Chapter 16: Toeing the Finish Line
InuYasha's POV
Civil war had been declared in my stomach. The knots that had formed earlier, were tightening as I sat in my car. I could practically hear my growing headache pound in my ears, my irritation growing with each second. I took a breath and looked up at the building I had just parked in front of. It was a plain tan colored building with modern windows and a brick roof. I scoffed at it. How the hell could something so plain and average make me feel like I wanted to puke my intestines out? How long would it take to speed home, pack my shit and get the hell out of Dodge? As I sat, I felt a low growl bubble in my throat exploding alongside the force of my fist smashing against my steering wheel, dashboard and radio. I let out a ragged breath before I pulled my self together, and going all Charlie Sheen drinking "Tiger's Blood" on my car, wasn't going to change a thing. Ignoring my now red and throbbing knuckles I got out of the car and started for the building.
"Something tells me this is really gonna suck ass." I muttered to myself as I pulled the door open. I felt my body coat itself in goosebumps as I stepped inside, it was hard to tell whether they came from the deep freezer rivaling temperature or the smug look Kikyo gave me once we noticed each others presence, as she sat underneath a poorly drawn imitation of Bowser. How fitting.
She looked over at the clock then back at me with an exaggerated smile.
"You're actually on time to this one? Your daughter is sooo proud." She oozed pompousness, making a show of rubbing her belly.
"Fuck off, wench." I grumbled plopping down into a hard plastic seat on the opposite side of the waiting room.
"Now, now, my little Inu, is that anyway to speak to the mother of your child?"
I responded with a glare.
"I'm not speaking to the mother of my child, I'm speaking to an overly arrogant, manipulative ass."
She chuckled wryly. If she was a dude and not pregnant, I'd body check her in a New York minute. The Ultrasound was just hours ago but she had managed to force in four months worth of little digs and insults. Hadn't she made my life hell already? What fucking right did she have to talk to me like shit?She was the one who cheated. Before I could finish my daydream of a me punching the hell out of a manly version of Kikyo, a stocky nurse in pumps that looked like the kind that come with one of those slutty Halloween costumes came scuttling into the waiting room.
"Mr and Mrs. Takahashi?" Her overly painted lips, twisted into a frown.
I felt the blood in my veins boil as I turned from the woman to Kikyo. I couldn't fight the aggravated snarl that surfaced. The stocky nurse backed up a little , sensing something was about to go down
"Why in the motherfucking hell did you use my last name?"
She chuckled as she got out of her chair and waddled over to me before reaching out and placing a hand on my cheek. "Because, it'll be true soon enough."
"What the hell makes you think that I would ever even consider marrying your psychotic ass?!" My voice got louder than I intended it to, and I saw one of the nurses come scurrying from the back.
"Is everything okay here?"
Kikyo turned with a smile, bouncing over to the woman, obviously extremely pleased with my outburst.
"Everything is just fine, someone's just a little wound up is all."
The three of them disappeared into the back leaving me to stew in my irritation.
These results can't come fucking fast enough.
Kagome's POV
If there was anyone who could knock some sense into me it was Sango, albeit I wish it didn't have to be so literal this time around. If Inuyasha and I were really going to clear the air between us and get beyond high school matters, then I would have to create an atmosphere that would help us get there. As soon as I helped Sango clean up my mess in the kitchen we called Miroku so he could help put our plan into action.
"So what devious imaginings am I getting myself involved in today?" He asked as he made himself comfortable at the kitchen table.
I rolled my eyes at him. "Nothing devious today, quite the opposite actually." Miroku looked at me, his interest clearly piqued. "I want to recreate our reunion. Minus all the mystery and debauchery."
Sango chimed in. "We were thinking she could wear that same outfit, make the meal that we never sat to eat, but just make it a more intimate - not the kind of intimate you're thinking Mr. Dirty - environment."
Miroku nodded, soaking up the idea. "And why do you need me for this?"
"Because we don't have keys to the apartment."
"And what do I get out of this?" He raised an eyebrow at Sango. I felt my eye twitch as those memories slowly began to resurface. He wasn't going to mention-
"You get to keep your family jewels, now are you going to help us or not?" Sango cut off my thoughts.
He pouted a little before nodding in agreement, confirming that he'd help. I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face; maybe we'd finally get a chance to just enjoy each others company, minus flying glass and nearly ripping each other to shreds.
