Chapter 6: The Morning After: Talks and Kisses

The next morning dawned bright and clear, and the forests around the camp rang with the sounds of animal life. Birds chirped, squirrels chased each other over magnificent trees, and deer ran unencumbered through the forest, so fast they barely made a sound as they ran through the leafy foliage strewn on the ground.

Kagome lay curled up in her sleeping bag, awake, but refusing to get up. She wasn't in the best mood, and her hurried rush to get to bed meant that she had neglected some very essential grooming. Her hair was full of knots and tangles, the likes of which she was not looking forward to getting out, and her skin was rough where she had failed to soothe it with lotion. Combined with a fitful night's rest full of the same nightmare that had been plaguing her for weeks, Kagome felt tired and worn down both physically and emotionally.

The sun hitting her face through the trees was the only thing that convinced her to open her eyes. Everywhere, the colors seemed vibrant and bright, enough that just looking at them made her feel slightly better. Getting up quietly, she walked across camp, pausing only for a moment to stare down at Miroku and Sango, who were curled up next to each other, Sango's head resting on Miroku's shoulder. Hearing her approach, Miroku's eyes flickered open, his eyes meeting hers. He started to move, his lips parted as if to ask her a question, and then stopped abruptly, realizing where he was, and who was next to him. His face registered shock, confusion, and then something that looked almost vulnerable. He stopped moving, his head shifting slightly to look at the woman lying at his side.

Kagome began to walk away, not wishing to disturb their slumber, but couldn't stop herself from glancing back at them a final time. Miroku reached his hand towards Sango and for a moment, Kagome feared that he was going to ruin the perfect moment. But instead of reaching to grope or fondle Sango, Miroku merely brushed her hair back from her face, running his knuckles lightly down her cheek. When his eyes closed again, she saw him fully and completely relax, his features tranquil and content.

She moved forward, unconsciously brushing away a tear that appeared in the corner of her eyes. Seeing Miroku gaze at Sango like that, with love plain in his gaze, made her feel lonely. She wanted someone to gaze at her like that, tell her with their eyes that they cared about her above all others. She didn't need words, didn't need declarations. All she needed was the promise made in the touch of lips, in the brushing of a hand across her cheek, in the stroking of her hair or in the caress of skin on skin.

When she stopped again, it was out in the middle of a meadow that bordered the camp. She spread her towel down, stretching her body down upon it. The sun beat strong and heavy upon her, warming and soothing her tensed muscles. Underneath its rays, she felt herself opening and emerging, reconnecting with reached into her pack and pulled out a bottle of moisturizing lotion, which she proceeded to massage into her neck, arms, and legs. Stripping off her shirt until she was wearing only a pair of shorts, and a sports bra, she smoothed more lotion onto her chest and stomach, loving the way her skin turned silky smooth as it soaked in the extra moisture.

Once that was done, she turned to her hair, putting in a small dollop of de-tangler before carefully and methodically brushing and untangling the knots that had formed while she was sleeping. When she was finished, her hair was once again lustrous and soft, and her skin was supple and smooth. She sighed contentedly. She may not have love, but sunshine, soft skin, and pretty hair went a long way towards improving her mood.

"Feh, are you just gonna sit in the sun all day or are we actually gonna get stuff done?" Inuyasha's voice rang out, disturbing her from her pleasant sunbathing. She didn't answer, trying to prolong her peaceful solitude for a moment longer, a feat at which she would have succeeded if not for the sound of his irritated sighs over and over.

"Good morning, Inuyasha" she said curtly, forcing herself up to look at him, ignoring the way her pulse fluttered when she did so. In the sun, his golden skin shone, perfectly complemented by the red of his haori and the silver of his hair. It was all too easy to let the images of last night overtake her, drowning her in the need to have him against her, his lips against hers, touching her, wanting her.

When his eyes met hers, there was no hint of the heat that had been present last night. Instead, he was once again tightly contained Inuyasha, free with his anger and his irritation, but not with his heart or with his emotions.

"Are you coming?" He asked her, tightly.

She sighed and stepped toward him, pushing her hair back from her face before allowing it to fall back around her face. She heard, more than saw his intake of breath, when he caught sight of her barely clad body, dewy skin and lush locks glistening in the morning sunshine. She looked at him sharply, sure that she had imagined it, but she could see the lust flash through his eyes before he turned away from her.

