Amehana: okay, this is going to be über fluffy with much cherries, so grab a plushie and your favorite pink pillow and get ready.
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha®, life is sad.
Chapter XVIII– Night Fire
(A/N: oh, kami how to start this…)
The night had fallen too early this day for a certain hanyou girl. And the weird part, she had no idea why.
She didn't usually mind begin out at night, but during this particular dark hour she did.
Kagome shivered. What was up with her?! She had been uptight and strangely jumpy all day, letting little things scare her. She had the visage of someone who had stayed up too late watching a particularly descriptive horror flim, and was now suffering the consequences of it. But, of course, there were no televisions in Feudal Japan, and furthermore, no slasher films to cause the imagination to run wide after the lights were turned off.
She took in a deep breath and told herself that she was begin stupid. It was just like any other night in Feudal Japan, true…night here could be scary, but its not like she was ever unprotected.
As that thought came upon her the demoness smiled, 'Well, now, that is.' Claws and quick movements at the ready sometimes proved to be a better defense than her bow and arrows.
Kagome looked at the world around her with mild interest. The beautiful forest was as green as always; the ubiquitous trees around her radiating a sort of natural protection, but at the edge of her vision, where the forest grew dark, one could never know what evils lurked. Still, it was beautiful.
But she couldn't hear anything, and that freaked her out, because the forest wasn't usually quiet…maybe something was wrong…
Then the inu youkai clenched her fist, which was hanging at her side at the time.
'Stop it.' she told herself firmly. 'It's nothing, you're acting like an idiot being scared like this.'
Still…why was she so afraid? Why had she been all day for that matter?
All day…at that Kagome sighed. The day had been spent entirely in the hands of the Shikon No Tama. Kagome's purification of it had claimed all the daylight. Kaede had dismissed her when the sun had fallen and given way to the dark night.
Kagome continued to make her way back to the house for a while. Then, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.
Something was wrong all of a sudden. Somehow…somehow she knew what she had feared all day had just now sprung on her.
A chill ran down her spine. She couldn't move. What was this thing?! It wasn't human, it wasn't demon, nor was it a mix of the two. Whatever it was; she didn't like it. Not one little bit. However, it was pointless to try and find out what this feeling, this thing, was, now that it was upon her.
Her breathing rate increased, her sliver-blue eyes widened at some unknown fear before Kagome shut them tightly as though averting her eyes from some gruesome sight. Then her arms crossed over her torso to hug herself as if she was afraid of something. That's when she realized; she was.
Kagome's senses started scream and then…they slowly started to diminish. She could feel them leaving her, and that was possibly the worst feeling she had ever encountered in her entire life…
What was going on?!
Something was pulling on her conscious, a chilling, determined, pulling the very warmth out from inside of her with a steel hand. And she couldn't stop it, no matter how much she fought back with her usually strong will power.
The cold rush peaked to the highest speed and stamina it had ever been. A hard wind picked up through the forest and blew straight at her, colliding with her body at full force. Kagome shut her eyes tighter. She whimpered slightly against the wind and the sickening feeling inside that was stealing her very essence from her soul. She tried with all her power to fight back, fight this thing that was stealing her away, but steadily her powers gave up.
Her heart skipped a beat. She held herself tighter. She prepared for the worst as she felt it upon her.
And then there was silence. Complete and utter silence.
Kagome opened her eyes to find that the stinging wind was totally gone. She started breathing rapidly.
Something was wrong with her. Very wrong. What was that feeling?! What had it done to her?!
She looked around the forest and her arms dropped limply to her sides.
It was so dark. She couldn't see! Well, okay, she could see, but it was as if someone had greatly dimmed the lights on the world. But that was impossible.
The girl could barely see the forest ahead of her and not very far into the trees around her, so dark. Her eyes barely caught it when the leaves of the trees around her swayed eerily in the slight breeze.
Kagome's breathing didn't slow as she staggered back a few, her eyes searching frantically around her, why was her sight so bad?
She felt the ground beneath her bare feet. It wasn't soft and comforting anymore, it was hard and cold and rocky.
She couldn't hear anything, could barley see anything, she couldn't catch any smells in the air, and she couldn't sense any presences around her. None.
'This has to be a bad dream, right?' she asked herself shakily. Kagome chocked as if she were going to burst out in tears.
Then it happened. For reasons she herself couldn't explain she slowly raised one of her hands in front of her face.
Kagome's eyes shot open.
