InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Simple Plan ❯ Getting to Know You ( Chapter 4 )

Konnichiwa minna-san! Tenchu's Angel here with another update. Many thanks and much love to all those who reviewed and encouraged me to keep writing. I've been continuously surprised by and very grateful for all the positive feedback I've been getting. Please keep it coming and I'll keep on doing my best. Thanks again, and on with the story.

 

 

 

 

 

Kagome crawled up slowly from the depths of sleep, stirred to wakefulness by the bright light hitting the back of her eyelids. She groaned, shifting and stretching to relieve the stiffness in her muscles and wondering why she was so stiff. Gradually her eyes slid open and she blinked a few times to clear the lingering traces of sleep from them. She was disoriented for the few moments it took her sleep fogged mind to realize that she was leaned up against the side of the couch in the living room.

 

The shopping trip must have taken more out of me than I thought for me to fall asleep here with Inuyasha, Kagome thought.

 

Turning she looked at the boy in question. He was sound asleep on the couch, still clutching the hand she had given him to hold closely to his chest. She winced slightly, realizing that the reason she hadn't felt that was because her whole arm had fallen asleep. She couldn't help but smile though at the serene expression on his face. It was so different from the one he had worn when he was asleep in the cryogenic chamber. Just seeing it Kagome felt that any trouble that might come was worth it.

 

As adorable as he looked at the moment though, Kagome had to go to the bathroom. Gently she tried to pull her hand away from him, the task made all the more difficult because of the lack of feeling in her arm. He frowned a bit in his sleep and clutched her hand more tightly. Kagome frowned and, standing to lean over him, shook his shoulder gently.

 

“Inuyasha. Inuyasha. Wake up,” she called softly.

 

He muttered something unintelligible in his sleep and gave a sudden, forceful tug on her hand. Kagome, caught off balance, came toppling down on top of him with a small shriek. She landed sprawled out against his chest with her legs tangled in his.

 

Kagome blushed a brilliant shade of red at the semi-intimate position, peeking up to see if he was awake. Inuyasha was still sound asleep and clutching her hand, looking more content now than before. Kagome scowled, but didn't have the heart to wake him up. Instead she found herself relaxing into his comforting warmth. She was soon asleep again.

 

 

It was warm, which was a strange thing for a boy that had been trapped in the coldness of a cryogenic chamber for quite some time. Inuyasha shifted a bit and realized that the warmth was coming from something on his chest. He held it to himself more tightly and was surprised to hear it sigh.

 

Peeking down Inuyasha nearly jumped when he saw that the warm thing was Kagome, resting peacefully with her head buried in his chest. He tried to recall how they had gotten into this position. They must have fallen asleep after the shopping trip, but how had Kagome gotten on top of him? It couldn't be the first thing that came to his mind though, seeing as they both still had clothes on (tee hee, Inu's a bit of a horny dog in this story.)

 

He shrugged mentally, too comfortable to care. Kagome was warm and soft and pressed up against him, and that was all that really mattered. Except that two large, soft parts of her anatomy were pressing very closely against his chest, and he was getting just a little too excited…

 

He sat up abruptly, wanting to get out from under her before she woke up and noticed his predicament (for those of you that caught the slight pun there, it was totally intended). Kagome clutched him around the waist, burying her face in his stomach, and he groaned slightly before shaking one of her shoulders.

 

“Oi, wench, get up,” he called gruffly.

 

Kagome's eyes slid open and she blinked groggily up at him for a moment before she seemed to realize their position. Her face flamed red and she hurriedly scrambled off of him. They stared awkwardly at one another for a moment, both faces flushed slightly.

 

“I'll go make breakfast. You can have the shower first,” Kagome said at length, breaking the awkward tension. Inuyasha nodded.

 

“Can we have ramen?”

 

 

 

 

An hour later both had showered and dressed and were sitting down at the breakfast table for a meal of ramen. Well, Inuyasha was eating ramen. Kagome was having toast and jam like a normal person. The couch incident was not discussed any further and, if both had their way, would never be discussed again.

 

“Hey, Inuyasha,” said Kagome, putting down her toast and looking at him.

 

Inuyasha paused in his slurping from the industrial sized bowl of ramen, noodles hanging half way out of his mouth. “Wha?” he said, word muffled by the food in his mouth.

