InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Pure As Snow ❯ ... Psychoanalyze 'em ( Chapter 6 )

A/N: Hey all. here's the next chap. But then you already knew that didn't you. Hope you enjoy.

 

Do you think Inu would let me borrow his jacket for a few days? No? Maybe Takahashi-san would seeing as how she's the one who really owns it. But anyway.

 

I love to hear from you guys. Reviews and e-mails always welcome.

 

Chapter Six: … Psychoanalyze `em

 

“Where is it?”

 

Kagome's brain unfroze enough to wonder what the heck `it` could be. A closer inspection of the creature made it rather obvious that this was one of the demons that Kaede had warned her would come after the Jewel.

 

It was enormous, at least eight feet tall, and it's skin a nauseating green color. Scraggly hair framed one of the ugliest faces Kagome had ever seen and the three eyes didn't help much, either. Yellow teeth bared in a grimace of joy as the demon sensed the fear in its prey. Long arms that ended in club-like hands with sharp claws attached dragged on the ground. Its only saving grace was that it wasn't completely naked. A filthy cloth was wrapped around its waist, a pseudo loincloth. And let's not go into the smell. The stench was making Kagome's eyes water.

 

“Where is the Shikon no Tama?' the oni growled, confirming her suspicions. Its voice grated against the girl's eardrums like fingernails on a chalkboard. It took a step closer. Kagome backed up a step, her mind running through all of her options.

 

Unfortunately, the lovely little waterfall was a dead-end. Only a small pathway led into the secluded spot and, while ideal for privacy, it sucked for evasive action. The oni filled up the only exit and Kagome didn't think her odds for getting past the monster were all that great. 'Okay, Plan B. Scale the wall.'

 

A quick glance nixed that alternative. Sheer rock face all around and no handholds to be seen. Even if she could find them, Kagome doubted the oni would wait patiently for her to crawl to the top. On to Plan C. Arm yourself while distracting the monster with witty conversation.

 

“Umm, I… don't know what you're talking about.” She could slap herself. Was that really the best she could come up with? Yes, considering the situation, it was. `Now where is that damn bow? Aha.' She swooped down and grabbed a hold of her new bow along with one of the arrows.

 

She brought the arrow up, pulled back the bowstring and took aim at the oni. Unfortunately, her hands had other ideas. They were shaking so badly that when she finally shot the arrow it flew straight and true. Into a tree. Fifty feet to the left of her target. Kagome stared at the still quivering fletching in utter disbelief. The oni turned from watching where the arrow landed to face her again and the confident smirk on its face was almost too much. `Ah, crap,' Kagome thought as she took a step back. `Time for Plan D.' Still sporting that horrifyingly smug look, the demon stepped closer.

 

`Scream like a little girl.' Disregarding the fact that she was already a girl, Kagome drew a deep breath and screeched at the top of her lungs.

 

><><><><><><><><& gt;<><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><>< ;><><><><><

 

Inuyasha wondered what exactly the hell he thought he was doing. After being kicked out, rather ignominiously too, of the old witch's hut, he'd actually considered tracking down that wench, Kagome, and apologizing to her. He never apologized! Not to anyone for any reason. Well, maybe his mother, but that was different.

 

So, now he was perched up in a tree engaging in his favorite past time. Sulking. And, boy, did he have a lot of catching up to do. First things first.

 

Fifty years. He'd been asleep (dead?) for fifty years. Inuyasha balked at the thought. What had happened since he'd been sealed? What could have happened if he hadn't been? Would he have used to Jewel to become full demon like he'd always wanted? Or would he have followed through with Kikyo's plan for him to become human?

 

And that brought around the next round of depressive events. Kikyo was dead. Killed by something powerful obviously. She had never even been scratched by anything demonic before. `So why now? Uh, then,' he wondered. What had attacked her? And what had caused her to attack him? Inuyasha remembered what happened like it was yesterday. Or maybe more like this morning.

 

He had been on his way to meet Kikyo so they could implement her plan, when, all of a sudden, he was being shot at. Turning around showed Kikyo standing in the shadows aiming the next arrow right at his heart. Inuyasha had been stricken. Not with grief, although it had been there, but with anger. How dare she! All this time, all those words of lo- some emotion and as soon as he let his guard down, BAM! Feeling betrayed and justified, Inuyasha had ransacked the village and stolen the Jewel. Only to wind up pinned to a damn tree for the next fifty years. What exactly had he done wrong? He was the victim. How could anyone possible place the blame on him?

 

Inuyasha sighed. `It's not doing any good to ask questions that I can't get answers to. Kikyo is dead and my answers died with her.` His ears perked up as something occurred to him.

