An Entirely Different Kind of Cheating

A/N: I’m getting more prolific, so these chapters should be coming faster, as I’ve now gotten In Alignment With Angels out of my system, but that’s not a promise, only my hope. I’m also working on an original story right now (haven’t decided if I’ll ever post it or not), so that takes up some time.

I don’t own “Atlas Shrugged,” “Catch-22,” or “Wuthering Heights.” Anyone who thinks that I do, seeing as they were all written long before I was born, is a moron. If I had written those, I’d have much better things to do than write fanfiction, and even if I did write fanfiction, I’d do it much better than I do now.
Catch-22 is my favorite book as of right now (and no, it’s not really a war book…well…it is in that it’s set during a war, but…you’d have to read it to understand); it’s absolutely hilarious, and the others are very good as well, so anyone who hasn’t read them should check them out.

Replies!

Fallenangel7538: Haha, yeah, isn’t he annoying?! With a father like that, it’s amazing the two of them came out as well as they did. Well…Inuyasha anyway. Fortunately, he didn’t drown a cat; it was only his pesky little brother! Honestly, I just thought it would be really funny for them to have a pet cat. Well, a stoned goldfish is a goldfish who has been smoking a lot of weed; all big and glassy-eyed and constantly staring at you! Hehe. Thanks as always for the wonderful review!

Chokoreto: I’m so sorry! I’ll try to be better about updating! I just thought it would be like Goro to totally put all the responsibility off himself by creating a giant poker game. Plus, it made for more excitement! Hmm, good question. What indeed did happen to poor absent Izayoi? Thanks for another of your great reviews!

Kari: I’m glad you liked Goro; I had such a great time writing him! Thanks for the welcome, I’ll definitely try to update more frequently. I’m really glad to hear that my story’s good enough to keep people coming back for more! Thanks so much for the review!

Leslie: Yeah, hopefully, I will update more quickly, but there’s really no telling. Eep. I’m very glad you liked Goro! Thanks for the review and that great compliment!

Animefan: Oh yay, I’m still attracting new readers!!! I’m very glad you enjoyed, and, like I’m saying to everyone else, I will do my best to update soon. Thanks so much for the review!

Mysterious AM: Yours was exactly the kind of review I love to get! Seriously, you pointed out the things you liked about the story, the concerns you had, and what I did that you liked. The fact that it was all positive boosted my ego a little too! Thank you so much for your truly constructive review; I’m really glad that you like the story, and I’ll do my best to keep the updates coming at more regular intervals. Once again, thank you for the fabulous review!

OH U: Yeah, now that I’m getting used to writing cliffhangers, I’ve found that they’re kind of addictive! I’ll try to update more often. Glad you enjoyed, and thanks for the review!

Sexykagome03: Yeah, Goro is rather ditsy, isn’t he? I was glad to read your story! No one else has asked me to read theirs so far, so I was really flattered! *Bows back* Thanks for another great review!


This chapter: Inuyasha gets a little bit over-stressed and more than a little paranoid, followed by some good literature! Sounds like fun, huh? Please keep in mind that I’m editing this at one-forty-five in the morning, so I apologize if there are any spelling or grammatical errors. When I get tred, ym brain stop worikng so good.

Please enjoy and review, as always!

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Chapter Nine

“Why don’t you come lie down?” Kagome suggested as soon as Inuyasha had finished pulling on new clothes. He’d run back to the hotel at a quicker-than-healthy pace, with an unwilling and complaining Kagome in his arms, and, as a result, his wounds had reopened and he’d bled all over the place.

“It’s not like I’m dying,” Inuyasha grumbled grudgingly.

“I didn’t say that you were dying. But how about coming and keeping me company?” She patted the comforter next to where she was sitting in the middle of the bed. Inuyasha wished he could fully appreciate how adorable she looked. He was in too bad a mood.

“Very sneaky Kagome. Not gonna work.”

She frowned. “Fine. Bleed to death. Don’t let me help or anything.” She crossed her arms in a pout.

“I’m not going to die, I just don’t feel like lying down at the moment.” He crossed his arms in return.

“No,” Kagome corrected, “you’re feeling rebellious, so you’re being stubborn everywhere you can.” She did a turning flop to land on her stomach, resting her head quietly on a pillow. She sighed forlornly.

