InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bittersweet Rhapsody ❯ Envy ( Chapter 11 )

Disclaimer: (rolls eyes) Uh huh...I SO totally own Inuyasha.

&$#

It was shaping up to be another beautiful summer day in the mountains. The sun beat down contentedly upon the range's peaks, still slightly capped with snow, and also spread its warmth onto the thick conifers inhabiting the lower slopes. The stillness of the previous night had been forgotten and was now replaced with the quaint solitude that only the rustic locale of isolated mountains could bring; birds sang, creatures frolicked, and even the grass seemed greener than usual.

At least, everything would have been like this, if every living creature around wouldn't have been scared stiff by all of the yelling nearby, echoing noisily throughout the surrounding peaks.

"Hurry up with that! Geez, not only does your cooking stink, but you take forever too!"

"Then stop waiting! Go gnaw on your hand or something if my cooking's so terrible!"

"And what's that stuff you just put in a minute ago? Is it poison? Trying to kill me or something?!"

"Actually, maybe I am! However did you guess?!"

"Well, go right ahead!"

"Great, we're agreed!"

"Oh all right, just come and get it then! I'm sure you'll get food poisoning from the meat, but perhaps that will shut you up for at least five minutes!"

"Fine!"

"Fine."

"FINE!"

Kagome glowered as she slowly stirred the dark, simmering broth with a long stick. The argument had long since gone redundant, with the two of them sounding like a couple of toddlers, but it seemed to her better than the stony, tension-filled silence that she had gotten accustomed to in the past few hours. (Why is he acting like this anyway?) she thought anxiously. (It's not MY fault that it ended up like this!)

Inuyasha himself, however, seemed to beg to differ. He had hardly done anything but insult her (providing he said anything to her at all) since she had awoken the previous evening, one of his especial points being that she was the one who had caused this entire situation come about in the first place. (He is SO infuriating! Like I would have wanted the Birds of Paradise to swoop down in the first place!)

(He hasn't even asked about my wound,) she thought bitterly, wincing as a sharp pain in her right arm reminded her that she shouldn't be using it to stir. (You'd think that he'd be at least a LITTLE concerned, me being his own personal Jewel detector and all! After all, even Jewel detectors need to be alive in order to detect!)

All-in-all, though, things could have been much, much worse. Her wound had narrowly come off as a deep scratch, and it seemed to definitely be on the mend. Its mark would stay for many days yet, but she felt well enough to do most daily tasks. Though she honestly wasn't sure whether or not she would be up to walking distances... Luckily Inuyasha hadn't said anything about leaving yet (in fact, she was lucky if he even said a word to her at all, except in the form of insults), but if he did she would have no choice other than to put up a considerable fight.

She looked over across the fire at the irritable half-demon, whom from which tension seemed to emanate from in droves. Tension, tension, tension...it seemed to be the driving force that was pulling her apart these days. This situation, however, was especially uncomfortable; she didn't know what to say or what to do as she sat there across the fire from him, kneeling upright as she waited for the soup to boil. She was alone with him, naked and vulnerable...

(I'm so confused...it's like there's some internal fight within me. I'm so hurt by him---still so hurt by him and Kikyo...yet somehow I'm fatally drawn like a moth to flame. What's wrong with me anyway? He's so sadistic, so egotistical---who COULD fall in love with him, other than Kikyo?)

(Yeah, that's right, I'm still in love with him. Despite all this crap, despite all the times he's broken my heart, I'm still in love with him. It's a sad thing to admit, but...I never stopped thinking about it all, even after I left...Every time that I looked into Hojo's face, I - I saw you, Inuyasha...)

She couldn't entirely see his face when she had bundled up enough courage to give him a quick glance; it was mostly covered with his long silky hair, though going by his form he seemed to be pouting. (Man, I remember the days when I used to be frightened for my life when he was around. Like that time when he tried to kill me for the Shikkon Jewel. Well---not that I'm not afraid of him right now, but...)

"OY!" Both of their heads turned quickly at the vigorous shout nearby, and Kagome started slightly as a young wolf-demon dressed unevenly in rugged furs suddenly crashed carelessly out of the bushes. He went on in a singsong voice, "Hear now that you are in the domains of the wolf-king Kouga and that any trespassers must immediately pay tribute to---oh," he stopped, noticing that the "trespassers" were in reality two people friendly to the tribe. "Never mind."

