The trumpets blare on the Masterpiece theater set, where the two chairs have been replaced with a bed, situated in front of the fireplace. Miroku is slumped unconsciously in the bed, a pack of ice on his forehead. Sango is grumbling and sweeping up debris in front of him.
Sango: (Muttering to herself) I wonder when Houshi-sama is going to wake up and help me clean up this mess… (Her question is answered as a hand grabs at her butt; she rolls her eyes and removes the hand as she turns to the monk) I really don't know why Rambler gave you a bed, you weren't hurt THAT badly.
Miroku: Sango, you hit me with a GIANT boomerang. It's amazing I haven't gone brain-dead from all of the hits I have taken. (Pouts innocently) You have no respect for a servant of Buddha.
Sango: Hey! I'm not the one who started it! You're the one who felt me up, Houshi-sama! You're the one at fault here.
Miroku: (Somewhat smug smile) Then why did Rambler give me a bed so I could recover from my injury and give you clean up duty?
Sango: (Fidgets before turning to sweep again, out of the monk's reach of course) Oh go back to sleep, lech!
Miroku: (Makes himself more comfortable on the bed) I can't, didn't you notice them? (Points to the readers)
Sango: (Looks up, and jumps in shock) Where did they come from?
Miroku: (Shakes his head in disapproval) Now is that any way to greet our dear readers, Sango? (Turns on his side to get a better look at the readers) Well, welcome back to Rambler's story. Unfortunately, I am not in this chapter (frowns), but Rambler assures me that I will play a bigger part in the next one. For those who are not deterred by the fact that I am not in the chapter-
Sango: Which would be all of them…
Miroku: -Here is Earl the Lawyer with the disclaimer.
Earl the Lawyer: (Trudges on the set in what looks like a weasel costume, except it has a thicker tail and stripes on its back. He does not look too thrilled with his costume.) Before the disclaimer, the majestic Rambling Coffee Addict has a few things for the readers. One, to Hime-chan, you are SO right; Inu-Yasha does seem to have something the size of the titanic shoved up his butt. But that is why we love our "Super Ass". That was a great title for her beloved Inu-chan by the way. Also, thank you to Scorpion Ocean for beta reading the chapter, and for trying to help her with the title. The only reason she didn't use it was because it would give away what happened, and she wanted to catch the readers off guard. For all those who were wondering what the dreaded mongoose was, this is what one looks like (Points to his costume). Rambler thinks that they are scary and imposing because the make her head hurt. Although they have goose in their name, they are not birds, but rather rodent looking mammals. It makes no sense to her. Obviously, someone who cannot wrap her head around the concept of a mongoose does not own Inu-Yasha (Lightning strikes, Earl dodges, but it hits his tail, making it catch on fire. Earl the Lawyer frantically blows and stomps on his tail to get the fire out.) I WORE THE FREAKING COSTUME! WHAT MORE DO YOU WANT?!
Miroku: To own the rights to the song "Play That Funky Music White Boy" and me in an Elvis costume.
Sango and Earl the Lawyer: (Stare)
Miroku: What?
Chapter 7
Enough to Make You Scream
"Well in that case, I am sure you wouldn't mind giving me a grandchild as soon as possible." The statement echoed off each of the walls as everyone else gaped in shock. Taisho just smiled a little wider. Pretending to take their silence for acquiescence, he went on, "I would prefer a boy to be honest, but a granddaughter might be fun. That is, of course, if she is the first of several grandchildren, the rest of them being boys." The dog demon brightened as inspiration hit him. "I think we should name her after her grandmother! We can call her Taki-chan to distinguish between the two of them. " He smiled fondly at Takiko, who couldn't do more than stare at him dumbly in response.
Sesshoumaru was the first to find his voice, glaring in muted horror at his father. "You want them to spawn? Father, have you lost your mind? It is bad enough having the insolent hanyou in the household; but his pups?" The demon nearly choked on the bitter aftertaste of the word. "They would be more human filth than demon! The Yamura name would lose its esteem among all demon lords!" It was one thing to wed a human bitch and marry his hanyou son off to another one; it was another thing entirely to order a litter of half-breeds into creation.
