Alas, I do not own Inuyasha.
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"Dammit all to the seven hells!"
The hanyou cut his eyes against the cold, wet flakes of snow that stung his face, breathing deeply and searching for the scent of a human girl.
"She had to go home," he muttered irritably as he pushed forward through the snow. "She had to get pissed off and try to go home in this shit!"
Even as he grumbled to himself he knew he was to blame. He was always to blame...his temper, his attitude, his mistrust of humans in general, and most of all his stubborn pride. If he found her dead he would never be able to live with himself.
The wind picked up. Sniffing the air, he caught a faint, familiar scent...a warm one, one of wildflowers and rain, something so earthy and sensual the even that single waft drove him near the brink of madness.
"That's her! Chikuso kaze..." he cursed the gusting wind as he followed the scent. It steadily grew stronger, reaching its most pungent aroma just above a small lump in the knee deep snow. Fear rose in the half-demon's chest and he dug his claws into the ground, pawing furiously for the body of the human girl he'd been searching for in the snowstorm.
"Soaked to the skin..." he thought to himself, "And pale...is she breathing!"
Lifting the girl's frail, icy body into his arms, he leaned down to her chest and placed one sensitive ear near her heart. It was beating. A few shallow breaths escaped her as well.
"Thank Kami," he breathed a sigh of relief. Now, he must find some sort of shelter. Despite his demon blood he was still half human and the bone-chilling cold was slowly seeping into his skin. In a couple of hours the sun would set (Not that there was much sun in this blizzard, anyway. Feh!), and it just so happened to be the night of the new moon.
Tucking the girl into his red tunic, he hugged her close to his warm body and began to bound through the snow, leaping as high as he could to look around for some kind of protection from the frigid conditions. He still couldn't see well; the wind was blowing the snow at a slant, and that slant happened to be straight toward his face.
By sheer dumb luck, he stumbled upon a small cottage, looking as if it had been recently and abruptly abandoned. "Of course, no one is stupid enough to stay in a drafty little cottage in weather like this," he thought. It was better than nothing, however. He pushed diligently through the snow that had piled up in front of the door and drove it open with his shoulder. Slamming it behind him with one clawed foot, he looked around the small hut.
Before he had a chance to study his surroundings, he felt a light tickling sensation on his chest and gasped when he realized that it was the girl, trying to speak. He looked down at her, trying to listen, but all he heard her say before she drifted back into oblivion was his whispered name. "Inu...Inuyasha..."
Hearing her voice utter his name, so weakly and so heavily, he began to panic slightly. He laid her down gently on the bearskin rug in front of the hearth, and then threw some wood into the fireplace. With skill born of repetition he clicked two nearby flint rocks together and started the much-needed fire.
"Kagome!"
The girl's body had begun to shudder violently. Inuyasha knelt beside her and began rubbing her arms and legs vigorously, and then noted how her soaked blouse and skirt clung tightly to her chest and legs.
"Wet clothes aren't helping her much," he mumbled, gulping. Ignoring the chill that had begun to creep over his own body as best he could, he grabbed an old feather-down quilt that was folded neatly in a corner and proceeded to strip Kagome from head to toe. He could feel the color rising in his face as he pulled off her blouse and the strange strip of thin cloth she wore under it. He tried to keep his eyes averted, but it was no use. "She's...beautiful." He thought to himself, wrapping her naked body in the warm quilt and laying her down as close to the fireplace as he dared.
"ThankKami that's over with," he thought, as he drew back to a shadowy corner to watch over her. Shivers ran up and down his spine and he began to feel weak...so weak. His clothes were as soaked as Kagome's had been and before he realized it, locks of black hair fell across his paling face and he collapsed.
"Inuyasha?"
Kagome opened her eyes, feeling weak but warm. Keeping the blanket wrapped tightly around herself she sat up, glancing around the drafty little cottage for her savior.
"No!" she scrambled to her feet, rushing to Inuyasha's slumped human body. She gently turned him over. He lips were tinted a sickening shade of blue, and his skin had become pale as death.
