Hello, my fellow readers. Ok… I am so, so, so, so, so, sooooo sorry! I doubt you will believe me when I say that I've wanted to update forever now but I started writing other stories and I had writers block for the next chapter on not only this story but my others as well. I hope the readers this story started with are still here but I wouldn't blame anyone if they stopped waiting and gave up on this completely. But for the people who are reading this now, I hope you enjoy! And again sorry!
Love Risk
Chapter 7
It was early in the morning when Kagome woke up. Surprisingly she was the first one up out of everyone in the hut, even Inuyasha, although she could see him starting to stir. Last night's memories came rushing back and she lightly blushed, she definitely did not expect that when she came back to the hut.
*Flashback*
Kagome, along with Koga and his pack, were sitting in the woods by a well-built fire. They were eating the animals that Koga caught and roasted, enjoying themselves, laughing and telling stories. After dinner, Kagome decided to go to bed early but was in her sleeping bag, tossing and turning. Koga, sensing her distress, went over to her and woke her up, only to see tears were in the corner of her eyes.
"Kagome, wake up, what's wrong?" Koga said shaking her gently.
"My chest… hurts, really bad." She winced and breathed in deeply to try to ease the pain. Koga pulled the blanket draped over her off and saw tiny drops of blood on her kimono top the elderly priestess gave her because her clothes were ripped beyond repair. It wasn't enough to be fatal but he was still worried her wound was reopening. He gently and carefully picked her up bridal style and started to run back to the village, but not too quickly to cause her pain, and let his men know what was going on.
He arrived at the village in a matter of time and went into the priestess' hut. "Someone help, she's in pain!" Koga barged in, shocking everyone inside.
Sango and Kaede quickly went to the wolf demon and took the young girl from his arms, lying her down on the matt and removing the top, while Miroku took Koga outside to question him.
"Koga, what happened?" Miroku asked as soon as they were out of hearing range.
"I don't know she was fine when we were eating dinner and when she went to bed, then all of sudden she said she was in pain and bleeding." Koga said and started pacing and breathing hard. "Where's that mutt? Kagome's hurt again and he's nowhere to be found! Useless mutt, I knew he wasn't good enough for Kagome!"
"We have an idea of where he is but we aren't entirely sure." Miroku sighed, understanding the wolf's frustration.
"He's with that priestess isn't he? Like I said, Kagome deserves better." Koga said and leaned against a tree.
"You can't fully blame him, last time he saw Kagome she was fine and walking around, going to see you." Miroku said coming next to him and sitting down.
"Uh yea, she was perfectly fine before he went to the priestess in the first place and then Naraku came and tried to kill her. So excuse me if I put some blame on him." Koga spat. Miroku, although knew the words were harsh, also knew they were true. He was about to retort when Sango walked out and came next to them, smiling sadly.
"She's fine, it's nothing serious. Kaede said that with everything that's happened the past few days it cause a lot of stress on her and her body, plus walking when she was entirely ready to didn't help her case. But the blood was just from a small portion of the wound opening up, but nothing fatal or to be concerned over." Sango said as she sighed.
"So she's ok? She's not going to die?" Koga asked and Sango nodded. "Can… Can I go see her?" Sango smiled and nodded again.
"Yes, let's all go see her." Sango said and led them into the hut. When they got inside they saw Kagome was at the back of the hut, sitting against the wall with a blanket draped over her. Shippo was sitting in her lap hugging her stomach, with small tears in his eyes.
"Kagome are you ok? Does anything hurt?" Miroku asked as he, Sango, and Koga came and gathered around her and the fire.
"No, I'm fine." Kagome said morosely.
"Shippo, let Kagome rest, she must be very tired. Just because I have put herbs on her wounds doesn't mean she is fully healed." Kaede said, but Shippo didn't let go. He sensed her sadness, even though she didn't say, so he wouldn't leave her side.
"Kagome… are you alright?" Sango asked, even though they all knew she wasn't.
"He left to go see her again. He left to go see Kikyo. After he promised me he wouldn't leave me again." Kagome said as tears pricked at the corner of her eyes. They all sighed and looked at her sympathetically, while Shippo hugged her tighter. "I should have known he would lie to me. He's made it apparently clear that Kikyo's more important than me. I'm going to take a nap; I'll see you guys later." Kagome said a she lay down on the mat, with Shippo at her side.
(*)
About an hour later Kagome woke up, not being able to sleep well. She looked around the room and saw that Inuyasha was still gone, and Koga had also left, everyone else was by the fire pit getting dinner prepared; Miroku being the first to see her awake, smiled. "Good afternoon Kagome, Koga wanted us to tell you that he went back in the forest. He started to get antsy being in the village, but he said you can go stay with him again if you'd like."
Sango turned around and smiled at her. "Are you doing ok Kagome? Would you like something to eat?"
"I am actually a little hungry." Kagome nodded and Sango ushered her over to give her some stew. Before she could even get through half of her bowl, Inuyasha came barreling through the door and yanking her back outside with him. And well you know the rest.
*End Flashback*
She felt bad for making everyone worry about her but they said it wasn't a problem and they were just happy she was ok. She looked around the hut again and everyone was still fast asleep, what could she do? She then realized she hasn't been practicing with her bow and arrows since the accident.
