InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Temporal Sequence ❯ Chapter 3

Disclaimer: Takahashi-sama must be filthy rich by now with all the profits that Inuyasha and co. has been raking in. Where's Robin Hood when ya need him?

 

 

Flashbacks will be indicated by this symbol: <~~~~~~~~~~~>

 

Temporal Sequence

 

Chapter 3:

 

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Every path of action will have consequences. The execution of a decision and its subsequent results will not be completely dependent upon the choice itself. External factors play a crucial role…

 

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She sat upon a hilltop and gazed longingly at the setting sun as the fireflies danced about, setting the tone of the atmosphere to the epitome of serenity. She wished she could be as carefree as the luminous insects that spent their evenings caressing flower petals while they toyed with one another, their presence only made known by their intermittent glow. She wished she could chose when to be seen…

 

“Kagome?”

 

She knew that voice all too well. The voice that haunted her dreams and thoughts, never giving her mind a moment's peace. At least he sounded concerned, but after what had just happened he should.

 

“Hey, Inuyasha.”

 

“Are you feeling better?”

 

She and the others, excluding Shippou and Inuyasha, had recovered from poison exposure, compliments of Mukotsu of the Shichinitai. Her handy anti-venom coupled with Myouga's taste for blood had saved their lives, only leaving them all exhausted in their wake.

 

“Just a little tired,” she said softly as she turned her attention back to the fireflies.

 

She felt Inuyasha sit next to her and she saw him gazing ahead blankly from the corner of her eye. He didn't seem to be looking at anything in particular. But then again, did he ever? She loved and appreciated the intricate yet subtle paradox that was nature—something Inuyasha did not enjoy, unless of course he was too afraid to admit it, which was quite possible. Inuyasha always hated exposing his softer side, though she thought it was his most beautiful asset. Like nature, Inuyasha was a paradox she felt inadequate to understand.

 

They stayed like that, in silence for a long time until Inuyasha spoke.

 

“I was scared,” he said with a strange tone.

 

Kagome snapped her head to the side and stared at him with wide eyes. It was indeed a rarity for him to admit fear. It was evidence to an overall lack of control over the situation, which was most unsettling for Inuyasha.

 

“Huh?” she replied a bit bewildered.

 

“I thought you all might die. I felt helpless,” he said softly as he cocked his head to the side. She was impressed and a little uneasy that he had made eye contact with her. Usually he would avert his eyes and face away to shelter his embarrassment of such a tender moment. He wasn't shying away…

 

“I don't know what I would have done,” he said in a delicate whisper. This was obviously hard for him to say without damaging his fragile ego. Or was it just painful? She couldn't tell, but she hoped it was the latter. “I would be lost…without you.”

 

She couldn't believe what she was hearing. She debated asking him to repeat himself just to make sure she wasn't delirious—she had just been poisoned after all. Was the man she loved actually beginning to return her feelings? This emotional declaration was definitely a step in the right direction. His voice was so soft, so sincere that it made her heart melt. His tender words caused her body to become warm all over and a shiver ran down her back as though she were anticipating something. But what was she hoping for?

 

“Inuyasha…”

 

Before she could speak the words she could no longer remember he kissed her. It was fiery and hungry, belying the pent-up passion the two held for one another yet refused to express. The intensity of feeling poured through their parted lips that neither was brave enough to embrace until this moment. It was sweet and powerful and Kagome's stomach fluttered at the feel of his hands gripping her waist as though she was his most precious commodity.

 

She never wanted this long-awaited moment to end, but unfortunately she needed to breathe. She pulled away reluctantly and looked at Inuyasha's face as she gasped for some desperately needed oxygen that seemingly refused to satisfy her lungs. Her body felt so foreign, as though all clarity and sense of being had been lost during her fervor. The image of her love finally became focused as her body cooled from its feverish temperature. Inuyasha's eyes were half-closed as he panted for air and his face was slightly flushed. He looked good like this—all flustered after getting lost in such an intoxicating stupor, as though he had a little too much sake. She wondered if she looked as drunk and hazy. She began to ponder how good he would look after a more intimate moment…

 

“Oh, Kikyou…I've waited to do that for so long,” he whispered.

