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Love is Blind	By : SplendentGoddess Category: InuYasha > General Views: 3003 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 0
Disclaimer: Inuyasha, and the characters therein, are the property of Rumiko Takahashi. I am in no way affiliated with Takahashi or VIZ Productions, and I do not gain financially from my fanfic in any way.

Chapter List
- 5
- 6
- 7
Chapter Six

The next day, since Kagome was off, she stayed home all day and assisted her grandfather as much as she could around the shrine grounds.

“I wish you could have met him,” she said from her place leaning against one of the tables in the storage building.

It had been a total coincidence, but her grandfather had been assisting a fellow priest at another shrine the day before with purifying a large collection of tainted relics that had come into that shrine's possession, and the purification rituals had taken longer than anticipated.

Kagome felt guilty for her comment the instant she said it since she knew, had her powers been working, she could have purified everything herself in a fraction of the time and been back home with plenty of time to get ready for her date. It was her fault her grandfather had had to do it all himself.

“From the sound of things I'll be getting a second chance to meet him, yes?” Jii-chan answered with a playful note to his voice as he handed Kagome a small but somewhat heavy box.

Used to their routine, Kagome held on tight to the box while allowing her grandfather to move her through the building, almost like a puppet. It was easier for him to come up behind her and, with his hands on her shoulders, just steer her around all of the various tables and things stacked on the floor, rather than trying to give her directions. Reaching their destination, he turned her to face the shelves.

“The top shelf, if you don't mind,” he said then.

Kagome lifted her arms up, easily remembering how high up the top shelf was located, and finding the edge of the shelf with the box she held, she then slid the box back into its place on the shelf between two other boxes. It was hard for her grandfather to lift his arms straight up above his head like that anymore, so she was happy to do things like that for him, even though she needed his help in return.

“Hopefully,” she answered, in regard to his comment about having a second chance to meet Yasha. “He should be there on Tuesday when I take my lunch break, so I'll talk to him about it then.”

In the meantime, her grandfather was going to be able to catalog the contents of a lot of boxes, because she would need something to keep herself preoccupied, otherwise the temptation to just call Yasha might get too great. She could speak to him at the noodle shop in two days; she didn't want to seem desperate.

Even though I am...

She was grateful for the distraction when her grandfather asked her to get down another box.

o o o

“So how did your date go?”

Looking up from his mountain of paperwork, Inuyasha gave Miroku a bittersweet smile.

“It was fabulous.”

“Well that's good isn't it?” Miroku asked. “Why the face? Did she not take the news well?”

They both knew what he was referring to.

“I didn't tell her.”

Miroku sighed in exasperation.

“Yasha, you-”

“She's deathly afraid of dogs, Miroku,” he explained then. “Especially Akita. Especially white Akita. It was a white Akita inugami that blinded her. Nearly killed her before she managed to kill it with her powers. Oh yeah, and she's a miko, but her powers are sealed now. That's how traumatic that experience was.”

Miroku just stared at him, blinking.

“Yeah,” Inuyasha continued. “I just asked her how come she didn't have a seeing eye dog and she nearly lost it, and it was the same when we were leaving and a dog started barking in the distance somewhere.”

“Well this is...unfortunate.”

“No kidding.”

“So what are you going to do?”

“Not sure exactly, but what I'm not going to do is let her find out she went out on a date with a monster.” He rubbed his right palm down across his face then added, “I'm thinking I'll just have to pretend I'm too busy and keep blowing off our second date until she gets discouraged and pissed off at me for being a flake. I just don't have it in me to tell her to her face I don't want to see her again, 'cause that's a bald faced lie. I tried to hint that I owned a dog, during the drive back. I used that barking dog as the perfect excuse to broach the subject again, and told her I was a dog person, letting her take from that what she wanted, but it didn't work.”

“What do you mean?”

“She still wants to see me again, even thinking I own a white Akita. She said we could take things slowly and that maybe the kami put me in her life to help her get over her phobia.”

“Well...” Miroku contemplated, finger on his chin in a thoughtful expression, “maybe that's true.” He then pointed out something very logical. “And just because she's afraid of animal dogs doesn't mean she's going to be afraid of you. You're not an animal, you're a person.”

