On a stormy afternoon
Inuyasha and the gang were all sitting around in the hut in silence, listening to the rain battering the roof. The storm was relentless, and had been raging for hours. No one was talking, and the only sounds were the occasional yelps from Shippo when an especially loud clap of thunder rumbled over them.
Inuyasha was moody—as he always was when it rained—because the storm meant they had to delay the search for jewel shards. He sat brooding in a corner, staring off into space with his arms wrapped round his knees.
Kagome sat with the others around a crackling, blazing fire, trying to warm herself in the damp hut. She was absentmindedly petting Shippo, who was curled up in her lap. She, too, had a lot on her mind, though not much to say.
As for Sango and Miroku, they were sitting close to the fire to keep warm as well, and Sango even let Miroku keep her in his lap since he was being good. It might also have had something to do with the cold, clammy atmosphere in the hut, but all the same, she was letting him hold her. Surprisingly, he kept his hands to himself except to stroke Sango's hair now and then distractedly.
There was a faraway, dreamy sort of expression in their eyes as the rain pattering on the roof gave a soothing, calm feeling to otherwise unbroken silence. Everyone's mind seemed to be somewhere else, lost in their own thoughts. They would not have spoken anyway, had they a thought they wished to share; they knew better than to spark Inuyasha's temper.
He was especially cross on this dark, rainy afternoon because of their last encounter with Naraku, in which he had been yet again denied of the vengeance and victory that had seemed so close to his reach. He made it seem as if it were all his pride that drove his pursuit of Naraku, but everyone could see that Kikyo's floating memory was why he really put his life on the line day after day. And each time he saw her soul collectors or smelled her incarnation's cold, ceramic sent, he was reminded yet again of his continual failure. It tugged at his heartstrings and each time, without fail, pulled him by his nose to her as if in a trance.
The recent failure, coupled with the inability to even make up for it due to the rain, made him extremely irritable.
Kagome was exactly peachy either, her own emotions being yanked at every time she stole a glance at his distant, damaged expression which she knew was because of Kikyo. Her thoughts were also plagued by the memory of his latest encounter with Kikyo the day before, which kept slipping back to her mind, despite her best efforts to push it out. She just couldn't suppress the image of his nose perking up and the look in his eyes as he caught her scent and she had to watch as he was drawn to her once again. Sometimes she thought they had moments, like when she felt a spark or something or he said something nice, and she would think he maybe harbored similar feelings for her that she felt for him, but then Kikyo would drift through and snatch those hopes away again as she went. Even if he did have some feelings for me…he just reminds me again and again that he can't leave Kikyo in his past.
She looked up at him, searching for something to tell her otherwise, but the lamenting expression on his face was unchanged. She knew he was thinking about her.
Sighing loudly, she broke the silence of the room and got to her feet. She ignored Sango's and Miroku's questioning looks, but shot Inuyasha a split-second glare when he seemed to be able to pull his thoughts away from Kikyo long enough to acknowledge Kagome, as if daring him to follow her as she crossed the small hut and stepped out into the rain.
Letting the door slam behind her, she took a deep breath and ran. She just ran and ran as fast as her legs could carry her, fueled by and inexplicable energy, which carried her through the rain like a bird. When she finally stopped, she found herself at the well. She sighed again heavily and threw her arms up with open palms to the pounding rain, turning her face up to meet it as well. She stepped forward and just stood there, not caring about the rain soaking her to the skin and just letting it stream down her face and neck.
Her solitude was short lived, however, being interrupted quickly by Inuyasha tramping through the forest and into the clearing.
"Kagome, what the hell?" He exclaimed, throwing his hands up incredulously at her. She didn't turn around, she just stood with her back to him, unmoving and unacknowledging of his presence.
"Kagome! What are you doing?" He yelled again as rain pelted him and plastered his hair to his forehead, taking a step toward her.
"Kagome?"
Finally, Kagome dropped her arms and turned to him, smiling devilishly. She walked towards him with a glint in her eye, swinging her hips as she took each pointed step.
"You were able to tear yourself away from thoughts of Kikyo long enough to come find me, huh?" She asked lowly, with a dangerous smile playing at her lips. Her demeanor was mostly lost on Inuyasha.
