InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Someone To Watch Over Me ❯ Questions ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Chapter 4
~*~*~*~Questions~*~*~*~
 
 
Long fingered, sharply clawed hands were wrapped around slender thighs covered by the soft cotton of the simply colored kimono the girl wore. The dog eared boy pulled the girl on his back closer, her face tucked into the side of his neck; her midnight strands intermingled with his silver locks. Kagome sighed in her sleep. One arm hung loosely over his shoulder and down across his chest, the other was curled around the shoulder her head lay upon. Her grip tightened, her hand sliding in between the folds of his haori and under kimono to rest against the smooth warm skin of his chest bringing a dark red blush to his cheeks.
 
She was asleep again. Inuyasha sighed muttering a soft `keh' under his breath as he walked beside the others, Kagome on his back. Chaffing the outside of her knees with the pads of his thumbs, he reassured himself that she was there with him; her warmth and scent so much a part of him that it was almost hard to remember his life before she'd been in it. When he thought back on this morning and how he'd almost lost her…
 
 
Inuyasha couldn't remember ever having slept as good as that night, his senses full of and wrapped up in Kagome's scent and aura; her warmth and presence surrounding and engulfing him. Golden eyes shining with warmth looked down upon the girl wrapped in the folds of her sleeping bag held securely in his arms. He watched as she yawned as she slowly woke, one clawed hand combing slowly through her raven hair. Lifting her arms up and out of the sleeping bag, she gave a full body stretch, the movement shocking them both when it rolled her off his lap and out of the tree.
 
Kagome's shriek woke the others, the sound of her heart pounding madly in her ears as she watched the sleeping bag fall to the ground far below them even as she remained suspended in the air by the back of the borrowed kimono she was dressed in. She was pulled swiftly back into the hanyou's arms, his hold a vice grip on her as he crushed her to his chest, the girl clinging desperately to him He could smell her fear, her tears; could feel and hear her heart beating in her chest, against his own in the same frantic staccato rhythm. Kagome buried her face in his chest as he called down to the others below that he had her, that she was all right.
 
 
Inuyasha shook his head, clearing away the memory of that morning and dislodging his hair from underneath her head and arm in the process. The hanyou snorted when he looked out of the corner of his eye at her only to find that his silver hair was covering her like a blanket. He was still worried about her. As it was, the near fall this morning had only shocked her awake just long enough for him to get the leftover smoked liver and a bit of water into her before she'd fallen asleep again.
 
His attention refocused on the group in front of him when he noticed that they'd stopped moving. Watching Miroku look around at the trees to their left, he sniffed the air and reached out with youki. He didn't smell or feel any danger coming their way, so what were they stopping for?
 
“What the hell are we stopping for, monk?” Inuyasha demanded as he stepped up to the holy man.
 
“The village that should be here, Inuyasha, isn't,” Miroku said as he turned and looked ahead of them for any sign that a village may lie ahead of them.
 
“So?” the hanyou asked, irritated.
 
“So, Inuyasha,” Miroku sighed, “we're either heading in the wrong direction, or…”
 
“Or?” the hanyou growled.
 
“Or there's a barrier,” Sango said as she stepped toward the trees.
 
The taijya was dressed in her slayer uniform, her Hiraikotsu strapped across her back, Kagome dressed in her kimono. Stepping closer to the trees, the woman lifted her hand only to be stopped by Inuyasha's snarling.
 
“We don't have time for this shit.” His golden eyes were flashing brightly in anger. “The scent of rain is thicker in the air than it was this morning. I ain't having Kagome getting caught in the storm!” The hanyou growled and grumbled as he stepped up to the forest that everyone, including Shippou and Kirara, were studying. “What's so special about this damn village anyway?” he asked, irritated.
 
“It is the only village where youkai, human and hanyou are rumored to live in harmony with one another,” Miroku replied absently as he searched to find a barrier.
 
“Keh, like that would ever happen,” the hanyou scoffed.
 
