Wednesday, November 3, 2004

   inuyasha 20
Inuyasha didn't leave Kagome's side for a full week.

And in all that time, Kagome didn't move, didn't make one sound.

Yet, the thing that kept the hanyou from going absolutely insane was that through it all, her heartbeat stayed strong and steady. Slowly, her color began to return, her breathing coming easier until it seemed almost back to normal. She still looked like absolute hell warmed over, but she was alive and healing, and it was more than enough for Inuyasha.

Inuyasha let Kaede inside only once during that time to check on her, and that had taken the better part of an afternoon just to negotiate. Other than that, he simply opened the door and barked out orders for anyone around and slammed the door. He demanded medicine, water, and food whenever they ran out, but aside from that room was eerily silent.

Surprisingly, the only really serious problem had happened the first morning after Kagome had been injured, and it had barely involved her at all.

Once Shippo woke up and took Kagome's shirt off his face, he'd caught the scent of the blood and the burned flesh and immediately screamed at the top of his little lungs for Kagome. The scream had snapped the humans in the hut awake, but before they could stop him, he'd gone streaking off in the direction of her scent. Inuyasha had been rudely jarred awake when the kitsune leapt onto Kagome's naked back, wailing like the world was coming to an end.

When the hanyou's eyes opened to see the kit on Kagome his control had snapped. The roar of outrage from Inuyasha shook the walls of the hut and likely scared the life out of more than one villager, but he'd never loosened his hold on the unconscious girl as he demanded the kit get off her and get out. Shippo was tenacious, and Inuyasha had to forcibly pry the baby youkai off her, flinging him at the door the moment it opened.

Shippo had slammed straight into Miroku's chest, knocking them both backwards into the hall with a resounding crash, punctuated with some impressive cursing while Sango rushed in on their heels. Her eyes went huge and she felt back several steps in disbelief when her eyes found the pair of them on the futon, "Inuyasha!?"

"OUT!!" Inuyasha snarled out, rearing up with Kagome still cradled carefully against him, his arms shifting to hide as much of her from them as he could. "Fucking get out NOW!!" the threat and authority in that voice had gained the desired effect and the room had cleared so fast it had even surprised the hanyou.

It had been the last time anyone tried to enter the room unannounced, but Shippo had stubbornly taken up watch outside the door, attempting to sneak in every time Inuyasha opened it to call for something new. But the kitsune never made it past Inuyasha, no matter what he tried.

Settling the house into a tense routine.

At the moment Inuyasha was holding Kagome in his lap, wearing only his under-robes with a sheet tucked lightly over her to preserve her modesty in case she woke up while he was tending to the healing wounds. All week he'd held her, wiping her down with cool water in what he hoped would keep a fever away, even washing her hair a few times in an effort to make her more comfortable.

Inuyasha brushed his hand gently along her cheek, his eyes softening and a low rumble rising in his chest. He'd had more than enough time to sit and think, his hands never far from Kagome's face or hair, lightly stroking as he murmured apologies and promises that if she'd just wake up, he'd make sure nothing ever happened to her again. He'd let her go back through the well whenever she wanted, he'd stop subduing her... Hell, he'd been promising anything and everything if she'd just open her eyes.

He wasn't exactly prepared for when she did.

Kagome shifted slightly, making a slight sound of protest in his lap.

Stunned, Inuyasha nearly dropped her, but recovered in a rush and dragged her up against him so fast, he caught the sheet around her under his own knee, uncaring when it came loose in the process. If her head wasn't spinning already it definitely would have been now, "Kagome! Kagome, can you hear me?!"

"Ite..." she breathed softly, a shudder wracking her from head to toe as her head lolled forward against his chest. Pain exploded through her body, making her hiss and try to tuck herself into Inuyasha in an effort to escape it, "Fuck..."

Inuyasha's lips turned up in a brilliant smile that would have very likely blinded Kagome if she saw it. He let out a heavy breath in a loud rush that he hadn't even been aware he was holding. His arms tightened around her and he buried his face in the curve of her neck, pressing a hard kiss to her shoulder and inhaling deeply as the tension slowly eased out of him.

It was the most beautiful thing he'd ever heard come out of her mouth, "You are awake."

