Disclaimer: I don't own anything.... I am getting tired of writing these.
A/N: Long chapter.... get some snacks and take a bathroom break before reading this.
Is it just me or are the chapters getting steadily longer? Tell me if I should have split this into two chapters or if you're good with this length.
Now on with the story....
Chapter 21: The Beauty of Irony.
"Were you out of your fucking mind?" Inuyasha bellowed at Rei. Miroku took a cautious step back while Rei cringed.
"I must ask you to remain calm, Inuyasha. Shouting will not resolve anything." He put his hand up in a calming gesture. If possible, Inuyasha fumed even more.
"And sitting around doing nothing isn't going to cut it either." He seethed, turning to glare at Rei who tried to back away. "What the hell were you thinking? Did you really think you could get away with it?"
Miroku took a step towards the half demon. Inuyasha shot him a glare that could kill a person and he halted in his footsteps.
"I know that what Rei has done is ...well... unexpected. But we can reap the benefits off of this." He tried to reason with him. Rei's eyes turned hopeful.
"Once he finds out about this we are all dead men. He only wanted to kill me earlier but now he would be after all of you." He said more to himself than any of them in particular.
"He won't find out." Rei said softly...afraid of voicing her opinion. Inuyasha snapped another glare at her and she decided that she might as well explain. "One finds out if his thoughts have been affected if my implanted thoughts are polar opposites of his real thoughts. Let me explain."
Inuyasha took a seat on the grass. Miroku followed suit but still stayed a good distance away from him. Rei sat in front of them.
"When I affected Miroku's mind...I tried to get him to kill you and I tried to confuse his thoughts so much that he wouldn't know what he should or shouldn't do. That is the best way to control someone's mind. Confuse them." Miroku nodded, clearly understanding the small explanation but Inuyasha had set a blank mask on his face and Rei had no way of figuring out what was going on in his mind. She continued, "Miroku was confused but he is a man of strong character..."
Inuyasha snorted at that and it was Miroku's turn to throw an icy glare in his direction. Rei sighed, "He resisted me before giving in. He fought the confusion so hard that he got a fever. But eventually his control broke and he tried to kill you. He knew there was something wrong and hence he fought it.
But he won't figure it out for the mere reason that I did not tamper with his thoughts that much. I just twisted them around so that he thought he knew what he was doing."
"How could you twist his thoughts such that he suddenly wants to help me?" Inuyasha hissed at her, not buying her explanation for a minute.
"Inuyasha, believe it or not he is your brother. Him and you are the last of your father's clan. Last of his blood. If you die then there will only be Sesshomarou to continue the bloodline. Deep in his mind there is a primitive instinct for survival...the instinct to keep the race going. I just manipulated that instinct into a full thought and now he wants to make sure you come out of the battle alive. Although I am pretty sure that it was so easy because he wanted to kill you with his own hands than some half demon. I think that played a larger role..." She trailed off in thought.
Inuyasha slammed a fist into the ground in front of him. Rei snapped out of her musings and listened to him as he started speaking in a low dangerous tone. "And why in the seven fucking hells would I need that bastard's help?"
"Sesshomarou is a strong fighter...his services will be very beneficial." Inuyasha narrowed his eyes at the monk who gulped loudly and Rei sent him a thankful look.
"How did you mess around with his mind without him knowing?" Miroku asked her, trying to ignore the dog demon but still feeling chilly since he could 'feel' his frosty glare.
"All I had to do was touch him and I could play with his thoughts."
"How did you touch him without him killing you?" Inuyasha's eyes narrowed further. Miroku nodded as he thought that it was a very valid question.
"I didn't, he tried to kill me by snapping my neck or something and seemed to enjoy it so he kept his hand on my throat for longer than necessary giving me more than enough time to do as I wished."
"When did you find out about this?" He turned to the monk who visibly gulped again.
"This evening. Rei and I were having a chat and I asked her how she messed with my mind and she told me and then I commented that it isn't very effective against people with a strong consciousness and she said that for them she just had to twist their thoughts so that they would think its their own thoughts...like she did with your brother. It slipped and I pressed her to tell me everything."
"And you waited till now to tell me because..." He let the sentence trail unfinished and waited for Miroku to complete it for him.
