InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ I Will Wait ❯ Chapter Four: Desire ( Chapter 4 )

A/N: Thanks to my reviewers once again! Glad you're enjoying it…and glad I'm so far not making you wait aeons for new chapters…

Aarolye: Hah, you've got a point. I am a little infamous for cliffhangers, aren't I? heh.

Thanks also to marsgoddess, Aleera_lover_of_Inuyasha, and Ryukotsusei for your reviews. They always make me feel all warm and fuzzy, and not in that nausea way.

And, on with the story!

I Will Wait

By: Banshee Puppet

Chapter Four: Desire

What was the human doing now? He peered over Kagome's shoulder. She was writing down strange patterns of numbers, scribbling them out, and then writing more numbers. Curious.

When Kagome noticed him hovering, she jumped slightly. "Don't sneak up on me like that!" she complained, raking her fingers through her hair.

"You are easily distracted," he stated authoritatively, moving to her bed and folding his legs Indian style there. "What are you doing now?"

"I told you I was studying, didn't I?" Honestly. Demons.

"Before you were looking at strange characters. Now you are writing numbers. These are both `studying'?"

"That was studying English. This is studying Math," Kagome explained with a sigh. She was trying to be patient, really.

"Why do you study so many things?"

"I have to, for school," Kagome sighed again. Sesshomaru was bored. And that meant she wouldn't be able to study until she found some way of keeping him busy.

"Why is this `school' so important?"

"It teaches you things you need to know to survive in this world. Weren't you reading a book?"

"I've finished it," he replied.

So that was it. "Well, what sort of thing do you want to read now?" Anything to keep him busy so she could study and survive her midterms.

Sesshomaru thought about this. He wanted to understand this `school' thing that the miko was so obsessed with. He pointed at a textbook she'd been reading before. "That one," he stated definitively.

Kagome blinked. "You want to read my history textbook?"

"Hai."

Kagome blinked some more, then shrugged and brought it over to him. "Now more quiet so I can finish studying, please," she said, seating herself at her desk again.

