InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Palm of Your Hand ❯ I Never Knew You ( Chapter 3 )

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

Disclaimer: InuYasha is the property of Rumiko Takahashi, not me. I'm just having fun and making no money doing it.

I Never Knew You

The second Kagome's skin came in contact with the stone she could see through the spell. The woman standing before her looked to be some kind of caterpillar or butterfly youkai. Her skin was like fine black velvet; and her hair, even her eyebrows and lashes, was bright cerulean. She had solid black eyes that looked like large polished onyx stones, and two long, black antennae that curled up slightly at the ends.

Kagome wasn't sure how long she had stood there gaping, but when she returned to her senses she quickly withdrew her hand from the woman's grasp. It was safe to assume that only people with spiritual powers could see through the concealment spell, and since people with legitimate spiritual power were almost unheard of in this time, this youkai didn't even seem to be aware it was possible. In fact, she didn't appear to noticed that Kagome was a miko at all. Thankfully, another fan approached the woman and drew her attention elsewhere. Kagome wasn't sure she would be able to focus on any more small talk at the moment. She needed time to think, and she had only one thing on her mind.

She had to touch Ru's necklace.

<<>>

The rest of the night dragged on. After the auction Ru introduced Kagome to some guy, despite her previous protests. He was a cute, and she honestly might have even considered going out with him had it not been for the fact that her mind was fully preoccupied with more important things. More exciting things.

The night finally came to a close and as usual they were the last to leave, seeing as how Ru had to talk to every last person there. They walked to the car in silence, Ru assuming she was mad at him for the attempted setup which she had so adamantly refused.

Kagome was completely lost in thought. 'Maybe I should just come right out and ask him. No, I can't do that. If I'm wrong he'll think I've finally lost it and if I'm right, and he is a youkai, he'll probably just lie anyway. I could set up some elaborate dangerous scenario that forces him to reveal himself… but then if I'm wrong that could get us both killed... Ugh. Maybe I should just sneak up on him and grab it. No. I have to be subtle. Get just close enough, then casually reach out, without looking, and...'

"What are you brooding about?" Ru asked, pulling her from her thoughts.

The car ride home had been uncharacteristically quiet and he was beginning to wonder what the hell was going on in Kagome's mind.

"Butterflies." she answered.

"You're getting lazy with your lying Kagome. I thought I taught you better than that." he joked.

Kagome just chuckled mirthlessly and turned to gaze out the window. Despite Ru's acknowledgment of her odd behavior, they continued their silence for the rest of the trip. When they arrived home Kagome wished him goodnight and retired to her room, even though she knew she wasn't going to be able to sleep.

<<>>

Kagome had been watching and waiting almost two weeks for the perfect opportunity. Ru always kept the damn necklace tucked inside of his shirt. Her patience was wearing thin. She had actually started trying to think of ways to lure him out of his shirt when an opening finally presented itself.

She came home from work one morning and there he was; sitting on the sofa watching sports highlights, in all his bare-chested glory. The object of interest resting innocently on his sternum.

'Alright Higurashi. This is it. It's your time to shine.' she mentally pep-talked herself as she slipped out of her shoes.

"There she is!" Ru exclaimed with exaggerated enthusiasm. "Kagome Higurashi: the only woman I ever loved...although those over-alls are making me love her less...." he joked, patting his lap before holding out his arms in an open invitation for her to sit.

'Oh Ru, you're making this too easy.'

This was it. The moment of truth. She was so excited and so nervous.

<<>>

Ru could tell that Kagome was all worked up about something. As soon as she entered the front door he could smell it. She was anxious. 'What the hell is she up to this time?' He acted as casual as possible. He would get to the bottom of it.

"There she is! Kagome Higurashi: The only woman I ever loved...although those over-alls are making me love her less..."

"Can it." she responded as she plopped sideways into his lap, her left arm around his back.

"So, how was work? Did you make the dough?" he said with a cheesy grin.

"How long have you been holding onto that gem?" she asked him, rolling her eyes.

"I just thought of it like an hour ago."

"Wow, you must be really proud of yourself." she teased. Ru reached around her sides and started tickling her ribs. She immediately began to thrash and scream-laugh uncontrollably.

"NO! Ru...STOP! I CAN'T…BREATHE...I'M GONNA...PISS ON YOU!" Kagome yelled, gasping for air between words. All the while continuing to kick and scream and jerk spasmodically. Finally Ru stopped the tickling and wrapped his arms tightly around her, pinning her arms against her torso as she struggled to break free, to no avail. "Stop struggling, Kagome. If you keep squirming you're gonna give me a boner." he said, giggling like a schoolgirl.

"EWWW!!!" Kagome began to struggle harder, legs flailing wildly. Ru only held on tighter, laughing at her exaggerated distress. Finally she exhausted herself and relaxed, while he continued to hold her around the waist with one arm and stroke her hair with the other. "Whoa girl. Whoa girl. Easy now old girl. Easy does it." he said, as if talking to a horse.

"I hate you" she said flatly.

"Love you too, old girl." he said in return, patting the top of her head.

Remembering her mission, Kagome pulled away slightly and turned her head to face him. She focused her energy as she placed the palm of her hand flat against the blue stone on his chest.

