DISCLAIMER: I do not own the characters of the Inuyasha series nor do I own the original storyline.
AUTHOR'S NOTE:
Hi all!! Pretty quick update huh? Anyway please enjoy reading this chapter!!
Italic: thoughts
-- --: locations
"...": spoken words
~*~*~*~*~: time gap
*...* : noises
-by Kittymui-
Unwilled separation
Previously:
Her train of dreamy thoughts crashed when she realized someone had entered the
room and was standing before her bed. When she looked up, she found herself
looking into a pair of shocked eyes. "F-father?!" she gasped surprised.
"K-Kagome...y-your cheek...h-how..." he stuttered out of shock.
Kagome widened her eyes. Oh no...
~*~*~
A low growl escaped his throat as the scent of the person he was tracking down
became stronger with every leap he made through the air.
Found you... he smirked inwardly as he landed on a branch and dropped
his gaze to the floor below.
There he was, sitting near the trunk of a neighboring tree and taking a comfortable
nap with his arms folded on his chest.
Without second thought, Inuyasha jumped from the branch and landed softly on
the grass several meters away from the sleeping wolf prince.
"I didn't know you were THAT desperate to find a mate. Are you really that
unattractive that you have to harass every single girl you encounter?"
he mocked aloud to draw the wolf's attention.
Kouga's eyes shot open and a scowl appeared on his face. "What do YOU want?!"
he snarled, apparently not too happy that someone had interrupted his beauty
sleep.
Inuyasha raised his clawed and flexed it. "Oh I think you already know...or
should I refresh your memory and painfully remind you what the consequences
are of laying a finger upon what's mine?" he growled menacingly.
"Oh...you mean the raven-haired girl..." the wolf grinned. "Well,
she should have known better than to act like a heroine. So how is she? Still
suffering from her vanity? You know, I can still remember how she cried uncontrollably
after I hit her so hard that she stumbled to the floor," he chuckled. "The
shocked look on her face when she realized she was bleeding is still fresh in
my memory as if it happened yesterday."
Inuyasha's eyes flashed red for a second as he heard this. "Teme...you
should really watch your mouth, because you might be signing your death-sentence
any moment now..." he warned, giving him a last chance to redeem himself.
"Ohhh...I'm SO scared," the wolf spat instead.
And then something snapped. Kouga didn't know whether it was the hanyou's mind
or a twig beneath his feet but the next thing he knew was that the inu-youkai
had lunged forward towards him with his claws first.
Kouga managed to dodge the sudden attack by jumping away at the last moment.
He watched in awe how the thick trunk was split in two by Inuyasha's claws.
The hanyou straightened himself up and turned to him with a death glare.
Kouga gulped. Oh yeah...he's really pissed now... a little voice said
in his head. He widened his eyes when Inuyasha launched another attack at him
again.
Furious as he was, Inuyasha kept swinging his claws at the wolf. "What's
the matter wimpy wolf? No chance to attack??" he mocked.
"Don't be so full of yourself, dog-turd. You haven't seen anything yet!"
the wolf smirked in reply.
"Prepare to die!!" Inuyasha cried as he swung his claw at the wolf.
"SANKON TESSOU!!"
He widened his eyes when his opponent disappeared before his claw hit him. What
the__?!
"Down here you stupid!" a familiar voice called.
Inuyasha dropped his gaze and realized that Kouga had duck to the floor to dodge
his claw attack.
Shit!! he cursed inwardly when he saw how the wolf put one of his hands
on the floor and pivoted on it. But he realized it too late and was sent flying
backward towards a tree when Kouga pushed himself off of the floor and shot
a high kick at his stomach.
"Arck!!" he cried as he collided with a trunk with his back and collapsed
to his knees.
"Keh!" Inuyasha spat. "I guess you've finally put some effort
in those trainings of yours huh?"
Suddenly he felt a burning sensation well up in his throat and he quickly coughed
it out with his hand covering his mouth.
When he looked down at his hand, he realized it was covered with blood...his
blood.
Yet instead of worrying about his injury he felt rather excited. I haven't
got the chance to use it since I was taught it...I hope I haven't lost it...
he thought thrilled as he lowered his head until his bangs covered his eyes.
"Shut up dog-turd, I don't want to hear that from you!!" Kouga snarled
as he got to his feet and turned to him. He smirked when he saw the injured
hanyou. "It's time to put an end to this."
And with that, he began to dash towards Inuyasha with great speed. "DIE!!!"
he cried as he raised his claws.
