DISCLOSURE STATEMENT: This author has no financial or non-financial relation nor do they possess any right to "Inuyasha: A Feudal Fairy Tale" franchise. Full ownership of all characters is the sole intellectual property of Rumiko Takahashi.
I May Have Miscalculated
It shouldn't be this hard to draw him out, right? Inuyasha had been gone for almost a day now and despite her best efforts, Kagome couldn't even track his aura. So she'd done what any logical reasonable not desperate person would do in her position.
She ran a knife over her hand, drew some blood and marched into the dark spooky woods all by herself after everyone else went to bed. Totally reasonable. Made perfect sense. This wasn't crazy, okay? Not at all insane.
When Miroku first handed her the note letting her know Inuyasha had known she'd been lying the entire time, Kagome had very nearly passed out from nerves. Morning came sans Inuyasha and a little bit of bile found its way into her mouth. Night came and now she was borderline hysterical. But she was calm right now. Totally calm and sane.
"Oh no," Kagome called out shakily as made sure her bloodied hand was uninhibited, "I'm hurt and all alone. Without a weapon. At night. With human eyes that can't see in the dark."
Such a good job she was doing. Completely believable. This would totally work. If not because of the blood but because she was doing an excellent job playing an insane person. Mainly because she actually had lost her marbles when the knowledge of how utterly she'd screwed up hit her full force. Right now, all she wanted was to know he was okay. That's all she wanted.
"Guess I should just go through the well forever," Kagome added none too desperately, "Just hop right in and never come back."
When even that got no reply, Kagome went into full blown panic mode. An impressive achievement considering how quickly her sanity had been slipping these past few hours.
"Here I go," Kagome choked as she pointedly made a beeline towards the well, "I'm going."
Still nothing. Maybe...maybe he'd left. Was too far away and couldn't hear her. A good blood smear on the well would draw him to her. Excellent plan. He'd assume she was hurt and feel the overwhelming compulsion to make sure she was fine. That wasn't playing dirty.
Kagome got to the meadow and damn near sprinted towards the well.
"I'm going home," the miko called out desperately, "This is it!"
Nothing. Not even a hint of his aura.
After thoroughly dirtying her wound and getting a few splinters for good measure, Kagome jumped in.
And on her side of the well, Inuyasha bolted awake in a cold sweat. Unable to face the crushing truth that Kagome would never love him, he'd retreated to the only place where he could be miserable in relative peace. Kagome's room was warm and soft and smelled like the woman who probably hated his guts. Most of past twenty-four hours had consisted of him napping or curling up under the covers wallowing in self-pity and shame. Stupid brain coming up with stupid ideas. What did he honestly expect would happen? Whether he liked it or not, Kagome had very different ideas of what the future would hold. Her future in the future. Why would she weigh herself down with someone who didn't fit into that pretty picture? Who knew literally none of the things and who needed to carry around a sword all the time or else he'd turn into a serial killer? People didn't go around with swords here. In fact, it was probably looked down upon or straight up against the law. Everyone in this time could read and write and do the mathematics and...and knew how a microwave worked without needing someone to explain it. Nobody here couldn't figure out doorknobs at first and still hated them to the point where they just used unlocked windows.
Inhaling deeply to get his mind back under control, Inuyasha's eyes flew open in horror as the scent of Kagome's blood wafted into his nostrils.
"No," he breathed as he scrambled off the bed and nearly fell in his desperate attempt to get to the woman he loved, "No. No. No. No..."
The scent was getting stronger as was the scent of her unbridled panic. She'd gotten hurt. She'd gotten hurt while he was here not there where he could've protected her. Whatever happened to her was his fault.
Oh god, what if he'd been imagining she could hear all this time and she really couldn't hear and that was how she…
Inuysha exhaled shakily as he quickly went to the window and...
