InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Reunion ❯ Chapter Thirty-three ( Chapter 33 )

Chapter Thirty-three

A/N: Greetings! I have returned from the land of depression and despair. snort Seriously, folks. I must apologize for my lengthy absence. I have had a lot on my mind and I haven't been in the mood to write. Couple that with 60+ hours of work a week and it is hard to keep my ideas coherant. However, I shall now make the attempt. I have decided to put 'Be Careful What You Do' on hold for a while as I try to finish this piece of work. I feel like I am cheating fans by working on two at the same time so I will fall back to my habit of one story at a time, with the occasional one-shot thrown in. Anyway, enough rambling. It is time to get on with it, so: On Your Marks! Get Set! GO!

Inuyasha, Kagome, and Shippou went in search of Sango and Miroku. They found them in the main hall with Rin. Rin immediately ran to Shippou and tackled him, dragging him off to one side to question him on what he had seen. Sango watched Rin drag Shippou away with an amused expression on her face, then she turned to face Kagome. She sobered. "Are you alright?"

Kagome sighed deeply and rubbed her eyes with her hand. Then she nodded. "Hai, Sango. I'm dealing with it."

Sango turned her attention to the silent hanyou. "And what about you, Inuyasha? How are you holding up?"

Inuyasha snorted. "Just swell, Sango! I couldn't be better! In the space of one day, I find out that not only do I have a crazy bitch claiming to be my mate, I have a son by her because she couldn't keep her hands off me while I was pinned to the Goshimboku! How would you like to find out that someone had had their way with you while you slept?"

Miroku, who had been standing to one side, sighed dreamily. "I would have been sorry I missed it." Whack!! He had forgotten that Sango had another shoe.

"Not everyone is as perverted as you, Houshi-sama." Sango said, her tone as cold as ice.

Inuyasha looked at his friend in mild disgust. "If you think it's so great, I'll steer her in your direction. Maybe she'll give you that child you keep asking for."

Miroku looked up from the ground at his hanyou friend wryly. "I do not think that will work. Somehow, I doubt that I am her type."

"Enough with the jokes, already. Feh! The only good that has come out of this day is seeing Aunt Mariko again."

"What about Inutaro?" Kagome asked. "Hasn't he been something good, too?"

groan "Yeah, I guess so. He seems like a pretty good guy. At least he is a fighter, and not a wimp. I could do worse than him for a son."

"You don't hold what Yukiho did against him?" Miroku asked, while cocking an eyebrow at Inuyasha.

"What good would that do?" snapped Inuyasha. "It ain't his fault that he's here."

Miroku held up his hand to placate his friend. "Peace, Inuyasha! I did not think that you should. I am just a little surprised at the amount of maturity that you are showing. Many men would not be able to get past it."

"Feh! My anger and my disgust is with his mother. That bitch took something from me that she had no right to, and .... I can't get it back." Inuyasha turned his back to his friends. "Gods! It makes my skin crawl! The idea of her hands on me while I slept..." His voice trailed off and he shuddered.

Kagome came up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "It's alright, Inuyasha."

Inuyasha shook off her embrace and spun to face her. "NO, IT'S NOT!" he shouted, in anguish. "I want to know everything she did to me! Everything! Maybe then I can do something to feel clean, again!"

Kagome stood there with her fingers laced together and her hands in front of her face, eyes shining with tears. She was at a loss for something to say that would comfort Inuyasha.

Miroku exchanged a glance with Sango, then he cleared his throat. "Inuyasha? How are you going to do that?"

"I don't know. But I've got to do something! I can't live the rest of my life feeling like this!" He turned to Kagome. "I know how much you love me, but, when you touch me now, a part of my mind whispers to me and asks me, 'Did she touch you like that?', and I feel sick! I've been trying to fight it, to ignore the voice, but it just keeps getting worse! How can I live like this? I'll be damned if I am going to spend the rest of my life not being able to hold you because of this!"

"We will get through this, Inuyasha! I swear we will!"

