An Unlikely Pair
disclaimer: Inuyasha and co. belong to the great Rumiko Takahashi-sama
Chapter 7 - In a Night
The rhythmic sounds of slumbering breaths mixed with snores reached his ears as he sat atop his soft bed of straw and furs. He was the only one awake in the cave. A glowing red orb was resting in his palm. It had been a couple days since it first came into his possession and he never really looked at it since. No one else knew he had it. Now he was blankly staring at it while numerous thoughts filtered through his head.
'This is her heart. That damn wind witch that slaughtered by brothers.' His eyes narrowed into slits as his hand began to close over it; squeezing it. A sadistic smiled crossed Kouga's face as he imagined what pain she must feel as he added a little more pressure.
'I can just see her sitting up from her bed woken from her dreams crying out and clutching her chest. She probably doesn't even know it's me doing it.' But as he continued to think, the more frightened he became of the malicious thoughts in his mind gradually releasing Kagura's hear to let it slip into his lap.
'She has murdered, but what am I doing? This is not an honorable way to avenge my fallen brothers.' Disgusted with himself, he put Kagura's heart back where he had hidden it the last couple days using more care in handling it than he noticed.
A gruff, but gentle voice to the owner of the hands wrapped protectively and lovingly around her waist murmured, "I love you." She couldn't see all of this mystery man's face, but could clearly see he was leaning down to her for a kiss.
"Ahhh!" She screamed clutching her chest. She gasped out choking breaths. "Ahhhh!" she screamed again. "What is that… bastard… doing?" She bit out in pain. Tears began to form in her eyes as she felt the pressure being placed on her heart was not loosening. Her eyes widened in a moment of hysteria that he may have decided to be rid of her. "No!" She bit out.
Forcing herself out of her bed, she stumbled towards the door. Using all of her strength, she dragged herself towards Naraku's chambers collapsing before the door from the exhausting strain. She lay there panting in the hallway. Suddenly, she felt the pressure begin to loosen. Tears streamed down her cheeks as she stared up at the ceiling gasping for air. The pain finally went away and she stopped crying to catch her breath.
While she tried to stand up, the door to his room slide almost silently open to reveal Naraku in only a hakama and Kagome peering sleepily over one of his shoulders in a light gray yukata.
Kagura's eyes widened for a moment. "Is there something you needed master?" Kagura hoarsely asked.
For a moment, Naraku looked confused, but then answered, "I think you should be asking Kouga that and not me."
A terrified look crossed her eyes before fear settled somewhere within them.
"Did you?" She asked in merely a whisper.
"Yes." He answered emotionlessly. A strangled cry of despair escaped her before she took off in a run. She was headed to see the wolf prince.
"What's going on?" Kagome asked rubbing an eye. "What about Kouga? Is Kagura all right?"
"Kagura will be fine unless Kouga decides otherwise." She gave him a questioning look, but he said nothing more about it, shut the door, and led her back to the futon where they went back to sleep.
He stood on a cliff that rose high above the large estate below to the north. He had settled there after coming upon the strong barrier surrounding the large structure.
"Interesting." He said upon discovering it.
He watched idly while pondering about certain current events.
The dead miko was with his brother while the other miko was with Naraku at the moment. On that note, he had not heard of any disturbances of late from the despised hanyou or his "children". But something was going on that even this taiyoukai could not ignore. An entire village in his lands that was moderately big and prosperous, had been slaughtered and his whelp of a half-brother and his group had been there. Magic could be smelt and felt everywhere they had been near the dead village. They were his people even though they were human. What killed them was still unknown.
His thoughts were momentarily interrupted when he glimpsed a dot of white begin to float by below him towards the northern mountains. It was Kagura.
'Where is she off to?' He wondered adding more to the mysteries he was all ready looking for answer to. He didn't follow her.
The moon shone down at him, but it seemed less lustrous than it usually did to him. He felt so confused, but a growth of dread began to knead at the pit of his stomach. For some reason, he felt that the accusations were true. He had raped her, but could not remember anything. He cried out in frustration, but it ended in despair.
He closed his eyes and rubbed them with the heel of his palms and whimpered. "What did I do? Why would I do it?" He hoarsely whispered to himself. His shoulders shuddered. "I am a monster. I never treat Kagome right all the time. And now… I did that!" Tears began to blind him. Getting up he began to run.
At first he dodged the branches and twigs and bushes, but began to tire and did not notice the forest pull and scratch at him. He continued to run until he ran straight off a cliff. Not completely caring where he landed, he closed his eyes and let himself fall head first… into a lake. Letting himself sink to the bottom, he laid there for a moment before pushing off to swim to the surface.
Gasping for air he tread for a moment before stretching himself out to float on the reflective lake. He stared unseeingly to the sky. 'Have I become such a jerk?' He thought. 'Have I really done something as horrible as that to her? What is going on?' He sighed closing his eyes. Continuing to float on the lake, he tried to push everything out of his head as he cried some more.
He had not fallen asleep as quickly as she did after Kagura's disruption. He watched her sleep snuggled on his arm against his chest. Her mouth was slightly opened. Lightly tracing the curve of her cheek with his fingers, he sighed.
