Only A Reflection Away
Chapter 5
The first thing that Kagome realized when she came to was that she was hungry. No, wait. She was starving. The second thing she realized was that she was alive. That surprised her a great deal. And the third thing she realized was that she was not in her bed.
She winced as she slowly sat up, her muscles tense and incredibly sore. Kagome took a few moments to stretch out all the kinks in her joints, letting a few yawns escape her as she moved around a bit. Her movements ruffled the blanket that had been draped around her sleeping body, and Kagome ran her fingers over the fabric out of interest. It was made of fur. Surrounded by stone, it was obvious that she had been brought back to a den to recover.
Her attention eventually trailed down to her ankle, which someone had wrapped carefully in a cloth bandage. Blood had seeped through the cloth, and it was unnerving to see the amount of blood that she lost in the event of one night. The bandage would have to be changed soon.
"That was quite an injury," a deep voice commented from behind her. Kagome turned her head, startled to find that someone had been standing there all along, his presence undetected by her distracted attention.
"Kouga!" Kagome smiled as the wolf demon approached her side. It had been a month or two since she had last seen him, and she had missed him sorely. She did, after all, rarely got to see Kouga at all, unless they ran into each other by chance. Well, either that, or when he or Inuyasha had a bone to pick with each other. It was regrettable that she had been reunited with him under these horrible conditions, but fate didn't always put her in the most comprising situations.
Kouga seated himself closely beside her, close enough for her to bear the full weight of his gaze as he looked her over in concern. She blushed. Demons had never really been good with personal space issues. But the wolf demon looked as handsome as ever, and it slightly surprised her to see that his lips had relaxed into a genuine smile. It had been a long time since she had seen him smile, for those were especially rare from him, being the alpha male of his pack and all. He was expected to be serious.
But he always managed to offer a generous smile whenever she had been around him, and she'd always wondered why he did that for her. He cocked his head inquisitively, shifting his full attention to her ankle.
"Your bandage needs changing," he remarked, and it was then that Kagome saw the fresh cloth in his hand. He pointed to his lap. "Place your leg here. It'll be easier for me to change the cloth."
Kagome's eyes widened in surprise, and her cheeks flushed. Was he kidding? "It's all right, Kouga. I'll change it!" she replied, so as to avoid the embarrassing situation. Kagome hoped he would take the hint.
But then again, demons didn't really get it.
He stared at her, a smirk tugging at his lips. It hadn't been a request, Kagome understood suddenly. And blushing madly, she did as he said, placing her leg on his lap.
The wolf demon was acting different today. His quiet demeanor surrounded him in an aura of mystery, making Kagome all the more uncomfortable. Where was that wolfish smirk? Or that undeniable charm that he possessed? It had been replaced with a sort of solemnity that was starting to freak her out.
Kouga began unwrapping the soiled cloth, his piercing gaze never leaving Kagome as he did so. His fingers moved expertly, unwinding the bandage in a manner that left Kagome's wound untouched; it wouldn't have been sanitary for him to touch it anyway, for there was always fear of an infection.
Kagome kept avoiding his stare determinedly, but she could still feel his eyes watching her. Eventually, she grew tired of looking at everything else but him, and met his gaze boldly.
She couldn't remember too much about the previous night, but she did recall gazing into his azure eyes as he held her.
Today his eyes were an intensely dark sapphire.
He smiled suddenly, revealing an ivory gleam of teeth. "All done." Kagome sighed. He was back to normal.
"Thanks!" Kagome said, finding herself smiling in response to his. She started to get up, but her limbs shook uneasily, forcing her to settle down in frustration.
Kouga quirked a brow. "I wouldn't recommend that you try that again. Your body needs to fully recover."
She groaned, glaring at her weakened legs. "I feel horrible," Kagome admitted.
The wolf smirked. "That's not a surprise."
Kagome blinked, and for some reason, immediately knew that he had been with her the entire time she had been asleep. There were dark hollows beneath his eyes, and he looked famished, as if he hadn't eaten for days.
"How long have you been watching over me?" she asked quietly.
He grinned smugly. "For the whole time you've been out."
"How long has it been? A few days?"
He laughed. "Try a week."
"A week?!" Kagome shouted.
"Sounds surprising, doesn't it?" Kouga replied, still grinning at her reaction.
She nodded wordlessly, secretly panicking mentally. A week? How could this have happened? She was going to be in so much trouble at home, especially since she hadn't told her mother where she was going. Kagome groaned inwardly as she thought of Inuyasha, Sango, Miroku, and Shippo's reactions as well. They'd surely have suspected something was up by now. How could so much have gone so terribly wrong?
"What's even more surprising," Kouga suddenly spoke, turning to stare straight into her eyes, and dropping his smile, "is that you were wandering the forests alone. In the middle of the night. By yourself. That's surprising, because I never expected you to be that foolish." Kagome didn't like his tone, especially because she couldn't make out the emotion being restrained behind it. He crossed his arms across his chest. "I would've expected that dog Inuyasha to have been with you," Kouga added, his eyes darkening at the hanyou's name.
