Okay, so, I was going to post this earlier but my stupid mother turned off my comp!!! AARRRRRGGGG!!!! I should put a password up again, and when I move out I'm sooo taking this all with me!! No more shit, I say!!
Deds:
lindajrjt - Me too. I love finishing a good story. I also wonder how she will react? Hmmmm...
Mystical Hanyou - Who wouldn't love him forever?? Sigh...
INU-sarah - A lot of things/people are retarded, eh? I'm appalled at the retardedness. Don't feel too bad for Ayame. She gets what she's got coming to her.
Kagomelovessesshy5 - I'm confused, and milk reminds me that it's 1145 and I still have no Froot Loops to eat, bah!
OvercastKid534 - Simmer, the wait is over (for now)!
MyInuYashaObsession - Yes, it is all planned out... but those suggestions were sound. Prego?? Hahaha, tomato babies!! hahahaha.
.Sherel. - You like it, eh? Good! I'm glad. New fans are always welcome!
Nimeway - ...Sounds like you got some issues to deal with there... Hahaha, everybody wants Naraku to crack like the retarded biscuit he is, lol. Inu is hot, isn't he? And Kikyou, well... she should be chewing dirt and talking to Satan for company than walking the Earth, I tells ya that right now. Dumb bitch.
Animefancritic - Nice to hear from you! Glad you like it!
ash - Simmer, eh? It's all here for yer reading pleasure! Okay, not ALL, but some, hehe!
taintedinuyasha - Done all the Harry potheads, eh? I am being forced to go see that, but if you exchange those cheetos for skittles, I may just go without a fuss! (cheetos give me migraines, lol, along with a host of other weird shit, like carpet deodoriser, go figure). P.S. I am working on a new story (eee!) so if I like it after twenty pages we'll see if it goes up. Woot! I'm excited!!
Inuyasha: Grease'd
Chapter Thirteen
After nine, Inuyasha came, and when he found Kagome she was in a sour mood. All evening she'd been stewing over what Kikyou had said to her, and just seeing Ayame had brought back the memories of her break-up with Houjo. She was not feeling very social when he showed up, at all.
He sensed her mood, and decided to approach her with a light attitude, since she was obviously in need of a boost in mood. So, he waved her down, and when she came over, her smile almost forced, he said, "So, how's it going?"
She replied, "It's been better."
He responded, "Oh? Who's got their knickers in a twist today?" His faked British accent was terrible, he sounded like some old English granny!
Her lips quivered, and she was powerless to stop the smile that lifted them, and she snorted through her nose.
He laughed, then got up, pretending to be shocked, and put a hand to his mouth, and quoted, "Oh, it was terrible! I saw it all! It was a run-by-fruiting!"
At this Kagome dropped her tray and doubled over laughing, and he was close to joining her, both snorting unabashedly and holding their sides to quell the delicious pain of laughter.
By the time they'd gotten control of themselves, she was clinging to his side for support, tears streaming from her eyes, still laughing, and he had a hand on his knee, bracing them both, the other clutching his gut.
"Oh, shit," he said, and she started laughing all over again, while telling him that was terrible. "What? What's terrible?"
She choked, "Your accent!" and started laughing all over again.
He smiled, then said, "Well, it made you feel better, didn't it?"
She looked up at him, and wiped what remained of her tears away. He grinned at her, and in that instant, she knew.
He was the biker in the leather outfit!
Her mouth fell open in her realisation, but she quickly shut it, and tucked her hair behind her ear, returning his smile indulgently. "Yes, it did. I don't think I've ever felt better after such a trying day." She looked into his eyes, and could understand why other girls called them mesmerising. They were even more so when he was decked out in black leather.
You sweetheart, she thought, her heart swelling with feeling. She decided to keep her epiphany to herself, and see how long he waited to tell her it was him. She knew she'd seen that smile somewhere!
She wondered why it had taken her so long to realise it, and who he thought he was fooling. She was momentarily miffed that he'd tried to trick her into thinking he was someone else, but she overlooked that quickly. He hadn't outright lied and told her he was someone else; in fact, he'd never said anything along those lines at all. He was starting to look at her funny, as if something were wrong since she seemed to be lost in her own thoughts, but she quickly recovered herself and said, "So, how was work for you?"
