InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ A Mother For Rin ❯ What happened? ( Chapter 6 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Inuyasha never fell back to sleep that night, thoughts were too thick too rampant in his mind. Come morning the air seemed almost hostile and he had his hackles up as his senses nearly came alive as separate entities searching for any danger that may come near his pack. He had watched over Kagome all night as she slept peacefully in his arms and now watched her as she slowly woke with the rising of the sun.

A soft breathy moan escaped her lips as her eyes fluttered open and she moved in his arms. He held her securely as she stretched, keeping hold on her waist and under her knees so that she didn’t go tumbling out of the tree. Her eyes fell upon him and she smiled softly before hugging him close.

“Morning Inu-chan,” she greeted.

“Feh.” A soft blush lit his cheeks as he turned his eyes away hoping for an air of nonchalance but caught her amused grin all the same.

Inuyasha hopped from the branch to the ground below and set her on her feet. Kagome smiled a thanks and began to set up a small circle of stones to build a campfire in. Her hanyou friend gathered twigs and sticks for the fire and filled the teapot for Kagome as she retrieved the cups of Raman from her big yellow backpack.

The whistling of the teapot woke the others and soon they were all eating their breakfast quietly as the morning mist began to dissipate around them. Sango was the first to speak, and tired though her words were, they were wise all the same.

“Inuyasha, I know you and your brother don’t get along - ok well I know you two love to try and kill each other,” she amended at his look. “But perhaps we should ask his help in this.”

“Why the hell would I want to do that?” he groused.

“What I believe Lady Sango is saying,” Miroku answered. “Is that with the rumored youkai holding possession of at least five shards that we know of, we may be better off to gather the aid of someone who has intimate knowledge of the lands and the youkai in them.”

“And what the hell makes you think he would?”

“Maybe cause he’s the taiyoukai of these lands,” Shippou replied sarcastically. “Oww!” he cried when Inuyasha thumped him on his head.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome scolded as she cuddled the pup in her arms.

“What wench? I suppose you think we should ask that bastard for help as well?”

Her look said it all and Inuyasha growled and stomped off into the woods as the others gathered up their things and burned the empty Raman cups in the fire. Kagome stood and donned her backpack as she and the others took off in the direction their hanyou companion had gone.

“Do you think he’ll agree to asking Sesshoumaru for help?” Shippou asked Kagome from his perch on her shoulder.

“I don’t know Shippou, but I really hope he does.”

“Kagome…why don’t you bring your bike anymore?”

Her eyes grew sad for a moment before she willed the emotion quickly away and pasted on a smile. “No reason,” she said and Shippou peered over his shoulder at Sango.

They all knew she was hiding something, and whatever it was it was painful. This last time that she had come through the well she had carried a small book of pictures with her and often at night when she thought no one was looking she would look over the photos of her family and her eyes would grow sad. Terribly sad. But around everyone else she did her best to seem happy and act as though nothing had happened.

“Mamma stop,” Shippou said quietly in her ear snapping Kagome from her thoughts.

“Stop wha-”

Kagome froze in her place as her eyes grew wide and her face grew ashen. Nearly thirty feet in front of her stood Inuyasha and Kikyou. They were embracing in a hug and just as Kagome was going to turn away to run, she saw Inuyasha step back and after giving Kikyou one last kiss he raised his claws and brought them down, killing her.

Inuyasha spun around when he heard Kagome’s gasp and saw her frozen in her place, the back of her hand pressed to her mouth, her eyes open wide. He hurried to her side, though she didn’t move an inch.

“I don’t - I don’t understand,” she stammered out, her voice shaky as she looked upon her friend.

Inuyasha slid the straps of her backpack from her shoulders and Kagome let it fall to the forest floor behind her as he took her into his arms and held her close. He held a hand to the back of her head and pressed her face into his shoulder lightly as he held her. After a moment, the hand on her head moved and petted her hair, though he still spoke not a word to her.

“I’m sorry,” he spoke softly to her after a long while, grateful that Shippou kept the others away. “I didn’t want you to have to see that.”

“What was that Inuyasha?” Kagome asked as she pulled back to look at his face though made no effort to leave the circle of his arms.

Inuyasha smiled sadly and tucked a lock of silky black hair behind her ear as he leaned in and kissed her brow.

