Chapter Fourteen

The Hanyou's Eternal Stubbornness

Kimiko's reaction was almost comical.  Her eyes narrowed, and then widened; she started to say something, but her words wouldn't come out and her voice ended up squeaking.  But the entire show was missed; Inuyasha refused to look at her after his statement.

Nearly a full minute later, she finally found her voice.

"What…what makes you so sure I have the jewel?" she stammered.  His golden eyes turned towards her again.

"When you used your holy power on me," he said.  "After you let go, I saw a glow in your side.  When Kagome first came, and she used holy powers, her body also glowed.  The glow comes from the Shikon no Tama inside of your body."  He smirked.  "I can also sense it slightly.  I didn't spend all that time searching out the shards to not know when it's near."

"So this…this and the likeness I have to your wife…that is why you kissed me?"

He turned away and closed his eyes, still smirking.  "Guess I am just a weak hanyou, huh?  I can't even control my own desires.  You look so much like her, and I wanted to see if you felt like her too."

When his eyes opened again, Kimiko could see the sadness in them.  He misses her a great deal, she thought.  It must be hard to live so long and fall in love with mortals.

"Inuyasha," she said slowly.  One gold eye cracked open and looked towards her.  "I will see about letting you continue to stay here, in the village."  Both eyes immediately opened, and his face brightened.  "But," she continued, giving him a sharp look.  "If you touch me again, your hanyou lifespan will be drastically shortened.  Understood?"

He swallowed nervously.  Just like Kikyou, Inuyasha thought.  This girl really must be another reincarnation of her soul.  "Keh, don't worry," he said gruffly, his rude and stuck up mannerisms returning the instant that thought crossed his mind.  "You're nothing like her anyways."

"Which one?  The first miko, or the second?"

"Both!  I can't believe I kissed you!"  He rubbed one hand across his lips as though wiping off any trace of hers from them, his actions and words going the exact opposite way of his mind, as usual.  There was absolutely no way he was going to let this girl know how much he was attracted to her, and if it meant making her loath his presence, then so be it!  Besides, I promised Kagome!  He thought.  But…if she really IS another reincarnation…isn't it the really the same girl?  Would I really be breaking that promise?

Standing abruptly, Inuyasha stalked out into the forest, ignoring how stiff and aching his body still was.  He would not let her see him limp or stumble.  But once he was out of her sight, he grimaced, and sat down again, leaning against a tree.  Kuso, he thought.  How much longer am I going to hurt?

The hanyou stayed out in the forest all day, returning to the village only once the last rays of sunlight had disappeared.  Sighing slightly, he entered the house where he had been being kept during his recovery.  It was dark and empty; obviously no one lived there.  Probably an extra place for wandering strangers like me, he thought, sitting against a wall.  His stomach grumbled, and he suddenly realized he hadn't eaten all day.  Too much trouble to start a fire, he thought, not moving from his seat.

A few minutes later, Inuyasha caught the scent of Kimiko coming towards him.  A moment later she drew back the curtain at the door, and looked in.

"Do you always sit in the dark?" she asked, not moving from the doorway.

"Keh, only weak humans need light all the time," he said, lifting his chin high.  "I prefer the dark."

She smiled slightly at his stubbornness.  "Well, aside from that, would you like dinner?  Unless food is another thing only weak humans need."

His ears twitched at that remark.  Ohhh, you're learning, woman.  You just wait, I'll have Kagome's fire stirred up in you in no time.

"I guess, if you want me to, I will eat," he said lightly.  Truthfully, his mouth was watering at the mention of food.  He heard her laugh slightly under her breath, and grinned cockily.

"Come with me, Inuyasha," Kimiko said, before turning and walking away.  Carefully, he stood, pleased that his body wasn't as sore now as it had been earlier that day.  He could walk steadily now without the aid of Tetsusaiga, so he slid the sword into his belt and followed the miko.

Soon, he had entered another house, though this one had a very different feel to it than his temporary one.  There was a fire lit, and something that smelled divine cooking in a pot over it.  But Inuyasha was surprised to see no one besides himself and Kimiko in the room.

"You eat alone?" he asked, curious.  She smiled, and he couldn't stop his heart from fluttering.

"Not normally," she responded.  "Some of the men have just returned from war, so the ladies I normally dine with are with their husbands again.  I guess tonight, it's just you and I, Inuyasha."

He hmphed, before pulling Tetsusaiga from his belt and dropping to the ground in his traditional cross legged style.  He crossed his arms around his sword, and stared across the fire at the girl on the other side.

Their gazes focused on each other, and for a long time neither of them looked away.  Inuyasha felt his cheeks flush, and was suddenly glad for the fire.  Maybe she would think it was the heat that had reddened his cheeks.  Yeah, right, he thought, finally looking away from the girl he seemed to want more every minute.  A moment later, she filled two bowls with stew, and handed him one along with chopsticks.

