InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Dream a Little Dream of Me ❯ Oh to be Home ( Chapter 10 )

A/N: thank you thank you thank you reviewers. You're the only reason this chappy is being posted right now. It's not where I wanted it to be, I actually wanted much more to happen in this chapter, but it's just not written yet. I'm going out of town for a week and I wanted to post something at least to tide you over with, but be warned that I might be revamping, revising, reposting in the future. Won't happen til I'm done with the story probably though, and we still got a ways to go! Muahahahahaha…

 

Also, slight limey warning. If you have problems, please contact me and I will fix as soon as possible. Thanx!

 

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Disclaimer: Yes it's mine…all mine! Fine, I'm lying, so sue me! Oh yeah, I guess that's what this whole disclaimer thing is about, huh…

 

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Chapter 10: Oh to be Home

 

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Kagome awoke the next day to the sun streaming in the doorway through the tree branches. Slowly she sat up and stretched herself, not knowing what to expect for the day. Feeling a little more prepared she turned to Inuyasha to say good morning - well, where Inuyasha had slept. The hanyou was nowhere in sight. She got up and went over to the fire pit; it wasn't even warm. Either he hadn't used it this morning, or he'd been gone for a while and she had really overslept. Either way there was now a fresh bundle of firewood next to the pit that hadn't been there the previous night, which Kagome felt inclined to use. That would wait however, she wasn't really hungry yet. Besides, she wanted to see if Inuyasha was around and to check out the rest of the new house…her new house. She shook her head slightly. This was going to take some getting used to.

 

Deciding to check outside first she headed out the door. The view that first met her was breathtaking. Through the branches she had a perfectly clear view of a rather large meadow right in front of the tree. There was bright green grass in every available space, not even an earthen path ran through it. The color was only broken every now and then by a bright red or yellow of a small group of flowers. As she continued to scan the horizon she smiled when she could just barely glimpse the edge of the sakura grove. It made her feel a deeper sense of peace just being able to look on the place and she was terribly glad that the house was this close to it.

 

Turning around she was surprised to see there was a large porch that wrapped around both to the right and the left. Kagome decided to see where the left one would take her and tentatively started off, afraid that the porch/walkway would prove less stable than the house, especially since it had no railing. Kagome laughed to herself. Inuyasha might not need a railing but she sure might, especially if she didn't get rid of this sense of vertigo and quickly. She'd noticed earlier while looking down at the meadow that they were very high up in this tree, but it seemed even more so now that she was climbing in and out among large branches and having to make sure of her footing.

 

This walkway seemed to have no end. First Kagome had kept her left hand against the house to steady herself, but then the path just had to go and leave the house. The house itself was butted up against the tree trunk but the walkway actually weaved its way behind the trunk and so extended the entire way around the tree. Keeping her hand on the enormous trunk Kagome stopped on the other side of the tree to see what the view was from there. She couldn't see much but she imagined she just saw the tallest points of the youkai village. Sadly she wondered what Sango would be doing. She couldn't believe she wouldn't get to see her or Miroku or Kohaku or Shippo for three whole weeks! Well, better than the alternative she supposed. Still Sango would be…at work! That's it. That must be where Inuyasha is too! Of course! I wonder how they'll do without me there? Oh well, not much she could do about it now.

 

She continued around the tree and breathed a small sigh of relief when the pathway came back to meet with the house and finally reached the doorway again. She loved the view and being up in the tree, but she had to admit she'd feel safer out there when Inuyasha was here so she wouldn't have to worry about falling. This place seems so well tailored for him…I wonder if Inuyasha actually built it all?

 

Kagome looked down at the meadow once again, longing to go stroll in it, to smell the flowers and feel the sun on her face and the grass under her feet. She looked for a way down but still couldn't find one. She'd been looking on her trip all the way around the tree but had seen nothing. So she really was trapped up in this place. Yup, Inuyasha had to have built the place, she thought sullenly, he's the only one who can come and go from it. She mentally sighed. Oh well, guess it's time for lunch.

