InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Unforeseen Hero ❯ Understandings ( Chapter 3 )

Chapter 03

~ Understandings ~

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A brilliant light flashed before Inuyasha's eyes and he opened them cautiously, they blinked a few times before he arose from him corner. What the hell was that? He turned to the doorway and staggered out into the court yard, there lying before him was Kagome's bloody, battle beaten body. He gasped and started to move towards her but stopped when he saw Kikyo's not to far from hers, the deceased priestess' corpse did not move either. A few ways away his friends sat sorrowfully on the porch like veranda that went around the front of all the doorways.

"What's wrong with you people?! Did you just sit there and watch them kill each other?" He yelled half hoarsely, trying to choke back his tears that were threatening to appear. He couldn't believe this, this couldn't be happening, that couldn't have happened.

Inuyasha woke with a start, beads of sweat dripped down the sides of his face, which he wiped away with the sleeve of his crimson kimono and headed for the door. He had to make sure it was a dream; he just had too, sliding the door open with excessive force Inuyasha fled into the courtyard with immense momentum. Nothing. There was nobody around and that was a good thing but his next thought was Kagome. Is she actually ok? He just had to know, so he went to her door and slid it open after hesitating to hear any sounds that might indicate she wasn't asleep.

He peered in and saw Kagome spread out on the bed role with the blanket pulled up to her shoulder. She's ok. His head tilted a little and stretched out his neck trying to see her face but found he couldn't. He crept up to her side and took a good long look at her sleeping face but jumped back in fright when she stirred. However, he relaxed and smiled down at her. He noticed a stay hair that had fallen across her nose from her slight movement and brushed it aside, he marveled at the softness of her flesh but pulled back when her head turned toward his hand. After a moment, he backed away and sat against the wall in which the young priestess was facing. He didn't want to leave; he feared that if he let her out of his sight, some nightmarish thing would happen and yet after what seemed like an eternity, the half-breed finally became overtaken by sleep. He hadn't been slumbering long before he was awakened by some one calling out his name. Kagome? He twitched his nose and caught her scent, but he was surprised when he heard an amused murmur extremely close to him. His eyes fluttered open to focus on her face her nose was a mere couple of inches from his own.

"Inuyasha? What are you doing in here?" She backed away, her tone didn't express any anger and it took him a moment to register it all. What a chilling voice.

"I was worried about you." He answered, shifting from the discomfort of her tone and presence.

"Are you sure it's not because you're jealous of Koga and think he might try something else tonight? That maybe you're just being your plain old possessive self when it comes to me." She rocked back onto her heels, as she remained crouched in front of him, in her nightclothes.

"No! I was just worried about you, okay?! You haven't been acting yourself and I was just worried. Sheesh." He grunted after he finished defending himself.

"What were you dreaming about?" She asked casually as she climbed back into her bedding because the nippy night air began to chill her.

"What dream?" He blinked at her. How does she know about it?

"You were having a nightmare I suppose, you woke me up." She laid down but continued to watch him. Another one? But I don't remember. He focused his eyes on her face. It's so comforting to be with her and she seems some what back to normal. He took a nervous swallow before he crawled over and stretched out beside her on the floor, placing his hand under his head to prop it up.

"I wouldn't call it a nightmare really," he lied, "but more like a unpleasant dream. Demons don't have nightmares." He seemed to be looking right past her as he said it. Unpleasant dreams…nightmares. What's the difference? She gave him a look of bewilderment but it didn't last long because of what he said next. "It's something that I don't want to experience in real life and I don't want to talk about. I just want to forget it." He rolled onto his back, loosely clasping his fingers together over his stomach and stared up at the ceiling. "Definitely something I don't want to experience in real life." He whispered, closing his eyes. Kagome looked him over and began to slightly panic when he remained quiet for a good while.

