InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Inexcusable Nature ❯ Sweet Frustration ( Chapter 20 )

Inexcusable Nature

Just A Starving Writer

Disclaimer: nope, not mine.

Author's Plea (Two parter): First, sorry for the delay in posting. This chapter was rather difficult for me to write, considering my hectic life, my presently intense negativity, and my rather possessive fiance. I can only ask for your apologies, both from the delay and from any poor quality. As it is, I can't seem to make up my mind whether I like this or not. So I'll let you decide.
Second, I wish to inform you of an upcoming ending. I'm thinking 2-3 more chapters, though that number could grow to as many as 5. Though I doubt it. Seriously, I'm running out of ideas...and I'm tired. I'll try to make it interesting though.

As always, mucho mucho love to everyone who reads and reviews. I much appreciate your support.

Enjoy if you can.

Part 20: Sweet Frustration

He was brewing in frustration. When had everything gone so…insane?

It was not something he could have possibly seen coming. In fact, Inuyasha still had issues believing that his human hating brother of all people was courting the most outrageously human female he knew. Humanity was practically pouring off the miko.

It wasn't right. It wasn't possible. But there it was. And it would have bothered him enough without his half-brother's damn emotions demanding attention in his head.

He was entirely too frustrated. Gripping his sword hilt by habit, it suddenly occurred to him how he could distract himself from the situation.

And there she was. The wind sorceress had left her position waiting on the stoop of Kaede's hut and was approaching hesitantly.

"What's going on? They suddenly left…"

Was that concern in her voice? Surely not.

"Nothing's wrong…unless you count that sappy scene. They might still be going at it if you wanna go look," he muttered.

"Huh?" She was usually more suave than this, really…

"Kagome…"

"Ah, I see. Again?"

"Do they ever stop?"

"You have a point."

They stood in anxious but comfortable silence, both minds troubled - his by the sight he had just witnessed and her by her still loose heart. However, it became easily apparent that stillness was not setting well. The hanyou began drumming his fingers on his sword hilt as Kagura flicked her fan open and closed.

The atmosphere was too tense and needed to be broken before something exploded. Unfortunately, they were disturbed by something that only made Inuyasha feel infinitely worse. There, approaching on the path, was the demon lord, currently bare-chested and looking particularly ruthless in his forced nonchalance. And there, running behind him obediently, even as she was so obviously fuming, was the miko, clutching some length of familiar white cloth.

"What…?" the sorceress began before her wrist was snatched by the irate hanyou who started to drag her unceremoniously away. She was hesitant to leave as it was rare for her to see so much of the delicious lord's skin and it was quite welcome. Sure, she'd given up any claims on the arrogant demon, but there's no harm in looking, right?

"Come on!" pulled the hanyou. "I need to fight!"

"But my heart…" O, it was obvious she needed the distraction as much as he did, but still, he understood.

"Let Kagome hold onto it. She has shit poor taste in males, but she'll make sure nothing happens to it."

Well, that was true enough, though it did occur to him that by insulting the miko's preferences, he was insulting himself. He well remembered her crush before. Shit, had that been awkward.

Without further argument, the former minion allowed herself to be dragged back to the village by the disgruntled hanyou, taking only the time to leave his burden of groceries and her heart at the old miko's still empty hut. Before she was even able to catch her breath, he had a hold of her wrist yet again and was hauling her out of the village.

"A bit pushy today…" muttered the slightly disgruntled sorceress.

"Hey, don't start that crap. You have no idea what crap I've had to put up with lately."

Without further ado, he released her and walked a reasonable distance away while pulling his sword free.

"You? " she scoffed as she snapped her fan open. "At least your heart is safe!"

Her wind blades were easily knocked out of the way by Tessaiga.

"HEY! At least your old love hasn't come back to life AGAIN and isn't begging for you to kill her!"

Well, he had a point there, but like she was going to let him win that easily.

"At least your CREATOR isn't trying to TORTURE you!"

She dodged his attack, feeling slightly exuberated now that she could release all this built up stress.

"But at least your EVIL BROTHER isn't lusting over your BEST FRIEND!"

Damn. But wait…

"At least you've always been FREE!"

And at that their petty arguing turned into an all out battle. After a good hour of dodges and near-hits, the two nearly collapsed against each other.

"That was…relieving," the sorceress gasped. She hadn't felt this good since…well, never.

