AN: Okay, I handled the situation as best as I could ^_^. Some parts may be a bit weird though. When I write the other chapters I might come back to this one and tweak a few things. I dunno, does this seem short to you? Just don't know what else I could do…oh well. So what will Kagome do now that Inu-Yasha's true identity is revealed? I dunno…^_^ Ehh…hope you enjoy this chapter. I think I'm just updating for the sake of it, er…
Mending What's Broken
Kagome couldn't believe this at all. The person who she'd thought was a vampire who turned out to be a vampire hunter was really a vampire after all. If Inu-Yasha wasn't currently draining all blood from her body, then she would have found this hilarious. But this was so not funny.
Her fingers clutched weakly at his arm, her grip slowly loosening. He was still drinking like a thirsty man in a desert finding an oasis. But that wasn't all. With horror, Kagome saw his hair changing color, from dark black slowly lightening to blond, and then to silver. The hands that were on her shoulders suddenly grew long, sharp nails that dug into her skin. Slowly she lifted one hand—with the lack of blood, her skin was turning a frightening white. If he didn't stop soon she would shrivel into a dry corpse.
At that moment, Inu-Yasha roughly tore his fangs from her skin. The sudden pain after moments of numbness made her draw a choked breath. Kagome looked at him, still dim with shock. Drops of her blood smeared the side of his mouth, and slowly his tongue flicked out and licked the blood droplets. His eyes, still gold, watched her steadily, without any expression or horror of what he'd done.
Kagome ran. She pushed past him and sprinted across the backyard. Inu-Yasha didn't follow. She pressed her white hands against the screen door and pushed hard, entering the house with a literal bang.
Myouga, Miroku, and Kaede turned to look at her, slight annoyance registering on the faces of the two former. "Kagome, can't you enter like a civilized pers…?" Myouga's irritated tone faded into silence at the sight of her white face. "My god…"
Miroku got to his feet. "Kagome, what happened? You're white as a ghost!" He went up to her and gave her a tiny punch on the shoulder. "Nope, you're still flesh. Maybe you saw a ghost?"
The sudden contact made Kagome's half-bloodless legs buckle, and she fell forward into his arms. Kaede stood up from the kitchen table quickly and ran to Kagome. She saw the wound and gasped softly. She disappeared for a few minutes, then reappeared with a roll of bandages. Working quickly, she bandaged Kagome's neck and stopped the bleeding. Miroku, holding Kagome up by bracing her against him, looked at the two elders, bewildered. "What happened to her?"
"I don't know, Miroku, maybe the big bite on her neck might give you a clue," Myouga said somewhat dryly, but his eyes were serious. "Kagome, this could not have happened. I have a powerful vampire ward around this house. Even if it doesn't stop the vampire, we are at least alerted of his presence."
Kagome started mumbling into Miroku's shoulder. "Inu-Yasha…he got past the ward…"
"What?" Miroku looked down. "Oh, that's so sweet, she's calling out for her hero, Inu-Yasha! I knew you were a romantic at heart, you sweetie you."
Myouga's didn't look half as shocked as she expected. "So my suspicions are confirmed. "But the fact that he's one is practically impossible…you disproved it in school…"
"He said only sometimes he is, he did it…oh god, Inu-Yasha…"
"There there," Miroku said soothingly. "Inu-Yasha will come. He'll definitely beat the crap out of the vampire that did this to you."
Kagome, fed up with Miroku's oblivious and unneeded sympathy, stomped on his toe. Even drained of blood and weak, she could still make his toes throb and a strangled squeak come out of his mouth. "I'll beat the crap out of you if you don't stop being so stupid! Inu-Yasha is the vampire!"
There was a loud thud as Miroku dropped her.
"…Crap, Miroku…"
"Where is he now?" Myouga demanded.
"He was in the backyard, but I don't know, he could have run away…to his master or something…goddam traitor..."
"Nice to know you've still got faith in me. I'm right here." All heads swiveled towards the screen door that Kagome had barged into a few minutes ago. Inu-Yasha was standing in front of it, glaring at Kagome.
Kagome pushed herself off Miroku and walked up until a few meters across him. "How am I supposed to have faith in you? You just turned into a vampire right before my eyes and you expect me not to call you a traitor? Or a spy? Why don't you tell us what's going on before you start spewing on about having faith in people?" Her expression in her pale face was angry, like a twisted face of a porcelain doll.