 

She headed inside to explore some more. The room was, as she had seen last night, pretty sparse, with only the futon, blanket, and fire pit to speak of. However as she walked the course of the room she realized that one of the shoji screens along the back wall actually moved and showed into another room. As she moved the door aside she saw it was actually a storeroom of sorts, maybe meant partly to be a pantry too. She hoped so because she was hungry. Right on cue her stomach growled. Sure enough the room had two pans, bowls, chopsticks, a large bin of rice, a vat of water, and even some vegetables. Kagome grabbed a bit of each of these, taking a bowl of rice and vegetables and two bowls of water and made her way back out to the fire pit.

 

Once she had a roaring fire going she dumped one bowl of water into the pan and boiled it before adding her rice and vegetables, then covering it and allowing it to all cook. She took a sip out of her other bowl of water then leaned back against the wall to wait for her food and to think. So many changes had happened in her life the past year…

 

A breeze came in through the door that made Kagome shiver. She could move closer to the fire, but she was comfortable leaning against the wall so she just grabbed her blanket and wrapped it around her. What is my life going to be like now? I'm 18 now, my goodness I'm old! I guess there's no chance of me marrying and having kids now, I'm beyond my best marriageable years. Well, aside from the fact that there aren't many ningen men in the youkai village…and aside from the fact that I'm now Inuyasha's “property” and I'm not going to be apart from him much and I'm sure he'd have to `approve' of whatever man I'd marry. Haha, my gosh Inuyasha would be so much worse than an overprotective dad! But I guess I still have my mini family. I have Sango and Miroku, and they're just like brother and sister to me. I have Shippo and the rest of the orphans who desperately need parents. There will be more too, and in three weeks I'll be able to be with them all. I can be their mom and they can be my kids. I guess now I have Inuyasha too…

 

Suddenly Kagome smelled burning. “Oh no, the rice!” She didn't realize she was tangled in the blanket so when she got up she spilled her water all over it. “Great, just what I needed!” Leaving that mess for later she ran over to the rice and grabbed it off the fire. Preparing herself for the worst she took off the lid but was surprised to find that it didn't look very burnt at all. At least still edible. So she dumped it all out into her rice bowl and took her time mulling it over in her mouth, just as she was still mulling all her thoughts in her mind.

 

Once she was done she went back over to her blanket and groaned. It was sopping wet where she'd dumped her bowl on it. She went outside to ring it out and then found she had a dilemma about how to dry it. There was no railing to hang it on and she'd have to jump to reach any branches that would work to hang it on. Aside from that a wind could come and blow the blanket away. She could tie it on, but then it would be all bunched up and wouldn't dry. She decided to just try her luck and throw it up on a branch and hope it would be too far inside the tree and too tangled in the branch to get blown out. With that thought she went back inside to tend to the fire and the dishes.

 

She spent the rest of the day with such mundane things, trying to keep herself busy and from overanalyzing things too much. Still thoughts continually plagued her head and she ran out of things to do. The sun was still up but she found herself tired from boredom, all the things running through her mind, and the taxing events of the last two days. Going outside to check her blanket she found it was still wet so decided to just go without. Kagome headed inside, unfolded her futon, and soon found herself deep in a pleasant sleep.

 

As soon as Kagome was fully asleep Inuyasha walked in the door. He'd been back since she started unfolding her futon, but just didn't know what to do, what to say to her, how to act around her. He'd just sat out in one of his favorite branches, hiding well enough that she couldn't see him but so that he could see and smell her. Now that he knew she was out he didn't have to worry about it. On his way in he noticed something dark blue hanging in one of the branches. Going over to investigate he found it to be the blanket Kagome had slept with the night before. It even still smelled like her, though it was wet. Strange that it was still wet, it looked like it had been out here for a while. With the lack of air circulation and the coolness of the day it hadn't been quick to dry. Inuyasha sighed, grabbed the blanket out of the tree, and went inside to lay it out flat next to the fire pit. If it wasn't dry by morning the fire would do it.

