InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ The World Through His Eyes ❯ At Your Side ( Chapter 17 )

Disclaimer: I don't own these characters, I'm just having fun with them until the men in the pretty white coats come back to take my toys away. Remember that there were no hanyous harmed in the making of this chapter.

 

Err…at least not too harmed…

 

 

AN: So….supprised to see me so soon? It's only been what…6 months? Erg…okay, okay I'll stop joking…put the pictch forks away. I'll fill you all in on what's been happening in my little water logged corner of the world at the end of this chapter!

 

Oh and be advised that this chapter has not been beta'd. I wanted to get it out as soon as I finished it so I posted early. I'm sending this chapter to her now and I'll put the new version up as soon as she gets it back to me.

 

So please refrain from pointing out my mistakes. Thanks.

 

Also…there is a limey scene at the end of the chapter…no it's not that steamy shower scene that I'd promised…that got eaten by a very mean bunny…but still good I think.

 

 

 

::RECAP::

 

 

“I am in line for my brother's lands and title, should Sesshomaru die without an heir. It doesn't matter that I'm the bastard son, or that I'm a hanyou. Rightly those lands are mine. Any son that I have would have a claim to Sesshomaru's land as well. Now if Shippou, a kitsune, became my son, being full blood, he would have more of a claim than I would, if you as my mate preformed that spell. Sesshomaru alone would want to kill all three of us, not to mention what the clan elders would think. No Kagome, that spell can only be preformed if my brother gives permission, and even though I hate the fucking guy and his whole stinking clan, even I won't go that far. Plus this spell requires a lot of youkai magic, and blood.” Inuyasha tossed the parchment to the side and stood up. Kagome was still looking at him with a mixture of awe and confusion.

 

“What?” One of his ears twitched in agitation as he reached down to pull her up. “Why are you looking at me like I've grown a second head?”

 

“I never realized that you knew so much about your family.” She bent down and picked up the scroll. Maybe the spell could be modified to work. If only she could convince him to read it to her.

 

“Keh, mostly instinct. And yes, you might be able to modify the spell. I'll read it to you, but I'm only giving you until noon. After that I'm taking you home, with or without the runt. “

 

Kagome smiled at him and raised her arms up. Inuyasha rolled his eyes and scooped her up before heading towards the God Tree. She had a feeling that it would all work out alright in the end. She was the well's mistress after all, and a powerful miko to boot! There had to be a spell out there that would let Shippou pass through the rift.

 

There just had to be.

 

::END RECAP::

 

 

Chapter 17: At Your Side

 

 

~_~_~_~_~_~

I'll be at your side, there's no need to worry
At Your Side---The Corrs

~_~_~_~_~_~

 

 

The sounds of the modern era that she'd called home for most of her life assaulted her ears as soon as her head cleared the top of the well. Compared to the simpler times she was leaving behind, this was chaos. The cadence of a million vehicles stuck in a never-ending traffic jam, the rumble of the subway speeding through the city maze, people laughing, crying…just living. The city lived through these people, and she was sure that from the air, the masses of people would look like multi-colored blood flowing through gigantic veins.

 

“Keh, why does this fucking place always have to be so damn noisy?” Inuyasha's voice broke the spell, and Kagome sighed. She waited for him to lift her out of the well before she replied.

 

“It's not so bad, Inuyasha, when you think of that noise as human life.”

 

“Yeah it is; why can't they all live -quietly?”

 

Kagome sighed. When Inuyasha was like this there was no reasoning with him. He would never understand that to her, this city was as familiar as any forest was to him. She understood how this city worked. Knew how to navigate her way through the maze of glass buildings and cramped streets.

 

Sure the air was bad, and more times as not, the city gave Kagome a particular feeling of claustrophobia in her gut. But it was her…forest…if you will…and she loved it.

 

And she realized, in that moment, that as much as she loved the city of her birth, she'd give it up for Inuyasha. Because there was no way that Inuyasha could live in her time.

 

She was okay with that.

 

Even a month ago she would have felt resentment at having to give up her modern life, her education, and her future career for Inuyasha…but now…now maybe there were other things more important in life than high test scores and successful jobs.

