InuYasha Fan Fiction ❯ Sachi ❯ Shogi, Again ( Chapter 10 )

Chapter 10

The woman existed for no other reason than to make his life difficult. It was as plain-and-fucking simple as that.

Why else would she have ignored his repeated orders to remove herself from a room that was too hot for her? Why else would she have forced him to jump into at least five feet of scalding hot water to save her ass? And how the hell else could she have managed to get him out here in the hallway on his knees next to her supine body--jeans soaked, dripping wet, and literally scared to shit because she still hadn’t opened her eyes?

InuYasha’s teeth ground together as his eyes made yet another anxious sweep over Kagome’s still form.

The damn woman looked like she was sleeping. Her head lay tilted at an angle, her expression gentle and sweet, utterly peaceful. If it weren’t for the matted, soggy black strands that clung to the edges of her face, the almost burning red flush in her cheeks, and the water that beaded and tracked along her skin, he would have thought she was taking a nap.

He growled quietly. Too bad she wasn’t merely sleeping. Then he wouldn’t be stuck here, in far too close a proximity to her, worrying about if she would wake up any time soon, and how long it would take.

He’d known as soon as he’d hauled her ass out of the bathwater and onto the tile that he’d needed to get her cooled down fast. Her skin had been burning, her body far too overheated to remain in the sauna-like atmosphere of the bath. He’d almost taken her outside then, but decided the temperature difference was too extreme. He was already worried about her as it was; he didn’t need her getting sick on top of everything else. So instead, he’d settled for carrying her to the outside hallway, which was cooler, but not the freezing chill of the snowy terrain outside.

And that was all he could do. The damn woman was taking forever to wake the hell up.

Her clothes plastered against her body, the material heavy and waterlogged. He cocked his head, and gave a fleeting thought to finding something to cover her with (he was sure he’d left a sweater in the bath behind him after he’d pulled her out) but was unsure of whether that would be wise or not. Kagome, for her part, still gave no sign of movement or awareness. In the eerie stillness of the hallway, the most prominent sound was the faint, irregular splats of the water dripping from his hair and jeans. Only by concentrating could he make out the faint rhythm of the breath rushing through her lungs.

His ears twitched forward, almost unconsciously straining to catch the soft whispers, and he shifted on his knees to combat the pinpricks of restricted blood flow. Damn.

At least she was breathing on her own. He was damned if he could remember CPR….

He paused. Eyed her features again. Shifted again.

Not that he was thinking of doing anything like that.

He was damned if he was going to let his mouth get anywhere near hers unless it was an absolute necessity. Screw what a nice mouth it was, and to hell with how inviting the soft curve of her lips looked. And he was absolutely not paying any attention to the gentle rise and fall of her chest…. Or to the way that her breasts were almost transparent through the light-colored shirt…. Or the way her nipples had puckered against the saturated cotton of the white (white again, dammit!) bra she wore beneath it.

Hell no. He hadn’t even noticed.

Scowling, irritated with the direction of his thoughts, InuYasha reached an open hand out to cup against her heated cheek. “Kagome.” Gently, he patted at the damp skin beneath his palm, careful of his claws.

She slept on.

He gritted his teeth against the wayward urge to brush his fingertips along the smooth texture, then called to her again. “Kagome.” He winced when his voice came out high on the whiny scale. He felt helpless--anxiety-ridden that she might not be as unscathed as he thought she was, and faintly desperate to get out of this hallway and away from her. If the troublesome bitch didn’t wake up soon, he was going to have to take her to Kaede--and damned if he wanted to carry her any farther than he already had.

More gritting of teeth. “Kagome! Wake the hell up, dammit!”

She sighed--serene and barely audible--and his thumb moved automatically to brush over the small sign of life. Warmth hovered briefly along the pad of the appendage, and his nostrils flared, trying to catch the scent of her breath. Only belatedly realizing what his hand was doing, he jerked it back, ripping his fingers away from her skin as he would rip a band-aid off his arm.

He turned his head away, glaring blindly at the wooden walls surrounding them. Both hands clenched into tense fists, and he pressed them firmly onto his thighs and resolved to keep them there.

The damn bitch really had him worried, and it was mostly his fault. Fucking numbskull that he was, he hadn’t realized right away that she was out. He’d thought she’d just tripped, and he’d actually been relieved for the momentary reprieve. He’d desperately needed it at that point; those brief moments had been just enough to regain control over bodily senses that were flaring out in idiotic rebellion.

Yeah…. For a moment there, he’d almost….

His scowl deepened.

He’d made the mistake of letting his guard down; the sense of camaraderie had been subtle, slipping in under his radar without his notice, lingering around them like a comfortable old blanket. Her presence hadn’t been so bad--sitting beside him, asking questions, distracting him, and generally just keeping him company. She’d certainly kept him from being bored.

His saving grace had been the damp air. It had hidden her scent from him, let him relax, actually to--maybe, somewhat--enjoy her presence. She had a calming influence, a lighthearted spirit that seemed to seep into the very air around her.

It had been a long time since he’d allowed himself to feel calm or at ease, never mind lighthearted.

But then a faint whiff of her had slipped through the moisture and the heat. It’d gripped his attention, riveted him, and he’d been unable to help but wonder what had caused such an… intense fluctuation. One glimpse of the panic and confusion on her face--one hint of the delicate but unmistakable underpinnings of feminine arousal and…. Hell, he hadn’t even realized that he was moving until she’d surprised him by scrambling away.

