InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Risen in Patria ❯ Weaving Silken Threads ( Chapter 3 )

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

Risen in Patria

Summary: Years ago, a great war left the lands scarred with demons and humans hateful of each other.  Now the fallen Taisho Inuyasha has been turned into his own worst nightmare, but he finds his strength in the wild, beautiful Kagome Higurashi.  Together, the two must decipher the kingdom’s history to prevent a ruthless tyrant from destroying their homes and lives.

Warnings: Implied rape, implied character death, implied torture, mild sexual content, mild blood and gore, language, OOC,

As always, warnings are to be heeded.

Miscellanies:

Word Count – 5885
Post Date – May 17, 2012

Weaving Silken Threads

A chilly wind blew through the room, tauntingly caressing the sweating and shaking figure on the futon.  Inuyasha shook and twisted in his sheets, his nightmares drawing a pained grimace on his sleeping face.

His mother.  She was much younger in his dream, younger than he remembered her, though his only memory of her was from his toddler years.

“Today, my friends and my people, we are here to witness the execution of a traitor, a most treacherous man who has betrayed me, this country, and you, the people,” a chilling voice rang out.    

Inuyasha watched helplessly as his mother fell to the ground crying into her sleeves and saw a vague image of a castle in the background.  

“It is customary, and often necessary for our safety, that the immediate family of a traitor be executed as well.  My friends, before us is Lady Izayoi, the only daughter of this dangerous man.”  The voice continued, but Inuyasha still could not see the man speaking.  “Out of mercy, I will allow her a chance to earn her pardon.”  Inuyasha’s sleeping form drew in pained gasps, and a rush of fury and desperation rushed through him at the sight of Izayoi shaking with the convulsions of her sobs.

“Lady Izayoi, will you accept my offer in exchange for your life?”

Her voice filled his mind, fragile and hopeless, as she begged, “Please, my King, spare me.  Spare my father!  There must be some mistake!  My father and I have always been loyal to you, my King.”

Suddenly the scene shifted and Inuyasha was seeing the execution as it was about to happen.  He watched in slow motion as the executioner swung his axe down, and for a second, he felt his eyes connect with the supposed traitor’s before, in one fell swing, the man’s head was removed.

His body jerked as the whole world turned to screams and blood and chaos.

“Inu no Taisho!” A desperate cry echoed in his head.

“Inu no Taisho!!”

A roar built up in his chest, and Inuyasha suddenly shot up, beads of sweat dripping down his face and drawing in gasps of breath like his life depended on it.

‘What in the world was that?’  Inuyasha thought and clung to his sheets to ground himself in reality.  It was just a dream, he reminded himself.  A frighteningly realistic and haunting dream, but a dream nonetheless.  He waited for his heartbeat to slow and looked out his window to gauge the time of day.  It looked dark out, but he could see traces of the sun stretching itself through the sky.

‘I guess I might as well get up.  Maybe I can move the firewood inside and save Kagome the work,’ he thought.  His new plan of action pleased him, as recently discovered how much he loved the way she looked at him when she was happy.  ‘She’ll look at me like that everyday, when we’re married,’ he thought, cheerful at the idea.  He’d been happier the past three days than he had been in a long time, Inuyasha admitted to himself.  

Sure, he was still a disgusting half-breed, but he realized early on that that had its advantages too.  Kagome said that his wounds would be fully healed within the next two days, three days maximum.  That would have been a miracle as a human.  And it didn’t hurt that just being in the same room as Kagome meant he could drown himself in her scent.

‘I would have never know she smelled so good,’ he acknowledged, ‘Meh.  Guess I better memorize that scent now for when I turn back.’  Of course, thinking about turning back into his human self reminded him that he still had no idea how to find a healer that would help him.  Aiding demons was strictly forbidden - he would ignore it in Kagome’s case because she was his intended - so he’d have to find someone who was willing to break the law or someone who practiced outside of his kingdom.  ‘Damn it, I just want to get this shit over with.  Plus I haven’t been to any meetings in a week.  Shit’s probably gone to hell in the capital by now.’  

Also, if there was anything his healthier body had been noticing, it was how beautiful and alluring Kagome looked everyday.  He had hidden his desire well, certain that if even he found himself disgusting, there was no way she would react well, but he wanted to be human again and finally be with Kagome as a man with a woman.

