InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Purity ❯ New Moon ( Chapter 17 )

[ X - Adult: No readers under 18. Contains Graphic Adult Themes/Extreme violence. ]

InuYasha stifled the urge to growl as he glared across the table at Sesshoumaru. The older of the two stood up and stalked across the floor without sparing as much as a glance at his brother. After a long silence, he turned on his heel and leveled a speculative look at the hanyou. "Are you really that stupid, InuYasha?" he asked, breaking the stilted silence. "I mean, I used to credit you with at least a modicum of intelligence, but after this, I may have to change that opinion."

InuYasha flopped back against the high chair back and sighed. "I didn't plan it, damn it. It just fucking happened."

"Do you have any idea how much damage you could have done?" Sesshoumaru demanded.

"Yeah, I do: none, because nothing happened!"

"Except that the human boy saw you lying on top of her then decided to tell Kagura about the incident. You're right. Nothing at all . . ."

InuYasha had the grace to flush at that reminder. "I told you how that happened."

Sesshoumaru dropped back into the chair across from him and steepled his fingers together, tapping his chin thoughtfully. "They prosecute teachers who can't keep their hands off their students nowadays," he pointed out.

"Keh!" InuYasha snorted, stubbornly crossing his arms over his chest. "I never wanted to be a teacher. That was your fucking stupid idea."

"Be that as it may, it is a moot point now. You are a teacher. The miko's teacher . . . and don't forget your promise."

InuYasha dug his claws into the pristine table top. Sesshoumaru stared at the new scratches, but didn't comment otherwise. "How can I forget that when you and Shippou remind me all day, every day?"

Sesshoumaru sighed. "Just remember."

InuYasha stood up quickly and headed for the doorway. "Do you think I'd intentionally do anything to hurt her?" he hissed quietly as he paused in the doorway. "If you do, then you're damn stupid."

Sesshoumaru didn't say anything else as InuYasha stomped out of the dining room. A few seconds later, he heard the front door slam. He shook his head slowly. That fool of a brother of his was going to get himself into real trouble, if he wasn't more careful.


Kago me wandered through the woods without a destination in mind. 'Soothing, to be out here,' Kagome thought with a smile. She knew this place. It spoke to her heart. It comforted her.

Oddly, though, being in the forest reminded her of InuYasha. After their last sojourn into the trees, he had behaved as though that day hadn't happened at all. She sighed softly. If she were completely honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she had been berating her childish fear that he would think she was too clumsy and awkward at kissing . . . and if she were even more honest with herself, she'd have to admit that she wished he would try it again.

A soft flush crept over her skin. Kagome lifted the back of her hand to her cheek. The warmth of her skin permeated her flesh. She smiled. Too often in her dreams she saw those amber eyes, their silent entreaty. There had been something there, something that, at the time, she hadn't understood. Later, though, she knew. His eyes . . . he'd been asking her something. If she could only figure out what it was that he wanted from her . . .

With a sigh, Kagome flopped down at the base of a thick tree and wrapped her arms around her raised knees. Why couldn't she stop thinking about InuYasha? He was her teacher. She shouldn't feel like that toward him. So why was it that she felt as though she'd known him for such a long time? 'You shouldn't feel that way, but you do. You know you do. He knows you do. You're as transparent as a window, Kagome. Way to wear your heart on your sleeve.'

"Kagome?"

Kagome blinked in surprise as she lifted her eyes to lock with InuYasha's. He knelt beside her, his head bent to the side. His hair was loose, and she smiled as the wind tossed it around his shoulders. There was something completely familiar about the way his hair was tossed by the breeze. That didn't make any sense, though. It was the first time she could remember him not having his hair tied back. She grinned slightly. She liked his hair free like that. It suited him. "What are you doing out here?"

"I went for a walk, is all," she replied, still staring at him. Her voice sounded strange to her own ears. Her mouth was suddenly very dry.

"It's dangerous for you to be out alone," he remarked, his expression gentle even with the serious undertone.

"What are you doing out here?" she echoed back at him, deliberately ignoring the lure of him. He drew her without realizing it. Or did he know?

He didn't smile, but his amber eyes took on an amused glow. "I live here."

"You own this forest?" A sudden thought dawned on her, and she frowned in concentration. "Then you own the shrine, too?"

He nodded slowly. "Does that bother you?"

She grinned. "Nope. I never really knew who owned it. Guess I just never asked." A sudden scowl crossed her features. "Aren't you a little young to own the forest and shrine?"

