Disclaimer- I mourn the loss of that which I never had...
AN- Sorry for the lateness. I am not worthy... Thank you for all the encouraging (and sometimes threatening...) reviews. To all of you who guessed Shippou as the little blue bugger the last chapter, congratulations! I see I'll have to make it harder next time. You're fluff awaits you...uh...somewhere down there. You might have to search a little for it. :-) He he.
Qualms
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.
What the hell had he been thinking?
Stupid.
Idiot.
Moron.
What could have gotten into him to make him act so rash?
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
She had been upset.
Fine. Give her a hug.
She had a nightmare.
Fine. Hold her and calm her down.
She had cried.
Fine. Wipe away her tears.
She had kissed him.
No, you dumbass! Don't kiss her back!
Stupid, stupid, stupid.
Inuyasha stopped his frenzied pacing around the room long enough to stare accusingly back to the bed where Kagome laid sleeping. It was all her fault. With her soft skin and alluring scent. Flashing those big brown eyes at him. Touching him, smiling at him, being near him.
Damn her!
Things had never been this confusing around any of the others. Granted they could neither see nor hear him at the time, but that was beside the point. Inuyasha frowned and tilted his head back, staring at the ceiling as he tried to remember what exactly his point had been. Oh, yeah. It was all her fault. He glared back at the bed and stalked silently over to the sleeping girl. Squatting, he peered intently into her face, as if searching for an answer in the relaxed line of her features. The only thing he found, however, was the urge to kiss her again. He was, in fact, leaning into her before he caught himself and hastily jerked back, landing with a distinct lack of grace on his butt.
This was not helping.
Inuyasha jumped back to his feet and began pacing once more. It was a better distraction than staring at her face and at least this way he wasn't tempted to do... things. Well, not much tempted. Not too much anyways. Maybe just a little.
Aw, who the hell was he kidding?
He stopped next to the door and thumped his head against the wood in frustration. It was no use. Her scent was all around him, tickling his nose with its sweet familiarity and promise of comfort. He could still feel her lips pressed against his and her hesitant fingers on his shoulders and in his hair. He could still taste her on his tongue and feel the heat of her flushed cheeks on his face.
Thump.
Thump, thump.
A rustling sound behind him indicated that while effective, that was probably not the quietest way to purge his distracting thoughts. Resting his forehead against the smoothness of the door frame, Inuyasha closed his eyes and tried to think of how he was going to handle this particular complication. Unfortunately, romantic faux pas were not something he was adept at dealing with. Maybe if he just pretended nothing had happened? But even as he thought of it, the idea was dismissed. He wasn't that much of an ass. Although...
Inuyasha raised his head from the door. He didn't have to ignore the kiss, but maybe it wasn't as big a deal as he was making it out to be. He glanced over to the bed again. Kagome was laying flat on her back now, one arm flung out and hanging half off the mattress. He smiled slightly, remembering how many times he had been whacked upside the head during the night, unbeknownst to the unconscious girl above him. He learned quickly that the best place to sit was at the end of the bed. As long as he was careful of her feet. They kicked less frequently, but a hell of a lot harder.
No, it really wasn't a big deal at all. She had been scared and troubled. He had been there for her. That was all. It was what he was supposed to do right? He was her Guardian and should protect her from any kind of hurt. Even the kind in her own head. She had wanted comfort, so he had given it to her. Simple. His mind found that to be perfectly logical reasoning.
His heart called him a fucking liar.
He told his heart to shut the hell up.
It was better to think that way. If she became too attached to him, it would only make it harder for him to keep her from going down that damn well. If her heart was too deeply involved, she wouldn't be able to think or see things clearly. He knew from experience how well the heart could cloud a person's judgment.
No, this was definitely for the best. Let her think that he only held her out of obligation. Let her think that his kisses were out of pity and that he really didn't feel as deeply for her as he truly did. Let her believe that he wasn't willing and eager to repeat the incident.
And please, please let it hurt her less than it did him.
