Disclaimer: Unfortunately, I don't own Inuyasha. Nor do I own Kagome, Sesshoumaru, Rin, Kagome's family, or any of the other copyrighted characters that may or may not appear in this fic. So please don't sue me, and enjoy the story!
Notes: Wow, you guys are great reviewers - thanks so much for all your support and encouragement! Unfortunately I'm in the middle of final exams right now, and haven't had much of a chance to keep writing the story. I've gotten to somewhere around the middle of the fic (~ch.16) and this is the slowest part of the story so I'm having trouble getting the chapters out of my head. But once I get through this the ending chapters are going to be so much fun and a piece of cake! I'm still trying to keep the chapters coming one a day despite my slowness (luckily I wrote a lot of it and got a head start before I started getting stressed) but I'm thinking as it gets closer to christmas you guys might have to wait just a *little* bit longer between chapters.
I'm also sorry about the shortness of the chapters - The only way I can really stay motivated and keep myself focused on what's going on in the story and when is to divide it up into little pieces. So what you're getting every day is my brain's idea of a chunk that it can deal with and handle without getting overwhelmed. The story is about 50 pages in MS word at the moment, which is an average length story for me. Since I'm about halfway through I'm guessing about 100 pages for the completed story.
Ah, and my personal favorite subject - lemon. Yes, I really am a hentai, though I think it's hard to tell at first glance. I was originally planning to make this a lemon, but like I said in the previous chapters the tone kinda took a more innocent shade and Inuyasha and Kagome decided they'd rather keep it clean. This is very distressing because I went through all the trouble of making Inuyasha such a fantastic lover and everything, and now he's turned all respectable on me. Don't lose hope, though - I may be able to work something at least moderately satisfying in there, though it won't have all the detail and raciness of a true lemon. *sigh* You'd think I'd have more say in my own damn story!
Learning to Let Go
Chapter 10: Thawing out.
Not wasting any time, he hauled her unceremoniously to her feet, and she stumbled again in the slippery mud. Before she could fall though, he'd climbed effortlessly out of the pond, dragging her with him as if she weighed nothing at all. He started purposefully toward the house, but Kagome dug in her heels in protest. "Wait!"
He steadied her on her feet, glaring down at her as she shivered. "What?" he snapped ungraciously.
"We can't go in there like this!" she told him. "We'll track muddy water all over the house."
He rolled his eyes. "You'd rather stand out here and catch hypothermia?"
Kagome looked around desperately for inspiration. She spotted Inuyasha's coat lying on the ground by the pond and smiled. "I'll wear your coat in," she told him, moving toward it, "and I'll get you a towel from the house. We can leave our wet clothes out here until tomorrow."
He shrugged. "Whatever. Just hurry up."
She glared at him. "I will as soon as you turn around, you pervert!"
With a menacing growl at the insinuation, he whirled in the other direction, splattering water droplets from his wet hair. "As if I'd even *want* - "
"You'll shut up if you know what's good for you!" Kagome shrieked, outraged. His words died down to inaudible mumbling, which she guessed was good enough. Stripping off the clothes as quickly as she could, she wrapped his warm coat around herself. Feeling slightly better she murmured, "This really is a nice coat Maybe I should keep it for myself."
He threw her a wounded look over her shoulder, but it quickly turned to a glare as he caught her mischievous grin. "So you *do* like it," she said, pleased with the unconscious admission.
"Just get me a towel, wench!" he snapped, nose up in the air.
Kagome sighed, trudging barefoot toward the house. "So we're back to wench again. I thought you managed my name pretty well earlier"
She shut the door on his ominous growl.
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Half an hour later, they were both showered and changed into warm clothing. Kagome padded into the living room in her slippers carrying two cups of hot chocolate. Handing one to Inuyasha, she settled herself comfortably on the couch.
For a few minutes she was content to stare blankly at whatever he was watching on TV while she formulated what she wanted to say. She had to know more about what had happened to make him lose it like that.
She reached over and grabbed the remote from him, deftly clicking off the television. He glared over at her. "I was watching that."
Kagome shrugged impishly. "You're the one with the supernatural reflexes But seriously. I want to ask you about some stuff."
His face changed and he sat back, taking a gulp of his hot chocolate. His eyes widened and he choked.
