InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torrent ❯ Anger ( Chapter 33 )

~~Chapter 33~~

~Anger~

 

The sun was high in the sky when InuYasha opened his eyes and blinked, trying to clear his mind. He smiled as Kagome cuddled closer in her sleep. `Almost three days apart was three days too long,' he thought as he closed his eyes again and tightened his hold on her. There was something to be said for her time, he had to admit. He felt safer here though he wasn't sure why that would be. In this day and age, it seemed easier to relax and to let his guard down than it was in his own time.

 

His stomach growled. With a guilty glance at Kagome, he carefully unwrapped himself from her and scooted off the small bed. The welts on her skin were dissipating, fading away as though they were never really there though the thin red lines would take longer to disappear. On her arms were a few deeper scratches that had actually drawn blood. He had a suspicion that she had used her own fingernails to inflict the damage but why? His brow furrowed, the air filtering through the open window stirring his locks, throwing them in his face. He flipped his head once to rid himself of the distraction before kneeling beside the bed.

 

`Why would she do that?' he wondered again. `Why would she rake up her skin like that? And why does she have this odd smell about her? She smells like . . . some sort of . . . flower? and something else, too . . . I know that scent. She smells like Sesshoumaru . . . but it can't be . . . .'

 

Miroku and he had been so tired after finally locating and then destroying the spider youkai that had tormented the neighboring village. Though they were offered ample accommodations for the night, they had unanimously decided to start back home since neither of them was thrilled with the idea of being away from their families for that long a time.

 

Sango had greeted them with a warm smile and a nice hot meal when they'd straggled into her hut.

 

`How's Kimi?' Miroku asked, holding his son on his lap and ignoring his food for the time being.

 

`She . . . she lost the child,' Sango said softly with a sad shake of her head. `By the time Kagome got there, she was too far into labor to stop the baby from coming.' With a sigh, she glanced at InuYasha and frowned. `Kagome went to see Tajiko. She was really upset over Kimi . . . perhaps having memories she didn't need? Anyway, she went there, InuYasha.'

 

InuYasha pushed his untouched food aside and stood. `I'll be back with Kagome.'

 

`InuYasha!'

 

He stopped and waited as Shippou sped toward him. Launching himself off the ground and onto InuYasha's shoulder, the kitsune youth seemed quite happy. `What are you so happy about, runt?'

 

Shippou's smile faltered, and he sighed as he wiggled his toes and stared at his hands. `I wanted to ask you something,'

 

InuYasha sighed as he stared at the kitsune on his shoulder but kept heading straight for the forest, straight for the well. `Spit it out, brat.'

 

InuYasha resisted the urge to dump the kit when he started fidgeting. Obviously something really was bothering the youngster, and InuYasha was probably going to have to needle it out of him. Ordinarily not such a big deal. But he was anxious to get to Kagome, and forcing the kitsune to talk wasn't high on his list of `want to do'.

 

`There's a girl . . . she's really cute . . . .'

 

Making a face as a flush crept up his cheeks, InuYasha snorted loudly. `You're not asking me for advice? On romance? You've got to be kidding, Shippou! Ask Miroku!'

 

Shippou winced. `I did! I don't want to do what he said, though.'

 

`Why? What'd he say?'

 

It was the kitsune's turn to flush. `He said to grab her---'

 

`Oh, fucking hell! Don't do that! If this girl's smart, she'll clobber you for that.'

 

With a heavy sigh, Shippou nodded. `And her guardian's kind of scary.'

 

`Feh! You're youkai, Shippou. You could take a human.'

 

Shippou dropped to the ground with a very loud snort. `I never said her guardian's a human, baka! Never mind! I'll just wait for Kagome. She's always got better ideas than you two!'

 

InuYasha grinned as he watched the disgruntled kit disappear into the forest before setting out at a run to get to Kagome and Tajiko.

