Disclaimer: I don't own Inuyasha or anybody else from the manga/anime. End
of discussion...damn this is getting annoying.
A/N: Wow!!! SEVENTY REVIEWS? When I started this thing I was thrilled to get more then 4! I'm HAPPY! ^_^
And no I didn't mean it when I said the InuKag relationship was going to go downhill.. I didn't expect anyone would take that literally. I just meant that there won't be very many more happy little outings to the movies or w/e. Things get a little more complicated soon.
Also, a few people have been asking for more fluff. I realize that this story is classed under romance .. but I'm really sorry, there won't be that much fluff for a little while. After all, they've known each other for less then a week! Wouldn't it seem just a LITTLE weird to put some mad make-out scene in at this point in the story? There are romance fics without a lot of fluff because true love doesn't really need fluff to survive. I'm not saying there isn't ever going to be fluff, but not for awhile. For now, maybe you can be sustained with a little MirSan fluff? Please :-D?
Chapter Sixteen
Dance of Freedom
"I think I'll have the veal parmigana, please, and a root beer float," Sango desperately tried to keep her eyes on the waitress and off the drooling man sitting next to her.
"Certainly, miss. And you sir?" the blonde waitress turned toward Miroku with a slightly flirtatious smile on her face, causing Sango to roll her eyes in annoyance. She knew she should've stayed home...
"I'll have a hamburger, no pickles if you would be so kind. Also, if it's all right, do you mind giving me a couple extra buns on the side?" he shot her a quick wink, oblivious to Sango, who seemed to be choking on who knows what since they didn't even have the food yet.
The waitress flipped her hair over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes at Miroku. "For a cutie like you, I think I could find a few extra buns lying around," she wrote something down in her menu book, then shut it and swiftly turned around, throwing a wink over her shoulder at Miroku. Sango noted that she looked a bit fake with her too blonde hair swaying back and forth in time with the funky music playing in the shadows and her hips moving just a TAD more then any normal hips should. She gave a sigh of disgust and turned to glare at Miroku, a frown on her face.
"Why on Earth do you DO that, in the middle of such a nice restaurant no less?" she turned away from him and rested her head on her arms. "I knew I should've stayed home tonight," she said, shaking her head into the table. Miroku looked surprised for a moment, then quickly shifted so that his arm rest around Sango.
"There, there Sango, I didn't expect that you would get jealous so easily. I promise, that woman may be fine, but her place in my heart is nothing compared to yours," he looked quite pleased with himself for coming up with such a romantic sentiment. Slowly Sango's head began to raise itself from the table, coming up to directly meet his face, but (Miroku noted with displeasure) her face was twisted in an angry scowl.
"GET YOUR HAND OFF ME!" she pushed him away from her then proceeded to scoot as far away from his offending hand as she was able. "And WHAT on Earth gave you the idea that I'm JEALOUS?" she scoffed and shook her head at him. "Please, more like I find it extremely annoying when I can't even come EAT without watching your pathetic attempts to get a girl in the sack. Even Inuyasha has better pick up lines then you," she rolled her eyes at him and glared, crossing her legs underneath the table and propping her head up with her arm.
Miroku looked a bit forlorn for a moment. "Yes, but our friend Inuyasha hasn't been using these lines very often lately hasn't he?"
Sango softened a bit, understanding how it must feel for Miroku to watch his very best friend going through so much pain. "He's changed hasn't he?" she was beginning to feel a bit depressed herself.
"Anyone could tell. But I can't really blame him; I probably would've committed suicide or something if it'd been me. Still, I do miss the old Inuyasha".
"You're right of course. As annoying as Inuyasha was, he was pretty funny, and a good friend if you truly needed him to be". Sango hadn't known Inuyasha as long as Miroku, likewise with Miroku and Inuyasha. The two had been friends since childhood, and Sango had been introduced into that group during college when her parents skipped out on her and her little brother Kohaku, and she had been forced to find a place on her own. Miroku and Inuyasha had agreed to take her in for a short while, and the three had become fast friends. Even after college the three had remained a famous trio and rarely stayed apart from one another for long. Both Miroku and Inuyasha had helped her through her hard times, and she wanted to try to do the same for Inuyasha. Still, his situation was a whole lot worse then hers ever was. At least she still had Kohaku.