 

Kagome grimaced a bit in disgust, but said, “Well, since the lab probably won't be open again today, why don't we go to the park? We can get ice cream and feed the ducks and see the cherry blossom trees. We'll make a day of it, since you probably haven't had any fun for a while.” Kagome was beaming like an excited kid with an unexpected day off from school by the end of her little speech.

 

“Sounds pretty girly to me,” said Inuyasha, as tactless as ever. Kagome frowned and huffed angrily.

 

“Well fine! If you don't want to go-”

 

“Did I say I didn't want to go, wench?” Inuyasha said, cutting her off. “As long as I'm with a girl while doing girly stuff and I get ice cream, I guess it's okay.” Kagome smiled.

 

“Thank you, Inuyasha.”

 

“Keh.”

 

“Well then, let's get going.”

 

 

 

The two took Kagome's car down to Morioka Park a few miles away and thankfully Inuyasha managed not to get carsick, though Kagome thought it was a bit of a wonder considering all the ramen he had inhaled. Another wonder was that he was still hungry enough to eat a triple scoop of ice cream when they reached the park and bought it from one of the vendors.

 

“They must've genetically enhanced your stomach,” commented Kagome, watching him devour his ice cream as they walked down the lane lined with sakura trees in full bloom. Being that it was a work day for most the path was pretty much empty, and the pink blossoms floating here and there on the breeze lent to the overall tranquility that Kagome felt.

 

“No, I ate like this before I was experimented on,” said Inuyasha in between the last few mouthfuls of his ice cream.

 

“You must've eaten your poor mother out of house and when you were a kid,” Kagome said with a chuckle, taking a small lick of her own ice cream. Glancing over at him, she saw that Inuyasha had tensed up a bit and was looking almost pained.

 

“What's wrong, Inuyasha?” she asked in concern, reaching out to put a hand on his shoulder.

 

He shrugged it off. “Nothing. It's nothing,” he said roughly, speeding up his pace to walk ahead of her.

 

Kagome frowned at his back, knowing that he was keeping something from her. She jogged to catch up with him.

 

“Inuyasha, don't give me that bull. You wouldn't be acting this way if there wasn't something wrong.”

 

“You don't know me, bitch, so quit pretending like you do,” Inuyasha snapped.

 

“Exactly, Inuyasha! I don't know you, and I never will if you never tell me anything!” Kagome retorted.

 

By this time they had reached the pond, and Inuyasha went and flopped angrily down on to one of the benches surrounding it. He looked determinedly away from her with a fierce scowl. Kagome sat down beside him with a sigh.

 

“Don't you think we should get to know each other a bit? I mean, it looks like we might be stuck together for awhile.” Inuyasha remained silent.

 

“Fine then, I'll start,” said Kagome. “Let's see, something about my life… well, my best friend is Sango, you've already met her. I moved here from Hokkaido about 3 years ago to study to be a biotechnologist, though I plan to use it for good. Back home I lived in a Shinto shrine with my grandpa and my brother, Souta. He's about 19 right now. So, what about you?”

 

Inuyasha was silent for a moment, but the anger seemed to have gone out of him. “What about your parents?” he asked, turning to face her.

 

Kagome flinched slightly at the question, but decided that if she wanted him to share everything she would have to do the same. Taking a deep breath, she began, “My parents died in a plane crash when I was eight and Souta was six. Officially, they were never married because my father was a big film star and his managers said it would detract from his appeal to women. I know, sick, isn't it? But as far as I knew the only woman he was seeing was my mother and me and Souta were his only kids. My mom was too crazy about him to ever complain. But he was off shooting movies a lot so he could only come see us every once in awhile, and when he did he would come in his own private plane, like he was trying to impress us to make up for never being around. The last time he came he took my mother out in the plane, just the two of them, but the engines failed and they crashed. Both of them died and, as if that wasn't enough, the media found out about their relationship. They were all over me and Souta and grandpa for years afterward. That's what happens when you live too big and ask for too much. That's why I'm just fine with normal.”

 

“I guess I'm kinda screwing up your plans then, aren't I?” said Inuyasha, looking slightly ashamed.

 

“No, no! I never thought of you like that, honest! It's fine since it for a good cause,” said Kagome reassuringly. Inuyasha smiled slightly.

 

“Calm down, wench. No need to get so worked up over everything. I guess you want my sob story now, too?” Kagome nodded eagerly.

