Disclaimer: I still don't own Inuyasha :(.
Chapter 2: Fix ups and slip ups!
The rain came down heavily and without mercy. A dark and dismal setting followed in the wake of the unrelenting rain. Mud squelched underneath angry stomps as Kagome stalked through the wet, dense forest. Her uniform shirt clung to her in unattractive ways and her bangs pushed into her eyes with soggy annoyance.
I will find a way out of here! She assured herself mentally.
Wiping her bangs away from her face for the umpteenth time with a frustrated snarl the school girl surveyed her surroundings.
I'm making progress, I just know it! She thought with twisted glee. The trees were definitely different then the ones she had passed by recently. Things were changing. She was getting out of whatever freakish warp in time she was stuck in.
With smug satisfaction Kagome turned around to confirm what she was certain she already knew.
Only to see the abandoned shrine house, in all its dilapidated glory, just slightly outside the rim of trees she had spent hours walking through.
Her soggy bangs forgotten, Kagome stared open-mouthed at the structure.
Why! Her brain tried to wrap itself around what was happening. She figured she had been stuck in this abnormal excuse for a reality for about a day. The majority of that time was spent walking for long periods of time in different directions searching, hoping, for a way out.
With a heart wrenching scream of frustration Kagome sank to the ground and dug her nails into her scalp.
"Done yet?" Came the oddly comforting mock.
Snarling, brown eyes looked up to meet belligerent gold ones.
Inuyasha was there, sitting in a tree above her, every time she had failed at finding a way out.
And every time she failed to find one he reminded her that there wasn't one.
Kagome sighed, accepting defeat. She was stuck here and it was time she accepted it before she went crazy trying to get a different answer from the same action. Her head bobbed numbly in compliance.
"Why am I here?" she asked.
Inuyasha jumped down, landing several feet from her.
"Hell if I know." He said, "Just don't get in the way of my job, got that?"
Her angry retort was a surprise even to her own ears.
"What job!" She yelled at him. "There's no one else here!"
Inuyasha glared at her with suspicious fury.
"My job as guardian of the Shikon Jewel. The Jewel you tried to steal when you got here."
"I didn't try to steal it!" She protested hotly.
Inuyasha took a step towards the soaked school girl and growled menacingly. She took a step backwards out of instinct. His eyes grew somber. She was the first person here in...he didn't even know how long.
All the time he spent guarding the Jewel he had done alone. He knew, better then anyone, what would happen if it got into the wrong hands. This land was cursed and he along with it. His eyes narrowed. This girl was able to come here, was trapped here, did that make her a curse as well?
The rain came down harder and her watered-down sent made its way to him. How could a curse smell so...sweet?
Inuyasha snapped himself out of his reverie.
"Get out of the fucking rain," He barked, bringing his arm up to cover his nose. "You stink."
And with that he left.
-B-B-B-
Daylight in abandoned-shrine-land was surprisingly beautiful. The way the sunlight filtered through the trees and sparkled off the tiny creeks that wound through the forest was peaceful.
Kagome stared up at the top of the shrines roof. She had been sleeping on the most stable looking portion of the viewing deck. One particular piece of wood looked like it was going to break away from the rest of the roof and fall onto her makeshift bed at any moment.
She tried to sleep inside the shrine; occasionally resorting to sneaking in during the middle of the night. Only to be met by a very angry half-demon each and every time.
Inuyasha was like a missile set to launch whenever she got too close to the Jewel. Kagome couldn't even begin to fathom what was so special about the shiny stone. It looked like a glorified pearl to her.
So now she was searching for blunt stones and small rocks to sharpen to serve as a hammer and nails. If Inuyasha wasn't going to let her sleep inside than she would just have to improve the outside.
Several hours, at least ten splinters, and multiple thumb-bangs later Kagome had successfully replaced the first step of the broken down shrine stairs.
Looking down at her work with an approving eye Kagome looked up at the rest of the stairs and groaned.
This is going to take forever to fix! Her reluctant stare wavered. Good thing I have all the time in the world...
As she proceeded to start fixing the second step her foot snagged on the broken one behind her and she fell backwards.
"Waahh!" came out the surprised wail.
Her fall was broken into one very warm, and muscular arm.
A clawed arm was wrapped around her waist while the other held a bundle of perfectly shaped wooden planks.
Brown eyes blinked bewilderedly into smoldering golden ones.
"Watch where you're falling, wench." Inuyasha said, shoving her forward and out of his embrace. Kagome regained her balance; still blinking with mild shock.
The half demon dropped the bundle of wooden planks before picking up the "hammer" Kagome was using.
"Feh, you'll never finish with this thing." He said sounding irritated.
A whirl of red rushed by her and before she knew it he was back with a more efficient looking "hammer."
Still looking remarkably similar to an owl, Kagome's blinking never ceased.
"Whats your problem, bitch? You brain dead all of a sudden?" growled the half demon.
"Kagome." She reminded him in a sing-song voice as the realization dawned on her:
He was going to help her fix the shrine.
-B-B-B-
The day passed by quickly.
Inuyasha ripped up the areas of the shrine that were obviously broken while Kagome was hard at working replacing them. By the time the half-demon tore out all the rotted, and broken sections of the deck Kagome had successfully put in three new planks.
The school girls hands were bleeding and cracked from wrestling with the wood and makeshift tools all afternoon. Wiping her hands on her green school skirt didn't seem to help.
"Damn." She muttered under her breath. At this rate her hands would get infected.
