AN: Don't let the 'part one' throw you! This was too long for one chapter so I split it in two. Part two is coming up in a few!
Chapter Seven: Lust and Chasity (Part One)
As I paced my living room, I felt like I was the one in the cage/lamp. The only thing I could find on how to free a jinni was from the movies. They all had the master of the jinni wish for their freedom. But not a single thing showed or mentioned how the jinni was put in the lamp in the first place. For all we know, the jinni in Disney's Aladdin did very naughty things!
It couldn't be that easy. The truth was, no one knew how to free a jinni bound to a lamp because no one had tried before. Just like no one had asked Inuyasha how he ended up in the lamp or what granting wishes did to him.
Inuyasha was silent in his glass cell. I imagined him pacing, then sitting and contemplating, and I also imagined him raging. For over a century, he had taken the punishment for a crime he didn't commit. It had nothing to do with me, and I was pissed. It was why I couldn't sit still—that and the continued quiet emptiness of my apartment.
Sango and Miroku left hours after Inuyasha shut himself inside the vase. There was nothing the pair could do, save for leave and leave Inuyasha with me. There was a silent agreement that I would be Inuyasha's next master, but I didn't want it. The last thing I wanted was for Inuyasha to feel forced around me. I had to wonder what it felt like for him? Did he feel attached? Was there a bond between him and his masters, and did it disappear once the third wish was granted? For did he feel connected to all humans?
How much of how Inuyasha treated me was due to his curse?
I wasn't anything special. Years of getting passed up for roles taught me that; I was no spectacular beauty. I was average at best, and Inuyasha was...breathtaking.
I wouldn't even blame him for leading me on. It wouldn't be his fault; it was a condition of his curse—as was his lack of clothes. Something I hoped to remedy while trying to distract myself. It was Salvation Army clothes, but all of my clothes came from this one, and they had great stuff!
Miroku's jeans had been a little snug, and as much as I enjoyed that, I wanted to make Inuyasha comfortable. So I got him a size up. Four pairs of jeans and three pairs of slacks later, I was in the shirt section. It wasn't like there were many selections, but more than enough to make things difficult. Size I had a pretty good idea of, but it was color I was unsure of. A handful of decent collared shirts later, and I was in a sea of casual wear. Black was too dark and yellow too light. He looked good in white, so I grabbed the one with the tag still on it. Teal would look nice with his eyes, and purple was too much. Then I thought back to the shirt he borrowed of mine. It was red and ill-fitting, but the color suited. The glass of his prison was red, too, glancing down at it every time I picked up an item and tried to imagine it on Inuyasha.
I knew he could hear me, and I didn't care if I looked crazy, holding up the red shirt in (what I thought was) his line of sight. "Is this your favorite color?" Of course, I didn't expect anything, so when I got nothing, I only smiled down at the glass, "why do I feel that it is?"
The pants he had on when we first met were red too. It was quickly becoming my new favorite, even when Inuyasha's eyes were that color…especially then.
The total was more than I should spend, but Inuyasha was worth it. I only needed underwear for him—couldn't buy those used! I had a pack in my hands, looking at the sizing on the back and feeling lost when my phone rang. I couldn't ignore it since I was long overdue for an explanation.
I juggled the phone and packs of briefs while looking around to see who was in earshot. "Hello, mother."
"Hello, mother? That's what you have to say to me?"
"Not sure what you would prefer? Moshi-moshi?"
"HA! Too late for that. Explain!"
I didn't need to ask, so mom didn't say anything more, waiting for the defense of my behavior. "That was my friend, and he needed my help far more than I needed to be at that Miai."
"How can you say that? Hojo was very upset with how you left things…."
I sighed heavily, and it took away a tiny fraction of my tension. "Come on, mom, Hojo was just as happy to be out of that Miai as I was to leave it."
"So you admit it! You ran out on him and us! Your friend had nothing to do with it!"
Making my decision, I picked up the pack of briefs and made it for the checkout. "No, I really did leave for my friend's sake. I'm not that rude, and you know it."
Now, mom sighed, "You're right, I'm sorry. I just never know what's going on with you lately. You or your brother."
I silently wondered if mom knew about Miroku's engagement. "The thing is…I don't want to go on any more Miai. Not right now. I'm not…ready."
"Will you ever be ready? Marriage doesn't mean you give up on your dreams, you know?"
"I know. But..I'm not sure what my dreams are yet. I'm still young; I have time."
Mom was silent, and I knew she was thinking over her decision. "I'll have to talk your grandfather into waiting. The best I can do is a few months."
"Thanks." My phone beeped with an incoming call. It was Miroku, so my interests were piqued immediately. "I got to go, mom. Talk to you soon." Without missing a beat, I switched calls and rushed out of the store to the street. "What's up?"
