Deadly Games

Chapter Twenty-Five: Jealousy

Kagome woke up to chills running out and down her spine as Kurama lightly played his fingertips up and down her back. Although he was more than half-asleep, his fingertips still brushed slowly across her skin, his hands finding their way to bare skin after pushing her shirt slightly up.

Her legs tangled in his and her arms wrapped around his waist. She didn't want to get up. If anything, she wanted to stay in the moment forever. In keeping their relationship a secret, they did not always have time for things such as these.

She brought a small hand up to tangle in his long red locks and he stirred in his sleep. Slowly, he blinked open his emerald eyes, staring down at her as he did.

"Good morning," he told her with a lazy smile.

He brought his lips down to meet hers and she eagerly returned the kiss. He removed a hand from her back to bring to her face instead, trailing softly across her cheek. Her hand went to the nape of his neck, her fingertips teasing the sensitive skin. He kissed her more enthusiastically, his tongue exploring her mouth. She squeaked slightly in surprise when he pressed her closer in one swift movement.

His hands moved to grip her waist and things heated up. Mouth meeting mouth, a soft caress, a moan of pleasure. Kagome fell onto her back with Kurama positioned on top of her. A hot, searing tongue across her neck caused her to let out a soft moan.

A soft growl came from behind them. They both froze.

In a second, Kurama was hauled off Kagome and thrown into the wall, putting a dent in it. Before he even had time to straighten himself as he slumped to the floor, Inuyasha picked him up by the throat and shoved the kitsune into the wall with enough force to break a normal human. Inuyasha's golden eyes shone with a murderous glint.

For the first time, Kagome was afraid of Inuyasha and the look in his eyes. She let out a scream.

"Inuyasha!" she shouted.

But Inuyasha paid no attention to her, only took Kurama from the wall, his hand squeezing tighter on his throat, and slammed him back into it for a third time.

"Inuyasha, get off him!" Kagome demanded, though there was a trace of pleading in her voice as she began to panic.

Inuyasha let go of Kurama with one hand and punched him in the face. Kurama spit out the blood that welled up in his mouth and met Inuyasha's eyes defiantly, but did not try to get out of his grip.

Kagome climbed off the bed and grabbed onto one of Inuyasha's arms to try and stop him as he lifted his arm to punch Kurama again, but he threw her off him violently. She was thrown painfully against the side of the bed.

Anger filled Kurama's eyes as he watched Kagome fell to the floor. Inuyasha tried to punch Kurama once again, but Kurama caught his fist right before it hit his face. The hanyou growled and he used his other hand to punched Kurama in the stomach. The kitsune slumped to the floor, one arm wrapped around his abdomen.

"Get up," Inuyasha growled harshly through gritted teeth.

The door was thrown open and a distraught Botan, Sango, who looked like she had only woken up five minutes ago and thrown any clothes on, and Yusuke, soon followed by the rest, rushed into the room. They stopped at the door, not sure what was going on or what they should do.

Kagome did not notice them. Her eyes, misty with forming tears, saw only Kurama.

As Kurama staggered to his feet, Kagome screamed, "Inuyasha, stop!"

Inuyasha grabbed him by the collar of his shirt, forcing him up, and raised a clawed hand, ready to plunge it into Kurama. Why would he not fight back? The fact that he would not fight only angered the hanyou more.

Inuyasha sunk his claws into Kurama's stomach. Kagome let out a strangled cry.

"Kagome, sit him!" Sango yelled at her as Kagome tried to scramble onto her feet, even though her entire back ached.

In her moment of panic, Kagome had forgotten she had power of Inuyasha. She took advantage of it now.

"SIT!" she screamed.

Inuyasha fell to the floor with such force it was shocking that he did not go through the floor and into the room below. Kurama was also sitting on the floor, his arm clutching his wounded stomach as crimson poured out of him. Kagome ran to him and fell to her knees beside Kurama.

Inuyasha got shakily to his feet only to have Hiei's sword two inches from his face. Inuyasha reached for his own, but got another sit command thrown at him from Kagome.

Hiei still pointed his sword toward the hanyou until Sango moved in front of Inuyasha.

"Slayer," Hiei said warningly. His katana was pointed at Sango since she had stepped in front of him.

She did not respond, but she also did not move out of the way. She took a step closer to Hiei so that his katana was inches from her neck.

"He spilled Kurama's blood, now I'll spill his," the fire demon told her.

"No."

