InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bottled Genius ❯ Six Hundred Feet Under... ( Chapter 20 )

Author's Notes: Yep. Some people understood what happened… and some people didn't get it at all. Hopefully description skills shall be better in this chapter! And sorry about the wait but ff.net's been screwing us all over, so I think I can be excuse for being late.

Bottled Genius

Chapter 20

Six Hundred Feet Under…

"Well…" Naraku mirrored one of Inuyasha's most conceited smirks. "This is awkward."

No one moved.

Downstairs, Mrs Higurashi could be heard moving around the kitchen, Souta playing on the playstation and Grandpa could be heard sweeping the leaves off the porch in distant, but audible scratching sweeps.

It was Kagome who moved first. Finally, she seemed unable to take it anymore and threw herself away from Naraku so hard she crashed back against the wall and slumped to the ground, head in her hands and trembling with a mixture of shock and disgust.

Inuyasha flicked a gaze towards her.

"Don't even think about it." Naraku said easily as he folded his arms with slow care. "Don't even move for that matter… we don't want an unpleasant repeat of what happened the last time we met."

Inuyasha didn't move.

"Did he tell you what he did to me?" Naraku looked flatly down at where Kagome pressed herself against the wall. He crouched down to eye level and feigned a hurt sigh. "He ripped open my chest. He nearly killed me and stole my life. Me… his very own master. Rather impudent little slave if you ask me."

Neither Kagome nor Inuyasha responded. Naraku smiled nastily with Inuyasha's face and looked towards the Wishbringer. "She thought I was you… it was kinda touching really. You ought to be very pleased with yourself, Inuyasha. Two girls falling over their own feet for you…"

"Get out of here." Inuyasha said in the same tone as before. Low, but conveying more fury than anything else. "Or do you want your head ripped open this time."

"You don't have the stamina to break any more rules." Naraku told him bluntly. "Nor the will now, knowing that the First will be after your hide if you cause any more trouble."

Inuyasha's fists clenched slowly. Naraku stared at him for a moment, as if debating whether or not he would break his own rules and take a step closer. Inuyasha didn't decide what he was thinking before suddenly Naraku reached down and pulled Kagome up by one arm. The jerk nearly had Kagome toppling over again, and Inuyasha took a hasty step forward.

"I said don't move." Naraku snapped and Inuyasha stumbled to a halt again.

Kagome tugged helplessly against the hands gripping her arms. "Let me go, you filthy-"

"That's not what you were saying a few moments ago." Naraku interrupted, jostling her teasingly.

"I-Inuyasha?!" She called out to him, looking around pleadingly. Why was he just standing there like that? Though he was obeying Naraku's orders… he could still obey hers too. "Inuyasha - I wish you'd-"

Naraku clapped a hand over her mouth. "Let's not do anything rash now." He tightened his arms around her, holding her close to pacify her furious struggles. He looked back at Inuyasha who looked like he was battling with himself. "I'll be taking her now-"

"Don't you-"

"Don't interrupt." Naraku cut him off. "And… don't follow us or anything. At least not for a couple of hours… that should give me enough time to have everything prepared for you."

Inuyasha clenched his hands so hard that his claws dug into his palms. "You're not taking Kagome you-" He didn't get a chance to finish his threat before Naraku disappeared into the air, along with Kagome.

As soon as they were gone Inuyasha lunged at the wall and smashed his fists against it with an enraged roar. "DAMMIT!" He kicked the wall and threw his weight against it. "Dammit!" he yelled again and thumped his head with both fists, gripping his hair tightly with his hands as though about to tear it out. He slid down the wall to the floor, half amazed that it had withstood his expression of anger. "Dammit… dammit… dammit!"

Banned to follow them for a couple of hours. A couple of hours in Inuyasha terminology meant two hours… two hours…

"Two hours and you're a dead man Naraku…"

^_^

Kagome had always wondered how Inuyasha had done it. She'd wondered once how it must have felt to shift between different locations in the blink of an eye. Now she knew.

