InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Expectation ❯ Chapter 12
*Author's Note - I cannot stress enough that this chapter would not have been possible without Merith, a good friend and an invaluable Beta.
Part 12
She could have cried; it was that depressing. Every one of her answers was wrong. She had known that she would have trouble keeping up with her classmates, but every single equation? She was never going to get into university at this rate. It felt so unfair, like she'd been cheated. All her life she'd been taught that there were certain established facts, things that could be taken for granted because they had always been and, presumably, always would be. One plus one equals two, had always equaled two, but lately, even this had changed. This was the new time, and with the new time came the new math. The new math was to blame for everything. For the new math stated now, in no uncertain terms, that one plus one equaled three. Why couldn't she seem to remember that? It changed everything. No answer from this point on would be correct unless she could learn to take that into account. One plus one equals three.
It all seemed vaguely familiar to her, the way things kept adding up incorrectly, and it left her with an odd sense of deja vu. Hadn't she once read something similar to this? Someone had been watching, and two plus two had equaled five…
No, that was lit. class, she thought angrily, tossing her head. Different homework entirely. She didn't have time to think about lit. class; she wasn't failing that one. Besides, it was drivel. A ridiculous notion. Two plus two was four, everyone knew that, just like everyone knew that one plus one was three.
Resigning herself, she returned her attention to the correct answers at the back of her math book. Every single equation! she thought again with a defeated sigh.
Actually, when you got right down to it, it wasn't really the new math's fault. It was Inuyasha's. If he hadn't insisted on making her flit between worlds, she would have been present for her classes, and maybe then this particular lesson wouldn't be eluding her. Ayumi's notes were practically unintelligible to begin with, and learning such a new and foreign concept second hand was proving virtually impossible. One plus one equals…three. Three…Three…Tree…Bee…Pee…Oh man.
She really had to pee. The rest of her homework would have to wait. Closing the book, she got up and left the room, turning down the upstairs hallway that lead to the bathroom. The house was empty and silent, almost eerie in comparison to how it usually felt when her family was home. This eeriness was compounded by the fact that the hallway seemed to be shrouded in a fine, white mist, and by the time she reached the bathroom door, she couldn't remember exactly why she had come. Even so, there was a sound of light splashing on the other side of the door which piqued her curiosity, so she slid it open and slipped inside. She was enveloped by a cloud of white steam upon entering, which explained the strange mist in the hallway, at least. Someone was taking a bath. The steam began to dissipate out through the open door, and, through the lessening obscurity, Kagome tried to see just who exactly was sitting in the tub.
"Souta?" she called softly.
"No, Kagome," a gravelly, wholly familiar male voice answered. "It's me."
"Inuyasha?" she replied, somewhat startled, "what are you doing in our bathtub?"
As the last of the thick curtain of steam faded away, she finally caught a clear glimpse of him. His arms were folded on the edge of the tub, and atop them rested his chin. There was a wicked smirk upon his face, one she had seen before but could not place where.
"Taking a bath," he answered casually, as if it were the most natural thing in the world. "You coming in?"
"I don't think I should," she whispered uneasily, wringing her hands together until they were pink from the friction. "What if Mama finds out?"
"What does it matter?" he asked, his smirk spreading into a playful grin. His hand disappeared inside the tub, but she could hear the patter of his hand gently striking the surface of the water as he patted the empty space beside him. "Come on… There's plenty of room."
Kagome whimpered as her resolve began to crumble.
"She'd be so mad if she found out…"
"Who cares? Get in, I have something I want to show you." He winked, and her face began to feel very hot.
"Why?" she pleaded, "Why here? Why now?"
His reply was immediate and unyielding.
"Because I want you to, Kagome. Now take off your clothes."
