Disclaimer: As always noted, I do not own Inu-Yasha, just the story line and Hiro.
Chapter Seven: Can I Have the Tears?
"What did you say?" Kagome was even more speechless. She couldn't believe her ears. Did he actually really as her to . . .
". . . go out to dinner with me?" Inu-Yasha repeated, growing a little nervous by the fact that it was taking her so long to answer.
" . . . Well . . . um . . . sure," Kagome started to accept before realizing a couple of things. "You're such a jerk!"
"What!" Now it was Inu-Yasha's turn to not trust what his ears were hearing.
'Did she really say that?! I'm the one being nice and offering to treat her for dinner and she calls me a jerk! Why that little . . .'
"Wench," Inu-Yasha muttered, wanting badly to wring the woman's neck.
"How can you ask me out to dinner with my face all splotchy and you knowing I was crying like a baby. I look too awful to go out in public! Also, what about Hiro? You expect me to leave him alone?!"
'God . . . are all women so dramatic? All I did was ask her to dinner, it's not like I was asking her to marry me.' Inu-Yasha thought, rubbing his forehead, attempting to ward off the growing headache, watching as the woman before him started to flay her arms around.
"Look," Inu-Yasha gritted out, grabbing her arms and pinning them to her side so she couldn't wave them around anymore. "Hiro isn't alone right now is he?"
"No . . ." Kagome finally let out, looking at him suspiciously, trying to decipher what he was getting at. "Sango is watching him."
"Then couldn't she just watch him for a few more hours? I don't think she has much of a life that she couldn't stay with him longer."
"I guess I could call her . . ."
"Besides, your face doesn't look that bad. I'll be with you anyways, so people will be more absorbed in staring at me than bothering to pay much attention to you," Inu-Yasha declared with a wide grin.
"I don't know whether to take that as an insult or a compliment," Kagome muttered, rolling her eyes at the comment.
"Either way is fine with me, so long as we leave to get some chow; boy am I starving."
With that being said, Inu-Yasha picked himself up off the ground before offering Kagome a helping hand. Kagome glanced at it nervously before finally accepting it.
"So, where are we going to eat?" She asked as they started their walk to the front door.
"It's a surprise."
X.X
"May I take your orders?" The young waitress questioned, looking from Inu-Yasha to Kagome and back again.
"Yes, I would like . . . this T-bone steak dinner and we'll both like salads . . . and this soup looks great . . . don't forget the lobster and of course, being in a Chinese restaurant and all, we'd like to have general Tao's Chicken, Lo-Mien Noodles and a couple of egg rolls . . . that would be all," Inu-Yasha finished, flashing the waitress a charming little smile.
"Thank you," the waitress blushed before grabbing the menus, bowing and taking her leave.
"What?" Inu-Yasha intriguingly watched as Kagome's left eye kept twitching, and she threw him a disgusted look. "Do I have something in my teeth?"
". . . How do you expect us to eat all of that, let alone pay for it?" She hissed, her disgust being replaced with a glare. "This is the most expensive restaurant in the city!"
"Oh, is it now? I hadn't notice," he commented nonchalantly. His eyes roamed over the expensive marble present everywhere, the one of kind statues, the exquisitely placed fountains and the existence of over twenty chandeliers. "Yup, didn't notice at all that this place was fancy."
Kagome threw him an 'I-can't-believe-that-load-of-bull' look in response.
"Oh, lighten up, will you! Sure the place is really nice but that isn't any reason as to why we can't eat in here."
"It is when you don't have the money to pay for anything. Look, a bottle of water is fifty dollars! I know that for the short amount of time that you've worked for me, you couldn't have accumulated even enough money to pay for a fourth of the meal!"
"It's not my money we're spending."
That comment alone stopped Kagome's tirade and threw her for a loop.
'Just what exactly does he mean we're not spending his money?'
"You didn't . . ." Kagome breathed, eyes widening as a thought occurred to her.
"I didn't what?" Inu-Yasha stared uneasily at her, wondering what exactly was going through her mind.
"You . . . you . . ." Kagome started, pointing at him as if he were the devil.
"I . . . I . . . what exactly?"
