InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The Centre ❯ Arguements And Interruptions ( Chapter 4 )

Hola, amigos y amigas! As you've no doubt guessed, I'm back from Cuba and decided to celebrate with a new chappy in “The Centre”. For all those dying to know (not that there really is anyone, but I can pretend ^_^;;) I had a great trip and brought back many souvenirs, including my sunburn—but let's not get into that… Anyways, on with the chapter!

 

Disclaimer: Sadly, I did not find out how to say, “I don't own Inuyasha or anything related to it” in Cuban (a.k.a. Spanish). As it is, you'll have to make due with the English version ^_^

 

Chapter Four: Arguments And Interruptions

 

 

Kagome had never considered herself crazy before, but at this particular moment, she wasn't so sure. Multiple voices quarrelling with each other in her head somehow didn't strike her as the epitome of sanity.

 

It's not too late to turn back, Sensible Kagome told her. There's no need to make a fool of yourself if you don't have to.

 

Turn back and you'll never forgive yourself, Impulsive Kagome argued. Besides, he's probably already spotted you. If you turn around now, you'll look like an idiot.

 

You'll also look like an idiot if you try to talk to him and he doesn't want you to. Good point. Kagome bit her lip worriedly. It seems that her sensible side had a knack for touching on her biggest fears.

 

At least you'll have tried—how will you know what he wants if you don't ask? Another good point, and one that made Kagome straighten her shoulders from the defensive hunch they had acquired. She couldn't really turn back now, could she?

 

Waiting for Sensible Kagome to dispute this, the dark-haired girl wasn't prepared for both voices to suddenly meld together in agreement. Forget talking to him, you'll definitely look stupid walking into that tree.

 

Unfortunately for Kagome, her reflexes weren't the greatest, even when she wasn't locked in an epic mental struggle. Before her body could catch up with her thoughts, the hapless girl had walked right into one huge, leafy branch, her head snapping back as she gasped in shock. Seizing the opportunity, the malicious tree shoved an impressive amount of bitter leaves into her mouth while raking her face and shoulders with hundreds of small twigs.

 

Kagome stumbled forward and amazingly managed to keep her balance as she spat out leaves and tried to escape from the tree's clutches. Blinking watering eyes, the girl looked up in the middle of pulling bark and vegetation out of her hair to see Inuyasha staring at her incredulously.

 

The hanyou had half-risen from his seat at the base of the tree, one hand outstretched as if to help her and his golden eyes wide in shock. Despite the situation, Kagome couldn't stop herself from taking in the little details that made him who he was—how his silvery hair fell in messy bangs over his face and spilled down his back in long strands; the uncanny balance and agility that was obvious in every clean, straight line of his body; the delicate twitching of the soft white dog ears perched on his head… Even the small glint of his curved claws and tiny white fangs only served to enhance the image of wildness, of something not quite of this world, that he portrayed.

 

Then Inuyasha moved, flopping back into his casual slouch on the ground as his expression turned from shock to something between a laugh and a sneer, and shattered the moment. Kagome flushed darkly in embarrassment—the “image of wildness” thought she was a stupid, clumsy girl.

 

“That has got to be the most brainless thing I've ever seen anyone do,” Inuyasha told her, obviously trying to hold in his laughter. After a few seconds of this, he simply gave in and laughed until Kagome thought her face would burst into flame; it certainly felt hot enough.

 

“I… I was thinking,” she said defensively, too late realizing how that sounded.

 

“Thinking?” Inuyasha snickered. “Wench, if that's what you call thinking I don't want to be around when you're being careless.”

 

Kagome scowled, alternating between anger at herself and anger at him. She brushed the rest of the leaves and twigs out of her hair and directed a glare at the innocent-looking branch before taking a seat in front of Inuyasha. The hanyou sat up slightly, his laughter dying down and his gaze turning wary.

 

“What do you think you're doing?” he asked roughly.

 

“Sitting with you—what does it look like?” Kagome snapped, past caring about her actions. She'd already embarrassed herself as much as a person could, walking the distance between the tree and the steps. Laugh at her, would he? “I was on my way over when your stupid tree attacked me.”

 

“On your way over… to sit with me?” The hanyou looked genuinely astounded, and more than a little apprehensive. “Why?”

 

Kagome shrugged. “You were on your own, so I decided to keep you company. Plus, I wanted to ask how your wound was.”

