Age of the White Dawn
Chapter 12: Don't Let me Go Back
It was a rhythm, a steady slapping sound that bounced brashly off the metallic walls of the penuvoi; the sound of flesh against flesh. For a while it was the only sound, besides the low humming of the penuvoi itself, that filled the room, but then a silvery laugh rung out, its innocent quality strangely intensified by the giggling snort at the end.
"I would never have thought," Kagome chortled, "that it would take the great Inu Yasha so long to learn how to play a clapping game." She laughed even harder at the utter look of concentration on his face.
The pair sat knee to knee with each other right under the only window in the room, and had been clapping, or attempting to in Inu Yasha's case, for the pass fifteen minutes. Earlier, Kagome had tried to engage Inu Yasha in a deep, personality revealing conversation about shoe tongues, but all he seemed to want to do was sleep. After a minute of staring intensely at his back, her boredom was still not satiated; she then decided to use her wonderful powers of persuasion (with a little help of the s-word) and convinced him to play a little game with her.
"Shut it," Inu Yasha scowled, slapping Kagome's hands a little harder then he should've. She winced as pain lanced through the cut on her palm but gave no other indication that he had hurt her, and it wasn't like Inu Yasha was paying attention any way.
"And why the hell would I bother to learn a stupid game like this," he ranted on, "It's not like human children ever played with me when I was younger."
Kagome's eyes widened, "Do you mean that—"
"Is this all we do in a clapping game," Inu Yasha cut in, "clap?"
She sighed at his oh-so-subtle attempt at changing the subject, mentally deciding to ask him about it later.
"Of course not," she giggled, "Now that you got the clapping down, we can sing."
Inu Yasha stiffened and almost stopped clapping, "Singing? You never said any thing about singing!" The alarm was comically evident in his voice.
She stared curiously at him for a second, then broke out in to an evil smile, "Inu Yasha," she teased, "You don't know how to sing, do you?"
"What? I never—"
"Dooo you?" she asked gleefully.
"I-er-well. Feh! This is stupid." His scowl deepened, and he stopped clapping to cross his arms over his chest.
"Oh, don't be like that," she coaxed in her most endearing voice, "Here, I'll just sing and all you'll have to do is move your hands. Please? I'm so bored." Her hands were poised as if to start clapping again and she looked up wide-eyed at him, her lower lip protruding slightly like a puppies. 'C'mon, no one can resist the puppy-look,' she mentally chanted. He shifted and uncomfortably and let out an annoyed growl, 'Yes! I win!'
"Hmph, whatever," he grudgingly agreed, clapping his hands together and then meeting Kagome's right hand with is left and her left with his right like she had instructed him to do. 'Stupid wench, forcing me to play her dumb clapping game. I'm just doing it so she'll shut up, yeah that's it. …this is actually not that bad…' The corner of his lips lifted slightly in a small smirk.
Kagome was sifting through childhood memories of playing clapping games outside in the courtyard, or late at night under the covers, trying to remember the song she had sung, when Inu Yasha's amused smirk grabbed her attention.
"What's so funny?"
"Eh? Oh," his look of surprise quickly turned into one of annoyance, "Nothing. Just sing already."
"What?"
"You heard me, wench. Sing."
"Do you want me to roll over while I'm at it," she muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm.
"Well if you really want to…"
"No, that's okay."
"You sure?"
She ignored him and cleared her throat dramatically,
"Mail man, mail man
do your duty
here comes the lady with the
fat, fat, buty.
She can do the pom pom,
She can do the twist,
But what she likes most is to
Kiss, kiss, kiss!" Kagome sang, unaffected by the horrendous/rather rude content of the lyrics. Inu Yasha couldn't hold back a smirk; he never expected to hear Kagome sing the phrase "fat, fat, buty" with such…his smirk widened…feeling. Of course, he didn't expect to be the one blushing madly when she loudly chanted the word 'kiss.' Fortunately he was saved from any further embarrassing thoughts by the aforementioned schoolgirl, who enthusiastically began another pointless song,
"Ms. Susie had a steamboat,
the steamboat had a bell,
the steamboat went to heaven,
Ms. Susie went to…
Hello operator,
Please give me number nine,
And if you disconnect me,
I'll kick you from behind…
The 'fridgerator
There lay a piece of glass
Ms. Susie sat upon it
And broke her little
Ask me no more questions
Tell me no more lies—ow!" Kagome winced, the cut beginning to ache again.