"You robbed somebody, didn't you?!"
"What!" Inu-Yasha hollered, jumping out of his seat in shock.
"Well . . . didn't you?" Kagome asked a little unnerved by his response.
'That means it could be true. . .'
". . ." Inu-Yasha stared speechlessly at her for a second before a smile began to spread, wider and wider and then taking Kagome by surprise, he burst out laughing. "Whahahahahahaha!"
'Okay. . .' Kagome shifted uncomfortably, turning to ignore the stares of the other patrons. 'I wish he'd stoop laughing and just answer me.' Now she was growing irritated by the half-demon before her.
"Idiot . . ." She muttered, crossing her arms angrily.
"Hey now!" Inu-Yasha stopped his laughing and took a seat as he gave Kagome an offended look. "That wasn't very nice. I'm treating you and you're insulting me. Besides, why are you calling me an idiot? I'm not the one who believed that my dinner companion was paying with stolen money . . . that would be you," Inu-Yasha finished smugly, pointing a finger right in Kagome's face.
"Well . . . isn't that what you went to prison for?" Kagome asked, thinking back to the time the robbers came into her shop and how Inu-Yasha acted so knowledgably.
"No . . . who told you that?"
". . . No one really . . . I just thought . . ."
"So you don't know what I went to the slammer for?" Now Inu-Yasha was curious. Contrary to what his brother believed, Inu-Yasha wasn't stupid. He knew his family's situation . . . or status for lack of a better word. He figured with the case involving a Hazuki everyone and their dog, no pun intended, knew of the case and the matters it involved.
'I guess Sesshoumaru really did take care of it like Rin said he would . . . that or she's so out of it, she never paid any attention to such public occurrences.' Inu-Yasha wondered, rubbing his chin thoughtfully as he contemplated the woman before him. 'Nah . . . even if she didn't waster her time with it, that friend of hers . . . the loud mother, butt-kicking babysitter would've told her.'
"So . . . you thought I went to jail for robbery? Interesting . . ."
"How is that interesting? I was wrong wasn't I?"
"True, but you still took a guess at it and that's all that really counts in life, right?" Inu-Yasha asked with a wink.
"Then . . . what did you go to jail for?" Kagome asked, leaning forward with anticipation as she pushed away the light fluttering that was taking place in her stomach.
"Can't tell you . . . you'd die if you found out."
". . . What . . ."
"Nothing . . . let's just say that now isn't the time for you to find out. So, why don't you just relax? I'll tell you the day when your life is danger. That's how unimportant it is, Kagome . . . it doesn't need to be said except under dire situations."
". . . If you say so . . ." Kagome gave him an uneasy smile as she tried to comprehend the underlying meaning to what he said.
"Yes, what I say is law," Inu-Yasha smirked.
"Whatever."
"It can be though . . . I do have control of laws in this country," Inu-Yasha commented, more to view a reaction than anything else.
". . . Again, whatever," this time Kagome said it more to have something to say than to have it hold any intentional meaning.
"That's what I thought," Inu-Yasha retorted smugly, crossing his arms for an added effect.
Kagome opened her mouth to try and get the last say, yet before a word even left her mouth, plates and plates and even more plates full of food arrived and were placed before them. Kagome's eyes widened in shock with the realization of how much food they . . . well, Inu-Yasha to be more precise, had ordered. It was unbelievable. How were two people expected to finish it all?
"Inu-Yasha . . ." Kagome started, giving him a look of annoyance.
"Look, I asked you to dinner, so you don't have to chip in anything. Of course it's been a while since I've been on a date, but I know how to treat a lady right. It's all or nothing, none of that Dutch crap." Inu-Yasha declared before Kagome could get a word in edgewise, completely misinterpreting the look.
"But-"
"Look, I have the money to pay for this . . . and no, I didn't rob anybody," once again cutting Kagome off. "If you must know, Rin, my sister-in-law, gave me one of Sesshoumaru's credit cards and told me to stay out of the house, because he had something important to tell him . . . so technically dinner is on him, but who cares, I know how to spend the money."
". . . You do realize . . . you just sounded like a woman, don't you?" Kagome questioned, only able to decipher that much from his long-winded babble.
