InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Kagome's Boom Box ❯ You Fill Up My Senses (Annie's Song) ( Chapter 13 )

Kagome's Boombox

Part 13

"Kagome…!?" Inu Yasha froze himself in place, his muscles taught and ready spring away at the slightest sound. His eyes were locked with hers, unable to look away.

Kagome slowly picked herself up off the ground, settling into a kneeling position. She, too, found herself able to break the tense gaze they held. Perfect silence, aside from the soothing sound of the wind through the trees, permeated the scene.

"Inu Yasha…I…" Kagome started, but was unable to finish. Her gaze shifted to the ground, the tint on her cheeks becoming more evident.

"What are… how did you find…?" Inu Yasha found his tongue again as he struggled to think of something, anything, to say at that moment.

"I… kinda saw you take it…and… run off." She rubbed her arm shyly. "So… I followed you…"

Inu Yasha nervously scratched the back of his head, wondering what he could possibly say that wouldn't send him six feet under the hard way.

"To be honest, I half expected to find my boombox in pieces…" Kagome smiled weakly. "Thanks for not breaking it."

"Feh…" he breathed. "Not all of the music from your world is crap."

The wind shifted again, bringing Kagome's sweet scent wafting past Inu Yasha's sensitive nose. Briefly forgetting the situation, he paused to take it in, his ears flopping lazily. The boombox, still spinning the CD within, began to play a soft, soothing sound.

You fill up my senses,

Like a night in the forest

Like the mountains in springtime

Like a walk in the rain

"Inu Yasha?" whispered Kagome.

"Hm?" he opened his eyes, not realizing that he had closed them in the first place.

Kagome crawled over to him, sidling up beside him and resting her head on his shoulder. The tint on the hanyou's cheeks darkened, but he let her do as she would. She didn't seem angry, but then again, this was Kagome, who could flatten him with a word at any given moment.

"What made you take my boombox?" she asked calmly.

Like a storm in the desert

Like a sleepy blue ocean

You fill up my senses

Come fill me again

"I was-it was making you upset…" Inu Yasha blurt out clumsily. "B-Besides, you should've been sleeping… you're gonna be tired tomorrow…"

"Aren't you?"

"You know me, Kagome. I'm never completely asleep. I can handle it. Been doing so for ages now…"

"That's not the point, Inu Yasha." Kagome nuzzled his shoulder with her cheek. "You took it and you listened to it instead of just trashing it like I know you wanted to the entire time we were all listening to music earlier. Won't you at least tell me why?"

Kagome's scent tickled his nostrils again, and the temptation to curl her into his arms was quite persistent. Her warm face against him eased that desparate urge to run from before. But giving in meant that he was getting soft, that he was losing that tough edge that had allowed him to survive to adulthood. Inu Yasha tucked his hands back into his sleeves, forcing his emotional shell to harden around him again.

But as she shifted beside him, his shell wore away like a fragile bubble. He turned his head so that it brushed against hers and inhaled deeply.

"So sweet…" he thought. "I could fall asleep like this…"

Come, let me love you

Let me give my life to you

Let me drown in your laughter

Let me die in your arms

"So why did you take it, Inu Yasha?" she sighed sweetly, her fingers curling around his arm.

"I already told you." he replied, the faintest hint of an irritated growl to his voice.

"I don't believe you…"

"Feh… am I supposed to care?"

"Inu Yasha…"

"What?"

She didn't answer, but the sharp smell of salty tears stung in the hanyou's nose, and he knew that she was crying again. His body stiffened, recalling the beating that it still might receive.

"Inu Yasha…" Kagome sniffled. "Can't you even trust me a little bit?"

"W-What does trusting you have to do with…" Inu Yasha sputtered. "What-Stop crying! You know I don't trust anybody!"

"I thought that you would at least trust me!"

"That's not the point! I-"

He stopped himself in mid-sentence, remembering quite suddenly how much he hated lying to Kagome. If he delayed too long with an answer, Kagome was likely to get mad. But could he really tell her the truth? No! It was too dangerous for her to know, and if he got himself into the habit telling the truth, it could lead to his death, her death too.

In his mental panic, Inu Yasha realized that his guard had been let down. He quickly checked their surroundings with his furry ears, but the only sounds to be heard were Kagome's sniffles and the boombox. His nose didn't pick up any intruders either, but from then on, he was careful not to become unawares.

"Kagome, please don't get close to me." Inu Yasha managed to speak.

"What?" Kagome blinked and looked up at his face.

"I said don't get close to me." he repeated, his tone low and cautious.

"Why?"

"Because it's dangerous, that's why?"

"How is it dangerous?" she shifted a bit. "Inu Yasha, if anything, I'm safer here with you than if I-"

"That's not the point here." he interrupted her. "As long as you're with me, you're in danger. Do you understand what I'm saying?"

"I think so." Kagome gripped a bit of his sleeve between her fingers. "Inu Yasha, I know we get into a lot of dangerous battles, and we've both been hurt on numerous occasions, but as long as I'm with you, I can fight too."

"And that's what they're counting on."

"Who is? What?"

"The demons we fight against."

"I…don't think I get what you mean on that…"

"Then just forget it and do as I said…"

"No! I want you to talk to me! What about the demons we run into?"

"Just drop the subject already, would you?"

Inu Yasha moved to get up and walk away, but Kagome clung to him so tightly that he toppled from sitting to lying on his side. Kagome was still holding onto him, and he could feel the heaving of her chest as her sniffles turned into crying.