She stared at her hand. Her claws were gone! Yeah. Gone. Just not there! In place of her reliable talons were normal curved human fingernails.
She couldn't stop herself; she screamed.
Just then a voice came out of the trees in front of her. "What?" it said. The voice was male, and worried, though washed with the overtones of annoyance; the recognizable masking of emotions of the one she knew so well. She quickly identified it before Inuyasha even stepped causally out of the trees. Apparently he was coming to meet her on her way back to their house.
Then she saw it. His hair was no longer it's bright sliver-white color, but pitch black. His concerned eyes were violet.
'Inuyasha…' she breathed as she stared at him.
Then Inuyasha took a step backwards in surprise when Kagome ran up to him as fast as she could and buried her face in his chest.
He looked down at her, confused, then realized that she was scared. Of course she was, he could feel her shaking all over.
The boy sighed and wrapped her arms tightly around her. She stopped quivering after he held her for a few moments.
He felt her relax against him, he breathing slowed to a steady pace.
"I'm sorry." he whispered into her completely black hair, which no longer fell past her waist but was just some inches longer than her shoulder. "I should've reminded you this morning."
She shook her head then leaned her cheek against his red robes. "No…I was acting like an idiot." she said, and she was ashamed of herself for freaking out over something like losing her half-demon powers at the new moon.
Inuyasha held her tighter. "No you weren't, its scary the first time, but it'll only last a few hours, okay?" he said reassuringly, looking down into her upturned hazel eyes.
Kagome nodded slowly still unnerved, but she felt better after Inuyasha bent down and kissed her cheek gently.
She sighed exasperatingly and stepped back from him, now accepting the situation.
Then an idea came into her head. She contemplated it as she gazed idly to her side, then she looked at Inuyasha. "I'm going back to my time."
Swiftly she swept past him, and a few quick paces took her out of the forest and onto the green grass of the gentle slope down to the house.
But Inuyasha wasn't amused, and he easily caught up with her. "What?!" he demanded.
Kagome kept walking quickly and didn't look at him as she answered. "Just for tonight. My family hasn't seen me in about three months; I want them to know I'm all right."
Soon both humans had descended the hill. Kagome crossed the courtyard, Inuyasha at her heels. "I'll be back at sunrise," she informed him as she stepped up to the walkway of the right side building.
Inside her room, Kagome found her school uniform (which had been cleansed of all the blood, but she hadn't worn it in awhile because she liked her dress kimono better).
"But why?" The unsatisfied boy asked desperately, he having followed her into the room. "Why does it have to be tonight? I mean, you can do this anytime!"
Kagome spun on him. "No, I can't!" it came out harsher than intended, Inuyasha looked taken aback.
The miko clamed down, and started to fiddle with the clasps on her kimono, not exactly aware of what she was doing. "It has to be tonight, okay, because…ever since I …changed…I've been scared to…" she couldn't finish.
The girl looked away, and Inuyasha was about to press her for more information but stopped when he saw the pain in her eyes. She was shaking again, so badly that she couldn't even undo the buttons.
Inuyasha gave up on getting her to stop from leaving. The boy approached her, then gently took her shaky hands in his and lowered them to her sides. Then he calmly unclasped the bamboo buttons without any inappropriate intentions in mind. He turned to leave, softly sliding the rice paper door shut behind him.
For a moment all Kagome could do was stare at the door from which he had just left. Her now-clawless hands clutching the two separate pieces on the top of her outfit. Slowly she smiled appreciatively. No matter how many times he denied it, Inuyasha was really a nice guy.
Quickly she got a hold of herself and stripped down from her oriental clothes into her school uniform, which seemed strangely foreign as she pulled it on.
After getting fully dressed, she slid open the door to her room and stepped outside, ready to make the journey to the Well.
What she didn't expect was to see Inuyasha leaning indolently on the wall next to her door. His arms were crossed over his chest, and he had tied Tetsusaiga to his waist, a pose she had seen him occupy many times.
Kagome eyed him suspiciously. "What are you doing?"
He looked at her with those gorgeous violet eyes. "I'm coming with you." he said simply.
"Why?" the miko protested, although, if asked at the time, she would not have been able to supply a reason why she wanted to go alone.
Fortunately, no one asked.
"Because I am." was Inuyasha's answer.
"But…" Kagome thought up an excuse and glared slightly at her fellow hanyou gone human when one came. "Who's going to look after Shippo? He can't stay here by himself!"
