Authors' Notes - Here we go, minna-san! Chapter 15 of "Don't You Dare!"
Just as promised!
Nataku-chan - There's no need to bust out your spears and pitchforks now!
Quite right, quite right. ::laughs nervously:: Erm, anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed my one-shot 'Parting Ways' and Nataku-chan's 'Crazy lil Thing Called Love'. We were both bored and suffering from writer's block, but now we're back on the ball.
Nataku-chan - Yep, we're workin' on another of DYD as we speak, and I'm also going to be updating two more chapters of "Tandemonai" later on. So, in the meantime.
Read and enjoy!
Chapter 15
Sango and Miroku blinked in surprise, staring at the sight before them. Somehow, Misao and Hiroshi had convinced them to take a job for them - slaying demons, that is - though they had not really need much convincing. After Hiroshi had informed them of an unnaturally powerful youkai inhabiting the same area they had heard rumors of a Shikon no kakera, there hadn't been much argument on the matter. However, after walking a few short miles down the river to what the two children had informed them was their home, they were appalled to believe what they had thought would be a quaint fishing village to be nothing but a ghost town.
Shippo, perched on Kirara's back, looked around at the sight. "I don't get it," he replied. "What happened?"
Misao, who had been entirely pleasant during the trip, turned back to him with an angry expression on her cherubic features. "Youkai did."
"So, there's more than one youkai terrorizing your village," Sango mused. Hiroshi, who had been standing beside her most of the walk there, nodded mutely.
Miroku glanced around the town's common. The area was completely void of any signs of people. Could that mean.? He turned back to Misao and Hiroshi. "Are you two the only ones.?"
Sango let out a small gasp, turning also to face the two children. To her and the monk's surprise, however, the two only grinned.
"It sure does look that way, don't it?" Hiroshi smirked. "We sure fooled ya!"
"What.?"
At their confused stares, Misao reached into the folds of her yukata and pulled out a small, wooden whistle. Placing it to her lips, she blew into it emitting the same high-pitched sound as before.
Shippo covered his ears and Kirara let out a mew of discomfort.
"Houshi-sama, look!" Miroku looked up in surprise. From out of the dilapidated, rundown buildings emerged dozens upon dozens of people. Before long, the small town was bustling with activity as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
But Sango was shaking her head in confusion. "They're all."
Something was not right with this picture. Miroku found his expression soon mirroring her own. "Children." Of all the people wandering around, there was not one adult in sight. No one except the new visitors looked a day over 13.
"Where're all the adults?" Shippo asked.
"Perhaps we have stumbled across the proverbial fountain of youth?" Miroku queried. Sango elbowed him in the ribs.
Misao and Hiroshi exchanged downcast expressions.
"Hey, Misao," Hiroshi muttered. "Why don'cha go find Mimiko and let her know we got back okay. I'm gonna go take them to see Baba."
The young girl blinked, then frowned up at him huffily. "Why don't you go see her and I'll go take them to Baba - 'specially you like her so much anyway!"
The blush that crossed his cheeks did not go unnoticed by the others. Just who was this Mimiko person that had gruff little Hiroshi blushing like a tomato? "Don't be stupid!" was his only response.
When he said nothing else, Misao only crossed her arms and pouted. "But I wanna come, too!"
As the two became engaged in yet another petty argument, Miroku and Sango could do nothing but exchange looks. This setup was starting to look disturbingly familiar.
"Who do they remind you of?" Sango whispered to Miroku.
The monk only chuckled. "Throw in a few choice curse words and a couple of Osuwari's and you'd have yourself a mini Inu Yasha and Kagome-sama."
Shippo bounded over to Miroku's shoulder, pouting slightly. He too saw the resemblance, and was still concerned for their missing companions. "It's already been a week and 3 days. do you think they're all right?"
Before either of the two humans could answer him, a loud voice rang out trough the air. "YOUKAI!"
No one had time to even blink before a large flew out of nowhere, once again snagging Miroku. One could only assume it had been meant for Shippo, but once again he had had the foresight to move out of the way.
Sango quickly covered her mouth to smother any giggles that might have escaped. "Don't you think you should have warned houshi-sama.?"
Shippo only shrugged apologetically.
Clutching his shakujo in his hand, Miroku sighed heavily. "Is it just me, or is this just getting really old.?"