Inuyasha bowed his head and took a deep breath, clenching his hands tightly into fists. Okay.
He could do this.
Right.
Kagome woke in the slow, languorous fashion of someone who has absolutely nothing to do and nowhere to be. She opened her eyes in several unhurried blinks, relaxing in the warmth of her blankets as the world around her came into gradual focus.
Ah, the wonderful familiarity of her bedroom. Hello, desk. Hello, wall calendar. Hello, teddy bear. Hello, incredibly pissed off looking Inuyasha.
Er...
"Morning," Kagome yawned as she sat up and rubbed the remaining sleep from her eyes. She looked again at the silver haired boy leaning against her door. Nope, it wasn't just blurry and sleep-heavy eyes. He definitely looked pissed. Hmm... Had she missed something?
She tried again. "Good morning Inuyasha. Did you sleep okay?"
"No."
Blink.
O...kay. Was it just her, or did someone seem to have woken up on the wrong side of the door frame this morning?
She raised an eyebrow, though the gesture was lost on him since he had yet to look up from the ground. "Bad night?"
Inuyasha finally looked up at her, taking in her puzzled expression. He sighed. "Yeah, something like that." He paused a second and turned his gaze to the window. "How do you feel?"
"Hmm? Oh... Much better, um, thank you." Kagome felt her cheeks heat up slightly as she recalled certain late night activities. "I...I hope I didn't keep you up."
His gaze stayed focused on the window. "No, I was up anyways."
"Oh." Kagome threw back her covers and sat on the edge of the mattress, turning her head to peer out the window and see what was so interesting that Inuyasha couldn't seem to look away from. Nothing was there she could see, unless he had suddenly developed a fascination with yellow-throated Buntings. Hmm, or maybe it was a Goldcrest. Kagome walked over to the window to get a closer look. Actually, now that she could see it a little better she was pretty sure it was a Dusky Thrush. Although, weren't those last two winter birds? She peered at it even more closely, pressing her nose to the glass. Yep, it was definitely a yellow Bunting, she was sure of it.
Oh look, there was another one! That one looked like a Warbler...
Kagome was so engrossed in trying to figure out exactly which kind of Warbler the little guy might be, she didn't notice when Inuyasha came to join her in looking out the window, wondering what had caught her interest.
Finally deciding she just didn't know enough about birds to make a good enough guess at its name, Kagome turned away from the window and found a confused Inuyasha scratching his head as he gazed out in the direction she had just been staring at. She couldn't help but giggle a little at his scrunched up expression as he searched for the object of her attention.
At her laugh, Inuyasha backed away from the window and faced her. "What's so funny?"
"You," she said simply.
His eyes narrowed as he scowled at her, obviously not seeing what was so amusing about himself. "I'm funny?"
"At this particular moment, yes."
"Feh. You're so weird."
"Says the boy with the pointy dog ears."
"My ears aren't weird!"
"No, of course not! You're right. They are perfectly normal dog ears."
"That's right."
"If they happen to be on a dog."
"You're really asking for it, wench."
"Aw, I'm sorry." Kagome grinned impishly, completely destroying any credibility her apology might have had.
"I'm sure," he huffed, crossing his arms over his chest and tilting his chin up in what she had by now deemed his 'pouting stance'.
"No really," she reached out touch his arm. "I-"
He jerked his arm from her touch as if her fingers had burned him. Her hand hung uncertainly in mid-air, fingers outstretched, as if unsure of what to do. The smile had dropped from her lips at his sudden movement and her mouth formed a small O as she blinked dumbly at the empty air in front of her. Okay, he was definitely acting weird. Had she done something wrong? Her hand dropped dejectedly to her side.
"You should get dressed. I'm sure your Mom wants to spend some time with you." She looked up in time to see him disappear behind her door to his usual waiting spot.
For a full minute, all Kagome could do was stare at the door he had just walked through and blink in mystification. She finally gave a mental shake and snapped herself out of her daze.
So, he was going to be like that was he?
