InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Virulence ❯ Chapter Three ( Chapter 3 )

""Chicks Dig Dog Ears"

Disclaimer: I do not own InuYasha. That awesome bit of yummy-ness belongs solely to Rumiko Takahashi.

It was dark. He had turned off all the lights, leaving her stranded in oblivion. She felt the cool solidity of a wall behind her. Kneeling on the ground she curled up against it. It was her only source of security in this darkness. It felt as though she was deep within the ocean, nothing around to ground her or give her assurance. This was true torture.

She felt as though she was there for hours, though it could only have been minutes. Her voice was locked deep within her, terror paralyzing her vocal cords. She felt tears stream down her face, that god-awful snot tickling her lip as it did when she wailed as a child.

'Let me out,' she thought desperately, 'please…'

There was no answer to her silent plea. She lingered on; her thoughts hell-bent on suppressing her fear that threatened to drive her mad…

"NO!"

The instant he heard the scream, InuYasha ears snapped up, and his eyes popped open. He sat up, wondering at the crick in his neck. 'What the hell?' he wondered, also feeling numbness in his legs. It was dark; that he knew. There was also pressure on his chest. 'Arm…?'

Taking out his cell phone from his pocket, InuYasha pressed a button and looked around in surprise. He was in the living room, lying on the couch with what appeared to be Kagome clinging to his leg with one arm draped across his chest. The hand of that arm clung desperately to his shirt, her body curled up in a ball.

"Must've fallen asleep out here," InuYasha muttered, trying to release the girl's grasp on his hand. Her fingers were cold, their grip like stone. Gently, InuYasha removed each finger, careful not to scratch her with his claws. The harder part was his leg, which she also held in an iron grip. Sliding out from under her arm, InuYasha hopped off the couch, almost falling as he held one leg in the air to re-establish blood flow in it.

His circulation back, InuYasha hunkered down on his legs and flashed the light of his cell in Kagome's face. 'Ewwww,' he thought, none too kindly. There was an absurd amount of snot coming out of her nose, her eyes puffy and red as she sniffled. Her face looked as though she was a startled deer on a highway, faced with unending dread. For a moment, he felt bad for her. A baby-face like hers shouldn't look like that. Even when she faced off with Koga, she hadn't seemed so scared.

But InuYasha had a hard-ass reputation to protect. Instead of waking the girl from her nightmare, he walked into the kitchen and ripped off some paper towels from their holder. Walking back into the living room, he dropped them onto the couch. From his point of view, she'd probably appreciate it more if he didn't see her the way she was.

The sun was rising, burning against her eyes. In that instant, the dream of nothingness disappeared, and Kagome was left with a familiar tinge of annoyance as the light invaded. Then, she remembered. Her eyes shooting open, Kagome welcomed the burn of sunlight against her tear-streaked face. It felt as though she'd escaped that dark prison he'd left her in. She felt invincible, if only for an instant.

Sitting up, Kagome rubbed her eyes, trying to remember how the dream had started. She remembered a man, that and nothing more. She couldn't remember what he looked like or who he was.

Shivering from the thought, Kagome wrapped her arms around herself, closing her eyes. But then, all she saw was darkness, forcing her to open them again.

She was afraid. She was terrified that what had happened to her was beginning to affect her. Yes, she put out a strong front, just because she never wanted to appear weak. She didn't want to be the stereotypical schoolgirl. For a moment, she thought of the probable look of disgust on Yasha's face. Shooing that image from her mind, Kagome stood, wrapping the blanket at her feet around her shoulders as she shuffled into the kitchen.

There he was as he had been yesterday. Sitting at the table, glaring at the morning paper with something akin to annoyance (as usual). She stood in the doorway, looking him over. She hadn't really looked at him in the time they'd been together, she realized. The only things she'd noticed being his ears and hair color. Looking carefully, Kagome reassessed the half-demon.

Though she couldn't really tell from how he was sitting, she knew he was taller than her 5'1, maybe 5'6. He weighed more than her 109 lbs for sure, and through his white dress shirt, Kagome saw the muscles rippling through his body, surprised at the sheer power that hid beneath the surface. Despite that power, he handled the paper gently, his turning the page with strange carefulness.

And then there were his eyes. They were so gold, so unusually bright. She didn't think she'd seen actual dogs with eyes that color. Add that and his silver hair and any girl would fall over themselves to get a shot at him. Those ears had to be a chick magnet.

InuYasha, sensing her there, looked up at her. Seeing his shocking eyes meet her own, Kagome blushed, walking past the table as she went to the fridge. Opening it, her eyes widened once more at the sight.

