Chapter 23: Tell Me About Her... Part I
A/N: This is my repent chapter. I know I've been gone for a while. Hope you enjoy. And by the way, Isisoftheunderground your review made me giggle at my own stupidity. Thanks for pointing it out, it gave me a good laugh. Well… there's nothing I can do about it now. :) oops. For the rest of you confused readers out there, in the begging of chapter 22, Inuyasha is supposed to stand up, furious and be gripping the handle of "Tetsuigia" not the handle of "Tetsuya". (gives amused smirk) that one gave me the wrong mental image. ).
Disclaimer: See other chapters. The same rules apply. Nothing's changed. Sadly. '(
Tell Me About Her... Part I
Shippo and Kaede were not fine.
They were, in fact, very far from fine. They were blissful. Yes, blissful… in a high sort of way. This unexpected turn of events was no thanks to a mischievous little demon who had "spiked" the village water supply with some of her magic mushroom powder. And so the ever serious and grave village meeting quickly turned to the all out, hard-core, village party. Yes, believe it or not, Kaede was no too old to party. And Shippo, once she was 'doped up' enough to convince her, was not too young. And seeing as how water as a necessity, and no one was connected enough with their proper senses to figure out that anything was wrong, needless figure out what the cause of it all was, there was no chance of anyone snapping out of it anytime soon.
But Sango and Miroku didn't know that. And by now they were getting very worried.
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"I'm worried." Sango sighed as she leaned her head back against the trunk of the tree.
"You should get some sleep." Miroku said, his head resting peacefully in her lap. "You hardly closed your eyes at all last night."
Sango smirked. "Nice try, Miroku. But we both know I'm not going to sleep when your perverted hands are anywhere near me."
The monk gave her an amused look. "That could go in more ways than one, you know…"
Sango made a face. "You're disgusting."
"I know, I know." Miroku smiled devilishly as he laced their fingers together. "But you still love me, right?" He asked, raising his eyebrows and smiling again.
Sango sighed, deciding to ignore him for now. "I wish Kaede were here to help us look after him, I can't do half the job she does when it comes to bandaging."
Miroku frowned as he held their hands up in the air above his head, studying the perfect way their fingers interlocked in the light. "It's been a long time… they should have returned."
Sango was quiet for a while, her liquid brown eyes distant. "You don't think something's happened to them, do you?" She said softly. He could tell from her quiet voice that she was thinking about more loved ones being hurt. He didn't know if she would be able to handle that.
Miroku sighed heavily and brought his and Sango's hands down to rest on his chest. "That we can't know that unless we go looking for them… which we'll have to do, if they do not return soon."
"How soon is soon?" Sango asked tiredly, her eyelids dropping, scarlet eyeliner becoming more apparent, her hair illuminated in the dusty sunlight.
"We'll give them another week." Miroku said after a while, rubbing his thumb absently along the back of hers as he watched her fade. "If they don't return by then, we won't have any other choice."
"What about Kagome and Inuyasha?" Sango asked, her voice quieting. "He's still wounded, and knowing her she'd take advantage of it by trying to run off even more than she usually does."
Miroku frowned, his violet eyes thoughtful. "Inuyasha should be able to walk in five days or so." He said. "And knowing his stubbornness he'll probably be up in three."
"And Kagome?"
Miroku sighed tiredly, a wry smile coming to his lips. "The words 'cart', 'gag' and 'rope' come to mine."
Sango laughed and let her head loll to the side so that her chin was resting on her shoulder, her eyes now completely closed. "As long as you don't try to do anything perverted to her when she's bound and gagged, helpless and immobile in the cart…" Her sentence drifted into silence as a certain peacefulness overcame her face. Miroku took a while just to stare before he felt a smile pull at his lips.
Damn… she knew him far too well.
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Kagome's journey back to consciousness was almost as slow and gradual as her original trip to slumber had been the night before. There were no dreams, no unfamiliar images to haunt her, and the new feelings for Inuyasha had, for some reason, decided to leave her alone. When Kagome woke up in the gold washed light, she felt light and refreshed. When she opened her russet brown eyes she felt like nothing in the world could rip away that feeling of renewed composure from her. It was amazing what a good couple of hours of sleep could do for you these days…
It was also amazing how easily that feeling of warm, content happiness was batted away by a single pair of dark golden eyes in her face.