"Inuyasha?" She whispered, but he just replied with a short murmur. What's he doing? Does he plan on sleeping right here - next to me? I should chase him out, this is too distracting. However, by the time she got up her nerve, he was already asleep, looking very adorable and Kagome's heart sunk. She couldn't bring herself to wake him let alone tell him to leave, so she decided it must be a test of her resolve. I have to be able to handle this. After a diminutive struggle between her heart and head, Kagome finally gave into sleep.

The sun seemed to rise a little to early for the priestess but when she finally forced herself to open her eyes she discovered the dog-demon missing, she sighed and sat up. The morning went by a bit to quickly and Kagome tired by mid-afternoon; the group stopped for lunch but she stopped for a nap figuring she could munch on something while they journeyed on. The afternoon flew by without a hitch and before she knew it, she was settling down for sleep again.

"Kagome?" A whisper came from low in a near by tree, she huffed and rolled over to face the fore mentioned.

"What?" She growled lightly, closing her eyes but keeping her annoyed expression plastered on her face.

"You've been acting strange, is there something bugging you?" He asked innocently.

"No and didn't we already cover this?" She turned back over to face the fire, more for dramatic flare then anything else.

"I never asked." She heard him shift then there was a light thump. Oh great, I hope that's not what I think it was. A moment later, she felt something hovering over her and she looked up to see the dog like human looking her over.

"What?" She snarled and sat up, connecting her forehead with his, she hissed out in pain while he blinked in shock. "Geez Inuyasha, what's that made of? Rocks?" He narrowed his glittering eyes and jumped back up into the tree, where he went higher then he had before, completely out of her sight. What's gotten into him? Aw, but his eyes were so beautiful, the way the fire danced in them and made them glow a dark honey. The sparkles. So pretty. She smiled in a dreamy state, and then blinked. Get a hold of yourself girl. She huffed in frustration and laid back down.

The sun rose over the horizon as it did ever morning but this particular sun up was hazy and unsettling. Kagome looked to the sky as the party started up their expedition once more. "What is it, Kagome?" Koga picked up his stride to get next to her. He watched her sniff the air and then chuckled. "What on Earth are you trying to smell with that pathetic little nose?" He started to laugh but stopped when he noticed Shippo and Sango's looks.

"It's going to ran, let's get going. I don't want to be caught out in the storm, the air is to cold." She picked up her pace and left everyone behind, standing in disheartenment for the hundredth time that week.

"Inuyasha, what's going on with her? She hasn't been herself for a several weeks now." Sango turned to see the half-demon lost in thought. She arched an eyebrow and turned to her other side to give Miroku a questioning look, and he just shrugged.

"Maybe there was something in the water." Shippo bounced along the path then climbed up her garments to sit upon her shoulder.

"No that can't be it, for many reasons." She placed her hand under her chin to indicate she was deep in thought. Kagome stopped a few feet in front of them and reached back for an arrow.

"Kagome?" Koga asked, grabbing Inuyasha's attention. Again, she disregarded the concern and concentrated on the up and coming battle. Something was coming and it was carrying a jewel shard but nothing appeared.

"What?" She relaxed her arms as she turned to face the section of woods that had once been behind her. The shard pasted me. But how? I didn't see anything…could the thing have been invisible? She glanced from side to side, the shard was starting to become faint she had to do something. "Inuyasha." She announced harshly, he came to her side and knelt. She blinked at him a couple of times before her concentration came back. She climbed onto his back and barely had time to hear the disapproving grunt of Koga before Inuyasha shot off into the forest.

"Which way?" He asked after a moment, she pointed his new destination out and they're blurry journey started for a second time.

"The sky. Inuyasha stop." He came to a screeching halt and looked back at her the best he could.

"Huh and what?"

"The crow." She sat back a little and looked to the heavens.

"The what and huh? Kagome?" He growled out the last part obviously not liking, being kept in the dark.