 

Like being a wife. And a mother. And a miko.

 

“Don't forget that you promised to bring the runt a toy.” Inuyasha reminded her in a gruff voice. Kagome could tell that he was not comfortable with the trail her mind had taken, but he refused to mention it. Kagome realized that the two of them would have to find the time to talk about the future soon. Miscommunication had been the biggest stumbling block in their relationship to date.

 

`Well…other than Kikyou, of course.'

 

That thought brought to mind all the unfinished business the two of them had in the feudal time. Kikyou was still out there withering away. Their bond was still hyper-sensitive. She still hadn't found a way to bring Shippou through the well. She still hadn't told her mother that she was practically married to Inuyasha. Still hadn't decided if she was going to drop out of school altogether, or just home school. Still needed to----

 

“Stop it! What have I told you about thinking too damn much?” Inuyasha glared at her from over his shoulder as he opened the door for her. Kagome had been so wrapped up in her worries that she didn't even remember walking toward her house.

 

“Well, someone has too! I don't see you worrying about any of this stuff!” Kagome retorted, a little miffed.

 

“That's because I have the fucking good sense to know when worrying. Won't. Change. Anything!”

 

“HA!You wouldn't know good sense if it bit you in the a---“

 

“Kagome, maybe you and Inuyasha would like to take your fight out side my home?” Mrs. Higurashi interrupted before Kagome could finish. Both she and Inuyasha jerked to a halt, and for the first time noticed that the kitchen they'd just entered was filled with middle aged ladies. All of whom were now staring at the couple with barely veiled expressions that ranged from horror to distain. Kagome was too shocked to move for a moment, and then out of the corner of her eye she saw Inuyasha's ears twitch. With a hasty bow and an even quicker apology, she pulled him out of the room and toward the stairs. She only hopped that their abrupt entrance and exit prevented any of her mother's friends from noticing the furry appendages.

 

“Who in the fucking hell were they?” Inuyasha asked as soon as Kagome's door was shut behind them. He took a small moment to breathe in the air of her room as he always did upon first entering. Pure Kagome…only this time there was a little bit of him mixed in. Forest and rain intermingled with flowers and holiness. He knew that eventually their scents would meld so closely that the only way anyone with nose enough to smell them would be able to tell them apart would be their base scent of male or female.

 

His train of thought was interrupted when Kagome answered his question.

 

“I think they were my mother's book club. Or maybe her cooking club. No…this is Thursday? No Friday…? It might have been her poetry club, or the painting class she mentioned the last time I came home…Or maybe it was….pottery…No…no she got out of that because of the mess…Mud every where she said…Umm…it could have been her sewing circle…” She stopped when she noticed that Inuyasha was looking at her strangely.

 

“What?” She asked and self consciously whipped at her face. Kagome realized that she'd been rambling and took a few deep breaths to calm down. It was hard to go from standing toe-to-toe and screaming at each other, and then the next moment being almost civil. It made her nervous.

 

“Does your mother ever sleep?” He asked in an incredulous voice. His ears were swiveling madly, listening to the sounds of old bones creaking as the women in the floor below shifted in their chairs. He didn't like strangers being in Kagome's house. It made him nervous.

 

“I guess she just likes to keep busy. I have a feeling that doing all of that keeps her from worrying about me too.” Kagome said quietly as she took a seat on her bed. She noticed the layer of find dust covering her desk, and the sheets of half-completed homework she'd left scattered about. Her mother had been too busy to dust in here this week.

 

“Keh, she doesn't need to worry about you. I'm always there to protect you!” but even as he made the claim, Inuyasha knew it to be a lie. After all, the bandage on her hand was a testimony to how well he could protect Kagome.

 

In fact this whole fucking situation was a testimony to how much her mother should be worrying about her oldest child.

 

“Hey! If I'm not allowed to worry, you mister, are not allowed to sink into self-pity!” Kagome throw a pillow at his head to get his attention. Inuyasha ducked the fluffy projectile and mocked a growl in her direction. Kagome just patted a spot of the bed beside her, and motioned for him to come sit beside her.