"He's soaked to the skin," she thought, blushing at what she was about to have to do. Kagome undid Inuyasha's wet, red tunic and threw it down beside her still-damp school uniform. She stripped off his undershirt and tried not to stare at the sharp lines his muscles cut in his skin. Then, untying his sash, she closed her eyes and pulled his pants down.
Gently, as carefully as she could, Kagome pulled his limp body to the bearskin rug in front of the fire. Her face and body were burning with a furious blush when she unwrapped herself from the blanket and curved her warm body next to Inuyasha's icy one. She threw the blanket around them both and tried to fall back asleep, but for some reason all she could think of was how she had forgotten to shave her legs the night before.
Inuyasha woke a several hours later, a little disoriented and still human. His first instict was to look out the window of the cottage, but it was packed with snow. There was no telling what time it was, or how much longer he would be stuck in this pathetic human body.
Suddenly, he went rigid. There was something soft next to him...something soft and warm, whose breath tickled his neck. Even with his dulled senses, he could detect the faint, sweet scent that belonged to Kagome and Kagome only.
For once in his life Inuyasha was thankful to be human. As he turned his head to look Kagome in the face, he knew his half-demon self would be driven wild by the smell of her, the nearness of their bodies. As a human he could allow himself to be near her, to touch her, to smell her, without being tortured or pushed to the brink of losing control of himself.
Kagome mumbled something in her sleep, moving closer to Inuyasha and laying her head on his bare shoulder. "She doesn't know what she's doing," he told himself cynically. "Come to think of it...how did I get here anyway?"
He looked around the cabin and found his wet clothes on the floor near Kagome's. The last thing he remembered was the feeling of overwhelming weakness that came with his transformation into a human. "She must have woken," he thought. "...I must have been..."
The thought struck him as strange and surprising. Kagome had saved him, just as he had saved her, and even put aside what must have been complete mortification to warm him with her own body heat. "Why...why would she do that? What have I ever done to her but insult her...hurt her...abuse her?"
Kagome stirred slightly and began to mumble something in her sleep. Her breath felt warm and delicate against his throat, and he could have sworn he heard her utter the words 'love' and 'Inuyasha'.
"What did she just say!"
He was tempted to wake her, rouse her so he wouldn't be tortured with wonder if she said anything else. He could have sworn...what else could it have been...but no. She would never say that. The only things that she would ever say about him were 'baka' and 'osuwari'. He shuddered—just the thought of the S-word made him cringe.
The trembling of his body next to hers woke Kagome. Her eyes fluttered open and she gasped slightly when she saw Inuyasha's dark human eyes looking back at her.
"Um...do you...feel better?" she asked, turning a faint reddish color and looking away from him.
Better? He felt elated, if only because he was near her. But the words that escaped his mouth implied just the opposite.
"Feh. I'll feel better when I'm a hanyou again, and not a weak little human."
"Yup, he definitely feels better," she whispered, so softly that Inuyasha would barely have been able to hear her had it not been for his ears. Wait...his ears! He tried to twitch them and felt the telltale flick. He was becoming himself again. The sun must have risen.
Her scent...oh, her scent. It was getting stronger by the minute. Such a wonderful smell...so warm...so sweet...so Kagome. How it teased him!
"Well, you're a hanyou," she said bitterly, looking down at his clawed hands. "Now do you feel better!"
"Much," he muttered, and climbed out of the blanket as quickly as he could. Kagome looked away, blushing, and pulled the quilt further up around herself.
"Your clothes are still wet," she said softly.
"Think I don't know that, wench?" he snapped, retreating back to the corner where Kagome had found him hours earlier.
"Inuyasha, you'll freeze," she said, sitting up completely, "Even if you are a demon--"
"Baka human," he mumbled, cutting her off. "You're all so weak and powerless."
"Powerless!" Kagome's face curved into an annoyed expression. "You call this powerless! Osuwari!"
Inuyasha cried out, "Wait!" a moment before he slammed painfully to the wooden floor of the cottage.
"Inuyasha no baka," Kagome muttered, "You're always so stubborn and proud! Why can't you just accept help when it's offered! Keeping yourself alive isn't a sign of weakness, you idiot!"