"It's okay, you can drop me off at Kaede-grandma's place." Shippo said, emerging from the next room down as if summoned.
Inuyasha abandoned his leaning and stood up straight to face the chibi "You little twerp! Why were you listening to us?!" he demanded.
Shippo calmly ignored him. "It's okay, Kagome, she wouldn't mind…and besides…" he smiled innocently. "It's better than listening to you two making out."
Kagome blushed and giggled but Inuyasha looked like he wanted nothing more than to kill the little boy with his own two hands.
Then Kagome got a hold of herself, and then she sighed in defeated sort of way. "Okay, fine, you guys win. Come on." and with that she jumped down off the wooden walkway and onto the ground, keeping an eye on the two boys (with about the same maturity level) behind her.
After finding her house key in her yellow backpack (it didn't take very long as the bag wasn't nearly as big as usual) and swinging the unlocked door open, the couple stepped inside the Higurashi residence to find it quiet.
"Hello…anybody here?" Kagome called, looking around curiously.
No answer.
"Guess not." she confirmed, setting her bag down in the entryway like she always did and never was supposed to. She mechanically stepped out of her shoes and pulled off her socks, guess old habits don't die.
The girl walked into the living room at her left and flipped on a light switch. The room instantly lit up, ah, the conveniences of present day.
"I'm going to call my mom, so make yourself comfortable, okay?" Kagome said sincerely, turning to Inuyasha.
As Inuyasha sunk into Kagome's "couch" thing as she left the room to go get that weird "phone" thing (Kami, so much abnormal stuff in her house). He heard her voice in the next room.
"Hey, mom, this is Kagome…"
Far off, but perfectly audible thanks to the lovely wonders of modern technology, Mrs. Higurashi smiled. "Hi dear, long time no see."
"Uh, yeah…sorry about that…" Kagome said nervously twirling some raven hair on her free index finger as she idly strayed back into the living room with the cordless.
She was thinking of something to say to fill the dead air when Mrs. Higurashi spoke from her cell. "Why were you gone for so long this time, anyway?"
"Uh…" Kagome glanced nervously at Inuyasha who smiled slightly. He had heard Kagome's mother's question but…he didn't understand why was she so nervous…
"Well, I've got great news! We've got all the pieces of the jewel back together." After saying that, Kagome sweat dropped. That sounded so stupid.
But her mom exclaimed. "That's wonderful! Congratulations!"
"…Yeah, thanks…" Kagome said dully. "…Anyway I just thought I'd come home tonight and…er…Inuyasha's here too."
On the other side Mrs. Higurashi smiled into the receiver, her free hand at twelve o'clock on the steering wheel to make up for the hand that was holding her phone to her ear. "All right."
"So…where is everybody?" Kagome asked, leaning on the back of the couch.
"Well…I'm picking up Sota up from Nakama's house–"
At that Kagome rolled her hazel eyes. Sota and all his little friends were so annoying…and loud. Then she looked slightly over her shoulder at Inuyasha, who was could also be annoying and loud.
'Then again…never mind' Kagome thought affectionately with a smile.
"–And Ji-chan Grandpa is at the Toshigawa Temple, we're going to go get him then we're going to go to the grocery store."
"Okay…cool." Kagome wondering why the heck that was cool… "So, when are you going to be home?"
"Well…in an hour and thirty minutes or so." Mrs. Higurashi answered, glancing at the clock at her side.
"Okay" Kagome said.
"Well, I guess we'll see you later then, all right, dear?"
"All right, bye mom."
"Bye sweetie."
Mrs. Higurashi clicked her cell phone off and placed it back in her purse with ease.
"Who was that?" asked a now thirteen-year-old Sota, sitting in the back seat, asked without looking up from his laser-green Gameboy.
"You're sister, she's back."
"Cool." the boy answered, the blue light of the game lighting his apt face, apt to the game of course.
"Inuyasha's with her." Mrs. Higurashi said.
"Cool." Sota repeated, but this time it was a little more sincere; he thought of the half-demon as an older brother.
But after the synapses fired and the cognitive process occurred, he pressed pause on his game and looked up at his mother suspiciously. "Wait…they're both at the house, alone, and you're going to just let them? They like each other, you know…"
"I know." she smiled, glancing up at her son's face in the rear view mirror, "I was young once too, you know" she said, a strange and mischievous tone in her voice.
Sota blinked with mock surprise. "Really!?"
