InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Changing Lives ❯ His Best Human Night ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

It was true that Sesshomaru needed to br brought down a peg or two, but at the moment Inuyasha wasn’t exactly in shape to do so. He kept walking and scented out a place to stay the night, a cave well-hidden by the simple fact that it was right out in the open. Tomorrow night at sunset, he would be human and mostly helpless for a night, and this seemed the perfect place.

Or at least, it would do.

AE Thirty Six

Things didn’t work out quite like Inuyasha had planned. While nothing else attacked or stalked him during the next day, right before sunset he was certain that he scented their little party. Kirara had a good nose and he was sure that they were going to find him.

The change that went over him wasn’t as bad as he thought it would be, either. The wound hurt more in his human form, but not too badly. He only vaguely remembered the last time he was hurt the night before the new moon, and in that instance, his human night was horrible.

By demon standards it hadn’t been rough wounds, but Gods did they hurt! He was in agony nearly the entire night. Worrying that this night would be the same as that last one, he had overreacted and he knew it, but at least this way he could sigh with relief.

Not that sighing felt good or anything, but the point remained.

The cave was small, too. He couldn’t stand fully upright inside. But it was deep and sloped downward. He was as far back as he could get, and leaning against the cavern wall. Sounds echoed down here: dripping water, the odd rock coming loose and tapping along the ground, birds chirping and animals rustling outside. And after a short while, light footsteps and a soft, questioning voice.

“Are you sure he’s down here?”

That had to be Kagome. It was harder to judge without his hanyou ears but it was something only she would ask.

He heard Kirara mew and smirked. That sound was actually pretty cute when it didn’t streak jaggedly through his ears.

“He should be. We’ll stay up here. Go on.”

And that one was Sango.

“Okay, thanks.”

Kagome again.

He really didn’t want this confrontation. Not now, anyway. He wondered briefly if he could feign being asleep already, and while Kagome would probably buy it, she’d come to her senses eventually and he’d get an ear-ful. Inuyasha never slept on his human night, even while injured.

Her footsteps carried her down and he could her hands dragging along the wall. She most likely couldn’t see much, and neither could he, really. The thought occurred to him that if he didn’t tell her where he was, she might run into him and make his night worse.

He waited until she got near before speaking.

“Stop there,” he said.

Kagome gasped as though she were scared. She sighed a second later. “Alright. . .where are you?”

“Close.”

He could only see her in profile, and saw her head turn from side to side as she tried to find him. Then a click sounded and a beam of light shown from her lightstick. Upon seeing him she sat down.

“What are you doing all the way out here?” she asked.

He could definitely see her more clearly. It always made him a type of puppet to see her with that sad, concerned look – he’d say anything she needed to hear as long as it took that expression off her face.

“Think. I’m sure you’ll figure it out.”

“What do you mean?”

“What happened two days ago,” he said, not really asking a question.

“That fight, but - oh,” she said. “You’re not still hurt, are you?”

He shrugged a shoulder. “Just a little.”

“This is why you left?”

“Yeah.”

She looked away then and set the lightstick on the ground. Staring at the ground, she went on. “Wouldn’t you be safer with us? You know we’ll all protect you if you need it.”

That was a nice save, he thought. Jerk me would have slapped that back without the ‘if you need it’. “I don’t like being a burden, you know that.”

“Then you should know you’re not a burden,” she shot back, looking at him again. She had a fire in her eyes that had nothing to do with the light. “It’s what friends do, Inuyasha.”

“Has it occurred to you yet that every human night I’ve had since I met you has ended in disaster?”

“Well. . .no,” she admitted, seeming a little off guard.

“What about the fact that I rarely get attacked when I’m on my own?”

She looked away.

Too bad he wasn’t done yet. “I don’t want to tell you this, Kagome, but you attract danger. And it’s not the shards,” he added when she lifted her hand to her necklace and the vial on it.

“Then what is it? What’s wrong with me?” she snapped.

