InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Solitary Loneliness ❯ Panic and Disbelief ( Chapter 3 )

Standard Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha, its manga, or any part of its anime series.

Author's Note: Thank you to everyone that has stuck with me so far. This chapter was probably the hardest to write yet, since I had trouble wrapping it up into at least 16 pages (a feat that demon angel knows too well. She helped me with this one, and if it wasn't for her, I would still be thinking of a way to end the chapter. Thanks demon angel!). So I'm sorry for the long wait, but as you can see, my brain was not cooperating with my motivation. But anyway, I hope you enjoy the new chapter.

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'SHIT!'

His nose could smell him everywhere, the horrid scent floating to his nostrils and causing him to panic. The hanyou's feet shuffled, sniffing every crevice and area of the Higurashi shrine thoroughly, aiming to uncover some trace of him. How could Naraku come this quickly? He had only left for twenty minutes and the vile youkai had already come and gone, leaving his mark. Inuyasha's teeth ground together.

And the bastard had made sure it was damned obvious for him to detect.

He leapt on the railing of her balcony, which was a hard feat to stay on thanks to his sneakers, peering inside of the glass of her window, just to make sure that the youkai had really left the premises. A wave of relief crashed over him and let out a sigh to accompany it. The girl was still sleeping, making him wonder if he had even smelt Naraku at all. Perhaps he was just too suspicious, nobody in their right mind would sleep through something like that; no normal girl would be able to rest after she was terrified by a fully-blooded demon, him no less.

He sniffed once more and frowned again. No, this could not be. He had been here, Naraku's stench was all over the glass pane. . .meaning that it was more than likely stronger on the inside than out. He was almost too afraid to find out, but he soon realized that his hands were already working to lift the window up so that he could get into her bedroom.

Climbing through after he finally got the rusty thing opened, he inhaled for a third time, grimacing as he discovered that he was in fact correct. Naraku had indeed come inside of her room, and yet he could not determine in which direction that the youkai had arrived, no indication of where the odor had originated. He smelled her things, starting at her desk and working his way to the wood outline of her doorframe. No, the scent was stronger elsewhere. . .

His shady black brow rose in alarm as he finally located the source of the smell. Topaz eyes shone in the darkness as his gaze rested on her sleeping form, the girl in a deep sleep apparently, if she hadn't even heard him clamber through the creaky old window. Crap. 'Well this is wonderful!' Inuyasha exhaled deeply and remembered his last thought. So he wasn't paranoid, but this girl was crazy, how could the bitch manage to sleep through something like that? He stepped forward but soon regretted it as he got a whiff of Naraku's pungent joukai.

"Ugh! The bastard must have drenched her in it!" Inuyasha said, unaware that he had made the observation aloud. He was pinching his nose with one clawed hand and closing his eyes in an attempt to block it out. Phew….it smelled almost as bad as B.O. on a hot summer day. He doubted that she would be affected by it as much as he was, since she was human and had no demonic blood in her veins as he did. Although, he was certain she would know something was amiss, her strong miko energy would alert her, but the joukai was powerful, and to someone like him, it was completely foul and abominable.

--For someone who loathed Naraku as much as he did.

Cursing inwardly yet again and still holding his nose, he cracked one eye open and tried to focus on the girl once more. There was nothing wrong about her, looking at the outside, but with all of the dark miasma floating around her, he could certainly tell that the bastard had done something to her. He sighed and groaned, knowing that he could not tell anything from where he was standing.

Which meant he had to get closer to examine her. And he was not too thrilled about that...

Standing over her slumbering form, he raked over her figure with slanted brows. Hmm. . .the evil energy was barely detectable towards her head, but instead it trailed downwards, under her covers and. . .

'Just what the fuck did he do to her?!' his mind screamed. 'If he even touched her--'

He didn't get to finish that thought, thanks to a single stray feather which drifted upwards, right in the path of his nostrils. Since he was so concentrated with his investigation, Inuyasha did not realize it until it was too late.

"AACHOO!!"

Her eyes snapped open, clearly expecting the outburst as much as the hanyou did. Her chocolate-brown eyes stared at him in shock, her thin brows arched and raised in surprise at the impulsive noise that interrupted her sleep. The girl's open mouth was ample indication that she was more than likely frightened out of her wits at the sudden intrusion.

A long, lengthy silence passed as they sat there, staring at each other. And then…

"AH-MHP!!!" Kagome's scream was smothered with the prowler's clawed hand.

