InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ An Unforeseen Flame ❯ Apologies Accepted ( Chapter 16 )
[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]
By: XmArKzThEsPoT 
Kagome's friends apologize for tricking her.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Action / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 09.26.2012 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 372 | Status: Work In Progress
Kagome's friends apologize for tricking her.
Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Romance / Fantasy / Action / Angst | Type: Divergence | Uploaded On: 09.26.2012 | Pages: 1 | Words: 2.3K | Visits: 372 | Status: Work In Progress
A/N: Enjoy!
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, nor could I ever hope to be as genius as Rumiko Takahashi.
'He made it through the well,' Kagome squealed mentally, after recovering from the embarrassment she had just experienced moments before. She wasn't sure why this was such an exciting thing for her, but it was. Sure it meant she could go back, but she'd be returning to friends who had betrayed her trust for traveling with a Demon Lord for which she had what she was sure were unrequited feelings. Her heart sank as she pulled a jade green t-shirt over her head, mussing up her damp raving locks.
Kagome looked over at the pristine uniform hanging neatly in her closet. She had decided to against donning her school uniform in the Feudal Era ever again. From here on out it would be jeans or at least shorts instead of her short, and often inconvenient, skirt. She knew she wasn't going to be returning to school any time soon with the strict visitation time limit Sesshomaru had imposed upon her. Her mind wandered back to her problems in the Feudal Era.
She still had so many responsibilities to attend to in the Feudal Era. It was her duty to at least complete the Shikon no Tama. But to do that, Naraku would have to be defeated. She would have to be involved in it all, despite her newly formed feelings of resentment towards the task. So she broke the jewel, but it wasn't like she had asked to be Kikyo's reincarnation or the new keeper of jewel. She had wasted three years of her life, fallen incredibly behind in her classes and would probably never catch up and, therefore, never be able to have a real life in her era. She had fallen in love and gotten her heart broken by someone who didn't want her was probably well on her way to making that mistake once again. Her time in the Feudal Era really hadn't done her any good at all.
It wasn't that she didn't want Naraku dead or the jewel to be whole. He was a despicable creature that brought suffering to everyone he came into contact with. It was just that she wanted it to be done and over with already, so she could get on with her life. Plus, she didn't want to work with Inuyasha to do any of it. What he had done to her was unforgiveable, stranding her in her own time, because he was jealous that she wanted to stay with someone else over him.
"Kagome, are you clothed yet?" a baritone voice sounded from down the stairs, echoing through the stairway and startling her. She almost giggled at the lack of patience exhibited by the usually stoic youkai. She was taking an awfully long time, she supposed.
Sesshomaru was losing patience and rather quickly, at that. He couldn't be sure what was invading the privacy of his mind more, the image of Kagome's exposed body or the lyrics uttered by her sweet voice. He wanted to leave and return to his era before he had any more time to continue mentally studying the miko's unclothed form. The inuyoukai doubted very much that there was anything could take his mind off of her, but maybe his mind wouldn't wander so much if he wasn't stuck her waiting for her to finish whatever it was that she was doing.
Even while she had been away with her friends, she did not leave his thoughts for a second. He wasn't even able to return to his companions during her absence. What was becoming of him? Despite all his protests and his antipathy toward human kind, Sesshomaru was finally giving in to the realization that he was cursed to follow in the footsteps of his father.
But, unlike his father, he was not skilled at wooing the opposite sex. He was terrible at small talk, or was it talk in general at which he failed to excel? He spoke only when necessary, which was very little, and almost never interacted with mature females. In fact, save Kagura, Rin was the only female he had truly interacted with in nearly three years.
And what was he to do about her feelings for his brother? They had been embracing before she had been tossed into the well, so it was clear that she still loved him. What if he pursued his feelings for her, and she rejected him for Inuyasha? Sesshomaru was actually hurt by this idea. In fact, the thought of her embracing the filthy mutt was infuriating enough. He almost growled aloud in frustration. A mere human was causing him more agitation than he could ever remember feeling before.
