InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Treason's Emotion ❯ A Close Encounter ( Chapter 4 )

Chapter 4 - A Close Encounter

Kagome abruptly woke up, sitting up slowly in her sleeping bag. It was very early, and she was sleeping in the wilderness yet again. Shippo slept next to her, tangled in one of Kagome's blankets. She glanced over to the base of a tree where Sango slept quietly, curled up in a small ball and resting on a mat of some kind. Next to her Miroku sat upright, leaning against the tree dozing softly. She slowly raised her face, vision climbing up the tree until it rested on a figure with long flowing silver hair and dog ears, a sword leaning against his shoulder. Kagome continued to stare at him, taking in every part of his body. A small frown tugged at her mouth, her brows furrowing slightly while she gazed at him. He was so strong, so intimidating, even when sleeping.

"It's alright... I'll protect you." And Kagome suddenly smiled, remembering Inuyasha's words.

"Inuyasha, last night-"

"Last night... was a dream, Kagome. Forget it."

A tear came to Kagome's eye, lingering there for a moment before rolling silently down her cheek. For some strange reason she continued to smile, even thought her heart had fallen at the memory of what Inuyasha had said. Her eyes, however, were full of sadness, almost a pleading despair.

The smell of Kagome's tears woke Inuyasha. He kept his eyes closed, concentrating on the young girl below him. He could sense her sadness, her grief. He could smell her tears, almost taste them.

`Why? Why is she crying?'

He slowly opened his eyes, and gasped when he saw Kagome looking up at him, returning his gaze. Tears leaked down her face, and her shoulders shook slightly, but she did not look away. She continued to stare at the hanyou who gaped at her, eyes wide with confusion and disbelief.

"Kagome." Inuyasha said quietly.

At that, Kagome broke into sobs, covering her head and burying it into her pillow. Inuyasha jumped down and landed beside the young girl, still shaking as the tears poured down her face, soaking her pillow. He reached out, hesitating slightly before gently running his fingers through her hair in what he hoped was a soothing way. Her crying lessened when he touched her and her shaking stopped.

"Shh... It's alright Kagome."

She turned her face up to him, attempting to wipe away her tears but failing miserably. He looked down at her damp face, a comforting smile on his lips. She let out another sob, but she tried to turn it into a laugh, smiling slightly and trying yet again to wipe away her tears. Inuyasha gently grasped her hand and set it on the ground. He picked her up and put her into a sitting position across from him, beginning to brush her cheeks lightly with his thumb, wiping away her tears. Her eyes widened and mouth fell open slightly, but it seemed the hanyou hadn't noticed.

"Is.. is this... a dream, too?" Kagome stuttered, her voice quiet and sad. Inuyasha pulled his hand away, looking at her in awe.

"Is that why you're crying!? Is that what this is all about!?" Inuyasha said, his voice rising. Kagome cringed at his words, another tear falling from her eyes, and she buried her face in her hands. Inuyasha's expression softened, and he let out a sigh as he pulled her into his lap again, pushing her face into his chest. She stiffened slightly, but then wrapped her arms around his neck, burying her face into his haori. He ran his fingers through her hair, amazed at how soft and silky it was. He leaned his head on hers and whispered in her ear,

"It's not a dream..."

Inuyasha felt her smile against his chest, and he gripped her even more tightly.

"Uhm? Kagome? Inuyasha? I hope we're not bothering you or anything..." Sango's voice rang out through the clearing that they had been sleeping in. Kagome let out a muffled cry and pulled away from Inuyasha just as Inuyasha pushed her away from his chest. Both of them toppled backwards at being thrown from each other with such force. Inuyasha quickly sat up, and glared at Sango, a deep crimson staining his cheeks. Kagome felt her face get hot, and she realized that her own face must not be that different than Inuyasha's.

"Sango! Miroku! Uhm.. I hope you slept well?" Kagome muttered, trying to break the awkward silence.

"Ah yes. I feel very well rested." Miroku replied. Sango nodded in agreement, her mouth hanging open with surprise at what she had just witnessed between two of her companions. She turned to Miroku, sending him a questioning stare, but Miroku only shrugged his shoulders and turned away, gathering his staff and preparing to head off.

"We should continue our search for the jewel shards." He declared, and everyone turned to gather their supplies. Kagome woke Shippo, and he yawned widely.

"Kagome!" He yelled happily as he jumped at her waste, hugging her tightly. She smiled and continued to gather her supplies.

"Keh!" Kagome heard Inuyasha mutter, and she turned around to look at him. He was staring at her, but quickly turned away, a look of annoyance on his face. Kagome smiled at him for a moment before turning to finish packing her bag.

A short while later, Inuyasha was heading them down a path; Kagome alert, searching for a sign of a Shikon jewel shard.

**

"Sankon Tessou!" Inuyasha yelled, literally slicing a leg off of the youkai they were battling. Kagome had sensed a jewel shard while they had been walking, so the group had run off in the direction that Kagome had pointed. They eventually stumbled across a gigantic nest where they encountered a type of bird demon, containing three shards of the Shikon no Tama. It had four heads, and resembled an ostrich, except it had extremely sharp claws, and its feathers were black and as hard as knives.