 

Inuyasha adopted the scowl that she had abandoned. “It's fine,” he gritted out. “You fixed it, remember?”

 

“Yeah, and didn't get any thanks for it either,” Kagome muttered, absently rubbing her scratched face. Almost without thought, her fingertips flared blue and the stinging cuts healed over instantly.

 

The hanyou didn't quite flinch, but he laced his ears back flat against his head until the glow vanished from her fingers. Kagome looked at him, mildly surprised. Was he actually scared of her miko powers? He had been at the Centre for even longer than she had—exactly how long, she wasn't sure, but she'd been here for a little more than three years—and every day the mikos and the demons participated in partnered melee class. That meant that every day for as long as he'd been here, he would have had to fight beside a miko while they were using their abilities. Besides, the demons were always being injured and getting sent to healers—even the mikos were occasionally hurt. So why did he look so nervous when she used her magic?

 

“Inuyasha.” Kagome hadn't intentionally softened her voice, but she couldn't help being moved by the look on his face. “Are you afraid of my powers?”

 

If she'd slapped the hanyou, she would probably have gotten the same reaction out of him that she did now. Inuyasha's expression flickered rapidly from shock to fear to pain and finally to flat, hard anger.

 

“I'm not afraid of anything,” he told her, his low growl somehow more intimidating than a shout. “Not you, or your fucking powers.” Was he aware that his hands were curled into clawed fists?

 

Kagome found it was suddenly hard to breathe. She leaned back, putting as much distance as she could between Inuyasha and herself. His eyes were like sharp chips of amber, pinning her with their intensity while at the same time making her want to run. Would he actually strike me? She wished she didn't have the feeling that she was about to find out.

 

Abruptly, Inuyasha seemed to realize what he was doing and quickly uncurled his fists. Swearing under his breath, the hanyou stood up and turned away from her.

 

“Wait!” Kagome scrambled to her feet, tugging her gi straight with one hand while the other was raised in appeal. “Where are you going?”

 

“Away—what does it look like?” Inuyasha said, imitating her earlier statement spitefully.

 

“But… why?” Kagome wasn't quite sure why she was even bothering. He obviously didn't want to be anywhere near her right now. And yet… “You're running, aren't you? Maybe not from me, but from something.” Of course, she couldn't be sure of this, but something about his tense stance conveyed a sense of flight.

 

Again, Inuyasha's face went through an impressive array of emotions before twisting into a snarl. “You don't know anything about me!” he hissed, his fangs giving the words a menacing edge.

 

“If you'd just—” Kagome started, but she was too late. Inuyasha had twisted with that superhuman grace of his and shot straight up into the mass of leaves above them, raining foliage down into the girl's upturned face.

 

Kagome was forced to look away, furiously shaking her head to dislodge the unwanted vegetation. When she was sure she had cleared away the worst of it, she cautiously peered up through the myriad of interlocking branches that hung overhead. After a few seconds of this, she gave up trying to spot the hanyou—the leaves were so thick that it was impossible to see more than the first few layers of branches.

 

“That was very childish, Inuyasha,” Kagome called out, irritated. Why had he reacted so strongly to what she'd said? “I didn't upset you on purpose, you know.”

 

A large wasp nest, buzzing angrily, hurtled down through the maze of leaves and branches to land with a thud next to Kagome's feet. When several of the insects began to pour out of it, Sensible Kagome and Impulsive Kagome joined forces once again to tell her that now would be a very good time to run. Being an obedient girl, Kagome took their advice.

 

She reached the white steps of the Centre in record time, too breathless to notice the overly innocent expression on Arika's face as she quickly hid the empty lunch trays behind her back.

 

“That bloody hanyou,” Kagome exploded, sitting down hard next to her friend, “is the most aggravating, annoying, immature—”

 

“There, there,” Arika cut in soothingly, patting Kagome's shoulder. “All boys are the same; it doesn't matter if they're demon or not.”

 

“But he's the absolute limit!” Kagome said. Her hands were balled into fists in her lap. “He threw a wasp nest at me!”

 

Arika felt an uncontrollable urge to laugh at the mental image that conjured up, but managed to contain it for her friend's sake. “Well, that was very… wrong… of him. Maybe he's just shy and doesn't know how to express himself.”

 

“Shy?! He's the farthest thing from shy! He's—!”

