While running along side Kagome, Inuyasha said. "So, how about that bath now?"
"Sure." said Kagome nonchalantly.
The body of water which is nearest Kaede's village is not a hot spring, but a small, cold lake, so that is where Kagome and Inuyasha went to bathe.
Standing on the bank, Kagome began to undress starting with her shoes and socks.
Embarrassed, Inuyasha turned away from her and started to undress too. He began to wonder if this could be a bad idea. Of course bathing with her meant that he would be with a naked Kagome, but it also meant that Kagome would be with a naked Inuyasha. He had not considered that second little factoid.
He started to take off what would be the least embarrassing for him. He took of his jacket and shirt. Then he stood there for a few seconds, not wanting to take off his pants. Finally, he worked up his courage and did.
Seeing as he was undressed he naturally assumed that she was finished undressing too. Kagome's clothes, however, were much more complicated than his own. He had not taken this into account.
Kagome was still in her bra and had her pants on.
Inuyasha stood there, greatly embarrassed, naked and looking away from her. He waited a few more horrible seconds to check if she was done yet. He had envisioned them taking off their clothes in a very fluid, instantaneous motion and going in the lake together.
He looked at her again. Her pants were off and she was currently snapping her bra off.
She briefly glanced over at him, trying to see what he was doing just standing there.
They had another moment of awkward silence.
"You can go in the water, you know." She told him.
He was holding both of his hands over "himself" in an effort to make this less humiliating.
"I know. I'm waiting for you." He told her like she was an idiot.
"Oh," she said, removing her bra before his very eyes.
He felt as though he should turn around to avoid looking at her. He really didn't want her to look at him either, he also wanted to turn around so that he could be certain that she wouldn't see the front side of him. The problem was, if he turned around she would most certainly see the back side of him. He didn't want that either. He could have simply closed his eyes. However, he didn't feel secure enough at that moment to close his eyes.
She pulled her underwear down her legs and put them in her stack of clothing.
They walked together into the water.
Inuyasha reflected on how awful that was. Why on earth had he insisted on them undressing together?
"So how have things been while I've been away?" Kagome asked him casually.
"Crazy, crazy and busy..." Inuyasha reflected on the past nineteen years. "It's been a different kind of busy, though. It's been a very happy kind of busy, with those two and all their little babies. Shippo hasn't grown much, he's almost exactly the same as you remember him..."
"That's nice."
"How has your life gone?" Inuyasha asked her with genuine curiosity.
"Quiet. It's been very quiet. Sota is married, no kids. I've got a job at a library. I guess you don't know what that is. You know what a book is, though. I sit all day in a big building with thousands of books. People borrow them, read them and return them."
"Do you... do you... have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"Why not?" He asked her, hoping that she would declare some kind of undying love for him.
"I just gave up on it. I didn't want to date. I tried to of course... but... I just didn't see the point. Actually, I did see the point, and I didn't want to get to it."
"Listen... Kagome. There's something that I've been wanting to tell you." Inuyasha had finally screwed up the courage to confess his love for her. He was pretty certain that if he didn't do it now he would probably never get the chance.
Picking up a lock of her hair, he put it behind her ear. He scooted closer to her. He hesitated a moment, and then he just did it. "Kagome, I love you."
"I know that." Kagome chuckled at his big display of nervousness over this statement of the obvious.
"You do?!" He was greatly surprised.
"Sort of, yeah."
"What do you mean sort of?"
"You don't really love me. There's no such thing as love. We worked in close quarters for a long time, I'm a girl, you're a boy. What we had there was sexual tension. It's natural. It doesn't mean that we should have done anything about it. I think the proof that it wasn't love is the fact that it just drifted away with time. I didn't come to see you, you didn't come to see me. We didn't need to. There was none of this magical driving force that people pretend exists."
He didn't know what to do with that statement. He could take rejection of himself, that he was used to. He could handle acceptance of himself, that would have made him very happy. This, however, was nothing that he could have planned for.
"I didn't come because I didn't think you wanted me too! Not because I didn't love you!" He exclaimed.
"You didn't love me! There's no such thing! It's just an instict! Everything just wants to mate, it's built into us, but I don't want to do it! Start getting used to the fact that it isn't going to happen!" She was suddenly stern.