 

He glanced over at Kagome and noticed she was shivering slightly in her sleep. Stupid ningen, what did she expect if she got her blanket all wet? Even as he was thinking this Inuyasha was taking his outer haori off and laid it over Kagome. He smiled as she stopped shivering and cuddled up closer into the fabric that was still warm from his own skin. Seeing there was nothing else to do tonight he silently moved over to his customary spot against the wall and sat down to go to sleep.

 

Kagome woke up in the middle of night and was confused to see Inuyasha's haori around her. She scanned the room for him and was surprised to see him staring at her. Inuyasha blushed at being caught and quickly looked away, but Kagome just kept looking at him. As if her gaze was drawing him his eyes returned her and the two of them just looked at each other until she had to suppress a small yawn. Finally she smiled weakly at him and whispered “Goodnight,” before letting slumber take her once again.

 

The next day was much the same. This time Kagome woke up just as Inuyasha was walking out the door. She noticed he had his red fire rat haori on again and that she was covered in a now dry blanket. She yawned out a polite “Good morning and bye” just as he was leaving, but his only reply was a “feh” thrown over his right shoulder. Kagome shrugged it off and continued on about her day, only realizing what day it was long after Inuyasha came home as the sun was setting.

 

When he walked in Kagome already had dinner made and she offered him a bowl which he took without a word and then went over to his customary corner. Kagome looked at him questioningly, wondering why he was acting so coldly, but seeing as his mouth was currently full of rice she'd have to ask him after he was done with supper. She was eating hers a little more slowly, so once Inuyasha was finished he switched back and forth from looking at her nervously to looking out the door with his arms folded across his chest. Once she was done Kagome grabbed her bowl and crossed the room to pick up Inuyasha's bowl to clean them, but Inuyasha grabbed her wrist as she turned away.

 

“That can wait, wench. I have to…uh…I have to mark you again,” he said with a slight blush on his face.

 

“Oh, that's right. Well, okay then,” she said as she pulled her hair away from her neck. She felt a tightening sense of something in her stomach…anticipation? …anxiety?…she wasn't sure what it was, but it was making her nervous. She knew it would be much like last time and still wasn't sure what she thought of it. Still, she braced herself as she felt Inuyasha grabbing onto her shoulders.

 

She had expected him to bite right in but instead he was caressing the mark with his right hand. The tops of his fingers were brushing against it ever so lightly and then the feel of his hot breath against it raised goosebumps all over her skin again. Once she felt his tongue on her she got lost in confusion and started to relax into him slightly. While his tongue continued on the front side of her shoulder his hand was massaging the back side of it where the top of his mark was and Kagome heaved a delighted sigh and lolled her head even further to the side.

 

Inuyasha sensed his opportunity and immediately dug his fangs into her. Kagome had to hold back her scream as this bit hurt more than the last time. Although the surprise was taken out of it and she had expected some pain she didn't know it would be this much more due to the scar tissue already formed that his fangs were piercing through. Inuyasha held Kagome firmly as she bucked against him, neither loosening his arms nor his fangs until she was calmed down. Slowly then he extricated his teeth from her shoulder and began to lave up her blood as it dripped down.

 

Kagome, still breathing heavily but calmed down enough had to ask, “Inuyasha, why did you do all that stuff before biting me? Was that part of the ritual?” It took her a minute to get it all out between pants and trying to get her brain working straight while it was still reeling from the pain, not to mention the distraction of the young hanyou licking at her neck.

 

Inuyasha took a moment in reply, trying to make sure he got all of the largest droplets of blood first so that it wouldn't seep down and stain her yakuta. “No, it wasn't.” He saw another large drop trickle down her arm and paused to slowly lap it up. “When your muscles are tense it hurts you more.”

 

“So you were trying to relax me? To distract me?”

 

“Yes.” He moved behind her to get some blood trailing down her back that had moved beyond his reach. Well not really beyond his reach, but beyond what he could reach in an…appropriate way at the moment.

 

“Well how did you know it would work?!” She was starting to get embarrassed at the fact that he knew he could do that to her.