It was like having your molecules being ripped apart and being scattered across the wind… her mind had gone blank the moment she'd been swept out of the corridor in the old house… and when she woke up again she felt stiff and sore…

Wherever she was, it was cold and dark… the ground was hard rock, slimy and slightly smelly… she pushed herself up a little, enough to peel her cheek off the ground and looked around for some kind of sign as to where she was. But it was pitch black and it gave nothing away.

"Urgh…" She sniffed loudly and wiped a hand across her damp cheek, feeling as though the slime which covered the rocks around her had covered her as well. How long had she been asleep?

And where was Naraku?

Kagome stiffened at the mere thought and listened intently. Her ears strained to catch the faintest sound of breathing, movement or footsteps on the ground. But she heard nothing suspicious… apart from the odd rumbling sound that seemed to echo in the distance like a far-off train… and the ominous sound of dripping water.

Kagome had seen her fair share of movies and figured, although she'd never really been in one, that she was in some sort of cave. Her hands reached out and she started feeling along the vaguely smooth ground to find something that could be a wall. She shuffled along as her hands connected with nothing but slime and rock… acutely aware of the sounds she made as her knees scraped the ground, of her breathing coming in short choppy breaths…

"Where am I?" she whispered quietly, feeling small and enclosed… as if she were crouched in a dark box, even though she could hear her voice echoing around her, hinting that wherever she was, it was fairly large.

Her hand hit something soft, cold and furry…

"Rat!" she jumped back almost a metre and cradled her tainted hand against her chest, cringing at the thought… she'd touched a dead rat…

"Not much food or light down here." A bodiless voice said from somewhere very nearby. "Rats are few and rare. You won't find much life in this place."

It sounded like Inuyasha… but Kagome knew better than to take that voice at face value. It was Naraku… without a doubt. Where he had come from suddenly…? Kagome had no idea.

"Where are we?" She asked in a shaken voice… well… at least she had enough courage and togetherness to speak to him.

"About two hundred feet down in a mountain." Was the response she got. Somewhere nearby she heard feet stepping across the moist ground. "Might explain why it's so cold down here, yes?"

Kagome swallowed hard against the lump in her throat. "Why did you bring me… to a mountain of all places."

"Well if you hadn't figured it out already," Naraku's tone was a little condescending. "Half of me is enamoured with you… a small and obsolete part of me, but enamoured nonetheless. However the much larger part of me would like to see you dead, with your guts spread out and your bones boiled down into glue."

Kagome didn't like that mental picture. She shuddered involuntarily.

"You are of no vital interest to me, you see… but at the same time you seem to be the most important… pivotal point of my life. My reason of living. But that would only be Onigumo's way of thinking. Something a plan to purge from me… soon."

"You didn't answer my question." Kagome ground out into the darkness around her, hoping she was aiming her voice at him. "Why are we here, in a mountain?"

"Because this is where I purge myself of impurities." His footsteps passed her by and she felt a cold draft in his wake. "This mountain has somewhat special spiritual powers… more of a presence really. Mount Hakurei. Heard of it?"

"No…"

"I don't expect you to have, really. This is a place of cleansing… I shall be cleansing myself here. It shouldn't be too long now…"

Inuyasha had warned her that no matter what happened… Naraku couldn't be allowed to free himself from Onigumo. If he did, they would all be in big trouble… but as it stood, Kagome couldn't really see little old her stopping someone as creepy and strong as Naraku alone… she needed Inuyasha…

She needed to think about something else. "Why did you bring me here?" she demanded. As far as she knew, she didn't really seem that important to have around.

Somewhere in the darkness she heard a sigh. "Somehow my conscience sleeps better with you nearby. It is easier to remove something that sleeps. But with that gone… you will be my first victim, and I will feel all the better for it."

Kagome hugged herself tightly. "Inuyasha will stop you."

"It's cute that you seem to have so much faith in him. But really… there are limitations to how much one puny Hanyou can do."

"You're a puny Hanyou." Kagome pointed out.

"True. But not for much longer."

