InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Allies with Benefits ❯ Interaction Overload. Escape Required. ( Chapter 14 )

Allies with Benefits

Chapter 14: Interaction Overload. Escape Required.

“Stop touching me,” Kagome said, shoving Inuyasha's hand off her arm for what felt like the millionth time. She'd been trying to avoid letting him touch her, but everything she did to avoid him only seemed to make him touch her more. They were currently sitting in Kaede's hut, waiting for Shippou, Sango, and Miroku to return from training Hiyoshi. She had hoped to be able to talk to Kaede, but the stupid hanyou refused to leave her alone. He'd been like this ever since they'd returned to the village the night before and she'd had about all she could take.

“Geez! What's your deal?!”

“My deal is you haven't stopped touching me since I got back! It's driving me crazy!”

“Ye have been acting strangely, Inuyasha.” Kaede agreed. “Give young Kagome a bit of breathing room.”

“Feh! Whatever!” Jumping to his feet, he huffed out of the hut and Kagome couldn't help her sigh of relief.

“Finally!”

Kaede chuckled, adding some fish to the stew pot on the fire. “Always something with that one.”

Kagome scoffed, rolling her eyes as she moved the door flap aside to make sure the hanyou had actually left. “That's the understatement of the century.”

“So, are ye going to tell me what's on yer mind before he comes back?”

Kagome's eyes gleamed. “Well, I'm sure you've heard by now,” she replied, nervously shifting from one foot to the other.

“That ye've been seeing someone? Aye, that I have. I would like to hear it from you though.”

Kagome nodded, once again checking to make sure Inuyasha hadn't returned. She giggled as she watched one of the elders pull him towards a row of huts, pointing and talking hurriedly while the hanyou grumbled his complaints - no doubt there was another leaky roof somewhere.

“It started ages ago,” Kagome began, reaching for a knife and chopping up some veggies to add to the stew. “I was getting lonely and I decided to uh…find someone. The problem was everyone I met at home was too boring, and everyone here was too pigheaded. I wanted someone who would let me be me. I wanted an adventure, not just an existence. Then one day I was out in the woods, um…”

How exactly does one tell someone old enough to be your grandmother that you'd been masturbating with a piece of vibrating plastic?

Kaede chuckled, winking at her knowingly. “I was young once.”

“Hehe, right. Well, I um ran into Sesshoumaru and things just sort of went from there.” She mumbled quickly.

To her surprise, Kaede merely nodded. “I had a feeling it might be him.”

The knife fell from Kagome's hands with a loud thump. Had they really been that obvious? She'd thought no one knew! Obviously not though.

The elder miko reached over and patted her on the shoulder, taking over chopping the vegetables. “Fear not, I was not aware of anything until today.”

“What? How?”

“Rin is many things, but secret keeper is not one of them.”

Shaking her head, Kagome chuffed. “I should have known.”

Kaede slid the diced veggies into the pot and Kagome took over stirring, motioning Kaede to sit and rest.

“She said ye helped her with her training.”

Kagome's face glowed; this was the moment. Trying to keep herself from jumping up and down with excitement, she forced herself to remain calm as she checked on the dumplings in the steamer. “That's actually what I wanted to tell you. I fired one shot at a tree, to give Rin a demonstration, and according to Sesshoumaru, the other lords practically jumped over each other to get out the door.”

“Doesn't surprise me.” The older woman shrugged. “I always told ye you could do it.”

“I know. It's just strange to think I've surpassed my protector.”

