Author: The Chibi Hime
Disclaimer:I don't own InuYasha nor do I own any of his friends. But if I did, No one would look at me funny again...if you don't count the looks they'd give InuYasha...
Author's notes : Remember kids, temptations are good. You know you want to read it.
Warning: The following may be too cute for some cold hearted persons to stomache, please contact your family doctor before continuing use of this page.(just kidding, throw up if you want to. I don't care)
Chapter Five
'hmm?' InuYasha awoke suddenly. He recognized his position Immediately ..he just didn't remember getting there.
'what the hell?' he thought angrily, pulling his face out of the cold wet dirt. Instead of seeing Kagome, with her hands on her hips glaring at him, he saw a whole different scene. He saw Miroku and Sango huddled around two lumps...no..people!
He stood up, immediately feeling quite lightheaded, almost sending him backwards onto his butt. His shoulders ached, as well as his head. InuYasha examined the scene around him, as he slowly became more and more aware of things.
'my hands...they're...' He looked down at his bloody fingers. With horror he realized that the two lumps were not only people, but one of them happened to be Kagome!
He leaped over to where Kagome and Kouga lay. Kouga was unconscious and Kagome was struggling to keep from passing out, she seemed like she was dealing with an immense amount of pain. Kagome let her eyes meet his, they seemed sad..almost..afraid.
"Did I do this?" InuYasha asked, his voice quivering.
Kagome didn't answer, but her eyes told him he had, which what he feared the most. He was the one supposed to be protecting her with his life, yet he was the one who almost ended hers.
He bent down, and reached out slowly to comfort Kagome, but she flinched and pulled back slightly. He quickly withdrew his hand. Obviously the shock had hit Kagome hard, and now, he was the one she feared...and he couldn't blame her.
He noticed Sango and Miroku weren't even making eye contact with him, but instead pretended to be very absorbed in tending to Kagome and Kouga's wounds. The guilt was killing him. He now knew that none of them were safe with him as he had thought so much before. They were more in danger with him than without, especially Kagome. He hated to see Kagome hurt, but the thought that he had done it was almost enough to make him of all people cry.
Without another word, InuYasha stood up and jumped up into a particularly large tree a good distance from the scene. He stayed there for quite some time, sulking and thinking things over.He glanced over to where the scene once was, but was now empty. They had left him, he had spent all that time with them, protecting them, and they had left him. It almost sent a wave of rage through him until he remembered why they had done it. Obviously they had thought the same thing too. He took a deep sigh and leaned back against the trunk of the tree.
"Nothing could make this worse" he sighed aloud, feeling quite sorry for himself at the moment.
His eyelids became seemingly heavy and the tree became quite comfortable, before he had known it, he had fallen into a rather restless sleep.
The rays of sunshine rushing through the window seemed blinding, only making the headache worse. Kagome finally managed to let her eyes adjust to the sun. It was morning and everyone was sound asleep around her.
The thoughts of the previous night's events hit her, making her heart sink like a rock. She remembered the look in InuYasha's eyes. She knew he hadn't meant to do it, but still she couldn't help but fear him slightly. He could have killed her. She looked over to Kouga, bandages wound all the way up his right arm, as well as various other places InuYasha had sliced him.
'Why did I have to be so stupid?' She silently scolded herself. 'As If InuYasha isn't going to feel bad enough..why couldn't i have talked to him..' If she were able to move her arm comfortably she would have smacked herself in the forehead.
But she couldnt ignore that slight voice in the back of her head. 'He could always do it again..and maybe the next time Kouga won't be there to save you.' She shook her head violently, trying to shake the thought from her mind.
"He would never do that..Youkai or not..." She tried to convince herself aloud, perhaps a little too loud.. Kouga's nose twitched a few times and he opened his eyes slowly, taking the room into focus. He looked a little dazed and confused
"You were right" Kagome whispered sadly.
"About what?" Kouga whispered back.
" You know.." Kagome trailed off, she couldn't say it in fear she may break out into tears. He looked at her, the confused look disappeared, he finally seemed to remember.
"I knew it." He growled slightly. Unlike Kagome, He was able to bring himself to an upright position. he tried to change the subject.
"Where is that little annoying Kitsune that always follows you around?" He asked.
"You mean Shippou-chan?" She asked, making a failing attempt to sit up herself.
He nodded.
"He left a little while ago. Apparently he wanted to find other members of his family." She sighed sadly. "I doubt he'll return..but I admire his determination. He was always like that you know.." She forced a small smile. "I'm happy for him."
Kouga nodded blankly, but Kagome knew that wasn't really what he was interested in.
"I'm worried about InuYasha too" She added softly.
"What? Worried? About him? ha!" he crossed his arms. "The only one I am worried about is you. How are you feeling?"
"Good" She lied, she knew if she told him that she felt like crap emotionally and physically, he wouldn't leave her be about it..at least InuYasha acted like he didn't care...for some reason, most of the time she liked that about him, as weird as it may seem.
Kouga looked at her carefully, not buying her story, but nodded anyways. Kagome saw yellow in the corner of her eye and shifted her gaze to her right. Apparently someone had grabbed her backpack for her, and she was greatful. She pulled it closer to her until she was able to reach her hand into mess of objects inside. After what seemed like 10 minutes of rummaging, she pulled a small book from it and she laid it gently on her stomach..
Kouga read the title curiously. "sad cypress" he watched her as she picked it up, opened it and began to read. He took that as a hint that she no longer wished to speak with him at the moment, and turned his gaze elsewhere.
She watched him out of the corner of her eye as he looked around the hut curiously. He'd never been here before, but Kagome had recognized it as Kaede's hut from the moment she had opened her eyes.She hadn't found it important to tell him at the moment, after all, she was "Reading".