A feeling of satisfaction rolled through her at his reaction, and she resisted the silly urge to stretch her arms over her head, exposing more of her body to him. His refusal to meet her gaze told her that he wasn't as emotionless as he pretended to be. Three years and all they'd shared was one long kiss. It hadn't been enough for her, and she couldn't imagine that it had been enough for him either, but in anything other than full-demon form, he had kept their relationship strictly platonic - on good days, anyway, when he wasn't a raging, uncontrollable demon.

When she'd been fifteen, she'd been so intimidated by him, by his striking good looks, fierce personality, and eyes that had seen and experienced such pain and torment over the years. She'd felt a strange fascination with him when she'd first seen him trapped to the ancient tree, bound by Kikyo's arrow. Even when he'd come after her after she had freed him, she'd experienced an unfathomable curiosity to know who he was, and an even weirder realization that if she died at his hands, she wouldn't hate him for it.

Her feelings had continued to grow throughout the first year that they travelled together. She'd wanted to kiss him after their first battle, when he'd protected her unfailingly even when doing so almost resulted in his own destruction. She'd been embarrassed by her feelings, still caught in that awkward stage between girlhood and womanhood, wanting him and then being disgusted with herself for even thinking such thoughts. She'd contented herself with friendship, knowing it was the best he could offer her, and probably the best that she could accept, though that hadn't stopped her from dreaming about him and wishing that they could take their relationship farther.

Then, bound to a tree, she'd watched Kikyo try to lure Inuyasha to his death. She'd managed to finally break Kikyo's hold over her and drag Inuyasha back to his senses with her voice, but it had changed things between them. She'd seen the way that Kikyo had looked at Inuyasha, the way that a woman looks at a man she has been intimate with - her eyes seeing so much more than was actually available to her. He'd looked at her much the same, although anger and fear had colored his emotions slightly. But it wasn't enough to make him reject her. He had walked straight into her womanly embrace, and Kagome had stared at them, feeling young, vulnerable and powerless. She knew that Inuyasha was older than she was, although in demon years they were approximately the same age, and that he and Kikyo had been together physically. But knowing it hadn't prepared her for the visual experience of watching them together.

Seeing the two of them interact with each other, talking and moving with intimate knowledge of the other's position and movement in space, had left her feeling awkward and inferior. She couldn't offer herself to him that way, so instead she'd accepted his friendship, hiding her feelings from him. But as the years had passed, things had changed. She'd begun to desire more, had begun to want and need things, womanly things that only he could give her. When they'd shared that one kiss where she'd brought him back from full-demon lust, she'd been startled to realize that it wasn't enough for her. Even then, she'd begun to grow out of her need for chaste, innocent kisses.

Now, she wanted far more. At almost nineteen years of age, she was no longer the gangly, awkward, and confused girl she had been when she first came to the feudal era. She had stopped wearing her traditional green skirt after she graduated both because it reminded her too much of the innocent girl she'd been, and because she no longer had the childish body to put in it. She'd changed more than emotionally. Her hips and were more curvaceous, accenting her slender waist, and her legs and thighs were now shapely rather than thin and awkward. She'd never known if Inuyasha had realized how much she had changed, but now, seeing the way his breath quickened when he looked at her and the way his eyes gleamed with lust made it clear that her physical transformation had not gone unnoticed.

Now if only he would act on it.

"I always come," she said, letting the innuendo roll off her lips, barely preventing herself from smiling as she saw a shudder pass through Inuyasha's body. She wasn't in the mood to be nice; she wanted to play dirty. Their talk last night about Kikyo had left her feeling decidedly unsexy, something she intended to rectify as soon as possible. She refused to allow him to chase after Kikyo blindly without realizing what she had to offer. Kikyo may have had the upper hand three years ago, but things had changed. She was now a woman with womanly needs and desires, and Kikyo was a dead, psychotic bitch without a heart or soul. History be damned - Kikyo had had her chance. Now it was Kagome's turn.

"Good. Hurry up then." he muttered, before stalking off back to camp, not rising to her challenge. With another long sigh, she bent to pick up her towel and backpack, following after him.

