InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Bottled Genius ❯ Prelude to Battle ( Chapter 23 )

Author's Notes: Well, thank you for all your sympathies and condolences, it's appreciated, but I wasn't too close to my uncle so I'm not too upset or anything. The funeral was nice though, and scattering the ashes over the mountains from a plane was pretty cool.

Anyway, I've been cheered up a lot since then, mostly because I got my O level results a few days ago. I was jumping up and down with joy for a good portion of the day, so it's safe to say that I passed with very high grades ^_^ So high that I'm frightened that I'll get a letter tomorrow telling me they've made a mistake and that my real grades are further towards the end of the alphabet… ^_^;; But this means I'll be off to college in two weeks, which may mean that my writing will have to slow down gradually as they pile on the work for A level…

Personally I'm sick of exam levels and never wish to do them again, but there you go.

Bottled Genius

Chapter 23

Prelude to Battle

"What the hell are you doing?!"

Kagome winced at Inuyasha's loud tone as she began pushing herself up off the floor. "I was… I was looking for my contact lens… I dropped it."

"You don't wear contacts!" he bellowed.

"That's what you think!" Kagome huffed as she straightened up and glared at the two Wishbringers. "But anyway. I couldn't help overhearing what you two were saying in here-"

"I bet." Inuyasha interrupted rudely and turned away shortly to ignore the glare Kagome shot his way.

"You overheard?" Miroku asked.

Kagome nodded slightly. "Is… is the First really coming?"

"Yes." Miroku sighed. "Our days are numbered."

"Mine too?" She winced.

"No." they both replied at the same time, Inuyasha a little more emphatically.

"The First is not after you, Miss Kagome." Miroku told her. "That is why I wanted to keep you out of this. It isn't your problem."

Kagome's fists clenched. "Of course it is! If the First has a problem with Inuyasha then he has a problem with me too! Inuyasha isn't just going to roll over and die - and I'd rather die before I let anyone touch him!"

"You're very loyal, aren't you?" Miroku smiled.

But Inuyasha didn't agree. "Just keep your nose out of it for once Kagome. This is my problem, not yours. I'll deal with it by myself."

"But it's my fault you broke the rules in the first place." She pointed out. "If I hadn't died-"

"If I hadn't been more careful you wouldn't have died in the first place!"

"You did what you had to do - that isn't your fault! Why should you be punished for something that wasn't your fault?!"

"I shouldn't have saved you - the rules were clear!"

"No one with half a heart would let someone die if it was within their power to save them!" Kagome snapped.

"Oh really?" he narrowed his eyes. "I let Kikyo die though, didn't I?"

Kagome swallowed hard around the lump that had suddenly formed in her throat. "Well…"

"But we've already established that I only have half a heart, remember?" he gave her a dirty look and shifted around the face the window and glare out of it. Kagome stared sullenly down at the floor, vividly remembering his little tutorial using cookies.

Miroku glanced between them. Clearly this was some kind of inside joke thing that he hadn't a clue about. "Well." He unfolded his arms and sighed. "Seeing as how my life is in danger here as well, I'll be sticking around for the next few days until the first arrives. If I can somehow convince him of Inuyasha's innocence… it's worth a try at least."

"Thank you." Kagome said quietly and sincerely.

Inuyasha remained stubbornly quiet.

"Scream if you need me." Miroku said with a shrug before dissipating into the air.

The silence that descended between the last two occupants of the room was so tense and thick that it could be cut with a knife. Kagome shifted uncomfortably to the other foot and glanced across at Inuyasha who was still glaring out the window. He was probably scared…

"We'll fight this guy." Kagome said hesitantly. "I'll die before I let someone just kill you like that."

"Better start digging your grave then." Inuyasha muttered darkly and propped his chin on his palm. For all appearances he seemed uncaring and indifferent. Kagome knew better than that…

Quietly she made her way across the room towards Inuyasha. "Is he really that bad?"

"Well considering he holds all the power that us Wishbringers tap into to use…" Inuyasha trailed off, his gaze getting distant a moment before they snapped back into focus. "Yeah. He's bad. I am to him what a flea is to an elephant…"

"Oh." Kagome wondered how large this First guy had to be.

"In terms of strength, not size, Kagome." He'd obviously seen her strange expression.

"Ohh." Kagome nodded again. "But, that doesn't matter does it? If this guy is overseer then he's bound to be fair and justified. He'd see that you were only doing what was right and-"

"But what I did was wrong!" Inuyasha snapped and pushed off the bed suddenly to put distance between them. "I shouldn't have saved you! I shouldn't have attacked Naraku! I shouldn't have conjured and I shouldn't have lit up that cave!"

