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A Fool's Redemption	By : Grumblebear Category: InuYasha > Het - Male/Female > InuYasha/Kagome Views: 23728 -:- Recommendations : 1 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha, nor make money from this story.

Chapter List
- 14
- 15
- 16
Chapter
15 – Shutting Out the Sun

It was starting to rain again. Inuyasha could hear the
larger drops striking the windows as he climbed the stairs in his
apartment. There had been no light left on for him tonight; the
entire place was dark. A short walk to Kagome's room and a glance
behind the curtains confirmed she wasn't home.

The
clock on her nightstand read a quarter past one. Probably
out with Sango, he thought, wandering back to his side of the
loft and into the bathroom. While a small part of him had been hoping
for the opportunity to bully her into another bath with him tonight,
the larger part, grouchy from sleep deprivation and sore muscles, was
actually a bit relieved to finally get some time alone after having
had barely a moment to himself over the past few days. The work had
been exhausting, the days too long, and the nights not nearly long
enough.

There had been no rushing the repair job. Instead of the
simple patching he'd hoped for, the project had turned out to be a
complete section replacement. He'd spent much of the last few days
slogging through icy mud, thanks not only to the leaking pipe, but
also to the blustery, persistent storms that always came through this
time of year, heralding the winter season. Luckily, it hadn't snowed,
even though it was almost cold enough to, and for that he was
grateful.

After
peeling off his damp, dirty clothing and leaving it in a pile outside
the shower, he walked in and turned the water on and up as hot as he
could stand. Even after removing his clothes and stepping under the
hot spray, his skin felt clammy and chilled. He hated the
cold, but not the simple drop in temperature kind that could be
easily guarded against by warm layers of clothes or chased away by a
space heater or fireplace. It was numbing cold he hated, the kind
that settled deep into the body and bones, chilling so thoroughly
that, after a while, one might begin to forget what warmth felt like.

His years in the lab had done just that; years of
feeling a cold table at his back, cold air surrounding him, cold
instruments on and in his skin, watching the cold faces above him,
staring down at the “animal” they'd created. Cold was the
key that opened doors leading to darker places in his mind.

Suddenly realizing one of those doors had inched open a
crack, he quickly slammed it closed, forcing himself to concentrate
on the hot water rolling down his body, letting it melt the aching
chill from his muscles. Once he felt his body beginning to relax, he
reached for the shampoo bottle and set to work scrubbing away the
day's worth of sweat and grime.

*****

She was laying on the bottom of a lagoon, staring up at
the churning surface of the water high overhead. Rays of sunlight
flickered down through the waves, illuminating brightly colored fish
floating through the water around her. She watched as an eel, shots
of electric blue pulsing through its body, passed by, disappearing
somewhere below the railing of the terrace.

Kagome
frowned. That wasn't right. Her head spun horribly as she struggled
to sit up and look around, realizing the images around her were
nothing more than the illusions of the underground hall. She
was on Inuyasha's terrace,
sprawled across the couch. Why was she on the couch? How long had she
been laying here? And why was she here in the first place?

She
squeezed her eyes shut against the dancing lights, cutting off the
nauseating effect they were having on her stomach, and tried to
remember what she'd been doing before she had—evidently—fallen
asleep. She couldn't remember a single thing. Her memory stopped
short at the moment she'd stepped into the hall. There was nothing
about what had followed except the vague, nagging feeling that
something had gone very wrong. Fighting back a panicked whine, she
quickly took stock of her condition, and was relieved to find that
other than her spinning head, nothing seemed to be out of the
ordinary with her physically. Just what the hell had she drank that
would put her in such a state?

Home.
She just needed to get home. I'll sleep it off and then it'll come
back to me, she thought,
swinging her legs off the couch, testing them as she stood
slowly. They were shaky, but not completely useless. The bigger
challenge would be staying upright long enough to get back to the
apartment. Doing the best she could
with her unreliable legs, she made her way toward the stairs. After
a pause on the landing to curse the long iron staircase separating
her from the ground floor, she cautiously began her descent, hands
tight on the railing. It ended up being easier than she'd expected,
so long as she concentrated on keeping her balance and made sure to
keep a steady foothold from one stair to the next.

