InuYasha Fan Fiction / Yu Yu Hakusho Fan Fiction ❯ Not the Only One ❯ Defenceless ( Chapter 11 )

{I don't own Inuyasha or Yu Yu Hakusho. That pleasure belongs to their rightful owners, Rumiko Takahashi and Yoshihiro Togashi!}

You know I couldn't keep you guys waiting…don't say I'm not good to you all!

 

Know the lingo!:

Gomen: sorry

Kami: god

Nani: what

Hai: yes

Iie: no

Ja: see you

Hitoe: Inuyasha's red top

Kosode: Inuyasha's white undergarment

Hakama: and finally, Inuyasha's bottoms.

 

Chapter 11

Defenceless

 

Kagome span around in a circle, shouting at the top of her lungs.

“Yoko!!”

She panted, her chest heaving up and down as she waited for a reply. The knife was shaking in her hand as she raised it to plunge it into the nearest tree in frustration. Before she could even pierce the bark, her hand froze in mid air. Kagome jumped, looking up at the thin, green vine that had wound around her wrist like an emerald bracelet. She saw her own startled eyes reflected in the blade of the knife before she looked upwards into the boughs of the tree. The night was growing cool, and though it was still fairly light, high up in the tree the leaves were shrouded in darkness. Kagome felt goose bumps break out on her skin as she caught the gaze of two golden orbs in the blackness.

“Yoko!”

The eyes continued to stare at her, like two single candle flames in a dark night. Then the smooth, silky voice that she knew to be the kitsune's floated down to her.

“Really, Kagome, do you think I could be so easily killed?”

The vine around her wrist gave her skin a little nip, and surprised, Kagome's grip slackened. The blade shot into the air like a silver bird, and there was a twang as it sunk into one of the branches above her. Kagome massaged her wrist, growing even more annoyed with the silver bandit as time ticked on.

“What are you saying? I wasn't trying to kill you!”

There was a chuckle, so feminine yet so identifiably deadly.

“Ah, so you make a habit of walking through the forest carrying weapons and calling out names of those you know?”

Kagome huffed, folding her arms and glaring at the pair of golden eyes.

“Well, excuse me for trying to protect myself! If it wasn't for you I wouldn't have had to enter this forest armed in the first place!”

There was a silence, and the golden glow dimmed to nothing. Yoko was clearly closing his eyes, and Kagome wasn't having any of it.

“Hey! Don't fall asleep! Come down here so I can give you a good telling off!”

Kagome waited for the amber orbs to reappear, but instead there was a sigh.

“Why don't you come up here?”

Kagome pulled a face, “Gomen, I left my tree walking boots at home!”

“Along with your kindness, it seems. Here I am injured due to my defending of your honour, and instead of thanks I receive threats,”

“Well that's what I'm here to talk about,” Kagome said, looking at the lower branches. Tree climbing was not a skill she had acquired over the years, and on top of that, she was wearing a skirt.

“Well, I can't climb the tree Yoko, so help me up at least,”

Immediately vines swarmed down the trunk of the tree, leaping onto Kagome's wrists, waist and legs.

“Aii!” Kagome yelped as she was pulled up into the air, branches scratching her skin and leaves catching in her hair.

She landed with a thump, straddling one of the thickest branches. Opening her eyes, Kagome looked down, horrified at how far she could fall.

“Yoko!” she cried, her eyes snapping shut again, “Where are you, you little-”

“Behind you,” Kagome jumped at the voice, wobbling a little on the branch before Yoko's arms reached around her waist and pulled her backwards to the safety of his body.

“I swear to Kami, Yoko, I know you're a kitsune, but if you keep playing these tricks I promise you I will…”

“Purify me?” the voice purred in her ear, “Too late. Looks like the dead miko got here first,”

 

 

“Nani?” Kagome said, twisting her head so fast she cricked her neck. Yoko picked her up and turned her around so she was facing him. Much thicker vines swarmed around her hips and thighs, keeping her anchored to the branch, but Kagome was staring at Yoko so hard she didn't notice.

