An Entirely Different Kind of Cheating
folder
InuYasha › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
9
Views:
6,583
Reviews:
75
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
0
Category:
InuYasha › General
Rating:
Adult ++
Chapters:
9
Views:
6,583
Reviews:
75
Recommended:
1
Currently Reading:
0
Disclaimer:
I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.
Chapter Four
A/N: First of all, I cannot BELIEVE I’ve gotten over a thousand two-hundred hits. I’m completely in awe, and I’d like to say thanks to absolutely everyone, including those who don’t review (but especially those who do) for reading!
Pocky for all my wonderful guessers!!! I can’t tell you who was the closest, because I don’t wanna give anything away, so all I can say is: you guys are awesome, and I was astounded at how closely a couple of you hit! You’re all on pretty much the same track, and it’s a very good track, so congratulations! All shall be revealed…erm…eventually! Don’t know when, but it’ll come!
*As a side note, I don’t own Neosporin. Yes, it sounds like a bizarre statement, but I figure that if lawyers would go after someone for stealing material on a FANSITE, they would go after someone for using the word “Neosporin” without a disclaimer.
Clearing things up…again: Oh my god, I should have made this much more clear! Sorry about the mix up, Fallenangel, but the casino is part of the hotel. As in Las Vegas fashion, the casino is on the first floor (or first couple of floors, maybe) and the hotel rooms are on all the floors are above that. Anyway, that’s how it is in nice hotels in Vegas, like the Bellagio and Palms, etc. Not that I’ve ever been there, but this is what I’ve gathered from TV, movies, books, and my brother who took a road-trip there with his friends when he turned 21. It strikes me now that I don’t even know if gambling is legal in Tokyo, or what the official gambling age is. But we’ll pretend rules like that don’t exist so, conveniently, 19 year old Kagome can still get in!
Responses to reviews! Yaaaaaay!!! Pocky for all!!!!!!
Hillary: Hmm…could be, could be! Well, I’m not so sure about a threesome with Inu, Kag, and another…I can’t really see how it would fit smoothly into the story, but I’ll look for other opportunities to do a something like that if you’d like, or you can suggest some! Thanks so much for the review and the guess!
Myztikal Midnight Enchantress: Thanks so much for the compliments. I adore hearing that my story is unique! I’ll definitely keep writing, so thanks for the review!
Sexykagome03: Hmmm….ya think so, do you? Thanks for the review, and I’ll do my best to update regularly. Man, I never thought that having fans would be such motivation to keep writing!
Trina: Thanks so much! It’s still hard to believe that people like what I’ve written so much. It’s perfectly fine that you have no idea what went on; that was kind of my intent, to keep people in the dark. Thanks for the great review!
Fallenangel7583: W00t indeed! I’m really, really happy that you review regularly. It’s good to know that people keep coming back for more! I’m really glad that you like the way Miroku’s character has come out. I’ve tried not to make him too horribly annoying. Yes!!! You’re the first reviewer who has brought up the fact that they’re on a bit of a time limit! Go you! You’re really keeping in mind a lot of aspects of the story, and it’s totally thrilling for me as the author! I love each and every one of your reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Thebigguy69: Yeah, Naraku is quite the asshole, isn’t he? I loved the guesses, and I’m really glad you’re considering a bunch of different things! Thanks so much for the review!
Andross: Hmm, very reasonable. Wow, you’re the first person who’s brought Hojo into this giant mess of something resembling a plot! Clever. Thanks for the guess, and, of course, for the review!
Rachel77: A very wonderful guess! I’m glad readers are thinking of what could have happened to affect both Kagome and Miroku instead of just one or the other. Thanks so much for the guess and the review!
Chokoreto: Yeah, I’ve really noticed that Sango doesn’t have a big enough part in the story, and I’m going to try to work on that, though I’m not quite sure how. I love it when readers give advice, because it tells me what they’d like to see, which makes for happier readers! I’m very glad that you liked the chapter, and thank you for reviewing again!
Bunnie: Oh hey, another person who seems to think that Hojo was up to no good in the past! Could be…great guess, and I’m really glad you like Inuyasha’s character! Being all powerful and scary has a certain charm, doesn’t it? Thanks for the review and the guess!
Keke: You’re most welcome!
GreenRider: Wow, another reviewer who thinks it was Hojo!! I’m really flattered, and thanks for your guess and review!
Man, I don’t think I’ve ever used so many exclamation points in my life! Oh look, another one! And another! And…yeah, that got old really fast. I’ve never realized how many people have it in for Hojo!
Hmm, looks like I’m going to have to replenish my virtual pocky stash. *sniffle* if only it were real! Too bad I’m way too lazy to walk half a mile down the street and actually buy real pocky. Damn shame, too, because I’d love some right about now. *Goes off into a strawberry-pocky-filled dream world and drools just a little*
On to the story!
$~$~$
*****
$~$~$
Chapter Four
They were in the casino restaurant and Inuyasha was pulling her chair out for her to sit down when something akin to a freight train came crashing into her.
Kagome nearly tumbled straight off her feet, but when she regained her balance she saw that she had not been pummeled by a train, but rather by a distressed-looking Sango.
“Kagome, thank goodness I found you!” The girl was clinging to Kagome’s arms as if for dear life.
“Sango! What is it?”
Sango took a hold of Kagome’s hand and, paying no mind to the bewildered Inuyasha, tugged Kagome around the corner. Sango’s hand was quivering as she used it to point to the bar. “Do you see that girl?” she whispered, her voice portraying her fear.
Kagome looked, but all she saw was the girl who was behind the bar. Granted, the girl looked a little too young to be a bartender, but other than that, there seemed to be nothing abnormal about her. “Yeah, what about her?”
“Kagome…” Sango turned to Kagome, her face contorted with anxiety. “That barmaid is trying to kill me.”
She stared at Sango as if a rather large, bright orange rhinoceros had just sprouted halfway out of her forehead.
“She is! You have to believe me!”
“Sango, she’s like…sixteen.”
“It doesn’t matter! I was walking by with Miroku, and she sees us and grabs him by the sleeve, tearing him away, and she starts ranting about how he promised something, and how could he be with another woman! Alright, so through all this, I’m standing there thinking, ‘Okay what the fuck is going on’ right? And then she turns on me, and I swear to god, her eyes turned fucking red! And then she’s grabbing this aluminum bat from behind the bar and, like, charging straight at me, like some kind of possessed…thing! I just barely escaped. I slipped into the boys’ bathroom, and I hid for about twenty minutes in a locked stall until I knew it was safe and she’d gone back to her post.”
Kagome blinked. And again. And once more. “I’m going back to my dinner.”
“Kagome! You’ve got to help me!”
“Help yourself.”
“Did I not mention that she had a metal fucking baseball bat?!”
