This fic is dedicated to FLC9 for helping me make sure I wasn't saying something I didn't mean with the one phrase of Japanese I used in this fic. Usually, I don't do this sort of thing, but this was a special exception, as I couldn't think of a way to get the idea out of my head otherwise. So FLC9, thank you for helping me make sure I wasn't being funny for the wrong reasons. This fic is also dedicated to anyone who has ever been lonely in the midst of people who love them. God speed.
Battle Tactics
By socchan
Inu-Yasha knew something was up almost immediately. He could tell by the way Kagome's footsteps sounded that she was trying to sneak away. It was a delicate, tense crunch as opposed to the firm, confident step she usually took to get around in the past. He scowled, and his ears flattened against his skull. She'd picked a good time for it, too. It was mid-afternoon during a lull in shard activity. There was a strong gust going, and the well tended to be downwind of Kaede's hut that day. He might never have caught her had the wind not blown in the other direction just once. Listening carefully, he judged her distance to be about halfway between the two landmarks. Growling softly, he rose to his feet and vowed to get to the well before she did.
He took a bit of a roundabout route to assure that she wouldn't see him. As he ran, he reflected what he could say to Kagome that would keep her from leaving.
As a rule, thinking before acting—particularly speaking—was not something Inu-Yasha normally did. But this was a special circumstance. It was, in part, because of the importance of the issue at hand, and in part because previous tactics (i.e., yelling at her and being 'sat') never seemed to work.
Verbal battles and physical battles, Inu-Yasha mused, were two very different animals. In a physical battle, one could go charging in headfirst with only the barest of strategies, and still come out relatively unscathed. A verbal battle, however, might leave more telling scars, and it was much harder to recognize the more formidable opponents. On the other hand, he thought, verbal and physical battles were remarkable similar. You always fought with a clear goal in mind, and when strategies fell apart, you improvised.
He blinked, surprised, and half-consciously dodged a tree. Was that all there was to it? All this time, he'd been thinking they were two separate entities, when really, they were only two different versions of the same thing. Did that mean some battle tactics were universal?
Inu-Yasha found he had run out of time to contemplate the issue as he came upon the clearing where the well was. He had also pretty much run out of time to decide what to say to Kagome. As a last ditch effort to save his sorry hide from more verbal abuse, Inu-Yasha made up his mind to try re-formatting some of his attacks for verbal warfare.
Inu-Yasha's efforts were rewarded as he saw Kagome step cautiously into the clearing, a huge pack hoisted over her shoulders. She glanced around nervously, then sighed in relief. Inu-Yasha knew a cue when he saw one. He ghosted over to the area just in front of her, and waited. Kagome opened her eyes and turned back to the well, then 'eep'-ed and jumped back.
Inu-Yasha folded his arms and put on his best scowl. "And what exactly do you think you're doing?" he growled.
Kagome relaxed instantly. He could all but read her thoughts. 'Oh, it's only Inu-Yasha. I thought it was something dangerous. Wait… It's Inu-Yasha… And I'm trying to get through the well… Well, he's not going to stop me!' Her form straightened, and she looked defiantly into his eyes. "I'm going home to take some tests."
Inu-Yasha snorted. "Keh. Those 'test' things of yours can't be as important as you're making them out to be."
"Yes, they are!"
"How?"
Kagome flushed. "You wouldn't understand."
"Try me." In his mind, Inu-Yasha began to look for an opening. No matter how fiercely the wind blew, there was always a way through.
"My family misses me." Kagome argued.
"So do we." Inu-Yasha shot back. "Shippo, Sango, Miroku, we all miss you." His eyes narrowed. "Or is there someone you miss more at home?"
Kagome looked away. "I have a life there, too, you know." She said, quietly. "And no matter how much fun I have here or how much I'll miss everyone, I just can't abandon it. I know it hurts you for me to be jumping times like this, but it's hard on my family and friends back home, too. It hurts me to leave this time behind, to leave all the great adventures and wonderful friends I have here, to leave you behind, but it's the only way I can think of that will keep too many people from hurting too long."
At last Inu-Yasha saw his opening, and he preformed an attack that could either make or break him. It was an attack he hadn't expected to make, a tactic he didn't know he'd have to use, but it was indeed perfectly fit to the situation.
Inu-Yasha stepped forward, clutched Kagome to him, and kissed her gently on the mouth. The wind wound around them, seeming to push the two together as Kagome recovered from her initial shock and wrapped her arms around him.
Kaze no Kisu.
Reluctantly, Inu-Yasha let go and backed away. Kagome's arms dropped slowly, and she held his gaze, soul bared through her eyes. Inu-Yasha supposed his eyes were like that, too, just now. "Come back soon, Kagome." He said, quietly.
Kagome smiled, warmly. "All right," she replied, voice barely above a whisper. She turned, climbed over the well's edge, and was gone in little more than an instant.
Inu-Yasha stared after her silently for a moment. A warm feeling was circulating through his body. With one last glance at the well, he turned and started back towards Kaede's hut.
Kagome would be back soon, after all.
=^-.-^= End =^-.-^=
Terminology: Inspired by a slight slip of mine when reading the Japanese name for Inu-Yasha's attack, Kaze no Kizu (wind scars). My mind switched 'Kizu' with 'Kisu', effectively giving me Kaze no Kisu, or windy kiss. Since then, I haven't been able to get the idea out of my head until I wrote it down, and that didn't happen until I was sure I wouldn't make a fool of myself. Quite frankly, it's been a while, and I'm glad to have it off my back.
Apologies if anyone got to the idea before I did.
Comments are welcome, including (but not limited to) constructive criticism, regular ol' criticism, and flames. I'm a good target if anyone needs something to take pent-up frustration out on something ^_~.
Disclaimer: Inu-Yasha et all is property of Rumiko Takahashi, not me. The pun, windy kiss, is, as far as I can tell, mine. Other than that, nope.
Thanks!
-socchan