InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Lady's Man of the West ❯ Daughter of Time ( Chapter 5 )

[ T - Teen: Not suitable for readers under 13 ]

Hi! It'sbeen…YEARS, hasn't it? I forgot about updating, but I'll finish this now. So sorryyyy!

A special, huge sorry to all the wonderful reviewers, who bothered to give me encouragements and comments.

Disclaimer: I do not own Inuyasha. Only Sesshy (Kidding, kidding!). Actually, I own nothing and no one in this thing. Except maybe the bad, hooded lady.

Recap from last chapter:

"I want it to go away now. Otherwise Inuyasha will be pretty awkward with me all the time, and he's irritating enough as it is."

Kouga thought about that for a moment. "Someone else could mark you instead," he said speculatively.

Kagome gaped. "What! No! That'll make him nuts, not just awkward!" she raved almost manically.

Kouga shrugged nonchalantly. "Then you can only wait. And don't let him do it again."

"Geez, Kouga!" Like he would. Kagome huffed in embarrassment and exasperation, feeling more miserable than she had in ever. A little furious as well, come to think of it. She'd be lucky if he ever came near her again, not that she gave a hoot. Giving her his mark and then acting like it was the worst thing in the world…Pft. Moron!

She poked the mark on her neck angrily and yelped at the burning sting. And somewhere not too far away, a certain hanyou about to have a chat with a miko jumped in pained surprise as well.

Chapter 5:

The village was bustling with life as usual, and Kagome found herself wanting to stay outside and watch the activity. Better than going to Kaede's and seeing Inuyasha. She just wasn't ready! Not after being rejected. Thank goodness they hadn't done anything.

She felt a discarded old sock as it was.

Breathing deeply to calm her nerves, she froze. And sniffed the air once. Then sniffed again. And then once more time just to be sure…

Yep. She could smell Inuyasha. And not in the you-haven't-showered-in-a-month sort of way, either.

She ran to the cottage, and thankfully, just about everyone was there. Besides an unconcerned Kadan-Sesshoumaru, Miroku, Sango, Shippo and Kaede stared at her questioningly. And no wonder; she looked like a scared bunny! She knew one thing: this new demonic sense of smell only applied to Inuyasha. Another thing she knew: he smelt sexy as hell.

"Inuyasha!" she hollered, on the edge of hysteria.

"Kagome-chan?" Sango hurried to her side with Shippo on her shoulder.

"Gwaaah!" Shippo squealed suddenly into the taijiya's ear and pointed at Kagome in horror.

"The hell's going on?" Inuyasha growled, rushing in at the noise. He spotted Kagome's hysterical face and ran to her. "What is it?"

She punched him.

The gang stared in awe as the hanyou sputtered and growled on the floor, glaring up at the young miko red for more reasons than one. "The hell!"

"Jerk! This is all your fault! Why did you have to do it if you didn't want to, huh?" Kagome hollered some more at him, flailing her arms. "Now I'm stuck smelling you! Bastarrrrd!" she ended with an Inuyasha-like snarl.

Staring stupidly up at her, Inuyasha took just enough time to blink in confusion. "What are you talking about!"

"I can smell you. I can smell you!" And she marched out with another growl.

"You marked her, half-breed?" Sesshoumaru asked cynically in his deep, feminine voice, and Inuyasha froze.

"What!' Miroku and Sango cried in shock.

"Oh, dear," Kaede mumbled.

"That's it! That's the smell!" Shippo squealed in recognition. "I knew it was a big deal!"

"Inuyasha, you're mates?" Sango asked in disbelief.

"No. Not yet," Sesshoumaru answered for him. "He merely completed the first step." A degrading smirk was in his-her voice.

"And what would you know about that, bastard? You got mates I don't know about?" he growled, flushing in a mixture of anger and embarrassment.

"No. And there isn't much you do know, Inuyasha. You clearly haven't been told about the mating process either." A grunt of disgust. "Something father should have taught you."

Inuyasha snarled in fury, and would have lunged at his female-looking brother if not for the old miko coming between them. "What do you know about this, Sesshoumaru-sama? What was Kagome talking about?"

"She's human. But her mark grants her the power to sense her…mate. To feel his presence, and later, even his state of mind. It's not as prominent a discovery for the hanyou because he has most these powers already." Sesshoumaru looked up at Inuyasha coldly, somehow managing to look down his nose at him despite being seated on the floor. "And it does not take a genius to realize she thinks you reject the mark."

Inuyasha tensed, his head whipping to where Kagome had gone.

"What does that mean?" Shippo whispered in Sango's ear.

"It means she thinks Inuyasha rejected her, young one," Kaede answered, giving the distressed hanyou a meaningful look. Inuyasha took a shaky breath, glaring into space. Then he turned about and marched out.

Sesshoumaru made a cynical sound and rose to his feet, going out as well.

Miroku stared in awe after the two. "Well…that was a bit…hectic, wasn't it?"

Everyone nodded stupidly.

Kagome sniffled once, wiping her tears furiously as she looked up. "I know you're there Inuyasha. I can smell you, remember?" Oh, this was so stupid! What was she even angry about? So she could smell extra well. So what!

She thought he smelled sexy was what! She raved mentally. When he thought she smelled ok, or good. Jeez, if he thought she smelled as sexy as she thought he smelled, he wouldn't be able to stand next to her for too long. Why must she always like him more? It was so unfair!

At the moment she sat at the well, waiting for the sneaky hanyou to show himself. As he did, eventually. She watched him look everywhere but at her and felt like shooting him. She was uncomfortable too, but she didn't act like this new thing between them was the worst thing in the world. But then she hadn't thought so. Not until that idiot had run off like little demon Kagomes were biting at his heels!

