A/N: Well, it's official….the rating for the story has now gone up to R. At least, that's just my judgement call here, since this chapter insuates a few things…for those who have been waiting for some InuKag romance, well this is your chapter. I finally decided not only to get off my butt and write the chapter, but to make it full of InuKag goodness…at least I hope its good…I've never really written something like this yet…so please give me all the feedback you can!
I just want to thank the two reviewers for pointing out an error in Chapter 4, about computers freezing in the cold. Turns out they work better in the cold, and I thank you both for that piece of info. I'll try to change that eventually, but it probably won't happen until after the story is finished, or until I have time to work on rewriting it.
Anyway, it's been a long time coming so here it is: Chapter 14...cue the Jaws music…
Chapter 14: Good Morning Sunshine
The first thing that came to his realization was that the world around him was dark.
Not kind of dark, or greyish dark.
But really, truly, monsters-in-the-shadows kind of dark that parents used as a setting for scaring their children.
Well, for one, he wasn't young, and he possessed a night vision that outmatched almost every human in the world.
So it wasn't with too much difficulty that he managed to get a good idea about where exactly he was, unlike the usual human reaction of flailing around blindly until a light switch was hit.
Blinking away the stars in the corners of his eyes, Inuyasha slowly pushed back the suffocating blanket, trying to figure out just what had woken him up. Despite the other's beliefs, he had not slept at all during that long, long car ride.
The sensitive ears that adorned his head stopped him from relaxing too much. Or more to the point, the talking that had first gone on, and then the monotonous noises of the moving car had kept him awake for the full six hours.
At least faking sleep had managed to get him out of all obligations to talk, especially to that damned assassin who had taken his seat in the back, sitting behind him in his space, and sitting next to his Kagome…
Wait a minute…since when was Kagome ever mine? And since when do I think of that quack as anything other than another practitioner of malpractice?
Shaking his head at the mere fact of even considering the dark-haired girl as being in his possession, the hanyou rolled his stiff shoulders. Although those with demon blood were not considered voracious sleepers, they still needed a little shut-eye now and then. And right now, Inuyasha's body was lacking in any kind of elongated sleep that he had wanted to grant his weary limbs.
So why on earth was he awake even though his mind screamed for his head to hit the pillow once more?
The answer came in a sudden sound that drifted from the bed next to him. It sounded almost like a whimper, but not in the sense of a scared animal's cry.
More like a pained noise, the kind that humans made whenever they watched those nature shows that videotaped baby elephants getting mauled by ruthless lions.
It didn't take long before Inuyasha located the person's form buried under blankets on the bed next to his. It took even less time for the silver-haired hanyou that the person next to him was not of male descent.
Her scent was too strong, and despite the time it took to find it over the entire new barrage of smells that followed his deep breath, Inuyasha could still pinpoint the identity of the mystery woman in a matter of milliseconds.
"Kagome?" He whispered, unsure of the young vet's current status. Was she asleep? Awake? Dead?
What…why would she be dead? She was making strange noises wasn't she? Get a grip, you baka, Inuyasha mentally chided himself, that girl will live just to spite every animal out there that hates needles.
"Kagome? Are you…awake?"
Still no response.
But wait a second. There was that funny sound again. Yet this time it was followed by some mumblings.
It sounded like someone was in the throes of some strange bizarre dream.
Inuyasha was ready to flop back down, throw a pillow over his ears and force himself to sleep when the whimpers escalated into soft cries.
So maybe the dream wasn't so much strange as it was scary.
He was rather disturbed by the fact that the first emotion that welled up inside his chest wasn't that of indifference, but rather of pity and the odd urge to comfort.
The damn mountain air must be getting to his head already. Either that or permanent exhaustion had taken a hold of his system and screwed with his head.
Whatever it was, when the cries melded with the uttered mumbles, Inuyasha couldn't stop his two feet from emerging from their confines under the blankets to hit a carpeted floor. If ever he were to have an out-of-body experience, the hanyou imagined it would feel something like the moment was now.
It was as though someone with a big hammer had come and knocked all common sense out of his head. What he should be doing is waking up someone like Miroku, someone who knew the quack and who would be able to help her through this. Hell, even the assassin might be a good choice, or her bloody cat.