Well, as far as she could see there were several options open to her. Take her cue from the dimwit behind the door and make things all awkward and uncomfortable between them. Fake amnesia. Kiss? What kiss? Or throw herself shamelessly at him and hope for a response. Not an appetizing group of choices all in all. Looked like she would have to go with her trusty back-up.
Kagome marched to her door and flung it open, keeping one hand out to stop it from slamming into the wall. Inuyasha was leaning against the wall just outside her door, as she had suspected. His head had been bowed, looking at the floor, but had snapped up at her sudden appearance. A question was half formed on his mouth, but never got the chance to come out as she stomped over to him and grabbed the front of his coat in her fists, bunching the material together and jerking him away from the wall. His eyes widened and he lost his balance momentarily as he was half dragged back into Kagome's bedroom. He stumbled and tripped over his own feet as she yanked him mercilessly across the room and finally threw him onto her bed.
He was too surprised to even swear at her. At least for the first few seconds. She had turned around to close the door when he finally found the words that had been stunned out of him before.
"What the hell is your problem?"
The door shut with a soft click and for a moment, it seemed like the most frightening sound he had ever heard. Her back remained facing him as she released the doorknob and placed her hand palm down on the doorframe beside her.
"What is my problem? What is my problem?" Her fingers began a slow tapping on the doorframe and her shoulders tensed almost imperceptibly. Inuyasha tried to swallow around the sudden dryness in his throat and wished desperately that she would turn around. Her fingers stopped their drumming and she spun around to face him finally, hands now clenched in tight fists at her sides.
He rescinded his earlier wish and tried to mentally urge her to turn back around again. The look on her face was positively fearsome. Especially since it was directed at him. Were those lightening bolts coming from her eyes or was it his imagination?
She was really scary sometimes.
"What's my problem?" Kagome took a step towards him and it was by sheer force of will he managed not to cringe back or jump up and run away.
"Do you really even have to ask?" Her voice had a dangerous quality to it, as if shouting was just one wrong answer away. She took another step and his ears pulled back slightly. So scary...
"Well?"
Oh, she actually wanted an answer? He searched his head frantically for something that wouldn't get him into too much trouble, but all of his carefully plotted speeches had fled his brain in the face of her quiet rage. To be completely honest, they had actually left the second she had opened her eyes. Prepared words were great to go over in your head in the calm darkness of the early morning, but when faced with an actual person to say them to in broad daylight, well...
He wasn't that good at speeches anyway.
"Um... no?"
Kagome crossed her arms in front of her and gave him a look that clearly said she was waiting for more.
Nothing particularly brilliant came to him at the moment, so he kept his mouth shut. It seemed like the smartest path at that particular moment.
Seeing she wasn't going to get anything else Kagome lost what little patients she had. "That's it? No. That's all you have to say? I don't expect you to pour your heart out to me Inuyasha, but you could at least give me a reason for getting the cold shoulder all of a sudden!"
Ah, there was the shouting.
"You're such a complete jerk sometimes, you know! You blow hot and cold worse than anyone I've ever met! It's so frustrating!"
His brain seemed to be out to lunch in the face of her wrath, so he went with his ever ready reply. Angry retaliation.
"This is all your fault!" he blurted out, jumping to his feet.
Oops.
But other than several rapid blinks, her expression didn't change. He realized he was pointing at her and hastily lowered his hand.
Well, that really hadn't come out like he had wanted it to.
"My fault?" Kagome uncrossed her arms and placed her hands on her hips. Inuyasha wasn't sure if it was that much of an improvement. She still looked angry, though not as scary. Small relief, that.
"What, exactly, is my fault?"
"Er..." Good question. What exactly was her fault? Truthfully, he wasn't sure himself, but he knew he couldn't tell her it was her fault he felt so confused or that it was her fault that he couldn't even be near her without wanting to touch her, hold her, kiss her.
No, he definitely wouldn't be telling her that.
