Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.

Lies, Letters, and Calloused Fingertips.



Chapter Fifteen: …It Pours…



His bright eyes were green and perfect. I knew he was looking me over, judging me, taking in my appearance; whatever you like to call it, this brightly-colored boy was observing me much more closely than many a male had before. It made me both nervous and excited, which I knew wasn’t a very good combination after the morning I’d had.



Shippo was very sweet and sincere as he helped me out of the Western Palace; Sesshomaru’s daughter had knocked my knee out, and I knew that Okaa-san would have a fit when I returned finally to the okiya.



As we walked through Asakusa in silence, I looked at Shippo about as much as he looked at me. We were both trying desperately to be discreet – which wasn’t working at all, since both of us are as blunt as a tactless joke. Finally, about a block from the okiya, Shippo finally worked up the nerve to let me know what he thought of my appearance. I had to smile at his shyness, and it intrigued me that he seemed about my age and was Inuyasha’s son.



It pleased me to know end when we began to actually hold a conversation, and I realized shortly that he had a much finer way with his words than his Otou-san, and, though he did curse, it was much less frequent and not near as offensive as his father.



As we walked the short distance to the okiya, he let me know that he was, in fact, adopted – adopted by Inuyasha and his late wife, a wonderful young woman known as Kagome. He told me the story – a very edited version – of how Inuyasha came to be so heartbrokenly single. He never really said anything definitive, but I could tell by the sound of his words how much both he and Inuyasha adored this Kagome. He smiled so sweetly as he described whatever he could recall of his adoptive mother, and I knew from the beginning that there was much, much more to his story than he was letting on at the time.



But I like to think that I am a patient woman. So I just smiled at him, nodding at all of the appropriate moments, and enjoyed the time spent with Shippo. He was a good soul, and he had a very caring way about him.



He was such a fresh change from the perverted businessman that were always poking and prodding me as though I were some common prostitute.



When I returned to the okiya, Mother was, of course, very upset by my long absence; however, she immediately perked up when she received Sesshomaru-sama’s payment for my time and “services” – and also when she took notice of Shippo. She knew who the red-haired, green-eyed boy was – nearly everyone in Tokyo took notice of Taisho Shippo. He was so very exotic, with his unruly, flame-colored hair, his china-pale skin, and his bright, beautiful jade eyes. The only ones who seemed to be even more exotic than he were the infamous Taisho brothers, Shippo’s adoptive father and uncle, Inuyasha and Sesshomaru.



Mother began to hope that Shippo would ask to be my danna soon – as his father had done for Keiko. Mother always said that that was the best relationship that a geisha could hope to have, and that Keiko was damn lucky to have one that was so kind and good to her. Mother always complained that Keiko was going to ruin her chances – and quite possibly her life – if she continued to date that man that Inuyasha allowed her to see.



You see, the relationship between Inuyasha and my sister, I knew, was very, very complicated. He had some deeply seeded feelings for her, feelings that no one – not even the great Inuyasha – could possibly hope to ever fully understand.



Keiko cared for him – hell, you could even go so far as to say that she absolutely adored him! But I knew that she did not love him. It was plain as day, and I always thought that, on some level, Inuyasha understood that. He knew that she didn’t love him the way he seemed to love her… or the way his Kagome had loved him.



They were the best of friends, though, my sister and her Inuyasha. They seemed to tell each other everything, and they had a very close bond, despite the lack of romantic involvement.



A few months passed by with visits from Shippo occurring every week or so. He was quite persistent, my suitor, and he showered me with compliments, gifts, and adoration. I still own several of the gifts he gave me when he was courting me: jade combs, silk kimonos of every color and style, pieces of fine, beautiful jewelry. Above all, he was always so wonderful to me, and he treated me with a very high level of dignity and respect – a first for me.



After he had been seeing me at the teahouse for about six months, I started to feel what he was surely feeling – the passion between us escalated slowly during that time, and our bond grew from friendship to romance, and finally to something more. I had always dreamed of love, but this… This connection that formed between myself and Shippo… It was something that I never knew existed, not even in fairytales. Such a beautiful and pure feeling could not be wrong, I knew.



So when I was called to the teahouse one evening in late September, nearly a year after meeting Taisho Shippo, to meet with a “very important guest.” The lady of the teahouse was instructed to say nothing further than that.



Of course, Mother was gushing with excitement; she just knew that Shippo was meeting me there to ask me formally to be my danna.



I was nervous. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to accept; it killed me to say it, to even think it, but I wanted so much more from him. It would break my heart to have only a tiny bit of his life. So many geisha resigned themselves to this same sort of simple life, the ones that all went in the same order: they entertain at teahouses and events, then they meet a good man, they get close to that good man, they allow that man to become their danna, then they watch as that same good man that they care so much for marries another, a woman completely undeserving of his purity and sweet disposition.