Inuyasha, however, hadn't noticed his blunder. "Oh, are we?!" he replied evenly as he jumped to his feet, flexing his claws slightly. "Well, tell that wolf-eared piece of TRASH that I'm not paying him CRAP!!" Shit, he hadn't realized that they had wandered into the mountainous region where Kouga and his tribe lived... If he had he would have taken especial care to avoid passing through...

"Now wait just a minute!" Kagome shrieked, jumping to her feet as well (though the pains in her shoulder made her immediately regret doing so). "You can't just-"

"Go tell your fatass cowardly leader that he can take that 'tribute' and stick it up his gigantic, lecherous a-"

"But sir!" the wolf-demon protested meekly. "Kouga has ordered that if we come across the lady-" -here he gestured towards Kagome- "-we are to immediately bring her to him to show her our hospitality!"

If anything, this got Inuyasha even more enraged. "Hospitality, eh?!" he spat, barely able to suppress his rage. "Tell that territory-stealing bastard that I'd rather have my sword shoved up my ass!" He patted the long and rather pointy Tetsusaiga as if to prove his point.

"Hey!" Kagome interjected angrily. "How about asking me first before you go spouting off?! What is it that you've got against poor Kouga anyway?! And another thing: I'm hurt if you haven't noticed yet! I certainly wouldn't say no to a warm roof over my head for at least a night!"

"You don't know what you're talking about, you little twit---"

"YES I DO!! I KNOW EXACTLY WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT!! AND- AND - URGHHHH!" Frustrated, she turned away from the practically catatonic half-demon and towards the bewildered wolf-demon, who had stepped back amid the heated quarrel. "Take me to Kouga then, please," she simpered sweetly in her most repressed voice, giving him a smile that would have melted arctic ice. "And you," she coldly added to Inuyasha over her shoulder, "you can stay here and sulk if you don't want to come along!"

That seemed to do it. "Oh, I'm coming along all right," he immediately muttered darkly, his voice barely audible. "I'm not letting you get away without sensing all those leftover Shikkon Jewel shards..."

"Good, then." Kagome quickly and efficiently put the fire out. "That means we're ready to leave!" She winced as she shouldered her pack. With that she followed the wolf out of the grove, with Inuyasha irately tramping along in their wake.

&$#

Inuyasha scowled as he clumsily tripped over an ill-placed rock. He kicked at it bad-temperedly, already angry at the fact that he was currently heading towards the person whom he hated most in the entire world (though this was marginal, since the thought of Naraku made his blood boil almost as much). "King" Kouga's supposed "domains" must have reached for far and wide across the northern side of the mountains, he reflected sulkily, as they had been walking for a good two hours. Kagome, already unwell from her wound, had started to tire well over an hour ago, and he almost considered either calling for a halt or helping her along, but he did neither, as doing so would let her know that he was somewhat concerned about her. And God forbid he was ever going to show her THAT...

In the old days he had let her clamber up on his back, at times when she was either tired, injured, or when they had to get somewhere in a hurry. THAT, however, was now out of the question. Not only was there the above excuse, but his freshly perverted mind now knew full well the sexual undertone that it conveyed. He wasn't sure if he could actually stay sane if she climbed up onto him, her legs straddling his back, her fragrant hair tickling his, her breasts firmly pressed up against his shoulderblades...

And besides, he got a nice view of her ass, walking back here behind her. Though they were now descending steadily, sometimes the mountain winds would let out an unexpected gust and her skirt would blow up ever so slightly, showing off her---well, you get the picture. Why try and help her when she would push him away and insult him anyway?! He knew damn well that she loathed him even more than Kikyo...

Kouga's "castle" actually turned out to be a large, hollowed-out cave nestled in a dried-up gorge, further down and somewhat to the west of where they had been attacked by the Birds of Paradise. The entrance was constantly guarded by several wolf-demons and their lupine companions, and though a lot less comfortable inside than a large manor or even a hut, it seemed to be well fortified and easy to defend from enemies. (Unfortunately that bastard is smart enough not to get himself killed by Naraku,) the half-demon thought with chagrin, his hand almost bleeding from the way his pointed claws were digging into it. (It's a freaking shame that he had to wisen up after half his tribe got killed off...)