 

All the sweet little tremors that were still quaking through her post-ardor body suddenly ceased as the air became difficult to intake, as though it was a viscous liquid incompatible with her lungs. Her heart was pounding for dear life as she fell off her elated cloud and came tumbling back to the earth. Her world had just collapsed around her with the utterance of one simple word. Kikyou…

 

And it had been so perfect too, with the most serene and romantic setting—topped off with an abundance of sparkling fireflies. Inuyasha had been so caring when he first arrived and they had shared a comfortable silence before…before he had decided to take their relationship to the next level. She was so happy that he had finally taken that step and the kiss was so intense and insatiable that when she parted from his mouth she was immediately left wanting. And then he tore it all apart by uttering a single word. Her first kiss, though the kiss itself was wonderful, was wasted on a man who wasn't even thinking of her when he claimed her lips.

 

She didn't even bother berating him for his trespass. She just stood abruptly, tears hanging from the bottom of her eyelashes, and stared at him with the most painful expression. Then she turned and ran quickly into the forest. She needed to get away from him as soon as possible. He didn't come after her, but that was a good thing she supposed. He had ruined her perfect moment and discarded their future together as though she were last week's trash. Some people might have thought she was overreacting, but by the gods it hurt.

 

And all it took was three syllables…

 

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She crawled into her sleeping bag after sitting on it for only the gods know how long. She had been thinking about that again. It wasn't a true betrayal because Inuyasha wasn't her boyfriend, but he had traitorously burned her nonetheless. He knew how she felt about him and he had the audacity to steal her first kiss while picturing Kikyou in his arms instead of her. Maybe he did feel for her and had good intentions in mind, but he should not have toyed with her emotions if he still longed for the undead miko who shared some uncanny similarities to her—similarities that the gods had preordained for some demented reason. It was deranged for the simple fact that the fates decided to intertwine her destiny with a hanyou she would inevitably fall for—a hanyou who could never love her for her.

 

It just wasn't right. She had tried to hate him for it, but she couldn't.

 

She couldn't even return to her era that night because they were too far from the well. They also had to deal with the Shichinitai. She couldn't leave his side for a while to come, so she sucked it up and pretended that nothing had happened at first. But a part of her wanted to focus on it—on her pain. It left a bitter taste in her mouth. She wanted Inuyasha to apologize—to say something so that disgusting tang would diminish and the bile would retreat from her throat. But he said…nothing. Inuyasha, the one in the wrong who had hurt his friend, acted like it had never happened and it stung, badly.

 

Why was she thinking about that again? Because Inuyasha was missing in action earlier.

 

She had gone back to Kaede's hut where she found her friends sitting around a small fire and chatting amiably while sipping on some tea. It was a pleasant sight, one that always filled her heart with joyous warmth. She truly loved these people…

 

But she lied to the people she so loved. She had told them her grandfather had a heart attack last night and she had to stay in her era for a while to help her mother take care of him. It also explained the bags of exhaustion under her eyes since she supposedly spent the night at the hospital. After briefly explaining cardiovascular diseases to them, her friends completely agreed with her decision saying it was important to spend time with her sick relative. She felt terribly guilty. Maybe she should have been honest with them, especially since Inuyasha was no where to be seen. But she had been too cowardly to spill the truth. Miroku had stuck up for her the previous night and she didn't want his troubles to be in vain. She didn't want to prove Inuyasha right, though she had a strange feeling she was eventually going to do just that…

 

She only stayed briefly with her friends, for her mind had been preoccupied with other things—things that a semi-conscious taiyoukai had said to her.

 

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“Who…are…you?”

 

To say she was stunned was a vast understatement. His struggled words, though not the central focus of her attention, were still highly unexpected. She would have assumed him to be angry to have awoken with a human hovering over his broken body, seeing him so defenseless and vulnerable, not to mention the fact that he had a great distaste for her kind. But what truly snagged her preoccupation at that moment was his face. His physical agony was apparent, marring his usually graceful features. Even when Inuyasha severed his arm in that one surprising swoop, Sesshoumaru showed no pain. He simply stood there panting, until his weight forced him to meet the ground because time had not yet allowed him to adapt to the awkwardness of his new limitation.

 

Surprisingly, the signs of suffering plastered on his face like an open book was still not the object of her focus. He had a strange twinkle in his eyes—eyes that were normally colder than ice, devoid of all emotion as though his ability to express any feelings whatsoever had been locked inside his glacial heart. Sesshoumaru looked confused and his bewilderment seeped into his raspy voice as well. Never had she seen Sesshoumaru dumbfounded and she didn't know how to react to such an unpredicted turn of events.

