Disclaimer – As much as I love Inuyasha, I didn't make him, he's not mine, and never will be…. But I wish he were! O.o o.O
"Um… hello? Mr. Dog-guy? Inuyasha? Are you awake?" Kagome asked cautiously. She was leaning over a sleeping Inuyasha, peering down at him, as he had slouched a little against the wall. She jolted back when he bolted up into a more straight position, looking around as if to find a source of danger.
After a couple seconds of tactile inspection of the room, he looked over to where Kagome had fallen back on the ground and was now blinking at him in silence, barely breathing even. He obviously had given her quite the fright.
Once he himself had blinked he asked, "What are you doing down there? And why did you wake me up?" Inuyasha looked towards one of the windows allowing in light. It was apparent it couldn't be more than an hour or so after sunrise. "You acted like there was a demon here."
"I… you startled me. I just wanted to know if you were awake or not. Sorry if I got you scared," She apologized earnestly, looking like an embarrassed child. Inuyasha raised his nose defiantly.
"No demon is ever gonna scare me," He said plainly, getting back against the wall and looking at Kagome. Though he didn't say it, it was pleasing to know she wasn't really outwardly afraid of him for now. Apparently she trusted him much more than the prior day. "I guess you didn't get your memory back while you slept then…" he muttered.
She shook her head, straightening up and sitting in a position more willing with her skirt. "If you aren't afraid of demons, then why did you get very hyped up just a couple minutes ago?"
Inuyasha very, very slightly narrowed his eyes but looked away before answering, "To protect you from them. That's my job, baka," his voice dull as he said it, as if that should be the one thing she should have been able to remember.
Neither talked for a few minutes, in which Kagome reflected what she had learned the previous night. The more she thought into it, the more she was starting to come to the conclusion she hadn't just used to like him, she might have actually loved him… it was just too confusing. Though she didn't know from experience the person named Kikyo, she had gotten angry (or was it jealous?) hearing her name. What Inuyasha had just told her also seemed like she thought she should have known that. It just seemed… right.
Almost silently, while Inuyasha was still looking the other way, she scooted forward towards him, sitting at his side and smiling slightly when he turned to look at her. "Thanks for protecting me then, I guess," She offered kindly, both feeling safe and unsafe sitting that close next to him.
"Feh. It's what I do best; it's nothing big. You're just a magnet for trouble, it's a given. You just don't make things easy. First you come and shatter the jewel, then you makes hoards of demons just come running out to try and kill you, and I gotta play the hero and save you over, and over, and over again." Though it was odd for him, his tone wasn't entirely scornful. There was some other emotion in it, but even if Kagome had all her memories, she wouldn't be able to trace it.
"And what's that supposed to mean?" She demanded, glaring at him. Inuyasha just smirked.
"I'm experienced. You ain't got nothin' to worry about if I'm around. For the most part you don't even need to worry about Miroku, he's too obsessed with Sango."
Kagome nodded. "Yeah, they seem to like each other. What about us? Did we like each other?" Though she was really just curious, especially given how she had waken up by the well with him, her tone could have been seen as hopeful.
The question made Inuyasha widen his eyes slightly, and possibly redden a bit, but after a moment he let his hair cover up his eyes and looked down towards the floor. "I don't think so."
"Oh. I was just wondering is all. It's just because… well, maybe it was just me, but it seemed like everyone was hinting that we were going out last night, from Kaede to Shippo. It was kind of nerve wracking. Glad that's over… I think…"
She looked down at her feet, deep in thought. He had said no, but she wondered if he meant yes. You just never knew. Kagome sighed, reminding herself she had better things to deal with than trying to find out if she had once liked a hanyou who might not have liked her back. As if smacked on her head, she noticed the kitsune wasn't in the hut.
Cocking her head slightly, she looked around to make sure he wasn't anywhere before she started overreacting.
"Inuyasha, where is…"
"KAGOME!" Right on cue, Shippo bolted into the hut with a scream, waking up both Sango and Miroku in an instant. It caused Kagome to jump to the side, which ended up being into Inuyasha. Caught unaware, Inuyasha was pushed over and landed with a slight thud on his side, Kagome soon to follow, landing right next to him. Shippo didn't seem to care and leapt through the air towards her. Before Shippo reached her, Inuyasha grabbed him by the tail.
"Stupid little brat, what was that all about?" His captor demanded, shaking him slightly over a steadily recovering Kagome.
"Let him go. Please?" Kagome asked hopefully. "I don't think he meant it," She explained. Scowling, Inuyasha dropped him with a slight bump as Shippo hit the ground and crawled over to Kagome.
He blinked at Inuyasha, who had just sat up again, glaring down at the kitsune with hands folded away in his sleeves. Kagome smiled a little bit, that whole routine feeling like it was meant to be.
"Well, it is nice to be awoken at last. How long have you two been up? Alone… unwatched… unattended… un…" Miroku was cut off mid-thought when Sango brought Hiraikotsu down on his head. Kagome blushed a little and Inuyasha just kept glaring his common emotionless glare.
"Stop hinting at things, monk. One more stupid crack of yours and I'm gonna make sure you never want your back scratched again," Inuyasha mumbled while bending his fingers in his intimidating manner, despite Kagome's slight drawing back from the claws and his comment.
Noticing her reaction, the half demon lowered his hands again and turned to meet her gaze directly.
"You don't… you don't really attack things with those do you? That's why you have that sword, right? You wouldn't actually go after something with your…"
"Claws and fangs?" He supplemented, eyeing her along with the rest of the group. "Of course I attack things with them. There was a time when I didn't have the tetsusaiga, and it's all I had to use. Now I have a choice, and I still use both. I'm not using them on you anytime soon," At last he said, seeing that that was what she wanted to hear.
