A/N- Thanks for all the reviews guys. I know I'm putting off Inuyasha finding out the truth for as long as I can. But you won't have to wait much longer. Hee Hee. I am starting to gradually make my chapters longer, so it takes more time to post them, but I'm trying!
Disclaimer- Apparently, Rumiko Takahashi won't sell her rights to Inuyasha for 25 cents, which is about as much as I have at the moment! ^_^
The Colors of Emotions
Chapter 26
Can't Hide the Truth
Inuyasha groggily woke up the following morning, and it took him quite a while before readjusting his fatigued mind to where he was. The hanyou was sprawled out comfortably on a spare futon that had been placed, by Mrs. Higurashi, in Souta's room. She had insisted that he stay in the house to sleep, instead of the Goshimboku that he usually resided in for the night during his stays in Kagome's time.
He had to admit, the mattress that he was currently lying on was much more relaxing than the trunk of the old tree, but Inuyasha was still surprised that he had slept so deeply. He rarely, if ever, got more than a couple hours or so of sleep when in his time, as it was never completely safe there, and someone needed to keep watch. As a hanyou, he didn't require as much sleep as a human. The past few days must have also taken their toll on Inuyasha as well as Kagome. He was exhausted, and after beating himself up on the inside with guilt and paranoia for quite some time, Inuyasha took advantage of the well-needed sleep.
But something had alerted his senses and woken him up.
Inuyasha reluctantly tore himself for the clutches that sleep still held on him, and he focused on an unfamiliar smell that was emitting from downstairs. It wasn't a bad scent, on the contrary, it was very soothing. But it was still unfamiliar.
He stood up and took a quick peep out the window, and saw that the sun had barely started to rise, so it was still fairly early. Souta's clock shown 5:00 a.m. in bright green numbers. Curiously, the hanyou continued his descent downstairs to check things out.
The smell originated from the kitchen, and Inuyasha could faintly pick up Kagome's scent under the aroma. Less cautious now, he entered the kitchen to spot Kagome sitting at the table hunched over a book, with a pencil scribbling furiously on a notebook in one hand, and a mug in the other.
"Kagome?"
She turned her head to face him in slight surprise, and Inuyasha noticed that she didn't look too good. Her hair was pulled back in a messy ponytail, and dark circles were under her eyes that stood out against her paler than usual skin.
Seeing as Kagome wasn't really acknowledging him, he decided to just keep talking. "What are you doing up?"
"I couldn't sleep." A croaky voice answered.
"When did you wake up? I would've heard you come downstairs."
Kagome gave a light humorless laugh and answered, "I haven't gone to sleep yet. I've been awake all night working on my history report."
Inuyasha was a bit stunned. 'She looked exhausted last night. Out of anyone, Kagome should be the one getting the most sleep.' Not being much of a conversation starter, Inuyasha just asked the first thing on his mind. "What's that smell?"
The young woman looked curiously at him before realizing what he was talking about. "It's coffee Inuyasha." She gestured towards the mug in her hands. "It helps me wake up, so I'll be able to get through the day."
"But I thought you said you couldn't sleep. Why would you need something to keep you awake?" Inuyasha was suddenly being very perceptive, and Kagome realized he might be catching on to her sooner than she'd hoped.
"I dunno." She lamely answered,
Kagome had forced herself to not go to sleep, as she hadn't thought of a way to deal with Naraku yet. She knew it was probably a bad idea to not go to sleep, and she was exhausted. But after her latest nightmare, she'd been a bit frightened on returning to that unnerving white mist in her mind. 'Naraku said that I couldn't kill him in my mind. So all I can do is just deal with each nightmare one at a time and hope he doesn't decide to dispose of me in the process. He said he wanted me to join him. He wanted my power. He wanted me.' That last part still disgusted and creeped out Kagome. She cringed at the memory, and Inuyasha noticed.
"What are you thinking about?"
"Huh?" Kagome snapped back to reality in an instant. "Oh, nothing."
"You've been by yourself for a while down here, you had to have thought about something." Inuyasha pressed further and further for answers. Something was wrong. Kagome looked like she could drop off to sleep at any moment, and she never forced herself awake before. She was hiding something.
"Inuyasha, drop it. I need to finish my history report, so if you don't mind, please leave." Kagome snapped at the surprised hanyou. She had been up all night, so naturally she wasn't in any mood to be patient. And all of his questions were starting to unnerve her.
