InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reliving the Past ❯ Chapter 14 ( Chapter 14 )

Sorry this is a little late in being posted! I really have been pushed for time over the last week with some major deadlines at work, and some serious puzzle pirating at home. I am now the proud owner of a small sloop the Proud Bream. Woot!

Many thanks for all the kind reviews for the last chapter. At last, your patient (er, and not so patient) waiting is over and Kaminari's identity will be revealed. Chocolate cookies and a free ride on my sloop for those who guessed correctly - especially those who guessed very early on. LOL, you know who you are!

Reliving the Past

by kmf

An Inuyasha fanfic

Rating: R

Warnings: Language

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

Chapter 14

Inuyasha stayed away from the village for most of the morning. After accidentally telling Kagome that he had kissed her, he had run away as fast as he possibly could. The shock in her eyes had been frightening. She had been stunned that he had kissed her and he could only imagine that her eventual reaction would be to either cry or to sit him until his spine broke in multiple locations.

So, because he did not particularly enjoy pain, he ran.

The longer he stayed away thinking about the kiss, the harder it was for him to return. How could he face her and admit that he had touched and kissed her like Kaminari had done.

Feh! Not like Kaminari! He was nothing like that pathetic human. Inuyasha has smelt the lust and need that man had been feeling when he trailed his mouth over her skin. True, Inuyasha had felt lust too. But his lust had been tempered with love. And he hadn't touched her nearly as intimately as Kaminari had. The bastard!

He still wanted to rip the human to bits for placing his lips upon her breasts whilst she was unconscious. Drugged, no less, by him. What sort of man was he that gave a girl medicine to sleep then touched her? And what the hell was Kagome doing with that sort of man in the first place? She was usually such a good judge of character, why couldn't she see this man for what he was.

Shit. He was worse even than Miroku! At lease Miroku gave the women he touched up the opportunity to fight back.

Inuyasha growled, allowing his claws to dig into the bark of the tree he was sitting in. He had to go back. He had to confront Kagome and put up with whatever punishment that she gave him. But what he wouldn't do, was apologise. He was not sorry for the kiss and it wasn't his fault that she had been so dosed up with medicine that she couldn't fend him off. And he had tried to wake her.

Flicking the bark out from under his claws, Inuyasha sighed then jumped down to the ground and began walking back to the village. With a bit of luck, Kagome might have fallen asleep again and his punishment would be delayed. He hadn't gone far when he caught the scent of Shippo, who had made himself scarce since the night before.

"Oi!" Inuyasha called, signalling to the kitsune that he had detected him and that he ought to come out.

Shippo did so. Reluctantly. The kit still looked a little pale, his fur matted from sleeping in a bush rather than in the comfort of Kagome's arms. Something was off with him and Inuyasha frowned. Surely the slap he had given the kit the day before hadn't been enough to terrorise him into staying away from Kagome for this long? Why hadn't he gone to Kagome's side to snitch on him as soon as he had left her?

Inuyasha was about to ask what was wrong with him, when Shippo suddenly ran forward and threw himself into his arms. Inuyasha stumbled back a pace or two at the unexpected impact, then growled slightly as Shippo tried to bury himself into his chest.

"He is back! I know he is back!" Shippo whimpered.

Inuyasha raised a clawed hand and awkwardly smoothed Shippo's fur in an effort to try and comfort the annoying brat.

"Who is back?" he asked, before trying to pry Shippo off him.

"Hiten! I smelled him. Well, not him, but sort of him. It was like him but not him. But I know it was him! He is back!"

The words came out all jumbled and fast of Shippo's mouth, the kitsune's shock apparent. Inuyasha frowned. It was understandable that Shippo was frightened of Hiten, after all that demon and his brother Maten had killed his father in front of the child. Even more disgusting was that they had skinned the dead fox demon, keeping his pelt as a decoration. To see the one who had killed your parents wear your father's skin was a traumatic event, even Inuyasha could understand this. But...

"Hiten's dead, brat!" Inuyasha growled, whacking Shippo lightly over the head to try and stop him clinging to him.

"He isn't! He can't be! I smelled him. All over Kagome!"

Inuyasha's hand froze as he was just about to whack Shippo again. All over Kagome? So the reason Shippo had high tailed it away from them last night was because he thought he could smell his father's murderer, not because Inuyasha had finally taught Shippo to respect him.

Damn.

"He isn't the same. He smells human, but I know its him, I know it!" Shippo continued to wail.

Inuyasha frowned. Kaminari's scent was all over Kagome after he had placed his mouth on her. Inuyasha had wanted to wash off the scent, but had to be satisfied with merely having Kaede replace the clothes soiled by the mans touch. Kaede had refused to allow him to dunk Kagome in the spring as he had wanted because she didn't know what the shock of cold water would do to the medicine in Kagome's veins.

But it was Kaminari's scent, not Hiten. Hiten was dead. Hiten wasn't a human. How could he be a human in Kagome's time?

Inuyasha's face suddenly paled as unbidden the faces of Kikyou and Kagome came into his thoughts.

Reincarnation.

Oh. Fuck.

Inuyasha sprang towards the village ignoring the startled squeak that Shippo gave as he nearly fell from his arms, whilst all the time thinking 'who is the stupid bitch now, eh?' How the hell could he have missed it? Sure Shippo would have difficulty forgetting the scent of his parents' murderer, but how was it that Inuyasha had missed it? He knew there had been something familiar about Kaminari's smell and his looks, but he had chosen to ignore what his sixth sense was telling him.