Kagome frowned at him. "Are you regretting saving my life then?"

"Maybe." He responded callously.

With a sigh Kagome seated herself on the edge of the bed. She forced aside the jab of hurt that he'd inflicted with that one word. "Then what are we going to do?"

"There's nothing we can do." He snapped, passing a hand over his eyes.

"Stop being so pessimistic." She admonished. "That isn't going to help."

"Then what do you suggest we do?"

"Well we can't just sit back and wait for this guy to come along and do you in." Kagome tapped her chin thoughtfully. "There must be some way to stop him…"

Inuyasha grew quiet as he watched her. He knew exactly where her thoughts were taking her…

"I suppose…" Kagome scratched her neck and tipped her head in deep thought. "I suppose we could always use the last wish to protect you…"

"No wishes can be used on myself, remember?" he snapped hastily.

Kagome gave him an odd look. "Well… I could always wish for the First to leave you alone."

"That's too unreliable. He'd find a way around it in no time."

Why did he keep shooting down her ideas so quickly without any consideration? "Then… we'll think of something else!" snapped Kagome.

"There is nothing else!"

"Why are you giving up so easily?!" she shot back. "It's like you want to die!"

"Whatever." He turned away and stomped towards the door. "I want that bath."

"Inuyasha! Don't you walk away from me!" he slammed the door after him angrily. "Hey! Fine! Whatever!"

With a furious growl she whirled around and flopped face down on the bed. He could be so infuriating sometimes…

Well, without Inuyasha distracting her while he took his bath, she might be able to think of a way out of their problems. She was willing to do anything and everything in her power to keep Inuyasha safe. He probably saw her as his own charge that needed looking after and protecting, either because she was female or younger, she didn't really know or care. But Kagome was more than willing to take a stand and protect Inuyasha when the need arose. No matter what he said or liked to brag, Inuyasha didn't have all the knowledge and power in the world. That's where she came in to lend a hand…

She hoped she came up with something before the First arrived.

~*~

Kagome's pondering went on for the majority of the day. Her main problem was that she didn't know what this 'First' person was capable of or what kind of person he was. She was half hoping that he was reasonable enough to bargain with or at least talk him around to leaving Inuyasha alone.

And if he wasn't an agreeable person… the only back-up plan that Kagome could come up with was to use her last wish. The only problem then would be deciding how to use the wish without messing up again…

She wanted to share her thoughts with Inuyasha… which on retrospect probably hadn't been such a wonderful idea.

The first step to talking to a huffy Hanyou was always to butter him up first.

"Biscuit?" Kagome waved the packet towards him.

Inuyasha looked up from where he was towel drying his hair on the bedroom floor. He regarded the plastic packet for a moment as though gouging how deadly it could possibly be before shrugging and holding out his hand for her to toss one. That wasn't quite the response Kagome was looking for.

"I'm not throwing it - you with your butterfingers will drop it and these are expensive you know." They weren't, but he didn't need to know that.

"Whatever." He shuffled a little closer, towel still clenched over his hair.

Kagome smiled and kept a firm hold of the sweet until he was within arm reach before deposited it into his hand. And before he got the chance to shuffle back to his corner she snagged his sleeve. "Hey wait - don't you want to put a brush through that?" she indicated his damp hair still under its towel.

Inuyasha gave her another one of those suspicious looks that he gave everyone and everything when he was in a bad mood. "And why would I want to do that?"

"Well if you don't it'll get all knotted and scruffy." She pointed out. "Do you want me to do it?"

That sceptical, suspicious look intensified.

"What, don't you trust me?" she attempted to look hurt. It probably worked seeing as how Inuyasha quickly shrugged and turned his back to her with the age old go-ahead word. "Whatever."

Kagome rolled her eyes, but found it hard for his bad attitude to put her down. She was far too elated that she was being given the chance to live out her fantasy ever since that day when she'd seen him chopping wood! Now all she had to do was somehow convince him to let her wash his hair with some Herbal Essences…

No - that was getting off topic. She needed to concentrate on getting him into a good mood.

Kagome leant across her bed to fetch her brush and straightened quickly as though worried that if she didn't pay attention, Inuyasha would just slither away again. "Here we go." She beamed as she took the brush to his hair and started working through it.

Inuyasha was the kind of guy who could take a beating with only a minor flinch. He could be clawed and only twitch slightly. He could probably take a knife in the gut with a smile as well. But he was male, and well, when anything male was faced with something stupid like a comb, they turned into whiny little babies.

