sorry about delay. I've had a lot going on.
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Fade to Black
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Inuyasha had to bite his lip to hold back the moan that wanted to break free. He was pretty sure he was hidden well enough. Confidently a far enough distance away that she couldn't sense him but close enough to have a clear line of sight. That was a new skill he'd gained since the last time she was in his life - courtesy of a certain woman who made his skin crawl. It had taken some trial and error but he'd been motivated and spent at least a year perfecting the ability to hide from his fiancé. Who wasn't even really his fiancé. That was not going to be fun to deal with. At all. Kikyo would probably go apeshit and try to kill everyone because she would. They'd need to leave her for dead last even if meant their friends would be left in the dark a little while longer.
No. That wasn't right...Miroku, Sango and Shippo needed to know what happened. What was he even thinking? But Kikyo would undoubtedly see and that...that was a thought that could be finished much, much later.
Coming back to the present, a soft whimper escaped him as Kagome finished removing the final piece of her clothing. Seeing her in all her nude glory made him feel like he was boiling alive in a dessert and water was being withheld. It was when she entered the water and ran her hands over her chest that he lost it with a muffed moan and his aura flared as his arousal grew to painful heights.
And then his arousal was replaced by disappointment and fear when Kagome whipped her head in his direction and began scrambling for her clothes..
"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled angrily and he tensed.
"Inuyasha! I know you're watching! You come down here right now!" she called out again. And with a long sigh and a cringe he complied.
"I should slap you pervert" Kagome huffed as she tried to cover herself. Instead of reacting like she expected, Inuyasha leaned against the nearest tree with the most smug, confident expression she'd ever seen. Probably due to the fact she hadn't actually slapped him for spying on her naked and the fact he thought he had the right to do it anyway.
"Well now that might turn me on more and then what would you do?" he teased as his confident grin grew and Kagome turned a deep crimson.
"What?" she finally blurted as she gave him a mortified once over and his confident expression faded into annoyance.
"I'm flirting with you stupid. Flir-ting," he pointed out as he set his jaw, "But maybe you're really that dumb. Let me explain in small words. I want to fuck you. You're already naked. Let's do this."
"I said no," Kagome huffed and Inuyasha raised a single eyebrow.
"No. You said 'not right now' because we were in the middle of an open field," Inuyasha pointed out as he glanced around, "This is more secluded."
"Well I'm saying no now," Kagome huffed defensively, "And I'm mad at you. I specifically told you not to watch and you told me you wouldn't."
"Fair," he snorted but didn't move or even seem disturbed by this, "It's just me. Your husband. I don't see what the big deal is."
"Well up until about an hour ago I didn't even know you loved me or that I had a husband so there's that," the miko spat acidly, "I'm still processing."
As the scent of her baffling uncertainty, Inuyasha blinked a few times before groaning and pinching the bridge of his nose.
"Woman nothing is wrong with my head," he sighed heavily, "I'm not confusing anything. I do love you. This isn't…"
"How would you even know?" Kagome pointed out and his exasperated look increased.
"Fine. You want me to act like we're not together. Fine," he huffed, "Forgive me priestess. I seem to have lost my way. Let my gross half-breed ass show itself out."
"Oh my god! I never said that and you shouldn't...wait, where are you going?" Kagome groaned as he spun on his heel and stormed off, "Inuyasha come back."
"No!"
"For the love of...," she groaned as she quickly and haphazardly began putting her clothes back on, "You're acting like you're five."
"Five year olds don't get hard ons Ka-go-me," came his semi-distant retort and she snickered despite herself. Finally fully clothed, she began chasing after him which was difficult given her extremely battered kimono and incredibly uncomfortable shoes.
"Look I'm just worried," she called out and she heard him snort from a little distance ahead. The fact that he wasn't running told her a lot. Namely that he expected her to follow him after that comment. Being completely childish and irrational and rude and manipulative and...
"You're the one acting like I'm crazy! Don't act like I'm the one in the wrong here," he huffed as he suddenly came back into view with his arms folded tightly across his chest. Oh, right. Scent. Or mind reader. Actual abilities unclear.
"If you could always read me so well why didn't you act like it," she hissed, "Don't act like I should've known you thought we were married! Don't act like this isn't shocking!"
"Not my fault you're blind," he spat, "Or stupid. How many times do we need to go over this and besides why would the jewel plant that in my head, huh? It obviously wanted to erase every memory of you. Why would it suddenly decide that I love you now? That makes no sense!"
"How am I supposed to know? It's an evil, twisted jerk that only cares about survival apparently," she hissed, "Maybe it needs to be whole again. I don't know!"
"That's stupid! Now that you know you can just wish it disappeared and it'd be gone forever! Besides in case you forgot it tried to torture me to death to prevent me from remembering," he hissed as she continued coming closer, "Obviously it didn't want us to get back together!"
Kagome sighed heavily, "Yeah but it also told you to marry Kikyo so…"
"And what does that tell you? I hated it," he snorted, "She wanted to purify me! She treated me like a dog! Tried to manipulate me at every turn!"
"Well I'm sorry but…" she began heatedly before trailing off at his bizarre reaction. It completely shocked her when Inuyasha suddenly laughed and a lazy grin grew on his face.
"God I missed this," he hummed happily as he gave her an affectionate grin, "I always loved fighting with you."
"Asshole," Kagome huffed and his grin widened.
"I do love you," he promised, "If you want to wait this out and make sure, I get it. At least now I've got talking down. That's an improvement, right?"
