InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Moonrain Fireflies ❯ A Bloody Shadow ( Chapter 3 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Kagome wants a bath. Inuyasha keeps seeing her naked. In a nutshell: chaos
Then she gets poisoned and we're one big happy family. Well, chaos is funny, but what's with the poisoned thing you ask?
Plus, is anything SERIOUS going to happen?
Remember, you asked for it, so don't blame me. No suing. We don't sue the Cheesy.

Anime/Manga: InuYasha Fan Fiction | Genre(s): Comedy / Romance / Thriller | Type: Continuation | Uploaded On: 01.22.2006 | Updated On: 01.22.2006 | Pages: 5 | Words: 10.1K | Visits: 304 | Status: Completed

Part 3: A Bloody Shadow

The only thing that could be done was waiting by the well.

If Sesshomaru came, there would have to be a confrontation, and if Kagome or Inuyasha emerged then they would know how they were need--and if they were. Each one of them felt entirely helpless in the matter as whatever chaos had unfolded was taking place a few centuries in the future. And a certain well ensured that none of the pitifully useless three would be able to travel there. They suspected Sesshomaru might come up with a scheme, but then, how was it possible for the youkai to gain access to a world that, so far, only Kagome and Inuyasha had been successful in traveling to?

Sango was still very peeved at Miroku.

"Again, for the thousandth time, I couldn't be more thoroughly sorry than I am now," Miroku assured her, looking deep within her eyes in that way he had. This only caused her to look away, anytime he did this it made her feel vulnerable--and often used.

"Give it up already," Shippo put in, licking the lollypop in his hands. Disregarding these words entirely, Miroku proceeded.

"Sango, I thought it was you in the hot spring, honest!" This did little to aid Sango's searing temper.

"Why would I WANT you to be spying on me in the hot spring?" Sango screamed in retort, clenching her fists rabidly. The look Miroku gave her as a response was utterly and completely blank.

"You mean...you aren't jealous?" Sango's voice rumbled deep in her throat until it exploded into a few cuss words and some other unintelligible ones. Before Miroku could inflict more damage, the infuriated demon exterminator was stomping off to find solace behind the God Tree. A long heavy sigh escaped Miroku as he had a silent conversation with the ground. Shippo, once more, joined in quite uninvited.

"You really don't know how to talk to women, do you?" Miroku was too busy getting his earful of earthworm advice to listen. A little childish exhalation from Shippo, poked into Miroku's short-lived peace. "Why don't you just stop flirting around? I think it would be easier on you both..." The expression that clashed with Shippo's statement was incredulous. Another juvenile sigh. "Never mind."

"Kirara, you don't think I was jealous, do you?" Sango asked the feline demon, which was rather incapable of speech. She stared back at her owner with deep, red, curious eyes. Sango fell to a sitting position by the tree and gazed up into the sky, the moon was a great big lantern, flickering on and off as clouds rolled before it. With a bit of sting locked inside the depths of her eyes, Sango blinked back the tears with a small careless shrug. Kagome and Inuyasha could take care of themselves. The thought of them was persistently nagging and resurfaced when she stumbled upon the notion that they were looking at the same moon... Kagome's absences were always taken sorely by Sango, as there were no other girls to talk to in the group. Now it was even more insurmountable to handle as their safety was questionable--and she was absolutely helpless to whatever fate decided.

Her ability to let the worry diminish into little more than pin prick remnants hit her with a recoil of sorts. Was I jealous again? came the unwanted thought. At the time of the incident, Sango had not considered this--being far more caught up with the fact the women assumed she was a lesbian. Only, now, following Miroku's comment, Sango could only scan her inner self with suspicion. She wasn't about to deny that seeing Miroku slobber over women other than herself fully irked her... Kagome must have felt identical emotions when she saw Inuyasha and Kikyo together. The idea brought along both comfort at the companionship and further misery over her friend's suffering. Thinking of her only lead Sango back onto a train of thought on a track of worry.

Math would be the death of her. More specifically: geometry. Forehead smothered by thick sweat and heat, bangs sticking quite annoyingly to her flesh, clothes also partaking in this game, and numbers jumbled haplessly in Kagome's head made her absolutely prepared to scream at the very first person she saw enter room.

This happened to be Buyo.

As terrible as Kagome felt for the over-weight cat who had been scared more than it ever had been in its short miniscule life, she felt far more sorry for herself. Her entire body was perspiring and grimy, her clothes over-worn and hair frizzy and in a pursuit to get into her much needed vision. One thing was very clear: Kagome needed a bath. A nice, delicious, soothing, hot bath. And no one was going to stop her. Not Sota. Not Buyo. Not her mother. Not Grandpa. And certainly not Inuyasha.