"Get out of my way!" he said angrily.

"Inuyasha's saved me and put up with me after all the stupid things I did. I'm not going to let you kill him now," Sango informed Hiei.

Hiei gritted his teeth and touched his sword to her throat, moving her head to the side and exposing her throat more as he did so. Miroku moved to Sango's side in front of Inuyasha. Hiei looked at the monk and growled, but by then Shippo and Kirara had joined the two. Grudgingly, he put his sword away.

"I see where your true allegiance lies," Hiei said, staring at Sango and then Miroku.

Meanwhile, Kagome hesitantly touched Kurama's cheek lightly. He moved his head so that she cupped his cheek instead, closing his eyes to her touch. He opened those startling green eyes a few moments later to regard her.

"Don't cry," he said softly as he wiped away the tears that trailed down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. This is my fault. I should have never let it go this far.

She watched in distress as the two groups stood on opposite sides, taking part in a fight that should only be between the three of them. The groups had gotten so close in the time they had to spend together, but one feud had broken them apart.

Kurama put his arm around Kagome's waist and she began to edge closer, but abruptly Inuyasha was up again. He grabbed her wrist painfully and dragged her out of the room while Sango called Inuyasha's name angrily.

He dragged her out the door, slamming it behind them, and led her around the house dragging her arm.

"Inuyasha, let go!" she cried out. "Inuyasha—ow! You're hurting me!"

She took a deep breath about to 'sit' him once again, but Inuyasha, anticipating what she was about to do, put his other hand over her mouth. Then he threw her away from him roughly and she stumbled backward into the wall. Luckily, she put her arms out before she hit the wall so her arms took most of the hard impact.

"What is this, Kagome?" he asked through gritted teeth, trying very hard to become calmer.

"What's what?" Kagome asked carefully.

He growled and punched the wall near her head. She flinched.

"Don't play stupid with me," he told her.

Suddenly she got angry. "What does it matter to you? You have your precious Kikyo."

"Don't bring her into this," he told her, taking a step forward.

"Why? It's true. You care so much about her. When she's around, suddenly everyone else disappears. What does it matter what I do?" She crossed her arms, staring at him rebelliously.

"Because you matter to me." His features softened slightly, but she would have none of it.

"Oh, so I'm allowed to sit around, twiddling my thumbs and wait until you're done paying attention to Kikyo and then you'll pay minimum attention to me?" She asked sarcastically.

"You know that's not it." Inuyasha told her, beginning to get angry once again. What he did not know, or was oblivious to, was that that was how things were when Kikyo was around. He continued, "Why'd you do it? Did I do something to piss you off? Well, that doesn't mean you're allowed to go out and fuck the first demon you find."

"I did not—" Kagome began.

"Guess you're a demon magnet, aren't you?" he interrupted, more rage going through him then before. "First Kouga, now Kurama." She loved how he did not include himself. He let out a harsh laugh. "I guess I should be glad you didn't get pissed off at me when we were in the past. Then you would have been off fucking Kouga. Now that—"

He never got to finish. Kagome lifted her hand and slapped him so hard he was forced to take a step back. She was so angry she was shaking with fury and her face had gone red.

"Don't—say—another—word." She said each word harshly and slowly so she would not start yelling, her face inches from his.

He opened his mouth defiantly while grabbing her arm, about to let more of his anger out until he heard a voice behind him.

"Let her go, Inuyasha," the male voice said.

Inuyasha turned around, his white ears pulled back, and his golden eyes piercing. "This doesn't concern you, Spirit Boy."

Yusuke stood not too far away from them, his hand pointed like a gun toward Inuyasha, with the other hand bracing it.

"You wouldn't," Inuyasha challenged.

"Oh, I would," Yusuke said. "Maybe not enough to kill you, but at least to knock you out." He looked at Kagome. "Now, let her go."

"He seems protective of you. Been sleeping with him too behind my back?" Inuyasha said quietly but full of rage to Kagome so that only she could hear.

He let her go abruptly and Kagome moved toward Yusuke. When she turned around to look at Inuyasha, he had already gone.

"You okay?" Yusuke asked evenly, though Kagome could hear the trace of concern in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm fine," she said. From his disbelieving look, she continued, "he wouldn't hurt me." She rubbed her sore back. "At least not intentionally."

She stopped in front Yusuke and there was silence between them. Kagome then leaned heavily on the wall, both her arms hugging her stomach as though that would protect her from all that was happening.

