InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Just The Way You Are ❯ Girls Lie ( Chapter 2 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

A/N: Hey, guys. I didn’t have any notes on the first chapter, so here they are. This is my first Inu fic, so if I get anything wrong, please don’t fail to let me know! And I don’t own Inuyasha. He just lives under my bed, and growls at me to make him Ramen. =)

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Three weeks later…

Inuyasha was keeping watch for Kagome from the roof of Kaede’s hut. He was through with waiting near the well. Honestly, Kagome was really freaking him out. She was like a completely different person anymore. It had just been the weird clothes at first, then the hair, which she wore pulled back all the time now. She wouldn’t even argue with him anymore. Instead, she’d just nod docilely, like she agreed with everything he said. When he told her stay back in the face of any danger, she did just as he said. He didn’t know whether to be happy, or run away in terror. He wondered if she’d talked to Sango about anything, left some small clue as to what was going on.

He’d spied on her several times, with that Seiji, or even in her room. All he saw her do anymore when she thought she was alone was look at herself in the mirror, examining her reflection, as if she expected it to suddenly change. He’d also heard about this ‘party’ she was planning on going to. And if she lied to him about it, he didn’t know what he’d do.

His ears perked up when he saw Kagome approaching on the well worn path from the well, the cumbersome yellow backpack the only sign that it was her. Her smell was even masked by that horrible perfume stuff she wore.

He watched as she spotted him on the roof, only twiddling her fingers at him before making her way inside. He sighed dejectedly. He knew nothing about women, and didn’t think he was ever going to have any luck figuring Kagome out. Unless maybe he talked to another female. Just the thought made him grimace, but he figured the sooner he got it over with, the better.

Kagome entered the hut, greeting everyone with a smile. Shippou pranced around her legs, letting her know how much he’d missed her, and she picked him up, giving him a good squeeze. Miroku and Sango, and even Kaede were much more subdued, which made her a little angry. She knew that they didn’t like the changes they’d seen in her recently. What else did they expect her to do? She never would’ve caught a guy as great as Seiji by acting like a little girl. “Where are we headed to?” Kagome asked, eager to change the expressions on their faces.

“There’s a village south of here that’s been having a lot of problems with crane youkai,” Miroku told her. “We should be leaving as soon as Inuyasha decides it’s time to go.”

“I’m right here,” he replied, appearing in the doorway.

“Oh, Inuyasha,” Kagome said. “I needed to tell you. I have a major math test coming up in a few days, so I’m going to have to get back home before then.”

“When?” he asked, remembering very clearly the night the party was from the conversation he’d eavesdropped on between Kagome and Seiji.

“Well, I’ll need to be home Wednesday, so I can study--” Inuyasha glared at her before turning on his heel and walking back out the door.

“Well, I guess we’re heading out, then,” Miroku stated.

As they left the village, Inuyasha was seething. She’d lied to him. She’d actually lied! Not a little twist of the truth to keep herself from being embarrassed; those he could handle. But not this. He wanted to shake the girl violently, which is why he stayed at the front of their pack, walking alone, while the others kept their distance far behind. Were these the habits that idiot had taught her? To casually lie like it was nothing? To pretend she was having fun when she was obviously bored to tears? What was the purpose?

Kagome sighed as she stared at Inuyasha’s back. Their wasn’t much conversation going on in their group, so there wasn’t anything to get her mind off how he’d reacted to her request to go home early. Why was he so angry with her?

*

That evening, they stopped at a large village, where Miroku conned them a room by ‘exorcising’ the innkeeper’s daughter. Inuyasha took one look at the cramped room before informing them all that he’d sleep outside, and Miroku looked at him strangely as he watched Inuyasha pull Sango aside, whispering something to her. Sango nodded, and followed him out of the room. “What’s this?” he mumbled to himself.

“Hey, where’d Sango go?” Kagome asked.

“Maybe to get some firewood,” Miroku mused.

Outside, Sango let Inuyasha lead her behind the hotel. “I have a question,” he said, looking very uncomfortable.

“Okay.”

“Do you… Has Kagome, I don’t know, said anything to you?”

Sango sighed heavily. “No. All she talks about is that boy, anymore.”

Inuyasha crossed his arms. “I think he’s the problem, if you ask me.”

“You may be right on that. I just don’t understand. Why would Kagome want to be with someone that she has to change so much for?”

“Well, she seems happy about it.”

“No, I don’t think so.”

Inuyasha’s ears stood up. “You don’t?”

Sango heard the hope in Inuyasha’s voice. “No, I don’t. No one can be happy that way, Inuyasha. I don’t really understand where Kagome’s from, or how things work, but I know how a girl’s mind works. I believe she’s trying to be something she’s not. Trying to impress that boy.”

