DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of the Inuyasha series nor do
I own the original storyline.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Thank you all for waiting, I'm sorry for not updating a while, but I have been
really really busy this week. And I will continue to be busy until Monday the
2nd, and after that I will have LOTS of time to write chapters because my second
semester will start with an extremely relaxed schedule, so don't worry ^-^!
I hope you will enjoy reading this chapter! Please leave a review behind after
reading, thanks in advance!!
Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises
-by Kittymui-
It's not your fault
~*~ the next day ~*~
"Ohayoo!! Inuyasha!!" her voice echoed cheerfully through the forest.
Inuyasha slowly opened his eyes and dropped his gaze to the floor below.
There she was again. Dressed in a fresh blue yukata with long sleeves, with
white flowers embroidered on it. Her raven black tresses slightly reciprocated
in the air as she enthusiastically waved at him. A small bandage could be seen
around her forefinger, along with a lot of cuts and gashes on her hand that
are still doing their best to heal.
A soft grunt escaped his throat before he sat up and jumped off the branch to
where the girl stood.
Without saying anything else, Inuyasha pulled out a small porcelain bottle of
his sleeve and handed it over to her.
Kagome gave him a puzzled look. "This is__"
"You humans heal too slow," he cut her off. "Your hands will
heal faster with this and it won't leave any scars."
She smiled and took it. "Thank you," she said, looking down at the
bottle.
It was a white opaque bottle, not bigger than the palm of her hand, and blue
drawings could be seen on it. When Kagome looked closer at it, she realized
it was a dog howling to a crescent moon.
"It's our family crest," Inuyasha explained, noticing the puzzled
look on the girl's face.
Kagome looked up from the bottle. "So...you're an inu-youkai?" she
asked.
He nodded. "My father is the only inu-youkai lord of the Western Lands."
he responded.
"And your mother? What is she like?" she asked, almost instantly regretting
it as she saw the flash of pain in his golden eyes.
Inuyasha's ears twitched at the question and his mouth instantly shut tight,
just like a Jacob shell when perceiving an approaching enemy.
"Oh, I'm sorry..." Kagome apologized regretful. "I shouldn't
have asked..."
Not wanting to show her how surprised he was by her sudden apology, Inuyasha
crossed his arms and stuck up his nose. "Feh!" he snorted.
"My mother died giving birth to me..." she suddenly began after a
moment of silence as she looked down at her feet. "I was raised by my father
alone...I heard she was very beautiful and that I resembled her a lot."
[AN: Yup! I decided to leave Souta and the rest of her family of the series
out of this one!!]
Inuyasha slowly uncrossed his arms and looked down at her.
Kagome felt his eyes on her and quickly apologized again. "I-I'm sorry...I'm
bothering you with my own problems."
An awkward smile appeared on her face. "I guess I'm just a little bit lonely..."
she confessed, looking up at him.
"You must be missing her a lot, don't you?" she suddenly asked after
staring at him for a moment.
Inuyasha now turned to look at her with full attention, with an unknown expression
on his face.
"Your mother...I meant..." she continued. "I mean... it's natural
for you to m__"
"What the hell are you talking about...?" he growled, cutting her
off. "You don't know anything, so don't push your luck...wench."
Shocked by his words, Kagome could only stare at him with wide eyes.
"Just because I'm acting kind towards you, doesn't mean you can pry into
my personal life!!" he continued harshly. "I've never asked for you
to open up to me so don't expect me to do the same!! I've never trusted anyone
and it has always been like that, so you're NOT an exception!!!"
After saying that, he folded his arms together and averted his gaze again.
Kagome clasped her yukata as if she was starting to get an heart-attack and
dropped her gaze. "I...I know I don't have the right to ask about your
personal life...b-but still..." she stuttered.
A pause took place and Inuyasha stole several glances at her, wondering what
was keeping the rest. His eyes widened as he saw the two streams of tears running
down her cheeks and as a salty scent began to fill the air.
When the girl looked up at him again, he quickly looked away again. "Keh!
You humans are so fragile." he snorted nonchalantly.
"H-hidoi..." she whispered as the tears continued to roll down her
cheeks. "I've never asked you to trust me..."
