Title: Falling Stars
Author: Celyia (ladycelyia@aol.com)
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi still owns all. :-)
Dedication: To all those who enjoy the journey.
Note: Oh, yuck. :-) Well, I'm back. Sorry about that, but unfortunately, between school and work, I had even less time to work on this than I expected. Anyway, so I'll work again on this all weekend and lets see if we can at least finish Part Two. At least, right now, that's the goal. If all goes well, I'll work on Part 3 (the last planned part) next week. After that, I'll revise (I'm dying to revise this baby!) and hopefully get rid of a lot of the inconsistencies and, perhaps, even polish it up a little. Oh, well. First things first- gotta get this chapter out.
-Cel.
Chapter 7
She couldn't bear to look at his eyes anymore.
Sighing, Kagome dropped her gaze to her hands as she scaled the rough, white granite that jutted out overhead. She could feel those startlingly golden eyes, full of confusion and perhaps a bit of impatience, boring into the crown of her head as she pulled herself up to the ledge.
"Dumb wench," the dog demon started suddenly, causing the girl to teeter at the edge of the rock with surprise.
"Whazzat?" Kagome asked, not bothering to thank the hanyou for placing a strong hand on her shoulder to steady her since he was the one to nearly cause her to fall in the first place.
Inuyasha just huffed impatiently as he turned away from the girl.
"Don't know what the hell your problem is, but your stupidity is making us lose some serious time," he complained, crouching the way he normally did in a silent invitation to carry her. "For once we don't have the houshi or the brat hanging around to slow us down and then you decide that you gotta be all independent and stupid and stuff."
Kagome felt her lips twitch in amusement as she noticed him avoided all mention of Sango. Again. Shaking the thought out of her head, she walked by the young man, ignoring his look as she declined his unspoken offer.
"Yuh huh. Thanks, but I'm not about to be carried all throughout Japan, thank you very much," Kagome replied as she pushed herself to keep up with his pace.
"Never bothered you before."
"Well, it does now," the girl grumbled as she tried to (unsuccessfully) ignore the hanyou's sudden exclamation of impatience.
It was the stupidest thing, Kagome admitted freely as they walked together in a rather uncompanionable silence, but a part of her knew Inuyasha had a point. And even though the more reasonable part of her knew that she was being a little unfair, it seemed impossible to change.
As incredibly infantile as it sounded, even in her own head, the truth was that it hurt to look at him. After all, she committed the ultimate sin: she had betrayed him.
Hell, she was still betraying him.
Wincing as she tried to push that thought out of her head, Kagome concentrated on the road ahead of her. Angrily, Kagome kicked at a small rock in her path, only to gasp in pain as she managed to step directly on the sore wound she received last night.
The masochist in her, though, made her seize the pain and embrace it, as if it was payment for lying to Inuyasha.
Lying? she asked herself suddenly, huffing at the idea. I'm not lying to him! I'm just not telling him a little itty bitty thing. If he wasn't such an arrogant baka, I could tell him what happened last night.
Instead, she was stuck walking with him in the middle of nowhere while keeping something she knew he had a right to know from him. Sighing as she looked at the hanyou's angry face, Kagome shuddered. It would take only a few words to relieve the guilt, she thought.
But then what? How could she stand by knowing that it was her own incredibly dumb actions that would cause the latest altercation between the brothers? Sesshoumaru had already lost an arm. Who would be the next one to be hurt, if not killed outright?
And right at that moment, the young woman couldn't handle the thought.
She already had enough blood on her hands.
The youkai lord's blood.
Frowning, her eyes immediately studied her hands carefully for any signs of the blood she had spent so long scrubbing off the night before. He had saved her.
Why?
It didn't matter! She hadn't asked him to interfere. She could have saved herself. She wasn't going to feel guilty about this, especially since this was Sesshoumaru. He probably arranged it all just to throw her off, anyway.
But if that were true, then why did his breathtaking eyes look so surprised? Shivering slightly as she remembered the intensity of the golden orbs, Kagome couldn't help but toss a curious look towards the younger brother.
Even Inuyasha had tried to kill her at one point, she thought as she remembered the way his claws had slashed at her head. Had Kaede not been there at the time, the hanyou would have undoubtedly succeeded.
Frowning at her turn of thoughts, Kagome gazed surreptitiously at Inuyasha. He would have killed her once, but now, he'd kill to save her. Kagome didn't need to be told to know he cared about her (although it would have been nice to hear once in a while) to know he'd die to save her. Who would have thought their relationship could change so drastically in such a short amount of time!
Shaking her head slowly, Kagome jogged to catch up with the dog demon. He had to know, Kagome decided then and there. As hard as it would be to tell him, as heartbreaking it would be to stand his disappointment in her, she just couldn't lie to him anymore, even if it was a lie of omission.
