InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reliving the Past ❯ Chapter 4 ( Chapter 4 )

Reliving the Past

by kmf

(An Inuyasha fanfic)

Rating: R

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: Standard Disclaimer Applies

Chapter Four

Kagome's heart missed a beat. Damn Inuyasha and his sensitive nose! She had been close to Kaminari a number of times since their initial meeting, but he had only touched her once that day on the small of her back to guide her through a doorway. She found it difficult to believe that he could smell Kaminari on her just from that fleeting touch, but looking up into Inuyasha's eyes she could see that he was really quite angry.

"Don't be stupid," Kagome said firmly back to him, her mouth a little dry and her heart racing with guilt, "I go to University to study. Many men and women go to University to learn. It's crowded and I often bump into people. You probably are smelling any number of people."

As she talked, she began to feel cross. What business was it of Inuyasha's whom she associated with anyway? She didn't get cross when he went running after Kikyou...well, not much anyway...

Inuyasha's ears twitched a little at her words, before turning and pulling her towards the well.

Kagome pulled the opposite way, digging her heals into the stone flags of the courtyard to stop her forward movement.

"Inuyasha! No! I cant go back tonight, I'm not ready," she said desperately trying to free herself from his grip. When he showed no sign of listening, she cried out "Don't make me say the 's' word!"

He winced, pausing just outside the door of the well house, and glared at her.

"You promised!" he said, his voice surly, "You said you would be back in one week."

Kagome bit her lip. It was true; she had promised. She had thought that one week would have been more than enough time to get ready for studying in the past. But she had been rather distracted for the last few days, and she hadn't printed off half the study sheets that she wanted to. And she had agreed to meet with Kaminari the following day. She didn't know his home phone number, and thought it unwise to leave a message with the University saying that she wasn't going to meet him. But she couldn't just leave without telling him she was going away; how would he feel if he was stood up without an explanation potentially for weeks.

Inuyasha was looking at her closely, waiting for her answer. His ears were wilting a little and he looked a little disappointed. His eyes reminded Kagome of the look that Shippo gave her when she forgot to bring chocolate. She sighed, and reached up a hand to scratch one of his ears in what she hoped would be a placating gesture. His eyes widened, but he did not move away, and allowed her to stroke the silky fur that grew on them.

"I know I promised," she said, "And I am sorry. It's just been more difficult than I thought. Please let me have one more day. Just one more day, and I will be ready to come through for a couple of weeks."

"A month," Inuyasha countered, his eyes narrowed, still holding on to her firmly as if he was still considering pulling her into the well.

"Two weeks," Kagome pleaded, giving him her most plaintive look.

"Three weeks," Inuyasha countered, the words sounding as if they were being ripped from his mouth. He never normally compromised; with him it was all or nothing, and Kagome felt surprised at his words. However, this was not something that she could negotiate, even when Inuyasha was being considerate for once.

Kagome grinned apologetically. "Two weeks," she said quietly, "That's all I can promise. It's a busy year for me. If I fail this year, all the study I have done before will be wasted."

Inuyasha stared at her closely as if he was trying to determine whether or not she was just stalling him again. Then he nodded, releasing her wrist, and folded his arms.

"Feh!" he snorted, as if he was disgusted with himself. "I will haul your arse down the well tomorrow night regardless of whether you are ready or not," he said as he turned to the well house, sliding open the door and slipping through. "Don't disappoint me, bitch!"

Kagome waited until she was sure he would have jumped down the well, then let out sigh of relief. For once he had done as she asked; she had been sure that he would argue, but he had accepted what she had said. Which made her feel very bad; especially because she had not exactly told him the truth.

She bit her lip. It wasn't the truth, but nor was it a lie; she wasn't ready to return yet. Unfortunately, the self-justification of her words did not alleviate the guilt she was feeling. She had been having too much fun with Kaminari, so much so that she had completely forgotten that Inuyasha had been waiting for her to return. It was the first time that had ever happened, and Kagome really didn't know whether it was a good thing or a bad thing. But she did know it was a guilty thing.

"Inuyasha gone then?"

Kagome gave a little squeak as she realised her brother was standing beside her. She had been so tied up in her thoughts, she hadn't heard him approach. She nodded, her eyes going back to the well house.

"Oh, I made extra food for him; I was sure he would be hungry as he had been waiting for hours for you to come home," Souta turned and walked towards the house.

Another spike of guilt shot Kagome through the heart. He had been waiting for hours, sitting by the well house waiting for her to climb the steps that led to the shrine. She gave a little smile; she had been lucky that he hadn't come to find her. If he had discovered her chatting with Kaminari rather than studying like she claimed to have been, goodness knows what his reaction would have been. Probably he would have refused to believe that she went to her time for education, believing instead that she went to socialise. He would never have believed that this was the first time she had done such a thing.

Souta continued talking to Kagome as they walked across the courtyard. "I asked him to come inside because you were meeting up with your friend again after University and might be eating out, but he refused."

Kagome stopped in her tracks feeling suddenly cold all over. Inuyasha knew she had been with a friend and not studying. And his keen nose had probably had picked up that she had been with a man. She it her lip again to stop herself groaning out loud. He knew and he had said nothing, in fact he had given her extra time to get ready to return.

Waves of disappointment flowed over Kagome before she mentally kicked herself. Just what had she been expecting from him? Did she really think that he would become jealous when he learned that she was seeing a man outside of University hours? Did she think that he would suddenly realise that he wanted her, even loved her, because there was the possibility of her loving another? She bowed her head as she realised that was exactly what she thought - no hoped - would happen.

But it hadn't. He hadn't made a fuss at all, or at least not much. His only concern was that she return with him as soon as possible to continue on with their quest. A tear welled up in her eye, spilling over onto her cheek.

