Age of the White Dawn
Chapter 15: To Let Go
Inu Yasha was an expert on death phrases. Hell, it was one of the few things he prided himself in. Of course, becoming a connoisseur in the art of menacing phrases wasn't easy. One had to be able to take it, as well as dish it out. As a rule, the more you took, the better you got, and considering how he'd been receiving death threats since he was three, he could confidently call himself an expert. He'd heard them all; some guy even had the nerve to claim that he'd someday turn him into a banana...but that's not the point. The point is that, so far in his life, only one usually meaningless phrase managed to throw him off and that was the banana threat (how would your react to that any way?). But now that Kagome had come along, she had easily upped the tally to three. The first phrase that threw him was the little, "I think your ears are cute" thing, while the second was the "let's play a game" one she just delivered. Then again he wasn't sure if the latter really counted since it creeped him out more then threw him off. He stiffened, brows suddenly furrowing...
This just wasn't right.
Such a simple phrase, used by small children every day, shouldn't be able to induce such anxiety in a person, especially a strong hanyou like himself. He glanced over at Kagome again, and barely contained a shiver; that grin was getting too scary.
Clearing his throat, he once again dawned his tough bravado and asked, his face conveying every and all expressions of disinterest,
"It's not like that clapping shit, is it?"
"Nope. It's totally different." The grin disappeared and was replaced by a kindly smile that left Inu Yasha feeling far from reassured.
"Okay," he said dubiously, "how do you play this game?"
"Truth or dare." Her voice was dramatically lowered, sounding eerily like the villain out of a low budget movie.
"Uh, okay. How do you play this truth or dare?"
"Truth or dare?"
"Huh?"
"Pick one," Kagome laughed.
"Huh? Oh! " He raised an eyebrow at her before shrugging, "Uh, dare I guess..." he trailed off, both eyes widening when he noticed the very un-Kagome-like way she was malevolently rubbing her hands together. Oookay, scary. Cue apocalyptic music now, please.
Catching his nervous eye, she once again treated him with her kindly smile...then cracked her knuckles.
"Oh shit."
What did he get himself in to?
He only cracked his knuckles before he opened a big can of whoop-ass. Gods, he hoped this wasn't an example of how he was rubbing off on her.
"Inu Yasha," Kagome hid a sinister smirk behind a sweet smile, finding immense pleasure at the wide-eyed apprehension she had provoked in him, "Inu Yasha, I dare you tooo dance for me."
His look of abject horror was priceless.
"What?! What kind of game is this? I'm not your fuckin monkey!"
"Make that sing and dance for me."
"What the hell? No!" He folded his arms over his chest and turned his back to her, displaying a stubborn streak that Kagome took delight in.
"But you have to," she sing-songed.
"Hmph. Make me."
"Do you mean that?"
He peered at her over his shoulder, "Go ahead. It'll be funny to see you try."
"If you insist."
"I d--"
"Sit."
SLAM
Kagome smiled brightly down at him, "Now, about that song."
He lifted his head from the Inu Yasha shaped impression in the mattress and gave a low growl,
"I hate you."
"Right back at you."
"No, I really hate you."
"Trying to change the subject, huh?"
He gave another growl and buried his face back into the mattress,
"Mmpf nopf any mph."
"What do you mean? You have to know some songs."
"Nmph."
She nudged at his shoulder with her toe, "You're exaggerating."
He rolled over onto his back, a smug smirk on his face, "I'm not. I don't know any song...oh damn," he propped himself up on his elbows, not looking disappointed in the least.
"I don't believe that. You must know 'I'm a little teapot' or something. Think harder," she ordered, taking her own advice and frowning in through.
As she went through her repertoire (A/N: Take that Wanlin!) of songs, she couldn't have hidden her evilly mischievous smile if she wanted to. The song was rather ancient, and hardly fit the situation, but was so utterly un-Inu Yasha, that he HAD to sing it. Her smile widened. Inu Yasha didn't stand a chance.
"I know a song you could sing."
Inu Yasha merely closed his eyes and yawned, "Do you? That's nice."
She glared at him before pursing her lips and crawling determinedly over to where he was sprawled. For the next few minutes, all that could heard was Kagome's harsh indiscernible whisperings into the seemingly inattentive Inu Yasha's ear. Halfway through her hushed rant his elbows gave out from under him, his eyes shot open and he began vehemently shaking his head.
"No," he protested loudly, "No. I refuse."
