AN: Waah, sorry I took so long to update! Whenever I reach a part in the fic that's difficult to write, I just blow it over until I get some inspiration and get off my butt to do it. Yeah, so…not much action in the chapter, but there'll be more in the later ones so that it doesn't seem weird, like starting off with action and ending in soap opera ^^. This chapter's a bit longer than the others, to make up for all those weeks. Um…enjoy.
Extra: The day I finish this, I can't log into my account. I hate you, Murphy.
Choices in the Courtyard
Kagome never ate her breakfast, because she left the room as soon as she got dressed. Since she hadn't counted on staying at the castle on a truce, naturally she didn't bring any clothes. But in the closet she found a hoard of dresses, dresses that a noble woman from centuries might wear. It repulsed her to think she would wear clothes a vampire had worn, but her old clothes were dirty and bloody, and she had no choice.
Her lip curling, she pulled one out of the closet and laid it across the bed. It was covered in frills and lace, and about five petticoats. She turned to Shippou. "You have interior designers, why don't you have fashion stylists?"
Shippou giggled at her choice of dress. "Those are from the seventeenth century. But there are people here who preserve these."
"Ew," she muttered. "I'd rather burn them." She sighed and took a dagger from the weapons belt she'd managed to retrieve last night. "Let's do the best we can."
The next ten minutes were spent cutting away most of the frills and lace, the big garish flowers at the shoulders, and all the petticoats. Kagome tried it on and surveyed herself in the mirror. "Hmm…still icky, but at least it's not hideous like before." At least there were no fancy decorations, and she didn't look like a big birthday cake.
Shippou turned around and examined her. "Well, you really butchered it," he said in honestly, "But you look good in it." He grinned shyly. "You're pretty."
Kagome laughed. He was the cutest thing ever…and he was one of the rare males in this world who thought she was pretty. There was no way she was going to let this kitsune die.
"So, I think I've been in this room long enough." Kagome picked up a few daggers and slid them in ankle sheaths. The weapons belt was too bulky, and the long dress would hide her legs so at least she could carry something.
"I thought we're at a truce," Shippou said as they left the room.
She shrugged. "I never go anywhere without a weapon. For me it's like going out naked."
Shippou snickered. "I bet Inu-Yasha would want to see that."
Her eye twitched. Yeah, kid, just be glad you're a minor so I can't inflict bodily harm on you. Although she wasn't really sure if he was a minor or not—how'd he know the dresses were from the seventeenth century? It wasn't as if anyone was going to bother telling him that…right? She shuddered involuntarily. That was a little freaky. That was…(she counted silently using her fingers)…a lot of years.
Outside, the open hallway, the sky was the same as it was last night—dark, with traces of red, as if the sun was just about to rise, but she knew it never would. As long as she was here, she was going to have to survive without the sun. Bummer…but dang the place was big. She could keep in shape by jogging around the castle every morning with Miroku…
Oh, right. Miroku. Her stupid, lovable best friend who'd followed her in. She had to find him to make sure he was okay. "Do you know where the other humans' rooms are?" she asked Shippou.
"Yeah…but when I looked in them they were all empty. It is the middle of the day, you know," Shippou said. "You're the only one still sleeping like a baby."
Kagome squinted up at the sky. "You'd never be able to tell around here," she muttered under her breath. Great, so Miroku and everyone else were gone, and this castle was big enough to be searching for half the day for them. Might as well throw in a little sightseeing, and maybe find out where Sesshoumaru's and Naraku's rooms were. "So, Shippou, since you've been here for God knows how many years, why don't you show me around?"
The little kitsune beamed at the chance. He was too proud to let Kagome carry him, so Kagome just laughingly followed him as he scurried down the hallway.
Shippou took them to the center of the castle, a large courtyard. The courtyard was actually a huge, open space of stone floor, bordered with dark grass. All around were tall, black trees. Even the leaves looked black, or else they were the darkest green ever. The only flowers that lined the few paths were roses—the darkest, reddest roses Kagome had ever seen. The thorns poking out of their stems looked like thick needles, which made it extremely dangerous for anyone who wanted to pick the exquisite flowers.
Of course, this didn't stop Kagome. "Oh my gosh, these are the coolest flowers I've ever seen!" She went over to them, Shippou watching nervously. Kagome leaned over and sniffed one of the rosebuds. The soft petals tickled her chin and she laughed.
