InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bittersweet Rhapsody ❯ Relief ( Chapter 14 )

Disclaimer: If I owned Inuyasha, I really think I'd, um, know about it...

A/N: A bit more fluff, among other things... This is also a major plot chapter, however. In fact, I can safely say that this is the point in the story where the plot becomes uber complicated. I have written it so that not everything is revealed, but if you ARE confused or find a plothole, then please tell me about it. I'm not completely 100 percent sure that everything fits together.

$^%&*&(

Kagome felt momentarily confused when she finally awoke from her long nap near the pool. Inuyasha was no longer curled tightly up against her, and the brightness of the day had started to wane, as the sun could now be seen peeking just above the western rim of the gorge. And then there was the shouting---the intense shouting. Inuyasha seemed to be close by, arguing voraciously with someone else, though who the someone was Kagome didn't have the scarcest clue. With the exception of Kouga, who could have possibly known their location in the gorge?...

Her eyes widened in shock as they scanned over towards the other figure, who was standing rigidly near the other end of the pool. It was Sesshomaru! Yes, there was no mistaking it; no one she knew quite had the stature and form that Sesshomaru did. He cut an intimidating figure, standing at least a good six inches taller than Inuyasha, and wearing a magnificent silken robe trimmed with vivid, exotic furs. His fine silver hair whipped slightly with the increasing mountain winds; his red marked face was set in the usual superior grimace whenever he happened to be near his “half-blooded” little brother. (What’s he doing here?!) Kagome thought anxiously, slowly flopping down onto her stomach and pretending to not have woken up. (Oh, please don’t fight us! Not now! Inuyasha can’t even use the Tetsusaiga at the moment! ...And don‘t egg him on either, Inuyasha! Your big mouth always seems to get us in the worst knots!) Her heart beating like a scared rabbit’s, she lifted her face slightly in order to hear their conversation clearly...

“-you are obviously still a fool, little brother, meddling in the affairs of demons such as you are! Our time may be fading and the era of humans may be upon us, but never will we allow a filthy half-blood such as you to do our work! Now I advise you to go back to your forest before-” -with that he unsheathed his gleaming yellow whip, crafted from the poisonous tail of an especially potent chimera demon- “before you get hurt.”

Kagome gulped as he gave off a practice lash. She had completely forgotten about his whip---the thing had caused them several problems on different occasions, and though Inuyasha’s claws were sharp and powerful, they did no good at such a long range. (Oh, please back off, Inuyasha,) she pleaded silently, biting her lip as she stared at his face, which was white and livid. (Just this once, PLEASE back off! I’d rather have your pride hurt than have your body permanently maimed!)

Inuyasha snorted derisively. “Well, what about YOU, you traitor?! You’re Naraku’s nearest dupe, I hear, his fine 'High General'. How can you be so 'fine' if you’re really serving a half-demon yourself?!” He smirked as Sesshomaru glared at him hatefully but would not answer. “Well, answer me!” he roared, taking a step towards his older brother. “You’ve got to have a reason, or are you just an idiot?!”

Sesshomaru bared his fangs slightly. “I’ve told you already countless times, Inuyasha, temporarily allying with the enemy is the only way that my demons can eventually overthrow him! Naraku has become quite crafted at his arts over the years, already he has overrun the North! How can YOU and your ragtag band possibly expect to even fend off such a formidable foe?!”

“I don’t know, all right?! All I know is that I need the Shikkon Jewel! I set out in the first place for that thing, and I’ll be damned if I don’t have it in the end!”

“So you still have that foolish delusion of becoming a demon, don’t you? You aren’t DESERVING of being a demon! Unfortunately,” Sesshomaru sneered, “you have a heart. Feelings. Useless emotions that get in the way of your thinking. Feelings that will get you killed in the end!” He brandished his whip again, causing several large rocks to splash into the pool. “Now begone and quit getting in our way before I am forced to kill you!”

Inuyasha refused to budge an inch. Crossing his arms, he shifted his balance and said quietly in a voice barely audible to either party, “You really think that being enslaved by Naraku is the answer?”

