By: Kali Blade
Disclaimer: Sorry, I didn't do this in the last chapter but this applies to all fics that I write. I don't own any of these characters…I only put them through such emotional turmoil because I love them so. ^-^
Chapter Two- Confrontation
"Inuyasha?"
The young half demon named Inuyasha turned to face his heart's torment, his heart's sweet torment. As the moon cast its eerie light over Kagome's face, she seemed to shine from inside with an ethereal glow. For a moment, Inuyasha was speechless, his voice caught in his throat. Kikyou…, he thought. So much like Kikyou.
"I'm right here," he replied softly, knowing that his voice was a little gruff with emotion. Turning around, he patted the spot next to him on the rock. "Why don't you come sit with me?"
Unaware of Kagome's surprised and puzzled eyes, Inuyasha stared at the sky again. Shrugging away her confusion, she climbed on the boulder and sat as comfortably as she could, taking her time in arranging her clothing around her, as if stalling for time. "Couldn't sleep?" he asked her abruptly, his tone sudden as if stopping her from her pointless fidgeting.
Sighing, she settled down and followed Inuyasha's gaze to the stars. "No. I had some strange dreams and I woke up. You were gone so I…I went out to look for you. So…what are you doing out here?"
"Thinking."
Kagome had to smile. Inuyasha? Thinking? "About what?"
"That youkai we fought earlier today. I was thinking about how I would feel if I was even two seconds late in catching you. I was wondering how I could go on li-" catching his mistake, Inuyasha closed his fangs with a soft click. Oh no, he thought. Here it comes.
"You were worried about me?" Casting her a sidelong glance at her, Inuyasha saw that her soft eyes looked imploringly into his as if asking him something…as if pleading him for something.
Looking up at the floating fireflies that flickered by, he was suddenly unsure of his words. "Well, ah, of course not!" Crossing his arms, he tried to slide a mask of apathy over his normally expressive face. "I was saying that if you had died back there, I wouldn't be able to find the Shikon Shards and then I can't complete the Shikon no Tama and then I can't become a full you-"
"Inuyasha," she interrupted quietly. It was the near defeat in her voice that stopped him. What was wrong with her? Gently, Kagome cupped his face in her small hands and turned him to face her. "Please," she implored. "Just this once, give me the truth."
The truth… What was the truth? Unable to bear her powerful gaze, he looked down. "Well, that was the truth. I mean you look for the Shikon Shards, I slay the youkai that have them. That's all there is, right?"
Letting her hands fall into her lap, Kagome cast her eyes downward. "So," she said softly, her voice hushed and somewhat sad. "That's all I am to you? A tool to fulfill your own personal desires?" What are you saying, baka?! Her mind raged at her. Do you WANT him to know that you're weak on the inside? Shutting it out, Kagome refused to listen to her pride and instead opened herself to her heart. "I have to know, Inuyasha, do you truly care for me?"
Inuyasha felt something inside him break for her. She sounded so lost and alone but how could he soothe her wounds? A voice deep within the folds of his mind lit a cigar and gloated. Can't do for someone else what you can't do for yourself, you know. "I-I," he stuttered. What to do, what to do? Say it! His heart cried. Don't be stupid. His head quipped. "I can't answer that."
Blinking back tears that she knew she'd end up crying anyways, she slumped forward in defeat. "Oh…" Shaking her head slightly, Kagome tried to put some cheerfulness in her voice and started to climb off the rock. "Well! I should be getting back to the camp. We've got to get an early start, you- Inuyasha, what?"
Kagome suddenly found herself crushed against Inuyasha's chest. Lilacs, he thought as he buried his nose into her hair. So beautiful… "Please," he said softly. "I can't answer you now but please, give me some time. Don't hurt yourself because of me. Cry if you have to. Yell at me if you have to. Wake the whole damn forest if you have to but don't hold it inside. I can't say anything else to you but that because in the morning it will all be the same."
"Inuyasha," she whispered. So there, folded within the arms of Inuyasha and the couples' secret held fast by the silence of the forest, Kagome wept.
Somewhere though, deep in the forest that silence was broken by a soft chuckle. "Ah, yes, she is very much like Kikyou. But Kikyou-sama has never wept." He could just imagine her tears, the saltiness of them against his lips as they turned up in a small smile. "Soon, precious. I will have what Onigumo could never have. I will have her."
The stars flickered frantically, as if to warn the couple beneath them but to their woe, neither noticed.
~*~*~*
"Where's Kagome?"
"Taking a bath."
"Oh? And just where are you headed, eh?"
"To my tree, Kitsune."
"Nuh uh, you're gonna go peep, aren't you?"
He growled deep in his throat. "You've got three seconds before I bite your head off."
Shippo smiled devilishly. "Not if you can't get to me!" Laughing, the elusive fox demon jumped up and threw down a miniature statue that grew in shape until it landed on Inuyasha's fingers. With speed only a Kitsune like himself could manage, Shippo stuck a magic scroll on it. "Ha! See you escape from this one, baka."