 

“It did work,” came the muffled voice from behind her. Inuyasha smiled for a moment at Kagome's sputtering and lack of retort, knowing it was safe for him to do so since she couldn't see him. Then he continued his job on her back.

 

Kagome gave up trying to yell at him and let herself sink into the moment. Kami, this feels soo good! But why? It's almost like I…

 

Her thoughts were broken when she felt his warmth pulling away from her, and she again had to fight the desire to drag him back to her. Why is this so difficult and this urge so overpowering? I mean…he's my master for goodness sake!

 

Suddenly she felt like a bucket of cold water hit her in the face when Inuyasha crossed to the other side of the room, said a simple “goodnight,” and looked for all the world like he had fallen asleep. Kagome knew better, the hanyou was too light a sleeper. She got all huffy. So she hadn't been imagining it, he really was giving her the cold shoulder. “You know Inuyasha,” she called out to him, knowing he could hear her even though he wasn't responding, “you can try to ignore me all you want, but it's not going to do you any good. We live in the same house now so we're going to be around each other a lot, and what's more I won't let you.” Leaving her threat lingering she unfolded her futon, grabbed her blanket, and went to sleep.

 

Inuyasha growled mentally, cracking an eye to peek in on her once she was asleep. He wanted to yell at Kagome, but didn't want to risk getting into a fight with her, not right now. Doesn't the bitch know better?! No, not really, and you know you only have yourself to blame for this. Yeah, yeah, I know. I'm the one who screwed up and lied to her about it. But damn it, if she knew why I'm avoiding her…I don't even want to think about what she'd do. Poor girl doesn't deserve that. Besides, she might freak out and have another miko episode on me, and then what would the point of all of this be? Shit, what am I going to do when she won't let me ignore her anymore? I don't think I can handle her up in my face all the time. Damn it baka!

 

This time he couldn't help the growl that escaped his lips. He quickly glanced over to Kagome to see if she'd woken up, but seeing no change in her he relaxed a little bit again. Gah, this wasn't helping with her right there. Can't go growling in the middle of the night now. Guess it's sleeping in the tree branches tonight for me. With that he headed out the door and into his tree where his thoughts kept him company the rest of the night.

 

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The next morning Kagome awoke all by herself again. She was getting really annoyed by this. Not only was she a `people person' and not getting to be around any people, but also the one guy she is supposed to be around all the time keeps avoiding her! Much more of this and she'd go crazy. What was making him try to ignore her anyhow? Especially right after marking her, and the way he'd been toying with her before and even during marking her…

 

Okay, she had to stop these thoughts quickly before she took herself somewhere she didn't want to go. But why not go there? After all, Inuyasha's pretty dang cute, and he's got a tongue to die for…ack no! Bad brain, bad brain. He's my master, he saved me out of pity, and I'm a nuisance to him, a weak ningen who he now has to take care of all the time and who invades his private space. Yeah, if that's not a kill joy I don't know what is…

 

But it felt so good! said one side of her brain.

 

So what? DON'T go there…said the other side.

 

The two voices debated non-stop, and as the day dragged on Kagome thought she'd go insane from what it was doing to her. I'll just have to talk to Inuyasha tonight and figure some of this out…of course, that's considering he'll talk to me…Well, I'll just make him.

 

You're gonna talk to him about the marking? One voice laughed at her mischievously.

 

No! I'm just going to talk to him about the whole ignoring me thing and get that figured out. That will be hard enough, and there's no point talking about the other so just shut up about it! Kagome fumed at herself for even thinking such things, but being as she was by herself, her thoughts still mocked her the rest of the day.

 

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Her fourth night with him Kagome was prepared to make a stand. She knew something was going on that he wasn't telling her, and while she wasn't going to demand the whole and entire truth, she knew she deserved some of it. She was ready to give it to him when he came home that evening, but wasn't prepared for the state he was in when he walked through the door.

 

Inuyasha walked in and looked like he about wanted to rip someone's head off.