“I don’t think, I know, little...brother. Had my court not allied with him, then we all would have suffered. It may cost us of ever recovering the Shikkon Jewel, but we shall wait and bide our time...get him when he is off his guard.”

“But you know what he’s gonna do with the Jewel! I know and you know, Sesshomaru, you cold bastard! You KNOW that he will enslave or kill all the humans!”

“Oh yes, oh yes...” A cold smile snaked across Sesshomaru’s face, a smile that caused Kagome to shudder violently from her vantage point, despite her distance. “All that and more... Personally, I wouldn’t mind ridding ourselves of the human race by diluting their blood with demon stock... We’d create an invincible army of half-demons; invincible to our foes yet dispensable to the purebloods. After overthrowing Naraku and establishing my own rule, I would then have no rivals to challenge my dominance.”

Inuyasha’s fist shuddered on impact with a large boulder. “You monster! So THAT’S what you’ve been up to! I oughtta-”

“Just resign yourself to your fate, Inuyasha,” Sesshomaru stated quietly. “Go live in the forest and stop putting your faith in these human 'friends' of yours---your biggest weakness was having feelings for the poor, pathetic creatures. Look at them. And look at you---such a flawed creature yourself.” He quietly pointed towards the Tetsusaiga, which Inuyasha was holding aloft despite its worthlessness with one long-nailed hand. "You cannot even activate that thing anymore, much less lift it! What are you going to do, Inuyasha? Die needlessly?..."

"You bet I would," Inuyasha growled darkly. "I'm not going to listen to your cra-"

"STOP!!" Kagome's voice suddenly burst out into the tension. Unable to take it longer, she quickly hopped up and ran between the two quarreling brothers, effectively cutting them off from one another. "STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!!" She turned to glare angrily at Sesshomaru, trying to pull up her blanket as she did so. His expression momentarily flitted from extreme shock to an interested smirk, but he did nothing to harm either of the pair. In fact, all he seemed to be doing was sniffing lightly at the air. (What's he doing? What's he smelling? This is getting creepy...)

"Get out of here, Kagome!" Inuyasha snarled. "He's dangerous!"

However, Kagome, extremely stubborn to a tee, refused to budge for either of them. She continued to stand there resolutely, refusing to allow them to harm one another, being a human shield of sorts... The seconds ticked by, turning into minutes, the minutes themselves slowly dragging by as if the hourglass of time had a rather large pebble stuck in it... Finally...

"Interesting," Sesshomaru finally said lightly, laughter quietly escaping from his lips. "How very interesting..."

"What's interesting?" Inuyasha snarled, trying to close the gap between himself and Kagome. He did not like the look of Sesshomaru at the moment; he had never before heard his brother laugh like that, nor did he like the icy gleam currently in his eyes...

"Interesting," he repeated quietly, staring at Kagome scrutinizingly. "Perhaps there is hope for you after all, Inuyasha...though perhaps you'll pay for your transgressions with mortal blood in the end."

The half-demon growled, suddenly grabbing her and dragging her away from the cold-looking dog demon. "Just shut up and leave, Sesshomaru! You're making no sense as usual!"

He merely raised an eyebrow in response, and, to the surprise of all, began to turn around and walk away, calling over his shoulder, "As you wish...little brother. And I believe that you need this." Something small and shiny flew out of his hand, tinkling and bouncing until it skipped into the bottom of the shallow pool. "Make good use of it...And please , for the sake of everyone, do NOT take the girl to Naraku's castle. Her presence within Naraku's is quite dangerous for not just the two of you, but the entire land. She might find herself in unpleasant...circumstances." And before the others could speak he had already vanished around the bend...

"Inuyasha, LOOK!" Kagome shrieked, pointing towards the pool in an almost frightened manner. "It's - it's -"

However, Inuyasha was not looking, nor did he give a good damn. He had dropped to his knees in pure shock, the point of the fully-transformed Tetsusaiga sticking into the ground like a monstrous obelisk...

%$^*&((

Kagome sank to the ground dazed. "I - I can't believe this!" She threw the small section of the Sacred Jewel given to them by Sesshomaru next to the restored Tetsusaiga, an equally surprising development to the return of the powerful relic itself.

"Neither can I," Inuyasha replied truthfully, gripping the sword as if doing so would retain its power. "Two of our problems gone at once!"