InuYasha's POV
By the time I pulled into my driveway the sun had set. I had lost track of time sitting in the parking lot at the clinic. The test hadn't taken anymore than an hour and now five business days I'd have my answer. For some reason after I'd told Kikyo to 'fuck off' about seven more times, my mind had just gone blank. Maybe I fell asleep, who the hell knows, I just knew that when I looked up again, the sun was vanishing behind a cluttered array of buildings nearby. I pulled the key out of the ignition and walked up to my door, only to hear music. I stepped back and checked the address making sure I was at the right door.
"Oh, great. I bet Miroku is in there seducing some poor blindly drunk female. Hopefully it isn't some 6 foot transvestite named Amanda again." I grumbled to myself as I recalled the look of terror on his face as Amanda's voice dropped when I pointed out her Adam's apple. I half grinned as I unlocked the door. I was prepared to avert my eyes and haul ass to my room when I walked right into Kagome, who was all dolled up.
"Hey." She smiled up at me.
"Uh, hey?" I answered, taking in her skin tight outfit and my surroundings, someone had turned my manly apartment into a 'Bath and Body works' convention. There were candles everywhere of varying scents, music which seemed much quieter somehow on the other side of the door. "What are you doing here?"
She took my arm and led me further inside replying only with a smile.
Kagome's POV
I pulled him towards the living room of his apartment where Sango and I had a playlist of the music we heard the first night at the club playing. I put my arms around him and began to dance, slowly swaying with the music. He stumbled alongside me, missing what little grace he possessed. It took a while before he finally gave in and put his arms around my waist and took the lead. I put my head against his chest, losing myself in the moment. It was the first time since I'd seen him again that we weren't fighting, yelling, or just looking at each other awkwardly. Our guards were down and things were actually fine. Oh, the universe wasn't going to like this one.
"You never answered my question,"InuYasha mumbled. I looked up at him, confusion etched into my brow. "What are you doing here?"
"I wanted to start over. When we met again it was under some...sketchy circumstances. And each time we met up after that we just seemed to argue so I thought that maybe if we started over things wouldn't be so laced with tension all the time."
I felt a half-laugh rumble through his chest. "Naive way of thinking, but it works."
"Naive?" I asked, trying not to feel offended, but it was a tad harder than I though it would be.
"Yeah, I mean, how on earth is one good moment going to erase all the bullshit?"
I pulled away from him, exasperated at his pessimism. "Can't you just be content with the little bit of peace I'm trying to create here?" I crossed my arms.
"Yeah, peace in the middle of a fucking war." He scoffed at me before plopping down on the couch, rubbing his face. I looked at him for the first time that night, if I thought he had circles underneath his eyes before, he was seriously carrying some luggage under them now.
I sighed, realizing how stupid this idea was. Here he was going through a real- life Maury episode and I'm standing here in this get-up and a smile. I mean really, what did I think a bunch of candles and music was going to do? I turned off my iPod and began going around to blow out all of the candles that littered the apartment.
"What are you doing?" I turned around to see InuYasha looking over the back of the sofa at me.
"Leaving." I replied, continuing the cancellation of my mission.
"Why?"
"Because, this entire idea was dumb." I kicked my heels off, ready to go replace them with the flats I had near the door. "Miroku already promised to get rid of the candles later, so don't worry about them. Just remember not to ask what he's going to do with them later."
"Wait." I felt a slight tug on my arm and looked behind me to see InuYasha standing behind me,reminding me of a big awkward puppy.
"You don't...have to go. You can stay. I want you to. If you want to, that is."
"No, you need to sleep." I shook my head.
"I don't think I'll be sleeping anytime soon." He laughed dryly.
Before I could think of another reason to object, I felt a pair of arms wrap around my waist. "I really do want you to stay. It'd be really nice if you did, but I have one question before you answer."
I nodded.
"If you stay, what does that mean... f-for us?" He stuttered, It was hard to get a good look at his face, after blowing out so many candles but I was almost sure his face resembled tomato soup.
I took a breath before answering his question, it was something I had been going over and over again in my head since this entire Kikyo thing came into play. It may sound stupid to anyone else but no matter what happened, I wanted to be there for him. Guess that makes me a weak dumbass. I reached out and touched his face and before he had a chance to protest I pressed our lips together. This may make me a weak dumbass, but no one could accuse me of being a coward.
A/N: It's really been a while. I didn't think it would take me so long to get this chapter out, but Fall Semester has been hell. Blame Anatomy, Child Psychology and my cousin's wedding. I'm hoping the next chapter which is supposed to be the last one, will be out soon, but no promises. Thank you all for being patient and not crucifying me. As always, critiques and reviews are welcome. Thanks for reading!