Friday, November 5, 2004

   inuyasha 21
'Great! Just fucking great, Kagome! I tell you specifically to stay close to your hanyou and what do you do? You go racing off at the first chance you get and almost get yourself killed!'

Kagome jolted at the sound of the voice directly behind her. She was starting to dread hearing that sound more than anything else and she sighed wearily as she started rubbing her temples, 'I knew it was too soon to think you were going to leave me alone. So how did I get such a long break from you?'

'You're balancing again, so it's safe for me to be here. If I tried before now your hanyou's soul would have ripped me apart,' the voice was close again, but instead of the familiar hazy gray landscape it seemed to prefer, this time, everything was pitch black. Kagome shivered and tried to peer into the darkness, but it was like being blind... trapped in a void, 'Don't you realize how close you came to getting yourself killed?!'

Kagome blushed, nervous at her inability to see anything around her and more than a little concerned after what she could remember of the last voice. Instinctively tucking her knees up to her chest so she could hide her blush, she admitted quietly, 'I didn't think it would be like that! What the hell happened?'

'I told you that there were others trying to invade your mind. The hanyou's presence is what keeps them from being able to connect with you and you getting angry only gives them a direct path in. Hell, Kagome, you couldn't have made it any easier for them to get inside your head if you tried! Weren't you listening to what I told you at all?'

She hunched up even tighter, flinching when she felt the hand settle on her shoulder, 'I didn't believe you.'

The voice let out a frustrated sigh and suddenly it was an arm around her shoulder instead of just a hand, 'Kagome, I told you that I'm not trying to hurt you. I need you to trust me when I tell you what you need to do. I really am only trying to keep you alive and safe while we figure out how to undo the distortion in the spell, or at least figure out how to combat it. Do you understand that the only reason you're still alive is because of the spell with your hanyou? And that he came after you so quickly?'

'I don't understand,' Kagome lifted her head, but everything was still dark and she dropped it miserably back down into her arms. 'What is that spell doing to me?'

'We connected you to the hanyou,' it answered after a moment's hesitation, obviously unhappy with what it was telling her but unwilling to risk a repeat of what had just occurred. 'You lost so much blood that by all accounts your heart should have stopped while you were fighting the resurrected miko. The only reason it didn't was that first, you were feeding of the energy of whatever the hell is trying to get in your head. When you lost your access to that energy source, Inuyasha was close enough to you that his heart took over. It was guiding your own and keeping you alive. If he'd left you before your body replenished that blood, your heart definitely would have stopped.'

Kagome felt the blood drain from her face, a chill rushing through her at what the voice was saying, 'Stopped?'

'That miko would have killed you with those wounds. Of course it didn't help that you were being so damn energetic in fighting them. You did even more damage to yourself than you realize,' it rubbed her back in what she imagined was supposed to be a soothing way.

As soothing as it could be for a disembodied voice that spontaneously grew hands and arms as it got stronger and yelled at her in her own dreams, she thought with a bitter twist of lips. But if he was telling the truth, and she really had no reason not to think so after what happened, then she had almost killed herself with her own actions. Without Inuyasha she would be dead or still dying. Wait, was she...?

'Am I still dying?' she asked in a small voice, closing her eyes against the painful lurch of her heart in her chest.

'Not anymore. Your heart is beating on its own again, however, it still follows your hanyou's guidance. His soul is very determined to keep you alive and it will not release yours now that it has a hold within yours. We are still trying to figure out how he did such a thing without being aware of it.'

'I still don't think I understand,' Kagome admitted, lifting her face and wiping at the tears making their way down her cheeks. 'Inuyasha's soul is holding mine?' she repeated, trying to get some clarification.

'Don't worry about it for the moment. You need only to focus on getting well,' it prompted gently, a strange ripple going through the blackness around her that she could sense more than see. 'The hanyou may be keeping you alive, but you are still of human blood. You took very serious injuries, critical injuries, and they will take time and care to heal fully.'

Kagome frowned in confusion, 'Why do you call him that? You say his name sometimes, but you still usually call him "the hanyou" or "my hanyou." Why do you do that?'

'I don't like him much myself, but you two need each other,' she could taste the amused smile in the voice. 'Let him take care of you, Kagome, and don't push yourself. I can't stay long yet with him being so deeply ingrained in you right now, but we'll speak more when you're up for it.'

'You jerk, you just brought me here to yell at me,' she muttered in irritation, wishing for a moment that the voice was solid enough to throttle.

'Damn straight! Don't make me reinforce the spell to keep you close to him.'

Kagome instantly went silent, her eyes going wide as the implications of that threat hit her, 'You wouldn't...'

'Don't tempt me.'

***

Kagome snapped awake with a startled gasp, her muscles stiffening in alarm.

She instantly regretted the knee-jerk reflex when pain lanced through her aching body, making her head swim. She gritted her teeth, eyes squeezing shut against the pain as she took deep breaths, forcing her body to relax muscle by cramping muscle while her head pounded fiercely, making her dizzy and more than a little sick to her stomach.