 

“Fine. My mom and dad died in a fire when I was five. None of our relatives would take me in because they hadn't approved of my parents' marriage. My older half brother wouldn't take me in because he didn't like me. You see, my dad was the heir to a pretty big estate, and my mom was pretty poor. His family didn't approve of him marrying down, and her family had all passed away. I was sent to an orphanage, and a pretty crappy one at that. They were real big on the old methods, meaning basically that if you didn't behave they'd either beat the shit out of you or starve you to death. I got out of there when I was eighteen, but it was almost impossible to get a decent job, seeing as I hadn't had much formal education. So when I heard about the prize money the competition was offering I jumped at the chance. I think you pretty much know the rest.”

 

A wry smile twisted Kagome's lips. “Kinda figures that two people as messed up as us would find each other, huh?” she said. Inuyasha chuckled.

 

“Yeah, it sorta makes sense in a twisted way.”

 

“Thank you though, for sharing that with me. I know how hard it is to dig up those kinds of memories,” she said quietly. “And even more than that, I just like being able to know things about you.”

 

Inuyasha looked at her as she stared out at the pond, her words causing a warmth in his chest that was awkward in its newness, though not unpleasant. It struck him consciously for the first time how beautiful Kagome was, with her long, dark hair and big gray eyes and delicate features. He lamented for a moment that he was not the kind of person who was good with words, and thus couldn't think of anything to express all the things he was feeling. Not that he could exactly define all the feelings, anyway. But his moment of regret passed and he expressed himself the only way he really knew how. He reached over and pulled Kagome close to his side, tucking her head beneath his chin and inhaling the scent of her hair. It was something as indefinable and unique as she was, and he could positively feel her blush radiating off her at his actions.

 

“Kagome, I…I …It's just…Damn it…” he tried with words but found himself failing miserably. Kagome relaxed a bit against him, smiling into his chest.

 

“It's okay, Inuyasha. I understand.”

 

 

 

 

An hour and a half later the two returned to Kagome's apartment after having fed the ducks and walked around the park a bit more.

 

Inuyasha paused on their walk up the stairs to her room, scenting the air carefully. There was something familiar about what he was smelling, though for the life of him he couldn't recall where he had smelled it before. All he knew was that it certainly did not bring good feelings with it…

 

“What's wrong, Inuyasha?” Kagome asked from three stairs above him, noticing that he had stopped walking.

 

Inuyasha shook his head and walked ahead of her, making motions for her to be silent and stay close. Kagome complied and when they reached her floor was alarmed to see that her door was off its hinges and lying on the ground three feet away.

 

Inuyasha scowled as the scent got stronger, emanating from within the apartment. Whoever had ripped the door off its hinges was still there. He crept in to the darkened apartment slowly, eyes seeing everything clearly despite the lack of light. Kagome trailed apprehensively behind him.

 

Scanning the room, Inuyasha saw that almost everything had been torn up. The couch had been shredded, the table was nothing but shards of wood, the television screen had been shattered, the cabinets were wide open with all their contents littering the floor, and all the walls had what looked like claw marks running over them. He was glad Kagome couldn't see any of it.

 

There was the slight creak of someone putting weight on a loose floorboard to his right and behind him. Inuyasha spun around just in time to see a shadow dart out of the wreckage of the kitchen and pin Kagome to the wall with a hand around her throat.

 

“One move and I crush your wench's throat, inu-korro,” snarled the person, and Inuyasha realized who it was with a sickening lurch of his stomach.

 

His code name was Kouga, but the scientists mostly referred to him as experiment #274. He had been another one of the “winners” of the tournament. Inuyasha had once been brought out of his sleep undrugged to battle him in a test of their progress, though he had been forced to wear a shock collar in case he got out of hand. Seeing what a lapdog Kouga was to the people who had made him a freak and stolen his life had made Inuyasha sick.

 

“Kouga,” he snarled, moving forward with claws extended. Kouga tightened his grip on Kagome's throat and she gasped in pain, halting Inuyasha in his tracks.

 

“Now, now, dog breath. You just come back to the lab like a good little puppy and no harm will come to your precious bitch,” said Kouga, lifeless blue eyes staring mockingly into his own golden ones.

 

“That's a load of bullshit and you know it, you mangy wolf. As soon as they have me back they'll kill her without a second thought. So why don't you quit hiding behind her and fight me?” Inuyasha barked.