“Impress him? He should’ve been impressed the first time he saw her!” He saw Sango’s smile at the remark, and looked to the ground. “All I’m saying is, Kagome’s too nice of a person to let someone do that to her.”

“Have you talked to Kagome about this?”

Inuyasha huffed. “I have nothing to say to her. She’s lying to me.”

“What?” Inuyasha explained about the party. “A party?” Sango asked.

“Yeah, a bunch of people get together and drink sake, and act stupid, from what Kagome’s told me.”

“But… Kagome doesn’t drink.”

“I guess she does now.”

Sango’s concern was apparent on her face. “We have to do something about this, Inuyasha. I don’t want Kagome to be hurt.”

“Well, neither do I. But what the heck am I supposed to do about it?”

“I’m not sure. Maybe you should tell her you know about her lying to you.”

His ears drooped. “Then, she’d know I’ve been spying on her.”

“Well… you only did it because you were worried.” And jealous, she silently added. “I can’t think of any other way to find out how she feels.”

Inuyasha looked thoughtful, then his eyes lit up. “Her diary!”

“What? Inuyasha! That’s horrible!”

“She’s the one being horrible!” he shouted.

“Inuyasha, could you even read it?” He looked to the ground; she’d caught him there.

“Well, I could bring it back, and--”

“Oh, no! I’m not going to invade Kagome’s privacy like that! You’re just going to have to quit being so proud and talk to her!”

“Fine! It was stupid to ask you for help, anyway!”

Sango sighed in frustration, leaving him alone as she went back indoors. She felt sorry for Inuyasha, and worried for Kagome, but she wasn’t getting caught in their web. They were just going to have to fight it out this time.

Inuyasha leaned against the outer wall of the inn, sighing. How the hell was he supposed to talk to Kagome? She’s sit him into next week if she knew he’d been spying on her every chance he had.

Suddenly, though, he had a great idea. He’d just tell Kagome there was no way she could go back when she wanted, and then he’d watch her squirm. Maybe then she would confess.

*

Kagome trudged behind the group the next afternoon, sure that she had never been so tired. She’d hardly slept at all the night before. She felt so guilty over lying to Inuyasha. Why hadn’t she just told him the truth? What was so hard about saying, ‘Inuyasha, I have a boyfriend?’ Yet she shuddered at the thought.

The only thing that brightened her day was the fact that Sango was actually speaking to her again. She’d never stopped speaking to her, but the relationship between the girls had seemed strained for some time now. At least one of her friends was happy for her. Inuyasha still hadn’t spoken to her. She’d even offered him a cup of Ramen for breakfast, and he’d ’keh’d and walked outside.


“Kagome?”

“Huh?” The girl jumped a little, pulled from her thoughts.

Sango smiled. “Daydreaming?”

Kagome laughed weakly. “Actually, I might’ve been sleepwalking. I didn’t sleep well.”

“Oh. Is there something on your mind?”

Kagome sighed. “I just wish Inuyasha would stop being so angry at me, is all.”

Finally! Sango thought. “I think he’s just worried.”

“Worried? Why?”

“Well, you’re seeing someone.”

“So?” Kagome asked, her eyebrows drawing together. Sango wondered how such an obviously bright girl could be so dense.

“I guess it’s because you’ve changed so much. Maybe he’s afraid you’ll stop coming back.”

“It would serve him right,” Kagome replied. “He’s so mean to me all the time. He only wants me to come back so I can find the jewel shards.”

Sango had had enough. “Kagome, please. Do you really believe that?”

“Why else would he want me around?”

“Because he cares for you?”

“Sure,” Kagome said darkly, glaring at the hanyou who walked far ahead of them.

The conversation didn’t go any farther, however, because Inuyasha stopped suddenly, turning his eyes skyward. Kagome knew there was a youkai approaching when she saw him running back towards them, drawing the Tetsusaiga.

Kagome looked up, and went to grab her bow, but was forced to throw herself on the ground before being snatched up by the flying demon. It turned quickly, coming back at her, and she screamed as its sharp talons dug into her shoulder, lifting her off the earth.

“Kagome!” Inuyasha shouted, charging up from the ground, his sword raised over his head. The demon’s sharp beak snapped within an inch of his face, its shriek deafening him. It wouldn’t be hard to kill the youkai; it didn’t possess a jewel shard, as far as he could tell. However, he couldn’t use his Wind Scar without endangering Kagome. He had to take it out as quickly as possible, though. He could smell the blood coming from Kagome’s wound.

