InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ One Can Only Wander For So Long ❯ Flight 428 ( Chapter 17 )

Chapter 17 - Flight 428

Inuyasha leaned over slightly to read the article Kagome was pointing at. His eyes narrowed for a moment, before his face broke out into a smirk. "See? She's dead. No more need to worry about her hunting us down."

Kagome huffed in exasperation and rolled her eyes. "Inuyasha, you completely missed the point of the article! Isn't it terrible that all of those children died? And so very strange that it happened!" She waved her hands as she went on, "What if it was some sort of curse she'd put on the house? What if her evil spirit is haunting the area, forcing innocents to continue on with her dirty work?" She couldn't help her rising panic that something out there was causing more mayhem, possibly because of something she'd done. `I must have really killed her with that flying fist move I pulled on her back then...' She lifted her coffee cup to her mouth as she let her thoughts wander about.

Inuyasha sighed and shook his head. "Kagome... we'll look into it after we talk to the old hag." The coffee cup stopped millimeters from her lips as she looked up at him in dismay.

"...Old hag?" she repeated, eyeing him carefully.

"Till she proves she's something other than an old hag, yep," he finished, smirking at her. He picked up a banana and pulled a chunk off, popping it in his mouth. His food became quite interesting as her frown turned into a death glare. `...better watch my phrasing next time if I plan on sticking around...'

Kagome frowned at his nasty choice of words as they finished off breakfast. She pulled her keys from her pocket as they stood, and the two of them drove back to her demolished house in silence. There, they met with the repairman that would be overseeing the reconstruction of the floors and walls. It took perhaps an hour to arrange everything and to approve costs, and then the two of them had nothing to do but wait until their flight left the next morning.

Kagome pulled the cell phone from the center panel in the truck after they'd climbed back in, grimacing at the missed calls.

"I knew I forgot to do something last night," she muttered. The first message was from her mother, who must have heard about some grand adventure her only daughter was now participating in, and wanted all of the juicy details. "Call me when you get this, sweetie!" she'd concluded. Kagome laughed lightly, marking the message as `unread' as a reminder to return the call.

The next four were from Sango, starting friendly, and increasing dramatically in panic levels. Not only could she not reach her- she had no idea where they'd gone or what fates may have befallen them. Kagome immediately called Sango to apologize for forgetting the phone, as well as assure her that they were safe and sound. "Our evening was uneventful. I took him shopping for clothes, and then we went back to the bed and breakfast in town."

Sango cooed into the phone. "Delilah is such a doll, isn't she?" Sango had apparently stayed there before. "She even made Miroku blush!"

Kagome's eyes widened at this tidbit of information. "Are you serious?" she asked in disbelief.

"Oh yes, quite serious. My god, that woman has a way of wording things, and such perfect timing. If I could remember what she said, I would use it on him more often, just to see that color again." Both girls laughed at the idea of Miroku turning red. Kagome noticed Inuyasha watching her with interest, and she bit her lip self-consciously. His eyes drifted down to watch her lips move, and she had to fight to prevent her own blush from surfacing.

Clearing her throat lightly and turning to look out the windshield, she said her farewells to Sango, and reminded her where they'd be staying in case she forgot to call again. After hanging up, she drummed her thumbs on the steering wheel, looking out over the expanse of her lawn, the line of trees past that, the single cloud in the sky, the bird perched on the branch just barely visible from here... anything to keep from looking back at the man sitting next to her.

"Bold and spontaneous one day, shy and hesitant the next... What's bothering you, Kagome?" he asked, shifting to sit up straighter.

She waited a moment before responding, as she collected her thoughts and tried to think of the best way to word it. "I talked to Rin the other day about the... mating... thing."

His interest piqued and he leaned closer to her, wondering what kinds of questions and answers she had gotten from his sister-in-law. Kagome laughed nervously at his attention and started rattling off the first things that came to mind. "Oh, yes... she had all kinds of insight to some sort of ...defense mechanism thing... I remember experiencing it when I shook hands with Sess that one time, and then again, when Kikyo had taken over my body, I could feel it everywhere we touched, because I wasn't really myself."