“I thought I sensed a hanyou out here,” a man said as he stepped through the trees behind them. “I am Akira, headman and priest of this village,” he introduced himself as the village materialized behind them.
 
“Akira-san, I am Miroku,” the monk began to introduce himself and the others only to stop when the man raised his hand next to his face, his palm out toward them.
 
“I know very well who you all are,” Akira said. “You all are legends. Please, follow me.”
 
Turning, he led them deeper into the village, the road they'd been walking on disappearing as the same intense barrier that kept the village from being seen by outsiders also kept the world outside the village from being seen by the villagers. A sense of peace and harmony flowed through the village like flower blossoms on the spring wind, yet there was also a sense caution that had Inuyasha's ear twitching with unease. He'd felt that same sense of caution and mistrust himself, before, hadn't he? Looking around he found the village to be larger than the number of people he saw would account for. It made a strange kind of sense, though he was uncertain as to why.
 
“Hey why couldn't we see this place before?” Shippou asked as he wandered on the ground next to the transformed Kirara.
 
Akira stopped walking, a great sadness falling over him that they could all feel.
 
“Nearly a year ago now, a miko came upon our village…We lost many people to her that day.” His voice was sad. “We strengthened our barrier after she left.”
 
Hearing a gasp behind him, the man turned and found Kagome to be looking up at him. He saw the tears in her eyes still heavily clouded by exhaustion and walked to Inuyasha being sure to keep a respectable distance from the girl.
 
“Do not cry for us, little miko,” he said to her gently. “Those we lost fought bravely that day.” He took the hand that she held out to him.
 
“I'm so sorry. Why would anyone do that?” Kagome asked, her exhaustion lending her very little control over her emotions as it also served to heighten their intensity.
 
“I don't know, little miko, but she looked much like you,” he said to her, watching as her eyes drooped, and she lay her cheek down upon Inuyasha's shoulder. “Come, hanyou, I will show you where you and your mate may rest.”
 
She looked like me, Kagome thought as she wrapped her arms around Inuyasha's shoulders, seeking comfort as much as she was offering it to him. Kikyou is the only miko that looks like me, but why would she do something like that? Why destroy a village where peace has been found between humans, youkai and hanyou? Looking out to her left, she saw a group of children playing together. This was the only place where one would find such a group of mixed children playing together so naturally, so happily.
 
How many of those children lost their parents? Their families? Had Kikyou purified any of the children, or did she only go after the adults? How many families had she destroyed?
 
“Hey,” Inuyasha's voice was soft, worried, the slight bounce he gave her jostling her from her thoughts. “Why are you crying?...Kagome?” he prodded when she didn't answer.
 
“I don't - I don't understand, Inuyasha,” the girl said softly, her voice catching on her soundless tears. “Why would someone try to destroy this place? What could they possibly think to gain? What reason could they have?”
 
They both knew just who the unnamed `someone' that she spoke of was. Inuyasha knew that Kagome could never understand, she hadn't grown up in this time. She wasn't taught like Kikyou was that there was no such thing as a good or kind youkai. And if a miko trained as Kikyou was to cross paths with a child youkai or a hanyou? That answer was simple; their training told them to purify them before they became a threat. He didn't know if he could ever tell her, ever make the girl on his back understand - but if Kikyou had found Shippou before he and Kagome had - there was no question that the pup wouldn't be alive today. The only reason Kikyou wouldn't harm any of them now was because Shippou was under Kagome's protection and thus under his own.
 
“It's not about having a reason, Kagome,” he said, turning his head to look at her. “It's about doing it because you can.”
 
“But, Inuyasha, you heard what he said,” she said, desperately trying to understand how he could be so calm, so unaffected by this. “We both know who he was talking about!” she cried out, hurting for him and the thought of what this discovery must be doing to him.
 
“Kagome-san?” a female voice near them called out to the miko.
 
