InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ He Touched Me ❯ Bouncing Back ( Chapter 4 )

He Touched Me

By: TuxedoUranus89/InitialA

Disclaimer: I don't own InuYasha!! Rumiko Takahashi does!!

Author's Notes: Ok, now that I got the starting itch out of my system for A Matter of Trust I can write another chapter for this. =3 This will wrap things up, I might do a one-shot sequel in a few weeks or so, if I have the time. Also, I'd like to clarify the term `gang-bang' that I used in the last chapter. My boyfriend is my beta, and he said it contradicted the theme that InuYasha had arrived before Kagome had actually been raped. I had looked up the definition on `urbandictionary.com' and the very first definition I read stated that it was a group of people singling out one person and beating the ever-living piss out of them. So that's what I went with. I apologize if I caused any confusion!! Now, onto the story!

 

He didn't deserve to by lying on her bed, trembling under her covers. But he couldn't get that image out of his head, what she looked like with her limbs all strung up, her eyes closed, looking like she was in some kind of bewitched sleep, cords all over… Shuddering again, he burrowed further under the blankets, trying to calm himself by being surrounded by Kagome's scent. He didn't know how long he lay there, nearly suffocating himself a few times, didn't notice when the sun went down, and barely registered the sound of the car returning. He dimly noticed footsteps inside, and the door opening. “InuYasha, come out of there.” Mama Higurashi ordered, her voice not quite as gentle as it had been that afternoon.

He pulled the blankets down to uncover his eyes. “What?” He asked flatly. Mama stormed over and yanked the blankets off of him completely. “And what gave you the idea that you could just leave like that?” She demanded. InuYasha blinked, and cowered, suddenly realizing where Kagome had gotten her temperament from. “K-Keh, what do you mean?” He found himself nose-to-nose with her, and scooted back, putting a pillow between them for protection. “You know exactly what I mean. Imagine, my drugged-up daughter wanting to see a certain hanyou and me having to tell her he left for reasons known only to the gods, and then seeing her start to cry because one of her only sources of comfort in this has run away with his tail between his legs.” He flinched at the dog-analogy. “I… I couldn't… she looked so fucking helpless!” He snapped at her. “And everything's so fucked up, snakes all over her body, noisy fucking things all over the room, the scent of fucking DEATH and ILLNESS on the air, you blame me for panicking?!”

Mama regarded the hanyou carefully. “Firstly, they're not snakes. They're wires, they help the doctors monitor her heart and her breathing. And then there's an IV, which is a bag of liquid, that can get the liquids right into her bloodstream to help. The noisy machines are what the wires are connected to, and show how fast her heart is beating, and how well her lungs are working.” She paused, making sure the hanyou was understanding what she said. “And I know the different smells must be overwhelming, but it's not from Kagome. She's beaten, and her spirit's damaged, but she's not sick, and she's not dying. You took good care of her. The doctors want to keep her there for another day or so to make extra sure nothing's wrong, but everything else is fine.” He nodded slightly. “T-That's good…” Mama sat on the bed, and he pressed himself further against the wall, ears back. “Now, is that all the reasons you left?”

InuYasha looked down. “I hate not being able to protect her. When I saw her lying there… I wanted to just take her and run. But then she'd use that damn word on me, so I knew I had to leave her. And I couldn't stand just looking at her in a helpless situation, I didn't know what else to do.” Mama reached out and took a hand in hers. “Now you know my worries every day. You two run off down that well with cheery good-byes, and I don't know if she's going to come back out of that well house ever again. I can't go there and keep her safe from whatever you all get up to, I can't put bandages on all of her wounds and kiss them to make them feel better. I can only do what I can, and support her… support the both of you. I help her fix a broken heart when she comes back here crying over something,” She pretended not to notice when he flushed and looked down again, “and I help her stock up on things she shouldn't need to worry about at seventeen, like bandages and medicines and food to last for weeks.” Mama sighed. “Today, when you two came out of the well and Kagome was wrapped up in fifteenth-century splints and shreds of her school uniform being used to bandage cuts, bruises all over her body, the first thing I thought was to send you straight back down that well and forbid you from ever coming back. I couldn't though, not with knowing how it would hurt Kagome. And hearing how you saved her… One of my worst fears of being the mother of a young woman had come true, but you stopped it before it had gone horribly wrong. And with that knowledge, that Kagome can be put through the dangers of hell and you'll always be there to save her or protect her… I can't be mad at you. Not when you're protecting her as well as you can, much better than I could.”