But Inuyasha wasn't in any mood to listen to Kagome lie to him anymore. So he surprised Kagome in return with his reaction.
The hanyou stormed over to the kitchen table and plopped into the seat directly across from Kagome. With a swipe of his arm, he knocked the textbook and notebook flying off the table to land with a loud 'thud' on the ground. He set a piercing gold glare on a stunned Kagome, and with an irritated voice, Inuyasha stated, "I do mind Kagome. I'm not leaving until you tell me what is really going on."
"I-I don't know what you mean."
"Why are you forcing yourself awake? What happened to your shoulder? Why were you asking Kaede about your nightmares--"
Kagome cut him off with furious eyes, "How did you know I was asking Kaede about my nightmares?"
Inuyasha's mind fumbled for an excuse, but he decided to not even try to get out of this one. "I was eaves-dropping."
"You jerk!" Kagome hissed. "That is none of your business, I can deal with this on my own."
That caught Inuyasha a bit off-guard. "Deal with what on your own?"
Kagome mentally cursed herself at the slip, but blew it off with an, "It's nothing."
"It isn't nothing. Are you forcing yourself awake to avoid having nightmares?"
'Since when can he draw conclusions like that?' "Um, yeah." Kagome reluctantly admitted. She hadn't told him the truth about her 'nightmares' knowing that he would freak out and do something drastic like forbid her from carrying the jewel. And that couldn't happen.
"Kagome, they're just nightmares."
'If you only knew.' "I know. I'm just being childish." Kagome forced a fake smile on, but it didn't reach her eyes.
'Inuyasha is definitely catching on. I have to be careful. All I need is a little bit more time to try to think of a way out of this mess. I need to break the connection with Naraku, but still keep the jewel on. I don't think I could block the demon energy of mine from being absorbed by the jewel, and even if I tried, he would probably still be able to contact me.'
Kagome was putting on a good act. She really was. But during her musings, her fingers twiddled unconsciously with the Shikon shard around her neck, catching the alert Inuyasha's attention.
'Wait a minute. These nightmares of Kagome's didn't start until…until the night she got the shard back.' Peeked with a new curiosity, the hanyou was about to ask Kagome the one question that might have made all the answers come out.
"Kagome? Does the Shikon shard have anything to do with--"
"What's going on down here?" Mrs. Higurashi interrupted as she strode into the kitchen.
Inuyasha and Kagome turned guilty expressions to the scowling woman. Neither had realized how loud they must have been being.
Kagome was quick to recover from her surprise and briskly covered, "I couldn't sleep mom. I woke up about an hour ago, made coffee, and started working on my history homework."
Inuyasha's surprised eyes turned to Kagome. She was lying to her mother! Kagome hardly ever lied to her mom. Now the hanyou was positive that Kagome was covering something up.
Mrs. Higurashi turned to Inuyasha waiting for his explanation, so he quickly obliged. "I smelled something weird. It woke me up and I came downstairs to check it out."
"He smelled the coffee mom." Kagome filled in.
Kagome's mother decided now was not the time to give the two a lecture, and instead sat down at the table along with them, and grabbed herself a cup of coffee in the process. "Well, since your both up, there is time for me to make a nice breakfast before you go to school Kagome. You hardly ever have breakfast because you're always rushing around when you're here. You can pick honey. I'll make whatever you want."
Inuyasha saw an excited spark behind Kagome's eyes, and a childish smile crept onto her face. He'd missed her smile. Kagome had been very quiet and slightly depressed for quite a few days. Inuyasha was fascinated how the prospect of picking what was for breakfast was all it took to put a smile back on Kagome's face.
"Chocolate chip pancakes!" Kagome practically squealed. Mrs. Higurashi laughed at her daughter's enthusiastic response, and she stood to begin making the batter.
* * * * *
Inuyasha, interested, watched as Mrs. Higurashi set a plate of round doughy disks in front of him and Kagome. Brown spots were scattered here and there in the golden colored circles, and Inuyasha had to admit, though they looked weird, their aroma made his mouth water.
Kagome stuck her fork into the biggest one and set it on her plate with a large smile stretched across her face. Inuyasha followed suit and placed one of the pancakes on the plate that sat in front of him. He mimicked the young woman as she cut a piece with her knife, and brought it into her mouth.
When Inuyasha took the first bite, his eyes lit up as excitedly as Kagome's, and he soon devoured the entire pancake in front her him. Kagome finished hers the same time as him, and the two eagerly stabbed the next biggest pancake on the plate in the center of table. They had gone after the same one, and the pancake was torn in half in the slight battle of ownership over it that followed.
