Title: I Can't Think
Author: Aeki Muffinhands
Kagome leaned against the rock Sango had been laying on. The pool of water was so soothing right now.
She thought about when she was with Inu-Yasha, when they found Shippo and the time Miroku found them. She remembered when Sango came to them in a rage and how Inu-Yasha managed to quell the demon slayer's heart. She was sure in another life they could be happy together, they had so much in common after all.
She remembered the rare moments that Inu-Yasha returned her loving gestures, confusing her into thinking that he might truly love her. He did love her, but not in the way she wanted him to. She continued to stay at his side anyway. She loved him. She would do anything for him, she would do anything just to be his friend. Because even though she knew that he owed his heart to Kikyo, she thought for maybe a brief moment that he would love her back.
Her mother had told her not to fall in love with him. She did like the boy, but after everything Kagome reported, she warned her of the dangers of giving her heart to a man who didn't want it. "You don't understand!" She said.
She wished she had listened to her. She wished she would have listened to her more than she did when she came back. She wished she said she loved her more. She wished that she could have her mama back. Everything would be ok then.
The main reason she never said anything about the woman's death to begin with was somewhat horrible. Secretly, she wanted the shikon jewel to bring her back, no matter how selfish it was. The more she thought about it, when her mind had time to clear, she didn't want to bring her back. It would be sad, she thought, if her mother would be sad like Kikyo. Even though her mother did not have such a tragic death, she was sure it would have been upsetting enough… and to be brought back. She would never be the same.
In a way, she began understanding Kikyo. It must be strange to be brought back to life after she had found some kind of peace. Deep down, Kikyo really did love Inu-Yasha in her own way. Deep down she wanted to live again. She wanted to, but she knows that she can't. How sad.
Then her thoughts drifted back to her mother. She dreamed of her the other night, one particular dream stuck in her memory despite how strange it was.
She would walk in the door, and her mother would be sitting on the couch. She would look hazy, almost see-through as she sat down smiling.
She would run to her mother then. "Mama!" And no matter how much she wanted to, she could not embrace her mother.
"Oh my little Kagome." Her mother would say. "If it were Sota, I could be strong. I wouldn't cry… but for you." And suddenly her mother's arms would be around her, even if she couldn't hug her back. She felt sometimes that she came back at that instant… and it filled her heart with such hope.
Then she woke up. She always woke up… even if she didn't want to. Her confidant was gone… then she turned to a man.
Then she was happy again, she could travel around with her friends with a cheerful smile. Then reality always reared it ugly head. They are going to find out about us, then everything will end. That was how it would end. They would find out, they would hate her. There was no way she could hide it anyway. Naraku had been careful not to meet them again, in his own way he tried not to force her to truly betray her friends just yet. She wondered that when the time came, what he would do… what they would do… what she would do.
A few scenarios played through her head. Would it all come down to a huge battle? Would he simply sneak in and steal the shards from all the last holders?
He did enjoy showing off his power, which made her believe in the flashy battle. But he was also a very subtle man, which made her think he might steal them, make his wish then strut around like a rooster.
Either way, in the end… it would be the same. They would hate her. She couldn't hide how she felt after all… no happy endings.
It's so silly to get depressed now…
She wondered if he loved her or if she was just a little favor to be won at the end of the game. She wished he would say something. He was obsessed over her, she knew that much, but it wasn't enough. Well, maybe it wasn't enough… right?
Kagome felt an arm slip around her body intimately and her eyes widened in shock. His slender fingers were grasping her in familiar places and she wanted to just die. Bastard! She had been walking all day long while he lazed about – now he was back for more! Well not this time! No sir!
Her arm struck out, just hoping to knock him a little off balance or at the very leash startle him. Her elbow caught his jaw and sent him reeling backwards onto the bank of the spring.
She didn't bothering looking back before she ran to the opposite embankment. Then, suddenly she paused, a bit confused. She knew Naraku might be stunned by her actions… for she had never struck out at him since they've been together… but… she doubted her would give her the satisfaction of flying at one of her blows. He even felt… dare she say… weak? Which only meant! "Miroku!" She turned around red faced.
But it wasn't Miroku, it wasn't even Naraku. It wasn't anyone she knew. "Bitch…" The man picked himself up, clearly surprised that she had hit him so hard but on guard not to let her take advantage of him more than once.
"Ha! What a weakling." Another man came out of hiding. "Being beaten by a woman."
Kagome threw her body under the water, realizing her state of undress in front of these very unfamiliar men. "What the heck do you want!" She glared at them, their scathing statements finally registering in her brain. "Get out of here!"
The second man smiled as she tried vainly to cover her body. "Looks like a shy bitch, pull her out of the water."
"If you touch me!" Kagome threatened, but didn't get to finish as the first man picked her up and hauled her to the shore were there was no where to hide. The second man was smiling as he approached the two of them, well she wiped that smug smile off his face with a well timed kick.
"Damn it!" He hissed, grasping his gut. "Hold her damn you!"
"I'm trying!" The first growled back.
Kagome's eyes finally settled on the second man's ears, which were clearly pointed. "You are a demon?" She stilled in her captor's grasp.
"Heh," He finally stood upright, glaring at her. "And you… are a priestess are you not?"
"Yes." Kagome answered cautiously.
"Too bad for you…" His hand was reaching out to a very inappropriate area and before she could scream his comrade pointed out an oversight.
