InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reliving the Past ❯ Chapter Six ( Chapter 6 )

Reliving the Past

by kmf

An Inuyasha fanfic

Rating: R

Warnings: Language

Disclaimer: I only wish I did own Inuyasha *fondles his ears*

Chapter Six

"..er, a little help please?"

Kagome squinted up at the small circle of light at the top of the well, whilst rubbing her behind. She had known it wasn't going to be easy taking the mountain of books with her, she well remembered the pain accompanying leaping down the well with a bike and she had assumed that this would be no less painful. And she had been correct.

Somewhere during the plunge, the bag had twisted in her hands, streaming out behind her like a great lumpy balloon. She had, thank goodness, looked up and noted it so that she had time to shield her head with her hands when she had arrived at her destination. However, hands were no real protection against what felt like a couple of tonnes of bricks impacting on her head, and she had collapsed to the bottom of the well under their weight. She now had a massive bump on her head, together with what was certain to be a spectacular bruise on her butt, compliments of her desire to learn.

"Hello?" she called up again, staring at the clear blue sky, "Is anyone there?"

She frowned in irritation, wondering just where in the hell Inuyasha was. She had all but run back from the University in an effort to get home in time, stopping only at a chemist where she 'tested' a fragrance liberally in an effort to hide any scent that Kaminari might have left on her skin. She had really thought that Inuyasha would have been waiting for her at the shrine, or at the very least perched beside the well. And now that he wasn't, she began to feel cross for cutting short her rather nice quality time with Kaminari.

Crouching, Kagome picked up the few books that had tumbled out of the top of her pack, before standing again, and squinting at the sky. She could climb out on her own if she left her pack behind, but she was loathed to leave all her study materials; she just couldn't risk them being taken, or eaten, by some stray animal or demon. She placed her hands on her hips, frowning, then took a deep breath.

"Inuyasha!" she called as loudly as she could, her voice echoing around her as it bounced off the walls of the well. "If you don't get here in one minute, I'm going home again and I'm not coming back!"

A head peered over the rim of the well, silhouetted by the sun. Its ears twitched.

"Must you be so loud bitch?" Inuyasha sneered, before leaping down the well beside her. As soon as he hit bottom, he recalled away from her, his hand held up to his nose, "What the hell have you been rolling in?" he demanded, "You stink!"

Kagome's eyebrow twitched, and she clenched her fists.

"If you want me to disappear home again, you are going the right way about it," she hissed both irritated by his words and pleased that she had been able to mask Kaminari's scent. "And just how long were you going to listen to me call for help before you made your presence known?"

Inuyasha smirked, "I don't know what you are talking about," he said, lifting her pack easily with one hand and tossing it over his shoulder, "I just happened to be passing when I heard you scream my name." He leapt up out of the well, and peered back down at her again, "You are going to have to climb out yourself," he said, "Until you have a bath and wash that stink off you, I am not going anywhere near you!"

Kagome scowled. Her head ached from the blow it received, and her hip felt stiff from her fall. And Inuyasha was being a complete prat not helping her as he usually would. Her scowl gradually turned into a small smile, and Inuyasha suddenly looked nervous.

"Very well," Kagome said sweetly, "I have no option but to climb, given the current sit-uation-"

Inuyasha's head disappeared with a startled curse, and Kagome grinned as she heard him impact with the ground, no doubt her books giving him a few bruises of his own. It may have been petty revenge, but it made her feel a hell of a lot better.

*Â Â Â *Â Â Â *Â Â Â *Â Â Â

Inuyasha insisted that they begin their new search immediately, rather than spending the night in the village. Sango and Miroku readily agreed; two weeks of doing nothing had made them both eager to be on their way. Shippo said nothing, he was in a massive sulk because Kagome had not brought him any chocolate. Kagome had apologised for her omission and promised to make it up to him next time with double rations. Shippo, however, had not been pacified, and had refused to ride in the basket of Kagome's bike, instead he rode on Miroku's shoulders casting nasty looks her way every so often.