 

`The old witch said the girl was Kikyo's reincarnation, so maybe-' The idea had some merit. Get the new girl to remember her past life, Kikyo's life, and get the full story that way. He was just about to hop down to ask Kaede how to do such a thing, when he stopped. He had never heard of anyone remembering their past lives before. `And besides, that old woman wouldn't help. She'd just kick me out again.' He settled back against the tree again with a heavy sigh.

 

The only thing left to do was to go on with his life, such as it was. `Or,' Inuyasha's brain picked up a new thread of hope, `I could nab the Jewel and become a full demon.' The more he thought about it, the more he liked it. He had no reason to become human or to even stay a hanyou anymore. Inuyasha slapped his leg in resolve. `That's what I'll do,' he thought. `Now to get the-'

 

A strong scent of demon reached his nose. Inuyasha stopped and glanced around. The smell was coming from the direction that he'd noticed Kagome's scent headed earlier. As soon as he noticed this, a scream pierced the air. `Oh, hell no! I'm not letting some weakling demon get to her before I do.' And he was off like a shot.

 

><><><><><><><><& gt;<><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><>< ;><><><><><

 

The monster was closer, barely ten feet away when Kagome nearly tripped over the quiver. Hardly thinking for fear, she grabbed another arrow and raised it on pure instinct. The oni took another enormous step forward and was reaching out to grab her, when suddenly,-

 

“OI, WENCH! What the hell do you think you`re doing?”

 

Both girl and monster glanced up at the rude statement. Relief flooded Kagome's being when she saw the red clad form of the hanyou.

 

“Inuyasha!” she cried gleefully, certain her troubles were over. A brief flash of surprise crossed the boy's face, before being replaced with annoyance. Kagome sighed internally, her initial joy evaporating at his expression. `I guess I'll only be a problem for him, won't I?'

 

A sudden growling interrupted her thoughts. “No! It's MINE, half-breed!” the oni screamed. Then it rushed Kagome, intent on capturing the Jewel.

 

In the blink of an eye, Inuyasha was air-born. Next moment, the oni was howling in pain and clutching the stump where Inuyasha had just sliced off its arm. Casually flicking blood from his claws, the hanyou turned to face Kagome.

 

“Now, why didn't you shoot the damn thing, woman?” Instead of answering the question, Kagome crossed to where Inuyasha was standing and placed a hand on his arm. The hanyou stared at her, perhaps wondering where that second head had come from.

 

“Thank you so much for rescuing me, Inuyasha.”

 

Obviously taken aback by her politeness, the hanyou blinked a couple of times before responding. Or shouting, rather. “I'm only here because of the Jewel, stupid! So don't bother thanking me. Besides, you`ve got a freakin` weapon, so why don't you use it!”

 

Kagome blinked. Withdrawing her hand, she looked down at the bow still in her grasp. She stared at it for a moment as if just realizing it was there. Then she raised her eyes up to meet Inuyasha's burning gaze. “I'll have you know, I've never used one of these in an actual fight before,” she said calmly.

 

“Than why do you have it if you've never used one before?!” Inuyasha was starting to get really annoyed.

 

She smacked him in the shoulder. “I didn't say I'd never used one, dummy.” Inuyasha bristled. “I said I'd never used one in battle, like this.” She swung her arm around to include the small area surrounding the pool. As she did this, her eyes left Inuyasha's face and passed over the oni, who was trying to sneak up on the bickering couple. `Eeps, forgot about that.'

 

Inuyasha had followed the progress of her arm and also saw their would-be attacker. Crouching down into a fighting stance, he cracked his knuckles menacingly. “So, you up for another round, ugly?”

 

The oni glared at the hanyou. “Out of my way, weakling. The Shikon no Tama will be mine and I will be all powerful.”

 

“Yeah, you and what arm?” Inuyasha scoffed. “Some weakling I am, if I can slice you up with one swipe.” He flexed his claws and prepared to strike down his opponent. Kagome sighed heavily. `Stupid male posturing.' Then she paused, realizing something. Strange how as soon as Inuyasha arrived, she no longer had any fear.

 

`Hmm, go figure. The guy who makes me want to strangle something also makes me feel safe.' She contemplated it for a second more then shrugged, returning her attention to the action in front of her.

 

The oni charged Inuyasha, who simply leapt over it's back. He somersaulted in mid-air to land on his feet facing the demon. While the oni was still wondering where the insolent hanyou had gotten to, Inuyasha took the advantage and swiped his deadly claws through the oni's torso. Howling in pain, it whirled around flexing it's own massive claws. Instead of meeting flesh as it had intended, the oni found its head being severed clean off its shoulders. The body fell to the ground while the head flew into trees.