 

“Inuyasha, are you-”

 

“Shut up!” he snapped at her.

 

Immediately he winced. He hadn't meant that to come out, he didn't mean to take out his anger on her. His day had just been shit. There had been harassing before, but nothing was compared to this day. Youkai mocking him for taking a wimpy ningen as a mate - which he noticed they failed to mention the fact that she had just been on trial for being too powerful. A few were lecherous enough to ask exactly how he was going to force her when the time came or if he already had - they knew she wouldn't be a willing partner. They asked if ningens were good for sport, or if Kagome was disgusted with him yet. They mocked that he was weak enough to lay his neck out to try and save another, especially a female, especially a ningen female. They asked why a hanyou like him, who was a disgrace in the first place, hadn't chosen to just stay out of the gene pool and therefore keep the blood a little bit cleaner. Of course this was not the majority of the youkai, but it was enough to put Inuyasha in one hell of a shitty mood, mostly regarding the miko in front of him.

 

He glanced up apologetically at Kagome, half-expecting to see tears forming in her eyes from the way he'd bit her head off. He was surprised instead to see himself matched with a set of angry eyes, fire flaring in the depths of them. “I…” he started

 

“You…you what?” she threw back at him.

 

“I didn't mean that, I just had a bad day, that's all,” he ended lamely.

 

“Oh, I see,” she started calmly, “you had a bad day.” Then she let the anger out in her voice again. “So that explains why you've been ignoring me the past few days also? That explains why I'm stuck in here all by myself with nothing to do? At least you get to leave, even though it may be a bad day. I get to interact with no one, not even the one who's supposed to be around me all the time so that I get his scent. I can't even go down to the meadow right there. If I tried I'd fall and break my neck. Why is it I have to stay inside all day while you get to go out?”

 

“You're supposed to be…” too sore he thought, blushing he looked away.

 

“Arg! Why can you never give me a straight answer! What the heck are you hiding all the time?”

 

“Me?” he questioned. “I'm not hiding.”

 

“Oh yes you are,” she countered.

 

“No I'm not!”

 

“Shut up - yes you are!”

 

They glared at each other in a stale mate, knowing they could continue on like two year olds for hours but thinking better of it.

 

“Then why do you hide your heart all the time?”

 

Inuyasha stood shocked into silence. He had no clue what to say to that.

 

Kagome sidled up to him and glared up at him, poking him in the chest to emphasize her point. “You have a big damn heart.”

 

He was surprised and smirked at her use of “strong” language, but still regained enough composure to deny the claim.

 

“I'm part youkai bitch, I don't have a heart.”

 

“Well you sure could have fooled me. I've never seen anyone do all the things you've done!” she yelled at him, still angry. “You searched out Miroku for months before finding him and bringing him back to Sango. You cared about her, and him, and that Sango's son would not grow up without a father. You have helped me out of trouble more times than I could count, and now you've taken me as your personal servant even though it is obviously causing you embarrassment and making you angry.”

 

He gasped slightly at her last comment. How did she know that?

 

“Why else would you do all those things? You can't hide it from me, I've seen it too much,” she ended softly

 

Inuyasha didn't know what to say, had no idea how to deal with this. He never expected anyone to say those kinds of things to him, let alone Kagome. So he did what he did best when he didn't know how to handle a situation - he went over to wall, sat down against it, legs crossed and arms folded across his chest in his typical “feh, don't talk to me” pose.

 

Kagome, however, would not be deterred by such a simple gesture. She walked over until she was standing right in front of him. “Inuyasha, you know you can't hide forever, especially with me being around you all the time now.”

 

“Feh, like you would know anything about it wench. I'm sure you had to hide so much growing up. Damn it, everyone accepts you!” he growled out at her.

 

She remained stock cold for a moment and Inuyasha thought that maybe she would just let him be.

 

Kagome's quiet voice broke through the silence. “Give me your outer haori.” Her voice, though soft, held a stony determination, a rigidness that he had never heard from her before. He thought to fight her for a second, but then he looked up and saw her face. The resolution in her eyes dampened any thought he had for resistance. He took off the haori and handed it to her.

