Author's Note: Happy Father's Day everyone! Posting a bit early today since I'm heading up in an hour or so to hang out with my dad. :)
WARNING: This chapter has a very slight mention of noncon. Please read at your own risk.
Awesome Betas: Pentheseileia, Not_Towa_Wakasa, Noir, Youngimoo
Special Shout-Out To: Not_Towa_Wakasa, who reworked this chapter with me like three times over, she was amazing. Thank you so much!
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Chapter 53: Stay Back
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Inuyasha
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For a very,
very,
very long time,
there was nothing.
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"You belong to me."
"I don't, you arrogant- ...You are not the same Inuyasha. He's who I fell in love with. Not you."
He resurfaced inside himself. Wet, sticky tar oozed slowly from his eyes and ears, leaving his lungs and allowing him to breathe. His eyes opened. The nothing had become darkness. And he was aware.
...He was aware.
"You do not know me then." The words were his own. ...But no, not his. Darkness still pressed around him. He had no control of the words he spoke; he was unable to feel them as they slipped through his lips."You think we are separate? That we are not one in the same? There is no Inuyasha without me."
And he knew then, deep inside himself, that it was him saying those words. It was him. His youkai.
"Even if you do succeed in drawing the hanyou to the surface, I will always be there, inside him, whispering to him - my thoughts, my actions, my entire being is Inuyasha!"
His awareness consumed him. He was nothing but a subconscious, nothing but floating thoughts. He could feel his awareness as a body, minuscule and suppressed, the words his youkai spoke for him echoed in the darkness.
"Stop talking, just - shut up! If the Inuyasha I know is still in there anywhere, then he knows that I'm not leaving him in there to rot inside of you."
Who…?
He knew the voice. He knew a face to match the familiar fire in that voice. He opened his mouth to scream her name, but the tar gagged him, filling his cheeks and slipping down his throat, coating his insides.
"I'll get the mirror and I will make you get inside. And then I will find a way to change you back."
He struggled against the tar, heaved to vomit it out, but it stayed and worked its way inside, gathering and pooling and filling him up.
"This spell will rip me to slithers," his youkai said, as the tar pushed around the back of his eyes and filled in his nose and ears, "before I willingly step into that prison."
He dissolved back into nothingness.
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"Inuyasha, come back to me."
Tar spilled from his lips, awareness pulling as his consciousness as he vomited it up. It pooled from his eyes and his nose, mixing in seamlessly with the darkness around him.
The voice, the woman - Kagome, that was her name - whimpered. The sound sent a shockwave of yearning through him. He'd heard his name fall from her perfect mouth before - back at the cave, after the Naraku youkai attack, when she'd pressed up against him and took what she wanted.
She was taking again. But he couldn't feel it. He couldn't taste her.
Mine... the thoughts reverberated around him, his youkai taking the pleasures she gave him instead.
And then he could see her. No, not the her that stood in front of them now, he could see what his youkai desired her to be.
The hand of his youkai fisted into her hair, her cheek shoved forcefully into the dirt below them, and he was pressing into her. Slowly. Savoring every inch. She was gazing up at him, eyes wide and terrified. Hurt. His youkai would have her whether she wanted it or not.
He recoiled inside himself, the growing nausea mixing in with the overwhelming pleasure and desire his youkai felt, but the images wouldn't go away. They played behind his eyes, all around him. He could not escape the fantasy of his other self.
No. NO.
Inuyasha pushed for control; pushed against the tar that stuck him in place. He opened his mouth to scream. To scream her name, to keep her away from him.
His youkai would destroy her.
"Kagome!" It wasn't his youkai calling out her name. It was someone different.
A wolf.
The image of Kagome were ripped away, and there was blissful dark once more. But rage had replaced his youkai's lust, and it thrashed against its' outward entrapment.
"I told you not to touch him!" the wolf berated her, and Inuyasha instantly remembered where he was. The memory slammed into his consciousness.
The wolf youkai holding Kagome by her throat.
Letting go….
Falling….
His last, final thought as his hanyou self had been that he would, at least, save her from his own fate.