 

What exactly Inuyasha was, Arika never did find out, because at that moment the gong sounded, announcing the end of lunch break. Everyone in the courtyard slowly began the move towards various lessons, straightening clothing and wolfing down the last morsels of food.

 

Anger drained out of Kagome as the single note reverberated around her, and her shoulders slumped. “Great. Guess which lesson we have now.”

 

Arika shook her head in pity, but she still hauled her friend to her feet with a firm hand. “Come on, we'd better get this over with.”

 

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Inuyasha sat on the highest branch that would support his weight, legs dangling down on either side of it and his back against the rough trunk of the tree as he watched that insufferable girl race back to wherever she'd come from. He felt slightly guilty for throwing the wasp nest at her, but damn it all, she'd deserved it! Coming over here and using her bloody miko powers… she was just lucky he hadn't actually hit her with the stupid thing.

 

The hanyou frowned sullenly, shifting on his perch. Why couldn't she just accept that he didn't want to talk to anyone? He especially didn't want to talk to a miko, and a Kikyo look-alike at that.

 

Golden eyes narrowed as an image of Kagome and Kikyo side by side rose in his mind. They looked so alike, but their personalities were so different. Kikyo was calm, cool, and collected, but she would help others when they asked for it. She was someone Inuyasha could understand, relate to—maybe even someone he could let into his heart. Not that he liked Kikyo or anything, he quickly assured himself. It's just that anyone looked good, compared to that annoying Kagome girl. She would come snooping around, tossing her healing powers left and right whether anyone wanted help or not! Inuyasha growled softly, scratching flakes of bark off the branch he sat on as he played his conversation with the young miko over in his mind. Maybe he had been a little rough…

 

“You were on your own, so I decided to keep you company.” Her voice, tinged with annoyance, embarrassment, and something he couldn't identify, shoved all other thoughts to the back of his head. She'd thought he looked lonely, and had come over to talk to him.

 

“I don't need your pity,” Inuyasha muttered. His face grew tight with remembrance. “I don't need anyone's pity.”

 

Lost in dark memories, the loud ringing of the gong almost unseated him. When he'd regained his balance, the hanyou dropped easily to the ground, carefully avoiding the buzzing nest that lay amidst broken twigs and scattered leaves.

 

He looked around hastily, making sure no one was watching, before mumbling a small apology to the spirit of the tree. He'd been told by one of the older miko instructors at the Centre that this tree was the Goshinboku, a holy tree deserving respect, and his wariness of magic extended to include curses of a religious nature. It never hurts to be cautious, he told himself uneasily, heading for the nearest archway in the huge white walls of the courtyard.

 

When he remembered which lesson he had now, Inuyasha wished he'd been quicker to apologize to the tree—maybe then he wouldn't have been handed this kind of bad luck.

 

Biting back angry oaths, the hanyou stalked off to his class like a man going to the gallows.

 

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Partnered melee was the only class held outside the Centre's walls. The terrain was hilly, with scattered groves of trees and boulders embedded in the ground at random, providing cover for those who needed it. The sun shone down warmly, and wispy clouds scudded across the huge expanse of blue that blanketed the landscape. In any other situation, Kagome would have called it a beautiful day. As it was, she wished she were back in her tiny quarters in the main building.

 

“Now that you're all finally here—” Brilliant blue eyes slanted over to a pair of abashed mikos who shifted guiltily. “—I'm going to call out the name of a demon and then a miko, and when you're all paired up Tsubaki over here will tell you the rules of our melee today.” A roguish grin appeared below those bright eyes. “Just to make things interesting, the instructors are going to be participating today.”

 

There was a murmur of surprise from the younger demons and mikos at this announcement, and Kagome wondered why their instructors had picked today to join in. She studied the owner of the blue eyes from behind her bangs.

 

Kouga really was good-looking, in an arrogant, rugged sort of way. He appeared fairly young, maybe in his twenties, but with demons, there was no way of knowing unless you asked. And he seems nice, Kagome thought moodily. Nicer than a few others I could name, anyway. Here, she glanced at the white-haired figure standing in the group opposite hers with the rest of the demons. It might have been her imagination, but she thought his eyes flickered her way before snapping back to Kouga.

 

“Miko Arika and demon Sai,” the wolf youkai called, bringing Kagome's attention back to the lesson. Arika gave Kagome an encouraging smile before moving to stand beside a tall demon with spiky, bright orange hair.