They were immediately ushered into the heart of the cave, which was full of various wolf-demons going about their daily tasks. Kagome noticed brightly that the tribe had seemingly mingled with others and their numbers had swelled; there were a lot of pups and children around, with their dark, wild-eyed mothers following them around and scolding them angrily. There were plenty of able bodied men as well, all sharpening weapons or guarding the entrance to the caves. And at the far end of the cavern, sitting near a blazing fire, was the man himself...

"K-Kagome!" Kouga sputtered, immediately jumping to his feet and running up to them. "It's been so long!" He stared at her speechlessly for a moment, then allowing the questions to stream out endlessly like a river at the beginning of spring. "What've you been up to?! Where have you been?! Where did you disappear to?! What brings you here?!"

"Don't ask me," Inuyasha sniffed as he answered that last question, refusing to look the wolf-demon in the eye. "It wasn't MY idea to pay you a visit, Kouga."

The wolf-demon's face fell, as if noticing a long-unnoticed boil on his face when staring in the mirror. "Oh, it's...you." He stared at Inuyasha critically for a moment, but then asked him innocently, a wicked grin spreading upon his handsome features, "Gnaw on any bones lately, puppy?"

Inuyasha felt his face flush in embarrassment. "I'll puppy you, you arrogant basta-"

"To answer your questions, Kouga," Kagome interrupted suddenly, trying not to laugh at Kouga's well-placed barb, "I've been home for a long time. I just got back lately. I'm sorry if I worried you..."

"Aw, that's all right." Kouga waved it off carelessly. "Just as long as you're not hurt or dead. 'Cause my wolves hadn't heard any word about any of you for ages, I was starting to think-" Suddenly with lightning speed he caught Kagome, who at the last minute had tottered waveringly and was starting to fall-

"I'm sorry!" Kagome cried as Kouga's strong muscled arms slowly lifted her back up. She leaned against him, grabbing his right arm for support.

"That's OK, that's OK," the wolf-demon replied quickly, looking at her confusedly. "But what the hell-"

A furious growl from Inuyasha's direction suddenly cut him off. "She's HURT, you moron! HURT!" he bellowed. "Use your damn eyes!"

"Don't snap at him like that!" Kagome shouted in reply. "I don't know what your problem is, but you need to quit it!" She then craned her head over towards Kouga, who was still holding her tightly. "The Birds of Paradise attacked us on the mountain pass almost two days ago. We got separated from the others, and I got wounded..."

Kouga's intense eyes flicked down to her bloodstained shirt. "I see...Well, in that case, we have to get you well. I'll have my healer check you over right away."

Kagome stifled a yawn. "Actually...I've gone awhile without being healed, and I think I can manage for a bit longer...Could I sleep, please?"

He shrugged. "Sounds fine to me. You can use my room. C'mon." With that, before Inuyasha could protest, he began to lead her over to the right, over towards his own private chamber.

The room could have barely fit five people, but it seemed to serve the purpose for a bedroom. Lit only by a dim lantern and connected to the main cave only by a small aperture closed off with thick animal skin, it consisted simply of a few scattered possessions and a large bed of large, luxurious furs. Kouga gestured towards the bed, motioning her for her to sit on the floor as he made it messily. "Here, you can sleep here. It's quiet and if anyone disturbs you, I'll kill 'em." He flexed his claws, grinning. "Now I'll get you some water and food. Be right back."

When he was safely gone, Kagome, sick and tired of her smelly, bloodstained outfit, proceeded to remove all her clothes and lay down in the huge, comfortable mess of furs. She wrapped herself in a particularly silky ermine skin and proceeded to wait for Kouga. He hadn't changed a bit in three years, she reflected happily. With his long black hair, his bright blue eyes, and his pointed fangs, which stuck out of his mouth and gave him a rather coy look; with his huge, bulging muscles and his well-formed legs, which stuck out from his short kilt like tree trunks, he seemed like the burgeoning epitome of masculinity. And he was also still so kind...so different than Inuyasha, she thought with a sinking feeling.