It wasn't dark, but it wasn't bright either, and Kagome could just pick out the kitsune's features. His eyes weren't as bright as usual, and they reminded her of Kurama's own tired eyes this morning. There was also a subdued purple light coming from his left arm, and Kagome realised what Yoko had been referring to.

“Oh! Shippo told me she shot you…”

Kagome reached out, holding the kitsune's beautifully muscled arm close to her face as she noticed the darkened skin.

“It'll be cutting off the blood supply,” Kagome remarked to the silent Yoko, who was perfectly content to watch the girl touch him without any prompting.

“This might hurt a little,” Kagome warned, and when the kitsune didn't reply, she grasped hold of the splintered arrow and pulled it out in one motion.

“Uh,” Yoko grimaced as the sharp arrowhead ripped out of his skin, his eyes shutting for a second as the blood flow began to circulate his body again. Kagome rubbed the skin gently with her finger, and like a cloth to a dirty mark, wiped away the discolouring.

“There,” she said with a smirk, “That can be your thanks,”

Yoko stared at her, and then looked down at his arm in surprise. Apart from a gash, his arm was fine. He rolled his shoulder experimentally, and was amazed at the little pain he felt, compared to the agonizing sparks that had been there before.

Kagome sat back a little, observing the bandit as he leaned against the bark.

So Kikyo tried to kill him, did she?

Kagome felt a surge of anger towards the dead miko, but she swallowed it quickly. She hated to hate, and while Kikyo tried her patience, she had to accept that Inuyasha loved her, no matter what.

Which brings me back to the matter in hand…

“Yoko,” Kagome began, tracing the various knots in the hard bark of the branch,

“I'm going to tell you something. And I just want you to listen. Don't interrupt; don't make any smart ass comments or sarcastic remarks. Ok?”

The kitsune seemed to be actually considering what she had said before he answered.

“But it's fair to do all these things once you have finished, hai?”

Kagome bared her teeth in a sharp little smile.

“If you absolutely have to,”

Yoko nodded, a smirk playing across his face as he clenched and unclenched his right arm.

“Alright,” Kagome took a deep breath, trying to sort out what she wanted to say, and how exactly she was going to say it.

 

 

“Kurama told me what happened,” Kagome said, still tracing the knots on the tree. She found it easier than meeting Yoko's eyes.

“I know you meant well. And I suppose it's my own fault, for not telling you sooner. The problem is me and Inuyasha…have a complicated relationship. Kikyo, the woman you saw him…with, has a lot of history with Inuyasha. More than me…. I have to understand that. So does you and everyone else associated with us. I'm not happy that Inuyasha goes behind my back to meet her…but I don't really have any say in the matter. He knows how I feel about it- but he still does it, so…draw your own conclusions, I guess. What I'm trying to say is that you can't attack Inuyasha for what he's doing. After all, he's a free guy. I'm a free girl too…but you just need to have a bit of sensitivity with the whole situation, that's all,”

Kagome looked up at Yoko, who seemed to be having a lot of trouble holding in what he wanted to say.

“Before you say it…I know Inuyasha isn't handling the situation well. But he's had a hard life Yoko, and I can't blame him for wanting to be near the person who first loved him. I know he loves Kikyo too…and I love him. That's just how it is. Yes, he's a big mouthed, violent, possessive hanyou- but that's why I love him so much. And I can't just turn off my feelings for him…Kami knows I've tried…”

Kagome broke off, looking into the distance. The sun was beginning to set, and the sky was a tipped with beautiful wisps of orange and pink.

Yoko could see Kagome's eyes filling up, and couldn't take it anymore. To him the situation sounded so human, so complex and with no simple solution. But even he could see the girl's heart was breaking, and it was the hanyou's fault. But he could know see that simply insulting, injuring or even killing Inuyasha wasn't going to help. It was Kagome who needed the help. Yoko slowly edged his way over to her, letting his vines fall away as he gathered her into his arms. She was crying now, the tears trickling down her cheeks.