Briefly, she puzzled over the fact that she over-exerted herself. Why was she constantly abusing herself in body and mind? Everyone needs a break at some point, and between saving the people of the Feudal Era, collecting jewel shards, dealing with Inuyasha, babysitting Sota, and doing schoolwork she had hardly taken one. Kagome stood up, watching her Geometry homework distance itself from her as she walked away. It became smaller, and smaller, and smaller, until she could no longer see it. Without a sound, Kagome managed to arrive, undetected, at the bathroom door. Her breath became shallow and unsteady. She was finally there. A paradise lay behind the door and no one was coming to stop her. It was right there, within her grasp, finally, after mountain loads of work--here was the well-deserved pit stop along the treacherous hike. The door had a sort of gleam to it as if it had a heavenly aura all its own. Kagome touched the golden doorknob with shone attractively in the light of the hall.

"Kagome!" With that single word she felt all her hopes crumbling before her. The paradise was no longer in reach, the door no longer gleamed with a heavenly light--it now was a wicked barrier keeping her from her dream, and now a new mountain had arisen to be climbed--the hike continued. "Inuyasha can kick the soccer ball so high!! Come see!" The victim of the following explosion happened to be the unknowing Sota, who began to get a sense of the danger he was in, when he was met by a sinister expression.

"What do you want?" Kagome managed out of all her shaking and snarling. Sota became a tiny, quivering leaf before her, shirking in the eye of a storm he wanted to escape from. And fast.

"I-I-I-Inuyasha--he--"

"I DON'T CARE!!!"

Needless to say, Sota had removed himself from the highly hazardous situation and Kagome was free to enter a bubblicious wonderland. She quietly closed the bathroom door behind her as she entered, humming cheerfully and looking altogether happier than she had in a very long time. Before long she had undressed entirely, and almost burst with excitement and elation at the thought of indulging herself in a cloud of bubbles and soothing scents. Only, this day hated her far too much to allow her the privilege so easily.

Far too much.

Reaching for the faucets with needy hands, Kagome paused when she heard the worst ruckus ensuing beyond the door. Something had been broken. Her grandfather could be heard with amazing clarity, wailing at the top of his longs. Kagome rolled her eyes. She heard stomping, dashing, screaming, cussing, and the breaking of more objects. A climatic argument took place, which Kagome turned to the door to hear better. From her standing place she knew the situation already. Inuyasha was quickly managing with that insufferable manner of his to make an already terrible circumstance far worse for himself. Somehow, he never allowed himself to take credit for much of any mistake--Kagome suspected it had something to do with the inflating balloon of astronomical size that was supposed to be his head.

She could hear him stomping around the house, and her grandfather hurrying with his clanking sandals after him. Perhaps it was the instant which her mind began to wander--thoughts began to swim, perhaps it was the echoing halls distorting sound, perhaps somehow Inuyasha had unwittingly thrown his voice, or perhaps Kagome really didn't have as good hearing as she had reasoned. Whatever the reason, Kagome was taken thoroughly unawares by what occurred next.

As suddenly as a lightening bolt cares to strike from the heavens, the bathroom door was swung open. It was almost torn off its hinges in fact, and the entire bathroom rattled at the slam it made when it somehow collided with the wall. There was a perfectly picturesque moment, where Kagome stood, entirely unclothed, staring straight at an equally unsuspecting hanyou who now stared entirely unabashedly at her. Not a sound was made. In this photo in life, nothing broke the prison doors of time, freeze-framing the occasion. Until Kagome's slowed response created all sorts of wonderfully executed chaos.

In this next instant, Kagome face was beat red and she looked capable of committing horrors Inuyasha did not want to consider. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!!!!!!!!!?" she first screeched, attempting to cover herself. Quickly she found a shampoo bottle as if from nowhere, and a few of its friends which gladly assisted Kagome in causing Inuyasha pain. Kagome adored them, but now Inuyasha's face decided that they were quite unwanted. A moment later, the door was slammed in his face. Until he had gotten ambushed by a gang of dangerous bath supplies, Inuyasha hadn't made a single move. His face was noticeably flushed as he felt his body becoming unstable where he stood.

After the sight of Kagome he lost all composure and fell to the ground. The image of her body was tattooed across his brain and nothing else would take any portion up. Behind him came a voice, "What's wrong, Inuyasha?" It was Sota, Inuyasha registered the voice at a sluggish pace--but he found his mind unable to let go of what he had just seen.

"I just saw your sister naked," he returned, as if traumatized. His voice was muffled, his face in the floor. Sota stared at him with an indecipherable face. Hell's gates opened, and a hideously ferocious Kagome re-emerged--body covered by a towel this time.

"What is WRONG with you perv!" Kagome grated, her fiery eyes fixated on Inuyasha. She didn't notice Sota, who had a faster response than Inuyasha to this.