"What? Whatcha looking at?" Inuyasha barked, his voice harsh and gruff. Of course, she thought as her left eyebrow raised in ironic amusement, he's going to make this as hard on me as possible.
"There's something…"
He stopped suddenly, dead in his tracks, as he turned to glare at her. "You've been ignoring me all morning. Now you finally decide to…"
Kagome turned her head, her eyes widening as a barrage of heaviness battered her body until she felt like dropping to her knees. Her eyes narrowed in shock as the pain resounded through her body, weaking her until her very knees shook.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha whispered as he grasped her flailing elbow as she lost her balance.
She closed her eyes in pain as he pulled her close to the warmth of his strong body, her heart beating rapidly as she tried to form her thoughts. Dizzily, the girl leaned her head against the hanyou's shoulder as she tried to refrain from vomiting.
"Kagome, it's okay," Inuyasha said, his voice low and comforting as he nuzzled her ear. "I'll take care of it. I feel it, too. Just tell me which direction."
The girl shook her head, barely able to focus her eyes on his kindly face.
"What's wrong with me?" she panted, her head lolling to the side helplessly as another tremor of pain wracked through her tiny body.
The hanyou grabbed her tightly about her waist, his voice oddly gravelly as he spoke. "Kagome! Where is Naraku?"
Kagome looked into the eyes of her friend and smiled weakly as she reached out to cup his face. Her hand, trembling from the exertion, fell to her side even as her own eyes fluttered closed.
"He's everywhere, Inuyasha," the girl whispered, her voice barely carrying amidst the din of silence. Forcing her eyes open long enough to stare straight into the hanyou's amber eyes, Kagome cringed as she saw the concern and anger boiling in them. "He's everywhere."
Response to reviews:
Steph: Oh, you reclaim your position once again. :-) Hmm. Okay! I need to stop writing at 3am in the morning. Clarity is definitely suffering now. :-) Inuyasha is utterly oblivious because he only has a human's inferior senses right now, Kagome had a false sense of security, and Sesshoumaru? he wasn't really thinking clearly enough at the time to discern *who* was coming. (Maybe he was too busy trying to find a way out of making himself kill her? Or maybe, just maybe, he was still pondering her lips! You never know!) :-) Hope that makes a little more sense. I'll have to correct that in the next revision. :-)
Brooke: *grin* You think so? :-) Glad you liked it! And here's the next chapter, as per your request. :-)
Jetflash: Hopefully, this will make you smile a little.
I LUV INUYASHA: Ack! No deaths! No dying! :-) I'll be sure to put up the rest of the story as soon as I can! Thanks!
Voldersnort: *laugh* You are right! They *havent* spoken much yet! Hmm. That's okay. Soon enough, that's gonna change. Hmm. Harry Potter, eh? :-) Never read it. *must be the only person in the world who hasn't* :-)
Jaye: With Shippou? Really? *hides the fact that Shippou-chan's scenes were basically all filler* I'm so glad! Here's to hoping you continue thinking its realistic!
Lightning: Thanks, cutie! I'm trying!
Alyson: I hope it doesn't disappoint! :-) Poor Sesshoumaru. He's gonna have to go through a little hell for a while until he learns to stop justifying and start accepting. Oh, men!
Vernal Equinox: Yeah, I get your meaning. Thank you. That seriously has to be one of the best compliments ever. :-)
Sammy-chan: Who *wouldn't* be (well, of those people in their right mind, anyway) taken by Sesshoumaru's utter beauty :-) I got a part coming up just for you in a few chapters. You'll know it when you see it.
Stormlight: Kissing? How *shocking*! Would Sesshoumaru really dirty his pretty little hands with human cooties? *innocent look* By the bye, I read your Goblin King. *wow*. I loved that. That was way sweet! Have any copies left?
Ranma Inverse: *GRIN* I'm really beginning to believe it, O Personal Encouragement. You, of course, are so full of flattery that it makes my head spin, but of course, that also makes me happy as hell too. :-) Thanks, Ranma-chan, for being here. :-) I'm really glad you are.
Angry Gen: *sets her watch* Okay, be prepared for abounding cuteness in roughly 2 chapters. ;-) Poetic? Bah! I blabber. You are the poet around here, m'dear. :-)
No One: Ooops. Nope. This isn't a KA/IY. As for Kagome, I guess I just write her (and everything else) the best way I can. :)
Voila! The beginning of part deux! Let me know what you think, eh? :-) By the bye, if I missed any reviews, I'm sorry! I'm sorta tired right now and I'm being a dork. Thanks for taking the time! It means a lot to me :-)
Author: Celyia (ladycelyia@aol.com)
Genre: Romance
Disclaimer: Rumiko Takahashi still owns all. :-)
Dedication: To all those who enjoy the journey.