But Rin...
She was thrown out of her thoughts by Miroku's next completely off topic statement. "What do you think of Kagome?"
Sango narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Miroku. "She seems like a very kind girl, sweet and INNOCENT for that matter," she emphasized the word 'innocent', trying to get the point across to Miroku that if he harmed her in any way she'd kill him.
"Yes, she seems very INNOCENT to me as well," amusement flickered in his eyes. "But that isn't what I meant," he saw Sango visibly relax at this statement. "What do you think of her in regards to Inuyasha?"
Sango pondered this for a moment. "I think she'll be good for him in the long run. She's not one to be taken up by petty dreams of stardom, and she can hold her own in an argument. But she also seems very giving and cheerful, I think she might actually be able to help Inuyasha, change him back to the way he was before".
"Which may not necessarily be a good thing," Miroku pretended to speak thoughtfully, but he was only joking. Sango let out a small laugh.
"You can say that again. Say, what do you think of the idea of Kagome and Inuyasha as, you know, more then friends. Wouldn't that be really romantic? She helps him through his hard times, he grows to love her, and together they embrace the world!" she threw her hands in the air with this rather loud finishing statement, then grew a bit red when she realized how many eyes were upon her.
Miroku chuckled. "I doubt that highly. You know Inuyasha almost as well as I do, he isn't the type to be interested in ANYBODY romantically".
"Really? But just a few minutes ago you were commenting on his excellent usage of pick-up lines and," Miroku cut her off.
"Dear Sango, there is a difference between being interested in somebody sexually and interested in them romantically. To be interested in somebody sexually is fruitless; it's nothing more then hormones and a bit of infatuation. You of all people should understand that being interested somebody romantically means much, much more".
"Oh? And what is THAT supposed to mean?" she narrowed her eyes at him again.
"Let me just tell you this. Do you remember that waitress that served us not a few minutes ago?"
"How could I forget, you were all over her!"
"Exactly. I will not deny that the woman has a bit of appeal; many men would be interested in her sexually whether they admit it or not, and I am no different," Sango fumed silently at that, "I am interested in almost every woman under the sun sexually, as you very well know. But I am only interested in one romantically".
Sango tried desperately to fight her curiosity, as well as this gnawing feeling in her gut that she barely recognized as jealousy. Why should she care if he liked someone, it's not like she had any feelings for him right? "Who would that be, Inuyasha?" she said sarcastically and he shook his head.
"No, Sango, it's you," he calmly went back to reading his menu (really useless since they had already ordered) and Sango's brain began to register what he had just confessed to her.
And for the first time that she could remember, it was really hard for her to think of a comeback.
~*~
"So you say you saw them?" he asked, idly twiddling his fingers. It had been rather difficult for him to find something to do the whole day, as he had no leads to follow up on save for the one she had spent the day following up. In the end he had settled for mind numbing computer games, but nobody was to find that out. If anybody got their hands on the information that the mysteriously feared Naraku enjoyed Solitaire there would be hell to pay.
"Yes, she was seen walking with him to his home. From their conversation it appears they had gone to view a movie earlier in the day," she was failing to keep her voice even and she knew it, but the rage contorted within her was too hard to keep hidden that day. She hated having to tell him the truth, but he would know if she was lying, and he would punish her for it. In her mind she begged the girl to forgive her for what she was being forced to do, and she turned back toward Naraku with a cold expression on her face.
"A movie, hmm? On a date perhaps?"
This was one question Kagura really didn't know the answer to. "It's unlikely but possible I suppose. I don't really know," she said indifferently. Oh how she'd love to enjoy the feeling of her hands tightening around his throat, squeezing harder and harder until there was no life left to be taken. She felt her hands twitch by her sides, and her steady gaze met his for a moment.
"I wouldn't think such things if I were you," he told her coldly, and her hands stopped their twitching. Oh, how she loathed him.
