Take Two
Chapter 6
“Inuyasha!”
He marched firmly ahead of her, only sparing an occasional glance to
make sure she was keeping up.
“Inuyasha, stop!”
He threw her an annoyed look. “Keep moving,” he grunted, shoving
a branch out of his path and holding it back so she could pass.
“Come on. Don’t just stand around. I’m not going to hold
this thing forever.”
She stopped just past him, hands fisted on her hips.
“I-nu-ya-sha,” she began, gearing up, “o-su-wa-”
His hand clamped over her mouth, cutting her off. “Don’t
say it,” he ordered.
Kagome shook her head free. “Don’t make me,” she snapped
back. “We can’t just go off half-cocked here,” she said, taking
advantage of momentary pause. “We’ve got to take some time here
and figure out what we can and can’t afford to change.”
“We’re not letting Kikyou come back,” he fired off, ticking points off
on clawed fingers. “We’re not waiting around for Sango’s family
to get killed, and if I have my way, the Jewel’s not getting shattered,
either.”
“You mean, I’m not shattering the Jewel, right?”
“I never said that. I never thought
that. I’m the one who let that damned crow live the night
before. It’s my fault.”
Kagome cupped her head in her hands, rubbing her pounding temples
in circles. This wasn’t what she’d anticipated. When
Inuya- Hou- Koinu had
looked at her, in that way that said everything silently, she’d allowed
herself to hope that Inuyasha in this time would remember their future
together as well. And she’d been prepared to cope with an
Inuyasha who remembered nothing. But an Inuyasha with half a
memory was totally off the chart. “We’re not doing this,” she
muttered. “We’re not laying blame and assigning fault for what
hasn’t even happened yet. If the Jewel breaks, it breaks.
If not, so much the better, but we’re not going to hash over it all now
when it hasn’t even happened.” She sat on a fallen log, elbows
propped on her knees. “Let’s think about this rationally.
What things absolutely need to happen?”
“We need to kill Naraku,” Inuyasha muttered, dropping to his customary
crouch in front of her.
Kagome rolled her eyes. “With what? Your attitude?
It’s bad, but not that bad.”
“I think I liked you better last time.”
Kagome looked into his irritated golden eyes, and felt her heart
crack. How much difference could a few little changes make, she
wondered, reaching out to brush her fingers over one fuzzy ear.
“What a nightmare, huh?”
His arms were around her in a flash, pulling her into the solid wall of
his chest. “I was so afraid,” he whispered. “I thought I
would never see you again. You were crying, and I knew I’d pissed
you off again. I don’t want you to cry. I don’t want you to
shed one tear over me. I’m not worth it, Kagome.”
She loved the sound of her name on his lips. The rest, however,
was pure drivel. “Baka!” she shouted, pushing him back enough to
see his face. “Don’t you dare tell
me what you are or aren’t worth. You’re worth everything to me. If I have
to live every moment of this
life over again, I will.” She cupped his cheeks, pulling him
forward until their foreheads touched. “You are everything to me.”
She closed her eyes, inhaling the faint smell of woods and sweat and
sunshine she’d always associated with Inuyasha. “I held you in my
arms, after you made the wish,” she began, her voice a low
monotone. “I listened to you promise to come for me in the
future. I felt your body go slack as your spirit left it, and I
could have killed Sesshoumaru, when he honored your agreement, to give
your swing to Kohaku.” She choked on the rest of her words, how
she had told him that if he would not help, then he was not welcome,
and to take his pureblood youkai ass as far from her as possible before
she was too angry to control herself. Rin-chan’s feelings would be hurt if I
fried you, so get out of here before I can’t help myself.
He had left, much to her surprise.
That, however, was still 364 days in the possible future. She
opened her eyes and pulled back again so she could see more than that
cat-like amber gaze. “Listen to me, Inuyasha. We have to
figure out what to do. Things with Mistress Centipede may have
changed slightly, but the end result is the same. The Jewel is
out, and youkai will be coming for it. As long as it’s in one
piece, I think we’ll be fine. But if it shatters again, we’ll
have to go through everything again. I’m not saying I’m not
willing to do it,” she put in hastily, forestalling his argument.
“I’m saying let’s be smart about this. Let’s not do anything we
don’t have to do.”
He stood abruptly, eyes focused on something in the far distance.
“There’s one thing I have to do first. Something that won’t wait.”
She pushed herself slowly to her feet beside him. “What?” she
asked. “And please don’t say you’re going to kill Sesshoumaru or
something dumb like that. He was a pain in the ass, but he was
still help- Mphff!”
He’d grabbed her while she was rambling, and turned her to face him,
plastering his mouth to hers, effectively cutting her off
mid-word. And it was no shy, chaste kiss from a gawky teenager,
no soft peck from a boy who knew more of hurt from humans than
help. This was the kiss of a man standing knee deep in a river of
affection and dying of thirst. And if she didn’t act quickly, it
was going to be much more than a kiss, and something neither of them
was ready for. She pulled her head back as his lips traveled
along her jaw to her throat, then down to nibble her collarbone.
Kagome sucked in huge breaths, trying desperately to fight the rising
feelings that rather than being wrong, were all too right.
“Inuyasha,” she breathed, mouth almost level with one triangular
ear. “Inuyasha, please…” Words failed her as his hands
moved confidently over her body, seeking out secretly sensitive areas
he should not have known about. “Inuyasha, osu-” The
command died on her tongue as he gripped her tighter and she realized
that they would both go down if she finished the word. ‘Down’ was
very likely exactly where he wanted her at that moment.
She pulled away with a Herculean effort. “Inuyasha, stop
it. We can’t do this now.” His chest was heaving, and she
could see the repeated clench and release of his hands as he fought to
control the urge to claim what was rightfully his. Finally, he
took a deep breath and nodded, a bit of the tension visibly draining
from his frame. Then he stepped forward into her space, his body
an inch from hers, but carefully not touching.
“Fine. Naraku first, then other things.” His eyes bored
into hers, and she became aware of the red fading from them. “But
if that fucking Kouga lays one finger on you, I’m cutting it off.
You’re my woman.”
Kagome blinked a moment, wondering where on earth that had come from,
and managed to miss Inuyasha turning to stride away.
“Damn it, Kagome, let’s go! We don’t have time to stand around
and do nothing!”
Snapping back to reality, Kagome stumbled after him. “What about
figuring out-”
“Keh,” he interrupted. “I know what I have to do first.”
She was almost afraid to ask again. “What are you doing?”
“I want my sword,” he snapped. “We’re going to find Sesshoumaru.”
Kagome groaned, convinced that things had just gone from bad to worse.
---
AN: “Standing knee deep in a river…” paraphrased from Kathy Mattea’s
“Standin’ Knee Deep In A River (Dyin’ Of Thirst)”
One can also assume spoilers through whatever the current book of Hero
21 is, including cast lists and complete texts. Probably should
have mentioned this sooner, but I have a hard time not using
information if I have access to it. ;) And it’s SOOOO good,
too.
Chapter 5
Interlude
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