InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Nightmares ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

Disclaimer: You know, Rumiko could sell out little bits of Inuyasha, like I'd own his sleeve, or something. But she doesn't. So, I don't.

 

Chapter Three

 

Inuyasha leaned against the side of Kaede's hut, watching the sleeping humans scattered around the hut floor. Shippo was curled up with Kirara in one corner, while Sango and Kagome slept near Kaede. Miroku got easily half the hut to himself, to prevent any acts of lechery during the night.

 

Inuyasha drifted into thoughts again. It had occurred to him a while ago, but he had never had a reason to run the idea past Kagome. Besides, he had been so worried that she would blow it off that he kept it to himself.

 

One benefit of being hanyou was that he had some youkai abilities, one of which was the ability to claim another. Usually it was only used for mates, but in some cases it was used to protect kin, or another with a similar close relationship. First, he would have to mark her, which in itself was an ordeal, but after that Kagome would be protected from many youkai psychic attacks. He knew she had suffered trauma at the hands of the moth youkai, and with this protection she wouldn't have to suffer through that. Also, many youkai would not bother attacking her with the mark of a powerful inu hanyou; even though he was only half, his youkai blood was to be respected.

 

The incident from the night before was still troubling her, he knew it. Now she was sleeping, and he could tell from her tossing and moaning that she was probably dreaming about it.

 

She bucked under her blanket, and he smelled the salt of her tears. He sighed and rolled to his feet.

 

Enough.

 

He knelt next to her, his hand stretching out and stroking her cheek. She nuzzled into his hand, and her hands reached up and trapped his wrist. Almost immediately her moaning stopped, and her thrashing calmed. She visibly relaxed and settled down.

 

Inuyasha tried to get up, but found she had a death grip on his wrist. He tugged a little, and she whimpered. With a heavy sigh, Inuyasha sat back down and tugged Kagome into his lap. She shifted into a more comfortable position, and rested her head on his chest. She let out a contented sigh.

 

Inuyasha found himself smiling at the happy sound coming from her. She's much better happy. She doesn't deserve to cry, or be sad.

 

Kagome stirred in her sleep. He looked around, and satisfied that no one was watching, held her close, and placed his nose into her hair. He inhaled deeply, and then rested his cheek on her head.

 

Slowly he drifted off to sleep.

 

She was warm. Warm, and comfortable. Wait, didn't I fall asleep on Kaede-obaachan's floor? I never am comfortable there.

 

She cracked open her eyes, and saw red. Inuyasha?

 

She lifted her head a little more, and found herself in Inuyasha's lap, with his arms around her and his face in her hair. He was very warm and his lap was comfortable, so she just snuggled into him and bathed in his warmth.

 

“Comfortable?”

 

Kagome jumped a little.

 

“Gomen, I didn't know you were awake. I can move now...” She started to get up, but Inuyasha's arms tightened around her. She glanced up at him, but her kept his eyes focused innocently on the wall, seemingly oblivious to her glance.

 

She sighed, and lay her head against his chest, relaxing a little.

 

Inuyasha smiled. The girl in his lap was still snuggled against his chest. She seemed happy, more content and trusting than she had since the night of the dream.

 

He sighed internally. I really don't want to agitate her, or make her unhappy, but it would be best for her to hear the idea while she's in a good mood, and not mad at me.

 

He gripped her tightly, and stood, hopping off the raised wooden floor of the hut and walked out of the hut. He ignored her questioning remarks, and ran for Goshinboku, guided by the light of the waning moon. He swelled with pride when she gripped him tighter, silently trusting him to not let her fall.

 

He set her down once he reached the trunk of the god tree. He left her on her feet, then backed away. She eyed him questioningly.

 

Kagome eyed Inuyasha curiously. She didn't like how uncomfortable he looked. He was examining his feet nervously, shifting his weight uncomfortably from one foot to the other. His bare toes scuffed the earth, and a faint blush settled across his cheeks.

 

“Inuyasha?”

 

“Kagome. You know I would do everything to protect you. I would give my life to save you. You know that, don't you?” He was staring at her directly. It was more uncomfortable than him eyeing his feet, now the golden eyes focused on her, boring into her soul, reaching into her and grasping her soul, examining and probing while comforting all at the same time.

 

“Ano, Inuyasha…”

 

“Do you understand?!”

 

She eyed him curiously, trying to figure out what was going through the mind behind his beautiful eyes. Unfortunately, she couldn't seem to think once she had gazed into his eyes. They were probably one of his best features, other than his ears, and one of the first things she had loved about him.

 

“Hai, of course. Inuyasha, why…”

 

Inuyasha shifted uncomfortably back and forth on his feet. He was growing more and more apprehensive, and Kagome focusing her attention on him was not helping his state of mind. Somehow her attention always seemed to thrown him off course. Then again, it was also extremely inspiring. He would walk to the ends of the earth if she asked him to. Somehow, he knew that if she wanted him to do it, he would find a way.

 

“Please, listen all the way through my explanation. If you want to cast it off, I won't bring it up again. But please listen this time. Please?” his eyes cut into her again, boring down to her soul. She was so mesmerized that she barely was able to follow what he had said. Once it finally sunk in, she only took a quick second to decide.

 

Her quick nod and immediate focus directly on him was all he needed for confirmation.

 

“Um, this could take a while.”

 

Inuyasha was back to staring at his feet. Kagome nodded assent, and plopped down on the ground, her back to Goshinboku. Inuyasha sighed, and sat several feet in front of her, close enough to read every reaction of her body, the smallest shift in body language, but far enough away that they were not uncomfortably close.