"I did not!" Inu-Yasha huffed, adding a nice "wench" for an added effect.
"Yes . . . you did . . . and what did this Rin want to tell him?" Kagome let out in a rush, this time cutting off Inu-Yasha's retort.
"Oh, it's so great . . . and scary!" Inu-Yasha commented with a huge smile, his golden eyes lighting up with excitement. "She's going to tell him that she's pregnant. Sesshoumaru is going to be a dad – which is a disgusting thought – and I'm going to be an uncle. This is going to be so great. I'm going to spoil the kid rotten and I'll be the greatest Uncle . . . not to mention it'll piss Sesshoumaru off to no end . . ."
Kagome smiled as she listened to Inu-Yasha rambling, happy for the Hazuki family, even if they are trying to ruin her life. It must be so great for Rin . . . being able to plan something so special like that . . . for a special moment . . . sharing that kind of a thing with her husband.
'Oh great . . . now I'm crying . . . I told myself I'd never cry over that again. I'm so stupid!'
Kagome was jolted back to reality as she felt a light pressure on her hand. Her watery gaze met golden orbs filled with concern for her.
"Sorry, my mind drifted," Kagome tried to shrug off, waving her hand in a none too caring manner. She tried to divert her attention to anything except Inu-Yasha's face, for she was ready to break down.
"Kagome . . ." Inu-Yasha firmly said her name, letting her know that her attempt for escape was futile. "Look at me."
Kagome really didn't want to let him see her so vulnerable, it was just bad timing. Yet, try as she might to avoid him, in her heart she knew she couldn't. Besides, maybe it was time to get some things off her mind. So, reluctantly her eyes met his.
"So, what's wrong?" Inu-Yasha asked straight-forwardly, never being one to beat around the bush.
"Well . . . nothing . . . and yet everything," Kagome let out, not really sure on how much to let out and what to keep to herself.
"I see . . . and what's brought on everything?"
". . . You . . ." Kagome let out after some time had passed, her eyes started to betray her. They always did that, revealed things to anyone who took the time to notice even if she wanted things kept under wraps. She could see the bewildered look Inu-Yasha held, and the confusion but she still didn't trust herself to divulge everything.
"It's about Hiro and what my lawyer said, isn't it?" Inu-Yasha just came out with it. He wasn't sure of the whole picture, but he had enough glimpses to make a guess.
'Then again, maybe I can tell him.' She thought, believing it wasn't that far-fetched of an idea. Besides, they had things in common . . . in a way. They both loved Hiro and they both had screwed up pasts. 'Besides, he's going to find out sooner or later.' Kagome thought with resignation. 'It's not like private records are that private for the Hazuki family.'
". . . Yes . . ." She sighed out in reply to his question. "It's just . . . hearing how excited you are for the arrival of this baby . . . it just brought up some bad memories."
"Like what? Do you really believe that Hiro was a mistake?" Inu-Yasha looked incredulously at her, not wanting to believe such an idea, but then again anything is possible.
"No! Of course I don't'!" Kagome rushed out, appalled that he would even suggest it. Yet Inu-Yasha's comment, no matter how wrong it was, brought her back to reality. She really had planned on telling Inu-Yasha of Hiten, but . . . something in her always held her back. But she was determined now to break that wall down. She had kept all those emotions bottled up for a long time. She never even told Sango the full story of what had happened to her marriage. But still . . . there was doubt. For all she knew, maybe this was some plan of attack by the Hazukis to get something out of her to use in court.
"I don't get it . . ." Inu-Yasha gazed expectantly at her, telling with his eyes that she should fill in the blanks for him.
"It's nothing, forget I even said anything," Kagome gave a light smile, waving her had in a nonchalant manner.
"Kagome."
The way he said the one simple word took Kagome back to a feeling of when her dad was alive. She knew that tone very well, for her father would use it very often. The tone that said it all: I want an answer, I want it now, and I don't want any bullshit to go with it.