"He's freaked out because he saw you naked! Ew, that's so nasty. I feel sorry for you Inuyasha, must've been ugly, huh?"

The rage Kagome previously felt was gone and forgotten--in the past.

A far more hellish and sinister emotion too horrendous to possibly wrap into one word quickly replenished the space left for emotion.

"That's right...ew," came Inuyasha's muffled voice.

"SIT!!!!" screamed Kagome, wishing Sota also had a prayer bead necklace, "SIT, SIT, SIT, SIIIIITTTT!!!" Immediately after this, Kagome had disappeared behind the bathroom door after a greatly satisfying: SLAM! This particular sit command did wonders to create physical agony on Inuyasha's part--however it did subject the floor to a very harsh beating.

"Isn't she cruel?" Inuyasha's voice wailed pitifully. To this Sota only said:

"I'm not saying anything bad about her--now that she has magic powers!"

At this time, one would think fate would cut Kagome some slack. It had been giving her the most horrendous of hands...the least it could do at this point was let the poor girl have her stupid bath!! But, of course, fate isn't always fair. Turning the faucets had never been a problem for Kagome. In fact, she could even call herself a faucet turning champion of sorts. Almost every time, the teen had managed to achieve perfect water temperature upon the first turn. She had braved many bath tub dangers, such as retrieving that one earring from the drain, fixing the water heater, bathing without a shower curtain--unheard of, and even the incredibly patience-dependent task of suffering those desolate days of low water pressure. This time, however, the battle would not end in her favor.

Immediately, after turning the hot water faucet, Kagome was hit directly in the face by unbearable, intolerable, acid-like, earth-defying, scalding, intense, broiling hot water in all its malevolent power. This time it wasn't low water pressure, but exceedingly high, not only that, but she had some turned the hot water in place of the cold. When one gets that sensation that their face is burning off, coupled with something entirely unexpected there is one natural thing they must certainly do...

Kagome achieved a scream which takes the cake of about all of those other inferior screams in this world. All those shrill screams by well-trained blondes in Hollywood can't hold a candle to the caliber of this scream--which had a pitch that could summon dogs. And keep one's ears ringing for ages. Unfortunately, Inuyasha wasn't too far away, so he fell victim to a scream surely deserving of some sort of award in some place. The only award Kagome got this time, though, was Inuyasha's over-protective and very rash response mechanism which is always unleashed when Kagome produces one of her blue-ribbon shrieks.

"KAGOME!!" cried Inuyasha, immediately jumping to his feet and forgetting his pain. Before any remotely sane thought could have told him to do otherwise, Inuyasha was inside the bathroom. Fortunately for him, Kagome had a towel; unfortunately for him, she had already been sprayed in the face by mercilessly hot water and was pissed.

Her back was to him when he entered, and by the time the hanyou had skidded to a halt he realized his fatal miscalculation. Before he could make a speedy get away, he was met with vicious eyes that were already envisioning what terrible doom would soon befall him. "What-are-you-doing-IN HERE?" Inuyasha looked around the room as if there was something that could help him.

"You screamed," he finally said, trying his best to come off as adorably innocent as he could manage. The ploy failed. Dismally.

He was shoved and kicked out. Than sat rather cruelly. Silence then filled the hall.

One minute...

Then...

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

"Kagome!"

Now, Inuyasha isn't stupid. He stopped before the bathroom door and gave the situation a real good think. This think was such a good think, in fact, that Inuyasha was sure that his brain had grown somewhat because of it. After this good think, Inuyasha forgot what he had been thinking about in the first place and decided to open the door in front of him. It wouldn't open.

"STAY OUT!!' came Kagome's shrill voice from the other side of the door. She had thrown her body onto the door and was keeping Inuyasha out of the room with all her strength. "I'm fine!"

"But you screamed!" Inuyasha retorted, now determined to get inside. "What's going on!" he grunted, thrusting all his weight into the door. Kagome let out a squeal, wanting very much for Inuyasha to remain on the other side of the door.

"I can handle myself thank you very much," Kagome returned, curtly. Inuyasha almost burst out laughing.

"Yeah right--that's funny." There was a death-like silence.

"SIT!"

Instantaneously, Inuyasha face planted the floor with wide eyes, open mouth, and flailing arms--in perfect comedic form. The first thing Kagome thought was that she was sorry she wasn't able to see Inuyasha taste her hardwood floor.

But she had more important things to attend to.

It would be a bath to end all baths.