Then again, his venerated father had never been the sharpest sword in the bunch in Sesshomaru's opinion. The Lord of the Western Lands never really acted the part of the superior species he was when he was around humans. He always talked to them casually, as if they were acquaintances rather than insects. He never roasted the staff alive when they made mistakes, merely telling them not to do it again lest they be fired. Worst of all, he kept on trying to give the whelp that was his half-brother some sort of life, without having any good reason for doing so.
His rash, almost whimsically dreadful behavior got worse after Taisho's first wife had died, and reached levels beyond all help when he met the human wench which was to be Sesshomaru's step-mother. The demon seemed to have just stopped caring about the eyes of respectable society and his conniving family being upon him.
Taisho groaned, rolling his dark amber eyes. "Oh, stop twittering about your inheritance. Just because you are going to be Lord of the Western Lands sometime in the future does not mean that I have to do what you want to preserve our reputation. I don't give a crap about what those shitty pricks think any way."
Growling in response, Sesshoumaru stood up lividly, both hands slamming down on the table. "Someone in this family has to preserve our reputation! Why do you care about the lowly hanyou spawning mongrel pups anyway?"
"Don't talk about Taki-chan that way, son!"
"THERE IS NO TAKI-CHAN YOU BASTARD!" Inu-Yasha burst into the argument, slamming his plate and the rest of his dinner into the wall. Takiko whimpered in response, shivering as she rocked ever more violently back and forth. "There never will be! I'm not having pups just to please your sorry ass!" It wouldn't have pleased him much anyway. Nothing he did seemed to please the bastard. Why should he keep trying to reach for something he was never going to get?
"I don't see why you are so opposed to this Inu-Yasha," Taisho hissed, eyes flashing from his seat. "You act as if you do not enjoy your wife's attention. All I am asking you to do is just enjoy them a little more."
Sesshoumaru flinched, gods he hated the mental images this conversation was giving him. Closing his eyes in consternation, Sesshoumaru tried to reason with his obviously depraved father. Maybe he was suffering post traumatic stress disorder from hundreds of years of defending the Western Lands. Or maybe he was just getting old. "Father, even if the hanyou's miko bitch were to bear a pup, how would it be capable of running the Western Lands, much less defend itself from any youkai? It would be too weak to be of any use to the family."
Inu-Yasha winced, but said nothing. If his brother wanted to fight with their father about this, that was fine with him. He was past words. Wasn't it enough he had married her? Wasn't it enough that he let her into his room, into his home, and into his private world: something he hadn't done for anyone but a lost priestess he loved with his whole heart?
He doesn't get it. In all likelihood his father, for all his talk of knowing Inu-Yasha, didn't know what he was asking. He was asking for his son to sire a child, knowing full well the poor unsuspecting kid would suffer the exact fate as he did. Inu-Yasha would be subjecting his pup to the hateful ridicule having mixed blood demands. No one deserved the daily shit he had to trudge through to survive. There was no way in any of the seven hells Inu-Yasha was going to sire a pup only to see it flounder in pointless agony as he did when he was younger.
Sighing, Taisho clasped his hands together in front of him, willing his eldest son not to take this the wrong way. "Look Sesshoumaru, you're my heir and all, and I'm still confident in the job you will do as Lord of the Western Lands. You're a terrific leader, warrior, and politician, and I have no doubt your rule will be a very prosperous one." He caught Inu-Yasha sniggering out of the corner of his eye, but continued. "But you've yet to take a mate, and you are over three hundred years old. I've frankly given up hope you will continue the Yamura line." He stated as casually as possible, before adding quickly, "Don't get me wrong, son. I have no problem with you being… well, a pansy who plays for the other team, it's just I want the Yamuras to rule for millennia, not a few more centuries."
Sesshoumaru blinked in response, both dumbfounded and mortified. Feeling his pride slammed in the gut, he snarled, "I am not 'playing for the other team' as you so eloquently put it, Father."
Taisho sunk a little into the pillow. Apparently that hadn't come out the way he wanted it to. "It's nothing to be ashamed of, my boy. If you swing the other way, that is perfectly fine with me, and I will personally rip the spleen out of anyone who says otherwise. But there really is no point in denying it. I mean, you wear purple eye makeup. Everyone in the family has known for years," He gestured toward his trembling wife, "Even Takiko."
