Chapter 31
Inuyasha was pretty sure his eyebrow was twitching by this point, but he hoped to whatever deity watching over hanyou that Kikyou wouldn't notice.
"I have given Kagome detailed directions and instructions of what medicinal plant we require and how much." Kikyou articulated seriously. "It is not a short journey. With Kagome being an unaccompanied human woman, please exercise some discretion."
It took all of his willpower to not sigh. He'd lived a certain kind of life and seen more than his share of shit. Inuyasha knew full well what bandits did to woman they captured.
"Dun worry. I'll protect her."
Kikyou nodded once. Something in her posture made him think she was still not entirely comfortable with this whole arrangement.
He had no doubt who it was that pushed for it with wholehearted enthusiasm. That girl he could hear the excitement in the tone of her voice, although she was trying to, no doubt, tamp it down for the sake of Kaede.
"Inuyasha'll be with me, so I can't get into that much trouble—"
He heard the kid mutter under her breath "That makes it worse sometimes..."
"—and we'll be back in no time! I promise. And I'll bring you back something cool. You better be at full health by then, okay?" Kagome rambled on, oblivious.
He nodded a goodbye to the miko and turned towards the other two. It wasn't hard to spy the pout on Kaede's face. Kid's been more expressive lately, which he thought was a good thing. Kids should be able to be kids.
Leaping into the canopy to wait, he unknowingly breathed a little easier. Ever since the youkai attack and how his instincts had flared, Inuyasha still didn't know how to feel.
As a hanyou, what he knew about the opposite sex is that they existed and past a certain age, he knew that he was attracted to them. Theoretically. Being hanyou complicated things (because when did it not). His knowledge of romantic partners came from observing couples at a distance or overhearing conversations.
When he first met Kikyou and she ended up not shooting him. Then talked to him, and tolerated his presence even, he thought that could be it. It was nice to have a companionship of sorts. And plus, she was pretty— he wasn't blind.
Then Kagome came along and made things friggin' confusing. Just to spite him probably. Confusing, but interesting... and more in every sense.
And he was drawn to it. Wanting more, wanting to see more of Kagome, see how she would react to different things, see what she would say, smell like.
It made him feel oddly guilty that his attention had been diverted from the priestess for quite some time now, he had to admit.
He knew it was stupid. And one-sided. Why the hell would a miko be interested in a hanyou in that way?
One ear twitched, catching Kikyou give Kagome final pointers. Something about her powers being untrained but to will them to manifest if she was in a bind.
He scoffed. As if he'd let anything get at her again.
Fidgety as all hell, he could hardly wait till they could get going already.
Finally, like after half a goddamn day more like, he heard the chimes of goodbye and then Kagome's sole footsteps up the path winding into the trees.
He dropped down to land beside her, instantly walking in stride without skipping a beat.
She didn't even flinch, just quirked her brow amusedly at him.
"What's gotten you in a huff this soon already?"
"Fuckin' swear, this stupid village s'ppose to take so long to get to 'cause y'all take forever leaving."
She laughed, apparently in too high spirits to be anything but entertained by his grumpiness.
Unrehearsed yet smoothly executed, the two walked in silence until they were within the forest proper. Then he crouched down and offered Kagome his back.
She was a little awkward, trying to wrangle a rather big carrying cloth bulging with overnight supplies tied around her shoulders. Taking pity on her, he steadied her with a firm grip until she could maneuver herself into her usual position.
As he straightened, he gave a little heft, testing the extra weight and if it would throw off his balance. Finding that it hardly mattered, he took off for the tree tops without fanfare.
The healthy breeze came headlong, offering much needed refreshment. His muscles contracted and stretched, working out the sluggishness from inactivity and making him feel rejuvenated.
It was then that he felt familiar pesky fingers part the locks of his hair, moving some strands away from his neck.
Kagome probably thought she was being so sneaky.
"Oi! What the hell you doing, woman?" He had to at least pretend he was annoyed.
"Don't mind me!" She chirped, undeterred whatsoever. "Just checking. You keep running."
She could be so damn bold, this one.
Shortly after, he felt cool fingertips press against his skin then unabashedly smooth down the skin of his neck.
He could feel his cheeks grow warm. Frick.
"You done yet?" He grumbled at her.
"Mhmm." She declared. "Checks out! You're good as new."
"What?" He was actually a little miffed. "Ya think I'd lie to you?"
"Not about anything important." She quipped right back. "Something dumb like you being hurt and not letting anyone know, yup."
He rolled his eyes. Her giggles tickled his ears.
He tightened his grip on her just a little, and picked up speed. Inuyasha had an idea of a good place to set up shelter for the night and he wanted to get them there well before the sun set.
Lost in the rhythm of his steps, Inuyasha was a bit taken back when he refocused on his surroundings and found that the sky was beginning to take on that extra warm orange glow. Carrying Kagome's weight and running had a familiar meditative quality to it, though it was still sometimes hard to believe that that would be something he'd have the chance to call normal.
His campsite of choice was protected by solid rock ringing one side and sturdy groves of trees on the other. The small clearing in the middle was flat enough and not too rocky for a human to settle on.