"But why did he help us?" Kagome questioned, looking to the darkening sky for inspiration. "I mean, what's in it for him, exactly?"

Inuyasha shook his head. "If there's anything I know about Sesshomaru," he answered her gravely, "it's that he's unpredictable. He could have had a reason, or he could have just done it on a whim." He squinted at the bend suspiciously. "Either way, I don't trust him!"

"Neither do I," Kagome admitted, leaning back against Inuyasha's torso, which was a delightfully warm alternative to the increasingly chilly mountain winds. "But how did he get ahold of those shards in the first place? I know there's only four or five of them, but... He can't be collecting them for Naraku, can he?"

"We're both dog demons," he replied matter-of-factly. "If I can't sense 'em, then he sure as hell can't sense 'em either. Some demons can, but only certain types. No, someone else must be helping him..." He trailed off, eager not to share his current theory. Instead he squeezed her hand, which felt small but warm wrapped around his large, calloused one.

"Rin..." Kagome's whisper came as softly as the wind, but nevertheless it came clearly audible to Inuyasha's keen ears.

He shifted closer. "Rin?..."

"That little girl we saw with Sesshomaru last time we saw him. She was definitely a human. ...Remember? He seemed so protective of her. Maybe that's why he helped us like that. Maybe, just maybe," she added hopefully, "he's starting to learn that humans aren't such a bad thing after all, and he doesn't want Naraku to win."

Inuyasha sniffed. "And maybe, just maybe he figures that this will be the quickest way of getting rid of us and commandeering the Tetsusaiga! I still don't trust him, whatever you say! Sesshomaru, even when he's not trying to kill you, isn't exactly an upstanding citizen, you know!"

She ignored him, gently touching the shiny hilt of the sword, whose black pommel stone gleamed in the dying sunlight. "And why did your sword transform all of a sudden? You didn't even use it during the battle!"

"That's because I haven't been using it," he answered truthfully. "It hasn't transformed for over three years..." He looked away contemplatively. "It never did---not after you went away..." His next sentence came out almost garbled, spoken so fast and awkwardly that Kagome could barely understand it. "Whatever I've said the past couple of days, Kagome, I did miss you."

She squeezed his clawed hand gently, tears coming to her eyes at his final admittance. "I know you did... And so did I."

They were just leaning over to kiss when suddenly several voices rang out from the end of the gorge. "Inuyasha! Kagome! Is that you?!"

"Oh, shut it, Miroku, of course it is! Ohhhhh, I can't believe it, THEY'RE ALIVE!"

Both absolutely mortified, Inuyasha and Kagome leapt away from each other as fast as they possibly could, their faces going scarlet red. Kagome could have sworn that she could have heard Inuyasha hissing under his breath, "Great timing, monk," but she decided not to pursue it further.

The group was within a stone's throw away from them now. Kagome noticed with great relief that everyone was there, safe and sound and unhurt (or as far as she could tell in the failing light, at any rate). She laughed nervously as Kirara bounded up to her with a purr, rubbing against her blanket-clad legs. "Uh---you guys! You're alright! So -uh- how've you been?"

Sango peered curiously at the duo, immediately looking for any signs of strife between the two. "Actually, Kagome, the question would be, how have YOU been?"

She tittered nervously again, edging away from Inuyasha, who had a dumbfounded look on his face. "Oh -uh- everything's been -uh- just peachy! Just peachy! Inuyasha's just been a laugh riot, hehehehe..."

"See, what did I tell you?!" Sango hissed to Miroku under her breath. "He's probably been haranguing her constantly!"

"Tell me about it," Miroku whispered back. "There's enough sexual tension here to cut with a knife!"

"Tension?" a fully conscious Shippo, perched on Miroku's shoulder, began. "What's tha-"

"Hush!" Sango hissed, deftly shutting the young fox's mouth. "Anyway," she went on, straightening up to look at them, "we have quite an interesting story about how we got here. In fact, it has everything to do with your brother Sesshomaru."

"What?!" the half-demon sputtered, marching right up to Sango. "Sesshomaru?! Tell me about this!"

