Okay, yes I realize this chapter has been a while in coming but it will be longer and I've been really busy…so here it is
The glow around the girl diminished as she sat there panting a little. "I...I did it." She managed to choke out. Naraku had with drawn, but she had no doubt he was coming. "I beat back Naraku." Although the poison wasn't able to take complete effect signs of the poison were still evident.
The
raven haired miko's eyes usually a warm chocolate brown had lightened
to an amber color. Her finger nails no longer resembled a human's but
were now claws. And the finishing touch, to small black dog ears had
appeared among her raven tresses.
Although
Naraku didn't control her yet, his sign was still visible. In the
miko's place sat an inu-hanyou not unlike Inuyasha himself. Kagome
turned towards him her amber eye's glowing. "Thank you
Inuyasha." She stated simply.
Inuyasha frowned at her. "For what? I couldn't do a damn thing, it was all between you and Naraku!" Not aware of the hand still holding hers, his other hand balled into a fist. And I hated every fucking minute of it. One day, I swear that bastard really will pay for twisting up all of our lives so much!
Kagome
smiled secretly, not reallly sure how to explain to Inuyasha exactly
what he had done for her. Mostly it was the fact that her was there
by her side making sure she was alright. "Thank-you for watching
over me." She said simply. She turned a little and noticed the
kitsune for the first time.
"I
know he's coming back..." Kagome whispered softly, her now amber
eye's taking on a darker hue. "He's coming to get me...he said
he was coming." Kagome shivered at the remembrance of the cold
presence in her body. "A seal?" Kagome glanced back up.
"I..I don't have enough power to create one, and I'm afraid he
would be able to find me, he put something in that poison...he can
reach inside my mind."
How
can I battle myself? The young miko-hanyou, questioned herself.
He can find my weakness' and use them, how can I compete against
that? Fear, worry and the seeds of doubt had planted themselves
in her mind. She had used almost all her power to beat Naraku back,
if he came any time soon...she feared she wouldn't be able to resist
him.
Without
thinking, Inuyasha's formerly fisted hand grabbed the miko's
shoulder. "He won't get you again!" he said fiercely. "The
rest of us will hunt him down first, and then he won't have any
control over you- because the dead can't do anything!"
It
had been bad enough being powerless over Kagome's fate once, but his
blood boiled at the thought that the mutated mass of youki that was
Naraku might creep into her mind again. In fact, if it hadn't been
for Tetsusaiga strapped to his hip, the half-inuyoukai might have
gone into a blood rage at the idea.
Tetsusaiga
or no Tetsusaiga, if Kagome's possesed by Naraku, I'll rip the next
demons I see into such minscule shreds that no one will ever be able
to find them again.
"Inuyasha
you..." A small smile lit up the sad girls face. The sorrow was
replaced breifly by an emotion she was trying hard to supress. Her
heart beat painfully in her chest and the love reflected deep in her
amber eyes. "I..thank-you again Inuyasha." Kagome lifted
one clawed hand and placed it over top of the one on her shoulder.
"There's
no need to track him down though..." Dispare echoed within her
voice, the smile fading. "He's coming here...To get me." A
small sigh escaped as Kagome remembered Naraku's parting message. I
shall see you soon... again the cold voice rang through her
head.
"Inuyasha,
I don't know if I can hold him off. I don't know how but...her
can get inside me! How can I fight myself!" Amber eye's turned
to him pleading. "I'm scared."
"We'll
just have to kill him as fast as we can, then." Inuyasha
growled. Then something occured to him. "Wait..." he said
slowly. "He's coming? HE is coming!"
An
insane grin spread over the hanyou's face. "We can kill
the bastard then! That means he's not going to send one of his
puppets instead! We've destroyed the puppets, now we can get rid of
their source!"