But what was he now? His conscious had never become aware before inside himself. Is this how his youkai felt when he had control as hanyou? Helpless and filled to the brim with the dark?
When he was in change, his youkai constantly pushed to gain control, so there had to be a way… had to be a way to connect with his youkai self.
Another swell of rage swept through him by way of his youkai, and he knew the wolf had shaken Kagome. Inuyasha reached into his mouth and pulled at the tar, struggled and writhed to free himself enough to be heard by his youkai.
…If his youkai had taken over, how the fuck had they gotten to this? How the fuck did his youkai allow not only himself to be captured by the wolves, but Kagome as well? They had trapped somehow, and she was as good as dead.
He ripped at the tar, tore it to shreds on his tongue. He couldn't let that bastard touch Kagome.
'Don't let that fucking bastard touch her!' he screamed out into the darkness. 'Let me out!'
Nothing for a moment. Then: Stay silent, fool. You will ruin everything.
Fucking hell, his youkai heard him! He tore at the tar that crept to re-fill his mouth.
'Just let me speak to her, I can convince her to free us and get her away from the wolf!' And once he had control again, he would keep his youkai at bay The way his youkai was now, separated from his hanyou conscious, would be just as much a danger to Kagome.
If I was to allow such a thing, you will not give me control back.
'That's not true, I'm collecting the jewel so we can be stronger! No more fighting our separate consciousness, no more separating ourselves, we will be one!'
His youkai growled. It echoed around him. You have spent centuries hiding me away, shoving me back into nothingness. Do not think for a second that I will readily allow you to come forth and control me once more. No, I will convince the wench myself.
Inuyasha opened his mouth to argue, to tell the fucker that he was their only hope. It was their only hope of getting Kagome away from the wolves and keeping her safe. But the tar swelled, a surge of black, sticky goo pressing through his lips and filling him once more. Inuyasha tore at the thick sludge, thrashed against the title wave as his youkai pushed him down, down, down… His eyes filled. His nose. His ears.
Then nothing.
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"SIT!"
Bright white filled his vision, the goo falling away, he was ripped from the darkness, and then - pain! His shoulders tore from the strain as his face crashed into the ground. His back was on fire, his head splitting in agony. He couldn't breathe!
A voice rippled through the air. One he recognized, but couldn't place.
"Kagome! Are you okay?"
And then, sweet relief as he heard her reply.
"I'm fine!" she coughed and hacked.
He could smell the tang of iron and rock in the air. He sucked it in with a breath, with lungs he could finally control himself. He let the air out slowly, felt the groan reverberate in his throat as he tried, and failed, to move his limbs.
"Inuyasha!" she called out to him, and fuck it felt so good to hear her voice through his own ears again. He wanted to flick them towards her, to affirm that he'd heard her call out to him, but there was something wrong. He couldn't move.
"Stop it," she cried, "it's him!"
He could hear her scrambling to him, over fallen pebble and rock. He struggled to open his eyes as he felt her fingers in his hair, brushing the strands away from his face. He would give anything to see her. ...anything.
With her breath on his cheek, his eyes fluttered open, and her gaze met his.
"Kagome," he breathed, and a warning in his head: stay away.
"Hey," she said, her pretty lips pulling into a smile, "you're back." Her cheeks were wet.
She'd been crying over him… for how long? How long had it been since his youkai had gained control, and they had been taken in by the wolves? Stay away, he wanted to say. Stay away.
But fuck his wavering conscious. He wanted to reach out at her, to wipe her tears away. He wanted to touch her.
His limbs stayed where they were, useless.
"How…?" was all he managed, before his eyes closed. The pain fell away, and darkness took him once more.
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Kagome
Inuyasha slept.
"Lady Kagome, not like that, like this," Ikue sighed, pulling the wet cloth from her hand and dabbing at the wound under his shoulder.
Kagome bit the inside of her cheek and said nothing. She'd given up trying to correct everyone on keeping the title off her name, and honestly, she just didn't care anymore. Because it would be any moment now. Any moment Inuyasha would wake up from his sleep and they could finally get back to the plan they had set in motion. She'd done nothing but stay by his side since she'd put that necklace around his throat and forced his youkai back inside where it belonged. Now the afternoon was slowly creeping towards night on the third day.