He pushed himself off the bed, slowly to avoid jostling any of his healing injuries.  Kagome hadn’t let him out of bed much the past few days, so he took advantage of his chance to finally stretch out his muscles.

His walk through the house was always eerie, but he found it especially so before the sun rose to lighten its walls.  Kagome apparently lived alone here, as he hadn’t seen or heard anyone else, but the sight of so many empty rooms, dilapidated and filled with cobwebs, forced him to remember that not too many years ago, this had been a home, lively and beautiful.  He finally made his way out of the house and into the chilly air of dawn, and to his utter surprise, he found Kagome already outside, hacking away at some of the larger logs outside.  ‘I guess, there goes my plan of making her happy...’

His presence instantly alerted her, and she turned from her work to greet him.  “Inuyasha!  What are you doing out here?”

“Uhh...I just thought I could help out or something.  Since I’ve been staying here and just lying around in bed all day...” he explained, rubbing his hand against the back of his neck awkwardly.  He had never offered to work for anyone else, and he found the whole exchange strange.  

“You don’t have to, Inuyasha.  You’re my guest here, so just let me take care of you.”  She gave him a kind and radiant smile.  

“Well, at least let me collect the logs and pile them for you.”  She looked hesitant, so he added, “Please?”  Although she would never like him as the Taisho more for what he did as a hanyou, he wanted to make her like him more.

“If you want to,” she gestured to the unorganized piles of cut logs at her side.  “I could use a strong demon like you,” she added, sending him a shy smile.  He would have blushed if he didn’t hate being referred to as a demon.  He began to move the logs she had chopped into small piles, taking occasional breaks when it put a strain on his wounds since the area around his arrow wound was still pink and sore.

They worked together in silence save for the irregular chopping sounds Kagome’s axe made.  Inuyasha savored the crisp, refreshing smell of fall, the cool air that revived and lightly stung his lungs every time he took a breath.  The world wasn’t as clean or as wild further South in the capital.

“Inuyasha...I never asked, but where are you from?” He froze at her question and his heart beat picked up in his nervousness as he tried to think of an answer.  She picked up on his reaction, though attributed it to the wrong reasons.  “You don’t have to worry about my tattling on you,” she gave a short laugh at the idea, “I didn’t save you just so I could turn you in and have you executed.”

He chuckled nervously, though he couldn’t tell if it was from coming up with a response to her question or from the idea of facing his own kingdom’s laws as a hanyou.  “I lived somewhere further north from here...” he paused and she waited patiently for him to continue, “It doesn’t really have a name.”

She nodded to show her attention and asked him curiously,  “Do you live alone?  I don’t think you’ve mentioned any family or any...I don’t know...wife or something.”

“No...no family.  My parents died a long time ago.”  At least that wasn’t a lie.

“Oh...I didn’t know.  Sorry, Inuyasha.” He grunted in response.  They returned to a comfortable silence for a minute, before Kagome shared her story with him, “My parents died...were killed...a long time ago too.”

“Oh...”  Inuyasha wanted to add something, but wasn’t sure what to say.  He knew how most of her family was killed, and he thought to apologize that his forces arrived too late, saved too few people.  Sorry was the right thing to say, so he added a soft “Sorry.”

“Don’t be.  Unless you were one of the demons that killed them off, you have nothing to be sorry for.”

“Well unless you killed off my parents then you have nothing to be sorry for either.”

She shrugged as she replied.  “Touché.  I just figured that my family members might have killed your parents or something.  Sure it might have been other demons or something, but they killed so many demons for so many years, the odds are in my favor.”  Her face suddenly showed an inner rage and Inuyasha cautiously proceeded.

“How do you even know my parents were killed?”

“Well...you’re hanyou...your mother at the very least would have been killed, if not by the guards of this realm than by those up north.  People never treat hanyou or those that bring them into the world that well.”

Kagome had brought up a question that had been bugging Inuyasha for quite a few days.  He was grateful to her for keeping him alive and nursing him back to health, but it seemed strange that she would have such sympathy for demons and hanyou, especially having grown up in the North.    “Why do you treat me so well then?” he questioned.

She looked surprised at the question, so he hastily reassured her that he was happy that she treated him well, but simply curious as to why.  “I was never stupid enough to believe that we are all so black and white.  I’ve met many kind-hearted demons and many cruel humans.”  

Kagome seemed conflicted for a few moments, but she took a deep breath and continued.  “Do you know how my clan was nearly decimated some decade ago, Inuyasha?”

