How Will I Know
Disclaimer: I'm sick today, and watched Final Fantasy 7, and am learning Japanese, but I don't own InuYasha.
Chapter 21: A New Day
The sun shone down brilliantly upon the new ground of spring. Upon the ground, under the shade of a budding tree, a figure sat. A sparrow stood on a branch upon the tree and watched the figure out of the corner of its eye, twittering merrily as the day passed. Soon, however, its mate arrived and the two flew off through the air in fantastic arcs and designs. The silhouette under the tree looked up at the birds and smiled. It became apparent that the figure was not one, but two. Both faces watched the birds dance through the sky in the spring air, rejoicing in the new season. The larger figure shifted and lay out across the grass gingerly and the other placed itself next to the first.
"Today is wonderful, isn't it, Inuyasha?" Kagome carefully scooted herself closer to the youkai as he smiled and pulled his arm tighter about her.
"Yes, it is, especially because of you." Kagome was flattered, yet surprised.
"Since when were you such a complimentary person?" Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably.
"Since you said you loved me." Kagome sat up, curious and confused.
"That was three days ago."
"Can we just drop it?"
"Fine. Your bandages, though, can come off now. You should be almost fully healed, except for you leg. You still shouldn't be able to move that for at least another day. Tendons are slow to heal, even in youkais." Inuyasha sat up and began peeling off the bandages. Kagome jumped up, letting out a small yelp.
"Not now! Get some clothes on first! Something besides your 'underwear'! Come on!"
"No, you come on! These are all I've been wearing for the past three days because of my injuries. Can't you just get over it? I'm not going to take it off." Kagome folded her arms and huffed. She sat back down and Inuyasha sat up. He continued peeling off the bandages, and Kagome began helping, starting with his arm. When the bandages off Inuyasha's arm were piled up, Kagome began peeling them off his torso; Inuyasha stopped taking off his own bandages because he enjoyed Kagome's touch: she was always so gentle and caring, and whenever her fingers brushed the skin of his torso or legs she would blush slightly, and she was cute when she blushed. After Inuyasha's torso was cleared, Kagome set to work on his legs, now realizing she'd been left to remove the bandages again.
As she peeled off the last bit of bandage, she ran her fingers up and down Inuyasha's leg checking for any remaining injury. Only when she looked up and saw Inuyasha looking at her oddly, with his head cocked to the side, did she realize that her actions could be considered inappropriate.
"I was just making sure… that you were healed all the way. I don't want you to get hurt again, or have a little cut get infected or-" Inuyasha had leaned forward and his eyes were just inches from hers. Her breath was taken away by the proximity and depth of his eyes. Suddenly, he grinned and pulled back.
"No need to ramble uselessly, Kagome. I'm a half-demon; I still would heal quickly. Now, help me up. I still can't move my right leg more than a few inches at a time." Kagome stood and held her hand out for Inuyasha. He took it delicately, and when he pulled himself up it was with barely a tug on Kagome's arm. He caught her in his embrace and she returned it gladly, but his bare skin against her made her shiver slightly with uneasiness. She pulled away slightly, just to look at Inuyasha's face, and he smiled down at her. A breeze started up and then died down, blowing Kagome's hair into Inuyasha's face. He breathed in the scent, and leaned his face towards Kagome's, intending to kiss her again, just for a second.
"Hey, uh… where's everybody else? Or are you two alone? In that case, where are the pups?" Inuyasha pulled back, his eyes snapping open. He knew that voice… After a second of focusing, he saw Ekonika standing ten feet away, facing himself and Kagome. So that's where the breeze was from. His contented expression grew into a frown, and Ekonika noticed.
"I'm sorry… were you two about to… well… were you having a moment? Cause, if you ask my opinion, it looks like you were about to-"
"Yeah, Kagome and I were kind of busy." Inuyasha cut her off. Kagome and Inuyasha dropped their arms to their sides and turned to face Ekonika, watching her curiously now.
"What?" Ekonika grew nervous as the couple kept watching her. Kagome spoke.
"Weren't you… well, supposed to be gone for a few years?" Ekonika grew confused now.
"Hasn't it been two years?"
"No." Inuyasha said, irritation running thick through his voice. He took a step towards Ekonika and fumbled for Kagome; his leg had given out. Kagome took his hand and he stood again, even more irritated.
"Are you injured?" Ekonika's ears flew forward, and she suddenly looked concerned.
"Why?" Inuyasha questioned, grinning forcedly.
"Well, I can heal. I haven't been able to use this power more than once yet."
"Oh yeah? How'd it go the first time?"
"Uh… pretty ok. Can I try?"
"Try?!" Inuyasha exclaimed indignantly. Kagome squeezed his hand.