What he shouldn't be doing is moving slowly to the stubborn wench's side in the dark. Of course, at god knows what time in the morning, sometimes the reasonable side of things were fuzzy and unattainable.
At least that was the excuse he was going to use if she, by some strange chance, woke up as he was about to reach her side. Call it a funny feeling, or a sixth sense, but the hanyou believed that Kagome would be just as clueless about the situation of them ending up in the same room together as he had been.
And he had a feeling that she would probably come to the same conclusion that he was also slowly realizing.
I have all the time to kill Miroku later. Right now I have to get her to shut up so I can sleep.
Even though his last two attempts had failed miserably, Inuyasha tried calling her name once again, placing a clawed hand on her trembling shoulder. "Kagome? Kagome, you need to either wake up or get over that dream. Hey, quack! You hear me?"
The trembles in her shoulders seemed to suddenly augment, and soon her head was thrashing to and fro under the covers.
Rolling his golden eyes heavenward, Inuyasha figured that yelling wasn't getting him anywhere. In fact, as he tried to settle her frantic movements, he began to wonder about his own ability to do this. Maybe he should have enlisted someone a little more qualified to do this. Someone who had compassion…someone who cared.
Those last words rang hollow in his head, but he clung to them as a way of using excuses once again to get out of a potentially awkward situation.
So what should he do? Obviously voicing any kind of opinion was wasted on deaf ears, and the last thing he needed was to wake her up fully. Besides, if he did wake her up, who knew what she would do to him. People who were woken up from nightmares usually didn't react with friendly, happy smiles.
Maybe it was time to take a page out of the childhood chapter of his life. Although memories were painful, Inuyasha thought back to when he had been a child, and had been afraid of the monsters hiding under his bed.
Now what had his mother done again? She used to rub his ears gently when he was really anxious, humming softly under her breath.
Hmm…seeing as Kagome possessed the typical human version of ears, the hanyou felt that any kind of efforts used there would blow up in his face.
So what next?
Searching the dark recesses of his mind, Inuyasha remembered one technique that always worked, and one that his mother had also liked to employ. But would he have the guts to use it now?
Whether it was planned or not, Kagome's escalating noises reached a pitiful pitch--a pitch that rang hard in Inuyasha's sensitive ears.
Cringing against the almost unnatural noise, the silver-haired man made up his mind. Feeling absolutely ridiculous, he crouched down until he was practically eye level with the vet's twitching face.
Brushing the blankets away to giver her some space to breathe properly, he extended a clawed hand and began to run it gently through her hair. Strangely, it felt silky smooth to the touch, even to hands such as his, hands that had long ago forgotten the feelings of such rich textures.
For a moment--and only for a moment--Inuyasha allowed himself to relax as he kept one hand on her shoulder in case the thrashing continued. As his hand trailed through the dark tresses, letting the strands slide through his fingers, something began stirring once again. It was the same thing that had started to rear its head all that time back, in that back room when he had nearly kissed her.
He thought he had it under control. Either that or it was just another fleeting moment in this mess of a life.
What he wasn't counting on was that same strange twist in the gut hanging around for a little while longer.
And having it hit him at the worst possible moments.
Fighting the urge to draw his hand back and to crawl under his own covers, he continued the motion of his hand, hoping that it was working.
Someone up there must have had him in their favour, because Kagome soon began to settle. The trembles disappeared slowly, and the lines that had formed on her forehead eased. But she still whimpered occasionally, and Inuyasha wondered just what the heck she was dreaming about.
Well, if you thought about what she'd been through lately--the whole Muffin episode, having her apartment broken into, being hunted by an insane youkai--it wasn't too hard to imagine that her sleep might be disturbed by unnerving imagery.
She hasn't had a lot of peace these last few days, He thought with a twinge of guilt, the clawed hand pausing as it entwined in sleek black tresses. Hopefully these next few days make up for it. And by then, I can be gone and the rest of them will be OK.
Kagome game one last whimper--a soft one--then suddenly it was as if her entire mind, body and soul found their rest.
Her breathing settled as did her limbs. There seemed to descend a sort of quiet on her sleeping form, and Inuyasha decided that all was well again.
Untangling his claws from her hair, he examined her face briefly, just to make sure that she really was asleep and not frozen in fear, or awake.