Regardless of whatever sort of problem the water pressure had with her infatuation with baths, Kagome would have this bath. It did not matter what the bathtub felt, or what any of those other people did either. This bath would be hers--the greatest bath of all time. Nothing would stop her. She deserved this bath. All her work--ha--for her future? For her family? No. It had all lead up to the delectable slice of time, where the rest of the world would be cut off temporarily. You wanna talk to Kagome? Sorry, she's taking a bath, she'll call ya back. You wanna put all your responsibilities on Kagome? Sorry, she'll get back to you ya later--she's taking a bath. Such a nice feeling! A feeling she could only feel when taking bath!

Of course, the water did not want to corporate no matter what Kagome tried.

After ages of work however, the situation began to take a positive change.

Ten minutes = forever.

Forever came and went and Kagome found her bath in near sight.

That is, until the bathtub was smashed in two...and chunks of the wall almost hit as they flew out of the newly created hole.

See, she wasn't even scared. The look on her face was deadpan. A grotesque thing resembling a jellyfish sat in the middle of the great gaping hole that had been newly created in the wall in which the bathtub was placed against. It's blubber dribbled over the edges of the hole and its immense mouth boasted pearly fangs--long and threatening...a disturbingly purple tongue...with strange fungi or bacteria saddled on for the ride.

Kagome stood like a statue, staring at the gargling demon as if it were an obnoxious child rather than a giant, slobbering beast. It was until one of its tentacles flung itself toward her and gripped her arm that a shriek flew out her lungs into an oddly calmed air. She covered her mouth on quick reflect with her free arm, casting a worried glance at the door. Without thought, simply instinct, Kagome tore for the door, causing the tentacle gripping her to snap in two. She was upon the door, fighting with all she had. "Stay away!"

"Let me in now!"

"It's just a small time demon!" By the prolonged pause, Kagome knew. She should have never uttered those words. There was never another moment where she had felt more mentally challenged.

"DEMON!!? LET ME IN NOW--ARE YOU INSANE?!"

"No.'

"WHAT IN THE SEVEN HELLS IS WRONG WITH YOU!" It was her strength against his, and now that a demon was involved Inuyasha didn't care about the risk of seeing her naked. That had been the single thing holding him back earlier. "I'M COMING IN!"

Kagome found a lock on the doorknob. After turning it, she realized she felt even stupider than before and was more prepared to hit herself than the demon. There was a very limited amount of time, Kagome knelt down and snatched her bow and quiver off a pile of clothes near the hamper. The piece of tentacle that snapped from the demon still remained tightly wrapping around her wrist.

Inuyasha unsheathed Tetsusaiga.

it would only be a matter of time before he--

"WINDSCAR!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"

The wreckage was unspeakable. Now, not only was the bathtub and half the wall it was on reduced to rubble, but the door and most of the wall around it got the fallen empire look. Inuyasha stood dramatically at the doorway as the dust cleared and Kagome quickly aimed an arrow at the demon, feeling for the first time the need to defeat a demon on her own. "I got it!" she told him quickly, running to a good aiming vantage. Inuyasha averted his eyes away from her fluttering towel. Knelt on the ground, Kagome aimed carefully, but feeling pressed for time, not as long as she could have.

"Wait--Kagome--" Inuyasha exclaimed noticing a familiar and miniscule creature making it sway up Kagome's arm. It was a violet and black and color, just as the far bigger demon, no residing in Kagome's wall, but it resembled a cross between a scorpion and crab. The instant Inuyasha saw it, a red flag when up in his mind and his blood went cold. Its form registered with him immediately. "--your arm!" Once Kagome spied the little creature, she attempted to fling it off her arm. it scurried to her neck and quickly bit her there. Kagome squealed, tossing the demon off her and smashing it under her foot, then looking quite disgusted by the goop now on the bottom of her foot. Quickly, she disregarded it, and fired a sacred arrow, casting a glance back at Inuyasha. The bite throbbed. The arrow missed.

"Kagome--I'll--"

"You'll cause more damage!" Kagome insisted, cutting him off. This time she aimed with more care at the demon which was beginning to gain a slow momentum toward her. She cast her pain elsewhere, away from her mind and focused. The demon was soon obliterated in the bright light of her sacred arrow, and Kagome felt as if she did quite the satisfactory job. Smiling at her work, she turned to see an alarmed and panicked Inuyasha running toward her. Just before she was going to lecture him about running on wet floors, the hanyou managed to slip and crash into her.

The first thought that hit her mind was, most conceivably: "Ow", followed by "I told him--" then "or did I?" Though the collision with Inuyasha and the ground, while physically damaging and unexpected didn't take near as much toll on her as what she experienced next. Kagome felt like one of those pathetic victims in a movie, who had to have the guy they secret love fall on top of them and stare at them deeply instead of getting off. The worst part is she couldn't stop staring either. Foremost, not a thought entered in her mind, just numbness as she found herself trapped staring into endless eyes she wasn't supposed to be that close up to. Then she figured he should get off and her thoughts pleaded for the occurrence. Why isn't he getting off? her mind demanded the soundlessness. For some reason it never asked why she didn't push him off herself.

