InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Of All the Things ❯ Chapter 5

Of All the things

By: RedHerring

Chapter 5

Angry shouts and garbled conversation drilled there way into Kagome's consciousness like a termite. The loud noises and not-so-muffled-by-the-stupid-pillow-that-doesn't-really-fit-around-the-head sounds ate away at her pleasant dreamscape and brought Kagome into the world of the living.

The sun was out, the birds were happily chirping in a tree a safe distance away from the disturbance. The wind rustled the soft grass and bought the pleasant smell of late spring flowers to the small camp. It was a lovely day, a day that requires one to only gaze upon the forest that seems tranquil, yet bursting with life, to bring a smile-or at least a brightening of the eyes- to ones face. The kind of day that can be so easily ruined by the sight of a red-clad figure go crashing into the murky water of the nearby rice field.

Arrrrrrrgh! What was she going to do with that pompous, arrogant, stuck-up, thick headed, idiot? And Inuyasha too! Their fighting solves nothing and all they end up doing is annoying the hell out of her!

Glancing around, she took in the rest of her surroundings. Sango was already awake and obliviously watching the fight between the two canines with an unusual interest ¾ sporting a face not unlike the one Kagome would get when oden was placed in front of her. All the others were exactly where they were last night, looking like the hounds of hell couldn't wake them up.

Standing up carefully, so as not to disturb the slumbering kitsune, Kagome picked her way over the sprawled out limbs of her sleeping companions to Sango.

"Sango-chan?" she asked nervously. Sango didn't seem to hear her as her face gradually turned from glazed over rapture to intensely analytical. Kagome inched closer and gently prodded the tajiya on the shoulder.

"Sango-chan?" she called a little louder. Sango was snapped out of her daze and looked a little sheepish as she tore her gaze away from the fight, which was getting more violent as time went on. Kagome quickly looked at the sparring match and gasped as Kouga flung Inuyasha into another tree, rapidly creating a large clearing with their destructiveness.

"Inuyasha, si-" she started to say, but Sango quickly jumped up and slapped a hand over her mouth. Kagome was too shocked to do anything but stand there, looking at her dumbly.

"No, Kagome! You shouldn't do that this time." Sango urged. Kagome reached up and pulled Sango's hand away from her mouth so she could speak.

"And why not?" She asked still in shock.

"Kagome this is so great! This is the first time I have seen a proper youkai challenge," she said excitedly. "Inuyasha challenged Kouga-kun's claim on you," she explained further.

"Of all the stupid… Sango, that's what they do every time they get near each other, why didn't you let me stop them?" Kagome shouted and stomped her foot angrily.

"No, you don't understand," Sango amended, waving her hands and shifting to a more comfortable position. "This one is a proper challenge. It didn't matter the other times if you stopped Inuyasha from fighting. If you stop him now, then he'll loose, and you'll have to go home with Kouga."

"But I don't understand why it's so important," Kagome said nervously, and sat down next to Sango.

"In Youkai society, when a male challenges another male over a female, the two males fight," she explained, all the while interestedly keeping one eye on the proceedings. "The challenged youkai must accept, or the fight is forfeit. The youkai who looses is forced to give up the female they are fighting over to the winner, who, if he didn't kill him already, is allowed to kill the looser as well,

"So if you sit Inuyasha in the middle of the battle, he'll loose and Kouga will take you as his mate," Sango said gravely.

Kagome was stunned. How STUPID do you have to be to start a fight with that much at stake? If Inuyasha lost, and had to let Kouga take her, then her heart would break. Because not only would Inuyasha not be able to rescue her, but also Kouga would probably keep her stuck in his cave, for fear that she would run away. He'd keep her there until she accepted him as her mate, but she could never do that. So she would never be let out of that cave. She'd be trapped, imprisoned by the person who thought he loved her.

So she stayed silent and prayed that they didn't kill each other.

~*~

Inuyasha was having a hard time beating the wolf. He didn't dare pull out Tetsuaiga and unleash Kaze no Kizu, for fear of demolishing the village, and without that he was better off with his hands and claws. The giant sword was just too ungainly to use just for the sake of having an extra weapon. Never mind the fact that it added to his reach, it didn't help that much. He was much faster with his fists.

