InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sacrifices ❯ You are my boat ( Chapter 10 )

Hello minna-san!! I'm sorry that I didn't update sooner! Waaa!! It's just been crazy these days! I Anyways, I hope that you like this chappy too. Ah...I don't own Inuyasha or any of the characters here... waa... so sad... anyway. Enjoy!

Chapter10: You are my boat

The chirping birds outside the hut made the atmosphere soothing for everyone in the surroundings. It was a cool autumm morning and it would've been perfect if it wasn't for the fact that a ceirtain girl was in pain. Not exactly physical pain, but mostly emotional.

Kagome was awake, but she didn't open her eyes. She could feel the few sun rays that had made their way through the rustic window of the hut caressing her pail skin. She could also hear the chirping of the birds outside.

" 'What happened...'" she asked to herself in a soft tone of voice, still confused about what had happened hours ago. She quickly opened her eyes in shock as the memories of what she had done hit her with the strength and speed of a thunder. And just as quick, as if it was a reflection, she sat on the the floor letting the sheets that were covering her fall to her lap.

"Inu-san!" she gasped in concern and with a worried face.

"Calm down Kagome-chan... he's all right..." stated Sango in a soft tone of voice and with a sad smile on her face, while sitting next to her.

"Sango...?" Kagome stared at her. But quickly turned her face away in embarrasement. "Did I..."

"No..." Sango interrupted her as she reached for a cup and the tea pot. She started pouring hot tea as she continued. "You didn't do anything Kagome- chan... you don't have to worry... Inuyasha took care of you..."

Kagome's eyes widened as she turned towards Sango again. "Inu-san! How is he! Did I say..." Sango didn't let her finish. She had placed her hands on Kagome's and was staring at her with a smile on her face.

"Just turn around..." Sango stated with a smiling face. When Kagome did, her eyes widened in surprise to find Inuyasha curled up in one of the corners behind her, sleeping peacefully.This made Kagome soften her expression as she stared at the sleeping hanyou.

"Yokatta..." She stayed that way for a while, not taking her eyes off him. Just staring at the sleeping form, which seemed to be pretty uncomfortable, but yet suited for the occasion. Then she turned towards Sango, who offered her the cup of tea. "Arigatou..."

"You're welcome..." stated Sango with a smile. But that smile quickly changed into a concerned one as she observed the fragile figure of the girl next to her. Kagome had lowered her face and was now staring at the cup, watching how the tea moved from side to side as she did the same with her hands.

"What is happening to me Sango?..." she asked in a soft tone of voice, trying her best not to let the tears roll down her cheeks.

"I don't know..." Sango wanted to kill herself for that. Those words came out without notice, not giving her the time to think for a more comforting answer. A soft cool breeze entered the hut, making the steam from the cup fly around them. She could notice Kagome's sadness. She could noice her confusion and desperation for not knowing what was happening to her or how she could fix it. Sango's eyes met the sleeping hanyou and then she smiled.

" He stayed up all night looking after you..." Kagome lifted her face with a surprised expression and a slight blush. " We all took shifts during night to do it, but he always stayed next to you... he refused to go to sleep..." Kagome turned around and stared at Inuyasha with a sweet smile drawn on her face. Then Sango continued. "I guess he was just too tired and he fell asleep..."

" 'Inu-san...'" Kagome thought to herself. Then she turned towards Sango again. " Gomen..." Sango looked at her in surprise. " I don't remember exactly what I said yesterday... but if I said something that hurt you..."

"You didn't... Kagome-chan, there's nothing you should be apologizing for... you didn't do anything..." Kagome's eyes started to get teary as she listened to her. Sango was actually repeating what Inuyasha had told her before without even knowing it. That she remembered. She remembered Inuyasha's strong embrace that saved her from whatever it was that was controlling her. "Ja... I think you better go back to sleep now..."

"No... I'm ok now... I don't need to sleep anymore..." she replied with a smile. " 'Because if I do, then I'll only remember what things I did yesterday...'" she thought to herself.

"Are you sure?... I think you should go back to sleep, it'll make you feel better..."

"Hai... arigatou... I don't know why, but I feel ok now, really..."

Sango smiled back at her and then nodded. "Ok then..."

Kagome looked around and got a concerned face. "What happened to Miroku and Shippo?"

"They went to look for some food and medicines, they should be back soon..." Sango replied with a smile, letting her know that they were ok.

