InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Lifetime Loving You Part 1; Seasons in Owari ❯ A New Scent ( Chapter 7 )

Chapter 7; A New Scent

(Author's POV/Third Person POV)

Inu-yasha didn't know what else he could do to make Kagome feel better, but home seemed the only answer to the problems. Kagome was sick, and it happened so sudden. She was fine a moment ago, wasn't she, or was the thought of Kikyo too much for her?

Inu-yasha carried Kagome into the house and waltzed into the kitchen where Kagome's mother and grandfather were sipping tea. He frowned as Kagome's mother got to her feet and came to his side. "Oh my goodness, what happened?" she said sweetly, but with plenty of worry behind it.

Kagome lifted her head and held up her hands to her mother. "It's okay, Mom! I just don't feel good. I just need some rest."

Gently, her mother nodded and helped Kagome up to her room and Inu-yasha flopped down on the cushions and folded his hands and pressed lips to them in mock prayer. He watched as Kagome's grandfather sipped his tea across from him, and then bowed his head to stop staring.

"It has been months, Inu-yasha, and still you decide to hide your try feelings for my granddaughter. When will you decide to make the final decision?"

Inu-yasha lifted his eyes and purple met smoky grey beady eyes. The old man placed his tea down on the small table before them as he looked over the young man before him. Inu-yasha exhaled heavily and closed his eyes as he supported his forehead on his hands. "It's getting far too complicated. If only Kikyo had not been brought back from the world of the dead, I could make up my mind so much easier."

The old man crossed his arms and closed his eyes and then looked at his tea. "Kagome shows her love for you everyday. Her heart longs to be with yours, and her mood swings show that stress in her heart to keep her heart's true feelings locked away."

Inu-yasha looked at the old man and arched his brow. "What are you getting at, old man?"

Grandfather picked up his cup of tea and took a slow sip before placing the cup back down. He bowed his head and closed his eyes. "The evil that you fight in your time will do anything to pull my granddaughter from you. If that evil becomes stronger, what do you suppose it will do to pull you apart, and if that comes to pass, will your heart be strong enough to face it?"

Inu-yasha didn't quite understand what the old man was getting to, but in someway it made him think. How far would Naraku go to pull Kagome away from him? Would his heart be strong enough to take such a blow? If he killed Kagome, Inu-yasha would never be able to live with himself. Yet, to what lengths would Naraku go to separate them, and if so, what?

Finally, Kagome's mother returned and poked her head through the doorway and smiled as her eyes fell on the worried Inu-yasha. "Kagome is asking for you. You can go up to see her now if you wish?"

Inu-yasha smiled a little and got to his feet and bowed to Kagome's mother before making his way to the stairs. He rushed up to the second floor and knocked on the door of Kagome's room. He blinked his eyes a few times before the door creaked and a small amount of white light spilled over his face. Kagome stood before him and let him into her room with a weak smile.

Inu-yasha walked into her room and closed the door behind him as he watched Kagome sit on her bed and brush her hair as she sat in her pink pajamas with cat pints across its sleeves. Inu-yasha placed his hands in his pants' pockets and stood beside her. "How do you feel?"

