A/N- Hey everyone! Sorry this chapter took me a little long to post. The action will begin to pick up soon, I promise! Love ya lots!
Disclaimer- I hate writing this. I am still in denial, but I guess I don't own InuyashaL
The Colors of Emotions
Chapter 12
Overwhelmed
The little group had been walking for hours now, and the sky was streaked with colors from the setting sun. Kagome was beginning to grow weary even without the heavy load of her backpack that usually weighed her down. Shippou was sitting on her shoulder asleep. She mentally wondered just how the little fox was able to stay balanced on her shoulder while he was asleep. They were walking on an old path through a very desolate forest. Kagome had barely seen any life such as squirrels or birds that entire day. She looked up in awe at the sky. The colors were beautiful. Every color of the rainbow was shooting from the burning sun that was sinking slowly in the west. The thoughts that entered Kagome's mind however dampened her mood. 'The colors are so beautiful. But they remind me of my stupid new power. Gods, why do I have to be stuck with this? I could hurt somebody!'
Kagome still had trouble digesting the information that Kaede had told her. A frown crossed her face as she remembered the old miko's words. 'If I am too tired or wounded and I attack, then I will die. Geez, I might as well just give in to death right now. There is no way I will be able to control my powers. If I don't end up killing myself when I accidentally attack, then I'll just kill one of my friends.'
Sango noticed the glum expression on her friends face and quickly jumped into the motherly role, "Kagome, what's wrong?" She draped her arm around her friend's shoulder to comfort her from whatever had bothered her.
"Nothing Sango. I'm just tired." Kagome answered. But she mentally groaned, 'Not again!' Miroku, Shippou, and Sango had been interrogating her every time she wasn't one hundred percent happy. They immediately would make her tell them what was bothering her and would try to reassure her. Kagome felt like such a bother having them worry over her so much. She was also rapidly becoming annoyed.
"Kagome, Kaede said not to hold anything in. What if you were suddenly feeling angry and lost control of it before you could acknowledge it? You need to tell us the moment you feel emotional."
Kagome hated being reminded of this. Sango had managed to repeat to her these exact words way too many times that day. Kagome knew that she couldn't let herself get too angry or protective. She knew she had to express her emotions before they got out of control, and that if they did, she would have to put her effort into doing something else. Kagome didn't want to tell Sango that she was having thoughts about killing herself. Of course Kagome wasn't serious, she was just a little depressed. There was no reason to freak everybody out. She didn't think anybody could understand what she was going through. She needed someone who could give her advice. 'Sango can't because she doesn't seem to understand that it isn't easy to just go and spill your feelings to someone. Miroku isn't exactly very good when it comes to talking about self-control. He can barely keep his hands to himself. Shippou doesn't understand the seriousness of everything. I couldn't talk to Kirara, obviously. And Inuyasha wouldn't want to listen, nor would he understand in the slightest.' Kagome's head drooped as she thought this. 'No, Inuyasha doesn't seem to even care about me. But he seemed so nice when I was back at Kaede's.'
"Kagome? Hey come on, why aren't you answering?" Sango waved her hand in front of Kagome's face.
"Huh? Oh sorry Sango. What were you saying?"
"I asked if you wanted to stop soon."
"Yea, I'm really getting tired."
"Hey Inuyasha!" Sango called to the hanyou who was walking a good thirty feet in front of the two girls. The hanyou turned around grumpily already knowing what the demon exterminator was going to ask.
"Can we stop for tonight?"
"No." And with that, Inuyasha turned around and began to walk again.
"Come on Inuyasha! Everyone is tired, not to mention that Kagome just got back on her feet. She needs to rest!"
Kagome frowned at being treated like a baby again. However, she was extremely tired and wouldn't mind some sleep. Inuyasha had only allowed them to stop twice that day. Because Kagome was so tired, she didn't notice the large tree root jutting from the ground. She tripped and fell to the ground with a yelp of pain. Shippou was thrown off of her shoulder and he landed in a small ball a few feet in front of Kagome's fallen form.
"Kagome are you okay?"
Kagome slowly started to stand again. She had a small cut on her knee that was bleeding. "Yea, just a cut. Sorry about that, I can be so clumsy sometimes." Kagome gave her friend an encouraging smile. She picked up the small ball that was Shippou and chuckled when she found he was still asleep. He hadn't even noticed that he had been roughly thrown to the ground. She held the little kit in her arms and began to rock him slightly.
Miroku who had been walking slightly behind them spoke up, "Kagome, you will have to clean and bandage that before it becomes infected."
Sango turned to glare at Inuyasha who had stopped and was looking worriedly at Kagome. Noticing Sango's glare, his expression changed to annoyance. "No way are we stopping already. Kagome said she was sensing a large shard in this direction. That stupid kotsonu can't be far from here. Besides, it lost all of its power when it attacked Kagome, so even with the Shikon shards, it might not be at it's full potential yet. We need to strike when it is still weak!"
