Disclaimer- Dear Mister/Missus/Miss Reader, I regretfully inform you that you have not been accepted as the owner of Inuyasha… and, regardless, neither have I.
Miroku was stirred into waking up, not quite knowing the reason. Inuyasha and Kagome had been talking, which was really why he had woken, but they had stopped a minute or so earlier. He figured that since he was the only one up that it would be a perfect opportunity to grope Sango.
From his perspective at least, he crept 'silently' towards the slumbering demon slayer, being sure to avoid Shippo and Kirara at all costs. Miroku amazingly succeeded in not waking either the demons or the slayer up, and had drawn right up next to Sango. With the grin already forming on his lips, he extended his arm and hand.
"Don't even think about it Miroku," A voice came.
The monk froze, arm still halfway outstretched. Slowly, he retracted his arm and looked up. Inuyasha was giving him a distasteful look. It appeared to Miroku that Kagome was still sleeping until she shifted a bit and looked over and down to meet his gaze. Seeing both Inuyasha and Kagome together and remembering how quiet they had been, the lecher of a monk couldn't resist a comment to lighten the mood.
"Ah, Inuyasha. I see that someone is a tad bit overly content with himself."
Kagome sharply inhaled when she was pulled even tighter into the half demon by protective and tensed arms.
"Yeah, maybe I don't have anything wrong with the morning. What's it to ya?"
Before Miroku could hope to respond, Kagome freed one of her hands and grasped and yanked a fistful of Inuyasha's hair, off balancing him. He was barley able to keep the both of them in the tree but still managed.
"Hey, what was that for!"
"See? That's what I was talking about exactly: He's got his weird hint-type thingies and you have your overly defensive and overly protective response to it. They don't click together in more than a few different ways, you know," She said stubbornly.
Once again, Miroku made to comment, but a drowsy Sango cut him off by murmuring, "Hm? What doesn't click with what?" She pulled her legs in and stood up after a moment, still half asleep.
Kagome blinked and suddenly looked perturbed. "Nothing. I'll talk to you about it later. I want down!" Kagome demanded in a loud enough voice to wake Shippo and Kirara.
Sango and Miroku exchanged funny glances with each other about Kagome's attitude. They expected Inuyasha to entirely ignore her, but they both took a step back when their two friends came gliding down perfectly, landing without a sound.
"Go talk to your friend about that stuff if you want. I got better things to be worrying about. Like getting your damn memory back! I can't believe you aren't even worried about that Kagome."
It was at this time that Myoga returned, probably from finding breakfast for himself. He had heard their conversation for a little while now and was able to enter it.
"Master Inuyasha. I think, perhaps, what you need to do is simply calm down. It's too early to start fighting. Everything was fine last night. Try not to ruin it!"
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes, setting down Kagome and walking away from her towards Myoga, who was hopping up and down yet again. Growling slightly, Inuyasha snatched the flea out of the air with two claws and held him face level.
"I'm not ruining anything, and I don't care. Kagome can stay and talk to you people as much as she wants. In the mean time, I intend to find this Kinenrosu and kill her and smash that stupid orb thing you were talking about. You can follow me if you want, but I'm not waiting."
With that, Inuyasha dropped Myoga carefully then turned to look at the group, waiting to listen to their stupid reasons for him not to leave, and they didn't let him down.
"You can't be serious, can you? Kagome has a right to want to take this slow. This is probably very emotional for her; things like this can't be rushed so harshly. Maybe you forget that she really has lost her memory," Sango said heatedly.
"I think I'm the only one here who really cares that she HAS lost her memory, and I ain't wasting anymore time. Like I said, you can follow me now if you want, but I'm not gonna put this off and risk that damn demon leaving to go somewhere else and have some more 'fun'."
Kagome frowned and opened her mouth to speak. However, by the time she had started talking, Inuyasha had leapt forward along the path they had been traveling the previous day, disappearing at a rapid speed.
"Wait!" She cried, stepping forward, ready to run after him but feeling a firm arm grab her shoulder and restrain her from going anywhere. She spun around angrily to face Miroku dead on.
"Do not go after him, Kagome. Inuyasha will probably be back within the hour. I think it would be best to wait at least that long and see if he comes back. In the mean time, I'm sure breakfast would not hurt."
The schoolgirl sized him up but sighed after only a minute. He had a point and Kagome had to admit it, considering Inuyasha had already breached the tree line and was well out of their sight by the time she had looked away from Miroku. Kagome busied herself with making the group food and watching the others eat until the hour elapsed.
But he didn't come back at the end of an hour, an hour and a half, or even two hours. By that time Kagome was convinced Inuyasha had definitely meant what he said and was planning on going after the demon alone. Miroku and Sango had begun discussing the problems Inuyasha and Kagome were having, which brought a bit of water to her eyes.
Kagome was sitting about ten feet away from them, and they thought she could not hear. It was true that it was difficult to hear, but she still heard everything… things she had wondered, things she hadn't known, and things she probably could have done without knowing.
Shippo, innocent as ever, came up next to her. After about thirty minutes of Miroku, Sango, and at some points Myoga talking, Kagome was sitting with her legs to one side, looking down. She blinked when she saw the little kitsune and smiled slightly when he climbed onto her lap comfortably, telling her it would be okay, and tossing her into the memory of what she had heard.
She had sat down after the first hour and a half was gone, staring out towards the trees, wondering where the red clothed half demon had gotten off to and feeling responsible, hoping nothing happened to him.