 

“So you're not mad at me anymore?” He asked softly as he came to sit beside her on the bed. Kagome leaned back and tugged at Inuyasha's arm until he was lying beside her. She snuggled into his side and pillowed her head on his shoulder.

 

“No…” she sighed, “it was just frustrating to be yanked away from my work like that. Getting Shippou through the well is very important to me, and the only way I know how to do that is to modify that spell into something less dangerous.”

 

Kagome hadn't had time to decipher the youkai scroll before Inuyasha had scooped her up and carried her off to the well, despite her very vehement protests. For his part, Inuyasha was truly tired of waiting for Kagome to realize that her hand needed help that could only be found in her modern era. He'd told her she could have until noon, and then he'd given her a few more hours. But when the sun had begun to get low in the west he lost whatever patience he'd possessed.

 

He was just glad she'd taken the subdue spell away. Because he had a feeling that even though slamming him into the ground would in turn hurt her, at that moment she would have thought the pain was well worth it.

 

“I know how much you want this Kagome, but have you ever stopped to think that this might be too much for you? I mean, just a few months ago, you were having trouble with the simplest of miko spells. And when you came into your power it fucking blinded you! Everything else that you've been doing with your magic since then has been purely instinct. And your instinct has almost gotten us killed twice!”

 

Kagome bristled at his accusations, and sat up. She was hurt that he didn't trust her powers. A small ---small--- part of her understood, and even agreed with him. Since that fateful day when she'd been blinded she hadn't really worked with Kaede anymore to train her powers. And if she wanted to be completely truthful, she could admit that she'd never really had any formal training at all. Everything she'd been doing since stepping foot in the feudal era so many years ago had been instinctual. But she could not give up on this!

 

“Not everything I've done has been bad! I took the subdue spell out of the necklace didn't I?” she reminded him, “And you are the absolute last person who should be telling me not to follow my instincts!” Kagome got up from the bed and paced to the window.

 

`I can not give up on this! I can not! Even if I burn all my powers out I have to find a way to control the well. I know we'll all have to fight Naraku soon…I can fell the end coming…and I will not have Shippou there with us. He's witnessed too much already and some of us…might not make it this time…At least in my time he'll be safe. He must be safe.'

 

“I wasn't saying not to trust your feelings! Or that everything that you've done has been bad! I just think you should wait and get help from the monk or someone with a little more experience!” Inuyasha stood up too and glared down at her from his superior height. He hated fighting with Kagome, but on this subject he refused to back down. Kagome was just opening her mouth to respond when a knock on her door interrupted her.

 

“Kagome, Inuyasha? The ladies from my ceramics class are gone if you'd like to come down now and have a snack. Oh, and please leave the fighting in Kagome's bedroom. Ji-chan is trying to take a nap and Souta has a friend over to help with his homework.” They both heard her footsteps fade away from the door.

 

“I'm not going to let you endanger yourself just because you refuse to admit that you need help, Koishii.” Inuyasha told her softly as he approached her. Kagome's shoulders slumped as she drew near and she allowed him to take her into his embrace.

 

“It's just so hard. Suddenly having all this…power…at my fingertips, but not having a clue how to use it. I have to be able to send Shippou here when the final battle with Naraku comes! Yet, I can not even rely on my powers to light a cook-fire at night. I feel so…useless.” She hid her face in his haori so that she couldn't see his reaction to her words.

 

“Hey, don't be stupid! You're not useless, wench! Look at all the things you do for every injured stray that crossed our path! You're a fucking angle of mercy to half of Japan. You mother the kit; you take care of everyone when we get our asses handed to us. You're like a sister to Sango…and to me …”He paused as if searching for the right words, “everything.”

 

Kagome had tears in her eyes as she reached up to kiss him soundly. Even though he'd basically given this same speech to her many times before, this time she believed him.

 

 

 

. . . . . . . . . . .

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. . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

A few minutes later the two of them headed down the stairs looking for the promised snack, Inuyasha held her hand the whole time, and Kagome tried not to blush at her mother's raised eyebrow. Mrs. Higurashi was just taking cookies out of the oven and she cheerfully indicated the half pitcher of lemonade on the table.