Misao, breaking away from her heated argument with Hiroshi, rushed over to Miroku's said with an apologetic look on her face. "Oh no! Somebody used my net on you!" Pulling the monk downwards, she began unknotting him from its snare. "I'm really, really, really sorry, Bokushi-san."
Miroku smiled at her gently, despite the fact he had tried telling her repeatedly that he was a monk and not a priest. Some people just didn't get it, he supposed - not that he'd hold it against her; she was terribly cute for a little girl. "That's all right, Misao-chan."
Glad that he wasn't cross with her, Misao beamed brightly.
Hiroshi snorted.
"Don'cha worry, Bokushi-san!" she chirped, as she diligently pulled away the netting surrounding him. Miroku only sat patiently and admired her handiwork - she was quite good at her craft for having such small hands. "I'll get you right ou--!"
"Misao!" Another young girl, who looked only a bit younger than Kagome, came rushing towards the group only to yank Misao away from the still- entangled monk. "Just what do you think you're doing? Get away from those youkai!"
Miroku and the others blinked. Hiroshi, who still stood next to Sango, blushed and looked away.
"They're not youkai, Mimiko!" Misao said with a frown. "They're people just like us! And their youkai are nice!"
"Misao." she began slowly, but paused and took a deep breath. "What were you thinking running off like that? We've been worried sick about you." She glanced over at Hiroshi, giving him a look. "I expected a bit more from you, Hiroshi." At her scolding, he looked away once again.
Now that she wasn't the center of the girl's attention, Misao huffed once again, yanking her arm out of her grip. "We were fine, Mimiko." She exclaimed. "Nothing bad happened. Besides, I made Hiroshi take me with him."
Though she couldn't have been anymore than 13 or 14 years old, Mimiko, or so they called her, gave off the definite vibe of a worried mother. Folding her arms across her chest, she gave the two younger children a chiding look.
"Well then, what was so important that you had to leave the village," she asked. "And bring these strangers back with you?"
"These strangers," Hiroshi murmured, speaking up for the first time since their arrival, "Are demon slayers."
Mimiko blinked, staring at them with large, almond shaped eyes. Upon closer inspection, she looked just like an older version of Misao. And she too - Miroku noted - was very cute. Noticing his observations, Sango elbowed him hard again.
"Demon slayers?" she questioned, giving them a once over. When Miroku winked at her, she blushed shyly.
"That's right!" Misao exclaimed, standing in front of him as if she had already laid claim to him.
'Oh dear.' Both he and Sango thought.
"Taijya-san and Bokushi-san and their two demon friends have agreed to come here and help us get rid of the demons that plague our village!"
"That's wonderful!" Mimiko cried out, looking much more like a child now that her earlier suspicions of them were gone. "Why are we standing around here then? We must take them to see Baba at once!"
Misao and Hiroshi exchanged looks again.
"I told you!"
"That's what I was trying to do, dummy!"
"I'm not a dummy, dummy!"
"Dung beetle!"
"Kurro-atama!"
"What did you call me?! Mimikoooo!"
"Hiroshi - watch your language!"
Sango, Shippo, and Miroku all sighed heavily as they followed the procession further into the village. Yep, they were just like Inu Yasha and Kagome all right. They just hoped that the real pair were fairing just as well.
~~~
Perched up in the safety of the tree, Inu Yasha sat with his hand clutched tightly to his chest. He clenched his eyes shut, fighting to slow his heartbeat and the face of dirtied blood through his veins.
'How can something feel so good. and then hurt like hell.?' he asked himself, swallowing deeply. He had been trying to show Kagome how to read his ki - and thoroughly enjoying it -when he realized how dangerous a position he had put them both in. Quickly, he had pulled away from her in efforts to sever the contact she had unknowingly formed between them by wrapping her ki around his. Such things were meant only for youkai mating rituals - he fought the urge to blush at this - and unless done properly, could end up with disastrous consequences. However, as he had pulled away from her, it had felt as though someone were trying to cleave him in half.
Looking down at Kagome, who sat at the base of the tree still breathing heavily, he guessed she had felt the same thing.
'What was that.?' she thought to herself, trying desperately to regain her bearings. She held her hands out in front of her, startled at how badly they were shaking. Closing her eyes trying to figure out what had happened, she recalled the last thing that had happened. She remembered the warmth from Inu Yasha's arms around her. Smiling, no words could describe what she held felt by being so close to him - it was as though she could have died right then and there a happy girl.