“Sango…she won’t use that in the casino. She’s a teenage bartender. What the hell is she going to do, force-feed you martinis and rant about her favorite boyband? Get a grip.” With that, she turned and strode back around the corner, only to be confronted with a confounding sight.
Inuyasha was standing where she’d left him, looking utterly fierce, and facing a man who looked strikingly like him.
The stranger was slightly taller than Inuyasha, and his hair seemed to be tamer. His features were more effeminate, and he reeked of grace, poise, and money. Lots of it.
Kagome couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that the two were arguing heatedly.
The stranger frowned, and, with a final remark, turned and left.
Inuyasha sighed and glanced her way. He strode over. “Kagome…I’m really sorry, but something’s come up that I have to take care of. Rain-check?”
“Sure. Does it have something to do with that man you were talking to?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Who was it?”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “My asshole half brother, Sesshoumaru. Look, he’s going to decapitate me if I don’t meet him in my office in about…three seconds, so I’m going to have to go.”
“Okay. Well…you know where I’ll be.”
Inuyasha smoothed a hand through her hair and kissed her quickly, and then he was gone, weaving between tables and soon out of sight.
Kagome sighed and went back around the corner. It took her a few seconds, but she found Sango.
“Sango…I’m free, so I can help you now.”
Sango looked at Kagome imploringly. “You’ll help me?”
Kagome nodded graciously. “It’ll all be fine,” she comforted. “You can come out from under the table now.”
$~$~$
Miroku wandered past the blackjack tables, looking for his girlfriend and his cousin. After quite a few minutes of searching, he gave up his search for a few moments to find a bathroom and…attend to nature’s call.
He kept an eye out for the girls, but didn’t find them, and swung open the bathroom door.
“Oh my god!” he nearly shouted, and spun around. “I’m so sorry!” There was a woman in this bathroom. He could feel embarrassment flickering at his cheeks. How had he walked into the wrong bathroom? And…
Wait a second.
That woman…
He paused at the door, contemplated for a few seconds, and slowly turned. Yep. Sure enough…
“Sango?” He glanced around. Those were most definitely urinals on the walls. Not something commonly installed in women’s bathrooms. “What the hell are you doing in the boys’ bathroom?”
“Miroku!” Sango flung herself at him, nearly knocking him into the wall behind him, and buried her face into his chest. “It was horrible!” she sobbed.
“What? What happened?”
“That girl! The one who grabbed you! She chased me for what seemed like hours, so I hid in here. when I came out, I found Kagome, and she said she would help me, but after like half an hour she got thirsty, and wanted a drink, and…and she dragged me over and…and…she-” Sango paused long enough to hiccup a couple dozen times, then retired into heaving sobs. “That barmaid tackled me, and-and…”
Miroku stroked Sango’s hair and rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you a blackbelt?”
Sango tore away from him, eyes flashing. “She was fucking scary, dammit!”
He nodded sagely. “I understand. Come here, Sango.” He opened his arms to her and she fell gladly into them. “Now let’s get you out of the boys’ bathroom before you scare the wits out of the next poor guy who comes along.”
$~$~$
Something horrible was happening. Something which almost always led to illegal activities or reckless abandon of one form or another. Something which drove Kagome to the brink of insanity every time it occurred: Boredom.
Kagome was deathly bored.
“Hit me,” she said with a sigh.
She got a nine, making her hand twenty-three. She threw the cards down in disgust and shoved herself out of her seat. When she got bored, she didn’t concentrate, and when she didn’t concentrate, she lost money. So now, she wasn’t only bored, she was bored and pissed off.
What could make her happy again?
Well, winning back the money that had just sprinted out of her purse might be a good start.
Some hold ‘em was bound to lift her spirits. Right?
But Kagome was being sloppy, and she kept losing, and it kept adding to her frustration. What was a girl to do?
$~$~$
“Frankly, Daishyo, I think I speak for the majority of us when I say that I don’t give a damn what you think should be done differently. We’ve been successfully running casinos since before you were born, and you have the nerve to tell us that we’re doing it wrong?”
Inuyasha gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his temper in check. What the hell had crawled up these guys’ asses? The eight men in the room were the grumpiest, most stubborn, stingiest, nostalgic bunch of annoying old bastards he’d ever had the misfortune to do business with. Luckily, Inuyasha was used to it, as he did business with them rather frequently. These were the presidents of the best seven casinos in the city. That meant that Inuyasha had to stay calm and show them that he was no little boy who could be pushed around whenever they were feeling bitter about the large amount of years piling above their shoulders. These guys were all youkai, and some of the oldest ones around. They thought that living through a millennium or two gave them permission to be bitchy and condescending twenty-four hours of the day.
The only other man in the room was Sesshoumaru, who would cut off his own head before ever helping Inuyasha.
“You misunderstand,” Inuyasha stated generously. “I don’t think that the way you’re doing things is unacceptable. But I believe that if you took advantage of some of the more modern aspects which are accessible to those in our position, things would run more smoothly for all of us, and crime and theft would be vastly diminished. What little remained would be taken care of much more easily.”
Inuyasha knew why they were bitter: they didn’t want less crime. Punishing the morons who cheated in their casinos or tried to rob from them was the only bit of joy they had left.
“If you think for one minute,” another ancient youkai spoke up, “that we will be intimidated by a pup like you, you’re sorely mistaken, you little punk.”
So much for civility. These guys had a way of taking decency and throwing it out the proverbial window, while still expecting Inuyasha to treat them like royalty.
“Look,” Inuyasha growled, aware that there was a good chance he was about to get himself in a huge amount of trouble. “You-”
Fortunately, his words were cut off by a few sharp raps on the large, heavy conference room doors.
“What?” Inuyasha barked.
The doors opened and a security guard stepped in. The man was huge, and brought all new meaning to the term “a bear of a man.” He actually was a bear of a man, being a bear youkai, and his sheer size was staggering. What no one needed to know was that the man was not only much gentler than most people one could ever hope to meet, but he was lazy beyond belief, and had an obsession with Winnie the Pooh that bordered on creepy.
“We caught a girl cheating, Daishyo-San,” the man said, bowing respectfully.
Inuyasha suppressed the urge to grin. Perfect timing. If he showed these bastards how efficiently he took care of these kinds of problems, and maybe let them have a swing or two, he was sure they’d not only respect him a tad more, but there was a slim chance they might actually listen to him, instead of automatically snapping at him and spinning themselves into a huge maze of dizzying counterproductive arguments. It was a very small chance, but it was more than nothing. He could see the grins developing on the other men’s faces.
“Bring her in.” Inuyasha clenched his hands in anticipation.
The guard gave a signal over a walkie-talkie, and Inuyasha heard the response. Within seconds, he caught the sound of approaching footsteps. With those footsteps came an angry voice which sounded all too familiar.
