Burn of Desire
III.
My eyes flutter open as the bright morning sun shined through the thin trees that surrounded me and everyone else. I groan slightly, flinging my arm over my eyes to try to block out at light that tried to disturb me. It was too early, I could tell because not even Inuyasha was up yet.
It figures I would be the only one that got awakened.
I sat up in my sleeping bag, rubbing my eyes roughly with my palms. Yawning quietly, I look around the camp area, seeing no sign of the others waking up within the next two minutes. My hand touches' down on something soft, knowing immediately that it was Shippo's tail. I smiled down at the little kitsune, petting him gently in his sleep before slowly getting out of my sleeping bag, trying my hardest not to disturb him.
My ridiculously over-sized bag lay off to the side, holding everything that I ever need within it. I unsnap it and take out two towels, folding them up neatly in my arms. I begin walking away from my group, to a big lake I seen not too far away while we were walking here. Usually I would take a bath with Sango, but nothing beats having a nice, quiet, personal bath, if I do say so myself.
Reaching the lake, I smile widely and drop the two towels to the ground, quickly stripping myself of my clothes and wrapping one of the towels around my body (just in case someone happened to be walking by). I put my toes in the water first, finding the water semi-warm, just the way I like it in the morning. Going in the rest of the way, I put my back against a rock that was half in the water and half out. I close my eyes and relax.
"Ah, nothing like a nice bath to start the day," I say to myself, sighing happily. I finally get time to think.
In fact, it had been about three days since my last daydream from when we were all at the abandoned cabin. Well…don't take me the wrong way when I say that. What I really mean is that I've been thinking about the "Kikyou one" for quite awhile, always giving myself goosebumps throughout it. But the thing is…I never get passed the part where he's about to kiss me…
Oh well, maybe I can…
I suddenly hear someone humming. It's a soothing sound, but it made me jump from surprise and sink myself lower into the water, not wanting to have to embarrass myself at the exact moment.
That's when I realized that it was a little girl humming. A little girl? What was a little girl doing all the way out here, in the middle of nowhere?
I glide myself around the rock to get a good view of this little girl, gasping when I saw her…
"That's the little girl that hangs around Sesshoumaru!" I whisper to myself. That brings another thought to my mind…
If she's here, he must be around, too!
That's enough to scare me out of the water and get dressed again in a hurry. There have been many people that have seen me naked while I was in this time, but I'll be damned before I let Sesshoumaru catch me that way!
Since I didn't give myself a chance to dry off, I shivered a bit when I began to see little wet spots begin to form on various parts of my clothing, making me groan in frustration.
I quickly wrapped the dry towel around the wet one so I wouldn't have to carry it and began walking, planning on getting back to my group fast.
"Kagome-chan?" I hear my name being called, making me freeze in my tracks. I know I should just keep walking, but I can't just ignore a kid.
Slowly and reluctantly, I turn around and put on my best smile, "Ah, Rin-chan! How are you?"
Yeah, us too have been aquatinted before and I could tell she really liked me…and I really liked her.
I just didn't like who she hung out with.
Rin smiled widely and ran over to me, her informal kimono swaying slightly in the breeze, her bare feet padding over the soft grass. In her hands I saw her clutching a small batch of different flowers she must have found around the area.
Once she reached me, she looked straight up at my face, the smile never leaving her lips, "Rin's fine and how are you?" Before she gave me a chance to answer, she went on, "I've been busy picking beautiful flowers for Sesshoumaru-sama, wanna come help?"
"Eh…" was all I could get out at first, as I scanned the area quickly, "Where is Sesshoumaru?"
Her smile faded as she looked down at her feet, "I woke up and Sesshoumaru-sama and Jaken were gone."
My eyes widened, "You mean they left you alone?"
She looked back up at me and shook her head, "No, Rin's never alone. They always leave me Ah and Un. But they're sleeping right now, so…" she faded.
I wasn't even about to ask who these two she called Ah and Un were, but…hey, Sesshoumaru wasn't around and Rin asked me to join her. There was nothing else to do anyway.
"Okay, sure…I'll pick flowers with you," I say, dropping the towels to the ground again, figuring I'll get them later.
The smile came back to her face, "Yea!" She grabbed my hand and began running in the opposite direction, dragging me along with her. I also smiled once I saw where she had gotten the flowers from. The field was beautiful! It seemed like every single type of flower was among the bunch, just waiting to be picked.
Rin quickly let go of my hand and sat down in the middle of tons of flowers, I guess where she left off, and began picking more to add to her collection, humming the way she was earlier.
I also sat down in a random spot, picking any and every flower that appealed to me, sniffing each one before adding it to my bouquet.
"I'm picking flowers for Sesshoumaru-sama," Rin spoke up suddenly, "Do you think he'll like them?"
I looked at the flowers in her hand and back up at the girl. Sesshoumaru…like flowers? HA! Actually, I couldn't think of anything he would despise more. But then again…he did seem to be more nice and gentle around Rin than how he usually acted.
"I'm sure he'll love them," I answered, seeing her face brighten with joy.
She went back to picking flowers, singing rather than humming now. As she did this, I picked my own flowers, looking down at their beauty.