"Kya!" She let out a little scream as her surprise got the better of her. "G-get away!" She cried, jolting up and instinctively letting her hand fly out from beneath the sheets in a long swiping motion. She would never make contact with the target, though. Inuyasha was too quick for that.
"Hey!" The hanyou who had been staring at her jumped, his figure lurching back as his hand easily caught her wrist. He was glaring down at her before she could totally understand the situation. "What the hell was that for?" Inuyasha demanded as he recovered from her sudden scream, the golden eyes that had ripped out of her calm feeling were filled with annoyed surprise.
"For you being in my face, that's what it was for!" Kagome replied, automatically falling into the routine of arguing with him as she tried to yank away her wrist, only succeeding when he deliberately let it go. Her expression was cold and angry, but strangely enough an odd little emptiness tugged at her chest as she cradled her hand, a part of her wondering why he had let go so easily… why hadn't he held on for a little bit?
Quickly Kagome shoved those thoughts away and continued glaring. "What's your problem?" She asked, even though he hadn't done anything wrong. Still, Inuyasha took the bait.
"My problem!" He snapped, "I'm not the one trying to slap people for no reason!"
"Yeah well at least I wasn't spying on you while you were sleeping!" Kagome yelled. 'Actually that's not true.' She thought grudgingly to herself, memories of last night resurfacing in her mind. 'You were watching him last night…' the torn flesh… the little white teeth of bones. 'Oh God… last night.'
Suddenly she was worried again, remembering how badly he was injured. At the same time Inuyasha happened to remember the reason he had been staring at her in the first place. Both of their expressions instantly softened, the only tenseness now coming from concern.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
"You shouldn't be moving." Kagome said at the same time.
Their voices melted in to each other, their tones suddenly soft out of worry and seriousness. It was very strange for Kagome… awkward and yet… familiar somehow. Inuyasha blinked and stared hard at her for a while before his face grew solemn and quietly he turned away to face the dead ashes of the burnt-out fire.
Instinctively Kagome reached out for him. "What?" She asked, before she could stop herself, sitting up and scooting to sit beside him. She had heard herself ask the question that she hadn't planned on asking. He ignored her, his eyes trained on the fire. "Hey… what is it?" She asked, genuine concern seeming to take control of her mind and voice. When she saw the surprised look he gave her she could have slapped both of them for her stupidity. What was she doing?
"You're ok." He said plainly, calmly as if it were a statement.
"Yeah… I guess I am." She said, biting her tongue in order to keep herself from thanking him. She was still confused when it came to Inuyasha. And her new feelings for him didn't change the old ones. She still felt like she was ready to explode with mistrust when it came to him… even though she had hated herself for getting him hurt… and even though he had saved her life… she knew it didn't make any sense.
"I'm glad."
She blinked and looked at him, but he only stared blankly into the fire.
"Me too." She said after a while. "I guess I… owe it to you… you know, for stepping in front me like that…" She thought silently about the torn flesh, the blood, the bandages, the bones… she lifted her head and started up again. You didn't have to-"
"I did." He said suddenly, cutting her off, his voice echoing a note of finality.
Kagome tried to swallow down the dry, stickiness in her throat, as the feeling from the dream threatened to return. Trying to distract herself, she looked down at his injury. But it wasn't there. "Hey…" She said, reaching out tentatively to touch her fingers his side. "You're all bandaged up."
"Yeah." Inuyasha grunted as he his cheeks turned a slight pink color. She didn't notice it, but her slight touch was enough to send him off the walls. "Sango patched me up this morning." He said.
Kagome felt a strange little jab… but decided to ignore it. She had had enough examining of feelings last night. Still… she had planned to be the one bandaging him the next day. But it as probably better that Sango had done it anyway. "Can she do it right?" Kagome asked, studying the job carefully, looking for mistakes, though she didn't know what mistakes looked like… or at least, she thought she didn't.