 

“Miko Kyoko and demon Inuyasha.”

 

All of the students except for her had been paired up, Kagome noticed with some surprise. Grateful that she wouldn't have to partner with Inuyasha after their disastrous conversation, Kagome almost missed her own name being called.

 

“Miko Kagome and…” Kouga paused, eyes scanning the group. His grin was decidedly predatory as his gaze returned to her. “Well, it looks like you're with me.”

 

The dark-haired girl blushed slightly under his gaze, but quickly collected herself and walked over to the instructor. She had only been taught by Kouga once before, since the demons and mikos who supervised this class rotated constantly, but she remembered that he was equally free with praise and criticism. Suddenly a little nervous, Kagome ran over the spells she'd learned in her mind.

 

“In today's melee, your goal is to disarm and capture your opponents—both the mikos and their demon partners—in the shortest time possible,” Tsubaki said, her voice as cold and precise as ever. Kagome was glad she didn't have lessons with Tsubaki until she was old enough to study the darker aspects of magic; the woman's youthful face, contrasting sharply with her long gray hair, seemed to be fixed in a permanently cruel expression. “To disarm a demon, you deprive him or her of all weapons in their possession. To disarm a miko, you block their abilities with your own. If you have been disarmed, you must sit until the lesson is over. Do I make myself clear?”

 

“Yes, Tsubaki-sensei,” the students droned.

 

Tsubaki nodded sharply, as if she had expected no less. “You have one minute to spread yourselves out. At the sound of the gong, the melee begins.”

 

No one wasted any time in hurrying away, not wishing to make themselves an easy target right from the start. The poor demon partnered with Tsubaki looked like he'd rather be anywhere else. Kagome began to move away as well before remembering Kouga. She looked over her shoulder at him questioningly.

 

He gave her another quick grin. “I know just the spot.”

 

The wolf demon began an easy lope away from the looming white walls of the Centre, occasionally looking back to make sure she was keeping up. Kagome followed a little more slowly, concentrating on the ground in front of her—she'd already run into a tree today and had no desire to trip over a rock and add to her humiliation.

 

“Here we are,” Kouga said a short while later, slowing to a walk as he led her up the gentle slope of a large hill. The trees were thick in this area, and a dense grove of them crowned the hill.

 

“It's… perfect,” Kagome said, pleasantly surprised. Hiding in the trees, they would have a perfect view of the surrounding landscape while at the same time be invisible to anyone walking by.

 

Another dashing grin; Kouga seemed to have an endless supply of them. “The gong should sound any minute now—” A long, low note reached their ears as if on cue. “—and then we wait,” he concluded, moving into the trees.

 

Kagome followed him, walking to the other side of the grove to keep a lookout there. This isn't so bad, she thought, allowing a small smile to cross her lips. Inuyasha didn't say anything about lunchtime to me, and Kouga seems like a nice person.

 

“So, how long have you been at the Centre, Kagome?” the wolf youkai suddenly asked, pitching his voice so that it wouldn't carry beyond the cover of the trees.

 

Kagome, startled from her thoughts, half turned to look at him. “Uh… a little over three years, now.”

 

“So, you're what—seventeen, eighteen?” Kouga's tone seemed friendlier somehow, hinting at things unsaid. His eyes never stopped their scan of the horizon, however.

 

“I'm fifteen,” Kagome told him, a little stiffly. She had always been touchy about her age.

 

“Fifteen?” Kouga sounded surprised and oddly guilty. “We don't usually get many as young as you.”

 

“I was sent here after my father died,” Kagome said quietly. “My mom thought I would have a better life here.”

 

Turquoise eyes regarded her seriously for a moment before returning to the landscape. “Sorry to hear that,” Kouga said. Unlike many others, he sounded completely sincere.

 

“Don't worry about it, he died years ago.” Kagome fell silent, not quite sure why she had told Kouga about her dad. It had just seemed like the right thing to do—the wolf youkai's open demeanor made her feel relaxed.

 

“There's a group approaching.” Kouga's sudden announcement brought Kagome's head whipping around. He noticed her anxious expression and raised one dark eyebrow comically. “Why so worried? You've got me on your side, remember?”

