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Fade to Black
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Inuyasha's big shit grin was not warranted in Kagome's opinion. He'd definitely been a little too handsy when he'd marked her and had taken some liberties. During the few minutes she'd hiked up her kimono, one hand had indeed done the mark while the other unoccupied hand gently glided up and down her thigh. Mainly up. When she called him out on it, he'd all too innocently replied that it was to hold her still but he wasn't fooling anyone. If what he said was true, he'd done it blind many, many times. The ass groping had been because he wanted to grope her ass and for no other reason. For the umpteenth time, she wondered whether the jewel had scrambled his brain somehow. Maybe even threw some of Miroku's undesirable traits, Shippo's usual mischievousness and Sango's ability to express how she was feeling. Rolling her eyes when he squeezed her thigh lightly, Kagome finally had enough and thrust her skirt back down. The sudden movement didn't seem to phase him.
"That wasn't so bad, huh?" he finally hummed before he looked up adoringly at Kagome's very flushed face, "That one should last a few weeks."
Yeah, something had definitely been scrambled. Since when did he look at her like that.
"What?" he laughed as he patted her newly covered leg a few times and stood up with grace only he could achieve.
"Are you sure..." Kagome began shakily, "Are you sure that...that the jewel didn't change your memories of me? That's it not making you remember things that never happened?"
Inuyasha startled slightly - another uncharacteristic reaction - before he set his jaw and glared.
"What the hell does that mean?" he hissed angrily.
"I'm just saying you...you always seemed so in love with her," Kagome tried to explain, "And yet you're saying you thought I was your wife or something but you never, never acted like I was anything more than a friend. You never looked at me like you've been doing today and you never talked about..."
If anything Inuyasha looked even angrier - albeit somewhat hurt.
"What the hell are you even talking about?" he scoffed as his nostrils flared, "Trust me. I'm not in love with Kikyo. I would rather cut off my dick than be stuck with her. We were literally just..."
"I know. I know but...but it just doesn't make sense," Kagome explained lamely, "So like take the rose demon. You saw Kikyo in the illusion and you wouldn't answer when I asked if you were going to go with her."
"Seriously? You're going to do this now?" he asked incredulously, "After everything I just said you're going to..."
"Were you going to go with her?" Kagome challenged as if that proved her point once and for all and Inuyasha gave her a patient look which unnerved her.
"I didn't tell you because yeah, in the illusion, I was going to follow her," Inuyasha mocked, "Which was shameful because I thought you were my wife. Following my ex into death sounds bad."
"So why did you see her then?" Kagome countered, "The spell was supposed to help you find peace."
"Yeah well I had blood tears running down my face," he snapped sarcastically, "Real peaceful. I should do that more often."
"Then why were you crying?" Kagome pushed and Inuyasha's eye twitched.
"Oh I don't know," Inuyasha bit back, "Could it have been that I was under a spell? Gee, that doesn't sound like that's what happened at all now, does it? See this is why I didn't tell you. You always misunderstood when it came to her."
"Whats to misunderstand about you sticking your tongue down her mouth every chance you got, huh?" Kagome snapped back bitterly, "What's to misunderstand about you chasing after her and leaving me to die?"
Inuyasha gaped at her for a moment before giving her a disgusted glare and shaking his head.
"I'm not going to argue with you when nothing I say gets through that thick skull of yours. You're too stupid. Why bother," he ground out before setting his jaw and storming off leaving a somewhat guilty and heartbroken Kagome behind him. That came out wrong.
"Wait I didn't mean..."
"You meant what you meant," he clipped back, "Go fuck yourself Kagome.
Rolling her eyes and sighing, Kagome chased after him.
"Inuyasha wait," she panted as she tried to keep up. She really needed to work out more. Had he always walked this fast?
"I don't want to hear it," he clipped back as he increased his speed and Kagome groaned before breaking into a sprint.
"Inuyasha stop," she groaned as her heart pounded like she'd just run a marathon and it felt like her lungs were on fire, "You know...I didn't...oh shit...I didn't...mean it ...like...that."
She came to a sudden halt and rested her hands on her knees as she tried to catch her breath.
"I really need to work on my cardio," she panted barely above a whisper before pressing desperately onward
He stopped and glanced over his shoulder with a sad yet adoring smile playing on his lips. Did she have to be so adorable right now? His eyes narrowed in suspicion. She had to be doing it on purpose. Damn her and her little flushed face and being so out of breath and the scent of her undeserved sweat so sweet. It both made his heart melt and break.
"I...just...lost...oh gosh...my temper," she panted as she finally managed to catch up, "It's...a lot...to process. I'm...not...leaving."
Inuyasha turned to face her and had to bite his lip to hide the adoring smile that wanted to break free. How the hell did this woman manage to tug on his heartstrings? She looked so beautiful - her hair an absolute mess, sweat making her bangs plaster against her forehead. She'd managed to rip her kimono and she looked so heartbreakingly exasperated. It reminded him of those fights that had made him fall in love with her in the first place and the nostalgia hit him hard.
"You...just seem...so different," she continued as she swallowed thickly and wiped some sweat off her face, "And maybe...I was stupid but...you have...to understand...why... I'm skeptical."
The urge to smile faded as cold dread took its place.
"Can you even name," Kagome cleared her throat, "Like ten times you showed me you loved me? That something had changed that I didn't initiate?"