He had to wake up soon. Because she didn't have another plan. There was no Next Step. This was it, and it this didn't work, they were screwed.
But once Inuyasha woke up - and he would wake up - she would finally be able to get them out of Wolf Territory and tell Inuyasha how she felt. She was determined not to let him stop her this time. Weeks of sleeping on the cave floor next to his full youkai trapped in heavy chains and bleeding out had solidified it for her. And once she told Inuyasha, if he died, or if he for any reason made it back to his full youkai form, at least he'd know for sure. At least she would know he knew.
But until then, she couldn't do much but wait. Wait by his side and make sure the necklace was still working and he wasn't going to turn back into his other self. She had stayed by his side for most of the following day, tending to his wounds, which didn't want to seem to close up as easily as they had in the past. It was super frustrating that she'd had to ask for help on how to care for him now. She didn't go to Kouga, she didn't quite trust him not to make Inuyasha's injuries worse, and after asking around to a few of the wolves she'd built a shaky relationship with, they'd all pointed her to a single person.
Of course it was Ikue.
Her perfect eyebrows were drawn in concentration, her painted lips pursed as she worked diligently.
Kagome stifled the urge to take back the cloth and continue to treat his wounds herself, but A. she didn't want Ikue to murder her, and B. she really didn't have any idea what she was doing. On this trip so far, Inuyasha had been doing all of the healing, while she'd been the one getting injured.
It figured the one time he needed her, she was useless.
So, fine, her pride was stuffed. Ikue was obviously capable and as long as Inuyasha got better and woke up, did it really matter who nursed him back to health? No, it did not.
Kagome opened her mouth, then closed it. Then opened it again. "Thank you," she finally said, meaning it, "for helping him." She had to give props to Ikue, who didn't snear and kept a relaxed posture.
"I'm not doing it for him. Or you," she added after a pause.
"Well, whoever you're doing it for, thank you,"
Her hands stilled and she glanced over, one eyebrow raised. "I'm doing it for Kouga. I would like to see him restored to how he was, before you and your dog arrive at our doorstep." She huffed and dipped the cloth back into the bowl of turquoise-tinted liquid, moving onto the next set of oozing wounds. "If it takes healing him to get the two of you out of my hair, I'd do it another one-hundred times. Another one-thousand times. Another one-hundred-thousand-"
"I get it," Kagome bit out. She clamped her teeth together so as not to say anything else. Ikue's words didn't matter. Play nice, Kagome, she thought, watching Ikue work. She would have to be satisfied with rubbing at one of Inuyasha's ears. It was the first time in a long time she'd been able to touch them without him flinching away. She hoped he could feel the massage somehow even though he was completely out.
On the second day Inuyasha had slept, she'd bathed him as best she could, and now he smelled more like himself. She had talked to him as if he could hear her, because she'd read somewhere that coma patients could hear when their families and friends talked to them, and she wanted him to know she was there. She planned on being there as soon as he woke up. She wanted to be the first thing he saw when he opened his eyes again.
In silence, Ikue finished quickly. "That's all to be done for now," she finally said, nose in the air. "Ridiculous that he hasn't healed yet, if he were full youkai his skin would be porcelain." She gathered her supplies and walked to the natural pool, where she dumped the bowl of turquoise liquid down the rudimentary drain. "Come ask for me tomorrow and I will repeat the process if there is no significant improvement."
She swept from the room in a flourish, only smiling when Ginta met her at the doorway, who held the hanging pelt to the side, allowing her to pass through first.
Kagome grit her jaw and ignored their polite, idle chit-chat, instead busying herself with making sure Inuyasha looked comfortable. Ginta only came to her room when Kouga wanted something, and right now, she didn't want to deal with either of them.
He'd been trying to get her out of her room since Inuyasha had been brought in.
Ginta cleared his throat. "Lady Kagome."
Kagome inhaled and exhaled deeply, purposely relaxing her shoulders. "Yes?" she asked voice as sweet as she could possibly force it. She turned to face him and sat at the edge of the bed.
"Kouga requests your presence in his chambers, my Lady."