"I do love Hiro," Kagome finally let out, for the first time looking Inu-Yasha directly in the eyes so he understood she was serious. "I love him as if he were my own son. But . . . I can't say the same for Hiten. You see, I was never always destined to be an old maid. I traveled a bit in college. I wanted to see as much of the world as I could when I was young. It just so happens that Hiten agreed with me in that aspect. We met through the trip that was scheduled for America. It's know of like a fairy tale . . . we fell in love with the country and with each other.
Hiten is a thunder demon, plain and simple. He is proud of his demon heritage. However, he knew I was human and was still willing to date me . . . and love me. Hiten was everything I was looking for in a man. He was strong, smart, passionate, helpful . . . he was amazing, he held this wow factor to him that to this day I haven't been able to describe," Kagome sighed whimsically, a far off gaze taking over her features. Inu-Yasha felt a little pull at his heart to see that look, but he refused to interrupt because he understood that this was something she needed to do. For Kagome it was an amazing feeling for her, she was finally letting out emotions that she had kept locked up. She now realized those memories had been haunting her, hindering her from fully enjoying life. It was time to free her.
"Well, we went on a lot of school trips together after that, and dated for the remaining two years of college. It's funny when I look back on it now, but Mama never did approve of him. She said she wasn't sure why, she just had this feeling. But she knew I loved him and so she wanted me to live my own life. I did and when he asked me to marry him, of course I screamed yes. So we held a simple ceremony with family and friends. My family didn't accept him, not because he was a demon, but they felt what Mama did. But, if my family was bad, then his was even worse. They despised me because of the fact that I'm a human. But they got over it, only thinking of the kids we'd have. Makes a could want to elope," Kagome finished weakly, trying to attempt a joke, yet, failing miserably.
"We were married for five years . . . but I look at it as four years of marriage and one of heartache. We behaved like newlyweds all the time . . . it made a lot of people sick. But we were happy and experiencing our own world of happiness. We both wanted kids and so we kept trying. Though, now I see we wanted them for different reasons. He to add to the Thunder clan and me to have a family. But, I just couldn't conceive. Hiten wasn't angry or upset, in fact it was he who suggested we adopt. I saw no problem; we'd finally have a family with kids. We went to the agency not really looking for a particular child, but then we found Hiro. I thought he was perfect but Hiten seemed uneasy. Again, now that I think of it, it's probably because he didn't want to raise another demon's child. But, we discovered that little clause, how Hiro was temporary because his parents would come back for him. That made Hiten change his mind, he was glad for . . . I guess he believed a practice baby. We'd raise it and then have our own and then the practice one would be gone. Well, I didn't really want my baby taken away, adopted or not, but Hiten really wanted this . . . opportunity. So we adopted Hiro.
Hiten and Hiro grew really close and yet remained so far away. I could see that Hiten didn't really want to be close to Hiro, but I made myself blind to it because I still loved him so much. I made excuses, saying it was because Hiten knew Hiro wasn't going to be a forever thing. I raised Hiro as if he were my own child that I had given birth to. The way we behaved, a lot of people couldn't believe Hiro was adopted, in a way I had my baby, just without the pain. That was our fourth year of marriage . . .
During our fifth we still acted like the perfect family, happy and love-filled. Yet, things grew . . . somehow different. We still attempted to conceive but it wasn't working . . . we went to get tested to see what was wrong. Hiten said it was my fault. That's when the problems started. We constantly fought, over anything really. Hiten was always irritable and I was . . . confused. But after a while . . . Hiten grew happy again, and I believed my family was coming back together. I started to see the romantic, charming, witty Hiten from college. Well, I decided to surprise Hiten with a nice romantic dinner. I went to his office with a picnic basket and snuck in. Only the surprise was on me. There I found Hiten . . . on top of his secretary. A cliché cheating scandal I know . . . but it's true. I never forgave him and we got a divorce. Hiten willingly gave me Hiro so long as I never saw him again. I gladly agreed to it, because I already lost my husband; I wasn't about to lose my child. So you see . . . Hiro's the only good thing I have left," Kagome ended, giving Inu-Yasha a weak smile.