"Sankontessou!" he shouted and unleashed his claw attack, but Kouga evaded the attack, only his ankle catching the edge of the swipe. It had been going like that for a while now. Inuyasha attacked, and that damn wolf used his shards to dart out of the way. Sure, he still got hit a little, but it wasn't enough; and sure, all of those little hits were adding up, but they were still just surface wounds and it was tiring the hanyou out.

Kouga, meanwhile, was doing superbly. He smashed his adversary against boulders and trees; thoroughly beating the crap out of his temporary punching bag. By mutual agreement, they had decided not to kill each other, due to the fact that it would upset Kagome. Kouga was very proud of himself for getting the upper hand so far. They had been going at it for about a half an hour and the dog crap was getting tired. He supposed it was unfair that the hanyou wasn't completely healed from what must have been a much tougher battle, but that was Inu-korro's fault. HE was the one who challenged him in the first place.

Kouga dodged another pathetic attempt at harming him and feigned a roll to the left. At the last second, he turned on the ball of his foot and flung out a leg to catch Inuyasha in the neck. To his surprise, Inuyasha managed to grab hold of his ankle and swing the rest of him into a tree, where he promptly started beating Kouga for all he was worth.

Caught by surprise, Kouga was unable to do anything for a few seconds, but with demonic speed, a lot can happen in a few seconds. Inuyasha had managed to tear Kouga's chest bloody ¾ his armor had been ripped off long ago by a barely avoided blades of blood attack¾ and break his nose.

Kouga regained his composure and kicked the fighting hanyou off of him hard enough to reduce another hapless tree to splinters. Kouga assessed the damage done to him while Inuyasha picked himself up. Both were now covered in blood and sweat, the crimson mixing with the sweat to pour down them in little pink rivulets.

Inuyasha wiped his mouth on the back of his hand and glared evilly at the wolf youkai. That last move had been a stroke of luck. In fact, he had been very lucky through out the whole fight, as far as Kagome was concerned. She should have been awake by now, if not because of the time of day, but because of all the racket they were making. If Sango had gotten to Kagome first and explained everything to her before she could invoke that damn subduing spell, then he would be eternally grateful. As it was, he couldn't check to see what was going on over near Kaede's hut. He couldn't take his attention off of his opponent. That could cost him the battle, and Kagome.

Kouga launched himself at Inuyasha the moment he was up, not giving him time to catch his breath. The match would be over soon. All he had to do was catch the hanyou unawares, or get in a good punch at the right spot and he would be finished. While Kouga had a while to go before he was tired out, Inuyasha was very close to collapsing, and the match didn't look good at all for the hanyou.

Kouga smirked as he turned around from the dodged attack. Inu-korro may be getting tired, but he was learning. So he wasn't so pathetic after all, but he was still too feeble to beat him.

Inuyasha kicked up his foot as Kouga turned around and caught him in the jaw. There was an audible 'clack!' as his mouth snapped together and his head went skyward. Kouga stumbled a few feet and fell back against a tree, eyes crossed and blood pouring from his mouth. His hand reached up and was met with a flood of coppery liquid.

Kouga spat out the blood and tried to stop the bleeding by pressing his tongue against the roof of his mouth. He cursed, as the two images of Inuyasha wouldn't come together. How had this fight gone so horribly wrong? He was winning, and now all the stupid mutt would have to do would be to push him over and he'd probably collapse. That's it; never let someone kick you in the jaw- it hurts like a son of a bitch.

The two fuzzy images were nearing each other, but that was probably because Inuyasha was getting closer. Kouga started to back away. He needed time to set his vision straight, or else he would never be able to beat the mutt now!

"You're pathetic, Inu-korro! You'll never have Kagome as a mate. She'll come home with me and bear me a pup by next spring!" he shouted, hoping to get Inuyasha so angry he couldn't think.

