Sunday, January 30, 2005

   Chapter 46: One On One...
Kagome stared at the arrow in her hand blankly; even more shocked at her actions than Inuyasha. One minute she was struggling with the inu youkai, fighting against the warmth that was seeping into her mind and making her aware of the exhaustion and pain humming through her blood. And she didn't want to feel that, she wanted the strength and rage making it easy for her fight against all these youkai threatening her and Shippo.

But then the next minute she'd felt the rush of hate and magic slicing through the air towards him.

It had been purely instinct. Her mind screaming with violent denial at the thought of this youkai coming to any harm. Especially from the source of the aura that had touched her awareness. She had been lifting her hand even as she felt him tense, turning too late to dodge the attack himself when all of his energies were focused on herself. She caught the weapon barely a breath away from its target, the magic that surrounded the arrow instantly soaking into her at the contact.

There had been a jolt of recognition at the feel of that magic, and she turned to see a woman in scarlet and white miko robes glaring at her with cold, but slightly wary eyes. Something about that miko was seriously wrong, and her hackles rose when she caught the scent of death and decay in the air. Whatever this woman was, she wasn't human and the feel of her was rekindling the anger she thought was lost in the youkai’s embrace.

Inuyasha's arms tightened protectively around her and surprised, she looked up at the fierce expression on his profile. She felt the sudden rise of his own anger, underlying with sadness and pain, but even stronger inside him was... concern? For her?

He turned his attention back to her, making her start in chagrin at getting caught staring at him, but then her eyes locked onto his. She went still the moment she saw the intensity in his glowing gaze, the barrier in her thoughts shifting and then cracking as it flooded her with the return of her own memory.

Kagome hissed, grabbing her head with her empty hand as her knees buckled and she stumbled against Inuyasha. He caught her easily, pressing her hard against him while an encouraging rumble vibrated from his chest. He stroked a clawed hand over her hair, rubbing his chin over her head as he kept a cautious eye trained on Kikyou.

"That's it, Kagome," he murmured in response to what he could feel in her mind. "I know it hurts, but you have to calm down. I'll get us out of this," he promised fervently.

Blinking rapidly at the sudden wash of emotion and horribly confused at the unfamiliar surroundings. Her eyes opened slightly and she moved back enough to look up first at him, then at the arrow in her hand and finally beyond to the undead miko. She seemed completely unfazed that he was in youkai form, much more interested in Kikyou's presence and the evidence of her attack.

Inuyasha felt the sweep of rage that filled her, this time the emotion purely her own as she focused on Kikyou. He could see the moment her thoughts reconnected; her eyes changing again to the lucid scarlet they had been when she had fought with Kouga.

Her own clawed hand lifted to lightly touch his cheek, and involuntarily his eyes closed as he heard her whisper, "Inuyasha… are you hurt?"

"I'll be fine," he assured her, his voice a thick growl as he pressed a hard kiss to her temple. The rush of his relief almost making him light-headed to hear the warm familiarity in her tone again, "You're the one we need to worry about, Kagome. You've been bleeding, and I have to-"

"Later," she cut off the flood of words, moving her fingers to press to his lips. "I'm fine, Inuyasha, really I am," she turned his earlier words back on him and tried to push out of his embrace.

Inuyasha stubbornly refused to release her; his ears flattening back as he bared his fangs at Kikyou when she started to reach for another arrow. Satisfied when the miko froze and continued to simply stand and watch them with nervous suspicion, he squeezed Kagome closer and spoke insistently, "Kagome, let me get you out of here. I don't... I don't want you to-"

Kagome’s spirits sank in an abrupt spiral of depression, recalling how she had found Inuyasha when she’d given into the urge to believe Kagura and go to Naraku. But if Kikyou was here, why was he even holding her like this? Shouldn’t he be running to the undead miko’s side like he always did? Forgetting she even existed until Kikyou was long gone. And why did her head ache so much when she was this angry?