It didn't feel right, not like this, but she couldn't seem to stop herself. Before she knew what was happening, her garments had dropped one by one onto the tiled floor and she had stepped into the tub. The water was hot, almost unbearably so, and deeper than she'd ever thought possible of their little tub. But then, the tub didn't appear to be as shallow as it had always been. When she sat down beside him, the water came almost all the way up to her neck.
"I want you, Kagome."
"No…" she moaned, shaking her head violently. "You're just telling me what I want to hear!"
"So? It's what you want to hear, isn't it? What's the problem?"
"No…I…"
"Shhh…" he raised a long, clawed finger to his lips. "Don't say anything, just get over here."
"Why?"
"Because I want to fuck you, Kagome."
"But that's what I'm afraid of!" she cried, "You want to FUCK me."
"I'd say it's a little late to worry about that, Kagome." He glided through the deep water, moving steadily toward her, his eyes locked intently on her mouth. She backed away from him until her body was pressed against cool porcelain. His lips quirked up on one side at having so effectively backed her into a corner. He leaned over her, one clawed hand clutching the smooth, slippery edge of the tub while the other fisted in her hair, pulling her hard against his body. His mouth descended rapidly, swallowing her cry of protest. Tilting her back, he pulled her underneath the water's surface just as his tongue forced entry into her mouth.
Kagome was frightened. She couldn't breath. But the feel of his naked body against her own was like a drug, and a very large part of her didn't really care if they ever resurfaced. Perhaps she never would have, had there not been a fraction of doubt remaining in her heart. Like Orpheus and Lot's wife before her, Kagome looked back. She opened her eyes underneath the water and looked up, seeing a dark, looming figure through the blur. Someone was standing over the tub, looking down at them.
In a dizzying rush, she came up sputtering, her eyes wide as she fought to catch her breath. It was just as she had feared. Her mother was there, looking down her nose at the girl, her features set in a hard, disapproving glare that Kagome had never seen before on her mother's face.
"Mama!" she choked out, wiping a hand across her aching, water-logged eyes.
"You little fool!" her mother whispered poisonously, "What have you done?"
"What?" Kagome asked incredulously, frowning in her confusion. The face was her mother's, but that voice… Where had she heard this before? And why?
"Do you honestly think that this is what he wants? That he's really seeing you?"
"Mama?"
"What about your education, little girl? You can just kiss your future goodbye! You're a whore, Kagome. The dirty little whore of a beast. You are not my daughter."
"No!" Kagome gasped. Behind her, Inuyasha rose up from the water. A malevolent growl was rippling through his body, and his eyes bled crimson.
"FUCKING WITCH!" he roared, splaying his claws at her mother. "I'll gut you for saying that!"
"NO!" Kagome cried, shutting her eyes tightly, "OSUWARI!" With a loud splash, Inuyasha disappeared back beneath the water. Almost immediately, large pockets of air began to break upon surface.
"Good girl…" her mother cooed softly. Kagome's eyes flew open in horror as she began to realize the implications of what she had just done.
"No!" she howled, her hands groping frantically beneath the water, but finding nothing. "Mama, he'll drown!"
"Good girl."
Kagome awoke in the dark, sultry confines of Kaede-bachan's hut, gasping the stale air as the last fragments of her dream still rang in her ears. There was little time to lie still and ponder the horrors she had just witnessed, for as she was becoming more fully aware of herself, her brain began to receive an emergency signal from her bladder. It was no easy task to disentangle herself from the hanyou's seemingly endless limbs, and by the time she had managed to escape, her body was nearly screaming from the built-up pressure. And standing only made things worse. If she didn't get to a bush, and soon, she was going to have a very embarrassing accident.
"Where are you going?" asked a sluggish, disembodied voice from the ground behind her as an invisible hand tugged at the hem of her robe.
"I have to go." she whispered urgently, trying to pull out of his grasp without tearing the fabric on his claws.
"Go where?" he mumbled thickly, fisting the cloth even tighter in his hand.
"Baka! I'm not going anywhere-" she squeaked in frustration.