Inuyasha had expected Miroku to gulp again or stutter at the low tone that he was using, what he hadn't expected was the smirk that spread on his face at the inquiry. He looked at Rei for clarification and saw that she was blushing...hard.
"Well...let's say that you were busy at the moment." Miroku continued to smile and Rei looked down at the grass in front of her, trying to hide the bright crimson that spread out over her cheeks and pointed ears.
Inuyasha gaped. Rei could read his mind at any moment and she could find him too. Maybe they had agreed to go get him and Rei had tapped into his mind to see where he was.... let's say that she knew exactly where he was.
Inuyasha blushed before muttering an almost inaudible 'keh' and getting up. Now he realized why they hadn't asked even once about his haori...they knew what happened to it.
He started leaving when Rei called him to stop. He turned around expecting some witty remark about his 'activities' that evening but was surprised when he saw her serious. This time it was Miroku who started glaring at her and she kept still.
"What is it Rei?" He asked her. Miroku suddenly shuffled to his feet and took a few menacing steps towards the ice demon.
"It's nothing Inuyasha. The ladies will be expecting us soon. Let us leave. Now." He said 'now' with such forced calmness that it marked the end of the discussion.
"There is something I need to talk to you about." Rei started and got to her feet as well, moving towards the half demon and away from the monk.
"There is nothing that she has to talk about. Let us leave. NOW!" The monk swept a hand in front him to emphasize his anger and frustration. Inuyasha narrowed his eyes once again, his golden orbs gaining a calculating look.
There was something that the monk was obviously trying to hide...what was it? Rei clearly knew about it, she could read his mind since she had severed a small part of his soul. But he thought she had returned it to him.
"What is it?" He broke the staring contest between the human and the demon. Rei broke the stare and looked at the half demon.
"We didn't tell you how the topic of Sesshomarou's thoughts came up..." She started.
"Of course we did. We told him that I asked you about my mind and how we went from there. There is nothing to talk about. Let's go." Miroku started to tug Inuyasha away from Rei but of course the monk's strength was no match for the half demon's.
"Speak Rei. What's bothering you?" Inuyasha tugged his arm away from the monk and gave the ice demon his full attention.
"Miroku's been lying to you. He's going to die."
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"The demons have been gathered. They are waiting for the command." A dead monotonous voice drifted from the doorway. The mirror in the little girl's hands reflected the little light in the room and seemed to glow with unearthly light.
"Good. Now go. We move towards the village at the crack of dawn." Naraku said calmly. Rei didn't know, but she was betraying her comrades without even knowing about it. She was his body; Kanna's mirror showed her every move.
She was giving him the precise location of the petty fighters and was turning out to be a great servant. Unknowingly, of course.
That was the beauty of irony. Rei, the mind sorceress, was being used as a puppet – by him. She controlled people's thoughts and could trace them by linking their minds to her own, now Naraku was using the same technique to trace Rei and thus trace his arch nemesis – Inuyasha.
I cannot thank you enough, Rei. You have turned out to be a better servant by betraying me than by being loyal to me.
Ah...the beauty of irony.
"There is something else." Kanna whispered in an eerily calm voice.
Naraku's eyebrow lifted into his dark bangs showing his interest in what his youngest, and most dangerous, detachment had to say.
"The monk...he's dying. The curse has caught up with him." With that she turned around and left as soundlessly as she had appeared.
Naraku looked at the door, not moving at all. An onlooker would have thought that he was statue, his hair betraying his stillness.
Then he threw his head back and laughed. He laughed for all he had done and was going to do. His hair whipped around him as his strong body shook with laughter. The walls themselves seemed to shake with the sheer intensity of it, the floors quivered and the wind picked up outside the castle.
Thunder rumbled in the distance, low and threatening. Forks of light pierced through the clouds and lit the pitch-black night. A few second later, another low growl followed the flashes of light, the wind picking up and whipping the trees, shaking them in their roots.
First one drop fell, then another. Soon, a wave of ice-cold water came down from the heavens. The rain collided with the already wet grass and turned the ground muddy and unpredictable.
Naraku laughed alone in his castle...the sound lost to the cackling thunder and howling winds. A sound so terrible that the earth itself trembled in its wake.