She snuck a glance over at him, but quickly looked away again, fumbling with the keys as she tried to put them into the ignition. The look in his eyes, coupled with the fact that they were very alone, sitting on the wide, flat seat of her pickup truck made butterflies appear in her stomach. She managed to start the engine, but his fingers over hers kept her from shifting the truck out of park.

"What else did she talk about?" he practically purred in her ear.

She swallowed once, in a mix of panic and excitement at his nearness. She forgot what she had been talking about when he scooted even closer to run a hand around her waist. She kept her gaze straight ahead, but her eyelids drifted shut as he leaned in to nuzzle her neck. "Kagome?" he whispered, sending a shiver down her back. Every nerve in her neck was tingling from the light touch of his face, and she barely realized he'd addressed her.

"Mm?" she mumbled, lost to the moment. The brief kisses and caresses she'd exchanged with her last boyfriend hadn't even come close to how she felt right now, and Inuyasha was barely touching her.

Inuyasha grinned, his face hidden by her hair, as he nuzzled the tip of his nose against her pulse. When her sentences trailed off into nothing, warm satisfaction curled throughout him. He had an idea of what she'd meant to talk about, from her words the night prior, as well as his older brother urging him to `keep it in his pants' until everything was resolved. But that didn't mean he couldn't tease, did it? Especially since she seemed so open to the idea.

Savoring the feel of her pulse against his skin, he sighed lightly, closing his eyes. He smiled as her hand found his, entwining their fingers at her waist. They were both content to stay there like that, but the sound of vehicles approaching met Inuyasha's ears. Looking up, he saw that the team of electricians and carpenters on their way to begin work on the house. "Kagome, let's get out of here to let them work," he suggested. She nodded her agreement, taking the truck out of park.

Sitting up straight again, he buckled his seatbelt, then rest his chin on his palm as he looked out the window. It was all so sudden for her, and he did feel a bit guilty running with it so easily, but he'd been mostly alone for the last fifty years. Those few he had shown any remote interest in had been killed off. He knew now that Kikyo had been behind it all. There was simply no other explanation.

The article they'd read that morning made him worry though. He didn't tell Kagome, but the fact that she'd only recently died after sustaining so many injuries... the fact that she could send so many youkai to do her bidding, and the fact that she could possess Kagome's body from so far away made him wonder at what else lay in store for them.

She must have possessed some frightening power, and Kagome's concerns that morning over some evil curse lurking in Kikyo's wake grated at him. ...But then there was the matter of their souls being bound. It had to have happened sometime during their very first encounter, when Kagome's life had been in danger. He was interested in her scent, but he shouldn't have felt obligated to risk his life saving hers.

Knowing the nature of Kikyo's magic, he found it difficult to believe that she would bind them together. Who else would have reason to connect them? Who would be near enough to do so at that moment, when they were so far from civilization that day?

He frowned at his lack of knowledge, hoping that the old woman they would meet with the next day had some answers for them. She was supposedly a `Seer' of sorts who just... knew things. He grimaced, wondering just how much she would know.

Sneaking a peek over at the lovely sight behind the steering wheel, his thoughts turned rapidly more amorous. It was obvious he'd been without companionship in far too long, but he felt so right being around her that he didn't want to contain his long-suppressed urges.

He blew his bangs out of his face, and turned his gaze back out the passenger window as they drove back into town.

The afternoon passed without much incident, and somehow Inuyasha managed to keep his hands to himself. They ate dinner at the bed and breakfast and returned to their room. Kagome left first to take a quick shower before bed while Inuyasha paced about in the room. `Gotta keep my hands to myself. Can't touch, can't taste... can't ... ugh. I really don't see why not... She's so... and I'm so... and man, I really want to... ` He growled at his lack of options and shoved his hands into his pockets, frowning out the window.

She came back soon after, thankfully dressed in a soft flannel pajama set. `The less flesh to tease me with, the better,' he reasoned. But instead of walking to her bed to turn in for the night, she walked towards him. Blushing lightly, she stopped in front of him and looked up expectantly. He wanted to take her into his arms and simply ravish her, but he pricked his claws into his thighs through the fabric of his jeans, reminding himself to behave.

