Disclaimer: Nu uh, my drawing will never be that good.
AN: Ooh, I like this chapter. Really good for all Inu/Kag fans!! I hope you review, I'd like feedback on this one! I guess that extra night of plotting paid off! And, don't worry, Sess/Rin will come later. I have decided that they will be in here after all, but my main focus is Inu/Kag. And I'll try and fit the whole adventure thing in here, somewhere...
Icari
Chapter 6
"Well wench? Do you sense anything?" Kagome's eyebrow twitched. Inuyasha had been asking her the same thing for the last two hours. And, quite frankly, it was getting annoying.
"No, and I'll tell you when I do." still fuming, she slowed her pace to walk beside Sango. Miroku walked up beside Inuyasha, having gotten enough hand-shaped mark to last him a while from Sango. It had been nearly a day now, and the sun would be setting soon. They all knew that they would have to start looking for a place to rest, but Inuyasha wasn't having any of that.
"Aye, little bro, we shoulder be retiring to a campsite soon, there is no way I'm letting you drag these people around in the dark." Kagome sent a grateful smile at Icari, and she grabbed Inuyasha's haori, making him stop in his tracks. "There's a good one to the left. It's a little grove, with a stream running down the middle."
"I know that." grumbling, the hanyou yanked his arm away from his sister and switched directions.
"What's got him worked up?" Looking at the others, she sighed in dismay as her brother's red back began to disappear from view. Even living with him the whole time she had didn't help much. Inuyasha had never been very open. She glared accusingly at her older brother for this, which he reacted in a very confused way. "Inu-chan! Wait up!"
She left the others to follow in her wake, since as of right now, her brother was her main worry. "Inu-chan, what's wrong?" He grumbled. "This is not normal Inu... it's not a new moon, and there's no youkai around, besides the ones you know..." He didn't respond, and Icari began to get more desperate. "Inu-kun!"
"Quiet, Icari, the others are coming, fast." She knew he was right, although hr hadn't looked back at all. She knew that he could hear the others coming too, and most likely wouldn't talk to her alone, let alone with the others around. Then she heard Rin's little voice.
"Oh-Uh!(AN right??) There they are! Sesshomaru-sama, there they are!" The dragon that Rin had named came into view moments before the others, and let Rin and Jaken down very gently, and Kiara burst in beside them. "Doggy-boy! Why did you walk away like that?" Her head was cocked to one side as she stared wide-eyed at Inuyasha. He glared at her until Sesshomaru growled.
"Feh." Icari looked back, trying to follow her brother and giving Kagome a worried glance, which she returned. So she was as confused about this as herself. But Inuyasha was still not speaking. Could he be mad about the prank? No, because he had laughed with her and Sesshomaru then. Maybe he had heard them talking at the well? Impossible, she couldn't sense him in any way. And he was already grumpy before the argument with Kagome earlier today. She had absolutely no idea what her brother was so pissed about, but she didn't intend to leave it that way either.
Somehow, she'd make that pup of a brother of hers talk.
*~*~*~*~*
Inuyasha grumbled as they entered the clearing he had heard the stream from earlier. Sango and Miroku went out to collect firewood as usual, and Kagome excused herself to take a bath with Rin, and Sesshomaru and Jaken walked off somewhere. Myoga, as usual, was nowhere to be found, and Shippo was collecting berries.
Inuyasha walked to the stream, where it was upwind to the spring Kagome was bathing in. He could keep a sharp nose and sniff out any foreign youkai near Kagome before it had the chance to advance on her, and there would be very little chances of the youkai smelling him before they were fighting. For a moment, Inuyasha forgot that his sister was still here.
"Inuyasha..." she said in a menacing tone. "Tell me what's wrong." He grunted. Why should she care? After all, she had disappeared from his life for sixty something years. He had grown up during their seperation. "I know there's something wrong, and, I don't know how, it's just a hunch, but I think it has something to do with Kagome."
He grunted again, providing her no answer. It was true, though, it did have something to do with Kagome. But he didn't know why it bothered him so much. It was the scent of the man that had come by her house while she was gone. It was definately a male, and it wasn't a family member of Kagome's either. He had been anxious to see her back, untouched, since the afternoon before he had eventually gone and gotten her. Maybe it was that Hojo guy...