Instead of that happening, Inuyasha's eyes narrowed. The beginning of next spring was only ten months away. Did he really think that it would only take a month for Kagome to forget all about him? Instead of getting blindly angry, his eyes narrowed and he became cold and calculating. Now was not the time to loose his head. If he let his temper get in the way of defeating Kouga, then he'd loose Kagome forever; and he couldn't loose Kagome at any cost.

Shit. That only made the situation worse. How was he going to beat the stupid mutt into submission now? Kouga doubted that the shards would help much any more.

Inuyasha charged at Kouga, and Kouga once again dodged to the side. Inuyasha, seeing that coming from the front was not doing much good, tried a different angle. Despite what the wolf tried to fake, he was still obviously disoriented; and Inuyasha was planning on using that to full advantage.

He circled Kouga and made several fake jabs at some vital organ. When Kouga's steps started to become steadier and his eyes following Inuyasha became more focused Inuyasha made his move. Faster than Kouga could follow, Inuyasha darted behind him and tackled the wolf from behind.

Kouga unexpectedly anticipated this kind of move, and so when he felt claws on his neck, he reached behind him and used Inuyasha's momentum to swing him up and around his head to land flat on his back. Inuyasha grabbed hold of Kouga's wrists and pulled him down just as he crashed into the ground and the air exploded out of his lungs. Kouga was jerked down and his face was smashed into the ground beside Inuyasha, sending paralyzing pain throughout his face. Before he could get up, he felt a powerful blow hit him on the back of his head. He saw stars, and then everything went black.

~*~

Kagome nearly cried out in anguish and relief when she saw Kouga go still; relief that the fight was over, anguish because what if Inuyasha killed Kouga? She didn't know if their relationship could be built on a pool of blood. She quickly ran over to the still form of Kouga and the panting figure of Inuyasha. Sango quickly followed behind.

"Inuyasha, Inuyasha!" she yelled. He turned his head and gave her a weak, yet triumphant smile. Kagome's face darkened and she loomed over him like a thunderstorm. Inuyasha's smile withered under such a fierce glare and his ears went back in preparation for the screaming to come.

"Inuyasha, I can't believe you! Why would you go and pick a fight with Kouga? You know I hate it when you fight. How many times do I have to tell you that Kouga is my friend?" she ranted.

"It would have happened some time sooner or later, I just made it happen sooner! It's not like he would have just let you go when he found out that I was going to claim you," he defended, standing up so he wouldn't have to look up at her while they argued.

"Stop treating me like I'm some kind of object! I'm not some 'thing' that you can claim!" she shouted.

"I know you're not, but it's youkai custom. Mates own each other, so it's not like it's a one sided thing," he argued.

Kagome sighed and ran her fingers through her tousled hair; it wasn't so much his fault then. That's just the way things were in feudal Japan, and she'd just have to get used to some things now that she was spending the rest of her life there. The thought made her homesick though, and she fought the familiar melancholy wave that threatened to take over her attention. Instead she turned her thoughts to the injured, still unmoving, wolf lying face down on the ground.

"He's not¾" she began only to be cut off by Inuyasha.

"No, I didn't kill him," he reassured her, "I knew I'd never hear the end of it if the wimpy wolf died," Kagome gave a huge sigh of relief and gestured over a Sango who had been standing a few meters back to give Inuyasha and Kagome some privacy.

"Sango can you carry Kouga into Kaede's hut please? I want to tend to his wounds after I'm done with Inuyasha," she implored.

Inuyasha growled at Kagome. Didn't she understand that you just don't go and help the enemy? He just got done pounding his point into Kouga, and then she had to go and ruin it by helping him!

"Just leave him," he ground out, "He'll want to leave as soon as he wakes up, and he'll be up in a little while,"

"But shouldn't we at least¾" began Sango, but Inuyasha cut her off.

"No, just leave him. If he really needs medical attention, then he can get some back at his den," Inuyasha explained. All things considered, he was being very considerate of the wolf. Kouga would not like to wake up in the presence of the person he just lost to; and to add more insult to injury, add the presence of the object of the challenge, and you had one very pride-wounded wolf.