Kagome reached the last step and started weaving her way
through what little remained of the earlier crowd, heading toward the
elevators. A dull ache had settled between her temples and was
beginning to compete with the nausea to see which could make her more
miserable. It only increased her desperation to get home and into the
comfort of her bed.

She
joined the small group already waiting for an elevator and focused on
trying to keep her body from swaying as she waited. She
didn't notice the presence behind her until a hand suddenly took hold
of her forearm. Barely managing
to stifle a surprised yelp, she turned toward the person, trying to
pull away, but only succeeded in throwing herself further off
balance. But the hand held tight, joined by
another on her opposite arm, keeping her firmly upright until she was
able to steady herself.

“Easy.
I've got you,” soothed a familiar voice.

Kagome looked up to find red, worried eyes staring down
at her.

Naraku.

The unpleasant thing buried somewhere in the back of her
mind moved again, struggling to be acknowledged.

Red eyes.

He'd
been with her. Had he
been with her? She still couldn't remember, but why the hell not?

The grip on her arms softened. “I can't believe
you made it down those stairs all by yourself,” he said,
casting a quick glance over his shoulder in the direction of the
staircase, then turned back to her. “Why didn't you wait for
me? I was only gone a minute.”

Kagome stared up at him, trying to dredge up some memory
that would explain his words. “What?” It was the only
response she could come up with.

“You
were dizzy and wanted to lay down for a while, remember? I stayed
with you until I left to use the bathroom, and when I came back you
were gone,” he said, eying her with concern. He raised a hand
to brush his thumb gently along the line of her jaw. “Why did
you leave?”

She didn't realize she'd flinched away from his touch
until his expression suddenly turned wary. “What's wrong?”
he asked.

“Nothing.
Sorry,” she said quickly, noticing the elevator was about to
arrive. “I just want to go home.” His presence was making
her nervous, and the fact that she didn't know why was only
increasing the feeling.

“Alright,
but let me help you at least,” he said, leading her into the
elevator. “You still look a little shaky.”

Realizing she was in no condition to argue, she walked
into the elevator with him and leaned against the glass as the doors
slid closed behind them. The gentle lurch of the elevator moving
upward sent another wave of nausea rolling through her stomach and
another shot of pain through her head, but she tried not to let it
show. The more aware Naraku was about how much she was struggling,
the less likely he would be to let her go home unattended.

He stood quietly by her side during the ride up, letting
the conversations of those around them fill the silence. Kagome tried
her best to ignore the occasional curious glances being cast their
way. It was bad enough she looked like a drunk. People might have
ignored her if she'd been alone, but having Naraku there hovering
over her only brought more attention. Thankfully, she found her legs
working better as they made their way from the elevator into the
darkened atrium, but while the nausea had abated some, the pain in
her head was still steadily growing worse.

“Don't
walk so fast. People will think you're trying to get away from me,”
Naraku said as they neared the center of the atrium, amusement in his
voice.

Shouldn't she be? It felt like a good idea at the
moment, though she still didn't understand why. “Sorry,”
she mumbled.

“Kagome,
tell me what's wrong,” he said, concern lacing his words again.

When she didn't respond, he added softly, “Please.”

She sighed. She just wanted to get home and be left
alone for a while, but that was no reason to give him the silent
treatment when he hadn't done anything to deserve it.

“I
can't remember,” she said.

“Can't
remember what?”

“Anything,”
she admitted. “I've lost the entire night.”

He paused for a moment, then asked, “Did you black
out?”

“I
don't know,” she said. “What happened up there, anyways?
You were with me, right?”

His
steps slowed and he took her arm, pulling them both to a stop. When
she turned to ask why, she was surprised by the expression on his
face. He looked completely dismayed.

“You
really don't remember?” he asked, the disbelief in his voice
mirroring his new demeanor.

“No,”
she answered.

It was his following silence that once again stoked the
terrible unease she'd woken with on the terrace. He smiled sadly, and
she suddenly had a dreadful feeling she didn't want to hear whatever
it was he was about to say.

“We
kissed,” he said.

She stared up at him, all the progress she'd made
regathering and reassembling the scattered pieces of her mind
instantly destroyed.

“Or
rather, you kissed me,” he amended gently. “I had hoped
you'd remember it.”