"It's a long story," the ex-demonslayer explained, throwing down her bedroll and pack. "And I would prefer to be telling it after a meal and over a campfire. ...If you please?"

%&^(&(*&

Miroku belched satisfyingly as he threw an apple core into the fire. "Ahhhhh, that's better! Much better!" He looked over towards Kagome. "You see, you two were the lucky ones with the food packs. We've had nothing but Sango's old dried fish to go on for the past few days. I will never eat fish again," he added gravely, taking a long swig of sake.

"Yeah, well, it was better than the food at the inn," Sango said listlessly, shifting through her pack in order to find another apple for Shippo. "We ended up in some little mountain hamlet a day's walk from here, after I shot down the demon carrying Shippo and found that we couldn't locate you."

"Yeah! It was soooooo cool!" Shippo piped up, pointing at the large lump on his head. "The bird dropped me and I went into a coma! I didn't wake up for three days!"

"It was not cool, or whatever you call it," Miroku said, suddenly quite grave. "We thought for awhile that you wouldn't wake up." He cleared his throat nervously. "And then there was Sesshomaru..."

"What?! What about him?!" Inuyasha demanded harshly, his proud amber eyes gleaming at him from across the fire.

Sango looked up. "He approached us after two days. I can't explain it---he must have been watching us for some time. Anyway, he demanded to know where you were and said that he would spare our lives if we could take him to you."

"That rat BASTARD!! I knew-"

"Hold your tongue for a minute if you please, I'm not done! Anyway, we then were forced to lead him into the mountains to where we had fought the battle. He picked up your trail and we continued to follow. We went through some more forest and down into this gorge-"

"-where we promptly got picked up by Kouga's gang," Miroku interrupted smoothly. "I have to say, Inuyasha, Kagome...you must have really done something to anger him. He said some very naughty things about you two...Um, what was that he called you again?! An ass-ramming, ofal-eating, fucking muttface, was it?"

Inuyasha growled warningly, but Kagome secretly kicked him and replied coldly, "Well, he was the one responsible for the problem, and not us. Anyway, going on?"

"Er---yes," Miroku went on, shifting nervously. "While we were talking, or arguing, rather, Sesshomaru went on ahead. We walked on after we finally managed to rid ourselves of Kouga, and then-" -he gestured grandly around the campfire- "there you were!"

"You seemed rather surprised about Sesshomaru," Sango added concernedly. "...Did you see him or something?"

Kagome then unbrokenly explained their story ever since they had been separated up on the mountain, embellishing especially on her injury and conveniently leaving out her "romps" with Inuyasha and the encounter with Kouga. The three seemed especially surprised when Kagome held the now-purified part of the Sacred Jewel.

"Well, this is a fair bit of news," Miroku said in a high voice. "And you don't know why he gave you the Jewel or how he got it?"

Inuyasha shrugged. "I'm pretty sure that he originally was going to give them to Naraku, but I've got a few theories of my own about why he gave it to us instead. Damn, it's freezing out here," he added, rising to grab his haori and shirt, which were still lying by the bank. Miroku gave him a rather pointed look, shifting between him and the still-transformed Tetsusaiga, which was still lying point-down within their circle, but no one else noticed or cared.

"Is that what the girls in your time period are wearing these days, Kagome?" he asked her, gesturing towards her blanket.

Kagome reddened visibly, but she tried to keep up her front. "Um---let's just say that it was a gift from Kouga and leave it at that," she explained haltingly, the rest falling silent as it became apparent that she was going to say no more about the matter.

Sango pointed towards her knapsack. "I've still got your nightgown if you want it. I'm sure it isn't fun wearing that." However, she quickly shut up when an approaching Inuyasha gave off a slightly feral growl, though whether it was about Kouga or the nightgown itself Kagome hadn't the faintest idea.

"Anyway, what now?" Kagome asked, looking around at everyone. "I'm not sure if we should go straight to Naraku's with the Jewel Shards. Sesshomaru might have given them just in order to trap us."

Miroku poked his staff into the ground next to Tetsusaiga. "Granted, though, that we're now slightly better off than we were before. At least we now know that he has to go through us in order to get the entire Sacred Jewel."