"She can do it better than anyone else 'round here." Inuyasha replied casually. "'Cept maybe Miroku…" He drifted for a bit and his eyebrows furrowed together in thought. Slowly he turned to look at her. "Hey…" He said after a while, his voice deep and slow as he stared steadily.
She could feel her insides growing hot.
"Why are you doing this?" He asked.
"Doing what?" Kagome said, thank god her voice made her sound as ifshe were calm.
"You're having a conversation with me." Was the incredulous reply. "An actual conversation… where's the screaming? The yelling? Where's the bitching?" He asked, slightly stunned and a little thrown off.
At first Kagome was caught by surprise. First of all by the fact that he actually had the nerve to ask the question, and secondly because she realized she actually was having an actual conversation with him. Without the screaming and yelling and… bitching. 'Whoa…' she blinked for a moment and stared before finally deciding to retaliate in her usual manner. "And is there something wrong with having a decent conversation?" She said, her voice suddenly turning cold.
She could practically see the sudden fear surface in Inuyasha. Good…. She could handle this kind of situation. She knew this kind of situation. "Don't I deserve to have at least some kind of interaction after all this conflict I've been having to go through these past ten – no eleven days!" She demanded.
Inuyasha backed away quickly, momentarily cringing to put a hand to his bandages. "I never said that-"
"I mean its not as if you've forbidden me to do that too, is it!"
"N-no, I, hey-"
"I mean God knows, I need to talk to someone around here!"
"I know that-"
"Even if the only person open to conversation around here is the guy who kidnapped me!"
"Oh for-!" Inuyasha cried, his voice suddenly desperate and frustrated. "For the last fucking time! I didn't-"
"Good morning, Inuyasha, Lady Kagome."
The arguing couple on the floor of Kaede's hut stopped what they were doing and turned to see a man with dark black hair and long purple robes standing in the doorway.
"'Morning Perv." Inuyasha said casually. Miroku rolled his eyes and sighed as he entered the room.
Kagome watched the holy man as he passed her, thinking about the way he had been fighting yesterday, like Inuyasha had been, while she hid behind a rock. She saw, when she looked closer at him that his upper arm was covered in a thick layer of gauze. She felt a little guilty. She hadn't talked to him at all since he had woken up from that poison thing and never once made any attempts to get to know him… or thank him. She had actually been a little nervous about it, because he seemed to be a bit smarter and more tactful than the others somehow. She was afraid he might trick her into saying something that she didn't want to say. Also… she couldn't help but feel that whenever he looked at her he was imagining things that she did not want him to be imagining… But that was probably just her imagination.
She nodded to him respectfully, her eyes downcast. "Houshi." She said softly in a way of acknowledgement, half hoping that he wouldn't hear her. But he did.
Miroku jerked to a sudden stop, and then he was staring down at her, his murky violet eyes penetrating. She instantly wished she hadn't said anything at all. "Lady Kagome…" Slowly, he dropped down beside her, his face staring intently into hers.
"Hey… watch it, Miroku." Inuyasha growled form the corner of the room. As usual he was ignored.
Kagome felt herself instinctively back away from the man. But it was to no avail as he only kept leaning toward further… apparently he didn't believe in personal space either. What was it with those two? "Kagome…" The monk said slowly, his face looking like he was looking for something. "Have you…regained a memory? Something's changed about your aura…"
Across the room Inuyasha tensed. She could feel the pressure of his golden eyes on her.
Her breath caught in her throat. So she had been right. The monk was a bit more perceptive than the other two. Shoot. "Uh…. no." She lied. "I haven't." She could only hope he didn't read minds.
At that Miroku frowned and backed away again, giving her back her personal air space, which she was deeply grateful for. Across the room a bit of hard, stiffness remained in Inuyasha's posture but slowly he seemed to relax… although she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable still.
"So… what's up?" Inuyasha asked, turning to Miroku.
The monk sighed and sat down. "Sango's sleeping." He said. "She's worn out from last night."
Inuyasha scowled. "That's what you came in to tell me?"
Kagome gave a wry smile. Inuyasha would never change.
Miroku gave Inuyasha a look. "Considering as how she was the one who bandaged you up this morning I'd be a bit more respectful."