Kagome shifted uneasily, her hand fell against a loose rock… roughly to size of a brick. It was either a rock, or a fossilised rat. She hoped it was the former. Her fingers closed around it silently as she glared intently off into the darkness… let him speak again…

"It will only tale a couple of hours… and then it will be done. In a couple of hours both you and Inuyasha will be-"

He broke off suddenly. She'd thrown the rock.

It connected with something with an audible slap. She waited with baited breath for something to happen.

There came a chuckle and the sound of someone bouncing the rock against a hand. "You really think a rock will kill me so easily? Girl, I've suffered much worse in my short life. But you like throwing rocks? Let's see how you like it!"

Kagome flinched back, throwing her arms up as she braced for the hit. In her mind's eye she could see him make the accompanying actions of the muffled sounds he made as he pulled his arm back… about to complete the throw.

But nothing came, and after a few seconds she loosened slightly and looked around hesitantly.

The rock clattered to the ground elsewhere and she heard him grunt in frustration. "Fuck… I can't do it…"

Kagome breathed a silent sigh of relief to herself. For the first time ever she thought it may have been a good thing to resemble Kikyo so strongly. As long as Naraku had Onigumo, he wouldn't be killing her so easily.

"If you I can't kill you because I favour you - then think again!" he snapped a little angrily. "Only my human half's lingering attachment to a dead woman keeps me from striking you down now!"

"Then why did you kiss me when you had the perfect chance to kick me instead?" Kagome asked coldly.

She heard him chuckle darkly. But maybe it was too short to be a chuckle. "I admit, that may have been a little self-indulgent of me. My aim was to just steal you away and keep Inuyasha at bay for a while… but when presented with an opportunity such as that, even I can lose my head."

"You will when Inuyasha gets a hold of you."

"But I heard it from your sweet lips, Kagome." He told her in a cajoling tone. " He doesn't love you… you don't matter to him as much as… say, Kikyo did."

Kagome buried her head in her hands. "Why did you do that…? Why did you deliberately play with my feelings like that!"

"I like screwing people in the head. Didn't you realise that by now?"

Kagome remained quiet.

"I thought perhaps you preferred your old school companion at first…" Naraku went on. "You both seemed to get on well during your walk to the shops yesterday. It seemed like courtship to me. But it didn't take much to weasel your true feelings about matters of the heart when asked directly. Seriously, you should guard your feelings more closely than that."

"Like Inuyasha?" Kagome shot back. "And keep everything bottled up inside until it rots and ruins me."

"Why not? It keeps him deliciously corrupted, doesn't it?" Naraku have another one of those dark chuckles. "So the moment you stepped out I couldn't resist… I stole his form and intercepted you in the corridor. I didn't plan to get carried away… but you came to me so willingly… You have to commend my acting skills."

"You're sick…" Kagome murmured. "Why don't you do everyone a favour and drop dead?"

"Ooh… bitter words for such a little girl." Naraku's smirk could literally be heard. "But I would hate to make it so easy for you."

Kagome pulled a face and hugged herself even tighter, rocking slightly to keep her body heat. It was so cold… when was Inuyasha going to come for her?

"Maybe I can't kill you directly right now…" he told her in a low voice that sent a shiver down her spine. "But I hear humans need air to live… so let's put you away for a little safe-keeping."

The ground seemed to drop out from beneath Kagome, and she screamed as she fell only a few feet… and hit bone-chillingly cold water. The shock of being plunged into such icy liquid practically paralysed her and it took a few seconds for her to summon the energy to kick her limbs and pushed her head towards the surface. She broke it with a loud echoing gasp… the panic easing somewhat as her feet found solid ground beneath her. The water was only hip-deep it seemed.

So she stood at once… and yelped as her head connected with a low ceiling. Lights burst in front of her eyes and she ducked back down in the water, rubbing her head carefully, wondering if she'd somehow managed to cave her skull in. A bump was forming… but nothing too serious.

