A/N: Hi! No fighting or anything in this chapter. Barely any dialogue now that I think about it. Also, I might not be working on this story for a bit, 'cause I want to write more for my other Inu fic, Never Fall in Love with Laboratory Escapees.
Disclaimer: If they weren't mine last chapter, I don't think they would be now.
Aren't I Supposed to Kill You?: chapter 3
…into the ground barely an inch from his neck. A growl began in her throat as she roughly pushed herself off his chest. She rose and walked a bit away, keeping her back to him. But that didn't mask the scent of tears in the air.
Kagome was crying. Again. She was disgusted with herself. Why couldn't she kill the damn hanyou?! Her heart had betrayed her at the last moment. With his warm honey eyes staring up at her and a slight smile on his lips, she just couldn't bring herself to plunge her blade down in that fatal stroke. Never before had she failed in a mission…who knew what her master would say to this. If she ever found the courage to face him with this, that is.
Inuyasha stood up slowly, a little confused at her tears. Wenches were so baffling he wondered why he even tried to understand them. He just could not use her moment of weakness against her. She had shown impressive skill, hell, she had managed to pin him. Even the pirate captain in him didn't want to attack her now. Damn his sentimentality! What was coming over him?
The rain continued to fall, rivulets sliding down the sleek silver of the blade sheathed in the mud. The cool droplets camouflaged Kagome's frustrated tears and cooled her flushed cheeks at the same time. A sniffle escaped, then a second. Inuyasha looked on, watching her close herself from the pain, visibly stiffening and locking her muscles against the sobs that wanted so desperately to escape. He finally awoke out of the stupor he had fallen into enough to try and pull her sword from the ground. He wrapped his hand around the hilt, preparing to whip it out as he walked.
His arm jerked suddenly as the blade refused to budge. It threw him off balance for a moment and he found himself once again in the mud looking up into the stormy clouds above. Standing again, he tried again to remove it. And again. But no matter how hard he pulled, the blasted thing refused to come free. The sword's power prickled, but didn't do much more than raise the hairs on the back of his neck. Grabbing with both hands now, he leaned back, using all his weight against the stubborn piece of metal.
Kagome chose that instant to turn and look at him. She could only watch as he lost his hold on the slippery wet leather of the hilt and fell backwards onto his rearing the mud. Soon tears of mirth were flooding her cheeks as she laughed heartily at the figure sitting on the ground pouting like a child.
"I'm glad you find this amusing," he said petulantly.
She paused in her giggles for a moment, enough to gasp out, "I'm sorry…but…you…I just can't help it!"
"Yeah, well, ha ha. Get over it." She was confusing him again. Kagome had gone from killing-mode to weeping to laughing at him in a matter of a few moments. He stood, unable to resist wiping at the mud on his pants self-consciously. That only succeeded in doubling her over with laughter. Having her laugh at him stirred something to life within him. Something angry and full of bitterness that cast shadows on his heart. His mood grew progressively darker as he stalked over to her. He grasped her upper arm in his rough palm.
"Enough already!" The scowl on his face had been known to make even the hardiest scumbags shake in their boots, but on this wench, it appeared to do no more than sober her up a bit. Her chuckles died slowly and her eyes eventually came up to meet his sharp glare. His grip tightened, beginning to bruise her pale skin.
"Never laugh at me. You'll find I don't take it lightly," with that, Inuyasha turned and grabbed his sword from where it had fallen. He continued on, saddling his stallion for the ride back to the village. It was very hard to see now, even though the rain clouds had begun to dissipate. Stars were appearing in the sky, and the moon peeked above the tree line.
It cast a tiny bit of light through the heavy foliage, but Inuyasha could see well enough and the horse knew the way. He was too focused on his thoughts to care about the girl he left in the clearing. Her laughter had set something off deep inside him he didn't want to remember.
He tried to block them out, but the memories pushed through and flooded his mind. A child, scorned and jeered, sitting alone in the dust as the other children refused to play with him and laughed at his ears. The boy crying alone again as a bunch of older kids laughed cruelly and threw rocks at him. A mother, cuddling the crying boy as he whimpered and telling him everything would be alright in the end. A crowd of villagers gathered around the young child's hut, yelling and waving torches. The boy's mother shouting for him to run even as the tongues of fire licked the home. The fear that had engulfed him as the mob turned and chased him, waving various sharp farming tools in the air. The grief that tore the boy's heart in half as he returned in the early morning to find his home burned to the ground and his mother's sooty, lifeless body inside.
With a snarl, Inuyasha tore himself from the reverie and cursed himself repeatedly. He almost didn't notice that the horse had stopped and was waiting for his master to dismount. Jumping down, he led the stallion into the stable and settled him in for the night as fast as he could. He just wanted let dreamless sleep to engulf him for a few hours and help him push all the raw images back where they belong, deep in the forgotten recesses of his mind.
Unfortunately, he found that wouldn't happen as he exited the stables only to literally run into Kagome riding her tawny mare. Catching himself before he met the ground, he could only glare up at her. She looked innocently back at him, as if she didn't know what she had done to him. 'Baka,' he thought. 'Of course she wouldn't know. Exactly how many people have you told that story? Zero.' Inuyasha hated it when his little inner voice was right.
"Alright, tell me now, Inuyasha. What did I do?" her voice was quiet, heavy with emotion.
"It doesn't matter now. I've put it behind me." His voice was weighted with sorrow and something else she couldn't identify. He left without saying anything else, retiring to his hut quickly. Kagome looked after him, wondering what he could have meant. Sighing, she led her horse into the stall, brushing the mare down and setting out feed. All the while wondering why the hanyou had gotten so angry with her.
"Is it my fault the guy fell on his ass in the mud?" she said to herself. The horses in the stables all looked at her. Their steady gazes managed to make her feel even worse. But even as the unease within her grew, so did the anger. That murdering creature deserved neither sympathy nor worry from her. The anger helped to center her focus. It wiped away all other emotion and reminded her that this was a mission and she had no time for attachments.
With new resolve she left the stable, sliding in and out of the shadows, traveling deeper into the woods. An evil grin twisted her face and mischief glittered in her eyes. Tomorrow she would become Sanchi again and wait for another chance to take out her prey.
** No more for now. But I couldn't resist putting out another chapter for you great reviewers. I had Pirates of the Caribbean on the brain when I wrote this chapter, if you couldn't tell.
Thankies lots to:
Gopher2806
Spirit of the anime angel
Miko of the inocentInu_sweetie
Catgirl MM
cheyenne
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