Monday, September 20, 2004

   inuyasha 3
By the end of the week Kagome finally understood why Inuyasha was always swearing.

There were just some things in life that required violent, filthy words to adequately portray the depths of frustration and helpless anger a person felt when they had been pushed beyond any limit they had ever known.

And after imagining no less than fifty-seven completely different, yet slow and agonizing ways to torture, maim, and/or kill Inuyasha, Kagome had very nearly bitten the tip off her own tongue to prevent herself from letting loose a string of profanity that would put the hanyou at his worst to shame.

In that time, they had left in search for more shards as Inuyasha wanted, and Kagome had the irrefutable confirmation that she *was* under a subduing spell; Inuyasha "owned" it; and the word that send her to the ground was none other than "Stay." Every time that evil, horrible, cursed word crossed his lips, the tattoo flared with heat, throbbing steadily even as her legs went numb and crumpled beneath her. Her legs refused to respond for roughly the same length of time it took Inuyasha to recover from a "Sit." She'd at least found out that much when her frayed temper had snapped and she'd screamed it at him after yet another unexpected trip to the ground.

Bringing Kagome to her current position. Once again, seated on the ground, massaging the ache at her temples in an effort to calm herself. Wondering, as her right eye twitched with subdued anger, just how many damn times Inuyasha could use the word "Stay" in casual conversation. On the heels of that, she wondered how many more times it would take before she finally cracked and gave into her urge to throttle him.

"Oi, Kagome, when did you get so clumsy?" Inuyasha's voice broke through her rather dark imaginings and brought her attention up to the hanyou's curious face.

She closed her eyes, counting to ten just to keep her voice even as she answered, "Just lucky, I guess."

Sango had rejoined them a few days ago and now looked over at her, her brow creased with worry, "You aren't ill, are you, Kagome? You've been falling an awful lot lately."

Kagome shook her head, pointedly ignoring Inuyasha, "I'm just a bit tired. And sore," she added with a grimace as she reached behind her to rub her abused tailbone.

"Inuyasha, we shouldn't push Kagome-sama when she's obviously not well," Miroku scolded, seating himself against the trunk of a nearby tree. "We need to rest," he glared at the hanyou meaningfully.

"All right, all right," Inuyasha growled at them, folding his arms across his chest. "We'll fucking stay here for the night."

The feeling that had been returning to Kagome's legs drained away instantly and Kagome decided right then and there that the first thing she was doing when the Shikon no Tama was completed would be to wish herself immortal just so she could spend the rest of Inuyasha's natural life giving him every form of hell she was capable of producing. Then she was going to "Sit" him into oblivion, tie him to the God Tree, and extend an open invitation to Sesshoumaru and pray the youkai lord would take him time toying with his half-brother and let her watch.

Shippo hated seeing his favorite member of the group looking so frustrated and angry. He'd been doing his best to make her smile every day, and felt like chomping off Inuyasha's ears whenever the hanyou sent all his efforts and success tumbling down the wayside. Determined, he planted himself in front of her and pulled her out of her thoughts as he held out an apple to her, "I saved this for you, Kagome."

"Arigato, Shippo-chan," she gave the little kit a brilliant smile that had him grinning back at her proudly. He was delighted to have put a smile back on her face and he quickly hopped into her lap to take advantage of the cuddling that would win him. Sure enough, no sooner was he in her arms then he was being petted, twisting his head this way and that to guide her to all the best places just to hear her giggle.

Inuyasha glared at both of them, but more directly at the kitsune who merely sniffed and turned up his nose with a swish of his tail. His eyes slid to Kagome's hand and a frown settled on his face when he watched her rubbing her hip yet again. Either she had developed a new nervous habit, or there was something wrong. That was the exact spot where the centipede demon had ripped the Shikon no Tama from her body and from the look on her face, it had to be either aching or giving her some sort of pain.

He fought a brief battle in his head and finally let out a resigned sigh and crouched down in front of the surprised girl, "Are you sure you're okay, Kagome?"

Kagome's painful fantasy sputtered and died the moment her gaze met the concerned amber eyes looking into her own with genuine concern. She blinked up at him and swallowed the urge to kick him in the shins for looking at her like that and speaking in that soft tone that made her want to melt. 'Wonderful, now I can't even think about hurting him without feeling guilty,' she sighed and nodded, the hand rubbing her hip moving down over her thigh in an effort to speed the return of feeling.

"I'm sure, Inuyasha, don't worry about it," she reached up absently and toyed with one of his ears.

His eyes widened and he reared up as she giggled brightly at the reaction. He snorted at her, the sound suspiciously like a woof as he turned his back on her and leapt into the nearest tree. She shook her head, wincing as her legs finally responded and straightened out in front of her. Kagome kept rubbing her thighs for a moment before she rose to her feet and made her way to her pack.

Digging out the smaller bag containing her toiletries, a fresh towel, and a clean change of clothes, she started off in the direction of the nearby river, "I'm taking a bath. And I'm only going to say this once," she turned frigid eyes on first Miroku and then up to Inuyasha. "I catch either of you peeking and I'll tear out your spleen."

Miroku's brows rose in surprise and he help up his hands in a placating gesture, "Why, Kagome-sama, I'm shocked you would hint that we would do such a thing! You have nothing to fear."

She was nearly growling as she turned away and muttered to herself, "Like hell."

Unfortunately, Kagome had forgotten that at least one of her companions could quite easily overhear that remark and had she looked up at Inuyasha before she disappeared through the woods, she would have seen the hanyou's shocked expression.

