InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Metamorphosis. ❯ Breaking the Hanyou ( Chapter 70 )

~~Chapter 70~~

~Breaking the Hanyou~

 

Kagome stood under the shower tap with her eyes closed and a frown on her face. `InuYasha is so dead when I get my hands on him,' she thought as she jerked the hot water tap to turn it off. Shivering slightly at the welcome flow of shockingly cold water, she sighed, letting the water soothe her.

 

She ached. Her entire body ached. She felt like she was going to die, to put it simply, and it was entirely InuYasha's fault. She almost hoped he was running all over Musashi trying to find her. At the moment, it would serve him right.

 

He left with Miroku this morning to take care of a rampant bull youkai in a nearby village. About the second he'd gone, Kagome had curled up on a mat in Sango's hut to catch some sleep since, for some ungodly reason, InuYasha hadn't let her do that in nearly three days, and aside from the fact that she was ready to cry, she figured something had to give . . .

 

`It gave, all right,' she thought with an acerbic snort.

 

Bad enough that she knew InuYasha shook the vial the night before. She watched him do it. It should have still been effective now. It hadn't been anywhere near twenty-four hours, for the effects to wear off. Oh, no, she had stupidly thought that she could sneak a quick nap while they were gone only to find herself in the midst of the most . . . disturbing dream she'd ever had.

 

InuYasha had been in it, but he wasn't the InuYasha she knew. The gruff yet gentle hanyou had somehow become a complete stranger hidden behind a face that she knew. He'd shocked her with his demands, scared her with his callous actions. The dream spun out of her control into something that scared her. Even still, there had been a wanton sort of excitement to it, a primitive passion that her body had reacted to even if her mind had rebelled.

 

In the end, it was Marisaiko's crying that jolted her awake, and then Kagome had headed straight for the well. She'd been standing here, in the shower ever since.

 

`If I'm having these dreams now, too . . . then that means . . .' Kagome's eyes widened in incredulous shock as the last bits of the puzzle fell into place. `Hisadaicho wasn't after my bag . . . she . . . she wanted to break the seal on the talisman . . . and InuYasha knew this?' Her gaze narrowed as she turned off the water and flung open the shower curtain. “Oh, just you wait, InuYasha . . . when I get my hands on you . . .”

 

After dressing hurriedly, she paused long enough to drag her brush through her wet hair before yanking open the bathroom door and stalking toward the kitchen.

 

“Are you feeling better, dear?” Mrs. Higurashi asked as she looked up from the newspaper.

 

“No, but I will. Would it still be murder if I killed InuYasha in the past?”

 

Blatantly surprised by her daughter's uncharacteristic show of animosity, especially where InuYasha was concerned, Mrs. Higurashi let the paper drop as she leaned her elbows on the table to stare thoughtfully at Kagome. “Any reason why you're contemplating this?”

 

Kagome shrugged as she fought back a blush. “Because he's keeping things from me, and they're things that affect me, too.”

 

“Men do that, from time to time. They think that things are so horrible that they don't want to concern the ones they love with them. Are you sure that's not what he's doing?”

Kagome made a face as she opened her bag and dumped out the ramen Mrs. Higurashi had packed for the hanyou. “Sure, that's what he's probably telling himself.”

 

Mrs. Higurashi tried to hide her smile. “So you'll make him pay for it by denying him ramen?”

 

Kagome snorted. “For starters.” Closing up the bag, she yanked it off the table and slung it over her shoulder. “I'm going back now. See you later.”

 

“Wait, dear! I got another magazine for you! It's on the table beside the door.”

 

“Thanks!” Kagome called back as she grabbed the magazine without missing a step.

 

Wincing at the brilliant sunlight as she stepped outside the shrine, Kagome waited for her eyes to adjust before striding toward the well house.

