Disclaimer: I don't own Inu Yasha and co. I don't own any of the songs that I put into the story, except on cd's. But I do own Shiori, Miyu-Guardian-mother to Shiori & Koshin Hakogami-snow youkai from modern Japan-father to Shiori, Kil Kai-another snow demon from feudal times & Aisu-female snow demon from feudal times, they are all mine.
AN: " " is speaking, ' ' is thought
AN: The She that I am referring to in this is the Goddess, I thought that I would put 'she' in italics & capitalize, instead of writing 'Goddess' all the time.
AN: I think I will try my hand at a soft lemon here in this chapter. Let me know what you think. Hopefully all those romance novels, & the books by LKH, she can write some very good scenes. Steam up a room. lol Anyway, enjoy & review please.
And as always, thanks to those who read & enjoy my story. I had 145 hits on my last chapter. YAY! I'm glad you still like my story. And I love to here from all those that review. . :-) Hope I keep you all interested in this story. The reviews mean a lot to me, so pretty please drop me a line. Enjoy!
Now on with the show.
Glossary:
youkai-demon
taiyoukai-demon lord
inu-youkai-dog demon
ningen-human
ookami-wolf demon
osuwari-sit
aisu-ice
Chapter 28: Hotspring
A couple of hours later, Shiori and Aisu came walking back to Kaede's village, smiling and laughing. Kil Kai had been on edge since the two left. 'What could they be talking about that is taking this long?' he thought, keeping his eyes on the path the two women took. He quietly sighed in relief to see the two of them apparently have made friends.
Kagome had been walking back with Kaede, having helped her gather more herbs. She waved at her cousin and took the herbs into the hut for Kaede. When she came back out, she asked, "So, I see everything went well?"
"Yes, I have learned a lot this afternoon," Aisu answered with a smile. "And I think I'm going to need your help with something, Kagome."
"My help? With what?" Kagome asked, a little puzzled.
Shiori leaned in to whisper, "Oh, something you're good at, matchmaking."
Kagome's smile was huge, she loved to matchmake, or as she sees it, 'helping those in love.' "You've got it!"
Inu Yasha jumped down from his tree and walked up to the three women. "Got what?"
"I'll tell you later. Right now, I think that we need to have some girl time. We have some planning to do," Kagome was already off to get Sango. Gotta have the whole team for this one.
"What is she talking about?" Inu Yasha asked, curious.
"Oh, we're going to have a little powwow and talk about guys. Nothing interesting," Shiori answered without giving any extra info.
Inu Yasha just stood there for a minute, then it dawned on him. "Oh, girl talk. But where are you going? We can hear you around here."
"We're going to a hot spring, and I'll have my iPod with speakers, you won't be able to hear us over the music." She turned to get her bag from inside the hut and came back to answer another one of Inu Yasha's questions.
"I thought that Sesshomaru forbid you going to the spring? Something about your injury?" He had already backed up a few paces, hands in the air in surrender when he noticed her eyes hardening.
"He can command and forbid till he's blue in the face, but that doesn't mean I have to listen to him. Now does it?" she gritted out in reply. "Besides, I already told him that and the reason why I would need to go for a soak. If he doesn't like it, he can try to stop me. Other than that, I'm not worried." She just shrugged her shoulders and kept walking, enjoying her surroundings.
"You don't think he would try?" Aisu asked, curious.
"No, I don't. That would cause a scene and his pride won't allow him to make a fool of himself. See, nothing to worry about," she smiled and looked over at her cousin's return, followed by Sango. "We're ready when you are?
"Okay, I'll get my bag and we can go find another hot spring. I don't want to go back the one with the snake blood on the ground."
"I know of another spring," Inu Yasha suggested, "I can even take you there. It's secluded, no one really knows it's there."
"Thanks, Inu Yasha, that would be wonderful," Kagome said, smiling warmly.
Shiori couldn't help teasing, "But, you have to leave after you show us where it is. Wouldn't want any peeping toms."
He just snorted, "Feh! There is only one woman I would risk that for, unfortunately, she'd be pissed off if I did." He turned to meet Kagome's gaze and watched her blush a little, to match the slight blush on his own cheeks. To clear up the slightly tense moment between himself and Kagome, he cleared his voice and turned west. "Come on, it's this way and if you want to have some time before my brother starts demanding to know where you are, Shiori, we'd better get moving."
"Lead the way, McDuff," Shiori fell in behind him, along with Aisu and Sango. Kagome walked beside him, smiling happily. The other males were off doing their thing. Shiori figured that Sesshomaru didn't like being this close to so many humans. Rin was playing with Shippou and the village kids and Jaken was watching over them. Kirara was napping in a patch of sunlight, relaxing. Ah-Un was letting the kids climb all over them. Poor guys.
