InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Absolution ❯ Discovery ( Chapter 9 )

Emily: So Kavfh tells me I get a really big cookie if I get Kagome and Sesshoumaru together! Well, Kavfh… you got some milk handy? Our favorite couple will certainly be falling for each other, but Sessy-poo needs a wee bit more time to come to terms with his emotions before he can make 'that kind of commitment'. Hey, doesn't that kinda sound like a cop-out? Yeah, well, I didn't really want to argue that point with him. His brother's a big enough pain as it is!

Inuyasha: Hey! ::growls 'menacingly'::

Emily: Oh hush up. You're just jealous 'cause Sess is getting some, and you're not.

Inuyasha: Yeah, all I get is a damn ear scratching once in a while... and you feed me mind-altering substances. You know, I don't think I like you very much. ::Pouts::

oooooooo

What a morning, Kagome thought. She'd only been awake for a few hours, and already she'd done so much. She fought a demon, took care of Miroku, Inuyasha, and Kagura's wounds, and had several moments of awkward silence with Sesshoumaru… all before breakfast, which she was currently passing out to everyone who wanted it.

Miroku was leaning against a tree, being hand-fed Fruitloops by Sango. Kagome knew he was in serious pain, having taken in one of the saimyoushou as he attempted to suck up the lizard youkai. In a way, it was best that his kazaana had not consumed the demon… they would be minus two shard now if he'd succeeded. His brow was furrowed into a deep frown as Sango directed the strange, fruit-flavored rings into his mouth. He took a bite and smiled. He had fruity goodness in his mouth, and one of Sango's lush curves in his left hand. The taijiya didn't have the heart to whack the injured houshi, so she sighed and let him have his fun… for now.

Kagome couldn't help but chuckle. Miroku's lecherous groping brought a bit of sunshine into the murk of this busy morning.

"What's so funny?" came an irritated voice from behind her.

She whirled around, and Inuyasha was sitting on the ground, miserably fingering the bandage around his stomach. Kagome shook her head, brushing his question away, and sat beside him.

"How does your wound feel? Is it healing yet?"

Inuyasha looked away from her, settling his eyes on Sesshoumaru, who was quietly conversing with Kagura. "Why him, Kagome?" he whispered.

The girl was a bit confused. Why who? And what about 'him'?

"I- what do you mean? Who?" she asked, tilting her head to the side. Obviously this was not what the hanyou wanted to hear.

"Damnit, Kagome, don't play dumb with me! You know exactly what I mean! Why him? Why Sesshoumaru? Why did the fucking Tetsusaiga transform for him when the demon attacked you, huh? What reason does he have to protect some stupid human miko?"

Inuyasha was yelling at her now, and Kagome scuttled backward, away from him. She was about to cry, sit him, and run away… maybe not in that particular order. Someone beat her to the scolding, though.

Sesshoumaru, silent as the predator he was, slipped between his brother and Kagome, Tetsusaiga drawn and transformed. The point of his weapon was dangerously close to Inuyasha's throat as he growled out his warning.

"If I were you I would leave this girl alone. She has done nothing to you, you miserable whelp."

Inuyasha's eyes briefly glowed red, and Kagome gripped the empty sleeve of Sesshoumaru's haori. He spared her a glance before turning his attention back to his quick-tempered younger brother.

The brief distraction Kagome had caused Sesshoumaru was enough for Inuyasha to fly toward the two of them, claws aimed at his sibling. Kagome's eyes went wide with fear, and her brain reacted so quickly she didn't have time to stop the word from slipping out from between her lips.

"Sit!"

Kagome winced, but mentally ticked of 'sit him' from her list of things to do.

Inuyasha groaned, his face in the dirt. He rolled himself over and carefully sat up, gripping his stomach. Suddenly Kagome was regretting using the s-word.

"Inuyasha," she started, but he held up a hand to quiet her.

"No, don't apologize. I guess I kinda… deserved that."

The half-demon peered up at her between his bangs, and she stepped out from behind Sesshoumaru. Shaky legs propelled her to Inuyasha's side, and she put her hands on his shoulders.

"Could we not do this here, please? Let's go to the river, clean you up, and then we'll talk, okay?" she said, looking into his eyes. She expected to find a bit of anger, contempt, or malice, but all she saw in his amber depths was sadness. She resisted the urge to cry, blinking rapidly, and took his clawed hands in hers.

"Come on, let's go."

Kagome helped Inuyasha to his feet, and they began the long walk to the river.

Before they were out of sight, she turned around and looked for Sesshoumaru. He was standing in the same place she'd left him, staring at her and the arm she had wrapped around his brother's waist.

oooooooo

When they reached the river, Kagome helped Inuyasha remove the gauze bandage from his stomach. The puncture wound there was still swollen, red, and ugly, but Kagome thought it could have been a lot worse.

"You're really lucky, you know," she said, gently fingering the puckered skin on his abdomen.

Inuyasha snorted, then hissed at the contact with his wound. "Oh yeah? How so?"

Kagome stopped touching the mark and rested her hand on his chest, feeling his heart beat beneath her palm. "You're still alive."

The hanyou in front of her stiffened then crouched low to meet her eyes. He gave her a small, sad smile, one hand coming up to cover hers on his chest.

"Sometimes I think I'm only alive because of you…" His words were soft, but serious. And he was… leaning forward.

Kagome realized too late what Inuyasha was doing, and their lips met. Unmercifully, her memory played out their last kiss, brought on by Inuyasha's demonic side; when she had been in love with him. It was enough to make her cry, and she could not stop them this time. She let the tears fall for the loss of her first love, for the loss of his first love, and for what she was about to do. She pushed him away.