"How... long have I...been asleep?" Kagome winced at the pain throbbing through every inch of her body. She felt impossibly sluggish, hearing her own words like they were being spoken through a tunnel.

"A week," he answered, rubbing his cheek against hers and just enjoying the feel of her, responsive and conscious. "How do you feel?"

"Like absolute shit," she grumbled sourly, giving into the urge to bury her face against his chest and take a deep breath. She closed her eyes and wrapped her the smell and feel of Inuyasha around herself as best she could. It was the last thing she remembered before everything went black, comforting and making her feel protected and safe.

Inuyasha gave a short bark of laughter, his throat suspiciously tight as he responded to her body language and tucked his legs up to settle her in the cradle of his lap, "If it makes you feel any better, you look like absolute shit too."

"If I didn't feel so bad, I'd kick you," Kagome lifted her uninjured arm weakly to touch his chest, her brows lowering in surprise when she touched something thin that brushed aside easily. Her palm rested lightly bare skin instead of his regular haori, 'That's strange...What's wrong with his kimono?'

"Maybe I'll let you when you're feeling up to it," he closed his own eyes and carefully stroked his hand up and down her spine, not wanting to accidentally cut the new bandages he'd just taken so long to wrap around her.

Kagome shivered at the feel of the caress, her mind taking a moment to actually connect and process information through the dense haze of pain clouding her thoughts. Something about his hand and her back didn't feel like she thought it should, just like her hand on his chest... Her brow furrowed as she tried to sort out what was wrong with it, but her head just wasn't cooperating, "I think I'll hold you to it. What happened to me, Inuyasha?"

Inuyasha frowned, his ears flattening back as he wondered if her injuries were more serious than they thought. Had she hit her head and he just hadn't checked her over well enough to find it? His heartbeat started to pound with apprehension as he lifted his hands and began to gently prod her from head to toe, checking to see where she seemed to be tender. He couldn't help his own grimace when most of where he touched prompted a moan or a gasp from the weakened girl, "What can you remember?"

She shook her head, groaning when the motion made spots dance behind her eyes and her head swim, "I... I stepped outside and everything... felt different. I just started walking. The forest was so peaceful, and I just ended up at the well before I knew it."

Inuyasha barely succeeded in keeping the smile from his lips as the pleasure he felt at her admission, slowly eased the muscles that had been constricting in his chest. She really hadn't been trying to sneak back to her time and leave him...

"Then Kikyou-," her voice broke and she stopped for a moment, taking deep breaths to quell the sudden nausea that hit her. "Kikyou shot me. I think three times, but I didn't do anything at first, Inuyasha! I swear, I didn't-"

"Shh! I know, Kagome, I know," he soothed, dropping his chin onto her head and squeezing her lightly to stop the desperate rambling. "It's okay. Tell me what happened after she shot you."

"You... believe me?" Kagome looked up at him, her eyes glassy from the pain and wide with uncertain surprise. 'Inuyasha believes me over Kikyou?' the hand against his chest curling slightly.

He moved his other hand up to brush a finger over her mouth, "Of course I do. It's all right, Kagome, I know this wasn't your fault. Tell me, please?"

Kagome's eyes searched his for a long moment, blinking rapidly as she tried to clear her vision before she finally gave up and just tucked her head back to his chest. Her hand stroked over the muscles lightly, curious at how soft the skin beneath her fingertips felt, "I didn't want to die, and then there was a voice. It was telling me to give up, but I didn't want to. And then... then there was this strength inside me, and I didn't feel any pain anymore. I just knew that I could fight with that power. I wanted to kill her..."

Inuyasha reached down to pull her more tightly into his lap, an encouraging rumble in his chest as he soothed the trembling that started through her again, "You were speaking as though you were listening to someone."

She flinched and tried to tuck herself smaller against him as his arms slid fully around her back and flattened her chest to his, "It was... a man. I think. He told me he would help me, that you would kill me so you could be with Kikyou."

Inuyasha's brows lowered in a dangerous scowl, the growl rising unbidden from deep inside at the thought of a man, any man, invading Kagome's mind a trying to feed her those lies, "I would never hurt you, Kagome! And I'll never let anyone hurt you. Anyone... You know that."

