InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity ❯ Seashell ( Chapter 34 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

Kagome wandered along the shore. She stopped long enough to giggle as a small wave crashed over her feet. It felt good to be out here in the fresh air so far removed from her home. When had she stopped enjoying the bustle of Tokyo? When had she started to inwardly yearn for something quieter, more peaceful? She smiled. She had a feeling that it might have started the moment she had first seen a certain hanyou sleeping peacefully where he was pinned to Goshinboku.

Glancing back at the book that lay in the sand, her smile faded but didn't disappear. Her mother's journal had helped but hadn't answered all the questions that Kagome had. She'd been reading it for hours. She was finished now.

"Your mom told me she knew the story," InuYasha remarked hours ago as Kagome sank into the sand with the journal. Then he'd taken off after mumbling some excuse that she hadn't heard. She had a feeling that he had somehow known that she would need some time to digest whatever information the journal could give her.

Kagome shaded her eyes with her hand and surveyed the surrounding landscape for any sign of his silver hair or the red t-shirt he wore. She wasn't sure where he'd gone but she could sense him nearby. The knowledge brought a surge of warmth that wrapped around her, holding her securely. InuYasha always had watched over her. That he still desired to do so made her happy.

They hadn't discussed the disagreement. When she had tried to ask him about it, she'd gotten a glower for her efforts. Unwilling to reignite the argument, she'd remained silent instead.

She frowned. It didn't make sense to her, really, why he would want to keep the prayer beads. She had thought that it might have been because Kikyou had made them. After his vehement denial, though, it was clear to her that he had an entirely different reason for his otherwise stubborn insistence that he keep the necklace. She sighed. She didn't want that sort of power over him. She never really had.

`For not wanting that power, you certainly used it against him enough,' her conscience pricked.

Kagome sighed. She had to acknowledge, her inner voice had a point. InuYasha might have done his fair share to bring on her irritation. Still, she'd be the first to admit that she might well have abused that power a few times. Then, too, the necklace had come in useful once or twice. In the beginning, Kaede had put them on him, to stop him from trying to steal the Shikon no Tama. `Don't forget his fights with Kouga,' she defended herself, `or the times he'd transformed and I used it to bring him back to normal.'

She made a self-disgusted face. She had to admit, she hadn't actually needed that incantation in a very, very long time. `You ought to at least apologize to him.' Kagome smiled wanly. Maybe she would, if he would let her . . .

Her eyes fell on the journal again, and she bit her lower lip as her hand fell onto the leather cover. At least her memories were a little clearer. With the overview provided in the journal, Kagome had been able to put some of her memories in perspective, even if she wasn't able to arrange them all in exact order. At least she knew roughly what happened and when, even if she hadn't been able to figure out how it was that she still possessed two years' worth of memories that seemed to overlap the ones she'd gotten back. As though she had somehow led two entirely separate lives, Kagome couldn't quite understand why it would seem this way.

`I couldn't have been in the past and here at the same time,' she reasoned as she sank back down next to the journal, `but I was.' She could remember being dragged into the well on her fifteenth birthday. Then again, she could remember the birthday dinner that her mother had painstakingly prepared for her that evening, as well.

The only part of her memory that she couldn't seem to reconcile was what had happened between the battle with Naraku and the morning she awoke in her bed; her seventeenth birthday. The jewel she'd given InuYasha was the Shikon no Tama. This she knew. But it was dull, dormant. How had she purified it? And why did she feel such hesitation in asking InuYasha if he knew? A foreboding rose inside her as she considered asking him, as if the purification had a lot to do with him, maybe more so than it had affected her. . .

With a start, Kagome gasped as InuYasha set a bucket by her feet and dropped down in the sand next to her. She'd been so lost in her musings that she hadn't heard him approach. She cast him a cautious glance before daring to look inside. She had a feeling what she'd find in there. She smelled fresh fish long before she saw them. Cleaned and ready to be cooked, she noted with a large dose of relief. Kagome smiled, remembering the number of times he'd returned to their campsite with whatever he'd caught. It was always cleaned, always ready to cook. Had he realized that cleaning the game would have turned her stomach? She shot him another glance. He had his face turned up toward the sun, eyes closed, a vaguely smug smile on his features. Yes, she supposed he had known . . .