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"Where do you think you are going?" Inuyasha snapped at her when he saw her trying to jump into the well while trying to stay dry at the same time.
"What does it look like I'm doing?" She snapped back. She was still stressed after the conversation with Kaede and the image of her injured mate kept flashing before her eyes. She was stressed because she knew that somehow she could prevent his condition but she didn't know how.
"You just came back...why are you leaving so soon?" He asked her, a little more gently this time. She sighed heavily and then turned to look at him, noticing with mild amusement that he still didn't have any shirt on...and he looked good.
"I can't spend all my time here anymore. I have to attend school or I can't see you anymore..." She explained.
"Then don't go at all. Stay here with me, where you belong." He came to her and wrapped his arms lightly around her.
"I'm sorry I can't...I have to go to school and graduate and...its my family, Inuyasha. I can't just leave them." She returned his embrace and she felt him lean into her, yearning for more contact.
"But you can leave me?" He whispered. Kagome rubbed his back in a soothing motion when she heard him voice his concern.
"Of course not. That's why I'm going to ask you to come with me." She said in a cheerful voice. It made Inuyasha smile though.
"Yeah, I'll come but I have something to talk to you about and I'll be back here before sunrise tomorrow." He said still smiling. Kagome pulled away from him and grabbed his forefinger with her hand, kind of like a toddler holds an adult's hands. She pulled him towards the well and then jumped into it. Inuyasha followed.
"Mama...I'm home!" She announced to the house. Souta was in the living room, as usual, playing on his playstation. He yelled a greeting from the room. Her mother answered from the kitchen and they made their way there.
"Hello Kagome. Inuyasha." She said pleasantly. Inuyasha blinked. This was the woman who had told him to get out only a few days ago and now she was acting as if nothing happened. He was wrong of course. As soon as she saw that Kagome was holding his hand, her gaze turned hard again. Not too hard but it definitely showed a change of attitude.
"Mama, I'm going to go have a shower. Keep yourself busy in the meantime, okay Inuyasha?" She asked nicely. He nodded and sat down on one of the chairs around the dining table. Kagome left.
"Why are you not wearing a shirt, Inuyasha?" Mrs. Higurashi said without turning around.
"I lost my haori and my undershirt is at Kaede's. It was dirty...it needed to be washed." He answered in a no nonsense voice.
"And why are you and Kagome wet? It stopped raining here hours ago." She continued the interrogation.
"It was raining there as well."
"I hope you know I don't approve of your relationship with Kagome. If there is one, that is."
Inuyasha thought about it for a minute before walking towards her and sitting on the counter, his legs dangling off the edge.
"What you have approved if I was human?" He asked. He was really close to her mother now and he could see her face. She looked at him with confusion and ...hope?
"You can turn human?" She asked hopefully, her cooking forgotten for the moment.
"There is a way but ...I don't know. It is possible." He shook his head, "You didn't answer my question. Would you approve if I was human?"
"I can't say. There's the time difference and all." She said uncertainly.
"What if I came here forever? What if I decided to live in this era...would you approve?" He pressed.
"Look Inuyasha. I know you love my daughter. One has to be blind not to see it. But I am a mother, I worry. I want her to grow up and graduate from college and have a husband and children. I want her to have a steady job where she can come back home safe and sound. You don't know how it feels every time I wash the blood off of Kagome's clothes. I always wonder if it is hers or someone else's. Nevertheless, I worry."
"You know I will protect her with my life."
"I don't doubt that for a minute. I know you; you would rather die than have my daughter hurt. But...."
"Its not the same is it?"
"No its not. No matter what you do...no matter how much you protect her, there is always a chance that she may get hurt. There is always a chance that she may never return from that well."
Inuyasha stayed silent and Mrs. Higurashi thought that her message was getting through to him.
"So you see. I want her to have a normal life. A normal life. If you truly love her, you would want the best for her too."
"I can't give her the best of anything can I?" He whispered looking away towards the door, not letting their eyes meet.
"That's not true Inuyasha. You probably love her more than any man ever can...but love does not fill stomachs. Love does not provide a shelter for the night. Love...its just love."
