Thursday, December 16, 2004

   InuYasha 33
In response, Kagome's head turned slightly so she could cast Inuyasha a sideways glance, and Inuyasha swore in concerned anger. Her eyes weren't the same as the other times she'd lost control, but the gleaming irises had unmistakably turned scarlet. That had to mean she was borderline, wavering between that possessed state and her normal frame of mind.

"You're hurt," she growled out quietly, her lashes lowering as she stood and scowled first at him and then at Kouga when the wolf grunted in discomfort and lifted his upper body off the ground, trying to shake off the punch. "I can feel it," her hand lifted to lightly brushed over her pounding heart.

Inuyasha shook his head, holding out a hand to her and hoping his voice sounded almost normal as he tried to calm her, "I'll be just fine, Kagome. Come here."

She turned her back on him, sliding away from his outstretched hand with a suspicious glare, "No."

"Fuck," Inuyasha's brows lowered dangerously at her motion, his anger rising at the thought she might be sliding back into that possessed state.

Was the second voice back? The one that wanted her to kill him, that was trying to steal her away and cause her pain. The one that told her not to let him touch her because...because the first voice said it was his soul keeping the other magic out.

He blinked in surprise, that was it! All he had to do was catch hold of her and the other magic would be forced out of her. But then, she'd never been out of his range of spirit, so how was it getting in? It had better not have found some other way to enter her mind.

"Kagome, whatever you hear in your head, ignore it. You have to come to me," Inuyasha gritted his teeth and demanded, taking a step towards her even as she slid back away from him another step.

Kagome's gaze moved to Kouga, not even glancing the hanyou's way as she responded to him, "Not yet, Inuyasha. You have no idea how angry I am right now, and I don't intend to let it go."

Kouga was rubbing his face, trying to connect that it was Kagome who'd just dropped him and broken his nose. Awestruck, he looked at her and then over to Inuyasha's tense expression. Kagome's entire aura had altered, and her eyes...she almost looked- and felt, like a youkai. His eyes narrowed and he glared suspiciously at the hanyou, "What the hell did you do to her, inukkoro?"

"You fucking stay out of this, wolf," Inuyasha snapped at him, sinking into a crouch in preparation to grab hold of Kagome before she could slide completely into that uncontrolled state. He wouldn't let that happen to her again, not when he knew he could protect her.

"If you've done something to Kagome, I'll-hrk!?" Kouga cut off when Kagome shot forward, bringing her fist up into his solar plexus and immediately punching the air out of his lungs.

"Stay right there, Inuyasha!" Kagome held up a hand, her tone of voice stopping him in place when he would have launched himself in between them. "Don't come near me," her eyes sparked before she turned her attention back to Kouga.

She felt more than heard the whispering this time, voices overlapping in her head indistinctly and urging her to run away from all of them. She shook off the quiet sound, much more focused on the heat humming through her. The sensation she had been feeling after Inuyasha's kiss had melted so easily into anger, the feel beating in at her head from all sides. Her head ached trying to block it out, but the moment she gave in and let it sweep through her, a wash of power pushed the ache aside and filled her with an odd excitement.

Whatever this was, it felt too good to give up without enjoying it a little.

Whispers or not, she needed to keep Inuyasha from touching her for just a bit longer.

Images swam through her head, almost directions, she thought with a frown. 'Hell, who needs Inuyasha teaching me if I can do this?' her lips spread in a slow grin, flexing her fingers and closing her eyes to let the instincts pour into her.

Kouga's eyes went wide when Kagome lashed out again, ducking out of the way just in time and reflexively sweeping her legs out from under her. He flipped onto his feet even as she rose into slight crouch, her hands flexed as though she had claws as well.

It was one of the worst reactions he could have had.

He barely had a chance to refocus on her, when Inuyasha was on him again, raking his claws along Kouga's shoulder when he failed to notice in time to dodge.

Kouga snarled, turning his back on Kagome to face Inuyasha, the one he perceived as the more dangerous threat. He immediately regretted the action when he felt her elbow ram against the small of his back and send him staggering forward into Inuyasha's fist.