Sango and Miroku pulled up next to each other, giving her glances behind her back and Sango had said in low tones, "Do you think the two of them would be better off if they'd both admitted their love for each other before this?"
Kagome's first instinct was to turn around sharply and ask questions but knew that they wouldn't talk about it if they actually knew she was listening. So she sat silently, staring off into the forest but straining her ears and attention to catch everything the monk and slayer were saying behind her back.
"I highly doubt it. Inuyasha is still hung up over Kikyo to some degree, even if he does love Kagome. He'd never admit it for one. Two, even if he did he'd still think about the dead priestess, and three, if the two had gone so far as to do that, Inuyasha would be more torn if she lost her memories."
"I guess you're right Miroku… But he can't still love Kikyo right? She DID die over fifty years ago. He realizes all she is is walking earth and a spirit trapped inside of it?"
"Hmm… that's a good question, and I wish I knew the answer. Inuyasha probably acknowledges that its over with Kikyo, but I don't think he really wants to. And what of our Kagome?"
There had been a pause, undoubtedly, in which both had looked over at her.
"She would have to admit her feelings for him too. It would be a miracle for one of them to, but to have both?" Miroku added, slightly quieter than before.
"But it's so obvious! Why can… could… neither of them see it themselves? Everyone else saw it! Besides, they make a cute couple and I know that they know it. I think Kagome may even be starting to get the same feelings she had before."
"And a good thing too. Perhaps in this state she's more prone to expressing emotions than she was, and given her state, perhaps Inuyasha will have become at least a little softer towards her. I know it doesn't appear it now, considering he just ran off on his own, but he did it with her well being at heart, like he always used to and always will," Miroku said knowingly.
Then they had changed subjects, leaving the girl to her thoughts.
Kagome blinked a bit of the water from her eyes, still debating if what they had said had been true or not.
"Shippo, don't you think it's about time we went after Inuyasha? It has to have been around three hours already and there's no sign of him coming back. I don't want to feel guilty if something bad happens to him."
The child looked up and smiled at Kagome. "Inuyasha is really stubborn about everything, and I think he'll be okay by himself. He fights off hundreds of demons to keep all of us safe and he hasn't really lost a battle yet. Don't go feeling bad because of him Kagome, he's just a big idiot!"
She laughed, hugging the young fox demon happily and looking around. However, whether it was her fault or not, she wasn't going to let it be. He hadn't come back and Miroku had suggested they wait an hour, and that time was well up. She stood and marched off towards the rest of the group, ready to demand they leave at once.
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"Damn that stupid girl, and that stupid monk… stupid flea! Can't they see we can't afford to waste any time?" Inuyasha growled this aloud to himself and he dashed through the trees, sometimes leaping from one tree to another, sometimes running on the ground.
He had not stopped voicing his anger for all of the three hours he had been traveling, still following the slight scent and Myoga's directions. In fact, if anything, he was only getting more and more agitated at the others for not following and not listening.
'I bet they don't even care about Kagome's condition!' He thought to himself, picking up a sudden, strong spike in the scent in one place before it quickly died down. Inuyasha made sure the smell was no illusion before following after it. The smell had basically stuck to Myoga's directions, which somehow didn't surprise him.
It was probably another fifteen minutes before he noticed something out of place that marked he was entering the territory of the butterfly demon he was tracking. Perhaps it was the awkwardness of the air, of the lack of motion from anything but plants, but the place just started to feel unnatural. The wind seemed to be carrying the remnants of something multicolored (the dust that fell from the wings of all butterfly demons) and made Inuyasha feel slightly lightheaded, but only for a minute or two.
The set of mountains that were near each other, especially the larger one, seemed to be giving off some sort of untraceable aura. Mount Amekumo was releasing a sort of… calming- he supposed that was the right word- aura that seemed to be very unbecoming of your everyday evil demon.
"That bastard… I know where you are now and you're gonna die…." He muttered venomously.
By now, Kirara had taken the duty of bringing Sango and Kagome quickly towards Inuyasha. Initially the entire group was to leave for him together, but Miroku wisely suggested that it would be best if Kagome caught up to him as soon as possible, and they would come later.
It was by that logic that Kirara was now racing quicker than she had ever raced before, which was definitely saying something. The cold air caused by the rapidly passing wind was giving Kagome a migraine, but she didn't complain. She wanted to find Inuyasha and most of all… just ask him if what she'd heard Miroku and Sango say was true. She had to know for sure, to know she wasn't hallucinating things and playing tricks with herself. Most importantly, to make sure that everyone else hadn't been playing tricks with her.
Sango noticed Kagome's tenseness and turned to look at her friend. With concern seeping through her voice she inquired, "Kagome, are you okay?"
"Sure," the girl said slowly, looking around at the blur that was the world, "I'm just really worried about Inuyasha."
The demon slayer smiled as warmly as possible. "I'm sure he's entirely fine. We'll probably catch up to him in under half of an hour. Inuyasha probably wasn't going very fast because he had to find Kinenrosu, who he said left only a very faint smell. Luckily, Kirara only has to track his smell, which is plenty more fresh and therefore greatly stronger than the smell he's tracking."
No one spoke for a couple moments. Kagome accepted that what Sango had pointed out was true. "Sango, if you're right about that…" She trailed off, waiting for her friend to look back at her again, "… Okay, you probably don't think I was listening, but when you were talking with Miroku about Inuyasha and me… Were you being honest about that, too?"