Giving his stepmother a withering glare, his voice was barely above a whisper as he spoke acidly "I wear eye makeup to emphasize my eyes and make them appear more terrifying. I am not what you accuse me of being, and I shall castrate anyone who even whispers about my being so." His eyes snapped to his father, their dull gold turning to a vengeful red, "And if you ever, ever, say that again, I will not wait for your demise to renounce my allegiance to you and hold a rebellion to take your kingdom from you. How dare you speak to me, your rightful heir, in such a hideous manner, Father." His voice stern and controlled as if he were the parent and Taisho the rebellious child. "Are we clear?"
His father bowed his head in response, realizing exactly what a large mistake it had been to anger his son. Although his son always felt honor bound to him, wounding his eldest son's pride might very well be his undoing if he wasn't careful. "Crystal. Gomen ne, son, I was severely out of line. I shall try to make amends for my callous arrogance, please do not begrudge this old demon a few stupid words." Sesshoumaru seemed to be somewhat satisfied with this response, returning to his seat cautiously. Inwardly Taisho knew it was going to take more than that too placate his son's ego. He was going to have to do some serious graveling, but he was too old to let his pride get in the way of ensuring Sesshomaru's loyalty. "But I still would like to see Inu-Yasha have pups as soon as possible."
"No." Inu-Yasha answered quietly but firmly, not looking up from the table as he spoke.
Rolling his eyes, Taisho braced himself. One son down, one to go. Joy. "And why not, Inu-Yasha?"
"One, I just got married yesterday-"
"I'm just asking you to start trying-" Taisho interjected.
"I'm not finished asshole!" Inu-Yasha snapped. "Not to mention that I am too fucking young, and even if I weren't I would not bring up a pup in this fucking hellhole."
"I brought you up in this hellhole," Takiko spoke up unexpectedly, feeling the need to referee between her husband and son. Her mahogany eyes rose to meet her sons "Did I do a bad job?" She honestly wouldn't have minded grandchildren. If anything, they would have helped. More people she could trust and count on in the house. Already some of her demon in-laws were diverting their attention to Kagome. Maybe if there were more of them she could live her life without the ax of anxiety swinging over her head.
"No!" Inu-Yasha said hurriedly, causing his mother to duck her head and smile a bit before his voice turned soft, "But I still won't have pups." He clenched his fists as he looked down, knowing he was disappointing her. "I'm sorry, I just can't."
"Of course you can Inu-Yasha." His father said, dismissing his son's refusal with a wave of his clawed hand. "You just insert Tab A into Slot B, and repeat. It is really quite simple."
Ears flattened against his beat red skull, Inu-Yasha ground out, "I SAID NO! I AM NOT GOING TO GIVE YOU GRANDCHILDREN!"
"Now look here, boy." Taisho leaned forward, preparing to do whatever was necessary to get what he wanted. "I am your father, and I am ordering you to-"
"I'M DONE WITH YOUR ORDERS! You can shove them up your fucking ass! I've had it! You always order me to do things without even thinking about how I fucking feel! You didn't even let me look for Kikyo-"
"KIKYO IS DEAD!" Taisho struck back viciously, before seeing the pain that suddenly flooded into his son's eyes. He had stuck his foot in his mouth yet again; just brilliant. Starting more slowly, Taisho tried to atone for the betrayal and bitterness swelling in his son's bright gold eyes. "What I mean is- well…. She's gone, son, and you have to accept that. If I had thought she was alive, I swear I would've let you chase after her for an eternity. But she's not…" Despite his efforts, his son's bitterness only festered further.
"I think…" Everyone turned to find it was Kagome who was hesitantly speaking, her eyes turned contemplatively toward her lap. "With all due respect, Yamura-sama, I do not think it would be wise for Inu-Yasha and I to try to have children at this time. After all, I have not gained full control over my miko powers. How would I protect the child when I can barely protect myself? Maybe a year from now, we might try to have children, but I think we should wait until I've mastered my gifts." She smiled as she looked up at Takiko, who was frowning and looking away. "When I do have a child, however, I would be honored to call her Taki-chan." The woman turned to her in surprise, giggling a little at the unexpected attention.