Miroku cleared his throat, again. "Inuyasha, part of my duty as a houshi is to help heal people's souls when they are troubled." He paused. "I have counciled victims of rape before."

Sango and Kagome looked at him in surprise. This was something new.

"Yeah, I'll bet you counciled them." Inuyasha sneered.

Miroku's face turned to stone and his voice became flat and emotionless. "Regardless of how I may behave on occassion, I take my vocation seriously. I have never attempted to do what you have implied with an injured soul, and I am deeply offended that you would think so."

Inuyasha glared at Miroku sourly and then groaned. Aaarrrrggg! "Sorry, Miroku. I'm taking things out on you. That was a cheap shot, wasn't it?"

Miroku's face relaxed and he smiled, slightly. "It was to be expected. Injured people often lash out at the ones trying to help them. And I will freely admit that I have no true idea of what you are going through, as I have never had it happen to me."

Inuyasha looked confused. "I haven't accused you of that." he protested.

"You will." Miroku assured him. "Trust me, you will."

"Whatever. You think you can help me stop feeling like I need to peel my skin off."

"I will try."

"No, Miroku." Inuyasha's head jerked around to stare at Kagome. How could she protest?!

"Your pardon, Kagome?" asked the startled Miroku.

"I said no, Miroku. You will not 'try'. 'We' will succeed. I am going to be a part of this and together, we will help Inuyasha." Her face was alight with her conviction.

Miroku looked at her, fondly. "Yes, Lady Kagome. We will help him." Suddenly, a very embarressed look came to Miroku's face.

"What's wrong, Miroku?" asked Kagome, in concern.

Miroku laughed, weakly. "We have been discussing the needs of the soul and my body just reminded me of the needs of the flesh."

"Huh?" Kagome asked. Suddenly, she got an embarressed look on her face, too.

"What 'needs of the flesh'?" Sango asked, suspicously. Then, her face got the same embarressed look. "Oh." she exclaimed.

Inuyasha was beginning to get angry. "Okay, what are you guys leaving me out of?" About that time, his stomach growled ..... loudly. Everyone looked at him and started to laugh.

"Nothing, now."

Suddenly, Shippou came running up. "Hey, guys! I'm hungry!"

Rin, who was running right behind Shippou, exclaimed. "Rin is hungry, too!"

Kagome giggled and knelt down to ruffle Shippou's hair. "Let's go back to the inn. I'm sure that the innkeeper has something for us to eat. And then ... Miroku? I have an idea that I want to run by you. I don't think it will solve all of Inuyasha's problems but it might make him feel less unclean."

Kagome fell back to discuss the details of her idea with Miroku. He nodded his head as they walked along and said, "That just might help. No promises of success, but it could make a difference ... depending on how well Inuyasha responds, of course."

"Responds to what?" Inuyasha asked, suspicously.

"You'll see." promised Kagome.

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After they had returned to the inn, Miroku and Kagome went to the innkeeper with a request while everyone else went to the dining hall.

Inuyasha was getting nervous. "Have you got any idea what they are up to?" he asked Sango.

She sighed. "Not this time." She smiled at Inuyasha to reassure him. "But, you know that whatever it is, they only have your best interest at heart."

"Yeah, I know. But it still gets to me that they are making plans about me without me." Rin and Shippou had dived into the food. "We might as well eat. At the rate those two are going, we won't get to if we don't grab something, now."

"Rin." Sango called. "Slow down, dear. It isn't going to run away."

"Oi, Shippou." Inuyasha called. "She's right, ya' know. It's already dead."

Rin and Shippou looked at each other, sheepishly. "Sorry." they mumbled, in unison. "But we were hungry." Then they looked at each other again, and began giggling.

Inuyasha rolled his eyes. "Oh, brother. If this keeps up, we are going to have to seperate them."

Sango laughed. "I think it's too late for that." Her voice dropped to a whisper. "I think that Rin has Shippou truly and thouroughly hooked."

"They're a little young for that, don't you think?"

"Who can say? Besides, a case of puppy love will keep them distracted while we deal with the more serious issues that are happening. They really don't need to be involved in all this. They are too young."

