Friday, April 22, 2005

   Chapter 57: Far Enough To Scream...
Kagome arched away from him in reflex when she felt the odd vibration of power in the ofuda, it’s aura clashing with hers when they came close, “What the hell do you think you’re doing?”

Inuyasha tightened his arm around her waist and held her still, frowning down at her when she bowed her body as far away from the charms as she could, “You’re a miko, Kagome, you don’t have anything to be afraid of.”

“But I’m a youkai too,” she shot back with a snort, her voice challenging. “And right now, THAT part is telling me I don’t want to touch those,” her ears twitched with agitation. “Why did you put them in your blood?” she scowled suspiciously, eyes searching his for the answers she wanted.

“You’re going to soak yours into this end,” he instructed in a deceptively flat voice, tapping the end once against her chest and drawing a startled yelp out of her at the odd jolt of heat. “And you’re going to do it willingly,” he added with a sharp glare.

“You’re out of your mind,” Kagome pressed a hand hard to her heart and scowled up at him despite her curiosity. The only times she’d been exposed to ofuda, REAL ofuda, all her blood had been human. It wasn’t exactly that the touch was painful to her in this form, it was just… bizarre, “Those feel… really weird, Inuyasha. I don’t like it.”

“That’s too damn bad,” Inuyasha bared his teeth, tightening his hold again when she renewed her attempt to twist away. “Do you want to keep the spell, Kagome?” his voice held a slightly taunting edge, eyes narrowed as he caught the startled gaze that snapped up to focus on him.

Kagome stopped leaned away to gape up at him in disbelief, “You’re fucking threatening me with that?!”

“I’ll ‘fucking threaten you’ with anything that gets you to agree to do this without fighting me,” he agreed without even a hint of remorse. “Behave and do as I say, or I’ll have to let that damn voice disconnect us to protect you.”

She set her jaw, brows lowered as she straightened her spine and growled out, “You sonofabitch.”

Inuyasha smirked as he brought the ofuda down against the blood at her throat, “No more than your sons will be, Kagome.”

The remark had the desired reaction, Kagome’s growl dying while her cheeks flamed and her hand dropped to instinctively press on her stomach, “I’m not-“

“Yet,” one brow arched in a taunt that had her averting her face and fidgeting nervously. “Well?”

Her shoulders hunched faintly, self-consciously, “What do I have to do with the ofuda?”

Inuyasha dipped his head and gave her a light kiss, “Good girl… All I need you to do is concentrate your magic into your blood for the ofuda to soak it up,” he answered, turning the paper against her neck to make sure she wasn’t using the magic as a buffer against the charms.

Kagome looked at him suspiciously, shivering faintly when the mingled aura of the paper slid through her blood. She hadn’t consciously tried to “send” her miko powers or her youki for that matter into anything but arrows, and that was only when she was fighting. She was getting extremely good at absorbing, so this shouldn’t be too hard, right? But WHY was she infusing her youki and magic into the papers? She could already feel the trace of holy powers from Miroku, the feeling dampened under Inuyasha’s considerable youki and…

Kagome’s eyes widened in alarmed shock, ‘This is… miko energy? From… from Inuyasha?’

“What IS this doing?!” Kagome’s aura rippled, and Inuyasha’s hand tightened on her to keep her from moving away. “How are you-? When did-?” she stumbled over the questions uncertainly, not wanting to bring it to his attention if he wasn’t aware of the change.

“I don’t remember when I learned it,” he admitted with a shrug that eloquently conveyed that he didn’t particularly care either. “But if I’m going to keep you from running off every time you get irritated, I need something that you can’t break. If I try holding you with just Miroku’s magic, OR mine, you’d walk right through it.”

The deep-seated apprehension returned, making her eyes widen with the implication, “Hold me?”

“Keep going, koi,” he ordered, tapping a claw against her collarbone when he felt the magic going into the ofuda flutter uncertainly. “I’ll tell you when you’ve infused enough.”

Miroku could already feel the pulse of energy in the charms, surprised and even a little alarmed at just how strong the sensation was. Inuyasha had never before seemed to be all that knowledgeable about spells and magic, but he certainly seemed to know exactly what was doing with those ofuda. Not only that, but the spell felt almost disturbingly complex, even multi-layered. But what was he intending to do?

If the hanyou was effortlessly casting a spell like this, he had to be MUCH more familiar with magic than he let on. The monk was frowning in confusion as he wondered just how much of Inuyasha’s ignorance was all an act. And if it really was to the extent he now suspected, then why had the hanyou felt the need to lie to them all about his knowledge in the first place?