"Let her try, she seems to know what she's doing… and besides, you're part youkai. You'll heal. I know you'll be fine, please?" Kagome kissed him on the cheek, and Inuyasha stuttered.
"Fine, but only if she'll leave after." He whispered back, and Kagome grinned.
"Ok, Ekonika: his tendon in his right leg is cut. Can you fix that?"
"Yeah, no problem. Last time I healed, the injury was much worse. This should be easy." Ekonika transformed to her larger form, and her horn began to glow as she walked towards Inuyasha.
"But you have to leave after you finish this." Inuyasha said, growing nervous; Ekonika's horn was seemingly pointed at a very -private- area.
"Alright, no problem, I'll leave you two to your business. But first, wouldn't it be nice to move that leg?" Ekonika walked forward slightly, her eyes spaced apart and forward (part of being a horse -) allowing her to see where she was aiming. Inuyasha leaned back a little until Kagome stood behind him and wrapped her arms around his bare torso. She pressed the side of her face to the back of his shoulder, and he was at once quieted. Ekonika took note of this, and was very amused. She leaned forward, until her horn was an inch from Inuyasha's thigh, and it began glowing. Inuyasha himself also seemed to glow, and he watched in amazement as a scar on his arm healed as if it were a smudge that had just been wiped off. Ekonika backed up after a minute, and Inuyasha stood, pleased.
Kagome dropped her arms to her sides and Inuyasha spun to look at her. He seemed to be radiating energy, as well as smiling ear to ear. Funny… that's just how I feel right now. Did Kagome get healed too? Kagome stepped up to Ekonika, positively bouncing. She stopped three feet from her.
"Thank you, Ekonika. Now Inuyasha and I can spend our time together."
"Must've been a pretty nasty demon to have cut him like that."
"Yeah, it was. Where did you go, anyway?"
"Oh, here and there… I went up north to visit family- now I guess I'll go to the mainland, I have a friend there and… well, it should take a few years. I'll probably stop back by in a year or so though. Also…"
"What've you done to Kagome?" InuYasha interrupted.
"I was just about to explain, irritating dog."
"Irritating? You're the one that just popped up when Kagome and I were about to-"
"Hold it right there, I don't want to hear what you were about to do." InuYasha almost protested, but instead mumbled and turned away, ears still listening. "Ok, Kagome. Since you were in contact with InuYasha when I healed him, you got some extra healing energy. You should run it out. It shouldn't last any longer than today. After maybe three hours of running, you should be back to normal. Farewell, lovers!" Ekonika vanished. InuYasha and Kagome's faces colored pink, and they turned to look at each other, then turned away, blushing even more.
"So… should we pick up where we left off?"
"I think you should put some clothes, or at least pants, on. It must've looked really suggestive to Ekonika." Kagome was near trembling with energy, and if she stood still much longer, she would be shaking like a leaf. Instead, Inuyasha left, disappearing inside the hut while Kagome started running in circles around it. She soon found she was running much faster than normal, and maybe she even had the speed to outrun Inuyasha. Well, I'll find out as soon as he's done pulling some pants on over his underwear.
Less than a minute later, Kagome stood in front of the cabin and watched as Inuyasha stepped out with his pants on (only! Tee hee!). He looked up, and stood still at the mischievous gleam in Kagome's eyes. She stood absolutely still in front of him, then:
"Can't catch me." Kagome disappeared into the forest, and Inuyasha only stood another second before running after her. He heard her laughter ahead of him, but just when it seemed he'd break through the trees and see her, she wasn't there. Kagome always seemed to be just out of reach. Suddenly, he heard her scream in surprise and… pain. Inuyasha ran faster and barely missed Kagome when he came around a tree; she was sitting on the ground holding her calf and Inuyasha had to jump to avoid her.
"Kagome, are you all right?" Kagome looked up at Inuyasha and uncovered her leg: there were scrapes there that looked like she'd grazed by a wild-thorn bush and fell in surprise. Her palms were also slightly cut, and InuYasha held her hands, palm up, so he could inspect them. As he watched, the tiny cuts sealed themselves and the smaller scrapes from Kagome's leg vanished. Kagome also saw this, and gasped in astonishment. After another minute, she was completely healed.
"Do you think… Ekonika's healing still lasts, and not just the energy?"
"Yeah, that's probably it. This is good, because if you were injured, then we couldn't play!" InuYasha grinned, and Kagome was reminded of her little brother for a second. She jumped up, intending to play chase again, but Inuyasha still held her hands. He stood up as well, and pulled her to him in a hug.
"Caught you." He said, and then pressed his lips to hers for a second before vanishing. Kagome stood, grasping the empty air, her breath taken away. Inuyasha's laugh sounded from somewhere in front of her, and she realized she must look pretty idiotic. She chased after the Hanyou, and decided when she caught him she would give him a little surprise.
