Burn of Desire

II.

Ever notice how any relationship always has some sort of problem with someone that came before you? Someone that has the one you loved hooked in a trance that they can't get out of? And that holds them back from noticing you?

Even if you're practically the exact duplicate of that someone?!

Well, I don't know too many people that are as close as Kikyou and I. I mean, sure, once people find out that the one they love is still in love with the person before, they may try to act like that person, in hopes of getting more attention.

But if I can't get Inuyasha's attention by being me, I don't know what can!

Okay, so maybe I'm being a little mellow dramatic, he does notice me after all. Just not in the way I want him to. Right after Kikyou's ashes were stolen and I confronted Inuyasha about not being able to look me in the eye, I was beyond hurt when he saw Kikyou instead of me.

When I think back on it, I sometimes ask myself why I didn't just let him kiss me. After all, isn't that what I long for? But I knew, deep in my heart, that he would be kissing Kikyou and not me. And who would want, even if they're with the person they love, to be with someone when they call you someone else? I shudder at the thought of Inuyasha whispering Kikyou's name in my ear.

Plus, things probably wouldn't be the same between us if I let him kiss me…ahem, Kikyou.

But the times where he actually does kiss her, she has the nerve to try to drag him into hell! Well, if she thinks she can get away with that while I'm around, she's got another thing coming! Nothing's going to take away my Inuyasha!

On that note, that leads me to say what happened that night while we were all in that cabin. Everyone got done eating his or her Ramón noodles (which Inuyasha really enjoyed), then Inuyasha went outside to sleep like he said he would. It was a nice night, so I was desperate to go outside and sleep with him, but I figured that would be a little too obvious on my behalf.

So instead, I quietly crawl my way over to the window, making sure not to wake anyone up in the mean time. Once I get to the window, I grip the windowsill tightly; pulling myself up slowly so only my eyes and above could be seen.

And what I see makes me gasp.

Not only do I see Inuyasha, who had a very distant look in his eyes and was standing as still as a statue, but also Kikyou (bet you couldn't guess that one, ne?).

By the looks of it, she had just arrived, for she was walking towards Inuyasha, getting closer and closer to him every second, and making my heart pound harder and harder every second. I know my knuckles must be dead white already, for when I flexed my fingers, they felt like I've been holding a pencil tight for five hours.

Her lips move. Damn her for not speaking louder! No matter, whatever she said made him nod slowly and sit down Indian style on the dark, green grass.

Kikyou reaches him, kneeling down in front of him and putting a hand on his shoulder.

Don't kiss him, Kikyou…please, I beg you. Don't kiss him…

I close my eyes shut tightly, feeling a couple of tears slide down my cheek. Not wanting to miss a thing, I snap my eyes open, only to see Kikyou leaning forward to kiss him. And when her lips met with his, my head began spinning so fast, I didn't know my right from my left.

Letting go of the windowsill, my body falls to the wooden floor in a heap, my breath coming out harshly. I didn't let myself sit there for too long, however, since I knew what Kikyou would be planning.

I crawl over to the door, which is only a couple feet away, but it felt like it was fifteen feet. Reaching the doorway, which held no door, by the way, I look out, only to get a better view of the two. Swallowing hard so I don't make myself sick, I cry out:

"Inuyasha!"

His eyes pop open just as a blue glow began behind Kikyou, and I quickly thanked God for Inuyasha and my speed. He puts his head back to unlock lips with Kikyou and looks at me, almost confusedly. Does he know who I am?

"Kagome?"

Yes! He knows! Inuyasha's still in the land of the living!

Yet I only nod, looking him straight in the eye to get him out of Kikyou's trance. Out of the corner of my eye, though, I see Kikyou glare at me before standing up straight.

At first, I thought I saw her reach behind her for one of her arrows and my head turns sharply to her, getting in my best defense. But she does not. She only glares at me a little more before turning gracefully and walking away in the direction she had come. After going so far, she vanished into thin air.

Knowing she was gone, I shook my head, sliding me legs under me to help me stand. I turn back to Inuyasha, who is still staring at me.

I take a step forward, "Inuyasha?"

He blinks twice before looking down in shame, "I'm sorry, Kagome…"

"Hn?!" I can't help but let out. I didn't mean to, it's just that I never actually heard him just come right out and say sorry. And what was he so sorry about, anyway? It's not like he could help it and even if so…why was he saying it to me?

I walk towards him and lean down to him, much like Kikyou had done. I reach out and touch the top of his hand, "There's nothing to be sorry about," I say softly, yet sternly.

Inuyasha only shrugs and from that gesture, I wrap my arms around his waist within a blink of an eye, squeezing his body as close to mine as I could.