Kagome didn't talk for a little bit after that, considering. Even though the four -five if you counted Kirara- sets of eyes were watching her, she didn't care. She had been starting to make good terms with Inuyasha and then this went and happened. It was not what she needed.
"We kind of decided we were going to start trying to figure out what happened to Kagome's memory today, so lets get going then, shall we?" Sango offered, picking up Kirara and walking outside. The others stood after a moment or so.
They started to walk out when Kirara's transforming inferno caught Kagome's eyes. She shrieked and leapt into Inuyasha, grabbing his arm tightly. At least it was better than grabbing him by the ear. Slowly, Inuyasha looked down at her.
"Kagome… what do you think you're doing?" He asked oddly waiting for another moment before her grip on his arm softened and the blood flow returned. She looked up at him and took a couple deep breaths. She ignored Miroku's perverted smirk from his place and Shippo's confused look.
"There was a fire! Didn't you see it? Right where Kirara and Sango were. It came out of nowhere! You had to have seen it." She ended dully, causing Shippo to smile.
"That was Kirara transforming, because she's a cat demon. Miroku and Sango and I ride with her most of the time," He explained. Shippo remembered when she used to always bring a bike and he'd ride in the basket.
Shippo's comment made Kagome ask, "Where do I go then?" This brought an odd look from Inuyasha and Shippo pointed at the hanyou. "I go with him? Is… is that why the other day, at the well…"
Though he wasn't fully paying attention he nodded as tolerantly as manageable. It made more sense now. He had, after all, told her to climb onto his back, so that must have been how they traveled. It fit now. "I see," She muttered, gasping at the large cat Kirara had become.
"Are ye leaving now then?" Kaede asked, looking up from carrying a basket of herbs towards the now vacant hut. "Ye should all take extra care under the circumstances. It would be most horrible to have another of ye have altered memories."
Inuyasha opened his mouth to make an expected snide remark, but Kagome quickly shot her hand out and tweaked an ear in warning. Growling slightly, he shook away from her grip but didn't say anything.
Smiling, Kaede disappeared into the hut. Sango, Miroku, and Shippo mounted Kirara and Inuyasha turned to a hesitant Kagome.
"You… uh… won't let me fall off, will you?"
"Have I ever?" Inuyasha shot back, a bit annoyed with her hesitation. She should have realized by now none of them meant her any harm. His expression softened a little when he heard Kagome whisper, "I don't know, have you?"
"You're fine with him Kagome. I don't think he's going to be dropping you in the near future. As hard as it may be for you, bestow some trust in Inuyasha," Miroku said helpfully.
"Miroku…" Inuyasha warned with both voice and expression.
Deciding that she had to trust these people even if she wasn't entirely ready yet, Kagome stepped up to him unsurely. How did you climb onto another person who was going to take you flying through the air? Very cautiously, she placed her hands on his shoulders, not really wanting to try and jump.
"Stop wasting time," Inuyasha demanded, "Let me do it…" In a second he had leaned a bit forward and gotten his arms under her, throwing her up a bit and causing her to almost choke him with her arms in surprise. "Kah… Kagome… loosen the grip… on my throat…" he managed, relaxing a bit when she replaced her hands on his shoulders.
"Are you two ready?" Sango asked rather patiently. All four were looking at them.
Managing to move aside Inuyasha's hair to rest her head right above his right shoulder and resist the temptation to play with the ears that were now placed so close within her grasp, Kagome nodded. In an instant Kirara had bolted off.
Jumping straight from a stand still to his quick run, Kagome shrieked a little, burying her head into his hair, which whipped around, somewhat tickling her face, but she remained silent from the shock. She'd never experienced anything like this before. After a few moments Kirara and Inuyasha had matched speeds.
Sango and Miroku looked over at their two friends. Kagome had her entire face hidden underneath the thick white hair and didn't seem to want to come out of the veil it provided. She probably found it safer since the wind couldn't reach her face there, but as Sango commented, it would probably be stuffier.
Hearing the slight discussion between monk and demon slayer, Kagome dared to look out, met by a sharp wind. She was about to duck again for the hair but Inuyasha shook her a little.
"Kagome, stop kidding around. If I'm not mistaken, you used to enjoy this. Calm down," He ordered, being extra careful to minimize the movement for her. Something about him saying that was reassuring. Though she kept her head very close to his shoulder for comfort, she stopped hiding beneath the hair. Since she had listened to Inuyasha, it caused Miroku to praise her like an animal.
"She's not a pet Miroku," Sango scolded, "so don't treat her like one. Sorry Kagome," the girl's friend apologized sincerely, elbowing the monk distastefully.
Kagome didn't answer her verbally, only nodded slightly. She wondered how she might have reacted if she still had her 'true' memories, as these people put it. Sighing slightly (the wind was a little annoying) she experimentally rested her head directly on Inuyasha's shoulder, wondering if he would react. Thankfully, he didn't.
After the first few minutes, Kagome had calmed down a lot. Inuyasha must have been right; she had to have enjoyed it before, because she realized she kind of liked the feeling even now. She was happy he hadn't yelled at her when she nestled her head into his shoulder for added comfort and warmth and had stayed like that for most of the time they traveled.
The three riders Kirara bore were always giving the two of them worried glances, which started to get on the half demons nerves. If Kagome hadn't been in such a fragile state, he would have leapt at them. As it was, he was actually worried to make any really sudden movements. She had gotten comfortable and he didn't want to disturb her more than necessary.