It was neither. Her brown eyes were hidden by eyelids, and her mouth--which had been frowning moments before--had softened into an almost quirky smile.
Unable to help himself, he traced her cheek with a gentle hand, careful to make sure the movement wouldn't wake her up.
Even her skin is smooth as silk, he thought despite however much of a mental block he wanted to put up.
This was not what he needed. He needed to get away from these people as fast as he could, so that Sesshomaru wouldn't be able to get a hold of all of them.
What he didn't need was to find out that one particular human was getting to him in ways that no one ever really had.
Damning her and his own weakness for her intoxicating scent, the hanyou allowed himself one more look at her face, before he turned back to the safer confines of his own bed.
Curling up determinedly underneath the covers, Inuyasha closed his eyes, wishing away the image of Kagome, so innocent and yet so troubled in the dark confines of this room. The resolution that he had come too still stuck: no matter how emotionally involved he would stupidly allow himself to become, there was no way in this world he would let that innocence to be destroyed.
It didn't matter if Sesshomaru got him in the end. That was fine--they were a warring family, and he had begun to accept that as his fate.
But Kagome mattered. Like Miroku, she had somehow wormed her way around those defences he prided himself on. Wormed her way right past everything to strike a chord somewhere deep in his being. A place that Inuyasha suspected he had yet to discover.
Grumbling incoherently, he took his earlier suggestions to heart and threw a pillow over his head, as much to block out the steady sound of Kagome's breathing as to keep his mind on the proper track. Humans--however annoying they could be--certainly had a way with their world, and that method was like a skilfully built trap: anyone who triggered their kindness-or wrath-was sure to be ensnared before they could blink.
Sadly--although it would take a long while for him to admit it--Inuyasha was too busy flailing around in the confining net of human compassion that he hadn't taken the time to realize that he was thoroughly and properly stuck.
With a indecipherable sigh, the hanyou dug himself a much deeper hole in the blankets and rooted the pillow firmly over his head.
He might as well try to catch a few more winks of sleep before the sun rose. There was a nagging feeling in the back of his mind that warned about Kagome's reaction to the current situation of sleeping arrangements.
It definitely would not be overtly positive, nor would it be a warm welcome.
So Inuyasha was going to bunker down, ready to wait out a storm that was sure to begin raging that morning.
And he sure as hell wasn't talking about the snow storm they had arrived in. Oh no.
Someone--some drugged-up human poet he believed--had once said the infamous words, "Hell hath no fury as a woman scorned."
Kagome may not be "scorned", but she sure wasn't blessed either, especially with the situation she had gotten dragged into.
And the hanyou decided that the best way to deal with the oncoming tempest was to remain perfectly ignorant. Maybe he would get increasingly lucky--something which had been avoiding him as of late--and Kagome might just wake up and exit the room before she even had a chance to get a glimpse of his trademark hair and ears.
Or maybe not.
Whatever the case, the hanyou clung to the pillow on his head and willed himself to sleep, until the heaviness that prompted his eyes to close, and his mind to drift away, was purely from tiring willpower.
Too bad he'd be needing all the willpower he had for the next morning.
It wasn't very often that the sweet whistle of the wind served as a wakeup call. When living in the city, the usual noises of cars, sirens, and angry drivers honking their frustrations out to the world served the great purpose of waking every known human being up.
Practically purring, Kagome stretched under the covers, happily snuggled down in warm blankets and pillowed by feathers. She didn't dare open her eyes just yet, for fear of breaking the moment of absolute peace that followed the heels of the waking mind.
Her mind itself felt a little fuzzy, and the young woman vainly tried to figure out why. She had a feeling that the sleep had hardly been lacking in dreams, but for the life of her, she just couldn't remember what the whole dream had been about.
No matter. Dreams were simply things that gave the sleepers of the world something to reflect on, and something to dream about even when their eyes were wide open.
And the last thing Kagome wanted to do was open her eyes.
Yet years of waking up at the crack of dawn to go aid the furry and feathered world had misaligned her state of relaxation in the mornings to the point where she could hardly stay in bed for long before guilt reared its ugly head.
So it was with much grumbling on her part that she found her eyes opening to the diluted light filtering through thick curtains to tumble on her bed and into her line of sight.
