InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transcending Worlds ❯ Suspected Secrets ( Chapter 5 )

First serious thing between Kags and Inu in this one…^_^

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Chapter 5

 

Suspected Secrets

 

 

"Kagome! Inuyasha! Sango!" cried Shippou in relief as the four people walked out of the shrine. He looked at Mr. Higurashi. "Who's this?" he asked.

 

"Kagome's grandfather," said Sango. She glanced up at Miroku. "Naraku was in there."

 

Miroku stiffened. "He was?"

 

"We heard noises from in there, but we remembered what Inuyasha had said and stayed right here," said Shippou. "Kirara was especially worried, but she didn't go in, either. You know she listens to us no matter what, but her hissing and growling at the shrine worried us even more."

 

"Well, it turns out that Naraku had sealed up the Wind God, and Kagome's grandfather, in the shrine," said Inuyasha. "He had used one of his discarded demons, and froze Sango and me so that Kagome had to fight it on her own." He indicated Kagome, who was leaning heavily into him. "As you can see, the fight drained her of her energy, and she desperately needs some rest. But she did beat the demon, and freed her grandfather and the God. He told her she has to find the Earth Goddess next." He knelt down on the ground and gently lay Kagome down onto the ground. "Damn him," he added with a growl. "I can't believe he pulled something like this. He'll pay for this."

 

Miroku and Sango exchanged amused looks. If Inuyasha was already barking about killing Naraku for Kagome, then he really was attracted to her. That was a relief. Having friends as motivation was a good way to defeat the guy, but normally he found out about ties pretty quickly and used them to his advantage.

 

This Sango remembered, and whispered to Miroku, "Naraku already knows that Inuyasha's becoming attached to her."

 

"How?"

 

"Naraku said something to her that really upset her, and Inuyasha hugged her to comfort her. While that looks good for their friendship, it looks bad for our future with Naraku."

 

"Then we'll just have to be careful," said Miroku matter-of-factly. Sango nodded in agreement, then knelt beside Kagome and began to treat her injured wing. Inuyasha stepped back, feeling rather useless as he watched the two women talk quietly. Miroku stepped up to him.

 

"Inuyasha, didn't it occur to you that Naraku seeing you openly show affection toward Kagome make her an even more likely target to use to trap you?"

 

"Okay, first of all, it wasn't affection, I was trying to make her feel better after Naraku said some shit that upset her. And second of all, yes, it did, and I know I put her into even more danger, but I just had to make her feel better. She looked so upset, I…" Suddenly Inuyasha realized what he was saying and shut up, for he knew Sango and Kagome were listening to him. He blushed slightly, but turned away and mumbled, "Forget it. She needed a friend and I was there. That's all." With that, he turned and walked away, sitting down under a tree and watching the rest of them.

 

"Don't mind him, Kagome," said Shippou. "Inuyasha acts gruff, but he was really worried about you, and felt concerned for your feelings. Forget about his acting. He really does care about you, even if he doesn't show it."

 

"Shippou is right," said Sango. "And frankly, you're lucky. He liked you right away, and that almost never happens when it comes to him. He doesn't normally trust people so quickly."

 

Kagome sat up. "But he doesn't," she said quietly. "He may like me, I don't know, but I know he doesn't trust me. He told me."

 

Sango and Miroku exchanged glances, and Shippou looked over at Inuyasha. Inuyasha, however, scowled and yelled over, "Why are you telling them, Kagome? Do they have to know everything we say to each other?"

 

Kagome looked surprised. "He can hear us over here?" she asked.

 

"Yeah, Inuyasha's got really keen senses," said Sango. "Even if he's not full demon, he still has the senses of one."

 

"Yeah, which means I can hear everything you guys are saying over there, so stop talking about me!" Inuyasha yelled.

 

Shippou shook his head. "Honestly, and he calls me childish," he said.

 

At this, Inuyasha jumped up and began to chase Shippou around, yelling random stuff about beating the shit out of the small demon. The others grinned in amusement, but Kagome looked worried.

 

"He won't really hurt Shippou, will he?" she asked Miroku.

 

"Nah, Inuyasha almost never hits him, and if he does, not really that hard that he'll hurt him badly. He just threatens him if he bothers or annoys him. I think this time, he's both annoyed and embarrassed about earlier and wants to cover it up by trying to appear tough."

 

At that moment, Shippou got a brilliant idea, and leapt at Kagome, landing in her arms. Inuyasha skidded to a halt in front of her, not to willing to hit him in case he hurt Kagome, or she decided to give him a sit. Man, she scared the hell out of him by having that power over him. And that pissed him off. Normally he only had one fear, but now he had two…well, maybe three. But he wasn't sure if…no, he had to think about that later, when he wasn't so distracted by everyone. In the mean time, he just sneered at Shippou.

 

"Keh, that was pretty cowardly of you, Shippou," he said. "You know I won't hurt anyone else. Hmph, you're not really worth it anyway."

 

Kagome smiled in amusement, but had to lean back as a wave of dizziness washed over her. She trembled slightly and knelt back onto her elbows. Everyone looked at her in concern, even Inuyasha.