Silence. Sango was apparently uncomfortable right now with the subject and countered, "I talk to Miroku about you and Inuyasha all the time. What do you mean?"
"Don't pretend to be innocent. You were talking about how it was 'so obvious we loved each other', and things like that. I know what I heard!" Kagome's voice increased in volume as she spoke, already starting to get annoyed.
"From my opinion, and I'm only telling you this because you have no memory, I think he did. And I'm practically positive you thought of him the same way. You'll have to ask him yourself. Don't tell me that's why you really wanted to hurry to go find him!" She said exasperatedly and Kirara changed direction a little.
Kagome shook her head honestly, but never met the slayer's eyes.
Having put up a nearly physical wall of awkwardness between the two people, the next twenty minutes were fairly quite, the only noises being the wind blowing past them and the sounds of Kirara's strides and constant sniffing of her nose. At the twenty-minute mark, Kagome shot a hand to her forehead and groaned in pain.
"Kagome!" Sango exclaimed worriedly. Kirara ran perhaps twenty more strides then fell to a halt. "Kagome, are you okay? Are you in pain?"
The person in question nodded with minimal effort and scanned the forest with narrowed and suspicious eyes. "I feel," She explained, "like there's something bad here. Like… like we passed a barrier or seal of something…"
Understandingly, Sango helped Kagome to dismount and Kirara shrank to her smallest form. They could feel the new tension in the air too. 'I wish Inuyasha were here,' both women thought at the exact same time.
Kagome walked around, looking at some of the trees and the ground, rather confused. Nothing seemed distinctly out of place, and yet it was obvious that something was. It also was obvious that it wasn't anything small, like a cat that was best friends with a mouse… this was big. She felt her skin start to form frightened goose bumps and the hair on the back of her neck stand up. Something was seriously wrong.
"Sango… Sango, can you feel that?" Kagome said aloud, staring into the tree to her left. There seemed to be a source of the energy that way.
"I do." Sango shifted her weapon and drew up to Kagome. "We have to go check it out. If we're lucky we might find Inuyasha, assuming he felt it too." The friends nodded and started walking, Kirara trailing at their feet.
The demon slayer was taking an extreme attention to detail; looking around at certain trees and investigating markings on the ground that Kagome didn't even feel the slightest bit threatened by.
It was when Sango had paused to dig out an abandoned burrow that Kagome felt something flash in her mind. Kagome couldn't possibly know that it was the presence of a jewel shard that caused it, so she said nothing specific. "Um… I think there's something that way. I sense something," She said rather stupidly, pointing to the direction Sango was currently facing.
"Then let's go. Kirara," Sango called, and almost instantly the cat appeared next to her in its transformed state. After mounting in one fluid motion, Sango helped Kagome get on and they took off.
Once the trio was airborne again, Kagome couldn't help but wonder where Inuyasha had gotten off to now. She would have done anything right at this moment to know he was okay. 'I'd even…'
"WATCH OUT!" Sango cried, bringing Kagome sharply from her thoughts. Kirara shot down and Kagome yelped from the sudden movement, only now noticing what Sango had.
They had, quite literally, been engulfed in a dark cloud. It was a purple-black and had sprung from nowhere. Kirara hissed and growled dangerously and Sango readied her hirakotsu. Having nothing to do, Kagome just tried to keep herself calm, wondering what on earth was going on.
After a moment of silence, the cloud disappeared in a flash, to be replaced by a swarm of lesser demons.
Screaming in terror, Kagome clung to Kirara as the cat dipped towards the ground so Sango and her could fight better. Kagome had never seen a demon before (as far as her current mindset was concerned) and the mass of the flying worm-like creatures was intimidating.
She didn't need Sango to ask her to get off and stay safe when Kirara's paws touched the ground, and she did so on instinct. Kagome gasped with awe when Sango hurled her weapon expertly, slicing through several of the demons perfectly before returning to its owner.
"There's one –!" Kagome began to shout, seeing one of the demons coming around for the slayer from behind, but the demon cat leapt and bit its neck and the thing fell limp and dead to the ground.
"Where… Did these… COME from?" Sango said between breaths, smashing in some of the skulls of the demons that came too near to her. "These normally appear with Naraku. What's the deal?" She tossed the weapon once more, and it complied with killing a grand total of nine of their attackers. As Kirara pounced from one to the other, Sango turned to the frightened girl behind her. "Kagome, what was the thing you sensed? Was it a sacred jewel shard?"
Kagome shrugged and shrieked as a demon came to get Sango from the side, but Sango brought her weapon down through its neck, decapitating it.
"I don't know! I don't know what it was. I just want these things to go away, whatever they are!" She wailed somewhat pitifully, thinking this was all her fault.
Sango sighed as Kirara came crashing down through several of the oncoming demons. They started their slaying again, doing their best not to be overcome, but slowly and surly failing. These demons seemed to have no end.
"INUYAAAASSSHAAAA! WHERE ARE YOU!" Kagome screamed at the top of her lungs, the lack of air by the time she was done yelling almost caused her to faint on the spot.
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Perhaps four miles away, Inuyasha was still walking slow and determined towards the source of the horrible and awkward aura he had sensed. That was, of course, until he noticed a distant cloud in the sky that grew very, very fast and became very, very dark. He would have had to be a complete idiot to know it wasn't a regular cloud.
"What the hell is that thing?" He growled to himself, getting that felling you get when something bad is about to happen. There was another strong pulse of the unknown energy, and the half demon felt completely torn between what to do. Investigate that cloud, or follow the aura towards its heart and hopefully find Kinenrosu?
