InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity ❯ Dammit ( Chapter 36 )

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

Kagome leaned idly in the doorway with her arms crossed over her chest. She stared thoughtfully at InuYasha as he sat under Goshinboku with Dammit by his side. Something was bothering him. She'd known it for the last couple of days, since they'd left Sesshoumaru's house. His preoccupation was a palpable thing. `If he'd talk about whatever it was, it would help', she figured. But he was nothing if not stubborn, and when she'd asked him, he'd denied that anything was wrong.

The whistle of the teakettle on the stove broke through Kagome's musings, and she stared at InuYasha another moment before turning to head back through the house toward the kitchen.

It unsettled her, how quiet the shrine house was. Her mother, grandfather, and Souta had left town for a few days' vacation before Souta had to go back to school, and she smiled as she realized that, for the first time since she could remember, she didn't have to worry about her classes and things.

She poured tea for herself and InuYasha and stepped over to the refrigerator to retrieve the carton of milk. For some reason, InuYasha had gotten into the habit of putting milk in his tea. She made a face. If that's what he wanted, then she wasn't going to argue it with even if she found the idea of it to be a little weird.

Out of habit, Kagome lifted the open carton to her nose and sniffed. The date stamped on it claimed that the milk was still good. But she'd trusted the date before and had to spend a few days in the hospital because of it later. That had happened when she was ten. She'd sniffed the milk before using it ever since.

The carton smelled a little, though she couldn't decide if it was the milk that made it smell that way or the fact that this carton had been opened a few days. Milk rarely lasted long in their house. But with her family gone, this one was holding out well. She was still staring at the carton with a thoughtful frown when InuYasha stepped into the kitchen with Dammit in tow. Holding out the open carton, Kagome demanded, "Smell this."

His eyes narrowed as they locked with hers, and a little too late, Kagome realized that he had probably taken her request wrong. "Oh, I'm your fucking dog again, am I?"

"No," she hurried to say as she set the container on the table. "I didn't mean it that way! I smelled it, and—"

His snort cut her off. "And you thought, `Oh, why should I do this when I've got puppy-InuYasha running around somewhere?'"

"I didn't think any such thing! You know I never—"

"Keh!"

Kagome reached over and grabbed the hair that hung by his face. She pulled InuYasha forward a step as she tried her hardest to remember that he was already irritated and that he was very likely overreacting because of it. "Listen to me, will you?"

"Ouch! Let go, bitch!"

She tugged again though not enough to hurt him. His hands closed around her wrists and tightened slightly. She didn't let go. Judiciously choosing to ignore what he had called her again, Kagome drew a deep, steady breath before stabbing him with a `don't-you-dare-lie' look and said, "Why don't you tell me what's really bothering you? You don't get this upset just because I asked you to sniff a carton of milk to make sure it's still good. Why now?"

His glare didn't diminish but his hands dropped, and he sighed. "Just give me the damned carton."

Kagome's hand dropped, and she gestured at the table before she turned to retrieve the sugar bowl. He wasn't going to tell her. Whatever it was that bothered him, though, she had a feeling it had something to do with her, and everything to do with their visit to his brother's house.

As she turned back to the table, she bit her lower lip, staring intently at the hanyou who had his nose practically stuffed into the milk carton. `You'll tell me when you're ready, won't you, InuYasha?'


Kago me sat up and stretched as the end credits on the movie rolled. InuYasha was drowsing beside her on the sofa, his content rumbles filling the air with the pleasing sound. `Why doesn't that surprise me?' she thought with a grimace as she pushed stop and rewind on the remote control. It seemed like every time she let him choose a movie, he ended up sleeping through most of it. Setting the remote on the coffee table, she then turned to stare at the sleeping hanyou. He'd barely said two words to her all evening since they'd arrived at his house after leaving the shrine.

His silvery hair fell over his cheek. Kagome smoothed it back, marveling in the wonder that she really could touch him, could be near him without feeling as though she didn't have the right to do it. At times like this, when he was still, sleeping, it was easy to forget that she'd ever been at odds with him in the past. He looked innocent, naïve, with an understated gentleness. He hid those things well when he was awake. But he couldn't hide those things from her. She ought to wake him up to go to bed, she mused. But he looked so comfortable, so content, she hated to do that.

Careful not to disturb him, Kagome got up and headed to the hall closet to retrieve a blanket. It wasn't cold. But the evening was uncharacteristically cool. She drew the blanket over him. He whined softly. She cupped his cheek in her hand. He nuzzled against her.