"Back to the matter at hand, I did a bit of research while you were away," he spoke, leaving out the fact that all research had ceased within an hour of her departure and spider solitaire had began. "And I found out the most interesting thing. It seems his agent shares a last name identical to yours. Isn't that surprising?"
Kagura fought hard to keep from lunging at him. No, she wouldn't let him drag her sister into this. The whole reason she was still here was to protect her dear sibling, she wouldn't let her get mixed up in this mess. "You are not to involve my sister," she commanded, her insides writhing with rage. How dare he even speak of her.
"Kanna Kaze, twenty two years old, agent to the great Inuyasha. Sister of Kagura Kaze and the late Goshinki Kaze, whose tragic death has been a heartbreaking experience for the entire Kaze family," he allowed a small grin to appear on his lips.
Rage boiled inside of Kagura. How DARE he speak of her sister this way? How dare he bring up the memory of her brother when his death was on Naraku's own hands? How dare he kidnap Kagura from her own family? How dare he spend his life stalking a teenaged girl? HOW DARE HE?
"You haven't a bone of goodness in your entire body. You don't deserve to live; the Earth would benefit from your removal. You have NO RIGHT to speak of Goshinki in such a way; it was you who killed him. And I WILL get my revenge," without a second's warning a fan was pulled from deep within her voluminous sleeve and aimed at the deadly youkai. "I hate you from the bottom of my heart, and I will not be at peace until I see you dead. DANCE OF BLADES!" she whipped the fan toward Naraku, bringing it down and letting a satisfied smile overtake her as she saw the entire room shudder with her attack. The walls seemed to stretch, as if the impact would cause them to burst at any moment, and the contents of the room took flight around her. She tried to see Naraku through the gust, but she couldn't see past the chaos in front of her. She stood and waited, sure Naraku had finally been conquered. Nobody had ever survived one of her direct attacks, and no matter how strong Naraku was, he would not be the first. Surely he was dead.
"Stop," a deep, calm voice rang out amongst the room, and suddenly the items that had been flying inches above her head clattered to the ground with a mere thump. The dust around her seemed to disappear in mere seconds, and Kagura's expression changed from satisfaction to worry.
'How can this be?' she wrung her brains out mentally. 'He should have died! He can't still be alive can he? He can't possibly have survived the attack!'
But her suspicions were confirmed when a face appeared directly above hers, and it only took her a second to figure out who the face belonged to. It was definitely his; he had not perished in the attack as she had hoped. Silently he stretched a finger to her forehead, brushing it lightly over her skin for only a moment. The reaction was instantaneous.
Bolts of electricity shot out around her, and she was thrown back into her seat, writhing with pain. Every inch of her body felt like it was being roasted alive, and she could not help but wish for death with every fiber of her being. She slowly felt her energy being drained until she was sure she was within an inch of her life. Did Naraku plan to kill her? It would almost be welcome, so long as Kanna and the rest of her family remained safe.
All at once the pain stopped. The electricity ceased its glow around her, and her numb body was thrown to the floor, panting for breath but definitely alive. She wasn't sure whether to feel angered or relieved at this, and she paused for only a second before turning her gaze up to match his. He smirked at her.
"Let's not forget who the master in this relationship is. Now, Kagura, I want you to call your sister. Do not tell her where you are or who you are with. Simply tell her that you have left on vacation, that you are sorry for worrying her but will be home in no time. Gain her confidence, then ask her about this Inuyasha. Get her to tell you what makes him hate, what makes him cry out with pain. Find out what keeps him up at night in worry. Find out his weakness. Report back to me with your findings, they will be vital to my plan".
"Surely," Kagura was barely able to croak from her position on the ground. "Surely you do not plan to hurt him too?"
"Of course I do. I will use the information to kill him, obviously. Why else would I want it?"
"But why would you want him dead? What has he done to you?"
"He has associated himself with her. He has taken her in and given her a place to call home. He does not deserve to live, and I will not rest until I see them both dead. Now call Kanna".
She wanted so badly to pick up her fan again, wanted so badly to swing it in direction and separate that oversized head of his from his body. She wanted to so badly, but she couldn't. No matter how badly she wanted her freedom, wanted her sister's freedom, she could never have it. And so, with a deadly smile, she uttered the three words she most hated to hear.