What the fucking hell was that anyway? He wasn’t even sure what he was going to do, only that he’d reacted instinctively. It was as if she’d cast a spell over him. His brain, his normal thought process, had blanked out, and the next thing he’d known, he’d been sitting up, reaching out, his sole intent on her.

His teeth snapped together, and he almost growled in frustration.

Dammit, it was her fault anyway! Staring at him like that, with those expressive gray eyes. Saying all that stuff in that silly, soft, empathetic tone. Sitting so…fucking…close….

Did she have to sit so close?!

It was only after she hadn’t come sputtering to the surface within the expected timeframe that he’d realized something was wrong. A few precious seconds while water could have been rushing into her lungs, choking off what little air supply she had. He’d been so damn distracted, trying to control his own body, trying to fight off the wayward impulse to chase her down when she’d bolted--

Not, he reminded himself hastily, that he’d really wanted to chase her down…. It was more an instinct than any actual desire….

And she’d almost gotten hurt because of it.

She drew an irregular, shuddering breath, snapping him out of his thoughts and back into the hallway. He glared down at her, anxious again, waiting impatiently for some kind of movement, something to let him know she was as perfectly all right as she should be. Her chest rose in another deep breath. She moaned, the sound soft and shockingly seductive; it nearly vibrated through the air between them, stimulating his already twisted nerves. Against his will, his ears twitched in reaction, and his eyes flew to her mouth--still relaxed, still closed, still soft and inviting….

He felt a muscle in his jaw tick as he clamped his teeth together--and nearly bit his tongue. He was deeply irritated that she’d managed to distract him again, if only for a moment.

Her eyebrows scrunched; her eyelids fluttered, then lifted. Her brow wrinkled briefly as she stared at him, her eyes narrowed and blank with confusion.

A second of absolute, frozen quiet. An underlying sense of hyper-awareness.

Then her eyes widened in surprise. “InuYasha? What…?”

“You fell into the bath, that’s what.” He was pleased to hear that he sounded as annoyed as he felt. “Almost fucking drowned.” He snorted. “Why the hell didn’t you just listen? Dummy. I have other things to do besides save your ass all the time, you know.”

“I….” She blinked a few times. Abruptly, her expression grew horrified. Her body tensed and she bolted upright, the damp strands of her hair flying around her face to slap at her skin. “I fell in the bath! I’m sorry! I shouldn’t have--”

He cursed again softly as dizziness hazed over her features. She swayed, gasped, and put an unsteady hand to her forehead. Before he even realized it, his hands were gripping her shoulders through the material molding itself to her skin, forcing her to face him from in between the narrow space of his arms. Her hand went from her forehead to his wrist, fingers griping hard as she blinked away the blood-rush.

His jaw and brows were both set hard as he scowled fiercely. “Shit! How many times do I have to tell you to be careful?! You--” He hesitated. “You were…” Wait…. Is she staring at…?

Damn, she was staring at his chest. He could almost feel her eyes tracing over the naked expanse of skin. His muscles, already stressed, tightened a little a further. His mind abruptly took him back to what she had said before, in the bath, and the brief, unwelcome pulse of satisfaction he’d felt to realize that his body bothered her in some way. For a moment, he felt that same flare of masculine smugness--but only for a moment. He shook it off almost immediately.

“You were out for a while.” His voice had gone from sharp and brusque to a much softer, near-gruff tone, but he barely noticed. “Don’t push it yet.”

Her eyes rose once again to meet his. They were wide now, their gray startlingly clear and alert. The expression in them was remorseful. Mortified. And they hid a spark of something else. An awareness. A distinct flare of feminine approval.

Something that had his body tensing once again--this time in anticipation….

“I’m sorry,” she repeated, voice soft. Her cheeks, which had only just started to cool, colored in a little more. “I…didn’t mean to cause you trouble. I should have left when you told me to.”

“You….” He could feel the delicate shape of her shoulders beneath his palms; his thumbs rested lightly against the sleek jut of either collarbone. The heat of her body seeped into his fingers; the wet shirt was almost no barrier between his hands and her skin. Her head was tilted slightly, though her eyes held to his, peeking meekly up at him through wet lashes.

His eyes widened; his nostrils flared on impulse, pulling in her natural scent. She smelled heated, pleasantly warmed-over from the bath water. Her scent was faintly subdued, woven through with an acidity that could have been embarrassment or remorse--or both. Tinged with the faintest hint of excitement….

His heart jolted in his chest; the rest of him stilled in quiet expectation.

Shit.

She was too damn close, her body language too damn submissive. Her posture was calm and accepting; she’d even left her neck exposed to his hands. Whether she was aware of it or not, she was acquiescing to his strength, putting out the sexual signals of a female accepting the dominance of a male. Deep within, the baser side of his instincts stirred restlessly, rising up to snap at the tight leash he usually kept on them.

“Kagome….” She didn’t know. She couldn’t possibly realize the signs she was sending him. It was completely innocent, of course it was. He still wanted….

“InuYasha?” She knew something was wrong, because her other hand was reaching up to grasp at his arm.

SHIT.

Thoroughly unsettled, he yanked his hands away from her shoulders and sat back off his knees, getting as far away from her as he could without it actually looking like he was trying to get away from her. He drew up one knee and rested an elbow on it, turned away from her to train his eyes on the floor off to the side, and ruthlessly squashed down all the rogue impulses running amuck in his brain, urging him to do stupid things.

Seriously, it was time to get out of this damn hallway.