After weighing the two options, he decided cloud. Even if Inuyasha couldn't tell why he suddenly wanted to go check out that cloud more than the aura, he never really was a person to try and understand unnecessary things. Going just as quick as before, Inuyasha raced off full speed towards the place the black-purple misty object was forming rapidly.
He didn't like how quickly it was growing at all, and growled under his breath as he leapt from tree to tree. Within a few minutes had had covered a little more than half the distance, and at that point the cloud vanished before his eyes, and he halted abruptly.
"What the hell…?" The half demon murmured, staring intently where the cloud had been. Then, in a split second, a swarm of demons took the place of the cloud, seemingly chasing something he couldn't quite make out from here. "I've gotta bad feeling about this…" Inuyasha growled threateningly, dashing forward again as the demon's chased whatever it was they were pursuing towards the ground.
'Damn it,' he though dryly, 'What ever they're going after probably doesn't stand a chance. What the hell are they chasing?' In another minute or two another of the four miles was gone and the wind was beginning to shift, bringing familiar but clouded new scents his way. Inuyasha was just about to place who the scents belonged to, when a scream reached his ears.
"INUYAASHAAA! WHERE ARE YOU?"
And he could have collapsed. What was Kagome doing out here? Not only that, but she was in trouble and being attacked by demons! The growl in his throat increased as his hand moved unconsciously towards the sword at his waist.
"I'm coming Kagome…" He whispered frantically, trying to increase his speed by any means possible. The thick scent of blood filled the air, and Inuyasha knew at once that Sango and Kirara were definitely there helping her. "Hold on just a little longer," Inuyasha begged quietly.
In one more minute he could start to hear the sound of enraged demons, Kirara's growls, and Sango's battle call and attacks. Inuyasha pulled the tetsusaiga out perfectly, his eyes catching a glimpse of fire; obviously it was Kirara dashing about up ahead.
Not even ten seconds passed and he leapt purposefully into the clearing where Sango and Kirara were waging war against the numerous demon attackers.
"Inuyasha!" Kagome screamed happily. She would have jumped up, run over, and hugged him if there weren't a mass of demons attacking them right now… but, of course, there were.
"Inuyasha, it's good you showed up," Sango said hurriedly, smashing in another worm's skull. After killing it, Kirara jumped to the side and Sango did the same, leaving some space for what they new was going to come.
Flashing his eyes dangerously at the demons, Inuyasha took his sword in both hands, raising it (a bit dramatically, in Kagome's opinion) over his head. Kagome gasped the second he yelled, "Wind Scar!" and brought the blade down with a tremendous swipe. She had never seen this attack before, and was utterly surprised when the blast of energy and wind erupted from the blade.
Before her eyes, the hoards of demons that had proven such a problems for even the demon slayer and her cat helper were dissolved in the waves of the attack, killed as they moved forward. Every single one fell in death at its turn, and Kagome sucked in her breath as the light died down.
Inuyasha stood still, breathing angrily, sword still resting by its tip on the ground. Blood fell like a light rain, half-melted bodies dropped with horrible sounds. Sango, Inuyasha, and Kirara either didn't care or just didn't show it. Kagome couldn't figure out which.
"You came Inuyasha!" Kagome yelped happily, running forward from her hiding place. Hearing her voice, Inuyasha turned but had basically no time to think before Kagome leapt happily at him and pulled 'her' hanyou into a tight embrace. "You actually came!"
"Huh?" He said aloud in the most confused tone he had ever used. "Kagome, what're you talking about?" Why on earth was she so happy? What was this whole hugging business about? "Are you okay?" Inuyasha asked curiously, looking down at the girl who had refused to let go of him.
Blinking a bit, Kagome looked up to meet his eyes. "I'm… I'm fine," She whispered softly, immediately crushing her face back into his shirt and squeezing tighter.
"Kagome, Inuyasha! Sango! What has been going on here? Shippo and I spotted demons and heard a battle of some sort," A new voice arose.
In a moment the monk and young kitsune stepped into the sight of the rest of the group. Shippo was dangling off of Miroku's shoulder, but Miroku didn't mind at this point. The pair looked from one person to the other, the blood that littered the ground, then back to their friends.
"I see you were victorious. I also see that you two have succeeded in locating Inuyasha. Kagome, you seem quite happy about this…" Miroku trailed off with a horribly perverted tone in his voice, grinning terribly at the clasp between Kagome and Inuyasha.
Inuyasha growled under his breath something about wanting to murder a lecher, and Kagome laughed, letting go after a second more. Sango nodded with her own smile, but it was obvious she'd rather be hitting Miroku over the head for his smart comment.
"So it would seem…"
"What was that?" Shippo screamed. Sango jumped and prepared to throw her weapon, Miroku held out his staff, and Inuyasha thrust Kagome safely behind his back.
Different colored grains of an unknown powder started to fall gently, deteriorating before it ever reached the ground. As if they all seemed to understand the voice was coming from above at the same time, they looked up.
Some thirty feet above their heads, a fairly humanistic body being held aloft by large, glowing wings, was looking down at them with an amused face. With every wing beat, more of the colorful dust was released to fall to the ground. The creature seemed harmless at first, but Inuyasha was keen enough to be able to recognize the odd, almost scent like thing he had been following for the past couple of days.
"You're Kinenrosu, aren't you?" The half demon said accusingly, getting ready to attack.