Inu-Yasha in return gently reached out a hand to her face and started to wipe the tears away. The gesture surprised Kagome who never realized the tears even started. Suddenly the whole impact of how her life was going took a hold on her. Everything she planned went terribly wrong and that made her feel worse. The tears came in waves now, worrying Inu-Yasha and causing him to be uneasy; he could never stand seeing girls cry. But, in a way he knew she needed this. He wasn't sure what to feel after hearing what happened to her. It was no wonder she was such a wallflower now. The only man she loved left her and abandoned her. He knew how that felt. He wanted to comfort her but didn't know how so he then wanted to track down that bastard called Hiten, but that would be abandoning Kagome and she didn't need that. So he did the only thing he could do for her.
Not giving a care on how it would look to anyone else, he pulled Kagome into his arms. Placing one hand under her knees and the other wrapped around her shoulders he stood up and left.
X.X
It took Inu-Yasha all of ten minutes to get from the restaurant to Kagome's house. All the way he attempted to try and thing of soothing words while Kagome buried her head in his chest, soaking his shirt with her tears. Not wanting to leave her alone in the state she was in, Inu-Yasha placed her lightly on a lawn chair and sat next to her. They sat in silence for a few minutes, Kagome's tears slowly coming to a stop.
"Heh . . . sorry," she finally choked out, wiping away the last of the tears. "It's just been a while since I've had a good cry."
"Yeah . . . I always . . . try to get a good cry in every once in a while," Inu-Yasha laughed lightly.
"I'm sure . . ." Kagome gave him a look as if he were a crazy person and then started to laugh.
"I'm glad that you like to laugh at my expense."
"Sorry," Kagome managed to get out, attempting to calm herself down. "It's just . . . I know you're trying to get me to feel better, even though I ruined your dinner . . . oh my God!"
"What?" Inu-Yasha gave her a puzzled look, trying to understand her outburst.
"We didn't pay . . . we walked out on a bill!"
"I think it's fine, we didn't even eat."
"That's worst! After all the food you ordered!"
"It's fine . . . it's not like they're going to send the cops after us. If you care so much, I'll go back and take the food home . . . after paying for it of course. I was just concerned with getting you home before you flood the place."
"Yeah . . . sorry about that," Kagome blushed a bright red color, embarrassed with her behavior.
"It's fine . . . looks like you needed to say that stuff. Besides, now at least I understand why you're fighting so hard to keep Hiro. As his dad, I'm glad that Hiro found a family, I mean a mom, that loves him so much . . . though it's kind of bad for me in the fact that she's such a hassle to get to give him back," Inu-Yasha threw Kagome a sly look with that particular comment.
"Now, I'm nor sorry about that!" She exclaimed.
"I know, and in a twisted way I'm glad for that too. But . . . you see Hiro is all I have also. I remember growing up and hating the world for hating me. If it wasn't for the fact that I'm a half-demon, then it was the fact that my family held such power. But . . . I forgot it all when Hiro was born. I helped bring this boy into the world and I wanted to better it for him. Even though I only spent a year with him . . . it was the best year."
"Inu-Yasha . . ." Kagome started, realizing that she held something in common with him that nobody could ever take away; they both loved a little boy that meant the world to them.
"Daddy!" Hiro shouted, rushing out of the house and into Inu-Yasha's arms, completely shattering the moment.
"I thought I heard voices!" Sango called out as she walked down to join them. "What took you so long?"
"Nothing . . . just enjoying the night," Kagome replied, not really paying attention. Her vision solely held the view of Hiro and Inu-Yasha playing around and wrestling with each other.
'I know what I need to do . . .' Kagome firmly decided.
X.X
"We are now continuing the custody hearing of one Hiro Hazuki," Judge Yura started early the next day. Her eyes roamed over the paper and between Kagome an Inu-Yasha.
'Something is different.' She concluded, as she noted the loss of hostility between the two.
"Now as you two know, I have sole power on the decision –"
"Stop! I give up! I want Inu-Yasha to have custody! It's over . . ."
A/N: There it is another chapter to all my fans. I hope you all enjoyed it and will continue to read more. Thanks to those who reviewed! I'm always glad to hear what you have to say!
Preview of next chapter: Inu-Yasha wins that battle is none too happy about it and it appears nor is Hiro. Rin takes him on a little shopping spree to cheer him up and it appears someone is going to the slammer!