He shrugged. "Nothing special. I don't get to deal with all the drama that you do."
She nodded. That was true. How much trouble could one cause at a gas station? Besides the obvious, which was causing a major explosion, a rare and unlikely event in any case, you were in and out, in a matter of minutes, with no need to get out of your car. She was struck by just how similar their jobs really were. They both performed a service, and catered to the automobile, and those driving them.
He asked her, "Did you bring your assignment?"
She replied, "Yeah, it's in my binder. I'll get it for you." She skated away, and he sat down to await her return.
Looking around, he spotted many people he knew. Sango and Miroku were here, as usual; Ayame was off by herself, Kikyou at the same table, but neither girl seemed to be with the other. Kikyou kept glancing at her watch. Kouga was here, with Houjo... wait.
Kouga hadn't been here when he'd arrived. And his car was nowhere in sight. And suddenly, through the crowd of people, Houjo had appeared at his side. Inuyasha felt his gut tighten as both looked in his direction, then at each other, gesturing rapidly.
He had that feeling again, that feeling of impending danger, only this time it was a fear for his own safety.
They talked and glanced at him for a few more minutes, when, as if things couldn't get worse, Naraku showed up.
Inuyasha saw Kikyou jump up and go over to him, her face angry, but he brushed her aside; the guys were talking to him. She crossed her arms, and sulked. He felt himself feel pity for her; Inuyasha didn't imagine that a relationship with a nasty guy like Naraku to be very appealing, and apparently she was realising that now.
Grabbing his arm, she'd yanked him away, but he was stronger than her; she did no more than turn him toward her, and she spat at his feet, and hissed, "Where were you? You were cheating on me, I know it! You-"
He snarled in her face, "If you insist on being a little goddamn bitch, Kikyou, I'm more than happy to dump you. Now fuck off." And that was all Inuyasha was able to hear before Naraku punched her in the jaw and turned his back on her. He returned his attention back to the boys' conversation and Kikyou picked herself up, her eyes mutinous. She knew it. He didn't care about her. He was just like every other boy, and wanted that bitch, Kagome!
She'd heard parts of their conversation, and from that she could easily figure out that they were going to pound somebody, and Kagome's name had come up more than once while she'd been standing there.
That bitch, she thought, wiping blood from her lip, she is so going to pay!
Inu G'd
Kagome came back a few minutes later, her books in her arms. She looked up to see if Inuyasha was still waiting where she'd left him, but he was nowhere in sight. She frowned. There was big crowd where he had been standing, and apparently something was going on in the middle of it.
All the way to the house she'd allowed herself the luxury of an unrestrained smile. She was so touched by him; he had to be the sweetest, most considerate, cutest boy in all of creation. She wondered why she hadn't seen it earlier, but realised that she had; she just hadn't wanted herself to see.
She'd spent the last few minutes in a sort of euphoria. There were so many guys hitting on her lately, and only he had respected her enough to leave her alone. Even his alter-ego had been considerate that way. He'd offered her a ride, not asked. Besides, there wasn't anything she could refuse him, he held her very heart in his hand. She realised that he always had, even when she'd been with Houjo. He was irresistible to her, and she was tired of resisting. She wanted to give in more than anything, but she didn't want to ruin his hard work by letting him know that she'd figured it out. She wanted the farce to last, oddly enough. She enjoyed the lengths he went to to please her. It made her feel wanted, and loved. She couldn't wait to reward him for all his effort.
She looked around for him, and then climbed up on a table to see over the crowd. He had to be here somewhere. He didn't normally just wander off on her and-
It was then that she spotted him. In the center of the crowd of onlookers, Inuyasha was up against a formidable force: Houjo, her old boyfriend, Kouga, her enemy who refused to take no for an answer, and Naraku, her former-friend's boyfriend.
She frowned. Why was he there? He'd hit on her once and she'd flat-out refused. What stake did he have? And what was this all about anyway?
She couldn't hear what was going on over the murmurs of the crowd, but she had a bad feeling that whatever happened was going to be because of her.