Tasting the food, Inuyasha nearly groaned in delight.  Good cook, he thought, resisting the urge to wolf it all down in one gulp – another thing living with his brother had taught him was semi-good manners.  Instead, he tried to savor it, and his bowl was empty far too soon.

"Would you like more?" Kimiko asked, grinning slightly as she watched him stare at his empty bowl as though it would somehow become full again if he looked at it hard enough.  Immediately the bowl was shoved into her hands, and she laughed slightly.  As she handed it back to him, he suddenly tensed.

"There's a youkai nearby," he stated, before leaping to his feet.  Suddenly, he felt a tug on his sleeve.

"You can't go out and fight it now, Inuyasha," Kimiko told him.  "Your powers haven't returned yet."

"Heh, maybe not," he said, drawing Tetsusaiga.  "But I still have my sword, and as long as there's youkai blood in me it will transform!"

Sure enough, the fang responded to his command, though it seemed heavier than usual.  The hanyou then bolted from the house, running towards where his nose was telling him to go.

Almost immediately, he heard cries of "Youkai!" ring through the air, and he increased his speed, running almost as fast as he normally could.  Suddenly, before him appeared the creature – another of those accursed centipedes that seemed to be everywhere.  It spotted him immediately, and turned to meet him.

Leaping into the air, Inuyasha yelled as he swung the Tetsusaiga forcefully, easily tearing the youkai apart.  Centipede pieces rained down to the ground, and without a word the hanyou sheathed his sword, turned, and headed back the other direction as the villagers stared at him in awe.

He saw Kimiko standing among them, her bow in hand with an arrow cocked towards where the youkai had last been.  She, too, stared after him, but he ignored them all, and had soon disappeared into the dark house where he was temporarily residing, all thoughts of more dinner gone from his mind.

The moment he was out of sight, the hanyou winced.  Crap, he thought, letting himself down to the ground.  I didn't expect it to be so hard to wield Tetsusaiga without my strength.  My arms are killing me.

*          *          *

Try as she might, Kimiko could not sleep that night.

The thoughts running through her head were endless, and no matter how hard she tried, those slitted golden eyes, so obviously not human yet at the same time, so intense, would not disappear from her mind.  Such pain in those eyes, she thought, recalling the look on Inuyasha's face as he told her about his dead wife.

She remembered how he had looked when she had first found him.  Lying amidst broken tree leaves, he had looked like any normal human man, and so, thinking he was one, she had treated him the way she would a human.  Unlike most young women in her village, she was not embarrassed to see a man without his shirt, and had promptly removed his in order to treat his wounds.

Recalling the shock she had felt upon seeing him the next morning, his hair now silver with curious dog-ears poking up at the top of his head, Kimiko smiled slightly.  Hanyou certainly were curious creatures, and Inuyasha had proved that point many times over.

Frowning slightly, Kimiko remembered the night when she had woken at the touch of his lips to hers.  Her eyes had opened to see his face directly above hers, and though the contact had been very brief with resulting pain on his side, she could still remember the feel of his lips on hers.  As a miko, she had never been touched so intimately by a man before; now that she thought about it, she had rarely been touched by a man at all, keeping them all at arms-length.

For the days he had remained unconscious, she had been furious at him for being so forward towards her.  But after hearing his story, hearing of his losses and the trials of his life, she found she could no longer despise him as she wanted to.  He claims I look and smell exactly like his wife, Kimiko thought, pondering this.  If what he says is true, if the Shikon no Tama is truly in my body as it had been in hers, could it be that I am just another of her reincarnations?  If I am…if it is true…then my soul is the same soul of that hanyou's wife, and the woman he loved before her.

Almost unconsciously, Kimiko rose to her feet and walked out of the house.  Her feet took her straight to the structure in which she knew the hanyou was, or was supposed to be if he hadn't run off.  What am I doing? she thought, and her feet stopped moving.  She was close enough now to feel his somewhat still weak youki; an unexpected pang of guilt erupted in her.  She had done this to him; she had taken his youkai blood from him and nearly destroyed him, and why?  Because his love for his wife was so great that he had been unable to stop himself from touching a girl who looked like her.  That was all it had been – a touch, nothing more.  A rather intimate touch for someone as pure as she, but just a touch.

Am I being unfair to him? Kimiko thought.  Her hand reached forward and slowly pulled back the curtain over the doorway.  There he sat, legs and arms crossed with his sword held protectively to his chest, his head hanging down as he slept in the awkward position.  A second later, she saw his gold eyes open, glowing slightly as only an animal's eyes could.

"What do you want, woman?" Inuyasha asked gruffly but quietly, looking at her through his bangs.  "Go back to your own house."

For a moment, he saw her smile at him, before letting the curtain drop back in place and leaving him once again alone.