"What's wrong?" Inu Yasha slowly stopped clapping and looked at her in…concern?
She shook her head, "Oh, it's nothing. My palm just hurts a little," she answered breezily, "Let's start clapping again." Clapping her hands together, she immediately regretted it when she felt another twinge of pain.
Grimacing, Kagome automatically drew her hand back to cradle against her chest, but before she could do so, Inu Yasha's clawed hand shot out and encircled her wrist.
'What the?' Her breath caught in her throat and an electric jolt crackled through her at the feeling of his cool, calloused hand. Frowning, partially in annoyance, mainly in confusion, she snapped her gaze upwards to meet his…and promptly experienced another starting jolt. 'Oh my…'
This wasn't like those other times when their eyes met and held for a few seconds. This was a steady gaze that held forever but not nearly long enough, spoke volumes but nothing at all…or it would have it any of that made sense, which it didn't. Kind of like how the whole situation made no sense. What was Inu Yasha doing? Only one way to find out.
"What do you think you're doing?" she asked, face aflame. He didn't reply, only drew her hand closer.
"You're bleeding," he state after a moment of inspection.
"Hm? Oh," she tore her eyes away from his face long enough to notice that the cloth she had tied around her palm was now wet with blood. "I guess all that clapping must've re-opened the cut."
An awkward silence followed her comment, and Kagome was starting to slowly draw her hand away when Inu Yasha sighed and began to unbind her makeshift bandage. Silently, he replaced the soiled rag with a fresh piece of cloth ripped from the inner layer of his haori. As he gently wrapped the cloth about her palm, eyes focused on her hands, she allowed her gaze to wander about his face, finally resting on his lips. He had really nice lips. They weren't too big, but thin and uptight either; they were almost pouty.
'They'd be warm,' she thought dreamily…wait, what?! She mentally slapped herself…hard. 'Gah! Where'd that come from?'
Almost gagging with embarrassment, she looked shyly downwards, her black lashes emphasizing her creamy skin and rose-tinged cheeks. When she finally dared to look up, Inu Yasha had finished re-bandaging her hand and was looking at her with the utmost serious expression on his face.
Their eyes met again and Kagome almost thought she saw his expression soften, but she thought otherwise when he smirked roguishly at her and carefully placed her hand on her lap.
"Er," she looked down at her hand, "Thanks."
"No problem, I guess," he said, cheeks flushing in uncharacteristic embarrassment. In attempt to lighten the slightly intense mood, she grinned and gave his shoulder and awkward, supposedly playful slap,
"Where'd you learn that?"
He gave her an odd look, "Uh, learn what?"
"This!" She waved her neatly bandaged hand in front of his face.
"Oh that?" Inu Yasha asked with arrogant nonchalance, "I learned that ages ago. I've done it millions of times before." He crossed his arms and smirked, his pose filled to the brim with cockiness.
Kagome raised her eyebrow and mimicked his pose, "Oh really?"
"Yeah," his expression suddenly darkened, "really."
Once again she was confused. What was up that little mood swing? 'Sure is a moody guy,' she grumbled to herself.
"Really?" she repeated, fixing the hanyou with an inescapable look of concern while unconsciously scooting a little closer.
"Er, really…" he answered, not quite catching, let alone understanding, her questioning tone. When she still didn't look away his ears began to twitch in irritation,
"Look wench, I don't—oomph!"
The penuvoi had lurched forward, sending Kagome flying face-first into Inu Yasha's chest, which, in turn, resulted in him being knocked onto his back. She internally groaned. Great, another embarrassing situation. To make matters worse, neither of them seemed willing to move and she knew the longer they stayed in their rather compromising position, the more embarrassing it would be when they did. She gave another mental sigh…she seemed to be going that a lot lately.
'Ah well,' a small voice inside of her comforted, then suggested wickedly, 'Might as well enjoy the situation while you can!'
Kagome breathed in angrily, about to scold the mysterious voice, but had to resist the urge to sigh out loud instead. Wow. He smelled good. Not like the girly, flowery scents she usually found appealing, but smoky, like burning driftwood and something she couldn't quite describe in words. She breathed in again, savoring that faint, elusive scent and was more then surprised to hear Inu Yasha doing the same. So this is what he meant by a person's special smell.
Deep girlish laughter boomed throughout the room, destroying the delicate, dazed, atmosphere.