Note: Oh, yuck. :-) Well, I'm back. Sorry about that, but unfortunately, between school and work, I had even less time to work on this than I expected. Anyway, so I'll work again on this all weekend and lets see if we can at least finish Part Two. At least, right now, that's the goal. If all goes well, I'll work on Part 3 (the last planned part) next week. After that, I'll revise (I'm dying to revise this baby!) and hopefully get rid of a lot of the inconsistencies and, perhaps, even polish it up a little. Oh, well. First things first- gotta get this chapter out.
-Cel.
Chapter 7
She couldn't bear to look at his eyes anymore.
Sighing, Kagome dropped her gaze to her hands as she scaled the rough, white granite that jutted out overhead. She could feel those startlingly golden eyes, full of confusion and perhaps a bit of impatience, boring into the crown of her head as she pulled herself up to the ledge.
"Dumb wench," the dog demon started suddenly, causing the girl to teeter at the edge of the rock with surprise.
"Whazzat?" Kagome asked, not bothering to thank the hanyou for placing a strong hand on her shoulder to steady her since he was the one to nearly cause her to fall in the first place.
Inuyasha just huffed impatiently as he turned away from the girl.
"Don't know what the hell your problem is, but your stupidity is making us lose some serious time," he complained, crouching the way he normally did in a silent invitation to carry her. "For once we don't have the houshi or the brat hanging around to slow us down and then you decide that you gotta be all independent and stupid and stuff."
Kagome felt her lips twitch in amusement as she noticed him avoided all mention of Sango. Again. Shaking the thought out of her head, she walked by the young man, ignoring his look as she declined his unspoken offer.
"Yuh huh. Thanks, but I'm not about to be carried all throughout Japan, thank you very much," Kagome replied as she pushed herself to keep up with his pace.
"Never bothered you before."
"Well, it does now," the girl grumbled as she tried to (unsuccessfully) ignore the hanyou's sudden exclamation of impatience.
It was the stupidest thing, Kagome admitted freely as they walked together in a rather uncompanionable silence, but a part of her knew Inuyasha had a point. And even though the more reasonable part of her knew that she was being a little unfair, it seemed impossible to change.
As incredibly infantile as it sounded, even in her own head, the truth was that it hurt to look at him. After all, she committed the ultimate sin: she had betrayed him.
Hell, she was still betraying him.
Wincing as she tried to push that thought out of her head, Kagome concentrated on the road ahead of her. Angrily, Kagome kicked at a small rock in her path, only to gasp in pain as she managed to step directly on the sore wound she received last night.
The masochist in her, though, made her seize the pain and embrace it, as if it was payment for lying to Inuyasha.
Lying? she asked herself suddenly, huffing at the idea. I'm not lying to him! I'm just not telling him a little itty bitty thing. If he wasn't such an arrogant baka, I could tell him what happened last night.
Instead, she was stuck walking with him in the middle of nowhere while keeping something she knew he had a right to know from him. Sighing as she looked at the hanyou's angry face, Kagome shuddered. It would take only a few words to relieve the guilt, she thought.
But then what? How could she stand by knowing that it was her own incredibly dumb actions that would cause the latest altercation between the brothers? Sesshoumaru had already lost an arm. Who would be the next one to be hurt, if not killed outright?
And right at that moment, the young woman couldn't handle the thought.
She already had enough blood on her hands.
The youkai lord's blood.
Frowning, her eyes immediately studied her hands carefully for any signs of the blood she had spent so long scrubbing off the night before. He had saved her.
Why?
It didn't matter! She hadn't asked him to interfere. She could have saved herself. She wasn't going to feel guilty about this, especially since this was Sesshoumaru. He probably arranged it all just to throw her off, anyway.
But if that were true, then why did his breathtaking eyes look so surprised? Shivering slightly as she remembered the intensity of the golden orbs, Kagome couldn't help but toss a curious look towards the younger brother.
Even Inuyasha had tried to kill her at one point, she thought as she remembered the way his claws had slashed at her head. Had Kaede not been there at the time, the hanyou would have undoubtedly succeeded.
Frowning at her turn of thoughts, Kagome gazed surreptitiously at Inuyasha. He would have killed her once, but now, he'd kill to save her. Kagome didn't need to be told to know he cared about her (although it would have been nice to hear once in a while) to know he'd die to save her. Who would have thought their relationship could change so drastically in such a short amount of time!
Shaking her head slowly, Kagome jogged to catch up with the dog demon. He had to know, Kagome decided then and there. As hard as it would be to tell him, as heartbreaking it would be to stand his disappointment in her, she just couldn't lie to him anymore, even if it was a lie of omission.