Blinking, she yawned wholeheartedly, wondering why she felt uneasy all of a sudden. It wasn't a feeling of burning intensity, nor was it extremely overpowering. But it was enough to make her sit up in bed and take a quick look around the room.
The snoring that had been present last night was gone, replaced by muffled breathing. That was probably due to the oversize pillow currently covering the entirety of her roomate's head.
Heck, from her viewpoint--if it hadn't been for the sound of breathing--Kagome might have suspected the lump in the bed to really be a pile of pillows and clothes, shaped into the form of a person.
Sango must sure like her security when she sleeps, the young vet idly thought, drawing her knees up to her chest as she stretched out her arms, I've never seen someone buried so deep in blankets before.
Oh well. People were known for their quirks, and no doubt the bodyguard had her fair share. Inhaling deeply, Kagome suddenly picked up on a magical, enticing scent that managed to block out all other smells.
Opening her eyes in surprise and wonder, she carefully extricated herself from her own comforter. Miroku may be a hentai, a man who believed in personal gain above most other things, and a dedicated womanizer, but he had one quality that kept Kagome faithful as a friend.
His wonderfully aromatic coffee.
Never before had she tasted something so delectable as Miroku's coffee. Whether it was the way he brewed it, or a special ingredient he added, there was just something in that drink that not only awoke the senses, but the mind and body too.
And it was just what any kind of person could ask for in the morning.
Suspecting that the heavenly drink might soon disappear due to other demanding housemates, Kagome was ready to creep out the door when she looked down and took note of her appearance.
Grimacing, she plucked at the wrinkled shirt, and even more wrinkled pants that graced her figure. As a veterinarian, she was used to not being at her best every minute of the day.
But when you were wearing the same clothes you had worked in for twenty four hours straight and then slept in, it tended to make one feel a little on the grimy side.
Desperate to be free of the room and in the blissful state of caffeine-induced wakefulness, Kagome glanced hurriedly around the room until her eyes caught sight of something strangely familiar.
Plucking the heavy winter coat off of the bag pile, she dug out a worn duffel bag. A duffel bag that had followed her throughout college and her internship.
Although not the most attractive thing--it had been made back in the days when green and purple was an acceptable colour combination--the relief that invaded her system was enough to stop reminding herself that she needed new luggage.
She shot a look at the lump on the other bed, and had a good idea about who had managed to pack her a bag at the last minute.
At least she hoped Sango had packed the bag. If Miroku had gotten into her wardrobe, who knew what he had put in there. Shuddering, Kagome refused to think along those lines. Her friend couldn't possibly be that stupid to go and assume that his fashion sense for women would be accepted by her
But still…
With a hesitant hand, Kagome unzipped the bag, and soon found herself breathing a sigh of relief.
Rather than an assortment of unmentionables and tight garments, the bag revealed a warm purple sweater with a hint of blue jeans beneath.
Clothing only another woman could truly appreciate. Or at least anyone else except Miroku.
Grinning at the businessman's philosophy of women's attire, Kagome dragged out some nice, practical underwear and the sweater and jeans that had been on top of the bag. She really didn't care about style right now. All that mattered was getting to the coffee before Miroku got it in his thick head to drink it all.
She reached for the hem of her shirt, then paused with an apprehensive glance over to the lump in the bed.
What if Sango woke up suddenly and saw Kagome changing? They may have gotten to know each other in the car, but that didn't mean they were the best of friends. Or, more importantly, it didn't mean that they had a level of comfort in each other's presence which some women had.
Another inhalation tinged by the aroma of sweet coffee reminded the dark-haired woman just why she should abandon her worries and get moving. Still, she undressed with a hint of embarrassment, keeping her back to the bed at all times. If she had had more time, then she would have pulled the infamous camping trick of dressing under the safety of blankets.
But it was no use now, she affirmed as her shirt was tossed onto the bed along with the pants. There are times in your life when you need to move fast, and right now is one of them.
There was a rustle of blankets, and the distinct sound of someone sighing. Kagome froze in her tracks, waiting for anything else that might signal that someone was in the midst of waking up. But other than those few noises, and one last rustle, nothing else followed.
Breathing a sigh of relief, she continued quickly with getting dressed.
It was amazing at how much cleaner she felt with new underwear on. So it wasn't the nice refreshing shower she was starting to crave, but it would have to do for now.