I'm picking flowers for Inuyasha…do you think he'll like them? My mind asked itself, yet wanting to ask Rin at the same time. That would be kind of awkward though…considering.
I sighed and dropped my hands to the ground. Even if he did like them…he would never admit it. He has his "tough demon" act to uphold, and getting flowers as a gift won't do anything for that.
Looking up at Rin, I see how happy she is. How is it that Sesshoumaru is the cruelest person I know…the one that has the title for hating humans the most…allows this little girl to follow him and will do almost anything to keep her happy? And then there's Inuyasha who can be cruel in his own way, but practically kills himself if he killed a human. He lets me follow him around, but only because I can detect shards and will do almost anything to break my spirits.
Well, isn't that ironic?
"Rin."
That's all the was needed to be said to make both of our heads snap up.
"Sesshoumaru-sama!" Rin yelled happily, standing up and running over to him, holding up the flowers for him, "Rin picked these for you!"
My eyes grew small as I looked upon the scene, feeling my whole body begin to overheat. Oh great…watch Sesshoumaru kill me right now when I don't have my bow and arrows or Inuyasha around to protect me.
I stand up slowly; gripping the flower stems within my hand tightly and began backing away. Maybe if I go real quietly…he won't even realize I'm missing until I'm back to my group. After all, he seemed distracted by Rin at the moment…
Then his eyes looked up at me. My body froze. Forget that idea. He made no move or motion to suggest he was going to harm me, but I still didn't like this predicament…
"Inuyasha!" I suddenly screamed at the top of my lungs, wanting him there right now!
Sesshoumaru still didn't make a move, but when he did, he only turned around and began walking away from me, Rin following close behind him, turning around quickly to wave goodbye to me, before they both disappeared within the forest.
I sighed and dropped back to the ground. Why didn't he do anything? I called Inuyasha, wouldn't he want to fight him? Then it hit me.
If Rin wasn't with him, he would've…but since he wasn't about to show violence in front of her, he decided to just walk away.
Thank you, Rin!
I finally got a hold of myself, standing up again and walking off in the direction I had come from. That's when I remembered that I never got to finish my bath. I looked down at myself and noticed that my clothes were still somewhat wet and decided to finish off my bath and let my clothes dry in the meantime.
So once again (after retrieving the two towels), I stripped myself of my clothes and wrapped the wet towel around my body, sinking into the water and going back to my rock spot. I still clutched the flowers in my hand, closing my eyes and sniffing them. By the time I'm done with this bath…I should smell pretty good.
"Kagome!" I heard my name being yelled.
My eyes snapped open and I looked up on land, seeing Inuyasha standing there, his eyes wide once he saw me in the water. My eyes also widened, surprised to just see him there. My face became hot in a blush as I sank deeper in the water.
"Osuwari!" was the first thing that came to mind.
I saw the rosary around his neck glow before he fell hard to the ground. He managed to pick his head up and glare at me, though.
"What was that for?!" He screamed at me, his claws digging into the earth.
"For spying on me!" I screamed back, going under the water until only my nose and up were showing.
Inuyasha growled lowly, "I wasn't spying on you! I heard you call my name and I came to see if you were okay!"
I paused. Oh yeah…I did scream his name, didn't I? I guess once I forgot about everything, I also forgot about that. But instead of saying anything, I just turned my back on him, knowing the blush was still on me.
I heard him sit up right when the spell wore off, "Don't you think you owe me an apology!?"
Looking down at the flowers, I decided now was as good a time as any to give them to him…and if he didn't like them, then he owed me an apology!
I turned back around, gripping the towel tightly to my body as I reached out to hand him the flowers, "I picked these for you…"
My blush came back full force. Suddenly, I felt stupid beyond believe. I looked down at the water, my hand still reaching out, waiting for him to take the flowers from me.
And even though it took him about five minutes, he finally did wrap his hands around the stems and took them away from me. I looked up at him through my bangs, seeing him sniff the flowers and look down at me again.
"Uh…thanks?" he said. I could tell he really didn't know what to do with them, but I couldn't help but smile that he actually kept the flowers.
And he said thanks!
"Your welcome…" I mumble out before leaning back on the rock again.
We both grew quiet, not knowing what to say…well, that's how it was for me anyway.
"So, Sesshoumaru didn't hurt you, then?" he abruptly asked, making me look towards him.
I just assumed he smelled his brother before shaking my head, "No, he had Rin with him, so he wouldn't do anything."
Inuyasha only gave a little nod before looking down and blushing. Why, I have no clue.
"I have a question," I spoke up before I even had a chance to think about it.
He looked back up at me, crossing his arms across his chest, his hands being hidden within his sleeves, "What's that?"
"Why…I mean…" first off, I had to figure out how I would word this, "When I woke up…that one day we stayed at the cabin…you were sleeping next to me. I thought you said you were gonna sleep outside…"
Staring blankly at me, he cocked his head to the side, "…And?"
"I…" was the only thing I got out before he interrupted me.
"I did say I was gonna sleep outside. But that was before Kikyou came." He said, blinking at me like I was crazy.
