It was a regular morning, traveling back from a successful shard hunt. If they kept up a decent pace they could be back in Kaede's village by a little after dark. They would have to stop around midday to have a decent lunch and then they would walk straight through dinner to be able to sleep in the village. A little before midday Inuyasha ran off to do a little bit of hunting while Miroku and Shippo gathered wood to start the fire and Sango and Kagome went to the stream to collect water. Everyone had their jobs to do, and they worked together like a well oiled machine usually. Unfortunately, Inuyasha was hunting wild rabbits and somehow missed the strange miko sneaking up on him.
There were far too many humans who were still under the assumption that all demons and even half demons were inherently evil. She got close enough that he smelled her and he was able to leap out of the way instinctively from her arrow, but the purifying blast still spread far enough to hit him. He fell to the ground and his normally glistening silver locks have turned black and his dog ears have disappeared and left human ears on the side of his head. He took off in the opposite direction, trying to find a place to hide out for the time being. She wasn't able to sense his presence now that she temporarily purified his demonic side. He figured If he could lose her in the forest then he could get back to his friends, since he didn't really wanna kill the young dumb miko.
Kagome instantly felt the blast of reiki, and she ran towards the last place she felt Inuyasha's youki. She came across a miko walking back towards the road, a smug smile on her face, "Don't worry sister, I took care of the nasty creature. I'm sure he won't do any more damage around this area." Kagome's jaw dropped, and her voice came out in a high pitch rush "What did you do to him? Did you hurt him? Where is he?" She hated the panic she heard in her own voice, but this woman just admitted to attacking Inuyasha. What would she do if he was hurt and alone. She had to find him.
The unknown miko looked at her with derision and disgust, "You are friends with the likes of a demon? What kind of miko are you?" Kagome didn't bother to wait and explain she just took off into the forest knowing she had to find him. After a few minutes of her yelling his name, and running aimlessly she finally heard his voice respond, and she felt a great deal of tension leave her shoulders. She spun towards the sound of his voice and saw him leaning against a tree, in his human form.
"Inuyasha, what did that bitch do to you?!" He couldn't stop the chuckle from escaping his lips, clearly she'd been spending too much time around him if she took to cursing like that. Mama Higurashi would let him have it if she heard her precious daughter swearing like that. His head shook at the thought, "Don't be mad at her, she assumed I was the demon that had been plaguing the village at night, little did she know we killed it 3 days ago when we came through to go get the shard. I'm not hurt, not really. She just purified me a little. Her powers are nothing compared to yours, it shouldn't take long for my youki to restore itself. Come on, I guess we're having ramen since I couldn't catch the rabbits."
He leaned on her for support a little, which told her he was a little more injured than he was willing to let on. She held him up as best she could while they walked back to the mini campsite they had made for their lunch break. Before they made it back to the campsite however Sango found them, "There you are Kagome! You took off while we were getting water, I tried to call your name but I don't even know if you heard me," at this she recognized the man leaning against Kagome. "Inuyasha? What happened to you? Why are you human? Is this why you ran off?"
Kagome finally held her left hand up to quell the rapid fire questions, "Sango, slow down. I'm sorry I didn't have time to explain I felt a blast of reiki and then I felt Inuyasha's youki disappear. I knew he was in trouble and I had to help him. He's ok though. I think he just needs to rest for a bit." Inuyasha was looking irritable as usual, "Ya know, you don't have to talk about me like I'm not here, or even talk for me. I'm perfectly capable of saying my own piece, Wench. But yeah, Sango I'm fine. I was purified by some miko, and now it'll be awhile before my youki comes back. Now can we eat, I'm starving." They sat down to a quick lunch and were quite surprised Inuyasha hadn't returned to normal yet.
They got back on the road though and Inuyasha was capable of walking on his own, his body was just exhausted from fighting the reiki. In a few hours his youki still hadn't restored and so they made a decision. When they arrived to another small village and they figured it was best to stop for the night instead of traveling in the dark with Inuyasha as a human. It was much easier for them to get a room since they all looked relatively human or harmless, and since sunset was still a ways off they wandered around. Kagome was sitting on a rock meditating trying to focus when she heard voices. Her eyes opened and she saw two young women talking.
"Mari, I wouldn't mind having that handsome specimen for my husband. Look at those muscles, and that strong jaw. I'll bet he could do amazing things." Kagome smiled being used to Miroku's antics of flirting and showing off for the village women, then her eyes followed their gaze and she saw Inuyasha helping carry heavy loads of wood to help pay for their room, because even as a human he was still stronger than most. Her jaw dropped and her eyes grew wide.
