Chapter 43
He was doing the thing again. Shamefully sneaking around, being extra careful to pick his landings behind trunks thick enough to hide his form. He'd been doing his best to skirt around what he guessed is roughly the edgers of Kikyou's sensory range.
He fucking hated it. It reminded him too much of when he was a runt, making himself scarce in the shadows of buildings just to watch his peers play a game of ball.
Still, he couldn't help but watch. Just like he was doing now.
Some parts of the canopy had been thinned by the changing of the seasons which made observing the small group easier even if he kept some distance.
Another harsh glare assaulted his retinas, making him instinctively cringe away. Kikyou's impeccable form relaxed slightly, turning to explain something to the other two about the arrow she'd just fired.
His gaze followed Kagome as she walked up to the targets for another try. The sleeves of her robes were tied back, visually marking her resolve to train but he could tell by the slight hunch of her back that there was a trace of hesitance.
It can't be easy training with Kikyou. She was nothing if not intense when it came to her trade.
Kagome straightened up, taking a brief moment to compose herself. She aligned her form carefully and drew the arrow back. The flight path was straight and on impact the air burst into a flash of clear blue light.
Instantaneously, a familiar happy squeal rang through the grove. He watched her jump up and down in excitement, arms gesturing happily around her as she spoke.
Kikyou and Kaede congratulated her but the priestess quickly reigned her in, pointing once more at the series of targets.
Again and again, Kagome produced a hama-no-ya, one after the other, creating an impromptu light show.
Inuyasha watched unblinkingly. Each flare was consistently the same brightness and size.
She was clearly thrilled and of course why wouldn't she be; the last few weeks had been doggedly devoted to mastering this very technique.
He wanted to be happy for her. He really, really wished he could will himself to do so. But his first reaction was not that. Instead, something ugly and selfish and small-minded had erupted in his chest, as dark as Kagome's arrows were light. It coiled around his heart until the tight squeeze threatened to impede its beating.
Kagome had no need of him. Not anymore.
That was what this meant.
Essentially, he'd seen it coming, the moment she killed the centipede that day. He'd just chose to ignore it—the classic head-in-sand approach. Kikyou couldn't have made it clearer even, that he was not wanted anywhere near them, spiritual users that they were.
And it was painfully obvious that Kagome's powers would be formidable if she could refine them with the proper training. It was just like her, working stubbornly at something she's declared a goal. Tenacious and feisty, she tackled it just like all the things she's learned to do since she arrived here. He'd witnessed it firsthand, how the village had begun to acknowledge her, weave her into part of the collective fabric of their daily grind.
The only thing still marking her as 'other', the object of friction between Kagome and the villagers—was him.
He wasn't stupid. He knew that any time she tried to include him in her activities, tried so hard to invite him to join in something communal, it made the other humans uncomfortable.
To reiterate—Kagome was stubborn to a fault, and he happened to be one of the things she'd fixated on.
Without him, she'd be better off.
She could assimilate in a heartbeat, what with her budding powers, the humans were already shitting themselves with glee at the possibility of another miko around. If said candidate didn't insist on running around with halfbreeds, then she be faultless.
Kagome was the first one to truly accept him and if nothing else, he wanted to offer her something in return. He didn't want to hold her back, didn't want to jeopardize her tenuous newfound role in the human world. There was perhaps something only he could do— it was somehow insurmountable to even formulate the whole thought in his head.
Then, as if the universe wanted to further stick it to him, the wind direction abruptly changed and with it the scraps of conversation he least wanted to overhear.
His sensitive ears allowed him no chance in halting the flow of the words before their implications could settle in his brain.
He bolted. It was the most reliable solution to prevent his thoughts from spiralling any further. At the very least, not within range of being spotted.
Inuyasha leapt off his perch and took to the air away from the women who were clearly still celebrating Kagome's success. The way she deserved. Not whatever the hell he was feeling—some friend he is.
Skipping several long jumps away, he stopped at the top of another pine. Back tucked against the trunk, he crossed his arms and glared out at the treetops.
