Chapter 12: Interlude
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"It's going to take much more than that to take me down, Bitch."
His breath was hot over her ear, his grip tight as his anger rolled off him in waves.
Kagome audibly gulped, her blood freezing at the same time her heart thundered in her chest, timidly glancing behind her, she was met with hard brown eyes.
'Crap, crap, crap, crap!'
"I-Inuyasha! How n-nice to see you"
Her remark failed to lighten the mood; Kagome tried to turn around when she felt his hand tighten around her elbow, keeping her pressed up against him.
"What the hell do you think you're doing? Huh? Answer me little girl!"
Kagome glared at him, tugging on her elbow with no result "Maybe I would if you- Stop. Yelling. At. Me!"
"Is- everything okay?" They broke their glaring match to turn towards the meek man, staring at the two of them with weary eyes.
"What?! Mind your own damn business you no good-"
Kagome stomped hard on his foot, effectively snapping his jaw shut, "Don't mind him, he was dropped on his head-"
"Hey!" Once more Inuyasha was met with another blow to his other foot "Why you-"
Her hand landed over his mouth, as she pressed herself closer to him, practically draping herself over him and successfully confusing the crap out of him.
"Everything is just peachy, but thank you so much for asking, you know how it is when you're young." Kagome smiled sweetly at him, as she tried to put as much conviction behind her words as she could.
The guy stared between the two of them for a moment, before nodding, he sat back down, throwing them one last disapproving look.
Kagome removed herself from him, attempting to take a step away when his grip retightened, keeping her just as close. "Why the hell did you do that?"
His brown eyes bore into her own, and against her will she shrunk before him, feeling his displeasure as if it was beating down on her. Even then, she didn't back down.
Kagome narrowed her eyes on his form instead, "What do you mean? Look, I'm sorry for stomping on you but you needed to chill, that guy was totally going to freak out on you."
"Like a give a shit what that scum would have done, it doesn't excuse stomping on my Balmoral leather shoes!"
"Shhh! Keep your voice down, unless you want another 'scum' coming over. Besides, are you really upset about the shoes?"
"Keh, of course not! That isn't what I meant, why are you here Kagome?"
She dropped her gaze, having the good grace to look contrite, "Well... the elevator was open."
He blinked a few times, his mind not really processing her words. Then they did, his rich brown eyes narrowing down at her as they did.
"The door... was open?"
She shrugged noncommittal, "Yeah, the guy who came in, he left the door open. Can't really blame me for taking my shot, can you?"
Kagome watched as he stiffened, his growl dropping an octave, his gaze staring off ahead.
She could almost see the gears turning, as he asked himself who that was, why they were there, and how short their life would now be.
"I see. Fine, whatever, I'm taking you back. Let's go." He tugged at her elbow, and she tugged back, doing her best to imitate one of his displeased growls.
"No. I'm not going back!"
He blinked down at her, momentarily lost at the feeble sound emitting from her throat, it was almost cute with how weak it was. But whether she knew it or not, the sound was defiant, a refusal to see him as the one in charge.
It simply would not do, with his own growl, Inuyasha snapped down at her.
"You don't get a choice in this, Ka-go-me."
He expected her to submit, demanded it of her, yet she pressed on.
Kagome stiffened her jaw, meeting his stern gaze with one of her own, "Look. The way I see it, we can do this, one out of two ways.
Either you let me make one pit stop, fifteen minutes tops; in and out sort of deal, and I go quietly. Or I scream and holler all the way back. Imagine how annoying it'll be dealing with more 'humans' if I were to make a scene like that."
She copied his usual bitter tone that he used whenever he said the word, hoping the annoyance alone would be enough to convince him.
Inuyasha stared down at this tinny girl, once more she'd gone and left him speechless. The urge to laugh at the tip of his tongue, it was already taking his absolute concentration to keep the smirk he felt in check.
"Do you know how annoying you are?"
She cracked a smile, "Probably as annoying as being kidnapped is."
Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha let go of her elbow, allowing her to take a step back.
