In the subsequent days of her "entrapment"--or at least, that was how it felt to Kagome—she learned that silence yielded quite a vast array of knowledge. By being vocally disabled, she'd learned a staggering amount. For instance, her "captor" was quite thoroughly enjoying the fact that she couldn't speak, but she was far from stingy with a few rude gestures—the middle finger, more specifically. The captor apparently found this amusing.
Such was the case today, as he prepared some herbal brew from her throat. He cracked the lame joke he'd been cracking for the past week now:
Can you talk yet? (snickers)
By now, Kagome was too tired to reply with the usual glare, so she flatly flipped him the bird, all the while staring, bored, out the crudely carved window at her side. Cave life was, at the risk of sounding repetitive, boring.
(chuckles, shaking head) Want me to leave you alone, huh?
(raspy) Greatly appreciated. (coughs a little)
Okay, okay. Just don't talk. You sound like a dying giraffe. (grins)
And for the first time in quite some time, Kagome smiled. She hadn't been able to help herself; it was funny how he described her voice, especially since he was right on the mark with that.
(whispers hoarsely) Point taken. But it doesn't make you any less an asshole.
Oh, no, I already know that. If anything, it makes me even more of one, but I suppose it just comes with the pessimistic package.
(whispers hoarsely) If that's the case, then I'm an asshole too.
(gasps in feigned shock) No. Really? I hadn't even noticed!
Kagome smirked sarcastically at him.
Well, you certainly hide it well. I thought you were the perfect angel!
(whispers hoarsely) Funny man, I see.
Ah, that, my dear, comes with the package as well. (winks cheekily)
Kagome merely rolled her eyes, and he chuckled, spooning the hot, therapeutic brew into a small wooden bowl. He approached her with it, and as soon as the smell hit her nose, she grimaced a little. Once she saw the green and brown contents, her face was fully scrunched, and she recoiled slowly.
Uh...I'm not eating that.
(quirks eyebrow) You want to sound like a squished frog forever?
No. But I'm still not eating that. That looks like liquefied puke coupled with a healthy dollop of wet diarrhea.
(smiles at her, impressed) You are so imaginative. I never would have strung those words together like that.
Kagome didn't know why—it might have been the (nonexistent) heat—but her face suddenly got uncomfortably warm and she huffed, turning away.
I just...call 'em like I see 'em. That's all.
A refreshingly uncanny call.
(silent for a few moments, then hesitates) What's in that stuff, anyway?
(laughs) Certainly none of what you described, that's for sure. No, it's eucalyptus...ginger root...diluted seawater...uh...oh, I stewed some palm fronds in there...and coconut milk for flavor. If I'm not mistaken, I might've added fish oil—
Whoa, whoa! Stop right there! I am not eating all that mixed-up crap! (coughs uncontrollably)
Inuyasha shook his head as she suffered through one of many coughing fits.
That is exactly why you're still sick. You shun help. (gets up from the stool he sat on, towering over her sitting form) Whenever you decide you want to get better, it'll be here. Just don't wait until it gets cold; it's ineffective then. (places the bowl on table and heads for the door)
Hey! (hacks roughly) Where the hell do you think you're going?!
To get some wood for tonight's fire. Do what you want.
And he left, leaving Kagome feeling lightheaded—from the exhaustive coughing, she presumed—and flustered. When it came to matters such as this, she was usually not given a choice. She was either forced to do something or forced not to, but either way, there was force involved. But now that she could virtually do what she wanted, she was at a loss. Did she drink the disgusting-looking brew and get better? Or did she ignore the presence of the possibly remedy, her willpower and stubbornness triumphing over his in the long run?
She gave a creaky sigh, annoyed. Once again was she caught in the longstanding battle between her pride and her sense, and the mental tug-of-war further exhausted her. With a resigned sight, she picked up the bowl of...stuff...and peered warily at it.
