Disclaimer: I do not own Devil Does Exist or Devil Beside You - the manga and drama that this story is based on.
Notes: Hey guys, sorry for the delay! My computer crashed about two weeks ago. Even after it was fixed, I still had to rewrite this chapter and finish a rest of my major assignments and projects for school. I know a lot of you have been looking forward to this chapter, so here it is! It's a little on the short side but I'll make up for it in the next chapter. Also, I'll be sure to update regularly from now on. For those of you who don't know, I usually update once a week, either on Friday's or during the weekends. Anyway, enjoy chapter nine!
The Joke's On You
Chapter Nine: Say Goodbye
Sw33t-Sorrows
What are we going to do? Inuyasha's older brother found out about us. Inuyasha told me that he and his brother don't get along at all. What if he tells Uncle and Mom? What will happen then? Kagome was worrying as she and Inuyasha made their way back home. Why isn't he saying anything? Isn't he worried? "You worry too much, you know that?" Inuyasha didn't turn to look at her as they continued walking.
"What do you mean I worry too much, aren't you worried?!" Kagome countered, he kept silent this time. The rest of the walk home was awkward and quiet, Kagome could feel her heartbeat increasing as they approached the large house. She felt Inuyasha squeeze her hand before releasing it and opening the door. Nervously, Kagome stepped into the house and saw that the whole family was sitting in the living room. Hitomi looked up at her daughter.
"Kagome..." Oh my God. Kagome panicked as she looked over at Sesshomaru, who appeared absolutely stoic. "Have you met Sesshomaru?" Hitomi's voice was suddenly cheerful and laced with happiness.
"Eh?"
"Sesshomaru, Inuyasha's brother and Taisho's eldest son." Hitomi moved aside and signalled towards the older man. He...didn't tell? Judging by Hitomi's good mood, Kagome decided that Sesshomaru hadn't told their parents yet. "Inuyasha, aren't you going to say hello to your brother?" Kagome hadn't seen a smile more fake than the one Inuyasha had just slapped onto his face.
"Sesshomaru, let's catch up, shall we?" Inuyasha walked up the stairs, leaving Kagome standing there in the middle of the living room. Sesshomaru slowly got up out of the couch and followed his younger brother. As soon as the two brothers got upstairs, Inuyasha whirled around and pointed an accusing finger at his older brother. "Okay, Sesshomaru. What the hell do you want?"
"What are you talking about?"
"You didn't tell them."
"And...you want me to?"
"What?! No! You never do stuff like this."
"You've never done anything right, Inuyasha."
"Then why the hell are you helping me?!"
"Kagome, is her name?" Inuyasha didn't answer. "Kagome...as you might have noticed, she isn't like the other girls you've brought home. She's innocent, kind, and she actually dresses appropriately." Sesshomaru smirked at the frown on Inuyasha's face. "And I've noticed that she's more-"
"Hey! Have you been-"
"So what if I have?"
"She's-"
"Our future little sister? I know. And I'm guessing you know that too. So why are you still dating her?"
"Because!"
"We're not five years old anymore, Inuyasha."
"I..." Inuyasha didn't know what to say. Sesshomaru was challenging his intentions, and he had never admitted this before - not even to himself. "Because," Inuyasha exhaled before finishing his sentence. "I've never felt like this before." What the hell? I'm opening up to Sesshomaru?! Damn that Kagome, she's making me into a stupid little wuss. Dumb girl.
"You know, Inuyasha," Sesshomaru turned his back to Inuyasha before heading down the stairs. He stopped halfway, "You might actually do something right this time." As the older Takahashi son disappeared down the stairs, Inuyasha stood at the second floor of the home, bewildered. Had Sesshomaru just encouraged him?
That night after dinner, Kagome made her way into Sesshomaru's room, which was also the basement. She saw he was watching TV as she descended down the stairs. "S-Sesshomaru?" The silver-haired man tore his eyes from the television to look at her. He stood up from his couch and silently invited her to come in. "Um, I just...wanted to thank you for tonight. For not telling." Why am I so nervous?
"Is that all?" He spoke after a long period of silence. Sesshomaru gave Kagome a blank stare before taking a seat onto the couch again. "You may leave, now." Jeez, what a guy. Kagome thought before turning around and getting ready to go back up the stairs. "Hey." She stopped and her eyes widened as he said something very unexpected. "Be good to him."