Golden eyes glared down at her. "Now listen carefully," he said slowly. "I'm going to take away my hand, and I don't want any more screaming, you got that?" Inuyasha watched her nod frantically before removing his hand from her mouth. Boy, thank goodness that he had opted to wear a bandana, he didn't know if he would be able to calm her down if she had seen his ears. She scrambled to sit upright on the bed, staring at him with wide eyes, which narrowed after a few moments.

"Alright, I won't scream if you'll tell me who you are and what the heck you're doing in my room!"

The half-demon exhaled, obviously dreading that question. Let's see, how was he going to put this. . .

"I'm stalking you." Man, he felt like banging his head against the wall for his choice of words.

Kagome sat there, completely dumbfounded by his statement. Her small mouth opened and closed, her mind forming questions but then deciding not to voice them and cutting off in the middle. A tiny sound escaped her lips before she chose to ask, "What?"

Inuyasha ran a hand through his hair, trying to think of a better way to say it. He had talked without thinking again, and now he was searching for an approach to tell her, without alarming the girl too much and terrifying her. "Kagome you're--"

"Why does everybody know my name all of the sudden?!" she demanded. "Did someone put you and that gorgeous man up to this?" Her dark pupils flashed with fury. "Yuka did this, didn't she? Oooooh….I'm so going to kill her!"

'Gorgeous. . .?!' Inuyasha's mind screamed. Naraku had let her see him and he hadn't killed her? The hanyou was becoming worried and the thought did nothing to ease his panicked nerves at all. The youkai was starting to take different methods now, none that were familiar with the dog-demon. Just what was Naraku thinking, anyway?

"Look, whoever 'Yuka' is, I could care less about the bitch. But as I was saying before I was interrupted,was that you are in danger." Inuyasha's own eyes displayed the fiery depths of anger within them as he spoke. "And that . . .'gorgeous'. . .guy you mentioned, he is the one after you."

Kagome crossed her arms, one finger tapping her elbow. She obviously didn't buy it. A smirk washed across her face as she regarded the pale-haired man who was standing in front of her. "Riiiggghhhtt…..and I suppose you're my guardian angel, come down from the heavens--or should I say 'roof'--to warn and save me."

"Yes, think of it that way. But don't you dare think of me as an angel. I'm not angelic at all. But I am here to save your hide."

"Oh, just give it a rest! You've been found out already, so just leave the way you came," Kagome said, shaking her head sadly. Really, some people just didn't know when to quit!

A hand grabbed her shoulder and she was yanked forward, forced to look the man eye-to-eye. "Look, little girl, I've told you the truth. Whether you want to believe it, it's up to you. But I'm going to stay right here and make sure that he doesn't get to you again!"

She flinched slightly from the impact of his words, the way that he was holding her, shaking her with every syllable he said made her gasp. "Okay, fine," Kagome uttered in defeat. "We'll play this little game of yours. Why is this man after me?"

Sighing, the hanyou released her, apparently happy that she had at least given him a chance to explain. However, he knew that this was going to be a long night. . .

"Before I answer that question," Inuyasha started. "How much do you know about demons?"

She simply blinked at him. "What?"

"Crap. Not only are you stupid, but you're deaf too?! How much do you know about demons?!" he repeated.

"Look, it's not like I invited you here, so if you are so obviously annoyed by me, then leave!" Kagome sunk her back into her pillows, staring angrily at him as he rolled his eyes.

"Just answer the damn question, bitch."

She sighed. "All that I know about demons are in the children's books that I read for my work. You know, the big, ugly, snaggled-tooth ones. . .supposed to be evil. . .but what the hell does that have to do with you breaking into my house?"

The hanyou chose to ignore her question and continued on with his own inquiry. "Do you know what the Shikon no Tama is?"

"The who-da-what?" Kagome asked, completely dumfounded. This guy was getting crazier and crazier by each passing second. He shouldn't have been here in the first place, he should have been admitted in his local loony bin--spouting nonsense about demons and whatnot!

Inuyasha smacked his forehead. Usually when this part came around, the reincarnates at least knew some elementsabout the situation. Such as that the Shikon no Tama was some type of legendary jewel, but typically that was all that they knew about it. And yet this girl knew nothing, not anything about the sacred crystal. 'It's all my fault,' the hanyou reasoned. 'I should have never gotten caught. Then I wouldn't know if this stupid girl had any brains or not.'

"It would help if you were more serious about this!" Inuyasha yelled.

"Just how serious can I be, huh?! Two guys who I don't even know come in--both intruding in my personal space--one creeping me out, and one jumping down my throat! You should be lucky that I don't scream my head off!"

"If you had done that, I would have knocked you unconscious."