Sesshomaru gingerly flipped the heavy cover back. His hand was still swollen and tender, much to his disapproval. He was trying to be as little trouble as possible, but he was curious about this supposedly demon-less world and wanted to learn more. And also, more about…he glanced up at Kagome. Why was she suddenly so interesting to him? He didn't know. It felt like there was something important about her that he just couldn't place. He turned his attention back to the book before him. History, was it? But for him, none of this had happened yet…

~~~

Kagome yawned. That was enough studying for now. Tomorrow she'd have to go to school and start taking her exams. She glanced at the clock. She'd missed lunch and it was well-past dinnertime. `I guess I can order some take-out, though it would be nice to get outside for a bit.' She looked over her shoulder at Sesshomaru. His mouth was slightly open, head lulled back against his tail, and he was sleeping peacefully. He looked so…so…

`Kawaii!' she thought, much against her better judgment. She shook her head slightly. `I'd better wake him,' she thought, crawling carefully up onto the bed so as not to startle him too much. Startle Sesshomaru=instant death-at least that's how Kagome's mind worked. But she caught herself staring at him-beautiful and strong, and deadly. She touched his face and his eyes shot suddenly open. She jumped and nearly fell off of the bed.

On instinct, he wrapped his tail around her to catch her before he was even fully conscious. Wrapped in such warm, close quarters, Kagome blushed. Something about this felt really-intimate. And what was wit the way he was looking at her?

His heart-again he found it suddenly pounding. Again the miko's lips looked far too inviting, and he didn't have the television to blame this time.

Thump. Thump. Thump. Thump.

"What is it?" he asked, not quite able to will his tail away from her just yet.

Kagome's own heart was beating out a similar pattern. "I…was going to wake you for dinner," the miko squeaked.

The words took long moments to register in Sesshomaru's mind. He found himself inexplicably drawn to her, wanting to touch her so badly, to kiss her, to keep her for his own…

When he let her go it was sudden. "Of course," he stated. "You have finished with your studying?"

"Uh…yeah, for today." Kagome thought a moment. It was late Sunday. She probably wouldn't run into anyone. "I'll get you a jacket and we can go out to eat. I'm too tired to cook."

Sesshomaru gave a bland nod and waited for her to leave before sinking visibly. His shoulders slouched and he brushed his fingers through his hair roughly. `After all I have tried to avoid it,' he thought darkly, `after all is said and done, I am my father's son. A human-she is so very human, and yet, I desire her.'

Knowing this he all but held his breath as Kagome helped him into a jacket. He couldn't bring himself to tell her that he didn't need one. Not knowing what was wrong with him was much better than knowing he was falling for a human. Now he was being extra-cautious. If there was a situation that caused you to like someone, there also, must be the opposite. He hoped that was true. Then he still had a chance to get out of this.

Of course, outwardly, he was as stoic and chilly as always. Thank god for that. If Kagome knew…well, he didn't know what would happen if it came to that.

"Stay near me," she insisted. "So you don't get lost. There are a lot more people in my time than in the time you come from."

She decided to take him somewhere that strange things were not unusual and no one was likely to look at him oddly-Shinjuku. There were some nice cafes there, and on second thought, she knew of a small, rarely frequented diner. She kept a light grip on the sleeve of his jacket getting on the train.

So many people and different scents! His head hurt. "Kagome.." he started to say. `How much longer do I have to stay on this contraption! I'm going to be sick!' his mind demanded of him.

"Almost there," she said. She understood. Inuyasha didn't like trains either. "Okay, hang on, time to get off."

With a swarm of humans. Too much was going on. This had to be a lot even for dulled, human senses. There was no way a demon could get through this day after day, he realized. It was impossible. This was too much. He could hardly fathom what was going on until she turned down a side street that was virtually empty save themselves and a few others.

"We'll go somewhere quiet to eat," Kagome said.

"Thank heavens," Sesshomaru sighed before he realized he'd said it aloud.

"Gomen," Kagome replied. "The train is always like that during the day. The ride home should be a bit better I hope."

Sesshomaru silently looked at the pavement. He was embarrassed by his own exclamation and trying not to show it.

"Sesshomaru…"

"Day after day-so many people," he said. "How could a demon survive in this?" He had to get it out. It troubled him more than he could possibly explain. The nose, the scents. It would take an act of sheer will for a demon to live in this world.

"Sorry. I didn't think…" Kagome blushed. `Stupid!' she scolded herself. She should have ordered in. Of course this would overwhelm him all at once like this.

He shook his head. "Never mind. I think I understand better now."

The subject dropped there as she brought him inside the diner. "Table for two please," she said.

When the waiter turned, Kagome blinked. Oh, for crying out loud! "Hojou?"

"Kagome! How are you? Did the bath salts help your rheumatism?"

Kagome sweat-dropped. "Ah yeah…you work here?"

"Only on the weekends," …and then he noticed Sesshomaru, glaring at him like a very creepy, very jealous boyfriend. "Oh, right, table…" Hojou visibly deflated and led them over. "My shift is nearly over. Someone will be with you in a minute though, okay? Ah, see you in school, Kagome."

When Hojou left, Sesshomaru stated rather frankly. "He wishes you for a mate."

Kagome blushed deeply. "Don't say it like that! It sounds perverse!" she protested.

"It is simply the truth. That human desires you."

Kagome continued to blush, but sighed. "It's not much of a secret," she said as if she was congratulating him for stating the obvious.