She folded her arms. "I've already told him, Ginta. I'm not leaving Inuyasha until he wakes up."
"It concerns the fox kit."
Her back stiffened. "What about Shippou?" It bothered her that none of them ever wanted to say his name.
"He's getting into trouble."
Kagome narrowed her eyes. "What are they doing to him? He's just a kid!"
"The kit has been asking for you, Lady Kagome."
"So bring him here."
"I'm afraid that's impossible."
She clenched her fist and glanced down at Inuyasha. She didn't want to leave his side. She was worried about how he would react if he woke up and she wasn't there to reassure him. But Shippou was her… kid? Well, kind of, she thought. She had certainly taken on the responsibility of his well-being.
"Fine," she said, standing to her feet and heading out the door. "If anyone hit him I'm going to lose it."
She didn't need Ginta to lead her to Kouga's quarter's anymore, she knew where they were by heart. She stormed her way over, anxious to get back to Inuyasha's side. She threw back the pelt to his enormous chambers and froze.
A nicely-sized meal was laid out in the center of the room, right next to the large fire pit. Kouga sat at his usual preferred table, dressed in his evening robes. He scooped a big pile of food onto a plate as she watched, nodding as Shippou jabbered away.
Oh, hell no. Kagome stomped over, fuming, her hands at her hips. "What the hell do you think you're doing?" she snapped.
Both Kouga and Shippou looked up, eyes wide. Shippou, at least, had the good sense to appear sheepish. Kouga, on the other hand, broke into a wide smile.
"Kagome!" he said, placing the plate down in front of Shippou and standing to greet her. "I'm glad you've decided to eat dinner with us."
"I didn't decide anything," she seethed. "I was told Shippou was in trouble." She glanced down at his red flop of hair. "I'm glad to see he wasn't. But he is now."
Kouga tried to slip his arm around her waist like he always did, and she stepped back in response, like she always did in return. "Hey, come on," he said, lowering his voice. "The kit and I were just concerned for your health. You haven't been eating the past few days. You barely left your room."
"Yeah, there's a good reason for it. And I eat." She brushed past Kouga and kneeled down next to Shippou, who was busy chewing at a chunk of meat stuck through with a skewer. It dripped with sauce and smelled fantastic. "Is it good?" she asked.
Mid-bite, Shippou nodded.
"You were worried about me, huh?"
Again he nodded, waiting for her to make her next move.
Kagome sighed and straightened up. "Well, pile your plate full, we'll eat back in my room. Hurry, now." She turned and walked past Kouga, heading towards the door. She felt his fingers around her arm. He planted his feet and waited for her to look at him.
Slowly, she did. Just a little longer, she reminded herself, and I won't have to put up with this anymore.
"Kagome, you can at least eat here with me."
"You know I can't. And you know why."
"I hate the thought of you leaving."
"I thought you were coming with us. Or have you changed your mind?"
His eyes darkened. He released her arm. "I'm still coming with you. I can't trust the mutt to keep you safe."
Inuyasha was the only reason she was still alive today. The only reason. She bit her lip against saying it. What was the point? They'd had this conversation so many times already.
"You're the King," she settled for.
"Kagome, you don't-" He froze, then his chin jerked up towards the doorway. "Something's gone wrong," he growled, just as Ginta threw open the flap.
"Kouga, the dog is awake!" he shouted. A horn blared, echoing throughout the caves. "He's headed towards the main chamber."
"Lead the way," Kouga said without a second thought. He reached back and grabbed Kagome's hand, pulling her along behind him. "Quickly, Lady Kagome. You may be the only one he listens to."
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Inuyasha
Inuyasha jerked awake, sweating profusely.
His eyes gazed up at cavernous rock. They were lit a rippled, glowing blue, as if he were underwater. The air smelled of sulfur, sweat, blood… and wolf.
Fucking gross. It stung the back of his throat, the smell of wolf. He needed to move, to get fresh air. He tried to sit up, but pain ripped through him. His back was stuck, the tearing of slick blood and skin off the fur he laid on filled his ears. He sucked in air through his teeth and let it out; a hiss of pain as he slowly rolled himself over, and fell out of a bed made of pelts, landing on his hands and knees.
