Chapter 15 – Camping (Part 2)
"Ow ow ow, ow ow ow, ow ow ow ow OW OW ow!"
"Don't be such a baby!"
"That's easy for you to say!"
"Yes, you're damn right it is! How the hell it's hard for you to say is beyond me!"
"You weren't the one who got literally SLAMMED into a-"
"I DID get slammed into a-"
"Yeah, but you don't have spiritual powers, so you didn't get burnt!"
"Neither did you!"
"Oh yeah?! Then what's this?!" Miroku said triumphantly, holding up his hands for inspection.
Sango looked closer and rolled her eyes. "Miroku, those aren't burns. It's the strawberry sauce you had on your ice cream."
"No it isn't!" Miroku protested, looking highly offended. "It is a burn, of a not inconsiderable degree."
Sango grabbed his wrist and licked it. "Mm," she said. "Tastes like fake strawberries."
Miroku looked slightly scared. "My dear, while I agree that you licking my blistered skin is undeniably kinky, I must-"
"You idiot, does it even hurt?!" she fumed, running her finger into the now moist liquid and holding it up for his inspection.
"Oh…"
"'Oh' indeed! Now stop being such a baby; you're making Kagome feel worse than she already is!"
"I'm not trying to-"
"Shut up Miroku."
…
"I'm so sorry!" Kagome sobbed.
Inuyasha rocked her backwards and forwards gently in his arms. "Shh, Kagome, it's ok-"
"It is not ok!" she cried. "I hurt you all! Because I was stupid, irresponsible, reckless-"
"Shh, baby. Nobody blames you-"
"I blame me!"
"It's hardly your fault, Kagome!"
Her head snapped up, and her eyes blazed pure fire. "Yes, Inuyasha! Yes, it is my fault! It's my fault for having these stupid powers, it's my fault I can't control myself, it's my fault that Kanna got hurt, it's my fault we had to move, it's my fault…" she broke off and bit her lip, avoiding Inuyasha's eye. "It's my fault dad died." She whispered.
Inuyasha looked at the girl he loved, lying pale and broken in his arms, and something inside him snapped. Tears filled his golden eyes. "Look at me, Kagome," he whispered.
She refused, twisting away from him.
He put his hand under her chin and forced her face up. "Look at me." She looked into his eyes, and saw the sincerity in his amber pools. She stiffened in surprise as she saw the water trickling down his cheek. "Don't you dare," he whispered to her, "Don't you dare blame yourself for this. Your powers – look at me, Kagome! – your powers are a gift. To yourself and others. They are a gift, not a curse, and they are not your fault. Whatever Naraku or Kikyo do to you because of them is nothing to do with you, it is their own problem, and it really gets me fucking mad how they mess with your head! Kanna, your dad… they are products of their diseased minds, and not your fault."
Slowly, stiffly, she nodded. Reaching up a shaking hand, she gently wiped away his tear. "I love you Inuyasha."
"I love you too."
…
He could smell the heavy scent of the drugs coming from Kagome's room. She must have taken the things to help her sleep. He could sense that she had gone over the recommended dosage – probably to be extra-safe.
Inuyasha was coming out of her room, and he quietly closed the door behind him. When he spotted Koga, he muttered a subdued, "Hey."
Koga nodded in response. "How is she?" he whispered.
Inuyasha shrugged. "Obviously she blames herself, but I think she's ok – ish."
Koga shook his head. "That's why she took those things, isn't it? Because of the dreams?"
"Yeah, that's-" Inuyasha began, then stopped sharply. "How did you know she'd been having weird dreams?!"
Koga cocked his head rakishly to one side, grinning. "I may have listened at the door for a bit. Never knew you had tear ducts, Yash."
"Keh," the hanyou grunted.
"But seriously," Koga continued. "What can we do? She can't knock herself out for the rest of her life."
Inuyasha ran a hand through his heavy silver locks. "There's this woman my parents know. Her name is Kaede, and she's a retired miko. She might be able to do something – to help in some way."