“Oh, don’t be so dramatic, Ms. Freud.” Giving in (but not lying down), and approaching the bed, he straddled Kagome’s unsuspecting lower back and slid his hands under the back of her shirt. She gasped at the feeling, and he put pressure into his touch, rubbing his hands up the length of her back, and bringing her shirt along with it, and, eventually, over her head.

“Inuyasha, it’s hardly the time for this.” It was an empty effort, as she hadn’t fought him when he was taking off her shirt.

Growling softly, he bent down and kissed the exposed side of her neck and smoothed his hands all the way down her arms.

Kagome moaned in satisfaction, and managed to mumble out, “So, are you going to explain to me what this ceremony thing is, or just wait until we’re there and let me find out as we go?” Her voice was lazy and distracted.

“Who says that we’re even going to the damn thing?”

“What?!” In the process of spinning over, Kagome not only knocked Inuyasha off of her, but first smacked him across the face with the back of her hand. “Are you crazy? Oh…sorry. Anyway, what are you thinking?! You can’t just give up the casino like that!”

“Bitch!” Inuyasha exclaimed, holding his cheek in one hand. “That fucking hurt! You’re the one going on and on about how injured I am, and now you’re slapping me?!”

“Sorry, sorry, it was an accident,” Kagome said dismissingly. “That’s not the point!”

“The point is that it’s my goddamn decision! My god, what is it with you people and being so fucking pushy?!” Inuyasha collected himself from the bed and went angrily into the bathroom.

“Why are you associating me with your father?” Kagome followed him, tugging her shirt back into place. “I’m on your side, remember?”

He sharply snapped off the faucet and wiped away the water he’d splashed onto his face. “Sure you are, Kagome. That totally explains you slapping me.”

“I said I was sorry! I didn’t exactly mean to do it.”

“You’re not really sorry though.” He maneuvered around her to turn on the shower.

“Of course I am. Inuyasha, what is this about? Because I have the feeling that it’s not really about me accidentally hitting you.”

“It’s about you, Kagome,” Inuyasha snarled, spinning around to face her. “Why do you care so much about who’s running the casino? It has nothing to do with you! Is it because you simply can’t stand to see me lose something I love? Or is it that you don’t want to see me lose my authority and social stature? Or maybe it’s just that you think that Sesshoumaru will run the casino better than I do, and you won’t be able to cheat anymore?” Growling at her, he shoved past her and pulled off his shirt, to fling it into the hamper.

“What are you talking about?” Kagome gasped, standing in the doorway, one hand on either side of the doorframe.

“Is that it, Kagome?” Inuyasha faced her defiantly, anger in his eyes. “Are you terrified to lose you amnesty? Worried that you’ll have to start all over with Sesshoumaru instead of me in order to keep your fucking place as resident rounder in my casino?” Inuyasha stripped off his pants and they went flying across the room seconds later.

Kagome was staring at him, aghast. Inuyasha had never felt such turmoil. He didn’t know if he believed what he was saying or not, but it scared the shit out of him all the same. Unbelievable anger coursed through his veins. He wanted to break things; the walls, the expensive furniture, everything his position had gotten him. Did that include Kagome? Was Kagome just another part of the booty he earned as owner of the casino? His chest clenched sharply, and his growl increased.

“You’re crazy,” Kagome finally breathed. “You are completely crazy if you really believe that.”

“Then I guess I’m fucking crazy, aren’t I.” Inuyasha approached her, obviously trying to get into the bathroom. Kagome didn’t waver from her place between him and the bathroom.

She reached a dainty hand out to his cheek, but he swatted it away.

“Don’t touch me,” he ordered.

“Inuyasha-” she started.

“Move,” Inuyasha roared fiercely.

Kagome complied instantly, jumping at the sound of his harsh command, and skittering out of the way instinctively.

The smell of fear that tinged her scent from his sharp tone cinched together another stitch in his chest, but Inuyasha kept moving, and adjusted the temperature of the shower.

“Inuyasha, what-” Kagome tried again.

“I’m going to take a shower now, so unless you want to ogle my battle scars, or holes rather, get out.” Inuyasha rudely pulled down his boxers. She’d get over it; it wasn’t anything she’d never seen before.

He stepped into the shower, and the scalding water was hell on the hole through his abdomen, and all the other rips and cracks in his skin, and his growl escalated sharply and reverberated off the tiled walls.