Kagome sat partially up, finally she took matters into her own hands. She was unable to escape his gaze, and perfectly incapable of removing her own from him, but after prolonged moments she found she could move herself. A chunk of air was forced down her throat when he grasped her arms and gently forced her to lie down once more. The millions of queries and pandemonium of her thoughts were too many and too frantic for her to have a single rational thing enter her mind in all the mess. All she could feel was a searing through her chest, as if someone had taken a newly forged pitchfork, still red-hot, and slashed her across. "Calm down, Kagome," came his voice, far too delicate and soothing than it should ever, ever be, especially in this situation.

Despite what, in Kagome's mind, was the better action to take, she found herself rooted to the spot. No movement was possible. She stared at him, pleading desperately for answers. She could only ask over and over what he thought he was doing deep within herself, her mouth wouldn't open, her voice would only whimper and squeak hoarsely, no words would form. Yet, the panic that would ensue next defeated this by a landslide.

"You've been poisoned."

Stay calm?! Kagome's thoughts protested, "Stay calm?" Her heart thundered in her body and whatever level nerve that had previously remained was now frayed and rattled as the rest of her was. How could she stay calm after he told her she was poisoned? Inuyasha witness the change in Kagome's breathing...into hyperventilating.

"I said calm down, dammit," Inuyasha said with a grunt, but it with substantially tone than he normally spoke.

"How can I stay calm?" she choked barely getting the words out.

She attempted to say more, but the words never came. An excruciating pain cut her off from anything she previously puzzled over and anything she considered saying. No recognition of what Inuyasha was doing troubled her, only the agony which surpassed that of almost all her physical suffering consumed her. After what seemed decades of a struggle though one of the worst ordeals she had ever faced, she vaguely recognized that he was sucking the poison out. A slight alarm punctured through her thoughtlessness, there were other means that were better to rid of poison--but then--what sort of modern medicine could serve as an antidote for youkai venom?

It had seemed years and years before the pain began to melt away, Kagome had been strained, buckling her muscles down and clamping her mouth and eyes shut, preventing any sound of complaint whatsoever. This made the entire thing so much harder to suffer through. It doesn't feel so bad now... A huge relief splashed over her entire being as the affliction evaporated, but at a sudden nudge of a good feeling, she immediately felt light headed and almost dizzy.

It was at this time Kagome fully realized the situation.
Yes, this entire time Inuyasha's mouth had been on her skin, and on her neck nonetheless! These earth-shattering thoughts almost vanished when she was instead sinking into an infinitely beauteous sensation. Again, she was forced to restrain everything inside her, yet for the opposite reason. Her cheeks flushed at the notion that what she was being subjected to felt so nice. A great blow to her sanity and conscious was the quite honest suggestion that now that the pain had left, the venom had too... This was terrible because she wouldn't tell him to stop, even though she was sure she should...

When she felt his mouth move a little over her skin, it was very difficult for her to suppress something, though she wasn't sure what it was. The only thing she was certain of was that she was extremely relieved that she had succeeded in restraining it. A second later she found her body nudging up closer to his, and wished she had a quick and convenient way to kill herself right there. Inuyasha opened his eyes, knowing perfectly well, now, that the venom had completely left Kagome's body. He had felt his lips touch upon her skin as if...well he wouldn't blatantly think it out loud, but he simply froze hoping she didn't notice...when...

"Ahem!"

Inuyasha was off of Kagome as fast as a racecar on rocket fuel. Crimson coloring dripped down his face, and Kagome followed suit. They both turned to the source of the voice--who happened to be her grandfather, glaring at them both from the bathroom doorway. "Andwhat if Sota were to see such things,hmmm?" The true terrible package wasn't entirely figured until Kagome scanned the situation, hastily

"What the hell do you mean?" Inuyasha demanded, getting to his feet. With no better indication of what to do, Kagome stood as well. She subconsciously pulled the towel closer to her naked body. "I wasn't doin' nothin!" Kagome glanced uncertainly from Inuyasha to her grandfather, unsure of what to say and struck dumb in an immensely numb pool of vacancy.

"I beg to differ," her grandfather retorted. Rapidly regaining the manner of speech and thought, Kagome motioned to the mark on her neck.

"I was poisoned," she explained, becoming unnervingly authoritative, she pointed to the demon remains behind her, "do you fail to see this room is destroyed...and the hunk of demon behind me?" she inquired, rather dead-pan. In response, her grandfather bristled.

"Yeah, duh," Inuyasha added, "like I'd put my mouth on that wench otherwise." This resulted in two simultaneous dark looks. After this, Inuyasha fell silent.