"It looks like someone else claimed the bitch."
"Demon markings?" The second man nearly laughed at the ridiculousness of it all. "What a priestess you are!"
"Maybe we shouldn't do anything." The first worried, but still held her fast. "We don't even know what kind of demon it is."
The second stopped to consider and examined her. "These are spider demon markings."
"Spider demons?" He seemed a bit more cautious. "How can you tell?"
"Eight on the abdomen…" He said offhandedly. "That's their typical marking areas and number… though it still could be something else I suppose."
"Can you tell which one? The ones that look like humans or the little ones?"
"The humanoid ones!" The second appeared annoyed now. "How the hell would a little one mate with her!"
Kagome was mortified, not even believing for a second that they were discussing her in such a manner… not to mention that she was naked!
"I just want to make sure my face isn't going to get ripped off!" The first shrieked.
"Both of them steal faces! It's not like it matters!" The second yelled. "Look… it's a half-breed anyway."
"How do you know that!" The first demon seemed perplexed at the second's knowledge.
"Her smell you idiot," Her sighed, exasperated. "Use your brain. It shouldn't matter… if it's just a weakling half-breed we shouldn't have to worry about it."
"If you are done talking!" Kagome began, finally at her last threads of patience. "Let me go before I call my friends out here!"
"Friends?" The man almost laughed, that is… before he was dropkicked into the dirt.
"Kagome!" Inu-Yasha issued forth his battle cry as he stepped off the poor wilted man underneath his feet.
The demon behind her nearly let go of her out of shock, but then held fast thinking he might use her as a shield.
"Kagome-chan!" Sango was the second one to show up again. Guilt was marring her beautiful face as she saw the poor girl being held by the last standing, hapless demon. Her fingers flexed around her boomerang, her teeth were gritting together. "Let her go!" She ordered in her most commanding voice. "Or else."
"Or… or what!" He squeaked.
Sango just lifted her monumental weapon up and the demon was flinging Kagome at her. Sango let her boomerang drop and she caught Kagome as lightly as she could without falling backwards.
"Feh," Inu-Yasha was smiling, walking over to a startled Sango. "Looks like he left his friend to rot over there."
Sango just tightened her grip on Kagome. "Kagome, I'm so sorry I left you… I-"
"It's not your fault Sango." Kagome finally found her voice. "It's ok, just… stop crushing me… and put me down please."
"Oh!" Sango blushed. "Of course!" She was in the process of putting her down when she saw… and touched the little blue marks on her shoulders. "Oh…" She seemed so sad. "What are these Kagome?"
Kagome didn't know what to tell her, did Sango already know?
"Kagome… who did this?" Maybe not, but in her eyes… she already knew.
My Ending Notes: Sorry it's so short! My storyboard only included this little bit in here – so I'm sticking to it. I had to cut one scene out due to it's ridiculousness – (shivers in horror). I hope I'm not being too boring with all the dialog bits in here.
Amy Lee – I'm working on the ellipses, but I love using them so much! (I had to erase a few ellipses out of the message for you lol. For some reason my question marks are getting erased, because I went back and looked at my original text and they are there. I'll have to see if I can fix them at some point. Thanks for pointing that out though; I didn't even realize they were being deleted.
CrystalElement – Good to see more Naraku fans out there. I'll try to keep my story nice and detailed in the future. I think this chapter is kind of poor though. (sigh) Don't worry – more action and neat stuff in the next chapter heading up.
Petty Insanity – Here you go! I'll try to write more soon.
Kirara81 – Yay! Another review from you! (so happy!) I'm glad you liked the last chapter. I'll try to make my next chapter better than this one – it's really tough writing a multi-chapter for Naraku. I really admire the fact that you've written a very long Naraku/Kagome story yourself and manage to make it believable too. I'm eagerly awaiting the next chapter for "Sleeping with the Enemy"
tHePnaYwriTeR – Don't worry - I shall! P.S. Your name is hard to type with spell check on.
Jasmine Fields – aka Jazz - Oooooh yeah, I know what your talking about… if tous le jours means her home cookin' baby! Her Er… ooh… my. (crawls under a rock)
Chibi Naraku: Wow… Gaby really is stupid if she doesn't drink coffee in the morning.
Me: Nooooooo!
ShadyMinion – Yeah, I love making Naraku a pervert for some reason… because you almost KNOW he would be if he got the chance to… I mean… he is totally demented in every other way… so why not make him into a pervert right… huh…? (must stop ellipse-ing before Amy Lee gets out the ruler and beats my hands with it hehe). (I'm really trying – it's just so hard to stop! It's like cigarettes! I swear next chapter I'll try to keep it down to three.)
Aubrin Xerva – I shall – I think I've got all the kinks worked out of my storyboard. (I think!) So hopefully I won't get stuck at any point.
Sesshy"slilslut – Suuuuuuure your not, and I'm Brad Pitt. And it's funny… 'cause I'm not. (crickets in the background) Just messing around! Kouga will be appearing soon – hope you like it… mwa ha ha ha!
FluffysBabyGirl – Heh heh heh… you know they'll find out. (grin) Thanks for compliments – and your name is soooo cute. Every time I see the word fluffy I think of my kitty cat's tail… which is much more fluffier than fluffy's fluff… if you know what I mean.
LuvInuKag – aka Lexy – I'm glad you enjoyed it – I'll keep going.
