InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ After an Afternoon ❯ You and Your Thesis ( Chapter 3 )

…Three…

“But there's something in the way you laugh

That makes me feel like a child

Aspects of life they confuse me

You and your thesis amuse me”

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There is a pause, both are momentarily stunned. Suddenly, Kagome laughs. “I didn't even have to say it that time. What happened?”

“Feh…I tripped, woman. Isn't that obvious?”

Laughter again, this time she is too overcome for words.

He grins, honeyed eyes crinkling in amusement. A true smile. He can never actually stay angry with her, and this time, he doesn't even pretend.

Suddenly, his smile takes on a mischievous glint, crooked at the corners, a glimpse of fangs between slightly parted lips. Her laughing suddenly tapers off, and she glances at him nervously, and then away, at the rapidly darkening sky.

He looks forward to sunset: unlike sunrise, he is never alone. She is always with him, ar at least awake and close by. But first...

You'll regret that laughter woman. I'll give you something to laugh about.

“Are you laughing at me wench?”

She looks at him nervously, not replying.

“Nobody laughs at me and gets away with it.” He comes at her, clawed hands extendsd, and glinting in the rosy, dim light. “Prepare to be punished.”

She is frozen to the spot, now with fear. Her brown eyes are disbelieving and pleading.

He almost feels guilty…But it's time for a little fun.

He finally reaches her, the tension at a fever pitch, and…

begins to fiercely tickle her.

Her laughter sings out in bursts, amid choked out pleas for mercy. She gasps for breath, writhing on the ground under his hands. He feels a tightness in the back of his throat. Shit! Why did I just do that?! She must be completely confused now…and now…I can't stop reacting to seeing her like that. Dammit! What do I do?

“Go, wench! Run, and don't let me catch you!” Now the smirk is pasted on.

Still laughing, oblivious, with mirthful tears in the corners of her brown eyes, she snatches up her pack, forgotten in the “struggle” a few minutes ago, and playfully glances at him before running away. His neck and ears get hot, and he barely remembers to mirror her playful gesture one of his own. She shrugs at the strained-looking smirk on his face and heads to the cave that he had pointed out earlier.

He gives her a bit of a head start, using the time to collect his thoughts.

Shit, shit, SHIT! I can't spend a night in that cave with her! Not now, not alone! What do I do? Dammit, it's my fault. It would have been ok if we had gone straight to the cave, but no, like a little boy, I just had to have my fun. He sighs wearily and stands up. But I'm not a little boy any more. My reaction proved that. He snorts at himself wryly, beginning to walk down the road. Well, I've made my bed, now I have to sleep in it. He stops in his tracks, the faded blush that headed his neck earlier coming back in full force, spreading to his cheeks…

Shit, I did not need that image in my head.

***

A few minutes later, a rather flustered young man enters the cave.

“Inuyasha?”

“Wench?”

“Where'd you go?”

“Er…” Shit... His mind races, finally remembering that he had provided for a question like this. Excellent. He pulls from his haori a rabbit that he had caught a short while before entering the cave. “I was catching dinner, woman, what did you think?”

“Ok…but Inuyasha, you know I have ramen. I thought you liked it.” Her brown eyes are confused; his actions are starting to unnerve her.

He masks his guilt at being the cause of her discomfort, stalking off to sit in a corner, arms inside the sleeves of his haori, this time, not hiding form the outside world, but from the tumult of his mind. He doesn't reply. I forgot…

They settle into a companionable, if slightly tense, silence.

What am I stressing over? He wonders. Why now? But he knows the answer. It is the first time in a long while that he has been alone with her, without any real possibility of interference. There is less reason and excuse for him to keep his guard up when it comes to showing his feelings for her.

What is it she always says? He thinks for a moment, breathing in the scent of ramen and cooking rabbit, watching her as she cooks, then smiles slightly. That's right… “after rain, sunshine.” I remember the first time that I heard her say that. We had just been kicked out of a village because of the damned monk's idiot behavior with the headmen's daughter.

**

Normally, no one would have cared. They spent most nights around a campfire, under the gaze of the stars. However, it had already begun to rain, the dark blanket of clouds covering their customary nighttime companions.

Within minutes, there was a downpour. Inconveniently, they were in the middle of a field, the only shelter nearby a large tree. Dodging raindrops, they raced towards its black silhouette, illuminated suddenly by a far-off bolt of lightening.

Finally, soaked to the bone, they reached their haven. Under the canopy, there was a small circle of dry grass surrounding the massive trunk. They sat in this circle with their backs to the tree, the monk cowering from the fuming silver-haired hanyou next to him.

The girl, noticing her companions' gloomy moods, dug in her massive yellow bag, which was, miraculously, dry on the inside. Brown eyes smiling slightly, she handed everyone a little packet wrapped in a crinkly paper-like material.

“What are these, wench?” demanded the irate, sodden young man, amber eyes narrowing.

She sighed, but was drowned out by the pounding rain on the branches above them. “Food, Inuyasha. We can't make a fire, so this is it. Back home, we eat them when we don't have time to cook anything. They're called Slim-Fast bars. Actually yours is a Balance bar.”

He did not reply, only stared at the small, rectangular package.

She sighed again and opened his bar for him. “Inuyasha…”

The rest of the group had seen her open the bar and followed suit, munching quietly.

“What?” he asked, his mouth full of peanut butter and chocolate. This is actually sort of good…I feel bad…

“It's not so bad. Remember, after rain, sunshine!”

“What's that supposed to mean?”

She shook her head, her black hair sticking to her sodden shirt. He flushed slightly—her white top was nearly transparent, and clung to her body like an entranced lover. He was suddenly jealous of her shirt.

“It means,” she began, pulling him out of his trance, “that when something bad happens, something better usually follows. It's like seeing the light at the end of the tunnel.” She paused, seeing his raised eyebrow. “Never mind. It's about hope…and it seemed particularly appropriate in this situation...” She trailed off, smiling slightly, looking off into the distance, past the pounding rain.

“Feh,” he said, but a small smile graced his lips.

**

The same smile is on his face now, as he remembers.

“Inuyasha?”

He shakes his head, bringing himself back to reality. He flushes when he realizes that he has been staring at her through his reverie, and, having felt his eyes on her, the dark-haired girl is returning his gaze. Damn…

“Yeah?”

“What are you looking at?”

He opens his mouth, then closes it again. Might as well just tell her…this just wasn't quite the context that I had in mind, but... He takes a deep breath, and licks his lips.