Instead of making him feel better that it was at least someone Kagome knew, but angered him more. How come she was so close to any other guy? And one he didn't even know much about. He knew that the kid liked her, but he didn't know if she felt the same way. But then again, she had accepted gifts from him, and called him a 'sweetie'. Most of all, why had he gone through the trouble of going to Kagome's house? And he had spent a good few minutes there too. Lastly, why had he been able to smell him through the well?
Then, a bit beforehand, he had smelt the scent of the wolf-youkai, Koga, on her too, but wondered if he had imagined it. But then again, Icari was right there...
"Icari, have you smelt anything odd around us? Such as another youkai? Wolf perhaps?" This question surprised his sister, and she looked at him dumbly, as if she hadn't expected him to speak. Then he saw that her mouth had frozen in motion, and he realized she had been talking.
"I smelled a youkai. It wasn't you or Sesshomaru, and it was still different than Shippo's. It might've been Jaken, although I'm not sure what THAT little guy is. I was always faint too, so I assumed that it was something one of you had picked up. Also since it's been around the whole time I've reunited with you." She then looked at him. "Why?"
"I thought I sniffed it too, though I wasn't even sure if it was really there. You have a stronger nose than me, so I wanted to ask you." Pausing for a moment, he added something else. "Anything else you noticed about it?"
His sister nodded, slowly as she recounted the last few days. "It was male, and seemed to follow Kagome around a lot. Actually..." she hesitated, and Inuyasha only wondered why for a second before realizing why she had. The scent hit him like a wave of bricks, now that he knew what he was looking for. Koga was downwind from him, around Kagome's little spring.
"Shit!" He darted in that direction, his sister following closely behind. Koga probably hadn't sensed him yet, as he was moving closer to the woman and girl in the stream.
"Inuyasha, who is that?" Icari was having trouble following her brother, she had to admit it. Who ever it was though, they gave him more adrenaline than ever and made him speed up almost tenfold.
He burst into the clearing a bit too quickly, staring up at the tree that over hung the spring a little. He began to wonder a bit. Why hadn't Kagome sensed the shards in his legs?
"Inuyasha?" The hanyou in question, who had been scanning the trees for a sign of the wolf, looked at the angered miko in the spring. "What are you doing here??" About that moment, Icari stumbled in as well.
"What is- what are yo- Inuyasha! Stop staring! Osuwari!" Inuyasha kissed dirt instantly, and Kagome took that spare moment to climb out quickly and dress quickly. What she hadn't been able to throw on, she disappeared slightly into the bushes to put on. Icari helped Rin out before Inuyasha managed to get up. Coming out, Kagome stood over the hanyou and stared down at him fiercely.
"What were you doing? Bursting in here like that?" By now, the spell had worn off and the dog demon sat up to see her face better.
"I think I smelled Koga. In fact, he was here not to long ago..." His shyness turned to anger. "Didn't you sense those shards? Or did you know that he was here, and letting him watch you!?"
By now, Icari had figured out that this was no ordinary fight they usually got into, and began to carry Rin off to where she could smell Sesshomaru was. After all, she couldn't leave the child alone, and she wanted to get back here and see how things turned out.
"What are you talking about? There were no shards anywhere around here! If Koga had been here, I would never of let him see anything! Is that what you're worried about? I can tell you've ran faster now then you've ever had before, and that's when my life was at stake! I know how long it would've been if you had ran here normally Inuyasha, don't play dumb. I saw how fast you came in here, and you even out ran your sister! A full youkai!"
Icari could still hear her words as she went farther and farther away from them, and not too long after, she met up with Sesshomaru. She could only guess that he had wanted to see what was going on, as he had been heading towards the spring. Indeed, this new side of Inuyasha was surprising, and she would've done no different.
Twitching her sensitive ears, she focused on the voice of her brother and Kagome, trying to hear what they were saying from here, since their voices were faded quite a bit.
"Ego!? How could you possibly blame it on my ego?" She heard her brother say.