 

With a sigh, InuYasha leaned forward and kissed Kagome's cheek. She moaned softly but didn't stir. He'd let her sleep. She seemed exhausted.

 

Cocking his head to the side as he pulled the door closed behind himself, InuYasha smelled something tantalizing coming from the kitchen. `Follow your nose, InuYasha. Time to put those abilities to good use . . . .'

 

“Oh, you're awake! Did you have a nice nap?” Mrs. Higurashi asked with a grin as InuYasha stepped into the kitchen. Tajiko dropped the wooden bowl she had been playing with and zoomed across the linoleum to tug on InuYasha's hakama.

 

“Baby girl!” he greeted, swooping his daughter up above his head. He tossed her and caught her. She shrieked in delight, and he flattened his ears against the ruckus. Mrs. Higurashi frowned. InuYasha blanked the smile off his face at the gentle rebuke. At least Mrs. Higurashi only frowned at him. Her daughter would have probably said `it' enough times to put him through the floor. He always caught Tajiko. He certainly wouldn't be careless enough to drop her. Women worried to damn much, that was all. “I slept very well,” he replied, his tone exceptionally polite. “Thanks.”

 

Mrs. Higurashi accepted the unspoken apology and set a plate of chocolate chip cookies on the table. A quick sniff informed him that the wonderful smell he'd caught earlier were those things. “Help yourself,” Mrs. Higurashi said as she opened the refrigerator and retrieved the carton of milk.

 

He reached over and grabbed a cookie. Sniffing it thoroughly before he bit into it, he had to admit that it smelled really good. Tajiko must have agreed because she leaned over, waving her tiny hand at the cookie. He held it out of her reach to bite into it. Eyes widening in surprise, he made quick work of the rest of the treat and reached for another as Tajiko protested the disappearance with a frustrated whimper.

 

InuYasha smirked at his daughter's show of temper. He grabbed another cookie and handed it to her.

 

Mrs. Higurashi set a glass of milk on the table for InuYasha and started to turn away. She glanced back again, and gasped, shaking her head as she leaned on the back of a chair with her other hand on her hip. She pinned InuYasha with a frown. “You gave that baby a cookie?”

 

He swallowed and shrugged. “She wanted one.”

 

Mrs. Higurashi's eyes flashed in much the same way that Kagome's did whenever he said something that she didn't like. “InuYasha, she's too little for cookies. She's not even seven months old.”

 

InuYasha glanced down at his daughter, who had the cookie in both hands and was busy trying to stuff as much of it into her mouth as she could. A line of slobber dripped from the bottom of the questionable treat. InuYasha grinned. “She likes it.”

 

After eyeing the hanyou a little longer, Mrs. Higurashi let out a loud sigh and moved off to put the milk away. “Tajiko's first solid food, and you give her a cookie . . . “ she muttered. “By the way, I spoke with our attorney the other day. He said that he may be able to get your information ready by the end of this month, if you still want to marry my daughter.”

 

He didn't miss the hint of disapproval evident in her tone. “Just a ceremony, ain't it? We're already mated, and that's more binding than some human thing.”

 

“Even still.”

 

He shrugged. “All right.”

 

Mrs. Higurashi smiled as she chose a cookie from the rapidly emptying plate. “Is Kagome still sleeping?”

 

“Mmm-hmm,” InuYasha mumbled as he packed away another chocolate chip cookie. “What'd she do? Stay up too late watching one of those movie-things?” he asked as he lifted the glass of milk to his lips.

 

Mrs. Higurashi took Tajiko and headed for the sink to wash her very chocolate face. “No . . . she just arrived about an hour before you did.”

 

InuYasha frowned as he set the empty glass down on the table. “Sango said she came home the day after we left Taji with you.”

 

She grimaced, as though she was trying to make sense of InuYasha's statement. Tajiko whined, protesting the cold washcloth. “No . . . she didn't get in until this morning.” The girl's fussing grew louder. InuYasha reached for her. “She's probably hungry.”