 

Kagome ran down the steps to the old well and hopped in as the familiar pinkish light of the time slip enveloped her. `How can I get him to tell me? Why is he being so stubborn? Surely it can't be that bad . . . it can't possibly be as bad as the dream I had earlier,' she mused as she felt a very distinct wave of heat wash over her at the unwelcome memory.

 

She was still trying to come up with a plan to get him to talk as she climbed up the ladder on the Sengoku Jidai side of the well.

 

She heaved a sigh as she strode toward the forest. Maybe Sango could help her think of a way to get InuYasha to talk. Flipping through the magazine as she traveled the path she knew by heart, she folded it back to read her favorite column, Miss Love.

 

:

 

`Dear Miss Love,

 

`I've been seeing this guy for nearly a year, and we've recently had some problems with something that he confessed he's wanted. He told me he wants oral sex since I am still a virgin and don't really want to go all the way until I am married. I know that other people do this, but I am really put off by the idea. Can you give me some advice?'

 

`Signed,

 

`I'd rather not.'

 

:

 

Kagome made a face as she peeked over the magazine at the empty forest trail. She could feel herself blushing as she hurriedly closed the magazine and rolled it up. Sometimes she had to wonder just how desperate some people were, to actually write a magazine for advice. `Dear Miss Love,' she thought with an ironic smile, `I recently became mates with a stubborn hanyou who won't tell me what he has been dreaming about . . . How can I get him to admit what his fantasies really are?'

 

With a smothered gasp, Kagome's eyes widened as she stopped abruptly. `Oh, kami . . . was he dreaming that we . . . that I . . . no-o-o-o-o-o . . .' Covering her mouth with her free hand, she could feel the painful heat in her face as she croaked out a weak moan. `Eww! Eww, eww, eww, eww!'

 

It took a moment for the initial shock of her thoughts to wear off. Sinking down on a boulder as she dropped the magazine from her slack fingers, she buried her face in her hands and sighed. `I can't do that . . . no-o-o . . .'

 

Then again . . . Thinking back to that night by the campfire after the fight with the tiger youkai, Kagome quickly looked up as another sort of understanding dawned on her.

 

`Is it that you don't want me to touch you or that you're scared to let me touch you?'

 

`What?'

 

`I don't mind. I just want you to know that.'

 

“InuYasha,” she whispered as she frowned. `That's it . . . he's always thought he was tainted and dirty . . . and he's not . . . If I won't do this . . . that's why he won't tell me.'

 

She sighed again and shook her head slowly. `But what if I really can't do that? It's not him, it's just . . . the idea of . . . it . . .'

 

Drawing a deep breath and shaking herself, she snatched up the magazine and stood up. “First things first, Kagome.” Stepping back onto the trail, she squared her shoulders as grim determination took over. `That means I have got to find a way to make him fess up . . . he thinks he can be stubborn? Ha! He's just met his match . . .'

 

 

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

 

 

“You grab, I'll shove.”

 

Sango made a face. “No, that won't work. You grab, and I'll shove.”

 

Miroku shook his head. “Sango, I think it would be best for everyone involved if you do the grabbing, and I do the shoving.”

 

Sango rolled her eyes. “You've had more practice, so you should definitely do the grabbing while I do the shoving.”

 

“Come on, guys, before InuYasha gets back?”

 

Both heads turned to stare at Kagome who was dancing back and forth from one foot to the other as she glanced toward the forest trail again.

 

“Did you bring ramen for me?”

 

Kagome smiled sweetly at her mate as he hunkered down beside her. “You know, Mama bought some, and I forgot it. If you want, you can go get it.”

 

InuYasha stared at her for a moment. “What are you hiding, wench?”

 

She blinked innocently. “Me? Hiding things? From you? Would I do that? One of us hiding things is enough, don't you think?”

 

He made a face at her blatant jibe and shot to his feet. “Keh! Fine, but I ain't sharing, either.”

 

Kagome had watched him go with a small, gloating smile on her face.

 

He'd come back any time, though, and they had to work out the details of the plan before he did.