Kaede moaned softly and sat back down with a thump on her chair. She looked ready to faint. Even Miroku didn't have anything to say, and he could only stare at Inu-Yasha. Or the man that looked like Inu-Yasha. His hair was longer and silver, and the fangs that Miroku had noticed earlier in the year were now long and protruded slightly from his mouth.
Hatred fizzled between the stare Kagome held with Inu-Yasha. Looking at Kagome's pale complexion, it seemed like two vampires were about to have a showdown. Finally Kagome held out one hand to her side and said coldly, "Myouga, get me my bow."
Everyone's jaw, except for Inu-Yasha's, dropped. The latter crossed his arms. "So you're going to kill me off just like that? After we've been fighting side by side for months? I'm astounded by your loyalty."
"Yeah, Inu-Yasha, tell me all about loyalty. We have been fighting side by side for months, haven't we? Then the next thing I know you're sucking the life right out of me. You know, maybe the reason why you saved me all those times was so that you could eat me!"
Inu-Yasha was flabbergasted—but angry too. "I told you to run!" he snarled. "I can't help being what I am!"
"Well then why didn't you tell us?" Kagome's voice had risen into a shout again.
"If I had told you, would you believe me?"
That brought Kagome to a stop. Would she have believed Inu-Yasha if he'd told her? This was so silly she just wanted to laugh. She'd accused him of being a vampire, and yet would not believe him if he'd told her it was true. She would have thought he was fooling around, or he'd gone insane. Especially after he'd proved to her he hadn't been running with the vampires, how could he turn right around and say, "You're right, I was only joking. I'm really a bloodsucker. I'm just screwing with you."
"You could have made me believe," she said stonily. "At least if you'd tried, then this wouldn't have happened." Kagome looked around the room. Kaede was still weak. Miroku's lips were opening and closing soundlessly, his eyes still traveling from Inu-Yasha's white hair to his white fangs. But Myouga was looking calmly at Inu-Yasha, as if he…knew…
"Did you know about this?" Kagome asked him. To Inu-Yasha, "Did you tell him?"
The vampire shook his head and Myouga said, "I had my suspicions. He was unable to touch silver that time in the dojo. That was the real reason why he couldn't pull your arrow out."
"See? I wasn't doing a good job of hiding it. You were just too dense to notice it," Inu-Yasha said harshly.
"You…you…" All of a sudden Kagome's knees collapsed. She hung onto the back of a chair, her head bent forward. The group heard her muttering "I will not faint, I will not faint…"
"You can't argue with me right now. I took a lot of your blood. We have to take you to a hospital. Kagome, stop being so stubborn and let me help you!" Inu-Yasha reached over and touched her arm, but then she shoved it away.
Her eyes blazed. "Don't touch me! I don't need blood! I don't need your help." She pushed past him towards the front door of Myouga's house. "I'm not a vampire," she said bitterly over her shoulder at him. "I'm not a traitor. I don't hide things that should be revealed. I don't—" her vision swam. She wasn't exactly telling the truth—okay, she was downright lying—when she said she didn't need blood. Kagome clung onto the door, opened it, then slammed it shut behind her.
* * *
Kagome rode a taxi to the city hospital. She stumbled into the emergency room, trying to look as desperate as possible (which wasn't too hard) and her white as death complexion and near collapse was enough to get her an emergency blood transfusion. As life flowed back into her veins, Kagome made up a story about how she had a rare case of severe hemophilia and she'd scratched her neck on a sharp necklace. It wasn't the best explanation, but with a bonus sob story and a tear or two and the subtle hint she was going to faint dead away if she wasn't given blood right now, the nurse had booted her up the list
She came out of the hospital still slightly shaky but not feeling weak as death. She took another taxi back to Myouga's house and let herself in.
The anger was still there, but that first sharp slap of betrayal had faded somewhat. Now that anger wasn't ruling over her thoughts, she could be calm. Kagome entered the room she was staying in, where her duffel bag was on her bed. The rest of the group had disappeared, and Kagome didn't want to look for them just yet.
Might as well unpack, she thought, unzipping her bag. She pulled out all her clothes, then came across a brown envelope. Curiously she took it and shook the contents out. Photos of her and Inu-Yasha shone on her bedspread. Her mother must have gotten them delivered as soon as they'd left, then snuck them into her duffel back when Kagome was packing. Kagome stared intently at the photos, at Inu-Yasha's arm where her nails had dug in, his other arm casually across her shoulder. She remembered the events of this night, trapped under the concrete. If Inu-Yasha really had been a traitor, he wouldn't have saved her like that, would he?
