Chapter 8: Understanding and Breakfast Bad News
'She's warm.' Inuyasha thinks. He had wanted to do this for a very long time, though he'd never admit it. He rests his head on hers, just being glad she was alive. After a second he looks to Miroku, who is smiling a mile a minute, with a look that plainly says 'Leave, now.' He wasn't about to have any more witnesses than necessary to what he was going to do.
Miroku bows before taking his leave quietly.
Inuyasha takes a deep breath, breathing in her calming, carefree scent, though he notices a hint of salt mixed in. He blinks. Salt? He carefully lifts his head to look at hers, which is buried in his chest. "Kagome?" he whispers, as if he was afraid that if he spoke to loudly she would break.
"When I heard the howls, I thought you were in danger. I...I couldn't stop myself, I had to check. I had to make sure you were alright. And then, when you didn't answer, and that howl, that awful, awful howl. And...""
Inuyasha puts a hand on the back of her head, pressing it to his chest in a comforting manner, "Shh, it's ok. It's over now." A part of himself was screaming at him to get AWAY from her. She couldn't make him go soft. He'd sworn never to love, period. On and on it goes, but he does his best to ignore it. He felt responsible for quieting her; it was his fault she was crying in the first place.
She quiets down and stays as she is. After a while she whispers, "Inuyasha...?"
He looks down at her, "Hm?"
Silence follows a few seconds before she quietly asks, "Do you hate me because I look like 'her'?"
His eyes widen as he continues to look down at her, "What?"
She attempts to burrow further into his embrace before replying, "Once I asked Sango why you were such an egotistical jerk and she said that you might be the way you are with me because I look like her."
He gently forces her away slightly from him, "Kagome, who are you talking about?" Before he committed to saying anything, he had to make absolutely sure they were talking about the same 'her'.
Kagome looks into his eyes, hers filled with an emotion that he can't even begin to decipher as she says, "The one that made you look like this. Sango wouldn't tell me her name but said that you hated her because of what she did. I...I just thought that, maybe, you hated me because I looked like her."
Inuyasha remains quiet for a while, picking up pieces of a puzzle that he has no clue how to put together, before cautiously starting, "First off, I don't hate you. Right now I'm not sure how I feel about you, but I don't hate you. If I hated you, I wouldn't have stopped myself last night. Second off, her name was Kikiyo, but I swear if you ever say that name in front of me, you will regret it."
"So, you do hate her?" Kagome interrupts, a sad look in her eyes.
"Her, Kagome, not you. And can you blame me? She turned me into a freak!"
Something inside Kagome seems to click and she says, "But Sango said that K...'she' made you 'like the beast your heart contained' (A.N. Ok, so Sango paraphrased a bit, give her a break, she wasn't actually there and it HAS been ten years nearly lol) if you weren't a beast on the inside then she couldn't have turned you into one on the outside."
Inuyasha growls before looking into Kagome's eyes and sees that she wasn't trying to get him riled, like 'she' would do, but was honestly just curious. He'd always tried to avoid thinking about the subject, but now he searched for an answer that would suffice. "Kagome, we were fighting when it happened. I don't doubt that if in my heart I was a rabbit she could have made me ravenous." He says, trying to quiet her fears while not really answering her unasked question.
Kagome giggles, probably from imagining him with rabbit ears instead of his small, triangular dog ears (A.N. Those things are SOO cute -!!) She stops after a while before looking up at him again, and he is pleased to see her tears gone, happiness replacing them. After a few seconds she asks "Inuyasha, what are we?"
He thinks about it before shaking his head and pulling her against him again, "I don't know Kagome. We're not enemies, and you refuse to be called my servant." He sighs and shrugs, "I've never had anyone who qualified as something different, except Mother, but you DEFINITELY don't fit in that category."
Kagome stays silent before whispering, "You mean, you've never had a friend?"
He shrugs, "Never had the time for one. That, plus when I was little 'dear old dad' made it perfectly clear that I was not to 'fraternize' with anyone below me in rank, so friends weren't really an option."
Kagome thinks before asking, "Why are you being so open with me? I feel like I've learned more about you in the last five minutes then in the weeks I've been here."
Inuyasha shrugs again, "I just feel like it, okay? You want me to stop?"
Kagome violently shakes her head "No! I was just curious, that's all." She rests her head on his chest. After a while she says, "Inuyasha, would you like to be my friend?"
Inuyasha's eyes widen and he looks at the top of her head thinking 'Is she serious? After all the crap I've put her through, she wants to be my friend? Wait a minute...' "I don't need your pity Kagome." He says rather coldly.
She looks up at him, flames suddenly in her eyes, "You idiot, this isn't pity! Do you have any idea how lonely it is here if you're used to having family and friends around? Miroku, Sango and the others are nice, but they treat me like a stranger. 'Lady Kagome' this and 'Miss' that, I just thought we could help each other out. I could show you what friendship is and you could help me not go insane from loneliness. But if you don't want to because you think I asked out of pity then..."
She is promptly shut up by Inuyasha's lips on hers. Not in the demanding way the last one had been, but soft and gentle. Kagome looks up at him when he pulls back, and he smirks down at her, "Well I had to shut you up one way or another. Kagome, as long as you don't pity me, and remember your promise still stands, I think I'd like to try this 'friend' thing with you."
Kagome lets go of a breath she hadn't known she was holding and she places her head on his chest again. 'Maybe,' she thinks, 'maybe the kid I've read about's still in there somewhere. Maybe he just needs help to become who he could have been. Well, for now I just want to stay here and not think for once. I'll worry about helping him discover his inner child later.' With that she burrows in a little and they just stand there in each others arms, uncertain of the future but unconcerned as well.
