Author's note: Once again I apologize for the delay, I have been bogged down with work set on me in High School. I also apologize for the length of the chapter, but I wanted to get it up soon rather than make it meet my standards when it comes to length. I do hope that this new chapter is worth the wait. I thank everyone who has given me his or her support so far; it is really a confidence booster to be told that I am doing a good job.
"What the hell do you mean by that?" Backing away from the demon in front of him, Inuyasha was staring at the other with wide golden eyes, unbelieving of what he had just heard. Kouga had just... but that was impossible! Kouga couldn't possibly be queer or something, could he? That would make almost no sense; he hadn't shown any sort of sign towards that kind of mindset or anything like that before! Unlike Jakotsu, the wolf prince acted normal for a male, so what the hell was brought on Kouga to say this?
"I said I wanted you, are you deaf or something?" Kouga narrowed his eyes as he shook his head, that in itself made anger swell up in Inuyasha's chest. However, that anger turned into confusion as the other turned away, Inuyasha's own white ears perking at the sound of the other's voice, "But, I doubt that you'd understand how I feel, how unrequited love feels, you ignorant half-breed. I'll leave you alone to your crying, talk to me when you grow up."
"What? Hey!" The growled words left the dog-demon and before he could stop himself, he had pounced on the wolf prince and pinned him to the ground, "You listen to me, Kouga! I don't know about all this business about 'wanting' me and shit, but-WHOA!" He cried out as he was flung off of the wolf and straight into the freezing waters of the nearby lake. It took a second or two for him to re-surface, spouting out water while giving Kouga yet another amber glare.
"Don't bullshit me, mutt-face. You know exactly what I meant. It's how you felt for Kagome before she died, isn't it?" Kouga spat at Inuyasha, which suddenly caused guilt to well up in said hanyou's chest, "Of course, you got lucky. She loved you back, there were times I wanted to murder her because of that," This caused Inuyasha to feel shocked beyond all reason, "But that wouldn't have helped any, you'd still love her. We always love the unattainable though, don't we? Naraku loves the shards of the Shikon no Tama, you love a girl who's dead now, and I love you. Simple as that."
The wolf demon had left him alone for a long time before he was finally able to crawl out of the freezing waters, face flushed with two things, fever and embarrassment. Another guy liked him...a male! And it was Kouga no less, the same Kouga who had once tried to murder him after the accusation of slaughtering the wolf demon tribe, the same Kouga who had always competed with him over Kagome's affections! Was that damned wolf saying that he was faking liking Kagome the whole time, that he actually loved Inuyasha instead? None of that even made sense!
However, the fever part was what was bugging him right now. That water, and his wet clothes, were they making him sick? No...he couldn't get sick, what if Naraku chose to attack him then? Or worse, what if Jakotsu decided to try and follow him again? He couldn't shake him off if...if...a loud and rather painful sneeze interrupted Inuyahsa's train of thought, not to mention making him sniff in an attempt to stop some of the liquid that hadn't escaped with the sneeze drip out.
That didn't mean this was enjoyable, no his face was getting very hot...and the rest of his body felt very cold. It wasn't pleasant, not to mention unfamiliar, for he had never been sick before in his life. As a matter of fact, he didn't remember ever feeling so horridly, it was almost as if his body just wanted him to crawl under a rock and die. It was just...he couldn't even describe to himself how bad it was!
Another sneeze left him as he travelled towards the village, eyes half-lidding with exhaustion. He just wanted to sleep, and to get rid of this stuffy feeling in his nose. At long last, he reached Kaede's hut, right where he crawled into the bed, for the hut was empty. Kaede must have been performing an exorcism or something...a small sigh left him as he slipped off his wet clothing, leaving that clothing by the fire to dry while he curled his naked form underneath the warm blanket. He would have gone to sleep, but...he had an uninvited guest.
"What the hell happened to you?" Blinking, Kouga kneeled down beside the sick hanyou, brushing silvery strands out of his face as crystal blue eyes stared down, causing Inuyasha's heart to pump faster, "You look sick or something...you didn't get sick from the water, did you?" He looked kind of guilty, which made Inuyasha's stomach turn slightly, though not in a bad way. Almost as if he actually appreciated the attention the taller wolf demon was giving him...
"I'm fine," Grumbling as he supposedly came to his senses, Inuyasha rolled away, keeping his gaze on the opposite wall as he felt Kouga's hand grip onto his shoulder, "Just...just lemme sleep or somethin', I'm fine damn it…"
"No, you're not fine. And I'm gonna stay until you are," Inuyasha heard the wolf prince grumbling at him, right before the hanyou's form was lifted and held close to Kouga's chest. He nearly panicked at this prospect, but found he was too weak to struggle, a defeated sigh leaving him. Kouga wouldn't do anything to a man while he's down, as much of a jerk as he acted while Kagome was alive, Inuyasha knew the other had more honour than that, "Don't be so stubborn, you need to get better. Don't shove people away when you need them the most, there's no telling when they'll be gone forever."
A sickening twinge lept in Inuyasha's stomach at the words, at all the times he yelled at Kagome, or mistreated her, or been mad at her when he really needed her around...Teeth gritted, Inuyasha clenched a fist as once again he shook with sadness welling up in his chest, and that made the form holding his tense greatly.
"Inuyasha...?" The confused voice touched one of his white dog ears, and soon enough the hanyou could feel a strong hand rubbing gentle circles on his exposed back, "What's wrong? Don't tell me you're gonna cry again..."
"What do you mean again?" Inuyasha lashed out fiercely, tearing himself out of Kouga's arms to crawl back under the covers so that he wouldn't have to look at the wolf, "I didn't cry, not now, not ever!"
"Now you're just sounding like a little kid," Furiously, Inuyasha could hear the parenting tone in Kouga's voice, right before tensing at feeling the strong hand that previously rubbed his back begin to stroke one of his ears now, "Calm down, you're stronger than that. You and I both know it, so quit acting childish."
This caused Inuyasha to growl, but he said nothing. Mostly because his ears getting stroked was really distracting, not to mention relaxing, it wasn't at all like when Kagome grabbed them...no, this was more among the lines of some sort of heavenly massage. Maybe...maybe he'd let Kouga stay a little longer, but before Inuyasha could have any more thoughts of how to scare the wolf off, he was fast asleep.