As she reached down to get her jeans, there was an unnerving sound that reminded her of a soft footstep.
If only her mind had been a little more awake, then she might have had the common sense to turn around to see just what was happening behind her.
But the elusive state of alertness that was usually so apart of her senses had not been recovered yet, and Kagome barely had time to grab the waistline of the pants before a hand reached and clasped her bare midriff.
And it didn't take her long to realize that her roommate was not Sango.
Nor was it human, since humans didn't usually sport silver claws on their hands.
That could only mean one person…
There were many ways in which a man wished to be woken up in the morning. On the top of that list was having some beautiful woman give you a very "pleasant" wake-up call. Second from that would be to open your eyes and find that beautiful woman curled around you in all her glory.
Somewhere else on that list was finding out the woman of your recent dreams was busy undressing barely feet from where you were waking up, oblivious to your sudden state of awareness.
Of course, it had taken Inuyasha a moment to get his bearings in the warm light that spilled into the room. And then another moment to realize Kagome was not in the other bed.
Not surprisingly, it took him even less time to discover that the object of his banished affections was certainly still in the room…and she wasn't exactly revelling in the wonders of clothes either.
Swallowing hard, the hanyou could only watch as she adjusted the pair of practical blue panties that graced her backside, before reaching up and giving the matching bra a quick pull as well.
The pillow obscured some of his view, and--despite the warning that was pounding in his suddenly unreasonable mind--Inuyasha pushed it back ever so slightly.
Her figure was…well, beautiful. Dark hair spilled down a smooth, enticing back that had the hanyou wondering what it would be like to run his hands down it's length. Soft curves graced her body, something that he had failed to notice. It must be all those frumpy lab coats she wears, he thought dryly, too dazed by the half-naked woman in his vision to think more coherently than that.
His mouth was dry and a sudden urge began to plague his senses. An urge that wasn't exactly natural and something that he had been trying to secretly fight since he had first woken up.
Unlike most humans who merely were aroused, his demon blood had a different way of reacting. More specifically, it had a way of rearing its head whenever Inuyasha's emotions got out of tune and began swinging madly about.
A lot like they were doing now.
He didn't dare make a noise as he tried to fight the demanding waves his demonic half was attacking him with. Youkai usually had the upper hand with urges such as these, because they had to deal with them on a regular basis.
Being half-demon definitely had its disadvantages, certainly in times when the hanyou had had practically no experience in dealing with that specific area of his nature.
It wasn't that he hadn't been enticed by a woman--far from it. It had something to do with the fact that, no matter how much he denied it, there was more to his affections for Kagome than just lust.
And seeing her pretty much in the buff right in front of him was too much for the demon half to bear.
He was fighting a losing battle and somewhere, the human half of Inuyasha knew it. But that didn't stop him from trying to fight his hands from pulling back the covers, or from his feet finding solid ground.
Those urges and feelings that had barraged him last night were back, but this time with reinforcements. And this time it seemed his human half was going to be all too willing to surrender.
Traitor, Inuyasha mentally uttered, trying to keep his movements as quiet as his demon blood would allow. There was no more need to fight the change. It was too late for that.
Now all he could do was try and keep some form of control over his actions, at least until something managed to settle his blood. But when that would happen was anyone's guess.
Cringing inwardly at the contented smile his demon half was forcing his face to contort to, Inuyasha felt his body escape the sheets, and saw Kagome tense as the sound reached her ears.
Deep down, in some miniscule part of his heart, the hanyou was beginning to realize that these instincts were emerging from an entirely new kind of feeling that had overtaken his sane soul. Now was not the time to take that aspect of this into account though. At this particular moment, his hands were full with other problems. Literally.
Such as the fact that one of his hands was reaching out towards the soft hip of the wonderfully-smelling woman who was now just seconds away from him.
The claws flexed once, glinting silver in the morning light, then curved around the soft skin of her waist, bringing his nose even closer to the delicious scent.
Then the scent changed.
To one of apprehension.
Nervousness.
Somewhere, hidden among those two, was also the undeniable odour of lust.
Now Inuyasha truly was grinning. And that was the grin that Kagome faced when she whirled around in his tightened grasp.
"Inu--Inuyasha?"
Her first instinct was to bolt out of that invading hold and run as fast and as far as she could, away from the predatory stare that his eyes were holding.