And really, he had every right to be miffed. Kagome had been so preoccupied with her own problems, she had completely forgotten the little kitsune. She had thought that her offer of more later would have worked, but instead he continued to sulk like a moody teenager. And he wasn't the only one. Inuyasha had almost refused to carry her books back to the village after she had 'accidentally' invoked the subduing spell. And kept his distance from her, making disparaging remarks about un-natural scents, and how they would have to walk swiftly to the nearest camp with a hot spring in order that a stinky person could bathe.

Miroku, however, had come close to her and sniffed her neck, his eyebrows raising in delight.

"You smell wonderful," he murmured, lowering his nose to her neck once more, his arm creeping around her waist to pull her closer.

"Oy!" Inuyasha had growled. But before he was able to do anything, Sango whacked Miroku over the head with her fist, causing him to stumble away from Kagome's side. Kagome had smiled her thanks, and tried to keep as far away as possible from Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo.

It had been late when they had finally made camp, Kagome had as soon as she had rested her bike up against a tree, began to gather wood for a campfire. She was feeling hungry and thirsty and a hot cup of tea was exactly what she needed before retiring. Inuyasha had other ideas.

"Oy!" he called at her to get her attention, then pointed in the direction of the spring. "Go and wash, your stink is making my eyes water. Sango, go with her. God knows what demons will be attracted to that pong."

Kagome once again felt her temper rise, and was about to answer back when Sango grabbed her arm and led her away to the hot spring.

"Let them get the camp ready," Sango said trying to pacify Kagome, "We can take advantage of Inuyasha's foul mood and let them do all the work."

The idea was a pleasant one, and Kagome had to admit that she felt better for seeping her body in the hot waters of the spring. There was nothing more relaxing than sitting out under the darkening sky watching the stars gradually come out. The night skies were always so wonderfully dramatic in the past without man made lights to dim their beauty.

Sango watched the frown disappear from Kagome's face, to be replaced with a relaxed smile and she felt more at ease. It was always uncomfortable when she and Inuyasha fought. Usually it was over Kikyou, but there had been no sighting of the undead miko in a while now so Sango was curious as to what had set this particular fight off.

"Er..." Sango began a little uncertainly, not wishing to rile Kagome unduly, but wanting her to talk out her problems, "did you have a nice visit with your family?"

Kagome opened her eyes and looked at Sango. Sango straightened as she saw that Kagome had seen completely through her probably not so subtle attempt to get to the truth. Kagome seemed to consider Sango for a while, then she smiled, slipping her shoulders under the water.

"It was an interesting trip," she said carefully, "I met some interesting people."

Sango raised an eyebrow. Ah, so that was it, she thought. It wasn't a case of Kagome being jealous over Inuyasha, but rather it was the other way around. She said nothing, but allowed Kagome to talk about the courses she was taking and the teachers. One, she went into great detail describing. At first Sango thought it was because of the subject he taught and how it could be of use in locating more shards or perhaps tracking Naraku. But then she caught a gleam in Kagome's eye and realised that her interest in this Kaminari was much more than pure academic interest.

Kagome, looking over, caught Sango's look and stopped talking. A warm ruddy blush flooded her cheeks, and she sank down into the water up to her eyeballs as Sango laughed at her expression. She blew a few bubbles in the water before coming up.

"What!" she demanded, her face getting even hotter.

"So was the perfume for the benefit of Kaminari?" Sango asked innocently.

Kagome bit her lip, then smiled.

"Actually, it was for the benefit of Inuyasha," she whispered, moving nearer to Sango, "I didn't want him to smell just how close I had been to Kaminari."

Sango raised two eyebrows in shock.

"Kagome-chan, please do not tell me you have-"

Kagome spluttered in horror, lifting up wet hands in protest.

"No, no!" she cried, "Of course I haven't! We just...er... we just kissed," she finished in an embarrassed whisper.