Kagome made a fuss when he wouldn't let her build the fire, citing that he would starve to death before her slow-ass can get it started. But it would seem that he is a sucker for that look of hers, bottom lip sticking out a little in such a pitiful pout that he folded rather quickly. Tomorrow, he conceded, would be her turn if they made camp earlier.
Lounging on his side with his head propped up with his arm, he opened one eye to watch his companion.
Kagome was always unreasonably cheerful in his opinion, but she seemed extra smile-y today. Ever since they left the village, she's been beaming at this and that, whatever thing they ran past that caught her fancy.
It was just so impossible that she was this happy to be running around alone with a hanyou for at least a week without seeing many humans.
Humming to herself, Kagome was unpacking the bag she'd brought on the other side of the fire. When she seemingly located what she was rummaging for, she made a sound of victory and popped up to her feet.
"Inuyasha!" She waved the bundle in her hand at him. "Kaede packed us onigiri!"
He grunted at her, which she was now accustomed to as his regular response. The girl proceeded to lay out the rice balls closer to the fire to toast.
Smiling at that, she went back to unraveling the mat he assumed she'd be sleeping on and set the folded cloak plus another blanket on top. It was warm and muggy at night right now, but he was glad to see she was well equipped for the colder air when they ascended the mountains tomorrow.
Dinner was a casual affair, the skin of the fish roasted to the perfect crisp under his watchful eye. Kagome seemed satisfied enough when she buried some root vegetable of sorts under the embers to slowly cook for the morning.
Later that evening, it became plenty apparent that it was him who was antsy as he flopped over on his tummy on the branch he was lounging in.
The night was warm but not stuffy and the cicadas were lulling, not loud. So it made no sense why he was so damn fidgety.
Maybe the problem was he'd expected to spend at least a couple of days stewing about in a tree to sort out the mess in his head. There was a lot that happened in short order.
It was hard to admit but he'd actually been worried whether Kagome would be more wary around him now. He'd taken care thus far to not kill anything in front of the new humans in his life, not even small prey, so he wouldn't showcase his violent capabilities. So he wouldn't seem dangerous.
Then he went and killed all those youkai with extreme accuracy inches from her face.
But this apparently was a stupid thing to worry about. Because the dummy not only didn't seem to register anything different but showed up the very next day and announced they were going off somewhere on an errand.
He will never understand what goes on inside Kagome's head.
"'Nuyasha?" A timid murmur of his name pulled him from his thoughts.
He glanced down at the bundle at the base of the tree he was on.
"Yeah?"
"Um," Another hesitating mumble came from under the blanket. "a-are you upset I made you come with me?"
"Eh?" He sat up, incredulous. "Where'd ya get that from?"
"I dunno. You've been kinda mopey."
"Am not! Just thinkin' that's all." Hearing the start of her annoying giggle, he hurried to cut her off. "And I do think sometimes!" Unknowingly a corner of his mouth turned up at her muffled laugh. "I was starting to feel all cooped up, 's nice to get out. Plus—"
"I'd get eaten, I know." She stole the next words from his mouth, humour in her voice.
Silence fell between them. Though nothing had changed, this time he felt less restless in it.
After a while, Kagome sat up, dark hair wild and curling unbound around her shoulders. He could hear the stuttered starts and stops of her breath as she attempted to say something then changed her mind.
"Why are you sleeping up there?" She asked eventually.
He was about to say because prey slept on the ground but thank frick he bit his tongue in time. "'Cause I wanna." He grumbled, hoping it was enough to satisfy her curiosity.
She made a noise of assent and wiggled back into the blankets, but not before he heard her mumble of "but you're so far away". He was pretty sure Kagome hadn't meant for him to catch that.
Hesitating, he thought it over and decided to hell with it. It wasn't like it was anything they hadn't done before.
He hopped down, causing her to startle just a little, obviously having thought he'd stay put up in the canopy. He nestled in at the base of the trunk with Kagome's sleeping mat within arm's length.
Making a show of grumbling and crossing his arms, he settled beside her.
She turned to curl on her side to face him. In the night, her eyes were impossibly dark but still so soft.
"Goodnight, Inuyasha." Kagome murmured, as a yawn disrupted her small smile.
"Keh. Get ta sleep, dummy. You're obviously tired."
She nodded then proceeded to burrow her chin under the blanket.
It was clear that Kagome thought nothing of their arrangement. And why would she? She'd fallen asleep plenty of times beside him before.
Maybe the difference was that this time it was deliberate and acknowledged. And maybe he was just being overly sensitive about Kikyou's words earlier. Sure, he could just be an asshole misinterpreting her standard cautions, but the more he dwelled on it, the more he bristled at what was unspoken between the lines. That she might've been hinting that he heed his boundaries in unchaperoned company of a maiden at night.
He sighed. He'd probably unfairly projected some of the past insinuations thrown at him onto her words and gotten himself all riled up for no reason.
Beside him, Kagome sighed as well. The steady length of her breaths told him she was already asleep though.
"G'night, Kagome." He whispered, reaching over to pat her ankle.
Inuyasha closed his eyes and leaned his head back against the trunk. Maybe he'll try and doze a bit.
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A/N: Fieldtripfieldtripfieldtrip! :D
(Going away for a bit and wanted to get this baby out before I do. See any mistakes, holler at me. I fix when I return.)
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, this plot, the exact sequence of words and any original characters described therein, I reserve all rights to.