"Ain't that the truth." groan "Sometimes, I think I'm too young to deal with this."

Miroku and Kagome entered the dining hall. Kagome smiled reassuringly at Inuyasha as she sat on the floor next to him. "It's all set. We will start right after dinner."

"What's all set?" Inuyasha snapped. All this secrecy was getting on his nerves.

"Just trust us for a little longer, Inuyasha. I want this to work and if I tell you what we are up to beforehand you might get too many ideas about how it wouldn't work and that would keep it from working."

"Huh?"

"Just keep an open mind, okay?"

sigh "Feh."

"Now, what is there to eat? I'm starving."

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After the meal, Miroku, Kagome, and Inuyasha met back in Inuyasha's room. Sango had taken Shippou and Rin to her room to keep them out of what was going on.

"Alright, what is this mysterious treatment you have for me?"

"It's not that mysterious, Inuyasha. Kagome came up with the idea. Since you are having problems with the feeling of being unclean and since these problems are manifesting from your mind instead of any true uncleanness, she suggested that we try a kind of symbolic cleansing." Miroku paused in his explaination. "We don't know that this will work, Inuyasha, but we do know that the mind can convince the body of many things. What we are trying to do is to convince your mind that it is clean of Yukiho's touch."

"And just how do you expect to cleanse my mind. You can't take my brain out and wash it."

"No. But we can give you a cleansing of the body."

"So basically, I'm about to take a bath."

"Eh, well, yes." Inuyasha snorted. "Bear with us, Inuyasha. I have prayed over and blessed the water and the soap. I know that it sounds strange, but the purpose of this bath is symbolic. It is not meant to literally clean you. It is meant to give your mind a chance to clean itself of what it is feeling."

"Please give it a chance, Inuyasha." Kagome pleaded with her hanyou.

"Okay, Kagome. It can't hurt to try. Besides, worse comes to worse, at least I'll get a bath out of it."

"Excellent." Miroku turned and went to the door.

"Where are you going, monk?"

"You don't need me to bathe. As I said, I have already blessed the water and the soap, the rest is up to you and Kagome. Good night." He stepped through the door and closed it behind him before Inuyasha could make any further comment.

Kagome reached out and took Inuyasha's hand. "Come with me." She led him into the bathing room. The water in the tub was steaming lightly. "Now get undressed and get into the tub."

"With you in here?" Inuyasha was incredulous. It was not so much that he was self concious as it was that he was concious of her.

"I'll turn my back, if you want me to."

"No, Kagome. I just didn't expect you to stay here with me while I undressed." He untied the belt holding his hakama closed and began disrobing.

Kagome began blushing as more of his clothing came off. She felt like a voyuer. "I wanted to do this, Inuyasha." She said softly. "I wanted you to see that I am not disgusted by you or your body."

He was down to his undergarment. "I'll leave this on until I get into the tub."

Kagome didn't know whether to be relieved or disappointed as he stepped into the steaming tub. After he settled into place, she shrugged her shoulders out of her kimono and let it fall to the floor. She blushed as she stepped into the tub wearing nothing but her bra and panties.

"Now what?" asked Inuyasha in a low voice.

"Now, I am going to bathe you. I am doing this to show you that I don't think of you as unclean and I am not repulsed by you." She picked up the soap and a sponge. She worked up a lather and began at his neck and worked down over his shoulders and upper chest. "I want you to think about the feelings you were having earlier, about feeling dirty. I want you to imagine that I am washing away that dirt with this soap and water that have been blessed for this purpose, the purpose of cleansing a friend." She took a deep breath. "Now, stand up." Her breath caught as she watched him stand and watched the water stream down his body. She swallowed hard and continued to work up a lather over his chest and arms. Then she took a dipper full of water and washed away the soap. She began working on his stomach and sides, noticing that he would flinch slightly when she touched him. "Relax, Inuyasha. I promise I won't hurt you."