By the way, Inuyasha hadn't followed her in here yet... Although she was madder at him than ever at his behavior towards Kouga, she couldn't help but feel a little uncomfortable without his presence...he was practically the only unchanging constant in her life, with his insults and his fixed scowl. She was pretty sure he wouldn't leave without her...what was he doing, anyway?! Well, that question probably answered itself, she thought crossly; Kouga's insult had probably given him quite the blow to his ego and he was probably off sulking somewhere. She couldn't help but give off a quiet chuckle. (That was hilarious. And the best part is that he probably doesn't even know what Kouga REALLY meant!)

(Oh well. Like it matters,) she reasoned sleepily, turning over onto her side as sleep began to consume her in full. (If he wants to be mad at me because he was rude, then I guess it'll just have to be that way.)

%$#

It was dark when Kagome woke up again, or at least it looked like it; the lantern had burned out and she could no longer see the fur curtain. Yawning loudly and stretching her arms as far as they would go, she blinked and wondered how long she had slept. It had felt like forever, but it had felt so good...

Suddenly she was aware of movement next to her, but before she could shout out at whoever was there, the lantern was relit and Kouga's lithe form blazed into view. He quickly kneeled next to her, his face a mixture of worried concern and - and, to tell the truth, she didn't really know... "Are you feeling better?" he asked. "You've been out for a good eight hours; it's night now."

"Yeah, I'm all right," Kagome replied fuzzily, propping her body up on her good arm.

"That's good, that's good," he replied hastily, kneeling in closer. "Because I need to talk to you. Bad."

This piqued Kagome's curiosity. "...Why?"

Kouga cleared his throat nervously, as if going to go off with a rehearsed speech. "Well, Kagome, I -uh- I'm going to take you for a mate."

"WHAT?!"

The wolf-demon nodded confidently. "Yeah, I've finally decided. Actually, I decided years ago, but I never got the chance, since you left as fast as you did. But now - but now we've got plenty of time."

"I am NOT-"

Kouga interrupted her with a swift chuckle. "You don't really have a choice, Kagome. You see, us demons don't have to go with all the crap that humans do. Courting, marriage, betrothal-" -he ticked all of these off with his thumb- "-you see, the males just take what they want. And you're no exception."

Kagome gasped, so petrified that she was unable to move, as he slowly ran his rough finger against her lips. "You're quite a prize, Kagome. Smart, beautiful, resourceful...you're definitely a catch. The perfect wolf queen... To hell with the Shikkon Jewel!" He patted his upper thigh, which Kagome now noticed no longer had Jewel Shards inserted into them. "I don't need that worthless thing any more than you do! All I need is...you."

"But I'm not a wolf!" Kagome cried shakily. "You can't just TAKE me like some animal!"

A wry smile played upon Kouga's thin lips. "That's where you're wrong, princess," he almost purred, his fingers playing at her chin. "That's where you're wrong... I'm not doing anything wrong, I'm just playing by the rules. By instinct... And whether you want this or not, that's what you're going to get." Before she could throw him off, he was kissing her heatedly, his hands moving roughly up and down the nape of her neck.

Kagome leaned backwards and gritted her teeth the second he withdrew. "Kouga, I don't CARE if this is how wolves do it, I don't want to do this!"

Kouga, however, wasn't going to talk anymore. He continued on with his dirty work, pulling himself onto the bed and starting to kiss her neck feverishly. She cried out as his fangs lightly nipped her tender skin, but he ignored her, going up further to eventually reach her mouth. (Oh no, oh no, oh NO!) Kagome inwardly groaned as he eased her against the rocky wall. (Please don't do this!)

He looked up from her for a moment, breathing hard as he whispered to her huskily, "Don't worry---you're not going to regret this. It won't hurt---much."

Close to tears, Kagome stiffened rigidly as he continued on, bracing herself for what was to come.

%$#

The little inn in the small village of Shinji, hugged all around by the frosty mountain peaks, had never seen such strange, bedraggled visitors. The young couple had arrived the previous night, begging for the best room within the small inn and carrying their small pet (some actually said demon), whom had been picked up by a large bird and had consequently gotten knocked into a coma upon being released from its grip by a well-thrown rock. The villagers had not sighted the mysterious visitors since, but they knew that they were still upstairs, perhaps trying to care for their injured "pet"...