"Um, Kagome, those roses are bad luck, especially for humans. The guy who bred them was an evil moron, and he made them big n' bloody like that, and their scent is intoxicating…literally—"
Kagome, who had been dreamily letting his words flow in one ear and out the other, reached out to pick one. She quickly realized her mistake when she pulled her stinging hand back. "Ouch!"
"—And their thorns are rather poisonous," Shippou finished lamely.
Kagome watched a thin trickle of blood slip down her finger, which was swelling up to the size of a sausage. "You don't say…will it kill me?"
"No, but it's not pleasant either. You'd be puking for days." A deep voice, most definitely not Shippou's, replied for her.
She nearly dove headfirst into the rose bushes. What was it with people scaring the living daylights out of her? She whirled around. Inu-Yasha, arms crossed, was watching her swelling finger with interest. He was still in his vampire form, and his silver hair contrasted sharply with the dark courtyard. She realized, with some relief and some guilt at being relieved, that he was alone.
"Inu-Yasha, you moron! Next time I'm going to push you into these damn bushes!"
He looked her over. "You know, I'm certain that dress was one of those horrible ones from the seventeenth century. Am I right?"
How old is everyone? I'm like a freakin' baby around here. "Do you realize you could have killed me back there?"
"Do you realize that you're attracting the attention of every vampire within a ten-meter radius?" Inu-Yasha asked calmly though she knew inside he was laughing hysterically.
Kagome looked around. Sure enough, pale silver heads were poking from behind tree trunks, watching her. She rubbed her thick finger on the side of her skirt, trying to wipe the blood off.
"I would offer to suck the poison out for you, but that's kind of like the sheep asking the wolf to shear him, don't you think?" Inu-Yasha continued to bombard her with questions. "You know, especially after last time."
"What did you do to her last time, Inu-Yasha?" Shippou demanded to know. "Did he hurt you, Kagome?"
Inu-Yasha looked down and glared at the little vampire. "And what's Shippou doing with you? Is he bothering you? I could punt him straight out of the castle if you want."
She didn't know whether to be angry or touched (wow, two guys fighting over me…never thought it would happen). But she didn't have to think about it for too long, because her finger had just turned blue. "Hey, Inu-Yasha, is it supposed to look like this?" She held it up for him to see.
His calm look vanished as a big blue finger was nearly shoved in his eye. "No, stupid!" He grabbed her hand and stuck her finger inside her mouth. "Suck out as much as you can, you'll know when the blood tastes different."
Kagome rolled her eyes but did as she was told. Bitter-tasting blood filled her mouth and she squirmed. She couldn't imagine being a vampire, and having to do this, although judging from personal experiences they must like it a lot. She spat the blood out onto the rosebushes. Maybe it would nourish those sadistic things.
She heard Shippou whispering, "I can smell her blood. It smells really good."
Inu-Yasha replied, in the same quiet tone, "Yeah, it does. But she's off limits. Go feed on someone else."
She tried not to listen. She may have feelings for Inu-Yasha and think Shippou was cute and cuddly, but the truth was that they were still vampires, still beasts. Ones that could be controlled by their love for blood. It all boiled down to that.
Eventually her blood tasted salty, and without a trace of bitterness. She spat the last mouthful into the flowers and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. "Ugh, it takes awful," she said, making a face. "Shippou, can you show me where the kitchen is? I really need some water."
"That won't be necessary," a soft voice replied for Shippou, the second time someone had interrupted him. Kagome knew who the voice belonged to even before she turned around and faced her.
Kikyo was standing next to Inu-Yasha, holding a large basket. She looked much better than last night. Her hands were bandaged and her hair was brushed and flowing down her back. Now that Kagome had a closer look, she saw Kikyo was indeed beautiful. Did she ever come close to that? Certainly not now, with her three-hundred year old dress and her mouth filled with blood. She didn't dare open her mouth until she had washed the blood away.
Kikyo rummaged in the basket, holding the entire thing with just one hand. She looked frail, but she was strong. Finally she pulled out a flask of water. "Here," she said, holding it out to Kagome.
"Thanks," Kagome mumbled, keeping her lips as close as possible, in the same neutral manner, not friendly yet not hostile. She didn't know how to deal with this…she was Inu-Yasha's ex-girlfriend, after all, and she wasn't even sure if she was an ex. Since Kikyo wasn't going out of her way to act friendly or mean, Kagome decided to just act the same way she did.