Inuyasha got close enough to the bird youkai, shredding its left wing in half before using its feathery body to propel himself backward just before it bit him in half. The bird fumbled in the air, losing its grip on Kagome enough for Inuyasha to get the girl away. He put her in Miroku’s arms. “Get her back!” he ordered, the monk nodding as Inuyasha circled the injured youkai, searching for a vulnerable place that would kill it with one blow. Its neck was too thick, and he couldn’t reach its gut without putting himself dangerously close to the sharp end of its beak. The bird shrieked again, causing him to wince, but then he saw his opportunity. The bird’s widely opened mouth lent the hanyou quite a view down its gullet, where he could see a large, pulsing vein. Letting out a furious roar, Inuyasha leapt into the waiting demon’s mouth.

“Inuyasha!” Kagome cried, struggling in Miroku’s arms until the bird let out another, much more agonized scream, which emitted Inuyasha, and a large spray of blood that soaked him.

After making sure the youkai was dead, Inuyasha ran to the others. “Kagome, are you okay?”

“Yeah,” she replied. “It just hurts.”

“Let me see.”

Miroku passed Kagome to the hanyou, who gently settled to the ground with her, where he carefully pulled the torn, blood-soaked shirt away from the wound, cringing at the hiss of pain from Kagome. “It’s deep,” he told her.

“I can feel that much.”

He sighed. She wasn’t going to want to hear this. “You know, if you’d wear something with actual sleeves, you might have had some more protection.”

She turned around to look at him, even though this obviously pained her. “Now is not the time, Inuyasha.”

“What, not the time to tell you you’re being stupid?”

She gaped at him. “That’s it, I’m going home!” She stood, pushing herself away from him. He really thought she was going to walk away just before she teetered, falling right back into his waiting arms.

“You can leave later,” he told her. “For right now, you’ve lost too much blood.” He sent Sango for her backpack with the medical supplies in it. He’d seen Kagome do this for him enough to know how it worked, and he set her things out, soaking a cotton ball with the rubbing alcohol. “I’m going to clean it,” he told her before looking to the others. “We’re staying here tonight. Shippou, get some water. You two, get some firewood.” Sango and Miroku nodded, walking off.

Kagome prepared herself for the sting of the alcohol, very surprised at Inuyasha’s gentle touch as he pressed the cotton to her skin, sweeping it across the wound in gentle downward strokes. “Is it bad?” she asked.

“It’ll probably scar,” he replied, not sounding happy in the slightest. “Guess you won’t want to expose so much flesh after that, will you?”

Kagome glowered at him, though he couldn’t see it. “Inuyasha, don’t think I won’t say it.”

“Go ahead. I don’t really care.”

“What is your problem?” she cried.

“What’s my problem?” he yelled, his touch never becoming any harsher against her shoulder as his anger grew. “I’ve got a list of them, Kagome, where do you want me to start? First of all, if you hadn’t been thinking about that idiot boyfriend of yours, you probably wouldn’t have gotten caught in the first place! All you do anymore is stare off into space!”

“My ‘idiot boyfriend’ happens to be very nice, which is a lot more than I could say for you!”

“Yeah, I bet he’s great. If he’s so nice, why doesn’t he like you the way you are?”

“What? He likes me just fine!”

“Really? Then, what happened to those stupid socks you used to wear? And why do you wear your hair like some miko bent on world damnation? And if he likes you so much, just the way you WERE, why do you feel like you have to go around half naked?! Sure, any guy likes a girl without any clothes on!”

“You… you jerk!” Kagome cried, burying her face against her knees, sobs wracking her body. Inuyasha looked at her in a panic.

“S-stop crying!” he shouted. “I can’t clean this when you’re… Kagome…” He scurried around to face her. “I’m sorry.”

She peeked up at him through her bangs. “Why?”

“Because you’re crying, why else?”

“But you meant all those things?”

He could lie, but he wasn’t going to. “Yeah. I did. He’s got you lying to me, and to your mother, and--”

“What are you talking about?” she demanded, lifting her head.

“I know why you’re going home.”

“Whaa… You’ve been spying on me?”

“Yeah! Sit me all you want, I don’t care.” He waited to hit the ground, but Kagome only glared at him.

“Why would you do that?”

“Because you wouldn’t tell me anything.”

“You didn’t ask!”

“What, I’m supposed to ask you if some jerk’s treating you okay? Of course he’s not! He’s a jerk!”

“Stop calling him a jerk!” she shouted. “He’s nice to me. He takes me out, and brings me flowers, and tells me I’m beautiful!”

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Oops, a cliffhanger! See you soon!

Thanks for the reviews!

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