Inu G'd
Miroku and Sango had watched the crowd gathering but had had no idea what was going on. From their viewpoint, they could see everything, but they couldn't hear anything. Miroku grabbed Sango's hand as soon as it looked like Inuyasha was in trouble, and, pulling her down off his car, said, "Come on, Sango. We have to do something."
Sango had agreed, but had asked, "What can we do? They won't listen to us."
Miroku had looked at her over his shoulder as he threaded his way through the gathering crowd, her hand clasped tightly in his. "We have to find Kagome, Sango. I have a feeling that she is the reason behind this little meeting, as unintentional as I know that is."
Sango felt her heart do the twisting-up thing again, but this time she ignored it. Inuyasha could be in danger; her heart would just have to deal with the fact that Kagome was involved and Miroku was concerned for her welfare.
Ayame, too, watched the gathering of the crowd like a thunderhead on the horizon. The tension was palpable; a storm, figuratively, was imminent. Her fears were coming to light, and it was obvious now that Houjo wanted Kagome back, but she didn't know why they were confronting Inuyasha. She knew that he was Kagome's Latin tutor, Houjo had complained to her about that, but as far as she knew, nothing was going on between them.
She just didn't get it. Then, she spotted Kagome, her arms full of books and papers, a worried look on her face. She looked up as Kikyou, across the table from her, stood up, and began to walk in Kagome's direction.
Ayame panicked. "Where are you going?"
Kikyou grinned, a nasty sight on her pretty, but bloody, face. "I'm going to do a little reconnaissance. Don't worry, I won't hurt her... yet."
Ayame watched her walk away, chewing her fingernails in anxiety. Something bad was about to happen, and there was nothing she could do to stop it. She wished fervently that she'd never had an affair with Houjo and that things were the way they used to be.
She hated feeling so lonely.
Inu G'd
Inuyasha watched Kouga, Naraku, and Houjo carefully. All three had approached him a few minutes earlier. He had been polite, at least as polite as he could be, under the circumstances, but he'd lost his cool quickly.
Kouga had started things off by smashing Inuyasha with his shoulders, and Inuyasha had backed off, barking, "What's your problem, Kouga? What'd I do to you?"
Kouga had smiled, and called Inuyasha out. "You're him, aren't you? The guy on the bike. The guy that's been taking Kagome for rides."
Inuyasha kept his expression carefully neutral. He would not let Kouga get the better of him. He'd fought him once and won, and he felt confident he could do it again, but now Kouga had help. Where's Sesshoumaru when I need him? Inuyasha thought.
Sesshoumaru was, in fact, just across the street, getting ice cream with Rin. They saw the crowd and had come over to investigate, but had yet to see what was going on and who was involved.
Kagome could see from her vantage point that Inuyasha was outnumbered, but she had faith in his abilities to defend himself. She just didn't know how long he would be able to fend all three of them off, and she wanted so badly to stop this whole thing.
Suddenly Kikyou was at her elbow, and Kagome barely spared her a glance. "What do you want?" She'd seen the bloody lip Kikyou was sporting but was sure it was nothing her former friend hadn't deserved.
"Poor Kagome," she tsked, walking around the table to stand on Kagome's other side. "This fight is all over you, you know. If he kicks it, it's all your fault."
Kagome turned to face her, her face angry, because Kikyou had just confirmed her suspicions. "What? Why me?"
Kikyou crossed her arms. "Apparently your moonlighting with your Mystery Man has been badly received. I hope you're happy to know that Naraku just dumped me for you, you bitch." Kikyou's face was twisted into something ugly, her bitterness and jealousy making her once pretty countenance contort with hate.
Kagome turned away from her. Now it all made sense! Naraku was putting in a dib on her?! Was this what this was all about?
She sat down and untied her skates. Kikyou stood back and glared at her. It would seem that her nasty little epithet had been ignored. Either way, she could see the determination in Kagome's eyes. She was about to do something drastic, and Kikyou thought she had an idea about just what it was Kagome was going to do.
She melted away into the crowd as Kagome wrestled with a knot in one of her laces, finally making some headway and untangling it. She had just pulled off both skates when Miroku and Sango finally found her.
"Kagome, what's going on?" Sango asked, sitting close to her best friend. Miroku sat on her other side, immediately bringing his arm around Kagome's shoulders and giving her a squeeze.