"W-what?"
"My brother - be good to him." Sesshomaru really does care about Inuyasha. "Although he's a real screwup sometimes, I know he'll be good to you." Inuyasha told me that he never got along with his brother because they have different mothers, and that Uncle always favored Inuyasha over him. Since Inuyasha's mother felt like she owed it to Sesshomaru, she always stuck by his side. Inuyasha alawys felt neglected by his own mother - thinking why she had gone to Sesshomaru instead of her own son. Judging by Sesshomaru's words just now, I think he feels obligated to do this for Inuyasha. Sesshomaru didn't look at the girl, instead, he stared at the figures on the television screen.
"...Me too." Soon, the future siblings began to talk about several different topics. Kagome had never expected it to be like this. Since Kagome was an only child, she never had anybody to share her feelings with other than her mother. Although she and Hitomi promised there would be absolutely no secrets between them, Kagome had to keep this one a secret. Talking to Sango about it was extra hard, since she couldn't see how difficult it was. But talking to Sesshomaru was calming. He seemed to understand, and it was better that he didn't talk much - he only sat there and listened, giving his opinion once in a while. "It's just so hard, you know? Knowing that our parents are about to get married, but Inuyasha and I...we share the same feelings as they do. However, I'm not sure everyone would understand."
As the two continued their talk, Kagome completely forgot about the fact that Grandma was sitting upstairs, waiting for Sesshomaru. They also didn't notice she was standing at the top of the stairs, listening to every single word they said.
It had been a few weeks since then.
Sesshomaru had come home from college and he'd be home for the next few months. It was Monday morning and Hitomi came into the kitchen with plates full of food. "Good morning, my babies! Time for breakfast!" Hitomi smiled happily as she set the table and watched the younger ones eat. "Where's Kagome?" She asked when her own daughter didn't come down for breakfast.
"She left for school early this morning." Inuyasha said as he practically inhaled his eggs.
"That doesn't give you a reason to be an animal." Sesshomaru remarked as he shot Inuyasha a disgusted look. "Why don't you...use a fork, or something?"
"Why don't you...shut up?"
"Hey, guys. None of that at the table!" Hitomi scolded.
"Yes, Auntie." Sesshomaru and Inuyasha said in unison.
"Hmm," Hitomi glanced at the calendar, with the spatula still in her hand. "Kagome's birthday is coming up, what should I get her?" She seemed to be thinking out loud, the other two men overhearing. "Inuyasha, you two seem to hang out a lot. What do you think I should get her?" The said boy looked up at his future stepmother, and shrugged slightly. She never told me it was her birthday... "Oh well, I'll figure something out. Sesshomaru, will you be home for her birthday party?"
"When will it be?"
"Two weeks from now."
"I'll try to make it back."
That afternoon, Inuyasha had been put in charge of walking Yuka home - the girl his Grandmother introduced him to. They had met that day at school, and she seemed to be happy to see him. "So, what do you like?" Yuka had been asking him questions to see if they had anything in common. Although she was strikingly beautiful, her personality was dull and boring. Even so, Inuyasha couldn't help but think of Kagome's pretty blue-gray eyes, her soft pink lips and the slight curve of her cheek. He smiled slightly at the image of her. "Inuyasha? Did you hear me?" He almost glared at her when she snapped him out of this thoughts. "I asked you, what do you like?"
Kagome.
He didn't know where the thought came from. More like it just popped out of nowhere. He had promised Kagome he'd walk her home today, but he had to cancel on her because of Yuka and the fact that Kagome had to go shopping with Sango. He had been planning to ask her about her birthday and why she hadn't told him about it. Earlier that day, he had went by a store and bought a silver ring for her, knowing she'd like it. Inuyasha smiled as he fingered the ring in his pocket. "I...don't know." Yuka let out a sigh. Maybe she was finally realizing that they weren't right for each other. However, as soon as it happened, the heel of her shoes snapped and she went tumbling right down to the ground. "Yuka!"
"Ouch!" Luckily her hands broke her fall, however, she received a large gash across the palm of her hand. Tears welled up in her eyes as she saw the blood.