"So, let me get this straight: you guys sniff each other in lieu of a kiss?" Sango snickered.
Kagome eeped and the red-faced pair flew apart, Inu Yasha to sulk in the corner and Kagome over to a laughing Sango's side.
"Sango," Kagome smiled, tucking her hair behind her ear nervously, "How long were you watching there?"
"Oh, long enough to see you fall into his chest and get a good look at his panicked expression."
"Oh." Said Kagome quietly. Why did she suddenly feel disappointed?
"And to see him put his arms around you."
"He did what?"
There was a snort from the corner of the room.
"Er…I mean, I don't know what you're talking about Sango," Kagome sniffed, giving Sango a look that clearly said, 'Tell you later.' She nodded in understanding then pointed to the alter.
"Your turn."
"Oh yeah…So, do I just stick my hand in the gel stuff and think about the Snowy Pine Inn?"
"Yeah."
"Sounds easy."
"That's because it is," she smiled, before sauntering over to Inu Yasha, who ignored her presence. She shrugged and sat as far away from him as possible.
Kagome giggled and cast one last fond look in the scowling hanyou's direction then pushed her hands into the gel.
She closed her eyes and breathed in slowly, feeling the thick, cool, gel ooze slickly over her splayed fingers. Taking another deep breath, she focused on the window, 'The Snowy Pine Inn, we want to go to the Snowy Pine Inn.'
Her determined gaze faltered; the last of her hand had become immersed by the gel and her eyelids were feeling so heavy, and were failing to stay up…she didn't even have time to gasp when she was abruptly dragged downwards.
THUMP
"Ugh," Kagome groaned loudly, eyes still scrunched shut. Not quite ready to visually face her newest, probably dangerous situation, she decided to just lie there for a few more minutes in ignorant bliss. Yes, from what she could tell she was lying down, unless she was somehow floating in air, which was impossible since just became conscious of the sensation of grass brushing against her fingertips.
Another groan escaped her throat. If she was lying in grass that definitely confirmed that she was not in the Yedlad desert with Inu Yasha and Sango any more. Then where was she? She gasped, a horrible thought presenting itself to her: What if Naraku had her? What if he and his pale, squishy hands were right next to her?
Her eyes flew open in terror. No. There was no Naraku. As soon as her eyes opened and she saw the sky and the tall blades of grass waving lazily above her, she knew he couldn't possibly be near; the atmosphere was too tranquil. She highly doubted he could survive on such a warm, breezy day with the smell of sweet dry grass wafting about them. 'He'd probably end up melting,' she mused with a snort.
"Hey bitch, what're you doing just lying there?"
Wait, she knew that voice…
Bolting upright she craned her neck upwards and grinned at the inu hanyou towering to her left.
"Inu Yasha."
He gave her a strange look, "What's wrong with you Kikyo?"
"Kikyo? No, I'm not—" she chanced to look downwards and paused, something tightening in her chest. Her clothes, what was she wearing?
It looked like a wedding dress, white, smooth, airy; so much more modest then her uniform. It flowed regally about her shoulders, molding to the curve of her hips before flowing out again. It was something she would rather be caught dead in. Maybe she was turning into Kikyo?
But no, she fingered her hair, her hair was still the same length, same style. What, for the love of Kami, was going on?
"Inu Yasha," she began softly, "I'm not Kikyo. I'm Kagome. Ka-go-me."
"Kagome?" He looked at her confusedly, then seemed to remember something. "So, you're Kagome."
"Huh?" She gulped. Was it her imagination, or was he wearing a very Naraku-like leer? Nervously, she bunched the silky material of her dress into her fist.
"Kikyo told me to watch out for you."
Her eye twitched. There! He looked like Naraku again!
To her horror, these "Naraku occurrences" became more and more frequent as his ranting became more and more insane. Eventually he stopped talking all together; he only leered at her, his face flickering back and forth between demented Inu Yasha and psycho Naraku, faster and faster until his face was just a blur of movement.
Making a retching sound, she brought her hands upward to cover her eyes when she vaguely made out the outline of a face in the chaotic blur that was neither Naraku nor Inu Yasha. It struggled for a while, but finally emerged from the blur and became fully visible: a gaunt, tired woman's face. Strands of black hair fell in her face, and she was weeping.
