InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Metamorphosis. ❯ Illusions ( Chapter 64 )

~~Chapter 64~~

~Illusions~

 

“Kagome!”

 

Kagome stopped mid-stride and caught the kitsune as he barreled into her chest. “Shippou! I missed you, too!”

 

Shippou hopped onto her shoulder and leaned back to pillage her bag. “Pocky, pocky, pock-k-gome? Why do you smell like you rolled around with InuYasha?”

 

Shifting her gaze around the clearing, satisfied that InuYasha wasn't around at the moment, Kagome pulled Shippou off her shoulder and sighed as she tried not to blush. “Shippou, InuYasha and I . . . We're . . . we're together, but he's not ready to tell anyone yet. Can you keep it a secret?”

 

Shippou pondered the question and nodded slowly. “Sure. What about Ichisaru? He'll smell it, too.”

 

“Ape-shit, would you not do that?”

 

Kagome looked up in time to see InuYasha stomping out of the forest with Ichisaru on his shoulder. Ichisaru was clinging onto the hanyou's shoulder while InuYasha tried to shake him off. Seeing InuYasha's rising irritation, Kagome clamored to her feet and hurried to intercept the two before InuYasha lost his temper. “What happened?”

 

Ichisaru sprang over to Kagome's shoulder. “I just said that he smells like you, and he said I had to promise not to tell anyone else.” Glancing fearfully at the hanyou, Ichisaru scampered to Kagome's other shoulder that was marginally further away from InuYasha's wrath.

 

InuYasha snorted. “Keh! It don't matter if you tell her!” he growled.

 

Ichisaru relaxed a little bit.

 

“What did you do that InuYasha didn't like?”

 

Ichisaru stared at his feet, a frown furrowing his brow. “I promised I wouldn't tell.”

 

“He shook his fucking ass at me again, damn it!”

 

Kagome bit her lip as she struggled not to laugh at the disgruntled hanyou. “That is his way of making a promise,” she pointed out reasonably.

 

InuYasha made a face. “Whatever, wench. I don't like it.”

 

“I won't tell; I won't tell!” Ichisaru hollered as he covered his head to protect himself from InuYasha's wrath. “Monkey—”

 

“Don't fucking do it again!” InuYasha snarled as he lunged for the monkey. Ichisaru squealed and launched himself off Kagome's shoulder as the miko intercepted her mate.

 

“InuYasha, calm down!”

 

InuYasha snorted indelicately and adjusted Tetsusaiga on his hip. “Keh! You'd better run, ape-shit, because I'm gonna thump you when I catch you!”

 

Kagome shook her head as Ichisaru streaked toward the forest trail with Shippou hot on his heels. “I think you made your point. They won't tell.”

 

He didn't look like he agreed. In the end, he sighed. “Did you . . . tell your mother?” he asked, trying for a neutral tone.

 

“No . . . I didn't know if you wanted me to, and, well, I didn't know how.”

 

He nodded, face shifting into a thoughtful frown. “I guess I should go with you, when you tell her.”

 

InuYasha sounded like he thought that the idea of going with her to tell her mother would be worse than death. Kagome shot him an encouraging smile. “Whenever you're ready.”

 

With a wince, InuYasha shook his head. “It ain't that, Kagome. What if she . . . I won't let her keep you away from me,” he grumbled, lifting his chin defiantly.

 

“Do you really think she'd do that?”

 

He shrugged. “No, because I won't let her.”

 

Kagome hugged him tight. “She won't, InuYasha. She adores you.”

 

“Keh.”

 

“No, really! She does!”

 

He didn't look like he believed her but he let her take his hand as she dragged him toward the forest trail. “I mean it, wench. If she tries, I'll drag you back through the well so fast it'll make her head spin.”

 

Kagome leaned against InuYasha's arm. “You're worrying about nothing, you know. Mama loves you.”

 

“InuYasha! Kagome! You're back!”

 

Jerking his hand away from Kagome, InuYasha paused to allow more distance between the two of them as Miroku hurried toward them. “Yeah, I already got supplies.”

 

Miroku nodded as he fell into step beside them. “Have you noticed anything strange with the youkai of late?”

 

“What do you mean, strange?” InuYasha demanded.

 

Miroku shrugged, jingling the loops on his Shakuju as they continued along the path. “There's been a bit of unrest of late. Just yesterday one of the outlying villages was attacked by a horde of angry nezumi youkai. Sango and I aided them, but they seemed more agitated than normal.”

