InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Daybreak ❯ A Secret Moment ( Chapter 17 )

A/N: Just a quick apology for all the readers I've tortured with the cliff hanger: sorry! (I was too busy failing my tests. Grumble…)

 

Taixi- Yeah, Naraku's a jerk, isn't he? I wonder how Rumiko came up with a guy like that… Thanks for the review!

Angel At Risk- Ah, I'm sorry! I guess I'm a little evil. Thank you for always reviewing <3!

DARKENED DEMONESS- I'm sorry! I hope I didn't keep you waiting for too long.

Silver Dog of the Snow- Oh, it must suck being in the allergy season right now. Thank you so much for your nice review! :D

Lunabell- Yeah, the evil part in me loves writing cliffies and putting poor characters in difficult situations. Mwahaha. Thank you!

redangel2463- Yeah, Kikyou always makes things more complicated, doesn't she? At least she adds more drama. Lol. Thanks for reviewing! :D

Laur- Aww… I know you say that with love! And your lizard sounds cute! Thank you for always reviewing!

Feulner- Feulner's back!! I was wondering where you had gone. Aaaww, shucks, thank you! And welcome back!

 

Big thanks to everyone who reviewed to keep me motivated. And thanks to everyone reading. I am definitely feeling the love.

 

 

 

 

 

Chapter 17- A Secret Moment

 

 

Without thinking, Kagome went to dive out of the way of Kikyou's arrow; but it was still too fast to avoid being unscathed.

 

Kagome winced as she felt the tip of the arrow graze the side of her shoulder before it stabbed neatly into the tree behind her. The graze, taking away her concentration for a split second, caused her to lose her footing on the twisted roots of the tree. With a surprised shout, Kagome landed with a splat on the rocky ground, faintly aware of the warm trickle of blood seeping out from her torn white sleeve.

 

Kagome looked up from the earth to see Kikyou aiming another arrow at her. The miko's mouth was set in a hard grim line.

 

“Please Kikyou…” she whispered desperately as all other words failed. `Listen to me!'

 

Kikyou's face hardened with resolve as she released her grip on the quill. Kagome's heart stopped.

 

“KAGOME!!!”

 

Kagome saw a red blur jump from the bushes out of the corner of her eye just as the arrow was sent flying. A giant blade slammed its way in front of her, shielding her from the attack. Kagome shielded her eyes as a huge flash of light engulfed the clearing. As the silence settled in, she cautiously opened her eyes.

 

Where the giant blade used to be, a rusted sword sizzled quietly, the only sound that interrupted the stunned stillness of the forest. Kagome tore her eyes away from the katana to look at the man wielding it.

 

She felt like she was going to cry.

 

There he was, his body half turned away from her, his silver white hair billowing around his shoulders. Her eyes quickly trailed over the proud side profile of his face. His chin raised up, his golden eyes blazing with some strange mix of pain, anger and confusion… He was… There wasn't any word to possibly describe him. Kagome's throat closed up with an overwhelming flood of emotions.

 

Kikyou silently lowered her bow.

 

“Inuyasha…”

 

“Why are you attacking her, Kikyou?” he asked. His voice quivered slightly.

 

“Why?” asked Kikyou. “Inuyasha, you must know by now,” she said softly, nocking another arrow in her bow.

 

“Kikyou…!” exclaimed Inuyasha surprised by her movement.

 

Kikyou's voice became hard. “She has turned to Naraku's side. She is endangering all of our lives by having the shikon fragments with her!” Her eyes turned soft, pleading to the hanyou. “Please, move aside!”

 

Inuyasha shook his head. “No, you're wrong Kikyou. She joined him on purpose! She hasn't got a dark heart. She's still pure!”

 

“Inuyasha, please don't let your affection blind you! No one would go to Naraku of their own free will and still be pure!”

 

“SHE DID IT FOR ME!” shouted Inuyasha suddenly.

 

Kagome held her breath at his words and felt the thick throbbing in her chest begin again, stronger than before. Inuyasha's eyes seemed to widen as he realised what he said and mumbled “…Us. I mean…”

 

Kikyou slackened her pull on the quill as Inuyasha's tone of voice changed, waiting to hear the rest.

 

“There's this boy,” began Inuyasha awkwardly. “…from Kagome's time. He somehow came here. Then Naraku found him. It turns out… this boy, he's actually Onigumo's reincarnation… Anyway Naraku somehow got rid of Onigumo from his body and now Onigumo has taken over the kid's body. And he's strong. I couldn't beat him, so Kagome had to go with Naraku to stop the fight.”

 

Kagome kept her eyes lowered while Inuyasha recapped the turn of events for the past few weeks. She could feel her face burning with an odd feeling of embarrassment when Inuyasha mentioned what she had done for him. Perhaps it was the way Inuyasha struggled to say he couldn't beat Onigumo...