“Inuyasha…. you can’t really be intending to try and seal Kagome into a hut, can you?” he inquired, his voice displaying his own disbelief in that theory even as he prodded for the real answer.

Inuyasha snorted, taking the flame out of Kagome’s eyes by denying that idea before she could lose her temper, “What kind of idiot do you think I am? Sealing her into a hut wouldn’t fix anything, even if I could get her inside one when she’s like this and expecting that. But even if I did, all I’d have would be a pissed off mate about to cycle on top of everything else.”

Sango looked at Kagome in alarm when he said that, “Then she really is going to have-?”

Inuyasha huffed to stop the older girl when he saw the confusion in Kagome’s eyes, she wouldn’t understand yet and he wanted to take care of this spell before he tried to explain what exactly she was about to experience. He looked at the curiosity in Kagome’s eyes and fought the urge to growl in irritation, traveling with a youkai exterminator definitely had its drawbacks.

“You really are balanced again,” he improvised quickly.

Kagome’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, “You’re avoiding telling me what the hell you’re trying to do with our blood on Miroku’s ofuda.”

Inuyasha was actually relieved to hear her still focusing her attention on the spell, turning his gaze down to the ofuda when the pulse of energies smooth from three separate feelings into a single, potent mix, “Don’t worry, Kagome, this won’t hurt a bit.”

Her lip curled in dry annoyance at the smug, almost cheerful tone to his voice, “You’ll understand if that’s not exactly inspiring confidence.”

“You really shouldn’t doubt your mate,” he smirked and lifted the charms, holding the thin line of untouched paper spaced between the bloody ends. “Oi, Miroku, Shippou, this is the part where you help me,” he called back over his shoulder, drawing the two closer while Kagome took advantage of his averted face and stuck out her tongue in a show of pique.

Shippou looked absolutely delighted to be helping, rushing forward and jumping to Kagome’s shoulder to give her a quick kiss on the cheek before focusing on Inuyasha. He patted her shoulder absently while he fairly bristled with excitement and demanded, “Now? I can help now?”

Inuyasha held the ofuda up to Miroku first, arching one brow when the monk’s brow furrowed with concern and he seemed about to protest, “The spell, bouzu. Cast the same one you cast on me that time you stuck me in the hut with Shippou, but I want it stronger. As much magic as you can pump into them, got it?”

Miroku let out a resigned sigh and started to reach for the charms only to have Inuyasha pull them away and shake his head, “I can’t risk you smearing them. It’ll work the same from right there, so don’t try telling me that you can’t do it unless you’re holding them.”

Kagome was too distracted wishing she actually had the heart to throttle Shippou for being so thrilled at the prospect of helping Inuyasha to notice the look the monk shot her before he nodded and lifted his hand, focusing his powers. However, she definitely noticed when the charms began to glow, the tattoo giving a heavy lurch matched by her own heart and disturbingly enough… echoed through the ofuda.

“Oh hell,” she mumbled, grinding her teeth when the chill of magic went down her spine. Reassurances or not, something about that mix was agitating her, urging her to get away from it before he could finish the spell. She bit down on her lip, fighting against that feeling to prove to Inuyasha that she could control the youkai emotions.

“Try to relax, koi,” Inuyasha taunted gently, the arm around her flexing when he felt her legs twitch and sensed the small battle she was having in her head.

“Let me up and I’ll relax,” Kagome shot back with a challenging scowl, his obvious enjoyment in the face of her discomfort irritating her to no end.

He shook his head in denial, “If I let you up, you might run away again, and I already told you I’ve had enough of that. Be patient, Kagome, I’m almost done.” His gaze slid away from hers to Shippou’s expectant face, “Listen up, runt, I’m giving you the important job.”

Shippou puffed up importantly, hopping from her shoulder to her lap and standing as tall as he could, “I won’t mess up! What do I do?”

“Keep casting, bouzu,” Inuyasha frowned when he felt Miroku start to pull back, holding the ofuda out to Shippou. “Your hands are small enough, hold them right in the middle here where the blood doesn’t touch,” he instructed easily, watching while the little kitsune reached out to hold them with painstaking care.

“Like this?” Shippou hopped to the ground, holding the paper with both hands and looking up at the transformed hanyou for praise. ‘This is the first time Inuyasha has actually asked me to do something this important! I can show him I’ll take care of Okaa-san just as much as he will!’