She didn't pull away from him until his low rumble resumed again. That sound, she knew, meant that he was happy. She thought back to the obvious preoccupation in his expression earlier and frowned. `What was eating at him?' she asked for what felt like the millionth time of the day. Then with a sigh, she ambled over to the doors that led to the deck and pond.

Glancing over her shoulder to make sure that she didn't disturb InuYasha's sleep, Kagome slid open the door and stepped outside.

`Too many stars to count,' she mused as she sank down on the stairs that led to the pathway. How many nights had she and the others sat around trying to count them all? Kagome smiled though the expression was tinged with sadness. Nights like tonight made her realize how much she truly missed Sango and Miroku . . .

She heard the door open behind her. She wasn't surprised moments later when InuYasha dropped the blanket over her shoulders instead. "What are you doing out here?"

She shot him a quick glance as he sat down beside her. "Did I wake you?"

He shook his head as he stretched, as though what little bit of a nap that he had gotten had rejuvenated him. "Keh! You know I can tell when you leave."

"Why is that?" she teased. He stared down at the ground, his hair falling so that she couldn't really see his expression.

Kagome reached over to brush back his bangs. Her sudden movement made him jerk back in surprise. He caught her wrist easily and scowled out of the corner of his eyes. "What are you doing?"

"I just wanted to see your face," she remarked. Why had her tone sounded so strangely breathless to her own ears?

His golden eyes seemed to darken in the bright light shining down from the moon and starts above. "Trying to read my mind, miko?"

Kagome grinned as he let go of her wrist. She reached over and rubbed his ear. He inclined his head toward her, encouraging her to continue as the low rumble started again. Kagome's smile widened. "I don't think I can read your mind," she confessed as she reached up with her free hand to capture his other ear. The rumble grew louder.

"Kagome?"

She didn't miss the husky quality in his tone. Her heart seemed to flop over in her chest. "Hmm?"

" . . . Are you sure you can't?"

Preoccupied with the whisper-soft hair on his ears as well as the lulling properties of his rumbling, Kagome didn't comprehend his question. "Can't what?"

She gasped in surprise as he reached up and pulled her hands away from his ears. Holding them between their bodies, InuYasha's eyes probed hers, taking no prisoners in his ardent perusal. "Can't you read my mind?"

Her mouth fell slack as she stared at him, unable to tear her gaze away as she felt the molten gold seep over her, into her pores, into her soul. She thought maybe her heart had stopped until it suddenly lurched inside her, plummeting somewhere around her navel where and odd warmth was starting to flicker to life. His hands on her wrists burned her flesh but she didn't want to be let go, either. His face was a study of shadow and light, of deepest angles and planes that took on a bluish hue in the darkness. She couldn't speak, couldn't think, couldn't even remember to breathe. The look in his eyes dissipated any common sense she might have otherwise possessed, but in her muddled mind, the only word she knew was, "InuYasha . . ."

Vaguely aware as he pulled her toward him, she watched in unabashed wonder as InuYasha's eyelids drifted closed, his eyelashes fluttering like butterflies over his cheeks. Hers followed suite as a shocking heat engulfed her. Lips almost touching, she could feel his breath on her mouth. Anticipation was a bittersweet thing, and Kagome could feel the ever rapid thump of her heart against her ribcage as she waited to feel the magic of his kiss.

The obscenely loud scratching noise that cut through the moment drew a vicious growl of frustration from one of them while the other let loose a very loud, very irritated sigh. Strangely, Kagome wasn't sure which sound had come from her as InuYasha shot her an apologetic look before hopping up and jerking over the patio door. Dammit ran outside, barking and wagging her tail. The dog stopped to shoot Kagome what the latter could have sworn was a triumphant look. Kagome glared at the dog.

The moment was gone, and she knew it. She dared at secretive glance at InuYasha, who was sitting on the porch railing with his arms folded together and an angry look on his face. Yep, he knew it, too. Kagome sighed.

Dammit chased her tail in wide circles in the yard, barking happily and stopping only to cast Kagome the occasional glance. Every time the animal did, though, Kagome became more and more convinced that the dog was laughing at her.

Kagome growled to herself and shot to her feet, stomping back into the house to straighten up before bed. She had to be crazy; she decided as she snatched empty soda cans off the coffee table and headed for the garbage. Dammit was just a dog, after all. Dogs didn't have human emotions.

She froze in her tracks as her eyes darted toward the back door. She dropped the cans into the trash and leaned back against the counter with a defeated sigh. It was entirely possible, she realized. If InuYasha, who was a dog-human hanyou, could experience human emotions, then it was entirely likely that Dammit could, too.

Kagome was washing up the few glasses in the sink when InuYasha and Dammit came back into the house. He spotted her right away as he dropped the unfolded blanket on the sofa. "Leave them, Kagome. The housekeeper will get it in the morning."