Inuyasha considered how to respond.  He could tell she was upset, distraught perhaps at the memory, and he wanted to resolve that problem as soon as possible.  Obviously, he knew, and most around the kingdom had a general idea of what had happened, but he didn’t know whether the northerners would know.  Taking a chance and hoping it would get her mind off the topic faster, he said, “I think...it was a demon attack, right?”

She gave no sign she even heard him, though her brows furrowed in thought, and they sat in the chill silence for a minute.  Finally, she spoke, “I’m surprised you are wrong on both accounts.”

“What?”  

‘How could I be wrong on that...it’s basically what happened.  I would know.’  He remembered being the brave, but impulsive with youth - he admitted that - Taisho at the time.  A teenager on a crusade to purify all the lands.  The Higurashi massacre had been his wake-up call that the wild lands north of his border couldn’t be tamed, so he changed his priorities to guarding against any demons entering the realm.

His confusion went unnoticed by Kagome.  She had set down the axe, smaller than any other he had seen in use, likely because a larger axe would weigh more than she herself, and moved to help him tie the piles of wood.

“It wasn’t one.  It was many, spread out over a nearly a year.  And it wasn’t a demon attack.”  She finally explained.

“What do you mean...it wasn’t a demon attack?”  He asked reluctantly, afraid he might offend or upset her by not knowing what she meant.

“Demons, humans, hanyou.  Everyone who hated the kingdom and what it had been doing attacked us...hated us.  Even some of our own men, humans, turned against us...” she looked pained at the thought and Inuyasha felt the urge to kill all those who had harmed her again.

“Look you don’t have to talk about this,” he said quietly and as soothingly as he could.  He really wasn’t good at this comforting thing, but clearly she was upset, so he awkwardly moved towards her and held her hand.

She looked down in surprise at his rough, clawed hands enveloping her own and he cheered when a smile lit up her face again.  “Thanks, Inuyasha.  But I think talking it out with you probably helps.  Something about getting the anger out, right?”  

He heard her soft laughter, and nodded, “Sure.”

She continued, though there was something different in her voice as she began talking.  A new confidence, perhaps.  “I was a kid when everything happened, and I thought it was our fault.  My family’s.  My mother’s, my father’s.  My fault.  Why else would they want to kill us?  Then I thought it was all the demons’ fault.” She snorted at her childish stupidity.  “You want to know who I blame now?” Her eyes glinted at his conspiratorially.  “The Taisho.”

Inuyasha felt his stomach lurch and instinctively pulled his hand from hers as if her skin burned his.  She immediately turned to him worriedly and asked, “What’s wrong?”

‘What did she mean she blamed him?!’ His thoughts raced angrily through his head and he stuttered out, “Wh-what?”

Kagome caught onto his inner conflict and explained hurriedly, “I’m not trying to take all the blame my own family had and put it on him!  But we were bound to do what he said.  He spent years killing demons and anyone who sympathized with them, purifying them, ripping their families apart, and tacked my family’s face on all his decrees.  It was no wonder that when they finally rebelled, they attacked us.  To the best of their knowledge, we were behind all the suffering in their lives.  Of course, the Taisho just asked us to take care of the mess, staying behind his safe walls and watched us all slaughtered! Then he finally decided that maybe it was time to lend a little help.”  

She paused to take a deep breath.  “It’s said that the past Taisho was so great a warrior, so kind a ruler that they had the greatest honor, highest position named after him.  They nicknamed him the Taisho to show that he bested all the demons with his leadership and intellect.  Now, he’s left us with a cruel and vicious ruler.” She glared hatefully off into the distance, and Inuyasha could swear she was imagining his death right then and there.  “Don’t you understand, Inuyasha?”

He couldn’t understand.  No.  That was not what had happened.  He hadn’t a real choice, and all the messengers told him that the situation was under control.  He wanted to scream at her, ‘It wasn’t my fault!’ but the guilt that lied buried inside of him kept him from speaking out.  He took a few deep breaths and tried to calm his emotions so he could think clearly, but a voice rang out in his head.

“I’m sorry, Taisho, but I must refuse your offer.”  It was Kagome’s voice.

In the present, Kagome spoke quietly, “My family wasn’t the only thing he took from me.”  Inuyasha’s deep breaths weren’t helping anymore.  He didn’t want to hear any of this, but she continued, seemingly intent on breaking something inside him.  “The night of his coronation...he took - he raped me.”

