{The Road Between Souls}
{chapter 4 - bends and twists}
Standard disclaimers, blah blah blah.
~~~
Inuyasha lay stomach down on his futon, trying to bring his mind away from the pain in his back. He was entitled to said pain, he'd told himself. Getting poisonous claws crammed through your back doesn't exactly make for a comfortable feeling afterward - even after healing.
His thoughts drifted to Kagome. He didn't know what had made him kiss her, or why he inwardly seethed so much when Tsuraiuta had interrupted them. It couldn't be her...could it? Is ofukuro right?
He winced as another wave of pain washed over him, making him grunt slightly.
"Chi-chikusou..." Dammit Sesshoumaru...
~~~
"Kouga, can we please slow down!?" one of the youkai gasped out.
"Shut up!" Kouga snarled. "We have to find Kagome!"
"The wolves are exhausted. They need a break!"
"C'mon Kouga, we've been traveling for a week straight. We need a break."
"Fine," Kouga pouted, sitting down. I WILL find you, Kagome, if I have to die while doing so!
~~~
Kagome quietly stepped into Inuyasha's room, cleaning the dirty spots. She turned, noticing the look of pain on Inuyasha's face.
"What's wrong?" she asked, putting down her dust cloth.
"Nothing," he snapped, though his face was contorted in pain. Kagome walked over to the futon, then began to gently knead his back with the heels of her hands, smiling slightly as Inuyasha's face relaxed.
"Harder." he mumbled. Kagome paused, then carefully, so as to not hurt him, sat on his lower back, straddling his hips from behind, then resumed the massage, hearing the sporadic pops as his spine relaxed.
Falling into a rhythm, Kagome seemed to lose herself. The only sound in the room was his spine popping, his soft grunts of pleasure, and their breathing, perfectly in synch. At that moment, there was nothing but him and her, and so she focused on healing his back as much as she could. It wouldn't help much, but it might make him feel better after she left.
Slowly, her hands stopped and she moved off of him, resuming her original job. Once more, she felt that he was scrutinizing her, though she wasn't quite sure why. She sighed, looking down at her yukata. The same one she'd worn the day Konton-ko and his band of slavers had appeared. Now it was tattered, the greenish brown cloth worn in places.
Abruptly, Inuyasha stood up and walked toward her. Kagome's heartbeat increased as he circled her, his eyes tracing the outline of her body.
"What is it?" she asked softly. Slowly, he stepped closer, his hands wrapping around her waist, pulling her to him. Kagome placed her hands on his chest, guessing what was going to happen. She felt his mouth move to her neck, tracing a line of kisses across her face, finally reaching her mouth. She tilted her face, pressing her lips against his. He tightened his hands on her, deepening the kiss, letting her tongue move inside his mouth. She gently traced around his sharp fangs, and he moaned quietly.
Gently, she pulled back, untangling herself from his embrace. "I-I have to go..." she whispered softly.
"Not unless I say you can, you don't." With that, Inuyasha returned to kissing her, his hands moving over her body carefully. Kagome let herself be lost in his embrace, feeling his caresses.
He pulled his mouth from hers, giving her a chance to breathe. Slowly, he moved his fingers to her obi, beginning to untie the simple knot. Kagome froze. She had no illusions that he would be as gentle as Kouga had been, from that first night all the way up to the last. She clenched her fists. She couldn't risk refusing him - that was a mistake that could, quite likely, get her killed.
The obi slid off her hips, and Inuyasha began to calmly pull her yukata off her shoulders, his eyes never leaving hers. Kagome was glad for the white under-robe she always wore.
Inuyasha walked away, reaching into a drawer and pulling out a deep red yukata, a sprinkling of white lily flowers as the pattern. Next came a white obi, which had a pattern of small gold specks.
He moved closer again, and placidly pulled her arms through the sleeves, wrapping it around her body. The obi he looped around her waist, tying it in the same simple knot the other one had been in.