 

“You can decide who shoves and who grabs later,” Kagome pointed out. “First, though, we all know what we're doing?”

 

“Sure,” Sango agreed.

 

“Me, too!” Shippou piped up.

 

“Uh huh,” Ichisaru mumbled around a mouthful of pocky.

 

“Absolutely,” Miroku assured her. “Now rest easy, Kagome. We've got everything under control.”

 

“Aye,” Kaede added, “now best ye go, Kagome, before InuYasha returns.”

 

Kagome nodded and hurried away. Shippou ran off with the buckets for water. Ichisaru headed away to gather fire wood.

 

“I still think you ought to grab while I shove,” Miroku commented.

 

Sango shot her husband a dark look. “Give up, houshi-sama.”

 

Miroku shrugged. “Come now, Sango . . .”

 

She shook her head. “He won't let go without a struggle, houshi-sama . . .”

 

“Which is precisely why I'll shove him while you grab. That way he won't be able to resist.”

 

“He has freakish strength! You grab!”

 

“But he won't tonight, so you grab.”

 

They stood toe to toe for a few moments, neither one willing to give up. Finally Sango shot him a secretive little smile and shrugged as her smile took on a hint of gloating. “All right, houshi-sama, I didn't want to have to do this, but you're leaving me no choice.”

 

Miroku eyed his wife nervously.

 

“Do you like your nice, warm futon?”

 

“That's not fair,” he complained.

 

Sango grinned. “As I said. You grab, I shove.”

 

Miroku heaved a sigh as he wondered just how she'd managed to win that one.

 

 

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

 

 

“I don't get it. Where is Kagome?”

 

“I told you, InuYasha, she's helping Kaede, but she was worried that you'd be found out if you stayed in the village tonight,” Miroku explained. “With the youkai incursions of late, there have been a number of refugees bidding shelter since they know you protect this one.”

 

InuYasha snorted. “Keh. Why do all you people insist on acting like I'm dying for the night?”

 

“Just humor us, then.”

 

InuYasha glowered at the abandoned hut. Located on the outskirts of the forest away from the other village huts, the old man who used to live here had died over a year ago. InuYasha's glower darkened when he noticed the flicker of a fire shining under the door. “Since when does that hut have a door?”

 

Miroku shrugged. “It's always had one. Perhaps you simply never took note of it before.”

 

“Keh! I think I'd know if I'd ever seen a door on it. What are you hiding?”

 

Miroku clutched his chest as the rings on his Shakuju chimed. “You wound me, InuYasha. Would I—a humble monk in the service of Buddha—hide something?”

 

“Yes, you, an ex-monk in the service of `piss-off-the-hanyou' would do just that.”

 

Stopping by the front door, InuYasha crossed his arms over his chest stubbornly as Miroku pulled it open. “Why don't you go inside and wait for Kagome?”

 

“I'll pass,” InuYasha growled.

 

Sango emerged from the shadows around the side of the hut. “Shouldn't you go inside before you change?”

 

“This is stupid.”

 

Miroku started to say something but stopped, staring as InuYasha changed before his eyes. In the blink of an eye, the silvery locks darkened to black, golden eyes shifting to deep brown—black in the darkness of the night. “Well, I guess it's about time, wouldn't you agree, Sango?”

 

“Time for what?” InuYasha demanded.

 

Sango stepped closer as Kaede stepped out of the shadows. “All right, houshi-sama.”

 

“What the hell are you—?”

 

“Sorry, InuYasha. I warned you,” Miroku remarked as his hand flashed out, wrapping around Tetsusaiga as he jerked it free from now-human InuYasha. Sango shoved him backward. InuYasha stumbled and lurched toward the doorway a second too late as the monk swung the door closed.

 

“What the fuck are you doing?” he bellowed as he lowered his shoulder and shoved with all his strength.

 

“Calm down, InuYasha. It's for your own good,” Miroku called through the door.

 

“Give me back my sword, you jackass!”