"What!" she snapped, and he jumped comically.

"I…I know you're upset about this. I…er…I'm sorry. I wasn't thinking. I'm not rejecting you or anything," he added hurriedly, glaring at her like the whole misunderstanding was her fault.

She glowered at him so hard he stepped back, honestly spooked. "Why don't you just shut up, Inuyasha, OK? You've messed up my life enough, don't go blaming me-!"

"I wasn't blaming-what do you mean 'messed up your life'! It's not permanent!"

"No? It feels permanent!" she squeaked at the end, startling the hanyou.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" He watched her struggle to slide her school shirt down her shoulder and blushed. "What are you doing?"

"Baka! This is your fault! Yours, not mine!" she cried, and then jabbed her finger into the bruise, making them both yelp in pain. She looked at him in shock, and he at her. She jabbed again, stifling another yelp and watching in amazement as Inuyasha jumped and grabbed his shoulder.

"That was you?" he said in shock, gaping at her and marveling at the phenomenon.

Kagome blinked stupidly. "Y…You mean you felt it…before?"

He frowned. "Twice. Painful. Does it hurt you?"

She sighed and lowered her head, how embarrassing the situation was finally catching up with her. "Only when I do that."

He sighed and went to her, hugging her to him. "I'm sorry. It…must have hurt."

She scowled into his chest and scrunched her eyes shut. "Actually, it was the best feeling I've ever had. The bits after weren't so great," she mumbled. "It'll be gone in a week, anyway."

He stiffened, caught between blushing like a schoolgirl at the 'best feeling ever' bit and scowling thunderously at the 'lasts one week' information. "A week? How do you know that?"

"I…asked Kouga about it," she replied uncertainly, knowing the hanyou would-

"When?" he snapped, holding her at arm's length and glaring suspiciously. She frowned back.

"Earlier today. I needed to know more…about this."

"Why didn't you ask me? Didn't you think I'd know?" He hadn't a clue, but still…

Kagome shook her head furiously, eyes closed. "Irrelevant. I wasn't going to talk about this to you! And I was still mad at the way you…" she paused, tensing and looking away.

Inuyasha frowned, leaning over to look at her averted face. "At the way I what?"

She expelled a breath and pushed him away, and then glared up at him. "You ran off like I terrified you! It was so hurtful I wanted to kill you. I felt so dirty and used. Why did you do that when you didn't mean it, huh! Like we weren't messed up enough already?"

"What! Wait a second!" He grabbed her when she tried to jump into the well right behind her, and turned her to face him. "You think I ran off…because I regretted it?" Not meeting his eyes, she nodded jerkily, making him scowl. "You…think I didn't…mean it? You were sure it was just in the moment?" He was blushing angrily, and when she nodded his scowl deepened. "You think we're messed up," he said at last, his voice deepening with…something. But it wasn't good.

"Yeah, that I'm pretty sure about. We can't help arguing or fighting about things, and they're usually so stupid. I always feel lost around you, and you pretty much never understand how I think. Like why I would be upset about…whatever, or how I feel about you. You sure rarely ever bother to-"

"Wait! What? Y-y-you…How do you feel about -? Wait a second, why would you feel lost because of me?" He switched from stuttering to raving. "And I can't help not understanding you! You-"

"I love you."

She stared almost expectantly up at him, and when all he did for the space of two minutes was open and close his mouth in shock like some fish…she began to shake, both angry and hurt anew. She thought she'd give it a try. One last, real try to get him to show he cared more than platonically. She wasn't sad she'd confessed when he didn't feel the same. No, sir. It felt good to let out. Especially since she knew what to do.

She reached up to him, sucking in a pained breath when he flinched. She grabbed the beads…and yanked. They shattered beautifully, flying like pearls all around them. She heard Inuyasha gasp and look around him in confusion. And she took that time to turn to the well and jump right in.

Sesshoumaru walked carefully into the village, finally getting some fresh air. Even the old miko had advised him to move around to relieve the ache. The currently-female lord of the west did not like the insinuation that he could not handle the womanly pain, but he would in fact much rather do without it. Humans did not have a high pain threshold, obviously.

He walked next to a small stream and looked about slowly at the farmers working around in the fields. Cursing his bothersome body, he just stood there, oddly finding the bubbling waters of the tiny brook relaxing. Hm. His brain must be affected by his gender if he could find comfort in such a thing.

"Out and about, finally?"

He turned, long black hair flying to one side. A white-robed figure stood behind him, the exposed lower part of her face revealing a small smile. "I was hoping you'd come out for a little chat soon. You sure took long enough, Dad."

Sesshoumaru stared in stone-faced shock as the woman pulled off the hood to reveal cascading black hair…and golden yellow eyes. Aside from the luminous eyes, she looked completely human.

"You are the miko-" Sesshoumaru began coldly.

"I'm not a miko. I'm a demon. Well…mostly. So your assumptions about me were obviously wrong."

"Hm. And who might you be?"

"Weren't you listening? I called you Daddy. Father. I'm your youngest. Not as powerful as my eldest sister, but still…I pack quite a punch." She winked at the frozen lord and giggled before reverting back to her serious demeanor. "You're so inconsiderate to Rin I just had to give you a taste…of what it's like to be a human girl. You look gorgeous by the way," she added on another, softer giggle.

Foremost in his boggled mind, was the incredulous thought that he…would beget a daughter who giggled.

To be Continued…

So sorry I stayed away so ridiculously long. I'm an idiot!

Also, sorry this was shorter than usual. Will make it up to you next chapter. -booow-