 

"Okay, we have to stop fooling around now," said Miroku. "Kagome's hurt and tired, we have to get her to a safe place to rest and heal. Maybe we can go back to the village and find a hut."

 

"We can stay in my old one," said Sango. "It wasn't as trashed as the rest of the village, and it is the nicest house in the village."

 

Miroku nodded and knelt down. "Okay, Kagome, climb on."

 

Inuyasha scowled and pulled back Kagome as she stood shakily.

 

"Oh no you don't, Miroku. Knowing you, if she so much as touches you, you'll take that as an invitation to seduce her. We're not that stupid, you know."

 

Sango and Shippou nodded in agreement, and Miroku looked very put out, showing that that had been exactly what he was thinking about.

 

"Inuyasha, why don't you carry her?" said Sango. "You don't have a dirty mind, and you're the strongest and steadiest when it comes to carrying people. Plus, you're the fastest."

 

"Okay," said Inuyasha. He knelt down, as Miroku had, and said to Kagome, "Wrap your legs around my waist and arms around my neck, okay? Do you think you can hold on?"

 

She settled onto his back and he stood up, hitching his arms around her knees. She leaned into his back and nodded.

 

"Yeah, I think so," she murmured quietly. "I can hold on."

 

"Good," he said. "It won't take too long to get back to the village, so just stay awake until we get there, okay?"

 

She nodded and buried her face into his back. Protectively, he tightened his grip on her legs and waited while everyone else climbed onto Kirara after she transformed. (Mr. Higurashi took some convincing. Climbing onto the back of a large, saber-toothed feline that could fly probably freaked him out, but Kagome murmured to Inuyasha that he wasn't too steady on his wings anymore, and so they got him on Kirara anyway.) Then, at a speed that almost made Kagome faint anyway, Inuyasha leapt up into the air and began to run so quickly that everything was a huge blur. She tried to identify her surroundings, but Inuyasha ran so quickly that the blurs just made her feel sicker and dizzier, so she just moaned and pressed her face into his neck.

 

Even over the rushing wind, Inuyasha was able to hear her moan of nausea, but kept going anyway. He felt her press her face into the back of his neck, and for a moment he was overwhelmed by more memories…memories of giving Kikyou rides like this, and pressing her face to his neck the same way, and her lips pressing against his skin in a sucking kiss…

 

He shook his head to try to clear his mind, then cursed himself as Kagome took the headshake as a sign to back off and pulled her face away from him. Luckily, they were about to enter the village, and she would have to get off in a moment anyway.

 

Soon they all regrouped in front of Sango's old home. Kagome asked Sango what had happened, but she said she would tell her later, right now she needed rest. Inuyasha carried her into one of the bedrooms and lay her down gently. He knelt down just a little more and whispered to her, "Sorry, I didn't mean you had to keep away from me during the ride here. I had some bad memories and I was trying to clear my head. Sorry I sent you the wrong message."

 

She looked at him in surprise, then nodded and closed her eyes. A moment later she was asleep. They all sat down in a circle around her and talked quietly, so as not to disturb her. One by one they all dropped off to sleep, too, until Inuyasha was the only one still up. It just was one of those nights when he just didn't, or couldn't, sleep. He watched Kagome, lying there with Shippou in her arms as she slept. Even asleep, there were signs of exhaustion upon her face. And yet she looked so peaceful.

 

"She's so much like Kikyou, and yet so different," he said to himself. He knelt beside the pretty young girl, turning her face towards him. He sighed.

 

"Kagome, you bring back so many memories, ones I can do without," he said sadly. His ears drooped as he felt the guilt wash over him.

 

"Then why do you stay so close to me all the time?" she asked, making him jump. He pulled away as she opened her eyes slowly. Groggily she shook her head and raised into a sitting position, careful not to disturb Shippou. She hugged her knees to her chest and looked at him.

 

"I…I'm sorry, Kagome, I didn't mean to wake you up," said Inuyasha, embarrassed.

 

"It's okay," she said. She couldn't quite meet his gaze, and that was confusing him.

 

"Kagome, why can't you look me in the eye?" he asked.

 

"Maybe because you probably don't want me to. I remind you too much of Kikyou, so maybe not looking at you will help you." She said it softly.

 

Inuyasha sighed. He really needed to work on his girl skills.

 

"Kagome, I'm really sorry. I hate making you feel so bad. I really don't mean it. It's just…"

 

"Inuyasha, I understand," she said softly. "Really, I don't mind that much." She looked outside. "You remind me of someone, too."

 

"Really? Who?"

 

Kagome glanced to the side. "A boy from my old world, named Hojou. He likes me a lot, but that's not the way you remind me of him. It's just that he…" she trailed off, looking distant.

 

"He what?"

 

"He…only liked me because of his ex-girlfriend, at first. But after a while, he began to like me as me. Unfortunately, with you, I…" She shook her head suddenly. "No, never mind. Forget it."

 

"Kagome. You started, so finish. With me, you what?" asked Inuyasha firmly.

 

She sighed. "With you, I'm not sure you'll be able to get over the whole thing. I get the feeling you don't want to forget, and so you won't. I feel so…confused right now."