"Has Inuyasha popped yet?"
"If he had, you'd be the first call."
"Sango has an idea. Can we meet at your place?"
I left Inuyasha's new clothes in a pile on the edge of the couch. Sango and Miroku eyed it carefully while smirking. They said nothing about it, going to my kitchen to sit. I brought the lamp and set it before us on the table. "What's the idea?"
Sango looked at the glass, "I was thinking that…if we could find the family Inuyasha was guarding's ancestors, he could speak with them? He could get things off his chest and figure out how to break his curse?"
A few seconds passed before the lamp began to rock and shake. It made my heart do the same, the two dancing in tandem. Inuyasha wanted out.
Snatching it up, no one fought me as I rubbed the lamp…and nothing happened. I tried again and again, and still, nothing. I wasn't sure if the shaking was me or the glass, Inuyasha getting anxious along with me. By the time I set the lamp down, tears dripped off my chin, and my chest was so tight I could barely breathe. "It's not working! Why won't it work?!"
Miroku grabbed me before I hit the floor, and Sango grabbed the lamp. "I don't know," Miroku said, rubbing my back, "maybe you counted as a master last time?"
Smoke filled the space, and we looked awestruck at Sango. She had rubbed the lamp.
Not an ounce of me cared, not so gently pushing my brother away to slam into Inuyasha's body as soon as it was formed enough to. His arms circled me, and I tried to breathe, but I only choked on the remaining fear that we'd never get Inuyasha out again. Now, Inuyasha rubbed my back to calm, and it was far more effective.
"What happened?" Inuyasha asked over my head.
"She rubbed it, and nothing happened," Miroku answered.
"So I rubbed it, and you came out," Sango said sheepishly, "I'm sorry. I know you wanted Kagome to be your next master…."
"It's alright." Dug into his chest, Inuyasha gently worked me out until I looked up at his burning irises. "Gave you a scare, eh?"
He was chuckling, but I didn't find it funny. Still crying, I pounded on his iron chest. "Yes, you scared the shit out of me!"
"Not my fault…not intentionally," I didn't understand, but that might have something to do with my chin in Inuyasha's grip, "anything I can do to make it up to ya?"
His eyes danced on mine and my lips; I had to remind myself that we weren't alone and that Inuyasha was now messing with me. "Yeah, promise me you'll never go back into that vase!"
Inuyasha dropped my chin, and I fell back into him, rubbing the remaining tears on my shirt he still wore. "So…about Sango's idea?"
He stiffened and turned (I assumed) to Sango. "Yes, master, what is your wish?"
I shivered, turning my head just enough to look at Sango. She held up her hands and looked embarrassed. "I don't want any wishes. I just wanted Kagome to calm down."
"That's been handled," Miroku answered.
Inuyasha chuckled even as I growled. I peeked up at him, watching what I could over his chin. I didn't know what I was looking for, but I wanted to see if there was any change in how he treated Miroku now that he wasn't his master? The only thing I noticed was how much more relaxed Inuyasha appeared. But that might have more to do with his lack of guilt. It had been plaguing him for a long time.
"We don't have much to go on. After all, we saw all that you know. I didn't hear the last name or see the surname anywhere. We have no clue who those people were, and they were in Japan, but that was a century ago. Their family could be anywhere now." Miroku rationalized. "We were able to find a database online of families that all died at once, but there's no way of knowing which family it was, and you'd be surprised how many families kicked the bucket at the same time!"
"Is that not common anymore?" Inuyasha asked, surprised, "if one died, it usually meant they all would. From a disease, fire, famine.."
"We don't have that much anymore. Science and stuff." Sango answered.
Inuyasha shrugged, "what about this…database? Sounds impressive!"
Miroku scoffed, "hardly. Just some creepy geek in a basement somewhere that likes dead people."
"Sounds like a few demons I used to know…."
I pushed away from Inuyasha's chest, but his arms didn't unfurl to release me completely. "How did you expect to enact your plan if you have no clue how to find the family?" Sango and Miroku looked at one another, and my heart fell into my belly. "No. We can't!"
"It worked to find the truth last time!" Sango pleaded.
"Kagome," Miroku said softly, and I knew I wasn't going to like it, "why don't we ask Inuyasha what he wants to do?"
Slowly, I looked up at the man still holding me. He was looking right at me, and before he said a word, I knew his answer. "It's the only way."
I was upset, but they were right. It was Inuyasha's choice.
The last of my fear and worry drained away, and the intimacy of the stance Inuyasha and I had hit me like a dead fish to the face. Here I was, worried about forcing things onto him, and yet, I had forced myself on Inuyasha.