"Do we have the slightest idea where we're going?" Sango asked after about an hour in. Her question raised a couple comments from Miroku and Shippo. Inuyasha just growled.
"Yes, I think… Along with that white light I keep remembering, there's a mix of smells that kind of follows it. I'm not sure if the two are related, but its something, and I'm trying to sort them out," he explained in frustration. He hated not knowing what was going on.
Sango nodded understandingly, looking in front of them for a moment then back to Inuyasha and Kagome.
"Kagome, are you doing okay? You haven't said much." Again, Miroku and Shippo commented on this. Kagome shifted her head out of the red cloth to look at them and smiled a bit.
"Yes," She said proudly. "This is actually kind of fun. I like it, and kind of feel safe with him, even though I didn't think it possible. Not to say that I didn't believe what you guys said, though," She added hurriedly, hoping they wouldn't take it wrong.
Inuyasha turned his head to look at her better, mumbling, "You better feel safe. I don't care what your mind says; I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Ever." Kagome herself could barely hear him, noticing that he had said it quietly deliberately. Blushing slightly, she imagined the sort of comments that perverted monk Miroku might say.
His reassurance caused her to smile a little more warmly and she nestled her head back in position again. Though no one saw it, Inuyasha returned the smile for a moment when she couldn't see before looking back to their path.
In that manner they continued on for another few hours. They didn't talk much, only about what direction to go in and Inuyasha complaining about how this weird 'scent', if he could call it that, sometimes just totally disappeared leaving them at a dead end. Sango suggested that perhaps it really was a demon like had been suggested.
"What do you think I've been telling you? I know it's a demon, just not what kind. Have you been listening to me at all?"
Sango blinked. She knew he was in no mood to argue, so she quickly apologized. "Either way, I think we should stop for a little bit. Think about it; Kagome used to not like traveling for very long periods of time, and she probably likes it less now. I'm sure she wouldn't deny a pit stop, right?"
The girl looked up a little hazily from the hanyou's shoulder, almost as if she had been fighting off sleep. Being addressed wakened her for the most part and she nodded softly, looking around. The landscape here was like nothing she had ever seen.
Sango, Miroku, and Shippo leapt off of Kirara and landed daintily on the ground. Well, not exactly daintily for Shippo, who landed and bounced a bit forward before stopping entirely. Kirara transformed back into her smaller form, causing Kagome to catch her breath and cling tighter to Inuyasha's haori.
"Kagome… are you going to get off now?" He asked her slowly while turning his head to look at her. She blushed a little and relaxed her grip, nodding. Sadly, she was just as unsure about getting off as getting on. "It's really not that hard Kagome, just get off," Inuyasha ordered as the rest of the group blinked.
Taking a breath as if she was about to dive underwater, she let go and slid down until her feet touched ground. Safe again, she released her breath and Inuyasha exhaled loudly through his nose. Kagome looked back at him and he sat down in one fluid movement, focusing on Sango.
"What do we do now that we're stopped? I don't want you people to take long, I want to find this stupid demon thing and teach it a thing or two." As Inuyasha said this he cracked his knuckles distractedly. Kagome flinched slightly again at the violent words and motion, but forced herself to remember him saying he'd never let anything bad happen to her.
She stroked a few strands of loose hair out of her face and after a minute of indecision, she sat down right next to him. If she had been sitting this close to any other guy, she would have been blushing profoundly. Oddly, in her opinion, Inuyasha didn't even question her. In fact, he didn't even look at her at first.
When he did, Kagome didn't get uneasy at all, to his satisfaction. She wasn't sure if it was the right thing or not, but she really did feel safe when he was near her, despite her greeting to him in the well clearing. She absentmindedly blushed when she remembered the protective arm he had draped about her waist.
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes slightly at her and shifted his ears so they were both focused intently on the girl next to him. "What are you blushing about?" He asked in a mixture of confusion and anger. His voice brought Kagome back to life. Due to his comment, the other members of the group looked over at her. This just made her blush grow deeper.
"Oh, nothing… Sorry… just remembering something is all," Kagome said rather lamely, trying in vain to get her blush to go away and calm down, looking away from the hanyou. This only irritated him.
"Remembering what?" He demanded, his more angry now than confused. What did she have to remember that would make her blush? In his worst fears it was that Hobo person from her era she had gone on a date with. If it were, Inuyasha would make it a point to kill him the next time they saw each other.
Her head snapped back to look at Inuyasha and she said nervously, "I… uh… it's nothing, really. Just a really embarrassing moment when I was a kid…?" It sounded more like she was asking him what she had remembered and she cursed herself mentally. Lucky for her though, he wasn't the keenest on people when it came to their emotions. The others looked away, deciding that Inuyasha and Kagome had ended that topic.
Eyeing her for a moment, he snorted and looked back, twitching his ears a bit. Kagome could barely contain the desire to leap out again and grab them, no matter how angry it made the half demon that owned the ears to begin with. It just didn't make sense though… actual dogs liked having their ears rubbed right? Shouldn't he?
"Hey Inuyasha?"
"What?" He shot back quickly; his gaze was altered yet again and his ears went faintly back.
"Hmm…" Regardless of Inuyasha's confused look, Kagome took her opportunity and caught him off guard, leaping forward almost ravenously at him and pummeling him into the ground.