"Do I look like I'm about to die, Kagome!" he shot back, pushing himself up and cracking his back.
"No, but you did a few hours ago," she answered, "Why else do you think I would have helped you?"
"I didn't need your help," he retorted, knowing full well that everything coming from his lips was a lie.
"You've got to be kidding me! You were pale as death and your lips had turned blue, and when I laid down beside you your whole body felt like a block of ice!" she shouted, then bit her lip, blushed, and looked away as she realized what she had said. "Damn him, he infuriates me so much...I never know what's going to come out of my mouth when he gets like this!"
Inuyasha felt something catch in his throat as he remembered the feel of his body so close to Kagome's. Even now he could smell her...he closed his eyes and bit his lip. He was never going to let her know. She was his only weakness...and he could never, ever let her think he was weak. He had to protect her, he had to keep her safe...
"Why?"
He had never thought about it before. Why had he always protected Kagome? "She can find shards of the Shikon jewel," he told himself sternly. "That's why you've never let her die!"
"Is it really?"
His heart was contradicting his mind. Had he really only protected Kagome because she could sense shards of the Shikon no Tama? He could do it without her...it would take much longer, he knew, and he would be more likely to die in the process, but it could be done. So why...why had he never let her die?
"Inuyasha?"
He looked up at her quickly, his eyes shining in the faint light from the fireplace.
"Why is he looking at me like that?" she thought, a strange feeling creeping up her spine. "Why doesn't he yell at me...or call me a stupid wench...swear...do something besides stare at me!" She pulled the quilt further up around herself, suddenly aware that she had let it fall several inches down her chest when she had lost her temper with Inuyasha.
"Could I...love...her?"
The thought struck him as simple, as if he had always known it. And in his heart, he had, though he had long since forgotten what it meant to love. He felt something sweeping over him...a feeling he had not experienced in so long that he couldn't grasp the name of it. It was contentment, happiness, calmness, oneness, desire, and warmth all in one. A smile crossed his face as he let the wonderful sensation take hold of him.
"Why is he smiling like that? He looks so peaceful...perhaps he's thinking of Kikyou..." the familiar longing settled in her chest and she lay back down, looking away from him. He would never care for her like he had for Kikyou.
"Kagome..." Inuyasha stood up and slipped quietly toward her, kneeling at her side. He didn't care that he was naked...he especially didn't care that she was naked. This feeling that had taken hold of him was so overwhelming, so great that he had to share it with someone...and that someone had to be Kagome.
"What?" she asked sullenly, sitting up again, "Finally get cold?"
At her tone he realized for the first time that it was quite possible that she didn't feel at all the same as he did. Hanging his head, he muttered softly, "Kagome, I'm sorry...I'm sorry I acted like such a bastard. I'm sorry that I've always acted like such a bastard. Will you forgive me, Kagome-chan?"
She blinked at him in obvious bewilderment, taken aback by his words and the unaccustomed endearment. What was she supposed to say? She could think of only one thing, and it was out of her mouth before she could stop herself.
"Inuyasha, I love you."
She clapped her hand over her mouth almost instantly, turning a brilliant shade of crimson. It had been said, and she couldn't take it back...feeling tears springing to her eyes, she started to turn away from him.
A clawed hand caught her shoulder and she heard Inuyasha's gentle laughter. He reached up and took her chin in his hand, looking into her eyes. "What is the name of this wonderful feeling...?"
"What is he going to do to me...?"
"She's beautiful."
"He looks so good..."
"She said she loved me...she loves me..."
"Say something, Inuyasha, please!"
He leaned in and kissed her softly on the lips. "Ai shiteru, Kagome-chan."
Her whole body was trembling. What he was saying could not be true. He was playing some awful trick on her...he had to be. Inuyasha loved Kikyou, and only Kikyou...whether she be dead or alive. Kagome could feel the tears streaming out of her eyes and turned her head away, whispering, "Please don't do this to me, Inuyasha. I'm begging you."
"What do you mean?" he asked, reaching beneath the blanket and laying his hand over hers.
