A/N: Okay, thank-you to all the peeps who reviewed Mark. ï And I just wanted to add I'm gonna do another chapter to 'Memories' so that it's a happy ending!
Disclaimer: Jeez I never knew how annoying this is...Inu = Not Mine!
Inuyasha leapt into the village clearing not all that gracefully and cursed himself when he fell into a heap at the base of a burnt hut. He instantly leapt up and continued his way, sniffing around for the hut Kagome and the others were in. His ears were flicked to attention, catching hushed voices upon the slightly stirring wind. It was the voice of Shippo and Miroku.
A grin spread across Inuyasha's face as he ran towards the hut in which the voices escaped from. Miroku had always subtly teased him about his trouble with Kikyou and Kagome, and now Inuyasha had escaped her grasp for once, something the priest never thought possible.But he wasn't about to tell him and that thought wiped the smile off his face. This was private, between Kikyou and him, maybe between Kagome as well. That is, if she would listen to him after the arguments they had been through.
"Feh, she should listen. It's about Kikyou." He muttered to himself before pushing open the curtain of the hut and walking in.Kagome wasn't there and neither was Yume. Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara were sitting around a small fire, chatting about nothing important to him. But when Inuyasha had entered, all talking had ceased to exist. Inuyasha didn't take any notice, just fixed his eyes on Sango and growled."Where's Kagome?"Sango shrugged, though passed a secret smile to Miroku. She had told Miroku what was going on between Inuyasha and Kagome, though not every detail, and had warned the monk to keep his mouth shut.Shippo had been asleep until Inuyasha walked through, so it had been alright to speak about it. Inuyasha didn't miss the secret smile and growled even deeper. "She went with Yume to talk about something. She didn't say when she'd be back-"
"Hey guys, we're back!" Yume said with a toothy grin, cutting Sango off in mid-sentence. Yume saw Inuyasha and smiled. "Welcome back, Inuyasha! Oh, and I doubt Kouga will be trying anything anymore, just so you know. I fixed him."Yume sat down away from everyone and crossed her legs Indian style, watching with curious eyes. Kagome looked at Inuyasha the exact moment Inuyasha looked down at her and their eyes locked. Kagome instantly remembered what Yume had said and brought her eyes away quickly, glancing down at the floor with her hands clasped in front of her.
Inuyasha looked slightly perplexed, but didn't speak anything of it. Instead he sat down near Miroku and motioned for Kagome to sit as well. She sat easily beside Sango.
Yume smiled inwardly. Good girl, she
thought in reference of Kagome. You learn quick, I'll give you that.
And you apply what you learn easily too. "Good night, everyone."
Yume said with a grin and an exaggerated yawn.
Everyone gave her
their good nights as she left the hut and went in search of a tree.
She didn't much feel like she belonged at the moment and didn't want
them to feel she was forcing her way into their group. Instead, she'd
just wander in slowly, watch how
Kagome and Inuyasha turn out, then
leave on her merry way. She sighed happily and, when she found the
perfect branch, settled upon it and fell asleep almost
instantly.
During the night, Inuyasha woke to find Kagome
shivering. The sleeping bag she had brought with her, the one he
thought was a little too comfortable for his tastes, had been kicked
off her body probably during a nightmare.
Inuyasha felt a stir in his chest and, before he knew what he was doing, he walked over to her silently and pulled the sleeping bag back over her. He then sat up a few feet away from her and tried like mad to get back to sleep. But being so close to Kagome's scent made him feel both comfortable and uncomfortable.
Soon, he drifted off. It didn't take him too long and he had a dreamless sleep. He actually awoke fully rested and ready to take on anything. That had never really happened to him, he had always woken grumbling for more sleep though knew he was never going to get any until that night came.When he heard the first sign of the bird chirping, he actually opened his eyes for the first time to greet the morning instead of opening his eyes to despise it. Now he wondered why.