If she could feel his torn emotions, surely he could feel how badly she wanted to tear into Kikyou for attacking him. The position of the arrow suggested she had been aiming for Inuyasha, and had she not caught it, it would have killed him. Knowing that, she wanted nothing more than to use the strength pounding through her to challenge Kikyou and he was stopping her. Again…

She managed to get her hands around to Inuyasha's wrists and removed herself from his hold with one hard push. Her eyes were flat as she regarded him, "I don't want to have to fight with you over this, Inuyasha. If you want to be with Kikyou instead.... just go. Don't...." her voice faltered and she bit down hard on her lower lip to hold back a flow of tears.

Inuyasha caught her hands, his eyes blazing angrily when he felt the wave of miserable uncertainty and pained sorrow run through Kagome. It was clear to him from her thoughts that she was still suffering from traces of Naraku’s lies. How could she think that little of him?

He yanked her forward, taking her mouth in a bruising kiss that was over almost before it had begun. He pulled away to catch her shocked gaze with his own narrowed eyes, "Do you trust me, Kagome?"

Kagome frowned in confusion, well aware of their proximity to the miko as she glared her hatred at them both, and wondering what Inuyasha could possibly be playing at. For his part, Inuyasha was watching her intensely, setting his jaw when he saw the thoughts chasing through her head. He pulled her back into his embrace, one arm wrapping around her back and holding her against while he sank his other into the hair and her nape and held her gaze locked onto his.

“Don’t think, just answer,” Inuyasha instructed in a sharp command. “I want to know how you feel, not what you think.”

Kagome clamped her mouth shut, instinctively obeying the tone of his voice as she ignored her confusing thoughts and focused instead on what her instincts told her in response to his question. Her eyes slid closed, shoulders slumping in defeat as her head fell forward against his chest, ‘My God. I really am a fool…’

“Hai,” she answered, nearly too low for even his hearing to pick up, but he could smell the salty twinge of tears hinting her scent. “I… I could never… I trust you, Inuyasha,” she finished, her hands fisted tightly in the bloodstained fabric of his haori.

He leaned down, pressing his mouth to her temple and rubbing his chin over the top of her head, “Then trust me.”

Kagome looked up, nodding slowly when he very gently pushed her back a step and turned to face Kikyou. She could feel her heart pounding as she watched him walk closer to the once-more expressionless miko, fisting her hands at her sides even as her brows lowered, and her lips pulled back in a snarl. Her instincts were screaming at her to protect him from what she very clearly saw as a threat, and she nudged Shippo from his place in her kimono.

“What is it?” Shippo poked his head up, looking at her in concern and trying to soothe her taut muscles by lightly stroking his little clawed hand down her chest.

“Shippo-chan,” she answered tightly, thighs bunching as her body readied itself to leap forward at the first sign of aggression even as she took a deep breath and searched out the feel of him in her head. If she was going to have to fight, she was going to be ready, and she pulled the youkai strength back into her, “Go to Sango and Miroku-sama.”

Shippo was about to protest when he realized Kagome’s attention was focused elsewhere and he curiously followed the line of her gaze. His jaw dropped when he saw Inuyasha slowly take Kikyou’s bow away from her, holding it in one hand as he pulled the resurrected miko into a gentle embrace.

Shippo immediately slipped out of Kagome’s kimono to perch on her shoulder as he hissed out angrily, “What the hell is that jerk doing with her?!”

“I don’t know,” Kagome shook her head, her voice tight with suppressed emotions. “But I don’t want you to get hurt. Please don’t argue. Go to them.”

The little kitsune looked at her face carefully for a moment, lingering on the overly shiny appearance to her eyes and the scars on her cheeks, made that much more apparent by the muscle flexing in her jaw. He reached up to rub her flattened ear gently and nodded, “You’re going to kill her this time, aren’t you?”

“I don’t think I can stop myself,” she answered honestly, a bitter smile playing at her lips.

“But what if Inuyasha tries to stop-?”

“We’ll just have to wait and see,” Kagome interrupted quietly, closing her eyes as she welcomed the way her blood began to heat with fierce anger, the youkai instincts slowly taking deeper hold. “I’ve never thought I’d have to learn to control youkai blood, Shippo-chan, but the voices, and then Kagura and Naraku… They said some things that I just can’t disbelieve.”

Shippo puffed up his chest in what he hoped was a brave motion, leaning forward to give her a peck on the cheek and hug her neck, “I’ll snap you out of it again if I have to, Kagome… Okaa-san.”