Kagome was still standing there, but the water was so hot that the glass doors were collecting steam within seconds, and she was blocked from his view. Inuyasha violently swept the hair away from his face and tilted his head back. He clasped his hands behind his neck and closed his eyes in the scorching spray of water. He could feel his skin reddening from the heat. There was silence, save for the pounding of water on tile and skin, and two sets of heartbeats and breaths.

What was she doing? The girl hadn’t moved from her spot. He didn’t smell any tears, so she wasn’t crying; she was just standing there, breathing, and nothing else. He continued ignoring her. With a sigh, his growl faded as he finally became acclimated to the water. He ran his fingers through his hair in frustration.

Kagome’s footsteps quietly neared the shower and, after a pause and the lengthy rustle of clothing, the shower door slowly slid open. Kagome peeked into the shower.

“Don’t come in here,” he instructed. “It’s too hot for you.”

“Inuyasha, you don’t really believe what you said earlier, do you? How could you think something like that?”

“I said not to come in here,” Inuyasha reminded her. He’d been trying to ignore her, but he had to turn, step out of the spray, and meet her in order to turn down the heat. She was just stubborn enough to burn the crap out of herself while trying to get to him. He may have been pissed, but he wouldn’t let her scald herself for nothing.

He flicked the hot water down and the cool water up. Now that he was facing her, there was really no point in turning back around. Goosebumps rose on his skin as the mist of water hitting his back cooled considerably. He tried not to stare at her naked body.

“Inuyasha…you don’t, do you? You don’t really think that?”

Inuyasha frowned, not ready to let this slide over simply because she had on her puppy-eyes.

“Just go, Kagome. We’ll talk later.”

“No, we’ll talk now! How could you think that? After…after everything we’ve been through in a matter of days, how could you possibly think that I don’t love you?”

“It wouldn’t be the first time a girl had told me they loved me just to get at my money or fame.” Honestly, he’d always been fairly aware of the girl’s intentions, and had used them like they used him.

Kagome took this in quietly. “Oh. So I’m just another in a long list.”

He looked away. “That’s not what I meant.”

“Inuyasha,” Kagome whimpered. Her arms came around his shoulders, avoiding his injured torso, and she buried her face between his neck and shoulder. “Inuyasha…”

He desperately clung to his anger, but whether he liked it or not, it was trickling out of him and down the drain, and his arms were coming up to hold Kagome close to him. As soon as he had his hands on her, he knew he wouldn’t be able to let her go anytime soon.

Inuyasha pressed his face into her still-dry hair and held her closer. There was no smell of deceit on her, fresh or otherwise. No one was that good a liar.

Kagome’s arms cinched tighter, pulling herself up to him.

“Inuyasha, I’m sorry,” she whispered unsteadily.

He closed his eyes. “Me too.”

She shook her head slightly. “You big jerk.” She laughed softly, emptily, and pulled her face away from his shoulder. Their skin was slick against each other due to the water, and she slipped out of his arms all too easily.

She delicately touched the lacerated skin of his stomach. By now it was just a fist-sized mess of mottled dark-red tissue. “Does it hurt very much?”

Inuyasha shook his head, grabbing her wrist and pulling her to him again. “Not at all,” he whispered softly into her ear, only half-lying. He pulled back to look her in the eye. It was difficult. “I’m sorry, Kagome. I shouldn’t have doubted you.”

“Do you still?” Her hand traced over his cheek.

He cupped the back of her hand in the front of his own, laced his fingers with hers, and intimately kissed her palm once, twice. “No. I didn’t even really believe that before, it’s just that…seeing my father again, after trying so hard to avoid him, and rushing into all this ceremony shit, and him making me feel guilty for it…and then when I felt like you didn’t even care…” he trailed off. “Feeling that you’re unwanted is a lot like doubting that you were ever loved in the first place.” His own words struck him hard, reminding him of someone long forgotten, the first in the long chain of desertions that seemed to start a pattern among all the people he’d ever cared for.

Her hand slid out of his and she hugged him again. “I do love you, Inuyasha. So much.” Standing on her toes, she kissed him softly.

$~$~$

Kagome giggled as Inuyasha tickled at her sides while drying her off. He grinned down at her. The towel caressed her thighs next, and whispered at her ankles. She beamed at him and sidled close, tucking her head under his chin.

He nudged her towards the door, dropping the towel.

Hiding a smile in his chest, she gripped him tightly and stepped onto his feet.

Laughing, he walked them back into the bedroom, and soon they collapsed onto the bed.