It was absolutely stuffed with food. And not just eggs. There was bacon, cheeses, milk and juice. Oranges and other fruits threatened to fall from the fridge, along with an assortment of chocolates and yogurts that hung on for dear life. Gingerly reaching out her hand, Kagome grabbed a peach yogurt, slamming the fridge shut before the food fell out. Getting a spoon from a drawer, she sat quietly across from Yasha's, who was now looking at her with something akin to satisfaction. Nodding, he returned to his paper, his face hidden from view.

And so they sat in silence. Licking her spoon, Kagome looked questioningly at the top of Yasha's head. He must've gotten the food for her, knowing that she wouldn't be able to order food or go to the market for a while. She smiled to herself, feeling a warmth creep into her stomach. She may not know him that well, but she knew that he felt for her and wanted to make this as easy on her as possible.

Looking back at his head, Kagome sat up straighter, her hand creeping towards his ears. She'd wanted to touch his ears ever since she'd first met him, and now was her chance.

Knowing that he'd reach out and stop her if he noticed, Kagome struck, grabbing his early softly and rubbing it. Yasha's head jerked up, and he looked at her with what she could only describe as shock. For a moment, their eyes once again stuck on each other, until Kagome's rub turned into a slight scratch. Surprised, Kagome watched as the half-demon leaned slightly into her touch, purring.

Realizing what was going on, InuYasha jerked to his feet and looked at Kagome with that face of disdain she had grown so accustomed to. She felt turned down for a moment, forgetting his kindness with the fridge. Putting up a strong front, Kagome smiled up at him, leaning back into her chair.

"I really wanted to touch them," she said, flinching inwardly at his irritated face. "They really are adorable."

Scoffing, InuYasha turned to dump a cup of coffee into the sink, not even bothering to rinse it out. He turned back to her, giving her a sneer as he walked into the living room towards the coat closet. He could feel her eyes still on him. 'Do a human one favor and they think they can get all friendly with you.'

Straightening his back in what he hoped looked…angry, InuYasha flung the door open.

"Goddamnit!"

Gaping, Kagome watched as Buyo the cat flew out of the closet, sharpened claws connecting with Yasha's face. Grimacing, she watched as the feline jumped to the ground, walking casually over to remains of the pizza from the night before that still sat on the coffee table.

Forgetting Yasha, Kagome ran over to Buyo, grabbing the pizza from the table before he could really take a bite.

"No Buyo." Kagome said, shaking her head at the cat, which now seemed to have a tedious expression on his face. "Pizzas not for kitty cats."

InuYasha turned to her, eyes wide at her attention to the cat. "Wench," he yelled, fury in his tone, "I want that damn cat out of here."

Frowning, Kagome gathered the cat in her arms, looking at Yasha's bleeding face. "He didn't mean it," she answered, "he was just scared by you suddenly opening the door like that.

That was the last straw. Walking up to the girl, hand pressed against the scratch the damn cat had left, he got down in her face, venom dripping from his voice. "You'll be as dead as that cat if you don't hand it over right now."

What happened was unexpected.

Kagome's eyes filled with tears, her expression matching InuYasha own. She held Buyo tight, running into the bathroom. InuYasha heard her sniffle, his scowl growing darker as he heard the lock click.

"Wench," he roared again, walking up to the door and pounding on it, "open the door!"

"No," she replied, voice filled with anger, "you want to kill him. You promised I could have him!"

"Bitch," InuYasha ground out, his patience thinning, "I didn't promise you anything. Open this fucking door right now or I'll break it down."

"This is because I touched your ears isn't it?"

Blinking, InuYasha stopped his tirade to look at the door in confusion. Because she touched his ears? Sure, that had been out of the blue, and normally he didn't appreciate it from anyone, but that had nothing to do with it.

"No," InuYasha answered, calming down, "it has nothing to do with this. I'm pissed because-"

"Liar."

O.K. Now he was seriously pissed.

"Open the fucking door right now bitch!"

"My name's not 'bitch."

"NOW!"

"It's not 'now' either."

Making a fist, InuYasha ground his teeth. He was not breaking down a perfectly good door because of this stupid girl.

"Open the door…Kagome."

And she did. Peeking out of the door, Kagome looked up at him, cringing at the hate in his face.

"Please let me keep him, I promise he won't do it again."

InuYasha was tired of this. He had a job today, and time was really running out the longer he fought with the girl.

"We'll talk about it when I come back. I don't have time to waste with you."

Kagome ventured out of the bathroom, watching as InuYasha slipped his leather jacket on.

"Where do you go anyway?"

Looking back at Kagome as he turned the knob of the front door, InuYasha smiled at her in what he hoped was a sarcastic way.

"I'm a professional hitman. I have a job tonight."

Walking out, InuYasha grinned as he heard Kagome laugh out loud behind him in the house. Now if she ever found out, she could never accuse him of having lied to her.

A/N: The next series of edits…