Kagome’s rage wavered for a moment, replaced by a sudden wave of protectiveness and loving affection as she reached up to enfold Shippo in an awkward, one-handed embrace before nudging him towards safety, “Arigato, Shippo-chan…”

*

Inuyasha’s ears flicked back towards Kagome nervously when he felt her heartbeat accelerate, the purely animal growl echoing quietly in his mind as he plucked the bow out of Kikyou’s hands. Kikyou’s eyes watched him, curious and suspicious all at once as she waited to see what he was planning to do.

He heard her let out a quiet sigh when he reached out and wrapped an arm around her, her hands coming up to his chest lightly as she turned her face and pressed her face to the curve of his neck.

“I knew you would realize your mistake, Inuyasha,” Kikyou murmured softly against his shoulder, her eyes barely opening to focus a triumphant smile into Kagome’s narrowed scarlet gaze across the grove. “Look at her. I told you she wasn’t strong enough to control herself, and now she barely even looks human anymore. She should never have been the guardian of the Shikon jewel.”

Inuyasha was silent, his eyes sliding closed as he stood motionless with her.

Encouraged, Kikyou straightened and stared at Kagome with a bland frown, “You should have helped me to kill her before she seduced you, Inuyasha. You could have saved us from these ridiculous complications.”

A loud cracking sound cut through the quite censor of Kikyou’s voice, making her start in surprise as her gaze fell to the second bow ruined within the past three days. This one though had been crushed in Inuyasha’s fist, the wood shattered from top to bottom from the force in his grip as he opened his hand to drop the remains carelessly to the ground.

Kikyou brought a hand up to her heart in alarm when his embrace went slack and he took a step away from her. Her eyes searched his face, narrowing when she noticed his eyes were almost completely hidden beneath his hair, his lips pulled back off his elongated fangs in a snarl.

“Inuyasha? What… what are you doing?!” Kikyou moved forward and reached for him.

Inuyasha caught her wrist before she touched him, his expression devoid of emotion when he lifted his head to meet her eyes, sending a nervous chill through her. He leaned forward just enough to convey the subtle threat in his voice, “You gave Kagome to Naraku.”

Kikyou frowned, tugging at her captive hand lightly to test his grip, “She betrayed you, just like I told you she would.”

Inuyasha shook his head, releasing her and taking another step back before he glanced over his shoulder at Kagome. His heart sank to see her eyes glowing again, her face filled with a mixture of hurt, anger, and confusion as her ears, HIS ears, alternately flattened back and flicked forwards in an effort to hear what was being said.

“I’m sorry, Kikyou,” he let out a heavy sigh, turning his back on her. “You should not have tried to take her away from me. You shouldn’t have hurt her like that,” his voice was low and hard with angry disapproval.

Kagome frowned as she stared at the play of emotions not only chasing over Kikyou’s normally blank face, but the ones pulsing through the tattoo into her as well. Both of them were experiencing a slow rise of anger, but while Kikyou’s was cold and eradicating her other feelings, Inuyasha’s anger was tempered with a dim sense of sorrow and betrayal.

Strangely, on top of those feelings, Kagome could feel a clear desire from him to calm her and protect her. The conflicting senses only made her head ache that much more, and she lifted her hand to her forehead in a helpless gesture.

Inuyasha turned and walked with measured steps out from in-between the two mikos, coming to a stop only when he had nearly reached Sango and Miroku’s positions. Feeling the two pairs of bemused eyes boring into his back; he folded his arms over his chest and dropped into a cross-legged position in the grass.

Kagome blinked several times, attempting to process what exactly Inuyasha was doing by just sitting there and refusing to look at either of them. What had he said to Kikyou? She cocked her head to one side and glanced over to Sango and Miroku, hoping for a hint, but they were looking at him in much the same state of confusion as she was herself.

“Oi, Kagome,” Inuyasha’s low growl brought her attention back in a flash.

She frowned, eyes narrowing as she responded, unable to keep the cautious, disbelieving edge out of her voice, “Inuyasha?”

He turned just enough to catch sight of her out of the corner of his eye, his expression solemn, “I won’t interrupt.”