 

“Now close your eyes.”

 

He raised an eyebrow at her, but complied nonetheless. His ears heard every rustling of fabric, every breath of cloth rubbing against skin. Much more of this and he thought he was going to go mad! As if living in close quarters with her wasn't enough…

 

“Okay,” she said. “Open your eyes.”

 

He cracked his lids open slowly, wary of what she was doing and what she might show him. He wasn't prepared for what he did see. His eyes were level with her stomach, a mere foot away from her creamy skin. He gasped in shock and looked up at her to see what the hell she was doing.

 

Her head was bowed, turned away from him slightly, and she refused to look him in the eye. He swept over her form trying to figure out what she was doing. She had slid her robe off her shoulders, tying the sash low on her hips to keep it up. Her only covering on her top was Inuyasha's red fire rat haori, which she clasped with her left hand between her breasts, leaving the rest free-flowing. With her right hand she had pulled back the lower parts of the haori to reveal her stomach, and most prominently her right hip and side, which she was obviously trying to draw attention to.

 

His surprise finally slackening he focused in on her side and was curios to see a scar. The scar's discoloration wasn't what drew attention since it was almost the exact same color as her skin, but it was the length and size of the scar that held his interest. This was not something normal and Inuyasha had no idea what could have caused it. The length of it traveled from behind her hip far up her right side and came down in front of her hip heading toward her “special area” before disappearing from sight underneath the yakuta. Inuyasha blushed at where his gaze was drawn, but he couldn't help but be fascinated by the scar. He hadn't seen many of them in his life since he himself couldn't scar easily because he was hanyou and youkai just didn't scar at all unless it involved limb loss. He wasn't around many humans to see this spectacle, and most tried to cover theirs as best as possible.

 

He reached out gingerly with his left hand, pulling back and hesitating before actually touching her. He examined her face to see if she would admonish him for attempting such a brazen act, but she made no effort to stop him. In fact, she still wasn't looking at him much at all. He softly touched her skin, making sure to stay to just to either side of the scar, almost afraid it might hurt her if he touched it.

 

A small gasp strayed from her lips as a single tear dripped down her face. Inuyasha stopped his hands from moving on her skin and cringed. “Did I hurt you?” he asked softly.

 

“No,” she replied, giving him a smile - but a genuine smile. “I was just remembering, that was all. It's a sad story.”

 

She sighed as she continued on. “No one knows about this, not even Sango. Of course Sango has seen the scar, we bathe together often enough that it would be impossible for her not to have. But I made up a fake story about it, I didn't want to let her know…”

 

She started drifting away as she was caught up in the sorrow, but quickly snapped herself out of it again. “Well I guess I better tell you why this happened or that would effectively lose the point of why I showed you in the first place.”

 

She took in a deep breath.

 

“When I was younger I was being courted by a wolf-youkai named Kouga. He said something about seeing potential for great power in me. Anyhow, after just a little bit I realized that I didn't love him, that I couldn't love him. He was a great guy and all, it just wasn't there, and he was a little too forceful, wouldn't listen to what I was really saying. The guy sure would not take no for an answer.”

 

Inuyasha, hand still on her skin, could feel her starting to shake slightly.

 

“One day he decided that instead of just saying I was his woman, he was going to take me for his mate. I was trying to fight him off, but he didn't really care. It wasn't until later I found out that that is what youkai women actually do during mating, something about chase and domination, so I guess I was egging him on, but heck if I knew anything about it. But you can guess how well I fared. I'm not exactly the strongest ningen in the world, especially going up against the leader of a wolf-youkai tribe. He got just a little too close for comfort and I started to panic. My body rocked violently and began to shoot out all this miko energy that I couldn't contain or control. I've lost control of my powers a couple times since then, but that was the first. I think the combination of Kouga's hands being on me when my body convulsed and the miko energy pouring into him is what gave his claw enough force to give me this scar. I know he didn't even mean to do this, that it just happened with the force of everything going on, but this is what I have as remembrance.