Kagome tilted her head back and drank, until the blood was just a lingering bad taste because she couldn't dispel it completely. "Thanks," she said again when she was done, and this time she really meant it. "Um, if I may ask, what's the basket for?"
"We thought…we'd have a picnic" here Inu-Yasha scowled, and Kagome knew 'we' actually meant 'Kikyo.' Inu-Yasha was not the picnic sort of person, and even though Kikyo didn't seem like one either, she seemed more of one than Inu-Yasha. "You know, it'd be cool to have a picnic here and stuff."
Yes, because it's the most charming place in the world, Kagome thought, taking another look around the dark courtyard. "But you don't eat human food when you're…like this, Inu-Yasha."
"I don't, but Kikyo does," Inu-Yasha replied, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.
But Kikyo does. Kagome used to think when people sang about heartaches on slow songs it was similar to having heartburn, like eating too much steak (one of the many reasons why Miroku said she was going to be single forever) but now she knew the difference. Heartaches stung more. Inu-Yasha would never willingly go have a picnic with someone he didn't care about. Kagome's sub-conscious hopes that Kikyo and Inu-Yasha had parted ways vanished.
"Would you care to join us?" Kikyo asked suddenly.
Kagome looked startled. "Me? Seriously?"
"No, we were asking Shippou," Inu-Yasha said dryly. "Of course you. You're the only other human around here."
Kagome put her hands on her hips. "Stop biting my head off, I was just asking, all right?"
"Well, if you wouldn't ask such dumb questions…"
"It's not a dumb question! I just thought you wanted to be alone, that's all," she snapped.
"When she asked you if you wanted to join?"
"I was just making sure! Do you want to be alone or not?" she growled, very nearly screaming. She glared at him furiously. Just because Inu-Yasha had his old girlfriend back it didn't mean he could treat her like she was stupid…all of a sudden she felt a serious dislike for him. He could go be with Kikyo again, she didn't care anymore.
Meanwhile, Inu-Yasha was glaring right back. Couldn't she see that this was uncomfortable? And she was drawing it out by asking unneeded questions. She could either say yes or no…though he wasn't sure what he wanted her answer to be. She was still glaring at him…then he remembered she had asked him a question, and she wanted it answered. Did he want to be alone—with Kikyo—or not? His mouth opened and closed, as if he thought of an answer but changed his mind. He wanted her to come, he missed her, but he also didn't want her to come, he missed Kikyo, too. And Kikyo had been (presumed) dead for fifty years. My lord, I'm such a cad, he realized.
Kagome still waited expectantly, feeling worse with every second that Inu-Yasha said nothing, but she was too proud to turn on her heels and leave. Luckily, Kikyo intervened. "I extended the invitation, Kagome, and I'd be honored if you accepted. I've heard so much about you, and I'd like to know more about your powers." Her tone was much softer than her previous toneless one, and it sounded almost friendly, at the edge of friendly.
Cheeks flaming, Kagome nodded. And so they sat down and had a picnic…of sorts.
The food, obviously prepared by humans, was good. Rice balls and noodles and strips of chicken and beef were tucked into black lacquer boxes. There were no French fries or hamburgers, though Kagome wished there was a rare burger somewhere in there, so she could make a snide comment to Inu-Yasha about his eating preferences. Anything to make a snide comment to him. Shippou didn't touch the food except for some sweet things, typical of any child (if he could even be called that.)
"I used to go on these sorts of picnics," Kikyo said, sipping a bowl of tea. "With Myouga and my sister Kaede. Have you met her?" She must have assumed by knowing Myouga, Kagome knew Kaede. Which she did. "How is she now?"
Older than you was the first thing that came to mind, but Kagome didn't dare say it. "She's fine," she replied. "She talks about you a lot." Then again, so do most people in my life, so much that I wonder who they really see. But Kagome couldn't feel any hatred toward Kikyo, no matter how hard she tried or how much she insisted to herself she deserved to. Jealousy, yeah, maybe…okay, definitely, but not hatred. Her hatred was for vampires. And sometimes a perverted best friend.
Her eyes flicked toward Inu-Yasha. He was leaning against one of the trees, trying very hard not to look in her direction.