The little group walked west for about 15 minutes before coming upon a secluded little spot with a huge hot spring. It was overgrown around the edges with beautiful flowers and plants. And just looking, one could tell there were natural ledges formed from the rocks jutting out of the spring. The women were impressed. Inu Yasha said it was secluded and nice, he was sorely understating the appeal of the place.
"This is lovely, Inu Yasha, thank you," Kagome said softly, not taking her eyes off the beautiful surroundings.
"I thought you would like it," he commented, not taking his eyes off her.
She turned to look at him and caught his soft gaze. She smiled brightly at him and squeezed his hand. This caused his eyes to widen just a fraction. "I love this place, Inu Yasha, thanks for sharing it with me."
"You're welcome," he replied softly, then, "I gotta go. Don't want to be a peeping tom, now. That's Miroku's job." He joked as he returned her squeeze and left the four women alone.
Kagome watched him go until she couldn't see him because of the folage. Then she almost jumped when Shiori leaned over to whisper.
"See, told you he was sweet on you, but you never listen," Shiori commented, standing behind Kagome. She turned and began to get the things she would need out of her pack. She even set up her ipod with little speakers to help drown out anything they say, just in case a peeping tom does show up. She then sat down and began to unwind the bandages from her injured leg to inspect. It was a good thing she didn't change out of the torn jeans.
"Is it okay to soak it?" Sango asked, tying her hair up in a bun, like Kagome showed her.
After checking over her leg, she looked up. "It looks fine. It closed up, so now it's healing the torn muscles. That's why it hurts." She untied her shoes and began to get undressed. By the time she was done, everyone else was in the hotspring, soaking away the day's worries. She turned on the ipod and it began to play some Beethoven softly, enough to enjoy yet talk over.
They were all silent, relaxing until Sango suddenly asked, "You know, I was wondering, why have westartedhaving demons coming at us in large groups? Or demons that are very large and seem to be very upset?"
"I've been wondering that myself," Kagome added. "We've had some surprise visitors lately and they haven't been after the jewel. That large bear was after you, Shiori."
"I'm not one hundred percent sure, but it could be I'm calling them out without meaning to," Shiori answered, thoughtfully.
"Calling them? How?" Aisu asked, puzzled and a little worried.
"Well, I'm half snow demon and half Guardian, taken alone, either bloodline is powerful, but put them together and you get a walking powerhouse," she tried to explain, no bragging, just stating facts.
"So, they sense you," Sango figured, "But do you have this problem in your time?"
"No, I usually don't," she answered, shrugging her shoulders a little, setting off small waves.
"Usually don't?"
"Well, I can hide myself very well, on the hunt, but I have to concentrate on a certain level to conceal myself the rest of the time. And, I have been a little distracted lately. Plus, it helps to have them come to me, saves time."
"Yeah, by about six feet, five inches of nothing," Kagome teased, earning a large wave splashing her for her trouble. After sputtering, "You know it's true."
Shiori just frowned, but said nothing.
"Can you conceal yourself better," Aisu asked, trying to help her future granddaughter out, and someone fast becoming a friend.
"I can, but I'm thinking that we would still have a problem. Well, maybe two."
"The Shikon no Tama is one of them," Kagome answered, nodding.
"And, I'm guessing that Rin is the the second," Sango guessed.
"Yup, she is just coming into her powers because of the binding spell, so she'll begin to draw notice. She doesn't yet have the training to hide her powers, so we have to protect her carefully. Especially as the time for her powers to break the binding spell gets closer. Because, she won't be able to protect those in the group who aren't human. It'll be wild and strong," Shiori answered, "and maybe violent."
"How do we protect everyone who's not human?" Aisu asked.
"By paying attention to her and trying to keep her out of danger as best as we can. Because if she is not put in danger, she won't feel threatened, but. . ." Shiori trailed off, thinking.
"But what?"
"She may call her powers in the defense of those she cares about within the group."
"She may try to protect Sesshomaru if she thinks he's in danger, but she should be able to tell when he is in danger or not," Kagome suggested, looking around at the other women, deep in thought.
"Maybe, but she worships him," Aisu stated with a furrow of her brow, "How are we going to keep her calm?"
"We'll just have to wing it," Shiori said, then heard a laugh coming from Aisu. She thought about what she said then joined in the laughter.
"Well, for the time being, I suggest we just relax and enjoy the peace and quiet," Kagome suggested, "I'm afraid we may not get to enjoy it for very long."
"I agree," Sango added, "I don't think that Miroku could keep away long enough for us to enjoy a long soak at the end of the day."