“Don’t worry about it.” At least his voice was back to normal--clipped, rough, and indifferent. He paused a minute and drew a sanity-enforcing breath before he continued. “Just…. Don’t do it again.”

This time it was she who hesitated a moment before answering. “Okay.”

She sounded solemn. He couldn’t help but look back at her, couldn’t help raking an assessing glance down her body. She hadn’t moved. She still sat in the same position and stared at him with those eyes--eyes that were puzzled now. He fought off a grimace, knowing he was the cause of her confusion. “You ok now? It was pretty damn hot in there.”

Kagome blinked slowly at him a few times, and for a heart-stopping moment, he thought she was going to question his odd behavior. Then a tiny smile lifted her lips. It warmed her face and eradicated the confusion, making it nothing but a bad memory. “I’m all right. Thanks for not letting me drown.”

Some of the tension drained from his shoulders at her smile, though a snort rose through his throat at her words. “Feh. Too much of a pain in the ass to deal with a dead body.”

She seemed amused by that, and her smile turned slightly impish. “And Miroku complains too much about the cleaning if I’m not around, right?” she offered wryly.

He snorted again, this time somewhat amused despite himself, although he didn’t show her that.

She sighed, then glanced down at the clothes practically adhering themselves to her skin, and the large puddles of water collected on the floor beneath them. “I guess I caused another mess, huh?” Her hands smoothed over her face, pushing the slowly drying strands away from her skin. “Sorry.”

He rolled his eyes. “Stop apologizing. You’re not hurt, and nothing else got damaged. Everything’s fine.”

She nodded, then cast a worried glance behind him toward the baths. “What about the men’s bath?”

InuYasha grunted in response, mildly surprised to find that he had forgotten all about the reason they’d been in the bath in the first place. “It’s almost done. A few more leaks to seal, and then we’ll clean out the bath while we’re waiting for them to dry.” He shrugged. “Everything should be working again by this evening.”

Kagome nodded again and fell silent, staring at the water on the floor. Then she startled him by clapping her hands with unexpected energy. “Right! I’ll go get something to clean this up while you finish that.” She hesitated, then fixed him with a challenging look, as if daring him to disagree with her. “Then after lunch, we’ll all help with the bath so it will get done faster.”

He stared at her for a few seconds, then felt a tiny smile tug at the corners of his mouth. “Whatever. As long as it gets done.” He shook his head and uncurled his body, stretching as he stood effortlessly to his feet. He started to head back for the baths, then checked himself. After a moment of internal struggle, he sighed and turned back, holding out his hand to the woman still sitting on the floor. “Come on.”

She looked almost as surprised as he felt by the gesture. He wasn’t sure himself why he did it, other than the odd feeling that he had to make sure she really was recovered enough to leave by herself. At any rate, he didn’t back off while she pondered his hand.

Then she reached out and placed her hand in his. His fingers curled around hers and he tugged, pulling her to her feet. Her palm rested warm and comfortable in his hand, and her gentle smile returned as she found her balance on her feet. “Thank you.”

He blinked at her and--reluctantly--released the warmth of her skin. “Keh. Go change those clothes before you get sick.” He accompanied the gruff words with a nod in the general direction of her room, steadfastly refusing to look any closer at her body than he had to.

She blushed and nodded. “I’ll be back in just a little bit to clean up the floor, so--” She stopped, then clapped a hand to her mouth, eyes going wide with horror. “Oh no! Shippou’s towels! I was supposed to bring them right back for him! I forgot!”

“Shippou?” His brow furrowed curiously and his head came up, following the prick of his ears. Now that she said that…. He took a faint sniff of the air in the hallway and his eyes narrowed.

She wasn’t paying him any mind now. “I put him in the kitchen today, and he was almost done, but he needed extra towels.” She turned, and started to walk in the opposite direction of the way she should be heading. “I need to get those to him right away, and then--”

“Don’t bother.” His hand snagged her elbow before she got two steps away from him. She turned to stare at him with owlish eyes. His brows flattened into a scowl. “The runt can do it himself.” He was already turning as he spoke, his gaze going unerringly in the direction of the familiar scent in the air. Down the hallway a bit, at the opening where another hallway merged with this one, a few bushy bits of red-orange bangs and a pair of eager green eyes peered around the corner.

Behind him, he could hear the surprise in Kagome’s voice as she noticed the small body that he should have known was there the moment he arrived. “Shippou?”

Realizing only belatedly that he’d been spotted, the tiny fox-cub let out a surprised squeak and quickly disappeared back around the corner. InuYasha rolled his eyes. “Where the hell do you think you’re going? Get back here.” He paused, waited, then growled to show he meant it. “Now.”

A minute of hesitation followed, and then the tiny body edged itself back around the corner, looking faintly sheepish and more than a little wary of the hanyou glowering at him from a few feet away. Thanks to his ‘escape and evade’ tactics of the past few days, the brat had successfully avoided eye contact since his punishment right after the glue incident.

InuYasha eyed the kitsune suspiciously. Fuck. The little brat was spying. “How long were you there?” And what the hell did you see?

Not that there’d been anything for him to see, really (absolutely nothing, in fact), but still….

Shippou immediately went on the defensive, giving his scowl back to him at full force. “Not long at all! All I saw was that Kagome was flat on the ground.” Green eyes narrowed. “What did you do to Kagome? Why is she all wet, huh?”

For a moment, he was taken aback, not expecting the accusation in the kit’s tone. Then his eyebrows snapped low, and he let out a faint growl. The little brat was questioning him? After that uncomfortable mess he’d put them through the other day--an incident that he’d yet to show true remorse over?

Fortunately for the brat, Kagome spoke up from behind him before he could vocalize his displeasure. “I’m fine, Shippou. I just tripped in the bath, and InuYasha got me out. He brought me out here to make sure I was okay.”

Her explanation took all the aggression out of the kid’s attitude. His tiny shoulders slumped, and his eyes flickered with…. Was that--No, it couldn’t be. What possible reason could the runt have to be disappointed?

Come to think of it…. Why had he been spying on them like that? If he needed something, why hadn’t he just come out and said it? Why skulk around in the hallway as if he didn’t want to be seen?

Hold on….

There was no possible way that Shippou could have had anything to with the trouble that had just gone down, right? As smart as the little prankster was, it was impossible that he’d orchestrated Kagome’s fall into the bath…. So finding him spying like this was just a fucking coincidence…. Right?

Shippou sighed and shook his head. “Oh. Is that all?”

Is that all?! What exactly was the runt expecting? Golden eyes narrowed on a sudden, inexplicable rush of irritation. “Of course that’s all! What the hell do you want, anyway?”

Shippou’s expression bordered on mulish. “I was looking for Kagome, not you!” He turned to Kagome. “The floor’s dry already, so you don’t have to get me those towels after all.” His expression brightened considerably. “How long until lunch?”

“Tch!” InuYasha tossed his head; the damp strands of his hair, having come loose from its restraint when he dove into the bath, slapped and stuck to his back and shoulders. “Bah! I’ve had enough of this. I’m going to finish with the damn pipes. Don’t fucking bother me again.” Turning on one bare foot, he started back towards the bath.

Behind him, he heard Kagome sigh. “All right, Shippou. I’ll go make you some lunch now, but as soon as you’re done eating, you have to come help me clean up this mess, ok?”

Halfway through the blue curtain marking the entrance of the men’s bath, his feet froze. He was done with this situation--he really was. But…. “Go change first. Like I said, it would be a pain if you got sick again.”

“Yes, but--” She hesitated. “What about you? You’re all wet, too.”

“Keh. A little water can’t hurt me.”

She sighed, then he heard the sound of her bare feet thumping softly across the floorboards, and his ears perked to follow it. “Shippou, I’ll be back in just a little bit. Bring all the supplies from the kitchen in the meantime, okay?”

The kitsune replied unhesitatingly. “Okay.” He paused, then spoke far too casually for InuYasha’s comfort. “Hey, InuYasha. You’ll eat dinner with us tonight, right?”

That had him turning around to stare suspiciously once again. “What of it?”

Shippou’s exaggerated innocence did nothing to alleviate his mistrust. “Oh…. I just thought tonight would be a good night to teach Kagome some shogi, that’s all.” He turned an eager face towards Kagome. “Right, Kagome?”

She paused mid-step in her exit from the hallway, then threw a measuring look his way before she turned back to Shippou. A tiny smile lifted the corners of her mouth. “We’ll see, Shippou.”

Red-hot alarms went off somewhere in his head. He snorted uneasily, unable to figure out why. “No way. I have too much to do to play any games tonight.”

“But--” Shippou immediately started to protest; Kagome’s much softer voice cut him off.

“No, Shippou, it’s fine. We can play without him.”

Damn, now Kagome sounded disappointed. He scowled, then pushed through the curtain, determined to get away from them both. “Do what you want.” The acoustics of the bath closed around him, and he deliberately tuned out the softer sounds coming from outside the room, not wanting to be pulled back by whatever else they might say.

Rumbling softly from deep in his chest, he made his way back through the steamy interior. The air was still thick, only just beginning to clear as the boiler finally started to cool. He made his way over to his tools and glared first at the hollow he’d formed in the wall, then at the now-calm surface of the bath. He could see her sweater through the clear water, lying abandoned on the tiled bottom. At the sight of it, he growled again; the sound was louder this time and produced a satisfying echo.

What the hell was wrong with him, anyway?

He was doing his best to keep things simple, to keep their whole situation from getting out of hand. It was just that these stupid situations just kept cropping up without his permission, testing his resolve. And with each test, he grew a little weaker, a little less resistant.

His new housekeeper was a hard woman to ignore.

He grimaced. That woman. Damn her, anyway. She had the strangest effect on him. Her genuine warmth, that odd, friendly patience of hers, had slipped past some of his defenses without his even noticing. Hell, he hadn’t mentioned either his parents or the asshole in years, not even to Miroku…. And yet they’d both slipped out naturally in conversation with her.

He was feeling things and thinking about things that had barely even crossed his mind for years. Strong things. Physical things. Things that made him….

Shit.

He shook his head violently, tamping down the errant thought.

It would probably be best if he didn’t eat dinner with them tonight. Whatever insanity had gripped him earlier, it couldn’t happen again. He needed to reinforce that. He needed some time to get his damn head on straight, to remember that she was no different from any of the other females who came through here on a regular basis and barely caught his attention. He just needed to shore up his defenses.

That was all.

He snorted and got onto his back to scoot back into the hole. He snatched up the tiny bottle of sealant and got back to work, determined to dismiss Kagome and all associated turmoil from his mind.

And….

There was no way in hell that he was going to be playing any fucking games tonight.

*************************************************************** ****

Dragging in a huge sigh, Kagome stepped into the room that had slowly become her own and shoved the door shut behind her with a hard thump. Then she just stood there with her back against the door, trying to will her heart into a steady rhythm. Her eyes scanned randomly around the room, skimming briefly over the neatly folded futon and blankets in the corner, then across the windows allowing brilliant sunshine to spill an illusion of warmth across the floor.

Knots twisted up in her stomach, and her blood felt oddly thick in her veins. She hadn’t realized it was possible for blood to feel thick, but it did, and it wasn’t nearly as unpleasant as it sounded like it should be. Nor was the fact that her lungs were pulling and pushing the air from her body at a faster-than-normal rhythm.

Actually, it felt quite…stimulating. Good. Pleasant, even.

Her fingers reached up to stroke at her cheek, where the hazy memory of a touch lingered on her skin. She could still feel the burning imprint of his palms on her shoulders; still feel the electric shock of unusual golden eyes pinning her down.

Something had happened between them in the bath. Some connection had flared brightly, and then been buried again as quickly as it sparked to life. InuYasha…. He’d been about to do something back there; his entire body had moved with smooth, unhesitating action. She’d seen it in his eyes, right before she’d fallen into the bath--a heated, intense awareness that had plucked every nerve ending in her body to vibrant life.

Her brow furrowed in thought. Her body trembled softly in the cool atmosphere of the room. She ignored the cold completely.

She couldn’t help but wonder what would have happened if she’d just stayed put in that moment. She felt torn; she hadn’t really wanted to leave…. The majority of her had been far more inclined just to sit still--to stay with him and see what he would do next. It was that tiny voice of panic, shrieking loudly in her head, that had prompted her actions. She’d run before she was really sure what she was running from, and she felt like an idiot for doing so.

Now she wished she had stayed put.

Because, now, after standing here alone and contemplating them, she knew she was willing to explore it--that exciting, electrical current that sprang up between them whenever they were in the same room.

Her fingers absently brushed back the wisps of damp hair that clung to the side of her face, and she shook her head. No, that was wrong. She wasn’t just willing; she was eager. She wanted to explore them further. What had happened to her in the bath amounted to nothing less than sensual chaos, and not only had he had caused it, but she’d liked it. Despite the anxiety and confusion, he fascinated her. What his touch and presence did to her fascinated her--the intensity, the thrill, the vague, tantalizing promise of more. She wanted that promise back. She wanted to see where it might lead.

She wanted….

She desperately wanted him to kiss her.

She drew a quick breath, and her heart tripped again. Her fingers pressed against her lips.

That was what she had been waiting for him to do in the hallway. That was why she’d sat there with baited breath when he grabbed her shoulders. That was why she’d been so disappointed with his strange behavior and sudden withdrawal. She’d wanted him to move closer, not pull away.

She wanted to know what it would feel like to have his mouth on hers….

The only problem was that he didn’t seem to want her back.

Her shoulders slumped, and she pressed her head back against the door. Ever since she’d first seen InuYasha, he’d done nothing but reject her presence, informing her in ways both verbal and physical that he found her a nuisance and a bother. He even seemed to shun any physical touch with her….

A firm grip, holding her up when she would have fallen.

Gentle fingers, plucking carefully at a splinter.

An outstretched hand, a husky mutter, and warm fingers gripping her own.

…Well, mostly, anyway.

But that didn’t make sense either. She’d seen his face in the bath; whether he’d realized it or not, his expression had been gentle and concerned when he’d steadied her in the hallway. She could recall several other times as well, when his eyes had flashed with that same awareness--maybe even desire.

So why? Why did he fight so hard against it? Why did he push her away? Why did he refuse to allow anything to happen?

She desperately wanted something to happen now. She craved it; the desire was so intense it was almost an ache. It felt new, and exciting, and…important, somehow.

She was woefully lacking in experience--not because she didn’t have any, but because she couldn’t remember any. She knew that. She’d lost most of the memories that might once have meant something to her, and she was incomplete because of it. She knew that, too.

But instead of bemoaning the loss, instead of investigating the wide, ever-present void in her mind, she had the oddest urge to fill it. It was time to make more memories. She wanted to cherish, fully and without reservation, the life she had been granted here, in this place and time. It was almost like an instinct--a deep, gentle prodding to move forward and forget the past that she couldn’t remember in favor of forging a future that she wouldn’t want to forget. She felt fresh and alive and exhilarated, and the only thing she wanted to do was get on with life.

But InuYasha obviously didn’t feel the same.

Kagome frowned and pressed her eyes closed in frustration. Was it her? Did he really dislike her so much, find her presence so offensive that he just wouldn’t consider following this through? She couldn’t believe that either. Not after the way he’d smiled just now; he didn’t smile that often, but he’d smiled at her. And one of the things she was learning about him was that his actions were so much more important than his words or attitude.

Saving her from drowning might have been nothing more than obligation. Looking after her until she recovered might have been common sense. But helping her up, steadying her when she was dizzy, demanding that she change so that she didn’t get sick? Actions like those sprang from genuine caring--even if he tried to hide them with the gruff exterior.

So…. Why?

She bit her lip and started chewing, a thick knot of anxiety forming in her belly. Could it be that she was reading too much into their situation? Was she seeing more than was there? Were all those looks nothing more than an overactive imagination? Wishful thinking? Was all this building pressure evident only to her? Affecting only her?

What an utterly depressing thought.

Shivers were starting visibly to shake her body now. She was cold, and she really needed to get changed and get back to cleaning. They had a lot to do between lunch and dinner.

With a despondent sigh, she pushed away from the door and headed for the small chest of drawers that InuYasha had somehow found for her to keep her clothes. Her movements were awkward in the wet clothes, and for a moment her expression was rueful as it crossed her mind that it might have been better to strip down in the women’s bath and just borrow a spare yukata. It certainly would have been healthier than standing around in wet clothes when it was so chilly.

It required slightly more effort than normal since she was trembling so badly, but she managed to pull her shirt over her head and let it flop into a wet heap on the floor. The delicate chain around her neck was cold, as was the slightly thicker metal that lay heavily against her upper chest. She paused and allowed her fingers to brush over it carefully, drawing on the mysterious comfort she always got from its presence.

She heard a soft thump from somewhere in the building--one of the many signs of life that permeated the Sachi throughout the day--and sighed again. She didn’t have time to stand here and contemplate things she couldn’t figure out or remember. She had people depending on her to get her work done--and these people were too important to her to ever let them down. She would just have to think about this stuff later.

It took her a few minutes of struggling to work herself out of her pants (the water-logged material was so tight that getting them over her hips was like trying to shed a layer of skin) before she let them join her shirt in her growing pile of damp clothes.

She stood there for a moment, covered by nothing but the wet, clinging material of her bra and panties. Still, she mused, it’s too bad that he doesn’t want to play shogi. Another shiver rippled along her spine, prompting her to scrabble for the catch in her bra.

She thought about the way he’d dismissed both Shippou and her, and gave a soft huff. Really. He didn’t have to be so rude about it. “Jerk,” she muttered, peeling away the last of her wet underwear and immediately feeling warmer for it. Shippou had looked so disappointed.

She couldn’t help but admit to herself that she had been as well.

“Jerk,” she muttered again as she started to rummage forcibly through her drawers for something dry and warm.

****************************************************************** *

Miroku didn’t return until well after dinner, and he was in the oddest of moods when he did.

He’d lost. He’d lost that first game with his mysterious woman. That was something he hadn’t expected. He hadn’t truly and legitimately lost a game of shogi since his early teenage years.

After staring in faint disbelief at the checkmate for a few moments, he’d challenged her to a second game, thinking that it was the fault of his going into a match already half-played. Then he’d lost his second, too; not an easy victory for her by any means, which was a salve to his ego, but he’d still lost. Completely bemused after that, he’d challenged her again, fully intending to cheat just so he could find out her name.

Unfortunately, she’d caught him. Not only was the woman a skillful strategist, but she had an impressive right hook.

All told, he’d lost three games of shogi in a row, doled out a significant amount of pocket change for her dinner, and he still didn’t know her name. Oh, and he’d never gotten around to visiting Koharu, either.

Miroku hadn’t so thoroughly enjoyed an evening in years. He hadn’t even noticed how much time had passed until their waiter, bill in hand, had oh-so-politely--and loudly--cleared his throat. He’d looked around and realized the sun had been set for quite some time.

Conversation with his mysterious woman was like a separate game of shogi in and of itself, full of pitfalls and hidden meanings. She was ridiculously hard to pin down, and he considered it a great victory that she’d indicated that she might consider another game sometime as she’d walked away. He’d left Sounkyo with the vague, nagging feeling that he hadn’t even begun to scratch at the intricacies of her personality.

He couldn’t wait to see her again. It would be a challenge, since he didn’t know who or where she was--not to mention he would have to find an acceptable excuse to come back into Sounkyo sometime soon--but he was confident he could mange it. It was all a matter of finding the right opportunity and exploiting it.

Miroku’s mind was completely preoccupied as he pulled the truck into its normal spot off to the side in the gravel. Out of habit more than anything else, headed for the back, preferring the warmth of the kitchen to the cool emptiness of the entryway. His boots made soft crunching sounds in the inky stillness of the night air, and tranquility seemed to radiate from the tree-laden mountains. At the moment, he was feeling quite content with his life. Shivering slightly from the sharp, cutting cold, the Sachi’s manager climbed the short stairs of the porch and reached out a gloved hand to let himself into the kitchen.

The sight that met his eyes was unexpected, to say the least. The door slid open with a subtle scrape-thud, and his entire body gave a startled check. His eyebrows lifted and, for a few moments, all he did was stand out on the porch and stare as the sounds of easy conversation drifted into his hearing.

“What if I moved this pawn over here?”

A snort. “Then I’ll take your knight and you lose your advantage over my king.”

“Oh.” A pause. “Then what about moving the knight?”

“Where to?”

“Um… How about…. Here?” The faint clack of wood meeting wood.

Another pause, then a begrudging, “Okay. Now I have to move my bishop,” promptly followed by a faintly impressed, “Damn.”

InuYasha and Kagome…playing shogi?

They both sat at the kitchen table, perpendicular to each other. InuYasha sat back in his chair with one leg crossed under him, the other splayed comfortably against the floor; he had one arm draped along the tabletop, and one clawed finger tapping a soft, restless rhythm onto the wood. Kagome had both knees drawn up, her bare heels resting on the polished wooden seat of her chair, and her head tilted slightly to the side. Both of them were staring intently down at his shogi board, which they’d laid out between them, flat wooden pieces scattered both on and off the board. They didn’t even glance around when he opened the door.

Quite a cozy, intimate little picture the two of them made.

Miroku blinked once, then glanced around the kitchen as he kicked off his boots. Neither Kaede nor Shippou were anywhere to be seen. They were alone. They were alone, and they were playing shogi. And InuYasha didn’t seem all that inclined to leave. In fact, he seemed rather involved in the game.

Okay. And how had this come about?

“Oi, Miroku. Make up your mind and shut the damn door.”

He blinked again. InuYasha hadn’t even looked up to say that. Kagome had, though. She pulled her attention away from the game--in what look to be a somewhat reluctant gesture--to focus on him. Her color was high, and her expression pleased and warm. She looked like she was enjoying herself.

She gave him a distracted but hospitable smile. “Welcome home, Miroku. Did everything go all right in town?”

Her question shook him out of his bemusement, and Miroku couldn’t help but return her smile as he thought back over his evening. “Actually, it went very well indeed.”

Kagome nodded in acknowledgement while, with another wooden clack, InuYasha made his move. “Did you get everything we needed?”

Miroku found it very interesting how quickly her attention returned to the board and the hanyou across from her, so he spoke without thinking. “Of course. We shouldn’t have to return to Sounkyo again for a while.”

“That’s good.” Kagome nodded again as she frowned at the pieces. “InuYasha? Why move there?”

“Because I’m going after your king. You left it weak on this side, and if I move the lance here, I can clear a path for my bishop by forcing you to move your lance to defend. Like this.”

Miroku watched in fascination as InuYasha--completely ignoring his manager--sat forward and, almost patiently, took his housekeeper through the next three moves he planned to make in their game. Kagome’s face slowly cleared in understanding, then she bit her lip as she tried to figure out her next move.

InuYasha, seemingly satisfied with his progress and hers, sat back once again and sent a brief glance his way out of the corner of his eyes. “In or out, monk? It’s fucking freezing outside.”

“InuYasha.” Kagome’s voice was chiding, though she didn’t look up.

The hanyou scowled at her--a completely wasted effort, because she didn’t look up to see it. “What? He’s letting all the warm air out.”

“Miroku’s been gone all afternoon. I’m sure he’s tired after getting home so late.”

InuYasha snorted again. “Right. All that shopping could tire anyone out. That still doesn’t excuse him from standing there like an idiot while we freeze.”

Kagome didn’t miss the innuendo. Her head shot up, her eyes widened slightly and a becoming blush colored her cheeks. “Oh.”

Miroku half-winced. “I beg your pardon.” He spoke out immediately in his own defense, seeing no reason to accept responsibility for something he’d never gotten around to doing. “I’ll have you both know that I didn’t see Koharu at all today.”

Kagome didn’t look like she believed him, but tactfully kept her mouth shut.

InuYasha had no such qualms on commenting. This time his friend turned to face him directly, skepticism clear in the narrowed golden gaze. “Sure you didn’t. It really did take you all day to….” InuYasha’s nose twitched slightly, and a confused expression slid across his features, followed closely by a suspicious one. “Hey. What the hell were you doing all day, then?”

Kagome’s gray gaze joined InuYasha’s golden ones, widened slightly with curiosity.

Miroku hesitated, finding himself the focal point of both of the kitchen’s occupants. Unwilling to go into the details of his afternoon, he stepped inside and pulled the door shut behind him, lifting his brows in wry acknowledgement. “Apparently, nothing more than you were doing.” Then, before either of them could question him further, he turned to InuYasha. “I take it everything went well in repairing the bath?”

He could almost see the current that crackled through the air between them.

A blush heated Kagome’s cheeks. In a self-conscious gesture, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. The soft ears atop InuYasha’s head gave a single, violent twitch, and he suddenly looked extremely annoyed. His knuckles gave a faint crack as his fingers tensed. Miroku didn’t miss the brief, searching glance the young woman darted across the table, nor did he miss the way the hanyou refused to look at Kagome until she’d turned her gaze back to the board. And then he couldn’t possibly miss the hot, agitated way that amber eyes glanced over the lovely, comfortably curled form of her body before jerking away.

Miroku’s eyebrows almost hit his hairline. Ok. What the hell did I miss?

After a moment, InuYasha seemed to shake himself out of his thoughts to mutter out a reply. “It went fine.”

“Uh-Huh.” He eyed the two. “So everything is back in working order?”

InuYasha shrugged. “For now. We have to get some new pipes or the damned thing’ll bust again.”

Miroku blinked. “New pipes?”

“Yeah, pipes.” InuYasha’s scowl was back. “Something wrong with your ears? Some of the pipes have leaks. We need to replace them.”

“Ah.” It took another second for him to absorb that bit of information--and then he was immediately distracted by the beginnings of an idea that started nipping at his brain.

Well, now. This could prove favorable.

His eyes narrowed in cool calculation as he continued to stare at his friend. “And I assume you are planning on taking the burden of this little project upon your own shoulders?”

InuYasha scoffed and sent him a “what do you think” look. “Who else is gonna do it? The old bat?”

Bingo.

Miroku merely nodded. “And I assume you want me to order the pipes for you?” He paused, then stressed, “And pick them up when they come into Sounkyo?”

InuYasha’s expression morphed from “what do you think” to “are you nuts” at the odd emphasis he’d put on his words, but Miroku didn’t care. Satisfaction surged through him, and he couldn’t help the smug grin that curled across his features.

Find the right opportunity and exploit it.

Kagome interpreted his words a little differently than InuYasha did. She looked up with a frown. “If you don’t want to go into town, Miroku, maybe InuYasha could….” She trailed off as the hanyou in question turned a glare on her.

“Don’t volunteer me to do stuff!”

At nearly the same instant, Miroku started shaking his head. “Not at all, dear Kagome. It’s no trouble at all, I assure you. It is my honor to accept the responsibility of retrieving the Sachi’s new pipes.”

