InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Heart Has Many Rooms ❯ Part III ( Chapter 3 )

Part Three

 

"Houshi-sama?"

 

Miroku turned his head, peering at the taijiya with inquisitive eyes. "Yes, Sango?"

 

Sango's eyebrows drew downward as she worried her bottom lip between her teeth. "Do you... do you think Kagome-chan will come back? With Inuyasha?"

 

"I'm afraid I cannot be certain." Miroku sighed. "It is true that love is a strong driving force in our friends' relationship, but Inuyasha and Kagome have many obstacles they have yet to overcome. Love alone cannot build a strong and lasting home. It is only the foundation."

 

Sango nodded, leaning against the monk's side while he slid an arm around her shoulder. "But I hope they can work through it. They deserve to be together."

 

Miroku smiled, stroking the side of her arm with a languid thumb.

 

"Yes, koi, they do."

 

****

 

"Is that the best you've got, inukkoro?" The wolf prince laughed, flinging himself from Inuyasha's reach to land in a crouch a few feet away. Inuyasha swore under his breath.

 

"Like hell it is, bastard. If you think I can't beat a yaze ookami like you without Tetsusaiga, you're in for a fucking rude awakening!" Inuyasha roared and sprung forward, swinging his right arm back in a wide arc to slash at the other youkai's chest.

 

Kouga twisted out of the way at the very last moment, just as the hanyou's claws grazed his chest. Inuyasha smirked, seeing the blood ooze from the shallow wound, but he found his small victory to be short-lived as Kouga retaliated with a well-aimed roundhouse kick to the jaw. It hit, hard, causing Inuyasha to stagger back enough for the wolf to follow up with a punch to the gut.

 

From her treetop, Kagome watched the affray with wide eyes, fingers digging into the jagged bark of the tree.

 

Or, at least, she did for the first hour or so. But by now, she had used up all her worrying and anxiety, seeing that the two youkai battling beneath her were in no immediate danger. Inuyasha, despite not having the sword which tames his blood, was showing no signs of transforming any time soon. So Kagome merely observed and tried to gather her own thoughts.

 

And she found wisdom in the form of a flea.

 

"Myouga-jiichan!" She huffed, slapping a hand over the blood-sucking parasite that was draining her arm.

 

"Ah, Kagome-sama," Myouga hopped up onto her shoulder. "My apologies."

 

Kagome rolled her eyes. "So, Myouga-jiichan, what are you doing here? Isn't it a bit too dangerous for you?"

 

"Not at all. Inuyasha-sama will not let any intentional harm come to his mate. He will make certain that the fight remains far enough away," he explained.

 

Color flooded Kagome's cheeks. "But I'm not his mate!"

 

Myouga shrugged. "Subconsciously, Inuyasha-sama sees you as one."

 

She mulled over this new information silently, before she found it necessary to ask another question. "Eh, Myouga-jiichan?"

 

"Hai, Kagome-sama?"

 

"Why did Inuyasha throw his Tetsusaiga into the woods?" She inquired, turning her gaze downward to where Kouga had just been on the receiving end of a rather painful backhand and elbow combo.

 

Myouga cleared his throat, preparing to give a long explanation. "Well, Kagome-sama, it is traditional for youkai challenges to consist of only the two youkai, and that would denote that no weapons should be used. After all, this is a challenge of pure strength— to show the female who is strongest and would therefore be a better provider."

 

"Oh, I understand now," said Kagome. "But... will Inuyasha be okay without Tetsusaiga?"

 

"He will be, so long as nothing sets off his youkai blood."

 

Kagome nodded absently, turning her gaze once more to the fight below. Inuyasha had just landed a powerful blow right on Kouga's mouth, but the wolf immediately sprung back and grabbed Inuyasha by the shoulders, throwing his knee into the hanyou's midsection. Kagome winced in sympathy.

 

"Had enough yet, hanyou?" Kouga growled, turning his head to spit blood from his mouth. Inuyasha scowled.

 

"You ain't getting Kagome, I already told you!" He snarled, and leapt forward to deliver an offensive attack. But the wolf youkai was prepared for it and bent, grasping Inuyasha's haori and flipping him over his back to crash into a tree.

 

Kagome's tree.

 

"KYAAAAAA!" She shrieked, hearing the trunk splinter under the force of the collision. For a second it seemed as if the tree would hold... but then it began to fall, dashing the modern girl's idealistic hopes.

 

And then Kagome tumbled from the tree.

 

Kouga's eyes grew wide and he sprung forward to snatch Kagome from the fall, but was a bit too slow in saving her from getting roughed up. Her right side scraped the length of the tree, tearing open her sleeve and slicing through her smooth skin before Kouga managed to catch her. The wolf youkai landed on the ground with a soft grunt and then gently placed her down beside him, looking thoroughly horrified.

 

"Kagome! Oh gods, I'm so sorry," Kouga apologized, "I didn't— Fuck! I mean, I forgot you were—"

 

Kagome waved his apologies away with her good arm. "No, Kouga-kun, it's— ah, shit— it's fine..."

 

But in all honesty, it didn't look fine at all. The blood was beginning to soak through the fabric and splinters of wood were scattered around and inside the injury. Kagome feared that it would get infected, especially now that they'd run out of medicine from her time—

 

She stopped and looked down at her now ruined blouse. It was the last one she had left from her modern era, and so far, she been careful to keep it in good condition. The very final piece she had, it was the one last thing that set her apart from everyone else in the Sengoku Jidai. Really, it was silly getting worked up over a blouse, but to Kagome it was more than a blouse; it was a symbol of her home. Meaning... that now that it was gone...

 

Oh no, she was going to...

 

"Don't cry, Kagome!" Kouga pleaded, which only prompted another fit of tears as Kagome dissolved in front of him. He lightly stroked up and down her left arm in what must have seemed to be a soothing manner, but it failed to comfort her. "Goddamn this... it's all my fault."

 

Kagome was about to reassure him with a `No, of course it wasn't your fault' because she could never blame Kouga-kun for anything— but then, suddenly, a strange whistling sound caused her thoughts to scatter...

 

...As Inuyasha flew past her to slam Kouga into the ground. A feral growl tore from the dog youkai's throat and he curled his fist around Kouga's neck, face contorted into an expression that was well beyond murderous rage. And Kagome gasped in pure alarm when she saw them.

 

The jagged red stripes running across Inuyasha's cheeks.

 

****