He reached the village in record time, and nearly pulled the straw mat shielding Kaede's door off in an effort to enter her hut quickly. Shippo fell from his arms and scuttled into the waiting arms of Kaede who was kneeling by her fire brewing up some potent herbal brew that reeked of acrid bruised knotweed leaves. The place where Kagome had been sleeping was decidedly empty, the mat rolled up neatly and placed against the wall.

"Where is she?" Inuyasha demanded.

"Gone," Kaede said serenely, "She has gone to the future to, in her words, tie up some loose ends."

Shippo started wailing, pressing himself against Kaede's ample breasts. If the kit hadn't been so upset, Inuyasha might have thought that he was indulging once again in his preoccupation in women's chests. But the distress that flowed from him was almost choking in its intensity.

"Will he hurt her? Will he take her pelt?" Shippo sobbed.

Inuyasha frowned, suddenly feeling sick.

"Child, what is going on?" Kaede stroked Shippo's fur. When he gave no response other than mumbled sobs, she looked towards Inuyasha who had stood up and was turning towards the door. "Wait, Inuyasha. Tell me what has occurred."

He scowled, but did as he was told, as quickly as he could, eager to follow Kagome through to the future and save her from Hiten or Kaminari or whoever the hell he was.

Kaede shook her head as he finished speaking.

"You must not act rashly," she said, "If this is Hiten reincarnated, he ought not to have the memories of his previous life. Kagome should be safe."

Inuyasha's scowl deepened.

"He drugged her and felt her up!" he growled, "I wouldn't call that harmless."

"The Priest touches women all the time, and he isn't dangerous," she pointed out, "just an annoyance."

"If he touched Kagome the way Kaminari touched her, I would call him dangerous," Inuyasha replied, crossing his arms thinking of what he would do to the perverted priest if that ever happened, "And anyway, why is he hanging around Kagome anyway? Why has he sought her out if he can't remember?"

Kaede gave a small smile. "Hiten tried to cause Kagome harm. If he has reincarnated as Kaminari it is natural that he be drawn to her soul. It is probable that his life's purpose in her time is to make amends for the wrongs he did in this time."

"And drugging a girl senseless and feeling her body is a way of making amends," Inuyasha growled.

Kaede frowned slightly. "That is puzzling," she commented.

Inuyasha turned towards the door. Silhouetted in the bright sunshine he paused for a moment before looking over his shoulder at Kaede.

"Oi, hag!" he called, "Can a reincarnated soul sometimes remember past lives?"

Kaede frowned again, tapping her chin in thought. "I suppose that it is possible. I have heard tales of a person suffering a traumatic event that has caused them to remember a similar one in a pervious life. But-" she stopped as she looked up to see that Inuyasha had gone.

* * * *

Kagome walked purposely across the University grounds, determination showing on her face. Her talk with Kaede had been illuminating. All these years she had thought that the problem with her relationship had been with him and his fixation with Kikyou. But it seemed that at some point the fixation had become hers rather than his. Somehow she was so preoccupied with the thought of him and Kikyou together that she had missed him letting go of his feelings for the dead Miko.

And now he had kissed her. She frowned. The silly git had kissed her and run, but he had kissed her and the feeling that the mere thought of the kiss evoked was incredible.

The slight jolting that Kaminari's lips had caused her body to feel had been nothing compared with the sledgehammer feeling Inuyasha caused within her as she just imagined his lips against hers. Whilst she cared for Kaminari, she loved Inuyasha. It was that simple. And it was time to make this clear to Kaminari. And also make sure that he hadn't seen any demons he shouldn't have. And if he had, then offer some sort of logical reason why he had seen a dog demon prowling around the shrine. Kagome shoulders drooped.

Yeah. Right.

Arriving at the lecture theatre late, Kagome looked through the window in the door to see that the lecture was already underway. It was packed; Kaminari's lectures were always popular. However, a quick glance at the podium revealed that Kaminari was not the one teaching that day. Puzzled, she turned away from the door and leaned on the wall of the hall trying to remember whether Kaminari had told her exactly how many days he had off.

The door opened and a couple of students exited the theatre and seeing her gave her a cold glare, before moving swiftly off down the corridor. Kagome flushed a little at their obvious ill feeling, and bent her head a little. It was not hard to guess that rumours were flying as to Kaminari's relationship with her, and that jealousy fuelled the girls' hatred.

Again the door opened, and this time Kagome turned her face to the wall hoping to avoid any further confrontations. The girls this time were whispering loudly about how crap the substitute lecturer was.

"I took this course because it was being taught be Professor Kaminari, I certainly didn't take it to listen to such a boring man as that!" one stated firmly.

"Do you think Kaminari is going to be back soon?" Another asked.

"Who knows," the first shrugged, "The suspension continues until his tribunal is over. Goodness knows how long that will be."

The girls' voices faded as they walked up the hall, and Kagome turned to stare after them. Suspension? Kaminari was suspended? She bit her lip in concern. Had his relationship with her been discovered and was that the reason he had been suspended? She bit her lip harder. Crap! And here she was to tell him that she couldn't form a long term relationship with him. A brilliant way to kick a man while he was down.

She turned and began to wander up the hall considering just what she was going to do now. She still didn't have his telephone number, but unless it was unlisted she could always check in the phone book for it. Or better yet, she could find his address and go and see him in person. If he was unlisted, then she could always check the electoral role on line and find his address through that.

And she could do more than just go and see him. She had been the cause of Kaminari being suspended, the least she could do was tell those who were in charge of the University that she was not in a relationship with him. Once that was sorted out, she would then go and tell Kaminari that she wanted to be friends with him and nothing more.

And once Kaminari was reinstated to the University, then she would return to the past and kiss Inuyasha senseless. She grinned in anticipation. It was a good plan.

TBC