In the Beholders Eye

Written By Sarga

May/June 2006

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of the characters, I'm just taking a theme and running with it...

Chapter 16: Kagome: 1752, Inuyasha: 1

On the first day, Myoga had to guilt Inuyasha into staying away from where Kagome had set up camp.

On the second day, Inuyasha sulked about but didn't make any indication that he would try to follow her.

On the third day, Myoga assured Inuyasha that Kagome would be back soon.

On the fourth day, both were worried about her.

On the fifth day, Kagome stumbled back, pale and weak, nearly collapsing at the cave's entrance.

Inuyasha could smell her blood.

"Kagome!" He rushed to her, taking her arm about his shoulder, letting her rest on him for support as she walked. Her purple cloak was disheveled and spattered with drops of blood, her own and something else's.

"Hi," she smiled weakly as he brought her inside the cave.

"What happened?" Inuyasha demanded, steering her towards the fire.

"I can't tell you right now," Kagome responded weakly as she brushed her silver locks out of her face.

"Like hell you can't!" he barked. She pulled away from him, making towards her sleeping mat.

"STAY PUT!!" Inuyasha demanded.

Kagome's eyes went wide as she felt the final piece of the curse fall into place. Just as he commanded, she did not move a muscle. More accurately, she could not move a muscle.

Startled at her abrupt obedience, Inuyasha walked in front of her. As the spell wore off, Kagome nearly collapsed into Inuyasha out of shear exhaustion.

"Please," she whispered. "Just let me sleep. I'll explain everything, just...not now." Kagome again pulled out of Inuyasha's grasp and sank into her sleeping mat. After the previous five sleepless days, she fell deep into a dreamless slumber.

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Kagome awoke after a day and a half fully rested. She sat up slowly, rubbing the sleep lazily from her eyes. Looking around she saw that it was early morning, the dawn casting a gentle glow on the entrance of the cave. The amber-tinged light spread its rays gently inwards, illuminating a form hunched over against the wall.

Arms tight to his chest, head dangling haphazardly to the side, Inuyasha looked like the embodiment of anger. His red cloak framed his form like an ominous aura. Even in sleep, Inuyasha huffed his breath in short, furious bursts.

Opposite to Inuyasha, and draped over his anvil, Totosai slept like a child draped over his teddy bear. Myoga was nowhere to be seen, but she doubted he had stayed the night. He never seemed to sleep at all, let alone with them.

Kagome eased herself off of her sleeping mat. The last thing she needed was for Inuyasha to see the blood that had been shed. Gently tiptoeing out of the cave, Kagome headed toward the river to take a good bath and to wash her clothing.

Sniffing the air to make sure she was alone, Kagome stiffly removed her clothing, and walked into the chilly waters of the river. Crouching into the water she scrubbed each article roughly against the rocks.

The dried blood came out slowly, but it did come out.

Her clothing sufficiently rinsed, Kagome laid them over a small bush near the stream to dry.

Slowly removing the blood soaked wrapping around her chest, Kagome took a look at her handiwork. Above her second right rib was the wound, carefully located to be protected by the cloth she used to bind her chest. True to Myoga's word the wound had become bloodless. Also true to his word, the wound was unpleasantly raw and open.

Fully removing the last article of clothing from herself, Kagome moved back to the water to give it a thorough scrub. Task complete, she placed it next to the rest of her clothing and went back to the water to bathe.

'Naked as the day I was born,' Kagome thought lazily.

Tensing at the idol thought, she ruefully snorted. 'No, the day I was born, I was human. I'm not that any more.' She traced her finger lightly against the ring of vivid purple and black about her neck. 'Well, maybe I'm not totally naked.'

Kagome inched her way deeper into the water, fully aware of the raw open wound on her chest. Kagome allowed herself to stay in the water until the sun was well on its way upwards, and her clothing was adequately dry. Lazily allowing herself to air dry, her sliver hair hanging damp and heavy, Kagome finally dressed and headed back to the camp.

Amazingly, Inuyasha was just as asleep, and just as angry, as she had left him.