An arm was wrapped securely around his chest and something warm and fluffy was draped around the length of his body. He could feel heat radiating from somewhere close by, very close by, and the sound of breathing was unmistakable. His eyes snapped open and focused themselves quickly.He yelped. It was a very doggish sound, but it was appropriate. Somehow, in the middle of the night, he had crept into Kagome's sleeping bag! The arm that was wrapped around him was Kagome's, the face he was so close to was Kagome's sleeping face, and the heat was her heat from the close proximity of the sleeping bag.What in the SEVEN HELLS?! He thought to himself frantically. He wasn't about to admit to himself that he was actually enjoying the closeness, he just want to get up before Kagome woke up. Prying her arm off of him slowly, he crawled out of the sleeping bag.
It took longer than he thought, for
Kagome kept groaning and moving each time he moved and the fear of
her waking and seeing him sleeping with her...she would probably take
it all wrong. That made him move quicker and he was out of the
sleeping bag and standing up faster than a lightning bolt could
strike the ground. His face was flushed a brilliant red and he
couldn't seem to catch his breath, his heart was beating way too
fast.
He heard someone snicker from within the confines of the
hut and his head snapped in the direction.
The monk was awake and his eyes were
amused as well as sly at what he had just seen. So Inuyasha really
was getting closer to Kagome... The monk thought, then smiled.
"Good
job, Inuyasha," he mouthed.
Inuyasha was infuriated, though
rather embarrassed, and his face flushed even more. He thought about
ringing the monk's neck, but the thought was squashed when Kagome
rolled over and muttered in her sleep."...Mmmyasha..."
"Geez, that baka." She said with a grin as she walked into the hut. "Hello everyone, good morning!"
Yume watched Inuyasha and Kagome the entire morning. There seemed to be something different in the way Inuyasha walked by her, looked at her, or even spoke to her. A secret smile spread across her lips when she saw the blush forming on Kagome's face after Sango spoke quietly to her. Yume's ears didn't catch the words for there was too much going on, but she guessed it had something to do with Inuyasha and Kagome.
When they were all packed up and ready to start a new day of shard hunting, Yume walked up to the small group happily. Inuyasha regarded her as he normally did, with his ears down and a small welcoming growl, but she just smiled back.Guessing since she was a rather new member of the 'pack', she would probably either stand in the very back, or be the look out way up front. Either way, she knew they were the most dangerous spots and would be quite happy with either of them.
But there were two things that surprised her that day, two things she didn't really expect until quite a few days later in the very least. The first one wasn't that great of a surprise, for she had expected it sooner or later.Kagome had asked Yume if she had seen any demon with a few extra ordinary powers. Yume shrugged. A lot of demons were like that now a days. She had answered and Kagome had looked a little crestfallen so Yume suggested the mountains. The next shock came right after that. Kagome turned to address Inuyasha and asked him if they should go check it out or if they should try a different way. Inuyasha almost fell over, but Yume saw him draw himself higher and grin slightly.
"We'll go to the mountains. If there's nothing there, we'll head back down." Inuyasha answered haughtily.Kagome nodded with her eyes watching the ground. Again, Inuyasha seemed slightly perplexed that Kagome wasn't looking up at him, but he wasn't about to say anything with everyone else watching him.
Yume could only stare, though, at Kagome with her jaw hanging slightly ajar. She hadn't expected Kagome to readily apply her submission; Kagome had always struck Yume as a very independent person with a very strong will. Eh, I bet Kagome's having a little trouble with this, but I can't say much. I don't know much about humans, Yume thought to herself as they walked along. Maybe I had her all wrong.
Inuyasha seemed to get a bit full of himself and drew himself up to his full height, walking ahead of everyone casually. No one really noticed the change but Yume and Kagome themselves, watching him with raised eyebrows.Kagome even hid a small snicker. Inuyasha reminded her of a boy who had just been promoted way ahead of his class and was trying to act all cool about it.
Yume just shook her head with a smile. Inuyasha was always like that; give him an inch and he'll take dance upon that inch, howling in victory.