(A.N. Ok, I stopped here on paper, but I'm feeling generous, so I'll keep going for a little longer. You're welcome lol!)
They stay like that for quite a while, Inuyasha's head almost protectively on Kagome's; drinking in her sweet wild flower scent while Kagome buries herself deep into his arms. After nearly half an hour, Inuyasha lifts his head and smirks, "So, you ready to make my breakfast yet?"
Kagome looks up at him and almost swaps him on the arm lightly before a loud rumble issues from his stomach, followed shortly by a slightly softer one form her own. Both of them can't help but laugh and Kagome says, "Alright, you win. Wait in the dining room and I'll be there, with food, as soon as possible."
With that they depart, each in their own direction with a smile on their faces. After about ten minutes, Inuyasha starts getting impatient when Kagome comes in balancing a huge tray with two plates with covers over them, a pair of cups, a teapot, and a coffeepot on it. "Sorry if it's not up to standard, I figured you would appreciate speed over quality."
With that she puts the tray on the table and unloads a dish, a cup and the pots before lifting the lid off of what appeared to be a shallow bowl full of long skinny round noodles in a strange yellowish-brown broth. Inuyasha's nose wrinkles as Kagome sets the silverware down, "What's this?"
Kagome glances at him before replying, "The quickest thing I know how to make, ramen. I made you the chicken kind, I think you'll like it best."
He looks down doubtfully at the 'meal' that had been placed in front of him before looking back at Kagome, noticing she was placing the other dish, cup and silverware at the place in front of her and is in the process of sitting when he asks, "What are you doing?"
Kagome smiles before saying, "Well, I thought that now that we're friends, it'd be nice if we ate together." She then lifts the lid off of her plate to reveal a slightly darker yellowish-brown broth, commenting "Ah, beef, my favorite!" before beginning to eat.
Inuyasha watches, nose still crinkled. Kagome notices and motions to his bowl, "Go on, dig in. It's not poisoned or anything." She smiles as she sets down her spoon and looks at him intent on seeing his reaction to the simple food.
Inuyasha slowly grabs the fork and puts it in the bowl. He slowly stirs it around once or twice before looking back to her with eyes that clearly ask 'Do I have to?' Kagome's eyes shine with excitement and obvious obliviousness to the unasked question.
Inuyasha sighs, 'The things I do, honestly.' He thinks before lifting the fork out, drawing out some of the noodles and staring at them, then closing his eyes and quickly inserting the silverware in his mouth, clumsily slurping up the noodles. After a few tense moments, 'Well, I'm not dead, that's a good sign. ...Hey...this stuff isn't that bad!'
He opens his eyes as Kagome giggles, "I take it from the look on your face that you like it. You mean you've honestly never had ramen?"
Inuyasha shakes his head, already in the process of shoveling the contents of the bowl into his mouth, the silverware long forgotten, accidentally spewing broth and noodles everywhere.
Kagome raises her arms to defend her face, "Inuyasha!"
He looks sheepish and swallows the current mouthful before saying, "No, I've never had this at all, it's delicious!"
Kagome giggles softly, "Well, sometimes the simpler the better."
Inuyasha nods, "Yes, maybe. Kagome, do you know any other simple recipes?"
This time Kagome is the one to nod, "Sure, lots. Would you like me to make them for you?"
Inuyasha nods enthusiastically before piling more into his mouth. Kagome laughs, "Alright then, I will. Ah, Inuyasha? You've got a noodle stuck in your hair." She says, giggling.
He runs his hand through his hair, finding the offending noodle and looking at it before popping it into his mouth as well before staring at her.
She eats a few more bites before looking at him with a raised eyebrow, "What? Do I have something on my face or something?"
Inuyasha shakes his head quickly, blushing ever so slightly and looking away, "It's nothing. It's just...that's the first time I ever heard you laugh, before in the room I was to busy laughing to notice. ...It sounds nice."
Kagome smiles, blushing slightly as well, "Well, before today you've never gave me a reason to laugh. Plus, you've kinda been a jerk."
Silence settles over the two before suddenly Sango rushes in. She stops to look between the two before shaking her head and moving towards Inuyasha, saying, "Lord Inuyasha! I have terrible news! Your brother has attacked a village on the outskirts of your boundaries! He claims that this land is unruled and that thusly it should be brought under his rule!"
Inuyasha quickly stands, his chair clattering noisily to the floor. Kagome winces at the noise but keeps her eyes on Inuyasha, who was fuming, clenching and unclenching his fists, cracking his knuckles in the process. Sango ventures a timid "Master?" before he snaps out of his trance and looks to her.
"Find out which village, how badly it was damaged and where the idiot is now. Give the one who found out about it an extra ration tonight and tell the others to find me when they find out new information. I'll be headed for the border." He then turns to Kagome, "Kagome, come with me."
She automatically stands up and follows as he leads the way out of the dining room. She stares at his back as they wind their way through the seemingly endless hallways, where had this responsible Inuyasha come from? The Inuyasha she knew wouldn't have cared one bit about whether a village was attacked or not. Then again, the Inuyasha she knew wouldn't have wanted to try to be friends either. She guesses that he was more complex than she gave him credit for and continues to follow him.
A.N. Wow! That's got to be my longest chappie yet! Man my fingers hurt lol. Well, I hope you guys liked it! R&R please!