"And until then? What about for the rest of the trip?"
He sighed. "I guess… we try to have fun."
…
It was cold and clear, with the sun high in a cloudless sky. The frost on the ground had long since melted, leaving dewy pathways. The heavy scent of wet grass and rock pressed down on them as they trudged along in the woods. The air was heavy with the evaporated water of the afternoon, and there were birds twittering in the treetops. Dressed in hiking gear, and wearing heavy boots, the weary explorers made their merry way into the forest, with heavy hearts and high hopes.
Two hours ago, the entire class had been separated into their cabin groups, and were now currently engaged in the greatest evil of the known world. Armed with a map, a compass, a flask, and a destination, the brave travellers wandered the lonely forest, seeking their homeland.
"Which way does the map say we go?" asked Ayame nervously, looking at the page of… squiggles.
"You think I know?!" Miroku asked, throwing his arms in the air in exasperation. "Ask the demon slayer! I'm pretty damn sure she's had training of some description in this field!"
"Don't look at me, monk," Sango shrugged. "I couldn't find my way out of a cardboard box." Her face took on a thoughtful expression. "It's the only thing I didn't excel in. the only way I made it through the maze was by reasoning that the closer I got, the more traps would be set up. Oh God, there was this really… cool one… where…" she faltered under the unblinking gaze of the man she loved. "Miroku?" she asked uncertainly, taking a step towards him. "Is everything-"
Then she felt something graze her buttocks.
"HENTAI!" she shrieked, slapping him. Hard.
"Ow," he murmured. "Well, at least I got a chance…" he sighed.
Sango's face took on a distinct resemblance to a tomato. "A chance to do exactly what, houshi?!"
"Ah, my dear Sango!" Miroku said earnestly, "It is truly not my fault! It is this wicked, cursed hand which is to blame!"
"Your hand my arse!"
"If you insist. I never knew you were so keen..."
"Sod off, pervert!" Sango yelled, slapping him again.
He rubbed his face, taking on a wounded expression. "Well, to be perfectly honest my dear, it did sound like a perfectly reasonable request. Anyone could have misinterpreted-"
"Don't try that with me, you perverted, lecherous-"
"Do we go north?" Kagome asked dubiously, studying the scribbles carefully and devotedly ignoring the bickering pair.
Koga grinned. "Must be! We haven't had a north for ages!"
"Unless we got it wrong earlier…" Ayame muttered.
Koga lifted his head. "North is… that way!" he declared, spinning and pointing dramatically to the left.
"Really?" Inuyasha asked, sounding interested.
Koga huffed, and folded his arms across his chest impressively. "I'm a youkai, little hanyou," he snorted. "Using my amazing skills dating back to my forefathers from Feudal Japan, I could scent out the direction in which we should be headed."
"That's funny," said Inuyasha, "Because I could have sworn the compass is pointing over there. According to this genius piece of equipment, you just pointed… south west south."
"Gimme that." Koga seized the offending object. After wrestling with it for several minutes, he huffed and tossed it back to Inuyasha. He stalked away (north), with the tatters of his dignity trailing behind him, as the others burst into laughter.
…
Inuyasha's ears twitched. "I hear water."
The rest of the group stopped. "Yeah, me too," said Ayame thoughtfully.
They began to walk towards the source of the noise. Kagome smiled in pleasure as they came across a river, sparkling in the afternoon sun.
"Perfect," she sighed, slipping off her pack with a contented sigh and plopping onto the ground.
Ayame was looking around, a grin on her face. "Pretty, quiet and serene. I thought I would hate camping."
"You do," Inuyasha pointed out. "You just happen to like this particular clearing."
"So true," she sighed.
"Is there a river on the map?" Koga asked Sango.
Sango scanned the offending item. "Err… water is blue, right?"
Miroku rolled his eyes. "Give me the map, my love," he said genially, reaching over and rubbing his hand up her arm.
Slap.
"Pervert," Sango muttered, shoving the map into Miroku's chest before stalking over to her female companions and joining them on the floor.