"Miroku, the houshi?" Aisu asked, wondering what the houshi had anything to do with them soaking.
"Oh, no one told you," Sango asked, catching her puzzled shake of the head. "Well, he's a houshi but because of his curse not by choice. He's a hentai by choice and is not above spying on women while they bathed."
Aisu was smiling and shaking her head, "I guess I'm in for an interesting trip with your group."
"Ain't it the truth," Shiori smiled, "But, we also need to talk about how we can get the hard headed Kil Kai to admit that he is crazy about you, Aisu. That's the trick."
"Well, how does he act when another male gets near you?" Sango asked.
Aisu thought about this for a minute, then answered, "I really don't know. I don't think he acts any different, although he did get real quiet when another male relative from his clan started talking to me. The male was a cousin and unmated. He was handsome as well, but I wasn't interested in him other than to have someone to talk to."
"What do you mean by, he got real quiet?" Kagome asked, wheels in her head already turning.
"We were sitting in his study going over affairs of the region when his cousin entered. He smiled at me and came over to sit next to me. He was trying to be flattering, but I don't flatter easily," she answered smiling. "He even took my hand and kissed my knuckles. He was trying."
"And Kil Kai just stopped talking?"
"Yeah, he just stared at his cousin. You know, I don't even remember the man's name," Aisu admitted.
"But, Kil Kai doesn't know that," Kagome suggested. "Maybe he was jealous, and I know a way to find out."
"How?"
"Well, we can bring it up tonight when everyone is around and relaxing, say around dinner time," Kagome said, with a smile. "Then we can gauge his reaction, and that should help us figure out if he was jealous or not."
Aisu was quiet for a bit, thinking and nodded her head. "It couldn't hurt. If he has no feelings for me, then I need to know now and begin to move on."
"Well, that aside, I guess we had better get cleaned up and then head back to the village. I don't want to have to kill anyone for bothering me while I'm in the bath," Shiori said, smiling.
This caused the group to laugh and begin to get cleaned up. The other three introduce Aisu to modern hair care products and body wash. She was thrilled and loved the scents. The other three each had their own favorite scents, so she had some to chose from.
"This is wonderful, truly you have some marvalous things in your time," Aisu said with a sigh as she washed her hair with Kagome's rose scented shampoo. "I love this scent." Just then the music changed and a Beastie Boys song came on.
Shiori started bobbing her head to the beat and lipsiced the words to No Sleep till Brooklyn. "What?" she asked, when she noticed the others watching her. "I like this group. They have good stuff."
Kagome just sighed and finished getting cleaned up. Aisu and Sango began to get into the song and were bobbing right along with the music.
They finished up and were getting out of the spring when everyone froze, sensing a strong youkai aura coming their way, fast.
"Who the hell could be heading this way?" Shiori asked, wrapping her bath sheet-towel around her and kneeling down to dig through her bag for clothes.
They got their answer when the one in question calmly walked out of the foliage to the left of the clearing.
"Inu Yasha? What are you doing here?" Kagome asked, wrapping her towel a little more tightly around her, out of modesty more than anything else. "Did you need something?"
Shiori leaned into Sango and whispered, "That's a loaded question." This earned her a dark glare from Kagome. "What?" she asked, sounding innocent.
"I was coming to see how much longer you were going to be here," he answered, then smiled. "I would like to clean up, too, and I didn't think it would be wise to just jump right in."
"We would have left so you two could be alone," Shiori said with a big smile. She then grabbed her black bag and moved behind a stand of large bushes to get dressed. She didn't have to turn around to know that her cousin was shooting daggers at her back. She dressed in a clean pair of jeans and a black KISS t-shirt, with them in full make-up,untucked, then her socks and sneakers. She walked back out to get her ipod and plug in the headphones. "You know, I think we can find our way out of here, so why don't we head out and you two could talk."
Inu Yasha was blushing, but just nodded his head, staring at Kagome, still glistening with water under the light of the moon. When her eyes met his, he just gave her a small smile to go with his visible blush.
She blushed, and to her dismay, hope began to spring to life in her chest. Hope that he wanted to be with her, Kagome, and not because she was a reincarnation of Kikyou, his first love. She had wanted him to want her for so long that she felt she was going crazy at times. Especially, when she would get caught inthe mixed signals he had always sent her way. But, she had noticed that he was acting different and that Shiori was certain that he wanted her, Kagome. Her cousin would never lie to her and she was seldom wrong about others. She couldn't afford to be with her crazy and dangerous life. So, Kagome decided to grab the hanyou by the ears, so to speak and take a chance. Who knows, maybe she'll get her hanyou or at least know once and for all where she stood with him. So, with as much dignity as she could muster, said, "I think that I would like to spend some time with Inu Yasha, so you guys can head back to Kaede's, Shiori. We'll be fine." She caught Inu Yasha's slight surprise and was that veiled joy?