Taisho frowned thoughtfully, "Your fears are very reasonable, Kagome. I even admire your maternal instincts in wanting to ensure the safety of little Taki-chan. I must insist though, that there would be no risk of your child being harmed. Taki-chan would be under the protection of her loving grandfather," He paused to smile proudly, "Her adoring Uncle Sesshoumaru," The fore mentioned demon grumbled under his breath in response, "And of course her doting dad. She would be quite safe."
"Can we stop talking about the kid as if it is already here?" Inu-Yasha whined, both hands rubbing his aching head. "Cause you're all aware there is no fucking Tooki-chan or whatever the fuck you are calling it."
"Her name is Taki-chan, son." His father corrected.
Kagome sighed inaudibly. She hadn't spoken up sooner because she had thought Inu-Yasha would have been able to tell his father off. From the family argument she had just witnessed, it was obviously this man was much more formidable than she had thought he was. It was obvious that she was going to have to give in some how, he was just too stubborn to accept anything but a 'fine, we'll do whatever you say, whenever you say it.' But I'm not going to have a child, and I don't want to lie to him… She really didn't want to lie to anyone; not too mention she was terrible at it. Eyes brightening, she realized the solution was simpler than she thought. Turning toward Taisho, she asked him frankly, "You're not going to this give up until we agree, are you?"
Taisho gifted her with a brilliant fanged smile, nearly giving in to the urge to run over and hug the life out of his new daughter in-law. "Nope."
"And you are probably going to make our lives miserable and nag us every moment you can until we either kill ourselves or do what you say?"
"Pretty much."
Her blue gray eyes shifted to catch her husband's meaningfully, "Well, since I want to save you the trouble of causing us untold amounts of hell, I must say I wouldn't be opposed to trying something like we did last night again." Inu-Yasha's snowy eyebrow arched slightly as he understood what she was saying. "That is, if you don't mind, husband."
"And we're back to the mortals' mating habits." Sesshoumaru said dryly before groaning, "Will my torment never end?"
"I suppose we could give that a try…" Inu-Yasha agreed slowly, still holding Kagome's gaze. Why was she helping him again? She didn't seem the least bit upset about what he had said earlier, and even he had to admit that he had been a jerk. He was never going to figure this girl out.
Nearly brimming with self-pride, Taisho responded, "That is all I am asking." Maybe this plan of his would work after all. Now to get the two of them alone so they could start working on Taki-chan. Maybe if they have a boy they could name him Tai… Nah, Inu-Yasha would never stand for that… Oh well. Standing, he grabbed his wife's hand and pulled her to him, his good mood taking hold of him, "Well, if you will excuse us, we will be heading off to bed-"
"That's it. I am never eating dinner at this table again." Sesshoumaru announced, also getting up to leave the table. "I must find a way to get rid of these mental images…" He grumbled to himself as he quickly left the room.
Taisho continued as if nothing had happened. "So, I bid you newly weds a very good night." Takiko waved slightly before Taisho whisked her out of the dining hall.
Silence engulfed the hall as Kagome and Inu-Yasha still sat at the table. Inu-Yasha turned toward the girl, mouth open and trying to find the right words. No, he knew the right words, but 'I'm sorry' was just so hard to say. It was something about the syllables his tongue was supposed to form, the sounds he had to create in the back of his throat or maybe it was the pride he had to force him to swallow.
He sat there several seconds, trying to make the words come out of his mouth as she pouted thoughtfully and stirred the cold soup in front of her. In the end it was her who spoke first, "I didn't finish my soup, and didn't even get to any of my steak. Is this what usually happens, or does your family actually finish a meal every once and awhile?" She asked as she took the finger dripping with broth and cleaned it on her kimono.
Closing his mouth, he smirked a little. "No, usually it's much worse. Most of the time everyone storms off in a tuff and there is a lot more cursing. I don't think I have ever actually finished a meal." She made everything so easy. It was just forgotten and brushed aside like a dust on a bureau. "Come on, let's go to bed."
The night was heartless to the dejected boy wandering through it. Her cold winds blew harshly against his battered form, her calls and sounds warned him there would be no mercy if he were caught by one of her creatures. Her blackness made the shadows of the trees around him hang even heavier, making it impossible to tell if he was on the right path.