"Have you... have you talked about..." Kagome didn't want to finish the sentence, and Sango noticed so she interrupted her before she did.

"Hai... we've been talking about the possibilities... about the demons or persons that might be involved with this..." Sango had a serious expression now.

"Were you able to find something?" Kagome's gaze went back to staring at the tea cup.

"Not yet... but we're getting closer, don't worry, we'll get to it..." Sango smiled at her as a sign that everything would be ok. This made Kagome smile in relief. Sango watched her as she took a sip out of the cup and then got a serious expression once again.

*FLASHBACK*

Miroku, Sango and Shippo were hiding behind some trees. Sango was carrying Shippo on her arms and they were all silent.

"Houshi-sama... who do you think could be doing this?" Sango asked not taking her eyes off of Inuyasha and Kagome.

"I don't know Sango... but this presence is just not normal... I don't know why but I feel like..." Sango interruped him.

" Is Kikyo..." Miroku turned towards her and Shippo just looked at her in confusion.

"How are you so sure?" asked the monk.

"Yeah! Kikyo's not been around, has she?" asked a concerned Shippo.

"No she hasn't... but I just know it's her... this feeling keeps telling me that she is..." Sango narrowed her eyes.

"Hm... We should keep this to ourselves then..." stated Miroku as Shippo and Sango turned to him in surprise. " If it is true that Kikyo's the one behind all of this then it would just make things worse... Inuyasha's heart would be divided... wether to chase after the one he loves knowing that she's responsible for Kagome's condition... or to stay with Kagome and watch her suffer... that if Kikyo's indeed the one to blame for all of this..." Sango and Shippo nodded in agreement. " I think we should keep Kagome out of this too... this would just confuse her greatly... I say we start paying attention to everything around us... maybe that way we'll be able to discover who or what is doing this..."

Sango, Shippo and Miroku turned their gazes towards Inuyasha and Kagome once again.

*END OF FLASHBACK*

The hours passed and Inuyasha was still asleep in the hut. He slowly opened his eyes when he felt some strange noises and a funny smell coming from around him. He slowly sat and started to rub his sleepy eyes.

"What is going on?..." he asked in a sleepy tone of voice. As his vision got clear, he noticed Miroku was inside the hut preparing some medicine with some plants he and Shippo had collected. When his gaze met the empty spot where Kagome was supposed to be sleeping, he quickly got an angry expression and stood up.

"What?? Where's Kagome!!" he snapped at the monk who seemed not to care about it. "OI!!"

"Inuyasha you better start controlling that morning mood of yours... well, that afternoon mood of yours..." stated the monk as he glared at the hanyou.

"Afternoon?" Inuyasha asked with a cute and innocent tone of voice. But then he shook his head and his glare was back to reflecting anger and concern. "Wait a second!! Where is Kagome??!"

"Calm down Inuyasha she's fine... she's outside with Sango and Shippo..." Miroku followed Inuyasha with his eyes as he saw him going towards the door of the hut.

Inuyasha stood there watching Kagome's smiling face. She was actually smiling! It was like nothing had happened to her. Then he smiled in relief. "Feh... what is she doing up... she should be resting..." he stated not taking his eyes off her.

"She said she was feeling ok... there's no reason to keep a person in bed if she's not ill..."

"What?? You know what just happened a few hours ago!"

"Didn't you hear me Inuyasha? She said she was feeling ok..."

"Feh... whatever..." stated Inuyasha as he went back in the hut and sat behind the monk, leaning on the wall. " Did she really said she was ok? Did something hurt her?"

"No... that's what she said... she's feeling ok... just as if nothing had happened to her..." said Miroku while preparing the medicine.

"And what's that for?... it smells funny..."

"Just some medicine in case any one of us gets injured..." The hanyou's expression turned serious.

"Why... do you think we'll be going on a battle any time soon?"

"No one knows that... it's just in case, you never know when you're gonna need one..." Miroku glared at the hanyou from the corner of his eye. " Maybe the one who's causing this will show up soon..."

"Feh!! I'd like to see that filthy demon get any closer!!" snapped an angry Inuyasha as he closed his eyes. "I'd sure get rid of him with Tessaiga's Bakuryuuha..."

"Would you?"

"Of course I would! What is wrong with you!" snapped an angry Inuyasha. Why was he making stupid questions like that?

"Well you know Inuyasha, what if you're wrong and it's not a demon the one causing all of this?" Miroku stated with a serious face. Inuyasha then widened his eyes. Could it be possible for a simple human to be doing all of this? No, impossible.

