A/N: Hey there everybody! Oh look, chapter 2! I'm surprised with myself. Hahaha XD Couple things I forgot to say on the first chapter. The title for Ch.1 was from the lyrics for 'Let Me Fall' by Josh Groban. And I thank my friend, Kir, very much for helping me with the storyline XD Ideas and reasons and such. Okay I'll stop now, more notes at the end lol. Enjoy!
Chapter 2 – Interrupted
Three years had passed quickly for Kagome, travelling with Inuyasha and everyone else, looking for jewel shards. She was now 18 and having graduated high school (barely in her own opinion), the young miko decided to pass on university to devote her full time to the quest for the shards. She didn't know what she would do after all the shards were found... or what kind of a future would come from it.
I wonder if Inuyasha will be a part of it... Kagome flushed ever so slightly at the thought beneath her dark bangs.
Her relationship with Inuyasha was complicated. The only thing that had changed in the past three years was that they had finally admitted their affection for each other two years ago. But not admitting so much as to say those three special words. You couldn't really blame the situation on either of them though. Chasing after jewel shards didn't really give them time to consider making progress in their relationship any further than hugs (somewhat awkward she might add) and the occasional brief kiss. Another thing that didn't exactly help the relationship was the constant presence of Sango, Miroku and Shippou. Kagome didn't think anyone would want to get all lovey-dovey with three pairs or eyes boring into them. Sure she knew they meant well, and often left them alone... if only to hide behind a bush.
Of course... there was always that one factor above all that despite assurances, could threaten to tear their delicate bond apart.
Kikyou.
That day Inuyasha and her had spoken of their feelings for one another, he had promised her that he would no longer chase after Kikyou and devote his attention to her alone (well, his emotional attention... his attention in general was usually focused on finding the shards). True, she had felt more secure in their relationship but at the same time, nothing had really changed after that - other than the previously mentioned rare show of affection. They still argued with one another and often spent days without speaking.
At the moment, Kagome trudged behind a thoroughly annoyed hanyou in silence, occasionally glancing up at his long white hair swaying back and forth as he stomped along the path leaving very visible footprints. She opened her mouth then closed it. She wanted to talk to him but speaking seemed to be out of the question at the moment. You could never talk to Inuyasha when he was angry. Rational thought seemed to vanish in those situations.
But she wanted to explain why Miroku, Sango and Shippou had just gone off on Kirara calling out a simple, "Bye!" Kagome hesitantly opened her mouth again then closed it once more, glaring at the ground. The idea had seemed good at the time. Of course, it was Sango and Miroku's plan and had required a lot of convincing in order to pry Shippou away from Kagome. But if she was honest with herself, she had been stupid enough to agree to it and was now stuck with an irritated half-demon who wasn't talking to her because in order to stop Inuyasha from following the others, Kagome had to say the word he hated above all things.
Damn it, if he would only listen! She opened and closed her mouth again, berating herself inwardly.
You really should have thought it through before going, "That's sounds great!" Smooth move, Kagome.
The miko suddenly collided with something hard yet slightly yielding in her path. Kagome felt herself lose her balance and began to fall backward, only to be steadied by a pair of clawed hands on her shoulders. She blinked as her world steadied and looked up into a pair of golden eyes staring at her in annoyance, realizing she must have walked right into Inuyasha.
"Will you stop gaping like a damned fish and just tell me whatever you were trying to say? It's annoying as hell having you walk behind me like that."
Kagome glared at him, stepping out from his hold with a bit of reluctance.
"Well if you had stopped acting like you were going to kill anyone that interrupted your little mood swing I would have!"
"I'm listening now. Spit it out."
The miko rolled her eyes as she adjusted her backpack. Affection announced or not, Inuyasha could still be an enormous jerk.
"Fine. I was going to explain to you what happened this morning and since you asked so nicely, I'll tell you. Well..." Kagome shifted uncomfortably. Telling him the reason seemed easier when she wasn't actually doing it. Now it all seemed ridiculously embarrassing.
"What?" Inuyasha snapped with his arms crossed across his chest as he glared at her. Kagome glared back before continuing.