Miroku was the first to look back and investigate the noise, and he grinned, clearly liking what he was seeing. Sango noticed the all too familiar look he got when thinking especially lecherous thoughts and followed his gaze, sighing again. Kagome was pinning down a fidgeting Inuyasha, grabbing onto his ears mercilessly and staring him down directly in the eyes. In a few moments she started stroking the ears, noticing that his squirming had somehow changed.
"Why don't you like this? You should like it, not hate it. Every single dog I've ever seen has never protested getting his ears rubbed. In fact, they normally enjoy it a lot!"
The monk couldn't handle it any more and started laughing, ignoring the angry glare from Sango. If she had actually said anything to him it would be nothing short of hypocrisy, because she was mere moments away from doing the same thing herself.
Inuyasha stopped moving instantly when she said that out loud. Though entirely capable of throwing her off (Kagome noticed this with an internal grin of victory) he didn't. "Are… are you calling me a dog, Kagome?" Inuyasha growled irritably. The growl only increased when she shrugged as casually as manageable.
"Well," She blinked, now smiling, "You are part dog demon. I assume dog demons like their ears petted too. I really don't think you're any different… You really don't seem to be retaliating much…"
There was a brief period of time in which only Miroku's laughter could be heard before Inuyasha responded, "Get off!" very hastily and looked uncomfortable. Kagome looked curious at this particular reaction but decided it best not to interrogate him and allowed her to be thrown back and him to sit up.
He looked down and to the side, allowing his hair to mostly cover his face to hide any sense of emotion in case he somehow ended up displaying it. If Kagome actually knew how right she was, Inuyasha knew there would be no end to it. True, he had felt hurt when she implied him just a dog, but he did have the grace enough not to kill her over it.
"Now that you two lovebirds are finished up…" Miroku said suggestively. Inuyasha's head snapped up and he bared his fangs threateningly at him in silence for a minute.
"Say that again and it'll be the last thing you ever do, monk. I dare you…" Like before he was flexing his fingers and claws while he said this.
Recoiling a bit, Kagome said in an almost pleading voice, "Will you please stop that Inuyasha?"
Miroku and Inuyasha stopped their angry glares and looked at her. Inuyasha was about to ask what she was talking about but noticed that her gaze was falling towards his hands, which he stretched again.
"What, that?"
"Yes that!" She demanded angrily, pulling her eyes away from them. Kagome could just picture them tearing her apart into tiny shreds. When envisioning this, a little voice told her he wouldn't do that, but she couldn't be convinced. He definitely had a short temper and she didn't know everything that set it off yet.
Inuyasha looked confused, and basically so did everyone else in the area. "Why? I do that all the time."
"Yeah, well, it makes me feel funny! Just… it creeps me out, okay?" She shuddered slightly and looked away, the image of them ripping her up coming back painfully.
Again, her remark only confused the half demon more. Did that really scare her? There was no reason to be afraid of him, it wasn't like he had attacked her… that was, or course, if you didn't count when they first met. Carefully, he stared at his own claws in agitation. She'd never been afraid of them before, even when she was actually being attacked. Eventually he just hid them back in his sleeves, anger and confusion evident.
When Inuyasha complied with her request, Kagome smiled happily and whispered "Thank you" to him. He just snorted and kept quiet.
"How long do you want to rest for Kagome? Are you hungry or anything? I noticed you didn't eat much last night. I don't blame you though," Sango told her. Kagome looked over to her and shrugged.
"I am kind of hungry… I normally bring food with me right? I remember having my backpack with me this morning, so I probably have some food in there…" She reasoned slowly, looking around for her belongings.
Shippo leapt over to her happily, dragging behind him the backpack in question. "Here you are Kagome! This things heavy, what did you bring this time?" The kitsune hoped she had candy somewhere for him.
She took the bag and opened it, pulling out random things. The group watched as things like schoolbooks, spare clothes, and a first aid kit were thrown about on the ground during her search.
"Ah ha!" Kagome squealed happily, as if she had just located a million dollars. "I did bring food with me." To show what she meant, she dug out a couple bottles of what looked like water and juice, bread, fruit, and something in a bag.
Looking around at all of the things sprawled about, she looked ashamed and murmured, "Do I always bring this much stuff with me?"
Shaking his head, Shippo leaped onto her lap energetically, grabbing the bag of hidden food with high hopes. Instead of flinching when he leapt on her, she smiled. Shippo tore open the bag enthusiastically and smiled when its contents poured out.
"CANDY!"
Inuyasha scowled at him. "If you get really, really more hyper then normal, I'm saying right now it won't be a surprise if you miraculously loose a limb or two. And you can't blame me when it happens, you stupid little ball of fuzz."
"You mean a sugar high?" Kagome asked curiously, but all the others just gave a dull look. "Forget it…" She gave up, realizing they had no idea what she was talking about. As an alternative, Kagome watched Shippo greedily eat any candy within his reach.
Kagome thought it a wonder Shippo didn't get sick, but she attributed it to him being a demon. She let him eat just about the entire bag before she reached over to get a snack of her own to munch on. One apple and some juice should be the perfect healthy snack, right?
The others looked on while kitsune and girl ate, not talking very much. Shippo ended up being the conversation starter.
When finished, he leapt away from the just about empty bag of candy, already feeling the effects of the major sugar intake. Much to Inuyasha's despising, he immediately started running around energetically, getting closer and closer to the angry hanyou.
"I LOVE CANDY! That stuff is good… I want more candy!" Shippo cried out, almost in grabbing range of Inuyasha, who was waiting with a ready hand. "Candy, candy, candy…EEYAA!"
Shippo was snatched off of the ground in a blur of red and brought up by his tail, kicking and yelling. Kagome looked up at this and frowned.