 

“Anyhow, I blacked out and Kouga was badly hurt, but he fought unconsciousness so he could watch over me. He must've carried me close to the village while I slept because when I woke up I recognized the hot springs where the village girls and I went to bathe. As soon as I was fully conscious Kouga came up to me and apologized profusely. He wouldn't look me in the eyes and just kept repeating what a shameful thing it was for him to have done, and that he would have to leave now so as not to dishonor either of us further. He wouldn't listen to anything I had to say and just turned around and ran off faster than I had ever seen him run before. That same night he and his tribe moved away from our village. I don't think we had realized before that just how much they did for us. They had greatly protected our borders from rogue youkai, who now had better access to us. It was after this that Sango's village was attacked, and I can't help but think that had Kouga's pack been there that maybe the youkai wouldn't have all gotten through and her family might still be alive. So you see, I do know something about pain and hiding, and there is such a thing as being accepted too much.”

 

Inuyasha didn't know what to think - he couldn't think. He just kept staring at her stomach, tentatively moving his hand from beside the scar to rest directly on it, stroking it gently.

 

“It wasn't your fault Kagome. You cannot control what happened, and blaming yourself won't help. It happened, and you need to accept that and move on.”

 

She smirked at his answer. “So then shouldn't you be taking your own advice?”

 

Normally that retort would've earned a growl from him, but it was too true and at the moment was hitting the mark. Aside from that he still was too enthralled in her skin. The tough exterior he saw every day, the parts of her body that had been darkened and hardened by the sun and working in the fields, it was so different from what he saw now. He saw a part of her that was protected, a part she didn't show to anyone else. Something in her was beckoning to him, calling out to him with a force he couldn't resist.

 

Before he knew what he was doing he was brushing his lips across the top of her hip just where the scar began. Kagome's surprised gasp was quickly replaced with the tiniest of moans as he continued his ministrations, continuing further down the scar. His other hand came up to hold her other side as he moved up onto his knees to have better access to her. All thoughts were knocked from Kagome's mind for the moment as she allowed her eyes to close and hear head to tip back. She buried her left hand in his hair, reveling in the feel of it. She was astonished at how soft it was, not like anything she had expected, and had to squish a hint of jealousy at how she liked his hair better than her own.

 

Kagome wrapped her hand further into Inuyasha's hair as she felt a warm wetness along her stomach, his tongue leaving long trails along any `injured' parts of her body. Her fingers brushed against one of his ears and she felt him twitch slightly against her. Deciding to trust to luck since she had always wanted to feel the velvety appendage, she started to rub it gently between her thumb and forefinger. Inuyasha let out a small moan at the sensual overload and Kagome had to bite her own lip to keep herself quiet. Kagome grabbed both his ears and as she rubbed harder his kisses became deeper and deeper all along the line of her scar.

 

Suddenly Kagome couldn't take anymore. She dropped to her knees in front of him. When he looked at her to see if she was okay, if her legs had given out on her, she stared him down with the most heated look he had ever seen in his life, daring him to take what he wanted.

 

He answered her plea with a firm kiss, his hands still holding onto her sides. He still wasn't quite sure what he was doing, he didn't exactly have a lot of experience when it came to this kind of thing. He was just going off of what felt right and what he had seen others do. Kagome on the other hand was a little more experienced, although not terribly much so in her own right. Still she knew more than the nervous hanyou and decided to take full advantage of that fact.

 

Kagome untangled her arms from Inuyasha's hair and planted them firmly on his chest only to push him back against the wall. Inuyasha growled, looking surprised and slightly annoyed at this action as it caused them to break the kiss, but he only had to worry about that for a split second. Kagome quickly closed the space between them, crawling on top of him until she was straddling him in his sitting position, her knees on either sides of his legs, but not putting any weight on him. She was still innocent enough to not put herself pelvis to pelvis with the heated hanyou in front of her. She did however lean fully onto his chest now, reconnecting their lips in a passionate embrace. Inuyasha gasped slightly at her response and how dominant she was being, but decided he'd enjoy it for the moment. After all, it'd be his turn next, he thought smiling into her lips.