 

“Half of the ladies are on one of those weird diets that don't allow sweetened juice, and the other half just wanted tea, so I have plenty lemonade left for you two.” She continued to busy herself in the kitchen as Kagome got glasses out of the cabinet and poured drinks for herself and Inuyasha. Inuyasha reached out and grabbed a hot cookie off the sheet pan when both their backs were turned and popped it hurriedly into his mouth. Kagome yanked her glass up with a wince and tried to cool the scorched feeling spreading over her tongue. It didn't do much good considering it was only lukewarm at best.

 

“Inuyasha!” She glared over at him, “That was hot!” Kagome went to the fridge and plopped some ice into her glass.

 

“What?” he asked as he reached for another cookie, but Kagome slapped his hand before he could take one.

 

“Those cookies might not feel so hot to you, but it's pretty painful to me.” She informed him with a glare. Inuyasha finally realized what her problem was and his ears drooped. He'd gone and done some thing stupid again.

 

`Damn it!'

 

“Kagome I'm sor---“

 

“No, its okay…just wait for them to cool, okay?” She glanced over at her mother to make sure that she wasn't looking, and then Kagome leaned over to press a comforting kiss to the side of Inuyasha's mouth. Inuyasha still looked slightly distressed. Kagome sighed.

 

“You children certainly must have worked through a lot of your issues since the last time you visited me.” Mrs. Higurashi said, with her back still turned to them, “Will I have grandchildren with cute little puppy ears soon?”

 

“Moth—“

 

“What the fu---`

 

“Inuyasha, language!”

 

“It's not like she hasn't heard it before!”

 

“But she's my mother!”

 

“I don't give a fuc---“

 

“I guess I shouldn't have my knitter's league start working on bootees and blankets anytime soon. “ She sighed and shook her head. Kagome and Inuyasha shifted uncomfortable, and Kagome let go of the chunk of his hair she'd been yanking on.

 

“So, what brings you both here? No…no don't try to come up with some kind of pleasant excuse. It's only been a few weeks since the last time you were home, and I didn't expect you for at least a month or two.” She continued as if her daughter had not just been trying to pull the half-youkai bald.

 

“I was…injured…a few days ago on a shard hunt,” Kagome held up her bandaged hand, “Sango stitched it up for me, but Inuyasha says it smells infected so we came back so I could see the doctor.” Kagome answered before Inuyasha could even open his mouth. He was not to be deterred though.

 

“Higurashi-san, it's my fault that Kagome's hurt. If I'd hadn't been so fucking stupid!” His ears flattened into his hair. Kagome shook her head violently and turned toward her mother in earnest.

 

“It was not his fault! It was an accident! No. One. Is. At. Fault!” That last part she aimed at Inuyasha. He just snarled at her and turned away.

 

Kagome's mother came over to where her daughter and Inuyasha were sitting and knelt down at the table. She poured herself a glass of lemonade and frowned at its temperature after taking a sip. She contemplated her daughter for a moment before speaking.

 

“I'd like the whole truth now. In all the years you've been going down that well, I've never asked for the details. I could imagine what dangerous, horrible things you must be witnessing on a daily bases, and those imaginations were terrible enough without the truth. Every time you came home injured, every time I caught sight of a new scar, all those times you checked medical books out of the library for kami-sama only knows what, the times you've come to say good bye because you didn't know if you were ever coming back! This time I don't want a half truth to spare my feelings. I have to know what's going on!” She slammed her glass down onto the table with the last word, and to her satisfaction, both the young people winced.

 

Good. She'd gotten through to them.

 

“You can start with the spell Kaede miko-sama preformed to allow you to see through his eyes, Kagome.” Mrs. Higurashi folded her hands neatly on top the table and waited.

 

 

 

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

.Some hours later.

 

“Momma, it's not like we kept it from you on purpose!” Kagome tried to reason with her pacing mother. Apparently the unflappable Mrs. Higurashi's legendary calm could be shaken. Not by the news that her daughter's immortal soul had been tied to a half-youkai's for all of eternity. No, that didn't bother her. “I've always expected something like this to happen, dear, just not something quite so permanent.” No what bothered her was that said daughter had been missing a chunk of said soul. They had been sitting in the kitchen for hours now.