 

“Keh,” Inuyasha sneered, “Stupid low level demons. Think they're all big and bad just cause they're full-blood.” Completely ignoring the headless corpse and the awe-stricken girl, he ambled over to the pool to wash the blood from his hands.

 

Kagome could only stare. That had been beyond impressive. Inuyasha had just completely and totally saved her life. And after all she'd done to him. Calling him a sorry little ingrate of a half-demon and placing that subduing spell on him. Now she felt guilty for having done those things.

 

Walking slowly so as not to upset him, Kagome crossed to where Inuyasha was sitting on the shore. She could tell he was tracking her movements by the way his ears twitched. When she was parallel to the hanyou, she tucked her legs under her and settled next to him.

 

A glance out of the corner of her eye showed Kagome that Inuyasha was adamant about not looking at her. His face was turned away slightly and his nose was in the air. She grinned a little to herself at how childish he seemed and how cute it made him. `Wrong train of thought, `Gome,' she chided herself mentally.

 

She cleared her throat gently. A snowy ear flicked in her direction and Kagome took that to mean he was listening. “I just want to say thank you again. For, you know, saving my life and all.” He hunched his shoulders and grunted under his breath in a contemptuous manner. Kagome sighed and forged ahead. “Look. I also wanna say that,” she took a deep breath, “I'm sorry.”

 

His head swiveled a bit towards her until she could see the arched brow and pursed lips that equaled a `you may continue' expression. Pushing away the annoyance that had risen, Kagome began fidgeting with her nails. “I'm sorry I called an ungrateful half-breed. I didn't mean it. And I shouldn't have yelled at you earlier about Kikyo.” She lowered her head to stare at her hands. “I don't even know why I did it. It's just- the way you were talking about her and the way you looked contradicted each other and I hate it when people think they have to hide their true selves behind false words.”

 

“And what exactly do you know about my true self, wench?” Inuyasha's voice was full of anger and it made Kagome wince. “You never met me before and you already think you know me?” He shot to his feet, hands clenched into fists. “What gives you the right-”

 

“You were in love with her.” Kagome's soft words brought the hanyou's harsh ones to a screeching halt. “I don't have to know you for very long to see that you're burying your pain under anger and denial.” She raised her head and met Inuyasha's shocked gaze. He was surprised to see tears glistening in those brown depths. She hardly knew him and she was crying for him. Why did that unnerve him so much?

 

Kagome was still speaking so Inuyasha did his best to focus. “I remember the same thing happening to me when my little brother, Souta, disappeared. The loss was so overwhelming that I had to force myself to feel something else just so it wouldn't crush me.” She glanced out over the shimmering pool, watching the ripples made by the waterfall. Inuyasha crouched down, hands hitting the ground between his legs, and studied her face.

 

Yes, she looked like Kikyo. The same nose, the same mouth, the same face. But it was her eyes that were completely different. Inuyasha could never tell what Kikyo had been thinking by looking into her eyes. They had always been the same earth brown tone regardless of circumstances. Only occasionally, when she had allowed it, had Kikyo let her emotions show.

 

But this girl, this Kagome, seemed to never hold anything back. Her eyes danced with colors as she let her feelings soar out of her. Inuyasha had no idea how to respond to that kind of outpouring. So he did something he thought he'd never do again. He sympathized.

 

“I know what you mean,” he confessed haltingly. Kagome's head shot up and over, surprise engulfing the grief on her face. Inuyasha could see light tear tracks running down her cheeks and he looked away to stop himself from wiping the last remaining drops off her lashes. “When I thought Kikyo had betrayed me, I thought my heart would burst. So I decided to be angry and take my revenge out on the village. Then, after she shot me, I just-” Here he shrugged his shoulders. He didn't know how to describe how he'd felt.

 

A slight frown marred the girl's face. “But I thought Kikyo betrayed you when she pinned you to the tree.”

 

Inuyasha shook his head. “No, it was before that. I was supposed to meet her somewhere, but she attacked me before I got there.”

 

“Hm.” Kagome tilted her head to the side thoughtfully. “That seems off for some reason.” When the hanyou glanced at her curiously, she simply shook her head. “I need to think it over.”

 

A moment of silence passed between them before Inuyasha cleared his throat. “So, what happened with your brother? Did you ever find him?”

