Nose to Nose
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Kurama was too surprised to do more then block the fist headed straight for his nose. But, the force sent him tumbling backwards into the dry bottom of the well.
Amazingly, he landed on his feet and looked up. Blue sky met his eyes. Shit. He had gone back in time. Kurama stomped on the dirt beneath his feet, uncertain what triggered the well to transfer him here, or how to go back. Nothing changed, so he jumped out of the well and into the untamed world of the past.
"Inuyasha? Did you forget some-" The man's voice stopped. "Who are you?"
Kurama observed the monk and his companions with a degree of humor obvious in his twinkling green eyes.
"A Fox!" a little voice said excitedly. "It's okay, Miroku. It's Kagome's fox. I recognize the smell!" the fox kit approached him in awe.
Kagome's fox? He really liked the idea of belonging to the girl but only if she also belonged to him.
"I can smell Kagome too," Shippo announced. "Is she coming back?"
"You must be Kurama." the woman next to the monk smiled prettily at him. "Kagome has told us about you."
"Did she?" he smiled back. "Yes, I am Kurama. You must be Sango, Miroku, and," he knelt down, "Shippo."
"You don't look like a silver."
"Shippo!" Miroku said aghast.
Kurama chuckled.
"Is it your human time?"
"SHIPPO!" the woman's tone was clearly horrified.
"No, it's okay," he laughed. "This is my human form."
Shippo pressed his nose against Kurama's in a purely animalistic greeting which he curiously accepted. The little kit was not shy. Shippo pulled back and ran around in a tight circle in joy. He got to meet another fox! And Kagome's scent on him was strong. That could only mean one thing...they had been really close!
He smiled slyly at the boy now standing above him.
Uh oh! Youko, being a fox recognized that look as trouble.
"Kagome is my mother now," the kit announced. He seemed to be waiting for a response.
"I know. She speaks of you often."
Shippo's grin grew. If this man knew I belong to Kagome, and still pursued her, then he must not mind me...Shippo danced from one paw to the other. So he must have accepted me too!
Kurama caught the tiny kit as he threw himself into his arms. Shippo snuggled into is chest where he could inhale the mixed scents of Kagome and Kurama. The scents, so close together, created a loving picture of the couple in the kit's mind. But something was off...That special tug on his senses...He looked up into the passive green eyes.
"Hey, you haven't claimed her yet!" he urgently whispered.
Kurama almost dropped the cub to the ground. He was saved from answering when the well lit up again.
"Kurama!" it was Kagome's voice. "Are you here?" she sounded worried again.
"Yes," he replied looking over the rim. Inuyasha wasn't with her.
"Thank God!" she began to climb the vines. She squeeked as they moved under her fingers, growing and twisting around her and lifting her gently up. Kagome gave the thick and strangly ladder shaped growth a strange look before taking Shuuichi's offered hand out.
"Uh, thanks."
"My Pleasure..."
Shippo leapt to Kagome's shoulder and began inspecting her for damage. "Kagome! We were so worried! Kaede told us last night, when we got here, that you were okay, but she said you were with Sesshoumaru!" He burried his face in her hair.
Kagome sighed and sat down in the tall grass, knowing that she would be spending the next hour or so comforting the child.
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Boton arrived at the shrine soon after her talk with Koenma. The blue flash of energy inside the well house caused her to smile brightly and skip over to the door. That must be Inuyasha...She pulled open the door and gasped. Maybe not.
Inuyasha was lying face first in a slight depression growling in anger and general pissyness. It had obviously been Kagome that had used the well. She approached cautiously. "Inuyasha, are you okay?"
"Feh!"
"I guess that's a yes."
Inuyasha overcame the spell and sat up. "What do you care?"
She thought about lying and saying that she didn't, but couldn't force the words. "I just do." She knelt beside him and caught his eye. "What happened?"
He stared at her. "I pissed her off."
"I see that."
You're eyes are pink."
Said eyes crinkled into a smile.
Inuyasha blushed lightly. Something about this girl did that to him.
"I punched that fox boy,"he admitted, wanting her to turn away from him so he could stop staring. If it took her anger to accomplish this, then so be it.
She blinked in surprise but did not turn away. "Why?" Did Kurama finally make a move on the Miko? "Where is he now?"
stare
stare
"Uh, Inuyasha?"
"Huh? Oh...he made Kagome cry. He fell in the well."
Boton stared at him wide-eyed. "In the well?"
"Don't worry 'bout him. Kagome went after him."
"I wasn't worried."
Silence settled around them comfortbly.
"Are you going after them?"
"Feh! No. I'm not gonna run back and forth after them."
"Do you know why she was crying?"
"No."
She looked at him in disbelief. "She could have had tears on her face because of a stubbed toe for all you know. No wonder she 'sat' you."
He glared at her.
Obviously not the right way to win him over..."Sorry. I had no right to say that. You obviously care very deeply for her."
"She was my first friend," he admitted.
"Only a friend?"
He looked at her strangely. "Yeah. Why? Did she say something different?"
"No. I just wondered."
Inuyasha snorted and dug his claws into the dirt. "She reminds me of Kikyo..." Boton cringed. "But she's not much like her. As it is, I have made promices to them, but I don't think I could ever care for Kagome the way she needs. I can still see pieces of Kikyo in her and its...disurbing. And Kikyo is gone from me forever."
"So your kinda alone...like me."
Inuyasha looked into sad pink eyes in surprise. This pretty woman was alone, even among her friends. he understood that feeling. Alone in a crowd; not fitting in, no one understanding...
"Why are you alone?" he found himself asking.
"I'm Lady Death...who wants to be with a girl like me? People who know what I am generally shudder in revulsion when they see me. Besides, other then the other team members, I'm only around the dead or the ogre's who work for Koenma. Neither are really my type."