Inuyasha could feel his face paling. No…
He could clearly hear the girl yelling at the guards, telling them how much trouble they were going to be in, how their boss was going to have them fired and thrown out within seconds.
“She couldn’t have…” Inuyasha whispered under his breath. None of the youkai paid any mind to him. They were all completely attuned to the door, waiting for the girl to be brought into sight, to see the new toy upon which they could vent their frustration.
Inuyasha cringed as the guards pulled the girl into view. “She did.”
“Inuyasha!” Kagome cried. “Tell these guys to get the hell off me!”
Her informal manner and unusual request brought the attention back to Inuyasha, who dropped his face into his arms and groaned. This was not what he’d been planning.
This wasn’t supposed to happen! For once, there was a chance of things going well, of earning the tiniest hint of respect in the field, and now…now they would look down on him even more.
For a few seconds, Inuyasha stayed in that position and listened to the men turning to look between him and the girl, and as Kagome thrashed violently to get away from the youkai holding her. Stupid girl! How the hell had she gotten caught?! And of all possible times to do so, why now?!
Kagome’s sharp cry, followed quickly by the metallic scent of her blood jerked Inuyasha out of his self-pitying recess, and he shot out of his chair. One of the guards had gripped her tightly around her shoulder to still her movements, and his talons had slit straight through her delicate skin.
Before even he realized what was happening, Inuyasha was literally throwing the man off her (and into a nearby wall), and pushing the other violently away. His rumbling growl was the only noise in the room as he gripped Kagome around the waist with both arms and pulled her tightly to him.
“This meeting will be rescheduled,” Inuyasha snarled. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience; take it up with my secretary.” Inuyasha picked Kagome up carefully, not missing her flinch as he shifted her, and within seconds he was nearing his office, and then placing her gingerly on to his bed, on her stomach.
He could feel his youkai blood pulsing in an unreasonable amount of anger as he eyed the shallow wound on her shoulder blade. It wasn’t too bad, but it was bleeding freely. Inuyasha tugged at the bottom of her shirt.
Kagome gasped. “Inuyasha!”
The hanyou rolled his eyes. “Kagome, it’s not like I’m going to ravish you when you’re wounded. Calm down, I’m just taking off your shirt to treat the cut.” He carefully navigated the shirt, trying not to get any blood on it, and soon it was free and he carelessly threw it aside.
“Wait one second,” he instructed, and rushed to his bathroom to retrieve a washcloth. He wetted it and began to clean her shoulder blade. She cringed and her hands clenched the bedspread, but he was being as gentle as possible.
Though he’d never admit it, throughout the whole process he was eyeing the curve of her back and the way her hair fell against his pillow. That is…until he caught sight of how her breast pressed against the bed, creating a wonderful curve just begging to be touched. Quickly, he pulled away and went to clean her blood off the cloth.
He shook his head and splashed cold water on his face. The cold water might have been more useful in other places, but that was the best he could do for now.
Inuyasha wandered back into the room. He made sure her back was totally clean, then carefully applied a large band-aid with Neosporin smeared over it. “So tell me,” he asked as he smoothed his hand once over the bandage, and then ran the back of a claw down the middle of her back, just to watch her shiver. “How did you wind up getting caught by one of my men?”
Kagome sighed and he smelled her annoyance. “I was bored, and I got sloppy, I guess.”
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. What exactly wasn’t she telling him? “And…?”
“And…what?”
“I can smell that you’re hiding something. You smell guilty.”
She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “goddamn demon senses” before admitting, “Okay, there’s a slight possibility that I might have figured that you would come to me if you saw me cheating. Theoretically, of course.”
Inuyasha sighed and stretched himself out next to her on the bed.
Kagome turned her head to face him. There was a smile on her face, despite the pain she obviously felt from the slit in her shoulder.
“Kagome, what am I going to do with you? Everyone who works for me in this casino is going to expect me to break your legs.”
Kagome gasped. “What?! You’re not serious.”
He frowned. “Of course, I’m not going to. You should know that.” Did she honestly believe that he would ever even think of hurting her?
“But…but you’d do that? To someone else, I mean?”
“If they were cheating in my casino?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Of course. I mean, it depends on how much money they scored from cheating.”
“And if it’s a lot of money?”
“How much money?”
“Obscene amounts of money.”
“How obscene?”
“Mortifyingly obscene.”
Inuyasha made a face. “If it was that bad I’d probably just kill the bastard.”
The second he said that, Kagome’s scent changed, and he knew it had been the wrong thing to say.
“Kagome…running a casino, especially an old-school one like Daishyo Casino, isn’t all fun and games. Those who steal and cheat have to be punished.”
Kagome’s eyes widened, and, sitting up, she scooted away from him and crawled off the bed. She knelt down and recovered her shirt from the floor and rushed to put it on. “What are you saying?” she breathed, facing him once again.
“It’s just business, nothing more. There’s no need to get so emotional about it.”
“No need to get so emotional?!” she cried. “Inuyasha, you’re talking about human life here! How could you possibly be so casual about murder?”
“It’s just my job, Kagome.”
“It’s not! No job can possibly require you to murder people. It’s against the law, and it’s horrible!”
Inuyasha walked calmly around the bed and leaned close to her. “Kagome, everyone knows of my reputation. If someone decides to come in and steal from me, that’s their problem. When I do it, I’m simply protecting what’s mine.”
“And what about me?!”
Once again, he lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “You’re mine too.”
$~$~$
Kagome felt rage filtering through her. “Excuse me?”
She could clearly see Inuyasha’s annoyance, but she didn’t really give a damn.
“Kagome, just get back on the bed or you’re going to start bleeding again.”
“Oh, hell no! Did you just compare me to a casino, Inuyasha?”
“I suppose,” he said distractedly as he slinked ever towards her, “indirectly.”
She didn’t want to, but Kagome had to back up a step. “That’s sick, Inuyasha; killing people for cheating is sick.”
“I don’t always kill them. I can be an extremely generous person. For example, I spared your cousin’s life, didn’t I?”
Kagome frowned and stopped walking. “Miroku?”
“Hai.”
“What does he have to do with anything?”
Inuyasha took her hand before she realized what he was doing. “He didn’t tell you about our little meeting?”
Kagome’s heart squeezed harshly as comprehension reared its ugly head. She tried to jerk her hand away, to no success whatsoever. “That’s why he told me not to cheat anymore; you got to him. What did you do to him?”
“Nothing, just like I said.” There was a note of pride in his words.
“And, what, you expect a fucking medal for that? You don’t get praise for refraining from beat someone to a bloody pulp, Inuyasha! That’s called common decency, and abiding by the law!” With a furious yank, she freed her hand and skirted around him, putting a couple feet between them, but her muscles flinched involuntarily when her quick movements pulled painfully at the cut on her arm.