He widened his eyes when Inuyasha suddenly raised his face and grinned at him.
Inuyasha flexed his claws. "HIJIN KESSOU!!!!" he cried and swung his
bloodstained claw, sending blades of blood flying towards the wolf.
Kouga was totally taken by surprise and couldn't dodge the attack anymore.
"AAARRGGHH!!" he cried out in pain as the blades cut through his armor
and grazed pass his body.
The wolf toppled backwards onto the grass and stiffened of the pain. Sever cuts
and gashes could be seen all over his body and armor. "Y-you...bastard..."
he groaned.
Inuyasha slowly got to his feet and walked over to Kouga. "Let this be
my last warning to you," he growled threateningly. "If you ever lay
a finger on Kagome again...I swear I will tear off your limbs, one by one."
With that said, he walked away, leaving the injured wolf prince behind.
~*~ late afternoon ~*~
I bet she will immediately cheer up again when I told her about that wimpy
wolf. Inuyasha smirked contented as he opened the gate and entered her courtyard.
Just when he was about to walk up the stone steps to the main door, a faint
sob caught his ears. Who's there? He thought alarmed as he turned around
and scanned the garden. His ears perked up when he heard it again. There
it is again!
He silently walked through the garden, following the origin of the sound, until
he arrived at a large pond. He scanned the area until a large rock, which stood
near the pond at a distance, caught his eye.
Someone's sitting on it... he realized and approached it.
Inuyasha looked up and narrowed his eyes as he stood still before the huge rock.
There was indeed someone sitting on top of the rock, with her legs pulled up
and her face buried in her arms that were leaning on her knees.
"Kagome...?" he asked, recognizing her raven-black hair and yellow
yukata.
He widened his eyes when she lifted her head from her arms and looked at him
with teary eyes and wet cheeks.
Without second thought, he jumped onto the rock and knelt down next to her.
"What's wrong Kagome? Why are you out here? Why are you crying?" he
asked worriedly.
"Inuyasha!!!" she cried and buried her head into his red haori.
Inuyasha almost immediately wrapped his arms around her and held her close.
"What's wrong??? Are you hurt??"
Kagome shook her head in his chest as she continued to sob in his chest.
He gently stroked her hair. "Then what is it? Please tell me," he
pleaded as he pulled away to look at her face, which was still wet of the tears.
"I-I...don't want to l-leave...I don't want to..." she said, broken
in sobs.
Inuyasha frowned. "Leave...? What are you talking about Kagome?"
"F-father...h-he entered my room after you left...and he saw the wound
on my cheek. He became angry and scared...a-and he said...he said..." Before
she could even finish her sentence, she burst into tears again and started to
tremble.
"What did you father say?? Kagome?" he asked as he became a bit scared
of what the answer might be.
As much as he wanted to know what was wrong, he knew he had to remain calm and
if possible, try to calm down Kagome as well. Instinctively, he wrapped his
arms around her and pulled her to his chest again. "Shhh..." he whispered
gently as he stroked her hair.
Much to his relief, Kagome finally stopped trembling after a while and began
to calm down in his embrace.
He slowly released her from his embrace and pulled away a little. "Tell
me Kagome...what did you father say when he saw that wound on your cheek?"
he asked again.
Kagome dropped her face. "H-he said...that it was too dangerous to stay
here...in the forest...that we should never have come here...and that it would
be a lot safer in the city..." she sobbed as tears started to fill her
eyes once again. "...and he just decided it like that...by tomorrow morning...without
even listening to me..."
Inuyasha scowled when he realized what it meant. "So...you...are...moving
away..." he said in disbelief.
"Gomen nasai...Inuyasha...hontou ni...g-gomen nasai..." she apologized
with her eyes closed as more tears flowed down her cheeks. "I had always...hoped...never
to remind you of Kikyou again...of how she left you without a word...and never
to have you reexperience the pain...of losing a friend again...yet now...I...I'm..."
Her grip on his haori tightened as she dropped her face, allowing her bangs
to cover her eyes and several strands of hair to escape from their place behind
her ears.
He was indeed frustrated and not to mention angry when the one thing he feared
for had become a fact. Yet, no matter how strong these emotions were, he couldn't
bring himself to direct them at Kagome. Never...at her...not Kagome...
he mentally decided as he pushed aside the strands of hair and placed them behind
her ears again, where they belonged.
Kagome slowly lifted up her face again until she was staring straight into his
golden orbs.
