The reviewer responses and notes will be at the end of the last chapter I posted this time. There are three again!
I was absolutely amazed that I got over fifty reviews in one week! WOW! I'm vibrating, I'm so excited! That is more then I ever expected...believe me! I'm not complaining! I'm so happy!
An Opportunity Lost
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Kurama stared up at the dark window and sighed. "There is no better time then the present..."
Kagome had cleaned Hiei's sword carefully. She had come to understand the value of a weapon during her time in the past and reasoned that she had no excuse to be so spiteful as to allow the blade to rust.
The whip was another story. Soon after returning to her room, the thing had turned into a flower. The crimson rose was lying innocently on her pillow. She was tempted to put it in water, but wasn't certain if that kind of treatment would ruin the weapon. She wasn't even sure if the silver demon would come back for it.
A light tapping at her window pulled her eyes from the silky petals of the rose. Do I ignore them? The tapping came again. Or do I allow this to continue...Kagome pulled the drape aside enough to see pleading green eyes looking in at her. "Kurama!"
Kagome opened her window ans stuck her head out. "What are you doing here?"
Kagome's surprise reminded him that he had yet to explain his Youko/Shhuichi sides to her. An apology at this time would not make any sense to her. He opened his mouth to answer when she looked around him suspiciously.
"You didn't see anyone else out here, did you?"
"I just finished bandaging Hiei, but he's left now," he answered honestly. He didn't actually lie, he just didn't clarify his response to answer the question the way she really meant to ask it.
"Good." She backed up into her room and motioned for him to follow. "Come on in."
Kurama stood by her desk, his mind replaying the last time he had been here with her alone, as Youko. It had been less then an hour ago, but it felt like ages had already passed.
As soon as Kagome got a good look at him the light, she gasped and ran from the room. Kurama blinked as she ran back in with a first aid kit. "What happened?!" She shoved him down on her bed and began pulling the ripped and bloody shirt over his head.
He gulped, trying to find the words to explain himself even as her hands on his skin distracted him. "Ummm..."
Yeah, that was eloquent! Youko was purring.
Haven't you caused enough trouble?
It was worth every moment!
"How did this happen?" Kagome gently washed the wounds Youko had been unable to reach. "Did you get in a fight with a demon?"
"Yes. But-"
"Did you lose?"
"No. I-"
"So you defeated it?"
"No. It was-"
"Does this hurt?" She pressed down with an alcohol soaked bandage.
"Mmmph!"
"I guess that's a yes. Sorry." She applied the same treatment to the next cut on his back. He held back the gasp and turned his face away from her. His green eyes spotted the blood red rose lying gently on a pristine white pillow.
Damn it! That hurts!
You're supposed to be Youkai. Quit whining.
Youko whimpered.
Baka, Hiei's sword through your gut hardly phased you. A few scratches and you go all to pieces...
Its your body.
...that's right...
He focused on the rose. It gave the impression that there had been an intimate moment in this very place between two people who cared deeply for each other. He wished he could leave her roses like that purposely.
He hastily smothered another gasp, this time caused by Kagome who had leaned down to blow gently on the stinging wounds. She thought she was helping. His flesh broke out in goose bumps and she apologized for hurting him.
Good god, woman! Youko howled. What are you thinking boy? Don't let her do that! I can't stand it!
I think it's nice to be cared for...Shuuichi countered.
Ohhh...Youko moaned. The naivety of the innocent...
The moan actually became vocal before Kurama could contain it. Her hands immediately grew gentler and she pulled him around to face her. "I'm sorry, Kurama, but these have to be cleaned."
He nodded his acceptance, unwilling to tell her the real reason behind the sound. Now he could see her face, etched in worry and concern...for him. Damn it! It was getting harder and harder to hide his reactions from the girl, and from himself.
"I forgot you were a hanyou," Kagome said. "You're almost half healed already."
"Hanyou?...About that, Kagome," he began.
"It's okay, Kurama. It doesn't bother me. I actually feel safer knowing that I have strong people like you looking out for me."
She pulled a roll of gauze across his chest and lifted his long red hair out of her way. She was starting to realize how strange this day had been. She finished with the bandages and gave him a quick once over to be sure she missed nothing. She smoothed his hair back in place and couldn't resist running her fingers through the thick locks.
"You have such beautiful hair," she sighed. "What is it about demon blood and perfect hair?" She noticed his glazed over green eyes and giggled. "You look like Shippo when I play with his tail."
You can play with my tail anytime you want to...Youko waited. What, no come back? He sighed in the silence.