Kagome let out an unlady-like huff and crossed her arms. "I still have yet to know why you broke into my house." A corner of her mouth curled up sardonically. "That is, other than the fact that I'm in danger…" She said the word as if she was mocking him, and Inuyasha had a hunch that she was doing exactly that.

{Thank you again, demon angel!}

He shut his eyes calming himself, willing himself to keep his irritation under wraps. 'This girl has got to be the stupidest, dumbest, most intolerable reincarnate yet.' "Listen little girl…" He said, mocking similar to what she did when he had announced the threat to her. "I'm going to try and explain this again. Let's see if you listen to me this time, hmm?"

She huffed at him. "You act as if I don't understand what you're telling me, I just don't trust what you have to say, that's all. Besides, you're only a crazed lunatic that's making this whole thing up." Her eyes narrowed at him and turned a shade darker due to her ire. "Oh and for the record, my name is not 'girl', it's Kagome. Ka-go-me. Get it right next time."

Inuyasha smacked his forehead again. This girl was already giving him a headache and he hadn't even been here that long! She was acting as if he were a little kid, inexperienced and weak, when it was the other way around. What was he going to do with her?

"Just listen girl," the hanyou said between his teeth and fangs. "Demons are beast with special powers. Many of them carry poison, while others are shape shifters. Some are good and some are evil. The 'gorgeous guy' you mentioned? Yeah, he's probably the worst one. If you want to live long enough to grow an old hag you will understand that you need me to protect you." He sighed. "Now did you get all of that or do I need to explain it. . yet again?"

Kagome was fuming from him calling her that and for hinting she didn't get what he was say, yet she continued to listen anyway. 'I'll just let the crazy man talk about his demons and whatever and then he'll be gone. Just get through this, Kagome, and you can just tell yourself that this is only a dream in the morning!'

"Well, do you get it or not?!"

"I'm not stupid you know. You don't have to make it sound like I am."

"Could have fooled me!"

Her fist balled in anger. "What….was…that!"

"Nothing, bitch."

Inuyasha sighed. He could smell agitation coming off of her. That and doubt. She wasn't believing one word he said. 'This isn't going to be as easy as I thought. Somehow, I have to make her believe this stuff.'

"Now for the Shikon no Tama, also known as the Jewel of Four Souls. It was forged out of a miko and a demon. You do know what a miko is right?" Inuyasha's black brow rose at his question to her.

Kagome shook her head no. He groaned and rolled his eyes in annoyance. "Don't you know anything beside the demons you read in books?"

"Didn't I tell you that from the beginning?" Kagome asked, aggravated. "As far as I know, all of this mumbo-jumbo isn't real. I mean, have you ever seen one?"

'More than you know. . .' Inuyasha thought, but he continued nevertheless. "What do you know about mikos?"

She let out a sigh. "Not much, but I have a feeling you're going to tell me regardless. . ."

"Whatever," Inuyasha said, exhaling noisily, clearly exasperated with the entire matter. "A miko is a woman with high spiritual powers, usually pure of heart and soul. If powerful, she can kill a horde of demons with a single blow. Most mikos are trained young that way when they're teens they will have enough power to protect themselves and others--"

'Just like Kikyo did. . .'

"--They are usually masters at the bow and arrow and can sense demons and auras naturally with their powers"

"You act as if this is common knowledge. How the heck am I supposed to know this? Why am I supposed to know this?"

Inuyasha ignored her question, rolling his eyes again before he continued. "Well now that you know what a miko is, let me tell you about a great miko named Midoriko. She was known to be the most powerful miko of all. She was honored and adored by humans, however, she was hated by demons. Finally, she met her match against a few of the more powerful, eviler demons. The two forces battled against each other for days, and Midoriko fought day and night without any rest with the demons until finally her body couldn't fight anymore. With the last of her strength, she managed to use the remaining will power within her to shove her entire soul from her body, trapping the souls of the demons as well as her own. This is the Shikon no Tama, a jewel that has the souls of Midoriko and the demons within it, the miko still continuing the battle inside of it."

He looked at her once he finished his explanation. She was staring at him with wide eyes, but according to her dubious scent and lack of excitement, he could tell that she still did not believe him.

"There. So now you know about demons and the Shikon no Tama. Do you understand now?"

Kagome snickered. "Sure, here's what I understand: Two guys break into my house and attack me, then one of them decides to tell me a bedtime story. Are you done yet, because I have school tomorrow."

"Oh for Kami's sake." Inuyasha rubbed his temples, trying to soothe his frustration. "You have got to be the stupidest human in all of Japan…no make that the entire world!" He was getting really irritated and when that happened, some of his demonic qualities began to stand out. . .