"Yes...Master Naraku".
~*~
"And then they set out to complete their mission of defeating the evil spider youkai, despite all the obstacles that stand in their way. That's as far as I've gotten, what do you think?" a hopeful Kagome asked the hanyou.
"It's stupid".
Her face fell at his endearing comment to her story. "What do you mean it's stupid?" she asked defensively, trying to figure out what he could possibly have found wrong with her tale.
A few hours after the two had arrived home, Kagome had the idea of getting Inuyasha's opinion on a few of her "works in progress". Before she had left home she was a budding authoress, since she had a lot of spare time to write back at Kikyo's place. She hadn't gotten the chance to publish anything yet, since having her name on anything was dangerous for her at the moment, but it was definitely a dream of hers. She figured since Inuyasha himself was famous (maybe not an author but still famous) he might have an insight into the minds of the big wigs. She had lain out a few of her plot ideas for him, but he had rejected them all. Her latest and greatest idea had been a tale about a young girl, around fifteen, who had jumped into a magical well and ended up in feudal Japan. (A/N: you all know the story so there's no reason for me to go into it. If you don't know it, you probably wouldn't be reading Inuyasha fan fiction so go find yourself an info. site if you're that desperate...and I know Naraku isn't a spider youkai but it isn't the EXACT same story, just awfully close).
"Well why doesn't the stupid hanyou just tell the damned girl he likes her? And how the heck could a silly jewel have that much power?"
"It isn't costume jewelry Inuyasha! Big things come in small packages you know! And he can't tell her because he still has feelings for her dead incarnation!"
"Isn't that incredibly convenient that she just HAPPENS to be the reincarnation of his past love and just HAPPENS to fall for him?"
"What are you suggesting?" she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"That none of that stuff actually happens!" he shot back at her.
"I know, that's why it's called a FAIRY TALE you idiot!" she shot back with just as much fiery.
"This is stupid; I don't know why I'm wasting my time arguing with you. I don't care about you OR your damned stories so I'm leaving!" Inuyasha stormed off into his bedroom leaving a surprised Kagome on the couch.
"Fine! I don't care about you either!" she yelled after him, a bit too late. She leaned back into the couch to watch some television as she wasn't very tired. What did he know anyway? He just had no taste in the fine arts! She happened to LIKE her story!
'Still,' a nagging voice in the back of her head reminded her, 'you DID have fun with him today didn't you?'
'Well, maybe a little,' another voice responded back to the first. 'But he's still a jerk!'
'Girl, he saved your life three times! THEN he took your dog in, and THEN he took you in! Face it, he isn't a bad guy'.
'No, I guess you're right about that,' the other voice conceded. 'He may be a jerk, but his heart is obviously in the right place'.
'Of course I'm right!' the first voice responded smugly. 'So you like him?'
'LIKE HIM? EEK! NO!!' she squeezed her eyes shut tightly at the thought. EWW!
'I didn't mean like that. Do you consider him a friend?' she thought to herself. She pondered her own answer for a moment.
'Maybe an acquaintance, but yeah, he *might* have the potential to be a friend. Maybe,' she seemed to remember something, then sigh aloud.
"He seems a bit sad though," she said (aloud this time) to nobody in particular. "I think something happened to him recently, maybe that's why he wanted to quit the business," realization slowly dawned upon her, but then she realized she was still as clueless as before. "I wonder what it was though".
With a yawn she snuggled back into the couch. She had grown quite weary during her little self conversation, and her achy body was much too tired to move itself into bed. There was nothing wrong with the couch anyway, it was actually quite comfortable. She closed her eyes and leaned into a white cushion, letting a single thought enter her head before she allowed herself sleep.
'And besides, I couldn't really hate him. How could I hate somebody with such cute ears?'
A/N: Well there's Chapter Sixteen! Hope ya like! Expect another chapter within the next few days as well as another whole fic. I WAS gonna start on my InuKagKik fic but I'm expecting that one to be very LONG and time consuming so I figure I should get farther along on this. In the meantime I have another idea... hope you like!