Sighing loudly, Kagome saw Inuyasha's ear twitched. Inuyasha's head darted from its resting position, and he jumped up, his eyes flashing with golden rage.

"Just what did you think you were doing, leaving for five days!" Inuyasha demanded loudly, heedless of the fact that Totosai was sleeping, or rather had been sleeping, just across the cave.

A sudden weariness setting in, Kagome sat heavily on her sleeping mat. She was going to have to tell him eventually. That's what this whole ordeal had been about, after all.

Without any of her usual enthusiasm, Kagome motioned for him to sit. "Take a seat Inuyasha," she said carefully, trying to avoid that word. "I'll tell you what happened."

As if debating whether to risk being 'sat' and not hearing the story, verses bowing to Kagome's will and hearing of her journey, Inuyasha tilted his head almost imperceptibly. Curiosity overcoming his pride, Inuyasha sat rigidly, not taking the time to uncross his arms as he did so. Glaring at her so she would know she hadn't won this round, he remained silent and allowed her to begin.

"As you know I was gone for several days," she started.

"Five," he spat.

"Fine, as you know I was gone for five days," Kagome paused to glare in annoyance. "What you didn't know was why." Inuyasha grunted at the obviousness of the statement. Ignoring him, she continued. "Did you ever wonder how your necklace worked, Inuyasha," she asked, confusion playing across his face.

"Sure, but what does that have to do with...?"

"I spent those five days 'leveling' the playing field, as it were,' she answered, lightly lifting her new necklace into view from beneath her collar.

Eyes widening in realization, Inuyasha felt himself go slack-jawed. "You're letting someone sit you?"

'Does he even know what an indoor voice is?' Kagome thought as she nodded.

"Not someone," she said pointedly. "You."

If it was possibly, Inuyasha's eyes grew wider.

"But..." he shook his head in confusion, "I just said sit," he eyed her warily. "and you didn't collapse like I do."

Kagome pursed her lips in a sarcastic, forced smirk. "That's because you took it upon yourself to complete the spell," she was careful to avoid the word 'curse'. "on your own." He looked justifiably confused.

"When you wouldn't let me go to sleep..." she added with an expectant look.

Blank.

"When you said 'stay put'?"

Light bulb.

Inuyasha twitched. "You get to slam me into the ground and I get to make you wait!? You're slow enough as it is!"

"Well, you weren't supposed to finish the spell last night. If you had been patient, I could have given you the choice, but now," she shrugged her shoulders. "That's what you're stuck with."

Inuyasha glared. "Then what took you so long to get back? Myoga said you'd be three days. It didn't take Kaede that long, and she's not as good a miko as you."

Kagome let the corner of her mouth smile a little at the flippant complement.

"It's because I'm a good miko that it took so long." Again, confusion. Sighing, she continued, looking past him with glazed eyes. "If I had an enchanted necklace put on my neck with my level of spiritual energy, I could just take it off at will. I could take it off as if it were just a pretty little trinket." She looked back to Inuyasha. "I had to spend three days in isolation to perform the...enchantment." Kagome had almost let it slip.

"That still doesn't what took so..."

"I was attacked," she interrupted.

"Oh. What...?"

"A porcupine demon. It wanted to turn me into a pincushion. Let's just say I got a little practice in that day." Kagome smirked a little. 'Yeah, and I nearly bled to death while I was at it,' she added to herself.

As if he hadn't heard her until now, Kagome saw Inuyasha come to the realization of his new 'power' over her.

"You know," he said, eyes narrowing slyly. "If you try to say sit again to run home, I can make sure you don't get to go without me."

At the mention of her home, Kagome's eyes grew misty.

'Home.'

The new moon was three days away.

'Hopefully I'll be human again soon. They must be so worried!' Kagome drew her legs up to her chest silently and placed her melancholy chin on her knees.

Seeing the pain he had inflicted, Inuyasha's eye cringed in guilt.

"We should go back to Kaede's now that I have my blade. It'll be the new moon soon."

He nodded knowingly.

"We'll leave after breakfast."

End of Chapter

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