He only sat there, looking at her, and she could see the tears in his eyes as well. He knew. It was over. As much as they both wanted it, he did not love her the way she deserved to be loved, and it was hurting them both.

"I'm sorry," Kagome choked, burying her hands in her hair. "I love you so much, Inuyasha, but… I know you don't love me the same way. All I want is for you to be happy, but I can't keep fooling myself like this. You love Kikyou… you always have, you always will, and I accept that."

Inuyasha looked a bit crestfallen, but he took a deep breath, wiping his wet eyes. "I never meant to hurt you, Kagome, not ever. I'm sorry that I did, but please… could you stay with me… until we find the rest of the shards? I wont…" he sighed painfully before continuing. "I don't want to lose you… not yet."

Kagome smiled and smeared tears all over her face before launching herself at Inuyasha. "Of course I'll stay! Remember when I told you I'll always be with you?"

Inuyasha nodded into her shoulder, wrapping his arms around her.

"Well, it's not any less true now! Inuyasha, I will always love you, you know that, but it's time for us… for me… to let go. I think it'll be good for us, you know?" she said, a laugh bursting from her. "And I promise I won't get mad anymore when go see Kikyou!"

At this, Inuyasha could only smile. What a wonderful person she was. What a great friend. And damnit, what a lucky son-of-a-bitch his brother was!

"Hey, Kagome… you wanna tell me what's going on between you and my brother?"

Kagome's laughter died out, and her face turned approximately the shade of a cherry as she broke the hug they'd been sharing. Her eyes darted side to side, not meeting her friend's, and she wiggled a bit. She was so busted! Instead of admitting to him what he most likely knew already, Kagome decided to test out her theory that Inuyasha was slower than molasses.

"Uh… nothing?"

Obviously, he wasn't that slow.

"Well, you wanna know what I think?"

"I guess so, but-"

"I think… that my brother is somehow, some way… falling in love with you."

Kagome's mouth, unbeknownst to her, had fallen open so wide that a small insect was able to fly inside. Adding insult to injury, the mischievous bug dropped down Kagome's throat… and she threw up her breakfast all over her hanyou companion.

oooooooo

Somewhere far to the northwest of Kagome, Inuyasha, and the rest of the shard-hunters, Naraku sat against the wall, eyes closed. The saimyoushou had done their job very well, aside from the one that made the mistake of getting too close to the monk's kazaana. Evil laughter filled the large, empty room.

"So Kagura and Lord Sesshoumaru have joined Inuyasha."

He took a sip of the tea that had been placed before him earlier.

"And Sesshoumaru has mastered the Tetsusaiga… how very interesting."

Another sip of tea, another moment of silent contemplation.

"Kohaku."

The shadow of a boy appeared outside the screen door. "Yes, master Naraku."

Kohaku's master rose from the floor and walked over to the boy, his puppet.

"Kohaku, I want you to find Inuyasha. Find him, and bring me his shard-detector… Kagome."

oooooooo

Back at camp, Kagura, Shippou, Miroku, and Sango were huddled near the cook fire. The goal of the meeting was to answer one burning question: how in Hell did Sesshoumaru manage to control Tetsusaiga?!

"I think he put a spell on it!" whispered Shippou.

"Maybe he made Toutousai re-work it so that he could wield it?" was Miroku's guess.

Kagura only smiled as the three people around her postulated. She knew why, and it made her laugh.

"The answer is simple," she piped in, and the other members of the group paused their dialect, looking at her expectantly.

"Sesshoumaru-sama is in love." The wind demon said no more, content to simply flutter her fan by her face and let the humans and kitsune stew in their own confounded juices.

Apparently, everyone had been rendered speechless. Sesshoumaru… in love? How absurd! He couldn't be in love! Besides, there wasn't anyone for him to love, unless…

Shippou, ever astute, voiced what everyone was thinking.

"Kagome?"

oooooooo

In the woods, not far removed from the campsite, sat Sesshoumaru. Back to a tree, legs in lotus position, he was attempting to meditate once more. Last time he'd done this, that… Kagome girl had disturbed him. Albeit not unpleasantly, but still, he had some catching up to do on the clarity of his mental state.

But, oh, that girl!

He could not shake the image of her beneath him under the full moon. Lips parted, eyes glazed with passion, need, lust… She was driving him insane! Every time he thought about her, about something that could even remotely be linked to her, he felt his heart beat faster. His mind was enveloped in a cloud of her scent, always. It was as if she'd enchanted him. Yes, she had enchanted him! That was the only logical explanation for these feelings.

He could never love a human… not with the exception of Rin, but that was parental love, and his beliefs system was willing to accommodate that emotion. Romantic love, however, was out of the question. While it was true that he no longer despised humans the way he had previously, he certainly didn't love them. And he certainly did not love this girl, this miko.

Her name is Kagome, his brain supplied as if reprimanding him for belittling her worth to him. She is not common, she is not low… she is special. The girl means something not only to her friends and your despicable brother, but to you as well. Only a fool denies his true feelings. Does that make you a fool, then?

"This Sesshoumaru is not a fool. It is simply difficult to… to change one's thoughts and beliefs that one has held all his life. Change is not always easy…"

…But change is sometimes necessary. Admit it to yourself, first, and then, when the time is appropriate, tell the girl… tell her that you love her.

oooooooo

Emily: So, how was that?! I had a blast writing this chapter, but I guess that's thanks in part to my absence the past few days. Been getting' myself a $9,000 bonus for my MI job… learning Chinese is proving to be quite lucrative…

Inuyasha: Keh. You gonna give me any of that money?

Emily: 'Keh' yourself, dog boy. If you touch my money, I'm gonna sic Kouga on you! Speaking of Kouga, where is our studly wolf prince? Perhaps I can lure him into my room… ::evil ideas pop into Emily's head::