"Look, Grandpa, it's just a misunderstanding--he was only trying to suck the poison out," Kagome continued, abandoning her glare toward Inuyasha.

"Yeah, sorry for trying to save your granddaughter's life," snapped Inuyasha sarcastically, crossing his arms and appearing quite disagreeable. There was a short pause before Kagome's grandfather abruptly grabbed hold of Inuyasha's left ear and dragged him out of the room. "OW!!!"

"Where did you learn to speak to your elders like that? AndI could have perfectly well sucked out the poison--but you with your...shall we say 'eager' mind, took on the task yourself." Inuyasha moaned pitifully in pain as Kagome's grandfather dragged him away. Shutting the door, the two figures no longer before Kagome's eyes, a white filled them in their absence. Blood immediately rushed to her cheeks once more.

"Geez..." she murmured to the silence, remaining perfectly still, her hand unmoving from the doorknob, and her eyes gazing at nothing.

"I tell you this boy is a menace if they're ever was one!" came Grandfather Higurashi's harsh and loud voice from inside a cabinet.

"Oh father stop being so protective," came the serene, quiet voice from below, standing beside Inuyasha. She smiled at him, and he felt his face burn. "Our Kagome was bound to grow up one day."

"Can you shut up?" Inuyasha grumbled quietly.

"Someone has to look out for that girl!"

"So, basically, what has transpired between you two?" her mother asked conversationally, ignoring her father entirely. Inuyasha stared at her as if she was completely mad.

"What? How many times do I have to say it? She's a--" casting one glance at Kagome's family members Inuyasha decided against bluntly insulting Kagome's looks, "...a--she's just not my type--a-lright? I was just sucking out some poison, now get off my back!" Kagome's mother laughed lightly.

"Oh, sorry, I suppose it's not my business." Inuyasha's jaw dropped. She still didn't seem to believe him.

"You seem to care very deeply for someone who you claim not to..." Grandfather Higurashi inserted in a singsong manner that was highly irritating. A snort escaped Inuyasha and he clawed his way from letting his voice squeak.

"I--she--I need her to sense the jewel shards--that is all," Inuyasha said with such finality, most would have let it end right there. But Kagome's family was a very special case. After grandfather Higurashi unveiled his head from the depths of the cabinet just to stare at Inuyasha blankly along with his daughter for several moments, Inuyasha tried to continue cleaning the artifacts he was supposed to as if they weren't there.

"Then..." began Kagome's mother to Inuyasha's dismay, "...is that all you see her as?"

"Certainly not," huffed the grandfather as if the idea was a scandal in itself. Inuyasha almost failed to hold back a very great sigh.

"Fine--maybe she's a good friend...you know...friend...but that's it, alright?" Inuyasha said as if it was a very huge pain to admit. Soon after he focused on the cleaning of a holy golden bowl supposedly used by monks in the Feudal Era. After the two Higurashis in the room returned to their work as well, Inuyasha felt a contentment spread at the thought that the insufferable topic had come to a close. Several luscious moments of peace came and went--when the beauty of it all was shattered.

"But she's such a pretty girl, isn't she, Father?" He almost threw the bowl he was cleaning. Almost.

"Very. Extraordinary girl. You'd have to be a mad man to pass her up..." A roar entered Inuyasha's exhausting sigh.

"Ok," he said, slamming his rag down onto the golden bowl he had been cleaning, "Me--her? NOT HAPPENING! Not in a million years!! We just don't--" Inuyasha paused a moment at the bizarre looks he was getting for the strange old man and the peculiar woman,"--we just--we don't...mesh that way...and...we will never mesh that way--alright? It would be disturbing, sick, and wrong!" They continued gazing at him in blank study.

"But you just were--"

"Sucking the poison...OUT OF HER BODY!"

"Is that what they're calling it these days?" Kagome's mother murmured thoughtfully. Amazed and on the fringe of sanity, Inuyasha's mouth gaped open and his eyes were unable to leave the very awkward woman before him.

"You are nothing like Kagome, are you?" Inuyasha remarked in pure awe.

"I suppose not," she returned, "you never tried to suck my neck before."

Inuyasha almost said something to that, but found leaving the room the only way he'd be able to retain the little sanity he had left.

It was an hour when only the apparitions of loved ones remained in your head. There was only shadow to accompany, and the mingling of moon silver with darkness to watch. The hours transformed into instances to Kagome, for when she blinked, shadows had traveled the distance they would in hours' time. A subtle undertow of crickets and tranquil night sounds swirled around in a slight blanketing breeze, Kagome stared directly into darkness. They exchanged slight conversation, the coursing river of moonlight intervened a little, but only with its slight two cents here and there. Her questions remained unanswered in the dead of the night.

