Tuesday, September 21, 2004

   inuyasha 4
Inuyasha had never been so stunned in his entire life.

The breath left his lungs in a rush, mouth falling open is total disbelief and not a little horror as his eyes went so wide it was a wonder they didn't start tearing. He felt paralyzed, not even his ears moving as the sound of her voice saying those three little words repeated in his head like a macabre echo.

Kagome just turned around and sashayed off, letting a huge smile settle on her lips the moment her back was turned to Inuyasha. That had felt so unbelievably fantastic and the look on his face was *well* beyond priceless. Maybe instead of "sitting" him from now on she should just say something like that again and at that thought, she fought the sudden urge to giggle. Well HE said worse on a regular basis, so it wasn't like he could complain or anything without looking like a complete idiot. After all, whether he knew it or not, he had been the one who taught her how to swear.

She finally chuckled softly, the sight of Inuyasha's face at that moment ingrained into her memory for all time.

Kagome's steps were lighter than they had been in ages as she returned to her friends and settled in for a quiet dinner. She was so engrossed with reliving the expression on Inuyasha's face over and over that she completely missed the curious looks and then dismissing shrugs from the monk and exterminator watching her closely from the other side of the fire.

*

Inuyasha had no idea how long he stood rooted to the same spot, his eyes unblinking and mouth just gaping open as his poor brain tried to process what had just happened. His body was completely frozen as he vaguely registered the scent of dinner as it came and went, followed soon by the murmurs and rustling of the others as they broke off for the night and settled down to sleep.

And still he stood, perfectly motionless in the soft, quiet night.

Kagome... His sweet, kind, innocent Kagome had just looked him in the eye and told him quite clearly to go fuck himself.



***



Inuyasha was still awake as the sun lightened the sky from dusky violet to pale pink. However, he was now sitting on the ground less than a foot away from Kagome's head, his eyes glued to her face as they had been ever since he had rather numbly stumbled back to camp and planted himself in that spot. Out of habit, he had registered Miroku's place against a tree, his staff held loosely against his shoulder in an upright position, and Sango curled up with Kirara a fair distance from the lecherous monk. Shippo, as always, was snuggled in with Kagome, his ear pressed to her heart as he snored lightly. The damn runt hadn't moved once the entire night, but then again, neither had Kagome.

And here he sat, crouched on all fours, ears twitching as his gaze finally strayed down to watch her chest rise and fall almost hypnotically with the even breaths of deep sleep. His head was foggy, still spinning, and he was certain it wasn't going to stop anytime soon. He couldn't possibly have heard her right. Kagome, 'his' Kagome would never dream of saying that to anyone! Well, okay, she could shout it at Naraku until she was blue in the face and he wouldn't care, but that would be different. For her to say it to 'him' as though it was the most natural thing in the world? He was more convinced than ever that something was seriously wrong with the girl.

There were youkai in her time, so... couldn't there be witches too? Had someone or something in her time enchanted her and she just wasn't telling them?

That thought hurt. Didn't she trust at least him enough to tell him if something like that had happened? They'd been through very nearly everything together and he'd protected her! He'd nearly been killed on a few occasion; she'd damn well better trust him!

Inuyasha was quite abruptly knocked to the ground, his head throbbing as he growled, glaring up from his prone position into the disapproving face of the monk. "And they call me hentai," Miroku clucked his tongue, fingering his staff meaningfully. "It is not proper to stare at a Kagome-sama's breasts when she is sleeping, Inuyasha," he scolded.

"And grabbing them when they're awake is?" Inuyasha fumed, righting himself and rubbing his head.

"That is different," Miroku gave a superior sniff, turning his back on the growling hanyou. "I am merely showing my appreciation for the female body," he waved it off nonchalantly.

Inuyasha's hair fluffed out like an angry cat, "Appreciation, my ass!"

Miroku sighed, smacking Inuyasha over the head again almost absently and knocking him to the ground before bending down to stoke the fire, "I am a monk, Inuyasha."

"You're a fucking lech," he muttered from the ground even as he picked himself up and began stretching out kinks he hadn't even realized were there.

"I am merely looking out for Kagome's welfare," he cast a bored look at him over his shoulder. "Which is more than I can say for you lately. What happened last night?"