“So, do you still want to know about the ceremony?”

Kagome shrugged. “If it means that much to you, we don’t have to do it, and you don’t have to talk about it. I just thought that…well, every time I’ve heard you talk about this casino, it sounded to me like you cared about it. I just…”

“I understand. But you didn’t answer my question.”

“If you’d like to tell me, I’d be glad to listen.” She wasn’t anxious to get into any more fights, even though she doubted that that would happen.

Inuyasha took a deep breath and began. “Well, it’s a demon ritual between mates. Usually affianced mates.” He pulled a thin sheet over them and she cuddled closer, enjoying the sound of his voice as it echoed in his chest. His skin was warm and flushed from the shower. “It’s not uncommon for a couple to already be mated at the ceremony, though; my father is such a hypocrite. He was already mated both times he performed the ceremony.”

“Both?”

“Yeah; Sesshoumaru is only my half-brother.”

“Oh, yeah, I remember. Go on.” Truth be told, Kagome was actually very eager to know about the ceremony.

“It’s pretty much just a meaningless ceremony, really. Any youkai’s declaration of devotion is in mating, not the ceremony; the entire thing came with the development of societies, not with instinct. It’s pretty much the youkai equivalent of a marriage; the two stand in front of a crowd of guests; they can invite as many as they want, like in a marriage.”

Kagome gulped. “M-marriage?”

He nodded.

“Wait…marriage? As in…‘I do’s and wedding dresses and eternal vows?” she clarified, stumbling over her own words.

Inuyasha grinned, clearly amused. “Something like that.”

“Oh,” she said simply. “Well…then don’t you need to ask me to marry you first?”

He chuckled. “I’ll make sure to do that. Anyway, they speak a few lines each, so you’ll need to prepare something to say; it can be as long or short as you want. Then there’s a pause for challenges. If no one challenges, they’re free to agree or disagree to the bonding. If both agree, they…uh…well…”

“What is it?” Looking up, Kagome saw that Inuyasha looked uncomfortable. Already shaken, her eyes widened, imagining all sorts of absolutely horrible things the couple might have to do. They didn’t have to do anything publicly profane, did they? She wondered if she was blushing at the thought.

“Well, they each drink some of the other’s blood, tying themselves to each other inside and out. The male is supposed to leave his mark on the female. It’s stupid, really. Mating is much more of a bond than that could ever be. Don’t ask me why the invention of biting one another came after the advancement of civilizations; you would think it would be the other way around.”

“Oh!” Kagome breathed in relief. “I thought…never mind. So what is a challenge?”

“Hmm? Oh, that? It’s like when they give humans the option to object during a marriage. It’s usually pointless, but if someone does challenge, the other one of the pair has to fight for the right to marry them.”

Kagome bit her lip. “What if one of your youkai fangirls challenges? Will I have to fight them?” Her voice sounded regrettably small.

Inuyasha laughed aloud at her. “Don’t worry. It’ll be a private wedding. Besides, you could just zap them with your miko powers, couldn’t you?”

Kagome grumbled some lame answer, really thinking of how massively, insanely jealous she’d be that someone else had feelings for her Inuyasha.

“So…you really have to bite me.”

“Yeah. It’s usually not that big of a deal. Supposedly it hurts for a few seconds, and then the bites close over, leaving little marks, like permanent hickies.”

“Even on human women?”

He nodded.

Hmm…having Inuyasha’s mark on her. It didn’t sound like such a bad idea.

“So…do you want to have the ceremony?” she asked meekly.

Inuyasha smiled down at her and stroked the damp hair away from her face. “I’d like to have a bonding ceremony with you.”

Kagome beamed up at him. “Me too.”

He kissed her forehead softly. “Well, now that I have a little free time, how about some lunch?”

“Oh, yeah, you have a few days off, don’t you?”

Inuyasha frowned grimly. “Actually, if I’m going to win this thing, I’m going to need to spend all the time I can brushing up on my poker skills. I should probably get to work soon.”

Gasping, Kagome sat up quickly. “What about the money? Where are you going to get forty-thousand dollars in three days?!”

He smiled softly and pulled her back down to him. “The money’s not a problem. Don’t worry about it, okay?”

“You can just throw around that much money like that? Jeez…”

“You’re forgetting, koishii, that I don’t plan on losing.”

Kagome rolled her eyes. Male ego at its most pitiful high.