Inuyasha turned to look at the approaching youkai. His eyes narrowed as he studied her; she was a bird of some sort, his eyes relaxed - a sparrow hawk. Long thick hair hung down her back to just below her hips, a strange shade of iridescent blue so light in color and shimmering that it reminded the hanyou of moonlight reflecting off a lake. She stood slightly taller than Sango, her build - as thin and willowy as any youkai - belying her strength and power. Her rose leaf green eyes were as sharp to detail as they were warm and welcoming. Stopping just a slight distance from Inuyasha, she studied the girl on his back.
 
“You are unwell,” she stated as she looked at Kagome, her voice holding a whispered note of worry.
 
“I'm all right,” Kagome reassured the youkai woman, her tired mind unable to find a clear memory of her, though she knew that she knew the youkai in front of her. “I - I'm sorry,” Kagome apologized weakly, a soft blush coloring her too pale face.
 
A soft smile tilted the youkai's lips. She smiled at Kagome much like she did with her own daughter. She wondered if this girl - this miko - understood just what she meant to all the youkai and hanyou here. Oh yes, Kagome's traveling companion's were legendary, as was she, but the difference was that Kagome, as a miko, should be the first one to defend humans against a youkai, not the other way around. Countless youkai and hanyou had come to this place, found this safe haven with much the same story. While they were out traveling, searching for a safe place to be, they were attacked by humans, only to be saved or defended by a strangely dressed miko. A miko saving youkai and hanyou, who ever would've thought it could happen?
 
“It's all right,” she smiled at Kagome. “We'll have a chance to talk once you have rested and been fed. I am Keiko, and I look forward to talking with you, Kagome-san.”
 
Blushing at the formal way she was being addressed, Kagome smiled and nodded gently. She could feel herself growing more tired by the second, the darkness on the edges of her vision beckoning her like an old friend. She felt the gentle vibrations through Inuyasha's back as he growled soothingly, silently; breaking the last of her resolve and sending her to sleep, her face tucked into the side of his neck, hidden by his hair.
 
“Are you ready to continue?” Akira asked with a soft chuckle. “You'll have time to talk with her later,” he said as he watched Inuyasha's gaze follow Keiko as she moved away. “You will find that your mate is precious to many of us here. Come, Inuyasha,” Akira motioned the hanyou to follow him. “I will show you to your room.”
 
“Feh,” was Inuyasha's only remark as he followed the human.
 
This place seemed odd - welcoming, but odd. It wasn't every day that you stumbled across a village where youkai and humans lived in harmony. Even less common was it to find a place where hanyou were respected and loved as they were here. Inuyasha sighed, more an exhalation of breath than anything else. It was the second time that Akira had referred to Kagome as his mate, yet neither of those times had the hanyou felt the need or desire to correct the man.
 
Looking up as they approached a rather large and well-made house, Inuyasha was surprised when Akira led him inside. Nodding his thanks to the man when he was led into a large room, Inuyasha grunted in reply when he was told that food and drink would be brought in shortly for them. Noticing that there was only one futon in the room, Inuyasha huffed a soft `feh' and felt the girl on his back sigh and cuddle closer.
 
“Would you like for fresh clothing to be brought for your mate?” Akira asked as he stood in the doorway.
 
Inuyasha turned and looked at the man, his brow furrowed in thought. He knew that Kagome would appreciate the new clothing, but he wasn't sure that he wanted someone else's scent on her. Sango's scent was fine; she was pack, but someone else?
 
Keh, she'd appreciate a hot spring more, his youkai scoffed. Besides, she can just were our haori; she don't need someone else's clothing.
 
“Inuyasha?” Akira asked when the hanyou failed to answer.
 
Shaking himself from his thoughts Inuyasha shook his head, telling the man he'd rather leave that for Kagome to decide. Smiling because he knew how most youkai in the village reacted to a new scent on their mate, Akira nodded. Telling Inuyasha about the covered fire pit in the floor, he turned and left, closing the door behind him. Relaxing a bit, Inuyasha walked over to the other side of the room where the futon lay on the floor against the wall.
 