"What if I work hard...what if I try to be a normal man? What if I turn human? Will you accept me then?" He turned back and looked at her hopefully.
Mrs. Higurashi looked at him and saw pure honesty there. His eyes were wide with hope and determination. She reached out with one hand and stroked one cheek in a soft motherly way. He didn't move at all, he just looked at her with the big golden eyes.
"No, I can not accept you Inuyasha." His heart sank. "Because I never rejected you in the first place."
He broke out into a grin so large that his face looked like it'll split. Kagome's mother laughed and patted his head, very much like a puppy's.
"What is that?" He looked at the food that she was preparing. Kagome's mother smiled at him and told him all about it.
A few minutes later, Souta walked in to see Inuyasha playing with the microwave. He pushed the button on the side and the door swung open, and then he would push the door close and start all over again.
"Inuyasha brother?" Inuyasha looked up momentarily from his perch next to the microwave. "Sis is done and I suggest you have a shower too..."
"Why?" He asked bluntly. Souta fidgeted around a bit and then answered.
"Because you smell like dirt." Souta said and then darted out of the room. Inuyasha ran after him while Kagome's mother laughed and yelled at Souta, "That was very rude Souta. By the way, give him the clothes I bought for him the other day..."
A yell from the living room was her only answer. She laughed again and went back to cooking.
Kagome walked out of the bathroom only to hear screaming and shouting coming from the living room. She ran down the stairs to see Souta on the ground yelling at Inuyasha to get off. Kagome raised an eyebrow when she saw that Inuyasha was sitting on Souta's hip and mercilessly tickling his sides. Souta looked like he would have a burst lung or two by the time Inuyasha is done with him.
"Inuyasha...go have a shower. And let Souta go, you both are creating a racket down here." Inuyasha looked at her and then at Souta. With a mischievous gleam in his eyes, he jumped off of Souta and twisted so that he landed on Kagome, taking her down with him.
"Inuyasha. Get off of me." She warned him. Souta, seeing that Inuyasha was distracted ran out of the room. Inuyasha smirked when he saw that they were alone in this room and he licked his lips in anticipation.
Kagome noticed the small action and she smiled despite herself. There was always the chance of their mother walking in on them but of course, that wouldn't stop her mate. He leaned down and pressed his lips against hers, claiming her in a deep kiss that spoke volumes.
He broke off suddenly and jumped off of her to land a few feet away. Mrs. Higurashi walked in at that very moment.
"Kagome? What are you doing on the floor?" Kagome got up straightening her clothes while trying to ignore the heat that spread on her face and reached her ears. Inuyasha snorted from the other side of the room. He was obviously having a lot of fun on Kagome's expense.
"And aren't you supposed to have a shower?" Her mother asked the half-demon pointedly and it was Kagome's turn to smirk. He stood up and headed straight for the bathroom.
"Bye Inuyasha." Kagome laughed, "Don't forget to wash behind your ears." Inuyasha shot her a glare but decided it was best of he left now. Revenge can come later.
Inuyasha tugged on the metal tap. Kagome had shown him how it worked once and he would be damned if he asked her how it worked a second time. After a few minutes of touching and prodding he managed to get the shower working and at a suitable temperature.
He shrugged out of his red pants and took a tentative step into the bathtub. He closed the shower curtains taking care to make sure he didn't rip them with his claws. He felt the door open after a few minutes and peeped out of the shower curtain. It was Souta...and he was carrying a bunch of clothes.
"I brought you a fresh change of clothes." Souta informed him when he saw that Inuyasha had seen him. Inuyasha grunted in reply and then ducked back into the shower. "And Sis told me to tell you to shampoo your hair."
"Yeah whatever." Inuyasha answered back before looking at the bottle filled with colourful liquid. It said shampoo on it so he popped the top and got a generous amount on his hand. A considerable amount fell on the floor but he paid no heed to it. Carefully he smelt the transparent gel like substance on his hand. It smelt like Kagome. Well, close. It smelled like lavenders and some other exotic flowers. Not quite Kagome but very very close.
He put it on his head and started massaging his scalp and relished in the feel of he liquid lathering in his hair. He took a step backwards to reach the bottle to take some more of the fragrant gel but his foot slipped on some previously spilt shampoo.