Inuyasha snorted.

“That depends on who you ask.”

Miroku sighed.

“You know what I mean.”

“Yeah,” Inuyasha relented. “But I don't want to take the chance. It's better this way.”

“If you says so.” Miroku didn't sound convinced. “So when are you going to start blowing her off?”

“I don't want to have her thinking what the hell if I change right away, overnight, so I'll be nice to her on Tuesday but just stress how busy I am. Maybe make up some bullshit that has to do with running this place.” He gestured to his mountain of paperwork. “That's not far from the truth, anyway.”

“Just so long as you don't keep postponing your second date until, a month later, you actually take her out again on the next new moon. If you're going to cut ties with her, then do it, but don't lead her on.”

“I've thought about that,” Inuyasha admitted, “and you're right. As much as I'd love to stretch it out and manage to see her again, even just one more time, that wouldn't be fair to her.”

“Well, I can't fault you for having your heart in the right place, but I still question your reasoning,” Miroku said then. “However, I won't undermine your plan. In the end, I believe the kami's will shall be done.”

“Meaning if this all blows up in my face that's the will of the kami?”

“Precisely.”

Inuyasha sighed.

“I...can't even decide if I secretly want it all to blow up in my face. So yeah, I guess we'll just see what happens.”

o o o

Bright and early Tuesday morning, while Kagome was giddily looking forward to speaking with Yasha on her lunch break, she made sure not to lose track of how far she walked while on her way to the bus stop. Successfully finding said stop right where it was supposed to be, she had a seat on the bench.

“Kagome,” Kikyou greeted.

Something about her voice was...off, as if she were on high alert.

“Kikyou? What's wrong?”

“I sense a youkai presence,” Kikyou stated bluntly.

Kagome instantly relaxed.

“Jeez, this isn't the feudal era,” she joked. “Just because this part of the city is mostly human, that doesn't mean the occasional youkai doesn't come through, I'm sure.”

Condescendingly, Kikyou said, “You are correct, of course. However, I find it suspicious that I began feeling this youkai approach at the same moment I could see your approach from down the street, and now that you have stopped here, the youkai has stopped, as well. I believe you are being followed.”

From his hiding place on the roof of the store in front of the bus stop, Inuyasha mentally cursed his stupidity.

He knew that other woman was a reiki user, had been able to feel it within her on day one, but her reiki was relatively weak and so he'd thought he knew, based on Miroku's abilities, how close he could get without being sensed. Whether it was wise of him or not, he had actually been keeping an eye on Kagome from a safe distance since last Thursday, ever since she'd told him the day before of how she'd nearly missed her bus stop. He'd had no plans of actually interfering with her commute, but after she'd agreed to go out on a date with him his inner youkai had already considered her 'his' and had insisted he protect her, and of course, now that he knew of her phobia and that there could never be anything between them, he couldn't just turn that part of himself off. He'd planned on continuing to just watch her from afar, not in a creepy stalkerish kind of way, but just like her secret body guard, to make sure she stayed safe from harm. Unfortunately, today he had dared to get much closer to her than before, and had stupidly let the other miko sense his presence.

What was that Miroku had said a couple of days ago about everything blowing up in his face being the will of the kami? If he wasn't careful, he was going to wind up doing the kami's job for them.

Self-fulfilling prophecy much? he mentally chastised himself before slowly and silently backing away.

Dropping down the backside of the building, where nobody saw him, he took off in the opposite direction. Kagome had made it to the bus stop, so that was all that mattered. Backtracking to where he'd parked his car, then, he headed to work to await Kagome's arrival on the bus. A part of him wished he could've stayed to hear what else was said, but considering what he had heard he knew getting out of there was the right choice, even if that Kikyou woman correctly deduced that he'd heard her and fled for that reason. But having also heard what Kagome'd initially said, that put a smile on his face as he drove towards his humble little noodle shop. Perhaps Miroku was right. Kagome hadn't seemed phased by the idea of people youkai being nearby, at all.