"Sango and Miroku wanted us to spend some time together by ourselves. They noticed that in the past two years we never got the chance, so they took Shippou and went back to Kaede. Since Naraku hasn't shown up in the past couple months, they thought it would be safe to have a bit of a vacation." She saw Inuyasha open his mouth to argue and raised her hand to stop him. "I know you don't agree with it, but hear me out, please."
Inuyasha frowned and reluctantly resolved to just glare disapprovingly in a haughty stance as she spoke.
"Thank you. I know you want to keep looking for jewel shards, but honestly Inuyasha, we haven't seen any sign of them for weeks and like I said, Naraku either for months. And Sango and Miroku can take care of themselves if anything happens. Can't we just take a break for awhile? Even a week?" Kagome pleaded, her blue-gray eyes staring at Inuyasha solemnly. "I don't know about you but... after two years, I wish our relationship was a bit more than it is right now..."
Inuyasha's expression visibly softened as her listened to her, his ears lowering in a sign of... was it guilt?
Suddenly, Kagome felt herself jerked forward as Inuyasha reached out and clutched her to him. He buried his nose in her hair, breathing in deeply. He had always loved her scent, despite what he had told her at the very beginning of this long journey. It was so different from Kikyou's... so pure... so warm. It enveloped him in an embrace that calmed his very soul and he wished he would never lose that feeling... and never lose Kagome. The young miko sighed happily as she wrapped her arms around his waist, closing her eyes in delightful bliss, feeling the awkwardness she had felt in any previous hugs become completely non-existent and replaced with contentedness in his arms.
"I'm sorry Kagome... " Inuyasha murmured quietly into her ear. Kagome blinked in surprise and pleasure at his honest tone. It was a rare thing for him to apologize without it sounding forced or sarcastic. She pulled back a little and smiled brightly at him, tapping the hanyou on the nose playfully.
"I knew you could be nice if you tried." She laughed lightly then placed a hand against his cheek. "And I'm sorry too for telling you to 'sit'–"
WHUMP!
"Kyaaaa! Inuyasha!!! I'm sorry I'm sorry I'm sorry"
After much apology and hugging, Kagome and Inuyasha set off again with her hand tucked inside the firm but gentle grip of his. They didn't know where they were going exactly and it didn't really matter since Inuyasha could easily find his way back to the village. For the moment, they were both quite comfortable with just walking hand in hand.
The late afternoon progressed into the beginning of a cool summer evening, the sapphire sky full of stars with no clouds in sight. As the pair settled down by a riverbank in front of their fire, Kagome felt a shiver of delight race through her body as Inuyasha leaned forward to place a confident kiss upon her lips. This kiss felt different that all those chaste ones... this one felt as if it could lead to a place she had only read in romance novels, blushing profusely while she read of course. To the miko's surprise, she wasn't sure she wanted it to. She didn't mean that exact moment, Kagome was sure Inuyasha would never force something like that on her, but for the future. It rather disconcerted her.
Inuyasha could tell she had become distracted and he pulled away to look at her.
"What's wrong?"
Kagome blinked then blushed, obviously embarrassed. She shook her head and smiled, "No, no, nothing. Um... how about I find something for us to eat?"
The hanyou gave her an odd look then shrugged. "Okay."
Kagome found some ramen inside her pack and moved to hand one to Inuyasha when she saw him freeze and stare behind her into the dark forest, his ears alert.
"Inuyasha? What is it?"
"Something's coming," He stood up and unsheathed the Tetsusaiga, golden eyes narrowing as he moved forward, "and fast."
Kagome's eyes widened before her expression became serious as she grabbed her bow, notching an arrow to the string. She turned around to stand by Inuyasha, preparing to meet whatever was coming their way. Out of the corner of her eye, she could see him sniffing at the air and waited for a confirmation of what it was.
"Youkai... snake." He growled as he tightened his grip on the Tetsusaiga. Kagome suddenly felt as if something was terribly wrong and she glanced around nervously. Then it became all too clear too late. She spun around to scream at Inuyasha to move at the same time he realized what was wrong as well.
"Fuck--!" He managed to say before a long blur collided with him from the opposite direction they had been expecting, the speed of its passing causing Kagome to fall backwards. She scrambled to her feet, aiming her arrow at the cloud of dust that had erupted, but not firing in fear of accidentally hitting Inuyasha.
"Inuyasha?!!"
