InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Time After Time ❯ You Are My One ( Chapter 24 )

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

Chapter 24:  You are My One

Kagome looked up as she ran into the house, catching her mother's eye, and smiled.  “Hi, mama!  Is there something wrong?”  she asked, a confused expression settling into her eyes as her mother indicated the seat across from her – the seat with a piping hot cup of tea in front of it.

“I noticed that you looked upset in your sleep last night, dear, and wanted to see what was going on in your life that would cause that expression.”

With a blush, Kagome sipped her tea.  “A lot has been happening, mama, and I hadn't known what to do at first, but now I do.”

“Well, why don't you explain to me what was causing you the upset, then, dear, and set my heart at ease,”  she replied calmly.

Sighing, Kagome obliged, telling her mom everything that had happened with Sugimi, and all the crazy women from his past.  “I don't really know what this last lady, this Yuuka was to him, but it was obvious that there was some kind of feeling between them.”

She fell silent, and it stayed that way for a few minutes, and then she asked,  “So.. what has changed your mind between last night and this morning?”

What she said next caused no surprise in her mother, and with a smile, she told her so.  “Goshinboku showed you the truth of this males feelings for you... interesting.  Did I ever tell you it did sort of the same thing  for your father and I?”

Fascinated, Kagome shook her head.  “Iie, mama, you never said that before, just that the god tree was with us through all of our family moments, and was part of our family.”

“When your father was just about ready to propose to me, we had gotten into a huge fight, because of an ex-girlfriend.  I wasn't sure I could ever face him again, I was so uncertain of his feelings for me, and the Goshinboku showed me his heart.  If it weren't for the God tree, you and your brother wouldn't even exist.”

“Well... I guess its the same thing for me, too, because I wasn't sure either, about his feelings, and was ready to finish my task there and then come back here and never see him again.  Now, I can't do that.”  She sipped the last of her tea, and set the cup down in the sink with firm determination.

“If you'll excuse me, mama,”  she murmured, and her mother smiled, and nodded.  With that, Kagome dashed up the stairs, only to hurry through her usual morning routine and then run back down the stairs.

“Bye, mama!”  she yelled as she disappeared out of the front door, and her mother simply smiled with a bittersweet edge as she watched her now adult daughter run straight into her destiny.  “Goodbye, dear...

When next she saw her daughter, she would be a woman full-grown, no longer her little girl.  

And most importantly – she'd be happy.

~oOo~

What a long night, Sugimi thought as he stood up and stretched.  I only hope this wasn't all in vain, and that she listens and gives me the chance to explain before she leaves me.

Honestly, though, he couldn't say he didn't understand, what with all the females from his past deciding to drop in on him at once.  It must be horribly upsetting to be faced with such, especially for an innocent like Kagome.  

He was uncomfortably aware that he had not made the best impression when it came to courting her, and it really wasn't hard to understand why she had gotten so upset last night – upset enough to leave.  It couldn't have looked good, the way he'd reacted to seeing Yuuka, and he could only pray that she gave him the chance to explain – though he wouldn't be surprised if she didn't want to.

He knew for himself, if he'd been in her shoes, he'd probably have killed whoever was causing such a reaction within her, not even giving a chance for explanations before blood would have been spilled.

Now, all he could do was sit and wait, hoping that she would come back through the well soon before he went insane thinking through all the different scenarios that could be brought down upon his foolish head.  Honestly, were anyone to ask, he felt like a pup chasing his first crush around, and for a youkai of his age to say such was almost mind-boggling.

This was what he'd been reduced to... Satori would have a field day with this one, he was sure.

Despite knowing that the sun had only come up a short time before, he was becoming most impatient, wanting to find Kagome now, not later.  Patience, he sighed to himself, she is most likely not even awake, yet.

With a dispirited growl, he turned from the well and began to walk away, heading once more for the Goshinboku, hoping that the god tree would act to once again calm him down and let him regain his sanity.

He hadn't taken two steps when he felt the swell of magic from the well, and then, blessed relief, Kagome's scent and aura washed over him, leaving him blissful and intoxicated – for all of two seconds before worry kicked back in and he found himself anxious once more.

Turning, he moved back to the well and reached his hand over the edge.  After a moment, he felt her take his hand, and closed his eyes, his Kagome-starved body lapping up the feel of her soft skin against his own like a dying man.  

Gently, he pulled her up and over the edge, then set her down, before opening his eyes.  “Kagome, I-”

She held a finger to his lips and shushed him softly.  “I need to apologize for running off and worrying you just because I was jealous that Yuuka was someone important to you,” she said, gripping his fingers tightly.  “It was stupid of me to think that you wouldn't have many women that you have feelings for in one way or another, after all, you've been around for a long, long time, and I haven't,”  she said deprecatingly.

He reached up and gently removed her fingers from his mouth.  “Can I say something now, Kagome?”

She nodded, spellbound at his touch, though he didn't realize it.