When she saw his reluctance to move towards her, she rose up on her tiptoes and kissed him softly on the lips. "Goodnight, Inuyasha," she whispered. His throat refused to work, and his hands, still shoved in his pockets, suddenly felt stuck.

When she made a move to turn from him, slight disappointment etched on her face, his hands finally worked themselves free of the fabric. He reached out to catch her before she could move away, `...to hell with it'

Kagome smiled as he embraced her tightly, but couldn't contain the gasp as he nudged her head backwards with his cheek to kiss her thoroughly. His mouth slanted over hers, his tongue slid across her lower lip seeking entrance. She parted her lips willingly, wanting to taste him. Their tongues touched briefly, sliding together, and she carefully explored his lips and teeth. Her fingers worked their way around his shoulder and into his hair, threading through the silvery locks as she held him to her. His right hand was splayed on her lower back, pulling her closer to him as they kissed like love-starved teenagers.

They were both startled out of the moment by the sharp ring-tone of Kagome's cell phone. It took a moment for them to realize what was going on, but before he let go, he lowered his head to hers once more, kissing her softly with a smile. They parted, and Kagome rushed to collect the cell phone as Inuyasha left to take a shower. He returned a short while later to find her lying on her stomach in bed, still talking to Sango. He had to roll his eyes at this; it seemed a bit of drama turned her into a girl-talk machine.

He flopped into his own bed, curling his arms around one of the fluffy pillows as he listened to her talking. The sound of her voice was soothing, and the shower had left him relaxed in spite of the heated moment they'd shared such a short moment ago, and he fell into a light sleep within minutes.

Kagome watched him doze off, still talking to Sango. "Sango, oh, if I could have dreamt up the perfect guy, it really would be him," keeping her voice low as she spoke. Sango chuckled on the other side of the line.

"You need to get to know him better, Kagome. If he asked you to marry him tomorrow, would you say yes, yet?" she asked, pointing out the fact that she wasn't ready for such a commitment.

"You're right, Sango. But, this is really frustrating." She looked over at him again, and decided to go elsewhere to continue the phone call. "Hold on," she whispered as she crawled out of bed. Sneaking out of the room and down the stairs, she pulled out a chair at the dining room table and continued in her lowered voice. "I never felt this way about Hojo, you know? I feel a little odd being so old and so damned naïve about everything. It's like a decade of hormones catching up with me at once, and every time I look at him, I want him to pounce on me," Kagome smiled as she heard Sango snicker.

"But at the same time, I'm afraid of discovering I don't like him as much after I've gotten it out of my system... I wish he weren't so cute..." she sighed heavily, rubbing the bridge of her nose in frustration.

"Hopefully you guys will learn something helpful from your trip. When does the flight leave?" Sango asked.

"Nine-fifteen. We need to be up kind of early to make it to the airport on time, but I'm not too concerned about that. You know, I don't think Inu's ever flown before. He's been cursed for so long, I doubt he's ever had a chance to travel by plane anywhere."

Sango's laughter was barely controlled at the thought. "Kagome, you have to tell me all about it when you two get back... I bet it'll be an adventure in itself."

Kagome chuckled, too, and they said their goodnights before hanging up for the evening. Kagome snuck back up the stairs into the room and climbed stealthily into bed. She didn't notice the set of golden eyes watching her return, nor the sneaky smirk that revealed his hearing had picked up every word she'd said downstairs. He'd bide his time, but not for long.

- - -

The two of them arrived early at the airport, with plenty of time to grab some coffee and breakfast at a restaurant after getting through security. Kagome nibbled on a bagel while they waited in the terminal, watching the planes come and go. "I hate it when I get to places like this too early. The wait is seems even longer," she grumbled.

"Better than being late, though," he reasoned. She smiled at him in agreement.

"Have you ever flown before, Inuyasha?"

He pursed his lips in contemplation and shook his head. "Sess can fly, and I used to travel by foot at pretty fast speeds, but never something like this."