Maybe it was the way that her face paled, or the way that she stiffened, clutching the blanket, that tipped him off that something was wrong. Kagome was still unsure what to think about Inuyasha, for those nightmares had left a deep impression on her, and she didn't think that she could look Inuyasha in the eye even now.
"What's wrong?" he asked immediately, reaching out with his hand and touching her shoulder softly. "Did you two have a fight?"
Kagome forced a smile. "No. It was nothing like that."
"He always was a fool," Kouga muttered darkly, "But I suppose that this matter between you and the mutt is none of my business. All I care about is the fact that you're safe. That's all that matters to me. One of my guards caught wind of your scent, and alerted me immediately. You were in very bad condition when we found you, Kagome..." He paused momentarily, his eyes flickering with an indistinguishable emotion. "We found a healer just in time."
Kagome stared at him for a long time, lost in her scattered thoughts. He had done so much for her, and he had obviously been deeply concerned about her health, otherwise he wouldn't watch her the way that he was, and he wouldn't be this sleep and food-deprived. She paused. And then, with a forceful burst of determination, grabbed her bow, and pushed herself up to a standing position with it as her support. The bow unfortunately slipped from her fingers, and she swayed uncertainly.
"Kagome!" Kouga was up in an instant, catching her long before her legs buckled beneath her, his arm wrapped firmly around her waist. His eyes were cloudy with fear as he frowned at her stubbornness. For a moment, things were tense, and unbearably quiet.
But that didn't stop Kagome from what she wanted to do. She pushed herself up a bit, kissing his cheek. "Thank you for saving my life." That was about all the physical energy she could muster, and she reluctantly sank back into the warmth of his body heat as he gazed at her in a stunned silence.
Was that a blush that she saw? Kagome hid a smile, though she was sure she was blushing herself. It was the least she could do to repay his kindness. Whatever trace of a blush that Kouga had carried on his face vanished as Kagome tried pushing herself up again, testing the limits of her remaining strength. She fell back into his arms again.
He arched a brow, a warning issued by the downward quirk of his mouth. It was an 'I told you so' sort of look. Clearly, he was not too amused by her willingness to strain her body. It wasn't exactly an angered look; instead, if was more of a skeptical, but still slightly interested expression.
"Stubborn, aren't you?" Kouga asked. "Stop wearing out your strength and rest. It's the only way you'll heal completely."
Who was he to talk about wearing out strength? He was the one who hadn't eaten or slept in days! He was an idiot if he seriously thought she hadn't noticed. Hypocrite!
"And what about you? You haven't slept a wink since then, have you?" Kagome asked, her tone accusing. "And don't try to tell me that you're not hungry, either!
He seemed taken aback by her observation at first, but he slowly grinned. "You're absolutely right." Kouga suddenly leant forward with her still in his arms. His face was but a few inches from hers, close enough to allow her to see her reflection in his dazzling cerulean eyes. Kagome could feel Kouga's heart beating in sync with hers, and it made her more than just slightly uneasy.
"I don't want you to move from this spot. Do you understand?" His eyes were penetrating as they bore into hers.
"Where are you going?" she asked.
"To get some food. Since you insist," he smirked, his expression barely containing his amusement. "But I need you to promise me that you'll stay here."
Kagome folded her arms indignantly, slightly irritated by her immobility. "Why?"
"Because..." the wolf demon whispered, the intense and low tone of his voice making her blush. His soft breathing tickled the side of her face. And suddenly she realized how close he was to her, how close their faces were...
"I don't want to come back to find that you're gone. I don't want to come back here finding myself alone and realizing that you were just a fantasy created by my imagination. I don't want to come back only to realize that the hanyou has stolen you away from me once more. I need to be near you. That's why. Understand?" Kouga finished, his eyes boring into hers.
There seemed to be a much deeper meaning to the wolf demon's message, as if there were unspoken words, but Kouga fell silent and said no more. Kagome felt his eyes watching, waiting for her reaction, which was of course, to blush at the heated intensity and closeness of their bodies.
He smirked at the expression on her face, and settling her down with the utmost care, paused a moment to watch her. It was all too apparent from the way that he was scowling that he hated losing every second with her, but Kagome was too distracted to notice, being that she was trying to kill off her dizzying blush.
His eyes changed color, sharpening to challenge the shade of warm midsummer evenings.
"Wait for me, Kagome."
And then he was gone, his words still replaying themselves over and over in Kagome's mind as she tried to comprehend them. Kagome tenderly folded her arms around her knees, closing her eyes as she laid her head atop her legs.
"Wait for me, Kagome."
And then, a barely audible whisper hung in the silence of the den.
"I will."
(A.N. The story has changed a bit, so I hope you all aren't too annoyed at the direction it's going in, but I really think it's for the better. Trust me. If you liked this chapter, please do review! It means a lot to me to know you care! -Xi)