Marionette

By: Of Memories Past

Chapter 4: Exposed

AWAWAWAWAWA

Kagome hurried and tied the red haori around her as her heart dropped to her feet. Her own clothes lay only a few feet away, but there was not even time enough to put them on. While she secured the thick know, she unconsciously replayed her grandfather's lectures on responsibility in her mind. If only her grandfather could have seen her now!

Behind her, InuYasha hastily snatched up her clothing and wrapped them in his kimono, swearing under his breath the entire time. He felt his muscles tense with agitation with the oncoming of an unavoidable confrontation and found himself swearing that he would never again touch sake.

"Damn rice wine," he muttered. "Damn villagers, damn party."

Perhaps not too inaccurately, he began to blame Naraku. After all, it was the celebration of the demon's demise that had thrown him into his current predicament. If he had never had to fight Naraku, he would have never killed him and would never have been persuaded to attend the celebration party. He would not have made last night's mistake. Yes, Naraku was to blame.

Kagome lightly touched his arm, sending a chill up his spine. She barely touched him and the previous night's activities came rushing back. InuYasha gritted his teeth and glanced back at the girl.

All at once he felt her uncertainty, smelled her fear. His features softened slightly and he grasped her hand where it lay against his arm, giving it a quick reassuring squeeze. "You don't have to say anything."

Shaking her head, Kagome faltered. "I…I don't know what to say."

Indeed she did not. Their friends grew closer with each passing second, and she still had no idea as to how to handle the situation. Soon enough, it would be obvious as to what had occurred the night before. Several villagers still remained sleeping in the provocative positions that they had passed out in. Her and InuYasha's half-clothed state would be evidence enough.

"Maybe they won't notice?" Her voice sounded weak even as she offered her suggestion.

InuYasha scoffed. "Woman, don't be blind. They'll notice." He cast a glance over his shoulder to her again, narrowing golden eyes. "Besides, Shippou's nose and big mouth won't keep anything secret for long."

She groaned. "We'll cover the details about what exactly that means later."

Inwardly, InuYasha cringed. You have no idea…

They heard their friends before they saw them. The sound of Miroku's voice rang clear as a bell, and Sango's accompanied his, sounding sweet against his low tones. Shippou let out a whoop when he saw them, laughing. His excited chatter filled the air along with Kirara's happy chirps. The voices very soon turned to clear images, and arms rose in the air in greeting.

Despite the circumstances, Kagome had to smile at Miroku as he waved his left hand wildly and laughed. It would be a while before the excitement of discovering the Kazaana's absence wore off.

Sango's mild exasperation at his antics was also clear. She shook her head and swatted at his waving hand, blushed fiercely when he used it to thump her behind.

Shippou giggled; Kirara growled playfully at the monk.

It was not long before they were all laughing again and looking to their two missing companions. Naraku was dead, and they all felt light.

But neither Kagome nor InuYasha missed when Miroku's expression began to change. His waving gradually slowed and then came to a stop, though his hand remained poised in the air as if it would once again move. One eyebrow rose skeptically, and he cocked his head to the side to consider the situation.

InuYasha and Kagome squirmed knowing that in his mind, Miroku was trying to find a way to give them the benefit of the doubt. It was kind of him, they supposed. Deep inside they felt relief over the fact that he had more faith in them than the obvious. But despite all courtesies, they knew the truth, and they knew the minute his logic found no other explanation other than the truth.

Sango did not take long to come to realization either. Her amicable chatter with Miroku stopped when she recognized that he was no longer listening, her gaze following his. Eyes narrowing and then widening, Sango's hand flew to her mouth as she glanced back and forth between InuYasha and Kagome and then back to Miroku.

Shippou noticed the change in his companions from where he sat in the back of the cart with Kirara. He popped up on Miroku's shoulder, trying to figure out what had them all so silent all of a sudden. Growing frustrated when his questions went unanswered, Shippou stuck his nose in the air, Kirara appearing beside him on Sango and following suit.

Time stopped for Kagome and InuYasha as they stood and waited for Shippou to discover what had happened the night before. Sango and Miroku may have been polite enough to attempt waiting until they had a chance to talk with their friends before saying anything, but InuYasha and Kagome both knew that once Shippou knew any hope of maintaining their dignity in the situation would fly straight out the window.

"He's young," InuYasha murmured, more to himself than Kagome. "It may be a few minutes before he realizes what the changes in our scents are."

Kagome furrowed her brows, wanting to question him about what that meant, but she kept silent. It could wait until later when and if they had a moment alone. She could only hope that they would.

