Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha.
Update Dates: Sundays
Undeniable
Love
Chapter
19 - Off To Help Sesshomaru
By:
Scaevola
Published
8/25/05
Updated
10/28/05
The room went dead silent as the many people saw InuYasha's ears. While seeing a person's ears is certainly not unusual, seeing the ears on a hanyou which look like a dog's certainly is. Children began tugging on their parents' sleeves and pointing to InuYasha, and the adults would gasp in shock at the sight.
The people closest to the hanyou simply stared, their mouths agape. Nobody had ever seen a person with dog ears, so this reaction should have been expected if InuYasha's ears were ever to be seen by the humans in Kagome's time. Nonetheless, InuYasha couldn't help but feel a little worried at the stares and fingers pointing in his direction.
From somewhere deep in the crowd someone shouted "Freak!" loudly. Several people burst out into laughter, and others jeered.
Kagome felt the hanyou tremble slightly under her hand on his shoulder. She tried to grab his attention, to soothe, but when his eyes met hers, she could tell that deep down, he wasn't okay. She had to admire the front he put up though; managing to glare back at the humans angrily challenging them to say more. The people he glared at immediately looked away, not quite able to meet his gaze.
Kagome saw Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi all staring at InuYasha out of the corner of her eyes. She felt anger at the fact that even her friends were looking at InuYasha like he was some alien now. They had already met him and known him for awhile now, why did they act like his ears made such a difference? Why couldn't people just accept InuYasha?
She rounded on her friends and immediately pointed an accusing finger at them. "What? Do you think he's different now just because of how he looks? You've known him for awhile now! He's no different then he was before!" she shouted. Her friends blinked and took a step back as she yelled. Yuka put her hands up as though she were protecting herself from being hit.
Kagome turned her glare from her friends to look at the rest of the people in the theater. "And what gives you people the right to judge him? If any people are freaks in here, it's you people who are so quick to judge, so inable to accept someone different than you!"
Just then Hojo sat up, groaning as he did so. He gently put his hand to his head, feeling the bruise that was forming. He winced and looked up to see the entire room standing still, everyone looking in one direction. He followed their gazes and saw Kagome and InuYasha. When he saw InuYasha, he gasped.
"K-Kagome get away from him! He might hurt you!" he said.
"InuYasha would never hurt me Hojo!" she said angrily. "He's done nothing but protect me, and I want you to leave us both alone."
"But Kagome, he's a monster! Look at him!" he exclaimed.
His eyes widened when she quickly turned to him. He had no time to react before she took a step forward and slapped him - hard. His head seemed like it would split when the slap landed right on his freshly bruised skin. He stumbled from the hit and took a moment to focus his eyes back on Kagome, her eyes blazing with anger.
"InuYasha is not a monster! If anything, you're the monster Hojo! Just accept that I love him and not you, and leave us alone!" she yelled.
"You can't possibly love him, Kagome." he said.
Kagome moved quickly again, and he braced himself for another slap, closing his eyes - but it never came. He opened his eyes to see Kagome wrap her arms around InuYasha and pull him down for a heated kiss. From his angle he could clearly see her tongue enter his mouth wrestling with his tongue.
A faint cheer could be heard from the back, apparently the same voice that had shouted freak before. Several others laughed near the voice. Apparently that obnoxious guy had a group of equally obnoxious friends...
A pain a hundred times worse than the pain throbbing in Hojo's head seared through his chest. He could feel his heart shatter into thousands of pieces as he realized the truth - Kagome would never truly be his. No matter what he did, he had already lost to InuYasha. He turned his head away from Kagome's display of affection for InuYasha and saw Eri, Yuka and Ayumi all staring at the two in shock.
He wished he could die right there. The girl he had daydreamed about, the girl that had been in the front of his mind day and night, had rejected him. The heartbreak was even worse than before when Kagome had first rejected him. Then it had seemed like there was still hope. Now...now he knew there wasn't any.
He heard Kagome and InuYasha finally separate and he turned to watch as she picked up the hat and set it on InuYasha's head. She pulled on his hand then, dragging him away towards the exit. The crowd parted for them, nobody said anything, but a couple were grinning after seeing the two kiss like that.
Kagome continued tugging on InuYasha's hand after they exited the theater, and she immediately set for the shrine. At the moment, she didn't really want to be around the theater. She felt tears forming in her eyes as she thought about how even the people in her time didn't accept InuYasha.
She pulled InuYasha into her house, shutting the door behind her. She immediately got all of her stuff together. She wanted to go back to the feudal era as soon as she could. As she wiped tears from her cheeks she heard InuYasha move behind her and wrap his arms around her in a tight hug.
"Please don't cry Kagome." he whispered. "I hate it when you do that."