“It's alright,” Yoko whispered. He lay his head on hers as he pulled her closer into his chest, trying to wrap her up from the harshness of the world that she had been unwillingly pulled into. He let one hand swept through her midnight waterfall of hair, and he kissed her forehead gently, the kitsune sign of understanding. Kagome clung onto his white garment, inhaling the scent of roses with each sobering breath.

“I'm not going to say anymore than this,” Yoko wiped the tears from her eyes with his thumbs, his fingers moving down to touch her lips.

“If Inuyasha isn't going to give you what you deserve, then I will,”

Kagome closed her eyes as his lips pressed on hers. There was no lust this time from the kitsune, no need to satisfy his desires. Kagome let herself be kissed, because she knew Yoko was letting her have this kiss for herself.

 

“I should go,” Kagome said after they watched the sunset dip into a burned out glow.

“Shippo-chan will be worried sick,”

“I owe so much to that kit,” Yoko smiled softly, “If I hadn't been for him, I would have surely killed Inuyasha,” He rummaged in the silky layers of his tunic until he found what he was looking for.

“Here, can you give him this for me?”

Kagome accepted the gift, a small pink stone that looked like a chunk of rose quartz.

“What is it?” Kagome asked, smoothing her thumb over the glassy surface.

“My first ever steal,”

“Yoko…”

He jumped from tree to tree with Kagome in his arms, until they reached the bridge before the village.

“If you ever need me, just call,” Yoko said as they touched down.
”Arigato,” Kagome replied, smiling before turning away.

“Kagome…you'll be wanting this,”

The girl turned to see Yoko standing with a petal lying in his outstretched palm. She recognised it from the scentless petal plant, and just shook her head softly.

“No…I want Inuyasha to know who I've been with,”

Yoko's eyes widened in shock as Kagome just smiled and gave him a little wave before running over the bridge.

The kitsune secretly tracked her until she had reached Kaede's hut. Then, as much as he would have liked to hear what happened next, Yoko left. He had things to do.

 

 

“Kagome-chan!” Sango gasped as the girl came into their view. She and Miroku had come outside for a breath of fresh air, and to get away from the fuming hanyou inside.

“Kagome-sama, so good to see you back,” Miroku said smiling, though he exchanged a worried look with Sango.

You tell her.

No, you!

Kagome's laughter brought them out of their staring contest.

“Don't worry guys, I know,”

Two pairs of eyes, one violet and one chestnut stared at her in disbelief.

“Shippo?” asked Miroku. “When I get my hands on that crafty kit…”

“Iie,” Kagome laughed again, startling Miroku out his mutterings, “It was Kurama- oh, Sango, you fill in Miroku-sama while I get this over with,”

Kagome swept past them, leaving the pair at a complete loss.

 

 

“Kagome!” Inuyasha turned around from his cross legged position on the floor. His eyes were filled with something that Kagome couldn't quite put a name on. Then he jumped up.

“Where the hell have you been?! And is that the kitsune's scent all over you!?”

Kagome took a deep breath, and looked him square in the eye.

“I've been at home Inuyasha- and don't worry; I know where you've been. And yes, that is Yoko's scent all over me. Do you have a problem with that?”

Inuyasha's eyes were ablaze, but he just opened his mouth and shut it again. Kagome dumped her bag on the floor before sitting down, regarding the hanyou in front of her. His red hitoe was lying nearby, repairing itself. His white kosode was splattered with blood, and Kagome could see that he hadn't bothered to wash since the fight.

“Come on- we're going to the hot springs. You need to clean those cuts before they become infected,”

Inuyasha glowered at her.

“How many times do I have to tell you, bitch? My body can heal itself!”

Kagome clenched her fists in her lap, determined not to lose control.