On his back again with his head spinning, Kouga leapt up and back to keep both Inuyasha and Kagome in front of him. Stunned, in pain, and confused beyond imagining, he looked back and forth between them again and again, "What the fuck have you done to Kagome, inukkoro?!"

Miroku put a hand to his head, desperately trying to process what he was seeing. If Kouga tried to dodge Kagome, Inuyasha would attack and vice versa. They might just kill him if they failed to find a way to calm Kagome, "If this wasn't so serious, it'd be quite entertaining."

Shippo was grinning broadly, cheering Kagome on when she kicked the wolf in the stomach and leapt away from Inuyasha's reaching grasp, "I'm entertained!"

"Inuyasha knows how to snap her out of this, doesn't he?" Sango ignored the kitsune to inquire of no one in particular. It was disturbing to watch Kagome like this, the way she stood, moved, everything.... It was reminiscent to either Inuyasha or Kouga, or even a bizarre combination of the two. Almost as if...

"Absorbing energy... Kagome-chan said the voice told her she was absorbing energy around her, but she was safe with Inuyasha because she was balancing herself against him," Sango murmured, her eyes widening in understanding. "The way she fights when she loses control-" she began only to have Miroku interrupt when he picked up on her line of reasoning.

"She stops balancing and starts absorbing? Or perhaps the balance for his anger is too much for a human to handle," Miroku wondered aloud. "When she absorbs from a youkai does she starts mimicking their energy if it overwhelms her own? That would explain why she fights like they do, or that she acts so...different."

"But what would decide if she balanced or absorbed?" Sango set her jaw when Kagome darted forward and slammed her shoulder into the wolf's stomach in the same moment Inuyasha took a swipe with his claws that grazed his cheek.

"Too bad that stupid wolf attacked her," Shippo sighed, shaking his head as he watched Kagome and Inuyasha unconsciously moving to compliment the other and make it impossible for Kouga to escape or even successfully defend himself. "He should know by now that pisses Inuyasha off so badly that he can barely think straight."

Miroku and Sango gaped down at the kit in amazement before Sango bent and scooped him up, hugging him close to her chest, "Shippo-chan, you're a genius!"

"I am?" Shippo blinked in surprise, but as he was not one to turn down compliments or affection, the surprise changed quickly to an arrogant grin. "I mean, of course I am!"

Miroku took a step forward and called out, "Inuyasha! You must calm yourself!"

"Stay the fuck out of this, bouzu!" Inuyasha snarled back, dodging under a wild swing from the wolf, but accidentally catching Kagome's elbow between his shoulder blades and crashing to the ground. She hissed and hopped away from him when he tried to grab her leg, but he slammed his fist against the ground and yelled up at her, "Dammit, Kagome, stay!"

Kagome let out an outraged curse when she dropped to the ground, "Sit!"

When Inuyasha crashed to the ground as well, Kouga shot back several feet, glaring in angry frustration at the two humans watching from what they considered a safe distance. Panting and wiping the back of his hand over his bruised, bloody face he practically roared out, "Will someone tell me what the fuck is going on here?!"

Miroku shook his head, yelling at Inuyasha again, "YOU'RE what's setting her off, Inuyasha! You and Kouga. Remember? She's absorbing the energy around her?"

Inuyasha looked up, his expression startled and filled with self-disgust, "Getting angry.... She said it talked about what happened when she got angry."

"I'm fucking pissed now!" Kagome hissed at him, her fists flexing in her lap as she tried to get herself free of the spell.

"And you two aren't helping her any with this nonsense!" Miroku pointed his staff at the startled youkai males when they started growling at each other again. "Kagome-sama is human. How do you think she's handling YOUR combined emotion? Youkai emotions!"

"Oh hell," Inuyasha grunted, lifting himself and taking long, deep breaths in an effort to forcefully cool his anger. He was right, youkai emotions would be far too strong for a human to handle without getting overwhelmed and there were two of them for her to leech of if she starting absorbing again.