After getting over her initial shock she raised her hands and pressed her hands to the low ceiling above her. She couldn't see much here either… but from what her senses told her, she was in a rather small cavern half filled with water…

For a moment she began to panic. She was trapped here… Naraku was no longer watching her… and he'd said something about needing air to breathe…

How much air was there left in this place?!

Kagome quickly told herself to calm down… if there was water in the cavern it must have come from somewhere…? There had to be a way out, a way for the air to come in.

But even though she searched for many long minutes around the small little pocket of space within the mountain, she found nothing more than rock walls. It led her to believe that the water must have drained down into this little pocket of air… and there was no way out and no way in…

"He can't just leave me here to die…" she tried to convince herself, but it somewhat failed. The thought of suffocating was terrifying… being trapped in this small space was inducing a little claustrophobia that she hadn't been aware of possessing. And was it her, or was the stale air getting a little thin?

"Inuyasha… Inuyasha please come soon…" she whispered into the cave. It didn't have enough room to echo back to her. "Please… I'm begging you…"

^_^

It was two hours of hell on earth. Inuyasha hadn't been able to keep still the entire time. He literally counted down the seconds from watching the clock in the living room. Souta had actually gotten a little worried, and complained that perhaps Inuyasha had slipped into a coma. Inuyasha didn't let anything distract him as he scrutinised the second hand of the clock face and willed it to tick just that little bit faster. His fingers rapped incessantly against the cushions of the sofa and there seemed to be a twitch going on with his right eye…

"Souta - where's your sister?" Mrs Higurashi asked as she passed by the doorway.

Souta stopped pulling faces at Inuyasha. "I think she's gone out again."

"She could at least leave a note or something…" Kagome's mother's voice grew distant the further she moved away. It wasn't long before she returned to lean in the doorway. "Oh, and could you look around Kagome's room, when Hojo was on the phone he said he couldn't find his notes, maybe he left them here-"

"Two hours! Finally!" Inuyasha exploded into a flurry of movement and both Higurashi's blinked as he ran across the room and threw himself out of the window.

Souta sighed and looked after him. "We have a door you know!"

Of course, before Inuyasha even hit the ground he dissipated into the air. He'd been counting down to this moment for two hours and by now he knew exactly where he was going to find both Naraku and Kagome. He homed straight in on Kagome… Naraku could wait…

He expected to land on solid ground at least when he solidified again, so was fairly surprised and shocked to land with a loud splash in something cold dark and stale… in his surprise he very nearly sucked in a lung-full of water. After floundering for a few seconds he found purchase on solid ground and surfaced immediately. He stood… and yelped loudly as his skull connected with a low ceiling, catching one of his ears painfully… that was bound to bruise come morning.

"Who's there?" a timid voice broke him out of his short-term daze. He knew that voice.

"Kagome?" he reached out towards the voice and his knuckles brushed gently against clothing. "Is that you?"

"Is that you?"

"Yes."

"Which one?"

"What?"

"Which one are you?" she was shying away from his touch. "Are you Inuyasha or Naraku?"

"Inuyasha." He said truthfully.

"Naraku would say that."

"I'm not Naraku-"

"How can I be sure you're not just say-"

"It's me!" he said a little more harshly than intended. "I know it's me, so that's good enough for you, right."

Perfect Inuyasha logic as usual. She was willing to believe him… for now. "Alright… but if you start coming on to me then I'll hit you."

"Deal." He shifted closer towards her, mindful of the low ceiling… he was having to move on his knees. "Are you ok? Did he hurt you or anything?"

"No… just said a bunch of evil-villain things and then put me in here." He heard her sigh miserably. She sounded stressed… a little nervous maybe.

"And where's here?" he asked, putting a hand out to press against the cold, slimy wall beside them.

"It's a pocket of air in Mount Hakurei." She said slowly, and as though she knew this very well by now. "I think the water is from the rain that's filtered down from the surface and collected in here. The air's old…"

"There should be a way out-"

"There isn't, I've checked." She interrupted bluntly.

His relief at finding her safe and somewhat sound was short-lived. He did not like being snapped at when he came to rescue the damsel in distress. "What's biting you?" he retorted sharply.