Mrs. Higurashi threw a random (easily reached) book at her son playfully.
The white phone beeped merrily as Kagome clicked it off. She disappeared momentarily to hang it up then came back into the living room and plopped down on the sofa.
She sighed involuntarily, not realizing how forlorn she looking gazing in front her blankly, focusing on but not thinking about the decorations on the walls, the grains of wood that ran across the floor…
"What's up?" Inuyasha asked.
Kagome blinked and looked at him as if surprised that he was there. "Huh?'
He studied her, indifference on his face, but you could bet your Shikon shards that his apathy was all an act. "You're worried about something…you have been since we got here…"
Kagome straightened defensively. "I am not! And besides you can't prove it…not tonight anyway." (A/N: wolves can smell emotions, pretty cool, huh?)
Inuyasha smiled slightly, arrogant but amused. "I don't need to have my sense of smell to know what you're thinking, Kagome."
Haphazardly, he reached to her and stroke her midnight black hair, the need of his hands to touch her too great to resist. No one was here, no enemy to take advantage of the connection between the two, no one to see him express his true feelings in the only way he knew how.
Kagome gave in and closed her eyes. She allowed her body to relax and her stubborn front to dissolve. "Why is that?" she said in a sigh.
He smiled. "I dunno…" His eyes caught hers; they were not the same color as they usually were, but they still made her catch her breath when they locked with hers, pouring into her soul, all her unsatisfied desired there for him to see.
Inuyasha's temporarily clawless hand brushed the tips of Kagome's hair, but his hand reached for her once more as Kagome crawled closer and kissed his lips.
Kagome sighed against him, knowing she probably looked extremely awkward on all fours…she may have been human then, but the girl got the feeling that she would never be able to repress the habits that came with her half-demon body ever again…oh well…
Inuyasha's arms secured themselves around Kagome's waist, and she willingly allowed them to pull her into his lap. She slipped her arms around his neck.
They kissed again.
Kagome's fingers gently entangled in Inuyasha's dark hair, since when did she love him so much? A few years ago just thinking this kind of thing called up a bright red rush of blood to her cheeks. Now she was living what she once was so sure she would never be capable of doing…
And the weirdest part was, she wasn't satisfied yet.
She felt his tongue touch her lips. She sucked in her breath as she felt his tongue arouse hers into deepening their kiss.
The butterflies in Kagome's stomach suddenly vanished into a wonderful igniting sensation that she hadn't ever felt before. The girl knew her companion felt it too when their kiss broke and he sort of moaned softly against her in ecstasy.
Inuyasha began to nuzzle her neck adoringly before abandoning that for something much more passionate. Kagome's eyes closed and she sighed as she felt his lips pressed against her skin.
Her fingers began to enlace themselves in the locks of his dark hair once again as his current kiss turned into open passion, his tongue caressing the area with vigor. She made the same murmur of longing as her partner had just done minutes before, as she buried her face in his hair. Inuyasha kissed her anywhere the collar of her uniform would allow. She could really get used to this…
For the first time in both their lives, it seemed, time had slowed down so that they could enjoy ever moment of this current situation.
Suddenly Kagome's arms were slipping around Inuyasha's neck as they slowly lay down on the blue couch, positively joined at the lips.
Inuyasha's body was on top of hers, but he was supporting himself with his arms, which were tucked securely around his love's slender waist. He felt the curves of her body against his, it would soon be too much to take…
This foreign thing was blissfully becoming less and less foreign to them with every move. Inuyasha traced a trail of little kisses down Kagome's neck. She sighed then took his face gently in her hands to return his love, slowly pressing kisses all over his face, he moved in accordance when she moved down to his neck. Inuyasha's eyes fell shut, and when Kagome pulled away, he moved from his current position to snuggle into the couch next to Kagome.
For a second they just stared into each other's eyes while trying to make up for lost breath, letting themselves get lost in the depths of emotion…Inuyasha smiled affectionately and ran a gentle hand down her face then through a lock of black hair.
She smiled right back before leaning into him for another kiss, a long, deep, drawn out one for that matter. Kagome began to wonder if it was his body making her so hot, or was it own?
Temporarily satisfied, they pulled away. Kagome closed her hazel eyes when Inuyasha snuggled into her and nuzzled her neck. He moved upward, loose strands of her black hair fell over his pale skin. Kagome giggled when he gently nipped on her ear, then fell into an appreciative, drawn out, hum as Inuyasha instead began to tease the tip of her human with his tongue and his lips, all the while having no idea where the skill for these impulses was coming from.