"I'm sorry InuYasha." she sobbed. "This is all my fault!"
"No it's not Kagome! It's Hojo's fault! Don't blame yourself for this!" he said. "Besides, it's not like this is the first time I've been called a freak," he said wryly.
Kagome turned around and leaned onto his shoulder. If anything, the fact that InuYasha was used to being called names and being shunned only made it worse. She could tell she was getting his shirt wet with her tears, and she lifted her head to look at him.
He smiled at her and wiped her tears away before kissing her. "Please don't cry Kagome." he said again.
She nodded and stood, trying to get a hold over herself. InuYasha lifted her backpack up and slung it over his shoulder. He took her hand, and together they walked out towards the well house. Together, they traveled back to the feudal era.
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Eri, still shocked, turned to her equally shocked friends. Kagome had just run out of the theater with InuYasha, and most of the people who were watching them before were now moving again.
Hojo seemed to be unable to move at the moment, he was staring at the doorway that Kagome had just left, his hand still holding the spot that she had slapped him.
"So...er...that was weird." she said lamely.
"Kagome was really mad..." comment Ayumi. "I don't think I've ever seen her like that."
"I think we should go talk to her." said Eri.
Ayumi nodded, but Yuka blurted out, "Were those dog ears?"
"Does it really matter?" asked Eri. "I mean, Kagome's right, are we really going treat him differently now just because he doesn't look like us?"
"Yuka was silent for a moment before shaking her head. "No...I wouldn't do that."
"You should." Hojo had awoken from his thoughts for the moment. "If I know anything...InuYasha's a demon."
Eri and Ayumi burst out laughing. It was ridiculous! InuYasha? A Demon? "Sorry to burst your bubble, Hojo, but demon's don't exist!" said Ayumi, clutching her sides as she laughed. Throughout all of this, Yuka remained silent.
Hojo turned bright red at the comment, no doubt just now remembering the fact that demons didn't exist. He kept quiet after that.
"Come on," said Eri. "Let's go find Kagome and InuYasha."
Yuka and Ayumi nodded, and the three of them headed out of the theater.
"Where do you think they went?" asked Yuka.
"The shrine." said Ayumi. "Kagome was really upset when she left. She'll be at the shrine."
They all nodded, certain that Ayumi was right, and hurried off to the shrine. None of them spoke for awhile, and Eri used the silence to think about what Kagome had said. Had they really almost treated InuYasha differently? Would they have if Kagome didn't say anything? She felt horrible at the thought. She knew InuYasha wasn't a bad person - he couldn't be if he made Kagome so happy - and here she had almost shunned him because he looked different.
Finally Yuka spoke up. "But really...maybe Hojo's right."
Eri snorted. "Don't be ridiculous. We all know demons are just from fairy tales and legends. It's probably some birth defect or disability."
Yuka was silent for the rest of the walk, but Eri could tell that she was in deep thought. She hoped that Yuka wasn't going to act oddly around InuYasha now. That definitely wouldn't help them get back on Kagome's good side.
When they finally got to the shrine, they rang the doorbell and all smiled when Mrs. Higurashi answered the door.
"Hello Mrs. Higurashi!" greeted Eri. "We were wondering if we could speak to Kagome?"
Mrs. Higurashi looked at them all before nodding. "Of course, I'll go get her. Why don't you come in and wait in the kitchen?"
They thanked her and walked into the house and to the kitchen, where they all sat down, waiting for Kagome.
Mrs. Higurashi walked up to Kagome's room and opened the door - only to find that Kagome wasn't there - and neither was her yellow backpack. Realizing that Kagome must have just left with InuYasha to the feudal era, she hurried back downstairs.
"I'm sorry, she just left with InuYasha I think. I know she was here a moment ago though." she said to the girls.
"Do you know where they went?" asked Ayumi.
Mrs. Higurashi shook her head. "I'm afraid not. I don't know when they will come back, but if you want I'll tell her you came and she'll call you when she gets back?"
Yuka opened her mouth to speak, but Eri cut her off. "That would be fine. Thank you Mrs. Higurashi!"
Together they left the kitchen and allowed Mrs. Higurashi to show them to the door, where they all thanked her again and quickly left the shrine grounds.
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InuYasha blinked as the blue light faded and he found himself back in the feudal era. He gently picked up Kagome and held her tight as he jumped up and landed on the ground outside of the well.
As soon as he put them down he saw Shippo running over to them. He growled, expecting the kitsune to jump onto Kagome any minute, but was extremely surprised - and somewhat shocked - when the kitsune stopped in front of him instead.
"InuYasha!" he shouted. "Kagura came!"
"What?" snarled InuYasha.