She was quiet for a long time. As his eyes began adjusting to the dark he could ever so vaguely make out her shape in the dark, not much though. The small amount of ambient light from the moss that coated the ceiling was enough light source for now…

"I kissed Naraku." The water around he rippled as she shuddered heavily. "I… kissed Naraku…"

Inuyasha's claws scraped the rock wall slightly as the hand automatically tried to clench into a fist. "I noticed."

She was quiet for a few moments more until she looked at him reproachfully. "How… how much did you see?"

He'd seen a lot. He'd arrived the moment he'd heard Naraku mutter the words 'I love you' to her. He'd stood there, wondering if he was having a rather bizarre out of body experience. Though, he'd quickly realised just who was kissing Kagome right then… but when he'd heard her give her rather choked out response to his love confession, he hadn't been able to move.

He wasn't stupid or petty. He knew that Naraku was obviously leading her to believe he was Inuyasha… and Kagome had been telling Inuyasha that she loved him… not Naraku.

That was what she was asking as she stared balefully in his direction. She wanted to know if he'd heard her confession.

"I didn't see much," it was half truth - half lie. It was enough to get away with. "Only you two hugging and… you know… I kinda worked it out…"

"He pretended to be my mother. He woke me up. And then he pretended to be Hojo. And then he pretended to be you… and… and he attacked me." She told him hurriedly, though he had the feeling that she hadn't been entirely unwilling to be 'attacked' like that. "But it's ok now… you can wish us out of here, right?"

Inuyasha sighed slowly. "I don't think that's a good idea."

"W-what?" There was a small splash as Kagome straightened in the water. "Of course it's a good idea!"

"You only have two wishes left - if you use one now to get out of here you will only have one left to defend yourself against Naraku. That won't be enough, and once that's gone, I'll belong to Naraku completely and you'll be at my mercy, along with his."

Kagome was quiet.

"I can get out any time I want…" he told her slowly. "But you're trickier."

"Can't you do anything?" she asked in a whisper.

"Depends… one of three things could happen now. Naraku may pull you out of here himself, that'll save you from this 'trap' thing… or if there is another cavern behind one of these walls, which is likely, then I might be able to break through it with my own strength alone…"

"What's the third?"

"You could make a wish… but in the long run I really think that would do you more harm than good."

"You forgot the fourth one." Kagome's voice was a little tight. "I could suffocate and die in here before any of the other things happen."

Inuyasha sniffed the air. It was stale, old… a little thin… and it was only getting thinner. How long had she been in here by herself? No more than two hours at least… and there was at least three hours worth of air here. "You're right. The air's thin, but I can get us out of here before then."

Kagome was quiet.

"Well?"

She remained silent, and very still.

"Say something!"

"Shh!" she hissed in a low voice. "You're using up precious oxygen."

"Well I'm only using my half, ok?" he snapped back.

"We have to keep calm and still… breathing slowly, shallowly…" Yet her own breathing was becoming fast and choppy. "You have to calm down Inuyasha, panicking won't solve a thing."

"I'm not panicking." He said simply as he resumed feeling around the walls, trying to decipher which part was the thinnest. "There's definitely another cavern beside us… I can hear the echoes…"

Kagome didn't seem to be listening. "This is great… just bloody great… I've been sitting here for what seems like hours, waiting for you to come along and rescue me and when you do you say 'sorry, no wishes today, that won't do us any good'!" she feigned a dorky voice for him.

Inuyasha's brow ticked. "I do not sound like that!"

"Naraku's out there right now separating himself from Onigumo - he's probably finishing up this very moment… he'll probably come and blow us up in a few minutes… seconds… but we might suffocate before then. It's too hot in here… it's hot isn't it? It's not just me?"

"It's freezing."

"I thought so, too warm." She wiped a hand across her forehead and blew out a sigh like she was overheating. "It's getting harder to breathe!"

"No it isn't."

"Yes it is - maybe you don't feel it because you're like a vampire or something and don't need to breathe - but us mere mortals need air to survive - something I'm running short on right now!"