She's really pretty... Inuyasha thought to himself as he stared into
her teary blue ones.
"Do you remember what I told you this morning? That I would fall in love
with you eventually?" he asked with a gentle voice as he cupped her cheeks
with both his clawed hands and dried her tears with his thumbs.
The girl nodded and slightly leaned into his warm hands.
He smiled as he leaned closer. "I think I just did." he whispered
before he closed the gap between them and placed his lips on hers.
~*~
Kagome was startled at first when she realized Inuyasha was kissing her, but
strangely enough she didn't find the strength nor need to resist it and she
slowly closed her eyes as she let her hands rest on his chest.
It wasn't an obtrusive kiss, nor was it a passionate one. Words like 'lust'
or 'need' did not fit in when one's trying to categorize it. It was inexperienced
yet gentle and loving. It was ...sweet... Kagome thought dreamily. Yes,
'sweet' was the word to describe it. Not passionate, not polite...just sweet.
Her eyes fluttered open when she felt his lips leave hers again.
"I'm sorry..." he suddenly apologized. "I shouldn't h___"
Inuyasha was halted when Kagome leaned onto his chest again and settled her
head on the base of his neck just below his chin. "I don't want to be here
until dawn...please take me somewhere else..." he heard her whisper. "...please..."
Without a word, he scooped her up bridal style and jumped off the rock. "Hold
on to me," he whispered as he approached the fence that separated the forest
from the courtyard. And she responded by silently wrapping her arms around his
neck.
After he made sure she was ready, he jumped into the sky, over the fence and
into the forest.
~*~ that night ~*~
"It's beautiful..."
"Hm?"
"The moon...it's beautiful..."
Inuyasha lifted up his gaze to the sky. "Yeah...you're right," he
agreed when he saw the bright pale crescent moon.
They were both sitting on the floor at the base of Inuyasha's favorite tree
and looking up at the starry sky. Inuyasha was leaning against the trunk with
his back and his legs were slightly pulled up and spread out a little. His arms
were curled beneath the arm-pits of Kagome, who was sitting between his legs
and leaning against his chest with her back, while his hands rested on her stomach.
"Ne Inuyasha?" she started.
"Hm?"
"Will we ever meet again?"
"You know where to find me if you're bored," he replied, using the
same answer he had given her when she asked the same question almost a year
ago (see chapter 4).
Kagome frowned as she sat up and looked over her shoulder to him. "I'm
serious!" she pouted.
Inuyasha smiled. "Don't worry...we will..." he replied seriously.
Kagome's lips curled into a small smile, but it disappeared as soon as it came.
"What if we won't?" she said as she turned her face away again.
Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her to his chest again.
"Then I'll search for you until I've found you," he whispered in her
ear.
Kagome turned to her side and leaned her head onto his chest. "Arigatou..."
He responded by tightening his embrace and placed a kiss on top of her head.
~*~ the next day ~*~
"You better take good care of yourself, because I refuse to take a wrinkled
woman as my mate," Inuyasha teased.
Kagome widened her eyes of disbelief and turned to him as she covered the white
bandage on her cheek. "But you said__"
"Hey! I can live with several scars...but I don't think I can survive a
wrinkled girl at a young age," he cut her off.
"Well sorry about that! But I'll get wrinkles eventually when I grow older!"
she argued as she stuck up her nose.
"Not if we are mated," he stated plainly.
Kagome blushed deep shades of red as she heard this and averted her gaze. She
was indeed very curious but was too embarrassed to ask for an explanation.
Inuyasha smiled when he saw the curiosity written all over her face. "When
humans mate with youkai, their lifespan and youth will be extended to match
the one of the youkai," he explained.
Kagome nodded understandingly but then she remembered something and before she
knew it, she already blurted out half of the question. "But then your mother___"
She quickly halted herself but realized it was already too late.
The hanyou shook his head to let her know he didn't mind. "A shared lifespan
and youth doesn't mean humans also share the same resistance against diseases,"
he explained. "My mother died because of an incurable lung-disease."
"I'm sorry," she apologized.
"It's okay," he smiled.
A silence fell between them, only to be broken again when Kagome heard her name.
"Kagome! We really have to go now!!" her father called before he disappeared
into their white carriage
Kagome was surprised when Inuyasha took her hand in his. "Let me walk you
to the carriage," he offered.
She nodded and they made their way to the wheeled vehicle.
They stopped when they stood before the door of the carriage. A sad expression
could be seen on Kagome's face as she turned to Inuyasha.
