InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Transitions ❯ Chapter 2

Transitions

Chapter 2

"What did you just say!"

InuYasha shrugged, his arm still about her shoulders. "I said I'd wish for you, but you said I couldn't do that."

Her face flushed, her pulse quickened, an uneasy laugh escaped from the back of her throat. "What're you talking about, InuYasha?"

"You said I had to wish for something for myself. Something I REALLY want. Something just for me."

She gave a nervous chuckle.

"Oh," he said, "you're starting to warm up."

She turned a brighter shade of red. Why did he have to sit so close? Why did his arm around her shoulder have to feel so nice? How could he make the most suggestive things sound so innocent? And why had she taken off ALL of her clothes?

She drew in a deep breath and pushed it out.

If things kept progressing in this manner, he'd have her flat on her back before sunrise . . . or would that be on her hands and knees? He was half DOG demon, wasn't he?

"Kagome?"

She pushed the thought from her head. What was she thinking? This was InuYasha she was talking about . . . Sure, he was being nice tonight, but what about in the morning?

"Are you feeling all right?" he asked.

She nodded her reply. Human InuYasha and "normal" InuYasha could be very different from each other-as tonight had already proven. One was, as she'd called him, an insensitive, egotistical, domineering neanderthal, and the other . . .

She glanced over at him.

He smiled. She smiled back.

The other was just the way she wanted him. But, just because he wanted her now, didn't necessarily mean he'd still want her after sunrise . . . He'd probably accuse her of taking advantage of him in his "vulnerable" state. Like a frat boy on a drunken co-ed. And how humiliating would that be?

"Why would you wish for me?" she asked. "Not too long ago you said I was a bossy, overly sensitive, bitchy cry-baby."

"Yeah," he nodded. "You are."

She grumbled to herself. So much for getting her on her back before sunrise.

"But you're also bright, cheerful, compassionate and loyal. No one's ever been as nice to me as you have."

She laughed to herself. That was a nice recovery, but . . . "What about Kikyo?" she asked. "Wasn't she nice to you?"

"She was nice," he said, "in her fashion . . . But she tried pushing me away just as much as I tried pushing her away. Despite our feelings for each other, we weren't very close . . . I think we both kinda thought we were doing something wrong. I mean, she was supposed to protect the jewel from demons, and I was supposed to be stealing it. But, somehow, things got really complicated, and we both lost sight of our original goals."

Kagome scoffed. "You fell in love with each other."

He rubbed his chin with his free hand. "Maybe," he said.

"Whatta you mean, `maybe?'"

"Well, when I think about the way I felt about her, and the way I feel about you . . ."

Her heart skipped a beat.

"It's just not the same," he said. "Sure, Kikyo was beautiful and kind and considerate, but . . ."

"But what?" she asked.

"I never felt I could trust her," he said. "She WAS the jewel's protectress, after all. And her spiritual powers were intimidating, to say the least . . . I could never figure out why she just didn't kill me." He laughed softly to himself, "And no matter what she said-no matter how sincere her eyes or how genuine her feelings-I always felt she was trying to get me to let my guard down. Now, whether she was doing it for good or ill, I couldn't tell, so I never did it," he said. "I never let my guard down around her. Like a self-preservation instinct. I thought if I did, she'd completely do me in."

Kagome sighed. "And I guess she did, didn't she."

"Naraku played upon our mistrust of one another and got us to turn against each other . . . The one time I let my guard down and . . ."

She glanced over at him. He wasn't smiling any more. "I wish we could change the subject," she said.

"But that's not how I feel about you," he said. "I couldn't deny my baser attraction to Kikyo, so I kept going around her. Watching her from a distance, admiring her from afar. But I'd like to get closer to you, Kagome . . . I'm-I'm tired of admiring you from afar."

She was speechless.

"I never let Kikyo see me like this," he continued. "I mean, she knew that as a hanyou, I spent one night out of every month as a human, but I never went around her on the new moon. She never knew exactly when I changed, and I never told her." He pulled her in closer. "I never trusted her the way I trust you, Kagome."

She gave a nervous chuckle.

"I never knew how she'd react seeing me like this," he said. "But you like me this way, don't you?"

She felt the heat rising in her cheeks. What was she supposed to say?

"Kagome?"

She laughed to herself. "I like you however you are," she said. "Even when you're being an insensitive, egotistical, domineering neanderthal."

He smiled at her.

"But what about you?" she asked.

"What about me?" he asked.

"Do you feel the same way even when you're being an insensitive, egotistical, domineering neanderthal?"

He laughed to himself. "Why do you think I act that way?"

She shook her head. "You tell me."

"Because," his laughter faded; his eyes softened. "I know how I feel about you, but I don't know how you feel about me."

They were quiet for a moment.

Her palms were sweaty. Her head was swimming. "What're you asking, InuYasha?"

His smile returned. "I wish I knew if you felt the same way about me as I feel about you."

Her pulse raced; her heart pounded. "And how do you feel about me?" she asked.

He reached over and stroked the side of her face. "How do you think I feel?"

Her breath caught. "Pretty damn nice."

He laughed at her and slid his hand beneath her chin, tilting her face upward.

"Did I just say that out loud?" she laughed to herself.

He answered her with a kiss.