A/N: Wow!!! SEVENTY REVIEWS? When I started this thing I was thrilled to get more then 4! I'm HAPPY! ^_^
And no I didn't mean it when I said the InuKag relationship was going to go downhill.. I didn't expect anyone would take that literally. I just meant that there won't be very many more happy little outings to the movies or w/e. Things get a little more complicated soon.
Also, a few people have been asking for more fluff. I realize that this story is classed under romance .. but I'm really sorry, there won't be that much fluff for a little while. After all, they've known each other for less then a week! Wouldn't it seem just a LITTLE weird to put some mad make-out scene in at this point in the story? There are romance fics without a lot of fluff because true love doesn't really need fluff to survive. I'm not saying there isn't ever going to be fluff, but not for awhile. For now, maybe you can be sustained with a little MirSan fluff? Please :-D?
Chapter Sixteen
Dance of Freedom
"I think I'll have the veal parmigana, please, and a root beer float," Sango desperately tried to keep her eyes on the waitress and off the drooling man sitting next to her.
"Certainly, miss. And you sir?" the blonde waitress turned toward Miroku with a slightly flirtatious smile on her face, causing Sango to roll her eyes in annoyance. She knew she should've stayed home...
"I'll have a hamburger, no pickles if you would be so kind. Also, if it's all right, do you mind giving me a couple extra buns on the side?" he shot her a quick wink, oblivious to Sango, who seemed to be choking on who knows what since they didn't even have the food yet.
The waitress flipped her hair over her shoulder and batted her eyelashes at Miroku. "For a cutie like you, I think I could find a few extra buns lying around," she wrote something down in her menu book, then shut it and swiftly turned around, throwing a wink over her shoulder at Miroku. Sango noted that she looked a bit fake with her too blonde hair swaying back and forth in time with the funky music playing in the shadows and her hips moving just a TAD more then any normal hips should. She gave a sigh of disgust and turned to glare at Miroku, a frown on her face.
"Why on Earth do you DO that, in the middle of such a nice restaurant no less?" she turned away from him and rested her head on her arms. "I knew I should've stayed home tonight," she said, shaking her head into the table. Miroku looked surprised for a moment, then quickly shifted so that his arm rest around Sango.
"There, there Sango, I didn't expect that you would get jealous so easily. I promise, that woman may be fine, but her place in my heart is nothing compared to yours," he looked quite pleased with himself for coming up with such a romantic sentiment. Slowly Sango's head began to raise itself from the table, coming up to directly meet his face, but (Miroku noted with displeasure) her face was twisted in an angry scowl.
"GET YOUR HAND OFF ME!" she pushed him away from her then proceeded to scoot as far away from his offending hand as she was able. "And WHAT on Earth gave you the idea that I'm JEALOUS?" she scoffed and shook her head at him. "Please, more like I find it extremely annoying when I can't even come EAT without watching your pathetic attempts to get a girl in the sack. Even Inuyasha has better pick up lines then you," she rolled her eyes at him and glared, crossing her legs underneath the table and propping her head up with her arm.
Miroku looked a bit forlorn for a moment. "Yes, but our friend Inuyasha hasn't been using these lines very often lately hasn't he?"
Sango softened a bit, understanding how it must feel for Miroku to watch his very best friend going through so much pain. "He's changed hasn't he?" she was beginning to feel a bit depressed herself.
"Anyone could tell. But I can't really blame him; I probably would've committed suicide or something if it'd been me. Still, I do miss the old Inuyasha".
"You're right of course. As annoying as Inuyasha was, he was pretty funny, and a good friend if you truly needed him to be". Sango hadn't known Inuyasha as long as Miroku, likewise with Miroku and Inuyasha. The two had been friends since childhood, and Sango had been introduced into that group during college when her parents skipped out on her and her little brother Kohaku, and she had been forced to find a place on her own. Miroku and Inuyasha had agreed to take her in for a short while, and the three had become fast friends. Even after college the three had remained a famous trio and rarely stayed apart from one another for long. Both Miroku and Inuyasha had helped her through her hard times, and she wanted to try to do the same for Inuyasha. Still, his situation was a whole lot worse then hers ever was. At least she still had Kohaku.