Surprisingly enough, the demon answered in her misty, monotone voice, "Yes, I am. And I know who you people are. I've been watching you from my den. I have to admit; you are perhaps the most entertaining of all my victims yet! And the strongest."
Every single one of the people on the ground did a double take. "You… You are turning yourself in that easily? No avoiding the truth? What sort of game is this?" Sango demanded crossly, shifting her hirakotsu a little into a more battle-ready position.
"Of course. I have to say, I did not expect you all to defeat my little memory-altered minions. You're the first, like I said before. Do not expect me to repeat myself again."
"You aren't gonna be able to repeat yourself if you're dead!" Inuyasha threatened, raising the tetsusaiga.
Before he got the blade above his head, Miroku cried out, "No Inuyasha! Remember what Myoga said about how to defeat her. You must not kill her yet!"
Even as Inuyasha glared angrily, knowing there was practically nothing he could do, Kinenrosu blinked and cocked her head, the light around her body growing some. "Kill me? You mean to get you two your memories back?" An angry set of glares, all saying 'No duh!' met her. "You don't need to bother trying to eliminate me. I've seen enough. It's only fair you two get your minds back in position."
The butterfly demon brought both her palms out. The moment they started to spark, Miroku prepared to throw sutras and Inuyasha was ready to push Kagome aside to safety. One could only imagine their surprise when Kinenrosu thrust her palms down to face the ground and released a beam of pure white light into the ground. The ground lit up in a straight path towards Kagome and Inuyasha.
The second the glow reached their feet it disappeared entirely, right into thin air. Kagome fell limply to one side. Inuyasha swayed for a moment but straightened instantaneously. "KAGOME!" He yelled, grabbing her from the ground and pulling her into his protection. She only moaned lightly and Inuyasha glared up at Kinenrosu. "What did you do to her!" Inuyasha bellowed.
"Nothing. I just gave the both of you your memories. You deserve them. Sorry, I have no time to tarry here." She gave a spark with her fingers that they all ignored, getting annoyed with her flashiness. "Have fun with your minds; its not like they were there to begin with!"
"OH NO YOU DON'T!" Screamed an angry Sango, and she quickly propelled her boomerang, but Kinenrosu was gone in a flash of bluish-green light.
No one liked the feeling in the air. There was no way any demon in their right mind would surrender like that, even if they were crazy. It went against every instinct that a demon had hardwired into his or her body. None of it made any sense. Kinenrosu had to have done something to Kagome's mind. Right?
Kagome moaned again and shifted in Inuyasha's grasp, bringing every single eye onto her.
"Kagome!" Shippo said worriedly, bounding away from Miroku and towards his surrogate mother. Kirara and Sango dashed forward in a burst of energy, and Miroku made his way calmly but surely.
Inuyasha thought he felt Kagome shiver and pulled her closer, trying to keep her warm. "Kagome, are you okay?" He asked her carefully, shaking her body a little. "Answer me!"
Weakly, the limp girl stretched her head. Those around her fell silent, waiting to see what was going on. "Inu… yasha… Inuyasha is that… is that you?" She managed to say in what appeared to be a forced breath. "I'm… sorry I made you guys go through… all of this… I love you Inuyasha…" Kagome managed to get out before sighing and having her body go entirely dull again.
Instantly, Shippo wailed. "Kagome! She's dead, she'd dead!" The little fox demon ran on the ground in a circle around the others. "She's dead, she's dead, she's dead, she's-!" Miroku gently put his arm out into the frantic kitsune's path and brought him to a stop.
"No Shippo, Kagome's just fainted is all. Only sleeping, you could say. Kagome is entirely fine, don't you worry."
Sango gave Shippo a smile, but looked oddly back at Kagome and Inuyasha. Inuyasha didn't move at all; he barely dared to breath. Had… had Kagome said what he thought she said? He wasn't hallucinating, was he?
Feeling that something was still unsettled, Miroku looked back up as well. Only now did he smile stupidly, allowing Kagome's words to sink in.
"Did she… did Kagome just say…?"
Sango and Miroku nodded happily, humungous smiles on their faces (of course, Miroku's wasn't entirely sincere). They couldn't have been happier to hear at least one of them admit to their affections. Taking the awkward silence into his own advantage, Shippo leapt up.
"Hey Inuyasha, does this mean the you and Kagome are going to 'be together'? That's what Miroku was talking about while we were coming here."
Absolute silence. The monk in question raised his hands and shook them, taking a couple steps away from the agitated hanyou.
"Miroku was talking about what?" Inuyasha asked, starting to twitch. If he hadn't been holding Kagome he would have reached over and hit both Miroku and Shippo on the head, but they were lucky this time around.
"Nothing, nothing! It's not what you think Inuyasha, honestly. I was simply telling Shippo it would be better off if you and Kagome were together. It is so obvious that you two have been in love with each other for the longest of times! I mean nothing more by it, you have to believe me."
"Just what the hell are you trying to say?" Their half demon said threateningly, glaring pure death at Miroku, daring him to come within kicking range.
Now it was Sango's turn to make things more uncomfortable for the group. "Inuyasha, I entirely agree that our little pervert probably had other intentions behind his chat with Shippo, but… does this mean you're denying the fact that you love Kagome? Are you saying you really don't love her?"
Inuyasha turned to look at her, not quite able to find the right words. "I… uh… not that… um… I don't… It's not like I… not that I don't… uh…"
"I know what you mean Inuyasha. You may as well tell Kagome how you feel, and maybe everything will be better. Now is not the time to feel horrible about things. Kagome has her memory back and she admitted that she loves you. What's to worry about that?" the demon slayer offered helpfully.
