Chapter 2: Awakened
When they neared the Higurashi shrine, however, he heard her breathing become labored. Pulling over, he leapt off to turn and face her. "Kagome? What's wrong?" Her heartbeat was frantic and her breathing was fast becoming scarily close to hyperventilation.
She looked into his eyes and immediately started to feel a wave of calm. Her heartbeat started to slow and her breathing became less intense. When she felt able to speak, she replied, "Take me to your house, please?"
Puzzled but not wanting to cause her further upset he just said, "Ok, Kagome," and climbed back onto his bike to speed towards his own home.
He didn't live far from her, yet another reason they had become such good friends, so the ride was short. By the time they got there, however, her breathing had seemed to calm back down to normal. He shut off his bike and waited for her to unwrap her arms from him but she just held on. Cautiously, he reached up and gently pulled her arms from him, but didn't let go of her hand as he turned to face her. "Can... can I stay here tonight, InuYasha?" she asked him, hesitantly.
InuYasha choked back his surprise. There had to be some reason she didn't want to go home and he would do anything to make the pain in her eyes go away. "Ye-yeah. Of course." He reached for his keys but her hand stopped him.
"Can you just take me up through your window? Like you used to when we were kids?"
Without a word, he scooped her up and jumped up to his always open window. He loved the fresh air too much to ever close it. Once inside, he set her down and nervously put his hands in his pockets. Was there something he should say? Should he do something? Call someone? No one had ever taught him what to do if your best friend almost gets raped. After a few moments he spoke quietly, "I'll, uh, I'll go sleep on the couch." He started to make his way towards the door when she reached out a hand to stop him.
"No. Could you... could you just hold me, InuYasha?" The desperation in her voice tore at his soul. Her hand on his arm felt like fire against his skin. God, he hoped he could hold it together for her. He nodded once, afraid to speak. Her hand dropped from his arm and he went to his dresser. He came back to her with a large tshirt and held it out to her. "I-I don't have any pants that would fit you..."
Kagome took the shirt from him and gave him just a hint of a smile. "The shirt will be fine, InuYasha, thank you."
Running his hand through his hair nervously, InuYasha turned and mumbled something about taking a shower while she changed. After he'd left and Kagome was all alone in his room, she sat down on the edge of his bed, the tshirt still in her hand. This was sure not how she had expected this night to go. At first, she'd wanted to go home, but the closer they got to her house, the more panic she began to feel. She couldn't face her mom right now. Or her childhood bedroom, still housing what little innocence she had left. But when she had looked into InuYasha's eyes and felt instantly calmer, she knew she needed him tonight. She knew that she needed the comfort only his touch could bring her, which is why she asked him to bring her here.
She knew that she was lucky. Hojo hadn't actually had the chance to rape her, but her body was bruised. Her clothes were torn and ruined. Her mouth could still feel his lips pressing down on hers. Her whole body ached and she felt... destroyed. Even though she had dated Koga for over a year and a half, they had never actually had sex. She was still a virgin, thanks to InuYasha.
Her mind barely registered the sound of the water being shut off in the bathroom, signifying InuYasha would be returning soon. She stood and slowly took off her skirt and the shirt InuYasha had lent her. Standing in front of the mirror on his bedroom door, she inspected her body. Her thighs and breasts were covered in dark purple bruises. She could see the imprint of teeth where he had bit her. Her cheek was mildly swollen from where he had smacked her. Sighing deeply at the sad sight, she donned the oversized tshirt. It didn't cover all the bruises, but most of them were now invisible to the outside world. A knock came at the door, startling her.
"Kagome?" came InuYasha's voice softly through the door.
"C-come in." She stammered.
The door opened and when he stepped in wearing nothing but basketball shorts, still slightly damp from his shower she sucked in a breath. She knew he had a great body but she hadn't seen this much of him at once in years. His chest had just a light dusting of silver curls that went down to that lovely little 'v'. His abs were chiseled and obviously tightly toned.
InuYasha looked up at the woman in his room and his heart skipped a beat. The shirt he had given her was barely long enough to cover what it needed to cover. He'd made the mistake of giving her a white one, which meant he could see the outline of her nipples pressed against the cloth. His eyes traveled to her face and he scowled when he saw the faint outline of a bruise on her cheek. Looking for more signs of injury, he allowed his eyes to wander her body. Finding more bruises that he could see on her thigh it took everything in him not to leap out the window, go and find that Hojo bastard and murder him where he stood. But he knew Kagome needed him here, and that was more important.
He watched as she made her way to his bed and climbed in. Ok, it's gonna be ok...InuYasha thought. I can keep my hands off of her. She faced him and signaled for him to join her. Slowly, he walked to his bed. Never before in his life had it been so hard to move as it was right then. He climbed into his bed and laid his head on the pillow, clenching the fabric of his sheet in his hands.
"InuYasha?" came her breathy voice.
"Yeah?"
She reached out and pulled him around her, spooning her, wrapping his arm around her and tucking his hand right below her breast. InuYasha bit his lower lip as he felt himself pressed so tightly against her backside. It reminded him of how they had been on the dance floor that night and that thought sent his body into a frenzy. "Thank you." she said sweetly.
"What for?" he breathed into her ear.
"For saving me. For letting me stay here. For being here with me, now. For... everything."