Ice began forming in his veins as he fought against the instinct to run away from the emotional and hurtful female. How could he even begin to explain without sounding stupid?
"Maybe it's different in your time," he tried weakly as he scratched the back of his neck, "That people touch each other a lot I mean. But not here and especially not me."
Kagome looked slightly confused.
"I mean, you know, I was always near you. Touching you," he continued in a somewhat lost tone, "Hell, you even slept in my arms sometimes and...we would hold hands and sometimes we kissed and...I carried you everywhere. When we stopped I sat next to you and you leaned on me. Even Miroku realized.Way back when we first met him. He called me out on it but we'd just met him and I sure as hell didn't trust him so I denied it. Demon-miko relations aren't really approved of here, ya know? What was I supposed to do? Tell the monk we just met with an endless void in his hand? I already told him you were off limits and even that was probably too much. Can't go around advertising when everyone and their mom wants to kill me. They'd try to kill you too."
Kagome blinked a few times as she tried to remember exactly what had been said but came up short. That seemed like a lifetime ago.
"Really?" he snapped, "You really don't remember him saying he realized I loved you? Please tell me you're joking. See this right here is why you're stupid as shit."
Kagome's face soured as she gave him an annoyed glare. Oh right. The nose thing. He was a mind reader apparently. Which just made all of this more confusing. If he'd been so good at reading her, then how the hell did he not know they weren't on the same page with the whole marriage thing.
"Again I thought any doubt you had was about our future idiot," he huffed and Kagome rolled her eyes.
"But that was really, really early on," Kagome pointed out, "And right after you got all pissed off about Naraku killing Kikyo."
"Well yeah, that shit pissed me off!" he countered heatedly, "Wanting to kill the bastard isn't a crime!"
"Well it kinda is actually," she teased awkwardly before sighing, "That doesn't explain why you thought we were married. You always ran after Kikyo. Right up until the end. You acted like you loved her. You never looked at me like you looked at her. Never said anything romantic or even acted any different. Sure at times I thought you were hitting on me but you always got mad or denied it. You never even said anything to me in private. You're saying that you thought I was your wife but if that's true..."
She sighed heavily and continued in a small voice.
"It just can't be true. I think the jewel put memories in your mind that didn't happen."
As she trailed off, amber eyes widened in abject horror. In the beginning, yeah he'd been torn. Wanting both, loving both but unable to choose either. Still, even Kikyo knew where his heart really lay. When she tried to drag him to hell with her, she'd even called him out on it. Kagome meant more to him than Kikyo ever did. Did that make his initial lapse in judgment better? No. No it didn't. In fact it made it worse. Even during the period where he thought they were married he still ran off to see Kikyo. Not in the same way he initially had done and not for any romantic reason but he'd still done it. Up until the end, he'd made Kagome feel second best. Trying to keep up appearances for her safety. Naraku used Kikyo all the time. Tried to kill Kagome as it was. He didn't want to make her a target and thought she understood that. But she was right and he could see her point. Sorta. He didn't treat her like he had treated Kikyo. He should've done better when they were alone. Made it clear how much she meant to him. No wonder she thought he didn't love her. To be honest, he was beginning to wonder how the hell she loved him.
"I..." he began thickly, "I didn't treat you different because I couldn't treat you different. I thought you understood it was to protect you. I mean just look at what happened with Kikyo."
Ah hell. That...didn't come out like he wanted. While he'd gotten better at talking, that didn't mean he'd mastered the skill.
"That doesn't..."
"I don't know what you want me to say..." he interrupted as he scratched the back of his neck, "I don't even know what to say that I haven't already. I was wrong. You're right. But I know what I felt. There's nothing wrong with my head."
He sighed again and looked incredibly lost.
"I can try to do better," he offered as he chanced a glance at her, "If you want. Or...or we can just forget I said anything. It's...it's your choice."
Kagome chewed her bottom lip for a moment before closing the distance between them. Gently cupping his chin, she pressed her lips lightly against his and with a soft sigh of relief he pressed back.
"For what it's worth I'm sorry," he whispered before his lips twitched upward as he glanced up at her bangs which were sticking up every type of way. Laughing softly, he tucked one particularly crazy flyaway behind her ear and added , "You need to do some thing with your hair. There's a hot spring nearby."
There was something in the way he said it that made her just know he was up to something and she had a pretty good idea what that something might be. Still, she wasn't feeling particularly generous at the moment and he'd need to do some major damage control before she let him do anything even remotely like what he clearly had in mind.
"You can't watch," she informed him sternly and he smirked.
"Oh I'm gunna watch," he teased. You bet your sweet ass he was. It'd been two long years since he'd seen her in all her naked glory. He was going to do all the looking when she bathed. All of it. Every. Damn. Time.
Kagome's eye twitched as she gave him a withering glare and he shrugged it off.
"Would you feel better if I lied and said I won't?" he added playfully and Kagome sighed.
"You're walking on thin ice mister. You really want to push your luck right now?" she warned. For a moment he seemed to mull over this before groaning.
"Fine. Fine," he pouted, "I won't watch."
Uh, yeah he was still totally going to watch but what she didn't know wouldn't hurt her. It had been two years after all. He had to consciously focus on keeping his disappointed face intact lest she realize what he planned to do. Was it probably going to end badly? Yes. Yes it was. But he lived for danger and he did warn her. Kinda.
"Thank you," Kagome replied condescendingly, "Now where is this hot spring?"
