Title: The Depths of Your Love
Summary: Inuyasha and Kagome are faced with a life changing decision. It will test the depths of their love. 'Yet she always came back to him when she fled. And he'd always be waiting.'
Pairings: Inu/Kag, Mir/San, others…
Disclaimer: La la la, and ho ho ho, the answer to your question is no no no.
A/N: Wow, how obtuse was my disclaimer? Seriously. I guess that my creativity juices for a different disclaimer are slowly but steadily running out. Really, a song? But anyways, I saw the movie 'Hostage' over the weekend, and I didn't really like it. It was kind of disturbing; gore is not really my thing. So, on with Chapter 8!
Chapter 8: Dream Visitations
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It was a dark and chilly night. The sky was cloudy, covering the billions of twinkling stars overhead. Kagome was standing in the middle of a Tokyo highway; there weren't any cars, buses, cabs… There weren't even any noisy pedestrians or scruffy homeless beggars…
There was only Kagome.
The golden rays from the streetlights flickered off. Kagome felt her heart beat speed up slightly as she called out, "Hello! Where is everybody!"
Her voice echoed off of the deserted buildings.
She frowned and began walking down the empty street. It was getting colder as a heavy breeze made her cling onto her lightweight jacket tighter. She glanced around again and noticed a dark figure in the distance.
"Excuse me!" she called, "Could you tell me what is going on?"
The figure did not answer, only beckoned for her to come closer. Kagome found herself walking, whether it was on account of her own will or not, she didn't know. She stood face to face with the dark figure, yet she couldn't see it any better than before.
"Kagome…" a metallic and raspy voice sounded from the figure, "Why?"
Her brown eyes filled with blatant confusion. "Why what?"
"Why?" it repeated a little louder this time.
"I don't know what you are talking about…" Kagome said; nervousness and fear clouding over her expression.
"Always alone…even when…I'm not…always…"
Kagome found herself wanting to run away, but she stood rooted to the concrete pavement. Yellow orbs softly glowed where the figure's eyes should have been. "Kagome, where is Kagura?" that soft breathy voice asked.
"I-I don't know who Kagura is. Honestly, I don't know." She rushed, noting the dangerous tone of the being standing in front of her. Those yellow lights narrowed in anger.
"Do not dare to pull that on me, Kagome. Your foolish lies cannot help you now. Tell me where the wind sorceress is."
"I told you, I don't…"
"Silence!" it shouted. "That is enough, if you choose not to tell me, then don't. Only the better for my purpose."
"W-what purpose?" Kagome stuttered.
"It doesn't really matter now, does it?" the yellow orbs formulated into eyes, the pupils cat-like slits of fury. "I may not be able to kill you in your dreams, Kagome, but this is exactly what will happen in the near future if you don't tell me of Kagura's whereabouts."
Clawed hands reached out to grasp her neck, lightly drawing small droplets of blood. Kagome tried to cry out but to no avail, "People are so easily fooled by your innocence and charm, but do them a favor, Kagome, and end it all so that none of them have the chance to see who you really are, a monster." it spat.
Kagome felt the life drain from her, a limp and lifeless body lying in the middle of a dark alleyway…
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Kagome's eyes snapped open, her breathing labored, coming in short pants. She sat up and rubbed her neck with a frown. What had that been about? Who was Kagura? Why did the figure want to know where she was?
Kagome's back ached. She realized that she had fallen asleep on that old stone bench. Wonderful. She tried to find a more comfortable position so that her back didn't hurt so much, rubbing her eyes.
The summer sun was beating down on her. Kagome's skin felt a little hot. On top of everything else, she was sunburned! Oh, what a day, Kagome mused.
"Kagome!" Sota called from the street. He was walking with a group of boys as they passed. She smiled and waved, "What are you doing home already?" he asked.
"Change of plans, squirt." Kagome said, running a hand through his hair. He yelped and tore from her perimeter.
"Don't touch the hair!" he protested, glancing at his friends from the corner of his eyes.
Kagome laughed at her little brother's antics, "Sure thing, Sota, run along, Mom isn't home and Gramps went to some shrine auction thing for new and exciting artifacts," Kagome said without excitement, "And I'm sure that your friends don't want to hang out with me," she said.
She noted with amusement that two of his friends' faces looked crestfallen.
"Okay, see you!" he said as his group began to walk away.