But--like a deer caught in the headlights of the stereotypical truck--she was frozen in place. Every nerve in her body screamed out a warning that something was wrong with the man in front of her.
Something was missing.
It was then that Kagome realized his eyes were no longer the dark shade of gold they had once been. Now they were tinged with traces of red, and that red was slowly taking over and hiding the golden hue that had entranced her so that first night. Whatever was happening to him was doing so at an increasingly fast rate, and she didn't know what to do.
Should she help him somehow? What if this was something that wasn't natural? It was times like these that she wished she hadn't opted out of taking Youkai Behaviour 101 in vet school. Heaven knows the information would have probably come in handy.
"You might want to let go," She tried to say, but instead stumbled over in words in such a torrent of confusion that the original message was soon buried underneath a pile of strange pronunciations and missing letters.
Yet the predatory grin that adorned Inuyasha's handsome face still grew, and the other hand that had been resting at his side reached out to grasp the other side of her waist. There was barely any time for a reaction before the hanyou had her backed up into the low-lying dresser that was conveniently placed behind him.
Strange curls of white hot heat took hold of her stomach as the lean body that she had been secretly wondering about pressed itself closer. Vaguely, the vet could make out the ripple of well-toned muscles through the shirt, and this new realization did nothing to help her sudden state of mind.
"Now why would I want to let you go, Kagome?" Inuyasha demanded, his tone dark, seductive, and those strange, multi-coloured eyes gleaming with something hotter than lust.
Weakly, Kagome tried to stop the oncoming force by putting restraining hands on his chest. It managed to stop him for a moment, but did nothing for her sanity. Suddenly those muscles that she sensed underneath the shirt were in full contact with her shaking hands.
"Is that a rhetorical question?" She asked weakly, trying to swallow away the dryness in her throat. I need water, or air. Or both. Oh geez, what's wrong with me?
His laugh was low and it rumbled up from his chest, where the vibrations tickled her hands. Although it felt as though every nerve ending on her body was heating up, she wondered just how badly she was blushing. It had been awhile since she had felt like this…
Or could she say she'd ever really felt like this? Ye gods, what she couldn't give for some mental space about now. Heaven knows she needed it.
"Always the scientist aren't you? Trying to analyze the situation, trying to keep your distance even though I know you don't want any space right now."
The arrogance in his remark caught Kagome off guard, and gave the silver-haired hanyou his chance to close the final gap that she had been keeping. His hands slid up from her waist to the edge of the practical blue bra, then drifted slowly, luxuriously, over her bare midrift. Somewhere, the human that was left in Inuyasha wondered if Kagome had realzed she wasn't exactly fully dressed yet. Somehow, he had the idea she hadn't yet been given the chance to think coherently from the moment he had crept up behind.
The restraining hands that had been on his chest froze, and those beautiful eyes widened as new sensations barraged her trapped body.
Inuyasha brought his head in closer to hers, inching his mouth towards her inviting one.
"You can't resist me, Kagome," The hanyou whispered, the seduction still so blatantly evident in his voice, "You can't resist whatever you're feeling now. Just like I can't. Do you see what you do to me?"
"I--I can't see anything. Except your face."
The smirk on his face was enough to confirm Kagome's incoherent suspicions that she had not only been fighting a losing battle, but that she had never entered the battle with the intent to win either. The sexy, silver-haired man in front of her had held the upper hand all along.
"And that's exactly how it should be," were Inuyasha's final words before the demon half took to doing what the hanyou had resisted only days before.
The kiss was intense, catching the young vet off guard in its focus and dedication. Never before had she been such an object of affection, as though she was to be devoured, savoured, and tasted all in the same breath. Unable to match the passion she felt grazing her lips, Kagome could only grab onto his arms and go along for the ride.
The heat that was rising threatened to take over her entire body, and for the first time in her life, she welcomed the idea of being utterly and completely swept away. It didn't seem so hard to do this time around, letting herself go.
Whether the goddess of lover herself was keeping an eye on the young couple or not, nothing could have stopped the divine intervention known as nosy roommates. Nor could anything have prevented the fact that the door currently barring their private moment from view had not been locked, since the lock had been broken by a careless maid (well, technically it could have been prevented, but fate has a funny way of making things work out).