 

He was staring intensely at her like she was the most interesting thing his eyes had ever seen. He was so confused, and possibly disoriented, that he seemed on the border of panic, with only a thread holding him in the realm of rationality. His once impenetrable cord of control had thinned to a mere string that threatened to snap at any moment, and she was sure Sesshoumaru was unaccustomed to such a predicament. The possibility of him losing it was quite unsettling. She had to ease his mind, but how? She had never seen Sesshoumaru bordering on the edge of instability. This was too weird for her to handle.

 

“K-Kagome,” she gulped with uncertainty.

 

He turned his head away from her and sniffed the air for a few seconds and then his expression relaxed a bit. His confusion seemed to be diminishing, though she did catch a glimpse of a new emotion settling in his eyes. To her surprise, the emotion remained there as though he did not care to hide it from her. He looked…defeated? He closed his eyes and sighed. He didn't even try to sit up as she had anticipated—he was awfully independent after all, and with good reason. Maybe he was in too much pain to try.

 

“Do I know you?” he asked softly, so softly that Kagome almost missed his words.

 

His tone was gentle, with a strange tinge to it that she couldn't identify. She sat rigidly, frozen by his delicate whisper. She had never heard him speak without that frighteningly cold and authoritative presence enveloping his words like an ever-present melody that soothingly hummed with dark intent. His voice was still that beautiful tune that flowed like silk, but it was different—it did not speak of death.

 

She attempted to word her thoughts to formulate an answer for him, and then it struck her like an eerie volt of imaginary electricity. Sesshoumaru didn't recognize her. Of course he wouldn't waste his time storing a lowly human's name into his long-term memory, but he seemed like the type that didn't miss a single detail. He had never referred to her as `Kagome,' but he always knew who she was—his brother's `wench.' She had fought him on several occasions after all, but didn't inu-youkai recall scents without a second's thought? Inuyasha despised Kouga and yet he could immediately pick up the wolf youkai's scent. Surely Sesshoumaru, being a full-blooded demon, would remember her scent. It was a survival instinct for their kind so they could instantly differentiate friend from foe.

 

He turned his head and opened his eyes half-mast to look upon her face, deeming her speechless again. The weary look on his face told her he was on the verge of losing consciousness once more. His body had withstood a considerable amount of damage so it seemed natural for him to seep into a welcomed slumber.

 

“You have very nice eyes,” he said in a feather-like tone as his eyes closed completely.

 

Did she just hear him correctly? Did the human-hating Sesshoumaru just compliment her? This was odd, too odd for comfort. While bandaging the unconscious Sesshoumaru she had thought over various situations that could have occurred when he awakened. And none of them were remotely close to what had just transpired. And when she thought his reactions couldn't get any stranger he spoke again, turning the world as she knew it upside down.

 

“You smell pleasant. It's relaxing,” he trailed off as sleep overtook him.

 

She pinched herself harshly on several places of exposed skin. This had to be a freakish dream. She must have fallen asleep after patching him up and now her psyche was obtaining its revenge for lack of sleep. Either that, or she was having hallucinations— once again compliments of a disgruntled psyche that was not appreciative of her poor health-consciousness.

 

After splashing some cold water on her face, she had come to the conclusion that she was indeed awake. This made her ponder his words even further. He had not only complimented her—he complimented her twice. He had also been direct, whereas Inuyasha would have said something seemingly degrading that had to be deciphered as kind words. First of all, she could not imagine Sesshoumaru saying nice things to her at all, and if he were to say such things she would have imagined his words being delivered in a similar manner to Inuyasha's abrupt method. It appeared less like a compliment that way. But then again, Sesshoumaru was more mature and probably wiser than Inuyasha, so why beat around the bush? Well, he also possessed an unhealthy hatred of humans, so him directing compliments to her was simply disturbing.

 

`So, I have `nice eyes,' eh?'

 

That thought brought a giddy smile to her lips. The fact that such a beautiful creature thought her eyes and scent pleasing was doing a quick job of upping her self-esteem a few notches. Especially considering how a certain hanyou never said anything about her eyes, which annoyed her to no end considering her eyes were the most shockingly apparent difference between her and Kikyou. She did resemble Kikyou, but with a second glance one could list off their physical differences—starting with their eyes. She had blue eyes, which were quite unique in this part of the world, whereas Kikyou had brown ones. Wasn't that an obvious difference? Even if it was, Inuyasha was sure as hell tight-lipped about that fact.

 

Pushing away all thoughts of Kikyou, she focused on Sesshoumaru's compliments so she could continue reveling in this rare feeling of elation. She wasn't conceited, but it was so uncommon for her to hear such things that she felt she had earned the right to gloat a little. It wasn't like there was anyone around to brag to anyhow.