Her heart was slamming high in her chest as she opened
her mouth and struggled for a response. Frantically searching her
memory, she again found nothing but a void where the events of the
last few hours should have been. “I...kissed you?”

Naraku gave her his sad smile again. “You leaned
into me before I had the chance to react. I'm sorry. I should have
realized you still weren't in your right mind. I didn't know you'd
had that much to drink.”

“I
can't remember...”

He was quiet for a moment before saying, “That's a
shame. It was a very nice kiss.”

There was the charm again. He was using it in an attempt
to console her. Burning with embarrassment, she covered her face with
a hand. What had she done? It wasn't like her to drink herself stupid
and then get frisky with the first man to come along.

And with Naraku! Of course she admired him, especially
after the attention he'd shown her lately. With his outstanding looks
and debonair charisma, who wouldn't? But she hadn't taken his
advances very seriously. How could she, especially after Inuyasha had
begun opening up to her?

The distress must have been showing on her face. “Does
it repulse you that much?” Naraku asked.

“No!”
she said quickly, looking up at him. But the disappointment in his
eyes made her glance away. “That's not it.”

Another pause, and then, “You're thinking about
Inuyasha, aren't you?”

She
wasn't entirely sure what
she was thinking about. There were too many things spinning through
her head at the moment to focus on just one. She didn't give him an
answer. Once again, they stood in silence, until Naraku finally let
out a heavy sigh and took her hand, resuming their trek across the
atrium toward the elevator.

What a cruel girl she was. He'd been making his
intentions known for a while now, and instead of giving him a
response one way or the other, she'd dragged her feet. And even
though it hurt to admit it, she knew it was because she didn't want
to turn him down until she knew for certain whether or not things
with Inuyasha would work out. And now it had completely blown up in
her face. First she'd made him think she was interested, and now she
was telling him, in so many words, that the whole thing had been
unintentional, a drunken mistake. Thoughtless, selfish, stupid girl.

“I'm
so sorry,” she said as they reached the elevator, swallowing
her shame and looking up at him.

“I'm
not,” he answered, reaching out to push the call button.

She blinked up at him, surprised by his response.

The
lighting in the atrium was so low that the bright blue of the
illuminated button lit up his face, and she saw that a new expression
had settled there. The disappointment had turned to determination,
but there was still a hint of sadness in his eyes. “Though, I
am sorry for
misinterpreting the mood,” he continued, meeting her gaze
directly. “We'd been getting along so well lately that I
thought perhaps you and I wanted the same thing. That's why I didn't
stop you.”

He
paused for a moment, looking as if he was carefully choosing his next
words. “However, I won't apologize for kissing you, Kagome.
It's not my intention to come between you and
Inuyasha, but I wanted to at least try, before he stole you
away completely.”

His words seemed to suck the breath from her chest. How
was she supposed to respond to something like that? She stared up at
him, frozen in place as he lifted a hand and reached behind her.

“Elevator's
here,” he said.

Glancing over her shoulder, she realized he was holding
the door open for her.

“Thank
you,” she said softly, backing into the darkened elevator.

Instead of following her, he stood where he was, keeping
the door open. He reached, pressed the button for the top floor, and
said, “It's been my pleasure, Kagome. I hope that, perhaps,
there was some pleasure in it for you as well. Good night.”

Before she could respond, he stepped back and the door
slid closed with a soft mechanical hum. Her legs had gone weak again,
and the sudden uplift of the glass enclosure made her lean heavily
against the railing for balance. She watched him as the elevator
lifted away, leaving him in the deep shadows of the ground floor.
He'd turned away and was heading back the way they'd come, his
normally confident posture withered slightly. Naraku wasn't someone
who walked with his head down, and to see him do so now stabbed at
her with fresh guilt.

As
the elevator reached the middle of the tower, Kagome's mind began
swimming again. The stimulating rush of endorphins that both waking
on the terrace and Naraku's confession had provided was wearing off.
Whatever it was in her system that had caused her to pass out the
first time around was threatening to do so once again. She groaned
and willed the elevator to go faster, eager to get her feet back on
unmoving ground. Damn it, she
thought. Please, just let me get home and in bed.