And somewhere, in the warped set of rules that the universe worked faithfully by, there was a small paragraph explaining why young couples only just discovering the depth of their affections must at once be parted before anything goes to far. Whether this was simply to add to the chaos of an already disrupted world, or simply to mess with the minor life forms known as humans (or hanyous), no one would ever be able to tell.
Of course, the situation of Kagome and Inuyasha was no different, and the kiss was just beginning to deepen and reach both of them on a deeper level than anything else, when Miroku--overtly curious and hardly able to contain his excitement at waking the two up in the same room--burst through the door, followed by a grinning Sango and a blinking Kirara.
The excitement, anticipation and joy that all three had been experiencing flew right out of the proverbial window as their eyes caught sight of something that none of them had expected to see. Well, maybe hoped to see, but certainly not expected.
In the humans stunned silence, Kirara managed to break the monotony with a soft, almost inaudible "Mew" which conveyed her own astonishment.
Hanyou ears---when enhanced by an overflow of demon blood--were extremely, almost painfully sensitive to the most obscure noises.
And Kirara's "mew" hadn't been as obscure as the stifled breathing of Miroku and Sango.
It's truly amazing at how fast someone can react to interruptions such as those of friends, especially during extremely sensitive moments.
Inuyasha's reaction was no different.
The red drained from his eyes in a matter of milliseconds, and those clawed hands that had once held Kagome hostage were hastily withdrawn to be thrown into pockets. Soon, all that remained of the slightly demonic Inuyasha was the red tint on his cheeks which gave him the appearance of someone who had spent one day too many in the sun.
Kagome felt the heat and warmth withdraw from her mouth and waist, and she slowly opened her eyes to see what had happened.
Her eyes first caught sight of a blushing Inuyasha--golden eyes and all--desperately trying to avoid making any kind of contact with her. Next came a bewildered looking Kirara, and then Sango, who was trying to say something using only strange body movements.
Lastly, Miroku came into view. But not a normal Miroku. This one was a grinning, gleeful Miroku who carried the look of a man immensely pleased with himself over some accomplishment.
Why is he so happy? She thought, the haze that had contained her mind beginning to fade with the heat.
It was in Miroku's next words where she discovered the answers to her unsolved questions.
"My Kagome, I never realized what big brea--" was the beginning of his sentence, before Sango gave the hentai a good swift thwack in the head.
Although it wasn't finished, Kagome got the idea that something was wrong with her. Arching a brow, she looked down to see if something was amiss and it was then and there--surrounding by friends and potential lovers--when she came to the startling conclusion that she was missing certain vital aspects.
Aspects known as clothing.
"Oh…my…god…"
There was a heat taking over her body, but this wasn't like the same sensation as before. No, this one was different, and not in a good kind of way.
In one swift sudden move, Kagome was clasping whatever uncovered part of herself that she could with whatever limbs were available.
"EVERYONE GET OUT!"
The shriek was loud enough to cause hearing damage even to Miroku, who cowered from the sound behind a steadfast Sango.
"GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT! GET OUT!" Kagome screamed, pointing at the door with a freed hand. "ALL OF YOU, GET OUT!"
"Kagome, look--" Inuyasha began, but was silence with another shriek as Kagome came to the realization that not only had Inuyasha gotten a good look at her in her underwear, he had also explored certain aspects of her uncovered body with wandering hands.
"ESPECIALLY YOU! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
There was something akin to hurt in his eyes when those words left her mouth--next to the obvious embarrassment--as he skulked towards the door. He exchanged a look with Sango--the first non-malicious look they had shared since the moment they had first met--and each grabbed one part of a gaping Miroku, dragging him out of the room, Kirara keeping a good grip on one ankle.
It wasn't until the door had clicked shut, and the room had remained silent for a moment before Kagome pried her hands away from covering herself up.
Breathing hard, she closed her eyes and buried her head in her hands as her mind replayed the last few moments in her head.
What did I just do? Why on earth did I let that jerk come even five feet near me? Am I really that stupid, that stinking female that I need affection from anyone who offers it to me.
"Idiot," She muttered into her hands, ignoring the tingle on her lips as she remembered the heated kiss. "No good, stupid idiot."
If the walls had lips, they would have simply replied that she had responded to the hanyou in the only way her mind and body would let her: with the same amount of passion, lust and that little something extra, that they were both feeling.