Stars were unseen behind the somewhat transparent veil of pink curtain beside her, which gently tickled her from sleep with the reminder that she had so many things left to think about. Where did that demon come from? was a lone thought among countless repeating ones, which would never leave her locked lips. She loathed herself for it, but among far more sensitive, secret, and selfish thoughts this one seemed unimportant. It was a vague whisper among the loud demands of the others inside her.

Enclosed in four walls, Kagome failed to breathe in the wild and dew drop aromas of the woods, which she could recall the instant she thought back to times in the Feudal Era. Enclosed in four walls, Kagome was safe. So safe she felt her musings diving into a rabid mania. Here, the past seemed a narration in a storybook; in her room, suffocating pleasantly in darkness, the Feudal Era seemed a fanciful illusion; here, Inuyasha seemed the enticing fantasy of a child. Steadily being swallowed into isolation, Kagome failed to notice her layered imprisonment. Of contemplation, darkness, barriers, and fear.

The dense mist around her weighed in thick, but Kagome still found herself felicitously light. Nothing should penetrate the solid stone-like guard of the quiet and shadow, yet at the muted movement of her door, all soldiers of peace dropped their arms. When he came in Kagome found all air that had once entered and left so easily, suddenly more difficult to drag through her body. The figure of an even more untamed hanyou had entered so slowly, yet her body took it as if it were the greatest shock in the work. She blinked, eyes tearing through the darkness in interrogation. "Inuyasha?" she asked, sitting up in confusion. After a loud swallow, she found her nervousness ease a little. She found she was more bewildered than anxious.

"Kagome..." his voice rustled through the hollowness between them like a faint, longing breeze,

Kagome found herself in a sitting position, and her legs hanging of the edge of the bed, she mused at how she had gotten there. Her logical grip on sanity forgot the heart-stopping way he said her name. Confusion engulfed her as she stood and tediously approached him, why was he here? Sweat was plentiful in this pocket of night--she never knew how to act around him when he was like this...

Nothing seemed too out of the ordinary, there were times when he tried to be this way with her--but either due to his or her own awkwardness it usually didn't amount to much.

The sticky entrapment of a rapidly changing environment was strangling her.

And in a fleeting moment the slight intensity was gone.

A numbing shock struck through her when he grasped her arm, pulling her in and pressing his nose to hers. Kagome couldn't blink or see or think. His force on her was astounding; cool, rapid air struck her back as she flew backwards, Inuyasha tightly against her. Droplets of silver hair smoothed against her face when her back was cut across by the edge of her bed, her feet were on the ground but she couldn't feel them anymore. Her bed was horizontal to her, the moon peering at her back. His body didn't touch hers, his left hand still gripped her arm, and her eyes didn't move. She felt his nose slowly abrading the side of her own, the great fist of trepidation forming over her heart made her feel slightly nauseated and dizzy. His warm, agonizing breaths fingered her lips, they were distracting, cleansing fears out like weeds with Raid.

Her arm was liberated from his grasp, but his claws soon sunk into the flannel shirt she wore. A distinct tearing sound cut into her ears, as his claws quickly reduced the pajama top to shreds. Her heart stammered, and her body shifted backward. "Inuya--" her voice cracked and stopped, when she couldn't move away from him anymore. His hand clasped her bra, binding her to the spot. Her body shook slightly, but otherwise, it was entirely paralyzed. It was off in one swift motion, and Kagome was caught in a gasp that never followed through so that she was left smothered in her terror. He wasn't looking at her, his face wasn't near hers. When his fingers touched her chest he didn't caress, they lay there as if checking a pulse. Something was luminescent, but Kagome could hardly see and didn't know what it was. She felt her body burning as if flames were licking her away.

Then something flashed in her hollow dead eyes.

It was silver and red.

She saw it in her mirror.

Something...Inuyasha was holding behind him.

Kagome eyes flew to his face hidden in shadow.

He...is not himself... her thoughts came through heated and strong after a slow, slurred recognition. She found herself in control of her body once more. Her mouth open, and she knew she could subdue him.

"Sit!" she exclaimed. All the magical beads about the hanyou's neck were lost in a blinding light, then simultaneously flew in all directions from their once bound source, hitting different possessions and walls with dull clicks and thuds. He was frozen a moment, but it wasn't long before he began moving in the darkness again. Kagome saw his arm rise. Crimson slithered down the sterling tear of scattering light, it reflected the moon's downpour back, it was a promise of death on a silent word. No thoughts came to Kagome, there was a rush of images she could not grasp or see clearly burning through her mind as she thrust her hands forward, pushing her body with them. A clash of purple light exploded through the silent black, destroying the helplessness and desolation, it shot Inuyasha back. It was a tsunami of dazzling brilliance, beckoned at a profound need to survive.