He landed heavily on his backside and his head collided with the tap on the other side of the tub. The impact got him dizzy and bright lights burst in front of his eyes. He gripped his head tightly with his hand, willing the pain to stop. The small movement in his hair brought the soap into contact with his new injury and he hissed when he felt a burning pain shoot through his skull.
He barely registered the sound of hurrying footsteps and a few shouts.
"Inuyasha?" Kagome shouted out his name, hoping he would answer back. When he didn't she pushed open the door and walked inside not noticing that her mother tried to stop her. She pushed the curtains open and saw Inuyasha sitting cross-legged with his head cradled in his hands. There was a slight pink tinge to his hair and she guessed that he hand hit his head and the water had almost washed away the blood.
"Inuyasha?" She said more softly this time and he turned his head ever so slightly in her direction to let her know he had heard. She quickly grabbed a towel and threw it into his lap to protect his dignity and then switched the shower off.
She wrapped her arms around his head pulling him into a small embrace while she discreetly pried his hair apart to look at the damage. It was a small wound that was already healing. She whispered soothingly to him and he started to get up. He gripped the towel with one hand and stepped out of the tub.
Grandpa, Souta and her mother were standing outside the bathroom and helped take Inuyasha into Kagome's room. Souta grabbed his clothes and ran behind his sister to give them to her.
Grandpa moved to take the clothes from Souta. Since he was the only man in the family it made sense that he would help Inuyasha. Her mother tried to keep Kagome outside the room but she started get angry and wriggling in her arms. Finally they weren't able to stop her and she ran into her room. Kagome closed the door to her bedroom, fully intending to dress Inuyasha herself.
"I can't leave you alone for a minute can I?" She asked softly. He smirked and then lifted a finger to touch the wound lightly. He winced when his finger came in contact with it.
"Here, let me wrap it up for you." She offered. Inuyasha shook his head and then regretted the action. His head started spinning again. Man he hated getting dizzy.
"No. I'm all right. It's just a scratch." He told her. She smiled a knowing smile and ran her fingers through his forelocks.
"Yeah, just a scratch. You were sitting in that tub for a good ten minutes holding your head. Its not just a scratch." She laughed when he shot her a glare. She turned to look at the clothes that Souta had handed to her.
This should be interesting. She eyed the grey drawstring sweatpants and the white cotton shirt. Very comfortable clothes but still...this was Inuyasha they were taking about.
"I am not wearing that mate." He snapped. He was too riled up about wearing those clothes that he hadn't noticed that he had called her 'mate'. That didn't go unnoticed by Kagome though.
"Oh yes you are...mate." She added as an afterthought. Slyly, she used his surprise at her using that term to pull off his towel. He blushed furiously and then tried to grab it back. She threw the pants at him and he caught them as a reflex. He looked at them sceptically before testing the softness by rubbing the fabric between his fingers.
He shrugged and put them on. They were tighter than his fire rat pants but not too uncomfortable. They were snug. He grabbed the shirt that Kagome handed to him and pulled it on too.
"Its strange isn't it?" Kagome asked thoughtfully. Inuyasha looked at her and saw her thinking hard.
"Yeah...it is. I thought these would be very uncomfortable. But I like them." He plopped down on the bed next to her. She shook her head to show that wasn't what she meant.
"Not that. If someone had told me just three years ago that there would be a half demon from 500 years into the past in my bedroom, I would have called them mad. And now.... it's just amazing how life is so ironic."
"Ironic?"
"Yeah, you know...before I fell into the well, I was as normal as normal could get. I had trouble with math and I didn't have anything very important in my life. The most interesting fact about myself included that I lived in a shrine and that I had a 500-something year old tree in my yard but other than that.... "
"Do you regret falling into the well?"
"Of course not. If I hadn't fallen then...I would never have met you."
"Exactly. You lost your normalcy that day. Surely you must have regretted it."
Kagome shook her head and then cupped his face in her hands. She thought with a little concern that he was little too sensitive these days. Earlier he couldn't care less about what others thought of him.... now he was worried about offending her or doing something wrong. It just unnerved her.