Inuyasha took in a strangled gasp, and dropped the bundle he had been carrying.  He screamed, “Stop!” as her words brought the night’s events back to him.  The fury rushing through him.  The endless hallways.  Her smell.  Her body beneath his.  Her tearful eyes looking up at him as she pleaded.

“AgHHH!” A yell forced its way out of his chest and into the forests beyond.  His knees buckled and he dug his claws into the cold earth as wave after wave of agonizing memory rushed through him.  “Stop!”  He screamed again and again.  Kagome had dropped to her knees beside him, trying to help him up, but he paid her no mind.  That wasn’t what happened.  That couldn’t have happened.  

He tore himself away from her hands and fled back to his room.  He needed to get away from her.  Everything about her now reminded him of what he had done that night.  Her smell had enticed him, driven him to the brink of insanity.  Her fear had delighted him, excited him beyond anything he ever imagined.  ‘Gods, what did I do?!’  He would have never, not in a million years forced himself on a woman, not even if he wanted her as badly as he did Kagome Higurashi.  No, no!  He screamed inwardly.

‘She hates me.  She hates me...She hates me.’  Those painful words echoed in his head, threatening to tear him apart.  He could feel his chest caving inward, his heart aching beneath his ribcage.  Every dream he had of her, smiling and laughing on his arm, turned to dust.  Her face, glaring off in the distance suddenly turned to face him.

He felt soft hands on his shoulders and spun around angrily to face the woman who had burnt him with her words.  She was looking at him teary-eyed, asking pleadingly what was wrong.

“EVERYTHING!” He roared at her, letting out an enraged snarl.  “DON’T TOUCH ME!”  He shoved her backwards and took off out into the forest.

He let the trees blur around him, swinging his claws wildly, letting the pain of his opening wound and the bark scraping against his claws numb him.  Again and again he smashed his bare knuckles against the trees, slashing through earth and wood for hours until his body exhausted him and no more memories remained.

He leapt high onto a towering tree, and crawled into a small space between its branches.  He let the winds calm him and hugged his knees to his chest.  And despite his every effort to forget her, the only thought running through his head was ‘Kagome.’
_________________________________________________ _______________________

Miroku lightly traced the curve of Sango’s breast as they basked in the afterglow of another night of unbelievable sex.  He looked down at her sleeping face, and felt a rush of affection and genuine warmth.  When he had seduced her, those few days ago (though Miroku swore it felt like he had been far longer), he hadn’t wanted much more than another woman to warm his bed for the night.  But this one, this one was different, he thought with a rather goofy smile.

He was starting to really like Sango, he realized.  She was witty, intelligent, willing to take control (gods he remembered waking up the first morning, tied to the posts on his bed butt-naked), and there was that bonus of having a toned and muscular but voluptuous body hidden underneath her kitchen robes.  She was unlike any other woman he’d ever met, and the Taisho’s words from the night of his coronation came back to him.  Perhaps it was time for him to find one woman, one special woman, in his life.  

Gently rousing her, he watched as her eyes lazily blinked open.  “Good morning, Sango,” he greeted softly.  She looked up at him, and he marveled at how beautiful and strong her eyes looked.

“Good morning, my Lord.” She responded.

A light frown formed on his face.  “I do wish you would stop calling me that.  I’m just Miroku.”

“That’s not proper at all,” Sango insisted, though the other half of the reason was that she didn’t want to get too close to Miroku.  ‘I need information.  That’s why I’m doing this all,’ she reminded herself, though it felt more like trying to convince herself.

Miroku looked up at the ceiling in thought before finally speaking, “Well calling me a Lord is no more accurate than my calling you a Lady.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m not really a Lord,” he said quietly, half to her, half to the stone walls around them.

Sango was bewildered.  How could he not be a Lord?  That made no sense at all.  He explained, “I was just a seamstress’s son, no real money or prospects, when I moved here.  Of course, I had, still have,” he added with a light smirk, “a way with money, and I was accepted into Inuyasha’s court once I had made a bit of a name for myself.”  He tilted his head downwards to look down at Sango, who was every part the attentive lover.  “I told the Taisho I was born of some minor Lord who had taken up monkhood.  He never had any reason to doubt that claim since there are so many Lords and Ladies scattered all about.”