“Alright, Kagome, that’s enough arguing. I don’t want you up and bouncing around so soon after getting hurt.” Inuyasha clenched his fists, regret shading over his expression. “I’m sorry about that, by the way. I swear, I’m going to kill that fucking security guard the minute I get my hands on him.” He lifted his hands to slip them around her waist, but she retreated away from him.
Kagome was aghast. How could he possibly think that she would want something like that done in her name? She wanted to yell and cry, but the only expression to come across her face was a sarcastic sneer. “Why, because you’re protecting what’s yours?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitating.
She shook her head sadly. “Inuyasha, I don’t ever, ever want something like that done because of me. I don’t want it done at all, but especially not for me.”
“Alright, Kagome, I’m so terribly sorry that your precious honor was offended, oh honorable miko, but that’s the way I am, and that’s the way my life has been since long before you came into it. Now, for the last time, get on the fucking bed and stop moving around.”
“Goddamn it, Inuyasha!” Kagome shouted, resisting the urge to punch the wall next to her. “Why are you being so fucking controlling?”
“Because you’re being so fucking irresponsible! If you’re not going to take care of yourself like you should, then I’m sure as hell not going to do nothing as you make your injury worse.”
“I really don’t think that you’re in any position to talk.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Exactly what position do you think I’m in?”
Kagome made to respond, but found that she couldn’t. She swallowed thickly and averted her eyes. “I’m not quite sure. Maybe…maybe all of this is going too fast.” She gave a hollow laugh. “It’s not like I even really know you, or vice versa.”
Inuyasha’s face relaxed into an illustration of composed ambivalence. “I’m not willing to have this discussion with you. At all. Look, I have some very pissed off youkai to take care of. They’ve probably already dismembered my secretary, so I have to pacify them before things get too ugly. However…I’ll meet you in two hours in the spa room, and we’ll talk then.”
“Wait, you don’t get to just make decisions like that. I have a say in-”
“Two hours. Spa room.”
“You can’t just…wait; did you say ‘spa room’?”
He made an effort to smile tiredly. “I’ll meet you there.”
“There’s a spa room?”
Inuyasha laughed. “Have one of my employees direct you there. Two hours, okay?”
She nodded, a little bewildered and still a little peeved, but also a little grateful that Inuyasha hadn’t let her carry on.
“I’d be more comfortable if you hung out here. You can take a nap or a bath or whatever, feel free. But if you do decide to go out, for the love of all things sacred, don’t cheat. In fact, until all of this smoothes out, don’t even gamble for a while. Take care of that cut and stay out of trouble. Okay? Good.”
He was smarter than to give her time to protest, and he gave her a kiss on the cheek before she could object, and then the wind from his hasty departure was brushing around her and he was gone.
Kagome blinked and rubbed her arm. “What the hell just happened?”
$~$~$
Inuyasha sped out the door of his room and then his office, ignoring the sounds of angry youkai coming from behind the door to his secretary’s office, and headed straight for the stairwell. He was bolting upwards then, taking flights of steps at a time, until he came to the top level and he was panting and his legs were starting to cramp. He flung the door to the roof open and walked a ways to lean against the railing, to overlook the entirety of the gambling district.
“That stupid fucking girl,” he growled. “What the hell was she thinking?!”
He didn’t realize that he was bending the railing beneath his hands until two chunks of it freed themselves from the rest of the bars and sent him staggering backwards. With a sigh he dropped the mutilated metal to the ground and, after flinching at the loud clatter the action made, took one last look out over the city, and headed back inside to do what he had to do.
$~$~$
For the first time ever, Kagome actually looked around Inuyasha’s room. It looked like the pictures of the Daishyo hotel suites she’d seen, only even bigger, and with less pointless decorations, and a unique color scheme. Every previous time she’d been in this room, she’d been very distracted, and, compared to focusing on Inuyasha, the grandiosity of the room hadn’t mattered too terribly much. Not that it was overly grandiose, just that it certainly was impressive.
Everything was silver or black, with the occasional hint of dark red.
But what really hit her was the bathroom. It was all marble and porcelain, the floors a checkerboard of black and gray and the countertops pure shining silver. The best of all was the tub. It was mammoth and inviting, but she decided that it would be pointless to get in since she’d later be meeting Inuyasha in the spa room.
Kagome sighed and left the bathroom. She crawled back onto his bed and curled up under the silk sheets and sumptuous covers.
“Why is his bed so much comfier than mine?” she asked herself on a yawn before drifting off.
“And why the hell did I agree to meet that pompous moron in a few hours?”
She smiled to herself. Because she wanted to see him more than anything, that’s why. She wanted to be around him as much as humanly possible, and while she could deny it to the ends of the Earth, the feeling was still there.
Kagome frowned as she realized that she’d nearly broken up with him back there. For once his stubborn pretentiousness was useful.
$~$~$
Twenty minutes before Kagome was due to meet him, Inuyasha was flitting around the spa room, taking advantage of demon speed to get everything ready. He’d kicked everyone out of the spas and had been busy ever since.
Finally, as he was doing a last minute double-check, he heard the light tread of Kagome’s footsteps coming nearer, and he recognized the pattern of her breath and the heartbeat which accompanied it.
He saw through the glass doors as she turned the corner, and then entered the room. Inuyasha watched her expression carefully as amazement crossed her face.
Kagome gasped. “Inuyasha…”
$~$~$
*****
$~$~$
A/N: I’ve never realized before how odd the word “walkie-talkie” looks.
Oh my god! My first cliffhanger! Yaaaaay! This was also the first chapter I wrote on the spot; that is to say, after publishing the previous chapter. If you have any suggestions or comments, I’d appreciate them greatly!
Hmm, I was really reluctant to use Sango as the comic relief at the beginning of the chapter, but I wanted something to lighten the mood a little before plunging into the rest of the chapter. Hopefully, I’ll soon figure out a good way to incorporate Sango into the story more and not make her look like a moron, like I kind of did here.
Alright, I’m a little bit terrified of invoking the wrath of the Sesshy-fans, but please be aware that I only made him grumpy and stereotypically coldhearted because it makes a good contrast with Inuyasha, and as Inuyasha is a main character, that kind of takes priority. I doubt anyone is going to be too pissed, as Sesshoumaru was barely even mentioned, but I’ve learned that hardcore Sesshy fans can be vicious!
Also, I honestly like getting feedback from my reviewers, and knowing what they like and what they think. It makes keeping the story on track and enjoyable much easier and much more fun. Actually, if I get a lot of reviews when I post this chapter, I might post more than one chapter a day, if I can write them that fast, which I probably can.
Next chapter: Citrus is in order, but that’s all I’m saying about chapter five. Does that tell you something about how my mind works? One track mind, I swear. *tsk tsk*.