Kagome sighed in exasperation, raising one hand to the bridge of her nose and pinching it as she closed her eyes. Honestly, he was so thick sometimes. She knew he was obviously uncomfortable with what happened last night, but he could at least be man- er, hanyou enough to tell her. Tiny pangs unhappiness pierced her chest at the thought that he regretted their kiss. She didn't regret it at all, but apparently Inuyasha wished it hadn't happened. It had been rather impulsive of her, but from his response she had assumed he also enjoyed it. She sighed and dropped her hand, opening her eyes.
Well, she knew what they said about assuming things...
Several seconds had ticked by, and they only further response she had gotten from him was a slight reddening of his cheeks. Ah, so now he was embarrassed. Good. He was acting like an idiot; he should be embarrassed.
Kagome abruptly turned on her heel and walked to her dresser, rummaging around until she had a complete outfit in her arms. She valiantly restrained herself from slamming the drawers shut before stomping to the door.
"...Kagome?"
Not turning around, Kagome opened the door and walked out; pausing briefly to mutter, "Forget it."
The back of a door had never looked so unfriendly.
Of course he knew it wasn't actually the door that was feeling particularly unfriendly towards him at the moment. Nope, that right was exclusive to the girl downstairs who was probably even now cursing his name black and blue. Not that he didn't deserve it.
For the last half hour Inuyasha had been pacing the small space between the window and door, hoping that Kagome might come back and try to talk to him again. Hell, he would even be happy if she came back just to yell some more. He really didn't want to leave things between them as bad as they were. And so he paced and waited.
Never mind he was too much of a chicken to go downstairs after her.
His shoulders hunched in reflex, just thinking about the angry glares she would send his way and the stony silence he would receive. He wasn't looking forward to meeting her angry eyes again, but he knew he had to say something to her. He couldn't forget the hurt in her voice as she had walked out the door. Two words had never made him feel more ashamed in his life.
"What a mess," he told himslef in a soft growl. All he had wanted was to spend the next two days with her, enjoying her company while not so subtly hinting for her to stay. Instead he had gone and screwed it up by kissing her. And wanting to do it again. But...
Was that really so bad?
A sudden image flashed through his head. Kagome in front of a demon, eyes wide and frightened as it charged her and him stuck back in her time, unable to do anything.
He gave a deep sigh and hung his head. He wouldn't let that happen to her. If that meant her thinking him a complete ass, then so be it. He could deal with her animosity if it meant she was alive and well here in her own time where she belonged. Where he could keep an eye on her accident prone butt. So maybe her being mad at him wasn't a bad thing. After all, why would she want to go and help someone she was pissed off at?
On the other hand, it sucked to have her angry and hurt because of him. Which really put him right back where he started; debating if he should apologize to her or not.
Dammit, this was all her fault!
"Kagome, sweetie, are you okay? You look a little down."
Kagome glanced up from the rice she was poking at. "Hmm? Oh no, I'm fine." She flashed a quick smile at her mother. "I just didn't sleep very well last night."
Mrs. Higurashi was doubtful, but let it drop for the moment. She could always pester her daughter later if she still looked like that. Smiling brightly, she raised her chopsticks in the air and waved in the vague direction of the front door.
"Your brother should be home shortly. We were all going to take a walk down to the park to look at the sakura blossoms. They bloomed so beautifully; I can't wait to see them. Won't you come with us?" Her mother looked to her hopefully.
Kagome pursed her lips in thought. There wasn't much else to do and she really liked the idea of spending some quality time with her family.
Her face broke into a genuine smile this time. "I'd love to."
If she was lucky, she could leave without Inuyasha finding out and not have to be around him for a while. It would be better for both of them if they were apart for a little bit, she decided. He was an idiot, no doubt about that, but maybe she had put him on the spot with her insistent questions. Not that he didn't have a lot to explain. But she could be a little more patient with him next time. Maybe he was just confused. She could sympathize at the moment. Giving a mental shrug, she pushed all thoughts of the aggravating, yet still somehow likable, hanyou to the back of her head.