 

Inuyasha felt surprised by her words, and more than a little hurt. "Kagome, am I being that obvious to you?" he asked.

 

She nodded, glancing away again. For some reason, her hand strayed to around her neck, grasping something under the neck of her kimono. Ignoring that, Inuyasha reached out and grabbed her hand. She looked at him, her face expressionless.

 

"Kagome, I'm so fucking sorry," he said. "I really hate making you feel so bad. And I do want to forget, I just can't. You look so much like her that it's hard to."

 

"Then maybe I should go out on my own. This task has to be done by myself anyway," she whispered. "If it's that painful, I should leave you guys. I-"

 

Inuyasha cursed himself that she had begun to cry. He reached out and pulled her to him, almost crushing her in his tight grip. She buried her face into his chest and quietly began to sob into his chest. Not loud enough for the others to hear and wake up to, but enough to make Inuyasha feel her pain. He clutched her even tighter, feeling confused himself. And yet, it felt so right to hold her, so…natural.

 

"Kagome," he whispered. "I'm sorry, I really am. I don't want you to leave, I really don't." he lifted her face up and wiped her tears away from her cheeks. "Please stop crying, Kagome. You're scaring me."

 

As much as she wanted to, she just couldn't stop the flood of tears that had burst out so suddenly. She didn't even really know what she was crying about. After all, Inuyasha was an insensitive prick she didn't care for, right? Right?

 

'Wrong,' she thought as he suddenly bent his head and gently pressed his lips against hers. She blinked in surprise, but didn't pull back. As a matter of fact, she closed her eyes at the wonder of her very first kiss and kissed him back. They just sat there, in the moonlit room, with the risk of everyone waking up and seeing them, just kissing.

 

Inuyasha was surprised himself. 'Why am I doing this?' he thought to himself, even as he added pressure to her mouth, demanding she open hers, which she promptly did. 'Why am I kissing her, and why does it feel like it's okay? Like it's the natural thing to do?' He swept his tongue around her mouth, exploring it, exploring the taste, her taste. 'I don't know…and yet it feels so good, so right, to kiss her. Oh, shit, fuck the questions. It feels so perfect. Just fuck the doubt and keep kissing her.'

 

Kagome almost gasped as he explored her mouth, but she met his tongue with hers. 'What the hell is he doing?' she thought. 'Didn't he say I remind him of Kikyou? He said he doesn't want to remember her and yet he's doing this to me, something I'm certain he did with Kikyou. I…I don't want to, but I have to stop this. I have to protect us both.'

 

Using every ounce of her self-control…because, really, being kissed by Inuyasha was one of the best feelings she had ever had…she placed her hands on his shoulders and pushed them apart, pulling away from him.

 

"What the…Kagome, what the hell was that all about?" asked Inuyasha, looking taken aback.

 

She placed a hand over her swollen, sensitive lips. "I should ask you that. What the hell did you go and do that for?"

 

"Dammit, Kagome, what did you think?" Inuyasha nearly snarled, but keeping his voice low. "So I kissed you. Is that a crime?"

 

"When you kiss one woman and think of her as another, yes it is!" she snapped. "God, Inuyasha, it's one of the worst things you can do, play with a woman's feelings. Baba, tousakusha!"

 

"I am not a pervert!" said Inuyasha. "Kagome, admit it, you liked it as much as I did. Stop acting like that was a bad thing to do!"

 

"But it was! I can't…I'm not supposed to…" she stuttered, then burst into tears and ran out of the room, causing everyone to wake up and stare after her. Inuyasha ran out of the room after her, but saw she had once again taken to the sky when she had reached the outside.

 

"Inuyasha, what did you do to her?" asked Shippou.

 

"I'm not sure…" Inuyasha murmured, more to himself than to Shippou.

 

'Before she left, she was saying something about not being allowed to do something. What exactly was it?' he wondered to himself. 'Did…did kissing her step over some lines of her task or something? Violate any rules of some kind?'

 

He gazed at the ground and grabbed at his aching head. 'I just don't know anymore,' he thought. 'Ever she stepped into my life, I've felt so goddamn confused.'

 

He looked up again at her vanishing figure, then turned to the others, who were staring at him accusingly, and reassured them she'd be back by morning. That settled them down, and soon they were asleep again. Inuyasha sat up again, but when Kagome returned in the early morning, he pretended to be asleep, and watched her as she slept again.

 

'She's hiding something,' he thought. 'It's the only explanation. And I will find out what it is. If finding out means I can kiss her again…'

 

He shook his head to himself. 'God, I really liked doing that, didn't I?' he asked himself. 'I can't explain why I did, but still…it felt so normal. Kissing Kagome felt as natural as kissing Kikyou did. No, it felt even more natural than that. But why? And why did she push me away?'

 

He gazed at her, and she shifted in her sleep, mumbling something incoherently.

 

'Whatever secret you're hiding, Kagome,' he thought firmly, 'if it's threatening to us…to you and me…I will find it out.'

 

 

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Japanese vocab:

Baba, tousakusha! : Shit, pervert!