"Ow - do you mind?!" Inuyasha hissed, leaning away from her attentions. "What are you trying to do, scalp me?"

"Well maybe if you held still this would be a whole lot easier on you and me both!" she snapped back.

"You're a sadist!" he accused. "I knew it!"

"Oh, quit being such a baby." She grabbed his shoulder and pulled him back. "It's best we get this over with or the problem won't go away."

"What problem?!"

"Your hair problem!" she yanked the comb through it again, ignoring his melodramatic hiss of pain. Well this wasn't turning out quite like her fantasies…

Eventually Inuyasha gave up his moaning and groaning, it didn't seem to affect Kagome that much so he just sat sullenly quiet against her bed while she ran the comb through his pale locks. It got easier after a while, and soon the brush was gliding through the mane. Kagome beamed to think how shiny and cared for it would look when it had dried completely.

"Oy…"

"Mm?" Kagome blinked out of her trance and the comb paused in it's tracks. "Something wrong."

Inuyasha seemed to gather himself before he spoke again. Kagome waited expectantly through the pregnant pause. "This First guy… when he comes, I want you and your family to leave."

Kagome darted a frown to the back of his head. "Leave? How do you mean?"

"I mean, go on a little trip or something… stay at a friend's house or whatever. Just… I just don't want you or them to get caught up in this stupid little problem of mine."

Kagome's frown smoothed away. "You're worried about my family?"

"What's wrong with that?" he asked defensively.

"Nothing!" she said quickly, drawing back the comb into her lap. "Nothing, I'm glad." She took a deep breath. "Fine. I'll ask them to go stay at Grandma's for a while."

"Your grandmother?" his tone was questioning.

"Oh - not Grandpa's wife. I meant the other Grandma. Dad's Mom. Her son may be a sack of rotten potatoes but she's still quite nice and makes a mean toffee and mint ice cream sundae."

She saw him nod and began to work on his hair again, silently congratulating herself. She'd never actually said that she, herself, would go with her family to her Grandmother's place back in Tokyo.

"You're going with them." He said suddenly, making the smile slide rapidly off her face.

"But I have a right to be here with you when you face him!" she cried in protest. "I'm your master - and that means I have to look out for you because you might not always be able to do it yourself!"

"I can protect myself - I don't need you're help!" his shoulders tensed up.

"We need to be diplomatic with the First, Inuyasha!" she punched a fist angrily against his tense back. "You and Miroku aren't exactly the epitome of tact, are you? You need a woman to help you there. And anyway, if push comes to shove you'll need me there to make a wish that would ultimately save us-"

He whirled around the face her, shoving his nose within an inch of hers. "No wishes this time! Wishes are curses! Don't you understand that?!"

Kagome's mouth worked, but no words came out.

"My curse kills people, Kagome!"

He grabbed her shoulders and gave her a hard shake. She almost unbalanced and had to grab his arms in retaliation to keep from colliding with him or the bed. She finally found her voice. "There is no curse, you fool! Y-you just made it up to explain why people kept dying around you!"

"Shut up - you have no idea what you're talking about." His claws were biting into her shoulders, but she barely felt a twinge of pain.

"Yes, I do! People die and get hurt because you are a Wishbringer!" she yelled back in his face. "They bring their wishes on themselves! You don't hurt them - your masters hurt themselves!"

"All that means is that I'm just a tool for their pain!"

"What, like a knife or something?!"

"Right! I'm a knife!" he pushed her back and stormed to his feet. Kagome realised he was about to leave in a huff… but not if she had anything to do with it. She needed to know what was wrong first - she had a sure feeling that it wasn't about any imminent encounter with the First.

"W-wait!" she half tumbled off the bed after him as she reached out to grab his clothes to keep him from turning into a cloud of smoke. "All I'm saying is that… you don't have to worry about your curse."

"Oh?" he glared stonily down at her.

Kagome felt, in the position they were in, that she was as good as grovelling at his feet. She made to stand instead. "Your curse… it would only hurt people when wishes were made. Stupid wishes. That's not your fault, it's the master's fault… And if you're worried about your curse hurting me and Souta and everyone, then don't. I'm not about to make my last wish a stupid one."

His fists clenched so tightly, so suddenly, she almost heard his bones creak under the pressure. "That's not what I'm worried about! I don't want you to make the last-"

He cut himself off short. His stormy expression wiped blank and calm, leaving Kagome trying to catch up with his emotions. He sighed and pried her hands off his clothes, still attached as they were. "I'm going to go have a nap. I'm tired." He said simply.