Kagome bit her lip in worry. "Are you nervous?" she asked.

"Nah, couldn't be worse than that truck of yours."

She bit her lip to keep from chuckling at his response as a few families approached the gate. The waiting room filled moderately fast, as the time of departure drew nearer. Kagome shuddered once, her amused smile turning quickly into a frown.

"Inuyasha..." she whispered.

"Hm?" he turned to look at her in concern. The smell of fear was steadily rising from her.

"Someone bad is here. Nearby. Lingering close," she shivered again. "There's more than one. I have a nasty feeling about this," she said quietly.

"Can you tell who they are, by looking around the room?" he said quietly as he discreetly scanned the crowd.

"I can try, although I've never focused on it in a crowd of people," she stood and stretched, looking around the waiting room casually, looking for anything out of the ordinary. Her stomach was fluttering crazily like she was about to go on stage, and sweat broke out on her brow. The sick feeling that accompanied a lengthy stay in the presence of someone plotting bad things started to creep up on her. She seriously doubted her ability to get on that plane with whoever was making her feel this bad.

"Inuyasha, I can't tell who it is. There are a few shady looking people in here, but none of them look particularly suspicious, and I can't narrow down where it's coming from. But I do know there's more than one in here..."

She sat down and closed her eyes, breathing slowly and focusing on what she felt. "The strongest... is... over there...." she said, pointing in Inuyasha's direction. Inuyasha looked back over his shoulder at where she pointed and caught sight of a few people milling around.

A tall, blonde haired man leaned against the glass, watching airport mechanics working outside on the ground with a bored expression. A scruffy looking man stood a bit behind him, looking tired and haggard, but shooting his eyes nervously around the room. Inuyasha studied the man carefully, watching his body language for any signs he was up to something. He frowned as the man picked up and set down his small bag repeatedly. The man picked up his bag again and poked around inside before setting it down again.

Standing nearby was another man, tall and lanky, wearing a strange coat and a pair of sunglasses. Inuyasha watched as he pulled his hand from his pocket, flipping his wrist over to check his watch repeatedly before putting the hand back. Inuyasha frowned at the three men, wondering which one he should focus his attention on. "Kagome," he whispered to her. "Can you tell where the other ones are?"

She looked frightened. "I can't... I... I don't know what we should do." She bit her lip in worry. "If we skip this flight, those people could be left in danger. If we report that someone's got something up their sleeves without proof, they could arrest us for questioning and causing a panic... I don't know..."

He put a calming hand on her shoulder, giving a reassuring squeeze. "Don't worry. We'll take this flight, and we'll deal with whomever it is that's meaning to cause trouble."

Kagome nodded at him, her confidence boosted at his calmness towards the situation. Rin had booked them first-class seats, so they were amongst the first to board the plane. The two of them found their assigned seats, with Kagome's being on the aisle. Inuyasha took a moment to fiddle with the seat switches and buttons in amusement.

Kagome's shivering picked up again, and she began to feel short of breath as more people began to board the plane. "I don't know if I can do this... there's a reason why I moved out to the country, Inuyasha." She said, in between shallow breaths. She was certain she was going to faint or throw up or something equally as horrible or embarrassing if the feeling didn't go away soon.

Inuyasha sat up straight and took her hand between his, holding it tightly. Both of them were surprised at the effect it had. Inuyasha's surprise came from an unexpected slight lurch in his stomach as Kagome looked up, immense relief flooding her expression. "Oh my, did you just do that?" She still looked slightly uncomfortable, but looked much better than she had mere moments before.

"Yeah, I think it's one of those perks to being bonded," he smiled. "But if I feel like this, I'd hate to see how bad it was as a human," he winked at her, teasing.

"Thanks, it was getting pretty rough." She held his hand tightly as the last people boarded the plane. A pretty redheaded stewardess stood at the front of the aisle, going through the emergency procedures and exits as another closed the doors to the plane.