It struck her as familiar, his desire to provide for them. Though he hadn't complained when she'd brought food back from her era, he'd always gone hunting as the rest of them set up camp for the night, whether they'd needed the food or not.

"I didn't see you fishing," she remarked, fluttering her hand toward the ocean.

InuYasha leaned back on his elbows. "There's a freshwater pond just through those trees," he said, jerking his head in the opposite direction of the beach. "I'll take you there after supper, if you want a bath."

"Thanks," she said softly, suddenly embarrassed at the idea of bathing with him so close by. She'd done it thousands of times in the past. Why did it feel so different now?

"Here. I, uh, picked this up for you."

Kagome blinked in surprise and hesitantly took the seashell he offered her. Delicate and beautiful, the shell was perfectly formed. She shot him a grin but as she recalled what she had been thinking about earlier, her smile faded. "InuYasha?"

He was laying flat with his arm draped over his eyes. Was he sleeping? "Hmm?"

"I'm sorry I used the beads against you all those times," she said in a hushed tone, blushing despite the fact that he couldn't see her face.

"It didn't hurt," he observed, brushing aside her apology.

Kagome sighed. "Still . . ."

"Don't worry about it."

She frowned and stared at the shell in her hand. He'd sounded sincere when he'd told her not to worry. For some reason, his dismissal of her apology made her feel just a little worse about it. "When we get home, I'll put a hole in this," she said, turning the shell over in her fingers. "So I can put it on a chain.'

He sat up and reached over, gently taking the shell from her. After looking it over carefully, InuYasha slowly, meticulously pushed into it with a claw. He stared at his handiwork a moment then handed it back. "Keh! A drill would break the flimsy thing," he scoffed as he dropped back in the sand again.

She blinked as she stared at the unmarred perfection. Not even so much as a scratch. Claws that she knew could tear an enemy to bits, yet gentle enough to precisely place a tiny hole for a necklace. InuYasha was a paradox. His gruff, brash exterior had always hidden what he hated others to see, that heart of gold that so matched his eyes. She sighed and smiled, holding the shell tightly. "You're hungry, aren't you? I'll get this fish started, then."

She got up and grabbed the bucket's handle. InuYasha sat up quickly and reached for the bucket, too. Their fingers brushed against each other. Kagome swallowed hard. She lifted the bucket and straightened up. The hem of her skirt caught briefly on something, and InuYasha groaned softly. Wondering why, she peeked over her shoulder to look at him. He was sprawled flat on his back, and his eyes locked with hers.

"InuYasha? Are you all right?" she asked, eyeing him closely as a heady expression entered his eyes. They darkened to nearly a topaz hue, and Kagome's breath caught in a sudden gasp. Helpless to look away, she stopped in her tracks. He didn't move.

A million things were said without a spoken word. As though a connection had been opened between her mind and his, Kagome understood what he wasn't able to say. The current between their eyes was like a golden strand of wire, shining, glistening, bright, beautiful—unbreakable.

In the end, InuYasha was the one to look away. Clearing his throat as though he didn't trust his voice to be steady, he spoke in a low, precise voice. "I'll start a fire if you want to cook those out here."

Kagome blinked as reality made a bitter intrusion. She nodded and hurried toward the deck. She set the bucket down and leaned back with a sigh. Fingertips gripping the counter so hard they turned white, she drew in a few ragged breaths, willing her thumping heart to steady. What was it about InuYasha's mere stare that could unsettle her so quickly?

Glancing out the window, Kagome grinned, cradling the seashell he'd given her against her chest. InuYasha was sitting up now, arms draped loosely around his raised knees. He was staring off into the distance, but even from where she stood, she could see the vague smile on his face, too.


"You 're not peeking, right?" Kagome called over her shoulder, her arms wrapped protectively over her chest as she shivered slightly in the cold pond. She couldn't see InuYasha anywhere. But that didn't mean he wasn't watching.

"No, Kagome, I'm not peeking," InuYasha's voice trailed back to her. She narrowed her eyes at his overly-tolerant tone. He had stopped on the other side of the large boulders on the shore, promising a hundred times if he had promised once that he wouldn't peek at her while she bathed.