She and her mother were just finishing the dishes when her brother made his noisy way into the house.
"I'm home!"
Several thumps and bangs later, Souta poked his head around the corner to the kitchen. He let out an indignant squeak as a pair of arms dragged him into the room and proceed to squeeze the life out of him, lifting him several inches from the floor in the process.
"Ack! Kagome...I can't breathe!" He squirmed and wriggled until his sister's grip finally loosened. Souta pulled back and made a big show of putting his clothes back in order and brushing out invisible wrinkles. He peered up into Kagome's face with a puzzled expression.
"What in the world was that for, sis?"
Kagome gave him a cheeky grin. "What? Can't a girl be happy to see her little brother?" She heard her mother laughing quietly behind her as she continued to dry off dishes.
"What? Why is that so surprising?"
Souta just shook his head with an ever suffering look. "Girls are so weird sometimes. Hey... What happened to your arm?"
Kagome glanced down at her arm. "Oh, it just got burned a little."
"You weren't trying to cook again were you? You should just give it up, you know? If you haven't figured out how to do it by now, it's a lost cause." He rolled his eyes and then jumped back from a sudden swipe from Kagome.
"You little insect! I can't believe I was happy to see you." Her brother dodged another attack and ran laughing out of the kitchen and up to his room.
"Hmmph. See what I get for trying to be nice?" she mumbled to herself. She felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up into her mother's dancing eyes.
"I think you do a fine job of cooking. Why don't you help me make a picnic lunch just to prove him wrong."
"Sure. And it'll serve him right if he doesn't like it."
'Why hasn't she come back up yet?'
Inuyasha was laying on Kagome's bed, glaring at the ceiling, arms crossed behind his head and foot bouncing in agitation on one knee. In about two minutes he was going to risk getting yelled at again and go drag her back himself. Hmm.
Well, maybe five more minutes.
The door slammed open and rebounded off the wall with enough force to make Inuyasha jump up into a surprised defensive crouch.
'What the..'
Kagome stood in the doorway, one hand outstretched to keep the door from coming back and hitting her. Her eyes glittered dangerously at him. Her mouth was set in a firm line and her body was tensed and looked ready to leap at him at any second.
Exactly one second later, she leapt on him.
He stumbled back under her weight and lost his balance. He landed heavily on his back with Kagome on top, his head just barely missing her night stand. His breath was momentarily knocked out of him and for what seemed like the hundredth time since he met her, Inuyasha was too surprised to speak. A pair of dark brown eyes glared down at him. She sat up so that her legs were straddling his waist and she towered over him. Before he could get too anxious about her choice of positions, her hands darted down and grabbed two locks of hair on either side of his face and yanked. Hard.
"Ooow! What the hell are you doing?" Inuyasha tried to pull his head free, but only encouraged her to yank harder. Her fingers were in an iron grip on his hair and he didn't fancy having it jerked from his skull, so he stopped struggling. He settled for a reproachful glower instead.
Finally she said something, though not the profuse apology he was looking for.
"You're a stubborn fool who doesn't know how to look any farther then ten minutes into the future. You speak without thinking. You jump to conclusions. And you don't ever show what you really feel." Each statement was emphasized by a painful tugging of hair.
"Why should I put up with you?"
Ahh, there it was. The words he knew were coming. Why should she put up with him? There was absolutely no reason she should. He was surprised she had done this well already. He knew this had been a long time coming on his part, but it still hurt to hear it from her. A very small, hopeful part of him had thought he might not hear it at all, but here she was. Finally saying she was fed up with him. That she was tired of being with him.
Inuyasha gritted his teeth and forced out his words, looking to the side so he wouldn't have to see her face. "You don't have to put up with me. Just leave me alone."
Kagome yanked his hair again, making him growl softly and look back at her. "Stop acting like an idiot. I'm not going anywhere."
Inuyasha blinked. That was definitely not what he had thought she was going to say.