Once again, please review, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed chapter four!
~Schrodinger’s Cat
Pocky for all my wonderful guessers!!! I can’t tell you who was the closest, because I don’t wanna give anything away, so all I can say is: you guys are awesome, and I was astounded at how closely a couple of you hit! You’re all on pretty much the same track, and it’s a very good track, so congratulations! All shall be revealed…erm…eventually! Don’t know when, but it’ll come!
*As a side note, I don’t own Neosporin. Yes, it sounds like a bizarre statement, but I figure that if lawyers would go after someone for stealing material on a FANSITE, they would go after someone for using the word “Neosporin” without a disclaimer.
Clearing things up…again: Oh my god, I should have made this much more clear! Sorry about the mix up, Fallenangel, but the casino is part of the hotel. As in Las Vegas fashion, the casino is on the first floor (or first couple of floors, maybe) and the hotel rooms are on all the floors are above that. Anyway, that’s how it is in nice hotels in Vegas, like the Bellagio and Palms, etc. Not that I’ve ever been there, but this is what I’ve gathered from TV, movies, books, and my brother who took a road-trip there with his friends when he turned 21. It strikes me now that I don’t even know if gambling is legal in Tokyo, or what the official gambling age is. But we’ll pretend rules like that don’t exist so, conveniently, 19 year old Kagome can still get in!
Responses to reviews! Yaaaaaay!!! Pocky for all!!!!!!
Hillary: Hmm…could be, could be! Well, I’m not so sure about a threesome with Inu, Kag, and another…I can’t really see how it would fit smoothly into the story, but I’ll look for other opportunities to do a something like that if you’d like, or you can suggest some! Thanks so much for the review and the guess!
Myztikal Midnight Enchantress: Thanks so much for the compliments. I adore hearing that my story is unique! I’ll definitely keep writing, so thanks for the review!
Sexykagome03: Hmmm….ya think so, do you? Thanks for the review, and I’ll do my best to update regularly. Man, I never thought that having fans would be such motivation to keep writing!
Trina: Thanks so much! It’s still hard to believe that people like what I’ve written so much. It’s perfectly fine that you have no idea what went on; that was kind of my intent, to keep people in the dark. Thanks for the great review!
Fallenangel7583: W00t indeed! I’m really, really happy that you review regularly. It’s good to know that people keep coming back for more! I’m really glad that you like the way Miroku’s character has come out. I’ve tried not to make him too horribly annoying. Yes!!! You’re the first reviewer who has brought up the fact that they’re on a bit of a time limit! Go you! You’re really keeping in mind a lot of aspects of the story, and it’s totally thrilling for me as the author! I love each and every one of your reviews! Thank you, thank you, thank you!!
Thebigguy69: Yeah, Naraku is quite the asshole, isn’t he? I loved the guesses, and I’m really glad you’re considering a bunch of different things! Thanks so much for the review!
Andross: Hmm, very reasonable. Wow, you’re the first person who’s brought Hojo into this giant mess of something resembling a plot! Clever. Thanks for the guess, and, of course, for the review!
Rachel77: A very wonderful guess! I’m glad readers are thinking of what could have happened to affect both Kagome and Miroku instead of just one or the other. Thanks so much for the guess and the review!
Chokoreto: Yeah, I’ve really noticed that Sango doesn’t have a big enough part in the story, and I’m going to try to work on that, though I’m not quite sure how. I love it when readers give advice, because it tells me what they’d like to see, which makes for happier readers! I’m very glad that you liked the chapter, and thank you for reviewing again!
Bunnie: Oh hey, another person who seems to think that Hojo was up to no good in the past! Could be…great guess, and I’m really glad you like Inuyasha’s character! Being all powerful and scary has a certain charm, doesn’t it? Thanks for the review and the guess!
Keke: You’re most welcome!
GreenRider: Wow, another reviewer who thinks it was Hojo!! I’m really flattered, and thanks for your guess and review!
Man, I don’t think I’ve ever used so many exclamation points in my life! Oh look, another one! And another! And…yeah, that got old really fast. I’ve never realized how many people have it in for Hojo!
Hmm, looks like I’m going to have to replenish my virtual pocky stash. *sniffle* if only it were real! Too bad I’m way too lazy to walk half a mile down the street and actually buy real pocky. Damn shame, too, because I’d love some right about now. *Goes off into a strawberry-pocky-filled dream world and drools just a little*
On to the story!
$~$~$
*****
$~$~$
Chapter Four
They were in the casino restaurant and Inuyasha was pulling her chair out for her to sit down when something akin to a freight train came crashing into her.
Kagome nearly tumbled straight off her feet, but when she regained her balance she saw that she had not been pummeled by a train, but rather by a distressed-looking Sango.
“Kagome, thank goodness I found you!” The girl was clinging to Kagome’s arms as if for dear life.
“Sango! What is it?”
Sango took a hold of Kagome’s hand and, paying no mind to the bewildered Inuyasha, tugged Kagome around the corner. Sango’s hand was quivering as she used it to point to the bar. “Do you see that girl?” she whispered, her voice portraying her fear.
Kagome looked, but all she saw was the girl who was behind the bar. Granted, the girl looked a little too young to be a bartender, but other than that, there seemed to be nothing abnormal about her. “Yeah, what about her?”
“Kagome…” Sango turned to Kagome, her face contorted with anxiety. “That barmaid is trying to kill me.”
She stared at Sango as if a rather large, bright orange rhinoceros had just sprouted halfway out of her forehead.
“She is! You have to believe me!”
“Sango, she’s like…sixteen.”
“It doesn’t matter! I was walking by with Miroku, and she sees us and grabs him by the sleeve, tearing him away, and she starts ranting about how he promised something, and how could he be with another woman! Alright, so through all this, I’m standing there thinking, ‘Okay what the fuck is going on’ right? And then she turns on me, and I swear to god, her eyes turned fucking red! And then she’s grabbing this aluminum bat from behind the bar and, like, charging straight at me, like some kind of possessed…thing! I just barely escaped. I slipped into the boys’ bathroom, and I hid for about twenty minutes in a locked stall until I knew it was safe and she’d gone back to her post.”
Kagome blinked. And again. And once more. “I’m going back to my dinner.”
“Kagome! You’ve got to help me!”
“Help yourself.”
“Did I not mention that she had a metal fucking baseball bat?!”
“Sango…she won’t use that in the casino. She’s a teenage bartender. What the hell is she going to do, force-feed you martinis and rant about her favorite boyband? Get a grip.” With that, she turned and strode back around the corner, only to be confronted with a confounding sight.
Inuyasha was standing where she’d left him, looking utterly fierce, and facing a man who looked strikingly like him.
The stranger was slightly taller than Inuyasha, and his hair seemed to be tamer. His features were more effeminate, and he reeked of grace, poise, and money. Lots of it.