'Maybe I should go home..' Kagome thought to herself as Kouga continued to examine the hut with his eyes.
'No, don't be stupid! If mother was to see you like this, she'd never let you come back!' the other voice scolded. 'why should you come back?' The other, more timid voice in her head replied. ' After all, all you do is cause trouble and break InuYasha's heart..' Kagome clamped both of her hands over her ears and let 'Sad Cypress' drop.
"No! That's not true!!!" She cried aloud, startling Kouga.
"What's not true?" Kouga looked at her, bewildered. "Kagome...are you sure your alright?
"heh, I'm fine! I told you that..I was just thinking..thats all." Kagome looked away and quickly snatched 'Sad Cypress' up from where she had dropped it and continued to pretend to read it.
Kouga stared at her for a few moments, looking as if he were taking everything in, and looked away as well. On the other side of the hut, Miroku opened his eyes, staring for a long time. Probably taking things into focus. Sango was still fast asleep, lying close to Kirara who was in a little ball.
'I hope he isn't still looking at me.' Kagome thought. She could feel her cheeks reddening. 'He probably thinks I'm crazy.'
Miroku sat up, and glanced from Kouga to Kagome.
"You seem to be taking this well Kagome..Are you alright?" Miroku asked, wiping his eyes.
Kagome lowered her book slightly, just enough so he could see her eyes.
"Would everyone stop asking me that!?" She growled "I'm fine!" She heaved a heavy sigh, and hid behind her book once more.
"Its perfectly understandable" Miroku Continued "You've gone through a lot. There is no need to hide it. Its Ok." Kagome set her book firmly on the ground next to her.
"Alright..I'm NOT fine...please lets not talk about it!" Kagome sighed.
Miroku nodded. "If that is what you wish, Kagome." Kagome continued to watch the two of them from the corner of her eye, they were talking but she didn't catch what they were talking about. Her vision started to get blurred, she could feel the tears welling up in her eyes. She turned her head and looked out the door into the beautiful morning. She wished more than anything to see InuYasha perched high up in one of those trees.
InuYasha looked around. The area around him was foggy and the moist air made it extremely warm. In the distance he could make out the outline of a woman. He didn't know why but he felt that he needed to get to her, whoever she was, no matter what it took, but the longer he walked toward her, the farther she seemed to be.
Just as everything seemed hopeless, the fog started to lift and the air around him became cooler and calmer. He could now make out the face of the woman. Her eyes were dark, with the slight trace of a smile. She looked kind and content. The long black hair that fell down her back flowed gently in the calming breeze. It was Kikyou. Her smile widened, and her eyes began to sparkle in the sun as the clouds began to clear. He wanted to be by her side more than anything. The young priestess motioned for him to come closer, and he did. He ran like the wind to her aid, and nothing in the world was going to stop him. He pulled her into a tight embrace, he was happy there, and nothing else in the world mattered anymore. When he finally pulled away, he looked into her eyes, they were just as he remembered them. Warm and kind. She took his hand and guided him to the top of a hill that didn't seem to be there before. When they reached the very top, she sat down. The view was incredible. He could see the village and miles beyond. It was beautiful. Slowly, he sat down next to her.
"I'll never leave you again" He whispered softly. "I will always protect you."
"I'm glad" The woman replied.
The voice was different. InuYasha turned his head quickly. No longer was it Kikyou who sat contentedly next to him, but Kagome.
"Don't leave."
InuYasha jolted awake. It was morning and the sun was blinding. He stood up on the spot where he had fallen asleep in the tree and looked around. The area seemed different in the light. The words of Kagome repeated over and over in his head.
"Don't leave."
He hopped down from his spot in the tree. He had to go see Kagome, nothing would change his mind.
"I'm not going to leave." He said aloud. With that in mind, he sped off through the forest. His best guess was Kaede's hut, it was the closest. When he reached the village, he began to have doubts.
' What if she doesn't want to see me?'
He quickly shook it from his mind. Of course she would want to see him..why wouldn't she? Of course he knew why she wouldn't, but he didn't want to be reminded of it. As quietly as possible, InuYasha crept around the outside of the hut and peeked inside. There she was. She was hiding behind some weird looking book and mumbling to herself. He shifted his gaze to the left where Kouga and Miroku seemed to be deep In discussion.
Kagome lowered her book and looked back out the door, meeting his eyes. They weren't as happy as they were in his dream, but they weren't sad and afraid as before. She looked surprised..
'Maybe it's too soon' He told himself as he turned and readied himself to leave,but before he could Kagome spoke up.
"InuYasha..Don't leave."
He turned back around, she'd said the words that had taunted him all that time. "I won't." He replied. "That is..if You want me here." He met her eyes again, they sparkled almost exactly like they had in his dream.
"Of course I want you here." She smiled. The timidness in her voice lessened. Although it looked as if it pained her, she sat up. "Don't ever leave me."
InuYasha rushed inside and pulled Kagome into his arms. "I won't."
They stayed in the embrace for what seemed like 10 minutes before they both let go. He felt the joy that had escaped him long before, and he never wanted it to leave. He didn't even notice the awed looks on Miroku and the newly awaken sango's faces. The look on Kouga's face, however was different, but it was a good thing InuYasha didn't see it.
She did want to see him, and that was all that mattered for now.
Well, I warned you.Due to situations such as getting cancer from Cigarettes, I am required, by law, to put such warnings on incredibly cute things due to previous law suits. Hey, We're still friends right? Well, just to show me how much you care, drop me a review on your way out (and clean up your mess, it sickens me.)