"What? Whatcha looking at?" Inuyasha barked, his voice harsh and gruff. Of course, she thought as her left eyebrow raised in ironic amusement, he's going to make this as hard on me as possible.
"There's something…"
He stopped suddenly, dead in his tracks, as he turned to glare at her. "You've been ignoring me all morning. Now you finally decide to…"
Kagome turned her head, her eyes widening as a barrage of heaviness battered her body until she felt like dropping to her knees. Her eyes narrowed in shock as the pain resounded through her body, weaking her until her very knees shook.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha whispered as he grasped her flailing elbow as she lost her balance.
She closed her eyes in pain as he pulled her close to the warmth of his strong body, her heart beating rapidly as she tried to form her thoughts. Dizzily, the girl leaned her head against the hanyou's shoulder as she tried to refrain from vomiting.
"Kagome, it's okay," Inuyasha said, his voice low and comforting as he nuzzled her ear. "I'll take care of it. I feel it, too. Just tell me which direction."
The girl shook her head, barely able to focus her eyes on his kindly face.
"What's wrong with me?" she panted, her head lolling to the side helplessly as another tremor of pain wracked through her tiny body.
The hanyou grabbed her tightly about her waist, his voice oddly gravelly as he spoke. "Kagome! Where is Naraku?"
Kagome looked into the eyes of her friend and smiled weakly as she reached out to cup his face. Her hand, trembling from the exertion, fell to her side even as her own eyes fluttered closed.
"He's everywhere, Inuyasha," the girl whispered, her voice barely carrying amidst the din of silence. Forcing her eyes open long enough to stare straight into the hanyou's amber eyes, Kagome cringed as she saw the concern and anger boiling in them. "He's everywhere."
Response to reviews:
Steph: Oh, you reclaim your position once again. :-) Hmm. Okay! I need to stop writing at 3am in the morning. Clarity is definitely suffering now. :-) Inuyasha is utterly oblivious because he only has a human's inferior senses right now, Kagome had a false sense of security, and Sesshoumaru? he wasn't really thinking clearly enough at the time to discern *who* was coming. (Maybe he was too busy trying to find a way out of making himself kill her? Or maybe, just maybe, he was still pondering her lips! You never know!) :-) Hope that makes a little more sense. I'll have to correct that in the next revision. :-)
Brooke: *grin* You think so? :-) Glad you liked it! And here's the next chapter, as per your request. :-)
Jetflash: Hopefully, this will make you smile a little.
I LUV INUYASHA: Ack! No deaths! No dying! :-) I'll be sure to put up the rest of the story as soon as I can! Thanks!
Voldersnort: *laugh* You are right! They *havent* spoken much yet! Hmm. That's okay. Soon enough, that's gonna change. Hmm. Harry Potter, eh? :-) Never read it. *must be the only person in the world who hasn't* :-)
Jaye: With Shippou? Really? *hides the fact that Shippou-chan's scenes were basically all filler* I'm so glad! Here's to hoping you continue thinking its realistic!
Lightning: Thanks, cutie! I'm trying!
Alyson: I hope it doesn't disappoint! :-) Poor Sesshoumaru. He's gonna have to go through a little hell for a while until he learns to stop justifying and start accepting. Oh, men!
Vernal Equinox: Yeah, I get your meaning. Thank you. That seriously has to be one of the best compliments ever. :-)
Sammy-chan: Who *wouldn't* be (well, of those people in their right mind, anyway) taken by Sesshoumaru's utter beauty :-) I got a part coming up just for you in a few chapters. You'll know it when you see it.
Stormlight: Kissing? How *shocking*! Would Sesshoumaru really dirty his pretty little hands with human cooties? *innocent look* By the bye, I read your Goblin King. *wow*. I loved that. That was way sweet! Have any copies left?
Ranma Inverse: *GRIN* I'm really beginning to believe it, O Personal Encouragement. You, of course, are so full of flattery that it makes my head spin, but of course, that also makes me happy as hell too. :-) Thanks, Ranma-chan, for being here. :-) I'm really glad you are.
Angry Gen: *sets her watch* Okay, be prepared for abounding cuteness in roughly 2 chapters. ;-) Poetic? Bah! I blabber. You are the poet around here, m'dear. :-)
No One: Ooops. Nope. This isn't a KA/IY. As for Kagome, I guess I just write her (and everything else) the best way I can. :)
Voila! The beginning of part deux! Let me know what you think, eh? :-) By the bye, if I missed any reviews, I'm sorry! I'm sorta tired right now and I'm being a dork. Thanks for taking the time! It means a lot to me :-)