InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bishies Without Shirts ❯ The Green-eyed Monster ( Chapter 22 )

Chapter 22: The Green-eyed Monster

Kagome couldn't see his face clearly, as his bangs were covering his eyes, but she was fairly certain that if she could see beneath the hair, she would seen eyes that were glowing red, for his voice had taken on the cold, sinister quality that she had only ever heard a few times before, when his human blood had been beaten back by the youkai blood that ran in his veins. In the seconds that followed, she felt fairly certain that she and Sesshoumaru were going to die horrible deaths in her little brother's bedroom. Then Inuyasha raised his head slightly to look them in the eye, and she saw that her fears were unfounded. Yet, as relieved as she was that his eyes remained amber, she was still very concerned about the icy stillness of his voice. 'How much of that did he hear?' she wondered, before opening her mouth to speak.

"Inu-" the sound was cut off as his hand shot out and clamped itself around her mouth. The pads of his fingers dug painfully into her cheeks, but she counted herself lucky that he wasn't using his claws.

"You don't talk." he said quietly, his eyes locked onto hers in a predatory glare. "Sesshoumaru, please tell your bitch to be silent."

"Woof." Sesshoumaru said mockingly. For a split second, Inuyasha's eyes flashed the crimson color of blood and Kagome inhaled sharply. But as quickly as it had appeared, it was gone again.

"Tell me now brother." he said evenly. "Is this your bitch? Did you bed this… female?" he said, twisting the word with his malice and disgust. "Say yes, and I'll leave this house right now and forfeit my claim, out of respect for the alpha-male of our clan."

"At what point did my position in the hierarchy start to matter to you, oto-chan?" Sesshoumaru asked curiously, raising one eyebrow.

"Keh. Even I am not so foolish as to touch the mate of Sesshoumaru, even if she is only his… plaything. Apart from that, if it's true that she has given you what she has denied me, then I don't want her anymore." At his callous words, hot, indignant tears began to roll down Kagome's cheeks, running onto his fingers. Inuyasha released her face and absently licked her tears from the back of his hand.

"Inuyasha," Sesshoumaru sighed. "I did not bed the wench. I never have, and I never will."

"I don't believe you." Inuyasha said thickly. "I heard everything you two just said to each other. Don't deny what you said!"

"Inuyasha!" Kagome cried, her tears flowing openly.

"Shut up!" he snarled. "You have nothing to say to me! I took care of you! I saved your life! And this is how you repay your life debt? By mating with my enemy?! I could expect something this despicable from him. He hates me, but at least he's honest about it. But you! You told me that you loved me!"

"You said you loved me, too." she sobbed. "But you can't love me if you don't trust me! Where is your faith in me, Inuyasha?"

"You want to know? Right now it's underneath Sesshoumaru's feet, right next to my heart." he said coldly, slowly tracing the path of a single tear down her face with the claw on his right index finger. She shivered involuntarily at his touch. Lifting her chin with his hand, he lowered his mouth to her ear.

"I think I hate you more now than I've ever hated anyone in my entire, cursed life." he whispered. Unable to restrain herself any further, Kagome drew her hand back and slapped him across the face. His gaze never wavered from hers as he rubbed his cheek with the back of his hand, an evil grin spreading over his face.

"Onii-chan, your bitch just hit me. You'd better put her in her place, or I will."

"Alright, that's enough." Sesshoumaru said, rising to his feet. "You can put her in her place, oto-chan, if that's what you really want to do to her, but I claim no responsibility over her actions, as she is not mine to chastise. I'm telling this to you for the last time, as I am tired of these dramatics; I did not bed the wegome."

"Not last night?" Inuyasha demanded, his icy resolve beginning to falter slightly.

"No, and not just now. What you heard was the wegome and I waking from a very pleasant nap, in which we didn't even share so much as a blanket. She has been faithful to you brother, though the gods only know why. As for you little ningen," Sesshoumaru said, turning to focus his gaze on Kagome. "Do not act as though you have been mistreated here today. I am actually quite amazed at my brother's self-restraint. Had I been the one to discover my mate so much as sleeping in the same room with my rival, let alone been lead to believe that they had been mating together, their heads would have rolled long before I ever thought to stop and ask questions. If you are to be his mate, little wegome, then it's high time you started acting like it. Show your mate some of the respect he deserves as your protector and provider, and the harsh words you hear from him will start to become fewer and far between. You must meet him more than half way, for one of our bloodlines will never bow before his mate, and you can't expect him to fight against his own instincts, even if he is only a hanyou." Kagome had listened to Sesshoumaru's little lecture with growing indignance. By the time he was finished, she was downright angry.

"Listen you! Both of you! I am not going to bow down to Inuyasha, either! I'm not a quiet little hime or giesha! I am a modern woman, and on top of that, a miko! I deserve respect just as much as he does!"