 

“Oh, no . . . can't do that . . .”

 

“This is fucking stupid! I'm human, not helpless!”

 

“But you are staying in there until you confess.”

 

“Confess what?” InuYasha demanded. “When I get out of here, I'll shred you, I swear!”

 

“Be good, will you, InuYasha? Kaede needs to concentrate to secure the barrier.”

 

“The what?”

 

“The barrier, now hush.”

 

“What the fuck is the barrier for?”

 

“In case you don't give in and tell Kagome what you should have already told her, InuYasha. Now please . . . silence.”

 

InuYasha growled in frustration as he threw his shoulder against the door again. It didn't budge.

 

“You can't get out.”

 

With a gasp, InuYasha whirled around only to come face to face with his mate—who was smiling rather smugly where she sat by the fire. “You sneaky wench!”

 

Her grin widened. “And you said I couldn't lie. Pretty good poker face, if I do say so, myself.”

 

“You can't . . .”

 

“Can't what?” she asked pleasantly.

 

“You can't cage your mate!”

 

She wrinkled her nose. “I didn't cage you, InuYasha. I just didn't tell you what I was planning.”

 

He snapped his mouth closed on his retort as he stomped over to the tiny window, stifling a groan at the glowing pink barrier that covered the hut completely.

 

“They had to take Tetsusaiga away from you so you couldn't break the barrier and escape it,” Kagome explained in the same pleasant tone.

 

“As soon as I get that fucking door open—”

 

“Ofuda. You can't get out tonight. They'll unseal it tomorrow, but you can't get through the barrier without being purified . . . Since you're human tonight, though, they had to use the Ofuda.”

 

“Why do I think you're enjoying this?”

 

She blinked innocently. “I'm enjoying this about as much as you've enjoyed not telling me things that I need to know . . . like the fact that Hisadaicho broke the seal on the talisman.”

 

He winced. “Y-y-you know about that?”

 

“Yeah,” she countered as sudden fire blazed to life in her gaze. “Want to know how I found out?”

 

He flopped down against the wall. “No,” he grumbled, unable to keep the flush off his face.

 

Kagome sighed. “Look, InuYasha, I know you don't want to tell me, but . . . you have to. The dream I had today . . .” she trailed off, staring at her hands for a moment before slowly lifting her gaze to meet his. “The dream I had today . . . scared me. You have to tell me. If you'd have told me, I wouldn't have had to do this.”

 

InuYasha shot to his feet and threw himself against the door again. “Good night, you two! See you in the morning,” Miroku called out, his voice growing more distant as he spoke.

 

Kagome shook her head as she stood slowly and wandered over to the window, staring out at the night sky. “Is it really so awful?”

 

InuYasha snorted but didn't answer.

 

“It might not be, you know. Maybe what ever it is you think is terrible really isn't . . .”

 

His recalcitrant expression told her plainly that he didn't believe that in the least.

 

Kagome stifled a sigh as she turned away from the window. “We have water and firewood and food . . . we can stay here indefinitely if we have to. We're staying put until you tell me what you've been dreaming.”

 

When he gave no outward indication that he'd heard her at all, Kagome shook her head and dug her magazine out of her bag. “Have it your way, baka,” she informed him tightly. “Just remember that the more tired I get, the crabbier I get, and the crabbier I get, the more likely to cry I'll get, too.”

 

She didn't miss the flinch that passed over InuYasha's features as she stuck her nose in her magazine and rolled her eyes. `Baka! Why does he have to make everything so stupidly difficult? It's like pulling teeth . . .' Fingering the fang that hung around her neck, Kagome snorted inwardly. `Even pulling teeth wasn't this insanely difficult, come to think of it . . .'

 

Something told her it was going to be a very, very long night . . .

 

 

~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~ *~=~*~=~*~=~*~=~

A/N:

== == == == == == == == == ==

Final Thought fromInuYasha:

…I can't believe she tricked me!!!

==========

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~