InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Second Chances ❯ Chapter 9 ( Chapter 9 )

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DISCLAIMER: I do not own Inu Yasha and company, that honor belongs to Rumiko Takahashi. The story idea, or what there is of it belongs to me. I don't own the song Man to Man either, it was done by Gary Allan although I think he wrote it for this story!

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AUTHOR'S NOTE 1: Well hello everyone. I know this took a little while in coming out, but it had some kinks in it that I had to work out. I hope that I succeeded, and I am sure that you all will let me know one way or the other! Just a quick note to all those who read but don't review... I hope that you enjoyed your stay and we look forward to seeing you again real soon! Those of you that did review get your mentions at the end of the chapter! No fair going there first.... CHEATERS!!! = D

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Chapter 9

Shippo sat on the ground at Sango's feet, his chin cupped in his hand, and a dubious frown on his face as he watched Inu Yasha struggling with the kite. None of his behavior made any sense, but the little kitsune was used to that. The day Inu Yasha made sense was the day that Naraku became a kabuki dancing sumo wrestler. Shippo shuddered at the image that flashed through his mind and returned his attention to the hanyou.

Sango saw Shippo's shudder and wondered what had caused it, but didn't have time to ask as Inu Yasha launched his first attempt to get the kite in the air. When it came crashing back to earth seconds later she hid a smirk behind her hand. The kitsune just huffed and scowled. The third attempt found Inu Yasha climbing into a tree to retrieve the kite. His curses and complaints carried clearly in the still air. This really wasn't kite weather, but Inu Yasha was just too stubborn to admit defeat. By now, Shippo was giggling and Sango was no longer hiding her grin.

Inu Yasha knew that there wasn't enough wind for the damned thing to fly, but he wanted it soaring when Kagome returned to him. The stupid toy had become a symbol of his dreams. What never entered his mind was that his failures might be symbolic as well. Fate was trying to tell him something, but he was too blind to see it. He could hear the brat giggling and it just increased his desire to succeed.

When the string got tangled around his legs on the ninth attempt and dropped him to the ground on his face, everyone was laughing. Yeah, everyone. The villagers had come out to watch the spectacle of the hanyou kite flyer. By now Shippo was rolling on the ground, clutching his stomach as tears streamed down his cheeks. Even Sango was giggling. Kaede sported a huge grin and just shook her head in amazement. She had never thought that she would see the hanyou playing with a toy.

Inu Yasha was trying to ignore them, a difficult task when the crowd was so loud in its mirth. He was managing, but just barely. When he set his mind to something, there was no changing it. If Kagome had heard that, she would have clapped a hand to her forehead and given one of those nonsense replies. Well Duh! What the hell did that mean anyway? He untangled the string and got to his feet, brushing the dirt off of his clothing and spitting out some gravel. This time it was going to work. He could feel it. The kite would fly, Kagome would come back and all would be right with his world. Hell, he'd even put off killing the runt for laughing at him, for awhile anyway. He turned his back on the crowd and prepared for his final attempt to get the kite into the clouds.

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Kagome and Miroku walked through the forest toward the village in a comfortable silence. Miroku was casting sidelong glances at her figure as he walked, his mind caught up in thoughts that it probably would be best not to share... at least not just yet. They were making progress, as that last kiss had shown, but she still wasn't ready for more. So he would have to continue to draw on that reserve of will power that he had found, although he did wonder just how deep it ran. For now, it was a good thing that he had a very vivid imagination. Although that had been known to cause some problems too.

Kagome was still pondering the dilemma she had set before them. How was she supposed to get Inu Yasha and Sango to spend more time together? The more that she thought about it, the more she saw that they really would work well together. They had quite a bit in common... from losing their mothers at a young age to having a loved one returned from the dead by the one and only demon with a monkey fetish. An idea began to form at the back of her mind, and she reached for Miroku's hand.

She was absolutely shocked when he tightened his grip for split second before suddenly pulling it back as if she had stung him. The look of pain and terror in his eyes made her stop dead in her tracks. What had she done to get that kind of reaction from him? Tears welled up in her eyes.