Froze. That girl down there couldn't possibly be Kagome. The girl standing in the courtyard looked like the traditional village crazy lady whom everyone avoided at all costs. Someone you'd slowly back away from at the earliest opportunity. Hair a mess, clearly self-inflicted wound on her hand and staggering across the shrine like she'd forgotten how to walk properly. This wasn't good. This was the exact opposite of good in every imaginable way.
Thrusting open the window, Inuyasha quickly and desperately moved towards her before nearly jumping out of his skin when she fixed her panic filled eyes on his person. Shaking his head, Inuyasha scooped the miko up and launched back into the bedroom.
"What the hell did you do?" Inuyasha breathed in mild horror as he inspected the unnaturally straight cut wound. After a lifetime of taking a hit, the battle-hardened half-demon could read a wound like a book. Breathing took more effort. That cut made him regret taking time to be alone more than anything else. It made his stomach churn and his blood turn to ice in his veins.
"You were here?" Kagome croaked miserably and Inuyasha nodded distractedly.
"We need to get you cleaned up," he muttered breathlessly as he glanced at the bedroom door, "Soap. We need soap."
"Why are you here?"
Sighing shakily, Inuyasha got up and made his way to the bathroom in lieu of replying. There'd be time to talk once he cleaned her up. For the very first time, he understood why Kagome was so determined to clean up his wounds all the time. Sure, he hated when she got hurt but he'd never felt compelled to clean her up himself. There were always other people for that. Kaede. Sango. But there was no one else this time unless he went through the well and honestly, that seemed like a terrible idea. Kagome was the only one who treated his wounds. The only one he allowed to treat his wounds if he was awake enough to have an opinion on the matter. And if she felt every a shadow of what he felt in this moment, it was a miracle she'd never sutra'd him down so he couldn't fight her.
Quickly wetting a clean towel and grabbing the hand soap, Inuyasha made his way back to the bedroom where Kagome was still sitting on the bed.
"Let me see your hand," he ordered gently and Kagome held out the trembling appendage. Inuyasha furrowed his brow and let out a shuddering sigh, "This is deep. What made you cut your hand idiot?"
"I…I thought you'd come find me if I was bleeding," the miko admitted barely above a whisper, "You didn't come back."
Inuyasha gave her a chiding glance and raised a single brow, "So you can hear, huh? And you can follow instructions apparently."
Kagome paled as she tried to retract her hand, but he held firm while his free hand reached for the soap.
"Want to tell me why you were lying?" Inuyasha continued as he pumped a few dollops onto her hand and moved onto the wet towel. He could hear the way her heart began racing and immediately regretted asking.
"I really couldn't hear at first," Kagome admitted quietly, "But I heard…I heard you say you love me so…"
Inuyasha immediately jumped to the wrong conclusion.
"Forget what I said," he sighed as he continued gently washing her wound, "Nothing's gotta change, okay?"
Kagome swallowed thickly and licked her lips before taking a risk herself, "What if I want things to change?"
Amber eyes glanced up at her wearily.
"What do you mean?"
"What if I love you too?" she added as she subtly leaned away in anticipation of a rejection. Inuyasha's hand paused as his eyes widened in disbelief.
"Do you mean that?"
Kagome gave him a strange look, "Of course I do. I've only loved you since forever."
Rolling his eyes, Inuyasha let out an amused sigh before shaking his head, "I need to get some bandages. Just sit there until I come back."
Nodding faintly, Kagome cradled her bleeding hand against her chest before it occurred to her that he had no idea where bandages would be.
"There's some in the drawer in the bathroom," she called out quietly and she heard a semi-distant snort then the sound of several drawers opening and shutting. A few moments later, Inuyasha returned and knelt down in front of her again to dress her wound.
"I know why I didn't say anything. Why didn't you?" he asked as he glanced up at her with a slight smirk, "And why did you just pretend you couldn't hear me? I think its safe to say you knew how I feel so why not just say it back?"
"Because…because it was adorable," she cleared her throat, "And you never admit things. I thought you'd stop if you knew I could hear you."
Inuyasha considered this for a moment as he finished tying up her bandage.