"I'll say the s-word."
"Damn you. Fine." He grumbled in defeat.
Slowly, like an arthritic-ridden old man, he pushed himself off the bed and shuffled in front of the beaming Kagome. With his arms crossed, eyes on his feet and a scowl on his face, he began muttering something under his breath.
"Wait, wait! I didn't quite catch that, can you start over?" Kagome cupped her ear and pulled her face into one of mock interest.
"Why-- *mumble mumble* Baby-- *mumble mumble* You--"
"A little louder," she grinned.
Looking to tall the world as if he was about to five into a pit of venomous hanyou-eating pigs, he took a deep breath and sand,
"Why do you build me up?
Buttercup baby just to let me down,
and messme around
and then worst of all..."
Kagome smothered a giggle. Okay, he was more like muttering with melody, but him actually agreeing to the song was out of character enough. Clapping her hands in delight, she called out,
'You need to get into it more, Inu Yasha. You know, use those hips."
Reluctantly he began swinging his arms back and forth, and stiffly sashaying his butt from side to side, a sour look on his face. On the whole, he could've easily been mistaken for a constipated gorilla.
"You never call baby
When you say you will
But I love you still."
Kagome almost panicked when Inu Yasha began convulsing. Seconds later she came to the horrible conclusion that he was actually getting into the song and had attempted to sexily ungulate his hips. (A/N: ooc? Yes. Necessary? No. Scarring? Very.)
"I need you
More than anyone, darling
Know that I have from the start...
So build me up
Buttercup, don't break
my heart...okay there, can I stop now?" He ground out, blushing a bright red that would put any strawberry to shame.
She stared blankly at him, still trying to process everything that had just happened. Now, should she just explode with disgusted laughter or point out that he had spoken the last part of the song?
"Well bitch?
She shook her head, choosing the third option of remaining silent.
He copied her, "What the hell does that mean?"
Finding her voice again she patiently explained, "It means you're not done yet."
"Yes I am. I sang for you, wench."
"And I'm very touched, but you forgot the second part of the dare."
"And that is?"
"You have to sing and dance for me, remember?"
"Oh yeah...damn." He let his eyes drop down to his hands for a moment before flicking them upwards to meet with hers; the mischievous gleam he struggled to keep from dancing conspicuously in his eye didn't go unnoticed.
"A-aren't you going to get started?" She demanded nervously, becoming even more so when she saw the beginnings of an evil smirk. Not answering her question, he once again shuffled out in front of Kagome, but instead of displaying his scowl of death, he wore a small smirk on his lips and an intense look in his eyes that had Kagome choking on her voice. With one hand casually in the pocket of his haori, he held the other one out to her ,
"C'mon wench."
"Inu Yasha?"
"Well you said dance, right?" The corner of his lips quirked into a small, roguishly charming smile.
"R-right," she affirmed, looking from his eyes to his out-stretched hand.
"What are you just gaping around for, then? Let's dance."
She looked back up into his eyes and finally smiled, "Yeah, let's go."
It was still with hesitance that she placed her hand, so small in comparison, into his; but she felt somewhat reassured, if only a little surprised, when he gently laced his fingers through hers. Of course, she couldn't help but quickly glance at his face to make sure it WAS Inu Yasha she was dancing with and not some demented copy of him, and ended up rolling her eyes with relief once she caught sight of his confidently smirking, yet flushing face.
Pulling her up onto her feet, he critically looked her up and down and stated haughtily, "You've never danced before, have you wench?"
"Have you?
"Of course."
"Then me too."
"You really suck at lying."
"So? Anyway, I attended an all girl's school, so give me a break. Where did a "tough guy," like you, learn how to dance?"
"That's a dumb excuse you have."
"At least I have an excuse and am not trying to change the subject."
He glared at her, "Are you going to let me teach you how to dance or not?"
Kagome's eyes widened in surprise, "You're going to teach me how to dance?"
"No, I just pulled you up here for the hell of it."
"Um...are you sure you want to teach me how to dance? I don't have much experience in that kind of thing. I'll probably end up killing your feet."
"Feh, maybe you'd kill some human boy's feet, but I told you already, I'm a lot stronger then you weak humans," he growled, somehow unnerved at the thought of her dancing with some other boy...he'd probably be named Hojo or some other dumb name like that.
"...Inu Yasha are you okay? You're kind of...crushing...my hand..."