"Oh my baby," she sobbed, "my beautiful baby girl. I'm so sorry, so sorry. I'm sorry for the pain you will receive, I'm sorry for your sacrifice. I'm sorry for every tear you have and will shed, for every drop of blood you'll lose. God, I'm so sorry I'm not there when you need me most. Don't be afraid, I love you," her eyes suddenly widened in surprised and rested on Kagome before her face was sucked back into the maelstrom of faces from whence she came.
"No, Mama!" She called, reaching out weakly with a strangled cry. Pushing herself off the ground, she launched herself at Inu Yasha, his normal face back in place.
"Give her back," she choked, gripping the front of his haori tightly.
He just laughed and knocked her back. She landed on her hands and knees, her hands fisted into the dirt. …Dirt? She looked around and was only a little surprised to see that they were no longer in a summery field. They were on a ledge several feet above an impossible river of lava that occasionally spat upwards, showering white hot sparks onto their unprotected heads. It was a situation she was sure many would die to be in…yeah, right.
'Well at least I'm back in my uniform,' she thought numbly, watching Inu Yasha circle her through her bangs. His face was remained his, but there was definitely something wrong with him…well, other then him actually harming her that was. Two purple stripes ran across each cheek, his fangs were frighteningly larger, and his eyes were an alarming shade of red.
Without warning, he swooped down on her, grabbing her by the neck and holding her above his head. His claws bit into her neck, and she could feel warm liquid trickle down her neck and over the bruises she knew were forming.
"You thought you could trick me you fuckin whore," he snarled, "Thought you could take it away. Thought that I'd fall in…fall in…" his face fell, and his grip momentarily loosened around her throat. It tightened again full force after a minute, "Well I didn't. Did you hear me, I didn't!"
He threw his head back and gave an inhuman shriek that forced out the tears Kagome had been trying to hold back. They slid down her cheek, merging with the trickle of blood rolling down her neck and Inu Yasha's arm. She sniffed. This wasn't Inu Yasha. He'd never hurt her like this, he was rude, but not cruel.
As she felt herself being thrown angrily towards the edge of the ledge, she couldn't help quietly whimpering,
"Inu Yasha."
"…Kagome?!"
The latter was too busy clawing for something to hold onto to fully acknowledge that Inu Yasha had called her name. When she did, she was barely holding onto the edge of the ledge, looking uneasily down at the bubbling river of lava moving sluggishly below her.
"Inu Yasha!" She called again, this time in desperation. Just as her fingers lost their grip on the ledge, two clawed hands firmly grabbed her wrists. Looking up, her eyes locked with Inu Yasha's and she laughed and sobbed in relief. This was the Inu Yasha she knew. Those golden eyes looking worriedly down into her own could only belong to Inu Yasha. She wrapped her own fingers about his wrists.
"Hang on to me, don't let me fall," she whispered, "Don't let me go back." After she said it, it occurred to her how irrelevant her last request was, why did she even say it in the first place? She never got to pursue the matter, though. A jolt of pain suddenly shot through her chest, causing her to cry out and let go of his wrists.
Through the haze of pain she managed to feel herself falling to a certainly fiery, painful death, but she didn't care. All there was was pain. It infected her body, numbing yet hurting at the same time. She opened her mouth, but her voice cowered at the back of her throat. She couldn't speak, couldn't form a coherent thought. Nothing compared to the pain she was experiencing; even the agony of her premonition paled in comparison. Inu Yasha's sorrowful, apologetic face flashed into view, the crying woman's and finally, Naraku's: the pain intensified. Her eyes were rolling about, shivers shot up and down her spine. She wanted to die. Life didn't matter, just as long as the hurt stopped.
She opened her mouth and screamed.
A/N: Well that certainly was a cheery ending. Don't worry, plenty of fluff and stuff in the next chapter for all of you sappy fans. I'm a bit of a sucker for that stuff myself. In fact, I'm thinking up my next fic. It's going to be based on the chic flic of chic flicks, While You Were Sleeping. The only problem I have is deciding on who will be playing the "Lucy" of the story. Inu Yasha would be more ideal because Kagome has the big family and he's alone, blah blah blah. But then if the male and female roles trade, then he'll have to re-propose to Kikyo and yeah. I'm ranting. Oh, and muchos thanky-ness to all of you guys who reviewed, as usual, when I get reviews I run around the house giggling like mad so, keep them coming! Bwok. I'll shut up now, but not before I tell you all that my nails look like grapes and Kashmir just started playing on the radio! I'm off to turn up the volume, so be love because you are, tootles. ^_^