"Are you alright?" Without thinking, Inuyasha grabbed her hand and inspected it. He helped her up, and brought her to the nearest hospital. "Your wound might get infected." He explained when she gave him a strange look. Yuka looked at him with a look of pure admiration. He's worried about me! Yuka blushed a pretty shade of pink. At the hospital, the nurse finished off dressing Yuka's hand and the two continued their walk home. "You should be careful when you wear those things, you won't be as lucky next time - I might not be there." Inuyasha hadn't noticed the way she was looking at him the whole way home. After all, he just thought of it as responsibility. He couldn't have just left her sitting there. Just then, they both heard his cell phone ringing. "Hello?"
Yuka could hear a female voice at the other line.
"Kagome? Okay, I know. I'll go now." Yuka also noticed the ring that fell out of his pocket as he pulled out his phone. Inuyasha said a quick goodbye and ran off in the other direction. She went to go pick up the ring, and she saw it was quite pretty. It was tinted pink, obviously intended for someone special. She turned and saw he was already at the other end of the street. Who is this ring for?
"Yuka?" Yuka looked up and saw a friend from school. Actually, they weren't exactly friends. She met her earlier today, just like how she met Inuyasha. In fact, Yuka met this girl and Inuyasha together at the same time. "What are you doing here? Isn't Inuyasha supposed to be walking you home?"
"Kikyo," Yuka spoke to the dark-haired girl as she held the ring in her hands. "Can I ask you a question?" Kikyo slowly approached the younger girl and stared at the ring in her hands. "About Inuyasha..." Skeptically, Kikyo couldn't help but wonder why Yuka looked so uneasy. Maybe she found something out... "Does Inuyasha already like someone? He dropped this." Holding up the ring, Kikyo didn't want to say anything. However, if she didn't, Yuka would investigate, and this wouldn't have an happy ending.
"You finally noticed?"
Back at the school, Kagome and Sango got ready to go to the mall. "Why do we need to go shopping again? Are you and Miroku going to go on a date again? Seriously, you need to stop dragging me into these things." The two girls laughed but quickly stopped when someone approached them. "H-Hojo!"
"Kagome,"
"Uh...Kagome? I'm just gonna go, alright? I'll talk to you later!" Before Kagome could respond, Sango bolted down the street and was gone within seconds. Damn it. Now what do I do? Hojo and Kagome were good friends when they were younger. In fact, Hojo was so nice, he managed to get Kagome to fall for him. Although Hojo was completely aware of Kagome's feelings for him, he wanted to wait until she was in college before he did anything. He didn't care about the fact that he was probably rather old for her, she was currently only nineteen going on twenty, while he was already twenty-eight.
She doesn't look at me that way anymore. Hojo almost frowned when she looked at him with a somewhat frightened face. She doesn't act the same around me anymore. "Kagome," He said, slowly reaching out to her. "Do you still have feelings for me?" He saw her eyes widen and her mouth drop open as she struggled to speak.
"I-I..."
"I'm sorry I left all those years ago. But I-"
"No one's blaming you, Hojo." She finally spoke. "We understand that you needed to go and get your education. We never blamed you for leaving." She doesn't blame me, then why is she acting so distant? "It's just awkward to see you now after so many years, that's all."
"You've...grown, Kagome."
"Hojo, I-"
"I've been waiting all these years to see you all grown up. Kagome, you haven't answered my question. Do you still have feelings for me?" So Hojo has been aware of my feelings all along. This is so embarrassing... Kagome didn't know what to say. What do I do? She looked up to see the heartbroken expression he wore on his face. Does he really care that much for me?
"Hojo, I-" If he does care that much for me...then I can't do this to him. Kagome opened her mouth and spoke, and after a long period of silence, Hojo smiled at her. From afar, a certain silver-haired boy glared, before walking off into the distance.
Kagome had been forced to walk home alone. She wondered why Inuyasha wanted to talk to her earlier. Too bad she had to turn him down because she was supposed to go shopping with Sango. Even then, Sango bailed on her last minute. Sango, this is all her fault. Looking up to make sure she wouldn't miss her house, Kagome stopped when she saw him sitting on the front porch. "Inuyasha?"
"Why were you with him, again?"
"What?"
"Hojo, that's his name right?"
"Oh, him? I was just-" Inuyasha didn't wait for her to finish her sentence. Instead, he turned and headed off into the house. "Inuyasha?" She called out to him again, but he didn't turn around. Ignoring her voice, and his heart that was telling him to go back, Inuyasha ran into the house, up the stairs, and into his bedroom.
Kagome ran after him.