"Maybe once...the day you tried to kill me. But as soon as Kaede put the beads on.... everything changed. I saw a different side of you. Well, at least I started to." Inuyasha chuckled and Kagome gave him a short kiss and pulled back immediately when she realized what had just happened.
She had run into the bathroom and taken a buck-naked half demon into her room despite her mother's protests and seen him change. Her mother was so going to kill her. And the fact that she wasn't supposed to have a relationship with him would only add to the problems.
"I have to go..." She started and opened the door only to come face to face with her mother. Inuyasha came up behind her and hoped that she would go easy on his mate after the little conversation they had in the kitchen.
"Care to explain why you didn't let Grandpa help him dress?" Her mother asked very calmly. Kagome gulped and started thinking really hard really fast.
"Mama... he was hurt and I was worried." She said softly. Kagome's mother's eyes narrowed as she looked at Inuyasha and then back at Kagome. Her mother's eyes widened when they landed on the blue bruise on Kagome's neck.
"What did you do to my daughter?" Kagome gasped as she realized her mother was referring to her 'mark'. She whipped out a hand so suddenly that she almost hit her mother and then covered her mark with it. It was futile though; every one else in the family had seen it as well.
"Its my mark." Inuyasha said calmly though his eyes betrayed his calm voice. The moment her mother had mentioned the mark his eyes had blazed. Suddenly, he wanted to let her know that there was nothing she could do now that they were mated.
"Its his mark as in like.... he.... no one would hurt me then if ....if this mark is there. Its kind of like he marks me to make sure the other demons know I am protected by another demon." She said in a hurry making it up as she went. Her mother didn't seem very satisfied by it.
"He hurt you didn't he?" Inuyasha growled so loud that even her mother jumped back. Souta scampered into his room and grandpa ran off to get some seal scrolls. Inuyasha grabbed Kagome's hand and she turned back and saw that his eyes were flashing red.
And he didn't have tetsusaiga.
Kagome whipped around and ran into the bathroom where his sword lay to the side. She grabbed it and thrust it into his hand just as he took a menacing step towards her mother. At once his eyes returned to normal and he looked somewhere along the lines of ashamed and worried.
"Kagome rubbed his arm in a soothing fashion trying to get him to calm down while Kagome's mother looked horrified.
"He...?" She managed to blurt out and Inuyasha hung his head. He knew he had just made things a lot harder for Kagome and he was ashamed of himself. The minute Mrs. Higurashi had accused him of hurting her he had lost it. Now he stood behind his mate with his head throbbing with the hit but it was a forgotten pain. It was the pain of healing... it'd go away in an hour or so. But the damage done to this family was probably beyond repair.
"Mama... he sometimes transforms. He's not that dangerous. He more like all showing off with the scary eyes and purple stripes but he's nothing but a big softy. It's like a defence mechanism. It doesn't make him any more dangerous..." Kagome lied. She felt more and more dirty as she weaved a lie after lie afraid of telling her mother the truth about her and the half-demon's relationship.
"So now you are lying to me?" Mama (A/N: I'm gonna call her that since its getting bothersome writing Kagome's mother or Mrs. Higurashi every time.) said shaking her head dejectedly, "Kagome may I have a talk with you...alone."
Inuyasha visibly stiffened at the request and refused to leave her side. Kagome tried to coax him to stay in her room till she got back but he refused bluntly. His instincts were kicking in and telling him that there was going to be trouble. Not the kind where he wields the tetsusaiga and kicks some serious demon ass, but the kind where he needs the tetsusaiga for a completely different reason. He wasn't leaving her no matter what any one says.
"Fine...you can come too since you are as much a part of this as her." Her mother said defeated. They went into her room and shut the door, locking it from the inside to prevent any people from walking in.
"Kagome... You never lied to me before. I want you to tell me exactly what is going on." She said directing the question straight at Kagome while pointedly ignoring Inuyasha who sat too close to Kagome for Mama's comfort.
"I... well. It's like... Inuyasha and I...we..." She had no idea how to approach the subject and she was afraid of her mother's reaction. Inuyasha heard her heartbeat accelerate and her blood pressure increase. He forgot her mother was standing right there for the moment and proceeded to reduce her tension. He nuzzled her neck softly before licking his mark. He felt her heartbeat slow down before it skyrocketed again. He looked at her and then realized that his actions hadn't gone unnoticed by her mother.