"Maybe we should go to Kaede," Shippo suggested. "She seems to know a lot about Naraku."

Sango immediately ratified the idea. "It might be a long walk, but least we'll get some advice from an outside source. And besides, I need to see if Kyoko is behaving!"

"It'll take close to three days, maybe," Inuyasha grunted. "This side of the mountain's a little easier than the other." He looked up at the others. "Really, I don't care. Maybe the old bat'll pick up something that we don't."

Kagome bounced up happily. "So it's decided then! Who's all with me on starting off now?!"

Everyone got up immediately, packing all of their things and snuffing out the large fire. The sheer chatter that everyone gave off went to show that everyone was quite excited about going back to the village.

"The sooner I get to sleep in a warm bed, the better!"

"Yay! Another trip!"

"Kyoko better have been a good girl..."

They all grabbed their stuff and set off down the gorge, Miroku striding in the lead as he remembered the way up the mountain best. They were determined to get back up to the forested section of the mountain by midnight, when, they all agreed, they would then rest for the remainder of the night. The going would be tough, but they could easily get back to the village within two to three days if they strictly followed their travel plans.

Kagome looked at Inuyasha curiously as he fell back to walk alongside her, purposely brushing her hand as she did so. Craning her head slightly towards him so as to not attract attention, she managed to whisper, "Remember, we're supposed to hate each other. I really don't think the others are gonna take to this too well, so let's try to keep a low profile for awhile, OK?"

He barely nodded, speeding up as Shippo decided to arrive on his usual perch during travel, which happened to be his shoulder. "Ahhhhhhh," the little fox sighed happily. "My favorite place...Now maybe I can get some slee-hey!" He suddenly stopped short, sniffing Inuyasha's hair vivaciously.

"Hey what?!" Inuyasha cut in irately, craning his neck towards the annoying little demon.

"I know this smell! It smells like Kagome! Just what have you two been doi-AHHHHHHH!!" He suddenly bounced off the dog-demon's shoulder, having gotten "accidentally" hit by Inuyasha's fist. "Hey!" he wailed, climbing up onto Kagome's shoulder instead. "That wasn't very nice! What'd you do THAT for?!"

Y*&^*&()%^%*&

As promised, they set down camp within a small grove of conifers around midnight. Without Kagome injured and without other things to sidetrack them, they had been able to make good time, beginning the tedious mountain climb while somehow avoiding Kouga's cavern and his wolf guards. Completely bone-weary, the travelers set down their bedrolls around a small fire, snuggling up to the bright glow of warmth in order to ward away the cold mountain winds, which would only worsen as they ascended.

Kagome sighed satisfyingly as she plopped down onto her quilt near the fire, her aching body glad for the much-needed rest. That afternoon in the cave with Inuyasha seemed so long ago, she thought wearily, when she lay snuggled up with his arms around her like he had... She wished that would have been possible tonight, but she already had a sinking feeling that none of the others would take too kindly to this new development, especially since she had felt so duped even just days ago... It would take time and energy to get them to understand, and she had so little of either.

"Hey!" an indignant voice yelped into her ear, causing her to jump almost a mile. "Get outta my spot! I was there first!"

Kagome turned around only to catch sight of a scowling Inuyasha, who looked as if he had a stick lodged up his ass. How DARE he!! First he had admitted his interest in her, for the most part claiming her as his, and NOW he was acting like the usual pain, bossing her around like it was nothing to him! "HEY!!" she screeched indignantly. "I was here first! You can go find anoth--" She suddenly stopped short, finally realizing what was going on as she noticed the other interested faces watching their argument. He wanted them to watch; he was trying to stage a fight so that the others wouldn't let on!

"You RETARD!!" she screamed, finding her composure. "Go find somewhere else!"

"Harpy!"

"Asshole!"

"Wench!"

"Prick!"

"All right, HAVE your stupid spot!" he whooped rabidly, throwing up his arms as he marched out of the conifers and into the rest of the woods. "See if I care!"

She stuck her tongue out at where he disappeared, getting up to stomp in the opposite direction. "I'm leaving!"

"FINE!!" She heard his angry voice echoing back at her through the bushes.

