Saturday, November 6, 2004

inuyasha 22
Kagome leaned heavily on Inuyasha's supporting arm as they made their way back from the river, shaking her head in self disgust, "I feel so worthless."

She'd been determined to take a real bath after having spent not only her week unconscious with just Inuyasha's rub downs, but the past four days since she'd been able to stay awake longer than an hour or two as well. If she didn't recover soon, though, she might run out of ways to blush when it came to the hanyou.

He was adamant about checking her injuries twice a day to reapply herbs and fresh bandages, but despite the interaction they'd had the first morning, he didn't show any outward reaction that he noticed how often he was seeing her naked. Actually, Inuyasha had only teased her once or twice about how pink he thought she could get when he was poking and prodding at her tender muscles. The rest of the time, he just seemed concerned with the injuries.

How long could she stay embarrassed when Inuyasha had been so... casual about the whole thing? He almost acted like it was the most natural thing in the world to be taking care of her when she was like this.

Kagome was feeling guilty that he seemed to be doing everything for her and wanted to prove, at least to herself, that she wasn't completely helpless. That's when she'd decided she wanted to go to the river and take a real bath.

But in the end, she'd had to ask for his help to do that as well.

Kagome just didn't have the mobility or the strength yet to move her left arm properly, and with her entire body sore and aching, she didn't have the endurance either.

Trying to bathe by herself had only lasted for a minute or two in the cold water before her legs had threatened to buckle. She'd argued with herself so briefly it was sick, more on principal than desire, calling out to Inuyasha where he sat on the bank with his back to her.

To his credit, he hadn't said a word, just stripped out of his kimono and joined her. Whether it was because he knew how frustrated she was or he was just thinking about something else, he just squeezed her shoulder before sliding a supporting arm around her waist while he took over. As much as she tried to stay embarrassed about the whole mess, she just couldn't. Inuyasha was being so attentive, always right there when she felt like she was about to drop and keeping her from hurting herself. He never said anything while he was doing it, and as frustrated as she was with her own condition, it felt good to be able to depend on Inuyasha.

He'd even taken her through the well to get more pain-killers when she'd taken all the ones in her first-aid kit. For once, it was Kagome who didn't want to stay. She worried about how she'd explain away the injuries or keep her mother from taking her to a hospital where there would definitely be too many questions... But her family had been out and Inuyasha had her back through the well with more supplies in less than an hour.

"You're supposed to," Inuyasha responded with a smirk, bringing her attention back to the present.

She shook off her thoughts and gave him a dry look, "Thanks, Inuyasha, that makes me feel so much better."

Chuckling, he urged her closer so he could tuck her against his side, "You'd feel even better if you let me carry you. You're still too pale."

"If I don't at least TRY to walk I'm afraid I'll turn into a sponge or something," Kagome made a face, concentrating on keeping her legs steady.

"You're healing a lot faster than most humans would," he offered, catching her when she stumbled. Shaking his head at her stubbornness, he bent to slide an arm beneath her knees and lift her against his chest despite her half-hearted protest, "But if you don't let me take care of you, it'll take longer."

Kagome let out a heavy sigh, "It's not fair to make you do all this."

Inuyasha gave her an annoyed look, "Kagome, you almost died. You have to give yourself time."

"YOU'D be healed by now," she tugged on his hair.

"I'm a fucking hanyou, and you're-!" he growled down at her, stopping when he saw her lips twitch in amusement. "Bitch," Inuyasha flashed her a smirk.

"That's better," Kagome leaned her head against him and yawned. "I was starting to get worried that I'd never get my regular Inuyasha back."

She'd said "my," the smirk turned into a full grin and he shifted her closer, "Weird voices trying to get you to kill yourself AND me seem to bring that out."

"Actually, Inuyasha, I think it's about time for us to talk about that," Kagome chewed on her lower lip nervously even as she let out a resigned sigh.

**

"What the fuck do you mean you're hearing two different voices?!" Inuyasha was on his feet, hands fisted on his hips as he scowled down at her. "How long have you been hearing them?" Without waiting for a response he started pacing back in forth in front of her and growling, "Dammit, Kagome, I told you over and over again to tell me if anything else happened and you kept saying that was all!! Were you planning on lying forever about this too, or were you just waiting until something almost killed you?!"