'Good God, it wasn't kidding about how bad I was hurt,' Kagome could feel tears prickling at backs of her eyes as she fought to get herself back under control.

It took forever, but she finally got her muscles to relax, leaning back only to have her back come up against something warm, solid...and breathing.

Kagome's eyes slowly opened again and went very, very wide as her mind began to replay what exactly she'd been doing prior to losing consciousness this last time. She'd just registered that it was more than likely Inuyasha behind her when she felt a completely unexpected pressure that instantly sent the beginnings of her coherent thoughts to the four winds.

There was a heavy arm around her waist that had tightened when she moved, pulling her closer to the warmth at her back. And a hand, a rather large, clawed hand, flexed from where it was pressed to her bosom.

Kagome's mouth fell open and she just knew that the blush that swept through her was going all the way to her toes, "Oh my God. I am not lying here naked with Inuyasha; I am NOT lying here naked with Inuyasha....!"

Inuyasha growled in his sleep, shifting closer to her and nuzzling his face to her neck. Kagome felt a shiver trail down her spine when she felt teeth at the nape of her neck, squeezing her eyes closed and biting her lip as she tried to think of the easiest way to extricate herself from the situation.

It definitely didn't help that she could hear a voice that was suspiciously like her own urging her to just lean back against him and enjoy it like she wanted to. She really wished she could pass that off to the other voices running around in her head without her permission, but this one she had been dealing with a lot longer than the others. This one was the part of her mind that was brutally honest, and she couldn't blame it on anyone else.

Kagome blushed an even deeper shade of red and hissed at that part of her mind to shut up as she reached up with her uninjured hand to take his wrist. It was disconcerting to feel the weakness in her own limbs as she tried to tug his hand to a safer location, but Inuyasha only grunted, moving his hand to take hers and press them both over her heart.

'Okay, that's teeth,' Kagome's heart started to pound when Inuyasha's mouth again closed over the tendon in her neck. "Oh hell, not this again," she swallowed, taking a deep bracing breath and trying to think of anything else besides the renewed urge to just melt against that soothing heat.

Miroku wasn't here to distract her this time.

Kagome held her breath when Inuyasha growled again, louder this time before inhaling deeply and rolling onto his back. She let out a squeak of surprise when he pulled her along with him, releasing her neck long enough to turn her just with the arm still wrapped around her waist. He settled when her legs were yet again trapped between his, turning her face before she'd could do more than catch a glimpse of the smug tilt to his lips before he was kissing her.

Inuyasha was waiting for the gasp he knew she wouldn't be able to suppress, all but purring when her mouth opened right as he'd anticipated. He leaned forward to take it deeper just long enough for her fingers to curl against his chest before he pulled back to grin at the shocked look on her face.

Kagome sat perfectly frozen, mouth open and eyes wide as she gaped at him; her mind a complete and total blank.

It was obvious the moment she collected at least some of her thoughts by her reaction, dropping her face down to his chest so fast that for a moment he was afraid she'd lost consciousness. Inuyasha cocked his head to one side to look down at her face, but she just tried to curl in smaller and refused to meet his eyes.

Kagome felt the vibration in his chest and gritted out almost too low for him to hear, "If you laugh at me, Inuyasha, I swear I'll make you regret it."

"Stay," Inuyasha bit his lip and started to laugh when her legs relaxed. It had been unexpected enough that Kagome didn't have time to respond before he was giving her his explanation for saying it, "Sorry, Kagome, but I do have some self-preservation instincts." He shifted his legs beneath hers, reaching down and moving her until she was straddling his waist. "This doesn't hurt does it? Can you sit like this?" he asked in concern as he tried to settle her into what he hoped was a comfortable position.

Kagome closed her eyes and fought the urge to scream at him, but her head was still pounding and she was sure yelling would just make the headache worse. The hazy fog muddling her thoughts also hadn't lifted completely, although having Inuyasha kiss her like that had done a damn good job of getting it close, "No..no, that doesn't hurt."

He sighed with mock regret, stroking her back and fighting the urge to smile at the way she leaned into his hand even now, "This would be a bad time remind you that you're naked, right?"

Kagome reared up so fast that before she'd even realized what she'd done, her muscles were screaming in painful protest and a choked sound worked it's way free of her throat, "Ite!"

Inuyasha was sitting up with his arms wrapped around her before she'd finished the pained gasp, "Easy, Kagome! Dammit, don't try to move like that yet!"

She looked up at him, giving him a weak smile, "That...really hurt."

"Baka," he shook his head, reaching down awkwardly to wrap the blanket around her gently. "You not going to be doing a whole lot of moving for a while. You're just a weak human after all."

"Inuyasha, you're wracking up an awful lot of painful moments for yourself right now," Kagome turned her face away when his hand brushed her chest, her blush back in full force.