After he broke away Kagome pulled him closer and pressed her lips to his, burying her tongue deep into the delicious kiss.
She sat up suddenly, and he followed her. Playfully they kissed each other's lips over and over. Kagome giggled when they ceased, leaned in and claimed Inuyasha's lips for her own in a passionate kiss once again.
They seemed to have stumbled on what the bounds love could give them and they were hooked on it as if it were an addictive drug. They couldn't seem to stop.
Inuyasha suddenly seemed to lose control of his hands as he kissed her…they began to flow over Kagome's smooth legs and up to her thighs, slowly and seductively his hand inch up Kagome's skirt…and slowly he regained himself; finally coming to the realization that he could very possibly be crossing some boundaries. He gasped inwardly, opened his eyes and jerked back away from Kagome.
He was blushing furiously. "Sorry."
But Kagome just smiled and told him he was cute. Inuyasha's surprise (and embarrassment) faded when she kissed him once again.
Snaking his arms around her he allowed his body to sink back into the soft cushions of the sofa, Kagome's body was light on top of his.
Kissing deeply in passion the couple continued for as long as was humanly possible. Inuyasha tried his luck once more and placed his hands into the inside of Kagome's blouse; she had to suppress a shiver at the wonderful feel of his skin against hers. She knew should tell him to stop but it felt so good; they were both suffering from terrible hormone poisoning.
Kagome's hands had been stroking Inuyasha's soft hair, but moved as the couple switched sides of their kiss. Inuyasha groaned deeply for a moment as Kagome began to touch him in what would soon be inappropriate places, every centimeter she moved was another break in the restraint to go farther. He kissed her.
It was awhile before Kagome pulled away, breaking the long lip lock. Inuyasha pushed himself into an upward position, trying desperately to ignore the sensation he was getting from Kagome's legs (they were straddling his waist because he had sat up).
Brushing some stray hair away from her face, he kissed her cheek gently. "We have to stop…" he whispered, saying those words was the most reluctant thing done.
Kagome rested her head softly on his shoulder, "Why?"
"Because…if we keep going something's going to happen, and it can't happen here." he explained, but his words sounded forced.
Kagome sighed, a slight whine in her voice. He presented a good point.
She pulled away to look into his violet eyes. She affectionately tucked his black hair behind his ears. Suddenly she realized she was tired, or, more so, any and all stresses had been taken away. "Were we doing that?"
He smiled mischievously "I don't know, were we?"
Kagome smiled back just before Inuyasha leaned in and kissed her one last time. They held onto each other for as long as they could, then Kagome slowly pulled out of Inuyasha's lap.
Reluctantly she got off the couch and stood, "I'm going upstairs to take a shower," she smiled innocently, "So we don't look suspicious, 'kay?"
Inuyasha couldn't help but smile back, he nodded. He closed his eyes, took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his black hair, pulling it away from his face, concentrating hard on the remnants of what was left of his demon power, forcing it to shut down the powerful feelings running through him. It's much harder for a boy to hide a recent make-out session from others knowing what has ensued than it is for a girl, if you know what I mean. The boy listened to Kagome's departure from the room, and she was about to climb the staircase when the front door opened and in came the rest of Kagome's family.
Her mother exclaimed "Okari-nasai Welcome home , Kagome!" before hugging her long-missed daughter.
Kagome shot a look towards Inuyasha, that clearly said "perfect timing" before embracing her mother back. He couldn't his mouth from twitching into a faint smile when he caught it. "Tada-ima, mama!" Kagome exclaimed I have just now returned, don't ask me why the Japanese have a reply to 'Welcome home' because I don't know .
Her mother pulled away and placed her hands on her daughter's shoulders to look over her once. She smiled, Kagome smiled reflexively back, and her mother let go of her. The same greeting-hugging thing repeated two times before it was over.
"Kaban-wan good evening Inuyasha." Mrs. Higurashi said to the black haired boy in the living room before ushering Kagome's grandfather to kitchen with their paper grocery bags, as the old priest was giving the boy a very suspicious glare.
"Oniisan!" Older brother Sota cried at sighting his hero in the flesh and racing into the living room.
"Hey." Inuyasha said, half way between excited and bored as he stood to greet the little boy.
Sota stopped and stared at him, suddenly wide-eyed, "What happened to you?! You look…human." he said, utterly bewildered.