InuYasha couldn't say anything. Mama smiled, and squeezed his hand. “She's asking for you.” She said quietly. “She wants to see you still. Visiting hours are over though.” He frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?” Mama stood, and pulled him up after her. “It means that I unlocked her window before I left. It's on the third floor, facing the side of the street we came there on, and it's the fifth window from the left corner.” He nodded, and Mama watched with a small sigh as he bounded out the window. It would make things so much easier if those two would just admit their feelings...

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

He glanced through the window before opening it, making sure no one else was in the room but her. She opened her eyes and smiled at him when he slipped inside, shutting the window behind him. “Hey.” She greeted, reaching out for his hand. He took it in his. “Hey…” Kagome pulled on his hand, and he looked at her in confusion. “I can't sleep.” She told him. “I got used to sleeping with you…” She blushed, praying he didn't know the other meaning of that phrase. He didn't miss the blush, but didn't say anything about it. “I can't get back there, there's all the… wires and… eye-veee thing in the way.” She let go of his hand and moved the IV stand. “It's on wheels, see? Come on, I don't bite.”

InuYasha was eternally grateful it was dark and she didn't have his night vision. Trying very hard not to think of her biting him in any way, he hopped up behind her, he settled her torso against his, wrapping his arms around her. “Much better…” She sighed, resting her head against his chest. “Are you comfortable?” He frowned. “Keh. I'm fine.” Kagome giggled. “It's probably better that I don't move the bed… you'll end up destroying it like that time in the photo booth.” He flushed again. “You're not moving anything, you can't even stand up right now.” She shook her head. “I just have to press a button, and the bed fixes itself. It's automatic.”

“Keh. Well, don't do that either, I'm fine.” He absently rubbed her shoulders, and jumped when his fingers met bare skin. Looking down, he saw that there was a large portion of the back of her clothing missing. “Kagome! Why the fuck isn't there a back to this thing?! And where the fuck is my firerat, they shouldn't have taken that off of you!” She sighed, and silently counted to ten. “It's easier for them to take off; it ties in the back, see? And your firerat is under my pillow. I tried to use that to go to sleep with, but it just smells like me, not you.” He frowned, trying also not to think about how heavenly it would be to wear his haori again. “Why would they want to take it off?” This time, Kagome fought the urge to roll her eyes. “To check the bruises, make sure everything's healing right. And it's the women that take it off, not the men.” She added, thinking he'd get all pissy again if she was being inspected by men while she was naked. His arms wrapped around her protectively. “Good…”

They were silent for a while, and he was sure she had fallen asleep. She wasn't though. “Why did you leave earlier?” She asked quietly. He grimaced, but luckily he had a story planned. “I wanted to give you and your mother some time alone.” “Liar.” She told him calmly, then stifled a yawn. “Mama said you were with her the whole time until you got up here. You wouldn't wait around all that time unless you wanted to see me.” He was silent for a time. She waited, knowing that he wouldn't forget the question, and knowing that he knew she wouldn't forget that she asked. “You can't laugh.” He said finally. “What?” She asked, twisting her neck to get a better look at him. “Don't laugh when I tell you.” He said again, a pleading note in his voice. “O-Okay, InuYasha…” He sighed, and rested his head against hers. “I was… I was scared.” He whispered. She shivered at his warm breath caressing her cheek. “You looked so helpless… And I couldn't do one damn thing about it. That scares me more than anything. I couldn't save my mother when she died, I could barely save myself when I was growing up, I couldn't save Kikyou, or myself, that day… I hate not being able to do anything. You came into my life, and while you've been able to annoy the piss out of me from the moment I met you, I… I need to protect you. You let me protect you. You trust me to protect you. I've done my damndest to try my best… but this time I couldn't do anything…” He drifted off.