"I warned you, brat. Do you want to loose an arm or a leg?" he asked in a sarcastically happy voice that just added to the fright. Once again, Kagome new she had to do something. She wondered if Shippo was in the way or not.
"Um… Inuyasha, sit!"
Before he had time to say another word he flew forward and down into the ground with a slight glow around his neck. Shippo squealed with happiness when his tail was freed and he rushed to Kagome for protection.
"Cut it out with that!" Inuyasha demanded, looking up from the ground once the main of the enchantment had worn down. He eyed Kagome with anger and- to Kagome's horror- with bared fangs. Her heart skipped a beat when she saw this and she stumbled back a little.
Growling, Inuyasha shot, "Now what? First the claws, now the teeth, I already told you, you stupid wench! I'm not going to attack you!"
At first she didn't listen but did eventually calm down and inch forward again. Some part of her knew he was telling the truth whether she was ready to believe that or not, but she didn't like the easily roused anger. Frustration plus claws or anything that can cause pain equals a bad end combination.
"Inuyasha, don't you think you could try and control you temper for a little while at least?" Sango asked hopefully, "It's for Kagome's sake. You have to remember, I don't think she used to like it even when she still was thinking straight; she just was around it too much. Can you please try? If you keep scaring her like that…"
"I'm not scaring anyone!" He growled at her sitting up again. "If it weren't for my claws and fangs and stuff you'd have probably all have been dead a long time ago. It ain't my problem if she thinks I'm gonna kill her. I told her I'm not, and you know I'm not, she should know I'm not, and if she doesn't believe me, that isn't my fault. It's hers. Miss Forgetful there," Inuyasha paused for a moment to look at Kagome, who was starting to get angry, "can either trust me or not. If she doesn't trust me, she's just stupid. Maybe she'd like me to sit back and watch when a demon comes by and let her be killed?"
All the people in the group didn't like that, especially Kagome. Inuyasha seemed either not to notice or, more likely, not to care, and looked the other way. Standing up, Kagome glared at his form. Miroku and Sango frowned, waiting for her to explode and sit him to near death like she used to.
"Hey, let go!"
Kagome grabbed both of his ears painfully hard and pulled them back with vengeance in her eyes. "Stop being mean to me! I never did anything to deserve it that I know of, you idiot." When he didn't respond to this and found it more dignified to endure the painful tugging at his head, she screamed in frustration. This just hurt Inuyasha's ears even more.
"STOP THE PULLING AND THE YELLING!" He screamed back at her, trying to turn around. Her grip on his ears (which were now aching from her hands and her loud volume and were doing their best to flatten, but failing) increased and she pulled them even harder.
The two people and two demons standing off to the side were almost looking afraid. They expected the two to just start killing each other any minute, plus, who to sympathize with? Kagome was always being yelled at and degraded, which would hurt internally, true. However, they had never seen Kagome be so abusive to his ears before. They knew she admired them but didn't imagine her using them for revenge.
"I'm not going to stop until you apologize to me!" Her voice was wavering in her agitation and she continued to increase the strength of her tugging.
Inuyasha grabbed her wrists in hopes it would get her to stop, but he was rewarded with a very strong but brief tug, and he could have sworn his ears were just going to be ripped off. "I'm not apologizing so just stop it already! STOP IT, KAGOME!" His own grip on her arms tightened significantly when she actually dragged him back about an inch. If only she knew how painful that was!
"I said not until you apologize to me," She repeated calmly, though she was beginning to feel the pain of his hands against her arms.
"Who do you think will give in first, Inuyasha or Kagome?" Miroku asked absentmindedly.
Sango shot him a death glare and exclaimed, "This isn't the time; someone needs to stop them before Kagome looses a hand or Inuyasha loses an ear!" Miroku shrugged and went back to watching the two.
"Let go right now or I swear I'll take back my promise and I'll attack you right here and right now!" He threatened, shifting his hold on her so that his claws were revealed more. That got a reaction out of her, but not entirely the one he wanted.
As if there was a gun held to her head, she let go of his ears and took a couple steps back, shaking off his hands. Inuyasha didn't move, too doubled over by the searing pain in his head. He was positive; another second and she would have detached them.
"Inuyasha, how could you!" Sango said frantically. Kagome looked near tears, but the half demon in question still didn't move. Gingerly, he went to touch his ears but found them abused once more when Kagome cried out as loud as ever.
"DAMMIT!" He yelled defeated. This time, it wasn't just from the screaming. When he tried to move his ears back to diminish the noise, even that hurt.
Kagome looked at the hands near his ears, and specifically the claws on them, in a terrified expression. Not waiting to see if he would actually attack her or not, she turned and fled, screaming "SIT!" over the air as she left, but not feeling any much better when the crash came.
"Look what you did Inuyasha!" Shippo wailed, running around in panicked circles. He was glad Inuyasha was too much in pain to reach out of the small crater and take his anger out on him.
Sango and Miroku looked disgusted. Oddly, when Sango moved to get on Kirara and retrieve the rapidly shrinking figure that was Kagome, Miroku held her back.
"Let her go for a while. I think the two of them need to come to reconcile with their emotions before we continue," He whispered to her. Miroku was afraid of the sort of reaction Inuyasha would have if he heard that comment, but thanks to his horribly abused ears, he wouldn't have heard them anyway.
The demon slayer eyed him. "That's all fine and nice, but stop touching me you hentai," She glowered, smacking him across the face again, leaving the infamous handprint. Miroku took it all in good pace, having gotten an exceptional feel of her 'perfect bottom'.