By the time the chime sounded signaling she'd reached
her floor, she was already at the door, waiting for it to open. She
leaned back as it slid aside, and stepped into the long curved
hallway, heading as quickly as she could toward the last door
separating her from the refuge of the apartment. She didn't think
about the stairs she still had to climb to get to her bed. She'd
worry about those when she got to them. And if Inuyasha was home,
maybe he could help her...

That though was disregarded almost as quickly as it came
to her. The last thing she wanted right now was for Inuyasha to see
her in this state and lay into her with questions. She doubted she'd
be able to stay conscious long enough to try answering, anyway.

Reaching her apartment and silently blessing whoever had
thought up the keyless entry system, she placed her hand on the
rounded device beside the door and pushed her way inside.

The apartment was dark. Either Inuyasha wasn't home yet,
or he was and hadn't bothered to turn on any lights. Knowing him, it
was probably the latter. Usually she could at least rely on the
natural light from the stars to give her some help getting around,
but not tonight. It was still overcast outside. The small amount of
light that did make it through the windows was murky, created by the
outside city lights reflecting off the low clouds.

Kagome
made her way to the base of the stairs, trying to be as quiet as
possible. Thankfully, the path between the apartment door and her
stairs was relatively free of obstacles. Most of the furniture on the
bottom floor was situated in the sitting area in the middle of the
room, well out of her way. She climbed the stairs carefully, keeping
her eyes focused—for
what it was worth in the near-darkness—on
the placement of each foot, and her ears open for any sound that
might alert her to Inuyasha's presence. It wasn't until she reached
the top that she looked across the loft and noticed the light seeping
out from under his bathroom door. So that's where he was.

The small exertion of traveling up the stairs was
beginning to make the room spin, and it hadn't done anything to help
the pain in her head, either. She sat heavily on the bed, fully
intending to at least take off her boots, but the need to lay down
was too great, and she fell back onto the bed without a second
thought.

*****

“Much
better,” Inuyasha sighed, rubbing his hair roughly with a
towel. He was no longer cold, but he was still tired and sore, and
all he wanted was to curl up in his bed—preferably
with Kagome beside him—and
sleep for a day or two.

Where the hell was that girl, anyway? He knew she wasn't
home yet. She would have let him know if she was. He glanced at a
small clock he kept on the counter next to the sink. It was already
after three.

Dragging
a pair of sweat pants in one hand and yanking a comb through his
tangled hair with the other, he nudged open the door and stepped out
into the cold air of the loft. As he'd expected, the place was still
dark. He moved toward the heater by his bed, entertaining the sudden
mischievous idea of crawling into her bed to wait for her, wearing
nothing but his underwear. Her reaction to
finding him mostly naked in her bed would be good for a few laughs.

As
he reached for the switch at the top of the heater, he paused. A
light sound, familiar but unexpected, had caught his ear. No way,
he thought, pulling on the sweat pants and hurrying to the other side
of the loft. He pushed aside the curtains of Kagome's bedroom
enclosure and stared at the dark figure laying on the bed. Her chest
rose and fell with each soft breath that met his ears.

“Kagome?”
he said, frowning when she didn't respond.

“Hey,”
he tried again, walking to the side of the bed where she lay,
switching on the heater as he passed it. It glowed to life, washing
them both in soft red light. He sat down beside her and looked her
over carefully. Other than the fact that she appeared to have fallen
into a very deep sleep while still fully clothed, nothing appeared to
be wrong.

Drunk?
he wondered incredulously. She got tipsy from time to time, but he'd
never known her to get completely wasted. Leaning over her sleeping
form, he took in a curious breath, concentrating on separating and
identifying the many different scents she'd come home with. There was
a hint of liquor on her breath, but it was faint.

She must have spent time dancing in a big crowd tonight.
He could smell the different perfumes and colognes of the people
she'd brushed up against. One cologne seemed a bit stronger than the
others, but he couldn't be sure. There was something else there as
well, on her breath, something he couldn't identify, that was even
more faint than the liquor scent.

He
sighed and stared down at her. What the hell did you get into
tonight? he wondered silently, brushing a few stray hairs from
her face.

“Kagome?”
he tried one more time. When she didn't respond, he decided to give
up. She probably just needed to sleep off whatever it was that had
put her in this state.