Within moments she had found a small box. Before even opening the box she knew what was inside. Kagome took out the porcelain figure and sat down on the edge of her bed. Carefully she ran her finger down the silky porcelain, the sparkling gems. Inu-Yasha had gotten this for her. He'd known she'd wanted it, he'd run back to get it for her. Not even Miroku would try something like that. And when she'd cried, he'd kissed them away…
—His hand traveled up to her temple, where an ugly gash had split, and brushed her hair away from the wound. When he looked back down at her face, she was smiling. "What?"
"You're being nice to me," she said weakly.
"Feh. I'm always nice to you. I'm a nice person, that's why I save your ass all the time."
—"I'll walk you home," Inu-Yasha offered casually.
She rolled her eyes. "Right, because it's on the way to your house."
Inu-Yasha looked annoyed. "No, I'll walk you home because I want to."
—Inu-Yasha stood and held out a tiny porcelain figure enclosed in his hands. Kagome's jaw dropped. Inu-Yasha slowly uncurled his fingers to show Kagome and Souta walking together, immortalized in porcelain. Carefully he settled it in Kagome's limp hands.
Kagome dropped her head into her hands. After remembering all that stuff, she felt horrible. As soon as he'd bitten her, she'd turned on him, forgetting what he'd done in the past. It was one event versus the others. And she knew she couldn't defeat the Inu-kai on her own and get the Shikon Jewel and get Souta. Argh, stupid bastard. Being all nice to me so I can't ever stay angry with him for long. She hated to admit it, but she needed his help.
Which meant she would have to go and apologize.
He wasn't in the house, so that must mean he's in the dojo. Inside she could practically hear the whizzing of Inu-Yasha's Tetsusaiga as it sliced through the air. She could hear Myouga saying, "Fine, I'll let the two of you handle it. Knowing that you are on our side is the only thing important to me. You two should sort this out yourselves." The door slid open, and Kagome quickly jumped away.
Myouga looked at her as he came out. "Inu-Yasha's in there practicing. He's not a spy, he's on our side, but that's all he'd tell me. Maybe you can talk with him, settle your differences." As he walked away, he added, "Oh, and if you two destroy my dojo I'm sending you the bill. Bye."
Thank you, mentor, Kagome thought sarcastically. As she placed her hands on the sliding door, she froze and thought of what would happen if she opened that door. But the image of the porcelain came back, and she made herself slide the door open.
He was in the air, swinging his sword over his head and down onto the ground. His hair, strangely, was silver now streaked with black. When he saw her he stumbled and fell to the floor with an undignified splat.
Normally Kagome would have leaned against the door and said, "That was clumsy," and marvel at the stupidity of her friend, but this time she ran over to him. "Inu-Yasha, are you okay? Geez, you're so clumsy!" Okay, maybe she did say it after all.
"I'm fine," he said shortly. "Why do you care?"
"Hey, don't get all snappy with me," she retaliated indignantly. "You're the one who lied—" she stopped. They were going to get sucked into a never ending argument, and she'd never do what she set out to do. Kagome decided it was now or never and screwed her eyes shut—"I'm sorry."
Inu-Yasha narrowed his eyes at her suspiciously. "What?"
Her eyes flew open. "How many times am I going to have to say it? I said I'm sorry."
"For what?" Geez, now he was just dangling this in her face, wasn't he?
For awhile she contemplated just staking him and getting it over with. "For getting mad. For calling you a traitor. For leaving my neck out in the open so you could lose control and suck my rare and extremely coveted blood type, for which I had to make up some crazy story about severe hemophilia to obtain," she couldn't help adding. "And that's all I'm going to apologize for so the rest of this messy business is now officially your fault."
A smile pulled at his lips. The dojo was covered in silence. Then a soft chuckle. "Actually, what I meant 'for what' as in, you have nothing to apologize for. But that little speech was interesting too," he added quickly as Kagome puffed up with anger. "Believe me, it wasn't a waste. I'm the one who should be apologizing."
He had made her say all that and she hadn't even needed to? Kagome considered smashing something on his head but then realized Inu-Yasha was going to say sorry. He was going to apologize to her. A grin spread on her face. This would be fun. She plopped down in front of Inu-Yasha. "Okay. Go on. I'll see if I'm in a forgiving mood."
