Black Ice: I don't like this story anymore.
Blood Rain: ...Yeah, me neither, to be honest. But I think that was evident from the fact that we haven't updated in over a month.
Black Ice: Sounds like grounds for deletion to me...
Blood Rain: (shakes head) Yep. Doesn't seem like this story will be lasting for much longer.
Black Ice: And it's not even the issue of writer's block, really. We know exactly what we want to do. We just don't feel like writing for this story anymore.
Blood Rain: There was a time when we loved writing for this story; hell, we couldn't stop.
Black Ice: But now...(fidgets) I wouldn't get too excited over updates anymore. Sigh. I hate when this happens.
Blood Rain: Me, too.
It surprised and somewhat disturbed Inuyasha that his first response was not alarm, but protectiveness.
"Put the girl down." Inuyasha said calmly, securing his towel around his waist. His brother's eyes flashed with indignation at his impudence, sparking the tiniest hint of fear in the younger male.
"Is that an order?" His voice was almost mocking.
"No. It's a request." Luckily, Inuyasha did know how to appeal to his brother's better, more sensible nature, and his covert deference worked like a charm. Never flinching, Sesshoumaru let Kagome crumple to the ground, not failing to notice how Inuyasha's eyes followed her form, obviously checking to see whether she was alive or not.
"She still lives, little brother. The question is why." Inuyasha sucked in a breath, nervous.
"It's a long story."
"I prefer the short version."
"There's this man at school masquerading as a student, but he's...a devourer. We're sure of it." Sesshoumaru's eyebrow quirked at the plural, but he let Inuyasha continue. "He's working for a woman named Kanna, who we discovered was romantically linked to me. The devourer—Houjou--wants to destroy Kagome, and I refuse to let him." There. He'd finally acknowledged it aloud, in front of his brother of all people.
"Kagome?" Sesshoumaru spoke the word distastefully, as if the half-breed's very name would poison him.
"The girl." Inuyasha clarified, to which Sesshoumaru made a soft scoffing sound.
"As if I hadn't known that." He shook his head. "So. What is your connection to the thing?"
"First, I ask that you not refer to her as a "thing"." Inuyasha cleared his throat, and Sesshoumaru bored his eyes into his.
"Be grateful that I'm not murdering her instead of speaking to you right now." He intoned, and Inuyasha pursed his lips at this.
"Fine. I...accidentally made her my nyoubou." The look Sesshoumaru gave him actually made him avert his eyes in embarrassment. The next thing he knew, he was crashing against the posterior wall. Before he could even stumble to his feet, Sesshoumaru yanked him up by the very skin of his chest, snarling furiously.
"What?!" Inuyasha forced himself to ignore the pain ripping at his flesh and make eye contact with Sesshoumaru. "Is that why you smell like sex and shame?!"
"That's exactly why." Huffing a growl, Sesshoumaru dropped Inuyasha and turned his back on him. Inuyasha groaned, his vision swimming again as he woozily viewed the claw slashes in his chest.
"I'll be back. To see whether or not she is worthy of seeing the light of day." And as per his normal method, he vanished into thin air.
"...Fuck." He mumbled. He couldn't take too much more; that sex had worn him out, but he had to awaken Kagome and warn of her of the impending danger. She could either run and eventually be found, or she could be trained to fight. Sesshoumaru was as unpredictable as they came; he could return in a time span from less than an hour to next year, and God only knew what he planned to do.
Ignoring his aching body, Inuyasha approached Kagome's naked form and tapped on her jugular vein to awaken her. Her eyes flew open and she stared wildly at him.
"Inuyasha?" She stretched her limbs and yawned. "Wow, how long was I out?"
"Long enough for me to get in some serious trouble." He muttered solemnly.
"I don't understand."
"There's something you need to know, Kagome." Inuyasha blew a hard sigh, sitting down on the floor beside her. Standing was too taxing on him.
"Does it have to do with some guy that looks a little like you?" Kagome guessed, and Inuyasha looked at her in amazement. Her perception was frightening sometimes.
"...Yeah...how did you know that?"
"Had this freaky dream-but-not-a-dream; you know, the kind of dream that you know is real. You were in the shower, and when you came out, some dude was there and he looked pissed. He also looked like you, so am I right in saying he was your brother?"
"Yeah, he is."
"Figured as much. He totally barked on you. About me. I was flattered at some of the things that were said." Inuyasha flushed ever so slightly, as hard as his low blood supply would permit. Kagome smiled.
"Yeah, well, it's all true. Even the nyoubou part."
"A bit ironic, isn't it?" Still smiling, Kagome brushed a tendril of Inuyasha's hair out of his face and tucked it behind his ear. "You said so often that I wasn't, and yet here we are now, practically staring death in the face because of the exact opposite."
"And it's all my fault." Inuyasha shook his head, disgusted with himself. "I should've never even met you."
"If I were still in my human mind, that might've hurt my feelings, but I know better. Obviously, we were fated to meet. I can't say for sure why, but I know we were. So I think we should make the best of it, don't you?" Inuyasha cast a disbelieving gaze at her.
"If you know you're probably going to be killed, and there's nothing I can do about it, then why are you smiling?"
"I suppose it's nothing short of acceptance." Kagome shrugged. "But it might also be that I know you won't let me die."
"You know this." Inuyasha intoned, quirking an eyebrow. "And you know this to be certain?"
"Even if you yourself don't. Before your brother can even lay a claw on me, you'll put your own life on the line to save me. You can't live without me, Inuyasha—it's one of the consequences of being a teisei." Inuyasha couldn't help a chuckle.