And once she did, he'd never let her hear the end of it.
The thought brought a smile to his face as he stood and set to work
removing her boots. He considered her outfit as he worked, but
realized that removing any more clothing, whether it was for the sake
of her comfort or his enjoyment, would put the serenity of the coming
morning at risk. So he left the rest of her clothes alone and pulled
her further onto to the bed with him. He drew the covers up over
them, and paused a moment before settling in.

“What
a pain,” he murmured, leaning over her, feeling very clever for
turning the words back on her. But they elicited no response, not
even the smallest sign that she'd heard him. He gave a huff of
frustration and collapsed onto the bed.

*****

Everything
was fine for a while as Kagome floated back and forth between
dreaming and waking. Then the sound of Inuyasha's breath drifted past
her ear, and it was just enough to pull her out of her peaceful
limbo. Sunlight burned her eyes as she blinked unhappily at the
uncovered windows. The remote for the blinds
was on the other side of the loft beside Inuyasha's bed, and she must
have forgotten to close them the night before...

And then the fog of sleep finally lifted from her mind
and she remembered why. Last night nothing had mattered, least of
which the blinds, other than getting upstairs to the safety of her
bed. She didn't even remember taking her shoes off, which had
obviously happened somehow. Most of the details of the night before
were still hazy, as if she'd only dreamed them. But the dull ache in
her head was still there, and even though it was significantly weaker
now than it had been before, it was still a painful confirmation that
everything she did remember had been very real.

Waking on the couch was still her first memory of the
evening. As much as she'd been hoping a little sleep might help her
remember whatever it was that had happened before that, there was
still just empty time where, according to Naraku, something very
important and very disconcerting should have been.

Slowly,
she turned her head to look at Inuyasha, his sleeping face inches
from her own. Guilt sliced through her and panic began to take over.
She'd kissed another man. Why had she done that? What was she going
to do now? What was she going to say? What could she say?
Silently, she berated herself with every combination of curse words
she could think of until realizing the tension was causing her to
hold her breath. Letting it out slowly, she shut her eyes and
struggled to calm down.

It's
alright. It'll be alright, her inner voice soothed. It was a
misunderstanding, a mistake, a moment of weakness. Whatever. Inuyasha
will understand. He'll understand. She opened her eyes and stared
at his handsome face, set with eyes that were just now beginning to
look at her with affection and, most importantly, trust. Despite
working so hard to gain that trust, it was still thin as glass and
easily broken. Her hopes dissolved with a shuddering breath.

He won't understand. He'll be mad. He'll think I
betrayed him. He'll hate me again. He'll...

She buried her face in the pillow, willing the inner
voice to silence.

Shut
up, she told herself. Calm down and think straight.
There was nothing she could do
about the situation while laying in bed. Glancing at the clock, she
realized it was almost time to get up for work, anyway. Might as well
start a little early. It was better than laying there and dwelling on
things she couldn't change. What she could do was go find Naraku the
first chance she got and try to clarify, with a sober mind, just what
had happened between them. But it would have to wait until her work
shift was over.

In
the meantime, she would have to hope that Inuyasha wouldn't get
curious and start asking questions. It would be better if she just
managed to avoid him as much as she could. Which wouldn't be easy
with him sleeping right beside her. Slowly, so as not to wake him,
she sat up and edged her way off the bed, turning off her alarm clock
as she stood.

“Where
you goin'?”

Damn.
So much for not waking him. “Bathroom,” she answered,
heading around the bed toward the bathroom door, praying he'd go back
to sleep.

“'Kay,”
he mumbled.

She
couldn't help but smile at his morning dopiness. The smile faded
though, once she found herself staring straight into the face of her
own reflection in the bathroom mirror. Her eyes were red-rimmed and
framed in dark circles, and her hair looked as if she'd fought her
way through a hurricane to get home the night before.

“Ugh,”
she groaned and headed quickly toward the toilet. After relieving her
bladder, she reemerged from the small side room that housed the
toilet and grabbed a brush, trying to smooth out her hair before she
had to face her image again. She pulled it into a loose twist to keep
it out of her way, then turned back to the mirror to deal with her
face. She hoped a little soap and water would help perk up her
reflection.

Halfway
through her normal washing routine, just as she was getting ready to
rinse her face, she felt another presence move into the bathroom. Her
eyes were tightly shut but she could still sense he was there.