Just as he was about to release her hands, she suddenly clenched her fingers around his. "Oh." She blinked. She'd just realised.

His eyebrow twitched slightly. "Oh?" he echoed. "What 'oh'?"

"Ohhhh…" she stared at him penetratingly.

She was hitting a nerve, she could see. "There is no 'oh'! Don't say 'oh'!"

A tiny smile tilted the corner of her lips. "You don't want me to make the last wish at all do you. You don't want me to because that means you'll have to go back to sleep and then…" she trailed off as her mind caught up with her runaway mouth. The smile faded from her lips as she began to realise…

Just one more wish and she would probably never see Inuyasha again.

How did she feel about that? She'd never really sat down and thought about it for very long yet… Inuyasha obviously had. That's what was eating him, wasn't it? She bit her lip…

She felt sad, tense… a little angry… probably everything Inuyasha was feeling. Did that mean he didn't want to leave her either?

It was almost as if he'd waited for her to come to terms. He sighed and gently, but firmly pulled his hands from hers. "I'm tired." He repeated and dissipated with a swirl of scarlet.

Kagome stood for a moment before sinking slowly onto the edge of the bed. The springs squeaked under her weight as the mattress dipped inwards. She bounced slightly to make it squeak a little more before her eyes snapped back into focus after staring into the distance for too long. She brought a hand up to her face and frowned slightly. "Oh…"

~*~

"So what do you reckon the First will look like?"

Miroku smiled slightly as he continued watching the tiny kingfisher perch on a small branch above the river water. "Why do you want to know?"

Inuyasha stopped scratching the paint off the rail on the bridge. "Well, if he's coming, I want to know it's him when I see him. So what does he look like?"

"I haven't a clue."

Inuyasha sighed loudly and rolled his eyes. "You're bleeding useless." He griped as he focused his attention back on the wooden railing. Miroku glanced across at him, eyeing the Hanyou's handiwork on the paint job. After a moment he turned back to look down the river.

"You and Miss Kagome don't seem to be on such friendly terms anymore." The older Wishbringer commented in an off-hand way.

Inuyasha's hand stiffened on the rail. "And why is that any of your business."

"It isn't, I was just stating the blindingly obvious." Miroku shrugged.

"I don't see why you're still here anyway!" Inuyasha snapped, getting to his feet. "Personally I think I would stand a better chance against the First if you were gone!"

"You sound like you plan to fight the guy." Miroku raised an eyebrow at him.

"Well, shouldn't I?"

"You can't fight the First. It's physically impossible… and really stupid. I wouldn't advise it." Miroku told him. "You need to go into diplomatic negotiations with this guy. For that you need me: a diplomatic kind of guy."

Inuyasha stared at him a moment. "I'm dead."

"Don't be so negative about everything." Miroku scolded. "Hopefully we can all make it through the upcoming ordeal with our lives in tact. I'm very confident that he First won't be too harsh with me."

"You?! What about me?!" Inuyasha jabbed thumb at himself.

"Oh, you'll probably get a slap on the wrist, that's all." Miroku stood up on the bridge as well. "That is unless you do something really stupid or say something even stupider."

Inuyasha narrowed his eyes dangerously.

"And…" Miroku smirked slightly as he slid a sideways look at the patch of paint that Inuyasha had scraped off the wooden rails. Both Inuyasha's and Kagome's initials were scratched in, entwined. "Perhaps you'll make it through without having that last wish used up? That would be a shame wouldn't it. You'd probably never get to see Miss Kagome ever again-"

Never tease a man on the edge. Miroku learned that lesson when he got cut off with Inuyasha's fist embedded in his cheek. He stumbled back a pace or two, cradling his abused cheek with one hand. "Ow… what was that for, bastard?!"

"I knew that gentleman routine was all an act!" Inuyasha snarled. "And that's for taking the piss."

"Yeah?" Miroku stepped up to the challenge and slugged Inuyasha back across the jaw. "Well that was for involving me in all your rule breaking and crap!"

Inuyasha, having been caught by surprise, spun as the punch connecting with his face and landed with a thumped on his stomach.

"Are you two at it again?" Drawled a voice from the direction of the garage. Both Wishbringers looked up to see Sango standing in the doorway to the former barn, giving them the fish eye. Miroku smiled and waved innocently. "Just doing some push-ups, Miss Sango! Weren't we Inuyasha?"

"No!" Inuyasha snarled from the ground.

Sango just rolled her eyes and went back into the garage. Miroku slapped himself just for good measure as Inuyasha rose from the ground and patted the dust off his clothes. "You're a freaking madman…" he muttered angrily.