Kagome gave him a weak imitation of his earlier grin, and he smiled back, readying the wooden practice sword tucked through his belt. For a second he held her gaze, before grimacing slightly and moving to the edge of the trees. Kagome followed, confused. She could've sworn she'd heard him mumble something along the lines of “Is it legal if she doesn't look fifteen?” Must've heard wrong, the girl thought.

 

The pair approaching their makeshift hideout looked nervous, their heads swinging first one way and then the other as they crossed the open terrain below the hill. Kagome was relieved to see that the miko wasn't Arika—she never liked fighting against her friends, even if it was only a mock battle.

 

“Can you block the miko's powers at this range?” Kouga asked, his voice low and lacking the bantering tone from before. He sounded businesslike, Kagome decided as she mentally measured the distance between herself and the light-haired girl below.

 

“I think so,” she said finally.

 

“Good. You stay hidden up here; don't make yourself a target. I'll take care of the demon.” Kouga waited for Kagome's nod before he leaped through the screen of leaves and hit the ground running.

 

Dusky blue light flared around Kagome as she concentrated, focusing on pushing a wedge of power between the other miko and her own powers. The girl was fairly strong, but she was caught unprepared by Kagome's sudden attack and lost any advantage she might have had. She frantically tried to summon her miko energy, but Kagome clenched her jaw and forced the wedge home with a wave of willpower. Pouting, the light-haired girl flopped to the ground, and Kagome turned her attention to Kouga and the younger demon with a triumphant smile.

 

The black-haired wolf youkai was fast, incredibly so. Kagome had heard vague comments on his fighting prowess, but it was one thing to hear about it and another thing entirely to see it. The other demon desperately parried the blows that rained on him, but his face had the look of someone who knew they were beaten. With a clatter, Kouga knocked the wooden sword out of his opponent's hand and held his own sword point against the younger demon's throat. Quickly, he removed several wooden practice daggers from various folds of the other's clothing, and even pulled a slender wooden spike no longer than Kagome's pinky finger from behind the demon's headband.

 

Kagome watched in amazement. She would never have thought to check for any additional weapons, let alone tiny sticks that could be fatal if left in desperate hands. When the defeated demon was completely disarmed and seated next to the miko, Kagome ran down to join Kouga.

 

“That was incredible!” she told him, inwardly cringing when she thought of what she probably looked like—an awe-struck fan girl praising her hero.

 

Kouga, however, looked immensely pleased with himself, and winked at her. “You didn't do so bad yourself, Kagome; we wouldn't have beaten them nearly as quickly if you hadn't blocked that miko right from the start. Now, when the next group comes—”

 

The deafening clang of the gong cut his words short, making Kagome jump nearly out of her skin. Kouga flinched, moving his hands as if to cover his ears before forcing them back to his sides. Why…? Oh, right; his demon hearing. The dark-haired girl winced as she thought of how loud the sound would be to him.

 

When the gong's ringing finally quieted, Kouga frowned, staring beyond Kagome, towards the Centre. “What could possibly be happening now?” he muttered, more to himself than to her.

 

“Maybe the lesson's over,” Kagome suggested doubtfully.

 

Kouga shook his head, confirming what she already knew. “No, that isn't it. Something's come up at the Centre—that was a summons.”

 

“A summons?” Kagome asked, once again confused, but Kouga had already grabbed her hand.

 

“Come on, we've got to get back.” Kagome wasn't prepared for him to suddenly pull her close, and she gasped when his other hand swept her feet out from under her. Cradling the girl against him, Kouga only paused long enough to instruct the other demon to do the same for the light-haired miko before pushing off into a dead run.

 

Kagome clung to the wolf youkai, her eyes blurring as they sped across the rough terrain towards the distant white walls. Her instincts were clamoring at her, telling her that something big was happening, and Kagome trusted them—her intuition never lied. She just wished she didn't have the feeling that this was one event she'd rather miss.

 

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All right, look at that—a nine-page chapter! I thought you guys deserved a long one, since my last few have been short =D I know I said the Big Thing was in this chapter but… I lied. Oops! Don't worry, next chapter will definitely have the Big Thing in it (hehe, that's fun to type). So, stick around, kids. Also, sorry for any spelling mistakes, name errors, grammer errors, and just plain bad writing—despite the length of this chapter, it was written in about twenty minutes and not edited. Oh, and don't forget to review—it's good for motivation =)

 

 

~SilverMyste~