After a minute of pointless chasing, Kagome ran out into a field of extremely tall grass.
"InuYasha?"
"Yeah?" The reply was from her right, and she dove through the grass to find no one. She came upon the path Inuyasha had used, however; the grass was all parted, so she followed it. When I find InuYasha I'm going to tackle him and never let him up again, unless I fall asleep, but with this much energy, I don't think I will. It'll be as if I sat him into the ground if I tackle him now, though. Wait… sit!
"Sit boy!" The thud resounded from behind her, and she turned and almost immediately found Inuyasha. "Sorry about that, I couldn't resist. I wanted to find you, and I wasn't patient."
"You're starting to sound like me." Inuyasha pushed himself up off the ground, then fell again when Kagome sat on his back. However, he caught himself and easily pushed himself up again, taking Kagome with him. "And you'll have to do better than that if you think you can wrestle me. I'm ten times stronger than you could ever be."
"Oh really?" Kagome grasped InuYasha's hands in her own and spun him to face herself. She gently squeezed his hands and looked into his eyes, which caused him to fall silent and start leaning towards her. "Si-"
His lips met hers again, this time lingering and kissing her the way she'd wanted before. She pulled her arms up to his chest and held his shirt, pushing him backwards. InuYasha wrapped his arms around Kagome's slender body, and pulled her into a tight hug. As he continued to back up, he tripped over his own feet and fell over backwards. However, neither of the two hesitated in continuing to kiss. Kagome pushed herself up off InuYasha's chest as she still gripped his shirt, and her legs were tucked up off the side of InuYasha. She leaned over him again, and rested her head against his chest, with the top of her head pressed against the bottom of his chin.
"InuYasha."
"Mm?" His face was buried in her hair as he inhaled her scent.
"InuYasha…" Kagome sighed, and seemed suddenly tired. InuYasha paid no attention, and soon Kagome's breathing was steady and slow, her back rising and falling in such a calming manner that InuYasha soon fell asleep as well.
………………………………………………………………
Coolness, calm. A blinding light broke through the mist. "I love you. I love you, Kagome. Will you be with me, forever?" A silhouette appeared in the glow. It's walking towards her, but through the brilliance, she can't tell who it is.
"Koga? Houjo? Inu… InuYasha?!"
"It's me." The voice was distorted, but the figure started to take form. Still, it was unidentifiable.
"Who are you?" The calmness was eerie, then something pressed against her lips. Her eyes closed, and…
………………………………………………………………
When Kagome opened her eyes, InuYasha's face was pulling away from hers. It was dark, and what little light there was came from the moon-sliver, more towards first quarter.
"You looked like you were having a dream. Was it about me?" Kagome was taken aback, and blushed.
"I… think so…" InuYasha brushed a strand of hair away from her eyes and looked into them. He held his hand up to her cheek and caressed it softly. Kagome took in her breath. InuYasha grinned.
"What?" Kagome's breath came out as a whisper.
"Every time I touch around your face… or even come close to you, I can feel you tense, and your heart beat faster: I can smell your excitement."
Kagome pulled her head away so she could get a good look at InuYasha, and half-glared at him.
"What? I meant excitement like you get edgy, not… that. Women have sick minds." InuYasha averted his gaze.
"We do not!"
"Don't yell in my ears."
"Well, we don't."
"Oh yeah?" InuYasha latched onto her gaze, and as she looked into his eyes, a million thoughts ran through her head in a minute. He grinned as if he'd seen them all.
"Ok, so we might… but we don't express it as much as you."
"Oh, really? If you knew how many thoughts I had in the past few days- Uh, I mean… never mind. Nothing." Kagome grinned now, and pulled herself to InuYasha, who was now lying behind her. InuYasha sighed, and placed a kiss on Kagome's cheek. He moved a little, and kissed the base of her neck. Kagome couldn't help it, and let out a small sigh that sounded like a whine. InuYasha pulled back surprised and Kagome looked at him questioningly, almost begging him to do that again. He seemed incredibly amused, and leaned forward and pressed his lips against her neck. Kagome whimpered, and InuYasha took delight in this. He pulled away again, and when Kagome looked back, he just grinned and shook his head.
"Do you always have to pull away like that?" Kagome sighed, and pressed her back against InuYasha 'for warmth'. He moved closer to her, if possible, and she rested her head on his arm while he used her head as a pillow. He looked up into the sky and watched the moon until darkness flowed through his eyelids and carried him and his girl into the waves of sleep.
Well, yeah. Kinda really badly stuck here, I have more ideas, but… oh! I got a good idea… but… no, I can't. I need to get this over with, so I can get to the GOOD stuff. well, please review! I'm going to need a lot of muse to pull this off! Thank You, readers!