"Wha? Oh, I'm fine," he snapped, loosening his vice-like grip, but not entirely letting go. Succeeding at forcing down the flush rising to his cheeks he continued, in a very scholarly fashion, I might add,
"Now, dancing my way is real simple. You just have to...well...submit...not like I'm your king and everything, of course I wouldn't really mind that, but er...well...just--just follow me wench."
Kagome, who had gotten lost at the whole "submit" part, just stared confusedly at him,
"Follow? What do you mean?"
"Shut up, and you'll see," he smirked, positioning her hand on his shoulder and sliding his arm around her waist. Momentarily marveling at how light she felt, he began to guide her in a sloppy oval about the room.
"Uh, Inu Yasha," she said, "are you sure this is dancing? We're kind of just doing a swaying-walking thing."
He sighed, wincing as she stepped on his foot for what had to be the fifth time. "Well, we'd be doing more then swaying-walking if you didn't keep on stepping on my damn foot."
"Sorry. I guess I'm not very good at this, huh?" She apologized sadly.
He made a sound that was a mix of a sigh and a growl, "Don't be stupid. You'd be good if you weren't so damn stubborn."
"And what that's supposed to mean?" Her sadness had evaporated and was replaced by anger, which she proceeded to vent through an energetic stomp on his foot.
"It means," he scowled, resorting to slowly dancing in circles, "that you're not submitting."
"Submitting? You were one of those little kids who wanted to be a dictator when they grew up, weren't you?"
"No, not like that stupid. You're not--not," he struggled for the right word, stopping their dance all together, "You're not letting go."
"Letting go of what?"
He ran a clawed hand through his hair in frustration; frustrated not because of Kagome, but because he couldn't find an accurate way of describing the way he danced,
"When you let go you need to just relax, loosen up, you know...let go."
She shook her head, "I still don't get it."
What was it that Inu Yasha was trying to tell her any way? Couldn't he just teach it to her? Gosh, she never expected dancing to be this hard.
"Do you trust me?" He asked suddenly.
Caught off guard, she just blinked at him, "Wha--"
"Just answer the question. Do you trust me, Kagome?"
She looked curiously up into his face, "Of course I do, but what does that have to do with--"
He silently interrupted her by once again snaking his arm about her waist and positioning her hand on his shoulder. Okay, she was really confused.
"Inu Yasha what are--"
"Show me."
"...beg pardon?"
"Show me you trust me."
"Wait, how--"
To her annoyance he didn't wait for her to finish her question, instead he once again began to do the swaying-walk thing again. Only this time around, she became acutely aware of his hand applying a soft pressure to her right side before he, giving no other warning, swung her to the left. Still not quite sure what was going on, she once again felt that small pressure, except on her left, so she prepared herself to be swung to the right. Naturally she was surprised when she was swung to the left, so much that she actually stumbled on her own feet. Smirking Inu Yasha steadied her and tsked,
"Nuh-uh-uh. You anticipated the move. Just relax. Trust me."
Nodding, she concentrated and this time when she felt him apply pressure to her right, she merely loosened her body and allowed him to lead her wherever he chose. It continued in this fashion, dancing in circles then randomly changing directions, until it slowly evolved into dancing in triangles, squares, stars and getting twirled and dipped and spun off her feet.
As he dipped then immediately twirled her, the realization of what Inu Yasha had been trying to explain hit her like a wet fish. She had just managed to unlock the secret to Inu Ysaha's way of dancing. The joy of her realization spread across her face so fast, that even he couldn't help smirking at her a little. Finally, she got it.
"I don't need to know how to dance, do I?" she stated excitedly, "I just need to allow you to lead me, right?"
"Yeah. You just need to submit," he sniffed loftily, twirling her again.
"So basically you do the dancing and I make us look good," she teased slyly.
He looked down his nose at her, "Wrong. I do all the work AND make us look good. You're just kind of there."
"Like the icing on a cake?"
"Nope," he dipped her, "more like the fork you eat it with."
"I should be angry about that obviously false comment, but I think I'll let it pass. I'm in such a good mood, that I can do anything."
"You mean that?" He mimicked her from their earlier conversation.
"Yup. Go ahead and attempt to throw me off, it'll be fun to see you try."