Unfortunately, before she eve knew what was happening, the feeling was gone. Inu Yasha - for reasons she was not quite sure of - had pulled away as quickly as if he had just discovered she carried the plague. Then, after that, there had been darkness.
Kagome could not be sure whether she had passed out or not. However, holding onto the warmth that had all but filled her being not too long ago, she looked upwards to spot Inu Yasha sitting on a high branch looking just as distressed as she felt.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she called out to him. When he did not respond, she called out again a little hesitantly. Was he mad at her? "Inu. Yasha.?"
With a slight twitch of his ear, he directed his amber gaze towards her with a startled look on his face. Kagome paused - was it just her or did Inu Yasha genuinely look afraid?
In attempts to soothe his nerves as well as her own, she gave him a shy smile. "I guess I found you, eh?"
He paused, looking down at his hands in his lap as if they had committed some foul act. "Yeah," His voice was gruff, as if he were trying to contain some emotion. "Told you ya could." He paused again, this time to look down at her. "You okay?"
"I." Kagome wasn't sure what to say. Was she okay? She remembered the icy sensation that had filled her when Inu Yasha pulled away from her. It was almost as if a part of her had died. "No. I don't think I am."
Without thinking, Inu Yasha leapt down from his perching, landing only a few feet away from her. However, as he moved towards her, a spasm of pain ripped through his side, sending him to his knees with a short grunt of pain.
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome crawled to his side, trying to help him up. "Did you forget about your injury so quickly?"
~ It's easy to forget about everything else when Kagome's involved, ~ that little voice intone. ~ Isn't it? ~
Biting his lip against the pain, Inu Yasha gently tried prying the worried girl away from him. The urge to meld his ki with hers was just still too strong - he felt like a teenage boy who couldn't even control his own hormones.
Feeling humiliated, he tried standing on his own, despite Kagome's gentle protests. The pain at his side almost screamed out how bad a move that was. "It's okay," he lied hoarsely. The pain was worse now than ever before; did he really have only a month left? Who was he trying to reassure - her or himself? "It's okay, Kagome. It's okay."
Her scent mixed with tears filled his nostrils as she suddenly latched her arms around him from behind. "But it's not okay!" she exclaimed.
Inu Yasha froze, too stunned by her action to focus on his pain any longer. "Kagome."
"It was." Inu Yasha felt her pause, clutching onto him seeking support. "I felt as though you had disappeared completely - like you didn't even exist anymore!" There was a slight hitch in her voice then. "I - I didn't know what to do!"
The hanyou's amber eyes widened in shock. 'That's what it felt like to me!' he thought to himself in wonder. 'When our ki meshed together it was like we had formed one ki!' He frowned thoughtfully. 'And when I moved away from her. she thought my ki had died.'
Inu Yasha vaguely remembered a similar feeling from seeing her 'death' repeatedly in his dreams. Sending her a silent apology, he stared down at the sobbing girl, his expression softening. 'She was worried about me.' Almost as if she had been tuned into his thoughts, Kagome went on to add, "Oh Kami. Inu Yasha, I was so scared." Embarrassed by her admission, she buried her face in his hair, unaware that her actions were having any affect on him. "I'm still scare. I don't know what to do." She once again tightened her hold on his arm, looking up at him with determination in her watery eyes. "But I will find that cure for you, Inu Yasha, I swear I will."
Once again, Inu Yasha was at a loss for words. Did she really want to save him that badly?
That nagging voice in his head came to mind again, ~ What do you think would happen to Kagome if something happened to you? ~
Followed by Kagome's past words, ~ "It's already too much to bear!" ~
"Kagome." he began, though he had no idea of what he wanted to say.
~ You sure about that.? ~ the voice nagged.
Luckily, Kagome beat him to the punch. Though what she said would once again floor him. "Just hold onto me, Inu Yasha - please don't go away." He could only blink at her. "Please."
He closed his eyes, turning around in her arms so that he could embrace her. "I promised you before, Kagome," he murmured softly. "I promised that I would stay by your side in this. and I will. I won't leave you." Even as he said it, he wasn't sure how he would manage it.
Unaware of his conflicting thoughts, Kagome nodded slowly, a trembling smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, Inu Yasha. thank you."
And for that moment, her smile as all the reassurance he needed.
~End Chapter 15
Authors' Notes -
Remember the 3 R's of fan fiction, everyone!