I hear him grunt a little from the impact, and, slowly but surely, his arms come down from being outspread to around my back.

"There's nothing to be sorry about," I again tell him, just to reassure him, whether he needed reassuring or not.

Feeling his head nod, I squeeze him tighter as he lowers his head next to mine to brush his rough, yet soft, cheek against my own. It's a funny thing, how something can be one thing, yet the exact opposite at the same time. Just like how I was feeling at the moment. I should have been scared about losing him to Kikyou, and yet I was smiling. Maybe somewhere deep within me, it's always saying that Inuyasha and Kikyou will never be together in hell.

It will always be Inuyasha and I on earth.

Almost unnoticeably, I free my right arm in order to reach up and scratch behind his ear. He leans into my hand and I hear the most beautiful sound in all the word: Inuyasha's purring. Sure, it sounds simple enough, but for him to be purring because of me, well…it's just cute.

I let out a little laugh from the scene and in return, he smirks.

Awesome. I got Inuyasha to forget about Kikyou.

Suddenly, he cracks one eye open and looks towards the cabin, almost angrily…or maybe that was just a look of annoyance. I let go of his ear for the moment and look back myself, not seeing anything.

"What is it?" I ask, peering in the doorway to see.

"Feh…all three of those clowns are up and laughing. Can't you hear them?"

We both got quiet in order for me to hear and after a few seconds, I was able to hear a couple of chuckles and snickers.

I give a dry look before sighing loudly, "It figures."

Before I knew it, I was lifted up from my kneeling spot and onto my feet. I look up at Inuyasha, my face is drooping I'm sure. Boy, were those three going to get it! They ruined a perfect moment! In fact, I was about to storm right in there and give them a piece of my mind when…

"Hop on."

I turn back around to see Inuyasha in the position that tells me to, well…hop on. His back, of course.

"What?" I ask, "Where are we going?"

He turned his head forward from looking back at me, "Anywhere but here."

I cock my head to the side, wondering what he had planned. My lips quickly form a smile; but whatever he had planned, it was good enough for me.

Quickly…almost too quickly for my own good, I climb on his back, fidgeting my hands to grip his clothing and wrapping my legs to straddle him from behind. I shiver…just the thought giving me goosebumps.

Almost as soon as I got situated, he leapt off the ground at an incredible speed, soaring us high into the air. Being used to this (you know, just my everyday routine), I mostly just enjoy the scenery as it flies past me, having full trust in the guy that held my legs closely to his sides.

Oops, there goes my stomach.

I lean my upper body more into him, resting my head on the back of his, his extra soft hair making as an excellent pillow and tickling my nose every time we plummeted. I close my eyes and rub up against him, feeling my urge for him grow.

Oops, there goes my sanity.

Before I know it, Inuyasha stops moving, so I assume he has landed us in a place far away from the cabin. Now the only question is…why?

He lowers my body in order for me to get off and when I say this, I am speaking literally: It took nearly all my strength to pry myself off of him.

Sigh…I am such a helpless fool.

My feet reach the ground, but God…my legs feel like jell-o.

Inuyasha turns around to smile at me and I smile back. I happen to look around at the new scenery and notice that it's nothing special, just your ordinary open space between tons of trees in a forest. Oh well, all the more reason to focus my eyes on Inuyasha.

My eyes lock with his, "So…why'd you bring us here?"

Stupid question to ask at a time like this, but I still wanted to know.

His smile suddenly turns into a frown and his big, bright eyes suddenly narrow down into dark orbs. My face must have turned into that of fear, for I felt myself begin to back away. Oh, and I have never feared Inuyasha, mind you, but then again, he never looked at me like this.

It was like I did something extreme to upset him. I mean, sure, that isn't too hard to do, but he never looked at me like this. With so much passion and rage in his eyes, he backed me up against a nearby tree. What was he doing?!

Was he mad that I destroyed a romantic moment between he and Kikyou? Did he want to spend an eternity in hell with her? If so…why didn't he just say that in the first place?!

He was standing right in front of me, no place for me to keep backing up. I could run, but that won't get me anyway, I could take two steps and he'd be one hundred in front of me.

So, what? Was this it? Did he take me away from the cabin so he could kill me in the middle of nowhere?! No…my Inuyasha wouldn't do that…what was on his mind?

"Inuyasha…wh-what are you—." I wasn't able to finish.

"Is there a reason you keep making Kikyou walk off?" he asked. Oh great! It was about that.

I sigh silently and lower my eyes to the ground…only to have my head shot up when Inuyasha grabbed my chin.

"Don't look away from me, Kagome," he ordered me, and from the harshness in his voice, I had no intention of doing so, again.

My eyes feel up with tears, however. So he really does want to be with that witch.