“You
should get some more sleep,” she said, being careful not to get
soap in her mouth as she scrubbed. Go away, she thought at
him.

“Probably,”
was his yawning reply. “I've got the day off, so I'm not
worried.” He was silent for a moment until she began reaching
for the faucet. “So what the hell did you get into last night?”

Kagome
froze, fear suddenly twisting her
gut. But his tone was
passive, almost uninterested. There was no anger in the question,
only what sounded like mild curiosity.

“Nothing,”
she lied, recovering enough to turn the handle and begin splashing
water over her skin. She quickly
tried changing the subject. “How'd the repair go?”

It
was a poor attempt at diversion, and when he didn't answer right
away, she cringed. She didn't need to look at him to know he was
watching her with suspicious eyes. Damn, he caught it.

“Fine,”
he said slowly, as if deciding whether or not to call her on the
evasion. “You look like hell.”

“Gee,
thanks.” Please, go away.

“Too
much to drink?”

Maybe.
“No.”

“What
was it then?”

With her
eyes still shut to keep the water out, she reached for a towel, but
her fingers closed around empty air. Fighting back frustration, she
swiped the water away from her eyes and opened them to find the towel
no longer on the rack where it had been a moment before. She turned
to Inuyasha, who'd casually leaned himself against the counter beside
her, smirking as he flipped the cloth over his shoulder.

“Gimme
that,” she said, grabbing for the towel, but he dodged his
shoulder away, keeping it just out of her reach.

“Tell
me what happened, first.”

“I
told you, nothing happened!”

“I
don't believe you,” he sing-songed, allowing her to back him
into a corner as she continued to advance and grab.

“Knock
it off, Inuyasha! I'm not in the mood to play right now.”

“Ask
nicely,” he said, unable to retreat any further when his back
hit a wall. He lifted the towel high above her head and held it
there.

She
jammed her heel onto the top of his foot. He winced but didn't lower
his hand.

“That
hurt,” he growled.

“That
was the point.”

Before
she had time to react, he snaked an arm around her waist and pulled
her against him.

“If
you're gonna get physical,” he said, dipping his head, “at
least do it with your mouth.” He covered her lips
with his in one swift motion.

Instantly
overwhelmed, she could only stand there as he pressed their mouths
together, his tongue wasting no time in emerging for a taste, asking
to be allowed inside.
Instinct shouted at her to
open for him and let him
take what he wanted, but instead her body went ramrod straight as
desire and shame began struggling for dominance in her mind. All she
wanted to do was melt
against him and let him have his way, but
the guilt wouldn't be
pushed aside. You can't! it
shouted. You can't give in to him until you know what
happened!

Enjoy
it, the other side coaxed. Who
knows if you'll ever be able to do it again.

She
stifled a frustrated moan as his tongue continued to search for a way
in. What if this was
the last time she would ever be able to kiss him? What if, once she
did tell him, he wanted nothing else to do with her?

Her
indecision seemed to be frustrating him. She hadn't steeled her lips
against him, but she wouldn't open them either, and he didn't like
it. The kiss became more
insistent.

Too
hard. It was just too hard
to deny him. Three long days had passed since the last time she
felt his mouth against
hers, and no matter how busy she'd
tried to keep herself in the meantime, the memory of their gentle
kiss in the greenhouse and the
promising words he'd spoken had haunted her mercilessly. She
wanted more, and he
appeared ready to give her just that once he returned. That was why
she'd gone out the night
before, to distract her mind, to still her nervous anticipation. But
then he'd found her, alone
on the terrace...

Her
mouth began to open.

Wait.
No. They hadn't kissed since the day he began working on the
repair, but somewhere, deep in the shadows of her mind, it felt as if
there had been another time, more recently. His lips, his hands,
sweet words she couldn't remember. There was something else, some
thought, some memory, lurking at the edge of darkness, just out of
reach.

Red
eyes.

Suddenly
kicking into a fit of back-pedaling panic, she choked back a yelp and
turned her head away. “No!”

He
stilled against her. “What's wrong?” he asked.

Shit,
she thought. What was
that?

“Kagome?”
he asked again, and his voice refocused her mind on the problem
standing before her. She had to get him to go away.