Her cousin, smiled warmly, "No problem, just try not to stay out too long. We do have to get going in the morning." She grabbed her stuff and then turned to Sango and Aisu, who were now dressed, and turned to head back to the village. The three women noticed that, as far as Kagome and Inu Yasha were concerned, they were already gone. The three smiled and each mentally wished the couple good luck as they left.
The two left, just stood their looking at each other, waiting to see what the other would do. It was almost comical if they weren't so nervous. But they would soon find out that they were worried for nothing.
Kagome was blushing and swallowed to wet her suddenly parched throat. "So, umm, did you need anything, Inu Yasha?"
"Well, yeah, now that you mention it," he began, slowly pacing his way towards her. "I wanted to let you know that I have finally come to a decision about who I want," he answered, figuring that he was going to tell her.
Kagome swallowed again, this time she was scared. Scared of what he was going to say next. She couldn't even hide the fear in her eyes.
He saw this and understood, but he also felt that after what he had to tell her will take that fear away. "Well, I thought that you should hear from me about my decision. I have decided that the one woman I want more than anything is. . ." but he was cut off before he could finish
"You don't have to tell me, Inu Yasha, I have known for a while how you felt about her," she looked down at the ground and said, "I won't stand in your way."
He was in front of her, and he gently lifted her chin, so she was looking him right in the eye. "You've got it all wrong, babe. The one woman that I want is YOU, Kagome, if you'll have me."
She was in shock, pleasant, sweet, happy shock. She felt that she was dreaming and that she really, didn't want to wake up. She, then, let a smile blossom on her face, lighting up her eyes.
He watched her face light up and felt his heart speed up. "Does this mean you're happy with my choice?" He laughed when she jumped into his arms and kissed him. When they parted, he said, "I take that it does."
"I love you, you jerk," she grinned.
"I know you do, and I love you, you klutz." That was the last thing either of them said, because they realized they were alone, Kagome was in only a towel and they loved each other. They were unclothed in record time. Their hands were all over each other, touching, exploring, memorizing every line and curve.
Beginning of softLemon-Hope you like it
They had spread out Kagome's towel to lay on. She was on her back and he was kissing trails up and down her torso. She ran her fingers through his hair, till she came to his ears. She ran her fingers over them and was rewarded with a content growl, rumbling up his chest.
He began to trail kisses down her chest, stopping at her breasts and after paying a lot of attention to them, continued to go further down. He, then, found her bud and she was lost. And he was in heaven, because hewas the one tocause her so much pleasure. He stayed there worshipping her till she had her first release and then he made his way slowly back up her body.
He kissed her and asked, "Are you ready? This is going to hurt."
"I know it will, but I want you, right now," she breathed softly.
That was all the encouragement that he needed. He positioned himself over her and entered her slowly, marveling at the feeling of her wrapped around him. Then, he came to the barrier inside and with a small thrust, pushed through it.
Kagome bit her lip to keep the small cry in. It hurt for a few seconds, but that was it. She was enjoying the feel of being one with the man she loved. Then, she was overwhelmed with the sensations of making love.
They took it slow at first, but then passions flared and they were hanging on for the ride. They came together and slowly came back to earth together.
Inu Yasha lay on her for a few heartbeats, trying to learn how to breathe again. He smiled and went to get off of her, when he felt her arms wrap around him, holding him in place. He looked down at her and almost forgot how to think. She was a vision. His Kagome.
She smiled and said, "I like you just where you are, so don't move."
"But, I don't want to crush you."
"You're not, and I'm comfortable. Aren't you?"
"Oh yeah," he smiled back.
"Then, stay where you are," she said, still smiling. "We'll move later, right now, I want you as close to me as you can get."
He kissed her gently, then laid his head on her shoulder, listening to her heartbeating. His wonderful, beautiful, caring Kagome.
She played with his hair and felt at peace and loved. 'Thank you, Kami, and thank you, Shiori,' she prayed with a big smile on her face and contentment, finally, in her heart..
I hope you guys like this chapter. I'm sorry about not updating sooner. I've been tied up with the holidays, 2 little kids, trying to start up a business and getting the idea for an original down on paper. It's been a busy December.
Oh and HAPPY NEW YEAR TO EVERYONE.
I would like to thank my wonderful editor, ninjawarrior4life, my bro. glad you like it.
And thanks to everyone who has been reading this story from the beginning when I first started posting it. And to those who read and like it.
THX to all my readers.