The girl stepped out of her bedroom completely clothed, almost to the inuyoukai's distaste. Again he chided himself for his mental perversions. Kagome blushed delicately as she felt his eyes upon her. It was almost as if she knew exactly what he was thinking as his eyes roamed her slender form, a thought that made his heart skip a beat. But no, the priestess was more oblivious than any being he had ever come across, and he was near impossible to read. There was no way she had any idea what had crossed his mind. He shook the thought from his head and turned away from her as she began her descent down the stairs.
"You…You actually came for me," she muttered softly causing the demon lord to turn and look up at her from the bottom of the stairs. Her dark-eyes were downcast, and small, shy smile played across her well-formed lips.
"I said three days," he replied icily and started walking toward the exit of the house. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, he tossed a small glass bottle to her without looking over his shoulder, and she caught it effortlessly. While he had been waiting for her to get dressed, he had placed the two shards in his possession inside the bottle as well. "I believe those belong to you."
She was stung by his sudden nonchalance. Had she done something wrong? Was he angry she was causing him such inconvenience? Had he seen Inuyasha embrace her? Is that why he was being so cold again?
She tried to catch up to the inuyoukai, but her sprained ankle wouldn't let her. Her eyes watered with pain as she allowed too much pressure to be placed upon it, but she fought back any unladylike exclamations of pain. Biting her tongue to keep her mind off of her ankle, she continued to limp after the Youkai Lord.
As he reached the strange, clear sliding door, Sesshomaru could smell the familiar salt of her tears. He turned to see her steadying herself against a wall, a pained expression on her face. She was clearly limping. Instantly, he found himself worried beyond all measure. Here he was being cold and treating her as if she had committed an offense against him, all because she had embraced his half-brother instead of him, despite having no knowledge of his feelings, and she was hurt. He should have noticed that her footfalls had sounded abnormal, but he was too preoccupied with his perverse thoughts to even notice that she was walking with a limp. Why hadn't she bothered to say anything?
"You are injured?" he inquired, a concern in his voice that confused even himself. The miko froze for a moment, caught off guard by the emotion in the usually stoic youkai's voice. His demeanor had changed so quickly when he realized she was in pain.
"It's only a sprain," Kagome replied, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't want his sympathy. He hadn't bothered with a hello, no how are you, not even a you're welcome, and now he was going to fret over her as if he cared. "I just need to go easy on it for a few days. I'm fine, really."
He turned and opened the door, then returned to her and lifted her off her feet, cradling her gently in his arm and mentally cursing himself for such displays of tenderness. But it felt nice to hold her against him, to feel the rise and fall of her chest and the beating of her heart. It was a feeling he never thought he would ever desire, but that he knew how good it felt, to have someone in his arms, well arm, he wasn't sure if he would ever stop craving the closeness of it all.
"I said I was fine," she protested as she felt her feet lift off the ground. She was getting thoroughly irritated with the demon lord. One moment he was frigid and emotionless, the next she could easily read his emotions in the tone of his voice. It was an exhausting game that she had played with Inuyasha, and she had no desire to play it with his elder brother as well.
"Just be quiet, and let me take care of you," he whispered, repeating the words she had said the night she had taken care of injuries he had sustained in battle. Immediately her irritation waned, as goose bumps washed over her delicate flesh. The butterflies that had been in her stomach earlier that day returned, batting their wings exuberantly, as the Demon Lord leapt into the well with Kagome tucked securely in arm. So what if he forgot formalities? He had come after her. Wasn't that enough from the detached inuyoukai for one day? Kagome doubted it, but she would drop the issue for the time being.
It was late afternoon in the Feudal era, but time was hard to tell due to ominous, massive grey clouds gathering in the sky, suffocating the contented blue that had been there before it and threatening the ground below with rain. There were no longer birds chirping, and the wind had picked up, blowing so hard that it pinned the long blades of green grass flat against the earth.
Sesshomaru could smell the oncoming storm, along with the scent of humanity as they rematerialized in the Feudal Era. As he exited the well, he found himself and Kagome seemingly surrounded by her friends. They had been waiting for him to return with her.