Inuyasha was terribly angry at her. She had lied to him for an extensive amount of time, betrayed their friendship… if not something more. And Kurama. He was hurt because of her. When she had decided to let herself fall deeper in love with Kurama, her troubles about Inuyasha had been, for the most part, over. Now, they all came rushing back.

"…He seemed so angry…. But I guess it's justified," Kagome said softly, her body covered in shadows, making her expression unreadable. However, her voice said it all.

"It's not entirely his fault. I know what it's like for the house to intensify people's anger," he commented.

"You mean this is all the house's doing?" She asked quietly, bringing her eyes up to meet his, her eyes faintly sparkling with small hope.

He wanted to lie to her, tell her that yes, that was the reason, just so she would be happy and not in the miserable state she was in now. But he couldn't lie to her so plainly like that.

"No… the feelings came from him originally. The house just gives him the nudge in the 'right' direction."

A hushed moment.

"I don't know what to do," she whispered.

"Well, I don't know how much I could help. I don't know much about… love." His face turned somber for a moment then he grinned at her, though it looked slightly forced. "At the risk of sounding like someone from one of those sappy teenage movies… follow your heart. It'll answer more questions than you'd think." He paused. "And if anyone asks, you didn't hear that from me."

Yusuke turned to leave, but before he did he stopped in front of Kagome and hugged her. Kagome was too shocked to respond.

In ways, Kagome reminded him of Keiko with her determination… and her fits of anger. He had felt the need to look after her, but lately, he hadn't been doing such a good job.

He kissed her lightly though awkwardly on the cheek. "Just be happy."

He left after that, leaving her all alone in her thoughts, a place where she did not want to be. Every time she thought of Inuyasha the knot in his stomach tightened. She could not leave things off like they had. She knew if she did not speak with him today, he would not talk about it later. She was not sure he would listen to her now, but Kagome had to find a way for him to understand.

Man, was that going to be hard work.

Kagome balled her hands into fists as she began to search for the hanyou, determined to see it through.

Kagome found Inuyasha outside, sitting near the pond as the sun began to set.

"Inuyasha?" she called softly.

One of Inuyasha's ears twitched, but otherwise he made no move to acknowledge her. Giving her the silent treatment, was he now?

"Hey, Inuyasha!" she said, starting to get annoyed that he was ignoring her.

Still he did not speak. Not even so much as a glance.

"Inuyasha!" she called and kicked him lightly, now entirely pissed off.

He growled softly and pulled at her legs so that she fell to the ground beside him.

"What?" he said harshly.

"We need to talk."

"I think we've said everything that needs to be said," he told her gruffly.

He turned from her. He just didn't want to hear anything she had to say.

Kagome began speaking. "No, we haven't. Inuyasha, I'm in love with Kurama," she told him.

He growled. "How could you do this, Kagome?"

"Do what? Fall in love? It wasn't that hard. At least he pays attention at me."

"If you did this to make me jealous, it's working."

"This isn't about you, Inuyasha!" she exclaimed. He raised an eyebrow and she continued, "well, maybe it is, but that's not why I went to Kurama. I'm in love with him!"

"Stop saying that!"

It was his own fault, really, for not noticing anything sooner and stopping it before it had gone too far. After all, Inuyasha had seen them together a lot… and had noticed his scent on her very frequently, but he had never thought… Correction, he had not wanted to. He didn't want to think that Kagome had found someone else, so he made himself blind to it, refusing to see what was in front of him.

"What? Love?" He did not respond. "I love him. Just because things didn't work out with you and Kikyo, doesn't mean I'm not allowed to have someone too. You can't—"

Inuyasha pulled her roughly toward him and covered her mouth with his while Kagome squeaked with protest. He pinned her to the ground while straddling her waist as his tongue pressed against her lips. She opened her mouth when forced since it was either that or be bruised. His tongue explored her mouth and his hand cradled the back on her head while his other hand gripped her hip.

If he had done it anytime sooner, a few months ago perhaps, she would have melted and given into him completely. It was what she had always wanted, always waited for. For him to finally give in and tell her how he truly felt. But it was too late.

"It's not about Kikyo, Kagome," he breathed as he broke the kiss for an instance before meeting her lips once again in a rough kiss.

She pushed him back and off her before crawling slightly away from him. "No, we—I can't. There's nothing between us, Inuyasha."

"Why not?" he flared.

"Because it's too late!"