"We are mated." Inuyasha said bluntly waiting for the news to sink in. He'll take the blow of it if it came to that and then pick up Kagome and take him down the well with him and he'll be damned if he lets her come back.
Mama's mouth dropped open and she lifted a shaking hand to cover it. For a few minutes that's all that happened. The tension in the room increased to the point where one could cut through it with a knife. Kagome's fist clenched and unclenched in the soft fabric of his white shirt and he could hear her heartbeat maintain its ferocity.
Then suddenly Mama's hand whipped out and grabbed Kagome's arm that was away from the half demon and pulled her away from him. He made a grab for her other hand but let it go when he realized that he would hurt her if they played a tug of war.
"Kagome you are staying here with me and Inuyasha, I don't expect you to return." Inuyasha's fist curled such that his hands started bleeding when his claws dug into his palm.
"No matter what you say...I am NOT leaving without my mate." He said in a low tone. Kagome's mother stiffened when she heard him refer to her daughter as his 'mate'.
"Kagome is not going back with you. From what I have heard, you have quite a team of elite fighters. One little girl can't make that much of a difference."
"Then you have heard nothing." He hissed at her, "She may not be the best of the fighters but she is the heart of the group. She is my heart and I will die without her."
"Not that you will remain dead and let the ones around you live in peace." Kagome's mother regretted those words the moment they left her mouth. She knew it was a low blow but she didn't want to give up her daughter to a time when people dying was an everyday occurrence.
"Mama!" Kagome exclaimed in shock. She had never heard her mother be that bitter to someone.
Emotions flickered across the seventeen-year-old's mate. First shock then understanding and then hurt. These were soon replaced with anger and frustration and then finally indifference. His face grew hard and his eyes turned dull.
Kagome gasped when she saw the face in front of her. His eyes had turned blank and dimmed to dull amber and the water from the shower still clung to his hair making it look thinner than it actually was. She tried to pry her mother's hand off of her arm and tried to get to him before any more damage was done.
"This time it's not my life at stake." He said coldly. His eyes had found an invisible spot on the floor, which was more interesting than the mother and daughter standing before him. "A friend in walking into the hands of death and we need Kagome to save him. She could stay behind but then our chances of victory will be slim to none."
Kagome didn't register the sentences he spoke. Who was dying? What was going on?
"What...?" She asked him. Inuyasha's blank face contorted in pain as he recalled the details of his best friend's peril.
"Miroku's curse has caught up to him. We move for Naraku's castle tomorrow at the break of dawn under Rei's guidance. Sesshomarou is helping us and Rei will try to get Kouga on our side too. In about three to four days time, we either win or lose. Without you...we lose."
"No matter what you say, my daughter is not going." Mama said resolutely but frowned when she realized that neither of the teens had heard her.
"How... how long has Miroku...?" Kagome asked.
"Since I died. The snake demon's venom killed me when the same venom has been eating away at his hand for months. The days when he disappeared he was trying to get it repaired. It seems nothing works. Our only option is to kill Naraku as soon as possible."
"And we have Sesshomarou's help. How? Why?" Kagome had forgotten the presence of the adult in the room and she went into battle strategist mode.
"Rei has the ability to shift people's thoughts. She used this on Sesshomarou and then got him to help me so that he could have the pleasure of killing me later."
"I see."
"You are the only miko who Naraku fears. We need you to come fight."
Kagome was getting worried. She didn't hear what he said, only that he still hadn't looked at her. With one forceful tug she ripped her hand away from her mother's and made her way to her mate.
She took his hands in hers, noting that even though the self-inflicted wounds had healed already, the blood was still making his hands slippery.
"You know I love you, right?" She said to him. His ears perked up instantly and he looked at her with his golden gaze. The colour was back and now they were filled with unimaginable happiness.
"I love you too." He leaned down a bit to capture her lips in a soft and caring kiss but it was cut short when her mother threw the door open and stormed past them.
Now on with the review responses:
AmberEyesCryptChick: Heh heh heh.... I think she just got meaner.