Tilting her chin upward, he sweetly captured her lips with his, and the two let themselves melt in each other’s embrace for a moment.  When they released each other, Miroku asked, “Do you know why I’m telling you this, Sango?  No one else in the realm knows this.”  She shook her head.  He took a careful breath and professed, “I...like you, Sango.  You’re different.  I can tell.  A man gets tired of keeping such a great secret, especially from someone he hopes will become more...important in his life.”  He looked in her eyes for some sort of response, but her emotions remained guarded.

Sango didn’t know how to respond to that.  For a moment, she felt a great guilt weigh on her, but she ruthlessly squashed that down before it could spread.  “My L-” She cleared her throat, “Miroku, I don’t think that...what you’re proposing is wise.  Even though you may not truly be a Lord, you are still one in everyone else’s eyes.  This - We could never be more than...this to each other.”

Miroku looked ready to protest, but sighed and conceded.  “At least accompany me as...this - whatever you must think you are - in my trip this week to the North,” he implored.  “I need the company.  It’s all boring guards around me whenever I make these journeys.”

Sango’s confusion appeared easily on her face.  “But...why are you heading North?”

“I know kitchen maids have a tendency to gossip amongst themselves, so can you keep a secret?”  Sango nodded without hesitation.  “The Taisho has been...absent for a while, and I need to keep up with his duties in the North.  He normally makes a trip up there once a year to check how things are going.  It’s dreadfully boring and rather unpleasant.  Have I sold you on accompanying me yet, my Lady?” He asked, adding the last part jokingly.

“Of course, Miroku.  I do need to tell the head cook Kaede, though.”  

“I’ll have someone notify her,” he caressed her hair lightly, smiling to himself.

Sango knew an opportunity when she saw one.  “Miroku, why has the Taisho been absent lately?  I don’t recall seeing him at all.” She asked, seemingly innocent.

“I’m afraid I can’t say,” he said regretfully.

Sango wanted to push him for more information, but didn’t want to arouse any suspicion.  “Of course.”  She untangled herself from his arms and began to get dressed.  “I’ll go see Kaede now and get ready.”

Miroku smiled after her and waved as she left.  He lay down on his bed and sighed wistfully. ‘Sango.’

_____________________________________________ ___________________________

A deliberate wince escaped Onigumo as Kikyo slowly unwrapped his bandages.

She smiled apologetically.  “Sorry, my sister was always better at healing than I am.  I bet it’s terrible to be stuck with me, huh,” she said in an attempt to distract him from the pain.

The injured man smiled with a slightly pained grimace.  “Not at all, Lady Kikyo.  Your kindness and generosity have been what’s kept me going these past few days.”  Her face lit up in a graceful blush.  Kikyo moved to wash his bloodied bandages in a nearby basin and Onigumo took the opportunity to study the curve of her backside.  He forced down his arousal and groaned frustratedly.  The last girl he’d fucked had been Naraku’s “princess,” and that was an eternity ago.    He needed someone and soon or he would go ballistic.  ‘This girl’s probably so proper and uptight she’s still a virgin.  I haven’t had one of those in a while,’ he thought deviously.  Kikyo turned around again, and he immediately softened his face.

She rewrapped his injuries with clean bandages.  “Is there anything else you need?”

“I just need to use your restroom, please.”  He gave her a charming smile.  She helped him to the restroom and left him to his things.  He relieved himself in the chamberpot  and filled the wash basin with cold, clear water.  He splashed the water on his face to get rid of whatever strange cream Kikyo kept rubbing on him and sat down to wait for the water to settle.  When it was clear again, he stared into basin, waiting for his reflection to appear.  An image of his face slowly crept into the clear waters and quickly morphed into a more familiar one.

“Nice to see you again, my friend,” he greeted.

“What have you found out?” The image of Naraku got straight to the point.

“It’s not this one.  It’s the younger sister, Kagome Higurashi.  She’s at some other estate but Kikyo hasn’t told me which one.  The girl was at his coronation and according to your witch - or was it your little spiders - she was the one that fucked the Taisho,” Onigumo explained.  He loved this, gossiping like two little girls with Naraku.  “The girl’s a good healer apparently.  Spiritual powers, too.  Might’ve fucked with the Taisho’s transformation as she fucked him.”