"Alright," Kagome complied dubiously. She made her way over to Inuyasha and sighed. "Well, lets get you cleaned up then," she said.

Inuyasha managed to make his way over to the remains of the fire before he gave up and just plopped down against a tree. Kagome giggled a little at the amusing sight he made with his legs sprawled out in careless exhaustion and his head leaning against the back of the tree. His ears and nose twitched occasionally as they identified sounds and scents.

The others were up by this time. Miroku was not there at the moment, having gone to collect firewood to begin the makings of breakfast. Shippou had followed Kagome inside asking loudly where she went, and if she could make breakfast, please? Takara was another story.

Takara was one of those people who wake up slowly. She had first noticed that she was among the land of the living when she heard Kagome and Sango arguing about something. Not that she knew it was Kagome and Sango. All that she was aware of was that something was wrong with her bed, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it. After a while, she slowly sat up, still confused as hell, and blearily surveyed her surroundings.

There was someone in all red sitting against a tree with his head back and his eyes closed. He looked familiar, but his identity still eluded her. Another girl, identity unknown, was slowly, and thoughtfully polishing an unusually large boomerang. Other than that, there were trees, huts in the distance, a long flight of stairs to the left and she could faintly see a small tornado moving away off in the distance.

Her bed seemed to be nothing more than the hard ground, and she was clothed in a loose Kimono that was coming undone. She was bandaged from shoulder to heel and her skin felt like it was set on fire. All these clues should have added together to paint a picture of what had happened in the past few weeks, but they might as well have been pieces of separate jigsaw puzzles.

Her brow furrowed as she tried to remember what happened. She knew that she was a slow one to wake up, and she knew that she was probably forgetting something important; but what was it?

As Kagome exited the hut with her giant yellow bag everything clicked into place. Oh, that's right. She was in feudal Japan, on the other side of the well that didn't exist anymore, so there was no way back home, and now she was hanging out with demons and mystical holy-people. Great.

Oh, but she shouldn't be like that. It was just the pain talking. She always got snippy and annoying when she was in pain, and she usually regretted it monumentally later.

A very loud rumble sounded from the depths of her stomach and drew the attention of the little fox-demon that was currently trailing Kagome.

"See? Takara's hungry too! Can't we have some breakfast now?" he asked, using his best sweet face.

"Yes, Shippou, very soon. I think Miroku went to go and get some firewood, so why don't you set up the fire pit for us while I fix up Inuyasha," she said sweetly.

"Hai!" he chirped and was off like a shot to putter around the fire pit.

"Is there any ramen in the bag?" Inuyasha asked, trying to keep the eagerness out of his voice.

"No, Inuyasha," Kagome sighed. "I've been coming here for three years, I've known you for three years, I've known that you like Ramen for three years, and I don't have any ramen in the bag,"

"So that'ssssss aaaaaa nnnnyyyyyyyynnnnnnnnnyyyyyynnnnn...?" he asked, moving his head around in various directions so she couldn't tell if he was shaking it or nodding.

"Yep, that's right," she said distractedly while fishing through her bag for the first aid kit and deliberately hiding the contents of the seemingly endless void from the nosey hanyou.

Inuyasha huffed and tried not to wince painfully at the harsh sting of the disinfectant spray. He'd learned long ago that it was no use fighting Kagome when she tried to doctor him, but that didn't mean that he wasn't going to complain as much as he could.

"Ow! Stupid wench, be careful with that!" he shouted when she started working on an outstandingly nasty gash on his right shoulder.

"Inuyasha, you should be a little nicer to me!" she yelled at him, rather hurt that he was still calling her names. Shouldn't he be at least a little bit kinder now that their relationship had advanced?

"It's hard to be nice when you're digging your nails into an open wound," he gritted out angrily.

"I was picking out the splinters, do you want that to get infected?" she retorted, annoyance creeping into her voice.

"No, but it's not like you were even trying to be gentle,"

"Yes I was!"

Shippou, Takara, and Sango watched the argument like a ping pong match, the insults and shouts going back and forth.