"I know that, Kagome." His voice was low and soft. He gasped as her hand touched his skin at the top of his fundoshi. "Ka-kagome? Y-y-you don't intend to w-w-wash me th-there, do y-you?" he stammered in sudden fear.

"That is up to you, Inuyasha. She touched you there more than any where else." Inuyasha flinched. "If you don't want me to, I understand." Her eyes were downcast so that he couldn't see the emotion in them.

"Gods, Kagome!" He suddenly caught her up in a fierce embrace that she returned just a fiercely. "I want you to! Never in my life have I wanted anything so badly!" He whimpered slightly, reminding her of a lost puppy. "I wanted you to be the first, the only one to touch me like that, and now that is gone."

Her heart swelled in her chest for him. It ached at his pain. "I love you, Inuyasha. It doesn't matter that I won't be the first to hold you like that. It matters that I will be the first that you chose to hold like that. And that I will be the only one that you will continue to hold."

"I love you, too, mate." He nuzzled the top of her head before tilting her head back to kiss her. As the kiss deepened, he trailed his hands down her arms until they rested on her hands. Trembling slightly, he moved her hands to the top of his fundoshi and began to push it downwards.

Kagome stepped back from the kiss and swallowed, then she knelt slightly to help him remove his undergarment. Her thoughts were a mess. She had thought that she was prepared for this until it confronted her, now she didn't know what to do. She didn't want to stare at his nakedness but she didn't want to look away, either. Blushing, she recovered her sponge and soap and began to work up a lather. Taking a breath to try and calm her heart, she slowly reached out and gently cupped him with her free hand, touching him there for the first time. Her face became even redder as she felt the warmth of him and the pulse of his heart in her hand. She could feel him shuddering and began to gently clean him with the sponge. After a moment of gentle scrubbing with the sponge, she got a dipper of water and rinsed him off. She kissed him gently and stepped back. "I'll get you a towel." she said, as she climbed out of the tub. As he stepped out of the tub and accepted the towel from her, she asked, "How do you feel?"

"I don't know if it worked, Kagome. I don't feel as bad as I did, but I think that that is because of you more than the bath."

Kagome smiled at him in encouragement. "Whatever works, my mate. If the bath failed but I succeeded, then it really doesn't matter, does it?"

Inuyasha smiled back at her. "No, my love, I don't guess it does." He frowned. "But I still don't feel at ease."

"We really didn't expect you to, Inuyasha. All we really wanted to do was get you to feeling less dirty, like you had something to do with what happened. Miroku is still going to want to council you."

"So, I have to spend time telling the monk my feelings. Sounds like a load of crap to me."

"Give it a chance, Inuyasha. A lot of people feel that way, but it does help them after a while."

sigh "Alright, Kagome. I'll give it a try but only for you."

"That's all I ask." She yawned. "Man! I'm beat. I'm going to change out of these wet clothes and get ready for bed." She headed toward the door.

"Kagome?" She turned to look at Inuyasha. "Stay with me." He saw the look on her face. "Not like that, not yet. Just stay with me. I'm going to sleep in the tree again tonight and I would like to go to sleep with you in my arms."

"I would like that, too. I'll go put on something dry and be right back." She hurried out of the room.

While she was gone, Inuyasha put on his firerat. It was what he felt most comfortable in. When she returned to the room, he didn't hesitate. He scooped her up and headed to the window. When he got to the tree that they had slept in the night before, he leapt up to the branch that they had used. As he settled against the tree trunk, she burrowed into him for warmth. He tilted her head back and gently kissed her. "I love you." he whispered.

"I love you." she whispered back as she laid her head on his chest. Her breathing steadied and deepened as she quickly fell asleep. Inuyasha held her close and looked at the stars, listening to the wind.

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Kagura stood outside the camp that she shared with the retainers of her lord. She called the winds to her and let them rise. Then she smiled.

A/N: Finally! I hope that this filler chapter meets with your approval. These things are hard to write but are necessary for the continuity of the story. I can't just jump from one conflict to another. Anyway, I'll see you soon. Until next time, Fyrloche.