My mind stopped. Say what?! Kikyou came that night!?
"Why didn't you tell me?" I asked, my eyes lowering. I felt hurt, did he really have to keep something like that from me?
He leaned forward, squinting his eyes at me, looking like he was trying to tell if I was being serious or not, "You already knew. When you came out, you made Kikyou go away. That's when we…" I saw him blush a bit, "went off to have some privacy."
…oh no he did not just say that. He did not! My face paled…or maybe it heated up. I couldn't tell, but…I must ask; what in the world is going on here?!
"I thought…I thought that was just a dream…" I whispered out, but because of his good hearing, he picked it up.
Skeptically, his eyes burned into me, "A dream? What makes you think that?"
I shook my head, my eyes staring off into nothing. What did make me think that? As far as what I'm hearing now, it wasn't.
But am I dreaming right now?
"I guess 'cause…it felt like I went to sleep and then got up to see you two…then that whole scene with us happened…but then I woke up and thought it was a dream." I blinked, confusing myself, "So does that mean it happened and then I just dreamed it again? Or did everything actually happen then and I'm dreaming now?"
Inuyasha held his head in his hand, his eyes narrowing at me, "Baka, do you even realize what you're saying? That makes absolutely no sense."
Ignoring that comment for the time being, I went on, "Well, if it did happen…are we…" I blush, going to hate myself afterwards if it's false, "Are we…together?"
His eyes softened as he lowered his hand, "Yeah Kagome…we are."
"Oh." Was the only thing I could say.
We…
Are…
Together…
My mind jumped, making me smile widely and I looked him straight in the eye to show him how happy I was, "I…I guess the only reason I thought that was a dream was 'cause…you were about to kiss me and…and I didn't get to feel it."
Absentmindedly, I reach my hand up to gently run my fingers across my lips, trying to remember as hard as I could to feel the kiss.
The water rippled a bit, snapping me out of my thoughts. I realized Inuyasha was in the water, waist deep for him, but he still had his clothes on (of course). My whole body began to warm up and tingle when I realized that I was still just wrapped in a towel with Inuyasha right in front of me.
He stopped in front of me, reaching his hand up to gently caress my face, making me close my eyes and take in a wavering breath. Was this really happening…Kami, please let this be happening…
"Do you want me to refresh your memory?" He asked lowly, gliding both of his clawed hands down on arms, making me shiver noticeably from his touch. And just from that action, he knew what my answer was.
I felt him wrap his arms around my waist. The towel, being so thin and wet, wasn't that much of a burden of keeping him from touching me directly.
I let go of the towel, and if it wasn't for it being wet and clinging to my body, it would have fell off. But I didn't care…I wanted to wrap my own arms around him…hold him close…kiss him for as long as I can…do everything I ever wanted to do.
His forehead rested against mine, making me open my eyes to stare into those gorgeous golden eyes of his.
Oh…just he in himself was gorgeous…there was no way to explain it.
I heard him whisper my name before closing his eyes, making my close mine also. I felt him lean his head down more…to make better contact when we…
~*~
I wonder if I fooled you that time…
"Kagome-chan!"
My body jerked violently when I heard my name being screamed. I opened my eyes and noticed that I was in the lake…the towel still wrapped around me, but hardly. I looked to my left, only to see Sango, Miroku, Shippo, and Inuyasha staring at me. They all had a different expression…Sango looked like she was about to laugh at any minute, but also getting ready to smack Miroku, since he was looking at me so intensely. Shippo looked downright confused, and Inuyasha had his arms crossed and a slight blush was shown on his cheeks.
"Wh-what?" I asked, holding the towel tighter and better around my body.
"How long have you been in there? You're all pruned up," Sango commented, nodding towards my hands.
I looked down at them myself and did notice that they were pretty wrinkly. Just…exactly how long have I been in here? I even had to ask myself that question…
When they all saw that I didn't have an answer for them, Inuyasha spoke up.
"Feh! Who cares! She didn't drown herself, so let's start looking for more shards." He demanded, turning around and walking away from the rest of us.
Sango pushed Miroku away and told him to follow Inuyasha so I could get dressed. Shippo figured he would follow them, allowing me some privacy.
I got out of the water and grabbed the dry towel, replacing the wet one. I sense Sango looking at me, but I didn't look at her.
"Are you feeling okay, Kagome-chan?" She asked, followed by a little squeak that was made by Kirara, who had been sitting on her shoulder.
I nodded slowly…before nodding more confidently and smiling at her, "Yeah, I'm fine. I just woke up early and decided to take a bath. Guess I was more tired than I thought."
"Well…okay." Sango accepted that answer, "But if you need to talk about anything, I'm here."
Once again, I nod before she begins walking to the others, leaving me alone to get dressed.
What's happening to me…
*
Hey, Enula here! Sorry for not updating this sooner, guess I had a major case of writers block or something. But anyway, what did you think of this chapter? ^^ Bet you knew what was coming right? Yeah…I'm sure ya all are smart enough lol. Then again…I'm confusing myself a bit with this one. That's pretty bad…but tell me what you think, kk? Thanks!