They talked for a bit about the purifying powers, and other sorts of light trivia, like how the human world was like now and etcetera. Inu-Yasha remained quiet the entire time, a half-scowl etched on his face throughout. Shippou, apparently stuffed on candies, had rolled onto his stomach and fallen asleep.
Kagome had just finished telling her about the training session she'd undergone with Falcon and Takada. "Then I think it was around this time that Inu-Yasha went through his vampire transformation," she said, watching Inu-Yasha's face for a reaction. His brows furrowed closer, but the rest of his face didn't move. "None of us knew it at the time, though."
Kikyo's face changed, in the way that she suddenly became more interested but didn't show it openly. "I see. And how did you find out?" But she was thinking ahead, and her eyes traveled down to Kagome's neck, where two fresh wounds marred the side. Kagome squirmed under her gaze, but in a way she was relieved Kikyo had found out on her own—it would be weird, talking about the previous night under the concrete with her.
Kikyo nodded as she took another sip of tea. "Yes, sometimes Inu-Yasha has a bit of a problem keeping his control." She said it as if those fifty years had never gone by, and she'd been with him all this time.
Inu-Yasha's head jerked up, and he broke his silence. "Hey, I do a very good job of keeping my control!"
"Are you denying it?" Kikyo asked calmly. Sip.
"The only reason I did that was because Sesshoumaru was opening the castle and I didn't expect it!"
"It is true you can be hot-tempered most times, Inu-Yasha." Sip.
"I told her to run, but she insisted on staying there!"
"Which of course gives you the right to attack her, and then later justify your actions with me?" Sip.
"I—I'm not justifying anything, I'm just—"
"Being in denial, as usual." Sip.
This wound Inu-Yasha down to a stutter, until he crossed his arms with a final "Feh!", while Kagome watched in astonishment.
They were bantering with each other, Kikyo obviously winning, but still bantering as though they'd done it all their lives. Kagome felt a twinge of jealousy. She thought that she was the one who argued with Inu-Yasha, who exchanged insults and witty comebacks with him, and with Kikyo they would just be polite to each other. It was wrong thinking, of course, but it had been Kagome's one inner hope that maybe she might have something with him that Kikyo didn't. Yes, yes, it's bad thinking, but don't I have a right? Here I am, being forced to watch Inu-Yasha and his former girlfriend rekindle their relationship while I thought maybe I would have one of my own. Then Kagome shook her head violently. No, there never was a possible relationship between me and him! Yeah, that's right. It's a lot easier to think of it that way. Or so she tried to persuade herself.
She looked up just in time to see a small smile touch Kikyo's lips, so faint but it lightened up her stone face considerably. At the moment she'd smiled, she'd been replying to something Inu-Yasha had said. Kagome then looked at Inu-Yasha. His sulky look was gone, and he was smirking like a mischievous child. She didn't know what they'd just been talking about, because she'd been lost within her head.
"Yeah, it's all good now, but before we really hated each others guts," Inu-Yasha said as Kagome went back to the real world. "She did some pretty awful stuff, didn't she, Kagome?"
"Of course you forgot to mention why I did some pretty awful stuff in the first place," Kagome replied, narrowing her eyes. She'd realized for some time now that Inu-Yasha's firs reaction to her had been related to Kikyo, and it was beginning to irritate her now that Kikyo had to be a part of everything in her relationship with Inu-Yasha, romantic or not.
"One little glare and you're making me touch your neck and sticking me in the girl's locker rooms." Inu-Yasha's eyes laughed at the memory. "And still I saved your life several times afterward."
A memory of a certain promise they'd made shot into her head, but she forced it back down. Inu-Yasha was being very unlikable right now, she could rid herself of whatever feelings she had and use this chance to really dislike him. "I was suspicious. But then, I had every right to be, didn't I?" she said, almost growling.
Inu-Yasha's smile faltered. "Yeah, it's amazing how things turn out." And here he looked straight into her eyes.
Something about that sentence bugged Kagome. Maybe it was the way he said it, or the various meanings it implied, or the Evil Stare but whatever it was it made her snap. She reached out for the first thing she could grab her hands on—a rice ball—and hurled it at him.
It bounced off his forehead and rolled onto the ground innocently. He gaped in shock at her, but she glared at him furiously. She didn't care anymore—if Inu-Yasha was going to be such a jerk then that was his problem.