"Oh yeah, bitch? Don't say I didn't warn you," he smirked. With that said, he gave up all pretenses of keeping their dance to even a ghost of a waltz and started off on a dance of sheer improvisation. He swept her across the room, doing a series of turns and twirls in hopes of throwing her off and making her stumble. To his delight--erm, I mean, disappointment, she never stumbled once. She seemed to have come to a full understanding of his way of dancing, and with just the softest of touches he could make her spin or twirl or sway, a fact that filled him with a strange sort of euphoria. His feet seemed to have a mind of their own and they were swirling gaily about the room in a dance that was utterly different then the uniformed steps they were doing earlier.
The pair appeared to be floating magically around the moonlit room, Kagome occasionally laughing out when she was unexpectedly twirled. And how could she not laugh? The air was so thick with laughter and happiness, one couldn't help but "let go" and get high off the inebriating atmosphere. Even Inu Yasha let a chortle or two slip, but he was too busy reveling in the strange, but not unwelcome, feeling of whole-ness he was experiencing. The gnawing empty pain he wasn't even aware he possessed was gone and he found himself growing increasingly comfortable. He didn't even have to think about anything. Sure, he had to admit that he and Kagome were both acting a lot closer and downright affection at times, but he knew she knew that they would both pretend nothing had happened as soon as the sun came out. But at the moment there was no sun. There was no Kikyo, no jewel, no sins he was about to commit. At the moment, his world consisted of Kagome, the moon, the stars, and him. And he was, in his own gruff way, happy.
Kagome shared Inu Yasha's feelings of complete contentment and happiness with the world. She had, as he had so vaguely described, let go, and she was dancing on air. There was a delicious, unusual warmth in her chest that was threatening to explode any moment, and yet she didn't want it to. She wanted to keep it there, to glow safe deep within her bosom where no one, especially Inu Yasha, would see it. Inu Yasha. He certainly was acting different that night. She may have been an oracle, but she would never have dreamed that she would one night find herself dancing in his arms with the moon and the stars as their only source of light...
Great, now she really did feel like she was rendezvousing with her secret lover. She blushed. Lover? No, definitely not Inu Yasha. He was coarse, and crude and mean while her friends said a lover should be kind and polite and loving. But then again, he wasn't always mean. He always managed to go out of his way to make her stop crying, and he DID find her water that one time. Plus she trusted him with her very life. Wasn't trust, especially a deep trust like hers, the basis of every relationship? Relationship?! She blushed even more; when did relationship get into the picture? Could she actually be falling for--but that would be insane. Absurd. 'I refuse to think about something so silly, and so impossible,' she announced to herself with a decided nod, choosing instead to focus on how safe she felt and the strong, gentle way his hand rested on the small of her back.
And so the minutes passed and they continued dancing airily about the room until Inu Yasha did his finishing move of catching her about the waist and twirling her onto the bed where she flopped backwards, breathless. He joined her moments later.
"You do know," she panted, looking up at the ceiling, "that I said you had to dance FOR me, now WITH me?" She rolled over onto her side and laughed at the horror-stricken stare he was giving the ceiling, "But I think that little dancing lesson will have to do."
"Good," he said, obviously relieved, "Now, my turn. I dare you to--"
"Nooope!" She laughed, clapping her hand over his mouth. They both froze at the simple action, Kagome because she realized covering a guy's mouth was not like covering a girl's mouth, and Inu Yasha because he didn't usually allow people to live after they touched his face, yet he found himself not minding. Seconds of embarrassed silence ticked by until they both simultaneously decided to do something. Kagome pulled her hand away and fisted it over her chest while Inu Yasha...well...
"Ew! You were going to lick my hand?"
He eyed her angrily, tongue still sticking out, "Better then biting it right?" At Kagome's peeved expression he hurried on, "but what about that dare, huh? I dare you to--"
"No, no! You can't just go around daring me to do stuff. First you have to ask me truth or dare, and then I get to pick one," she instructed as if it were the most obvious thing to do.
"Fine," he huffed, "Truth or dare, bitch?" 'Pick dare, pick dare, pick dare...'
"Hm...I pick da--truth," she smiled impishly at him.
"Dammit. Now what?"
"Ask me any question, and I'll have to answer it truthfully."
"And how do I know you're telling the truth?"
"I have to."
"Who says?"
"The gods."
"Bullshit."
"Well, you'll just have to trust me then."
He snapped his head around to gaze at her, an unreadable expression on his face.
"...what?"
"N-nothing."
"Uh, okay then. Ask away."
