6

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Recap:

"Don't worry! She'll come around. If I know my Kagome, she's already beating herself up about hurting my feelings. No doubt she is sorely regretting it," Hojo laughed out wickedly with a sneer.

"My plan is almost complete…so you'd better not screw this up, Homo," the voice spat out, hanging up.

Hojo glared into the phone angrily.

"I won't screw up."

Broken Wings

Chapter 9

Confession Time

InuYasha awoke for the fourth time that night. He had felt the unexplainable, piercing stare of someone again. Though he could never catch the stalker, he could feel those burning eyes gazing over him. He just couldn't sleep peacefully.

Something was off about this new awakening…when he swiftly sat up out of bed from a restless slumber, he smelled something. Blood was evident in the air. Not a heavy amount but it certainly didn't escape his keen sense of smell. His ears also picked up the distinct sound of someone crying.

His body instinctively snapped up and he looked around. Judging by the window, it was still nighttime and the room was very dark. He looked around, though his eyes were not focused and it was pitch-black inside as well as out.

He stood up and walked towards the sound of the crying. InuYasha didn't even need to venture a guess as to who was making the sobs. The scent of tears and blood mixed as he walked onward to find Kagome.

The hanyou shook his head in hopes that it would drive away the sleepiness; it hadn't worked for he bumped headfirst into his closed door. After grudgingly opening it, he walked into the hall towards the shut door of the bathroom.

A light was obviously on in there because the bottom of the door was illuminated.

He touched the icy door handle and opened it suddenly. The smell of blood was intensely strong in here as well as the scent of fresh falling tears.

Kagome was leaning over the toilet, letting the blood cry from her arms. Her tears dropped into the porcelain bowl, diluting the reddening water ever so slightly.

Though InuYasha had expected to see a gruesome sight like this, his eyes went wide and his heart cried out for the poor woman.

"Kagome! Why are you still doing this?" InuYasha yelled out without much comfort. He could see all those sickening cuts on her arms. The most ghastly one was a long slice that came from her delicate shoulder to her nimble palm.

Kagome slowly turned her hollowed, weeping eyes to face him, but didn't bother to stand up.

"Inu--InuYasha," she sobbed out in heavy tears. "No--nobody loves me…he--he hates me now because I rejected him."

InuYasha bent down and embraced the delusional girl. He didn't know how she found the knife; he had confiscated all of hers before she went to sleep at his house. The hanyou even took to extra lengths to make sure to hide his cutlery so she wouldn't be tempted.

Taking the heavily bloodied object out of her hands, he let it fall to the ground with a clatter. It was coated with so much blood that when it made contact with the floor, some spare droplets from the blade scattered.

"Kagome, don't be stupid. Of course somebody loves you."

"Don't try to cheer me up with lies, InuYasha," she wept into his arms. "No one could love me…no one. I don't even love me, I even hate myself!" Her tears dropped into his shirt as well as some stray blood still dripping from the wounds.

He winced terribly at her words; not only because they were yells but also because it hurt him to hear her so lost like this.

"It's true that someone cares for you, Kagome. I know this one guy whose head over heals in love with you," he cooed into her ear. He blushed as the words slipped from his lips. "I'm not lying either…you even know this guy. But he's kinda shy when it comes to telling people he cares for them," he said gently, now rocking her in a soothing motion.

"Who, Miroku? He never has a problem telling pretty girls he likes them…I know I'm not pretty either…I'm thin, pale and probably crazy," she wept out into his shirt, convulsing a bit as the tears came out in torrents.

"Kagome, you're the prettiest girl I know. And it isn't Miroku who loves you," he stated cryptically. "It's…m-me…" he confessed, holding onto her tighter. The words seemed to drift right into her head and heart.

She jolted her heavy head up to meet his gentle eyes. She carefully studied his features to see if he was just saying that to cheer her up. To her immense relief, she realized he was not fibbing.

"You're not lying to me…" she breathed.

InuYasha lowered his head lightly. He wasn't sure if he would hear a scream of protest, a smack to his face or…or worse, would be if she laughed at him. He didn't know what he would do if she rejected him…

But nothing of the sort came from her mouth; it seemed like she had stopped breathing. Time seemed to freeze. The only proof that time still existed anymore was when InuYasha watched her chest rise and fall as it partook of air.

Turning his silvery head, he realized that he was spending too much time focusing on her chest. As he turned his head, a blush appeared on his face. He hoped she hadn't witnessed where his attention had just been focused on; he didn't want Kagome to think he was a pervert or anything.

"I-Inu…" she breathed out lightly, not quite sure of what to say. He had just confessed his love to her and she was acting like a corpse.

His eyes went back to hers, the feeling of acceptance evident in their faces.