 

First, her mother had sat silently while they told the story of how the spell had changed over time. Kagome, and when she ran out of words, Inuyasha, did their best to fill in all the blanks. They didn't try to soften the story at any part; although Kagome was hesitant to tell her mother about all the times she'd tried to unbind herself from Inuyasha.

 

Then when they were completely finished, they sat back and waited for her questions. And, oh, did she have questions. Mostly about Kikyou…and Kagome's stupidity about spiritual matters.

 

“How could you have been so irresponsible Kagome!? You grew up in a spiritual family! You should have known what happens to people missing pieces of their souls! Things like this happen! Evil spirits posses you! I…I just can't…!” Mrs. Higurashi threw up her hands and just shook her head. Kagome took a deep breath and tried again for the fourth time to get her mother to listen to her explanation.

 

“Momma, I didn't realize the seriousness of Kikyou having part of my soul before the accident that took my sight. Nothing too bad…happened before that. We had no idea that Inuyasha's soul would try to compensate for my lose when Kaede set the spell.” She exchanged glances with Inuyasha, trying not to think of all the times bad things such as her mother described had happened before she'd lost her sight. “Plus Kikyou needed it more than I did.” But what she really meant was that Inuyasha needed Kikyou to have it.

 

“And you!” The irate mother swung to face Inuyasha, “You! Kagome is missing a part of her soul because you couldn't let go of the past! What happens when you have to face this Kikyou again and she's dying, huh? Are you going to choose her over Kagome again?! No wonder Kagome came home crying so much! You let her almost kill herself twic---“

 

“Mother!” Kagome stood up quickly, horrified, and interrupted her mother's rant, “I will not let you speak to Inuyasha like that. You can not understand the anguish he's been through since the very beginning of this. He's not at fault for following his feelings,” she swallowed hard and her voice cracked with her next words, “Even if those feelings lead him away from me most of the time. When he first made the choice to keep Kikyou alive we'd only know each other for a few weeks. After that, he was obligated to take care of her. When we found out…when we found out that because Kaede had tied us together…”

 

Kagome trailed off, wondering how to make her mother understand all of the feelings that had swirled around in her head during those early weeks of the bond...That still swirled around her head daily.

 

How did you explain such deep pain and confusion to someone who hadn't been there? How did you articulate sleepless nights and crushing guilt, coupled with relief that you would never have worry about losing the one you loved to another person again?

 

To a person who looked liked you. Sounded like you. Smelled like you?

 

How did you explain the fear that every time he looked at you, or touched you, or kissed you, that he was thinking of her.

 

How did you explain that even with all this doubt you still loved him so much that it hurt? That every bit and every fiber in your whole entire being longed to be with him.

 

No. Matter. What.

 

Inuyasha tugged her back down onto the floor beside him pressed a hard kiss to her mouth, not caring that her mother would see. He knew the thoughts that were churning inside of her, tearing her up inside. But he was in awe at her loyalty to him. And for the first time it hit home just how much she loved him. It no longer mattered that she had trouble saying the words. This was enough. He looked over at her mother, and spoke for the first time in almost in hour.

 

“I understand how angry you are right now. And nothing I'm gonna say will make you believe that I've loved your daughter practically from first time I saved her ass from youkai. I just didn't know how to deal with loving her until this shit started. But I can promise that I'm sure as hell gonna stay by her side for the rest of my life.” He stood up and moved over in front of Kagome's mother.

 

“You wanted the truth? The whole, complete truth about what happens on the other side of that damn well? The truth is that your daughter is the most courageous woman I have ever met. She put up with me when all I could offer her was my protection. And kami-sama knows I fucking failed at that most of the time. I don't give a damn about how many times we've almost lost our souls in the last month. Kagome is mine. No one can ever take her away. Ever.” He finished in a growl.

 

Mrs. Higurashi stared up into the young man's face for a long moment. His eyes were such a dark golden color that they looked almost orange in the artificial light of the kitchen.