After taking one last long glance, Kagome hesitantly dropped her arms. `Do you want him to peek?' She smiled as Sango's confused question echoed through her mind.

`Of course not!' she told herself even as a warm flush crept over her skin. She glanced back toward the shore before dropping under the surface of the water. InuYasha was nowhere in sight. `Good,' she told herself then sighed. If it was good that he wasn't looking, why did Kagome feel so disappointed? `Oh, you're not disappointed!' she berated herself. `Stop being an idiot!'

She resurfaced and reached over to retrieve her shampoo. With a mumbled, "Darn!" she realized couldn't quite reach the bottle without leaving the cover of the water. She shot a quick glance toward the shore, satisfying herself with the knowledge that InuYasha really wasn't watching. `Probably sitting there with his arms folded together meditating, or whatever it is he does,' she mused as she heaved herself out of the water and onto the rock to retrieve her shampoo as well as the conditioner.

An odd shiver raced up her spine, and Kagome cast a surreptitious glance toward the shore. Nothing struck her right away. Her chin lifted a tad as she narrowed her eyes. Yes, there they were. Sticking up behind a boulder on the shoreline was a pair of silvery ears. `Thought you weren't going to peek, InuYasha,' she thought with an inward, `Keh!' She slid back into the water with a hiss as her skin scraped on the rock.

`Hmm,' she thought as she crouched in the shallow water. In the pale light of the half-moon reflecting off the shimmering pool, Kagome saw the ears twitch. `Fine, if he thinks he's going to peek after he promised he wouldn't . . . He'll just have to work for it!'

With her knees bent so her body would stay under water, she skirted the rock so it would impede his view before she straightened up. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she could see the ears sink quickly then rise again.

`You watched him this morning,' her conscience reminded as she slowly lathered her hair. `And you liked what you saw, Kagome. Admit it. Fair's fair.' She flushed, remembering all too well exactly how much of InuYasha she had seen. When she first looked, he'd been covered up to his hips. She flinched when she saw the torn flesh on his stomach. He grimaced but seemed otherwise no worse for it as he sank back, content to let the water soothe him. Broad shoulders stretched, arched, and she watched, mesmerized by the way his muscles rippled under his skin. She'd seen his chest many times. How often had she had flashes of memories, of her tending his many wounds? With a slight smile, she remembered that it was rare when he'd show her how much pain he truly was suffering.

When he stood up, though . . . She really had tried to turn away from the window. She hadn't meant to see what she saw. She'd heard the phrase `poetry in motion' before. She hadn't realized what it meant until those moments. Watching him stride toward the shore, the way his body seemed to flow of its own accord was beautiful to behold. There was something in his articulated movements, something graceful yet as hard to define as the wind that tossed his hair. He moved with the ease of agility, with the simple comfort of feeling no shame. She had been in awe . . .

Kagome sighed. True as that may be, she just couldn't bring herself to let him see more than he should. She glanced down. She was completely covered, she figured. What he could see wouldn't give him that much of a show . . .

Of course, he had seen her before, numerous times. But that was somehow different. She couldn't exactly put her finger on the reason why, but it was. She made a face as she ducked under the water to rinse her hair.


InuY asha frowned as Kagome's head disappeared under the surface of the water. `If she catches you watching her, you're going to end up with a faceful of dirt,' he reminded himself. He deliberately ignored that voice of inner reason and leaned up to get a better view. She resurfaced with her back toward him. In the moonlight, her skin seemed almost too perfect, too smooth, too soft. He bit his bottom lip hard enough to draw blood as his fang pierced the skin. He didn't notice.

His breath was drawn in so sharply that it whistled. Covered to the gentle swell of her breasts, InuYasha could still see way too much skin above the surface of the water. The rock hid her up to her shoulder blades. Unfortunately, what he did see was enough to set his heart thumping erratically in his chest. The shadows seemed that much starker in the dim light, and when she pulled all her hair over her shoulder to lather it a second time, he stared, enthralled by the gentle arch of her neck. Entirely too seductive in her innocence, he was unable to look away. She beckoned him, called to him, with every movement, the water's ripples spoke to him. Ethereal yet earthly, there was something about Kagome that transcended simple beauty into a realm of dreams and wanting. Conflicting emotion welled up inside, the need to cherish one such as her warred with the yearning to possess her.