"How?" He sounded stubborn.

"Because you never told me how you felt before! How was I supposed to know what you felt? I knew we had friendship, but you left it at that. Did you expect me to wait for you? Save myself for you until Kikyo was finally out of the picture? I don't want to spend my life alone, waiting for someone I can never have."

She knelt beside him, but he crossed his arms, looking the other way. It only angered her further.

"Sure, you 'claimed' me as yours, but you put me on a pedestal for safe keeping and forgot I was there every time Kikyo came along! And even when she wasn't there you never did really pay any attention to me! You'd save me when I needed saving but otherwise… you were never there for me." She stopped yelling and looked him straight in the eyes and said softly, calmly, "he is."

His ears flattened on his head and he grumbled, "sure you won't reconsider?"

He said it half-heartedly and she smiled, knowing she had won. "Nope," she said cheerfully.

"We're not right for each other, anyway," he muttered, his ears twitching and arms crossed over his chest.

She hugged him tightly, to his surprise and whispered, "thank you."

At first he did not react, but then hugged her back tightly, closing his eyes as he held her in a loving way, which he would never be able to do again. After tonight, she would no longer be his. So he wanted to hold on to her for as long as he could for the last time.

Kagome tried to move away from his embrace, but he held on tightly. She let out a little squeak of surprise when he moved her so that she was positioned in her lap.

"Inuyasha, what—" she began.

"Kagome," he said and that was all he said, but the way he spoke her name said it all.

She leaned her forehead against his, gazing into his golden eyes, then turned around in his embrace so that she was no longer facing him. He encircled her in his arms and she leaned back against his chest contently.

She had been so unsure of her feelings before, but all she had to do was talk to him, explain things to Inuyasha and everything was alright now. A piece of her would always love Inuyasha, but now, she would be with Kurama, another love in her life.

Her mind finally at peace after so much confusion, Kagome fell asleep in his arms one last time.

Kurama could see perfectly well in the dark and by the starlight that night, he could see the scene across the pond exceeding well. He had watched as Kagome leaned her forehead against Inuyasha's and then moved in his arms so that she sat in his lap. By now they had both drifted peacefully asleep with Inuyasha's arms encircling Kagome.

So it seemed Kagome had finally chosen. And she hadn't chosen him. Well, Kurama was glad for her. She had finally gotten what she wanted and the kitsune wanted her happy. He did love her, but if she was happier with Inuyasha… then he would let her be. He was content with the fact that she was happy.

Then how come his heart was aching?

Kurama stood, leaning slightly against a tree. The wound in his stomach from that morning was almost healed since the kitsune had found some helpful plants that healed wounds when properly mixed together.

He was so engrossed with watching the hanyou and miko, he did not notice Hiei had come up next to him until he spoke.

"Go after the girl," the fire demon told the kitsune.

"No," Kurama declined as he watched the sleeping miko with sadness in his eyes.

"Why not, fox?" he asked, following his eyes to across the lake.

"This house feeds on jealousy… love… hate. There is no need to feed it anymore," he said quietly.

A rustle in the leaves behind them turned their attention around. Coming slowly toward them was Sango, wearing the silk pajamas the house had given her. Hiei watched her walk forward toward them with hunger in his eyes, her hips unconsciously swaying back and worth in a way that only women knew how to, but Kurama was too distressed to notice and Sango's eyes were looking across the lake. Her eyes widened when she saw the scene.

She looked to Kurama. "Why aren't you stopping Inuyasha?" Sango demanded.

"Don't you want your two friends together?" Hiei asked, showing slight surprise on his features.

Sango shook her head. "I want Kagome happy." She turned to the kitsune. "She'll be happy with you."

Kurama only shook his head sadly. The demon slayer did not understand, would not understand. He'd be the gentleman and back down. It was obvious whom Kagome had chosen.

Kurama began walking away from them both, going toward the door to the inside.

"So that's it? You're giving up?" Sango called angrily after him. "Don't be a coward!"

"Sango," Hiei said warningly.

She looked to him, her eyes filled with annoyance. "What?"

"Let him be. He knows what he's doing."

"Why didn't you stop him?" she snapped furiously.

Without an answer she stormed off, following the kitsune while Hiei watched the slayer in silence. His eyes were soft and vulnerable, not having their usual hard glint. Just then, he turned away so his face was covered in shadows. He wanted no one to see the kindness in his face and the affection it held after regarding her.