 

This was the man who had hurt her daughter so very often.

 

This was the man who promised to protect her daughter and so often failed.

 

This was the man that her daughter ran back to just as often.

 

“Do you mean it?” She asked, her tone starting out soft but gaining firmness near the end, “Do you mean it when you say you love her? Does that mean that you love her enough to stay with her? In a nut shell the story that I've heard tonight is about how Kagome stays with you no matter what. You wanted to go off and fight this evil person as revenge, so she goes. You can't even make up your mind between the living and the dead, yet she stays. The whole tale revolves around her following you. So tell me Inuyasha, and I promise to never ask again, will you still be with her when age has turned her skin thin and her hair gray? When she can't lose the weight she's gained from carrying your children? I have to know before I give my daughter to you if you love her as much as she loves you?”

 

“Inuyasha you don't have to…”Kagome tried to jump in.

 

“No I do. I love your daughter. I love your daughter enough to die for her, but more importantly I love Kagome enough to live for her. She is the only person. The only person, do you understand, in my whole entire miserable life, who hasn't looked down on me for my blood. Damn, I don't deserve her, but there it is.” His voice was more growl than anything when he finished. His hands were shaking from his intensity, and his ears were nonexistent on the top of his head.

 

And Mrs. Higurashi believed him.

 

 

 

 

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The room held silence but for the deep breathing of the girl's companion.

 

It was a still kind of silence. Not so much the absence of noise, because there was some noise. Night noise from animals outside, the sound of the T.V from the room below, and the low murmur of the voices from Kagome's family members who were still awake. No, it was more an absence of movement, even though the window was cracked half way.

 

Her bedroom was bathed in blue holiness. The moonlight from the open window poured in and coated everything in a surreal radiance. Normal objects, like her discarded coat on the floor, the pencil case on her desk, crumpled papers in the waste basket, and half open text books, took on a magical glow. Yet for all this, the stillness and the magic, the girl moved restlessly in her bed. She paid no mind to the azure lull. Tonight her thoughts focused on the future.

 

A future that up until a few weeks ago had seemed very far away.

 

It surprised her how suddenly the future could sneak up on a person. But here it was. It was time for her to choose between living in a time where everything was easy and automatic, or an era where everything a person needed to survive had to be paid for with sweat and blood. Her era had it's hardships of course, there was the absolute need for an education, and the constant threat of global warming or some other calamity that humans had brought on themselves. And there was the crime. The wars and muggings and raps of women and of children and murder and all the hate people had for their fellow humans. But Kagome's era couldn't claim a monopoly on the sick twisted things humans could inflict upon each other. Inuyasha's time had all of that in abundance too.

 

When it came right down to it, the 21st century was the best choice, the smartest choice for her. Because at least here she wouldn't have to work herself into an early grave just to put food in the mouths of her children. Here she wouldn't have to worry about the whims of warlords and demons. Here she wouldn't have to work so damn hard just to survive.

 

Here she would actually have in-door toilets and microwave ovens.

 

The hanyou beside her stirred in his sleep and rolled over, searching for her missing warmth. One of his hands crept out from under the blue-washed blanket and sought her out. She caught his hand in hers and gently stroked one of his soft ears. He mumbled unintelligible words and settled back into sleep.

 

Here she wouldn't have Inuyasha, because she could see no way for her hanyou to be comfortable in this era of digital clocks and electric lights. Even with all its comfort, this just wasn't the life for him. Inuyasha enjoyed the fight for survival. The constant grapple for dominance. It was the proof he needed to convince himself that he was still alive.

 

When she'd been talking to her mother tonight she'd realized that she was finally ready to give it all up. She'd give up hot water out of a faucet and comfortable modern clothes.

 

For this man, she'd give up her education. The thing that had meant so much to her for so many years.

 

She loved this man. Truly, deeply, abundantly, adored this man. These feelings she had now were so different than the ones she'd had on that long ago day when she'd declared that she would never leave his side. Then, she'd felt mostly friendship, loyalty, and maybe the first stirrings of the deeper thing that now lived in her heart. Kagome knew now that she was ready.

 

Ready to admit to Inuyasha how she felt.