"Much better," he said in satisfied tone. Kagome noticed that her new yukata matched Inuyasha's...a subtle sign that she was his.
"Why give me a new yukata?" Kagome asked, looking up into his eyes once again.
"You belong to me," was all he would say.
~~~
A small child wandered through the streets of a small village, looking for the girl who had taken care of her for as long as she could remember.
"Yume-ne-chan...doko ni Yume-ne-chan...?" the villagers looked sadly at the pitiful child who walked with a slight limp, tears making her filthy face even dirtier.
Still the child trudged on, determined to find her beloved ne-chan, the youkai who'd loved her and cared for her like a mother would a child.
Until those awful lizards had come. Running through their small hut, stealing and breaking things, dragging Yume-ne-chan away by her long red braid.
~~~
"Crap!" Inuyasha dodged a swipe by his brother's poisonous claws, swirling the Tetsusaiga around as he waited for an opportunity. There!
"Kaze no Kizu!" he roared, sending the ripping wind-blades straight for his brother. Blood flowed, and Sesshoumaru howled in pain.
Suddenly - "Dokkasou!" Inuyasha barely managed to avoid being run through for the umpteenth time. A quick flick of the Tetsusaiga's blade - and there!
"Sankon Tetsusou!" Inuyasha let the gold trail left behind slash Sesshoumaru's face horribly. "I win!" he cried out gleefully.
Sesshoumaru glared at his younger brother angrily, then let his customary bored expression take over his features. "So you got lucky. You won't next time," he said lazily. Inuyasha growled, and Sesshoumaru smirked.
Brotherly love. Yeah, right.
~~~
"I can't believe you let him kiss you!" Sango squealed, clutching Hiraikotsu to her chest.
"I can," Yari said with a wicked grin. "You want him, don't you?"
Kagome's face turned red. "I do not! Yari-san, you are so perverted! Do you only think about sex?"
"Yeah, that sounds about right." Kagome rolled her eyes as Sango remarked about how horrible and perverted her owner was.
"He's such a jerk, you know? Like one second I'll just be standing there cleaning his room, and the next he's got his hands on my butt!"
Yari shook her head. "I'd just let him. But I bet he's not as good at it as Sesshoumaru-sama." she turned to address Kagome, "You are so lucky that Inuyasha-sama gave you that yukata! I'd die to get one like it!"
"Matching Sesshoumaru-sama's, ne?" Sango asked dryly.
"Exactly! Sango-chan, I don't know how you're so smart!" Kagome laughed.
"What were you thinking of when he started undressing you?" Sango asked, returning to polishing Hiraikotsu.
"Honestly? I thought I was gonna get raped."
"It's no big deal, though, is it? I mean, it's not like you're a virgin." Yari reasoned.
"You make it sound like that makes it okay!" Kagome yelped. "And anyhow, Kouga-kun was always very gentle. I doubt that Inuyasha would bother with that for me."
"Let's get off the topic," Sango said.
"Fine. I'm just worried that Kouga-kun's gonna break in here one day and go on a killing rage."
"I'm scared my little sister's gonna die without me," Yari said sadly. "I wasn't really related to her, but she was like my little sister. She was this adorable little human girl. Her name was Rin."
Sango was silent. Kagome looked over at Yari and saw tears falling down her cheeks, though the youkai girl was obviously making an effort to hold them back.
"It'll be okay," Sango said finally. "I'll ask Miroku-sama to pray for her."
"Thanks," Yari smiled slightly. "Who knows, maybe she'll find another ne-chan to take care of her."
"I hope so," Kagome said quietly. "there's too much death already to add on that of a little kid."
~~~
That night, a small fox-child watched in terror as his parents were slaughtered in front of him. A strange youkai with a bokken in hand smacked him over the back of the head, and after that, things got rather...black.
~~~
Plot development is fun! Read ch5...after I write it...¬¬;;;
Too many ideas...*turns into a zombie*
-Katra Winner