And in fact Kagome wasn't so convinced of Kikyou's hypothesis that she was personally being followed, either. Inuyasha was already out of hearing range and missed it when she replied to Kikyou's suspicions with, “Seriously?” in a dubious tone of voice.

Ignoring the obvious tone of doubt in Kagome's voice, Kikyou stretched her senses when she felt the youkai rapidly departing. Closing her eyes and concentrating, it took her just a few seconds to realize she couldn't feel it anymore.

“And now the youkai is gone. Interesting,” she said in her same suspicious tone of voice.

“You keep saying the youkai like he or she is some kind of beast,” Kagome pointed out. “I mean, I know there are beast youkai.” Without thinking about it, because she'd never shared that much about herself with the older miko, Kagome absentmindedly gestured at her face. “Believe me, I know,” she continued, “but especially if I was being followed, and especially if they left because they heard you say you could sense them and thought I was being followed, then that tells me it was a person, not a beast.”

“They are all beasts,” Kikyou argued. “Especially the ones who can take human form.”

If Kagome hadn't been sitting down on the bench she would've taken a few good steps backwards at that.

“Oh hello, racist much?” she quipped, unwilling to play little miss nice Kagome with this woman any longer. “I was blinded by a youkai animal and still don't have a problem with the humanoid ones. And I seriously doubt this person was actually following me, but he or she probably overheard you and figured they needed to get away before the situation escalated.” Thinking about it a moment longer, she added, “Now I hope whoever it was actually does approach me later, like maybe if they'd been following 'cause they'd wanted to ask me a question or something, so that I could then have the opportunity to apologize to them on your behalf.”

Whatever Kikyou might've been preparing to say back, she held her tongue when the bus chose that moment to arrive.

“Morning Kagome!” the driver greeted cheerfully, earning a huge grin as she said a chipper “Good morning!” back, scanning her IC card before having a seat.

Thankfully, Kikyou went to her usual seat more towards the back of the bus, probably because she didn't want to get called out for her racist views when they were no longer alone.

That woman!

Kagome had never been so angry at another person before in all her life. How, as a miko, could Kikyou have such ignorant views? Her miko training had included things like love and acceptance, and sure, a history lesson of when their two peoples, humans and youkai, had been enemies, but that was history. There was no reason to dwell on the old ways in that day and age, and Kikyou's attitude about the whole thing really made Kagome wonder, in a nervous sort of way, just what all went on at that temple Kikyou worked at, where she commuted to seven days a week.

Deciding not to worry about it after a minute, though, because she had been in a good mood and didn't want such negative thoughts spoiling what was supposed to be a happy day because it was the first time she'd get to speak with Yasha since their date, Kagome made a mental note to talk about it with her family later. If Tama Temple – if memory served, that was what Kikyou had once said it was called – was secretly teaching such hatred, then it would need to be addressed. On the other hand, it could very well be that Kikyou's duties there were mundane, such as purifying tainted objects, and her hatred was her own, perhaps taught to her by her parents.

And maybe something bad happened to her once... Kagome relented after a moment, since she knew she didn't really know anything about the older woman's history.

But even if a humanoid youkai was cruel to her in some horrible way, that's still no justification for making such a blanket statement.

Just like she knew she couldn't rightfully blame all dogs, or even all demonic ones, for what'd happened to her, but like she'd told Yasha, she didn't hate dogs, and besides, if he really owned an Akita then it looked like the kami had decided it was time for her to get over her phobia. While she'd always kind of been a cat person, she'd certainly never had anything against dogs prior to her accident, and since she wanted to get over her fear, because she wanted to be in a relationship with Yasha and if he had a dog then she would need to get over her fear, that, alone, she figured was a good enough first step. The other steps, they would hopefully take together.

It was with that last thought in mind, and with a huge smile on her face as a result, that she departed the bus when the driver informed her they were at her stop, all thoughts of Kikyou's prejudice out of her head for the time being.