"Inuyasha, aren't you going to go after Kagome before a demon goes and kills her? It looked like she was heading towards the forest, you know she's going to find trouble in there!" Shippo exclaimed.
He looked up and growled at the frantic kitsune. "There's always a forest, isn't there? There's never not been a goddamn forest! Where the hell do they keep coming from!" Inuyasha really was just pissed, but Shippo had to agree he had a point there. "She fucking tried to remove my ears!"
"Stop using that foul language," Miroku asked calmly. Kagome had disappeared from view about the time he said this, and Shippo was now bugging out worse than ever. His comment made Inuyasha just get angrier.
"Shut the hell up! I'll say whatever I want to whenever I want to. Goddamn… ah…" He moaned, rubbing the stalks of his ears softly. They had never hurt this much in his entire life, and he'd been through some rough ear abuse as a child. For another ten minutes, all you could hear were Shippo's cries.
The little fox demon ran around in circles, screaming his head off and trying to persuade the angered and pained hanyou to go find his surrogate mother. The person he was trying to convince was getting more cross every second of wailing.
The monk and demon slayer stood mostly quiet off to one side, not quite sure what to do. It was inevitable that Inuyasha was going to explode angrily soon but they didn't know how soon. If they leapt in to save Shippo now they might get hurt, but if they didn't Shippo would just get even more hurt. They watched as the half demon started to growl louder and louder.
"Um…" Sango began, because maybe warning the kitsune wouldn't be as bad, "Shippo, you making Inuyasha very…"
"AAAAAAAAAH!" A loud shriek filled the air as Shippo leapt suddenly, a very pissed off Inuyasha landing on the ground where he had been.
"…Too late… Inuyasha, leave him alone."
"Why should I?" He shot, glaring at Sango and just daring Miroku to comment. "get back here you stupid ball of fluff. I'm gonna tear you limb from limb!" Shippo wailed again at the threat and leapt for Sango and safety.
The two locked eyes for a second, and Inuyasha's look made Shippo cower even more, hugging Sango's leg tightly for protection.
"Why don't you go fetch Kagome?" Miroku offered at last, trying to break the tension in the air. You could have assumed he'd just suggested that they help Naraku by the look he received from the hanyou.
He narrowed his eyes and said, "Yeah, like that's gonna happen. She nearly pulled my ears off of my head. She wants to go and get killed, that's fine by me! Glad to be rid of the extra work anyway, I don't care if she lost her memory or not. You don't try and detach someone's ears!"
No one could argue that point. Maybe it would have been better if she had just 'sat' him fifty times, but the ear pulling may have been a bit much.
"Still… we can't find the jewel shard pieces as easy if she is gone and we'd never be able to help her get her memory back. Plus… what if Koga found her?" Miroku added slyly.
Inuyasha froze as if he'd been dead. This caused Miroku to grin even more. Before anyone could add their own personal thoughts on the matter, Inuyasha cursed and shot off quickly, leaving Miroku with a lecherous grin plastered on his face.
"I knew that would get to him…" He muttered, watching the red figure vanishing much quicker than Kagome had.
For five solid minutes he continued his complaining to himself. "That idiotic girl… running off for nothing. The hell did I do to deserve that?" Inuyasha mumbled as he raced through the trees, following Kagome's smell.
He stopped not long after finishing his comment, having heard something that sounded suspiciously like crying. Because it still hurt to move his ears, he had to shift his entire head to pinpoint the noise. Someone was definitely crying, and the scent told him it was Kagome. Growling slightly, he continued towards the source of smell and noise.
Hearing someone or something approaching, Kagome looked up and sharply fell silent. The noise got closer and closer, louder and louder. As it did her heart rate increased until it all just stopped and it became dead silent; she developed the feeling of being watched.
"What do you think you're doing?"
She screamed as a flash of red dropped in front of her out of nowhere. "Stop yelling, it hurts!" the figure bellowed at her. Once her senses were regained she recognized the person who was covering his white ears in front of her. To his surprise she just started crying again, harder if anything, and she dropped to the ground, not daring to look towards his hands again.
"Don't cry Kagome… just stop. You know I don't like it when you're crying, so stop." Keeping hands over his ears he crouched down next to her. Everyone knew he hated her crying. "I didn't mean what I said, you have to trust me. I don't want to hurt you whether I have claws and fangs or not."
Kagome looked up and blinked some tears from her eyes. "But you th-threatened me!"
"And you pulled my ears. You have no idea how sensitive they are, do you? You probably forgot that too," He growled. The growl, however, wasn't meant for the words. He had been rubbing the sore bases of his ears and she was looking at him enviously. "What is it with you and my ears?" This time the growl was meant for the words.
A smile. Kagome wiped the last tear away, eyes still fixated on the ears. She mumbled distractedly, "They… are so… cute… I want to touch them again. Please, can I pet them?" Suddenly she perked up in hope, but all she received was a glare.
"No. In case you forgot that as well, you were the one that just about ripped them off of my head under half an hour ago."
"Oh, please? I won't pull them, I swear!"
"No."
"Yes!"
"No Kagome!"
"Sit boy."
He barely had the time to growl at her before he was sent face first into the ground, his hands still covering his ears for dear life.
Just for the ability to fondle his ears, Kagome was entirely unaffected by his claws. She pulled them off of the ears and grinned at his mumble of hatred, then, expertly, she shot her hands forward and touched the bases of the ears. Inuyasha tensed, both from the slight pain of the contact and the overall fact of having her messing with his ears again.