Kagome placed the brush back down and turned to him with a weak smile as she hugged her knees to her chest after pulling her blanket and sheets over her. "I just need some rest. I should be fine by tomorrow morning."

~~~~

(Inu-yasha's POV)

I doubted those words from the start and my heart wouldn't let the words stop ringing in my head. Something just wasn't right here, and everything told me to stay close by.

I sat down on the edge of her bed and placed my hand over her cheek and let my thumb smooth over its apple. Kagome's soft pink blush came off with my simple touch, and my heart sank just looking at her. It was almost as though something were breaking inside of her.

I blinked for a moment before looking her straight in the eyes. "I'm staying here for the night."

Kagome shook her head. "No, you should go back and just let me rest."

"I wasn't asking! I said I'm going to stay." My voice was harsh, but I didn't want her to put up a fight. Kagome merely looked at me and bowed her head. I could tell she was too tired to really put up a fight with me. Kagome turned on her side and faced the wall as she tried to keep herself from looking at me.

I knew what she was trying to hide for my sight, but she couldn't hide the feeling her rejection gave me. I climbed over her and shifted my body around to make room on her soft bed. Kagome's dripped with fresh tears as I put myself between her and the wall. She looked at me slightly shocked by my actions. I didn't care as long as I could see her face. "Fuss all you want, I'm not leaving until I know you're okay." I didn't say this in a sweet tone, but rather sternly as if it were an order. I hugged myself and let out a "humph" before closing my eyes and pulling my chin to my chest.

I just wanted to be near her more than anything that night. I wasn't ready to leave her side when I knew in my gut that something wasn't right. In fact, you couldn't blame me for it. I had stayed in the old tree just to be sure she was safe after all these weeks since her attack in the forest. I hadn't had a real decent restful sleep in weeks. In fact, the last time I remembered the best nap of my life was in this same bed, engulfed in Kagome's sweet scent. It had become my security blanket, and when I slept that one night in her bed, I didn't want to get up ever again.

I felt my body begin to slip into rest, but before it did, I felt something else. Kagome sniffled and slowly shifted her way toward me and placed both of her hands on my chest and tucked her head under my chin. My eyes shot open for a moment and I felt my body tense as Kagome's touch came in contact with my body. I waited until she nuzzled her face into my chest and sighed heavy heartedly into my chest.

I looked off into the room and waited until I felt too tired to be tense anymore. I relaxed and slowly moved my arms around her curves to hold her. I pulled her blanket over us both and put my nose in her frizzy black hair.

The scent of warm shampoo and soap filled my scenes, and I felt calm again. I felt alive. Even though I knew all too well that Kikyo was the one thing on Kagome's mind, I didn't want to think about her. Sure, Kikyo was on my mind, but the feeling in my heart was killing me. I didn't want to think about any of it. I didn't want anything to come between me and Kagome. There was something there that I couldn't let go of, and I didn't know what it was. I wanted to know what could be strong enough to break this bond, was there anything? Naraku had taken Kikyo from me, and left me with the memory of a woman who died to follow me in death. Now, even with Kikyo, I promised to protect her from having to sacrifice herself again. I owed her that much, but was love really just debts that had to be repaid? I didn't know. I knew I loved Kikyo enough to go that far.

Yet, I wondered. How far would Kagome go? How strong was this bond between us? How far would I go to be with her? To stay with her? Was there something stronger than human love or love alone? If so, what?

How much love did I have to offer Kagome, even though I had given so much to another woman? I had left her with so little, and yet she stayed? Kagome didn't leave. She stayed! She lived and she wanted me to live. What was worth living for? What...what did I really want?

~~~~

Morning came with a vengeance, and the sun burned through my eye lids and made my eyes hurt. I opened my eyes straight into that golden sunlight, and covered my eyes with one hand until I could hide myself from the sun.

I opened my eyes again after I hid myself from and found Kagome's face dangerously close to mine. I looked at her sleeping face, and watched as the content and peaceful look on her face stole a beat away form my heart. She looked so perfect. Kagome seemed to flood my mind all at once and I felt a smirk of happiness push against my cheek as I looked at her. I flicked at the tickle on at my ear and pulled my ears back so I could tuck my head under her chin and adore her presence a moment longer. Kagome stirred and moaned just slightly before snuggling up to me a bit more. "Inu- yasha!" was the first word she managed to mumble that morning as I felt her hand grip my shoulder and pull me a little closer. I liked it. I liked it a lot.

I grinned and closed my eyes to engulf myself in her presence once more and doze the first few minutes of morning away with Kagome's arms around me. Everything was perfect. The feel of heat from her body blanketing mine, the look on her face that morning than brought peace to my soul, and the scent of...

Wait!

My eyes shot open and I held my breath. Something wasn't right about Kagome's scent. It was different, altered and reeked of something demonic. A demonic scent was pushing itself into the air and engulfing Kagome's sweet scent. Yet, the demonic scent wasn't fully strong enough to be demon; it was mixed with Kagome's only slightly weaker. It smelled of human and demon blood...it smelled similar to mine.

I pulled myself away from Kagome's form and loomed over her sleeping body trying to understand what I was picking up so suddenly. I brought my face close to Kagome's face and smelled her hair over and down her body. Passing her neck and chest I came to her center, and stopped finding this was the source of the strange scent. I looked at Kagome's stomach and came closer to her naval which her shirt had failed to cover over the night. I took two short whiffs and confirmed the scent's source, but I still wondered what it was.

I took a risk, and then used my last enhanced demon sense to confirm my worst fear. I pressed a soft silver ear to her naval and listened to her steady breathing, and in the distance I could hear her heart beat. The sound was so soothing and I listened to the rhythmic beat of her heart as it kept time.