"Because you have never ran so fast when my life is in danger. Now that you think that Koga was here, you go faster than light! You know, these last few moments, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I can't believe I was actually worried about you! I thought there was something wrong or something, and now I think that you were probably just upset about the gifts Hojo have been giving me, haven't you?" Icari winced, this was harsh. "Look at me Inuyasha, look me in the eye and say my name."
There was no answer. A long, dreadful silenced filled the air after that. Without thinking, Icari's lips began to move. "Inuyasha, answer her." still there was nothing. It had only been a whisper after all, and Icari really had no hope of Inuyasah actually hearing. "Answer her..." Then she heard a frustrated growl from Kagome before the slightest sounds of footsteps indicating that she had left.
*~*~*~*~*
Deep into the night, Inuyasha sat in a tree alone as he gazed down at the woman that had him captivated at the moment. And the cause of an odd pain from deep inside him. Kagome's eyebrows furrowed and she turned over, hiding her face from his view. So instead, Inuyasha contented himself by watching her body move as it took in slow, gentle breathes. She slept by the trunk, only because Shippo had wanted to sleep there tonight. He lay curled in a ball beside her, her back currently facing him at the moment.
There was the slight sound of a branch creaking with new weight above him as his sister settled herself in. Inuyasha took a deep, shuddering breath as he leaned back and awaited the questions she wanted to ask him.
"You really do love her, don't you?" She got no answer, just a sort of moment where his mask fell a bit and sadness flashed in his eyes. "Why didn't you just say it?" She laid down on the thick branch and let her fingers caress his hair.
"I was afraid." It didn't surprise her at all. She knew about all the insecurities he had. She knew the main causes too. First, there was their brother not accepting him as a child. Then, the villagers that no doubt hated him. When his mother had died, Icari guessed that the lonliness took much of what was left of him. Then, betrayal by the one he had loved most. She had heard about Kikyo from so many different sources now.
"Of what? Didn't what she say make you believe that she loves to you too?" a tendril of her own hair fell towards her face, and her hand went to play with that instead. It was a moment before he answered.
"In a way, yes. But it could've also been caused by her wanting to be someone rather than Kikyo's 'copy'. You know, her independance. And, if she really does care for me, but it turns out to be just an infatuation? What would I do then? Worse, what if what I feel is just an infatuation, and I hurt her?" his eyes drooped a bit when he turned to look up to her, but he suppressed his weariness and looked back down at the young woman below them.
"I've known too much rejection and lonliness, Icari. I don't want it from her too. I don't think I'd beable to live like that after her. I wouldn't." Sorrow began to fill up he heart and Icari pitied her brother. He knew more than anyone else what it felt like to hurt all the time, and she knew he couldn't take much more.
"I know that you have your insecurities, but you know, she must have quite a few of her own as well. It's gotta be hard, knowing that she is the reincarnation of one you once loved. But somehow, you have to prove it to her, and slowly, you'll be able to heal eachother. It will take a long time, little brother, but in the end, everything balances out. I hope you guys work this out someday." With that, Icari stood up and jumped away.
Inuyasha stared down at the woman that confused him so. He wanted deeply to go down there and hold her, just until the morning or something, but he didn't have the guts to be rejected by her too. She turned over again, so that she was on her back and facing him. He stared at her small, delicate mouth, then traced the shape of her face until he was sure it was imprinted within his mind.
As she continued to sleep, he crawled closer, branch be branch. Inuyasha wanted to jump down so that it would be faster, but then if she woke up... he'd never beable to do what he was to now.
Branches past by his feet and claws as he continued to descend the tree, towards Kagome. She never stirred as he continued to climb down. His eyes drooped, as he was tired, but he continued none the less. He knew his sister was watching, somewhere, but he could trust her. He always could, with everything.
Agonzingly slow, he finally made it to the branch right above her. Jumping down silently, he caressed her faced softly, so much that he barely even felt her skin. as she never woke up, he bent down and brushed his lips against hers, very lightly, and quickly. He did not want her to find out. Then, remebering their arguement, he stared directly at her eyelids, smiling slightly at the peacefulness of her face.
Brushing his lips against hers a second time, Inuyasha felt oddly warm at the sensation of it. A girl's lips were so much softer, and sweeter than he had imagined. Staring at her again, slowly, and quietly, his lips began to move, but very slowly.