"Yeah…" the hanyou panted. However, he was not very inclined to allow a tie. It simply was not in his nature. "Too bad for you…I won…"

"What?!"

Ten minutes later, the sorceress found herself at the business end of a rather pointy sword. Of course, she had allowed it to happen.

"I told…you…I won…" the hanyou responded while trying to catch his breath.

"That's what you think," Kagura stated, only slightly winded, and with her favorite seductive smile. Batting the sword out of the way, she grabbed the hanyou by his robes and pulled him forward for a scorching kiss. If such tactics worked against the demon lord, why not his brother?

Unfortunately for her, or fortunately, she couldn't quite decide, he was not the least opposed to the action. After all, it wasn't often a beautiful female made such blatant advances on him, freeing him from that constricting prison of shyness. Not to mention, he had been receiving all of his brother's frisky emotions for quite a good while now, so he was bound to have some sexual frustration.

In the end, it was a draw. Maybe that wasn't such a bad thing after all.

*

Kikyou sighed. Being alive just wasn't the same anymore. If anything, it was a great disappointment. Though this time around her body was better than the clay, it still wasn't living.

If that wasn't bad enough, she had to deal with Naraku controlling her. It was such a pain really, that damned hanyou. At least he'd given up on trying to attack those she outright refused, as it was rather exhausting.

And then there was Inuyasha. Now that she'd had time to think about it, she realized how completely unfair it was to him. The first time, due to his long sleep, he'd basically been forced to deal with both her reincarnation and her revival in what have been mere weeks after discovering she had died. It surely must have been disconcerting, waking up, thinking it had only been minutes when in fact 50 years had passed. And to wake up to the reincarnation of the woman who had pinned him? And then to have said woman brought back to life? Poor thing, he sure had a complicated life.

She watched the battle between hanyou and former minion with veiled pain. Not with all the effort in the world could she blame him for moving on. After all, it had been over 2 years since her last death. He would have been stupid to still mourn her with the previous fervor.

Seeing the wind user pull her stunt only caused the miko to sigh again. Perhaps it was time for her to move on as well. Until she could find someone willing to end her life for her, she would simply have to live it, and there was no use moping. She'd had plenty of that last time.

And so she walked. She didn't really care where she was going. After all, if she was attacked by a stray youkai, then at least her life would be over. It was a comforting thought.

She had wandered for nigh on an hour when she felt the unmistakable stirrings of an approaching youkai. Smiling sadly, she waited and it wasn't long before a whirlwind stopped dead in front of her.

"Kagome, my love!"

It was the last thing she was expecting. Hoping for a quick death, only to be mistaken as her reincarnate by a lovesick wolf? What was the world coming to? And why the hell was it so hard to die around here?

All thoughts were instantly killed when she was pulled into what could possibly be a bone crunching embrace. Who was this guy?

"Kagome, you smell different…Trying out a new herb?"

"I'm not Kagome," she said clearly as she tried to remain as slack in the wolf's arms as possible.

"Whatcha talking about, Kagome?"

"I'm not Kagome."

"Oh stop joking, Kagome. So, I don't have Naraku's head yet, but do you think you're ready to come back with me?"

"I am not Kagome."

"No? Aw, but you're my woman! Then again, I guess you've got your quest and all that…."

"I'm not Kagome."

"Did you rescue dog-turd, or just leave him? Cause, you know, I can take care of you."

"I'm not Kagome."

"What's wrong, Kagome? Tired? Sick? Has dog-breath been treating you right?"

"I'm not Kagome. I'm Kikyou."

"Whatcha talking about, Kagome?"

"I'm not Kagome!"

"Sure you are. You'll always be my Kagome."

She was growing increasingly frustrated. After all, it wasn't entirely comfortable being trapped in the embrace of a sweaty and overly masculine wolf demon, especially one as enamored as this one. Also, it didn't settle well that she was being mistaken for her own reincarnation.

However, it was that last thought that gave her pause. Is this perhaps what Kagome had gone through in the beginning, continually being compared to and mistaken for her?

It was all very ridiculous. Here she was, alive for the third time, trying to die but determined to make her life count, even as she was being lovingly assaulted by a demon looking for her other self.

Ah, the wonder of it all. Tilting her head back, she laughed with reckless abandon, tears beginning to stream out her eyes in a mixture of insanity, happiness, and something darker.

"Kagome, are you alright?"

She only laughed harder.