"Sssilly mortal..." A voice hissed from behind her, too close for comfort. Kagome turned around hastily to see a massive snake youkai towering over her, its eyes glinting in amusement as she aimed her arrow.
"Perhapsss you may kill me, but what of them?"
Kagome's eyes widened in horror at the sight of at least a dozen snake youkai surrounding her, the only possible escape being the river rushing wildly behind her, and perhaps due to her miko abilities, a sudden determination kicked through her body.
"Stay back! I can purify all of you, you know that? A-and Inuyasha will slice you all to bits!"
Hissing laughter filled the silence after her little outburst, the one youkai that had spoken before leaned forward to flicker its tongue at her. She felt disgusted, but was set on showing no reaction.
"You ssspeak of the hanyou, yesss? We have disssposssed of him..."
"You lie!"
"He isss gone—"
"I haven't gone anywhere you slithering piece of crap!"
A blade of wind crashed down in front of Kagome, narrowly missing the youkai that had jerked backward just in time, kicking up another cloud of dust. She sighed in relief before a frown of concern marred her forehead as Inuyasha landed unsteadily on his feet beside her, clearly injured.
"Inuyasha...?"
"Damn bastard bit me. The poison will leave in awhile, but I don't think we have that kind of time right now." He winced slightly then straightened up as the dust settled. "Kagome, get in that river and away from here."
"What?! I'm not leaving you here!" Kagome yelled at him incredulously.
"I'll be fine. Just—"
"Like hell you will! You're can barely stand up!"
Inuyasha glared at her and opened his mouth to argue but was interrupted by the youkai that seemed to do all the talking.
"Lisssten to the girl... it will make it easssier for usss."
The snake youkai suddenly lunged forward at the same instant that Inuyasha shoved Kagome hard into the river, its fast current taking her away. Her head broke through the surface in a shower of water droplets and she tried to focus on the commotion onshore, barely able to make out Inuyasha's white hair amidst the twisted collection of snakes writhing back and forth before she floated around the bend.
She was also able to notice something else though. Two youkai had left the group and were now pursuing her down the river. She quickly began swimming with the current, frantically searching for somewhere she could climb onto land. Spotting a more shallow area of the river to her left, Kagome swam towards it, scrambling out of the water and running into the forest. She didn't stop running until she could barely breathe, collapsing to her knees. The miko sobbed quietly, her heart crying out to know what happened to Inuyasha when a noise from behind her caused her to become silent. It sounded like a long body sliding over the ground.
They are fast...
Kagome felt her heart sink as she looked at her bow still clutched in her hand. It couldn't possibly work well being this wet, could it? She didn't give it another thought though as the two snake youkai that had followed appeared in front of her. To her surprise, the arrow still flew, a bright blue trail following it as it struck one of the snakes, leaving nothing behind. She turned to shoot another arrow at the second, only to discover that it had fled, leaving her safe for the moment. The young miko sighed in relief and fell to her knees again, her dripping hair and clothes creating a puddle around her.
Inuyasha... please be okay...
Looking around her, Kagome decided she should start a fire, even if it could bring attention to her from other youkai. After all, getting sick from being soaking wet was the last thing she wanted to happen. She gathered the sticks around her and lit the fire, making a ring out of nearby stones. She had finally settled down against a fallen log when a dark chestnut haired man, wearing strangely familiar armour, stumbled into her campfire. Staring at him in shock, she saw a glimpse of purple before the stranger's eyes closed and he fell to the ground, unconscious.
A/N: Such nice reviews... -cries in happiness- All of you make me happy! XD Thank you to Tokyogurl1, kawaiipnay, Moon-n-Universe-Goddess, cobaltwind, InuLuvr18, Mori'quessir, and Affinity. -glomps all of you-
I didn't want to put this at the beginning cause I'm guessing you'd rather get to reading the fanfic, huh? XD I actually had this done before, but I waited to submit it cause otherwise the fic wouldn't show up as a new one, only an updated one. As for chapter 3, that will probably have to wait until after Tuesday, crappy exams and all.
Other than that, thank you again for the wonderful reviews! And please review for this chapter too!
Oh yeah, if you didn't like the InuKag part, that's okay XD I didn't like writing it hahaha
Bai bai!