Inuyasha could never live with the guilt of killing her, she figured.

He hit the ground, within the time Kagome was still two steps behind what she had unwittingly done. She fell to her knees, clearly seeing Inuyasha sprawled out and slightly weakened. Her eyes flew to the bloody sword in his hand, she reached for it. Startling, eyes opened themselves up, they were a look into hell itself, they unraveled Kagome in an instant and a voice equally as horrific accompanied the creature she knew not. "TAKE IT PREISTESS...YESSSS IT IS WHAT I WANT!" Kagome shuddered, faced by a nightmarish revulsion twirling around such a deep terror that toyed with the great wound within her heart at that ghastly voice which came from Inuyasha. She stood up, backing away, covering her chest as thoroughly as she could.

"Inuyasha..." Kagome began, eyes pooling with salt water.

"I am not this...Inuyasha that you speak of," returned the harrowing voice. The air around Kagome suddenly became exceedingly intimidating and fierce.

"Who are you?" her words came with uncharacteristic mercilessness and sting.

"I use the body of your beloved half breed and who I am isn't important..." He cast his blood-curdling red eyes to the open doorway. "...I thirst for more human blood..." he hissed like a snake, licking the murderous grin his teeth formed. Kagome's stomach twisted in thick knots at the expression existing on Inuyasha's face. Her whole body seized up and constricted on the inside until it might deteriorate--her family was in danger. At her mind flashing back to the blood on the sword he held, Kagome nearly staggered.

"Wh-who did you kill?" Her face became paper-white. The dreadful malicious face was again turned to her.

"No one, unfortunately--but soon I will have more blood..." Those bloodthirsty eyes fell once more on the exit of the room and on the hall outside which lead to Kagome's family...sleeping without a care. Kagome's hands clenched into perspiring fists. Tearing a thin shirt off the floor and pulling it on to cover the now glowing mark on her chest she jumped onto the bed frame with perfect balance and an unafraid expression.

"It's me that you want." Without any trouble she jumped to her windowsill in a crouched position, piercing the desirous estranged being before with her intent gaze. "So come and get me." She grasped the frame out of doors, and hurriedly lunged herself upward, scaling the house as quickly as she could. When her fingers touched the edge of her roof, a thunderous crash shook the entire building, Kagome screamed, almost losing her grip. He was above her, standing on the roof before she could even perceive it.

"Hello..." his fingers ran through her raven hair, "...priestess..." he clutched the strands without relent. Kagome felt her stomach fly into her throat as she was beginning to be lifted. She cried in anguish at the torturous pull on her scalp as she was brought to Inuyasha's level by her hair. He continued to hold her above the roof, Kagome could only wince, she couldn't give him the satisfaction of another scream. A moment later he had brought her in close, so that her violet, blue eyes clashed with his mad, red ones. The sword was brought to the back of her neck and she was secured tightly against his body. Her face squeezed against his.

"How ironic that you should be killed by your lover..." mocked the sinister voice, he seemed delighted by the entire affair, eyes dancing. Kagome struggled, the sword grazed her skin and a string of pain slinked along her neck, she felt her blood dribble onto the blade. "...how about one last kiss...before your untimely demise?" Kagome's air was heaved out then in when it was trapped inside her lungs, her body convulsing, she shut her eyes tightly. The breath of her tormentor again touched to her skin, she let out a gaspy wail, she prepared to shift backward with everything she had. She wanted to die without the kiss of a monster on her lips.

"So you've gone mad enough to try to kill the woman you love this time." Kagome's eyes widened and her breath choked. There wasn't any way. There was no possible way...

"Ah, I see you've managed to come..." said the voice Kagome loathed more than any, the sword eased somewhat from her neck.

"And I see you've managed to take what you can't handle." But she knew that voice... "You know you won't kill her like that." Kagome didn't see the awful smile on Inuyasha's face change.

"I know." The sword was removed from Kagome's neck and it was poised to lunge at her chest. Kagome felt the place on her chest that bore the strange mark sear intensely. "And once I do this I will have full power!" A whistling filled Kagome ears, the screeching wind erasing everything around her, she thought of her friends...family, all the meaningless things she had done...all the times she had with them that she had treasured. Some she had forgotten that now had meaning. She thought of her childhood and how hard she had always tried in school. More and more it had seemed pointless, now it seemed to be an utter waste of time. She saw every person who meant something to her in her life...she saw Inuyasha and she felt that death would be a merciful thing at this point. The only thing that made it unbearable was the fact it was him ending her life--but then she knew that it wasn't he who held the sword...but some horrible being that couldn't come remotely near to being half of what Inuyasha was.

Kagome heard three words, "You will not." And she saw the last person she'd expect to see in the images of her life flashing by...

Sesshomaru.