Inuyasha smiled up at Kagome for a second, who had followed her little brother back into the front room. "That's because I am."
Sota looked like he had just been told his best friend had died.
"But only for tonight." Kagome jumped in to explain.
Inuyasha nodded in agreement, "It happens to half-demons, every month…"
Sota sigh with relief "Oh, good." Suddenly the little boy got a terrifying notion in his head. He swiveled on his heels to face his older sister. He cocked an eyebrow at her neck. "What's that?" he asked.
Kagome's eyes shot open wide, and her hand immediately flew to cover a certain spot on her neck. "Nothing!" she said loudly in her (and Inuyasha's, teeheehee) defense.
Behind him, Sota caught Inuyasha suddenly trying to smooth out his hair, which had been at the mercy of Kagome's fingers.
Sota eyed the two people at each of his sides with disgust. "Mom is so stupid." he grumbled in disapproval as he rolled his eyes and quickly bounded out of the room. He made audible throwing up sounds all the way up to his room.
Kagome blushed and buried her giggling face in her hands. She peeked out at Inuyasha through a gap in her fingers. She caught him laughing a little, his eyes downcast to the floor, but lively still.
"I'm going upstairs now…" Kagome said, smiling brightly.
The girl tapped her head with a pencil lightly as she contemplated; she looked up from her homework over to the boy sitting at her right. "How would you 'Describe the juxtaposition between Mark Twain's 'A Tale of Two Cities' and Charles Dickens' 'Great Expectation's'?"
He stared at her blankly. "That makes my head hurt."
She laughed tiredly, "That makes two of us." Gathering her papers, books, and such in her arms she stood and walked over to her desk at the opposite of the room. After dumping the assortment of school supplies on its surface she sat back down on her bed and leaned on Inuyasha's shoulder.
She closed her eyes. "Stupid English…I don't even speak that language, so why do I have to study it?"
Inuyasha didn't answer, as he didn't have much understanding of what she was talking about.
She sat up and leaned her head against the wall her bed was up against. In the soft glow of her bedside table lamp she scanned her room. Why did it look so…alien?
Seconds passed and Kagome allowed her eyes to stray to the walls of the bedroom. "Hey, Inuyasha…thanks for coming with me." Kagome said with a small smile.
He leaned his head against her wall, looking at her sideways. The boy smiled too, except his was more of a smirk. "You acted like you didn't want me to come…"
"Sorry…"
Inuyasha shrugged, then smiled. "I wasn't about to let you walk all the way back to the well by yourself." His smile melted and he sighed. "Especially not tonight."
At that his voice trailed off and he glanced out her window, where the moonless night was scattered with stars, but not too many stars, he noticed.
Kagome sighed too and got the same forlorn look in her eyes as Inuyasha had. She found herself looking at the hands that could no longer protect her. "I can see now why you hate these nights…it's so weird…I mean, I've been a human for eighteen years and I'm scared…" she trailed off also.
Breaking the awkward aura, Kagome yawned. "And tired"
"So go to sleep." Inuyasha returned, smirking again.
Kagome was so tired, in fact, that she didn't even catch the underlining banter in his words. She shook her head weakly. "I can't, I've got too much homework–"
Inuyasha rolled his eyes.
"And" Kagome added, looking at him with her sleepy hazel eyes, "You never sleep when you're like this, so why should I?"
"Because" Inuyasha replied, "I've been doing that all my life, you on the other hand, haven't " He softened. "I'm used to it, I probably couldn't sleep on these nights, even if I tried…"
"Why?" A barely conscious Kagome asked.
"Because…I'm afraid…" Inuyasha answered shamelessly.
Kagome blinked at him. He was very complex, come to think of it. She yawned involuntarily again.
Inuyasha smiled "Go to sleep, Kagome." gently he pushed her down on the bed.
Kagome shook her head groggily, and then made herself comfortable. Her eyelids slowly shut.
Inuyasha leaned over her peaceful form and clicked off her lamp. A tired smile played across Kagome's lips when he whispered, "I'll protect you…"
Inuyasha sat on her bed, his back against the wall, just watching Kagome sleep, she was always beautiful, half demon or not.
Minutes passed in silence, then he heard the creak of wood as someone was coming up the stairs. The light of the hallway trailing into Kagome's dark room by her open door revealed Mrs. Higurashi carrying something in her hand.
Inuyasha's eyes widened in alarm; it was a little more than suspicious for a boy to be in girl's room at night, let alone on her bed, with her.