Every cell in his body was angrily protesting the fact that the boy kept moving. Hojo had never ached this much in his entire life. But it wasn't his crumpled body that concerned him; it was his crumpled heart. I lost her.
Finally he gave into what every fiber of his being demanded, sinking down into the dirt of the path. I really lost her. Why was his heart still even beating? The hero wasn't supposed to be able to live without his ladylove. Why was he still here, breathing choppy breath after choppy breath, when she was at that demon's castle, married off to a man way too strong for him to fight?
The truth was, he didn't know. None of his plans had covered any of this happening. None of his plans had ever included what to do if all of his plans were blown to bits. What he really needed was a plan for when you don't have a plan, but he had never thought to make one. He was stuck in the middle of his life with no roadmap; and to think his life had once been so predictable.
And I made a fool of myself in front of her. Part of him didn't understand where he had gone wrong though. He had come just in time to save her, told her he loved her, and even confronted her half demon groom for her. Maybe his mistake was not accounting for the possibility that her groom was half demon. Yes, that was his mistake, not finding out who the groom was before. That and making sure the damsel in distress really wanted to be saved.
He let his head meet the compacted dirt with a thud. So what now? Do I still try to save her? Do I just give up and move on? But the hero always gets the girl! Either that or he ends up dying in the name of love, but Kagome's groom didn't even have the grace to do that. He had just tossed Hojo out the door and let him be trampled and chased by demons a few minutes later. Hojo would never consider ending his own life, it was cowardly and against everything he believed in. This left no convenient options; life was so confusing without a roadmap.
Suddenly a howling gust of wind caught Hojo's attention, lifting him away from his dark musings. Squinting at the dimness, Hojo realized it looked like a miniature tornado was hurtling straight for him. He tried to force himself up, reeling against his stiff muscles, but couldn't get out of the way in time. The tornado collided with him, hitting him like a pile of bricks. Wait, aren't tornados supposed to lift you in the air? The tornado itself seemed to be surprised, jumping a little before dissolving into a man in fur and armor that fell on his knees cursing. Dazed, Hojo just stared at him, not quite understanding what had taken place.
The figure began to dust off his fur leg and armbands muttering curses, "I knew I shouldn't have taken the fucking main road! But no, I just had to listen to that prick Ginta. Of all of the shitty-" The ranting stopped as his sharp nose started to scrunch up and sniff the air. His bright cerulean eyes glowed unnaturally in the darkness, before narrowing in realization. He snapped his head in Hojo's direction, sneering at the boy. "Are you the son of a bitch who caused me to lose my balance?"
"Um…" Hojo answered nervously, "I guess."
Raising a hand, the figure got ready to beat the daylights out of the idiot for just lying in the road like that, but stopped again. Inching forward, he sniffed the battered boy cautiously. "Wait a minute… Have I met you before?"
Hojo frowned in confusion. "I don't mean to be rude, but I think I would remember someone as… distinct as yourself."
The man wasn't convinced, thrusting his nose in Hojo's face to get a more thorough sniff analysis. It was then that Hojo saw his elven ears, unruly bangs and long high ponytail. His eyes widened in horrific realization, "Oh my gods… You're that guy who kept coming up to Kagome and calling her your woman, aren't you?"
Thick black eyebrows scrunched together, the man asked hesitantly "Dodo?"
"It's Hojo…" Although he really didn't mind whatever the demon called him as long as he didn't kill him.
"Oh yeah. So Hobo, what were you saying about my woman?" Kouga asked casually. The boy's anxieties about him being so dangerously close was putting him in a rather good mood in spite of his earlier fall.
Curling himself in a ball away from Kouga, he pleaded in a small voice. "Oh please don't kill me!" Why do I keep running into demons? I am going avoid them forever….. and ever, and ever…
The wolf-demon raised an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?" Humans were so odd sometimes; all you had to do was ask them a simple question and they fell to pieces. He poked the boy's back a little, "Hey, boy! Answer me."
"But you are going to kill me!"
Kouga rolled his eyes in response. "Trust me, I wouldn't waste my precious time on something so scrawny."
Hojo looked up hopefully from his fetal position. "Promise?"
"Yeah, I promise." He reassured halfheartedly. "Now what the fuck did you say about my woman?"