 

“No, I really don't think I wi- Ahhh! Fucking bitch!” Kagome, taking advantage of his distraction, had given him a nice hard kick in the unmentionables. His claws tightened reflexively, digging into her throat, before he flung her harshly away in favor of clutching his abused parts and whimpering. Kagome slammed into a wall with s sickening crack and slumped to the ground where she moved no more.

 

Inuyasha rushed to her side, but was blocked halfway by a miraculously recovered Kouga. Inuyasha cursed the genetic enhancements that made them nearly impervious to pain. Kouga swung at him, fist moving in what was only a blur to Inuyasha's eyes to connect squarely with his jaw. He felt it dislocate, but not the accompanying pain that it would have caused a human.

 

He fell fluidly into a crouch and his leg shot out and up to catch Kouga in the stomach. Kouga stumbled back a few steps with a grunt and Inuyasha stood, pushing his offensive. He lashed out with his claws, dragging them across Kouga's eyes and feeling an animalistic glee as the blood gushed forth. Then, giving his opponent no chance to recover, Inuyasha buried his taloned hand into Kouga's stomach and twisted.

 

Kouga gurgled, blood dribbling from the corner of his mouth, and staggered as Inuyasha removed the hand. Inuyasha, seeing this fight was over, took a few deep breaths to cool his raging blood and went to Kagome, relocating his jaw in one swift motion on the way over.

 

He was relieved to find that she was merely unconscious, though the back of her head was bleeding from the way it had been slammed so brutally against the wall. He turned to snarl at Kouga, considering finishing him off, but the boy had already exited, a trail of blood in his wake. He would be back. That wound was barely a scratch to creatures like them, and as long as he was alive he would be back.

 

Inuyasha shook his head and focused on tending to Kagome for the moment. Fetching a washcloth he wet it with water from the sink and cleaned off the blood on the back of her head and from her neck where Kouga's claws had pierced her skin. He then sniffed out the antiseptic and applied it to the wounds. He bandaged the ones on her throat, but could do nothing for the one on the back of her head. When he had finished he sat down by her side and clutched her hand, allowing the guilt to creep in.

 

If it weren't for me none of this shit would have happened. Kagome would be fine and her apartment would be fine and there wouldn't be a bunch superhuman freaks out to kill her. Kagome's too good for this shit…too good for me. The last realization was a surprisingly painful one, and Inuyasha cursed himself for becoming so attached to this girl in such a short time. It was unfair of him to allow her to get caught up in all this just because he liked her.

 

“Inuyasha? Kagome?” came a feminine voice from the doorway, shaking the boy from his mournful thoughts. Sango stood there, peering fearfully into the darkness.

 

Inuyasha picked Kagome up and went to Sango. The girl gasped in horror at the sight of her friend's prone form.

 

“Don't ask. Me'n' Kagome are gonna need to crash at your place for a bit.”

 

 

 

 

Inuyasha sat on the sill of an open window in Sango's house an hour later, a brooding expression on his face as he gazed out into the darkness. After packing some things for both himself and Kagome, they had gotten into Sango's car (laying Kagome's unconscious form down on the back seat) and driven to her home a few miles away. Sango was currently in the guest bedroom tending more thoroughly to Kagome's wounds, which left Inuyasha with his overwhelming guilt.

 

Sango stepped back into the room and he turned to her. She offered him a small smile that he didn't return.

 

“She's going to be fine. It's really just a bump on the head and a few scratches,” she said comfortingly. Inuyasha looked back out the window, knowing it was worse than that and feeling that Kagome shouldn't have had to suffer even that much for his sake.

 

“Do you know when she'll wake up?” he asked, face still averted.

 

Sango shook her head, and then, realizing he couldn't see the gesture, said, “No, but it probably won't be for a little while. Why?”

 

Inuyasha didn't answer, but sighed slightly. He had been hoping to speak with her and explain the reasoning behind what he was about to do, but he knew that if he didn't do it soon he wouldn't be able to make himself do it at all.

 

Taking a deep breath, he turned and pinned Sango with a serious look. “Can I ask you a favor?”

 

Sango nodded, looking at him curiously. “Sure.”

 

“Tell Kagome when she wakes up thanks for everything she's done for me, but that I can't risk her life for mine. Tell her I say goodbye, and I'm sorry.” And with one final glance at the door Kagome lay behind, he leapt off the window sill and bounded out into the darkness.

 

Yay, that took forever to write! Please review!