He gave her a semi-sad smile. "I see. No place to be...like me. So, what would I be to to you? I am none of those things."
"A friend of a friend." He nodded in understanding. "But I"d like to get to get the chance to know you myself...if you allow it."
"I'd like that," he answered seriously. He stood up and helped her stand. "I should go say hello to her family."
"Mmmm. I'll come with you!"
They left the well house together, deciding to wait inside for their friends to return.
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"So tell me," Sango said, chin in hand, "how is it you were able to go through the well?"
"Do you carry Shikon Shards?" Miroku asked him.
"Of course he doesn't!" Kagome answered for him.
"So how..." Sango trailed off.
"You have to have a strong connection to Kagome," Shippo answered. "I heard you explain to Kaede," he explained to Kagome.
The barrage of voices quieted suddenly as everyone looked at him. Kurama blinked nervous green eyes several times at them and ran his fingers through his red hair. He had no answer...unless his attraction to Kagome was also his link to her...which in any case, he couldn't admit.
"Mmmh, maybe it will all make sense later," Kagome said cheerfully. "We need to get back. I have a math exam coming." She pulled a face and shuddered. "Kurama has promised to help me catch up!"
At least they are spending time together. I wonder how I could get them moving faster?...Shippo followed them to the well and thought hard about anything he could to push these two together. Push...hmmm...Suddenly, he had an idea. If I just wait for the right moment...
Kagome sat half in and half out of the well and hugged Shippo goodbye. She set him back down and swung her other leg over the rotting wood, preparing to jump. She made sure Kurama was ready to follow her when a russet ball of fur streaked toward him shouting "Bye, Kurama!" in an excited high voice. The hug around his knees was so fast and unexpected, Kurama felt himself falling for the second time that day. The kitsune cub leapt deftly away even as Kurama realized that there was nothing behind him to catch his fall, except-
"EEEE!" Kagome threw up her arms to help catch the boy in his stumble but promptly lost her own balance, grabbed the nearest support (the barely balance Kurama), and tipped into the well.
They were surrounded by blue light when Kurama rolled in mid air to keep from landing on the girl. He hit the ground hard, but not hard enough to do more then stun him. It was when Kagome landed on top of him, forcing the breath from his lungs that he remembered the sly smile on the kitsune cub's face. He planned this out! Kurama tried to gasp for air but found that he couldn't. Clever kit... Shippo just didn't know how well his plan had worked.
Kagome's mouth was pressed firmly to Kurama's when she came to her senses. Her blue eyes opened to see green ones staring at her very, very closely. It took her a moment to realize that Kurama was turning an interesting color that almost matched his hair. Oh, My God! She colored to match him, but not for lack of air, when she realized what kind of contact they were having. She rolled away, embarrassed beyond anything she had ever experienced. Oh god! Oh god! Oh god!
Kagome snuck a peak at Kurama through splayed fingers and found him trying to laugh. It was apparently painful because he was gasping and holding his ribs at the same time. Kagome forgot her embarrassment and realized that she might have hurt him in the fall. "Oh god! Oh god!" great, now she was chanting out loud. "Kurama! Are you okay? I'm so sorry!"
He held out a weak hand and waved away her words. "I'm fine." his voice was barely above a whisper. He raised himself up on his elbows and tried to calm his rapid heart beat.
What? No follow through?
Shut up, Youko.
Oooo! Step in the right direction, human. I'm proud of you!
Shut up.
Mmm! I wonder-
Shut. Up.
Would she taste as-
Shut
-good as she felt?
Up.
Or maybe-
ENOUGH!
Whatever. I know it isn't just me...
... Shuuichi couldn't lie without the fox being aware of it.
See, she likes us too!
Kurama snapped back to attention when he felt Kagome slide a slim arm under his shoulders. She alternately pulled and tugged to help him sit up.
"I'm so sorry..." she suddenly seemed near tears again. "Is anything broken?" she ran a hand over his arms and ribs lightly. When she heard his quick intake of breath, she assumed she had found a tender place and let her fingers rest lightly on the spot. "Wait here! I'll get some ice and some help!" He grabbed her arm before she could run off.
"I'm fine. Really." To prove it, he stood up and turned a slow circle.
She looked him in the eye and scanned his face for truth. Satisfied, she smiled in relief and they stood together. "It has been quite a day, hasn't it?" She fidgeted before deciding it was time to move.
Kurama followed her up the ladder and chuckled. "It has been interesting."
"I'm not complaining, you understand. But I am getting the impression that this is just the start of a long string of events to come."
Kurama knew that he couldn't get away with Hiei's indifferent "Hn." so he asked instead, "How so?"
She pulled the shed door open and looked back at him. "Trouble seems to haunt my every step. And it seems as if you've been pulled along." her eyes took on an obviously good natured twinkle. "And it hasn't been this much fun in ages!" She winked at him and made her way around the permanent mark from Inuyasha's "sit" to her front door.
Kurama felt his lips twitch at the compliment and concealed the extent her words effected him.
See? I told you. Idiots...Sigh...She's a keeper!
You don't keep them. You use-
Watch it, human. When I choose to take a permanent mate, you best just hope that you can appreciate my choice. Since you are here and all...
Hey! It's MY body!
So?
....I don't want you using Kagome that way.
I respect the girl more than that, fool. Can't you tell? She's no ordinary creature. I would not disrespect her that way...with her consent, however...
Now listen here!
Oh, shut up, Shuuichi. I can feel your desires as plainly as you feel mine.
Kurama suddenly wondered if he was going to start feeling jealous of himself too. He heard the mingled laughter of both Youko and Shuuichi in his head, as he followed Kagome inside.