A/N: OPS, wrong document uploaded. Only the last section is different.
{.x.o.} | Rapture's Remorse | {.o.x.}
{x| Chapter 16: Regardless |x}
What.
The.
Fuck.
How the hell was he meant to deal with that? Suddenly, out of nowhere at all, his father decided to appear in his life? That he wanted to 'talk' and… what? Well, he didn't know, he punched the guy, slammed the door, grabbed one of his gym bags and left without a word to rush down the streets and to the first train to his planned destination.
He thought the train ride would be therapeutic in a way, he would be all alone, and he could tone out all the sounds until they arrived to hear the feminine robotic chime to declare just that. Often, he was wrong, and that time, too, he just coughed constantly and felt his furry meshed with confusion fester all the more as he slung his bag over his shoulder and found his way through the small town to the right, pretty, perky house.
Pounding would have been too kind of a word to describe what he did to the door.
"Hold on!" A shout called out before the door was pulled open to show a flustered female, mystification marred her pretty face as she tilted her head to the side and lifted a brow high, "Inuyasha…?"
"You'll never believe what type of bullshit I've had to deal with today!" he scowled.
"Right," she coaxed out as her hazels wandered about behind him before they locked onto his anger etched face, "Inuyasha…"
"Yeah, Kagome?"
Well, she placed a hand on her hip and slightly glared at him for that bit of attitude, didn't she have every right to be shocked, stunned, and stuck in a stupor when an old friend appeared unannounced, right?
"Are you not going to let me?" He asked.
"Fine," she muttered as she stepped aside, "a call would have been nice."
"Yeah, yeah," he muttered, he waved off, "so, I got back after I had to deal with that bullshit at work and then found this guy standing outside my door. Do you know how he was?"
"Someone you didn't like, apparently," she mumbled as he plopped down at the table and dropped his bag. She sighed and rolled her eyes as she walked up to him.
"My fucking father!" He growled, "my true-blooded dad, too. I didn't figure it out 'cause of this cold until he told me," he sniffled as he thumbed his temporarily defective nose.
That made all her anger evaporate as she knelt beside him, "Inuyasha… really? Didn't you say he was a married demon that didn't want anything to do with you and your mother?"
"Yep," he grunted, "he wanted to talk and stuff."
"What'd he say?" She whispered as she looked over his reddened face, though, she could tell it had at least partly had to do with the fever he was probably running.
"I don't know, I just punched him and decided to come here, I guess," he shrugged as he ran his hand through his hair, "I don't know… I wasn't really thinking, I just wound up on a train to Nikko then I thought 'OK, whatever'."
"That's fine," she assured with a smile as she patted one of his hands, "Inuyasha, you are too stressed and sick, you need to rest. How about you just stay here for a while? I'm a nurse; after all, I can take care of you."
That sounded… good. Really, though he refused to admit it, the idea of her tending him to health was an appealing one. "I… don't know."
"So," she dragged out, "you came all the way to Nikko just to rant then go home? Take some sick leave, stay. You are obviously sick and, really, you are only going to make yourself worse if you do not rest."
"I haven't been reassigned yet and Kaguya gave me a week off," he murmured, "she says I need to relax or whatever."
"She sounds like a smart lady," Kagome chimed, "why don't you just stay here? There's an extra room, no need to waste money at a hotel."
"I guess I could," he pretended to mull over the idea but really it came to him instantly. Just a small bit of him—or large—wanted to get in the way of her dear, sweet, fiancé and her. Not for her, oh-no-no, just because he hated Kouga so much. He was a dick, that's all. Inuyasha was not jealous…
"Who are you and what are you doing in my home?" A rustic voice snapped, which turned their attention to the elder fellow who just walked in.
"Grandpa," Kagome smiled as she got up to walk to him, "this is Inuyasha, he is a friend of mine from Tokyo and will be staying with us for a while. Be nice."
"What an odd name," he muttered as he walked up to the hanyou, his eyes narrowed upon him before they wandered up to the ears, "there is this old fable that took place during the feudal era. A inu-hanyou, just like you, and a priestess were—"
"Grandpa," Kagome laughed lightly, "Inuyasha doesn't want to hear that story. How about you go rest while I fix dinner?"
"Are you here to take my grand-baby's innocence?" he retorted as he pointed his cane at Inuyasha, "that will not be tolerated under my roof!"
"Grandpa," Kagome muttered, "that will not be happening. I'm engaged, remember? To Kouga?"
"Kouga," her grandfather grunted, "that man I do not like. He has an attitude and not suitable for my grand-baby! Akitoki Houjo, now that is a man!"
"Grandpa," she sighed as she pushed him towards the room on the first floor, "go rest, I'll make dinner."
"No fornication in this house!" He shouted before she shut the door behind him.
"I am so sorry about that," Kagome started with reddened cheeks as soon as he walked away, "he's senile, he says silly things."