" What? Are you trying to say that a human is the one causing all of this??"

"Well... 'not a human actually'... you cant be sure a demon is after this... what if it's someone with great powers..."

"Someone with great powers..." Inuyasha got a thoughful expression and then he gasped.

" 'He got it'" Miroku thought to himself.

"Are saying that Naraku could be after this??" Miroku got a sweat drop.

"EH?…Hm... possibly but..." Miroku was interrupted by Inuyasha, who stood up quickly with an angry expression.

"That Naraku's gone too far!! I swear I'll cut him up to little pieces!!"

"Wait Inuyasha you didn't let me finish!... Yes, it could be possible that it was Naraku the one behind all of this, but have you felt his presence these last few days?"

Inuyasha stopped. Miroku was right, Naraku's presence was not even near them. But then who? "You're right... I havent..."

"You should stop jumping into conclusions so fast... but one thing is for sure... the one behind this has great powers... if he, she or it can control a human's mind then we should be careful... it can probably happen to us too..."

They stayed in silence for a while. Then Inuyasha spoke in a soft tone of voice. " Yeah... but it's only happened to Kagome..."

Outside, Kagome, Shippo and Sango were sitting on the grass watching the lake in front of them. They closed their eyes as they felt the breeze blowing, caressing their skins and taking away all the bad things with it.

"Ah!! This feels so good!!..." stated a happy looking Shippo while he rested on Kagome's lap. He was happy to know that Kagome was back to being 'normal' now. He was happy to know his friend was back.

"Hai!" replied a smiling Kagome as he watched the little fox-demon resting on her lap.

Sango turned around as she felt someone was approaching. She smirked and then turned towards Shippo.

"Ne Shippo... what do you say we take a ride on Kirara? We need to go get 'those things' for Houshi-sama..." she stated as she glared at him.

"Eh?? What things?? I wanna stay here with Kagome!!"

Sango got a sweat drop on her her head and then faked a smile as she made signs with her eyes. "Shippo! Come on!..."

"No! I said no Sango!..." Sango quickly got up and took Shippo with her as Kagome only smiled. "Sangoo!!!" Shippo cried, but then he quickly stopped as he met Inuyasha's eyes. "Oh..." was all he managed to say.Then they started to walk away.

"Ne Shippo... didn't you notice the hints I was giving you?" Sango whispered as she walked away, carrying Shippo in her arms.

"Hints? You mean that eye twitching thing you were doing? I thought something had gotten in your eye..." he whispered innocently as Sango got a sweat drop on her head and a funny upset expression.

Inuyasha sat next to Kagome and stared at the lake. She turned to him in surprise and then smiled as she understood the reason for her friend's behaviour.

"Ohayou!" she said in the most cheerful way she ever had. Inuyasha looked at her in surprise. Was this the same girl who was crying in his arms some hours ago? Unbelievable. How could she be so calmed?

"Ohayou..." he replied in a dry tone of voice, still having doubts in his mind.

Kagome smiled as she saw Inuyasha's concerned expression. " I wanted to thank you for what you did..." Inuyasha turned to her in surprise. "Sango told me you stayed up late to take care of me... Arigatou..."

Inuyasha shifted his gaze somewhere else so that she wouldn't see his blushing face. "Sure..."

"It's such a beautiful day isnt it?... well, afternoon actually..." she said while drawing a smile on her face.

Instead of making Inuyasha happy, her smile only made him angrier. How? How could she hold such a happy expression after what she'd been through? This was not normal. No normal person could be at such ease under this circumstance. Then he snapped.

"Why?? Why are you so calmed after what happened??" Kagome only stared at the lake in front of them. " How can you not show any worries Kagome?? Your life could be in danger!! Your life IS in danger!! Cant you understand that??"

Kagome smiled. Inuyasha stayed in silence and with widened eyes. Not taking her eyes off the lake, she started speaking. " Nee... Can I tell you a story, Inu-san?"

Inuyasha was confused, but he only nodded as he too stared at the same lake.

"I don't really remember who told me this... but it just keeps coming to my mind for some reason... Once upon a time, there was a fisherman... this fisherman was all alone, he had no family or friends, he only had a boat he used everytime he went fishing... As the days passed, because of the lack of friends he had, he started to talk to this boat, as if it was a person... the fisherman started telling him about all the things he did during the day... 'I couldn't sleep last night because of some noisy kids...' he told the boat. 'I cant believe it! what kind of parents let their kids play at such late hour'..."