 

“I'll take her to Kagome,” InuYasha said. “It's okay, Taji. I'm taking you to Mama.”

 

Tajiko leaned her head against InuYasha's chest but whimpered. He took the stairs two at a time and quietly opened the door.

 

Kagome didn't look up when he entered the room. Sitting up with her feet on the floor staring at her hands folded in her lap, InuYasha could feel the sadness, the absolute sense of her upset. “Kagome? Taji's ready to eat . . . .”

 

She glanced up at him, and he frowned at the sudden fear that flashed over her features. Gone as quickly as it had come, InuYasha sat down next to her and waited for her to reach for Tajiko.

 

She did, slowly, almost hesitantly. He didn't comment. What had happened during his absence?

 

Tajiko whimpered as Kagome took her with one arm while using her other hand to unbutton her blouse before she cradled Tajiko against her breast. Normally she talked to the pup while she nursed. Kagome remained quiet.

 

Nothing made sense. Sango had said that Kagome had gone home the next day. Her mother said that she hadn't come home until just before he'd arrived. Now she acted like Tajiko was a stranger to her, and after her unsettling behavior earlier, InuYasha was ready for an answer---any answer.

 

“Your mother said you got here this morning just before I did.”

 

The room was silent except for the sounds of Tajiko's nursing, and Kagome's voice was distant, distracted, weary. “Yeah.”

 

“Sango said you left the day after I did.”

 

She swallowed hard and blinked quickly, her eyes fastened on the baby in her lap. “Yeah.”

 

He sighed, grasping for patience before he opened his mouth and stuck in his foot. “So you left to come home . . . and something stopped you?”

 

Tajiko pulled away, golden eyes blinking solemnly as she stared up into Kagome's face. “Your half-brother.”

 

“Sesshoumaru? What did that bastard want?”

 

She flinched at the heat that had infiltrated his tone at the mere mention of his half-sibling. “He . . . asked me to explain some things to Rin.” She licked her lips and shook her head. “She's growing up, and he didn't know how to tell her about the changes in her body.”

 

“Fucking bastard! He waits till I'm gone, and he comes after you! I should have known he'd do something like that!” InuYasha growled as he shot to his feet to pace the floor. “I swear on all that's sacred, I'm going to rip him limb from fucking limb!”

 

He missed the stricken grimace that flitted over her features, didn't hear the sharp gasp at he dire threats. He saw red, the color of blood . . . . “InuYasha . . . . Please!”

 

“What the hell were you thinking, bitch?” he thundered, rounding on her in his irritation. “You know better than to go anywhere with anyone! He hates me! He'd do anything to hurt someone close to me, especially my mate! Do you have any idea what he could have done to you?”

 

An inscrutable look passed over her features. It was gone before he could discern it only to be replaced by a wince, a sudden flash of pain. Anger nudged it aside, and she rose slowly without separating Tajiko from her meal. Eyes flashing, storm clouds forming, she narrowed her gaze at him, daring him, defying him. “I know better than anyone what Sesshoumaru is capable of, and I'm not as helpless as you think I am! I didn't go for him! I went to help her, and I'm fine! Do you hear me? Fine!”

 

Tajiko's terrified screech cut off InuYasha's retort. Kagome seemed shocked at her own outburst. She blinked quickly then tried to soothe the baby. Mentally cursing himself for losing his temper, for causing the raised voices that had frightened the pup, InuYasha stepped toward Kagome, one hand on her shoulder, the other on the child. Wrapping his arms around them both, growling low in his throat, it took awhile before Tajiko quieted. “I'm sorry, Kagome,” he said, leaning his cheek in the softness of her hair. “Just . . . don't go anywhere without me, all right?”

 

She sighed but let her head rest against his chest. “I know you want to protect me. I wouldn't have gone if---”

 

“It's okay. No harm done, right?”