He cupped her cheek with one clawed hand. "We will meet again...trust me..."
he whispered and helped her into the carriage.
Kagome's father approached the opening and smiled. "Thank you...for taking
care of Kagome in the past year," he said.
Inuyasha shook his head. "It was my pleasure sir." he smiled.
"Until we meet again then," Kagome's father nodded as he settled himself
on the couch again and knocked at the ceiling of the carriage to signal to the
coachman that they were ready to leave.
Shortly after that, the sound of a whip could be heard followed by the neigh
of several horses.
Kagome felt the carriage move and quickly turned to the window to look at Inuyasha.
His mouth moved as he said something to her. Although it was inaudible, she
could still see what he said by the shape and movements of his lips.
"I will find you...kanarazu..."
~*~
Honestly, he wanted to run in front of the carriage and stop them from leaving
when he saw it move, but he knew it wasn't going to change anything.
He quickly looked at Kagome, who was leaning against the window with her hands
and looking at him as well. He knew she couldn't possibly hear him if he said
anything so he did his best to mouth the words to her, hoping that she would
understand.
His face dropped when he saw the puzzled expression on her face, but hope filled
his heart once again when he saw her form some words to him with her lips.
"I will wait for you...zutto..."
Okay!! The prolonged prologue I told you about several chapters ago ends here
^-^!! I hope it wasn't too long or too boring and I definitely hope you will
continue reading this story as the real storyline is going to begin with the
next chapter! Please look forward to it!!
Next chapter: A face forgotten and a remained promise
~*~
\\"Milady, you shouldn't be angry at your father."//
\\"He's NOT my father, and you know that!" (...) "I know I owe
him my life...I would definitely have died if he had not coincidentally traveled
on the same path and happened to be there when we were being attacked..."
(...) "But still!! That doesn't give him the right to decide my future!!"//
\\"But Kagome, you surely don't intend to wait your whole life just because
of a medicine bottle and a dream?"//
\\"It's not a dream...I know it...I can feel it...it's a promise made a
long time ago...by someone very dear to me...although...I can't seem to remember
who..."//
~*~
Vocabulary:
sankon tessou: 'Soul-Shattering Iron Claws', a claw attack used by Inuyasha
hijin kessou: 'Flying Claws of Blood', another claw attack used by Inuyasha
teme: a vulgar way to address a second-person (when said to a woman,
it would mean something like 'bitch')
hontou ni gomen nasai: I'm really/terribly sorry
arigatou: thank you
ne: hey
kanarazu: expresses that a certain result will happen under a certain
condition, in this context it would mean 'definitely'
zutto: forever
~*~
REPLIES ON REVIEWS:
Ks-Starshine: Thanks!! Your feeling was right! She was really going to
move away pretty soon hehehe. Oh and thanks for telling me of the grammar mistake,
I've already corrected it ^-^! And thanks for telling me which part you liked!
no one special: Hahaha, well I could have made Kagome's father think
that Inuyasha was the attacker, but that would be a bit too dramatic. Thanks
for reviewing!!
Kagura wind fairy: Thank you very much!! I'm glad you liked the prolonged
prologue ^-^!
Inukamisashi: Yeah, as you already can see above (in my AN). This is
the last chapter of the "prologue" I mentioned. And you are quite
right with you guesses, but I can't reveal too much, hope you don't mind that
^-^. Thanks for reviewing!!
seikkyokuka: Thanks for reviewing ^-^, and I totally understand how you
feel *sigh*. But no worries! They're not going to be separated forever...OOPS!
*smacks her forehead* Did I just reveal too much about my actual storyline...?
whitemiko: Hahaha well I guess almost all of your questions has been
answered hasn't they? About the marriage offer question, I didn't get the inspiration
from an anime or manga, just got it from my muses ^-^!
Kyia: Hehehe...you know me :p.
Rhexi: I was already wondering what was keeping the readers from asking
me this question ^-^. Very good to notice this, but I'm afraid I can't really
explain much. All I can say is that Inuyasha is quite young and naive, and plus
a little bit of 'love at first sight' and 'I don't want to see girls cry' attitude,
this would be the outcome hehehe. And about the length of this story...I think
it will be between the 15 and 25 chapters long, can't really say the exact number
yet. And I'm glad you still like the story ^-^!
~*~
Lots of greets
~Kittymui~
Posted: 12 February 2004
Last Edited: 12 February 2004
Spelling check: YES