His back was on fire, although he could already feel the familiar tingling, the pins and needles that told him he was healing, albeit slower than he would have liked. No doubt because of the trap the wolves had laid for him. Whatever the fuck it was, it was a piece of fucking work.
His stomach heaved, but nothing came out. Thank the gods he was alone. His sweat was cooling, despite the warmth of the room, and his flesh pimpled out as he began to tremble. The string of beads and bone Kagome had forced over his head hung limp around his neck, and he reached up with a shaking hand to yank it off.
It didn't budge.
Fuck, what the hell had she done? Where had she even gotten such a thing? Like magic, it had ripped him back into himself.
He almost wished he was still full youkai. ...Almost. Because he was replaying it now, unable to stop it; everything that his youkai self had done.
Inuyasha stood. He needed air. Fresh air. The wolf scent was choking him. He stumbled and tripped. His hands reached out and caught himself, gripping onto the edge of a pool.
A natural pool. That's where the sulfur smell and the blue-tinted cast upon the ceiling was coming from. He tried to concentrate on the little, glowing worms emanating light under the water, but his vision swooned.
Most of his memories were fuzzy, like they usually were after he returned to his hanyou state. It was like he'd been watching through the eyes of someone else. But the worst of the memories, the most brutal, those were stored away clear and crisp and sharp as day.
And he relived them now, on his knees on the cavern floor, gripping the edge of the sulfur-pool. He tried and failed to puke up his guts as wave after wave of regret and agony washed through him. He could still remember the lust that had coursed through his veins, surging as he'd awaked after his dive off the cliff, and discovered Kagome as his true self.
In his youkai mind, he had savored her terror.
In his youkai mind, he had wanted more. Even now, he remembered her skin on his tongue - and the fantasies he had while touching her.
After he'd slaughtered the slayer wolf, she had refused to call him a monster. But what else could she possibly think of him now? She'd seen the actual monster that he was. The one who ripped through other youkai like they were nothing. The one who killed for pleasure. The one who would gladly inflict the pain necessary to have her - to have what his youkai perceived as his - under his control.
How the fuck could Inuyasha fight for his freedom if it meant destroying her in turn?
Out. He needed out. He struggled back to his feet and pushed away from the edge of the pool, a bit more steady than before, now that the first wave of memories had hit him. He moved in the opposite direction and hoped he was headed for the way out.
There was shuffling in the distance. Inuyasha lifted his head, his vision still blurry, still utterly disgusted with himself. A fur pelt hung only a few feet away, and it swept aside, a wolf youkai standing in its place.
A motherfucking wolf.
The stench hit him anew as the wolf took two steps in, followed by another. The taller of the two, with dirty brown, shoulder-length hair, was the obvious rank leader. He just had that stink about him. His mouth was pulled back into a grim line, his brows drawing together.
Hate, that's what shone in his eyes. Hate and the usual youkai bloodlust he knew so well.
Keh, Inuyasha thought, it's almost enough to wish myself back in the mirror.
….Almost.
He concentrated on staying upright on his feet, hands fisting, ready for it.
The wolf lunged and seized his torn shirt, gripped it in his hand and turned them both, slamming Inuyasha back into the wall. He hissed against the pain that scorched across his back, the wounds that weren't healed yet oozing fresh onto his firerat coat. He grabbed at the wolf's wrist, cursing his weakened state. He fucking hated this part, knowing he was about to get his ass kicked by a full youkai.
He'd gone through enough ass-kickings as a child. He knew what was coming next. His youkai fought for control again, but fuck if Inuyasha would let it out. Not while Kagome was nearby. That would never happen again with her near, not as long as he could fucking help it.
The wolf grasped into his hair with his other hand, pulling at his scalp and yanking his head back, exposing his neck. Inuyasha kicked out and missed. The wolf chuckled.
"You," he growled, his breath like hot garbage, "I'm going to rip through you like you ripped through my mate."
Fuck. Was there any goddamn point in even trying? For all the lives he had taken, for the youkai children he had slain, he couldn't fucking blame the bastard for wanting to deliver the same fate.