"Fine, whatever. But if you try anything, I'll-"
"Yeah, yeah. You'll kill me." Her tone was dry as she took advantage of her new freedom to move herself at the back of the bus, finding a sole available seat, she sat with a huff.
Crossing her legs, uncaring or unaware that doing so scrunched her pajama shorts further up her thighs.
He was aware; as well as every other male eye in this damn roach vehicle. The deep growl broke loose before he was aware of it, stomping over to her, Inuyasha glared down his nose at her pouty form.
"What?" She snapped, arms crossing under her chest, that damned t-shirt more skin than shirt.
"Why are you dressed like that?!" He hissed down at her, glaring meaningfully at the guy next to her, damn idiot was practically drooling over her.
"It's not like I had all the time in the world, I had a very small window of opportunity, ya'know."
Inuyasha was going to murder this kid! Damn idiot kept grinning at her like that, when he gave her a little wave, drawing her attention and producing a pale blush to cross her nose, he had enough.
"Okay, that's it, kid. Get the hell up." Not giving him an option, Inuyasha hauled him up to his feet; throwing him towards the front of the bus, giving the bastard a cold scowl that had the weakling moving further up when it looked like he wanted to fight about it.
He took the seat next to her, turning towards the girl he was unprepared to meet with her fiery eyes.
"Why'd you do that for?"
"Why?" He scoffed, when in all honesty he wasn't quite sure why he had done it; something about the way his greedy eyes traveled up and down her form had angered him.
A deep-rooted anger only she could summon, it took everything he had just to keep his cool.
Not that he could blame the guy entirely, the girl was certainly a sight to see.
From her wavy untamed hair, her bright flushed face; down to her slim neck, to her round amble- His gaze shot back up to her face, a discreet blush staining his features.
"You're dressed like you're homeless and don't expect people to hassle you? You should be thanking me for getting rid of the creep."
She arched a brow his way, "He wasn't bothering me any"
"Keh! You don't mean that"
"You're right, I don't."
He turned his gaze towards her, an unreadable expression crossing his face, they stared at each other then. Neither aware that their faces crept closer, brown staring into pale blue and vice versa, both too intrigued in what secrets the other might hold to pay attention to silly things like personal bubbles.
Inuyasha was the first to notice their proximity, but oddly enough he wasn't willing to give up this point of view just yet-
Daring himself he leaned in, he was encouraged when her eyes never strayed from his own. She smelt nice...
"This is where we stop" her soft-spoken words snapped him out of it, reeling back he was flustered to find himself at a loss for words.
"I wasn't doing anything!" He snapped, annoyed and thoroughly embarrassed at having being caught up in the moment.
She stood then, fixing him with a confused look, "What are you talking about? This is where we get off."
Completely abashed, he merely nodded, fallowing her out of the bus they made an odd sight. Her, in all her youth and scantly glad. Him, in all his sophisticated attire, nearly radiating his aggravation.
She walked over to the nearest directional, too busy in figuring out their location to pay attention to the hungry eyes that fallowed her. The next thing she knew, a light gray jacket was draped over her shoulders.
She peeked back in time to see Inuyasha, posing there, looking strange in the sea of the commonly dressed.
He fused with his cufflinks, fixing one then the other, he looked just as elegant without the jacket; even more so, left in his button up white shirt and matching gray vest. He looked nice, more than nice really, there was no denying the beautiful picture he created.
"You done yet?" He snapped and the illusion was over, rolling her eyes Kagome pulled the jacket close, glad for a little more coverage, even if it did come from that rude jerk.
Although it only covered a bit pass her shorts, she buttoned it up quickly; noticing straight away how it hugged her body close and made her look even more scandalous, choosing to ignore this Kagome went on to find her route.
"A-ha, here we are."
Inuyasha crept closer to see where 'here' was, they were far away from downtown in the quieter parts of Tokyo, he'd rarely had to visit these parts so for once he couldn't offer any guidance.
"All we need to do is take another bus here" Her finger traced the blue line, "Easy peasy, let's go, the bus will be here in 5 minutes."