Slowly Inu-Yasha reached inside one of the boxes, and pulled out a squid ball. He tossed it in the air and caught it a few times, then threw it at Kagome like he was pitching a baseball.
She ducked just in time—the squid ball sailed past Kagome and shot into Shippou's cheek. The kitsune squealed and jumped to his feet. "What the heck—who threw that?" he yelled, looking around. His eyes fell on Inu-Yasha, and he growled. "Inu-Yasha, that was so mean! I'm gonna chew your head off!"
Inu-Yasha ignored him. "We are not going to turn this into a food fight," he told Kagome.
Don't you patronize me, especially in front of your girlfriend. "Of course we're not," she said through gritted teeth.
"We're going to be mature about it."
Are you trying to show her what a good guy you are and what a kid I am? "Of course we are."
"So no more throwing food."
If you think you can order me around, especially in front of her… "Whatever you say," she agreed.
As soon as Inu-Yasha turned around she picked up an entire box of noodle soup and dumped it over his head. "Rule number one, always be suspicious," she said bitingly with loads of irony in her voice. Those were the words Inu-Yasha had said to Miroku. "The person you trust the most could turn around and take advantage." She got to her feet and brushed herself off.
"Nice meeting you," she said to Kikyo. "Maybe we could talk some more later."
"I'd like that," Kikyo said, edging ever so subtly away from the soup that was dripping onto her red pants.
Kagome was well out of the courtyard before Inu-Yasha realized the double meaning of his sentence. "Hey, wait, Kagome!" He pulled the box off his head and quickly brushed the noodles off himself. Shippou was killing himself laughing.
"Kikyo, I have to go talk to her. It can get murderous when both of us are at war." It wasn't the real reason, at least he didn't think it was. "Do you mind?"
Kikyo filled her cup with more tea. "Why must you even ask for my conse—" She stopped mid-sentence as Inu-Yasha dashed out of the courtyard in Kagome's direction.
She waited until he was gone and Shippou's sides had very nearly split. "I suspected as much," she said softly. "Certainly, Inu-Yasha was never good at hiding his feelings."
"And she kept defending him," Shippou said voice hoarse from laughing. "So maybe she likes him too."
"Hmm." She sipped her tea. For awhile the gloomy air was filled with thick silence.
"Do you still love him?" Shippou said suddenly.
From the other side of the courtyard someone shouted, "Kikyo!" and a distant figures led by a small man drew closer to her. Myouga and the vampire hunters.
Kikyo let out a small sigh. The Shikon no Tama flared brightly once, then returned to its normal glow. "He is the only reason for my living," she said with perfect truth.
* * *
For the afternoon Kagome had ignored Inu-Yasha's footsteps behind her, and an increasingly impatient, angry voice calling out her name. Eventually it had stopped, and the anger within her was allowed to settle a bit. She spent the early afternoon searching for Miroku, and finding him with a human servant realized he was going to be just fine, and the rest of the day exploring the castle. She'd taken note of important places, like her room (duh), the courtyard, and Naraku's and Sesshoumaru's rooms. All the running and exploring made her hot and tired, so she jogged back to her room.
Inu-Yasha was waiting at the door, clean and soup-free. Kagome kept her gaze in front of her as she opened the door. She tried to slip in and close it, but Inu-Yasha stuck his foot inside. "We have to talk," he said.
"Yes, we should be mature about this, shouldn't we?" she said icily. "Move your foot, I am going to take a shower. Don't bother waiting." She started slamming the door against his foot repeatedly.
"You could try to tunnel yourself out of your room with a spoon and I'd still be waiting," he said, his voice rising over the thuds of the door against his shoe. Finally he grabbed the handle and kept the door still.
"Aww…was that supposed to romantic?" Kagome stomped on his foot—he wouldn't budge. Finally she just threw the door open for him. "Fine, come inside, you can stay as long as you like but I'm not going to listen to a word you say."
He followed her in. Kagome headed straight for the bathroom,, and just a meter away from the door she drew a line on the ground with her foot. "Whatever part of you goes past this line I'm cutting off," she said.
Inu-Yasha threw up his hands. "Whatever. But if you're not out in half an hour I'm coming in there."
"Hmph. Pervert. Are you sure your girlfriend would like to hear that?"