"You actually made it through!" an excited demon slayer exclaimed happily clapping her hands together in excitement. Sesshomaru set the young woman in his arms down with care and moved to stand away to the side of the group of people. This was between Kagome and her former companions, and he wanted no part in it.
"Kagome, I'm so sorry!" a teary-eyed Shippo wailed. "I didn't want to, but Inuyasha made me!"
She noticed the guilt written on the faces of Miroku and Sango. The demon slayer was looking at her feet awkwardly and the monk's expression was sheepish.
"Inuyasha said we had to do something, so Miroku came up with the idea. We only went along with it, because we were worried about you," Sango admitted shamefully. "I should've known better than to second guess your judgement."
"We all should have," Miroku said putting a comforting arm around Sango's shoulders. "It just seemed very suspicious, and we were concerned with your well-being."
Kagome smiled softly and picked up the tearful kitsune. She hugged him close to her and sighed with resignation.
"You all know I could never stay angry with you," she replied as Shippo wiped his tears away. "You were only doing what you believed was in my best interest. But, please believe me when I tell you that traveling with you is no longer in my best interest. Stay with Inuyasha and continue your fight against Naraku. I will continue searching for the jewel shards. And look," she continued nodding her head toward Sesshomaru, her voice growing soft, "he's not a bad guy once you get to know him. He really is very kind, in his own way."
Kagome's friends were bewildered but reassured. If Kagome had decided it was best for her to stay with Sesshomaru, than she must have had good reason. Who were they to question her decisions?
The miko set Shippo down and gave Sango and Miroku each a quick hug and then she scooped the kitsune back up into her arms and hugged him tightly. She could feel hot tears welling in her eyes as she prepared to say her farewells, but she fought them back, swallowing hard before she could speak.
"I've missed you all so much, and it was great to see you again!" she stated with a smile, her voice wavering ever so slightly. "You all should probably return to the village before it starts to rain."
She turned and began to limp toward Sesshomaru. Her friends stood a moment, watching her retreat of into the distance with the Youkai Lord. Shippo's eyes were streaming as she disappeared off into the distant trees of the forest. Sango looked down at the small kit with sad eyes.
"Come on Shippo," she urged softly, taking his hand. "Let's go back, now. I promise we'll see Kagome again later."
Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha or any of its characters, nor could I ever hope to be as genius as Rumiko Takahashi.
'He made it through the well,' Kagome squealed mentally, after recovering from the embarrassment she had just experienced moments before. She wasn't sure why this was such an exciting thing for her, but it was. Sure it meant she could go back, but she'd be returning to friends who had betrayed her trust for traveling with a Demon Lord for which she had what she was sure were unrequited feelings. Her heart sank as she pulled a jade green t-shirt over her head, mussing up her damp raving locks.
Kagome looked over at the pristine uniform hanging neatly in her closet. She had decided to against donning her school uniform in the Feudal Era ever again. From here on out it would be jeans or at least shorts instead of her short, and often inconvenient, skirt. She knew she wasn't going to be returning to school any time soon with the strict visitation time limit Sesshomaru had imposed upon her. Her mind wandered back to her problems in the Feudal Era.
She still had so many responsibilities to attend to in the Feudal Era. It was her duty to at least complete the Shikon no Tama. But to do that, Naraku would have to be defeated. She would have to be involved in it all, despite her newly formed feelings of resentment towards the task. So she broke the jewel, but it wasn't like she had asked to be Kikyo's reincarnation or the new keeper of jewel. She had wasted three years of her life, fallen incredibly behind in her classes and would probably never catch up and, therefore, never be able to have a real life in her era. She had fallen in love and gotten her heart broken by someone who didn't want her was probably well on her way to making that mistake once again. Her time in the Feudal Era really hadn't done her any good at all.
It wasn't that she didn't want Naraku dead or the jewel to be whole. He was a despicable creature that brought suffering to everyone he came into contact with. It was just that she wanted it to be done and over with already, so she could get on with her life. Plus, she didn't want to work with Inuyasha to do any of it. What he had done to her was unforgiveable, stranding her in her own time, because he was jealous that she wanted to stay with someone else over him.
