InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dark Forest Embrace ❯ A little more than friends. ( Chapter 6 )

Rays of the sun woke Inuyasha, sometime during his sleep someone had come into the room and opened the heavy wool curtains, most likely Kikyou. The fire was burning again, keeping the chilly outside air from reaching him. He dragged himself to a sitting position, draping his legs over the bed. A thick rag rug lay under his feet. He tried his weight, wobbling like a toddler.

 

He staggered to the window looking at a small, cleared space outside ending in forests. He stared longingly at the thick, tall trees, gripping the windowsill with tired, clawless hands.

 

Kikyou came back into the room, a bit of surprise passed across her eyes when she saw the empty bed, but was gone in an instant. Looking over at the window she smiled. “I brought a comb, for your hair, and I heated water for a bath. You can wait for father if you feel too week.” A blush stained her cheeks slightly pink.

 

The bath was no more than a wide basin. Grabbing a washcloth he gently massaged the jasmine scented soap over his filthy skin. He never worried about baths in his animal form; a swim in the river would always do well enough. Blood and dirt ran from his skin to collect in the basin. He reached up and ran a hand through his greasy black hair. It was far longer than he last remembered it three years ago, when he decided never to become human again. Now he stared at the brown reflection in the water. Tired puffy eyes stared back at him, filthy water running down his face. Scrubbing his scalp hurriedly he dumped the bucket of hot water Kikyou had left over his head and rinsed the blood and dirt away from him. Stepping out quickly he wrapped himself in the large piece of linen left for him.

 

Kikyou knocked on the wood outside the door, asking if he was finished. Coming in shyly she set some cloths on the chair beside the basin and left. She had left a pair of woolen trousers, shirt, and a thick warm cloak for outdoors.

 

Inuyasha closed burning eyes to the reflection he saw. He looked like the people who had destroyed his village, the men who killed his family and attacked his new pack. The room seamed far away. He tossed on a sea of his own thoughts. It's only for a while, until he's strong enough to return to his brother.

 

He came back to the room, Kikyou's worried eyes starring up at him mere inches away. A blush covered his face and she stepped away quickly, blushing with him. “Grabbing his sleeve she tugged him to the bed. “You need rest.” She said. “Cant have you spacing out like that, I thought you would collapse.”

 

~*~*~*~*~*

 

Dark grey clouds hung over the village now, threatening them with another spring shower. It was common enough; the first month of spring held nothing but rain and sun, the earth soaking up the water before the sun could come out and make it disappear. Farmers hurried up from their field, racing to be ahead of the storm. In the village everyone worked for their share. The peacefulness this mutual agreement brought was one all enjoyed. Still, jealousies and hatred flared often.

 

One such instant came when Jakotsu, from a family of hunters, came to fancy Inuyasha. It was against the church of course, but the brothers didn't live within the village, and was unreachable by the church. He would always flirt, sauntering up to Inuyasha, his lips bitten to a puffy red. He hated Kikyou with a passion and did anything to blacken her name, but none ever paid him much mind. Father Oryon was appalled when he learned InuYasha was the recipient of such behavior, his anger and embarrassment fueled. The Brothers were no longer welcomed into the village and were forced to work elsewhere for their keep.

 

That appeared to be the end of things concerning Inuyasha and Kikyou's relationship. The atrocious rumors that Jakotsu had despairingly placed among the villagers died down, yet no one looked indifferently between the two without seeing the connection that caused Jakotsu to target the minister's daughter.

 

InuYasha watched over the thawing patch of ground Kikyou was working in. On the island winter and summer were short, spring and fall having the longest time. He didn't know why their seasons were different. To him the island had never seamed strange, it was his home. Though he longed for the peacefulness he only heard of in his brothers recollections. A time when Shifters didn't have to hide from none-shifters. When all were seen as the same, there were no demons or humans, merely the various types of shifters.

 

Kikyou rose, her sister Kaede standing beside her. She looked up into the tree he perched in and waved. He smiled and waved back. He had been here a month and his injuries had healed completely; still he had yet to return to his brother. The townsfolk had been hostile to him at first, an outsider. Heathen, they had whispered, but the fact that he stayed in the minister's home had calmed them somewhat, and he received only curt nods and slight greetings after. He had longed for the forest, but had refrained from shifting so near the village.

 

The first sprouts of Kikyou's garden were coming up, the melting snow helping to germinate them. Wiping her muddy hands on her apron she called up to her new companion. Inuyasha had been shy at first, hostile and untrusting, but that soon vanished. The last few weeks had passed in relative luxury for the four of them.

 

One month, that was all it had taken, yet she could not deny the emotions surging through her being at every sighting of him. Now, as he sat in a tree, newly sprouted leaves framing him with tiny green spots, he caused her heart to leap. His dark hair plaited and thrown over his shoulder, dressed in the proper attire for a young man in the town, his sun kissed skin gleaming, evidence of his long days in the sun. How he took her breath away.