Kagome was getting dizzy again, closing her eyes as a new spasm of pain went through her and made her whimper. Being pressed to Inuyasha like this was sending warmth curling in her veins, making the pain less noticeable and relaxing her sore muscles. She was so tired, "I just... I saw you together and it hurt. I just wanted to lash out at someone, and... and he made it easy. I'm sorry! Inuyasha, I'm so sorry!"

"Calm down, Kagome!" he shook his head and grimaced at how broken and small her voice sounded. His ears flattened back as he rocked her gently, eyes closing when he felt the tears on his chest, "You aren't strong enough to do this yet, and you don't have to apologize. I should have been protecting you."

"That's such bullshit, Inuyasha," her fingers flexed against his chest, but the effort to lift her head was just too much. Her shoulder pulled painfully and she gingerly reached up to touch it, gasping at the wave of blackness the went through her when she did. Her hand dropped, grazing her own chest before it fell to her lap. Her eyelids felt like lead, but what had met her fingertips had her lifting her hand again and pressing it to her stomach curiously, "You were right. I shouldn't have left without you."

"No, I-"

"Am I naked?" Kagome's groggy whisper cut off his attempt to redirect the blame where he felt it belonged.

Inuyasha blundered for a moment at the blunt question, his mouth working soundlessly as he tried to collect his suddenly scattered thoughts. His hands tightened on her as he tried to explain even as he felt his cheeks heat with a blush when her question instantly snapped his attention onto the fact that they were in what could most definitely be considered a compromising position. Not just that but it was bringing to mind the actual feel of her against him, and THAT was definitely not something he should be worrying about right now, "I... you... that is...I mean..."

Kagome was slumping against him again, her words slurring slightly as she started to lose consciousness again, "I am, aren't I? Are you naked too?"

"Ah... no, not exactly," he stammered out, concerned at how she was fading again while he was sure his face was practically glowing. It was true...sort of. So they weren't exactly the thickest fabric in the world and they weren't tied on as securely as they could be. And she was just wearing the bandages... 'Damn, I really can't be thinking like this!' he bit his lip, but still kept her pressed tightly against him.

"I'm cold, Inuyasha..." she rubbed her cheek against his chest. It really was just too much for her mind to try and handle right now and she let it go, welcoming that rising blackness that promised to take away the pain. "Would you...?"

Inuyasha swallowed his embarrassment immediately with his rising concern, "Would I?"

"Would you just...hold me like this just a little longer? I can be embarrassed later, right?" Kagome finished, her voice trailing off as she let out a sigh and slid back into the soothing void.

Inuyasha stared down at her head for a long moment in disbelief, but his mouth twitched and ever so slowly, a smile spread wide from ear to ear. He let his eyes slide closed, rubbing his cheek against hers again to comfort himself with the much more natural slumber she seemed to have slipped into. A jaw-cracking yawn worked its way free with the last release of the tension and fear that had been nearly strangling him all week, and Kagome's heartbeat against his own was hypnotic, beating with his own.

With great care, he maneuvered himself back down on the futon, settling her on top of him the same way he'd done the first night. This time, however, he was much more aware of the feel of her bare skin, setting his jaw to ignore it even as his hands lifted to smooth over her hair and down her back. Kagome shifted against him in her sleep, sighing his name as she moved to tuck her head into the curve of his neck on her own.

Inuyasha reached up and tilted her chin up so he could lean down and press his lips softly to hers. Instinctively, she reacted to the contact and Inuyasha debated with himself for all of two seconds before taking advantage of it to give into the urge he'd been having for weeks. His hand cupped her cheek as he deepened the kiss with almost desperate need, silently thanking the gods he'd been praying to before that she was alive and if not exactly well, on her way to it. The soothing balm to his frayed nerves was right there. In the way she was moving in his hold, the soft sounds rising instinctively from her throat as he coaxed her into responding, and even the taste of her was filled with warmth as it swamped his senses.

It wasn't until the low growl in his chest turned into what he could only call a moan and he was very seriously debating a whole lot more than just kissing that he stopped himself.

Inuyasha regretfully pulled back, staring down at her for a long moment before, once more tucking her tightly against him. He pressed his lips softly to the top of her head, inhaling her scent one more time. He felt her sigh, her lips curving against his throat and bringing a warm smile to his own mouth.

Closing his eyes, Inuyasha took deep breaths to calm himself and settled in to really sleep for the first time all week.


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