InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Torrent ❯ Questions ( Chapter 43 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

By: Sueric

~~Chapter 43~~

~Questions~

`Papa sad.'

Kagome sighed and glanced in the direction that Tajiko stared. InuYasha sat high in Goshinboku, perfectly still, lost in thought. `Papa sad, but Papa loves Taji,' she thought, trying to distract the far-too-perceptive child.

`Taji love Mama and Papa.'

She smiled despite her grim thoughts. `Maybe I should have gone home anyway,' she mused. `InuYasha can't even look at me, and the few times he has, he looks like I broke his heart . . . . I did, didn't I? How could I be so stupid?'

`Papa adores Mama. Papa says.'

Kagome desperately wanted to believe that . . . .

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InuYasha stared over the treetops without seeing anything. Any youkai could come lumbering up, and he probably wouldn't have noticed. It was a good thing that there hadn't been any spotted in the area in the last few days though the fight might have been a welcome distraction, too.

`I kissed her . . . . I asked her not to tell you. I thought I should be the one to do it. It was, after all, my mistake.'

`I fell asleep under a tree, and I was dreaming that you were there . . . .'

There was something missing, something that neither of them had said. Kagome was telling him the truth. He'd always been able to tell if she was hiding something from him. Still, Kagome was smart. Sesshoumaru couldn't have tricked her into thinking that he was InuYasha. How, then, had he fooled her?

Three days since he got home. Three nights when he hadn't slept a wink. Unable to do more than sit and stare at Kagome, she seemed so far away from him even when they shared the same room.

`Does she love me?'

He'd always felt her love before. As though a wall had been built between them, InuYasha couldn't hear the whisper of her heart to his anymore. Words he desperately needed to hear, voices that he wanted to believe.

`Kagome . . . .'

He dropped out of the tree, landing lightly behind Kagome and Tajiko. He flinched inwardly at the uncertainty in Kagome's gaze, as though she feared what he would say to her. He picked up Tajiko and settled her on his shoulder then reached down for Kagome's hand. Hesitantly, she took it, and he pulled her to her feet.

“I . . . uh . . . wondered if your mother would mind watching Tajiko so we can talk?”

She looked surprised at his words. She nodded slowly and fell in step beside him as they headed for the clearing and the Bone Eater's Well. “She'd like that, I'm sure.”

They stopped beside the well. InuYasha handed Tajiko to Kagome before sweeping them both up in his arms. He heard her sigh as she snuggled slightly closer to him. He closed his eyes and leaped into the darkness.

`Odd how everything looks the same,' InuYasha thought as he set Kagome back on her feet at the bottom of the well-house stairs. As though his entire world hadn't been shifted beyond belief, he stared at the courtyard, at the shrine in wonder. Kagome drew a deep breath. Was she thinking the same thing?

They didn't speak as they slowly walked toward the doors. He opened the door for her. Kagome shot him a quick glance before she stepped past him. `Grandma,' Tajiko thought happily. `Grandma play Taji.'

Mrs. Higurashi heard the door close and stepped out of the kitchen. Her face instantly spread into a smile, and she dried her hands on a dishtowel as she hurried forward to greet them. “Kagome! InuYasha! What brings you by?”

“Mama, we were wondering if you could keep Tajiko overnight?”

“Well, I'd love to! But we were going to go to see the Yakanumas . . . unless you don't mind if I take her? We were going to be gone all weekend . . . . They'd love to see Tajiko again, though.”

Kagome shot him a questioning glance. InuYasha frowned. Why was Kagome being so . . . meek? “So, two days?”

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head. “More like three, if that's all right.”

Quite honestly, that was a bit too long, in InuYasha's opinion. He stifled a sigh. He really did want to talk to Kagome, though. Finally, he nodded once. “Taji be good girl.”

Tajiko whimpered and held her hands out toward her father. He took her and kissed her cheek. `Papa and Mama be back for Taji.'

Tajiko's whimper turned into a pout as her eyes filled with tears. `Taji stay Papa. Taji stay Mama.'

`Taji stay Grandma. Good girl.'

He caught the puzzled look on Mrs. Higurashi's face. `Taji talk Grandma,' he admonished.

Tajiko stared at her father for another moment before turning to look at her grandmother. `Taji go bye Grandma?'

InuYasha hid his grin as Mrs. Higurashi's eyes widened in shock. “Did she---?”

Kagome obviously caught the exchange, too, because she was smiling, as well. “She can talk to you, in your mind.”

`Taji want cookie,' the girl remarked.

InuYasha made a face and quickly glanced at Kagome, who was giving him a rather knowing look. “You be good, baby girl.” He kissed her head.

“Be good,” she repeated out loud and turned to open and close her hand---classic `bye bye'. He blinked in surprise.

Kagome kissed Tajiko's cheek. “Love you, angel,” she said, smoothing down Tajiko's silvery locks.

Tajiko leaned toward Kagome and plopped an open-mouthed, slobbery kiss on her cheek. InuYasha smiled. Kagome didn't wipe it off.

“Oh! I forgot her things!” Kagome gasped, shooting a panicked look at InuYasha.