 

Kagome digested that in silence, frowning at the packed dirt path below her feet. “That is odd. I wonder what could cause them to react like that.”

 

InuYasha snorted as he crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly. “Keh! What does it matter?”

 

Miroku shook his head. “InuYasha, the last time we saw a resurgence like that was when Naraku went into hiding on Hakureizan.”

 

“What are you saying?” InuYasha challenged. “Naraku's dead.”

 

“Of course he's dead. All I'm saying is that it is as though the youkai sense something.”

 

InuYasha shrugged. “Calm down, monk. I got your back, if you're scared.”

 

Miroku grinned. “Scared, indeed . . .”

 

“Maybe we should poke around? See if anyone knows anything?” Kagome chimed in. “If the youkai are agitated . . . That doesn't seem right, does it? Do you sense anything, InuYasha?”

 

“Nope, not a thing,” he assured her.

 

She didn't miss the fleeting glimpse of worry that clouded his gaze. “If you say so . . .”

 

“Keh! Bring `em on! I'm itching for a good fight,” InuYasha replied airily, closing his eyes as he lifted his chin in defiance.

 

“You're so reckless,” Kagome muttered.

 

InuYasha popped one eye open to gaze at the miko. “Reckless ain't got a thing to do with it, wench. I can take them.”

 

Kagome grinned as she noticed the sparkle in InuYasha's stare. She couldn't stave back the filtering heat that permeated her cheeks as she quickly looked away.

 

“Something going on?” Miroku asked cautiously. “Something you want to tell me about . . . ?” Trailing off as his smile dissipated, the monk eyed them speculatively.

 

“Not a fucking thing,” InuYasha grumbled as he turned his face away to inspect the trees.

 

Miroku shrugged and heaved an exaggerated sigh. “If you insist . . . keep your secrets, then . . .”

 

Kagome hid her secretive smile as she resisted the desire to glance over her shoulder at InuYasha. Despite the worry about what might be irritating the youkai, she was hard-pressed not to be in a good mood as she lifted her hand to press InuYasha's fang against her skin, hidden under her blouse.

 

 

::0::0::000::0::0::

 

 

Striding through the meadow as he searched for the source of the odd sense of unrest on the air, Sesshoumaru's eyes slowly shifted from side to side. His lands were as calm and peaceful as they ever were, and still he couldn't shake the feeling that something was amiss.

 

`Something . . . something vile is coming to pass . . .'

 

Dragging in a deep breath, he knew there was nothing different about the smells that carried to him, no underlying thing to be discerned. Yet the knowledge that something wasn't right provoked him.

 

“I thought you'd be out here.”

 

He didn't turn to acknowledge Kagura as she hopped off her feather and caught it between her fingertips. Falling into step beside him, she gazed around in much the same manner that he had. “Something's happening,” she finally said, her voice tinged with a hint of foreboding. “You feel it, too, don't you?”

 

Sesshoumaru didn't answer right away as he shifted his gaze to his mate. Walking along in silence, thoughts drifting back to the strained reunion, he wondered once more what she wasn't telling him.

 

He caught up with her on the outskirts of Hisadaicho's lands, and when he had, Kagura hadn't even been able to look him in the eye.

 

“Tell me what she meant, Kagura.”

 

Kagura hopped off her feather and shook her head. “It's not important.”

 

“Not important?” he echoed, eyes flaring as he glared at his mate. “Did you go to her willingly?”

 

Kagura's eyes registered her shock at his question. “No! Never!”

 

He waited for her to continue. She didn't. Again he noticed the sadness in her gaze, the pain in her eyes, as though something or someone was making her do things that she wanted no part of. The trouble was that he had no idea what it could be, and she wasn't willing to tell him, either. “Kagura, do you trust me?”

 

She winced at his softly uttered question, head jerking in a tense nod. “Yes.”

 

“Yet you cannot trust me in this?”

 

Kagura forced a small smile that never reached her eyes. “I trust you, Sesshoumaru. Just . . . trust me, all right?”

 

He had a feeling that she was asking for more than he could appreciate. Still he nodded and gathered her up to take her home.

 

“There is a foul presence on the wind,” he finally said as the memory faded.

 

“It's an omen, a warning.”

 

“Perhaps . . . but for whom?”

 

Kagura lifted her face into the wind, closed her eyes as the wild soothed her. He knew everything about her, and yet he felt as though there were still something she kept from him. `What are you plotting, Hisadaicho? And what does it have to do with Kagura?'