When he felt her hand in his, his first instinct had been to squeeze it affectionately. Then he realized which hand she had taken. He did his best to keep his curse away from people, even when gloved, as a safety precaution. Now the love of his life was separated from the void by a few beads and a scrap of cloth. Pain and terror warred within his heart. Pain from knowing that he would never be able to touch her with that hand, at least not if he could avoid it and terror because those beads could break and she would be gone from his life forever. He looked down at her and saw the tears shimmering in her eyes and his heart broke a little more. He couldn't stand her tears. It was one of the few things that he agreed with Inu Yasha about one hundred percent.

"Kagome..."

"What did I do?" she whispered brokenly, her head bent so that he could no longer look in her eyes.

"Its not you....its me." Her head whipped up at the line that was so common in her time. She saw his expression and realized that he actually meant it. She frowned in confusion. "Actually, it's this." He held up his cursed hand and clenched it into a tight fist. "I want you as far away from it as possible, which makes it really difficult, because I also want you as close to the rest of me as you can get."

"Miroku, its covered."

"But it's still there, and I don't want you near it." He said firmly. He once again began walking in the direction of the laughter that was emanating from the village. Since his back was to her, he missed the flash of fire in her dark eyes.

"You big... jerk!" He stopped so abruptly that he almost lost his balance. He was a jerk for wanting to protect her? As much as he liked...no loved women, he would NEVER in a thousand years understand them. "How dare you make a decision like that for me, and just expect me to follow meekly along with it? I can make my own choices. I put up with that enough for one lifetime with Inu Yasha. I refuse to do it again!" She stamped her foot in anger.

"Kagome, I just want you to be safe."

"I am safe. I'm always safe when I 'm with you. And I know that you wouldn't put me in danger purposely, but face it, every day of our lives here is dangerous. I can die in a lot of different ways, and if that is going to happen, then I want to live fully before then. I can't do that if you block me out of parts of your life."

"Big speech for such a little girl." He said with a wry grin. He saw her eyes narrow dangerously, and was very glad that she didn't have a subduing necklace for him. He would be in one very deep hole. Hopefully, the thought would never occur to her to get one either.

Kagome didn't say a word, just stormed past him. Damn, how had such a nice walk gone so horribly wrong in mere seconds? He should have known the forceful approach would have been the wrong one to take. He reached out and caught her elbow. "Do you know what it would do to me if I lost you because of this?" He asked softly. His voice broke and his eyes dropped away from hers.. Kagome reached out and tilted his head so he was once again looking her in the eye.

"You won't . I'm not going anywhere for a long time, so you better get used to it." She reached down and took his gloved hand slowly, feeling him flinch, but he didn't pull away from her. She raised it to her lips and placed a gentle kiss on the glove, directly over the center of the void. "You can't stop me, Miroku. And you can't make my decisions for me, especially when they are this important. Sadly, this is a big part of your life, which makes it a big part of mine now. You share everything with the person that you love, whether good or bad, right?" She smiled up at him and he sucked in a deep breath, feeling almost as if he had been punched in the gut. He swallowed a few times, and tried to say something, anything, but the most that he managed was a pitiful little squeak. Had she meant what he thought she had? Oh please, don't let me have misunderstood.

"Did you just...are you...what did?"

"I'll make it simple for you. I love you. We're a team now." His eyes lit up but she held out a hand in a stop gesture. "But you will not run my life like some kind of...of... man!" He blinked at her for a minute, and then realized that she had just insulted his entire gender. He shrugged it off, as a whole, they probably deserved it. He gathered her into a tight hug, spinning her around until she was giggling helplessly once again.

"I love you too, Angel." He whispered as he kissed her gently. Then he set her back on her feet. They started their walk again, both of them grinning foolishly.

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When they reached the village, there was quite a crowd gathered, laughing hysterically at something that they couldn't see. Kagome stood on her tip toes and looked around for Sango or Kaede, bobbing and weaving trying to get a glimpse of what was going on. Miroku pulled on her arm and led her over to the two women. Shippo was rolling on the ground clutching his stomach as tears streamed down his cheeks from his helpless laughter.

Miroku pulled Kagome back against him and she rested her head against his shoulder. After the argument and her confession, he found that he couldn't stop touching her. He just had to be sure that she was real. He knew that they were probably going to argue about his hand again, but he pushed it out of his mind. Maybe they could just discuss it, although knowing Kagome, it would probably be a very loud, heated discussion. But the making up almost made his ringing ears worth it.