Kagome couldn’t hear what they were saying, but it was obvious that the two were arguing heatedly.
The stranger frowned, and, with a final remark, turned and left.
Inuyasha sighed and glanced her way. He strode over. “Kagome…I’m really sorry, but something’s come up that I have to take care of. Rain-check?”
“Sure. Does it have something to do with that man you were talking to?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Who was it?”
Inuyasha rolled his eyes. “My asshole half brother, Sesshoumaru. Look, he’s going to decapitate me if I don’t meet him in my office in about…three seconds, so I’m going to have to go.”
“Okay. Well…you know where I’ll be.”
Inuyasha smoothed a hand through her hair and kissed her quickly, and then he was gone, weaving between tables and soon out of sight.
Kagome sighed and went back around the corner. It took her a few seconds, but she found Sango.
“Sango…I’m free, so I can help you now.”
Sango looked at Kagome imploringly. “You’ll help me?”
Kagome nodded graciously. “It’ll all be fine,” she comforted. “You can come out from under the table now.”
$~$~$
Miroku wandered past the blackjack tables, looking for his girlfriend and his cousin. After quite a few minutes of searching, he gave up his search for a few moments to find a bathroom and…attend to nature’s call.
He kept an eye out for the girls, but didn’t find them, and swung open the bathroom door.
“Oh my god!” he nearly shouted, and spun around. “I’m so sorry!” There was a woman in this bathroom. He could feel embarrassment flickering at his cheeks. How had he walked into the wrong bathroom? And…
Wait a second.
That woman…
He paused at the door, contemplated for a few seconds, and slowly turned. Yep. Sure enough…
“Sango?” He glanced around. Those were most definitely urinals on the walls. Not something commonly installed in women’s bathrooms. “What the hell are you doing in the boys’ bathroom?”
“Miroku!” Sango flung herself at him, nearly knocking him into the wall behind him, and buried her face into his chest. “It was horrible!” she sobbed.
“What? What happened?”
“That girl! The one who grabbed you! She chased me for what seemed like hours, so I hid in here. when I came out, I found Kagome, and she said she would help me, but after like half an hour she got thirsty, and wanted a drink, and…and she dragged me over and…and…she-” Sango paused long enough to hiccup a couple dozen times, then retired into heaving sobs. “That barmaid tackled me, and-and…”
Miroku stroked Sango’s hair and rolled his eyes. “Aren’t you a blackbelt?”
Sango tore away from him, eyes flashing. “She was fucking scary, dammit!”
He nodded sagely. “I understand. Come here, Sango.” He opened his arms to her and she fell gladly into them. “Now let’s get you out of the boys’ bathroom before you scare the wits out of the next poor guy who comes along.”
$~$~$
Something horrible was happening. Something which almost always led to illegal activities or reckless abandon of one form or another. Something which drove Kagome to the brink of insanity every time it occurred: Boredom.
Kagome was deathly bored.
“Hit me,” she said with a sigh.
She got a nine, making her hand twenty-three. She threw the cards down in disgust and shoved herself out of her seat. When she got bored, she didn’t concentrate, and when she didn’t concentrate, she lost money. So now, she wasn’t only bored, she was bored and pissed off.
What could make her happy again?
Well, winning back the money that had just sprinted out of her purse might be a good start.
Some hold ‘em was bound to lift her spirits. Right?
But Kagome was being sloppy, and she kept losing, and it kept adding to her frustration. What was a girl to do?
$~$~$
“Frankly, Daishyo, I think I speak for the majority of us when I say that I don’t give a damn what you think should be done differently. We’ve been successfully running casinos since before you were born, and you have the nerve to tell us that we’re doing it wrong?”
Inuyasha gritted his teeth, struggling to keep his temper in check. What the hell had crawled up these guys’ asses? The eight men in the room were the grumpiest, most stubborn, stingiest, nostalgic bunch of annoying old bastards he’d ever had the misfortune to do business with. Luckily, Inuyasha was used to it, as he did business with them rather frequently. These were the presidents of the best seven casinos in the city. That meant that Inuyasha had to stay calm and show them that he was no little boy who could be pushed around whenever they were feeling bitter about the large amount of years piling above their shoulders. These guys were all youkai, and some of the oldest ones around. They thought that living through a millennium or two gave them permission to be bitchy and condescending twenty-four hours of the day.
The only other man in the room was Sesshoumaru, who would cut off his own head before ever helping Inuyasha.
“You misunderstand,” Inuyasha stated generously. “I don’t think that the way you’re doing things is unacceptable. But I believe that if you took advantage of some of the more modern aspects which are accessible to those in our position, things would run more smoothly for all of us, and crime and theft would be vastly diminished. What little remained would be taken care of much more easily.”
Inuyasha knew why they were bitter: they didn’t want less crime. Punishing the morons who cheated in their casinos or tried to rob from them was the only bit of joy they had left.
“If you think for one minute,” another ancient youkai spoke up, “that we will be intimidated by a pup like you, you’re sorely mistaken, you little punk.”
So much for civility. These guys had a way of taking decency and throwing it out the proverbial window, while still expecting Inuyasha to treat them like royalty.
“Look,” Inuyasha growled, aware that there was a good chance he was about to get himself in a huge amount of trouble. “You-”
Fortunately, his words were cut off by a few sharp raps on the large, heavy conference room doors.
“What?” Inuyasha barked.
The doors opened and a security guard stepped in. The man was huge, and brought all new meaning to the term “a bear of a man.” He actually was a bear of a man, being a bear youkai, and his sheer size was staggering. What no one needed to know was that the man was not only much gentler than most people one could ever hope to meet, but he was lazy beyond belief, and had an obsession with Winnie the Pooh that bordered on creepy.
“We caught a girl cheating, Daishyo-San,” the man said, bowing respectfully.
Inuyasha suppressed the urge to grin. Perfect timing. If he showed these bastards how efficiently he took care of these kinds of problems, and maybe let them have a swing or two, he was sure they’d not only respect him a tad more, but there was a slim chance they might actually listen to him, instead of automatically snapping at him and spinning themselves into a huge maze of dizzying counterproductive arguments. It was a very small chance, but it was more than nothing. He could see the grins developing on the other men’s faces.
“Bring her in.” Inuyasha clenched his hands in anticipation.
The guard gave a signal over a walkie-talkie, and Inuyasha heard the response. Within seconds, he caught the sound of approaching footsteps. With those footsteps came an angry voice which sounded all too familiar.
Inuyasha could feel his face paling. No…
He could clearly hear the girl yelling at the guards, telling them how much trouble they were going to be in, how their boss was going to have them fired and thrown out within seconds.
“She couldn’t have…” Inuyasha whispered under his breath. None of the youkai paid any mind to him. They were all completely attuned to the door, waiting for the girl to be brought into sight, to see the new toy upon which they could vent their frustration.