 

“Will you search for answers?”

 

Sesshoumaru turned abruptly, Mokomoko-sama trailing out behind him in the wind. “It matters not. This Sesshoumaru fears nothing.”

 

The smile that surfaced on Kagura's face this time was genuine. “I didn't think you would.”

 

Inclining his head toward his mate, the youkai headed back to the castle with Kagura by his side.

 

 

::0::0::000::0::0::

 

 

“But—”

 

“No.”

 

“Listen, I—”

 

“No.”

 

“Don't you think—?”

 

“Keh! No!”

 

“InuYasha—”

 

“Fuck, no.”

 

Wrinkling her nose at the stubborn hanyou, Kagome nearly stomped her foot in frustration. Arms crossed over his chest, chin lifted arrogantly, he shook his head again to emphasize his point and jerked his head toward the Bone Eater's Well. “Time's wastin', wench.”

 

She tried to argue with him one last time. “I'm not helpless, you know! I can stay here with Sango.”

 

“You could, but you're not. Now get moving, will you?”

 

“I think I liked the arrangement better before we broke the toxin, baka. At least then you couldn't order me back to my own time,” she grumbled as she sat down on the edge of the well, “and you've blown it, pal! See if I make you a special meal!”

 

She turned to flip her legs over the side of the wall as she hitched her backpack on her shoulders. `Wait . . . if she goes back, and I'm gone all night . . . Fuck! The talisman won't work if she's back in her time and I'm here . . .' She didn't see the sudden consternation on InuYasha's face and was ready to drop into the well when he caught her and pulled her back.

 

“InuYasha?”

 

He scowled as he set her on her feet and let his arms drop. “Come on.”

 

She shook her head slowly. “Why the change of heart?”

 

“Keh! Just come on, wench.”

 

She grinned suddenly as she threw her arms around his neck to kiss his cheek. “I knew it! You can't stand to be away from me, either!”

 

His face reddened as he wrinkled his nose. “Kagome—”

 

“It's all right, InuYasha. No one else is here, right?”

 

“Well . . . no . . .”

 

“Admit it. You love having me around.”

 

“Keh!” he snorted but couldn't help but grin at her. “I told you, I tolerate you.”

 

She leaned up to kiss him, a soft kiss meant to tell him how happy she was that he wasn't making her go home. The single brush of her lips against his set off a chain reaction absolute fire that culminated in a low moan as he dragged her closer, stifling her gasp as his tongue darted past her lips. Delightful sensation swirled around him, lost in the smell, the feel, the taste of Kagome.

 

“If we're supposed to keep it a secret, don't you think you should stop doing that?” Shippou grumbled as he hopped up on InuYasha's shoulder.

 

Kagome sighed as InuYasha jerked back to glare at the kitsune, unmistakable mayhem in his eyes. “Back off, Shippou, or I'll clobber you.”

 

Shippou chortled happily as he hopped over to Kagome's shoulder. “Does this mean I can come live with you guys now?”

 

“What?” InuYasha growled incredulously. “Keh!”

 

“We don't have a hut or anything,” Kagome pointed out reasonably. “But I'm sure you can, if we do.”

 

“Keh!”

 

“Really? Great!”

 

Kagome giggled. “But you can't tell anyone yet, all right?”

 

Shippou nodded enthusiastically. “Can I still sleep with you, Kagome?”

 

“Well . . .”

 

“Oi! What about me? Don't I get a say in this?” InuYasha grumped.

 

“You don't mind, do you?” Kagome asked, turning the wide-eyed innocent look on him.

 

InuYasha stifled a groan. “Keh. Whatever.”

 

Shippou hopped down and streaked back toward the forest once more. “Miroku is ready when you are!” he called over his shoulder.

 

Kagome giggled as the kitsune disappeared into the forest again. “Kagome . . .”

 

“He just wants a home, InuYasha, like you do.”

 

InuYasha shook his head slowly as he walked with Kagome toward the forest trail. He hadn't really thought of it that way. Still there wasn't any way in hell he was going to allow Shippou to sleep with Kagome, and he didn't care how much Kagome batted her eyelashes at him. There were some things he wasn't willing to negotiate, and that was a big one.

 

 

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A/N:

Shakuju: Miroku's weapon (staff)

Nezumi: rat.

Hakureizan (Mount Hakurei): white, spirit-power, mountain … Hakureizan was the birthplace of Naraku's third form.

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Final Thought from InuYasha:

…Shippou…

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Metamorphosis): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~