Something inside Inuyasha snapped at hearing this. Apparently, it was his mental
barrier called stubbornness, which was holding back the waves of guilt. Because
guilt was the feeling that had flooded his mind.
"I've heard enough!" he cut her off and turned around.
Not caring about the fact that he was actually taking away her chance to defend
herself against his words, he dashed into the forest.
"That's not fair!!" Kagome cried after him, broken in sobs.
She fell to her knees. "T-that's...not fair..." she sobbed.
Suddenly, the sound of footsteps could be heard in a distance.
"I-Inuyasha?" she asked, drying her tears and looking around.
She widened her eyes when she saw who it was. "W-what are you doing here?!
Go away!! Leave me alone!!"
~*~*~*~
Inuyasha was sitting on his balustrade and watching the forest from above when
his little conscience suddenly wanted to bother him again.
You are a real jerk you know that?
He sighed. Not you again...?! he groaned inwardly.
Oh yeah...and you're not going to stop me complaining about you! God if you
just knew how much I hate to be your little conscience!!
Keh! Then don't be. Inuyasha smirked in reply.
I would if I could!!
That's your problem now leave me alone!
NOT before I've summed up all the reasons why you are a real jerk! the
voice decided. I mean, look at how you treated that girl, while she did nothing
to offend you.
Inuyasha scowled. Oh man! Are we talking about her again?! It's her fault,
okay? She pried into someone else's personal life first!
Well, she told you about hers...
I didn't ask for it! She just kept talking and talking!
...
And besides, she didn't have to right to presume how I feel towards my own
mother. he added.
And ain't it true? What she presumed? his conscience asked.
I... Inuyasha started as he thought about a good comeback. And what
if she is!? She still didn't have the right to! "She doesn't even
know me!" he cried out loud. "She doesn't know anything!! She__"
Then it struck him as he realized what he had just said.
There...you just said it yourself... his conscience sighed. She doesn't
know...then how could she have known that it was a sensitive topic? How could
she have possibly known about your reasons for shutting yourself off like that?
Inuyasha growled, knowing that his little conscience was right, but stuck up
his nose. "Keh! Now she knows, since I have warned her...so what's the
big fuzz about me being a jerk?!" he snorted.
Now his conscience was really getting angry. For God's sake Inuyasha!! How
cruel can you actually be!? You 'warned' her??? Ha! Well, that's the best euphemism
I have EVER heard! Inuyasha...you made her cry dammit!! You even called her
a 'wench'!! And you call THAT a warning!? it screamed at him mentally.
[AN: In case you don't know what an euphemism is, it's an inoffensive expression
that is substituted for one that is considered offensive.]
This time, Inuyasha wasn't able to think of any good comebacks anymore. Just
when he was about to say something, the image of Kagome looking at him with
teary eyes appeared in his mind.
Chikusho! Why is she appearing in my head right now?! he cursed inwardly.
Why don't you just admit it, you moron!! the voice spoke again.
Admit what? he asked.
You know very well what I mean...you knew it all along but you just didn't
have the guts to!!
Inuyasha closed his eyes and took a deep breath.
Without saying or thinking anything else, he opened them again and jumped from
the balustrade into the forest. As soon as he reached the ground, he started
dashing into the direction of the creek.
~*~*~
After a while, he arrived at the place where he had left the crying girl behind.
He scanned the area but she was nowhere to be found. She left huh? he
thought to himself.
What? You thought she would stay here and wait until you come back? After
all that you've said to her? his conscience spoke with a sarcastic tone.
"Just shut up, will you?!" he snarled aloud.
Suddenly, a familiar object on the floor drew his attention. He approached it
and picked it up. It's the medicine bottle I gave her... he realized.
I guess she hates you that much huh? his little conscience smirked.
Ignoring his annoying conscience, Inuyasha sniffed the bottle and the environment.
"Wolves...they were here..."
His eyes widened as realization struck him. Then the girl...she was__
His thoughts were cut off as his eyes fell on the traces of kicked up dirt and
flattened grass near the spot where he had found the bottle. She struggled
against them. he concluded with a scowl.