"InuYasha…I…I think I love you too. B-but, I don't know if…I--I feel like—" she never finished her sentence. She had passed out cold in his arms.

Being so overwhelmed with different emotions; happiness, grief, anger, joy, love…they had all made her so very dizzy and her mind just couldn't cope.

"Kagome!" InuYasha yelled out as her limp body fell into his arms.

'What have I done now! Oh, way to go half-breed,' his mind scolded. 'You made her faint...when she wakes up she'll probably hate you…maybe it was too soon to tell her…'

With some distraction, he realized that their outfits were completely drenched in blood.

InuYasha knew very well that he couldn't put her to bed like this. He would have to tend to her wounds but his mind was going a mile a minute and he wasn't thinking very clearly. He began talking aloud, wondering what he could do in this situation.

"What am I gonna do? I can't just put her back to bed like this, all bloodied up and everything," he worried. He didn't want to undress her…

Okay, that was a lie…he did want to undress her, but certainly not while she was knocked out cold. His mind continued to race; he pushed aside some Miroku-like thoughts about Kagome and thought of a better solution so he wouldn't violate her.

"W-well…I could …um…change her shirt and not look," he said aloud, hoping that maybe one of his straying thoughts would be of use. He could just picture how well that plan would work…he would be blindly dressing a limp body…knowing his luck, he would accidentally rub up against her chest, she would wake up right at that precise moment and then all hell would break loose.

"Crap! What the hell did I do to deserve this?" he yelled out, holding her frail form in his hands. He looked at her arms; they were still bleeding. "I'll take care of her arms first," he mused, happy that he had a first step in a not-so-thought-out plan.

He tried to wash the shallow cuts in the confines of the sink. Using a washing rag and soap, he was hoping he wouldn't splatter too much water onto her nightgown…his little sink-washing-idea wasn't working out very well at all. By now, his patience with the water was starting to grow very thin. The splashing went everywhere; his face, clothes, boxers, just absolutely everywhere.

With a growl of frustration, he ripped the girl's nightshirt clean off, removed her panties and stuck her nude body in the tub. He turned the water on to let the blood wash off. It took him a moment before he realized exactly what he had just done.

Once the realization occurred, he turned his head around quickly, refusing to look at her.

'Oh crap, crap, crap! What did I just do! I just ripped her clothes off…oh boy is she gonna kill me!' he thought frantically to himself, trying to hurriedly come up with a reasonable excuse for his actions if she were to wake up in this compromising position.

Without his consent his eyes darted from the side of his sockets to peer over the unconscious masterpiece of her beauty.

"Why does she have to look so damn sexy…and now of all times!" he half wined, half sang out. With all his will power and might, he walked over to the filling tub and turned off the water. He did it! He had managed to resist the temptation of looking at her bosoms.

He reached down to lift her lifeless body up into his protective arms. Grabbed a towel, he rushed off back to his room.

The hanyou quickly dried her off, being very careful around her arms. Grabbing one of his larger shirts, he placed it over her naked form. He took in a deep sigh, congratulating himself for not doing anything too bad…aside from a couple innocent peeks and a scheming mind that even Miroku would have envied, he did alright.

With demon speed, he took of his own wet clothes and changed hurriedly; worrying that at any second she would wake up and see him naked with her all wet on the bed. Luck was with him then; she didn't wake up at all that night.

Kagome awakened the next morning with very hazy vision. She had gotten up out of the bed and walked to where she thought would be the usual door of the guest room. She walked right into a wall, painfully hard, and knocked down a picture that was hanging there.

She had always slept in a different bedroom while staying at InuYasha's place, so walking up in his room came as quite the shock…especially when she hit the wall in her grogginess. Being in an unfamiliar room, she didn't know where the door was.

Hearing the crash InuYasha dashed into the room quickly.

"Kagome!" he yelled as he saw her lying on the floor. He zoomed over to see if she had hurt herself.

"InuYasha…?" she questioned in a daze as she forced her eyes back into focus.

"Oh, Kagome, you're okay," he sighed out, glad she wasn't injured.

"Yeah," she stated groggily. "And you know what…I think I love you," she beamed up to him from her floor position. He looked down at her unexpectedly…did he just hear right? Was he dreaming?

"Y-you do?" he asked naively.

"Yes, I think I really do…you've been there for me when I needed you most. You've helped me where Hojo has only caused me hurt…I just can't drop him out of my life, though…I love you InuYasha, but I need time, okay?" she asked, hopeful eyes begging for agreement.

"I love you way too much to say no," he said as he embraced her gently. The way he really wanted to hug her would have been with a lot of force and heated passion…but given her condition, that kind of hug probably would have broken her in half…

----------------------------------------To Be Continued----------------------------------------

Aww, wonderful fluff. There's more of that on the way. R&R please. Thanks.