She tore herself away from him and whispered, "I love you, Inuyasha, I've loved you for so long, but all you ever seem to think about is Kikyou. Just when I think you might feel something, anything for me, something happens and you start chasing after Kikyou's wandering soul again. "
Kikyou.
Inuyasha's back went rigid as the thought of his first love entered his mind. "You know I loved you, Kikyou, never doubt it..." he thought, squeezing his eyes closed and clenching his fists, "But you're dead now, and though your body still wanders this earth you can never be alive again. I've moved on, Kikyou...the question is, can you?"
"See?" Kagome whispered, her voice wavering, "You only said you love me because I'm so like Kikyou...please, Inuyasha, can we forget everything we've said, and try to live like this never happened?"
"No, Kagome," Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into him, blanket and all, cradling her against his chest. "You're wrong. I don't love you because you're so like Kikyou once was. I love you because of your differences from Kikyou...I love you for you, Kagome. Kikyou is dead...and though I loved her once, I've moved on...please, Kagome-chan, tell me you believe me!"
"I want to, Inuyasha, I want to so badly...but..."
He felt tears stinging his eyes and would have let them fall, had he not heard that hauntingly familiar voice...
"But I will never allow it."
Kagome and Inuyasha jerked their heads upward, meeting the gentle, unearthly eyes of Kikyou.
"Inuyasha," she said softly, "I find that you have betrayed me once more...by professing your love to this girl instead of the one you promised it to fifty years ago."
He remained crouched protectively next to Kagome, who had shrunk away from him the instant Kikyou's voice had so gently broken the silence.
"I never betrayed you, Kikyou," Inuyasha said steadily, "I didn't then, and I haven't now."
Her serene face, so like Kagome's, never changed expression as she spoke. "You lie to me, Inuyasha. Perhaps you didn't betray me the first time...but now I find you here, alone and disrobed, with this futuristic imitation of myself."
"She may be your reincarnation but she is no imitation," he answered, reaching for his pants. He pulled them on quickly and stood up to face Kikyou. "Kagome is like you in many ways, but she has other attributes that are entirely her own."
"Do you say you love her because you cannot be with me, Inuyasha?" she asked, curling her delicate hands into fists.
"No, Kikyou...I say I love her because I mean it."
"No! I will not stand for it!" she put arrow to bow, preparing to attack Kagome, but Inuyasha snatched Tessaiga from its resting place near the hearth and blocked the shot.
"Leave her be, Kikyou," he panted, standing protectively in front of her with Tessaiga held in front of him. "I loved you once, but we were not meant to be. You're dead, Kikyou, no matter how you try to feign life with stolen souls. I've moved on...for your sake, I wish you would, as well."
Kikyou looked down, her face shadowed by her bangs. For a moment it seemed that Inuyasha's words had actually made some impact. He had just sheathed his sword, when suddeny--
"Traitor," Kikyou's face twisted menacingly into a snarl as she pulled back her bow once more, "You told me you loved me...all you had to do was become human. Then you deceived me...you never wanted to be human...and now you say that you love this girl! Die, Inuyasha!"
"Wait!"
Inuyasha had no time to react—Kagome jumped in front of the blow before it could reach him. She reeled backward, her eyes widening in shock and pain, and his cry of 'Kagome no baka, don't!" fell on deaf ears.
As her body fell to the ground, still wrapped in the blanket but now lifeless, Inuyasha could feel the heat pulsing in his blood. It was anger more pure than he had ever felt—even Naraku's evil trick he had played upon Kikyou and himself hadn't enraged him as much as this.
"Kikyou, look what you have done," he growled, stepping over Kagome's body and advancing on his former love. "You would never have done something like this when you were alive. Death doesn't become you, I'm afraid."
"If she loves you half as much as I do, she will not pass over either, but stay in this life with you forever, whether she can be with you or not," Kikyou retorted.
"This is where you're wrong," he answered through clenched teeth. He could feel his fangs growing...his claws growing...the rage pounding in his temples...Kikyou's eyes widened.
"If she loves me at all, she will pass over, she will let me be happy that she lives in peace and contentment, and not torture me with her presence when I know there is no way we can ever be together again!"