He shrugged and looked away. "Call it an inheritance," he remarked vaguely.

"I'm trespassing, then, aren't I?" she teased.

InuYasha looked confused. Kagome scampered to her feet and stepped past InuYasha. She felt her skirt brush his face. She didn't see him flinch and didn't hear him groan softly as one of his hands reached down to steady himself. The other one tightened into a shaky fist.

She did catch the odd look on his face, though, when she turned to stare at him. Her smile faltered, and she crouched down to gaze at him. She pushed his hair out of his face. He leaned into her touch. Kagome froze. It almost seemed as though he was nuzzling her hand. A low sound came from him, and Kagome leaned in closer to listen. Eyes closed with a slight smile, he was . . . growling? Yet it wasn't really a growl. More of a contented rumble . . .

As she stared at him, her hand frozen in place on his cheek, she noticed something else, as well. The little white ears that she had convinced herself that she hadn't seen were back, and this time when she blinked quickly, they remained. Slowly, as if in a trance, she reached up with her free hand and touched one.

With a startled yelp, InuYasha shot to his feet and jumped back. "What the hell?" he blurted out, his expression a mixture of confused irritation and embarrassment.

Kagome sank back on her heels, hands dropping to her knees, but she didn't stand. The ears seemed to have vanished once more, and she could only stare in bewilderment at the agitated man before her. "I saw them again," she said softly, her voice unnaturally calm. She didn't know why the sight of the ears hadn't bothered her this time. She only knew that she liked them. They suited him. "Why do you have dog ears?"

He flinched and looked away. She saw his cheeks pink up. He shot her a quick look, like he didn't think she'd believe his explanation, but he sighed and said, "I'm a hanyou. I'm half inu-youkai."

She digested that for a moment in silence. "Why can't I see them all the time?"

He grunted, looking a little more disgruntled, though she wasn't entirely sure why.  "You weren't supposed to see them at all."

Kagome blinked in surprise as she stared at him. Slowly, the ears reemerged on his head. He grimaced, and she noticed something else. He had fangs? And when her gaze dropped to his hands, she saw . . . claws. "I . . . InuYasha?"

He didn't move toward her. He didn't answer her. She could sense his anxiety. Did he think that she would be frightened of him, or that she would be appalled by what he was? Slowly Kagome stood and closed the distance between them. She reached out carefully. He didn't move away as her fingers brushed his ears then returned, only to rub gently as his rumbles started once more. His eyes drifted closed as hers did, and they stood still as she played with his ears. Soft, warm, deliciously fuzzy, something about those ears endeared him to her even more. The feel of her attentions seemed to soothe him as his rumbling soothed her. Something so perfect passed between them, something that would remain untouched inside her mind forever.

He brought his hands up to rest on her hips. Above the coarse material of the waistband, his claws grazed her skin softly, gently. Liquid heat exploded in her, the nearly overwhelming desire to collapse against him. Set ablaze deep inside, the feelings that he inspired in her with a simple touch both electrified her and alarmed her at the same time. She stepped back with a smothered gasp as her face shot up in flames.

Neither spoke for several long minutes nor would either of them look at the other. InuYasha finally broke the silence by clearing his throat. Kagome studied the ground below her feet. "Let me walk you home," he offered at last.

Kagome said nothing, but fell in step beside him.


InuY asha watched with a frown as Kagome disappeared into the shrine before leaping to the top of Goshinboku. Out of habit, he folded his arms together even though he couldn't shove his hands up his sleeves. 'What did any of it mean?' he asked himself for the hundredth time since he had offered to see Kagome home. If she could see him in his true form, why was it that she still didn't remember him?

Her fragrance wafted to him on the breeze, and InuYasha closed his eyes with a soft groan. The memory of Kagome's touch on his ears was enough to make his senses spin out of control. With a frustrated moan, he let his head drop back, vaguely relieved that the tree trunk was behind him to catch him before he fell. What was it about Kagome that could completely disarm him?

She filled his senses, befuddled his mind, filled his dreams with agonizing images of the girl and the woman she'd become. He couldn't reconcile himself to the constant state of torment, the physical pain of being near her, the mental ache of being away from her, too. If he had the choice, he'd rather go up against a few thousand youkai than to have to deal with the unrequited lust that was near to driving him mad. At least he'd be able to assuage some of the consuming tension that threatened to devour him completely.