I loved Shippo with all of my heart – and possibly more. To see myself become only half his wife would be more painful than saying no from the beginning. So I steeled my resolve as Mother patted my obi, completing my ensemble for the evening. If Shippo asked to be my danna, I would say no. Mother would just have to deal with it.



However… my Shippo has always been one to go against the so-called “trend,” just as his father was prone to doing. Inuyasha allowed my sister to have a romantic relationship with another man – and Masaru was quite the sweetheart, from what I could tell from our few meetings.



Shippo took that defiance of theirs one step further.



Instead of asking to be my danna, he presented me with a beautiful, thin silver band and the very hopeful question: “Will you marry me?”



At first, I didn’t take him seriously. I mean, how could I? It was not my place as a geisha to marry so fine a man as he, and I knew that Okaa-san would be furious if I accepted. She would not give her blessing, and she would probably disown me for being a disgrace and leaving my profession and beliefs in such a blatant manner.



But… Shippo kept watching me with those bright, hopeful eyes, those eyes that held the soul that had become so deeply connected to my own… And I knew that he was being true to me. He wanted me – all of me, and, somehow, I just knew that his family would be absolutely fine with his decision, no matter my societal status. It was a comforting feeling… and with that feeling burning in my belly, I threw my future into Shippo’s arms – I agreed to forfeit my life as a geisha and become his wife.



As expected, Mother was very displeased, and I was disowned within the week.



Within two weeks, I was Taisho Ko, reverting back to my original name from my life before I was a geisha.



Keiko, of course, was stunned when she learned of my decision. To her, I had always seemed to love the life we were leading, despite the difficulties that we both faced as children in the Tanaka okiya. At last, we were both free, though, and we could lead the lives that little girls always dream of.



When the war began, Shippo and I moved around quite a bit with Inuyasha and the rest of the family. Rin and I never did get back on the right foot, but Aiko and I finally made up and became decent friends. The other children never had a problem with me, and most of the tension dissipated when Shippo and I had our first kit, a red-haired, grey-eyed boy we named Kaji.



As a war raged on outside the Western walls, our family prospered… but my sister and I could not speak. She was still a geisha, and as such, she needed protection. Inuyasha had sent her to a very secret place, and he was convinced that they would take good care of her. They wrote back and forth, though, for around two years; that seemed sometimes to be the highlight of Inuyasha’s month, receiving Keiko’s letter. Wherever she was, she was very happy, it seemed – and my sister’s happiness made Inuyasha happy.



And then – that day came…





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Ayana quirked an eyebrow as she knelt down to eye level with Kagome’s protruding stomach. “Hmm.” Kagome watched her carefully, a little put off by all the strange, pondering noises that her kumo doctor was making, and Minoru just stood off to the side, arms crossed over his chest, and making the ever-obnoxious “I told you so” face. She felt the intense urge to tell him to shut the fuck up, despite the fact that he hadn’t yet said anything.



She stepped back. “The pregnancy is moving along more quickly than we expected, Kagome,” she let the new mother know, allowing her to sit up on the table. “Your daughter is very close to being completely ready for life outside the womb – however! Your son is still a little behind in growth, and it worries both of us. He has an active mind, however, which leads me to believe that, no matter how developed he is at birth by this point, that he will survive. His twin will aid him.”



At that Minoru rolled his eyes.



Suddenly, Kagome’s cell phone began to ring, and she tried to get off the table to answer it. Minoru beat her to it, flipping it open and pressing the device to his ear. “Hello?” he breathed into the receiver.



His eyes widened as he listened to the person on the other end, and he nodded, wrapping up the conversation quickly and snapping the phone shut before looking Kagome straight in the eye. “Inuyasha is on his way home from the airport right now. He has some company coming – and he’d like to know why a male is answering his wife’s phone.”



Kagome rolled her eyes and groaned. “He’s such a male,” she mumbled as Ayana and Minoru worked together to help her off the table and to her feet. As soon as she was mobile again, Kagome had set off to grab her purse and start for the door.



“Remember!” Ayana called after them as Minoru walked at her side down the narrow corridor of the office. “Youkai pregnancies don’t last as long as humans’! Your little boy may just need to spend a couple weeks at the hospital with me!” The two of them completely missed the doctor’s rueful smirk.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Inuyasha glared at the cell phone in his hand as Suzume watched the road closely. She kept glancing his way, wondering about his sudden gruffness.



He growled. “Why the fuck is a fuckin’ dude answering my wife’s phone?”



Suzume blinked. “A – A guy?” she stammered as a strange feeling flooded her suddenly. She had a very peculiar, gut feeling that it was not just any “dude” who answered Kagome’s cell phone; there was no real reason she should feel this way – she just did.



Determined to quench these overwhelming emotions, Suzume floored it. She was ready to see him again.





--------------------------------------------------------------------------------



Next time:



Chapter Sixteen: …And Pours.