From the way Kagome was watching them both as the spell wore off, flipping herself to her feet and vibrating with anger, he'd say she was definitely pulling off their emotions. Why else was it so easy to calm himself when he knew the should still be just a breath away from ripping Kouga into little pieces?

What Miroku said made more sense than anything else they'd come up with, and after what that first voice said combined with what the second voice tried to prevent her from doing, it had to be right. If he could catch hold of her before her control slipped any further, he could calm the youkai rage in her and get her back to normal. But she wasn't letting any of them close. The strange thing was that she still seemed to be almost in her proper frame of mind.

Did she not want to balance out this time?

"Oi, wolf, calm the fuck down before you set Kagome off worse than she is already!" Inuyasha barked at Kouga as he righted himself, his mind racing to think up a way to distract her enough to grab her.

"I'm right here," Kagome growled at him in annoyance, her hands clenching and unclenching as the anger in her rippled over her mind. "Nothing's wrong with my ears, Inuyasha," the ripple turned into an all out enticement and unable to resist that pulse rushing through her blood, she was up and attacking Kouga yet again when her mobility returned.

Kouga flipped away from her, his brows furrowed in helpless confusion as he tried to keep out of her range. He didn't want to hurt her, and that idiot hanyou and human said something about her absorbing emotions. He'd only heard of a few female youkai who were capable of such a thing, and that was only when they were picking mates... Was Kagome in heat then to be doing it herself?

Kouga frowned and slid around behind her, eyes narrowed as he ducked under her fist and tried to inhale her scent. No, not quite in heat, so why was she being so violent? It was giving him a headache trying to puzzle out, and he darted away when energy crackled in the air around her and made his hair stand on end.

Through a stroke of dumb luck he found himself landing beside Inuyasha, facing the girl across from them as she panted softly, skin gleaming with perspiration while she turned in his newest direction. He tried to feel guilty for admiring the wild appearance, but hell, who wouldn't? Now if he could just get her to stop attacking HIM, so he could enjoy it.

"Fuck, inukkoro, HOW did you pull this off?" Kouga muttered sourly at the turn his admiring had taken. "It's like she's a completely different person!"

"You don't know the half of it," Inuyasha muttered, his eyes narrowing sharply as he figured out the best way to get a hold of her and calm her down.

The plan that came to mind had his lip curling in distaste, but try as he might, there just didn't seem to be any other ideas forthcoming. He couldn't risk her hurting herself or trying to run when the owner of that other voice could be anywhere, just waiting for something like this. No, the best way would be if she was distracted and didn't realize he had hold of her until she was already there.

He clenched his fists, silently praying he wouldn't regret this as he ground out, "Wolf, are you still fast enough to get behind her?"

Kouga gave him a sour, insulted look, "Kagome is a human, asshole, of course I'm fast enough! I just did that, didn't I?"

Inuyasha grunted and nodded a single time, "How long do you think you could hold her still?"

"As long as fucking I want, why?" the wolf youkai turned defensive at the insinuation, his chest already puffing up to brag about his prowess.

"Then I need you to get behind her," Inuyasha hissed low in his throat to prevent Kagome from hearing them. "Pin her arms at her sides so I can get to her," his lip curled back father in an instinctive threat and even deeper disgust at what he was suggesting Kouga attempt. "But if you hurt her, expect to get your arms ripped off," the hint of red was back in his eyes as he caught and held the youkai's surprised look.

If Kouga thought it was an odd plan, to his credit, he didn't say anything, just shrugged, nodded, and shot across the grove, clamping his arms around her bosom and dragging her up against him. Kagome let out a shriek of alarm, her eyes going wide as her spine arched and she thrashed in his hold, ramming her forehead into his chin as her eyes glazed.

Pain arched through her when the wolf made contact with bare skin and desperate to escape the unwanted sensation she did her best to throw off the person causing it. Rearing up and doing her best to wrench herself free of the man holding her still.