Inuyasha's grip on the bottle tightened as he recalled her words the day he
rescued her from drowning.
"I-I...rather drown than be some wolf tribe's prince's bride."
He let out a growl before as he slipped the bottle into his sleeve and dashed
into the trees, following the faint scent of the wolves.
-- somewhere deeper into the forest --
"Let me go!!! Let me out of here!!!!" Kagome yelled as she pulled
at the bars made of bones, which were keeping her imprisoned and separated from
the rest of the dark cave.
It was not a very big cave, so she concluded that it was just a pit stop instead
of a hideout. Not to mention the small amount of wolves to guard the place,
which she was even able to count with just one hand.
Although the cave wasn't too deep and the opening wasn't located too far away
from her, it would still be too dark for her to see her surroundings if it weren't
for the torches here and there in the walls.
A guard, naturally another wolf-man, appeared. He didn't look like a wolf at
all if you just ignored the tail. He had white spiked hair, just like a punk,
and was wearing armor around his chest and shoulders. And below, he was only
wearing a pair of shorts made of dark brown fur.
"There's no way you're capable of escaping from this place, so pipe down
until our leader arrives...unless you want to become our dinner, that is,"
he warned as he wiped the liquid that came out of the corner of his mouth with
the back of his hand. "My...you really look quite delicious. Maybe if I
just__"
Before he could even finish, he was already smacked aside by an unknown person.
Kagome just watched with wide eyes how the guard hit the nearby wall, and shifted
her gaze to the shadow of the person who did that.
"I'm truly sorry for the behavior of my men. They just can't seem to suppress
their primary needs sometimes," it spoke as it approached her and came
into the light of the torch near the bars of her prison.
She narrowed her eyes and immediately disliked the person as soon as she saw
him.
It was a boy, slightly older than her, with black hair tied into a high ponytail
and pale blue eyes. He was wearing shoulder, lower arm and lower leg protectors
made of dark brown fur and armor could be seen around his chest. The headband,
which could be seen around his forehead, was also made of the same kind of fur.
"Oh, I'm sorry for not introducing myself," he suddenly apologized,
slightly bowing forward. "I'm Kouga, the prince of the wolf tribe."
Kagome frowned. So this is the one behind the pursuing and kidnapping.
she thought warily. "What do you want with me? Why am I being held captive?"
she asked with a snarl as she tightened her grip on a pair of bars.
"What a temper for a rich lord's daughter...I like that," he smirked.
"Not that I had expected anything else from my future mate."
Kagome gave him a disgusted look. "There's no way I'm going to marry an
arrogant bastard like you!" she spat.
She widened her eyes when Kouga suddenly stuck his hands through the spaces
between the bars and grabbed her wrists. She quickly jerked at her hands as
she saw his face coming closer towards her. "Let me go!!" she cried,
desperately trying to pull her wrists from his grip.
A grin appeared on Kouga's face as he suddenly released his grip again, causing
her to fall backwards to the stone floor into her prison. "Whatever you
say, my dear mate," he chuckled and had one of his men open the prison
door.
"Good, now leave us and guard the cave." he ordered his minion.
The minion nodded and left them alone as he was told.
When Kagome sat up again, she saw that the wolf prince had entered her prison
and quickly began to scoot backwards until she encountered the wall behind her.
Kouga walked closer to the girl and knelt down in front of her. "You will
learn to like me," he said confidently as he took her chin with his strong
hand and made her look at him. "Honestly, I think I'm better off having
you instead of that crappy flower. Gosh, I'm happy you didn't drown back then,"
he grinned.
Angry, yes, Kagome was definitely angry...but she was also scared. The guard
was right, there was no was she could escape from this place. Although she liked
adventure, right now, she couldn't help but feel completely cornered and helpless.
But she wouldn't cry. There's no way she's going to cry in front of another
youkai again, not after what had happened this morning.
She closed her eyes and struggled as she saw him lean closer to her face, but
his grip was too strong.
His lips almost touched hers when suddenly, several painful cries echoed through
the cave.
*AARRGHHH...WHOAA....*
Kagome felt his grip on her chin loosen and opened her eyes again. What happened?
she thought puzzled.