Inuyasha simply snatched the closest pancake to him, put it on his plate, and that one had the same fate as the previous pancake that the hanyou had eaten.
It wasn't long before Souta came downstairs after being awoken by the smell of chocolate. He joined the fray with Kagome and Inuyasha in eating the pancakes. Jii-chan usually slept late, so he still wasn't awake when Mrs. Higurashi announced it was time to start getting ready for school.
The pancakes were now non-existent, so Kagome dragged herself up to her room. She slipped on clean uniform, ran a brush through her hair, and padded down the stairs. Souta was right behind her, and it was in no time at all that the two were strolling towards the front door with book bags slung around their backs, and frowns on their faces. School didn't start for about half an hour since it was about 6:50, but Kagome wanted to get there early so she could gather whatever work the teachers had for her, and also receive a quick overview of what she had missed in her three weeks absence.
The young woman would have been on her way, had a figure clad in red not stepped in her path, succeeding in blocking her way. "I gotta go Inuyasha. You can hang around here or return through the well. I'll be home at about three." She didn't even make eye contact with him.
"Kagome?"
She looked up to meet his gaze at his tone of voice. He said her name in a very patronizing way, which made her feel childish whenever he used it.
"I could have sworn I told you that you're not leaving my sight." He cockily commented.
"Is this all a game to you?" Kagome hissed. Her anger towards him from earlier that morning had returned full force, and she shoved the hanyou trying to remove him from her path.
He didn't budge. Instead, Inuyasha gruffly stated, "I'm coming with you. I'll stay outside and everything, but walking to and from your 'skool', you're stuck with me."
"Perfect, just perfect." Kagome mumbled sarcastically. She could live with him if he didn't follow her into the school, at least he was being somewhat reasonable.
Inuyasha allowed Kagome to pass, and he grabbed the baseball cap by the door to cover his ears. It had been provided for him by Kagome's mom for his visits in the present time.
"One more thing." Inuyasha murmured as he strode from his spot behind Kagome to walk beside her. "Our conversation from this morning is not over." He forcefully assured.
"Yeah, sure." Kagome mumbled as the two walked slowly towards her school, while Souta ran ahead to meet some friends at the end of the street.
"You want a ride?" Inuyasha asked.
"No." Kagome bluntly answered. She didn't care if he was trying to be nice. Inuyasha was getting too close to the truth. He had realized this morning that her nightmares were connected to the jewel. And since he had listened in on her conversation about nightmares with Kaede, then he knew about having a mental connection with someone. She didn't know how much more time she had before the suddenly perceptive hanyou figured it all out. Kagome still had no idea how to deal with Naraku yet…
* * * *
School was boring beyond all belief that day. Kagome was hit full force with the reality of just how much work she needed to catch up on, and she was barely managing to keep herself awake. Her mind would continue wandering during her lessons, and by math, Kagome just gave up on trying to focus on the teacher, and instead on her current situation.
'I don't even know what Naraku's purpose is for even entering my mind. There is no way I will give in to him, but I still have no idea how to keep him out of my head. I can always continue to make idle threats about attacking him, but I don't think I will. I cannot kill Naraku like that even if I could. Miroku, Sango, and especially Inuyasha want to get their revenge on him. I won't take that away from them.'
'Another option is to take off the jewel before I fall asleep. Since I feed the jewel the demon energy, than if I take it off, then the connection will be broken. But that still leaves me vulnerable to attack.' An image entered her mind of Inuyasha's face when the green power had burst forth and lashed at his arm the first time she had accidentally attacked. 'I don't trust myself with the jewel off, even if I am sleeping.'
'So I still haven't gotten anywhere. Just perfect. If I don't come up with a way to block out Naraku, and Inuyasha finds out about it, I'm in big trouble for hiding it from him.' Kagome shuddered at the thought.
"Kagome?" A high-pitched female voice called.
"Huh?" Kagome snapped her attention to the front of the room where her name had been called.
"Are you listening? I have called your name three times. I would like you to come up to the board and solve this equation." Kagome's math teacher informed. Kagome mentally groaned as she walked towards the board.
After a gallant, yet blatantly wrong attempt, the exhausted young woman returned to her seat. The math teacher made a 'tsk tsk' noise, and called on another student to figure out the equation.