 

Kikyou stared at Inuyasha while her eyes shone, indicating her mind working furiously.

 

“Onigumo… you say?”

 

Kikyou lowered her bow and began walking away without a second glance.

 

“Where are you going, Kikyou?” asked Inuyasha, a little stunned.

 

She looked over her shoulder at him. “To find this Onigumo. If he is the same wild thief that I nursed back to health, then I owe everyone plagued by Naraku's existence to deal with him.”

 

“But it's-!”

 

“Do not fear for my safety. I am well aware he has made himself a hanyou. It shall make it all the more easy to purify him.”

 

Having finished what she had to say, she resumed walking away from the clearing.

 

“Wait, Kikyou,” said Inuyasha softly. He glanced at Kagome out of the corner of his eye. Kagome looked away.

 

“Don't you think you should apologise?” he asked awkwardly.

 

Kikyou paused in her step for second.

 

“I said I wouldn't ask for her forgiveness.”

 

She left the clearing in silence leaving the two alone.

 

Kagome sat breathing slowly as she replayed the scene in her head. She let out a silent sigh of relief, thankful it was over.

 

Then the situation finally settled in on her. `Alone… Oh God.' With the threat to her life gone, Kagome's mind instantly settled on the fact she was alone with the one person she wanted - no - needed to be the furthest from at the moment.

 

Praying her attempt to escape wasn't going to be futile, Kagome quietly stood and began to back away, keeping her eyes focused on the back of the hanyou. She was all the while cursing herself for not bringing her arrows. Sure, he had called her bluff last time, but still they might have been useful-

 

“Where are you going?”

 

Kagome froze when Inuyasha suddenly spoke. Her eyes locked onto his face as he slowly turned around to look at her with a strange expression. It was the same molten gaze, but harder, a little colder. For some reason her heart rate sped up as his gold eyes seemed to bore into her, making her feel exposed and horribly vulnerable. The throbbing in her heart increased ten fold.

 

Unable to take any more of his intense attention, Kagome spun around and made a dash for the forest. But before she could get two steps, a strong hand encased her arm, holding her to where she was.

 

“Let go of me!” she yelled struggling against his grip.

 

“Kagome, stop this!”

 

“No!” she shouted and tried to hit him.

 

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched in frustration. “Kagome!” he snapped, willing her to listen. “I'm not leaving you alone! I'm stronger than him! I can take him!”

 

“No! You can't! Let go of me, you baka!!”

 

Inuyasha stepped back, suddenly offended, before he stepped forward again and angrily frowned. “I am not a baka!”

 

“Are too!”

 

“Am not!”

 

“Are too! Let go of me! Let go!” she cried, trying to pry his fingers off her arm. Why the heck wouldn't he let go?!

 

“Kagome…”

 

Her head snapped up at the gentle tone of his voice. She nearly gasped to see how close his face was to hers. His eyes were looking directly into hers, mere inches away. He spoke again:

 

“You don't belong with him. You belong with me.”

 

Kagome stared in shock at Inuyasha as the throbbing in her chest suddenly stopped.

 

Slowly, a new horrible sensation of something breaking ripped through her. He was breaking her resolve! A rush of panic swept over her as his golden eyes kept piercing into hers. She started trembling.

 

“No…” she whispered horrified by how easily he had stripped her defences. “No! NO!” In one last frantic attempt to run away, she helplessly started beating against him in a blind desperation.

 

“NO! NO! LET GO! Please! Please…!”

 

Her last bit of strength gone, Kagome finally did what she had been wanting to do for ages. Cry.

 

Everything came down around her. The feeling of despair she had been keeping locked up suddenly came out in a wave of helplessness. Her struggles against his hold became weaker and weaker as more and more tears streamed down her face. As she started sobbing, he pulled her into an iron-strength embrace. She finally went limp against him.

 

Kagome hated herself. How easy it would be to just go with him now, let him take her anywhere he wanted and just let him protect her. How simple and inviting the prospect of returning to her friends, to Miroku, Sango, Kirara and to hold Shippou again. It would be so easy… Kikyou was wrong when she said she had betrayed Inuyasha before. What she was doing now, selfishly relishing in Inuyasha's hold, endangering his life…

 

This was true betrayal.

 

 

*****

 

 

Inuyasha took a deep breath, drawing in the sweet damp smell of her drying hair. His nose wrinkled at the light scent of her blood. He had let her get injured… It may just be a cut but still… He squeezed his arms as firmly as he could around her shoulders, holding the trembling girl to his heart.

 

He couldn't work it out. Even though he was holding her as tightly as he dared, he still didn't feel it was enough. All he wanted to do was pull her into him tighter. So tight that she would never be able to separate from him.