Inuyasha sputtered, instantly flustered at the reminder of what had him staring at her all night in the first place. There was no way in hell he was telling the priest THAT! With a huff, he ambled over to the fire and sat cross-legged, looking off into the woods with his arms folded in stubborn silence. Readily conveying to the surprised priest that he would add no more to the conversation.

Miroku gave a long-suffering sigh and bent to his task, ignoring the arrogant boy across from him. If the hanyou was going to start the day off irritably it was none of his concern.

"Oi," Inuyasha finally, quietly broke the heavy silence. "You said you felt strange magic around Kagome that day..."

Miroku nodded, glancing up once before looking back at the sleeping girl, "Indeed."

"Have you felt it again?" he demanded.

The monk shrugged, "Kagome has a very strong aura around her at all times, it is sometimes difficult to separate any specific magic in her, and-"

"Yes or no, priest."

Glaring for his impatience, he rake a hand through his hair, "I believe so."

So that was it, Kagome had to have been enchanted in her time when none of them were there to help her, Inuyasha thought grimly, his mouth set in a hard frown. Why else would she say something like that to him? "When?" he growled, trying to cover his hurt that she refused to confide in them... in him.

"I have caught a feel of it once or twice," Miroku expounded on his previous words. "When I 'can' sense it, it is usually when she trips. However, I had no clue what the source is or what effect it could be having on her. Do you have any suspicions, Inuyasha? Any reason to think it could be unnatural?"

Inuyasha flinched, grumbling under his breath before he spat out, "What else could it be? She must have been put under a spell."

Miroku shook his head, "She hasn't said anything to suggest that."

"She just doesn't trust us enough to say anything," his voice lowered coldly. "But something happened... There's no doubt about that. She's acting so... so..."

"Unlike herself?" the monk offered helpfully, sighing again when the hanyou only grunted at him and went stiff. "I agree that she has been acting odd, but I don't believe she would keep something from us purposefully. At least not if it was truly serious."

"And what if she didn't think it was serious?" Sango's soft comment had both men jumping guiltily and looking over to where the exterminator was calmly sitting on her bedroll. She shrugged at their expressions, "She might think she shouldn't bother us with it."

Miroku blinked several times, calmly his rapidly beating heart, "How long have you been awake, Sango?"

"Not long," she yawned, covering it with her hand. "If we're going to try and figure out what's wrong with Kagome, you should have woken me yourself though, houshi-sama," she frowned at him in annoyance.

Inuyasha felt some of his tension seep away as he processed Sango's idea that Kagome just didn't think the spell important to the rest of them. 'Could it be that she isn't keeping it from me on purpose? Does she just think it isn't serious enough to talk about? Stupid little bitch just doesn't realize how much she needs me to take care of her,' he turned a glare at the sleeping girl in annoyance. Everything would go a lot smoother if she just admitted he was right and stayed here where she belonged.

Catching the direction of his own thoughts in surprise, he growled and turned his gaze back into the woods. It wasn't as though he would care one way or another, it was just that he hated having her disagree all the time. She had a job to do, after all, and it was damned irresponsible of her to run away from it all the time.

Sango was stretching her arms over her head, "Think about it from Kagome's perspective. The only problems she ever talks about are those test things that she has to take. We all know she has more concerns than that," she gave Inuyasha a pointed glare.

He jumped slightly, looking behind him and finally realizing she meant him, "Keh."

"Inuyasha, was Kagome injured when we weren't around?" Miroku turned the conversation before it got really ugly and glanced at the hanyou before sneaking a look at the girl in question to make sure she was still dead to the world.

Inuyasha shook his head, "'Course not, why?"

"You noticed it too?" Sango glanced at the monk curiously and then smacked herself on the forehead. "Mou, what am I thinking? A lecher like you was sure to notice."

When Inuyasha growled, Miroku hurriedly explained, "She's been rubbing her hip a lot, is all. She's never done that before and I thought she might have a wound that was healing."

Inuyasha grudgingly subsided with a short nod of agreement, "That's where the Shikon jewel was inside her when she came here at first."

"Could Naraku be using her connection to the jewel to do something to her?" Sango was instantly concerned, her brows arching with alarm.