"Inuyasha!" She banged on the door of his room. "Please, open the door. You didn't even let me finish!" Kagome felt the tears build up in her eyes when she didn't hear an answer from him. She slowly fell to the floor, Is this it? He's angry with me? The tears slipped out at the thought. Why is he mad at me?! I...I didn't do anything... "Inuyasha!" She called out to him again, this time, her voice breaking and she was sobbing. Suddenly, the door flew open. Almost immediately, Inuyasha was crouched down in front of her, pulling her against him into his warm embrace. "Inuyasha, don't ever do that to me again." She whispered as she cried into his shoulder.
"I'm sorry." After a few moments of silence, they continued to hold each other close. And at that moment, Kagome and Inuyasha didn't care if they got caught. Kagome found that her heart was slowly splitting into two, even as he was right beside her. Never before had she ever felt like this. As she felt him tightening his grip around her, she closed her eyes and hugged him tighter. "You never finished." Slowly, her eyes fluttered back open as she recalled her unfinished confession.
"I told him I don't like him anymore."
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"Do you still have feelings for me?" Kagome didn't know what to say. She looked up to see the heartbroken expression he wore on his face. Does he really care that much for me?
"Hojo, I-" If he does care that much for me...then I can't do this to him. "Hojo, I don't. I'm sorry. I don't think you do either. I know you promised my dad to take care of me and my mom, but you can't confuse responsibility with love. I care about you, Hojo, I really do. I admit, I had those feelings for you when I was in middle school. But I need you to know, as people grow - they change. I've grown...yes, but I've changed as well. My heart as already been taken by someone else. And I know you'll find someone worthy of yours, but that person just isn't me." Kagome opened her mouth and spoke, and after a long period of silence, Hojo smiled at her.
"Thank you, Kagome."
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"And you know what?" Kagome smiled into his shoulder. "I realized that I don't regret ever liking Hojo. I don't regret liking Kouji, either." She almost laughed when she felt him stiffen. He grabbed her arms and pulled away.
"You don't regret?" He looked at her with a hard expression.
"Whenever I see you angry, I can't help but feel sad." Her own expression was now serious as she looked into his eyes.
"I'm not angry,"
"Or when I see you jealous, it makes me laugh."
"Hey!"
"But it helps me to know, which feelings are the most real." Kagome reached down and took hold of his hand, squeezing it slightly. "It helps me to know, who I will always have those feelings for." Another few minutes went by, just staring at each other. Kagome's heart did a flip when Inuyasha's lip slowly curved up into a smile. Kagome smiled herself. "So you're not mad anymore?"
"I was never mad." Kagome smiled even wider as she went forward and let him envelope her into his embrace once again.
Grandma was over again that night. Hitomi and InuTaisho were planning to go back to Hitomi's hometown, visiting the future in-laws. However, Amaya didn't seem to like the idea of leaving Inuyasha and Kagome in the house by themselves. Mainly because she had discovered them, yet, she didn't want to jump to conclusions. Sitting in the living room with her future daughter-in-law, Amaya pursed her lips. "Mom, what's wrong?" Hitomi had gotten used to calling Amaya 'mom', just for practice.
"Hitomi, do you really think it's alright to leave the children in the house? They should come with you."
"Oh, they will be fine. They're grown ups now. Besides, if we force them to go-" Amaya held up her hand to silence the younger woman.
"What I'm trying to say is, you must keep an eye on those two." What is she talking about? Hitomi stared at the serious expression on her elder's face. "Those two...you understand. They're young, with their raging hormones - and adults won't be around..." Amaya seemed embarrassed as she continued with the topic.
"Oh my goodness! Is that really what you think of my child? Do you really think Kagome would do such a thing?" Hitomi was offended - the very thought of Kagome doing something so shameful was just unheard of. Hitomi had raised that child to the best of her ability, Kagome was no fool. That girl was brought up knowing her manners and her expectations...she would never do anything like that. Who cares if they get along really well? Isn't that what I wanted? I remember Taisho telling me he caught them fooling around in the bathroom, but he didn't seem too disturbed about it. Then again, it's Taisho...he's a bit too slow. What if something really is going on between Inuyasha and Kagome?
Hitomi didn't want to think about it anymore.
Author's Notes: Oh my God! This chapter is so short! Sorry, I'll write longer chapters next time. Mmm, well, Grandma found out. And now Hitomi's suspicious! What will happen next?! Please review!
Sw33t-Sorrows.