InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ When there is a full moon ❯ Foolish Words ( Chapter 11 )

I DON'T OWN INUYASHA

Foolish Words

La vie est un sommeil

L'amour en est le rêve.

Et vous auriez vécu

Si vous aviez aimé !

It tortured him for weeks, her whispered words that followed his retreating back. I don't feel the same. The cursed words ran through his mind over and over and over again, each time making him ask the same question. Then how do you feel? Yet there was no one to answer him, and no one to help him push aside his anguished thoughts. All he had to rely on was a song, a tune. A tune that had captured his heart even as it was playing itself out for the first time. But this one tune was enough to set his soul at rest, and he grabbed onto the comfort it offered greedily.

I don't feel the same…then how do you feel?

What if he'd stayed a little longer? What then? She thought for what had to be the thousandth time. Would I have told him I wanted to be his friend? Had he heard me? Demons have good hearing, it's quiet possible that he did. Why don't I think before I speak?

"Kagome," Shippo wailed. "I'm hungry!"

Kagome turned and looked at him. He was staring at her with round, puppy eyes, begging for a rest and some food. She smiled at him and patted his head lovingly. "Inuyasha," she called to the hanyou. "We should take a rest now; Shippo's hungry, and I know at least I'm tired."

Inuyasha turned on his heels and glared at her, which she quite skilfully returned. "But we've only been searching for half a day!"

"My point exactly," Kagome said. "Traipsing around uneven ground in Medieval Japan for half a day without a break is quite a hard thing to do. Plus, I don't sense any jewel shards around. We rest here."

There was such finality in her voice that Inuyasha argued no more. He 'feh'ed and jumped up to a tree branch. Half frowning, half smiling, Kagome parked her bike against an old and withered tree. She set about making their lunch, porgies, with Shippo hovering over her shoulder eagerly. After having fed Shippo and the rest of the shard hunter's group including Inuyasha, Kagome sank down against the bark of an old willow tree, its thin, leafed branches swaying lazily in the light breeze. She allowed her eyes to close and dozed off.

In this faithful hour

…purple stripes mirrored across his cheeks…

All heaven with its power

…a blue crescent marking his smooth forehead…

And the sun with its brightness

…golden eyes pierced her soul with their wistful glance…

And the snow with its whiteness

…silver hair danced in the wind…

And the fire with all the strength it hath

...a fleeting image of a sudden unbidden flare of his anger…

And the lightning with its rapid wrath

…a deathly sweep of his sword…

And the winds with their swiftness along their path

…a blur of white as the demon flew past…

And the sea with its deepness

…unbidden emotions swimming in the very deep recesses of his eyes…

And the rocks with their steepness

…understand this; I am not always that which I seem…

And the Earth with its starkness

…life is a sleep…

All these I place

…in which love is its dream…

By God's almighty help and grace

…and you have truly lived…

Between myself and the power of darkness

…only when you have loved!

Her eyes snapped open as Inuyasha shook her awake. "Come on, you've had enough rest! Let's go!"

Kagome ignored the odd sensation in her body, the same one she had every time she had used a lot of her power. She looked at her watch and realized that she had been lying there against the tree for at least a good hour. She stood up and stretched, smiling at the eager hanyou.

"Kagome-chan," Sango asked once they were moving again. "Can I ask you a question?"

She was looking at the ground beneath her feat carefully, purposefully avoiding Kagome's eyes. "What is it, Sango?" she asked reproachfully.

Sango shot her a tentative look, but quickly turned away as soon as she caught her eyes. "Well, you see," she started hesitantly. "I've been wondering for a while now…"

"Sango, will you stop beating around the bush and tell me once and for all what is the matter?" Kagome asked, losing her patience.

"It's just that, I couldn't help but notice how you and Inuyasha's brother…well…"

"What about me and Sesshoumaru?" she asked, now genuinely interested.

Sango shot Miroku a glance, as though asking for his help. To Kagome's surprise, he did just that. "What Sango-san means to say, Kagome-sama, is that it is interesting how the two of you keep saving each other even though you are enemies."

There was a deep silence following Miroku's words. Kagome could even see Inuyasha's ears pointed towards them, waiting eagerly for her response. "Yeah, I guess it is sorta interesting."

It seemed as though they wanted a more precise response, because after a while Miroku asked, "Why is that, Kagome-sama?"

"Why is what?" she asked, knowing full well what was meant.

"Why is it that the two of you seem to be in the same league?" Inuyasha answered, no longer able to pretend that he wasn't listening in on their conversation.

"I don't know," Kagome shrugged. "I helped him against the mikos simply because I owed him my life. But I have no idea why he saved me from Mukotsu. That, you'd have to ask him."

