My Heart

Chapter Twelve:

My Heart Is Divided

Inuyasha swam through a hazy kaleidoscope of images as he struggled to wake up. He was in that peculiar state between consciousness and unconsciousness where he was still immersed in the misty pictures his sleeping mind evoked, but he was vaguely aware that he was dreaming. He tried to swim up through the surreal images, straining, wanting very badly to break the surface.

In his dream he was running blindly, trying to find the masked man that had tried to kidnap Kagome. His dream self knew Kagome was in danger, though he knew deep down somewhere that the real Kagome was in no harm. When he found the man he had both Kagome and Kikyou trapped. A shining, silver gun was pointed towards the girls, who were tied together back to back. Their similar features had never been more apparent; both women regarded him with the same pained, forlorn eyes.

"Let them go!" Inuyasha snarled as he slid to a stop.

The gunman's lip curled in a cruel smile. "I only have one bullet. Which one should I shoot? You have to decide."

Inuyasha's blood ran cold, freezing in his veins. "If you touch either of them, I'll kill you," Inuyasha swore menacingly.

"You're running out of time. You have to decide, Inuyasha. Kagome or Kikyou? You have to make a choice."

"I can't!" Inuyasha yelled, panic shooting through him even as a strong, lovely smell cut through the dream, forcing the images to blur around the edges, to lose their intense focus. Inuyasha clung to the sweet scent, knowing it was real and would lead him away from his nightmare.

He slowly blinked awake, the bright sun stunning his eyes. He quickly snapped his eyes shut again, relying solely on his ears and nose. The appealing, saccharine scent wrapped itself gently around his brain, so that for a moment, it was all he could think about.

A warm body was near him and for a moment his confused mind thought it was Kikyou. 'No, it can't be her. The scent is all wrong,' he mused, trying to keep his thoughts coherent.

It was a complex tapestry of scents, unified to create one lucid, pleasing aroma. Kagome, Inuyasha realized. The silver-haired boy breathed deeply, trying to identify each individual smell in an effort to calm the turmoil in his mind left over from the dream.

There was a hint of vanilla, probably from the soaps and body lotions Kagome favored. It was creamy and soothing in combination with the floral scented shampoo Kagome used in her hair. What kind of flower, he wondered? Freesias, Gardenias, roses? Perhaps it was Jasmine because it was so calming, sensual, and richly sweet.

He detected a tiny wisp of strawberry, surely from her chap stick that he'd loaned her. Surprisingly, his scent was also mixed in, undoubtedly from the shirt that he'd given her to wear. Inuyasha found it oddly pleasing to find his own scent mixed in with hers.

Underneath it all was the warm, iridescent fragrance of woman and the pure, indescribable scent that belong solely to Kagome.

Inuyasha exhaled and slowly opened his eyes. Kagome was leaning against the headboard, knees drawn up to her chest. She rested her small chin against her knee and watched him through a glossy curtain of hair.

"Good morning," she said in a small, melodious voice.

"Mornin'" Inuyasha grunted, throwing an arm up to shield his eyes from the sun. He didn't remember falling asleep so close to Kagome. If he moved even an inch, he knew he would be touching her. Inuyasha chanced a glance over at the raven haired girl and noticed the concern etched in her features. Worry creased her brow and tightened her mouth.

"What's wrong?" Inuyasha demanded, rolling over on to his side to put a few inches of space between them. The vividness of his dream was already beginning to fade around the edges, but for now it swam close to his consciousness.

Kagome's eyes were gentle, soft, and dark as velvet and it gave Inuyasha the curious sensation of wellbeing and safety. Maybe belonging was a better word. "I was just worried…about that wound in your chest. Are you feeling okay?"

"You're worried about that little scratch?" Inuyasha scoffed.

"I'd say it was more than a scratch! It was a knife, Inuyasha. There was blood. It was so close to your heart..." Kagome frowned and Inuyasha caught her bottom lip wavering.

Inuyasha used his elbows to prop him up and gave her a sardonic smile. "Fine. You don't believe me? Look for yourself," he said, promptly lifting his shirt to show her the smooth, unblemished skin of his chest.

Kagome's eyes widened in disbelief. "I don't believe it. You're completely healed." She slowly reached over and ran her fingertips lightly over the bronzed, unharmed skin where he'd been stabbed not twenty-four hours ago.

Her gentle, ghosting touch sent shiver up and down his spine, so he quickly dropped his shirt, pulling it back down in place. "I told you, little girl." he sent her a smug, crooked smirk. "What about you?"

Kagome touched her head where she'd been hit. An ugly, dark bruise colored the left side of her head. "I'm fine, I guess. My head is a bit sore, but it's not too bad. Last night just feels like a bad dream."

"Yeah…a bad dream."

Kagome smiled kindly, though her eyes darted down to the bedspread. "Thanks for staying with me. I just feel safer knowing you're close by."

"Don't worry 'bout it. Why don't you go back to sleep for a while? It's still pretty early. Sango and Miroku aren't even awake yet." His silver ears twitched atop his head as if to validate his comment.

Kagome snuggled back down onto his pillow with a small yawn. "Some more sleep sounds pretty good." She chuckled ironically, "Won't Miroku and Sango be shocked when they hear what we went through last night?"

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "I'm sure they'll find a way to blame me and Sango will try to kick my ass for letting you get hurt. Or maybe they won't believe us. I don't even have the scar to prove it." He glanced over at Kagome. 'She's sure as hell got the bruise, though.'

"But I didn't even get that hurt. It could have been so much worse if you hadn't saved me." She smiled sleepily and giggled. "My hero."

A comfortable, welcoming silence enveloped them for a long while, unitl Inuyasha felt the bed quake as Kagome suddenly jumped, sitting up straight, eyes opening wide. "Oh, my God! My camera!"

Inuyasha glanced over at her camera which was laying quite innocently by the fish tank. "What about it?"

"Right before that man attacked me, I took his picture. I thought it was you standing behind me."

Inuyasha quickly jumped off the bed and grabbed Kagome's camera. He handed it off to her so she could navigate it to the proper screen. Inuyasha leaned over her shoulder, watching as a dark, blurry image appeared on the screen.

It was rather shadowy, and a bit out of focus, but you could clearly make out a man's shape and cruel, glittering eyes peered out from the darkness. Kagome shivered and Inuyasha immediately took the camera away.

"Should I delete it?"

"No, I should call that police officer and let him know about this picture."

"Oh, yeah. By all means, call the goddamn wolf." Inuyasha rolled his eyes.

Kagome rolled her eyes back. "I don't know what you have against him, anyways. He seemed perfectly nice to me."

"That's because he wanted to get in your pants."

"That's ridiculous!"

"No, you're just trusting and naïve. Now, go back to bed and I'll give officer wolf-shit a call later."

Kagome shot him one last half-hearted glare before settling back down. It didn't take her very long to fall back asleep. Inuyasha sat on the edge of the mattress, listening to her deep, even breathing. When he was sure she was sleeping soundly, he picked up the camera once more and returned to the picture.

Cold eyes glared back at him. They seemed to be filled with equal amounts of malice and lust. Inuyasha's hackles rose and the room suddenly felt cold to him. Somehow, the picture gave him a bad feeling, like maybe this ordeal wasn't as over as he thought.

A/N: I know this is a short chapter, so I'll be sure to post the next segment really soon!

I really appreciate all the response guys! I'm totally blown away. It means a lot to me and as long as there are people who want to read, I'll continue to update. A special thanks to Cophy for setting me straight on Koi fish, without said advice Kagome's fish would probably be belly-up by now.

Thanks for reading!