Inuyasha rounded the end of the shrine corner and raised an eyebrow at her.
"I'm not used to working with my hands-" Kagome explained quickly.
A growl rumbled from the half-demons chest, "As if that wasn't already obvious." He said.
Brown eyes narrowed in annoyance but she held back her retort. Maybe it was just her imagination but Inuyasha's tone was lighter than before. The vicious edge that held his voice hours earlier seemed to be narrowing.
A thick knuckle jabbed her on the forehead.
"The hell are you glaring at, girl?"
Kagome rubbed her forehead and sighed.
It was definitely just her imagination.
-B-B-B-
The last speckles of light were rapidly disappearing behind the trees and the darkness forced Kagome to stop working.
Tossing an indignant look in his general direction, Kagome noticed the lack of light seemed to have no effect on Inuyasha's eyesight.
"What are you?" She asked, leaning against the only fixed side wall of the shrine.
"Not lazy." He snapped.
Her eyes rolled. She was to tired for this.
No I mean..." She began, "I'm human. What are you?"
It was mostly a rhetorical question. Her grandfather told her stories about the demons that lived here. Before, the thought of demons was ridiculous and amusing. Now it was amusing only out of cruel irony.
Inuyasha stiffened slightly at her question. Mentally he debated whether or not to tell her. The more time that went by the more he was beginning to realize she was stuck here with him. The thought triggered an alien uneasiness in him that was indecipherable.
"Feh, I'm a dog demon." Pride coated his words.
"Oh." Was all she said in return. Well, that explained the ears.
The japanese girl groaned and banged her head softly against the side of shrine.
"I need a bath!" She exclaimed, sounded exasperated. "My own stink is slowly killing my ability to smell anything; that's how bad it is." Her nose crinkled.
Inuyasha snorted in amusement.
Grabbing her arm a little too roughly he pulled her off the shrine deck and onto the ground.
"Hey!" She half whined. "Where are you taking me?"
"Be quiet." He snapped.
His brisk paced halted suddenly and he let go of her arm. Ahead of them was a clearing in the trees and the sound of rushing water. An enormous circular clearing with a hot spring at its center was before her. Steam rose up from it in clouds and moonlight illuminated the clearing for her eyes.
Kagome whirled around, intending to thank him, only to be met by empty silence.
A small smile of gratitude graced her features.
With new found energy Kagome stripped her school uniform and dove into the spring.
All the aches and pains of the day melted away with each soothing moment underwater. Maybe she wouldn't mind being stuck here after all. Leaning her back against the side of the pool Kagome soaked and sighed with bliss. If this wasn't heaven; she didn't know what was.
No wonder Inuyasha had the most magnificent silver hair and clean skin. This hot spring worked wonders. Already Kagome could feel the grime and sweat that was caked into her skin melting away.
Inuyasha...she thought to herself.
Truthfully, he was strange. His outwards demeanor was far less than pleasant. His actions conflicted with his speech and the fluffy pair of puppy ears on his head made him look as gentle as could be. And his eyes...saying they were liquid passion didn't do them justice.
Kagome shook her head furiously. Day dreaming about demons in a strange, timeless shrine didn't seem like the smartest idea. Especially while she was naked in a hot spring.
Heavy eye lids warned her that it was time to get out of the hot spring. Lifting herself out of the hot spring Kagome fumbled around lazily for her uniform...
...only to come face-to-face with a pair of black, pupil-less, eyes.
More so than eyes, the black holes were carved into the face of a baboon pelt. The baboon stared at her, motionless, as she stared back in shock.
A scream rose to her lips.
The baboon brought a finger, a very human finger, up to its muzzle; motioning for her silence.
She screamed anyways.
"Inuya-AHH!" The baboon darted forward suddenly, knocking her back into the hot spring.
Water rushed into her mouth instead of the air she had expected. Kagome's diaphragm heaved to push the water out of her lungs as she plummeted deeper into the hot spring.
A clawed, strong, hand encircled her lower back and heaved her upwards.
When she broke the surface Kagome spat-up hot water. It burned coming out and she collapsed forward. After the sound of her own hacking died down a steady thumping reached her ears.
Molten, golden eyes stared down at her.
Kagome's fingers clutched Inuyasha's red haori. Her warm, naked, body was pressed against his chest. Fine threads of wet silver hair clung to her shoulders.
Prying her fingers off his haori with one hand and getting out of his jacket with the other Inuyasha wrapped it around her naked and shocked figure. Shoving her off him, he stood up and turned his back to her.
"What the hell happen?" He demanded. Not wanting her to see his blush.
"I-I don't...It all happened so fast." The wheels in her mind were turning rapidly. Trying desperately to catch up with everything that had just happened. Her fingers clutched the haori jacket closer around her body.
"I was getting out of the spring," She started to explain. "There was a...monkey...thing." It sounded so lame. "It didn't look alive but it's hand was like...mine. Human."
Inuyasha was especially perturbed by this.
"Lets go back to the shrine." He said finally. He stood up and started walking; not waiting for her to catch up.
Kagome stood up and followed him quickly, glancing into the empty forest behind her.
Maybe it was just a prank. Maybe all of this was just an elaborate set up.
The faint sound of rustling leaves in the distance met reached her on-alert ears.
Then again maybe not.
Authors Note: So what do you guys think? =) Sorry it takes me awhile to update. Hopefully the updates will come faster this month! Review and tell me your thoughts please! 3 ^_^