"You can't not tell me," Inuyasha said in an incredulous voice. "I've been patient for far too long. I didn't say a thing for a whole week even though you sat me at least four times in the village for his sake. I have a right to know what's between you and my brother!"

Kagome looked at him angrily. "That's where you're wrong Inuyasha. Even if there was something going on between us, it would be none of your business unless one of us decides it is. And I've already told you what I can. I'm not psychic to know what he was thinking. Now, once and for all, LEAVE ME ALONE!"

Her voice echoed through the forest, making surprised birds take flight. She stormed away from them, with only Shippo perched on her shoulder. She was so mad she could have wrung Inuyasha's neck right then and there. She stopped abruptly in a small clearing, then turned furious eyes onto her silently following companions.

"I'm tired," she announced. "It's enough shard haunting for today. We camp here."

Inuyasha opened his mouth as though about to argue but was 'sat' before he could even make the smallest noise. Kagome threw open her bag, brought out her bathing stuff, and headed towards the direction from which she could hear the sound of running water.

She walked for five minutes straight, often having to change directions where the trees were too dense to get through unscathed and lost. What the hell came over me back there? She asked herself with the start of guilt. I had no right to snap at them like that. And poor Inuyasha, I feel just as angry as him every time he saves Kikyou. And Shippo, I hope I didn't scare him. Oh, I'm absolutely despicable! She kicked at a rock that was in her way, it bouncing off the bark of a tree. Finally, she pushed past the curtain of trees to step in front of a tall and thin waterfall.

Kagome looked on with wonder as her eyes drank in one of the most beautiful sights she had come across of in all of her travels across Medieval Japan. Crystal clear water cascaded down the side of a hill in variously sized steps, ending in a shallow semi-lake that reached up to Kagome's shoulders had she been standing within it. Each step in the waterfall seemed to grow larger so that the highest one was about twice Kagome's height and the lowest step was just longer then the span of her hand. Boulders climbed steadily along the face of the cliff, each covered with different coloured vegetations. Small trees, maple, aspen, and many more grew around the rocks with maroon and green leaves. Then the water gracefully continued to flow away from the small lake through a narrow stream along the tree wall Kagome had stepped through.

Without wasting another second, Kagome changed into her bathing suit and dove into the fresh water warmed by the summer sun. She delighted in the feel of the water and even swam around the lake a few times. She swam back to shore and picked up her shampoo and soup. She looked at the waterfall with a scrutinizing look. Then, with a slight shrug of her shoulders, she made her way towards it. Careful not to slide on the slippery rocks of the steps, she climbed up the waterfall. There, underneath the pressure of the falling water, on the highest step, Kagome washed herself, allowing the water to push aside her worries.

"Why are you always wherever I go?" Kagome was so surprised that she jumped back from his voice, mindless of where she was standing. She stopped just at the tip of the footing, but she had lost her balance. She turned her arms frantically in the air, but she felt herself tipping backwards. At the last possible second, a clawed hand reached through the curtain of water and grabbed her wrist, pulling her back under the crashing water.

Kagome looked at the hand that held her wrist most suspiciously. She recognized the design on the white sleeves, and there was only one person - youkai - that she knew of who had stripes on their wrist. She looked into the emotionless eyes of Sesshoumaru with evident alarm as he stood at the mouth of a hidden cavern. Kagome snatched back her wrist as fast as she could.

He smirked at her and simply repeated his earlier remark.

"I-I was j-just…" she paused to take in a breath, willing her wildly beating heart to calm a little. She cleared her throat and hoped her voice wouldn't crack. "I was just taking a - hey, wait a minute," she suddenly said, her mind catching up with her. "I have just as much of a right to be here as you do. So I could be asking you the same thing! I don't see why I have to explain myself to you!"

A small frown creased his brows, and Kagome wondered whether she had gone too far. The frown was quickly brushed away from his face. "Where, pray you tell, are your clothes, Miko?" his cool voice cut across the sound of the water.

Kagome's face faulted. She followed his scrutinizing glare down at her barely covered body, and couldn't fight the blush that burned her face. She tried her best to shrink into herself, her hands rushing up too late to cover her exposed body. "I-I, you see, it's…um…like this. I was taking a shower…of a sort…and I couldn't very well d-do that w-w-with my clothes. I…uh…oh hell!" she exclaimed with frustration. "It doesn't matter. And never you mind, because it's none of your business!"

In a flash, Kagome found herself hanging by her neck over the ledge of the waterfall. She looked down his extended arm that was wrapped uncomfortably around her throat, and swallowed dryly. "I shall decide that which is my concern, not a human! Do you understand?"

Despite the warning signs that were going off in her mind, Kagome answered with disdain. "And I shall decide that which should concern others about me!"

"Watch your tongue, little Miko," he warned at the same time giving Kagome's neck a hard squeeze. "I have been lenient with you thus far; but do not be so stupid as to presume that I would allow you to insult this Sesshoumaru."