Shit, she’s going to cry. . . “No, Kagome. There’s nothing wrong with you. You’re sweet, sometimes to a fault. And these times are dangerous in themselves. Half the people we meet love you instantly and the other half. . . can hardly stand you. It’s the way the world works here. It’s kill or be killed.”

He saw her mouth tweak like she was holding back a smirk. Meeting his eyes directly, she said, “Dog eat dog.”

He blinked. “What?”

“It’s a phrase from my time. Dog eat dog means the same thing as kill or be killed.”

He shook his head and sighed. And the only reason she said that was because she likes to remind me that I’m half dog. “Thanks, Kagome,” he said, flatly.

She still looked like she was going to cry and now she also looked very uncomfortable. She rubbed her arm absently and he heard her sniff.

It very nearly broke his heart. He hated having this weakness. Sighing, he shifted his position until both his feet with flat on the floor and tugged on her sleeve.

She looked at him in question.

“Come here,” he ordered, tugging her sleeve towards him.

Even in the dim light he could see her blush. He wondered if she was thinking about that story of hers. He tugged again, a bit harder. “Come here,” he repeated.

With an audible gulp Kagome began moving, very slowly and uncertainly, towards him. He didn’t let go of her sleeve until she was where he wanted her: leaning against his chest. The pain in his wound flared up at the pressure, and then seemed to fade away as rain would pour off your body.

Inuyasha wrapped his arms around her and just held her there. He could hardly believe what he was doing, but things always felt so different in his human form. He thought more clearly and had less control over his emotions, but more control over his anger and patience.

Kagome’s hands were on his shoulders, gripping tightly and still uncertain. He didn’t know exactly what to say to her now, but he found himself talking anyway.

“I can’t reach your lightstick.”

She grabbed it, saying, “It’s called a flashlight.”

“But it’s a lightstick,” he argued.

“But it’s called a flash. . .light,” she said back.

He could see the beginnings of a smile on her face and knew he was heading in the right direction. “It’s a stick that pours light.”

“But that’s not its name.”

“How often do I call things by their names? Monk, kit, wench -“

“Dog-boy,” she returned.

He gave a laugh. “Half dog boy.”

“Close enough.”

They were both laughing by the end of the ‘argument’. He kept holding her against his chest for quite a while, until he was sure sunrise couldn’t be far off. His thoughts were still turning around in his head, and as always while in his human form, making sense. He had to talk to her about her story, to let her know he read it. And to find out how she really felt about all that.

But he didn’t want to. It was too bad for him that he knew that to do what’s right rises above what you want to do. Sometime long after they settled comfortably into one another, he lifted his head from hers.

“Kagome, there’s something we need to talk about.”

Judging by her slow movements, she’d fallen asleep. “Hmm? What, Inuyasha?”

“Well, you know your computer?”

“Yes.”

“You know how you taught me how to use it?”

“. . .Yes.” Her response was slower this time, wary. She had slightly tensed. She had to be fearing that he found that story. It had to be embarrassing, especially for the – ahem – twenty eighth chapter.

“I looked around at it,” he said, unsure how to explain that part.

“And?”

“I found something.”

He heard her catch her breath. “W-what?”

“It was a story. Thirty two chapters in separate programs, numbered so they were easy to follow. . .”

She was staring at the wall to her left, slightly down. He could see her chewing her lip. “Can you read?”

Oh, if she had been looking at him at that moment. . . “You think I can’t read?”

“Well, not many people can in these times and I never thought to ask,” she explained, glancing up at him only to glance away again.

“I can read.” Her breath grew shaky. “And I did.”

The silence that spread out between them now was so thick no other sound could penetrate it. Inuyasha could hear nothing outside of their own breathing, which had gone unearthly quiet as well.

“You weren’t supposed to find that,” Kagome whispered after a long pause. Everything grew silent again once she finished speaking.

“Well, I’m sorry,” he replied. “But now I need to know something.”

She didn’t respond to that. The silence once again ruled and he thought frantically for the right words.

“Do you really feel that way?”