"You're a lot smarter than I give you credit for, you know that?"
"Yeah, I know. I also know this—you wouldn't've inadvertently made me your nyoubou if you didn't have some feelings for me." She winked, and at this, Inuyasha smirked.
"And you wouldn't've accepted the claim if you didn't have feelings for me. So if I'm not mistaken, it's time for a little truth."
"Well, I guess for a pompous, racist asshole, you're not so bad."
"And for a naïve, airheaded bitch, you're not so bad yourself." The two grinned at each other, before swiftly closing the distance between their lips.
"Kagome," Inuyasha murmured softly, as she rested her head in his lap, "you know that when Sesshoumaru comes back, I might not be able to protect you like I want to. Aren't you worried or a little scared?"
"Why should I be? I know how to defend myself—if he kills me, he just kills me." Inuyasha laid his icy fingers upon her face, but she was not bothered.
"Damn, you're brave." Kagome smiled slightly, then frowned a little.
"Inuyasha, what would you do if...if Gingitsune died by Houjou's hands?" A dim pain burned his chest, but his touch remained soft as he thoughtfully stroked Kagome's face.
"I would probably kill him or something...but he was on my list anyway. Why do you ask?"
"...Just a question." But Inuyasha didn't believe that, for some reason. In fact, she seemed more troubled by this simple hypothetical than by the reality of Sesshoumaru's potential danger. She burrowed her head further into his hard stomach, sighing. Her closeness soothed his aching chest, replacing the pain with a serene warmth.
"Kagome, do you know what love is?" It just popped out. He hadn't even known what he'd asked until Kagome gave him a bewildered look.
"What?"
"Uh...never mind." He mumbled, feeling stupid for even having asked.
"No, what did you say?" She persisted.
"It's nothing. Random rambling."
"Inuyasha...did you just ask me if I knew what love is?" Kagome clarified slowly, and Inuyasha felt even more a fool.
"...No..." He said gruffly, but they both knew he was exposed. Still, in order to shield his fragile male ego, Kagome waited a while before she replied.
"Well...if you had asked...I would have to say, I can't say. I know what infatuation is...I certainly know what lust is...but love eludes me. I mean, I love my family, of course, just as you seem to love your brother, but as for the romantic definition, I'm at a loss."
"Yeah. Me too." Inuyasha said gently. "So you and I...aren't in love. Right?"
"Right. Together." A smile tugged at his lips.
"I like the sound of that. "Not in love together"."
"I like it too." Their expressions, content, mirrored each other, and Kagome drifted to sleep. Watching her for some time, Inuyasha felt a slumber-inducing serenity overtake him, and just before he went to sleep, his brother's voice, unbidden, floating into his mind.
"She is worthy."
Knowing he'd somehow gained Sesshoumaru's acceptance, he went to sleep with a smile on his face.
"You summoned me, Mistress?" The pale kyuuketsuki sat in a plush leather chair, turned away from her loyal and humble servant. Her slender fingers tapped against each other as she thought, an indication for Houjou not to speak until she did.
"Houjou, sweetheart..." She finally purred, whirling around slowly in the chair to face him. Even though he'd seen her face many times in the past, he still couldn't get over her otherworldly beauty. "I have an idea."
"Tell me, cleverest mistress."
"I believe we can kill two birds with one stone...annihilate the half-breed and get my teisei back to me." Houjou was careful not to let his detestation of her "teisei" show in any way.
"Oh? And how would you go about accomplishing that?" Houjou chuckled a little condescendingly. Her previous idea hadn't worked in the slightest: that lummox Shoujou had failed to lure Inuyasha to them; then her plan to have Houjou steal his beloved Gingitsune away worked strongly for a while before fizzling into nothing. Once that plummeted, Kanna was at a loss. Houjou couldn't believe how addled his mistress's head got with regards to that foolish vampire. Was he himself not just as good? After all, he had never been a human in his life—what could Kanna possibly want with Inuyasha?
"Don't scoff, Houjou." Kanna pursed her anemic lips together, showing her distaste for Houjou's lack of faith. "This is what we will do, and I am ashamed that I didn't think of it before. I'll just seduce Inuyasha away from Kagome. Simple, no?"
"...Uh...okay."
"I mean, I was certainly able to do it before, right? Who's to say it won't work this time? All I have to do is pretend I don't know him. That will hurt the halfling even more. Once Inuyasha has fallen under my spell again, I'll lure him here, and the bereft girl will follow."
"How will she know where to find him?"
"Don't be dense, Houjou." Kanna snapped. "We leave clues obvious enough for her to follow. She can't be that stupid, can she?"
"That's true." Something popped into Houjou's mind, something he'd forgotten about. "Say...what do you want me to do about the neko? She's becoming clingy and it's getting annoying."
"Hmm. I'd forgotten about her. She's certainly of no importance to me." Kanna scoffed flippantly.
"To the contrary, my lady..." Houjou rubbed his chin, deep in thought. "She isn't a vampire, right?"
"Of course not."
"But she is a demon."
"Where are you going with this, Houjou?" Kanna looked at him suspiciously, not particularly liking being in the dark about such things.
"The chances of bearing a newborn increase drastically when you're more than human, if I'm not mistaken." Houjou smirked evilly, and Kanna gasped when she realized what he was getting at. She licked her lips in excitement, beckoning him closer. Proudly, Houjou stepped up to her desk and let her caress his face with her soft, freezing fingers, feeling much like a pet who'd just done exactly what his master wanted.
"You're a good boy, Houjou...a very good boy." Kanna purred. "Mama's proud of you!"
Black Ice: I like it again.