She watched how the expression on the wolf's face became annoyed. "Bad
timing, dog-turd," she heard him mutter before standing up and turning
to the opening of the prison.
Dog...? It couldn't be...could it? Kagome thought surprised and peeked
from behind the wolf's standing form as she heard the sound of footsteps coming
closer to where they stood.
It stopped right when the intruder was about to step into the light in front
of the prison.
"I know it's you dog-turd, so why don't you just show yourself," the
wolf growled.
Kagome narrowed her eyes and immediately widened them as the shadow finally
came into the light.
His red haori and hakama made a small wave as he stepped forward and his beautiful
silver hair carried a faint yellow hue of the fire-torch.
A bewildered expression appeared on her face as she saw the serious expression
on the inu-youkai's face, who was only directing his eyes on the wolf. Why
is HE here? Of all people...why him...? He couldn't be here because of me...since
he got angry with me... she concluded, recalling the quarrel they had earlier.
But then...why?
Her mental debating ended as soon as he finally began to speak after a long
gazing war with the wolf. "Let her go." Were his only words.
Kagome stared at Inuyasha. He...he's talking about me? Which means...he came
for me?? she realized disbelieving.
The wolf smirked in reply. "What if I don't want to? What is she to you
anyway?" he asked.
"Don't make me repeat myself, you wimpy wolf. Because I don't want to fight
today...and besides, you are no match for me," Inuyasha warned him, ignoring
the question.
Kouga gave him a quasi-disappointed look. "Don't want to fight today...?
That's a pity, because I really wanted to impress my future mate with my fighting
skills," he pouted as he grabbed Kagome's wrist and pulled her up to him.
A low growl escaped Inuyasha's throat as he saw her wince when the wolf forces
her to her feet. But then a smirk took over again. "Keh! I guess I could
use some exercise and plus, I'd really love to see how your 'future mate' would
react when I beat the crap out of you," he chuckled with a mocking tone.
After saying that, he turned around to the opening of the cave, narrowly missing
the very annoyed look on Kouga's face.
Without saying anything else, the wolf tightened his grip on Kagome's wrist
and forced her to follow him as he walked out of the prison towards the exit
of the cave.
"S-stop that!! You're hurting me!! I can walk by myself you___!!"
She was cut off by a sharp pain coming from her wrist as Kouga's nails dug into
her flesh.
She bit her lower lip and pushed back her tears as she felt a warm feeling running
from her wrist to her elbow.
As they exited the cave, Kagome had to shield her eyes, which were still accustomed
to the darkness of the cave, from the bright sunlight.
~*~
Inuyasha knew the wolf was hurting the girl when he heard her abruptly stop
her complaining.
As much as he wanted to turn around and help her, he had to be patient to make
sure the girl was able to come out of her prison and out of the cave.
When Inuyasha exited the cave, he turned around and waited until Kouga came
out of it.
He scowled as he watched how the wolf roughly threw her to the floor next to
the opening of the cave. He narrowed his eyes when he caught the scent of blood
and shifted his gaze to the girl on the floor.
She was covering her wrist with her other hand and pain was written all over
her face as she dropped her gaze to the floor.
Inuyasha's eyes widened when he saw a fleck of red on her sleeve.
The elbow of it, which should have been blue, was now slightly dark purple of
color and the embroidered flowers that were white before, were now poised with
a dark red hue.
He quickly shifted his gaze back to Kouga when he saw the girl lift up her gaze
to him. Although he wasn't looking at her, he knew she was on the verge of bursting
into tears as he smelled the faint scent of saltiness in the air.
"Don't worry Kagome, I'll make sure that he'll regret for hurting you,"
he said determined as he kept his eyes pinpointed at the wolf.
Then he suddenly realized something. Wait a minute...did I just...I just
called her Kagome...
Just when he thought that calling the girl by her name wasn't very awkward at
all, his attention was abruptly drawn by Kouga's voice that echoed through the
forest. "Prepare to die dog-turd!!" the wolf cried furiously as he
lunged forward at Inuyasha.
