Chapter 5
Breathing. In. Out. In. Out.
Shivering, Kagome cautiously opened her eyes. Her heart plummeted when she realized that Inuyasha was no longer sitting in front of her. The blinds were pulled open half-way and the window had been slid open just enough to slide her fingers through. It was a tell-tale sign that Inuyasha left for the night. When the blinds were pulled up all the way, it meant there was no danger. But since it was only pulled up enough to let him escape without noise, it was safe to assume that something bad happened.
Either way, he was gone and she was alone.
Slowly, she pulled the blanket up to her nose, praying that her protector would come back. She couldn't have been dozing for too long. He had to be close. Her eyes were glued to the window, to the trees swaying in the harsh wind outside. "Inuyasha..." she whispered almost silently, her breath coming out in a rush.
The being under her bed shifted, a choking sound coming from below.
"Inuyasha..."
A clicking sound, like claws on wood, followed the shifting. Kagome had trouble breathing as her sight shifted to the edge of her bed, wide with fright. Her bed suddenly jumped, all four legs, at least a foot into the air, slamming back down with gravity. She screamed without even thinking as a huge, dark thing attempted to crawl out from under. It's growls made clicking noises as it's long, five inch claws scratched into the wooden floor in an attempt to pull itself out. But it seemed stuck; no matter how hard it pulled, the bottom half of it's body remain hidden under the bed.
"Inuyasha!" she shrieked, doing her best to remain on top of her mattress as the monster thrashed around, knocking over her bedside table and trying to use the dresser at the other side of the room as leverage. It's long arms were able to reach easily, yet it only pulled the dresser and the bed frame closer together.
It stopped. Kagome gasped for breath as it lifted it's overly rounded head. It was scenting the air. For her?
Her body couldn't move. Her mind was blank. When she could have raced to the bedroom door- or even out the window, since the demon was obviously stuck under the bed, she stayed on her mattress, hiding behind her blankets.
The long, shaggy hair covering it shifted, one shoulder going down as the other went up. Bulging red eyes looked over it's shoulder and it smiled. It's mouth pulled taunt, showing rows of sharp, yellowed teeth. One huge hand lifted up but it stopped.
"Kagome?!" Seiko burst in, her eyes wide as she turned on the light. With a hiss, the monster scrambled back under the darkness of her bed.
Crying, Kagome jumped off her bed straight at her mother, hugging her tightly. "Mama- th-the monster came b-back! I-It's still u-under my bed..." she stammered and sobbed.
Seiko knelt down to hug her daughter better, her eyes on the damage that the demon created. Her gaze lifted to the window and gasped.
Kagome dared a look over her shoulder and cried when Inuyasha opened the window and slid inside. "Inuyasha!" Pulling away from her mom, she ran to him, happy with relief when he immediately scooped her up into his arms. She smacked him, "Where were you?!" she cried.
Inuyasha bit down his insults when he saw how upset she was. "The demon at the window came back," he muttered. "What happened here?"
"The bed monster came back," she told him quietly.
He immediately growled, his gaze hard on her bed. When he kicked it, a yelp could be heard. "Damn bastards. I thought I warned you to stay under there," he snapped, kicking it once more. "This human's mine. Got it?!"
Kagome relaxed some and looked back to her mother. "Mama," she frowned, "What's wrong?"
Seiko looked like she was struggling to hold herself up, glancing from the jumping bed to her floating daughter. Slowly, she slid to the floor, frozen with shock.
Inuyasha stopped abusing the possessed bed, glancing to the mother in disinterest. "She still can't see or hear me," he explained to Kagome.
"But you're right here," Kagome cried and slapped him as hard as she could. The slap should have been heard, at least. "See, Mama?"
"Wench!" he growled and set her down on her feet, rubbing his red cheek.
Seiko slowly shook her head and Kagome stopped walking toward her when she saw the fear in her gaze. "Mama?"
Her mother seemed to slowly get a hold of herself, picking herself up while she gazed around the room. "I-I..." Tears dripped from her face when she looked at Kagome, "I... can't..." With a choked sob, she turned away and left.
Kagome looked up at Inuyasha with confusion. "What does she mean?" He shrugged, unhelpful. With one last glance to the bed, she followed her mother, but she had went into her own bedroom and closed the door. When she tried the knob, her mom yelled, striking fear in the little girl. She ran back to Inuyasha, her own tears following.
Inuyasha picked her up once more. "Shh, don't cry," he cooed gently.
"Mama's mad at me! I-I didn't do anything!"
"She isn't. She's just scared." He walked back into her bedroom, closing the door behind them. "Shh. Shh. It'll be alright."
Kagome sniffled against his haori. "She hates me..."
He sighed. "You're being melodramatic. She's your mother. She can't hate you." Kicking the bed one last time, he sat down on it, setting Kagome in his lap. "Calm down, would you? I don't like your tears." She leaned against him, her crying settling down, though he could still sense that she was upset. "We'll find out what's happening tomorrow." Inuyasha smiled wryly, "At least she finally recognized that I existed." Kagome stayed silent, so he bounced her on his lap, heaving another sigh. "Come on, let's get you back to bed."
When he laid her down on the mattress, pushing the frame back against the wall beforehand, Kagome caught his haori. "You lied."
Dark brows drew together, "'Bout what?"
"You said you wouldn't let anything happen to me," she didn't like the sudden look on his face. "I was almost eaten..."
"I couldn't be in two places at once," his ears flinched to his scalp, "If I had known-"
"You could have stayed with me, though!" she argued, "Then nothing would get me."
He was silent for a moment, his eyes soft on her, before he crouched next to her. "Would you want me to never leave your side, Kagome?" She nodded. "Why?"
"You're my best friend," she whispered, not wanting to say a wrong answer. His voice was strange to her. The words he spoke sounded more heavy, more important. "You'd protect me from anything."
Inuyasha chuckled softly, "Yeah. Anything."
Kagome rested her hands on her abdomen. "So you'll stay? Forever?"
Leaning over, he kissed her forehead softly and swore, "I'll never leave."
A/N: We might be skipping time frames either next chapter or chapter 7, meaning I'm going to start writing Kagome older soon. I'm assuming that the story will become clearer in either chapter 6 or 7 too. Hopefully.
Warm-Amber92: Well, he doesn't stay with her all the time. For some reason, he didn't accompany her to her first day of school, then he left in this chapter, but then he swore he'd never leave her side... hmm. I'm so keeping the guardian-demon idea, I'll add it to my collection of possessions, slaves, and gods/goddesses x)
vampireinu95: In a way... I think he is.
Kagome's Blossom: I couldn't just let everyone live happy, could I? xD
Sahora: You're never too old to have an imaginary friend! It'd just look weird to society... fuck society!
DarkDemonWithinMe13: Thank you! I have no idea either. I'm in the backseat with you guys :)
j . wintercrow: Now you know! It was a big, hairy beast!
darkcreeder: This story is a FxA special. I write a chapter a day every day until October is over, which is why the chapters are shorter than what I usually write. The story just came to me really quickly, so I'm just going with whatever I feel like typing on it right now. But Kagome will grow up sooner or later (even though I really like writing her as a kid with Inuyasha. I might write another kid!Kagome fic some other time)
Melanyl: You guessed right and I hope this chapter provided the answers you wanted. (If not, you're going to receive them soon.)
I made a cover for the story. Like? No like? Tell me, please?
FxA