 

A gentle smile curved her lips and the hanyou found himself relieved that it had no hint of sadness in it. “It's turned out alright now. I've found him here. Now all I have to do is figure out how to get back home.” Eyes going distant with contemplation, Kagome began to chew on her lower lip. The gesture awoke a burning sensation in Inuyasha's stomach. A strange feeling, like he wanted to do something that took the girl's mind off her problems and also stop her from damaging those beautiful full lips.

 

Suddenly realizing what he was thinking, Inuyasha quickly turned his mind to other topics. He cleared the lump that had somehow lodged in his throat. “Where are you from exactly?” The blood was beginning to drain from his cheeks. “I mean, you're obviously not from around here, are you?”

 

“No, I guess not,” the girl replied slowly, still thinking. “I'm not really sure how either Souta or I got here.” She cocked her head to the side, as if an idea had just occurred to her, and she glanced over at him. “Maybe you'd like to help me figure it out.” Then she began to chew on that damnable lip of hers again.

 

To save himself from another embarrassing blush, Inuyasha swiveled his head and upper body away from Kagome. “Keh!” he scoffed. “And why should I do that? It's not like there's anything in it for me.”

 

“Then I'll make it worth your while.”

 

This caused Inuyasha's head to whip around to stare at her and his heart to pound. What was that supposed to mean? There was no way she could be talking about- His brain ground to a halt as all possible scenarios crossed his mind. It started up again when Kagome began to explain.

 

“The way I see it,” Kagome continued on, completely oblivious to the hanyou's indecent thoughts, “when I leave here, I'll have no more need of this Jewel thing. So, if you help me, I'll give you the Jewel when it's time for me to go home. Oh, and you`ll have to protect me and it between then and now. Deal?” She held out her hand.

 

Inuyasha's jaw dropped. She would actually give him the Jewel? And all he had to do was protect her until she found a way home? It seemed to good to be true, and Inuyasha was used to things that fell out that way, but, for some reason, one glance at the honest and open expression on her face was enough to convince him. Hesitantly, he extended his own hand and grasped hers in a gesture of agreement. “Alright,” he said. “It's a deal.”

 

She grinned widely at him and Inuyasha found himself returning it with one of his own fang-tipped smirks, though considerably more friendly than usual. They kept their hands clasped for a moment longer than necessary until Kagome finally pulled hers back and sighed happily.

 

“ Wow,” she said, stretching her arms over her head. The hanyou tried not to watch what the movement did to her shirt. “All that wheeling and dealing can sure make a girl hungry. And I'm sure demon fighting is no small feat either.”

 

She stood, brushed off the dirt from her pants, and offered him her hand one more time. Inuyasha peered at it for a moment before replacing his hand into her smaller one and allowing her to help him up (not that he needed the help of course). Another slight smile from the girl and together they ambled back to Kaede's hut, chatting all the way.

 

><><><><><><><><& gt;<><><><><><><><><> <><><><><><><><><>< ;><><><><><

 

The figure atop the waterfalls pulled back from the edge when the hanyou and the girl left the area. After she was sure that they had truly departed, she awaited further instructions. A breeze ruffling her long white hair was the only movement.

 

She had been observing the girl ever since she'd arrived late last night. When she had exited the old woman's hut not an hour earlier, she had of course followed. She had almost been discovered when a small stone had caused her to brush up against the bushes lining the cliff, but fortunately the demon's appearance had distracted her subject from spotting her. Then she stepped closer to the edge and angled her mirror downwards to capture the scene in its surface. When the hanyou had arrived, a deep voice that was entirely unsuitable for the small girl cursed. The events had unfolded with no further commentary and now she waited.

 

Finally the voice that had previously spoken returned. “Kanna, that hanyou presents a problem,” it said brusquely.

 

Kanna lowered her arms and brought the mirror close to her chest. Turning the mirror so she could gaze at its surface, she glanced down at the figure within. She couldn't see it well for her master preferred anonymity and hid in shadows, but she already knew his face. And at the moment he was in the process of changing it.

 

“Yes, lord,” she replied softly. Then she dared to ask more. “But why?”

 

Fortunately, her master was not angry at her rebelliousness. He actually answered. “I did not anticipate the hanyou to be alive. His involvement will make things… difficult. I must rethink my strategy.” Kanna said nothing to this revelation. And her master expected no response. He thought for a moment then gave her a new set of instructions.

 

“I wish for you to keep me informed of their actions. Inform me of any possible ways we can get that girl away from the half-breed.” The voice paused, then continued. “I require the Shikon no Tama. Do not disappoint me.”

 

Kanna nodded slightly, a bare inclination, to indicate her understanding. She would do as he said without fail. She could do no less. He was, after all, her father.

 

----------------------------------------------------------------- ----------------------------------------