"Kagome..."
AN: Ooh, I like this chapter. Really good for all Inu/Kag fans!! I hope you review, I'd like feedback on this one! I guess that extra night of plotting paid off! And, don't worry, Sess/Rin will come later. I have decided that they will be in here after all, but my main focus is Inu/Kag. And I'll try and fit the whole adventure thing in here, somewhere...
Icari
Chapter 6
"Well wench? Do you sense anything?" Kagome's eyebrow twitched. Inuyasha had been asking her the same thing for the last two hours. And, quite frankly, it was getting annoying.
"No, and I'll tell you when I do." still fuming, she slowed her pace to walk beside Sango. Miroku walked up beside Inuyasha, having gotten enough hand-shaped mark to last him a while from Sango. It had been nearly a day now, and the sun would be setting soon. They all knew that they would have to start looking for a place to rest, but Inuyasha wasn't having any of that.
"Aye, little bro, we shoulder be retiring to a campsite soon, there is no way I'm letting you drag these people around in the dark." Kagome sent a grateful smile at Icari, and she grabbed Inuyasha's haori, making him stop in his tracks. "There's a good one to the left. It's a little grove, with a stream running down the middle."
"I know that." grumbling, the hanyou yanked his arm away from his sister and switched directions.
"What's got him worked up?" Looking at the others, she sighed in dismay as her brother's red back began to disappear from view. Even living with him the whole time she had didn't help much. Inuyasha had never been very open. She glared accusingly at her older brother for this, which he reacted in a very confused way. "Inu-chan! Wait up!"
She left the others to follow in her wake, since as of right now, her brother was her main worry. "Inu-chan, what's wrong?" He grumbled. "This is not normal Inu... it's not a new moon, and there's no youkai around, besides the ones you know..." He didn't respond, and Icari began to get more desperate. "Inu-kun!"
"Quiet, Icari, the others are coming, fast." She knew he was right, although hr hadn't looked back at all. She knew that he could hear the others coming too, and most likely wouldn't talk to her alone, let alone with the others around. Then she heard Rin's little voice.
"Oh-Uh!(AN right??) There they are! Sesshomaru-sama, there they are!" The dragon that Rin had named came into view moments before the others, and let Rin and Jaken down very gently, and Kiara burst in beside them. "Doggy-boy! Why did you walk away like that?" Her head was cocked to one side as she stared wide-eyed at Inuyasha. He glared at her until Sesshomaru growled.
"Feh." Icari looked back, trying to follow her brother and giving Kagome a worried glance, which she returned. So she was as confused about this as herself. But Inuyasha was still not speaking. Could he be mad about the prank? No, because he had laughed with her and Sesshomaru then. Maybe he had heard them talking at the well? Impossible, she couldn't sense him in any way. And he was already grumpy before the argument with Kagome earlier today. She had absolutely no idea what her brother was so pissed about, but she didn't intend to leave it that way either.
Somehow, she'd make that pup of a brother of hers talk.
*~*~*~*~*
Inuyasha grumbled as they entered the clearing he had heard the stream from earlier. Sango and Miroku went out to collect firewood as usual, and Kagome excused herself to take a bath with Rin, and Sesshomaru and Jaken walked off somewhere. Myoga, as usual, was nowhere to be found, and Shippo was collecting berries.
Inuyasha walked to the stream, where it was upwind to the spring Kagome was bathing in. He could keep a sharp nose and sniff out any foreign youkai near Kagome before it had the chance to advance on her, and there would be very little chances of the youkai smelling him before they were fighting. For a moment, Inuyasha forgot that his sister was still here.
"Inuyasha..." she said in a menacing tone. "Tell me what's wrong." He grunted. Why should she care? After all, she had disappeared from his life for sixty something years. He had grown up during their seperation. "I know there's something wrong, and, I don't know how, it's just a hunch, but I think it has something to do with Kagome."
He grunted again, providing her no answer. It was true, though, it did have something to do with Kagome. But he didn't know why it bothered him so much. It was the scent of the man that had come by her house while she was gone. It was definately a male, and it wasn't a family member of Kagome's either. He had been anxious to see her back, untouched, since the afternoon before he had eventually gone and gotten her. Maybe it was that Hojo guy...