"You may be brash and loud and possessive and overprotective and-"
"Is this going somewhere?"
"Oh yeah..." Kagome graced him with one of her bright smiles. "The point is, I still like you. So you need to get over whatever is bugging you and just apologize for being so insensitive."
"What! I don't have to apologize to you for anything." He folded his arms across his chest in what he hoped to be a look of finality, but probably just came off as somewhat odd, since he was still on his back, on the floor, with a girl sitting on his stomach with his hair in her hands.
She gave a warning tug. He just scowled at her.
"Okay then, if you don't seem to want to admit you were wrong..." she suddenly dropped his hair and grabbed the sides of his face.
"What..." Any other words were abruptly cut off as her mouth descended upon his. His breath caught in his throat and his brain sent off a thousand warning signals at once. Her lips pressed insistently against his and finally he relented and kissed her in return. All in all, it wasn't that hard a battle for her to win. His arms wrapped around her back and he pulled them up together into a sitting position. Against his better judgment, he found himself deepening the kiss. A small thrill went through him as her lips parted and her tongue darted out to lick his lower lip. Her hands fell from his face to rest on his shoulders and she licked lightly at his upper lip. A soft growl escaped him as his own tongue joined hers in response. After a few seconds, Kagome pulled back slightly and began to trail gentle kisses down his chin and across his jaw. He shivered at the newness and strange wonder of her attention. Kagome buried her face in his neck and nuzzled against his skin, her breath blowing in warn puffs into his hair. Inuyasha pulled her tight against his chest, never wanting to let her go.
"Kagome..." His voice came out barely above a whisper.
She raised her head and looked up at him, meeting his gaze with her own piercing one. He could have sworn she was seeing right into his soul.
"Inuyasha, tell me... why did you push me away? Why wouldn't you look at me or touch me?"
"I..." The words caught in his throat, unable to make themselves heard. Maybe it was his own stubbornness that kept them back. He wasn't really sure anymore. Should he tell her the truth? Should he tell her the things he didn't even want to know himself? Could he?
"I..." It was no use. He was too much of a coward.
He was washed with sudden cold as her warmth left him when she stood up. He stared up at her, torn between grabbing and pulling her back or wrapping his arms around himself to try and bring back some of the warmth she had taken away. In the end he just stayed sitting as he was.
Kagome's face was sorrowful as she looked down at him.
"If that's all you have to say, then I guess there really is no reason for me to be with you." She turned and started for the door.
He did grab her then, one hand whipping out and snatching her arm before she could move more than a foot. She turned back to him, her expression patient, silently waiting for him to say something.
In the longest thirty seconds he could ever remember, all he did was hold her arm and blink uselessly at her with his mouth partially open, waiting for words to come.
And then, "I'm scared."
He was surprised when he heard himself saying it. But it was the truth, and that was what she wanted.
"I'm scared Kagome. Scared that I'll lose you. That... you'll leave and won't came back. I don't want to lose you. I... I want to be with you... for as long as possible." Inuyasha released her arm and dropped his chin against his chest, not wanting to look into her searching eyes anymore. Afraid of what else he might say.
Fingers gently lifted his chin back up. A serene smile played in the young woman's mouth.
"Now was that so hard?"
Gulping heavily and thinking 'hell yes', Inuyasha shook his head, a tiny smile tugging at his own lips.
She released his chin and backed up a few steps. Her expression brightened as she lifted her arms above her head.
"Good! Now all you have to do is say it to the real thing."
'The... real thing?'
"What do you mean-" he choked on the rest of his question as Kagome suddenly started to fade away into a misty haze.
"Kagome!" Inuyasha bounded to his feet and reached out to her. His fingers slipped through her smoky outline and without warning, he found himself falling forward. There no longer seemed to be a floor beneath him, in fact there seemed to be nothing around him at all except the haze he was plummeting through.
"Just say it again..." her voice whispered to him through the fog. Then even that disappeared.
Thunk!
Inuyasha opened his eyes. The carpet stared back at him from the tip of his nose. So that was where the floor went.