“Just call Inuyasha by his name, Onigumo.  As for the problem of finding where Kagome is living...pay a visit to my Tsubaki, would you?”  Naraku explained what he needed to do.  “And get something for yourself while you’re at it.  The older sister is of little use to us after she gets you to Kagome, and you look terrible.”  The image disappeared immediately and Onigumo was staring back at his handsome reflection once more.

He made some excuse for Kikyo about needing time to think and made for the forest.  Tsubaki’s hut wasn’t too hard to find, as it stunk with rotting flesh and blood and flowers.  She sensed him as soon as he stepped into her garden of bodies and waved him inside.

“Here’s what you need.  Two drops.” The beautiful, dark witch handed him a small tube of greenish liquid.  “The boy’ll live.  Figured you might need him alive,” she added, shrugging nonchalantly.

“I want something made for myself, too.”

“Ah, yes, Naraku mentioned some lady troubles?  I have just the thing for you.” She gave him a seductive look and swung her hips.  “Though...Are you sure you don’t want me to help with that.”

“No.  I don’t fuck old women unless I have to.” He stated bluntly.  A glare quickly replaced her seductive smile.

“Fine,” she snarled, her lips curling nastily.  “But you’re paying for this.  I’ll want another pretty, young girl.”

“Don’t we all.” He waved her off and took the second concoction from her.  “She’ll be here tomorrow morning.”

He walked back to the house quickly, just in time to avoid being seen by Kikyo and her lady-in-waiting.  Plastering a charming smile on his face once more, he approached the two.  “My Ladies, your beautiful faces are always such welcoming sights for a sad and broken man like myself.”

Kikyo immediately protested, declaring that he wasn’t broken at all, but he graciously denied her compliments.

“I’ve been thinking all afternoon, and it would be a great honor if I could make you dinner tonight.  As a thanks for all you’ve done.”

“There is no need for thanks, my Lord!  I couldn’t let my guest cook!” Kikyo insisted, but Onigumo quickly interrupted her.

He held her soft hands in his and gently pressed a kiss upon them.  “Please, just for tonight.”  Both the women flushed gracefully and Onigumo briefly wondered if they had ever had any male attention at all.  This was so easy it was boring.

“I-if you would like, then of course you can cook.  Y-you can do whatever you like,” Kikyo offered.

That night, he had served them a delicious meal and delightful conversation.

The next morning, he lay awake, waiting.  When he heard the morning bird’s sweet chirping accompanied by Kikyo’s desperate cries of her brother’s name, a genuine smile lit his face.  He basked in the moment for a minute before quickly jumping out of bed and rushing hurriedly to the chambers of Kikyo’s lady-in-waiting.

“My Lady!  There’s something wrong with the young Lord Souta!”

“What?  What has happened?” She jumped out of bed and dressed hurriedly.  “I must see him at once!”

“No, Lady Kikyo has asked us specifically to find an herb in the forests.  She says there is no one else she can trust,” he lied smoothly.

“O-oh.  That’s so strange!  Kikyo says to never enter the forest...But she must know what she’s talking about.  Kikyo always does,” the foolish girl convinced herself.

He rushed out with the girl and led her straight into Tsubaki’s garden.  She hadn’t even managed a scream before he knocked her out and tossed her onto the rest of the bodies.  ‘So pretty and so...stupid.  Tsubaki will like her.’

When he made it back to the home, Kikyo was packing her things and Souta’s.  The boy lay in bed, unmoving and looking dreadfully yellow, but still alive.  When he asked her what she was doing, she explained how she needed to get him to her sister.  Kagome would know what to do, she insisted, still panicked and distraught.  He played the part of the caring and concerned friend and asked to come along.

“You would come along for me?  Thank you, Onigumo.  The gods have been kind enough to give me a true friend in a time like this.”  To this, Onigumo didn’t have to force a genuine smile.
________________________________________________________________ ________

Kagome angrily scrubbed dirt off the pots after eating dinner alone and set them down none-so-gently.  Inuyasha.  She let out a half frustrated, half infuriated growl.  She wanted to hate him right now more than anything.  He’d disappeared some time last morning and hadn’t given any sign about where he was going, what was wrong or when he would come back.

‘I can’t believe I told him...that!’  Some madness inside her.  It had to be that.  She’d thought she could trust him with that part of herself, but clearly she was wrong.  He’d turned on her, treated her like some walking disease as soon as he heard what she said.  ‘I don’t know what else I was expecting,’ she scoffed, roughly scraping off the grease from her plate, ‘that some random guy I find in the forest and nurse back to health will accept me and we’ll be together forever?’  What a joke.  Life wasn’t like the fairytales her mother used to read to her.  She’d almost forgotten that when she met the sweet, shy, and strangely charming hanyou with adorable puppy ears she’d nursed back to health.  Of course, now he’d reminded her exactly why she had to be stingy with her trust.