Kaede chuckled. “I guess that depends on who's protecting you.”

~~~

Kagome sighed, watching Miroku and Inuyasha help the villagers prepare the crop fields, noting that the hanyou kept turning to leer at her every few minutes. She would do anything for a youkai attack - and that scared her. Clearly things were getting out of hand if she was willing to risk possible injuries just to get a break. Or better yet, I can use it as a distraction to finally see Sesshoumaru.

It had been six days. Six days of utter torment. Inuyasha adamantly refused to let her out of his sight and growled whenever anyone approached her. She'd even tried to escape him by going home to the future, but he'd followed her there too. She wondered if Kikyo was getting as frustrated as she was.

Sango and Miroku were trying to help her. At first she'd been slightly worried about Sango telling Miroku some, if not all, of her situation, but then she realized that the more help they had the better. But no matter what they did to try and distract their hanyou friend, he remained glued to her side. All the while, she could feel a certain taiyoukai's aura growing more and more agitated. The question was, how much longer would he make her wait?

She'd already decided she didn't care if Inuyasha found out. It simply wasn't worth it anymore. She still worried about how he would react, and feared it would mean the end of their friendship, but at the same time, she missed Sesshoumaru so much at this point, she was willing to do anything. She couldn't help but feel though that they should plan out the actual event of explaining it to him, just to lessen the chance of an unpleasant reaction. But given Inuyasha's current obsession with her, she'd reasoned she'd have to wait for Sesshoumaru to do something. The only problem was, he seemed to be waiting for her.

“Ye could always close the well for a few days so Inuyasha could not follow.”

Kagome jerked out of her thoughts, glancing over towards the older miko who was smiling at her knowingly. “How do I do that?”

“Ye are the master of that force. Will it to close and it shall.”

“But what if it doesn't open again?”

“It will,” Kagome opened her mouth to protest, but the old woman continued. “Remember your wish.”

Kagome's eyes slid closed as she recalled the moment they'd finally rid the world of Naraku. The moment his body had been purified, she picked up the remaining shards and willed the jewel to grant all their allies a happily ever after.

“Sesshoumaru is an ally,” she whispered as if she'd only just realized this.

“Exactly. And so, by the condition of your own wish, he cannot be denied his happiness, which I'd wager anything is you.”

Kagome could feel her face flush with embarrassment. She hadn't thought of herself that way, but she couldn't deny the rightness of the idea. And even if she wasn't his happiness, she was fairly certain he was hers - and the well certainly could not deny her happiness. Even if she hadn't wished for their happiness, given everything she'd done, the well owed her.

“Alright, I'll try it. Just do me a favor and let everyone know I'll be back in a couple days.” The last thing she needed was Inuyasha freaking out and telling everyone the well had closed permanently.

Kaede smiled. “I'll make sure he knows ye shall return.”

“Thanks Kaede.” She reached over and embraced the older woman, noting for the millionth time that she never would have survived without her. Not wanting to miss her chance, she ran for the well, silently praying Sesshoumaru wouldn't worry. She hadn't felt him at all today, so she had no way of letting him know she'd be back. She didn't want him to think she'd abandoned him.

As the energy of the well enveloped her, she willed it not to let anyone pass through for two days. She wasn't sure, but she thought she felt the energy warm just for a second and when her feet touched down in the future, she could have sworn she felt a door closing somewhere. The energy was still there, but it felt like a wall had appeared in front of the exit. Content that the well would cooperate, she climbed out and walked casually towards her bedroom. A bath sounded lovely, and this time there would be no one to interrupt her.

~~~

Kaede eased her way through the forest, following the vague pulse she felt. She wasn't sure he would even allow her to see him, but she carried on anyways, confident that Sango would keep the village under control until she returned. She couldn't believe she used to watch over the village all by herself. There was never a moment's rest before her children moved in. Now granted, they weren't really her children, but she couldn't help but think of Sango, Miroku, Kagome, and yes even Inuyasha to a certain extent, as her children. Even more so now that they were no longer traveling as much.

She supposed she was enjoying her retirement years now. Yes, technically she was still the miko of the village and she was still training Rin, however with so many warriors living in the village, there was little need for a miko. Sango handled the majority of town conflicts now and Miroku handled most of the injuries. A few years ago, she'd been slightly concerned about who would succeed her, and originally intended to ask Kagome, but Sango and Mioku had settled into the role without her even asking. Now she just had to wait for Miroku to ask Sango to marry him and move into the house he was preparing for them.