"Hah, you weren't in such a cocky mood a few minutes ago," he scoffed. Kagome raised her eyebrow. He sighed. "Fine…I'm sorry for not telling you I am a vampire."
"And?"
"I'm sorry for misleading you because I didn't tell you I am a vampire."
"And?"
"I'm sorry for biting you because I am a vampire."
"And?"
"And thus betraying your trust in me, revealing my dark self, blah blah blah..."
"And?"
"D'you know, I'm feeling rather hungry again…"
Kagome leaned backwards. "I think that's enough for you. Wow, four apologies in a row. That's a record." She started clapping. Inu-Yasha shot her a glare, then made a keh sound and turned his head away. Kagome's eyes fell on his silver hair and she asked quietly, "How did it happen? Were you bitten and transformed or something?"
Bravely she extended a hand and lifted some strands onto her fingers. Inu-Yasha didn't pull back, just watched her hand. "No," he said in a low voice. "I was born a vampire. But my mother was mortal, so I'm only half. That means I'm not always a vampire. I turn into a vampire once a month—"
"Like a werewolf?"
"Do you see me sprouting fur all over my body and howling at the moon? Stop changing the subject." Kagome bit down a smile as Inu-Yasha continued. "But recently I started feeling the symptoms of changing—you know, the beef and stuff—which was weird because I had turned into a vampire just recently, less than a month after this one."
"You what? When?"
"When you went off on that training program with Myouga's friends. I didn't go to the soccer camp retreat. That was my monthly bloodfest time."
Kagome cringed. "Eww…that sounds so like a gory period." She abruptly pulled her hand back from his hair.
"Hey, you asked. I never said it would be pretty. Then tonight, when we went to the movies, I felt the hunger. That's what the whole man-in-the-bathroom-bleeding thing was all about." Inu-Yasha's gaze shuffled away from her hand to the floor.
Her jaw dropped. "You mean, you bite innocent people every month? So it's like, you save people from vampires 98% of the time, then you kill one a month so you can live? That's twisted, man, so twisted."
She was shaking her head sadly when he yelled, "Who said anything about killing? Did that man die? I don't think so! And when I can I steal from the blood bank!" He paused and thought about it. "Is it just me, or is there something wrong with that sentence?"
"You almost killed me," she said quietly.
"That's exaggerating and you know it." She could've sworn she heard a muttered "moron" after that. "I stopped. I made myself stop. After saving your ass the entire night by having a ton of concrete squashed on mine, do you think I'd waste it all on killing you?"
Kagome stopped and pondered a moment. Yeah, that didn't make sense. Obviously he wouldn't have sucked her dry—he just stopped short of leaving her a bloodless corpse, but didn't killed her. She felt his fingers curl around her chin and tilt her head upwards. She found herself staring into his milky golden eyes, more brilliant than his mortal ones, yet they made her feel the same. It felt like something was dancing in her stomach. Thank god he was holding her jaw, or else she would have ogled him mindlessly, mouth half-open like a dweeb and probably drooling as well.
"But that will never happen again," he said. "I won't lose control like that again." I won't break your trust—I know once it's shattered it's gone forever. I know what broken trust can do to you. I won't make the same mistakes. Her eyes were beautiful—big and warm, clear and deep, so unlike the impassionate stare that she had had.
"Okay," Kagome said in a muffled voice—he was still holding on to her chin, after all. Then, as if they'd planned it, Inu-Yasha's hand moved to cradle her cheek she'd lifted her own hand and closed it over his. He drew her towards his chest and Kagome wrapped her other arm around him in a reconciling hug. The hand that held her cheek slowly slid down, past the bandage on her neck, and settled on her waist, her hand over his the entire time. "I'm sorry," he whispered lightly above her head. A little, childish part of Kagome wanted to scream, "Hah! Five apologies! You're all mine, sucker!" That is what she would have done with Miroku if they were making up from a fight. But another part of her, a different part of her, wanted to hug him tighter, let him know all was forgiven, that she understood he couldn't help himself, maybe…even…kiss…
NO!! Kagome was so freaked out by her own thoughts that she broke away from Inu-Yasha's arms and scurried backwards. Freakin' hell, what was that? She did not just think that…she wasn't in love with him aw hell no…
Then what was with that hug, huh? Her own thoughts were turning against her.
We are just friends, dammit. Besides, love is such a strong word, Kagome argued with herself.
So how do you want me to put it? You like him? You gotta crush? Her other self cackled wickedly. Hee hee. Your cheek's still on fire.