"Bye, squirt!" she called.
"Shut up, Kagome!" was his exasperated answer.
She chuckled, rising to stand. Kagome came face to face with the Sacred Tree that Gramps had always been rambling on about. The tale of the Shikon no Tama, the hanyou and priestess must have been scorched onto her memory cells. A betrayal between lovers.
But why did Kagome get the feeling that wasn't the ending of the story?
It was almost as if she knew something that others didn't, but she couldn't quite grasp it. Kagome visibly sighed and trekked into the Higurashi Shrine. Her imagination must have been working overtime, she thought, for there was no other explanation.
Kagome walked into the kitchen and grabbed herself a soda from the refrigerator; she found her thoughts drifting back onto that Inuyasha guy. She wondered where he had gone.
She had no idea why he was staying with them, and she had no idea where he could have been. There was no trace of him in the house and for a fleeting second, she contemplated the possibility of this morning being a very odd dream.
But then the front door opened.
Kagome heard sets of footsteps walking towards the kitchen; she held her breath, trying to hear who it was.
"…your birthday, Inuyasha? I have no idea how she could have afforded that!"
"Me either, I just wish she'd remember…"
"I know, but until we find out what's going on…"
Hitomi and Inuyasha walked into the kitchen and as soon as they saw her sitting at the kitchen table, all conversation was abruptly cut off. Kagome's eyes narrowed at the pair, but as her gaze drifted solely onto Inuyasha, her jaw dropped.
He stood at the same tall height that she remembered, but his previous long flowing silver hair was now jet black, flowing in silky waves down his back. She could have sworn that his eyes had been an amber color, but now sapphire blue eyes stared back at her with an unreadable expression.
When she had been in the bathroom, and later, in her bedroom, she thought that she saw a set of cute little dog ears resting on top of his head, but now there were none.
This morning he had been wearing a red haori, and now he wore a short sleeved forest green shirt with a pair of loose fitting faded jeans.
He looked like any other teenage guy in Tokyo.
Her mouth opened and closed, she was without words.
Her mother must have understood her dilemma, because she said, "Inuyasha had been trying on his costume for Gramps. You know, for the winter festival play. This year we're doing a reenactment of the Shikon no Tama legend."
Her astonishment slowly began to fade away; her eyes still held several inquiries as she said, "This morning I was in a rush and we didn't get to go over things thoroughly. So, not to be rude or anything, Inuyasha, but why are you staying with us?"
His dark blue eyes darted over to Hitomi.
"Oh, a friend of mine at work has just passed away. To be more specific, Izayoi Taisho was the mother of Inuyasha here. He has only just turned seventeen, and they would have put him in foster care."
"He would have most likely been pulled out of his private school and been torn away from his friends, I couldn't stand watching him be put through all of that. So he should be staying with us for a while."
At this point, Inuyasha knew it was his cue to start talking, they'd only rehearsed it how many times, "I don't want to be any more trouble to you, Kagome. I feel as if I owe you a greater apology for today," Inuyasha found himself blushing at the whole fiasco of this morning, and without knowing it, the hint of color added more credibility of his apology into Kagome's mind.
"I was in just as much shock as you were. But the thing was, I didn't want your mother to see how upset I was…"
Kagome nodded, that explained the tears…
"And then I knocked you over, I didn't know if you were hurt or not…"
That explained the shouting about he was worried about her…
"But then… and you started acting like I…and then you started screaming…and I'm really, really sorry, Kagome." he finished.
A warm smile spread over Kagome's face like an infection. How could she have thought that this sweet and shy guy was a homicidal psychopathic Peeping Tom? She cursed at herself for blurting everything to Hojo and Eri.
Even if she explained things to them, she was positive that they still wouldn't trust Inuyasha.
"I'm sorry about your mother, Inuyasha." she said looking down, she sensed that his mother wasn't a very safe topic to discuss, but she just had to say how sorry she was. She couldn't imagine being an orphan, her Dad had been in a terrible car accident ten years ago, and she didn't think that she would ever be able to cope with the loss of her mother.
"It's alright." he said.
There was a short silence.
"Well, I have to run to the super market, so I guess I'll leave you to it then." Hitomi said, grabbing her car keys off of the kitchen counter. I have to run some other errands, so don't expect me home any time soon. Here's thirty dollars for pizza; Sota should be home within the hour, and Gramps should be home in a few, depending on how many items he chose to bid on." Hitomi smiled.