"Do they... often... fight like this?" asked Takara when the fight escalated to the point of Kagome threatening to sit Inuyasha. Well, think of it; it would sound rather strange to a person who didn't know what was going on.

"You wouldn't sit me with all these wounds," Inuyasha argued in the background.

"Oh, yes I would! What's the matter, a tough hanyou like you getting hurt by a little human like me?" Kagome angrily retorted.

"Only when you use that damn spell, and it's not you doing it- it's magic!" he defended.

"I'm afraid so," Sango sighed and flipped her boomerang so she could polish the other side.

Takara watched in amazement as the girl who she had never seen with a frown (if you didn't count yesterday) screamed at Inuyasha until she was red in the face and ran out of breath. Then Inuyasha took the opening to scream right back at her, while Kagome glared at him with death in her eyes. It finally ended with Kagome letting out a resounding "Sit!", and Takara finally understood the threat when Inuyasha was face planted into the ground.

Inuyasha smelled the sting of her tears through the layers of dirt and heard her stalk off. There was an uncomfortable silence as the spell finally wore off and Inuyasha meticulously sat up and noticed that Miroku had come back with an armful of firewood. He must have arrived while Inuyasha was eating dirt, knowing instantly what was going on, and that would account for that exasperated look he was receiving.

"Inuyasha, what did you do now?" he asked, setting down the fire wood near Shippou.

"I didn't do anything! Kagome was the one who got all emotional," Inuyasha defended.

"Not true! You were being a mean jerk!" shouted Shippou, pointing an accusing finger right between his eyes. Ohhh, if only he could shoot things out of his fingers. Like lightning, or fire, then maybe Inuyasha wouldn't be so stupid!

"You should apologize to her Inuyasha," Miroku insisted.

"Why should I apologize if I didn't do anything? She's the one who sat me," he said snidely.

"You should still apologize," he continued. He was only met with silence as Inuyasha ignored him; so he ploughed on, "Now that your relationship has changed, you are going to have to do some things differently. For one, you should keep the childish behavior to a minimum. Secondly, I am sure that what ever the argument was about was petty and was started by you," he lectured.

"That's not the point!" Inuyasha argued, "She sat me, even though she knew it would hurt worse than normal. Not that it hurt, but it's the principle of the thing!"

"Well I'm sure you said something to make her say it. You can't tell me that in three years, you haven't learned to keep your mouth shut?" Miroku berated as he sat down next to Sango, who scooted out of groping range.

"Keh!" was all Inuyasha had to say to that. It's not that he hadn't learned to keep his mouth shut; it's just that he couldn't seem to gauge Kagome's temper to know when to lay off making her angry. He loved her scent when she got angry, he craved the spiced smell wafting through the breeze to his sensitive nose more than he craved Ramen, and that was saying something. He would make her angry, she'd scrunch up her face in the most endearing way, and he'd carry it on as long as he could. But he never knew when to stop. Her comments would eventually get him angry, so his shouts would become angry. Then he'd get angry at himself for falling into the argument, like he always did; and then he'd get her to sit him as soon as possible so the argument would end. It was a vicious cycle.

"Um, does she always act like that?" Takara asked timidly.

"Not really," was Sango's thoughtful response, "She's hardly ever run off in tears," she finished with a malice-filled glare at Inuyasha.

"Maybe I can try talking to her, and get her to calm down before Inuyasha goes to see her," Takara suggested.

"That might be a good idea," said Sango. "After an argument she usually goes... home..." she trailed off. There was a solicitous silence as everyone digested the implications of such a habit; wanting to go home after an argument, and not being able to, must have set her off.

"Oh, shit," Inuyasha cursed. It really was his fault that she was crying.

He got up and silently made his way towards the direction that Kagome had stalked off, completely forgetting about everyone else in his concern.

Uncomfortable silence reigned supreme in the little clearing by the hut as the three humans and the demon kit tried and failed miserably to appear engrossed in the dirt. In a desperate attempt to break the cloying awkwardness, Takara nervously cleared her throat.

"Soooo, what's for breakfast?"