Kagome lifted her chin, her jaw locked and her teeth firmly clenched. "I'm going to put a stop this nonsense."
Miroku frowned, confused, "What's all this about?"
Kagome gave him a hard look. "Me, Miroku. They're about to fight over me. And to the winner go the spoils. I won't stand for it." Getting up, she pushed her way barefoot through the tight crowd, shoving people out of her way, for once not caring that she was being rude.
By the time she finally made it to the center, the fight was joined. It was obvious that Inuyasha had held off from physical violence as long as he could. Now, Naraku had him by his hair and Kouga was knawing on his knee, Houjo twisting his arm cruelly behind his back.
Sesshoumaru arrived in the center at the same time Kagome did, and he was outraged by what he saw. His little brother was outnumbered and losing. He'd seen enough and charged in blindly, his fingertips glowing as the lash of his poison whip made contact with all three of Inuyasha's assailants simultaneously. Rin watched in awe as Sesshoumaru charged in, but when she saw Kagome rush in she felt fear.
Kagome, having seen what was happening, felt as if someone else had taken control of her body and she put herself between Kouga and Inuyasha, as soon as Sesshoumaru's lashing had made him release the inu-hanyou.
All three turned to look at who'd interrupted their fight and glared at Sesshoumaru, who was more than capable of taking them on.
Kouga, as if by an unspoken signal, moved up to challenge Sesshoumaru, while Houjo and Naraku fell back.
Kagome was bent by Inuyasha, cradling his cheek in her hand, and she traced her thumb over his swollen skin and whispered, "Inuyasha," in such a loving way that he thought he'd imagined it. His eye was swollen, but his ears were still in perfect working order, and he was hoping that he'd heard her right. But now was not the time to savour the moment.
"Kagome, you have to get out of here," he said, propping himself up on his elbow, and she helped him to stand. He was wobbly, and went down on one knee; the other was chewed up too badly for him to keep any weight on it.
She caught him and put herself under his shoulder, so she was bearing all his weight, and said, while looking into his eyes, "Not without you."
Naraku had heard her, and he nudged Houjo, who'd turned to look. Fuming, Houjo moved forward, about to hit Inuyasha, but at that moment, Inuyasha went down, all the way down, and Kagome managed to grab only his wrist before Houjo yelled, "Inuyasha! She's mine!"
Kagome turned at the sound of his voice, and the punch that Houjo had meant for Inuyasha nailed Kagome right in the nose.
She screamed.
When the pain had faded to numbness, Kagome took her hands away from her nose, and saw that it was covered in blood. Houjo stood before her, shock writ all over his face. The crowd was silent, and even the others had stopped fighting at the sound of her scream.
Kouga saw what had happened and shouted, "Houjo you dumbass! What'd you go and hit my woman for?"
Naraku started to laugh, a sound Kagome recognised and feared. It was pure evil.
Houjo's face went from shocked to surprised to appalled to angry within ten seconds. He turned around and bit, "Your woman? Kagome's mine! I dated her last!"
Kouga walked away from Sesshoumaru and got into Houjo's face, and the two began to argue, while Naraku and Sesshoumaru, not to mention the rest of the crowd, looked on in silence.
Kagome was devastated. The pain was intense, and when she felt a pair of hands on her shoulders she thought it was Inuyasha comforting her, and she relaxed into his arms, but something was off. He didn't smell like himself...
She looked up into his eyes, her vision swimming in the pain radiating out from her sinuses, and saw that these eyes were not golden, but red, and hollow. These were Naraku's eyes.
He smiled lazily and locked his arms around her, saying, "Looks like I'm the winner. Those two will be at it till Christmas. Now to claim my prize..." He leaned down to kiss her, since she'd long ago removed her hands. Her eyes searched frantically for Inuyasha, and she spotted him on the ground, unconscious, and Ayame was by his side, gently trying to rouse him. Leaving him in her hands for the moment, Kagome decided to put this asshole in his place once and for all, and the others, too.
She let him put his lips on hers, but when he had closed his eyes, she savagely trapped his upper lip between her teeth, and bit down hard.