Scrambling
for an explanation, she said, “Morning breath.” It was a
lame excuse, and he didn't buy it.

“I
don't care,” he said, leaning down toward her again.

He was
being persistent, and that, combined with her now frantic need to
escape, renewed her temper. As soon as he was close enough, she bit
his lower lip.

“Ow!”
he cried, yanking his head back, almost banging it against the wall.
“What the hell was that for?”

“There!
I used my mouth this time,” she snapped. Shoving at him, she
added, “Now can I get some time alone?”

Inuyasha
gaped at her. “I've hardly seen you at all in three days.”

“That
doesn't mean you can come in here and start smothering me as soon as
you get back!” It was the wrong thing to say. She knew it the
moment the words started tumbling out of her mouth. But she was so
desperate that she was latching onto anything that might drive him
away.

One of
his eyebrows shot up and the mirth faded from his face as if she'd
slapped it away with a hand. “Huh,” he grunted
thoughtfully. There was anger in the sound. “Didn't realize
that's what I'd been doing. Sorry about that.” He dropped the
towel on her head and walked out the door.

She
stood there for a moment, staring at the wall he'd backed himself
against. She'd
gone too far, carelessly trying to repel him with angry words.
Apologize.

“Hey,”
she called, poking her head around the corner just in time to see the
door to his own bathroom sliding closed behind him.

Damn
it. Kagome, you idiot. Now he was angry at her before she'd given
him real reason to be.

She
sighed and buried her face in the towel. The air had almost
completely dried her skin by now, but she didn't care. She rubbed her
face with the soft material, trying to take comfort in the feeling.
It didn't work, and she lowered the cloth and turned back to her
reflection. She still looked awful, but she couldn't imagine she'd be
able to look at herself with any kind of approval for a while.

I'm
sorry, Inuyasha, she thought to him. Just give me some time to
straighten things out and I promise I'll make it up to you.
As she pulled her hair down and started to work on untangling the
mass of knots, she tried not to think about what might happen if she
wasn't able to make good on that promise.

*****

He
was back in his own bed by the time she reemerged from her bathroom
and headed down the stairs toward the front door. Glaring at her
retreating figure, he thought of all kinds of snide, antagonizing
words to throw at her, but spoke none of them. It was hard. He wasn't
used to keeping his mouth in check. But there was some satisfaction
in knowing that he'd been able to control his temper.

At
the sound of the door clicking shut, Inuyasha reached for the remote
lying on his nightstand. With the press of a button, the shades
slowly began rolling down over the windows, blocking out the morning
sky. Sunshine didn't fit his mood at the moment. As the blue sky and
clouds disappeared from sight, he wondered what had just happened.

He'd
been gone for days. They'd hardly seen any of each other in that
time. Even before that, they
hadn't been spending any more time together than usual. In fact,
they'd been together less in the last few days than they had since
she'd started working for him. So why was she so desperate for
privacy now? Was three days all she needed to change her mind about
the shift in their relationship? Or was it simply a case of nerves?

He'd never seen her so prickly in the morning. Maybe she
really was just hungover. She wasn't a drinker, except for special
occasions, and even then she always cut herself off before getting to
the point of being drunk. From what he'd seen, anyway. But even if it
was just a bad hangover, that was no reason to be such a brat. He'd
just been playing around, it wasn't cause to bite his head off.

Inuyasha sighed and stared up at the ceiling. She had
reacted to him walking in on her as if he'd been a snake ready to
strike, and when he asked about the night before, she'd tried to
avoid the question. The moment he'd sensed her evasiveness he'd
started pushing back without thinking. He hadn't meant to make her
mad.

But what really bothered him was when she'd turned away
from his kiss, and again after she'd bit him. There had been fear in
her eyes, fear like he'd once seen in a child's face when that child
had broken something that didn't belong to her. His insecurities
suggested she'd done it out of disgust, but his rational mind pushed
the thought aside and told him there was some other reason for the
sudden rejection. He just had no idea what that reason might be.

He growled and slammed a fist down against the bed
beside him. This wasn't at all how he'd wanted things to be when he
came back. He'd been entertaining all kinds of naughty daydreams over
the past few days of what they might have the chance to do once he
returned. Now it appeared as if daydreams were all they would remain
until he could figure out what was going on. He knew he'd find out
eventually. It was damn near impossible to keep a secret in this
city.