But Rin...
She was thrown out of her thoughts by Miroku's next completely off topic statement. "What do you think of Kagome?"
Sango narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Miroku. "She seems like a very kind girl, sweet and INNOCENT for that matter," she emphasized the word 'innocent', trying to get the point across to Miroku that if he harmed her in any way she'd kill him.
"Yes, she seems very INNOCENT to me as well," amusement flickered in his eyes. "But that isn't what I meant," he saw Sango visibly relax at this statement. "What do you think of her in regards to Inuyasha?"
Sango pondered this for a moment. "I think she'll be good for him in the long run. She's not one to be taken up by petty dreams of stardom, and she can hold her own in an argument. But she also seems very giving and cheerful, I think she might actually be able to help Inuyasha, change him back to the way he was before".
"Which may not necessarily be a good thing," Miroku pretended to speak thoughtfully, but he was only joking. Sango let out a small laugh.
"You can say that again. Say, what do you think of the idea of Kagome and Inuyasha as, you know, more then friends. Wouldn't that be really romantic? She helps him through his hard times, he grows to love her, and together they embrace the world!" she threw her hands in the air with this rather loud finishing statement, then grew a bit red when she realized how many eyes were upon her.
Miroku chuckled. "I doubt that highly. You know Inuyasha almost as well as I do, he isn't the type to be interested in ANYBODY romantically".
"Really? But just a few minutes ago you were commenting on his excellent usage of pick-up lines and," Miroku cut her off.
"Dear Sango, there is a difference between being interested in somebody sexually and interested in them romantically. To be interested in somebody sexually is fruitless; it's nothing more then hormones and a bit of infatuation. You of all people should understand that being interested somebody romantically means much, much more".
"Oh? And what is THAT supposed to mean?" she narrowed her eyes at him again.
"Let me just tell you this. Do you remember that waitress that served us not a few minutes ago?"
"How could I forget, you were all over her!"
"Exactly. I will not deny that the woman has a bit of appeal; many men would be interested in her sexually whether they admit it or not, and I am no different," Sango fumed silently at that, "I am interested in almost every woman under the sun sexually, as you very well know. But I am only interested in one romantically".
Sango tried desperately to fight her curiosity, as well as this gnawing feeling in her gut that she barely recognized as jealousy. Why should she care if he liked someone, it's not like she had any feelings for him right? "Who would that be, Inuyasha?" she said sarcastically and he shook his head.
"No, Sango, it's you," he calmly went back to reading his menu (really useless since they had already ordered) and Sango's brain began to register what he had just confessed to her.
And for the first time that she could remember, it was really hard for her to think of a comeback.
~*~
"So you say you saw them?" he asked, idly twiddling his fingers. It had been rather difficult for him to find something to do the whole day, as he had no leads to follow up on save for the one she had spent the day following up. In the end he had settled for mind numbing computer games, but nobody was to find that out. If anybody got their hands on the information that the mysteriously feared Naraku enjoyed Solitaire there would be hell to pay.
"Yes, she was seen walking with him to his home. From their conversation it appears they had gone to view a movie earlier in the day," she was failing to keep her voice even and she knew it, but the rage contorted within her was too hard to keep hidden that day. She hated having to tell him the truth, but he would know if she was lying, and he would punish her for it. In her mind she begged the girl to forgive her for what she was being forced to do, and she turned back toward Naraku with a cold expression on her face.
"A movie, hmm? On a date perhaps?"
This was one question Kagura really didn't know the answer to. "It's unlikely but possible I suppose. I don't really know," she said indifferently. Oh how she'd love to enjoy the feeling of her hands tightening around his throat, squeezing harder and harder until there was no life left to be taken. She felt her hands twitch by her sides, and her steady gaze met his for a moment.
"I wouldn't think such things if I were you," he told her coldly, and her hands stopped their twitching. Oh, how she loathed him.
"Back to the matter at hand, I did a bit of research while you were away," he spoke, leaving out the fact that all research had ceased within an hour of her departure and spider solitaire had began. "And I found out the most interesting thing. It seems his agent shares a last name identical to yours. Isn't that surprising?"