 

Inuyasha's chest tightened as Kagome's sobbing grew a little louder. He rested his cheek on her hair and squeezed her a little more.

 

“Kagome… It's okay…”

 

As if in response Kagome let out two heart breaking cries and a sniff. She was trying to regain control of herself and miserably failing. Carefully, he put his cheek down, pressing it against her temple and murmured some comforting words into her ear. He felt her shift to press more of her own cheek against his and gave a shuddering sigh.

 

He caught his breath at how soft her skin was. Why hadn't he noticed before? He had once touched her cheeks during that battle with Sesshoumaru, when she had taken that blow to the head, but being too worried about whether she was still breathing, he hadn't really noticed it then.

 

She sobbed a few more times and he, without thinking, moved to press his mouth firmly against her cheekbone. Kagome seemed to calm down and slowly turned her face to look at him, unintentionally keeping the contact between her skin and his lips.

 

Facing each other, their mouths only half an inch apart, he was surprised to find himself breathing deeper, feeling Kagome's shuddering breaths on his face. Round blue eyes shimmering with tears looked up at him with such pain and longing, Inuyasha forgot how to think and just acted.

 

He closed the gap.

 

For a while all he could think about was how soft, moist and unbelievably warm her lips were on his. He could still feel her shivering beneath his arms and tried for the umpteenth time to crush her as snugly as he could into his chest, pressing his lips onto hers more forcibly in a gesture of reassurance. He could feel Kagome clutching his robe, letting out a few gasping sobs, but still held her mouth against his. Eventually he felt the pulse through her lips become slower and felt her chest breathing easier against his as she calmed down.

 

He held her there for what seemed like only moments, or perhaps it was ages, as he basked in the most intimate thing he had ever experienced.

 

Their lips pulled apart.

 

“Kagome…” he breathed, still in lost in a daze.

 

Without warning, a gust of wind and a bright flash of light engulfed him. Inuyasha gave a shout of surprise and went to cover Kagome. Just as quickly as the light appeared, it faded, prompting Inuyasha to open his eyes in confusion.

 

Scattered all around the clearing were large gashes in the ground, still sizzling from the onslaught of the attack. He looked down, shocked to find his arms empty.

 

“KAGOME?!!”

 

His eyes darted up to the sky to catch sight of a giant feather carrying two black haired women away from the clearing.

 

Inuyasha felt the rush of predacious adrenaline course through his body as he let out a completely inhumane, feral growl. “FUCKING KAGURA!!”

 

He was about to race off when a large fire cat broke through the tree line, his companions on its back.

 

“Inuyasha!” cried Miroku. “What happened? Where's Kagome-sama?!”

 

“Kagura took her! She's close!!” he shouted as he pushed off the ground in a gigantic leap. “Come on! We can still catch her!!”

 

He barely heard the others follow him through the trees as he focused on the mixed scents of the wind, Naraku's fucking stench and the sweet smell his target (not to mention the slightly tangy scent of her blood). Kagura was fast with the wind on her side, but his anger and unholy frustration was keeping him within a good distance of her.

 

Inuyasha cursed himself. He had let his guard down just when he had her! How could he have let that happen? He should never have let himself get distracted!! He had her for one fucking second and he let her get stolen away again! He kept playing the image of Kagome's sad face over and over again, pushing himself further and faster.

 

Of one thing he was sure. He definitely knew that now he could not give her up.

 

 

*****

 

 

One second she was wrapped within the warm folds of Inuyasha's arms and the next, she was rudely surrounded by the icy cold wind and found herself on Kagura's feather.

 

Kagome's mind was still in shock that that had all just happened in the last five minutes. Kikyou trying to shoot her. Inuyasha appearing and then comforting her and then… then… kissing her. He…he actually kissed her!

 

Kagome stared, shocked, her mouth hanging open. It suddenly registered she was no longer crying. She patted her cheeks and was surprised to find them dry from tears. `Guess there's nothing like a good shock to stop you from bawling'.

 

But he kissed her! Right after seeing Kikyou! He would never look her in the eyes after seeing her before… Did that mean something…? What about Kikyou?! Kagome clutched the sides of her skull as her head began to hurt. Stupid Inuyasha! Stop being so confusing!

 

“You all right?” asked Kagura's voice, obviously not caring if she got a response or not.

 

Kagome froze in embarrassment. She hoped Kagura hadn't heard her quietly freaking out back here…

 

“Sorry for interrupting back there,” Kagura said dryly over the wind. “But I needed to talk to you about something.”

 

Kagome blushed furiously and tried to speak. “W-what is it?” stammered Kagome.

 

The wind youkai turned to face the young miko, her face darkly serious.

 

“I think I've found the time pearl.”

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A/N: Yes, it's short, but I figured I couldn't keep you guys waiting forever. ;)