"Oh… Then come back to bed."
"I have to pee!"
"Again?" he murmured incredulously. "Can't you wait until morning?"
"If I could wait until morning would I have gotten up? Please, Inuyasha, it's an emergency!"
Inuyasha grunted softly. She heard him shifting around in the darkness, and when he spoke next, his voice was at her ear rather than her ankles.
"Ok," he muttered. "Let's go."
"You know, you don't have to come with me every time I do this." she whispered, her face glowing.
"Of course I do." he retorted while attempting to suppress a yawn. "With your shitty night vision you'd get lost the minute you stepped off the porch. Besides, it's my job to protect you. You never know what could be lurking-"
"Ok, fine! Fine!" she interrupted, "Can we please just hurry?"
As soon as he had helped to lower her down off the porch, Kagome moved as fast as her legs would carry her to the far side of the hut. She wasn't going to make it to a respectable distance away, so the scrubs between the shrine staircase and the miko's home would have to suffice. Not that she cared at this point, but if anyone did happen to notice, she was fairly certain that she would be forgiven her transgression, under the circumstances. Pulling her robe up over her knees, she squatted as best she could behind the largest shrubbery, trying not to teeter over onto her bottom. Inuyasha stood at her back, facing out, as had become his custom. So all-encompassing was her need for release from that agonizing pressure that she skipped the usual, albeit absurd, Don't look, Inuyasha. Don't listen, either, but got straight down to business.
"That's it?" Inuyasha muttered curiously, peering halfway over his shoulder when the only sound he heard was a few drops pattering the ground. The entire 'downpour' had lasted maybe six or seven seconds, never amounting to anything more than, at best, a weak trickle.
"Sorry." she said lamely. "It honestly felt like I was going to explode that time."
"That's the second time tonight."
"Well if you would let me do this on my own-"
"No," he said flatly.
"Fine. But I'm afraid I have to tell you that it's only going to get worse as the baby starts to take up more space."
"Worse?" he snorted, "We might as well start sleeping next to this bush at the rate you're going. It'll save time."
"I know it." Kagome sighed. "Everything keeps getting worse, doesn't it? My bladder, my mood swings…"
"The number of times you floor me in a week…"
"That too, I know," she smiled weakly. "Oh, and let's not forget all the weight I've gained already!"
"Eh? You're fine."
"Liar," Kagome scolded, a tiny smile alighting on her face. "But thank you for that. That was sweet." Inuyasha shook his head. Was this some kind of game? He hadn't been flattering her, only telling the truth. She did look fine. Rounder, sure, but still basically the same. He didn't understand what her problem was lately. What had happened to her self confidence?
"Some things have gotten better," he offered helpfully.
"Yeah… The sex has gotten better," she agreed.
"Oi," he protested, coughing in embarrassment.
"It has," she insisted. It was true. He had become a gentler lover out of reverence for the baby, and that tiny bundle of nerves below her waist had become especially sensitive as the weeks progressed. That, and the bigger she got, the more they had to shift their positions, and it was remarkably fun to experiment in ways that they might not have thought of or agreed to had they not been faced with the dilemma of the baby growing between their bodies.
"Yeah…" he admitted finally, then nervously cleared his throat. "Humph. Anyway, maybe after this one is whelped things will go back to being a little more normal."
"I wouldn't count on it," Kagome said softly, the gentle curve of her smile dropping a fraction.
"What was that?"
"Nothing…" she said, taking his callused palm in her hand. "Come on, Oyajii, I'm tired. Let's go back to bed."
"Keh. I'm not the one keeping us up." he grumbled, but allowed himself to be lead back to the porch.
"Neither am I," Kagome said matter-of-factly. "And I hope you don't think that having to squat behind a bush every few hours is my idea of a good time, because, frankly, it isn't."
"Sorry! Shit, woman, if I had known you were going to be in this good of a mood, I'd have made Shippou take you." he muttered under his breath.