The hanyou-miko nodded slowly. "I...I think so...I mean he said that...he said that he would see me soon." Kagome turned away from the excited silver haired hanyou. "Inuyasha, can...can I ask you something?" Kagome couldn't stand it any longer...she wanted Inuyasha to know how she felt. With the threat of Naraku looming closer she didn't...couldn't deny her feelings any longer.
Inuyasha
calmed down momentarily. "Yeah? What is it?"
He
was so jubiliant that the hanyou had no idea she wasn't speaking of
the upcoming battle. Who could possibly think about anything else at
at time like this?
As
it happened, he was a little nervous she would be critizing
something, or asking whether he'd try to keep her behind- especially
since he'd been planning on putting her on the other side of the
well...
"What's
Kikyou to you?" Kagome was well aware that the silver haired
inu-hanyou was not expecting this at all. She would be
bringing up the topic of the upcoming battle, but she had to get this
off her chest first.
"What
I mean is..." The female hanyou stopped. What did she mean?
Amber eye's turned to gaze at the inu-hanyou in front of her. "What
I mean is... do you still love her?"
This
was deffinately harder than she had first thought. Her heart beat was
steadily increasing as she waited for his reply. What am I doing?
She asked herself. I must be crazy, of course he still loves her
Her eye's were cast downwards once again dreading the repsonse she
was about to get.
The
question startled him. "Kikyou?" Inuyasha looked away.
"Kikyou is...an obligation." He sighed. "I hate
knowing that if it wasn't for me, she'd probably have lived to a ripe
old age and been happy. And she always reminds me of that. Every time
I see her, I think 'This is your fault, you baka. She wouldn't be
stuck in this half-life if you'd just left her alone fifty years
ago.'"
He
glared at the ground. "To be honest, I really don't know how I
feel. Kikyou- I don't know who she is anymore. Maybe I never knew,
but I don't think she would have wanted to take anyone to hell when
she was alive. Even when she shot me to Goshinboku, there were tears
in her eyes. She didn't want to do it!"
The
hanyou shook his head, smacking his forehead. "It's all
just-just...so complicated."
Inuyasha
turned back to Kagome with a funny look in his eyes. "Then you
come along and turn everything upside down. Even if somebody else had
come and freed me eventually, I probably would have stayed in that
tree brooding and feeling bad for the rest of my life."
"Only
you wouldn't let me stay there. On your first day here, what do you
do? You have the legendary Shikon Jewel, and then you break it into
tiny shards, you idiot!" He snorted. "Of course, I can't
leave well alone, and end up following you around, looking for the
stupid things. Even worse, I end up-"
Inuyasha
cut himself off, changing the words. "-getting used to you, so
now I can't stand the thought of you leaving!"
He
put his hand back on her shoulder. "I don't know about Kikyo. I
do know that I won't let Naraku get to you, for what it matters."
The
raven haired girl stood abruptly facing Inuyasha and looking him in
the eyes. Something was reflected there, in the depths, something she
knew well. Her own amber eye's held the same thing, fear, confusion,
loss, guilt and ever present so far at the back you had to look
extremely carefully was the emotion that had caused this whole mess.
Love.
"You're
wrong Inuyasha..." The girl whispered so quietly she could
barely hear herself. "You're wrong, it's not your fault Kikyou
died, it's that bastard...Naraku." Abruptly the girl turned away
not able to look at him any longer.
"Oh
Inuyasha, I...don't know what to do." Her voice lowered even
more pain and sorrow laced her words. "I miss my life, my
friends sometimes I just can't stand it here. I want to go home so
badly." A small tear trickled down the girls face.
"An
obligation, that's what you called Kikyou and that's all that kept me
here, in the Fuedal Era. My obligation to fix what I broke." The
two ears on her head drooped a little. "But then, as I spent
more time here, I met Shippou, Miroku, Sango and I really got to know
you..."
Here
the girl paused unable to continue, yet she knew she had to say
it...if she didn't now, she knew deep in her heart she would never
have time to, she'd never get a chance.