 

Ready to accept that she was bound, heart and soul, to him forever.

 

Ready to acknowledge that she wasn't wholly human anymore.

 

Ready to move on and live.

 

Ready to be happy.

 

“You still up?” Inuyasha's sleep-rough voice croaked up from beside her. Kagome looked down at him. Her arms were wrapped around her drawn-up knees, and for the first time she realized that she was cold.

 

“Umm-hmm. I was just thinking.” She smiled at him, and moved to snuggle back down under the covers at his side. Inuyasha enveloped her in a one arm embrace. With his other hand he found a strand of her hair and played with it.

 

“Keh, what have I told you about thinking? It's deadly.” He growled without any real heat. Kagome rolled her eyes; even though she was pretty sure he had his eyes closed.

 

“If you don't want me to know your doing something, then don't think about it so loudly.” Kagome sighed at his words and rolled over on her side facing him propping up on her elbow.

 

“Tomorrow I'll go see the doctor if mom can get an appointment, and if not, I'll have to go to the emergency room.” She waved off his curiosity, “It's just a different kind of place to find a healer. Then on the way home we can stop by a toy store for Shippou. Mom should have some supplies ready for us when we get back. Then we can go…home.” She waited for him to comment of her hesitation, but he didn't.

 

“Are you sure you don't want to go to school while we're here?” Inuyasha asked as he brushed his clawed finger down her cheek. Kagome distractedly noticed that the blue moonlight turned his silver hair lilac. Such a girly color for so fierce a man.

 

“No…no I've decided to stop going to school…it's just not as important to me as it was. Not to say that I'm going to stop learning…just at home, and at my own pace.” She shifted, wondering if he would catch her entire meaning. Inuyasha's eyes were hooded, but she could feel his confusion and wonderment. He couldn't understand why. Even after all the things he'd said to her mother, he still couldn't understand.

 

Maybe he was still sleep befuddled.

 

“I realized something tonight; that up until recently the only reason I was so obsessed with finishing school was because I believed that with out an education I would have no future security. I believed that after the jewel quest was finally finished I would go back down the well and never come back. So I had to have some way to take care of myself. Because you, Sango, Miroku and even Shippou would no longer be here for me to depend on. Now…well now, things are different.” She moved her head off of her palm to lay against his chest.

 

“Different how?” Oh, he had an understanding of what she was trying to say to him now. But he had to hear it from her in plan language. The time for fancy word games and endless verbal circles were over. Inuyasha's heart sped up, and echoed painfully in his ears. He waited, and thought he would surly die, before she opened her mouth to spit out whatever truth she'd found. This was a moment that would change the rest of his life.

 

“I'm ready. I realized tonight that everything…my guilt over Kikyou, my worries about the future, the physical things that have gone wrong, none of it means anything. Because I would do it all over if it meant I would be able to spend the rest of my eternity with you. All I truly ever wanted was for you to love me, and I have that now. I can face anything, Naraku and possibly living to see myself being born…. Because I love you. Because you finally…finally…finally belong to me, and me alone.”

 

Inuyasha was silent for a brief moment. It seemed to him like he'd forgotten to breathe. But that only lasted for a fraction of forever before he'd flipped over on top of Kagome. He had her surrounded by his hair and his hands, and his weight on top of her pushed her into the mattress. Kagome could feel his breath puffing rapidly against her face, and she couldn't pull her eyes away from the sudden brightness of his own orbs.

 

“Do you mean that?” He growled, in an entirely different tone than he normally used. Why did this voice send shivers down her spine and heat pooling in strange places?

 

“You know I do.” She breathed out. He was so close to her that his face was all she could see.

 

“Say it again.” Inuyasha nuzzled the side of her neck, brushing light kisses onto her suddenly sensitive skin.

 

“Which part?” Now she was just being difficult. Well two could play at that. Inuyasha turned his kisses into nips as he worked his way down her neck and onto her collarbone. Her shivers were shutters now.

 

“The part where you say,” He stopped to blow lightly on her damp skin, much to her distraction, “that I belong to you…And that you love me…” He turned his attention to her jaw line.