Inuyasha stared at her as Kagome told the story. He was listening to her but at the same time he got lost in her eyes, her soft tone of voice. And then he blushed.

"And so the days passed and turned into weeks, and the weeks into months... and the fisherman thought of the boat as a friend now. He didn't realize the boat had become his friend... And so did the boat... It had listened to every story the fisherman had to say; it had listened to every problem he had had; it had stayed with him feeling the tears that fell from the fisherman's eyes; 'I understand your pain' the boat wanted to say to him. 'I understand your suffering, because I've also been left alone'. Of course the fisherman couldn't hear this from the boat. But what he felt was relief after he told him all the stories, all his feelings... as if a huge weight was lifted from his shoulders..."

"He felt relieved?" asked Inuyasha. Kagome nodded with a smile.

"Hai... telling the boat all he was feeling freed him from carrying it all by himself...; one day, the fisherman and the boat went to the sea. But what they didn't expect was a terrible storm coming towards them. Many times they had confronted storms, but not like this one. This storm was the most violent one they had ever been up against. They were afraid; the fisherman held on to the boat as hard as he could... 'No! I'll never let you take it away from me!' the fisherman yelled to the storm as if it was someone trying to take his precious boat away from him. The boat was also screaming, but no one could hear him... 'No! don't take him away from me!' it yelled. The boat started struggling against the waves that hit it hard, but the fisherman just couldn't take it; 'Hang on!' the boat seemed to be yelling at the fisherman, who was trying as hard as he could not to let go. But, who was pushing the fisherman so hard towards the bottom of the ocean? Why? Just then, a huge wave hit the side of the small boat, but the boat tried with all it's strength not to sink, and it didn't..."

Inuyasha was listening carefully as Kagome told the story. She seemed so into it that he didn't want to interrupt her.

And Kagome continued. " Soon after, the boat felt pain. It wasn't because the wave had destroyed part of it, but because his dear friend, the fisherman, was gone. He just couldn't resist it anymore and fell into the ocean. 'Friend!!' the boat seemed to yell, but he got no answer back. The boat was ready to sink, thinking that his dear friend the fisherman had died... But he said no. 'No! the fisherman is not dead! The fisherman is not dead! I'll save him!' and so the boat started to look for the fisherman, struggling against the waves. Then it spotted him, there he was! The fisherman was asking for help! He was still alive! The boat made its way through the waves and just when a wave hit it, he made a piece of rope fall in the ocean. The fisherman caught it just in time and climbed up; 'I did it!' the boat cried in happiness... 'I saved my friend!'; Soon after, the storm was over. The fisherman layed on the deck of the boat, happy that he was alive after such a terrible storm. 'Arigatou!!!' he yelled at the top of his lungs. The boat understood then, the fisherman was thanking him.Thanking him for not leaving him alone. And that's where the story ends..."

Kagome turned towards Inuyasha with a sweet smile. Inuyasha just stared back at her. "Do you want to know why I'm not worried now Inu-san?" Inuyasha just nodded.

Kagome turned her gaze towards the lake once again. " I don't know if I'm being selfish here... but the reason why I'm not scared is because I trust you..." Inuyasha widened his eyes. Kagome turned towards him smiling once again. " You are my boat Inu-san..." Inuyasha blushed.

"I'm... your boat?..." he asked not knowing what else to say.

"Hai" replied a smiling Kagome. "Just like the fisherman from the story trsuted his dear boat, I trust you... I trust you Inu-san... you are my boat... you saved me from the storm, remember?"

Inuyasha was deeply blushed now. He only smiled at her. "Wakatta..."

Inside the hut, Miroku, Sango and Shippo leaned over the wall to catch a glimpse of them.

"Why are they staring at each other like that??" asked an intrigued Shippo.

"Shippo just be quiet and learn..." replied Miroku.

"Learn??" asked an annoyed Sango.

"Shh!! Let's just watch them!" stated Shippo. And they all smiled at the sight of it.

Not far from where they were, Kikyo stood with a serious expression. She clenched her fists and narrowed her eyes in anger. Then, she turned around and started to walk away.

Author's note: Waaaa!! So??? What did you think of it??? I hope you liked this chappy as much as I did! What did you think of the fisherman and the boat's story? Did you enjoy it? Please review and let me know ok? Ja ne!