"In case of an emergency, the exits are here..." Inuyasha paid little attention to her as he focused his hearing and attention around the plane. He found the blonde-haired man first, sitting across the aisle from Kagome, reading a magazine. Inuyasha looked through the curtained section that blocked off the economy seating, and caught sight of the other two men. The scraggly man sat near the back of the plane, while the man in the strange coat sat next to the wing's "emergency exits," as the stewardess pointed it out.

When he looked back, he was still holding Kagome's hand, keeping her sense from overwhelming her, but narrowed his eyes when he saw she was speaking with the blonde man. She greeted him with a nod, and he flashed a dazzling smile at her. Inuyasha frowned at the friendly chatter. He asked her where she was headed and various other conversational things, seeming to be a pretty friendly guy, but Inuyasha couldn't help pouting at the fact that she was paying attention to another male.

He squeezed her hand to draw her focus back to him, trying to squash the jealousy that was building at the obvious flirting that man was doing. "He seems pretty nice," Kagome smiled as she turned back to look at Inuyasha. He had his attention `focused' outside, and he turned back to look at her

"Who seems nice?" he asked, faking confusion. Kagome raised an eyebrow at his question.

"You mean you didn't notice me talking to that guy sitting next to us?" she replied, pursing her lips at him in disbelief.

Inuyasha's lips pressed into a thin line, unsure if he should feign innocence longer or just forbid her from talking to any other male ever again. He accidentally smiled at the second idea, but instead of giving away his overly jealous contemplation, she decided it meant he was teasing. "Silly," she smiled, poking him lightly in the ribs.

The pilot's voice came over the loudspeaker, "Welcome aboard flight four-two-eight. We'll be departing in approximately five minutes, with a three-hour flight to Los Angeles, and continuing on to Darella. The weather looks great, and with the current wind patterns we should be arriving ahead of schedule."

The stewardess reminded the passengers to turn off all electronics as the plane was taxied out of the gate. As the engines fired up to take them down the tarmac, Inuyasha flattened his ears to his head. It was so loud! "Kagome, you were right. This was a bad idea."

He dug the claws of his left hand into the armrest, keeping a death grip on Kagome's hand with his right. His stomach flopped at the sensation of leaving the ground not under his own actions. It took a short while for him to adjust to the sound levels and the motions of the plane in flight, but he finally began to relax. "Ugh, we're going to come home some other way, Kagome. I don't think I'm up to doing this again," he grumbled at her.

She smiled at him, giving his hand a gentle squeeze. "If we live through to the plane landing, we'll talk about how we'll be coming back home," she whispered back loud enough for him to hear.

The two of them sat there, waiting for the unknown. The stewardess took their orders for drinks and returned shortly with a tray of small pastries. Kagome was still too anxious to eat anything, but Inuyasha couldn't pass up trying one that smelled of chocolate and heaven. At that thought, he picked up the pastry and took a glance at Kagome, realizing that nothing would smell or taste as good as she did.

The next two hours passed uneventfully, and the two of them had to wonder if anything would happen at all. "Maybe they were plotting something evil to do tomorrow," she said, looking uncertain. The blonde man stood to make his way to the small restroom a few seats back.

"Maybe..." he agreed halfheartedly. Personally, he was looking for an excuse to smash in that guy's face for flirting with Kagome, but he wasn't about to tell her that. He turned to look out the window at the remarkable scenery so far below them. His eyesight helped him see farther, and he could see so many interesting things below them that he began to think that flying might be a possibility again in the future.

Inuyasha's ears perked as he heard the curtain to the economy classed seats being tugged shut. That was strange, because they'd been left open for the entire flight up until that moment. Just as he turned to look back behind them, the brown-haired woman sitting directly behind them stood and pulled a small revolver out of her skirt, pointing it at Kagome's head, but looking directly at Inuyasha. Being the only one of youkai heritage on that flight, he was the most dangerous to their plans.

"Don't. Move." she hissed at him, narrowing her eyes as he flexed his left hand's claws against the armrest. "Don't say a word, don't even breathe big, or I'll shoot her." The blonde man had been the one to discreetly pull the curtain shut, and he walked casually up the aisle towards the cockpit, picking up another weapon from the woman as he stepped past her.