"Leave her out of it!" He yelled, but Kagome had already shut the door. "Bitch!" he muttered, flopping down on her bed. He put his hands over his face as Kagome called out, "I heard that."
Exactly half an hour later Kagome emerged from a steam-filled bathroom clad in a towel. "I can't believe I have to look through that closet of doom again to find something to wear!" she muttered to herself. She looked up and saw Inu-Yasha lying on her bed. "Why are you still here?"
"Because I said we were going to talk, and I'm not leaving till we do," he said stubbornly. "And no, I am not trying to peek so you don't have to cross your arms like you're stuck in a straightjacket."
She rolled her eyes. "There's nothing to talk about!" She stomped past him to her closet, the cold night air biting her skin. "Decent clothes, decent clothes…why are these dresses so icky? At least the underwear's normal…Inu-Yasha, go get me some of your clothes. I can't stand these long dresses."
"Excuse me? Did I just hear you order me to do something?" Inu-Yasha scoffed, but he rose into a sitting position.
"Get me some of your clothes, and we'll talk about whatever you want," she said without pulling her head out of the closet. "Unless you're afraid Kikyo will think you're a two-timing bastard if you come in here with some of your clothes—which you are, by the way," she added.
"I said to keep Kikyo out of this!" he yelled. "And how am I a two-timing pervert? I didn't even peek! There was nothing to peek at!"
This stopped Kagome's rummaging. Slowly she pulled her head out of the closet and turned around, water still dripping down her face. "Just-get-me-my-clothes," she said, each syllable dark and clipped and eerily foreboding.
Inu-Yasha didn't really want to be there when all hell broke loose, so he bit down a snide comment and left the room. His old room had been taken by Kikyo, so his new quarters were on the other side of Kagome's hall. He picked out the clothes on top of the pile and stalked back down to her room.
He found her sitting on the bed, the towel still wrapped around her, her eyes closed. They opened at the sound of the door closing. Carelessly he tossed her his clothes. "Thanks," she said softly, and ducked into the bathroom to change.
They smell like Inu-Yasha, Kagome thought as she slipped the shirt over her head. Cool and dark and musky with a freshness like mint—no, she was not supposed to think like this, she was supposed to hate him. Why couldn't he smell like Naraku, unpleasant and uncomfortable? The pants were loose around her legs, perfect for training or surprise attacks. She should steal more of his clothes.
She emerged, finishing up towel-drying her hair. She plopped herself at the dresser and began brushing her hair, until Inu-Yasha cleared his throat. "Aren't you forgetting something? Like your end of the bargain?" he asked pointedly.
"No, I'm listening." Kagome winced as she fought through a whole web of knots. "Go on, what exactly do you want to talk about?"
"You," he said bluntly. "What's up with pouring soup over my head? And throwing rice balls at me? Why are you so freakin' angry?"
Kagome laughed, though she wasn't exactly slapping Inu-Yasha on the back or anything. "You are so dense sometimes. If that's all you wanted to talk about, just go away and think about it for awhile, the answer'll come to you."
"If you already know why don't you just tell me?" he countered. "Come on, why were you acting so weird?"
"So everything's my fault now, is it?" she said suddenly, her voice becoming sharper. "Is it my fault I was born with Kikyo's looks and I live in place where most of the close people in my life knew Kikyo as this absolutely great person and me as some sort of replacement? Is it my fault for becoming angry when a person who's close to me makes me sound like some lunatic in front of the girl I look like and am inferior to? Is it my fault that maybe the first time I ever develop real feelings for someone, his old girlfriend—who looks just like me by the way—comes up again and I have to watch them flirt and can't think of anyone to blame except him and he thinks it's all my fault?" she finished in a louder, higher voice, and slammed the brush down. She wanted to burrow under the covers and lock up her mind—she was used to spilling out her thoughts, which usually led her into trouble, like now.
Inu-Yasha had finished sorting it out by the time Kagome had crawled under the covers of her bed. "Look, Kagome…" he began, tapping what seemed to be her foot. It moved away from him.
"Go away," she said, her voice muffled. "Our talk is over."
"No it's not. Come out of there."
"Oh yes, because we should deal with this in a mature way," she snapped.
He winced. "If you're going to keep bringing that up then I will resort to hair-pulling." No answer. "Okay, so I was a bit off there, but you can't blame me."
"Hell, yes I can."