~*~
Kagome had to use all of her strength to push back her tears when her already
injured wrist and ankle hit the hard earth after she was thrown to the floor
by Kouga.
She quickly grasped her wrist and curled herself up against the wall next to
the opening of the cave.
It was then, that she felt his eyes on her and she slowly lifted her gaze to
him.
Much to her disappointment, the silver-haired boy looked away again before her
dark blue eyes could meet his golden ones.
She wanted to cry. Not really because of the pain of her bleeding wrist or probably
twisted ankle, but because of the situation where she found herself in. She
couldn't help but feel embarrassed, if not frustrated, about the fact that she
had to be saved by the one who got angry with her and told her off several hours
ago.
Why is he helping me anyway? she thought. Didn't he hate me?
All of her frustration and question marks increased exponentially when she heard
him speak again.
"Don't worry Kagome, I'll make sure that he'll regret for hurting you."
She looked at him with wide eyes as his words made sense to her. ...Eh?
She didn't know whether she should be relieved or angry. D-did he just call
me by my name...?
Before she could figure it out, her attention was already drawn by the fight,
which had commenced with the angry cry of the wolf prince.
~*~
Kagome watched how the wolf desperately tried to hit Inuyasha and failed. She
was amazed to witness how easily Inuyasha managed to dodge every single attack
Kouga launched at him.
"What's the matter? Can't you even hit me?" Inuyasha mocked, dodging
a high kick from the wolf.
"SHUT UP!!! Dodging all of my attacks doesn't mean you've won!!" Kouga
growled as he continued to attack Inuyasha. "Or is it all you can do, since
there's no chance for you to counterattack?" he grinned.
Inuyasha smirked. "Well, if you insist to see me in the offence..."
he responded as he back flipped to dodge a low kick. "...then it's what
you will get!"
As soon as his feet made contact with the ground, Inuyasha set off again and
jumped backwards into the air, towards a nearby tree trunk. He curled himself
up a little and swiftly turned a somersault backwards in the air. The timing
of his somersault was perfect and he managed to reach the trunk with his feet
first. As soon as he did that, he set off against the trunk and sent himself
flying towards Kouga with great speed and thrust.
"SANKON TESSOU!!" he cried as he raised his hands and flexed his claws.
Kouga was slightly caught off guard by the sudden counter and quickly jumped
aside to avoid it, but he failed as Inuyasha was too fast.
"AARRGGGH!!" he cried out in pain as he landed on the floor and collapsed
to his knees with five parallel bleeding gashed on his shoulder. He quickly
covered his injured shoulder with his other clawed hand. "You bastard!!"
he cursed, turning around to Inuyasha, who had gracefully landed onto the grass
behind the wolf.
Inuyasha straightened himself up and turned to Kouga with a victorious grin
on his face. "I told you that you were no match for me," he smirked
as he swung his clawed hand to get rid of the wolf's blood.
A defeated look could be seen on the wolf's face. "I will defeat you someday
and when I do, I will surely make you beg me for mercy," he growled menacingly
before disappearing into the trees.
"Keh!" Inuyasha spat, turning away from where the wolf stood before,
only to find himself facing Kagome, who was still sitting on the floor and holding
her injured wrist.
Surprised by the fact that she hadn't taken the opportunity to escape while
he fought with Kouga, he just stood there and looked down at her.
~*~
Why is he looking at me like that?! Why isn't he looking away? she thought
embarrassed. He must be mentally mocking me right now...he must be thinking:
'God humans are really annoying and fragile!' or something like that.
She averted her gaze and slowly got to her feet. I'm not going to stay here
and listen to how he's going to make fun of me... she bit her lower lip
and ignored the pain coming from her ankle. I can walk by myself...I can
do this... she said to herself mentally as she slowly took her first step
forward.
But as soon as she set her sprained foot on the ground, a sharp pain sent a
shock through her whole body and she toppled forward to the floor.
Kagome closed her eyes and moved her arms in front of her out of reflex. But
the impact with the earth never came.
She felt two strong hands catch her shoulders. When she opened her eyes again,
she found herself looking at a red haori. She knew whom she had been caught
by and squirmed to get out of his grip, but it was too strong. "D-don't
need you help...nor pity..." she muttered as she continued to squirm.