Kagome opened the door and called out goodbye to her mother.

InuYasha drew a ragged breath and opened his eyes. 'Pathetic!' he berated himself with a scowl as he hopped out of the tree and took off at a sprint, hopping on buildings to keep her in view. It was a joke, really. She didn't need self-defense lessons. InuYasha didn't want to teach her how to protect herself. He wanted to be the one to do that protecting for her, after all.

He trailed Kagome to the movie theater and crossed the street to a small outdoor café. Kagome was with a couple of her girl friends. She was safe enough. He ordered a soda that he didn't really like or want and sat down to wait.


Kago me stepped out of the theater with Eri, Yuka, and Ayumi by her side, listening as the girls performed a replay of their favorite scene in the movie. Truthfully Kagome hadn't paid attention to more than a few minutes of the film. She'd been too busy thinking about InuYasha.

Half-youkai . . . hanyou. Why hadn't that statement surprised her?  After all, common sense told her that there really wasn't such a thing, was there?  But still, that couldn't be right, either.  She'd seen it for herself, hadn't she?  The fangs, the claws, the strangely oblong pupils that almost reminded her of cat-eyes . . . Even so, Kagome remembered the feel of his fuzzy ears and grinned to herself.

"He's so-o-o-o handsome!" Ayumi exclaimed.  "Isn't he just dreamy, Kagome-chan?"

With a nervous start, Kagome shot her friends a wild glance, unable to staunch the color that flowed to the surface of her skin.  "Wha . . .? Wh-Who?" she stammered, wondering dizzily if they had figured out exactly who she had been thinking of.

Eri rolled her eyes.  "Tonoka-kun!" she said, her expression telling Kagome quite plainly that she ought to have realized that they were discussing the star of the movie they'd just seen.  "Who else?"

"O-Oh," Kagome blurted, sure that her cheeks were even redder now.  "Uh, y-yeah.  Dreamy," she agreed.

If her friends noticed her preoccupation, they didn't bother to remark upon it, and for that, Kagome was grateful.  "I heard he was dating Momo from Girls 7," Yumi added thoughtfully.  "Shall we go get something to drink?"

"I've got to go home," Kagome said, forcing a smile that she hoped the girls wouldn't see right through.  They all tried to talk her out of it, but Kagome only shook her head, willed her smile to brighten.  Citing her need to study for the upcoming math exam, she muttered her goodbyes to her friends and headed toward the shrine.

She had no business thinking about the teacher, she reprimanded herself sternly. He was only her teacher, nothing more. No matter what she imagined, there was no way that he was really interested in her. Right? Her step quickened with her turbulent thoughts. 'Wishful thinking . . . He's a grown man, and you're just a silly girl with a little crush.' She sighed. 'All right. A huge crush.' She smirked at the irony of her thoughts. 'Yeah, a crush the size of a mountain, and if I don't nip it at the bud, that mountain was going to end up crushing me.'

Kagome paused on the pedestrian overpass that crossed over the main thoroughfare. Staring down at the cars passing along below, she sighed. Things had become a little too complicated.

People jostled against Kagome. She squeezed herself closer to the railing, but didn't move. A sudden bump, though, and Kagome nearly fell over the side. Her scream was cut off by a strong arm around her chest, and she found herself pulled back away from the edge and impending danger.

Her guardian angel set her back on her feet. She turned to look at him. He was a good deal taller than she was. His black hair was long and flowing. But he stared at her with such hostility that she stepped back in retreat before she could make herself speak. "Th-Thank you," she stammered, flustered by the intensity behind his fathomless dark eyes. He didn't answer right away, and Kagome tugged at her purse strap nervously. Her words seemed to make him even angrier. She could feel the fury radiating to her from those eyes.

His eyes grew even darker as he stared at her, and when he finally did open his mouth, it was to yell at her. "Are you completely stupid? Do you know what would have happened if—?"

Kagome drew back at the vehemence as well as volume of his tone. With a smothered gasp, she bolted past him, running as fast as she could toward the safety of home. She didn't stop until she was leaning back against the closed door.

It wasn't until her heart slowed down to near its normal rhythm that she realized what had scared her so much about the man on the bridge. It wasn't the way he'd glowered at her, or the way he'd yelled at her as though she ought to have known, as though she had willingly put herself in danger.

What had frightened her most, she realized, was the unsettling and bizarre feeling that she somehow . . . knew him.