Lightly, he nuzzled the back of her hair with his nose, secretly breathing her in. "You don't have to thank me, Kagome. I'm always gonna be here for you, ya hear me?" he said, a little more gruffly than he had intended. She squeezed his arm in response. Soon, with his nose against her hair, their breathing both slowed and the pair slept.
Not more than 2 hours had passed before InuYasha was being awakened by Kagome's screams. Amber eyes shot open and he sat up quickly to check on the girl next to him. Her eyes were closed, telling him she was still asleep. Gently, he reached out and stroked her cheek as he called out to her,"Hey, Kagome. It's ok. It's just a dream. It's ok. I'm here. Please wake up, Kagome."
Slowly, the screaming stopped and her eyes opened. However, they were hazy, unfocused, and her breathing was fast becoming rapid and shallow. InuYasha continued stroking her cheek and spoke to her, barely in a whisper. "Shh. It's alright Kagome. I'm right here. It's InuYasha. I'm not going anywhere. Shh." He watched as her breaths slowly returned to normal and her eyes showed signs of recognition. Kagome sat up, rather quickly. Turning her head slowly to face the half-demon beside her, the word she uttered was barely audible. "I-InuYasha?"
"I'm right here, Kagome."
Suddenly, flashes of the terrible images that had sent her to screams came to her mind. The nightmare she'd been having had been so vivid, so real, so... terrifying. Kagome's eyes began to water. Without a word, she launched herself in InuYasha's arms and cried her heart out. Her tears ran down her face and all over his bare chest, soaking him.
InuYasha wrapped his arms around the crying girl and began gently stroking her back with his thumbs, trying to calm her. The action caused him to remember when she had been the one comforting him 7 years ago when his mom had died. InuYasha had been terribly distraught and Kagome was the only person who could get through to him at all. Without her, he didn't know how long it would have taken for him to find his way back. Shaking his head of the sad memories, he placed his nose against the top of her head. Her shaking had subsided, so he broke the silence. "Wanna talk about it?"
Kagome leaned back and wiped at her tear stained face. God, she had to look a wreck right then, she thought. Not wanting to meet his eyes just yet, she focused on his chest. His very wet chest. "Oh, InuYasha, I'm so sorry." She said as she tried to wipe them away with her hand.
InuYasha gasped at her sudden touch, but his hands shot out to still hers. "You have absolutely nothing to be sorry for, understand?"
Her hands frozen within his, Kagome simply nodded. She could feel how hot his skin was beneath her fingers. His chest rose and fell rapidly as his breathing was slowly increasing in speed. Her eyelashes drifted upward and her chocolate eyes met his amber. Again, she thought she saw something there that just couldn't be, desire. Her thoughts shifted to when he'd looked at her like that at the party and a flush crept up her cheeks. "I-InuYasha?"
"Hmm?"
"Am I... am I a... a whore?"
She felt him stiffen underneath her hands. His eyes changed from whatever foreign look they were holding to a more familiar one, anger. "Why the hell would you even think that, Kagome?" he managed through gritted teeth.
Her eyes shifted down away from his angry gaze. He hadn't said no. "Just... just something that Hojo said..."
InuYasha gripped her shoulders, firmly. "You listen to me, Kagome. Don't you dare listen to a fucking word that piece of shit cowardly fuck had to say, you hear me? You... you are the kindest, sweetest, purest person I've ever known. You got that?"
Kagome's mouth dropped. Never in her life had she heard InuYasha say such sweet things about anyone, ever. But she still needed to know. "It's not just that, InuYasha. Earlier, when we... we were dancing... before I saw Koga and ran off... I... we..." she gritted her teeth in frustration, "When... when Hojo... when he touched me... I was... ready." She finished meekly, her blush growing deeper.
InuYasha took a moment to process what she'd said. If he understood her correctly, their dancing had made her wet. Was she ashamed? Scared? Confused? "Kagome... are you saying that... that I...?"
"Yes," was her quiet and simple reply.
"And you think that makes you... a whore?"
A simple nod.
"Oh Jesus, woman. Why the fuck would ever think that?"
She shrugged.
InuYasha tilted her face to look up at him. He didn't miss the flushed cheeks she was sporting. "Kagome, there's nothing wrong with wanting sex. Or with... getting excited. Or pleasuring yourself." He snapped his mouth closed. He hadn't meant to say that last part. Kagome's features changed from embarrassed to complete shock.
She looked from his eyes to his lips several times before finally bringing in a deep breath and saying, "I thought you were gonna kiss me..." She watched his features go into panic mode and misinterpreted that as rejection. She quickly added, "But what a silly notion, huh? I mean us? Kissing?" She tried to hide her embarrassment with a laugh.
"I wanted to," InuYasha said quickly.
"Y-you did?"
"Yeah, and I was gonna do it to... until you saw Koga that is..." His eyes were the only thing that betrayed his jealousy.
"Oh..." Kagome looked up at her best friend, the dog hanyou that fate had thrust upon her and knew she loved him. In that moment, full realization hit her like a ton of bricks. She was in love with InuYasha. Who else could she have shared her deepest thoughts with? Who else would have come running to her rescue like he did tonight, and so many others? Who else would have let her crawl into bed with them, no questions asked? Her answer, no one else. "Do you... still want to?" she asked shyly.
InuYasha looked at her in surprise but answered before he even had time to think about it, "With every fiber of my being."
She pushed herself up onto her knees, bringing their faces within inches of eachother. Her eyes locked onto his in a silent dare. "Then kiss me, InuYasha."