Kneeling down onto the edge of the futon, he was surprised by just how plush and soft it was. Sniffing at it the hanyou shook his head. Who'd ever heard of making a futon out of feathers before? Carefully easing Kagome off his back and around his waist, he laid her down on the soft bed and nuzzled her cheek.
 
She was too pale, too thin, the smudges beneath her eyes that bespoke her exhaustion too dark. Covering her with the silk lined fur blanket that had been folded at the end of the futon, he sighed and smoothed her bangs off her forehead. Lifting her right hand and holding it in between both of his, he silently begged her to hold on, to get better, to regain her strength. Laying her hand on her stomach, he stood and moved to the door as it opened and accepted the tray of food from the young rabbit hanyou. Giving a curt nod of thanks, he slid the shoji door closed with his foot and returned to Kagome's side.
 
Setting the tray down by his side, the hanyou reached out and gently shook her shoulder.
 
“Wake up, wench,” he called to her, his voice demanding yet gentle.
 
Kagome woke slowly a sigh escaping her parted lips as her eyes fluttered open. She blinked at him lazily, her eyes dark and clouded with sleep. He helped her to sit up, snorting when she leaned into him and tucked her head under his chin.
 
“Forget it, wench,” Inuyasha said as he made her sit up on her own, the girl slumping forward a bit. “You're not going back to sleep until you've been fed.”
 
Kagome groaned but sat up. Hiding a yawn behind her hand, she brought her knees up to her chest as Inuyasha turned to retrieve a bowl of rice from the tray. Turning back to her he growled in frustration when he found her to be asleep once again, her arms hugging her bent legs to her chest, her cheek resting on her raised knees.
 
“Wench!” he barked at her as he set the rice bowl back on the tray as he stood.
 
Tired brown eyes blinked slowly at him. Unwrapping her arms from around her legs, he grasped her hands and pulled her to her feet. She whimpered, stumbling after him as he walked backwards refusing to release her hands. He guided her on a slow small circle near the futon, trying to wake her up a bit. He knew if he fed her when she was like this she would most likely choke on her food.
 
“I'm tired,” she complained, tugging weakly to release her hands.
 
“Keh, you're also in need of food, wench,” he informed her as he held fast to her wrists. “C'mon, wench, you need to wake up a bit more before I feed you.”
 
Tired eyes narrowed in a mutinous glare. All Kagome wanted to do was curl up on that futon, pull the fur blanket over her head and sleep for a bout a week…maybe two. But he wouldn't let her. Her gaze flicked down to the beads of subjugation he wore, her mind too muddled with exhaustion to tell her that it would be a bad idea with his proximity to her, not to mention that he was still holding her hands. The hanyou was faster.
 
Kagome looked at him angrily, stomping her foot once in protest when he swiftly covered her opening mouth with his hand.
 
“You ain't sittin' me either, wench!” he snarled at her, more angry that she would be stupid enough to put herself in danger like that than he was at the threat of the spell itself. “You gonna sit me?” he asked her roughly, arching a brow at her. “Yeah, well, you'd better not,” he growled as he removed his hand slowly.
 
Kagome looked as though she were about to say something to him when instead she sucked in a sharp breath and grimacing, bent over slightly, hugging her arms around her stomach as she whimpered in pain. Inuyasha gave a low whine at her distress, his ear twitching and a soft blush rising to color his cheeks as he moved to stand behind her.
 
Snaking his arms around her waist he slipped his hands under her tightly clenched arms and straightened her up as he began to massage her abdomen with a slow steady pressure that was both firm and gentle.
 
“It's cause you haven't been eating right,” he told her as she let her arms fall loosely over his with a breathy moan. “Your body's got to get used to food again.”
 
Kagome leaned back against him with a contented sigh; an almost purr sounding from deep in her throat as he tended to her. Letting her head fall back against his shoulder, she turned her face into his neck and closed her eyes. Inuyasha blushed once more, darker this time when he breathed in her darkening, changing scent. A self-satisfied grin lifted his lips. She wanted him. Not only that, but she wanted him now, as he was, as a hanyou. Not as a human, nor did she desire him to be full youkai. She wanted him.
 