"Hiraikotsu!" Sango yelled as she flung her boomerang towards her opponent. The youkai screamed in pain as a large gash appeared in its wing, but it was not severed. Sango jumped up to catch the giant boomerang as it came pelting back to her. Landing gracefully on the ground again, she looked up just as the demon was emitting a storm of its feather blades in her direction, enraged that she had wounded him.

"Sango! No!" Miroku yelled as he watched the blades fly towards her. There was no was for Sango to escape. She closed her eyes and waited for the knives to pierce her, but they did not come.

"Kazaana!" Miroku yelled as he pulled the prayer beads off, revealing the wind tunnel in his hand. The blades immediately turned direction, and began to fly towards the hole in Miroku's hand. He braced himself, readying his stance for when the blades would be sucked in. He squinted his eyes as the blades were devoured by the wind tunnel. A couple of knives managed to escape the path of the wind and darted straight passed Miroku's hand, gashing his arms and chest. He winced in pain, but continued to absorb the blades, finally returning the prayer beads to his hand after everything had been clear up. He dropped to one knee and clutched his wounds, trying to slow the flow of blood.

"Miroku!" Sango cried out and she ran to him, placing one hand on his shoulder and reaching with the other to examine his wounds.

"Miroku!? Are you alright? You saved me... but now you're seriously injured! Oh it's all my fault!" Sango broke off, tears streaming down her face. She hugged him gently as he whispered,

"As long as you're alive, it doesn't matter if I'm hurt."

Sango gave him a grateful smile and hugged him even tighter.

"Rest. Let me and the others finish the battle, you've done enough already." Sango said softly and then ran off leaving Miroku sitting on the ground to watch the rest of the fight.

"You bastard..." Inuyasha said, wiping blood from his mouth. He had tried to attack the youkai, but it had been too fast and had forcefully knocked him away.

"Inuyasha!" Kagome yelled and began to run towards the hanyou. Her and Shippo had been watching the others from a safe distance, not being able to fight as well as their companions.

"Kagome! Stay back! I don't want you to get hurt!" Inuyasha yelled to the girl. She immediately stopped running, but still had a look of hurt and desperation on her face.

"But-"

"No `buts', Kagome! Stay back." Inuyasha shouted over his shoulder. He had turned and now was scowling up at the demon in front of him. He casually walked closer to it, resting tetsusaiga on his shoulder as he neared the demon. He stopped meters away from it, and gazed up into its blazing red eyes.

"Lets get this over with!" He yelled, and leapt into the air. He fought with the demon for a while with some help from Sango, but soon she was injured and too tired to continue the battle.

Kagome winced as she saw the youkai strike Inuyasha, sending him skidding on the ground leaving a deep gouge in the ground.

`I am useless. Inuyasha and the others could die and I wouldn't be able to save them! Oh please hang in there everyone...' Kagome helplessly thought as she watched Inuyasha rise shakily from the ground and brush his hair back out of his face.

He stood up confidently and got into a fighting stance, despite his wounds. Kagome could see that he was bleeding badly from various spots on his body, but he still acted strong, determined to protect his friends.

"Kaze no Kizu!" The hanyou muttered as he summoned the last of his strength and tore through the wind scar, unleashing a remarkable amount to power. The youkai screamed in pain as it began to dissolve before their eyes, enveloped in the brilliant light that the tetsusaiga had released. However, before it had completely vanished, it reached out and grabbed Inuyasha in one of its sharp beaks, bringing him into the path of the wind scar's immense energy.

"Nooo!!! Inuyasha!!" Kagome screamed and sprinted as fast as she could towards the hanyou. The light died and the power faded as Inuyasha dropped to the ground along with the three shards of the Shikon no Tama that had been embedded in the youkai. Tears began to form in Kagome's eyes when she caught sight of Inuyasha lying motionless on the ground. She ran over to him and dropped to her knees, grasping his hand in hers and shaking him lightly. She began to cry openly when he didn't respond to her, tears falling onto his ripped and bloody haori. Sango and Miroku slowly walked over, and stood behind Kagome. Sadness crept onto their faces at the fear that they may have lost one of their close friends. Shippo had now joined them and was standing quietly beside Kagome, lightly tugging at her shirt.

"Is he... alive?" He whispered to her. At that Kagome began to sob harder and buried her head into his limp body and embraced him tightly. She didn't know if he was alive or not, she couldn't feel a pulse and he wasn't showing any signs of consciousness.

"Please Inuyasha! Don't leave me! Not now... I need you!! Oh please just be alright! Inuyasha, I need you to be alive!!" Kagome wailed as she looked up at Inuyasha's motionless face, his eyes covered by his silver hair. Kagome looked desperately at the Inuyasha; tears pouring down her face as she reached up to gently touch his face, whispering his name.

"Inuyasha..."

A/N: Oooo! I liked the way that chapter turned out. A bit longer than the other ones, but that's good cuz I didn't like that the other chapters were so short. Please review. Sorry for the slight cliffhanger, but I've always liked cliffhangers anyways! :-P I'll post more once I've done writing it!