Shippou continued to sniff the air as they waited. His small face changed expressions rapidly as he tried to figure out what the difference was. Eyes narrowed and closed, his face scrunched up in concentration and then relaxed as he tried again. The wait was painstaking.

Kagome licked dry lips. "Maybe he won't notice."

"He will," InuYasha said certainly, though he dreaded the moment. "Instinct will eventually kick in."

And then the moment came.

Shippou's head snapped around, and he glared murderously at InuYasha. The emerald green eyes narrowed so severely that they almost closed; baby teeth glistened in the late afternoon light. Like a tiger reaching for its prey, he suddenly leapt from the cart, letting out a scream of rage and fury. No one had ever seen him so angry.

But Sango caught him by his plush tail.

Squirming and swinging wildly from his upside down position, Shippou hollered in outrage and swung his fists. Every few seconds he snapped his teeth in InuYasha's direction. Foul language spewed from his mouth like a fountain as struggled in the taijya's grasp.

Kagome blushed in embarrassment at Shippou's blunt, coarse threats to InuYasha; Sango turned red in anger.

Sango raised Shippou so that his face was level with hers, and began speaking in low, frustrated tones. The tiny kit silenced at the severe look on her face, and grudgingly took the berating she dealt.

Kagome could not hear what Sango was saying, though their friends were nearly upon them, but she knew that InuYasha could. Lightly, she touched his arm.

"Don't worry. Sango's put him in his place." He touched her hand for a moment and then separated himself from her.

The cart came to a stop in front of them.

Silence stretched out between them, but no one moved to say anything. Kagome found that she could not look any of them in the eye. She supposed Sango felt the same because she kept her attention trained on the kit, pretending that he needed the attention to maintain his behavior. Shippou lower lip jutted out as he sat with his arms crossed, sulking with Kirara by his side. The fire-cat had to have been aware of the situation, but she showed no sign of it. She curled into a small ball of fluff, small chirps emitting from her as she slept. Obviously, she did not feel like dealing with conflict right now.

Only Miroku and InuYasha bothered with eye contact. Steadily, InuYasha looked Miroku straight in the eye, daring him to say anything distasteful about the situation. Miroku met his stare head on, seeming to wait for him to say something. The monk had no intention of making lewd comments.

After a span of minutes, it became obvious that no one was going to talk. Still maintaining eye contact, Miroku raised a brow.

"Good afternoon," he said quietly.

InuYasha ground his teeth. "Afternoon."

Kagome cringed at the forced pleasantries, and every muscle in her body tensed. She flinched at the pain that caused in certain areas. Nobody spoke after that, and in truth, nobody knew what to say. Kagome's eyes stung, threatening tears. These were her dearest friends. The tension among them was miserable as they tried to maintain some sort of balance. With the risk of erupting into an argument, Shippou entering another frenzied screaming fit, and not being able to come to terms with her friends, the events of the night before and the present day took their toll. Kagome felt herself break, and tears sprung into her eyes.

The scent of them tore InuYasha from his mental battle with Miroku. Alarmed, he whirled around and reached out to the girl, uncertainty filling him at the sight of her. InuYasha swallowed, not sure of how to handle things.

"Kagome," he asked quietly. He brushed her arm with his fingers.

As soon as InuYasha touched her Kagome lost it. She erupted into body wrenching sobs, her shaking hands going up to cover her face.

InuYasha paled. He watched helplessly as Kagome sunk to her knees and leaned forward to hide her face against the earth, her body trembling heavily as she cried. He was lost as to what to do.

"Idiot!" Shippou screamed, taking the new turn of events as an opportunity to abandon his stillness. He leapt to the front of the cart and shook his small fist at InuYasha. "You no good, dumb, ignorant—!"

Sango clamped her hand tightly over his mouth.

"We set up camp over that hill," Miroku spoke solemnly, his gaze not leaving Kagome. "Get her into the cart. We can wait until we're there and she has a bath, clothes, and food."

The monk moved the horses into motion and they left.

InuYasha stood watching the retreating cart for a few minutes before turning his attention back to Kagome. Her crying had not ceased.

With a deep breath, he approached her. His first priority was to get her to their camp. They would deal with the rest later.

A/N: Yeah, changed my name back to the old one. Call me fickle. Another chapter out, and rather quickly at that…a little proud of myself . Please review if you've read. I'm looking at the stats, and it's getting hits but no one seems to want to write a note --. Please do if you've read. It's a lot of effort to put up a chapter, especially since I'm busy, and it helps to know what readers think when it comes to making decisions about the story. Enough said. Hope all was enjoyed, and I'm out! Memories