Nataku-chan - There's no need to bust out your spears and pitchforks now!
Quite right, quite right. ::laughs nervously:: Erm, anyways, I hope you guys enjoyed my one-shot 'Parting Ways' and Nataku-chan's 'Crazy lil Thing Called Love'. We were both bored and suffering from writer's block, but now we're back on the ball.
Nataku-chan - Yep, we're workin' on another of DYD as we speak, and I'm also going to be updating two more chapters of "Tandemonai" later on. So, in the meantime.
Read and enjoy!
Chapter 15
Sango and Miroku blinked in surprise, staring at the sight before them. Somehow, Misao and Hiroshi had convinced them to take a job for them - slaying demons, that is - though they had not really need much convincing. After Hiroshi had informed them of an unnaturally powerful youkai inhabiting the same area they had heard rumors of a Shikon no kakera, there hadn't been much argument on the matter. However, after walking a few short miles down the river to what the two children had informed them was their home, they were appalled to believe what they had thought would be a quaint fishing village to be nothing but a ghost town.
Shippo, perched on Kirara's back, looked around at the sight. "I don't get it," he replied. "What happened?"
Misao, who had been entirely pleasant during the trip, turned back to him with an angry expression on her cherubic features. "Youkai did."
"So, there's more than one youkai terrorizing your village," Sango mused. Hiroshi, who had been standing beside her most of the walk there, nodded mutely.
Miroku glanced around the town's common. The area was completely void of any signs of people. Could that mean.? He turned back to Misao and Hiroshi. "Are you two the only ones.?"
Sango let out a small gasp, turning also to face the two children. To her and the monk's surprise, however, the two only grinned.
"It sure does look that way, don't it?" Hiroshi smirked. "We sure fooled ya!"
"What.?"
At their confused stares, Misao reached into the folds of her yukata and pulled out a small, wooden whistle. Placing it to her lips, she blew into it emitting the same high-pitched sound as before.
Shippo covered his ears and Kirara let out a mew of discomfort.
"Houshi-sama, look!" Miroku looked up in surprise. From out of the dilapidated, rundown buildings emerged dozens upon dozens of people. Before long, the small town was bustling with activity as if nothing was out of the ordinary.
But Sango was shaking her head in confusion. "They're all."
Something was not right with this picture. Miroku found his expression soon mirroring her own. "Children." Of all the people wandering around, there was not one adult in sight. No one except the new visitors looked a day over 13.
"Where're all the adults?" Shippo asked.
"Perhaps we have stumbled across the proverbial fountain of youth?" Miroku queried. Sango elbowed him in the ribs.
Misao and Hiroshi exchanged downcast expressions.
"Hey, Misao," Hiroshi muttered. "Why don'cha go find Mimiko and let her know we got back okay. I'm gonna go take them to see Baba."
The young girl blinked, then frowned up at him huffily. "Why don't you go see her and I'll go take them to Baba - 'specially you like her so much anyway!"
The blush that crossed his cheeks did not go unnoticed by the others. Just who was this Mimiko person that had gruff little Hiroshi blushing like a tomato? "Don't be stupid!" was his only response.
When he said nothing else, Misao only crossed her arms and pouted. "But I wanna come, too!"
As the two became engaged in yet another petty argument, Miroku and Sango could do nothing but exchange looks. This setup was starting to look disturbingly familiar.
"Who do they remind you of?" Sango whispered to Miroku.
The monk only chuckled. "Throw in a few choice curse words and a couple of Osuwari's and you'd have yourself a mini Inu Yasha and Kagome-sama."
Shippo bounded over to Miroku's shoulder, pouting slightly. He too saw the resemblance, and was still concerned for their missing companions. "It's already been a week and 3 days. do you think they're all right?"
Before either of the two humans could answer him, a loud voice rang out trough the air. "YOUKAI!"
No one had time to even blink before a large flew out of nowhere, once again snagging Miroku. One could only assume it had been meant for Shippo, but once again he had had the foresight to move out of the way.
Sango quickly covered her mouth to smother any giggles that might have escaped. "Don't you think you should have warned houshi-sama.?"
Shippo only shrugged apologetically.
Clutching his shakujo in his hand, Miroku sighed heavily. "Is it just me, or is this just getting really old.?"
Misao, breaking away from her heated argument with Hiroshi, rushed over to Miroku's said with an apologetic look on her face. "Oh no! Somebody used my net on you!" Pulling the monk downwards, she began unknotting him from its snare. "I'm really, really, really sorry, Bokushi-san."