"You were right," Inuyasha suddenly confessed. "I really miss
her...even now..."
Kagome stopped her useless struggling and slowly looked up at him. "...Eh?"
"...my mother...I do miss her a lot..." he added.
She was still giving him a surprised look as she realized he was actually answering
her question of this morning. H-he...he's__ Her thoughts were cut off
then Inuyasha continued.
"She was a human...my mother...she loved my father very much no matter
how much she became hated by other humans for marrying a youkai. And then I
was born, a hanyou...one destined to be pointed at for not being a full-blood.
But I never blamed my mother or father for it. I loved my mother very much.
I was really sad when she passed away when I just turned six."
A short pause.
"She cried on the day she died...because she was worried about me...about
my future...and I hated myself for it. Ever since that day I became to hate
myself more each day."
Another short pause.
"But then I got to meet this girl, her name was Kikyou, and we became friends.
We promised each other to meet by the creek every day and then we would always
play games until dinner."
"Until she stopped showing up one day." he said as his face formed
a sad expression. "I kept believing that she would show up eventually,
day after day, but then I heard she and her family had moved out of their shrine
to a faraway city. And so...I was all alone again..."
A sad expression could be seen on Kagome's face too as she listened to every
words of his sad memories. So that's why he's shutting himself off from others...
she concluded as she began to feel guilty for making him recall his sad memories.
Then she was surprised by what he said next.
"Don't be..." he suddenly said, as if he knew what she was thinking.
"You didn't know...you couldn't have known so it's not your fault."
Kagome didn't know why, but she felt the tears, which she had managed to push
back before, well up in her eyes again. And before she knew it, they were already
streaming down her cheeks
Liked it? I surely hope you did, because I wrote it while I still have two
deadlines coming up. Anyway, please look forward to the next chapter ne? And
don't forget! If you want me to notify you whenever I update, just put your
request and email address in your review ^-^!
Next chapter: Blooming friendship
~*~
\\"Climb on, Inuyasha said, looking over his shoulder. "I'll carry
you back."//
\\"B-but__"//
\\"I won't ask again Kagome," he cut her off. "Now climb on my
back."//
\\As if her name was the magic word, Kagome obediently climbed onto Inuyasha's
back and wrapped her arms around his neck.//
\\"We're here."//
\\"Will we meet again?" she asked hastily, afraid that he'll shut
himself off from her again after today.//
~*~
Vocabulary:
ohayoo: good morning
inu-youkai: dogdemon
hidoi: that's cruel
chikusho: damn/shit
Sankon Tessou: "Soul-Shattering Iron Claws", it's a claw attack
used by Inuyasha
hanyou: halfdemon
~*~
REPLIES ON REVIEWS:
KaGs&YaSHa, Chibi-Call, midnite sorrow, frozensakurablossems,
PurpleRoses, seikkyokuka, Hanamaru285, Fushigi Wolf: Thank
you very much! I'm glad you liked it so far ^-^! I'll try and update as soon
as possible!!
seishi: Hahaha I know Kagome isn't originally a flower, I just made it
up to fit my story ^-^. Thanks for telling me anyway. And thanks for your compliments!
Kagura wind fairy: Thanks for reviewing again ^-^!! Glad you liked it!
Ks-Starshine: Thank you very much ^-^! And I've re-edited my chapters
and changed "embedded" into "embroidered". English is not
really my native language so I still have a lot to learn, thanks for telling
me!!
Kyia Star: Thanks for the compliments, they're really encouraging ^-^!
And no problem!
Inukamisashi: Hey!! Glad you didn't forget about me ^-^! Thanks for reviewing!
Don't worry, I've already put you in my mailing list!
Rhexi: Hahaha thank you very much ^-^! But I don't think you want to
borrow my muses coz they're quite rebellious sometimes...*quickly ducks for
approaching flying objects thrown by her muses* See what I mean? Hehehe. Anyway
I'm glad you like the story so far.
~*~
Lots of greets
~Kittymui~
Posted: 30 January 2004
Last Edited: 12 February 2004
Spelling check: YES