 

Hopping down from the tree he landed beside them gracefully, as though he had been brought to her a wild tree cat rather than a weakened dog. Stretching and yawning he quickly swooped Kaede up onto his shoulders and walked beside Kikyou. Kaede laughed gleefully and hugged his head, never forgetting the adorable puppy he had been the first time she saw him. Kikyou had often wondered why a boy of thirteen had been in the form of a half grown pup.

 

“I suppose it's because I'm a half grown human now. Our race ages differently from ordinary dogs. Can you imagine, if by dog years, I was thirteen. I would be an old man!” That had caused Kaede to go into a fit of giggles, calling him `Grandpa Wolf' from then on. The name had caught on and soon many of the children in the village addressed him as such, and the adults merely laughed.

 

Often Inuyasha would run with Kikyou through the forests, His paws thundering against the ground, charging beside her favorite honey-colored horse Amber. They would race to the Rock, where they would sit and chat until the sun was low in the sky, sending flaring colors across the sky.

 

Now as they sent Kaede into the house and up to bed the dashed away. Kikyou rushing to the stalls as Inuyasha leapt to the forests, his image shimmering slightly as he transformed. Kikyou burst from the stalls with a laugh as she chased the snowy dog into the forest, eager to catch up with him. Neither noticed the shadowy figure standing just off the forest path, watching them until there was nothing but the forest in his sight.

 

~*~*~*~*

 

Kikyou laughed, lunging off the horse to capture the dog in an embrace. They rolled down off the path into a patch of cloves, Inuyasha transforming into his human shape as the tumbled. The lay, breathless and panting, Kikyou sprawled out on his chest. Blushing fiercely she sat up, laughing to cover her embarrassment.

 

“I—I bet y-you didn't expect me—to get you did you?” Her breathless stuttering caused him to chuckle. He flopped back onto the soft vegetation. He loved the smell of the forest, the sound of the animals and the rivers, the breezes blowing through trees. Kikyou lay down beside him, watching him take deep breaths. How she loved him, this strange man of the forest. In every form he too he was beautiful. He lay there, half transformed and as frightening as a lightning storm in the dead of night. Yet just as misunderstood.

 

His claws and fangs always frightened her, and his sharp golden gaze made her a nit uneasy, but she loved him still. He opened those eyes to her now, those pain filled eyes that warmed as they were filled with her image. His face, as though carved from stone, strong and smooth, yet held the gentle, fragile look of glass.

 

Inuyasha's eyes opened wide as she leaned her head down to his, brushing her lips across his. A small contact, their lips barely brushing, but in that moment the whole forest silenced, watching them.

 

Inuyasha sat up, gazing at Kikyou with an astonished look upon his face. His lips parted slightly, his form shimmering under his uncontrolled emotions. Kikyou turned away from him, embarrassed. She had probably just destroyed their friendship, the purest of trusts shattered by the briefest of kisses.

 

Suddenly she was pulled around, facing Inuyasha, his arms wrapping securely around her, his lips crashing hard against hers. The kiss was hot and urgent, nothing like what she had given him. She felt pure joy, he did not turn away from her as she thought he would, and it was the happiest of feelings that filed her.

 

Then fear…the kiss, the embrace. She had never thought these feelings could be so overwhelming. She loved him, yes, but she could not forget those claws, digging into her shoulders, not enough to hurt her, but the promise of such strength frightened her. She drew away, struggling for breath. What was this feeling she held, neither fear nor love, yet both…She wanted to run from him and what she had discovered, but she stayed there, because she felt safe with him. Safe and in danger…Oh how these feelings were driving her mad!

 

~*~*~*~*

 

Kouga turned away from the scene before him. He wanted to jump out from this shrubbery and embrace his friend, to hold Inuyasha tight to his chest and carry him back to the pack. To scream in delight at the knowledge that his beloved pack member had not perished. Yet he did not, he just left them, running to tell his leader. Sesshoumaru would never hesitate to bring the pup back, why had he?

 

He had felt like an intruder among the brush, like he had no right to be within the forest that Inuyasha had chosen as his reprieve. He had seen the girl kiss him, but not just any girl. A Human! A Shifter hunting human! He longed to rip her apart; to drag her off his friend and throw her into the still frozen lake, watching as she broke the thinning icy surface and disappeared beneath the cold dark water, but his threats and plans had halted the instant Inuyasha had grabbed her. He pulled her too him and returned her kiss a thousand times stronger. The woman had stiffened, becoming hard against the force of Inuyasha's desire. She had all but confessed her love to the fair-headed shifter, but when he returned her feelings she all but rejected him.

 

Now all Kouga could feel was the bitter hatred for the woman, the pity for his dearest friend, and the need to alert Sesshoumaru of his brother's life, and the danger it was in.