Miroku smiled at her gently, despite the fact he had tried telling her repeatedly that he was a monk and not a priest. Some people just didn't get it, he supposed - not that he'd hold it against her; she was terribly cute for a little girl. "That's all right, Misao-chan."
Glad that he wasn't cross with her, Misao beamed brightly.
Hiroshi snorted.
"Don'cha worry, Bokushi-san!" she chirped, as she diligently pulled away the netting surrounding him. Miroku only sat patiently and admired her handiwork - she was quite good at her craft for having such small hands. "I'll get you right ou--!"
"Misao!" Another young girl, who looked only a bit younger than Kagome, came rushing towards the group only to yank Misao away from the still- entangled monk. "Just what do you think you're doing? Get away from those youkai!"
Miroku and the others blinked. Hiroshi, who still stood next to Sango, blushed and looked away.
"They're not youkai, Mimiko!" Misao said with a frown. "They're people just like us! And their youkai are nice!"
"Misao." she began slowly, but paused and took a deep breath. "What were you thinking running off like that? We've been worried sick about you." She glanced over at Hiroshi, giving him a look. "I expected a bit more from you, Hiroshi." At her scolding, he looked away once again.
Now that she wasn't the center of the girl's attention, Misao huffed once again, yanking her arm out of her grip. "We were fine, Mimiko." She exclaimed. "Nothing bad happened. Besides, I made Hiroshi take me with him."
Though she couldn't have been anymore than 13 or 14 years old, Mimiko, or so they called her, gave off the definite vibe of a worried mother. Folding her arms across her chest, she gave the two younger children a chiding look.
"Well then, what was so important that you had to leave the village," she asked. "And bring these strangers back with you?"
"These strangers," Hiroshi murmured, speaking up for the first time since their arrival, "Are demon slayers."
Mimiko blinked, staring at them with large, almond shaped eyes. Upon closer inspection, she looked just like an older version of Misao. And she too - Miroku noted - was very cute. Noticing his observations, Sango elbowed him hard again.
"Demon slayers?" she questioned, giving them a once over. When Miroku winked at her, she blushed shyly.
"That's right!" Misao exclaimed, standing in front of him as if she had already laid claim to him.
'Oh dear.' Both he and Sango thought.
"Taijya-san and Bokushi-san and their two demon friends have agreed to come here and help us get rid of the demons that plague our village!"
"That's wonderful!" Mimiko cried out, looking much more like a child now that her earlier suspicions of them were gone. "Why are we standing around here then? We must take them to see Baba at once!"
Misao and Hiroshi exchanged looks again.
"I told you!"
"That's what I was trying to do, dummy!"
"I'm not a dummy, dummy!"
"Dung beetle!"
"Kurro-atama!"
"What did you call me?! Mimikoooo!"
"Hiroshi - watch your language!"
Sango, Shippo, and Miroku all sighed heavily as they followed the procession further into the village. Yep, they were just like Inu Yasha and Kagome all right. They just hoped that the real pair were fairing just as well.
~~~
Perched up in the safety of the tree, Inu Yasha sat with his hand clutched tightly to his chest. He clenched his eyes shut, fighting to slow his heartbeat and the face of dirtied blood through his veins.
'How can something feel so good. and then hurt like hell.?' he asked himself, swallowing deeply. He had been trying to show Kagome how to read his ki - and thoroughly enjoying it -when he realized how dangerous a position he had put them both in. Quickly, he had pulled away from her in efforts to sever the contact she had unknowingly formed between them by wrapping her ki around his. Such things were meant only for youkai mating rituals - he fought the urge to blush at this - and unless done properly, could end up with disastrous consequences. However, as he had pulled away from her, it had felt as though someone were trying to cleave him in half.
Looking down at Kagome, who sat at the base of the tree still breathing heavily, he guessed she had felt the same thing.
'What was that.?' she thought to herself, trying desperately to regain her bearings. She held her hands out in front of her, startled at how badly they were shaking. Closing her eyes trying to figure out what had happened, she recalled the last thing that had happened. She remembered the warmth from Inu Yasha's arms around her. Smiling, no words could describe what she held felt by being so close to him - it was as though she could have died right then and there a happy girl.