"A
pain deep in my heart, that's what you represented, I denied it for
as long as I could, I tried to tell myself I was imagining things."
Now she turned to face Inuyasha her eye's shining with the love she
felt. "I can't deny it any more Inuyasha. I know you'll protect
me with all you've got and I want to help. Inuyasha...I...I love
you." Finally she had said a deep warmth began to spread through
her body. She had finally admitted to him how she felt.
Inuyasha's
face resembled the color of his clothing, as her words sunk in.
"W-what?" he blurted out.
A
split second later, he cursed himself for the way he sounded. "Oh
fuck, that didn't sound right- that wasn't what I meant to say.
J-just hold on, while I sort out my thoughts, okay?"
NOW
I get that stupid question about Kikyou. Fuck, fuck, fuck, I'm such
an idiot. Why didn't I get it? What am I supposed to say now?
At
the same time he was mentally screaming at himself, an oddly nice
feeling was welling up in his chest. B-but she loves me.
She said she did. But what if she meant someone else? What if she
still- I mean, what if she really likes Kouga and is lying to me to
save his skin, or something? That doesn't make any sense, but she's
smarter than me, damn it! This could be some sort of trick! Maybe
Naraku's possesed her again!
"Then
why are you always so nice to that mangy wolf?" He blurted out.
"Do you love both of us, or are you just saying this, but you
really love him and j-just don't know it?"
The
warm feeling was going away, replaced by a rotten sensation in the
pit of his stomach. If she really does love me, she'll hate me
now.
The
warm sensation began to slowly go down as the raven haired
miko-hanyou listened to Inuyasha's response. "Osuwarri!"
The command came out coldly. "I can't beleive you Inuyasha!"
The girl burst. Tears began to stream down her face as she regarded
the prostrate form of the hanyou lying on the floor in front of her.
"Osuwarri!
Osuwarri! OSUWARRI!" The girl turned away unable to contain
herself any longer. Anger burned in her veins, not a good thing
considering it was stirring the poison that still lay in her blood.
"Do
you love me Inuyasha? Or do you just love Kikyou? I'm sorry I ever
told you!" Tears continued to fall, now they fell faster, the
smell of salt water entered the hut.
"Why
are you nice to Sango all the time Inuyasha? Do you lover her
and not know it?" Kagome felt a rant coming on and good one it
would be. "Don't you think I would know the difference Inuyasha!
I don't love Koga! He's a friend, he's helping us defete Naraku, and
on occasion he can save me when you're busy fighting another enemy! I
know who I love, or I thought I did. Are you really that dense
Inuyasha! Osuwarri!" The girl added in again not wanting the
hanyou to come near her at the moment.
Her
voice lowered to a deadly soft tone. "I don't love Koga
Inuyasha, unlike some I only have room in my heart for one
person. I can care for alot of people Inuyasha but this feeling..."
She shook her head, her back now turned. "This feeling I only
carry for one person...and that's you."
Her
voice rose again as she spun to face him tears flying from her face.
"Why can't you understand that!"
A
hand began desperately waving around from inside the small pit
Inuyasha formed. "Wait a second! Wait a second you self-centered
idiot!"
Right
on cue, the spell wore off, and Inuyasha shot up, glaring at her. "So
I said something stupid! I say stupid things all the time, what makes
you think that now would be any different? Gods, what part of my life
do I not fuck up?"
He
stomped over to her, grabbing her elbow. "Now stop subduing me
for a minute and actually listen! Can you really blame me for
jumping to negative conclusions? How do you think my life's been so
far? For the first fifteen years of my life, everyone except for my
mother hated my guts, and she died pretty soon on anyway! Kikyou
claims to love me, but you've seen for yourself her idea of love-
'Let me drag you to hell, because goodness knows your life doesn't
matter any, and you can't be expected to have any reason to live
other than me'!"