Kouga stumbled back and flashed Inuyasha a supremely irritated gaze, shouting as he tightened his hold. Something was wrong, he thought grimly when a shiver went down his spine followed by a flash of weariness. He felt...drained, and the worse it got, the more Kagome was able to push against his arms, "Now what?! Hurry up, asshole, this is... fucking harder than it looks!"

Before he'd finished speaking, Inuyasha was in front of them, ripping Kagome from the wolf's hold and tucking her up against him. Kouga gaped when Inuyasha clamped a hand over the tattoo, holding the girl pressed firmly into him despite her struggling until a severe shudder went through her from head to toe. The weird youkai-like aura began to fade away when Kagome slumped into Inuyasha, and it was obvious that had the hanyou not been holding her so closely she would have crumpled to the ground.

Inuyasha slid down to his knees right where he stood, dropping his chin onto her head as he lifted her into his lap and used one arm to hold her there while he stroked her hair lightly with the other, "Shh....Kagome, calm down. We've done this before, remember? Just focus on me instead of whatever you were feeling."

Kagome pressed her face against his throat, eyes closed as a shudder went through her, but this time it was a warmth that was taking away the god-awful pain. Her mind was fuzzy again, the whispers muffled so that they were little more than a hint of sound at the back of her consciousness, still too indistinct to understand as they faded away under the loud throb in her ears.

'Oh God, I was fighting with Kouga?' her eyes snapped open and she clenched her fists as her thoughts finally began to clear. 'And enjoying it?'

Inuyasha was murmuring to her, mostly nonsense, like he had the other night, determined to get a handle on his own anger and in turn, her own. He barely noticed Kouga glaring down at them, his expression frustrated and bemused as Kagome shook and Inuyasha whispered encouragement softly in her ear.

"That...that was strange...." Kagome flinched, her hip throbbing painfully as bit by bit, the soft warmth dulled the edge of that seething anger, smoothing it out into a more serene sensation and bringing a wave of exhaustion. "Inuyasha?"

"I'm right here," he soothed when she shivered again and tried to pull herself closer, her arms sliding around his neck with almost child-like vulnerability.

Kouga took a step back, his eyes narrowed as he watched tears form at the corner of Kagome's eyes and slip silently down her cheeks, Inuyasha muttering to her even as he rubbed his thumb over her cheek to brush them away. From what he could hear of the nearly silent grumbling, it almost sounded like the hanyou was lecturing her.

Casually, Kouga lifted his hand to wipe the blood off his face, eyes gleaming as they roamed first Kagome's shaking body and then Inuyasha's as the hanyou rocked her gently back and forth. This was just bizarre... What could the mutt have done to her that would make her fight like a youkai one second and then shake like a baby the next? Were they traveling to fix her? Would it be better for her to leave her be until they got her back to herself? Or at least under control?

He swore, his head aching again. Well, she wasn't mated, he could smell that, so it couldn't hurt to let the hanyou get her back to normal, right? He could always come back... Nodding at his internal decision, he turned on his heel and stalked to the edge of the woods before he paused. He couldn't let that mutt think he was giving in, "Inukkoro...."

Inuyasha looked up as Kagome slid into unconsciousness, his eyes hard as they regarded the cause of her most recent distress, "What the fuck do you want now?"

"I'll be back for Kagome soon," Kouga glanced over his shoulder to promise. "Take care of her until I do. Get her back to normal for me."

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her more securely, biting down the surge of instinctive anger at the threat to his promised mate, "If you ever lay a hand on her again, asshole, I'll cut off your damn legs. She's branded with my name not yours."

The wolf flashed an arrogant smile, "That can always change."

"You're lucky I don't fucking shred you right now," he growled back, eyes gleaming brightly with renewing anger. "If it weren't for Kagome's condition I would have done it already."

Kouga snorted, "Ha! A slow weakling like you? You can fucking try, bastard."

Inuyasha was still scowling, cradling Kagome to him possessively when the wolf vanished in a whirlwind of dust.

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