Inuyasha snarled, eyes darkening and fangs bared, "No fucking chance I'll let that bastard do anything to Kagome!"

"Shh!" Miroku hissed when Shippo grunted and turned away from them and Kagome stirred restlessly. "None of us will let Naraku bring harm to Kagome-sama, Inuyasha! Besides, she definitely would have told us if it was something like that. And don't you think he would have have tried something else by now?"

"So what do we do?" Sango moved closer to the fire, leaning in so they could keep their voices even lower while Kagome began to rouse.

Inuyasha and Miroku share a look before they both turned resolutely to face the exterminator.

"You talk to her," Inuyasha muttered, glaring at the surprised woman. "Since you're a bitch too she might open up to you."

Sango blinked several times as she stared back at the embarrassed hanyou. He'd sounded so casual, so matter-of-fact when he'd said it that a tiny suspicion began to nudge the back of her mind, "Inuyasha... is it possible you aren't actually 'trying' to be rude every time you call Kagome-chan a bitch?"

Inuyasha turned his face aside sharply, using his hair to hide his flushed cheeks, "She 'is' a bitch."

Sango coughed behind her hand to cover up her sudden amusement, sharing a look with the smiling priest, "I... see."

Miroku cleared his throat, rising to his feet, "At any rate, I believe Inuyasha is correct, Sango. You *are* the only other woman, in addition to being Kagome's friend, and women seem to speak more freely with each other than with men..."

She rolled her eyes and leaned back before muttering with barely revealed sarcasm, "Can't imagine why. Okay, so what do you two suggest I do? It's not like I can just drag her off, ask her why's she acting so weird, and expect her to be honest. She'll blow it off and say she's fine, you know she will."

"Hell, Sango, you're a girl," Inuyasha gave her a dry look and gestured to her as though it should have been obvious. "Fix it!"

Sango arched one brow skeptically, "What?"

"Do the girl thing!" he barked at her, frustrated at her confusion.

"The... girl thing?" she repeated slowly in a disbelieving tone, eyes wide as Miroku nodded in solemn agreement with the hanyou. "And just what 'girl thing' would that be?"

For a moment, Inuyasha was at a loss for words, tilting his head to one side and frowning at her. She was supposed to know this herself, so why was he having to explain? "Ahhh... you know. The...the weird talking and the giggling and shit. That thing girls do when they get together and fix each other's problems!"

Sango just stared at them both for a long moment, her lips twitching. She tried. Oh how she tried, but in the end it was just too much and she threw back her head to roar with laughter. She laughed until tears rolled down her cheeks, pounding at the ground with one fist while she wrapped her other arm around her aching stomach. The sound waking Kagome and Shippo while Inuyasha and Miroku backed away from the laughing woman in growing alarm.

"S-Sango?" Miroku blinked owlishly at her as she stumbled to her feet and made her way to Kagome's side when the girl sat up, looking around for the source of the noise.

Sango caught the arm of a sleepily confused Kagome and started tugging her off in the direction of the river, managing to gasp out, "Wait... just wait until you hear *this,* Kagome-chan!"

When the exterminator had dragged a bleary-eyed Kagome out of their sight, Inuyasha, Miroku and Shippo sat in various stages of bemusement. The three looked at each other wide-eyed until the sound of nearly hysterical laughter from both girls shattered the thick silence. Inuyasha pinned his ears back, wincing at the sound while Shippo clapped his hands over his own ears. Miroku was still staring off in the direction they had gone, tapping his staff against the ground nervously. The rings clinked steadily as the monk shot the hanyou a frown.

Inuyasha recovered from his initial shock, straightening his spine and lifting his head in as regal a pose he could manage with his ears pinned flat against his head in an effort to block the sounds of laughter, "See? The girl thing! Sango *does* know it."

"Somehow I'm not comforted," Miroku groaned, covering his eyes with his hand.

Shippo just looked back and forth between them, his eyes huge as he tried to figure out what Inuyasha and Miroku could have possibly done to Sango to get such a god-awful noise out of her AND Kagome at the same time. Then again, he thought as another piercing shriek filled the air and sent him burrowing into Kagome's sleeping bag for protection, maybe some things were better left to the realm of the unexplainable.


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