*

She finished the last stitch of the last tear on his last damaged article of clothing. With a sigh, she dropped the garment into her lap and looked up, eyes taking time to adjust to the dim campfire light.

He was staring at her, hard and cold. At that moment she remembered every bit of who he truly was, something she had eagerly forgotten in the last week under his passionate assault. She turned her eyes to the side, forgoing the excruciating sight, but could still feel the relentless measured gaze boring into her.

"You're leaving, aren't you?" she whispered without looking up, terrified of what she might find.

"Yes." His response, so complete and bland, caused her heart to strain with sudden pain.

"Okay," she mumbled as she set aside his finished garments and crept into the sleeping bag.

He watched still as she fumbled slowly into unconsciousness before finally softening the expression it was taking so much effort to keep. It was for the best really. She was human. It could never work.

Not to mention the whole part of him being responsible for an entire section of the country. She was a weakness, despite her strength. A liability for all her wonderfully appealing assets. It was a temptation best resisted.

He could feel eyes on him and looked toward the source only to find his ward peeping from beneath her borrowed blanket.

"Rest, Rin," he commanded with cool fatherly authority. However, the girl merely pushed the blanket down and openly stared at him for a good few minutes before her eyes darted to the miko.

"Sesshoumaru-sama?"

He understood everything that was implied in that one inquiry. While it was best not to ponder how the slight girl could know him so well, he was quietly astonished all the same. However, that still didn't mean he could give her the answer she wanted.

"Rest, Rin."

The girl sighed with youthful exasperation. She really was too wise for her age, no doubt a result of her company.

*

Kagome woke to the unmistakable feeling of someone watching her. Not that the feeling wasn't normal. In fact, over the last few days, she had pretty much come to expect it.

However, this time was different. Perhaps not the figure doing the watching, but the situation between them. He was leaving and she was hesitant to wake and acknowledge that cold fact. Not that she knew exactly why she wanted to keep him around, but dammit, she did.

Maybe if she feigned sleep, he would never leave? It was a admittedly a crappy plan, but one must always try.

Unfortunately, he seemed undeterred by her attempted ruse. Damn demons and their unforgiving senses…

"You are awake."

She cracked an eye to find him standing harshly over her, rising sun at his back making him look all the more regal.

"Up," he commanded and she felt compelled to obey, as much as she hated it. She made up for that fact with a few choice words muttered under her breath that he was sure to hear.

For a good while they just stood there, surrounded by the slowly waking but for the large part unresponsive shard hunters. Silence filled the little clearing and it seemed even the cries of the nearby villagers as they set to work became quiet.

He had dressed, back in painstakingly mended white silk, his armor bringing him hastily back into his former role. How could she have forgotten who she was dealing with? And when had that happened? But most importantly, when had he forgotten who he truly was?

"Well?" she asked with horrified impatience. There really was no reason to drag out this any longer than necessary. After all, he wasn't really the same being she had…well...wait, what was he to her? His former self, rather. Wait….no… Damn. It was just too complicated.

"I leave now."

Her back straightened. If he thought she was going to burst into sobs just because she was getting rid of his sorry ass, he was sorely mistaken. Nope, she'd just wait until after he was safely out of hearing range.

"Okay," she responded with much more fortitude than she felt.

Without a word or even without a sound, he swept her into his arm and kissed her. However, unlikely his previous (and vastly victorious) efforts to seduce her, this kiss was soft and tantalizingly sweet, a testament of his abilities as a potential lover and not just a bedmate. To say she was shocked would be a horrific understatement that would rightly deserve a slap. She leaned against him, legs slack from the sensation flooding her body, a terrible, wonderful thing that she could most definitely grow accustomed to.

If he'd let her, of course. Unfortunately, it was clear even to her kiss addled mind that he was bidding her farewell. And so it was that even as she shared a most intimate though public moment with the lord, tears wandered down her cheeks solemnly attesting to her understanding.

The end came all too soon. And being the insensitive bastard he was, he backed away before she could get the feeling back into her legs. As a result, she promptly fell to the unremitting ground.

"Hey!" she cried indignantly. He ignored her and instead smirked softly before his impeccable blank façade took its place once again.

"What the HELL!" she shouted, undeterred by his apparent nonchalance. Struggling to her feet, she ignored the stricken looks of the now wide awake shard hunters as she reached out to stop his retreating form.

"You can't just DO that!"

He ignored her and continued toward the edge of the clearing…and out of her presence.