Shippo held up his hands in front of InuYasha. "No no she didn't come to fight! She actually asked us to help her and Sesshomaru!"
InuYasha growled. "Why would I help her or my bastard of a brother!" he said, ignoring Kagome as she scolded him for swearing in front of the kitsune.
"But you have to!" wailed Shippo. "Sango and Miroku already went with her to help!"
"What!" yelled InuYasha, frightening the kitsune.
"Sango and Miroku already went with her to help!" repeated Shippo.
"I know! I heard you!" yelled InuYasha. "It could be a trap though! What are those idiots doing!"
InuYasha turned to Kagome. "Let's go." he said. He glanced at Shippo before he and Kagome ran off. "Stay with Kaede Shippo."
Shippo nodded and hurried back to Kaedes hut to get InuYasha Tetsusaiga while InuYasha checked for Sango or Miroku's scent. Once he found it and Shippo had given him his sword, he quickly ran off, with Kagome on his back. Every once in awhile he lost the scent, but after looking around he would find it again soon enough.
It was late in the night when InuYasha finally began to catch up to the others. "Their scents are getting fresher." he said. "It's not stale like it was before."
"What do you mean?" asked Kagome, still on his back.
"I mean that they shouldn't be more than an hour or two ahead of us. We'll catch up soon. Especially if they're already there." answered the hanyou.
Kagome kept her eyes wide open, scanning their surroundings for any threats as InuYasha concentrated on the scents. She knew that InuYasha would be able to sense any attackers long before she could, but she still felt the need to keep a lookout. She couldn't shake the feeling of a trap.
Afterall, since when did Sesshomaru ask for InuYasha's help? Every time the two brothers had met, they fought with each other. Even when it was to fight off the same enemy, like So'unga, they still carried on their sibling rivalry, each trying to better the other.
So why then, did Sesshomaru ask for help? The only reason that Kagome had been able to come up with was a trap, just as InuYasha had said. But why did Sango and Miroku leave with Kagura? What convinced them that it wasn't a trap? It had to be something important, or Sango and Miroku never would have trusted Kagura.
She sighed. They should have stayed behind and asked Shippo more to find out just what Kagura had said to Miroku and Sango to make them believe her. Maybe it really was something important.
It didn't matter now though. Whether it was a trap or not, they would go. Especially if there was a chance that Miroku and Sango were in trouble.
InuYasha slid to a stop suddenly. He put Kagome down and motioned for her to follow him. He leaned over and whispered, "They're walking just ahead. I can hear them talking."
She looked at him sharply, silently asking what they were saying.
InuYasha smiled, understanding her concern. "They're not in trouble. At least, not yet. Kagura and them are talking like their old friends practically."
They hurried up, jogging to catch up with the others. They reached the top of a hill and saw them at the bottom on the other side, Miroku just behind the two women, his eyes - well, he wasn't watching where he was going as much as he was watching the women.
Suddenly he stumbled, or at least, pretended to stumble, and his hand shot out to grab onto something to keep himself steady. Unfortunately, he ended up "keeping himself steady" by groping Sango.
"Pervert!" Sango shrieked. Her indignant yelling was followed by a loud slap.
InuYasha burst out laughing at the sight, and immediately the others noticed him and Kagome on top of the hill.
"Kagome! InuYasha!" shouted Sango. "I didn't think you two would return in time!"
"Return in time for what?" asked InuYasha. "All we know is Kagura came and asked you two to help her and Sesshomaru! Haven't you guys considered this is a trap?"
"It's not trap, InuYasha. Naraku, Koga, and Kikyo have all teamed up together." said Kagura.
"What?" asked InuYasha. "I killed Kikyo! There's no way -"
He was cut off by Kagura. "You only killed a demon puppet of her, InuYasha. Naraku and Kikyo have been plotting together this entire time. They recently got Koga to work with them. Naraku wants you and your brother dead, Koga wants you dead so he can take Kagome, and Kikyo wants you to end up in hell with her."
Next time him, InuYasha could fell Kagome shudder at the mention of Kagome. He reached out and grabbed her hand to give it a small squeeze, silently trying to comfort her. She returned the squeeze after a moment, and together they headed down to the others.
"Koga's there?" asked InuYasha.
Kagura nodded, wondering why InuYasha cared more about the wolf being there than Naraku or Kikyo. (She doesn't know about Koga trying to rape Kagome.)
"Then let's go! I've been wanting to tear that wolf apart for awhile now!" shouted InuYasha.
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That's it! I think that answer's everyone's questions on how I'd bring Kagome and InuYasha back in time :) I'm going to update again on Sunday, and from then on I'll be updating once a week every Sunday. So...yeah. Maybe once my workload lessens i'll be able to go back to twice a week. We'll see.