Inuyasha cringed as the guards pulled the girl into view. “She did.”
“Inuyasha!” Kagome cried. “Tell these guys to get the hell off me!”
Her informal manner and unusual request brought the attention back to Inuyasha, who dropped his face into his arms and groaned. This was not what he’d been planning.
This wasn’t supposed to happen! For once, there was a chance of things going well, of earning the tiniest hint of respect in the field, and now…now they would look down on him even more.
For a few seconds, Inuyasha stayed in that position and listened to the men turning to look between him and the girl, and as Kagome thrashed violently to get away from the youkai holding her. Stupid girl! How the hell had she gotten caught?! And of all possible times to do so, why now?!
Kagome’s sharp cry, followed quickly by the metallic scent of her blood jerked Inuyasha out of his self-pitying recess, and he shot out of his chair. One of the guards had gripped her tightly around her shoulder to still her movements, and his talons had slit straight through her delicate skin.
Before even he realized what was happening, Inuyasha was literally throwing the man off her (and into a nearby wall), and pushing the other violently away. His rumbling growl was the only noise in the room as he gripped Kagome around the waist with both arms and pulled her tightly to him.
“This meeting will be rescheduled,” Inuyasha snarled. “I’m sorry for the inconvenience; take it up with my secretary.” Inuyasha picked Kagome up carefully, not missing her flinch as he shifted her, and within seconds he was nearing his office, and then placing her gingerly on to his bed, on her stomach.
He could feel his youkai blood pulsing in an unreasonable amount of anger as he eyed the shallow wound on her shoulder blade. It wasn’t too bad, but it was bleeding freely. Inuyasha tugged at the bottom of her shirt.
Kagome gasped. “Inuyasha!”
The hanyou rolled his eyes. “Kagome, it’s not like I’m going to ravish you when you’re wounded. Calm down, I’m just taking off your shirt to treat the cut.” He carefully navigated the shirt, trying not to get any blood on it, and soon it was free and he carelessly threw it aside.
“Wait one second,” he instructed, and rushed to his bathroom to retrieve a washcloth. He wetted it and began to clean her shoulder blade. She cringed and her hands clenched the bedspread, but he was being as gentle as possible.
Though he’d never admit it, throughout the whole process he was eyeing the curve of her back and the way her hair fell against his pillow. That is…until he caught sight of how her breast pressed against the bed, creating a wonderful curve just begging to be touched. Quickly, he pulled away and went to clean her blood off the cloth.
He shook his head and splashed cold water on his face. The cold water might have been more useful in other places, but that was the best he could do for now.
Inuyasha wandered back into the room. He made sure her back was totally clean, then carefully applied a large band-aid with Neosporin smeared over it. “So tell me,” he asked as he smoothed his hand once over the bandage, and then ran the back of a claw down the middle of her back, just to watch her shiver. “How did you wind up getting caught by one of my men?”
Kagome sighed and he smelled her annoyance. “I was bored, and I got sloppy, I guess.”
Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. What exactly wasn’t she telling him? “And…?”
“And…what?”
“I can smell that you’re hiding something. You smell guilty.”
She grumbled something that sounded suspiciously like “goddamn demon senses” before admitting, “Okay, there’s a slight possibility that I might have figured that you would come to me if you saw me cheating. Theoretically, of course.”
Inuyasha sighed and stretched himself out next to her on the bed.
Kagome turned her head to face him. There was a smile on her face, despite the pain she obviously felt from the slit in her shoulder.
“Kagome, what am I going to do with you? Everyone who works for me in this casino is going to expect me to break your legs.”
Kagome gasped. “What?! You’re not serious.”
He frowned. “Of course, I’m not going to. You should know that.” Did she honestly believe that he would ever even think of hurting her?
“But…but you’d do that? To someone else, I mean?”
“If they were cheating in my casino?”
“Yes.”
He shrugged nonchalantly. “Of course. I mean, it depends on how much money they scored from cheating.”
“And if it’s a lot of money?”
“How much money?”
“Obscene amounts of money.”
“How obscene?”
“Mortifyingly obscene.”
Inuyasha made a face. “If it was that bad I’d probably just kill the bastard.”
The second he said that, Kagome’s scent changed, and he knew it had been the wrong thing to say.
“Kagome…running a casino, especially an old-school one like Daishyo Casino, isn’t all fun and games. Those who steal and cheat have to be punished.”
Kagome’s eyes widened, and, sitting up, she scooted away from him and crawled off the bed. She knelt down and recovered her shirt from the floor and rushed to put it on. “What are you saying?” she breathed, facing him once again.
“It’s just business, nothing more. There’s no need to get so emotional about it.”
“No need to get so emotional?!” she cried. “Inuyasha, you’re talking about human life here! How could you possibly be so casual about murder?”
“It’s just my job, Kagome.”
“It’s not! No job can possibly require you to murder people. It’s against the law, and it’s horrible!”
Inuyasha walked calmly around the bed and leaned close to her. “Kagome, everyone knows of my reputation. If someone decides to come in and steal from me, that’s their problem. When I do it, I’m simply protecting what’s mine.”
“And what about me?!”
Once again, he lifted a shoulder in a shrug. “You’re mine too.”
$~$~$
Kagome felt rage filtering through her. “Excuse me?”
She could clearly see Inuyasha’s annoyance, but she didn’t really give a damn.
“Kagome, just get back on the bed or you’re going to start bleeding again.”
“Oh, hell no! Did you just compare me to a casino, Inuyasha?”
“I suppose,” he said distractedly as he slinked ever towards her, “indirectly.”
She didn’t want to, but Kagome had to back up a step. “That’s sick, Inuyasha; killing people for cheating is sick.”
“I don’t always kill them. I can be an extremely generous person. For example, I spared your cousin’s life, didn’t I?”
Kagome frowned and stopped walking. “Miroku?”
“Hai.”
“What does he have to do with anything?”
Inuyasha took her hand before she realized what he was doing. “He didn’t tell you about our little meeting?”
Kagome’s heart squeezed harshly as comprehension reared its ugly head. She tried to jerk her hand away, to no success whatsoever. “That’s why he told me not to cheat anymore; you got to him. What did you do to him?”
“Nothing, just like I said.” There was a note of pride in his words.
“And, what, you expect a fucking medal for that? You don’t get praise for refraining from beat someone to a bloody pulp, Inuyasha! That’s called common decency, and abiding by the law!” With a furious yank, she freed her hand and skirted around him, putting a couple feet between them, but her muscles flinched involuntarily when her quick movements pulled painfully at the cut on her arm.
“Alright, Kagome, that’s enough arguing. I don’t want you up and bouncing around so soon after getting hurt.” Inuyasha clenched his fists, regret shading over his expression. “I’m sorry about that, by the way. I swear, I’m going to kill that fucking security guard the minute I get my hands on him.” He lifted his hands to slip them around her waist, but she retreated away from him.
Kagome was aghast. How could he possibly think that she would want something like that done in her name? She wanted to yell and cry, but the only expression to come across her face was a sarcastic sneer. “Why, because you’re protecting what’s yours?”
“Yes,” he answered without hesitating.
She shook her head sadly. “Inuyasha, I don’t ever, ever want something like that done because of me. I don’t want it done at all, but especially not for me.”
“Alright, Kagome, I’m so terribly sorry that your precious honor was offended, oh honorable miko, but that’s the way I am, and that’s the way my life has been since long before you came into it. Now, for the last time, get on the fucking bed and stop moving around.”
“Goddamn it, Inuyasha!” Kagome shouted, resisting the urge to punch the wall next to her. “Why are you being so fucking controlling?”
“Because you’re being so fucking irresponsible! If you’re not going to take care of yourself like you should, then I’m sure as hell not going to do nothing as you make your injury worse.”
“I really don’t think that you’re in any position to talk.”
He narrowed his eyes. “Exactly what position do you think I’m in?”
Kagome made to respond, but found that she couldn’t. She swallowed thickly and averted her eyes. “I’m not quite sure. Maybe…maybe all of this is going too fast.” She gave a hollow laugh. “It’s not like I even really know you, or vice versa.”
Inuyasha’s face relaxed into an illustration of composed ambivalence. “I’m not willing to have this discussion with you. At all. Look, I have some very pissed off youkai to take care of. They’ve probably already dismembered my secretary, so I have to pacify them before things get too ugly. However…I’ll meet you in two hours in the spa room, and we’ll talk then.”
“Wait, you don’t get to just make decisions like that. I have a say in-”
“Two hours. Spa room.”
“You can’t just…wait; did you say ‘spa room’?”
He made an effort to smile tiredly. “I’ll meet you there.”
“There’s a spa room?”
Inuyasha laughed. “Have one of my employees direct you there. Two hours, okay?”
She nodded, a little bewildered and still a little peeved, but also a little grateful that Inuyasha hadn’t let her carry on.
“I’d be more comfortable if you hung out here. You can take a nap or a bath or whatever, feel free. But if you do decide to go out, for the love of all things sacred, don’t cheat. In fact, until all of this smoothes out, don’t even gamble for a while. Take care of that cut and stay out of trouble. Okay? Good.”
He was smarter than to give her time to protest, and he gave her a kiss on the cheek before she could object, and then the wind from his hasty departure was brushing around her and he was gone.
Kagome blinked and rubbed her arm. “What the hell just happened?”
$~$~$
Inuyasha sped out the door of his room and then his office, ignoring the sounds of angry youkai coming from behind the door to his secretary’s office, and headed straight for the stairwell. He was bolting upwards then, taking flights of steps at a time, until he came to the top level and he was panting and his legs were starting to cramp. He flung the door to the roof open and walked a ways to lean against the railing, to overlook the entirety of the gambling district.
“That stupid fucking girl,” he growled. “What the hell was she thinking?!”
He didn’t realize that he was bending the railing beneath his hands until two chunks of it freed themselves from the rest of the bars and sent him staggering backwards. With a sigh he dropped the mutilated metal to the ground and, after flinching at the loud clatter the action made, took one last look out over the city, and headed back inside to do what he had to do.
$~$~$
For the first time ever, Kagome actually looked around Inuyasha’s room. It looked like the pictures of the Daishyo hotel suites she’d seen, only even bigger, and with less pointless decorations, and a unique color scheme. Every previous time she’d been in this room, she’d been very distracted, and, compared to focusing on Inuyasha, the grandiosity of the room hadn’t mattered too terribly much. Not that it was overly grandiose, just that it certainly was impressive.
Everything was silver or black, with the occasional hint of dark red.
But what really hit her was the bathroom. It was all marble and porcelain, the floors a checkerboard of black and gray and the countertops pure shining silver. The best of all was the tub. It was mammoth and inviting, but she decided that it would be pointless to get in since she’d later be meeting Inuyasha in the spa room.
Kagome sighed and left the bathroom. She crawled back onto his bed and curled up under the silk sheets and sumptuous covers.
“Why is his bed so much comfier than mine?” she asked herself on a yawn before drifting off.
“And why the hell did I agree to meet that pompous moron in a few hours?”
She smiled to herself. Because she wanted to see him more than anything, that’s why. She wanted to be around him as much as humanly possible, and while she could deny it to the ends of the Earth, the feeling was still there.
Kagome frowned as she realized that she’d nearly broken up with him back there. For once his stubborn pretentiousness was useful.
$~$~$
Twenty minutes before Kagome was due to meet him, Inuyasha was flitting around the spa room, taking advantage of demon speed to get everything ready. He’d kicked everyone out of the spas and had been busy ever since.
Finally, as he was doing a last minute double-check, he heard the light tread of Kagome’s footsteps coming nearer, and he recognized the pattern of her breath and the heartbeat which accompanied it.
He saw through the glass doors as she turned the corner, and then entered the room. Inuyasha watched her expression carefully as amazement crossed her face.
Kagome gasped. “Inuyasha…”
$~$~$
*****
$~$~$
A/N: I’ve never realized before how odd the word “walkie-talkie” looks.
Oh my god! My first cliffhanger! Yaaaaay! This was also the first chapter I wrote on the spot; that is to say, after publishing the previous chapter. If you have any suggestions or comments, I’d appreciate them greatly!
Hmm, I was really reluctant to use Sango as the comic relief at the beginning of the chapter, but I wanted something to lighten the mood a little before plunging into the rest of the chapter. Hopefully, I’ll soon figure out a good way to incorporate Sango into the story more and not make her look like a moron, like I kind of did here.
Alright, I’m a little bit terrified of invoking the wrath of the Sesshy-fans, but please be aware that I only made him grumpy and stereotypically coldhearted because it makes a good contrast with Inuyasha, and as Inuyasha is a main character, that kind of takes priority. I doubt anyone is going to be too pissed, as Sesshoumaru was barely even mentioned, but I’ve learned that hardcore Sesshy fans can be vicious!
Also, I honestly like getting feedback from my reviewers, and knowing what they like and what they think. It makes keeping the story on track and enjoyable much easier and much more fun. Actually, if I get a lot of reviews when I post this chapter, I might post more than one chapter a day, if I can write them that fast, which I probably can.
Next chapter: Citrus is in order, but that’s all I’m saying about chapter five. Does that tell you something about how my mind works? One track mind, I swear. *tsk tsk*.
Once again, please review, thank you for reading, and I hope you enjoyed chapter four!
~Schrodinger’s Cat