Chapter 9: Armor, Weapons, a Horse-ride, and Something Sinister
They reach their destination and Inuyasha opens the door to reveal a walk-in storage room, which he quickly enters and starts digging through. Kagome stands quietly, lost in her own thoughts when something is dropped into her arms. She looks at it for a second before Inuyasha's voice breaks her out of her trance, "That's Sango's old armor, it'll protect you a lot better then that thing." He says, gesturing to her kimono, "Let's just hope it fits."
Kagome looks at him. He is holding a rough looking red coat and over-pants, which look big enough to fit over his usual white shirt and gray pants. (A.N. I'm gonna say that Inu doesn't usually wear his familiar outfit. The fire rat outfit just seems a little more for protection, which he really wouldn't need, being the reluctant hermit he is lol.) He motions to the door, "I'll be waiting outside so you can change. Hurry up, I don't want to waste time."
Kagome nods and once he leaves she begins to change. She only has trouble with a couple parts, and looks at herself in an old mirror that happens to be in the room when all is said and done. The outfit consists of a full body black leotard made of a tough cloth, with pink metal over key areas. She had discovered that the book that she'd been reading before the previous night had turned for the worse was in a pocket of her kimono and, not wanting to leave it, she had found that it fit snugly in one of the shoulder pads, the pad only raised a little due to the extra mass. The leotard was form-fitting in most places, only being a bit loose at the elbows and knees. She peeks out of the door and sees Inuyasha, now dressed in the red clothes he'd left with, leaning impatiently against the wall. "You done?" he asks.
Kagome nods and steps out the rest of the way. Inuyasha stands there for a second and Kagome can't help but blush a little. He shakes his head and starts down the hallway throwing a "come on." over his shoulder. Kagome does so and finds herself in another storage room, only this time it's very obvious what the room was used to store. Weapons. And lots of them. Inuyasha begins to hunt around and this time Kagome keeps still to keep from getting poked.
"I don't suppose you've ever even held a weapon, eh?" Inuyasha calls from within the clutter.
Kagome straightens a bit as she says, "I most certainly have. I'm the best archer in my village."
Inuyasha turns to look at her with a raised eyebrow, "Crossbow?" he asks.
Kagome shakes her head, "No, long bow. The crossbow's for beginners." and is pleased to see something that resembles respect in Inuyasha's eyes.
He quickly turns and starts searching for a long bow and a quiver of arrows. Finding them, he gives them to her, though the thought of who they used to belong to quickly passes through his mind before he sweeps it away. He clears his throat before saying "Ok, quick test. Hit that knot in the third beam from the left." He barely has the words out of his mouth before Kagome has the arrow notched and lets it fly.
The sound of the tail whipping back and forth after the head hits the mark resounds through a silent room. Kagome has a satisfied smirk on while Inuyasha stands, trying to hide his shock. 'She is good. Even better then 'her'. She didn't even have to use a split second to aim! Wait a minute...what the hell is that?' He jumps over to the arrow, which is still shaking from impact, and stares. There below the arrow's head, was a fly, a fairly big fly, but a fly none the less.
"What 'cha lookin' at?" Inuyasha nearly jumps out of his fur and turns to see Kagome trying to look over his shoulder.
"You skewed a fly..." he mutters as Kagome finally gets to her arrow and pulls it out, looking at the fly that was still stuck on the end with an air of unconcern.
"Yeah, and? It was bothering me." She says nonchalantly. Inuyasha wonders silently if his jaw will ever become rehinged.
He shakes his head and says, "Feh, I guess you'll do."
Kagome rolls her eyes and watches as he makes his way over to a chest in the nearby corner. He blows a good amount of dust off which results in both occupants of the room coughing like crazy. Inuyasha opens the chest and grabs something while Kagome is still suffering a coughing fit. He pulls her quickly along as she regains control of her breathing. Once her body seems to be satisfied that there wasn't any dust in her lungs, she follows him silently, wondering if this new, more open Inuyasha was just a figment of her imagination or real.
They make their way down the stairs and to the ground floor and then out into the yard, walking towards the stables. Inuyasha snorts as they approach, "Feh, the idiots, they only put one horse out. Oh well, no time to waste getting another ready, we'll have to share." (A.N. FYI, the horses didn't change, they're still just horses. Ok, now on with the story )
Kagome nods before quickly mounting and scooting up so Inuyasha could get on behind her. Inuyasha growls as he mounts, "You know, your 'take charge' attitude is really starting to tick me off." He grabs the reins as she turns around to look at him.
He expected her to be angry, but she smiles and simply says "And your not taking a bath more than once every other week annoys me, so we're even." With that she turns around, leaving Inuyasha the reins, and then they were off.
During the trip, Kagome can't help but sink back a bit as the hours go by. Partly because of momentum, but mostly because, with his arms to either side of her to hold the reins better, it felt right. Riding with him, the wind in her hair, with his protective arms around her, felt more right then anything she'd ever done. Why, she had no idea, she thought as she rests her head on his chest, but it did.
Inuyasha glances down at the half-asleep girl, thinking much the same thing, as well as resisting the animal side of his mind that was battling itself between eating her because she was meat or taking her because she was female and had proven at least partially worthy of the honor when she demonstrated her skill with the bow. To distract himself, he begins to talk, "So, you never asked why I was having you come. To shy to ask or are you smarter then the other servants?"