Now listen to me! I'm even calling her names now!

"I'm sorry, Inuyasha. I won't disturb you two again," I said in a struggled whisper.

His clawed hand gripped my chin even tighter, shaking my head a little, "Tell me, Kagome!"

I wince, there's only one way to get out of this!

"Sit, boy!"

Inuyasha's down. I don't run away, though. For one, I don't know which direction we came. For two, about time the spell wears off, he would still be able to smell my scent and find me in an instant. I just had to get him away from me; he was too close for comfort at the moment.

"Inuyasha, what's your problem!" I demanded, glaring down at him, though my whole body was still trembling.

He made an annoyed grunt before lifting his face off the ground and spitting out some dirt he got in his mouth on the way down. He looked up at me angrily. Just great, now I'm really going to get it.

"What's my problem?! What's your problem?! Kuso, I can't even have a serious moment with you!" Inuyasha screamed, trying to get himself up, but the spell had yet to wear off.

I stare at him in mere shock, "You call that a serious moment?! Oh, I'm so very sorry, Inuyasha," I begin sarcastically, "I thought that's what you called a murderous moment!"

He rolled his eyes, "I wouldn't kill you, and you know it!"

"Oh, really? How can I be so sure?" Okay, so I do know he wouldn't kill me. But we were in the middle of one of our heated arguments, what do you expect?

"Uh, duh!" Inuyasha yelled, "I need you to collect the jewel shards!"

I gasp. No…no, please no. Not my worst nightmare…the one being as where that's the only reason he wants me around. I drop to the ground. Who cares about our fight…he won, I lost.

The spell wore off, I saw him stand up. Here he comes, walking over to me.

Oops, there goes my life.

He leans down in front of me, again grabbing my chin to make me look at him. And yet, I don't close my eyes. This may be my last chance to see him…I can't stay here any longer. Not if he only wants me for that, my life here would be miserable.

"Kagome…why?"

Why what? I almost asked that. From everything else said in between, I almost forgot what the main purpose behind it was. That happens often.

I blink several times, trying to get the tears to spill out of my eyes, for they began burning. It wouldn't work, my tears wouldn't leave my eyes and I hated seeing with a blurry vision.

Inuyasha seemed to know what I was trying to accomplish, because both of his hands cupped my face and his thumbs rubbed gently across my eyes to dry my tears. I suck in a deep breath. Why was he suddenly being so generous? I could see clearly again.

His face was mere centimeters away from mine, "Why?" he asked again.

"Because I lo—," I stop myself. No, that's not how I want to say it, "Because I thought I loved you," I said in a harsh whisper.

I was ready to get pushed away, ready to be told that that was disgusting, ready…for anything.

He smirked.

Here it came.

"Kagome, you idiot…you know you love me."

Next thing I know, I'm laying on the ground with him hovering over me. With his silver hair shining in the moonlight, slightly hanging over his shoulders to cover both sides of my face, and his gorgeous golden eyes staring deeply into mine, I was at a loss of words.

He came closer to me, making our hot breaths mix together, "I was wondering when you were going to spit it out."

Kiss me…

Oh, how I would love to tell him that. And just like before…somehow he knew. I saw him slowly closing his eyes, as I did the same.

Both of our eyes were semi-closed, passion burning right through us, his lips so close they were now brushing my own.

Closer!

I wrap my arms around his neck, just a little closer…

~*~

…Did I fool you again?

I sit up in my sleeping bag quickly, breathing heavily in the silent room, cold sweat slowly pouring off my face.

See? Yet another one of my fantasies, this one just happened to be more wild and passionate. Just one of those dreams that leave me desiring for Inuyasha even more.

I raise my left hand up to my forehead, feeling how much heat my body really is giving off, which is quite a bit, considering. I kick the sleeping bag off my lower body, letting the cool air in the cabin circulate around me. I look over to my right.

Inuyasha.

Didn't he say he was going to sleep outside? Who knows…maybe I dreamt that he said that. I sometimes wonder what will happen if this continues…am I really going to know what's real and what's not?

But I can't stop fantasizing, then what would I do? Actually tell him what's on my mind?

Hmm…not a bad idea, but would I really have enough guts to go through with it?

Heh, who knows…maybe I can go through with it.

~ Heads I win, tails you lose,

I always play by my own rules,

And I don't believe in wasting time,

So long before we end this night.

I will have held you,

I will have kissed you,

I will have claimed you,

You will be mine!

I will have loved you,

Wrong or right,

I will have your heart,

You will be mind.

An unwritten law says a girl should wait,

Should let the man set his own pace,

But a woman in love, she's above the law,

So long before this night is gone.

You top my list of things to do,

And I will get close to you,

Before this night is through.~

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TBC