%^$^%&^

Within five minutes they had managed to circle around and meet in another clearing a safe distance away from the campsite. "That was hilarious!" Kagome giggled uncontrollably, leaning her head against Inuyasha's broad shoulder as they both sat under a spreading oak. "They really don't suspect a thing!"

"Yeah, well..." Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably as he tried to control the raging impulses in his brain that were screaming "woods" and "alone" and "random, unrestricted sex". "They won't buy it for long, I know that. As much as I tell them that all the time, I know they're not stupid."

She looked up at his thoughtful eyes, which sparkled vivaciously in the summer moonlight. In this rare moment he actually seemed to be in a tranquil state of mind, sitting here under the tree with her...the angry, feral look that she had seen twenty-four hours ago in the cave had completely vanished along with their denial of each other. In fact, now he looked downright cute, his human and demon features contrasting sharply everywhere on his face, making him look like some sort of hybrid between boy and man. Right now he looked more peaceful than she had ever seen him thus far except in sleep, the wind lightly ruffling his silver hair and his amber eyes set in a sedentary, melancholy expression... He looked so satisfied, yet so sad...yet also so full of pride mixed with self-doubt. This was the Inuyasha she had always known was hidden somewhere under that angry, grumpy exterior... Her mind flew back to the incident earlier that day in the pool. The rough way that his lips had met with hers, how his hands, slicked over with water, had passionately gripped her hips...

"I - I've always liked you, you know, whether you knew it or not," he suddenly announced, his arm tentatively snaking around her back. "I fell pretty damn hard right at the start, but I didn't really get it until Kouga came into the picture. I just was afraid to act on it. Really afraid..." He trailed off, his grip around her getting tighter.

"But why?" she questioned him softly, drawing in closer so that her hair brushed his cheek. "You must have always known how I feel about you..."

He looked at her seriously. "You care about everyone so much, Kagome... I always thought it was just in your nature. I didn't give it a second thought." He swallowed, his claws tightening so that they lightly poked into her back. "And everything was my fault; I just kind of let it happen. I knew that I wanted you, but I tried to deny it. I figured that I had obligations to fulfill whether I wanted them or not, but in the end-" -he hung his head, refusing to meet her eye- "-those obligations just ended up hurting you."

"Obligations? You mean Kikyo, right?"

He sighed tensely. "Yeah, I guess you could say that... I screwed up bad, allowing Naraku to trick me. So then I thought I'd do what I'd failed to before and at least try to protect her from his schemes, but even THAT backfired when I - I -" He trailed off in frustration, not wanting to mention the scene under the waterfall in words. "And then I saw the look on your face just before you ran off; it felt just like a hard kick to the nuts. Then I KNEW that you felt what I did, but dammit, it had to take something like THAT for me to find out! And then it was too late..." He hung his head again, looking quite melancholy.

There was silence for a small spell, but finally Kagome responded, her delicate hand reaching up to arrange his hair. "It's all right, Inuyasha," she told him softly, playing with one of his silver locks. "It's all right now; we're together, even if it took us three whole years. I know that you're telling the truth; I can see it in your eyes..."

And indeed she did. They were quite watery now, tinged with what she knew was regret. The two of them were so pressed so closely together that she could feel his heart beating; it pounded like a scared rabbit’s. His hand, bone dry and rough, gripped hers as if it would never let go. They stared at one another silently, for a split second each knowing exactly how the other felt, with no inhibition, no restraint...

Suddenly Kagome drew back sharply. "I'd better go," she said nervously, dusting herself off and getting up. "It's really late, y'know." She had no idea what exactly she was afraid of; all she knew was that their restraint and self-control was starting to corrode away fast. And something was telling her that she wasn't ready to jump into anything yet... "And I'll leave you a place by the fire," she managed to add smartly as she started to walk away.

"Tch! You can have it!" he spat, causing her to crack a smile as she headed back to camp. Despite that bratty and self-absorbed exterior that he always seemed to radiate...he truly did care. How had she failed to notice for the longest time?...

Author’s Note: Well, that’s all, folks! For now, anyway...it’ll be about another week until chapter 15 comes out. And chapter 15 is, well, different. And different meaning that -well- there’s going to be some humor in this fic for once.