An entirely primitive desire flooded through him as he continued to watch her. He didn't pay attention as he dug his claws against the rock, didn't feel them as they scraped, didn't realize as deep gouges were left in the wake of his trailing claws. Blood pumped through him, singing his veins, searing his flesh, tormenting his soul. `Looks like another cold swim for you, baka. Did you watch her just to torture yourself?'

"InuYasha?" she called over her shoulder. The moonlight played off her pale skin, lending her an iridescent glow, a delicate sheen. "You're not peeking, are you?"

He swallowed hard, a semblance of his common sense returning as he quickly ducked down. "Keh!"

She didn't answer right away. There was a slight hint of laughter in her tone when she did speak that made him flush. "Good, because I'd know if you were."

`Would she?' he wondered then wrinkled his nose. `No way! She'd have osuwari-ed me for sure if she knew.' He sat up to call over the rocks, "Need any help?"

"Nope."

He sighed. What was he hoping? That she'd say yes? "Hurry it up, will you?"

"I still have to condition my hair," she called back. "Why the hurry?"

`Why? Because you're . . .' InuYasha deliberately cut his train of thought off with a low growl. "It's getting late."

He heard another soft splash as she dunked herself again. Cautiously, he rose up to peer over the rocks again. This time, she sputtered just a little when she came up. He watched her wipe the water from her eyes with balled up fists and smiled to himself.

Kagome retrieved the pink net scrubber off the rock along with her bottle of body wash. She looked around slowly, as though trying to figure out if he was watching or not. Even with the distance between them, he could sense her uncertainty. He didn't miss her soft sigh as she squeezed out some of the washing liquid and set to work.

With a muffled moan, InuYasha dropped back onto the ground. There was no way he could watch her do that, he thought with a grimace. It was enough torture to have watched her wash her hair. To watch her wash the rest of her body . . . He sighed, letting his head fall back against the rocks as his eyes closed against the images that came to mind. That didn't help. It made them even more vivid. He'd seen those legs too often, too close, had caught too many glimpses of things he'd have been better off not seeing. The things that taunted him late at night as he held her close and breathed in her essence were the same things that were going to destroy him. How could a wisp of a girl like her bring him down? He sighed as another image crashed down on him. Kagome, so long ago, standing in the sage's dwelling, so happy to see that he was still alive that she hadn't thought to hide herself. What he had seen then had tortured him for a very long time. He sighed unsteadily, digging his fist into the ground. That single image still tormented him.

"Are you finished yet?" he called. His tone was harsher than he'd meant it to be, and he flinched.

"Almost."

He tried to will his mind away from what Kagome was doing, or, more precisely, what she was washing . . . Images continued to flash through his mind. He growled in frustration.

"Kagome?" She didn't answer. He waited a minute. "Kagome?"

When she still didn't answer, InuYasha sprang to his feet.

"Boo!" she yelled, springing up right in front of him on the other side of the rocks.

With a scream, he fell back. Kagome giggled softly. She ran around the bounder and knelt down beside him. "Did you have to do that?" he growled as he sat up.

"Sorry," she apologized, looking anything but sorry as she pulled on her sandals.

He eyed her suspiciously. How had she managed to get out of the water and get dressed without his knowing? Her hair was wrapped in a towel. He resisted the urge to grin at the endearing visage she presented. "Come on," he said as he pushed himself to his feet.

She dragged her backpack off the ground and slung it over her shoulder. InuYasha rolled his eyes and took the bag from her. "I can carry that," she remarked.

InuYasha snorted. "Keh! Don't be so stubborn. Let me help you, will you?"

She stared at him for a moment then took his hand. He started at the contact then glanced down. Raising his eyes to meet hers in the moonlight, he saw the happiness in her expression. "Thank you."

InuYasha finally grinned.

They continued on in silence. Comfortable, companionable, yet with a tension that set him on edge, InuYasha could sense it in Kagome, as well. `Her hand is so small, so delicate,' he thought with an inward smile. Gently, he squeezed. She returned the pressure.