Mrs. Higurashi shook her head. “That's fine, dear. I'll pick up whatever she needs.”

“Are you sure?”

“Get out of here, you two! Tajiko and I will have lots of fun, won't we?”

`Fun!' Tajiko squealed.

InuYasha could tell from Mrs. Higurashi's face that it would take awhile for the woman to get used to Tajiko's way of speaking in her mind.

At least it had served to lighten the tension between them, InuYasha realized as they headed back toward the well. Kagome was still smiling slightly, and that was good enough for him.

They didn't talk as they passed through the time slip. No words passed as he scooped her up and settled her against his back. They traveled without a real destination. InuYasha figured he'd catch their dinner, if it came to that. Kagome rested her cheek against his shoulder, and he knew when she fell asleep against him. `She still trusts me,' he thought with a slight smile. `No matter what, she still trusts me . . . .'

The sun was starting to sink when InuYasha reached a small clearing near a quiet stream. He carefully settled Kagome against a tree trunk and made quick work of starting a fire. After staring at her for long minutes, he bounded off into the forest to find something to feed his mate.

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Kagome awoke slowly and stared around at the clearing. Where was she? Where was InuYasha?

She put another log on the fire and rinsed her face in the stream.

“Sorry,” InuYasha said as he stepped out of the forest. “I only caught this.”

She glanced back and smiled. He had a fat hare ready to cook. He looked irritated, and she knew it was because normally he brought back a few different varieties of meat. “That's fine,” she remarked. “I'm not very hungry, anyway.”

He shot her a look. “You're still nursing our pup,” he stated in his `Don't-You-Even-Think-About-Arguing-With-Me' tone. “You'll eat.”

She sat down with a sigh, staring at the fire with a meek frown. “Okay.”

InuYasha set up a makeshift spit for the meat and sank down next to her, surveying his accomplishment with a discerning eye. The stars were starting to come out and the moon rose slowly. He made a face. “Full moon,” he said quietly.

Kagome didn't answer right away. When she did, her voice was barely a whisper. “That's what started it. The full moon.”

He sighed. “Can I ask you something?”

“Sure.”

“How did it . . . happen?”

She shook her head, staring into the fire as though she was looking for answers, too. “ . . . I don't know. I talked to Rin, and I got tired, I guess, and I lay down. I must have fallen asleep because I had this dream . . . . It was so real. You were there, and . . . .” She swallowed hard, drew in a ragged breath. He didn't look at her. He didn't have to. He could smell her tears. “And I told you to . . . kiss me, only I guess it wasn't you at all---” She smothered a sob with the back of her hand.

InuYasha had heard enough. With a curt nod designed to let her know she'd answered his question, he got up and slowly walked away.

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Kagome watched him go through her tears. As much as it had hurt her to tell him, it had to be so much worse for him to hear. `How could I have done such a horrible thing? I love InuYasha . . . there's never been anyone else in my heart . . . so why? How could I mistake Sesshoumaru for InuYasha?'

She wanted to follow him. She wanted to tell him how much she loved him. She wanted to hear him say that he still loved her.

She couldn't move.

She got up and turned the hare and sank back down as the chill air permeated the thin fabric of her blouse. She shivered.

With a moan, Kagome realized something else she hadn't thought about before InuYasha and she had set out on this little adventure. It was about the time of evening that she normally nursed their daughter, and her breasts were reminding her of that. They didn't hurt quite yet but they would by morning, she was sure.

Still she couldn't find it in her to look for him. He needed some time to think or he wouldn't have left her.

Lulled into a semi-haze by the dancing flames, Kagome watched the meat. When it was done, she choked down as much as she could, washing it down with a drink of water from the stream.

InuYasha still hadn't returned.

Her eyelids felt gritty. Kagome let her forehead rest on her raised knees. `Just rest my eyes,' she thought with a sigh, tightening her arms around her legs for warmth. `Just for a moment.'

Five minutes later, she was asleep.

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A/N:

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Review Q & A

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Angelstars (MMorg):

Sesshoumaru actually already has my respect, I am a fangirl. So hearing him attempt to make, what he had to admit to InuYasha, a little easier on him was surprisingly reassuring. The small references to The Guardian caught my attention before I read your ending notes... awe; I do feel extremely sorry for InuYasha now... it wasn't too much of a shock that he didn't reject Kagome... I wonder what lies ahead for them now?

Ok, confessions: believe it or not, I'm rather a Sesshoumaru fangirl, myself, I adore both brothers, actually … But there's something really fantastic about Sesshoumaru-sama … HEH! I'm not sure how well it came across. Sesshoumaru was protecting Kagome … And I'm sure he'll eventually divulge his reasons.

I don't think it should really come as a `surprise' that InuYasha didn't reject Kagome, either. He has unwavering faith in her, after all …

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Haunt:
MediaMiner uploads the chapters, but I'd advise going to, say, chapter one, and then going in the dropdown box and getting to the other chapters. That's what I do, anyway. Because the chapters don't seem to show up, but when you do that in the dropdown it works.

And there ya have it! Thanks!

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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~