"Hey! W-what's moving under your bandana?"

Like those. . .

"What!?" He feigned ignorance. "What do you mean?"

"There is something moving under your bandana!"

"No there isn't. You're just imagining things," he said, beginning to move from the bed, mentally kicking himself. 'Ahhh. I shouldn't have gotten so upset. Damn. I knew this would happen if I stayed too long. If she even so much as--' He then noticed that she was inching towards him, slowly raising her hand to snatch off the bandana. He grabbed her wrist. "What do you think you're doing, bitch?!"

Kagome's brows lowered at his tone. "I'm proving my point! There's something under there, and I'm going to find out!"

"No you aren't because there is nothing under it. Now leave it alone," he growled at her. Yet he could still see the determination in her eyes. 'Not good,' his mind reasoned. 'The last thing I need is to scare her out of her wits with my ears.'

He pushed her back down into her pillows, bringing his face down to her eye level. "Don't touch my head ever again, little girl," he added, attempting to get her angry so she would cease remembering to try to rip off his concealing cloth. His grip tightened on her arm to further influence his statement.

"What? Don't do. . .this?!" As quick as lightning and with her other hand, she managed to ball her fist in his bandana and tore it off of his head. When he realized what she had done, Inuyasha jerked back, releasing her wrist in an effort to use the shadows to hide the top of his head. But it was too late, she had already seen.

"Are those your ears?!" Kagome whispered, forcing her body upright to get a better look at them. She squealed when she saw them. "They are! They're so cute!"

"W-wha--?" She wasn't scared of him? All of the others were scared! He watched in shock as she leaned up to stroke the short fur that covered his demon ears. 'Wait a minute. . .'

He smirked in victory. "Guess that means that you actually believe me now, huh?"

She paused and moved away, looking him clearly in his eyes, her own full of stubbornness. "It doesn't prove anything. You could be a mutant for all I know."

Inuyasha's eyebrows shot up as a murderous expression washed onto his face. "What did you just call me?!"

She yawned and laid back down in her bed, pulling the sheets over her body. "Whatever. I need to sleep and you need to leave. I suppose you'll be going through the window?" She burrowed her nose in the cover. "Just don't hit your head on the way out."

"You can stop with your wishful thinking, because I'm staying right here." Inuyasha emphasized his point by sitting down near the glass window, folding his arms and staring at her. "I won't let Naraku come again."

Kagome's brow wrinkled. "Naraku?"

"That 'gorgeous' guy," the hanyou spit out in distaste. "I'm not letting him get to you again, so you just lay back down and go to sleep."

"What?! There's no way I'll be able to go to sleep with a perfect stranger in my room! I don't even know your name, let alone who you are!" Kagome shifted so she could face him. "What happens when my mother comes in here in the morning?"

"I'll be gone by then. Or rather," Inuyasha smirked dangerously. "I'll be gone from your sight."

"What?! So now you're going to stalk me?"

"Didn't I tell you that from the beginning?!"

Kagome sat up, shaking her head. "No, you're not going to follow me around like that. How long have you been doing it, anyway?"

Inuyasha sighed for about the third time that night. "About a week."

"An entire week?! How come I didn't know about this?"

"I'm pretty good at it. Now go to sleep, weren't you the one complaining that you had school tomorrow?"

Kagome sank back down, closing her eyes. How had all of this happened? She still had many questions, but she was too exhausted to ask them. How was she supposed to get some sleep, knowing that this man was going to be watching her the whole time? Why was she letting him continue this farce?

His ears. . .were they actually those of a demon? If so--and this was assuming that she really believed his story--was he someone she could trust? Didn't he tell her that there were evil demons out there?

"Answering your question," the half-demon said, breaking the silence. "My name is Inuyasha."

A snicker could be heard beneath the cover. "Nice name." It came out muffled, but the hanyou could hear it perfectly.

"Hmph! Like 'Kagome' is any better!"

"Goodnight, Inuyasha." Kagome said, turning her back to the hanyou. "And if you touch anything in my room, I'll kill you."

"Fat chance of that. You're as weak as you are stupid." Inuyasha grumbled as he leaned his head back against the wall, closing his eyes as he willed himself to catch some sleep. Well, at least he could watch her up-close, rather than afar. It would make it easier to protect her that way, and Naraku would have a tougher time to attack if he was nearby her. A smile crept its way on his lips.

At least this time, he knew he was doing something right.

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Next chapter: the entrance of the infamous demon lord, Sesshoumaru.