"Okay, hm..." he stroked his chin dramatically, ears flattened against his head in thought. "Why have you stayed in that school of yours your whole life instead of living at home with your dad or aunt, like humans normally do?"
Kagome rolled onto her back and joined In Yasha at starting at the ceiling, leaning her legs against the wall, "That's because I don't have a dad or an aunt like 'humans normally do.' Both my parents are dead." She stated quietly without, Inu Yasha noted, the faintest trace of bitterness in her voice.
"Sorry," he mumbled.
"Not your fault," she half-smiled, "They found me when I was a baby lying in a basket at the front of the school. I never knew my parents. Well actually, the seers tried to read me when I was a baby and apparently my dad was some merchant named Onigumo, but he got killed by a bandit or something," she shrugged carelessly, turning her head to face Inu Yasha who had been looking thoughtfully at her profile. "My turn."
"Feh," he turned back to the ceiling.
"So, truth or dare?"
"Do you really think I'd pick dare again, wench?"
"Well it was worth a try."
"Just ask the question."
"Okay then, what's your favorite color."
"Red. My turn! Truth or dare?"
"Truth, of course."
"Damn. Okay, what's YOUR favorite color?"
"Hey, you stole my question! It's blue by the way. My turn. Truth or dare?"
"Keh, truth."
She turned to face him, a serious expression on her face. "Do I really smell bad?"
He refused to meet her gaze as he grudgingly admitted, "No. Y-you actually smell kind of good."
"Oh," she flushed, looking, once again, at the ceiling. "Your turn."
"I know. Truth or dare?"
"Truth."
"Hmph, fine. Uh...where'd you get the cat?"
"Oh, Mr. Toodles? (A/N: DUH!!) Have you seen him around lately? Er, any way, back to the question. This peddler came by the school one day, and his cat just had some babies. I wanted one small gray one really bad, but I only had a button and a ribbon to trade for it," she laughed fondly at the memory. "Any way, the peddler went away, but an hour later I walked back up to my dorm and found that same gray kitten waiting for me on my bed."
She folded her hands over her stomach, "My turn. Truth or truth?"
"Huh? But I thought you said this game was called truth or dare?"
"Well all we seemed to be picking was truth, so..."
"Okay I get it. I pick truth."
"I wouldn't have guessed," she smiled at him. He returned it with a small smile of his own, knowing she wouldn't be able to see it through the dark, "So...Inu Yasha...um...what did you mean in the penuvoi when you said human children didn't play with you?"
"You still remember that?"
"Answer the question."
"Don't boss me around bitch."
"Don't change the subject, jerk."
"Fine. When I was a pup the little human brats in the village I stayed at weren't allowed to play with me. And if they did it was to use me to improve their rock-throwing skills." He smirked bitterly, ears drooping.
"Oh my gosh, that's horrible! Why would they do that? Why didn't their parents stop them?" she gasped, appalled.
Inu Yasha turned to her in surprise, "Because of these," he pointed to his ears.
"Why? They're so cute," she exclaimed. He could sense she was just itching to touch his ears, so he swiftly changed the subject.
"Truth or truth?"
"Huh? Oh," she tapped her finger thoughtfully against her lips, "I piiick truth."
"What was the last part of your premonition?"
Her shoulders tensed and it was amazing they didn't suffer whiplash from such a sudden change of the atmosphere.
'W-what makes you think there's a second part to it?"
"You suck at lying."
"I try," she smiled feebly, withering at the expectant glare he was giving her. "Okay, okay. Fine. I'll talk." Sitting up, she curled up into a little ball and began,
" If you don't remember, I left off on the part when I asked what would happen if I chose not to find the Shikon no Tama. Any way, after I asked the question the voices began doing their chanting thing again and suddenly a howling wind swoops down on me, and I'm flying towards the top of the mountain. And it wasn't the pleasant, 'ooh, I have wings, how cool' kind of freedom, it was the 'holy crap I have no control where I'm going' kind of flying. I landed kinda heavily on the very peak of the mountain, right next to this crumbling stone alter. Shakily, I stood up and made my way towards it and soon discovered that in comparison to everything else on top of that god-forsaken mountain, it was really, really warm. My hands were blue with cold, so of course I wanted to warm them. I held my hands over the alter and that's when I noticed that dangling from my right hand was the Shikon no Tama itself! I—I could actually feel the power throbbing from it." The latter was stated in a reverently hushed voice.