"That's the weirdest part honestly," she sighed, "Just...you're acting so…so different. I don't know what to do with that."
Inuyasha's smile faltered slightly as he tried to decipher her scent. Did that mean she wasn't sure she loved him anymore? Because he was different? Was he too different?
"You don't know what to do…" he repeated in a slightly worried tone, "Are you wanting to...to make sure you still love this version of me?"
"Don't be stupid. I'd love you even if you turned into a toad," she huffed and he inhaled deeply before giving her a lopsided grin.
"Can't fuck a toad though," he teased and earned a withering glare.
"Is that all you think about? Sex?!"
"A lot of the time yeah," he snickered, "Can't even begin to tell you how many times I had to take care of myself over you."
The spike in her scent was worth the price of his admission and his slightly declining erection came back full force.
"You're unbelievable!"
"Thank you. I'd like to think of myself as someone so amazing that you can't believe I'm real."
"Aren't you witty," Kagome clipped back as she eyed him speculatively, "Listen I just need some time to get used to...you being Chatty Cathy, okay?"
What a weird thing to say but there was a strange undertone that followed and it didn't take a genius to figure out what was bothering her.
"You always loved that I only really trusted you, didn't you?," he asked quietly, "That I was only open with you. That's really the issue, isn't it?"
Kagome blushed heavily but didn't deny it.
"I did like that," she admitted, "But I'm also happy that you seem to be happier now. That you weren't alone. And that isn'r...
"During the two years you were gone," he snorted with a slight bite, "I'm still not over that, you know. That wound's still fresh."
"I know," Kagome groaned, "I only did that because I was afraid the jewel might…might kill you again or something."
"Guess it's the thought that counts. Could've been dead for all you knew."
"I already said I'm sorry. We've already talked about this."
"Well if you're going to be doubting that I love you, I can doubt your motives," he countered pettily, "Maybe I'm over here worrying that you love me. Didn't think of that, did you? You're not the only one believing everything they knew was a lie. That this isn't real. If anyone is hurting right now, it's me. You got what you wanted. Stop playing the victim. It's getting old."
Kagome had the good grace to look ashamed.
"Inuyasha I…"
"Listen I'm trying to do what you want," he interrupted quietly, "Trying to figure out what you want. But if me being open and affectionate isn't what you want, what is?"
"What?"
"What I was doing obviously wasn't enough and this is too much. How do you want me?" he sighed heavily as a blush grew on his cheeks, "Whatever you want me to be, I'll be. I can't lose you again Kagome. I want you to be my wife and...and you don't…"
Nostrils flaring, he looked slightly heartbroken as he finished in a very defeated tone.
"Your scent says you don't want that so I'm trying to convince you that...that I'd make a good husband. I just..."
How was it that he could go from smug and confident to insecure thirteen year old boy so fast? He looked so frazzled and unsure. Probably because he was feeling the same whiplash as her. He was right. Yeah, she was trying to handle the knowledge that he loved her but he was trying to cope with losing his wife. Maybe even grieving that loss and desperately trying to get back that feeling of security he'd apparently been feeling during the quest.
"I've always been yours. You don't need to ever worry about that," Kagome began slowly and he seemed to relax, "It's that I'm worried this isn't real. I don't want to get my hopes up. This is brand new to me but I don't want you to change."
"So...so be my old self?"
"The guy who didn't look at me like I was the most beautiful thing he'd ever seen? I don't want that either," she admitted, "It's just...different. I don't know how to react."
"I should've done better. Like I told you, I just...back then I wanted to make sure you didn't become a target," he tried, "You were always affectionate and doting. I thought I was too. I just wasn't good at it then apparently. I didn't know how."
"How do you know now?"
"I've been living at a human village," he explained softly, "In the jewel shard life, everyone seemed to just accept me. Which...which didn't strike me as odd. So I learned I guess. Saw what other couples did. Was jealous what other couples had because I wasn't happy with what I had with Kikyo. So maybe I daydreamed a little about how it'd be if I was with someone I actually loved then here you come again. No Naraku. No fight to the death. No engagement to a creepy controlling bitch. I was suddenly free and clear to act on those dreams. Maybe...maybe I got carried away. Moved too fast."
Kagome smiled faintly that at least part of the life she'd forced on him wasn't awful.
"No it wasn't. Honestly the only part that sucked was Kikyo," he answered her thoughts and she wrinkled her nose at his mind reading abilities.
"Listen if I need to slow down I will," he offered but Kagome could tell that tasted bitter on his tongue, "But I did love you. I do love you and I did think we were married. That's not the jewel talking I swear on my mother's life."
For a moment, they were silent until Kagome crossed the distance between them and placed a long lingering kiss on his lips. Eagerly returning this token of affection, Inuyasha hummed happily in the back of his throat before she finally pulled back.
"Just give me a few days as an adjustment period," she asked gently, "And then we can act out all those dreams."
"All the dreams?" he asked hopefully as he pulled her hips tightly against his so she could feel the full length of his arousal and Kagome blushed.
"Okay maybe not all."
"We can sleep together though, huh?" he offered as a half-way point, "You know cuddle and stuff?"
"Never in a million billion years would I have ever thought those words would come out your mouth but...but yeah. Sure. We...we can, uh, cuddle."
"I'll take it," he laughed once before dipping down to kiss her again.
Yeah...she definitely needed an adjustment period. This was getting weird.