* * * *
"Brrrriiiiinnnnnnggggg!!!!!" The dismissal bell finally rang, and Kagome gave a sigh of relief. School was over for the week. She was thankful that her and Inuyasha had returned on a Thursday, therefore she only had one day of school until the weekend. (A/N- I'm pretty sure that in Japan, there is a half-day of school on Saturday. But for the purposes of this story, we're just gonna say that school is only Mon-Fri)
Kagome trudged down the hall and retrieved what she needed from her locker. She followed the all-to familiar path towards the school doors, and she exited the building into the warm sunlight. The weather was a horrible contrast to her mood, as Kagome was depressed, tired, and anxious all at once. She hardly thought it possible that she could refuse her exhausted body the sleep it needed for another night. She was practically dead on her feet as it was. 'I might have to face Naraku again tonight.' Kagome shuddered at the thought.
Distracted by her thoughts, Kagome wasn't looking where she was going, and she ran into a solid figure that had appeared in her path. Kagome looked up exasperated, expecting to see Inuyasha, who she knew must have been waiting outside the school somewhere all day. She was surprised however when she saw the smiling face of none other than Houjo.
'This is not going to be good.' Kagome mentally groaned. She forced a smile on though, and quickly said "Sorry Houjo, I wasn't paying attention to where I was going."
"It's okay Higurashi. Oh, by the way, are you busy tonight?"
"Umm…"
"Because I was wondering if you would like to go to the movies with me." Houjo rushed on with almost a pleading note in his voice.
Kagome's mind fumbled around for a good excuse to get out of the date. But she didn't need to. Someone did for her.
"She's not going anywhere with you." A growling voice snapped from behind her. Kagome whirled around to see Inuyasha glaring daggers at poor Houjo.
"Who is this Kagome?" Houjo asked expectantly.
"Umm…he's a friend. A very…umm…protective friend." Kagome stuttered out.
Houjo turned towards the angry hanyou with a pleasant smile on his face. "Any friend of Kagome's is a friend of mine. My name is Houjo." Houjo bowed slightly to Inuyasha, who in turn stared at the boy as if he had grown another head. "What's your name?" Houjo continued, unphased by the other boy's lack of greeting.
"Inuyasha." The hanyou stated gruffly, while grabbing onto Kagome's arm and dragging her away. Houjo stood looking confused as the two took off. One dragging the other.
* * * *
"Inuyasha, you didn't have to be so rude!" Kagome scolded. Inuyasha sat fuming on the sofa, while Kagome stood in front of him scowling.
"Feh, I can be whatever I want. He was all over you." He stated arrogantly.
"He was not! He was asking me out to see a movie! A movie! There is no harm in that at all!"
Inuyasha stayed silent, so Kagome let out an exasperated sigh and strolled into the kitchen for a snack. Grabbing two cookies, she returned to the living room to sit beside Inuyasha.
"Stop pouting. Here," Kagome handed Inuyasha one of the cookies, "Have a cookie."
Inuyasha obliged, slightly stunned by her sudden change in attitude.
Kagome situated herself so she was more comfortable on the sofa, and took a bite from her own cookie. "I suppose I should really be thanking you." She continued after swallowing. "Houjo might get the message that I'm not interested if he thinks I have an over protective friend that would gladly beat the crap out of him."
Inuyasha didn't know how to answer, and merely stayed silent, eating his cookie. 'Why is she always so forgiving of people?'
"I'm not in the mood to work on my homework all day, there's too much of it. So what do you want to do tonight?" Kagome asked, changing the subject entirely.
The hanyou shrugged, but before Kagome could continue, Souta walked in the door with a huge smile on his face. "What are you so happy about?" Kagome addressed the elated boy.
"I borrowed this great action movie from one of my friends." Souta pulled the said movie from his backpack. "It's filled with monsters and people getting their heads cut off."
Kagome sighed when she saw the same excited look on Inuyasha's face. The hanyou had already been introduced to the concept of movies and T.V from his previous stays in Kagome's time. And after seeing 'Terminator' with Souta one time, Inuyasha learned the glory of having over two hours of fighting stored into a small video.
"I guess that solves the problem of what we'll be doing tonight."
* * * *
Kagome had decided she might as well put a dent in the exceeding amount of schoolwork she had to accomplish. Though, Kagome knew that her and Inuyasha would return to the feudal era in a couple of days, so there was really no point in stressing over having to turn it all in on time.
It had never really struck Kagome's mind how little school really mattered any more. Sure, she wanted to get into a good college and be able to get a job, but the prospect of collecting the shards and defeating Naraku had become her first priority in life.