Inuyasha rubbed Shippou’s head and smirked, glancing sideways at Kagome’s tense expression, “Aa, just like that. Now run straight out away from us and when I tell you to stop, put one down and mark it with your kitsune-bi. You should have enough to make a circle around us from that far away.”

His eyes widened and he nodded vigorously, turning to grin up at Kagome reassuringly, “Don’t worry, Okaa-san, we’ll make sure you’re safe!”

Inuyasha waited until the kit had darted off and turned to Sango, “Follow him with Kirara, but let him put down the ofuda himself.”

Sango glared at him, folding her arms over her chest even as Kirara transformed, “I’m not helping you seal Kagome anywhere, Inuyasha. You want her trapped you can do it yourself.”

Kagome grinned at the defense, mimicking Sango’s pose as best she could while Inuyasha growled in annoyance, “Dammit, Sango, I don’t have time for this! I’m not sealing Kagome, but if we can’t protect her from the voices outside the range of spirit Naraku could get hold of her again. Do you want that?”

The exterminator’s determination visibly wavered as she looked between the two of them and then to where Miroku was deep in meditation, focused on the sealing spell in the distant ofuda, “But…. the spell….”

“She isn’t going to be trapped like I was,” he frowned, tilting his head as he tested the wind for Shippou’s distance. “The voices said they opened up the path to her soul, but mine can keep them out of her head inside that range. I’m trying to close that path!”

Sango set her jaw, her hands flexing as she shook her head, “I don’t-“

“Please, Sango,” Inuyasha scowled in frustration over the uncharacteristic politeness of his request, the scowl darkening at the look of absolute shock on both girls’ faces. “It’s not THAT rare that I say please!” he protested crossly.

“Yes it is,” Kagome muttered, ears flattening back when she saw the same hesitant resignation in Sango’s eyes that had been in Miroku’s before he started casting the binding spell.

Inuyasha leaned over to absently nip her ear in censure, his eyes on Sango expectantly, “Well?”

She was silent a moment more and then turned, “Kirara.”

“Arigatou, Sango,” his lips quirked as she climbed astride her youkai. “Just make sure Shippou lays the ofuda in an even circle around this point and marks them,” the tension smoothed out of his shoulders when she nodded stiffly and took to the air.

Kagome turned up her nose haughtily when he chuckled and rose to his feet, dragging her up against his chest and holding her still, “If I wasn’t so worried about both of us losing our tempers, I’d bite you, you pompous asshole.”

He leaned down and caught her lips for a gentle kiss, silencing the growl in her throat while her arms reflexively unfolded to slide around his neck to pull him closer to her. Inuyasha’s ear twitched when he broke the kiss, purring as he rubbed his chin on her head soothingly before he turned and let out a sharp sound like a bark. At Kagome’s bemused look, he stroked his hand up and down her spine and answered, “Shippou’s far enough away.”

Her own ears twitched when she heard the distant, high-pitched “kitsune-bi” where the kitsune obediently marked the ofuda, “I can’t believe they’re helping you.”

“Why not?” he shrugged, unconcerned with the disgruntled tone. “We all know you aren’t thinking clearly, and you should know by now that we’ll do anything to keep you safe. Even if you fight us.”

Kagome blushed, averting her face, “When did you get so damn good at being reasonable, hn?”

“You just weren’t listening before,” he snorted, lifting his hand to stroke her cheek. “I’m impatient, Kagome, not stupid.”

Kirara and Sango returned before Kagome could respond, the exterminator looking mildly surprised as she remarked, “Shippou-chan is…. quite fast when he wants to be.”

Inuyasha rolled his eyes, “He’s had plenty of practice with all the running away he’s done. He’s almost as bad as Myouga-jiji.”

“Inuyasha!” Shippou called out, his voice slightly worried as he scampered back into the campsite, gingerly holding out a single ofuda. “There was one left, but I made them a circle like you asked!” he jumped to the hanyou’s shoulder.

“There was supposed to be,” Inuyasha plucked it from his hands and wuffed at the kit approvingly. He lifted the forgotten scrap of fire-rat fur and laid the last charm across it, youki and magic crackling between the two while he held it to Shippou expectantly.

“Kitsune-bi!” he slapped a hand down on the torn fabric, obviously relieved and delighted that he’d done it right.

The moment the foxfire touched the bloody charm, there was a blinding flash followed immediately by a staggering wave of energy snapping through the campsite and knocking all but Inuyasha and Kagome off their feet. Kagome let out a scream of outrage that was nearly lost amongst the other cries of surprise when Inuyasha’s free hand yanked her forward, wrapping half the strip around her throat. Before she could pull away, he twisted his hand, wrapping the loose ends of fabric around his wrist twice and holding them both still.