Pushing up from the ground, Inuyasha took a quick survey around him and decided everything was where it was supposed to be and, more importantly, there was no fog hanging in the air. That could only mean one thing then.
He must have fallen asleep while waiting for Kagome to come back upstairs. Her bed was a lot more comfortable then the floor.
Inuyasha took a deep breath of air and sighed heavily. So, it had only been a dream. A very vivid, highly detailed dream, but still just a dream. A projection of his overactive subconscious. It had felt so real, especially when she had, well, when she had, um...
Inuyasha felt his cheeks burn as he remembered just how overactive his brain had been while he slept.
So real...
He dropped onto the edge of Kagome's bed with a frustrated groan. It had been hard enough to admit his feeling to her in a dream, even if he hadn't know it was a dream at the time. Did he really have to go through it a second time?
The answer, of course, was an emphatic yes. He had thought his heart would break when she'd said she didn't want to be with him any more. He wasn't looking forward to feeling that again anytime soon. He'd never had a prophetic dream before, but in this case he really didn't feel like taking a chance. Inuyasha was out the door and down the stairs in less than two seconds.
"Kagome! I have to talk to you!"
Now where had she gotten off to? He listened for any sounds that might tell him where she was, but couldn't hear anything. Or anyone. His heart gave a little jump as he realized none of her family was home either. Maybe they were all outside? He took a quick step through the wall and scanned the yard for Kagome or her family.
Still nothing.
He was beginning to feel the first edge of panic creep up on him. She wouldn't have gone somewhere without him would she? Sure she was pissed at him, but he was her Guardian. He was supposed to be nearby to keep her safe. She knew that.
"I guess there really is no reason for me to be with you..."
It had only been a dream though. It wasn't real. Right?
Inuyasha sprinted to the shrine, but was rewarded with only a small sigh hanging on the front door of the main temple saying they were closed, but to please enjoy the rest of his day. At least her family was with her, wherever it was she had gone. It was only a small relief though. His heart was still skipping madly about in his chest, doing its level best to imitate a humming bird.
She had left. She had really left. Without him. Without telling him.
Inuyasha leaned heavily against the wooden door and banged his fist next to his head with a sharp bang.
Dammit!
If only he hadn't fallen asleep, he would have noticed her leaving. It was obvious she didn't want his company, but he still could have followed and kept an eye on her. The the sudden unhappy memory of her being cornered by a couple of punks popped into his head. If she got into trouble, who was going to help her? Her mother wouldn't be able to do anything and her brother was too young to fend off anything bigger than Buyo. And her grandfather...
Inuyasha banged his fist against the door again and took a deep breath through his nose, trying to calm his churning thought. The smell of old wood, incense and many different people invaded his senses.
His eyes popped open. Of course! He was such a dimwit.
He could track her down by smell.
Inuyasha spun around and looked for a decent place to start. Ah yes, the stairs. Unless they were looking to tramp through plenty of bushes and undergrowth to get to the sidewalk, they would have gone down them. He ran to the top of the steps and knelt down. It had been quite a while since he had last tracked anything from the ground, but he was sure it wouldn't be hard. After all, he knew Kagome's sent almost as well as his own. He sniffed delicately, nose close to the ground, trying to catch her scent without too much dust mixed in. Yes! He could detect her easily, just as he had thought, and her scent was still fairly new too!
With a hope lifting his spirits, he bounced down to the bottom of the stairs and began his search in earnest.
AN- Due to my loquacious tendencies, I didn't get nearly as far with this as I had hoped to. Ah well, you've all been waiting patiently so I decided to send it out like this. More shall come soon, but proably not as quickly as you might like. :-( Within the week for sure though.
Q and A (It's been a while, so I hope I don't miss anyone)
Q. KyteAura- What other couples will be involved in this or the following fic?
A. Probably some light Mir/San and Shippou/Kaede... Heh. Just kidding about that one. (...or am I?).
Q. Raku-Onna- If Inuyasha eats food, does that mean he has to eliminate the waste from said foods, or does his spirit-ish body not process it like his normal body would?