Miroku and Sango were both awake, and having a heated argument by the time she entered the copse of trees that protected and shaded their campsite. A quick glance at the reddening hand mark on Miroku's face told more clearly than any words what had transpired. Kagome shook her head at the monk, looking pityingly at Sango, preparing to walk over and take her side. Until she noticed the pale blush on Sango's cheeks, and her slightly swollen lips. She stopped then, looking at the two of them, searching for some indication of what had happened. They were far enough that she couldn't hear what they were saying, but the word "kiss" floated across to her ears.

Miroku had kissed her, and judging from the way Sango's hands were trembling, she had liked it. Kagome's stare finally broke them out of their argument, and they both turned toward her simultaneously, like puppets pulled by the same string. She looked at Sango questioningly, who blushed a little deeper, and mouthed 'later' at her. Kagome inclined her head slightly in acquiescence.

"Morning Kagome, how are you?" Miroku said, breaking the awkward silence. His eyes travelled over her, noting her scant clothing. But although it was clear he appreciated her body, he didn't look at her with the same interest or attraction she saw in his eyes when he looked at Sango. It gave her hope to see that he wasn't as free with his lust and affection as he sometimes pretended.

"Good, Miroku. How are you feeling?" She answered him before posing a question of her own. He looked better. The color had returned to his cheeks, and he looked strong and healthy, though she could see the light seemed to bother him a bit.

"I'm fine, Kagome. Thank you. I had an excellent healer". The look he gave Sango was so filled with gratitude and other things that it made Kagome embarrassed to see it. She cleared her throat, and he turned his attention back to her.

"How's your head?" She asked. "I have medicine in my bag that will help if it's still hurting."

He started to shake his head, and then stopped as a wave of pain hit him. He massaged his temples with his thumb and forefinger for a moment before nodding in defeat. She opened up her backpack, pulling out a small white bottle labeled 'Aspirin' and pulling out two pills which she handed to him. He took then from her, swallowing them with water from the water bottle she held out.

"So what happened after?" He questioned. "Sango started filling me in on the details, but she didn't finish her story". The last part was said with a characteristic Miroku grin that made Kagome smile even as she wondered at the meaning behind his words.

She nudged her thoughts aside, focusing on filling him in on the rest of the story. She summarized her near death, her purification of the snake demon that had attacked her, befriending it, Inuyasha's attempt to kill it, her refusal, their finding of this campsite, and Sango's insistence that he sleep and heal his injuries. He smiled even more broadly at learning this, and she could see Sango shift embarrassed next to him.

She omitted her fight with Inuyasha about Kikyo, not ready to bring up the emotions that came along with that particular subject. Miroku looked as if he were about to say something, and then decided better of it.

"Where is Inuyasha?" He queried, looking around.

Kagome shrugged her shoulders. "He's around here somewhere. He came all the way out to interrupt my sunbathing so he'll be out shortly, wherever he is."

As if on cue, Inuyasha appeared, dragging along with him her new pet, Silver. He let go of the snake demon with a humph. It slithered over to her, butting its scaly head against her hand, and she stroked it.

"Your new favorite pet was out skulking in the fields" Inuyasha told her, his voice scornful.

"He's cold-blooded Inuyasha," she chastised him, still running her fingers over Silver's scaly hide. "He was probably sunning. That's now two of us. What is so important you needed to interrupt us?"

"In case you haven't noticed, we have jewel shards to find. And if Kagura's presence is any indication, there are probably some nearby that Naraku's trying to get his hands on".

"And Kikyo?" that question came from Miroku, although Inuyasha had looked at Kagome instinctively when Kikyo's name had been spoken. She stared at him, letting him know with body language alone that he knew what her opinion was on the subject.

"She is not our concern," Inuyasha ground out. "We have work to do. Let's go".

Miroku glanced at Kagome, who just shook her head. She had already tried to make Inuyasha see reason, and she was not getting into it again. Fighting about Kikyo was not how she wanted to spend her day, though, whether Inuyasha agreed or not, she was going to bring Kikyo to justice for her crimes. Even if she had to bind Inuyasha with magic to do it.

They moved out.

...

Author's Note:

Hey all. Hope you all enjoyed this chapter. I've been working really hard on this story, and I have several more chapters written. Review and I'll update.

JadeElemental