"What's going on, Sango?" At the sound of her friend's voice, the exterminator pulled her eyes away from the entertainment and grinned at her. My, don't they look cozy. She could tell that something had happened from their flushed cheeks and silly grins, but before she could comment, Shippo interrupted.

"Kagome, it IS better than candy...well, maybe not chocolate. But its close." His smile was so wide, it seemed to eat up most of his face. "Anything that makes Inu Yasha look like an idiot is okay with me. I've never had so much fun."

"What?"

"Just watch!" Sango said as she pointed down the dirt road. Kagome's gaze followed in that direction. There she saw Inu Yasha picking himself up off the ground, the kite that she had brought Shippo in his hands. So that's what Shippo was talking about.

Inu Yasha ran along the ground lightly, and when he thought that he had enough speed, he put all of his strength into throwing the kite into the air, away from him. It glided along, gradually gaining altitude, and his hopes rose with it. Unfortunately, Fate had tired of subtlety and decided to show the hanyou what she thought of his plan. A huge gust of wind, the first of the day, struck the kite, causing it to turn around and plunge towards the ground. It struck the hanyou between the eyes hard enough to drop him to the ground once again. This time he landed on his back, staring up at the clouds that now seemed to be mocking him.

The shrieks of laughter began again, louder than ever. This time it got to him. He spun around with a snarl, only to gasp when he saw Kagome and Sango laughing. Worse, Kagome was wrapped in the monk's arms. They sure didn't look like they had "talked". If anything, they seemed closer than before.

Anger, betrayal and pain warred in his golden eyes as he glared at the girl. Kagome flinched at the emotions so clear on his face. Sango could feel the trouble brewing in the air. Their laughter stopped so abruptly that it could have been sliced off with a sword. His eyes moved slowly to the monk, who accepted his glare calmly, and only raised a questioning eyebrow in return. With a feral growl, Inu Yasha leapt off into the woods, slashing at trees as he went.

You think all your anger is justified

Me, I think its just your wounded pride

What did you think she was gonna do

She's a real woman, not a doormat for you

You want her back, but its too late

Why don't we just cut to the chase

Man to man, tell me the truth

Were you ever there when she needed you?

Man to man, look me in the eye

Tell me... if you really loved her why'd you make her cry

Man to man, who cheated who?

You're the one to blame tell me it ain't true

Man to man...

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AUTHOR'S NOTE 2: Well, what did you think? Hope it had all the elements that you wanted. Oh yeah, this is the second verse and chorus to Man to Man by Gary Allan. When I heard it, I couldn't get it out of my head and just knew that I had to use it. Now is the time for the shout outs!

EvilCacklinHippyOverlord: Wow, that's a long name! Thank you for the praise, but I am glad you decided against the ego pump... the only places I can think that it would go would be uncomfortable to say the least. *_*

Sailor Panda: I am glad that you took the time to read and review both of these...and I am even happier that you liked them. I am trying to keep them in character as much as I can, but its a little hard when they pair up with other people. As for the WAFF... it seems to be my middle name. I am extremely glad that you all seem to like it!

InuYasha: I am trying to get them together, but your namesake is really stubborn. LOL, As if we didn't know that already, right? = P

ViRgO: Glad you liked it and took the time to review! You keep reading and I'll keep writing...deal?

Sandra: @_@ I think that this is the longest one yet! I may just gather them all up and publish them as a story... it would probably be longer than anything that I have ever written. But seriously, every time I see one, I get this huge grin on my face! Just a friendly warning though---inhaling stories can be bad for your health. Stick with Clinton's philosophy... "I never inhaled." Sorry, I seem to be losing my mind. But I have now accomplished one of my goals, if I've managed to make you feel bad (even a little) for Inu Yasha.

Lilac Rose: Thank you. As always, compliments to my writing skill make me blush---not that it means to stop by any means! Just please, no ego pumps...I 'm afraid of them now. *_~

Laraina: I am trying to keep away from the locked room scenario if possible...but you never know. If Inu keeps dragging his feet.... * Author hides huge padlock behind her back and whistles innocently while pushing away a bag of goodies with her foot*