"No! I can't and won't do that! I love you! You hear that, Kagome? I LOVE you! It's a real thing, and I have it for you!"
"No you don't! Your body is just fooling you! It's making you think that you want to mate with me, but if you weren't under the control of your hormones, you'd just be able to leave me alone. You could live happily ever after, alone! Like me!"
"So what if my body IS fooling me? I know that it would make me happy to be with you. The reason doesn't matter to me! I bet you feel the same way! I bet you're just holding it in! You don't have to! You can live here with me!" His voice softened.
"Let me think about that. NO!" She was angry with him.
"Why won't you actually consider it?" He sounded hurt.
"Why don't YOU actually consider what you're asking me to do? You're asking me to give up my home, my job, my life for your instincts! You want me to just be here all the time, popping out babies like Sango. I don't want to do it! Accept that! Accept that I'm not going to do it!"
"No! Absolutely not! I'm not giving up on you!" He glared at her, and he glared back at him.
It was a standoff. Neither party was going to back down now. They stared at each other for almost five minutes.
Finally, Kagome made a move: She changed the subject. "So where is Shippo, anyway?"
Inuyasha responded in little clipped sentences. He was not giving up. "He's chasing squirrels."
"Chasing squirrels?" She thought it was odd.
"Yes, chasing squirrels. He thinks it's fun. Hey, maybe fun is an instict too. Maybe we should all stop having fun." He continued to glare at her.
As if responding to his name, Shippo came running through at tree which was above them. He was furiously chasing the little grey squirrel with the poofy tail. It ran to the very end of a branch which got constantly skinnier. At the last second, The squirrel jumped onto a fatter branch, and the skinny branch broke under Shippo's weight.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" #SPLASH# Shippo screamed as he fell from the tree.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Kagome screamed in surprise.
Shippo surfaced and saw the two of them naked together. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed in utter shock.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Inuyasha screamed in anger.
Shippo screamed. Kagome screamed. Inuyasha screamed. Shippo screamed. Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo all kept screaming.
Finally, Shippo fainted.
"Sure." said Kagome nonchalantly.
The body of water which is nearest Kaede's village is not a hot spring, but a small, cold lake, so that is where Kagome and Inuyasha went to bathe.
Standing on the bank, Kagome began to undress starting with her shoes and socks.
Embarrassed, Inuyasha turned away from her and started to undress too. He began to wonder if this could be a bad idea. Of course bathing with her meant that he would be with a naked Kagome, but it also meant that Kagome would be with a naked Inuyasha. He had not considered that second little factoid.
He started to take off what would be the least embarrassing for him. He took of his jacket and shirt. Then he stood there for a few seconds, not wanting to take off his pants. Finally, he worked up his courage and did.
Seeing as he was undressed he naturally assumed that she was finished undressing too. Kagome's clothes, however, were much more complicated than his own. He had not taken this into account.
Kagome was still in her bra and had her pants on.
Inuyasha stood there, greatly embarrassed, naked and looking away from her. He waited a few more horrible seconds to check if she was done yet. He had envisioned them taking off their clothes in a very fluid, instantaneous motion and going in the lake together.
He looked at her again. Her pants were off and she was currently snapping her bra off.
She briefly glanced over at him, trying to see what he was doing just standing there.
They had another moment of awkward silence.
"You can go in the water, you know." She told him.
He was holding both of his hands over "himself" in an effort to make this less humiliating.
"I know. I'm waiting for you." He told her like she was an idiot.
"Oh," she said, removing her bra before his very eyes.
He felt as though he should turn around to avoid looking at her. He really didn't want her to look at him either, he also wanted to turn around so that he could be certain that she wouldn't see the front side of him. The problem was, if he turned around she would most certainly see the back side of him. He didn't want that either. He could have simply closed his eyes. However, he didn't feel secure enough at that moment to close his eyes.
She pulled her underwear down her legs and put them in her stack of clothing.
They walked together into the water.
Inuyasha reflected on how awful that was. Why on earth had he insisted on them undressing together?
"So how have things been while I've been away?" Kagome asked him casually.