"Inuyasha take to the trees, I think our possessor is in the air." She received a silent unnoticed 'oh' from the supernaturally gifted male before he jumped into the sky only to come down on a high branch then to leap again. Not to soon after they caught up with an ugly demonic bird, Kagome took aim and fired, the arrow only severed one of its wings. As the bird flopped around in the slate blue atmosphere Inuyasha used his claws and let forth golden blades of energy to slice the demon into pieces. They fell gracefully through the air, staying near the shredded carcass.

"Kagome where is it?" She pointed to a rather large chunk and he dove his hand into it to retrieve the shard. Moments later after she had just purified the shard, their friends joined them.

"Kagome, I wished you had asked for my assistants. I'm here now to help you now." Koga walked up to her and reached for her hands but before she could reject him Inuyasha did it for her by jumping in between them and into the wolf's face.

"What could you have done besides flung dirt in her face?" They both growled, as they invaded each other's personal space.

"She would have caught up with it sooner for one." The shard endowed wolf retorted.

"Hmph, With you, the two of you would have ran right past it plus she would have been so dizzy that she wouldn't have been able to figure out that it was an aerial demon we were hunting." Inuyasha backed away and followed his arms over his chest placing his hands in the sleeves of his kimono. "I'm the better tracker anyway."

"Yeah right." Koga backed away as well, closely mimicking the dog-demon.

"Or she would have been to repulsed to think about anything." Inuyasha added.

"What?!" The usually dense male leaned in again getting into Inuyasha's individual zone.

"Would you two shut the hell up?" Kagome snapped heading back toward the path, they had once been occupying. Inuyasha sighed, trying to relax his nerves as he started after her.

Once on the trail again the weary travelers tramped on without any more words until they came across a small village.

"Indoors?" Miroku turned to look at everyone. The 'mature' demons ignored him while Kagome slightly shrugged but Sango was the one who complied with a nod of her head. "Alright then, I'll find the nearest logging." He started down the middle of the pathway into the village when Sango decided to tag along and lightly ran to his side. "Something the matter?"

"Do you have any thoughts about Kagome's behavior?" She didn't look at him and continued to stare at the passing dirt in front of her.

"Well it's been a year since this all started and Inuyasha, I suppose could have gotten on her nerves finally to the point that she's become snippety with everyone else." He furrowed his brow and shook his head, "that doesn't sound quite right. I don't know Sango, there could be multiple reasons." A shrug was his follow up ending his opinion on the matter.

"It has been a year hasn't it?" The slayer sounded amazed.

"Perhaps a gift might cheer her up." He looked out onto the blazing horizon and watched the last of the sun disappear behind it. "Women like to receive gifts don't they?" He smiled and eyed her from under narrowly drawn eyelashes; she gave a look of exasperation but didn't say anything further.

Later that week, one evening, Kagome was about to retire when Sango caught her by the arm. "Not so fast." Kagome turned drowsily toward her female companion. "Miroku." She spun her friend around to the entrance of the main room and in popped the monk with a servant behind him.

"Here you are." The woman held out her arms and the monk unwrapped what she cared. Kagome stared at a brand new bow and quiver of arrows.

"The boys fetched demon materials and Miroku and I constructed them for you." She smiled at her comrades and Shippo sat with a pout, "and of course Shippo helped with the art work." She referred to the beautifully painted floral design on the quiver.

"What's it for?" She asked coldly. Sango glanced at her before staring at everyone else.

"We thought it might cheer you up. You've been so gloomy lately." The slayer didn't have the heart to say the complete truth, that she'd been callous and vicious with all of them.

"Thank you, though you didn't have to." She reached out to receive the gift she was being offered but was refused when Miroku stepped in her way.

"First you must smile."

"Ignore him." Sango pushed him out of the way and smiled faintly as she watched Kagome examine the set closely. She picked it up and walked to her room without so much of a word let alone a smile. She knew she was being dreadfully rude and her heart was breaking because of it but her mind held up her walls. I am to gather the jewel shards and nothing more. I understand this.