"Is he looking all right?" Miroku asked anxiously, trying to peer over Sango's shoulder at Shippo's limp, curled form upon the bed. He would have looked rather comical had it not been for the current situation; right on top of his head was a large lump practically the size of a golf ball. It had been the unfortunate result of a rather adventurous Bird of Paradise which had taken it upon himself to dive bomb him from above.

The young woman shook her head frustratedly. "Nothing seems really wrong, but...Oh dammit, Miroku! Why won't he wake the hell up?!" She turned away from the pitiful sight, immediately bursting into a deluge of tears as she did so.

The monk creased his brow worriedly. "I don't know...But he honestly can't be dead; that bird didn't carry him very fa-"

"Oh shut it, don't get my hopes up!" Sango snapped, whirling around to face her husband. "He may be alive, but it's getting close to two days and he still hasn't stirred! Will he ever wake up?!"

Miroku sighed heavily as he sat in a rickety chair nearby. "I wish that there was a way to tell...but waiting is all that we can do for the moment. There's no way that we can get a healer in this town; we don't nearly have the money that would be required to even get a consultation. All we can do is stay in this inn...and wait."

"...I guess so." The young woman chewed on her lip nervously, her face showing the slightest tinge of green as she stared at her unconscious little friend.

"...You're sick again, aren't you?!" Miroku's question suddenly came out of the blue, surprising his wife but nevertheless being accurate.

"What?"

"Honestly, was my stew that awful?! You're sick again! Your face is pale, you've been gagging when you think my back is turned, and--"

"Now isn't the time to worry about that!"

The monk laughed bitterly. "We're having the worst of luck on this whole escapade, aren't we? We never should have left home! Right now we should be planting the late harvest and getting by with a few exorcisms. What more business do we even have with Naraku?"

"Now Miroku, we've already been through this-"

"I realize, I realize..." He sighed, looking down at the dirty wooden floor. "It's just that we have been plagued with bad luck. You with your sickness, Shippo's injury...there's no plausible way that we're going to be leaving this inn for at least two days."

"But what about Inuyasha and Kagome?" Sango asked him in a worried voice, wiping the sweat on her brow with her sleeve. "I really don't feel comfortable with those two alone somewhere together---considering they even got away! Inuyasha's so unpredictable; right now he could be making Kagome absolutely miserable! It's bad enough that the poor girl had to even see him again..."

Miroku gave off a short, rather uncharacteristic giggle.

"What? What's so funny?!"

"Oh...I honestly don't think that you will have to worry about that..."

"Why? What do you mean?!"

Miroku giggled creepily again. "Just what I said, Sango-chan."

She angrily turned to face him, hands defiantly on her hips. "Will you let me know what you're on about already?! I hate it when you're mysterious! Or has that large goose egg finally went to your head?!" She gestured towards his lump.

Miroku smiled delicately. "Sango-chan...let's just say that Inuyasha has been feeling a little...amorous lately..."

Sango's jaw sagged open. "He did not peep the other night on purpose!"

"...He did."

"But - but he makes it a point to make every second of her life miserable!" she sputtered. "And what about Kikyo---this doesn't make sense! And - and - hey!" she shrieked suddenly, grabbing Miroku by the ear. "That means that YOU were there as well!"

"But Sango-chan!" Miroku wailed. "I was only looking at y-OW!" She continued to twist his ear further, causing his cheap earring to prick his earlobe.

"Now THIS should teach you to-"

"OW!! OW!! OW!!" Miroku's howls continued to resound throughout the room, causing many passerby in the street to stop and listen in wonder. Amid all of the howling Shippo still continued to slumber feverishly, his chest rising and falling steadily as he dreamt uneasy dreams...

And also amid it all a tall dark figure turned and left the window, where he had been watching the group unnoticed for some time now, ever since he had come upon their trail miles away in the mountains...

&$#

Author's Note: Whew, I'm so glad I didn't have to go through the long R rated warning spiel like I did on ff.net.

Simply a Lady: Bleh, I hate plot bunnies myself, though good things can come out of them. I think this fic might have started out as a bunny, actually...

Kikyou 104: Nope, Kikyo isn't around, and won't be for awhile yet. I hope her absence speaks loudly. ^_^

w j: Hehe, they'll interact all right pretty soon. Hehehehe...

Sesshoumarustruluv: I can tell you that the story's turning point is next chapter, actually. By the end of chapter 12 you'll definitely KNOW where the story's going...