Gulping, Hojo spoke as slowly as possible, as if it would somehow the news would shock the demon less that way. "Kagome is…. Well she um… She's-"
"Spit it out runt!" Kouga growled, baring his white fangs and teeth.
"Kagomegotmarried!" The boy declared hurriedly, squeezing his eyes in fear.
The wolf-demon stopped growling, staring at him dumbly for a minute. "What?"
"Kagome got married!" He shrieked again, babbling hysterical "Wedded! As in the "I do's" and the overpriced gold rings with the guests, the priest and cake! Now she's some hanyou's wife…." His rambling slowed, his brown eyes becoming misty. "And she'll never be mine."
His sad thoughts were stopped by fearful ones as Kouga lifted him up off the ground by his collar. "Where?" He demanded fierily.
Panic temporarily overrode any attempt on the boy's part to process the demons question. "Huh?"
Shaking him firmly, the demon asked again. "Where the fuck is she?! Who is the son of a bitch she married?!"
"Over at Lord Yamura's castle! She married his son Inu-Yasha!" He answered quickly, before being discarded on the side of the road by the infuriated demon. With that, Kouga was once again a raging tornado, speeding toward the castle in the far distance. Catching his breath, Hojo pulled his trembling form over to the side of the road. His nerves were too fried for him to begin trudging down the path back to his village. So he sat there, listening to his own breathing, before collapsing into the grass behind him. At least I am not the only one who lost her…
Will he hate me for asking him about her? Kagome chewed her lower lip indecision as she waited for Inu-Yasha to come out of the bathroom; sitting cross-legged on the futon. Everyone kept mentioning the mysterious Kikyo, but no one would explain who she was.
Sesshoumaru raised his glass solemnly, his eyes gleaming as he spoke, "To Kikyo, for escaping a fate worse than death."
"KIKYO IS DEAD!" Taisho snapped, causing pain to flood into Inu-Yasha's golden eyes.
Who was this girl? Was she someone Inu-Yasha was going to marry? Her presence seemed to stain almost everything, and yet her husband had never mentioned her name to her. That's because he still doesn't trust me enough… She thought with a sigh as Inu-Yasha came out of the bathroom.
Drying his hair with a towel, he leaned casually against the wall next to the bathroom's sliding door. "Mind if we start…" He looked around the room suspiciously before returning his gaze back to her, "Trying to have little Taki-chan another time?" His voice was full of resentful sarcasm, causing Kagome to once again lose her building resolve.
"Of course not…" She answered softly, looking down at her hands. Apparently she had begun to wring them without noticing.
Inu-Yasha examined her curiously as he finished toweling his hair. She was being quiet; that never happened. Something was wrong, and he was going to fix it before she started her damned crying. "Is this about me hollering at you this afternoon, bitch? Cause I thought we were past that."
"What?" Her head shot up at the absurdity of his question.
"I just mean you didn't seem that pissy after dinner." He explained briskly, "I thought you were over the whole thing, but I guess not." Hand scratching behind his ear, he muttered to himself, "And I thought human bitches were only supposed to get mood swings during their time of the month…"
She bristled as she grated her teeth, trying to fight the urge to throttle him. After all, she was so nice and comfortable on the futon. "First of all, halfwit, we never settled anything. You never apologized. Secondly, how do you know it isn't that time of the month? Hmm?" It really wasn't, but she just felt like being testy. Something about the arrogant hanyou just brought out the rebellious five-year- old in her; probably because he was one himself.
The dog demon snorted. "Give me some credit, I do have a sense of smell you know."
Raising an eyebrow she grinned in amusement, "You purposefully sniffed me to see if I'm having my cycle?"
"Fuck no, bitch!" Inu-Yasha snapped in response, backing into the wall. "Why would I do something like that? I can just smell it. A bitch smells of it; the scent of blood just comes off her in waves."
"Oh." Kagome said dismissively, before stretching out on the futon.
The curves of her body grew taut as she yawned and reached out her limbs. Inu-Yasha had to force his eyes away from her form, by continuing to dry his hair. He finished drying the long silky tresses of silver white by leaning down and shaking his hair violently. A stifled squeal caused him to look up, his face cover by the damp stream of white.