'Everything,' Inuyasha thought, looking back down at Kagome. He hugged her closer. "How do you even know she meant to say it? We won't know if Kagome is in her right mind or not until she wakes up. How long do you think it'll take?"
Sango shrugged and Shippo cocked his head, not even bothering trying to answer.
"I wouldn't worry about it," Miroku said calmly, but being careful to remain out of Inuyasha's immediate reach. "I have a suggestion." Everyone looked towards him, and even Shippo wore something close to a glare, knowing he had something bad to say. "Why don't you just take Kagome off with you somewhere? That way when she wakes up…"
In a domino reaction, Sango whacked Miroku over the head with her weapon then walked over and slapped him, and Inuyasha rapidly took Kagome in only one arm and hit Miroku over the head with the other, growling and refusing to look up when he said, "You're a pervert, did you know that? There is no way I'm ever-!"
"I merely wished that you be there to see if she was okay without us interfering. I never even let THAT particular thought cross my mind, but now that you mention it… Sango, Inuyasha, that's an amazing suggestion!" And, as could only be expected, Miroku got hit three times in the exact same manner as before.
"I'll go with the first thing. Sango, Miroku, I'll come back and get you when Kagome wakes up, okay?" Inuyasha asked, looking more towards Sango than Miroku. The slayer nodded encouragingly and strapped her weapon safely into place over her shoulder. She gave a look that seemed to say 'Stay safe,' then grabbed Miroku by the arm, dragging him off.
Shippo gave Inuyasha a worried look. "It'll be okay Kagome," He whispered under his breath before bounding off with Kirara. Nodding to himself, Inuyasha made sure Kagome was secure and sound in his arms then dashed off in the other direction, making sure there'd be some distance between them and the bloodied up ground where the demons had been killed. He could only imagine the number of sits Kagome would give him if he let her wake up next to that.
Fifteen minutes run from the clearing, Inuyasha laid Kagome gently down under the shade of a small tree, carefully lowering her head. If it weren't for the fact that he knew Kagome was in a horrible state, she would have appeared peacefully at rest.
Inuyasha marveled at her for a moment or so before sitting down, determined to protect her if anything came by. She groaned a little and shivered, and right away Inuyasha was up and next to her. Kagome didn't make any more movement after that and left Inuyasha disappointed. But it hit him because of that; Kagome would probably benefit from some extra warmth for the time being.
Silent as mist, Inuyasha removed his outer haori and softly place it over Kagome, saddened somewhat that she had no reaction to the gesture. The half demon sat back down next to her, looking around, daring something to come out and attack them.
Kagome didn't show any signs of improving after fifteen more minutes had passed, and still was no more hopeful when a total of forty-five minutes had elapsed. With every minute (Inuyasha hated to admit) he became more and more anxious about what Kinenrosu could have done to Kagome that they'd never know about. For all they knew she could have placed a curse on Kagome that might be slowly killing her. Anything was possible.
So, without hope, Inuyasha kept sitting soundless and motionless. The only thing to keep him occupied were his thoughts, which- considering there was no one around to hear them- he dared say out loud.
"What did Kagome mean by saying she loved me? She couldn't have been sane when she said that… It's just wishful thinking," he admitted to himself. "Kagome's got no reason to think like that by herself… does she?"
It grew quiet again as he went over this from every aspect. Kagome hadn't only told him she loved him, but that she was sorry for putting them all through this. He himself could now perfectly recall the night at the well. Inuyasha could remember hearing Kinenrosu saying they shouldn't fear her and that she didn't want to fight. He remembered Kagome feeling weak and them sleeping next to each other by the well. He even remembered the exact version he had has memories changed to… Inuyasha knew perfectly well that the battle scene he had believed to be the truth was now just useless, and seemed only to be a dream.
If he had his memories set straight by the blast of light, it made sense that Kagome had hers corrected too. If she had apologized for putting them into such a tedious endeavor, it meant she was thinking like she used to; it meant she had gotten her memories back. But if she'd gotten them back that meant she was entirely aware of what she was saying, which would mean she honestly meant she loved him. Didn't it?
"It's too damn confusing!" Inuyasha burst out in rage, hitting himself once over the head. The unfortunate hanyou had never done this much serious thinking in his life. "Even if she does love me- which is impossible- do I even love her?"
'What are you talking about?' A voice in his head practically screamed at him. 'What kind of question is that supposed to be?' And he couldn't argue.
"I guess I do love her then…" He mumbled, defeated, looking over at Kagome's still form. "Maybe Sango's right… Maybe I should tell her when she wakes up." Inuyasha stared at her for a few minutes, barely blinking. With his sensitive ears he was able to hear her unconscious stomach growl, and Inuyasha could only grin. "I guess you're hungry wench."
He looked in all directions and took extreme care in scenting the wind. There were no ominous smells lurking around on the breeze at all, which would give him some time to leave Kagome alone. Inuyasha got up and said stupidly, "Wait here wench. I'll be back with some food."
Remembering the book bag he had seen back at the clearing now filled with demon corpses, Inuyasha stood and rushed off to go retrieve it. Kagome still had food in there, he was positive.
Without having to worry about Kagome's comfort while he ran, Inuyasha was able to make the journey twice as quick as before, leaping soundly into the deserted clearing only about nine minutes after his departure. Looking around for the yellow bag Kagome treasured so much, he found it propped against the tree its owner had originally been hiding next to. He quickly grabbed it.