Kagome stumbled back a step, her eyes widening as her mouth fell open for all of two seconds as the words and his emotions clicked into place inside her. Inuyasha was actually giving her his permission to fight Kikyou, and promising not to stop her? The ache in her head rather abruptly died down as the narrow path she’d been using to rejuvenate her lost strength opened wide. The scarlet of her irises bled into the surrounding whites as her attention redirected with predatory precision to the miko who’d caused not only her, but Inuyasha so much pain and trouble.

Kikyou’s own eyes widened slightly when Kagome’s lips pulled back in a humorless, wicked smile, glowing eyes narrowing sharply on the new object of her attention. Inuyasha had broken her only weapon, and grimly she gathered her energy as Kagome sank down into a crouch, a growl rising in her throat. The human feel of her wavered, sputtering for a moment like a candle flame in a breeze, and then vanished.

Inuyasha tilted his chin down to his chest, wincing when he heard the first slam of body against body. His fists clenched in the sleeves of his haori as his ears flicked back towards the fighting, staunchly ignoring everything around him as he focused on the feel of Kagome in his head.

It had been a gamble.

Inuyasha knew that he was all but inviting her to get herself worked up all over again, but after that first bone-jarring thud that echoed through him, his muscles relaxed all at once and nearly sent him crashing forward. Kagome’s heartbeat thundered in his ears as he got the crystal clear impression of her senses coursing through him and felt her aura consciously reach for his and draw off it.

He took long, deep breaths, focusing on keeping himself calm in an effort to balance out the anger in her. It should be easy to pull the excess off her with the path between them open, and the smoother her emotions became, the more elation he felt flowing from her. She was distracted from the fight, instinctively blocking and absorbing from Kikyou as her gaze continuously strayed to him.

Inuyasha couldn’t keep the smile off his face at the thought of that, feeling strangely light-headed even as he found himself turning his head to catch a glimpse of Kagome. His eyes gleamed warmly as he watched her, ‘Hell, she really does move just like me when she’s like this!’

“Inuyasha!” Shippo took a flying leap onto the youkai’s shoulder, momentarily blocking his view of Kagome and making him frown in annoyance. “What did you do to Kagome?!”

Inuyasha snorted, reaching out to pluck the kitsune off his shoulder and set him on the ground beside him so he could keep an eye on Kagome, “She wanted to fight Kikyou.”

Miroku and Sango had made their way close to their transformed companion as well, more than a little disturbed that he hadn’t changed back and that he was acting so nonchalant about the fact that Kagome and Kikyou were violently attacking each other.

“Inuyasha, you have to stop them!” Sango skidded to a halt; her eyes locked on the younger girl as she caught Kikyou by the front of her robes and threw her hard into the trunk of a tree. “Kagome, can’t-!”

“Kagome needs to do this,” he returned sharply, the warning in his voice that he wouldn’t tolerate any accusations that he was ignoring her health. “She’s starting to balance again, and I can feel if she starts to overdo it.”

Miroku blinked in surprise, “But…Kikyou-?”

“She gave Kagome to Naraku,” Inuyasha’s eyes blazed and his hands curled into fists against his thighs. “She would have killed her. The last time, I stopped Kagome from fighting back,” his face softened and his eyes turned a little sad as he looked at the scars on her cheeks. “Kagome’s… earned this,” he shook his head. “This time I won’t interfere.”

*

Kagome caught Kikyou’s wrist, slamming her forearm across the older miko’s throat as she pinned her to the tree at her back in an almost crushing grip. She flashed her fangs in a cold smile at the strain on Kikyou’s face, leaning close as she whispered, “It was you, wasn’t it? You were the one who helped Naraku get in my head. That’s why I heard a woman instead of Onigumo.”

Kikyou’s own lips twisted in a sneer, “You should be…dead, Kagome. A… weakling like you…”

Kagome cut her off simply by putting more weight into the arm, “Weakling? Not anymore Kikyou. As a matter of fact, I don’t think I ever was; it just took all this shit happening for me to finally see it.”

“You’re disgraceful,” she hissed out. “The guardian of the Shikon-no-Tama turning into a youkai. The very thing you are supposed to defend the jewel against. You were too weak to fight it.”