"Just calm down, alright?" he said evenly. He grinned internally as his hand touched upon the thinnest part in the cave wall. Bingo…!

"Calm down?!" Kagome snapped at him angrily. "I'm not the one who needs to calm down here - it's you!" she pointed at him. He turned to regard her impassively. "It's you that's freaking out - you're going to p… p-pieces-" she broke off into soft cries and slumped towards him. Inuyasha sighed and automatically drew an arm around her shoulder in comfort as she rested her head against his, wailing mutely.

"You shouldn't do that…" he muttered, feeling a little flustered suddenly. "You'll waist all the oxygen faster-"

Not what she wanted to hear, if the increasing volume of her sobs was anything to go by. He tried simultaneous patting and rubbing to get her to cheer up. "It's ok, I can get us out of here… you just have to stop crying and let me do it."

"I kissed Naraku!" she wailed.

"Back on that again…"

"I feel like my tongue should be black and withered!" She screwed her face up and buried it against his shoulder, causing most of her body to be submerged by the water. "It was horrible - but I enjoyed it while he did it until I realised who he was and then I felt like throwing up - I've never felt so disgusted by myself!"

"You enjoyed it because you thought it was me?" he said weakly, before wanting to slap himself. Kagome had stiffened and her sobbing had ceased at once.

"No…" she said slowly and deliberately as if she were racing for another excuse. "He was just… a very good kisser… that's all… I didn't like it because it was you or anything…"

So the fact that you proclaimed your love had nothing to do with it either, he wanted to say. But like the sensible person he was… he kept his lips sealed. She drew back slowly and cleared her throat. "Sorry…" she muttered, sounded guilty and self-conscious. "I know I make you uncomfortable when I cry… sorry."

"It doesn't matter. We're getting out of here." He gently set her aside and turned to face the wall he'd targeted.

"What are you doing?" she asked quickly.

"Opening up some more options." He drew his fist back and with a grunt threw all of his strength behind its force as he smashed it against the wall. For a moment nothing happened. Until slow ripping and cracking sounds seemed to thread through the wall before him.

It crumbled with loud, echoing crashes and the water gushed out so suddenly that it nearly swept both him and Kagome off their feet. He managed to catch her in time, just as much fresher air poured in to replace the water they'd lost.

"The water!" Kagome cried in surprise. It was amazing how fast her fear evaporated as soon as the problem had been solved. "What did you do?"

"Broke through into another cave." He grinned, knowing she couldn't see a thing.

"Oh, good - that means…"

She trailed off when the smell hit them. Inuyasha heard her gag and begin to cough… while he nearly passed out as a sudden dizzy spell came over him. Quickly as possible, which turned out be slow and clumsy, he drew his sleeve up over his fist and pressed it to his nose and mouth, trying to block the smell out somewhat.

"What is that?" Kagome said in a strange tone that suggested she was holding her nose.

"Blood. Lots of it. Rotting corpses." He said shortly, fighting off the headache that came with such a strong stench.

"B-Bodies…?" Kagome stammered cautiously. The idea of dead corpses seemed more alarming to her than it was to him. "W-what are bodies doing… inside a mountain?"

"This is Naraku's doing…" he reached out with his free hand and fumbled to hers. He found it and clasped it tightly in his, noting how cold it was, how she trembled. "It's the only way forward… come on."

He started forward, but she resisted. "Isn't there another way?"

Her distress was obvious… and he didn't entirely blame her. She was only a helpless female human after all. Inuyasha backtracked a few paces to her, his grip on her cold hand moved gently up her wet arm to grasp her elbow firmly but softly. "Trust me, it's ok, I'll get you out of here."

"But…"

"Don't you trust me?"

She sagged miserably. "Of course I do, that's a stupid question."

That concession warmed his heart again… a lot of things she did and said warmed his heart. But memories of his curse always seemed to turn it cold again…

"Then trust me to get you out of here safely," when he tugged at her, she came willingly.

And together they stepped out of their small cave into the stench of death.

AN: Still a few more chapters to go ^_^