Dripping wet, Kagome sat up on the futon, not looking very amused. "Next time, dear," She said in a trained voice as she forced a lock of now soaked hair behind her ear. "Do that in the bathroom."
Shrugging, Inu-Yasha made his way over to the futon, tossing the towel onto the now slippery floor. "Whatever, wench."
Staring at him expectantly as he crawled under the covers of the futon, she crossed her arms. Obviously her rather thick husband needed a bigger hint. "Couldn't you at least get me a towel since you've gotten me all wet?"
"There's one over there, bitch." Inu-Yasha replied before lying back against the soft pillow. He smirked to himself as he heard her grumbling and padding over toward where he had dropped the towel.
Kagome plopped back on to the futon, wrapping her hair in the soggy towel. "You know you still haven't apologized about earlier."
Inu-Yasha rolled over into a fetal position facing away from her. "Give it a rest, bitch."
Blowing out the last of the candles, Kagome rolled her eyes. What more should I expect? She settled back against her pillow, giving up on wrestling an apology or an explanation about Kikyo from Inu-Yasha. Maybe tomorrow… "Goodnight, Inu-Yasha." She whispered sleepily.
"'Night K'gome"
Everything felt like she was wrapped up in a ball of searing pain. Her voice was sore from screaming, even though she knew it did her no good. Nothing did her any good. No one was going to rescue her, were they?
Where are you Inu-Yasha?!
She tensed. A smile came out of the darkness, wide and lascivious, and all for her. Her tormentor thrust himself into her once again, causing her to throw her head back in agony as he tore her again.
How she hated him. She hated herself just a bit more though for being unable to stop him from doing this to her over and over again. But if he thought he could break her, that she would give him what he wanted eagerly, pitifully begging for her life to be spared, he had another thing coming. She would not be broken by the likes of such filth.
He was coming again, she just knew it. Concentrating, she tried to focus her mind away from the dankness around her, centering her energy on the pink glowing ball she now held inside her.
I will never let him have it.
Suddenly her prison was lit by a brilliant flashing white light, as she thrust the pink jewel away from herself. It would be safe with someone else to protect it. Hopefully she would keep him busy long enough to make sure the jewel got where it needed to go. He always seemed to find her agony entertaining. Maybe she could ask him why he always said he loved her as he tortured her. That ought to give him some amusement, even though she already knew the answer.
Where are you, Inu-Yasha?
The scene somehow seemed to change, the girl was suddenly gone in a wisp of smoke. There was a cliff overlooking a gray horizon, and another girl. She too held a pink ball in her hand, rolling it through her fingers as she stared out absently over the land below her. "Why did Kikyo give me this?" The girl asked herself, troubled in the midst of her peaceful setting.
"I honestly don't know." The girl turned around. The same smile that had been in the darkness greeted the startled girl.
The girl screamed as vine like tentacles came at her. The pink ball flew into the air. Once again there was a white light drenched everything as the girl continued to scream.
Kagome stood in the whiteness, breathing raggedly from what she had just seen. It didn't make sense; what was going on? Her disorientation ended abruptly, as the man with the maniacal, hungry smile appeared just inched away from her.
His smile eased into a smirk as he traced her features with a cold finger. "You're so much like her…" The man said nostalgically as his red eyes wandered over her form. "Like who?" She asked shakily, trying to make her limbs move, but everything seemed to be frozen solid, including her brain.
"You already know." He replied cruelly before thrusting his arm into her stomach. She tried to scream, but nothing came out. The pain scattered all of her coherent thought. His hand pulled back violently, revealing what he had ripped out of her; a small, glowing, pink sphere. He frowned as she fell down in pain. "And yet you seem to be much weaker then her…" His smile returned as the blood began to pour out of her. "I guess you're nothing but a cheap copy." He sighed in a singsong voice.
Kagome found her voice again, and screamed.
"Damn it, Kagome! Wake the fuck up!" Inu-Yasha shook the girl with more force than he had the last time, desperate to wake her up. The shaking had no effect, however, and Kagome continued to scream with more force than before, thrashing violently against his tight hold on her. His eyes narrowed and his ears tried to dig further into his skull. What the fuck is she dreaming about?