Inuyasha tried to pull his fingers out from beneath the statue and roared in frustration when the stone held fast in its place. "Oi, teme!!" he roared at Shippo, who was walking away with a smug look on his face. "Come back here and take this off, you stupid fox!"
In a flash, Shippo was back and in Inuyasha's face. "If you want me to, then say the magic word." He only grinned when the angry dog demon tried to snap his jaws around his fluffy tail. "Say it, say it, say it!"
"Grrr…. Watch yourself, you Kitsune bastard. Once I get out of this, you had better run for your life and not even Kagome can get in the way!"
Shippo grinned. "Oh? Are you sure?" Turning, he hunched his shoulders and rubbed his eyes. Once he was facing Inuyasha again, his bottom lip stuck out in a pout and his eyes were big and watery and oh so cute! Sniffling, he said, "Well, if I went to Kagome with these cute lil' tears of mine, she'd ask what was wrong and I'd say you were being horribly mean to me and she'd sit you a thousand times over!"
Turning, Shippo suddenly bumped into someone. "What's going on here?" Kagome demanded.
Shippo's bottom lip was pushed out and his eyes were watery and huge in two seconds flat. "Inuyasha was being mean to me!" the Kitsune child wailed. "And that's why I had to…"
Kagome sighed as she listened to Shippo make his tearful accusations and Inuyasha, being Inuyasha, denied everything with a vocabulary more colorful than any rainbow. It had been three days since their heart to heart in the woods and Kagome was still puzzled. In the daytime, Inuyasha was as he always was. Arrogant, foul-mouthed and incredibly loud about it. But, in the late hours of the night, when no one was awake, Kagome could almost feel his warmth in her sleep. She could hear his soft whispers in her ear. Kagome…
"Kagome?"
She was snapped out of her reverie by one of Shippo's tiny waving hands. "Oh! I'm sorry, what were you saying?"
Crossly, Shippo folded his arms in front of his chest. "This is where you tell stupid dog-boy over there to sit."
Laughing, Kagome put a hand behind her head and apologized. "Well, okay! Osuwari!"
"Kagome, you- MPPHH!!!!" Normally, the cursed dog demon would be pulled to the ground, thus ending up with a mouthful of dirt. Unfortunately for him, the statue happened to be in the way of his face's decent, thus he ended up with a mouthful of stone instead.
Both Kagome and Shippo winced. Rubbing his mouth, Shippo said, "Itai…that's got to hurt." Scampering over to the twitching Inuyasha, he whapped one of his ears and yelled, "Oi! You still alive?" Turning back to Kagome, Shippo asked, "Do you think it was a bit too forceful?"
She shrugged. When Shippo turned back to Inuyasha, he reeled back in surprise as he came face to face with the dog demon's angry glare…and right between that angry glare was the magic scroll that held the statue down. "Oh, shit."
Laughing maniacally, Inuyasha stood tall and pointed a condemning finger towards the doomed fox demon. "You. Are. MINE!" Shrieking in fear, Shippo turned fluffy tail and ran like hell with the crazed hanyou at his heels. Kagome smiled.
Kagome… something whispered in her mind. "What?" she asked no one as a blurry figure darted swiftly here and there, obscuring her vision. She felt a light tap on her neck and then all of a sudden, the world turned upside down. Gasping she choked out, "Inu…yasha…"
Feeling a stab of…of wrongness in his heart, Inuyasha turned around and his eyes widened in fear as he saw Kagome being pulled away by something. Her fingers outstretched towards him, Kagome seemed to call out to him. Inu…yasha…
"Kagome!" mustering all the demon speed he could, Inuyasha leapt to her, his own fingers outstretched.
Time seemed to slow as they stared into each other's eyes, each gaze wide with fear. All else disappeared as Inuyasha pushed himself to touch his fingers to hers. Almost there…almost, almost…
Kagome was pulled away into thin air, leaving Inuyasha with nothing to grab onto. Leaving Inuyasha alone. For a moment, he merely stared into the space that she had once occupied. Almost…almost… But not good enough, his mind sneered. Dropping to his knees, Inuyasha clenched his hands into fists, so tightly that blood began to trickle through his fingers. Throwing his face to the heavens he screamed,
"KAGOME!!!!!"
~*~*~* to be continued…
::gasp:: what's going to happen? Will Inuyasha be able to rescue Kagome? Of course! But the real question is: can he do it in time and soon enough to avoid her getting hurt?
Next up: Chapter Three- Someone Else's Claim
~*~*~*
-_-;; well poot. Only a lousy five pages…oh well. This fic is doing better than I expected anyways. I never expected to get five reviews within one week of posting chapter one much less within one day! Thanks, minna! Really, your support brings tears to my eyes… ::sniff:: Since GmaR is such a hit, I suppose I'll continue it to the end! Thanks again and reviews please!! You can email me at PlutozFallnStar3@aol.com or you can IM me on MSN messenger: evil_mango_punk@hotmail.com
Thanks again! Ja ne! ^-^