 

She took advantage of the moment and his surprise to not so gently push her tongue against his lips and teeth. She was not going to push any further without him being actively involved, since his fangs were quite sharp she was sure. Inuyasha could not remember not being astonished by this girl with him. Everything she did fascinated and intrigued, if not puzzled him and this was no different. He had seen couples kiss, but he had no idea what she was doing right now with her tongue trying to invade his mouth. But Kami did it feel good! Following her lead he opened his mouth to try to stick his tongue out into her and felt her tongue delving into every crevice of his mouth, even gently gliding over his fangs. Suddenly with a sharp “eep!” she pulled out and he could see a slight pinprick of blood from where his fang had grazed her overzealous tongue.

 

Gazing at her heated face, her breath coming in short pants, and seeing that spot of blood on her tongue drove Inuyasha into overdrive. He decided her fun was done and it was his turn now, and he wouldn't worry about her innocence or his inexperience.

 

Quickly, but with a fluid grace that amazed Kagome, Inuyasha grabbed her up against him, pulling her into an immediately deep kiss that only got deeper as the seconds went on, instantly igniting a raging fire deep within Kagome's abdomen. All coherent thought left her mind as she clung to him as tightly as she could. With his outer haori gone she could feel all the muscles in his chest tightening and flexing through his thin inner haori, but decided it still wasn't good enough.

 

She maneuvered herself to get just enough leverage so she could pry his inner robe open and feel his precious skin for herself. Her hands felt up and down his chest, exploring from his collarbone down to his stone-like abs, feeling his hands clench her sides tighter and tighter. She snaked her arms around his back, raking her nails up and down his spine, eliciting moans of delight that he issued forth into her mouth.

 

It was now that they were both pressed firmly chest to chest with no obstruction that they realized Kagome was still clad only in Inuyasha's fire rat haori, and she was now failing to hold it closed. Inuyasha hissed as he felt part of her against him and looked down to see that indeed his haori had fallen open to reveal one of her perfectly formed breasts. Inuyasha just stared at it, a deep internal struggle going on within himself. He leaned forward to bring his mouth down to her but then hesitated and pulled himself back. Kagome could see the conflict writing itself across his face, but didn't know why. She placed a hand gently on his cheek and turned his head so he was back looking her in the eye. They sat there face to face, both panting and staring at each other. Finally Inuyasha pushed Kagome off his lap and turned to look away.

 

Kagome sat there stunned, tears stinging her eyes. What had just happened? Did he just kiss her like that because she had kissed him that way? Had it been pity and sympathy for what had happened to her? Was he disgusted with her because she was only a filthy human? She tried to stay quiet as sobs began to wrack her body.

 

Bastard…baka, baka, baka…bastard! Inuyasha was berating himself. He had let himself get out of control and now he had made Kagome cry. Not like he could blame her, but he couldn't stop her just yet. He knew that if he looked at her right then he might lose his resolve and continue what they had just stopped, and he couldn't do that, not to her, not to Kagome. After a moment, when his blood had finally cooled enough that he could be level headed he turned to Kagome and laid a hand softly on her shoulder. She started as his touch and tried to shrug him off but he would not relent. He gently but firmly turned her toward him and wiped her tears off with the pads of his thumbs.

 

“Kagome…I…” he started unsuccessfully. “Kagome, please don't cry. I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that to you.”

 

“What-“ she hiccupped, “what does that mean? Does that mean you don't want me?” She looked away from him, not sure she could handle looking him in the eye when the answer came.

 

“No, Kagome, I don't want you.” He cringed when he heard her suck in her breath and bite on her bottom lip. “I don't want you, I…I…”

 

She finally looked back up at him as he gathered his words.

 

“I love you.”

 

~ ~ ~

 

A/N: yeah, like I said, not where I want it, but hope it'll do for now. That'll do donkey, that'll do. See ya sometime next week!