InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Silence the Fairytale ❯ Clumsy! ( Chapter 18 )

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

Kagome stared down the shaft of her arrow, aiming at the tree that seemed so very far away at the moment.

She tried to concentrate, she really did. But with the slight way her fingers trembled, to the heat in her cheeks, and her determination to look at anywhere besides Inuyasha... it wasn't helping.

She could feel him watching her- that intense and piercing stare he had developed, and she tried her hardest to ignore it, she really, really did... But every time he looked at her that way, she found it a little harder to breathe. And she felt light, as if she were walking on air.

And she would stumble. And fall. And trip, loose balance, tumble...

And always end up in a pair of strong arms, pulled against a hard chest that always rumbled with a deep chuckle afterward.

"...since when were you so clumsy?"

She would always fling herself as far in the opposite direction as she could, sure her face was lit up on fire, and try and look away while seeming inconspicuous.

Then again, he was a hanyou.

She was sure he could hear her heart racing in her chest like a captive bird trying to escape. And Kagome would cover that heart with one hand to try and ease the pressure, she was so sure it would burst from her chest at any moment! And then she would have to hand it to him in a dreamy daze, offering it to him if only he wouldn't look at her that way...

"C'mon Kagome! The wind isn't blowing that hard, and I've seen you hit things twice that distance! What are you waiting for?" was the impatient bark that cut through her musings.

If she blushed anymore, she knew it would be permanent.

Turning around, she snapped unintentionally at the unsuspecting hanyou, "You're so distracting! If you'd stop staring at me, I could do this right!"

She regretted the all-too-honest words that fell from her mouth before she could stop them.

She watched his eyes widen as he blinked at her baffled, his all-too-adorable ears twitching in confusion. "What the hell? I always watch you!"

She almost dropped her arrow at the way he cocked his head at her like a curious puppy, too impercepitable to any other person for it was so slight... his ears perked in full attention toward her, his eyes watching her steadily and she felt herself once again their prisoner.

No! No, not again!

She flushed, trying to stop her heart from racing before it ran away from her, and she ripped herself from his gaze as she released her arrow at the tree without really aiming.

And it sailed over the tree, flying away on the wind as if it were a feather in the breeze.

Kagome felt aggravation wash over her, abashed she couldn't control herself around Inuyasha. What stirred her about him to make her feel such a way?

"DAMNIT!" she cursed, a little more forceful than necessary. She even threw the bow down like an angry child. "I give up!"

Inuyasha gave her a reproachful look, as if he were disappointed in her. "Kagome, you haven't been going at practice that long and you haven't practiced at all that much."

Kagome knew he was right. But she just couldn't help it.

"I can't think today. I'll practice later," she grumbled irritably, bending down to pick up her bow as she made her way to him.

She ignored him as she flopped herself in the soft grass next to him and Buyo, her face tilted toward the sky with her arms spread out wide to either side of her.

She could feel that stare again. It made her have goosebumps.

"Winter is soon."

Kagome frowned at the random statement. As true as it was, the leaves changing were a testament to that...

"What of it?"

Inuyasha shrugged nonchalantly, and he lifted his face to the sky as well, "...I figured maybe we could try something different this season. It was hard last season for you, when we were travelling. I remember the cold nights. You could get very sick."

Kagome arched a brow at him, turning to look at the underside of his chin. Before she caught herself, she felt her eyes roaming of their own accord down his neckside... over his broad chest, his strong arms and imagining them underneath his firerat haori.

His voice caught her attention again and she scolded herself for eyeballing him.

"So... I thought perhaps we could find a den for the winter."

Blinking at the thought, Kagome considered it. It seemed unlikely, with as much as they traveled. It seemed as if Inuyasha was an inborn nomad, and any other way of life seemed so out of place.

"But I thought you hated staying in one area for too long?" she inquired, reaching over to the sleeping Buyo and pulling the mass of fur onto her stomach. He was warm there, and she could feel the warmth through her yukata.

She hadn't gotten any new clothes for a while, and the thin yukata was all that remained out of her travelling clothes. She refused to travel in her nice kimono Inuyasha had given her.

"I do," Inuyasha admitted, looking down at her as her movements to retrieve Buyo caught his attention. He watch her run her fingers through the soft fur, the fur mass beginning to purr at her attentions. Through her lugging him around, he still remained blissfully asleep.

The cat itself defied reality.

"Then why?" she questioned, poking at Buyo. It was a small game Inuyasha and she shared, seeing how much they could torment Buyo before he awoke. Inuyasha currently was in the lead with having hung the cat upside down without waking it. To this day, the feat had not been outmastered.

"I told you. I don't need your ass getting sick. If we find a den, and I can properly insulate it for the season... well, I can fucking survive for a few months," he reached over to join in the game, flicking the cat's ear.

Kagome pouted a bit, and flicked the opposing ear. Both laid flat in offense, and nothing more.

"...you'd do that for me?" she asked softly, something inside her growing warm at the thought. Though she hadn't meant to ask the question, it seemed so natural. He had done so much for her already, but this...

He was making a home for her.

She wasn't stupid.

...that's exactly what he was doing.

If those were the thoughts behind his attentions, she wasn't sure... but her heart lurched in her chest, in happiness, she was sure. But there was something more...

"Keh! Of course..."

One keh, a sign of confirmation.

Kagome was still keeping track of the dictionary of 'keh'.

A movement caught her attention as she watched clawed fingers slide down Buyo's head lazily and reach for her, pushing the hair from her face as she froze in place. She forgot how to breathe, her gaze shooting to look up at those impassable eyes, burning her alive again with that look...

"...I told you, I'd protect you Kagome. Even from the weather."

Kagome's eyes began to slip shut slowly, her lips puckering in a slightly pouty way, as if she was expecting...

...what...?

She tilted her head back into his touch as she felt him slide his fingers across her face in a slight caress, and she watched him through heavy lids as he leaned over her. He was so close, she could feel the way his breath wash across her face...

And he tapped her nose with one finger, grinning down at her as he pushed himself off onto his feet.

"I don't need you slowing me down, or getting sick on me and dying, do I? After all, you're only human."

Kagome exhaled deeply, something that sounded similar to a sigh and she looked through the branches of the trees above her.

...what the heck.

"Let's go, baka. You're laying there, and you look tired. Let's find someplace better than this to camp."

Kagome nodded slowly, trying to get herself back into the realm of the living. She sat up, not minding as Buyo fell off of her with a garbled, "Mrrew!"

Lifting herself to her feet, she bent down and grabbed her bow, fastened it to her back and turned to follow Inuyasha.

He stood there, his hair blowing gently in the breeze. And he waited there, patiently.

Just like always.

That same tingling warmth ran through Kagome, and she took light steps toward him, going after him. She felt like she was floating.

And she tripped on one of the tree roots protruding from the ground...

Once again, making that long and slow fall towards the earth.

"Whoa!"

A pair of red clad arms reaching out for her, catching her gently around the waist. A strong grip pulled her to a solid chest. His earthy scent encompassed her fully... woody with a hint of wind and wilderness, solely Inuyasha filling her nostrils and making her heart dance.

She lifted her head clumsily to look into bright pools that looked down at her in amusement, and full lips that parted to speak to her, each word pronounciating itself fully.

"...you really are a klutz, aren't you?"

And she simply nodded, for she had forgotten how to use words once again because of Inuyasha.