Kagome placed a hand on her cheek where Inu-Yasha had caressed—no, touched!—it just seconds ago. Stop it! She began slapping her forehead with her palm. She had priorities! Kikyo, Naraku, and Souta. Her feelings about Inu-Yasha were not important. They were probably just spur of the moment…not many guys hugged her…
"Uhm, Kagome, are you OK?" Inu-Yasha asked, looking concerned and a little bit scared. After all, Kagome had been slapping herself for the past two minutes.
"Huh?" Kagome seemed to break out of whatever stupor she was in. "Yeah, I'm fine." Her cheeks were furiously red, and Inu-Yasha didn't think it was because she was whacking herself. Crickets chirped outside.
"So," Kagome said brightly. "Anything else you have to tell me?"
A pause. "Just one. But that's something I have to tell everyone else…"
"Is it as big as you telling us you're half-vampire?"
"Uhhh…maybe more?…"
* * *
"YOU'RE FROM THE INU-KAI CLAN?!" A high-pitched shriek filled Kaede's kitchen. Everyone then looked at Myouga, who didn't seem at all embarrassed by his outburst. He then turned and pressed his forehead against the wall, obviously in shock.
Kagome shook her head. "I should have known you'd drop a bomber. Hit me with something else. Say your preferred blood source is the mosquito, say you slept with every member of KISS, I can take anything now." She stood up from her place at the table. "You're Inu-kai! Hmm, I guess it makes sense. Inu-kai, Inu-Yasha. Not only are we trying to kill off your type, we are specifically trying to kill you."
Inu-Yasha was leaning against the kitchen counter. "Not really. I'm more like estranged. Think of me as the black sheep. They all want to kill me, especially my brother." He scowled. "Sesshoumaru's been trying to kill me ever since I was born."
Kaede gasped. Myouga whirled around again. "Sesshoumaru?" Kagome had never seen Myouga look like this. He actually looked afraid. "Sesshoumaru, the leader of the Inu-kai? He is the one who personally killed Kikyo." Kaede looked down at her hands, and Kagome placed an arm comfortingly around the old woman.
"Yes, he's a complete bastard," Inu-Yasha agreed emotionlessly. But Kagome was looking at him, and she saw his face change. His eyes had become shadowed, and his fists were clenched, even if his voice betrayed nothing. He hadn't looked like his when he was talking about Sesshoumaru—then he must have been reacting to Kikyo's name. Did he know Kikyo? If Inu-Yasha was half-vampire, that meant he was older than her—perhaps even older than Myouga. Inu-Yasha could be older than Myouga?
But wait! Inu-Yasha sure didn't look seventy…although she knew most vampires kept their youthful looks until centuries old. Maybe Kikyo was his mortal mother? She could ask him about that later.
"I saw him deal the final blow…and as she fell, I saw him raise a hand, and a swarm of vampires covered her body…" Myouga said, his voice trailing off. Then he shook his head hard, as if trying to rid himself of the thought.
"Look, spare us the details, old man. Kagome doesn't need to hear it," Inu-Yasha said rather harshly. "I don't either."
Look at that, he's thought of you before he thought of his own feelings, Evil Obsessed Kagome sneered. Kagome scowled. Shut the heck up before I rip you out of there myself. Seriously. Was she going insane?
He's looking at you. He's guilty because he fed on me. He's looking at you because you guys had a Moment back there, don't deny it. You're not gonna live to have a next Moment if you don't go away. How can I go away? I'm you. You're thinking these thoughts. And denying them at the same time. Quite funny, actually. Arrrgh!
"See, I think you've stunned her," Miroku's voice brought Kagome back to reality. Everyone was looking at her. Kagome stood up. "You know, I'm sure you and Myouga can talk about a lot of things, you know, about the Inu-kai and stuff. Let me go take a breather outside first." Ducking her head, she left the kitchen into the backyard.
Kagome stopped in front of a patch of grass that looked blacker than the others in the night. She knelt down and examined the blades. Her blood had dripped down here, staining the blades red. So much had happened tonight, with Inu-Yasha. She wondered if—
She shot to her feet, a silver dagger pressed against Naraku's heart. Naraku, who was standing before her with an amused smile on his face. As she wasn't fully recovered, she swayed, but refused to show it, glaring at him the whole while.
Screw her evil self and her Moments. This was her real Moment. She was no longer afraid of him. On the contrary…"I'm ready for you now," she said with a small grin.