Kagome shrugged, “I am still capable of purifying the jewel, that must mean I haven’t made that much of a mistake. I’m still me. Maybe fighting the youkai never was the answer, miko. After all, how much harder is it to kill me when I’m like this?”

Kikyou’s brows drew down angrily and she gripped Kagome’s forearm, trying to pry it away from her, “Inuyasha won’t let you kill me.”

Kagome twisted, flinging the miko over her head effortlessly and then pausing to lazily stretch her arms over her head. Her stance was casual, one hand resting lightly on the curve of her hip and a distracted smile on her lips as she waited for Kikyou to push herself to her feet.

Kikyou let out a shuddering breath, her hand gingerly feeling ribs that Kagome had just broken a second time. She looked nervously at Kagome’s glowing eyes, the girl flexing clawed hands in an eerie facsimile of Inuyasha. Her gaze turned quickly to the youkai form and the two humans, easily reading that there would be no help from either of them. But Inuyasha’s ears were trained back on the fight.

“Inuyasha!” Kikyou yelled out to him, one arm wrapped around her chest as she managed to stand. “Inuyasha, you promised me!”

Kagome shot forward, bringing her fist hard into the miko’s stomach, “Leave him out of this, you fucking bitch! You’ve been aching to kill me for years, so here’s your chance,” a taunting edge seeped into her voice. “Don’t you dare try to hide behind him.”

Kikyou fell heavily to her knees, glaring her hatred up at the girl, “I can still kill you. I was the guardian of the Shikon jewel long before you.”

“Then why try to get Naraku to do it for you? Face it, Kikyou, you’ve known all along you didn’t have a chance and that’s why you’ve tried to get someone else to do it for you,” Kagome’s lip curled in disgust. “You knew I’d kill you.”

Kikyou brought her hand hard against Kagome’s chest, blasting her backwards with a jolt of energy, “It would have worked if Naraku hadn’t tried to keep you. He wouldn’t kill you when he thought he could control you.”

Kagome growled as she pushed herself to her feet, tossing her head once as she shook off the pain in her chest as easily as the others. Another growl echoed in her head, stopping her next attack, and surprised, she looked at Inuyasha. He was giving her an arrogant, disapproving frown as he looked pointedly at her chest.

“I’ll be angry with you if you get hurt, Kagome,” he arched one brow, his voice low and scolding.

Kagome blushed, her ears flattening even as she watched Kikyou’s face fill with rage, “Don’t worry about me.”

Inuyasha frowned, rolling to his feet when Kagome leapt forward, slamming her shoulder into Kikyou’s stomach and sending them both crashing backwards into the trees, “That little idiot’s ignoring her own blood again.”

Sango set her jaw when they heard an outraged snarl followed by Kikyou crashing back along the same path Kagome had knocked them down a moment ago, “What do you mean?”

He shook his head, eyes gleaming dangerously when Kagome reappeared, wiping blood from her mouth with the back of her hand, “Her body’s exhausted, but she’s ignoring it. She’s hurt, feeling pain in my head, but… She’s not really balancing with me yet, she’s just drawing off me,” Inuyasha growled as he made the connection with how well he could feel her compared to what she displayed. “Dammit, she had enough contact to wake up but not to snap out of the youkai instincts!”

Kagome was using him to block out the exhaustion and the pain, and worse, she seemed to know she was doing it. He’d felt the twinge of guilt when he’d scolded her, and she’d refused to look at him, instead throwing herself into Kikyou for all she was worth. His sneaky little youkai bitch had tricked him into thinking she was trying to balance and all the while she’d just recognized his aura and absorbed it so she could keep fighting!

Kagome had just backhanded Kikyou across the face, sending the miko to the ground when she felt the tattoo at her hip pulse and heat. A thick curl of energy wrapped around her on the heels of that sensation, and she bit down on her lip hard as she sneaked a glance at Inuyasha. ‘Oh hell,’ she felt her stomach knot and the darkening look on his face.

“You promised you wouldn’t stop me!” she barked out at him defensively.

“You tricked me, Kagome! Who’s in your head? Who are you fucking listening to?!” he demanded when she turned her back on him.

Kagome made a face at him, “How stupid do you think I am, Inuyasha? After what just happened to me, I don’t intend to let anyone in my head again. The only person I’m hearing is me.”