Sesshomaru concealed his relief that the feeling didn't appear to be mutual. He couldn't help it. Even if he had no intention of pursuing feelings for the human, he didn't want anyone else to have her either. "You do not share his feelings," he stated, more to fill the silence than anything else. Again-that talent for stating the obvious.

"Hojou is a nice guy, but I guess he's not my type." She couldn't believe she was talking about this with Sesshomaru.

"Why not?" and Sesshomaru couldn't believe he was prying.

Kagome considered this. "It's sort of…how can I have a boyfriend when I always have to go to your time to collect the jewel shards? I don't fit into either time anymore, so I guess I'll just be in this situation until we've beat Naraku. Then maybe I can live a normal life again."

"In this time."

"It's my home," she shrugged. "But it's stupid to think about it now. There's still a long way to go."

The meal passed quietly after that. Nothing more could be said on the subject anyway. `In this world, she is all alone,' Sesshomaru reflected. How could a mere human have such strength? `Well, she is a miko, after all,' he thought. A human, but in such a situation, `who is better suited for her than I am, who can wait for her to be born again and return to me.' He forced that line of thinking right out of his head. If he humored this infatuation it would ruin him. As it was, he couldn't help but watch her when he was certain she wasn't looking. `Damn it! Why a human? Why now?' He couldn't find answers to these questions.

After that, the days were easy, when Kagome was away at school and the house was quiet. Even jiichan left him alone now as Sesshomaru spent the time sitting quietly in the living room reading whatever he came across, whichever title suited his fancy on that particular day. Only the damned feline continued to pester him, and he was becoming accustomed to it by now. For some bizarre reason, the damnable cat liked him, and when he kicked it, it thought he was playing and attacked his foot. It was doing so now. Occasionally he would give it a light kick to make it think he was playing along because it kept the irritating creature away from his tail, which was currently lying in a comfortable heap beside him as he flipped through the pages of his current reading material, some story about a married woman who falls in love with a soldier. He colored a bit at the detail given the…ahem…intimate scene he was currently reading and quickly shoved the book under the sofa pillow when the front door opened.

He willed the slight color from his cheeks as Kagome entered, kicked off her shoes, and fell against the chair with a sigh. Tests were exhausting. A whole week of them-just plain cruel.

Thump Thump Thump. The youkai demanded that his heart shut the hell up. "Kagome?" he asked after just the slightest hesitation.

"Right. Food…" Kagome groaned and pushed to her feet, blinking when she realized, rather absentmindedly, Sesshomaru was playing with the cat. She blinked a few more times to be certain she wasn't seeing things.

"You are tired," he stated.

"No kidding," she replied dryly.

"I will make the food," he stated.

"But your hand…"

He frowned at her. "It is healed. I am not a human," he reminded. He was lying though, a bit, his hand was still sore, but it was well enough to make a simple sandwich, he hoped.

Kagome sighed. He was being stubborn and she didn't dare argue, mostly because she was too tired. Well, this was the last of them, at least. Inuyasha would come to get her soon, and then everything could go back to normal.

---

In the kitchen, Sesshomaru fought with the little twist tie on the bread, dug through the fridge for something to put on it-where was that stuff he liked-this one that was orange, and the pink, wettish one…aha! Ow! A slight wince. If Inuyasha could see him now-well, quite frankly, he'd laugh his ass off.

"Kagome. Food," he stated from the doorway to the living room. When the girl entered, she couldn't repress a laugh. "Those are some big sandwiches," she smiled.

He frowned slightly. She was teasing him. Yes, she looked cute doing it, but still!

Thump Thump. He yelled at his blasted heart again-not out loud, of course. `Damn it Inuyasha! Hurry up and get here! I can't take much more of this!' his mind demanded irrationally as his hormones went to spiraling once again.

Yes, it was the evenings, the nights, that were difficult, when Kagome was close by and he could smell the sweet scent of her thickly. He was Sesshomaru of the Western Lands! This was ridiculous! But also, in addition to that…

He was only a man, and a man needed love, and release, and succumbing to neither was maddening! He feared the worst, for her sake. He was a demon. The animal in him would take over if he was not separated from her and this strange desire soon.

Kagome glanced at him occasionally while they ate. He was lost somewhere in his own mind again, frowning thoughtfully. `He looks cute like that.' He did. No point denying it. In little time at all it had become easy to distinguish tiny shifts in expression, but she knew that in almost no time at all they would be enemies again. That filled her with a bit of sadness that she couldn't explain.

As she got rid of the plates and cleaned the dishes, she said, "Inuyasha will probably come tomorrow." `And he's going to be ticked that I lost my shards,' she thought.

"yes," Sesshomaru answered because he realized he was supposed to say something.

"Well, we've been together all week and didn't kill one another. We should do something to celebrate!" she said cheerfully to cover the strange mood of not really wanting to end this insanity just yet. "Somewhere without a lot of people, obviously. Hmm…Ah, I know! I can take you to my favorite place. It's sort of my secret place, but, since you're going back to your own time, it's okay."

Sesshomaru's eyes widened marginally, and he nodded, feeling stupid. `Hurry, Inuyasha. Rescue this stunning woman from me, before I do something that cannot be taken back.'

~End Chapter~

A/N: Am I evil? Yes I am, but at least I'm updating! (Quite the feat for me! Heh.) I know I'm leaving off with another cliffy, but I really wanted to make the next part separate from this, so it can't be helped. Will try to write more very soon! ~B.P.~