He tilted her chin up and kissed her forehead, "If you promise me you'll never do anything that fucking stupid again I'll consider it a fair trade."

Inuyasha was so focused on the girl in his lap that he failed to notice the door moving aside ever so slightly and a little head peeking through.

Shippo took one look at first the hanyou, and then to Kagome, his eyes widening when he saw her actually move her head up under Inuyasha's chin. Scowling at Inuyasha for not telling him the moment she woke up, he bit his lip to hold in the squeal of delight and readied himself to spring. As long as he reached Kagome, she would let him stay, he knew it!

Inuyasha caught the russet blur by the tail mere inches from its goal, frowning in casual disapproval, "Keh, just because you got in here doesn't mean I can't smell you, brat. Or sense it when you move. How fucking stupid do you think I am?"

"You've had her all to yourself and you never told us when she woke up, you jerk!" Shippo pulled himself up to sink his teeth into Inuyasha's hand. "We're worried, dammit, and you never let us in to see her!"

"Ite! You're going to pay for that later," Inuyasha tossed the kit up and caught him by the scruff of the neck. He shook him once and snarled out, "Now listen! You can stay, Shippo, BUT... You hurt her, even unintentionally, and I'll beat the shit out of you. She's still in bad shape and you can't act like you normally do. That means no jumping on her, got it? She's bruised enough for fuck's sake."

Shippo blinked up at him, amazed at what to him was a drastic change in the hanyou's behavior, "You... don't care that I'm here? You won't throw me out?"

He snorted in disgust and dropped the little kitsune, shifting Kagome in his lap get the blanket more securely around her and then turn her in the cradle of his lap, "I'd rather you weren't here, but I won't throw you out. I don't want Kagome upset."

Kagome had been listening to the exchange silently, more than a little surprised at how mild Inuyasha was being to Shippo. Then he had been so careful to make sure she was covered and held protectively in the circle of his arms, "I really scared you, didn't I?"

Shippo kept a watchful eye on Inuyasha as he scampered up to Kagome, and climbed into her lap to curl up in a ball with his face all but buried in her stomach. His hands fisted in the blanket as he began to shake, tears pouring down his cheeks as he released the full week of terror and frustration, "You... looked dead!"

Kagome winced, but tried to smile as she lifted her hand to stroke Shippo's head, the motion pulling her already stressed injuries, "Inuyasha said I still do. Don't cry, Shippo-chan, I'm going to be fine."

Inuyasha grunted in warning when the kit rose on his feet, but he only pressed his ear to her heart, trying not to notice the dark bruises over the exposed skin. Annoyed at how much everyone seemed to be ignoring him only to attempt to poke and prod at the girl, he hissed out, "She's not dying, runt."

Shippo frowned up at Inuyasha, clutching tightly to Kagome and keeping his head pressed to her chest so he could listen to her heart. Slowly he took deep breaths, wanting to banish the smell of blood and scorched flesh from his memory completely. He finally began to calm down when Kagome's arm wrapped around him to hold him as well as she was able, "He threw me out!"

"You jumped on her," the hanyou's brows lowered angrily and he growled at the kit. "I told everyone to stay out and you didn't listen. What the hell did you think I would do?"

"Shippo-chan, Inuyasha, please don't argue like this," Kagome interrupted, frowning slightly when her head started to pound again. "My head... really hurts..."

Inuyasha's ears flattened back and he pulled her back against his chest, running his hand through her hair soothingly, "Don't strain, Kagome. You're going to have do this nice and slow. Understood?"

"Hai," she relaxed into him, simply too drained to really waste her energy on caring that she was only wearing a blanket. This was the one place in the world where she felt perfectly safe, protected...maybe even a little cherished. It took more effort than she wanted to use to get uselessly irritated over something so small, especially when he had been the only thing that kept her from dying.

Inuyasha was looking down at Shippo, sighing in resignation as he massaged Kagome's neck lightly in one hand, "If he fell asleep any faster I'd be worried he was dead."

Kagome was pulled from her thoughts, frowning when she felt the fog starting to slowly drift back over her. 'I'm getting as lazy as Buyo,' she thought in disgust, wrinkling her nose.

A shiver went through her when she felt Inuyasha whisper softly in her ear, "You're about to drift off too, aren't you?"

She blinked rapidly, but the fog stubbornly remained, "I think so..."

"Get some rest then," Inuyasha instructed, that authoritative growl back in his voice. "I won't let anything happen to you."

Kagome's eyes drifted closed, but she smiled against him warmly and murmured, "Arigatoo, Inuyasha. Will you remind me that I still have to thank you for saving my life again when I wake up? Please?"

Inuyasha bit back a smile, turning his body and sliding back far enough that he could prop his back up against the wall comfortably. He'd ended up dragging half the futon with him by accident, awkwardly using one hand to wrap her in an almost makeshift bed in his lap. He had leaned back and closed his eyes himself before he answered, "I'll remember."


Comments (2)