AN:

ninjamidori: I live like 30 minutes from Louisiana. I used to live in Austin.

And Kaede was super pissed. ;D

Child of Dreamz: There are going to be a lot of trials coming up in the next couple of chapters. I was so happy that everyone enjoyed the kiss. I wanted to wait a little longer, but I had to write it.

SexyxAngelx09: Everyone loves at least a little fluff. Haha.

Anime Lady PIMP: I knew you would! It was my favorite to write, too. ;D

SIDE NOTE;

I'm going to be posting a Valentine's Day one shot later tonight, if I can stop playing SCV. - I thought it would be fun. Haha.

Short, simple, reflective.

The next chapter is a monster. There's going to be a lot of things going on that I've been waiting for, some good, some bad.

Let me know what you guys think.

Thank you to my reviewers and my readers!

Enjoy

Chapter 13

Refrain

A ballerina can only dance as long as the twine of a music box is wound, playing its sweet melody for her to exist in the moment. Kagome felt like that ballerina. She was built up only to fall back down in the nothingness that came before she was twisted into alertness.

Kaede-baba was a mess, and it pained her to see her grandmother ailing so physically. The wrinkles around her eyes were still hanging like the broken frames in her old house. It was nice to escape the confines of the inn with her, searching for a quick bite to eat.

Kagome had insisted, when the subject of InuYasha had his manly aires had come to conversation, that he had not taken advantage of her, or suggested she do anything against her will.

The old woman had fanned away the aggression and doubt when she was told of what he had done. It surprised her to the very core that InuYasha had had it in him to defend them the way he had. It was as if he had been painted a fox.

The girl was proudly defensive, losing her wary facade to become a bold incarnation of her former self. He brought that out in her, and in some way, she felt as though he was worth protecting.

Kaede had relented and focused on the very essence of the woman that walked tall beside her. Every movement was recorded for future reference, as though she would disappear again. The light in her eyes gradually would return, but that old InuYasha seemed to have gotten the better of her.

Kagome spoke about the days that she'd spent with him as though they had been made of the same mold. It had been strange to see the girl so overwhelmingly taken by the man, but Kaede and longed to see her feel true emotion.

Not just the trivial lusts and losses of summer loves and gently passing breezes as they kissed her skin. Real, raw emotion.

Her granddaughter had been a precarious woman before Bankotsu, and she didn't want to see her submerge herself into the life that her father had drowned in. The idea filled Kaede's mouth with a sour taste, clinging to her tongue like a film.

There was no way in hell that Kagome would ever end up a fiend like her father, she scowled inwardly. She kept her caring expression as her thoughts wilted like the death of the seasons. That worry would be there as long as she lived.

Closing her dark eyes, Kaede-baba held Kagome's small hand as she guided her to the hospital. The girl clenched onto her grandmother's hand, searching for a comfort that wouldn't become fruitful.

The building was haunting, new to her as she had never seen it before with her own eyes. Albeit, she had many times. It just never seemed so empty, so ravenous.

Kaede had bought the girl a new kimono, as tradional as she was. At the store, she'd pinned Kagome into the white and red silk, and buried her beneath the layers of cotton. She was half frozen by the time they made it into the building, feeling the heat prick at her pale skin.

Instantaneously, the young woman's eyes searched for a familiar she didn't see Sango, her heart collapsed. It was almost too trying to set foot in that place without at least seeing her smiling face.

Kaede arched a brow and placed her talon like hand upon Kagome's back. "Are you looking for Sango, sweetheart?" She asked shakily, as she guided the girl along a routined path to the elevators.

The girl closed her eyes, nodding softly. Her convictions were only as strong as she was, and it was evident she was waning in tensity as if she was a dying candle.

As the plated doors opened like a mouth and closed to chew its prey, the old woman held looked up at the woman's face with a soft grin. "InuYasha didn't tell you?" She asked, keeping herself from jostling with the rickety pulls of the cart.

Kagome furrowed her brows, "Are they?" The woman's stomach dropped as she imagined them as a couple. A rage struck her and she clenched her jaw jealously as her grandmother shook her head.