Bah Bum...Bah Bum...Beat Bet Bum...

My eyes widened, and I listened again.

Bah Bum...Beat Bet Bum Beat Bum Bum...Bah Bum Bah Bum...

An echo? No! A heartbeat! A second heartbeat!

... (O.O)

"Holy Shit!" I screeched and jumped so high that I completely missed the edge of the bed and fell on the floor. Needless to say Kagome woke up a second later as I moaned in pain after my rump came in contact with the floor. Kagome crawled over to the end of her bed and looked down at me. "Inu-yasha, what happened? Why are you on the floor?"

I sat up finally and rubbed my neck until I was able to lift my head enough and squinted as I looked up into Kagome's worried filled eyes. I caught her stare and gasped in fear. 'Could she have? Is she really? How? Who would...'

I shook my head and grunted as I got to my feet. "I'm fine! There's no reason to panic over it, jeez."

I looked around the room and found my kimono and hakama folded into a ball by Kagome's door. I quickly picked them up and ran into her bathroom and closed the door behind me. I wanted to get away from the scent. I didn't know what it meant, or what I had smelled. Yet my ears told me enough to know that something wasn't right. Something was inside of Kagome, and it was alive.

'Could she be...carrying another man's--?'

"Inu-yasha?" a voice called out to me through the door, "What's wrong? You're acting really strange this morning, is something wrong?"

I discovered that I wasn't breathing normally. I was panting and my heart was pounding against my chest.

"Inu-yasha?"

I quickly shed the clothing off of my body and flung the tan pants and shirts into messy puddles of red and black on the tile floor. The bathroom was filled with Kagome's sweet scent...the scent she had before this morning. I pulled my hakama around my waist and secured it as I opened the bathroom door and pulled one bare arm through my red kimono with my white undergarment in my hand. I just had to get away from her and figure this all out. Something wasn't right, and even though everything in my head was screaming at me that it was what I thought it was, I didn't want to believe it until I knew for sure.

Kagome stood at the door in her pajamas and looked at me with worry in her eyes. My eyes were filled with panic and wonder. I couldn't believe I was questioning any of it.

"I...I need to go to Myoga. Something came up!"

I walked past her and opened her window as I pulled my other arm through my kimono and left the kimono open as I climb up on her windowsill. I suddenly felt Kagome's hand touch my back, and turned around and looked into her sad eyes. I turned around in my perch and looked at her. "I'll be back soon."

Kagome lowered her head and nodded as she placed her hands over her heart and closed her eyes. "It's okay! I though, you were going stay at least for the morning before going back?"

I felt something jab into my chest and I looked at her. However, the odd scent that mingled with hers made me worry. I lifted Kagome's chin and looked into her eyes. I felt so horrible not telling her what I had discovered, what I could smell and what I had heard. I wanted to tell her all of it, but I had to find a way to make sense of it first. What did it all mean? I had to know for sure.

"I'll come for you!" I said softly, and I pressed my nose to hers trying my best to keep the scent of demon out of my nose. I closed my eyes and rubbed my nose affectionately against hers trying to sooth her. I wanted to kiss her so badly, but I wanted to figure this all out first. What did it all mean? If it was, then how? Who?

I pulled myself away form Kagome and the pressure that built in the aftermath made my heart cry out for her warmth and affections. "I'll come for you!" I paused and looked into her eyes, "I promise, I'll come for you."

Kagome smiled weakly and nodded as I turned to the window and got ready to leave.

"Inu-yasha?"

I looked at her one last time. "Yeah?"

She smiled softly and rubbed her arm. "I had a good time last night. Thank you, for staying with me."

I looked into her soft brown eyes and smirked for a second. "I had a good time, too, Kagome."

Kagome smiled and watched as I turned back outside and jumped out of her window and made my way to the well. 'I had a good time, Kagome. But the best part was being with you." I paused for a second as I approached the well and looked back before jumping in.

'I don't...want to loose you!'

I closed my eyes and bowed my head. "She wouldn't do it on purpose. Someone must have done this to her."

*Flashback

"Sesshoumaru...Naraku...Spell!"

*

I jumped and remembered. "It must be one of them!"

I turned to the well and jumped into the dark path. 'Damn Naraku if this is his doing! Damn them all!'

I looked back up at the well as I passed through. 'Please, Kagome! Someone tell me it's not true! Someone tell me...she's not with a child."