Inuyasha frowned at Kagome’s indirect affront to his manly ability to do absolutely anything, especially win at poker. Best to change the conversation quickly.

“So, about that food? There’s got to be something to eat in this room.”

Inuyasha made a face. “It’s an interesting theory.”

She sighed indignantly. “You’re one of those famous rich people who can get their faces in twenty consecutive pages of beauty magazines and buy out gigantic corporations with a second thought, but never go grocery shopping for themselves, aren’t you?”

“That’s hardly fair-” he began, but Kagome cut him off.

“Never mind, never mind. So, where to eat?”

Inuyasha raised an eyebrow. “I’ll let that one go for now.” He grabbed her around the waist and onto his back, pulling her on top of him. “How about room service? My hotel happens to serve exquisite room service, and all orders made from this particular room happen to be free,” he bragged shamelessly.

Kagome grinned and leaned down close to him. “Imagine that.”

“Tell me, what’s your favorite kind of ice cream?” He brushed his lips against hers so lightly that they barely touched.

Kagome bit her lip, and he kissed it out of her teeth’s grip before she answered. “I don’t know, actually.”

“How can you not know your favorite ice cream flavor?” He kissed briefly at the corner of her mouth. “That’s like not knowing your middle name.”

Kagome blinked a few times. “Hey, what is your middle name?”

He rolled his eyes. “Totally not the point. What’s your favorite flavor of ice-cream?”

“Why are you trying to feed me ice cream at lunch time anyway? Whatever happened to having a nutritious meal?”

Inuyasha sighed and gripped her waist in both hands. His head flopped onto the pillow in resignation. “Well, I was trying to do something nice and different for you, but if you’d rather have a salad, be my guest.” He looked rather put out.

Kagome had to repress a grin at how adorable his puppy-face was. “No, Inuyasha, I’d love to have ice cream for lunch.”

He muttered something along the lines of “Bipolar, I swear,” but grinned at her nonetheless. “So what’s your favorite kind? You must have one,” he insisted.

She sighed. “Honestly, Inuyasha, I have no idea. Just order what you want and I’ll steal some.”

“Well that’s no fun.”

Kagome felt like growling by now. It was just ice cream! “Fine, Inuyasha, get me strawberry.”

“Strawberry? But…that’s so boring.”

“Well, too bad. That’s what I want.” In actuality, she couldn’t have cared less, but arguing about it was getting tedious.

“Fine, fine. Be boring.”

Inuyasha ordered the ice cream and soon they had the treats in their hands.

This had to be one of the most exquisite tasting things Kagome had ever had the fortune to eat. She savored every bite. Clearly, strawberry had been the right choice.

Within moments, Inuyasha was finished with his bowl, while Kagome had barely begun, and fidgeting.

“Inuyasha, how about you find something to keep yourself occupied?”

He grinned. “Come with me.” Inuyasha took one of her hands in his own and practically pulled her from the bed.

She barely had time to salvage her spoon before she was being brought to stand in front of a wall.

“It’s…a very nice wall Inuyasha. Can I get back into bed now? It’s cold out here.”

He chuckled, and pressed his hand flat against the wall. With some applied pressure, it swung open to reveal a hidden doorway.

Kagome gaped, open-mouthed. It reminded her of the secret doorways that said to live in the walls of the Louvre. “What the hell?” she muttered.

“My personal library,” he admitted.

It had to be said; Kagome was stunned. “You hide your books?”

“Yep. One has to maintain a certain gruff exterior, you know.”

“Oh yes, because all the important businessmen who come into your bedroom, as they do so often, looking for evidence of intelligence will be impressed by illiteracy,” she mumbled sarcastically. “Well, hit the lights, why don’t you.”

“You have an amazingly large attitude for someone so tiny, you know that?” he muttered, wrapping an arm around her waist before flicking a switch to his right.

The light revealed a rather large room lined with ten and twelve foot tall bookcases all packed to the brim with books.

Kagome’s eyes widened. “That’s a lot of books,” she muttered, impressed. She flocked to them eagerly, scouring the shelves. Her face lit up excitedly; it was a good collection. Minutes passed as she scoured all the shelves she could see.

She glanced back to see him leaning against the doorframe and smiling at her fondly.

She pulled the book she’d been eyeing from the shelf. “Will you read to me?”

With a small shove, he moved from the doorframe to approach her. “What did you find?”

Shyly, she presented her book.