Enlightenment flashed in Kikyou's eyes, but for Inuyasha, it was too late for apologies. He would destroy her clay and graveside-dirt body and let the souls she had stolen cross over to the world that they rightly belonged in.
"Leave me in peace, Kikyou, and never torment me again!" he reared his claws back and cried, "Iron Reaver Soul Stealer!"
His claws tore through Kikyou's improvised body over and over, until he had shredded it back into the clay and sand that it had been forged from. But her spirit still lingered...he could feel it...haunting the room like a wraith of the night.
"Leave me!" he cried, falling to his knees beside Kagome's body, clutching his white hair.. "Have you not tortured me enough!"
A whitish-blue cloud began to seep from Kagome's mouth. "May your spirit rest in peace, Kagome-chan," Inuyasha whispered, as it began to drift upward.
Then, suddenly, it stopped in its ascent. There it hovered, for what seemed like forever, until Inuyasha felt Kikyou's spirit coming nearer and nearer. He turned his head abruptly and there it was, another whitish blue cloud, hovering behind him. Terrified, he scrambled backward, away from Kagome's body and the two spirits of the women he loved.
The fire flickered and died. The eerie glow of the souls hanging in midair did little to calm Inuyasha's nerves, but he sat frozen, transfixed by the scene before him.
Suddenly Kagome's back arched and her eyes flew open. The two souls above her merged into one and descended back into her mouth, and she took a rasping breath, collapsing in a trembling heap onto the floor.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha ran to her side, kneeling beside her and lifting her head into his arms. "Kagome no baka, why did you do that, I thought I had lost you!"
"Huh?" she looked up into his red eyes and gasped. "Why...you're...what...how..."
Inuyasha hugged her to his chest, burying his lips in her raven hair. "She killed you, Kagome-chan, you've been dead..."
"I..." her eyes went wide. "I...remember."
"How can you?" he asked, "There was no life in you, I'm sure."
Kagome shook her head. "No, no...I remember it...from Kikyou's point of view."
Something clicked in Inuyasha's mind. Of course. Kagome's soul had been used to animate Kikyou's makeshift body, but somehow she had managed to get the majority of it back. A small part had been left with Kikyou, and she had just regained that piece of herself.
Kagome reached up to tickle his ears.
"Stop, you're going to make me start panting," he grinned, pulling her into his lap and holding her in his arms. "Now where were we?"
"Um," Kagome turned faintly pink and looked at the ground. "You asked...if I believed that you loved me."
He nuzzled her neck softly. "Well...do you?"
She recalled his words to Kikyou, those before she died and those after the part of her soul in Kikyou was the only one left living. "Tell me," she whispered, looking up into his amber eyes, "How am I so different than Kikyou?"
"Well, I don't think you would try to kill me multiple times..."
She smiled and laid her head on his shoulder. "Be serious, Inuyasha."
"Okay, okay," he set his chin on top of her head and said, "Well, to start with...Kikyou was always so somber. Even when she was happy, it was a reserved kind of happy, but you...when you laugh, when you smile, you brighten up everything. Kikyou never got angry, either...well, she didn't before she died, anyway. The closest she got was either disappointment or disapproval...and when you're mad, everyone knows it."
"Oh thanks," she said sarcastically.
Inuyasha just laughed. "But you're so cute when you get angry."
Kagome blushed again, and Inuyasha felt the heat from her face against his chest. "You never answered my question, Kagome," he reminded her, looking down at her with a smirk on his face and kissing her cheek. "Do you believe me when I say I love you?"
"You attacked Kikyou because she killed me," Kagome said softly, "You destroyed the only body she had, and by doing so, you sent her to the otherworld where she belongs. You also freed the part of my soul that she managed to cling to for so long. When that piece of me sensed that the rest of my soul was nearby, it joined it...and brought me back to life."
"And you know," he whispered, "That I would not have attacked Kikyou for anyone else, Kagome. I love you, and only you."
"I believe you," she answered softly, feeling the color rising in her face once more.
"Kagome, you've just made me the happiest hanyou in the feudal era," he murmured, kissing her gently on the lips.
And they lived happily ever after! The end. Actually I just got sick of typing.