'Kikyou had said she'd give me the Shikon if I get rid of you so she could take Inuyasha with her to hell, but I did not know how she intended to keep her end of the deal to hand you to me. I'm so sorry, Kagome.' He wrapped an arm around her to draw her even closer to him. 'If that mutt ever touches you again, I'll kill him, but I'll take Kikyou out first. No one will every hurt you again. I'll make sure of it.' He growled at the thought of someone causing her pain and as if she sensed his distress, she snuggled deeper into his embrace silencing the gruff noise he was making to squeeze her a little more tightly.
As she walked through the forest, glowing white orbs were being delivered to her by her wormy demons. It seemed that any little nocturnal creatures she came across would run away in fright from her. She frowned. Nothing seemed to go as she thought it would.
Naraku was supposed to dispose of that little girl. Instead he fell in love with her. If she were out of the way, she and Inuyasha would have gone to hell together all ready.
"I suppose I have to get rid of them together at the same time. It should be easier when they are. They'll be too busy to notice when I will strike. Those ignorant fools. The only thing love does is make you oblivious to everything else in the world because you're too distracted to notice anything else.
The fast pace she had begun with slowed down immensely as she drew nearer to the mountains. She began to feel nervous and dare she admit, afraid? She clutched at her feather a little more tightly as she began to descent to the ground. She didn't want to cause a huge commotion or be attacked without seeing Kouga first she se settled down into a tree near the guard post near the most direct approach to the caves.
At first she thought they were actually watching for any possibly danger or threat to come their way, but almost fell out of the tree when the two wolf youkai and a few wolves began to snore simultaneously.
Taking back to the air, she silently drifted high overhead them and landed again, but this time right in front of the main cave.
Letting her eyes adjust to the darkness of the cave, she cautiously entered. More snoring met her ears. Trying to quietly, but as quickly as she could, she scurried passed and around many slumbering youkai and wolves. Letting a slight breath of relief upon reaching Kouga's sleeping nest, she knelt down beside him. He was deeply asleep. Clutching her fan in one hand in case anyone or even he awoke, she watched him sleep unsure of what to do next.
Frowning, she cursed Naraku. 'I didn't want to kill all of those people and animals. That bastard would have killed me if I had not followed his orders.' Her thoughts quieted for a moment. "Did my own life equal to the value of the lives he had destroyed?" She frowned as she continued to watch him sleep. Her eyes settled unseeingly onto his face as a frown creased her lips. "Could you blame me for yearning for freedom? My life has no value. I've been passed on to you like a used thing." Her voice cracked. A sob fought to erupt from her throat, but she quickly buried her face into her hands the bedding to stifle the sound.
Slowly, tears began to trickle down her face. 'My life will never truly be my own.' She despairingly thought continuing to cry.
His nose twitched as the faint smell of salt invaded him in his sleep. Gradually waking, he stretched out his arms and legs before shifting to turn onto his left. His eyes remained closed during the process until his front softly collided with another body. Startled, his eyes snapped open to find Kagura hunched over with her face in his bedding. Her body tensed the moment they made contact.
There was a spike of fear and despair in her scent as they continued to lay there.
"What are you doing here?" Kouga whispered. He saw her huddle deeper into herself and his bed. "Get off my bed." He flatly commanded. "I don't want it to be stinking like Naraku."
A pained look crossed her face, but he didn't see it because her face remained hidden from him. "I said get off my bed." He repeated.
She sighed in defeat and turned her face towards him. "You know why I'm here." She croaked out. Here eyes were red and puffy, but the look in them was nothing he had ever seen in them. He saw sorrowful defeat.
They continued to stare at each other for a while before Kouga opened his mouth to say something.
"Just kill me." She interrupted him. "Please." She brokenly pleaded. Kouga closed his mouth and studied her as tears began to form in her eyes again. "My life is worth nothing. I'm not a person. I'm a thing. What point is there for a thing to live?" The tears began to flow more frequently. "I know you want to see me die. I know you still want revenge." The irritated look he had been giving her shifted into a tired expression. "Please." His face returned to its irritated mask, and she turned her head back into her hands and his bedding waiting for her death.
He watched her cry in quiet broken fits. He sat up and gently laid a hand on her shoulder. "Stop that." It seems Kouga can't stand women crying either even though Kagura is his enemy. "I said stop it all right. Just stop crying like a baby. I'm not going to kill you. Where's the honor in killing your enemy by destroying their heart that's not even in their body? I'm not Naraku you know." He finished defensively.
Kagura stopped crying, but didn't move. They stayed that way for a long time. At some point Kouga had fallen asleep sitting up leaning against a cave wall. Kagura had relaxed from her hunched position and let herself spread out to lay comfortable on her stomach. She watched him sleep for a little while before drifting off to sleep herself. All of the traveling, thinking, and crying had exhausted her.
A/N: Sorry it took so long to update and this chapter is short. When I get writer's block… it takes a long while to become unblocked. Hopefully, I will have another chapter up this week. And try to stop making so many breaks.