"Hey, it's fine with me," he grinned, after all, anyone that didn't like Kouga for Kagome was A-OK in his book.
[…]
"Hey, sexy," a gruff growl purred as the wolf-demon wrapped his arms around her waist, "what are you cooking?"
"Food," she coaxed back as she let her stir linger in the pot to wrap her arms around his, "are you going to stay for dinner?"
"Babe, that's why I'm here, your cooking is the best," he grinned as he kissed her neck.
"Kouga," she giggled as he pulled her closer, "stop."
Unfortunately, that was when Inuyasha walked down stairs after setting himself up in the room that used to be her grandfather's but turned into the guest room when he no longer held the ability to walk up the stairs. He felt a gag start instantly at the sight.
"What the hell are you doing here?" Kouga questioned as he cocked a brow and glanced over Inuyasha.
"I was about to tell you," Kagome replied, "that I'm having a guest stay for a week."
"Him?"
"Me," Inuyasha retorted, "I've known her longer then you, get over it."
"You are still a prick," he scoffed.
"Asshole," Inuyasha rejoined, "I can't imagine at all what Kagome sees in you."
"I'm awesome, obviously," he countered with his cocky smirk, "right, babe?"
"I'm not getting in this," she nudged him away.
"See, she doesn't even know what it is," Inuyasha grinned, causing Kouga's smirk to falter before he stomped up to him.
"I'm the one marrying her," he asserted, "feeling a little bad about that, eh?"
"Yeah, terrible," he snorted, "for her."
"Why you—"
"That's it," Kagome shouted as she turned off the stove and dropped her spatula down enough to catch both their attention. "One minute, that's all it took? You two are both morons!"
Without another word she left them both stunned as she stormed out.
[…]
Why did they have to fight like that? Sure, they didn't like each other, she knew that, but couldn't they have just pretended to play nice for her sake? What jerks and such fools… she was going to have one very long, very pain-staking, week if those two were going to act like that.
"Ugh," she mumbled as she shook her head, "dang it…"
Of course, Kouga's car had to be waiting outside her house; she had sort of been hoping that he wouldn't be there… so she sighed and lugged herself up to her own door. Cautiously she opened and shut it and took a few steps forward to see who was waiting, somehow it seemed better that it was Inuyasha and not Kouga.
"Hey," he murmured, "I'm sorry, Kagome, about earlier. I don't really have a good excuse—except I'm having a bad week and I really hate Kouga."
"I thought you have no excuse?" She muttered.
He shrugged at that, "sorry?"
She sighed, "it's fine."
"I'll stay at a hotel if you'd rather—"
"No, I don't," she assured him with a small smile, "I just don't want you two to fight, so can you act appropriately…?"
"Sure," he nodded, for her, he could try.
She lifted her hand up to brush away his bangs and feel his forehead, "you need to get some rest, Inuyasha. You still have a fever; did you take that medicine I left out for you?"
"Yes," he sighed.
"Jeez, don't act like it's such a burden for me to be helping you out," she taunted with a pat on his cheek before she leaned down to give him a quick, fleeting, peck on the head. "Good night, Inuyasha. Do get some rest and drink plenty of water."
"Y-yeah," he stammered back as he turned his reddened cheek to her—why did that spark such a frenzied beat in his heart? What was it about her that could do that to him? It was different, so different, then all the times that Ayame had kissed him, even when it was in the most intimate of ways.
A peck, that was all it was, and it caused a thumping so loud within his chambers that he was almost certain even she could hear it as she proceeded up the stairs to go sleep with her fucking fiancé. The jerk that got to hold her through the night—why did that suddenly matter so much to him?
He had had his chance with her, though they never progressed further then friendship it could have happened, they just took a different path. That was why he shouldn't; he hadn't the right, to feel such a seeping, slithering, jealousy.
The feeling that fluttered through him was foreign, he couldn't grasp it, he didn't know… did he love her? Was that it? Was this awful overflow of sensations that threatened to drown him love? So much squeezed at his heart, it hurt.
It hurt…
If the hellish emotions that choked him was love, then did he want—could he, did he hold the right?—to fight for her?
No, half of him shrieked. Yes, another part beckoned.
But there was one overwhelming notions that all of him agreed with—Kagome should not marry Kouga. She could do better than him, she deserved better—she deserved so much more than he could give her.
Than anyone could… than even the hanyou could. He wasn't any better than Kouga, he wasn't worthy of someone so sweet and saintly as Kagome… but if he wasn't, if he couldn't have her, then neither could Kouga.
A/N: Ops... that's what happens when I do my proof reading in Word instead of in whatever this thing is that fanfic allows us to view our documents in. Did no one notice how the last three sentences were all in the wrong verb tense and horridly written? I uploaded the document that I wrote over with the outline in it still, this is the proper document with the right ending. So sorry about that.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this version better and please continue to review :)