He yelled, and boxed her ears with his fists, which dazed her and caused her to release her grip. He pulled away, his lip bloody and perforated like paper.
"You fucking bitch!" he screeched. He put his fingers to his lip and they came away red. He spit at her and shouted, "Fuck you! They can have you! Worthless bitch!"
She heard his words and shook her head, then turned her back to him. One down, two to go, she ticked off mentally.
Sesshoumaru watched her approach Houjo and Kouga, who'd gotten to the point in their argument where they were pushing and shoving each other, and she came up to them, but neither seemed to notice. When they were face-to-face, shouting, she reached out and smashed their heads together as hard as she could, stunning them both.
"Listen to me!" she shouted, and the silence was complete. "I am not a prize! I am a woman! I will decide who I love and who I give my love to! You have all made complete idiots of yourselves trying to decide my future. Well guess what? That's no one's responsibility but mine. I've had enough. I never want to speak to any of you again!"
After this the crowd began to disperse. It was clear that the fight was over, and Kagome's tone had coerced them to respect her wishes. Her sides heaving, she made her way back to Inuyasha, who'd regained consciousness and was sitting upright.
Ayame left him in Kagome's hands. They looked at each other, and Kagome felt her heart twist. She missed Ayame. It was a terrible thing she'd done to her, but if she hadn't, Kagome would still be with Houjo, and now that she was free, she knew that with him was where she never wanted to be again.
Ayame, seeing the softening look in her friend's eyes, put her hand on her arm, and Kagome didn't push it away; she laid her hand atop it and whispered, "Thank you."
Ayame nodded, and went to Houjo, who let her lead him away. He looked at her in the dim light of dusk, and she looked disappointed in him. He realised how much her disappointment made him cringe. He hated to see disappointment in her eyes. He vowed then to make it all up to her.
Kouga watched Ayame pull Houjo away and Kagome embrace Inuyasha warmly, as if they'd been separated for a long time. In his heart he knew that he'd lost, but he was a sore loser, and never had been able to take defeat graciously.
He went to move toward Kagome and Inuyasha, but a hand on his shoulder stopped him. Sesshoumaru, his hand glowing, warned, "Let them be, wolf. You have no grounds here."
Glaring, Kouga shrugged off his hand but left quietly, his forehead pounding with the contact of Houjo's forehead.
By now the crowd was gone. Only Sesshoumaru, Rin, Miroku, and Sango remained behind with Kagome and Inuyasha. She was sitting on the pavement, in his lap, her arms clasped around his neck, silent tears making wet tracks down her cheeks. Her face was buried in his neck, glad to have him safe in her arms again.
Inuyasha had to admit that now his plan seemed obsolete. She had clearly made her choice, and that was she wished to be on her own. He was glad, but just a little disappointed. Although... she still didn't know about his alter-ego... he still had a chance. He also had to admit that just because she had defended him and was now sobbing uncontrollably in his lap didn't mean she loved him, or had chosen him as her man. He was optimistic that it was a good sign, though.
"Kagome," he soothed, rubbing her back, "It's okay, they're gone. Calm down, Kagome, come on. That's my girl."
She started to calm down, her sobs lessening to sniffles. All their friends sat around them, watching sympathetically and offering moral support.
Kagome wiped her nose and untangled herself from Inuyasha, who moved her to sit next to him on the curb. She smiled at him in thanks for his comfort, and turned to face her friends, who all smiled at her.
Sesshoumaru, his arm tight around Rin, commented, "That was a very stupid thing you did, Miss Higurashi. But very brave."
She chuckled, but winced. Her nose was numb, but pain still registered in sharp jolts. "Thanks, Sesshoumaru. And it's Kags, to you."
He nodded in acknowledgement, and Sango leaned forward, "He's right, though, Kags, that was the bravest thing I've ever seen. You just walked into a demon's fight like you owned the place."
Kagome smiled, and gestured to the bright sign over their heads. "I do kinda own the place, in a manner of speaking."
They all laughed, and Inuyasha put a hand on her shoulder. She turned to look at him, his beautiful eyes almost swollen shut. She still thought he was the most handsome thing she'd ever seen, though.
"Thank you, Kagome," he whispered, and she grinned, despite the pain.