A. I have to say that this is one of the most interesting questions I have ever had. Though I wonder if it's strange that I've also pondered over this particular subject? LoL Inuyasha hasn't eaten anything yet, so the, uh, issue has never come up. I do, however, think it would make a rather amusing scene to have Inuyasha eat something and then have him do the potty dance later on. But I have a skewed sense of humor so maybe it's just me who would find that funny, hehe.
Q. Inuyashababe44- Will Kagome's granddad (and Souta) ever find out?
A. Yup. In fact it should be coming up in the next few chapters, that is, if my rambling doesn't get too out of hand.
Q. Ikimono Joufu- Are you going to do a lemon?
A. Egad, no. I get embarrassed just writing the smoochy scenes. :-) The most I will go to is probably orange scented at best.
Q. fire- Who was watching her in the feudal era? Will she finish her training and free Inuyasha? What will happen?
A. Shippou was the little voyeur in the woods, she will (eventually) finish training and free Inuyasha (hmm at least I think she will) and you'll just have to keep coming back to see what happens.
Q. Controlfreak- Since human Inuyasha has made an appearance, and hanyou is his regular form, will full-youkai Inuyasha have a spot in the fic? Which brings around another question: Does Inuyasha have the Tetsuaiga?
A. I honestly haven't thought about putting in the full youkai Inuyasha. He probably won't be making an appearance, which is for the best since he has absolutely no manners whatsoever. Inuyasha does not have Tetsuaiga. It is still safely tucked away in his eye. Hmm, that just sounds weird...
Q.Inuyashafreke- Does Inuyasha sleep with Kagome?
A. No, he sleeps on the floor next to her though. :-)
Q. bitterending- Do I get my fluffiness?
A. Yes, yes. Here are your fluffies. And whether you believe it or not, I do not have a professional writing career. LoL Though thank you for assuming so; my head is now swelled to twice its normal size.
Q. Pwalefriend- Is Inuyasha only able to feel Kagome's presence when she's near him in the past when the curse takes hold, or is he able to feel it now that he's semi-free as well?
A. I'm not sure if I'm understanding the question correctly, but Inuyasha can't feel her while he's in the present time. He could only feel her in the past that first time because he was forced into quasi-sleepiness, but refused to leave her side. It is likely to not be repeated.
C. priestess kisa- You didn't actually have a question, but I felt inclined to comment. My definition of the phrase 'make out' is when two people kiss for a length of time. It doesn't necessarily have to be 7 Minutes in Heaven or some sort of grope fest. So in that sense, to me, they have already made out. I agree that it would be incredibly out of character for them to sit on the couch and feel each other up. Rest assured I will have no such nonsense as that in this fic.
Q. Sangome- Who has the mysterious eyes that stalked Kagome? Will Shippou make an appearance? And what about Naraku?
A. It is Shippou-of-the-mysterious-eyes, so he will be appearing shortly. Naraku (damn his black soul) will be around, eh, eventually...
Q. ShadowDemoness413- Is Kagome gonna get to touch Inuyasha's ears? Will it be an accident? Can Kagome's mom see Inuyasha by the well?
A. She shall triumph! This I swear. Accident? I think not. It shall be carefully plotted to the tiniest detail and executed with stealth-like precision. Either that or she'll just get impatient and jump him. I suppose if Kagome's mother were to ever go to the well and Inuyasha was there she would be able to see him. It has the same effect as the tree after all.
Q. Le'letha- Do Kagome's grandfather and brother know she's traveling through time?
A. As far, they are in the dark about the whole 'going back in time and saving my half-demon Guardian' thing. They shall soon be enlightened though. And about the algebra thing... Believe me, it shames us all.
Q. XxDemonicPrincessxX- Will Inuyasha be released soon?
A. Probably not. LoL I seem to take quite awhile getting to certain places.