2 Princes chapter 6
I have an idea… I think I know what will happen now. I will weasel out of it. ^_^. Naw, I really have an idea. You'll just have to read it and see! And No, Austin (if u ever actually read this), I am NOT killing off your namesake. :-P
Kagome spent the day with Shippu. Shippu had aged a lot since the quest's beginning, of course, but was still funloving and full of life. Kagome found herself tearing through the woods after him, and then collapsing, laughing, when she caught up to the kitsune.
But in the late afternoon, it began to rain. The kitsune could tell a storm was brewing. "Alright. You run ahead, Shippu, and get out of the rain. I'll be along in a minute. I need to think."
Shippu took off running. Kitsunes typically hated the rain, and this promised to be a full-blown storm! Kagome walked more slowly. She did not mind the rain so much. She had a lot on her mind.
Possibly because of the rain, or possibly because she was lost in thought, she almost didn't see Kyuketsuki and Inuyasha standing in front of her in a clearing. But she did see them eventually, too late to go around. She had to confront them. So she stood in front of them, head bowed, and waited for someone to say something.
Inuyasha spoke. "He tells me you have not accepted his offer yet. Why not?"
She looked up. She had not been expecting this. A chewing out was more his style. She looked into his eyes. A pleading look… hope. He had not given up on her. She looked into Kyu's eyes. Sadness…. Pity. "you don't have to do this, I understand if you need time" his eyes seemed to say.
"I… um…. "
"Is it me?" asked Kyu.
"No! no… you're so sweet, so kind, so caring…"
"but you don't love me."
"No! I do…I think…"
"Then what? Is it that you don't want to get married?" Or that she loves another more….
A long pause.
"Is it him?"
"yes." Kagome looked up. "I didn't want to say… I…. I love you, Inuyasha."
"Then why didn't you refuse him and accept me?" broke in Inuyasha.
"I…. I….." her eyes focused on some distant point, as if she was seeing into the past, into her memories. She barely saw them, seeing only…. Only…
the well… Inuyasha…
"I'm leaving"
"no… no… I just want to go home!"
"Kagome? Kagome, what do you see?"
"Feh! Bitch! You have to look for the Shards!"
"I'll come back! I just need to go home!"
"What?"
"Don't make me use the S-word!"
"Just try it!"
"no…. no …. I never wanted to use it, I only wanted to go home! I never meant to hurt you!"
"Kagome…" she was turning pale, pale as death. The scars across her face stuck out. She dropped to her knees, and Inuyasha went and held her. "It's alright, It's alright, what do you see?" he used a pain-sharing technique he had learned long ago to share in the memories, to understand.
"OSI—AHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Pain like fire
A high shrill shriek
Pain… matched by heart-pain
Pain overwhelming
She never felt such pain before
Sharp claws
Glinting in the sunlight
"noo… never again, never again, never" she whispered, before lapsing into unconciousness.
Inuyasha held her close to him and wept. How could he have hurt her so badly? He didn't even remember it until now. She never let on.
Kyuketsuki watched. He saw that she had passed out. He did not know what was happening, but he knew the Hanyou had something to do with it. He picked up a large branch and began to approach, slowly. "Get away from her, Youkai! I know your kind. A youkai trapped in a hanyou's body! Only a monster would harm her! Leave! Leave her! Go, I say!"
Inuyasha did not move. Kyu was getting angry. "GO!" he came closer, closer. He held the branch like a base ball bat. "I'm warning you, Youkai!" and he swung the bat in horizontal arc, hearing a sickening CRACK! as it connected with his arm. Inuyasha looked up, a strange look in his eyes. Then he bent down over Kagome. Kyu readied the branch again.
But Inuyasha did not hurt Kagome. He gave her a light kiss on the cheek and laid her down gently. Then, he was gone, into the night, almost instantly, certainly too fast for Kyu to realize what happened.
What HAD happened? He remembered the look in Inuyasha's eyes. He could place the emotion in them now. Pity, compassion, love. It was as if he was saying "I know what I am, and you will never understand that. But I love this woman."
"What have I done?" he murmered. "Oh, Kagome, I'm so sorry… Kagome…"
He dropped the branch and scooped up Kagome in his arms. He carried her back to the village. Above them, the new moon rose.
K, I stopped here b/c I want you to think about what happened. I know it is a bit confusing. Part of this was a flashback, but the non-italic things happened while she was lost in memory. And no, Kyu does not know about the new-moon human-form thing. He just knows he possibly broke Inuyasha's arm.