"Like hell I'm getting on another one of those germ machines" Inuyasha looked around, satisfied when he found a cab not too far away, reaching for her wrist he led the way, "Let's go-"
"No."
Kagome prepared herself when he turned, his eyes narrowed and annoyed. Before he lost his cool, she was quick to explain "How do I know you won't just take me back?"
Inuyasha stared at her strained features, her lips forming a pout as she lightly tugged on the wrist he still held, "You don't."
Without anything further, he tugged and she caved, Inuyasha strode over to the cabbie. Motioning with a tilt of his head for the driver to get on with it, the guy- noticing his attire and obvious class, rushed to put out his smoke and get back in.
"Where to Sir?"
Inuyasha glanced her way, startled by this, Kagome jumped before answering.
"Corner of Aoyama and 2nd Chome, please."
The cabbie shot her a look, his view from the rear side mirror allowing his sight to travel to her exposed thighs, his sightseeing interrupted as the guy with her cleared his throat, forcing his eyes back on him.
"You heard the girl, move this piece of crap."
With a nervous laugh, the cabbie did just that, merging into traffic without another word.
"That wasn't very nice, Inuyasha." Kagome whispered to him, huffing when all he did was cross his arms over his chest, shrugging away his indifference.
"Yeah, well... You'll learn, I ain't very nice."
The rest of the ride went on in silence, the twenty-minute trip ending in just over ten. Kagome waited till Inuyasha was busy paying for the fare before jumping out of the cab and power walking to her destination.
Of course, she knew it was all in vain, no longer surprised when she felt the familiar hand wrapping around her elbow.
"Really wish you'd stop doing that." His voice came as a harsh whisper in her ear, Kagome shivered in reaction but masked it by tugging fruitlessly on her arm until he caved.
"Well, I really wish you'd stop doing that."
She heard the acid drip in her voice, of course he looked unfaced as ever.
Inuyasha was seconds from retorting, something along the lines of 'behave or we'll leave', but as he looked up to see where they were, the landmarks stopped him.
The words died in his far too dry mouth; his hands balled into fists at his sides.
"Why are we here?"
His voice was tight, but she did not notice, mind already on what she needed to do here. "I have someone I need to visit, won't take long, you can wait out here."
Staring at the cemetery before him, Inuyasha felt out of bounds, she walked on oblivious to his inner turmoil. Once he noticed how far ahead she had gotten, he was forced to shake it off, catching up to her in a few long strides.
When she only glanced his way, eyebrow upturn in her inquiry, he huffed down at her form.
"Like hell I'd leave you alone, especially with that disappearing act you've been practicing."
She shrugged, unbothered.
"If you hadn't trapped me in your ivory tower, I wouldn't have to escape."
He had the good sense not to answer, however there was no missing the icy glare he threw her way, he assumed she would go into a fit, but after a beat, he heard her sigh.
"Where have you been?"
Inuyasha chanced a glance her way, she looked funny in just his coat, with her nose powdered pink from the cold morning air. But her eyes remained ahead of her, not bothering to see the confusion her question left behind.
"Feh, I've got a business to run; you're not exactly at the top of my priority list."
Inuyasha was left stunned when she shot a glare his way, the girl was angry, as if that wasn't the answer she wanted?
Kagome clenched her jaw and quickened her step, thinking for a second that it would mean anything against this abnormal being, he looked to be having no problem keeping up with the quick pace she'd set.
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The road stretched on in both directions, the pass lined with Sakura trees on either side, creating an arch that showered the road with its blossoms. Kagome knew the way, leading on as he fallowed quietly behind her, she didn't have any of the necessary things, but it didn't matter.
Her heart was pounding as she veered off the road, taking a familiar path through the rows of headstones, there- overlooking the shallow slope; was the man she'd been looking for.
Kagome jogged over to the grave, tears wielding in her eyes as she tried her best to clear the stone from a few rouge sticks and leaves.
She dropped to her knees, bringing both hands together to say her prayers, aware of the brown eyes that still watched her like a hawk. With a set of claps, Kagome finished, opening her eyes to take in the marbled stone and neat writing.
"Heya, Gramps. Long time no see."