He wasn't sure how long he'd spent lost in the pits of self-pity but the faint crunch of human feet on plant litter alerted him to approaching visitors. Upwind, he did not have the additional hint of a scent but by the sound alone, Inuyasha knew who was coming. By now, the particular rhythm of one girl's footsteps was ingrained in his senses—the second pair of footsteps, lighter, was also familiar.
"Inuyaaasha!" Sure enough, the sound of Kagome's cheery voice rose above the trees, stretching one of the syllables of his name. Silly girl did this often; maybe she was under the impression that this would aid her in enticing him to leave his hiding spots. It didn't.
He slipped off the branch anyway and landed with an intentional thump. Better to get it over with.
"Oh!" Hearing the sound, Kagome broke into a light sprint to close the distance between them. "Found you!"
The happy sparkle in her eyes was especially prominent today, accentuated by the little quirk of her mouth.
"Hi, Inuyasha." Kaede greeted quietly as she caught up to them.
"Inuyasha, guess what!" Kagome latched onto one of his sleeves and tugged on it in emphasis. "I did it! I can fire hama-no-ya when I want to now!"
Her cheeks are flushed from her exuberance. For some reason, observing it now made his stomach churn, like he accidentally ate something rotten.
Somehow, he managed to grunt out a reply. "Uh, that's great."
Kagome's smile flagged and she stilled, big grey eyes landing on his face. It was all he could do to stop himself from squirming under the prolonged weight of her scrutiny.
"Inuyasha, are you ok? Is something the matter?"
He scoffed, turning away slightly, dislodging her hand in the process. Hopefully this was enough to deter her.
"Um," Her eyebrows creased, thrown off by his strange behaviour. "Well, Kaede and I are done early today! We're thinking of foraging a bit by the river and having an early supper. Did you want to join us?"
Inuyasha snuck a glance at the younger girl lingering beside Kagome. She too was looking at him curiously, the serious set of her chestnut eyes juxtaposed on a childish face.
In that moment, Kaede resembled Kikyou so startlingly it almost made him shrunk into himself.
Pathetic.
"No. I'm not coming."
"Ok! Well let's—wait-you're not coming?" It took Kagome a second to fully process his words, and her happy tone fell once more.
Maybe he was usually that pathetic. Always trailing after her whenever she offered, lapping up any sort of companionship he could find.
"No, stupid. Is something wrong with your ears?" That came out way more meanspirited than he intended. Come to think of it, it's been some time since he called her names.
Her eyes flashed briefly with ire and he could see her reign in her emotions. Apparently, she opted to give him the benefit of the doubt.
"Alright. Um, we'll go then. Hope you feel better, Inuyasha." She turned to beckon to the other girl. "Guess it's just us today, Kaede."
Kagome's eyes lingered on him for a few seconds longer. Before she turned around, he noted the slight worry in her expression.
Seriously stupid. Why was she always defaulting to concern for him? She should've just gotten mad. He was much more adept at parrying that.
As Kagome began to walk back towards the village, Kaede hung back. She fixed him with another searching look.
Not saying anything else, the kid gave him a little wave and followed after Kagome.
Inuyasha kept his arms crossed tightly across his chest and waited until the two humans faded from sight.
The kosode Kagome was wearing today stood out amongst the green. Worn, and yellowed with age, the once white fabric was most likely loaned to her from Kikyou. It had sleeves that offered more range of motion for archery practice.
"I believe my teacher would be interested in training you come spring. She is much more experienced in the spiritual arts. Would you perhaps be interested, Kagome?"
That was what Kikyou offered earlier.
It would be better if Kagome had a chance to settle back into a normal life with other humans before she went away to train. It would certainly boost her reputation as a future spiritual user if she was more normal. As in, if she wasn't associating with certain half-demons that constantly singled her out as 'other'.
What if he left this village?
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A/N: oops. So there's some angst. I didn't actually set out for this story to go this way but then again I also didn't anticipate this long of a story either haha. Bear with me ^^; we're progressing quite splendidly.
When I update next I'm striving to go for some sort of regularity schedule wise only because everything is all strung together and I don't want to make y'all go back and reread cuz it's been so long and everyone forgot what happened xD
Thank you as always for being patient with me and for your readership!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. However, this plot, the exact sequence of words and any original characters described therein, I reserve all rights to.