"That's okay. You don't need her, you know," Kagome pointed out in a reasonable tone. "I don't mind helping you out around here."

InuYasha snorted in response as he rummaged around in the refrigerator. "When you move in here, I'll get rid of the housekeeper," he remarked.

Kagome froze. `Did he just say what it sounded like he said?' She forced herself to finish washing the glass in her hand as she fought to make her heart slow down. InuYasha leaned against the counter, patiently waiting till she finished her task. "You joke too much," she remarked, trying to hide the telling redness creeping over her skin.

"Who's joking? You might as well move in. You're here all the time anyway, and you belong here."

She swallowed hard. "I can't, InuYasha. It isn't right. I mean, we're not even—" Face shooting up in flames, Kagome realized too late exactly what that sounded like. It sounded like she was fishing for a commitment from him . . . She bit her lip, concentrating instead on not sticking her foot in her mouth any further than it was already embedded. She reached out to turn on the water so she could rinse the sink. InuYasha was faster.

He didn't wait for her to rinse out the sink. He grabbed her wet hand and dragged her down the hallway. "What's your rush?" she asked but didn't try to pull away.

InuYasha tossed a quick glance over his shoulder at her. `Is he smiling?'

"I'm tired. What of it?"

Her eyes narrowed and she stopped. He finally turned to face her, his expression completely innocent. "You're never tired, InuYasha."

"I thought you said you trust me."

"I used to."

"Used to?"

She grinned. "Yeah. Used to."

"What does that mean?" he asked, the timbre of his voice dropping, picking up on the teasing note in her tone.

Kagome shrugged, struggling for a nonchalance that she was far from feeling as she leaned against the wall for support and InuYasha placed a hand on each side of her head. "I . . . I thought you were supposed to protect me," she said, her voice airy, breathless.

He chuckled, leaning toward her so that his hair brushed against her cheek, and his voice rumbled low in her ear, sending shivers down her spine as her knees threatened to give out. "From what?"

" . . . You."

"Me?"

"Y-Y-Yes."

He chuckled again. "Why are you stammering?"

She didn't answer. She could feel the blood shooting to her face. Still, she couldn't speak. He sighed, pushing away from the wall. He grabbed her hands and backed into the bedroom. Her knees wobbled. She hoped he didn't notice. The knowing look he shot her, though, convinced her that he did.

He let his head fall to the side but continued to stare at her through half-closed eyes. `What has gotten into him tonight?' she wondered. Earlier in the day, he'd definitely had something on his mind. Now, though, he seemed perfectly normal, if not a little . . . unnerving.

"Come here, Kagome," he said softly though his tone was awash with quiet authority.

That odd explosion happened again in her belly. Kagome could feel her entire body trembling. It wasn't that she didn't want to move. It was that she actually couldn't do it. If she moved so much as an inch, she'd crumble into a thousand pieces, shatter into more shards than the Shikon no Tama . . .

He must have sensed her inability to move, because Kagome gaped at the speed with which he crossed the room to her, sweeping her into his arms as though she weighed nothing.

"InuYasha? What—?"

His lips cut off her question. Searching, scorching, whatever Kagome had been about to ask slipped away from her as his fangs drew over her lips, as they nipped at her gently, and yet she could feel the raw power behind it all, the consuming need for him to devour her. Whatever had brought about the sudden change in him didn't worry her. Nothing did. He was InuYasha. He wouldn't hurt her. He'd never do that.

He let go of her legs but didn't put her down. He held onto her, holding her close. But he trailed his claws on his free hand up her side, against her flesh. A caress that normally would have tickled her instead drew a soft whimper from her. InuYasha growled low in response but never removed his mouth from hers. Ravaging her senses, barraging her judgment before she could muster a defense, his lips were powerful, all the more potent in their soft exploration.

Another growl broke through Kagome's misty veil, and as it grew more threatening, more insistent, she dragged her lips away from InuYasha's and peeked around him in the direction of the noise. Either he didn't notice or didn't care because instead of paying attention to see what had distracted her, InuYasha let his mouth fall to the small hollow at the junction between her neck and her shoulder. She gasped but her eyes flared wider when she spotted the dog crouched in the middle of the bed, ready to spring on her.

"Dammit," she whispered. InuYasha's rumble started up again but he didn't bother to comment. Kagome closed her eyes just for a moment as InuYasha's fangs grazed over the tender skin of her neck. As shocking as the sensation was, as heady as his deliberate seduction, she couldn't quite forget the sounds coming from the dog on the bed. As much as Kagome wanted to let herself get lost in his attention, the dog bared her teeth once more and let another low growl. "Dammit," she said, this time a little louder.