Kagome frowned up at him, instantly defensive, "I DID tell you! Don't you remember how I told you I heard a voice when we fought those youkai? You never asked about it after that so I figured you weren't worried about it!" not a total lie, she told herself with a grimace.

Inuyasha set his jaw, ears flattening back as he tried to recall if she really had told them about a voice, "You'd just been fucking possessed! How the hell was I supposed to be thinking about every little thing you said? I was only thinking about getting whatever the hell it was out of you!"

Shippo had reattached himself to Kagome the moment she returned, although he was careful not to leap at her with Inuyasha hovering close beside her. At the moment he was sitting in quiet contentment in her lap while she rubbed his head, but one look at the hanyou's scowl had him rising to Kagome's defense, "Oi, I remember her saying that! Maybe if you listened once in a while instead of-!"

Inuyasha's warning growl cut him off with a squeak, sending the kit burrowing down in Kagome's lap. Miroku cleared his throat to stop the hanyou from doing more and focused his attention on Kagome's pale, bruised face. Arguing wouldn't help and they needed to get back to their major concern, "Kagome-sama, how often do you hear these voices?"

Kagome sighed deeply, avoiding Inuyasha's searching gaze as she responded, "The first one... I don't know if it's a man or a woman, but it's talked to me a few times when I'm asleep. The other," she stopped, her eyes growing pained before she forced herself to go on. "The first time I heard it was that night, and it was definitely a man."

"A few times?" Inuyasha growled, dropping down on his haunches in front of her and cupping her chin in his hand. "Why the hell didn't you say something the other times? Even if you mentioned it after the fucking youkai, didn't you think it was important if it happened again?"

Kagome winced when she lifted her hand, but stubbornly continued the motion to brush her hand over his cheek in an attempt to cool the anger in his gleaming eyes, "Well, at first I thought I was just dreaming..."

Sango raised a brow at the absent motion between the two, but simply filed her questions away for a better time and focused on the immediate problem, "When did you know you weren't dreaming?"

"It felt too real," she shook her head, letting out a quiet sound of discomfort as she lowered her hand. "And it kept getting stronger, more like I was really there," she peeked at Inuyasha nervously to check for his reaction.

Inuyasha sat silently, folding his arms across his chest as he carefully schooled his face into a blank expression, but the muscle flexing in his cheek gave away his inner tension, "Was that voice telling you to kill me too?"

To his surprise, Kagome blushed lightly and looked away, but not before he saw the guilt in her eyes, "Not exactly."

He caught her chin again lightly and brought her face forward again, frowning as he demanded in a quiet tone, "What did this other voice say?"

"Ah... it actually told me... to stay in your range of spirit," her tone of voice was almost apologetic as she managed to get the last out in a rush.

Inuyasha's eyes widened in surprise. Whatever he'd been expecting her to say, that wasn't it, but it did explain why she didn't want to tell him about it. However, his expression darkened in disapproval, if the voice had given her that advice she should have told him right away. Especially considering her condition now, it was obvious he needed to make her understand that she couldn't keep things like this from him.

Miroku collected his thoughts first and beat the hanyou to the next question, "Did it say why?"

Kagome bit her lip, her eyes jumping around the room to settle on anything besides Inuyasha, "It said that the spell they cast on me was having a...reaction to my magic and if I stayed by Inuyasha then it would be safer."

"Kagome-sama, do you mean to say you knew what the spell was and you didn't tell us?" the monk shook his head in disbelief before giving her a frown that was almost identical the one on Inuyasha's face.

"No, I didn't! I don't!" she hurried out, hissing when she tensed and accidentally pulled her wounds, muscles reflexing painfully at her agitation.

Inuyasha growled, dropping into a cross-legged position and lifting her into his lap in a single motion, "Fuck, Kagome, will you stop squirming around like that? If you open any of your wounds the old hag may have to sear them again!"

Kagome went still, taking deep breaths and trying hard to ease the tension in her body at mention of that. She'd been asleep the last time and if she had her way, she'd never have to be awake for something like that. It had been bad enough to see Inuyasha's reaction when he told her what they'd done to treat her.

"That's better," he grumbled when she relaxed against him, his hand absently resting at her hip with his palm over the tattoo. "Now, what the fuck did that voice say was happening?"

"Really, Kagome-chan, if you tell us we can help," Sango added when Kagome hesitated, her eyes uncertain and concerned.