“Inuyasha, if your body heals with the poison in those cuts, your blood will be infected and you'll be really ill,”

Inuyasha folded his arms adamantly, “Keh! I don't get ill!”

“You-are-going-to-the-hot-springs-Inuyasha!” Kagome tugged a forelock of white hair so Inuyasha looked her directly in the eye.

“If you argue with me, so help me, I'll osuwari you so hard we won't need the well anymore!”

Miroku had just finished hearing who this `Kurama' was, when Inuyasha stormed out of the hut, Kagome following behind him.

“Kagome-chan?” Sango asked confused, “Are you going home?”

Kagome shook her head, smiling.

“No, no, I'm just taking Inuyasha to the hot springs. Ja!”

The two watched in silence until their friends had disappeared into the night.

“So, let me get this right,” Miroku scratched his head.

“Inuyasha was caught with kissing Kikyo by the kitsune who had been following Kagome, they fought, Kagome found out, and she's now taking him to the hot springs?”

Sango nodded helplessly.

“Some guys have got it all,” Miroku sighed forlornly.

 

 

By the time Kagome had caught up with Inuyasha, he was already at the hot spring, staring at the waters as if he could make them disappear.

“I hate hot water,” he growled.

“Well, I hate smelly hanyou, so you better get in there and like it,” Kagome retorted, flopping down on the grass.

Inuyasha glared at her, but she wasn't paying him any attention. Instead she was lying facing the now purple velvet sky, her hands tucked under her head.

“I'm not even facing you Inuyasha, so can you hurry it up please?”

The hanyou, in all honesty, was stumped. He had expected shouting; he had expected tears and osuwari-ing. He had not expected Kagome to be all cool and calm with him, and simply complain that he smelled. Which, admittedly, he did.

Inuyasha watched her carefully as he stripped down to his hakama. Not because he thought she'd peek (which he would have preferred instead of the silence) but because, as usual, he couldn't work out what was going on inside her head.

He couldn't even bring up something to argue about; the fact she hadn't even denied she had been with the kitsune- the same one that had tried to kill him- was tearing him up inside.

As he dropped his sword on the grass, Inuyasha wondered if Kagome had `fallen out with him', as she called it. He half hoped she had- because, in that case, they would `make-in'. What Inuyasha was terrified of was losing Kagome. But the same could be said about Kikyo, which is why he was in this mess.

Inuyasha picked up a small sigh with his puppy dog ears as he carefully waded into the hot springs. The water felt wonderful on his tense muscles, but he would never tell Kagome that. He was caked in dried blood, and his skin was dotted with prickles from the damned kitsune's whip.

Inuyasha could feel the anger building up inside him as the water lapped around his waist.

Why isn't she angry, dammit?

When she got angry, he could tell she cared…but when she didn't…

“It's just as well that kitsune is good at running away,” he snarled suddenly, “Otherwise he'd be dead meat,”

Inuyasha thought at first she wasn't going to reply, so he felt a tremble of success when she did, her voice laced with irritation.

“If Shippo hadn't jumped in front of you, Inuyasha, you would be dead right now,”

“Keh, is that what he told you?” Inuyasha snapped.

“No, that's what I know,”

“And how do you know?”

Kagome sat up, slamming her fist on the ground as she span around to face him,

“Stop trying to rile me up Inuyasha, because I am not in the mood!”

Kagome cursed as she caught sight of him, her heart giving a little flit. Inuyasha was standing scowling at her, but that wasn't what caught her eye. Little water droplets were caught on his eyelashes and others trickled down his toned body. His large mass of white hair stuck to his skin, and as he crossed his arms the water rippled around his waist.

“What are you looking at?” he spat out, feeling self conscious.

Kagome could see the look of discomfort on his face, and knew he wasn't trying to hurt her by shouting. He just didn't know how to deal with the situation.

In an ideal world, I would wade through the water, throw my arms around him and tell him I loved him, hanyou or not.