Unfortunately, before she eve knew what was happening, the feeling was gone. Inu Yasha - for reasons she was not quite sure of - had pulled away as quickly as if he had just discovered she carried the plague. Then, after that, there had been darkness.
Kagome could not be sure whether she had passed out or not. However, holding onto the warmth that had all but filled her being not too long ago, she looked upwards to spot Inu Yasha sitting on a high branch looking just as distressed as she felt.
Taking a deep breath to calm herself, she called out to him. When he did not respond, she called out again a little hesitantly. Was he mad at her? "Inu. Yasha.?"
With a slight twitch of his ear, he directed his amber gaze towards her with a startled look on his face. Kagome paused - was it just her or did Inu Yasha genuinely look afraid?
In attempts to soothe his nerves as well as her own, she gave him a shy smile. "I guess I found you, eh?"
He paused, looking down at his hands in his lap as if they had committed some foul act. "Yeah," His voice was gruff, as if he were trying to contain some emotion. "Told you ya could." He paused again, this time to look down at her. "You okay?"
"I." Kagome wasn't sure what to say. Was she okay? She remembered the icy sensation that had filled her when Inu Yasha pulled away from her. It was almost as if a part of her had died. "No. I don't think I am."
Without thinking, Inu Yasha leapt down from his perching, landing only a few feet away from her. However, as he moved towards her, a spasm of pain ripped through his side, sending him to his knees with a short grunt of pain.
"Inu Yasha!" Kagome crawled to his side, trying to help him up. "Did you forget about your injury so quickly?"
~ It's easy to forget about everything else when Kagome's involved, ~ that little voice intone. ~ Isn't it? ~
Biting his lip against the pain, Inu Yasha gently tried prying the worried girl away from him. The urge to meld his ki with hers was just still too strong - he felt like a teenage boy who couldn't even control his own hormones.
Feeling humiliated, he tried standing on his own, despite Kagome's gentle protests. The pain at his side almost screamed out how bad a move that was. "It's okay," he lied hoarsely. The pain was worse now than ever before; did he really have only a month left? Who was he trying to reassure - her or himself? "It's okay, Kagome. It's okay."
Her scent mixed with tears filled his nostrils as she suddenly latched her arms around him from behind. "But it's not okay!" she exclaimed.
Inu Yasha froze, too stunned by her action to focus on his pain any longer. "Kagome."
"It was." Inu Yasha felt her pause, clutching onto him seeking support. "I felt as though you had disappeared completely - like you didn't even exist anymore!" There was a slight hitch in her voice then. "I - I didn't know what to do!"
The hanyou's amber eyes widened in shock. 'That's what it felt like to me!' he thought to himself in wonder. 'When our ki meshed together it was like we had formed one ki!' He frowned thoughtfully. 'And when I moved away from her. she thought my ki had died.'
Inu Yasha vaguely remembered a similar feeling from seeing her 'death' repeatedly in his dreams. Sending her a silent apology, he stared down at the sobbing girl, his expression softening. 'She was worried about me.' Almost as if she had been tuned into his thoughts, Kagome went on to add, "Oh Kami. Inu Yasha, I was so scared." Embarrassed by her admission, she buried her face in his hair, unaware that her actions were having any affect on him. "I'm still scare. I don't know what to do." She once again tightened her hold on his arm, looking up at him with determination in her watery eyes. "But I will find that cure for you, Inu Yasha, I swear I will."
Once again, Inu Yasha was at a loss for words. Did she really want to save him that badly?
That nagging voice in his head came to mind again, ~ What do you think would happen to Kagome if something happened to you? ~
Followed by Kagome's past words, ~ "It's already too much to bear!" ~
"Kagome." he began, though he had no idea of what he wanted to say.
~ You sure about that.? ~ the voice nagged.
Luckily, Kagome beat him to the punch. Though what she said would once again floor him. "Just hold onto me, Inu Yasha - please don't go away." He could only blink at her. "Please."
He closed his eyes, turning around in her arms so that he could embrace her. "I promised you before, Kagome," he murmured softly. "I promised that I would stay by your side in this. and I will. I won't leave you." Even as he said it, he wasn't sure how he would manage it.
Unaware of his conflicting thoughts, Kagome nodded slowly, a trembling smile appearing on her face. "Thank you, Inu Yasha. thank you."
And for that moment, her smile as all the reassurance he needed.
~End Chapter 15
Authors' Notes -
Remember the 3 R's of fan fiction, everyone!