"Kagome?" Souta was looking at her with concern on his face.

She shook her head, silently asking him not to question her. She was such a bitch, using Kaminari as she had to try and make Inuyasha jealous, even though she hadn't thought of that at the time. She wiped her eyes, pushing down the hopelessness that welled up inside her. She hadn't felt this miserable since the time that Inuyasha had said that he had pledged himself to Kikyou, all those years ago. And it was a feeling that she never wanted to feel again.

"Kagome?" Souta asked again, reaching out and putting a hand on her shoulder.

"I'm alright," she replied, forcing the bright smile onto her lips, an expression well practised and used. "Come on, let's go inside."

He nodded, eyeing her suspiciously, then turned to go into the house.

Kagome let the smile fade. It was time that she realised that Inuyasha was not for her. It was time for her to move on.

* * * *

Inuyasha leapt out of the well snarling in irritation.

"Bitch!" he yelled, swiping at a nearby tree, leaving four deep gashes in the bark.

He had been waiting by the well all day; as soon as the sun had begun to rise he had sat cross-legged in front of it, staring at it, willing for it to disgorge Kagome. But she hadn't come. As the sun had begun to set, he had begun to worry. What if something had happened to her? A million different what ifs went through his mind, ranging from her twisting her ankle on the steps to the shrine (because she was such a clumsy bitch at times) to her being kidnapped by a malevolent entity (because she was prone to that sort of occurrence).

Finally, when he could stand it no more, he jumped down the well emerging in her time with his teeth bared and his claws ready to do battle. It was a bit of an anticlimax to find that the shrine was deserted. Well, almost deserted. Souta was walking across the courtyard, books in hand, staring at him in a nervous 'what can you see that I cant see' sort of way.

Inuyasha had retracted his claws and turned his snarl into a sheepish grin before asking where Kagome was.

"She said she will be late. She is meeting up with her new friend again," Souta had said innocently.

Inuyasha's eyebrow had twitched.

"...new friend..?" he repeated, his fists clenching, realising that the bitch had kept him waiting because she was off having fun with a 'new friend'.

"Hai," Souta answered, his mouth pulled into a slight smile and his eyes gleaming. "She lost touch with almost all of the friends she had at High School because of having to go through the well so often, so its nice to see her so happy at finding someone new," Souta's eyes gleamed. "He seems to be an interesting person, very intelligent. They have a lot in common."

Inuyasha's ears had flattened. "....what the fuck?" he growled, "He?" Inuyasha silently listed off the other qualities that Souta had mentioned: interesting, intelligent, lots in common.

Souta's mouth had pulled into a wide smirk and Inuyasha's eyes had narrowed. The boy seemed to find Inuyasha's reaction amusing and he looked at him carefully. Souta looked back at him innocently enough, but disturbingly his expression reminded him more than a little of Miroku. Or at least it reminded him of the expression that Miroku wore when he was up to something devious.

Inuyasha, with difficulty, had pulled his mouth into a cheerful grin. "I'll just wait for her then," he said sitting cross-legged and trying to look at ease.

"You sure you don't want to come inside?" Souta pressed, "You may be in for a long wait."

Inuyasha's eyebrow twitched, but the rest of his face remained calm. He shook his head and Souta smiled, lifting up a hand in farewell before entering the house. Inuyasha had closed his eyes and had done his best to meditate the hours away until Kagome's return, but disturbingly Souta's voice kept ringing in his ears listing what he thought was great about Kagome's 'friend'.

As 'intelligent' echoed in his mind for about the hundredth time, Inuyasha had been all but ready to go and hunt the bitch down. But then he caught her scent approaching, and his ears heard the faint tap of her shoes against the flagstone stairs that led to the shrine, and he willed himself to be calm and relaxed.

She had entered the shrine courtyard, a dreamy expression clear on her face despite the gloom of the evening. Inuyasha had felt immediately jealous; who was this man that caused her to look so distant and happy. Then she had spread her arms and started spinning in the moonlight, her eyes closed and her head thrown back, her hair streaming behind her as she danced.

Inuyasha had felt himself become almost transfixed by her dance. She seemed so happy, joyous even. He had never seen her act like this in his time, and she sure as hell never danced for him. He could not help fisting his hands in irritation, and his voice sounded harsh on the night air as called out to her.

"What the fuck are you doing?"

She had given a satisfying squeak as she had realised that she was not alone, and he could hear hr heart thumping rapidly in her chest from the fright he had given her. Standing up, he had smirked. Served the bitch right; she was lucky that it was him that was sitting there watching her and not some half crazed lunatic or power hungry youkai. She was much too careless in her own time and she deserved to get a fright for it.

As he walked up to her, he had sniffed and his brief happiness at frightening the shit out of her faded. He could smell a man on her. Some man, and it was definitely male, had touched her during the course of the day. The scent was faint, but possessive and strangely familiar. His brief hope that Souta had been winding him up had faded as he inhaled. And Kagome's reaction to his demand about who she had been with confirmed it.

The bitch was a hopeless liar; her voice was shaking, her heart beat more rapidly, he could even smell her perspire as the words of denial slipped from her mouth. That had shocked him. She had never told him lies before, and yet here she was trying to tell him that she had been spending all her time studying when clearly she hadn't. He had been so angry, he had taken her by the arm and started dragging her to the well house, his intention to return to his time - the to time that she belonged.

But she had been stubborn, refusing to go, her voice so full of panic that he had to stop. She had pleaded to remain for just one more day, and to his surprise he had found himself agreeing. Although now he was back in his own time and she was in hers he had to wonder why he had done so.

Throwing himself onto the ground he stared up at the bright stars in the night sky. He was unsure what disturbed him most; that she had actually lied to him, or that she was seeing a strange man.

He growled as he realised that both pissed him off.

TBC