“Nothing,”

In an ideal world…

Kagome lay back down, counting the stars to calm her feelings. The crescent moon gave off the only light of the night, and Kagome felt the weight of the day on her mind. She closed her eyes, her hand coming to rest on her chest, on top of the shikon-no-tama.

 

 

Inuyasha plunged under the water, to avoid screaming at the top of his lungs. When things didn't go his way, as the usually didn't, he became frustrated. More than anything he had wanted to engage in a shouting match with Kagome, and clear the air. He wouldn't mind getting a few osuwari's if it got her out of this mood.

Inuyasha resurfaced, his hair sticking to his face as he cleared his lungs, the steam of the spring clogging up his sensitive nose.

Then he heard a humongous hissing noise, and his heart stopped.

Inuyasha rubbed his eyes with his arms swiftly, trying to pick out the direction of the noise. He squinted to see through the dark and the steam, and at first he couldn't see a thing. There had been a cloud over the moon, and as Inuyasha tried to sniff out the scent of the intruder, the moon pierced through its covering.

A huge, slithering silhouette of a snake rose from the shadows.

Inuyasha felt the hairs on his arms stand up, despite the water's heat.

It's going to strike Kagome!

 

 

Yes, I know- a cliffy. But come on guys, you know me by now!!!

To all aff users: My story keeps being taken off this site, so arigato for all your reviews, but if you want to continue reading Not the Only One please go to either MediaMiner, FanFiction or Imaginative Love's library.

MediaMiner.org:

Madmiko: Aw, your review was so lovely! Arigato! I have to agree that I think Kurama and Kagome are best suited…but this story has still got a long way to go…as for Inu and Kag's fluff- don't worry, it will be well deserved! Hope you enjoyed this chappy! [Aren't I good for updating quickly? Lol!]

FireDemon86: Lol hope this was quick enough hand that you enjoyed!

XxhellzgurlzxX: Yeah! I updated soon lol!

HeartStar: Of course she can! Kagome is the best lol!

Starlet Angel: Glad you liked!

Wudelfin: Once you've been bitten by the crossover bug…glad you like so far!

Purplebabe: Hope you enjoyed!

Italiannproud: Aw, arigato for the lovely review! I know what you mean- there's so few good Kagome/Kurama fics out there! That's what inspired me to write my own! Hope you liked this chappy! Btw, for a whole library of Kagome/Kurama stories, go to http://www.kloud-nine.com/katakoi/storyline/

Crystal_Flame: Ah, that's interesting! You guys are all really great at helping me out with this issue!

Renata-sama: Don't worry, I'm sure the guys with settle with one favour apiece! Lol obviously you aren't too happy about the Inu Kag fluff approaching…but don't worry, it won't be anything you won't be able to handle! Hopefully the Yoko-fluff in this chappy made up for it!

As for the Inuyasha-Kouga situation, Kagome simply meant she doesn't want them to fight whenever they see each other!

Yoko will tell Kagome, so don't worry!

As for your request…since you've been (and hopefully will continue!) such a brilliant reader, of course I will try and fit it in! I'm still checking up on the Raizen theory…though of course if push comes to shove, I can always use good old artist license and make up my own!

Fire_lilly_fox: Well, I don't want to fall into the trap of making Kagome argue all the time!

FanFiction.net:

Miko Of The Pure Tear: Hopefully you didn't have to wait to long!

Phoenixafyre: Ah, well as much as I use Kikyo for my baddy, I really don't mind the gal…to kill or not to kill! (hehe!) Hope you enjoyed the Yoko fluff, and don't worry, there is A LOT more where that came from!!

Mia1837: Simply due to the fact my hand was developing cramp! Hope you liked this chappy as much!

Wings of Tears: Arigato! Hai, I'm going to Japan in July. Can't wait!!!

Luvinlife56: And again!!

Tainted Veela: As you command!

IchikoKitsuneKoumori: Well, its Inuyasha's fault more than hers, isn't it?