Kagome surprised him by pulling him down and kissing him fully on the lips. He stiffened, not sure what to do. She came up for air and saw him staring with wide, frightened eyes. “You did everything.” She said quietly. Her neck was starting to hurt, so as much as she didn't want to, she turned around and snuggled back into him. “You don't need me to tell you that you did everything you could, you already know that. You wish you could have done more, but InuYasha… back there… all I could keep thinking was `Let him come soon, let InuYasha come and find me soon…' Not `now', `soon'. I knew I could hold out until you came, and I did. And you helped me pick up the pieces that fell. Now I just need your help putting it all back together again.” He didn't say anything. He sat there and thought about it. Kagome was starting to doze when she felt him kiss the top of her head. She smiled as she heard him say, “I'll do whatever you need me to…” She slipped her good hand into one of his. “You've already started…”

He was actually sleeping peacefully when his hearing woke him. There were voices outside, coming closer. He remembered what Kagome's mom had said about `visiting hours' being over, whatever that meant, but he thought that it might mean trouble if he was still in the room. Kissing Kagome on the cheek quickly, and muttering an “I'll be back later”, he opened the window and slid out, closing it before the door even opened. Halfway down he realized with a flourish of curses that he'd left his haori under her pillow. At least it'll smell like her longer…

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Twelve weeks and six days later, not that she had been counting, Kagome celebrated the end of her physical therapy by running and leaping into InuYasha's waiting, if surprised, arms. She giggled as he turned red when she kissed his nose; while she thought he must certainly enjoy all the attention, he wasn't quite used to it yet. “And now we can finally go back and look for more shards.” She said cheerfully. He'd forbidden her from coming down the well in her casts and crutches, instead saying he thought the others deserved a break while he stayed in her time to help her get better. InuYasha looked at her. “I dunno, Kagome… Maybe you should rethink this—” She was already taking her pack from her mother, and grabbed his hand. “Come on, we've been through this before. You worry too much.”

He `ked'd, but followed. He only worried because he cared, and she knew that. He'd been nervous when she'd started physical therapy, uneasy with all the machines and the people touching her. She was always sore after, and he'd done his best to ease her hurt. Mama had approved, hesitantly at first, of Kagome letting him sleep in her bed with her; she'd explained that it was harder to fall asleep without him, and she needed her rest. Sometimes it had been uncomfortable, like the times that he'd woken up with an erection; thankfully, she'd only woken up before him once when that had happened. More than once would be mortifying. She'd smelled of arousal the whole day though, and he couldn't help feeling a little smug that he'd been the cause.

She'd said she loved him. She'd mumbled it one night before falling asleep, and he'd panicked again. He hadn't yet said it back, didn't know how to. Didn't know if he could even say it, or if he was ready for what would come after. If she was, even. She turned back and smiled, then swung a leg over the side of the well. He pulled her back, and held her close. InuYasha wasn't sure what had come over him, but he said softly into her ear, “Me too.” Kagome looked up at him in confusion, but saw the emotion in his eyes, and understood. She kissed him, and he relished her taste. He whimpered slightly, ears lowered, when she pulled away, and she giggled. “There's plenty of time for that later.” She whispered seductively. He gave her a feral grin, and scooped her up in his arms. “You'd better start running when we get there then.” He told her. She pretended to scream. “Ahh!! No, InuYasha, a big scary demon's after me!! Save me, save me!”

He chuckled and held her close, leaping down the well. “Always, Kagome. Always.”

 

((Hmm, I'm not too sure if I like this ending. I might revise it later on down the road. It's good, but I'm not feeling it's perfect. I am glad, however, that what I'd planned to be a few chapters long stayed that way, instead of turning into a long, drawn-out story. =3 Mama always seems so nice, doesn't she? I liked the idea that Mama had the same hot-to-cold personality Kagome shows, poor InuYasha. =( Sorry there were no lemons, but it didn't fit with the theme. Maybe I'll write a one-shot sequel of pure lemony goodness? =O Seems like things could be heading that way… Anywho, thanks so much for reading, I'm glad for all the reviews, they kept me motivated!! Please leave a review and tell me what you think!! =)))