After the state of confusion he had left her in last morning, she was sick of moping around as if everything were her fault.  She had been torn between worrying herself sick over him and wanting to punch him.  For a while, the image of Inuyasha falling to the floor, screaming in agony, clouded her mind.  It seemed like her words had put him in so much pain, but she had no idea what had happened.  

Why had he looked at her like all his pain was her fault?  Why had he pulled away from her like that?  Where was he now?

Kagome shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts.  Before she left the kitchen, she took one last glance out of her kitchen window to the dark forests beyond the estate’s walls.  “Stupid jerk,” she muttered, though there was more sadness behind it than heat.

She readied for bed and climbed in to her sheets.  ‘No more Inuyasha, no more Inuyasha,’ she chanted in her head, though the conflicting emotions boiling up inside her made it difficult to fall asleep.  She had an impossible time sleeping the night before as well.

Counting slowly in her head, she let the silent echoes of the house lull her to sleep when footsteps suddenly roused her.  She spun around to face her doorway and tried to revive her sleepy limbs.  “Who’s there?!  Show yourself,” she commanded.  

A shadowed figure stepped into the light and Kagome was about to launch herself at her arrows when her eyes locked onto the two tiny triangles atop the intruders head.  “I-Inuyasha?  Is that you?”

She heard him take a deep breath and step forward.  ‘It is him...’

He walked slowly to her and knelt down beside her futon.  “I’m...I’m really sorry Kagome.”  She barely heard his whispered apology, but in that second all the day’s anger melted away.  His golden eyes shone luminously in the moonlight with regret and pain.  “I didn’t mean to do...any of that...I’m sorry.”  His calloused hand gently cupped her chin.  “I -...sor-...Just please forgive me.”

Kagome was slightly puzzled by his long apology, but perhaps he really did regret reacting the way he did.  Emboldened by his words, she threw caution to the wind and hugged him.  “I do, Inuyasha.”  His arms looped around her and she relished his clean, woodsy scent and the feeling of being embraced against his warm, strong chest.

“Thanks.”  Inuyasha took deep, almost desperate breaths of her smell, allowing the demon that had been raging the past two days to finally calm.  What she did next he could have never imagined in a million years.  Without releasing him from her embrace, she lay back down on the futon, pulling his shocked form down with hers.  Inuyasha couldn’t help sputtering slightly in surprise.  He wasn’t ready for this!

She sensed his panicked and quickly calmed him by rubbing his ears.  “Just lie with me, Inuyasha.  Nothing else.  I didn’t sleep well last night when you were gone,” Kagome revealed, uncaring about how much she might regret this later.  As angry as she was with him, she missed her doggy-eared...friend.  “Make it up to me?”

“B-but it’s not proper!”

“After what I told you yesterday, do you think I care about being a proper Lady?” She asked with a raised eyebrow.  There was no one else around, no one to judge them.

“No...”

She nodded contentedly and rested her head on his shoulder.  That night she slept easily.


Author’s Note:

First, thanks again to those that reviewed.  You are all lovely people, and I hope you are still enjoying this fanfic.

1. A quick explanation: Kagome’s version of history and of why the name of the “King” position is called “Taisho” is that the previous ruler, Inuyasha’s father, managed to defeat the demons (in what, we do not know!), and thus was nicknamed the Taisho (which translates roughly to “great demon”).  Because of his supposed great ruling, they actually named the position after his nickname.

2. Also, jesus cheesus this was a hard chapter to write.  None of the scenes felt quite right, though I did, as always, have fun writing about what Onigumo/Naraku are up to.  I struggled a lot with the InuKag and MirSan scenes though.  I struggle with emotions.  It’s a real life problem, people.  Ugh.  Hopefully it doesn’t come across too well.

3. I am aware that this summary is kind of “wrong.”  Inuyasha as the Taisho probably wronged a lot more people/demons than just Kagome.  I would fix it except lazy.  Sorry.

Anyway, please review!  Let me know what you thought worked or didn’t work (politely, and constructively, of course, as then I am much more likely to take your advice!).