“At one time, many centuries ago, my parents, as well as Yuuka's, were very close friends.  She and I were born on the same day, at the same time, even, and as portents go, it was not surprising that they all assumed we would be mates.  Because of that, as time went on, the same was assumed by all of us.”  He shook his head at Kagome when she made to speak.  “However, eventually, that all came to an end, when Yuuka met the one she was really meant for – his name was Daiki.  They were very happy together, although her parents disowning her hurt her, she would have been hurt worse by losing him.  I supported them then, and still to this day, wish that she could be free to join her mate on the other side.”

Kagome's eyes went wide at that.  “You would wish for her to die!?”  she sounded out, shocked.

He nodded.  “In this case, yes.  When one mate dies, it is only a kindness that the other goes with them.  If they don't... it is a life of endless suffering, Kagome – unending pain day in and day out.  I wouldn't wish that on my worst enemy,”  he said quietly.  He was silent for a moment, seemingly contemplating something, and then he said,  “If it were I, Kagome, and you were taken – I would follow you to the other side.  I could not make a life here without you – not anymore.”

Even more shocked, eyes rounded as she stared at him, uncertain what to say.  Would she follow him if he were to go first?  And that was all it took – she was finally facing herself in all this.  How did she really feel for the handsome daiyoukai that had just said he couldn't live without her?  She was attracted, certainly – what woman with functioning eyes wouldn't be?

But being honest with herself, she knew that when she'd seen those two last night, thinking there was so much between them, and that she didn't belong with him had, simply speaking, hurt more than anything else ever had.  And that pretty much said it all.  Would she follow him if he were to go?

Yes.  

And that told her everything she needed to know as she burst into tears and threw herself at the now worried Sugimi.  She just shook her head as he tried to pull her away to look at her; with a bewildered expression, he let her hold onto him so hard they'd need the jaws of life to detach her, and cry.

“I-I w-would follow y-you, too, S-Sugimi,”  she sobbed, barely distinguishable; he heard it, though, and his heart leapt – was she saying what he thought she was saying?

“Kagome?”  he asked hesitantly, his voice holding an uncertain note that tugged at her sore heartstrings.

“I'm s-so sorry that I made you wait so long, I r-really am,”  she hiccuped, finally allowing him to pull her away a little so he could see her face.

“Kagome,”  he said carefully, obviously not wanting to take anything for granted,  “are you saying that...?”

She once more buried her face in his chest, and nodded.  “I love you, Sugimi, I do, I really do,”  she whimpered, and almost choked as he clutched her tighter to him with relief, his shaking shoulders telling her enough of what he was feeling as he released weeks of fear and pent-up emotions.

It was cathartic, and was needed by both of them.

Time passed; when the two awoke to their positions once more, Sugimi was sitting with his back against the well again, only this time, he was wrapped in his pelt and Kagome, and that made the whole thing worthwhile, as far as he was concerned.

Incoherent murmurings and soft kisses gave way to passionate kisses and coherent utterances, words of love and happiness not marred by any uncertainty – at least on Sugimi's part.  Kagome herself still didn't understand why he saw her the way that he did, only that he did.

“It does not matter to me, Kagome; were there a million women standing here right now that held more physical beauty than you, I would not care, nor would I be interested.  In you, I am fulfilled and content with my life; I have no need of another.  Kana may try to regain my interest – it will not happen, heart of my heart.  She is as nothing to me, and should be the same to you,”  he said, when Kagome articulated her lack of understanding about his choice of her, and his equally strange – in her view – dislike of Kana.  She understood full well why she didn't like the other woman, but she was certainly all that a male would find attractive, and it was hard for Kagome to understand his complete lack of interest.

Then again...

“Well, I suppose it could be because men, once they've had something, tire of it – and since you've already had Kana, she holds no more interest for you,”  Kagome said, determined to understand his point-of-view.  This was one she could understand quite well – it's why women in her time always said not to sleep with the guy too soon, or he'd disappear on you once he'd had what he wanted.

She wasn't meaning it to be an insult to his honor, she had simply forgotten the differences in ideals between his time and her own.

“Kagome, stop.  You think that I have so little honor that I would think of a woman that way?  Do you think that if you allow me the honor of mating you, I would then tire of you and cast you aside because I'd have 'gotten what I wanted'?  Is this what you think of me?”

Appalled, Kagome tried to backtrack.  “No!  I don't think of you that way, Sugimi!  I... I just...”  she looked down, shamefaced.  With a sigh, she spoke her worst fear, her greatest embarrassment.  “I just don't understand why anyone would choose me over, not necessarily her, per se, but over women that are so much more visually pleasing.”

“That is only your belief, Kagome.  I do not find any of them more beautiful than you.  Is it not said, that beauty is in the eye of the beholder?  To this one's eyes, there is no beauty more striking than your own.  And I find your decided lack of belief in yourself to be an insult.  What my errant son said to you does not count – if this other woman were so much more beautiful, so much more powerful, and so much more wonderful, why would he harbor feelings for you?”