Kagura fought hard to keep from lunging at him. No, she wouldn't let him drag her sister into this. The whole reason she was still here was to protect her dear sibling, she wouldn't let her get mixed up in this mess. "You are not to involve my sister," she commanded, her insides writhing with rage. How dare he even speak of her.
"Kanna Kaze, twenty two years old, agent to the great Inuyasha. Sister of Kagura Kaze and the late Goshinki Kaze, whose tragic death has been a heartbreaking experience for the entire Kaze family," he allowed a small grin to appear on his lips.
Rage boiled inside of Kagura. How DARE he speak of her sister this way? How dare he bring up the memory of her brother when his death was on Naraku's own hands? How dare he kidnap Kagura from her own family? How dare he spend his life stalking a teenaged girl? HOW DARE HE?
"You haven't a bone of goodness in your entire body. You don't deserve to live; the Earth would benefit from your removal. You have NO RIGHT to speak of Goshinki in such a way; it was you who killed him. And I WILL get my revenge," without a second's warning a fan was pulled from deep within her voluminous sleeve and aimed at the deadly youkai. "I hate you from the bottom of my heart, and I will not be at peace until I see you dead. DANCE OF BLADES!" she whipped the fan toward Naraku, bringing it down and letting a satisfied smile overtake her as she saw the entire room shudder with her attack. The walls seemed to stretch, as if the impact would cause them to burst at any moment, and the contents of the room took flight around her. She tried to see Naraku through the gust, but she couldn't see past the chaos in front of her. She stood and waited, sure Naraku had finally been conquered. Nobody had ever survived one of her direct attacks, and no matter how strong Naraku was, he would not be the first. Surely he was dead.
"Stop," a deep, calm voice rang out amongst the room, and suddenly the items that had been flying inches above her head clattered to the ground with a mere thump. The dust around her seemed to disappear in mere seconds, and Kagura's expression changed from satisfaction to worry.
'How can this be?' she wrung her brains out mentally. 'He should have died! He can't still be alive can he? He can't possibly have survived the attack!'
But her suspicions were confirmed when a face appeared directly above hers, and it only took her a second to figure out who the face belonged to. It was definitely his; he had not perished in the attack as she had hoped. Silently he stretched a finger to her forehead, brushing it lightly over her skin for only a moment. The reaction was instantaneous.
Bolts of electricity shot out around her, and she was thrown back into her seat, writhing with pain. Every inch of her body felt like it was being roasted alive, and she could not help but wish for death with every fiber of her being. She slowly felt her energy being drained until she was sure she was within an inch of her life. Did Naraku plan to kill her? It would almost be welcome, so long as Kanna and the rest of her family remained safe.
All at once the pain stopped. The electricity ceased its glow around her, and her numb body was thrown to the floor, panting for breath but definitely alive. She wasn't sure whether to feel angered or relieved at this, and she paused for only a second before turning her gaze up to match his. He smirked at her.
"Let's not forget who the master in this relationship is. Now, Kagura, I want you to call your sister. Do not tell her where you are or who you are with. Simply tell her that you have left on vacation, that you are sorry for worrying her but will be home in no time. Gain her confidence, then ask her about this Inuyasha. Get her to tell you what makes him hate, what makes him cry out with pain. Find out what keeps him up at night in worry. Find out his weakness. Report back to me with your findings, they will be vital to my plan".
"Surely," Kagura was barely able to croak from her position on the ground. "Surely you do not plan to hurt him too?"
"Of course I do. I will use the information to kill him, obviously. Why else would I want it?"
"But why would you want him dead? What has he done to you?"
"He has associated himself with her. He has taken her in and given her a place to call home. He does not deserve to live, and I will not rest until I see them both dead. Now call Kanna".
She wanted so badly to pick up her fan again, wanted so badly to swing it in direction and separate that oversized head of his from his body. She wanted to so badly, but she couldn't. No matter how badly she wanted her freedom, wanted her sister's freedom, she could never have it. And so, with a deadly smile, she uttered the three words she most hated to hear.