“Kikyou asked me to kill her a while ago and I just couldn’t. Not then. I saw her soul catchers after I’d left camp this morning and went to her. She asked me again, and I guess that’s when you found us.”

Kagome leaned back into him and rested her cheek against his chest, listening to the beat of his heart as she thought over what he’d told her. Inuyasha sighed softly and buried his face in her hair as he stroked her silky raven locks and held her close.

“Kagome,” he began after a long period of silence.

“Mmhmm,” she replied softly against the folds of his haori.

“What happened?” he asked as he continued to stroke her hair and hold her close.

“What do you mean?” she asked her voice holding a contented sleepy quality, as though simply by holding her and stroking her hair he had lulled her nearly to sleep.

“I mean what happened?” he asked keeping his voice low and soft. “It’s been nearly a month since you came back through the well and you haven’t asked to go back once. What happened?”

A flash of fire flooded Kagome’s thoughts, voices screaming, pain, sirens. Inuyasha could smell the salt of her tears, though she didn’t cry. He could feel her stiffen in his arms, shudder as though she were cold. Her heart raced, pummeled against his chest as though it wanted to escape the confines of her body. Almost as quickly as the reactions came, they left. And Kagome was once again calm and under control in his arms.

“It was nothing. It doesn’t matter,” she said hoping he believed her.

Inuyasha sighed against her neck and hugged her tighter in his arms, hoping that simply holding her would offer her comfort. He knew that whatever had happened it was bad. They all knew something was wrong, but why wouldn’t Kagome let any of them help her? Why wouldn’t she tell them - tell him what had happened? What could be so wrong?

“I’m here Kagome.” He spoke softly keeping his voice as soothing as he could, his only wish to comfort her. “Whenever you’re ready to tell me, I’m here.”

Kami why did he have to be so gentle? Why couldn’t he be gruff and angry? Kagome knew how to deal with him when he was gruff and angry and belligerent - but when he was like this? All sweet and understanding and comforting. She didn’t know how to deal with this. His kindness and comfort made her want to cry, made her want to break down and tell him everything but she couldn’t.

How could she tell him? Unconsciously she gripped him tighter as though she were afraid to let go and Inuyasha did the only thing he could. He swept her up in his arms and leapt high into the tree they were standing under. He settled on a thick branch high off the ground and held her on his lap, wrapped in his arms.

The escape he provided her seemed to be the breaking point and Kagome could no longer hold the tears at bay. They were slow at first, almost unnoticed, as the hot salty drops of water made a burning trek down her face. All too soon though they became a torrent of mad grief and she sobbed as though her very soul was breaking.

Inuyasha didn’t say anything, not really. He only offered whispered words of comfort as the girl in his arms buried her face in his chest and cried her heart out. The sobs were so filled with pain that he could feel her pain as though it were his own and it pulled at him. They choked him and burned him as though it were some hungry beast trying to get its next meal. He didn’t know what was wrong, had no way of knowing how to truly comfort her and so he simply held her and rocked her in his arms.

She had been crying for so long that he was afraid she was dying, but slowly her tears and sobs slowed and lessened. She grew quiet in his arms and still. He looked down and noticed that under the torrent of her emotions she had grown tired and fallen asleep in his arms.

Inuyasha heard a sound next to him and saw Shippou sitting on a branch not too far away. He beckoned the pup closer and Shippou hopped up to perch on his shoulder.

“Did mamma tell you what’s wrong?”

“No.”

Shippou’s eyes looked sadly upon the sleeping woman that had come to be a second mother to him. He didn’t know if he could survive loosing her.

“I’m scared Inuyasha. What could be so bad?”

“I don’t know pup,” Inuyasha sighed softly and plucked Shippou from his shoulders only to place the youkai child into Kagome’s arms.

Kagome breathed a soft moan in her sleep and wrapped the pup in her arms as she moved slightly and buried the side of her face into Inuyasha’s fire rat haori. Inuyasha stroked her hair and kissed her forehead as she slept in his arms and Shippou cuddled close to her chest, trying to offer whatever comfort he could to the sleeping woman.

Sango and Miroku with Kirara perched on his shoulder looked up sadly into the tree that their companions sat in.

“What do we do Miroku?” Sango asked as she leaned Hiraikotsu up against the trunk of the tree.

“I don’t know Sango…I don’t know if there’s anything we can do.”