Inu-Yasha yanked the covers off of her. She sat up, glaring at him. "No, you can't, because that wouldn't be fair. I'm confused too, you know. I think I might…you know, with you, and then we come back here and she's been alive all this time…it's weird, okay?"
"Ah," Kagome nodded. "And your way of dealing is to act like a complete jerk to one girl and be a good boyfriend to another?"
"Put yourself in my shoes and think of what you would've done," he said. "Oh, wait, you can't, because you've been single your whole life."
Kagome rolled up one of her sleeves. "You are just asking for this one," she warned, holding up a fist.
"Kikyo doesn't get violent like that."
Kagome puffed up with anger. "Well, what's there to be confused about? She's obviously the one for you, so then it really is all your fault! As if treating me like a kid isn't bad enough, now you're comparing me to her!" She flopped back on the bed and turned her back on him.
"Look here you…" he forced himself to take deep breaths. "I never said she was the one for me, all right? You're both different people." Kagome's shoulders softened from their rigid position. "You could look like complete opposites and I'd still be dealing with the same problem. The fact you two are identical is just an added complication of the higher powers playing evil tricks on us, I bet. I have to deal with a whole bunch of questions I don't feel like asking myself yet. I don't want to have to make a choice yet."
So you are a two-timer, Kagome wanted to say, but she wanted to listen more. She was starting to get sleepy, the events of yesterday and today still taking a toll on her, but forced herself to stay awake.
"I don't think I'm sure of anything, really. Oh, wait. There's only one thing I'm sure of…I made a promise that I'd protect you." He grimaced. "Ew, that sounds so romance-novelly." Kagome turned over again, mouth open. "Who made you promise that?" she demanded.
"Uh…I won't say his name but he's short—"
"Oh my god, Myouga told you to protect me?" she spluttered. "That's ridiculous! I don't need protecting!"
He rolled his eyes. "How do I save thee? Let me count the ways…"
"Okay, fine. Be that way. But I've been managing on my own for awhile now, right?"
"Yes, but that's because we're on a truce. But I feel you're gonna need saving again, and when you do—"
"You'll still kiss me?" she asked bluntly. Yup, more thought spilling. She should buy some Duct tape for herself.
Inu-Yasha grinned at her. "You'd hate it if I didn't."
"Ugh. Don't be too full of yourself or anything." But Kagome gave a half-smile, somewhat sleepily, but it still spread across her face.
"So yeah, you can't be mad at me because you're going to be stuck with me throughout this whole thing." Inu-Yasha noticed her eyes drooping. "Hey, you can't sleep yet! Your hair is dripping wet! You're going to catch cold and everyone's going to laugh at you for it and—" he was stopped by a soft finger against his lips.
Kagome's eyes were closed now. "Protecting me when I'm on the verge of death, yes. Mothering me, no." A soft smile touched her lips. "I'm sorry for yelling at you…though I think you still deserved it."
Inu-Yasha took Kagome's hand gently away from his mouth. "I'm sorry, too, even though I still think dumping soup over my head was wrong."
The hand he was holding shifted and she laced her fingers through his. "Can I do this?" Kagome's voice was soft now, as she was drifting off.
"Yeah," he said in a low voice. He missed Kagome's warm hands, in comparison with Kikyo's cool, languid hands. He wasn't two-timing if he hadn't made a choice yet, right?
"Inu-Yasha?"
"Yeah?"
"Right now, who would your choice be?" Even on the brink of sleep Kagome still thought-spilled in her own blunt way.
"I don't know. You can't ask me that. It's hard to make a choice in a day, you know. And you're making me sound like I'm some conceited bachelor who's got a whole bevy of women he can just pick from," he snorted.
"Well you are. Except for that whole bevy part."
"Oh shut up and go to sleep already."
"Good night, Inu-Yasha."
"Good night."
Yes, he did feel a bit like a cad, spending the previous night with Kikyo and this night with Kagome (although it wasn't as naughty as it sounded), but he insisted to himself he was trying to sort out his feelings between the two of them. Did he like Kikyo's calmness, her deep insights on life, or Kagome's blunt happiness and warmth? At the moment, he was enjoying the feel of her warm hand on his, and he later fell asleep, his head resting on her pillow beside hers, dreaming of a cold storm with thunder ending and making way for a bright sun and warm air.