Kagome smirks, "Nice try Inuyasha, I'm not a servant, but I do have a pretty good idea why I'm going with you. One reason is because of my promise. It states that I will stand by your side. I couldn't very well do that if we weren't together. Not to mention that I impressed you with my bowmanship earlier, right Inuyasha?" she smiles up at him but then frowns when she sees that he's staring ahead, brows furrowed in concentration, "Inuya...?" she starts before he holds two fingers to her lips, telling her to be quiet.
They ride in silence; ears straining to hear anything over the wind and galloping hoof beats. Suddenly Inuyasha yanks on the reins, causing the horse to rear just as a whip snaps where they would have been had Inuyasha not acted. He glares into the vicinity of where the whip had come from, "Sesshomaru! Get out here you coward! I know it's..." Inuyasha stops suddenly, sniffing the air.
Kagome looks to him nervously as he gathers the reins into one hand, laying the free one on his hip as he turns the horse to a particular tree. "Show yourself. I can smell you're not my brother, but you reek of human blood."
Kagome leans further into Inuyasha as the seconds tick away. Suddenly something drops from the tree. It appears to be a huge white baboon pelt that slowly stands after it lands. Kagome can't help but shiver as the person inside the mysterious fur speaks, "Greetings to my road Inuyasha, and congratulations on dodging my attack."
Inuyasha growls, "Cut the crap. Who are you, why did you attack us and why do you stink of human blood?" He has the intense urge to get his answers and leave as quickly as possible, something telling him that the more distance between Kagome and this guy there was, the better.
The man chuckles, "Quite impatient, eh, Inuyasha? Very well, my name is Naraku and I attacked you because I attack all who come down this road."
"And the stench?" Inuyasha inquires.
"I told you, I attack all who travel this road. Not all are as lucky as you Inuyasha." The figure says darkly.
At this point Kagome breaks in, asking more out of shock then curiosity, "But...why?"
She shivers at the same chuckle issues forth, "Because, Lady Kagome" he stops for a moment while she gasps at the surprise of him knowing her by name before continuing, the smirk almost audible in his voice, "I think that screams are the most musical things in this world. Not to mention the expression of fear is quite exquisite and unique as a fingerprint. I wonder, Lady Kagome, what yours is?"
At this Inuyasha involuntarily wraps his arms around Kagome, drawing her closer to him while narrowing his eyes at this thing that was in front of them, "Ok, you attacked us but failed. Let us pass and be on our way. We have more important things to do then deal with a sick monkey like you."
The thing seems to bow before saying, "As you wish, but know that I will be watching you, and this will not be the last time you see me. Until again, Prince Inuyasha."
Inuyasha seems to flinch at the title and Kagome blinks, 'Prince?'
Before anything else can be said, Inuyasha turns the horse back to the path and kicks it into a gallop again. The ride is silent for a while. Kagome staying where Inuyasha had tucked her, both lost in their own thoughts.
'Who was that guy?' Inuyasha wonders, 'And how the heck did he know Kagome's name? And who I was?'
He is brought out of his thoughts by Kagome's sigh. He feels her shift and looks down to see her smiling at him, "Well that just about scared me out of my skin." She then blushes a bit, "Umm...thanks for wrapping your arms around me. I felt like that guy was going to try to grab me or something."
Inuyasha's response flies out of his mouth before he can stop it, "Like hell he would! I'd have ripped his throat out before he could take two steps!"
Kagome smiles softly as Inuyasha sputters out an excuse for the outburst before he is quieted by Kagome's lips against his own in a sweet light kiss. (A.N. Just so you know, neither of them is going to fall off because while Inuyasha was lost in thought the horse slowed down. Okie dokie, on with the reading) He stares at her as she pulls away and smirks, "Well look at that. It shuts you up too."
Inuyasha just stares at her for a moment before laughing his head off, very nearly making the both of them lose their balance. Once he quiets down, he smirks at her, "You're a little minx, you know that? Just don't tell anyone about anything that's happened on this trip so far, ever."
It's Kagome's turn to laugh before she turns back around, the silence between the two this time much more companionable.
A.N. There! Another chapter for my fans ! So, was Naraku creepy or what? When I started writing this I wasn't sure if I wanted him in here, but then one of my friends pointed out that it's just NOT an Inu fic without the evil hanyou in the monkey fur lol. Things heat up next chapter, and Kagome gets a hair-brained idea that for all us that know the series, seems really, really stupid. Oh, and in response to your last review Rebel Writer, don't worry, plenty of Kouga bashing will occur later (I didn't put him in Gaston's role for nothing lol ) along with some slight Hojo bashing possible and of course Jaken bashing! I love Jaken bashing! Honestly, I think that someone should make a piñata business where all they do is make Jaken piñatas, so people could find what pleasure there is in beating the crap out of the little thing lol. Well, I'm rambling, so I'll stop now lol. If anyone has ideas, or opinions about if there should be Hojo bashing or not, please tell me! (I'd definitely bash him usually, he just seems so...blah, it almost takes that fun out of it.) Well, R&R!