InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Genesis ❯ Four ( Chapter 4 )

 

 

 

InuYasha ran long and hard to the outskirts of the city. He knew that they would have time now, but he wanted to make her feel as safe and secure as possible. His desire to protect her was spreading beyond mandatory now, and while he knew not to get his hopes up, it was all he could do to try not to imagine what life would be like if he were normal. The object of his thoughts stirred slightly on his back, and judging by the beating of her heart against his back, she was awake again or at least becoming conscious.

“Where are we going?” She asked, her voice strained and it sounded as if her throat was dry.

“I'm taking us to a motel, inn, anything on the outskirts so I can think.” He replied, trying not to sound too annoyed. She didn't weigh much, but all this activity over the past day and a bit merited him some rest.

She mumbled something unintelligible even to his ears, and he brushed it off, nearing in on his destination. When he stopped outside a small, two-level motel, he didn't even bother to check to see if the tenant was there because he knew he or she would have been drawn to the creature by now. Instead, he walked in the front door, careful not to hit her head on anything, and grabbed the nearest set of keys from behind the counter. Glancing at the number, he grunted and walked outside to the rooms, and opened the corresponding door.

When he walked inside, he was met with the smell of damp and dust, and he wrinkled his nose. She, however, seemed to be unaffected and she squirmed a bit signaling she wanted to be put down. He complied, and watched as she stretched slightly, looking as worn out as ever. He frowned lightly, but didn't comment. When she began walking around as in search of something he asked her what she was looking for.

“The bathroom; I need to get out of these filthy clothes and I want a shower. I can have a shower, can't I?” She sounded concerned, and the look on her face reaffirmed it. “That… thing… won't come after us yet?”

He shook his head no. “The dagger I used guarantees temporary safety. No matter what the situation or what has changed, if I strike it with the blade it creates a safe period of three days. It's pretty much for emergency situations, unexpected encounters, things like that.”

He watched her nod, hesitant at first so it was more like a jerking notion. He watched her as she rummaged through a nearby closet that was more like a space in the wall, seeing how it was so cramped. When she found what she was looking for, she shuffled into the bathroom, closing the door behind her and he dully registered the soft click of the lock. Walking over to one of the shoddy beds, he sunk into it trying to think. But all he could think about was the girl twelve feet away.

 

 

 

^_^

 

 

Kagome closed the door behind her and locked it, knowing it probably wasn't necessary but hey, she had more than enough reason to be paranoid these days. In her arms she was holding a robe that was more like a large towel than anything else, but it would do. She also had a few body towels, and one for her hair, and she placed them on the counter as she quickly shed herself of the dirty clothes she was wearing. After she finished undressing, she wrapped the robe about her trying her best not to dirty it since she would need it later. She slid out of her shoes and winced; they were horribly dirty. She'd have to see if she could do something about that, since her mother would not like to have to clean them. Her mother… She sighed and led her thoughts elsewhere.

Her undergarments, she noted, were clean and she carefully laid them aside. The rest of her uniform was not in such good shape, and she rolled up the sleeves of the robe as she started running the tap in the sink to a lukewarm temperature, plugging the bottom. Looking around, she found one of those nifty complimentary trays and, spying two bars of soap wrapped neatly in paper, she grabbed one and quickly opened it. She untied the crimson sash of her uniform from her shirt and submerged the rest of the top into the quickly filling sink. Scrubbing at the dirt and grime with the soap heatedly, she set her mind on the task at hand, refusing to think about anything that would make her realize the seriousness of the situation. As she finished her shirt, she carefully wrung it out, the sink water a murky brown, and laid it out to dry over a rack on the back of the door.

She walked over to the tray and grabbed the second bar of soap and a bottle of bubble bath. She decided she wanted to soak in leisure instead, since she had time, so she shuffled to the tub and started to fill it with water. Her sock-clad feet felt cold against the tile of the bathroom floor, the fabric doing little to keep out the chill and she shivered. Leaning over, she placed the soap on a small tub-side rack, and started the water, setting it to a hot temperature. The stream of clean water was lovely, and she anticipated a good scrubbing. Popping the lid, she poured half the container into the tub below the running jet of water and closed the lid, placing it beside the soap. Leaving the water to run, she walked back to the sink and started scrubbing on her skirt until it, too, was as clean as she could manage and she hung it beside her shirt. She took off her socks and washed the tops where the dirt had managed to cling. The soles and heels where fine, as were the rest, except for the few inches at the top. She washed the ends and left them to hang as well, and then turned back to the tub, which had accumulated quite a lot of water.

Turning the water flow off, she took off her robe and started to get in when she paused. She flipped the lid of the toilet down and placed her robe on it, and then the towels on top. It was close to the tub and convenient for her to reach. She reached to the tray and grabbed a bottle of cheap shampoo, holding it to her as if it were the world's finest perfume.

She dipped a toe into the hot water and shivered in delight. She had always been the one with the love for intense heat. Her mother and brother hadn't been able to stand the steam and had many times asked her to at least open a window. As she sat down in the mass of bubbles, she leaned back against the rim, her head resting lightly on the wall. Her eyes drifted shut and she focused on the feel of her complaining body silencing, the heat slowly melting the pain away. The tips of her hair touched the water, and she idly scratched her head. Dust wafted down around her and she winced, forced into acting. Her hygiene addiction commanded that she cleanse herself before any kind of pampering.