"Then WHAT am I supposed to do, huh?" Kagome asked suddenly with anguish and frustration. Immediately, Sesshoumaru's hold on her slackened at the tone of her voice and an unnamed emotion flashed behind his eyes for a fraction of a second. Kagome silently prayed that he wouldn't let go. "What am I supposed to do when you try to kill me one minute, then, God knows why, you save me the next? Why don't you tell me, and I'll do it!"

He stared at her for a long while, the strange emotion softening his features. He pulled her into the safety of the cavern and released her. Kagome looked past him to where the water continued to tumble downwards behind his figure. He sat down suddenly, his arms and legs both crossed. "I come to this cavern often," he said in his smooth voice, completely and effectively confusing Kagome even more.

"Huh?" she asked intelligently.

The demon allowed his lids to fall shut and turned his face towards the cascading waters. "It's calming here."

Kagome could have sworn her jaw was hitting the cave's floor. Is he telling me why he's here?!

"No human, as far as I know, knows about this place, nor any youkai." His voice was wistful to Kagome's great surprise. "It's quiet here."

Kagome took a long while to process this information. "Why are you telling me this?"

She could have sworn she saw him smile. He opened his eyes, but kept his face away from hers. "Do I need a reason?" he had one eyebrow raised.

Curiosity winning within her, Kagome inched closer to him so that she was standing across from him. She sat down before him and studied his features. "Why do you insist on us being enemies?" she asked, her voice barely passing her lips.

He remained stoically quiet for such a long time that Kagome assumed he wasn't going to answer. She let out a small sigh, and leaned back against the caves sturdy wall. "You can swim?"

His question caught her by surprise with its suddenness. She nodded dumbly until she realised he wasn't watching her. "Yes. Why?"

"Not many people, nor youkai for that matter, can," was his reply.

"Can you?" she thought she might as well ask to keep him talking. Why, she didn't know.

He smirked his arrogant smirk. "What do you think?" he finally turned to look at her, and she was surprised by the look in his eyes. They were almost sad with wistfulness. Wistfulness for what, she didn't know.

She found it hard to continue to look at those golden eyes, and this time she turned her head towards the waterfall. "I'd be pretty surprised if you couldn't, to tell you the truth."

She felt his eyes on her and tried her best to ignore them. "Dog demons are not fond of the water."

Kagome turned and looked at him with astonishment. "You mean to tell me that you can't swim?!"

"Is that so hard to believe?" was his curt reply.

Before Kagome could answer however, Sesshoumaru frowned suddenly. He started to smell the air, his nose slightly twitching. Then, to her amazement, he let out a sigh. "You better go; my half brother is approaching and I have no intentions of having him find this cave."

Kagome didn't even realize that she had gotten to her feet, only realizing it when the cool waters of the waterfall broke against her head and shoulders. She looked at the youkai lord who continued to look at her. She looked down shyly, not wanting to see his reaction when she asked her question again. "Why do we have to be enemies?"

"I rarely say anything foolish," his voice reached her ears as he stood and approached her. "But when I do, you are in no way obliged to memorise and believe them."

With that, she was pushed out of the cave gently enough so that she wouldn't tip over. She stood, dumbfounded for a good minute, and was about to go back in when she heard Inuyasha's voice from below her. She looked to where the cave would have been, and smiled at it, hoping he would see her smile. Then she turned around, and climbed carefully down the waterfall.

He stood behind the waterfall as she smiled in his direction, thinking on how stupid he was. His every muscle screamed for him to reach back out, grab her, bring her back inside the cave, and ravish her till he was satisfied. He kept still, clenching his fist that tingled from touching her flesh. There used to be a time when all I wanted from her was for her to be dead, he thought sarcastically to himself. He smiled mockingly at this dramatic change towards her.

He smiled as he watched her climb down the waterfall towards his foolish brother. Though I am just as foolish as he, he thought to himself. He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent that still lingered in the cave.

He sat back against the hard wall of the cave just as he remembered something that she had said a long time ago. 'I promise to do anything if you swear to me that you won't hurt my family.' He allowed a smirk to grace his face. A promise to do anything that I may wish, he mused, his mind thinking of the possibilities. His only restrictions were the Tessaiga and/or bringing harm to her friends, none of which he was interested in. He was nearly sure of what he wanted from her, and he knew that she would indeed do it since her honour obliged her to do so. What he was not sure about was whether she would want to do it. But he had a strong feeling that told him that Kagome would never want that. If she did, then there was a good chance that he would ask it of her. The problem was finding a way to get the information he needed before hand. Being the ever studious Lord, his mind was already racing to find the solution.

After only about a minute, his smirk played against his face again with a predatory gleam.