Inuyasha narrowed his eyes as the girl in his arms grew heavy against him. She was falling asleep against him, if she wasn't asleep already. Bending his head down, he nipped her shoulder and smirked at her soft yelp born more out of surprise than anything else; all the while he kept up his soft ministrations. A soft almost growl sounded from him as he nuzzled the spot he'd nipped, her scent spiking when he lazily ran his fangs along her exposed skin.
 
A gasp, a whimper, broke free from her as she pushed her belly into his hands and lifted one hand to his face. Her nails scraped against his jaw as she lifted his face to hers and kissed him. Pure fire, that's what his kiss was like. Nothing she had ever imagined, ever dreamed could've prepared her for that moment. Every nerve ending was suddenly alive and on fire. The stomach cramps of before were forgotten as a new pain, a sweet kind of ache, twisted inside of her just below her navel.
 
He tormented her, scraping his fangs along the fullness of her bottom lip before sucking the flesh into his mouth and soothing it with his tongue. It took every last bit of control he had to end the kiss, to step away from her.
 
“Inuyasha,” Kagome whimpered his name, confusion and hurt in her eyes when she turned to look at him.
 
“I want to,” he panted, holding her face in his hands as he touched his forehead to hers, his eyes a molten amber blazing fire. “Kami, I want to, but not until you're well again.”
 
Kagome closed her eyes and stepped toward him, the hanyou wrapping his arms around her as he held her to him, hugging her close.
 
“You still need to eat, wench,” he reminded her.
 
She giggled as he led her back to the futon and sat with her. They ate together, heated looks passing between them. It was a torturous hour later that the rabbit hanyou returned to their room to pick up the tray and take Kagome down to the indoor bathing chamber.
 
It was a long time before Kagome returned, the girl having dozed in the soothing hot water of the bath. Sango had found her friend sleeping in the bath when she had come to take one and had woken the girl, helping her to dress before escorting her back to her room. Shaking her head in amusement at herself, Kagome opened the door to the room she was sharing with Inuyasha and stepped inside. Her wet hair clung to her back; loose strands hanging in curls framed her face. Closing the door softly, the girl turned around and smiled.
 
On the futon across the room lay Inuyasha. He was stretched out on his side Tetsuaiga hugged to his chest. His eyes were closed; his face was relaxed and peaceful in sleep - almost boyish. Kneeling down on the edge of the futon that had been made large enough to fit at least two people, she stretched out her arm and ran her fingers through his bangs.
 
Gasping in surprise when she found his golden eyes to be watching her, she smiled and took his proffered hand, letting him guide her to lie down beside him. Moving his sword to lay between himself and the wall, Inuyasha grasped the fur blanket and brought it up over them both, tucking it around Kagome's chest, under her arms.
 
“Kagome,” the hanyou spoke her name softly after a long moment when she was almost asleep. “Who is Shiro?”
 
Kagome stiffened in his arms, and he could feel her trembling against him. Taking her by the shoulder, he turned her to lie on her back as he rose up, propping himself up on his elbow so that he could look down into her eyes.
 
“Who is he, Kagome?” the hanyou asked again, his voice demanding as her escalating anxiety attacked his senses and enraged his youkai.
 
“He killed Daddy,” her voice was quiet, childlike and unsteady. “He killed Daddy,” she said again turning, onto her side and burying her face in his chest as she hid in the welcomed safety his arms provided. “He killed Daddy,” she said, and he could smell the salt of her tears, her voice muffled by his clothes. “And I think he tried kill me, too.”
 
The hanyou growled at that and tightened his hold on her. He wanted to ask her more, but she'd already fallen asleep in his arms. Kissing her hair, he promised her that he would protect her always.
 
“Always, Kagome,” he promised her as he closed his eyes and buried his face in her damp hair.
 
Always, his youkai agreed as Inuyasha fell asleep.
 
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