Gently, the girl proceeded in adding as few more fingers and started massaging the bottom of each ear. Only a moment or so later she could have sworn she detected this very deep growl, but it wasn't angry in the least bit. It seemed more of content and enjoyment.
"I knew you liked that," She said triumphantly, stopping her hands. Very quickly, he got his sensed back and pushed himself out of the ground, toppling Kagome over and snorting arrogantly.
"I do not," He said plainly, looking away from her. "Stop playing your stupid games and come on. I came out here to get you and bring you back, no side trips!" However, even as he said this he refused to meet her eyes.
"So you can keep threatening me and freaking me out with those?" Kagome pointed to one of his hands. "I think not. Those, Mr. Dog Person, are generally very creepy."
"They are claws, Kagome. I use them to help protect you. And Sango, Miroku, Kirara and Shippo. It doesn't matter who I wave them at. Just claws," he repeated agitatedly. He wouldn't be able to survive if she couldn't get over that.
Kagome frowned. Holding back a growl he drew a hand out dangerously close to her face and she took a step back from it. When neither talked she walked back up and carefully touched one of the claws. For his part, Inuyasha was being extremely patient with the mind-tampered girl.
"Are you sure? You could be lying for I know. This whole thing could be a lie. I might be on some hidden camera show or something."
Though he had no idea what a 'hidden camera show' was, he smirked at the first part of her comment and took his hand back, grateful she remained still. "You and I both know I'm not lying, so stop being a baka about it and come back."
"Fine then, but can you at least try and stop waving those around blindly?" Kagome pleaded.
He breathed deeply and met her gaze directly. "Whatever, but I aint makin' you any promises or anything. They're mine to do what I want with, so just get used to it. Now come on, I'm tried of wasting time. Like at the well he grabbed her bridal style and took off.
Perhaps ten minutes after he had left, Sango and Miroku looked up as the pair returned, Kagome's face buried into Inuyasha's haori and her hands clutching the cloth by her head with a death grip. The person who's clothing she was clinging too was looking both pleased and annoyed at the same time.
Seeming to just notice her carrier had stopped moving, Kagome warily looked up and towards the ground, which she was thankful was only a few feet beneath her. Just as cautiously, she slowly let go of the fabric under Inuyasha's confused stare down at her.
"Did it go well?" Miroku asked innocently.
"Well," Inuyasha said, looking sharply away from the girl he carried and voice already starting to get angry, "It's a matter of opinion." Like any person should, Miroku sensed now was not a time to annoy either of them.
Kagome shifted a bit, silently asking to be let down. She was amazed she wasn't blushing, considering she wasn't used to being held by anyone like this, especially someone who was almost a 'stranger' to her still. Without looking at her the hanyou obliged and carefully set her down, but she didn't move away from him quite yet.
A ball of orange fuzz leapt at her, taking her a little by surprise and causing her to step back more into Inuyasha.
"Kagome, your back! I'm glad you're not hurt, I was worried." Shippo cuddled into her happily. Everyone was somewhat astounded Inuyasha didn't have a violent response, but they didn't dare say anything about it. "I hate seeing Inuyasha be mean to you, I'm sorry he's just a big stupid jerk."
There it came. The silence and calm before the storm. No one could deny it was coming now. In a flash Inuyasha had grabbed Shippo by the tail, causing both the kitsune and girl to eep.
"What did you call me runt?"
"Shippo, I'm used to him being mean. I think…"
"And… wait, what?" Inuyasha stopped and all eyes focused on Kagome. "Are you agreeing with him? You think I'm a stupid jerk?" He actually looked a little hurt, but mostly just in his eyes, and only Kagome met those perfectly. She grinned.
"Yup!"
Miroku and Sango blinked. Shippo stared and Inuyasha became even more wide-eyed still at her answer.
Sango started shakily, not wanting anything to begin, "Kagome… um…. You may not want to…"
Again, everyone fell silent when Kagome started laughing slightly. Sango and Shippo were speechless, Miroku was looking very interested, and Inuyasha narrowed his eyes in irritation. For another few seconds Kagome laughed. In one fluid motion she wrapped her arms around Inuyasha and hugged him tightly to her.
He tensed first at the contact then grew softer, actually dropping Shippo to the ground. Sango gasped and Miroku smiled with a perverted twinkle in his eyes.
"I believe you won't hurt me," Kagome said just loud enough for everyone to hear. "Oh… I never did apologize for the ears. Sorry," She said stupidly.
Having to keep his reputation, he feh'd and removed her arms, pushing her back an inch or so. "Sorry doesn't make them not hurt though, now does it?" He said sarcastically.
Kagome smirked, actually not caring when she felt the touch of his claws against her skin. She shook his hands from her arms and carefully sat down, trying to pick up the pit stop where it had left off before their fight. After a moment the rest of their group realized this and they two almost perfectly resumed what they had been doing, Inuyasha quickly sitting down next to Kagome again.
Shippo had collected some of the food Kagome had taken out of the bag. He was a little bit confused by a water bottle she had. The small demon had tackled it and found it impossible to take a cap off, because there wasn't any. He started gnawing on the plastic, not realizing he had to pull it out with his teeth to open it.
Once she gathered a few things, Sango came and sat next to Kagome on her other side, watching Shippo battling the water bottle ferociously. The bottles owner was about to explain how to open it when Shippo entirely bit off the top, plashing some of the water all over himself by accident and causing Kagome to start laughing again.
"You were supposed to bite down on it and pull out a little, then you suck on it like a straw in a way. I guess your way works too…" Shippo was emptying the bottle quickly, almost like he was dehydrated.