 

He settled into his usual cross-legged, arms in sleeves pose. He took a deep breath, and tried to sort out his words in his head. Kagome sat patiently. If anyone knew how hard it was for him to express himself, it was she. She would wait for him to organize himself, however long it took, The thought was comforting, and gave him the strength and courage to speak. It also made him realize how much he wanted to protect her, and give her the same comfort that she gave him.

 

“Youkai very rarely associate with humans. Most youkai simply kill them on the spot. However, there are rare instances where a youkai ends up protecting a human, sometimes as just a protector, other times,” he gulped, and prayed to every god listening that she wouldn't take this the wrong way, “as a mate.”

 

Kagome gasped slightly, and frowned a little, Don't jump to conclusions, let him finish, he may not mean what you think he does.

 

Inuyasha saw that she was not freaking out, so he drew a deep breath and continued.

 

 

“Naturally, the youkai developed a way to offer, a sot of, extra protection for these humans. To give them even greater protection against enemies. At least in the case of inu youkai, this way is to give place a mark on the human. Normally this is temporary. If the human wants to be free of the protection, the mark will vanish.”

 

He stopped, and glared at the dirt under his feet. So far this had been embarrassing, to say the least. And it was quite uncomfortable, being under the her gaze as he explained something like this.

 

Gentle fingers ran underneath his chin and pulled his face up, to look into her beautiful eyes. She gazed at him with some uncertainty, like she was running something through her mind.

 

“So, this mark would work in the case of inu hanyou as well?”

 

Unable to meet her eyes, he simply nodded.

 

“So, you mean to mark me?”

 

Inuyasha stiffened. Damn, she caught on fast.

 

Kagome watched the hanyou, her eyes studying him.

 

Inuyasha eyed his feet uncomfortably. I'm already wading in dangerous waters, might as well jump in.

 

“If you were to be marked, it would offer protection against illusions, poisons, and some other youkai attacks. That way, it would be even harder for anyone to hurt you, if I ever lose sight of you.” His eyes returned to examining the ground, eyeing the same patch of grass that had been fascinating him most of the conversation.

 

She frowned. Kagome didn't quite know what to think. Didn't he say that many youkai do this for their mates? Does that mean…?

 

“Inuyasha, is this mark for,” she gulped, “mating?”

 

Inuyasha stiffened. Oy, this was not a question I thought I'd be answering. But, does that mean that she is even considering the possibility of doing this. Hope flickered behind his eyes.

 

His eyes shifted to her face, and he saw how distinctly uncomfortable she looked.

 

“No, its not just for that. Though, usually, yes.”

 

“If I chose, to accept this protection, then I would be safe from some attacks, and, if I ever decided I didn't need the protection anymore, it would vanish, right?”

 

He nodded curtly.

 

“You'd do that for me?”

 

If the situation were not so serious, Inuyasha might have fainted from the shock. She is seriously considering it. I never thought she actually would consider it.

 

His eyes slowly raised, to lock with hers. Her eyes showed such conflicting emotion, though one of the main emotions he could detect was wonder. She seemed to be amazed, and it was playing out obviously on her face. Also, her face almost seemed to blaze caring, wonder, and, to his amazement, love.

 

She leaned forward, her fingers still around his chin, and touched her forehead to his. Her hands migrated to the nape of his neck, to twine in his silver hair. She inched forward, until her lips were mere inches from his, and she could feel his breath warming her skin.

 

Inuyasha seemed to sense her anxiety, and closed the remaining distance. His arms encircled her smaller body, tangling in her hair. His tongue danced against hers, and he pulled her body flush against this chest.

 

He broke the kiss, and began to nip at her lower lip. She moaned, and began to quiver. His lips traveled from her lips down the side of her cheek, onto her neck.

 

She melted. The waves of pleasure his perusal was causing her made it hard to think straight. His nose began to pick up a shift in her scent. He sniffed, and groaned. His hands ran underneath her shirt, and up her back. His nose nuzzled into her neck, and his tongue ran across the place where her neck joined her shoulder. She moaned again.

 

“So, that's…where…it would…go?” She managed to gasp out, as she tried to ride the waves of sensation he was inspiring in her.

 

“Mmhmm.” Inuyasha continued to rub his nose into the place, sending shivers up and down her back.

 

“So, how…does it…work?” She again gasped out, whimpering slightly as her body shook out of her control.

 

“Are you sure?”

 

Her eyes met his, and her lips went up to meet his in a chaste kiss.

 

It was all the incentive he needed. He hugged her tightly, the front of her chest pressed firmly against his, her face in the crook of his shoulder.

 

“This might hurt.”

 

He positioned his mouth over her neck, and licked the spot. His lips brushed over it, and she convulsed.

 

He chuckled. “Impatient, are we?” She moaned against him. Her hands tightened on the back of his haori. She nuzzled into his neck, and placed chaste kisses there. He groaned, and felt arousal growing in him. Without warning he sunk his fangs into her neck, drawing blood. He held her and waited for the shaking to subside before removing his fangs. He lay his mouth over it, and sucked gently.

 

Kagome gasped. True, the actual bite had hurt, but she felt so safe, in his arms. She stopped her perusal of his neck, and rubbed her cheek into his shoulder.

 

Inuyasha continued his gentle suction on her shoulder, drawing blood from the wound. She moaned. He grinned a little into her bare shoulder, and inhaled her sweet scent. He gave a contented sigh, and pulled her into his chest.

 

Inuyasha continued to hold her close, delighted in the feel of her so close to him. He could already smell her scent changing. It wasn't as strong as it would have been had they mated, but it was obvious what the scent signified, and that it was from him. He privately welled with pride.

 

She's mine now.

 

Ya know, there's 86 of you, someone could review…at this point even a flame would be appreciated…at least it means someone is reading.-Akihana