"Yes...Master Naraku".
~*~
"And then they set out to complete their mission of defeating the evil spider youkai, despite all the obstacles that stand in their way. That's as far as I've gotten, what do you think?" a hopeful Kagome asked the hanyou.
"It's stupid".
Her face fell at his endearing comment to her story. "What do you mean it's stupid?" she asked defensively, trying to figure out what he could possibly have found wrong with her tale.
A few hours after the two had arrived home, Kagome had the idea of getting Inuyasha's opinion on a few of her "works in progress". Before she had left home she was a budding authoress, since she had a lot of spare time to write back at Kikyo's place. She hadn't gotten the chance to publish anything yet, since having her name on anything was dangerous for her at the moment, but it was definitely a dream of hers. She figured since Inuyasha himself was famous (maybe not an author but still famous) he might have an insight into the minds of the big wigs. She had lain out a few of her plot ideas for him, but he had rejected them all. Her latest and greatest idea had been a tale about a young girl, around fifteen, who had jumped into a magical well and ended up in feudal Japan. (A/N: you all know the story so there's no reason for me to go into it. If you don't know it, you probably wouldn't be reading Inuyasha fan fiction so go find yourself an info. site if you're that desperate...and I know Naraku isn't a spider youkai but it isn't the EXACT same story, just awfully close).
"Well why doesn't the stupid hanyou just tell the damned girl he likes her? And how the heck could a silly jewel have that much power?"
"It isn't costume jewelry Inuyasha! Big things come in small packages you know! And he can't tell her because he still has feelings for her dead incarnation!"
"Isn't that incredibly convenient that she just HAPPENS to be the reincarnation of his past love and just HAPPENS to fall for him?"
"What are you suggesting?" she narrowed her eyes angrily.
"That none of that stuff actually happens!" he shot back at her.
"I know, that's why it's called a FAIRY TALE you idiot!" she shot back with just as much fiery.
"This is stupid; I don't know why I'm wasting my time arguing with you. I don't care about you OR your damned stories so I'm leaving!" Inuyasha stormed off into his bedroom leaving a surprised Kagome on the couch.
"Fine! I don't care about you either!" she yelled after him, a bit too late. She leaned back into the couch to watch some television as she wasn't very tired. What did he know anyway? He just had no taste in the fine arts! She happened to LIKE her story!
'Still,' a nagging voice in the back of her head reminded her, 'you DID have fun with him today didn't you?'
'Well, maybe a little,' another voice responded back to the first. 'But he's still a jerk!'
'Girl, he saved your life three times! THEN he took your dog in, and THEN he took you in! Face it, he isn't a bad guy'.
'No, I guess you're right about that,' the other voice conceded. 'He may be a jerk, but his heart is obviously in the right place'.
'Of course I'm right!' the first voice responded smugly. 'So you like him?'
'LIKE HIM? EEK! NO!!' she squeezed her eyes shut tightly at the thought. EWW!
'I didn't mean like that. Do you consider him a friend?' she thought to herself. She pondered her own answer for a moment.
'Maybe an acquaintance, but yeah, he *might* have the potential to be a friend. Maybe,' she seemed to remember something, then sigh aloud.
"He seems a bit sad though," she said (aloud this time) to nobody in particular. "I think something happened to him recently, maybe that's why he wanted to quit the business," realization slowly dawned upon her, but then she realized she was still as clueless as before. "I wonder what it was though".
With a yawn she snuggled back into the couch. She had grown quite weary during her little self conversation, and her achy body was much too tired to move itself into bed. There was nothing wrong with the couch anyway, it was actually quite comfortable. She closed her eyes and leaned into a white cushion, letting a single thought enter her head before she allowed herself sleep.
'And besides, I couldn't really hate him. How could I hate somebody with such cute ears?'
A/N: Well there's Chapter Sixteen! Hope ya like! Expect another chapter within the next few days as well as another whole fic. I WAS gonna start on my InuKagKik fic but I'm expecting that one to be very LONG and time consuming so I figure I should get farther along on this. In the meantime I have another idea... hope you like!