They watched him for a while, but for different reasons. Kagome and Sango were amused, Miroku simply bored (because he was not in an ideal groping position), and Inuyasha just angry at his stupidity.
"Kagome, do you have any ramen?"
She blinked. "Ramen? Why would I have ramen?"
He was about to call her stupid when Miroku sent him a warning look, causing to stop in his tracks and be a little more came about it. "Because… I love ramen, Kagome. Just check, will ya? If you don't, I will. I can't guarantee you'll have a bag left if I look for it." There was a note in his voice that was hinted all too much with truth. She frowned a bit and crawled over to get the bag.
Wondering why someone like Inuyasha would love ramen, she sat back and pulled the bag onto her lap, going through the contents. Only this time, Inuyasha was watching her intently and expectantly.
The girl pulled out a couple different small articles of clothing, a notebook, some other wrappers of things, a small battery powered microwave thing, and finally what she had set out to find- a package of instant ramen.
"This stuff? What's so special about it?" She asked curiously, tossing it onto the ground casually and repacking her bag, leaving the little cooking utensil out. Kagome had a feeling she was going to need to use it soon.
Inuyasha didn't say anything, just looked at her. His face said it all and she asked Shippo to throw her one of the other few water bottles, which he did happily, now playing with the empty bottle he had finished.
"So, Kagome and Inuyasha, do neither of you know anyone who might have wanted to tamper with either or both of your minds?" Miroku asked slowly while inspecting a juice box observantly. Before they answered he pulled the straw off and blinked. "I think I may have broken your little container Kagome."
Kagome smiled. "No, you didn't break anything. It's supposed to do that, gimme a second and I'll show you. And for your question, no. I don't remember anything. Maybe it was that Naraku guy you people were telling me about."
Inuyasha growled something inaudibly but didn't do anything else. Kagome, however, had taken the drink from Miroku who was still watching intently. She extracted the straw and stuck it into the container, handing the finished product back to Miroku.
He looked over the thing again and then obeyed Kagome's orders and used the straw after twirling it around for a few times. He seemed surprised when he tasted the apple juice but evidently liked it because he kept drinking until it was empty.
"What a peculiar item from your era. Ingenious."
"Yeah, ingenious, whatever. Like you know anything about being smart, monk. Kagome, make the ramen," Inuyasha ordered, not interested in anything else right now. She frowned at his lack of manners, but didn't want to start another fight right now, hastily getting things ready.
Sango, who was happy eating a bit of something that looked like bread from Kaede's village, looked over to them and inquired, "If you don't mind me asking, how did you two get over the fight in the forest?"
Seeing as Inuyasha wasn't planning on talking until after he got and finished the ramen, Kagome answered for both of them.
"Nothing really… he just talked me into it sort of. See, he was explaining how it didn't matter what he said and he hadn't meant to threaten me. I believe him now," She explained, waiting for the water to finish boiling and throw in the ramen noodles. There wasn't much more to it, unfortunately for Miroku, who looked rather disappointed at the news.
"Hentai. Stop your perverted thoughts at least until Kagome gets her memory back," Sango exclaimed exasperatedly.
Miroku grinned and stated, "Dear Sango, do you all really have so little faith in me?"
At this even Inuyasha looked up and the four who could talk said in unison, "Yes." This response brought Miroku into a falsely hurt expression. You couldn't deny, though, that it was odd that even Kagome was able to answer this truthfully after having spent so little time with him after her memory altering.
"I am truly hurt that my own friends would think so little of me. How sad that you believe this. You must know I have good intent."
Inuyasha frowned. "Yeah, its so sad for us to think that when all you think about are women in general or Sango's butt. Her handprint is going to become ingrown on your face if you don't watch it," he snorted, looking back to the ramen, but Miroku smiled.
"And you mean to tell me there is no woman I know of you don't care deeply for? Hm?" Kagome blinked at Miroku's jeer and looked over at the half demon. He seemed to freeze for a second then turned to look at the monk.
"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK I AM!" He shouted angrily, leaping up and clenching a fist at his opposite. Miroku remained unusually calm. "OF COURSE NOT!" A long, vengeful growl filled his throat after that and the whole group seemed to stop moving and focus on the two; even Shippo and the water bottle he was still attacking.
In the near-silence they remained, a little bit of a breeze building up and Inuyasha's growl never failing until…
DING!
The sudden noise startled everyone but Kagome. Shippo wailed and tossed the bottle aside, dashing into Kagome's lap. Inuyasha faltered and spun around to face the machine, almost ready to attack it. Sango jumped a little and Miroku averted his gaze in an instant of surprise.
"Your ramen is done," Kagome said innocently, setting Shippo down on the grass next to her and opening up the mini microwave, removing its contents. Though she sounded unaware of what was going on, it brought up more questions.
That Inuyasha… I asked him before about our relation, and he said we weren't going out, or whatever they might call it in this era. Wait! No, he said he didn't think we were. What could he have meant by that? Did he want to? She blinked as he sat down next to her reluctantly, still eyeing Miroku carefully when he took the ramen from her. Did I want to? He doesn't seem like a person I would think of loving… he doesn't seem capable of it… but he is a lot nicer to me than he is to the others.
By now the group had gotten back to what they were doing, but without Sango giving another warning glance to Miroku. Sure it was apparent that the two liked each other at the very least, but with Kagome's problem it wasn't the best things to keep hinting at.
As Inuyasha practically inhaled the food Kagome had just made him, she kept thinking on that matter. It couldn't be possible… Could it?