'I really don't want to be a burden to anyone… and there's nothing wrong with protecting yourself. Ok, I'll go practice in the fields.' She thought to herself as she nodded. She got up and got her things then went to the door as quietly as she could. But not as quiet as she thought, because someone got up and followed her soon after.
Kagome had been practicing for a good ten minutes and she wasn't doing that great. She carved a target into a nearby tree and used that to practice on, but she wasn't hitting the bull's-eye like she normally would. She notched another arrow and aimed… only to miss when she fired. She stomped her foot in frustration. "Ugh, what's wrong with me, why can't I get this right?!"
Suddenly she felt arms wrap around her and fear ran through her entire body but relaxed when she heard who the voice belonged to. "Who said you could leave the hut? You nearly died a week ago and your wounds were questionable yesterday." Inuyasha said and nuzzled his nose into her neck. She was a little surprised at the intimacy but enjoyed it none-the-less.
"I'm sorry Inuyasha; I just wanted to get some practice in before we leave the village. I want to be able to protect myself and not let something like this happen again." Kagome said and relaxed in his hold.
"We're not leaving the village until Kaede says you're good and ready. Besides, you know I will always be there to protect you, so you don't need to worry so much." She would have made a comment about how he has left before and she was in trouble but decided against it, not wanting to fight so early in the morning and because she forgave him for last week. She also normally would sit him for his 'macho' act but knew he was just doing and saying this stuff because he was worried about her.
"I know you'll always be there but that doesn't mean I want everyone to protect me, I don't want to be a burden to all of you." Kagome sighed. He frowned then turned her to face him.
"You will never be a burden to me or the rest of us, we want you safe Kagome. So really, it's not a problem." Inuyasha said.
"Thank you for that Inuyasha, it means a lot. But still I want to be able to protect myself." She emphasized the words to get through to him. "If I'm going to live here after the battle with Naraku and be your mate then I need to know how to do some things. So please, let me practice?" Kagome gave him the puppy dog eyes and he gave in easily. She notched another arrow but missed the target completely.
"Your aim is off. Try holding the bow like this." He said and brought her left hand back until it lined up with her mouth and her right arm up until the arrow was in her line of vision. The pose hurt a bit and she winced but ignored it and fired, hitting the target and getting a bull's-eye.
"Wow, Inuyasha how did you know how to do that?" Kagome looked up at him and smiled.
"I've been around arrows all my life, either dodging them or watching someone fire them, so I picked up a few tips. But I could see that you're not ready to be practicing without it causing you pain, so let's wait a few more days and then practice more ok?" Inuyasha asked as he used his special puppy dog eyes. She smiled and nodded as they made their way back to the village together, hand-in-hand.
From a far off distance in an eerie looking castle, Naraku and Kikyo were looking at the scene that just happened through Kanna's mirror. Kikyo hearing everything that was going on between the two was furious to find that they were (finally) together.
"She's going to become his mate? How dare he do this! Long before he ever knew her, he promised to live together and be with me! Did he forget about that? Is he going to break his promises to me for a cheap imitation?!" Kikyo screeched, seething with rage.
"It seems that he has made his choice, no doubt because he almost lost the love of his life." Naraku chuckled.
"I am the love of his life! He just doesn't realize his feelings for me are still true and will always be." Kikyo huffed crossing her arms across her chest.
"Well they are always together; it's not a mystery how Inuyasha has feeling towards her…" Naraku said, looking at the priestess who looked like she was about to explode with fury.
"It's nothing more than an attraction." Kikyo said stubbornly and Naraku had to roll his eyes at the woman. She's stuck in the past she won't admit that she and Inuyasha never stood a chance again.
"Of course Kikyo, what shall we do to them? What is your plan?" Naraku asked impatiently.
"I want her to die for separating Inuyasha and I for far too long. I want to be the one to take her life and I want to see Inuyasha's face as she dies." Kikyo said evilly that made Naraku laugh.
"We will need a plan to lure her away from Inuyasha and the village. Kanna show me Koga and his pack." Naraku ordered and the little girl did as she was told. A vision appeared on the mirror, it was Koga and his men lounging about in the woods, eating the remains of breakfast. "We can use the Wolf Demon to get her away from her group; she will always go rushing to help a friend."
"And that way, you will get the jewel shards and I will get her life." Kikyo said with an unnerving smile on her face.
"What about Inuyasha? I also want him dead." Naraku snapped, looking at her.
"Don't worry about him, just make sure he is there and watching when Kagome takes her last breath. And then when his spirit is broken I will drag him into hell with me for all eternity." Kikyo smiled. "Do we have a deal?" She held out her hand.
"Of course, whatever you want, dear Kikyo." And with that they shook hands, finalizing their sinister plan.
A/N: So not a long chapter but at least it's something, and you learn a few more things. This story is wrapping up, just a few more chapters and it will be finished! Again I am so, so, so sorry for not updating, really it did kill me and I felt so guilty but I had so much going on in my life that I couldn't find the time. So I hope you guys like, if any of you are still here. Anyway thanks for reading and hopefully, see you soon!