The shorter wolf with light blonde, mopy hair gripped the other's shoulder. "Dai," he said, "Kouga wants him alive, remember? Lady Kagome will have us banished. Or killed."
Lady Kagome? Inuyasha felt his heart slow in his chest. He couldn't catch his breath. A title...
The wolf named Dai turned to his companion. "I don't care what the human whore demands. Kouga is still King. I will vie for a challenge to the death."
"He won't grant one, not with the dog. Not while Lady Kagome lays in his bed."
Numb.
Numb.
He was nothing but numb.
Kagome had chosen to mate with the Wolf King bastard? If that was true, nothing fucking mattered anymore, except that she was safe. He would have to see it for himself, but if it was true… if it was true…
He would have one chance to get out of here and find her, and the wolf bastard holding him against the wall was distracted.
Big fucking mistake.
Inuyasha whipped his hand out, his claws piercing into the outside edge of the wolf youkai's throat. Dai made a gurgling sound, eyes wide. His grip loosened in Inuyasha's hair and around his throat, just enough. Slumping his weight and clenching his jaw as his back scraping against rock, Inuyasha kicked at Dai's knee. His claws still embedded into wolf skin, he used the momentum to slam him to the floor.
Yes, more! his youkai rejoiced on the inside, but there was no time to breathe. He spun, dodging the kick of the smaller youkai and stood, hooking his hand around the back of his head and slamming it into the wall. The wolf fell back, dazed. There was no death blow, he didn't have the fucking time. Kagome was here. She was here, and if this is where she wanted to be, fine. He would leave her with what she wanted.
He just had to fucking see it for himself first.
Inuyasha ran. He threw back the pelt and raced down the hallway, the adrenaline keeping him on his feet. He shouldered an unsuspecting wolf out of the way and shoved his youkai back down into himself as it tried again to break free. He needed to reach the outside, and had to just hope luck was with him and the sun was set. He turned around a bend and heard shouting from behind him. A horn blared in the distance, a warning call. He watched others scamper out of his way as he moved, and the voices that trailed him gathered and grew louder. This was it. This was his only chance. Once he saw for himself that Kagome was fine, he would leave, and he'd do everything he possibly could to keep to the shadows and put an end to Kikyou, and then…
And then…
And then fucking what? he reasoned as he followed the scent of crisp air. He was getting close. The tunnel grew wider and taller, until it opened up into a cavernous vault. Relief poured through Inuyasha as he realized - yes! - it was dark out!
He hurled into the cavern, his eyes searching. Kagome was nowhere to be seen. Fuck, how could he have thought this would work? Any whiff of her trail was masked by the sickening scent of wolves, and there were hundreds of them. They poured into the main cave now, the wide, gaping mouth to the outside yawning before them. They kept their distance, pressed back against the walls as he ran, as he shot out of the cave and onto the outcrop overlooking the mesa.
He spun to face the cave, watched as the wolf youkai gathered at the entrance. Those that were shouting pushed through the crowd, eyes wild, ready for a fight. His searched the sea of wolf faces before him. Kagome was nowhere to be seen.
Fuck. He would have to go back in. He would have to push through and make it to her, somehow, with his nose gagged, unable to sniff her out. He would have to-
"Silence!"
A hush fell through the cave, the quiet a suffocating blanket. The crowd parted, and the Wolf King stalked through, his face carved of stone, his lip pulled back. He was pulling Kagome behind him, not unwillingly.
"Inuyasha!" she cried, moving around from behind the wolf and taking a step towards him.
His breath was forced from his lungs. He couldn't breathe.
She was beautiful. Just as beautiful as he'd left her. And now, as another wound added to the count, she was adorned in traditional wolf youkai clothing of blue, silken robes and a layer of thick fur, which goddammit just made her look even more stunning. She looked fed, and warm, and… and...
Lady Kagome… the wolves had been right. She had chosen her home. She had chosen her mate. She was only a few feet from him, and she was smothered in Wolf King scent.
"Kagome, be careful!" the Wolf King warned at her back, tensing his body as if to attack. As if to protect her from a threat.