"So, I have the Shikon and I'm holding it above the alter, and there's blood dripping from a cut on my palm…the cut that Naraku just gave me actually. Uh, yeah, the blood's dripping from my palm onto the jewel, but the jewel just seems to suck it all up and even begins craving for more. Suddenly a man, a boy, with silver hair and golden eyes skulks out from the shadows, his clothes all black. Without a word he points to my left, and I see a girl with black hair dressed in red, and three other shadowy figures that I don't recognize but I know they're dear to me. They're all lying a pool of blood with their wrists and necks slit, and small designs scratched onto their faces. When I turn back to the silver-haired boy it occurs to me that his clothes aren't really black. No, his clothes have soaked up so much blood that they appear black." She hugged her knees, pretending not to see the look of horror that momentarily flit across Inu Yasha's face.
"At first I wanted to scream at him, hurt him, you know, do something to pay him back. But all I could do is cry and clutch the jewel, even though it's burning my hand. All of a sudden he, the boy he, erm, kind of grabs my chin and eh, kisses me. My lips began to burn like my hand when out of no where someone whispers, 'Vengence, love, hate, death, war, pain, love…' and those words seem to be a signal to someone because in a flash I'm drowning in a salty sea of tears. I—I want to scream, of course, but still, all I can do is quietly sob. Y—the boy, put his arms around me and I thought he was comforting me. Slowly he started hugging me tighter and tighter until I couldn't breath and every part of my skin he touched burned even more. And then something strange happened, well, stranger then everything else. I don't know why, but I automatically put my palms on his cheeks and look straight into his eyes, as if I was saying good bye and erm…kissed him. Something black flew into my stomach while at the same time the boy shrieked and with a woman's voice began to chant with a million voices, and his eyes were no longer gold but purple and, and…" she trailed off, too busy blinking back tears.
"And?" he prompted, not fully aware that throughout her narration he had been steadily leaning closer to her.
"And," She took a deep breath, "And then he took the Shikon no Tama, put it on a chain and said it was an offering to the goddess. Then he touched my lips and everything hurt like there was no tomorrow, truth or truth Inu Yasha?" She hurried through the explanation, asking a question at the end to put a stopper on the subject as well as confirm a just-discovered suspicion.
"Truth."
She rolled over onto her stomach, not caring that she was practically right under his nose. Eyes glazed with unshed tears, she looked accusingly up into his face, "What are you planning to do with the jewel once we find it?"
He grimaced and looked away, "Become a full youkai."
"What?" She should've known there was a reason behind Inu Yasha "selflessly helping" her on her quest.
"I said I'm gonna become a fucking whole youkai, dammit!" He stood up on the bed and looked almost desperately down at her upturned face, "I'm strong, hell, I know that. But with the jewel I can become even stronger. I can became the strongest youkai ever, even stronger then my father. I can avenge Kikyo's death, avenge my mother's death, and no one will dare throw rocks at me or sneer at me. I'll belong somewhere. I'll belong with the strong, no I'll be the king of the strong."
Kagome stood up too and glared angrily at him, "So what are you planning to do Inu Yasha? Make me do all the dirty work and then steal the jewel from me? You were just going to leave me?! After I told you, only you for god's sakes, my whole premonition? After everything in general?"
"Shit, I don't want to! You think I want to take the jewel from you? Dammit Kagome, you of all people. Maybe at first I was planning to, but now…I don't know."
"Then let me helpyou."
"What?" he jerked his head up.
"Let me help you," she repeated, placing a soothing hand on his shoulder.
"I don't need your help bitch," he muttered rebelliously, slumping back down onto the bed.
"Oh, you don't?" she asked softly. "FINE. Be that way," scrubbing angrily at her slight tear-filled eyes with the back of her sleeve, she snapped,
"I try to be nice to you, be understanding, but no. You just have to be so stubborn and proud and…and I'm leaving." She hopped off the bed and stormily made her way to the door, still ranting under breath. Just as she was about to wrench the door open, Inu Yasha's voice floated from across the darkened room,
"Truth or truth?"
"What?"
"Truth or truth?"
She squinted angrily at him through the dark, "I don't have time for this."
"Pick one." He ordered sharply.
"Truth."
"Why do you want to help me?"
Kagome's eyes softened, "Do you even have to ask that? It's because you're my friend, you dope."
"Feh." She heard the whisper of fabric as he shifted; he most likely crossed his arms proudly over his chest.
"Hey, Inu Yasha?"