"Inuyasha?" Kagome pressed her face into his haori, silently praying for cooperation.

"What?" Inuyasha grunted, rubbing his hand up and down her spine.

"I think...some of it needs to be private," she shot her friends an apologetic glance.

"The hell it does," he snarled, pulling back to look directly at her eyes. "With what happened, Kagome, I can't let you keep something secret that could keep me from protecting you again. That means everything you know, you're going to tell me. You can't possibly think-"

"I meant private between you and me," she corrected, her hands fisting in her lap on either side of the curious kitsune. "I think some of it needs to just be between us."

"Oh," Inuyasha blinked in surprise, the wind of his argument getting taken away so abruptly he was momentarily at a loss for words. Between the two of them? That was perfectly acceptable to him so long as she didn't think she could get away with half-truths or anything...

Kagome looked up at Miroku and Sango while Inuyasha was collecting his thoughts, "It said that I'm absorbing the energy around me, but that it's safe to be around Inuyasha. It told me that I balance with him, and if I leave his aura or got angry that something else would be able to take hold."

"Something did," Inuyasha growled low in his throat and pointed out. "So just so I understand... THIS voice told you to stay close and the first thing you fucking did was run off?!"

"Mou, it said the same thing," she rolled her eyes in annoyance before shaking her head and insisting. "I didn't think anything like that would happen...!"

"Did it tell you what would happen or did it just tell you to stay with Inuyasha?" Miroku pressed, curious at the odd layers this spell seemed to incorporate.

"No," Kagome shook her head, her fingers flexing nervously. "It just said that it didn't want me hurt and it had cast the spell trying to 'make things clearer' for me. It never really explains anything to me... It just tells me what to do all the time," she was frowning by the end of that voiced observation.

Shippo made a face and tugged at the shirt she was wearing, "That sounds like Inuyasha."

Inuyasha made a grab for the kit and missed when he scrambled to one side, "You little bastard! I'm not the one doing this shit!"

"Inuyasha, can we please just wait for Kagome-sama to finish before you try and attack Shippo?" Miroku gave the hanyou a dry look before sighing and looking at Kagome. "What about the second voice? Did you hear that with the youkai as well?"

Kagome hunched in on herself, "I...didn't hear it until Kikyou attacked me. I think."

Sango's fist clenched at the mention of the undead miko, "Inuyasha said it was trying to get you to kill him."

"Not at first," she pressed her cheek to Inuyasha's shoulder, as though trying to hide from the conversation even as she answered their questions. "First it was telling me to give up. It kept whispering that I should just let Kikyou win and take back my soul."

Inuyasha's chest was instantly rumbling in a deadly growl, "When I find him, I'm going to tear out his fucking throat."

A tiny smile touched Kagome's lips at that, and she couldn't help but try and shift closer just to feel him curl his arm around her shoulders possessively, "I got angry... And it seemed like the more angry I got, the less pain I felt and the more I felt like I could kill her instead of her killing me. I wanted her dead and then Inuyasha came..."

He squeezed her gently, "It's okay, Kagome, it's over. That fucking bastard won't get in your head again if I have anything to do with it."

Miroku paused for a moment out of respect for the intensity in Inuyasha's promise before he softly inquired, "What did it do when Inuyasha came?"

Inuyasha was the one who answered, shaking his head at Kagome and glaring at the monk, "It tried to get her to kill me until we got her back under control. That's all you need to know. Kagome's not up for this yet, I'm taking her to bed."

Sango coughed lightly and despite the gravity of the situation, Miroku's face lit with a perfectly wicked grin as he sat back, "Why, Inuyasha, I had no idea..."

"Not like that, you fucking lech!" Inuyasha snarled out, even as Kagome buried her face against his shoulder with a strangled gasp, her cheeks nearly as red as Inuyasha's kimono. Rising to his feet with Kagome cradled to his chest, he growled at the monk and stormed past him, "I wouldn't think you'd even consider something like that with Kagome in this condition."

Sango smacked Miroku upside the head when she heard the loud stomping lead back to the room Inuyasha seemed to have claimed temporarily, "Inuyasha's right, houshi-sama! What on earth are you thinking saying that?"

Miroku rubbed his head and gave her an innocent look, "What did I do?!"


Comments (2)