Kagome blinked at the hanyou, confused by his reaction. She hadn't been that hostile, had she? Had she? She was having a hard time gauging her emotional reactions to things lately. Maybe she had.
For a moment, Kagome considered telling Inuyasha about her nightmare. Now that they were back inside, and her bladder was no longer screaming at her, some fragmented images from the dream were starting to return. She knew it was silly, but as she recalled more and more of it, she became more agitated. In particular, she was becoming more annoyed with Inuyasha. It was just like him to react so violently!
"Inu-" she began scolding, rolling over to glare at him.
He was already snoring.
~*~*~
"Are you certain that this is the valley the villagers were talking about, houshi-sama?" Sango asked, hopping down off of Kirara's back. "It seems perfectly normal."
"It has to be," the monk answered, pointing off to their left. "You see? There's the stagnant pool that the Innkeeper's daughters described to me. Come, let's not waste the night speculating," he continued, oblivious to the faint grinding sound coming from Sango's jaw. "Something in this area is responsible for the disappearance of several travelers. This could very well be the lead we've been searching for."
"I don't know that I'm entirely convinced that those disappearances are connected to Naraku, houshi-sama. It isn't really his fashion to snatch up hapless wanderers. What purpose would it serve?"
"You may be right about that, Sango, but if there is even the slightest chance that a Shikon shard is involved, there is much to be gained. Besides, the disappearances have brought great misfortune to the livelihood of that kind man who put us up for the day. After the hospitality that was shown to us, we owe it to him to figure out what's going on out here and see if we can set things right."
"I see… and when we're finished, I suppose that we should then go back to the Inn and let him know that his troubles are over?"
"If you think it best, Sango, then I would not be in disagreement."
"And the fact that he has three young daughters, all of marrying age, would have nothing to do with your wanting to return, is that correct?"
"Poor lovely young things," Miroku sighed piteously, "destined to a life of poverty and hardship if the situation cannot be rectified, doomed to forever waiting on drunken merchants if it can. One way or another, they will require comforting. Perhaps I could provide some spiritual guidance to ease them through this troubling time."
"You-"
"Not now, Sango," he interrupted, "I believe we've been surrounded."
As if prompted by the monk's words, a series of low growls rumbled out from all directions, and a ring of glowing red eyes appeared in the darkness surrounding them. An unnatural howl pierced the air, signaling the dark and bristling creatures to advance.
"Wolves!" Sango gasped, bracing Hiraikotsu against her back.
"Not only wolves," Miroku warned. "I can sense a dark aura here as well. There are youkai among them."
"Wolf youkai…" Sango nodded, as if she'd expected as much.
"Yes. Probably controlling them as we speak. Prepare yourself."
Sango's grip tightened on her weapon, her muscles bunching beneath it in anticipation. Miroku lowered the end of his staff until he was grasping it with both hands, readying himself for the onslaught. The wolves drew steadily closer, until the human pair and their youkai companion could almost feel their hot breath washing over them.
"On my signal, houshi-sama!" Sango instructed, hazarding a brief glance at the grim-faced monk, who merely nodded.
"Wait…" she said steadily, her voice low, "waaait… NOW!"
The golden rings of the Miroku's staff jangled sharply, and the rounded tip of Hiraikotsu had just left the ground, when a loud, harsh voice suddenly called out "Stop!" The taijiya and the houshi hesitated, startled first by the sound, then by the immediate change in their attackers. The instant the command sounded, the wolves dropped onto their hindquarters and now sat, relaxed and obedient, as though they had suddenly transformed from wild beasts to lap dogs. Following the wolves' collective gaze upward to a rocky outcropping, they saw why.
Out of the shadows stepped the tall, broad form of a very familiar youkai.
"Kouga!" Miroku cried, "This is your pack?"
"Oi, you two!" the youkai barked demandingly, "Where the hell are Inukuro and my woman?"
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