'It's kind of sad how different my life is from my friends in this time. They're all worried about getting good grades, finding boyfriends, and the latest gossip. But, I'm worried whether or not I'll come out of this whole ordeal alive.' On that depressing note, Kagome opened a book, and tried to figure out some math problems before dinner.
* * * *
"Kagome! Souta! Inuyasha! Dinner!" Mrs. Higurashi called upstairs. The two boys came bounding down, as it seemed that playing video games for almost four hours must work up quite the appetite. Kagome followed a few moments later looking thoroughly exhausted.
Dinner was a pretty silent affair. Jii-chan was commenting on some news with the shrine to Mrs. Higurashi, and Inuyasha listened half-heartedly as Souta babbled on about anything and everything. Kagome just stayed silent, and she ate her soup at a slow pace. Sleep sounded really good to her just then.
Inuyasha noticed Kagome's lethargic manner, and he wouldn't have been surprised if Kagome fell face first into her bowl fast asleep. But the young woman was putting up the best poker face she had, and was pretending nothing was wrong with her.
He knew better.
When everyone had finished eating, the dishes were brought to the counter, and Kagome's mother set to work on cleaning up the kitchen. Jii-chan had gone to his room, so Inuyasha, Souta, and Kagome stood to go into the living room to watch the movie.
"Kagome!?" Mrs. Higurashi called suddenly. She sounded somewhat frantic. So Kagome hung back in the kitchen as the two boys continued to the living room.
"What?" Kagome asked.
"Ryoko's wedding is tomorrow! I completely forgot about it, what with you and Inuyasha coming home and such. You really should go. You got the invitation ages ago, and promised that you would be there."
Ryoko was one of Kagome's best friends. She went to the same summer camp as Kagome for years and the two had become very close. Ryoko was a few years older, and was going to college not too far away, pursuing a career in medicine. She had met the man of her dreams there, and Kagome was thrilled for her friend when she got the wedding invitation.
But right now, Kagome wanted to strangle somebody. "Mom, do I have to go?"
Mrs. Higurashi looked stunned at her daughter's whining, and immediately made her tone firm. "Yes you do. Ryoko is one of your best friends and I just bought you that nice dress to wear for the occasion."
"Fine." Kagome gave in, not wanting to argue with her mother.
* * * *
It was a little over an hour into the movie, and Kagome was barely keeping herself awake. Souta was right in front of the T.V, eyes glued to the screen. Inuyasha sat beside her on the couch, also intently watching the action on the television.
Twenty minutes later, Kagome's mind had been wiped clear of any reason not to go to sleep. All she could think about was closing her eyes, and letting her tense nerves and muscles have a break. Sleep was so inviting right then.
Inuyasha wasn't all that surprised when Kagome's head fell against his shoulder. She was fast asleep, and the hanyou tried very hard not to move around so he wouldn't wake the girl from her well-needed slumber.
When the movie ended, Souta turned off the T.V. as the credits rolled across the screen. He stood, stretched, and looked behind him to see Inuyasha with his eyes closed, and his sister leaning against the hanyou's shoulder. They were both presumably asleep, so Souta quietly made his way upstairs to his bedroom. It was getting late, and there was no reason why the two couldn't sleep on the couch for the night.
* * * *
"Perfect." Kagome mumbled, sarcasm dripping in her tone. Here she was, white mist surrounded her, and Naraku would no doubt appear any time.
As if on cue, a cold laugh echoed through the strange fog, a man's figure coming nearer to her.
The next moment, the figure moved with amazing speed so he was behind Kagome with an arm around her neck, effectively making it difficult for the young woman to breath. She struggled, but his grip only tightened with her efforts.
As suddenly as he had gone behind her, Naraku was in front of Kagome with a smirk on his face.
"Naraku." Kagome hissed.
"So good to see you too." The cold voice mockingly answered, as he forcefully pulled the disgusted girl up to him in a bruising kiss.
* * *
A slight movement woke Inuyasha up from his light sleep. Looking down, he realized Kagome must have slipped off his shoulder at some time during the night, as she was now sprawled across his lap. A little too groggy to really care, Inuyasha just closed his eyes again.
But Kagome mumbled something in her sleep. One word fell from her lips that was enough to make the hanyou wide-awake: 'Naraku'.
* * *
Evil Cliffhanger! Haha, I'll update as soon as I can! It may not be for another week though.
Love ya lots,
Vold!!!!!!!