Mrs. Higurashi smiled graciously and held up a hand to stop him from jumping up off the bed as she entered.
"It's okay" she softly, her voice was perfect: quiet enough not to wake Kagome but just loud enough to be audible. "If I didn't trust you, then I would've stopped my little girl from jumping down that well years ago…" she said, a hint of laughter in her voice and eyes.
Inuyasha relaxed: she made sense.
Mrs. Higurashi crossed to Kagome's desk and set down her burden; it was Kagome's yellow backpack that she had left downstairs earlier. He watched as she straightened up Kagome's desk, in a few minutes she had skillfully turned chaos into order.
Then, finding nothing else to occupy her hands with, she sat down on the edge of Kagome's bed opposite Inuyasha.
"So" started making polite conversation. "How have you been lately?"
"Good, I guess." Inuyasha replied, what else do you say when someone asks that vague question?
Mrs. Higurashi nodded. "I haven't seen you in a while." she glanced at her slumbering daughter, "Either of you". There was sadness in her eyes.
Inuyasha suddenly felt like it was his fault that Kagome's mom rarely saw her. "Sorry…" he said softly, looking down a bit. "Uh…thanks for dinner." he had to shape his voice to match Mrs. Higurashi's controlled volume.
She smiled and all the sorrow vanished from her face, although Inuyasha couldn't tell if it was forced or not. "You're welcome."
Kagome's okasan resituated herself on the foot of Kagome's bed, crossing her legs in front of her.
She placed her chin in her palm, staring at Kagome in the near-pitch dark. "So…she told me that it's all over, your task and everything."
Inuyasha's eyes also strayed to Kagome. "Yeah, it is."
"So…I suppose she can stop playing super hero back there then, huh?"
Inuyasha gulped without meaning to. "Uh…yeah, I guess…" He didn't think it was probable that Kagome would suddenly stop going to the Feudal Era, he didn't want to think that it was probable.
"But, if we want to be practical, then I suppose she'll still stay there most of the time, won't she?" Mrs. Higurashi sat up and turned her face back to Inuyasha's.
He was surprised to see that she was smiling, but the smile was too slight, and it was backed by sadness. It was the smile of someone who was helpless to change something, no matter how great their will to change it was. Mrs. Higurashi was a strong person, just like her daughter. He nodded.
"Thought so." The woman sighed, and once again looked at Kagome, perhaps she was trying to soak up as much of her as she could while she was still here. "She's amazing, you know." she said suddenly.
Inuyasha blinked startled by the sudden change of topic, but it didn't leave him too baffled to process an answer, "I know".
"She's very independent, she always has been. The fact that she has to lead two lives has never taken its toll on her; it would on anybody else."
In the darkness Inuyasha smiled. Kagome was amazing, he knew that through and through.
"But…" Mrs. Higurashi's tone suddenly turned morbid. "Not for much longer, I think."
That scared Inuyasha for some reason, "What do you mean?" he sounded a little shaken.
Kagome's mother's eyes glanced sideways at the towering pile of homework on her daughter's desk. "She stays in the Feudal Era longer every time she goes there." She finally looked back to Inuyasha, looked into his violet eyes. "In this time school is a very important thing, and this year most teenagers Kagome's age are supposed to graduate (A/N: I'm sorry if I'm wrong about this; I have no idea where to get the information), that means the end of schooling…and the beginning of living."
Inuyasha felt Kagome's burden weighing down on his own shoulders.
"Here, in this time, people train all their lives to become something, then they either become it or fail…" Mrs. Higurashi's eyes left (a grateful) Inuyasha to stare absently in the darkness of Kagome's room. "I don't think Kagome knows what she wants to be, and I don't even know if she could graduate on all her zeros from absences…but she's going to have to make a choice soon, on what she wants to do, which path she wants to follow, which life is she going to choose? I don't think she can continue with two anymore…"
There was silence in the room.
Kagome's okasan looked back at the sleeping girl. "She knows that she's going to have to pick one, but she's not telling anyone, because she doesn't want anyone to worry about her…"
Inuyasha sighed; this was way too heavy to talk about according to him. He leaned his head against the white wall behind him in emotional fatigue. He stared out of Kagome's window.
"Kagome doesn't like it when people worry about her, she never really has." Mrs. Higurashi was surprised to hear him say.
"Hai, that's true." The middle-aged woman ran her fingers lightly through her short hair. Her kind eyes looked into Inuyasha's exotic purple ones. "How old are you, Inuyasha?" she asked randomly.