InuYasha’s head came around and a pair of suspicious golden eyes pinned him with a hard, searching stare. Hmm. It was possible he’d overdone his protest.

Time for a change in subject. “Anyway….” He nodded in the direction of their game. “Who’s winning?”

The redirect worked nicely, as they both simultaneously glanced first at the board, then each other. Their gazes collided, held, then yanked in opposite directions. InuYasha crossed his arms defensively, and scowled at his manager. “Keh. No one. Can’t you see she’s still learning?”

Breathing a soft sigh of relief, Miroku let a smile hover along the corners of his mouth. “Of course she is. How could I forget? Shippou’s been talking about teaching you for weeks.”

InuYasha’s expression darkened slightly at the mention of the kitsune. He blew out a soft snort and turned his attention back to the board with a growl. “That fucking little brat.”

Kagome’s slim brows furrowed as she shot InuYasha an odd look, then reached out a tentative hand to pluck up one of her wedge-shaped pieces. “He’s only a child. I really don’t think you should hold it against him….”

He returned her look with an outraged one. “He fucking tried to set me on fire!”

Miroku blinked again, then inquired in a mild voice, “Fire?”

Kagome ignored him to roll her eyes at InuYasha. “No, he tried to warm up your food because you were complaining that it was cold. The only reason your food caught on fire was because you tried to jump out of the way. You were never in any danger at all. You didn’t even get burned.”

“Like hell.” His scowl was black. “The little bastard was aiming for me. Besides, it was cold.”

Her gray eyes snapped with impatience. “Then next time eat with us instead of nosing around for food an hour after dinner is over!”

“So you are on his side!”

“What side? What he did was foolish, but not malicious, and now he’s being punished! How are there sides?!”

“You didn’t even want to punish him!”

She rolled her eyes again, this time in full-blown exasperation. “I never said that. I just said it could wait until tomorrow. It’s late, and we were in the middle of a game!”

“Which I’m now playing with you so that he can clean out the fucking fireplace,” InuYasha shot back crossly. “So make your damn move already.”

Miroku felt his eyes widen.

“Ooooh… You!” For a moment, Kagome looked like she might throw the shogi piece at him. For a moment, InuYasha looked like he was challenging her to do so.

Then, all at once, her eyes focused on the piece, and the steam abruptly went out of her as she blinked from the board in front of them, to the piece her fingers held suspended above it, and back. “Well… All right.” She considered for a moment, and then cautiously placed the piece on a square on InuYasha’s side of the game board. “How about…. Here?”

InuYasha’s ears, which had had been pricked up and flicking alertly during their rapid-fire--yet highly informative--squabble, twisted forward. Looking vaguely taken aback by her sudden change in mood, he shifted in his chair. Leaning in towards the table, he uncrossed his arms and laid an elbow against the wood as he took a moment to scowl down at her move.

Miroku, still standing over by the doorway and almost forgotten, barely kept his expression in check. Astonishment warred with his self-control, attempting to pull his jaw down.

InuYasha was actually enjoying himself. He could see it in the way the hanyou sat forward almost eagerly, in the way his gaze livened as he took in the game--and his “opponent”. He could see it in the faint grin that kept threatening to nudge its way onto his features when he forgot to frown.

For the life of him, Miroku could not recall a time during any of their many matches here at the Sachi when he’d seen InuYasha look like that. In fact, it had been years since Miroku had seen his friend so enthusiastically engaged in anything at all.

This time, the smile that turned his lips up was genuine. He cleared his throat to bring their attention back to him. “And where is our dear Kaede?”

InuYasha waved a dismissive gesture in the general direction of the hallway beyond the kitchen. “The old bat’s making sure the little runt doesn’t set anything else on fire.”

“They’re in the room across from the reception desk,” Kagome added softly. She frowned to herself, and glanced over her shoulder towards the hallway. “Shippou should be almost done by now. All he had to do was sweep out the ashes.”

InuYasha made low, grumbling comment that neither human could make out. Kagome turned back to stare at him suspiciously, and InuYasha quickly made his next move and sat back.

Belligerently, he crossed his arms and glared at Kagome. “Your turn.”

She just blinked at him.

Miroku hid a smile. “If you’ll excuse me….”

Kagome looked surprised. “You don’t want to stay and play with us?”

Miroku didn’t even pause on his way out the door. “Oh, I’m pretty sure I’m through with games for the day.” With that sardonic comment and a final wave, he cheerfully left his friend and the beautiful new housekeeper to the mercy of their own proclivities.

Whatever they might happen to be.

*******************************************************************

A/N: *wipes brow* Phew! That took a lot more out of me than I expected. For some reason, I had a harder time with the POV’s than I normally do. It turned out to be one of those chapters that you look at and revise so much that you’re sick of seeing it. I finally just decided that I needed to feel accomplished (and that I needed to stop looking at it), so I’m throwing it up and hoping it flows all right and that everything makes sense.

Let me know how it turned out, please. I need a fresh perspective. Mine’s getting a little old.

Anyway, things are about to speed up just a bit. Everything’s pretty much where I need it to be, and now I can start in with the citrus and some serious relationship developments. *is nervous about the citrus*

Next chapter’s about a quarter of the way written, but school and work take the majority of my time. Hopefully not too much longer. Everybody cross your fingers. And an extra special thank for all the feedback. The encouragement means so much to me.

Cheers and Blessings,

Quill