Instead of making him feel better that it was at least someone Kagome knew, but angered him more. How come she was so close to any other guy? And one he didn't even know much about. He knew that the kid liked her, but he didn't know if she felt the same way. But then again, she had accepted gifts from him, and called him a 'sweetie'. Most of all, why had he gone through the trouble of going to Kagome's house? And he had spent a good few minutes there too. Lastly, why had he been able to smell him through the well?
Then, a bit beforehand, he had smelt the scent of the wolf-youkai, Koga, on her too, but wondered if he had imagined it. But then again, Icari was right there...
"Icari, have you smelt anything odd around us? Such as another youkai? Wolf perhaps?" This question surprised his sister, and she looked at him dumbly, as if she hadn't expected him to speak. Then he saw that her mouth had frozen in motion, and he realized she had been talking.
"I smelled a youkai. It wasn't you or Sesshomaru, and it was still different than Shippo's. It might've been Jaken, although I'm not sure what THAT little guy is. I was always faint too, so I assumed that it was something one of you had picked up. Also since it's been around the whole time I've reunited with you." She then looked at him. "Why?"
"I thought I sniffed it too, though I wasn't even sure if it was really there. You have a stronger nose than me, so I wanted to ask you." Pausing for a moment, he added something else. "Anything else you noticed about it?"
His sister nodded, slowly as she recounted the last few days. "It was male, and seemed to follow Kagome around a lot. Actually..." she hesitated, and Inuyasha only wondered why for a second before realizing why she had. The scent hit him like a wave of bricks, now that he knew what he was looking for. Koga was downwind from him, around Kagome's little spring.
"Shit!" He darted in that direction, his sister following closely behind. Koga probably hadn't sensed him yet, as he was moving closer to the woman and girl in the stream.
"Inuyasha, who is that?" Icari was having trouble following her brother, she had to admit it. Who ever it was though, they gave him more adrenaline than ever and made him speed up almost tenfold.
He burst into the clearing a bit too quickly, staring up at the tree that over hung the spring a little. He began to wonder a bit. Why hadn't Kagome sensed the shards in his legs?
"Inuyasha?" The hanyou in question, who had been scanning the trees for a sign of the wolf, looked at the angered miko in the spring. "What are you doing here??" About that moment, Icari stumbled in as well.
"What is- what are yo- Inuyasha! Stop staring! Osuwari!" Inuyasha kissed dirt instantly, and Kagome took that spare moment to climb out quickly and dress quickly. What she hadn't been able to throw on, she disappeared slightly into the bushes to put on. Icari helped Rin out before Inuyasha managed to get up. Coming out, Kagome stood over the hanyou and stared down at him fiercely.
"What were you doing? Bursting in here like that?" By now, the spell had worn off and the dog demon sat up to see her face better.
"I think I smelled Koga. In fact, he was here not to long ago..." His shyness turned to anger. "Didn't you sense those shards? Or did you know that he was here, and letting him watch you!?"
By now, Icari had figured out that this was no ordinary fight they usually got into, and began to carry Rin off to where she could smell Sesshomaru was. After all, she couldn't leave the child alone, and she wanted to get back here and see how things turned out.
"What are you talking about? There were no shards anywhere around here! If Koga had been here, I would never of let him see anything! Is that what you're worried about? I can tell you've ran faster now then you've ever had before, and that's when my life was at stake! I know how long it would've been if you had ran here normally Inuyasha, don't play dumb. I saw how fast you came in here, and you even out ran your sister! A full youkai!"
Icari could still hear her words as she went farther and farther away from them, and not too long after, she met up with Sesshomaru. She could only guess that he had wanted to see what was going on, as he had been heading towards the spring. Indeed, this new side of Inuyasha was surprising, and she would've done no different.
Twitching her sensitive ears, she focused on the voice of her brother and Kagome, trying to hear what they were saying from here, since their voices were faded quite a bit.
"Ego!? How could you possibly blame it on my ego?" She heard her brother say.