He'd come to talk to her about it several months ago and she'd be shocked and honored that he wanted her approval before he continued. Since then, he'd been stocking up a nearby empty house with everything they would need and even shown it to her a few times. She was sure Sango would love it. The house suited both of them quite well. He'd turned one of the rooms into a dojo of sorts and had prepared places to display all of their weapons as well as supplying practice weapons for Sango to use when training the children of the village, which was one of the youkai slayer's favorite things to do. It would be a great home for both of them. She couldn't be prouder of them.

She paused to catch her breath, noting she seemed to be heading steadily towards the well. So he's noticed has he? She hoped he hadn't heard Inuyasha's tantrum earlier when he'd discovered the well was closed.

It had been a few hours since Kagome had left and she'd only just now gotten away from Inuyasha, who apparently felt this was her fault since she wouldn't reopen the well. She hadn't bothered to mention to the hanyou that it would reopen, hoping to teach him a lesson. She had explained everything to both Sango and Miroku, as well as Shippou and Rin, and they had all understood completely. Now she just had one person left to tell, if only she could find him.

She was tempted to call out to him, but didn't want to risk Inuyasha hearing her. He had said he was going to the neighboring village to see if anyone needed help - which she naturally translated to him going to see her sister - but she wouldn't put it past him to change his mind if he sensed her going somewhere out of the ordinary. She doubted he knew Sesshoumaru was in the area though. She herself could barely notice him and even then only because she could sense the lack of energy where he was hiding. She was just about to admit defeat and head back when the trees rustled and his tall form materialized before her.

“Lord Sesshoumaru,” she said, bowing as much as her arthritic body would allow.

“You sought me miko?”

His voice reeked of boredom, but Kaede saw the worry in his eyes. She supposed he had heard Inuyasha.

“She will return,” she said, resisting the urge to chuckle when his eyes widened slightly. Apparently he didn't realize she knew about them. “Kagome sent me to tell you she will return. She merely required a break and didn't want anyone to follow her. The well will reopen when she wills it; she said a few days at most.”

He nodded and mission complete, she bowed one final time before turning to head towards the well so she could take a more direct route back.

“Did you find him?” Sango asked when she finally got back to the hut.

“Aye, he was watching the well.”

Sango's warm laughter rang out as she helped Kaede onto a cushion so she could rest. “I wouldn't want to be Kagome when she returns.”

“It will be interesting, that's for sure.”

~~~

Kagome sighed contently as she watched the polar bears swim gracefully around their enclosure. Even though it had taken two hours by train to get here, she was happy she'd decided to come with her family to the Yokohama aquarium. It was nice to get out of Tokyo for a while, and besides, she never said no to the aquarium.

“Oh, look at that one!” Her mom exclaimed. She pointed to a cub that was repeatedly jumping into the water. “He's got spirit!”

“That's for inviting me Momma,” she said, leaning her head against her mom's shoulder.

“Of course dear. I'm just happy you got back before we left.”

“Me too,”

An attendant threw a ball into the enclosure, and Kagome felt all her stress melt away as she watched the bears play. The room was suddenly filled with the sounds of a child's laughter and Kagome turned to look at a young girl jumping up and down at the other side of the room, pulling her father forwards to stand right by the tank. Why do I feel like I know them?

“Mom!” Souta said, suddenly appearing beside them. “Grandpa and I are gonna go see the otters!”

“Ok honey, we can all go. Coming Kagome?”

Pulling her gaze from the little girl, who was now sitting on her father's shoulders so she could see better, Kagome nodded and followed her family out. As they left, she heard the girl say “Did I do ok Daddy?”

She eyesbrows drew down into a frown, wondering what the girl could be talking about, until a deep voice chuckled in response and her heart jumped into her throat.

“Yes Yukia, you were perfect.”