Miroku, Sango, Shippo, and Kirara had gone off together and left a strong trail. Thankfully they weren't in the clearing anymore or they'd unquestionably ask what he was doing there and if Kagome was okay.
With the book bag firmly in hand, Inuyasha raced back along the exact same path towards Kagome, going quicker than before just in case something bad had happened while he was gone.
Seven minutes later he skidded to a stop next to Kagome, who was still lying peacefully but deathly still beneath the tree, not having moved even an inch. Sighing with relief, Inuyasha put the book bag down on the other side of the tree trunk and took his place yet again, looking Kagome over, thankful that her breathing was still normal. After twenty minutes of nothingness, Inuyasha started to talk out loud again.
"I'm sorry Kagome… this is all my fault. If I hadn't been so stupid about going to bring you back from your era nothing would have ever happened to you. Your memory would be fine, you wouldn't be out cold, and you would never have said you loved me… Not that I really cared or anything… In fact, if you really meant it, I'm not angry at all. You were probably just confused when you said that. It's not like it really matters. Besides if you did really say what you wanted to, then I don't know what I'm worrying about. It's not like I hate you…" Inuyasha trailed off and looked up at the tree. "… I think I actually love you, too…"
"Do you mean it?"
He could have jumped clear across the forest. Inuyasha faltered and felt a jolt of something run through his body and he tensed, spinning his head to stare at Kagome. She was wincing lightly as she tried to sit up but kept her eyes on him the entire time.
"K-Kagome! I… you were supposed to be… you didn't… did you hear…?" He stuttered in a panic. Inuyasha felt like dropping over dead when she slowly nodded her head. It looked like she was holding back a blush. "You don't… I mean… I think," the overcome half demon managed to get out. Kagome blinked and looked like he had let her down and started to look away. He hid his eyes under his hair and said, "Yeah. I did. I meant all of it."
Kagome said nothing and stared at him, but Inuyasha wouldn't have been able to tell anyway. He wouldn't look over at her. He was able to picture her laughing at him for ever thinking he could be allowed to love her and for her to say she hadn't meant anything before at all. In fact, Inuyasha feared her saying it; hoped she wouldn't, but couldn't deny that it wasn't hugely possible for her to.
At this point he was determined he'd never look up to see her again, but his eyes snapped open the second the smell of diluted salt carried over to his nose. Tears; she was crying.
Fearing that he'd not only degraded her with his words but they had actually brought her into such sorrow that she felt the need to cry, Inuyasha at once snapped his head up to see her, feeling horrible that he could have made her so depressed. "Kagome! I didn't want to make you cry! You can forget I ever said it, I didn't realize you didn't like me that much."
"You… you idiot!" She said between labored breaths. At first Inuyasha was taken aback by this even more, but after a moment of consideration he could hear the slight laughter to her voice, which only confused him more. Kagome flung herself forward. Inuyasha made to jump away, but she grabbed him and started to cry into his shirt.
"Kagome, I don't understand the mixed signals here. Do you like me or do you hate me?"
Her tears began to stop and she looked up at him sniffling. "I don't like you Inuyasha," Kagome explained plainly and made a weak smile when she saw the utter look of sorrow and distress on her hanyou's face, "I never liked you. I always loved you…" She whispered, shoving her face back into him. "You don't know how long I've dreamed of you saying that!" Even though her words were muffled by Inuyasha's shirt, he understood them perfectly.
For a second he didn't know what to think. He'd just gotten the answer that he'd been wondering about for over the past hour, and it was more than he could have hoped for. Perhaps Inuyasha thought it was just a lie that she was pulling on him, perhaps he thought this was all just some dream he was having; no one could ever know.
Sniffling for the last time, Kagome looked up cautiously at him since he hadn't said anything yet, thinking that she knew it was too good to be true and he hadn't told her the truth.
Inuyasha met her eyes and they stared at each other for about half a minute without saying a word, and then he grabbed her around the waist and pulled her into him, hugging her tightly and surrounding her with their embrace. Knowing she couldn't have refused even if she had wanted to, Kagome sunk willingly into it, enjoying the feel of his arms around her.
The couple remained like that for some time, until Kagome had the memory of her abusing Inuyasha's ears flash into her mind. She (somewhat like Inuyasha) could remember the feel of his ears but only as if it had been dreamt. Warily, Kagome lifted her hands towards his head and swiftly found the objects of desire. Kagome took one ear in each hand and affectionately stroked them like she had never done before.
Exactly the same instant Kagome started to massage his ears, Inuyasha broke apart their hug. He stared at her unbelievingly and she smiled sheepishly, withdrawing her hands and gluing them to her sides.
"I'm sorry… I just had the urge to pet 'um," Kagome told him with an apologetically guilty sound to her voice. She blinked in shock when all Inuyasha did was rest his head on her shoulder, making sure one of his ears lay against her cheek, just like it had when they had both slept in the tree. The action still made it hard for Kagome to hold down a giggle.
"As long as you're fine, I don't care what you do to my ears," Inuyasha said as if she should have known this forever. Smiling like she had won the lottery, Kagome reached over and rubbed the ear that was tickling her. The girl laughed out loud when Inuyasha shoved his head harder into her, enjoying it. Only now she seemed to recall having forced him to the ground and doing the same thing, only that time she had gotten him to growl in pleasure.