She let out a shuddering breath that only briefly overruled the silence. When she spoke again it was very quietly. “About what?”

“About me, about being half-demon, about you,” he listed.

“. . .There wasn’t a single lie in that entire story,” she began.

“So you do love me.”

Her head dropped further and she sniffed. “Yes.”

“But do you want to be half-demon?”

She shrugged. “It seemed right.”

“But is it what you want?”

She didn’t reply at first. When she did it so quietly he hardly heard her. “I want to be anything, as long as it means I get to be with you.”

“And to be hanyou was the first thought that came to you?”

“Well, yes.”

“Why?”

“I don’t want you to be alone, or to feel like it.”

He pulled her against his chest again, letting her hide her face in his chest. “I know I’m not alone. Look what happened when I tried to be alone.”

She laughed once, but it didn’t seem to lighten her mood.

Inuyasha sighed and dropped his head, resting his cheek on her hair. Kagome needed silence; he knew this. She needed a few moments to come to terms with everything that was just said. He knew most of it was automatic, a response that wasn’t thought out before it was said. But all the words were true, he was sure of it.

“I’m sorry,” she said after another very long moment.

“Sorry for what?”

“That I wrote that. That you read it.”

How could he tell her that he wasn’t sorry he read it? That he was happy that she wrote it, because now they could just be honest.

“Why would you apologize?”

“It complicates things.” She said that line too fast. She must have been ready for his reply.

“No, Kagome. It simplifies them.”

She looked up at him. “But your life is very complicated and so is mine -“

“And together they make sense,” he interrupted. He couldn’t believe what he was thinking about doing, but it seemed the only thing to do now.

“But with Kikyo -“

“Forget about Kikyo.” He couldn’t believe he’d said that, either. His human side really had a handle on his feelings, alright.

Kagome looked shocked. “Forget about her? Inuyasha. . .”

He caught her off guard with that statement. It seemed alright - his thoughts - now that he caught her off guard again. His right hand lifted to cup her cheek. “Yes, forget about her. She isn’t here now.”

“But. . .”

“No buts.” Heart thudding fast and stomach fluttering, he used his hand to tilt up her face, and then lowered his own. He kissed her, softly and carefully, giving her any and all moments she’d need to compose herself or pull away.

She caught him off guard, too. She kissed back after only a second or two of stun. He felt the warmth of the sun just as they drew back. He kept his eyes on hers as the sun’s light filtered in through the cave entrance, hardly making it with the downward slope.

They’d never stared at one another like this before, and somehow during his change it made it special. He waited until he felt all his hanyou features return - his senses, claws, fangs, ears and coloring - and then he kissed her again.

And again, she kissed him back. To him it meant that she accepted all of him, not one side or the other. His hanyou side had a bit more physical control, calming his own heart and steadying his breath. His sense of smell picked up her scent and breathed it in. When they drew back again he slyly licked his bottom lip, getting a taste of her that left him wanting.

And Kagome had the good grace to blush.

:End Chapter:

No excuses. I was so distracted over the weekend that I forgot Sunday was coming. Go ahead, yell at me.

NO DON'T!!! PLEASE!!! I couldn't stand it if my readers hated me!! :Cries in the most ridiculous way:

Ahem. . . Anyhow.

I'll still update tomorrow, so don't worry about that. Yesterday night I was waiting for Tammy to get off so I could get on and update, but she stayed on till after I fell asleep. So much for, "I don't plan on staying up too long tonight."

:Mutter curse stupid-fat-woman: I'll be glad when I leave!! I really will!! This house is full of bugs, dust and spiders, wasps nest outside, and everything tries to kill me!! I can't count the number of times the couch has jumped out and bit me, or the coffee table. :Looks warily at the articles of furniture, wondering what they're going to do to me today:

Correction: There are two coffee tables and they both want me dead. :Sweat drop:

I think I'll go now. . . Don't forget the reviews for Inuyasha's first kisses!! :Winks and casts a 'Forget Kikyo' spell on you all:

See ya!!