Inuyasha's face turned sour and he was silent for a while. "Yeah… whatever." He said, though she thought she saw some small traces of guilt.
"We've agreed that we need to start a search for Kaede and Shippo." Miroku said, his tone very businessman like.
Inuyasha nodded solemnly. "When?"
"That's what I came to ask you." Miroku replied, nodding down to Inuyasha's injury. "When can we count on you to be stable enough to travel?"
Inuyasha made a face. "Tomorrow."
Kagome's jaw dropped.
"What? You thought this little scratch would slow me down?" Inuyasha asked.
Miroku rolled his eyes.
"Wait a minute…" Kagome said weakly from the corner, her entire body numb. Was he thinking about moving with that injury? Was he crazy?
"Inuyasha… be realistic now."
"I am being realismic!"
"Realistic."
"Whatever!"
"Hey…" Kagome said again, but she was ignored.
"Three days."
"I'll be up in one."
"You really are too stubborn."
"Hey."
"I'm not being stubborn, don't forget I'm still half demon!"
"And you're also half human."
"Shut up!"
"HEY!"
Both men blinked and turned to look at Kagome, who had stood now, obviously she was fuming. Miroku, being the wiser of the two men, backed away immediately and Inuyasha, being the less wise of the two, moved forward. "What?"
"Are you seriously trying to tell me that you plan on moving with that injury!" Kagome demanded.
"You got a problem with that?" He asked tartly, his eyes daring her.
"It's just stupid! That's the problem!" Kagome snapped, stepping closer.
"Agreed," Miroku said, trying to intervene before it was too late, "you see Inuyasha-"
"What makes you'll even be able to stand tomorrow!" Kagome demanded.
Miroku sighed… it looked like it was too late anyway.
"Feh – don't waste your breath on stuff like that. I'm stronger than you think I am." Inuyasha answered cockily.
"You were cut to the bone!" Kagome cried, for some reason tears were threatening to start burning in her eyes. But she absolutely refused to let them. What would Inuyasha think of her then?
"I'm telling you it's nothing!" Inuyasha snapped.
"It's not nothing!" Kagome yelled. "You can't start traveling tomorrow you're too hurt!"
At that Miroku raised his eyebrows… it sounded like the old Kagome. He wondered if either of them even noticed it.
"Oh yeah?" Inuyasha leaned forwards. "And whose going to protect you tomorrow if I'm down and locked up in this damned hut all day long!" He demanded. "For the last time I'll – be – fine!"
Kagome felt something jab into her heart, her head immediately started spinning in darkness.
'Just shut up and let me protect you!'
"Inuyasha…" She felt dizzy, just like the last time his voice invaded her mind. Quickly she looked up, her panicked russet eyes meeting with his golden ones. He blinked for a moment before suddenly understanding, recognizing the expression as the same one she had worn in the woods. Within seconds he was standing up.
"Ah!" He cringed in pain, his hand automatically going to the bandages around his middle.
Kagome tried to hold herself up, but felt herself sway. For a second her vision went black, and then she was falling into Inuyasha's arms. He cried out when their bodies collided, hers delicate frame jarring painfully with his. Unable to support her, he lowered them to the ground and squatted there, panting while Miroku stood hastily and moved to help them.
"Inuyasha…" Kagome said heavily when Miroku laid her on the ground beside the hanyou, who was propping himself up with his hands while he sat. She breathed hard as she fought to recover from her almost-black-out-experience.
"Yeah?" he asked, his breath just as ragged and strained as he looked down into her eyes.
"I told you so."
Inuyasha scowled. "Wench."
She smiled a little, and she saw a flash of recognition pass through his golden eyes… followed by a look of stunned shock.
'Shoot… he remembers me last night.' She thought quietly to herself. She didn't know how she knew… she just did. "Inuyasha." She said suddenly, feeling her feeble strength start to return. "Tell me about Kagome."
A/N: Don't kill me. Please. School starts tomorrow so I may not have that much time anymore. But I'll try. /. I decided to break this chapter into two parts. This I part one. Yey! And no this chapter has not been re-read. Its three in the morning and I'm exhausted so if you don't enjoy don't tell me. I might cry. Ciao!