After being positive she'd given both ears a good fondling, Kagome stopped and took a moment to appreciate the circumstances. She was sitting on- not next to- Inuyasha, he was allowing her to play with his ears, he was now growling into and nuzzling her shoulder with satisfaction, and both of them had confessed that they loved each other. Could she have even dreamed of it more perfectly?
Noticing that Kagome had stopped, Inuyasha looked up. "Are you okay?' He asked her. Coming out of her daydream she smiled and nodded. Left to the hushed trees, Kagome's stomach growled again and she blushed in embarrassment.
"Here. I got this for you so you wouldn't starve in your weak human body," Inuyasha said casually, reaching over and handing Kagome her book bag.
She put on a sarcastic face and said mockingly, "Oh, thanks," but took her bag from him and scooted off of his lap. Smiling to herself about Inuyasha's continuous watch, Kagome pulled out some of the contents and found she still had a few pieces of fruit left in perfect condition. She offered Inuyasha an apple, which he sniffed but denied, so she ate it herself.
"Hey," Kagome spoke between bites, "Where are Sango and Miroku and the others? I'm pretty sure I remember them being right near me when I passed out." Taking another bite, she looked over at Inuyasha who shrugged.
"They're back a little bit. They told me it would be best to look over you myself and not have them get in the way. I said I'd bring you back to them when you came to. I guess that means now though," He added as an afterthought. Kagome grinned, knowing that it was probably Miroku who suggested Inuyasha take her alone, and likely for a whole different reason that made Kagome blush just thinking about it.
Once Kagome finished her apple, she threw the core off into the trees for nature to deal with. "Then let's go find them. I need to ask Sango and Miroku how they knew about… well, us liking each other." Her comment got no answer from Inuyasha except for a confused face. "Forget about it, you weren't there."
"Whatever," Inuyasha announced, standing up as Kagome repacked her bag. She finished and hoisted it onto her back, walking over to Inuyasha. He crouched down so she could climb easily onto his back. After she got situated Inuyasha straightened some and locked his arms around Kagome, shooting off without further interruptions.
Kagome rested her head sleepily on Inuyasha's shoulder as they ran, feeling happy and safe all over. She decided that no other sensation in the world could ever amount to the one she was having right now.
The duo soared past the trees at what Kagome thought was the perfect pace, and she snuggled comfortably into Inuyasha some more as the passed the blood ridden clearing some ten minutes later. Another quarter hour of travel and the first sign of their friends could be noted. A loud, distinguished slap filled the sky neatly.
"KEEP YOUR HANDS TO YOURSELF!" Sango shouted irately from somewhere up ahead. Kagome smirked at the regular conversation between the monk and slayer and looked up. In about fifty seconds, Inuyasha jumped up into the trees. The rustling of leaves brought the attention of the group to the hanyou and his companion.
Shippo jumped towards the tree whining, "Kagome! Your back! Your okay," And proceeded in climbing nimbly up the trunk to greet his friends. Inuyasha got onto all fours to get better balance and watched as the little fox demon pounced happily at Kagome and hugged her. "I missed you Kagome!"
Kagome smiled and hugged him back. "I missed you too Shippo! Thanks for taking such good care of me when Kinenrosu took my memories."
"So you really did get all of your memories back? What's something you can tell us that no one else has told you to prove this?" Miroku asked suspiciously, not wanting to take any chances whatsoever.
"Hmmm…" Kagome though about what they had said to her to explain their journey. "I don't think any of you mentioned that it wasKagura who killed off practically all of Kouga's wolf demon tribe at some village and framed Inuyasha, did you? That Kouga is definately followed by his two remaining pack mates Ginta and Hokaku, and has two jewel shards in his legs that make him a really quick runner.Also thatwhen we first met him he had another shard in his arm. Or that Inuyasha wasso jealous over Kouga's affections towards me that the first time we met him, the way Inuyasha acted made me leave to go home and I took Kirara to get back to the well. Not to mention, Inuyasha still as jealous as ever…"
"Am not!"
Sango and Miroku shared a satisfied nod. "You're cured alright. Welcome back Kagome!"
With Kagome clinging tightly to Shippo, Inuyasha leapt carefully from the tree to land on the ground some ten feet from the others. Kagome got off and set Shippo down on the ground with a warm smile. Kirara bounded over and Kagome stroked her head while Sango and Miroku approached. She hugged Sango briefly, and risked hugging Miroku. Thankfully he didn't try anything.
Oddly enough, they didn't really celebrate the return of Kagome's memory. They sat down for the rest of the day and talked about it, shared stories, and Inuyasha and Kagome gave their detailed description of what actually happened with Kinenrosu the first time. Both Kagome and Inuyasha seemed all too capable to avoid what had happened out in the forest, keeping that bit of information strictly to themselves.
When the sun went down Miroku started up a fire.
"So, what are we going to do tomorrow? Get back on jewel hunting schedule or what?" Sango asked curiously, looking between the members of their group. Kagome shrugged.
"I guess. I mean, why not? It's not like anything's stopping us."
They all agreed at least on that and got ready for sleep. Sango and Kirara went over to make a bed next to a tree with Miroku and Shippo exactly opposite of them for… obvious reasons. Strangely enough, not even Miroku questioned when Kagome asked Inuyasha if she could sleep with him in the tree like the previous night, or when he immediately complied and jumped with her up into the safety of the branches.
Those two settled down quickly enough, and Kagome whispered, "There really is nothing stopping us, right?"
"Duh," Came Inuyasha's intelligible response.
They couldn't have possibly been more wrong in their lives.