Sleep,
he told himself. You're still exhausted. You can think about it
when you wake up. He closed his eyes, but after a few minutes he
gave up, knowing it was useless until his mind calmed a bit more.
Turning onto his side, he faced the front of his apartment, his back
to the shuttered windows. The front door wasn't visible from where he
was lying, but he spent a good portion of the morning staring in its
direction, wondering what had gone wrong.

Continued in Chapter 16 – Distortion in the Mix

A/N:
I know what you're thinking. This looks awfully damn short for OVER A
YEARS worth of work. The explanation for which is this: There I was,
merrily typing my way through chapter 15, relieved almost to tears
that it was nearly finished, when I remembered that it had been a
while since my last page count, so I kicked it back to print layout
and counted. This bitch was 25 pages long. Twenty. Five. Pages. And I
wasn't even finished yet! Yeahno. Hell, it's my story and even I
don't want to read something that long. So, even though I really
didn't want to (I have very specific places I've planned to end each
chapter), I made the difficult decision to split the thing in half
and end it there, rather than keeping it in one piece and ending up
with damn near 30 pages. Honestly, the thought of editing and
polishing a chapter that long turns my stomach, not to mention it
would have pushed out the release by at least another month. I didn't
want that, and I didn't think any of you would, either.

And so, after a year of dicking around with my stupid
brain, I finally nailed my ass to my computer seat and got back to
work. I am TERRIBLY sorry it took so long! I've realized that, as I
illustrated above, I make chapters way too long, and even though I
know some of you like those monster updates, I don't write as fast as
I used to, and that means long swaths of time between releases. I'd
stated in a previous author's note that I was going to begin
shortening chapters for the sake of getting them out faster, and we
see where that got me: the two subsequent chapters were 17 and 18
pages long. So I'm going to make a point now of keeping things
shorter, which will hopefully result in less time between releases.

I hope you guys enjoyed the chapter. My brain, while
much improved, is still in a rather rusty state, so I apologize for
anything that doesn't make sense and for any mistakes I missed. I'm
sure there's a few.

And thank you again, SO MUCH, to those of you who
reviewed the last chapter, and to everyone who has sent me reviews,
messages, and emails since then, inquiring about AFR. Each and every
one encourages me to keep going, so please don't think you're
pestering me. I love to hear from you guys!

Liked the chapter? Peachy! Let me know. Hated it? Not
so peachy, but let me know anyways.

And as requested, a couple more book recommendations:

- Karen Marie Moning's Fever series, beginning with
Darkfever. A modern day paranormal romance based heavily on Irish
lore, that focuses on the Fae side of otherworldly-type things (which
is refreshing, cuz God knows there's enough vampire and werewolf
garbage out there right now. Yes, I'm biased. I work in a book store
that's full of the crap. /end rant). I've thoroughly enjoyed reading
it so far, even though every book (4 released so far in a series of
5) ends right where you absolutely DON'T want it to. It's one of
those series that raises more questions than it answers, but I'm sure
the author will tie up all the loose ends in the last book. And
Jericho makes me drool on the pages.

- Eyes Like Stars by Lisa Mantchev. An absolutely
stunning debut novel. Her writing makes me squirm with envy. I'm not
a huge Shakespeare/theater person, but this book nearly succeeded in
turning me into one, and it may still, as I'm currently making my way
through the second book in the trilogy, Perchance to Dream. I haven't
even finished it yet and I'm already chomping at the bit for the
third one to be announced. And the writer is, like myself, a huge
Cirque fan, so you know she's got excellent taste in inspiration.

Influential music for this chapter

Allergo – Bear McCreary, Battlestar Galactica
Season 2 OST

Gaeta's Lament (Instrumental) – Bear McCreary,
Battlestar Galactica Season 4 OST

Hitori Heya no naka de (trans: Alone in a room) –
Hasegawa Tomoki, NANA 707 soundtracks [Limited Edition]

Nephilim – Abingdon Boy's School, Nephilim
single

Everloving – Moby, Play

(note: You'll
probably be seeing a lot of BSG music from here on. Bear is utterly
phenomenal composer!)
- 14
- 15
- 16
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A Fool's Redemption