"Because you have never ran so fast when my life is in danger. Now that you think that Koga was here, you go faster than light! You know, these last few moments, I've been doing a lot of thinking. I can't believe I was actually worried about you! I thought there was something wrong or something, and now I think that you were probably just upset about the gifts Hojo have been giving me, haven't you?" Icari winced, this was harsh. "Look at me Inuyasha, look me in the eye and say my name."
There was no answer. A long, dreadful silenced filled the air after that. Without thinking, Icari's lips began to move. "Inuyasha, answer her." still there was nothing. It had only been a whisper after all, and Icari really had no hope of Inuyasah actually hearing. "Answer her..." Then she heard a frustrated growl from Kagome before the slightest sounds of footsteps indicating that she had left.
*~*~*~*~*
Deep into the night, Inuyasha sat in a tree alone as he gazed down at the woman that had him captivated at the moment. And the cause of an odd pain from deep inside him. Kagome's eyebrows furrowed and she turned over, hiding her face from his view. So instead, Inuyasha contented himself by watching her body move as it took in slow, gentle breathes. She slept by the trunk, only because Shippo had wanted to sleep there tonight. He lay curled in a ball beside her, her back currently facing him at the moment.
There was the slight sound of a branch creaking with new weight above him as his sister settled herself in. Inuyasha took a deep, shuddering breath as he leaned back and awaited the questions she wanted to ask him.
"You really do love her, don't you?" She got no answer, just a sort of moment where his mask fell a bit and sadness flashed in his eyes. "Why didn't you just say it?" She laid down on the thick branch and let her fingers caress his hair.
"I was afraid." It didn't surprise her at all. She knew about all the insecurities he had. She knew the main causes too. First, there was their brother not accepting him as a child. Then, the villagers that no doubt hated him. When his mother had died, Icari guessed that the lonliness took much of what was left of him. Then, betrayal by the one he had loved most. She had heard about Kikyo from so many different sources now.
"Of what? Didn't what she say make you believe that she loves to you too?" a tendril of her own hair fell towards her face, and her hand went to play with that instead. It was a moment before he answered.
"In a way, yes. But it could've also been caused by her wanting to be someone rather than Kikyo's 'copy'. You know, her independance. And, if she really does care for me, but it turns out to be just an infatuation? What would I do then? Worse, what if what I feel is just an infatuation, and I hurt her?" his eyes drooped a bit when he turned to look up to her, but he suppressed his weariness and looked back down at the young woman below them.
"I've known too much rejection and lonliness, Icari. I don't want it from her too. I don't think I'd beable to live like that after her. I wouldn't." Sorrow began to fill up he heart and Icari pitied her brother. He knew more than anyone else what it felt like to hurt all the time, and she knew he couldn't take much more.
"I know that you have your insecurities, but you know, she must have quite a few of her own as well. It's gotta be hard, knowing that she is the reincarnation of one you once loved. But somehow, you have to prove it to her, and slowly, you'll be able to heal eachother. It will take a long time, little brother, but in the end, everything balances out. I hope you guys work this out someday." With that, Icari stood up and jumped away.
Inuyasha stared down at the woman that confused him so. He wanted deeply to go down there and hold her, just until the morning or something, but he didn't have the guts to be rejected by her too. She turned over again, so that she was on her back and facing him. He stared at her small, delicate mouth, then traced the shape of her face until he was sure it was imprinted within his mind.
As she continued to sleep, he crawled closer, branch be branch. Inuyasha wanted to jump down so that it would be faster, but then if she woke up... he'd never beable to do what he was to now.
Branches past by his feet and claws as he continued to descend the tree, towards Kagome. She never stirred as he continued to climb down. His eyes drooped, as he was tired, but he continued none the less. He knew his sister was watching, somewhere, but he could trust her. He always could, with everything.
Agonzingly slow, he finally made it to the branch right above her. Jumping down silently, he caressed her faced softly, so much that he barely even felt her skin. as she never woke up, he bent down and brushed his lips against hers, very lightly, and quickly. He did not want her to find out. Then, remebering their arguement, he stared directly at her eyelids, smiling slightly at the peacefulness of her face.
Brushing his lips against hers a second time, Inuyasha felt oddly warm at the sensation of it. A girl's lips were so much softer, and sweeter than he had imagined. Staring at her again, slowly, and quietly, his lips began to move, but very slowly.
"Kagome..."