Inuyasha took it and glanced at the cover. He raised his eyes back to her and stared for a moment. “Alright, Shakespeare, I could understand. It’s occasionally romantic and the language is pretty; I would have thought you’d pick something like that; maybe some Thoreau. I could even see some Poe or Dickens. But this? Ayn Rand wasn’t exactly light reading the last time I checked.” He waved the battered copy of “Atlas Shrugged” he’d had since middle school.

Kagome averted her eyes. “It’s one of my favorites.”

Inuyasha chuckled. “Weird. Anyway, try again. I’m not in a ‘humans must make a huge impact on the world in order to be worthy of anything more than cruelty’ kind of mood.”

She scoffed. “Well, that’s a cynical way of looking at it.” She snatched the book from his hands and traded him, shoving her half-eaten bowl of ice cream at him for him to hold, and put the book back on the shelf. “Alright…” She stepped to her right a few feet. “How do you feel about ‘Catch-22’?”

“Getting warmer.”

Kagome scowled. “Look, it’s that or,” she paused to race across the room and grab another, “‘Wuthering Heights’, so take your pick.”

“‘Catch-22’ it is.” He took the book and left the room.

She smiled triumphantly, and followed him out.

“I can’t believe you want me to read a war-book to you.” he settled back into the bed.

She ignored his comment and crawled into his lap, to be handed the ice cream.

Inuyasha leaned against the backboard of the bed, supported by pillows, and wrapped one arm around Kagome, who lay against his chest, happily resuming her eating.

He tugged her snugly against him and placed a single loving kiss on the side of her neck. He pulled back and, with a sigh, he opened the book and began. “‘It was love at first sight…’”

$~$~$

Inuyasha looked suspiciously around the table.

It had taken a large chip out of his pride to do so, but he’d finally sucked it up and made the call. He hated it, but he knew that if he was going to win, he needed to practice, and he needed to do it right. There was only one person in the whole damn country good enough to get him ready for the match on time. So, despite how completely difficult it was, he’d called Kaede, the old woman who had gone all the way through medical school just to realize that what she really wanted to do with her life wasn’t save peoples lives through the rigors of heart surgery; it was, in fact, gamble.

So that’s exactly what she’d done.

The woman was not just a good poker player. She was the best.

Inuyasha also happened to dislike her presence; her blunt insults and critiques always got under his skin. This woman had taught him a large portion of what he now knew, back when Daishyo casino happened to be both their favorite hangouts; her as a rather notorious shark, and him as a child eager to learn more about this chaotic world which lay on the line between legal and not-so-legal.

He looked around the table again; from Sango, who Kagome claimed was good enough to sit in the game; to Miroku, at whom he was constantly glaring; to Houjou, one of the guards with whom he played on a sporadic basis but didn’t particularly like; to Kagome who sat to his right, grinning like a madwoman; to Kaede on his left scowling and daring him to make a mistake.

Sango had a good poker face, but he wasn’t worried about beating her; it was obvious that she bet just a tiny bit too heavily when she was bluffing, which was often. Miroku would be a bit of a challenge; the man knew his cards, and he bugged the hell out of Inuyasha, which didn’t help. Houjou was flat out pissing him off, and he spent half his time holding back a growl every time Houjou made those damn googly eyes at his mate. Inuyasha did rather enjoy the theory that he would be pissing off two of the three people he didn’t like at the table if he innocently leaned over and gave his mate a kiss. Speaking of his mate, Kagome was enjoying the game just a little too much, but, in truth, he thought he could beat her without too much humiliation on either of their sides. Kaede he would probably never beat; he could only hope not to thoroughly embarrass himself.

This would be an interesting game.

It was checks all around, and his turn. Inuyasha glanced once more to Kaede. Shit. This was a tricky play. Finally, he made his decision. “Check.”

“Baka!” Kaede slapped him against the back of his head, and the rest of the table choked back laughter. “You should have bet. I could tell you what cards you have right now! You’re playing like an amateur!”

“Woman, don’t you have a game to play?” he growled to his temporary teacher.

“Inuyasha, if I wanted to play poker, I’d be downstairs taking money from your customers, not here. I’m here to teach you, not massage your ego, and not make you look good; when you make a dumb mistake like that, you need to know about it.”

Growl rumbling in his chest, Inuyasha let his head sink to the felt. “I never should have called you.”

