Sunday, September 19, 2004

   inuyasha 2
"I...I have to talk to Kaede-sama!" Kagome stammered out, jumping to her feet and pivoting to race off in the direction of the village. She was gone so fast that Inuyasha didn't have a chance to do more than open his mouth to ask what was wrong again. Three very confused men were left blinking at her retreating figure, trying without much success to reason out what exactly had just happened.

Shippo was blinking owlishly before he hopped onto Inuyasha's head and wondered aloud, "What's the matter with Kagome?"

"How the hell should I know?" Inuyasha scowled at the kit, hefting Kagome's forgotten pack and walking along the path to the village slowly. There hadn't been any blood smells or any signs that she was hurt. Maybe she had just tripped from her side and rattled her own senses from the fall? He shook his head, denying his own attempted explanation. She wouldn't have been in such a hurry to talk to the old miko if it was just a fall.

Miroku fell in step behind them, rubbing his chin and sighing, eyes closed as he murmured, "Maybe it had to do with that strange magic..."

Inuyasha froze, "What strange magic?"

The monk's eyes opened, "You mean you didn't sense it?"

He grabbed him by his robes, yanking him forward and baring his fangs and he snapped out irritably, "Would I be fucking asking if I had? Spill it, priest, what strange magic did you sense?"

Miroku very calmly smacked the hanyou on the head with his staff to gain his release, clearing his throat before he continued towards the village, "When Kagome-sama appeared from her time there was a strong pulse of magic around her right until she stood and ran off. I have not felt that from her before."

Inuyasha growled in frustration, recalling the shocked look on her face and leaping off towards Kaede's hut, Kagome... What happened while you were gone? I wasn't there to protect you. You were afraid...

**

"Well, yes, I suppose a subduing spell could be cast into a symbol like a tattoo, but why do you ask? Are the prayer beads not working as they're supposed to?" Kaede regarded the nervous girl speculatively at the unexpected and -if she wasn't mistaken- desperate question. "I can't imagine Inuyasha causing you alarm like this, child, but then again a tattoo would take a long time. Inuyasha would never agree to it or sit still long enough for it to be done."

Kagome shook her head, fighting the urge to grab her hip through the jeans she had decided to substitute for her skirt, "I...I was only curious. I want to understand more about the subduing spell is all."

Kaede stared at her a moment longer in silence before shrugging and turning back to the steaming pot of herbs she was stirring over a small fire, "Very well. Is there anything else you wish to know?"

"Ah...well," Kagome nervously chewed on her lower lip and tried to think of a careful way to word what she wanted to ask. "The spell can only be broken by removing the... necklace, right? There's no counter spell? Or will it wear off after a while?"

The old miko shook her head, "Do not concern yourself, Kagome. If a subduing spell is cast properly there is no reversal. It will not wear off, nor is there a spell Inuyasha could use to break it. Now, granted the spell can be removed if you took off the necklace, but that is the only way. The owner of the spell has to remove it and as you have seen, there is only one owner." She smiled faintly as a thought came to her, fighting the urge to chuckle at the mental image her thoughts conjured up, "If you somehow managed to tattoo the spell into him it would be quite permanent. Even if you wanted to remove it, the very nature of such a spell would prevent it."

I was afraid of that, Kagome's hopes deflated instantly and she sighed. "Can the subduing 'word' be changed?" maybe there was another way.

She shook her head, "It is the first word of subduing that is utter by the owner. You cast the spell with 'sit' and 'sit' it will remain. Are you, by chance, feeling guilty about subduing Inuyasha, Kagome?"

Outside the hut, Inuyasha froze with his hand just an inch away from the door, his ears instantly perking up. Nani? She feels guilty about this fucking necklace? Slinking down into a crouch, he slid along the wall silently and crouched under the window to eavesdrop.

Inside, Kagome sighed and with Kaede's back turned felt safe to rub her aching hip, "Of course I feel guilty about it. I mean, sometimes I feel like he deserves it, but I really don't want to actually hurt him, and being smashed into the ground has to be uncomfortable. It can come in handy though..."

Kaede nodded sagely, "Sometimes it is the only way you have enough time to escape through the well, yes?"

"Hai," she muttered. This last time had been like that, and well...just think what would have happened if she hadn't had it the time he tried to destroy the well to keep her here! But then again, if she was right and that stupid tattoo had really been a subduing spell she was in for a lot of trouble. If he found out he could drop her to the ground just as easily as she did him then she doubted she'd ever get to go home again! 'Of course, Inuyasha would be absolutely delighted,' she thought, wrinkling her nose in annoyance as her imagination went wild, shuddering as she pictured the look on his face if he found out. And if it really was 'stay?' How humiliating!

'Then again, poor Inuyasha has to live with sit...' she leaned back against the wall with a heavy sigh. 'But he's a dog; at least it fits,' she felt her lips twitch in fleeting amusement.

"I'm afraid there is no way for you to change the way the spell works, Kagome," Kaede was saying. "You would have to remove the beads to break it and I do not believe you are ready to do that."

Inuyasha grunted when Kagome sighed. So, she felt bad about slamming him into the ground all the time, but not bad enough to take them off? Even as he started mentally cursing spells in general and one in particular, in the back of his mind he admitted he didn't quite want them gone either, knowing he could always use the necklace as a back-up excuse to stay around her. 'That and the Shikon no Tama,' he sighed and leaned back against the wall, folding his arms in the sleeves of his robes. But what had brought on the sudden attack of conscience? He frowned at that thought. Inuyasha didn't believe for one second that after the such a long period of time she had developed an aversion to having something to hang over his head. Hell, most of the time he would have sworn she got some weird pleasure out of being able to flatten him with a word. She did it often enough... It just didn't make sense!

This would definitely need some further investigation.

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