Kagome blinked, then blinked again, too surprised to think of anything to say.

“Exactly.  He told you lies that he tried to use to convince himself that he couldn't be interested in you.  And even then, they didn't work, because Inuyasha is in love with you, not just Kikyou.”  He gazed at her sternly, her chin perched on his finger.  “I would hear no more of this, Kagome.  To me, you are everything, and I have no need for any other.  Were the entire population of the world to disappear save you, I would have everything I need in you to be deliriously happy for the rest of my life.”

A delightful flush washed across her cheeks, her shy blue eyes standing out even more against the thick black of her lashes and cranberry color of her cheeks.  He was entranced – she just had no clue what she made him feel.  All the naughty thoughts he'd had since being woken back up – the even naughtier thoughts he was having now with her perched in his lap...

“Kagome.”

Slightly preoccupied with thoughts of the beautiful male she was sitting on laid out before her, it took Kagome a few moments to realize he was talking to her.

Finally...

“Eh?”  she said absently, mind still delightfully in the gutter.

“What does this all mean to you?”  he asked.

She blinked, taken aback, her attention once more on him.  “Mean?  Is it supposed to mean anything beyond that we love each other?”

“Shouldn't it?  If we both love each other, shouldn't we want to bind ourselves together?”  he asked, eyes narrowing as he wondered if she would pick up on his meaning.  Though, with the scent she was giving off a moment ago...

“You mean...”  she broke off, eyes going wide and somehow innocently hopeful.

“It is all that I have dreamed of since I woke and my first sight was you.  Will you allow me to mate you, little priestess?  You know that once mated, it is forever – nothing will come between us, not even death.  It is everything that this one desires... do you also desire this of me?”  he asked, heart literally in his throat as he asked the one most important question he'd ever asked anyone in his centuries of life.

If she says no... he didn't think he'd survive it.  He really didn't.  And he didn't want to wait any longer, either.  As far as he was concerned, he'd been waiting since the damn day of his birth, and the kami had taken long enough – not that he was displeased in any way with the one they'd created for him, not at all.

But...

She was silent, and he could no longer bear it, he looked up...

And into eyes still wide with hope, her own heart clearly held in his thrall.  “Please, would you?  I want to be your mate more than anything.  Even though it feels so fast on one hand, another part feels as though its taken too long,”  she murmured, tiny fingers tracing paths of heat over his chest.

In an instant, he'd been given everything he'd ever wanted as she asked him to mate her.  

Pulling her closer with desperate hands, he had to make sure... “You know I mean now, do you not, Kagome?  That I will take you and mate you now, and be damned everyone and everything else?” he asked, need clear in his voice.

Heaven came down to soothe his needy heart as she shyly nodded yes, and smiled.

“Yes, I know.  I'm ready to be yours – in truth, I already am,” she said happily.

Everything else disappeared as Sugimi stood, Kagome still held tightly against him, and took to flight, hurrying for the one place undeniably his and close enough by orb to be useful for their needs.

The cave he'd woken in.

~oOo~

Kagome couldn't help but feel that it was somehow right, coming back to where it had started – at least for her.  They, together, had begun in this small grotto in the Northern Mountains when she'd watched him wake, and turn his head to look at her.  

This place where the first person he'd seen had been her.

Sugimi didn't let her go, even as he landed before the entrance to the small cave, carrying her right inside and then settling her gently on the raised dais he'd lain upon.  

She was startled to feel that it was warm, not cold as expected, and not uncomfortable, either – it was like lying in her bed at home, only this formed to you and made you feel as though the rock was molding to your particular shape and needs for comfort.

When she mentioned it, Sugimi told her that it was.

He was no more attracted to discomfort than the next person, and had the cave spelled to his specifications – the rocky 'bed' was truly a bed, forming to whomever lay on it, and kept warm or cool depending on ambient temperature in the cave.

Shrugging, Kagome set all that aside for now – there were, after all, plenty of other things to be focusing on at this point in time.

Namely, a very gorgeous daiyoukai that was in love with her – and beginning to strip himself of those bothersome articles known as armor and clothing.

She had to giggle, even as nervous as she was, at his impatience...

“Are you always so eager, Sugimi?  I would think that with your experience, you would be... I don't know... smoother, maybe?”  she laughed.

He cast her a needy, hungry look as he loosened his kimono and tossed it aside, hands instantly grabbing for his sash.  “Perhaps, Kagome – if the female in question were not you.  However, with you, I am far too eager, as you put it, to worry about how I come across.  If you know what is good for you, little one, you will undress – because if I do it, it is unlikely you will ever wear that particular article of clothing again.”

Eyes wide, Kagome obliged – and Sugimi stood frozen, like a deer in the headlights as he took in his first sight of her bare.

It was a moment he would never forget – no matter how long he lived.




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