Reaching behind, I grabbed his hands and pulled them off me. He didn't protest other than to frown slightly. I focused on what he needed instead of what I wanted. "I got you some clothes."
His frown grew, "I told you, Ima jinni…."
"Not for much longer!" Sango teased with all seriousness.
"That's right," Miroku cheered, slapping a hand to Inuyasha's shoulder, "soon, you won't be able to get away with wearing my sister's clothes."
He looked at himself, forgetting what he had on, and shrugged. "I like it."
Miroku groaned and rolled his eyes while Inuyasha stared at me for some reason. It made me nervous, my heart fluttering. So I busied myself with getting him something to wear from the pile. Before I knew it, he was right behind me. His breath wafted over my skin as he looked over my shoulder at the stack.
"Is that all for me?"
His fingers danced on my hips, and I struggled to breathe, "yeah…."
"You went overboard, Kagome."
"Not…not really…."
He sighed hot air that fogged up my neck and shoulder. "Can you even afford all this?"
Using my elbow, I pushed him back and got free. Then I shoved the clothes into his hands with my irritation fueling my actions. "Yes! Now, take a shower! You stink!"
He didn't, but I wanted him to move, to do something besides make me question everything. Inuyasha's ears dropped, and I felt guilt burn away everything else. I ignored it until he left the room, dropping to my couch and hiding in my palms. It wasn't until my brother cleared his throat that I remembered he and Sango were still there.
"I think we're going to go. Let you two get some…rest," Miroku said with a smirk.
I threw a pillow from my couch at him, and Sango followed him out the door. The two were hand in hand but still wore faces of the same smugness. Inuyasha was once again in my care even without being his master. I heard the shower running and needed something to do with myself.
So I made dinner. Nothing special, but I hoped Inuyasha would appreciate Japanese cuisine. He'd made me pancakes the other day, but even I noticed they were the extra fluffy kind they make in Japan at food stalls. When was the last time Inuyasha was home? I had traveled to Japan a few times to visit family. He mentioned a master that was British but not where he was when he had that master.
New to him pair of joggers on his hips, Inuyasha hadn't put his shirt on yet, standing in the doorway of my kitchen. How long he'd been watching me, I don't know, but I nearly dropped the rice on the floor. "What are you doing?"
"What are you doing? Cooking?"
"Yeah!"
"Whatcha makin?"
He was making his way to me, lifting curious golds to what remained on the counter behind me. Nearly on top of me, I had to put my hands on his chest to stop him, his warm skin under my palms and making me nervous again. "No…nothing special!"
"It looks like white rice and…kimchi?"
I pushed as hard as I could and only got an inch from Inuyasha. "Could you put on a shirt?! I didn't buy all those clothes for fun!"
"I think you did. You enjoyed picking out stuff for me; I heard and saw you."
The frown I wore was real, but it seemed fake with my flush. "Then you saw me spend my money, didn't you?"
"Uh," Inuyasha leaned back from his stoop over me, "I'm not sure. Didn't look like any money I'd ever see before."
I rolled my eyes in mocked irritation when I felt the pain of another reminder of the time Inuyasha lost. "I did. So put it on."
"Do you not like seeing me?"
My mouth fell open in shock. Inuyasha was asking me, and he was serious. The look on his face...there was fear and shame. There was nothing about Inuyasha's body that I found ugly or displeasing. Quite the opposite, I found him yummy. But that's not something you want to hear from some random girl you served…sort of.
"If you want to walk around shirtless, then do it. It's your choice."
"But it's your home, Kagome."
I turned around in hopes it would hide my face when my cheeks melted off. "I…I like…I like you shirtless…oh God!"
What was I saying?! I slapped a hand to my mouth and silently wished to disappear. "If you feel that bad about it…you could even the score? Take your shirt off."
I dropped the bowl of fish I was marinating all over the counter, and Inuyasha just laughed. He was rolling on the floor, and I kicked him as playfully as I could while fuming from a mixture of emotions. Unfortunately, one of them was turned on; a hot demon was shirtless on my kitchen floor and telling me to take my shirt off—even if it was a joke.
Cleaning up the mess, Inuyasha lounged on the floor, his thick arms bulging with them behind his head. It wasn't helping my turned-on body in the least. And his eyes that I could feel on me weren't helping my embarrassment. "This is nice," I glanced back at the man who was comfortable on my floor, "I've never had this."
"Had what?" I asked, partially sure what he was talking about.
"Family."
It cooled my body down to manageable, stopping my cooking to smirk down at him. "My family doesn't lay on my dirty kitchen floor. At least not right after a shower and not sober."
"So…Miroku's been on this floor?"
"With all his clothes on and off."