 

She stiffened slightly in his embrace. Tajiko whimpered. InuYasha turned his head when the soft knock came. Mrs. Higurashi stuck her head into the room. “Is something wrong with Tajiko?” she asked, worry etched into her brow.

 

InuYasha shook his head. “No, she's fine. We just had a disagreement.”

 

“Oh? Over you tossing your daughter around like a soccer ball? Or about feeding your daughter cookies?”

 

Kagome leaned away as Mrs. Higurashi closed the door behind herself. “What's this?”

 

“Wha---? Nothing,” he replied quickly, crushing Kagome against him again. “When do you want to go back?”

 

She gasped. “You're changing the subject---and I can't breathe.”

 

His grip loosened just a little. “We can stay here awhile, if you want.”

 

“Since when do you offer to stay here for any length of time?”

 

“Feh!”

 

“I . . . I'd like that.”

 

He smiled as he buried his nose in her hair. He knew she wouldn't be able to pass up an offer to say here, at least for a few days. The rest of the stiffness ebbed out of Kagome, much to his relief. She let him take Tajiko and headed out of the room for her vitamin and a glass of water.

 

InuYasha gazed down at the drowsy girl in his arms. Twirling her hair with a tiny clawed hand, he stretched out on the bed to get her to nap. `Something about the feeling of holding Tajiko on my chest,' he thought with a wide yawn, `always makes me sleepy, too . . . .'

 

It didn't occur to him that in his rush to soothe both his mate as well as his child, Kagome's words were lost. `I know better than anyone what Sesshoumaru is capable of . . . .' He never thought to question what she meant.

 

 

 

 

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A/N:

 

Hakama: "traditional men's outer trousers”

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Aitu--(MMorg):

Awesome! I just love how you make things up! hehe. What's even better is when you make them 100% believable, hehehe. I'm finally catching up on my reading and damn, this is good. Poor Kagome, going from being happy to self mutilation. Ouch. You'd think that by know Kagome and InuYasha would have figured out that it is best to speak to one another after something occurs or if something is bothering them but NOPE! Maybe one of these days they will figure that out. I can only hope so for the sanity of myself, and I'm sure of the other readers. Great job, keep it up. -Aitu

 

LOL, well yeah, that's the thing. Most everything I write is sort of `feel as you go', if that makes any sense. I pretty much just figure I want the story centered on `x', I want `y' type of feeling to be pervasive throughout, and this is what we end up with.

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w_j (MMorg):

I didn't like chapter 32. Kagome is smarter than that. She's been living in the past around youkai and magic long enough to recognize that she was under a spell or something when she kissed Sesshoumaru. What happened to the hot-tempered girl who challenges herself and others when she doesn't think something is right? Why didn't she question Sesshoumaru immediately? You have made her too OOC in this chapter. This is not a flame. I actually like your story very much and I liked Purity too. 'Sorry I'm venting about one chapter. It just irked me to see her written like that here since so many other fics portray Kagome as a weak, pathetic thing wallowing in self-doubt and self-pity when in the manga and anime she is so much stronger, insightful, and smarter (most of the time) than that. I still eagerly anticipate the next chapter.

 

I posted this to reply I suppose, because you raise very good points. While I don't like having Kagome portrayed as weak or pathetic, I don't really view chapter 32 as such. More, she was basically drugged by the plant, not actually put under any sort of witchery or magic. It wasn't necessarily weakness in as much as she actually thought that he was InuYasha. I mean, if you want to look at it that way, then I suppose you could say, too, that InuYasha is Kagome's weakness? Though I tend to prefer to look at them as each other's strengths . . . Thanks for the thoughts, though, and your review wasn't taken at all as a flame of any kind!

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Blanket disclaimer for this fanfic (will apply to this and all other chapters in Torrent): I do not claim any rights to InuYasha or the characters associated with the anime/manga. Those rights belong to Rumiko Takahashi, et al. I do offer my thanks to her for creating such vivid characters for me to terrorize.

 

~Sue~