As for Kikyou, she momentarily thought she could feel that same youki signature again, and was about to shout out a warning to Kagome, because just because the blind girl was naive and overly trusting didn't mean she didn't deserve to be warned that a monster was lurking nearby, but just as quickly as she'd thought she'd felt the youkai, it was gone, and the miko found herself second guessing herself. Then the bus' doors were closing and it was too late, as Kagome began her trek up the sidewalk while the bus drove away. Closing her eyes, Kikyou murmured a short, quiet prayer for the kami to protect Kagome from whatever devious things this youkai wanted with her.

As for Inuyasha, who'd backed farther away when he'd realized how strongly he could sense that miko's reiki and realized it was possible he was again within her sensing distance, he'd talked himself into observing as Kagome got off the bus to assess what kind of a mood she was in after what he'd overheard that other miko tell her. Sitting on top of a roof several blocks away, he watched as she got closer, and as soon as he could make out the huge grin she was sporting, he sighed in relief and doubled back to Mushin's Noodles, having made sure he didn't get close enough to the herb shop for either Hojo to sense his presence.

Later, on her lunch break, Kagome came into the noodle shop right on schedule, and he couldn't help but smile to himself at how her unbridled happiness lightened her scent. He was going to absolutely hate it as the days turned into weeks and her scent became sour with sadness and anger.

He sat with her right away, getting his third helping of ramen for the day to have something to eat while Kagome enjoyed her udon soup, which he had already made sure both Sango and Miroku knew was on the house from now on. That wouldn't change, no matter what. Hopefully, Kagome would know that his feelings for her were real, even if he was a flake with commitment issues for whom she simply couldn't wait around forever. On that day, however, he started his deception very slowly, and told her that he'd tentatively like to say that their second date could be on this upcoming Saturday night, but that he wasn't 100% sure yet because his mother had told him that she might need him to drive her somewhere.

Trying to keep his lie as vague as possible, hoping Kagome wouldn't pry, which she didn't, he was just relieved she didn't currently have her ability to sense it when people were lying, because otherwise he was sure his aura would've been giving off the equivalent to a neon sign on the subject.

“Family is important,” she said instead of sounding suspicious, buying his story right away. “If you're busy this Saturday because you have to take your mother somewhere then we can do it the Saturday after. That's fine.”

She didn't even smell disappointed, only understanding and caring, which made him feel worse, but thanking her for her understanding nonetheless, he quickly changed the subject and they spent the rest of her lunch break chitchatting about stupid shit. Never once did she bring up being 'followed' by a youkai that morning, and he knew he had no plausible reason to bring up anything that had to do with youkai in general, so he never found out how her conversation with the other miko went after he'd left, but since she clearly wasn't bothered by the incident that was good enough for him.

The next day it was more of the same, and then on Thursday he told her with another apology that it looked like he wouldn't be able to do it this Saturday, after all. She again told him that she understood, and reiterated that the following Saturday would be fine. He was relieved she never bothered asking about Sunday night; since they were both off on Mondays that would actually make even more sense, but it seemed that fate was letting a few things work in his favor.

On Friday he tried his luck at being so 'busy' he couldn't visit with her on her lunch break. Trying to limit the number of outright lies he told her to her face, he actually went out of his way to create something he needed to do, rescheduling one of next week's food deliveries for that day, and more specifically, for the time of day that she would be there. He came out to say hi to Kagome momentarily, but she could hear the hustle and bustle, the delivery man talking with Miroku, Sango complaining to Inuyasha that there wasn't enough room to store everything being delivered, etc.

That last part was completely true, because he had bumped the delivery up and also hadn't told either Miroku or Sango that he'd done it, not wanting to put them on the spot, having to 'pretend' it was a scheduling accident in front of Kagome. Plus since it really was an inconvenience he hadn't wanted to get them mad at him, either! The looks Miroku shot him a couple of times told Inuyasha that the monk suspected he'd done it on purpose, already knowing that he was going to have to make himself too busy to deal with Kagome, but like the good friend that he was Miroku didn't accuse Inuyasha of anything...at least while Kagome was there.

Inuyasha also had the perfect solution to the problem he'd created. He wouldn't have pulled that stunt if the food was actually going to go to waste as a result. His solution? Since there wasn't enough room in their freezer for all of the new chicken and beef that'd just come in, he would take some of it home to temporarily store in his own freezer, which didn't have anything in it since he ate most of his meals in his restaurant.