"Kagome, are you clothed yet?" a baritone voice sounded from down the stairs, echoing through the stairway and startling her. She almost giggled at the lack of patience exhibited by the usually stoic youkai. She was taking an awfully long time, she supposed.
Sesshomaru was losing patience and rather quickly, at that. He couldn't be sure what was invading the privacy of his mind more, the image of Kagome's exposed body or the lyrics uttered by her sweet voice. He wanted to leave and return to his era before he had any more time to continue mentally studying the miko's unclothed form. The inuyoukai doubted very much that there was anything could take his mind off of her, but maybe his mind wouldn't wander so much if he wasn't stuck her waiting for her to finish whatever it was that she was doing.
Even while she had been away with her friends, she did not leave his thoughts for a second. He wasn't even able to return to his companions during her absence. What was becoming of him? Despite all his protests and his antipathy toward human kind, Sesshomaru was finally giving in to the realization that he was cursed to follow in the footsteps of his father.
But, unlike his father, he was not skilled at wooing the opposite sex. He was terrible at small talk, or was it talk in general at which he failed to excel? He spoke only when necessary, which was very little, and almost never interacted with mature females. In fact, save Kagura, Rin was the only female he had truly interacted with in nearly three years.
And what was he to do about her feelings for his brother? They had been embracing before she had been tossed into the well, so it was clear that she still loved him. What if he pursued his feelings for her, and she rejected him for Inuyasha? Sesshomaru was actually hurt by this idea. In fact, the thought of her embracing the filthy mutt was infuriating enough. He almost growled aloud in frustration. A mere human was causing him more agitation than he could ever remember feeling before.
The girl stepped out of her bedroom completely clothed, almost to the inuyoukai's distaste. Again he chided himself for his mental perversions. Kagome blushed delicately as she felt his eyes upon her. It was almost as if she knew exactly what he was thinking as his eyes roamed her slender form, a thought that made his heart skip a beat. But no, the priestess was more oblivious than any being he had ever come across, and he was near impossible to read. There was no way she had any idea what had crossed his mind. He shook the thought from his head and turned away from her as she began her descent down the stairs.
"You…You actually came for me," she muttered softly causing the demon lord to turn and look up at her from the bottom of the stairs. Her dark-eyes were downcast, and small, shy smile played across her well-formed lips.
"I said three days," he replied icily and started walking toward the exit of the house. As she reached the bottom of the stairs, he tossed a small glass bottle to her without looking over his shoulder, and she caught it effortlessly. While he had been waiting for her to get dressed, he had placed the two shards in his possession inside the bottle as well. "I believe those belong to you."
She was stung by his sudden nonchalance. Had she done something wrong? Was he angry she was causing him such inconvenience? Had he seen Inuyasha embrace her? Is that why he was being so cold again?
She tried to catch up to the inuyoukai, but her sprained ankle wouldn't let her. Her eyes watered with pain as she allowed too much pressure to be placed upon it, but she fought back any unladylike exclamations of pain. Biting her tongue to keep her mind off of her ankle, she continued to limp after the Youkai Lord.
As he reached the strange, clear sliding door, Sesshomaru could smell the familiar salt of her tears. He turned to see her steadying herself against a wall, a pained expression on her face. She was clearly limping. Instantly, he found himself worried beyond all measure. Here he was being cold and treating her as if she had committed an offense against him, all because she had embraced his half-brother instead of him, despite having no knowledge of his feelings, and she was hurt. He should have noticed that her footfalls had sounded abnormal, but he was too preoccupied with his perverse thoughts to even notice that she was walking with a limp. Why hadn't she bothered to say anything?
"You are injured?" he inquired, a concern in his voice that confused even himself. The miko froze for a moment, caught off guard by the emotion in the usually stoic youkai's voice. His demeanor had changed so quickly when he realized she was in pain.
"It's only a sprain," Kagome replied, shrugging her shoulders. She didn't want his sympathy. He hadn't bothered with a hello, no how are you, not even a you're welcome, and now he was going to fret over her as if he cared. "I just need to go easy on it for a few days. I'm fine, really."