"What now, wench?"
"Truth or truth?"
"Heh," she could hear the arrogant smirk in his voice, "Truth."
"What's your favorite food?"
"…Come closer wench, I can't hear your damn question," he barked (A/N: No pun intended. Hee hee, dog hanyou, bark…he he), though they both were aware that he could hear her just fine.
She stifled a grin and crept back over to sit on the edge of the bed, "What's your favorite food?"
"Oh, that's what you were asking? I don't have one. Truth or truth?"
"Truth," she grinned, falling comfortable onto her back next to him.
"Okay, um…what's YOUR favorite food?"
"Stealing my questions again? You're such a thief," she said, looking teasingly at him out of the corner of her eye.
"Just answer the question," he smirked, closing his eyes in boredom.
"Oden."
"What's oden?"
"What's oden?! It's only the best stuff kami graced on this earth."
"Hm, never heard of it. Your turn, by the way."
"If you could have any magical powers, what would it be?" she punctuated her question with a yawn.
He lazily opened one eye in semi-interest, "Where do you think up of these questions, any way?"
"All girl's school remember? You have to be good at this stuff…"
"Oh. I'd like to fly."
"Yeah, flying would be cool," she agreed, yawning and flipping onto her side to face him. "Your turn," she yawned again.
"Truth or truth?"
"The first one."
"Please tell me you've seen a few guys other than me."
"Nope. Remember, I've lived in that all-girl's school all my life."
"You must've been to town, or something."
"Nope. Actually, I think when I was younger I knew this other boy, but this was when I was five or something. I can't really remember his name or what he looked like, but I only played with him for one day, so yeah, that doesn't count. Truth or truth?"
"Wow, you're really pathetic wench. Truth."
"You said I smell good right? So what do—" she stopped to muffle a long, face-splitting yawn, "What do I smell like to you?"
"Rain."
She wrinkled her nose, "Rain? Rain has a smell?"
"Well okay, not exactly rain. But your scent's like what the air smells like after a shower…in summer…" he glanced at her, grateful she couldn't see his flush in the dark.
"Are you even listening to me?"
"Huh…wha? Oh, yeah, yeah. Summer showers, yeah," she muttered, leaning her head on her elbow, still facing him.
"Truth or truth?"
"Truth," she yawned.
"Are you sleepy wench?"
"No, what makes you think that?" She murmured drowsily, eyelids lowering closed.
"No reason, no reason," he whispered to himself with a smirk, rolling over to face the, now, sleeping Kagome. Her hands were curled against the smooth curve of her cheek and there was a sleepy smile gracing her lips, giving her the air of a small child resting after a day of play. Even asleep she looked so much like Kikyo; one would think they acted the same, but he knew how untrue that was. 'I should stop comparing them,' he thought to himself, the sounds of Kagome's soft breathing calming him, 'The wench would throw a hissy-fit if she knew how many times I compare her to Kikyo.'
' Gods, maybe I should take my own advice,' he mused struggling to keep awake. Finally giving up, he allowed her sweet scent to lull him into the land of slumber, but not before contentedly adding,
'Maybe I should just…let go.'
A/N: Oooh, so more conflict comes into play. Inu Yasha wants to take the jewel, but Kagome must take it to the alter or else the whole world is screwed. Hm…how will they ever get along now? Er, wait…I made them fall asleep together at the end of the chapter didn't I? Oh well, guess they can get along perfectly fine despite wanting the same thing. I had to re-write the beginning of the chapter about three times. VERY annoying. This chapter has resulted in the deaths of over five pencils. And no, I didn't overwrite them, I broke them in frustration.
Okay, I admit the dancing scene seemed a bit…okay, uber OOC. But I couldn't help adding it in. I was watching a thing on dancing on VH1 and they were talking about Beauty and the Beast and the dude said something along the lines of: When characters sing to each other they're confessing their love, when they dance, they're making love. I wanted to apply that to my story. I always figured that the whole Kagome and Inu Yasha thing would come about by them making love before confessing. And when I say make love, I don't mean him slamming her onto the kitchen table and boinking her like a rabbit, mmkay? When they dance it symbolizes a turning point in their relationship. You can take that however you want.
I was so happy about my last chapter. I got two reviews! Whoa, that sounds actually rather lame. But anyway, considering how I got two reviews for one chapter, I'm not expecting one for this one. You're welcome to prove me wrong though. ^_^