 

He said she smelt `pleasant' and that the scent was soothing. At least she now knew that youkai liked her scent. Was that why she attracted so many of them? She had always assumed it was because of the Shikon no Tama shards on her person. Okay, now she was too wrapped up in her self-praising mode. Of course it was because of the sacred jewel, but it was nice to think otherwise.

 

But…but that meant that Sesshoumaru, Inuyasha's malevolent half-brother, found her scent alluring. That was a bit shocking, though he said merely `pleasant,' but hey, a girl could dream, right? She began mentally reprimanding herself for that particular wayward thought. This was the human-hating Sesshoumaru; she should not want him to find her scent enticing. Then why did she feel so excited by the prospect? It had to be his looks…

 

He said it was `relaxing'… Had he always thought this? Was he truly just stating what was on his mind since his inhibitions were shot? He had to be delirious—only trauma-induced dementia would have brought about such words from Sesshoumaru. But it was nice to think that he had always enjoyed the way she smelt from the first time he met her.

 

This line of thinking had to come to an abrupt halt or else Kagome would later feel guilty about her traitorous thoughts that revolved around a certain taiyoukai—one that hated her for something she could not help. It was utterly ridiculous anyway to care what he thought of her just because he was pretty. Kouga was handsome, but she rarely thought about how he saw her. Well, he outwardly expressed to the world that he loved her so not much thought about the issue was required. He was pretty open and didn't seem to mind humans, though he teased Inuyasha for being a hanyou. It would seem he failed to realize that `mating' with her would produce hanyou pups. That made her conclude that Kouga only picked on Inuyasha's lineage to provoke him into a childish argument that always erupted into a brotherly skirmish. Sometimes she thought they actually enjoyed each other's presence, if only for an amusing excursion from a usually tedious day.

 

But Sesshoumaru was different; he was a complete enigma. He always appeared to be deep in thought, which was revealed everytime he entered battle. It was difficult to get the better of the taiyoukai for that reason and, excluding Inuyasha, she could not recall a time she witnessed Sesshoumaru engage in a pointless battle that resulted in unnecessary bloodshed. Now that she really thought about it, it was indeed a strange fact since he was such a ruthless killer, or had they unfairly labeled him? Nevertheless, his stoic and aloof disposition had always intrigued her. She would give anything to spend a day inside his head just to get a feel for what he thinks. That would be the experience of a lifetime!

 

She walked to her backpack and retrieved the protective sutras that Miroku had given her. She apparently could not evade thoughts of Sesshoumaru and so she decided it was time to leave so she could speak with her friends. She couldn't help it though; not since Sesshoumaru definitely threw her a hefty portion of the unexpected, thusly throwing her balance off. Something was off about him, for she had never before witnessed emotions playing in his eyes or soft words escaping his lips. He was always mysterious and unlike anyone she had ever met, but today he was different from his usual self.

 

`Oh well, no sense in getting all worked up over it. I'll just have to wait until he wakes up again.'

 

She slapped a few sutras on a tree and pondered her last thought for a moment. What if he was back to his usual self when he awoke again? That wouldn't be good, but it was what she had anticipated from the start. Well, he'd probably still be too banged up to cause her problems and then he would have time to realize that he shouldn't kill her…maybe… A deviant part of her mind hoped he'd be like he was earlier, even though she was pretty sure it was related to his recent trauma. The old Sesshoumaru would return soon enough so she might as well enjoy this other Sesshoumaru for a while.

 

What was she thinking? He barely said a word to her and now she's taking a liking to him because he complimented her. Well, he had to be different right now because the normal Sesshoumaru was entirely too prideful to say sweet things to a human, even if they were deserving of his praise. She was just being a stupid girl, fawning over a handsome man that complimented her, that was all. At the very best she should be hoping that this chain of events would bestow him with a more favorable opinion of humans, not just her.

 

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Now that she thought about it, Sesshoumaru was the real reason she delved back into the past and remembered the most hurtful moment of her adult life. Sesshoumaru had noticed her eyes. Inuyasha had once looked into her eyes—the most obvious physical difference between herself and Kikyou—and still he mistook her for the incarnation. It was disheartening at the very least. Why was this painful path hers to tread?

 

Unbeknownst to Kagome, the fates were about to throw her another strange irony. As she drifted off to sleep she pondered how Sesshoumaru would react toward her when he was fully conscious. What would he do and say when he was completely aware of his surroundings? It was a bit scary to even think about.

 

If only she knew that when Sesshoumaru fully awoke, all he would remember was blue eyes…

 

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