"You
know all that anyway, wench! So where the hell do you get off,
expecting me to suddenly believe someone when for the rest of my
life, you've been the only fucking person who didn't feed me a pack
of lies! Sango and Miroku have both lied to us, and you were the one
that forgave them!"
He
paused. "I didn't want to, but you did. But you don't have any
understanding for me now. Why is it, Kagome?" The
half-inuyoukai's tone became pleading. "Why don't you forgive
me?"
Kagome
watched Inuyasha carefully. "I can't forgive you cause you're so
stupid!" Kagome brushed her tears away hurredly as she
approached Inuyasha slowly.
"If
I'm selfish what does that make you?" She asked quietly. A small
giggle rose in her throat but she quickly pushed it down
concentrating and making sure her amber eyes showed nothing.
"You're
such a baka pup Inuyasha. You never know when to stop do you?"
Her head cocked to one side as she watched him closely her steps
stopping. "You screwed up royally! That I have to admit! But..."
Now
she allowd a small smile to grace her features. "That's why I
love you!" She threw herself into Inuyasha's arms hugging him
feircely. "You never know when I'm serious or not...you have to
learn to trust people Inuyasha." Her muffled voice came from his
shoulder.
She
pulled herself out of his arms and stood about a half foot away.
"That's what I'm here for, so you can learn to trust. And right
now...you have to trust that I love you." A small blush crept
onto the girls features.
His
face now resembling Sango's eyeshadow, Inuyasha tentitavely began to
stroke Kagome's hair, fighting down the raging blush. "I-I...I'm
going to shut up before I say something stupid now."
The
hand that wasn't attending to her hair wrapped itself firmly around
her waist, crushing the miko-hanyou against him.
Damn...why
can't I just say it? Whenever I try, something else comes out. And I
don't want to insult her any more! She doesn't deserve it! Damn...I
don't deserve to be slammed into the ground for trying to say it
either...It just goes in one big circle, doesn't it?
"You're...you're
very important to me, Kagome." He said, quietly enough so that
only she could hear. Kaede didn't have to know his weakness, although
he suspected Naraku already knew.
"Just-
just put up with me long enough so that I can get over this stupid
block and tell you more." His face was flaming now.
The
girl in his arms nodded her head now resting on his shoulder as there
was no where else to place it. "Inuyasha..." Her two dog
ears twitched as she heard the familiar voices of the tajiya and
houshi. The light patter of rain on the roof added an atmosphere to
the hut she wasn't really sure if she wanted.
Again
a sighed escaped her lips as she inhaled the tangy scent of
Inuyasha...pines and lilies. She gingerly unwrapped his arm from his
waist and stepped back a little. "I'll be here for as long as
you need me. That's a promise." Her amber eye's delved into his
trying to say without words how much that promise meant to her.
But
can I keep it? Again the small voice of doubt entered her mind.
How long can I truly stay with him before Naraku tears apart, like
he did Inuyasha and Kikyou? Now grim resolve entered her mind.
No! I won't let that happen! DO you hear me Naraku! You won't have
me!
Inuyasha's
cheeks had lightened to a faint pink by now, as he awkwardly looked
away after Kagome had finished speaking.
"Those
two had better not be eavesdropping again." he muttered darkly.
"They don't have such perfect lives either."
When
Naraku comes, we'll be ready for him. This time, he dies! I won't let
him ruin any more lives, even if I have to die as well!
His
thoughts turned to the pair outside. Miroku and Sango...They each
have their own scores to settle with Naraku, but at least they have
some chance at happiness after this is all over. Once he's dead,
Miroku's wind tunnel will close up, and Sango...well, she can use
the Shikon to bring her brother back to life. Kagome won't be under
his control any more.
I
don't care about becoming full youkai anymore. I'll do anything
to kill him now.
Okay I realize this chapter was a little touchy feely…but it was bound to happen sometime. So if you don't like it just let me know…nicely though please.