Inuyasha and her were still strictly friends despite her desires for more, but she couldn't stand the idea of these women ogling him. Unfortunately she knew there was nothing she could do, Inuyasha was in love alright, with Kikyo. At least she knew these women didn't stand any more chance with him than she did. His heart was unavailable, he was still planning on being dragged to hell with her preincarnation.
She knew she would never have him, but still she couldn't stay and listen to these girls. She stood up and walked away fighting the tears that managed to well up in her eyes. She wandered into a small field a short distance away, trying so hard to regain control of her emotions. He deserved better, he was such an amazing man.
She hated thinking about losing him, especially to the woman who was holding a portion of her soul. Not that she hated Kikyo, she couldn't hate her. She too knew what it was like to love Inuyasha, even if he would never reciprocate those feelings. But the idea of those women who didn't know him, and in all honesty if they saw him in his true form they would be appalled at their own thoughts. They would see him as something dangerous and disgusting, they would want him to change, just like Kikyo did. The very thought brought opened the floodgates and the tears began pouring down her cheeks.
Maybe that's what really hurt her more than anything. She loved Inuyasha for exactly what he was, not in spite of it, where even his "true love" Kikyo wanted to change him for her own gain. He had never known true acceptance to the point where he couldn't even accept himself. But she loved and accepted him, even if no one else in the world did. She loved him in his human form and she loved him even when he lost control and went full demon, but mostly she loved him when he was in his Hanyou form. When he could be her Inuyasha, even if only in her dreams.
She was so lost in her own thoughts she didn't even hear him approach. He stepped up beside her, without her even noticing, far too busy staring up at the skies and trying to stop the tears that kept dripping down. "What could possibly be the problem, Wench?" HIs voice as a human lacked the slightly animalistic growl that she loved so much, but it still startled her out of her thoughts, mostly. "Inuyasha, I'm sorry. I didn't hear you come over. Did you get all their firewood taken care of?"
"Stop trying to avoid the question, Kagome. Why are you crying? Did someone do something? Oh Fuck, did I do something?!" She chuckled despite the tears that kept pouring, she reached up and wiped them on her sleeve. "No, Inuyasha. You didn't do anything. I guess I'm just feeling a little sad today. It's nothing, don't worry."
"Keh, as if I believe that. You don't just start crying like that for nothing." He reached up and used his fire rat to carefully wipe the tears from her cheek, and his hand gently grazed her cheek. She tried to stop herself, but she seemed to have lost all control over her own body, as she leaned into his hand and sighed contentedly. Her eyes closed of their own volition as she leaned her cheek against his palm, wanting nothing more than to be close to him. Her breath hitched and her heart began beating erratically. What was she doing? She needed to stop!
Instead of listening to her, her hand decide to reach up and press against the back of his hand on her cheek as if to implore him not to take it away. She wanted this closeness so badly, and she couldn't seem to stop her own body from begging for it. She felt her feet pull her forward and close the distance between them. 'Stop it! He's not ours for the taking! He loves Kikyo!' Her body was ignoring the screaming going on in her mind, and who was she kidding, she wanted this in her mind, body, and soul. She felt him tilt her face up towards him, and she opened her eyes and locked on with his deep brown almost violet eyes. He was leaning towards her, could this really be happening? She'd only ever had one kiss before, and that was when she had to stop him from losing himself as a demon. This felt nothing like that.
It seemed like slow motion, he pulled her face towards him and his other hand found a home on her hair at the back of her head, where he was able to tilt her mouth up for easier access. She felt her cheeks heat up as his mouth gently brushed hers, she heard herself let out a small moan. How long had she wanted this? Is this really happening? Was she just dreaming this?
Almost in response to the small moans she was letting out, she felt a deep growl rumble through his chest. Then almost as if a switch had been turned his mouth greedily overtook hers, and she felt a pulse as his youki returned. She felt his claws reappear on the edge of his hands, and they gently skimmed through her black tresses, and scraped painlessly against her cheek.
With the return of his youki and claws she felt herself moan louder, this was her Inuyasha. The Inuyasha she had wanted for so long, he responded hungrily to her moan, and she was pressed against him. She could feel the vibration of his rumbling growl and it caused butterflies to erupt in her stomach. Lastly her hand not holding his still against her cheek rose of its own volition, and gently grabbed his ear and rubbed. His growl became almost vicious and she squeezed her legs together to quell this new feeling. His tongue was dancing with hers, and everything else around them seemed to disappear.
At least until a voice from around the front of the house began calling their names, "Inuyasha, Kagome. Supper is ready." As Sango spoke it was clear she was coming closer. Inuyasha quickly reacted by removing himself from Kagome's arms and darting into the trees leaving her standing there, flushed and embarrassed. She had never been kissed like that before. Maybe she did have a better chance with him than those other women.