But the walls remained silent, and Kagome found the peace almost disturbing. Bringing her head up from her hands, she caught sight of jeans and a purple sweater, and the comfort of covering clothes was too much to resist. The same coffee smell still stained the air, but now Kagome had no desire to go get herself a good cup of java. In fact, as she was pulling on the soft sweater, she came to the conclusion that she never wanted to leave the room.
Maybe I can stay in here for the rest of this so-called vacation. After all, Inuyasha's brother will probably be more intent on catching him than paying attention to a small animal veterinarian holed up in her room. I'd be perfectly safe in here.
As the young vet in question began plotting how she would escape to the bathroom without anyone noticing her existence, a soft knock echoed on the door.
Before Kagome could yell something scathing at the intruder, Sango's voice drifted through the wood.
"Kagome, please let me in. I need to ask you something. And no, Miroku is nowhere in my vicinity, and if he comes even close, I'll give him something to cry about."
Those last few words were obviously directed at someone outside of the door, and Kagome couldn't help but manage a small smile.
Sango took the silence as a good sign, and she cautiously opened the door, half-expecting to see Kagome aiming something large at her head.
Instead she found the vet seated on the edge of the farther bed, her hands clasped in her lap, and a tortured expression twisting her usually bright features.
The assassin not only shut the door tightly, but dragged a small armchair from the corner and propped it under the door knob to stop any of the guys from getting any bright ideas. Although she had a feeling Inuyasha wouldn't be trying anything anytime soon. He had gone redder than Kagome, and he was currently brooding upstairs in the washroom, supposedly taking a long, overdue shower.
Miroku…well, Miroku could get any kind of idea, but she had a feeling he'd respect his friend's privacy, at least for the moment.
"Hey."
Kagome shifter her eyes from her lap to Sango's, and the assassin could see the lingering traces of embarrassment and confusion in their depths.
She took a seat next to the now-dressed woman, hoping that she wasn't making it more awkward. Hell, she had never been good with talking, especially with talking to people of the same gender.
Well, guess there was never a better chance to start exercising the newfound skills.
"I'm sorry about Miroku. He insisted on waking you guys up. He wanted to see your reaction to being in the same room with one another…"
Kagome shrugged. "Well, I guess he got his wish. Damn him, I can't even accuse him of lying to me last night either. All I can do is say he's guilty of omitting the truth."
Shaking her head, she looked to Sango. "Don't worry, or anything. I'm not mad at you guys. I'm just mad at myself, for being so stupid."
"There's nothing stupid when it comes to romance," Sango said softly, giving Kagome's shoulder an awkward pat. "It was obvious the first moment I saw you two together that there was something there. And nothing easy to explain either. The way that half-br--hanyou kept looking at you, I figured you were already his somehow."
"Well I wasn't. And I didn't realize anything until now, except that maybe I was feeling attracted to him. It's just been a while since any man's paid that kind of attention to me," Kagome murmured, then realized what she had just said, and blushed. "Now you must really think I'm some kind of pathetic loser, dumping all these things on you."
Although she was constantly left in the dark about the secret practices of womankind, Sango was beginning to think that some of those secrets were being revealed to her. Smiling, Sango gave her head a quick shake. "You're not stupid, or pathetic for feeling that. You might say that I'm having some of the same problems you are."
Trying hard to ignore Kagome's quizzical, yet strangely knowing look, Sango hurried on. "Anyway, the reason I'm here is to ask if you want to join me in a trip to town. It would be just you and me, and a very expensive, elaborate SUV, plus money for groceries and maybe a few little cakes and tea on the way."
A hesitant smile was slowly appearing on the vet's face. Seeing it brought out Sango's grin as well. "What do you say?"
"I think I can deal with that," Kagome replied. "Just give me a second to go to the washroom, and we can go."
"I'll meet you by the car."
As Sango disappeared out the door, Kagome was left for a moment with her thoughts--always a dangerous thing.
But this time, the waves of embarrassment and shame and gone from tidal, to tiny wavelets lapping at her conscious. A trip into town--sans men--was what the doctor ordered. She could lose herself in stores and fresh air, and get away from the sudden confines of the room.
And from those golden-red eyes that had taken her by storm.
Chapter 15 is in the process of being worked on…