"Uh…" He stopped being surprised when he saw the calmness in her eyes; she simply wanted to know. "I'd have to think about that…"
Mrs. Higurashi smiled as warmly as the lamp in the hallway. "Now, I know you're not so old to have forgotten your age."
Inuyasha cocked his head to one side.
Kagome's mom smiled again; her daughter was right, he was cute.
Inuyasha leaned his head back against the wall once again. If he subtracted all the years he had been frozen in time on that tree and then how long half-demons live compared to humans…it was about "Nineteen." he said, looking back at Kagome's okasan.
She placed her chin her folded hands and nodded approvingly.
The boy across from her interrupted her thoughts. "Why do you want to know?"
"I suppose every mother wants to keep tabs on the man their daughter is in love with." She answered bluntly.
In the light of the hallway outside of Kagome's room she saw little red lines of embarrassment color in his cheeks. He looked away from her, "You know that?"
She laughed softly at his sudden display of emotion, "Of course I know, it's part of my job."
Slowly he allowed himself to look at her. She continued, her eyes shining with the happiness of resurfacing memories. The woman sighed, "I remember, there were times when she would come home and she was so depressed that I thought she would never get herself out of it…"
Inuyasha looked down, ashamed because he knew he had most likely caused that unhappiness in Kagome.
Kagome's mother continued without noticing, "But then there were other times when she would come home so happy that she couldn't stop herself from telling me all about how you were sweet to her…" she glanced at him, her eyes still shining, "Or how you saved her life."
That didn't help his blush recede.
Mrs. Higurashi glanced back at her daughter, then to Inuyasha. "You are always welcome here, you know."
He forgot about being embarrassed. "Really?"
Mrs. Higurashi looked surprised that he would question the fact that someone wanted him around. "Yes, really, you are always with Kagome and Sota simply adores you." She smiled a motherly smile. "I like you too."
He blinked. "But…uh…I'm a–
Somehow she knew what he was going to say and cut him off, "What you are on the outside doesn't matter, dear."
Inuyasha couldn't stop himself from smiling. "Kagome's ojisan doesn't seem to think that."
Mrs. Higurashi waved her father's name away, "Don't let him bother you." she assured him.
Then the woman looked over at the red digits glowing in the dark of Kagome's room. She sighed out of tiredness and got to her feet. "Well, it's late" in the doorway she paused and looked back at the dark-haired boy still sitting innocently on her daughters' bed. "See you in the morning." Did a more trusting mother ever live?
He nodded. Inuyasha looked over to Kagome, someone in the house clicked off the hallway light so that the dark was complete. He could barely see her chest rising and falling due to his lax human eyes.
Hours later, when dawn crept over the horizon and the rays of the sunlight seeped in through the trees in Kagome's backyard, He watched the magic of the new day change his companion. The extrinsic blue highlights returned to her hair, which once again gained its extended length. Her fingernails changed back into the handy weapons they had been the day before. And her ears went from curved to pointed to running up to the top of her head.
Her looked down to see his own claws back, and the tips of his black hair disappearing as it turned into its rightful silver state.
In the weak light of dawn he allowed himself to finally lie down next to Kagome and slip her arms around her waist. As he fell asleep he couldn't get Mrs. Higurashi's words out of his head, "You are always welcome here, you know."
Owari Chapter Jūkyū
Amehana: hello to all my loyal fans! Happy three days after election day, well, that may not be that day for you as you read this, but it certainly is for me…but I refuse to talk about that as I don't want to get stoned for my party affiliation and truly I am tired of it, and I can't even vote yet!
I am soooooooooooooooo sorry to all of you for not posting in so long; I try my best to post a new chapter every Friday but sometimes my stupid internet isn't working, or I just forget to, despite the millions of post-it notes I have up everywhere in my room. So, the point is that I apologize, and I just want you to know I would never abandon any fic, as I find that against my morals.
Speaking of fics, if you find anything wrong with mine, no one likes to get criticized, but I am always willing to learn something new. I also have no good fics to read myself & I really need some, so if you know of any uber romantic uber good Inuyasha stories than it would be grand if you would leave a note of it in your reviews…that is if I look at them. You see, frequently my MSN isn't working, and I'm also afraid of flames. Lol, sad, but true.
Meh…need sleep…just review people.
Oh yeah, Night Fire is the name of an Irish punk rock band, zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz