Monday, November 29, 2004

   inuyasha 30
'It's about damn time,' Kagome muttered when her eyes opened on the murky black dreamscape. At least it wasn't so dark as the last time, but just barely, and this time she could actually feel the presence behind her. 'Why is it that when I actually WANT to talk to you, you make yourself scarce, hn?'

'I was occupied.'

'Oh now that's convincing,' she rolled her eyes, folding her arms across her chest and turning around to glare at where she felt the presence. 'You're messing up my entire fucking life and all you can say is you were occupied? Would you mind telling me just what the hell happened on the new moon? Couldn't you have warned me?!'

There was a long moment of silence and then a deep sigh before it answered, 'We weren't aware it was going to happen like that. We are trying to understand what exactly occurred with the knowledge we do have.'

'I don't believe this,' she rubbed her hand over her eyes to try and dull the ache. 'Are you telling me that this spell is doing things even you don't expect? Do you know why I'm having so much trouble with saying things that aren't me? Why it's so easy to lose my temper?'

'Youkai blood is very strong, and it was in your body for a long period of time.'

'One night is a long time?' Kagome felt her heart pound at the implications of the voice.

'The hanyou's blood line is one of the most powerful, and for you to share it-'

'If you say I'm turning hanyou I'll track you down and kill you,' she growled angrily, cutting him off.

For the first time, she heard the voice chuckle, but she had a sinking sensation that she knew why, 'Oh no, Kagome, there's no youkai blood still in your body.'

'I swear to God I'll find some way to give you a black eye before this is over,' she turned her back on the voice in a huff.

'We had no idea that you would actually absorb the youkai half of his blood when it waned for the month,' the voice sighed and began to explain calmly. 'You remember how I told you that his soul will not release yours? It is the same with his blood. Once it was in your body it began to absorb deeper on its own.'

'Wait, you're saying Inuyasha's blood doesn't WANT to leave mine? You think it's staying in my because it wants to be there?' she glanced back, brows furrowed in confusion. 'I'm so on edge because I still have Inuyasha's blood?'

'Be patient, Kagome, I'm getting to that. Humans feel things differently than youkai, and the hanyou's emotions are using you as an outlet.'

'Damn, no wonder he's been so calm,' Kagome muttered, raking a hand through her hair.

'You're balancing against him and whenever his emotions rise above normal, you pull them into yourself,' it agreed calmly. 'It has... slightly altered you behavioral pattern. You are becoming much less...restrained in the way you express your emotion.'

'I punched him,' she blushed, speaking more to herself than the voice.

'A memory that will live in my heart for centuries, I assure you.'

'But it's Inuyasha's blood making me do this, isn't it?' Kagome shook her head in confusion, sitting down when a wave of dizziness went through her. 'I'm not like this!'

'I'd love to tell you yes, that it's all the hanyou, but actually, all his blood is doing is lowering your inhibitions. All your reactions are your own, but the youkai blood is making you act on your emotions rather than hold them in. Making them more intense.'

'Oh God,' Kagome covered her mouth with her hand. 'How much youkai blood is still in me? HOW low are my "inhibitions," hn?'

'Enough. Most of you is human, but then again, the hanyou's blood seemed to be satisfied with the small bit it has in you. Although I must warn you that it has increased the direction your soul will take from his.'

'In what way?' she asked suspiciously.

'Your heartbeat matches him, and you'll even be able to feel some of his emotions through the mark,' it responded. 'Have you noticed it getting warm sometimes?' 'Painful?'

Kagome froze, a shiver of unease going through her, 'You...sound surprised....'

'It...should not have brought you pain. How often does it do this?'

'Not always... once in a while,' she answered nervously. 'It was the worst with... those youkai.'

The voice was silent again and Kagome was fidgeting restlessly by the time it spoke again, 'What color is the mark now?'

'Red, really dark red.'

'Damn.'

'Wha-what the fuck?! What is that supposed to mean!?' Kagome exploded angrily, rearing up and rounding on the direction of the voice. 'It's YOUR spell, don't you have any idea what's going on? The last thing I want to hear come out of you is "damn" when I ask you what's happening!'

'It's not that simple.'

'You're not exactly inspiring confidence.'

'Don't worry about it.'

Kagome blinked at that, momentarily taken aback at that before she recovered and snorted, 'Easy for you to say, you bastard. It's not your body or your life you messing with.'

'If you died, it would be unacceptable We are seriously attempting to fix the distortions and we have nearly found the energy source that is trying to gain access to you. Once we find that energy source, we can put a stop to it. You'll just have to trust me.'

'The more you say that, the less inclined I am to believe you,' she shook her head and took a step back. 'Every time I talk to you it gets a little more ridiculous to be asking, especially with as little as you want to tell me,' her brows lowered in angry frustration.

'We were unaware that the hanyou's blood and soul would react to being connected to you in this way. The influence it is having on the spell's distortion is well beyond what we anticipated, and the proximity to him only changes it more. However, until we close the other path to your soul, you must stay near the hanyou and risk the change. It's too dangerous otherwise.'

'What about the next new moon, hn? Will the same thing happen? And the youkai blood you say is in me... Will it go away? It's Inuyasha's blood and he needs it more than I do!' Kagome folded her arms over her chest to fight the urge to tear her own hair out.

'I don't have any answers to those questions for you yet,' the large hand she'd felt before came down on her shoulder again but she slapped it away.

Clenching her teeth, she hissed out, 'Did you think any of this through or did you decide to fuck with my life on a whim?'

'Dammit, miko, it wasn't supposed to be like this! We are working as fast as we can to correct the unforeseen errors. Your powers-'

'Don't you dare try blaming this mess on me again,' her voice lowered dangerously as she interrupted. 'I've had the worst month of my life thanks to you and it sounds like it's only going to get worse. I never asked you to tattoo Inuyasha's name on my hip or "connect" us.'

When she met nothing but heavy silence, she had to fight the urge to start growling again, fisting her hands so hard the knuckles went white as she whirled in a circle, 'Damn you! What the hell are you doing to me?! To Inuyasha? To US?!'

It was silent so long that Kagome gave up on getting an answer, dropping down into a seated position and cradling her head in her hands. It wasn't until she felt herself sliding into more soothing blackness that she heard the voice whisper softly in her ear.

'Be patient, Kagome. Just trust me.'

**

Now, if there was only one thing that should have crossed Shippo's mind before he went to sleep, it was that he should have been extremely wary when Inuyasha hadn't said a single thing about him joining the two of them in her sleeping bag.

In a chocolate-engorged, sleepy daze, the kitsune stumbled over to where the hanyou held Kagome tightly spooned up against him, her chest rising and falling with the even peace of slumber. Yawning hugely, Shippo hopped up on the makeshift futon, squirming his way under the bag and down the gapping front of Kagome's nightshirt. He snuggled close against her in his new favorite position, keeping either a little hand or his ear over her heart . Since her near death, the steady thump reassured the kit as nothing else would.

Too tired to care about little things like possessive dog demons, he hadn't registered that the regular growl he got when nearing the bed had been missing tonight. He was warm, Kagome had snuggled him close, and he had spent all day eating chocolate. Shippo was a particularly happy kitsune.

That is, up until a clawed hand caught his tail beneath Kagome's clothes and yanked him rudely from his comfortable roost.

Inuyasha clapped his hand over the kitsune's mouth to prevent the distressed squeal he was certain would wake Kagome and twisted, pressing his back to hers. He knew he should probably take Shippo somewhere else for this little discussion, but he still refused to leave Kagome alone when she was sleeping. He paused when she moved, shifting closer to him with a sound of protest that brought a smile to his lips before he turned his attention to his captive.

Propping himself up so he could glare down at Shippo menacingly, he ground out, "Oi, runt, I think you and I need to have a talk."

Shippo's eyes widened and he began squirming in earnest, his voice muffled behind the hanyou's large hand.

"Quiet," he growled low in his throat, his hand tightening briefly, "If you wake Kagome, you'll regret it."

The kit's eyes grew huge and he nodded quickly in understanding. When Inuyasha pulled his hand away, Shippo hissed at him, "You wait until I tell Kagome what you did to me, you jerk! She'll kick you out and it can be just her and me again like it's supposed to be."

"Wrong threat to use," Inuyasha's eyes narrowed sharply. "And it's not going to work. So unless you want to lose your spot here, I want you to answer me. Why the hell is Kagome giving you candy?"

"Oi, is that all?" Shippo gave him a sour look. "Kagome loves me best, that's why."

"The truth," he warned, still careful to keep his voice soft to prevent rousing the girl behind him. "She's never spoiled you like this before. It's like what that runt brother of hers did, so what is it that you know that would make her do all this, hn?"

Shippo balked, hurriedly trying to come up with an excuse. After all, Kagome had held up her end of their deal and if he broke it, she'd probably take back the rest of his stash! Shaking his head in vehement denial of the accusation, he stammered out, "I don't know anything! I just asked! Really nice with my cute face; the one she can't resist. Honest!"

"Why you little liar," Inuyasha lifted a hand to give the kitsune a smack on the head when what was unmistakably then end of a wooden staff came down hard over the hanyou's head. It was mostly Inuyasha's surprise that gained the kit's release, but the blow effectively flattening the hanyou to the ground definitely made it easier for Shippo to wiggle free.

"Inuyasha, it is very late," Miroku huffed in irritation, lifting the staff meaningfully when the hanyou sat up, rubbing his head and growling. "Bother Shippo-chan some other time and let us sleep."

"Yeah!" Shippo stuck his tongue out him, vanishing under Kagome's shirt again. "Jerk," he muttered, snuggling his ear back up over her heart.

"Move lower, brat," Inuyasha set his hand on the kitsune's head under her shirt and pushed him down away from her chest to her stomach.

"Oi! I wanna listen to her heartbeat!" he whined.

Inuyasha flicked his head through her shirt, "Quiet!"

A quiet jingle had both demons glancing in Miroku's direction to see the monk looking ready to get to his feet and none too pleased about it. Inuyasha waved him off, rubbing his sore head and glaring before he sighed in temporary defeat and curled himself back against Kagome. Wrapping his arm tightly around her waist, he couldn't resist lightly nibbling on her neck and smiling when she sighed and tucked herself against him, her hand coming up to clumsy grope for his ear and rub softly.

Before he let his eyes close, he muttered to Shippo, "I'll find out, you know."

Shippo grunted, unimpressed, "You're just jealous."

Miroku clearing his throat loudly ended the discussion like a father with two disobedient children, turning the members of the group still clinging to wakefulness to the more important task of sleeping.

**

The hazy image flickered along the glass surface like a pond that had just been disrupted by a light touch.

"How very interesting...."


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