And that's just what Inuyasha was, wasn't he? He knew it was true, as his youkai chuckled deep and dark inside him, yearning to be set free once more, reliving the sick, depraved fantasies of murdering the wolves that surrounded them and taking Kagome for himself.
He would destroy her.
She took another step towards him. "Inuyasha…?" she said, her voice wavering, her hand shaking as she reached out for him.
Inuyasha took a step back. He crouched low. "Stay back," he said, forcing his tone to stay even. "Stay away from me." He ignored the hurt in her eyes. It was nothing compared to the terror he saw in them when he had been full youkai. It was nothing compared to the hurt she would feel if she stayed by his side.
"But your wounds," she started, taking another step.
"Stay back!" he shouted, forcing as much hate behind his words as he could. It was nothing but a big fucking joke. He wanted nothing more that to stalk over to her and wrap her up into his arms. But she had chosen. And more than his want for her again, he wanted her happy.
"Kagome, he'll attack you," the Wolf King said, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist.
Inuyasha jerked his head down. He was fucking pathetic. He couldn't fucking watch. He tried to sift, and couldn't. His head wasn't right, it was clouded, strained, and he was exhausted. He took another step back instead, and dropped down off the lip and onto the mesa. Kagome's voice called out his name, called after him as he darted across the flat rock and dropped onto the forest floor.
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Kagome
The horn blared, louder and louder as they made their way towards the main cave.
Night had fallen, Kagome could feel that the air was significantly colder, and as she followed Kouga through the tunnels, he dropped his furs over her shoulders. Whatever. Now wasn't the time to make a fuss over something so petty as his kingly chivalry. They continued forward. The gathering crowd was too thick for her to see through, all pressed tightly together, as if to protect themselves from something.
From Inuyasha, Kagome thought, knowing it was true. She quietly prayed that he had been able to contain himself. Please don't have killed anyone.
Ginta made it to the first layer of the crowd ahead of them and he pushed through, creating a trail for them to follow. Ginta began to call out and announce Kouga, but the commotion in the cave was too loud.
Kagome felt Kouga tense up. "Silence!" he shouted, and the crowd fell into a hushed obedience. Slowly, the wolves parted, and there he stood.
A bright, flickering, wild flame in the dark.
Deep golden eyes, like the sun,
She darted around Kouga, an overwhelming swell in her chest. "Inuyasha!" she cried, reaching out for him.
His eyes met hers. And she knew he was going to come to her. He was going to wrap her in his arms and hold her to him. She knew…
His eyes changed. They darkened. His feet shifted, just slightly.
"Kagome, be careful!" she heard Kouga shout from behind her. Fucking Kouga, she seethed. He was going to mess everything up. She ignored his warning, didn't even turn around to look at him. She held onto Inuyasha's gaze. She held on as tight as she could.
"Inuyasha?" she asked, stepping towards him again.
He stepped back.
No.
"Stay back," he growled. It came from deep inside his chest. "Stay away from me."
His rejection hit her like an arrow through her heart. Not again. Not again. She opened her mouth, felt the quiver of her bottom lip. "But your wounds," was all she managed to say, taking another step towards him.
"Stay back!" he shouted
She flinched. She didn't want him to think she was scared of her, but she couldn't help the reaction. It was another slap in the face.
"Kagome, he'll attack you," Kouga said. He had moved behind her, and she felt his hand on her waist. Her eyes widened, and she watched Inuyasha jerk his head down, as if he couldn't look. As if he thought...
Goddammit, she never wanted to punch Kouga more than she did at that moment.
Before she could move, Inuyasha dropped off the cliff overhanging the mesa, almost too quickly for her to catch. Kagome slapped Kouga's hand away and ran to the edge, shouting his name, shouting after him. She could barely see his silver hair in the dark as he ran across the mesa and jumped from her sight.
"No. No. No, no, no, no, no!" she cried, trembling hands gripping the pointed edge of the overhang.
She heard Kouga's footsteps behind her, felt his hand on her shoulder. Kagome whipped around to slap his hand away again, but she teetered and tipped over.
He grabbed onto her wrist and yanked her back before she could even open her mouth to scream.
.
.
Hang in there with me, everyone. It all comes together soon. ;)