"Is that right?" Sesshoumaru said, amused. "So the fact that he tries to kill me nearly every time I say anything the least bit degrading about you, that's not showing you respect? How about when he comes to your home and allows himself to be debased and fawned over like a pet cat by your ningen family?"

"Hey! My family loves Inuyasha!"

"And my brother obviously loves you, or he'd never tolerate being chastised by your human mother. We don't like being caged, wegome. From what I've seen in only the past day and a half, he has never so much as raised a hand to you, and there have been many instances where I've felt his self-control wearing thin. Can you say the same, little wegome? In case you've forgotten, let me refer you back to five minutes ago." Kagome opened her mouth to speak, then promptly closed it again as she considered his words. She stole a quick glance at Inuyasha, who had his arms folded in the sleeves of his haori and appeared to be looking at a particularly interesting spot on the wall, his face flushed a bright pink and his jaw set in a pout. Then she looked up at Sesshoumaru, who was apparently still waiting for her to answer him.

"I…I guess I never thought of it that way…" she admitted quietly. "I'm sorry, Inuyasha."

"Inuyasha, your wegome has apologized to you. What will you do with her now?" Inuyasha was silent for a moment, but whether he was merely brooding or honestly considering Sesshoumaru's question, Kagome was never really sure. Finally, after a few minutes of painfully awkward silence, he turned to look at Sesshoumaru.

"Leave us." Sesshoumaru nodded his head in silent agreement.

"Shall I go to the wegome's room?" he asked. Inuyasha shrugged.

"If you prefer. But if you really want to be helpful, go distract Higurashi-san."

"I believe I will go speak with Higurashi-san, but I'm not going to purposefully distract her, so I suggest that you don't get too wrapped up in…" he trailed off, favoring his brother with a tiny, condescending smile. "Just keep your ears trained on the staircase."

"I know how to watch my own back, Sesshoumaru." he said, but his tone wasn't angry or harsh, just matter-of-fact. "Leave us now."

"Sayonara, Wegome." Sesshoumaru whispered courteously, but Kagome could swear that there was something hidden behind his poker-face. She didn't have long to figure out what it might be, however, as Sesshoumaru had left , closing the door behind him and leaving her in the eerily quiet bedroom with Inuyasha.

"I never would have slept with Sesshoumaru." she said after a few tense minutes where neither one spoke.

"Kikyo shot me through the heart. I never saw that one coming, either." Kagome's eyes flashed and her cheeks colored.

"I am NOT Ki-"

"I know." he said quickly, silencing that old, tired argument.

"So…what do we do now?" Kagome asked, a little afraid of what the answer might be, but unable to continue on in suspense.

"I guess that all depends on you." he said quietly, absently fidgeting with the arm of a half-completed model Gundam that sat on Souta's desk.

"Really? The way Sesshoumaru was talking, it sounded to me like I didn't get to make decisions anymore. I thought I had to leave all the thinking up to my mate!" she huffed sarcastically, her arms resting akimbo on her hips.

"I'm not your mate, Kagome." he said flatly, hazarding a look in her direction.

"Oh…" she whispered, her voice sounding small and hurt.

"Not that I don't want to be!" he added quickly, then looked away. "But I'm starting to realize that you're not ready to be my mate."

"How can you say that?!" she cried, turning her back on him so he wouldn't see the immense hurt in her eyes. "I'm strong! I'm not afraid of anything!"

"Yes," he whispered softly, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist. "You are strong and you are very brave. But you are also a young girl who is still very much attached to her family. Sesshoumaru's right; you aren't ready for the implications that mating with me would bring."

"Like what?" She pouted, refusing to turn around and look him in the eye.

"Like how about being driven from every human village because you're mated to a monster? Having to leave your family behind and follow me wherever I go, because I won't trust that you're safe unless I can see you? And yes, you may even have to actually listen to me from time to time…But the main reason is pups, Kagome."

"Pups?"

"Whelps…" he frowned, searching for the right word. "Babies."

"Oh!" she gasped, despite her best efforts to appear unfazed.

"I know that I'm not ready to sire pups yet, and you sure as hell aren't, but if we're mated, then pups will always be a distinct possibility." Desperately trying to swallow the lump that seemed to have made a permanent home in her throat, Kagome turned around to face him.

"You've been giving this a lot of thought, haven't you?" Inuyasha nodded his head.

"I love you, Kagome." he admitted quietly. "And I don't really want to ruin your life. So if you-umph!" She swallowed his words, all of the past day's frustrations draining out of her as she locked her mouth onto his. She had taken him by surprise, so he stepped back, yelping in pain as he stepped on a Transformer. Between her jumping into his arms and stepping on the toy, he lost his balance and fell onto the bed, Kagome landing on top of him. He tried to ask her if she was alright, but his words were lost in her mouth as she savagely attacked him again. After two or three seconds of half-hearted struggling, Inuyasha rolled her over and accepted defeat.