Kagome had a sudden thought. "Um, Kurama, were you fighting a demon with silver hair?" she asked him.
His eyes remained glazed over, where he was relishing the feeling of her fingers sliding over his hair. "Always..."
"What?"
He bowed his head, allowing the long strands to slip over his shoulders and hide his face. He couldn't tell her. He didn't want to risk having her pull away from him and leave him.
Kagome noticed how her friend had gone suddenly tense beside her. She stroked his long hair in concern and tried to offer what ever silent comfort she could. She knew he had secrets, but then, who didn't? She had a secret herself...She blushed, knowing she was enjoying touching him way too much. She smothered her own sigh and wondered what it would have been like to let Kurama have her first real kiss...instead of that stranger...Not that it hadn't been exceptional. She wasn't complaining. It just wasn't how she expected to be kissed the first time. She wondered if she should tell him...not that she wanted to kiss him but that the strange demon had kissed her. She wasn't sure how to even go about bringing the topic up and so ignored it.
She looked over at him again. He's so cute! ..and beaten up...she sighed. Suddenly decided, she pressed his shoulders down onto her bed and smoothed the bangs away from the startled green of his eyes.
"You need to rest." Kagome stood and returned to her desk, righted her overturned stool, and returned to her homework. Kurama didn't pass over the chance to study her and enjoy the company. He didn't intend the fall asleep.
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That's where Inuyasha found him the next morning. Sleepy green eyes flickered open to stare into angry gold. Inuyasha's deep growling had woken him up.
I can't believe I slept though his arrival...He refused to let the dog demon see how upset this made him and decided the best way to keep things passive was to show a certain amount of unconcern. Like a clumsy cat, Kurama assumed the air of everything-is-happening-just-how-I-meant-it-to, yawned, and proceeded to dismiss the growling Hanyou by turning over.
"Where is Kagome?" Inuyasha sounded choked, hoarse, and ready for his temper to explode.
That's a good question...Kurama tried to sense her unique energy and found her moving about in the next room. The connecting door clicked and swung open to reveal a wet and harassed looking girl dressed in nothing but a towel.
"Good morning," she said bluntly. "Excuse me, I forgot a few things." Kagome brushed past the two boys and retrieved a pile of clothes she had obviously collected before her bath and forgotten to take with her. She walked past them again, mumbling an apology. She almost reached the door when she stopped to look out the open window.
Hiei looked in at the trio, fuming inside, but looking casually indifferent. The near naked woman gave him a good glare and left the room. He heard her grumbling from the other room. "Might as well come in too. Not like a girl needs a few moments alone...I should be used to the dumb lack of privacy thing by now anyway. Hell, Inuyasha has seen me naked enough times I shouldn't be embarrassed now, right?..."The door clicked shut.
Inuyasha felt two pairs of eyes on him, one green, one ruby red, and knew his face was probably the same color as his clothes. "It's not like that!"
"Hn."
"It was that stupid hentai monk! Always following the girls when they are bathing..."
"Hn."
"Ggggggggrrrrr...."
Inuyasha folded his arms across his chest. "Keh! I don't need to explain myself to you guys."
A quick knock on the door preceded the dark head of Mrs. Higurashi. "Kagome dear, you have...visitors?" She blinked at the three boys comfortably lounging in her only daughter's room with a bold eye. When her eyes landed on the shirtless red head, her brown eyes widened sightly. They all fidgeted under her calm look. "I guess I'll just send them up..." she cast another glace about the room before speaking. "Breakfast will be done in thirty minutes." The door closed only to be swung back open a short time later by Yusuke, Boton and Kuwabara.
"Ah...when did you guys get here?" Yusuke looked around.
"A few minutes ago," chorused Hiei and Inuyasha together.
Everyone else looked at Kurama who was examining the slightly wilted flower next to his head with great interest.
"He was lying there asleep when I came in," Inuyasha mouthed off without mercy for the kitsune.
Kuwabara started to cough.
"Breathing become difficult for you? You could always stop." Hiei commented.
"Wow," Yusuke complimented the fox.
Kurama looked them all in the eye but said nothing.
"He was asleep when you came in?" Yusuke questioned. "You must have been really tired, Kurama. Were you up too late?"
The innocent wording of the question bellied the actual meaning Yusuke was hinting at. Before Kurama could retort, Kagome answered from the other doorway.
"Very late. Poor guy, he passed out from exhaustion not too long after I tore his shirt off of him."
Kurama's shirtless state and Kagome's dead-pan voice testified to her seriousness. Only the slight twinkle in her eyes revealed the mischievous bend to her words.