Fuck. (coughs slightly)
It was mindblowing how Kagome despised to give him the satisfaction of knowing he was right—like always, it seemed—but she couldn't help it; she felt as though she had to rebel against him as hard as possible. However, even though it smelled pretty off-putting, and looked remarkably worse, she hadn't eaten in days. Her eyes darted around suspiciously, making sure no one was around, and she took a quick sip of the concoction.
Perhaps it was the fact that she was starved out of her mind. Maybe it was the slight delusion creeping up on her. Hell, it might have even been genuinely good. But when Kagome sampled that brew, her stomach roared for more.
Maybe...it wouldn't kill me to have just one more sip.
So she took one. But one more sip turned into two, and two sips turned into a swallow. A swallow turned into two, and soon enough, she was practically licking the bowl clean. In spite of herself, she was smiling as she finished the rest off in the bowl, feeling her throat healing already.
I'm surprised—it actually tasted pretty good!
Her eyes fell upon the big cauldron, from which barely visible steam rose, indicating that the brew had yet to lose its heat and thus its soothing effect. With a shrug, she said to hell with her pride, and happily refilled her bowl.
It was the best sleep of her life. The only sleep in which she hadn't been plagued with horrible nightmares of Kamikaze, and he had to ruin it. What an ass.
Hey, wake up!
Kagome grumbled querulously as Inuyasha shook her roughly.
(normal voice) Must you be so rough?! It's bad enough that I have to see your face as soon as I wake up in the morning, but now I'm going to be grumpy for the rest of the day! I hope you're happy, ass!
Morning? Perhaps you haven't looked out the window.
Kagome blinked, and did so, scratching her head in confusion at the dark scene.
Huh? Night? But...I thought I slept until morning...
Oh, you did. And the next morning. And the next morning. You've been asleep for four days, Kagome.
F—what?!
Yeah...I probably should've told you. That stuff you ate? That huge cauldron you singlehandedly ate?
(squirms in embarrassment) What about it?
My mother called it "sleep stew". It's extremely powerful; it heals a sore throat, but drunken in large amounts, induces deep sleep, and you drank the whole damn pot.
Well, excuse me for being hungry! (huffs) And why the hell didn't you tell me that?!
(smirks) Didn't think you'd eat "diarrhea mixed with puke". So I didn't figure it was very necessary.
...You're still an asshole.
Yeah, I know. So I guess you don't want any of this asshole's yakisoba.
Kagome's eyes brightened and she finally noticed the food boxes in his hands. He laughed at her childlike hunger.
Wow, you're still hungry? I'm surprised at that.
Where'd you get yakisoba? I thought you were a broke-ass as well as an asshole.
Well, I was. And then I acquired some money and bought food with it. (quirks eyebrow) Is that a problem?
(shrugs) I don't care. I just want my food. But if people come looking for you, I don't know you and you kidnapped me.
Inuyasha laughed again, handing her one of the boxes and a pair of chopsticks.
I bet you also didn't realize how well your throat cleared up.
Kagome paused for a moment, blinking wildly; how didn't she notice that?
(sniffs) ...Yes, I did.
Right. Of course you did. (snickers)
Stop being such a douchebag!
Can't help it, I suppose. Now hurry up and eat your food...before I do it for you.
With a huff, Kagome opened the box and started to eat. She noticed that Inuyasha wasn't, though, and was instead sitting on the floor with his eyes closed. She looked down at the noodles in her grasp and bit her lip, overtaken with curiosity.
Hey...Inuyasha.
His rounded triangular ears, though buried in his hair, perked up, indicating he was listening, even though his eyes remained closed. Chances were he was shocked that she'd called him by his name for the first time ever.
How did you come across this food? I mean, seriously.
Thought you didn't care.
I don't. I'm just curious, that's all.
I didn't steal it, if that's what you're thinking.
...
Honestly, the thought hadn't crossed her mind, but she figured he wouldn't believe her if she were to point that out.
I bought it legitimately. That's all you need to know.
Kagome shrank back in offense, then pursed her lips, continuing to eat.
Neither of them said another word to each other for the rest of the night.