Let me lay down beside you

Let me always be with you

Come, let me love you

Come, love me again

"Just talk to me, Inu Yasha." Kagome cried desperately, not letting go. "Please… you were just going to. What's on your mind? What are you so worried about?"

Like an icicle falling from a roof, Inu Yasha's wall came shattering down. If there was one thing that could do that, it was Kagome when she cried.

"It's because I don't want you hurt…" he grit his teeth.

"Huh?" Kagome's sobbing quieted to almost nothing.

"As long as you're with me, you're in danger. I'm…not…lying."

Inu Yasha gently pushed her off of him and sat himself back upright. He took her hands into his own, his ears ever mindful of the world around them. Amber eyes glared deeply into the hazel ones in front of them, like a predator frightening its prey into paralysis.

"Everything under the sun has been trying to kill me for as long as I can remember." It took every ounce of courage Inu Yasha had to say. "Anything that I treasure, anyone that I associate with or care about either gets killed or destroyed. Why? Because I'm only half demon!"

"You mean… like…her?" Kagome spoke. Inu Yasha knew that she was referring to Kikyou.

"My…mother too…" he paused. "Do you get it now? That's why you can't get close to me. Kagome, I couldn't take it if Naraku or some other demon got you too…"

"Oh, Inu Yasha…" she sniffled, but a little smile was growing on her face.

"I mean it." He shuffled away from her a bit. "It's better that ya don't get attached…"

"You silly dog…" she whispered loudly. "It's too late for that…"

Inu Yasha glanced over at her, an eyebrow raised.

"I'm already very attached to you…"

Let me give my life to you

Come let me love you

Come, love me again

"Kagome, come on…you…you can't…" Inu Yasha stuttered, worry evident in his voice. "You can't g-get attached to me…"

"Why not?" she shifted over to him. Inu Yasha tried to move again, but her hand resting lightly on his was as powerful as any shackle.

"Because… because demons'll come after you!"

"They already come after me." she giggled. "You're not telling me anything new."

"Well…uh… then,… because I'm half demon!" he babbled, one hand tugging a furry ear, the other pulling his lip back to show his fangs. "See? You're supposed to be afraid of something like me!"

Kagome just laughed.

"Inu Yasha, are you trying to scare me?" she leaned her face in close to his. "Because it's not working."

"K-Kagome, come on,…" Inu Yasha's ears stood up perfectly straight, the very tips feeling like they were on fire. He tried to back up, but she was so close… he was practically drowning in that soft, sweet, almost seductive scent of hers. Kagome might as well have just subdued him-he couldn't move if he tried. "Don't…"

You fill up my senses

Like a night in the forest

Like the mountains in springtime

Like a walk in the rain

Inu Yasha shut his eyes tightly, struggling to convince himself that this was not happening. He felt the heat of her face get closer, closer…until her lips were on his own. His entire self went berserk, dying to move, dying to say something,…dying to… do something!

"Oh Kami!" his mind raced erratically. "This is not happening… this all probably just a dream… I-I'm dreaming that Kagome is kissing me…a-any minute now I'm just gonna wake up and… and… that stupid fox is gonna be biting my head or… or Kagome's gonna say the word and I'm gonna fall out of the fucking tree like always……s-she's so warm…whoa, did she just slip her tongue in?"

Their lips parted, and Inu Yasha timidly cracked his eyes open to look at her. Kagome's cheeks were bright red, and her gaze was on his chest rather than his face. She looked embarrassed, but her smile betrayed shyness.

"I-I'm…sorry." Kagome stuttered softly. "I shouldn't have done that… I-"

"Don't…" Inu Yasha interrupted her. "Don't apologize…"

Like a storm in the desert…

Like a sleepy blue ocean…

For a long time, they sat there, quiet and staring into each other's eyes. The wind brought more of Kagome's smell to the hanyou's nose, and he drank it all in, unconcerned whether she noticed or not. Finally, Kagome gathered up the courage to say something.

"Inu Yasha…" her voice quivered slightly. "I…I don't know… if you feel the…same way towards me as… I feel… about you, but……but, I…I love you, Inu Yasha… and I don't care who knows it…"

You fill up my senses

Come, fill me again…

Inu Yasha felt his stomach do several flip-flops when he heard those words come floating from her mouth.

"Me!?!" his heart thundered in his chest. "Not the monk, not the wolf, not even that stupid male from her time, me!?!"

He tried to speak, to reply to those heavenly words she had just said, but no matter how much of an effort he made, his tongue was just too knotted. Words failing him, Inu Yasha curled her into his warm embrace, letting his gentle actions speak for him.

"I love you too, Kagome…" he purred.

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I wanna thank everyone for all of their terrific suggestions for this fic. You have helped me immensely! AAAHHH!! (dodges miscellaneous flying objects thrown by impatient, rabid fans) I'M SORRY! I have been so dry on inspiration it's not even funny. I had a lot harder time working on this chapter than I expected to. It seems to me that I get more inspiration when it is the least convenient (in the shower, in college, in bed, etc.) to write it all down.

I also want to thank everyone for their patience (or lack thereof) with me. I get interupted VERY frequently when I'm trying to write. My only hope is that this chapter was worth the wait to you all.

To be honest, I have absolutely no idea where to go from this point on in the fic. Ideas welcome!

Now for my usual line: Like it? Hate it? Tell me!