Wolfpack4: You are right; I do love playing with the reader's emotions. And believe me you have no idea how Kagome's visions come true.
Sakura: Thanx a lot. I hope you liked this chapter.
Miriam: Maybe....
Linkinpark rox: Thanx for the encouragement!
Kougagurl666: Thank you!!!!!
Nick Hiryu: Whoa there...calm down!! I just love enthusiastic reviewers. :D
YoYoJo: Thanx a lot!!!!
PrincessSerenity88: Well, in this fic her mother is drifting between what is good for her daughter and what she thinks will keep her happy. She wants both for her and so she keeps shifting to and fro. Read my A/N at the end if you wanna know more about what I am doing with Kag's mum. Thanx for reviewing!!!!
Marsha a.k.a. Inuyasha: I guess I'll have to change your opinion about Rei then.... ::Snickers::
Moovache: Wow!!! You are really insightful. The thing about Kagome's mum shifting personalities is apparent in this chapter too. Your review made me realize that I had shifted her thoughts around and hence I made it even clearer. Read my A/N at the end to find out more.
Sesshomarugurl: Sorry if I got you confused.... I have a knack for writing in such a way that people don't always get it. Now that I reread my chapters (it took a lot of getting used to) I manage to clear out most of the problems. Just let me know if you have any questions and I'll be happy to address them...unless it reveals the plot; then I'll keep quiet!!!!!
Alex: Don't worry...I'll soon have a chapter which will be more or less dedicated to Miroku and Sango. I know I have kind of neglected them in the story even though Miroku plays a huge role. We'll see how it goes...
NefCanuck: I am glad you approve. That was my first lemon...if you can call it that. Thanx again!!!!
Fireball: LOL!!!! Sorry about the typo...I was referring to Miroku when I talked about the questioning thing. It is actually supposed to go like:
"He shifted his wait from one foot to another under her intense gaze."
Thanx for letting me know abt that mistake.
Live-4-Evil: Thanx for the website. It is really nice... and it has Japanese letters too!!!!! they are sooo pretty.
Miss. Kagosha: Well... I hope you liked this one!!!!
Princess Pen: This story is coming to a close.... But I am going to have apart two and then we'll answer all you questions!!!!!!
Arina: Just wait and see.... you are sooooo gonna kill me. ::snickers:: ::cackles evilly::
Thanx a lot for all the reviews... I cannot tell you how much I love you guys!!!!!
A/N: I have noticed that Kagome's mum looks really mean and I understand that. I am trying to portray her somewhat on my own mum (I am NOT saying that my mum is mean – I love her a lot) and I asked my mum how she would react and she told me this. I also asked her if I was to go somewhere dangerous where this guy would be the only one who could protect me and she said that she would hold a soft spot for him but refuse to allow any kind of relationship that could possibly damage my future.
Kag's mum knows that Inuyasha is the only one who can protect her and she also knows that he loves her a lot. That's why she was nice to him in the kitchen scene. But when she found that they were mated.... She kind of flipped. (I come from a background where women losing their virginity before marriage is considered very wrong and the punishment is severe... often resulting in isolation in order to protect the family name, so I suspect her family to be at least mildly in that direction if not so extreme. And the fact that she lives in a shrine doesn't help change my views at all).
To conclude, Kagome's mother is fine with Inuyasha as long as he remains her protector and friend nothing more. A few reasons why she doesn't want him with her daughter are as follows:
-He is not human...at least not fully.
-He lives 500 years into the past.
-He is absolutely oblivious of Kagome's time and hence if he decides to live in the modern era he will only end up frustrated and unhappy.
-The only way they can happy together is if Kagome moves to the feudal era and that would take her daughter away from her.
So you see...I am trying to be a mother when I am only 18.... Not as easy as one might think.
See ya till next time.
On by the way, I may not be able to update for a loooong time coz see my cousin's moving in and he's going to use the computer for work and I may hardly get enough time to check my email. I will start updating again when I get my laptop and I move to University. You can expect the next chapter around the first week of September if not earlier. Very sorry for leaving you hanging... Thanking you again!!!!!
Till we meet again (in the figurative way... I don't think I can travel all over the world trying to track you guys... I'm rambling now aren't I? I think I should sleep.)