"You're welcome, Inuyasha."
The silence was awkward after that, but Miroku slapped his knee and said, "Well, it's getting late. Sango? Are you ready?" Sango took Kagome's hand and squeezed it, replying, "Whenever you are, Miroku."
Sesshoumaru hauled Rin up and said, "That's a good idea. You coming, Rin?" She nodded, and turned to Kagome. "You take good care of her, Inuyasha."
He looked up, and nodded dumbly. They were leaving him alone with her, something he dreamed about very night, and something he'd briefly enjoyed as her tutor. He had a feeling, though, that they wouldn't be doing much work tonight.
After their friends had left, Inuyasha saw Kikyou sitting at her table, glaring, before she too got up and left.
Kikyou had watched the whole sappy deal, and felt sick to her stomach. Her jealousy of Kagome ran deep, and she had yet another plan to destroy the girl who'd once dared to call her a friend. No one steals my man and gets away with it, she thought, her fists balled. She neglected to recall that it had been Naraku who had dumped her, and not Kagome who'd taken an active interest, but that was beside the point now. Now, all she had on the brain was revenge.
Inuyasha pulled Kagome to her feet and limped with her to the restaurant, where Kagome's mother took one look at her and ordered Inuyasha to take her to the house.
Gladly obeying, Kagome led the way, and when they had sat down in the kitchen, he finally spoke. "Does it hurt?" His own knee throbbed with every pulse of his heart.
She nodded. The numbness had worn off and now there was excruciating pain, localised right between her eyes.
He noticed it was a tad crooked; was it broken? He had to set it. He'd set his brother's nose once, after a particularly savage childhood tussle, and his father had supervised as he set Sesshoumaru's broken nose. It was unnoticeable now, and his brother had grown up to have a straighter nose than he'd started out with.
"Kagome, does this hurt?" he asked, just touching it lightly. She screwed up her face and nodded, tears gathering in her eyes, but she made no sound.
"Okay, honey, your nose is broken."
Her fears were confirmed. Now her nose would be crooked and she'd be ugly forever. The tears spilled over and she dabbed at her eyes with a tissue.
Inuyasha stood up and started opening drawers, and finally he found what he was looking for: white tape that was stiff enough to brace her bones in her nose.
Returning to his seat, he said gently, "I'm going to set your nose, and it's going to hurt. Are you ready?"
She wondered if the pain could get any worse. Surely not, it was unbearable as it was. She nodded.
He held her left hand tightly with his own, and with his right, he placed his thumb and index fingers on either side of the bridge of her nose.
"One, two, three." She heard a cracking noise and felt a white-hot bolt of pain knife through her brain, but it soon dimmed to a throb, and she took her first breath through her nasal passage since it had happened, but something was stuck in there, and she started to choke.
Inuyasha put a Kleenex under her nose and commanded, "Blow!" She did, painfully, but she could breath again, clearly. A red bob of blood had come out, slick with snot. It was clotted blood, and it had been obstructing her nasal passage. She took one look and turned away. "That's so gross," she said, her voice nasally.
He chuckled, "You sound like a New Yorker."
She smiled and he held her chin while he applied the white tape to keep the bones in her nose in place while they healed. Releasing her, he admonished, "Now don't take that off until your nose heals."
She laughed. "Yes, mother!"
They fell silent, but it was companionable. She took his hand again. "Thank you, Inuyasha."
He smiled tenderly for her. "Thank you, Kagome."
She blushed, "Kags."
He corrected himself. "Kags." He felt lighter, somehow; it was a sign that she had accepted him as her friend by allowing him to call her by her nickname used by her other close friends.
Kagome stared at him and then got up, taking two steaks out of the freezer and throwing them into the sink to thaw. Then, she turned to him, a smile on her face.
"Now it's your turn."
He sighed. "Do your damndest, Doctor."
She grinned.
Inu G'd
Ooooohhh, there's some pretty strong feelings going on here! I'm getting all warm just punctuating the love!! I can't wait to see what develops between them, and I wrote this story!!! I promise to post sooner, but I just like to give everyone a chance to review, hehe, hence the week's wait. There are about 8-10 regulars so I don't like to miss anybody when I do deds, you know!