As Yume had thought, she was placed in the back. Inuyasha himself was the one who growled at her when she tried to go up and talk to Kagome and she just grinned at him and walked back. Hey, if Inuyasha wanted to act more alpha than should be on the first day, then let him. She was pretty content in the back anyway; she'd get the first chunk out of any demon cowardly enough to pick a fight with her.It took four hours for them to reach the base of the mountain, four hours of nothing but forest. Not a demon stirred, nor was there an animal around brave enough to fight them.Yume could feel them letting their guard down slightly and growled to herself. Only her and Inuyasha stayed fully guarded, ears alert, nose twitching, senses prowling, eyes wide open and flitting around.
The humans between them seemed to relax a little more, even the little fox-kit was snoozing peacefully in Kagome's arms. Yume had to smile slightly at that, but she thought none of them should keep their guard down. The mountain she had addressed them too had demons that were much tougher than the ones in the valley.
A breeze turned in the trees and Yume instantly became more alert. It carried the stench of bones and ash. Her senses tingled horribly and she shuttered very, very slightly. Whatever it was, she didn't like it. Her eyes focused front wards and she saw that everyone was standing on edge, especially Inuyasha and Kagome.So they could feel, and smell, it too, Yume thought, a snarl starting to rumble in her throat.
"Kikyou." Kagome whispered.Yume could smell her slight anxiousness and fear. Okay, so Kagome knew what was coming. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Yume thought to herself, but her intuition told her better. And a wolf's intuition, especially a female wolf's intuition, was always right. It wasn't a good feeling she had, more like a rather nasty one. Something bad was going to happen.
"Inuyasha!"The voice sent a chill through Yume's soul like an electric shock. With eyes thinning, she watched an arrow fly from the bushes almost too fast for her quick eyes to follow. It snatched Inuyasha from the ground and tossed him easily into a tree. The arrow held fast, despite Inuyasha desperately trying to get free.And now, a figure could be seen floating silently out of the bushes. Yume could barely stand the stench and halfway had her hands to her nose before she put them down again and let out her contained snarl. It erupted from her throat savagely. This dead woman, this walking dead woman had another arrow knotched in her bow and the arrow was pointed at Kagome.But that wasn't the only thing Yume noticed. Behind this dead woman Kagome had called Kikyou were more than a hundred or so demons. These demons came in all different shapes and sizes, with different attacks and weaknesses. So her bad feeling was pronounced. This woman and her demons were the bad feeling.Inuyasha scrambled for reach of the arrow. It wasn't spelled to place him asleep again, thank Kami, but it had enough Miko power in it to burn horribly. He whimpered and reached the snatch the arrow again. His right arm, where the arrow was pierced, wouldn't move and he had to resort to his left. Still, the arrow seemed just a hair out of reach; his nail tapped it harmlessly. All the while, his eyes watched Kikyou with rage and watched the arrow trained on Kagome with even more rage."Stay away from her, Kikyou!" He growled out savagely."Stay silent, Inuyasha, or I will spell you to a new tree." Kikyou warned him quietly, the arrow trained on Kagome quivering."KIKYOU!" Inuyasha yelled out, snarling the name with as much rage he could place into his voice.Yume watched as Kagome finally jumped into action. She grasped an arrow and firmly knotched it, grasping both string and arrow and pulling it back as far as she could. She didn't want to let this arrow go, but, with Inuyasha stranded and the others ready for battle as well, she was ready to get rid of anything that stood in her way. Besides, Kikyou was dragging along a few Shikon shards and she wasn't about to let them get away.Kagome and Kikyou stared at each other ferociously, both with each other's arrows trained on them. No one moved, hardly anyone breathed except for the hundreds of demons still waiting for an order to attack. The two woman seemed to be suspended in time and place, staring each other down with their strings taunt, awaiting the first to make a move. Finally, Kikyou spoke."There is only room for one of us in this world, girl." As she spoke, she released the arrow.
Whoot; my
first cliffy!