Miroku rubbed the red handprint on his cheek. "What did I do? It was only her arm." He studied the map. "Err…" he looked up at his group. "Do you want the good news or the bad news?"
"Give us the bad," Inuyasha groaned.
Miroku scratched his head thoughtfully. "Well, you see, there is no evidence of water anywhere on the Ordnance Survey map… in fact, it is mostly dry and rocky terrain.
"Shit!" Koga cursed. "And the good news?!"
"Err... we won't die alone?"
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Ok, I know it's not amazing, but I really hope you enjoy this!
On another note, I'm off to bonny Scotland fairly soon, so you may have to wait a while for the next update... sorry guys! But I promise I will update if I can...
King Stephen IV - Thank you! Yeah, I'm particularly proud of her... XD. I don't know how to play baseball... but congrats on your game!! Please enjoy...
Little Miss Mary Alice Cullen - Thank you, and hope this is what you wanted! Another Twilight fan? I LOVE the books!
Kaggysister - Mwahaha, enjoy! Thanks!
kouga's older woman - Thank you, and I have to agree! I love the interaction... but I love the curious six-year-old more!
completeandtotalrandomness - Mwahaha! I'm sorry, but a cliffhanger was so needed... Hope this clears things up! Thank you, and please enjoy!
myInuYasha15 - Thanks! I hope this measures up! xx
Namike - :D I'm glad you enjoyed, and thanks for the review! Hope that there's enough humour here for you...
Sassybratt - Yeah, I know, lol! Please enjoy!! and thank you...
bumblezee - Hehehe, I loved that part too! It was so much fun to right! I was just sitting there at my computer with an evil grin on my face... mwahaha!
*shudder* Ah, the horror! Fake... chicken... nooo! Yeah, we have an evil librarian too! I don't know why, they all seem to be... scary... I swear, she'd prefer it if there were no students in that school! She HATES us!! but i don't thin even she would have stooped as low as KFC... lol! XD trust me, you're not the only one afraid of their deal busket! people have been known to run screaming... one whiff of the grease, oil, and... i want to say sawdust, it just smells that way... and people just peg it out of there! you could use that stuff to power a nuclear factory!
oh, i know what you mean! mcdonalds... sweet sin... lol!
lol, i can't stay upright! i'm really short for my age; i'm not even 5ft yet! i have to cling onto things to stop myself being swept away! lamposts... cars... bushes... my friends... my sister... love that movie, and you can tell it's set in england simply by her method of transpot! lol! i had to run 400m in school the other day, and me and my friend were practically dragging eachother forwards!
one of my favourite too! i'm taking it in the core for gcse... i can't wait! my favourite books from there are either by philippa gregory or all the 'my story' diary series - they're amazing!
i wish we leant more about your history in school... we mostly center around england, which kinda annoys me... oh, wait, i tell a lie... for a cover lesson we watched 'dances with wolves'... lol! but i don't think that's set in canada, further down south. it would be really interesting to have a look at all those things, from a different perspective... hmm... :D
I KNOW! I wanted to lop off his head with a spoon, then feed it to him through his working ear! (not entirely sure how that would work though...)
BTW, i finished reading your story... IT IS AMAZING!! I CAN'T BELIEVE WHAT HAPPENED TO KAGOME! POOR GIRL, I FEEL SO SORRY FOR HER!! AND KOGA... ohh, he hit the nail right on the head! *sob* she does get better, riiight??!!
it will last forever, because colds always do. EVIL, I TELL YOU, EEEEEEVVVVVIIIIIIILLLL! But i'm glad you're feeling better :D
XD, your reviews always make me smile!!
you can call me libra... bet you'll never guess where i got that nickname from, lol!! :D or you can make one up for me... it'll be interesting... lol! mwahaha!! XD
what would you like to be called? the big cheese? bumble? lol, i'll let you decide!
xxx
brinaalee - I'm glad you enjoyed it! Thanks, and i hope this is what you were waiting for!
Thanks for everything guys!
Libra Sorceress xx