As her palm covered the stone, the spell instantly dropped. 'Yes!' she cheered mentally, but her face remained impassive. It was probably a good thing it took so long to get this opportunity, because it gave her plenty of time to prepare her reaction. 'I should have known that no mortal man as lazy as Ru could have a body like this…'

Ru actually didn't look all that different in his youkai form. That must be why the magic from his pendant was so much weaker than that of the butterfly youkai's ring. He seemed to be full youkai. He had claws, fangs and pointed ears, and his eyes were bright gold. He had a single, straight red stripe resting high on each cheek and in the center of his forehead was a metallic gold mark in the shape of a gingko leaf with the stem extending down between his eyebrows. His now shortly cropped hair was a flat blue-gray, almost reminding her of a cat. Looking into his golden eyes, she was actually thankful for his concealment spell. 'Don't need that reminder every day.' she thought to herself.

"Gods Kagome, you're not about to kiss me are you? I was just kidding about that boner stuff" Ru said teasingly. Kagome was so caught up she hadn't thought about how weird her close inspection of his face must have seemed from his perspective. She pulled her hand back from his chest and the concealment flashed back over him almost instantly, like the shutter of a camera. She was happy. She wasn't really sure why exactly, but she was happy he was a youkai. It was exciting, and she wanted to tell him she knew. But how could she broach the subject? If she wanted him to open up, she was going to have to open up first.

"Ru…" she said hesitantly. "I want to tell you something."

"Okay…" he drawled out, furrowing his brow. Kagome was suddenly serious. As solemn as he had ever seen her.

She scooted off his lap, sitting sideways on the sofa, facing him. "The guy...umm...you remember...when you asked me who it was? You know. The guy. The reason why I don't let myself get too involved with anyone, or whatever?" she said, never meeting his eyes.

"Uh, yeah." he said calmly. He could just tell she was finally about to divulge something big. Why, he didn't quite know, but he wasn't about to ruin it by getting overexcited and spooking her.

"Well," she said, nervously running her fingers up and down the outer seams of her over-alls. "he wasn't...he wasn't entirely...human."

He didn't see that coming.

"What do you mean?" Ru asked, playing dumb. He had a fairly good idea of what she meant, being not entirely human himself, but he wouldn't jump to any conclusions.

Kagome finally found the courage to look him in the eyes. "He...he was a hanyou."

"Hanyou." he repeated softly, as if it were an unfamiliar word. "So...then you know..." It was really more of a statement than a question.

"That you're a youkai?" she asked.

He nodded.

She nodded slowly back.

"How?" he asked.

She told him about her experience with Solana at the charity auction, and her newfound ability to see through the concealment spells using her miko powers.

"So, when you touched my necklace just now, you could see through the spell?" he asked.

"Yep." she said proudly. "So, what kind of youkai are you?"

"What kind of youkai do you think I am?" he said with a sly grin.

"No way. I know I'll guess totally wrong and end up embarrassing myself and probably offending you."

"Guess or I'm not telling you." he said sternly. "You know I don't get offended."

She huffed. "Okay. Well, I kind of thought your hair color reminded me of a cat, so I guess I'll go with neko-youkai." she guessed.

He just smiled. "Nope. Guess again."

"But you said you'd tell me if I guessed! So tell me!"

"No, I said I wouldn't tell you unless you guessed. One more guess."

"TELL. ME." she ground out through her teeth.

"Fine...I'm inu-youkai." he told her.

'Inu' Kagome thought. 'That figures...I certainly have a type, don't I?'

"How old are you?" she asked.

"Five-oh-three." he said casually, as if he were giving the score of a soccer match.

"Five-oh-three?!" she repeated. "As in five hundred and three? You're five hundred and three years old?!"

"Yep...and now you are going to tell me about the hanyou." he demanded.

"There's not a lot to tell, really. I loved him, and he died. That's all there is to it." she said matter-of-factly.

"He DIED and that's ALL there is to it?!" he ranted. "Are you kidding me? There's obviously much, much more to it. You're killing me Kagome, killing me!"

So much for not getting overexcited...

"Okay," he took in a calming breath. "you don't have to tell me what happened. Just tell me about him. What was he like."

"Well, he was violent, and rude, and jealous, and stupidly brave…" she paused, gathering her thoughts, or reigning in her emotions, Ru wasn't sure which. Her tone softened as she continued. "and he was so...good, even when he had every reason not to be. Life wasn't good to him, but he was good because he chose to be good. He was kind, and merciful, and honorable to a fault... and he deserved happiness that I'm not sure he ever got..."

He reached out and squeezed her hand. "Maybe he'll find it in the next life." he consoled.

"Yeah. Maybe." she said, barely above a whisper.

"What type of hanyou was he?" he asked.

"Inu, actually." she answered, smiling.

"No kidding?" Ru chuckled. "Well, you certainly have a type, don't you?"

She giggled. "That was literally my exact thought when you told me you are inu-youkai. I'm just a 'dog person' I guess." she joked.

"You know, I have a soft spot in my heart for inu-hanyous." he said.

"Oh really?" she questioned curiously. "And why is that?"

"'Cause that's what our children are going to be." he chortled.

She punched him playfully. "Gods, you're full of it today, you little smart ass." she couldn't help the chuckle that escaped her lips.

"Wow. It feels good to get this off my chest…" Ru said, leaning his head back against the back of the sofa. "and speaking of getting things off my chest…" he reached behind his neck, loosening the cord, and lifting the pendant over his head, and subsequently, the spell. "Oh, and by the way, now you know, my dad didn't name me after the car I was conceived in the backseat of. As much as you like making that little joke." he smiled.

"I don't care, I love that joke and I'm still telling it." she laughed.

They sat there for several minutes without speaking. Both pondering on what had just taken place. Eventually Kagome broke the silence. "So, what's it like to live five hundred years?"

"Well…" He looked up and furrowed his brow as if in deep thought. "you end up with a lot of coffee mugs..."