Inuyasha jumped up, threw on a shirt, and returned to 'help' me cook. Surviving many accidental grazes, we soon sat to grilled fish, white rice, and kimchi. "Sorry, the kimchi is store-bought." He shrugged and dug in. It had been almost twenty-four hours since he ate…or longer. "This is the first time I've seen you eat!"
I yelled at him, shocked by my realization. Inuyasha blinked at me a few times before swallowing his mouthful. "I ain't got to, but you made this so..."
"You don't need to eat?"
He shook his head, "Djin would die of starvation as long as we can be locked up for. Can you imagine rubbing the lamp and a corpse rolled out?" Inuyasha was laughing while I lost my appetite. "Kagome…"
"I don't find it funny."
Standing suddenly, Inuyasha swiped my phone off the coffee table where I'd left it. "Let's call your brother and get Sango to make her wish."
"What? I thought we were past this racing to death thing you had?!"
"I am! That's why I want to hurry and get this curse removed!"
"Oh," of course he did. He'd been locked up for a century without good cause. I'd only just realized this would mean Inuyasha would be gone.
Shaking my head, I took the phone from Inuyasha. Those were selfish thoughts, and releasing Inuyasha from the lamp wouldn't be goodbye. We were family; he said so himself.
"He doesn't want to wait until tomorrow?"
I glanced at Inuyasha (who was listening), and he shook his head. "No, he doesn't."
Miroku sounded annoyed when he agreed to come back over. I ignored it and cleaned my kitchen. Inuyasha sat on the couch, threaded hands before him, and lost in thought. He jumped when the knock at the door came, and Sango eyed Inuyasha closely. I watched their interaction with interest, looking for differences when Sango's eyes danced to Inuyasha's ears as they flicked. "Whoa, when did you get those?"
I had forgotten about it, how no one seemed to notice the ears on top of Inuyasha's head. He sighed and rolled his head with his eyes. "They've always been there. Only now, as my master, you can see them."
Miroku looked my way. That fit his earlier theory that I was considered Inuyasha's master because I had seen his ears from the start.
"Excep' for Kagome. She's special."
His eyes found mine, and I was on fire again. So many emotions, and I was having all of them in front of my big brother. I would never live this down, Miroku grinning in a creepy way unfit for a mentor.
"Right, well, we were thinking..." Sango was taking the attention away from me, and I appreciated it immensely, "this trip, it should be you and Kagome."
"What?!"
"We have no clue how far you may go to find these people," Miroku added, "and I have a job."
"I have a wedding to plan," Sango grinned.
I was trying not to hyperventilate while the two hatched whatever their plan was. Inuyasha was more important, and he couldn't go alone. He was too new to the world and had a temper. And he had been alone long enough.
"Fine, but I want my aggravation noted."
"Noted!" Miroku yelled, handing me a pair of passports I'd never seen before, "I know some people," he said with a wink, "make the wish, babe."
"Alright," Sango stepped up to Inuyasha, and I saw his eyes dilate. "Inuyasha, I wish for you and Kagome to go alone to the ones responsible for your curse."
It was similar to the last wish; a moment passed, and Inuyasha moved as if in a trance. He scooped me up into his arms without a word, then stared me in the eyes while the world disappeared around us. He still held me in his arms and locked my vision when the bright sun hit us hard. I squinted, and Inuyasha finally released his stare. He still had me off the ground, slowly turning to take in our surroundings.
"Where are we?"
It had been a long time for Inuyasha because I could see Tokyo tower from where we were. I don't know exactly, but I knew enough. "Tokyo, Japan."
"Japan? I'm home?" I nodded, and he looked again. "It looks…different."
I giggled softly, and that caught his attention again. "It's been a hundred years. It should look different."
I stopped everything I was doing to look at his tattoo, holding my breath until it stopped growing. It hadn't reached his shoulder yet, but it was getting close. And I didn't want it to get any more near to his heart.
Inuyasha turned us around to find endless stairs behind us. Without dropping me, Inuyashaproceeded to carry us both up to the unknown top. I didn't fight him with my hands or arms. Instead, I watched him, his jaw flexing for a multitude of reasons. "You don't have to carry me. I can walk."
"Yeah, but we don't know what's waiting up here, do we? And I got you into this mess; I ain't gonna make you work any harder than you have."
"It's hardly been work…."
We were silent other than Inuyasha's consistent breaths. I took a moment to lean into him, curl into him and feel his heart beating under my ear. Inuyasha seemed to hold me tighter, and I didn't know the cause. My imagination, me moving around, or for other reasons I didn't dare dream he'd do it for, I wasn't sure. But it had us in a fairly intimate position when we cleared the stairs..and someone was waiting for us.
I suddenly found myself behind Inuyasha, who growled before me. "You."
"Hello, Inuyasha."