Kagome reached over to grab the mug from him before he could spill it all over the place. "Be careful!" she admonished him. "That's just out of the microwave!"
Inuyasha panted for a moment, trying to deal with the pain.
"Are you okay?" Kagome asked, concerned.
"Ow."
With a sigh, she put both mugs down on the coffee table. "Inuyasha what happened tonight?"
He swallowed, still feeling as if his burned tongue were three sizes too big for his mouth. "I reverted," he said matter-of-factly, trying not to slur his speech.
She waited for him to elaborate, and when he didn't she asked, "What's that?"
"It's how slaves deal with things they can't control," he said shortly. "They shut down everything but the most basic mental functions. They respond to commands but they aren't really *there*."
Kagome winced as sudden comprehension dawned. "That's why all the others I saw at that store"
"Sometimes slaves never come out of it," Inuyasha confirmed grimly. "There's nothing worth coming back for."
"What did she do to you to make that happen?" Kagome asked softly.
He bit back a growl, not wanting to talk about it. "I told you already. She touched me - and she was going to do more than that."
Kagome bit her lip, fear and disgust battling for dominance inside her. When she looked up, her eyes were full of angry determination. "I don't want that to happen to you ever again," she told him, her voice deceptively calm. He glanced over, taken off guard by the depth of emotion in her eyes.
"Is that an order?" he asked, slight sarcasm edging his voice.
She glared. "If I have to make an order I will!"
He snorted in derision. "You don't even know *how* to give an order."
"I - I order you never to take any more orders," she said angrily. "And never to let anyone do anything to you without your permission!"
His contrariness faded instantly. "That's a pretty stupid order to give. Now you can't tell me what to do."
Kagome smiled triumphantly. "That's perfectly fine with me. I never wanted to tell you what to do to begin with!"
Inuyasha slouched down, crossing his arms over his chest and looking the other way. He obviously wanted to be left alone, but Kagome was feeling decidedly playful. "I think we should practice," she told him cheerfully.
His ears twitched toward her, but he didn't look at her. "Practice what?"
"You need to practice not obeying orders," she informed him calmly, twisting to face him on the couch. "Are you ready? Look at me."
He glanced over at her sullenly, and Kagome shook her head in disappointment. "No, no, no. You're not supposed to listen to me, remember? Try again."
"This is stupid," Inuyasha complained. "I'm a slave. You can't just tell me not to obey orders."
"Are you arguing with me?" Kagome asked, glaring at him.
"N-"
"Aha! You lose again!" Kagome cried, pointing at him accusingly. "Tell me how amazing and talented I am."
He gave her a look out of the corner of his eye, and Kagome could have sworn his mouth was quirking up in the beginnings of a smile. "No."
"That's better," Kagome said approvingly. "Now go to sleep. We'll practice more later."
"I don't want to go to sleep," he informed her, reaching for the remote.
She grabbed it first and held it out of reach, raising her eyebrows at him. "Oh really? What *do* you want to do?"
"None of your business!"
Kagome laughed and handed him the remote. "I think you're getting the hang of it."
Inuyasha pointedly ignored her as she stood up, focusing on the TV while she grabbed both mugs of unfinished hot chocolate.
She deposited them in the kitchen sink and headed for the stairs, pausing to poke her head into the living room and check on Inuyasha. He looked as though he was set for the night, lying across the couch in the clothes Kagome had bought for him, propped up on one elbow and flipping through random TV channels.
"Do you still want to go to classes with me tomorrow?" she asked. She had no intention of dealing with a cranky Inuyasha in the morning if he'd changed his mind between this afternoon and now.
He barely glanced up. "Whatever," he muttered carelessly.
Kagome frowned. "You'd better get some sleep if you're going to be waking up early then!"
"I don't need as much sleep as humans do," he told her, "so maybe you should take your own advice."
Kagome just shook
her head in exasperation and started up the stairs toward her bedroom. He was
energetic, she'd give him that much. But for her it had been a long day, and
she was completely exhausted.
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They're so cute together... I really can't see Kagome with anyone other than
Inuyasha anymore. And for my next trick - Miroku shows up! The only male with
a major role in my story who isn't going to be a slave!