"You always brought out the worst in me, Inuyasha." Miroku sighed, rubbing his red cheek. "But you'll be thanking me one day."

"Yeah, the day you leave this place!" Inuyasha snapped and stomped off towards the house. "Can't wait for that day!"

Miroku pulled a faint scowl as Inuyasha dissipated half way across the yard, probably going to wherever Kagome was. "Well now, that was just rude…"

~*~

Three days had passed since their original warning from Miroku that the First was coming, and still there was no sign of any ultimate Wishbringer like being coming over.

"How do you think he'll arrive?" Kagome asked, looking up momentarily from where she sat on her bed, painting her toenails to glance at Inuyasha. "How will we know when he's arrived?"

"He'll probably ring the doorbell." Inuyasha shrugged, not bothering to look up from his book.

"Well when's he coming then?" Kagome asked reasonably. "You want my family out of here by the time he arrives, so I need to know when he's coming so I can get them going."

"You're going with them, remember!" he looked up with sharp eyes.

"I don't remember saying anything like that." She frowned at him. "I'm staying right here, thank you very much, and nothing you can do or say will change my mind about not abandoning you."

He scowled sulkily and went back to his book. "Whatever."

At last she'd won that little argument. Her face softened slightly as she watched him. She remember another one of their 'little' arguments from yesterday… was he really reluctant to leave? She went back to her toes and pretended to be concentrating hard as she slipped in her comment in what she hoped was an off-hand manner. "I've been thinking…"

"Every time you say that something bad happens." He remarked.

She rolled her eyes. "About the other day… when you said that you didn't want me to make the last wish-"

"I never said that." He said abruptly.

Kagome glanced up sceptically, she saw his eyes still on the book, but she doubted he was actually reading it. "Well you meant it… didn't you?"

His silence was as good as any yes.

With a sigh, Kagome screwed the top back on the bottle of nail varnish and shuffled across the bed, closer to where he sat against the pillow. He looked up suspiciously as she got closer, looking as if he expected her to brandish some concealed knife at him. "What are you doing?" he asked stiffly.

"I'm going to hug you."

"Please don't."

"But you need one."

"No, I really don't." he was shuffling away as fast as she was moving in on him.

"Well, then I need one."

"Why would you need one."

"I'm female, I need at least three hugs a day to live." She told him half seriously and stopped cornering him. "But besides that… I just want to tell you that you're not alone."

"I know that, you're here aren't you?" He was close to plastering himself back against the wall.

"Don't be such a goof…" she sighed. "I meant that you're not the only one upset here. I don't want you to leave either."

He stared at her for a moment, before blinking. "What?"

"You heard me." She smiled tentatively and looked away from him, her face heating up a little. "You're my friend Inuyasha… I don't want you to just disappear from my life. Not just like that." She snapped her fingers to demonstrate.

He seemed to relax slightly, she saw him shift uncomfortably out of the corner of her eye. "But it's always been like that." He said dully. "Ten wishes is all you get. You get no more after that."

"But…" she chewed her lip slightly. "It's not fair…"

"It's not meant to be."

"But, we're friends aren't we?" she looked up hopefully. He seemed to watch her face intently for a moment before smiling weakly and nodding. "So… so I'll be sad to see you go… and you'll be sad to go too, right?"

Please dear god don't let him say no, she thought.

"I guess…" he replied vaguely.

But that wasn't a much better response than 'no'. Didn't he care? She lowered her head slightly and stared intently at her lap, determined not to let him see how much such a vague answer could hurt her. Her head shot up again, though, when she felt the bed dip and squeak under Inuyasha's movement. Seconds later she felt his arm wrap around her shoulders and tug her gently back into a very masculine sort of 'buddy' hug.

It was such a distant hug, Kagome didn't feel anything from him. With a roll of her eyes she turned into him, sneakily wrapping her arms around his neck before he could protest. She smothered her grin in his shoulder as he began protesting futilely.

"Oh for… why'd you go and do that?" he grumbled, arms slack at his sides. "You're just taking advantage of me!"

Kagome ignored his griping as she tactfully inhaled his warm, comforting scent without his notice. She silently sang a chorus of hallelujah in her head when she heard him finally give in and reciprocate her embrace.

"I don't think we should get too upset about this…" he murmured quietly over her shoulder. "I'm still right here, aren't I?"

"I know." Her smile faded slightly. "But for how long will you be right here?"

He didn't reply, but his arms tightened fractionally around her slight frame… almost as if he was afraid to let go.

AN: Back soon hopefully…