"Crazy, crazy and busy..." Inuyasha reflected on the past nineteen years. "It's been a different kind of busy, though. It's been a very happy kind of busy, with those two and all their little babies. Shippo hasn't grown much, he's almost exactly the same as you remember him..."
"That's nice."
"How has your life gone?" Inuyasha asked her with genuine curiosity.
"Quiet. It's been very quiet. Sota is married, no kids. I've got a job at a library. I guess you don't know what that is. You know what a book is, though. I sit all day in a big building with thousands of books. People borrow them, read them and return them."
"Do you... do you... have a boyfriend?"
"No."
"Why not?" He asked her, hoping that she would declare some kind of undying love for him.
"I just gave up on it. I didn't want to date. I tried to of course... but... I just didn't see the point. Actually, I did see the point, and I didn't want to get to it."
"Listen... Kagome. There's something that I've been wanting to tell you." Inuyasha had finally screwed up the courage to confess his love for her. He was pretty certain that if he didn't do it now he would probably never get the chance.
Picking up a lock of her hair, he put it behind her ear. He scooted closer to her. He hesitated a moment, and then he just did it. "Kagome, I love you."
"I know that." Kagome chuckled at his big display of nervousness over this statement of the obvious.
"You do?!" He was greatly surprised.
"Sort of, yeah."
"What do you mean sort of?"
"You don't really love me. There's no such thing as love. We worked in close quarters for a long time, I'm a girl, you're a boy. What we had there was sexual tension. It's natural. It doesn't mean that we should have done anything about it. I think the proof that it wasn't love is the fact that it just drifted away with time. I didn't come to see you, you didn't come to see me. We didn't need to. There was none of this magical driving force that people pretend exists."
He didn't know what to do with that statement. He could take rejection of himself, that he was used to. He could handle acceptance of himself, that would have made him very happy. This, however, was nothing that he could have planned for.
"I didn't come because I didn't think you wanted me too! Not because I didn't love you!" He exclaimed.
"You didn't love me! There's no such thing! It's just an instict! Everything just wants to mate, it's built into us, but I don't want to do it! Start getting used to the fact that it isn't going to happen!" She was suddenly stern.
"No! I can't and won't do that! I love you! You hear that, Kagome? I LOVE you! It's a real thing, and I have it for you!"
"No you don't! Your body is just fooling you! It's making you think that you want to mate with me, but if you weren't under the control of your hormones, you'd just be able to leave me alone. You could live happily ever after, alone! Like me!"
"So what if my body IS fooling me? I know that it would make me happy to be with you. The reason doesn't matter to me! I bet you feel the same way! I bet you're just holding it in! You don't have to! You can live here with me!" His voice softened.
"Let me think about that. NO!" She was angry with him.
"Why won't you actually consider it?" He sounded hurt.
"Why don't YOU actually consider what you're asking me to do? You're asking me to give up my home, my job, my life for your instincts! You want me to just be here all the time, popping out babies like Sango. I don't want to do it! Accept that! Accept that I'm not going to do it!"
"No! Absolutely not! I'm not giving up on you!" He glared at her, and he glared back at him.
It was a standoff. Neither party was going to back down now. They stared at each other for almost five minutes.
Finally, Kagome made a move: She changed the subject. "So where is Shippo, anyway?"
Inuyasha responded in little clipped sentences. He was not giving up. "He's chasing squirrels."
"Chasing squirrels?" She thought it was odd.
"Yes, chasing squirrels. He thinks it's fun. Hey, maybe fun is an instict too. Maybe we should all stop having fun." He continued to glare at her.
As if responding to his name, Shippo came running through at tree which was above them. He was furiously chasing the little grey squirrel with the poofy tail. It ran to the very end of a branch which got constantly skinnier. At the last second, The squirrel jumped onto a fatter branch, and the skinny branch broke under Shippo's weight.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" #SPLASH# Shippo screamed as he fell from the tree.
"AAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Kagome screamed in surprise.
Shippo surfaced and saw the two of them naked together. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" He screamed in utter shock.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!" Inuyasha screamed in anger.
Shippo screamed. Kagome screamed. Inuyasha screamed. Shippo screamed. Inuyasha, Kagome and Shippo all kept screaming.
Finally, Shippo fainted.