to return that pain. I wanted you to know it, feel it, and understand it."
Inuyasha's brow knitted and he looked as if he would interrupt, but she placed a finger to his lips.
"Please, let me finish."
At his nod, she continued once again.
"I wanted to hurt Kagome too because she didn't deserve you!"
Kikyo took a deep breath calming her sudden anger.
"There was a man I knew by acquaintance only through company parties. Naraku was his name. In exchange for doing what I wanted, I had…to convince you to sell your stocks to him."
Inuyasha, inside, kept wondering if this was some joke. Why would Kikyo go to all this trouble? Had she really wanted to cause him harm?
"When I saw you again and we were together, things changed. I realized how foolish I had been. I went to Naraku to break the deal off, but then he threatened to tell you and my father about the deal. He made me do…disgusting things. I became his slave, I had to do anything he wanted or he would reveal my secret."
Kikyo paused and she flinched when Inuyasha stepped away from her. His eyes were wide, disbelieving. Her gut twisted and the air left her lungs. Her brown eyes hid behind her eyelids that lacked their usual eye shadow.
"I-back then things were so blurred by my anger and need to be with you that I would have done anything. Kagome was innocent; she had no part in this. I didn't even know Naraku knew her, but then he kidnapped her-"
"Kagome was kidnapped!"
Inuyasha's eye flashed.
"She agreed to come along, so technically no, but she was locked in a room for two days."
"And where is she now Kikyo?"
Kikyo swallowed at the hard tone he used. The timbre no longer soft, tender, and beautiful to her sore ears.
"She's home I believe. You're half-brother showed up unannounced and-"
"Never mind…Kikyo why didn't you tell me? Did you think I wouldn't understand?"
Kikyo looked up shocked. Inuyasha nodded his head with a piteous laugh. His ran his large hands through his hair annoyed.
"Damn it Kikyo. Did you think I've never felt anything before? I know anger and hurt...like when you left."
Inuyasha didn't get any pleasure from the guilt or sadness of her face.
"Do you know what love is?"
His voice softened again catching her off guard. Inuyasha didn't give her anytime to respond.
"Love isn't that happy shit you see in movies. It isn't like it was back in high school when you'd hold hands and 'go out.' Love…love is…"
He struggled to find the words. Inuyasha's eyes seemed clearer and there was a sparkle of wisdom. His expression cleared becoming tranquil and pensive. It was a face Kikyo hadn't ever seen before.
"Love is painful, dependent. It isn't just…happy moments and lives off naivety. That person hurts you, disappoints you, but no matter what, no matter how much you want to forget or hate them, you can't. They can do no wrong in your eyes and will always be perfect. Their flaws make that person unique, special and only yours because you accept everything about them…completely." Inuyasha breathed out slowly.
"Inuyasha…was that a quote from somewhere?"
Kikyo put her hands on her hips.
Inuyasha sighed. Why did he have to be attracted to the literary types? Kikyo smiled lightly, hesitantly.
"Yeah, but the point is…Kikyo when you're sad, so am I. I need you because you complete me. Without you…I'm…nothing." He said despondently.
He looked up at her, speechless for a moment. Anything else he wanted or planned to say died on his tongue. In front of him was Kikyo, but not the one he had come to know. She was bare, her heart naked before him. Inuyasha could see it in the way she stood, her head tilted forward and slightly to the side. Her eyes were lidded and focused on the grass, but then not. Kikyo wasn't with him at the moment, but inward inside herself. Whatever she saw made her grimace, her eyebrow ticking upward for a second and her lip jerking into a scowl minutely.
"Kikyo, Kagome and I are friends," At her pointed look he added on, "Just friends. She means a lot to me, I can't give her up. Kagome was really nothing more than a sister. After you left, I was desperate. She reminded me of you…"
Kikyo met his gaze then. Her own deep, dark brown clear, but softer than the norm. Her arrogance and confidence stripped from her reducing his love to a wilting flower that desperately needed the gentle rays of the sun in this rainy drear.
"Kikyo…what else is there, what else do you want to tell me?"
Inuyasha's eyes were melting, lighter and softer, his voice shaking with his need to know, but also his need to be with her. Kikyo noticed how thin he looked. Inuyasha hadn't been eating probably because he was too worried about her. He'd never say it outright, but he did care about her. She knew that he couldn't sleep some nights when Kikyo had had to work late and Inuyasha sat up in their bed waiting for her to come home. Inuyasha would always bury his nose in her hair then fall instantly into his dreams. No doubt he would probably meet Kikyo in this shadowy land of slumber.
Kikyo started to speak, but closed her mouth. She walked over underneath a tree that supplied her shelter from the pouring rain she'd previously been drowning in. Inuyasha followed her example, but a tree a few feet down. Kikyo was thankful for the space he was offering. Inuyasha was acting quite uncharacteristic. He'd have been in her face if this was a normal situation demanding what was wrong. It was sweet in its own way.
"Inuyasha…I don't know what to say…" She sighed exasperated.
"Are you still in trouble? With Naraku, I mean."
"Yes…he contacted me yesterday; I don't know how he knew where I was. He's probably keeping tabs, having people follow me."
"Well what did he want?"
Kikyo couldn't help, but smile at his impatience. It used to irritate her, but now it was something familiar and Kikyo even found herself craving it. This new understanding, complacent Inuyasha wasn't the one she fell in love with.
"He wants to buy your share of stock in Takarashi Technologies so as to buy it out from underneath of Sesshoumaru."
"Why? If he wants it why didn't he just come to me? And damn, Sesshoumaru needs some competition, but no one gets anything from that bastard he doesn't want to give away."
Kikyo nodded solemnly, this was the obvious.
"Naraku isn't the normal business. He'll resort to anything. Besides, that isn't how Naraku operates. His way isn't clean."
"Sounds like a coward to me. Uses others doesn't he?"
"Yes, he has exercised manipulation down to an art."
"Figures…well if that's what he wants then he won't get it."
Kikyo was shocked. Inuyasha was stubborn, but he didn't know exactly who Naraku was or what he was capable of. He would bring war and disaster upon his self for callous pride and determination.
"He has to earn it. Those shares were my inheritance. I won't just give them over to the highest bidder."
Kikyo smiled, impressed at how mature Inuyasha's thought had actually turned out to be.
"Kikyo…we will fight him together."
She faltered.
"Inuyasha…"
"No arguments. I love you, okay? I won't just abandon you now. So just shut up."
Kikyo nodded her head wiping a hand through her bangs and dried the dripping strands slightly. Her eyes touched the grass. There were dewy drops of water on several blades forming perfect spheres before slipping quickly, suddenly into the depth of the foliage.
"Inuyasha- I realize that that I am the one undeserving of you. Inuyasha I want no pity. I know I should have been honest before. I wanted to be perfect for you and telling you the bitter truth would have shattered that illusion."
"Kikyo…"
She halted him by lifting her hand in between them in the wide space.
"I see now…that it was all in vain. I was careless not to realize this sooner; I should have known you wouldn't care. But Inuyasha- know this now…you are mine and-"
Whatever Kikyo had planned on saying was cut off. Inuyasha's lips pressed hard against her own this time. His hands met her waist and wrapped around it. He lifted her up a little and Kikyo founded into his body. They were wet and cold, but there was an understanding between them. Their love wasn't perfect and it wasn't meant to be. The two had issues, some with each other and others solely about themselves individually, but these problems would be worked out together. Together-
….This was a little different that I'd planned the scene to be, but well that's nothing new. Tell me how it was. I'm open to any suggestions. ….