"What? Kagome what are you doing here, you're going to get sick, you're crazy!"
"Oh no, that would mean another delay in finding the jewel shards, wouldn't it Inuyasha?" She asked mock sadly, cocking her head and rolling her eyes.
"What's the matter with you?" He asked, a bit taken aback now by this new, edgy side of her he hadn't witnessed before.
"Oh, Inuyasha." She sighed, putting her face in her hands. She looked back up at him and shook her head. "You're just such an…ass."
Inuyasha was shocked by her casually thrown out swearing—something she almost never did—and her blunt, to him, seemingly uncalled for insult.
"What?" He said slowly, tilting his head, not having been prepared for this.
"I just…can't stand you." She said plainly, looking thoughtfully at him and nodding her head.
"Woah, woah, woah…where's all this coming from?" He said, raising his eyebrows with a confused expression on his face.
"Where's all this coming from?" She repeated in amazement, raising her eyebrows now as well. "How about from every time you run off to go see Kikyo at the drop of a hat, and leave me stranded!"
"I don't leave you stranded, you have Miroku and Sango and Shippo!" He replied, still looking extremely confused.
"Oh good lord, Inuyasha. Are you really this dense?" She asked.
"What the hell are you talking about?" He yelled, getting frustrated.
"Getting a little frustrated, are we? It sucks to be confused doesn't it?"
"What?"
"How come you get to be all moody and mad when things don't go your way but I never get to complain? Well how about this—I hate it when you leave me for her! And no, I don't mean you physically leave me, I know the others are with me. I mean you leave me broken hearted to be with her because I can't help damned loving you and you play with my heart making me think you feel it too but then no matter how much I can hope you would love me back you're always there to remind me when Kikyo drifts through that you can never love me and you can never get past Kikyo and the fact that SHE'S GONE." She screamed, speaking so fast her words were all jumbled into one long sentence and exploding at the end.
Inuyasha stood there silently, staring at her with all traces of anger gone. She looked at him uneasily, now that she was done with her rant and he still didn't say anything.
"Did you just say you love me?" He finally asked slowly, cocking his head ever so slightly.
"Well, I don't know, that's not the point…um…" She said looking down and stumbling over her words.
"No, no, no…wait. Did you. Just say. You love me?" He asked again, grabbing her shoulders and forcing her to look into her eyes.
"M, m-maybe." She said unsurely, her eyes wide. Inuyasha stared at her for another long moment, rain still pouring down on the both of them. Then, without warning he sprung forward and kissed her roughly on the lips.
When he broke away she stared in shock, mouth slightly open and her eyes staring questioningly at him.
"I think you're the dense one." He said softly. "Well, actually, we're both dense for not seeing what was right in front of our eyes."
"What?"
"Don't make me say it Kagome, you know I'm not good with words. I go see Kikyo because I feel bad, and there's history there. I feel obligated to her, not in love with her."
"What?" Kagome asked again, her brows furrowed as she stared at him confusedly.
"Ugh, fine I'll say it." Inuyasha said, rolling his eyes. He leaned in again and kissed her passionately, then drew away just enough to whisper in her ear, "I love you."
He pulled back, still holding her and looked into her eyes. She stared back wondrously, a new, astonished look on her face. "Is that clear enough?" He said, smiling.
She grappelled for words, her mouth slightly open still in shock, and her eyebrows nearing her hairline. She shrugged and nodded her head when words continued to fail her.
"Good." He smirked, and leaned in and kissed her again, and this time she melted into him and kissed back as the shock factor began to wear off and she came to terms with what was happening, her heart soaring and flipflopping in her throat.
"Now no more of this nonsense, ok?" He said as he pulled away.
"K." She nodded, smiling broadly. He smiled back at her and for a moment neither of them said anything else.
"C'mon, let's go back to the hut before you really do get sick." He said.
"K." She said, "Just one more thing."
"What?" He asked, and she leaned forward and kissed him soft and sweetly one more time. "Ok, I'm ready." She smiled.
He grinned at her and hoisted her up into his arms. As he began to run back off towards the hut, she lay in his arms, smiling stupidly to herself still, a look of wonder in her eyes. Well this afternoon turned out MUCH better than I thought it would…