"We don't feel like having a plane full of panicked and heroic passengers, so we're going to take over this flight nice and quiet-like," the brunette continued.

Another man sitting in the seat closest the door stood as well, removing his business coat and setting it aside. "Keep those two in line, Sarah. We're going to take over for the pilots." The other two people sitting in first-class, an elderly couple, had been fast asleep for the last hour, and were completely oblivious to the situation.

"How'd you get a gun onto this flight?!" Kagome whispered angrily, ignoring her plight. Common sense told her that this lady wouldn't fire the gun unless she was prepared to die herself, because Inuyasha was a mere claw-swipe away.

"Security is lax for high-paying customers with metal hip replacements," she smirked, a triumphant grin on her face. The lady couldn't see Kagome face, though. She looked up at Inuyasha, gauging his distance and trying to communicate what they should do. His grip on her hand tightened as he continued to stare down the brunette.

`As soon as she blinks...' he thought to himself. She seemed to know that even a second of dropping her guard could spell disaster. He tried not to grin at the scent of fear that began twisting into her scent, but when her hand started to shake ever so slightly, he couldn't help flashing a fang.

It happened all at once. The woman blinked and shouted for her partner, "Emmet!!" Inuyasha sprang at her the moment her attention wavered, slicing his claws straight through her arm and severing it completely. The blood sprayed across the cabin, splattering on the walls and Kagome, who sat frozen as the gun fell to the floor. Emmet, the blonde man from earlier, appeared at the front of the cabin, taking aim at Inuyasha who had just finished de-arming the woman.

Kagome's heart lurched in a sudden panic, and she screamed at the top of her lungs, "NO! STOP!!!!!" The ring pulsed once in time with her heart, and the man froze in a flash of blue light. The woman was wailing and cradling the wound as it bled uncontrollably, and Inuyasha wasted no time in snapping the arm holding the gun and removing the weapon from his now-slack grasp. The ring pulsed again, and Emmet fell to the floor, groaning in pain. The other man had yet to appear, so Inuyasha pulled open the cockpit door to take care of the third hijacker. A snapped wrist and a thump later, the plane was back in the control of the pilots and the flight was five minutes from touching down in LA, where the police would be ready to take over with paramedics in tow.

After the plane had pulled into the gate and the local authorities had taken the broken and bleeding criminals into custody, the two were questioned briefly about what had happened, asked for contact information, and sent on their way. The plane had to be cleaned after the bloody affair, so the passengers were given new flights. Aside from the mess, no one knew what had really happened in First Class that day.

Inuyasha caught some bits of gossip from a set of teens passing by that thought a woman had delivered a baby. "She was screaming so loud, that had to have been what it was! I heard delivery can be a bloody affair," the older of the two whispered as they walked around the corner. He smirked at their speculations and put his arm around Kagome's waist.

"Well, that certainly went better than I expected," she mumbled, brushing her fingers along the spattering of blood that had dried to her arm.

"Let's go get cleaned off before out next flight, Kagome," he said, pulling her up with him as he stood. They walked to the restrooms together, and they split up to go quickly rinse the blood from themselves. They walked together to their next flight, Kagome feeling bad about the condition of the people who had threatened them earlier, but relieved that innocent bystanders weren't hurt.

....o.O

AN - I would like to say that the names I picked for places last chapter and this chapter were just things that came to mind as I wrote. I don't think there is a Manona or Bailey in Iowa, and I've never heard of a place called `Darella' ... So, any resemblance is coincidental. I'd like to add that a few of the OC names I used were based loosely on people that came to mind as I typed, but aren't meant to BE those people who inspired them.

Well then! I didn't expect to write again so soon... lol. This is what happens when you go for months without writing anything.

I think this is a good place to leave off, it'll give me a good start for the next chapter. Who knows? I might have it done by tomorrow night, too

:D

I don't think I'll be drawing the illustrations for a little while. I'm all drawn out after that semester, I tell you what. ;)

Disclaimer - Everyone who posts and reads on this site knows that Inuyasha will never belong to them... but we can dream!!