He turned and opened the door, then returned to her and lifted her off her feet, cradling her gently in his arm and mentally cursing himself for such displays of tenderness. But it felt nice to hold her against him, to feel the rise and fall of her chest and the beating of her heart. It was a feeling he never thought he would ever desire, but that he knew how good it felt, to have someone in his arms, well arm, he wasn't sure if he would ever stop craving the closeness of it all.
"I said I was fine," she protested as she felt her feet lift off the ground. She was getting thoroughly irritated with the demon lord. One moment he was frigid and emotionless, the next she could easily read his emotions in the tone of his voice. It was an exhausting game that she had played with Inuyasha, and she had no desire to play it with his elder brother as well.
"Just be quiet, and let me take care of you," he whispered, repeating the words she had said the night she had taken care of injuries he had sustained in battle. Immediately her irritation waned, as goose bumps washed over her delicate flesh. The butterflies that had been in her stomach earlier that day returned, batting their wings exuberantly, as the Demon Lord leapt into the well with Kagome tucked securely in arm. So what if he forgot formalities? He had come after her. Wasn't that enough from the detached inuyoukai for one day? Kagome doubted it, but she would drop the issue for the time being.
It was late afternoon in the Feudal era, but time was hard to tell due to ominous, massive grey clouds gathering in the sky, suffocating the contented blue that had been there before it and threatening the ground below with rain. There were no longer birds chirping, and the wind had picked up, blowing so hard that it pinned the long blades of green grass flat against the earth.
Sesshomaru could smell the oncoming storm, along with the scent of humanity as they rematerialized in the Feudal Era. As he exited the well, he found himself and Kagome seemingly surrounded by her friends. They had been waiting for him to return with her.
"You actually made it through!" an excited demon slayer exclaimed happily clapping her hands together in excitement. Sesshomaru set the young woman in his arms down with care and moved to stand away to the side of the group of people. This was between Kagome and her former companions, and he wanted no part in it.
"Kagome, I'm so sorry!" a teary-eyed Shippo wailed. "I didn't want to, but Inuyasha made me!"
She noticed the guilt written on the faces of Miroku and Sango. The demon slayer was looking at her feet awkwardly and the monk's expression was sheepish.
"Inuyasha said we had to do something, so Miroku came up with the idea. We only went along with it, because we were worried about you," Sango admitted shamefully. "I should've known better than to second guess your judgement."
"We all should have," Miroku said putting a comforting arm around Sango's shoulders. "It just seemed very suspicious, and we were concerned with your well-being."
Kagome smiled softly and picked up the tearful kitsune. She hugged him close to her and sighed with resignation.
"You all know I could never stay angry with you," she replied as Shippo wiped his tears away. "You were only doing what you believed was in my best interest. But, please believe me when I tell you that traveling with you is no longer in my best interest. Stay with Inuyasha and continue your fight against Naraku. I will continue searching for the jewel shards. And look," she continued nodding her head toward Sesshomaru, her voice growing soft, "he's not a bad guy once you get to know him. He really is very kind, in his own way."
Kagome's friends were bewildered but reassured. If Kagome had decided it was best for her to stay with Sesshomaru, than she must have had good reason. Who were they to question her decisions?
The miko set Shippo down and gave Sango and Miroku each a quick hug and then she scooped the kitsune back up into her arms and hugged him tightly. She could feel hot tears welling in her eyes as she prepared to say her farewells, but she fought them back, swallowing hard before she could speak.
"I've missed you all so much, and it was great to see you again!" she stated with a smile, her voice wavering ever so slightly. "You all should probably return to the village before it starts to rain."
She turned and began to limp toward Sesshomaru. Her friends stood a moment, watching her retreat of into the distance with the Youkai Lord. Shippo's eyes were streaming as she disappeared off into the distant trees of the forest. Sango looked down at the small kit with sad eyes.
"Come on Shippo," she urged softly, taking his hand. "Let's go back, now. I promise we'll see Kagome again later."