Of course, that meant he had to take off, 'cause couldn't risk letting the frozen meat thaw out, right? So saying a quick and apologetic goodbye to Kagome, he grabbed the last four boxes that wouldn't fit in the restaurant's freezer and headed out the door. He came back a good hour later, expecting the fifth degree from his friends, especially Sango, but all the taijiya-turned-head chef told him was that Miroku had explained. Somehow, his friends' understanding made him feel even worse, like he actually wanted them to be mad at him because he knew he deserved it. He was an ass, and if he wasn't an ass, then he was at least a fucking coward.

Fortunately, or unfortunately, depending on your point of view, Inuyasha's 'plan' seemed to be going smoothly, or at least as smoothly as could be expected.

On Saturday he wasn't even there, which Kagome brushed off because she'd already known he (supposedly) had to take his mother somewhere that day. She had expected him to be there, but then admittedly didn't know what all this thing with his mother entailed, so she let it go without being suspicious. Since she was off on Sundays and Mondays – plus Mushin's Noodles was actually closed on Mondays, anyway – she didn't expect to be with Yasha again until Tuesday, and so it wasn't until Tuesday rolled around, and Sango reluctantly informed her that Yasha had had to run out for a minute, that she began to worry.

Oh, he came back in time to apologize to her for losing track of time, but muttering something about needing to fix an error in some paperwork he then went back into the back office, and it was already time for her to head back to the herb shop so she missed her chance to really visit with him, let alone bring up anything about finalizing their date for Saturday.

Wednesday he was ready to have lunch with her, and started to until less than halfway through they got a suspiciously timed angry phone call that he had to deal with, because the caller was demanding it.

Miroku would question him about that one later, and discover with disapproval that he had actually paid somebody to call in pretending to be an angry customer.

Thursday there was another delivery, this time of more noodles, which had been set for that day and was actually a few hours late, since it should have arrived early that morning.

Miroku had to give it to him. It was pretty amazing what he could accomplish if he threw enough money around. He suspected Yasha had contacted the driver and bribed him to just go park somewhere for a few hours. Since it was a local delivery from a local noodle maker, it wasn't like the driver worked for a large company and had a strict schedule to keep. They had been his only delivery for that day. Inuyasha was doing his best to come up with diversions without inconveniencing anyone else, and Miroku was at least impressed that his friend and boss was trying to hard not to create collateral damage, no matter how insignificant it might've seemed.

On Friday Inuyasha wasn't there, and on Saturday, the supposed day of his and Kagome's second date, he wasn't there. Kagome couldn't stop kicking herself for not getting his phone number, and Sango hesitated when she asked her for it, claiming she didn't feel comfortable giving out her boss' number because if he'd wanted her to have it he should've given it to her himself. Which was true, and Inuyasha had had every intention of doing so at the start of their first date two weeks ago. He had been relieved he hadn't already given Kagome his number when he'd ended up making the decision to stop pursuing a relationship with her, and he'd made Sango and Miroku both promise not to give her his number if she asked.

That day was the true beginning of Kagome's broken heart, as she realized now beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was blowing her off on purpose. But as stubborn as she was, she wanted to know why.

“If Yasha's changed his mind about us and doesn't want to see me anymore, he should at least have the balls to say so to my face,” she said, turning around and heading out of Mushin's Noodles without her udon.

Sango didn't say anything as she watched her go, but if Kagome had still had the ability to sense the emotions of everyone around her, Sango's anger, directed at Inuyasha, would have lit up the room in Kagome's mind's eye.

Somebody else with the ability to sense emotions, or more specifically scent them, was well aware of the taijiya's anger. From his place hiding like the coward he was, sitting perched up on the roof of his noodle shop, the scent of Kagome's sadness and anger also hit him like a ton of bricks in that moment, and not for the first time, he wondered if he was doing the right thing.

Too late now, ass hole...

Of course, it wasn't too late. He could leap down from the roof right now, land in her path, swoop her up into his arms and beg her to forgive him, but he wouldn't.

He didn't deserve her forgiveness.
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Love is Blind