Kagome hissed, her eyes momentarily copying his as she tried to pull out of the energy funneling inward from the radius of Shippou’s circle. Inuyasha tightened his hand and yanked her forward, his other hand dropping to the small of her back while he again caught her mouth with his to take advantage of just how close she was to her cycle to keep her from fighting against the spell until it was complete.

Miroku shielded his eyes against the light, gaping in tense surprise at the visible streams of almost blinding fire. The violent mix of colors was curling around and around the pair before soaking into the wrapped fabric around Kagome’s neck and Inuyasha’s wrist. “What the hell?!” his brows snapped together.

The last of the flames wrapped around them, pulling them closer together before it completely soaked into the fabric, pulsing once and then dissolving the fur and ofuda into a thin line of scarlet tint where it had rested against skin.

“What WAS that?” Sango pushed herself to her feet, eyes wide as she rubbed at her arms, trying to smooth the tingling down her skin and making her hair stand on end.

Kagome shoved Inuyasha away from her, her hands coming up to grasp at her neck, searching for the strip of fur, “What did you do? Inuyasha!”

Inuyasha was looking at the two lines of red around his wrist, his brows lifting and lips quirking in a smug smile, “Sonofabitch, it does work!”

She bared her fangs, snarling as she slid farther away from him, “What WORKED?!”

To their complete and utter shock, Inuyasha didn’t answer and instead just casually strolled back to the campfire, dropping down into his usual cross-legged position. He folded his arms over his chest, sliding his hands into his sleeves as the tension visibly released across his shoulders.

“It’s late,” he called back at his stunned companions calmly, looking for all the world as though nothing out of the ordinary had taken place. “We should get some sleep before we head back to Kaede-baba’s in the morning.”

Kagome’s lip curled angrily, eyes darkening as she turned, all thoughts of proving she wouldn’t run away gone in a heartbeat as she shot off into the woods. Shippou let out a shriek of alarm, torn for a moment between trying to catch Kagome and yelling at Inuyasha to demand what he was thinking. Finally he opted for the stationary target, leaping across the clearing to yank hard on the hanyou/youkai’s ears, “What the hell are you doing?! Go after Kagome-Okaa-san before she gets out of range and gets into more trouble!”

“Don’t have to,” Inuyasha rolled his shoulders easily, taking his right hand out of his sleeves to stare at the double lines on his wrist.

“But, Inuyasha-!” Miroku leaned heavily on his staff, drained after using that much energy and determined not to show it until they had dealt with what was going on now.

He was cut off abruptly when they heard what was obviously Kagome’s voice giving first a startled yelp and then raised in a string of curses that even had Inuyasha’s eyes widening in appreciation. Inuyasha smirked at looked at the way the lines had started to glow faintly, sparking in an erratic rhythm, ‘It really worked.’

Kagome was back as quickly as she had run off, her eyes blazing and perceptibly trembling with suppressed anger, all of it aimed at Inuyasha’s back as she enunciated each word in a slow, deadly hiss, “What…the…FUCK?!”

Sango lifted her hand to her mouth, her eyes going from Kagome’s neck to Inuyasha’s wrist, “Inuyasha… did you-?”

Inuyasha turned an almost nauseatingly smug grin over his shoulder and drawled out, “What’s wrong, koi?”

She stalked across the space separating them, bending down to grab the closest ear and yank him to his feet with a yelp of pain, “It was like running into a goddamn brick wall, Inuyasha! I felt myself getting close to the edge of your aura and all of a sudden my neck got hot, I slammed into nothing, and knocked myself flat on my ass!!”

“You said she wasn’t going to be trapped!” Sango yelled at him, her eyes flaming as she habitually reached for her Hiraikotsu.

“She’s not,” Inuyasha reached up and took Kagome’s hand away from his ear, rubbing it with a frown as he ignored the deep-throated growl coming from her. “Not that way, at least.”

“Then what did your spell do?” Miroku reached out, putting a restraining hand on Sango’s shoulder when the girl looked about ready to commit serious mayhem against Inuyasha. “What did Kagome-sama run into?”

Inuyasha bent down and kissed her on the tip of the nose while she took several deep breaths, restraining herself with great effort while she waited for his explanation. He reached up and gently rubbed her ear to change the growl into a purr as he answered matter-of-factly, “I collared my bitch.”


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