Taking the soap off the rack, she unwrapped the fresh bar and began to scrub herself clean of all grim. Her arms were horrible and she started with them, moving down to her legs where clothing hadn't blocked the wave of dirt. When she was done scrubbing, the water was slightly discolored and she let out the plug, at the same time starting the tap again. The result, after a minute and a bit more bubble mix, was that she was in nice, steamy water again and it was clean. Fresh. She sighed in contentment, feeling better already since removing the grime. She slid forward, letting her hair slide into the space behind her. She scrubbed lightly to remove the more serious gunk, and then straightened, her now heavy hair clinging to her back. Reaching for the shampoo bottle, she squeezed a generous amount onto her hands and, rubbing them together, she thrust them into her hair and scrubbed furiously. Her fingers massaged her scalp and then moved towards her roots. She had to grab more shampoo, and she tackled the rest of her hair and the ends. She had barely made a lather, and she unplugged the tub again. When the water decreased to a certain level, she started the tap again and once she found a nice temperature, she flipped her head over under the running stream and washed her hair out.

She lathered twice more, and when she was done and stepped out, wrapped in a soft white towel, there was a ring of dirt around the edges and small rocks and such at the bottom of the tub. Biting her lip, she started the water and let it run behind her to rinse out the leftovers. Reaching for another towel for her hair, she focused on patting it dry and squeezing the water out since she didn't have a brush. After a minute or so, she placed the towel on the counter near the sink and ran her fingers through her hair lightly to take care of the more serious tangles. She began to rub herself with the towel and when she was completely dry she slid into her underwear. When she was finished with that she was pleased to find that the robe from before her bath didn't have much dirt on it, if any, from when she had worn it before and she quickly slipped into it. She tied the sash around her waist tight, with a double knot to prevent any accidents.

She had forgotten she wasn't alone until a knock on the door startled her, and she belatedly wondered how long she'd left him out there by himself. A pang of guilt ran through her and she tried to brush it off.

“You haven't fallen asleep in the water, have you?” Came InuYasha's annoyed voice and up until just then, she realized, she had forgotten about the water. She shut the tap off, the dirt cleared, and she wiped off the ring with a wad of toilet paper.

“No, I was just running it to clean it,” she replied, wiping at the tub.

When she was done, she threw the toilet paper into the small garbage beside the sink counter, and opened the door. She walked onto the carpet of the room in her bare feet and, hopping, she ran back into the bathroom where the tiles had been heated from her bath. Her feet were freezing and she grabbed her socks, slipping them on. The bands at the top were still a bit wet but she decided she could live with it, and when she stepped out again her feet felt much better. When she looked at InuYasha, he was looking back at her with an eyebrow raised in a cross between amusement and boredom. She ignored him and slumped onto the other of the two beds in the room.

“So… What do we do now?”

He didn't answer her right away, instead opting to look away at the tacky wall pattern, and she thought he might not answer her at all. She opened her mouth to talk, and he suddenly spoke.

“There is no `we'. You shouldn't even be involved in this. Like I said, I don't know your part in this, and until I know why it wants you dead so bad you're gonna lay low.” He spoke but his voice lacked conviction or energy and she automatically noticed it.

Her maternal instincts taking over, she looked at him, worrying her lower lip. “How long has it been seen you've had sleep?”

He looked at her as if to say `What, are you crazy?'. She knew that he was locked in this constant battle but she had to wonder if he ever had time for rest other than in between the attack. Chewing her cheek, she got up and walked towards him and pushed him backwards so he landed with a soft `thwump'. He looked miffed and tried to get up again, but she blocked his path each time. As tiny as she may be, and as weak as she was compared to him, he couldn't get by.

“What are you doing?” He asked, his irritation evident in his tone.

She stood in front of him, hands on her hips, and gave him her best glare. “We have three days for sure, right?” He nodded. “There's no chance of the creature coming for us before then, correct?” He nodded again, turning his head to the side a bit as if she were a specimen for study. “Then you're going to get some rest.”

He started to protest, but she reached for the top of the bed and grabbed the folded bedspreads, pulling them back with a mighty heave. He slipped and fell onto the mattress below him, looking stunned and she took advantage of his shock to pull the covers back up on him. When he snapped to, he tried to get out but she placed her hands on either side of him on his shoulders and pushed him back down with more strength than she knew she possessed. His scowl would have frightened her if she hadn't known him, but she had been with him for about a day now and she could already tell he was stubborn as hell.

But for all the fight he seemed to put up, when he finally relented and laid his head down on the pillow, he was sound asleep. A knowing look on her face, she smiled and went back to the bathroom to tend to her clothes. After checking them, she took them back to the main room off the rack and left them lying spread out on a mid-size desk in a corner of the room. When she checked on him again he seemed dead to the world, and she carefully tucked in the edges of the blanket around him in a motherly fashion. He shifted slightly and mumbled but seemed content and, drained herself, she walked to the small window beside the door and drew the shades. The sun was still pretty high and she guessed it was maybe two in the afternoon. She walked to the vacant bed and climbed in, her robe still fastened about her waste. Lying on her side, she found that her eyelids suddenly felt very heavy, and she slowly closed them, the rest of the room blurring into a peaceful black.