"They tried," She sighed. "Little Sango is in Tokyo with the boy who lost his father a last year." Her words were were slow, methodical just like movements.

Kagome found herself bothered by the sheer idea of them together and she made it a point to say something to the man when she saw him. The little boy, on the other hand made her feel nervous. He was there that day.

Closing her eyes, she washed away the memory and followed the old woman's shadow through the winding hallways. "So, how is Shippo, anyway?" She asked gingerly, dejected by the lost souls that meandered throughout the walls of this ailing museum.

Kaede-baba sucked in a sigh as she brought her beloved's belongings to her chest. Holding them, she stopped in front of the door that kept him hidden from the rest of the world. How many nights she'd spent in those confines, praying and begging him to just relax and let himself go.

It was something that she had accepted, and knew would end his suffering. Tears pricked at her sunken pools, rippling them with their disturbance. A moment had passed before she let Kagome's words register.

When they did, the woman's expression was exasperated. "That boy doesn't tell you much of anything, does he?" She chided, wipping her nose with her thumb.

Kagome scowled, a blush hitting her like a cinderblock. "Obviously not. It's not like he's supposed to."

Her grandmother saw the innocence in her shine through and it made her laugh. It was throaty and quiet, like a harumph. "He was adopted when his mother passed recently." Kaede arched a brow seeing the girl's hand wipe across her face.

"That's terrible, he's been through so much." Kagome said with a sigh. "I hope that he has a good home, now. I assume he's living with Sango?" Her gray eyes darted across the knowing lines on Baba's face.

"Kagome," She said quietly, nudging her head to the door. "InuYasha is his father, now. I should have known better than to persecute him as I did, because he is a good boy."

The girl's mouth when slack as Kaede's words filled the hallway with a regretable resonance. She wasn't sure what to think of him, anymore. All of the doubt in her head seemed to be clouded by the solidification of trust.

"You mean that he really meant that he lived here?" Kagome inquired finding it hard to wrap her head around all of the buzzing static.

Kaede nodded, licking her parched lips as she finally placed her hand upon the chipping handle. "Yes, Kagome. He takes good care of everyone and everything, even if its to his own detriment, as you've seen." She let out a warning sigh, and steeled herself the best she could. "We need to go see Papa, and I don't want you to be alarmed."

Kagome nodded, bracing herself as she pressed on the most fictious and memorable version of her former self. Her mind was flooded with poise, trying to keep her composure as tight as possible.

Yet, nothing could have prepared her for the sight that laid beyond the threshold.

It was about as alarming as the feelings that crawled all over InuYasha's skin as he frantically cleaned the old inn. His hands couldn't press the rag hard enough against the worn floor. The blood stains were still everywhere, just a little less noticeable.

A foul taste replaced Kagome's flavor. He'd been savoring the feeling of her soft mouth, rolling across his like the warmth of a shower. If she had been there, he would have been flustered, dumbstruck by the sheer sight of her.

He wasn't sure how it had even really happened. Then again, he wasn't aware of half of what had happened to him until it was nothing more than an arduous afterthought. Plopping down, he tossed the soggy rag down with a digusting plop.

The smell of bleach was damaging and so stout that he could barely recall what fresh air had smelled like. He brought his knees to his lanky chest, laying his arms across them.

For just a moment, he laid his head in the crook of his arm, reveling in the silence. It had been something he feared, but absorbed when it was offered to him. He needed to go back to Tokyo, but he couldn't just leave.

Kaede-baba was probably still beyond pissed at him for hiding Kagome, but he hadn't done a damn thing wrong, in his eyes. He obeyed the girl's wishes, and they were understandable. Albeit, lying was something that he had never been particularly fond of, as they knew.

With a sigh, he tried to shake a rush of panic from taking over him. The image of Bankotsu's bloated dead body resonated in his mind. He was floating like a boat, drifting across the water as his flesh fell apart.