Inuyasha stumbled to a sitting position and pinned his ears back. "Idiot. You were hardly near him."
"What are you implying, Inuyasha?" she asked in a dangerous tone.
"I could smell it if you had-"
"Don't make me say 'it', Inuyasha." She was satisfied when his jaw snapped shut with an audible click.
Kurama threw an arm over his eyes and tried to pretend that he was anywhere but there. Or more accurately, that everyone else was elsewhere...he happened to be quite comfortable where he was.
"Where's my sword?" Hiei demanded.
Kagome tossed the weapon to him, cleaned and strangely purified of the taint of blood and death that such items hold. Hiei examined it curiously and slid it into place at his side when his inspection satisfied him.
"Do you think that other guy will come back for his...er...weapon?" she waved a hand vaguely around.
Hiei jerked his head around to glare at the still silent Kitsune. "No." Kurama winced at Hiei's tone. "He can easily make another."
"Other guy?" Yusuke asked. "Did you fight a demon, Hiei?"
"Yes."
"Right in my room and in the courtyard," Kagome clarified, with an aggrieved expression.
"No way." Inuyasha huffed. "There are no unfamiliar scents, demon or human, out there or in here."
"Are you calling me a liar?" she glared at him.
"N-no!"
"Hn." she borrowed Hiei's line again.
"Why are you in such a bad mood?" he snapped back at her.
Kagome glared at the dog demon, the glint of anger in her eyes making several of the others in the room hastily step back.
"Wh-why?" she questioned in a soft voice. "You want to know why? Fine. I'll tell you. Because you never showed up yesterday when I asked you to. Because I know something that may be important to our mission. Because I didn't get my final Literature assignment finished since I fell asleep. Because some strange demon arrived and attacked Hiei in my bedroom, then kissed me," she ignored the gasps, "only to leave just as suddenly as he arrived to attack Hiei again. Who by and by, left me alone in here with him to begin with!" She glared at the wide eyed Jaganashi, her voice steadily rising. "Then, I stopped the stupid, pointless fight, which was started because of a split lip I gave to myself. Because then, Kurama shows up, injured and I help him. Where he proceeds to fall asleep on my bed, sprawled, I might add, so there was no room for even Byou to share the pillow."
"Mreow..." Byou agreed.
"Is that all? Feh-"
"No. I'm in a really foul mood because I slept on goddamned STOOL!" Kagome sat down abruptly on said stool and glared at her literature book. "I never got my assignment done..." she hefted the book once before chucking it at Inuyasha's head. "AND the hot water stopped working. AND," the can of pencils was aimed at Hiei, who was too shocked to move out of the way. "I'm awake at 7:00 in the morning, on the one day I have left to sleep in before going back to the past with you." She threw the stapler at Kurama who easily caught the object so she followed it with a candle in a jar which made a slightly satisfying smack on his left shoulder. "Because I have finals tomorrow and I can't study. Because," she eyed the stool she was sitting on and trained her eyes on Kuwabara's hunched figure but decided against it. "Yesterday was my mother and fathers anniversary and for the first time, I completely forgot, I'm a horrible daughter. And," she crossed her arms daring anyone to say anything, "It's that time of month."
Wisely, everyone kept very quiet and very still, even if the guys paled visibly at that last comment.
Kagome sighed and dropped her chin in her hand. "Sorry. Its just a mood. I do not feel the least bit cheerful or forgiving this morning. I just feel strange...ill.." She rubbed at her eyes trying to hide that fact that she was about to cry.
"Kagome," Inuyasha approached her cautiously. "I've known you for years now. You've never acted this way before. Not even at, well, that time of month..." Kagome turned sad eyes up to his worried golden ones.
"Not That time, Baka," she blushed. "Kikyo's strongest time...when I feel my soul splitting from me...more and more..." she was whispering now.
"What!? You never said anything before!" Inuyasha pulled her head up.
"It's never been this strong before," Kagome sighed. "Besides, you wouldn't have believed me anyway."
"Kago...me..."
"I'm going for a walk. Please just give me a few minutes alone, okay? I need just a few minutes..." she rose and went to the door slowly. "I'm really sorry, everyone. I shouldn't have taken my problems out on you." She left them in a state of semi-shock and concern.
"...her...soul..." Inuyasha said in a small voice kneeling by the stool that she had just vacated.
"Oh, Kagome..."
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More trouble in wonderland! Boton is going to be getting her chance to make an impression on the hanyou in coming chapters!