'Like hell?' he gaped after her. That was just so...so... NOT Kagome! She NEVER said things like that! She hadn't been acting like herself ever since that day... Hn, that's right, whatever it was that was making the girl act so weird had started when she'd come back the last time. Miroku had said something about strange magic and Kagome HAD gone off immediately to talk to Kaede. But all he'd caught was the end of the conversation... Damn, now he wished he hadn't wasted time with the priest. All he'd found out by the time he got there was that she felt guilty about the subduing spell. No telling what she'd confided in the old hag before he started eavesdropping.

Inuyasha sat back in the tree, folding his arms over his chest and idly kicking one foot as he realized for the past week he'd argued with Kagome plenty of times, but there had only been one "sit." That brought on a scowl, he hadn't even deserved that one! He'd just been talking to Miroku about where to stop for the night and she had yelled it at him out of the blue! She'd tripped again, but she was glaring at him, and she'd looked pissed. Like she was blaming him for her sudden bout of klutziness.

Okay, something was definitely up.

Slowly, a plan began to take shape in the hanyou's mind.

***

Kagome sighed as she made her way back to camp, again wearing dark jeans and a simple cotton shirt. She started wearing them for the higher waist and thick fabric, feeling much safer with the incriminating tattoo more securely covered. Lately, though, she was starting to find the clothing not only easier for all the trekking about they did, but less expensive than replacing uniforms left and right. Not just that, but she didn't have to try and think up excuses to give the school for why she kept needing replacements. 'I'm such a ditz, why didn't I think of this a long time ago?' she scolded herself absently. 'It's not like I'm going to school here.'

She was still several feet from the campsite when a red and white blur dropped from the trees in front of her. Kagome gasped, stumbling backwards and falling flat on her ass under her own steam. Nothing could have sparked her banked anger more, and the scowl she turned up to Inuyasha very clearly said so.

He simply grunted at her, inwardly patting himself on the back for getting this plot of his off to such a good start. "Took you long enough, bitch. What the fuck were you doing for so long, hn?" he growled at her, arms folded and giving no indication he would help her up any time soon.

Kagome stood, rubbing her tailbone yet again and silently praying she wasn't doing that particular bone any permanent damage. Telling herself over and over not to blow up at the hanyou, she ground out, "Couldn't this have waited until I was back? I was on my way, you know, and I wasn't in danger or anything."

"With as weak as you are?" Inuyasha pointed a clawed finger at her and gave a short bark of laughter. "Without me, you'd be dead in an hour, human."

She bit her tongue on the "sit" hovering just below the surface. Who knew it was such a reflex to his attitude? "I already know how you feel, Inuyasha. Now if you don't mind-" she started past him with her spine stiff and nose in the air.

'That should have gotten a "sit" for sure,' he frowned at her, catching her arm as she tried to brush by him. Her jaw was set, the muscle in her cheek flexing with as hard as she was grinding her teeth together. Oh, yeah, Kagome was beyond pissed, so why hadn't she sat him yet?

"Let go," she shrugged, trying to give a physical hint to drop her arm as well. "I'm going right to bed, Inuyasha, you can growl at me all you want from your tree."

He bit his lip, wracking his brain for something that never failed to get him flattened and finally settled on one. He hated to use it, but he was getting desperate! With that thought firmly in mind, he dropped her arm and stepped away from her. Inuyasha waited until she had turned her back before he tossed his head and scoffed, "Keh, I wouldn't have to 'growl at you' if you were more like Kikyou. At least she was strong... and pretty."

Every muscle in Kagome's body froze and Inuyasha grinned triumphantly. That would get her out of this weird slump. She'd "sit" him until his back nearly broke, sure, but then they could get back to normal and Kagome would start arguing with him again. He made sure to wipe the smile off his face when Kagome turned around very, very slowly, her eyes nearly darkened to violet and her expression a mix of disbelief, rage, and hurt.

'You know what it feels like, don't "sit" him, Kagome! He doesn't know any better; he's just being himself!' she repeated over and over in her mind as her lips trembled from the effort it took to keep for shrieking it to the rooftops and stomping on his head while he was down for good measure. How DARE he snap that out as though it was nothing!

Her face was set in the familiar expression she got whenever she was about to let him have it, and she took three very precise steps closer to him. He had a strange glint in his amber eyes and he was watching her...expectantly? Surely he wasn't actually TRYING to get sat, was he? Had she turned Inuyasha into some twisted masochist? No. No, that couldn't be right, she just wasn't thinking straight. Still, she couldn't bring herself to do it. It was humiliating, painful, and horrible to lose control like that, and if she hated it so much herself she could only imagine what it was like to a hanyou. Especially a proud, unnaturally strong one like Inuyasha.

However, there was something she had been itching to say ever since she first realized the power in the mysterious tattoo.

Inuyasha was getting nervous, 'She should have done it by now. Why is she just standing there? C'mon, Kagome, say it. Say it!' He wanted to scream it at her, wanted the old Kagome back, not this Kagome that was so gratingly polite instead of fighting back.

When she leaned forward, eyes blazing, he took an instinctive step back, crossing his fingers hopefully behind him, "K-Kagome?"

"Inuyasha," her voice was flat, calm...dangerous.

'Yes! It's going to work!' he braced himself for the pain. 'Good girl! Give me your worst and let's go back to normal!'

"Go fuck yourself."

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