"Inuyasha, if we actually caught up to the kotsonu, you'd be the only one in any condition to fight him. All of us are dead tired, and you can't fight him on your own. He is going to be very difficult to kill even if he hasn't regained all of his power yet!"
"Feh." Inuyasha knew he had lost this argument and jumped into a nearby tree to keep his pride. Kagome and the rest of the group wandered off of the path and set up camp in a small clearing. Miroku began to gather firewood while Kagome looked around for her yellow pack which Inuyasha had been carrying. She found it lying under a nearby tree, which she knew Inuyasha was resting in the branches of. He must have dropped it down to the ground so she could have access to it. Kagome smiled, and pulled out some matches. She struck on, and threw it on the small pile of sticks and such that Miroku had managed to gather. Soon a cheery blaze shone through the darkening night.
"Is anyone hungry?" Kagome questioned.
"Not really Lady Kagome. It would seem that Sango, Shippou, and Kirara are already asleep. I think that is the best idea at the moment. Get some rest okay? We will all eat in the morning."
Kagome sighed and pulled her sleeping bag out of the large backpack that resided next to her. She spread it out a short distance from the small fire and crawled into it. She soon heard Miroku's shallow breathing signifying that everyone now seemed to be asleep. 'Wow, everyone must have been extremely tired.' But even with Kagome's body screaming for sleep, her mind wouldn't allow it. 'No one has any idea just how badly I could hurt them. I haven't had any practice with my power. I could just snap any minute. I hit Inuyasha really hard before. I don't think he admitted just how much I really hurt him. Maybe I should just run away. I wouldn't be a risk to everybody anymore. I feel like a walking bomb, ready to explode any minute. What if I killed somebody?' Tears began to form at the corners of Kagome's eyes. This was all really too much for her. She felt helpless at the thought of her inability to control herself if her emotions got too powerful.
But before Kagome could think any further on the subject, two strong arms came from behind her and she felt herself being lifted off of the ground.
* * * * * *
Inuyasha had been waiting patiently for everyone to fall asleep. He had been watching Kagome for most of the day. He noticed when she would suddenly seem to zone out and be thinking deeply. Miroku, Sango, and Shippou had kept her in check though. They caught her most of the times that she would seem to fall silent, and they would ask her what was wrong. He watched Kagome pull out her sleeping bag and lie down in it. 'She's an evasive little wench that's for sure.' He knew she hadn't been telling the truth when asked what was wrong. She came up with some lame excuse and would dodge the real issue. But he figured that whatever was bothering her couldn't be too horrible or she would have told them. The hanyou watched as Kagome desperately seemed to try to go to sleep. He always watched her sleep at night. She was so peaceful. Looking at her angelic face, a memory flashed across his mind.
'I have always lo---'
'What was she going to say? I can't ask her. She doesn't seem to even remember anything from that moment! I really need to drop this. She doesn't love me. She attacked me for Gods sake!' But Inuyasha knew he couldn't hold that against her. Kagome barely has any control over her powers.
Inuyasha's ears perked up at the sound of someone crying softly. He immediately smelled the dreadful scent of Kagome's tears. He HATED, I repeat HATED it when she cried. 'Maybe I was wrong. Maybe there really is something wrong. Kagome, don't tell me you have been holding something from everyone when Kaede specifically told you to spill your guts if you ever felt overwhelmed!' Inuyasha grew worried as Kagome's crying continued. 'That's it. She's gonna tell me what's wrong before she becomes too emotional!'
So Inuyasha leaped gracefully from his perch in the tree and walked quietly over to the crying girl. Her eyes were closed and she couldn't sense his aura, so she didn't know he was coming. He scooped her up in his arms and jumped back up into the tree he had come down from.
Kagome began struggling when he wouldn't let her go. She didn't seem to realize it was him yet. "Shh, Kagome calm down, it's just me."
"Inuyasha?" Kagome snapped out of her fright and took in her surroundings. Inuyasha had her cradled against him, and she was up in a tree. 'Great, I hate heights.' She mentally groaned.
"Why are you crying?"
"I'm not." Kagome hastily wiped away any tears that remained in her eyes.
"Don't lie to me. There is something wrong, and you're gonna tell me."
"I don't have to tell you anything. You don't even care. You're only doing this because Kaede told everyone to make sure I didn't hold anything in." Kagome was growing angry. She wanted to go to sleep, and she didn't want to have to talk to Inuyasha about things he would probably make fun of her for.
"Kagome shut up. And I mean it. I'm worried about you okay. Something is bothering you, and I want to fix it. And don't you dare start to get mad. You'll fall from this tree if you lose control." Inuyasha set Kagome so she was sitting on the branch with her back against the trunk of the tree. The branch was wide and he was able to sit across from her.
"You'll probably make fun of me, and you wouldn't understand anyway." Kagome mumbled. Her anger subsided not only from his warning, but also from the sincerity of his words.
"Try me."
* * * * * *
Okay everyone, I need to know something. Is Sesshoumaru the Lord of the Eastern lands or the Western Lands??? If any of you know, PLEASE tell me in your review! Thank you for any help you can give!