He pulled away just a little and stared down at her with a thoughtful frown. "Did I hurt you? Kagome?"

She leaned against him, her limbs still too lethargic to work the way they should have. "No," she said with a slight shake of her head. "Dammit."

For some reason, InuYasha looked a little insulted. "If you wanted me to stop—"

Kagome shook her head adamantly and waved her hand toward the bed. "No, it's Dammit!"

A look of complete confusion crossed InuYasha's features. But his eyes narrowed as understanding seemed to dawn on him, and he slowly turned his head. Dammit wagged her tail at him and whined in greeting. He turned back to face Kagome again, still apparently not understanding what had truly been bothering her. "She'll move."

Kagome rubbed her hands over her face, suddenly feeling very tired. She didn't feel like explaining the dog's threatening behavior to InuYasha. She didn't even know if he would believe her, since Dammit was trying her hardest to convince him that she was being nice. He seemed to sense the change in Kagome's mood, though. He shooed Dammit off the bed and reached out to catch Kagome's hand and draw her forward. "Come on. You're tired," he said with a sigh.

She lay down and curled up as InuYasha hauled her into his arms. "Your heart's thundering," she said softly after he turned off the light. Her hand rested on his chest. InuYasha tilted her chin up and kissed her.

"I'll be fine," he assured her.

She snuggled against his neck, completely missing the disgruntled look on the hanyou's face and oblivious to the uncomfortable shifting as he tried to maneuver into a less distracting position. "Sleep well, InuYasha."

Her answer was a heavy sigh.


Kago me moaned and tried to burrow deeper into InuYasha's shoulder as the incessant thumping that had roused her grew louder and louder. She sat up and yawned. Beside her, InuYasha bolted off the bed and out the door, muttering dire threats as he disappeared from view.

Letting herself flop backward on the bed, she wondered briefly who was here. But she was feeling entirely too lethargic to get up.

"Kagome!"

Kagome glanced over just in time to see Toga launch himself from midway across the floor straight onto the bed. Aiko wasn't far behind. Kagome was buried under the children, and she giggled as Toga hopped up and down. "What are you two doing here?" she asked as she kissed Aiko's alabaster cheek.

Toga dropped to his knees and cocked his head to the side as he stared at Kagome in an entirely unsettling manner. "Tou-san wanted to asked Yasha-oji-chan somefin."

"Why do you look so serious?" she asked as she pushed herself into a sitting position. "Are you okay, Toga?"

Toga started bouncing on his knees, almost as though he was nervous. "Yeah," Toga said in a tone that suggested that he wasn't.

"Are you our aunt now, `Gome?" Aiko piped up.

Kagome's eyes bulged out. "What?"

"Baka!" Toga yelled, in obvious distress. "We weren't supposed to ask! That's why tou-san—"

"Not baka!" Aiko yelled back, those golden eyes of hers flashing with anger directed at her brother.

"Are too!"

"Am not! Toga's a baka!"

"Calm down, both of you," Kagome tried to intervene.

"You are!"

"You are!!"

"Baby!"

"Baka!"

Kagome glanced over as InuYasha, Sesshoumaru, and Kagura stepped into the room with varying degrees of shock in their expressions. Sesshoumaru looked the least impressed with the outburst. Kagura looked minimally irritated. InuYasha looked stunned.

"This Toga is not a baka, you baby!" Toga hollered.

"This Aiko is not a baby, you baka!" Aiko screamed back.

"Baby!"

"Baka!"

"Bastard< /i>!"

"Toga!" Kagura gasped, dragging the children off the bed to stand before their father, who was now looking distinctly uncomfortable. "Where did you learn that word?"

Kagome's gaze narrowed as InuYasha backed slowly away from Kagura and Sesshoumaru. "Yasha-oji-chan," Toga grumbled as he stared at the floor. "He said it was his way of telling tou-san how much he cares about him."

Kagura's eyes shot to pin InuYasha to the spot. "InuYasha . . . Kami only help you when you have children of your own," she said, glowering at the hanyou in such a way that InuYasha flinched and stepped back again. "Come, children. I think it will be a very long time before we leave you with Yasha-oji-chan again." She stomped out of the room.

Sesshoumaru turned to follow but stopped, cocking his head to the side before leaving. "Children are so impressionable. Miko, I trust you'll keep your children away from their sire, should the desire to pass on his deplorable vocabulary strike him?"

Kagome's mouth dropped open as she watched Sesshoumaru's silent retreat.

`What in the world were they all talking about?'