Somewhere else in Tokyo…
"Here we have the ancient talisman of the Water Nymph, L'eau. Hanging on the wall of your shrine, this will put up a barrier around your sacred buildings from harmful and potentially deadly storms. Our beginning price will start at one thousand dollars." An elderly woman with obscenely large spectacles read from a small note card, a silver necklace dangling from her hand.
"One thousand dollars." An elderly man sitting next to Grandpa said, raising a number card.
"One thousand for 22B, any other bidders?" the old woman asked, her magnified eyes scanning the practically empty room.
Grandpa glared at the only other occupant sitting in the room besides himself. There was a hefty pile of won artifacts on the floor by the man's feet. Grandpa had just as large a pile resting on the chair next to him, but he wasn't going to let this old coot win this one.
Oh no.
"One thousand ten." Grandpa said loudly, raising his number card.
"One thousand ten from 21B, are there any other bids?"
The other man shot him a challenging glower; his drooping eyes narrowed. "One thousand twenty!" he shouted. "Bring it on, old man," he mouthed to Grandpa.
Grandpa bristled, this man chose the wrong day to mess with Mr. Higurashi.
"One thousand thirty!" he said.
Back at the Higurashi Shrine…
"Okay, Mom," Kagome said. Hitomi smiled at her oldest daughter and pecked her on this cheek with a passing kiss. "Bye honey, bye Inuyasha," she said as she stepped out of the front door.
Inuyasha stood there uncertainly. He knew that he was being stupid for acting so awkward around Kagome, but this Kagome didn't set him free from his prison of the Sacred Tree. This Kagome never shattered the Sacred Jewel. This Kagome never got so upset over his dutiful feelings toward Kikyo.
This Kagome never shared her first kiss with him.
Physically, yes.
Mentally, no.
He glanced down at the silver band on his ring finger that she had given him only just the day before. Apparently he looked human to Kagome, going by her reaction. Yet, his ears were still there, his hair was still white as far as he could tell, in his eyes he looked his normal half demon self.
Oh well…
Kagome coughed; breaking the silence.
His eyes darted up to meet hers nervously, "So…" he tried. He didn't know what to talk about with Kagome now. She didn't know the truth about his past, what if she did find out, and despised him just like almost everyone else did?
"So…" she smiled, "You go to a private school? Which one?" she asked.
Inuyasha gulped softly, praying to the gods that he could remember each and every detail that he and Hitomi had discussed earlier; he sat down at the table across from Kagome; putting on his cool and collected mask that he had used to wear constantly; but lately he hadn't had to.
"I go to St. Miroku's, it's about…thirty minutes away." he finished. He internally scowled.
St. Miroku's? Hah, that would be the day, wouldn't it? That man is incapable of being a saint.
"Oh," she said, "I've never heard of it. So tell me about yourself."
"You tell me first."
"What? About you? I don't know you."
"That's not what I…" he drifted of, his irritated voice halting when he noticed her teasing smile.
God, that girl was annoying!
But he loved her. Her mischievous smile making her more endearing, in his eyes.
"Tell me about yourself first." he said.
She sighed, "Well, I'm Kagome Higurashi—as you probably already know—I will be sixteen years old in September, my favorite color is purple, my favorite food is nothing real fancy—macaroni and cheese, I have a fat cat called Buyo, my best friends are Eri, Yuki, and Ayumi...Now, what about you?"
Kagome noticed that she didn't mention Hojo…
For some reason, she didn't want to tell Inuyasha just yet, and this befuddled her to no end.
"Well, I'm Inuyasha Taisho, and I turned seventeen yesterday," Inuyasha practically snorted, he turned nineteen in demon years...he was probably older than Hitomi if they went by human years. "My favorite color is green, my favorite food is ramen, I don't have any pets, and my best friends are Sango and Miroku."
"Miroku?" Kagome raised her eyebrow, "Don't you go to St. Miroku's?"
"Yes, Miroku is a descendant, sure swells his head up quite a bit." Inuyasha smiled.
"Will I ever meet Sango and Miroku?" Kagome asked.
You already have, Kagome!
"Hmm, maybe one day…"
"Really? Great! Okay, well I guess I should order dinner. Do you like any particular topping?" Kagome asked.