"Oh," Sango said, her voice showing just how surprised she was. She had always thought of Kagome as being wholely devoted to Inuyasha, despite his rather annoying habits and his preoccupation for Kikyou.

Kagome, flushed again as the look that Sango was giving her. "It was a sudden thing, not planned," she said quietly, "But for all that I have to say I enjoyed it."

The sound of muted movement caught Sango's ear, and she peered into the dark cautiously, before scooting closer to Kagome.

"Really? But, perhaps we ought to talk of this later," she said, "I think we ought to get back to the camp; its getting darker and -"

"And you never know who is listening," Kagome finished, looking into the direction where the sound had come from, her face a little pale despite the heat of the water.

* * * * *

Inuyasha refused to look at the two women as they came back to camp, instead he sat and looked at the flames of the camp fire quietly toasting the rabbit that he had hunted. They were whispering amongst themselves, Sango quietly asking if Kagome could bring her some of the perfume that so offended Inuyasha's nose, before blushing as Kagome realised that the reason that she wanted some was not Inuyasha's reaction, but rather Miroku's.

He scowled. The scent had not offended his nose as much as he had made it out to. The reason behind the scent had. He knew that Kagome had used it to hide some other smells she had managed to get on her skin, and the overheard remarks at the hot spring had just confirmed it. And he was now in the position of knowing but not able to say anything because doing so would give away that he had watched them both bathe.

It was not as if he specifically had gone to watch them. Nor had he gone there to listen to their conversation. Although anything visual had been a bonus. It just so happened that the rabbit he had been hunting was in the general direction of the hot spring and, having caught it, he had thought he had better check the perimeter just in case. And it was as well that he had; he had caught one small demon spying on the two women with a lusty grin on his nasty face. Inuyasha had dealt with the problem swiftly, dealing the demon with a blow to the head.

Shippo glared at him across the fire, his hand rubbing the bump where Inuyasha had landed his fist. Inuyasha smirked back. It served the little adolescent pipsqueak right. After the event of him burying his face in Sango's chest, Inuyasha had been watching him closely. And after today's events Inuyasha was damn sure that Shippo would not be spending any more time in Kagome's sleeping bag. Shippo seemed to realise it too, and sent glares full of resentment at Inuyasha.

Tough shit, Inuyasha thought, widening his mouth into a grin delighted that he wasn't the only frustrated male sitting around the camp fire that night.

Kagome's cheerful laugh drew his attention back to her. He allowed himself to glance at her out of the side of his eyes, careful not to move his head in case he alerted her to the fact that he was watching her. He scowled again. It wasn't fair that she was so happy, when he was feeling so disjointed by what he had overheard.

She had kissed a man in her own time. And, she had enjoyed it. It wasn't as if Inuyasha hadn't been expecting this to happen. After all, he had smelt this man on her when he went to get her the night before. And he had allowed her to stay to say her goodbyes, even though she had told him that she needed the time for another purpose. However, even though he had been expecting it, just imagining Kagome kissing some other man filled him full of disquiet and jealousy.

The disquiet was because she seemed to feel that she had to lie to him about it. Even to the point of masking her scent with other smells. The jealousy was a familiar feeling. He had felt it often before, when Kouga came sniffing his snout around her, or when village men eyed up her legs when she wore those shockingly short skirts.

Yet, this time the jealousy was more intense. There was no logical reason for the jealousy. He had no hold over her, he had made no overtures at asking her to be his mate. And yet, he was filled with the urge to jump down the well, find this man and kick the living shit out of him. It was really unsettling.

And what was worse, was the overwhelming scent of guilt that kept rolling off her. She felt bad for what she had done when she didn't need to be. Except, of course, with regard to her lying mouth. It was annoying, it was distracting, and it was irritating. In short it was a fucking mess. And if it wasn't sorted out soon, his and her lack of focus was going to get someone killed.

Decision made, he got to his feet and turned to her. Sango and Kagome's idle chat ceased as soon as he moved, their eyes both swinging up to his.

"Lets talk," he said.

TBC