 

“Oh…that part.” Kagome decided against anymore games. She wanted him to finish what he'd started. Now. “I. Love. You.”

 

With her words Inuyasha finally allowed himself to kiss her. It was a slow deliberate kiss. He gently asked for entrance into her mouth and Kagome consented with a moan. Inuyasha found the hold he had on his instincts slipping. Her taste…Her smell. It surrounded him and lived through him and became one with him. Then she did something to their link. And if wasn't unpleasant.

 

Go figure.

 

Whatever Kagome had done, it allowed him to feel her desire for him…this was different than feeling her emotions or hearing her thoughts…The edges of his perspective blurred and the desire to take her doubled. Somehow she lost her shirt, Inuyasha would never figure out which one of them had thrown it across the room. He pulled himself away from her lips reluctantly, then made his way down toward her heaving chest. One hand came up to cup her breast, and Kagome's quick inhale and spiked sent told him all he needed to know. He smirked at her. Enjoying the way her skin was flushed and her eyes were half wild. Then he deliberately caught her gaze and leaned down to take one of her peaked nipples into his mouth. Her hands fisting in his hair was all the encouragement he needed.

 

Kagome had never felt like this before. The burning in her center called out for something…more. She shifted her hips, trying to find that thing she needed mindlessly. Her hands clenched erratically in Inuyasha's hair as he switched his attention to her other breast.

 

“Ah…I need…Inuyasha…I” To her frustration she couldn't get anymore past her lips. She managed to free one hand from his hair and moved it down her body, searching for something…anything to help relieve the pressure. Her questing hand brushed up against something hard that was pressing against her hip and Inuyasha released a strangled sound that was between a yelp and growl. She squeezed, realizing now in her lust flavored haze just what it was that she was fondling.

 

The abrupt feeling of cold air on her bare skin was the only warning she had before Inuyasha was crouched half way across her bedroom. She sat up, chest heaving with surprise and unfulfilled passion, and shot him a worried look.

 

“Inuyasha?” she asked, not being able to say more.

 

“I…we…remember…we can't do this…”He was breathing just as irregular as she was, and trying desperately to control himself.

 

“Why…again…? Something about Myoga, right?” She wanted to beckon him back to bed, but didn't feel comfortable doing such a thing. Her breathing was slowing down, but the ache in her center wasn't going away. She pressed her thighs together, and hoped that that would help.

 

“Because, I'm not sure how us…being together…will change the bound. Until the flea gets back with answers…we can't do…that.” He finished lamely. He kept his gaze on the floor and tried to concentrate on taking in as little air as possible.

 

“Oh.” Was all she said, and suddenly he had to get out. He couldn't stay in here with the smell of her desire still permeating the air, and her eyes looking so dejected. He quickly stood and crossed the room to the window. At its base he found her pajama top and threw it over his shoulder without even looking toward her bed.

 

“I'll…I just need some fresh air.”

 

Then he was gone. And Kagome was left wondering, not for the first time, just what kind of information he'd sent Myoga after. And how long it would take the flea to find it.

 

 

. . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

. . . . . . . . . . .

 

 

 

THE OF CHAPTER

 

Okay…So nothing happened…yet it did…

 

I've decided not to get bogged down anymore with random stuff…The next chapter will get the plot moving again. I've had to restructure the end of this story a bit…but I think I like where it's headed now. The new direction will clean up some of the messy ends that the first version would have left.

 

I'm terribly sorry that it's taken this long to get this chapter out...I've moved twice since I last posted…and college…

 

That's really all I have to say. But I have taken pains of late to get my priorities straight ...and I'm scheduling in some “fun” time, which includes time to write.

 

I also recently stopped taking my antidepressant… (and I don't advise that anyone do that without their doctor's permission) and doing that has given me back my creativity.

 

Anyway…next time on TWTHE!

 

Myoga comes back…and look! He brought guests! But no answers…

It's time for another journey…but this one isn't for shards!

And Kouga and Kikyou (not together, separately, but in the same chapter) come to pay our favorite couple a visit!

 

Oh, yes, there will be blood…

 

 

See ya' soon (Figuratively speaking of course)