"Topping?" Inuyasha frowned, Hitomi hadn't discussed 'pizza.'
"Yes, pizza toppings, Inuyasha. You know, pepperoni, mushrooms, peppers, anchovies? I really hope that you don't like anchovies, they're just plain old gross." She said.
Think, Inuyasha, think!
"Well…what do you like? It doesn't matter to me."
"Mushrooms it is, then." Kagome grinned and walked over to the telephone on the kitchen wall and dialed the nearest pizza delivery restaurant.
"Mushrooms it is." Inuyasha agreed.
The front door was swung open and closed rather noisily. "Kagome! I'm hooooome!" Sota shouted. Inuyasha's ears went back for a split second.
Damn, that kid was loud.
Sota walked into the kitchen and stopped in his tracks at the sight of Inuyasha.
What an imposing sight, Inuyasha mused, he didn't exactly look like every other scrawny human teenager his supposed age.
He smirked.
"Who's that, Kagome?" Sota asked with wide eyes, almost in pure awe.
Oh no, and so it begins…he thought, noticing the idolization forming in the little boy's brown eyes already.
"Oh, this is Inuyasha. He'll be staying with us for a long time." She said, her ear pressed against the phone.
"Hi, Inuyasha," Sota said with a large grin, "I'm Sota, and I'll be ten in October. Do you like video games? I love them, I wanna be a video game designer when I grow up, but Gramps doesn't want me to, but Mom says…"
"And Inuyasha cares?" Kagome smiled.
"Shut up, Kagome," he said sticking his tongue out at her.
She didn't get to answer, "Yes, I'd like to order one large mushroom pizza…hand tossed…no…sure…hold on," she covered the mouth piece of the phone, "Do you guys want wings?" she asked.
"Yeah!" Sota exclaimed.
Kagome nodded, "Yes, mild…ranch dressing…twenty minutes? Okay, bye." She hung up the phone on the wall.
"So as I was saying, why would Inuyasha care?"
"Because he's awesome, that's why."
"You've known him for two minutes!" Kagome laughed.
"But still, can't you just tell? How could he not be!"
"Yeah, Kagome. How can you not tell that I'm completely awesome?" Inuyasha smirked.
"I take it back, Sota, I'm sure that Inuyasha does care. I'm sure he has the exact same life goal, you both will get along just fine." Kagome said in amusement.
"Really! Oh my god, Inuyasha you have to play me on Destroyer 3000! Come on!" he said, dragging his new friend towards the living room. Inuyasha sent Kagome a look that clearly shouted 'Help me!'
Kagome just smiled and waved.
She chuckled to herself as both boys exited the kitchen, she had already taken an instant liking to Inuyasha, and apparently, so had Sota.
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Kagome lay in her bed tossing and turning, she was frowning, perspiration dripping down her forehead.
A burly panther, no…tiger…Kagome couldn't tell, was chasing her through a lush forest. She batted protruding branches and bushes out of the way as she stumbled over her own feet; scrambling to get away.
She didn't have to look back to know that yellow eyes were watching her with a sinister glint in them.
"Tell me, Kagome. How does it feel to be living in constant nightmares?" a raspy voice emitted from the bloodthirsty tiger.
"Leave me alone!" Kagome shouted, her legs were beginning to ache, but she couldn't stop, she'd be eaten alive.
"Is little Kagome frightened? I'll spare you your pathetic excuse of a life if you tell me why…" it taunted.
"I don't know what you're talking about!" she screamed, faltering in her brisk run as she stumbled over a tree root.
"Oh, but you do, Kagome. Now, I'll give you another chance to save your worthless life. Where is Kagura?"
"Stop it!" Kagome cried, "I have no idea who Kagura is, just STOP IT!" Tears were running down her scratched and bruised face.
"Ah, I see we haven't learned our lesson, have we? Well, I'll spare you your next painful death by saying, ask your friend Inuyasha. I'm sure he'll know something about her…"
Kagome screamed as the carnivore jumped onto her back…
Kagome bolted upright in her bed. She noticed that tear droplets were mingling with sweat. She let a dry sob tear from her lips as she buried her face into her knees. Why was she having those dreams!
Kagome sighed and walked into her bathroom, there was no point in going back to sleep. She was in dire need of a shower.
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Thanks to all of my reviewers! I love you all so very much! Please review and make my day!
♥ Much love,
Alyssa