“Fuck, they weren’t kidding about how my blood’s shutting her off from everything,” he muttered angrily. Kagome’s body was exhausted enough that if he could catch her and hold her without any interruptions, he was sure she’d pass out like she had the other times he’d had to force her to get control. But she was lucid enough to subdue him back if he used his spell, and that would just be ridiculously unproductive given how stubborn she could be with his blood dominant inside her. There was no telling how long they’d be stuck in a back and forth subduing fight.

‘C’mon, koi, I just need you distracted for a second!,’ his muscles coiled, preparing to spring the moment he felt her guard drop.

Kagome’s head snapped down to Kikyou when the miko grunted and tried to rise to her feet again. She leaned down, catching her by the back of the neck and lifting her off her feet in front of her. Her claws dug into the flesh of Kikyou’s throat and her eyes narrowed sharply, “You lose, miko.”

She pulled her other arm back, fully intending to punch through Kikyou’s stomach and rip the resurrected woman in half. Her hand stopped before it reached its target, her expression changing to frustration as her brow twitched with suppressed emotions.

‘I… Why can’t I kill her?!’ tears pooled in the corners of her eyes and she bit her lower lip hard enough to draw blood. “Fuck!” she snarled out, her arm dropping as she shook Kikyou with the other. “I can’t do it…” Kagome shook her head fiercely, her voice whisper soft and painfully enraged.

Kikyou’s eyes opened slightly and she smiled coldly, her chest rising and falling in a labored pattern as she lifted her hand to close around Kagome’s wrist, “I won’t have… the same trouble…”

Kagome’s hand tightened, “You won’t get the chance. I might not be able to kill you, Kikyou, but I don’t give a damn how you land.”

Kagome twisted, slamming the miko into the ground and sinking her hands into the fabric of her kimono. Inuyasha felt the energy inside her coil tight and finally snap as she let out a scream of pain and rage, flinging the miko up into the air as hard as she could.

He was behind her before her body had finished twisting from the momentum of her action, locking one arm around her waist and using the other to pin her arms to her sides. His mouth closed on the tendon in her neck, biting down when she arched away from him, crying out in outrage at the sudden rush of pain and fatigue that went through her.

Inuyasha snarled when she kicked out at him, wrapping one of his legs around her thighs and taking her to the ground. He growled, his hold tightening when he felt her shudder, a distressed sound rising in her throat as her strength began to slowly drain away under his touch.

“Let go of it, koi,” he released her neck, curling to his side to tuck her against him and press her face to his throat. “Relax.”

“Hurts!” Kagome gave her head a single shake against him. “Don’t-! Don’t make me, Inuyasha! Onegai!”

Inuyasha lifted the arm away from her waist and stroked her hair, pausing to rub her ears gently, “You have to rest, Kagome. I can feel how much it hurts. Just close your eyes and let me take care of it before you really hurt yourself.”

The soothing growl vibrating through his chest, added to his hands stroking over her ears, and the low timbre of his voice worked their way into her mind until the tautness seeped out of her little by little. Kagome’s fingers curled tightly in his haori as her eyes drifted closed, burrowing her face against him when she felt a rush of dizzying nausea go through her.

“No…” Kagome fought against it, hating the weakness coming over her as she tensed in an effort to push him away.

“Aa,” he returned, slightly alarmed at the way her body was losing heat, her words slurring as she went limp. “I’ll keep you safe,” he assured her, letting out a sigh of relief when she finally lost consciousness.

Inuyasha lay like that for a moment, panting just slightly as he focused on slowing his heartbeat to a less frantic pace before he raised himself up to his knees. He tucked Kagome around him carefully, ignoring his companions as they hovered nearby, uncertain as to how they should respond to this new development.

He rose to his feet slowly, holding her legs wrapped around his waist with one arm and using the other to drape her arms over his shoulders, “Shippo, can you find your way back to where we made camp before this shit started?”

Shippo jolted in surprise, nervous at being the center of the youkai’s attention, “Ah…h-hai…”

“Good,” he nodded stiffly, his arms wrapping tightly around Kagome. “You can show Sango and Miroku. I’ll be waiting for you there with Kagome.”


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