"I'm sorry," Kagome blurted desperately, "I'm so sorry."
"Well thanks for the apology I guess," Inuyasha sighed as he moved to sit next to her, "So…so where do we go from here?"
Exhaling slowly, knew the first thing that needed to be done. Slowly and carefully, Kagome's injured hand trailed up his back earning a shiver before grabbing the beads and yanking them off his head. Inuyasha flinched at the slight static shock that accompanied the removal before his eyes widened in panic for absolutely no reason. This was what he'd wanted, right? And a good thing. She…she trusted him enough to take those damn things off so…so why…
"The beads are gone," Inuyasha breathed shakily as his eyes locked onto the beads hanging limply in her hand, "Why are the beads gone?"
"I should've taken them off a long time ago," Kagome sighed and Inuyasha began hyperventilating without really knowing why.
And then it hit him. Why he was so panicked that is. What if the beads were the reason he could go through the well?
"What if I'm stuck here now?" he whispered shakily as his eyes whipped up to meet her nervous gaze, "Or…or what if I need them in battle? You've helped me dodge attacks so many times. What…what if I need them?"
Kagome cringed at this reaction. Didn't Miroku say Inuyasha thought she only kept them on because she didn't trust him? How was this gesture backfiring? Why was this gesture backfiring?
"Do you, um, want me to figure out how to put them back on?" the miko offered awkwardly and Inuyasha shook his head.
"I mean…not really but…but…just dammit why did you take them off? You didn't even ask me first," Inuyasha clipped back before groaning and pinching the bridge of his nose, "Forget I said that. Forget I said any of that. I…"
Whatever he was going to say by way of explanation trailed off into a pleased hum when Kagome leaned over to press a gentle kiss against his lips. In that moment, every ounce of tension left in his body melted right out of him and when he pressed back, it was like everything that happened up until this point no longer mattered.
Pulling back, Kagome gave her half-demon a sheepish smile that he returned with an adoring one.
"Well I guess we can find out in the morning," the miko offered vaguely, "I probably need to sleep or something."
Inuyasha's smile turned into a smirk.
"Or something," he teased, "Is that an invitation?"
Blushing furiously, Kagome shook her head, "I mean no, not to do…that but we could…could do other things."
Inuyasha's smirk grew as laughter danced behind his eyes.
"I guess I'm confused. What you mean 'that'?" he pressed happily, and Kagome wished for death.
"You know….things?" she explained poorly and Inuyasha's jaw began to twitch from the effort of holding back the full-blown grin that wanted to break free.
"Well, yeah, things do happen," he sighed playfully, "All kinds of things. Which one are you talking about?"
Now roughly the color of a tomato, Kagome mouthed wordlessly before her dear hanyou decided to give her a break and press a soft kiss against her lips.
"Calm down Kagome. I know what you mean. I'm just messing with you," Inuyasha laughed softly as he got up and stretched his arms above his head, "S'only fair. You've been messing with me these past couple days."
"True. Okay, so…so would you want to, um, cuddle or something?" Kagome offered hesistantly and Inuyasha felt like his heart might be melting. Nodding, Inuyasha gave her the most affectionate smile Kagome had ever seen on his face before his smile turned wicked.
"You sweat a lot," he teased happily, "If you change the sheets and your clothes, you've got yourself a deal."
"Jerk," Kagome mumbled under her breath as she rolled her eyes, "I didn't think you meant that one."
"Oh, I meant all of it. All. Of. It," Inuyasha clarified with laughter in his voice, "Every. Last. Word."
Kagome's amused smile faded as she realized there was another apology that needed to be made before they could move forward, "About Kikyo…."
Inuyasha's smile immediately faded as his muscles tensed. That was one admission he definitely regretted saying out loud.
"You were right. I should've been more understanding," Kagome continued apologetically, "And I'm sorry I acted that way. What I did was wrong."
Inuyasha nodded to indicate his acceptance of her words before cricking his neck and nodding towards the bed.
"So, you gunna change those sheets or what?"