Vomit crept in his throat, clenching his airways with the putrid burning. Shaking his head couldn't clean the blood on his hands, he scowled. He had to redeem himself, somehow, and that was making this whole ordeal with Kagome more unbearable.

Pushing himself to his feet, he picked up the rag and began his labor again. The sooner the dried, flaky pallets of blood were gone, the sooner he could begin to forget that he was a murderer.

He and Kagome were kindred in so many ways that it was astounding. Both of them had nerves like chicken wire, and were just about as needy as they come - though, neither would admit the fault.

Bankotsu had fucked them both up and he couldn't forget that feeling. Glowering, InuYasha's tired eyes looked at the clock and forced himself to move across the house, picking up lingering boards and shelving he needed to repair.

There wasn't much left to do, and it made his impending trip that much easier. He just needed to figure out how to get ahold of Sango. Baba probably knew, and worry was eating at him about Shippo.

He'd kind of enjoy taking him out for a bike ride. It would definitely help break the tension between he and Kagome if he was around. Hell, anything would be of help to ease the tension.

Clenching his fists, he scowled at the floor. Why did he feel like he was developing feelings for her? Actual feelings. The kind of feelings that would either destroy him, or make him.

It bothered him as he pulled his shirt from his body. The fabric met the floor, followed by his jeans and socks as he meandered into the bathroom. His shower was the only thing he could genuinely look forward to.

He'd have to face the world afterwords, and feed himself, he remembered. Turning on the gargling faucet, he hit it a couple of times to make it spit out the sludge. A dirty hand wound through his matted hair.

"What the fuck am I even doing here?" The man asked himself, finding everything finally settling down. It was as if fate had chosen him as a pillar to build upon, and he wasn't very thrilled with how the outcome was turning out.

As he sat on the edge of the old tub, he looked down at his palms. They were twisted with lines and weathersome reminders of his prior life. Those were the same hands that caressed Kagome's soft skin, bathed his son, used tools...

It disgusted him that his hands betrayed him.

The let him kill a man.

Grabbing the bottle of shampoo, he violently threw it at the wall. He let his head collapse in his hands and writhed beneath his fingers.

Why in hell did he keep feeling like this?

Every loud noise that wasn't caused by something that he did made him jump. He was never a light sleeper, but found himself almost waking at the sound of a penny rolling across the floor.

InuYasha finally pushed himself into the tub full of hot water and submerged. By the end of the day, he had decided that he would be gone. Sango had all of his information and identification, anyway.

He could just pick that up from her when he got there. A sigh brushed past his lips as he scrubbed away the grit from his wet skin.

A heaviness pressured his lungs and heart as he thought of the kindness of Old Baba and Totosai. They deserved to live peacefully, and now that Kagome was back, they probably could.

They didn't rely on him as a replacement anymore, did they? Shippo still did, and would go wherever he did. That was comforting enough. Then again, if the boy wanted to see Old Baba, he'd have to travel half way across the country.

A sad smile fell on his lips, "Well, fuck me." He said, revolting at the growling of his stomach. "Guess I'm just about as screwed, huh?"

InuYasha let his heavy lids fall, isolating his thoughts behind the black blanket over his eyes. The first thing he saw was her. He'd gotten to know here through tall tales and the sweetness of the words she'd written in her diary.

That woman was something endearing. His body stirred at the thought of her resting atop of him. Warm blood surged into a boil, making his stomach jolt with a tingling sensation. He aptly opened his eyes to the murky surroundings and reached for the faucet.

There wasn't going to be any of that.

The cold water that battered him made sure of it, as he chattered on his way out. If his conscious wanted to be cruel, he would have to bully it back.

The lanky man shivered beneath the wind the fan created as he grabbed his clothing from the wardrobe, dressing as warm as he could. He tied his hair back in a bun, hiding it beneath a toboggan.

The man headed towards the kitchen, slipping out to hop on his bike. A cigarette was pressed in his lips as he rode off into the early evening, wind kissing his face with a numbing cold.

When they were all tucked in for the night, he would vanish like the smoke that trailed behind him.