"YOU BASTARD!" she cried in righteous anger, choosing to ignore the hot tears streaming down her cheeks. "YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT AND RUN AWAY! WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?!!"

A small movement caught her attention, strange as that was. And here she thought her attention was solely concentrated on the lord. In all honesty, the youkai lord was aware of her slight distraction and slightly bothered by it. How could she lose focus at a time like this? But on closer examination, he allowed that the distraction was perhaps justified, considering what it was.

The hanyou had fallen out of his tree. There he lay on the ground, sprawled rather undignified while his face held a certain indescribable pain that was surely not caused from his rather sudden descent. Really, what the hell was his problem?

He turned his attention back to the miko who was watching him with something slightly different in her oddly blue eyes. Was the hanyou's condition spreading?

"So you're just going to leave like that?"

The utter despondency in her voice almost caused him to let go of his resolve. But, no, there was no turning back from his decision. Whatever relationship had formed between them needed to end now, before it grew too difficult. Still, it hurt in a way he had never imagined mere words to hurt. Such a silly thing was emotion.

The miko was looking over his shoulder again. The hanyou was whimpering slightly, curled into the ground, only further proving the taiyoukai's point that he was a worthless half-breed. As for the miko, her brow was furrowed slightly in the search for comprehension though the lord was sure there was none to be had. The hanyou was simply an idiot.

"Rin," he called blatantly ignoring the plaintive pleas of the miko, demanding the girl to come and join him in his escape.

However, it seemed like nothing was working out quite like he wanted this morning. The ward stood up, walked to the slack miko and stayed there, entwining her fingers with that of the older girl. So they were working together now, was that it? Ah, the tortures of females…

"Rin," he repeated with a bit more authority, but it still didn't work. Instead, the girl looked up at him with her doe eyes, innocently beseeching him to let her stay just a little bit longer. And because he had such little practice in denying her what she wanted, he nodded once in acceptance of her decision. It was probably for the best anyways, but it still didn't make him appreciate everyone turning on him. And what the hell was the hanyou muttering about now?

When his gaze turned back to the miko, she was looking from his half-brother to himself with a look of dawning comprehension. Surely she didn't think there was a reason for the idiot's behavior? Ah, but then she was a mere human who too often hastily drew conclusions.

When she settled her gaze back squarely onto him, his eyes narrowed in suspicion. That mischievous glint couldn't be good.

Well, that was debatable. The sudden intense kiss that followed was certainly appreciated, even if he still doubted her motives. Especially considering when she pulled away, her eyes were steadfastly locked onto the hanyou.

What the hell was going on? The miko, who was so painfully sad just a moment ago, now looked strangely victorious. And what the hell did the hanyou have to do with it? And why was the damned half breed looking so confused and happy and sad? The lord didn't like confusion and this was no exception.

Taking it as his time to leave, he turned once more and stalked out of the camp without further interruption, but allowing a glare to reach the disturbed hanyou. Once free of the shard hunters' annoying presence, he briskly walked west, blatantly ignoring his retainer who struggled quite ineffectively to keep up.

Back at the little camp, a certain tenseness filled the air. Everyone seemed aware of the heaviness of the air, even if they hadn't caused it.

The undead miko was trying to ignore her surroundings, choosing instead to prepare the morning meal. The slayer was staring slack jawed at the living miko. The monk was looking off to the side, concentration visible on every line of his face. The fox child and young girl were attempting to sneak off in order to discuss what had just happened. The fire cat was poised to follow them. The former minion was shifting her eyes back and forth between the living miko, the hanyou, and the last location of the taiyoukai. The hanyou was still sprawled on the ground, seemingly content to stay there. And Kagome was standing, fists clenched, something distinctly wild surrounding her very essence. All at once she ran to the hanyou, kneeling down and grabbing his robes, forcing him to pay attention to her.

"You can feel him, can't you?" she not so much asked as commanded. Clearly, she'd been spending too much time in the presence of one arrogant demon lord.

The hanyou merely whimpered. Her eyes flashed victoriously.

"For how long?" she demanded.

After a few pointed shakes, he managed to mumble something about the day his brother took off with her for Totosai's. Adding it up in her mind, she came to the correct conclusion.

"My sword…It's my sword…" Dropping the hanyou's red robes in favor of her hip, she came to a startling realization. Very soon the forest reverberated from her cries of injustice so that even a distant taiyoukai heard.

"YOU BASTARD! YOU STOLE MY SWORD!"

*