$~$~$

Kagome had this one. These were unbeatable cards, or so the rest of the table thought. In truth, her pair of fives wouldn’t do her much good against what she suspected Inuyasha and Houjou, the only other people still in, had. Sango had finally lost the last of her chips a few minutes ago, and had left the table, and Miroku and Kaede had folded earlier in the hand.

She made her decision. This was it. “All in,” she proclaimed confidently, and pushed in all the chips she had to offer. They’d be scared out of their wits.

Houjo fell for it like the wheelbarrow-full of bricks he seemed to be, and folded without a second thought.

It was all on Inuyasha now. He looked from his cards, to his mate, and back.

She grinned at him challengingly.

Chuckling, he set his cards back down against the table, and grabbed the edge of her chair. With a tug, he slid her closer and, leaning over, kissed her bare shoulder and then the nape of her neck, for all the world to see. “Sorry, koi. Not this time. I call.” He met her bet.

Kagome stared at him in horror. He what?! He wasn’t supposed to do that. She’d played perfectly; what the hell had inspired him to call?! It was a stupid move! It happened to be the right one, but that was just a matter of luck; if she’d had a great hand, and she’d played like she did, he’d be shit out of luck.

“Well that was a stupid thing to do, Inuyasha.” Kaede remarked offhandedly.

Giving Kaede a knowing smirk, he flipped over his cards. His two cards made three of a kind, ace high.

Stricken, Kagome managed to flop over her hand, showing her measly pair.

Her shoulders slumped in defeat as Inuyasha gathered up his newly-won chips, the only one in the room who wasn’t surprised. He began stacking them like no one was staring at him, as they all were.

“Tell me, Inuyasha,” Kaede requested. “How did you do that? You seemed to have known exactly what she had.”

Inuyasha scoffed. “You all are putting too much into it.” He turned to grin wickedly at Kagome before nuzzling at the side of her neck. She was too shocked to do anything about it. “I can read my mate like a book.” His tone was full of blatant pride, like he expected everyone to applaud him for having such a firm grasp on his mate’s signals.

That snapped Kagome back into action. “You jerk!” She pushed him away angrily. “You cheated! You’re supposed to play off my cards, not my scent or whatever it is you used!”

“Kagome, when playing poker, you study everything you know about your opponent. I can smell when your cards disappoint you, and I can tell what every tiny hitch in your heartbeat means, that’s all.” He said it like it was a stone-cold fact, nothing more.

“You jerk!” she repeated, and stood abruptly from the table. “See if I ever play poker with you again, you cheater!”

Inuyasha overconfidently, almost lazily wrapped an arm around her waist. “Kagome, I don’t think that you, of all people, are qualified to call me a cheater. It’s not my fault that you wear your emotions on your sleeve.”

“But I don’t! You’re just using your creepy demon senses!”

“I’m half demon. These things happen.”

“Ugh! Forget it! I’m going to go find Sango; she won’t sniff me when I let my guard down, unlike some people!”

She stomped away to the sound of Inuyasha chuckling.

You would think she would have seen that coming.

$~$~$
*****
$~$~$

A/N: Could someone please tell me how to make things bold and italic on this site?!?!?!!

I'll have my readers know that i stayed up when i should have been asleep hours ago, just to force myself to get this new chapter loaded!

Yeah, I totally did the entire library scene just for that last line. That, and my inner dork was shining through. Could you tell? I’m sorry, but you gotta love a guy who reads.

I was kind of surprised that no one had mentioned the possibility that Inuyasha might get suspicious of Kagome. I only say that because you guys found every single other possible angle, and skipped over a really obvious one. Then again, I’m kind of pleased, because it means that I’m still capable of generating surprising (or at least vaguely original) material. Or maybe it’s just such a stupid plot twist that no one felt it was worth mentioning, in which case…wups?

Oh, I have a new fanfic out called In Alignment With Angels. It is the complete and utter opposite of this story in that it’s very angsty and the couple has more problems than a zebra cage full of a bunch of weak, juicy zebras and a couple lions hiding in the bushes. Yeah, no idea where that came from; it wasn’t even funny, I’m just dead at my computer. Anyway, I don’t think it’s as good as this story is, though it does get better later in the story, so I’m not really heartbroken that it’s not doing so well thus-far. But check it out if you like chronologically mixed up, angst-filled dramas! Yeah, that was shameless plugging. So sue me.

Thank you for reading, I sincerely hope you enjoyed it, and please, PLEASE review!

~Schrodinger’s Cat