He mulled his options as he straddled her to keep her from hurting herself and pinned her arms at her sides. Slapping her would probably wake her up, but he didn't like to hit women, and really didn't want to hurt the girl. Water! The light bulb went off in his head; I could splash her with cold water! But getting up would mean leaving Kagome, and he wasn't entirely convinced that she wouldn't somehow hurt herself in this condition. So he did the best he could.
Kagome twitched, subconsciously confused by the wet drops of spittle on her forehead and nose. Her screams subsided and her blue-gray eyes opened as the second round of spit sprayed her face and dripped down her cheek. Momentarily dazed, she looked up to find worried dark golden orbs directly above her. "Inu-Yasha?" She asked uncertainly.
The boy sighed in relief, relaxing unconsciously against her body beneath him. The movement caused Kagome to take full stock of her situation. The hanyou was on top of her, and there was spit all over her face. She immediately followed the instincts of most people when faced with such a situation; she slapped him and pushed him off of her. Okay, so admittedly not many people have been known to be in this situation, but Kagome was doing the best she could after a really horrible nightmare. "What on earth were you doing?!" She cried as she pulled away from Inu-Yasha.
Inu-Yasha rubbed his sore cheek indignantly, "I was trying to wake your screeching ass up, that's what!"
"So you spit on me?!"
"What did you want me to do?! Slap you? I wanted to pour cold water on you, but I was afraid if I got up and got the damn stuff you might accidentally hurt yourself with all that thrashing."
Kagome sighed heavily, holding her head in her hands as her elbows rested on her legs. "I'm sorry."
For several minutes there was silence, until Kagome heard the sounds of rustling in front of her and looked up. Inu-Yasha forcefully took one of her hands, and began to wipe the spittle from her face off of it with the towel that had been wrapped around her head. He scrubbed the hand roughly as he asked in a low, gruff voice. "What was the nightmare about?"
"I'm not quite sure…" Her eyes took on a distant look.
A ball of searing pain….
Where are you Inu-Yasha?
A smile came out of the darkness…
"I guess you're nothing but a cheap copy."
Inu-Yasha noticed Kagome flinch as he wiped off her other hand. "You remember some of it." He stated matter-of-factly.
"Yeah." Kagome whispered, her eyes dilated in fear.
"So?" He prodded as the towel moved to her cheek, wiping more gently than it had her hands.
"Inu-Yasha, I need to know something." Kagome asked hesitantly, still not bringing her eyes to meet his.
"What, Kagome?" The towel moved to dry the rest of her forehead.
"I don't want you to get mad, but I really need to know…"
"You're so much like her…"
"Like who?"
"You already know."
"Spit it out already, battle ax." He said impatient as he wiped the remainder of the spit off her nose.
She closed her eyes tightly, preparing for all hell to break loose, and asked him the question that had been plaguing her since Sesshomaru's toast as quickly as possible. "WhowasKikyoandwhathappenedtoher?"
The towel dropped in front of Kagome with a soft thump.
Back on the set of Masterpiece theatre, Miroku is still lying in the bed by the fireplace and Sango is still cleaning, all the while muttering to herself and plotting the death of a certain monk we all know and love.
Sango: (Takes another bag of trash and prepares to hall it outside, all the while repeating this to herself) Just two more chapters till I get what Rambler promised, just two more chapters.
Miroku: (Trying to make himself look particularly sexy) You know Sango, Rambler didn't say anything about us sharing the bed…
Sango: (Throws a full trash bag at Miroku before walking off the set with another one.)
Miroku: (Heaves trash bag off of his head) I guess that was a 'maybe another time'…. (turns to readers) Anyhoo, dear readers, Rambler is moving to college in a week, and probably won't get time to write another chapter for another three weeks or so because of getting situated and figuring out her schedule. She will try to get a chapter out as soon as she can, but packing is going to be really hard, especially since she is moving across the country. Yes, this is yet another blatant appeal for sympathy, so don't kill her or injure her too badly for not updating for a month or so. But she swears on a stack of Starbucks cards she will be back before this time September. (Lies back down) That's all for now readers, see you next time! ( A sign once again appears behind Miroku, with a mongoose pointing at the reader that says "The Dreaded Mongoose Wants YOU to Review the Story).